Sometimes all a girl needs is a good cup of coffee, a little sunshine, and a window-lined perch on the corner from which she can watch the world go by. 

This beautiful morning brought to you by a stop at the Rocket on First and Cedar. 

Hooray for Pam Bays! Pam and Carlee Bays had the opportunity to meet Coach Mike Leach at the WSU Crimson and Gray game at Joe Albi Stadium last weekend. Pam was chosen to meet the coach as well as receive WSU gear and prizes from The Spokesman-Review. Congratulations Pam and Go Cougs!

This morning, as I battled the crowds at the Starbucks on Hamilton, I thought how the Gonzaga area needed an extra coffee spot. So many people working on their laptops, so few tables. And, of course, it one day will have one. At the location where The Bulldog once stood, in fact. And, yes, the area should be able to serve more than one coffee spot — at least during the school year. As for the rest of the time? Good question. Think I'll stick around to see what the answer is.

Reposting from The Flying Irish Facebook page:

On Monday Night at 6:30, all running stores around the nation will be holding a run in honor of the victims from the Boston Marathon. In conjunction with The Spokane Distance Project, The Flying Irish, and The Bloomsday Road Runners Club a 2.62mile run will be hosted beginning at the “Joy of Running” Statues in Riverfont Park. This is a run to show solidarity for runners and be a visual image that will show the strength and community of runners, and all are welcome. In addition, later next week Runners for Boston shirts will be available for $20 with 100% of the money going to the Onefundboston.org. Thank you all for making us so proud of our community of runners, your compassion in the wake of this tragedy has been amazing, we look forward to seeing you Monday night at 6:30. Also, we will be extending our shoe drive until then so if you haven't dropped off your shoes yet this is your last chance!

On April 1 I accepted a challenge from a friend who also happens to be a medical doctor. I was complaining about always feeling gross after every meal. I told her that I had the diet of a 17-year-old boy, and I hypothesized that my eat-whatever-is-within-arm's-reach habits might be the root of my misery. I also admitted to being incredibly lazy when mealtime rolled around, and I told her that I despised grocery shopping, so I tended to eat cereal for dinner at home, and made the most of happy hour menus on those nights I just couldn't bare the thought of another bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.

“Do yourself a favor,” she said. “Challenge yourself for 30 days. Go gluten-free and see what happens.” The idea seemed ludicrous at the time, but you know me. Ludicrous is my comfort zone. So I agreed to give it a shot. 

I went home and cleaned out my cupboards. Like, literally, almost cleaned them bare. Do you know that gluten is in almost everything? I had no idea. I shopped intentionally, and admittedly came home with a grocery bag filled with stuff I didn't even know existed. Gluten-free bread and tortillas? That almost seems like a crime against nature. Goodbye Eggos, hello Chia Waffles! Since this food tends to be a little more expensive than the rest, I buy only what I need. But after only 10 days, I'd already dropped a dress size and my guts were happier than they'd been in years. 

Now, when I go out to eat, I have to pay attention to what I order. At first I thought I'd be doomed to restaurant experiences that included only salads or carrots and hummus. Turns out Spokane actually has a pretty decent selection to choose from. In fact, there's a website dedicated to shopping and dining and drinking gluten-free, and if you're curious I encourage you to check it out: Gluten Free Spokane. The pizza in the pic up there is from Europa's lunch menu — a plate-sized pie with mushroom and sausage on a gluten-free crust. It was fantastic. 

More bars are jumping on the gluten-free train, too, so if you're a beer-lover with churny guts, don't despair. I've grown might fond of ciders, and thank the high holies that red wine is naturally gluten-free. 

Keep in mind I don't think I'm celiac or severely gluten-intolerant. I was just tired of feeling like hell and thought a conscious change might make all the difference. It's been 21 days and so far, oh-so good. 

Hope springs delusional on the affirmation cookie assembly line.

