I Don't Like Cake

I remember growing up and my older brother Brice saying that he didn't like cake. Being young and in sole possession of a very large sweet tooth I couldn't comprehend his opinion. "Who doesn't like cake?", I would think to myself. However, over the years as my taste buds have matured, I too have come to the same conclusion - I don't like cake. He thought that cake was too light and fluffy and didn't offer much sustenance. And now I realize that he was onto something. It really is a let down every time I eat it. I have such high expectations and the result always falls short.

What brought me to my final declaration against cake was our recent trip to a fancy cupcake joint in Seattle called Trophy. I have been wanting to patronize one of these cupcake shops since they came into vogue over 18-months ago. The cupcakes were lined up up behind the glass so beautifully. Each dressed with swirls of frosting. Each cupcake tempting me with their sugary contents. I chose the vanilla cake with chocolate frosting (my first choice was the coconut but my friend Ryan snatched up the last one before I had a chance to place my order). Let me just say I was more than disappointed - I guess that could go without saying since it has been a week later and I'm still regretting our visit. The cake itself wasn't very flavorful (though they claimed it was made with real vanilla bean) and the chocolate frosting was WAY over the top chocolatey that it reminded me of the awful stuff they pass-off as frosting at grocery stores. Perhaps my opinion would be different had I chose the carrot cake cupcake, or the cafe leche cupcake or if they didn't run out of their top-selling red velvet cupcake...

But really, I doubt it. Because after all a cupcake is cake. And I would much rather spend my calories on pies, tarts, cookies, bars, brownies, or even cake's distant cousin - cheesecake. Chocolate pound cake...I can do that too.

The Family Dog

Wyatt and I received the bad news that Blockbuster's DVD by Mail policy changed. It's pretty lame. Before the new policy we were able to receive a DVD by mail, watch it, return it at Blockbuster in exchange for a new in-store DVD, watch our in-store DVD while we waited for the new DVD by mail to arrive. Now, under the new policy, our exchanged in-store DVD now counts as a DVD from our queue...so if we want to receive our new DVD by mail we have to return the in-store DVD to Blockbuster first. It's pretty lame and inconvenient. So I wrote an angry letter to Blockbuster telling them that their new policy sucks. I have yet to have heard back...

In the mean time Wyatt and I decided to take-up Netflix's 2-week trial offer. And so far we like it! For less money we can now return all our movies to the mail box (remember how we used to have to go ALL the way to Blockbuster (it's only 1/4 of a mile away...but STILL!) in order to get the next movie in our queue?) Plus...we can download movies to watch instantly. Which brings me to the title of my post, "The Family Dog."


Does anyone else remember this short flick that was part of the Amazing Stories series? It's been years since I've seen it and I have really been looking forward to the day I could see it again. My sister, brother and I LOVED it! We used to watch it all the time. And when we weren't watching it we were quoting it. (I'm really hoping that Schuyler reads this post and in turn is a Netflix subscriber so he can watch it too. That would make me happy.) Well, Netflix has this great short as one of their instant downloads! As soon as I saw it on the list of available movies I made Wyatt watch it with me immediatly. It really is a cute little film. If you're a bit hesitant about my recommendation just check out the credits and you'll see a few notable names. LOVE IT!

But you don't have to take my word for it...