The Return of Sweet Valley High

I recently read about the return of the Sweet Valley High books and was caught in that small chasm between my sister and I--I remember the existence of SVH, and that they were hugely popular, but I dont think I was old enough to have really gotten into them. In the mid-eightys I was reading Choose Your Own Advenure Books (which now seem to be represented by a pretty cool website) and writing stories about outer space.


The problem with the return of SWH is the slight tweaks that have been made in the characters in the new editions. In the original series, twins Jessica and Elizabeth were described as being a "pefect size 6"--which, already was a pretty high standard for teen and pre-teen girls. Well now, according to a letter from the publisher printed here on gawker.com, the twins are now described as being a "perfect size 4."

Great, lets get marketing a series to teenagers that only encourages low self-esteem and eating disorders. Way to ruin something great, Random House. It just really makes me sad.

Egg McDementia

Good Morning America and MSNBC both let me know this morning that "belly fat" (a revolting term unto itself) causes dementia, pretty much no matter what. So while I was mourning the loss of the inventor of the Egg McMuffin, Herb Peterson, news which made me both sad and hungry, I was secretly glad that I only had a Luna Bar for breakfast rather than a food item that might produce the dreaded, mind-deteriorating "belly fat". I know that my mind is really the only thing I've got, so I shall do my best to steer clear of dementia as long as I can (because its bound to come at some point).

PS: According to Wikipedia, the Egg McMuffin is the lowest calorie breakfast sandwhich on the McDonalds Menu. Thank you Herb Peterson for providing me with a lifetime of "low" calorie breakfast delights, made not only in your McDonald's kitchen, but in my mother's kitchen and my own; you shall be missed.

Will the Real John McCain Please Stand Up?

Clinton did an awesome job last night and I'm happy for her success (don't worry Obama, you are still my boy). And I'm glad that McCain finally knocked that weirdo Huckabee out of the race (because there ain't nothing closer to mixing church and state than putting a freaky Southern Baptist preacher in the highest office in the land).

The real issue here is that I'm concerned that something happened to McCain...doesn't this "McCain" look like photoshopped version of McCain and his woman?? Seriously. That can't be real. There's no way.

This image from washingtonpost.com just confirms the theory of Doubles that I learned from our local Capital Hill crazy homeless guy Peter who believes that all powerful people have look-alikes for security purposes. (Peter also believes that he sired one or both of Princess Diana's sons while she was living in Kalamazoo, MI and her double was acting in her place in England).

Or maybe its like that movie Dave where the president gets ill and they find some schmuck who looks like him to act as president so not to cause a national panic. Yeah, and then the real McCain is in a nursing home somewhere with the 80.9 year old Pope Benedict and these guys in the spotlight are just look-alikes. I hope a McCain look-alike doesn't win the election...but, well, I guess a look-alike would be better than the real McCain.

Caribou Vs. Starbux

I have long been a rather dedicated coffee drinker--since the days when St. Louis Bread Company (before it was swallowed by Panera Bread in 1994) offered an "all you can drink" cup of coffee than allowed me and my other 12 year old cronies to loiter in the Mall for hours on end. I took a job working at Caribou Coffee in high school and became a passionately devoted customer, although I hit up SBux more frequently out of convenience.


This boring exposition is simply meant to set up a new coffee drink I found today. I'm not sure when it was launched, but perhaps it just arrived in my 7-11.


Bevnet.com only gives the new drink 2.5 stars, which, I guess, is understandable. Its not incredibly delicious, or even unique--but it is made by Caribou, which makes me want to support it. There is a straight Coffee version, a Vanilla version and this slightly stronger Espresso version. I like it, and I feel more awake, which is the reason for purchase. Additionally, at my 7-Eleven it was $1.79 with tax AND only 100 calories and .5 grams of total fat in the can. (Comparable to Starbux Iced Coffee Can which has 100 cals, 1 g of fat in 11oz...and, if memory serves me correctly definitely runs more than 2 bux (hehe)). Either way, give it a try. If nothing else, you'll enjoy the sensation of the shiny 12oz. aluminum can between your fingers.

PS: I'll try to return with some more stimulating blog posts and cute kittens in the coming days. I'm a little fried right now.

Who Doesn't Like MLK?

Although MLK Day is the third Monday of every January, I think that Dr. King deserves a little more focus than just that one day a year. These thoughts were sparked by a poll from Rasmussen Reports from January of 2008 that only 79% of polled people have a favorable opinion of King. Who are these people in the 21% that don't like him? Besides winning the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, the guy did all kinds of awesome stuff. (Additionally, I've always been especially fond of the original Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. But maybe that's a different post.) Its like those folks who don't really care for my boy Abe Lincoln (me and Abe and Barack are from the same hood). Here's a quick history lesson and some information that's new to me about an MLK conspiracy and more current news related to his death. Just FYI.

We all know that James Earl Ray shot King at 6:01 p.m. April 4, 1968.

According to Wikipedia:

"In 1997, Martin Luther King's son Dexter King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a retrial. In 1999, Coretta Scott King, King's widow, along with the rest of King's family, won a wrongful death civil trial against Loyd Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators". Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found Jowers guilty and that "governmental agencies were parties" to the assassination plot. William F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial.

On April 6, 2002, the New York Times reported a church minister, Rev. Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. He stated, 'It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way.'"

Pretty strange huh? We all know that I could write a book about conspiracy theories, so I find this super interesting. Too bad that's already been done. Like, a million times. Go MLK!

I miss you St. Pats.

I really love St. Patricks day and all its Glory (evidence here in photographs), but this year I will experience very little St. Patricks day fun. I will be traveling for work the entire week/weekend before St. Patricks day AND will be in class on St. Pats itself. I will be running a Shamrock Shuffle 8k on the 9th, and for this I plan to color my hair and face green to express my love for the holiday. Because I will practically miss St. Pats this year, I will try to provide some St. Pats fun-facts for you all in the weeks preceding the holiday. This is a fact I just learned at about.com this year that involves Old St. Pat AND Leap Year!!

"Leap Year has been the traditional time that women can propose marriage. In many of today's cultures, it is okay for a woman to propose marriage to a man. Society doesn't look down on such women. However, that hasn't always been the case. When the rules of courtship were stricter, women were only allowed to pop the question on one day every four years. That day was February 29th. It is believed this tradition was started in 5th century Ireland when St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait for so long for a man to propose. According to legend, St. Patrick said the yearning females could propose on this one day in February during the leap year. "

I mean, its cool for gals to propose to their guys all year round, but its interesting that St. Patrick was involved in this sly little agreement. I guess my advice to you all is to propose to your sig other tomorrow...or in 4 years...or, heck...maybe just wait til you are ready. :)

The Meow of Change

Barack Obama recieved the endorsment today of Marmalade Kitties all over the Nation. I wonder how many delegates the kitties have?