Category Archives: health

six words to run the world.

Back when we used to blog semi-regularly, when we disappeared for a while, we’d usually apologize by starting our next post with “OH HAHA HEY REMEMBER US?” But at this point it’s been nearly a year, so fuck that. Sorry we’re not sorry. We’ve been off doing, like, really important things. (No, that’s not true. But we both did start Tumblr bloggies, because, frankly, they’re easier to keep up with because all you have to do is reblog other people’s photos and nice quotes and YouTube videos and you’re under no obligation to even write six words about them. We never formally admitted that here because then it would be like Six Words was over, and I don’t ever want it to be over. WE CAN’T QUIT YOU, SIX WORDS. Now that I’ve mentioned it, though: Kathleeny can be found at everythingisavesselforgoatcheese.tumblr.com and I’m at playingthedrumswithamaraca.tumblr.com. Only one of us has a Tumblr with a six-word title, and it’s me, so I win.)

I’ve been thinking about this here neglected bloggy lately for two reasons:

  1. On Thanksgiving, I randomly read a bunch of my old Thanksgiving posts, and then I felt all emo and missed it here.
  2. Kathleen and I are MAJOR runners now, and when naming our team (read: just the two of us) for an upcoming race, she offered “Six Words to Run the World” as an option, and then I felt all emo and missed it here.

Now that the obligatory re-introduction part is over, let me tell you about how Kathleen and I run now. First, you should probably know that in college, Kathleen and I did a lot of powerwalking (as in we powerwalked like six times total over the course of four years) because we really hated running. We called it our P-Dubs club, and talked about making t-shirts with hilarious sayings like “Running Is for Cowards” and “Runners Find the Dead Bodies.”

Fast forward a few years, and we started running because Kathleen found a Women in Politics 5K and obviously we had to participate. An important thing happened during this run. While neither of us experienced some bullshit like a runner’s high, the race organizer people (or one of the organizers’ boyfriends who had a digital camera, because this run took place on a college campus and wasn’t very legitimate) took an epic photograph of Kathleen and me, wearing matching t-shirts and holding hands as we triumphantly crossed the finish line. (Keep in mind, this was a 5K. Kathleen’s boyfriend ran more than a 5K, uphill, to watch us run ours.)

In theory, this photo was really fucking adorable. In practice, Kathleen looks adorable and I look like a man. Two people who knew it was me said “Holy shit, you look like a dude” upon seeing the photo, and one person who saw the photo and didn’t know the back story thought it was an unattractive male acquaintance we had just been discussing. Naturally, that shit had to get FatBoothed. In all her pixelated glory, here she blows:

If a FatBoothed photo of the ugliest photo ever taken of you doesn’t keep you running, nothing will.

I know what you’re thinking, and no, you cannot have my number, and no, this is not about to become a running blog. I mostly just wanted to show you this photo and say hello. I’ve missed you.

[Posted by Mallory]

2 Comments

Filed under adventures, blogging, health, six word memoirs, sports, thoughts

department of things that are unsurprising…

So, remember back around Christmastime when I posted about the best invention ever in the world? Which was a breakfast sandwich-making machine? And remember how none of you assholes bought it for me?

Well, turns out one of you assholes HAD bought it for me, almost a full year prior, in anticipation of my graduation. Two major observations here:

1. How great is the thought and planning that went into this gift? The idea was hatched more than a year before the gift was given, and was kept secret all that time! It still makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside to think about it.

2. My favorite gift that I received for my graduation from graduate school was a machine that makes breakfast sandwiches.

The rooms and I got to christen the breakfast sandwich machine a couple of weeks ago, and holy soy sausage, that thing is amazing. Try to imagine it: an average toaster with a sidecar that includes an egg cooker and a meat warmer. You can’t even picture it, can you? It’s beyond the realm of your imagination, isn’t it? Thank goodness Amazon can provide a photo:

Hello, lover.

Here’s how it goes: you pop your bread in the toaster, crack an egg into the world’s tiniest frying pan, place your meat in the meat warmer, press a button, and spend the next ten minutes staring eagerly at your breakfast sandwich machine and reading the instruction manual, which says hilarious things like “Remove toast, egg, and meat. Assemble into sandwich, or enjoy separately.” And then…it’s ready. And the egg looks just like those freaky perfect round ones from McDonald’s. And suddenly, all is right with the world.

It’s the little things, really.

[Posted by Mallory]

1 Comment

Filed under adventures, food, health

youtube clip of today: a BFD.

Oh FINE.  Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen it (and certainly heard it) by now, but here is everyone’s Uncle Joe dropping the F bomb on live TV.

