Nadia's update on the Fit-lite

The new 24-Hour mini gym is now open in Noe Valley. Nadia has been doing a little investigative reporting. Here's what she has to say,

"I went yesterday, to check it out. The woman at the
entrance told me that since I have access to any club,
I'm allowed to go to a Fit-Lite too. The place
is small! Tiny! On the left, there are four bikes,
then some open space, and I think some ab roll things,
as well as exercise balls. On the right side are all
the weight machines (I didn't see any free
weights). I think she mentioned that they had lockers,
but possibly no showers (I can't remember). You're supposed to
start on the bike for about five to seven minutes and some
buzzer goes off, and you rotate to the next machine. I
hear that Curves is like this too. Anyways, I think
I'm going to take advantage of its location. The
hours are Monday through Friday 6am to 9pm, and Saturday 8am to
5pm (maybe?). No Sundays yet. Man, it's tiny!"

The fur makes me a little crazy

For the umpteenth time in my life, I am coming to terms with the fact that I am a total sci-fi geek. I'm somewhat closeted, which is easy because most people don't expect such a thing of me, but The Revenge of the Sith is really bringing all of my latent geek tendencies to a head.

You've got to see this wookiee picture from the movie. I'm anal about following copyright laws, so go to http://movieweb.com/movies/galleries.php?film=7&id=2108. Click on the fourth photo down in the column of photos on the far right hand side of your browser widow. Now just look at all of them! Tee hee hee. I can barely stand it. It looks like Chewbacca enters the plot as a character in this episode, too. How is that going to tie in? I wonder what the average wookiee lifespan is?

I desperately want to go see the movie this Saturday, but I refuse to deal with grown men in storm trooper costumes. It seems like they should have at least one clearly specified non-Star-Wars-junkie-only show during opening weekend. Then again, would I qualify?

Also, does anyone else find it slightly alarming that the spell-check tool on my laptop identifies "Chewbaca" as an incorrect spelling, but is fine with "Chewbacca." The double 'c' at the end is actually the correct spelling, but it's still weird. Last time I checked, the word wasn't in Webster's.

In case you haven't read it yet

Here's a fairly fascinating look at Tony and Maureen Wheeler, the founders of Lonely Planet, from The New Yorker. I think it gives a good little snapshot of the evolution of travel guidebooks, as well as some of the philosophies and ethical questions that go into creating them. Reading the article made me appreciate how much time and energy we put into making Avalon books bias-free and how much everyone here strives to promote responsible travel.

Product review: Trader Joe's Tandoori Naan

These naan are kept in the freezer section. Don't get them confused with the ones in the bread section next to the pita bread. I think they might be new at TJ's; I only started seeing them last month. So far, they come in plain and garlic.

These frozen naan are a little bit labor intensive. You have to put them in a preheated oven straight from the freezer. Unfortunately, you can't cut corners by heating them in the microwave -- they turn into soggy blobs of goo. The oven work is worth it. While they're not exactly like the naan you get in an Indian restaurant, but they're pretty damn close. They're hot, a little crispy on the outside, and soft and doughy on the inside. They make a fabulous (and very cheap) meal when paired with any of the pre-prepared Indian packet meals also sold at TJ's. I highly recommend both the plain and garlic frozen naan. It's too bad that the oven prep makes them impossible to take to work for a cheap lunch option.

Disgusting and disappointing

Look at these photos that Will has posted on his website. Two formerly normal, girl-shaped celebrities are now distressingly thin. I've never known anyone to care that much about Nichole Ritchie, but Lindsey Lohan is the dream girl of every guy I know. Or at least she was until she started starving herself.

I don't understand how they make their bodies that way. Don't all stars have trainers? What trainer would let you do that to your body?! Ugh. I'm completely disturbed.

Exciting new blog!

Josh Berman, one of my all-time favorite travel writers to work with, just launched a new blog about his upcoming trip around the world. He got married last winter. Now he and his wife, Sutay, are going to take on a nomadic existence for awhile. To me, it doesn't actually seem like a crazy new thing for Josh. He's always emailing from amazing places. But then I spend my days in Emeryville, so almost anywhere seems amazing. In truth, they really will be headed to a lot of exotic places. I know that they're starting off in India. India is the ultimate travel destination, to me. From what I hear, it breaks you or you love it.

Josh co-wrote Moon Handbooks Nicaragua with his Peace Corps buddy Randy Wood. Moon Handbooks Nicaragua is pretty much the bible for travelers headed down there; they did an amazing job writing it and I am so proud that we publish it. The guys are about to start work on a guide to moving to Nicaragua, called Living Abroad in Nicaragua. That is, they'll start it if I ever get the contract in the mail to them.

Josh and Randy have helped me out a ton in getting ready for my little trip. It will be awesome to get back from Nica and be able to follow Josh around the world through his blogging. Be sure to check out his bio.

Everyone else is blogging about Star Wars...

...I might as well jump on the bandwagon. I've heard a lot of people say that The Revenge of the Sith isn't supposed to be very good. We're all sick of George Lucas and his crappy commercial attempts to capitalize on the greatness of the first three films, blah blah blah.

