Men: Matthew Born

A relatively unknown male with a well known body. According to this article, his body became famous overnight. He's now my youngest feature, as the article places him at a birth year of 1985. Let's not get into how old that makes me.

Chocolate: Whole Grain Chocolatey-Filled Cereal Bites

Leave it to me. Send me off to buy foods that are healthy and fit into my 1,800 calorie a day diet, and I will find something with chocolate.

A long time ago, when I bought Short & Sweet, I was exposed to Nutella for the first time. The recipe in the book was for Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse. It was tasty, but had a slight oily texture to it because of the oil in the Nutella. That didn't stop me. I became addicted. Spreading it on mountains of graham crackers was like heaven.

Then one day I overdosed. I haven't had a hankering for Nutella in ages.

Cue my low fat diet. I found Trader Joe's Whole Grain Chocolatey-Filled Cereal Bites. They are whole grain chocolate flavored squares filled with chocolate. Chocolate that tastes like Nutella. It is almost sinful when I sit down for breakfast. My lonely Kashi GOLEAN Crunch! sits on the shelf while I stuff my face with chocolate. I can't eat it often because it does have palm oil in it which is a no-no. But a break now and then can't be all bad.

Books: Books Anyone?

Seriously. I have not read any books really worthy of a post at this time. What I've been doing in my rare spare moments is going on Yahoo! Answers. (Yes, something for a miscellaneous post.) However, one post I answered centered around someone wanting more books like that of his favorite author.

My answer: Look at the book cover and the first few pages inside the cover (front and back.) There are usually reviews of the book by authors that write in the same genre or style. I also go to Amazon and look at what the other customers also bought. After I've written down some names, I can go to the library and check out the books. If I like the series or author, then I might buy them.

You've all seen me ask for suggestions here, but that didn't turn out so well.

So, just my helpful book hint of the day...okay, make that ever.

The 100th Post

This is my 100^th post! And to celebrate I'm breaking tradition, adding a new category, and deluging you with fun and interesting things!

First fun...a list of the Top 100 Websites: Classic and Undiscovered (Click on the blue box at the top left of the article for the category list). These were some I liked:
Group Greeting Cards
Snopes
Oddee, my favorite find, which has some cool stuff like treehouses, strange medical conditions, and wacky classified ads, among others.
Wikipedia and IMDb (both listed in my links)

Next fun...since everyone is jumping on the Christmas bandwagon (yes, I saw Christmas lights in stores over Labor Day) I'm putting in my winter fun. A snowflake maker. B and I spent an afternoon a few years ago making flakes. This led to a snowball fight B downloaded onto my desktop computer. Once you get the hang of it, it can be addictive. I won't give away the ending.

Some interesting links...
Pennies? An interesting look at pennies.
100 Most Often Misspelled Words is good as a reference bookmark.
Time's 2008 list of the Top 100 Most Influential People. I found the first people listed under Heroes & Pioneers verrry interesting.
An article about Monk. The series celebrated it's 100th episode (of course, I watched) on September 5.

This was too funny to pass up...the top 100 April Fool's Day hoaxes. It had me cracking up! Try the message in #18 on page two, the humor in #29 on page three, and the gullibility found in #44 or #47 on page five. #62 talks about an Esquire article in which someone offers free cars. Part of the process required filling out a 600 question survey, providing notarized video rental receipts, and submitting a stool sample. How could you fall for that? Don't read all of them at once! I mean there's 100 of them.

Okay, that's all I've got. Happy 100!

TV: Supernatural

I've been hooked on this show, Supernatural, since the beginning. Although B and I missed some episodes and had to wait for reruns. We had to have something to make up for the lack of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer in our lives. The show is about two brothers, Sam and Dean, who battle against various paranormal demons and creatures.

I have to admit, the first several episodes were like watching a horror movie. I actually cuddled up to B and covered my eyes for a few scenes. One night I was afraid to go to bed (last time that happened was because of a Stephen King book.) But as the series has unfolded, I've developed a spine of steal and the show has become a treat.

For me personally, it certainly helps to have the hunky Jensen Ackles as one of the main characters. The poor thing was stuck in hell after the Season 3 finale. It would take too long to tell how that happened. His brother, played by Jared Padalecki, was supposed to save him this season, Season 4, which began on September 18.

