No News. Or Notes.

I’m going to let Charlie Brown do the talking (he's so wise):
Peanuts comic strip: April 1, 1960

Food from the BDO: Marinades

Grilling season is upon us and in the spirit of sharing I am posting two marinade recipes with which I recently have had yummy encounters. Please note that I rarely plan far enough ahead to actually shop for specific ingredients so substitutions are standard (and noted below in parens).

No name marinade
1 cup soy sauce
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup dry sherry (I had a little Marsala and a little dry white, which totaled ¼ cup together – booze is booze, right?)
4 cloves garlic, minced

This is actually for a 4-5 lb tenderloin of beef, but I’m thinking I will try it soon with a London broil. It's not exactly earth-shatteringly brilliant, but that's part of its charm in my opinion. It has no name in the cookbook. The recipe says to marinate overnight. I got about 3 hours in.

Afghani Yogurt Marinade
¾ cup of plain yogurt
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
¼ cup chopped parsley
4 cloves garlic, crushed through a press
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (I only had limes in the house)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons paprika (YEAH BABY!)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Chuck it all in a food processor or blender and mix until smooth. This one I did tonight with chicken and it was FAB-U! With the cumin and limes and pepper, it was almost a little Mexican-ish. Definitely had a kick to it. The recipe says to marinate for at least 4 hours. I did mine for less than two.

Man I love food.

In the stark absence of cubicles

So today I had the great pleasure of interviewing an AMAZING woman who is doing INCREDIBLE things and CHANGING the lives of kids at the school where she is the principal. I love it when my work is inspiring. Damn I’m lucky.

I was giddy when I hung up the phone. My mind was racing. Who can I call? Who can I tell how excited I am about this? I actually thought about calling the client who commissioned the story. Thankfully, I curbed that urge. I can only imagine: “That’s nice, dear. But why are you calling? Go write the %$#@! story!” And, of course, my excitement would only raise expectations to a height I couldn’t possibly meet. (Keeping client expectations low is sort of my trade secret.)

If I was in a real office, I would have popped up, leaned over my cubical wall and exploded my excitement all over an unsuspecting co-worker, going on and on about why this was the best interview ever, and this woman was just so amazing, and what we do is just so meaningless and pointless by comparison, and oh my God I can’t wait to write this!!!

Meanwhile, I wouldn’t be writing. And after blathering on about the great interview, then taking a nature break, then getting a coffee refill, I’d come back to my desk and the moment would be gone. I’d stare blankly at the screen and find some excuse NOT to start writing and a week later I’d be nursing a budding case of panic as the deadline drew nigh.

But instead, I banged out a first draft. Yet another advantage of the Barbie Dream (home) Office.

The truth about cookies

My sister and I decided to communicate in nothing but haiku for an entire day this week. She is a fifth-grade teacher and was home with my six-year-old nephew who was running a fever.

We created more than 20 haiku in a back-and-forth email exchange over the course of the day. Most of them were very, very bad (as you might expect). But my nephew contributed one worth sharing:

We have cookies now
Cookies are awesome to eat
They are good with milk

My tax dollars at work

Had a great conversation with one of my nieces recently. We were coloring and I asked her how school was going and if there was any exciting news to report from second grade. She looked up from her page, paused, crinkled her face thoughtfully and said, “No. Not really. Nothing to report.” We continued coloring.

A few seconds later, a gasp and then: “Oh wait! We learned about encyclopedias.”

Then a strange expression washed over her face that I couldn’t quite identify at the moment, but later realized was the “Oh crap! I forgot I was talking to Aunt Carole and she’s going to ask a follow-up question and I don’t really have any more to offer” look.

“Yeah? What did you learn about them?”

Silence.

“Can you tell me what an encyclopedia is?”

Tentatively, and in the tone of a question with her voice going up slightly at the end, “It’s like a-a-a dictionary???”

