Today's Quote

The mind is everything. What you think, you become.

~ Buddha

Whitney Houston - Greatest Love Of All

RIP

Red Velvet Cake Martini

Whipped cream cheese frosting (from 12-oz container)
red colored sugar
2 teaspoons chocolate-flavor syrup
Crushed ice
1/4 cup cake-flavored vodka
1/4 cup crème de cacao
6 tablespoons buttermilk
1 to 2 drops red food color





1. Dip rims of 2 martini glasses in frosting, then dip in red sugar. Drizzle 1 teaspoon chocolate syrup in bottom of each glass. Refrigerate.

2. Fill cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add vodka, crème de cacao, buttermilk and food color. Cover; shake vigorously until well mixed. Strain mixture into chilled glasses.

Makes 2 servings

The Importance of Walking

Walking can add minutes to your life.
This enables you at 85 years old
to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing
home at $7000 per month.

My grandpa started walking
five miles a day when he was 60.
Now he's 97 years old
and we don't know where the hell he is.

I like long walks,
especially when they are taken
by people who annoy me.

The only reason I would take up walking
is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

I have to walk early in the morning,
before my brain figures out what I'm doing..

I joined a health club last year,
spent about 400 bucks.
Haven't lost a pound.
Apparently you have to go there.

Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise',
I wash my mouth out with chocolate..

I do have flabby thighs,
but fortunately my stomach covers them.

The advantage of exercising every day
is so when you die, they'll say,
'Well, she looks good doesn't she.'

If you are going to try cross-country skiing,
start with a small country.

I know I got a lot of exercise
the last few years,......
just getting over the hill.

We all get heavier as we get older,
because there's a lot more information in our heads.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

AND

Every time I start thinking too much
about how I look,
I just find a Happy Hour
and by the time I leave,
I look just fine.

Black Forest Cherry Cake

Bake this delicious black forest cake that's filled with cherries and topped with chocolate curls - perfect for dessert.

Prep Time:25 min
Start to Finish:55 min
makes:10 servings

Cake
1 box (1 lb 2.25 oz) devil's food cake mix with pudding
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups water
3 eggs

Filling and Topping

1 can (21 oz) cherry or cherry-cranberry pie filling
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 container (8 oz) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed
Maraschino or candied cherry and chocolate curls, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 15x10x1-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray. Line with foil, extending foil over short sides of pan; grease foil. In large bowl, beat cake mix, flour, water and eggs with electric mixer on low speed until moistened, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat on high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Spread batter evenly in pan.

2. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Remove cake from pan by lifting foil; place on wire rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix pie filling and 1/2 teaspoon of the almond extract.

4. Cut cooled cake in half crosswise to make 2 (10x7-inch) layers; remove foil. Place 1 cake layer on serving platter or tray; spread pie filling mixture over top. Top with remaining cake layer.

5. Stir remaining 1/4 teaspoon almond extract into whipped topping. Spread mixture over sides and top of cake. Serve immediately, or loosely cover and refrigerate until serving time. If desired, garnish each serving with maraschino or candied cherry and chocolate curls. Store in refrigerator.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 375°F.

Have Bees Become Canaries In the Coal Mine? Why Massive Bee Dieoffs May Be a Warning About Our Own Health

What scientists are beginning to understand about the cause of colony collapse could be a message for all of us.

READ MORE

Low Intelligence Conservatives

Conservatism Thrives on Low Intelligence and Poor Information

There is plenty of research showing that low general intelligence in childhood predicts greater prejudice towards people of different ethnicity or sexuality in adulthood.

READ MORE

Today's Quote

“A child is not a vase to be filled, but a fire to be lit.”

― François Rabelais

The Nerves - Hanging On The Telephone

Best Things to Buy in February

The Best and Worst Things to Buy in February

Cut Your Car Insurance by 50% (Maybe), But Only if You Ask

This is the story of a retiree who was paying a crazy price for car insurance for his two cars. When he comparison shopped, he learned he could cut his bill in half. Then, when he called his current carrier, he learned they would have done the same thing, had he only asked!

How to Charge Your Gadget's Battery to Prolong its Life

Everybody's got a theory on how to extend the life of your battery in your cellphone, laptop, or tablet. Should you run the battery down to zero? Should you stop charging before reaching 100%? Oh, the issues. Here is Lifehacker's best advice on the ways to prolong your battery's life.

See the Super Bowl Ads Again

Many people watch the Super Bowl more for the ads than for the game itself (and then there's me.....who doesn't care about either). In case you missed some of the commercials, or just want to see them again, here is where you can do it: site 1, site 2, site 3, site 4 and site 5.

Believe

I Believe...
That just because two people argue,
It doesn't mean they don't love each other.
And just because they don't argue,
It doesn't mean they do love each other.


I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if
We understand that friends change.

