Peanut Butter for breakfast

I heard the Wake Up Crew the other day talking about feeding a kid cereal for dinner. Hah! Good thing I am not a parent, especially when I say that I am eating peanut butter for breakfast.

I had two huge spoonfuls of peanut butter.

Yeah?? So what about it!?!?!

Hahaha see, so it should not shock you when Toni Ryan says crazy things like, "I need to go on a veggie & fruit juice fast." I admit it, sometimes I have a really terrible diet, but I knew I needed a little protein fix or I get loopy by lunchtime.

So spoon & jar of peanut butter to the rescue. And yes, I'm eating straight out of the jar right here in the studio.

I know C. Everett Koop is rolling around his grave right now with his basic food groups pyramid. (is he alive?)

So, I guess it's not that horrible.

Although, I can still top certainly that: I have in the past also had a cheesesteak & Doritos for breakfast before.

Now, can you top that?

Spam Filter. Grr...

Seriously, cleaning out the spam filter is not at all my favorite thing.

That's all I wanted to say.

(Procrastinating, of course. Just dreading having to scan through the 786 messages looking for actual mail intended for me, and not offers to make my "small pen into a big marker". Gotta love the sense of humor of professional spammers.)

Meet me at the Drive-In

Aw... the drive-in. A dying breed.

I had to do a look-up to make certain this was true, but there are a grand total of ZERO drive-ins in New Jersey. A few in PA (Willow Grove-ish, or am I mistaken?), but none in easy driving distance for me.

I'm thirty-something-ish and I know I've been to a drive-in. Back then I was an only child, and my parents took me everywhere. I have a vague memory of sitting in their Dodge Swinger in mom's lap in the front seat, but for the life of me, I can't remember what I saw. I wanted to say Grease, but then I realized the drive-in memory with Grease is something that happened in the movie, and not actually to me. Besides, I know that I saw Grease in a theater, because of the famous story my parents tell about me falling out of the car and into the parking lot when we got there. (Nah, don't worry about me, kids were more durable and bacteria-resistant back then.)

Does anyone remember what they saw at the drive-in? Any good drive-in stories?
(Kindly keep it PG-13, please!)

And if you want to know why this came up, I'm doing an event Friday night in South Jersey at the brand-new NJ Motorsports Park in Millville, for Drive-in Movie Night where they're screening... Cars! I'm thinking you folks with kids might love an event like this. Movie starts at 9p, but we'll be there by 7p. I don't know how much it actually costs-costs but I just saw that you can use your points on the shopping page to get passes, each good for carload of people. Good bargain if you drive a stretch limo :)

Jon & Kate Plus 8

Jon & Kate were practically in our own backyard, and I didn't know about it??

Yep, last night's episode took place at Sesame Place in Langhorne, and it looks like they had a good time. Scratch that.... Looks like Maddy had a good time, so therefore the family was able to have a nice time. LOL And when you live in this area, chances are you've gone to Sesame Place at least once, and know at least a dozen people who have worked there. Anybody have a Jon & Kate sighting?

So. It would be irresponsible to not address all the internet hubbub about stuff going on behind the scenes at the Gosselin's. Rumors about disgruntled family members and unaired (literally) dirty laundry. Comments about Kate's attitude, her relationship with her husband, exploiting relatives, exploiting the kids, privacy signs in their yard, accepting free products & gifts, etc. As an avid fan, I find all of it pretty disturbing actually. Less about the accusations, and more the fact that people are obsessively polarized on this subject.

Regardless of how I feel about everything I read or whether or not I sympathize with the family, I say, "WHO CARES?" Seriously, who cares? At the end of the day, it's a TV show. If it's not an accurate representation of what really goes on in their home, I don't really care. I'm not watching the show because I'm expecting the 100% truth, I just want to be entertained. If the producers decide to glorify certain people (Kate), or make other people look silly (Aunt Jodi), so be it. It's just TV. I'm not sitting around after the show's over thinking about Aunt Jodi being a ditz bc she gave the kids candy corn... seriously, I could care less! And if they have to put a sign in the yard asking you to stop taking pictures of their house or their kids, again, so what? If all their rabid fans had a grip on reality, the Gosselins wouldn't have to pitch a sign in their yard. And if Jon or Kate accept free anything, again who cares? They've got 8 kids, you do math.

