Comments (11)

By kilax, May 20, 2008 8:00 am

I just realized I brought peach-flavored yogurt and a peach in my lunch today.

Duh. That makes me feel kind of dumb. At least one is “dairy” and one counts as “fruit.”

When my class was learning about the food pyramid in grade school, our teacher gave us each a sheet of white glossy square stickers with pictures of different foods on them. He also gave us sheets of paper that had an illustration of a plate on it. Our task in class was to put “well-balanced” meals on the plate based on what we were learning.

For some reason, the local television crew decided to come and interview my class to do a little human interest story (I guess news was slow that day). They interviewed a few of us, and we showed them our little papers with our stickers on them, with the crude drawings of corn, chicken legs, apples, etc.

I eagerly awaited watching the story on the news that night. To my dismay, they showed a shot of the entire class working, with the reporter talking in front of us, then interviewed only one kid.

A few of us were pretty bummed the next day. We had worked really hard on our “balanced” meals, and thought they would show them on tv.

Our teacher was more upset about what was on the kid’s plate that they did show – mashed potatoes, french fries, and tater tots.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Today’s Idiom: red-letter day – day of happiness, time for rejoicing (holidays are red-letter days on our calendars)

My red-letter day came when I received a job offer before graduation. I felt like I had nothing to worry about anymore.

Comments (14)

By kilax, May 18, 2008 8:26 pm

Do you ever get back after a weekend of seeing your family and think, “Jeez, I really need to make more of an effort”?

More of an effort to be easy-going, and just let people be the way they are?

I do.

Comments (6)

By kilax, May 17, 2008 10:53 pm

A quick follow-up on Thursday’s post city-based stereotypes:

I read an article in the paper Friday about a book called Who’s Your City, by Richard Florida. Florida is an “economic geographer,” who has gathered data about common personality traits within certain geographical regions.

According to the article , “Chicago has a strong concentration of extroverts, or people who are ‘outgoing, talkative, gregarious, assertive, enthusiastic and seeking excitement.’ ”

There’s also a interesting bust to NYC, which of course, a Chicago-based newspaper can’t help but make, so I recommend reading the article.

I wonder if the book will be any good. Or have any validity. I may have to pick up a copy.

Comments (15)

By kilax, May 16, 2008 5:35 am

If you could be the spokesperson for any product on the market, which product would you choose to enthusiastically represent?

Boca’s Meatless Chik’n Patties.

I don’t know why, but this is the one boca food I never get sick of, and actually crave. You fry one of these patties in a pan for 12 minutes (flipping occasionally), then throw it on a bun, with a bit of mayo, some big pickles and lettuce… heavenly… drool.

(The Morningstar Corn Dogs are runner up. Oh gosh, those are so good – when you make them in the oven. The interesting thing about these soy products is that they always test better in the pan or oven, almost never the microwave. Oh, and I can’t forget the Morningstar Black Bean Burger – yummy! Alright, that’s enough of that!)

Comments (13)

By kilax, May 15, 2008 5:52 am

Do you think you can tell where a person is from after meeting them? I am not talking about using clues like the way they talk, or they way they dress, but just based on their personality. (See how Today’s Idiom inspired this post)

I don’t think I can tell where people are from, but I know some people firmly believe they can judge which state, and sometimes which city you are from, based on the way you act.

A few years ago, I took a summer sociology night class. For one class, the professor invited us to bring a guest so we could play a game.

So I brought Steven with me. The purpose of the game was to illustrate how money is distributed in society – the large difference between the wealth of the rich, and the destitution of the poor. Everyone started out the game with the same amount of “money” (I think we used poker chips or something), then by luck, you ended up in one of three groups – lower class, middle class, and upper class.

The twist to the game was that every class got to vote on how the money was distributed – but the upper class had the most say, the middle class had less, and the lower class had barely any.

The game got people REALLY worked up. I think that is the point of playing.

