Monday, November 30, 2009

TV: Part Two

So I never did get back to everyone about the other shows I watch. Bones, Medium, Numb3rs, CSI and Dollhouse. Well, my last TV post covered Dollhouse. Let's take a moment of silence shall we?

Bones has been interesting. We've been waiting forever for Brennan and Booth to get together even though we know that it will ruin everything. Yet they've managed to get a step closer without getting anywhere near the two of them as a couple. They added a little sizzle with Angela and Wendell. Who saw that coming?

Medium is back to normal. Switching networks didn't do any damage. Sometimes...just sometimes I get a little heated when Joe doesn't take her visions seriously or understand how they work. Sometimes...just sometimes Allison overreacts to what she sees. But I'm happy - and of course that's what counts.

Numb3rs is still living the easy life, still being slightly irritating with the math bites (although they are different now. Yeah, I noticed that change), and still has Fleinhardt doing his weirdness. I'm sort of just waiting for the wedding. And I feel about the same with CSI. Seems like everyone is gone and they are just doing formula. At least I like trying to figure out who did what. They did change things up with the arc.

Oh, and I have to backtrack and say I was wrong about Gretchen - it was Becky. Gretchen still gives me the willies.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Miscellaneous: Word on the Street

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Hope everyone had a wonderful day with family, love, fun, and GAMES!

One game I love to play is Apples to Apples, originally made by Out of the Box Publishing and now owned by Mattel. Well, OotBP has a new game called Word on the Street. It is a low tech and much more fun version of Scrabble in my opinion.

Players ranging from 2 to plenty pit against each other to spell words in a category given by a stack of cards. They must spell only one word that will help them capture letters. The letters are arranged on a "street" with lanes on either side. As the word is spelled, the team pulls the letters toward their side of the street, one move for each time the letter is said. If your team pulls a letter off the street during the spelling of the word, then the letter is yours. The side to get 8 letters wins. And of course you're timed. Check out the play on this game by going here, my favorite place to see how board games are played.

I can think of several friends who would love this game, and it is educational (always a plus for me). Just a warning...don't play this with friends and family who aren't decent spellers. ;)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Men: Greg Vaughn

Name: Greg Vaughan (James Gregory Vaughan Jr.)
Best Known For: Actor, General Hospital
Year of Birth: 1973
Status: Married (Touriya Haoud)
Height: 6'
Fun Fact: He's another guitar player

I watched model turned actor Greg when he was on GH, and I was not impressed. Less so because he took the part previously held by Jonathan Jackson, who I felt played Lucky Spencer well. Suddenly Greg was playing the part with his boyish face and bulky muscles. It just wasn't right. Now that years have gone by he's grown into his muscles and the face isn't boyish anymore. He's such a handsome little devil. :)

But he also got married. C'est la vie.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Chocolate: Endangered Species "Crane"

Out on vacation...still :)... and we stopped in this organic store to get ginger. I was getting car queasy :(. Anyway, they had all those nice organic chocolate bars like Dagoba YUM! So I bought a new brand, Endangered Species, so named because they give 10% of the proceeds to help endangered species. After much thought we chose the crane bar which is milk chocolate with almonds and has a 48% cacao content. It was just right! The right amount of milk with that somewhat dark chocolate taste, crisp break, and wonderful almonds. I've only had two squares (which I plan to rectify after breakfast) so I can't remember how it melted. It also had a very distinct fruity taste to it.

I will buy this again :)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Books: City of Bones

I realized my book post was coming up soon, but work was so...work that I didn't get much time to read. Then I went on vacation. It was the perfect chance to read, but unfortunately I still lacked reading material. I grabbed City of Bones by Michael Connelly off of my MILs bookshelf and then forced myself to read. And I really did force.

I like books that I can't put down and I found myself putting down this book several times or simple getting distracted. The premise is one I usually like...detective gets a case that starts with the finding of the bones of a child. There's some personal angst and things that ruin the detective's focus. Eventually the murderer is found, and there's a few surprises that have nothing to do with the case.

