Category Archives: something important, I’m sure

support your favorite places, $1 at a time

29 Saturday Aug 2009

Posted by in Foodies, something important, I'm sure

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I first heard about the 3/50 project from my friend Judy, who is also my source for all things topical since I don’t watch the news.  I should say, my sole televised news source is Jon Stewart, so Judy is in good company.  The 3/50 Project is a grass-roots effort to save local economies, three stores at a time.  Now Judy lives on the West Coast, where things often happen a”few” years before they meander their way to Ohio…  at least that was the case with smoothies.

But shortly after Judy’s post, I was visiting my family in Wisconsin and made my annual pilgrimage to my favorite coffee shop in WI, Mud Creek Coffee.  Mud Creek opened a couple years ago, and I was delighted but dubious that the concept could make it in a small town in today’s economy.  Every time I drive up there and Mud Creek is still open, I always stop and frankly just want to throw buckets of money through the drive-through window and say “Please make it!” because it is such a cool little coffee shop and I would be sad if it was gone.

Which is exactly the idea behind 3/50.

On this last trip, my Dear Sister and I went to Mud Creek for a relaxing afternoon break and what did I find on the counter but a flyer for the 3/50 Project.  So I figure, if the concept made it there already, it is time for my town to get on board!

So, here is the premise of the 3/50 Project:

1.  Pick three independently owned (brick and mortar) local businesses you’d miss most if they were gone.

2.  Commit to spending $50 a month at these three businesses (that’s $50 total, NOT $50 each…)

3.  Help save your town’s independent stores, one person at a time.

Now don’t get me wrong — I enjoy the immediacy and ease of on-line shopping, big box store bargain-hunting (I am a Costco addict), and all the other many chains that make shopping and eating out so convenient.  I know that at this point there is no way that the majority of my family’s expenditures can be sourced through local independent vendors.  But $50 a month of money I was going to spend somewhere else anyway?  That I can do.  It’s easy and just feels right.

So, here is my list to start on September 1st:

1.  Tazza Mia Coffee (which I do think is the freshest and best tasting coffee in town.)

2.  Troy’s Cafe (a gem of a restaurant with innovative, fun, affordable food in a relaxed atmosphere.)

3.  Ace Hardware (I know Ace is a chain, but this is the [last?] little, local hardware store around here, one with every little doohickey and thingamabob for fixing things, and a cute Grandpa-guy clerk who knows where everything is on the tightly packed shelves.)

There.  I had to try hard to keep all three choices from being food-related.

So that’s my plan.  I would love to hear what three businesses you would pick, and, dear readers, if you are willing to give it a try…

making faces

18 Saturday Jul 2009

Posted by in Photography, something important, I'm sure

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Perhaps it was a function of the pace of our recent vacation;  perhaps I was just randomly delirious — but I kept seeing faces in unexpected places.  I’ve noticed before that, particularly when I travel, I will suddenly recognize a face in a crowd, then realize it is just someone who looks like someone I know, but not really.  I guess my pesky brain tries so hard to put the familiar back into the unfamiliar when I am out of my comfort zone.  Those, however, are actually faces.

Turns out I am making stuff up all the time.  According to an article from Learnhub, “Sensor vs. Eye – What’s the Difference?, when we think about “seeing” something, we are actually talking about the “eye-brain” system that adds lots of post-processing to what actually comes in the eye.

“Outside that very narrow range, our brain fills in a lot of the details that we think we see from moment to moment, but is actually not being “seen” in the same sense as what’s in the center of view. (Of course, this comment will inevitably beget the philosophical discussion: what does it mean to “see,” exactly?)”

The article goes on to make interesting comparisons to what a camera “sees” and how a photographic image differs from the picture we take in our brain.  (Wow!  This is almost as interesting as the Quantum Physics Theory of Missing Socks!)

