I’ve talked to some very loyal local Capital District Fun readers who don’t like to visit KidsOutAndAbout.com ever because it’s “too busy and annoying-looking.” That’s right: some people choose to spare my feelings, and others don’t. Anyway, if you fall into this category, you should know that the site just got an update that makes it a lot less. . . frenetic-looking. I like it. You should go visit and see. Anyway, I was talking about the changes for this week’s newsletter, which comes out on Thursday mornings. And here’s part of what I said,
But we understand: it can be overwhelming. There’s a ton of information listed, and you’re busy people! That’s why I’m excited about the revamped website and
my very own editor’s choice buttons. I’m going to do my best to predict what you’re going to want to find, and then I’ll help you find it with big, pretty buttons. Right now I’m betting on Memorial Day Parades, Season Openers, and Festivals. In a couple of weeks it will be strawberry picking, free summer activities, and tips on camping.
In the middle of writing this, I was going to say something like, “Not to get all Jerry Maguire on you, but: ‘Help me, help you.'” Except then I went to find that video clip from the movie, and Tom Cruise is like, insane-looking. He’s all full of rage and kicking walls and perhaps this was charming once, long, long ago, in the context of the larger plot, but now it just reminds me of how he’s a weird religious creeper, and that’s just depressing. It makes me want to put on a “Free Katie” t-shirt and eat a pint of ice cream. I want to go back to simpler times, back when we could enjoy a Top Gun beach volleyball scene without any need for thinking about people’s actual personalities. Except: crap. That beach scene is not nearly as fabulous as I remembered it. In fact, I found the scene to be so underwhelming that I just went and Googled again, thinking, “Surely there must have been more half-naked men in the original scene, weren’t there?” And I realized that: no. I stumbled upon a post from just two days ago celebrating the 30th anniversary of Top Gun with An Ode to Top Gun‘s Volleyball Scene, celebrating all of its homoerotic splendor. Which, hello? First, was that already thirty years ago? And also, the reason why this seems so super-lame now is that there is homoerotic splendor all over the place these days thanks to the rise of Cable and Netflix (see, for example, Sense8 and It’s Not Porn, it’s HBO. Except, be warned, that second video is more NSFW than I remembered. I clearly have memory issues. Perhaps I should see a doctor). Whatever. The point is, I decided to skip out on all Tom Cruise references, and I revel in the spectacularly diverse alternatives available today. Yay verily, we live in a miraculous time.
Speaking of beautiful miracles, I stumbled on this recipe for Homemade Thin Mints, and it was so easy that I couldn’t resist trying. The truth is that I am the least enthusiastic Girl Scout cookie eater in my household, and even Thin Mints, which are the best among them, are not really my favorite. There’s a weird, coat-the-tongue feeling that I get whenever I eat something with trans fats, and even if Thin Mints are supposed to be not trans fatty, my tongue disagrees. But these were intriguing. I’ve also been encouraging J to pursue non-melon ball items for her annual Niska-Day sale, and I thought these might be winners. The homemade Thin Mints were super-easy to make, and I think that they taste fabulous. I went with my favorite Ghirardelli 60% chocolate chips and a touch of coconut oil, and I thought that they were better than the original, although others disagree. I’m totally doing a side-by-side taste comparison next Girl Scout Cookie season. But for those of you who are Thin Mints lovers out there, now it can be Girl Scout Cookie season anytime. You’re welcome.
