Busy w/ the Fizzy

I've been a vegetarian for nearly 22 years -- my vegeversary is coming up in December! Gave up meat at a young age without a backwards glance. People would always ask how I could do without meat. (I grew up in the deep South where everything is fried in meat juice.) I told them that meat wasn't essential to my daily bread. My favorite foods are fruits and vegetables, in that order. 

I could easily add soda to that list. Giving up meat didn't bother me at all, but if someone asked me to give up soda, I might be driven to violence. Soda is my weakness in the food chain. It's seemingly hereditary; my father drank so much soda -- I don't recall ever seeing him drink water -- that we used to joke the man had Coke® running through his veins in place of  blood. In other words, I love soda!


Some people say they drink soda for the caffeine. I don't notice caffeine; I have a very high tolerance for it. I don't even drink soda because I'm thirsty. I seldom feel thirst. Random, I know, but there it is. No, I drink soda because it tastes good. I know I'm supposed to drink water, but soda tastes better. It's got flavor.

Lately, I've been trying to cut down on my soda consumption. It's not going so well. So I thought perhaps, I could do the next best thing. If I can't give up soda then at least I can choose healthier options -- and one of the best things one can do when going healthy is to go the homemade route. To that end, I got the book, Homemade Soda: 200 Recipes for Making and Using... fruit sodas and fizzy juices, sparkling waters, root beers and cola brews, herbal and healing waters, sparkling teas and coffees, shrubs and switchels, cream sodas and floats, and other carbonated concoctions by Andrew Schloss.

On the back of the book, this jumped out at me:

You'll love the benefits of Homemade Soda. 

>> Control the sugar and calories your family drinks. Use sweeteners you like in quantities you want. 

>> Say goodbye to recycling bins filled with empty commercial soda bottles.

This book was speaking to me. I'm eco-minded, I'm big on DIY and green tech -- add to this my desire to make my soda habit healthier and this cottage industry is right up my alley.

Now, what I'd really love is to join the Sodastream BzzCampaign, so I can "get busy with the fizzy" (the old Sodastream slogan). Did you know that a Sodastream machine doesn't need electricity? Green!

Disclosure: I'm a BzzAgent and BzzAgent.com, a word-of-mouth marketing company, is launching a Sodastream campaign. As part of a new selection process, BzzAgents can now express direct interest in specific campaigns and enter for a chance to join them by posting pictures, videos, or blogs. This post serves as my entry, however; this doesn't lessen what is stated, all of which remains true.

Get Caught Reading!

Disclosure: I'm a BzzAgent and BzzAgent.com, a word-of-mouth marketing company, is launching a Kindle campaign. As part of a new selection process, BzzAgents can now express direct interest in specific campaigns and enter for a chance to join them by posting pictures, videos, or blogs. This post serves as my entry, however; this doesn't lessen what I've stated, all of which remains true: 

A lot of kids dream/ed of being sports stars, but I always wanted to 'star' in the academic universe. Oh, I like sports just fine -- I play several -- but my abiding passion is books. Always books. I get hives from books.... literally sometimes, as I'm allergic to book mold. I've even had to be hospitalized for my allergy before, but it hasn't stopped me from reading or searching for that next read or that next item for my collection. (A nice thing about e-text is no book mold -- and it saves trees! GREEN!)

I got my first library card at age 5. I couldn't even see over the check-out desk. The librarians chuckled that a "wee one" wanted to check out such weighty tomes, but my mother let them know that I could read whatever I wanted (with her approval). And I was off... 

Over the years, I got to know my hometown librarians by first name, and they'd still tease me over my reading choices. I remember once during my senior year in high school, going to check out a book that some would consider risque (it was banned in a few Southern states, apparently) and having Ms. Smith at the library desk ask if my mother knew I was checking out such things. I laughed. My mother had long since given up trying to curtail my reading habits. She'd satisfied herself with teaching me right from wrong, and allowing me to exercise my better judgement. I know what you're thinking but taking the 'personal responsibility' tack worked like a charm. 

Reading is something that has stayed with me through all else, long after I've moved away from my hometown. And because of the Book, my world has always been as large as the universe and as deep as the ocean. I've  grown to read things in other languages and varied formats. Being a geek, I'm transitioning to e-texts and I'm really lusting after an ereader these days. (Oh, I still read traditional books, as well. I doubt that will change, as I collect antiquarian books.) I read on my laptop, my palm pilot, my iPod, why not on a dedicated handheld gadget with a purpose only for reading? The thought of being able to carry an entire library in my pocket gives me goose bumps. The tech behind the gadget makes me want to fiddle with all the specs.

I might have ereader envy. I've always wanted to 'star' in one of those "Get Caught Reading" PSAs. I have a friend (an educator) who made it onto a local poster for the program. An ereader is anyone's chance to 'get caught reading' on the plane, on the train, waiting in the doctor's office, standing in line at the grocer's.... oh my, I can can see it now in my mind: No more lugging around numerous texts in a heavy backpack just to have something to read at hand. No more wasted time waiting on others when I can 'crack open a book' with a simple click. 

It sounds like a dream come true to me, an inveterate lifetime reader, so I truly hope I get to try out an Amazon Kindle via BzzAgent. This is one campaign I can get behind wholeheartedly! (Excuse any typos, I can't type worth jack, especially when I'm in a hurry, as now in this lunchtime post.)

• Image Credit: Amazon Kindle via BzzAgent

My Global Sun Oven

Over the last few months I've been participating in a promotional contest sponsored by Sun Ovens, International --- and back in May I won first prize, a Global Sun Oven® that I received today. (I also won the second and third prizes in previous months.) I'm so excited! This thing is awesome! (I've been lusting after one of these for a while, because I was too lazy to build my own contraption, so this contest was perfect for me.)

Once I get it set-up and primed, I'll post more about it. In fact, I'll probably periodically post recipes and my experiences with the oven along with musings about solar energy in general. (I'm big on sustainability, ecology and the environment. And bullish on green tech!) Go, go, sun go!

Besides, even if you don't give a fig about the environment using a solar oven to cook is a no brainer --- who wants to heat up his house by turning on an oven in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record. (We've already had twice a many 90+ degree day as we had last Summer and we've still got over a month and a half left.)

Perhaps, you can win one for yourself; you can also win a nifty set of pots and pans or a recipe book. Go enter the current month's contest: SUN OVENS Taste and Tell Contest. Make certain to read the rules. Don't worry, it's very easy to participate. Tell them Tad sent you!