Two Wishes

A Few Random Links

While I was busy not posting these past few days, I was equally busy not reading my blog subscriptions.  Finally got caught up today, and I was struck by a rather high number of interesting and/or amusing items.  So thought I'd share a few with you:

• First, a photo.  Sure, it seems to be from a movie shoot, but still I pray my life looks 1/10th as fabulous as Sophia Loren's when I'm 74!  (Via Jezebel)

• According to the Washington Post, DC now has GPS-enabled snowplows that lets you track the plows' progress on the Web in real-time.  Cool technology, but I find this greatly amusing given that I've lived here 5 years and in that time it has snowed more than 4 inches maybe twice.

 

• This rabbit is adorable.  Via Babygadget.

• If you use Twitter (which I do not) and have an interest in beauty, here is a potentially useful list of 100 Twitter People (Twitterers? Tweeters?) who focus on beauty products. 

• Consumerist reports that this year, everyone can file federal taxes online, for free.

 

• Jezebel featured a roundup of some recent modeling jobs by former America's Next Top Model contestants.  Let's just say that "Top" Model might be ... a bit of a misnomer.  (Remember how they all feared Whitney might be "too commercial"?  Those shirts aren't exactly high fashion, honey.) 

• I would like very much to win this gorgeous stroller, please. 

• Best Week Ever shares my belief that The Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet is the real reason to get excited for this weekend's football festivities.  (Can you really resist watching a parrot sing the National Anthem???)

And to end on a glorious high note:  While I've never actually seen Rock of Love, Best Week Ever had a recap of the most recent episode that included one truly great photo.  Apparently, before attending an event the contestant ladies were told to "dress to impress."  And here's how they showed up:

Mostly, I laugh at the thought of what would have happened had I been invited to the same event.  Sadly my Photoshop skills aren't up to an illustration, but just try to picture me at the end of the line in some nice business casual.  (Image via the VH1 blog 'cause it seems to have disappeared from Best Week Ever)

What was your favorite Web discovery this week?

The Perfect Bra for Lawyers?

What do you think ... should I invest in a Scales of Justice bra for when-and-if I ever get back to work?  

(Images thanks to the always-enjoyable Ayyyy!)

Eye Candy from Sunrise Hossegor

There's a cold, cold wind blowing 'round the Two Wishes household tonight.  The kind that pummels trees and traffic signs, rattles windowpanes, and leaves you wondering whether your poor home can withstand the relentless force of it all.  (Of course, our building is almost 100 years old and has undoubtedly been through worse.  Solid-plaster walls go pretty far!)

It's the kind of weather that makes me long for sun and sea.  Luckily, Corine at Hidden in France recently shared the perfect destination -- Sunrise Hossegor, a gorgeous blog by the owner of a shop called Sunrise in Hossegor, France.  (She also has an online shop and it's fabulous!)  Thought I'd share some of her beach-y, bohemian eye candy with you all on this cold New Year's Eve:

 

(all images via Sunrise Hossegor)

Wherever you are this New Year, many good wishes to you all!

Get to Know Me!

A few weeks ago, dear Peonies posted a fun exercise involving Flickr answers to some basic life questions. It looked like so much fun, I had to give it a try.

And, um, today I finally got around to it.

So, without further ado (click the image for a larger view):

1.    What is your first name?

2.    Favorite food?

3.    What high school did you attend?  [This Flick photographer totally represents for our high school in the 80s. Also, I think I was in a play with the girl in the glasses.]

4.    What is your favorite color?  [I have these actual Pyrex containers. Love my Pyrex!]

5.    Who is your celebrity crush?  [A hot guy seems disrespectful to Mr T, so here's my latest girl crush. Love how Rachel Maddow is simultaneously killer-smart and completely approachable.]

6.    Favorite drink? [I'm from Wisconsin, what did you expect?  And yes, I sometimes bathe in it. Although never this much at one time.]

7.    Dream vacation? [One of about a dozen dream spots....]

8.    Favorite dessert?  ["Dessert buffet" = the two most beautiful words in the English language. Why pick just one?!]

9.    What do you want to be when you grow up?

10.  What do you love most in life? [I went with "family," but tropical beaches, vacations, travel ... it's all good.] 

11.  One word to describe you?

12.  Your Flickr username?

Flickr credits:

1. From Tara 2, 2. Ice Cream @ Häagen-Dazs, Shanghai, 3. kira's table, 4. Turquoise and yellow makes me happy, 5. i♥Rachel Maddow, 6. milk, 7. greek isles - santorini, 8. Dessert Buffet, 9. World Traveler, 10. The Calvo Family - Holidays, 11. inquisitive, 12. 2 Wishes : ด้วยรัก และผูกพัน จากฉัน ถึงเธอ เมื่อเจอ...วันฝนพรำ

LOLPoliticians

Last night, I spent far too much time on ICanHasCheezburger.com.  That site always boosts my mood. 

But one can only appreciate so many cute cats in one session, and eventually I started exploring some of their related sites.  None is quite as clever as the cats.  (Why is that?  Dogs, at least, should be just as funny as cats.)  In light of this election season, however, I did get a few good chuckles from their political arm, PunditKitchen.

