We had a lovely trip to California that involved several family gatherings, an obscene amount of sweets, and only one minor breakdown in tears. This is good. I ended up caving and making another batch of the caramels, which came out perfectly, and were much appreciated. I may or may not have eaten about half of the batch when I was making them. (What? December is for gorging, January is for the soup diet. Duh.)
Now we are back. In addition to several lovely gifts, I brought home an unpleasantly persistent headcold, a nasty ingrown toenail infection (too much information?) and a new appreciation for our own apartment, where it is just the two of us. Our apartment is still trying to warm up again after being kept at a frugal 48 degrees for the duration of our absence. I plan to roast potatoes tonight. (Go, stream of consciousness writing, go!)
As if this post was not random enough already, I am offering a contest for your amusement. If you are a gmail user, you will know about the “sponsored links” that appear in a column to the right of your emails when you open a message. As best I can tell, a google algorithm scans the email and generates a list of links that it thinks might be interesting to you based on the keywords in the message. Pasted below is a 100% accurate copy of the sponsored links that showed up next to an email I just read. (I especially like the Greek Clothing Sale- I don’t know what makes clothing Greek, particularly, but I can only hope it involves feta.)
The contest: Guess in the comments what the actual email was about that generated such a random list of links. Closest guess wins a batch of the now-infamous salted caramels (cooked to the correct temperature, so as not to destroy your dental work) mailed direct to their door. If the winner does not like candy, I will seriously question their judgment but will send an alternative (non-sugared) gift. Whee!
Sponsored LinksWeb TimeSheet 7Easily Track Time Against Projects Implement in 2-3 Hours. Try It Now!
http://www.replicon.com/free_trial_offerGreek Clothing SaleHoodie & Tee $39.96, Tee’s $14.95 & Hoodies $28.95!
http://www.greekave.comPreAssignment MatchingInternational Assignment Profile New tool to support expat success!
iapsystems.comAngry, Young and PoorPunk Rock Records and Clothing Low $, Huge Inventory, Fast Shippin
angryyoungandpoor.com
pseudostoops 
January 3, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Okay, first of all let it be noted that I suck at contests and also that I spent a lot of time at an international nonprofit, so my perspective is skewed. But those ads scream to me an email about a project in a developing country, something about someone being assigned to work with low-income children in Africa or something.
Also, you can TOTALLY be workout buddies from a distance. Swistle started a running thing in July that a whole bunch of us joined, and we all supported each other from afar. It was great. So, Pilates?
January 3, 2008 at 7:53 pm
*Sigh* If I only still worked at the Big G, this contest would be so easy.
That being said, I’m pretty sure I have the right answer: the email thread is about your covert operation with John to open an international clothing store in Chicago. You’re going to hire a group of illegal Greek immigrants to sell the clothes while the two of you tediously track their hours on your online Replicon timesheet. Eventually they’ll get angry because they’re so young and poor, so you’ll have them deported and hire a local Punk Rock band, who will bring your business down in flames because they want to sell their own records instead of your shoddily-produced clothing.
That’s right, right? I’m so GOOD at these things. If you can ship me the salted caramels to my home address, that would be wonderful.
January 3, 2008 at 7:55 pm
I don’t know you personally, so my guess is purely on the list:
It was an email discussing billable hours, feta cheese, football, and Billy Joel.
(if you’re scratching your head, Patriots and Angry Young Man)
January 3, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Oh goodness, what a mess of a predetermined list of things pertaining to your email!
Let’s see … your email was about wishing you had better time management in college in order to rush a sorority where you would’ve surely met a great fraternity man instead of resorting to a match making service where you were completely mismatched with angry, young and poor men. WTF?!
January 8, 2008 at 3:34 am
I have no idea, but I think the caramels should go to Jack.
January 8, 2008 at 3:43 am
Anyway, you’ve inspired me. I’m going to make these salted caramels of which you speak…
January 9, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Hmmm…my guess would be something about the primaries/2008 election, perhaps about the candidates’ clothing?