Tic Tac Pie

Try bringing this to your next pot luck:

Tic Tac Pie

1 ready-made graham or oreo pie crust
2 8-oz packages of cream cheese
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
6 boxes of Tic Tacs (your favorite flavor) with a few reserved for garnish

Preheat oven to 350. Beat cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla, until smooth. Add five boxes of tic tacs and mix lightly. Pour into crust. Bake 25 minutes or until until firm. Remove from oven. Garnish with reserved Tic Tacs.

God no.

No new fashion worth its salt is ever wearable. - Eugenia Shepard.

Eugenia is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,000 species occur in the New World tropics, especially in the northern Andes, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Forest (coastal forests) of eastern Brazil. Other centers of diversity include New Caledonia and Madagascar. Many species new to science have been and are in the process of being described from these regions. For example, 37 new species of Eugenia have been described from MesoAmerica in the past few years. At least 20 new species are currently in the process of being described from New Caledonia, and approximately the same number of species new to science may occur in Madagascar.



Ironically, despite the enormous ecological importance of the myrtle family in Australia (e.g. Eucalpytus, Corymbia, Angophora, Melaleuca, Callistemon, Rhodamnia, Gossia), only one species of Eugenia (E. reinwardtiana) occurs on that continent. The genus also is represented in Africa south of the Sahara, but it is relatively species-poor on that continent. In the past some botanists included the morphologically similar Old World genus Syzygium in Eugenia, but research by Rudolf Schmid in the early 1970s convinced most botanists that the genera are easily separable. Research by van Wyk and colleagues in South Africa suggests the genus may be comprised of at least two major lineages, recognizable by anatomical and other features. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Eugenia is the fact that, if carefully pruned, one can horrify one's neighbors by doing this:

Are these hose too dark for this outfit?

Dan sent me this picture today, with the caption reading: "It's like looking into your future!" I can't imagine a more horrifying way to start a Wednesday morning.



This picture is wrong on so many levels. First, the lingerie thing. Honey, I'm always up for a good drag show, and if some 'mo wants to put on a dress and work it out, then I'm in total support of that (hell, I might even join him). But the lingerie thing coupled with sexual activity is an immediate and total turn-off for me. I was on vacation in Saugatuck last year, and found myself enjoying the activities in the dark, secluded grove of trees to which Peter charmingly referred as "the dirty touching place". It was pitch black, and I was unable to see my hand in front of my face. I reached up to touch the dude who was standing in front of me (normal touch at that point, not a "dirty touch"), and noticed that he was wearing a bra. I was out of there in a flash. Few things eek me out, but that, my dears, is one of them.

The second disturbing aspect of this image is the obvious involvement of plastic inflatable farm animals in this man's sexual congress. Getting down with Miss Piggy doesn't do much for me, but to each his own. I don't imagine that the other residents of the nursing home enjoy this kind of kinky play, particularly when it occurs in the T.V. room during Wheel of Fortune. I bet he's asked to take it back to his room with relative frequency.

The third issue here is one that is easily eclipsed by the lingerie and the blow-up toys, but still an important one. I'm talking about the gold chain bracelet on his left wrist. I am of the opinion that jewelry on men should adhere strictly to the "less is more" policy. The occasional wearing of a tasteful pendant is the only thing that should be added to the "one ring and one watch" rule, unless one is a 20-something indie rocker. (This rule does not, of course, apply to c-rings, which have a legitimate functional application, or piercing-related adornments, which often are difficult to remove.) When I see a man wearing a chain bracelet, I'm reminded of tragic disco dudes who have never moved past the outfit that was de rigeur at the Regal Beagle.

I do appreciate the fact that this man has placed a towel over the sofa, however.