Flying Off Into the Wild Blue Yonder

Well, I've finished packing.

Tomorrow morning I take off to visit my family. I may check in intermittantly through out the week.

Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannuka, Festivus, and every other holiday I may have forgotten!!

In lieu of of a holiday card, I present to you the link for the new Jib Jab cartoon. Enjoy!!



photo by kneague

What in the world does she see in HIM?

OK. I'll admit it....I watched the finale of Martha Stewart's Apprentice last night. I had no real interest in learning who actually won out of the two remaining candidates, but I wanted to see what Martha would say during the finale. Since the show taped, Martha hasn't had very many nice things to say about the shows candidates. In the Dec 8th edition of BusinessWeek, Martha said some, shall we say, not so nice things about the show and its contestants. Here are a few choice choice excerpts:

Martha on her decision to be a part of the show:

"It's unusual for me to take a job like The Apprentice, and it was just a job. I got paid a fee. I have no participation in the show. Generally, we're the originators. But I did it because I knew it would be a jump-start, and it would get attention."

Martha on the quality of remaining candidates:

"Yeah, we're getting close to which of those inappropriate contestants we are actually going to have to hire. I can't believe people behave like that. They're exhibitionists and opportunists, those kids. I did not choose them either, by the way. I just want you to know I had nothing to do really with the choice of the contestants. That's part of reality television."

Ouch.

So the finale took place on the set of her daily show. Most of it was pretty boring, but one thing was very interesting to me. The 2nd runner up (who was kicked off the show right before the final) was this guy named Jim. Jim was this graphic designer who came on Martha Stewarts Apprentice thinking he was on Survivor or something. He had "strategies" to pit contestants against one another. He had "strategies" to get people to like him, so that he could stab them in the back. he had "strategies" to be zany and unpredictable so that other contestants would waste energy thinking about him while he plotted his victory. He came across as somewhat evil on the show.

Last night Martha remarked that she thought that Jim must be faking. That it all must be an act. Why? Because Martha met Jim's beautiful wife and daughters, and in Martha's estimation, there was NO way that such a wonderful woman would ever marry Jim if he was really the kind of person he appeared to be on the show.



And that got me thinking...

Have you ever met a friend's boyfriend or girlfriend or spouse and wonder something like "What does she see in him?" Come on. I know you have. Or maybe you've just thought, "Wow. What an unlikely pair."

Both of these thoughts have crossed my mind before. And I have come to the following conclusion: The two people in that relationship must bring out something wonderful in one another...especially when they are alone together. There must be something that we don't know about that it makes everything fall into place.

Which brings me back to Jim, the wanna-be apprentice. He was a crazy caniving schemer on the show, but at home I bet he is a totally different guy.

Either that, or his wife needs therapy.

Happy Winter

presentation at the UMASS sunwheel

Winter officially starts today at 1:35 PM. I guess this means that we have reached the shortest day of the year. And now, daylight hours will incrementally increase every day. Thank doG!!

Yesterday at 5:30 PM, I was ready for bed. Because it was so dark outside, I was ready to put on my PJs and get under the covers. I almost did. Seriously.

I cannot wait for the sunlight to come back!!

If you live in Amherst and drive by campus, have you seen that stonehenge like thing out behind the football field? Have you wondered what it is? It is a sunwheel. (like stonehenge was). If you have ever wondered about this structure on campus, today is your lucky day. At 3:30 PM tonight, there is a presentation and sunset viewing at the sunwheel to celebrate the winter solstice. There is also a sunrise presentation tomorrow at 7 AM and then another sunset presenstation viewing tomorrow afternoon at 3:30.

If you want a cliff's notes version of the story behind the winter solstice, visit Signalwriter for a really nice synopsis.

Happy Winter everyone!

Molasses and soy sauce flavored snow cone anyone?

Has everyone been as busy this holiday season as I have? I realize that I have only written 3 blog entries since Thanksgiving! Every year seems to get more and more hectic doesn't it? Anyhoo.....

Yesterday, I was reading an interesting article in USA Today about Google...not about the price of Google stock, or the acquistion of shares of AOL by Google...but about how Google has become a daily part of life for many of us. I found myself nodding in agreement with the author as I read the article. I "google" everything: recipes (yes. I'm learning to cook. don't laugh), and general people, places, and things.

After I finished the article, I folded up the paper, put on my coat and gloves and headed out to walk across campus. Almost from the moment I stepped outside, I couldn't wait to get to my office to (you guessed it) look something up on Google. "Google what" you ask?

I wanted an answer to the following question:

What the heck is that brown s*&t they poor all over campus that is supposed to melt the ice and snow?

This is my third winter in Amherst. And this winter, like every winter, as I walk across the UMASS campus, I wonder about this.

If you have been on campus at all during the winter months, you know what I am talking about. It is brown and sticky like molasses, and smells like a chinese restaurant. And I'm sure you have had the same thought: I wonder what that s*&t is!

Well, wonder no more. I have the answer (at least if it is the same stuff they used during the winter of 2002). I typed the words molasses, University of Massachusetts, and snow into the search engine. Google returned about 150 entried, and I discovered that back in 2002, a representative from the physical plant described the concoction in The Chronicle (a now defunct campus publication).



According the archived article from 2002, this sticky smelly substance is called Ice B'Gone

"The main ingredient in Ice B'Gone is Ice Ban, a byproduct of distilling plants in the Midwest, which manufacture beer, other alcoholic beverages, and ethanol. It consists mainly of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and sugar, and is also used as a cattle feed substitute that looks and smells like molasses. Ice B'Gone, the product UMass Amherst is using, is a mixture of Ice Ban and magnesium chloride."

Almost good enough to eat! Come on, I dare you.