Why I am letting my Playboy prescription lapse

No, it's not just because Des always had to move them from the basket on the toilet whenever her parents visited. And I still plan on hiding my stack in an obvious place when I someday have an adolescent child.
However, I can't continue to feed the hijacked media monster any more, even if I just read it for the articles. And it's all because of a woman...or three women.
Yes, of course, I'm talking about the Girls Next Door, Holly, Bridget, and Kendra. I really just don't get them, I suppose. Playboy claims to be the premier men's entertainment outlet, and yet this program runs on E!...and seriously, would any man watch E!? I won't get into the fact that these three vacuums do about as much for women as did Monica Lewinski, yet their viewership is primarily women...including the one I live with.
The popularity of their show has really opened up a lot of opportunities for these women, and more power to them, I suppose. But how many times do we have to hear at least one of them talk about 'how hard they've worked to get where they are?' Seriously. If you consider sleeping with an emaciated old Skipper wannabe 'hard work' (which it is, no doubt) then I'm sure they have worked really hard to get to where they are, but if there was ever a need for a group to get a reality check, I think this is it.
And speaking of the Hefner, what is up with the ladies always talking about what a 'gentleman' he is? The only difference between that 'gentleman' and any dirty old man at the train station is that the gentleman gets to do what the dirty old man only fantasizes about. That and a pile of cash, a mansion, a stable full of luxury vehicles, and a never-ending chain of parties with celebrity guests. That must be what makes a gentleman.
The problem with all of this is that the more I look at my expiring subscription, the more I realize that the magazine has become simply a platform to promote the TV show. The three girls are taking up more and more copy every month, and when the new DVD review column is primarily devoted to talking up the release of last season's boxed set (5 bunnies, of course) I start to wonder if the magazine has lost its identity.
The magazine has always been focused on the materialistic side of culture, but now I fear it is moving from the civilized man's brand of refined materialism to the valley girl's shopping day brand.
So before anyone says "If you don't like them, don't watch them!" I say, hey, that's exactly what I'm going to do, and I'm not going to contribute to the institution that facilitates it anymore. I'm sure they won't miss me.

S

A nice day for a run

Because it was so nice out today I decided to skip out on my usual library time after class and go for a run. I'm pretty happy because I ran around 5 miles - 2 laps of the Haverford College Trail. I know 5 miles isn't that far and I've definately done more before, but I really haven't gone more than 3-4 miles at a time since my triathlon this past summer. So I guess I am halfway prepared for the 10-mile Broad Street Run in May! Broad Street should be fun - Steve and I are going to do it, as well as my dad and a few other family members. I've also been trying to convince other people to join in - so sign up here. It's only $25 and it is on Sunday, May 4 - that is 2 months to train.

On another note (I have to write this because I told a few people at Jess' party that I would), here is the best Taboo clue I've heard for a long time: An antagonistic bat. Answer: Vampire.

And now, because I didn't do my work after class like I should have, I have to get to my assignments for tomorrow. Luckily I only have the normal 13 pages for one class and 2 chapters for another, as opposed to the 57-page behemoth that was my Criminal Law assignment for today!

3 Easy Recipes

Trader Joe's is having a recipe contest. Winning entries will be served at the sample food counter, plus the winners get a bag of Trader Joe's goodies!

The recipes can only have up to 5 ingredients, so we labeled some as optional. Here are our entries:

Knife-and-Fork Flatbread Pizza
1 piece Trader Joe's Flatbread
1/4 c. Trader Joe's pizza sauce
handful shredded mozzerella cheese
sliced fresh mozzerella cheese
fresh basil leaves
optional: sliced fresh vegetables

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray tin foil or baking sheet with non-stick spray (VERY important if you use tin foil!). Place flatbread on tinfoil or baking sheet. Spread flatbread with pizza sauce (not too much or pizza becomes sloppy). Place fresh basil leaves on top of sauce. Sprinkle with desired amount of shredded cheese. Place slices of fresh mozzerella on top of the shredded cheese. Sprinke with salt and pepper. Add any desired fresh vegetables (optional). Bake until cheese is melted. Transfer pizza to a large plate or cutting board and eat with a knife and fork.

Autumn Butternut Squash and Chicken Bake
1 pack Trader Joe's whole cut chicken
2 c. Trader Joe's brown rice (instant works best, but the frozen also works)
2 c. Trader Joe's Butternut Squash soup (diluted with 1 c. water or chicken broth)
1 package Trader Joe's cubed butternut squash (or other cubed squash available)
spices to taste: coriander, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper
due to the 5 ingredient max, we did not include broccoli in this recipe

Place brown rice in a large casserole dish. Pour diluted butternut squash soup over rice. Mix in cubed butternut squash (and broccoli). Place chicken pieces over rice mixture. Coat chicken with spices.

Cover casserole dish and place in preheated 400 degree oven for 50 minutes. Remove cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Chicken and Tomato Bake (adapted from a dish my parents ate and loved in Italy)
4 skinless chicken breasts
1-2 potatoes
2 sliced tomatoes (with the jelly!)
fresh basil leaves
olive oil
optional: 1/4 c. tomato sauce
due to ingredient limit, we didn't include an extra veggie, but I usually like to add zucchini slices or something else

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice potatoes very thin (use the slicer on your cheese grater). Spread sliced potatoes on the bottom of a large greased baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. You can spread a small amount of tomato sauce over the potatoes, if desired. Place chicken breasts (thin, if possible) on top. Salt and pepper the chicken. Place tomato slices and fresh basil on top (also the extra veggie). Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Cover with tin foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

A team of 11... and we still lost!

I'm on break from school this week, so Steve and I decided to get a super Quizzo team together last night. We invited the best Quizzo players we know, namely Leah and Jess, as well as a few others. We expected that our team would have maybe 4-6 members, because usually only about a quarter of our invitees show up. But this time just about everyone came, and our team had 11 members. So you'd think we'd have won! Nope. Somehow we came in 5th or 6th place. Oh well.

It was still a lot of fun - I'm glad everyone showed up. We won a round, so we got a free pitcher. And I won an Eagles pint glass filled with beer cozies and keychains by answering the question "what is the newest book from Oprah's book club" (answer: A Fine Balance). I haven't read the book, and I don't watch Oprah, but I have to admit that her book club is generally pretty good - 100 Years of Solitude was one of her book club books, and that is one of my favorites. My mom actually gave me the book A Fine Balance and told me not to be put off by the fact that it is an Oprah book. So thanks, mom. If you hadn't specifically thought that I'd dismiss the book because of Oprah and hadn't warned me against that dismissal, I would have never remembered that A Fine Balance was in the Oprah Book Club, and I would have 4 less Miller Lite keychains.

I don't think that there were any particulary interesting questions last night (Steve may remember some though), so I'll rewind to Quizzo a few months ago. Question: What tree's sap is turpentine made of? Answer: Pine. Reason we got the answer right: Pine rhymes with turpentine.

D