catheroominations

Sizzle did something fun a LONG FREAKING TIME ago, and I wanted to play too. She assigned me the letter N.

Here now is a list of ten things that I love, that all start with the letter N.

1. Newcastle Brown Ale
My college sweetheart, John introduced me to beer, and Newcastle was our favorite. To this day, if I go to a bar or restaurant and they have Newcastle on tap, that’s my first pick. And it’s often in our fridge. It is oh so good. Nice and nutty flavor, never bitter. John passed away in 2001, and every time I drink Newcastle, I think of him.

2. Nikon
I shoot with a Nikon D50, and I have an SB-600 Speedlight, also from Nikon. I adore my camera and I hope to collect more, and better lenses for it in the near future. I love what my Nikon can do with what I see. I love it so much, it’s almost like it’s an Apple product or something.

3. Neil Patrick Harris
John, the college sweetheart I mentioned above used to get told by everyone that he looked like NPH. That was during the Doogie days and he was always kind of “gee, thanks a lot” about it. But today Neil Patrick Harris has a hotness quotient he didn’t exhibit when he was Dr. Hauser. If you have never watched How I Met Your Mother, I highly suggest you tune in. I recently noticed there was a laugh track on the show, and I can’t believe I never heard it before. The show is so funny on its own, it certainly doesn’t need a laugh track, and I’m so distracted by the wit, I must tune it out or something.

4. NPR
NPR have some killer programming, and I subscribe to two of their podcasts. Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me and the Sunday Puzzle with Will Shortz are two of my favorite programs on NPR. They’re both clever, intelligent, and both of them make me feel really smart when I get an answer right. For their year-end shows, Wait, Wait… replayed an episode featuring President Obama while he was in the Senate. If you can find it, listen. It’s funny radio without being idiotic. Also, look for the episodes with Denis Leary and Campbell Brown. Wait, Wait brings out the funny in people. And those who are already funny are downright hilarious on this show. Oh, and the Amy Sedaris episode – classic. Shall I go on?

5. NBC Universal
What is it with NBC and their addictive programming on Thursdays? Back in the day there was Cheers. There was Hill Street Blues (or was that a Tuesday night show?) and then Friends, Seinfeld, Will and Grace, and ER. And now, The Office and 30 Rock (and the final season of ER) occupy my DVR on Thursdays. How do they do it, those people at NBC? Plus, they own Bravo, which airs Top Chef and Project Runway. There are other good shows on other networks, but NBC knows how to do Thursdays right. Oh, and Tuesday nights, The Biggest Loser is huge (pun totally intended) at our house.

6. Newton Faulkner
Work has been really busy of late, and when I’m feeling overwhelmed and stressed, I just put in my earbuds and find Newton Faulkner in my iTunes. He calms me, without distracting me from what I’m doing. By the way, he was born the year before I graduated from high school. I’m so old, but that young’un can really sing.

7. Natural Peanut Butter
Ingredients: Peanuts, salt. That’s IT. As I attempt to change my eating habits to more whole foods and fewer preservatives and processed crap, natural peanut butter has become a treat. It tastes like peanut butter, not sugar. I love the consistency because I can feel the tiny bits of peanuts in there, even in the creamy version. I bought a jar from Whole Foods for $1.99. Who knew one could find such goodness at Whole Foods for just $2?

8. New York City
I heart NY, for real. I’ve only been there twice, once in the humidity of summer (I was on the Today show, did you see me?), and once in the frigid winter. I love the energy and I feel safer walking around alone there than I do in San Francisco. I took the subway from Midtown to Harlem alone and was never worried about a thing. When friends took a cab to dinner, I walked. I adore Central Park and was fortunate enough to run a race there in July of 2005. Being a theatre geek, I go a little nuts over Broadway, and on my last trip packed in as many shows as I could. I want to go there in the fall one year and take hundreds thousands of photos of the architecture, the city lights, the food, the people.

9. Nintendo Wii
Although I have neglected my Wii of late, there was a time when I was addicted to it. Addicted, I tell you. I regressed back to my Atari days and would tell Matte, “just one more game,” before I would hand over the controller. There were weekends when we wouldn’t get dressed at all, and play Wii Sports, Super Mario Galaxy, and Guitar Hero for hours at a time. We would break for food and the bathroom, and other than that, we were molded into the couch cushions, watching Nintendo’s version of ourselves bowl, flip around to fit into bubbles, and play rockstars. Now my addiction to television has distracted me from my Nintendo.

10. Nob Hill Foods
This is my favorite I-can-buy-anything-at-this-store grocery store. I love Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, but I usually have to go to a second store to supplement my groceries. But not when I go to Nob Hill. They have gorgeous produce, and killer cuts of meat. They have enough organic stuff to choose from and a lot of low-fat and low-calorie versions of things as well. Their generic version of shredded wheat is better (yes) than the one at Trader Joe’s. The biggest plus for me is that Nob Hill is close enough to my house that I can walk, assuming I’m not doing my “big” shopping. Oh, and they have a sushi bar, which includes brown rice versions of some of my favorites. Yes, I know brown rice is probably blasphemy to sushi snobs, but sometimes I need my fix, and brown rice is a healthier substitute. When I shop on Saturday mornings, I must grab a nonfat latte from Peet’s, which is right inside the store. Awesome.

If you want to play, leave me a comment and I will assign you a letter for your meme. I promise not to give you X or Z. It’ll be a good letter. And, like Sizzle, I won’t assign you a deadline. I think it took me 2 weeks to get this post done!