Poor kid. It’s tough having an annoying aunt like me who always wants to talk about school and stuff. But what’s the point really? Why are they teaching kids about encyclopedias? I can’t even think of a house that has a set. I’m sure they still have ’em in libraries, but do people actually use them?

I guess they do, but take for example my post earlier this week about lightning bugs: I Googled “lightning bugs” and in .17 seconds had nearly half a million links. They’re not all reputable references of course, but I found a few and I had citable answers to most of my questions in under two minutes. Even if I had an Encyclopedia it would have taken that long to walk over to the bookshelf, blow off the dust and pull a volume down. Wouldn’t time be better spent teaching kids how to use critical thinking skills to comb web results and find reliable reference material?

Eh. Oh well. Back to coloring.

This can’t be a good idea.

Genetically-Engineered Mosquito Fights Malaria
Imagine this headline another way:
Science Builds Stronger, Longer-Lasting Mosquito.

Really? Do we really want stronger mosquitoes?

I totally get why they did this. The logic is sound: if the mosquito can’t get malaria, then it can’t pass it along to humans. But aren’t we even a little worried that perhaps by messing around with mosquito DNA we’re making them immune to other diseases?

This article actually says the new genetically engineered mosquitoes "were more fertile and less likely to die than normal, wild mosquitoes."

Like that's a good thing?!?!?!

I live in Jersey, man. I'm not up for stronger mosquitoes.

Biolumin-what?

Don’t ask me why (Because I really can’t tell you. Well I guess I could. But it’s not something I should probably… yeah. No. Not telling.), but I spent a good deal of time today reading about Lightning Bugs (aka Fireflies). Which are neither bugs nor flies (discuss).

I was ever-so-disappointed to learn that we know definitively – as I suspected – that they mostly flash their little lights to attract mates. Also as a distress signal. Are there no mysteries left in this world!?!

I also learned there are over 170 species out there. Geeze! Perhaps the most interesting is the cannibalistic “Femme Fatale” who fakes the distress signal until another firefly comes to the rescue and then she eats him! Yikes!

Another fascinating fact: the chemical cocktail produced within lightning bugs to create their bioluminescence has been replicated in a lab and is the formula used for most of those glow-sticky things you get at carnivals and whatnot. Is that common knowledge? Am I the last to know that? I think that’s really cool!

Ahh. I can’t wait for summer.

New Camel No. 9s (can it be long before they are referred to as “Pink Ladies”?)

I blame Mac. If they hadn’t started this whole “why-can’t-absolutely-everything-come-in-a-rainbow-of-colors” trend we wouldn’t have pink packaged cigarettes. Honestly the “uproar” over this makes me laugh. If people want to smoke they are going to smoke. Don’t blame brilliant marketing for luring stupid people into addiction. (Sounds like the judgmental shrew talking, doesn’t it? We should name her.)

Reading a quote from one young lung-killer got me thinking. She’s quoted as saying, “They don’t stink like regular cigarettes.” What a great idea and why hasn’t someone thought of this sooner: incense mixed in with the tobacco at such a high proportion that the nice smell is stronger than the bad one!! The scent market is booming – candles, little warm oil thingys you plug into your wall outlet, spray bottles full of freshness! Why hasn’t there been a cross-marketing promotion between Glade and Philip Morris? I can see it now – the Glade/PM Apple Spice Scented Cigarette!!! Or Green Tea and Ginger – AROMATHERAPY CIGARETTES!! This is gold. I can’t believe no one has done this yet. And if it creeps up on the market in the next few months I will know that I am not – as I suspect – a voice out here in the wilderness simply rambling on about nothing, with no one listening but myself.

Disturbing fact of the week:

“Home repossessions in the US are at their highest level since records began.”

I’m not entirely sure what I have to say about this fact, but when I read it in this article, it jarred me. Why is it happening? I have my suspicions, hunches, inklings… ...about the decline of overall responsibility in American society. Everyone wants everything now, now, now. And big, big, big. Of course this is going to lead to problems, problems, problems.

