Finally! Eating Ice Cream For A Good Cause!

Tonight is 31 Cent Scoop Night at Baskin-Robbins! In order to help honor America's firefighters, participating stores will reduce prices of small ice cream scoops to 31 cents, and at some locations, you may also have an opportunity to make a donation to your local fire charities.

Visit your local Baskin-Robbins tonight, from 5-10PM! In addition to the opportunity to make donations at local stores, Baskin-Robbins will also be making a $100,000 donation to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

While I love ice-cream, this one is definitely my favorite. Whoever thought to combine peanut butter and chocolate was pure genius.

NKOTB Tour Info

When I first heard about the New Kids On The Block reunion, I immediately went to the website. At that time, it was pretty basic. The only thing on there was an option to sign up your email to receive future information ... and of course, I did that. Today I got an email about their upcoming tour. This is VERY special info, not even on the website. They let the "nkotb.com members" know first. And I am going to share this special insider knowledge with you! Those *'s in the pre-sale indicate that they are available only to American Express card holders

May 16th - Today Show
Even though their last appearance on the Today Show was a bit anti-climatic, they will be appearing again on May 16th ... and this time promise a performance. If you dont want to go see them in concert, you gotta make sure you catch the upcoming Today Show appearance ;)

Who Knew Dogs Love Slides?

Again, I have something about dogs. My husband sent me this video and its pretty funny. The sad thing is, dogs can be so smart ... and so rediculously stupid at the same time. I love the part where this dog actually stops and looks at the camera - it knows it looks dumb but just cant help itself.
And this is one my mom recently sent me. Wrigley (my dog) is so sure she is a fish sometimes I think she might have gills. She has never seen a pool slide ... and I can only imagine her reaction if she did :)

My Prayers Have Been Answered!

My sister actually sent me a link today and I didnt get to click on it ... but it said something about chocolate. Then I go to my homepage, cnn.com and the first thing my eye stopes on is this: Wanted: Women to eat chocolate for a year.

There is a slight problem though. The study is looking for postmenopausal women under the age of 70 who have type 2 diabetes. I fit the under 70 part, but not the other two criteria. Maybe I can be an honorary member of the study? Although I dont qualify, perhaps if I eat chocolate for a year and test myself for heart disease throughout the year they will include me? I figure, if I already eat chocolate every day, I should be part of some scientific study ... right? Also, I wonder if chocolate cupcakes and chocolate ice-cream count ... or if it has to be actual chocolate? :)

Image courtesy of Clarita

Saying Hi To Abe

Cubs vs Nationals

When in DC you gotta support the Chicago Cubs :)

MIA

I know its been a while :) School is wrapping up and I am actually in DC with Jeff this weekend to visit my sister. Expect a post about ice cream or cupcakes in the next few days!

Happy Earth Day!

So, originally I thought I would chat about Earth Day today, but there is something more pressing. There is this priest in Brazil, who was actually carried away by some balloons while trying to raise money for charity, and is now missing. How crazy is that? Many times in my childhood I tried to launch a baloon with a message ... hoping someone on the other side of the world would find my message and reply. It never happened. We do occasionally hear those stories of successful balloon message relays:

A couple released 50 balloons with messages on their wedding day (5/15/05) in Osage, IA and had one found three years later in Peterborough, Ontario (Canada)

There is a family in Beavercreek, OH, that sends up balloons every year for their daugters birthday. She never got a response, until her 6th birthday, when she received a call from a man in Churubusco, N.Y.

You would think with the world of IM and text, that the good-old message-tied-to-a-helium-balloon might be a thing of the past. Not so! A google search indicates that the practice is pretty widespread, especially in the elementary schools.

And I digress...
I wanted to talk about this priest that was carried away. He was holding onto "hundreds" of helium balloons (whereas our balloon messages generally consist of one message to on balloon). Check out a video of the launch.

Back to Earth Day
The intention of Earth Day is to spur awareness and appreciation of the Earth's environment. Seems to me like this holiday doesnt receive a whole lot of attention ... and maybe even less this year. Global warming, recycling, energy conservation (and so on) have been such regular topics in the press I think that nobody knows what to stress today. On March 29th many of us celebrated Earth Hour in which we turned off our lights for one hour. So what do we do for Earth Day? I am not really sure - and unfortunately without some sort of clear guidance, I generally find that I do nothing.

Maybe when I get home I will launch some helium balloons with messages about protecting the environment :) Who knows, my luck may change and someone may actually receive it.

I Never Cease to Be Amazed

Today's much needed dog accessory? A tie of course! Unfortunately, my dog is a girl. Looks like I am going to have to keep saving for some canine bling.

