Every year the company I work for puts out the City Crime Rankings and Crime State Rankings. Every year, when these books come out, our phones are flooded with calls.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, BALTIMORE ISN'T SAFE?!"
So above is this year's top 30.
Congratulations, Camden, New Jersey! So proud of you!
- Location:United States, District of Columbia, Washington
- Mood:
busy
"You can't spell families without 'lies'. Go ahead. Try it!" --Four Christmases
Thanksgiving is in two days. TERRIFIED. I need a pep talk, a hug, and a Johnny Walker Black on the rocks. It's my go to drink. See, I'm living dangerously. I'm making four (FOUR) new dishes to take for Thanksgiving. The smart thing would be to test drive all of these recipes, right? Yea, no. Instead tomorrow night I'm making Cheddar Chili Corn Muffins for the Klutzy Kitchen and some quesadillas. Sigh.
Yea.
It's like I go in the kitchen, and I get anxiety even though I know I can cook! I am a nerd. Here's hoping. I've never made stuffing/dressing before... and I'm using a recipe from Colonial Williamsburg, because I'm a nerd who jams out to Mozart's Don Giovanni when no one is home. (F'real, it's the most beautiful music ever written... the entire opera.)
OH! A bad Christmas movie is on!!
Thanksgiving is in two days. TERRIFIED. I need a pep talk, a hug, and a Johnny Walker Black on the rocks. It's my go to drink. See, I'm living dangerously. I'm making four (FOUR) new dishes to take for Thanksgiving. The smart thing would be to test drive all of these recipes, right? Yea, no. Instead tomorrow night I'm making Cheddar Chili Corn Muffins for the Klutzy Kitchen and some quesadillas. Sigh.
Yea.
It's like I go in the kitchen, and I get anxiety even though I know I can cook! I am a nerd. Here's hoping. I've never made stuffing/dressing before... and I'm using a recipe from Colonial Williamsburg, because I'm a nerd who jams out to Mozart's Don Giovanni when no one is home. (F'real, it's the most beautiful music ever written... the entire opera.)
OH! A bad Christmas movie is on!!
- Mood:
awake
It seems that Christmas is in the air in this part of North Beach. BHK and the Nailles… not even thanksgiving! however, I don’t mind the music, especially if we get sugar cookies with red and green sprinkles, while watching Christmas Vacation. The Naille’s already have 5 or more trees up at home… BHK and I aren’t going to do a tree until at least after Turkey Day.
Dinner was with the in-laws – hot dogs on the grill, baked beans and smokin’ sweet bbq chips.
Jungle Speed yet again. Lion is my lucky animal… no bears there.
1 year ago – leftover Halloween pics, allergy shots, walking and twilight – hobbits in bikinis.
Dinner was with the in-laws – hot dogs on the grill, baked beans and smokin’ sweet bbq chips.
Jungle Speed yet again. Lion is my lucky animal… no bears there.
1 year ago – leftover Halloween pics, allergy shots, walking and twilight – hobbits in bikinis.
2 years ago - one year out from ACIM, turkey doodle, tg pics to color, ze on thanks, BHK cooks, bacon salt, fry on americans, newt and pye pics, lj reads, 27 questions,
3 years ago - Mr.T on fashion, Bully Charlie Brown, Bro incognito, Last day at ACIM.
4 years ago - chilly for fl, many entries, foot amputee dream, bro in hospital
5 years ago - newtcam button, hercules & newton, bueller thoughts, jam sammiches, g-cans, flu bug, survey, LH quits, bro back in the pokey
6 years ago - DC Earths, Shrunken Heads, Police Cars, mix cds, South park, origin ofRaj KAJ, An awesome Weekly World News Issue, I am DNA, Bro Issues
7 years ago - classic kids audio books, history, forms in LJ work, goodbye to work-Pam, Mojo has a hissy fit vs Bonbon/Kev
8 years ago - beatnik, thanksgiving, harry potter quiz, wandering
9 years ago - thanksgiving 
- Location:20714
- Mood:
sleepy - Music:Badass - Ben Thompson - Xerxes
Slept in to about 11:30 this morning… good grief! Rainy day is good for snoozles.
More Rain and gloomy skies makes things lovely outside, at least to my eyes. 
Random awesome sign -
Spent the evening at the Nailles, more Jungle Speed!
1 year ago – Friday night date night, JJ Abrams losing streak with me and BHK, google’s life photos, misc thoughts, half-life for less than a buck
More Rain and gloomy skies makes things lovely outside, at least to my eyes. Random awesome sign -
Spent the evening at the Nailles, more Jungle Speed!
1 year ago – Friday night date night, JJ Abrams losing streak with me and BHK, google’s life photos, misc thoughts, half-life for less than a buck
2 years ago - bro out of jail and in seemingly good condition, date night with BHK, movie reviews / possibilities,
3 years ago - pirate scotto pic
4 years ago - red lobster, class struggle, black friday, chubby checker
5 years ago - pirates, giraffes, incredibles, bro
6 years ago - Marvel Family, Countdown meme, garden pictures
7 years ago - Free audio books, hubcap monsters, discover empanadas nearby, GIMP
8 years ago - cloture, pocketlj, single card tarot spreads, meeting lj folks confirmed
9 years ago - air cools, Young Frankenstein poetry, sleepyhead, country bear jamboree
10 years ago - very basic Newt stats
- Location:20714
The interview went well, though the tech part was reduced to a test rather than a human talk – the tech guy was out sick. I hope to hear form them soon how things went for them.
