PopConsumer

links for 2009-10-24

• Viral Loop Chronicles Part 1: Forget Everything You've Heard About Book Publishing | The Penenberg Post | Fast Company
  Book publishing is a "hits" business, with a tiny fraction of huge sellers--thank you Dan Brown, Malcolm Gladwell, and soon, Sarah Palin--carrying the rest of us losers. Publishers don't care about dropping money on 99 books if the 100th is a Tipping Point or Freakonomics. This also characterizes the music business and we can see how well that turned out, but I digress.
  (tags: books music business marketing consumers)

Contemplating The Radical: Could I Give Up (Nearly) Everything I Own?

As I prepare to move from my home but not having yet identified my new one, I am seriously contemplating what I will place into storage and what I will let go of rather than pay to house in anticipation of future use and enjoyment. A number of thoughts and factors are guiding my decision making and leading me to possibly a somewhat radical place.

I find myself toying with and returning to the thought of letting it all go. That's right, giving up everything I own save for the stuff I must keep like my computer and other work tools, client files, tax records, important documents, clothing so I don't get arrested for public nudity, etc....

I saw a news piece about things people place into storage units as they lose their homes in the recession. Several of those profiled were paying to store beat up couches, bags of broken and unloved toys, and collections of stuff that had no value to anyone but the individual. A few of the people the reporter talked with admitted that they hadn't thoughtfully considered what they were paying to store or for what purpose. That report has stuck with me as it is easy to spot another person's folly while remaining blind to your own. Ever since I've looked at what I own with a critical eye towards whether or not it is something I should pay to store and maintain especially since I eventually will give it all up one day.

Recently I drove to a house to pick up some moving boxes that were offered on Freecycle. The house they were at was in one of the neighborhoods that had been devastated in the 1991 Oakland firestorm. Many houses had been rebuilt, some were still under construction and, like the mouth of a child awaiting a visit from the tooth fairy, there were gaps where still-empty lots dotted the winding road. The sight got me thinking... what would I mourn if it was lost in a fire? What would make my life difficult if I were to lose it? What would I be able to replace if I had to start over from scratch? I can tell you that virtually everything falls into the third category.

Even my sofa. I love my sofa. It took me nearly my entire adult life to find a sofa I love. I'm apparently like the princess and the pea or Goldilocks and porridge when it comes to sofas. However, I found it. And if I found a sofa I loved once, I could find one again, I'm sure.

Some things though it strikes me that it might make some sense to store. Like my TV. I couldn't sell it for much given how quickly technology upgrades and prices fall. However, it would likely cost me several times over the cost of storage to replace it eventually so on a strict cost-benefit analysis basis, big screen TV gets a passing grade.

Pragmatic ROI considerations aside, there are more spiritual considerations. Like should I even have a big screen TV? Perhaps this is an opportunity to move on to a non-television way of life without the distraction and with the opportunity to focus on writing, reading and other potentially more enriching pursuits. Maybe I can reduce my carbon footprint and tread more lightly on the earth by responsibly recycling or passing things along an not replacing them. A radical de-cluttering might not only be good for the soul but might open up the path for non-stuff kinds of goodness to enter my life.

I suspect though that ultimately this will be a fantasy that should I ever commit to will have to happen down the road. Getting rid of stuff takes time! Time that I don't really have and energy that is flowing towards all the ancillary business of moving. I am certain that I won't stop thinking about this idea, though and if nothing else I believe it is a useful frame through which to evaluate and view everything I hold on to and bring into my life.

Have you ever undertaken a radical de-cluttering. Lost or consciously rid yourself of most of your belongings? If you've put stuff into storage how do you feel about the decision and the value of the price?

Opening Up My Personal Time Capsule

Like BlogHer CE Zandria, I'm preparing to move. Way back in January I vowed I was on a mission. October is here and I am finally actually moving. Part of my mission involved getting around to unpacking boxes I have moved around the country with me for years. And going through my boxes is like an epic episode of This Is Your Life.

