chewing gum for something to do

Trident Splash gum is becoming kind of a problem for me. Here’s the thing. I don’t even really like chewing gum. I mean, I am very good at bubble blowing, and every now and then, I like a piece of cinnamon or minty if I don’t have access to my toothbrush. But Trident Splash pulled me in with their alluring combinations of fruit flavors, such as strawberry and lime, or apple and raspberry. Here’s the twist, or the splash, if you will: The shell of the gum is one of those fruit flavors, and on the inside is a burst of the other flavor.

This gum is pretty tasty, BUT ONLY FOR FIVE SECONDS. The time in which you get the flavor splash is really the only enjoyable thing about this gum. But that part is soooo good, that I’ve become like a drug addict trying to get that hit, that little burst of satisfaction. But it’s gotta be the shortest high ever. I’ll chew the gum for five seconds, spit it out, put in another piece of gum. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I just can’t stop. Sometimes I’ll chew the gum for a little bit, but I just think it gets so tasteless and gross, and all I can think about is another burst of flavor. One particular complication to my addiction is that I don’t have a trash can in my cubicle right now. I don’t want to be constantly reaching into this other girl’s cubicle to throw away my gum, so I’ve been adopting sort of gross ways of storing the gum until I’m in the vicinity of a trash can. I won’t really write too much about that.

Apparently this gum cleans your teeth after eating and is low in calories, so it’s better than snacking. I don’t know. My teeth hurt.

Tonight I went to a reading by Rob Sheffield, who wrote the book “Love is a Mix Tape,” which I read last year (here is my review: http://iwiggleitjustalittlebit.blogspot.com/2007/03/book-11-love-is-mix-tape.html). It was pretty fun, but low-key. He barely did any talking other than reading from the book. Readings are kind of a mixed bag when it comes to audience questions…there’s nothing worse than someone dumb asking stupid questions that just reflect poorly on your city as a whole. But no one asked any questions tonight. Is that worse than dumb questions? I don’t know. Rob Sheffield is so funny in Rolling Stone; I wouldn’t have minded hearing him wax rhapsodically about Britney Spears or reality television for awhile. But that’s kind of an odd request to frame.