How Unique Are You?

My full name (with my maiden name):

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 176 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

My new full name (married name):

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 49 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I guess I'm more unique (and less chance of being mistaken) now that I'm married :)

Modern Mediocore Chocolate at Inflated Prices

I recently was made aware of a chocolate maker called Noka They have a very minimalist, sleek, and modern appeal to them. Their packaging is exactly what would appeal to the urban, minimalist.



I came across an article which does an in-depth review of Noka chocolate. Noka is sold at premium stores such as Dean & Deluca and Neiman Marcus. This chocolate, on average, goes for $300/lb. Yes, there really are 3 digits to the left of the decimal point. In France you can expect to see chocolates for $100/lb but $300?! Damn, that had better be some really good chocolate to warrant that kind of price tag.

It turns out that Noka is a chocolate which has basically been re-branded (from a company called Bonnat). Noka is a company which repackages chocolate made by another company and they charge a 1300% markup. O.o While the chocolate is decent, it is no where worth that much money (particularly since you can buy the chocolate directly from Bonnat). Noka is the most expensive chocolate that you can buy but I'd rather save my money and buy chocolate from Vosges or Amedei instead. At least those companies are actual chocolatiers and make their own truffles, etc. instead of simply taking the chocolate and melting them down into another mold.

Noka is very cool to look at but I'll take a bar of some other chocolate (by a chocolatier who actually makes their confections) any day.

It's Christmas Charlie Brown

Urban Outfitters is selling a replica of the sad Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It's so sad .. but really cute. We aren't going to have a Christmas tree this year but, if we did get one, this is the one I'd get. ^_^

We Have a New Bond

I saw Casino Royale last night, finally, and I really enjoyed the movie. It was a really long movie but had a lot of good scenes and the script was well written. I'm not a Bond fan by any means but I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It definitely surpassed my expectations.

I joined in with the masses when we all groaned upon hearing Daniel Craig would be the famous 007. He doesn't seem handsome enough to follow in Pierce Brosnan's footsteps. I should actually say that statement past tense. After seeing Daniel Craig's performance I was very impressed. He has a certain charm that grows on you and he portrayed Bond very well. He is in very good shape; his body was really buff! The stunts he did in Bond took my breath away and there were scenes where you could see just how hard his (ample) muscles were straining. O.o

All and all, it was a good evening and I'll rent/buy the movie when it comes out.

Start them Young

We've all had to worry about children who misbehave. Sometimes you just grin and bear it (and administer a bit of discipline.) How do you deal with children who lie? Better yet, how do you deal with parents who lie because their parents taught them to lie. O.o Yes, you heard right. I had the misfortune of finding that my cousin has been taught to lie by the parents. *ouch* Is it any wonder that children these days are much worse off then we were as a kid? When we grew up our parents had values and morales and always taught us to do the right thing. Somewhere along the lines todays parents forgot these lessons, and instead, do a 180 and teach their kids all the things that we were told never to do.

Well, now that I know kids these days are so terribly misbehaved, I'll just need to remember to never volunteer to babysit these kids.

Breakfast of Champions

This is what I had for breakfast today:

See's Candy and Milo (kind of like a malty hot chocolate)

Tis the Season

It's holiday time! I've been busy trying to figure out how to do x-mas shopping with the hectic workload ... how do busy people do it?

I've also gotten into the holiday decorating mode this year so I want to add some x-mas decorations around the house ... My mission: find a wreath to hang on the front door. I don't feel like going through all of the hassle of a tree this year but maybe next year :)