White & Nerdy

This is way too funny. I first found this on my friend Datarat's blog and just had to put it here as well.

Al Yankovic's "White & Nerdy"...



Is it just me, or is this the sexiest Al's ever been in his videos? Hmm or maybe its just my geek fetish, I should probably have that checked out by a professional.

5 Foods To Live For

Idea taken from Violets weblog. She stole the idea from someone else, so to keep the thieving alive.. here goes...

Like Violets, I have had to give up hopes on a lot of foods. No more walks down to Starbucks for a hot cocoa in the Chicago winter. No more grilled cheese and tomato soup. No more cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. No more thick rich slices of moist chocolate cakes. No more large dollops of sour cream on my potato. No more PB&J on that fluffy white bread.

Giving up eggs, milk, and corn.. for most people going cold turkey on it would be like a death sentence.

5 Foods that really get me going...

Tomatoes and Pasta: Piping hot fresh from the stove pasta, topped with Pomi tomatoes, olive oil and salt. We used to make Tomatoes and macaroni all the time growing up. This is one of the few comfort foods from my childhood that I can still enjoy.

Steak: There is nothing quite like a good prime rib steak with a garlic au jus.

Baked Potato: Who needs fancy toppings. Dice up some fresh green onion, sprinkle of salt. YUM.

Bob's Peppermint Sticks: These are unbelieably easy to carry, cheap, and delicious.. oh.. and make me feel unbelievably normal.

Dagoba Chocolates: You can take away a lot from someone's diet, but don't you be messing with their chocolate. Btw Mint is the best.

..

I think I have more than 5... I could name juices, and recipies for chicken fajitas... which reminds me.. If Vegenaise ever changes their formula to include corn, I'm going to throw one helluva fit. I can formulate my own of a lot of things.. but a fake mayo (no eggs) without corn?

Mmm I'm getting hungry.

Are you really Causasian?

I was in the middle of making a smart reply to a man who thought it pertinent to tell me first and foremost that he was Indian, not American.. though he lives in the USA.

To shorten things up, I was looking up how to spell Caucasian because no matter how I spelled it, it just didn't look right. So I went to Dictionary.com to figure it out. It was then I read the actual definition of Causasian and was a little surprised by what I found.

Causasian

1. Anthropology. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, marked by fair to dark skin, straight to tightly curled hair, and light to very dark eyes, and originally inhabiting Europe, parts of North Africa, western Asia, and India: no longer in technical use.

2.of or pertaining to the Caucasus mountain range.

Or from the American Heritage Dictionary
adj.
1. Anthropology.. Of or being a major human racial classification traditionally distinguished by physical characteristics such as very light to brown skin pigmentation and straight to wavy or curly hair, and including peoples indigenous to Europe, northern Africa, western Asia, and India. No longer in scientific use. See Usage Note at race1.
2. Of or relating to the Caucasus region or its peoples, languages, or cultures.
3. Of or relating to a group of three language families spoken in the region of the Caucasus mountains, including Chechen, Abkhaz, and the Kartvelian languages.

n.
1. Anthropology.. A member of the Caucasian racial classification. Not in scientific use.
2. A native or inhabitant of the Caucasus.
3. The Caucasian language family.

So while I'm right that I'm Caucasian (Czech, English, misc others), there are quite a few more Caucasians running around than many of us would consider to be Causasian by today's standards.

Here's a definition of what is Causasia and a map of the Caucasia region, Map of Caucasia.

From what I can tell, and the definition.. Then I'd assume that Arabs, Italians, etc. are also probably "Caucasian".. and I know many people do not believe that to be so.

OCD? COD? aka Label Maker Fun

I've been having a period of time where I have lots more free time to do things. At first, this time was spent doing completely useless things like Xbox.

That was until I clued in that I was miserable because I never organized the house.

Now while I've never been officially diagnosed, all my rl friends (aka those who've seen me in action) and family will attest that I have the following conditions.. ADD, a touch of OCD, and what I call COD or compulsive organizing disorder.

Think Monica of Friends with the attention span of Joey.

So anyway, I realized I never got to organize the house. When we moved to the house from the apt, I was working full time and had my hands full just trying to do the every day things plus working that I never got anything REALLY organized.

