Stacyverb

Put me in, coach!

Last week I read Chris Cleave's novel Gold, about two rival cyclists training for the Olympics. One of the most compelling characters was their coach. During that same week, I happened to watch a few episodes of Friday Night Lights, featuring the trials and tribulations of football coach Eric Taylor. And one day at work, I had a conversation with a shop customer who makes her living as a business coach.

With all of these coaches crossing my path in the same week, I've been thinking a lot about the concept of coaching. When I hear the word coach, the first thing that comes to mind is sports, and having never played any, I've never had a coach in that sense. Or any sense, really. When I hear about life coaches and whatnot, I kind of cringe, to be honest. The phrase just sounds cheesy to me.

But then again, what does a coach do? The sports coaches in Gold and Friday Night Lights do much more for their athletes than just monitor their physical training and develop a strategy for winning trophies, and that must be true for real life sports coaches as well. The good ones, anyway, have to figure out what each individual athlete needs psychologically to achieve the best performance possible. What motivates one person toward greatness might not work for someone else. And in the case of a team, the coach has to figure out how to make all the different personalities work together. What these coaches do doesn't sounds cheesy to me at all. It sounds like a lot of hard, helpful work.

So why wouldn't the same be true for other kinds of coaches? Hearing my customer who is a business coach talk about her work, I recognized that she does the same thing--help people reach their goals. She figures out their strengths and weaknesses, and helps them get from where they are to where they want to be. She does this in the context of small businesses, but I guess a life coach just does the same thing in the context of...well, life. Who couldn't use a little guidance like that?

I could use some guidance, but I'm in no position to hire someone to coach me. But something else I also came across recently was this post from Holly over at Sweetheartville. The book she mentioned sounded like it was right up my alley. While my local library didn't have that one, Goodreads showed me one that seemed very similar, called The Renaissance Soul. If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know how much I struggle with juggling so many projects and pastimes. So a book that can help me "thrive on many interests without feeling scattered" sounds like just the kind of coaching I can use. I've picked up the book from the library and plan to spend a lot of time with it this weekend. I'll let you know how it is!

Summer hibernation

Summer's been making me grouchy this week. Either it's brain-meltingly hot, or it's thunderstorming, or a million bugs are trying to attack me, or some such crap.  Mentally, I'm just trying to escape from it all.

Last weekend I camped out in front of the air-conditioner, closed the curtains and watched, like, eight episodes of True Blood (season four).  To me, it's the ideal viewing for days when it's just too hot to step outside.  The whole show feels swampy, and steamy, and requires no thought whatsoever.  People are always getting naked on there, which makes perfect sense on these days when you run out of layers to remove in an attempt to cool off.  Also, the vampires' nocturnal lifestyle holds a lot of appeal when there's so much oppressive sun and heat in real life.

Meanwhile, I've been reading this book about the plague which, in a weird way, is totally a feel-good story.  Because no matter how miserable you feel, or how big your problems are, you probably didn't spend your day nursing three putrefying family members in your one-room house until they all died within hours of each other and needed to be buried in a mass grave that you had to dig with your own bare hands, RIGHT?  Perspective, folks!

Escapism is good, and since a vaycay is not in the cards for me this summer, I'm living vicariously through others.  Eartha Kitsch's recent posts about her cruise to Alaska had me green with envy (her home remodeling disaster posts, not so much). 

Speaking of home-related projects, when you can't leave town for a change of scenery, the next best thing is collecting Pinterest pictures of ways you can change how things look around your house.  Not that I can afford to buy any of these textiles, fixtures, etc., to spruce up Boogaloo Acres right now (shoot, I still haven't managed to scrounge up the spare cash for more spray paint to finish my glider project), but there's nothing wrong with a little eye candy, is there?

Anthony and I did treat ourselves to a modest night out at Twain's, where we met up with some friends to hear our other friends' band.

Wow, this post is kinda disjointed and rambling, but that's the state of my brain at the moment.  You know how sometimes you just feel out of it?  That's me this week.  (But hey, at least I don't have the plague!)

Push Girls

A few days ago, Megan over at Silver & Chalk alerted me to the new reality show Push Girls, debuting this week on the Sundance Channel.  Push Girls follows the lives of four Los Angeles women who use wheelchairs.

Reading advance press about the show, I had a few misgivings.  Aside from the obviously exploitive tendencies of "reality" programs, I also noticed a lack of diversity among the women--all of them are in wheelchairs because of paralysis.  Another red flag was how the women were described as "four best friends."  Really?  I don't even know three other people in wheelchairs. 

