Let's all do the SMARTY PANTS dance!

What a cutie! Brains & beauty...look out world.

So what about you? Smart or Stoopid?

I have to admit that I took it & came up stupid. Maybe its the headache pounding around my head today...

How United are your States?

When was the last time you thought about the United States? Not the country as a whole, but the actual states & how they are together? How likely are you to be able to correctly place each state in the correct location on a blank map?
Wanna find out? Try this States Puzzle game to see how accurate you are. It lets you know how far off you are IF you place the state in the wrong place. Also it times you so you can challenge yourself to faster scores.

I got an 86% accuracy rating. My average miles off was 49 & it was 180 seconds. Can you beat me?

Wacky Wednesday

I like to laugh at random things. Never would have guessed huh?

As a kid I collected Garbage Pail Kids cards much to my mother's disgust. I still have them in my pile of stuff at my parents.

I had to laugh out loud (yes I actually type that out... call me old school) when I came across Wacky Packages. Enjoy....

What I should be doing....

I am feeling lazy. Actually the laziness has been around for a bit now. I need to get up & do dishes, vacuum, organizes & all that but frankly I don't wanna!

But if I did, I could learn how to clean anything & everything with today's website, How To Clean Stuff.

Ever wonder how to clean your cell phone? Oh yeah you know that thing is DIRTY! It goes with your everywhere.

Know that cashmere NEVER goes in the washer or dryer? Well ok them how do you clean the dang sweaters then?

So should I get crackin? yeah. Will I? Jury is still out on that one!

Ug.. That's Hideous

Why guilty pleasure is it that we get from seeing things that should have never been made? Someone, somewhere down the line had to have thought it was good idea, yet in actual conception it is just a flop & completely laugh worthy!

Like these shoes... WHY?

Why other than for some costume would ANYONE want these? Is there some purpose I don't know of?

Or this?
Really, are you that afraid of going out without your trusty comfort bear? Maybe this is the uniform for the outdoor kiosks of Build-a-Bear?

Find more fashion road kill & ideas that you just hope someone was intoxicated when they came up with at That's Hideous. (Course even IF they were drunken ideas, someone else said "YEAH, let's make those!")

We find the defendant...

So tomorrow I get to do the honor of serving my civic duty... oh yes, I have jury duty.

A few years ago I got called & actually was out of work (college summers) & thought sounds fun, what the heck! Course I didn't get picked. They had too many & drew number to let people go, I was the 4th one called. I was bummed that I didn't get to see how it all works.

Now, well I realize it shall be a day (or more) of being stuck probably bored out of my mind waiting to see who gets picked. Still,... sounds better than a day dealing with my boss's crap.

So if you can't beat it, gotta find humor in it!

Guinness Book

Ever wonder who has the smallest waist on record? Rest assured, its not me! But I have learned that Cathie Jung holds the record at 15 inches - about the size of a typical jar of mayo. She wears a corset daily... all 24 hours of the day! For most of this world, that would qualify as torture, for her its a way of life. I'm glad to have family & friends that stop me when I seem like I'm about to lose my mind!

I remember as a kid devouring copies of the Guinness World Records when ever I came across them on the regular library trips. Dreaming of setting a record of my own one day & what that record could be. Seeing some of the records & wondering why on earth anyone would attempt such a thing!

Now I don't have to wait to go to the library to view the records, they are all online.

So be amazed. Be shocked. Be happy some of those records are not held by you! Then dream of what records you can set.

Cute lil Zzzzzs!

Some days you just need cuteness to counteract the insanity!

Cute Things Falling Asleep.

Bubble Spinner

Oh man.... why do I find these things?

I find a game, such as this Bubble Spinner, & next thing you know I have lost a few hours with NOTHING to show for it. Found this one last night & even got Burgos hooked for a while.

(Warning Wendy.. its addictive!)

Bubble Spinner is like tetris on a ferris wheel! You'll see what I mean!

