You know, I had a WAY better title for this one, but do you think I can remember it? Of course not.

Anyhow, I’ve been really excited to write about this, but was waiting for everything to finalize and the training to finish before I put it out there for internet posterity.

Sasha is officially a Hospital Visiting Dog with Pets and Friends! We visit the GF Strong Rehabilitative Centre one night a week.

I really enjoy volunteering and giving back to the community, but I’m socially awkward enough that my stint volunteering solo in palliative care a few years back was painful for all involved. I’ve undertaken some other volunteer projects both big and small, but they all had a finite term, so I’d have to find something new time and time again.

And this time, I really wanted something I could do with the dog. When both Neil and I are working (and even when I’m not, because I’ve been out of the house a lot this week) I feel pretty bad about leaving her at home alone so much.

A few months back, I saw a random blog post where the author mentioned something about therapy pets. So I started googling and found a local organization.

Now therapy or assistance animals and visiting pets are entirely different entities. Therapy animals are those that have been specifically bred, raised and trained to offer assistance to people with disabilities. They’re the labs and shepherds you see who accompany those with vision or other physical impairments, have been trained to recognize seizures and offer assistance for other purposes. These are working dogs, not pets.

Visiting pets are just that, they visit. They’ve been screened for temperament and training, and go with their owners to hospitals, hospices and other care facilities to visit with (usually long-term) patients. They offer a change of routine, a distraction, and unconditional, wet, hairy love.

It’s incredible to see how much a happy dog lights up the faces of people who are facing a really tough time. Especially those who are facing significant life challenges, away from home, friends and family (and their pets!) for extended periods. It’s sad, but so many of these patients, without anything else to do, will just go to bed after dinner (at about 6:00pm) out of sheer boredom. A visitor of any sort (two legs or four) is exactly the kind of thing worth staying up for.

And Sasha is a pretty perfect dog for the job. She’s unfailingly friendly - usually more interested in people than other dogs even, and always more interested in strangers than the humans she sees every day - in a very gentle way. She’s tall enough to stand up on her hind legs and visit people who can’t bend down out of bed to reach her, and is happy to just sit and be scratched on whichever bit of her is within reach.

Honestly, the people we’re visiting care far more about the dog than the human at the end of the leash - and that’s exactly how I like it. Sharing my happy dog with people is way more rewarding than just forcing my awkward presence upon them.

If you’ve got a pet you’d like to volunteer with, a facility you think could use some animal visitors, or just want to know more and perhaps support the organization - go ahead and check out Pets and Friends, or look for ways to get involved in your local area.

Further Proof that HR people (or whoever’s doing the job posting these days) don’t have a damn clue:

I’m checking out what I missed on various job sites in the past few days, and discovered something pretty odd. There’s one site that lists jobs under “Internship,” “Entry-Level,” “Mid to Senior-Level,” and “Executive.”

I like checking all of the categories, just to see what’s out there, and notice that every single job in the “Entry Level” category is asking for a degree, plus 3-5 or 4-6 years of directly related experience. Seriously?

Could someone who actually has a clue please enlighten me on what exactly is entry level about someone who’s three or four years post-collegiate? More specifically, someone who’s been working all those years, as opposed to taking a very extended Gap year?

Job Posters: Do y’all need someone with a damn degree in Communication to help figure out the definition of “Entry” so you can perhaps post your jobs in relevant places? Because currently, the medium is sending the message that you don’t make much sense.

Sooo yah. About that job thing…

I rescinded my acceptance of their offer after the first day.

It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve made in the not-so-distant past, but it was ultimately the right thing to do. I’ve often heard that the right thing and the easy thing are very rarely the same - boy howdy is that ever true.

When I first started off on this job-search thing, I had a clear set of goals for the kind of work I wanted to do, the type of place I wanted to do it, and the sort of people I wanted to work with. This job only fit one of the criteria. And one outta three ain’t good people.

While I loved the work that I’d have been doing, and was darned impressive at it (pumping out some documents in a few hours that would’ve taken the existing staff days to produce) - the cultural fit was way, way off. I wanted to work for young, dynamic, energetic company. I wanted collaboration and teamwork to factor strongly. I wanted to feel joy about my workplace - I think everyone should strive for that.

I didn’t feel any of those things. In fact, I felt the opposite. Everything felt a little bit wrong. I have nothing in common with my former co-workers, I was everyone’s junior by about 15 years (which sometimes doesn’t matter - in this case it did). I’d be working primarily alone. The duties doled out kept changing in ways that had very little to do with my title or the original job description. The commute was hell. I was planning my exit strategy by the time I got home.

