Something to post

Well, Tuesday Musings is on hiatus and I don't know what's happening with Friday Free-for-All so, I haven't got much to post these days. But, Cresta turned me on to a funny site today so here it is. This is the video that got me hooked.

FFA #22

Topic #22: Gone With the Wind. Do you give a damn?

P.S. Do I get extra points for being early???

FFA #20

Saturday Morning Cartoons

I haven't watched Saturday morning cartoons in years. When I got home from my mission, I worked or slept on Saturday mornings; When I got married and had TV, I had better things to do on a Saturday morning; and we haven't had TV reception for 3 last years. Well, I guess this is a well-timed FFA because we just started getting TV last month. But, I still hadn't watched Saturday morning cartoons so I got up this morning, watched as much as I could stand (about 7 1/2 minutes) and now I'm writing my post.

One thing I learned is that they have gotten very unoriginal and are ripping off what used to be good cartoons. Such as Strawberry Shortcake...
and Care Bears.They are also ripping off cartoons that should have been left to die in the 90s like Sonic the Hedgehog.

And making scary computer animated cartoons out of things that were never meant to be cartoons and come out, well, kind or creepy, like Animalia.

I don't know if cartoons have gotten stupid or I've gotten less stupid (though I'm skeptical about the second one). I guess with age comes an awareness that no matter how hard you try you will never look as good in florescent pink as Jem. The biggest mystery to me is how we regressed from the likes of Jem, She-ra, Diana the acrobat and Velma to The Bratz. Something is very, very wrong there.



How did we go from encouraging our daughters to be intelligent, capable women to dressing like prostitutes and being spoiled brats? The other really sad thing about Saturday morning cartoons is that the networks have completely given up on the really cool public service announcements that I used to love and have turned into pushers of terrible food and really dumb toys.



On another note, one of the best Cd's I've ever owned was a bunch of covers of Saturday morning cartoon theme songs. Blind Melon made a great cover of Three is the Magic Number. How do kids these days learn anything without School House Rocks?

I'm also very confused. I don't know if I was still half asleep when I turned the television on but I could have sworn there was a Hungry, Hungry Hippo commercial on that looked like it was 20 years old.

So, there are my half-coherent thoughts on Saturday morning cartoons. Writing this post made me want to wear pajamas all morning and eat Lucky Charms.

FFA #19

If you could have ANY super power (either good or evil) what would it be?

So, I didn't do last week's FFA because the assignment was to make a Top 20 list of our choice. Unfortunately, I don't have the attention span to complete such a task so it remains on my to-do list of things I have no intention of ever doing (sorry Jenni, 10 I could have done, 20 was beyond me.) Anyway, I am excited about this week's because I know exactly what it is...FLYING. I would fly through the air with the greatest of ease. Instead of going for a walk, I'd take flight. There are a couple of conditions. First of all, I don't want to have to have wings. I don't want to have to buy new shirts. Second, I refuse to stick my arms out like Superman, that just looks silly. I want the floating/soaring kind of flying. So, there it is. I'm sure there are more practical answers like the ability to wash dishes super fast or make money grow on trees but they wouldn't make me nearly as happy.

Tuesday Musings

Something nobody knows about me is…

You know when you get a new electronic device or appliance and over any screen or set of buttons there is usually a thin, plastic film protecting it? Well, my greatest joy in life is taking those thin plastic films off.

FFA for Sept 12th (yes, I know its not the 12th)

Memories of Junior High (repressed or otherwise)

letting Patty and Annemarie do my hair in the playground during lunch, once (all the cool girls carried the gallon jug of Aquanet in their very large vinyl bags.)

thinking I was cool because I had spandex pants with a stripe down the side (of course I never would have left the house looking like the woman in the picture. no self respecting middle schooler would show her ankles. I was required to wear a minimum of three pairs of layered socks.)
getting Alyssa Milano's textbook in English in the 7th grade. the 17-year-old 8th grader who was 6 feet tall and named Elvis (I kid you not.) working in the library during my lunch periods.
sitting next to my friend Fifi in art class. Our teacher used to have us make palettes out of paper. Everyday he would walk us through how to fold up the corners to make sure no paint leaked out.
secret crush on my archenemy Jason DeAngeles (he sat across from me in art.)
hating 59 minutes out of every hour for 3 full years of my life.

Tuesday Musings

So, this is almost two weeks late. If offer no lame excuses, I'm just a big, fat slacker. So, here is my favorite chocolate recipe this week (I have so many I rotate them):

Quick (aka Vegan) Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze Icing

3 cups sifted flour (I don't sift this)
6 Tbsp cocoa powder (from your bucket)
2 tsp baking soda (not from the back of the fridge, please)
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp vinegar (I use the apple cider variety)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups cold water

Use 2 9x9 pans.
Mix dry ingredients.
Mix wet ingredients.
Add dry to wet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. About 20 min for cuppycakes.

Glaze:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons half and half
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons corn syrup
Melt all ingredients in a small saucepan, stirring continually. Spread over one cake, place second cake on top and ice that thing. Then eat until you pass out.
I wish I could take credit for this but Cresta was kind enough to give me the cake recipe and the glaze comes from Becky's Flourless Chocolate Cake which is heaven on earth (I'm not sure I'm ready yet to share a recipe that is so close to my heart, maybe next time.)