After that, we went to cheeburger cheeburger, where BHK had a gingerbread shake, and I had my standard chocolate cherry. Chris N. Had his second epidural, and is dealing with it ok… I won the gaming trophy again – Jungle Speed as the Lion, baby! (BHK does Monkey, Chris does Alligator, and Amanda as the Lemur.)
1 year ago – frozen sprinkler pic, beardless doodle, flurries, mopey
After that, we went to cheeburger cheeburger, where BHK had a gingerbread shake, and I had my standard chocolate cherry. Chris N. Had his second epidural, and is dealing with it ok… I won the gaming trophy again – Jungle Speed as the Lion, baby! (BHK does Monkey, Chris does Alligator, and Amanda as the Lemur.)1 year ago – frozen sprinkler pic, beardless doodle, flurries, mopey
2 years ago - atw man, icehouse game design, BHK 's tasty orange cake, Newt and Pye getting along better, Kindle, food links for needy folks
3 year ago - more sanibel pictures and talking a bit about the trip
4 years ago - arsenic & old lace, book fair, gamma passes, newt pics, missed uber, NYPL Digital Gallery, broward #1 for AIDS Pictures - junk shop pictures - lots of crazy statuary / monkey / eagle / chandeliers
5 years ago - torrenting, Brisco's Pete, theme music, dictionareoke, flash games, cosplayers, mel
6 years ago - bro responsored by viper, GP stuff, palm art
7 years ago - accexpo, gossamer and gollum (later Jinx and Felix), Christmas specials
8 years ago - Cranberry Sauce, walkies, haiku, wacky news
9 years ago - Bob Marley, Roy likes to destroy, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
danigolden asks if she can add me to her friends list. Still Miss you, Dani.
- Location:annapolis, md
- Mood:
calm - Music:TWiT podcast
pyewacket and his portrait (given to us by amy as a wedding prezzie)
Physical Therapy today, and the rest spent absorbing the drizzle, and doing job search. BHK has had Holly on the XM radio going since midday. I have seen hints of coming meals after her trip to the grocer, and my tummy is happy.
Adam and Anna are coming over tomorrow night - more bbq chips and good eats all the way through TG!
really good.
2 years ago - I love traveling with BHK, train set at motorcycle shop, festival of trees (Hospice), getting my head in order
3 years ago - gobble gobble - turkey day
4 years ago - talked to bro in hospital, local music, reader quiz
5 years ago - good counters bad, beard, heroin traffic in sofla, Melissa not Alyssa, evo vs creationism beliefs in the usa, googlewhacked, crimes against children task force
6 years ago - Whatever comes to mind, kid memory, cent sign, elephants
7 years ago - Mayah's Birthday with pics, mage knight, cosplayers, Newtpics, ACCExpo, Lemmiwinks song
8 years ago - Superpowers, assoil, holiday icon musing
9 years ago - Golden Rice, survey, myths over Miami
- Location:20714
- Mood:
amused - Music:Badass - BenThompson - Xenophon
In just a minute, I'll dish on cafés in Barrio Brasil, Santiago. But first, let me explain the title.
Nosecúanto is what the whaddyacallit of Chilean Spanish. You can use it for a person, Claudio Nosecuánto (Claudio whatshisname), for example. You can also use it for a place that you can't remember the name of, Café Nosecuánto. Technically it may seem to you that this means "I don't know how many" rather than "I don't know what it's called," but for some (unknown?) reason, cuánto (how much?) is the word we use to indicate we don't know the name of something. A friend, upon introducing herself as Sara was asked, "Sara cuánto?" (Lit: Sara how much/many?). And she first thought to say, "just one," but luckily her host jumped in and saved her. Because here in Chile if someone says your name plus cuánto, they want to know your last name.
And now the aside ends, and I talk to you about cafés. The café culture here in Santiago is catching on. Maybe not quite in full swing, but the idea of going out with friends for a cup of coffee, rather than a beer, drink or ever-loving-sandwich is slowly catching on, and everyone and their cousin is thinking of opening a café. Where hopefully "café de la máquina" (espresso, coffee from the machine) will be served, and little cans of Nescafe will only hide in the back for grandmothers and others whose guatitas (tummies) cannot take the true hit of caffeine that comes only from a thick, rich, caffeinated espresso shot.
I hesitate greatly to do what I am about to do, as Barrio Brasil is not (yet) full of cafés, and my friend Rocío and I have recently had to abandon "el lugar de siempre" (the place we always go) due to crowds, loud music and substandard (even for Chile) pastries.
One day, as we tooled along Avda. Brasil, shunning our usual café, we came across a café, which for a while I thought of as Café Nosecuánto, until I later found out what it was called.
It looks like this (standard explanation, not my real camera, etc, applies)
And inside, it looks like this:
And what I am touting here is maybe not so much the coffee (which is just okay, though it is, thankfully, "from the machine,") but the atmosphere. The architecture of this place is delicious, almost as amazing as the hot chocolate (for which you practically need a spoon), and the cakes (1800 pesos including coffee, less than 4 dollars even at the most awful possible exchange rates) will make you want to kiss your German grandmother, if you have one. It's at Brasil 230, and is open from noon to 10:30 PM, most of the time.
I hesitate to tell you this, because "el lugar de siempre," El Café, on the corner of Brasil and Huerfanos is already so crowded at night, and Café Patagonia (very good café helado, which is sort of a coffee icecream float) is closed at night (this, further down Avda. Brasil), and Café Tales in Plaza Concha y Toro is also not open late (though their merengue frambuesa makes taking a special trip there during the day totally worth it).