Breaking the news to my boss was tough. He didn’t take it very well - who would, really, it’s a big hassle. But while he offered to change my office, hours and duties, he didn’t offer any of the things I’d tried to negotiate earlier (more vacation, more money, telecommuting/flex-time) so I think he did realize it wasn’t going to work out anyway.

The hardest thing for me was giving up something I’d worked so hard to get. A job! Of my very own! Complete with paycheque and the feeling that someone wants me!

While I’m pretty comfortable as a risk-taker, I’d not taken a personal one quite that big in a while. Would the grass be greener? Would I rather let go of the bird in the hand? I was absolutely terrified at first.

But after speaking to a number of friends and associates (it amazes me the amount of people who’ve been on both sides of this issue before) I started feeling more at peace with the whole thing. And now that I’ve interviewed at a couple other places, it’s become absolutely, perfectly clear. There are just far, far better fits out there for me, where I’m pretty sure I’ll find the trifecta of awesome.

In the meantime I’ve got some promising leads lined up and am grateful for the opportunity to spend at least a few more days soaking up the sun and feeding ice-cream to the dog.

I wish I could share more at the moment - I can’t, but soon!

In the meantime, enjoy this video of my dog, licking the dregs out of an ice cream container.

Dog! Eats Icecream!
from Jen

(read parts one, two, and three)

There was a definite point when things started turning around for me in this whole process.

It was the day I met Cathy Lim.

For those who aren’t familiar with either the city of Vancouver or the marketing industry within it, there is a universal truth you need to know: there is always more talent than opportunities. I heard this message time and time again from Marketing Consultants, Marketing Managers, HR Managers, Entrepreneurs and other people employed in the field. It’s a tough slog to get the right opportunity - and even after feeling like it had been positively for-EVER since ‘d last been working, when I announced my newfound job to some others in the industry, they were surprised it happened as fast as it did.

So you see why networking for me was essential, and Cathy is one of the best networkers I know. She has fully embraced the true spirit of networking, and approaches everyone and every situation with kindness and generosity.

After connecting with her, she agreed with my initial assessment that being brushed off, ignored, belittled, left hanging and outright lied to was a sad truth in recruiting these days. Especially when there is a surplus of candidates.

In fact, her disillusionment with the practices and policies in the HR departments of some of the places she’d worked, combined with her drive to run her own company is what led Cathy to start up her own recruitment and career coaching business: performance personnel inc.

Taking from her generous spirit and passion to help people and companies find the right fit, Cathy agreed that blind applications would do me no good, and worked tirelessly to get my resume in the door at various employers around town. She saw me as more than another “slot in an empty hole” and much more than a paycheque from a potential client, and actually took interest in me as a person. Without that kind of attitude, there’s no way Cathy would maintain her current 0% bounce-back rate.

Instead of either complaining about the ways the system is broken, or passing the buck to either higher-ups or incoming candidates, Ms. Lim just bucked the system entirely and became part of the solution.

If it sounds like I’m gushing, it’s because I am. I really don’t have enough good things to say about her.

When you’re going through a trying transition, sometimes being treated like an actual, valuable person is all it takes to boost the ol’ self-esteem and re-engage the power of positive thought and having an optimistic outlook.

There is actually a part of me that really wishes I’d gotten to work with Cathy longer - the fresh perspective and improved outlook I found through working with her is (I firmly believe) what led to the position I ultimately ended up accepting - something that had been initiated before we’d met.

Now I must include the caveat that I was a unique case for her - she generally doesn’t work with people who are unemployed. She prefers (and I can see why) to deal with those who are looking for a change, and can afford (both mentally and financially) to hold out for something that’s truly the right fit. Because that was my objective with this job search from the start, it worked out.

So in the spirit of generosity and the belief that “a higher tide lifts all the boats,” I’ve been pimping Cathy out to anyone who’ll listen. If I know of anyone looking for candidates these days, I’ve mentioned her name. If I know of anyone not satisfied with their job right now, they get an email directing them her way and the offer of an introduction.

And THAT, my friends, is how HR and recruitment should be run.

So if it wasn’t through Cathy I got my job, who was it? That’s coming up in the next entry. I promise!

