busy sidewalks...in the air theres a feeling of stress.

So at my gym today I hear a trainer say "Man, I hate finals."

My question is...who loves finals?

They're the single most stressful point in the semester; aside from midterms. Granted, there are some perks (as pointed out by my roommate): you basically make your own schedule since there isn't any more class and you have more time to do other things -- like crossword puzzles and endless games of Scrabble.

However, there are more downfalls to the weeks of finals. It is a stress-laden time. Some people have up to three finals on one day alone. Not to mention the entire concept of finals is terrifying. God forbid anything happened to you during the semester and you missed more than a could classes...you never know what information will pop up on those damned finals. The most mundane piece of information could pop up and screw you over.

Who thought that ONE test covering an ENTIRE semester was a good idea? They should be punished, along with the genius who figured that stilettos were a hot fashion item instead of a torture device.


6 letter word for finals? f _ _ k ed.

somewhat productive procrastination...thanks to Food Network.

Today is proclaimed a "reading day" by my university.

The truth is, said "reading day" implies luxurious amounts of loafing around trading novels with your friends and schmoozing over red wine.

Quite the opposite, this. is. finals.

But of course, what would finals be without copious distractions and procrastination?

As I sit right now, I am conveniently attempting to pen some witty prose instead of put the writing to better use towards my history paper. Alas, cinnamon rolls are in the oven, a pot of coffee awaits, and light jazz that could be from a Woody Allen film dances about the empty apartment. It curls around our round kitchen table and settles in the ears of me and my roommate, we are procrastinating -- waiting for cinnamon rolls. We tried to preemptively avoid this procrastination setting in; we thoroughly cleaned the entire apartment last night so it wouldn't be a valid excuse to not to the paper looming ominously in the future.

In true college student fashion, we didn't go to bed at a decent hour either. We were not partying, we were not studying voraciously for our finals -- we were looking up recipes for this week's dinners.

And watching Paula Deen compete with Iron Chef Cat Cora against Tyler Florence and Robert Irvine in Food Network's Iron Chef America Holiday Dessert Battle.


Did I mention Tina Fey was a judge? Now, this episode could have re-aired later on this week at a more convenient time but it was nearing 2a.m. and what's another hour of lost sleep when you can watch Paula Deen melt Velveeta, pour it into fudge, dip it into more cheese, and cover it in nuts?

Sigh, if only TV came with smell-o-vision.

Another ample distraction this week? A replay of Bobby Flay and my personal favorite, Giada De Laurentiis face off against Rachael Ray (boooooo!) and Mario Batali.

All this talk of cooking is making me crave those cinnamon rolls. and Food Network. There goes my "reading day" and history paper.

Sneaker Pimps

Remember Reebok pumps?

We're talking old school air-pump shoes that started out in the early 90s. Back when basketball shoes were first emerging on the scene and became really big. Jordans, Air Force Ones, and most importantly...Reebok pumps.

I got in an argument with a friend today about Achoo's shoes in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. (Which is arguably the BEST Robin Hood ever made; let's face it -- The Princess Bride's Cary Elwes was a hottie back in those days.)

The bantering started about the brand of Achoo's air-pump shoes. My argument was that the shoes were Nike. Because, honestly, most popular shoes from the 90s were Nike. His argument was that they were Converse. I consider myself to be a connoisseur of converse; I've worn them since I was two years old.

To settle this argument, we turned to the Holy Grail of answers in a pinch...Google. As it turns out, neither one of us was right. Reebok prevails.

In my defense, there ARE Nike pumps, but they do not have the basketball pump on the tounge of the shoe so I wasn't completely off.

.

My dear friend, however, was ridiculously off point. Converse shoes do not come with a pump-function in any style. But I'll give him a few points for guessing Converse just because original Chuck Taylors were basketball shoes. But, Google "Converse pump" and this is the image you get:




...even though Robin Hood: Men in Tights pokes fun at the tights aspect of the Robin Hood outfit...I don't think this completes the costume.

Perhaps for Maid Marian?

Introductions, dahling.

What's rag & bone?

Rag and bone man is a British phrase for a junk dealer. Since this blog is going to be a hodgepodge of topics and events; it's a great phrase for a collection of interesting "junk."

More to come...