I don't really know if it was the writing style, the mood of his books in general, or the overall flow of the book. It just wasn't what I enjoy. Maybe I would have felt differently if I had begun with the first book - this was the eighth. Regardless, I likely would not recommend this series to anyone, although many of the reviewers who are familiar with series really like it. Make your own decisions.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

TV: NOOOOO!

Fox sucks. Really sucks.

Okay, so right before this posted I watched the last episode of Supernatural. Have I said how utterly delectable Ackles is lately? Anyway, "The Real Ghostbusters" was HIlarious! Laughed so hard..."maybe we should put a bungee on these things." It really served to lighten my mood.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Miscellaneous: Crochet Six

Cute caps I made for my friend's baby shower. The pattern is here. But I modified the pattern for the bunny. Cute, huh?

Monday, November 9, 2009

Men: Matthew Bomer

Name: Matthew Staton Bomer
Best Known For: TV Show, Chuck
Year of Birth: 1977
Status: Single
Height: 5' 11"
Fun Fact: Plays guitar

I've tried to resist. I didn't like Bomer in Chuck - he was evil. I'm not quite warming up to White Collar either - still a little evil. But he's cute. Cute as a button. And really hard to resist.

Now, there's some news in his Wiki that suggests that if I were blonde, big boobed, long legged, and famous enough to catch his eye, that he still wouldn't be interested...if you get my meaning. But that doesn't make him any less pleasing to the eye.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Chocolate: Snickers Fudge

I would like to say my nose led me through the aisles to find this chocolate bar, but that wasn't the case. Whatever, I'm pleased to have found it...Snickers Fudge. The packaging says it's limited edition but it was at the All Candy Expo at the beginning of summer and it had been scheduled for release in August.

A quarter inch layer of peanut butter nougat, a nearly half inch layer of "fudge" with peanuts, all covered with chocolate. At first I was somewhat disappointed in the number of nuts. I guess they figured that since it had peanut butter in the nougat then there didn't need to be many in the fudge. I love peanuts in my chocolate so I'm biased. After several bites the peanut taste was more distinct and I could really taste the fudge. I miss the caramel...I wonder what would happen to the bar with a layer of that?...but the bar is good all on its own.

Only two things would keep me from buying this again: it's price...I rarely just buy a candy bar and for someone who remembered 5 for a $1.00 signs, 50 cents is heartbreaking; and it's size...it is apparently the smallest Snickers bar in the line.

Candy Blog's Review
Candy Addict's Review

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Books: Cake Mix Creations

Taste of Home: Cake Mix Creations

I saw this book and after realizing that the reason "Cake Mix" was in the title was because these cakes aren't made from scratch, I just had to look through it. One of the things I liked immediately was the picture with each recipe. No guessing what the final creation should look like. And the pictures look good enough to eat.

The second thing I noticed was the that the table of contents included recipes for cookies, bars and other desserts. I already have my eye on a couple of the recipes because there are only a couple of other ingredients besides the cake mix. There's also at least 5 trifles - none containing alcohol - which is a big plus with me.

I am dying for an opportunity to bake one of these!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Time

When did getting old happen?

Abraham Lincoln: And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Yes, that is true. Life your life to the fullest and get the most out of everyday. But what if what I really want is to not do much? Will I still feel like I've lived my life to the fullest? I want to believe that I should be just as pleased with my years if I do what I want than if I go skydiving or travel.

"Old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative."
"Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many."

That's also been a problem in my thoughts lately. If I think I'm getting older then so are my parents, my in-laws. Being old isn't so bad when you think of it that way.

Satchel Paige: How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?

I think this is the way I should think about my age. Forget my BMI and the wii Fit giving me grief about my balance or muscle tone. If I didn't say my age, how old would I be?