I try to keep myself in check, but I do have just a smear of a competitive streak. And by smear, I mean like huge, paint can splash.
But, who doesn't like winning?
And yeah, I'm a pretty salty loser, too. I've deserted countless checkers, card games, Guess Who and Monopoly games when loss was near for me. My sister's a pretty sore loser, too. She once cleared a checker board off the table when she was about to lose. I just move your game pieces around when you take a bathroom break.
...
Oh...you mean not everyone does that?
Well, I mean, is it really cheating if you don't notice that I moved your pieces?
My co-workers decided that instead of Christmas presents this year, we would have a cookie competition/exchange of sorts...and it's going to be this nice, friendly thing where we all bring cookies and then share recipes. And somehow, to my delight, this got turned into a contest with a judge and everything. Oh, and a fabulous prize for the winner.
Which I hope is me!
All week, I've been busy pondering just the perfect cookie to make. And really, I should have been studying...but there's no fabulous prizes in school. Just B's. So far, I've narrowed down the finalists to: Almond Roca cookies, white chocolate and hazelnut cookies, coconut thumbprint cookies or peppermint oreo cookies. In that order.
I've wanted to make the Almond Roca cookies for the longest time...something about the toffee, chopped almonds and milk chocolate drizzle. Mmm...and it seems kinda holiday-ish. Although I luv the complexity and uniqueness of the white chocolate hazelnut cookies (with orange zest and cranberries), I don't think it will be as crowd...or ahem...judge pleasing. But they are a great little cookie. The coconut thumbprints are from Ina Garten, and definitely look the most impressive with the toasty wisps of coconut and pretty jam centers. I luv anything with a jam center. I always eat away at the edges first and save the yummy jam center for last. And the peppermint oreos. The homemade oreos of a few months ago were definite crowd pleasers, and I think the addition of crushed candy canes in the cream is a nice touch. But, it's definitely not oreo we all know and luv.
There's only one way to settle this. And that's with a little cookie throwdown of my own. I doubt I'll manage to make all these anytime soon, but at least two for sampling.
My tummy's ready. But then again, it always is. That's part of (all of) the problem.
That's gonna be me in no time. Sigh. But look how happy he is.
UPDATE!
While cruising the thing called the Internet and ESPN, I stumbled upon this very interesting article about Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards. A preface: He's sort of a strange...ok totally out-there person of space-cadet proportions...but really, this is just about the lamest thing I've heard all day. And I hear a lot of things. Have you seen these ears?
by Patrick Hruby via Page 2 at espn.com
During an NBA preseason road trip, Washington Wizards center JaVale McGee Twittered that he and teammate Gilbert Arenas went to a Grand Rapids, Mich.-area Target so Arenas could purchase a microwave and a mini-fridge ... for a single day's use. Turns out that's only half the story. Following team practice yesterday, Arenas revealed the rest to a small group of reporters, including yours truly:
Arenas: You know how you order room service, and you get in the shower, or you'll be on the phone, and you get back and the food is cold?
Reporters: Yeah?
Arenas: Microwave!
Reporters: So you take it on the road?
Arenas: I send it with our [team] luggage ... it's only like 10 pounds.
Reporters: What about the fridge?
Arenas: We're not in cities long enough for a fridge.
Reporters: Aren't you staying in five-star hotels? Won't they make the food extra hot, or bring a microwave to your room?
Arenas: Most places don't have microwaves. You got to go to the kitchen and reheat it. By the time you get back up it's cold again ... some hotels, they have a late-night menu but they don't have hot food. Just cold sandwiches. I don't eat cold food.
Reporters: Why not?
Arenas: It tastes nasty. It's the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted. Everything I eat has to go in a microwave. Like, if you cook me dinner, I will take the dinner and put it in a microwave. Something about being in a microwave makes it good.
Reporters: It comforts you.
Arenas: It irritates the [expletive] out of people, though.
Microwave all the time? That can't be good for you. Or your sanity. Or your game. The Wizards lost to the Celtics tonight, 104-102. He had 25 points, too. But missed 5 of his 6 FT's. At home. 3rd straight home loss. That's gotta hurt. Microwave!
UPDATE 2!!
So following my initial update, I went back to ESPN to search for a Bill Simmons article. It's been a while since I've been entertained by his musings...and trust me, he is highly entertaining. And lucky me, it was mail bag day (my fav...mail bag is when Bill answers emails from his readers) for his Thanksgiving entry, and I saw this:
Q: If Mike Dunleavy showed up at one of your book signings, what would you write in his book?
-- Anthony Falco, Ontario
SG: I thought about this for 20 minutes and settled on this:
Dear Mike,
Thanks. For each of the past three summers, I nearly dumped my Clippers tickets solely because you were the coach and I didn't want to waste my money watching six months of 20-point blowouts, disjointed strategy, unhappy players and some of the most mind-blowing crunch-time brain farts in the history of this great sport. I kept renewing only because I didn't want to give up quality seats to see guys like LeBron, Kobe, Derrick Rose and Chris Paul, even if they frequently were being removed with 10 minutes to play because their team was leading by 30. So thanks for reminding me why I love basketball so much. If I will pay to see a Mike Dunleavy-coached NBA team, then clearly, I will pay for anything. I love this game.
Sincerely,
Bill Simmons
Clippers season-ticket holder since 2004
And yeah, he's a Kobe/Laker hater. But no one's perfect. Well...except you-know-who.
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