Monthly Archives: October 2011

Happy Happy Halloweeny!

Gomez Addams and Ophelia Frump Short and sweet, folks. A full weekend has turned out to be much busier than planned, and I just don’t have the time or energy to wax smart with my words.

So…

Happy Halloween!!!

Saturday was a day for being in costume, and suffering under a bushy blonde wig for several hours at a time. In the early afternoon, we visited the niece and nephews in our gnome costumes, as Gnomeo and Juliet is a current favorite over there. They responded better than they did to Link and Zelda last year, and didn’t even ask us to remove our pointy hats. They grow up oh so fast.

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The Content Farmer

farming for wordsThere once was a girl who could write. She could write very well, and given the time, might have even written a book.

Sadly, this girl also had bills to pay, student loans to fulfill and a growing family. Her decision earlier in the year to quit a job that, while somewhat maddening and stagnant, provided a steady paycheck was keeping her on her toes. There was very little time for creative fun and the generation of magic on paper.

Known to society as a “freelance writer”, this girl balanced herself between moments of excitement and inspiration and bouts of panic over her insistence to buy organic apples. If only she could grow content and fresh produce.

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BPA, BPBad.

EWA BPA chart

I do hope you’ve heard of BPA, and how it’s a shady component in many of our food containers.

I was shocked when a nurse at my OB’s office was unfamiliar with the concerns about BPA in baby bottles. I thought it was practically a mainstream scare, not just something us weirdo-hippy types talk about.

BPA is bisphenol-A, a chemical commonly used in food and beverage containers. Plastic seems to be the best known source of BPA in our food, though the ingredient is also used in the lining of aluminum cans holding soups, fruits and vegetables, meats and pastas.

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The Pumpkin Challenge, and a Challenged Pumpkin

carved pumpkin

A face only the carver could love…

In case you haven’t noticed, I really like Halloween. It is one of my two favorite holidays (three if you include summer). I think the vibe and theatrics are fabulous, and I especially appreciate the emphasis on parties and creativity rather than rampant commercialism and chaos (at least, that’s how it goes in my world).

Over this weekend, we attended a pumpkin carving party. I usually don’t have too much trouble coming up with a design, but this year, the orange squash wasn’t speaking to me.

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Snapshot Rush

waitress in pink dressWow. I’d forgotten about this one. I’ve touched it up a little (very little), but originally wrote it during the fall semester of 2006, for Prof. Osborn’s fiction workshop.

It makes me miss my days at Russ’… just a little bit.

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There is a Rhythm to it. The hum of the overhead fluorescent lights, the sizzle of the burger fat, the clang of dishes and silverware. Buzz, hum, sizzle-sizzle clang! There is no escaping the noise of this place. Sometimes I want to clap my hands over my ears and scream louder than everything around me to regain some sense of control. But the constant and familiar Rhythm sort of keeps me grounded, so I don’t.

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Why Eggs Rock

I love eggs, oh so much. They are the reason I could never truly go vegan. I love the way they look and taste. I even love the word. Egg. Eeeeeegg. Eg-g-g-g-g-g-g-g. Eggy. Just lovely.

As a vegetarian, I quickly realized the importance of eggs as a source of protein and iron. I figured it out a couple weeks in to the veggie-venture, when I started craving eggs like crazy – they were all I could think about.

Here’s a quick rundown of the nutrition we get from one typical, medium egg:

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The Beauty of Halloween

gnomes rubbing nosesMy husband comes up with great Halloween costume ideas.

Last year we were Link and Zelda. The year before that, Buttercup and Wesley. It gets blurry before that, but I think another year back we were V and Evey from V for Vendetta. We’ve managed to get most of what we need from Goodwill, fabric stores and the seasonal Halloween stores (mainly for the wigs). The ‘V’ year, hubs made his mask with paper mache and acrylic paint. We still have it somewhere.

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Sushi and CEOs

This week, a little bit of my faith was restored in visionary business people everywhere.

For a long time, I’ve worked under the thumb of CEOs and managers who don’t necessarily recognize or even understand the merit and talent of their employees. Not to say that they’re bad people, but the underlings are there to do low level tasks and not think about challenge or career advancement. Needless to say, this is frustrating, stagnating and just bad for morale. Not the reason I’m still paying for my degree – not by a long shot.

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I am the Salad Czar!

spinach salad

At the beginning of the week, my husband announced that I am the Salad Czar. He then added the footnote that the entire idea was much more entertaining after a whiskey or three.

I realize this sounds a little strange, but as things go in our house, it’s actaully pretty standard.

See, I eat a lot of salads. In fact, when I was working in an office, 3pm was officially declared my salad time. I would wander to the company fridge, pull out my prepared salad and organic dressing, and add raw sunflower seeds and raisins to the mix. Once I had the whole ordeal back to my cube, someone would typically walk by and exclaim “You’re eating again?!?”

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