Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!



Thank you for being a wonderful mom and an incredible friend. Hope you enjoy your special day :)

People who play dreidel like winning free stuff

People who play dreidel like winning free stuff. What is dreidel you ask? It is a game played by children (or gambling adict adults) during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (the festival of lights). The dreidel is significant because the Hebrew letters written on each side are an acronym for the miracle of Hanukkah, "A Great Miracle Happened There" or if you are playing in Israel, "A Great Miracle Happened Here."



The game consists of a special four-sided top called a dreidel and gold foil covered coins called gelt (can be substituted for other counters such as coins, peanuts or Benjamin's if that's how you roll). The object of the game is to win all the tokens. Here is how you play:

1. Split the gelt evenly among all players

2. Everyone puts one in the middle

3. Player 1 spins the dreidel

4. If the dreidel lands on:
NUN - do nothing
GIMMEL - take everything in the pot
HEY - take half the pot
SHIN/PEH - add to the pot

5. Spin and repeat 2-5 until one player has everything

Still don't get it? Check out this video tutorial:

How To Play Dreidel
by Howcast

Since it is December, and has snowed, I believe it is time for a holiday contest. As I celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, I felt it was best to incorporate both into my contest. Here is how it works. Below there is a picture of my Hanukkah setup. All you have to do is guess how many coins are in my Hanukkah cup (yes, there are coins that are NOT visible).



Guess correctly and you win....

A CHRISTMAS SUPER AWESOME FUN PACK! Inside you will find everything you need to have a Holly Jolly Christmas this year including...

* Giant Ho! Ho! Ho! pen
* "You've Been Naughty" coal
* "I Heart Santa" socks
* Reindeer Antlers
* A horrific pet costume
And more!

You will also win the Hanukkah gelt and a dreidel of your own (if I can find one, apparently no one is capitalizing on Hanukkah this year, because I went to TWO stores and there was NO Hanukkah merchandise). Runner ups will also receive goodies for their participation.



To enter, post your guess in the comments section below with your name and e-mail address by 11:59 PM on Friday, December 11 - the first night of Hanukkah! The winner will be announced on Saturday. One guess per person. Please no duplicate guesses.

Good luck!!!

You can't sit in row 13 on most airplanes (Happy Friday the 13th)

You can't sit in row 13 on most airplanes, mostly because it doesn't exist. Many aircraft creators have done away with row 13 because people believe it is unlucky and refuse to sit in it.



I'm sorry to burst your superstitious bubble, but unless they tape off a row and leave it empty, row 13 is still there. It's just called 14 now. Sorry. My biggest concern on my last flight was not my row, but that my headphones broke in the middle of Up when my rowmate crushed them with his ass. Thanks to the very nice stewardess, I was able to obtain a new pair. Unfortunately the plane landed before I could finish the movie. No, I was not in row 14. I was in 9.

Airline row omission goes beyond the infamous row 13 (which is also left out of buildings from time to time) - in Japanese culture rows 4 and 9 are also omitted as they are considered unlucky in Japanese culture.

For more information on superstition and Friday the 13th, check out Romans are the reason a broken mirror means seven years bad luck and People who fear Friday the 13th suffer from Paraskavedekatriaphobia.

And the winner is...

Encyclopeidacs, you voted, and you chose...

Jon with Little cop!!



Two days, 63 votes, here are the results:



Thanks for your participation!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

More than 11,000 people have checked out Encyclopedia Branigan, and most of those people like to read about

More than 11,000 people have checked out Encyclopedia Branigan, and most of those people like to read about catfish! Yes, the post with the most pageviews in the first year of Encyclopedia Branigan was "A catfish has approximately 100,000 taste buds".



So in the Encyclopedia Branigan one year blogversary contest, the winner is...

LAUREN MACKIEL GORY, who will receive a $15 Barnes & Noble gift certificate and a 2010 Encyclopedia Branigan calendar.

Katie and Beth will also win calendars for guessing the correct answer.

Thanks to all who participated!!

More than 11,000 people have checked out Encyclopedia Branigan

More than 11,000 people have checked out Encyclopedia Branigan since October 12, 2008. That's right, on Monday, October 12 it will be one year since the first post on Encyclopedia Branigan, Peanuts are not nuts.


I can't believe it. I started this blog a year ago as a work assignment, and never ever in a million years thought people would actually read it. But they have!


And I thought, maybe they are just my friends...but I don't have 11,000 friends...



...in 118 places all over the world.

So how should I celebrate this momentous occasion? How about by giving away FREE STUFF!

Yes! All you have to do is guess which of the following posts has generated the most pageviews.

Easy right? Everyone who guesses the correct post will win...

...an official, limited edition, only available here, ENCYCLOPEDIA BRANIGAN 2010 wall calendar. I know. SO exciting.

BUT THERE IS MORE!

Because I care about continuing education, the first person to guess the post with the most pageviews will also receive a $15 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble.