Apparently I have a busy post-processor, because it fills in lots of details.  If only my memory was as detail-oriented.  The good news is that I saw more smiley faces in inanimate objects than I saw frowns.  I think that is a good sign.

smiley treesmiley meter

a year of no watch

17 Friday Jul 2009

Posted by in Motherhood, something important, I'm sure, Writing

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It is the one year anniversary of my decision to stop wearing a watch.

This would, on the surface, appear to be an illogical decision.  Those who know me personally know that I have long been habitually late.  I would joke that I arrived two weeks after my due date (true, my poor mother), and I never made up the lost time.  Actually, I became 15 minutes late around seventh grade, and maintained that 15 minutes of tardiness for the next 30 years.  It is not really a joke though — it is disrespectful to all those around me who have to wait for my idiosyncrasies to arrive where I am supposed to be.  It also does not set a very good example for my kids.  Jeez, how hard can it be to just get somewhere on time?

Without a lot of bothersome self-deprecating commentary here, I do think The Tardinesss is related to perfectionism.  I would always glance at my watch and think I must accomplish just this one more thing before I needed to ________ (insert deadline here).  A lethal mix when combined with a sketchy sense of time management and a strong propensity to procrastinate.

So, last summer, I took off my watch and vowed to change a life-long bad habit.  Without the crutch of glancing at my wrist and thinking “oh, I must do that before I go”, I had to consciously:

1)  seek out the actual time

THEN

2)  make choices for what to do next

Occasionally, if I can not find a clock (and my cell phone is once again inexplicably dead),  I will still ask strangers for the time.  Most people actually look happy to tell me, like it reminds them of a time-gone-by when people actually talked to one another and made eye contact.  To increase my chances of a pleasant encounter, I do tend to seek out those who are not texting at the time.

I spent the first weeks of this experiment continuing to look down at my wrist only to see it was a hair past a freckle.  But somewhere along the way I found (some of) my lost 15 minutes.  I am now only occasionally late, sometimes ON TIME, and a few times I have shocked people by being early.  It feels good.  It is a time-management work in progress.

I recently found a great article with some tips on how to be on time.  Author Dustin Wax shares “10 Ways to Make Yourself More Punctual“.  I am going to incorporate more of these nifty tricks into my routine.  Just FYI, Dustin is also the author of a useful blog The Writer’s Technology Companion.

And, of course, I need to be remember not to let the pendulum swing too far to the other side.  As usual, Gretchen Rubin at the Happiness Project provides excellent perspective, this time for not being too rigid about being on time.  She has the opposite problem of never being tardy, but her advice still brings balance to my quest.

So, not sporting a watch is working for me.  After wearing one for 30 years, its conspicuous absence is like a string tied around my finger, except with less blood flow restriction.  I still have my cuckoo clock, but that does not count, not just because I do not wear it on my wrist, but because it does not actually keep time.  It just keeps ticking, which keeps me clicking (on the keys…)

Now if only I could mail cards to arrive on (or before) the desired date… hhhmmmm, maybe it is that crutch, the calendar…?

if I had a dollar for each time…

28 Thursday May 2009

Posted by in something important, I'm sure, Writing

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Yesterday was a milestone day for me — this blog zoomed right past the 5,000 hit mark!  I am very grateful that so many people stop by (either accidentally or on purpose) to read my little stories.  I suspect my sister may account for about 1,000 of the blog visits, as she is and has always been my biggest fan and most loyal supporter of my every endeavor.  Maybe other readers are drawn into the whole dog/cat dichotomy.  It’s hard to tell.  Either way, it is much, much, much more fun with readers and comments, so keep those cyber cards and letters coming!

One amusing aspect of the wordpress blog statistics is the list I receive of search engine terms that landed people onto jane, candid.  People type interesting things into their google-type search engine of choice, and as you know, you never know what will come up in any given search.  Here is how some people found this site just today:

noo Gilligan’s Island

clown shoes

iris and her girlfriend carry

kids swimwear 2009

nicest way to say “scaredy pants”

I imagine all these folks were surprised to land here, since other than clown shoes and scaredy-pants, I don’t think I ever mentioned those other topics of interest, and my posts likely did not answer their burning questions.  More surprised are the many people who search “pre-wash cycle” in the sincere hope of technical dishwasher advice, and instead find photos of my dog licking off the dirty dishes while the cat watches in disgust.  Googlers, beware.