I’m going to deviate from the candidate-focused advice I’ve been spouting in parts one and two, and take a moment to rant at the majority of HR managers and recruiters I’ve had the displeasure of interacting with through this process:

Part the Third: HR (haphazard and ridiculous)

Are you an HR Professional? Have I applied to a company you work for?

If I haven’t, I will give you the benefit of the doubt, and not automatically assume you’re an idiot.

However, if I HAVE applied to the company you work for (with a couple notable exceptions), I am currently not terribly impressed with your ilk. In fact, I strongly suggest you could not find your own hindquarters with both hands and a flashlight.

Because you certainly can’t find a suitable candidate for your positions, since you keep changing and reposting them, and with the mounting evidence, I have to start assuming that it’s not entirely me - it’s you.

And while I am not an HR Professional (and feel sorry for those who have to share a professional title with you), I’ve done my share of recruiting and managing, and even *I* can offer a few tidbits of help so you can finally fill your damn jobs, and stop driving me and the rest of my fellow job seekers COMPLETELY INSANE.

1. ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT. It’s not that difficult. Do you want a specialist or a generalist? Do you want a brand manager or a graphic designer? Do you want a copywriter or a website technician? What is the ACTUAL nature of the job, and what skills are needed to do it? Have you ever heard the phrase “Jack of All Trades, Master of None?” That’s what you’ll get if you insist on a candidate who is an “expert” in every commercial software package known to man.

How do you know if you’re doing this? If your “components of the job” demands could have multiple 4-year degrees attached, you’re asking for too much because you don’t know what you want. Have you said you want someone with a degree in Marketing, and a portfolio of graphic design projects? There is a HUGE difference between creating a campaign, and doing creative graphics execution.

And don’t complain to me that “it’s what the hiring manager wants” - the hiring manager has no effing clue what they want. They do not write job descriptions, they produce things and manage their team. It is your job to ask questions and make the connection between what they’ve asked for, and what they actually need.

What does 80% of the job consist of? If you narrow your posting down to that, you might just attract someone who’s brilliant at that particular skillset. And maybe you can hire them. Then when you do hire the person who’s brilliant, you’ll probably find it won’t be that hard for them to take that brilliance, read some refresher material, and update their skills to do exactly what you and your company need.

2. How much experience do you really want, and how much are you willing to pay for it? I know that non-marketing people generally don’t understand what marketing people do - and most of us work quite hard to prove our and our campaigns’ ROI. But seriously - do not say you want someone with 5 years of experience, and balk that the applicants are all overqualified. If you want someone with more enthusiasm than experience - have at ‘er! Goodness knows it’s hard enough to get a job right out of school. But don’t be surprised if you ask for applicants with a certain amount of experience, and they come at you with exactly that, and don’t want to answer phones as part of their duties (unless the job is answering phones - and in my case it isn’t).

3. If you have initiated contact with a candidate - FOR PETE’S SAKE FINISH IT! As a job hunter I understand that if I submit an application, and don’t hear anything, it means the company is not interested. But if I submit an application, and you shunt me to the next stage in your intake process, promise a phone call within a certain number of business days, and then proceed to LEAVE ME HANGING FOREVER (I’m looking at you, Active Network), I will think your entire company treats its people like crap (because during that process I was one of your people, and you certainly weren’t courteous to me), and will forever have a negative opinion of you. This means I won’t use your products, won’t recommend your products, and will never ever suggest any of my colleagues and associates work for you. In fact, I’ll probably go out of my way to tell them not to, without any prompting.

As HR, you are the face of the company to your greatest assets: your past, current, future and potential employees. If I ever hear an HR Professional tell me they “don’t have time” in their busy day to inform candidates that they’ve reached the end of their journey in the intake cycle, I would say without hesitation that they are shitty managers of their time and their domain. That is your job - you’re the one who signed up for it. Nobody likes delivering bad news, but I’ve gotten my fair share of it in the job hunt, and have a much higher opinion of those who have delivered it. You don’t need to respond to every application - but if you have responded, you owe it to that candidate to inform them you’ve closed the interaction.

Perhaps, if the HR Managers of the world could take those points to heart, and get their collective shit together, I could have spent my time constructing applications in which my skills are demonstrated in a concise way that’s actually applicable to the job in question, sent them to companies who are looking for someone with my level of expertise, and not be sleepless with anxiety because “they said they’d call” and just don’t.

Thankfully, there are a few shining stars out there, one of whom I’m going to give a shameless plug to in the next entry. She deserves a post of her own, because she’s just that good.

