Reframe. Rethink. Reboot.

I was inspired by Shandon to dust off my blog and give her a little face lift. I ripped off her vintage idea but went for more of a comic book feel. What do you think?

It's been a helluva week but I got through it. I had to do some hard things but I'm glad I did.

Here's the deal, where I work they do a good job of encouraging us to take classes to make us more well rounded employees. My favorite type of class focuses on communication styles. They educate you on the various styles and what your style is and how to play nice with others with these styles in mind. It great because it's a double duty learning. I learn how to deal with folks at work and, naturally, it rolls over into my personal life.

I took a class about a month ago that required a "360" questionnaire. We work through an outside service that sends out questionnaires on class attendees and asks all sorts of questions about our work and personalities and God knows what else. Most of my non-friends recoil in horror when I describe this process and can't understand how I could possibly volunteer for such a dreadful process. However, I've done 360s twice now and they've both been great learning experiences. Also, I'm pretty self aware so I'm not terribly shocked by what comes back. For the most part the questionnaire indicates that I've grown in the past couple of years and that almost everyone I work with likes working with me and feels that I do a good job. On a scale of 1-4 my average ranking was about 3.5... pretty good for a mid-management level person. The only trouble was that my boss gave me about a 1.5. **Gulp** What?! I asked peers, clients, salespeople, creative staff and loads of others to give me feedback through the 360 and my boss gives me a 1.5 average?! WTF?!

During the class everyone was seen one-on-one to read and understand their 360 results. My counselor explained that a 1 ranking is where a person with no direct reports would be. A 4 is where a person who runs a division should be. All in all she said my 360 was excellent. She then pointed to the low ranking from my Manager and said "Ordinarily we'd tell you to ignore that one because they clearly don't know you. Unfortunately, it's your boss so you're going to have to talk to her about it." Bummer.

I don't typically run from confrontation. In fact, when I believe I'm right I typically charge towards confrontation. I didn't think this ranking was fair. My direct supervisor has been out on stress leave for four months and I've had to do both of our jobs by myself. My boss (over both of us) has not done much to filter what lands in my lap. I have a good team assistant who has been great but the work remains mine. Once, about 6 weeks ago a big VP was kind enough to pull me into his office to tell me that he knew I was doing a good job by myself and that he appreciated it and that "it hasn't gone unnoticed." That was very kind but was also the ONLY time anyone thought to acknowledge how hard I was working and that I was doing a good job. My boss prefers to pretend the whole ordeal isn't happening. This has really bothered me. Saying "thanks" or trying to encourage someone costs a company nothing but can make all the difference. I just can't understand how my boss can pretend it's not happening and never say so much as "good job" every once in a while. Wait, I take that back, I have heard her say "good girl"... once. It made me feel like her dog.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how to ask about my low rating and how to frame the conversation and how to remain calm and prepare myself for whatever my boss might say. Friends and peers have been puzzled by my boss' attitude throughout the past several months. One friend was so outraged she threatened to march into my bosses office for me if I didn't confront her asap. Finally, I decided the time was right. I had just completed several high level tasks and my boss was going to be taking one of our touchy-feely classes so I hoped what I said might be recalled in the class. I made an appointment last Monday evening and indicated in the invite what I wanted to speak about. It didn't seem fair to surprise attack her. I walked in cheerfully and with an open mind. Mostly I wanted to ask "WTF?" but I also wanted to tell her a few things I hoped would help our working relationship.

In the end it went well. She believes I need to "get out of my comfort zone". I immediately replied "I haven't been comfortable doing my Supervisor's job on top of mine." This stopped her for a second then she went on to give me an example, I countered with a more recent example. We talked for about a 1/2 hour. It was helpful but her complaints were small and I believe I can improve upon them. The most interesting part came when I showed her my 360 results in graph form. About 25 people were questioned about me and all ranked my very well. Seeing her ranking of me so out of proportion with everyone else seemed to surprised her. I laid the results in front of her and she sort of sucked in a little air and said "ooh!". I replied "Yeah, that's why I had to talk to you." In the end I think the evaluator I spoke with at the class was right, my boss just doesn't know me. Also, we happen to live on opposite ends of the communication spectrum of styles. She likes to get to her decisions by taking lots of cautious steps and analyzing the hell out of things. I prefer to gather necessary facts, talk things through and go for it. Needless to say we drive each other insane. They teach us to "flex" our communication styles. I know that I've stretched a lot but I can't say that I've seen the same from her. I've also come to realize that my boss doesn't know when I'm stepping "out of my comfort zone". For instance, I'm a very social person so most assume I'm perfectly comfortable presenting in front of others. Actually, I can't stand presenting in front of more than 4 people at a time. This past year I've had to speak in front of audiences from 2 - 125 people. It wasn't all comfortable but it helped me grow professionally and I'm getting better every day. I need to make sure she know that these presentations are no small task for me.

After the big "WTF?!" conversation we spoke about my supervisor coming back. I told her the past several months have been a good growing experience and that I'd done tons of things on my own and that has been good. I then went on to say that I'd also been disappointed because "Not once through this whole time has anyone reached out to me with any empathy or encouragement". I don't know about you but I'd be upset if a person under me at work said that to me. She, on the other hand, either pretended she didn't hear me or ignored me and went back to a point she'd made earlier in the conversation. It was bizarre.