Get your daily dose of daydream at your favorite Panda Express. 

I've spent most of my moviegoing life watching horror films. From low-rent slasher flicks to those directed by filmakers of higher status, I've watched them all - including the most recent remake of “Evil Dead.” But nothing, and I mean nothing, scares me as much as the four and a half minutes of video that I have embedded below. Not movies about giant spiders nor spider invasions. This, instead, is the real thing.

It happened, apparently, last February in Brazil (you can hear the videographer and others speaking Portuguese). Go here to learn more both about this spider invasion and a number of giant animals that may be making their way to your back yard.

Regardless, I will be having nightmares tonight. It's a good bet that someone in Hollywood is trying to think of a way to exploit this very arachnophobia in a way yet unseen in the movies. Good luck. That's one movie I won't be seeing. 

It's no secret that Harrison Ford, like a number of other actors, can be a difficult interview. As somebody who actually had a life before he began play-acting on screen for a career, Ford can be forgiven for not buying into the whole celebrity scene. And, in fact, as the embed below shows, he can actually display a sense of humor about the whole media-driven star-flocking craze.

My thanks to my friend Travis Knight for sharing this with me.

OK, you're not likely to be heading to Auckland, New Zealand, any time soon. But if you are, you should pay attention to the food blog written by Delaney Mes. It's called Heartbreak Pie, and along with the occasional recipe and meal suggestion, Delaney points out good eateries from her region.

Personally, I'd love to jump on a plane and check her suggestions out in person. But … my travel budget is so shot it's relegating me, in essence, to places I can walk to.

Except for when my friend Jim picks me up for Saturday-morning breakfast. We spent last Saturday eating, as we often do, at Jenny's Diner. My two-egg omelet with hashbrowns and sour-dough toast was just the thing to start off my day.

Would have tasted better in Auckland, though. Just saying.

Above: The harbor view of Auckland, New Zealand.

I love a glass of OJ with breakfast. But usually I skip it when I go out for bacon and eggs becuase, let's face it, a lot of places charge as much for a 6-oz. pour as you'd pay for a half-gallon carton in the store.

That being said, you can imagine my exuberant delight when I discovered a $2 mimosa on the Famous Ed's Weekend Breakfast Menu. Squeeee! Your first pour is $2, after that they jump up to $3 … still less than what you'd expect to pay for a plain old glass of juicy goodness, so go for it! (As an added bonus, their bacon is amazing — thick-cut with a hint of smokey maple flavor.) 

You'll find Famous Ed's at 57th & Regal. 

If you're thinking of going to see “Evil Dead,” which - depending on who you are, might not be a particularly bright idea or might be one of the most fun weekends of your year - you might want to read the review that I wrote for Spokane Public Radio. It follows:

It used to be that you had to struggle to become a filmmaker. Sam Raimi did, making Super 8 films with his childhood friend, Bruce Campbell, and dropping out of college to film the 1981 horror-fest, “The Evil Dead,” which was largely financed by money borrowed from friends, family and the odd investor or two. It took Raimi the better part of a decade to make it to Hollywood.

Come to think of it, that career trajectory compares well – at least at first – with that of Fede Alvarez. The Uruguayan native did make stop-action films as a kid. Unlike Raimi, though, Alvarez graduated from college, then worked as an advertising director. It wasn’t until 2009, after he had formed his own production company, that he made an international stir with a four-minute-and-48-second short titled “Ataque de Panico” (or “Panic Attack”). Literally a few days later, Alvarez was inking a Hollywood deal that would lead, ultimately, to his directing the remake of Raimi’s 1981 exercise in cheap but effective horror.

So, two things about that: One, when we refer to Raimi’s “The Evil Dead,” let me re-emphasize: cheap but effective; two, when we refer to Alvarez’s “Evil Dead” – for some reason we seem to have lost the definite article – let me emphasize not particularly original, but still effective.

