I was up at 8:30 and have been watching episodes of Chappelle’s Show for the last hour and a half, while half-heartedly doing some cleaning.

Anyway… I’ve been checking out some stuff online and found this interesting article, entitled “50 Things We Know Now (That We Didn’t Know This Time Last Year) 2006 Edition“. Here are some of my favorites:

• Scientists have discovered that certain brain chemicals in our tears are natural pain relievers.
• Some 45 percent of Internet users, or about 60 million Americans, said they sought online help to make big decisions or negotiate their way through major episodes in their lives during the previous two years.
• During the past five years, the existence of a peanut allergy in children has doubled.

Also, last night, I got to hang out with my friend Elizabeth (of DetoxMoxie fame). We ordered in some vegetarian takeout from a place nearby called Veggie Heaven. The spring rolls were tasty-tasty, and we were talking about the changes she’s made to her life lately… and the changes that I’m trying to make in my own (with the exercise and the finances and whatnot). We got into talking about strange food cravings - like waking up and wanting broccoli or cherries or watermelon or whatever. I mentioned one of my favorite food-related sites to her and felt that I should share it here, too… just ‘cuz.

The site is World’s Healthiest Foods. Basically, whenever I get a weird-ass craving (for broccoli or walnuts or cucumber) I check this site to see what the food in question contains. Basically, I believe that when you experience a strange craving out of the blue like that, it’s because your body is experiencing a deficiency of one of the “ingredients” of that food and that the craving is a way for your body to indicate, “Hey - you need some of this.” Thus, if I do a site search on broccoli, I’ll see a fun bar chart showing the respective levels of nutrients.

Broccoli - vitamins C, K, A, folate and fiber
Walnuts - omega 3 fatty acids, manganese and copper
Kidney beans - molybdenum, folate, tryptophan, fiber, protein

Look up any food and the search results will show you a variety of places where the food is mentioned. Scroll down to the section called “Food/Spice” and then select the food from the list. You’ll find a wealth of information including how to prepare the food, how to select it when buying it, the health benefits and lots of other fun stuff.

And a transcript of Stephen Colbert’s talk at the White House Correspondants Dinner. And a video.