The season premiere was too cool. That description is pretty amazing considering I watched Ackles for most of the show :oD

Miscellaneous: Cake Wrecks

Blogs of Note strikes again! Apparently this blog is popular as it has garnered the attention of B, and he's hard to please when it comes to things I find funny. The blog is hilarious...and sad.

Let's start with hilarious. Cake Wrecks shows cakes that have crashed and burned. One example is a very realistic looking cake of a baby wrapped in a blanket. It just looks too darned realistic...it's creepy. Another is someone's warped interpretation of a camouflage cake. Yet another is a wedding cake gone wrong - so wrong that the blogger says the bride sued. Hopefully she got money for pain and suffering. I've included the comparison photos here.

The sad part is the inability of the cake decorators to read or even question what they write on cakes. If you weren't worried about the school system before...

You know the cake should have five colorful rings. Did you notice that Olympics was spelled Olynpics? Granted, the directions for the cake people likely included areas for color selection or "put exact words on these lines" and then you might have to blame the cake orderers. Really, though. Sad.

Men: Brennan Elliott

Sorry folks, but I've got nothing on Brennan except that he's adorable. You can read a little about him here and get a link to his tv/movie stats. Just enjoy!

Chocolate: Semi-sweet Battle

Scharffen Berger Semi-Sweet 60%

I had two squares of Scharffen Berger SemiSweet Dark Chocolate 60% Cacao. It was like eating giant chocolate chips. It was sweet to start, then a little tangy - what I usually term fruity, and finally slightly woody. The woody is the bitter part of the dark only it wasn't overpowering like the other, darker chocolates. The three parts seemed to mesh quickly. Second opinion.*

Chuao Choroni 61%

I had a few squares of this, one of B's purchases. This one was sweeter than the Scharffen Berger, but when I first put it in my mouth there was a chalky feel. It melted nice and kept the sweet all the way through. It also had a fruity taste, but it wasn't tangy, just sweet. It ended in the woody taste that fits with dark chocolate. I like the sweet enough that I'd get more if it were an option. Second opinion.

I really liked the sweet Chuao. It felt like a little sugar rush. It is also a single origin bar, which means the beans came from one place. Scharffen Berger is just closer to what I'd want in a chocolate chip and therefore is my preferred choice. I'd actually make a trip somewhere to buy it if I craved it.

*Review speaks of 62% bar, but mine was definitely 60%.

Books: Emergency!

At some point I thought I was going to be a doctor. You know, way back when. I love life sciences. So it would come as no surprise that I love watching those operation shows and Trauma, Life in the ER on the TLC. There was this one episode on the other day with a man who fell from a roof and was impaled on a tree branch.

If you can't handle this stuff...STOP READING NOW!




Just is case your eyes catch the first line I'll tell you that the guy was a new father of twins. Okay, the branch went in his bottom and came out just under his rib cage. And it missed his major organs. How lucky can you get? The doctors were mostly worried about infection from the wood splinters.

That brings me to the "Books" part of my post. I found this book and had to have it. Emergency: True Stories from the Nation's ERs. The stories are so interesting. They will make you sad (I hated reading those) and make you laugh. Some will make your jaw drop. Some will make you cringe.

Of course there's the story about the young woman who is having a baby but has never gone further than a kiss. And there's one about making sure your ducks are in a row...the book says "wear clean underwear." There are the stories when you start to wonder if there are aliens on earth trying to figure things out about humans because there really can't be anyone that ignorant.

If you don't decide to get the book (which is highly likely), but might want to read a story or two, parts of the book are available for viewing with Google Books. But to entice you there are two more tree stories. :D

TV: Bones

Premiere week has started, and Bones aired a few nights ago. Bones is a TV show based on the character Temperance Brennan from books written by Kathy Reichs. I became interested in Reichs' books before the show aired. Tempe is a forensic anthropologist in both the US and Canada. Of course she's one of the best in her field. Reichs' books really focus on the nitty gritty of the science and Tempe always gets herself knee deep in the investigation. Reichs herself is a forensic anthropologist and producer of the show.

The TV show doesn't really mesh with the books. I believe the show is supposed to take place before the books, when Tempe was younger. I still like the show for its characters. Seeley Booth, the FBI agent that works with Tempe, is played by David Boreanaz. Boreanaz is better known for his role as Angel, from the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (one of my all time favorite shows). Angel ended up being its own series.

