Food, games, and more food -----> Week in Review, Day 160-166

~ ate salmon that was swimming in Alaska 24 hours earlier. Sad, but delicious.

~ saw the sun set from the Berklee Hills

~ went to a class at Women's Audio Mission, a non-profit dedicated to the advancement of women in music production and the recording arts. Learned a ton about pursuing a career as an independent artist - scary and inspiring all at once. Glad I finally got to see the place and its awesome studio.

~ played Crispy Wickets, a game that involves throwing a frisbee through two narrowly-placed poles and thwarting the other team from getting points. My frisbee skills are poor at best, and the requirement of a beer in hand at all times does not help.

~ fell in love with peanut butter-bacon cookies, compliments of my talented friend Gwoeyn

~ visited Amore's Pizza and Pasta Kitchen in Tracy, which is newly-managed by my friend Sonia. She is doing an amazing job there and the food is great. Go visit!

~ rooted for the US but felt English while watching the World Cup, due to Walkers Crisps and their unusual flavors: English Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding, Smoky Bacon, Roast Chicken, Worcester Sauce.

~ forgot the password to my phone. The password I use about 10 times a day. How does that happen?

New Things Happen Every Day

Day 152

If you look carefully over the last few weeks, you will see I've shirked my responsibilities. Only sporadic writing since mid-May. Alas, a person gets busy and some things must go by the way. This blog was the left on the side of the road as I sped past.

I have been doing new things. A lot of them centered around work or food. But mostly work. Lots of coffee meetings, lots of networking, lots of new contacts. Intermittent in that was good news and bad news, old friends and new stresses. I de-cluttered my mind and then filled it back up again.

New things are happening every day, I'm just no longer recording it. It seems more reasonable at this point to check in once a week. I will try my hand at one new BIG thing every week, and celebrate the smaller things as a week-in-review.

Through this project, I've learned a lot about myself. Looking back on this blog at the end of the year will be heart-warming and full of good memories. For that reason, I'm disappointed I could not keep up with it every day for one year. Hey, six months isn't too bad. Another six months of new stuff is bound to be memorable, as well - a more compact shape should not tarnish that. Look how cute and fantastic the Smart Car is.

Day 125 - Patted myself on the back

I usually don't celebrate mini accomplishments. I usually think that whatever I did was what I was supposed to do. Take applying to that band, for instance. If I want to further my music, I needed to do something like this. I needed to throw up a MySpace page and share my singing. But it wasn't until I told my voice teacher that I realized how huge that really was for me.

She knows I'm a perfectionist, so it was a big deal to share some songs that were not perfect. She knows a goal of mine this year is to write some songs, so it was a big deal that I threw together lyrics and a tune. She was jumping up and down for me. I was a bit embarrassed by the kudos at first, then realized that it really was a gigantic step for me. How nice to have people around to point this stuff out to you. Just like my friend Diana last week, taking me out to celebrate my company.

I have not heard back from that band, and know I never will. But it does not matter, because I made a huge first leap and even in rejection, boosted my confidence. So thank you, Karen Reifer, for being such an encouraging leader in my musical journey.

Day 113 - Went to class to... hula hoop

Granted, I was not the most talented hula hooper when I was younger. Just could not keep that hoop up. So I jumped at the chance to redeem myself during SF Dance Week. HoopGirl is a local company that teaches hoop fitness and dance through videos and classes. Their introductory class to celebrate Dance Week gave tips and introduced all levels to new moves.

Our instructor Summer was phenomenal and truly an inspiring teacher. She made it look effortless. I made it look like a convulsion. But in the end, I was able to keep that hoop up for a minute and discovered it was quite a workout. I recommend it to anyone!

Day 82 - Realized how lame this is

Not the idea. I still think doing something new every day is spectacular. I just think a lot of mine are less than stellar. I hope you've been entertained anyways, even on the slow days. I'm sticking to this all year, but will try t step up my game and be more proactive. Any suggestions?

Day 77 - Had an appointment in New York

As great technology as it is, the phone and I have a long-standing feud. I have never liked talking on the phone, as I would just rather be face-to-face with someone. When possible, I skip the phone in favor of an email or letter. But I am slowly learning how stupid that is, and working to get over my aversion.

After many back-and-forth attempts to get in touch with my friend Trish in NY, we finally booked each other to talk tonight. On our calendars. It's easy to get busy and let weeks go by without catching up. And talk we did, for two and a half hours. I am now officially caught up on her life. It is so much better to hear someone's voice - the nuances, the laughter. Email just isn't the same.

Day 69 - Jacked up my car

In a good way. Without any parental supervision, I took one tire off my car. It was not flat - there was a giant plastic bag wrapped in it. It was a good reminder that littering is really bad. It was also a good reminder to not be so afraid of my car and trying to fix it. Huzah.

A special acknowledgement to Day 69 because it makes me giggle. You know what I'm talking about.

Day 49 - Created my personal mission statement

Back on February 1, I learned about personal mission statements through a class for entrepreneurs. I completed the exercises in class but needed a bit more time to write the actual mission statement. Well, I finally did it. It was tough to encompass work life and personal life under one umbrella, but now, it seems so right.

To be generous with my blessings, strong with my integrity, honest through my words, and kind through my actions, all to spark positive energy in people and my community.

A personal mission statement is your North Star to guide you through every day. I highly recommend crafting one to focus yourself on what's important to you and your place in this world. As the class instructor said, there's a difference between making a living or designing a life.

Day 47 - Learned about Algeria

My cab driver this afternoon was so nice and quite chatty. Turns out he is from Algeria and is really excited for the World Cup this summer. Big soccer fan. In the World Cup, Algeria is in the same group as the United States, along with England and Slovenia. The US and Algeria play each other in South Africa on June 23.