I've recently figured out that it's not the workload that freaks me out, it's the way my boss tells me about the projects that riles me up. She is far too excitable for my taste. I tend to be pretty calm in the face of crisis, she seems to prefer whipping people up into a frenzy. It's a problem. I'm not sure what I can do about it but I may have to point it out to her soon before it sends me to an early grave. I have mentioned that I can tell when she's had that second coffee or when she's going for the chocolate and Diet Coke in the afternoon. ( I shudder to think what she'd be like on a Red Bull or worse.) My co-workers try not to laugh when I say these things but some things jut must be said. For Christ's sake, somebody's go to tell her to relax and it's looking more and more like it's going to have to be me.

All week we've been working on our annual "Strat Plan". It's a 5 year strategy on where we plan to take our business and how we plan to get there. It's based on lots of numbers and circumstances and conversations and I've never done it by myself. I looked at the hand written sheet my supervisor turned in to our boss last year for Strat Plan and decided it was not the way to go for me. Instead, I did my plan from an Excel sheet with lots of notes. Mine was better than my Supervisor's '09 plan. There, I said it. My work was more carefully thought through and I knew it. Late night, before heading out for my well deserved weekend, I sat with my boss to make sure she had all that she needed from me. After a few minutes of reviewing my sheets she said "You did a good job on your strat plan." Those nine little words were more encouragement than I'd ever received from her. I replied "Thank you. I appreciate that." and then told her to have a nice weekend.

I don't think I've changed anyone, and that's not my goal. I just hope that she's beginning to realize that positive reinforcement is better than ignoring all of a person's hard work. I don't know about her childhood but I don't get the impression praise came easily. I think she believes holding back kind words is how you motivate people. Unfortunately it doesn't work on me. I need to know when I'm doing something right. I need to know when I'm doing something wrong. Maybe it's just me but I'm not a mind reader, I need a hint now and then.

My supervisor is due back this Monday morning. I'll be happy to see her and to catch up and I hope she's doing better but I can't say that I need her like I did before. I now know that I can this job with or without her. Lots has changed in the past months. Some of the changes have been from circumstances at work, others have come from me being more bold and becoming more confident in all that I do at work.

I hope somebody besides my boss has noticed.

Did I mention that yesterday I went crazy and asked to be considered for a spot bonus? I say "crazy" because I don't even think I'm eligible for a spot bonus because I'm already bonus eligible. I wonder if that's why she finally complimented me. Maybe she finally figured out that it's cheaper than a bonus.

The Succesfsful Housekeeper

About 10 years ago I went to an estate sale in Pasadena. It was in a small, quaint house on a tree lined street. I remember the house very well because it was an older house with tons of charm. I also remember the garage, or more likely, the carriage house. A pack rat of a man had spent a LOT of time in there with his woodworking tools. I would have loved it but it was dusty and full of rusty tools so I made my way back into the house. It was obvious that an older person had lived there and recently died. You know how older homes sometimes freeze in a favorite era? This house was sort of frozen in the 60's or 70's. The family had hired a company to run the sale and were just trying the clear the place out.

I came in from the garage and made my way into the living room. There I found an old, water damaged book that I HAD to have. It was called The Succefsful Housekeeper (that's no typo, the cover spells it that way). It was a fascinating book on it's own since it was clearly very old. What made it irresistible to me was the fact that a woman had spent so much time on it. The former owner had kept hand written recipes in it and had carefully glued newspaper clippings into every spare space in the end papers. The recipes are written on all kinds of scraps of paper; parts of old envelopes, receipts and magazine solicitations. A few of the scraps are dated from 1887 - 1907. The hand writing is elegant but heartbreaking because the newer recipes are written with a shaky hand, presumably when she got older. This woman seems to have kept this book her whole life. Every time I come across it I wonder about who she was. Many of the scraps of paper come from Pennsylvania. Did she come to California or was her book given to a relative or friend who came here? Was she happy? What was her life like? I suppose she was the mother or grandmother of the person who left that house behind.

I don't know who she was, not even her name,there is no name anywhere to be found. The book was damaged and I knew it would end up in the trash somewhere. I asked how much they wanted for it and they said "A dollar". It's probably the fastest purchase I've ever made.

I took some pictures, they aren't the best but I think you'll understand why I cherish this book.

Look at the detailed embossing on the cover!

Here is the inside cover flap where several recipes are tucked away.

Many of the recipes are written with a fountain pen. I love it!

Oh, this is a good one! It's difficult to read but it's a smallpox cure. It says "I am willing to risk my reputation as a man, if the worst cases of small-pox cannot be cured in three days, simply by the use of cream of tartar." Yikes!

Here is a shot of the clippings that have been glued into the back of the book.


This may be my favorite. It's a lemon pie recipe with a little drawing of a man and a dog. Look at his coat... It's just all so cool.

Some of the recipes are faded while others are written in a newer hand that is, frankly, very difficult to read. I wanted to include a recipe so I'll take one from one of the clippings. This one it titled "Shortcake Like Mother Made". It is written in the old style. Wasn't it Fannie Farmer who first started writing the ingredients first? Well, here is how recipes used to be written. I think you'll agree that the 20th century way of writing recipes is a huge improvement over the past.

