Call me boring, but...

I love vanilla. It's true. Given my choice of chocolate or vanilla, 9 times out of 10 I would choose vanilla. I love its richness, its scent, and the creaminess of it.

I like it by itself.

Has anyone else noticed that it's being added all willy-nilly to make all kinds of strange combinations? It's made this huge comeback! It's everywhere!! I would have thought that this perfume would have killed it forever, but I guess it's been long enough that people have forgotten...or at least forgiven.

Anyway, today I saw a juice flavoured--get this--"Apple Vanilla Pear." What? Seriously. Doesn't that just sound weird??

Anyone brave enough to try it, report back here with the conclusion.

I dare you to frown.

Go ahead...look at the following pictures and videos and just try to be unhappy. I dare you.

Literary Holidays

Well, it was the Christmas of reading this year. I finally had time last year to catch up on some reading and read some excellent books (Life Inside, Slumdog Millionaire--so much better than the movie, etc.) and my reading pile just keeps staying the same. Not because I'm not reading--but because I keep buying new books! So I thought it was time to make a dent in that pile, which is what I did over my Christmas holidays in the midst of all the relaxing I was doing.



I didn't doubt it would be good. Everything I've heard about it was true. Excellent excellent.





Very good. The first 3/4 of the book was amazing. The last 1/4 wasn't bad but I think she tried to do too many twists. But so worth reading. I learned a lot about the Vel' d'Hiv, which I didn't know anything about. Don't let my little complaint about the last bit keep you from reading it. You should read it. For sure.





Interesting and gripping. Not life changing but it kept me engaged.





Everyone should read this book. All of the anti-vaccine propaganda that's been floating around has been driving me NUTS because most of the information is SO misrepresented, out of context, and ignorant. Get your flu shot, don't get your flu shot...I don't care, but don't base your decision on misinformation. Anyway, the book is a good source to read. It's about more than just vaccines, though. It's about the widespread mistrust of scientific progress. It's good. You should read it.






READ THIS BOOK. Heartbreakingly beautiful. It's about a woman who finds out she has early onset Alzheimer's. Keep your kleenex close by.

Bump it!

So, my students and I wrote our Christmas play this year. We wrote some of the students and me into the play, so I had to choose one of my students to play me. I was talking to the mom of the student who will be playing "Miss Smith" and she said her daughter is so excited. Mrs. D was joking around with her daughter Becky, saying "Maybe I should call you Gina till the Christmas play."

Becky said, "Mom, you don't need to call me Gina. But I would really appreciate it if you got me a bump-it* so I can look like Miss Smith."

*Just to be clear...I don't actually wear a bump-it. I do it the natural way.

Ye olde wilde west

This morning I overheard a conversation between two of my students about the "Olden days." Jill was telling her friend about cowboys and cowgirls.

"If you were a cowgirl in the olden days you would have really long hair. The women had really long hair because there was no such thing as hairdressers. Or scissors."

How she thinks the men kept their hair short, I'm not sure. Maybe back then the men's hair just didn't grow.

Looking for a fruity revolution

Seriously. What's the deal with the big strawberry-kiwi comeback? Everywhere I turn, it's more strawberry-kiwi.

Why do people think they go together? Peach mango, I get that. Raspberry pomegranate? Sounds great. Notice the similarities in colour, even textures? The only thing strawberries and kiwis have in common are tiny little seeds.

Come on, yogurt producers and popsicle makers! THEY DON'T GO TOGETHER!!!

And really...strawberry-kiwi is SO 1998.

What to blog?

I've been such a lazy blogger lately.

But seriously, I can't think of anything to blog about.

What a lame post.

But it counts.