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The Latest and Greatest

What I'm Digging
After having about 3 pairs of wireless headphones BREAK on me after about 18 months of use, I have replaced them with a bluetooth transmitter and bluetooth headphones. They are very light and nice to run with and hopefully when the headphones give up the ghost, I'll only have to replace one piece (at half the cost?).

Have y'all seen Craigslist Desktop? It is so cool! It's a desktop application (run on Adobe Air) that you can use to browse Craigslist … visually … like Amazon. It also allows you to save your searches, so you can come back day after day and look for new listings. Awesome!!

What I'm Watching
Make it or Break It is currently just about the only show I'm watching on a weekly basis. I find it to be very motivating while I run on the treadmill. It's an excellent mix of athleticism, catty girl-fights and good music.

As I work, I been catching snippets of The Winter Olympics. I love the cheesy drama of it all, and the possibility that Russian skaters might fall and cry. That, my friends, makes for fine TV.

I also picked up Big Love Season 2 from the library yesterday. Hopefully I will find time to watch it instead of letting it sit around 3 weeks and eventually start accumulating late fines (sorry Pushing Daisies Season 2). Continue reading “The Latest and Greatest”

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Say It Ain't So

I have just finished reading Michael Pollan's brilliant tome, In Defense of Food. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. It gives profound testimony to the notion that we are what we eat and we are eating some CRAP. He cites example after example of a population's health deteriorating only after being introduced to a diet of processed western foods.

While I enjoyed it and it definitely made me re-examine what I'm eating (and what my family is eating), some of its assertions were (forgive the pun) hard to swallow. Contained in its depths, is a narrative about how the modern American family has dinner: Mom makes (or nukes) something for herself, and dad and the kids rotate through the kitchen, nuking various prepared food items for themselves. Whole foods don't really exist, nor does the family dinner hour.

I did a quick, unscientific survey via Facebook. Most everyone said sure they eat the occasional box of mac 'n' cheese, but overall, it is the “norm” to make a home-cooked meal and sit down together as a family. I am relieved, but wonder if it is based on demographics. Because, as a couple of people responded, “Have you ever seen the crap other people put in their grocery carts??” I have seen this and done a silent head-shake too. I don't mean to be judgmental, but I kind of am …

And there is lots for someone else to be judgmental of my eating habits as well. Overall, I fancy I do pretty well. We eat dinner at home at least 4x/week (usually more) and those are usually very healthful meals and increasingly meatless in nature. Fast food is an occasional indulgence, usually when we are out, and things take too long and Tabby (or one of us) is about to melt-down if she doesn't get something to eat RIGHT.NOW. We do have some TV dinners lurking in the freezer. I tend to take them for lunch when dinner doesn't produce leftovers and there is nothing else I can slap together. But it is readily evident how infrequently this happens when I go to open one and the sucker is freezer-burned all to hell. You will also find an array of “snacks” in our pantry and I have a diet soda or two almost every day (despite knowing that it's not good for me and I really should stop).

For my own part, I am re-committing to healthy food. I am going to try my hardest to get the food-products (junk) out of my diet and our house, including making more things from scratch and using better meat, even if it means less.

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A Duh Moment

I'm sure you've heard by now that Disney is issuing refunds for Baby Einstein Videos. And my honest reaction? I think the whole thing is a little insulting to parents' intelligence.

I don't know about you, but I never assumed the DVDs did anything but entertain. We own quite a few and they have played a key role in my ability to get a shower, get dinner on the table and complete an important phone call now and again. Neither of our kids has gotten a steady diet of them (maybe watching 2-3 per week) and I honestly do not see the harm. Maybe in the perfect world, there would be no TV for the under 2 set, or no TV for anyone period. But here in reality, they entertain my kids for a few minutes and I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.

And in general, I honestly find TV to be at least somewhat beneficial. Tabby knows tons of music terms from Little Einstein (and uses them in her every-day speech and pretend) and a respectable amount of Spanish from Dora (the child counted to 10 in Spanish correctly before English! and it's not like we weren't encouraging her in English). Of course it doesn't replace things like puzzles or books … largely, in my opinion because they frequently have the added component of parental interaction. And I can't quite see the logic behind the people that are so militantly against TV. Sure I've heard the studies, but there is a big gap between correlation and causality. For me, another old adage works well here and in most situations: Everything in moderation, including moderation.

So I will not be asking for my money back. As far as I'm concerned, I got what I paid for … a little entertainment for my kids.

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Top Chef

Top Chef is a big fave in our house. I think probably because Matt and I both like it and really enjoy watching it together. Aside from cooking shows and Myth Busters, we don't have a lot of TV overlap (actually, Matt hardly watches TV at all).

So last night we sat down to watch the final episode and much like the rest of this season, I wasn't loving the challenge. The whole season has felt a bit uninspired what with these goofy Quaker Oats and Diet Dr. Pepper challenges. It was sort of a snore to have them cook whatever they wanted, especially since they couldn't really do that when they didn't get to go shopping for ingredients. It would have been such a kick to see them out and about in NO, hitting Farmer's markets (in their Toyota Venzas, no doubt), but they were confined to the contents of the walk-ins. *yawn* Despite the lackluster challenge rules, I did enjoy the episode overall and I liked the appetizer being thrown in.