So on the one hand, I beg you to please not crowd Café Le Garage with people and chatting and taking up space and OMG the café cellphone talkers. On the other hand, I'm leaving town for a couple of weeks, so if you want to go check it out and support them so that they don't close in my absence, that'd be nifty, too. And yes, they have WiFi.
Café Le Garage, Brasil 230 Tel. 696 25 31
And if any of you gringa types want to do a meetup at this or any other café after about the 9th of Dec, you know where to find me, and that would be spectacular.
Nosecúanto is what the whaddyacallit of Chilean Spanish. You can use it for a person, Claudio Nosecuánto (Claudio whatshisname), for example. You can also use it for a place that you can't remember the name of, Café Nosecuánto. Technically it may seem to you that this means "I don't know how many" rather than "I don't know what it's called," but for some (unknown?) reason, cuánto (how much?) is the word we use to indicate we don't know the name of something. A friend, upon introducing herself as Sara was asked, "Sara cuánto?" (Lit: Sara how much/many?). And she first thought to say, "just one," but luckily her host jumped in and saved her. Because here in Chile if someone says your name plus cuánto, they want to know your last name.
And now the aside ends, and I talk to you about cafés. The café culture here in Santiago is catching on. Maybe not quite in full swing, but the idea of going out with friends for a cup of coffee, rather than a beer, drink or ever-loving-sandwich is slowly catching on, and everyone and their cousin is thinking of opening a café. Where hopefully "café de la máquina" (espresso, coffee from the machine) will be served, and little cans of Nescafe will only hide in the back for grandmothers and others whose guatitas (tummies) cannot take the true hit of caffeine that comes only from a thick, rich, caffeinated espresso shot.
I hesitate greatly to do what I am about to do, as Barrio Brasil is not (yet) full of cafés, and my friend Rocío and I have recently had to abandon "el lugar de siempre" (the place we always go) due to crowds, loud music and substandard (even for Chile) pastries.
One day, as we tooled along Avda. Brasil, shunning our usual café, we came across a café, which for a while I thought of as Café Nosecuánto, until I later found out what it was called.
It looks like this (standard explanation, not my real camera, etc, applies)
And inside, it looks like this:
And what I am touting here is maybe not so much the coffee (which is just okay, though it is, thankfully, "from the machine,") but the atmosphere. The architecture of this place is delicious, almost as amazing as the hot chocolate (for which you practically need a spoon), and the cakes (1800 pesos including coffee, less than 4 dollars even at the most awful possible exchange rates) will make you want to kiss your German grandmother, if you have one. It's at Brasil 230, and is open from noon to 10:30 PM, most of the time.
I hesitate to tell you this, because "el lugar de siempre," El Café, on the corner of Brasil and Huerfanos is already so crowded at night, and Café Patagonia (very good café helado, which is sort of a coffee icecream float) is closed at night (this, further down Avda. Brasil), and Café Tales in Plaza Concha y Toro is also not open late (though their merengue frambuesa makes taking a special trip there during the day totally worth it).
So on the one hand, I beg you to please not crowd Café Le Garage with people and chatting and taking up space and OMG the café cellphone talkers. On the other hand, I'm leaving town for a couple of weeks, so if you want to go check it out and support them so that they don't close in my absence, that'd be nifty, too. And yes, they have WiFi.
Café Le Garage, Brasil 230 Tel. 696 25 31
And if any of you gringa types want to do a meetup at this or any other café after about the 9th of Dec, you know where to find me, and that would be spectacular.
This morning, We all made a dunkin’ donuts run and then saw Adam off to school. Got more than our share of “DD car / firdge magnets” – I may do some crafts with them later.
Adjusted Newtcam for a bigger pic – 640 x 480 now, rather than half that. . Just looked at the cam- I’m reflected in the window.
Interview for a system administrator gig tomorrow – If it goes well, I’ll get some good clearance as well as a good job. We’ll see. In any event, since it’s a government gig I shaved off the beard and ‘stache.
A little bit rainy today… best time to do my work research.
1 year ago – newtcam pyecam pix
2 years ago – office bird/window washer, ring o rama, knight rider xmas, dentist
3 years ago - Visiting Weez & Boop @ Sanibel
Pictures - Sanibel Island
4 years ago - grammy hospice, moving, ts gamma
Pictures - Storm Path
5 years ago - time goes, visitors, beard, music, walkies thoughts, gd on archive, weekend check-'em-outs
6 years ago - memes, rubber monsters, super heroes, pestered by CS, whistles, newtcam by skylight, mild MD drama
7 years ago - Haiku, Robert Culp, projects, bro lies to me
8 years ago - walking, TG pressures, Astley and his grey market goods, abc meme, morning move poll, misc news
9 years ago - gloating, monkey brains, Alton brown
10 years ago - Newt breaks 2 lbs
- Location:20714
- Mood: calm
- Mood:
accomplished
Alright. I really don’t know how to begin writing this because frankly my head is still spinning. My mother… disposed of my wedding dress.
This is stemming from something that happened a month ago. She wasn’t invited to a wedding, and according to her, it was my fault she wasn’t going. I dropped the ball. In reality, no one from “that generation” was invited to the wedding. A multitude of other grievances were tied into that, as well. For example, she said I never called… but I did. Her answering machine is broken, and she knew that. I told her repeatedly to fix it. She said tha she would get around to it. Yet it was my fault. “You never call me.” Okay, laundry-listing this way is tedious. I’ll move on.