I go crazy if things don't have a home and for the last 4 yrs most things haven't had a home. They've had very unorganized inconvienent haphazard places to go until I got time to deal with them, which I never did.. or I never took the time.

So I decided to take action on it this week and indulge my COD compulsions. I made lists. As I was making lists, I realized it'd been ages since I had made lists. Oh the fun of it!

The next step was super joy. I got things done and crossed things off my list. YEAH!!

Yesterday, I went to the Container Store (OCD and COD heaven mind you) with a list of dimentions of a closet to find containers to fit in it and organize it. What I found was perfect. I bought a case of plastic shoe box containers and (insert drumroll) a LABEL MAKER!

I was so excited to get started that I stayed up til 5am last night, washing sheets (had to make sure they were washed in corn-free soap, as some of them I don't know when I last washed them) and putting them into the shoe boxes and labeling them. Pillow cases, sheets, etc. boxed and labeled. Organized and easy to grab. Oh and they'll be clean forever! No chances of dust floating inside these sealed plastic boxes.

My linen closet looks amazing now btw. Though I think I'm going to be addicted to my labelmaker. I'm right now brain storming other things I might need to use it on. But the only thing I can think of requires another trip back to the Container Store for more plastic boxes. Oh the torture!

Corn Allergy Bloating

I'd meant to post about this when it occured, but well I've been distracted.

Since I'm new to posting here, most of you haven't a clue about what allergic reactions can do to me. And let me count the ways.. jk

Though this last weekend, traveling up to see my parents and my wayward sister. I got into something corn, and probably something else corn, and something milk.

I started swelling. A few days prior I had just purchased some really nice clamdigger jeans that really showed how slim I'd gotten. I squeezed into them. They didn't fit anymore. I was pissed. Here I had been losing weight for months, getting myself to look good again. And when I get to show it off to someone.. I bloat up like a beached whale.

Thank GOD that I thought enough to bring my fat jeans/pants. These are pants that are one size larger than I normally wear. I put them on and they fit. They weren't BIG. They FIT!!!!!

I was very angry. Shortly after that my ankles started swelling. Normally my ankles are bones and muscle. Despite my weight, my ankles have always been slim. Its one of the things I insisted on early in life. I wasn't going to have fat ankles!!

Well I did. My ankles were huge. My fingers swelled to really really fat lady pudgy. My toes swelled to look like little cocktail weenies. My joints hurt. My ankles throbbed with hurt and were stiff.

When I got home, I was exhausted and fell into bed. Then the next morning I weighed myself. From the time I left, til that morning on the scale.. I'd gained 5 lbs!!!!! 5 lbs in a 4 day weekend!!

Yeah I was upset, but I knew it was just bloating. I watched my foods that day to make certain I only ate safe safe things. I didn't "diet", just didn't try anything new and unusual.

Next morning I weighed myself. I'd lost those 5 lbs and I'm back down to my normal weight. My ankles were once again bones and muscle, my toes were toes again, and my fingers back to long and sexy.

My next trip back up there is in Nov. I think I'll have to keep a detailed food journal of it, as well as a daily weighing log. I think its just the corn in the air up there, but I gotta figure out what's causing this. Because its not fun to look like a beached whale every time you visit family.

Food Analysis

Because I can't eat milk, eggs, and nearly everything else because of corn or corn derivatives, I was pretty certain I needed extra vitamin support.

So while looking at another girl's blog I read a post she did about this website with a Food Adviser tool. It asks you a bunch of questions, then tells you which vitamins you may be short in and how to get those through eating certain foods. Kinda cool.

It gives you a breakdown of which foods have what vitamins. Its really interesting and for me very helpful. It is nice to know that I did pick the right multi-vitamin for what I guessed where my deficientcies, but its better to get your vitamins from foods than to try to take a pill to solve everything.