Skeptical but curious, I watched the premiere episode last night (the shows airs on Mondays at 10pm, but if--like me--you don't have the Sundance Channel, you can watch archived episodes on Hulu).  I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

Well, actually, the opening sequence was pretty cringeworthy, with the four women striking various outrageous (eye roll) poses and declaring, "I push...beyond limits," "I push...beyond my wildest dreams," etc. and announcing repeatedly, "I'm a push girl!"  (I had a Mean Girls "fetch" moment thinking, "Stop trying to make 'push girl' happen.  That's not a thing.")  But once I pushed...beyond the corny opening (tagline: "When you can't stand up, stand out!"), I enjoyed the show.

 

Promotional photo from the Sundance Channel

In the first episode, we meet the four women and get a look inside their lives.  Tiphany, a self-described "serial relationshipist," goes clubbing and deals with some dating drama; Angela, the most severely disabled woman in the group (she's quadriplegic, while the others are paraplegic) is worried about money and wants to return to her former career as a model; Mia, who became paralyzed not in an accident like the others but because of a random spinal aneurysm that ruptured when she was 15, has a boyfriend who wants her to move in with him, but she's scared of losing her independence; and Auti and her (able-bodied) husband are debating whether or not to have a baby.

Throughout the half-hour episode, the women meet for brunch, work out, shop for groceries, etc., and their wheelchairs are obviously present, but they're not the focus.  The camera lingers more on the women themselves than on their chairs, except when it's of particular interest in the scene, like when Tiphany pulls her chair out of her car so she can pump gas. 

Several times in this episode, the girls talk about how important appearances are in Los Angeles, and let's be honest, this is a reality show, so none of these women are ugly.  But I liked what Mia had to say about this.  Dubbed over a scene of her and Tiphany exercising at a gym, she says:

Being in a wheelchair does create an image in other people's minds.  So I think it's nice if they see somebody that looks like they've taken an effort in their appearance.  I think most people haven't seen sexy in a wheelchair and that's why they can't fathom it.

Word.  I'm anxious to see what direction this show takes.  And while I do wish a wider range of disabilities were represented, many of the challenges these ladies face are universal to anyone who uses a wheelchair.  For example, when Angela phones a modeling agency about a casting call and tells them she's in a wheelchair, the woman on the phone politely informs her that the agency has stairs.  Angela asks, "Oh, so you're not wheelchair accessible?" and the woman says, "No, we're wheelchair accessible, just...there's a staircase."  Haha!  (Yes, people really say this kind of hilarious shit all the time.)

I'll definitely be watching more episodes of Push Girls and blogging about them in the near future.  Stay tuned!

Budget Bytes vegetable tian

Stacyverb is not a cooking blog, but sometimes it is an eating blog!  And cooking is how we get to the eating part, so....

The other day when I mentioned some of my current favorite blogs, I overlooked one that has been particularly rocking my world lately, and that would be Budget Bytes.  Beth, the woman behind BB, had me with this line: "I am broke and I love to eat."  ME TOO.  She has tons of great recipes for meals that are easy and very inexpensive to prepare. 

Since discovering Budget Bytes a few months ago, the menu here at Boogaloo Acres has vastly improved.  And I think it's made us eat healthier, too.  For example, let's say I'm in the grocery store and I'm thinking about treating myself to some ice cream.  Because of the way Beth breaks down her recipes to show you exactly how much each serving costs, now when I think about spending $3.99 on a pint of Ben & Jerry's, my next thought is immediately, but for $3.99 I could buy ingredients for a whole dinner for two with a Budget Bytes recipe and still have leftovers for lunch.  (Yes, really.)  Sometimes the siren song of junk food is irresistible, but usually, the real meal wins out.

Here's one delicious example, which I made for dinner last night.  It's called Summer Vegetable Tian.  It's got one onion, one potato, one yellow squash, one zucchini, and one tomato (the first good-looking one of the season--hurray!), plus garlic, thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper. 

The onion and garlic are sauted in olive oil and then spread over the bottom of the baking dish (Beth suggested rubbing the dish with a little butter first, so I did). Then you layer your sliced veggies like so, sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and thyme, cover it all with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil, top the veggies with shredded cheese (I used mozzarella) and bake it for another 20 minutes or so.  More detailed instructions and much better pictures here.)

