Gone with the Wind

Last night Gone With the Wind was on Turner Classic Movies channel and I watched about half of it. It is so crazy to me that the movie is 70 years old this year!!

While watching the movie, I couldn't help but think about the hype that would have been around this movie if it was a new release in 2009. Would it compete with the movies about wizards, vampires or 3D cartoons about hamsters? Would there be people lining up for days, even weeks, before the first screening just to get into the action first?

I know that Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable were big stars back in their day - but I can't help but wonder what it would be like if they were in their prime today. Would Vivian Leigh be a puppy-toting, scandal-ridden starlet, in and out of rehab? Would Clark Gable be on the cover of People's Sexiest Men Alive list, promoting charities in third-world countries and adopting orphans?

The whole Hollywood scene has changed so much over the past 70 years - I think most early movie stars wouldn't even recognize it. More often than not, studios are about the bottom line and about making money - and less about innovation. Movies are re-made, sequels produced for profitable movies (Did we really need 6 Rocky movies??). But there's one thing for sure - any remake of Gone With The Wind wouldn't hold a candle to the original.

Randomito

So I'm totally copying off Lindsay and recording some of my thoughts for the day...

- I love Dunkin Donuts' Turkey Sausage Flatbread - I had that for breakfast today and it was divine.

- My friend Kerry is getting married the day after tomorrow!! Unfortunately I'm not able to make it out to Cali for the nuptuals, but I'm soo excited for her!

- I love Carmex. There was a "rumor" a few years ago that they add something to it to make it addictive. I'm not sure but I have 3 of the 10g tubes that are all completely empty - the sad thing is I bought them all at the same time - in December. So although it's taken 8 months, I've gone through 30g of chapstick!

- There's a little toad that lives out on my patio. Some evenings when I sit outside to talk on the phone or enjoy the weather, he hops out of his little hiding place and chills with me. He's like the pet I never had.

- One of my big pet peeves is the inappropriate use of the apostrophe. I mean people, come on! Use it only for possession or contractions! Your's is not a word. Neither is Our's. Really people?!

- I'm super duper pumped about the movie Julie & Julia! I am going to see it in a few weeks with a group of girls - then we're going to a French Brasserie afterwards. Check out the menu - how perfect!

- Once again we had my scrumptious BBQ pulled pork last night for dinner - and I'm even more excited for dinner tomorrow night! I'm making a BBQ pork pizza - with mozzarella, red onion, cilantro - we had that last time (to use up the leftovers) and it was delish. YAY!

- I "google image-d" my name (aka typed my name into Google, but the photo tab) and found that apparently there is a brand of china with my last name. An interesting tidbit considering we're the only people in the U.S. with our last name ... Hmm... Well here's a picture of my namesake below.

I don't get it!

Saturday morning I went out to run some errands - clean my car, pick up a few things here and there. I get in my car and turn on the radio and I thought I was hallucinating. The radio station was playing Christmas carols! I thought maybe the DJ had hit the wrong button and accidentally played Jingle Bell Rock. I couldn't believe my ears!

I texted Lindsay (telling her that the mistaken DJ was on "her team") and she informed me that "Christmas in July" is a real thing. Apparently radio stations all over the country play Christmas carols on July 25th. I did a bit of googling on the subject and apparently people actually celebrate Christmas in July with parties and gift exchanges.

Tell me dear friends, do you get this? Or do you celebrate it yourself? What do you think about Christmas in July?

Run, Bethy! Run!

I have found myself getting really into running. I've "dabbled in the sport" over the past few years - it started in college when Allison & I were training for a marathon. ("Training" is the key word there!) The farthest I've ever run was when I did the Bearathon with Bobbie Sophomore year (13.1 miles baby!). I had put running on the back burner for awhile. I've done a few 5ks here and there, but not really running consistently.

We joined a gym back in February and I LOVED not only their great exercise equipment but also their classes (everything from spinning to aerobics to boot camp-style sessions). Lamentably, our gym went BANKRUPT a few months ago (which is another story) and I've been forced to use the rinky dink gym in my community. It is only open until 8 p.m. - which isn't too convenient for me - so I'd not been going very often. But then I realized that our neighborhood is a great place to run - and the gym has a nice treadmill when I can make it there.

I've been doing some research on running - mainly finding training programs - but I noticed one thing that I have been doing right. Many experts say that beginners, especially, should focus more on time as opposed to miles. So I don't even need a fancy pedometer - just me, a good trail, my ipod and I'm good to go!

I know Lindsay did this a few months back, but I realized that I am in real need of some new songs on my workout Ipod mix. Any suggestions to help a sister out?

ALZ walk

I have decided to participate in the Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk on 10/3/09. I will be walking to honor my grandmother who passed away one year ago tomorrow.

http://trianglememorywalk09.kintera.org/cary/bschirding

If you can't donate - just send happy thoughts my way as I walk (haha I signed up & I don't even know how long the walk is!)

