What would AJ do?

I wrote to an author, and he wrote back!

In The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, author AJ Jacobs recounts the year he...well, you get it from the title of his book. Among many rules from both the Old Testament and New Testament, Mr. Jacobs grows a beard, wears all white, ties tassles to the corners of his clothing, prays three times a day, gives up lying and lustful gazing-- all with the help of various religious advisors (priests, pastors, etc).

One commandment/law instructs you to tithe, which is the act of giving a percentage of your income to the church. The Bible also teaches its followers to give to those who are needier (I think; I don't remember exactly, but this sounds right). So, I wrote the author, Mr. Jacobs:

I just finished your latest book, "The Year of Living Biblically," for our book club. And, on my way to our book club meeting to discuss your book (which was well-received by my book club members-- kudos!), I encountered a homeless guy when I exited the freeway. After reading your battles/successes with tithing and all the other rules (as I'm sure this falls under many other rules/lessons from the Bible), I decided to give $3 to the homeless guy. I typically never give money to panhandlers, but after reading your book, I thought, why not? AJ would do it. LOL.

This is not to say that I will be doing this on a regular basis, but at the time, it felt right (it was rainy after all and he didn't look like he'd spend it on booze or drugs). And although Pastor out to Pasture (or whoever your other religious guides were) probably wouldn't condone that since the resulting feeling wasn't completely selfless, I'm sure the 3 bucks really helped him.

Anyway, thanks for the inspiration!

And, get this: AJ wrote back! And within just a few hours!

Hi Melody,
That is a wonderful letter! Thank you. I'm glad I played a small part in your decision.
Maybe I should market bracelets What would AJ do?
AJ

I don't know why but I'm so thrilled that he wrote back. After reading about an entire year of his life, I feel like I know him and his family so well. I am tempted to reply to him, but that might get stalkerish.

an (un)common pair

I just got tickets to Common's concert at the House of Blues on Feburary 13, w00t! (Best part is that since I bought the tix at the HOB box office, I saved $25 on Ticketmaster fees...so, take THAT, Ticketmaster! Muhahaha.)

As some of you know, Common is my favorite hip-hopper, and I always try to see him in concert whenever he's in town. When I was blogging on myspace, I used to blog about hip hop more often; but I believe this is my first post on Common here on bemelodious...and, unfortunately, I won't be praising his musicality or lyrics today...because:

Tonight, as I was surfing my fave mobile site from my BB Pearl, TMZ.com, I came across some somewhat troubling gossip about Common and his new squeeze Serena Williams. Oh heaven forbid!

Design:Wood

I blog about design-related items on loft405. Check out my latest post on wood being good.

Giada Helps Me Cook

Brief Update on one of my New Year's resolution to cook more: I am. I've cooked twice this week (hooray!)-- with some help from mikey and Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network.

I bought Giada's Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes cookbook, and although I've only made one dish thus far (orechietti with prosciutto and italian bread crumbs), it was just as Giada promised: simple and delicious!

Tonight, I tried a couple recipes from www.foodnetwork.com, and although I was not specifically looking for a Giada recipe, the recipes I ended up with (when searching under the parameters of relatively easy but tasty) were Giada's. Here was our menu:

Roasted Baby Potatoes with Herbs
Ginger Sea Bass Over Wilted Greens



Yup, it was all so good and so easy, and mikey and I were super pleased. So far, I'm a big fan of Giada. I love that:

- her dishes generally don't require crazy ingredients where you have to go to specialty grocers to find them
- the ingredients are generally pretty common, so you would most likely use them for future dishes
- they're quick enough to prepare during a workweek, even if you have a typical 9-5 job (or 8-6, in my case)
- and, they don't require uncommon tools, such as a dutch oven, which I've noticed is one of Emeril's tool of choice. (Shoot, I didn't even know what a dutch oven was, besides the gross kind from Urban Dictionary.)

Commercial Songs

Leave it up to Apple to introduce another addicting song in their latest commercial. It's "New Soul" by Yael Naim played in the new MacBook Air TV commercials.

I hate to latch onto songs that become popularized because of commercials (especially when it's with another big Apple announcement). I did that with the Ingrid Michaelson song from the Old Navy commercial (that the Yellow Hummingbird clued me onto), and here I go again.

I. Just. Can't. Help. Myself. Dammit, APPLE!

How My 20-year-old Brother Wraps Christmas Gifts

Designer Fruit Roll-Ups

In a world where fashion designers slap their names on furniture, car interiors, and iPod cases, why not Fruit Roll-Ups?

I may have just misled you-- but no, Fruit Roll-Ups haven't partnered with Roberto Cavalli or Betsey Johnson. But, why not? Looks like they already have! Check out their latest roll-up incarnations:

New Year's Resolutions for December 2 Babies

Don't have a whole lot to say but Happy New Year! I've always been partial to even numbers, so 2008 will prove to be super.

My new year's resolutions:

- Be less moody and cranky
- Save more money
- Be able to drink 2 shots of crown plus 2 mixed drinks w/o throwing up (I'm not speaking from personal experience or anything)
- Cook better and more often
- Blog more
- Get organized

I got a cleaning lady so I don't have to put clean the house more often on my list, yay!

It would also be nice to go back to a size 28 in my jeans, but I love red vines, red velvet cake, salt and pepper Kettle Chips, and steak too much so that probably ain't gonna happen.

I also have some New Year's Resolutions for somebody who shares the same birthday as me: Britney Spears.

- Be a better role model to my younger sister Jamie Lynn and niece/nephew bun-in-the-oven
- Cut down on Starbuck's
- Stop wearing boots that cut me off at the thickest part of my legs
- Get a side job shaving heads (should help pay for all those Starbuck's drinks)
- Learn how to properly apply hair extensions
- Learn how to interact with my children

Go Sagittarians!!