ninety

according to the economist, the most livable city in the world is vancouver, british columbia. number 2? melbourne, australia, then in 3rd - vienna, austria. yet another reason for me to go live abroad..

eighty nine

a pig bomb has gone off. wild hogs are taking over the world! and it's being documented on discovery channel..

eighty eight

taking drugs makes you ugggggggly. and sad.

eighty seven

according to this article, girls who experience migraines in childhood add an average of 22 extra pounds to their frames since the age of 18, compared with women that never experienced migraines. also, 1 out of every 4 obese women reported experiencing migraines at some point in their lives, whereas only 1 out of every 6 normal weight women reported the same. hmm.

the study was done of the university of washington in seattle.

eighty six

there are three reasons why we stay in relationships, personal or otherwise. (1) our needs are currently being met. (2) there are no attractive alternatives. (3) the benefits of staying outweigh the benefits of leaving.

eighty five

i need to learn to roll my "R's" if i'm ever really going to master español. and while we're at it, i'd like to learn to whistle, too.

eighty four

christchurch, new zealand, is a sister city of seattle.

eighty three

people may not always redeem themselves, but we are obligated to at least give them the opportunity to try. no matter how long, or what form, that redemption may take.

eighty two

getting a thorn or two in your hand or ankle stinks, but ultimately it's not that bad. getting a thorn or ten in your butt and inner thighs - not so much a fan. oh, hash shiggy..

eighty one

true love exists.

eighty

i want to learn spanish. like, for real. and for several reasons, primarily being able to speak a language that's actually useful (damn rebelling in high school by learning french) in the USA. but also because it will keep my aging mind challenged and active (read here).

seventy nine

the brits seem to have a fascination with finger length, as they have done a multitude of studies involving comparing finger length to health.

it seems men that have longer ring fingers than index fingers tend to have inherently good business talents, earning 10x more money in london's financial district than men with shorter ring fingers. they also tend to be faster runners. and have decreased risk of developing osteoarthritis. (though i would counter: not if they're running a lot...) however, they are also 2/3 more likely to develop prostate cancer compared to men with longer pointers. read more about it, here.

seventy eight

mean girls come in all shapes and sizes. and ages. read all about it, and be warned.

seventy seven

ken jennings (famous for winning 74 consecutive games on jeopardy) is from seattle, wa.

seventy six

in honor of the hallmark holiday, here's a few facts about kissing:

• the science of kissing is called philematology.
• the average person will spend roughly 20,160 minutes kissing in their lifetime, which is about 2 solid weeks.
• 50% of all people have their first kiss by the time they're 14.
• kissing's good for you: it reduces tooth decay since the extra saliva helps clean out your mouth; generally you can burn 2-3 calories/min in a passionate kiss; it releases the same neurotransmitters as in intense exercise, which increase heart rate and depth of breath; it's also been shown to lower stress & cholesterol levels and increase relationship satisfaction.
• our brains have special neurons that help us find each others lips in the dark.
• you use two muscles in your face when you give a peck kiss, but you use all of your facial muscles (34!) as well as postural musculature (112!!) during a passionate kiss.
• two-thirds of people turn their heads to the right when kissing.
• according to a dentyne commercial, the average person has 28 first kisses.

happy effin' v-day ;o)

seventy five

one of my colleagues brought in about 50 fortune cookies to work. i randomly picked 2 and opened one on saturday at lunch and one on sunday before my valentine's wine and chocolate tasting in woodinville. i take it the year of the rabbit is trying to tell me something..

seventy four

you can catch more than STDs at the playboy mansion. yikes.

seventy three

apparently i've known all along the best ways to handle stress.. (read full article here).

seventy two

just when you think you've seen or heard it all.. the stupidity of people will never cease to amaze me. why? this is why.

seventy one

never get a butt implant in a hampton inn hotel room. or any hotel room, for that matter. for that, go to brazil and talk to leandro carvahlo.

seventy

i'm used to working on the 9th floor, where when you glance out the window, your only view is of the rainy street below and the brick wall across the way from you. but the view from the 16th floor of virginia mason on a beautiful, rare sun-shiny seattle day is spectacular.

sixty nine

luis lopez-fitgerald from 'passions' (aka galen gering) is now playing another hispanic character on 'days of our lives'. and he's still incredibly attractive, even if not a great actor.

*disclaimer: this was discovered by pure accident.

sixty eight

ncis (one of my favorite shows) is a spinoff of jag.

sixty seven

healthcare fraud costs taxpayers over $60 billion - BILLION!!! - a year. imagine what could be done with that money to help our current healthcare (and other financial) crisis. sadly, this does not get as much attention as it deserves.

but there's something you can do about it - visit america's most wanted healthcare fugitives website: www.oig.hhs.gov/fugitives

sixty six

so, if a guy does cocaine and then has unprotected intercourse with a lady - the levels of the drug in his semen can actually upset the fragile balance in the vaginal area and potentially render the lady infertile (at least according to pam grier on oprah). yikes. wear your condoms.

sixty five

the triceratops was one of the rare dinosaurs that could actually chew. turns out most dinos did not have that capability and were of the "tear and swallow" variety (thank you burke museum of natural history).

but WAIT! the triceratops may have never actually existed (read here), which i learned while doing some online research for the chewing statement above. i also learned that my 2nd favorite dinosaur, the brontosaurus, also never existed (read here). sad day in allison's childhood memory land...

sixty four

welp. this is a first. the newest trend in spa treatments is . . . "v-steam". yep. it's what you think it is (read here, if you want to).

sixty three

i know our northeast has been pummeled with winter storms, but the aussies in queensland have really had enough.