Oh, some originality exists in the notion of what brings five 20-somethings to a lonely cabin in the remote woods: one of their number, Mia, is attempting – not for the first time – to break her addiction to drugs. Mia is supported by two friends, Eric and Olivia, her brother and the girlfriend brother dear has unaccountably brought along on this horror-show of a weekend outing.

That aside, events plays out as expected. As Mia struggles through withdrawal, battling emotional demons that have to do with a crazy mother, the death of said mother, and the abandonment of her brother in the midst of said death, Eric does what any reasonable friend would do: He finds a book bearing a cover of human skin and recites out loud from it. Uh-oh, here come the demons. See what I mean about originality? Or the lack of?

But to merely dismiss Alvarez’s remake because it follows the path of any number of teens-in-peril horror flicks would be a mistake. It doesn’t have any of the cleverness of, says, Wes Craven’s “Scream” series. But neither does it fall into the creative trap of the overly clever Joss Whedon-written “The Cabin in the Woods.” Alvarez’s intent is merely to scare us, and for the most part he succeeds. If, that is, your idea of being frightened is being subjected to more gore than a bedpan full of severed tongues. And I have to admit, though my favorite in the “Evil Dead” series is Raimi’s “Evil Dead 2” – which benefits well from his partner Campbell’s talent for physical humor – Alvarez can direct. And as Mia, Jane Levy, of the WB show “Suburbgatory,” can do wide-eyed terror with the best of them.

I just wish Alvarez had struggled a bit more. The thought that instant riches can be earned through a YouTube short may not give anyone an ataque de panico, but for some of us it does bring on an ataque de depresion.

It's no secret that I love long weekend escapes to Portland and Seattle. Ask my bank account and it's no secret that a long weekend isn't in the cards for me anytime soon.

Lucky for me, this morning I discovered Revel 77. Designed by the prolifically talented HDG, this place is bright and clean and filled with caffeine. Simple and refined with a healthy heap of cool? Yes. The kind of place where you can open up your laptop and work the morning away? Doing that right now, with plenty of elbow room, fantastic tunes and an eclectic lineup of coffee fiends passing by. A place that makes you proud of the place Spokane is becoming (without the Portland price tag)? Most certainly. 

They're super keen on keeping things close to home, so you'll get lots of local flavors including coffee from roasters you know and milk from cows they know by name. That's how you keep it real and delicious. 

You'll find Revel 77 at 3223 E. 57th, Suite K (it's the spot at the end of the row with walls of windows). 

One of the funniest sports comedies to come along the past few years was “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” the 2004 movie that starred Vince Vaughan, Ben Stiller and a number of others. Turns out, Oz Fitness has its own version of the school-yard sport. On April 27-28, Oz will offer a dodgeball tournament for teams of six to 10 participants, with the grand prize being a trip for seven to the national finals in Las Vegas.

Admission is $15 per person. Teams are six on a side (at a time). For information, contact your local Oz Fitness location (or click here). Tell them Vince sent you.

Below: Scenes from the 2011 Oz Fitness championship game 2.

Just when we thought it was safe to go back into the theater, here comes a story from The National Post revealing that movies are … wait for it … fake! No, seriously. And some of them aren't even very good fakes. Movies such as “Gladiator.” Or “Pretty Woman.” Or even “Jurassic Park.”

But then maybe you alread knew that. As for me, I'm going back to television where things are far more believable.

Below: A YouTube collection of movie flubs.

I may be only fooling myself, but when I step onto the food court at River Park Square - often just before heading upstairs to a movie - I often stop by Ben & Jerry's to get a weight-conscious snack. No, I don't mean any of the ice cream or even frozen yogurt. But I do suffer from an addiction to the B&J Life's a Beach smoothie.

So, yeah, the thing isn't nearly as low-caloric as you might think. But it's delicious. And it certainly beats almost anything else you can get at the food court. Even most of Jared's sandwiches are more filling.