Happy Friday!

I found this amazing video clip a while ago, and if you haven't seen it, it's really worth it. It just makes me happy every time I see it. Just click on the link and then watch the "Dancing 2008" clip. And have your speakers on, because the music is good, too.*

It's just nice to know, with all the divisiveness and conflict in the world today, that there are still some things that are universal.

Click here.

*I promise, with all my heart, this isn't one of those trick videos that will scare you. I know it sounds like I'm setting you up for that, but I'm not.

A Matter of Taste

My friend Jason posted this meme on his blog and I thought it was cool. I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to trying new foods, so it was fun to fill this out. I encourage you all to do the same! Heidi, Susan, Heather?

The Food Tasting Meme

Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions. Bold all the items you've eaten. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating (or eating again). (Note: I used yellow font on the foods I'd tried, because the bold doesn't show up very well on my background.)

Venison
Nettle tea
Huevos rancheros
Steak tartare
Crocodile (does alligator count?)
Black pudding (I couldn't eat anything made with coagulated blood)
Cheese fondue
Carp
Borscht (yummy with sour cream!)
Baba ghanoush
Calamari
Pho
PB&J sandwich
Aloo gobi
Hot dog from a street cart
Epoisses
Black truffle (I really want to try this sometime)
Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
Steamed pork buns
Pistachio ice cream
Heirloom tomatoes
Fresh wild berries
Foie gras
Rice and beans
Brawn, or head cheese (head cheese...even the name is disgusting)
Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (jalapenos are too hot for me...I'm such a wimp)
Dulce de leche
Oysters
Baklava
Bagna cauda
Wasabi peas
Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
Salted lassi
Sauerkraut
Root beer float
Cognac with a fat cigar
Clotted cream tea
Vodka jelly
Gumbo
Oxtail
Curried goat
Whole insects (no no no no no. Well, maybe if they were breaded and deep-fried, then served with some kind of dipping sauce)
Phaal (again, spicy wimp here)
Goat's milk (remember when we had that goat that lived in the front yard that time?)
Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
Fugu
Chicken tikka masala
Eel
Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
Sea urchin
Prickly pear
Umeboshi
Abalone
Paneer (I have a recipe to make this, and I want to do it sometime)
McDonald's Big Mac Meal
Spaetzle
Dirty gin martini
Beer above 8% ABV
Poutine
Carob chips (remember stinky beans, and the big carob craze in the 80s?)
S'mores
Sweetbreads (if someone slipped it into my meal and I didn't know, then maybe.)
Kaolin
Currywurst
Durian (yay Cambodia! It wasn't as stinky as people made it seem)
Frog's Legs
Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
Haggis (gross)
Fried plantain
Chitterlings or andouillette
Gazpacho
Caviar and blini (never tried blinis, but the caviar was just salty)
Louche absinthe
Gjetost or brunost
Roadkill (puhlease)
Baijiu
Hostess Fruit Pie
Snail (I would probably gag if I tried them)
Lapsang souchong (closest I've come is hot buttered tea from House of Tibet)
Bellini
Tom yum
Eggs Benedict (my favorite breakfast!)
Pocky
Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
Kobe beef
Hare (I saw this on the cooking channel and the raw meat was dark, like a big chunk of liver, but I might try a bite depending on how it was cooked)
Goulash
Flowers
Horse (...)
Criollo chocolate
Spam
Soft shell crab
Rose harissa
Catfish (tried it, but the texture was reminiscent of what I think bug texture would be)
Mole poblano
Bagel and lox
Lobster Thermidor
Polenta
Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
Snake

The Food Tasting Meme

Virtual Reality Playdate

I had an interesting dream last night. I dreamt that I was playing with Alice, and we were having the best time. She was the same age as she is in real life, and looked exactly like she looks in all of the pictures on Susan's blog, but she could talk in perfect sentences. It was so fun! We were swimming and then lying around on the lounge chairs, and she was talking up a storm. I can't remember everything she said, but one thing she said was, "I miss Gobi." And I was like, "Who's Gobi?" And she put her hand to her heart and said, very melodramatically, "One of my very best friends from long ago, but your mom threw him away." !?!?!? Funny. Bizarre.

Most people don't know it, but sometimes you really can fly.

Long Time No Write

It's been forever since I posted anything, but here I am again. The last month or so has been pretty crazy in some ways, and pretty uneventful in others.

I've had to travel a little bit for work lately, and that's been a new experience. I went to Los Angeles one week and then to Boston the next, and by the time I got back from Boston I was really tired of taxis and hotel rooms and airports. But it was fun to hang out with our client J and the people from the publishing company in New York. J and I totally bonded, which was cool. He told me we'd be best friends if I lived in New Jersey. Mostly because we shared our lust for the same hot guy in the focus group in LA, and because we both think Andy Roddick is sexy. And because we both like Project Runway. And Thai food.

In other news, my rats are getting huge. So are their balls. If human males had balls equally proportional to rat males' balls, you'd see guys walking around with two basketballs in their pants. Literally. Seems uncomfortable to me.

I've also gotten sucked into watching the Olympics. I've been taping it each night and then watching it later so I can FF through commercials. I love watching shows that way. SO much easier and takes less time, too. Michael Phelps is awesome. I hate that the Chinese are winning so many medals—they're going to be all smug from now on. And there's something in the water in Jamaica that makes people faaaaast.

I admit it, I watch the sporting events like people watch Nascar. I really want to see errors. I get a little bored when it's one perfect routine or perfect dive after another. I perk up a little and get more interested when someone falls or trips, or there's a false start. Or when people get disqualified. I do feel bad for them, but it definitely ups the entertainment factor of the show.

Okay, I'm a horrible person.

Anyway, things have been all right lately, and I can't believe the summer is almost over. And today's my Mom's birthday. Happy birthday, Mom! :)

When the nest is empty, every night is date night.