Amazon.com: McClure's Pickles for $10
McClure's pickles cost $120 per case when you purchase them through their store, but you can buy an individual jar at Amazon.com right now for just $9.99. Both regular and spicy varieties are available.
Bob Evans: Endless Pancakes for $4.99
Endless pancakes for $4.99 are now available for a limited time at Bob Evans restaurants. For an additional $1 customers may add a topping. Offer available during all open restaurant hours.
Outback Steakhouse: $25 Meal for Two
Outback Steakhouse is offering a $25 meal for two on Wednesday evenings. The meal features an appetizer or dessert to share plus two soups or salads and two entrees. Several options are available, including sirloin, chicken, and shrimp.
Review: Arrow ‘Trust But Verify’
This week’s episode of Arrow, “Trust But Verify” brings us… well, more of what last week brought us, for the most part. The bad-guy-of-the-week this time around happens to be an old army buddy of Diggle’s, which makes things a little more complicated for the crime-fighting team. Diggle tries to work things out for himself, investigating instead of just letting Oliver put an arrow in the guy, but in the end it just reverts to the standard way of dealing with the problem and scratch one more name from Arrow’s master list.
As Arrow does his job, the rest of the world moves steadily onward. Malcolm Merlyn becomes a bit more prominent in the plot once more, making contact with both momma Queen and his own son. He continues his manipulative efforts to get Moira to do things his way, but through happenstance, little Thea Queen stumbles upon them chatting not once, but twice, leading her to suspect that they’re having an affair. While it may seem a silly little addition to the plot, it does give reason for Oliver to become suspect and will likely lead to the revelation of Walter’s unfortunate condition and Malcolm’s role in it all. As far as Malcolm and son Tommy go, a dinner date leads to some revelations about the elder Merlyn and gives us a bit of a look into his origins as the bad-ass archer he is and the connections to his dead wife.
Meanwhile, in the past, Oliver escapes from the bad guys on the island, at least for a time. He tries to infiltrate them, however, and gets himself caught again. By the time the minimal two-minutes of back-story is over with, we’re presented with one more mystery, but still little in the way of explanation.
Lots of little subplots are going around now, but to me they feel forced. I wonder if they’re just shoehorning in a few things to set up a finale this season or whether they’re looking at fleshing out these characters for eventual expansion in hopes of a second season. If they do wish to continue, expanded side-characters will be a necessity. Still, I do wish they’d spend more time fleshing out Arrow’s past instead of just feeding us two-minute bites.
Aside from the promise that they’ll be delving into Malcolm Merlyn’s origins, this week had little to offer that was new. With any luck, they’ll expand beyond the confines of the weekly bad-guy routine and create a more fleshed out story. Until then, I expect more of the same each week. Hopefully, they’ll surprise me, because it feels like the story has stalled and is in danger of running in circles.
New Year’s organizing
A lot of people make New Year’s resolutions to “finally get organized,” and sometimes it makes me feel smug—sorry!—about being pretty well organized the whole year round. In fact, I’m a recovering organizer; I used to color code and alphabetize everything. I still have a few labeling addictions, but I have gotten much better about the alphabetizing…
Anyway, as such an organizing addict, I thought I would share a couple of tips that have helped me over the years. They are super simple, though, so don’t expect fairy dust or anything!
- Keep a one-touch rule. This goes for mail, e-mail, the works. You touch it once and it goes away. You either file it where it goes, recycle it, or take care of it. If you can’t take care of it right away—say, it’s a bill and you won’t have the money until Friday—keep a bill folder you can put it in until Friday. Cut down on all that paperwork before it buries you!
- Speaking of bills, I like to schedule mine. I don’t do them all at once, but if I know I’ll be getting paid on Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday, I will schedule payments through my bank for free a few days afterward. This saves me on time, postage, and envelopes, and it also saves me from being late on bills. I absolutely love this system.
- I use a planner for everything—work, homeschool, deadlines, doctor appointments, you name it. This year, my secret ingredient is the Planner Pad, which I am in complete love with. I know it seems expensive, but just for the peace of mind I have knowing exactly when my novel will be due and then published, or when a stack of press releases are going to be due, or what kids will be going to the field trip all in one place, I’m happy to fork over the thirty bucks. Plus, I love them so much it’s like buying something special for me—like another person might like shoes or clothing.