The great pizza crust dilemma

Almost everyone has an opinion when it comes to pizza crusts. Some prefer Chicago deep-dish, while others go for Sicilian thin crust pizza. Pizza Hut throws in the "hand tossed" for those who fall somewhere in the middle. And then there are those who - gasp - discard the delicious crusts after only eating the "good part" of the pizza (shame on them!)

Although my preference varies ever so slightly depending upon where I order from, I usually go to the thin crust side of things - just because I feel like it has a better "crisp" factor than thick pizza crust. (And because some times you get the pizza maker who doesn't know what he's doing and undercooks the crust. That's the worst!)

Well, ladies & gentlemen, I have found the end-all-be-all pizza crust recipe. I have been making the thin crust "3 Cheese pizza" from Cooking Light (Sept 2006) for the past few years and it has been delicious, but the "Basic Pizza Crust" from that same issue takes the cake my friends! Before adding any toppings, the crust is pre-cooked on a heated baking stone so the top and bottom of the crust get crispy - however the inside is still moist and springy. Seriously this pizza crust is amazing.

Click here for the yummiest pizza crust recipe EVER

The above recipe is seriously the way to go (it's a link to the pepperoni pizza that I made last night) - let me tell you, the homemade sauce makes this pizza über delicious. This would make an excellent crust for a supreme pizza or even a cheese & basil pie. So next time you're craving pizza, make this instead of ordering from Papa John's or Domino's. The extra effort is worth it!!

Deep thoughts in honor of Harry ...

In honor of today's premiere, I give you the following deep thought by Randy:

"So - - Harry Potter has rediculous magical powers, right? I mean he's just about as powerful as they come. If he's that powerful, then why does he wear glasses? I mean, shouldn't he be able to - POOF! - and fix his astigmatism?"

I love this man! He's just about as random as I am!

Vacay recap

The worst part about vacation is the drive home. On our way down to MB this weekend Randy said, "I want to have so much fun that it stinks to get back in the car to leave." And, yes, we did succeed - we had a ball!

Our resort was in North Myrtle Beach - it was beautiful! Luckily we were not on the "Grand Strand" - we were spared quite a bit of traffic. The resort has 6 pools (including oceanside!) and a private beach. We camped out early at the pool that was - literally - 10 steps from the ocean. I took advantage of the poolside bar and kicked the weekend off with a pina colada!

We were close to Barefoot Landing and Broadway at the Beach - two areas with great shops and restaurants. We had amazing seafood, steak and pizza at a few of the local eateries. We enjoyed 'al fresco' karaoke one night and then went to a dueling piano bar another. It was rainy one day so we ended up staying indoors mostly - but did go to see "The Hangover" - which was funny!

We did some great shopping, had fun in the sun, enjoyed some great meals and had a BLAST while doing it!

See you next week!

New words

I was just reading an article about the new words just added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Frenemy - noun - someone who acts like a friend but is really an enemy
Locavore - noun - someone who eats foods grown locally
Waterboarding - noun - an interrogation technique used to induce the sensation of drowning
Staycation - noun - staying home for a vacation
Shawarama - noun - a sandwich of sliced lamb or chicken, veggies, and tahini wrapped in pita bread
Green-collar - adjective - involving actions for protecting the natural environment
Vlog - noun - a blog containing videos

Having taken my share of language history classes, I know that over time new words get incorporated into every language and that it changes over time. But seriously - is it just me, or are they adding way to many buzz words to the dictionary? An article about the new addition of words in 2002 said the following about new words:

"As soon as we see the word used without explanation or translation or gloss, we consider it a naturalized word of the English language."

Really? Consider one of the words added in 2001 - "mondegreen". Have any of you heard that word before? Apparently this is a "a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung." (like "very close veins" is mondegreen for "vericose veins). I think I needed an explanation for that one.

I am all for the evolution of language and adding words to reflect changes - however - I think it's kind of pointless to add "fad" words that are only used for a short amount of time. Remind me to check back in 10 years to see if anyone's using the terms "mouse potato" (2006) or "quigong" (2007) are still being used in everyday life.

Golfer Bethy!!

I am not - nor have I ever been - athletic. You're talking to the girl whose entire sports experience involves one summer of soccer when I was five and 1 week of middle school basketball. I was a cheerleader in Jr. High - but I was distinctive in the fact that I was unable to jump more than 2.5 inches off the ground. Let's just say I've never been coordinated.

Randy - on the other hand - was Mr. Sportsman. He was the quarterback, star pitcher, and captain of his basketball team in high school. One summer we played on a church softball league together. Even though I could a double like a champ - but running to the base was another story. He still makes fun of my run to this day (he says I looked like a slow-motion cartoon).

This video was taken the first weekend I met Randy. We went to a driving range and this was just about as good as I got. At least he got acquainted with my klutziness up front! (And it is so me to skip off the putting green, isn't it?)