it's been a while... but this is breaking news

Freshman year everyone loved Pirate's Booty. Pirate's Booty for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, for snacktime. It was the healthier alternative to the confetti frosting, which we also loved, best eaten with a spoon. Or so we thought. Suddenly, news broke of the Pirate's Booty Scandal. Apparently, they were deliberately misleading consumers by understating the calorie & fat counts. Pirate's Booty was dead to us.

And now, apparently, a new scandal rocks the world, wreaking havoc & bringing fear to the hearts of dieters and calorie-counters everywhere: Nana's Cookies, in Sunflower & Oatmeal Raisin flavors, are apparently double the calorie count & fat content they allege.

See here for details:
http://www.hungry-girl.com/externalink.php?frameurl=http://magazines.ivillage.com/goodhousekeeping/diet/nutrition/articles/0,,284558_698575,00.html

article re: how to meet a man, beach edition

via my new favorite website, beach.curbed.com (It's like Gawker meets the Hamptons)

When it comes to rich husband hunting, it isn’t just real estate which preaches the importance of location, location, location.

Some men will take the train out from Manhattan or the Hampton Jitney or Luxury Liner, and you may find yourself sitting next to an attractive available man, or you may find yourself sitting next to an arrogant jerk who thinks the cell phone policy is for everyone but him. One port of entry for the successful jet setter is literally where his jet sets down. I advise enterprising women to set up a Veuve Clicquot stand, sort of a grown up version of the lemonade stand, at East Hampton airport on a Friday night. Here our enterprising gal could greet the weary incoming executives with a nice cold glass of champagne and a warm inviting smile.

Many of the desirable high net worth men belong to the exclusive clubs in the Hamptons, but if you’re not a member, women wonder how to infiltrate the fortress. While you may not make it in the front door – their side flanks are vulnerable. Both the venerable East Hampton Maidstone Club and the Southampton Bathing Corporation have beachfront which is flanked by public beaches. There is no law preventing you from placing your own party just next to theirs. If you and your girlfriends can don flattering bikinis and create an exciting little goddess enclave, the men may leave their stuffy counterparts and come over to see what all the fun is about. Start up a volleyball game or set out a mouth watering picnic.

http://www.hamptons.com/detail.ihtml?id=875&sid=6

men & soccer

if X sent me an article, it would be about men's inability to express their emotions except via soccer?

May 22, 2006 — LONDON - Soccer gives men a way to express their innermost thoughts and feelings, according to a pre World Cup survey.

Almost two-thirds of men (64%) believe that while watching or playing soccer, they are more willing to share their feelings with other men than when doing other activities.

Three quarters said they would not be embarrassed to hug their mates while watching a match.

"Football does have positive effects on people's psychological well-being," said Sandy Wolfson, Head of Psychology at Northumbria University.

"It gives people a ready-made topic of conversation where opinions on team selection, strategy, and players' skills are enjoyable topics for debate," he added.

The survey was carried out by the Mental Health Research Foundation, an independent organization devoted to helping people across the UK maintain good mental health. It was conducted online, with 500 male participants ranging from ages 18-70.

"It is encouraging that football makes it easier for men to talk about their feelings as traditionally, men are far less likely than women to share their innermost thoughts," said Andrew McCulloch, chairman of the foundation.

Along with hugging their friends, 70 percent of men admitted that a match can make them upset while 58 percent said that what happens over the course of a football match can make them aggressive.

However, the ability of football to bring out a man's emotions does have its limits — three-quarters of men polled said they had never cried over the outcome of a match.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=1992555

2 articles you should read when you emerge from your 1L finals hell, and the 30second versions of each since you won't be emerging anytime soon

One
A Fantasy League for the Females

When I told my wife about it, she looked like George Karl at the end of the Nuggets-Clips series: sourpuss face, hands at her sides, complete disbelief. All she was missing was the potbelly.

"You have a problem," she decided.

"You don't understand the fantasy thing," I countered.

"Well, come up with a league I'd enjoy. Then, maybe I'll understand."

Now that sounded like a challenge. And I never turn down a challenge. So I racked my brain, contemplating all the dopey things she likes.

And then it hit me.

Us Weekly.
...
Here's how it works: 10 teams, auction format, $200 cap, five male and five female celebs per roster. Scoring is head-to-head for 22 weeks, playoffs over the last three (so you can have two seasons per year). OK, let's say you pay $55 for that chain-smoking tramp Lindsay Lohan. If she makes the cover of Us, you get 10 points (three for the inset photo). Every other Lohan picture inside is worth one. If she appears in the "Fashion Police," you're docked three. That's it. Simple. You can add or drop your celebs each Monday. Like maybe you want to dump Jake Gyllenhaal (because the whole "Brokeback" thing has played out) and grab Josh Hartnett (because he's dating Scarlett Johansson). Then again, you might want to hang on to Gyllenhaal. He's single and his number might be up in the Lohan deli line.

Two
(because we love all things Facebook-related, especially when estimating how much Facebook is worth, when the youngins started calling it Facebook instead of THEFacebook, etc. etc. etc.)
Hmm. The article doesnt' seem to be online yet. Link TK, it's from the newest New Yorker.


Note: ExBoy sent me the ESPN article. Jolie sent me the NYer subscription which enabled me to read the NYer article. Therefore, this posting is courtesy of my exboyfriends.

