The best of the best is right here

espn.com published its All-Decade NFL team but I have some disagreements with it.  *I can’t necessarily evaluate positions such as defensive tackle because comparing Kris Jenkins to Richard Seymour is apples to oranges.  [And being a lineman in a 3-4 is totally different than being in a 4-3.]*

Remember that this is an All-Decade team and not who I would start a team with today…

QB:  Tom Brady
He rewrote the record books with his 2007 campaign.  4 Super Bowl appearances and 3 championships.  I was almost tempted to put Peyton Manning here because of his statistical dominance over the past decade.  But he has played with one of the best receivers ever (Marvin Harrison), in a dome for 8+ games a year, and within a system designed for tons of 300-yard passing games.  Brady is my lover.  I can’t wait for him to return to dominance this year.

RBs:  LaDainian Tomlinson
I even wrote RBs to signify that I wanted to put multiple running backs here but I can’t.  LT owns.  Who else would I put here?  Priest Holmes?  Marshall Faulk? (if this was a 1994-2004 team, then maybe him…but it’s not…)  I think that Adrian Peterson will make the next All-Decade team at this position.

WRs:  Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss
Harrison’s numbers are simply too hard to ignore.  Possibly the best route runner of the decade too.  Moss could and still can take on two or three defenders at a time.  Ridiculous.  A case is to be made for Torry Holt and TO, but criminal Harrison and smoothie man Moss top the list.

TE:  Tony Gonzalez
Duh.

I’m going to ignore O-lineman because all the same ones already get recognized and there’s no real way to differentiate them; Jones, Pace, Ogden, Birk, Mawae, Faneca, etc….they’re all great.

LBs:  Ray Lewis, Derrick Brooks, Zach Thomas
Lewis was the centerpiece of one of the best defenses over the past decade, Brooks is everywhere, and Thomas made every tackle for the Dolphins over the past decade.

CBs:  Champ Bailey, Ty Law
Stop howling that I put Law here.  For the early part of this decade, Law gambled and always won.  Chris McAlister never lived up to his potential.  Troy Vincent was amazing but no Law in my opinion.  Nnamdi Asmougha is still too young for this list.

Safeties:  Brian Dawkins, Bob Sanders, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed
I could not pick two simply because Polamalu and Reed receive all the accolades (rightfully so), but Sanders, when healthy, is EVERYWHERE (props for the 5′8” guy with a 40″ vertical), and Dawkins has been the centerpiece of the defense that has been to 5 out of the last 8 NFC championship games.

[Today's title is brought to you by the name of the strawberry kiwi lifewater from Sobe.]

Many of you were intrigued by my burrito rankings from a while ago (see below). I did it to remember the places I’d been but it also allowed me to get recommendations on where I should go next. I am extremely happy that all of you took interest! Thank you for your input.

Now I present my diet soda rankings. I drink regular (original) soda maybe once a month, if that. The reason is that I can save a hundred or two hundred calories a day this way.  I may not always make the healthiest choices, but this is one of them.  There is the detrimental dental effect of diet soda consumption, but for the sake of argument let’s say you otherwise take great care of your teeth :-) 

For those still concerned about a diet soda-cancer link, many studies negate that link. Here’s one report:
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Large government study
The new study, by scientists at the National Cancer Institute, involved 340,045 men and 226,945 women, ages 50 to 69, participating in a research project by the National Institutes of Health and AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons.

From surveys they filled out in 1995 and 1996 detailing food and beverage consumption, researchers calculated how much aspartame they consumed, especially from sodas or from adding the sweetener to coffee or tea.

Over the next five years, 2,106 developed blood-related cancers such as lymphoma or leukemia, and 376 developed brain tumors. No link was found to aspartame consumption for these cancers in general or for specific types, said Unhee Lim, who reported the study’s findings.

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Here is my list (from worst to best). I’ll make the disclaimer that none of these is really all that bad tasting, but I’m grading on a curve

