A Flashback to the Days I Played with Bath Toys

I was an unusual girl child in that I preferred toy cars, planes, trains, and boats over dolls. One of my favorites was a little orange plastic submarine acquired from a cereal box (it was the U.S.S. Toucan Sam from a box of Froot Loops in approx. 1995, if you were wondering). To my delight, there are pictures of this wonderful creation on the internet.

Isn't it delightful? So basic and yet I got hours of joy out of this thing. I carried it everywhere with me.

I almost wish it were possible to acquire one of these nowadays, although I have no idea what I would do with it.  I found the image in this old listing. Do they still put toys in cereal boxes? Are they this awesome?

Jelly Bean Flavors

I have taken it upon myself to eat at least one half of each of the 20 flavors of Jelly Belly jelly beans in the package I have come across and report on each of them.


Blueberry - Manages to actually taste somewhat like blueberries. Not half bad.

Bubble Gum - Does indeed taste quite like bubblegum. Exactly like bubblegum. The only thing that proves it is not in fact gum is that you can't blow bubbles with it.

Buttered Popcorn - Who thought this would be a good idea for a candy? The first bite does taste surprisingly like buttered popcorn. And then you realize how gross it is and immediately spit it out.

Coconut - Tastes like coconut. So if you're a fan of coconut....

Cotton Candy - This doesn't actually taste like cotton candy... which is pretty much just fluffy sugar. It is actually quite sweet and a little fruity. One of my favorites, especially since it is pretty easy to identify.

Green Apple - Tastes exactly like green apple flavor. Not really like green apples though. Don't expect it to be sour. But it is pretty yummy.

Juicy Pear - Despite looking like faded spinach, this does actually taste a little like pear. Really strong pear. Like maybe the kind you would cook with or something. Really though, it's definitely edible.

Sunkist Lemon - Tastes somewhat like every other lemon candy around that isn't too sour.

Lemon Lime - Tastes kind of like the lemon one. Maybe a little more limey?

Licorice - If you like black licorice.... I do not. Still not as bad as the popcorn one though.

Orange Sherbet - It's like orange... something. Not sherbet exactly.... But something. Still, it's edible.

Peach - Mmmmm peach candy. Yummmmmm. Kind of a weird aftertaste though.

Pina Colada - Out of all the jelly beans in my pack, there are more of this kind than any other. Why is that? I mean, a pina colada is an alcoholic drink. It's not like there could have been too many kids clamoring for this flavor. It tastes somewhat like pineapple? Definitely not as strong as some other pina colada flavored things. It's a pretty even balance between coconut and pineapple on this one.

Sizzling Cinnamon - DEATH. Especially when you think you're getting a nice cherry and you make the mistake of eating a whole one. I do not understand those people who like cinnamon. And still this is not as bad as the popcorn.

Strawberry Cheesecake - Not the best strawberry cheesecake interpretation ever. Not terrible either. I mean, how could it be, it's almost entirely made out of sugar. But still. Could be better. I had such high expectations.

Sunkist Tangerine - A very average jelly bean. Kind of what you expect it to taste like. Pretty forgettable.

Toasted Marshmallow - Oh lord. This just looks like a bad idea. It's not as bad as it looks though. Not really sure how toasted it tastes, but there is a marshmallow taste in there somewhere.

Tutti-Fruitti - Uhm, so this tastes vaguely like the gum they give you in the dentist's office.... Just sayin'.

Very Cherry - An old classic. Just don't mistake it with cinnamon.

Watermelon - My favorite part about this is by far the fact that the outside is green and the inside is red. That's pretty awesome. It also tastes kind of like fake-watermelon flavor. Which is ok since real watermelons taste kind of like sweetened water.

In review:
Best - Cotton Candy, Green Apple, Bubble Gum, Very Cherry
Worst - Licorice, Sizzling Cinnamon
Gag Worthy - Buttered Popcorn

More Things I Want To Buy

I realize I already did a list of things I want to buy. This is different because I might actually buy these things in the near future. They don't require some sort of ridiculously high income level or a giant house.