Steven ended up in the upper class. I was in the lower class. When it came time to vote on something, he campaigned to make the money distribution more even. His team was full of a bunch of nasty biotches (I knew this because I had been going to class with them all semester) who vetoed him. So on principle, he LEFT the group to join the lower class.

This caused quite a stir.

And apparently prompted one of the biotchy girls to call Steven an “Iowa Farm Boy.”

This upset him.

He’s not from Iowa. He’s from Kansas City, Missouri. Which is kind of a big city. The biotchy girl assumed he was from Iowa, because I am. And for the RECORD, I did not grow up on a farm, and am actually from a very diverse city in Iowa.

Anyway, that story kind of relates to what I am getting at today…

It seems like I have written something similar like this before. Am I repeating myself?!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Today’s Idiom: I’m from Missouri – a skeptic, one who is not easily convinced

(I’m not even going to attempt to use this one in a sentence – any ideas?)

Comments (12)

By kilax, May 14, 2008 6:00 am

Don’t you love how every once in awhile, google switches things up and uses a different design for their homepage logo?

Doesn’t it just make your day a little better, and put a smile on your face?

Okay.

Anyway.

Google has a contest called “Doodle 4 Google” where they invite K-12 kids to design a new homepage logo. You can go here to vote!

Here is my favorite from each category:

K-3:

4-6:

7-9:

10-12:

Sorry, I couldn’t come up with anything better for today.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Today’s Idiom: to lionize a person – to make a big fuss over someone

When I worked at Fuksas Studios in Rome, Fuksas was lionzed whenever he came in. I just tried to stay out of his way.

Comments (13)

By kilax, May 13, 2008 5:43 am

Do you know anyone who goes out of their way to correct people, even when it’s unnecessary, just to make themselves feel better than everyone?

I do.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Today’s Idiom: to pass the busk – to evade responsibility

I tired to pass the buck when my boss asked who specified the pink wall tile.

Comments (11)

By kilax, May 12, 2008 5:53 am

I love it when people stop me on the street to ask for directions.

It gives me such an undeserved sense of accomplishment. “Wow! They must think I don’t look lost, because they’re asking ME for help!”

A map visually pops into my head when someone asks me for directions. I see street names and major landmarks. I can tell them to walk three blocks south (or “that way”), that it will take about 5 minutes, and that they’ll pass a funny orange sculpture on the way there.

When I lived in Rome, people would ask me for directions a lot. I felt really proud of myself for knowing where so many (tourist) destinations were.

But what I don’t know, is if the people ever get there based on what I tell them! Ha ha!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Today’s Idiom: to take down a peg – to take the conceit out of a braggart

I think I took her down a peg or two when I marked up her drawing with so many corrections.

Comments (8)

By kilax, May 11, 2008 5:49 pm

On Friday I was exchanging short, back-and-forth, conversational ( read: not work related) emails with a client of mine. We were talking about the project, and what our plans were for the weekend.

In each email exchange to me, there was a word I didn’t know.

And actually had to look up on dictionary.com.

How embarrassing.

I want to be the one making other people look up works, not the other way around, dammit!

I’m working on it.

Comments (10)

By kilax, May 10, 2008 9:45 am

Have you heard about TSA’s Diamond Self-Select Program? I hadn’t until I saw this picture (from Midway Airport) in the newspaper yesterday.

The program splits TSA checkpoints into three lanes – expert, for business travelers; casual, for less frequent travelers; and family/special assistance, for families, elderly passengers, and passengers who need special help.

The idea is that splitting people into separate lanes, based on their TSA protocol comfort, will speed up inspection times.

I’m super quick in the TSA inspection line. I wear shoes that slip off, skip wearing a belt, and throw my laptop out of its bag at lighting speed.

It seems like I am always behind some slowpoke.

If this program actually works, and they bring it to O’Hare, I’ll be psyched. Can I go through the expert lane though, even though I am not always a “business” traveler?

Has anyone used it yet? They already have it in Denver and Cincinnati.