I'm not a big magazine reader. In fact, I often have an urge to buy one and then forget I have it, leaving it to collect dust in the magazine bin on the side of my couch. You probably wouldn't guess this however since I have almost an entire shelf on my bookshelf just of magazines. But by digging through them you would find out not that I buy a lot of magazines, but instead I'm a bit of a packrat and I keep them forever (or at least until I get that spring cleaning urge). You would also learn that I'm completely OCD when it comes to how things are organized as all the magazines are grouped together by title and then put in order by date, but that's a discussion for another day.
Anyhow, grocery shopping last week I again got the urge for a magazine. Usually I grab some cheesey girly magazine like Glamour or Cosmo, but I wasn't feeling that this time. I was instead drawn to the bright red cover with an enticing picture of abowl of pasta on it. A Real Simple magazine. Flipping through I came upon "20 20-Minute Meals." Now that's I something I really need. I love to cook, but hate to cook for myself. It just seems like such a waste of time. I feel like when I put a lot of work into a meal, its just not satisfying if there's no one to share it with. The recipes in the magazine are simple and for once, there are a lot of things I will actually eat! Not something that happens very often, if ever. So I bought the magazine. Three pages in, I was hooked. Not only is it colorful and friendly, there's lots of good stuff in it. But it's that third page entertained me that I want to share.
First was "8 Words to add to your vocabulary from The Daily Candy Lexicon: Words That Don't Exist but Should"
1. Crappuccino n. a poorly made coffee beverage that costs upwards of $4 (I don't drink coffee, but that's still funny)
2. Fearrors n. Dreaded dressing room mirrors that exacerbate every flaw on your body (I would disagree that these are instead public bathroom mirrors that aren't actually made out of glass and makes it look like your face is melting)
3. hybris n. Excessive pride based solely on one's hybrid car (unfortunately I only have filthis - excessive pride based solely on the amount of dirt on my truck)
4. Mapquestionable adj. Word describing directions provided my MapQuest that somehow cause you to drive in an enormous figure eight (So true! Ever since MapQuest tried to take me to a street that doesn't exist, I use Google Maps)
5. Mathzheimer's n. The inability to calculate a foreign-exchange rate without elaborate financial or tech support (Who does that? I would say that this is actually the inability to do simple math in your head after two semesters of calculus and one semester of statistics. I definitely suffer from this condition!)
6. Mouse trap n. An internet purchase that looks a lot different upon arrival than it did in the picture (makes me think of the pictures on fast food menus, but I guess that would be called a grease trap)
7. nontourage n. A group of undesirable sycophants. (Umm...sure.... I think this would be better defined as something a loser says to make themselves look like they have a lot of friends: "Sure, I'll be at the party and I'm bringing my nontourage" "so how many people will that be" "ummm, one...")
8. Yellular n. The loudness adopted in response to a bad cell-phone connection in the misguided hope that talking louder will improve it (yeah, that's it. There's also yellingual: the loudness adopted when talking to someone who doesn't understand the language you're using in the misguided hope that talking louder will make them understand you)
The second thing I read was on the third page was this:
"40 - The total number of dog days each summer. Technically, the dog days are from July 3 to August 11. They're named after Sirius, the Dog Star, in the constellation Canis Major, which shines most brightly during this period. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed the star was responsible for the heat and blamed it for periods of drought, sickness, and discomfort, or as we know them, bad hair days"
I've probably heard the expression the dog days of summer a million times, but I've never thought anything about it. I just thought this was an interesting tidbit to share. But at the same time, I must admit that the first thing I though was "That's how Sirius from Harry Potter got his name!" (for you non-HP fans, Sirius is HP's godfather who can turn into a dog) I know, I'm a dork...
But back to the grocery store and my magazine-buying urge. Apparently it couldn't be satisfied with just one issue. I also grabbed an issue of Backpacker. Now as much as I love camping, I haven't yet been backpacking. It's something I hope to do when I'm in a little better shape. But this was the "National Parks Issue" so I had to buy it. For a few years now I've made it one of my goals in life to visit all of our national parks. Ok, maybe not all, because there's a buttload of national monuments and stuff life that. But at least all of the major ones are on my list.