I very much enjoy the relationship between Tempe and Seeley. There is a, dare I say, subtle sexual tension between the two that is never followed through. It leaves you waiting for something that's never going to happen. Another couple on the show is very cute together, Angela Montenegro (Micheala Conlin) and Dr. Jack Hodgins (T.J. Thyne). Thyne played a total nerd, conspiracy theorist, and closet billionaire and suddenly turned into a short Mr. Handsome later on. Not quite my type, but he makes the Angela/Jack relationship cool.

John Francis Daley joined the cast as Dr. Sweets, who is supposed to be helping Seeley and Tempe work through their strange relationship. He turns out to be funny all by himself. Lastly, and the only part I've been bummed about is the other nerd (the show calls these doctors Squints), Dr. Zack Addy. His character ended up being the stunner at the end of last season. Now he's gone.

With all the preliminaries out of the way...H O L Y C O W! What a way to start the season! If you watch Bones, we have to talk.

Miscellaneous: People I Used To Know

This is a strange post for me because I think it fits much better under "Me" posts than "Miscellaneous." Have you ever searched on the Internet for people you used to know? Did you attend any high school reunions? Have you joined Classmates.com hoping to reconnect? Do you have Facebook or MySpace?

I've found several people just by searching the Net. One woman I found was part of a group that tortured me in junior high/middle school. We were friends at first and then she turned on me. She was pretty easy to find through a combination of Classmates and her attendance in a university class that published online. I found the state she lived in, that she had a daughter, and that she wasn't married, all by what I found out online. With that info I got her email.

Okay, I know you are all thinking I'm a stalker. Really I just wanted to see if she would be willing to be friends again. I was so excited when she responded by email and especially when she apologized for her behavior back then. Of course I mentioned her daughter. She flipped out and stopped contact. From what I learned she was afraid of someone finding her. Strange behavior that...putting your life online and not expecting someone to find you. Even now, I know that she is happily married, and I know what she does for a living. I'm glad she's happy.

A little bit of warning here...don't publish too much personal info online. That is one of the reasons I keep my name off my blog. My friends know who I am and I don't need to make a living off my blog like dooce or others. If someone were trying to find me there are other avenues.

Another friend I found was just through email. He didn't post any information online that would give away his personal life. I used a little bit of info from Classmates and made an educated guess. It was great emailing him! He remembered even more about our childhood antics than I did. He hadn't fulfilled all of his goals in life, but was working things out. I was thrilled to make contact! A much happier outcome than that other gal.

Anyway, I found another person, one I have always been on good terms with. I've known her since I was a babe. I have this great picture of the two of us at my third birthday party. Well, she's pretty well known in her circles. Not movie star famous, but known. I've always wished we were able to spend more time together. The last time I saw her was probably more than ten years ago.

I sent her an email and she wrote back! I'm excited that we will be able to get to know each other again.

In my line of work I meet a lot of people. I see them everywhere, at the store, in the mall, at the park, at the repair shop, in restaurants, etc. For some of them I am very curious about their lives now. Did they accomplish the goals they set out to? Are they the successes they wanted to be? How have they changed?

Who have you looked for?

Fit

I did not meet any goals I had of losing weight this summer. :o(

Unfortunately, being fit and healthy (is that redundant?), is no longer optional. I must lose weight and change my diet. So far I've changed all of my grains to whole grain, not just bread. I even made B buy whole grain tortillas for dinner last week.

I've begun the habit of going out to shop every weekend (funny, no one calculates gas money into a healthy diet) so I can get fresh fruits and veggies. I didn't usually buy them because if I wasn't in the mood to eat them they would go bad. The last thing I want to do is throw money away.

I've also settled into my soymilk. Very Vanilla is tasty. I can drink a glass without gagging (like with milk) and it tastes great in banana and strawberry smoothies. A has started stealing some for her cereal in the morning so sometimes I'm surprised with a nearly empty carton.

My last and hardest change has to do with exercise. I didn't get very far this summer. The last time I exercised regularly was with friends. I know that if someone else is counting on me to be somewhere, I will be there. This will be very hard if no one else is there to push me. Don't get me wrong, my BMI is 26. I'm not trying to lose half of myself. But over the next month I'll be trying to figure out how to get that little bit done. Wish me luck!

A special thanks to my friends J and B who came to "visit!"