The Happy Meal Project we talked about the other day got me thinking about another food seemingly impervious to time. Back when I worked at CNN (long before my journalistic universe expanded to include creating crazy videos about bacon-laced waffles or the Inversewich), this humble slice of chocolate crumb cake sat on a desk just outside Anderson Cooper's office for years, protected by nothing more than the thin, clear walls of a to-go box. This shot was taken a few days ago, but it could have been weeks, months or years ago. Other than the minor erosion evidenced by the crumbs, nothing has changed since it was plated in 2003. Through seven years, two presidential elections and all the swirling change chronicled by the journalists around it, the cake endures, oblivious to everything happening outside its cozy plastic apartment. No one dared toss it because its resilience fascinated us.

The cake's keeper is uber-producer Charlie Moore, who sent photos to confirm the cake's continued state of being. He was so bold as to open the container, and reports that pockets of the slice are still moist, though it has a somewhat musty aroma he charitably describes as "not unpleasant, but unique." A mere 137 days old, that Happy Meal has a long way to go. /mark