Just a thought or two

So file this under "What Will They Think of Next?" 826NYC, the same company that brings us the Superhero Supply Store in Brooklyn, is hosting a "Scrabble for Cheaters" charitable tournament on January 19. You can buy different forms of cheating, depending on how much you donate to the cause: trading out a letter for $25, inventing a word for $500, or my personal favorite: rejecting any of your opponents words for $450. With a slogan like "The more you raise, the more you can cheat," how can I not want to participate!?

Unfortunately, I can't. Let's look over the fact that I don't really have enough donation money to reach my full, cheating potential, but I also have other plans. With a three day weekend ahead of me, I am preparing to go skiing for the very first time. My mood ranges from overly-excited to completely-petrified. All in all, though, I'm looking forward to it. Especially, because I'm sure that when I'm not skiing I will have the opportunity to read a bit.

Last year I started off 2007 reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I loved that book, and thought I couldn't go wrong starting off 2008 with Ishiguro again. I finished The Remains of the Day over the weekend. It was a completely different setting, main character, and type of story all together, but still absolutely amazing. I think Ishiguro is becoming one of my favorite authors by far. Who else could tell such completely different stories so masterfully? Well...maybe the second author I'm reading this year. I've read Geraldine Brooks before. Not only is she probably one of the most intelligent writers out there, she is also one of those authors whose stories (both fiction and nonfiction) cover a wide scope of characters and landscapes. People of the Book is fantastic. If my 2008 reading continues to be this good, I will be the happiest woman on the earth.

Speaking of happy, if you've talked to me in the past two weeks you know strange things are afoot with my eating habits. For example, in the last week and a half, my entire chocolate consumption has consisted of half a 3-Musketeers bar. I've been eating a ton of fruits and vegetables, and have been shocked by how much more energy I have during the day. Also, with recent gifts of new pots and pans and a couple of cookbooks, I have started trying out some different recipes. I am having fun in the kitchen! This is new! And my favorite thing so far is a recipe from my Real Simple cookbook. I don't know what they refer to it as, but I call it Happy Salad because somehow, with it's combination of peaches, almonds, spinach, bleu cheese, and vinaigrette, I am absurdly giddy for about an hour, then just minorly giddy for a few more hours after that. It's possible that the only thing better than eating Happy Salad is eating it while watching American Gladiators. I'm shockingly unashamed to admit that I love this show. A know a lot of fans are blaming it on the writer's strike, but that's really just bull. I also secretly wish that they would let people just try the course (sans-Gladiators of course.) I would love to give it a go.

Whew! It looks like I've accidentally covered almost all the things I meant to blog about in the past two weeks but haven't gotten to. Can't wait to see what the next two weeks bring!