- I get my annual planner in November (sometimes sooner, if available) and fill it out in one fun afternoon. This may be a chore for others, but I love having all of my birthdays, club meetings, and classes ready to find.
- Use totes and label them specifically. We have different totes for each holiday, but I have small totes for everything from craft supplies to old letters. These not only help keep out moisture and spiders with their lids—they also keep things organized so easily. You can even color coordinate for fun.
- For some fun and fashionable organizational tips, check out Gala Darling’s latest blog.
Anne Hathaway is my new hero
When I saw The Dark Knight Rises, I was mostly disappointed with the movie—save for the Anne Hathaway moments. She was delightful in both character and dialogue, and I am chagrined to admit that I questioned whether or not she would be a suitable Catwoman. As much as I loved Pfeiffer’s portrayal, Hathaway’s more subdued yet calculated one was pretty stellar.
But that’s not why she’s my new hero. I’ve always enjoyed her in movies—especially her teen ones that I grew up with—but after her unfortunate “wardrobe malfunction” that everyone is trying to take advantage of and exploit, she has remained graceful and poised as ever.
Take her interview with Matt Lauer, for example. In his traditional clunky, insensitive fashion, Lauer asked her what she “learned” from the incident, as if she is some child who needs to learn from her “mistakes” and not that the paparazzi needs to learn how to be decent to human beings—not to mention his own pond scum tactic of bringing it up in the first place. She was actually on the show to promote her role in Les Miserables, which I hear was amazing—I am so looking forward to seeing it!—and brought her answer full circle back to it:
“Well, it was obviously an unfortunate incident. Um, I think— It kinda made me sad on two accounts. One was that I was very sad that we live in an age when someone takes a picture of another person in a vulnerable moment and, rather than delete it, and do the decent thing, sells it. And I'm sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies sexuality of unwilling participants, which brings us back to Les Mis, because that’s what my character is—she is someone who is forced to sell sex to benefit her child, because she has nothing and there's no social safety net. And I— Yeah, so, um, so let's get back to Les Mis.”
Wow, right? Doesn’t that response jut give you goose bumps? If women start acting like this every time some idiot asks about their clothes or makeup or how much weight they had to lose for a role—which Ms. Hathaway also elegantly addresses during her interview with this nitwit—just think of the way the media, the way society, could change—in fact, the way it could be changing right now as actresses like Hathaway and Emma Stone and Scarlett Johansson and others refused to be boxed in by their gender.
Interviewers—that should have quotation marks in these cases, shouldn’t it?—will have to stop asking stupid questions fueled by their own sexist assumptions or erections and start asking them based on interesting concepts that actually pertain to these actors’ works. Better get those brains cranking out some real questions, folks—or go back to college for a few basic journalism courses, because I honestly don’t remember covering the panties of a subject in the classes I took as an undergraduate.
And contrary to popular belief, I honestly do think the public is more interested in the questions with substance. So why not try it out?
And keep rocking it, Anne. You are an inspiration to women everywhere.
Snow Sugar Treats
My husband and I love cold treats in the winter. For some reason, we just get a craving for shakes and head out in the cold—sometimes in the snow!—for some frozen custard, which is our favorite kind of cold treat. We’ve been that way in nearly 18 years of being together, and I guess we always will be.
That said, I now know that we are not alone. People love to eat cold treats during the winter months, such as sugar on snow or maple sugar snow. In fact, we just checked out a picture book called Sugar Snow from the library. It’s a shortened version of Little House on the Prairie, I believe, focusing on this very winter treat.
I saw Alton Brown discuss sugar on snow (served with a plain cake doughnut and a dill pickle, of all things) on Best Thing I Ever Ate once, so we tried to put some maple syrup on snow the last time we had it. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing—probably because we didn’t reach the thickness that Alton’s maple syrup had.
That said, I ran across this blog post today about making your own maple sugar snow, and it looks really fun. We haven’t had snow in a few weeks where I live in Missouri, but as soon as we have more—hopefully soon!—we are totally trying this out.
