Every culture needs one

Meet the Persian Richard Simmons!



I about fell off my chair. Thanks to JMC for the tip.

The little things

Both today and yesterday, I have mistakenly put my left contact lens in my right eye, and my right one in my left. As soon as I do this I realize my mistake (my eyes have very different prescriptions) and switch them, of course. But why am I doing this? The lenses have different packaging. I can tell them apart (I'm not that blind). And two days in a row??

I blame finals.

The fate of Project Runway, or one more reason to despise lawyers

The mention a few posts back reminded me that I'm missing my yearly dose of Project Runway! Bravo re-aired season 5 a few weeks ago but wasn't doing anything to promote season 6, which was odd: usually Top Chef and Project Runway alternate, and Top Chef has been over for a while now.

So what gives? Well, there were rumors last year of the show's producers moving it to Lifetime, and they turn out to be true. But apparently Bravo's parent, NBC, isn't happy about that and is suing the producers for breach of contract. The Lifetime got involved, trying to remove the case to federal court (though that didn't work, apparently). And now everything's in limbo, who knows when there'll be a trial, and until the dispute is resolved, the show is on hold. No matter: the top three designers have gone ahead and shown at NY Fashion Week! The whole season has been shot! And it's just sitting there, waiting! Because of lawyers!

I say boo.

"Take the discount or donate?"

I just noticed a new (well, new to me) feature on Slate called "My Goodness" that gives advice on how to make the world better. It's pretty neat, actually, and the latest Q&A was particularly relevant to my life: what to do when supermarket cashiers ask you to donate to charity at checkout. I shop mostly at Whole Foods, and I have dutifully purchased several of those reusable green bags to do my little part for the environment. (Baby steps.) When I go to pay, the cashier asks me whether I want to take a bag deduction--5 or 10 cents per bag--or donate that money to whatever charity is on the menu that day. I almost always take the deduction, and feel just a little bit selfish when I do it. But I figure I'm currently the object of some form of charity myself (in the form of subsidized student loans, where the interest is paid by the good ol' taxpayer), and so long as I'm in the red, I can't really be expected to give to others. Then again, it's just a nickel or two on top of a $100 grocery bill, and not at the cheapest store in town, either. But on the other hand, I did pay for the reusable bags, so maybe I'm entitled to recoup my investment, and then some, before thinking about giving that discount away? And why should Whole Foods get to decide where my money goes, anyway?

Thoughts welcome, as always, in the comments.

Also, pardon the quality of the writing as I get back into the rhythm of this thing. My muscles are atrophied and need some TLC before they work properly again.

Oh, and the strawberries!

You might be curious what happened to that mass of strawberries I bought the other week. (Might be? Of course you're curious! You've been waiting for this your whole life!)

It was actually kind of dumb. A lot of the strawberries went soft and overripe before I got a chance to do anything of substance with them. (Though I did eat at least two pints with just whipped cream. A lot of whipped cream. Yum.) I only had about a pint left to work with. So, I took the easy way out: I baked a cake out of a box in two layers, frosted the whole thing with frosting out of a can, and put cut strawberries in between the layers and on top of the cake. It was tasty, but that's about all I could say for it. I think my classmates enjoyed it, and it looked kinda pretty.

I really don't think baking is my forte. But some time this summer, we will attempt no-knead bread.

Better late than never: the dish

I promised pictures of my walk by the Dish, and here they are.

First things first, here's Dish One:


And here's Dish Two:


The view from the path is really pretty incredible. My photos don't really do it justice.


I climbed this craggly old oak tree.


It was a gorgeous day, and it's been pretty perfect weather every since. So I'm looking forward to going 'round that way again--it makes for better procrastination than Project Runway, fo sho.

In procrastination solidarity

Embedding is disabled, but here's the link. It's nice to have your cynicism soundly defeated once in a while.

Sick day

Oof. This life of hard livin' is catching up to me. You should see the stuff coming out of my nose. It's hot.

Justice Thomas revealed

"I have to admit that I'm one of those people that still thinks the dishwasher is a miracle. What a device! And I have to admit that because I think that way, I like to load it. I like to look in and see how that dishes were magically cleaned."

That sounds like something I would say.

Back, for now

Hi again!

New developments in my life since we spoke last:

1. Spring break ended
2. Moot court ended (at least, my participation in it)
3. I wrote & argued a Fed Lit brief (neither particularly well, in case you're curious)
4. My computer got a new hard drive
5. I picked up said computer (just yesterday!)
6. I walked the Dish for the first time (pictures forthcoming)
   
7. I made frosting for a cake for the first time (not as good as I expected)
8. I bought a flat of strawberries & am trying to figure out what to do with them (suggestions in comments pls?)
9. My new shoes officially mess with my foot and must be returned
10. I cleaned my desk and filed 6 months' worth of papers (!!)
    

There's more than that, but 10 is enough for a catch-up post, I think. Less than a month of school remaining. Taxes to file, resumes to update, clinics to apply for, trails to hike. Lots and lots going on! Hopefully I'll be blogging enough for the next few weeks to capture some of it.

Missed you guys!