Reality Checks

Words of encouragement are sometimes all you need to pick yourself up again. Since I'm in such a great transition in my life, my moods seem to always be in constant flux. I never seem to be able to straighten my thoughts out before the next predicament strikes me. I need my friends and family to help me pump myself up again. My mom has been that person for me lately, she has done a great job of keeping me on track and talking me back to reality. I start forgetting that my new career voyage needs elements of stability, I start wanting to be a professional free spirit again (whatever that means) and my mom makes me release that only a real career will put food on the table and give me the proper benefits I need to live.

Yesterday I talked to my career counselor from unemployment to catch her up on my new career decision to become a teacher. She of course told me I was crazy, but that if I liked kids then to go for it. We talked for a long time and she really gave me the confidence/self-esteem boost I needed. She told me to keep my eyes and ears open for any opportunities that peek my interest. We have only spoke to each other about four times, but she said that she could tell that I had a special something about me. Something that made me stand-out amongst the crowd. I of course asked her what she thought that something was, but she couldn't put it into words. She thought I was very personable and relatable. She made me feel good, regardless of how she felt about my teaching goal. I really want to be an Elementary Art Teacher, do they even have those anymore?

Great Balls of Meat!

I love meatballs. I mean I love meat in any form, but mash it into balls with onion and spices and you've got something really special. The Swedes may have perfected the meatball, but the italians laid the groundwork, and created the many forms we see today. Today they're found on pasta, in sandwiches, soups and stews, freezer cases at Ikea, and cheesy, late 70's career vehicles starring Bill Murray.

What's interesting to me is how the flavor and texture of a dish can be strongly influenced by the form of its meat product. A great example is pasta week at our house. It occurs randomly, and when it does it almost always consists of whole wheat pasta with some combination of sauces, sauteed or roasted vegetables and nuts, and ground meat. Always slightly different, always delicious. This week Kate got creative and made meatballs out of the ground meat. Everything other ingredient class was the same. The dish was vastly different than it had ever been. The meatballs, and I guess the fact that they were cooked outside the sauce first and the simmered in for 20 minutes made the sauce taste much different than it usually does. It was delicious, and probably the most classic tasting sauce we'd ever made. Now imagine if we made the sauce with chunks of steak. The form of the meat, even the same meat in all cases, makes a big difference in the final product.

And meatballs seem to be the pinnacle of meatdom.

But caution must be exercised. They are round, after all, and prone to rolling, which has proven unfortunate for many diners throughout history. We all remember what happened in the mid 1800's, nestled in the Smokey mountains, after a light dusting of cheese had blown through the region. As the story goes, some poor unfortunate lost their meatball after a diner at the same table (or a neighboring table, the details are unknown) sneezed. Apparently the sneeze wave pushed the meatball off the table, onto the floor, with enough force to then send it rolling straight out the door. When search parties found it, days later in the garden, under a bush, the rogue meatball was nothing but mush.

It's a horrible ending for a proud meatball. So take the tale for the warning it is. Don't eat your pasta around chronically sick individuals. Even if the sneeze hadn't managed to move the meatball from its pasta cradle it would have coated it in a thin glaze of sick sauce, rendering it inedible. Open windows, though not explicitly mentioned in our story, should also be avoided, as a strong gust could also send your meatballs hurtling doorward. I guess if you take away any lesson here it should be this. If you must eat meatballs in the vicinity of the ill, open windows, fans, heating vents, leaf blowers or compressed air tanks, for god's sake at least close the door first.

A good meatball is a terrible thing to waste.


*Another sad story: No one can attest to the magic of the meatball more than my sister Stephanie, a regular reader of this blog. She is a HUGE fan of all meat products, from veal to venison, meat balls to meat pies. Unfortunately, in her early teens she was diagnosed with a moderate case of vegetarianism. Her system can handle fish and seafood products, but is unable to digest any sort of land-based animal protein. As you can imagine it was a terrible blow to such a bona fide carnivore. She makes due as best she can. They can do wonderful things with prosthetics and texturized vegetable protein. Her Tofurkys look almost like the real thing, and TVP crumbles taste nearly fresh off the cows side. But they're just not the same. Please donate generously to the National Beef Council, the Poultry Farmers of America, and various other Chuck Norris fronted organizations so that one day a cure might be found and Steph can once more grind her vicious maw through a plate of assorted grilled meat products.

Beautiful Redemption

I love witnessing old friends with troubled pasts redeem themselves and become whole human beings with great purpose. My dear friend Matt from college, was once a bit of a recluse. He seemed to never be able to find his niche in the social world, so he tended to let alcohol do most of his talking for him. He was definitely brilliant at his craft, with sound engineering and film-making. But I was always worried about him and wanted him to be happy on all fronts. A few years back Jason and I visited my college home town (Columbia, SC) for my friend Nichole's wedding. I was happy to see Matt there and meet his new wife Ashley. He had found his soul mate and I was so happy for him. She has definitely turned his life around and they are so perfect for each other.