I've reproduced the recipe exactly as it appears in the clipping. It is dated 1898. Apparently editors didn't watch punctuation or typos back then.

The recipe begins with a long drawn out story then finally gets to the recipe with: "Here is it, just as I have written it down:
One quart flour, two heaping teaspoons baking powder, small cup lard or butter, a little salt. Mix all together thoroughly and stir up with milk, to which has been added one egg and the yolk of a second, well beaten. Mix rather stiff, but do not roll, spread out on a long thin, oblong pan. making a cake not two inches thick when done. Cook in a quick oven, split with a silver fork and butter generously, and put together one layer on top of the other, the crusts down. Cover both pieces of shortcake with berries which have been slightly mashed and allowed to stand for a short time in sugar. They can be placed on the shortcake whole if desired and fresh sugar sifted over them. The white of the egg left should be stirred up with sugar and spread over the berries on top. Serve hot with rich cream. This is good with other berries, and specially good when made with ripe peaches."

I would like to try it but I have too many questions. What is a "quick oven"? How much milk would I use? Why a silver fork? Also, I don't think I'd enjoy the strawberries mashed and certainly not with raw egg whites in them. If any of you test this recipe I hope you'll let me know what you think. I wish you luck.

I'm mostly obsessed with additions to the book but The Successful Housekeeper is a fascinating glimpse into the lives of women in the 19th century. You can take a peek right here.

I keep this book with my cookbooks. It's very fragile but I like to pull it down every once in a while. It feels like spending a little time with the woman who kept it so well. I like to think she's happy that I rescued her little book and that I love it so much even though I'm too chicken to try most of her recipes. I hope that makes her smile.

Rainy Days

So I've been away for a while, that tends to happen when I'm not loving my job. I should rephrase that... I still like my job, I'm just very stressed out by it. That hasn't changed but I figured I should check in.

Here's what's happened while I've been gone:

• It rained buckets for about a week around here. I LOVED every minute of it and would love some more but it's been tough on those dealing with mud slides. We got over 10" in the yard. Amazing!
  
• I went to the Anaheim Craft Show and was inspired to pick up some cross stitch again even though the show was almost entirely about paper crafts.
• I will never watch Jay Leno again. I don't care if he books Jesus Christ Himself, I'm not watching.
• I'm way off track on getting through The List but will still see as many as I can.
• I was supposed to go to Big Bear for a girl's crafting weekend but it's snowing too much so we're having to abort that mission and find another location. I'll keep you posted.
• Here's a fun tip: I called my brother and he said "Hi!" immediately followed with "Ive got to take this call. I'll call you back." He never did so I sent him an email telling him he was "so Cats In The Cradle". It worked. He asked me to call right way.
• I'm obsessed with Farmville on Facebook. It's sort of like Club Penguin but for adults. A Co-Worker, who is also my Farmville neighbor, passed me in the hall and said "Yo! I'm fertilizing the shit out of your farm!" It confused people and made me smile.
• One of my favorite little spots on the net is back. That's made me happy.
• I squealed when I saw Lady Gaga doing a duet with Elton John on the Grammys last night. I'm not proud, it just happened.
• I'm shopping for a nice digital SLR camera. Not sure where to start but it must be done.
• I have not been reading AT ALL. Another sure sign that I'm stressed out. Oh, and no sign of my Supervisor returning to work. Bummer.
• Shandon killed Zelda Reubenstein.
  
• I did my annual call with a friend's daughter to go through her AP reading list. I'm not sure how I got this job but it's fun and I've been doing to for a couple of years now. The parameters are a) It's got to be a foreign author, b) It's needs to be easy to follow and c) It's got to be short. My first instructions are always "Stay away from the Tolstoy and Wharton. They will just make you mad." In the end we decided on 1984 and A Christmas Carol. I know, but they are classics and she just wasn't going for the Jane Eyre. I tried.
• I can't watch the news anymore. Seeing crying children is just too much for me. I donated some money to the Haitian Habitat for Humanity fund and stopped watching. It was really getting to me and making me cry. I'm back to watching American Idol and Barefoot Contessa. Is this responsible? No. But it's what I had to do. Don't judge me.
• I made Ina Garten's Perfect Roast Chicken and we have declared it the best chicken in the world. I made changes (like ditching the fennel and adding potatoes) but I am what i am and the family seems to be happy with the recipe. Mom's just happy to have someone else cooking in her kitchen.

So, the good news is that writing down this list has made me feel better. Life is still pretty good. I really shouldn't complain and be a freaky stress case about it all. Still, I'd rather be here:


...or here:

They look like they have electricity and maybe even some cable and WiFi. Sounds perfect! Does anyone know how to get there and, more importantly, STAY there? Please let me know.

***
Update:
The Donner Party is on! The Donner Party is on PBS! Is it strange that this makes me so happy? I can't help it. I LOVE the American Experience telling of The Donner Party. Well, I'm set for the night. Sweet dreams everyone!!!

Happy New Year (1-1/2 weeks late)

Happy New Year y'all! I trust you had a good set of holidays. I've still mourning the end of my vacation but thanks to MLK next weekend is a long one. Woo hoo!

