A little bivalve inspiration...

Recently received this as a gift, and I am so pleased with a ton of the material - and not just the delicious looking pictures or intricate recipes. There are hundreds of books out there that try to make the restaurant experience repeatable for the home kitchen. And to be frank, it's not and it won't ever be.

You can try to sous vide all you want in your homemade vacumn sealed ziploc bag in a warm water bath. But unless you have a cool machine, you'll either spend hours of time or kill yourself trying. It's the same reason you probably shouldn't have surgery done by your next door neighbor - even if they're REALLY REALLY good at sutures, and they've studied ALL the books. The last thing you need to be is Frankeneighbor. (just made that up, copyrighted 2012)

So I respect the fact that right at the front of the book, Christina Tosi has about 20 pages of honest, candid and a frank mix of hilarious/inspirational advice for using the Momfuku Milk Bar book. She also tells you how to really closely recreate the recipes using pretty commonly found items and unabashedly tells you to use amazon.com. How many hoity toity chefs are gonna tell you THAT secret up front? That some dude doesn't come to the Milk Bar back door with a box packed with rice and white truffles, but that you walk your ass down to the corner bodega and get you some butter when you are OUT of butter.

Tosi lays it out her book writing philosophy the best in her interview:

But writing in terms of the home cook is — when you work in the industry for a while — you sort of lose touch with what the home cook does or does not have, or what the right way to direct them is. We use a lot of weird, funny terms in our kitchen so I'd be writing recipes and think, "Nobody's going to know what that means." I think the recipe writing part of it was real challenging for me, which I really didn't think about how much work goes into the directional part of it. Not the recipe part of it, like this many grams of butter. But the directional part was the hardest part because, you know, it's meant to be a cookbook that you have at home that you bake from, so really making sure that it translates as that takes a lot of time.

SEGUE!

I've been thinking a lot about how to manage a team. Specifically, my team for this year in producing two musicals. About what I want and need to do better. How desperate (yes, I'm using the word desperate to describe myself, keep your panties on) I am to prove that I'm not a fluke. That I AM a leader. But by no means, should I ever think that I know what I'm doing. I keep thinking of all the people who came before me and how different as leaders they are. Tosi is a leader, but she didn't start that way. She's a savant, a maverick and a rebel - who was admired and championed by another rebel who knew that she would do her own thing build her own team and keep out of HIS way (David Chang).

Tosi says about building the kitchen at Milk Bar:

I certainly didn't plan on having my own kitchen. It sort of just happened. I do think that in working in a bunch of different kitchens, outside of the city and in the city, I always just tried to do enough reflection — not like "Dear Diary" reflection — but enough reflection on "What I really loved about working here was this" or "What I really love about working for this person was that." Or "The one thing I really didn't like was this."

I think when happenstance put me in a place where I had my own kitchen, it was like oh, PS, you get to hire people. You don't have to do it all yourself. You need help, it's time to hire people. I think I naturally tried to take my time in each kitchen and working for each chef and go, well, how did I grow the most there? How can I put that into my own terms and my own environment? Then it becomes, you know, I've never had a kitchen where this happened, or a kitchen where that happened.

It's incredible the people that you build around you when you're doing what you love. I think that's the real reason coaches and gurus tell you to do what you love. Because when you do what you love, you're the best version of yourself that you know how to be. And you naturally attract the people that are drawn to who you are. So why not attract the people who love you and connect to you at your best? Makes sense right?

Reading Tosi's book is one of those revelations you have. Where you realize, that it doesn't matter what ANYONE is talking about. If you can interpret people's experiences and apply them to yours - the world is yours. For the next week, I'll be featuring famous words from others and how to apply them to your oyster. (bivalves = oysters, get it?)

Refrigerate after opening.

So yesterday was lists. And how awesome lists are. Budgets on the other hand? Are inherently depressing.

Because they fineline exactly how badly you're doing. And in very definite terms, not only succinctly outline the mountain you need to climb, but also lay out for you the piddly daily or incremental break-even terms you need to meet in order to get up the damn mountain.

