Another Year, Another Hangover

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate people, as it’s the morning of New Year’s Eve…and you know what THAT means…heinous hangovers are just a short 24 hours away. Just in time for the holiday, I happened upon a commercial last night for ChaserOnline, a “hangover prevention supplement” that supposedly relieves the goddawful side effects of heavy drinking.

I’m not proud of the fact that I’ve turned into a lightweight in my mature days, getting cottonmouth, an uneasy stomach, and incapacitating headaches after only two glasses of champagne. (Of late, I’m blaming it on the 5,280 foot altitude). So if ChaserOnline truly does live up to its claim, I’ll take three boxes please (and two more for my brother).

This magical anti-hangover supplement evidently works due to “specially processed calcium carbonate and charcoal. These two ingredients attract and absorb hangover-causing toxins and then safely pass them out of your system.” Ummm, did they just say charcoal? As in the kind of charcoal that’s “the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances???” Naaaasty.

Admiteddly, my current cure for hangovers consisting of the consumption of bloody mary’s, coupious amounts of fried food, and gatorade isn’t the healthiest prescription…but consuming “blackish residue?” Me no likey. I’d rather drink numerous flutes of the cheapest rose champagne on the market and face the concequences. Or Veuve. Or Dom. Or Cristal. I’m flexible, really. Now excuse me, I’m off to hydrate.

Wiis & Whoppers

For the last six weeks, my determined and perservering boyfriend has been on a relentless hunt for a Nintendo Wii. He’s searched far and wide, called every Best Best, Circuit City and Game Stop in the Rocky Mountain area, and spoken to numerous fellow-gamers about best strategies on obtaining this gaming system. This is not some casual errand-running…his efforts have touched 35 stores in the Denver metropolitan area. We’re talking major leagues here.

Today, I was feeling lucky so I accompanied him in his search. We hit up the Best Buy on Colorado Blvd as well as the Game Stop. If we had actually gotten the Wii today, you probably would’ve heard about it by now. Needless to say, we came back empty-handed, but not beaten.

At this point you’re probably thinking, “why is she so supportive of this game-playing thing? Aren’t girlfriends supposed to loathe Xboxes, Playstations, and the like?” Good question, but I’m completely behind my boyfriend’s passion for video games. Why? Because it’s making him smarter. Or at least that’s what Steven Johnson argues in his book, “Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter.”

Johnson asserts:

“For decades, we’ve worked under the assumption that mass culture follows a path declining steadily toward lowest-common-denominator standards, presumably because the ‘masses” want dumb, simple pleasures and big media companies try to give the masses what they want. .. To make sense of an episode of ‘24,’ you have to integrate far more information than you would have a few decades ago watching a comparable show. Beneath the violence and the ethnic stereotypes, another trend appears: to keep up with entertainment like ‘24,’ you have to pay attention, make inferences, track shifting social relationships. This is what I call the Sleeper Curve: the most debased forms of mass diversion — video games and violent television dramas and juvenile sitcoms — turn out to be nutritional after all.”

I like your arguement, Steven. I expect to hear a similar study coming from you regarding the health benefits of Whoppers, macaroni and cheese, and guacamole in the new year. I envision the book titled, “Don’t Feel Guilty for Cleaning Your Plate and Asking for Seconds: How The Highest Caloric Foods in Our Society Are Shrinking Your Thighs.”

(Smart man….)

Warms Your Heart, Doesn’t It?

It’s currently blizzarding in Colorado, and as I sit here…staring out at the snowy mountains… I can’t help but smile when I read a story like this, courtesy of Reuters:

“BERLIN (Reuters) – German police arrested a man for drunk driving after he mistook a police spot check for a breakdown and stopped to help.

Officers inspecting a car by the roadside suspected the 37-year-old passing motorist was under the influence of alcohol when he lurched from his vehicle to offer assistance, police in the northwestern town of Bremen said Friday.”

Who knew Mel Gibson was vacationing in Germany over the holidays?

Did Anyone Ever Tell You You Look Like (Insert Annoying Celebrity Here)?

So the other day…at a wedding, no less…a man came up to me and told me I looked like Meredith Gray on Gray’s Anatomy. Before I go any further, let’s examine the evidence:

The supposed compliment went something like this: “You guys have such similar coloring! And your hair is EXACTLY alike! Has anyone else ever told you you look like her?? Really, it’s uncanny.”

Fact: Our hair is a tad similar in length and cut.

Fact: We both have stunningly gorgeous eyes.

Fact: I might slighlty resemble Meredith if I went on a lemon and cayenne pepper fast for two weeks and dropped 30 LBs.

Fact: On the show, Meredith is extremely annoying.

All of these facts bring me to the following question: was this really a compliment? When I told a friend about the exchange, her first reaction was to wince. Yes, wince. “Really? He really said you look like Meredith Gray??? Wow.” I guess that answers that question.

So next time you think a friend, acquaintance, coworker or family member looks like a celebrity, think before you let them know. It might not be taken as a compliment. (Don’t even get me started on the time I was told I resembled Tipper Gore. Sweet jesus.)

Note to Self: I sincerely hope this rant doesn’t dissuade anyone from telling me I look like Jennifer Aniston…or the incredible similarities between our hairstyles. I love you, Jen. Call me.

My New Blog…Take Three

Sadly enough, this is my third attempt at starting a blog. My first blog (SineLanguage) got off to a good start, but died a horrible death when I decided I didn’t like the title of the blog anymore…RIP Sine Language.

My second blog (which I haven’t given up hope on), focuses on life in Corporate America as a twenty-something. If you’re interested, you can check it out here: ReferencesRequired. After writing one post (yes, only one post), I realized that not only would the content be hard to come up with daily, but my readers might get bored of reading ABOUT work when they’re AT WORK. Don’t get me wrong…I’m always ready to revive ReferencesRequired if I get a resounding plea from readers that they just can’t get through their day without reading a little RR. (A girl can dream, can’t she?)

And that brings us to Memos to Myself…my newest, latest, improved blog that I’m going to stick with till the end of time. The whole idea behind this blog is to write about the inner dialogue I have daily about the small things in life that make you stop and think (or laugh…or cry…or wonder, “what the hell is going on???”) I don’t know about you, but I have some fantastic conversations that go on inside my head. Is that creepy?

Final note: My original idea for this blog was to call it “Note to Self,” but some chick named Linda already took that title and isn’t even using it! Sacre bleu! Although it could be her third attempt at starting a blog which somehow just lost its life and is now sitting idle on this fantastic world wide web we have at our fingertips.

Memos to Myself, I PROMISE..that will never happen to you. Pinky swear.

(Visualize cute, honest face here)