While the rest of the world comes up with resolutions for themselves this time of year, my buddies Shandon and Howard have come up with other far more entertaining New Year's challenges. This year I've decided to join in on the fun.

The first is referred to simply as The List. Shandon explains The List origins far more succinctly than I ever could over on her blog. Bottom line: I'm going to try to check out the following movies before this year's Academy Awards. Those in red indicate the films I've already seen.

1. Up in the Air
2. Avatar
3. The Hurt Locker
4. Precious
5. Inglourious Basterds
6. Invictus
7. An Education
8. Up
9. A Serious Man
10. The Messenger
11. Julie & Julia
12. A Single Man
13. Crazy Heart
14. The Blind Side
15. The Last Station
16. Nine
17. Star Trek
18. District 9
19. Fantastic Mr. Fox
20. The Lovely Bones
21. (500) Days of Summer
22. It's Complicated
23. The Young Victoria
24. Bright Star
25. The Informant!

As you can see I've only got 11 to go. (500) Days of Summer and District 9 are in Netflix envelopes on my DVD player waiting to be seen. I plan to watch them this weekend. With the exception of Invictus and District 9, I probably would have seen them all on my own anyway. It's therefore not such a daunting list. In fact I look forward to seeing them all except that damn Invictus. At least it's got Clint Eastwood going for it.

The other random challenge I've joined in on for 2010 is called The Dead Pool. There is a bit of guilt involved and I'm sure my karmic health will take a hit for it, but some things you've just got to try. So, what is this Dead Pool? Shandon, Howard, Sean and Curtis come up with a list of celebrities they think might die in the coming year. Howard took 2009 with three deaths on his list but admits to feeling bad about Karl Malden. Here is the list I submitted for 2010:

• Rush Limbaugh (I admit that this is my aspirational pick. *fingers crossed*)
• Steve Jobs (Sorry dude. I love your stuff but you're looking very ill.)
• Ariel Sharon (Yes, he's still in a coma.)
• Kirk Douglas (Poor Kirk.)
• Phyllis Diller (I had to look Ms. Diller up since I wasn't sure she was alive or not.)
• Lena Horne (I love me some Lena but she's getting up there even though she looks younger than me.)
• Joan Didion (Poor Joan. She wrote one of my all time favorite books but she just hasn't looked well since she lost John.)
• Amy Winehouse (This one makes me mad because I think she's a genuine talent but if she doesn't turn it around fast, she's a goner.)
• Elizabeth Taylor (The woman has 9 lives but I think her time is drawing near.)
• Zsa Zsa Gabor (Another that I had to check the breathing status of. Yup, she's still kickin'.)

There are no rules to The Dead Pool except that the list must be comprised of celebrities only. We all seemed to top each list with an aspirational pick this year. Shandon is still pulling for Andy Rooney while Curtis remains hopeful about Dick Cheney's death. While The Dead Pool is in no way a hit list it helps to include a few who just need to exit this world. Whoops of joy will be heard 'round the world if some of these folks finally leave us alone.

That's right Rush... keep on smoking. Just keep on smoking. *maniacal cackle growing*

Hound

I'm very close to buying my first house. It's equal parts exciting and terrifying. Beyond the home purchase I'm considering getting dog. I will likely wait a bit to get settled into the new homeowner routine but eventually I'd like to get a trusty little buddy by my side to help keep an eye on things. I've long been a fan of corgis but lately I've been thinking about the possibility of getting a bassett hound. They have great temperaments, are loyal and have deep intimidating barks all in a reasonably sized package. Best of all they have amazing howls!

Meet Sadie who howls whenever her BFF leaves the house. Such despair! I love how Sadie stops when she finally realizes she's not alone and in fact has someone to play with. I heart her.

Time Well Squandered

I've been on vacation this week. All of my Christmas duties are complete. All of my gifts are purchased, wrapped and sitting under the tree. I baked some spectacular Oatmeal Pecan Raisin cookies for my Dad and soon after became obsessed with finding some new quality cooking sites online. I found some great ones to add to my blog's sidebar:

Taste Spotting
Smitten Kitchen
O Pistachio
What We're Eating
Mixing Bowl
Love & Olive Oil
Make Life Delicious
The Bitten Word
Sugar Crafter

But hands down my new favorite has got to be:

Food Porn Daily

Despite all of these great new finds I wandered over to Allcooks and was entirely mislead.

I felt like baking but didn't have the patience for cookies (all those pesky batches!). Instead, I zeroed in on banana bread. Unfortunately, I could only find green bananas (much less over ripe bananas). I switched gears and decided to make a zucchini bread instead. I sadly did not do the wise thing and ask around for a decent recipe. I did the lame thing and logged on to AllCooks, found an ok looking recipe and baked what has to be the worst zucchini bread of all time. I knew 2 shredded zucchinis looked like way too much but I shrugged and baked it anyway. The resulting bread looked perfect but tasted all wrong. It tasted of way too much zucchini and God knows what else. I hated it. My Mom tried a bite and said "Is this supposed to be a healthy recipe?" Yeah, it was that bad. Even my Dad bravely tried a bite and exclaimed "Blechh, that's pretty bad". They were right, it was a damn bad sweet bread.

