Mishmash Musings

I’ve been looking at some articles on college football, and am surprised to see that Tim Tebow is still in the running for a Heisman. Are you kidding me? Yes, the Gators are undefeated thus far, but Tebow is having a subpar year. Would anyone else with his numbers (84 completions for 1159 yards, 8 TDs, 4 INTs, 15 sacks) even be considered for this award? There are a bunch of quarterbacks in front of Tebow who are having much better seasons statistically, so unless he mounts a major comeback in the last month of the season, he should NOT be getting a second Heisman.

If you’re just looking at QBs, I think Jimmy Clausen and Case Keenum deserve serious consideration. But I think the award could very well go to RB Mark Ingram of Bama this year. That would be a nice change from the QBs getting all the glory all the time.

Oprah is involved in another huge coupon giveaway. Previously the talk show queen teamed up with Amazon.com to give viewers an additional $50 off on the Kindle reading device and with KFC to give out free grilled chicken dinners.

Now Oprah and Payless ShoeSource are offering customers 50 percent off their entire purchase from now until the end of business tomorrow night (Oct. 30). That’s a pretty good deal, especially if you have kids and want to stock up on some nice footwear for them.

There are two ways to get the discount. First, you can go to Oprah.com/Payless and open the coupon in Adobe Reader. Then just print it out and take it to the store with you.

Second, you can send a text message to 242424 and receive the coupon on your phone, which you can then just show the clerk at the store.

Either way, better jump on this deal quickly!

I recently visited my mom’s house, and found a couple of my high school yearbooks while I was there. I was surprised at how similar I look to my old pictures, despite the passage of nearly 20 years since I was a student. I’m the same height and almost the same weight I was back then (only 4 pounds heavier — not bad, right??), and my hairstyle and clothes are pretty similar to what I wore back then. (I’m into classic styles that endure (polo shirts, sweaters, jeans, etc.)

The biggest difference is that I clearly look older now, especially when I smile. That’s when the crow’s feet emerge around my eyes and the smile lines deepen around my mouth. I actually want to do something about my wrinkles, so if you have any product recommendations for the best eye wrinkle cream or whatever, please let me know.

My 20-year reunion is coming up in three years, and I want to be ready for that by looking my best!

Words fail me at how bad the Chicago Bears look in their game against the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s just halftime now, but the Bears are already down 31-3. The Bengals had five offensive possessions in the first half, which led to TD, TD, TD, TD, and FG. That’s right, not a single defensive stop, not a single punt the whole way.

If the Bears had different coaches, I would believe that solid adjustments will be made during the break. With a great motivator at the helm, like a Singletary or someone, the Bears would roll up their sleeves, pull on their work gloves, and buckle down for the rest of the game. But unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. The Bears coaches are almost stubborn in their refusal to play anything other than the completely ineffective Cover 2 on defense or to call anything other than short passes on offense.

(Photo: Brian Cassella / Tribune)

My face broke out pretty badly a couple weeks ago. I’m not sure what happened, but perhaps part of the problem was due to the fact that I was under a lot of stress from traveling, grad school, and work. Whatever the reason, my skin paid the price, and I looked like hell. (I should take a moment to note here that my breakouts aren’t of the cystic acne kind. I don’t get big inflamed red zits all over my face. I get “bumpies”, those small, skin colored bumps that are due to clogged pores.)

At any rate, I immediately went to see my dermatologist, who finally put me on a prescription med called Differin. It’s a retinoid, whatever that means, and is supposed to be pretty effective. It damn well better be, because I paid $245 for a 45g tube of this stuff! My insurance doesn’t cover this type of dermatology because they say it’s cosmetic and not medically necessary. Sure, I wouldn’t put acne in the same category as a cancerous growth, but come on! It’s not like I’m having plastic surgery or something!

So I’ve been using Differin for two weeks now, and at first, it made my skin even worse. I guess that was the dreaded “initial breakout” that many people experience when going on these types of medications. I almost gave up using the cream, but read that a lot of folks had success with the product after giving it time to work — “time” being anything from one month to three months. Fortunately, I stuck with it, and am starting to see some nice improvements here in week three. the bumpies on my forehead are almost gone and aren’t even noticeable anymore unless you’re standing within a couple feet of me. Thank goodness!

Let’s just hope Differing keeps working. I haven’t even put a dent in the 45g tube yet, so that $245 might end up lasting me a whole year. That’s some consolation, I guess!

Man, I hate the cold weather! I would much rather be hot than cold, and can more easily handle the summer months than winter. I’ve already spent tons of money prepping myself for frigid temperatures. For instance, I bought a lot of Under Armour gear so I can continue jogging outside even in November and December. In addition, I’ve purchased a thick terrycloth bathrobe to make my post-shower routine a bit more warm and comfy, and I’m thinking about buying one of those heated mattress pads so I can stay warm and toasty all night.

We’re not even out of October yet, but I’m already feeling the chill — and already counting down the days until spring. Six more months. Can I make it???

I tell ya, some people just have no life. An Indian man named Chirantan Patnaik, of Mumbai, played the video game Grand Theft Auto IV for 40 straight hours to get into the Guinness Book of World Records. According to Guinness rules, people performing stunts like this can take a 10-minute break every hour, but the article I read indicated that Patnaik only used 4 of his allotted breaks during the 40-hour stretch.

I can’t imagine doing anything for 40 hours straight, especially playing a mind-numbing video game like GTA. This guy must have had some good food, tons of caffeine, and a comfy egg chair in order to make it through the marathon without collapsing.

So what does he get from this stunt — besides maybe 15 minutes of fame? Probably nothing. As I said, what a waste!

This whole balloon boy incident just isn’t going to go away anytime soon, is it? The more I read about the father, Richard Heene, the more I realize what a freak the guy is. He apparently believes, among other things, that he has been abducted by aliens and that the world is going to end in 2012. In fact, it’s because of his belief in the impending Armageddon that he launched this balloon stunt. Heene was trying to land a reality TV deal to secure enough money to build an underground bunker capable of withstanding the mass destruction that he’s sure is coming.

What a despicable man, to involve his kids in this type of fraud. I hope he gets charged with some kind of crime, and even if he doesn’t go to jail, I hope he gets fined tons of money. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that in our fucked up society, he’ll still end up profiting from this scam somehow. It makes me sick that regular folks who abide the laws and quietly go about their own business are struggling to make ends meet in this economy, while this jackass wastes people’s time and money, as well as public resources, all to push his own agenda. And guess who will come out ahead in the end? It just ain’t right.