Enjoy!

T.P. - totally peeved

After a day out & about, I find there is one thing that really pisses me off. I can take cold rain baring down on me as we were exploring shops, I can take the mall closing just when we were getting into shopping, I can even take the screaming kids.... what I hate most is CHEAP TOILET PAPER!

It is EVERYWHERE.

At work, at the mall, at the aquariums, restaurants, everywhere! Seems the big issue with this recession is that now we are subjected to the quality of paper usually reserved for inmates & students! I seriously have to question if some of it is even one ply.

We all use it. Why then is it so cheap?

Also who exactly is in charge of placing the holders? I was in one bathroom today & literally had to reach all the way around & about a foot & a half up while hovering to get even a square of this almost see thru imitationion TP stuff! I'm lucky I didn't fall right in! Why can't these things be conveniently placed? Is that to save money too?

So since it seems society has forgotten how lucky we are to live in a time where we have quality toilet paper at our disposal, I offer up a History of Toilet Paper.

Maybe someone out there will realize its nice to have 2 ply. I don't even mind if you lock it down so people can't steal it, just make it available & easy to reach...PLEASE!

I mean really.... how far can this go? A total regression to by gone days? Gawd I hope not!

Serious Eating,... I'm hungry.

Lately I have been inspired to check out new recipes & dream of making them. Yeah I actually need to stop dreaming & start trying them, but at the moment I am enjoying dreaming of what they would be like (which frankly is better caloric-wise for me at the moment!). Part of this comes from reading my friend's blog & seeing all the delicious pictures of the recipes she attempts successfully as she transitions from typical southern cooking to delicious gluten free (which might sound like a strange statement - delicious AND gluten free??? How the heck does that happen? - but she achieves it all with a grace & style that is simply divine.) So if you want to stimulate your appetite check out Gluten Hates Me but I'm Surviving. Plus I have to highly recommend the New Year's Eve martini recipes! I can say first hand those were absolutely wonderful, especially followed by a few watertinis (water in the fancy martini glass always just seems more decadent!).

Another site I found that makes me drool & almost get my butt up to go cook something, is Serious Eats. Just found it today & am enjoying seeing all the pictures & recipes. Along with the typical recipes & pictures you would expect to find, there is a ton of other food related information.

For now, I'm thinking this will have to be on the menu sometime soon!
Basil Chicken Pasta

- serves 3 or 4 -

Adapted from All Recipes.

Ingredients

8 ounces (1/2 package) pasta
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cubed
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Procedure

1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until it is al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onions and garlic. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, chicken, basil, salt and hot pepper sauce. Reduce heat to medium, and cover skillet. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture is hot and tomatoes are soft.

3. Toss sauce with hot cooked angel hair pasta to coat. Serve with Parmesan cheese

Huh??

私は、これが何を言うかという理解を持っていません！

Yeah - I have no idea what that says!

Thanks to FreeTranslation.com you can communicate in many ways you couldn't before. You just take a phrase, word or whatever & type it in English, or whatever your language of choice is. Then you chose which language you want it translated into & Wha-la..... you now speak Japanese.

Ok maybe not, but its still fun to play around with!


& that actually is supposed to say "I have no idea what this says!"

Wanna bet you can lose weight?

Need more motivation to lose weight? Feeling a bit competitive about it?

Try FatBet.net. I double dog dare yah... ha ha

There you can get together with a group of friends, coworkers, etc. & together you can make a bet to see who can reach their goal in weight loss. No one seems anyone else's actual weight, just the change in pounds. At the end of the bet, the ones who win get paid the amount waged by the losers (or the ones who ended up not losing...).

So go on. Can you win? You bet your arse you can! ;)

Give A Little Bit

Giving to others has always been a part of my life. Its something that I am lucky enough to have learned at a young age just makes you feel wonderful.