Yesterday Matt emailed his film-making team (Brooke, Nichole and me) to let us know that Ashley was 5 months pregnant and that he was going to be the father of a baby girl named Alice come early December. I told him how incredibly happy I was for him. Matt is proof that life may get you down for a while, but if you open your heart, true happiness can be just around the corner. I wish Matt and Ashley the best. Congrats you two!!

When the Dam Breaks

Wow. Terrible case of writer's block this morning. I've been sitting here for more than a half an hour trying to come up with a topic, and my allotted writing window is nearly spent. So why not, I thought, turn my consternation into the topic. Not that writer's block is a positive thing, because it's not. It sucks. But when the wall finally comes down and inspiration strikes it's a great feeling. It's probably akin to the relief you feel when you finish, for good, a half hour session of jamming a sharpened pencil as far up into your nose as you can get it. Or slamming your head against a cinder block wall. Feel free to fill in your own analogy here.

Like a dammed up river, writer's block creates pressure. It's a palpable strain on your noodle that isn't painful, per se, but is very uncomfortable. It's more frustrating than anything, like the phone lines have been cut between your conscious and unconscious minds. When communication is restored and the pressure is relieved it's a very positive thing.

That's one more entry, in the bank. Next entry.

New Regiment Begins...

I believe I've done a blog on a similar subject before but with having to do this everyday for a year it's bound to happen. :>)

Okay, today I started a new exercise regiment that I am going to stick too!! Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I'm going to stick to my regular 30 minute Pilate's workout at home, then on Tuesday and Thursday I'm going to walk fast/jog to the gym (which is about 5 blocks away) then I'm going to bike for 5 to 8 minutes, then I'm going to lift weights for 30 minutes, and then walk fast/jog home. Today I started the Tue/Thur workout and I feel great. I sweated my tail off and it took about an hour total. I didn't start my workout till about quarter till 10 today, cause my stomach was acting up. Thursday I'm going to get up earlier, probably 8 am or so to get an earlier start. I really hope I keep this up. Jae's started going to the gym twice a week. It's week two now for Jae and so far so good.

I can already feel it, I'm definitely going to be sore tomorrow!

Paying Bills Online

You want to catch up with an old friend. Do you take the time to post a letter? No, you email them. Do you drive to your local library to do research? Again, no. You jump on the internet. Do you step outside to determine the weather? Of course not. You log on to Weather.com. So why do you still balance a physical checkbook, and pay your bills through the US mail?

That question was directed at those of you who don't pay their bills online. For those of you that do, congratulations. Welcome to the future. You've joined an elite corps of individuals who understand that the digital frontier isn't something to be feared, but to be embraced and harnessed for the good of your free time. Why spend a half hour or more paying bills? That may have been good enough for the Dark Ages, but so was the plague, and one third of the population of Europe died as a result. I'd say the risk of plague is far more troublesome than the slim chance that some malfeasant might get a hold of your bank account information.

I've always had a tough time keeping tabs on bills. Even when I have the money to pay them I often lose track of them and end up late. So for me, the ease of online payment is a necessity. But it's beneficial for anyone. I have all my payees set up in Quicken. When I get a bill all I need to do is launch the program, pull up a virtual check, pick the right payee from the payee list, punch in the amount and hit send. Done. Bill's paid.

If I were a little more responsible it would always be that easy, but sometimes I have to sort out the previous month's bill, so it gets a little trickier. But at least I don't have to worry about writing a check, buying a stamp, and posting the bill.

This risks anymore are minimal. And if you pay bills electronically through your bank like I do, instead of through each individual payee, the risk is nearly nil. So there's really no downside, other than the fact that you need a computer and the smallest bit of online savvy. Even if you don't have a money management program like Quicken, you can participate. Most banks offer online bill payment through their website interface. All done through secure, encrypted transactions.

Minuscule risks. Big rewards. Zero rat-borne illnesses. Online bill payment is the bees knees.

Special Lunch Dates

Being able to have lunch with friends during the weekdays is a great benefit to being unemployed. I've had lunch with Jason a couple of times. I had lunch with another past Renegade a couple of weeks ago, Nick. Jason has mentioned Nick in a few of his entries now, we went to a local dive and eat the best cheeseburgers with a couple of beers, great conservation and great times were had. Nick's been out of a "real" job for a while, he gets steady freelance writing gigs that keep him busy most days.

Today I'm going to meet Jason's mom, Jan, in Columbia for lunch. She's a great lady and I really can't wait. Not getting to see and talk to people during the day really makes these lunch dates that much more significant and that much more needed.

Ceiling Fans

I'm a little bit pressed for time today, so this is a (no pun intended) low hanging fruit entry.