I redeemed my skills in the kitchen later by making Julia Child's Onion Soup. It was amazingly good despite my one exclusion. Julia says to add some cognac to the soup right before serving. I had already cooked some dry vermouth into it and thought it tasted sublime as it was. I really dislike the taste of alcohol and couldn't imagine cognac helping any. I told my Dad he could add a splash of cognac if he wanted. He didn't. Dad agreed that it tasted great as it was. I toasted up some fresh French bread and melted some good Swiss cheese over the toast. The soup over the toast was fantastic.

Even my soup success didn't make me feel better about the great zucchini bread debacle. I decided to give it to try again but this time with a pro's recipe. I looked for an Ina Garten zucchini bread recipe with no luck. I then visited Martha Stewart's site and found what seemed to be a much more reasonable zucchini bread recipe than this afternoon's. In fact, I baked Martha's Zucchini Spice Bread and it came out amazingly good. It's not very sweet, it's just right. I highly recommend it.

Drawn

Have you ever been drawn to something yet repelled by it at the same time? I was sampling Christmas music and realized I feel that way about several things. For one, I'm oddly drawn to Jim Brickman then I listen to him a bit and immediately feel over steeped in sap and retreat. Do you know what I mean?

I feel the same way about the Catholic church. I'm bizarrely drawn to the pomp and circumstance of the church (or is it The Church?). I really like Mary and I think confession is a grand idea. Mostly I love the fact that Catholics have a Saint for every occasion. Did you know there's a Saint for cramps? I mean seriously that's a religion for me, right? Then I take one curious step towards Catholicism and immediately run for my life when I learn about the rules and oppression and the assigned roles of women. They like to hold up Mary as their favorite woman but sheesh, she had to give birth to God to impress them. I eventually think of the Inquisition and then I think of Monty Python and then I'm lost. Through it all I remain curious but not enough to actually go to a Catholic church to investigate any of it in person. Did I mention that I was baptized Catholic? I always claim that "it didn't take". I don't mean to offend my Catholic friends and family, let's just say it's just not for me.

I have the same push/pull feelings for New Year's Eve. It always sounds like a fun idea but when it comes down to it, it's just a weak excuse for the immature or troubled to drink too much and cause problems for the rest of us. I typically just pretend it's not happening until New Year's Day when I can watch the Rose Parade on tv. A parade, by the way, that ends about 2 miles from my home.

I love the idea of drinking aged scotch but find the taste revolting. I think it would be so cool to be able to order a scotch on the rocks and love it, but I don't so I can't.

I LOVE to learn about Henry VIII but think he was a despicable freak. This pretty much applies to most history. I'm fascinated with history but I am NOT one of those who feels she was born too late. Traveling back in time is not a fantasy that has ever appealed to me. I occasionally think it might be fun to be some sort of invisible spectator to some past events. Would I want to go back and live there? No thank you. I prefer the idea of past historical figures coming into our times for a ride. Wouldn't you just love to take the some of the Donner for a drive to Donner Pass? I guess that's sort of a mean idea but I couldn't help but think of it when I drove up there a few years ago.

I guess I'll just continue to satisfy my curiosity from the safe confines of my little MacBook and the Internet.

It's About Tme

Speaking of year end lists, I was thinking about what I've read this year and I'm sad to say it's not much. I don't mean the content was bad, I mean it's a pitifully short list that I'm not proud of. It made me think about the books I've been meaning to read for years. I'd say the book I most hang my head in shame about having never read is Little Women. I know! Someone gave me a copy when I was around 10 years old but I could never get into it. I've decided it's finally time to knock that one off my "To Read" list. My buddy Shandon and I spoke about doing a book-of-shame swap. By this I mean that I agreed to read Little Women and she said she'd give her book of shame a shot. (I'll let her tell you what that book is.)

Here are the books I'd like to finally read in 2010:

• Little Women
• Rebecca
• Gone With The Wind

Sort of a weird list, huh? I can't help it. These are the books I've always meant to read but never have. Dammit, it's time!

Here are the books I'm thinking about re-reading in 2010:

• Little House on the Prairie
• The Secret Garden

What books have you always intended to read? Will you finally read one this year?

Best of

I love the "Best Of" lists that pile up this time of year. I think they are the very best thing about a year ending. If you feel the same way, here is a great place to get your "Best Of" fix. Click around for NPR's best in all kinds of genres. I know I'll be buzzing around these lists when I have a little more time come vacation. Weeeee!

Oh, and Shandon? Did you know about American Fantastic Tales? Do tell!

Silly Gifts

This is one of the funniest gift ideas I've seen so far this season. If you "get it" then you're a pal o' mine, if not, then you're not.


Here is another one that I love:



Anyone who knows me knows that I really dislike cats. Here's a little something to celebrate that hatred:


Ok, I know tragedy plus time is supposed to equal comedy but I don't think I'm quite ready for this.


These are cool:

So there are a few gift ideas for you during these last days of Christmas shopping. Enjoy!

Quick to judge?

So, I've been ignoring this whole Lady Gaga rise to fame thing. I'm sure I've been exposed to lots of her music but I only recognize that Just Dance song and I don't particularly care for it. Mostly I've been vaguely concerned for this Lady Gaga character. Every time I've seen her in the past year I've wondered why she hates her face so much that she makes such extraordinary efforts to hide it. Is it a crazy sense of showmanship? Is she trying to retain some sort on anonymity or is she simply full of self loathing? Frankly these were such vague thoughts I never looked into trying to get answers to them.