And it makes you super annoyed/depressed when you don't meet those nightly numbers.

It can be horrible for people whose livelihoods, the future of their children, hell the very roofs over their heads depends on nightly break even amounts. SCARY. Because essentially, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO PREDICT THE FUTURE.

Tonight I had to run numbers for the two shows I'm producing for the Summer. And these are pretty important in the sophomore slump aspect of things. I can only ask for miracles so many times before they....well, before they don't show up anymore.

Where are the statistics on weathermen? How they're only right like 17.5% of the time? Probably should be the same for financial analysts. Sorry to be depressing; but I've also started to light a fire under my ass/issued an ultimatum that any time I feel like writing, I SHOULD WRITE.

But that means, I'm fighting the urge to get to sleep at 12:30am, instead, I'm rambling - coherently I think - but rambling nevertheless.

Moratoriums and budgets suck. I think that's what I'm trying to say.

Tomorrow: I shoot the shit out of my fellow producers.

Human evolution = old German dude building Parisian streets

Let's talk about lists.

Lists are phenomenal, but they are also such human creations. And what I mean by that is, have you noticed that Nature does not create lists? Nope, Nature creates whatever the heck it wants. Organically. Nature is a city like Rome or Old Paris - where streets go where people wanted to go and develop AROUND natural features, like the Seine, things that with early technology we could not control. But lists...lists help us make that entrophy manageable. It turns Old Paris into New Paris ala Baron von Haussman.

Lists create order. Lists are useful things, but lists like anything can become instruments of terror or rigidity if you're not willing to derivate from them. Maybe it's best to take a page out of good old Captain Barbossa's book:

First, your return to shore was not part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing. And secondly, you must be a pirate for the pirate's code to apply and you're not. And thirdly, the code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl, Miss Turner .

Regardless, here are some good guides for 2012 from your pal, the Dalai Lama

http://www.spiritualnow.com/articles/25/1/20-Ways-to-Get-Good-Karma/Page1.html

The Dude asked me over udon on Saturday night, what my goals were for the year. When my face started to contort into shapes only seen in wind tunnels, he laughed and changed it to, "Ok, top 3."

Top THREE? Please, I have like Top FORTY. And you're asking me to have a Top Chef Chopped Session? Over tempura udon? Ok....

Sometimes, we have a hard time setting our goals for our year going forward and the sections of our life. If we have a simple mantra that keeps us focused on what our intentions are, it can assist us through the times when we are confused, scared or just plain don't know what to do. This is what Franklin Covey spit out for me.

Via Gala Darling: try your 2012 Personal Mission Statement Generator!

I am at my best when I am thinking and creating.
I will try to prevent times when I am interrupted or insulted.
I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can solve puzzles, create solutions.
I will find enjoyment in my personal life through singing, learning, spending time with loved ones.
I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as empathy, reading people, humor, keeping friends, finding clarity.
I can do anything I set my mind to. I will create something lasting and life changing that inspires people to be better.
My life's journey is always interesting and a challenge to face my fears .
I will be a person who can do anything and is loved. And is loving .
My most important future contribution to others will be their security, wisdom and insight to care about others than themselves.
I will stop procrastinating and start working on:

• I should have a better relationship with mom.
• I should reach out to others in a way that is less selfish.
• I should learn more skills that are useful or money making

I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:

• Optimism
• Ambition
• Insight

I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:

• Maintain, don't ignore
• Create time for spirituality, for it is equally important.
• Don't procrastinate or avoid.
• Forgive, give the benefit of the doubt.

It's a LEEETLE long, so here are the key words I pulled out of this to create a personal manifesto/haiku:

Optimism. Ambition. Insight
Forgive, give the benefit of the doubt
Create time for spirituality, for it is equally important.
I can do anything I set my mind to.
I will create something lasting and life changing that inspires people to be better.
My life's journey is always interesting and a challenge to face my fears.
I will be a person who can do anything and is loved. And is loving.

