Trivia Tuesday

~ Apparently one of the longest words in the German language has 63 letters and explains a type of regulation placed on beef manufacturing.  Now I ask you, if you were writing the German language and had to choose what word would require all those letters, wouldn't you choose something that's a little prettier and more poetic than regulations of beef manufacturing?

~ The team with the name Namaste in Bed should win the night for sheer clever team name alone. 

~ The band Def Leppard has a one armed drummer.  Apparently, Foo Fighters is not the correct answer to every rock band question.  

~ Getting excited about a clue called TV Doctors is useless because the trivia masters will choose something ridiculous like Dr. Quinn.  (We got it right, but couldn't we have gone classic ER?)

~ When the Halftime question is about major league sluggers, and you have 5 really good guesses, you should probably throw them all out and start naming obscure players most people have never heard of.  They're usually the answer.

~ I may not do algebra every day like my teachers told me I would, but my 6th grade science memorization certainly came in handy when asked about the classification of mammals.

~ When the category is Podcasts, the answer will surely have something to do with Serial.  I was prepared with Adnan Said's name, where the crime took place and even if he was going to receive a new trial.  Of course the question only cared about the name of the actual podcast.  Lame!

~ Perseverance is a word that's hard to spell, even though I've never had a hard time with it. That brings me to my next thought, when you know you know your answer, don't let everyone else talk you out of it...

Things That Make You Say Hmm...

Let's be honest, there's a lot going on in the world since Friday night.  There was a lot happening before then too, but it seems when the attack on Paris happened, everything sort of took a back seat.  For roughly 24 hours.  Then, while the world still mourned, life went on, which is a good thing in some respects and in others, it's very much a bad thing.  In my opinion anyway.

For some reason, the Democrats thought it was a good idea to move ahead with their debate. Not sure that was the greatest of moves on their part.  For instance, somehow the attack was linked directly to climate change.  Hmm?  I know loads can be blamed on climate change but I'm not thinking there's any science that supports people being evil because the temperatures are rising.  Of course none of them said anything half as ridiculous as Donald Trump does on a daily basis, so I'll take the win on their parts.

Then you have the big MMA fight starring Ronda Roussey.  I suppose it had to go on since it was a Pay Per View fight, but I'm sure that Roussey wished she could have postponed it. Unfortunately, the undefeated Roussey is no longer undefeated. On top of that, she was knocked out and was taken to the hospital because she lost consciousness.  Now, seeing that 2015 has been the year of feminism and strong women, you'd think we'd at least have some compassion for Ronda.  But no, people like Donald Trump and Floyd Mayweather attacked her on Twitter.  That's nothing new. They're ignorant jerks who she had the gull to speak out against so that was always going to happen.  But Lady Gaga also attacked her on Twitter. Lady Gaga who's always going on about women's rights and supporting each other.  Excuse me?  In the long run, I'm sure this won't hurt Roussey's career, but it just sucks that people are kicking her (no pun intended) when she's down.

Then lastly, you have the fall out from the Paris Attacks.  France is now bombing ISIS targets, while its citizens mourn.  There are dozens of police raids happening in Belgium looking for the possible mastermind of the attack.  And here, what are we doing?  We're begging our elected officials - some of which have already complied - to close our borders to refugees, and trying to re-ignite the gun control ("Americans need guns so we won't get attacked!") debate.  We were just witness to one of the worst attacks in recent history, and yet we still respond with no compassion for our fellow man.  Muslims didn't attack Paris - Terrorists did. Plain and Simple.  Calling all Muslims, terrorists is like calling all Christians, KKK members. It's inconsiderate, hateful and just plain wrong.  

In the wake of such pain and suffering, can't we all just be a little kinder to our neighbors? America was founded by immigrants afterall.  If they were turned away, how many of us would be living in the US right now?

Sunday Six

Since I didn't talk about all lovely things of the week on Friday, I'll do it today.

1. These little notebooks were my super easy and super fun project of the week.  Once I read this DIY post from A Beautiful Mess, I just knew I had to give them a shot.  What happened after the first was made, was me making a stack of them just because I had all the supplies and I was bored on the sofa.  Now I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out how I can make them into gifts.  No one uses cute notebooks anymore - everything's in their phone : (

2. I scrap-lifted this card from Pinterest months and months ago.  I've been meaning to make it ever since but I haven't known anyone that's gotten pregnant so there hasn't been a need.  In a fit of craftiness this week, I just decided to make it.  I can't decide if it actually looks like a pregnant belly (like it's supposed to) or if it just sort of looks like a beer gut. Either way it makes me smile.

3. Even though Torrey Smith doesn't play for the Ravens anymore (so wish that wasn't the case!), we Baltimoreans still love the dude.  He's such a good guy and great inspiration for kids.  I still follow him on Twitter because of this.  His tweets are usually a mix of football, cute dad stuff and great quotes.  He found a winner this week with this one he posted.  I'm a pretty fickle individual and sometimes I think it's wrong to be that way.  So this one really hit home with me.