I don’t know how much more I can write about this without the judgmental shrew inside me jumping out and taking the stand. She always travels with her own little soapbox and she whips it out so fast. I don’t see anything but a blur of movement and there she is – nose in the air, finger waving, and that smug little smile smeared across her face. Babbling on and on, every other word a “should” or an “if.” “Blah, blah, blah, blah you should do this," and "blah, blah, blah, blah if only people did this…” Brat. I hate her.

(Whew. Thank goodness I chased that off.)

What was that about disturbing?

Spring has Sprung (for a moment)

I can capture the sounds of the birds with my digital recorder. I can freeze the sprouting crocuses and newly green blades of grass in a jpeg file. But the smell… technology has yet to master the science of harnessing this heavenly smell. (I’ve worked at enough chemical companies to know they can fake it somewhat, but that is replication – and poor replication at that – not capture.) Words are the only tools we have for this task.

Smell is without question the most difficult thing to describe. We are forced to lean on other types of associations. Spring smells like childhood to me. And dirt. Digging in the dirt. To plant maybe, but also just for the pure fun of it. And Easter dresses (and the corresponding smudged white shoes, and grass-stained knees of white tights). And clothes hung out on the line for the first time in months. It is a slightly wet smell. Loamy and full of growth and all that is new.

Too bad they are forecasting a 70% chance of a “wintry mix” for Friday. Precious, fleeting Spring.

Posted from the BDO Annex Office #2 - back porch.

Clean office, clear head?

I cleaned my office over the weekend. Not that my office is every really that messy, but I got really aggressive. I had short stacks of books, papers and other miscellany in the corners (the BDO is a funky attic room, with no fewer than seven corners) and I managed to annihilate all the pointless piles. Found homes for all sorts of random stuff, which had curiously collected over the years.

Leaning against the baseboard trim in one corner there was a framed photo of me with my college newspaper staff. I found it when I moved into this office about six years ago and was considering whether or not to hang it. This weekend I decided yes, if for no other reason, but to get it off the floor where it had been stationed for at least two of those six years.

My old PalmV was in its cradle and plugged in under a window. No idea why. I guess when I got my new one last June, I thought I may still need the old one for some reason. I unplugged it and tossed it in the closet (new problem there – what to do with it now? Mom may be interested.).

There was a bag of clothes by the door that now has been moved into a bedroom on it’s way out of the house entirely. I have NO idea how this even got up here. It’s a bag of leftover kids clothes: hand-me-downs from a friend for my sister, who picked through, took what she wanted, and left me literally holding the bag.

Now as a I turn my head and scan the room, it’s so nice and tidy and orderly. Just looking at the clear corners makes me feel instantly more productive and focused. Ahhh. Off to work.

Darn! That's the end.

Went to see "Schoolhouse Rock Live" again tonight. Yes "again."

This is the second time I’ve seen a production of this play. It’s a selection of the original songs strung together loosely around a story line about a young teacher feeling anxious about his first day of school.

I love the Schoolhouse Rock songs. I'm a big, BIG fan. I remember most of the tunes from Grammar Rock and many from America Rock; very few from Multiplication Rock and nearly none from Science Rock. (When I recently purchased an audio CD of SHR “Greatest Hits,” I discovered there was a very lame addition in the 80s called “Money Rock” – not good at all.)

All the SHR songs were written by an ad agency. Isn’t that sort of brilliant? People specifically trained to imprint stuff on our brains working toward a higher educational end. Teachers too are trained to imprint stuff on brains aren’t they? So what’s the difference? Oh yeah. Pay scale. Well, who knows if it really matters… I’m not sure I always learned what I was suppose to learn from SHR. I mean, I can sing many of the songs word-for-word, but I don’t know that I really knew what I was singing about.

“INNNterjections! Show excitement. Or emotion. They’re generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point, or by a comma when the feeling’s not as strong. So when your happy (“Hurray!”), or sad (“Awww”), or frightened (“Eek!”), or mad (“Rats!”), or excited (“Wow!”), or glad (“Hey!”), an interjection starts the sentence right!”

