Garry would love my VenusZine

even though the target demo seems to be women in their early 20s.  It's the total anti-Cosmo.  Not a single article on boys or silly sex moves.  It's all music, DIY, alterna-fashion, art, current issues.

When I receive a new magazine issue in the mail every month, my usual ritual is to go through the entire thing and rip out all the ads I can (I get really annoyed when they alternate ads with content).  I usually end up with a little over half of the original paper weight.  With VenusZine though, even the ads are interesting, and the rest is really content-rich.  It's for chicks (and sympathetic dudes) with brains.  How refreshing!

For the record, titles that get me through the month include: Domino, Bon Appetit, and VenusZine. If I wanted to get a fourth it would be Harper's Bazaar.  I asked Garry for a subscription to The Economist but didn't like how much it editorialized...Fortune and BusinessWeek have pretty good content (except I don't see why a business mag needs to have a regular feature on wine) but let's face it--they bore me.  =D

Bad at keeping up.

I didn't read my Posterous subscriptions for a little over a week and guess what--it was 35 pages of entries before I had covered it all.  Sheesh, you guys are prolific!

I randomly visited my old boss's blog.  I had no idea she had moved to Rome, and in April, at that!  Almost six months ago!  I'm glad she's pursuing her dream of writing and living "under the Tuscan sun."  I'm so glad for her.  Maybe now's a good time to consider a trip back to Europe, after 9 years!

I almost have a problem.

I can't stop buying rocks on eBay.  Most of them though, are from the same seller who sells them for rock bottom prices ($0.99/strand + $1.75 shipping).  I can't help it.  They are so pretty and I can't wait to turn them into things I can put around my neck and wrists.

1. Red coral chips
2. Ocean jasper coins
3. White jade rounds
4. Snowflake obsidian rounds
5. White howlite rounds
6. Red aventurine rounds
7. Blue chalcedony pumpkins
8. Rutilated golden quartz ovals
9. Imperial jasper coin
10. African blue jasper ovals
11. A ming pendant necklace I bought, strung with Burmese jade
12. Faceted smokey quartz ovals


Both sad and glad the summer's over.

It has been a pretty sub-par, second-rate summer, so I'm looking forward to renewed energy, focus and motivation this fall.  That said, summer really is one of my favorite seasons, especially here in the Bay Area when the weather is always perfectly situated in the 70s, and the rolling hills are so inviting.

Ate at McDonald's today for the first time in over a year.

I'd never even been inside the McDonald's near my apartment, so the renovations Garry appreciated were lost on me.  We had a very light lunch, having grazed on junk food all throughout our second-hour class at church. 

Had a double cheeseburger, a surprisingly delicious snack, especially for the delicious price of only $1.  Also had a Caesar salad with grilled chicken--using only about a third of the dressing, it was pretty darn tasty, and pretty healthful besides.

PS. The burger and salad looked nothing like these pictures.  But they were still enjoyable =)

Michael Phelps: What a Hero!

Same goes for Constantina Tomescu who won the marathon gold for Romania.  Under 2 hours and 30 min!  That's a pace of about 5 min 45 seconds per mile...for all of the 26 miles.  I have never run a mile under 10 minutes.  As such, I'm deeply impressed.