One of mine:

Many areas of the United States are having a heat wave. Global warming, anyone? Look on the bright side of melting glaciers and enviro-destruction by taking a crack at the Friday Five:

1. What’s the high temperature today where you are?
Highs in the lower 90s, 50% chance of rain. Actually I had to look that up–I haven’t even been outside today. I tried to make a quick trip to Target with the two sniffly girls (a post for another time) but the car battery was dead. Ah well.

2. Favorite way(s) to beat the heat.
-Stay inside, not drive to Target because of dead battery.
-Hot day + cold movie theater = heaven on earth.
Make it a summer blockbuster and add blue raspberry Icee for heaven on heaven.
-Those handheld water spritzer/fan things are silly but effective.
-Also love the large-scale version that mists several people at once; they have them all over Palm Springs.
-When it’s all said and done, you can’t beat the swimming pool. Unfortunately, I frequent the baby pool these days, which is like a tepid bath. (That’s from the sun warming the shallow water, right? in denial about the pee)

3. “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” Evaluate this statement.
I grew up in Houston, which rivals Calcutta in terms of climate. I loved it though, and to this day my skin is unhappy with dry conditions and climes.

I remember when I finally internalized the heat/humidity connection–the summer R and I hiked in Colorado. I noticed I was sweating, but it was evaporating and keeping me cool. Eureka! It was the first time I actually *got* that sweating served a biological purpose. In Houston, sweating serves no purpose other than as a signal to get the hell inside.

4. Discuss one or more of the following: sauna, hot tub, sweat lodge, warm-stone massage.
I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of a sweat lodge. Same with warm-stone massage. I’m probably more likely to do the latter–a lot easier to arrange.
I enjoy the feeling of being in a sauna but I never seek them out.
Hot tubs feel great but the hygiene aspect freaks me out. Just a bunch of people simmering in their own germs. Although I enjoyed the CG hot tubbing in Palm Springs, and in Salt Lake City with R after a day of snow skiing.

5. Hottest you’ve ever been in your life
I’m sure I’ve experienced hotter actual temperatures than this, but I never felt hotter than the summer of 1994 when I visited Mild-Mannered Barefoot Guy in NYC. I rode the train from DC and he met me at the station. Rather than go all the way back to his apartment to drop off my backpack, we carried it around all day. Result=soaking wet back. We went everywhere, and I mean everywhere. It was hotter than hell. Then we got back to his house, which had no A/C and one window. It was across the street from a fire station which had its siren going all night. Between the noise and the sweat I’m not sure I slept a wink.

(But if MMBG reads this, I had SO much fun that weekend aside from that!)

Non-temperature related bonus: In your opinion… who’s hot?
Skipping over the shrewd answers (husband) and altruistic ones (Gulf Coast volunteers) that others have offered, and borrowing Will Smama’s format…
Orlando Bloom: Boyishly Hot
George Clooney: Politically Hot
Bono: Short but Hot, Musically Hot, Altruistically Smokin’
Denzel Washington: “Women love them some Denzel.” -Spike Lee
Stephen Colbert: Geeky Catholic-Boy Hot
And I’m with PPB: Paul Newman is Old Man Hot