In opening up and going through the boxes I'm finding bits and pieces of my past through many life stages. Without intentionally creating a time capsule, glimpses of the random ephemera of my life feels like I did.

I look different but, hairstyles, fashion and fluctuating weight aside, much the same and always like me. Like many women I look at pictures of my younger self and think "I look hot!" and wonder why I couldn't see it and only heard the voices disparaging my body and could not hear those who celebrated my appearance. I'm especially saddened when I remember the gulf between what I saw in the mirror and what I can now see. I wonder how much I'm still looking in a funhouse mirror.

I see that I've always had an urge to journal but have never been able to maintain a commitment to the practice. I can tell that by the number of journals I've found with only a fraction of the early pages written upon. What I hope is that I've managed to find some peace and optimism that I clearly could not in my angst ridden youth. I had forgotten that at age 12 I was the editor for my school's poetry and art journal. However, I had not forgotten that I wrote some really dark poetry in those days. Still I cringed when I read my "published" works. I discovered that by the time I advanced to college level classes my oeuvre of poetry along with the addition of song lyrics graduated from dark musings on the human condition to sharply bitter musings on ex-boyfriends. Perhaps if I had kept at it I could have given Alanis Morissette a run for her bitter ex-girlfriend crown.

Another important self discovery is that there are certain lessons I still need to learn. Ones that I found (and had forgotten) I have tried (and failed) in the past and are now coming up again. Hopefully I am making progress and there will not be a next time of this kind of discovery.

Not all my discoveries are cringe-worthy, though. I am delighting in finding and reading the postcards friends have sent me from their travels from around the country and the globe. Remember postcards? I also am reminded that I am so fortunate to have been surrounded by the love of friends and family like on my 30th birthday when I came across a large stack of cards full of well wishes from that occasion. On the side of bittersweet, I've found letters from friends who died far too young but whom I'm grateful to be reminded of the fortune of having had their too brief presence in my life.

I could easily go back to school (and as I dig I'm reminded of just how many years I've spent on book learning) for nothing but the cost of time. I have the voluminous binders of information from every class I took in business school. I have all my materials from the aforementioned poetry (and, classmates, I'm so very sorry) class. I have assignments and equipment from when I dipped my toe in the waters of interior design. I might have exorcised most of my political science materials. However I am delighted that I managed to hang on to my "Little Red Schoolhouse" binder from my Ph.D. days.

Although I no longer actively collect things, I have found that I could easily build well-illustrated shrines to Bruce Springsteen and Chihuahuas. Don't judge - we all have our skeleton-filled closets that create our unique charm.

My family history is also illuminated through my excavations. I've found notes from and articles about relatives who've passed on. The Kwanzaa cards remind me that we used to celebrate much more and now has tapered off almost completely. I've discovered keepsakes that remind me of the ambition and success of my sister. I've found evidence of how my family has flown around the country to come spend time with me when I've moved far from home. And I've found markers that remind me of the ways in which my parents have been there to support me, each in their own way, when I've gone through big transitions of life.

Most of all I am loving discovering the different versions of me: shy schoolgirl, book-loving nerd, fledgling political activist, emerging feminist, punk rocker, scorned lover, performance artist, junior executive, graduate (and graduate, and graduate, and graduate...), dream and goal achiever, and ordinary human being with troubles, tragedies and triumphs. Hi, Maria, nice to meet you.

Have you ever taken a trip back in time through your life? What did you find? Did anything sadden, surprise or delight you? What would you set aside now for future you to discover and be reminded of?

The Secret to Making Perfect Smoothies

I’m a big fan of the fruit smoothie and I often experiment with different combinations of ingredients. I’ve discovered that there is one ingredient that regardless of the other ingredients makes the difference between a fruity beverage whirled around in a blender and a delicious satisfying smoothie.

The secret: one whole frozen banana. And it has to be the whole banana not part of one. My basic smoothie recipe is 1 cup of juice, soy milk or some other liquid and 1 frozen banana plus additional ingredients (including additional liquid if necessary).