Apparently sugar on snow is also known as maple taffy, and it’s a traditional treat in both Canada and New England. It can be eaten on a metal fork or a wooden popsicle stick—though Alton’s version, served at a restaurant, was served as a plate of snow alongside a little jug of warmed syrup to pour over it.
Free Gender and Comics Course at Ball State
I am already addicted to taking Coursera classes. I’ve had to drop out of some fascinating ones this month due to lack of time on my own part. Now that I know there are free courses over at Canvas Network, too, I think I may be doomed. Doomed, I tell you!
This course is especially interesting to me: Gender Through Comic Books. It’s an open course through Ball State University, where I had the best sandwich of my life—no joke, it was on a debate trip, from their cafeteria and totally vegetarian. The course will combine women’s studies with comic books, and will explore stereotypes, women’s identity, and other issues found in comics. As a lifelong comic book lover who would love to share this interest with my daughter without giving her body image issues, I am eager to take the class. I’ve already signed up; if you want to join me, it’s completely free and it looks like so much fun.
These open courses are popping up everywhere, and while you don’t have to take them to learn about any subject—there are thousands of self-paced courses on the web, too—they do give you the full online class experience where you can discuss things with classmates, submit questions to be answered, test yourself over material, and sometimes even earn certificates to prove you took a course. I did that just last month in a 10-week Greek and Roman Mythology class that I absolutely loved.
There are so many opportunities to further your education today than ever before, without paying a cent more than your monthly Internet bill. Find something you love and learn about it!
The Craigslist Files #181 - The People of Our Lives
Sometimes a missed connection ad on Craigslist has less to do with finding that gorgeous and elusive mystery person and trying to hook up with them and more to do with getting what you feel is owed to you after some random encounter. When you meet someone and they leave you in a lurch, you’ve got to have some way of tracking them down, right? And hiring a private detective is just too damn expensive for most of us. So we turn to the big CL and hope that maybe, someone, somewhere will read the posting and actually respond. Of course, given the nature of most of these, the chance of response is pretty minimal.
Check out a few problems that people are having and you judge whether or not you’d respond if it were you on the other end of the equation.
The first was a good deed and, as all of us pessimists know, no good deed goes unpunished. This one may not involve direct punishment, but it does involve a price tag. Somehow I don’t think this hopeful individual is getting a new fire extinguisher.
I stomped on your fire, you choked on a biscuit
You: passed out on the grass after choking on a biscuit and slamming your car into a guardrail at Franklin and Harding
Me: driver of silver bug with 2 women in the car who stopped and put your car fire out.
It's been a bad month, so if you would get me a new fire extinguisher, I would appreciate it. Also don't eat while driving in the future, it's dangerous, as you discovered.
The next may actually involve some sort of future hook-up, if the guy plays his cards right. Of course, that assumes that the girl in question remembers where she was and also happens to randomly log into Craigslist, check the ‘missed connection’ posts and then feel so inclined to respond. At the very least, she should probably offer a few quarters for the laundry so the poor guy can clean his bedding.
You slept in my bed last night - m4w
ME: A guy coming home to find you asleep in my bed.
YOU: Stunningly attractive blonde slightly undressed.
ME: Strangely bemused, but too tired and distracted by other women in my head to care.
YOU: Gone this morning when I woke up.
ME: Trying to determine from roommates who you were, but they have no clue (they really aren't too conscious right now and think I am lying).
If you attended what must have been a great party last night (I can tell from the mess) and slept in some guys bed then please poke me back, I have some things here that might be yours. Also, let me know if you will be back tonight and I will change the sheets.
Finally, thank you for not taking my side of the bed, THAT would have been awkward.