How Times Have Changed

When I was an undergrad and you saw a bunch of firetrucks in front of a campus building, you automatically assumed that some idiot pulled the alarm. Things are alot different now ... and a bunch of flashing lights in front of a campus building makes your heart race.

I was walking to class this morning and there were 6 or so firetrucks, and about 3 squad cars in front of one of the lecture halls.

In addition to campus shootings (most recently at NIU a school very close to ours) there have been a rash of threats directed towards local schools lately. Shortly after the NIU incident, a student at my school (UIC) was arrested for an anonymous e-mail threatening violence on campus. Recent threats have led to the temporary closing of St. Xavier and Malcolm X College in addition to some local High School and elementary schools. And, as if they havent already suffered enough, NIU had a bomb threat yesterday.

There is a sense of fear and panic on many school campuses today that did not exist years ago, and that must be changing the entire educational experience/process. When I was in grade school, High School or college I never had to think about campus violence. Now as I teach college age students, that fear is in both the faculty and our students. Just the other day, a student advised me on his way out of class that he thought a backback had been left in the back of our lecture hall. My first thought was "what if its a bomb?". How crazy is that? (At the end of class when I went to look, the bag was not there)

The Flying Pig
The other day I was talking about the idea that "nothing is impossible". There are still things that I think are highly unlikely. But, ask me 10 years ago (before Columbine) about school shootings and I would have a totally different response. Things you would say are not likely (or are "never gonna happen") sometimes do happen. I mentioned the liklihood of a cougar in my neighborhood was pretty much zero - until a few days ago. Now, right afer the cougar showed up I started thinking about how things we think wont happen actually do. And even with this genius insight I would have told you that an earthquake would not happen around here. And once again I would have been wrong. But this would have been due to my ignorance and not the unliklihood of the actual event. A bit of searching told me that earthquakes actually occur in Illinois once a year! Now who would have thought???

Food & Running...Now Thats What I am Talking About!

I am a bit helter-skelter at times, I admit. I blog about running (which lately I dont do), I blog about my life (which is boring and repetitive) and I blog about my dog (who although cute, isnt going to place in a dog-show any time soon). If I only blogged about 10% of my interests ... your head would be spinning. So I try (and likely often fail) to keep some sort of consistency in my mutterings.

Today I got sent a link from Runners World about Joanne Chang, a pastry chef who has run the Boston Marathon 15 times. The article contains a Banana Bread recipe that Joanne has tinkered with to make it better ... and she claims she eats two pieces before a six-miler.

This gets me thinking. I wonder what Joanne looks like. If she looks like a "runner" and not a "pastry chef" then I think I would be doubtful walking into her bakery. The sign of a good baker is one with some meat on their bones - proving that their pastries are too resistable for even the baker himself/herself to resist. So I google her, and bingo! She has a picture of herself on her bakery website, Flour Bakery & Cafe. Does this look like a pastry chef to you?

Second of all, I need to try this banana bread. Now I am all for making recipes more healthy ... but they still gotta taste good. Has this recipe sacrificed any of the deliciousness of banana bread in order to make it worthy of a pre-run snack?Inquiring minds want to know. If it looks half as good as some of the pastry pictures on the Flour Bakery & Cafe website, then I am sold!

Changed My Mind Again ... Want to be a "Jolie-Pitt"

Recently I have admired the lives of kids whose parents pay rediculous amounts of child support, and determined that I want to be adopted by P. Diddy. Well, I have changed my mind. I want Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to adopt me.

Not because they are so good looking ... that would be gross, they are going to be my new parents! And not because of money. I have realized that money is not everything. Even with all of the money, all those child support kids are still in screwed up situations (with screwed up parents). I decided I want to be a Jolie-Pitt because according to this article, they get to eat whatever candy and snacks they want. The article claims that if Zahara (one of 4 current children, with more on the way) wants ice-cream for breakfast, thats what she gets. Now thats what I call living!

When Pigs Fly

One of the things I think is so interesting is the tendency for people to commit themselves to absolute truths. "I would never do that", "That could never happen", or the good old "Yeah, when pigs fly". I am sure I do this myself, but do try to hesitate in fully commiting to believing in anything 100%. One of the few lessons I think I have firmly grasped in my life is to never say never - nothing is impossible. (For example, if I asked my 20-year-old-self how likely that my 30-something-year-old-self would still be a full-time student ... I would be sitting here eating my words at this moment)

Recently I was watching Real Time with Bill Maher (a show I have yet decided if I actually enjoy or not) and he had the author of The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins. Basically, the book denounces religion and aims to persuade the reader that a belief in God is irrational. Dawkins discussed his athiesm openly on the show, and spent much time mocking those with religious beliefs. At the end of the interview, Maher asks him about a scale of athiesm, with a one being "utterly certain there is a god" and 7 being someone who is "utterly certain there is not" and Dawkins says he is a 6 (later in continued converstation actually says 6.9). His rationale? Dawkins says "I think any scientist would be unwise to commit himself to saying there definitely is not anything. I mean, I can’t definitely commit myself to saying there are no fairies. I’m pretty sure there are no fairies."

