Like A Crossword for People Who Are Good At Math

Sudoko, a Japanese number puzzle is becoming popular in England. I haven't seen it here yet in the U.S., but we can't be far behind. And like crosswords, this puzzle requires you to use your brain, thus pushing Alzheimers a bit farther away.

The Next Big Thing

You know how L.A. leads the country in trends. Believe it or not, the big thing in L.A. right now is: cupcakes. There are cupcake boutiques serving fancy-schmancy organic cupcakes with pricey ingredients, cupcake seminars, a surge in people buying cupcake cookbooks (an entire cookbook on cupcakes???) and I suppose everyone who waxes nostalgic for elementary school birthday parties is fulfilled. (Being that my birthday is on a holiday, I never got to experience the American tradition of your mom bringing in cupcakes for your whole class.)
Even more surprising to me is that New York apparently already had this cupcake craze a few years ago. When will it come to D.C.? What will fall to the wayside in the wake of the cupcake craze?

Reading is Hard! Let's Go Shoot Something! --Ken, Barbie's Boyfriend

Yes, apparently reading is no fun for boys these days, what with the books about addiction and divorce they are forced to read (apparently they are reading transcripts of Dr. Phil's shows). And they just can't read the way that their fathers did 25 years ago. So, as a parent and educator, you should let boys in high school read books like Red Badge of Courage and Great Gatsby.

I don't know--I always thought that pretty much every kid in high school reads the same set of books, give or take a few: a few Shakespeare plays, a couple of Hemingway novels, Greek mythology, some Dickens. I suppose there could be a few that boys wouldn't like (perpetuating stereotypes, of course): The Scarlet Letter (but did anyone like that one?) and Pygmalion.

I also think it's an unremarkable conclusion that kids are more likely to enjoy reading if they are given options in reading materials. So what did you wish you had been able to read as "assigned reading" in high school?

Article here.

Photos from Gold Cup

Long-awaited photos from our trip to The Gold Cup, a horse race in The Plains, Virginia, complete with mint juleps, Sunday hats and snotty Virginia college alumni. Enjoy!

Kelly & Steve on bus, post Gold Cup 

Runaway horse redux 

Kelly watching the race 

Yes, it is a beautiful hat. 

Children, horses and broken glass don't mix. 

Tara & Simon 

Steve & Simon  

Fence on the racetrack 

Simon, Kelly & Steve 

Steve & Kelly on the bus 

Runaway Horse 

Trivia Time

Take this week's news quiz. I got 5/7, which is much higher than our less-than-stellar round 1 news trivia performance this week at Stetson's.

What Age Do You Act?

A quiz for a rainy day! Well, I am glad to know I am right on schedule. Eerily so.

You Are 28 Years Old

28 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Bike to Work Day!

Bike to work day is Friday, May 20th. Check to see if bike shops in your city are offering free coffee mugs to participants. I don't have a bike at the moment, so I probably won't participate, but I will wave to every biker who passes by!

Washington DC information.

Financial Foibles of Shacking Up

An unremarkable proposition: Women who cohabitate with a male partner usually end up losing out financially. After breakups, men lose about 10% of household income, while women lose 33%. Maybe my cynical law school career has changed me, but paying towards a mortgage that is not in your name does not strike me as good fiscal policy, ladies. Be smarter than that.

Free Wireless Internet!

A pilot program in Southern California is offering free Internet service on a commuter bus. That would have made my commuting life a lot more tolerable when I lived in San Diego. But will people actually be drawn to public transportation if they have access to this service?

What's Your May Resolution?

An article on why, scientifically, you may be more likely to keep a resolution made on May 18th than on January 1st.

On the Blog Front

Need some food for thought this cloudy Friday morning?

Jessica asks: how many states have you visited?

And Andy wants to know the differences between Boston and Washington, particularly the volumes at which we play music.

Eric does a delayed, much appreciated, live-blog of Monday night's "The Bachelor."

Also, amusing: Why I Hate D.C. and
D.C. Foodies.

Finally, Wonkette (and Congress) tackle something called The Whizzinator.

Much Ado About Hoodies

Social commentary on the status and meaning of hoodies, sparked by a decision of a mall in England to ban hoodies (as well as baseball caps and other clothing which "obscures the face." When did we start calling them hoodies?

