Maria Loves...Pie and Simple Banking

The internets have awed and inspired this week.

*  I often get lumbered with this decision: which dessert should I have? The mouth-watering raspberry coulis cheesecake or the my-thighs-will-never-forgive-me deep dark chocolate mud pie slab of a cake?  Well say goodbye to such indecisions! With the Split Decision Pie Pan the days of choosing between two flavours are no more.  If, unlike me, you're into pies of course....Surely, you could use this for normal cake too.  Don't call you Surely? OK. *

*   If baking doesn't get your creative juices flowing, then this might just.  The Sensu (ie iPad brush) lets you paint across your screen as if it were a real life blank canvas.  And the result looks so authentic it's actually mind-boggling! This alone is making me salivate for an iPad.  Truly amazing.

Split Decision Pie Pan ($20)

*   When we started up our wedding registry (which was essentially a bank account where guests very kindly deposited what would have always been a cash gift)  I thought about what a fantastic idea it would be if all special occasions had such lists.  Then all of your friends could contribute a small amount towards a big purchase that one person alone couldn't possibly afford.  Social Gift does just that.  It's great.  Although to be perfectly honest, I wasn't best impressed with their gift selection and prices.  I'm sure you could find cheaper.  Great idea though!

*   My gym membership officially ended yesterday.  I'm reading posts like this one in my attempt to kickstart yet another healthy-living routine.

*  I am SO gutted this isn't available to non-US residents.  I am completely smitten with the way these BankSimple guys make managing your money look like so much fun.    

*   "Two years from now, spam will be solved." - Bill Gates speaking at the World Economic Forum, 2004.  This and loads more ill-fated words can be found at the Bad Opinion Generator.  Prepare for hours and hours of fun/time-wasting. 

*  Love Johnny Depp? Love 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'? Then you'll probably want to see 'The Rum Diary', released in the US on Oct 28 and in the UK on Nov 4.  Johnny is back in the Caribbean minus all that eyeliner and gold teeth.  Judging by the trailer and poster, this looks like it's going to be a hoot.

The Rum Diary

* Props to whoever gets the reference!

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My Made in America titbit for today: Coca-Cola.

In 1886, Atlanta pharmacist, John Styth Pemberton brewed up a concoction of cola nuts, cocoa leaves, caffeine and other similarly dubious condiments in an iron tub in his backyard, stirred it with a wooden oar from an old boat and called it Coca-Cola.

Pemberton viewed his invention not as the refreshing thirst-quencher that the world has come to love, but as an efficacious tonic for hangovers and other ills of the upper body (it was also discreetly hinted that it was a potent aphrodisiac.)   He failed to see Coca-Cola's true potential and sold two-thirds interest in the company for the measly sum of $283.29 in 1887.  By 1919, when the company was sold again, it had grown in value to $25million.

(Most words taken from the book Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States )

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