"He's only famous because of his Dad"

So this one is going to take a bit of backstory. It's also very likely only going to make sense to me, but it amuses me too much not to share.

A few years ago I read a message board called Fametracker. It was this awesome mix of intelligent, snarky people talking about movies and Hollywood. Well, like most things on the Internet, it soon devolved into pettiness and overreactions, so the mods decided to shut it down. In the last few hours of the board's existence, things pretty much imploded. This resulted in a bunch of random threads being started in the Hollywood forum, basically making fun of all the dumb things people would post about celebrities. One thread was on Jesus.

Now, I still feel terrible for how funny I thought that thread was. It was terribly sacrilegious and really just wrong. But man, you guys. I still laugh when I think about it a good three years later.

The best post? "Jesus: Leave him alone, he's 33. Forever," which was a play on JLo's publicist's age-related excuse whenever her client did something stupid. Again, probably not as funny to anyone else, but I just found a list of some of the best posts. Now I can relive the crazy any time I want.

50 Words or Less, Vol. 2

The English language is amazing. Take the word "really." It has a remarkable number of meanings depending on its location in a sentence:

I really want to travel.

I want to really travel.

Really I want to travel.

Subtle but distinct. I'm glad English is my first language.

50 Words or Less

Falafel is a fun word to say. As are indubitably and smitten.

My favorite words are affection and confectionery. Feckless is also quite nice. I must have an affinity for the "fek" sound.

How big a dork am I? (That was a rhetorical question.)

"How fickle is woman."

It's so true. Nowhere is it more true for me than when it comes to design. I love planning out my future house. I cut out pictures, save ideas from websites, browse online, etc. Let's just say it's a good thing all of this is in theory, because my design aesthetic changes more often than I change shoes. For awhile, I've been convinced I want a bedroom that is slightly Victorian gothic and haunting: dark velvet, black and white pictures, antiques, all in shades of green and blackberry.

Print by Etsy user Sarah Blank; Fainting couch at Urban Outfitters; Alice in Wonderland plate at Urban Outfitters; Duvet at Brocade Home; 7 Deadly Sins plates by Etsy user TrixieDelicious; Chest at Brocade Home; Black and White photo from Google Images; Curtain at Urban Outfitters; Etched bottle by Design*Sponge; Cover of Jane Eyre from Google Images; Bedroom idea from Living, Etc; Bed at Brocade Home; Pillow at Urban Outfitters; Wallpaper at Brocade Home; Bedroom idea from Domino; Tree decal at Urban Outfitters

Imagine all of this with Nick Drake's "River Man" playing in the background, and the scene is set!

"I'm very drunk and I intend on getting still drunker before this evening's over."

In honor of President's Day tomorrow, I give you a few of our fearless leaders' favorite drinks:

Gerald Ford: Gin and TonicHerbert Hoover: Martini

Richard Nixon: Rum and Coke

FDR: Scotch or Brandy

Harry Truman: Bourbon

Lyndon Johnson: Scotch and Soda

Warren Harding: Everything

Ha! I particularly like the last one. And who knew Nixon and I would favor the same tipple?

In case that's not enough choice for you, February also features National Margarita Day (2/22), National Kahlua Day (2/27), and, if you're eschewing alcohol, National Cafe Au Lait Day (today!).

Cheers!

(image via chow.com)

"You have Van Gogh's ear for music. "

The music in the UK and Europe is quite funny. Either you constantly hear the cheesiest earworms from the states or you get inundated with bad Euro-Pop. In any case, here are a couple of the songs that I cannot get out of my head, due to the fact that every store or restaurant I've entered in the past two weeks has been playing them. I've sort of grown fond of these tunes, probably by the sheer amount of listens they've gotten. For your pleasure:

Bleeding Love, Leona Lewis



Apologize, One Republic



By the way, if you ever find yourself missing dance songs from the early 2000s, just go to a club in London. You'll quickly get your fix of Let's Get It Started.

Personal Philosophies, Part Two

Regardless of how you feel about the movie (I've never seen it and have heard I'm not missing much), "Pay It Forward" is a really nice way to live your life. Who knows if karma exists, but it surely can't hurt to spend time doing nice things for other people. One of my resolutions this year is to give more money and more time to charity. As I've tried to accomplish this, I've noticed that it's just as fulfilling to do little things along the way. Real Simple has a really nice article devoted to these little things you can do effortlessly every day. When you get too bogged down by all the cynicism around (which I happily contribute to 95% of the time), random acts of kindness can warm the cold cockles of your heart.

