I was recently flipping through a magazine of mine called Today’s Diet & Nutrition when I came across an ad for The Portion Plate.

I remembered seeing this plate a few years back while watching a morning news program and thought that it was a clever idea to put portion control right where you can see it – smack on your plate.

The website has the melamine plate for sale for $11.95 plus $5.95 shipping/handling, but I ended up not buying it. I have the visuals. I know the size of a deck of cards equals the size of the chicken breast I’m supposed to eat. But it’s a great gift idea for someone you know who is trying to lose weight or simply be more cognizant of what they are eating at meal time.

I did a little bit more reflection on motivators to help me lose weight. Remember when Oprah wheeled out her red wagon of fat that represented all the weight she lost? I recalled seeing a replica of one pound of fat that you could buy for yourself. I didn’t know that one pound of fat requires an additional mile of blood vessels. Who knew? I decided this would be more motivating for me to put this on my nightstand or next to the table in the living room where I usually overeat to remind me to take it easy. Hell, I could even stuff it in my purse so that when I found myself roaming the candy aisle at the local CVS all I would have to do is unzip my purse to remind me that those sour skittles aren’t worth it.

However, owning a one pound or five pound replica of fat is kind of expensive. The one pound model sells for $26.95 and the five pound model is $83.95. I wish it didn’t cost so much. It’s just a big ole glob of rubberized fat.

If you’re looking for tools to help you stay focused with your weight loss program, you may want to consider the portion control plate or the one pound fat replica if you need some visual motivators to keep you on the track to weight loss success.

I discovered that I’m not quite prepared to spend money to buy either, but I have added that pound of flesh to my Amazon.com wish list.

Another reason elevators stress me out is the potential of inappropriate small talk. I cannot make small talk other than commenting on the weather or a simple “Good Morning” and then looking down at the floor. Once I noticed there was a button in our corporate elevator that said “P” and I actually said to an executive, “Oh, is that the mechanical penthouse?” No idea what that was supposed to mean.

So if you want to use the elevator and need to avoid small talk and large crowds, why not try this commonly known hack of pressing the floor you want to get to and the close button at the same time to immediate jet up to your desired location?

This new electronic toilet paper dispenser automatically dispenses five sheets at a time and runs on (4) D-sized batteries. The device will retail for $30 (plastic) or you can upgrade to stainless steel for a mere $55.

It’s not completely automated and features an emergency feed button should the need arise. And there is also the “rescue roll” featured on the side if you’re simply old fashion and want to use toilet paper the way God intended.

Sean Nichols, a marketer for this device, is already shipping the unit to late-night comedians for more exposure hoping to generate buzz to improve sales in this 1 billion “…away from home toilet paper market.”

I wonder who will feature it first on their late-night talk show? I’m guessing Conan O’Brien.

Why is all the cool stuff over in Europe?I don’t own a bike, but if I did I would want one of these bike seat covers. I’ll choose the doggy seat cover available to purchase from Vincon which has stores in Barcelona and Madrid.

Don’t you just love the smirk on the dog’s face? The bear and the goat seem pretty relaxed and non-judgemental, but it’s that dog’s expression that seems to say, “C’mon, you’re cool enough to sit on me and ignore the stares of people on the street.”

The KitchenAid Artisan-series mixer has just been introduced in a myriad of colors. It retails for $349.99.

Yea, I’ve always wanted one of these ever since working at Lechmere as a small appliances sales clerk. I can still recall the aisle we featured them in and the boxes were hefty. You could only fit two of them per shelf and there weren’t as many colors to choose from. I seem to recall white and black back in those days.

But now you can buy these delightful hogs in any color imaginable…well, within reason. They’ve got my favorite color Yellow available although when I selected their ‘majestic yellow’ it resembled more of a sunflower hue than a smiley face so I’ll pass on that one. I’ve chosen ‘ice’ as my favorite color should you want to buy me one.

Imagine what a domestic goddess I would be were I to have this 325 watt mixer. I’d be baking homemade cookies. I’d be mixing stuff. Well, I don’t know quite what the hell I would do with this monster other than mix cookie batter because that’s about the only thing I’ve ever seen this thing do in person. (Shout out to my pal Stephanie who demonstrated the cookie mixing!) But I could become a baker.

