Those Rozerem Commercials

Okay, I'll admit: I'm a commercial addict for all of the nutso crazy stuff in the last couple of years, but the new Rozerem commercials are the best. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not buying into the whole mass drug advertising to middle America as a good thing; I'm just saying it's a great commercial. Abe, an astronaut, and a beaver can't be wrong about sleep medicine.

And hey, the BoardDudes bulletin board in the background doesn't hurt, either.

Giorgio perfume

I started wearing this perfume almost 25 years ago; you'd think I'd be sick of it by now. But it never gets old for me, even though I use the perfume, the lotion, the powder (when I can get it) and the bath gel from time to time.

Wish I could do a scratch-and-sniff page right here. Mmmmm, makes me feel happy. Think I'm gonna go put some on right now.

GlitterMaker

I love webtools -- just like the banner I made for free says above. One of my latest finds is GlitterMaker.com and it is spectacular.

The site is run by Websomnic, a company that has all sorts of other cool free text editors (like graffiti) and extras like site clocks.

Habbo

Okay, I know it's a site that is geared toward kids, but one of the reasons why I like Habbo Hotel so much is that you can report people who are bugging you and they don't put up with any sexual language or a lot of cursing. If you try to curse in the Habbo environment, it comes out, "Bobba," which is one of the great in-jokes of school kids in real life outside of the environment. It's a "safe space" for kids to learn about things like commerce, chat programs, and interacting with other kids, but I love it because I design rooms there.

The room above is based on feng shui principles -- I did it because Habbo just made a Feng Shui "floor" in the hotel to celebrate the release of some "Asian" "furni" ("furni" is what Habbo kids call their virtual furniture).

I started there to study how kids use spaces when they can design their own, but I stayed because I got hooked. Look me up if you go on: I'm emmiedee. I bobba love that bobba place.

Cats

We live with five: Aoife (who was the pregnant mommy we adopted out of the field) and the four kittens that she had, although we can't really call them kittens anymore since they're two years old: Trouble, Compo, Spooky, and Princess Buttercup. The picture was taken back when they were little, and it's Trouble at the top and Spooky and Butter curled up together. They still all get along well, generally speaking; I never knew that cats were so social since I'd never had a family of them before. The family works different together than just having five cats -- they all know where the lines are drawn with each other.

I also put food and water outside for two feral cats; I've seen as many as four different ones living out in the fields behind our housing development. But in putting the food out, we've also attracted a family of skunks this summer. Alas.

I love cats.

Banquet pot pies

My mom used to fix these for me when I was growing up; it was always a treat to get up in the morning and smell the hot pot pie coming out of the oven. Back in those days, it took an hour to cook one of these babies -- now, believe it or not, it takes 4 minutes in the microwave. Yeah, yeah, I've read the sodium and the fat counts on the box, but I'll tell you what -- it's the comfort food that makes getting in to the office early worthwhile.
Be sure to get the ones that have the little yellow "4 minute" box on the front; the old ones don't take kindly to the microwave.

Life Is Good Snuggle Socks

These socks make working all day at home on the computer almost tolerable. On the days I have to go in to work, I put them on in the morning while I'm having my coffee and life really does feel good. By the time I'm ready to get dressed, I just about feel like I can handle the day (even that late meeting...).
$10 at places all over the internet, but see the original line drawings of them at the Life Is Good website.

Ruby Red Grapefruit Sours

I got a couple tins of these out of one of those sale carts at the front of the supermarket a couple of months ago, and after I ate a few of them, I went back and bought as many more as I could afford at a time -- they were going at a markdown price of 70 cents -- until after a few trips I had cleaned out their supply. I still have about 6 tins of them, but boy am I going to be sad when I finally run out.

If I were still a little kid, I would love the tins; as it is, I feel guilty about all of that packaging for candy, and I'm racking my brain for ideas of what to do with the tins I've accumulated.

The company (zipsours; a division of Morris National Inc. -- dear God, no, not the tobacco company) website touts that they also have black cherry, cranberry, and mandarin orange flavors.

Mmmm mmmm good.