I’ve tried using ice cubes, half a frozen banana, no banana and just other frozen fruit and the results have been consistently disappointing. Using yogurt can be helpful in creating a thick smooth consistency but in my experience a whole frozen banana works best.

My favorite smoothie is made with orange juice, frozen banana, frozen strawberries and yogurt. Quantities and proportions can be easily adjusted to taste - except for that whole banana thing ;-)

2 cups orange juice

1 banana sliced and frozen

1 cup strawberries frozen

1 6 oz cup vanilla yogurt

Blend in a blender until smooth and all frozen chunks are incorporated.

Other variations that I regularly enjoy include blueberries or mixed berries instead of strawberries and hemp protein powder instead of yogurt. If you use less sweet ingredients like unsweetened soy milk or yogurt or less sweet fruit like raspberries you might want to add a bit of agave or honey to taste. I like hemp protein powder because it provides Omega 3’s and fiber that you don’t get from whey protein. Also, it is a great choice for vegan smoothies.

So freeze up some bananas and enjoy a delicious smoothie soon! If you’re a veteran smoothie maker I’d love to hear your secret and favorite flavors.

links for 2009-09-27

• Cynematic - MOMocrats™: Calling Out Tea Party Racism: Sometimes an Ally Can Challenge It Most Directly
  Paradoxically, I urge the GOP to continue along its self-marginalizing path with its chosen "Southern strategy." Go ahead, drag out every last ugly thing most people are too polite or too thoughtful or both to root their decisions in, and play to your increasingly small base while you repel everyone else. Marginalize yourself and threaten to hold your breath until you get your way.

  The rest of us will continue to call out and reject the incivility, backwardness, intolerance and selfishness that comprise racist fantasies of superiority and entitlement. Because the sooner we as a people abandon racism as a means to governing, the sooner we'll actually have a government, policies, and a people that work for all--for everyone, even that man on the street.

  
  
  (tags: race racism privilege politics republicans conservative aynrand)
  
  

Wrapping Up The 2009 Hunger Challenge

Today is the last day of The Hunger Challenge. I want to leave you with a round-up of some thoughts and resources.

I wrote my second post for BlogHer about the challenge yesterday.  I focused on taking action after the challenge is done. One action doing the challenge this year reminded me of is to find ways in which to get spices, oils and cooking utensils into the hands of those who are dealing with very limited food budgets. Buying them may amortize over time but it must be hard to justify the upfront hit to your budget. But olive oil, spices and a variety of pots, pans, knives, utensils and appliances can make transforming inexpensive staples into a variety of tasty dishes easier and slightly less overwhelming.

But it's still overwhelming. Sierra Filucci, writing in The East Bay Express, shares her experience with trying to cook healthy meals for her family from scratch with local and organic ingredients. The title of the piece is Back to the Microwave.

I had some leftover green onions and one inexpensive dish I could make would be fried rice with green onion and peas. To make: heat one minced clove garlic in oil, add chopped green onion (white and green parts), add day-old cooked brown rice (from bulk bin - here are some cooking ideas), add in frozen green peas (I heat them in the microwave first but you can add them frozen - I just find they are a bit drier that way), crack an egg into the center of the rice and scramble into the rice mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

With my copious quantities of pasta I made macaroni and cheese because I was able to get cheese inexpensively with a Safeway coupon. In addition to the regular $1.49 for 18 eggs deal, Safeway has some kind of super deal I can take advantage of every week. The catch is that you have to spend $20 minimum to get the coupon deals. But that's how I ended up with 6 boxes of pasta for $0.69 each. This spaghetti casserole dish looks like it could be a good, inexpensive family (kid) crowd-pleaser

Another great cheap use would be pasta e fagioli soup. I like this recipe but would use the gluten pasta since the gluten-free kind is expensive. And, yeah, how do you manage chronic illnesses that require a specialized diet like gluten free on a food stamp budget? For me, I would guess polenta and rice from the bulk bins would replace pasta. Surprisingly I forgot about polenta and rice this week though both are staples for me.

