Stella vs. the DDP

I have a plant at the office names Stella.

So today she was looking a little dry and I wondered if she would enjoy yesterday's leftover Diet Dr. Pepper. My colleagues told me that it would be MURDER if I infused her soil with some of the good Dr. I disagree and decided to do a little research....

The effects of diet soda on potted plants:

According to wiki answers, The preservatives in diet coke actually preserve the plant and help it grow.

According to the 2006 science fair project of a Ms. Natalie M. Garcia, "the Coca-Cola plants died quicker, grew smaller, and did not grow more leaves. The plants that were given water stayed about the same height and grew a few more leaves. The plants that were given nothing ended up dying very quickly and they dried up very quickly. Also Coca-Cola causes for a foul odor to develop in the soil of the plants and for flies and ants to come and invade the plants.

As you can tell, my findings are inconclusive. If I notice a change in Stella over the next few weeks, I'll keep you posted.

Until then, I stand by wiki answers, and suspect that Stella will be completely fine and continue her happy existence on the corner of my desk. (And sometimes on the windowsill)

If you regularly cut the cheese...

... then check out this super cool slate cheese plate!

How many parties have you hosted/gone to where you needed to have the names of 5 seemingly discernible cheeses on the tip of your tongue? One of my fave blogs, The Frisky, has a solution.... A cheese plate chalkboard!



This super cute version by VivaTerra (linked in the title) comes with two little mousy knives, and is $69.

If that's a bit steep for you, though, make your own cheaper version with a slate place mat from Crate & Barrel (varying sizes available, chalk sold seperately!). It's the same look for less than half the cost!

Questions I've had today, and their answers

Question: Why does only one cranberry float to the top of my most delictable white Zaza cosmo?
Answer: A slit cut in one side of the cranberry causes the cranberry to float with the slit side on top.

Question: What do the following organs do? Organs in question: appendix, gallbladder, spleen.(Obviously it's not important if they can all be removed..."
Answer: Appendix: "the appendix is traditionally thought to have no function in the human body. However, new studies propose that the appendix may produce and protect bacteria that are beneficial in the function of the human colon"
Gallbladder: "The gallbladder stores bile, which is released when food containing fat enters the digestive tract, stimulating the secretion" of digestive juice
Spleen: destruction of redundant red blood cells, and holds a reservoir of blood

Question: What does Nerf stand for?
Answer: Non-expanding recreational foam

Question: What is Port wine?
Answer: wine + brandy

Hope you learned something new.... I surely did!

Poof... be gone, odor!

This is going to be a little on the....earthy side, but whatev!

Have you ever had those days when your stomach's just not agreeing with you and you're suffering from some mighty pooty booty (read: the runs)?? Well, you certainly can't stay home from work just because you partied a little too hard the night before.

Well, now there's a solution to your public bathroom pooty-booty dilemmas.



"Poof it! Just a few drops of this liquid deodorizer in the toilet water and a translucent seal traps your odors in the water, releasing a refreshing scent of Japanese Mint to fill the air! Created for the sophisticated and bathroom conscious, Poof is packaged in an appealing yet discreet bottle that easily slips into your purse, pocket, or the palm of your hand.

One drop of Poof will forever change the way you do your business!"

Yeah, you read it! Straight from the Poof Drops website. And I ask, who WOULDN'T benefit from a translucent odor seal?

Title links to poofdrops website.

And their target is...

So there have been 2 commercials I've seen in the last 2 days that I can't get enough of. THe problem is, I have no idea who they're targeting?

The first is the ridiculous sponge bob Burger King commercial for "I like square butts"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5X4TSbGreA
Now I don't remember who does BK's advertising, but they're either genius or insane... I haven't decided which! Either way, WHO IN THE WORLD ARE THEY TRYING TO REACH?!

The second commercial literally cracks me up. IN fact, I was on the phone with my BFF Melody today and was singing it to her and couldn't make it through this one line without breaking into laughter like a giddy 5-year-old! I mean, when someone sings about "herding cows the size of schnauzers but they're cattle" what else can you really do?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut0WDb-xzks

Hope you enjoy the genius of the down economy... apparantly fast-food advertisers are getting bold in these tough times!

Get ya some free culture!

For those of you who may not know, Dallas has some great cultural events.... I mean, coming from the city with the world-famous (well, regional famous...) Greenville St. Paddy's Day Parade, what could you expect?

The Dallas Museum of Art (one of my fave architectural buildings here in the Big D) hosts Thursday Night Live at the DMA. There's live music, food, drinks, and a chance to go see some FANTASTIC art (be sure to check out the Mondrian in their permanent collection!)

But best of all, it's FREE!!!

So why not make an evening of it one Thursday, take the Dart down to the DMA, get some dinner, some jazz and some culture!

Admission again, is free every Thursday from 5-9pm. Below are bands for April:
4/16: The Quamon Fowler Group
4/23: The John Lewis Trio

And as always, the title of this post links to the Thursday Night Live page

And this is just *expletive* ridiculous...

On Tuesday during House testimony in Austin, Republican Betty Brown suggested that Asian Americans change their names to something more "American" to use at polls so it's easier for pollers... ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! I've got nothing!!! Check out the link in the title.

