win-win situations

Two recent discoveries making life a little better:

Vanessa, and a few days later my mom, sent me a link to freerice.com, and I think that it's just wonderful. Okay, so I like words. Maybe not everybody would find a vocabulary quiz so enjoyable. But the ingenious part about is that, every time you answer correctly, new, surprisingly unobtrusive, ads show up at the bottom of the screen. These ads generate enough cents to pay for ten grains of rice to people who need it, through the United Nations World Food Program. Ten grains may not seem like a lot, but if you're like me and therefore easily addicted to games like this one, ten plus ten plus ten... can add up pretty fast. It's a great temporary distraction, or serious procrastination tool, depending on how you use it. And it's refreshing, amid all the junk, to see that people have found a new way to use the internet for good.

On campus the other day, thirsty and just generally tired, I bought a Powerade, thinking that it might alleviate both of those symptoms. I rarely purchase energy drinks and I was unacquainted with the flavor that I chose that day. I am none the better for having become acquainted with it. It was really gross. I kept drinking it only because I convinced myself that it was good for me, but I never quite finished it. The next day, I reached for something different. It's called vitamin water. Half expecting to dislike this one, too, I was very pleasantly surprised. It is not loaded with high-fructose corn syrup, which, since its cost is inferior to that of sugar (unfortunately, its taste is inferior, too) is used in most sweet beverages. Nor are you left with that artificial-sweetener aftertaste. The people who make this stuff show us that just a little of the good stuff, meaning pure sugar, goes a long way. That means it tastes yummy without having tons of calories. And it's full of vitamins that you need and, if you're like me, you're probably not getting enough of. I'm sold, anyway. The first variety I tried, and perhaps still my favorite, was the dragonfruit-flavored "power-c", with vitamin c (duh) and taurine. I was a little taken aback by the second sentence of that wikipedia article on taurine, but it didn't kill me. And it didn't taste like bile, or at least not what I imagine bile would taste like. Blech, I'm going to stop imagining that now. The raspberry-apple flavored "defense" is pretty good, too, but I really like fruit-punch flavored "revive" and açaí-blueberry-pomegranate "xxx" (which stands for triple antioxidants), and "formula 50" tastes exactly like that grape-flavored gum you sometimes get at Japanese restaurants. Oh, and the descriptions on the bottles are clever and entertaining. Maybe I could get a job doing something quirky like that. Anyway, here's to something that really is good and good for you! Now, if only it weren't so expensive...