Another inexpensive eating deal I recently discovered is chicken leg quarters. Grocery stores regularly feature them for less than $1.00 a pound and sometimes under $0.50 a pound if you buy a 10 pound frozen bag.

Abi Jones at Heat Eat Review reminds of the inexpensive but filling usefulness of potatoes and eggs. Another recent Safeway coupon netted me 10 pounds of potatoes for $0.99 so ideas for potatoes and eggs are very welcome in my home.  Spanish tortillas are another great recipe option but I need some practice since my first effort was an unmitigated disaster.

The couple behind The One Dollar Diet Project have a wealth of not only extremely inexpensive ways to eat but vegan to boot. The are also write thoughtfully about the issue of hunger. I highly recommend it.

One last thought I'll leave you with is this: At what income level do people qualify for food stamps where you live? Think about how much your rent or mortgage is, how much your utilities are, what your transportation costs are and how much time you spend on cooking and shopping for food. Now imagine trying to do it on the amount of income people who qualify for food stamps are doing all that on. Where you live. Around you. And remember record numbers of people are qualifying for food stamps assistance and are using food bank services.

When you are done thinking and imagining take some action. Whatever you can do will help.

Cheating on The Hunger Challenge - Again!

Last year during the hunger challenge I attended a lunch event. Oops I did it again. Today I attended an event during lunch. Eating the lunch provided is not in the spirit of the challenge.

When Congressional Representatives did their food stamp challenge, they brought their own budgeted food with them to events. Since I'm not a congressional rep with a media crew following me, just a blogger who would have stood out like a freak if I brought my own food on the BART train to a restaurant, I chose to "cheat." I also cheated by having dinner at Starbucks with a gift card I received at another event. I'm working away from home much of the time right now and I'm dealing with contingencies.

I suspect though that those who are sufficiently poor to qualify for food stamps aren't likely to be in my position and spend time networking and thus getting invited to events and getting free lunch in nice restaurants or gift card giveaways.

One thing I'm finding this time around, cheating aside, is that having gone through the challenge once, it is easier to manage this time around. I'm better tuned into spotting and recognizing bargains. If I were getting supplemental food from a food bank, I would have more ideas about how to work it into my food plans. The temporary extra $1 a day makes a huge difference.

Not only do I think it will be devastating to families when the temporary increase in their food budget is taken away, the benefits to the economy will stop. In terms of stimulating the economy, increased food stamp benefits give the biggest bang for the buck.

I was telling someone at the event today about the hunger challenge and she posed an important question: what do we do after the challenge ends?

There are so many intertwined political issues in the issues of hunger, it is important that beyond donating money to food banks to help meet immediate needs, we need to pay attention to the broader structural issues and educate ourselves and let our representatives know our concerns.

The Hunger Challenge - New Ideas and Old Memories

Much as last year, my tummy is rebelling from the change in diet and lack of fiber relative to what I usually eat. I'm also having flashbacks to this time last year when my dog Gracie was in the process of dying and wouldn't/couldn't eat anything I made for her.

This year my new frustration is my limited connectivity making it hard for me to properly blog the challenge. I've eaten English Muffins with either peanut butter or eggs for protein along with a bit of orange juice and coffee. Lunch has been ramen with a hard boiled egg and green onion. Dinner has been a piece of fish - relatively inexpensive Basa Swai simply pan fried and last night accompanied with a bit of Rice-a-Roni that I got on sale. Most of all I am reminded that food planning with this little money is like having a second job and I totally get why people, especially those feeding families, would get tired and just make what they could and run out of food before the end of the month and go hungry.

I have boatloads of pasta that I got for $0.69 a box that I'll likely use at some point. But for now I'm having soup. Even though it is the middle of a heat wave, I planned for soup and so I'm having soup. Soup is a great choice for inexpensive eating because it is flexible and can be made with whatever you can purchase inexpensively or perhaps get in a food bank package.