I haven't quite made it though this magazine yet either. In fact, I don't think I'm even 1/4 of the way through. I got stuck on a one page article on The Apostle Islands in Wisconsin on Lake Superior. The article merely gives three suggestions for activities in the park, but the picture of the sea arches at the top of the page spurred a two hour internet search for more info and pictures. This place looks awesome and is definitely now on my list of places to visit. I think paddling through the sea arches and caves would be an amazing experience! Apparently, there are also more lighthouses in the area than anywhere else in the country. And I might have to go back during the winter to see the ice that collects on the formations. Anyone want to join me? Check out the website:
Apostle Islands National Seashore
And here's some pages with pictures:
Someone else's blog
Superior Waters Project
Winter Cave
And now I just want to tour the great lakes
Anyhow, grocery shopping last week I again got the urge for a magazine. Usually I grab some cheesey girly magazine like Glamour or Cosmo, but I wasn't feeling that this time. I was instead drawn to the bright red cover with an enticing picture of abowl of pasta on it. A Real Simple magazine. Flipping through I came upon "20 20-Minute Meals." Now that's I something I really need. I love to cook, but hate to cook for myself. It just seems like such a waste of time. I feel like when I put a lot of work into a meal, its just not satisfying if there's no one to share it with. The recipes in the magazine are simple and for once, there are a lot of things I will actually eat! Not something that happens very often, if ever. So I bought the magazine. Three pages in, I was hooked. Not only is it colorful and friendly, there's lots of good stuff in it. But it's that third page entertained me that I want to share.
First was "8 Words to add to your vocabulary from The Daily Candy Lexicon: Words That Don't Exist but Should"
1. Crappuccino n. a poorly made coffee beverage that costs upwards of $4 (I don't drink coffee, but that's still funny)
2. Fearrors n. Dreaded dressing room mirrors that exacerbate every flaw on your body (I would disagree that these are instead public bathroom mirrors that aren't actually made out of glass and makes it look like your face is melting)
3. hybris n. Excessive pride based solely on one's hybrid car (unfortunately I only have filthis - excessive pride based solely on the amount of dirt on my truck)
4. Mapquestionable adj. Word describing directions provided my MapQuest that somehow cause you to drive in an enormous figure eight (So true! Ever since MapQuest tried to take me to a street that doesn't exist, I use Google Maps)
5. Mathzheimer's n. The inability to calculate a foreign-exchange rate without elaborate financial or tech support (Who does that? I would say that this is actually the inability to do simple math in your head after two semesters of calculus and one semester of statistics. I definitely suffer from this condition!)
6. Mouse trap n. An internet purchase that looks a lot different upon arrival than it did in the picture (makes me think of the pictures on fast food menus, but I guess that would be called a grease trap)
7. nontourage n. A group of undesirable sycophants. (Umm...sure.... I think this would be better defined as something a loser says to make themselves look like they have a lot of friends: "Sure, I'll be at the party and I'm bringing my nontourage" "so how many people will that be" "ummm, one...")
8. Yellular n. The loudness adopted in response to a bad cell-phone connection in the misguided hope that talking louder will improve it (yeah, that's it. There's also yellingual: the loudness adopted when talking to someone who doesn't understand the language you're using in the misguided hope that talking louder will make them understand you)
The second thing I read was on the third page was this:
"40 - The total number of dog days each summer. Technically, the dog days are from July 3 to August 11. They're named after Sirius, the Dog Star, in the constellation Canis Major, which shines most brightly during this period. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed the star was responsible for the heat and blamed it for periods of drought, sickness, and discomfort, or as we know them, bad hair days"
I've probably heard the expression the dog days of summer a million times, but I've never thought anything about it. I just thought this was an interesting tidbit to share. But at the same time, I must admit that the first thing I though was "That's how Sirius from Harry Potter got his name!" (for you non-HP fans, Sirius is HP's godfather who can turn into a dog) I know, I'm a dork...
But back to the grocery store and my magazine-buying urge. Apparently it couldn't be satisfied with just one issue. I also grabbed an issue of Backpacker. Now as much as I love camping, I haven't yet been backpacking. It's something I hope to do when I'm in a little better shape. But this was the "National Parks Issue" so I had to buy it. For a few years now I've made it one of my goals in life to visit all of our national parks. Ok, maybe not all, because there's a buttload of national monuments and stuff life that. But at least all of the major ones are on my list.
I haven't quite made it though this magazine yet either. In fact, I don't think I'm even 1/4 of the way through. I got stuck on a one page article on The Apostle Islands in Wisconsin on Lake Superior. The article merely gives three suggestions for activities in the park, but the picture of the sea arches at the top of the page spurred a two hour internet search for more info and pictures. This place looks awesome and is definitely now on my list of places to visit. I think paddling through the sea arches and caves would be an amazing experience! Apparently, there are also more lighthouses in the area than anywhere else in the country. And I might have to go back during the winter to see the ice that collects on the formations. Anyone want to join me? Check out the website:
Apostle Islands National Seashore
And here's some pages with pictures:
Someone else's blog
Superior Waters Project
Winter Cave
And now I just want to tour the great lakes