UPDATE: Apparently dearheart disagrees (though I didn’t apply to the company she works for - and has decided to take personal offense at my post anyway).

So I mentioned in Part the First that I think the resume is pretty much useless on its own for getting a job, and is really a secondary piece of collateral to support your claims.

What does get someone to the “confirmation of skills” phase? Networking. And so I bring to you:

Part the Second: Networking (schmooze-hound)

It’s only been in the last year that I finally realized what networking actually is, and what networking is at its core. Note: the objective of networking is NOT to get a job or make a sale. Everyone hates that person. Please don’t be that person.

Networking is just making friends and building relationships. And handily, it’s usually centered around some common factors, so that those relationships may be beneficial someday. After realizing that crucial piece of information - thankfully while still employed - I didn’t mind networking so much and engaged in it fairly regularly. Through networking, I’ve found peers to collaborate with, referrals to services I needed, information on organizations I didn’t even know existed, leads on potential jobs and most importantly, friends.

This does not come from showing up at a networking event when you need something - there is no room for greedy networking.

You would never walk up to a stranger on your block and say “Hello, isn’t it nice today? Would you mind giving me $300 so I can fix my lawnmower?” The stranger doesn’t give a damn about your lawnmower, and now probably thinks you’re crazy.

In the same way, walking up to a stranger at a networking event and saying “Hello, are you enjoying the wine? Can I have a job interview / tell you about my product?” makes you annoying, and crazy.

Remember how I said you have to get the person reading your resume interested in you? That first tactic is the quickest way to make them uninterested, put off and wanting to run far, far away.

Have a conversation. Make small talk (if Darren can do it, you can too). Heck, I managed to get an interview for a job I was highly unqualified for during a conversation in which I dumped an entire glass of red wine into my purse and onto my person, splashing the floor and a clothing display at DKNY in the process. That’s what they get for serving coloured drinks in their store I suppose.

The point is, just be a nice person. Be interested and interesting. Not sure how to do that? Attend a “how to network” session. I’ve been to at least half-a-dozen, and this particular one is far and away the most interesting and amusing I’ve found.

Then, once you’ve met some people and hopefully made some good impressions and perhaps a friendly acquaintance or two, go do it again. And again. And again. Aim to be useful. If you know the answer to a question they have, give it! If you know of someone doing something they need, introduce them to that person! Go out with no other motive but to be generous and meet some people.

And when you find yourself in the position of needing something from them, as I did when I needed a job, you will reap the rewards a THOUSAND-fold.

This is the part that always tweaks the tiny sensitive bits of my cold, black little heart. Looking for work and facing the rejections that come with submitting applications, seeing positions you’ve applied to re-posted without any acknowledgement from those companies (other than the auto-reply that your resume has been received) and the days spent staring bleakly out the window waiting for the phone to ring, and perhaps phoning your home from your cell and vice versa to make sure they actually work… it’s hard on a soul.

So I am indescribably grateful to every single person who was kind enough to pass on job postings, offer resume feedback, make introductions to others who were either looking for staff, or might just know someone who is, sit down and talk with me about the current state of the industry and the job market, or just offer kind words when I needed them most. I want to say thank you all from the bottom of my heart - though my heart doesn’t seem deep enough… Perhaps thank you from my butt, which is so much bigger than my heart and obviously a very special thing, since it’s pretty fantastic.

Seriously though, that whole “80% of the job market isn’t advertised” schtick is crap. It is advertised. It’s just that those doing the advertising are still reading resumes from people they know or have been introduced to, and not spending nearly as much time on blind applications.

If you’re looking for work now, it’s not too late to get into the networking thing. I certainly joined a couple new groups during my unemployment. But stick to them. Don’t go networking looking for a job, find one then never go back. Go out with the intention of meeting more people like yourself. Go out with the intention of being interesting and being generous to your peers. Stick with it, and you’ll like it, I promise!

And while networking did eventually result in a job offer for me (which I didn’t accept), that’s the very least of what I gained from it.

But I’m not going to tell you where I found my job just yet. In Part Three I’m going to digress, and go on a bit of a tirade about HR and Recruiters.

I received my layoff notice on the 6th of March, worked my last day on the 15th, and will start my new job on the 25th of June. That’s about 3 months and two weeks trying everything I could think of (and a few things I couldn’t) to land a new job. Seeing as the longest I’ve ever been unwillingly unemployed before was 3 weeks, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

And in the interest of passing some wisdom on to those who will undoubtedly follow in my footsteps (and also for my own personal record, should I need to do this again), I wanted to outline what I did, what I thought worked, and how I finally found myself re-employed. This will certainly be a series of posts over the next few days, since I tried a LOT of avenues before something finally worked.