Fun new game? If X sent me an article, it would be about Y...
If EtchASketch sent me an article, it would be about where he placed in a marathon, or how carbs are back as the new weight-loss mechanism, or how the average age for marriage is rising so he is therefore very trendsetting and stylish.
etc.

going out is too much effort

In re: Grup article, I thought this one was really relevant too. First line: "Are New Yorkers giving up?" (Please note, I do consider myself a New Yorker even though I do not live there. Let's move on.) (ALSO I SO do not understand how the play-format fits into the last EIGHT pages of the article because I got so bored that I skimmed it entirely, but I therefore give it an A+, much like your paper.)

http://www.observer.com/20060501/20060501_Sara_Vilkomerson_pageone_newyorkworld.asp/

Cut to a recent Friday night. The forecast had called for chilly temperatures and rain, but it turned into the kind of spring evening that carries a strong whiff of possibility. It was 7:30 p.m. and still light out in the West Village as people spilled onto sidewalks for drinks al fresco along Seventh Avenue. Couples strolled hand in hand. A gaggle of girls in matching crocheted tops hailed taxis with purpose; illuminated above them in a bare window, a young woman dashed around her apartment applying lipstick, clad only in a glittery silver top and underwear. But inside Gourmet Garage, another New York story was unfolding: Shoppers kept their heads down, their iPods firmly implanted, as they loaded red plastic baskets. A pretty blonde with a blue Mark Jacobs handbag slung over one shoulder paused over the individual dinner selections, opting for pre-prepared sushi. “It’s such a hassle to go out on weekend nights,” she shrugged. “All the restaurants and bars are packed. I usually just pick up food or order in.”

(Yes, I know it's sacrilegious, and it's MarC Jacobs but, as they say, [sic]) But seriously, who hasn't felt that way, that it's just too much effort to pull yourself together and actually run into people? The "inability to rally," as we call it.

Love when they reference the Seinfeld sweatpants-wearing:

Remember the classic episode when George takes to constantly wearing sweat pants? Jerry chides him: “You know the message you’re sending out to the world with these sweat pants? You’re telling the world: ‘I give up. I can’t compete in normal society. I’m miserable, so I might as well be comfortable.’”

Did you know K & I wore exclusively sweatpants for much of senior fall? It was part of the "otherwise we will be committed for weighing so little" phase, slash "we can wear this directly on and off the treadmill and run for an extra 5 minutes for not having to change our clothes" and it was DEFINITELY a "I Give Up" moment.

the bank of mom and dad

i do it. you do it. almost everyone i know does it.

but why doesn't anyone in this article feel the least bit EMBARASSED or GUILTY about it?

"AT 23, Jason McGuinness lives a postcollege life in Manhattan that is very nearly typical. He works as a media research analyst, making about $30,000 a year. Sharing a two-bedroom apartment on the fourth floor of a walk-up building with a roommate on the Upper East Side, his portion of the rent is $1,100 monthly.

The walls are decorated with pennants and posters from Syracuse University, his alma mater. He orders takeout dinners, carries peanut-butter sandwiches to work and occasionally takes in a Mets game with friends.

And like many of his peers — educated, employed, urban-dwelling young adults — he receives monthly assistance from his parents, in the form of a $300 check and the payment of his cellphone bill.

This is not the largesse of wealthy families doled out through trust funds. Nor is the money a couple of $20 bills tucked into a card at the holidays. Mr. McGuinness and others like him are the beneficiaries of an increasingly common subsidy arriving regularly from Mom and Dad, something like a family fellowship.

It helps to pay for housing, bills and travel expenses, and the support has been increasing for the past two decades as education is extended, marriage is delayed and young people take the scenic route from adolescence to adulthood.

"Everybody I know is supporting their children in some way," said Gail Horowitz, Mr. McGuinness's mother, a vice president of the Zlokower Company, a public relations firm in Manhattan. Unlike young adults who "boomerang" back home to live with their parents — the subject of the recent comedy "Failure to Launch" — these young people live independently. But they need help to make ends meet, or put another way, to maintain a middle-class way of life.""

although, not going to lie, this sounds like something my mom would do:

"Eventually, most children outgrow the need for a stipend. But the instinct of parents to give — and of children to receive — can linger on. When John Maysles got a dog four years ago, his mother told him he couldn't leave it alone all day.

"So I pay for doggy day care," she said. "It is $16 a day. Probably he could afford it, but it has been on my credit card and I haven't changed it.""

beet is the new black

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/13/fashion/thursdaystyles/13nicknames.html?pagewanted=1&8dpc&_r=1

nyt article on nicknames in the information age...

(did I just successfully post a link?!)

So let us revisit the dawning of Beet... the Birth of Beet...

um. how did it happen again?

gym rats

Read this article. It's sadly true (and gym-spiring).

An excerpt:
"everyone at the gym--the men and the women--are all checking out the hottest girl in the place. the thing is, the women are looking at her and thinking, "god i wish i could look like that. i am going to pump the elliptical machine up to 7.5 today and maybe that will help me look like her." the men, on the other hand, look at the hot girl and think, "i'd kill someone just to see that girl naked. i am going to hit the weights with a vengeance today and maybe i can get with a girl that hot." that's the difference between women and men and i've been thinking about this a lot lately."


http://ijc.typepad.com/ijc/2006/02/if_you_hit_the_.html
(via Gawker)