Melyssa-with-a-Y

October is (was) Breast Cancer Awareness Month . And as you all know, breast cancer research is my crusade, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation is my pet charity. So I got organized, and had all of the people at work wear pink and give $5 on the last Friday of the month. In fact, we asked everyone to wear pink every Friday, but only collected money and had a pink party on the 26th. [And in an organization that is 75% men, I offered them the option to pay $10 to not wear pink. It worked!] We had pink cupcakes, pink rice krispie treats, chocolate chip cookies with pink m&m's, and pink ribbon prizes! And we raised over $250! It was very exciting. Then I left work and went to the gym (and wore a pink t-shirt, natch), and my trainer made me do an hour of squats and lunges and frog-jumps and crunches... needless to say, I couldn't walk much on Saturday! But I still went to the UT-Nebraska football game with Janie. And now I can say I've seen the " Godzillatron! " ...

I don't usually just post video to my blog, but this is SO funny... "300" meets 1776 -- I promise I will post more about Passionately Pink for the Cure, my pink ribbon martini at the Four Seasons, and various other tales. Soon. Really.

James Blunt teaches kids about that pointy little shape, with the help of his guitar, a popular song, and a Sesame Street muppet. Very cute.

That's it, I'm dead . In my previous post, I mentioned Sock Wars . The basic idea is, you become an "assassin", by knitting a pair of socks (everyone knits the same pattern) for your "target" and shipping them off, before your assassin sends you your socks. I managed to finish one sock -- took me an extra day to get the yarn, and then I messed up the sole and had to rip back a few inches, and in the meantime I was travelling all over the place -- so at least I was able to stave off my "death" for a few extra days. ;) I finally gave up and went to the mailbox when I got home from work today [after I spent an hour getting a new tire on my car] , and lo and behold, beautiful grey wool socks -- and a perfect day for them to arrive, too, it didn't even get to 60 degrees today! -- along with a cute little WIP bag (that's "work-in-progress" to you muggles) and a matching little pouch with stitch-markers! Wow! It's like Secret Sant...

It was a long day. (Not actually bloody, but there was some sunburn involved.) The day started with brunch with my DC friends. We hit Whitlow's for the buffet, and by the time we got a table, it was already 11am - time for the crab legs to come out! It's wonderful to have a plate covered in crab legs, with a side of waffles and eggs and bacon. :) And great conversation with my favorite people to boot! Thanks to Amy & Rob, Dani, Jen, and Elizabeth for making my day! Then I headed for Bry's soccer game. It was a gorgeous day to be outside in DC - mid-70's and bright sunshine! In hindsight, when I noticed the soccer players putting on sunscreen, I probably should have asked to borrow some. My left upper-arm (I was facing north most of the game) is a nice bright pink color. My face and neck got a little color, too, with the v-neck shirt, but not as much -- although I now know why my chest felt like it was on fire when I was sitting in the airport. Yes, Washingto...

In the past, USC has been a strong second half team. This year, we've been a passable team, waking up in the 4th Qtr with a few flashes of brilliance. Until this week. Benching John David Booty in favor of backup QB Mark Sanchez, the Trojans were able to (as CNN-SI put it ) "Spank" Notre Dame 38-0 this weekend. Awesome! I was a little worried before the game with the story of the Trojans' bumpy flight into South Bend , but the jostling they got seems to have toughened them up a bit. :) Another part of the improvement is definitely Sanchez. Booty was pushing as hard as he could, trying to live up to the legacy of Palmer and Leinart, throwing passes that would have been miracles even for those two stellar QBs. Sanchez, on the other hand, is playing with what he has -- he's completing passes to the whole stable of RBs, who are making sometimes incredible catches that make him look good. It seems to be working. The stats from yesterday's game are shocking -...

Yes, Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize this year. A little unexpected, and possibly controversial, but he will still not run for President -- nor should he, IMHO. And every time he wins an award (Oscar - check! Emmy - check! ) it becomes even more painfully obvious that the wrong man is in the White House. I am not the only one who thinks this way, of course, but here's the best description of the situation that I have seen recently -- in today's NYT, Bob Herbert writes , ... for all of the obvious vulnerabilities [GWB] exhibited in 2000, it was not him but Mr. Gore who was mocked unmercifully by the national media. And the mockery had nothing to do with the former vice president’s positions on important policy issues. He was mocked because of his personality. In the race for the highest office in the land, we showed the collective maturity of 3-year-olds. Mr. Gore was taken to task for his taste in clothing and for such grievous offenses as sighing or, allegedly, rolli...

A study in Switzerland (commissioned by Nestle, natch) has just found that the desire for chocolate -- or indifference to it -- is in our metabolism. And it turns out that eating some chocolate is good for you. "This is the first demonstration that a dietary preference has an imprinted effect on your metabolism and that might link to all sorts of long term health implications- interestingly the chocolate preferring people had a better gut microbial metabolite profile than the people that don't like chocs," said Prof Nicholson. ... "It is known that by eating chocolate, catechin and epicatechin can reach the bloodstream where they can be transported around the body, helping to prevent oxidation so the body can stay healthier," said Kochhar. Of course, the study only included men, and a small number of them at that. I will wait to see the results of the study when they ask a bunch of women. In the meantime, I will do my best to add catechin and epicatechin to my...

I wish I had a picture, but at least I can tell you that at 10:21 this morning (EDT), little miss Rachel Frances D. came into the world, at 6.9 lbs and 20.5" long. :) YAY! Mazel tov! Can't wait to meet her in two weeks.