1. A nice camera. I have a little Canon digital that works great and has decent battery life and good zoom for something that fits in my pocket... but nothing really compares to a camera with actual lenses. And more focus settings. And the way you can just hold down the shutter and take multiple photos. I might actually get decent shots of animals that refuse to hold still. Or at least I'll get some really hilarious photos of animal faces.

2. A kayak. OK, this might require a large storage area....
3. Clothes. Now that I fit into clothing that looks OK on me, I actually really enjoy having new things to wear. Where to put all of these clothes is another issue.

4. A new computer. I really can't operate on 2 gigs of RAM anymore.

5. A steel string or electric guitar. I have a nylon string guitar from... the '80s? No matter what I play, it always kind of sounds like crap. I realize some of this is due to my skill.

Earthquakes

I have developed a new paranoia.
Despite having felt several earthquakes in Southern California over the last few years, the disastrous earthquakes around the country in the last few months and the quake we had here at 4 in the morning one day really made me think about the possibility of "the big one" hitting Los Angeles.

Before, the little shakes were almost fun, an occasion to dive under the desk during work and laugh as it was over before you even got half way underneath. Having an earthquake at 4am in my shaky old apartment building without my contacts in made me realize that there could be an earthquake at any time. Imagine an earthquake from the highest seat in Dodger stadium, driving 65mph on a freeway overpass, or while you're taking a shower. What would you even do to protect yourself in those situations? Would you even have time to do anything?

Every time a truck drives by and shakes my apartment or the kid next to me taps his foot and shakes my seat, I find myself wondering if this is the first shake or something larger, and I look for the nearest hiding place and wonder if it would protect me if there was a real quake.

Things I'll Buy When I'm Stinking Rich

These occur to me all the time but I can't imagine actually buying any of these things unless I could also buy a ginormous house to put them in as well.

1. Air hockey table. Because I'm too cheap to pay for it whenever I do find one but they are unbelievably awesome. Unless you smash your hands.

2. Millions of cheap things from Target. Every time I go there I see tons of useless but awesome things. Like St. Patty's Day shot glasses, or brightly colored socks, or glasses with penguins on them or $5 movies. I don't need any more of these things but I always want them.

3. An big flat open roof. Possibly with a garden? I would sleep up there in the sunshine all the time.

4. Washing machine and dryer. These are just useful.

5. A closet the size of a room. I like hanging my clothes, what can I say....

6. Model horses... Like the nice expensive ones. These can also have a room of their own in this ginormous fantasy house of mine.

7. Things from the USC bookstore. College gear is so expensive.

Looking Forward to Being Roommate-less

After living with roommates for all of college, I can't wait to live alone. I'm sure there are positive things roommates have to offer (like killing scary bugs, dealing with work orders, and eating leftovers I don't want) but at the moment the benefits don't seem to outweigh the drawbacks of living with other people. So here's what I look forward to when living alone:

1. I'll finally know what everything in the fridge is and how long it's been there.

2. The Disney channel will no longer be playing 24/7 on my TV in the living room.

3. All the furniture will (hopefully) actually match. And not be cheap antiques from three different families.

4. I will be able to eat any of the food in the apartment and use any of the dishes. These dishes will also actually be clean.

5. No one will try to cram pizza boxes into the tiny trash can.

6. The wireless will be properly encrypted and have a sensible password and I will be able to reach the router when there are problems.

7. No one will have to listen to me talk to myself and I won't have to listen to anyone else talk to themselves. Also I won't have to keep my voice down when talking to other people or doing other things.

8. No one will walk into my room to talk to me when I am clearly just chillin' in my room.

Inappropriate Email Addresses

Gmail does not like them.

When signing up for a new Gmail account you can enter your desired address and check its availability. However, if you enter an "inappropriate" word in your username, it gives you this:

Sorry, we are unable to present username suggestions at this time.

I find this fascinating.

Why I Think Disney Is A Cult

I remember enjoying Disneyland and Disney movies greatly when I was a child, but recently my trips have left me a little disillusioned. I'll admit, this might be because...

1. I now have to pay for my own tickets, which sucks....
2. When you've been on 5 million roller coasters at places where the only thing the coasters have going for them is speed and how many loops they have, rides like Thunder Mountain lose their thrill.
3. I'm now old enough that I don't enjoy being banged about on roller coasters that were built ages ago.
   
