I was just watching the end of Good Morning America where they were doing a segment with Ted Allen, the new host of that Mythbusters-meets-Good Eats series, Food Detectives. I think it premieres tonight on the Food Network. Anyway, all the hosts were competing to see who could eat six saltine crackers in under a minute because it’s supposed to be some kind of “food myth” that it can’t be done.
I had never heard of this particular myth until about five years ago when a guy who was dating a friend of mine brought it up. “Dudes, dudes… listeeeen. Can you eat six of those salty crackers in under a minute?” (or words to that effect.)
Conveniently, I had some of those “salty crackers” in my cabinet, so we busted them out. He and I were the only ones to give it a go and honestly, I wasn’t sure what the big deal was at first. I love saltines and when I’m sick, I can nibble like a little mouse through a whole column of those; it’s the only thing that makes me feel better. I thought, “Six in a minute? Amateurs.”
Well, it is a lot harder than it looks, but I did it with 9 seconds to spare on my first try. The other guy still had a whole cracker left.
I’m still not entirely sure if this is something I should be proud of. I’ve accomplished many things in my life and I wouldn’t put this up there with being published or losing 100 lbs, but part of me wants it in my bio…
I’ve been looking forward to this Friday for months and it’s finally almost here! I get to see Eddie Izzard! Eeeeeeeeeee! And with great seats, to boot! Let’s use more exclamation marks!!!!! OMGPONIES!
Originally, I’d gotten the tickets with Ross in mind, but when our vacation plans got shuffled, I had to think long and hard about who to take with me. This is no random night of random comedy — this is Eddie. I want to go with someone who loves him like I do, someone who “gets” the humor, who would really appreciate it.
It’s not that I don’t want to introduce Eddie to potentially new fans, but I don’t want to spend the evening worrying if the other party is enjoying it. I’ve been waiting years to see Eddie and I didn’t trade my first born for these seats to do anything but laugh until I cry and wonder where he got that lipstick.
I almost sold my extra ticket on Craigslist, but then I remembered that Mrs. Z is probably an Eddie fan, so a few texts and some squealing later, we’re going on Friday night. Hooray! I could use a night out, and I haven’t seen Mrs Z. since her bambino was born, so this should be a good time. She’s so much fun.
Though, I am going out with chickrawker tonight. She likes this place called Blue Lotus that I’ve been meaning to check out, so we’re having drinks there this evening before karaoke. Hopefully I can go the distance, I’m such an old lady these days. I better start going out more before I start talking to my fish and Tivo’ing episodes of Ghost Whisperer. Not that I’d do that… or uh, anything.
I recently added my little donation box over on the sidebar there, as I do every year for AIDS Walk. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to participate this year; I thought I might be in England or England might be here, but due to pissy little things like visas and red tape, plans are in limbo. So, in lieu of red tape… red ribbon!
I love participating in AIDS Walk… most of the time I walk by myself except that one year that GC drove down from Imperial Valley (I think?) to walk with me. That was fun! So, if anyone is inclined to hoof it with me roughly 3-point-some-odd miles on an early Sunday morning with the promise of Bloody Marys in our future, you’re more than welcome.
I miss running Rock the Walk. I sometimes get sad that I surrendered it to my estranged friend because not only was it my idea… it was a good one! The ‘friend’ did nothing with it, even though she promised to maintain it, letting the domain name go so some guy in Great Britain owns it now. Lucky him. (In fact, I couldn’t even get my ‘friend’ to walk with me — it was all about being cool and looking like a charitable person.) But that’s ok… I’ll just walk and get a free t-shirt and enjoy an ice pop from the nice volunteers who hand them out while you’re walking. It’s not about recognition for me… I’m just bummed I no longer have that avenue with which to raise more money for this cause.