Ok, 2012...here we go...

Ready. Steady. Go!

hey team.

new resolution for 2012. blog every day, for 364 days.

do-able? we'll see.

part of the reason I stopped blogging a while ago, because I generally ran out of things to say. And the more I started to explore the internet, the more I found that the things I wanted to say were being much better said by other people around me.

and I found other places like: Polyvore, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter that would satisfy my need to express daily ponders.

and I found it slightly disturbing that friends I hadn't seen in a while were actually using my blog to keep up with my life. and would reference it during dinner or a party.

so I stopped, because life caught up. I think I'm ready to do this again.
So let's go blog. LET'S GO!

digital musing

Sometimes I really feel like I need to join the digital revolution.

There are Apps now that are not available on the web.
Apparently Spotify is going to stop working on my laptop in four months
When I'm in a different city, rest assured I will get lost because I don't have a smart phone.
I can only get to level 14 on Angry Birds and my Tiny Tower really isn't where it should be

When did having a laptop, cell phone and wireless access NOT qualify you for Digital World Domination?

Oof. Kindle Fire, I'm looking at you.

A scanner darkly...

Sometimes the hardest thing anyone can ask you to do is to create something out of nothing.

Giving someone carte blanche with no boundaries and asking them to put a description down on paper can create nothing but havoc, confusion and migraines.

So can asking someone: "What do you want to do?"

Most of the time my answer is, what needs to be done? I'm not great at setting the grand oeuvre of a project, but rather good at execution once I see the path.

It is hard to make one's life the project. Especially when everyone around you is encouraging you to be a diver, and you're really a scanner. What's a scanner? According to life coach/self-help guru sites, it's a dilettante, a jack of all trades, a modern Renaissance Man. They are people who are adept at learning new skills, intelligent and efficient learners. But they rarely delve too deeply into one area of expertise. Doctors, consultants and experts are rarely Scanners. Scanners often take the time to become mostly proficient in an area then move on.

video via Pauly Math.

It's why I have a degree in architecture.
Worked two years as a law office manager
Six years as a draftsperson
3 years as a bookkeeper, junior finance admin
2 years in my free time as a theater producer
have 10+ years writing a blog
2 years writing a play
8 years building a lyrical mezzo soprano and alto belt voice for musicals and theater
and 3 months developing a web app.

There are downsides to being a Scanner too - even though we have unique skills and applications.

For example:
I have a 2 year College level proficiency in Italian. I only needed to complete one more year of language and another semester of Cultural Studies to earn a minor.
I played viola for 7 years in middle school and high school, and was section leader for all of middle school, but never took a private lesson
I worked in an architecture firm for 6 years and studied for the LEED exam but never took any tests.
I am a proficient bookkeeper and can analyze finances fairly easily, but I have no desire to take an accounting course.
I am a very good theater producer, but have no desire to run a theater or theater company as my primary source of income
I am a great singer, but have no desire to be on tour or a professional actor.
I'm a great cook, but have no desire to go to culinary school or open a restaurant.

Barbara Sher writes on how a lot of Scanners need a Good-Enough Job. One that pays the bills and leaves enough time to work on hobbies and other interests. It's not a career, it's the thing that you do well that gives you money. While you work at things that don't affect your livelihood but rather your happiness. It's about being a moving target, being awfully good at being balanced and a multi-tasker extraordinaire. Being skilled, efficient and smart - but never dedicating all of your time, resources or emotions to one particular field.

I am scared to tell my friend and HR Manager, that what I'm really looking for is a Good Enough job that pays more. I am too smart and too able for what I'm currently doing. But I don't want to try to make an income with my current passions. And because, honestly, at my company the Good Enough Job would actually be the Totally Awesome Job; great co-workers, good and healthy work environment, benefits, natural light the whole bit - just not my obsession. And I think that's ok.

So the question becomes, not, what do you WANT to do? But more of a situation of what DON'T I want to do?