Be it helping a stranger, passing on a compliment or a smile, volunteering or donating, there is just something special about being able to help others. Improving the world around us in some way or another.

So the site today is Charity Navigator.

For those who are too pressed for time to donate time & would rather make a monetary donation, it can help you see where your money is going. Even for those who are looking for a worthy group to volunteer with it can help.

Check it out & see how some of your favorite organizations are doing.

No matter what, take a few moments & show you care... in some way. It might just make you smile... which as they said in one of my favorite movies, smiling could "increase your face value!".

What Reading Level is Your Blog?

As many of the readers online also seem to blog themselves, today's site is for the bloggers.

Its the Blog Readability Test. Simply supply your blog's address & it will tell you the level your blog is at.

This one... well...

But we already knew we were all geniuses anyway, right? ;)

It All Starts With A Spark

As many of us are wishfully hoping this year will bring smaller waistlines, looser clothing & lower numbers on the scales, I thought it might be a great time to post about Sparkpeople.


This site is a great source of information & motivation. You can get recipes, menu suggestion or upload whatever you ate & track your food intake. You can track your actions to see how many calories you are burning. You can create a myspace like profile & gain support from people in similar situations, be they location, pounds wishing to lose, age, or whatever.

Some of the motivation comes from gaining points for activities. Some are as simple as logging on or spinning the point wheel. Others come from tracking food or glasses of water, or meeting other goals.

I haven't tried the online version of weight watchers, but I did have a friend tell me Sparkpeople is incredible similar, only with more options to customize it to fit your life. Oh & unlike the other system, its completely free!

So give it a shot if you are interested in better health.

& good luck!

Be Brave, not Beige

Ok. I admit it. I just spent 30 minutes virtually decorating someone else's room.

& so can you.

Be Brave Not Beige is Ikea's interactive site that invites you to try on some color punching items on their bland apartment. While the choices are limited to what they offer (which is way to limiting for me!) its interesting to see the combinations & just how much one piece can impact the rest of the room.

(& sorry for not posting yesterday, I came home talked a little with Burgos & we both ended up passing out BEFORE 6pm! Weird.)

Go speed typeracer

One of the things on my list of things to accomplish this year is to improve my typing.

I'm current at around 45 per minute but my goal is to reach 70 WPM by the end of 2009.

Not only will it give me a sense of accomplishment it will add a great skill to my resume & make things easy as I blog & work. Win - win goal to me.

While learning to type can be a challenge, I also wanted it to be a fun challenge. Long gone are the days of sitting in a stuffy classroom listening to the teacher call out words as we posed fingers perched in the correct positions hovered over the "home keys".

A few years back I purchased a discounted copy of Mavis Beacon's typing software. This was fun at first but I soon tired of it & have no clue where the CD is at this point.

Today I came across a website, Typerace.com, that takes quotes from pop culture rather than the standard strange phrases used elsewhere. It also adds a competitive element to practice. You sign in & race against others who are typing the same phrase. Win some, lose some, but it certainly helps you to get going as fast as you can. I even made it up to 49 WPM! A nice start to my goal.

The one thing I would change about this program is that it only shows the current word you are typing. The phrase you are working on typing is shown in entirety the whole time, but only the current word you are typing is displayed in your box. Sort of threw me off. Not sure why, but I would rather see all of what I have typed the same way you see the whole phrase above.

Overall, its a fun game to try & you are improving skills while wasting time on the computer! :)

Whack Your Boss

Wow! I think I have found someone who clearly is more piss off at their boss than I am!

I give you WhackYourBoss.com. See if you can find all 14 ways to kill the boss hidden in the cubicle.

I feel much better.


Thankfully I have no desire (or condone) harming any bosses, but visual stress relief can be fun now & then.

Bird's Eye View

Its National Bird Day, so of course this is another site about birds. :)

I found a website for the DVD series the Life of Birds. I am dying to get this series & watch it. The website has really peaked my interest.