Screw that. I just want this ice-colored KitchenAid mixer because it’s a super unique color and would be fab in my kitchen. Visitors would be under the impression that I was a cook and that’s about all I’d be striving for other than their jealousy over the retro color.

I just don’t understand my fascination with Hello Kitty branded anything-especially electronics like coffee makers, alarm clocks and the pictured iPod Car Charger.

Is it because she’s pink, cute and a cat? (Cats are ok, but I’m a dog lover.) Do I get sucked in by the pink bow and marvel that any cat would let you put anything on its head for an extended period of time?

I wasn’t a fan of Hello Kitty when I was a girl growing up in the 70′s, a teenager in the 80′s or a young woman in the 90′s. But something changed in my mid-thirties and now I can’t get enough of her cuteness.

Certainly this iPod car charger would clash with my sporty red/black interior of my 2006 Mazda 3 five-door hatchback. But I still want it. I think I might want it because in the end Hello Kitty represents a youthful culture that I’m no longer a part of anymore now that I find myself aged to 37 years old. But somehow having some Hello Kitty stuff in my arsenal makes me feel young, adventurous and care-free. She’s bright and happy and loves having fun.

This little Sanrio character captures my heart every time and it’s nice to know there are currently 22,000 products and counting out there in the marketplace to satisfy my youthful tendencies.

Official Hello Kitty Website

Hello Kitty Strange Products

Hello Kitty Community

Hello Kitty News

Wikipedia-Hello Kitty

The Halo UVX Ultraviolet Vacuum cleaner boasts the ability to vaporize the DNA structure of all those nasty mico-organisms nesting in my carpeting with the press of a single button.

The button activates a UV-C bulb that will desimate dust mites, viruses, bacteria, fleas, lice and mold in my carpet and flooring.

It’s a pretty cool concept, but I’m not that wigged out (yet) about things that I can’t see in my carpet. But since it’s an expensive vacuum-retailing for $399-it qualified as a wastrel purchase and I certainly wouldn’t turn one away were it to be given to me as a gift to improve my household cleanliness.

So apparently NASA has agreed to purchase toilet technology from the Russian company RSC Energia for the tidy sum of $19 million, to be delivered to the ISS in 2008 in preparation for a crew up sizing from three to six members. The previous system required that urine tanks be transferred to cargo ships and burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere, but the new toilets operate like a waste treatment center on Earth, collecting and reconstituting urine as drinking water — an unpleasant concept for a number of our readers, but a welcome relief for thirsty astronauts. The toilets are similar to normal models, though they employ leg restraints and thigh bars to hold the “user” in place, and high-powered fans to suck, um… waste into the commode. The system will be installed on the American side of the station, while the Russian-side will remain as is, resulting in extremely long lines to use the “good” bathroom.

Tento has created a toilet-paper solution to hemorrhoids called Hemo-Roll.

If you use this special toilet-paper long enough, the company claims it could help prevent hemorrhoids.

According to the company’s website:

Toilet paper Hemo-Roll is 3 plies hygienic product. The coloured side of a piece of Hemo-Roll tissue paper contains a herb micro-layer of an extract from oak bark, marigold and common yarrow, with easeful effects on rectum.

I am always looking for thoughtful yet clever gifts to give to friends. I’m putting the Hemo-Roll on my list of things to give my newly pregnant friends. However, I’m not able to find it anywhere to buy it in the United States. But should I take a trip to Slovakia, I know what I’m bring back as a souvenir.

The Handler is an inexpensive little device that does your dirty work for you.Don’t want to touch the handle on a toilet to flush? Get skeeved out opening doors with your bare hands or pressing buttons on a very public ATM machine?

The Handler is made of rubber and plastic and infused with “nano silver particles which effectively kills 98% of all single-celled organisms (bacteria, viruses and fungi) on contact.” To activate it, you click on button and that nice little hook (pictured) deploys to save you from other’s nastiness. It’s even strong enough to open heavy doors.It was available on Amazon.com for $10.95, but presently it’s unavailable. But you can still get one for $11 by visiting Uncrate.

Keep this little device in mind for Christmas 2007. It would make a great stocking stuffer and I can think of at least five people on my shopping list who would love it.