Here are some facts about Algeria:

~ it is about 3.5 times the size of Texas, making it the second largest country in Africa (after Sudan)
~ its borders include the Mediterranean Sea to the north; Mauritania, Mali, and Niger to the south; Morocco and Western Sahara to the west: and Tunisia and Libya to the east.
~ the Sahara region accounts for 85% of the country, and is mostly uninhabited.
~ population of 34.2 million, with 3.9 million in the capital city of Algiers
~ the official language is Arabic, and the state religion is Sunni Muslim (99%)
~ won independence from France on July 5, 1962
~ government is a republic, run by the country's main political party, National Liberation Front
~ main economic product = hydrocarbons (natural gas and petroleum)

Check out the rest of the info on Algeria at CIA Factbook and Infoplease.com.

Day 40 - Hired an accountant

Imagine how you will spend some of your free time this weekend - a nice cup of coffee with the newspaper, a quick jog, dinner with the spouse. Sorry, did you say something about the IRS? No, of course not, because that's madness.

Tax laws were not meant for laypeople. Even after taking a few tax classes as part of my accounting major - heck, I even studied tax for the CPA exam - I still cannot make sense of it. Please, if you file more than a 1040EZ, and especially if you are starting a business, get an accountant. It's worth the money in the long run.

Start looking for one now. Yes, call up two or three and talk to them. Go with one you trust and get along with. Wait until April and the good ones will be busy. Hear me now and believe me later - your finances are this important. OK, I'm done.

Day 32 - Learned about a personal mission statement

I have definitely worked on the mission statement for my business, but never formulated a personal one. It was interesting to think about. A sentence or two that directs you through everything you do in life, like your North Star. Here are a few examples of mission statements by famous people:

Gandhi
Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
* I shall not fear anyone on earth
* I shall fear only God
* I shall not bear ill will towards anyone
* I shall not submit to injustice from anyone
* I shall conquer untruth by truth
* And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering

Andrew Carnegie
To spend the first half of my life making as much money as I can and the second half giving it away.


So as you can see, it can be very specific or more general. In this workshop, we started with a few questions that defined ourselves, such as * what do I believe in? * what is my consistent message? * who are my heroes and why? Answers to these questions and formulating a mission statement will lead you through decisions about your career, your family, your health, everything. I have yet to finish mine but worth a shot...

Check out this article for more help.

Day 25 - Modified a recipe

As mentioned before, I am no cook. Only a few months ago, boiling spaghetti was a big thing. I am happy to report that I am growing.

Faced with a box of black beans and rice, I looked around and thought of a few additional things I could add to make it heartier and fresher. I am learning quickly that having ingredients around the house for moments just like this is amazingly helpful. Nothing fancy - just some basic spices, some canned items, maybe some fresh herbs and vegetables. Tonight, it was a can of black beans, to supplement the freeze-dried ones in the box, and a can of organic diced tomatoes with onions and spices. Finish with fresh ground pepper and cumin and it came out downright delicious. Who am I? I don't know but this is exciting...

Day 22 - Used the telephone over email

I really dislike the telephone. It's ridiculous, I know. No, I do know. I recall a traumatic experience when I was younger, answering it and getting bad-mouthed by a gruff adult. Who would do that to a child? So anyways, not sure if it was that or the fact that I'm much better with words once I've had time to think and add facial expressions. SO I avoid the phone when I can.

But I'm trying to get over that because I know how foolish it is. It's much more personal than email and sometimes is just necessary. And I have wasted numerous hours writing emails and waiting for answers instead of just conducting a quick phone call. So as a positive step, I called five people I needed to talk to about work matters today. Five people! Stop laughing, that's really good for me. Really. Everything went well, no one yelled at me, it was all actually pretty nice. So expect to hear my voice coming down your line soon...

Day 20 - Learned to share digitally --> Oops, no, scratch that

It is so convenient, when reading a great blog post, to click a button to share it with friends. I was so excited to learn about Share This, which allows your post to be shared by email, text, Twitter, Facebook, etc with ease. I signed up for an account, followed the directions for Blogger, and the button shows up on my page after every post. Perfect! It's a great day when I learn new technology tricks.

Fast forward to the evening, when I'm checking out my blog. Not so perfect now. The button is there, but the links do not show up when you hover or click or anything. I then spent about two hours trying to research and fix the problem, but to no avail. So then I was pissed. I cancelled my account and conceptually stormed off. Argh! So today's new thing ended poorly, but some of them have to, right?

If anyone has any tips for me, I am all ears...

Day 12 - Learned about California

Do you know your state's motto? Or flower? No, neither did I. But I've always been curious so took a smidge of time to find out. You can, too. Infoplease.com has a very informative section on state symbols. Or start at the map page and click on your favorite state to learn more about the demographics, history, and government. OMG, did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the governor of California? Kindergarten Cop? When did this happen? ;-)

California facts
Bird: California valley quail
Tree: California redwood
Flower: golden poppy
Animal: California grizzly bear
Fish: California golden trout (why is this necessary?)
Colors: blue and gold
Song: "I Love you, California"
Motto: Eureka (I found it)
Nickname: Golden State
Entered the union: 1850, the 31st state

Compare to New York, where I was born and raised
Bird: bluebird
Tree: sugar maple
Flower: rose (awww)
Animal: beaver
Fish: brook trout
Gem: garnet
Insect: ladybug (awww. And also why?)
Song: "I Love New York"
Motto: Excelsior (ever upward)
Nickname: Empire State (like the Jay-Z song)
Entered the union: 1788, the 11th state