That's my two cents (and then some.) Curious, what do you guys think? Does it matter to anyone if Kate is a different person off-camera? If you had 8 kids, would you turn down free stuff? And what about the privacy issues?

So... I found in a piece of plastic in my food

Left this party late on Saturday but I didn't love the food so I was starving on my way home. Decided to stop at my fave convenience store for a late-night meal. Bought a pre-made sandwich, which I started chomping down in front of the TV as soon as I got home.

Guess what I found in my sandwich. A skinny piece of plastic, almost like a bristle off a brush.

OK, I can't even begin to figure how a bristle came close to my sandwich (maybe they brush the condiments on the sandwich?).... but it was one in the morning, I was hungry, and frankly too tired to A) stop eating and/or B) raise a classic Toni Ryan tantrum with an angry phone call or better yet, one of my famous sternly-worded letters.

So I ask you -- what is the correct mode of action in this kind of situation? I know your first answer will be, "Stop eating, immediately." But I was famished. And even if I was to raise a stink about it, what do I expect will come of it? An apology? A refund? Is it worth it?

Let me tell you, several years ago, the same thing happened to me at a food-chain-that-shall-remain-nameless that specializes in Mexican border food: There was a chunk of hard plastic in my tortilla. Wrote an email to the manager, which was met with a defensive blow-off, and an offer of coupons if I wanted to keep making a big deal out of it. #$%!& grrr. Needless to say, I've stopped eating there. (Well, at that location at least. I still love my chalupa now and again.)

So, as you can see, I didn't really feel like doing anything about it this time. What do you think?

I hate you, stupid cell phone

Debilitating anxiety. Gripping paranoia. Confusion. Bewilderment.

So, I left my cell phone at home the other day.
You'd have thought I was having a psychotic episode.

Was already in the car on the way into work when I realized it wasn't on me, and considered turning around and going home. Just need to give the gang a buzz and let 'em know I'm running late.

Duh. Can't make a call.

Flipped thru the mental Rolodex of favors owed... now, who could I call to go pick up my phone for me...?

Duh. Can't make a call.

New plan, I will swallow my pride and look for a... a... a... pay phone. Ick.

Duh. Realize I don't know anyone's actual phone numbers. And that I don't have any loose change, hate to disappoint you, Mom.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!
How could I have forgotten my %#&! PHONE?!!?!? And furthermore, how could I have gotten this dependent on a stupid piece of technology? It's not like I'm Cathy Chats-a-lot and need to have my phone at the ready so I can discuss every detail of my waking life.

Frankly, I hate talking on the phone. But let's face it, having a cell phone is more than just having a phone available to you at all times. (Remember that -- growing up in a house with one, maybe two phone lines and having to wait to use the phone? Worse - in public places, having to wait for a pay phone?)

The phone is my alarm clock, my reminder service, my phone book, and my archive of eye-popping messages that have arrived in my inbox on occasion (wink wink). And all this from a regular ol' fashioned cell phone. Imagine if I upped my game and got one o' them there fancy cellys, and could access the old internet, or have it also be my music player, video player, etc. etc. etc. etc.? Et cetera.

Seriously, imagine it.

I could sit right at my computer and blog entirely from my phone just because I could.

I could get in my car willy nilly without a map or directions and GPS my pretty little self to whereever I need to be.

I could buy a bargain travel deal for some randomly exotic foreign locale taking off in three hours, and translator-dot-com my way through the entire trip.

I could lounge on a floatie in the middle of the Adriatic Sea and upload said eye-popping messages to http://www.inappropriatephotossentat2am.com/

I could schedule the alarm to remind me to email someone to call me.

