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A Little Photoshop Magic to Put a Smile on Your Friday

Jun 14, 2013 online humor Leave a comment

Sometimes it’s the little things that put a smile on your face.

Now you know what Robert Downey, Jr, would look like as a cat. You’re welcome.

Is This Restaurant Serious? How Not to Appeal to Women Diners

Jun 11, 2013 food and drink, work Leave a comment

I am often asked to do write-ups of new businesses opening in Orlando on my blog CitySurfing Orlando. Normally, I’m more than happy to help promote a new place to eat, shop or just have fun in town.

This week, I was alerted to a new sports bar/restaurant chain that has opened on I-Drive, called Twin Peaks. I thought, “sure, I’ll do a write-up.” Then as I was reading through the website, I actually got offended by the theming of the place.

Here’s the gist: It’s supposed to resemble a mountain hunting lodge. So to keep with the “woodsy” vibe, the servers are called “Twin Peaks Girls” and are dressed in lumberjack-inspired outfits.

But not like this:

Like this:

Yes, their servers wear cropped flannel shirts and small shorts, exposing their bare midriffs. In a bar, I don’t have a problem with this, but I do have a problem with some stranger’s naked stomach being that close to the food I’m going to eat.

Then on the front page of their website, they have the following statement:

That’s right…YOU’RE THE MAN at this sports bar. It’s even emphasized with bold type. And their most “prized assets” are “the friendly, attentive, and beautiful Twin Peaks Girls.”

Their exact words. Even the tag line on their logo says, “Eats * Drinks * Scenic Views” – hmmm…what “scenic views” could they be referring to? Their half-naked Twin Peaks Girls?

But the sexist behavior doesn’t stop there. Looking at the menu, I noticed they offer their Twin Cheeseburger in two sizes:

Is it necessary to call the bigger size “man size” and the smaller size “girl size”? And not even “women,” but “girl.”  If they want cutesy terms, why not “lumberjack” and “lumberjack-in-training” instead?

I don’t know about you, but in this day and age, I’m tired of restaurants doing sexist crap like this. If you want to have the Twin Peaks Girls, then how about some male servers in a flannel kilt for those of us who don’t have a preference for half-naked women?

But when you have servers dressed like this, and have promotional material and menu items that cater specifically to men, or demean women, then you simply can’t have my business. And I won’t write about your business either.

Enough is enough. Shame, too, because the food actually sounds good.

Making a Strawberry Lassi with Fage Yogurt

Jun 8, 2013 food and drink Leave a comment

As a member of BzzAgent, I often get asked to try products and this month, that product was Fage Total Yogurt. Pronounced “Fa-yay,” this greek style yogurt lends itself to cooking, as well as eating plain or with fruit.

Since I’m dangerous when cooking, I opted to use my Fage in a beverage recipe I’d been wanting to try since seeing it on Pinterest.

Called a Lassi, it is an Indian yogurt-based fruit beverage. Usually it’s made with mangos, but this recipe was adapted for using strawberries, which worked, since I always have them on hand. This recipe was found at Am*bro*sia  and took less than 10 minutes from start to finish.

To make it you need 1 pound of strawberries (trimmed and cut up), 1/2 cup honey, 2 cups plain Greek yogurt (I used fat-free Fage Total 0%), and crushed ice. Here are some photos of the not-so-ultra-hard process of making this:

Getting together all the ingredients for the Strawberry Lassi.

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So I Now Have to Treat Anemia on Top of Everything Else [sigh] (aka the June Medical Update)

Jun 5, 2013 life Leave a comment

I saw my main doctor last week to get the results back from the labs I had done at the end of April. They took 8 vials for a slew of tests and overall, the results were positive.

The iron pill culprits.

However, I found out from the tests that my anemia actually has two sources. First, I have low iron levels, which would be bad by itself, but apparently my kidney issues are causing my body to not produce red blood cells like it should.

I was supposed to take a 150mg iron supplement daily, which I did for three weeks. But I started menstral bleeding (sorry guys reading this) every day. I did some research and it seems the iron pills do not play well with thyroid meds, which is not a good thing for me. So I stopped taking the iron to give my thyroid meds a chance to work right and the bleeding has stopped.

Next week, I’m going to try a lower dose over-the-counter iron supplement, and take it at night, so it’s as far away from my thyroid med dose as possible. We’ll see how that works, but if I have to do without the iron, well, my thyroid is more important.

I keep reminding myself that I’m still doing better right now than I was this time last year, but it’s so frustrating when stuff like this happens.

But in really good news, my kidney doc says my kidney function has increased from 32% to 50%. This is really good since the better my kidney functions now, the less likely I’ll need dialysis later in life. The doc says we might even be able to get it higher, like into the 70% range, which would be awesome.

Thanks so much to all of you who keep me positive with your well wishes and comments. It really means a lot to me.

Working Your Birthday Like a Boss – The Robert Downey Jr Edition

Apr 20, 2013 movies and tv, online humor Comments Off

Because I’m a huge fan of Marvel and Iron Man and of Robert Downey, Jr, I’ve been keeping up to date on the promo tour that RDJ is on for Iron Man 3. Making it easier is all the press stuff I’ve been getting from each stop on the world tour.

At first, I kinda felt bad for RDJ, since his 48th birthday fell in the middle of the first stop in S. Korea and the second stop in Bejing, China. I’ve had to work on my birthday and it’s no fun. To top it off, he would be away from his family for his special day.

But after getting the reports back from the S. Korea and China stops, I’ve realized that he worked his birthday like a boss.

In S. Korea, he was presented with a huge “Iron Man” themed birthday cake that would have made Duff from Ace of Cakes proud. The huge crowd also sang “Happy Birthday” to him.

Then, in China, they threw him a party at the Imperial Ancestral temple in Beijing (the first time a Hollywood movie has been promoted there) and during the ceremony, he was presented with a giant birthday card containing 5,339 fans signature. This set a new world record for most signatures on a birthday card, and he received a plaque from the Guinness Book of World Records officially recognizing that.

On top of it, they let him sit on a golden throne decorated in serpents, because not only is 2013 the Year of the Snake, but RDJ’s birth year was also a snake year. A GOLD THRONE, people.

So let’s recap. He works on his birthday and gets not one, but two countries to throw him huge birthday parties where he gets an incredible cake, a gold throne to sit on, and a Guinness World Record.

Kinda puts your average birthday party to shame, doesn’t it?

I have to wonder though, what is he going to do for his 50th in two years…especially since that milestone birthday happens to fall during what will undoubtably be promo time for Avengers 2 (2015).

And how do I get an invite? ::wink::

Seriously, how do you top that? I’m gonna feel like a slacker if all I do is go out for drinks and dinner with friends on my birthday.