Here are the posts:

A. Peanuts are not nuts
B. What is a crownie?
C. Tattoos, getting underneath the skin for 5,200 years
D. Cheese balls were originally made out of livestock feed
E. A catfish has approximately 10,000 taste buds
F. Yawns are more contagious for primates who care
G. There is a 1 in 40 chance of winning the mega millions
H. Earthquakes in New Jersey are Ramapo's fault

Post your guess in the comments section below. Please include your e-mail address or you can't win. Tell me which post on all of Encyclopedia Branigan is your favorite, and you get TWO guesses.

The deadline for entry is Sunday, October 11 at 11:59 PM. Winners will be announced on Monday, October 12.

Ready, set, go!

Today we're gonna party like it's 5770

Today we're gonna party like it's 5770 - which it is, according to the Jewish calendar. That's right. It's Rosh Hashanah (which literally translates into "head of the year") the Jewish new year and start of the High Holy days.

I know, according to your mcblackberry it's 2009 but the Jewish calendar started a couple thousand years before the CE, so the year count is a little higher. The calendar also has a different start date and subsequently a different new year.

To celebrate the new year, Jews (like myself) get together, go to temple, eat apples and honey (to symbolize a sweet new year) and round challah (round to symbolize a year), say L'Shana Tova (translates to "for a good year") and blow the Shofar.

Blow the what?! The Shofar, a special rams horn which was originally sounded off to let people back in the day (before Outlook reminders) know that it was the new year.



Wow. Talk about lungs.

Rosh Hashanah, like Passover , lasts for two days so that there was time to celebrate even if you weren't first to hear the Shofar.

The purpose of Rosh Hashanah is to celebrate the start of a new year, but its not all fun and games. From now until Yom Kippur (the day of atonement) Jews have to reflect upon their lives, seek forgiveness from those they may have hurt, and forgive those who have wronged them in an effort to start with a clean slate and be a better person in the coming year.

I see myself as more conceptual than religious (I don't go to temple regularly, I don't keep kosher and I have a tattoo), I believe it is the meaning behind the religious practice that is important - not the practice itself.

I try to use Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur as an opportunity to look at my life and my choices and make sure that I am doing everything I can do to be the best person I can be, not only for the people around me, but for myself. Yeah, I make a new year's resolution in January - usually something along the lines of becoming less fat - but this is different, more of a reflection of what you have done than a resolution of what you are going to do.

I challenge anyone reading this, Jewish or not, to think for a few minutes about the last year of your life, the kind of person you have been, and the kind of person you would like to be.

And then go celebrate :)

Fireworks are not toys

Happy Fourth of July! Yes, I know it's the fifth, but I was far away up in the mountains unable to post any independence greetings.

I witnessed a firework mishap this weekend, a reminder that fireworks are not toys, and should not be handled by children, drunkards, or in this case, people with bad luck (no one was hurt, badly).

Superfood for a Superdad

A 'superfood' is a food with high phytonutrient content (say what?), or in other words, has great health benefits. According to WebMD, everyone's favorite Internet doctor, some superfoods that can help you live a healthier, longer life are beans, broccoli, oranges, tomatoes, spinach, soy, pumpkin, salmon, oats, tea, walnuts, turkey and the ever powerful blueberry.

Since it's Father's Day, and my dad is pretty super, I decided to bake him a superfood (blueberry) pie - his FAVORITE. Blueberries are are jam packed with antioxidants, vitamin B6, C, K and dietary fiber. Including blueberries in your diet can decrease your risk of cancer and heart disease and also work as a natural anti-inflammatory.

Here's how I did it...

The Filling!
4 cups blueberries (frozen are fine)
1 cup sugar
Some flour (I rarely follow directions)
Dash of salt

The Crust!
1 bottom crust (store bought)
2 top crusts (store bought) then woven into beautifulness

Combine filling ingredients, pour into bottom crust. Cover with basket weave (or just cover if you are a beginner) crust. Use a baking brush to coat lightly with egg (for shine). Bake at 425 for 10 min, then 350 for about 45 more. It should come out looking like this:



Happy Father's Day to a super dad!

Love you daddy :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

I would like to wish a happy Mother's day to my mom, my grandma, my aunts, cousins and all the other mothers out there.


A special thank you to my mom, who has always thought twice for me (and my siblings), supporting me as a parent and a friend, and for loving me unconditionally.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday which celebrates the Mexican defeat of the French army at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. It is celebrated mostly in the region of Puebla and is not a federal holiday in Mexico.

In the U.S., however, Cinco de Mayo is widely celebrated (or has been since I turned 21) by Mexican-Americans, college students and twenty-somethings. So this Cinco de Mayo, get out there, have some fun and commemorate those who fought in Pueblo so many years ago...

For more information on Cinco de Mayo, click here, or visit your local liquor store.

Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish you all a very happy St. Patrick's Day!