My new hobby

So I think I'll take up blogging again (this must mean I have lots of work I should be doing that I don't want to be...). Anyway, this post is about my new hobby, which I will introduce in the following manner:

So, in high school and college, mostly in college those who knew me well would occasionally mock me for being extremely un-domestic. For some reason, I never honed those nice homemakey skills and consequently people would often tease me that I would never get married or if I did my poor husband would be in a terrible plight (true). Case in point: one time on the dance team right before a concert, we realized that our costumes went down a little too low in the back and thus the back needed to be sewn up an inch or two. Our director had needles and thread for each of us and told us to go to work. And much to my dismay, everyone did! I sat there gawking at everyone wondering how every girl on the team knew how to sew except for me... hopeless (thankfully the girl next to me noticed my pathetic state, took pity on me and sewed mine for me- thanks Heather). Also, if you were ever my roomate you know that I lacked some necessary cleaning expertise and for almost my entire first year out of the dorms I didn't use the stove or oven once... yikes.

But not anymore.. enter my new hobby: cooking! For some time now, years in fact, I've been thinking it's about that time to transition from eating cold cereal every night to actually cooking meals. I always thought this skill would just transcend upon me from the heavens upon marriage. Unfortunately this was not the case. So, with the new baby on the way I'm thinking this life transition should really occur sometime soon. Thankfully, during a Relief Society service auction (same one as last year), this awesome lady in our ward, who happens to be an amazing cook and from Portugal auctioned off four cooking lessons. So I used up all my points and bought the lessons. And she changed my life!

The lessons were great (and I got to invite two friends- Jenn and Lori) , but I still didn't quite know what to do with myself and all my newly purchased vegetables on my own every night. So, on our last lesson I was trying to juice her for all of her cooking prowess by asking many questions and she just invited me to go grocery shopping with her the next day to see how she rolls. I agreed. To my delight, not only did she go shopping with me, she came home with me, went through our cupboards and fridge, made us yummy soup and salad with all of our vegetables that were about to go bad and planned all of our meals for the entire week! Hello awesome! What's more is that she left by saying she'd pick me up the next Wednesday to do it all again- and she did and she has every Wednesday since! That's right, this woman shops with me, comes home with me, cooks dinner for that night with me and plans all our meals. So, I HIGHLY recommend everyone get their own personal chef/ cooking coach. Mine has come in immensely handy.

So Rich and I now eat a good, healthy dinner every night and then eat the left overs for lunch- it's awesome! I know what you're thinking- man with all this extra cooking- you must spend a lot more on groceries...... Wrong! Actually Rich and I saved tons of money this month living this way. For the past few weeks, we've spent less than $20 a week every week on food! How? Ana (that's my coach) is amazing. We go to Buy Low every Wednesday (if you've never been there- wow- go on Wednesdays- veggies are crazy cheap) and only buy what's on sale and what's in season and then plan meals from there. She feeds a family of 6 (and a live-in student and she provides lunch everyday for two of her husband's co-workers) and rarely spends over $60 a week on groceries. She'll only spend more than this if she is boosting her food storage that week. Plus, her rule of thumb is to always shop on the peripheries of the grocery store never in the middle- meaning she buys everything fresh and never canned or frozen. Anyway, I've learned tons of good stuff from her on what to buy and when and of course many good cooking tips on how to cook healthy, cheap and fast. Maybe I'll make another post with all my new wisdom.

IT'S A GIRL!!

Sorry, for keeping you all in the dark for so long, but we're pregnant and it's a girl! Yipee!!

We just had the ultrasound this morning and we're SUPER excited. I've thought the whole time it was a boy and was pretty sure of myself, so I was shocked to hear the news today. Funny thing is that the exact same thing just happened to my friend in our ward. She had like 5 dreams about her little boy and it was a girl- she still asks them to recheck every appointment haha.

