Guilty Pleasures

Watch your soaps online

I must have been 12 or 13 years old when I first started watching soap operas. With not a lot else do to in the summer, my sister and I would eat our lunch and spend a couple of hours flipping channels between various soap operas.  

The stories were always a bit scandalous and outlandish and a lot of fun to watch. But neither of us really kept up with watching any of the shows after summer ended – although I’d usually tune in when we had a day off from school.  

These days, daily soap operas on network TV are almost a thing of the past, with shows like “Guiding Light,” “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” no longer on air.

But while you can’t watch them on TV, you can catch up with shows like “One Life to Live” online. The Online Network revived the popular soap, and streams new 30-minute episodes online on Tuesdays and Thursdays for free at TOLN.com and Hulu.com, as well as on Hulu Plus and via iTunes.

“One Life to Live” features Sioux Falls native Jerry ver Dorn (below), who’s played the role of Clint Buchanan on the popular soap since 2005.

Photo courtesy of Pat Harbron/The Online Network

Vote for Miss South Dakota USA

Jessica Albers will represent South Dakota in the Miss USA competition in Las Vegas in June, but you can help her get closer to the crown now.

Contestants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be judged in three categories – swimsuit, evening gown and interview – as they vie for the coveted title of Miss USA. The woman with the most votes between now and June 15 will automatically get a spot in the semifinals. Vote for Albers here.

Albers, 27, graduated from Mount Marty College and is the executive manager of operations for Countryside Stores in northeast Nebraska. In her spare time, she teaches Zumba, and has been a licensed instructor since 2011.

The 2013 Miss USA Competition will air live from the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino at 8 p.m. on June 16 on KDLT. Giuliana Rancic and Nick Jonas are this year’s hosts.

Look for Brandon native Samantha Colburn on ‘Criminal Minds’

See Brandon native Samantha Colburn on “Criminal Minds” this week.

Colburn plays Melody Payton on an episode called “Nanny Dearest.” The episode follows the “Criminal Minds” team as they travel to Los Angeles looking for an UnSub who is kidnapping nannies and the children they care for on the same day each year.

Colburn has had quite a bit of success in Hollywood. She made her television debut as Dr. Marta Torrez opposite Hugh Laurie on “House M.D.” and more recently was seen with Kristen Bell and Don Cheadle on Showtime’s “House of Lies,” on ABC Family’s “Jane by Design” with Andie MacDowell and The CW’s “Hart of Dixie” with Rachel Bilson. Colburn is also currently featured in an M&Ms commercial.

“Criminal Minds” airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday on KELO.

Free Comic Book Day

We stopped at Rainbow Sports Cards and Comics today for Free Comic Book Day. My 8-year-old son loves comic books, and I love to see him reading, so it was a perfect way to spend part of a Saturday morning.

And we ran into a few of his favorite characters, too.

Free Comic Book Day runs all day. See costumed “Star Wars” enthusiasts, members of the 501st Legion and the Rebel Legion, along with Iron Man, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

And May the Fourth be with You. Happy Star Wars Day!

USD grad in ‘Iron Man 3’

Look for Freeman, S.D., native and 2009 University of South Dakota grad Elliott Graber in “Iron Man 3” when it opens in theaters this weekend. (Read a review of the movie here.)

Graber plays a White House techie. He doesn’t have any speaking lines, but appears in a scene with Don Cheadle.

Earlier this year, Graber played the role of a younger version of Phil Dunphy in the ABC comedy, “Modern Family.”

After graduating from USD, Graber worked in musical theater, touring around the country, and did some film and commercial work in Minneapolis. He now lives in Los Angeles.

Turning broken branches into art

I know many of you are cleaning up tree branches. I will be, too. My poor 10-year-old apple tree cracked down the middle of its trunk last night. (Wah! No more fresh-off-the-tree apple pie.) Fortunately, my other trees are still fine, and cleaning up shouldn’t take long.

But if you have a lot of big branches, my brother-in-law, Jess Elofson, might be able to help.

Jess is a potter, and has built a large wood fire kiln. When he fires it up, it burns for at least 80 hours straight, slowly getting up to 2,500 degrees. Needless to say, he goes through a lot of wood. And he wants yours.

Some requirements, though. He doesn’t want small branches – he only wants wood thicker than your arm. And he prefers birch, elm, oak and ash. 

So if you’ve got a lot of wood and want to help an artist, Jess has a gassed up chainsaw. Shoot him an email at Jesselofson@hotmail.com.

Good for you. Good for him. Good for art.

The wood fire kiln in action. (Read about how he built it here.)

Pretty pots.

‘Big Brother’ casting call

If you’ve ever wanted to be a reality TV star, now’s your chance.

