Budget Hero

saved us for 13 yrs, but appearently I believe in big government.

I have an obsession.

Several actually.
Google reader is a problem.

It lets me indulge my feminist "they're out to get us and we must fight back" side.

It keeps me in the loop on the growing train wreck that is the election. And Sarah Palin, who I'm mildly obsessed with.

It lets me spend too long looking at items for the wedding and reception I am having (ok sort of) and the wedding(s) I would have if I was given $50,000 with serious strings attached (eg, could only spend on the wedding itself).

Maybe after the festivities are over I'll try some of the recipes I've been ignoring.

(P.S. Woj, this is for you.)

good housekeeping

This (little gem of a guide) is also printed (almost word for word) in an encyclopedia style cookbook my mom has (which has some really good, but really time consuming recipes). It was her mom's.

My favorite line is "he is master of the house...you have no right to quesiton him". Did women of the 50's really not cringe at that?

google reader

If google ever crashes, I might cry. Scratch that. Will cry.

Between gmail, gchat, picasa, google docs, and now google reader....A lot of my life is on their server, somewhere in the wild internet (where exactly DOES internet mail get hosted anyway? Do I WANT to look this up?). Google reader is amazing though. One glance, and I can see what new news there is, read about Katy's latest adventure, see new recipes. Amazing.

What Not to Wear

I don't have cable right now, and I miss this show a lot.

However, regular trips to the LAFitness on City Ave keep me in full supply of the best part of the show, the clips of horrible and/or horribly fitting clothes. Now, I understand...its a gym...you're (theoretically) working out, sweaty, and not in your finest. I am not a matching-outfits-at-the-gym type, and don't expect anyone else to be. That being said, let's discuss some of this past week's finest:

• The shorts over leggings look. I generally disapprove of leggings, except for running outside and yoga, but I know they're in style so I try to give this a bye. And I know people with hip anxiety sometimes do this for coverage. However, there's nothing stylish or concealing about wearing gray soffee shorts that fit you more like Brazilian cut panties than shorts over black leggings. Sadly, the girl who wears this to the gym also likes...
• Showing off the belly button. As is likely to be agreed by anyone who has ever worked an event at the Tweeter Center, any shirt through which a casual observer can clearly see your belly button (especially if there's no piercing to draw attention to it) is way too tight. Which brings me to...
• Spandex. Just because it can stretch enough to fit you does not mean you should wear it. This is even more important for non-spandex materials.
• The short short. On males. New Years Resolution time draws a lot of people to the gym who haven't worked out since college. If you attended college in 1983, it is best to invest in new shorts, even if the old ones still fit. This will prevent people from thinking - even for a split second - that you borrowed your 16 year old daughter's cheerleading shorts.

2008

Going back to work after 12 days off stinks.

However, being off the entire week of Christmas is kind of sweet.

A Katy Rank Moment

I was in the parking lot at the new Target, and there's a brand new sign that reads:

OTHERSTORES ->
Other Properly Spaced Words ->

I almost called Mrs. Lev to vent my complaint to someone who would understand. Aren't there people who proof these things?

got these in my email

And I love them.

Where was this mousetrap when I needed it? And I thought mice didn't actually like cheese because of the sugar content...was that some mice-preserving LIE when we were told to use peanut butter?? hmm....

And this is simply a PSA (ignore the unpleasant wording). Really, you don't look cool and it takes a lot of my self-control to not fix it for you.

doing it

I beat Katie Holmes by over an hour at the NYC Marathon, which I think is awesome (in part because I assume she has access to trainers and such that I don't have!). Amazing experience, but I wouldn't make running my sole extracurricular. Too solo (obviously). Everyone around you at the finish line is concerned with themselves, and not that excited about your accomplishment as a group.

That being said, I'm wearing my medal to work tomorrow. And did enjoy the random congrats from strangers on the sidewalk in NY.

Peacocks in the city

There's a peacock that lives on the west side of the Schuylkill River. I think it a female, since its not too brightly colored. I've seen it a few times, and every time I wonder how it got there. Did it escape from the zoo? I don't think they can fly (though Wikipedia oddly doesn't mention it). I'm starting to wonder if it was placed there in an effort to reguvinate the wildlife of Fairmount Park. It does have an ankle bracelet. Sounds like an obvious plan to me...use your limited park maintenance budget to bring in a fancy bird or two to break the monoteny of all the geese!!

Other sightings in the park:
~ Guy on bike with gun. While stopping at a water fountain during my short jog last night, I noticed two guys on bikes riding into the parking lot. They looked average enough, like Joe 20-Somethings Who Played High School Football and now are a little chubby and leisurely biking the city in their Random College Sports Team tees for exercise. Then one wiped his face on his shirt, exposing his gun. After mildly panicing for about 20 seconds, I also realized they both had on headsets and radios, and that there's a police substation in the side of the boathouse I was in front of. OK, so glad they're patrolling the park, but shouldn't bike cops look a little...fitter?