It all culminated on her birthday when we called to set up dinner for that evening and she completely blew us off and didn’t want to see me on my birthday either. She was passive aggressive and downright nasty, as Patrick and I sat there listening. I remember getting off the phone and Patrick asking me what the hell that was. I told him I had no idea. I was in in complete shock.
Honestly, if someone were to ask me why this happened, I wouldn’t be able to give you a straight answer. I could recount the events leading up to it, but it’s so nonsensical, I can’t even wrap my brain around it. I don’t understand how things devolved in such a way.
Anyway, Patrick called her this afternoon because he and I both agreed I could not speak to her, and I could in no way handle speaking to her. He just called me. She wasn’t there, so he had to leave a message. And guess what? She called him back and proceeded to tell him:
I know you can’t choose your family, but wow.
I don’t think I have ever been so depressed as I am right now. I know that, no matter what, I’ll look beautiful on our day, but her malicious behavior cuts me to the core. And once again, there’s that nagging voice in the back of my head going, “Well, maybe she’s right.” I know intellectually that she isn’t right, but it’s horrid to hear your own mother say those kinds of things. I am, however, thankful that I have amazing friends who have been so kind today. I love you guys so much.
Tonight, however, I am going to drink. Heavily.
I apologize in advance if anyone receives a drunk dial telling them how much I love them. No I really love them. No, you don't get it, man. I really love you. You mean soooo much to me.
You get my point.
I liked today better when my biggest concern was spending too much money on clothes.
This is stemming from something that happened a month ago. She wasn’t invited to a wedding, and according to her, it was my fault she wasn’t going. I dropped the ball. In reality, no one from “that generation” was invited to the wedding. A multitude of other grievances were tied into that, as well. For example, she said I never called… but I did. Her answering machine is broken, and she knew that. I told her repeatedly to fix it. She said tha she would get around to it. Yet it was my fault. “You never call me.” Okay, laundry-listing this way is tedious. I’ll move on.
It all culminated on her birthday when we called to set up dinner for that evening and she completely blew us off and didn’t want to see me on my birthday either. She was passive aggressive and downright nasty, as Patrick and I sat there listening. I remember getting off the phone and Patrick asking me what the hell that was. I told him I had no idea. I was in in complete shock.
Honestly, if someone were to ask me why this happened, I wouldn’t be able to give you a straight answer. I could recount the events leading up to it, but it’s so nonsensical, I can’t even wrap my brain around it. I don’t understand how things devolved in such a way.
Anyway, Patrick called her this afternoon because he and I both agreed I could not speak to her, and I could in no way handle speaking to her. He just called me. She wasn’t there, so he had to leave a message. And guess what? She called him back and proceeded to tell him:
- He’s a moron and a retard.
- Our wedding is a joke.
- He has no idea who he is marrying, and one day he’s going to find out.
- I’m a terrible person.
- I’m crazy.
- Our wedding is ridiculous.
- There’s a reason why my parents hate me.
- My wedding dress is not her problem.
I know you can’t choose your family, but wow.
I don’t think I have ever been so depressed as I am right now. I know that, no matter what, I’ll look beautiful on our day, but her malicious behavior cuts me to the core. And once again, there’s that nagging voice in the back of my head going, “Well, maybe she’s right.” I know intellectually that she isn’t right, but it’s horrid to hear your own mother say those kinds of things. I am, however, thankful that I have amazing friends who have been so kind today. I love you guys so much.
Tonight, however, I am going to drink. Heavily.
I apologize in advance if anyone receives a drunk dial telling them how much I love them. No I really love them. No, you don't get it, man. I really love you. You mean soooo much to me.
You get my point.
I liked today better when my biggest concern was spending too much money on clothes.
- Mood:
blank
atw man smoking peace pipe with local native.
--
- Location:annapolis, md
My mother.
Threw out.
My wedding dress.
I didn't pick it up quickly enough for her liking.
Threw out.
My wedding dress.
I didn't pick it up quickly enough for her liking.
- Mood:
numb
I went a little nutty online shopping today. Originally it started out with me just trying to find a plaid scarf for the upcoming Scottish Walk in Old Town...
...it's something I've been going to almost every year since I was about six years old.
Sadly, I did not stop at just a scarf. Sigh.
( Yay, shopping! )
In my defense, it was all on sale or really inexpensive... plus I had a big gift card to one of the stores. :-( Oh well. No more buying anything for myself until Christmas. I did do some Christmas shopping today, actually. Man, I'm so excited. I love picking out gifts, and this year I think I hit the nail on the head with some of them. :D
...it's something I've been going to almost every year since I was about six years old.
Sadly, I did not stop at just a scarf. Sigh.
( Yay, shopping! )
In my defense, it was all on sale or really inexpensive... plus I had a big gift card to one of the stores. :-( Oh well. No more buying anything for myself until Christmas. I did do some Christmas shopping today, actually. Man, I'm so excited. I love picking out gifts, and this year I think I hit the nail on the head with some of them. :D
- Location: Washington DC
- Mood:
cold
Adam, BHK & Jungle Speed – played about 10 games, Adam pretty much dominated. I want to play it as an actual card game, now, though I like the jungle animal animations.