This would make a great side dish or, as I had it last night, a tasty vegetarian dinner by itself (we're a meat-eating household, but we do enjoy meatless meals as well).  It was a nice cozy dish for a rainy night when I was home alone, snuggled up on the couch with some silly sitcoms and a glass of white wine from the wine fairy.

When I make this again, I think I'll add another tomato (this was a little unbalanced in favor of the squashes) and more salt and pepper.  Beth's instructions clearly said to be "GENEROUS" with those, and she was right.  I salted and peppered it again on my plate, and that really helped the flavors of the veggies come together.

Thank you, Budget Bytes!

Getting locally delicious

One of the most frustrating things about being on such an extra-tight budget in the past 10 months has been not having the disposable income to support our favorite local businesses.  All of our money seems to go to giant banks, utility companies, etc., to cover our basic living expenses.  I work at a small business, so I'm always aware of how important it is for the community to support these establishments, yet have been unable lately to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.

The least I can do is promote some of these treasures by word of mouth.  A few days ago, we went to a free screening of Get Delicious Again at the Plaza.  Get Delicious is a program produced by Public Broadcasting Atlanta and hosted by local Renaissance man, Jim Stacy.  Jim goes around to various local eateries to shine a light on some of the mom-and-pop businesses that serve fantastic food but don't necessarily get a lot of media attention because they aren't trendy or operated by a famous chef.  Jim is an entertaining host who knows a lot about Atlanta history and a lot about food. 

I want to support this program so they can make more episodes of it.  I want to support PBA in general.  I want to support the restaurants Jim highlights on the show.  I want to support the Plaza (although this screening was free, Jim asked that people make a small donation to the theatre, which I did).  Right now I really can't do any of this with my wallet, but I can use this blog to spread the word.

You can watch the first episode of Get Delicious online here.

Find links to all the local restaurants featured in episodes 1 and 2 here and here.

Learn about the Plaza Theatre's history, programming, and lots of other good stuff here.  Did you know the Plaza is Atlanta's oldest operating movie theater?  And that this historic landmark has non-profit status, which means you can become a member or make a donation that is tax-deductible?

Please support the creative, hard-working folks who keep these unique businesses going!

Mondo combo [with PROJECT RUNWAY spoiler]

While purging some clothes out of my closet recently, I pondered getting rid of this skirt.  It's about three years old and hasn't gotten as much play as I would like.  Did it need to go?  Or did I just need to find more creative ways to wear it?

Inspired by the clever print mixing Mondo did on Project Runway this season, I started holding the skirt up to various tops that might even remotely go with it (besides the okay-but-obvious green t-shirt and assorted black things).  When I hit upon this combination, I knew I had a winner.  The skirt could stay!

Some readers might recognize the top as the Simplicity 2501 I debuted during Me-Made-May.  The skirt is one of several versions of McCall's 3341 I've made.  Add some black tights and chunky black shoes and voila!  Instant "new" outfit.

Also?  Mondo was robbed!  Gretchen's clothes were sad-looking and repetitive.  Mondo's were fun and creative.  Everything he did made me smile.  Project Runway got it wrong.  That is all.

 

That's (not necessarily) entertainment

Judging from the comments people have left here and/or have made to me in person about Tuesday's post, I'm not the only one who sometimes reaches that point where the things we do for fun end up feeling like chores.  And apparently quite a few of us are delusional optimistic about how much time actually exists, especially hobby/recreation/fun time.

Let's talk about this!

There are lots of ways I like to relax, but when I try to cram all of them into a weekend, I can't manage it (duh! see above point re: actual available time) and then feel stressed out.  Which basically sabotages the whole relaxing angle, obviously.  My current goals are about having more calmness in my life, remember?  Freaking out about getting "behind" on pastimes is ABSOLUTELY DUMB.

Knowing all this, recently I have:

• vowed not to start any major new sewing or knitting projects like tailored dresses or intricately cabled socks.  I'll start only simple, quick-gratification projects, and work on finishing the complicated long-term projects already in progress.
• declined several offers from friends who wanted to loan me books they thought I'd like, because I know I won't get to them right away.  (On a similar note, I'm checking out one library book at a time instead of a whole stack.)
• realized I only want to keep up with maybe two TV shows at a time.  Following anything more than that means either planning my downtime around TV (no thanks) or getting behind on episodes and trying to squeeze in time to catch up, which ends up feeling like a chore.
• cut back the Netflix plan to one DVD at a time.  When we had the two-at-a-time, we'd end up with a backlog and those little red envelopes would start taunting us (again, the pressure/ chore/obligation feeling).  Bonus: we save five bucks a month.

