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.
The bill was passed 219-212.
[Posted by Shannon]
Category Archives: news
sandra bullock and jesse james, NOOOOO!
Sandra Bullock is perfect. She is a fantastic actress, self-deprecating, hilarious and gorgeous. Although she seemed to be completely out of her husband’s league, they were so adorable together and seemed so in love, it didn’t matter.
And still, he cheats.
WHY DO GUYS WHO LOOK LIKE THIS:
CHEAT ON WOMEN WHO LOOK LIKE THIS:
WITH WOMEN WHO LOOK LIKE THIS: 
Devastating.
[Posted by Shannon]
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]
today is a google holiday, hooray!
Today’s Google Holiday: Anthony Vivaldi’s birthday. He would have been 332! You know our boy Vivaldi for The Four Seasons (WALSH!) and his striking good looks:
His Wikipedia page has this interesting opening paragraph about his childhood:
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born in Venice, the capital of the Republic of Venice in 1678. He was baptized immediately after his birth at his home by the midwife, which led to the belief that his life was somehow in danger. Though not known for certain, the immediate baptism was most likely due either to his poor health or to an earthquake that shook the city that day. In the trauma of the earthquake, Vivaldi’s mother may have dedicated him to the priesthood. Vivaldi’s official church baptism (the rites that remained other than the baptism itself) did not take place until two months later. Cool!!
Cool!! indeed. (Wikipedia’s editors clearly aren’t doing their job.)
What I was Googling: jcrew rose vines romper. And here’s why:
[Source]
See now, that doesn’t count as clothes. J.Crew tells us to “think poolside parties and chic beach soirees” and to pair “this fashion-forward silhouette with an extra-long cardigan and loads of accessories.” Now, I’m all for wacky fashion, J.Crew, and even rompers, when done well. But this is just a swimsuit that you can’t swim in. I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around it, because I can’t imagine a time when you’d be at a “chic beach soiree” (I already have like eight of those on my calendar for the summer) or a pool party and wouldn’t want to be wearing either a swimsuit or some form of clothes. I just had this conversation with my coworker, who happens to work at J.Crew, after I showed her this “romper”:
Her: Cute! That’s a swimsuit, right?
Me: NO! It’s a ROMPER.
Her: Oh god, nevermind. Did you see the other romper, with the pants? We got one in the store…and nuh-uh.
Here it is styled, which is even more mind-boggling:
Can someone please help me understand? Is it just a swimsuit? This website and this website seem to think so. But if it’s a swimsuit, why are they calling it a romper? I’m so confused. Hailp!
[Posted by Mallory]
usa wins gold medal of beards.
I tuned in to watch the end of the USA v. Canada gold medal hockey game, and while Canada technically won the gold medal, USA totally kicked ass in the Olympic sport of Hot Beards. And hot dudes in general. And hot dudes named Ryan. (Seriously. Like 11 of them are named Ryan.) I present the following evidence:
Ryan Malone of the Tampa Bay Lightning:
Ignoring Malone’s ill-advised tattoos, here’s another one:
Hello sir!
His teammate Ryan Kesler, of the Vancouver Canucks, is also my new fake Olympic boyfriend:
Not that I’d turn Sidney Crosby down if he came a-knockin’ at my door. (Is that creepy? How old is he?)
And I swear, I’m not usually this much of a girl. I do like sports for sports, but throw in that many beards and I’m bound to get distracted.
USA! USA! USA!
[Posted by Mallory]
take a look at me nooooooow.
Hey guys! Remember me? I’m Mallory, and I sometimes blog here. It’s been a while, I know. But don’t worry, between the Catholic guilt (it is Lent, after all), and harassment from “fans” like Scott and Mike, I feel PLENTY bad about not writing. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, SCOTT AND MIKE?
Since it’s been two weeks since I’ve written, I don’t even know where to begin. There’s the Olympics, and the killer whale attack, and the Vajazzler, and the fact that I attended an adult birthday party at Medieval Times last night, dressed as a medieval pirate (and the fact that it was kind of amazing).
There’s also this:
And yes, that’s old — St. Patty’s Day of last year, as you might have guessed — but I was recently tagged on Facebook, and it reminded me how much I love my friends, and Cry Face, and this here blog.
Speaking of things I love, I’m kind of obsessed with this Postal Service cover of “Against All Odds”:
All that said, I have a proposal: in honor of the Olympics, and Phil Collins, why don’t we pretend that I don’t suck at updating my blog, and instead just hold hands and forgive each other (read: you forgive me)? Work for you? Good. I’m back, and I promise, I’m going to be better.
[Posted by Mallory]
let’s just call it beard friday.
Whelp, DC is back to work after a four-day (!) run of snow days. Luckily, I’m a lowly student/part-time employee so it’s just another lazy Friday for me. In theory, it’s not supposed to be lazy. Not at all. But there was…well…a lot of wine last night, and then the walking in the snow this morning, and this girl is sleepy. (My life is hard. I know.)
But there are some things to talk about in the blogosphere! First, Sarah Palin is an idiot and Stephen Colbert is awesome. I mean, we knew that, but that clip illustrates it yet again. The pure, unadulterated hatred I feel toward Sarah Palin actually scares me a little bit. Somebody. make. her. stop.
