Liquids

I’ve made a number of observations on liquids of the consumption variety in the past few days that I’d like to share.

Automatic Water Fountains.

In theory, they sound like a fantastic idea. Who hasn’t struggled to twist off the cap of a water bottle while drinking water at the same time. The reality of these concoctions though, is a bit of a nightmare. Imagine placing your face tentatively near the spigot. Nothing comes out. Leaning forward a little more, you pray (mentally) that something comes out- and something does. ALL OVER YOUR FACE. To add to it, your professor is walking down the hallway as you emerge, soaking wet, to greet him. He smiles with a puzzling look, wondering why you decided to take a shower in the middle of the Elliott School. Okay, the last part didn’t happen, but I’m just trying to say…I prefer the buttons on my water fountains, thank you. The germs factor can sit on a back burner.

Cranberry Juice

A lot of people say that this is good for you. True, in its original form, 100% Cranberry Juice is probably rich in antioxidants, plentiful in vitamins, and tart as crap. Enter Ocean Spray. I glanced at my bottle today, and the first thing I see, “Ocean Spray Light Cranberry” and then in size 2 font, “Juice Cocktail from Concentrate, sweetened with Splenda.” Well if that’s not enough of a turn off, I flip to the other side. “Contains 27% Fruit Juice.” I have to ask it, Ocean Spray- where do you come up with the magical 27? Is this some margin whereby containing 26% makes it not… “juice”? To add to the indignity of it all, I finish off with the ingredients.

Ingredients: Filtered water, Cranberry Juice from Concentrate, Fructose, Pectin, Natural Flavors, Sodium Citrate, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose (Splenda Brand).

Let's break this down. 1. There is more filtered water than juice from concentrate in my Ocean Spray. And while it's "Light", there is still fructose in this (15 grams of it actually- that's 15 paper clips of disgusting) and yet Ocean Spray decides to further insult me by putting Splenda last on their ingredients. Is it to enrich, perhaps, all the other artificial things in this bottle of wholesome goodness? If someone can tell me where to get just CRANBERRY JUICE (I'm okay with tart) without shelling out a fortune, it'd be much appreciated. I know that most juices of this type (Ocean Spray, Juicy Juice, Motts, etc.) are all similar and I should just not buy them, but this incident also led me to two thoughts:

1. Why the heck would anyone feed their child this? I am now thanking my parents for all the water I was served as a kid instead of this...Capri Sun...Kool-Aid...all that awesome stuff with cool packaging =[

2. How do companies get away with this!?

Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Instant Coffee

It's supposed to be as good as a regular cup of joe. Or at least, as I read on a few other forums, tastes like a mediocre version of Starbucks blend coffee. Let's break this down. Starbucks coffee= mediocre. So on a scale of 1-10, thats say, a 7? Now mediocre of mediocre...let's just say it's a 5. I purchased a pack of three the other day because the Gelman Starbucks was having a special- buy a pack of VIA, get a grande coffee for free. I figured why not, and tried the packets later. The first thing I noticed is that one packet goes with 8 ounces of coffee. Nobody drinks 8 oz. anymore, especially if you're sitting at a cubicle all day! 2 packets= 16 oz.=a means of making it through the work day. But if this is so, that's about $2 for your uber-mediocre instant coffee. (3 packets is $2.95). I guess if your alternative is passing out at your desk, it's handy. The packaging is kind of cute, after all.

I've 2 other things I wanted to comment on, but I need to get back to work, so I'll save it for another time. Midterm week and of course I fall ill...my timing is impeccable. Toodles!

eprops

I just realized this morning that people have been leaving me comments.

It's like...discovering the hidden cookie stash!

orchestra

If you're around this Sunday, come to my concert.

Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra
performing at Bishop Ireton High School
Sunday, October 14, 2009- 3:00 PM
201 Cambridge Rd
Alexandria, VA 22314-4809


...apparently when I blog about these things it helps boost the orchestra's website rankings or something.

I want to work on music with people. Duets, trios, any sort of chamber music, any instrument within reason (aka there's music written for it out there). Contact me if you're interested, especially if you play piano or a string instrument haha.

WORD.

Despite not having posted anything for close to a month, I have acquired 2 more followers! How exciting...and yet, I have not much to update about. Just kidding. For starters, if you haven't been doing your Facebook stalking lately, I have more furniture and some semblance of a living room! I also have started my "reading corner" complete with a papasan chair and rug; the balcony also has a nice hammock for reading/napping/being lazy. I'm just going to have to put it out there: Craig's List is pretty nuts.
School is okay. But only okay. As I mentioned before, I read a lot. I'm talking averaging about 400 pages a week, on a good week. The people are nice, but it's hard to meet and connect with people when you only have class once a week for two hours. This is where Thursday Night Out comes in- my school's Grad Student Association sponsors this event every Thursday- usually at a bar near GWU. On the last Thursday of every month, they switch it up and have Thursday Night IN! Oh boy, you say. What does this entail? A keg at the Elliott School of International Affairs, and rampant debauchery, of course! ...Or so I hear. I was sadly absent at the last TNI. I feel like I've been going out MORE now that I'm in grad school. Example: I've been to Fishbowl and Fed Hill twice already. This is no small feat if you know me. Actually, I've probably just climbed Mount Everest twice and back. Something is amiss!