How awesome would it be to win the Mega Millions lottery? It's currently at $270 Mill with the drawing tonight!
My husband and I are buying lottery tickets - we're not lottery people...at least I'm not. My husband was when I met him - he didn't buy it all the time...the man has criteria - it has to be in the three-figure millions...'sheesh!' (as his Grandma would say). When I first started dating him, I noticed he had his "go to" numbers all ready - I'm sure it had something to do with baseball history. I'm also sure that the chances of him winning the big jackpot are one in bajillion! I got an A+ in Statistics, people...I know what I'm talking about.
I don't pay attention to any of the lotteries so I couldn't tell you how much any of the lottery jackpots were at any given moment. I guess I only notice when it's a big deal, like this, and it actually makes the news. I actually just got off the phone with the hubby, asking me what my numbers were. Unfortunately, my gift of clairvoyance is not for self-serving purposes...much like the gifts of the Halliwell Sisters from 'Charmed.' And it's certainly not on demand so I just pick numbers that I like....I won't tell you all my numbers but I will share the following - I really like the number 49...why? I don't know....because it's 7 x 7....that's a good enough reason for me. For some reason, I really like the 7 multiplication table...all those numbers are pretty good in my book.
Of course, you always want to be prepared, JUST IN CASE, you do win the jackpot. The first question always is, 'What are you going to do with the money?' I'll tell you what I'm NOT going to do - I'm not going to tote it around and go to a strip club like some old fool that won the lottery a few years ago. I'm not going to give it to people that I haven't spoken to in > one year...not that any of my friends are hard up for cash. What I would do is probably:
1) pay off the mortgage and one car payment (and possibly get my Range Rover)
2) give to charities, including my alma mater (establish a scholarship fund)
3) take a year-long sabbatical and travel the world
4) figure out what to do then - continue working in IT (probably not) or open my own little business
Anyways - they say money does bad things to people and I tend to agree - but if you're a responsible person, I would hope that money wouldn't be so bad...it's all in the way you manage it.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Clam Chowda: Red or White?
Ever since I was a child, I have had some kind of obsession with clam chowder....especially the white (New England). I couldn't get enough. Anywhere we went, if the menu had it, I would order it. New England Clam Chowder was so chunky and thick that it was really like a meal in itself - albeit an "unhealthy" meal, but a meal nonetheless.
I didn't pay much attention to the red (Manhattan). It was too thin and soupy for my taste - and I saw carrots. I did not like cooked carrots growing up. It wasn't until college did I really gain an appreciation for cooked carrots in soup (and soup only) but it has to be cooked to the point of mushiness.
As I grew older, I noticed that if a restaurant had 'Soup of the Day' menus, Fridays seemed to be New England Clam Chowder Day. That was great for me. I thought I grew to be somewhat of a New England Clam Chowder connoisseur however, I have to admit that I don't have nearly as much NE Clam Chowder as I did between the ages of eight to 28. I have grown to learn that it is quite unhealthy and my tastes for it has gone somewhat bland....maybe I overdid it as a child - but I find NOW that my tastes have turned to the 'not-so-popular' Manhattan Clam Chowder in the tomato base broth. Maybe it's living in the Chesapeake area where I am a HUGE fan of the Maryland Crab soup....it's very similar to Manhattan clam chowder but with crabs instead of clams. I like to think it's healthier and I actually make my own version of a Chesapeake Bay crab soup that I know is healthy (cause it's chock full of veggies) and is wildly popular among my dinner guests.
So why the change - what happened? I think part of it can be blamed on Wegmans. Although I have nothing but HIGH praise and loving admiration for Wegmans, they do add bacon to their New England Clam Chowder and because of that, I will not consume it. Bacon in clam chowder? That's unnatural. So that made me turn to their bisques, which is quite another problem in itself...talk about unhealthy! The other cause of the change from white to red? My darn semi-healthy conscience. In order to remove the lady lumps, I must stop eating the lumps - that would be the lumps of potatoes in cream in chowder.
I still, occasionally, bask in the glory of a good chowda....I've even thought about going to the Maryland Seafood festival where there is sure to be chowder galore....but I know better and try to stick with clear-brothed soups....darn my semi-healthy conscience!
