Juicy Writing

Though Brigid Lowry's Juicy Writing is aimed at younger writers, given its playful personality and categorization in the Young Adult section of the library, it is nonetheless a fun read. The aim of guiding and encouraging people, particularly those who may be just beginning to take an interest in writing, makes it all the more accessible and friendly. It is not aimed for 'established' writers who have honed their craft -- no, this is kind of like Writing 101. It touches on the basic particles of speech (not too deeply, it only really goes into nouns, verbs, and adjectives, if I recall) and explains the importance of story elements like setting, character, and conflict, but it also gives lots of personal anecdotes that show "even for a published writer like myself, it's not exactly an easy road, so don't be discouraged". It's like a big book of writing advice. And, after each element touched on, there are some writing exercises based on what was discussed and/or the examples given in the book to start the reader off on thinking and writing, should they desire. (I skimmed through the exercises, personally more concerned with reading the book).

No matter what your level of skill or interest in writing, if there is any of either, at all, this is a fun way to entertain that.

Marukawa Fusen Bubble Gum

This Japanese gum comes in little cardboard boxes. Inside are four relatively soft gumballs -- there IS a 'shell' but it's more like the gum's been firmed up a bit than covered by a hard shell.

The flavors I've seen are Orange, Strawberry, Melon, and Grape, though the Internet tells me there are others. These flavors come across as their respective fruits at their sweetest -- they aren't overly artificial. For example, the Orange flavor tastes like you're chewing a segment of orange...which is great authenticity-wise (I, personally, am not overly fond of oranges).

If you simply want something to chew on, one ball will suffice. It might feel like a little less gum than you are used to, but it's chewable. Two will be a little over what you're used to.

However, if you want to use it as bubble gum, I suggest using all four balls at once. It may sound like a lot, but with any less the gum is too thin to stretch properly for bubble-blowing.

Three Bedrooms in Chelsea

I recently read Three Bedrooms in Chelsea by Liz Ireland. The book starts off a bit awkwardly, with the main character, Edie, coming off as whiny as her boyfriend of four months is sent off on a journalism assignment to Uzbekistan. Edie, an actress with a severe deficiency in the work department, can't keep the rent up herself; so, when the for-rent stipend given to her by her boyfriend wears off, she makes a decision her friends see as radical, especially in as unpredictable a town as New York City: she decides to get a roommate.

Edie gets more than she bargains for, even after trying to screen through all the potentials. She ends up with not one, but two, roomates: Greta, a German immersed in the hard-partying nightlife, and Danielle, a provincially innocent Texan with a triple-digit allowance from her father.

The book goes through these three women's trials and tribulations in the city -- Edie dealing with her friend's blossoming acting career and her noticeable lack thereof, Danielle getting accustomed to the big city and that thousand-dollar shopping sprees don't agree with someone starting off on their own, and Greta pondering a major lifestyle change.

There's a fair amount of catfights, especially towards the end when Romance Interests are present, but the moment when the three women stop tolerating each other and start getting a little friendlier is surprisingly sudden and quick. I remember distinctly noting how ridiculously quick the turnaround was.

I guess this counts as 'chick lit' because it follows the affairs (love, work, and otherwise) of three women who didn't know each other from a hole in the wall and become, though incredibly different, friends by the end of the book  -- the ending, if you couldn't guess, is one of those everything went to hell during the story but then there's the feel-good ending where a brighter day seems to be coming things.

Overall, it was a fun read.

Morinaga Hi-Chew

The chews start out rather firm, which may contribute to the fact that they are a supple sort of chewy. Kind of like gum that doesn't get too too mushy -- though, of course, less stretchy, since this is intended to be consumed rather than just chewed.

The colors of the chews differ from flavor to flavor. Often, they are pale and dual-colored. For example, the strawberry flavor is white on the edges with a pink middle, and that of the peach is white around...well...a peach color.


The flavor of the chew is light but strong. Quite sweet, but not the overly candy sweet. It's like the natural fruit-sweet noticeably, but not drastically, amplified.

They come in flavors other than strawberry and peach, including mango and melon. (The picture is mango.)

New York Support

'Twas a good day for New York baseball. As it so happens, interleague play has the Yankees at the Braves and the Mets at the Rays. Both of these teams are the mainstay of competition for first place at the moment.

So, to have the Mets give an absolute blowout of a game and bring 11 runs in, despite their outfielders having a few mishaps with tracking the ball under the Tropicana dome, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 11-2, is quite a welcome advantage for the Yankees.

Had they stayed at the score they had going into the eighth, this would have at least kept the Yanks even with Tampa for first. But, in that inning, a strong rally brought six runs in -- enough for the Yankees to win in the end over the Braves, 6-4.

It's safe to say New York baseball fans are happy tonight.

Mets and Nats Errorfest

I think the announcers actually called it "a delightful mess of a game." It was one of those where one team (the away team, the Mets) would get a run -- looked like they'd win. Then, a million errors in the bottom of the inning would bring the home team (the Nationals) up to a tie.

Rinse and repeat for three innings.

I'm not even joking, the amount of errors in the 9 - 12 innings were like...ridiculous.

When you have announcers going "WHAT IS HE DOING?!" and just absolutely bewildered/flabbergasted by the game...

After a lot of botched throws and catcher fails and whatnot, the painfully entertaining game ended with the bases loaded and almost, almost walked the last run in, but there was a base hit instead and so the Nationals won 7-6.

I only started watching because I heard outraged screaming from watchers at the beginning of the errorfest.

And just when the Mets got their first no-hitter in history...second place going against first place, supposedly these are the best teams in the NL East, and we get this. I know it happens, but it feels ridiculous when it does.

Kasugai Gummies

Japanese gummies are typical anime convention fare. They're little, individual wrapped, quarter-sized gummies made with various flavors. Depending on the flavor, I've seen them as both circle and heart-shaped. The gummies are firm, so when you bite down on them it's notably thicker than jello, but they're smooth, too, so if you don't bite down immediately they'll slide around in your mouth. They're surprisingly heavy for their small size; I think I just ate two servings (6 of these things) and it feels like a gummy brick is in my stomach. (You'd think I'd know better by now.)

They come in a lot of flavors; I haven't had the chance to try every flavor out there, but I have had a good number, like melon, grape, muscat grape (yes these are two different flavors), strawberry, and apple. I've even seen a ramune flavored one! I tasted it and thought I tasted a tang like a soda (ramune is a carbonated beverage known for being served in bottles stoppered with marbles), but thinking about it now, the tang was probably a soft hint of the lemon-lime flavor that is the "original" ramune soda flavor.

The intensity of flavor differs depending on which type you're having, and the feeling of the "natural" or "candy" version of said flavors differ as well. For example, the strawberry gummies are light and candylike, while the apple gummies are extremely intense in their flavor and taste like an incredibly potent apple cider.