Why do dogs eat until they're sick?

The Eastern vs. Western Diet: comparison of photos on Instagram

Last time I was in the gym, I found myself stationed in front of a daytime talk show. The hosts were discussing health and all three woman threw their hands up in the air at once and said, "WHY is there so much heart disease in this country?"

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN WHAT PEOPLE EAT? Why are we still having this conversation?? You mean you don't KNOW?

I follow people from around the world on Instagram and a favorite camera subject appears to be meals. I couldn't help but notice the differences in the eastern vs. western diet and so compiled some examples, side-by-side, below:

The Eastern vs. Western Diet

Cucumber vs. Steak

Fish (oh hai, fish head) with healthy Omega 3 fatty acids vs. chicken.
Not the worst example, but what's at left is still pretty atypical for a westerner.

Nice, brothy soup with veggies vs.... what IS that?
Chicken-fried steak? Is there even chicken or steak in that disk?
I don't actually know what it is, but it appears to be smothered
in gravy with hash browns, eggs and pancakes loaded with
butter or whipped cream or both. OMG.

Veggie heavy dish vs. meat / bread heavy-dish.
(This is pretty common. Westerners don't seem to think a meal
is a meal unless it involves a hefty amount of protein.)

Another veggie heavy dish vs. fatty breakfast. Goodness,
do we know how to pile the calories on first thing in the morning or what?
(Note the bacon in the corner. Mmm, bacon.)
I'm not saying this isn't DELICIOUS because I love terrible things
as much as the next person, just... you can't pretend it's healthy.

Veggie heavy dish vs. pepperoni pizza, Sicilian style for extra calories in bread.

Man vs. sandwich on right: WHOA that's a lot of meat!

Hot dog with veggies vs. hot dog with starches.

Veggies vs. chicken fingers.

Can't forget: veggies vs. pasta, a universally beloved vessel of empty calories.

Veggie-heavy dish vs. ... are those nachos?

Sprouts vs. meat. There was nothing on this person's plate but MEAT.
Not a single vegetable in sight.

Veggies vs. creamy potatoes
(white potatoes are another beloved vessel of empty calories).

Fish and veggies vs. fatty dessert!

Now do you see the difference?

Spleens on a tee!

Spleen store launched! Get your spleen (tees) here!

So far, we've got:

• Follow Your Spleen
• Respect the Spleen
• The Early Bird Gets the Spleen
• Insert Spleen Here
• Moving at the Spleed of Spleen
• World Wide Spleens
• Cold Hands Warm Spleen (true story!)
• Dark Side of the Spleen
• Home is Where the Spleen is
• Spleen of Gold

Visit store, indulge your spleen. Go ahead, you know it wants it. ;)

Tell me you do not see this EVERY DAY.

"I'm speeding down the freeway and I keep seeing this..."
-Josh Cooley (cartoon his own)

The guy who drew this series of cartoons of what goes down on the highway is BRILLIANT. See his full post, but I'm warning you, put down that glass of water now before you ruin your screen. --> onward!

The Crocodile Hunter meets Ross the Intern (video)

Remember Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter? I love this video where he meets Ross the Intern:
"Hi sweetie! Who's a pookie pookie," says Ross to the hissing croc. Freaking hilarious.

I would sound the "PINEAPPLE!!!!!" alarm bell far sooner than Ross (in the spider incident)!

Flagstaff apartments for rent -- resources if you're moving here

Some of you asked me why it was so hard to find Flagstaff apartments. Why?? Because scammers have infiltrated the Flagstaff apartments section on Craigslist, slapping up photos of model-homes at extremely low prices, skewing my idea of what type of place you can get for how much.

There were a ton of "amazing deals" on Flagstaff apartments. They all wanted me to fill out a credit report before even talking to me.

"Demand has been really high for this! So fill out this FREE credit report online. And if you qualify, we'll get back to you."

Um, go to a strange website and type in my social security number? No thanks.

Then I started noticing coincidences in the Flagstaff apartments ads. All the Flagstaff apartments that looked swank didn't have local addresses. Or any address at all. A phone number was never included, only an email. And the ads were all overly accommodating. Pets? Horrendous credit? No problem! None of them had phone numbers, directions, or people I could actually talk to. Hmmm. Oh, and the ads often implored EVERYONE to apply. "No credit checks! We promise to love you no matter what. We just want your social security number!"

I started seeing the same photos reappear all over the Flagstaff apartments listing on Craigslist. I got suspicious and began doing a search on email addresses and/or text in the ad and suddenly found the same ads all over the country. The text was often edited but the photos were the same.

The New York Times writes about this in "Renters Get Swindled and Scammed":

"One of the most pervasive scams is a keys-for-cash gambit. Carried out online where almost all rental transactions begin these days, this ploy separates would-be renters from their money before they so much as set foot inside a dwelling. In this scheme, information and pictures from legitimate rental or sales listings are lifted from other sites and reposted under another name at an eye-poppingly low rent.

"Web sites like Craigslist warn of fraud in very large letters, but in the desperate search for an apartment, many otherwise reasonable people overlook the caveats."

[snip]

“Sometimes,” said Mr. Malin of Citi Habitats, “you meet someone at a building and they say they’re having trouble getting into the apartment that was in the listing, so they show you something else in the building and they get you all excited about the one you can’t get into, and ask you for cash on the spot without even a credit check or application.”

[snip]

"One of the most widespread and frequently undetected hustles nvolves collecting nonrefundable application fees from prospective renters.

"The grifters “have the keys to a vacant apartment and hold an open house there, not intending to rent to anyone,” said Bob Brooks, an agent at Century 21 NY Metro. “It’s usually a crazy deal, like a one-bedroom on Greenwich Street for $1,750 that should really be $3,100. So they get a hundred application fees because everyone who sees it, wants it. Application fees could be $50 to $250, but I’ve definitely heard of clients giving $500, or $1,000 or even a month’s rent in cash.”

"Many would-be renters never know that they have been deceived.

[snip]

"“Over the last couple of years, we’ve had a steady drumbeat of complaints from people who’ve been victimized and lost money, as well as from some who sniff it out in time and want to report it,” said Paul Bresson, a spokesman for the F.B.I., which runs the Internet Crime Complaint Center (http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx) jointly with the National White Collar Crime Center."

If you see something fishy on Craigslist, you can flag it. Many of these apartment ads do not stay up for more than a few hours before they're reported but that may be all it takes to get a few suckers.

Beware of giving out your social security number to anyone. You must see the apartment first, no matter HOW nice it appears. You have no idea if the train runs through the living room or if it's saturated in cat urine. (And trust me, train noise in Flagstaff can be a BIG problem, so you DO want to know about location.)

Here's some examples of SCAM Flagstaff apartments ads I saw (screenshots from Craigslist). Notice how beautiful (and cheap) they are??

click to enlarge

Flagstaff apartment inventory is not full of brand new, huge, cheap apartments, as these ads would have you believe. If you DO rent something new and/or remodeled, it's going to cost a LOT more than the ads above.

Here's a list I put together of resources to find an apartment in Flagstaff. I condensed it from notes gathered over weeks. I haven't seen any other site quite like this that lists all the Flagstaff apartments in one spot so wanted to post this and help others who are relocating to Flagstaff.

Flagstaff apartment resources:

• Craigslist Flagstaff apartments for rent.
  
  
• The Arizona Daily Sun classified Flagstaff apartments for rent.
  
  
• Flagstaff-apartments.com -- these are 8 properties in Flagstaff owned by the same property manager. The lady speaking in each video is annoying so you might want to mute your volume before you visit this site. The pictures, however, are useful.
  
  
• Flaglips.com -- These are all properties owned by Levitan Investment Properties (you can tell they have a sense of humor from the abbreviation "lips" ha). Most of these are in the desireable West side of downtown and seem ideal for students.
  
  
• Pollack Properties - a local real estate place that lists private rentals. (This link takes you directly there.)
  
  
• Sun Mountain Properties - same as above.
  
  
• Dallas Real Estate - same as above two -- click on "Our Rentals" and scroll to long-term (those are cheaper). (Unless you want something just for the summer.)
  
  
• Apartments for rent in Flagstaff - It was hard to find one place that listed all the actual apartment complexes, but this one comes close (it's ApartmentRatings.com). It has 39 listings and also includes reviews. Here's another link w/similar info from ApartmentReviews.com if you want to compare reviews of what people said about apartments in Flagstaff.)
  
  
• Flagstaff info on CityData.com (scroll past the photos for demographics).
  
  
• Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce relocation guide - You have to call to order the hard-copy version of this and it costs $15. Includes things to do in & around Flagstaff, the city's major apartment complexes and a good street map listing stores. (But you may not need it because I'm including much of this info here on my list.)
  
  
• Flagstaff street map
  
  
• Flagstaff calendar of events (it might take some time to load but you can scroll right to what's happening by date.) Includes what's going on in the area, as well as neat things to do & explore while here.

Flagstaff is broken up into an east side (near the mall) and a west side (near all the shops, restaurants and NAU).

The Flagstaff population is pretty small -- about 60,000 -- so traveling from one side to the other is no big deal but locals often say they almost never travel to the opposite side. Traffic down South Milton is unpleasant in the summer but nowhere near as bad as what I've seen back home in DC. (Depending on where you're coming from, this statement will either scare you or comfort you!)

