the thing about typos

My apologies for not updating sooner. Things have been a little crazy here in Western New York, what with the plane crash and all. It's quite sad and continuing news about the crash is overwhelming. On a more personal note, I've been busy settling in at my new job and by the time I get home and back from the gym the only thing I want to do is eat, sleep and watch: Monday - House, Wednesday - Lie to Me and occasionally Idol. Thursday - Grey's Anatomy... Television melts my brain for at least four hours a week (if you don't count the weekends and that fabulous cake show on the Food Channel) and I don't mind it a bit.

That said, the brain is not completely melted. Recently, I've seen a lot of advertisements for the Literacy Volunteers of Buffalo and their super cool Scrabble tournament fund raising event(s). They're inviting people to host their own Scrabble parties, charge entrance and donate the income to the cause. The winners of each party will then participate in a much larger regional tournament and everyone will be all Scrabbled out. Or something like that.

One of my deep, dark secrets is how much I love Scrabble. Okay, it's not deep or dark, but most people don't know how profoundly I dig this board game. At one point I went through a phase where learning all the acceptable two and three letter words was at once essential and crucial to my very existence. For me, acronyms like TWL, SOWPODS, OSPD, OWL seem as commonplace as LOL and BRB. There it is. I admit it. I'm a Scrabble dork.

I hit the Literacy Volunteers of Buffalo website to get some information on the multiple Scrabble tournaments. All profits will go directly to support Literacy efforts in Erie county. Can't go wrong there. An excellent board game for an excellent cause! The best part of the website mentions a Scrabble tournament just this Monday:

"President's Day Scrabble Tournament
Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, starts at 5:00 PM
Quaker Bonnet Eatery
RSVP: Quaker Bonnet 716-884-0435
Come dressed in your President's Day finest and test your vocabulary with dinner and a Scrabble contest. Cocktails begin at 5:00PM- Reservations needed.
$50.00 per person includes dinner ($30.00 donation goes to Liteacy Volunteers)"

Hilarious. What they failed to mention: any volunteers willing to help the Liteacy Volunteers with their literacy will receive free admission.

plane crash in buffalo

An hour ago there was a plane crash about 20 minutes from here...in Clarence, a suburb of Buffalo. It just happened so there are very few details available. The plane hit a house, and with the weather as nasty as it is right now, they've quickly determined the flight was commercial, not private (unconfirmed reports say it's a Continental flight.) The house is completely gone, but luckily the elderly couple who lived in the home is "safe" according to reports.

Very sad. The morning news should tell the tale...

The thing about appliances

For me, the frozen food section is not unlike many people's interest in match.com or eharmony.com: you're always a little interested what's available, but you know it's probably not good for you. But people keep browsing cliche profile pics and I always check to see if the saturated fat content has gone down on DiGiorno pizzas or that portabello mushroom stuffed ravioli...

In my latest quest through the freezers, I rediscovered Pillsbury Toaster Strudel. A throwback to my childhood, Toaster Strudels are the the dessert for breakfast my brother and I often craved and only rarely were given. Flaky, fried goodness stuffed with wholesome high fructose corn syrup fruit compote and piled high with do-it-yourself high calorie icing--this is a breakfast of champions.

I was eager to introduce my foreign beau to the joys of Toaster Strudel so I put him on the spot, right there in the middle of the aisle, freezer door open, "What strudel flavor will it be? Blueberry filling? Wildberry with that mystery blue icing? Ooooh! or Cinnamon Roll!?" Of course that's when I saw the inevitably-trumping cherry flavor and answered the question myself.

I was stoked; Toaster Strudel breakfasts here I come! Unfortunately, however, I remembered soon after I got home:

I have no toaster to toast my Toaster Strudel.

And that, my friends, is the thing about appliances.