Part The First: The Resume (a necessary evil)

The first order of things was to get my resume up to snuff. While everyone says “keep your resume up to date” on a constant basis - that’s not necessarily accurate. What you DO need to do is keep a constant running record of your career - job titles, dates, references and accomplishments. Pay special attention to the accomplishments - nobody cares what you do day-to-day, they want to see what you’ve achieved along the way.

Since I hadn’t done any of those things, I really struggled putting my resume together. I finally enlisted the services of a professional resume writer to help rephrase my experience and solidify my accomplishments in a format that would (ideally) make the HR types come beat down my door and beg me to join their teams.

It didn’t quite work out that way.

Even though the improvements from my original resume to the pro version were substantial, it wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, and didn’t net any instant results. In fact, there were a few components on the resume that could be seen as huge liabilities, and it went through a few more iterations with the help of friends and other professional contacts before it was useful. Even then, I received so much conflicting advice about what to include, exclude, how many pages it should be and whether to use a functional, chronological or mixed format that I’ve lost a lot of faith in the usefulness of the document.

Frankly, the most important lesson I learned about resumes is that they are really a secondary piece of collateral about one’s self. You will never, ever sell yourself with your resume. A resume is the human equivalent of a spec sheet for a piece of hardware. When you see the ad for that shiny new cell phone, great printer or other device, you are sold by the compelling ads, recommendations from friends, reviews in the media and in-store displays. You only look at the spec sheet AFTER you’re interested, to make sure it has the features you need. It’s the same with a resume. The person reading it must already be interested in the candidate to actually consider them for a position, and they use the resume after the fact to confirm necessary experience and accomplishments.

So sure, having your accomplishments, achievements, duties and career progression in a cohesive, comprehensive, impressive piece of self-promotional material is important - but not as important as the circumstances under which it’s delivered, which I’ll address in Part Two: Networking.

If you’ve been paying attention to Facebook in the last couple hours, you may have noticed that I finally got a damn job.

My new title is Marketing and Corporate Communications Manager. Yes it’s a mouthful. No, I’m not sure how it’ll all fit on my new cards. I’ll be working for a small, but rapidly growing high tech surveillance equipment manufacturer. If you’re in need of such a product, or just curious (because frankly, it’s pretty cool stuff), then drop me a line to ask about it. I’ll probably take the usual stance of not mentioning the company’s name outright on the blog.

The first day is Monday, and I am now running around like mad, trying to get some things taken care of before I cease to have entire empty days at my disposal - so further details will have to wait until after my siesta. Especially since they’ll be very few and far between from here on out.

Also, the commute’s a little further than at the last job - but I’m still trying to avoid purchasing a car. Anyone know where I should look for a good commuter bike in the $500 range, and what I should look for when buying one?

While there haven’t been any other exciting or noteworthy developments on the wedding planning front (not that I could share much anyway, or I’ll give away the whole evening to guests who may read this), I did have my first encounter with the “Wedding Machine” the other day.

Wedding Machine? It’s the phenomenon that dictates anything to do with weddings immediately inspires the vendor to pull out a folding chair, whack you in the shins with it, then bend you over the back of the chair and reach their fist as far up your hindquarters as they can in search of vital organs. Or at least that’s how you feel when they present you with a quote for their services.

In search of some music for the evening, we contacted one such vendor, mostly out of curiosity to see what his rates may be. You see, having a wedding in Tofino means that nine times out of ten, we’re going to be paying our vendors to travel from somewhere that isn’t our venue. The photographers are from Vancouver, the officiant is from Ucluelet, and some rentals are going to be coming from the Lower Mainland. Travel and shipping costs are built into our budget.

And while we have no qualms about providing for our vendors, there’s certainly a point where their requested compensation starts to look like one of those ridiculous diva-level backstage riders from the smoking gun.

This particular performer requested the following:

1. Minimum booking charge of $500 or 4 hours performance at $520
2. Mileage and ferry costs to/from the venue
3. A meal during the event
4. Overnight Accommodation

Those were pretty reasonable - what really got me was when he added:

5. Per-diem for all meals during travel to and from the venue
6. $25/h for 10 hours of travel to and from the venue (his “normal rate” for travel anywhere past West Van or Langley)

Seriously. Seriously? SERIOUSLY!