After I saw the last one, I pretty much wrote off The Revenge of the Sith. In my opinion, the only good thing in the last movie was Hayden Christiansen and his only contribution to the film was to add some sweet eye candy. I wasn't even planning to see the coming film in the theater. Until I saw the trailer, that is.

I'm now under the impression that we get to see a lot more wookies in this movie. There are several action scenes with wookies, their fur blowing in the wind, in the ads. Every time I go to the neighborhood Walgreen's, I am mesmerized by the action figures that have been pre-released for the film -- they're all wookie warriors.

If they look anything like this, the movie will be worth my $10.



I bet they'll be way better.

Jeff, if you read this don't hyperventilate

Though I consider myself to be a strong feminist, I recently decided that if Jeff and I ever get married I will take his surname, legally changing my name to Rebecca Kathleen Browning Lupo, but not change my signature, ID, or checks immediately -- just keep going by Rebecca Browning. Then if we had kids or if something else happens that inspires me, I could change my day-to-day last name to Lupo if I wanted. It makes all the difference that Lupo is an awesome last name and that it sounds so good (it means "wolf" in Italian). I would never have considered taking any of my other boyfriends' names were we to marry.

I've already changed what I go by once, in order to achieve an end. I suspect that experience might have swayed my opinions on the surname issue a little. I didn't want to seem young, so I started going by Rebecca, instead of Becky. Though it's not extremely different, I had to learn to answer to it. I like that "Rebecca Browning" sounds literary and professional. Plus, I like that Rebecca is a biblical name. It's not the infusion of godliness I enjoy -- I prefer biblical names because they're classic and traditional. I also think that Rebecca can be kind of sexy connotations. However, if I ever became a Lupo I'd start going by Becky all the time again. I really like the sound of the name "Becky Lupo." I think that I'd really like Becky Lupo. She sounds fun and sporty, like a confident, successful, thirty-something woman to me.

In addition, as I get older I realize that any attachment I have to my current last name isn't based on a wish to honor my own family. My family connections are on my mom's side. Though I love my last name, I don't necessarily associate "Browning" with the my lineage or the majority family traditions.

Product review: Glisten, Weightless Spray Shine by MOP

There are few quicker ways to get a day off to a bad start than by committing the painful amount of time it takes to wash, style, and blow dry your hair, only to finish up and realize that somehow the product you chose made your hair look dirtier than when you started. If you're me, by the time you get done you are 1) late, 2) feeling gross, 3) pissed off about wasting money on an expensive product that made your hair look greasy, 4) remorseful over the 45 minutes* you took to style your hair when you could have just put it in a ponytail like every other day. Dirty hair in a ponytail looks better than styled hair with too much product.

That was exactly how my morning started when I first tried Glisten, Weightless Spray Shine by MOP. I've used some other products by MOP that I liked, especially their root volumizer. I was attracted to the promise of shine and weightlessness. To me weightless implies non-greasy. I was wrong. The stuff does have a fair amount of oil in it. Once I realized my mistake, I read the ingredients and discovered that it is actually lanolin and coconut oil.

After living with the stuff in my hair for a day, I realized that this particular product does have promise. It did make my hair really soft and shiny. The problem lies in the complete lack of directions about how to use it. The bottle reads, "Dispense in small amounts and add product to desired finish." How helpful is that?! Not very. Since the bottle is a spray bottle (picture non-aerosol hairspray), I incorrectly assumed that one should spray it directly onto one's hair before blow drying. Now I'm thinking that I should have actually sprayed in on my hands, and applied the stuff only to the ends of my hair after blow drying. It will make the ends look shiny and polished, and I'm pretty sure it will prevent fly-away frizziness.

By the way, MOP stands for Modern Organic Prodcuts.

*I have a lot of hair. It takes me a long time.

This guy created Jambase

I stumbled upon his personal blog over the weekend. I feel like he should be friends with my friends. I also am starting to really wish that I had a digital camera.

Pop pop pop pop

Oddly satisfying, even in virtual form. Be sure to put it in manic mode.

I'm learning to post photos

Bear with me...


For your viewing enjoyment, here I am with my beloved Matt Kaye, gettin' funky at his birthday last fall.

Tetanus, hep A, and typhoid

I got my shots for the Nicaragua trip this week. There were only two, hepatitis A and tetanus boosters, but I'll also be taking an oral typhoid vaccine for the next week. One week before departure, I'll start taking chlorquine tablets for malaria. These are not the kind of malaria pills that make you crazy and give you nightmares, though that is Jeff's newest anxiety. I took chloroquine the last time I traveled in Central America with no ill effects.

As soon as my arms stop aching, I'll be feeling super immune and ready for backpacking adventure or global catastrophe, whichever comes first. They also gave me a bottle of cipro, in case of extreme bacterial infection. Cipro, as I'm sure you know, is the antibiotic they use to combat anthrax. I've now got an edge on the rest of you should we happen to have a major disaster or terrorist attack.

