footie frenzy

in the midst of the world cup going on in south africa, i thought now would be a great time to post the various reasons why i love football so much.  [note:  in this post, i will refer to soccer as football, since that is what the rest of the world calls it]. 

1) it is a sport you can literally watch year-around.  each country has it's own league (including the MLS here in the states), with some playing during different parts of the year.  the european leagues play september thru may.  while the MLS plays during the spring and summer.  between the various leagues and all the international matches (many of which are play-offs for the world cup), it's hard to go a couple weeks without an important game or two going on.  it's great to be addicted to this sport.  you don't have time to suffer from withdrawal.

2) it's not called "the beautiful game" for no reason.  when you watch games from the premiere league (the english league), la liga (the spanish league) or serie a (the italian league), there's an artful flow to the game that doesn't happen in most other sports.  due in part because there are no time-outs.  the development of "total football" in the 1970s by the dutch added to the flow because all the players on the pitch became interchangeable.  teams like arsenal in the premiere league and barcelona in la liga also have a history of playing in a manner considered "beautiful".  long, arching passes combined with excellent ball control add to the art form.  many of the world's best players tend to play in these three leagues, making them the best ones to watch.

3) it truly is a team sport.  yes, there are superstars within football.  current players like ronaldo, wayne rooney, didier drogba and lionel messi definitely take their teams to the next level.  but it's really rare for a team to rise and fall simply on the ability of one player.  although maradona and pele are exceptions to that.

4) the sport is a reflection of the cultures in which it's played.   read the book "how soccer explains the world" by franklin foer to get a good picture of what i mean.  it really is an international sport, which is why the world cup deserves to be called the world cup.  unlike baseball's championship, that for some reason is called the world series...where only teams from the u.s. and canada are able to compete.

those are a few reasons why i enjoy football.  i hope you take advantage of the coverage of the world cup on espn and abc to watch some games, and begin to understand why the rest of the planet is so passionate about it.

We Are Nashville?

Thx Jay for this great commentary: the character of a city is not found in how it responds to a disaster in the first week, but rather what it is doing in week 6 and 7. http://bit.ly/cfKJt8

if only my high school graduation were this epic

yesterday (june 7, 2010) president barack obama spoke at my high school's commencement ceremony.  to be honest, the only real memory i have of my high school graduation is when my friend jim and i dunked our heads in the fountain outside of the auditorium afterwards.  i think the students who graduated from kalamazoo central high school this year will remember more.

göt2b® Smooth Operator Campaign

Hi again!  This time I'm here to tell you about a hair product that I'm really looking forward to trying.  It's called Smooth Operator Lustre Lotion and it's by a company called göt2b®.

I've always had pretty manageable hair except for the flyaways! Maybe call them wispies or baby hair, but I've often had them stick straight up which doesn't help for my personal or professional image!

I also like to have my hair lay smooth since its on the thick side and the ends can sometimes have a mind of their own.

The makers of Smooth Operator smoothing lustre lotion have this to say:

"göt2b® smooth operator smoothing lustre lotion shapes, smoothes, controls fly-aways and gives your hair an amazing weightless lustre that's touchably soft. Plus it protects against damage from heat styling and contains a UV protectant, too."

 Here are the facts:

• Recently reformulated with an indulgent cashmere infusion
• Protects against heat damage from our favorite heat styling tools and contains a UV protectant
• Comes in a sleek and modern 6.8 oz dispenser with a newly improved pump and unique charm
• Perfected for use on all hair types, wet or dry
• Features a luxurious fragrance fit for a goddess
• Available at grocery and drug stores (including Walgreens, CVS and Rite-Aid)
• Suggested retail price of $5.99
• Part of a full line of göt2b® smooth operator products
• To apply, pump the lotion into your hand and distribute it evenly through towel-dried or dry hair and style away

I look forward to taming my hair with the göt2b® Smooth Operator Lustre Lotion! If you would like to try it, let me know. I have some free samples and coupons!

Amish Friendship Bread

So in my attempt to be like my foodie friends who take amazing photos of their culinary creations, here is my latest. We were given a starter of an Amish Friendship bread mix. I remember hearing about it many times but didn't have the patience or the ingredients or enough pans to actually make it.  The entire process takes 10 days and this was our second round of making it.  We ate the first loaf and gave away the other two.  This time we kept the entire (larger) loaf for ourselves. Yum!

More about the Blast Collection!

All together now
Want to get the full Blast effect? Use the entire Blast Collection to get amazing vibrant and dramatic looks:
    1.    Apply base color with Smoky ShadowBlast
    2.    Highlight crease and lashlines with Smoky ShadowBlast
    3.    Lengthen lash look with LashBlast Length Mascara
    4.    Define and shine lips with ShineBlast Lip Gloss


Check out this great video courtesy of our friends at BzzAgent:




I'm still trying this product out. I need to tweek the application instructions just a tad for my asian eyes. But here's what it looks like so far: