well, hello there. July 10, 2008
i’d love to open a dialogue with anyone who shares my interests, or would like to share theirs, so please feel free to chime in. thanks for visiting!
happy new decade to me November 5, 2009
it seems appropriate to come back from a month-long hiatus from ~~okieOLIO~~ to wish myself a happy 30th birthday. don’t worry, i haven’t been absent in order to engage in some sort of personal turn-of-the-decade crisis. i’ve just been busy, busy with lots of good things are settling into place as my twenties float silently away: a fantastic new “just a job” that i actually really enjoy and has given me the financial and scheduling freedom to pursue my language business (that i promise to give more details on soon.) a focus on a healthy, triumphant defeat (for good this time!) of the cancer that tried to do battle with my mom. more quality time with my family as a happy side effect to both of those things. and a deepening of my faith, gratitude, and contentment in the life He has granted me.
my birthday celebration(s) have been worthy of the milestone, as well. my honey woke me up this morning with our traditional birthday breakfast in bed, and gifted me with the lasik eye surgery i’ve wished for since high school (can’t blame my horrible vision on age, at least). my sister made a gorgeous, delicious living raw cake at my request, which we enjoyed at the family party last weekend and every day since. my brother is in town for the first time in nearly six months, so i am enjoying his brief visit before he jets off to the mountains for another season. and i will spend my birthday weekend in a relaxing do-nothing getaway.
the most exciting commemoration of my grand entrance into my 30’s is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream – to visit my “homeland.” most of my friends know that my family is lebanese and even call my grandmother “titu” like my sibling and cousins do. i’ve often been asked if i’ve ever been to lebanon, and the answer has always been a dismayed “no.” but the timing and circumstances have finally aligned, and i’m headed to beirut in two weeks to visit my cousin colette! wow, happy birthday to me!
the joy of birthdays past - taken sometime in the first decade
(i sometimes pop up elsewhere in the blogosphere when i’m not here. check out my recent review contributions and updates to other blogs, and of course the occassional ~OLIOsnippits~)
how to make an apple pie… September 30, 2009
…and travel the world.
check out the children’s book by that title and other literary gems for young bibliophiles in today’s “what we’re reading wednesday” over at simple kids. my latest contribution to the weekly kid lit reviews is dedicated to free range kids everywhere.
sometimes you just gotta create your own parade September 22, 2009
it’s baffling how a year passes so quickly. we work hard, play often, and dream about the future. we tackle life together, grow and learn, and keep our cord strong. we deserve an impromptu promenade around the block to declare in a gaudy display that we have reached the three-year mark in our marriage.
happy anniversary, lee! i’m looking forward to more and more outrageous and extravagant anniversary victory laps with you, love.
cookie monster September 10, 2009
i haven’t created a monster, i AM the monster. for the past 5 months i’ve been a cookie baking fool. i am a bake-ette on a mission: develop a chocolate chip cookie recipe that is irresistibly yummy, distinctly mine, and relatively healthy. i was inspired to embark on this quest by my brother in law, who always seems to have a fresh batch of homemade cookies ready for dessert or an after-school snack (he’s a teacher). i was lucky enough to partake in the cookies often because i’d often stop by my sister’s house while i was working nearby last summer. i began to request the cookies and even got a batch of my own on my birthday last november. i realized that i don’t have a personal “go-to” goodie that i can whip up anytime from scratch. for some reason i want to establish a signature treat that my friends and family can expect to greet them in my home or at gatherings…one that my (eventual) kids will look forward to when they come home after a long day or to share when they invite friends over. so it has to be great (if everyone’s gonna love it) and it has to be healthful (if it’s gonna be mine). and there’s the hitch. there are plenty of “healthy” recipes out there that use alternative ingredients and still manage to produce an okay result, but i have found none are that great in my opinion. the goal is to create a cookie that both my twinkie-loving husband and my nutrition-dedicated self could enjoy. he is my most discriminating taster. if i win over his tastebuds, i have achieved uncompromising success.
the classic chocolate chip cookie seemed to be the way to go (although i can certainly appreciate a good oatmeal, or peanut butter, or snickerdoodle cookie). i started by comparing two recipes: my BIL’s dairy-free version and the Original Nestlé® Toll House® formula. from there my kitchen launched into cookie chaos. i am well aware that i’m certainly not the first (or last) to set out on the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, so i didn’t even try to reinvent any wheels. i found the recipe touted as the perfect chocolate chip cookie from this nytimes article circulating on the web and incorporated some of the extra steps and sophisticated methods. a few batches into my r&d, i was fortunate enough to be listening to NPR at the right moment and catch an interview with a chemist in the kitchen. as many of you may know, the tricky thing about baking is that it’s all chemistry. certain ingredients play specific roles, and different concoctions will produce a more crispy or gooey or fluffy texture. (and everyone seems to have an adamant opinion on which texture is best and remain fiercely loyal to that type.)
yeah, cookies seem like they’d be the simplest dessert in the world, but there are vastly more ways to go about it than i ever dreamed. aside from the multitude of varying opinions on what makes the perfect cookie texture and flavor, different bakers advise conflicting methods to achieving that: mix well/don’t overmix; let the dough sit overnight/bake immediately, use an ungreased cookie sheet/line with parchment paper, small dough balls or large, flatten before baking or no, add nuts or no, sprinkle with salt, use this specific chocolate chunk… whoa!
so this blog post has been in draft mode for several months, growing in length with each new batch and tweak to the recipe. every time i’ve gone to post it a i’ve had a new development on the cookie front that has caused me to delay and add to the record of my madness. now i’m noting that i might’ve been wiser to just post updates as i progressed in this experiment. hopefully the trail of enticing and disasterous cookie photos will lure you to the end.
overall i’ve been pleased with the results after carefully replacing refined ingredients for less processed ones. the key is to keep the ratios of fat and sugar and starch the same (don’t try to low-fat-ize or reduce-carb-inate it). so far my family has served as the eager taste-testers, regularly receiving large batches of surplus. (although some have been less enjoyable than others.) i’ve just recently felt confident enough to bestow a few dozen on close friends, but we are still in the testing phase… i’m sure the recipe will continue to evolve, and hopefully it will only improve. the task may have been more involved than i had anticipated, but i don’t think anyone minds extra cookies of any kind hanging around. they never last long!
behold a selection of the wide array of specimens that emerged from my oven:
- puffy, muffin-y cookies
- flat, dense cookies (sandwich inspiration from babycakes nyc)
- springy, cakey cookies
- cookie calamities (what the…?!)
- crumbly, fragile cookies
- …and near perfect cookies
kid lit September 2, 2009
i do not have children (yet). i do not have nieces or nephews (yet – kel?). i do not often have children as guests in my home (my friends close by have just begun – in the last month – to welcome the arrival of babies. yes, all of them at once). what i do have in my house is fully one entire bookcase dedicated to children’s books. and several boxes full stored in the attic. (only my favorite 100 or so need to be easily accessible, right?) who are these books enjoyed by? me. it’s not that i wouldn’t love to share them with a precious little one on my lap, and i’m sure in time i will, it’s just that all the kiddos of my friends and family reside in other states.
but as many parents know, kid lit is not just for kids. the works of art and profound themes depicted through children’s literature can be appreciated by readers of any age. i’ve been entertained, impressed, encouraged, and convicted by the books created for a young audience. some have been loved treasures for decades, but many are from delightful and creative authors that have recently emerged. i find myself purchasing from the children’s section at least once for every five book selections i make.
which is why i jumped at the chance to be on the Simple Kids Book Review Team and participate in What We’re Reading Wednesday. Today my first review is published along with others from different age categories. Stop on over and read about one of my favorite preschooler books, and then let me know if you have any great book recommendations in the comments here or on the WHAT I READ page.
photo by kennymatic
the philanthropist August 24, 2009
for the past eight weeks i have been glued to a new show on NBC called The Philanthropist. it caught my interest because the title character is played by james purefoy who i enjoyed as marc antony on the HBO series Rome. i was hooked by the second episode, which centered around the turmoil in myanmar (or burma) where many of the refugees in okc are from. i’m very impressed with this international drama, which was filmed everywhere from south africa to mozambique to prague. each installment is exciting and engaging, with its spectacular location footage, high action, sensationalistic characters, and emotionally charged circumstances, but the story lines are based on very real conditions in the countries it features. once you’re drawn in by the allure of the good-looking billionaire playboy Teddy Rist and his vigilante heroics, and the heart-tugging people he encounters, the show offers practical ways to make a difference. pretty sneaky…glamorize outreach with a hollywood polish then give people easy ways to jump in while they’re motivated. i love it.
while Teddy’s impulsive actions, impossible connections, and affinity for throwing around huge wads of money are hardly realistic, much less feasible for the average volunteer, anything that promotes awareness to people who are not usually exposed to the reality of global unrest is good in my opinion. the eight-part series is complete now, and i don’t believe there are plans to air any new episodes, but you can watch all of the previously aired shows here.
if you’d like ideas for simple ways to get involved on a variety of levels, check out the links in the “do some good” section of my WHERE I BROWSE page.
*interestingly, the drama is inspired by real life entrepreneur-turned-full-time philanthropist Bobby Sager.
the new gig August 16, 2009
this is not a blog about my life. the posts here cover the topics that excite me, and what is on my mind regarding them, not necessarily the happenings of my daily activities. (although much of the time those areas overlap, thankfully.) i know i’ve said so, but i write when the subject provokes an urge to get my bottle-necked thoughts on paper, and i publish here when those recorded thoughts seem like something i’d want to catalog for future reference. (or when i think it’s an online conversation-starter!)
what i’m getting at is that in the year since i started this web journal, i have been conspicuously silent about one area of my life: work. this may not seem odd to the many who compartmentalize work into a separate category from hobbies, but for the majority of my employed years i have sought positions in areas that are my hobbies. work has always been my play, my mission, my passion. last year i talked about my shift in philosophy when i accepted my first just-a-job position. later i whined about how i was struggling with that decision. but otherwise i have not felt compelled to write about métier since this area of my life was relegated from enthusiasm to obligation. however, since most (all?) of my readers are friends and family, and everyone is curious about this, i figured the blog is the new mass email. so here’s the scoop:
i thought i would have no need to change jobs while i’m in this take-advantage-of-my-pre-mommy-years, degree-using, debt-obliterating phase of my career. however, i was approached by a former colleague with an offer that has more compensation & flexibility with less stress & hours, so i jumped at the chance. (plus, you know me…i crave periodic change. protracted routine kills me.) so, no more advertising for me! now i get to get a little techie. the vitals –> this is who i work for: inkwell business products, and this is what i do: managed print services. i consult with CFOs about managing operating expenses in a commonly overlooked area – document storage and output. i’m actually kinda excited about it, partially because so far the job environment has delivered on all the improvements i’d hoped for, but mostly because now i’ll have time to work on building my own budding language business! (more on that to come…)
absence makes the garden grow faster? August 7, 2009
- they’re even crowding onto the walkway
now that i am officially a member of the those-who-garden club, leaving town for a few days hold a whole new dimension. not just in that a friend or neighbor gets recruited to dutifully water the thirsty veggies in OK’s 100 degree summer, although that is one more task on the vacation prep checklist. the real anxiety comes upon our return, when i nervously visualize pest infestation or tomatoes that have been choked out by an errant cuke vine curling tightly around their stem. while there is typically much critical pruning to be done, i’m often astonished to discover how productive my hardworking plants have been in my absence. last year, after a long weekend on the lake with friends, i came home to find this monster waiting for me. and last week, after and impromptu getaway with lee, i was shocked by several football-sized squash hiding among the foliage. i thought that i had three smaller variety summer zucchini-squash plants, but evidently my farmer friend thought i might like a surprise when he sold me the seedlings.