I finally caught an interview/performance with Lady Gaga on The Ellen Degeneres show and I must say I was impressed. She was, not surprisingly, an outcast in high school and claims that her wild wardrobe choices are about making her fans (who are often the outsiders) feel less alone and to illustrate how they should embrace their uniqueness. Of course, that could be a load but I kind of got the feeling she was being sincere. I can't remember the last time I thought a pop star was being sincere.

As for any singing talent, I assumed she had none because her music is synthesizer heavy and that is typically a red flag warning "No Talent Zone". I couldn't have been more mistaken. She's not only got a good voice but one with a pretty cool tone to it. I'm still not sure I'd call myself a fan but I sure liked her performance on the show. She wrote the song for her dad who needed open heart surgery but had sort of thrown in the towel on his illness. Lady Gaga (or whatever her name is) wrote the song on the road as a way to beg him to get the surgery as quickly as possible. He did.

I immediately liked the song. Above all I was stunned to realize that as I watched her performance I felt like I was watching a young, female Elton John. It's not just the piano and the getup either. Seriously, did Elton and Bernie Taupin write this thing? I'm a huge fan of early Elton John so I don't say that lightly. Take a look and let me know what you think.



Score!

Yesterday Mom and I were discussing our growing sense of dread/doom about our Christmas shopping.

My first reaction was to abandon poor Mom to go online and order a few things. Let me tell you, the online stores had some fantastic deals going on yesterday. I even got a few things for myself. Cruising around online is my way of deciding what to get everyone. I don't like to go to a mall or chain store unless I absolutely must and I know exactly what I want to purchase so shopping online first is helpful. The down side is that I really do prefer to see these potential gifts first hand.

After a little research, my second reaction was to ask Mom if she'd like to do some shopping early this morning at... the mall. We agreed to get ourselves to the mall at 9:00 am and follow a vague route depending on how the first two stops went. Well, they went very well. We hit all of our targets by 10:30. We then took a break and had a nice brunch at The Only Place in Town (which now claims to be called Barney's but I know that if I ever called it that nobody would know what I was talking about).

After brunch we were re-energized and decided to calmly drive by the new Best Buy (aka the Lesser Known Best Buy) for something we'd decided to go in on together. I prefer to shop at independent stores, especially around the holidays, but I don't know of any in the electronics game these days so Best Buy it was. WELL! The LKBB was a dream! Plenty of parking was available and I discovered they even reserve the best spots for energy efficient vehicles.. score!!! Mom and I picked up our target gift and, finding no unruly crowd, decided to shop around a bit. We looked at tvs (which we both are in the market for) and cameras and lots of others things. It was amazing. I always find Best Buy has the worst crowds this time of year and it is always the most dreaded store to visit. I was stunned at what a nice experience we had there today. I even picked up a new clock radio for my nightstand with a docking space for my iPod. The face is mirrored, which may prove to be a regretful choice when I see myself tomorrow morning but we'll wait and see.

We then went to downtown Monrovia. I wanted to hit an antique store there. They sometimes have vintage Christmas tree ornaments and my sister-in-law collects them. I wanted to pick up some ornaments for decoration on her gift. Not only did I find the perfect vintage glass ornaments but I also stumbled upon a bookcase full of old books at 75% off. Typically I find a lot of lame Reader's Digest books in antique stores but I can't help but stop and take a look for some treasure. With just a quick sweep of the shelf I found an old edition of The Oxford Anthology of English Literature. My Mom has a well thumbed copy that I liked to pull down and flip through when I was a kid. (Is that weird?) Well, I have my own copy now so I didn't need a new one but I was happy to see it there. It proved to be a good sign. I kept looking and found a copy of the Modern Library's Great Modern Short Stories in excellent condition. It's one of the best collections I've found and apparently out of print. (I've been on a short stories kick for a while now). I then came across the mother load: Maxims and Reflections by Winston Churchill. I've sort of had a crush on old Winston ever since visiting the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. I know that sounds incredibly strange but I defy you to visit that place and not come out all googly eyed about the man. (Don't even get me started on his relationship with Clementine. Adorable!) Anyway, I flipped the book open to read the chapter headings, some were: On His Likes, On His Dislikes and, best of all, On Foreigners (SOLD!). While driving home Mom read a few gems out loud. So far my favorite Churchillian observation in the book is regarding Lennon. Churchill states "He alone could have found the way back to the causeway. The Russian people were left floundering in the bog. Their worst misfortune was his birth, their next worst - his death." Nice. I got both books for $2.50. Yea!

I now have a good idea of what I'll be getting everyone in my family for Christmas/birthdays and feel much better.

I'm now off to read and await this big rain storm the experts still insist is on the way. It could be a long wait.

I'll be going to my brother's house for Thanksgiving where I will enjoy his amazing grilled turkey with all the fixins. Before, during and after my visit to his house I will be watching ridiculous amounts of tv via the American holiday tradition of tv marathons. Here are some I'll be checking in on before I'm force fed football:

Band of Brothers - Spike TV
Godfather I, II, & III - AMC
House - USA
Mythbusters - Discovery
Twilight Zone - KTLA (for you LA dwellers)

Of course, lately all I care about is an excessive dose of Law & Order but since every day is a Law & Order marathon I'll have to gorge on it via USA and TNT tomorrow.