The possibilities are infinite, really. And quite overwhelming, too. Which is why I haven't bothered to step up and get a pimp-daddy iPhone wannabe (or even its more reputable and sensible cousin, the Blackberry)

It's just too much. All of it, it's too much. At the end of the day, I just need to make phone calls every once in a while. Maybe answer a phone call or two. Have it take my messages when I don't feel like it. Be able to text message when I'd rather not hear your voice and exist in my cone of silence.

I can always use the alarm clock that's already plugged in the wall next to my bed.

I can open up the phone book that I also keep in my purse. (Or just google your damn number)

I don't really need the reminder service either. I can just remember to take my ADD meds, and just remember to remember stuff.

And as for those "eye-popping" messages. Well... Um.... Uh.... Oh, hey LOOK!!!

It's the CONE OF SILEEENNNN.........

Rolling through The Queue...

Have been on an awesome Netflix spree these past two weeks.

Just breezing through my queue and getting my money's worth (possibly more) out of my monthly financial contribution. Except I might have put an asterisk next to the phrase "money's worth", especially when talking about Fracture.

What the heck was going on there? I mean, we know it wasn't a hit, so I knew not to expect much, but I got sucked into the mystery of the story (even though it was handing me so many details which turned out to be totally unnecessary to the plot -- and I guess the writers realized this halfway through and just decided to... well... just not bother anymore.) It's Ryan Gosling as a lawyer, and Anthony Hopkins, not as a lawyer, sorta channeling Hannibal in random moments of the film. I was getting confused. I'm like is this psychotic doctor accused of shooting his wife gonna suddenly decide to snack on Chianti and Gosling-niblets in the middle of this court scene?

... I digress. So as I was saying, I got sucked into the mystery of the story, and well... hey, I guess that's the operative word: sucked. The movie sucked. The ending sucked, as did the the two alternate endings offered on the DVD. PEOPLE please. This isn't Clue: The Movie. Don't give me your alternate endings. It tells me you don't know what you're doing, and couldn't make up your mind either. You providing multiple endings pretty much tells me you're not very confident about your story.

Also saw Untraceable this past week, and guess what I discovered! (NOTE: SPOILER TO FOLLOW) C'mon! GUESS! Ok, fine I'll tell you. Turns out... the bad guy is traceable after all! I'm gonna give the title a D-, but the movie a solid B+. Good and thrilling, but I can't really put my finger on why it's not getting a better grade out of me. In fact, I don't know if a better grade would even be available for re-writes...

So there you go, Toni Ryan's School of Irrational Movie Opinions has handed out this week's report cards.

Toni Ryan is your friend

"You have a Friend Request"

Potentially, the five most powerful & exciting words in the world of social networking. They can make your day and pretty much make you feel... well... loved. I discovered this exhilarating high back when I stumbled into Friendster, and just felt buzzed every time I could get someone to join my little cyber-"posse". Even better, when someone decided to friend me on their own... it's like "Oh my gosh, I just got asked to be their Friendster (TM)! Someone wants me!! Joy!"

Luster soon wore off on Friendster, and I soon migrated to MySpace and began "rebuilding the Empire" as it were -- that obsessive rush in the early days after creating a new profile and trying to get all the friends(ters) to defect with you. Spent a lot of time growing my circle and pimping out my space. Creating groups, joining groups, leaving groups, and getting into tons of ridiculous trouble at work. Good times.

Soon tired of all the spamming, hacking, and pages that wouldn't load because it's trying to play "Scotty Doesn't Know" (seriously, would anyone know what this song was if it wasn't on every other profile?) ... and by that time, learned that Facebook has lightened up on their immigration restrictions and would allow non-student types to join the fray. Like ME! YAY!

Frankly, I like Facebook. It's cleaner, less clutter, stricter (although this has gotten our very own Shinn into some trouble recently), and just a little more reliable. And it's catching on like wildfire, so it's been an easy go trying to "rebuild the Empire". In fact, I'm finding that a lot of the people I went to high school with are all joining, so it's been fun reconnecting with old friends, catching up with people, or even getting to know people I admittedly didn't know so well way back when.