Anyway, I guess I'll jump the gun and answer the usual pregnancy questions:

1. How are you feeling/are you sick?

I was quite sick the first trimester. I threw up everyday and quit pretty much everything in my life on account of the nausea. Seriously, I was taking just one class and had 2 meetings a week for work this summer term (not much) and those things were seriously neglected in the months of July and August. But I made it through the class and the professor I work for was super understanding and let me take a lot of time off. Turns out, his wife was so sick she had to be hospitalized during two of her pregnancies, so he was great. And now I feel like it just gets better every week. I keep waiting for it to plateau, but it seems like every week I have more energy and am feeling better and better, which I'm very grateful for.

2. When are you due?

The official due date is March 27th even though in the beginning they told me March 23rd and then today they said she is measuring big enough so it looks like March 22nd, but they're keeping it March 27th anyway. We're hoping for March 23rd because that is the day we got engaged and therefore a great day to be born.

Actually, this pregnancy is full of significant dates. We found out we were pregnant on our one year anniversary- July 17th. It was a great and memorable day for us.

3. Do you have any pictures of your belly?

No.

4. Do you plan on taking any pictures of your belly?

No.

:)

Ok, I have to go teach now, but I thought I'd spread the excitement!

If Law and Order ever runs out of ideas . . .

Perhaps you've heard of this recording (it apparently surface around 2005). I just heard it for the first time from a delightful website called Emails from Crazy People (from the people who brought you Fail Blog).

Listen.



Laugh and/or shake your head.


Discuss (if desired).

"Science Proves Zombies Could Annihilate Humans"

The title of this post was an actual headline of an article published today on BBC News' website.

Sorry, did I say an actual headline? Sorry that was misleading. "Science proves zombies could annihilate humans" was the title of a link on BBC News' main page to the actual article, titled "Science Ponders 'Zombie Attacks'." The difference between "proves" and "ponders" is significant, in that I probably wouldn't have bothered to click on a link informing me that Science (the corporeal embodiment of all sciences)(who looks like this), was just "pondering" about zombies annihilating humans.

But I can't feel too bad for misleading you, because the actual article is a gem! First off, the "study" was done by a group of mathematicians in Canada and was published in a book called Infectious Diseases Modeling Research Progress.






















The serious side of the study is that the way the spread of zombie-causing viruses, diseases mimic the way actual viral or fungal infections can spread. But, lest we be too concerned about a zombie-ridden future, the researcher quoted in the study, Professor Neil Ferguson, reassuringly stated, "My understanding of zombie biology is that if you manage to decapitate a zombie then it's dead forever."

The next time I get to give feedback to a college or university, Zombie Biology will be my number one suggestion.

Xixi no Banho: A Golden Idea

Quick linguistics exercise. Using your rudimentary Taco Bell + Sesame Street Spanish, plus your natural intuition, see if you can decide what "Faça xixi no banho" means. (Don't be sad if you can't figure it out.)

Here's a hint: The language is Portuguese, the word "xixi" is slang, and it's part of a new water saving campaign started by an organization trying to preserve the Brazilian rain forest.

. . .

Still stumped?

Maybe this video (a real public service announcement from Brazil) will help.



Well, that was some rapid fire, little-kid Portuguese, but basically they are proposing that to save water, you pee in the shower instead of in the toilet, thus saving flushing a tank of water. They propose that by flushing the toilet just one less time per day, the average household will save 1,100 gallons of water an year.

Personally I think that this is a pretty far out idea that won't catch on, but I give them props for trying it. Maybe I'm revealing myself a little more than I should, but the idea of urinating in the shower is not all that disgusting to me. Urine is (for the most part) a pretty sterile fluid. And going number one in one white, porcelain bathroom fixture isn't much different from another (with the very important exception of the sink. The sink remains untouched. You hear me, Brazilians?!!)

I understand if you don't feel like weighing in on the side of pro-'xixi no banho.' Silence is golden.

Livin' La Vida Logo

Celeste's best friend Lori is interning at an advertising agency in New York called Naked. She recently wrote a really interesting piece about logos, brand design and redesigning. I thought it was super-well written and interesting so I'm putting the whole thing here. Even if you can't read the whole thing, she makes some really good points (with pictures!) that you should check out. Additionally, since she's still an intern, she would probably appreciate it if you could go to the original post and make a comment there.

So, to recap, Lori . . . Naked . . . Logos.

