Today's 1000

"Bad Route" by Miguel Calderón

See Jane Roll (in her grave, that is)

In my free time, I have a penchant for haunting bookstores – perusing the aisles searching for books which catch my eye and fancy. They can range from classics I’ve always thought about reading (hello, For Whom the Bell Tolls) to a cool book of photography to the latest Robin McKinley novel (children’s fantasy fiction is my guilty pleasure). In bookstores, McKinley can generally be located in the children’s section, teen section, or sci-fi section. The latter two are not those which I most frequently patronize, but it is in one of those that I happened upon something utterly unexpected. What did I find, you might ask yourself? I found that-which-must-not-be-named: the teen-i-fication/emo-fication/Twilight-i-fication of Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and Romeo and Juliet.

(A quick disclaimer: I am in no way against teen fiction and have no grudge against Twilight -- see my earlier musings on the Eclipse soundtrack if you doubt me; rather, what I find grating is classic literature dressing up in teen clothing.)

Today's 1000

Caran d'Ache

Juice Me

Green Juice- Brooklyn Art Project

A few weeks ago, I got my winter clothes out of storage and, horror, everything had shrunk. So I decided to try a juice detox to kick start my metabolism . Two things I have learned really fast:  a). green juices are really tasty b). but they are not as tasty as food.

I’ve been following the Clean program popularized by Dr. Alejandro Junger. The basic premise is that our bodies are bogged down digesting the junk we consume and that a clean diet of whole foods and juices will restore the body and digestive system to optimum performance levels. Breakfast is a 12 oz. glass of juiced greens, followed by a lunch of approved detox foods such as organic chicken, greens and quinoa, followed by a dinner of juiced fruits and/or greens. There’s also a few snacks thrown in such as coconut water or almond milk. All in, it’s about 1200 calories a day, for 21 days. The juice dinner is key so that your body repairs itself overnight instead of digesting.

Today's 1000

The top of the world - in this part of Alaska, at least. 

Today's 1000

Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

No longer servicing 

supra-stratospheric flights.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

...okay, well, maybe two more.

Letter 1: Remember Denver

I sat down last week and wrote the first letter of my life. You - the reader of these letters - will probably be disappointed to hear that the letter isn't juicy or revealing or scandalous but rather, simply, a letter. In our 21st century society, texting, emailing, and tweeting are the typical means of written communication; it makes things quick and simple, almost instantaneous. If I don't foursquare my location to all of my friends and followers, to be quite honest, I'm not even sure if I ever went there at all. So, when my friend, Isabella, moved to a tiny island that I can hardly spell and can't yet pronounce, we decided to use a slightly outdated means of correspondence. I'm not really sure where this is headed or what will come of it, but I thought it would be interesting to publish some of my letters here and, if it's interesting and Isabella wouldn't mind, to publish some of her letters to me as well.

In case you're still reading, here's a quick introduction to the main players.

To Burn or Not To Burn? Quran is the question…

By Thomas Hokum

The recent events involving Gainesville Pastor Terry Jones and his plan to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of September 11 (he didn’t) has brought American-Muslim relations to the forefront of the national media spotlight. Jones supposedly called off the burning after speaking with the Imam from New York and securing assurances that the Ground Zero Mosque planning committee will consider other sites, although the reality is that everyone from General Petraeus to President Obama tried to get the burning called off so any promises Terry Jones claims to have elicited should be taken with a grain (or a barrel) of salt.

First, a few thoughts on book burning.

Today's 1000

It wasn't a shelf, but an entire section...


...at the very front of the store...

What's in a Polish?

If there is one thing I have often had a hard time understanding, it is why women seem to be expected to give more attention to their nails than men do. Women’s magazines suggest that your nails be perfectly manicured prior to going on an interview (because a chipped nail speaks to your work demeanor and productivity, of course); my own father says that one of the reasons he was attracted to my mother was that she had perfect fingernails; and then, of course, there are prevailing myths regarding various polish colors. For example, girls with purple nail polish are only interested in having sex. I recently learned that certain nail polishes come with an intense amount of prejudice built in.

You see, rather contrary to my common modus operandi of polish-free nails, I recently decided to buy some robin’s egg blue polish and try it out on my toes. Nothing particularly revolutionary, right? Wrong. Apparently, wearing blue nail polish in the South is paramount to dying one’s hair purple, getting a tattoo, and pledging one’s allegiance to Buddha. Multiple people told me that I should remove the polish before going on job interviews because no one wants to hire an employee who wears blue nail polish. Blue nail polish is, in effect, a neon advertisement saying “hussy incapable of working in a professional atmosphere.”