- july growth
in general, the entire garden had burst into a forest of overgrowth, in the span of six days! maybe it always blooms that quickly and i just don’t notice the change as much when i am monitoring it daily (much like any other change that is observed constantly), but wow, what a difference from the last photo shoot! the homecoming harvest filled several baskets! cucumbers and peppers and tomatoes and okra and zucchini and basil and sage and parsley, oh my! it’s got me thinking about dinner… i see a spicy veggie pignolia pasta…or perhaps a rich moroccan-style risotto. and there’s always pesto or tabbouleh or zucchini bread or a cool bisque… um, gotta go, i hear a few recipe books calling.
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- the best thank you for garden-sitting
plenty to share with the neighbors
pile 'em up for the paring!
to a fault August 2, 2009
i might’ve mentioned a time or two that i earnestly enjoy learning. about almost anything. i generally take the read-DO-read approach to unfamiliar undertakings. here’s what it looks like: research enough through books and the internet to get started, employ the ‘ole trial & error method until ruin is imminent, then desperately scour said books and web pages for the vital pieces of information missed on the first round. although chaotic, this pattern is significantly more gratifying for me than bringing in an expert. “give me a day or two, i can figure it out” seems to be my subconscious determination. this self-teaching penchant can also lead to an unhealthy quantity of time spent mastering skills i will have little use for in the future. but, true to my sickness, i actually like obtaining the useless information. and my quest is not always motivated by an industrious DIY productivity. often the how-to’s i look up are out of sheer curiosity, or perhaps the need for a challenge.
exhibit a: a few weeks ago i had my first blogiversary and celebrated by gifting my weblog with a new name, url, and license for a makeover (access to the style sheet). having previously taught myself a bit more than basic html, and after an in-depth CL class that utilized some java and python, i thought i might be able to decipher enough CSS to tweak the format and maybe add a fresh coat of paint to the old floral wallpaper. i should have known. i should have predicted the obsessive all-nighter that inevitably sat in ambush around the corner. as the wee hours crept by i was driven by both small successes (bright and clean color theme! centered masthead! navigation features!) and futile code-testing (if anyone knows anyone who can help me remove the sidebar corner images, i’d be über-grateful to know the secret). i sleepily reprimanded myself for “wasting time” on something that was clearly unnecessary, and certainly not knowledge i would ever need in my daily life. (neither is it helpful to recall in a life-threatening situation nor impressive to share at a dinner party.) but, learning is what i do, to a fault, perhaps, and i never feel like time spent in discovery is a waste. i have certainly forfeited sleep for less worthy causes.
UPDATE: a huge thank you goes out to devblog for offering expert advice on solving my CSS frustrations. also, i thought it’d be appropriate to display a permanent record of the style ~~myOLIO~~ sported for the first year:
the blognation’s growing population July 28, 2009
the whole web 2.0 movement just fascinates me. i know it’s been discussed until everyone’s blue in the face, but i’m still enthralled at how our culture is being shaped by access to instant interactive information and social media. the number of blogs on the world wide web is growing faster than the weeds in my garden (if you’re wondering, that’s like, lightning speed on speed.) in 2005 there were over 70 million blogs on the web; here are a few bloggy numbers gathered by the future buzz in january of this year:
blogosphere stats
133,000,000 – number of blogs indexed by Technorati since 2002 (source)
346,000,000 – number of people globally who read blogs (comScore March 2008)
900,000 – average number of blog posts in a 24 hour period
77% - percentage of active Internet users who read blogs
81 - number of languages represented in the blogosphere
59% – percentage of bloggers who have been blogging for at least 2 years
the last statistic shows what is evident to most blog readers: almost half of the blog nation are fairly new citizens. aside from professional and political blogs, many of these fresh individual voices have aspirations to fame and fortune, some simply use the convenient mode of mass communication to share updates with family and friends, and some bloggers, like myself, just want to start a conversation.
laura of the peacoat papers posted this helpful two-thought tutorial for the quiet residents of the blogosphere: the faithful readers. for those of us who aren’t professional bloggies monitoring dozens a day, it’s a good read.