I didn't pay much attention to the red (Manhattan). It was too thin and soupy for my taste - and I saw carrots. I did not like cooked carrots growing up. It wasn't until college did I really gain an appreciation for cooked carrots in soup (and soup only) but it has to be cooked to the point of mushiness.
As I grew older, I noticed that if a restaurant had 'Soup of the Day' menus, Fridays seemed to be New England Clam Chowder Day. That was great for me. I thought I grew to be somewhat of a New England Clam Chowder connoisseur however, I have to admit that I don't have nearly as much NE Clam Chowder as I did between the ages of eight to 28. I have grown to learn that it is quite unhealthy and my tastes for it has gone somewhat bland....maybe I overdid it as a child - but I find NOW that my tastes have turned to the 'not-so-popular' Manhattan Clam Chowder in the tomato base broth. Maybe it's living in the Chesapeake area where I am a HUGE fan of the Maryland Crab soup....it's very similar to Manhattan clam chowder but with crabs instead of clams. I like to think it's healthier and I actually make my own version of a Chesapeake Bay crab soup that I know is healthy (cause it's chock full of veggies) and is wildly popular among my dinner guests.
So why the change - what happened? I think part of it can be blamed on Wegmans. Although I have nothing but HIGH praise and loving admiration for Wegmans, they do add bacon to their New England Clam Chowder and because of that, I will not consume it. Bacon in clam chowder? That's unnatural. So that made me turn to their bisques, which is quite another problem in itself...talk about unhealthy! The other cause of the change from white to red? My darn semi-healthy conscience. In order to remove the lady lumps, I must stop eating the lumps - that would be the lumps of potatoes in cream in chowder.
I still, occasionally, bask in the glory of a good chowda....I've even thought about going to the Maryland Seafood festival where there is sure to be chowder galore....but I know better and try to stick with clear-brothed soups....darn my semi-healthy conscience!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
It's Dan Cortese!
Being an avid fan of the new American Gladiators (the finale did not disappoint), it was only natural I saw the commercials on NBC for their new game show, 'My Dad is Better Than Your Dad.' It was being pushed by the Gladiators themselves. From what I could gather, it was a game show where one kid and their Dad go up against another kid and their Dad in challenges to prove that one Dad is better than the other Dad. I think the people that came up with this show also tried to work the 'father/daughter-son' bonding aspect. Anyways, I wasn't planning on watching the show at all - not really interested.
But due to lack of any new programming, while I was surfing, I caught 'My Dad is Better Than Your Dad' in the midst of a challenge. I have to admit, it intrigued me, but what caught my attention wasn't the little kids screaming and yelling out tactical advice to their parent....no. What intrigued me was the host of the show...Dan Cortese.
You might know him from MTV Sports - at least that's where I remember him from the most. He was the host of MTV Sports back in the early 90s. He was a good looking man - with his long hair, buff bod and sometimes he'd throw a bandana on the head to mix it up. Now, he's a clean cut, still buff host of 'My Dad is Better Than Your Dad.' Sure, I saw him in between on some TV shows....Seinfeld (the 'Mimbo'), Melrose, etc. But it will always be MTV Sports that will come to my head at the mention/sight of Dan Cortese.
Of course, on MTV Sports, his name was pronounced Dan Cortez (still spelled Cortese) - but it seems, somewhere after MTV Sports and before 'My Dad is Better Than Your Dad,' it became Dan Cor-tazy (still spelled Cortese). What happened? Was it Cortez to line up with Daisy Fuentes to give them both that Latin feel? In another couple of years, will it be Dan Cor-tease? Is he going to be like Puff Daddy, Puffy, P.Diddy, Diddy, Sean Combs?
I don't know - but what I do know is that he will always be Dan Cortese (cortez) from MTV Sports.
But due to lack of any new programming, while I was surfing, I caught 'My Dad is Better Than Your Dad' in the midst of a challenge. I have to admit, it intrigued me, but what caught my attention wasn't the little kids screaming and yelling out tactical advice to their parent....no. What intrigued me was the host of the show...Dan Cortese.
You might know him from MTV Sports - at least that's where I remember him from the most. He was the host of MTV Sports back in the early 90s. He was a good looking man - with his long hair, buff bod and sometimes he'd throw a bandana on the head to mix it up. Now, he's a clean cut, still buff host of 'My Dad is Better Than Your Dad.' Sure, I saw him in between on some TV shows....Seinfeld (the 'Mimbo'), Melrose, etc. But it will always be MTV Sports that will come to my head at the mention/sight of Dan Cortese.
