So my roommate and I have a full slate on our livingroom DVR. We are total Bravoholics, from Real Housewives to Flipping Out to Make Me A Supermodel – we watch them all. We also seem to have a very strange penchant for crime shows like CSI (NY, Miami and Las Vegas), Numb3rs (not really so much), and Criminal Minds. I think our favorite of the crime shows is Criminal Minds. We start watching on Friday night on A&E and don’t finish watching until sometime Sunday night. Totally hooked. Like we were totally devastated when Garcia got shot. Like she’s part of our family, too.

The other night we were watching an episode and found ourselves wondering if some of the crimes depicted actually happen. Then we thought, “Oh hell, even if they don’t actually happen, who the hell in their right minds thinks this crap up??” We sit for the hour yelling at the characters to not go in that room because the bad guy is in there or don’t turn around because the bad guy is right behind you. I should find a tape recorder for when we watch tv. We’re even worse when watching The Vampire Diaries. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re a smoker like me, on more than one occasion you’ve seriously considered quitting smoking. And, on just as many occasions you’ve actually tried to quit. Almost all of us understand the health risks of smoking, and actually care about what smoking does to our bodies and those around us. In terms of finances, we get how much we spend on our habit and if we were to look at  a pie chart showing how much we spend on tobacco products compared to food or clothing, we would hang our heads in shame.

Because my work is done in front of a computer all day, and I’m in my own home, I go through just about a pack of cigarettes a day. Maybe about 5 of them actually get smoked. It’s a physical and psychological habit that I don’t know if I can break. I have no trouble going to a movie and sitting for a few hours without a smoke. I can sit in an office and survive without a smoke until a break or lunch. But at home, at my computer, I have no control over myself.

With that said: I was in my bedroom this afternoon, a room in which I don’t smoke, and turned on the tv. There was a commercial for Chantix on and they were singing their own praises that 44% of their users quit smoking within 9 to 12 weeks. Sounds pretty good. Makes it sound like it’s not all cold-turkey and total dt’s, right? So the commercial then goes into the risks and side effects of using Chantix. Um, I think I’d rather keep smoking…     Read the rest of this entry »

More and more everyday we, as a society, are always looking for the quickest and easiest way to spread information. Right now, as you’re reading, I’m spreading information about a woman who is being harassed because she tweeted about her son’s death.

There are many things about this story that I don’t like. There are two issues here. Whether or not an accident could have been prevented and whether or not it was appropriate that a mother should choose to share her tragedy on Twitter. That she left the checking on a two-year-old to an 11-year-old instead of checking herself, not ensuring that a pool enclosure wasn’t secured herself…but when it comes to pools I’ve found that no matter what a parent does, accidents will happen. I cannot judge the pool incident because I wasn’t there, and accidents will happen no matter how much care and security and intuitiveness a parent has.

I can however offer an opinion on the mother tweeting about her son falling in the pool and, sadly, passing away.     Read the rest of this entry »

Carmen Huertas got smashed at a birthday party, filled the car up with kids, and had a deadly accident on NY’s Henry Hudson Parkway. And now the city is worried that she might commit suicide. Really?

In October, Carmen Huertas attended a birthday party with her family, including an 18-month old. After the party, Huertas was going to bring a group of girls, including her own daughter, back to her home for a slumber party. Interestingly enough, when it was time to leave, Huertas collected the children, including the toddler, but her “worried” husband decided to keep the baby with him.  Eight children piled into a station wagon with a woman whose blood alcohol content was off the charts. And the other party-goers knew it! Read the rest of this entry »