"All aboard!" The "MUNI Diaries" logo Muni Diaries – whether you live in San Francisco and ride its slow and human-stained MUNI buses and trains or not, you can still be amused, shocked, and/or disgusted by these fascinating tales of the publicly-transported in all their tired, smelly, and crammed-together glory. Populated largely by user-submitted content, the "Muni Diaries" blog shows public transportation for what it is: a strange social experiment, a fecund human Petri dish where the rich and poor, the young and old, and the healthy and sick cram together with all the nudity, violence, vomit, and sexual indiscretion that keeps the riding citizens endlessly entertained -- and always coming back for more. SticK – because quitting smoking, saving money, or exercising regularly is hard, StickK.com has devised a web-based method to help you keep the achievement of your goals on track. If you set a goal and do not achieve it, StickK.com will charge your credit card accordingly and send the money to a designated recipient. I Do Now I Don’t – these pre-owned wedding and engagement ring auction sites are becoming quite a burgeoning little industry. Every time I see a new one, I think, “Oh, that’s kinda funny,” until I start looking at the pictures of the rings and thinking about the stories of heartbreak that many of them hold, and then it just starts to seem sad. "I Do Now I Don't" also sells wedding dresses, which makes sense because teardrops can usually be washed right out of most fabrics. Airfare Watchdog – a new take on the airfare-deal-finding website, "Airfare Watchdog" provides you a list of surprisingly-inexpensive flights to and from various destinations with limitations on travel dates and times. If you’re just looking to get out of town and you’re flexible on your dates (or even your destination), a quick browse through their daily list of fares might be of interest. Cat Workout – sites like this really make me want to lose my job and hang around my house all day coming up with funny things to blog. "Cat Workout" helps users see the real value in having a cat: you can save money on exercise equipment! Having a cute little kitty in my arms while I’m doing “European squats” would not only provide me with soft and fuzzy joy, but would also provide the resistance that I need to maximize the effectiveness of my workouts. Suggested Sites... Muni Diaries - SF Muni adventure blog with stories, news, videos, and commentary about the bus-tastic San Francisco Municipal Railway. Get Muni news and submit your own Muni adventures, photos, videos, and stories. SticK - enables users to form commitment contracts to help them achieve their personal goals. These goals may be to lose weight, run a marathon, exercise regularly, quit smoking, or a personalized goal. Cat Workout - work out with these cat workout videos. Exercises include leg lifts, European squats, biceps training, and more. Airfare Watchdog - alerts consumers to fare reductions, airline discounts, and other unusually low airfares from a wide variety of sources. I Do Now I Don't - buy and sell pre-owned wedding rings, engagement rings, jewelry, and wedding dresses.

Directory categories: San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI), Personal Growth, Airfare Consolidators, Cats, Online Jewelry Auctions

Archived under: Air Travel, Animals, Auctions, Blogs, California, Cats, Cities, Commuting, Diets, Exercise, In Character, Internet, Motivation, Recycling, San Francisco, Shopping, Smoking, Trains, Transportation, Travel, Weddings, Yahoo! Directory

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(Photo by MST7022) It’s no secret that people are obsessed with body image. Those magazine covers at the supermarket check stand (just above all the candy) somehow manage to feature headlines about stars’ weight every week. Today is a day to ignore those gossip rags. International No Diet Day (INDD) is an occasion where we can move our attention away from reducing our body size and focus on expanding our minds. The way we think about weight and about people of different sizes is in need of a major adjustment. One important goal of INDD is to raise awareness about weight discrimination. While discrimination takes many forms, those affected by weightism do not yet have the protection of federal law. Just last month, United Airlines introduced a policy that could result in many overweight passengers being charged for two seats. This news did not sit well with the Association for Airline Passenger Rights. While it's difficult to measure the prevalence and effects of weight discrimination, there is evidence that it's as pervasive as racial bias. Its existence, though, does not seem to inspire the outrage that racism does. In the media, at least, it's taken as normal. Jessica Simpson recently put on a few pounds, and although she was quoted as saying that "curves are better," and that being super thin is not good for your body or mind, after being ridiculed in the press, she dropped two sizes in two months. If the number of advertisements for weight loss products and programs are any indication, we are pouring an incredible amount of money into that industry. While many of those products are most likely legitimate, there are health hazards to crash dieting, weight loss surgery, and, of course, the "miracle drugs" that are peddled aggressively. Last week, one of the most popular weight loss supplements, Hydroxycut, was recalled in response to reports of liver problems and one death. More than 9 million packages of the stuff were sold in the U.S. last year. So, at least for today, let’s take a break from all that. No "dieting." No obsessing. This doesn't mean, of course, to throw your doctor’s dietary advice out the window and have a junk food feast, but rather to take care of yourself, make healthy food choices, and not jump on the latest diet fad. If we can maintain positive, respectful attitudes about our bodies, and the bodies of those around us, maybe we can slowly change the behemoth we know as the beauty industry, and loosen its grip on our psyches. Suggested Sites... National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance - dedicated to ending size discrimination. The Council on Size and Weight Discrimination - consumer advocates in medical treatment, job discrimination, and media images. Body Positive - boosting body image at any weight. Big Fat Blog - more than 8 years of blogging the struggle for fat equality. Size Wise - resources and support for self-acceptance at any size.