~ Woman jogging in a bikini top. Spandex shorts, fuel belt (how people run with these I have no idea), Ipod, and string bikini top...Granted, she wasn't well endowed, but I'm not either and I don't think a triangle top with a tie in the back and at the neck offers sufficient support. Then again, the only fat on my body was what's in said top, maybe I'd feel differently. Or maybe not.

Commentary

I have yet to figure out why some males (I say males because I've never seen a female to do) think it is OK to make random comments/yells/give advice to total strangers. Some gems from various dates as of late:

From a car on Kelly Drive:
Run Faster Fatass

Guy on stoop on the walk home from Kelly Drive (different day):
You don't need to sweat so much, you look fine as it is in those pants!

On the walk home from Kelly Drive (different day):
Random Guy 1 at Gas Station: I need to run too. Will you take me on your trail?
Random Guy 2 (noting 1 was ignored): Hey, I don't think she knows what you mean by trail.
Random Guy 1: I want to go on the trail, come on, take me on your sweet ass trail!

Balding guy in convertible as I walked to work:
Nice ass!
(side note, I thought, somehow, he said nice bag and was being sarcastic about my lovely canvas shoulder sack filled with shoes, a sweater, lunch etc., until he turned the corner and waved to me and I realized the sad truth.)

And my favorite...
Random Middle Aged Jogger passing me on the Off part of a HIIT series:
You know, you could run for longer if you slowed down.

rolling rolling rolling

Today I drove to work in an effort to ease my trip to and from our fundraiser at the Linc tonight...so I had to pay a ridiculous fee to park on campus...I accept this today, sheerly because of the amusement factor of the parking garage.

It has a 7.5 MPH speed limit.

Does your car show 0.5 mph increments? Mine barely shows 1 mph increments.

Maybe I'm tired, but that was really funny at 7:52 this morning.

Also amusing, this garage must have the only 7.5 mph speed limit signs in the world, because a search for google images didn't turn one up! But I love this cartoon!

Are you kidding me?

Do people really base their dinner choices on their conception of what their date will think?

"red meat on a date has become such an effective statement of self-acceptance"

"Hamburgers, she added, say you are down-to-earth"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/fashion/09STEAK.html?em&ex=1186804800&en=f269f7a170e39f66&ei=5087%0A

I have never given my order thought beyond a) what do i want and b) will this make a mess and on occassion, c) will this reheat well...

The Poor Constitution

Actually, I'm not exactly sure how this falls with the seperation of church and state, since technically, the government doesn't control the media. (But this article is referencing newspapers in Texas. I can't help but have some leaping conclusions).

I don't even know what to say, aside from quoting a quote in the article: "Do you have any idea how blatantly offensive this boneheaded move is to the thinking public?” I am somewhat amused, although not suprised, at the 'Christian' backlash/fear of Bibles being disgarded.

And to answer the question at the end: Yes, I do mind getting AOL Disks. Who uses AOL anymore? Such a waste of plastic.

On a side note (its on my mind because someone referenced it on NPR the other day), lets remember that these Bible Belt folks who keep talking about the importance of keeping "family" life "traditional," have a significantly higher divorce rate than us heathen-area-dwellers.

Lastly, lets give a bit of props to the Pope, who is appearently at least slightly openminded/logical and is hopping a little bit on the Go Green bandwagon. (Side note: He's been "spending his time reading and walking scenic landscape"? How is this relevant to the article? And doesn't a (sort of, depending on how you look at it) world leader have...things to do?)

how can you not love this?

I don't know how Katy found this, but I LOVE it (how can I not? cookies!)

Higher Ed makes GAWKER

History in the making. And a great read for higher ed dorks (And love to the write in vote for those of us who took "Administration of Student Life/Why XXX Thinks Everyone Should Go To A Small, Very Expensive Liberal Arts College").
For extra amusement, check out the original poll.

Also, the TIME article on Obesity and HE would be more interesting if it tied in socioeconomic status. For some reason, I think obesity rates increase as income drops. But, confirming that could blow the article, since we all know college going drops almost exponentially with income.

Ok, I'm done being a nerd for this afternoon.

Addendum:
There's a good discussion on this topic HERE, Thanks Em!!

How do you know you're an adult?

I have found two clear lines:

1) Cool summer weather is not disappointing, but a blessing (especially when it falls on moving day). Doesn't matter to me if its 60 degrees out at night and the pool water is getting chilly. I haven't even been in a pool (well, a non-hotel pool) all summer. Or last summer. And weather in the 70s? OK!

2) You need movers. There is a point in everyone's life when its just not practical anymore to scrounge up friends/acquaintances/anyone you know who likes beer and pizza enough to haul boxes and furniture out of one apartment and into another. This point is clearly demarkated when said friends would hate you forever after spending their entire day on said move (especially when it involves two flights of steep, narrow stairs and a pretty substantial amount of furniture that has never seen a dorm room).