If you're interested in a serious tv coma, here is much more extensive marathon list including Black Friday tv to help keep you out of the mall. (You heard me)

God, I love a well spent vacation.

Old Fashioned

I've always been fascinated with the role of women in past generations. My mom once bought an old fashioned etiquette booklet for me from the Huntington Library. It had been originally published in the late 1800's and it, in equal parts, cracked me up and mortified me.

Today I received an excellent surprise from my Mom's dear friend Ann from "back home". Ann sent cook books for me, my bro and my mom. It's the 2009 edition of her community's women's club.

The introduction explains that the club originally began in the 1930's. Apparently the women in town met at a local hotel to play bridge every day. Well, the ministers of the community "worried about all the bridge playing" and suggested the women instead get together to better the town. The women formed the club that continues to this day. I, thought it was hilarious that anyone would be concerned with too much bridge playing but the idea to form a club was a good one and the women wound up raising lots of money through the decades for all sorts of charities. Best of all, I got a super cool cookbook from one of the current members. Thanks Ann!!!

I love old cookbooks and recipes because they offer a great glimpse into the lives of women from different eras. This cookbook features recipes from the current members as well as those from the 1959 club.

There is a recipe for Texas Caviar but it sounds much cheesier than than one I tried, and loved, from Larkin's.

There is a "Congealed Salad" from '59. I mean even back in the 50's that had to have sounded unappetizing. Or maybe it's just me.

"Luella's Old Fashioned Salad Dressing" sounds great because anything from a Luella in Texas has got to be good.

"Anna's Broccoli & Cheese Casserole"? Yes, please.

"Baked Sweet Potatoes with Apricots and Bourbon" anyone? That one's from Ann and I think we have to give it a go.

"Anita's Brisket"? Mom used to make this... holy cow. You've gotta give it a try.

"Chicken with Morels & Tarragon Cream Sauce"? Anyone know what a morel is?

There is a recipe for something called "Johnny Knows It". It looks like a home made hamburger helper sort of casserole. I was all in until I read that stuffed olives were used. If this cookbook is any indication, there was an alarming need for stuffed olives in the 50's. Of course I will now be obsessed with searching the grocery store aisles for stuffed olives now.

Ok, what?! Ann, honestly! How could you let something called "Wet Back Supper" into this edition? It's not even a recipe from the 50's! It's a 2009 submission. Please tell Kaythat she should be ashamed of herself! It requires vermicelli so I'm as confused as is Kay.

"Olga's Rolls". Ok, I don't know Olga but she uses sweet milk and sugar in her rolls so I like her.

Uh oh. There is apparently some sort of Chess Pie smack down on page 68. Apparently nobody in the 1959 club wanted to choose between Walter and Edith's recipes. Maybe we should do a taste test and decide for ourselves.

"Lulu Belle's Cheese Cake" again, any recipe from a woman named Lulu Belle has got to be great.

Someone name "Sis" House (quotes from the cookbook not me) submitted an Osgood Pie. That's gotta be good. Of course, "Sis" makes me think of The Rain Maker and that helps.

Uh oh. There is an even bigger smack down on page 86 with three, count 'em, three Pecan Pie recipes from Judy, Hoppie and Maxine. All require Karo so that's comforting.

Oooooooooh, divinity. My mom used to make divinity. Its' di-lightful.

"Vinegar Cookies"? Well, that's intriguing!

"White Fudge Icing" is from Znobia. Cool!

Man, we have such boring names these days. Where did all of the "Sis", Znobia and Hoppie's of the world go?

Here is a fun site to check out if you too like vintage recipes. Oooooh, yeah. Check out this bad boy. JACKPOT!!!

The internet keeps getting better

So, just when I thought nothing could top People of Walmart a friend introduces me to the delights of Texts from Last Night. The tag line of the blog is "Remember that text you shouldn't have sent last night? We do." I know!!! They are supposedly real texts that have been submitted to the site from lucky recipients. I don't know how real some of them are but they are so entertaining that I just don't care .

Many of the texts are just plain gross but others are hilarious. Above all it makes me incredibly grateful that texting didn't exist when I was in college. Phones were tragic enough. Texting is officially so much worse.

So far I like these:

• "i got kicked out of Barns and Nobles cuz i put all the bibles in the fiction section"
• "sorry i interrupted the heart to heart you were having with your bathrobe last night"
• "i took some ambien and I TRIPPED out...i went into my mom's room to say goodnight and i don't remember anything...she said that i got really pissed at her because we were living in the Keebler elf tree and she was visiting other trees, then i started laughing hysterically and she goes "whats so funny?" and i go "there are 7 people sitting on my knees" and she goes "doesn't that hurt?" and i said "no we're sitting in a bowl" and then i capped it off and said "join the crazy train bro" and passed out."

I don't know how long I'll find this site amusing but it sure is cracking me up tonight.

Enjoy!

DLTLMFGYD

I cried at work today. This is the second time I've cried in 8 years at my current place of employment. My boss is currently out on stress leave so I'm doing both of our jobs and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. Trouble is I don't want to complain because I don't want to be classified a cry-baby or trouble maker. People are too easily misclassified at work and I just don't want a new label.

