Business Cards

I just ordered 250 business cards for myself... that only contain my name, email and phone number. I thought about adding a title, but I couldn't really think of a good one. I still don't really consider myself to be a "writer," even though I have a journalism degree and lots of published stories online... I guess I always thought of a writer as someone more accomplished. They will look plain, but at least I'll be able to exchange business cards when I meet someone at a networking event or happy hour... I hate telling people that I don't have a business card. Problem solved.

I also wanted to order monogrammed stationary for myself, but I didn't want to put my return address on the envelope because A) I'm living with my parents, and B) in case I decide to move. So then it didn't really seem worth it. Plus, I wonder if handwritten notes will be around next year. What spurred this is writing a thank-you note after an interview and realized that my stationary was boring. I also emailed the HR manager the day after we met because I was paranoid that she would notice if she didn't get one. But now she probably thinks I'm overeager. Life after college is much more complicated.

I need a theme

Isn't this a cool picture? I felt productive putting my manual camera to use when I ventured across the yard to bring cookies to my neighbors. The best thing about giving baked goods away is that you're killing two birds with one stone. 1) The receiver is happy to have cookies and likes you more, and 2) You won't eat as many yourself. Therefore, although it might seem like a thoughtful act, it can also be selfish... depending on who's doing the giving...

I really need more of a theme for my blog. It's been nearly a month and I haven't written and I'm blaming it on my lack of a theme. The problem is that every time I have an "interesting" thought or "insightful" observation, I have a hard time motivating myself to write a full blog post about it because I don't think it's relevant to anything. I think I went about this whole blog business the wrong way. Even my title is a mess. Thoughts, trials & tribulations. The name of my blog basically gives me permission to think like someone who has ADD. I also haven't been doing much to inspire anything thought-provoking. But I have been reading good books:

• "All the President's Men," by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. It's about the Watergate scandal and is fascinating.
• "The end of overeating" by David A. Kessler. I've just started it but it seems like a summary of why sugar, fat and salt makes you crave more sugar, fat and salt. Somehow, it doesn't stop me from eating cookies.
• "My Father's Tears" by John Updike, which is a collection of short stories inspired by New England Suburbia and foreign travel. I really love reading short stories when I need a break from a slow part of a long book or a little more variety.
• I finished "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo," a few weeks ago and sometimes it still haunts me. It's such a finely-crafted mystery with so many interesting elements but it's disturbing in a graphic way that's hard to forget. I'm also a huge wimp.

... I really need a theme.

A foodie weekend

I ate a lot of delicious food this weekend and I want to write about it. Friday night I went out for Restaurant Week with friends to Anthos, a Mediterranean / Greek restaurant owned by Donatella Arpaia and Michael Pskilakis. They gave us a few free dishes which was a really pleasant surprise, including fish balls, butternut squash soup, and rosewater-infused homemade marshmallows (after dessert). I chose the most basic traditional dishes on the menu -- greek salad, roasted chicken, and a chocolate dessert (I can't remember the exact name... kripaditas?) -- because I think that sometimes less is more. I loved the greek salad, which contained broccoli, cauliflower, purple broccoli, feta, onions and tomatoes. My chicken was tender and the skin was perfectly crispy, which melted in my mouth. The mushrooms and potato puree that it was served with added a textual richness and complemented the dish perfectly. The dessert I would describe as three square chocolate bars, that were made with bittersweet chocolate, and served with cinnamon ice cream. I really enjoyed it because it wasn't sickly sweet like a lot of chocolate dishes, and the cocoa flavor was still rich. Overall, an elegant dining experience with well-crafted, creative dishes.

On Saturday I ventured to Prospect Heights in Brooklyn with friends to see a photography exhibit, "Who Shot Rock and Roll?" at Brooklyn Museum. Of course, this was the perfect opportunity to try out some food. We ate at Franny's for lunch, which is a semi-high end Italian restaurant / pizzeria. All of the ingredients are local, which accounts for the prices being a little high. The pizza was thin crust, a little thinner than I like. The flavors of the ingredients and cheeses were all delicious, but I tend to like a "doughier" crust, like Keste. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful spot and our server was more than helpful with recommendations (as well as directions to the museum), which made for a very pleasant, relaxing lunch.

After battling the crowds at the museum, we headed to Joyce's Bakery for some "energy." I had a soy spicy hot chocolate which had a really delicate flavor, with half of a chocolate pecan cookie and half of a blueberry tart. Both were tasty, but nothing to rave about. What I really wanted was a cinnamon bun but they were sold out :(. Adorable spot.

For dinner I met my mom and family friend at Seasonal, a gorgeous Austrian German restaurant and weinbar. We chose the tasting menu, which I think contained about 8 courses... I really lose count to be honest. My favorite things were a salmon roll (not sure of the correct word but it was a rolled piece of salmon) served with a cucumber and cauliflower puree, sea bass served with pomegranate farro and a watercress puree, veal cheek served with a side a spatzle, and the dessert of crumbled, caramelized pancakes served with raisin and apple compote. The fish dishes were rich but light, and I almost picked up my bowl to lick the leftover sauce from the veal cheek. The spatzle was heaven... I don't even know how to describe these flavors. I loved the purees because they were so easy to mix around and combine with everything on the plate. Eating a tasting menu for the first time since I was living in Argentina secretly made me wish I could professionally review restaurants and have "tasting menus" every day. But then I remembered that restaurant reviewers try to be discreet and not announce the fact (read Frank Bruni's book, "Born Round"). Oh well... a girl can dream.