At the onset of the evening, I would never have picked Hosea to win. He seems talented and steady and even though he's stepped it up a bit towards the end, he's never really shone brightly in my mind. My money might've been on Stefan and my hopes for Carla. Carla was completely the biggest disappointment. I felt like she caved under pressure and let herself be led astray by her sous chef. It was terribly disappointing when she'd been so strong before … and sorry … cheese tart sounds much tastier than bleu cheese souffle.

Stefan sounded like he put in a pretty solid performance but worked too hard to put in the expected dessert rather than doing something to show off his strengths as a chef. It was over for him in my mind when his buddy Fabio thought Hosea had done better … Fabio didn't seem terribly objective in the past.

Hosea I think played the smartest game. I am sure he's a very talented chef (and he's our Hometown guy), but I don't necessarily think he was the most talented chef there. He was the smartest player there and it seemed like he had a lot of heart in it … he never gave up (even with that nasty eel). He focused on cooking what he cooked well and making sure his dishes left the judges with the best taste possible in their mouths.

Was Hosea the strongest chef throughout the season? Doubtful. But he was the strongest chef on the night when it counted most. I didn't love this season like I did last, but I definitely won't be packing up my knives just yet.

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Let's Go to the Movies

While at a baby boutique checking out the Phil & Ted jogger, we were presented with free passes to go see Baby Mama. For Tues night. I am not a big fan of doing this sort of thing on a weeknight because they're busy enough and we have to find a babysitter, etc. etc.

Buuuut … I wanted to see this movie. A lot. I love Tina Fey … and Amy Poehler and the plot line intrigued me. My dad and sister were kind enough to watch Ms. Tabby and we brought my mom along and had a great time. It lived up to – even exceeded – my expecations. I had no idea Steve Martin was going to show up as the CEO of a Whole-Foods-Like chain with long grey hair and an over-the-top (in the best sort of way) hippy dippy persona. The dialogue was good and really funny. And the story had some unexpected twists and turns that made it really fun.

I highly recommend you see this movie … it's due out on Friday!

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What I'm Reading/Listening To

I have a simple new rule about reading books … novels in paticular. I don't really bother unless I can get them on CD. I have delusions of grandjeur … reading a half hour every night before bed, but generally I'm scrambling to get something else together and it just doesn't happen. The Baby Whisperer's toddler book has been sitting on my nighstand for weeks. I was making good progress then I got all caught up in the party and poof … I've been in chapter 4 for a couple of weeks now. But I've been doing great with the books on CD. I listen to them in the car (30 min commute) and then at work while I'm programming.

Recently I've completed:
* The Namesake: a story about Indian immigrants and their children in America and their experiences assimilating
* Animal Vegetable Miracle: adventures in eating locally (as previously discussed)
* Angels: an Irish woman takes a break from her rocky marriage in Hollywood
… and a few others slightly less recently.

Currently, I'm reading In the Woods, by Tana French. This is a really great thriller with really well-developed characters and I'm on the edge of my seat trying to figure out whodunnit. It's wrapped up really tight and I've got no clue whatsoever. Oooh … I'm almost anxious for the morning commute just so I can hear what happens next.

A bunch of you are my friends on Good Reads (and those of you who aren't, please look me up!), but for those of you who aren't (or even who are), what books have you recently or are you currently enjoying?

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Let Are Kids Walk

I first saw this posted on digg.com and just had to comment here. According to WFAA-TV, the Forth Worth, TX school district is currently blocking seniors who did not pass the TAKS test (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam) from walking at their graduation. I won’t comment whether that is right or wrong but I will say this. If you’re going to picket the school district headquarters to protest, please, please, please proof read your protest poster (Story Here). Who ever at WFAA.com picked the photo must have had a really good eye and a really good sense of humor.

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WOOHOO! Harry Potter 7-21-07


Well kids, you heard it here first … actually, you prolly didn't since it's been everywhere since I got up this morning … Harry Potter #7 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows) is due out this summer. Just in time for my b'day! Yay!!!

In other news, I fear I am becoming addicted to strawberry cream cheese. Yum.

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The Pants are Back

On Tuesday, the last book from one of my all-time favorite series of books was released: the fourth book in the Traveling Pants series. Needless to say, I picked it up after work and had it finished before bedtime.

I hated for the series to end, but the author knew when and how to end it and did it in a really authentic and satisfying way. She didn't play any cheap tricks like so many authors, paticularly of teen series play … especially drawing what should be one book into three or four and covering increasingly small periods of time. She stuck true to the format and true to the spirit of the stories and I know I will continue to re-read this series over and over in years to come.

I won't go too much into the plot because I really don't want to ruin any of it, but I will encourage you and possibly badger you if I know you well … if you are a girl (sorry to be sexist) you must READ THESE BOOKS. They are wonderful and well worth your time.