Test #1 – picture – Scotto as mr potato head
Testing pic links to flickr via windows live writer -
![[1] DCIM, 100SSCAM, 2 images, S6305427 - S6305428 - 7011x4757 - SCUL-Smartblend](http://static.flickr.com/2635/4107995094_1b1be1fb16_t.jpg)
![[1] DCIM, 100SSCAM, 2 images, S6305419 - S6305420 - 2698x3331 - SCUL-Smartblend](http://static.flickr.com/2724/4107226845_17fb9b25d3_t.jpg)
![[1] DCIM, 100SSCAM, 2 images, S6305417 - S6305418 - 3261x2302 - SCUL-Smartblend](http://static.flickr.com/2521/4107226701_e6f9913d78_t.jpg)
![[1] DCIM, 100SSCAM, 2 images, S6305411 - S6305412 - 4701x3783 - SCUL-Smartblend](http://static.flickr.com/2741/4107992426_a8dc48eb6f_t.jpg)
![[1] DCIM, 100SSCAM, 2 images, S6305359 - S6305360 - 4390x3206 - SCUL-Smartblend](http://static.flickr.com/2523/4107989668_0b73e5de7e_t.jpg)
![[1] DCIM, 100SSCAM, 2 images, S6305349 - S6305350 - 3198x2878 - SCUL-Smartblend](http://static.flickr.com/2647/4107988754_fb6be4c925_t.jpg)
![[1] DCIM, 100SSCAM, 2 images, S6305347 - S6305348 - 3645x3493 - SCUL-Smartblend](http://static.flickr.com/2588/4107221925_34c305f98b_t.jpg)
![[1] DCIM, 100SSCAM, 2 images, S6305342 - S6305343 - 5203x2288 - SCUL-Smartblend](http://static.flickr.com/2764/4107987582_8624ba2a92_t.jpg)
![[1] DCIM, 100SSCAM, 2 images, S6305340 - S6305341 - 4342x2239 - SCUL-Smartblend](http://static.flickr.com/2519/4107986918_3fcd5a4256_t.jpg)
1 year ago – snowing – with pic5tr
+
2 years ago – lucky and unlucky stones, pye on a leash, hot peppers, newt and pye on video, autumn pix, honesty is, underbay bikes
pictures - hurricane pate
5 years ago - doodles, first penny, sodium party, fussy danny, BCfair, harry lampert RIP, journal fine, diana a celebration
Test #1 – picture – Scotto as mr potato head
Testing pic links to flickr via windows live writer -
1 year ago – snowing – with pic5tr
+
2 years ago – lucky and unlucky stones, pye on a leash, hot peppers, newt and pye on video, autumn pix, honesty is, underbay bikes
3 years ago - frigate bird, fishing trip
pictures taken - fishing trip
pictures - hurricane pate
5 years ago - doodles, first penny, sodium party, fussy danny, BCfair, harry lampert RIP, journal fine, diana a celebration
6 years ago - Coffee, ghost towns, Grunt, growl & Tear, local cams, Zombie survival guide, Lego source, fun linkies, city stats, frankie wheedling, thai smiles
7 years ago - got a spine sucker after getting an epi, Freemasons, fezzes, slogans, first clues to undoing w/bro
8 years ago - meteors, taliban, mrblowup, broward county fair, Martian Manhunter Rehashed, sv tarot
9 years ago - Limb lopping, wonka, new ljstuff, hunter thompson, aok
- Location:20714
- Mood: sleepy
- Music:spider - 2002 - cronenberg
A lot of people think that foodies are this huge, elitist group in the sky that are there to critique and to judge. Can I tell you? If you eat, you're a foodie. If you have an opinion about what you're tasting, that makes you a foodie. Your job in life is to enjoy your life.
--Sandra Lee
What is a "foodie" exactly? Some of the definitions I've found are quite hilarious:
"Either a 27 year old woman with a boob job, or a gay man with a great job. Both claim to have many friends that are also foodies. They see Rachael Ray have foodgasms and expect the same from Burger King.
They spend too much money trying to emulate food celebrities they see on Bravo, and do ridiculous activities like going out in a party of 10 to a Kobe beef tasting."
Another definition...
"A person that spends a keen amount of attention and energy on knowing the ingredients of food, the proper preparation of food, and finds great enjoyment in top-notch ingredients and exemplary preparation.
A foodie is not necessarily a food snob, only enjoying delicacies and/or food items difficult to obtain and/or expensive foods; though, that is a variety of foodie."
And another...
"A dumbed-down term used by corporate marketing forces to infantilize and increase consumerism in an increasingly simple-minded American magazine reading audience. The addition of the long "e" sound on the end of a common word is used to create the sensation of being part of a group in isolationist urban society, while also feminizing the term to subconsciously foster submission to ever-present market sources."
No matter what definition you subscribe to, one cannot deny that the label of "foodie" has an upturned-nose connotation. You cannot just be a foodie; you are silently anointed and inducted into an elite club.
Frankly, it's rather sad. While I don't find myself often reaching for Sandra Lee recipes, I whole-heartedly agree with her sentiment. I don't think you need to know about Citronelle or know who Todd English is in order to be a foodie. You don't need to know how to make the perfect puff pastry dough or poach an egg to be a foodie.
Of course it could simply be a case of a few bad apples ruining the rest of the foodie bunch with snobbery and elitism. It's a shame, too. Good food and the appreciation of it should be something open to the masses. Someone's opinion shouldn't be discounted because they aren't a member of this picky club. Someone shouldn't be ousted for having the audacity to frequent a chain restaurant willingly.
For me? My kitchen is woefully lacking in terms of proper tools. My food processor is on its last legs, and I am desperate need of a rolling pin and about... eighty other things. The thought of doing something as basic as roasting a turkey makes me want to run screaming out of the building. There are times I amaze myself with how much I lack in the chopping "skills" department. I have yet to make a successful meatloaf. I have been bested by two (two!) recipes so far.
