Captain's Log, Stardate 01.13.2009 Here’s another link sent to me by Captain Caffeine. This kind of made me sick. http://www.bikeforums.net/video/1.mov It’s only a few seconds long, which is exactly how long it takes to unlock a bike lock with a BIC pen. Yes, a BIC pen. And did you know that those “guaranteed” locks will only refund your money for the cost of the lock (and the bike, in some cases) if you can ship to them the broken pieces of the lock? So what happens if the thief OPENS THE LOCK WITH A PEN IN HIS POCKET??? Captain Caffeine is researching locks to buy so I can ride my new bike—actually, not new, but new for me. He bought me a really nice mountain bike from Goodwill for $25. Isn’t that a great deal?

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.12.2009 Just read this great article on the New York Times online: The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating Go ahead and read it, it’s not long. I’ll wait here until you come back. I have to say, I’m very heartened by some of the foods on the list. I already eat some of them, although some I don’t like. For instance, I really don’t care for beets. I mean, really. They’re up there with turnips for me. Just not tasty. Cabbage and Swiss chard, on the other hand, I eat a lot thanks to the organic co-op we belong to. Our weekly veggie baskets usually have one or the other or both almost the entire year. Cabbage I love to chop thinly and stir into soups. It adds body to the soup and the cooking gets rid of the more harsh odor of the raw deal. As a kid, we had them mixed with mayo and a little soy sauce in an Asian-style slaw, but I didn’t care for it too much. (I know it sounds weird, but I grew up with stuff like that.) Swiss chard is great for those sauté pasta sa...

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.12.2009 Kiss by Ted Dekker and Erin Healy Let me tell you all I know for sure. My name. Shauna. I woke up in a hospital bed missing six months of my memory. In the room was my loving boyfriend-how could I have forgotten him?-my uncle and my abusive stepmother. Everyone blames me for the tragic car accident that left me near death and my dear brother brain damaged. But what they say can't be true-can it? I believe the medicine is doing strange things to my memory. I'm unsure who I can trust and who I should run from. And I'm starting to remember things I've never known. Things not about me. I think I'm going crazy. And even worse, I think they want to kill me. But who? And for what? Is dying for the truth really better than living with a lie? Sometimes dying with the truth is better than living with a lie. After a car accident puts Shauna McAllister in a coma and wipes out six months of her memory, she returns to her ch...

Today's Wild Card author is: Tiffany L. Warren and the book: The Bishop's Daughter Grand Central Publishing (January 9, 2009) Darrin Bainbridge is your typical playboy in need of love, but not yet ready. He is a freelance journalist trying to break his big story. After a visit from his mother, Darrin gets an idea. He has heard all kinds of stories about "Hollywood" ministers who hold their church services on television, live in nice houses, drive nice cars, and have lots of money and women. Darrin is disgusted by it all especially when his mother Priscilla starts shouting praises for Atlanta Bishop Kumal Prentiss. Darrin decides to go to Atlanta, become a member of the bishop's church, and expose him for the hustling fraud that he believes he is. He just never planned on falling in love with the Bishop's daughter. Darrin suddenly finds himself torn between his new found friend and his possible big break. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tiffany L. Warren is a technology ...

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.09.2009 I just finished the book Mindless Eating by food psychologist Brian Wansink and it was fascinating, although I can't say I think everyone would find it so. The book is written by a food researcher, so he goes into a lot of the experiments he did to show human psychology as it relates to our eating habits. For example, he proved through his experiments that we are more likely to eat by responding to visual cues than to taste or how our stomachs feel. Here's an experiment that I thought was cool: He had people separated into two groups, and brought each person into the lab under the pretense of giving feedback on a video. In return for the feedback, that person could have as many M&Ms as they wanted. One group had a bowl of something like 7 colors of M&Ms. The other group had a bowl of 11 colors. Now, M&Ms taste the same regardless of color, so you'd think the average amount of M&Ms eaten would be the same in the two gr...

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Perfect Match (Tyndale House January 1, 2009) by Susan May Warren ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Susan grew up in Wayzata, a suburb of Minneapolis, and became an avid camper from an early age. Her favorite fir-lined spot is the north shore of Minnesota is where she met her husband, honeymooned and dreamed of living. The north woods easily became the foundation for her first series, The Deep Haven series, based on a little tourist town along the shores of Lake Superior. Her first full-length book, Happily Ever After, became a Christy Award Finalist published in 2004 with Tyndale/Heartquest. As an award winning author, Susan returned home in 2004, to her native Minnesota after serving for eight years with her husband and four children as missionaries with SEND International in Far East Russia. She now writes full time from Minnesota's north woods and the beautiful town that she always dreamed of living in. Y...

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.07.2009 I got this link from SHRLZI over at SparkPeople.com, in the Knitters forum. If you’re a Buffy, Angel, or Firefly fan, you’ll love this. And if you’re a knitter or crocheter, you HAVE to read this! Joss Whedon on Crafts and Craftiness: Interview Transcript You can listen to the phone interview here I have to admit I never saw Dr. Horrible. I liked the first 3 seasons of Buffy, but then it got a bit boring and I stopped watching. I haven’t seen Angel yet, either. But I LOVE LOVE LOVE Firefly. Serenity was good except for TERRIBLE ENDING! SHEESH! Anybody else a fan of Joss Whedon’s stuff?