Now enough with that cheesiness, who wants to make fun of Obama's "Hope Express?" Every time I hear it, I just want to break out into "Love Train." How great a campaign song would that be?

"Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache."

lips phone, urban outfitters; other people's love letters, amazon.com; bleeding hearts cupcakes, epicurious; heart tape, fred flare, Conversation hearts, via flikr; vintage valentine, via google images; all you need is love poster, doug wilson at keep-calm; sweet wrapping, whimsy press;valentine card, bella bella

Here's to a day of good health, flowers, candy, and love in all its forms.

"Life is a combination of magic and pasta."

For the month of February, you can download a free celebrity cookbook sponsored by Barilla pasta. For every download, they're donating $1 to Second Harvest, a charity that focuses on eradicating hunger in America. A worthy goal, if a bit ambitious. Eh, at least with the cookbook you can feed yourself!

It all started with Zingo.

When I was in Stockholm this weekend, my friend ordered a soda called "Zingo." It was basically the Swedish version of Fanta, but the amazing thing about it was the bottle it came in:

I immediately thought it would make a great vase. Isn't the label fantastic? Well, Nicole decided she liked it too, so I was Zingo-less. I kept thinking about it though, which led to a frantic trip to the restaurant an hour before we had to catch the bus to the airport. Apparently no other stores sell it in the glass bottle, at least that I could find. Despite the strange looks I got from the waitress when I asked for the bottle with my drink, I was totally pleased with the acquisition.

Also in Stockholm, I happened upon this great ABBA album in a thrift store:Not only is it appropriate for the country, ABBA being natives of Sweden and all, it also matched the Zingo colors perfectly! And a living room design was born. Check out this collection I put together on Picasa:

Multicolored Meditation Hourglass, Anthropologie, $28-58; Old Trunk via Google Images; Life in the Twentieth Century pillow, Urban Outfitters, $28; Chair, Urban Outfitters, $380; Andy Warhol print; Tree picture via Google Images; Alchemy side table, CB2, $249; Tablecloth, Urban Outfitters, $24; White couch, Ikea, $399; ABBA album, thrift store; Zingo bottle, Swedish restaurant; Birds plate, Urban Outfitters, $6; Chandelier, Urban Outfitters, $36; Print, Etsy user: Kissui, $1.20; Floral rug (originally a bathmat), Anthropologie, $48; Colorful quilt, Urban Outfitters, $120

Lovely, no? I totally want an apartment to decorate now...

Personal Philosophy, Part One

"What do I believe? As an American I believe in generosity, in liberty, in the rights of man. These are social and political faiths that are part of me, as they are, I suppose, part of all of us. Such beliefs are easy to express. But part of me too is my relation to all life, my religion. And that is not so easy to talk about. Religious experience is highly intimate and for me, ready words are not at hand." -Adlai Stevenson

All I know about old Adlai Stevenson is that he once ran for president and he was supposedly pretty ugly. Who knew he would sum up my feelings on religion so well? That's a great quote.

"Love was made for you and me..."

Valentine's Day is coming up. I know as a singleton, I'm supposed to be bitter about the fact that I have no one to buy me over-priced roses and candy. Strangely though, I've never hated Valentine's Day. It's a close fourth (to Christmas, the 4th of July, and my birthday) on the list of my favorite holidays. I mean the stores are covered in hearts, everything's suddenly available in red and pink, and it's free license to partake in awesome chocolate (not that I need an excuse...) Anyway, Valentine's is perfectly awesome in my opinion, even if my prince hasn't come. (Though if I have a secret admirer out there, pink and orange roses are my favorite : ) )

In the spirit of the holiday, here's a great thing you can do, whether you're coupled or not. Art2Heart is an organization that arranges an exchange of art produced by Americans with ones created by orphans in India. Basically, you make some sort of painting, drawing, etc, mail it in, and the leader takes it with her on her trip. Then, upon her return, she mails you a piece from your new friend in India. Since Valentine's Day is all about making pretty cards with glitter and crayons, why not create something that could make a kid's day?

Then, with all the good karma you've gained with this move, treat yourself to some pink and red m&ms or perhaps some Cupid Cupcakes!