CBS will hold an open casting call for “Big Brother” from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at Grand Falls Casino Resort near Larchwood, Iowa.

The show’s producers are looking for those 21 and older to compete in the 15th season of the series for the chance to win half a million dollars.

Chosen participants will live with a group of strangers while multiple cameras record life inside the home 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while competing in physical competitions, social play and mental games.

The show will air starting in July on KELO. Find all the casting details here.

The science fair volcano

For the school science fair this year, my son Josh decided he wanted to make a volcano.

We tried to talk him out of it. Everyone does one. My husband Matt didn’t want this to happen.

But he’s almost 8. Eight-year-old boys want to make things explode, and building a volcano that erupts is probably the coolest science project out there. So it’s hard to stifle a kid’s excitement about a totally optional, educational school project, just because you know it’s going to take a lot of time and probably mess up your kitchen.

So Josh read up on volcanoes and learned all sorts of interesting things. Volcanoes erupting are kind of like farts, he decided. There’s so much pressure, the gas inside the earth has to go somewhere! He even found a few jokes about volcanoes. What does a volcano use to see at night? A lava lamp!

I helped Josh type up some of volcanic facts to print (real facts – nothing about farts), cut and glue on his poster. And then it was time to build the volcano.

This is where Matt came in. He had the idea to build the volcano on a piece of wood and router out a “moat” around the base of the volcano, with a hole on one end so the fake lava would have somewhere to go and it could drip onto a bucket on the floor. Brilliant idea, and it worked like a charm. I knew I married that man for a reason.

But when Matt got out the level and talked about needing to build the volcano to scale, I knew he was getting a little carried away. (Like I should talk. But this is my blog, not his, so if Matt wants to tell people about ridiculous things I’ve done, he can start his own.) For the record, the volcano is not built to scale. That would be crazy.

Still, Matt and I only argued with other once during the couple of days it took to help Josh build the darn thing, which I consider a huge success. (Though next time, he says, Josh either has to start his science fair project at least two weeks ahead of time or leave him out of it. But what fun is it to start a big project ahead of time? Apparently, some people just can’t handle a little deadline pressure.)

Anyhow, the science fair was last night, and everything went really well. Josh had a great time making his volcano erupt – and used an entire one-gallon bottle of vinegar, box of baking soda and three little bottles of food coloring in the process. (And to think I almost bought the small bottle of vinegar.) He didn’t win, but honestly didn’t care all that much. He learned a lot, and loved showing off his project. Nice work, kid.

All things Pinterest

I’ve been obsessed with Pinterest for quite a while now. I’m not sure when I started pinning things – a year ago? Two years ago? – but it’s a daily web thing for me. The virtual bulletin board that allows you to pin projects, recipes and whatever else to save for later is like having all of your bookmarks in one place, accessible anywhere. I love it.

I’ve pinned dozens of recipes for cookies, cake and other sweet treats. (And even made a few, most of which ended up being delicious.) I’ve pinned cool ideas that I could incorporate into a future house. (And will, I swear, when we sell our house and start building another.) I’ve even pinned projects I like but will probably never, ever do. (Even though I’d like to think I might someday).

But this site – Pinterest, You Are Drunk – might be even better. It’s not because I’ll find my new favorite cookie recipe or something else that promises to be amazing and that will change my life. No, it’s just awesome, with hilarious commentary about things people have spotted on Pinterest, like this: 

Go there now. You can thank me later.

Oscar fashion flubs

As much fun as it is to talk about the fabulous fashion at the Oscars, dissing the fashion flubs is even better.

Here’s who I thought missed the mark last night.

Anne Hathaway’s light pink backless Prada gown is very pretty and very sophisticated. And I loved her necklace. But I can’t get over how it emphasizes her bust – and not in a good way. I’ll let the dress’s Twitter tell the rest of the story.

I really like Melissa McCarthy, but I hate the way this David Meister dress makes her look. I know she’s not a size 2, but this dress does nothing for her body. She looks like she’s wearing a garbage bag with a few sequined accents. Ugh.

There’s nothing really wrong with Kristen Stewart’s Reem Acra gown (though I don’t really like the back). I think my distaste of the dress has more to do with Stewart herself. She’s just super awkward, unenthusiastic and frankly looked a little disheveled. Comb your hair already!

Halle Berry’s silver and black Versace gown is sexy, but it was a little too 1980s “Dynasty” for me. Are those shoulder pads?

At 75, Jane Fonda looks amazing. She has a phenomenal body. But I just can’t say I like this canary yellow Versace gown. Maybe I just don’t like yellow. But this dress wasn’t a hit in my book.  

Who made your worst dressed at the Oscars list?