Except I am starting to realize that something funny is going on, and I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but The Rules are starting to rear their ugly head again... and I think it's a subconscious thing. Hey, maybe it's just a me thing.

What rules, you ask?

You know which rules. The rules of social engagement that reigned supreme (in our heads or was that real?) all throughout those four wonderful years of high school. No one ever says them out loud, but you figure 'em out pretty quick by lunchtime on the third day of freshman year. Chances are, they are the same rules in effect from junior high too. Can't talk to these people or those people, and can only mingle with this group or those people over there. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's probably because the rules didn't apply to you. Probably because you were so high up on the pecking order, or all the way at the bottom.

So, it is a million years later, and I am so many worlds away from The Rules. At least, you'd think I was. And here I am, thirty-something-ish, and I'm like.... "Omigosh. Suzy So-and-So has just joined my network."

Twenty minutes go by while I try to decide if I will friend her. Send the friend request. Cancel it. Send it again. Cancel it. Think, "Geez, what the heck?". Send it again. Think, "Ew, is Suzy gonna be like 'Why is this loser trying to friend me? Wasn't Toni, like... in band??' ".

Cancel it.

Hahahahahaha. In your lifetime, you can go places, do things, have accomplishments, and finally get around to actually being the person you always knew you were. But sometimes, at the end of the day, we all can't help being sixteen all over again.

Don't worry about me, guys. I'm over it. Just an immaturity relapse.

Besides, I can always rent season 1 of Laguna Beach and get it out of my system.

Jon & Kate Plus 8

Last night's episode of Jon & Kate!

Ok, eh, it was so-so.

I didn't want a recap episode really, esp not one where Jon & Kate detail their worst on-camera arguments. Watching Kate screaming in the toy store again was enough the first time. Ugh. It made me both feel bad for Jon, but also sometimes I think, goodness, why is he being such a guy??

For the most part, I agreed with some of their favorite-child-moments... There were so many classic Alexis quirky moments, but I do love that one of Alexis in the crib when Kate first gets her hair colored, and Alexis is like, "Hi Mommy?" Hahah, totally adorable.

Some of my personal favorites weren't in there!

Alexis: "Aaden is my buddy... Him'll throw up ... on your hands."




Here, in case you want more of my thoughts on Jon & Kate, I pulled these out of the archives....

.... like me talking about Glasses Baby (a.k.a. Aaden)

.... discovering the new Memorial Day episode

.... or my thoughts on the How We Got Here episode

National Ice Cream Month

Love a good fake holiday. Well actually, I don't. I think it's kinda stupid. But this month, let's make an exception, shall we?

July = "National Ice Cream Month"

You can thank Ronald Reagan and the era of "trickle down economics", because that's when it was declared that July was National Ice Cream Month. In fact, the third Sunday of the month was also named National Ice Cream Day! Had I known, I would've splurged on Dippin Dots at Great Adventure yesterday, all in the name of patriotism.

Poll time! 2500 Americans must have nothing better to do, bc they all chimed in for a poll on ice cream, and here's what they found:

• More women than men admit to eating ice cream in bed.
  (I don't believe it. Not the eating it in bed, but the copping to it.)
• 1 in 7 wait until they're alone to stuff their faces with ice cream
• 8% take out the chunky bits & nuts before eating their ice cream.
  (Hello. It's called Order Vanilla, you weirdo.)
• 29% admit to taking one extra serving of ice cream when no one's looking.
• Men are more likely to eat ice cream straight from the container
• 13% of women 18-34 keep a "secret stash" of ice cream.
• 3% enjoy eating ice cream in the bathtub.
  (HUH?! I MUST know! Who does this?! 'Fess up now!)
• 10% said they eat bowls of ice cream for breakfast
• 26% substitute ice cream for an actual meal

Hah, National Ice Cream Month. Who knew there was such a thing?!

Well now we do - so blow off that diet, and let's finish out the last two weeks in style, ok?! In fact, all this ice cream talk has conjured up childhood memories of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Sundae with Marshmallow Syrup and Whipped Topping...