Now What?

My dad got me a book called, "YOU MAJORED IN WHAT?" by Katherine Brooks. Hilarious. I've read through the first few chapters, which describes what Brooks calls Chaos Theory -- the way that people actually get jobs... which basically sounds like being open-minded to different opportunities and not narrowing yourself by thinking that a linear path is the only way to a job.

It's interesting, and definitely relevant for me to think about considering that my contract as a part-time freelance editorial assistant ends this week... One good thing is that I won't have to say such a long title when people ask me what I do. The bad thing is that I actually have to figure out what I want to do, which is a lot harder than figuring out what I don't want to do. While there are many aspects of editorial work that I enjoy, I find it to be very solitary, which I don't like. So now the challenge will be figuring out how to get employers to consider me for other positions, when my resume shows mostly editorial experience.

I think that I am actually going to spend a lot of time thinking about this, rather than haphazardly applying to lots of different positions online. I rarely get responses so clearly it's not effective... My prediction is that the job search in 2010 is going to call for a lot more thought and energy.

On a completely unrelated note, I just read the book, "The Help," by Kathryn Stockett for my book club. I know everyone is reading it right now, but I really loved it. One of the characters, Aibileen, reminded me a lot of Bhima from "The Space Between Us," by Thirty Umrigar.

Texting Rules

I was talking to a friend today and she mentioned how she felt like she now had the upper hand with a guy, because she was waiting 30 minutes or longer to respond to his texts, while he responded immediately. Isn't it strange how texting has almost replaced calling, at least for young people? Girls (I'm not certain about guys) actually think about how long they should wait before responding to a text message, in order to strike the right balance between seeming interested, yet not too eager. Aren't we supposed to achieve this by face-to-face flirtation? Wouldn't it be easier to tell if someone is interested by paying attention to body language, rather than one's punctuation and the amount of time passed since the text was sent?

For instance, not only do guys not call before Wednesday to make weekend plans, they definitely do not text before Wednesdays for the weekend. My friends and I are pleasantly surprised if we get texts before 6 p.m. of the same night the guy wants to "meet up" or "hang out." It is pathetic. My grandma tells me that in her day, if a guy didn't call by Wednesday for a weekend date, a girl would say she already had plans, even if she didn't. That way, the guy would realize that other guys want to take her out and he needed to be more proactive next time.

I'm thinking that maybe that's the secret: not being so available. I know it's not a new revelation, but cell phones, particularly text messages and bbm, has made contacting people so easy. If I get a text message on a Tuesday, I would never wait until the following day to respond. It almost seems like that would defeat the purpose. And if I send someone a bbm, I can see when they read it. We are also never without our cell phones. I don't think this is a good thing. For instance, we probably wouldn't have the guts to "drunk-dial" someone's apartment number, for fear of waking someone up, or the embarrassment of what it would sound like the following day. On the other hand, sending a four word text message at 3 a.m. involves barely any risk. It is discreet and casual. The popularity and preference of text messages over phone calls makes me worried about the future of communication.

Writing fiction

Tonight I went to a free fiction-writing class with a couple of my "writer" friends who were excited about the idea of taking notes and learning... Apparently we were not the only ones enthused about this because the class was packed-- there wasn't a single available seat. It was really interesting to be in a classroom again, but it also brought on a wave of nostalgia. As my friend Elise said, learning is "like working out, but for your brain!"

I've always been intrigued by the idea of writing a story. I took a creative writing class this past spring, but I never wrote a long piece of fiction. I could never come up with the plot, but according to Mac, (our teacher/cute promotional speaker about Gotham classes), it's all about the character. You create the character, and the story will follow. You don't let the story take the character away, which is what he said a lot of Hollywood hits do.

A lot of classes will be offered this spring, including Food Writing, which I'm really tempted to sign up for, for pure fun :) Although it might not be the smartest financial decision, considering that my freelance contract is most likely up in January...

I'm ACTUALLY finally going to do this...

So I didn't make any New Year's resolutions this year (I thought there would be too many and the idea depressed me), but I made some new year's missions, one of which is to write in my already-existing blog. Considering that I already took the time to create a profile and I can't even use the excuse that I forgot my password since it let's you sign on with your gmail account -- I really have no excuses. And everyone keeps telling me to keep one... especially if I want to be a "writer," which I'm not really sold on either. (But I am excited about the free fiction-writing class I'm taking tomorrow night with two "writer" friends who agreed to be dorky with me.) I love how NYC is full of free things. It's ironic, considering that the cost of living there is so expensive. But I came up with this crazy way to rationalize the cost when I can finally afford to shell out for rent, which consists of dividing it by all of the free things I go to so that it doesn't seem so bad. In New York, you're really paying for accessibility... not the crappy apartments that everyone embraces as home.

Speaking of home, mine is still at my original home... which is not where I expected to be in 2010. That being said, I made a list on the train today to remind myself of the perks. Read on if you need some reminding. Included but not limited to are:

• delicious meals (at least in my house)
• a family membership to the gym
• unlimited internet access
• a TV
• ability to do laundry whenever I want
• more time to read
• pets to play with
• car to drive

So reading it over now it sounds like slightly lame... but when you think about all of the horrific things going on in the world, it's actually not bad at all...