I think he’s the greatest.  He’s just so lovably inappropriate!  You know he was sitting there thinking to himself, “What powerful words can I say to B that he will remember for the rest of his life?” Well, he certainly found the words to say. Perhaps he just forgot that there were 250 hot mics around.  Regardless, I’m glad it happened, and here’s why: it’s been lightening up the health care debate and people have been having some fun with it.

Yup.  School House Rock got BFD’d.

But back to Biden. As Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tweeted, “And yes, Mr. Vice President, you’re right“. Because he is.  It IS a big deal.  And it’s long overdue.

PS- Here is a great tool to see how the health care legislation will affect you.  Super easy– just put in your marital status, if/how you have health care and what you make.  Click here.

[Posted by Kathleen]

Leave a comment

Filed under blogging, crushes, health, history, humor, news, politics, pop culture, random, the hill, TV, YouTube

just six words and a picture.

A note left by Rep. Patrick Kennedy on his father’s grave (Ted Kennedy). Warning: if you have a bleeding liberal heart, this may make you weep. This picture comes from the White House’s Flickr stream.

“Dad, the unfinished business is done.”

[Posted by Kathleen]

Leave a comment

Filed under blogging, celebrities, family, health, history, news, pictures, politics, pop culture, random, six word memoirs, the hill

hey health care, it’s about time.

President Obama’s health care bill, which will provide millions of uninsured Americans with medical coverage, was passed tonight by Congress after months and months of struggle.

FINALLY!

The bill was passed 219-212.

[Posted by Shannon]

Leave a comment

Filed under health, news, politics, the hill

today is a google holiday, hooray!

Guys, I’ve had so many thoughts in my head that I’ve wanted to tell you about, but instead of telling them to you, I watch Super Size Me (ten years after the rest of the country) and fall asleep. Sorry about that. The good news is that Google Holidays keep me on track. They taunt me, saying “YOU CAN’T IGNORE ME. YOU MUST BLOG ABOUT ME.” And I oblige, because I’m not one to mess with the Google.

Google Holiday: Happy St. Patrick’s Day. As you might have suspected, Google is honoring America’s favorite excuse to day drink and wear green hats that look like beer steins. (Hypothetically speaking, of course.) Since I celebrated my St. Patty’s Day approximately three years ago up in Hoboken — and since I have “school” and “a job” — I’m taking it easy today, just cold wearing green pants and going about my day as usual.

What I was Googling: tostitos salsa ingredients. I’ve surely mentioned here before that I love salsa. If DC legalizes marriage between a human and a condiment, I’m running down to the city court with a jumbo-sized jar of Tostitos Chunky Salsa Medium. Not that I’m picky. I love almost every salsa I’ve ever tasted, and though I eat it in frightening quanties (like, say, half a jar on a pair of scrambled eggs. Did I just admit that publicly?), I figure there are worst things I could be addicted to. Like heroin, or McDonald’s. (Am I right, Morgan Spurlock?!)

But then I read this article in the NYT, and it made me feel all inauthentic for loving mass-produced American brands just as much as I love the salsa from the amazing hole-in-the-wall taco place around the corner from work (where I’m eating lunch today, HUZZAH!). This opening section, in particular, bothered me:

“Everybody here thinks they know what Mexican food is,” said Nicholas Cox, the chef at La Esquina in NoLIta. “Especially if they’re from Texas or California.” (Ed. note: Ha! So true.)

Salsa, in particular, has emerged as Mexico’s most misunderstood culinary export. In Paris, Mexican restaurants make it with minced cornichon pickles and ketchup; in Japan, with green shishito peppers and Kewpie mayonnaise; in American factories, with corn syrup and red bell peppers.

In the spirit of all things Morgan Spurlock and Food, Inc., does my salsa have CORN SYRUP in it?! If it did, I’m not sure that I would really care and/or change anything about my salsa habits, but I became determined to find out the truth. And damn, Tostitos makes it a challenge to find out what’s in their salsa. I pored over their website, Googled like a mad woman, read a few blogs, and finally discovered that Tostitos Chunky Medium Salsa is nothing but tomato puree, diced tomatoes in tomato juice, jalapeno peppers, onions, vinegar, salt, garlic powder, and natural flavor. (Thanks to Off Her Cork for answering that one for me.) And while natural flavor might be a leetle sketchy, this makes me feel okay about the fact that I ate crackers dipped in salsa for dinner last night. Or, at least, as okay as I could be with that level of pathetic-ness.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY! Pound some Guinnesses and listen to this song on repeat, because it’s the best:

[Posted by Mallory]

3 Comments

Filed under food, health, movies, music, news, YouTube

don’t go running! you will die!

