Strategies to combat mental malaise

Reminder to self:

When the brain begins to stiffen
Like a muscle too rarely flexed
And thoughts flow all too slowly
As if they have been hexed

There are some things that I can do
To make the synapses spark
I’ll compile the list right here, right now
And note it with a bookmark.

The following things usually help clear blocks:

* Read (language reference books, fun blogs, Luke Sullivan)

* Look at photos (especially of kids)

* Relocate to a new venue (outside is pretty much always best)

* Observe or immerse yourself in nature (see note above)

* Color (with Crayola products of course)

* Add music to the work place (jazz, groovy 70s, or Euro-dance depending on the work/client)

* Attempt poetry

(feel free to add to the list)

I guess I should explain that.

Confession: I am a cabbage lover. Steamed, stuffed leaves; shredded in slaw (not too runny); pickled in a jar; fermented as kraut. Even raw, finely shredded in a salad, is nice. One of my all-time favorite dishes is Halushki: fried noodles, onion and cabbage (a Polish Christmas Eve dinner specialty).

The last day of the Farmers Market in town was September 28. It’s a very small market – only about 10 stalls in a little parking lot near the main intersection. I can walk to it, which makes me feel very European. I bring a cheap, bright-red messenger-style bag I got as a freebie from a volunteer dinner, and load it up with all sorts of fabulously fresh stuff.

On the 28th, one of the vendors had Brussels sprouts. Two weeks earlier, I got a lovely head of cabbage from the same vendor. Because it’s all so fresh is lasts much longer than grocery store produce. So I’ve been enjoying it right up until this past Sunday when I said farewell to mes petit choux.

Some of the sprouts were a little big, so before steaming them for dinner the other night, I sliced them in half and the graduation of color from the white core, to the young yellow leaves, and finally the grown-up green leaves is so smooth you can scarcely see the change. A nice little cabbage (or big) is a very pretty thing. Yes pretty. Take some time to admire the cabbages my friends.

Ode to a cabbage cross-section

(An homage in haiku)

Grow from white to green
Delicate core, gentle leaves
In my tummy grief

Overheard in the BDO

Because I have been so remiss about posting I thought perhaps I should post a digest of all that has happened in the past week.

But then I realized how boring that would be and decided instead to post a collection of random comments typed, spoken or otherwise noted in and around the BDO. Piece it together however you like and create your very own story about what's been happening here! (This is sort of like magnetic poetry. Only it’s not magnetic and it’s not poetry. Discuss.)

“This data is not usable.”
“I’m not ignoring you.”
“We are almost to the finish line on this one…”
“Why don't you run for president?”
“I don't usually pimp my friends and colleagues”
“THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY”
“You never know what might happen.”
“tub full of angry cats”
“Gack!”
“I’ll need a drink after the Brownie meeting.”
“I cannot locate my Fruitcake catalog.”
“Unfortunately, we have decided that we are not going to fill this position at this time.”

I have withheld attribution to protect the innocent, but I will confess two of these were composed on my keyboard. And, as a side note, "Gack!" - as in "oh my gosh" or "oh my goodness" - is my new favorite word (thanks Jenn)(Oops. I just leaked some attribution.)

A real headline published in the local paper

"Gas-guzzlers vehicles to economy cars is a long ways away"

I'm not even kidding.

Discuss.

(I'm not even sure I know what they were TRYING to express.)

Something to do when you're not reading my blog

Read other blogs!

Two new blogs to which I've becoming slightly addicted:

Epi Log on the Epicurious web site is fun, funny, and frequently features fabulous food. (Can you even stand it?)

The Boy Genius Report appeals to the geek wannabe that lurks just below the surface here at the BDO. (Special thanks to my pal Renee who pointed me to this site.)

Boycott Charmin!!

I’m calling for a boycott of Charmin toilet tissue until they fire the agency that created those stupid bear commercials and pull them from the air. Who’s with me?

I hardly watch TV and yet it seems I cannot escape these commercials! Bears running to port-a-pottys on the beach; bears brushing remnants of toilet tissue off their butts (do any humans actually have this problem?); bears with overly expressive faces as the voice over guy gently talks about unpleasant butt-related, toilet-related topics. YUK!

But what is most disturbing is when I picture some creative group excitedly brainstorming these ideas, then presenting them to executives who smile and say, “YES! YES! That’s perfect! Let’s use cartoon bears with intestinal distress to sell our product!!”

It’s ridiculous! I work far too hard creating intelligent, decent ad copy to tolerate this crap. (Pun not intended, but pleasing none-the-less.)

Seriously?

Message to Burmese Government: How can you not know you are on the wrong side of an argument when you are fighting Buddhist monks?

I promised I would avoid getting political on this blog so that's all I'm going to say about that.

Except maybe this too: It's really too bad there's no oil in Burma. (If there was, perhaps our current administration might be moved to head over there and support the MONKS using pacifism to fight for democracy. 'Cause that's why we're in Iraq, right? Because we were really, really upset about the lack of freedom and rights, right?).