I think I'm gonna be a 26%-er today and have it for dinner.

"Type the two words"

All you want to do is post something on the blog, and the gatekeeper's all like, "Well that's nice, but before I let you share your thoughts with the world, let's see how well you can play my little game called 'Type the two words'."

GAH. You know what I'm talking about. Hit "reply" or "post" and you'll get the little box at the bottom that has these two words you can barely decipher (are they even words?). Someone mentioned this on Chris' blog and for the first time it dawned on me that this might be a problem that you too, friend, have encountered. Thank God. I just thought I was a real idiot. I'd sit there studying the symbols and shapes, and end up failing and getting denied. I hate failure.

Then duh, it occurs to me. Hit the refresh button. A different set of words pop up for you to try your hand at. So now, I keep hitting the refresh button until I get two words I can actually read. (Or two really short words, because I am THAT lazy).

I have a pic here in case it's not making sense:


So go ahead, try it out. Post a reply and tell me how I am the last one to figure this out.


[Toni Ryan says: Obviously, if you're reading this through blogspot right now, this post won't make any sense at all... check out this blog through the PST Loyal Listener Club and you can join in on the refresh-button fun.]

9 to 5... on BROADWAY!

And I won't even pretend for a second that I'm not totally excited about it either.


Just announced, 9 to 5, the movie, is coming to Broadway next Spring. Already on board, West Wing's Allison Janney to play Roz - totally perfect.

I love this movie. When I was a kid and HBO used to play the same four movies constantly all month long, I must've seen this movie at least fifty times. It made me want to grow up, work in an office, and learn how to be an expert at working the copy machine. Done and done.

I learned to always double check that I've picked up the Splenda, and not a box of rat poison. I also learned that with a little creativity, you can rig a garage door opener for some useful applications.

And most importantly, I also learned that ten year olds aren't supposed to walking around saying, "You're a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot." Adults don't like that so much.

Hot Wheels 2008

The National Insurance Crime Bureau ranked the most stolen vehicles in 2007. I'm glad to report my current vehicle is not on the list, but I guess that's the problem with this list. It provides a false sense of security, as if, "Hey, my car's not on the list, ergo it will not get stolen."

I think not, people. For example, I'm sure the 1978 Caprice Classic would NOT have made this list in 1996. Not even the Top 100 Stolen Cars in 1996. And yet... it was my 1978 Caprice Classic that was cruelly taken from me that year. According to the cops that later recovered my beloved Caprice carcass in a chop shop in North Philly, the Caprice was a popular choice.

So, with the important moral lesson to be learned here, please study this list, and since your car either will or will not be on the list, learn to be paranoid like me.

1. 1995 Honda Civic
2. 1991 Honda Accord
3. 1989 Toyota Camry
4. 1997 Ford F-150
5. 1994 Chevy CK 1500 Pickup
6. 1994 Acura Integra
7. 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup
8. 1994 Nissan Sentra
9. 1988 Toyota Pickup
10. 2007 Toyota Corolla

BTW, Golden Compass, anyone?

By the way, I netflixed Golden Compass and watched it this weekend. It was pretty good, except it had such an abrupt weird ending. Kinda long and windy, but I liked it. Oh, and Nicole Kidman, whoa she was so gorgeous, I am full of envy and awe at the same time. Daniel Craig a.k.a. Current James Bond = HOT HOT HOT. I'm still sweating, and he didn't do anything amazing, he just stood there being... hot.

Out of it.

I have been completely out of it all day long. I can't figure it out either. Certainly got plenty of sleep this weekend. Wasn't up late drinking last night. Got up early, had my coffee (and yes yes, I didn't detox as planned). Ate breakfast. But despite my day of the same old normal routine, I just don't feel... "with it". 'That make sense? I mean I even remembered to take my vitamins today, so what is up with that?!

And please spare me if your answer is, "Someone's got a case of the Mondays!!!"

