Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Do you want fries with that?

Spending my summers in Northern Michigan as a child, I came to the realization that one of the reasons for "summering" was to get away from it all. Bellaire, MI, the town closest to Torch Lake, always had a grocery store, two gas stations, a few ice cream shops, half a dozen restaurants, and that's about it. I remember quite clearly the summer that McDonald's opened up on the main street through Bellaire; everyone was immediately against it. "We will never eat there! It's destroying the culture of this little town!" people said. On the other hand, it brought much-needed jobs and some economic stability to the financially uneasy Antrim county. Personally, I've stopped at that McDonald's maybe twice in my life; I try to stay away from fast food in general, and when I'm Up North, it makes more sense to me to try and support the locally-owned businesses.

Anyhow, here's a really cool map of the United States that shows the location of every McDonald's in the country. It's pretty interesting. If you look closely, you can even see the singular dot of the McDonald's in Bellaire!


Tuesday, September 29, 2009

What a glamorous wedding!

If you know me, you know that it isn't one of my life ambitions to get married. I don't know, I just think the whole thing is a little archaic for the lifestyle that I lead... Maybe I'll change my mind in a few years when I finally meet the man of my dreams (who lives in the same city as I do), and if that's the case, then I have a feeling our wedding will take a lot of inspiration from the one pictured below.




Stunning, right? Via DListed via Insight News.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Gibraltar Airport

Whenever a plane lands at or takes off from Gibraltar airport (GIB), the city's main road must be closed. This is because the airport's runway intersects the street. Pretty crazy, if you ask me. It's kind of like a raising bridge in a sense; the bridge in Charlevoix, Michigan is the only way to get around or through the city, so when the bridge is up to let boat traffic through, cars are stuck on either side.

Check out a few pics of the Gibraltar airport and the raising bridge in Charlevoix below.

Gibraltar airport info and pics via JustWhatever and Wikipedia.





Friday, September 25, 2009

Things I Love About Glee / Crush Of The Day: Mark Salling

If you haven't yet caught an episode of Glee, you must do so immediately. Go to Hulu and check it out--you will not regret it.

The show is magic. It follows the ups and downs of a high school glee club, complete with music video-like performances, musical theatre fierceness, hot guys, great belting, football (yeah, seriously), teen pregnancy, desperate housewives, etc., etc.

Here are my favorite things about the most recent episode:

1. Kurt's coming out scene with his dad... Super emotional, super real.
2. "Single Ladies" on the football field.
3. Will Schuster.
4. Lima, OH. "I don't want to be a Lima Loser!"
5. Rachel singing Celine Dion's "Taking Chances."
6. Crush of the Day Mark Salling. See below.






Monday, September 21, 2009

Hit It or Quit It: Aaron Carter

Dancing With The Stars is back for a ninth season, and the male "stars" danced two dances each tonight. A few were good, a few were horrible, and the rest were mediocre. The first contestant tonight was Aaron Carter, brother of former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter. First of all, I think Aaron Carter is as gay as Christmas. Second of all, I can't decide if he's hot or not. I need some feedback.

So, here we go... Aaron Carter: Hit It or Quit It?


I'm not a vegetarian...


...but my roommate is. I love cooking for other people, but I've only cooked for Lora a few times, mostly because cooking a vegetarian menu scared me. The only things I've ever really made for her are pasta dishes or other things that are easy to leave meat out of. However, I've never planned and executed a true vegetarian dinner.

Until last night, that is.

The menu consisted of three items: baked spaghetti squash with an herb-infused butter, sweet potato and zucchini fritters, and a spinach and tomato orzo. All in all, I am pretty happy with how everything turned out; the squash was a big hit with Lora and Libby, while Josh and I freaked over the fritters. The orzo was a crowd-pleaser as well, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

The recipes are below, but I have to confess that they are not 100% accurate to how I prepared them last night... I will definitely make a few changes the next time I try any of these items.


Baked Spaghetti Squash
two large organic spaghetti squash
4 T. butter
1/4 white onion, diced (approx. 1/8 c.)
1 T. minced garlic
3 T. shredded Parmesan cheese
spices, to taste (oregano, parsley, thyme, etc.)
salt & pepper, to taste

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place face down on a baking dish and add enough water to the baking dish to cover the bottom of it. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor until smooth and well-combined.

Once the squash is cooked, cut each half into two pieces and divide the compound butter evenly among the pieces. Sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese if desired.


Sweet Potato & Zucchini Fritters
two medium sweet potatoes
two zucchini squash
1/4 C. white onion, minced
1/4 green pepper, minced
1 t. garlic, minced
3 T. flour
1/4 C. breadcrumbs, divided
2 eggs, beaten
salt & pepper, to taste
Tabasco sauce, to taste

Shred the sweet potato and zucchini, both raw, and pat dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

Combine sweet potato, zucchini, onion, green pepper, and garlic in a large bowl. Mix by hand and add flour, half of the breadcrumbs, and salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add Tabasco sauce (to taste). Add the egg mixture to the other ingredients and mix until combined.