I Believe....
That no matter how good a friend is,
they're going to hurt you every once in a while
and you must forgive them for that.


I Believe...
That true friendship continues to grow,
even over the longest distance.
Same goes for true love.

I Believe...
That you can do something in an instant
That will give you heartache for life.


I Believe....
That it's taking me a long time
To become the person I want to be.


I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with
Loving words. It may be the last time you see them.


I Believe....
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.


I Believe....
That we are responsible for what
We do, no matter how we feel.


I Believe...
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.


I Believe...
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs
to be done, regardless of the consequences.




I Believe....
That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.


I Believe....
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down
will be the ones to help you get back up.


I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry
I have the right to be angry,
But that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.


I Believe....
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had
And what you've learned from them and less to do with how many
birthdays you've celebrated.


I Believe....
That it isn't always enough,
to be forgiven by others.
Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.


I Believe...
That no matter how bad your heart is broken
the world doesn't stop for your grief.


I Believe....
That our background and circumstances
may have influenced who we are,
But, we are responsible for who we become.


I Believe...
That you shouldn't be so eager to find
Out a secret. It could change your life Forever.


I Believe....
Two people can look at the exact same
Thing and see something totally different.


I Believe...
That your life can be changed in a matter of
Hours by people who don't even know you.


I Believe...
That even when you think you have no more to give,
When a friend cries out to you -
you will find the strength to help.


I Believe...
That credentials on the wall
do not make you a decent human being.


I Believe...
That the people you care about most in life
are taken from you too soon.


I Believe...
That you should send this to
all of the people that you believe in, I just did.





The happiest of people don't necessarily
have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything they have.

Website of the Day

Color’s makers describe it quite simply as “the color matching game”: match your colors against the color wheel and work upward, adjusting for variables along the way.

A Pocket Guide to Vietnam

A Pocket Guide to Vietnam, 1962 was published by the Department of Defense and meant for soldiers in the field.

Written in simple, declarative sentences—“South Vietnam has a typically tropical climate of two seasons: hot and dry and hot and rainy”—the book is deeply respectful of Vietnam’s culture and people. (“Don’t think Americans know everything,” it instructs.) This makes it a fascinating distillation of the things we knew (or thought we knew) about a very old country we never did come to understand—and fills it with all sorts of dramatic ironies.

Oxford’s Bodleian Library published a cheap and elegant reprint last year; it carries a new foreword by U.S. Army veteran Bruns Grayson. (“I must have received this handbook sometime in the spring of 1968, before heading off to Vietnam that summer,” Grayson writes.) And the book’s also available as a (free) PDF.

The Wayback Juke Box - The Golden Gate Quartet: Hush

The Script - Breakeven (Falling to Pieces)

My New Favorite Thing

Another Blonde Joke

A blind guy on a bar stool shouts to the bartender, "Wanna hear a blonde joke?"

In a hushed voice, the guy next to him says, "Before you tell that joke, you should know something."

Our bartender IS blonde, the bouncer is blonde. I'm a 6' tall, 200 lb black belt. The guy sitting next to me is 6'2", weighs 225, and he's a rugby player. The fella to your right is 6'5" pushing 300 and he's a wrestler. Each one of US is blonde. Think about it, Mister. Do you still wanna tell that joke?"

The blind guy says, "Nah, not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times."

Xandria

Today's Quote

“Friends are the family we choose for ourselves.”

― Edna Buchanan

Romney is one of the bad guys

The Wayback Juke Box - Dictators - Weekend (1973)

Dear Bubba,

This is your Mama. I'm writing this letter slow because I know you can't read fast. We don't live where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen within 20 miles from your home, so we moved. I won't be able to send you the address because the last Arkansas family that lived here took the house numbers when they moved so that they wouldn't have to change their address.

This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine. I'm not sure it works so well though: last week I put a load in and pulled the chain and haven't seen them since.

The weather isn't bad here. It only rained twice last week; the first time for three days and the second time for four days.

About that coat you wanted me to send you, your Uncle Stanley said it would be too heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.

John locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were really worried because it took him two hours to get me and your father out.

Your sister had a baby this morning; but I haven't found out what it is yet so I don't know if your an aunt or an uncle. The baby looks just like your brother....

Uncle Ted fell in a whiskey vat last week. Some men tried to pull him out, but he fought them off playfully and drowned. We had him cremated and he burned for three days.

Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pick-up truck. Ralph was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your other two friends were in back. They drowned because they couldn't get the tailgate down.

There isn't much more news at this time. Nothing much has happened.

Love,
Mama







P.S. I was going to send you some money but the envelope was already sealed.

Statement of the Century

Thought from the Greatest Living Scottish Thinker, Billy Connolly -

"If women are so bloody perfect at multitasking, how come they can't have a headache and sex at the same time?"