Slurry in a Hurry

I stopped by 7-11 on my way back to work from lunch yesterday because I was extremely grouchy and need a pick-me-up. I went for "the usual" Dr. Pepper and Laffy Taffy. As stupid as the jokes are, Laffy Taffy always seems to brighten my day.

The worst joke ever: What do you call a fly with no wings?

Dun, dun, dun...

A walk.

So, after I got back to work, I was reading the lame jokes to my co-worker who never ceases to make me question every ingredient in the food I eat. I decided to take a look at the ingredients in Laffy Taffy and one of them caught me off guard: sodium alginate. My first thought was "salty algae?" and then I found out it's even worse -- Thank you Wikipedia!

"...the pimento stuffing in prepared cocktail olives is usually injected as a slurry at the same time that the stone is ejected; the slurry is subsequently set by immersing the olive in a solution of a calcium salt which causes rapid gelation by electrostatic cross-linking. A similar process can be used to make "chunks" of everything from cat food through "reformed" ham or fish to "fruit" pieces for pies."

When the words used to describe a food additive are "slurry" and "chunks" I would rather steer clear. And, so begins a life without my favorite candy...

Oh yeah, and people wonder why I hate green olives?

Movies From My Past

I’m sitting here watching Three Men and a Baby and can’t help but think about all of the awesome movies that helped shape my childhood. I spent many a sleepover with friends and cousins watching these.

I am sure that I will leave some out, but here goes (in no particular order).

Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Batteries Not Included
Three Men and a Baby
The Great Outdoors
Look Who’s Talking
Summer School
Little Monsters
Captain Ron
Uncle Buck

Karate Kid
Sister Act

Gremlins
Mr. Mom
Ghost
Clue

There is nothing better than watching these movies as an adult and realizing that 1) my parents were crazy for letting me watch this smut; 2) clothes in the 80s/early 90s really were freaking awesome, although I would never want to dress like that again; 3) the backdrops and sets were even better than the clothes were; 4) I must have an amazing memory to still know most of the lines and the songs; 5) some of the storylines are soooo stupid, yet soooo classic!

Is it a Gripe or an Epiphany?

Today, I realized the vicious cycle that is hair product. You’ve read before that I am a complete snob about my flat iron. With that, I have also been a snob about hair product. I’m sure my family is laughing at this one because they remember the days of me writing my name on my shampoo and conditioner and throwing tantrums when I could smell that someone used MY products in the bathroom. Well, I have a feeling that change might be coming…
Over the weekend, I went on a little vacation and did not want to check my luggage, so I carried my bag onto the plane. As I was preparing for the trip (with one of my notorious packing lists) I noted all of the things that I would normally pack in my toiletry bag: full-size name brand shampoo, conditioner, pomade, hairspray, lotion, toothpaste, etc. I found some travel-size shampoo and conditioner at home, but could not locate a small enough bottle of my hairspray to take on the plane, so I just ran to the grocery store to buy some. I winced at the “brand” because I wasn’t buying it from a salon, but decided that it was only for a couple of days and I’d live.
The next day, while at my hotel, I finished styling my hair (with my CHI, of course!) and got the bland-brand hairspray out and spritzed it on. Against my expectations, my hair held up just fine and my fly-aways stayed down as much as they could have. I usually wash my hair every-other-day so that I don’t have to take the time doing it and frying it each day. Normally, by the middle of the second day, my hair is pretty grease-nasty. This time, I made it on an airplane and through the entire next day without my hair looking any different.
Now, for the epiphany: I pay more (about $14) for a salon/name brand bottle of hairspray – my hair gets greasy, I have to wash it more often, and use more hairspray. They make me keep coming back for more by having a thick spray that weighs down my fly-aways and smells delicious, but it makes my hair greasier than it should be. As opposed to the cheap $4 bottle from the grocery store that did its job and got me through way more than I would have expected.
I think life was much easier when the only option was Aquanet!