Shape the fritters in the palm of your hand, approximately 1/4 C. each. Dust both sides with breadcrumbs.

In a nonstick skillet, heat a small amount of olive oil over medium heat. Add the fritters and cook until they begin to brown, approximately 4-5 minutes on each side.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sing, sing, sing!

Two American Idol alums have given some stellar performances recently, and I very much enjoy both of them.


First of all, Kelly Clarkson sang back-up for her back-up singers recently, doing a hotel room cover of Miley Cyrus' "The Climb." It's super laid back, full of rich harmonies, and just plain fun. I think it says a lot about Kelly that she'd sit in the background, hanging out with some friends, and not try to be the star of the video. I respect that.



Next up, David Archuleta recently won the award for Best New Artist at the ALMA awards. After winning, he performed a breathtaking acoustic version of the classic "Contigo En La Distancia." His voice is as angelic as it ever was, but it's also maturing and showing more signs of confidence and comfort.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Famous People Are Crazy, Pt. 2

You know who might be crazier than Serena Williams? Kanye. Last night at the MTV VMA's, the adorable Taylor Swift upset some heavy hitters to win Best Female Video. Just as she was begining to give what should have been a super cute speech, crazy Kanye jumped on stage, grabbed the mic, and stole Taylor's spotlight.

Taylor's reaction is so sad; she didn't know what to do or say, so she just stood there and watched Kanye be a jerk. That's rude, Kanye, and totally expected from someone with as little class as you have.



Famous People Are Crazy, Pt. 1

In the semifinals of the US Open this past weekend, Serena Williams (probably a favorite to win the tournament) was playing Kim Clijsters, who just came back from a 28-month maternity leave. Early in the first set, Serena was docked a point for slamming her racket against the court, a big no-no in the always-classy sport of tennis. Later in the second set, Kim found herself up 6-5, trying to break Serena to make it to the finals. At 15-30, Serena was called for a foot fault; she then freaked out, approached the lineswoman who called her foot fault, and apparently threatened her in a very unsportsmanlike way. Anyhow, the lineswoman, the chair umpire, and the tournament director all quickly came together and docked Serena another point for unsportsmanlike conduct, thus giving Kim two points (one for the foot fault, one for the unsportsmanlike conduct call), and the win. CRAZY!

I guess my description wasn't completely necessary, because you can see it all in the clip below...


The Circus: Starring Britney Spears

So, last Wednesday I had the pleasure of seeing Britney Spears performing live at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont. In a word, I thought it was fierce. Britney looked great, danced her ass off, and honestly looked like she was enjoying it. She was a bit removed from the crowd, not really engaging with us too much, but I think she was just playing it safe. I especially enjoyed the diversity of the setlist, the costumes, and the super hot backup dancers (duh).

Here's her setlist from her Chicago show:

1. Circus
2. Piece Of Me
3. Radar
4. Ooh Ooh Baby/Hot As Ice
5. Boys
6. If You Seek Amy
7. Me Against The Music
8. Freakshow
9. Get Naked
10. Breathe On Me/Touch Of My Hand
11. Do Something
12. Slave For You
13. Toxic
14. Baby One More Time
15. Womanizer (encore)

Some of my favorites were Boys, Me Against The Music (done in a Bollywood theme), Get Naked, Breathe On Me/Touch Of My Hand, and (of course) Toxic.

All in all, a great show! Pics (from my iPhone) below...









Tuesday, September 8, 2009

I don't know where to begin...

Well, before I begin, I would like to say that Jerry Lewis is a wonderful man and his telethons in support of finding a cure for muscular dystrophy is a worthwhile and valid cause. To donate, go here.

That being said, you MUST watch this clip from the telethon which aired on Labor Day. It's Charo singing a cover of Rihanna's "Please Don't Stop The Music," and it's pure magic. MAGIC, I tell you! Here are my favorite parts or features of the video, in no particular order:

1. Charo's Spanglish introduction
2. the old dancers doing fiercely gay choreography
3. the backtrack vocals
4. Charo's in and out lipsynching
5. Charo's dress
6. audience high-fives

Amazing!!


Thursday, September 3, 2009

Australian Ruggers: Fierce


The This is Oz campaign is aimed at educating Australians about homosexuality, diversity, and the need for acceptance. All kinds of people have recently posted photos of themselves holding handwritten signs encouraging diversity in their specific fields, including members of The Wallabies, an Australian rugby team. Pretty awesome, in my opinion.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

People of Walmart

I don't know why it's taken me so long to find this glorious photo blog! It's called "People of Walmart." If you can't figure out what it's about from the title, well, then you yourself may end up featured in a photo.

Check it out here! Pretty funny. A few favorites below...