Yesterday I nearly finished installing all of our ceiling fans. The last one requires cutting power at the panel, which I wasn't in a position to do last night. But what a difference they make. I'm sitting in the computer room, which has an AC window unit but still managed to be warm on a hot day. Adding the ceiling fan dropped the perceived temperature markedly. I'm cold right now, an experience I hadn't previously had here.

And sleeping under a ceiling fan for the first time in a while last night was a treat. Again, we have an AC unit in the room, but the cooling tends to be uneven. Sometimes you wake up sweating in the middle of the night and then, an hour later you're cold. The ceiling fan helps to mix up the air into a much more even temperature. I slept great last night.

Ceiling fans use very little electricity. So little that leaving them on all the time is a perfectly reasonable option. And given what a difference they make to our internal climate, I think we'll do just that. They're a very inexpensive way to give your house's cooling system a break and make your life much more comfortable.

Upcoming Fun

Almost every weekend this month is filled with fun activities. It's great to have fun times to look forward to. There's a camping trip with my dear friends from the South for Lauren's B-Day and a trip I might take to NYC to see my girl Brooke perform her comedy act for the first time. Then there's Julianna's birthday party at Boordy Vineyard, with live music and plenty of wine. I know I have no money, but I'll really keep spending to a minimum. I've been pretty down these days with having a little human contact with my friends, but these upcoming events will really help me out and I just can't wait to see all my friends.

Palpable Anticipation

This weekend is living up to its promise. Yesterday was incredibly productive. We got through all of Kate's photos and made final selects for her portfolio. I tried hanging our remaining ceiling fans but needed some screws and got stopped by the closing of Ace Hardware. No worries. They'll go in today. Kate's photo gig got rescheduled on account of rain, so we have a little more time today.

But that's not what this entry is about. It's about the palpable anticipation we both feel regarding upcoming endeavors. Getting Kate's portfolio done is breathing reality into the business. The fact that we'll finally be able to advertise for paying gigs is incredibly exciting. It makes all of her previous free gigs feel worth the effort, providing great photos for a professional portfolio. We bought the URL www.luminouseyephoto.com last night, so we should have the site live by this evening.

Plus, Kate's now firmly committed to her new career path. She's applying for substitute teaching positions as well as getting everything in place to begin training to be a full-time elementary ed teacher. Scary? Yes. Exciting? Even more so.

I'm doing web design for a few companies, and hope to expand it to more.

And, as if that's not all enough, Kate and I are going into the soap business. Why? Because we can, and because everybody needs soap. It's cheap to make, cheap to buy and a commodity that's always in demand. As I said in my last soap entry the chemistry involved is really interesting to me, and Kate is jazzed about cooking up new scent combinations. We've been spitballing ideas for names, products, marketing plans, etc. I bought a few soap-making books from Amazon, which should be arriving Monday. Then the experimenting begins. I'm sure we're months off from having anything to sell, but the excitement has already arrived.

Here's a contest. Send us your ideas for soap company names. They can be serious, funny, light-hearted, witty...whatever. If we pick your name you'll get a whole raft of free soap...when that soap gets made, whenever that is.*

There's a lot of good, new stuff cooking at the Karbownibloom household. Our philosophy? Throw as many balls into the air as possible and see which ones get caught.

*Raft meaning, "a sizable quantity". You will not be receiving a rubberized rowboat full of soap. That's both dangerous for the soap and a quantity far to sizable for us to give away.

Luminous Eye

The idea of having my own website to showcase my best photography is starting to get me excited. We are going to work on it really hard this weekend and hopefully get it up and running. I've been going through all my photos and picking the best of the past couple of weeks, it's time to get them out and a new ad for my business posted. Kate needs gigs, she needs to get out of this house. But first priority - the website! I decided on Luminous Eye Photography and Jason incorporated my tattoo into the back on the logo, I really like it.

I'm proud of some of my photos, I really hope others will feel the same way. I really hope that this passion will one day turn into a beautiful successful business. Stay positive lady and only the best will flourish.

Bloody Good Morning

That was Kate's joke, but I'm stealing it. Kate makes a mean Bloody Mary, one of which I'm enjoying as I write this entry. Lazy Saturdays, sans rain, plus sunshine, plus Bloody Mary mix multiplied by good company, a farmer's market and a list of things to keep us productive results in an uplifted mood and a happy morning. And it's bleeding into a nice afternoon.

And what's shaping up to be a perfect, productive weekend. Kate's almost done going through all of her recent photographs, at which point we're going to put together her online portfolio, buy a URL and start her advertising. Plus Sunday she has a gig shooting outdoor portrait shots of some person's young daughter for headshot use. I've got two companies lined up that want web design work and advertising. All I have to do is get them out a price quote. Sunday we're hopefully doing brunch with some friends at Miss Shirleys. Then we're going to install some extra air-conditioning units.

Lots of good stuff to fill up an otherwise blissfully blank weekend. You can't see it, but I'm raising my red plastic cup and toasting all of you. Or rather I would be, if I were. But it's the sentiment that counts. Have a great weekend.