I love doing this blog and I hope the stories can keep you entertained for 5,000 more visits. (That’s cumulative, I don’t expect any of you to come back 5,000 more times.  Except maybe my dear, much-loved sister.)

discombobulation

26 Tuesday May 2009

Posted by in something important, I'm sure

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I always feel discombobulated when I fly.  It has never mattered how often I travel by air, formerly for business and now for pleasure — I land feeling slightly rearranged.    I am not afraid of flying;  but the process of going up and down so fast joggles up all my cells and I swear leaves some molecules in a different place.

I knew this weekend’s flight from Milwaukee would be no exception.  I was preparing to zoom through the air, and to try to hold all my cells together as I read my book along the way.  I had just passed the security checkpoint when I saw what I have waited for all my life:

The Recombobulation Station.

I could not make this up.

There it was, an area with chairs and a table and a BIG sign announcing this was the place to get myself recombobulated.  Where presumably people can reassemble themselves: put the shoes back on, and the belt, watch, jewelry, giant ring of important keys, the metal plate in their head and reinsert the pacemaker if needed.

I have craved recombobulation for a long time.  However, I was never really, really, really sure that discombobulated itself was even a real word, and there was its antithesis, right at the airport of all places, my epicenter of discombobulatedness.

I should have sat at the recombobulation station for a long time, as it surely would have done me good.  Especially right before I was to be beamed up on the StarShip Midwest Express by Scotty.  But it was time to hurry, hurry, hurry to the gate and get my roots tucked in for the flight home.

More on that later…

thanks a latte

03 Sunday May 2009

Posted by in something important, I'm sure

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Something occurred to me early this morning as I pulled the van back into the driveway, because by then I was capable of rational thought.

After a fitful night’s sleep, I inexplicably felt it was a better idea to groggily operate heavy automotive machinery than the coffee maker in my kitchen.  In my defense, I did have the dog as my co-pilot in case of emergency.

And that tall latte sure was yummy.

garden pathThere are many wonderful things about where we live —  it is peaceful, the large yard has been a blank canvas for my perennial gardening, the woods provide privacy and a hidden campground — it is beautiful, especially at this time of year.  There are walking paths, but they do not lead to any type of urban enclave of caffeine.

Someday we will again live in a community where I can walk to a coffee shop, or anywhere else.  I loved that about living in our Minneapolis neighborhood — the local hardware store and the corner market, the quirky gift shop, the malt shop (!) and two coffee shops all within a couple blocks.  It completely made up for the buses stopping and starting in front of our house and the low flying 747s coming in for a landing with our roof as a flightpath sightmarker.

Foofoo coffee has become a less frequent indulgence for me, but today felt like a good day to go.  One perk of motoring to the coffee is the ability to go through the drive-through while still in my jammies.  I salute you, oh independent coffee house barista that greeted me with a smile.  You may have been smirking about my morning hair, but I don’t care.  Bonus:  today’s tall order was complimentary because I hit my frequent caffeine buyer purchase threshhold.  Just 37 more cups and I’ll get a t-shirt.  Then I can pretend I am a barista at home!  No wait, that won’t work…

Big D sailed out the door with no coffee this morning to face a long day of kid’s volleyball.  Hmmm.  He also already finished the aforementioned raised bed garden plot;  one night this week, after working a full day and arriving home at 7:00pm, he snarfed some dinner, changed clothes and built the whole thing in one night, coming in well after dark.  “Okay, it’s done.” he said.

What?  I went out in the dark to look for myself.  It just needs the bunny fence and drip irrigation system (looking more like $64 tomatoes are still a possibility).

He operates in a parallel universe from mine.  I am happy he swings into my orbit.