After I received these immunizations, I got to thinking that don't know a thing about these diseases, or their symptoms, so I did a little research. Here's what I don't have to worry about anymore:

Typhoid is an acute, life threatening fever caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi.  It's spread through contaminated food and water.  If you have typhoid you'll usually experience a sustained fever as high as 104° F. You may also feel weak, have stomach pains, headache, or loss of appetite. In some cases, patients have a rash of flat, red spots. To treat typhoid, they give you antibiotics, though resistant strains are becoming a bigger and bigger problem. People rarely die from typhoid.

Hepatitis A causes no symptoms at all in many people, but even without symptoms they can still pass on the hepatitis virus to others. Symptoms can include nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, yellowing of the skin and whites of eyes, darker yellow urine and pale poo, or itchy skin. There are many types of virus which can cause hepatitis. You become infected by eating or drinking contaminated food or water. It can be passed on if even a tiny amount of poo from a person with hepatitis A comes into contact with another person's mouth (yuck). Infection with hepatitis A is usually mild, but can cause severe inflammation of the liver, requiring hospitalization. If you get hepatitis A, you have to limit the amount of alcohol you drink and take precautions to ensure that you avoid infecting others with the virus until you have recovered.

Tetanus, also known as "lockjaw," is a bacterial disease that affects the nervous system. It's contracted through a cut or wound that becomes contaminated, and puncture wounds are especially susceptible to infection with tetanus. Tetanus causes severe muscle spasms within about a week, leading to "locking" of the jaw so you can't open your mouth or swallow. Tetanus is not transmitted from person to person, but the bacteria is present worldwide. My sources tell me that approximately 11% of cases of tetanus are fatal. Treatment involves several weeks in the hospital under intensive care.

Malaria is caused by protozoan of the genus Plasmodium and generally you get infected when you are bitten by an infected mosquito (which is why we're taking mosquito nets). You can also get it from a bad blood transfusion or sharing needles. There are four types of malaria that infect humans. They all cause a high fever, which comes and goes every couple days, or flu-like symptoms. People will also complain of headache, nausea, shaking, chills, sweating, and weakness. Malaria is treated with oral medications and a lot of liquids. Interestingly enough, you can get malaria even if you're taking preventative drugs like cholorquine.

Now those don't sound so bad, do they? I was expecting something a little more dramatic.

Product Review: Trader Joe's Next to Godliness Liquid Laundry Detergent

This stuff sucks. It's organic, phosphate free, and boasts a built in soy-based fabric softener, which is great, but it doesn't actually clean anything, making the earth-friendly perks somewhat irrelevant. I even tried using twice the recommended amount with no success. Different water temperatures didn't help any either. The stains that this detergent had no impact on include blood, olive oil, red wine, coffee, enchilada sauce, cherry Nyquil, and poo.

Just kidding. I didn't really have any poo stains to test it on. I'm sure it wouldn't have gotten them out, though.

They do make a nice couple

I was distraught as anyone when Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston split up, but I'm over it. I guess I had a lot of time to process during my convalescence.

Now, with rumors of second romantic African getaway circulating, I've found myself thinking that Brad and Angelina actually make a lot more sense together than Brad and Jen. I offer the following points, for your consideration:

1. All magazines and entertainment shows seem to agree that one of the big conflicts between Brad and Jen was that he wants kids and she doesn't. Angelina likes kids. She has a kid already -- a kid that he seems to be hanging out with a lot.

2. Brad and Angelina both devote a lot of time to global humanitarian organizations. She's a UN Ambassador, I think. He just finished a tour to promote AIDS awareness and economic reform in Africa and has been affiliated with groups like Family Health International in Ethiopia. I don't follow these things closely, but I haven't heard about Jennifer having a strong philanthropic streak.

3. Brad and Angelina look better together than Brad and Jen did. I'm by no means slamming Jennifer Anniston's looks. She's got a cute, girl-next-door kind of beauty and hair that's the envy of every woman I know. However, every aspect of Brad Pitt's physical appearance is so mind-bogglingly perfect that I almost wonder if he's supernatural. Seriously, have you ever taken a good look at one of his close-ups? I can't even think seriously about him in terms of being sexy or develop a star-struck crush, because there's something a little eerie and intimidating about how flawless he is. One might argue that Angelina Jolie is the female counterpart to that perfection. She has the same type of classic, jaw-dropping good looks -- though personally I think Brad's beauty is just a smidgen little more amazing. It could be argued either way.

If you look at pictures of Brad with each woman you can see that Angelina is more his match in terms of looks alone.

4. Angelina and Brad both have a freaky, psycho streak in their personalities, while Jen has always been extremely mainstream. Remember that Angelina made out with her brother in public and used to wear a vile of Billy Bob's blood around her neck? Brad used to be criticized for never bathing and has a penchant for choosing disturbing, edgy roles like his characters in Seven, Legends of the Fall, or Fight Club. Jen is still best known as Rachel, and people were shocked when she did The Good Girl, which really isn't that risky of a role, if you think about it.

Yes, there are many of reasons why Angelina and Brad seem to be a better match. I think we were deeply upset about the Jen/Brad split, because it was comforting to think that the most attractive man in the universe would be so devoted to the idea of marriage and family. Now I suspect that his interest in Momma Angelina is probably just a different way of expressing those values.