Today's 1000

Can you name this shovel toting Saint?

Herpes (Commercials) and Life Insurance

At 25 years of age, I never thought that I would replace my obsession with herpes television commercials so soon. I can remember seeing my first herpes medication spot almost ten years ago and I recall being angry that I had to watch an inane pitch for a product I would never use. But the more I saw the commercials, the more I enjoyed laughing at the poor actors who must have been out of work for so long that becoming the face for an STD medication became a good idea.
Herpes medication ads have always been at a distinct disadvantage for being memorable compared to most other commercials. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic, herpes ads could never use the endearing the ‘kids are cute’ approach. Because herpes is a medical condition, commercials couldn’t be a combination of corny patriotism and sex. And because the world of STD’s doesn’t exactly inspire a wealth of marketing creativity, herpes ads could never be as popular as clever, well planned campaigns.

You Are Not Forgotten

On March 1, 1942 SC1 Charles Terrell Thomas was declared missing in action by the United States Navy. He was never found. His disappearance was legendary, at least in my family. Ask any relative, and you will get a different answer about what happened to Charles Terrell, known as Terrell.  “He was in Pearl Harbor.” “He was on a boat and it blew up.” “He fell off something.”   

70 years after World War II, there are 78,000 U.S servicemen still missing in action. According to Ken Moore, founder of Moore’s Marauders, a nonprofit MIA search and recovery organization, the U.S government maintains there are about 35,000 MIA remains that are still recoverable. Moore, whose own uncle was MIA during World War II, considers it a personal mission to recover the servicemen who dedicated their lives to the cause of freedom. The search and recovery service is provided to veterans’ families free of charge, and Moore’s world class team consists of former military commanders, doctors, scientists, pilots and experts in everything from agriculture to explosives.

Today's 1000

Kids write the darndest things...

An Introduction

My name is Liam Ward, I am twenty six years old and I live Atlanta, Georgia. I live in a small three bedroom, two bath house that is half a mile from Piedmont Park. Every morning I wake up at five in the morning to Claude Debussy or Talking Heads and promptly rinse my face with water.

Today's 1000

Price Check

I'm not going to Wal-Mart to look for a brain surgeon. And I'm sure not paying only $3.59 for something this important.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock

by Thomas Hokum

Bad pun. These guys are the definition of survivors. To recap: on August 5, a Chilean mine collapse left 33 miners stranded in a mineshaft around four-and-a-half miles underground. Take a moment to think about how far underneath the earth that is and, for visualization purposes, consider how long it would take you to drive four-and-a-half miles, and then how long it would take you to walk it.

Today's 1000

An Inside Joke?

Normally, when city workers misspell "School Zone" when painting a road it's probably an honest mistake. However, this sign had to be uniquely made and remains displayed for all of us to see and say, "Huh?"

An Aural Eclipse

The task of finding a ready-made album which continually delights with each new song can be next to impossible. Most single-artist albums are anchored by one or two true hits; then, the requisite number of songs to reach the standard album quota of ten to twelve are tagged on and generally disappoint in terms of quality. This dearth of stellar single-artist albums has led not only to the rise of playlists, but to the ever-popular genre of soundtracks. In soundtracks, the best, most poignant songs from numerous artists are compiled by persons who professionally seek music that fits a mood. Recently, my not-so-secret fascination with the Twilight series led me across The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack, which has proven itself to be an aural delight with more listening endurance than just about any album I’ve listened to in the last year.

While the album is held together by a general prevalence of heavy drumbeats and slightly distressed cadences, its true brilliance comes in the number of standout songs which segue naturally into one another while retaining enough individuality to keep the album from dissolving into punk grunge moping. Eclipse has a shaky start with the generically upbeat and bland “Eclipse (All Yours)” by Metric. Let’s face it: songs written exclusively for movies don’t always fare so well. The soundtrack quickly recovers, though, with an infusion of Muse. “Neutron Star Collision (Love is Forever)” seems a throwback to Styx’s “Come Sail Away” with just a touch of heavy metal and instantly anchors the collection on a foundation of rock fusion.