This one is in honor of tonight's debate.  (Mr T won't be home, so I plan to watch with leftover pizza and pedicure tools at the ready.  Does that, as I fear, make for a really odd Girl's Night?):

And a few others that struck my fancy:

and:

Do you have any favorite LOLPoliticians?

We're Baaaaaaack (and a Web Discovery)

We're back from Alaska! It was a relaxing trip, and we truly "got away from it all." Unfortunately, we also lost track of everything back home. But I'm caught up on mail, have read the 2,400 blog posts waiting in my reader, and am ready to say hello to y'all at last!

Organizing and transferring our lovely Alaska pics will take some time. Meanwhile, I leave you with my favorite Web discovery from last week: Cake Wrecks.  

The concept is simple -- readers send in photos of awful cakes. Here are a few of my favorites. (All images from Cake Wrecks):

(

(Happy 14th, Tracy!!!)

(Apparently, lots of cake decorators transcribe their instructions exactly....)

(But for all the funny writing, this one made me laugh most. Who looks at an empty cake, two lines of text, and does this??)

(Technically impressive does not always equal "good idea"....)

(This one was entitled "Why Are The Children Crying?")

(And you thought dolls were creepy??)

Finally, the one I'm praying does not show up at my own baby shower:

My own entry, if I still had a photo, would be the cake my mother bought in honor of my first high school play.  Mom asked for the traditional expression of luck in the theater -- "Break a Leg" -- and the grocery store decorator (undoubtedly wondering why on earth someone would ask) misunderstood and wrote "Brake."  She actually did a great drawing of a lower leg with heel digging into the ground ... you know, "Brake a Leg."

What's your favorite cake mishap?

I'm on a Very Short List

I've always been a "joiner", and the Internet world is no exception.  I'll sign up for anything the slightest bit intriguing, with the theory that I can always unsubscribe later if it bugs me.

Sure, I encounter a lot of "misses", but there's also the occasional hit: among them, Travelzoo's weekly travel deals, you-go-girl Notes from the Universe, Dover's free clip art sampler, and the low-cal recipes and reviews from Hungry Girl.

 

My most recent infatuation is Very Short List, a regular email suggesting books, music, points of interest on the Web, and other worthwhile randomness.  Based on where I first learned about Very Short List, well, I wasn't expecting much -- probably corporate PR, but still maybe useful.  But, as it turns out, they take no money for recommendations.  And the recommendations run to the hip, alternative, and lesser-known ... the majority are things I haven't heard of elsewhere.

This week, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of their recommendation of Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, a new album by David Byrne and Brian Eno that streams for free over the Web.  Plus, there's a show on BBC America that I plan to check out, and a couple of books now on my library list.  And I've only subscribed for two weeks!

They also have specialized emails for Science and The Web, with more topics to come.  To subscribe to any or all, visit Very Short List.

Take One Minute, Help a Soldier

In connection with the series Generation Kill (anyone seen it? any good?), HBO is donating thousands of much-needed comfort items to overseas Marines.  All you have do to is ask!  To participate, visit the Generation Kill website, click on "Troop Drive", and select an item to be donated.

And if enjoy it so much you want to keep right on helping?  Visit AnySoldier.com for a list of soldiers' requests (usually very simple -- think hand lotion, granola bars, and socks) and where to send.  Putting together a care package feels great, and the packages make a real difference for a young soldier far from home.

Cancel My Makeover!

Thanks to Smashing Magazine's recent list of 70 Beauty-Retouching Photoshop Tutorials, I never have to look attractive in person again. Apparently, appearance is all in the Photoshop, baby!!

Sure, we know what Photoshop routinely does for celebrities:

(The lovely -- and lovelier -- Christina Applegate.)

But it can do so much for the rest of us as well. For example, why lose weight when you can magically melt away spare tires and cellulite?

Or, perhaps you'd like shinier hair?

How about longer fingernails? 

Other possibilities include nose jobs, thicker eyelashes, a new hair color, bigger boobs, whiter teeth ... and, of course, the all-around touch-up:

I may never visit the beauty salon again! But you'll never know it, my cyber-friends.... A little study time with these tutorials, and I'll be looking HOT.

(All images and all 70 tutorials linked here.)

So Odd, but So Funny

Have you heard about Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog? It's a 3-part Internet musical miniseries written by Joss Whedon (of Buffy & Firefly fame) and starring Neil Patrick Harris. It's one of the strangest entertainments I've ever witnessed. And very, very funny. It's only live till Sunday night (though it may remain available for paid download on iTunes) so rush, rush my friends and check it out....

And in other bizarre-but-amusing-show news, has anyone else seen Reality Bites Back on Comedy Central? I found it equally hard to describe, equally strange, and a bit uneven. But also very funny in parts. And reality TV is just ripe for satire.

(Not sure why Dr. Horrible's on a unicorn, but I couldn't resist this image of my beloved Doogie.... Via IO9)