Ms. Betty's rebuttle is below, but again.... SERIOUSLY????
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6365320.html

Can we fire her, please? And to think she is from a mere 15 minutes from where I live... Oh the SHAME!!!

What God gets out of strippers

In my quest for my daily smarticle, I found this story about the stripping nun. No joke!

Well, maybe a little bit of a joke... Anna Nubili of Italy used to be a stripper in Milan but after 20 years of dancing, she decided to become a nun. Talk about a change of heart! After taking a trip to the shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, she "saw something fluorescent within the clouds, a cascade of colour and felt the presence of God, the Creator." After returning back to Milan, Sister Anna told her boss at the stripclub that she had "found a new clean treasure and it was God."

Now, Sister Anna has joined the order of the Sister Workers of the Holy House of Nazareth, and will be performing in a dance group in the Jarusalem Basilica in Rome for an archbishop.

All this just goes to show-- it's never too late for a career change, and you really can do whatever you set your mind to! From a stripper to a nun.... I mean WOW!

(title links to actual story)

Hello forests, goodbye business cards

Check it out!

So next time you're out and about and need to exchange business cards but just can't seem to find any (ladies, I know how it is with the small clutches- I'm lucky if my phone fits in it!) no need to fret! Use Contxts instead of your business cards of the past!

According to their website...
Contxts is so much more than a professional social network. It's a way to make meaningful connections while out and about. Business cards are so 2007. What with the environment in shambles do you really want to be that guy who is handing out chopped up pieces of bleached trees? We here at Contxts.com think that our site will solve this problem and more. By using SMS, built into every mobile phone, you can easily and rapidly distribute your credentials. - Exchange all of your professional information with a single text message
- Keep all of your professional contacts organized in one place
- It's eco-friendly (txt messages don't kill polar bears)
- Rid yourself of "old school" business cards
- Link with other professionals

So... save the trees, make connections! The title should link to the Contxts website, but if not here's the link: http://contxts.com/

If you're feeling nervous, but in an intelligent way...

...Maybe it's time to wear a bowtie!

You've seen them around lately, I know you have. You question whether they're cool or just worn to make a statement. Well, according to the WSJ, bowties are back people! Apparently they're selling out in all colors and shapes.

Here's the link, which is complete with instructional video!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123924141044503821.html

Also, if you're looking to start a new business, bowties anyone?

(Sorry about the links not linking and there being no pictures.... I'll get there eventually!)

Proposition 1: AKA own your own hotel

A few weeks ago I learned that my friend's (and mentor's) husband is running for the City Council in the Big D. (Hallelujah as he is a fine upstanding citizen with military and teaching experience, and is passionate about the community.... VOTE JOHN YOURSE!!) When she mentioned helping out by campaigning and handing out fliers I was a little worried I wouldn't know his stance on the upcoming issues, considering that I don't even know what the issues are. So as she was rattling off some of the things he stands for she mentioned something about a tax-payer owned hotel here in Dallas. Now maybe I had been living under a rock (or too obsessed with CNN) but I hadn't heard of this. But I figure if my tax money (or if not mine, friends of mine) is going to buy a hotel, I surely want to know what this is about!

So here's what I've gathered... Dallas is looking to build a hotel with $500 million dollars of taxpayer money. People who are all for building the hotel (or will vote AGAINST Prop 1) say that the hotel will help bring conventions to the Big D, resulting in over $200 million in city tax dollars.

Those against building the hotel (or FOR Prop 1) say that the $500 for the hotel could be better allocated elsewhere. And I can't say I don't agree! Now granted, I have a limited knowledge of financial shenanigans, and an even lesser knowledge of city planning/conventions, etc., but I have to wonder... Should we not maybe choose to spend $500 on a new homeless shelter? Or what about revitalizing Deep Ellum? If we need a hotel adjacent to the convention center, maybe the people all for that should invest in a REIT specifically for that purpose?

These are all just questions I have with no answers, but either way, there's lots to say about a publicly owned hotel. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the HPO! (Hotel Public Offering :D )

Inspiration

I've wanted to do a blog for quite a while, but figuring out what to say was particularly challenging. The whole point of these things is for people to read them, and I always have to win, so I want mine to be read!

Well, at work this week I got this idea. My friend G sent me an article about stocks, bonds, investments, etc. that was really interesting and had a great quote from Warren Buffet at the end, but I digress. At any rate, I read the article and it got me thinking about my own investment portfolio. Now, seeing as I don't have an investment portfolio just yet I don't think about my personal investments too often. But in reading this New York Times article I got some great advice from the richest man in the world (read: he's doing something right!). Mr. Buffett says to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. Again, while not applicable to my current financial position, useful for life in general!

o I dubbed the article that G sent me as a "smarticle". Or-- a smart article. Something I learned from. I figured we could all benefit from a quick smarticle every now and again and thought that a blog would be the perfect way to learn something new everyday.

I'm sure this isn't an original idea (a blog where readers learn something new...groundbreaking...) but figured if nothing else, there's not another with a bit of the Mac Attack approach on life thrown in there, so there you go. This is my new blog and I hope you learn something!

And here's a link to the yahoo finance site with the NYT article I read, in case you want to learn a bit about personal finance too. (Or if nothing else, say you've read your daily smarticle...)

http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/106867/When-Nest-Eggs-Change-Colors?mod=fidelity-readytoretire