I don’t need to wax macabre on a Friday about all the reasons why we need to provide support and services for those living with HIV/AIDS all over the U.S. What I can do is ask if you could throw a dollar into my kitty, or whatever you’re willing to donate. I’m walking whether I’ve got a three dollars or three thousand,but every little bit helps. If you’re don’t feel like kicking cash my way, consider walking with me, if you’re in the area. Or, if you have an AIDS Walk in your city, sign up and hustle your own tuchus for donations or volunteer at the event. There are many way in which you can help. I hope you will.
I’m sitting here, trying to figure out where to start my to-do list. But it’s one of those deals where you can’t decide if you should do the thing you should do first which will take up your whole day or if you do a bunch of little things on the list to simply cross them off. So, in the meantime, I’ll procrastinate by blogging.
I was watching Flipping Out over my oatmeal this morning. When I first saw this show, the first season, I was annoyed by Jeff Lewis… which I guess is the point. But honestly, I’ve grown rather fond of him now. He’s an uptight, OCD, boundary-pushing mess, but I like him. I can relate to him a little. Kathy said the same thing. I think it has something to do with being a creative person with a side of attention to detail and a sprinkle of control freak. And for understanding the occasional client who want something that could only be produced by a force of nature or a miracle or a magician… but the budget can’t change.
I was listening to this woman go off about crown molding this morning, or lack thereof. She only had a $200k budget, totally inflexible, but as the project progressed, she added this or changed that. Then they found rats in the A/C and had to put on a new roof, which added $40k in costs which had to come from somewhere. But she just had to have the crown molding, oh heavens to betsy, the crown molding! You have to have crown molding in a traditional house, what the hell are you thinking?! If she’s not getting crown molding and she’s not getting her outdoor cushions, what’s she getting? Oh, woe is she with naked ceiling seams.
Is crown molding something to raise your blood pressure over? I got a little pissy over some curtains that shrank in the wash once, but at least I was prepared to pay for new curtains (which I didn’t, I just pretend they’re waiting for a flood).
The client had entirely new AC put in and a new roof and like 3 other interior projects that weren’t originally slated and she thought there was going to be cash left over for outdoor cushions? I’d noticed over the season that when she’d add this or that, or they’d get this great idea, Jeff wouldn’t let her know up front that it would affect her budget. I assumed that behind the scenes, he’d told her or issued an invoice or something. But, I believe he even said at one point that he assumed she understood that these new unforeseen costs would have to be deducted from another area since her budget is inflexible. I totally don’t agree with that.
As a consumer, I want to know immediately when something is going to cost more that I originally thought. As a business woman, I want to keep my clients informed so they never feel out of the loop or are surprised if a bill comes at the end. The part I struggle with is the ever-so-fine line between letting clients know when the request is out of scope of the contract without beating them over the head with it like Debbie Downer. Designers usually want clients to have a sense of momentum and excitement about their projects.
As women, it’s in our nature to please, so I hate being the heavy. But, “Sure, we can do that! It would be additional...” can be a bit wearing on both parties. No one wants to be nickeled and dimed, but things come up, clients have ideas or change their minds. Our agreements outline that any requests made that aren’t listed in that document are considered out-of-scope and are subject to additional charges, but that’s sometimes selectively forgotten through the course of a project. I suppose, “per the contract” is just one of those unpleasantries of business we could do without.
I don’t think Jeff Lewis handled it very well, but I understood his position. And the woman was totally flipping out over something that he told her could easily be handled in phase two. But I understood her position as well. She thought it was all being covered under her $200k because the designer made an assumption about the client’s understanding of the project. There is onus with the client, as well, to ask if they’re unclear on anything, but ultimately, it’s on the designer to explain, without pretense or defense, what’s happening along the way.
It’s weird that I’m gleaning applicable professional lessons from a reality show.
Anyway, where was I going with this? I don’t even know. The end.
Frantic and fun, Fat Princess pits two hordes of players against each other in comic medieval battle royale. Your goal is to rescue your beloved princess from the enemy dungeon. There’s a catch though: your adversary has been stuffing her with food to fatten her up and it’s going to take most of your army working together to carry her back across the battlefield.
The end.
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