I respect that the guy’s gotta eat, and a drive to the far west coast probably isn’t his idea of a good time, considering the rate he wanted for doing it. But while I’m sure he’s talented, he’s not any sort of groundbreaking musician. He’s a wedding singer. That’s ALL he does. He does not do weddings in addition to gigging other venues and events, he doesn’t advertise any sort of individual composition or instruction ventures. He sings cover tunes at weddings and corporate events. And has a partnership with a DJ service to offer both live and canned music. And has clearly never entertained the notion of packing an effing sandwich!

The ONLY thing he’s being compensated for, at his $25/hour, is he’ll be driving instead of sleeping in until 3:00pm, then writing love songs for Drew Barrymore so he can sing to her on a plane while Billy Idol distracts her big beefy jerk of a fiance… wait, no… I don’t think he does that either.

In any case, when I called him out for his exorbitant demands, he simply said “fine, good luck finding someone else” and left it at that.

Dude, if you didn’t want to travel, just say so. Don’t assume I’m stupid enough to cop to your particular brand of crazy simply because I’m a bride to be.

And incidentally, we did find someone else, who happens to be an enthusiastic, recognized and well-trained musician/composer who happens to accept weddings in addition to other regular gigs, and like the rest of our vendors is as far from a Diva as one can get, and really just wants to offer any advice and expertise in his realm that he can in order to make our event the best it can be.

Also, because he’s making perfectly reasonable demands in terms of travel & logistics, we can afford to hire him, and a few of his bandmates as well - making our musical experience even better than we’d initially planned for!

Take that wedding singer. I hope you’re enjoying hitting the snooze button next March 29th.

So I wrote that I didn’t think facebook was for me.

And then I figured I’d try it out before making a judgment one way or the other.

Thus far, I am completely unsurprised and underwhelmed.

All sorts of people from various past jobs, schools and affiliations are on there, and I have somewhere in the vicinity of 50 friends. I’ll admit that there’s at least one “friend” on there whose name sounds familiar from high school, but I don’t actually remember interacting with him/her at any point, or what s/he even looked like. But there doesn’t seem to be a good way to question friendships - it’s either confirm or deny!

So far, though, facebook hasn’t delivered anything to me I’d consider “valuable.” There are events being planned through the site that I’ve been invited to, though I’ve also gotten individual email invitations to said events, so I don’t think I was missing out by not having an account.

But in terms of knowing on a minute-by-minute basis which of my friends are now friends with others, and what any given person is… at any given moment in time - I just don’t give a damn. If I did, I would (and do) ask. And I hate small-talk enough, which is what the updates and wall posts are. So I’m sure that if I can’t be bothered to small-talk in the real world, the internets will forgive me for not engaging in it there either.

I’m also more than a little distrustful of their terms of service, which state that anything posted to the facebook site is property of facebook. From their TOS:

By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.

So this means that I suddenly grant the site creators unlimited rights to any blog posts, photos or other content I include on facebook. For me, this means that the one photo I’ve got up there is the only one that’s staying, and I’m going to be removing the “blog import” function in the notes section shortly. I’m not delusional enough to think that the facebook machine is going to get rich off of my paltry ramblings, but it’s the principle of handing over ownership of my creation. Homey don’t play that.

While initially I liked the idea of sharing my activities, events, photos and thoughts with an audience who would otherwise not be reading my blog or seeing me in person - I won’t compromise my own rights to those things for the sake of people with whom I don’t regularly interact, or have only a long-past place and time in common.

So the Verdict? Mildly interesting, ultimately not valuable to me.

I’ll stay on facebook for the sake of the invites that roll through there, update my “Jen is…” whenever I’m feeling clever, and probably leave some wall snippets or comments here and there whenever I’m so inspired. But until it actually prompts me to participate in a meaningful way - and one that leaves me feeling a little less violated - my public profile and private experience will likely be highly uninteresting.

After my Food Network rant the other day, I must make a confession.

I use a lot of disposable plastics in the kitchen.

I do use a lot of plastic and glass re-usable containers, but I’m also guilty of using a great deal of zip-top bags and cling-film.

Not to mention all the tinfoil, now that it’s BBQ Season again.

What on earth can you do with used tinfoil?

Solutions I’ve come up with so far are to use as many re-usable containers as possible instead of baggies, and to try and get a couple uses out of baggies when I do need to use them.