Anyhoo, I have a long list of housework and yardwork projects for today (so yes, of course, I am writing this instead) and I felt it was urgent to be properly caffeinated for the day.  I could hurt someone operating that vacuum with sleepy eyes.

more inconvenient truths

30 Thursday Apr 2009

Posted by in something important, I'm sure

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Today’s troubling realizations (offered as distraction from swine flu and economy) —

***

It is hard to find my glasses when I am not wearing my glasses.

*

It is hard to make coffee when I haven’t had my first cup of coffee yet.

*

It is hard to buy a new swimsuit when… well, it is just hard to buy swimwear.

*

So, I am just going to choose to approach life like my little friend here:

*keep my eyes open*

*slam some sunkist*

*wear shiny things on top of my head to detract the eye away from my butt*

sunkist dude

be free

17 Friday Apr 2009

Posted by in something important, I'm sure

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Our old sport net/soccer goal/baseball backstop thingy is on its way to a new home.  It is old, worn, and sure not pretty;  we received it second hand from a friend five years ago.  But it still has some life in it, some usefulness to someone, so it will not fill our landfill – yet.

I forget who first told me about freecycle,  but after a quick check online, I found a local chapter.  Freecycle.org is based on the mission “…to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.”

Currently, “The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,721 groups with 6,591,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free.”  I can say from experience, signing up is very simple.

*

Before I became freecycle-ated, I would struggle with how to get rid of our unneeded stuff.  Sell it? Donate it? Tax write-off?  Selling sounded good ($$$) — besides, how hard could it be?  It seemed everywhere I looked, people were selling their little treasures on ebay, or craig’s list, and making tidy little sums from their unwanted items.  Turns out that selling requires sequential action steps (identify item, photograph it, upload, write listing, follow-up calls, etc. etc.)  For a procrastinator, this translated into piles of stuff sitting around for a looooong time.
*
Consignment shops were the next avenue.  I would go through effort to clean, press, and hang items, drive them to the store, and then be told by some young thing with her thong showing that my clothing wasn’t “what they needed at this time”.  I’d save items from season to season, trying different consignment shops — (I have a marketing background so really, how HARD could this BE?) It became a game, a challenge — surely if I take THIS item, they will accept it.  It’s NEW WITH THE TAGS STILL ON.  But no.  Their full frontal rejection of my stuff left me feeling kinda… rejected.
*
Garage sales?  Don’t get me started.  I know people who make $500-800 at their garage sales, so really HOW HARD COULD IT BE???  We tried a few times.  Usually it rains.  By participating in a neighborhood yard sale extravaganza, we had our best sale ever, hauling in $35.10.  Unfortunately I had become distracted by something shiny up the street and spent $40.00 at their sale;  …well, you do the math.
*
It is better to give than to receive…

Turns out it is really true.  We give to charities that will come pick up at our door.  We take loads to Goodwill trucks and to our local shelters.  I’m not looking for any pats on the back;  I think most people give goods to charities, and we had too along the way. Boxes and bags and loads of stuff no one wanted.
*
But purposefully giving away the things that in my mind could/should/would be sold — this was my epiphany.  This felt good in a whole different way, a personal way.  Enter Freecycle, stage left.  No matter what the item, someone will end up wanting it.  Broken old VCR with no remote?  No problem.  I posted it on Freecycle; someone was there within 8 hours to pick it up, shake my hand with a heartfelt thank-you and say his brother-in-law is a whiz with old electronics and thank you very much, we can really use this for my wife to do yoga tapes in the basement where the kids won’t laugh at her.    Certainly now, more than ever, there are plenty of people that can use what we no longer need or want.  We used to joke about the “garbage fairies” that would drive around the affluent neighborhoods, night or day, and pick up items off the trash piles on garbage day.  I used to feel superior, really downright snobby about these early recyclers — now I see that they were, in a way, recycling before it was cool.
*
One man’s trash is truly another man’s treasure + reduce, reuse, recycle. = warm fuzzies.  I give in.