My deficientcies rating:

93% vitamin e
92% calcium
90% copper
90% omega 3 fatty acids
90% pantothenic acid
90% vitamin d
78% folate
74% magnesium
74% iron
72% vitamin b12
70% riboflavin b2
60% zinc
60% thiamin b1
1% vitamin a
1% vitamin c
1% vitamin b6
1% protein
1% selenium
1% niacin b3
1% phosphorus
1% vitamin k
1% potassium
1% manganese
0% dietary fiber

Now while the test is helpful, I'm not entirely sure on its accuracy. It told me:

"Approximately 41% of your total day's calories appear to be coming from foods that are not as nutritionally dense as the World's Healthiest Foods. These other foods may include fast foods, pre-packaged foods, processed foods, fried foods and sweets."

Uh yeah right. If only the test knew that the most "processed" things I can have is a Dagoba chocolate bar, or a bag of Kettle chips (which I can only eat like 10 chips anyway). Or a bottle of Virgil's Cream Soda. Even if I ate one of each of those a day, I hardly think it makes up 41% of my daily diet.

Somehow I think it used some calculation of my total calories per day based on what I said I ate of what they questioned me on, and assumed that I ate more than that in a day. My total came to 1191 calories of the healthy foods I answered to on the questionaire. So based on that I think it "assumes" that I eat 2000 calorie diet? Which honestly I don't think that I do.

I need to find a calculator that measures the calorie content of what I do eat, then we'll see. I'm not starving myself. I'm just eating what I want til I'm satisfied then I'm done. Which honestly isn't much these days.

Supper the other day was approx 8oz Roast Beef (w/ Organic Ketchup), 1 large potato (nothing on it), 2 c. cooked carrots.

Now I don't think any of those (cept maybe the ketchup) weren't on the healthiest foods list.

*shrugs* Anyway, I'm going to try to eat more of the "suggested" foods for me.

The number is supposedly how many nutrients it has that I need, aka how well it fits to cure my deficientcies. (though looking at their list, I'm not sure why things are cooked, or they suggest you eat dried or ground spices rather than fresh. Don't ya think fresh would be better?)

9 - Spinach (boiled, with salt)
7 - Liver, Calf
6 - Greens, Turnip, Cooked
5 - Mushrooms, Crimini, Raw
5 - Parsley, fresh
5 - Greens, Mustard, Boiled
5 - Lettuce, Romaine
5 - Kelp
4 - Chard, Boiled
4 - Basil, Ground
4 - Collard Greens, Boiled, Drained
3 - Asparagus, Boiled
3 - Sunflower Seeds, Dried
3 - Dill weed
3 - Thyme, Ground
3 - Oregano, Ground
3 - Chinook Salmon Fillet-Baked/Broiled
3 - Broccoli (pieces, steamed)
3 - Peppermint, fresh
2 - Venison
2 - Tomato, Red, Raw, Ripe
2 - Beef Tenderloin, Lean Broiled
2 - Cauliflower (boiled, drained)
2 - Kale, Boiled
2 - Cinnamon, Ground
2 - Scallops, Baked, Broiled
2 - Halibut, Baked/Broiled
2 - Shrimp, Mixed Species, Steamed, Boiled
2 - Snapper, Baked
2 - Squash, Summer, All Varieties
2 - Cod, Pacific, Fillet, Baked, Broiled
2 - Lamb, loin, roasted
1 - Blackstrap Cane Molasses
1 - Milk, Cow, 2%
1 - Seeds, Mustard
1 - Milk, Goat
1 - Tuna, Yellowfin, Baked/Broiled
1 - Cucumber, Raw
1 - Turmeric, Ground
1 - Rosemary, Dried
1 - Flax Seeds
1 - Seeds, Sesame
1 - Egg, Hen, Whole, Boiled
1 - Cumin, Seeds
1 - Pepper, Black
1 - Coriander, Seeds
1 - Almonds, dry roasted
1 - Spelt WholeGrain Flour
1 - Nuts, Walnuts
1 - Papaya
1 - Cloves, Ground
1 - Green Peas-Boiled
1 - Celery, Raw 

From Coach to Congress

For those of you who aren't native Nebraskans or who haven't lived in Nebraska for any length of time, having the University's Football coach immediately be elected to Congress might seem a bit odd.

But thats exactly what happened in Nebraska to the nearly god-like worshiped coach Tom Osborne.