- Rich

-----------------------
http://www.houseofnaked.com/2009/08/04/logo-ly-blind/comment-page-1/#comment-3385

"Logo-ly Blind?

LOGO REDESIGNS: Like anything, if you do it for the wrong reasons, people will be able to tell. Update yourself because you love your audience and want to keep a good conversation with them. But do it genuinely and with self-respect. Don't just fling your brand at the next 'shiny new thing'.

written by That Lori girl

I’ve been seeing a lot of unsuccessful logo redesigns and it pains my little heart (almost as much as the two restaurants by my house that BOTH have papyrus-

- in their signage. And one of them even stretched the font out. Eek.) It’s been on my mind lately, so, I have a minute that I want to snatch up and turn into a conversation on this phenomenon of losing your brand to a logo redesign, and its recent rise in popularity.

It seems to me that companies have become so concerned with keeping up with fads that they’ve forgotten tradition and equity. It’s important to be aware of changing customer habits and appetites. But don’t let that distract you from your roots, or the time you’ve spent building relationships to your brand. Sometimes a redo is smart. Sometimes it’s just you trying to be hip; and we’ve all seen enough old ladies in bedazzled tank tops to know that’s not always the best idea. Don’t just throw away your mark and try to follow the fad without thinking about the effect on your mark’s relationship to your people. Don’t be so vain as to forget yourself.

I think the rule of thumb that we are exploring here is this: Don’t adapt your brand to the fad, but the fad to your brand, and at that only when it is in line with what your brand is about. Be honest.

I want your input on the difference between the two. Let me give you a few examples:

SMART REDESIGNS are concerned more with their audience than the trend. Knowing your audience (who follows trends) will bring you to the trend, but it won’t be the awkward dishonest result that happens when a brand just jumps onto a trend without consulting their personality or target:

GOOD EXAMPLES

Syfy: Making a big change

I am impressed.

There were a lot of issues facing the Science Fiction – SciFi – channel.

1. They couldn’t own or brand the word SciFi. It can’t belong to them.

2. They understood that their product is, yes SciFi, but it’s also so much more. How to beat the stereotype that SciFi is only for trekkies. when really it’s for _____________ (I’ll let you fill it in when you see what they did to rebrand)

3. Logo.. while initially I thought ‘No! Don’t leave that mark because then it’s so much harder to communicate what you guys are about!’ I was wrong. I knew they wanted to appeal to greater, but still I thought – yeah, so they’re going to have to show me why I like SciFi. But they were smarter than that. It makes more sense that they appeal to something that I already know I like. I like to imagine. If I like to imagine, I like SciFi, and not vise versa. So this is the common denominator of their TRUE demographic.

It’s so simple that it may seem obvious, or even like “big deal”. But just like the pros make ice skating look like a breeze, a good branding job gives you a whiff of easy ‘contentness’. It’s like being in a midst of confusion and lies, and someone looks you straight in the eye and just tells you the truth. It feels good and you can feel the difference when it’s honest. It seems simple cause it’s right, but not because it was easy.

Evolving a brand is a bit different. If you are going to go for a change, then CHANGE. If you realize your brand is not communicating and not hitting it’s mark, go big or go home. And SyFy didn’t forget their consumers. It’s obvious they took the time to know their consumer, and know what change would make them feel included in something greater.

Starbucks: Brand Evolution

Brand Evolution…

We know Starbucks is well branded. Here’s another hint why. They are constantly updating their logo to keep with the trend, buuuuuut, without losing their mark/focus. Their progression over time has been slow, almost imperceptible, and yet has kept Starbucks at the height of every new ‘fad’ wave. Because they stay on top of the wave, they seem to have made it much farther out into the ocean than other companies who are struggling to keep their heads above water. Again, decide what about a fad is relevant to your brand and you can adopt it, but don’t adopt your brand to a fad.

Here’s another simple example of a redesign to keep current, but keep your brand:

BAD REDESIGNS. It’s an awkward result when they go for the redesign without consulting their brand purpose, equity, or personality:

Animal Planet: What's the Purpose?