4. I have been an NCIS fan since the very beginning.  It's the one show I've never fallen out of love with.  It will always be good.  You've been with the characters for so long now, they're like old friends.  Well maybe not you, but they feel like that to me.  It's sort of like Friends - I can usually quote lines at the drop of a hat and have seen every episode, but if USA is running a marathon, I'll probably rewatch.  In the past few seasons, it hasn't been as fantastic (I blame it on it being Ziva-less) or heavy on the new characters.  However, this season, they introduced Jon Cryer as Cyril Taft and I'm head over heels for this guy.  Taft is just such a great character played awesomely by Jon Cryer.  I hear he's supposed to be on a few more episodes, but I find my self hoping he'll just stay permanently - they do get hurt a lot on the show, they could totally use an in house doctor to take some of the workload away from Ducky.  Or even better, spin him off into NCIS: Med. I'd watch the heck out of that.

5. This article on photography is awesome.  Different photographers were told different things about one person (he's an ex-con, a fisherman, a dad, etc.) and then they were told to photograph him.  The pictures are so different it's unbelievable.  It's such a cool study in judging books by their cover. 

6. I'm slightly offended that these so called actors don't know every word to every Grease song there is.  How is this possible?  Have they not seen it about a million times like I have? As offensive as it is, it's still pretty cute to seem them try : )

          

Emporiyum DC

Another year, another awesome Emporiyum.  I'm just loving the Baltimore/DC food scene these days.  There are all sorts of fun events that showcase the awesome chefs and restaurants we have here in MD.  The best event to do this is the Emporiyum - 2 days & over 30 restaurants, food trucks and foodie businesses, showing off all the amazing food they create.  

This year's was in the Union Market Space in DC, which was the best venue yet, in my opinion.  There was tons of space - full of tons of people of course.  And if you got tired of the Emporiyum, you could just mosey on next door to the actual Union Market and check out all their yumminess too. 

There were quite a few new places, but some of the old favorites were there as well. I was sad to see that no Voltaggio restaurants were there.  They are of course, always my favorite.  In fact, there weren't any real celebrity chefs there besides Erik Bruner Yang - the rock star of ramen (which I will say, that's a name he truly deserves - yum!)  My other complaint was the complete lack of anyone selling water.  The drink stalls were selling only alcohol - not even sodas were being sold.  That's a little ridiculous.  I had to beg a cup off the Living Social people and use the water fountain to fill it.  Other than that, it was a rousing success as always. 

They even seemed to realize that if you make smaller portions or give free samples, people will eat more.  Half size sandwiches were being sold as well as individual sized pies or single cookies.  That was my most favorite part.  Yay Emporiyum people, for getting a clue!

 These pieces of art were made completely out of plastic cups.

Reflective Air Stream Selfie!

And here's the important part - the food!

 Erik Bruner Yang's awesome Ramen - So delicious!

 This was the best thing I ate all day!  I have no idea how to pronounce it, but it's basically a wafer, with to die for marshmallow on top, covered in chocolate and coconut. OMG! It was life changing : )

 According to the Top Chef judges, Mike Isabella's Pepperoni sauce was life-changing.  Obviously they never had the marshmallow cookie thing I had before this.  It wasn't bad but I'm no Isabella fan, so that may have clouded my judgement. 

Dooby's was my favorite from last year, and this year it was my second favorite this year.  I have no idea what they put on that fried chicken but it's spicy and sweet and perfect.  The honey chips were also unbelievably tasty. 

Stand with Paris

I had planned to write a post this evening of all the wonderful things that I found this week - as usual. But in the light of the Paris attacks today, it just doesn't seem right.  I just can't seem to get the victims out of my head.  

Such a beautiful and lively city.  I was only there a few hours and in that time I saw thousands of people living their lives, thankful to be in the city of light.  

I just can't fathom how any one could have that much hate in their body to attack in such a cold and calculated way.  And the fact that some are using this terrible event in history to push their own political agendas - already - is almost as cold.  

Tomorrow I'm sure rebuilding and healing will begin, but for tonight, send all the love you have to the Parisian people.  The world is standing with them right now and I'm sure they can feel the outpouring of love. 

In Defense of Thanksgiving...

It's November 12th.  Thanksgiving is officially 2 weeks away today. Christmas is 42 days away.  But here's what happened today.  I walked into Michael's and they were playing Christmas over the speakers throughout the store.  I saw a commercial that contained Santa Claus.  Someone on Facebook posted a picture of a Secret Santa gift she received today. 

Seriously?!

I will freely admit I've been doing some serious Christmas crafting.  I've even completely finished cards and made some gifts.  But come on!  What happened to November being for Thanksgiving?  The best part of dealing with the madness on Black Friday is that it's officially the beginning of all the Christmas madness.  That's when Christmas music starts and Christmas decorations go up.  

Who wants to eat Turkey and Stuffing surrounded by Christmas trees and listening to "Jingle Bells."  I just don't get it!  I'm the first one to admit I'm in love with the whole Christmas season.  I love everything about it.  But I'm also a big fan of Turkey, Stuffing, Pumpkin Pie and being thankful for family and friends.  

Let's just slow it down a little, people.  The quicker we wish Christmas is here, the faster it will be over.  Let's be thankful before being merry!

Always Remember...

Thank you too all that have served and are currently serving! Thank you for your service and your sacrifices. You have our eternal gratitude and utmost respect!