But Does It Keep Kids Off Drugs?

First, a report on the rise of happy slapping, an activity in which groups of kids hit someone across the face and record it on their cell phone cameras! As the director of Bullying Online points out, what these kids don't understand is "technically they are committing an assault. And if they then upload the images on to the internet or a phone system they could be prosecuted for harassment" Oh, fun!

A little closer to home, a new fad (at least in Robinson Township, Michigan) appears to be driving around in souped-up golf carts. Unfortunately, a recent accident left one woman dead and another person seriously injured. Not surprisingly, alcohol "may have been a factor."

How You Know You're A True Fan?

For the record, I was looking for photos of David Beckham wearing flip-flops (don't ask.) But when you do a Google search, this first headline is priceless. I just report it, folks. I couldn't make it up.
Also, if anyone does find a photo of David Beckham wearing flip-flops, please forward it to me.

High School Hijinks

Oh, to be in high school again. Then I could deal with crazy decisions by principals and administrators.
Like, this middle school in Michigan, which banned the marching band from playing, not singing, playing, the 1956 hit "Louie Louie" because its lyrics (remember, the lyrics are not being sung) were too racy. er....?

Or, the new annual ritual of having students sign contracts to refrain from any "freaky dancing" that might go on at prom, or risk being given detention. I love one-sided contracts.

Okay, I was not in the marching band, nor did I go to prom, so this probably wouldn't have affected me too much, except in terms of general high school angst.

Rant (CL-Style): My Swimming Pool

First, don't get me wrong--I love the public pool--power to the people, et al. And I don't complain about the sketchy locker room, because, heck, I go there for free. (Or at least it's already paid by my taxes.)

However, I feel obliged to bring up the following points for my fellow swimmers:

Gay men: I love you all, really I do, but not every place of physical fitness needs to be a place to pick up others. You sitting on the wall chatting it up with the guy next to you while I am trying to do laps just annoys me. Take it outside.

On swimsuits (too small): There are certain men who look good in Speedos. Michael Phelps is easy on the eyes. Consider carefully whether what you wore in high school is still appropriate for today.

On swimsuits (too big): Drag suits for resistence are great. But there'd better be another, fitting, suit, underneath. This goes for both men & women.

On changing in the public area: Taking off sweats and having your bathing suit show underneath is one thing. Taking off your pants and leaving on your dress shirt and tie, a la Risky Business is not acceptable.

On back hair: I'm a girl. I will never be in the uncomfortable position of having to decide what to do with my back hair. But if I did, and I was a swimmer, I would tend strongly towards waxing. Having said that, if I did wax my back, I would wax my entire back, not just parts of it. And sir, if your back hair grows in those patterns naturally, well, I am just sorry.

Welcoming the Stranger?

A Catholic church in Rahcho Cucamonga, California called the police after two men with shaven haircuts entered the church during mass and then left. Turns out that they were not neo-Nazis, as the churchgoers thought, but returned Marines from Iraq who were looking for a buddy. "They have short Marine haircuts, and someone perceives that they're skinheads, and that they were intimidating people," San Bernardino County sheriff's Sgt. Frank Gonzales said. "It turns out that was not the case, and they were very polite."

Looking for Summer Vacation Plans?

Well, here's two possibilities for thrilling vacations, either with or without family:

The newly-opened Museum of Foreign Debt just opened in Buenos Aires, complete with kid-appropriate displays of a doll-size play kitchen, representing the International Monetary Fund, "which Argentines blame for encouraging the heavy borrowing in the 1990s that led to the catastrophic economic collapse in late 2001. 'We chose a play kitchen because we are always so innocent and believe in magic recipes from abroad," said museum designer Eduardo Lopez. "Look, we open th freezer and the oven and there is no food."'"

But, if you can't escape to Argentina this summer, Cape May, New Jersey has recently lifted its thirty year ban on men wearing speedos on public beaches. In my seven years of competitive swimming, I saw enough speedos for my own thrills, but for some of you for whom this is a novelty, i.e, those of you who either weren't on swim teams as a kid or haven't spent enough times on European beaches, this might be the opportunity for you this summer!