deHungerize

Snicker's commercials are strangely polarizing. Most people I know either love them or hate them, although luckily for Snicker's I'm pretty sure the same does not go for the actual candy. In any case, I am currently in love with their bizarre, frenetic campaign that seems to be a collection of those ideas that people usually keep to themselves. I wish ad agencies were actually hiring right now, because seeing things like this really makes me want to get back to work.

One Art

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster;
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

-Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

(Elizabeth Bishop)

The Stump Jump

Back in college, Thursday nights were sacred. The ritual involved a group of friends, booze, snide commentary, and Jeff Probst. In a strange turn of events, Laura and Ryan now live around the corner from me (quite literally actually) and we have decided to celebrate this happy coincidence by resurrecting Survivor night. Laura does most of the work, and I generally just show up to eat her tasty food and fight off the romantic advances from their two dogs, one of whom has a bizarre foot fetish. But, I digress.

We considered also resurrecting the Survivor drinking games of yore, but as it turns out we are just not as inclined towards alcohol consumption as we used to be. This is probably for the best. In any case, I thought the grown-up thing to do would be to replace the Bacardi shots with a nice bottle of red wine. I'm not exactly an expert at choosing wine, so it was probably sheer luck that the bottle with the name that amused me also happened to be quite tasty.

This Australian red from d'Arenberg wines cuts the spicy notes of Shiraz with a hearty dose of earthy sweetness from Grenache. Each vintage year blends the same three wines in different proportions (depending on the harvest I guess). We enjoyed The Stump Jump 2007, which was obtained for under $10. I will most definitely be stocking up on this for future drinking enjoyment.

It's F-ing Quantum Mechanics

In my humble opinion, these are some f-ing awesome commercials for the Powermat. In addition to demonstrating the versatility of the English language, they fairly accurately portray the awe and wonder that accompany wireless technology. These commercials make me want to run down my batteries just so I can watch stuff charge.

Awesome Stuff

Here is a collection of awesome stuff that now belongs to me. I am one lucky duck.

They make gummy vitamins for grown-ups! I am in love with science.

This is an owl. Not a real owl, a jewelry owl.

I had one of these when I was a kid! It makes your hand all shaky and your words all wiggly.

Domo arigato Target toy department.