Life

Annals of Disturbing Polling Results

From the Nutrisystem Diet Index (TM) comes some truly frightening findings regarding Americans’ attitudes toward weight loss.  In national surveys, over half of women said they’d rather give up sex for a summer than gain 10 pounds. more people said they’d prefer to lose 10-20 lbs than get a promotion. almost 3/4 of respondents reported that they would give up television, cell phone, or computer “for a  flat tummy this beach season.” Really?  Really?  Like many people (women especially), I’m not 100% satisfied with my weight, but I think that would be true no matter how much...

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It's International Beer Day! Thank Jimmy Carter!

SEE UPDATE/CORRECTION BELOW Today is International Beer Day,* and if you’re a lover of fine micro-brews (and I know you are), you have but one person to thank. No, not Jim Koch. The person you must thank is none other than former President Jimmy Carter. E.D. Kain explains: To make a long story short, prohibition led to the dismantling of many small breweries around the nation. When prohibition was lifted, government tightly regulated the market, and small scale producers were essentially shut out of the beer market altogether. Regulations imposed at the time greatly benefited the large...

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Weddings

Sure, Chelsea may been made an honest women on Saturday, but more importantly, Lisa’s wedding was the next day. Sadly, Lisa’s didn’t work out. (This actually came up in conversation yesterday while we were grillin’, but none of us could remember what date it was supposed to be. A strange coincidence that some idiot kids would probably incorrectly call “ironic.”)

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What's Next for Touchdown Jesus

As you’ll recall, last month a 62-foot statue of Jesus burned down after a lightning strike.  It happens that this monstrosity is right along the highway I take from the airport when I visit my family in Ohio, so I got to see the skeletal remains of TD Jesus when I was there last week.  I was curious about the church’s plans– perhaps after the fire, they’d had an epiphany that there are more worthy uses of $250,000 than reconstructing hideous flammable statuary?  Ha!  Of course not.  Pastor Darlene Bishop brushed off such suggestions, saying that Solid...

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No Hipsters in China, Part 2

Via The New Yorker. Goo: Somewhere over the Pacific, Pabst Blue Ribbon began putting on airs. That reliably blue-collar Milwaukee lager, later adopted by unbearable hipsters on the coasts, has turned up in China. And P.B.R., best known in the U.S. for being the cheapest beer on the grocery-store shelf, has—like so many expatriates before it—taken the move as an opportunity to change its image. For a beer, that appears to involve an elegant glass bottle and a fantastically ridiculous price tag. One bottle: forty-four dollars.

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Time for another Gathering of the Juggalos already? Sweet!

Calling all Juggalos! It’s just about time for another Gathering of the Juggalos! The eleventh one!? Can you believe it’s been that many years? Neither can I. Feels like just yesterday we discovered chugging Faygo and hating conformists. Well, time get ready; it’s coming right up: This is what you have been waiting for, Juggalos! Here is the super huge mega commercial that will fill you in on what you can expect from the 2010 Gathering of the Juggalos going down at The Hatchet Landings in Cave-in-Rock, Illinois August 12th — 15th! CHECK IT OUT! I hope everybody brings...

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Monday Gripe

Story time!  I live in a basement apartment.  It can be kind of cave-like, but mostly it’s fine, and stays cool in the summer, which has been a big plus given the recent heat. I thought the big downside was the lack of windows, but then last week the apartment flooded, and that was maybe worse.  Luckily, I  got home in time to unclog the drain outside the back door, and although there was an inch or so of water in the hallway by that time, my roommate and I got it cleaned up and there was...

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Juice

Hi internet friends, Man, jet lag sucks.  So does not being in California.  Being close to both ocean and mountains is just good for my soul, and conversely, arriving at BWI to 100 degree heat plus the usual swampy humidity is not. Anyway, I didn’t keep up so well with the news while I was gone, so rather than snarky commentary, I’ll just share this personal anecdote: Although I am 24, almost 25, I’m often told I look younger.  Once, I was in the mall with my mom and we ran into an acquaintance of hers, and...

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This Is the Life I Chose or Rather the Life That Chose Me

As this posts, I’ll be at graduation. I’ll be there with them. I’ll applaud and I’ll cheer. It’ll be one of the moments that makes the year worthwhile. One of my favorite kids will leave school, be on his own. I’ll feel almost good about it and I’ll wish him well. In some ways, I’ll be glad he’s finally rid of school, rid of feeling like a kid, rid of childish bullshit he’s had to put up with for the last few years. But mostly, I’ll be scared to death. One of my kids, a a kid...

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