Instead I did what any reasonable grown up who needs to cry at work does, I sat in a stall and silently cried for five minutes, dried my tears and went back to work. I was teary for about 30 minutes afterward but my boss' boss saw me with watery eyes and high tailed it out of my cubicle. I think I'll keep some Visine on hand from now on.

I later saw a friend puffy eyed and crying in her office. She had just shut the door after returning from her boss' office. I tapped on the glass wall of her office and sat with her and laughed through tears as I said "What's going on? We don't cry!". I let her vent for a while, then she got mad. My parting words to her were "It's better to be mad than cry around here. Keep it up.". That seemed to help her.

Here are some other quotes that helped me get through this dreadful day:

• "Dust off your resume."
• "This is a job NOT a career. I come in, do my job and get the fuck out."
• "It's not worth it."
• "Make sure nobody ever has to say 'Get a Life' to you"
  
• "DLTLMFGYD" (aka "Don't Let the Little Mother Fuckers Get You Down") - This is what a dear friend's father used to tell us when we were having a hard time in and after college. I thought it was simply DLTFGYD but I spoke with my dear friend who corrected me and said that I had to add the "Little Mother" portion to it. Her Dad used to write the acronym in cards he'd leave for her. He was an awesome man. He died several years ago and I miss him all the time.

But more than anything, what got me through this day was being able to say "Yup", "Yes" and "Uh huh" to the litany of "Did you do..." questions that my boss' boss had for me. When everyone else was pushing work back on us because they were "understaffed and overworked" and "too busy" I just said "Yup".

Favorite

Here is what may be my all time favorite blog post ever. It's called "Secret Snack of Shame-a-thon".

I'm very disappointed in myself in that I never thought to make a plate of those delightful looking pretzel/chocolate filling things above. Those are SO being served at my next get together.

Really? It's Halloween?

I love Halloween but it's a particularly busy time at work these days so I didn't dress up or do any planning. However, I work at a place that has a LOT of people who happen to be creative and who love to dress up. So, how did I know it was Halloween? Well, I started finding clues around the office.

For one, this was one of the conference rooms I had a financial meeting in. And this is after it had been cleaned up a bit:

I opened the refrigerator for my lunch and found this:

I walked by our "open area" and saw this lying on a table for no particular reason.

There were also lots of awesome costumes but I was sequestered to my cubicle and missed most of them. I did, however see the electric wheel chair one artist had converted into the snail from the Main Street Electrical Parade complete with soundtrack. That was pretty great to see. Another dressed up as this guy which I thought was genius:

I heard about another company's runway/costume contest who had a Kanye West who kept interrupting everyone as they walked the catwalk.

That may be my favorite.

I promise to take pictures of the cool costumes next year. They are unbelievable!

The benefits of keeping an open mind

So, the Dodgers are once again breaking my heart. What do I do? I tune into Great Performances because it's featuring an episode on Gustavo Dudamel's debut performance as Music Director of the LA Phil and I can't think of a better way to stop hating LA (dem bums!).

Dudamel opens with a very modern sounding piece called City Noir. Ok, I get it, that's a pretty cool way to kick off a new job in LA, but I'm also thinking that it's sort of annoying 'cause it's a bit too modern for my taste. Keeping an open mind, I read about the commissioning of City Noir and discover the Composer was inspired by a bunch of books by some guy named Kevin Starr. I cruise on over to Amazon to read about this Starr guy. The next thing I know I'm getting totally engrossed in Starr's Dream books on California so I then make it official and add a few of his books to my wish list. Then I do the obvious and Google the guy and what do I learn? Kevin Starr was at Vroman's just last month. DAMMIT!

Oh well, better luck next time, huh?

In the end I wound up sort of liking the weird modern piece of music. I guess it goes to show that keeping an open mind can lead to interesting things.

I'm tired

I've got a terrible flu. Swine flu? Who knows. All I know is that it's wearing out it's welcome. I've slept tons, which usually helps, but still this thing hangs on.

Here are a few necessities I've used to get through it so far:

• Rosebud Salve (for the Rudolph nose. Apply generously every night and your nose won't get so dry and irritated. If you don't have this already, get some. I use this stuff every day for dry lips and cuticles. It's amazing.)
  
• Puffs Plus Kleenex
• Excedrin (For the blazing headache)
• Tylenol Cold (When the runny nose is out of hand)
• Robitussin (When the cough and chest congestion sets in)
• Listerine (To soak my toothbrush in between frequent brushings)
• Visine (To sooth burning eyes. Come to think of it, maybe I have the plague.)
  
• Cold, damp washcloth (for the forehead when the fever was approaching 103)
• Cranberry juice mixed with 7-Up (Ginger Ale is preferable but apparently the rest of the world got hold of before I could. I've pretty much lived on this concoction for the past 4 days)
• Coal Miner's Daughter, Smokey & The Bandit and Vampyr (I know It's a strange line up but this is what cable has had to offer during waking hours.)
  
• The Hunger Games (I seem to read a book every time I'm really sick. This is what I read this time. I liked it.)
• The most comfy bed in the world

I hope you don't get this flu but if you do I hope the above helps you through it.