What I've Accomplished Today (Special Saturday Edition)

OK, so despite wanting to sleep in today, got up at the usual time, then after sufficient meandering around, set about to make pancakes.

Ate the pancakes.

Took a nap.

A long nap.

Woke up in time to make... dinner.

Yes, it was quite long for a nap. I basically went back to bed.

I'm gonna just write that off as my body telling me I really needed the sleep. Guess that also means I will be up at 3AM tonight watching my favorite infomercials and in danger of seriously buying that danged Magic Bullet.

P.S. And to answer the title of the entry... absolutely squat.

Hypothetically...

I got one of those surveys again... you know, the ones that go, "If you were stuck on a desert island and could only bring 3 things with you..."

Was stuck in traffic thinking to myself, "OK, let's assume I will be stuck on this island for three years. No electricity. Would I want three things or maybe two things and one person? Or even better, one person, one thing, and one food item. That'd be easy: Ben Affleck, a Tempurpedic pillow, and a humogous jar of Nutella.

Then I got to thinking about other randomness:

• If you could only have only one pizza topping for ever and ever and ever (you get the point), what would it be?
  (Sausage)
  
• You get one phone call in jail, who would you make yours to?
  (My cousin's wife Pam.)
  
• You're on a road trip and really really have to go to the bathroom. Your choices are the dirty public restroom, to wait until the next restroom (in 49 miles), or go in the woods.
  (Go in the woods)
  
• If you could only have access to one, which would you pick: cell phone or email?
  (Email. I hate talking on the phone)
  
• What would you rather have named after you: a cocktail drink, a sports complex, or a computer virus?
  (a cocktail drink. But it has to have tabasco sauce in it)

OK, have fun with that. Feel free to share your answers, or make up some of your own questions. Maybe if we can gather up a long list of original random questions, I will start my own email-forwarded-survey and see if it generates any steam. It'd be funny to get it back in my inbox someday, and find that's it's been forwarded to so many people, it ended up back at me.

I mean, that'd actually be more likely than Bill Gates sending me that $100 Gap gift card.

You're know you're a Metrosexual if...

The Top 10 Metrosexuals in Music have been outted, and Kanye tops the list:

10. LL Cool J
9. Usher
8. Timbaland
7. Justin Timberlake
6. The Jonas Brothers
5. Jon Bon Jovi (his hair is way too pretty sometimes)
4. Sean Puff Daddy Diddy P Diddy Sean John Combs
3. Zac Efron
2. Jay-Z
1. Kanye West


At first I scoffed. LL Cool J?! I mean come on! Ladies love Cool James because he's so manly and charming and so well-dressed and stylish and well-groomed and ... oh. OK, I get it. I think we all get so caught up in the term metrosexual being a bad thing that we lose sight of it just being the most precise way of describing half the men we know.

You know those lists, the ones that go "You know you're a [fill-in-the-blank] if you...." and always show up in your inbox? It dawns on me that I have yet to see one of those lists about metrosexuals.

So let's start one. You know you're a metrosexual if...

• You're getting a mani and a pedi.
• You know what a mani and a pedi are, and that's actually what you call them
• The thought of going to a barber and/or paying anything under fifteen bucks for a haircut would be inconceivable
• You think Adam Levine from Maroon 5 is the man!!

... hahah!! OK, some list. LOL. HELP!

Momnesia. For real.

There is such a thing as Momnesia. I'm not even kidding.

I just read about how Jennifer Garner accidentally locked up her 2 yr old in the car. With the keys. Same exact thing happened to my one girlfriend (who shall remain nameless, but she knows who she is, first initial L)... Got out of the car and shut the door when she realized she'd locked the kid in the car with the keys. Believe it or not, she was in a shady part of town and fortunately some good-hearted hoodlum (apparently there is such a thing) was walking down the street, ready to jimmy a lock for the nearest damsel in distress.

Just witnessed my cousin's wife last night completely blank out at the age of her daughter. (It's 6, Pam. Not 8. LOL). And I would still easily vote her as a Mother of the Year, it happens to the best of moms.