But I’m at a bit of a loss for ideas when it comes to reducing my use of clingfilm (primarily for covering big casserole dishes or re-wrapping cheese, etc.) and tinfoil.

Do you have any brilliant ideas?

Because I’m feeling random like that

1. I don’t know if it was the full moon or what, but the dog decided last night that bedtime was a great time to go apeshit, and she tore around the bedroom at full speed, pausing only do to her crazy doggie doofus dance (picture bouncing repeatedly up on hind legs and waving front paws around while making growly, howly noises) for a good 8 minutes. It’s probably the closest I’ll come to owning a cat.

2. Who’s the lucky girl that got fresh apple-cinnamon muffins in bed this morning? Oh yes, that’d be me. Too bad an avalanche of metal baking trays cascading to the floor at 6:15am ruined the surprise!

3. My hands are suddenly, randomly covered in freckles. Just my hands. They appeared all at once about a week ago. Anyone care to play doctor internet and explain that?

4. My dill plant is taking over everything. Do you want some Dill? Come on over and get some. I’m going to have to do some serious bushwacking on it before it completely annexes the parsley.

5. Despite wanting to have one for the past two years, finally having a piano here makes me much happier than I initially thought it would. This is a good thing. I will probably now go blow the rent money on new sheet music, because playing “Kiss From A Rose” and the “Theme from Mission Impossible” over and over and over is growing old.

6. Facebook is completely unimpressive and uninspiring. I am on there because, as Grant pointed out in my comments, people are insisting on using it to plan events and keep in touch. But I’m a bit baffled at those who can spend hours on the site. Really - what are you doing on there?

7. I think the most disappointing part of our condo being delayed until December is the extra 6 or 7 months we’re going to have to live with this couch. It’s my “free from the parents’ basement so it’ll do college furniture” couch, and it’s creaky and ugly and old. I have dreams of a clean-lined sectional in microsuede.

8. I really want a yogurt maker. Does anyone know where to get one that doesn’t look like a spaceship and have the price-tag to match?

9. I’ve found the best summer makeup product, perhaps ever. Clinique Pore Minimizer Instant Perfector. The only thing that keeps me from re-enacting the Exxon Valdez on my forehead by 3:00pm.

10. I know no one cares what I had for lunch. But I had a gigantic organic tomato covered in coarse salt, and a Rosemary Rocksalt bagel, and people - it was spectacular.

11. Plus, I totally don’t have 13 interesting things to share.

12. Someone came over the other night and exclaimed their surprise at our half-dozen bottles of Sawmill Creek in the wine fridge. Believe me, I’m not too proud to drink the cheap stuff. If we had Trader Joe’s here, I’d totally be drinking Two-Buck-Chuck. Sure, we know and like good wine - but there’s certainly stuff out there that’s inexpensive and drinkable (if not interesting), and the Sawmill Creek varietals happen to be one of them.

13.This entire entry is an excuse for procrastination on a project I really should be working on. And now that the list done, I think I’ll go finish said project.

Not unlike fellow blogger and member of the ranks of the unemployed, Dave Drucker, I’m also spending a lot more of my time cooking at home, rather than going out.

This isn’t a huge change, as Neil and I both really enjoy cooking - we generally argue over who gets to make dinner - but being home all day means I’m a) watching a lot more food network and b) constructing some awfully elaborate dishes because I have the time, so why not?

Favourites over the last little while include Slow Roasted Moroccan Lamb, Lasagna Rio Grande, BBQ’d Ribs - slow roasted in homemade bbq sauce, and a succulent, falling apart Pork Roast in Teriyaki Pinapple marinade.

And I tell you, nothing has upped my food snob factor like having the time to spend closely examining the origins and quality of the things I eat and how they’re prepared.

I found myself watching Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller (warning: flashy talking video awaits…) and just getting irate at the TV about the choices she’s making.

The premise of the show is fine - make a meal plan, and purchase the ingredients for three quick and easy weeknight meals, using the same staples. Prep as much as you can ahead of time, and assemble the day you want to eat.

But then she starts off the cooking bit by washing her hands… and drying them with paper towels! She creates a lot of waste on the show in general - from paper towels, through convenience packaging, and storing prepped food in disposable (and disposed of) plastic baggies. I don’t honestly know whether she just strikes me as environmentally non-conscious, or because I’ve been paying more and more attention to living green and sustainability lately. But whatever it is, it irks me.