I tried to find a good clip of Interjections on You Tube, and didn't. But I did find this clip of the Blind Melon cover of Three is a Magic Number, which is the only really likeable cover on the SHR Rocks CD, as far as I am concerned.

Have a Colorful Day

Some people at Crayola (formerly Binney and Smith) sign their emails that way, "Have a Colorful Day." How cool is that? It reminds me of a Chihuly glass ceiling. And how handy is this: I actually have a picture of a Chihuly glass ceiling (from Tacoma, WA).



Here, today, in the Northwest corner of the Great Garden State, it’s rather grey. Been cloudy and snowing most of the day. Is it possible to “have a colorful day” when Mother Nature herself conspires against you? I’m thinking yeah. Because I feel pretty darn colorful right now. Color is a state of mind. I wish you all, a colorful day!

A little learning every day

A client of mine recently sent me a book titled, “Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads.” It’s written by Luke Sullivan and although it’s really about the entire creative process, the book is written largely from a writer’s point of view. I’ll take a moment here to pause and reflect on the fact that a CLIENT who hired me to write for him sent me a book about how to write. Should I interpret a subtle message in that action?

Subtle messages aside, it’s a freakin’ great book: It’s funny, useful and informative. I’m excited reading it because some of the tips and advice he offers are things I already do (yeah!), AND – even better – I can already see how this book will be an excellent desk reference for me to prompt ideas and movement forward on those rare (snort) occasions when I hit a creative wall, get stuck, or can’t even get started. And this is just the first 50 pages! Imagine once I’ve finished reading the whole thing.

Here are just a few fabulous pearls from what I have read so far:

“Advertising is a craft executed by people who aspire to be artists, but is assessed by those who aspire to be scientists. I cannot imagine any human relationship more perfectly designed to produce total mayhem.” – John Ward, B&B Borland, England

From EH Land, inventor of the Polaroid camera, defining creativity: “the sudden cessation of stupidity.”

Author, Luke Sullivan defining the creative process: “It’s like washing a pig. It’s messy, it has no rules, no clear beginning, middle, or end; it’s kind of a pain in the ass, and when you’re done, you’re not sure if the pig is clean or even why you were washing a pig in the first place.”

Yeah man. I hear ya.

Wiki-schmickey

NYT headline today: A Contributor to Wikipedia Has His Fictional Side

I have long been skeptical of Wikipedia. I always cringe a bit when I hear someone say they use or encourage the use of Wikipedia for academic research. My concern is with the communal nature of the content – anyone can post just about anything. And although there are pages and pages of guidelines to try to protect the integrity of the information found there, it all still lies at the mercy of humans who can largely remain anonymous, or as this recent story notes, lie about who they are.

Reading this story simultaneously bolsters my skepticism, and softens it.

My cynical side says this is a cautionary tale: Don’t trust anything in Wikipedia. But it looks like the impostor’s editorial content and contributions were solid (although in one of the examples cited, he goofs on the word “it’s”{easy mistake, which I forgive}) despite his fake credentials. AND ultimately the community policed itself calling attention to the fraud.

Hmmmm. I think the potential of Wikipedia and its implications are awesome. I guess I just have trust issues when it comes to reference material. That's not really a bad thing, is it?

Happy Kathy's Eve

And just under the wire too. My sister's birthday is tomorrow, March 3. Happy Birthday to her. In honor of my lovely sister's lovely birthday I am posting this lovely picture:

rabbit rabbit

When I was in high school I listened to a radio station that advised listeners to ensure the first words out of their mouths on the first day of a new month were, “rabbit rabbit.” It was suppose to ensure good luck for the next 28-31 days. I have not listened to this station regularly for probably 20 years, and yet this morning the first thought that occurred to me was (and thus the first words I did utter were), “rabbit rabbit.”