The last one could be considered quite serious, depending on how much this guy loves his vehicle. In fact, I’d probably recommend that this person skip the missed connection attempt altogether and just call the police. Sounds to me a like auto-theft. But I guess that being love-struck causes you to do all sorts of silly things, including trying to flirt online via Craigslist with the person who stole your ride.
saw you leaving my moms house today... - m4w
I saw your very sexy finely tuned ass leaving my moms house today. I cant remember your name but you took my van. I need that van back it was a gift from my dad, well I bought it kinda but he didnt give me the van for like a year but it is mine now and I need my van. You have very large breast that are always falling out your shirt. I think that your way hot and I want you. but seriously I need that van back... You where wearing funny shoes and a goofy pants that make your legs look skinny and your butt look big. Big and fine. I want to know you get a piece of that ass maybe more who knows. Your the kinda girl that I could dip in a vat of nacho cheese and lick clean. you have kinda long hair and a sexy nose. I know what your thinking how could a nose be sexy but yours is soo hot. I cant even control my self. But bring my van back and maybe we can go get some Popsicles on my debt card or sometime. I mean I live with my mother for crying out loud. And who in the hell gave you the keys to my van. It is a blue lumina chevy and the driver side door doesnt open and the mirrior is busted but I need that mini van back. And Iam pretty sure Iam in love with you. so if you see this tell me your name give me my van back and lets get some cold chicken and hummus from the albertsons and chow baby.
And though the ultimate result of a ‘missed connection’ advert on Craigslist may be little more than a horde of spam delivered to your inbox, I fully encourage people to keep trying. No, I don’t have any hope that you’ll be successful in tracking down the one you’re looking for. I’m actually just concerned with keeping myself entertained with all the weird crap that you people post. If your lives are really this interesting, then by all means keep em coming. It makes my life seem calm by comparison. Not to mention providing me with fodder for this blog series.
Facebook Phenomenons - Keeping Up with Technology
The world we live in is a fast-paced place. With the rising power of technology, this accelerated speed has extended to the many realms of science as well. And while twenty years ago you might have heard a rumor of a rumor about some strange scientific development being undertaken and probably dismissed it as some delusional urban legend, now, with the proper news feed on your handy-dandy Facebook profile, you can get all the latest techno-news delivered right to your front door. Or at least the digital front door of your FB feed.
Every week I get a dozen or so strange stories, videos or pictures that travel through my feed and leave me scratching my head in wonder at all the crazy stuff people are inventing today. Many of these announcements even come from <gasp> reputable news sources. Some sites are entirely devoted to finding the strangest and most futuristic and letting their subscribers know all about them. If you’ve ever wanted to be the guy that knows about cool tech before everyone else, Facebook is one way to try to achieve that position.
I’ve gathered up just a small sampling of the stuff that’s come through my feed this week. Some of these things are just fun and quirky science. Others are truly amazing. Ultimately, whether something is useful or just an anomaly is up to the viewer, but that’s the joy of getting so many of these stories. And yes, that’s a specially designed cat-couch in the picture above, proving that not all technological developments need to be focused on humankind. Come to think of it, it could also be proof of that fact that cats are in control of our minds, which would explain more than one mystery of the Internet…
But without any further delay, check out what science has been accomplishing while you’ve been busy spreading LOL-cats.
First and foremost, here’s a robot with a chainsaw! Yeah, it may not seem very useful, but it’s proof of the continued progress that we make each year with regards to robotics. The precision that the chainsaw-wielding robot possesses is amazing and may eventually come in handy for more than just making stools. I do have to wonder if giving a robot a chainsaw is the best idea, however, given the inevitably of a robot apocalypse.
Next is a fun little “it’s science!”-type video showing exactly how fast a low temperature environment can take even boiling water and convert it to a state more appropriate to its surroundings. Move over Bill Nye the Science Guy, we can do it ourselves now!
And finally, an article that came through featuring the amazing science that a TED talker has developed. In an effort to alleviate the stress that our self-indulgent burial practices put on the planet’s environment, this brilliant young lady has managed to “train” mushrooms into devouring her body once she’s dead. That’s the ultimate recycling program, though I’d be wary of putting what came out of it on my pizza. The article also features a link to her TED talk, if you want to get the full scoop (see how convenient that chain of links is?).
Yes, I know you’re surprised that Facebook can actually be used for education and knowledge, but it’s really true. With the right coaxing and training, you too can get your feed to spit out random bits of knowledge. Then you can read them, memorize the good parts and looks really smart at parties. So take advantage of that and stop posting self-pitying updates on the sad state of your life. Use social media for your brain already, dammit!
This message brought to you by the guy that shares pictures of cats with moustaches. Sigh…