The Chronic Consumer

Pocky is a very popular Japanese snack that has gotten a bit of a bad name recently because of its widespread appeal to fanboys and manga/anime freaks. While many Americans still might not even know about Pocky, those who do seem to greet the topic with an eyeroll because of the aforesaid reason. But that doesn’t change the fact that Pocky is, quite simply, one of the best snack foods I’ve ever had. My all-time favorite variety is Almond Crush Pocky, which I could eat every day for the rest of my life.

Almond Crush Pocky features the traditional Pocky “biscuit” stick, and is covered with dark chocolate and bits of crushed almonds. The taste combination of these three items is amazing, and really fills my snacking need whenever I grab a pack. Of course, I pay for the goodness in terms of calories, but hey, it’s nothing a brisk walk can’t work off!

To me, nothing says Easter quite like Cadbury Creme Eggs. I’ve been eating these things ever since I was a kid, and I love them as much today as I did back then. I don’t know if Cadbury Creme Eggs are available year round, because I somehow never develop a taste for them in any other season, but according to Wikipedia, they are the best-selling confection in the UK from New Year’s until Easter. Wow!

In case you’ve been living under a rock and have never had these treats before, let me try to describe them to you. Cadbury Creme Eggs are made to look like a real egg. So they’re egg-shaped, with a “shell” made of chocolate, and the “white” and “yolk” part made of something called fondant. The end result is quite sweet — almost sickly so — and therefore I’ve never been able to eat a ton of them. But two or three during Easter is not unheard of.

Love these things!

I had to make a copy of my condo door key, and it ended up costing me a whopping $20!! I guess the key is one of those high-tech security keys (it has a lot of half holes drilled in the end rather than the standard “teeth” that you’d see on a regular house or car key.

Anyway, I made the key for my boy, who’s now old enough to come and go by himself. I just hope to god he doesn’t lose it, because I don’t know how many more copies I’ll be able to afford!!!

I’m in the middle of giving my house a thorough spring cleaning, and have set aside several boxes full of usable items in good condition that no one in the family wants anymore. So I’m thinking about having a yard sale — something I’ve never done before, but have always wanted to try.

Every year around Memorial Day, the whole block has a big yard sale, with a lot of people participating. It’s kind of fun to walk around and see what everyone has, but I never actually set up an area to sell my own stuff. This year will be different however, as I could actually use the extra cash.

Some of the items I’ll be passing on are a radio-controlled helicopter, various Disney souvenirs and knickknacks from past Orlando vacations, a CD/Tape player/radio, numerous DVD box sets for current and past television series, umpteen paperback and hardcover books, and more children’s toys and clothes than I can begin to inventory here.

Anyway, it would be nice to come away with a couple hundred bucks for this stuff. I know I could probably sell my items on eBay, but frankly, I don’t have time to sit around and monitor the auctions, chase down winning bidders for payment, and then pack and ship whatever is sold. A yard sale would definitely be a lot easier to orchestrate!

A while back, I tried a bag of Burger King Flame Broiled Potato Chips, and while I thought they tasted ok, I didn’t think they were anything special and wouldn’t go out of my way to buy them again. That conclusion didn’t stop me, however, from wanting to try the other flavor of BK chips currently on the market: Ketchup & Fries.

I know some people think that the idea of ketchup potato chips is disgusting, but I tried them about 10 years ago in Canada and thought they weren’t any stranger than other flavors. At any rate, the BK Ketchup & Fries chips didn’t taste exactly like ketchup and fries, but they do have a distinct flavor that is actually pretty good.

These aren’t likely to become my favorite snack food, or even a regular purchase on my weekly grocery shopping trips, but I’d much rather buy these again than the Flame Broiled variety because at least they’re different from everything else out there!

I love to read in bed until I drop off to sleep, and especially love doing so now that I have a Kindle. For me, this has always been the best way for me to unwind after a long day and get myself ready to sleep. In fact, I have a lot of trouble falling asleep if I don’t read a bit first, so this is practically a necessity. The only thing I don’t like about the scenario is that after I start nodding off, I have to get out of bed to turn the light off.

Well, not anymore. I bought a Mighty Bright Book Light to solve this problem, and I have to say that the device works absolutely wonderfully. The Mighty Bright is a small, lightweight clip-on book light that I can attach to the back of my Kindle book cover. It has two LED bulbs and a flexible head, and provides the perfect amount of light for reading. The Mighty Bright runs on three AAA batteries, and is very compact and convenient.

The Mighty Bright is billed as a “no glare” product, but this obviously only holds true with paper books. There is indeed a glare on the Kindle screen, but I get around that by swiveling the arm to one side or the other instead of having the screen illuminated from above. This works very well, and doesn’t impede page turning on the Kindle at all. Just for the record, I’ve used Mighty Bright with paperback books too. It works nicely with those–no glare, easy to hold the book even with the light attached, etc.

The bottom line is that the Mighty Bright Xtra Flex Book Light is an awesome little product that is a must for anyone who likes to read in bed, on airplanes, or anyplace else where an overhead light would disturb others. At $13.14, it’s a bargain, and definitely worth the price. I highly recommend this product!

I’ve really been slacking off in the review department recently. There are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that I’ve been working a lot more at my outside-the-home job than I usually do, I’ve been busying applying to grad school, and I simply haven’t been buying as many products as I normally would, thanks to the economy.

Nevertheless, I do have several items that I have to review soon, so here’s a quick list (which should serve nicely as a reminder for myself):

• Desert Essence Jojoba Oil
• Mighty Bright Book Light
• DVDs
• Burger King Ketchup & Fries Potato Chips
• Burt’s Bees Pore Refining Mask
• A new diet pill I’ve been trying for the past week or so

I don’t know when I’m going to find the time to write all of these reviews up. It will probably take me at least a couple of weeks to get through them all because my schedule is still full through the end of April!