(10): Diet Ginger Ale. Sorry. Had to start somewhere. There’s no essence of real ginger in Ginger Ale and no essence of real Ginger Ale in Diet Ginger Ale.  So…Diet Ginger Ale = worthless.  This is the perfect equation for our loser today.  Tough competition.
(9): Diet Root Beer. I always have such high hopes when I buy a bottle/can. I’m looking for a bite and never really get one. [I probably drink regular root beer more so than any other soda because I like its taste so much.]  Only Diet Barq’s really delivers. Regardless, this drink needs to be ice cold in order to satisfy but otherwise my mom’s ‘tastes like medicine’ comments hold true.
(8): Diet Sunkist. Again, it’s an expectations thing. I’m looking for a bite. Original Sunkist doesn’t have the same type of bite that original root better does, but it’s a bite nonetheless. Again, it needs to be ice cold otherwise it completely loses its effect.  The chemical lab-like orange color does little to help its case.
(7): Diet Pepsi. It’s the worst tasting of the best sellers. Just not as good as Diet Coke and the constantly changing bottle label colors aren’t helping either. Don’t try and entice me with your ‘Max’ labels…I don’t want ‘Max’ amounts of whatever you put in there…I’ve had enough, thanks.  But more Britney Spears ads, please.
(6): Sprite Zero. One magazine article ranked this as the top diet soda because of its simplicity in taste. There are certainly days when I agree but again, the competition is tough so simplicity is just not enough.  Not quite a ‘zero’ but not a winner either.
(5): Diet Coke. My usual choice of drink with a burrito.  A real classic.
(4): Coke Zero. Wait, scratch that.  This is my choice of drink with a burrito. The Zero edges its less cool cousin by a hair because of its resemblance to real Coca Cola and because of the rare appearance of Vanilla Coke Zero in a restaurant near you.
(3): Diet 7up. Not thought of as much as the others, but still a super drink. A little bit more lemon-lime in taste than Sprite Zero. Your best ’safe’ choice.
(2): Diet Mountain Dew. Extremely undervalued. Has the bite. Has a taste that doesn’t make you think it’s something totally different than original Mountain Dew. Do the Dew is an awesome slogan. And as an underdog compared to the other giants at the top of this list, it’s hard not to root for.
(1): Diet Dr. Pepper. WHERE ARE YOU WHEN I NEED ONE?! While the regular is superb by itself, Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, a recent addition to the Diet Dr. Pepper line (even more recent than Black Cherry, Cherry Chocolate, and French Vanilla Cherry…how weird is that…), truly puts Diet Dr. Pepper over the top.  Oh Diet Dr. Pepper, I want to get my PhD from wherever you got yours.

Not applicable: Fresca. It’s pretty killer because of its fruity bite (I guess that’s the defining term of this entry), but since it does not have a regular counterpart (it’s not even advertised as ‘diet’), it’s ineligible for this list. Based on taste alone, it’s probably 2A in my rankings.

So enjoy a zero-calorie drink and I sure will too. A toast to you…to many more happy years ahead.

Wait!  Am I missing a drink? Diet Sierra Mist? RC Cola? Tab? Well, write your comments below or let me know!

Hey everyone,

I hope things are going well for you.  I am finishing my time at UPenn.  I received my master’s degree (cellular and molecular biology) last month and have been volunteering in a lab since then.  I get to learn new skills for the next few weeks without the added pressure of schoolwork.  This is also convenient because my lease runs out at the end of the June and I need something to do until then!

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This last week, I went through my annual ritual of getting sick for a week.  Cold…flu…I don’t know.  I caught something on the way to Los Angeles and have been trying to fend it off since.  Last Friday, I tried something in Jainism called a Mohn Vrata where you are silent (or as possible as can be) for a whole day.  For religious purposes, its intent is to make a person reflect on his or her environment.  [Conveniently as a result of me being sick I lost my voice as well.]  I honestly felt as if it made a significant difference.  I felt more aware of my surroundings and was able to listen to people without thinking of what I would say (or in this case communicate) in return. 

I won’t be able to shut myself up permanently but it’s something I will try more often.  I really think that if you are able to try it for one morning, it will do a lot of good.  I did have to carry a small pad and pen around but most everyone I communicated with that morning picked up on my verbal and hand gestures.

Try it! 

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Today’s Onion calendar in our bathroom has a hilarious horoscope.  Paraphrasing, “You claim to want adventure and to try new things but usually you just fill up on free salad and breadsticks.”

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Making things personal.  If you want to make a difference, make something personal.  Instead of passing someone in the hall and saying, “Hello” or “What’s up?”, say, “Hey John” or “Hey Sarah”…adding a name to things just makes that greeting so much more personal.

This can be especially useful for those friends you are not extra close with because it brings you two closer together, and hell, it just makes you feel good.

Another example.  I was at Ami’s dental school graduation last month.  A classmate of hers who is a good guy but I don’t keep in touch with that much asked me how I was doing so I responded in kind.  Then he remembered all of this stuff about my academic happenings and it really caught me by surprise that he had remembered all of this information that either Ami or I had told him a while ago.  It made the conversation more personal…more so than just talking to a friend of someone I know.

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My uncool list based on recent happenings:
1.  Ending a thought or sentence with two periods/dots instead of one or three.  Are you ending a sentence or continuing a thought?  Make up your mind!
2.  Rice rockets
3.  Burger King French Fries
4.  Cars that fly through pedestrian crosswalks when I happen to be crossing one
5.  Southwest Airlines (could be others too) for removing airplane blankets due to swine flu
6.  SEPTA (the public transit system in Philly) for giving you only the maximum tokens for the money you put into the machine (as opposed to you getting a choice of how many tokens you want…so if you have only a $20…you have to get 12 tokens)…switch to a damn card system like the MBTA, RTA, MTA, etc.
7.  Campus Apartments for removing my bike from the bike rack while doing repairs and failing to show up at the mutually agreed time for me to come and pick it up.

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That’s all for now.  Back to lab work but it felt good to just write for a bit and get some thoughts out.  Much love to everyone