Hello late-20s.

On Traffic.

I've gotten spoiled having moved out of the NY Metro area. I don't content with serious traffic on a daily basis anymore. But yesterday...karma, or something like it, bit me. After an 18 hr flight (plus 2 hours check in/exit customs and and hour luggage collection/entrance customs), I got to chill outside JFK with my bags and about 20 people waiting to pick up their relatives from some (presumably Caribbean) location while my parents meandered for two hours through early morning rush hour (why they didn't leave prior to 7:30 am, when I called to tell them I was through customs, I have no idea). Then we took a two hour ride for the 18 miles home. I bummed around for a while, had lunch and a pedicure, and saw my grandmother, who gave me six bags of Chips Ahoy. I managed talk her out of the Ensure. (I'm not sure if just doesn't like it much, and has it because the doctor recommended it for her to put some weight back on, or if she really thinks I could possibly have a need for it, in which case she needs some glasses.) And I got on the road to PA at 2:50 pm, thinking I'd miss the traffic and slide into Philly well before 5...

Not so much. The day turned into a even crueler joke of the roads, beginning with a ten mile backup from an overturned dump trunk on the turnpike. 3.5 hours later, I made it to my new apt to sign the lease, and then sat in construction for another 90 min to go to my till-next-Monday-abode. Sweet.

But this time in traffic did have some positive yields:

1) Apparently there's fake cows out there somewhere. The Cream-O-Land truck's graphic (sadly somewhat hard to view on their website) clearly says their product is made from "real cows," leading to me question where the rest of our milk is coming from. Perhaps I should be buying organic, or I'm risking milk from...fake cows??

2) I saw a billboard for 1060AM. So, it turns out, there IS a Philadelphia equivalent of 1010WINS, one of the few NY things I miss. It even has a "give us 22 minutes we'll give you the world" thing going on (Both are CBS radio stations though, so I guess its not slogan-theft). While I am very pleased with this find, they need to recruit less grating announcers.

off off and away

I leave for South Africa tomorrow night. Actually, I'm driving up to NJ tonight and South Africa at 5:20 tomorrow night. For some reason I am unaware of, we're supposed to be at the airport 3 hours prior to departure. Since the traffic to JFK can be horrid, my poor dad is taking the day off to drive me and one of my cohort/co-travelers to the airport. I'm reasonably sure that if we leave at noon we'll be there by 2, but poor Dad is going to hit serious Friday afternoon traffic leaving the city. Oh well.

I also just found out this guy I went to college with is going to some sort of rugby camp in Durban the same time I'll be there. Our paths won't cross, since I'll be in Cape Town and Johannesburg, but its still sort of cool. (Not that having half of my cohort come on the trip isn't cool too!!)

I'm really excited. It took a while. This has been in the works for so long, its almost snuck up on me. I've spent a good portion of today printing out our "recommended readings" to read on the plane, since that just hasn't happened. At least I finished Mandela's autobiography...and I did manage to pack without staying up half the night (probably over pack at that). I'm pretty convinced I forgot something though. I don't need contacts anymore, so its not that. My passport and tickets are in my purse, so not that...my earrings are lost at the gym (so I might buy myself a present abroad!)...I know my camera and charger is in my backpack along with the converter, and my roommate is bringing an Ipod plug and a blackberry (eek, but could be useful)...oh well. Not like I'm going on Safari.

On a side note, lets note how not flat South Africa is...I was reading a little blurb recently about a woman who set a new world record for time (as in total days) to run a marathon on every continent. She remarked that the Soweto (just outside Johannesburg) marathon was not only crazily hot, but also really hilly. Runners World mag also did a write up on the Comrades Marathon recently. Its not actually a marathon, but an ultra -- 50+ miles and HILLY, hills that according to the article, dwarf Boston's Heartbreak Hill. Scary. The elite take 6 hrs to finish, and the training programs on the site aim for sub-9hr and sub-11hr. I'll pass, thanks :)

oh, prom

I had an interesting discussion with an old friend last night, who was lamenting the fact that the majority of her friends have gone from single to married/otherwise seriously involved in the past two years. While that's only about 50% true (and hence more of a perception), my arguement that its not a factor of said friends 'changing' but a factor of the fact that said friends are in their mid-20s+ fell on deaf ears.

Anyway, the less frustrating part of the conversation turned to her randomly running into my HS prom (and date-night) date at some corporate drinks event. Appearently he's going to Harvard Business School next year and got married recently. And I saw this card on Postsecret this morning, and kind of want to send it to him to see if he knew. But I don't have his email (and haven't seen the guy in 8 years, aside from 5 min at the Thanksgiving football game a couple years back), so obviously I can't. Oh well :)