Of course, on MTV Sports, his name was pronounced Dan Cortez (still spelled Cortese) - but it seems, somewhere after MTV Sports and before 'My Dad is Better Than Your Dad,' it became Dan Cor-tazy (still spelled Cortese). What happened? Was it Cortez to line up with Daisy Fuentes to give them both that Latin feel? In another couple of years, will it be Dan Cor-tease? Is he going to be like Puff Daddy, Puffy, P.Diddy, Diddy, Sean Combs?
I don't know - but what I do know is that he will always be Dan Cortese (cortez) from MTV Sports.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Chopsticks are for Food, Not Hair
I seriously don't know who came up with the bright idea to shove chopsticks into one's hair to keep it up. I suppose it's less intrusive than a ponytail or bobby pins but to purposely decorate your hair with chopsticks just goes beyond my comprehension.
Who are these hair chopsticks for, exactly? How does one get their hair to stay with one or two chopsticks? After some time waiting on the metro platform in Chinatown, Saturday night, a woman...a Caucasian woman, walked by and she had two ornamental chopsticks shoved into the bun on the back of her head. What made them ornamental? There were metal butterflies hanging off the ends of her chopstick. The chopsticks, in this case, were for pure show. Obviously, this woman could not get the two sticks to keep her hair in a bun without reinforcements. You could see that she had already arranged her hair into a bun with a ponytail and bobby pins....and to make it even more pretty, she stuck the butterfly chopsticks in her hair in a criss-cross.
I immediately started saying to Amanda that I didn't understand how women with thick hair could get it into a bun and have it stay with just a single stick. The most memorable case, in my mind, of one (stick) and done is Zhang Zi-yi in 'Rush Hour 2' when she's about to fight Chris Tucker at the end and she prepares herself by wrapping up her hair, WITH the chopstick, and stabbing it down to make it stay - and supposedly she went through a whole fight scene without it moving. Amazing. Of course, I realize that those are the movies and I'm thinking real life. For all I knew, they could've 'cut scene,' brought her to the hair trailer, and threw 50 bobby pins in her hair...and action. Amanda said that she was able to do this to her hair and she knew someone that did it with their pen. Fascinating.
I truly believe, though, that if you go to China, you won't find many natives running around with chopsticks in their hair...so I wonder who came up with the brilliant idea of using it as hair ornament. Hmmmm......
Mainly, I think I'm just bitter that I can't use chopsticks for my hair - and since they are of Asian roots, you would think that I, at least, would be able to use them as hair ornaments....not so.
Who are these hair chopsticks for, exactly? How does one get their hair to stay with one or two chopsticks? After some time waiting on the metro platform in Chinatown, Saturday night, a woman...a Caucasian woman, walked by and she had two ornamental chopsticks shoved into the bun on the back of her head. What made them ornamental? There were metal butterflies hanging off the ends of her chopstick. The chopsticks, in this case, were for pure show. Obviously, this woman could not get the two sticks to keep her hair in a bun without reinforcements. You could see that she had already arranged her hair into a bun with a ponytail and bobby pins....and to make it even more pretty, she stuck the butterfly chopsticks in her hair in a criss-cross.
I immediately started saying to Amanda that I didn't understand how women with thick hair could get it into a bun and have it stay with just a single stick. The most memorable case, in my mind, of one (stick) and done is Zhang Zi-yi in 'Rush Hour 2' when she's about to fight Chris Tucker at the end and she prepares herself by wrapping up her hair, WITH the chopstick, and stabbing it down to make it stay - and supposedly she went through a whole fight scene without it moving. Amazing. Of course, I realize that those are the movies and I'm thinking real life. For all I knew, they could've 'cut scene,' brought her to the hair trailer, and threw 50 bobby pins in her hair...and action. Amanda said that she was able to do this to her hair and she knew someone that did it with their pen. Fascinating.
I truly believe, though, that if you go to China, you won't find many natives running around with chopsticks in their hair...so I wonder who came up with the brilliant idea of using it as hair ornament. Hmmmm......
Mainly, I think I'm just bitter that I can't use chopsticks for my hair - and since they are of Asian roots, you would think that I, at least, would be able to use them as hair ornaments....not so.
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