But maybe the food’s ok? Meh.

Keep in mind she’s targeting her show to busy women who need to feed their families quickly. But every single week, she makes a pasta dish with plain, white pasta. Now I’m sure someday I’ll be rewarded with kids who will eat nothing but one plain spaghetti noodle for dinner (except on Tuesdays after 8:00pm in months that begin with “J”, when they’ll demand a plate of deep-fried chicken strips instead) but where’s the variety???

What about polenta, quinoa, couscous, bulgur, whole what pasta, whole grain rice, other ancient grains? In a brief spark of irony, now that I rant I notice she’s using soba noodles in her recipe this week - but it’s the first non-white food I’ve seen in at least half-a-dozen episodes.

The meals are nutritionally sound if you don’t look too closely: a bit of protein, some starch and plenty of veggies - but convenience is the major focus.

Contrast this with the new Jamie Oliver show, Jamie at Home, where Oliver has taken his trillions of Pounds, and upon returning from Italy has purchased acres of land in the English countryside to devote to a massive vegetable garden. Of course, Mr. Celebrity doesn’t actually do the gardening, he has a gardener for that - but he uses his garden’s spoils to create his dishes. Throughout the show he reminds the viewer (who can’t always grow it all) to “pull your finger out” and make some effort to find a good market, fishmonger, butcher and create wonderful dishes with quality ingredients.

There’s no shortage of people encouraging the Food Network audience to do the same thing.

On his show Good Deal with Dave Lieberman, Dave brings fresh ingredients from Whole Foods back to his tiny New York loft kitchen, and encourages cooking with quality ingredients on a budget.

I even caught an episode of 30-minute meals with Rachel Ray that had to be at least 2-3 years old, where her first instruction was to “Buy Organic Spinach. It’s far and away better than the other stuff, just make sure you get all the dirt off.”

Blogger Rebecca Blood just spent the past month proving that it’s possible to feed your family organic food on a food stamp budget.

And of course our own local 100-mile-diet initiators Alisa Smith and James McKinnon have started a movement that reduces impact on the earth, supports local farms, and results in some darned tasty food at the end of the day.

So what’s up Robin?

Other TV hosts and food influencers have shown that convenience, local eating consciousness and affordability can work in tandem with nutrition and organic ingredients. One shouldn’t come at the expense of the other, and I’d like to see more of a focus on both, because I certainly don’t plan on giving up the awesome meals to which I’ve become accustomed once I’m working again.

Generally I’m a bit skeptical when it comes to new gadgets.

They usually come trussed up in pretty boxes, covered in promises that they’ll revolutionize my life and I’ll forget what ever came before them.

So far only my TiVo has ever lived up to that promise. And if you know TiVo, you’ll know that it’s a pretty tough act to follow.

So imagine my surprise when I received the Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit to review - and found that, in line with the promises on the box, it just works.

The promise is that you’ll hook up the transmitter to your sound system using simple speaker cables, then place the receiver within 100′ and hook your rear speaker cables into it. The “CD Quality” sound is transmitted over a 2.4GHz wireless signal, and voila - you can hear a mustang MiG-28 scream across your room as Iceman and Maverick duke it out in the skies. It literally took me 10 minutes to set the whole thing up. And I really mean me! Even I - who normally foists these kind of things off on Neil because I just can’t be bothered - found it really, ridiculously easy to figure out.

There are only a couple potential issues with this solution:

1. If you have truly open concept living, it may not work super well for you. Both components require DC power to operate, so while the units don’t require direct line-of-sight to work, you do want a power outlet pretty darned near where you’re plugging things in to avoid unsightly wires - the problem you’re trying to solve in the first place. If your couch is smack dab in the middle of a loft, you’re going to have to run cables anyway.

2. The sound is good, to me, on my system. I have basically destroyed my upper register hearing, and my surround sound system is one of those $100 combo units (dvd-player, receiver, 5 identical speakers in a box) - so there’s not a lot of fine tuning going on in my audio visual experience. If you’re a die-hard audio-snob, I can’t vouch for the unit’s performance on your $1500 speakers.

At about $100 USD, the kit is completely reasonably priced for those who purchase high quality AV products. Personally - while I don’t know that I’d spend that kind of money on my own system (because generally I don’t care enough), it got me using the rear speakers that had been sitting in a box for over a year, because I couldn’t be bothered running ugly cables around my room.

And that’s pretty awesome as far as I’m concerned.