Start with an aromatic base - mirepoix which is a mix of celery, carrot and onion is a classic - which can be root veggies, garlic or some mix of spices. Next add liquid like broth, water or cream. Then add the main ingredients such as vegetables like potatoes, broccoli or asparagus; beans; meat or seafood. The soup I made is bean and vegetable and I made it for about $1.25 a bowl.

I used this recipe for Hearty White Bean and Kale Soup. The only substitution I made was using black pepper instead of white. I used canned beans though dry beans from a bulk bin would be cheaper. And my cheap spice resource is the legendary Rockridge Long's Drugstore which I hope will continue to be a source of everything even as it transitions to a CVS.

Onion:         $0.36
Carrots:      $0.40
Celery:        $0.20
Olive Oil:    $0.40
Garlic:         $0.05
Rosemary: $0.05
Thyme:        $0.05
Bay Leaf:    $0.01
Beans:           $1.25
Kale:             $1.54
Total:            $4.31

Assuming 4 servings that is ~$1.08/bowl which with 1 Tablespoon of grated parmesan at $0.16 comes in at $1.24 a bowl which fits into the $4.00 a day budget especially since I can get breakfast and lunch in at under a dollar each. The change I would use for a piece of fruit and one day this week I got an apple for free and had an orange for $0.50.

links for 2009-09-23

• Sorry, We Can’t All 'Get Along' | Head Butler
  My pledge, ever since I launched Head Butler in 2004, has been to keep politics off these screens; why did I write about “a few million aging whites who categorically demonize young black males as thugs but who don't have a fraction of the character of LeBron James and his friends”? Because that, friends, is not a political observation. It’s a moral one. The sad fact: Very cynical people in the media are working stories like this without regard for the collateral damage that’s sure to come when some of those riled-up whites turn their anger on African Americans.
  (tags: media politics morality race racism consumers grassroots)

It's Hunger Challenge Week

And, of course, Mercury Retrograde happens and I have limited internet access. Sigh. But I will do my best to keep up with blogging the challenge.

First a bit of good news. Tyson Foods is repeating their social media support program. Comment on their blog or tweet a hunger fact with the hash tag #HChal and Tyson will donate food to Bay Area food banks. Last year that was five truckloads. The Social Media Club is supporting Tyson's social media efforts and Kristie Wells is asking everyone to up the support by donating $5 if they can this month to feeding the hungry.

On a personal note, I learned a great deal from how I did the challenge last year. This year I'm modifying my approach. Last year I purchased $21 worth of groceries and ate only that for the week. This year I recognize that I would likely buy bargains as they became available and freeze or store items to take advantage of savings. So my meals will be at the $4 a day limit for this year but using some ingredients on hand. Many of my staple items will return, however.

Staples like peanut butter which I had on an English muffin this morning for breakfast. It was a way to get some cheap protein in to start the day. Eggs on a regular coupon special at Safeway cost $1.49 for 18 so they will also appear on the menu most days. I also wisely snapped up a canister of Folger's coffee for $3.00 so I can maintain my caffeine addiction. And, of course, the return of doctored-up ramen in my life.

Breakfast thus costs out at:

Coffee:                     $0.10
OJ:                             $0.31
Peanut butter:      $0.14
English muffin:     $0.25

Total:  $0.80 and at less than $1.00 for one meal, well within my $4.00/day budget.

In my next post I'll cost out and give some ideas for soup which is a great, flexible option.

On the political front, eating this cheaply means losing the opportunity to support practices I would normally with my consumer dollars such as a more chicken-like existence for egg-laying hens (buying eggs at the farmers market where I can learn how the chickens are raised and treated) or fair trade, organic, shade-grown coffee. Beyond the challenge of feeding poor people, how can we do it in a way that is humane, respects the health and economic well being of those who grow and harvest our food and doesn't destroy the planet along the way?