I personally am scarred by recurrent bouts of momnesia incurred at the hands of my own scatterbrained mother, God love her. I'm sure you too have tales of Momnesia, so don't be afraid to spill them here, whether you've committed them yourself or they've happened to you.

First it was my back...

I'm not even 35, and I feel like I'm 85.

Lower back's been bothering me several months now, so I just started going to a physical therapist. First part, I lay on these heating pad with electrodes attached to my low back, my leg, butt, whatever. It starts zapping, like an awesome massage, then Robyn the therapist helps me stretch my leg and back, which is awesome because she can get me contorted in a way I couldn't do by myself. (The downside is that I get a really good closeup of my legs, and I can see the spots I missed shaving. Grrr, hairy.)

Because I'm pretty sure I injured myself doing unsupervised Pilates mat and also because my back just seems to hurt ALL THE TIME, I haven't been working out as much as I'd like, so I'm trying to take advantage of these PT exercises I have to do by really getting a good workout from them. Some of the stuff's hard, guys! Apparently I something-something'd my sacroiliac something, so I have to do a lot of core-strengthening exercises, and actually some of it is similar to Pilates so I can really get a good sweat going.

Except this morning, I think I overdid it or something bc now my shoulder is all knotted up. I kinda felt it start to tighten up while I was at PT, but I didn't wanna sound like a hypochrondiac so I didn't say anything. Hhahaaaa, just great. Now I'm sitting here with a sore shoulder (can't move my neck) and my usual low-back pain. I feel old and rickety!!!

Is that weird to really sweat so much at PT? Anybody know about these massaging electrodes I speak of ("tens")? Anybody know if they make an at-home model?

Best Summer Movie Memories?

Will Smith can do no wrong in my book. Love that guy. Was just thinking about that when I saw a preview for "Hancock". Definitely a movie I want to see, and that's something because it's been a WHILE since any movie has come up, and I've been like, "Hmm, yeah. I think i might wanna see that."

Something about summer gets me in the mood for an awesome movie experience. And when I think back to my favorite summer movie memories, Will Smith's in some of them.

The summer I lived in Aspen was the summer that "Independence Day" came out. After biking, hiking, walking, and drinking, you can run out of activities pretty quickly out there, so we were all counting the days down to the movie premiere. I totally remember how psyched we were when we left the theater. (That movie has a way of doing that to you, doesn't it? I still get charged up when I catch it on TV)

Overall though, my favorite summer movie memory was the year that the first Batman movie came out and its main competition was Indiana Jones Last Crusade. My pal Marge and I hit the theater one hot afternoon, and watched both flicks. Getting to watch two awesome movies back to back... I remember thinking, it cannot get better than this!

I'm trying to remember other movies I've been psyched about over the years... Mission Impossible... The X-Files movie... Eraser (what I can say, I like Arnold)... Tomb Raider... Minority Report... Men in Black...

Which brings me back to Will Smith, I'm excited to be excited about a movie coming out. I figure... the Fresh Prince in a comedy-action flick... again I say, Will Smith can do no wrong in my book.

Alanis Morissette Karaoke

Alanis Morissette is holding a karaoke contest at her myspace page --- just film yourself singing one of her NEW songs, post it, and July 20th, she'll choose her favorites and hand out free tickets.

http://ksolo.myspace.com/music/Alanis-Morissette

Where to eat? HELP!

My cousin is in town with her boyfriend, and we're trying to figure out a good place to eat.

Someplace where we can take a big group, maybe someplace new since she's been living on the West Coast for a while now. Plus her boyfriend's from Oregon, so maybe someplace that'll impress an out-of-towner. Also, we may have some kids along with us. Oh, and we may have vegetarian or two.

So here's your task: Recommend a good place to eat

Again, my laundry list

• A former Jersey girl
• A tourist
• Small children
• A vegetarian or two (so "Steaks & Only Steaks" would be out of the question)
• Someplace within Mercer, Somerset, or Middlesex Counties.

Thanks in advance, you're the best :)