Sunday, September 26, 2010

UGH!

I've been really into Swagbucks.com lately. Basically, if you use it as a search engine, you can get "swag bucks," which add up, and then you can trade them in and get gift cards. I've already gotten like $20 to Amazon. Sure, I'll let you take tabs on what I search for Marketing People. Why not? You can participate in a daily poll and earn one swag buck per day. Anywho, today I was irritated with this poll:

Which Category Do You Fall Into?
1. Student
2. Employed
3. Unemployed
4. STAY AT HOME MOM
5. Self-employed

And what if you're a stay at home dad? Does that just mean you're "unemployed?" Because that sure seems like a full time job to me. UGH. Not to mention this is horrible survey writing. As a sociologist, I find this appalling on a variety of levels. Tsk Tsk. Goodness I hope I get into grad school and put all these observances to good use.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Yeah I Made It


As you may have read in my last update, my plans for a pumpkin Glee cake were rapidly thrown out the proverbial window, and it seemed that this cake was cursed from the beginning. Not to be without cake on Glee-miere night, I had settled on a traditional yet still satisfactory yellow cake mix with white icing. I've made a lot of cake from a lot of cake mixes in my time, so I was certain I had all the necessary ingredients: eggs, oil, and water. The day of the Glee premiere I pulled out my bowl, ready to mix that bad boy up...and WHAT did the cake require? A stick. Of. Butter. Who didn't have butter in their refrigerator? This gal. In a panic, I recalled that I did have a few cake mixes in my apartment. One box of expired angel food cake mix [which makes me wonder how old it is given the copious amounts of preservatives that must be in the cake mix in the first place...bleh] and...one box of Reduced Sugar Devil's Food Cake Mix sweetened by the devil itself...Splenda. Also Bleh. If you're going to do it, do it right for pete's sake--why did I even have such a thing? It's a slap in the face to cake I say! Did I go with sub-par cake or no cake?! I figured by adding an extra layer of frosting, it might make up for the lack of sugar. So I decided to roll with the punches, until I remembered that while in college I had once thought I was being a good friend by looking out for my girlfriends' health by using reduced sugar chocolate syrup in an ice cream cake I had made. Unfortunately, this resulted in a bad case of the runs [oddly enough for everyone except me. Cassady thusly nick named me "Stomach O' Steel."] I hoped this cake didn't produce the same results, but decided to play Russian Roulette: Cake Edition. I haven't heard if anyone had stomach issues that night, and I only had a few rumblings myself, but I'd also eaten two pieces, so that could have just been cake overload in general...Anyways, the Glee cake was consumed in about ten minutes and tasted pretty good if I do say so myself minus the fact that Rachel said, "Jess, is this diet cake?" She was on to me [though this is also why she has earned the nickname Nancy Drew]--the extra frosting had failed! I had to admit to the reduced sugar, but it was either that or watch Glee cake-less and that certainly won't do.

Monday, September 20, 2010

WHO DOESN'T HAVE PUMPKIN IN SEPTEMBER?! Find out the answer.

If you know one thing about me you know that I. Love. All. Things. PUMPKIN. Every year without fail I indulge in pumpkin bread, bake pumpkin muffins, and consume ample amounts of pumpkin pie. The day that Pumpkin Spice Lattes come out should be a National Holiday in my book. You get the picture. As you ALSO very well know, tomorrow is the season premiere of "Glee." I am highly anticipating this event, and have in fact reserved a hall lounge to celebrate this momentous and joyous occasion, and will also provide the party goers with cake. Thusly, it was only natural that said cake should be a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, and I really couldn't think of two things I love more--Glee and pumpkin cake. Maybe if Lea Michele herself were going to be at the premiere. So, you can imagine my complete shock and dismay when this evening I trekked up to Waldbaum's (our local grocery store, much like a Safeway but more expensive) in search of canned pumpkin. Whenst I arrived, I went and picked up the ingredients for the cake, then thought to myself naively: all I need is canned pumpkin. I searched in the canned vegetables section. Canned yams...close but no cigar. Canned fruit? I didn't think pumpkin was a fruit, but hey, these days you never know--tomatoes are technically considered a fruit, and with that rationale I headed to the canned fruit/pie aisle. Negatory. I continued wandering around and ran into an older gentleman with a Waldbaum's nametag. "Excuse me kind sir, have you any canned pumpkin?" I said as pleasantly as possible. "Nope. We don't have any yet" he gruffly and unsympathetically responded, not at all caring of the fact that I was not going to be getting what I had come into the store for. No "I'm sorry ma'am, no pumpkin yet. We'll be getting some tomorrow." It was all I could do not to scream and rip the cake box I was holding in two and have the powder fly everywhere--because damn it, it's your JOB to at least pretend like you care that there is no pumpkin!!! Do you know what this means to me?! You have just further irritated my annoyance with your bad attitude! I go to Waldbaum's for their variety of goods--and I know that I complain about capitalism but the one good thing it provides me with is lots and lots of VARIETY--i.e. a variety of fruits and veggies such as PUMPKIN. And for heaven's sakes, Waldbaum's, it's SEPTEMBER! It's not like I'm asking for canned pumpkin in April. That would not make any sort of sense. Any person with common sense knows full well that pumpkin season is mid-September until after Thanksgiving. Someone on facebook the other day had stated that she was frustrated because one of the grocery stores had run out of pumpkin. I can feel that pain and full heartedly "liked" that status, however, I would argue that my predicament is slightly more frustrating as at least SOMEONE is enjoying pumpkin if the store is all out, where as NO ONE is enjoying it now. But really?? No pumpkin in September?! I feel the same anger that I felt the day I went to Cupcake Royale and they were out of cupcakes. I generally try to have a good attitude about most things, but I really feel like I don't ask for a lot in life and I was just hoping for some pumpkin cake. Sigh.

Thank goodness that there had been pumpkin ice cream in the dining hall that day, or someone may have lost an appendage.