GAH! What is THAT!! They could have done with some finessing, and maybe they wanted to completely kick their old logo – but I fear it’s this love of the new, clean, edgy logos that drove them to this frenzied state. So many logos now play with the type design; they’re simple, they’re clean, no gradients, no jpg looking picture – but all vector based, and often all type. So animal planet felt left behind? This was not the answer…Grossssss. The font is terribly treated. The widths are all over the place. And what’s the significance of the M, which seems to be the only one that wasn’t squeezed? Note – squeezed, not condensed.

Kraft: Lost Equity

Who here grew up eating Kraft macaroni and cheese, Kraft mayonnaise? Kraft something or other? Raise your hands. So, for a product with a primary target of mothers, wouldn’t it be valuable to offer Moms the stuff they loved growing up? How valuable do you think it is to Kraft to be the established brand in an oversaturated environment? So what do you think is the worst thing Kraft could do?

Lose their logo. Not just lose it, but redesign it to be a bland, boring, and something that looks just like worse, new, and nonreliable competitors!

It looks also suspiciously similar to Yoplait, only with worse weights, more complication, and too many colors.

Here’s Yoplait’s…

Granted, this was a corporate-level redesign. But isn’t it a bit confusing when you look up your food online and instead of the kraft logo that you know as well as the name of the popular girl from 3rd grade (some things never leave you), it’s this logo on the website? This is confusing! Brand discrepancy like this, especially when it’s poorly designed (do I smell Tekton in the tagline?…) .. is sad. Looks like they felt the old logo was getting too familiar, and started to get overlooked – which is a valuable point…

Said Mintel senior analyst Marcia Mogelonsky, While the old logo was certainly well recognized among consumers, “perhaps it was so easily recognized that it was becoming overlooked,” especially as store brands mimicked national brands in packaging elements such as design, typeface and colors.

so … wait. Didn’t they update it in the corporate office and leave the old logo on the shelf? Dang it.

It’s remniscent of the redesign fiasco that Tropicana is still smarting from. They appealed so heavily to current fads, that they completely forgot their own trademark and personality. They ended up with no personality at all, and a 20% drop in sales. http://adage.com/article?article_id=135735

Pizza Hut: Lost Personality

Really? The hut that we all love? The pizza place with that great commercial on the beginning of the “Land Before Time” VHS? You caved too? It’s probably good that they tried to update. And they didn’t really forget their previous mark, as we’ve been discussing. But I had to point out how the new logo, at least to me, has so little personality, and even less charisma. Yeah the hat-looking roof was a big part of Pizza Hut’s previous logo, but they forgot to include the motion of their logo, the energy of it, in their new redesign, and I think that’s the mistake. The new one to me looks stagnant, boring, and washed up. Easy to forget and easier to dislike. The widths are all the same, but it doesnt feel balanced at all. Maybe it’s because the lines keep directing your eye back to where it started, and are all so horizontal that there’s no where else for your eye to go. So it just sits there, fat, heavy.. everything you are afraid their pizza will make you, but before, you could pretend it wasn’t true. Now it’s staring you in the face.

I’d rather see a slightly ugly logo that reflects the brand personality, than another web 2.0 logo that reflects nothing.

MORAL OF STORY/RANT: Like anything, if you do it for the wrong reasons, people will be able to tell. Update yourself because you love your audience and want to keep a good conversation with them. But do it genuinely and with self-respect. Don’t just fling your brand at the next ’shiny new thing’.

As a bonus, here’s a few examples of these new trends I was referring to. These are well done and clever. Enjoy!:

For more good logos, check out:
logooftheday.com
logofaves.com
logopond.com
brandstack.com

--------------------------

Sharing the joy . . .

Often I will come across something on the Internet that I find humorous. "(bluh-huh-huh)" I'll weep to myself, "Isn't it terribly sad that my friends that I never see, besides being bereft of my company and effervescent personality, also have never seen this?"

Here's one of those things (If you can help it, try to not look at the bottom right panel, but even if you do, it'll still be funny.)

(I said DON'T look at that panel . . .)


TiVo "Ice Road Truckers" Bwa-ha-ha!

From, Wondermark, found here. Don't be a stranger to it.