Just Giblets

When the dawn appears, you may be faced with many candidates. Here is my recommendation.

I have begun the journey to find the best cupcake in the Commonwealth!  Today I had my first cupcake in the competition, from Blue Frog Bakery in Jamaica Plain.  I’m not going to report on it until I’ve got a handful though, in case I have to make any adjustments in the scoring…

Which leads me to the reason for this post.  I’ve developed the criteria with which I will determine the best of the best in the cupcake world.  This is a very personal criteria, and is geared toward my cupcake pleasures specifically.  I have given each criteria a certain number of points it can earn.  The top score being 100.  Time will tell if any cupcakes can earn that high score.  Anyway, here is my criteria.

• Moistness of cake (15)
• Flavor of cake (15)
• Flavor of frosting (15)
• Proportion of frosting to cake (15)
• Sweetness of frosting (10)
• Overall attractiveness of cupcake (10)
• Ease of eating (5)
• Originality of flavor (5)
• Discretionary points (including special toppings or fillings) (10)

And yes, for me there is quite a difference between the flavor of the frosting and the sweetness of the frosting.  And yes, the moistness of the cake if vitally important.  What do you think?  How would your criteria be different?  And if anyone would like to join me on my sojourn, I would welcome the cupcake-loving company!

A cupcake from Party Favors

So, I’ve made my decision and I’m announcing it here.  I am going to conduct a survey of cupcakes in Massachusetts.  Many people know that I think the cupcake is the perfect desert.  I’ve thought this for quite some time, long before the recent cupcake craze hit the nation.  Long before Carrie made Magnolia’s a cupcake bonanza (although those cupcakes are delicious).  I am quite the fan of the cupcake, and i’ve decided to seek out cupcakes across the Commonwealth and report my findings back on this very blog.  Just Giblets indeed!

This has been at the back of my mind for a while, and Scot has encouraged me to do it as well, but I think it really crystalized for me at BookExpoAmerica in L.A. this past May.  Daniel and Heidi are friends of mine from the Midwest who are in the publshing/bookselling industry.  I get to see them every year at BEA and met up with them for dinner and general running around in L.A. this past May.  What I didn’t get to do, is go with them to Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills, which they visited that afternoon mere hours before meeting me, and proceeded to rave about off and on for the rest of the night.  Could they have brought me along?  Sure.  Did they?  I’m guessing you’ve guessed that they did not.  You have guessed correctly.  Am I bitter?  A little, but I still love them and have almost forgiven them.  Had they known about my sheer unadulterated devotion to the cupcake, I’m sure this wouldn’t have happened, hence my public search for the best cupcake in Massachusetts.

Before I begin, I will need to develop a set of criteria, which I will work on soon and post here.  Then I need to find the cupcakes.  Some I already know about, like the divine confections at Brookline’s Party Favors, and the scrumptuous cupcake deserts at Geoffrey’s.  Many I will have to discover along the way.  If you know of anyplace that has a cupcake worth tasting, please let me know.  And for those of you fellow cupcake aficianados, please visit Sprinkle’s Cupcake’s website and vote for their next location to be in Boston!

I’m a little surprised to learn from MakeMeBabies.com that if Michael and I made a baby, it would be Indian.

Here’s the visual proof. Isn’t Baby Giblets adorable?

Oh, I am soooo happy about this news! Spaghetti Cat wasn’t a random mistake, but a planned interruption according to mediabistro.com! She was meant to be a star…

And now we can even buy Spaghetti Cat apparel. Heavenly.

I have nothing to say except, “This cat is going to be sooooo famous! I expect to see it everywhere.”

I’m home sick with the beginnings of a cold and took this opportunity to upgrade our WordPress installation. While I was at it, I took a look at our Web server stats. These were the top ten phrases used on search engines to find us this month:

• swollen uvula
• tattoo
• computers internet blog
• peace symbols
• tiger tattoos
• tattoo pictures
• carol channing
• just giblets
• tiger stencils
• uvula

I’ve often wondered if anyone besides our unusual friends sees our blog. Any semi-serious citizen journalism cred that my talented and creative husband generates by posting insightful book reviews has got to have been neutralized quickly by my dorky video posts of children cussing.

I’m honored that Carol Channing fans have found us and that I’m spreading the word about harmless (but alarming) uvular edema. Heck, maybe even girly tiger tattoos may become the fashion. Who woulda thunk I’d write the most Google-worthy posts?

Those top ten are great, but get this. There are more awesome phrases farther down the list. Here’s a selection of unusual search phrases that have brought people to us this month more than once!

• pic of sudafed (I think the ban on over-the-counter sale is actually increasing interest in meth production.)
• scary images of of people
• medical wonders
• crazy lady (I can’t imagine who that would be?)
• swollen uvula anxiety (See? It’s really scary!)
• balla powder tingle (Okay, now I’ve gotta try it.)

And of course there a few gems in the one-hit list.

• sean connery red suspenders (Hot.)
• batwing pharmacy (This cracks me up, realizing why it’s indexed.)
• got giblets?
• how to make a shy girl open up (WTF?)
• are giblets good for you? (Need you ask?)
• hooters of dayton ohio (Never been. Don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it either.)
• abner i m closing the circle movie quote (I don’t know. But I think I want to see it.)
• i miss kitty (This makes me sad and I wish the visitor had emailed me.)
• sudafed pe makes me jittery
• ernest borgnine what he attributes to a long life (You know what it is, right? But I didn’t post about that. I posted about him farting on Ethel Merman.)
• men with large scrotums (Okay, that’s just eerie.)
• pain in the giblet doctor

All in all, I think we’re filling a much needed gap in the consumer health web, if not for many physical issues, for mental ones. Shoot. I think we need an award, actually.

Scottie’s got a lot to crow about, because unlike his buddy Peter Pan, Scottie is an adorable, whip-smart, compassionate, intelligent man who is celebrating his birthday today.  And I’m the lucky guy who gets to celebrate it with him.  I love you, Scottie.  Happy Birthday!

Scot’s butt is on the line… literally, at the Prime Meridian in Greenwich England.

So, Neil Patrick Harris is gay.  We all know this.  We all know that he’s also one of our current “it boys” — seemingly able to do no wrong whether he’s playing straight on TV (How I Met Your Mother) or at the movies (Harold & Kumar) or doing the song and dance thing with Joss Whedon (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog) or whatever he wants to do.  So why is there now this little backlash over at Gawker stating that’s he’s “too straight?”  More, why am I hearing about it for the first time on one of my comics blogs where the Occasional Superheroine takes issues with Gawker’s post?  Both sides actually have merit to their argument, and I am at a loss as to where I fall.  Guess it depends on the time of day.  Bravo for Mr. Harris’ success, and it’s always nice to see more successful gay people in the entertainment business.    And come on, he looks pretty hot on that Out Magazine cover.