So this writes a book about the foolishness of religion, and then still leaves himself wiggle room on the topic. That got me to thinking alot about how strong my beliefs are on some things, and if I follow that same logic ... and I think I do. Which brings me to the real reason for this post. If you asked me a couple of days ago about the liklihood of a cougar roaming around my neighborhood I would have definitely told you there is no way that would ever happen. I would have bet money on the fact. And I would have been wrong.

When A Cougar Invades
Yesterday, a cougar was shot and killed about 8 doors down from my house. It was initially spotted under the deck of the house on my corner, about 5 houses down. After getting startled, it ran into a yard several doors down (where it was eventually shot and killed by local police). Below is a video that shows the whole ordeal. Between 1:40 and 1:30, where officers are walking through an alley ... they are right in front of my garage. Note: you may not watch the end of the video, it doesnt end happily
And here is a pic from my street this morning, covered with reporters still doing the story. They are all in front of the house where it was initially spotted.

Guilty Pleasures

I know we all have guilty pleasures, and this weekend I got to thinking of some of mine. Why? Because I engaged in one :) So this weekend I watched a lousy movie, but its something I do quite often. I tend to seek out (and enjoy) movies that the general public probably expects to be "dumb" or "bad" or "sappy". I watch the kind of movies that many would deem not worth 2+ hours of their time. Examples? Like Crossroads, Step Up, Ice Princess, and anything with Freddy Prinze Jr.. If people actually talk about a movie being bad, it actually increase my desire to go see it. Everyone said Gigli was horrible ... so what did I do? I rented it :) (And it was horrible). This weekend I decided to spend my Sunday doing nothing, so I watched A Prairie Home Companion and Lucky You. I have to admit, "A Prairie Home Companion" was one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and I actually considered shutting it off. I NEVER do that.

Another one of my guilty pleasures is silly pet stuff. I dont get pleasure out of buying it, and can happily admit I have no urge to buy it. But I do get a kick out of looking at the stuff ... and found another one just minutes ago. This one is pretty great. How about a customized dog visor? If you want your pooch to be the coolest on the block, I think you just have to get one of these.

More About Dog Poop

I mentioned a while ago my weak attempts at "being greener", and that while I find making some of the changes challenging ... I figured it would be easier for the dog to go green then for me to :) I havent done a whole lot in that area, but have been using biodegradable waste bags for her. The problem is, I cannot convince my husband to jump on the bandwagon. He insists the bags I find (I have tried three kinds) are too thin, an too small (maybe good if you have a Chihuahua, but not a 70lb Labrador). I just got an email today that talked a bit about this topic again, thankfully bringing it back onto my radar.

My 6 Word Mantra

Ok, so I was tagged twice for this 6-word-mantra thing. Once by Sarah Jo, and before that by Maggie Mae. I have been slacking on this as I try to find 6 words that describe how I feel about life (or how I survive it).

According to Maggie Mae over at "Runner at Large", here are the rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I am in a funny space right now, in between here and there. I was going to try to think of something running-related, but I realized it doesnt describe my life...or even me at this moment. So I have been pondering. And pondering. And pondering.

What are my failthful standbys? Where do I go when I need comfort? Are there any sayings I always use? Are there 6 words that could describe me yesterday, today andtomorrow?
This is what I came up with, the words that define my life:
When life happens, eat a cupcake

Why is this my mantra? Several reasons. I have noticed (through the assistance of this blog) that I tend to reward myself for my accomplishments with pastries. In addition, when I am having a tough or lousy day ... I console myself with pastries. Luckily my life is pretty even-keel. If it was lots of ups and downs, there would be lots of cupcakes, and I would be buying the next size up in pants every 6 weeks. Instead, I truly enjoy my cupcake moments. Even after years of turning to the cupcake, I never tire of it. It still brightens me up when I need it, and makes me feel properly rewarded when I think I have done something right. So by using the word "life", I mean the good and the bad stuff. I think its important to take some time out for yourself to think about your successes and failures, and I personally eat a cupcake while taking that time.

Now I guess I have to tag 5 of my friends in the blogosphere! Here goes:
1) meanjean
2) LeahC
3) labcabbie

I have to think about 4 & 5 ... I surfed around and everyone I know has already been tagged. This must be a popular blog-chain, sorry I am the last on on the bandwagon!
Photo courtesy of kakisky

Hey All! It's Take Your Gun To Work Day!