4. For being the happiest place on earth, I see a lot of unhappy people at Disneyland.
   

I remember back when Disneyland was just a bunch of fun rides, back when there were fish on strings in the Yellow Submarine ride and no one had ever thought about turning Pirates of the Caribbean into a movie. It seemed like Disney was more interested in providing genuine fun - not continuously promoting other Disney products.

This shows up in more areas than just around Disneyland. The Disney classics (like Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, etc.) have been mass marketed so much that I'm actually afraid to see any of the sequels, TV shows, or toys based on them just because they'll corrupt the childhood memories I have of when a movie was just a movie, not a ploy to steal all your money.

So here's my comparison to a cult:

What are they selling?
"Magic" - If you've ever seen Fantasmic or the fireworks show you know what I'm talking about.

What do they want from you?
It's all about money baby.

Where's the harm?
Well if you don't mind that they're corrupting children with the never-ending permutations of Disney products just begging to be bought and stealing all your money... then there is none.

I know a lot of people that are obsessed with Disneyland and will hear none of this, but every time I go and every time I see the newest version of some Disney title I used to enjoy, I cry a little bit inside. At Disneyland in particular I see a lot of people trying to buy into the "magic" and the "happiness" of it all, but when there is nearly a riot trying to get on the tram back to the parking lot, you see what's really underneath it all.

Stingrays

I just really wanted to write something about stingrays because they are awesome.

They are naturally very curious but flee from danger and are unlikely to hurt people unless provoked - this most often happens when they are stepped on.

There are about 70 species of stingrays. The largest freshwater stringray ever was caught in Thailand and weighted about 770 pounds and was about 7 feet wide, with a 10 foot long stinger. The largest salt water ray ever may have weighed around 3,000 pounds and was about 16 feet wide.

Stingrays are often seen by divers and snorkelers in shallow sandy water, often in warm locations. We saw some while snorkeling off of Catalina and they were very cool and quite large. Lots of aquariums and places like Sea World have stingrays with their stingers removed that people can pet. They are soft and slippery feeling and like being fed small fish. Petting stingrays is awesome. Try it.

On another random note, I think my first Beanie Baby was a stingray. It looked something like this stingray, except is much more worn now.

10 Facts About Avocados

1. The name avocado comes from the Nahuatl word ahuacatl which apparently meant testicle and was a reference to the shape of the fruit. Aren't you going to think about that now every time you eat an avocado?

Interestingly enough, the word guacamole comes from ahuacamolli which is basically avocado sauce. Or you know, testicle sauce.

2. 100 grams of avocado is roughly 160 calories. About 75% of that is from fat. Avocados also have more fiber than any other fruit and more potassium than bananas. They are also good for your cholesterol. Yay.

3. Avocado can be dangerous to dogs, cats, birds, horses, and other animals. It can cause colic in horses when large amounts are consumed, which can lead to death if not treated. This kind of makes me mad at avocados, because in the grand scheme of things horses = more awesome than avocados, although it's a close race sometimes depending on the ripeness of the avocado and whether or not horses behave.

4. Avocados are most common used as a base in dips like guacamole, on toast or in sandwiches, in sushi rolls, in omelettes, or eaten plain.

5. A single avocado plant cannot bear fruit unless it has another plant to cross pollinate with. So if you're growing them, best to plant two.

6. California produces about 90% of the avocados grown in the US. The US produces about 40% of worldwide avocado exports. Mexico and Indonesia produce the most avocados a year, with the US coming in third.

7. Avocados are also referred to as "butter pears" or "alligator pears."

8. The avocado tree is in the same family as cinnamon. Can't you see the similarities? Although apparently some people think they taste good together.

9. After it is picked an avocado takes 7-10 days to ripen. Putting it in the fridge will slow this down, while putting it in a bag with other fruit will speed this up.

10. Avocados had a long history as a sexual stimulant and used to not be purchased or eaten by people who wanted to appear sexually pure. So guacamole was only for the sexy people. Yum.

Avocados are awesome. If you want more random facts, and to read some of these again, look here.