Do these things make me any less of a foodie?
I love food. I love making it. I love going out to restaurants, from chains to unique ventures; I don't discriminate. I love learning about different flavors. I even love my kitchen failures, and trust me, they happen. Ask me about my attempt at Eggplant dip one day.
The class system that has developed in the food world is not all that surprising; it happens with everything. It is, however, still tragic. Go out. Enjoy food. Have an opinion on it. Don't let someone else tell you what is good and what isn't; that's for you to decide. And don't let anyone tell you your opinion is less informed or less important just because you can't julienne a zucchini, or even know what that means.
It's not a crime to eat at a chain restaurant, or to eat food that come out of a box. What is a crime is that a group of people have decided to claim "good food" and knowledge of what makes food good all for themselves.
In the immortal words of Mel Gibson, "Everyone needs to calm down and eat a fruit cup or something." And sorry Mr./Ms. Foodie, the fruit cup is not organic.
--Sandra Lee
They spend too much money trying to emulate food celebrities they see on Bravo, and do ridiculous activities like going out in a party of 10 to a Kobe beef tasting."
A foodie is not necessarily a food snob, only enjoying delicacies and/or food items difficult to obtain and/or expensive foods; though, that is a variety of foodie."
- Mood:
amused
I need a new laptop... desperately. My current laptop (Gizmo the WonderComp) has some serious issues. One of the most annoying problems is that I have to prop my screen up with a dictionary. I kid you not. Due to a hinge issue that cannot be fixed, if I don't prop it up, it either falls shut or completely open and flat on the desk.
Eventually it will get replaced.
I'm also planning on replacing my geriatric Blackberry soon, and I'm torn:
HTC's Droid phone, the Eris...
Do I stay with my beloved Blackberry or do I jump ship to a Droid phone. I had the original Storm, and I really liked it a lot, and I've heard that the Storm 2 is a big step toward a better phone. The Droid... I played with it, and it would take some getting used to, although it's so so so very pretty. I don't know. I fear change, so I will probably end up with the Blackberry. We'll see. I'm also notorious for my impulsive decisions, as well.
Work is exceedingly slow (although in a month or so it'll be absolutely insane again), so I'm probably going to spend the majority of my afternoon fielding a minimal number of calls from professors and college bookstores, but mostly doing reading for class on interest groups and politics and the media.
I made the mistake of acknowledging New Girl's existence at work after a couple of weeks of just... not talking to her, and now she's acting like a wounded puppy just aching for validation. Offering me gum, giggling excessively, and telling me about her periods and long distance boyfriend. We've all basically resigned ourselves to the fact that she isn't going anywhere, in spite of the discord she has created in this department.
I couldn't be more thrilled that tomorrow is Friday. Going out to pick up Christmas decorations tomorrow night. A date sometime this weekend. Friends over for football on Sunday... it should be really nice and relaxing. Then next week? Thanksgiving! I love the holidays so much.
I do not, however, love the 90 pages of reading staring at me... no matter how interesting Contractualism is. And it really is.
Eventually it will get replaced.
I'm also planning on replacing my geriatric Blackberry soon, and I'm torn:
HTC's Droid phone, the Eris...
Do I stay with my beloved Blackberry or do I jump ship to a Droid phone. I had the original Storm, and I really liked it a lot, and I've heard that the Storm 2 is a big step toward a better phone. The Droid... I played with it, and it would take some getting used to, although it's so so so very pretty. I don't know. I fear change, so I will probably end up with the Blackberry. We'll see. I'm also notorious for my impulsive decisions, as well.
Work is exceedingly slow (although in a month or so it'll be absolutely insane again), so I'm probably going to spend the majority of my afternoon fielding a minimal number of calls from professors and college bookstores, but mostly doing reading for class on interest groups and politics and the media.
I made the mistake of acknowledging New Girl's existence at work after a couple of weeks of just... not talking to her, and now she's acting like a wounded puppy just aching for validation. Offering me gum, giggling excessively, and telling me about her periods and long distance boyfriend. We've all basically resigned ourselves to the fact that she isn't going anywhere, in spite of the discord she has created in this department.
I couldn't be more thrilled that tomorrow is Friday. Going out to pick up Christmas decorations tomorrow night. A date sometime this weekend. Friends over for football on Sunday... it should be really nice and relaxing. Then next week? Thanksgiving! I love the holidays so much.
I do not, however, love the 90 pages of reading staring at me... no matter how interesting Contractualism is. And it really is.
- Location:United States, District of Columbia, Washington
- Mood: busy
I ended up posting my notes from the keynote yesterday, but I didn't want to give the impression that that is what Dreamforce yesterday was about. I concentrated on sessions about reports and dashboards, since that's where I think we need to go next at FaithAction.
But I had the BEST time going around to the Expo booths, talking to the folks, getting my card scanned (oh, God, think of all the fruitless followup calls and emails I'm going to get!) And getting their swag. Then I came back to the Youth Hostel and gave most of it to the kids here. It was lots of fun, seeing what they were handing out so you'd remember them. For the most part, I avoided the candy jars.
That's the other cool thing. I don't have to spend money on food. It's all here. So I'm going to splash out for the coat-check...leave my laptop but have it on site in case I want to do an "hands-on" session.
Okay, that's really it!
But I had the BEST time going around to the Expo booths, talking to the folks, getting my card scanned (oh, God, think of all the fruitless followup calls and emails I'm going to get!) And getting their swag. Then I came back to the Youth Hostel and gave most of it to the kids here. It was lots of fun, seeing what they were handing out so you'd remember them. For the most part, I avoided the candy jars.