PEOPLE. Running is not safe. No one should do it, ever. We already know that running leads to sprained ankles and general misery. But now we know more: if you go running — like, say, in a half marathon in Detroit — you will die. Read for yourself, from the Detroit Free Press:

In the span of just 16 minutes, three men collapsed and died while running the 32nd Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon — the first deaths in the event since 1994.

The first to collapse was Daniel Langdon, 36, of Laingsburg, at 9:02 a.m., said Rich Harshbarger, vice president of consumer marketing for the Detroit Media Partnership, which handles business operations for the Free Press and Detroit News. Langdon was on Michigan Avenue between the 11- and 12-mile markers.

Rick Brown, 65, of Marietta, Ohio, collapsed at 9:17 a.m. near where Langdon went down, Harshbarger said. And Jon Fenlon, 26, of Waterford collapsed at about 9:18 a.m., just after finishing the half-marathon in 1:53:37, he said.

Consider yourselves warned.

[Posted by Mallory]

Leave a comment

Filed under health, news, RIP, sports

youtube clip of today: double down.

Rejoice, fatties!  KFC has truly outdone itself and I would even venture to say ALL fast food joints with their newest creation, the Double Down.  For some reason, it is only available in Nebraska and Rhode Island right now, so if you happen to reside in one of those states…ummm…lucky you?

I thought this was fake for two reasons.  First, because it’s just so absurd. Secondly, because it’s on Fox News.  But it’s real.  My, my, they do some serious reporting over there!

[Posted by Kathleen]

2 Comments

Filed under food, health, news, pop culture, random, thoughts, weird, YouTube

no pink or blue for pop.

gender

A couple in Sweden have decided to raise their child genderless, or in my opinion, screw up their perfectly healthy child.  The couple won’t answer any gender questions pertaining to their two-year-old son or daughter, who the media is calling “Pop.”

The idea behind the genderless upbringing is that the child won’t grow up with preconceived notions of gender and won’t be pigeon-holed into acting like a boy or a girl.

I’m sorry, but there is NOTHING WRONG with having a gender. The parents are creating gender issues where there probably weren’t any in the first place.

As a parent, why would you want to do anything that might encourage this type of identity crisis and bring about certain ridicule from peers on your own child?  Isn’t adolescence difficult enough already?  The parents claim that Pop will be able to choose his/her own gender whenever he/she feels it is the right time.  Pop, for your own sake, I hope it’s soon.

Read for yourself over at The Local.

[Posted by Shannon]

15 Comments

Filed under babies, definitely not politics, family, health, news, pop culture, rando, random, thoughts, weird

study proves gamer stereotypes are true.

This just in from the Department of Things that are Unsurprising:  A new survey shows that the average U.S. gamer is overweight, 35 years old and depressed.

This study was conducted by the CDC in the Seattle-Tacoma area.  CDC’s Dr. James B. Weaver said,

“Health risk factors, specifically a higher BMI and a larger number of poor mental-health days, differentiated adult video-game players from non-gamers,” he said. “Video game players also reported lower extraversion [sic], consistent with research on adolescents that linked video-game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status.”

Image from vortexgames.com

Image from vortexgames.com

Does anyone else find this to be really disturbing?

Last weekend I was in Indianapolis for a wedding, which fell on the same weekend as Gen Con Indy– a gaming convention.  Walking around, our high heels and party dresses were a stark contrast to the sea of gamer costumes: elves, pirates, warrior princesses.  Not to go all Carrie from Sex and the City on you, but I couldn’t help but wonder–besides the costumes, what is it about gamers that really sets them apart from the rest of us?

While we non-gamers are surely not to blame for the natural chemical imbalances that lead to depression, what is our role in ostracizing gamers from mainstream society?

Perhaps we lack the imaginative spark they manage to hold on to, and we mock them for it.  That being said, there must be another outlet for imagination and creativity besides a video game.

We all understand what it’s like to feel comfortable in a community of like-minded people.  (My comfort zone is other political wonks and campaigners who, to some, may seem like weirdos. Unlike gamers, however, we tend to be painfully extroverted.  It takes a certain kind of person to actually like knocking on doors and talking to strangers.) And if the study had said the average gamers were mostly happy and healthy, I would say “live and let live” and then make a crack about how they probably still live in their parents’ basement.

But that isn’t the case.  We now have data pinpointing a distinct community of people who are depressed and unhealthy.  Now we just need to figure out what to do and how to reach them.

[Posted by Kathleen]

3 Comments

Filed under adventures, blogging, health, news, pop culture, random, technology, thoughts, Uncategorized, weird