“Write something more than just “Happy Birthday” in cards. A joke, a compliment, a wish, ANYTHING.”

— #lizadvice

My Portrait by Michel Gondry

A few years ago (I'm gonna guess it was 2009, yikes) Michel Gondry had a deal where you'd pay him $20, send a photo of yourself and he'd draw you and mail you the finished portrait. I waited about two years for mine since, obviously, a lot of people signed up to have it done. He later upped the price to $100/per portrait and I'm pretty sure he stopped doing them altogether (which completely makes sense, who would want to offer something like this forever).

Anyway, here it is. I've always thought it was repugnant, but I was so happy to have gotten it since I'm still a big fan of his. It's actually grown on me over the years, I think. Of course I wanted to love it right away, but being 24 years old and painfully vain (at the time/still?) couldn't have helped things. I remember being way more excited at the thought of him sitting down at some desk looking at my photo and drawing me. I still think he's amazing for doing as many as he did. Man's great.

Healthy Banana Pancakes

As you already know, I'm into making pancakes. And this (flourless) recipe is, surprisingly, really good. Definitely try it out. All I ask of you is to please, oh, please get some pure (and likely Canadian) maple syrup to accompany your meal. Ignore the cheap, sugary brands and get the expensive, simple-ingredient-list kind of maple syrup. I know that it's easy to indulge in that corn-syrupy trash (and I am not one to judge), but c'mon. We can't live our lives on Mrs. Butterworth. (And to be fair, I only excessively endorsed that IHOP stuff whilst on vacation, if that helps my case at all. And clearly, my vacation self gives in to food temptation.)

You can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.

Phil Davison, Republican Candidate for Stark County

Man, I know this is really old, but I'll love this video for the rest of my life. So many different parts of this = amazing. Man. Love it. And if you haven't seen it before, I beg you to watch.

“You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.”

— Eliezer Yudkowsky

Safety Not Guaranteed

No one seems to like this movie as much as I do and I'm not really sure why that is the case. Almost all of the people I've told to watch it (friends/family) didn't really care about it like I did. Maybe I shouldn't be starting with these facts to get you to want to watch it, but, well, I figured you should hear the truth. I swear I don't like it just 'cause the 'plass is in it. He's good and all, but the story is just so great. And the ending? Man. I can't tell you how warm it made feel. Fuck, it's a good movie.

The first time I heard about it was when I saw this poster.

View fullsize

Does that poster not make you want to see it? Was it just me?! Anyway, this was definitely my favourite movie that came out that year (I think it was 2012). Pretty sure it's on Netflix. I'll continued to be weirded out by everyone who watches it and doesn't have a good time. 

Flower Arranging Tip

With ideas like this? Martha Stewart is untouchable. I know she didn't invent this flower arrangement concept, but Lord love her for bringing it to our attention. So damn smart. Especially for top-heavy flowers.

Vanilla-Lemon Berry Parfaits

If someone were to ever plant me a lemon tree outside my home, I'd consider that a proposal. Who the hell wouldn't agree that having a lemon tree in your yard would be the most heavenly accessory to any ordinary existence? Man, I love lemons. And pine. 

I just ate this parfait for breakfast - and other than it being ridiculously easy to make, it was just a delight to eat (possibly 'cause it tastes like dessert). And please know that I'm not even into breakfast and I loved this. 

Ingredients

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 (3.5-ounce) containers fat-free (or sugar-free) vanilla pudding
2 tablespoons bottled lemon curd (I couldn't find this at my apparently-peasant-like grocery store so I didn't bother with it. Though, since it's just more lemon, I'm sure that if you find it and use it then it'll taste even better.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons honey
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup strawberries (since that was all I had - add blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. if you have them)

EAT IT!

Recipe adapted slightly from Health.com

The Copycat Wendy's Frosty Recipe on Pinterest

I've seen this recipe too many times to count, so I (finally) tried it this past weekend. If you're on Pinterest, you know which one I'm talking about. This one:

3/4 cup almond milk 

15 ice cubes

1/2 tsp Vanilla

1-2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 of a frozen banana

Verdict? GARBAGE! Tastes like dirty ice chunks. Stay away. FAR AWAY. 

You can find more terrible Pinterest pins over here.