I'm sure he makes a fine congressman as he always did have a head on his shoulders (you have to have some brains to be able to survive as a coach in Nebraska, people there take their sports very seriously).

I just today found out he made it to congress, while I was researching our governments farm/commodity policies and found a picture of Tom among the links. Guess I don't keep up on the native state like I should. But then I don't really keep up on any news.

I just like to pretend I do.

Fuel Economy

Ah the joys of fuel, politics, and corporations..

Before you buy a new car thinking you'll save tons in gas mileage.. Read this.

The Truth About Fuel Economy Ratings

Seems fuel economy ratings can be overstated by as much as 34%.

Thank God my Hyundai Elantra is living up to its claims.

For gas prices in your local area? Look here.

FAAN another four letter word

Still awake because I can't sleep. I began searching the web for weird things. Corn-free blogs, anti-corn blogs, FAAN and corn, pretty much anything having to do with corn that might in some way or another be interesting to read.

Bored of finding nothing to read, I clicked on the allergies.about.com link and went to the Food Allergies link. I was just looking around casually then noticed something odd.

Of the "allergies" listed on this page, corn was the 6th one listed. Now why since FAAN is so adamant that corn isn't important.. Why would allergies.about.com list corn so prominently on its main food allergies page?

No more Girdles - Chub Rub solutions

I believe this is one of the most humiliating things for fat women. There are many forces against fat women in this world and a lot of them in fashion.

Growing up, it was impossible to find decent looking clothes that fit and yet didn't make me look like my grandmother had dressed me.

Today we have more options, especially with stores such as Lane Bryant. But even those can't fit everyone.

There are those who are top heavy fatties. They have huge shoulders, big arms, big breasts, big bellies, and skinny assed legs.

There are bottom heavy fatties. They have smaller shoulders, not as ample breasts, but they have huge bottoms, and thick legs.

Then there are those like myself, who are proportionally big all over.

So I don't get how they think that "one size fits all" when it gets to be over size 16.

But I digress..

I went shopping yesterday, and I saw something amazing. Or I thought it was amazing.

Way back when in the 80's, when my mother insisted that girls MUST wear dresses to church and we went every sunday, I got inventive with fighting chub rub. Nothing like a hot summer day, walking the 1/4 mile from where we parked to the church, with my legs sticking to each other and rubbing each other raw, my sweat seeping into it making it burn. Back in the 80's, my solution was longer skirts and wearing those really slick satiny biker shorts under them.

That worked pretty well until they went out of style and you could no longer find them in any size let alone large ones. So for the last 10 years or so, I've gotten into habit of wearing pants when and where possible. But most men I know like women in skirts, plus they're much cooler in the summers, so I've been seeking better solutions.

So anyway, I'm out shopping at Lane Bryant and I see they're carrying these new "inventions" called spanks which look an awful lot like a biker short though not silky. They looked a bit small so I purchased the next size up. Took them home and tried them on. Or lets say I attempted to try them on.

Spanks - Are supposedly created by women for women to prevent panty lines etc.

I don't believe a woman created them. If a woman did, she needs to get her head examined. They were amazingly tight, so amazingly tight that after pulling them past my ankles I knew what kind of war it was going to be to get them to my thighs and decided to pass on it.

They were so girdle-ish that the inventor had to be a skinny woman thinking that all of us "fatties" needed to be girdled in to make us look like skinny people.

Well let me ask you.. What happens when you "girdle" fat? It moves to other areas. So while your ass might look nice and tight, the rest of you is flopping about like a jelly fish. Hardly attractive.

These "Spanks" are supposed to be a better alternative than the other girdle-ish wear out there that has those "sticky" elastics at the thigh to keep them from riding up. (That sticky stuff is amazingly pinchy and uncomfortable btw)

What I have found over the last few years of experimenting, is .. You'll never guess it..

Men's boxer briefs.

Not the cotton knit ones, but the ones that are silky almost satiny with lots of spandex. The best pair I have are made my Jockey. They come in white and black, and they stay in place without sticky elastic.

Now while I may feel a little silly wearing mens underwear out in public, its much better feeling than the chub rub rash.

All in all, I still prefer a good pair of pants.