Amanda's Adventures and New Product Reviews

Confessions of a reluctant foodie | Group Tour Magazine Blog MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 Photo: Amanda Black Fresh produce waits for a buyer at the Old Town Manassas Farmers Market in Virginia.  Confessions of a reluctant foodie Cool is not my middle name. I don’t understand steampunk, and most popular music sounds like noise to me. But somehow, I’ve joined the hipster crowd. It wasn’t the new pair of glasses I just ordered or the amount of time I spend watching the  Nerdist Channel  on YouTube. It’s this fact. I’m a foodie. There, I said it. I’m a foodie. Foodie. Gourmet. Epicure. Picky eater. Worried about sustainability. A cook. A member of a food co-op. Frequent visitor to the farmer’s market. A person who drives through the country with dollar bills in my pocket so I can buy the freshest produce. This is not the place I expected to end up, but I’m very happy here. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and I can think of several re...

All the small things | Group Tour Magazine Blog All the small things This blog by Senior Staff Writer Amanda Black ponders the benefits of thinking small Time passes too quickly. I suspect I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. While I can’t do anything about the march of time, I’ve decided to do something about wasting so much time. I was thinking back to last summer and couldn’t come up with much that I did—besides a nice vacation t o Bowling Green, Ky . I live 10 miles from Lake Michigan, and the only time I saw the lake was in September when my mom came to visit. This weekend, I was talking to my mom, and I told her about my plan to make the most of the summer. Her reply was that it’s not summer yet. But I explained, for those of us who live in the frozen north, summer means any time there’s not snow on the ground. I’m not going to let so much time pass without doing something exciting. But, gas costs a million dollars a gallon, I’m busy, I have a bad knee ...

Check out my latest blog at Group Tour Magazine....my confession on why I love monkey pictures. Monkey business © 2012 Group Tour Media Blog, February 27, 2012 What some monkey pictures and a cheeky squirrel have to teach group tour planners about website engagment, a blog by Senior Staff Writer Amanda Black I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with monkeys — not actual ones, just cute ones in pictures. In real life, they can be mean, smelly nuisances. But come on, have you seen how darling these little guys are in pictures? So I’ve decided that monkeys are awesome in theory. Anyone who converses with me on a regular basis through electronic means (either by IM, Facebook or e-mail) has seen their dose of monkey pictures shared with them. Now it’s your turn. The Daily Mail, the venerable London tabloid (as tabloids go) often posts monkey pictures stories on its delightful website, Mail Online. They know these stories will get hits, and it’s working. Today’s cover page...

May flowers get all of the press, but August flowers are the most lovely, in my opinion.

Religion is not a four-letter word.   (N.B: I do not use this phrase literally. I can count. I mean four-letter word in the sense of a verboten word.) Many people are quick to dismiss the word religion. Not 20 minutes ago, I was jamming away to the Jason Gray song, "More Like Falling In Love."  Give me words   I'll misuse them   Obligations   I'll misplace them   'Cause all religion ever made of me   Was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet   It never set me free   It's gotta be   It's like I'm falling in love, love, love   Deeper and deeper   It was love that made   Me a believer   In more than a name, a faith, a creed   Falling in love with Jesus brought the change in me While his sentiment is right on, I word that the world "religion" is getting an unfair knock here. Gray is absolutely right. Love is more important than rote action. There needs to be more than obligations. After all,...

Talk about vintage...here' s my proud pappa and me in early 1977.

I'm trying to write more as a regular habit. There's a lot that goes on in this brain and heart and mind, but sometimes, I keep it too bottled up inside. The last week has brought out a lot of emotions in me with the finale of Lost. Of course, it's just a TV show, and I know that. But it's also the end of an era for the community. We will still talk about the show for years to come and will still will be friends, but we've lost the thread that keeps us together. I'm so thankful for these online friends (and some that have transformed into real-world ones thanks to last weekend). I'm a little worried that we'll lose our tenuous grip on our friendship. But maybe I just need to have faith that we found each other in the first place, so things will continue. I feel a bit like I did at graduation. You're excited that everything is ending and a new chapter is here, but it's terrifying too. It's been harder in a weird way to watch other finales....