Category Archives: randomness

random ramblings of Yours Truly.

randomness

My Brain Makes the Darndest Dreams

The inner workings of the brain never cease to amuse me.

This weekend, I did a few completely unrelated things:

  1. Searched for Alton Brown’s lentil soup recipe
  2. Took a long walk with Aaron
  3. Looked to see if my hometown of Medina was recorded for Google Street View
  4. Read the menu of the restaurant I’d be going to today with my co-workers, to decide on an entree in advance

Last night, my brain concocted this great dream where I’d moved into a house in Medina. (I’m pretty sure that both Aaron and my mother lived there, too.) I was walking along the streets at night, when I came across none other than Alton Brown, talking into a bluetooth digital audio recorder. When I approached him, he was friendly, and we walked together to a local drug store which, inexplicably, sold food in the middle of the night. We ordered the special — which I ate until AB pointed out that the meat in the sandwich was mainly fatty, at which point I stopped and said I should really stick to my diet. I was also giddy and fangirl-ish and more candid than I needed to be, telling embarrassing stories about myself. Afterward, as we walked back to our respective homes, I discovered that my new Medina house was only three houses down from AB’s house. I also discovered that it was 3am, and I’d been out for a Very Long Time.

Isn’t the brain fun?

randomness

This Is So Me

From an e-mail to myself, recently discovered in the depths of my inbox:

Fri, Apr 15, 2005 at 4:54 PM

Have you been robbed by the three thieves of productivity – distraction, perfectionism and procrastination? If you are task and achievement oriented, you’ve struggled to keep these villains out of your life.

Here are some quick tips to help improve productivity.

  • Spend a few moments when you get to work getting organized and creating a to-do list to reduce the risk of distraction.
  • Is perfection getting in the way? That speech, project, or report is probably ready to go now. So let it fly.
  • Always waiting for tomorrow? Learn how to produce a sense of urgency to ward off procrastination so you can act and avoid delays. Do it by focusing on the consequences of not completing a task and the rewards of getting it done.

There’s no citation, so I’m guessing I got it from the company intranet. I can only find it in one place online.

It’s so true, though, on all three counts. It’s an ongoing self-improvement struggle for me to combat my procrastinatory tendencies. It’s been an issue since I was a kid. Some things never change, I guess… but that doesn’t stop me from trying.

randomness

Unusually Stylish

thank-you cards

I tend to read Dooce‘s Daily Style section and just be amazed at all the kitschy, swanky, stylish stuff she can find. So, when I was in Barnes & Noble recently and found this in the clearance bin, I couldn’t pass it up.

While I’m not usually one to glom onto delicate cuteness in baby blue, and I don’t often have occasion to send Thank You cards, I thought these cards by Pepperpot were classy and well-designed, and I appreciated the small-press personal touch with the tie and tag around the cards.

The kicker? The keepsake box. Not only is it fairly strong and sturdy, but the lid has magnets to snap the lid shut. MAGNETS. In the LID. That appeals to my packrat nature in so many ways.

Now I wish I could find more. Alas, an Amazon search doesn’t turn up much that isn’t baby books.

hippie crap 4 Comments

Go Green: Buy Local

When I was a younger lass — say, in high school and college — I was a bit more environmentally conscious than I am now. I was really into recycling and buying recycled products, and my mother placated me by buying Green Forest recycled bathroom tissue and paper towels.

I also walked a lot in high school and college, but that was mainly from necessity, not so much from a sense of reducing my carbon footprint. Not that anyone knew what a “carbon footprint” was back in the ’90s.

These days, I find I’m much less environmentally conscious than I once was. Recycling is more of a hassle than a given (except for donating to Goodwill, which is ongoing, mainly because I’m a packrat). Walking everywhere (especially to work) is just not feasible. I use more disposable products than I need to. Now, getting myself back to the environmentally-conscious side of things is more of a “what am I willing to do” gambit, kind of like dieting. What am I willing to give up? To change? Am I willing to adopt a slightly different routine?

This weekend, Aaron and I took a trip to a couple of local produce establishments to try the whole Buy Local concept. Thompson Farms, just a few miles from our house, was selling fresh strawberries — you can’t get much more local than that! Granted, the hand-sorted high-quality quarts were $5 each, which is a little pricey, but they looked great. (They also had jam-and-jelly grade quarts for nearly half that price.)

We then visited Monnette’s Market on Reynolds, also just down the road apiece. There we found produce that wasn’t *quite* as local, but still more local than the friendly neighborhood megamart has, I’d bet. There were Canadian tomatoes, complete with a sign deeming them safe per the FDA. There were homegrown strawberries (not as ripe as the farm berries, but cheaper), and I can only assume that most of the produce was locally grown. We got some bell peppers, tomatoes, green onions, pineapple (yes, I know it wasn’t locally grown), vidalia onion (also not quite local), and an impulse buy of some fat-free chocolate muffins.

So, our first foray into buying locally grown produce was relatively successful. We’ll see if this is something we continue, or if it was merely an interesting excursion. Monnette’s actually has some competitively priced deli items, too, so we might end up going back next week for more of our normal shopping.

Not sure what the next step in “reducing our carbon footprint” will be. I’d like to keep taking baby steps toward joining the revolution.

randomness 1 Comment

Meme: Diana Needs…

I haven’t done one of these in a while; and, no, I wasn’t “tagged” for this one, either. I was just looking through some old blog entries yesterday, and came upon the “Diana is…” meme from a few years back, so I thought I’d do the related “Diana needs…” meme just for fun:

[Edited To Add: The idea here is to Google your first name with the verb “needs” or “is” and post the first several hits — particularly the amusing ones.]

Diana needs a wealthy husband who can provide her with the high life she craves while sheltering her from the media clamor that follows her every move.
> [Um, wrong Diana. Sorry.]

Diana needs a hug.
> [Always.]

Diana needs to come over and turn my charming studio into a warehouse loft!
> [Diana needs to paint her own living room first, kthx.]

Diana needs to make an announcement.
> [I do? Very well… I AM GOING TO HAWAII IN 35 28 DAYS.]

Diana… needs outa this town!
> [See above.]

Diana needs help.
> [Always.]

Diana needs to learn respect to the refs.
> [I got a rope… I got a tree… All we need is a… nevermind.]

Diana needs to take a trip to the museum to see all the beautiful paintings of women ten times bigger during the Roman/Greek times.
> [Maybe she does. Maybe Diana would feel better about herself if her likeness were dropped into a Boticelli or Bellini painting.]

Diana needs to get a few clues.
> [Again, always.]