Directory categories: Fat Acceptance, Weight Issues, Discrimination, Nutrition, Eating Disorders

Archived under: Diets, Eating, Food and Drink, Health, Issues and Causes, Obesity, Recalls, Society and Culture

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(Photo by Bethany) The holidays are finally over, but those calorie-laden meals you ate over the month of December are probably still sticking to your ribs. Well, at least that's the case for me. Though I've never been good at resolutions, this year I have finally decided to give the detox diet a try. The word "detox" strikes the fear in me -- it brings to mind Janet Jackson's unique colonics (coffee enemas, anyone?) or languishing on diets of strange tonics or juices. Proponents of detoxification diets believe that it can help the body remove environmental and dietary toxins. There are even diets to target specific parts of the body or a specific toxin (such as the heavy metal detox diet). Scientists disagree on whether the detox diet really works -- most agree that any prolonged type of dietary restriction could be dangerous. While I can't imagine surviving on mayple syrup and lemonade for any stretch of time, not all detox diets are so extreme. Done with caution, elements of detox diets are simply sensible eating. Typically, detox diets means saying goodbye to sugar, dairy, wheat, gluten, caffeine, and a host of other dietary sins. While I'm not exactly ready to give up my daily coffee fix, giving up some of the other items in the common detox diet isn't as difficult as one would imagine. Most detox diets also encourage eating fruits, vegetables, rice, and whole grains -- sounds pretty delicious to me. If you're considering purging some of the sinful foods you ate over the holidays, check out the Yahoo! Directory for detox tips, nutrition guidelines, and diet analysis tools. And if you have helpful tips on how to eat healthy, don't forget to share them in the comments box below. Suggested Sites... Detox Basics - get the basics down before you start any diet. Detox Diet Dangers - some detox diets may do more harm than good. Cancer's Enema No. 1? - controversial study involving...you guessed it -- coffee enemas.

Directory categories: Nutrition, Diet Analysis Tools, Colonics, Diets and Dieting, Weight Loss

Archived under: Diets, Eating, Fast Food, Food and Drink, Fried Food, Health, In Character, Junk Food, Obesity, Vegetables

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Now that the holidays are upon us, we thought that, rather than looking at the immediate past of sites and categories added to the Yahoo! Directory, we should take a look at the bigger picture; that is, the stuff you’ve looked for in years past, and which we’re pretty sure you’ll be looking for again this week. After all, this is the season for giving, and what better gift can we give you than the information you so desperately crave? Let’s start with the most obvious search: Thanksgiving. People will be hustling and bustling around the country to be with loved ones, so you’ll want to know whether your guests will arrive (or if you’re the traveler, how long it’ll take). Why not start in the Travel category, where you'll find information about ticketing, tracking flights, and airport advisories? If you're not flying, how about information about trains, automobiles -- or less traditional forms of travel? Of course, if you’re hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, you’ll probably want to decorate, and you’ll find clip art and graphics here -- even wallpaper for your computer. But let’s not forget the guest of honor: Mr. Tom Turkey. We can show you a vast array of ways to prepare the noble bird -- or even substitute a healthier alternative -- along with an array of ubiquitous side dishes from mashed potatoes and gravy to green bean casseroles. Not quite sure what to do with all that turkey afterwards? Fear not, as we can show you plenty of recipes for leftovers and soups. (And of course, if you just can’t stand another mouthful of stuffing, well, that’s what takeout is for.) Of course, since the holiday is just beginning, you know what comes next. Even in these economically-unsure times, there are those who just can't resist the siren call of the shopping mall, and we can show you where to go and who has the best deals. For those of you not shopping, who are of a more traditional persuasion, take a gander at some ideas for Christmas decorating -- after all, it’s only a month away (where the heck did 2008 go, anyway?). Regardless, happy holidays from your friends at the Yahoo! Directory; America’s favorite Internet source of aggregated information for over a tenth of a century. Suggested Sites... Yahoo! Directory: Turkey Cooking and Carving - it's not enough to roast the bird; you have to know how to serve it, too. Yahoo! Directory: Deep-Fried Turkey - for Pete's sake, don't burn the house down! Yahoo! Directory: Traffic and Road Conditions - plan your trip to arrive in one piece. Yahoo! Directory: Football - because Turkey Day isn't complete without pigskin... Yahoo! Directory: Turducken - ...unless you mean this kind of pigskin.

Directory categories: Thanksgiving, Travel, Families, Food and Drink, Pilgrims

Archived under: Birds, Celebrations, Christmas, Cooking, Decorating, Diets, Eating, Food and Drink, Football, Holidays, Pizza, Recipes, Shopping, Tofu, Travel, Turkey, Vegetables, Yahoo! Directory

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Fried grasshoppers, anyone? (Photo by Wiendietry Rusli) We here at The Spark have made no secret of our love of food. From tuna to Twinkies, from lutefisk to fried anything, you name it, we'll eat it. Well, maybe not fruitcake. But on seeing this disturbing product, we had to wonder if even we had our limits. We're the first to admit that a lot of our distaste for some canned foods is purely cultural: One man's meat is another man's haggis, after all. But when it comes to things like jellied eels ("traditional" jellied eels, mind you; none of those nouveau eels for us, please), or pork brains in milk gravy, or even vegetarian haggis (really, what's the point?), we just have to draw the line. Now, we're not saying we want all the world to indulge in, say, steak frites, or the old standby PB&J. But if the time ever comes when the buffet features nothing but pickled pork lips and huitaloche (also known as "corn smut"), well, that fasting diet will start to look pretty good. Suggested Sites... The Most Curious Canned Good Found Online - a canned whole chicken is the least of them. Trekking Mahlzeiten: Cheeseburger-In-a-Can - only 257 calories? Make mine a double! Steve. Don't Eat It! - ...unless you like silkworm pupae, that is. Mental Floss: 6 Canned Foods We're Reluctant to Try - and who can blame them? Weird-Food.com - it hasn't been updated since 2005, which makes us wonder if it was something he ate....

Directory categories: Food and Drink, International Food and Drink, Types of Food, Food and Beverage Businesses, Nutrition

Archived under: Cooking, Desserts, Diets, Fish, Food and Drink, Fried Food, Insects, Snacks, Weird Stuff

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