So a law just passed that allows people to take guns with them to work in Florida. And today the Illinois House of Representatives voted down a law that would have prevented residents from purchasing more than one gun per month.

Now it seems all we hear about is gun violence, tragic gun deaths, and school shootings. Yet it appears that legislation is not changing to reflect any acknowledgement of this. I never really think much about gun laws, to be honest. But hearing today that IL denied legislation to limit gun purchases to one per month got me a bit confused. In what situation would anyone need to purchase more than one gun per month? Maybe as a non-gun owner, non hunter, whatever, I just dont see the need that other may have?

There is a pretty interesting website hosted by The Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (ICPGV), that talks about this one-gun-per-month legislation, in addition to providing a lot of other Illinois related gun facts. Obviously this is just one side of the story, but looks to me like its a story worth getting more familiar with.

"Everyday" Coffee? That's The Big Secret?

Almost proving myself to be the ultimate fool, I secretly was worried I missed out on something great by not being able to get to Starbucks for the big secret unveiling. Turns out the big secret is a new coffee. Whoop-de-do.

Personally, I am not a fan of the Starbucks coffee. If I want a plain old cup of joe, I prefer something like Folgers. So perhaps this new coffee might be up my alley. The company claims the new roast "will have a bold, robust flavor profile that customers have come to expect of Starbucks coffee, but with a smoother, buttery finish". Coffee that tastes like butter? Thats right up my alley...

Um, A Bit Cryptic?

Ok, you got me! I am curious. But I am in class during this time so someone else is going to have to inform me of the "big" thing Starbucks is doing :)

Fooled Again!

I definitely am an April Fool (or maybe just "fool"...without the "April" part). I got suckered into the NKOTB hype on Friday and they didnt even perform! The Today show acted like they had some sort of awesome thing going on, and then they announced the New Kids on the Block reunion ... which had already leaked all over the place and everybody already knew. So they asked them about 5 dumb questions, announced a live performance on 5/19 (or something) and that was that. Those scammers!

If you also want some disappointment, check out the video.

Good Reason To Quit Running

I meant to comment on this the other day, but my mind has been filled with too much junk lately. Now, all I can think about is how I might get ticketed if I text while walking...oh, the drama.

Anyway, it looks like there is a proposal out there make runners wear a HELMETduring a race. Are you kidding me? I can not imagine running a marathon while wearing a helmet. First of all, my pictures would look horrible. I just dont have the proper head for a helmet. (Large and round, like Charlie Brown) In addition, do marathon runners not suffer enough without having to add a chunk of plastic to the top of their heads?

If you want runners to be safe during races, try the following:
1) Clearly mark the course so that runners are aware of dangerous areas/turns/changes in terrain
2) Offer corrals/staggered starts ... so thousands of people dont crush each other at the sound of the gun
3) Keep courses on even ground, avoid short/quick twists and turns, make sure paths/course are wide enough in all areas
4) Keep spectators a decent distance away, and stop them from running across the middle of the field during a race
5) Cap races before they look like the Running of The Bulls
5) Provide plenty of liquids (Hello Chicago!)

If race organizers can get their stuff together, then I think the runners can do their part and make it to the finish line without falling and hitting their heads on a curb.

Update:Yeah, a few days late ... this was an April Fools joke. Looks like I am a fool for the entire month of April, not just April 1 :)

Whoops! New Law Aimed at Me?

Chicago is looking at prohibiting cell phone use while walking across the street. I know I made fun of the (idiots) in the UK for needing to pad their poles ... but I am a texter-and-walker. I have yet to trip, hit a pole, or get hit by a bus. I am sure its not safe ... but if I cant text (and talk!) when I walk, when will get all of my blogging done? How will I catch up with friends? I do my best communicating when I am in transit from one place to another ;)

I Need To Get To NYC ... By Friday!

Ok, its official, NKOTB has got something going on!

THE TIME:   7AM EST / Friday April 4th, 2008
THE PLACE: The Today Show Courtyard
                   Rockefeller Plaza, 48TH/49TH Street
                   New York City

So the New Kids On The Block are reuniting, and it appears that this year marks the 20th anniversary for "Hangin' Tough". Am I really that old? It's been 20 Years since one of my favorite albums was released???

Now the thing thats weird is how sketchy the info is out there. None of the members have actually confirmed anything. They have relaunched their website, but there is nothing on it but a countdown that is ticking off to the Today show appearance on Friday. What's going on? Are they back? Are they going to do a one-time performance just to mark the anniversary? Will they even sing?

The Boston Globe reports that a tour is in the works ... I can guarantee you that if they hit anywhere in the midwest I will be there.

Need a refresher?