That's the other cool thing. I don't have to spend money on food. It's all here. So I'm going to splash out for the coat-check...leave my laptop but have it on site in case I want to do an "hands-on" session.
Okay, that's really it!
So the internet isn't working this morning. I forgot to turn OFF my 5am weekday alarm, and then forgot that it was on. So I shook myself awake and put on my headlamp to brush my teeth and get dressed. One of our room's lodgers didn't come back last night, but there were still two young women asleep. The self-absorbed one turned on the light at whatever time she got in. It was a revelation to her that she could just open the bathroom door a bit and have plenty of light without waking everyone up.
The first clue I had that I was up too early was when the kitchen door was still locked. Huh? The door says 7am. Surely it had been more than half an hour since I'd gotten out of bed. It had. My phone said 5:40. Registration and breakfast at the conference is 7am too. Oh, well, I thought, a little internet. Not to be either. It's either off or out. I don't want to go PAy someone for coffee, so I'm left with organizing the files on my computer. Probably long overdue job, but not what I had in mind for Wednesday morning.
The flight was uneventful. I sat next to a retired English teacher who lives in Ashland, Oregon, which sounds like Asheville...ecumenical, artsy, cool. She volunteers with the local community theater company. My flight from GSO was delayed enough so that I had to actually sprint to make the flight to San Francisco in Philadelphia. I'm not used to flat out running. I arrived just after they announced the last call for the flight. Huff, puff.
So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to put my computer and most of the stuff in my purse back in the room. And I'm going out for an early morning walk in San Francisco. A plan.
---
Waiting for the keynote. Total huge, huge hall, filled with blue light, projections of clouds everywhere. Trying to figure out how to get back to the hostel to dump some of this stuff. I am not even sure I want this laptop with me, but certainly the coat...They want $2 to check the coat and I am keeping this really on the cheap. Breakfast was lovely. Cute video intro. Software disks hover, take over meetings. Turn into surfboards with jet pipes. Up into the cloud. The room changes color. Sunset orange. Loud rock music.
Marc...19,000 people registered for this conference. At a grand apiece... 10,000 people in this room. Allow us to all come together. See the future, understand it, create it. Company update. Level set it. Strategy. Product strategy. Open a door and walk through it...That you see a new possibility. ceo@salesforce.com for what's bothering me. COFFEE before 7:30! Safe Harbor statement...Magnitude of the announcement. Recogize all the folks from outside the country.
Thank you....This is our way of giving back to you. Mission: cloud computing driver, catalyst and evangelist. Applications moving to the cloud...Then platforms moving to the cloud. Force.com. Multi-tenant, pay as you go, elastic, five times faster and half the cost. 67,900 payng customers. Largest...marquee customers. Can serve every size of the market.
A different set of values of philanthropy and giving back. 1 per cent...equity, profit, time.
Mayor of SF...celebrates its diversity each and every day. Dreamers, doers, entrepreneurs, leading edge of cutting edge. Talk about the various give-back. Project Homeless Connect. Mobile capabilities. Power of an enabling model. Easy to put in place. 108 cities replicated.
Year Up ED to represent all the nonprofits. Earn a career in technology for young adults. Six months of IT training, internship. Social entrepreur model. Real data in real time, allocate limited resources. Use SF every day.
Update on the company...
force.com infrastructure...SECURITY. A lot of the power of security. We've learned much from you. Virtual cycle. Security and reliability. System with scalability. Five minute upgrade. Move data back and forth...salesforce to salesforce.
Force.com development platform. You've built tens of millions of customization. Knowlegement system.
Applications on top of the platform. 4th cloud, major new market segment.
Sales Cloud 2 --
Service Cloud 2 -- 55% market share. One problem we were trying to solve. Concept of customer support. Companies invest in contact centers. Waiting for calls while the action is happening on the internet. What happens when you have a next generation of service cloud. Customer service offering...Tel and online communities, email. Products she bought, sales calls, Search knowledge. Rich media in knowledge article. Customize to match your business. When we want to include this new category...Publish to the web site.
Salesforce Answsers...shipping it as a facebook application. Went to Dell's home page. Also installed Answers Application. People vote for the answers. Dell has access to all these answers and can put it in their knowledgebase. Made accessible to service agents, google and everybody in the facebook community.
Twitter...How do I join that conversation? Salesforce for twitter baked in. support channel on Twitter. Automatically created a case. Integrated into the Knowledgebase. Send tweet. Reduce call handling time. 360 view of our clients.
Custom
The first clue I had that I was up too early was when the kitchen door was still locked. Huh? The door says 7am. Surely it had been more than half an hour since I'd gotten out of bed. It had. My phone said 5:40. Registration and breakfast at the conference is 7am too. Oh, well, I thought, a little internet. Not to be either. It's either off or out. I don't want to go PAy someone for coffee, so I'm left with organizing the files on my computer. Probably long overdue job, but not what I had in mind for Wednesday morning.
The flight was uneventful. I sat next to a retired English teacher who lives in Ashland, Oregon, which sounds like Asheville...ecumenical, artsy, cool. She volunteers with the local community theater company. My flight from GSO was delayed enough so that I had to actually sprint to make the flight to San Francisco in Philadelphia. I'm not used to flat out running. I arrived just after they announced the last call for the flight. Huff, puff.
So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to put my computer and most of the stuff in my purse back in the room. And I'm going out for an early morning walk in San Francisco. A plan.