If you're moving to Flagstaff, try to avoid the region around Blackbird Roost and 4th Avenue. Those are the ones that seem to appear in the police blotter for minor theft (things missing from porches, etc.). Crime in Flagstaff doesn't appear to be huge. It seems safer than other cities, but this area does attract some vagrants and I was told the city is now trying to police the woods & FUTS (Flagstaff Urban Trail System) to make sure no one sets up camp illegally. Another thing I didn't expect about Flagstaff was the very laid-back hippie-type of population. It's a fun town for sure.

I hope this was useful. Enjoy your move to Flagstaff!

-- "R" sounding like "L" (and do you say "purse" or "pocketbook"?)

Well, I'm still glued to blip.fm. And here's something I noticed when listening to "Ringa Ringa Ringa" from the Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack:

When I first heard this, I thought they were saying "Rlinga Rlinga Rlinga" -- it wasn't until I glanced at the name on the CD that I realized otherwise.

Listen to the audio clip and let me know what you think. It does sound like "rlinga rlinga rlinga" does it not?

Then I wondered, could this be evidence of the R in an intermediary state as it moves from Europe towards Asia, where R's often sound like L's?
Language is fascinating to me. I took a linguistics class once and the professor said you could tell where someone was from in the U.S. based on what words they used, like (among others):

• purse vs. pocketbook
• sub vs. hoagie
• water ice vs. slurpee
• bucket vs. pail
• soda vs. pop

Which do you prefer? Next post I'll try to list what this says about where you're from.

-- kitty litter cake!

I have been talking about making a kitty litter cake ever since I heard about it. Yesterday I finally did. Here's how:

Ingredients & Prep
1. cake mix
Anything you want, since you're covering it with "cat litter" anyway. Ignore recipes that say to use a particular brand or type of cake.

I chose Duncan Hines dark chocolate. Before starting, I looked up instant cake mixes online and found Duncan Hines to be almost universally touted on baking forums. Just about everyone agreed that Pillsbury and Betty Crocker were not as good. Interesting. I'll have to evaluate for myself one day but for now I went with the popular vote.

Make the cake according to directions. While it's cooking, make the pudding.

2. instant pudding
I chose cookies & cream for the pale yet grainy grayish texture. It was perfect. Other recipes say you can use vanilla. I used lactose-free milk, whipped it up and refrigerated until needed.

3. Vanilla creme sandwich cookies (1 package)
Crumble cookies into a bowl and crush until they form a rough sandy texture.

Some recipes say to add green food coloring but I found it annoying and unnecessary, dyeing my fingers and not mixing well. If I'd used vanilla pudding, maybe it would have been more important to use the food coloring.

4. Tootsie rolls
The larger kind, if you can help it, not the tiny Halloween-sized kind. But if you only have those, we can make do. These will be shaped later!

5. Litter box and scoop
It goes without saying that this should be BRAND NEW. And even then, washed well. I bought cake pans in the same store as the litter box tray and scoop so I could size them.

Transformation into kitty litter cake

Ok, so you've got your cakes all done, cookies crumbled and pudding ready. Time to assemble.

Delicately flip the cooled cake into the kitty litter pan and glorp on the pudding. It can fill the cracks and spaces around the cake if necessary.Sprinkle the top with crushed cookies and gently use your fingers to blend into the pudding mix until you like what you see.

Turd creation as an art form
And now for the tootsie rolls! Every recipe says to microwave them but that didn't work so well for us. What DID work was twisting 2-4 tootsie rolls into one conglomerate mass while simultaneously spiraling and mashing them. They soften up from the warmth of your hands and the resulting ridges look quite life-like. Pinch off the edges and place artfully into pan, curving a few here and there.

Dan holding a tootsie roll.

And a new form of artistic expression is born!

The finished product: A kitty litter cake is born!

You can serve the kitty litter cake on newspaper for added effect.

If you don't let the kitty litter cake cool enough, it will cause the tootsie rolls to run.

Also, when displaying, don't sandwich the tray in between two dinner dishes. It isn't always clear that this is a dessert. Someone at last night's party thought it was some kind of exotic dish with overcooked lentils and bulgur and ended up eating the whole glorpy mess mashed together with lasagna and tortellini. Not exactly appetizing. (sarcastic note to self: like it ever was in the first place?)

I also made a jello brain mold. Note -- if you ever make one of these, add two packages of knox gelatin to harden it sufficiently, otherwise it will look like splattered brains rather than just a plain cerebrum. Oh and spray oil on the inside of the mold beforehand, it makes getting the brains out much easier (it also helps to soak it in hot water for a few seconds until the sides pull away more easily).

Happy Halloween! Coming tomorrow: pix from our Halloween party!