Speaking of making people stop, take a look at John Mayer’s interview with Playboy, if you haven’t already. Reading that thing is exhausting. I can’t imagine what it’s like inside his head.
It’s all okay though, guys. Because today is BEARD FRIDAY. That just means I’m going to show you these images:
If someone wanted to send me a bearded man with a bag full of breakfast sandwiches, I wouldn’t be upset.
[Posted by Mallory]
Filed under adventures, celebrities, news, pictures
the saints win the super bowl.
I’ve never been the kind of person to pretend to be into sports that I’m not really into. While I was something of a tomboy as a child and played about every sport available to me, there aren’t teams that I follow religiously or extra channels I order to ensure that I can watch every game of a certain season. (Case in point: my sister had to tell me that the school I’m currently attending upset the number two team in basketball yesterday. Oh, right!) That said, I do love sports, and I enjoy watching sports (clearly not on a regular basis, but still…). If a Colorado team is in the playoffs or there is a major sporting event on the teevee, I’ll probably tune in, or at least try to keep myself informed.
In comes the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl, of course, is different. A lot of non-diehard sports fans love the Super Bowl — whether for the commercials or the food or the drinking — and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t one of them. But because this Super Bowl was different for some people I love, it was different for me.
See, my officemate and dear friend E.Lee went to Tulane for law school, as did her boyfriend and a lot of her close friends in DC. I went to a Super Bowl party at their house, replete with gumbo and jambalaya and king cake (oh my!). I won’t capitalize on their emotions or try to adopt them as my own, but suffice it to say: this Super Bowl, this game, meant a lot to them. And not because of the sport, really; as Mr. Luz put it in a heartfelt speech to the crowd, it was never about football. It was because this meant a lot to New Orleans, and because more than any other city, that city would and could appreciate winning a big game like tonight’s. E.Lee said it well when she found out that the Saints were going to the Super Bowl:
The people of New Orleans are rare. They have the fortitude to make it through the hard, heartbreaking times and the spirit to anticipate the joyful times that make it all worthwhile. It’s not about Katrina, it’s about unabashed hope in spite of endless disappointment. It’s always been that way in NOLA, and here is their great reward. Congratulations, New Orleans — the Black and Gold are going to the Superbowl!
Perhaps most impressive about Saints fans, and New Orleans folk in general, is that they have an ability to effortlessly draw people into their circle. The spirit of the city was infectious tonight, and I may or may not have sobbed along with the people for whom this win was personal. Those people wouldn’t judge me for that, or think I’m just half-heartedly jumping on the bandwagon; they’d say “Welcome the fuck aboard,” “We know,” and “Have another beer.” And I love that. That attitude is why I’m so happy tonight, and why this game managed to feel personal for a girl from Colorado who’s never so much as been to New Orleans.
What I’m trying to say, I guess, is WHO DAT. And congratulations, New Orleans. Your people and your gumbo have won me over.
[Posted by Mallory]
Filed under adventures, news, sports
snowpocalypse, snowmageddon, snowverraction, SNOW MY GOD!
Call it what you wanna call it: DC loves to fah-reeeak out over its snowstorms. Don’t get me wrong; this is a photo I just took from my balcony, and that IS a lot of snow:
But people are acting as though it’s Y2K all over again. The grocery stores are out of eggs, the cabs aren’t running, and I swear to god I saw MANY people purchasing gallons of water as though the pipes are about to freeze when the temperatures are in the high 20s. (Cue my roof collapsing, my eggs running out, and my pipes not only freezing but exploding.)
I personally think the snow is quite lovely! Snow makes me about as happy as sunshine; it’s so gorgeous and peaceful and an instant mood lifter. Plus, a huge snowstorm like this gives everyone an excuse to day drink heavily, eat crappy food, and be as lazy as they would have been anyway, guilt-free! Enjoy it, people. And let’s all cross our fingers that the storm pushes its way through the weekend and gets us all a Monday off.
[Posted by Mallory]
Filed under adventures, news, thoughts
superbowl ads going conservative this year?
If you are like me, you watch the Superbowl to eat unlimited snack foods, drink some beers and watch the commercials. I may pay attention for the first quarter or so, but then I eat, drink and socialize until the commercials come back on. And it’s glorious.
This year, it looks like CBS may be putting a conservative spin on the commercials. Uber-religious Tim Tebow and fam will be featured in a “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life” ad discussing how Tebow’s mom’s doctors in the Philippines suggested she had have an abortion when she fell ill while she was pregnant with Tim. [Spoiler alert!] she didn’t. The ad has been paid for by Focus on the Family, who’s founder has said that gay marriage will “destroy the Earth.” Ugh.
On the other hand, CBS rejected an ad from mancrunch.com, a gay dating website. “After reviewing the ad, which is entirely commercial in nature, our standards and practices department decided not to accept this particular spot,” said CBS spokeswoman Shannon Jacobs. Jacobs also said the ads were practically sold out when they reviewed mancrunch’s concept, where two men passionately make out after their hands brush on their way to the chip bowl. Riiiiight.
Come ON CBS. I want more commercials like this: Not ones that take a stand.
Regardless, I’ll be there on Superbowl Sunday, solo cup in hand, covered in chip crumbs, just waiting it out until the next commercial.
[Posted by Shannon]
six words to change the world. 