---
Waiting for the keynote. Total huge, huge hall, filled with blue light, projections of clouds everywhere. Trying to figure out how to get back to the hostel to dump some of this stuff. I am not even sure I want this laptop with me, but certainly the coat...They want $2 to check the coat and I am keeping this really on the cheap. Breakfast was lovely. Cute video intro. Software disks hover, take over meetings. Turn into surfboards with jet pipes. Up into the cloud. The room changes color. Sunset orange. Loud rock music.
Marc...19,000 people registered for this conference. At a grand apiece... 10,000 people in this room. Allow us to all come together. See the future, understand it, create it. Company update. Level set it. Strategy. Product strategy. Open a door and walk through it...That you see a new possibility. ceo@salesforce.com for what's bothering me. COFFEE before 7:30! Safe Harbor statement...Magnitude of the announcement. Recogize all the folks from outside the country.
Thank you....This is our way of giving back to you. Mission: cloud computing driver, catalyst and evangelist. Applications moving to the cloud...Then platforms moving to the cloud. Force.com. Multi-tenant, pay as you go, elastic, five times faster and half the cost. 67,900 payng customers. Largest...marquee customers. Can serve every size of the market.
A different set of values of philanthropy and giving back. 1 per cent...equity, profit, time.
Mayor of SF...celebrates its diversity each and every day. Dreamers, doers, entrepreneurs, leading edge of cutting edge. Talk about the various give-back. Project Homeless Connect. Mobile capabilities. Power of an enabling model. Easy to put in place. 108 cities replicated.
Year Up ED to represent all the nonprofits. Earn a career in technology for young adults. Six months of IT training, internship. Social entrepreur model. Real data in real time, allocate limited resources. Use SF every day.
Update on the company...
force.com infrastructure...SECURITY. A lot of the power of security. We've learned much from you. Virtual cycle. Security and reliability. System with scalability. Five minute upgrade. Move data back and forth...salesforce to salesforce.
Force.com development platform. You've built tens of millions of customization. Knowlegement system.
Applications on top of the platform. 4th cloud, major new market segment.
Sales Cloud 2 --
Service Cloud 2 -- 55% market share. One problem we were trying to solve. Concept of customer support. Companies invest in contact centers. Waiting for calls while the action is happening on the internet. What happens when you have a next generation of service cloud. Customer service offering...Tel and online communities, email. Products she bought, sales calls, Search knowledge. Rich media in knowledge article. Customize to match your business. When we want to include this new category...Publish to the web site.
Salesforce Answsers...shipping it as a facebook application. Went to Dell's home page. Also installed Answers Application. People vote for the answers. Dell has access to all these answers and can put it in their knowledgebase. Made accessible to service agents, google and everybody in the facebook community.
Twitter...How do I join that conversation? Salesforce for twitter baked in. support channel on Twitter. Automatically created a case. Integrated into the Knowledgebase. Send tweet. Reduce call handling time. 360 view of our clients.
Custom
I have to say that this song has been one of my favorite songs since I first heard it in 2005: http://www.last.fm/music/Fatboy+Sli
Actually I just miss having a car.
Speaking of driving, I need to learn how to parallel park. No, I don't know how to. In the state of Virginia, it was not required for the driving test. Now that I've gone and done something stupid (like, oh, I don't know... let my license expire), I need to retake my test. More than likely I will not be so lucky as to avoid the dreaded parallel parking... so I must learn.
Sigh.
I keep compulsively reloading my grades page to see if my paper has been graded yet. Nope. Not yet. And the average of the papers my professor has graded so far is scarily low. Here's hoping.
I really hate buying pants. Having a 36" inseam is just... atrocious. And I hate being tall, too. Shirts are always too short. I miss being 5'7". Hell, I'll even take 5'9".
Okay, that's all I've got.
Actually I just miss having a car.
Speaking of driving, I need to learn how to parallel park. No, I don't know how to. In the state of Virginia, it was not required for the driving test. Now that I've gone and done something stupid (like, oh, I don't know... let my license expire), I need to retake my test. More than likely I will not be so lucky as to avoid the dreaded parallel parking... so I must learn.
Sigh.
I keep compulsively reloading my grades page to see if my paper has been graded yet. Nope. Not yet. And the average of the papers my professor has graded so far is scarily low. Here's hoping.
I really hate buying pants. Having a 36" inseam is just... atrocious. And I hate being tall, too. Shirts are always too short. I miss being 5'7". Hell, I'll even take 5'9".
Okay, that's all I've got.
- Location:United States, District of Columbia, Washington
- Mood:
calm - Music:Fat Boy Slim - "Long Way From Home"
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- elizabethsays : YOU GON GIT SHOT [+7]
- elizabethsays : (no subject) [+4]
- scottobear : 9997 - sunday [+0]
- scottobear : 9996 - Saturday [+1]
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bearshapedspher : Café Le Garage in Barrio Brasil, Santiago [+0] - scottobear : 9992 – Thursday [+0]
- elizabethsays : Uh Oh.... [+5]
- elizabethsays : Mom Update [+12]
- scottobear : 9994 - 1120091637.jpg [+0]
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- elizabethsays : Wow [+11]
- elizabethsays : Slip of the check card... [+0]
- scottobear : 9991 - Last night and today - wednesday [+0]
- elizabethsays : From my food blog yesterday... thought I'd share! [+5]
- elizabethsays : I woke up thinking it was Friday... it totally wasn't. [+5]
- travelertrish : Dreamforce 09 Day One [+0]
- travelertrish : Notes from the Conference in San Francisco [+4]
- elizabethsays : Long Way From Home [+2]