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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Short Short: Mae

For some reason, whenever I do these short short character things, they turn out mildly disturbing. Hmmm…

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Mae stood at the top of the stairs, watching the delicate body of her classmate tumble down the steps to the marble floor below. She wasn’t even making any noise, other than that of her flesh and bones bumping against the rails and edges on her way down.

She wouldn’t die or anything, of that Mae was certain. The flight to the first floor was only 10 steps or so, and plenty of students fell down them in the rushes to classes and meals. No, the nuns would fuss about her, clean her up and let her spend the rest of the day curled up in front of the one television in the school, probably with a plate of cookies and her ugly stuffed teddy bear.

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Puffy, Microbial Friends

Have you ever seen anything so microscopically cute?!?

Let me introduce you to the Tardigrade, whom you may already know as the Moss Piglet, or the Water Bear. It’s very likely that he lives in your backyard.

Tardigrades can grow up to about 1 millimeter in length, and lumber around on those eight legs of theirs, sort of like a bear with extra limbs. While they must live in water to maintain proper balance with the environment around them, they can inhabit just about any climate on earth. In fact, the organism is able to go into a hibernation-like state to survive temperature fluctuations, and is thought to have a comfort window between -320 and 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Continue reading

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You Must Accept Fall… Now

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Once we actually hit October, I’m generally a little more accepting of the fact that summer is over. I’ve donned that first sweater, pulled out the gloves and stopped leaving the windows open 24-7.

This past weekend, I made chili, mulled cider, broke out the Halloween decorations, layered my outfits without protest and officially announced my acceptance on Facebook.  Fine. I can handle it.

Of course, I may have been encouraged in the confidence that this week is anticipated to be a bit warmer.

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Growing Up Freelance: 2 Months Later

So, as most of you now know, I quit my full time job with benefits in mid-late July. The plan was to become a spectacular freelance writer who creates articles, web sites, print publications, my own stellar blog and a successful novel or three. I had lots of energy and drive to spend eight hours a day marketing the hell out of myself, while working in healthy cooking and yoga.

Then, I found out I was pregnant. Yeah… I spent my first two days as a freelance writer in and out of the doctor’s office for blood work, an ultrasound and general anxious disruption. The following weeks, while lovely in the sense that I could sleep in and pander to my nausea and headaches, were not exactly freelance gold.

Fortunately, I never felt as though I’d made the wrong choice. I knew the drudgery of early pregnancy was only temporary (digits one over the other), and the relief I felt in being away from an unhappy work situation reminded me that managing my stress levels was one of the most important things for both me and the Grumpy Grape.

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The NuVal System: Healthy Shopping Made Easier

“Hey, man! Check out that blueberry. On a scale of 1 to 100, she’s totally a 100.”

Ok, sorry. But, blueberries totally are a 100… on the NuVal System.

NuVal is a relatively new system for rating the overall nutritional value of the food you buy. Rather than providing consumers with a list of numbers for each food item, such as the amount of cholesterol, sodium and vitamin C, the NuVal number summarizes the nutrition facts – good and bad – into one, single number. All foods fall somewhere on the 1-100 scale, healthier foods being higher on the scale, unhealthy foods being at the bottom. Hence the 100 for blueberries and the 8 for sugary cereal.

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What is… Artprize?

I am certainly not an art critic. Nor am I at all qualified to determine what makes an international event a success.

However, I think it is fair to say that a massive, neon-orange, shoddily painted bean bag is not really something with outstanding artistic merit. It’s eye catching, and interesting, and a fun idea… but… art?

I hate that question.

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Dutch, Part 4 of ?

Parts I, II and III, if you so desire.

IV

William, the heir to the English throne of his father Henry I, was drowned after the wreck of a new royal ship in 1120. The ship was painted white, and stood for all the promise inherent in the English monarchy. William hides in thick textbooks and historical novels, and is barely just remembered through Norman family trees.

Perhaps he is so overshadowed because of the wild results of his death, and a wild younger sister. When Henry I (son of William the Conqueror, incidentally), no longer had his firstborn son and heir, things got a bit chaotic. Although his daughter, Matilda, was the named heir in William’s place, her cousin Stephen swiped the throne from under her after Henry I died. But Matilda was not the sort to defer to a man, and raised an army to try to defeat her cousin. Years of conflict followed, with Matilda’s son – the famed Henry II – eventually being named successor on Stephen’s death.

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Filed under History Buff, Of Family and Children