I watched The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill a few months back & loved watching & getting to know the birds. I highly recommend this if you haven't already seen it. Its a great documentary that really pulls the heart strings.

Another great documentary that I highly suggest is Nature's Parrots: Look Who's Talking. Alan Alda host this show which features an appearance of one of my favorite birds in the world, who pass away last year, Alex the African Grey. He is amazing. Irene Pepperburg worked with him for many years & her research as enabled us to better understand just how amazingly intelligent these birds are. If you aren't already familiar with Alex, watch the clip below.

Yes, he was one smart bird.

All of these movies can be watched instantly if you have Netflix.

National Bird Day!

Tomorrow is National Bird Day! A time to celebrate our fine feathered friends in all their glory, be it the ones that visit your yard or those that have joined your family.

Birds are such unique creatures that are intelligent, beautiful & have some of the biggest personalities out there. Anyone who has ever taken the time to relax & watch them can agree that they provide entertainment & insight into life.

My parents enjoy several bird feeders located all over their yard. Their favorite is the one suction cupped on to the window in their kitchen. Wild birds of all sorts make an upclose appearance daily which delights them as they do the more mundane things like wash their hands or cook lunch. Another favorite for them is the hummingbird feeder, where they can watch as the lil mini helicopter like colorful blurs sip the nectar. Finchs are another great event for them. All the various colors & the ensuing game of what type is that one can lead to hours of conversation & fun.
Bongo is affectionately known as my "Blue Bird of Happiness". He has shown me how wonderful life can be with a bird in it. While I still wish I had been able to find a budgie that needed a new home rather that the pet store purchase, I never regret bringing him home. He's love & daily antics inspire me. He makes me laugh & makes me feel so loved.
Take a moment on January 5, tomorrow to think about how amazing the birds of the world are. Spend some time outside listening to the songs, maybe celebrate by setting up a feeder of your own to help attract local birds.

Here are some pictures of birds that make me smile.

This crew can be found in Brooklyn!

Wild parrots in Brooklyn? Yup.
Learn more about these birds at Brooklyn Parrots.

How Stuff Works

Its been a really long day for me.

One of the things that always brightens my day is birds. In general just the sight of them. In particular, my sweet lil budgie, Bongo.

I'm longing to add more birds to my life. Ever time I get in a pet store I end up wishing I was paid up on all my debt & had enough extra money to affor the large cages & everything else needed to adopt another bird. I long to volunteer with a avian rescue group, but can't seem to find one locally. This just makes me wish I had more space in my house, extra cash & time to start one up. So I dream. Its a great escape from reality.

Googling pet parrots lead me to a site that I like to go on now & then, How Stuff Works. Its a very informative site that answers tons of those off the wall questions that just pop in your head. I love listening to the podcast regularly. Ever wonder how reverse osmosis works? or what would happen if you crossed your eyes for 10 minutes? how about why more women than men have migraines? Will a turkey really drown if it looks up in a rainstorm? Those answers and MANY more can all be found at How Stuff Works.

Unsure about just what you are wondering about? Try the random button at the top right hand side of the screen. You are sure to learn something you didn't know! :)

the Funnies

One thing I miss about getting my news primarily from the internet & TV, is the comics that come in each newspaper. My dad is an avid comic reader & is sure to save any really great ones for me to see when he knows I am coming in for a visit. Still I do miss that unique take on life that only comes in cartoon form now & then.

Now I don't need to miss it. Gocomics.com is a great site that enables us to see many of the same cartoons in newspapers online. They have all the typical greats like Garfield, Ziggy & Frank & Ernest. Plus they have plenty of ones that were new to me! There is certainly something for everyone.

2008 in Review

The geniuses at JibJab never seem to disappoint. They are incredible at making funny & reverent clips about anything & everything.

Some of the best have been their year in review clips.

So today's site of the day is 2008 in review.

Enjoy.

Cheers to 2009! Hope it treats you divine.