How about you?  How could you better manage your downtime?  Could doing fewer "relaxing" things actually help you feel more relaxed?

LOST finale party

Sunday, our LOST-watching gang celebrated the series finale in style with a tropical-themed party.  The TV coverage didn't start until 7:00, but we gathered around 3:00 for food, drinks and general merriment. :)

Here are some of the delicious refreshments everybody prepared.  Our hosts had ordered the Dharma Initiative Party Kit, which included hilarious labels for everything, in true Dharma fashion.

By popular demand, I made my famous "Dharma Brand" salsa.  Adverb designed the logo. :)

Monica's "fish biscuits" didn't travel very well, but they sure were tasty and everyone got a kick out of them.

Speaking of things with a kick, let me tell you, that Dharma Punch really packed a wallop!

Belinda, Russell and Raphael were feeling the island spirit.  (Lost fans, check out Russell's cool T-shirt he got from Threadless.com.)

Kerri and Brannon mugged it up for the camera.  Everybody had a really fun time.

Here's me, Monica and Adverb gearing up for the show.  Notice the Dharma balloon (conveniently labeled, in case of confusion) in the background.  Adverb cracked everyone up with his jump suit.  He already had these coveralls at home, which he wears while painting.  He just printed out a Dharma logo on some iron-on paper and transferred it to the suit.  Awesome.

And so we bid farewell to Craphole Island.  We'll miss you, you crazy electromagnetic, time-traveling mystery, you.  Namaste, everyone!!!

Weekend countdown: Things I've loved about LOST

The LOST series finale airs tomorrow night.  I've watched every episode of the show, many of them multiple times.  As we say goodbye to a great program, here are my top reasons for tuning in week after week, season after season.

5. It's pretty.  Okay, maybe that's superficial, but let's face it: gorgeous scenery + attractive (frequently shirtless) people = eye candy!  In HD, some of the shots on the beach are truly breathtaking.

4. The writing and storytelling have raised the bar for network TV.  For the first time in a long time, I really got invested in a television show.  The adventures, the mysteries...yeah, a lot of it's very weird, but it all comes down to well-written characters and their stories.

3. Everything is always at stake for the characters--and the viewers--because anything can happen.  Unlike most network shows, major characters on LOST can and do die.  (The flip-side of this is that dead characters can still re-appear as a ghost, or in a flashback, or in a flash-sideways.  You just never know who might turn up!)

2. This is a show that assumes you're smart.  The writers give the viewers credit for having at least a casual knowledge of literature, history, religion, pop culture, physics, mythology, etc.  Sure, I guess you could just let the action and the strangeness flow over you, but it's so much more fun to let your brain engage with some entertainment that doesn't insult your intelligence.

1. Bonding with fellow viewers.  Adverb and I have had a standing date for dinner and LOST with a group of friends for years now.  Even during long hiatus times, we'd still meet and re-watch some of our favorite episodes on DVD.  It's given us a chance to rant and rave about the show, but also to talk about our week and generally just enjoy each other's company.  At work, some of my customers are also fans of the show, and they might come in to shop, but first they'd ask me, "Did you see it?  What did you think?"  I'll miss all that, and I don't see how any TV show could ever replace it.

Times Talk Live: Lost

Times Talks is the title of a series of interviews hosted by The New York Times.  Reporters interview a variety of cultural figures in front of a live audience in NYC.  Last night, entertainment editor Lorne Manly interviewed Lost masterminds Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof and the event was simulcast to a number of movie theaters around the U.S. and Canada.  Being huge fans of the show, six members of my posse and I went to catch the broadcast at a theater near us.

As we're gearing up for the series finale on Sunday, it was fun to see Damon and Carlton trying to answer questions from Manly and the live audience without giving away too much.  All they really revealed is that Walt will be a factor in the finale (interesting!) and that the first seven minutes will contain a Star Wars reference (?).  Actors Michael Emerson (Ben) and Jorge Garcia (Hurley) also made surprise appearances, much to the excitement of the crowd.

At the end of the program, we were treated to a sneak peek of a clip from Sunday's final episode.  Highlights: Ben gets clobbered in the face (again!) and Locke-Is-The-New-Black finds a mysterious paw print (hmmmmm!). 

Our gang had great fun discussing and debating what we'd seen and heard throughout the evening.  Then we all went to IHOP so we could keep talking. :)