what you're supposed to do with your life

I've read the NY Times religiously on Sundays for as long as I can remember. In college I even managed to drag myself out of bed after long Saturday nights to indulge in a Soda Shop breakfast (see photo at right) and coffee with Thomas Friedman, Maureen Dowd, William Safire and the occasional economics lesson from Ben Stein. Now I'm a full-blown subscriber, mostly because the rack price is $6, subscription price is $3.75 for 12 weeks if you pay with a credit card, and I'm too lazy to make an extra trip to Starbucks to pick up their last copy.

So now you have the context; I'm addicted to the last bastion of academic (albeit liberal) entitlement. All of this is to say that I realized this morning that my other academic pursuits (English major to MBA) have colored the way I read the paper and what I find inherently interesting. While in high school I read the paper at the behest of my mother as "learning new words will increase your SAT score;" now, I look for gems of wisdom on how I should pursue my career. Ironically, however, I don't think I've ever read the paper to learn how to live a better life, just a perhaps more informed one.

I flock to the sections highlighting business leaders and their perspectives on managing, hiring and firing. I'm in awe of the CEO corner flaunting those who seemingly have saved the world prior to turning 30, or in some cases 40. I'm reminded of how close I am to 30 and how I still find myself mired in Excel spreadsheets every day aiding someone else's vision fulfillment. But I'm earning my stripes, I suppose.

So now I'm reflecting....what is the purpose of all this education and all of the student loans knocking at my balance sheet? Who am I really supposed to be? If I don't employ all of the facets of said education in my daily life, am I inherently degrading my personal ROI? Am I letting down legions of mentors, teachers, professors, life coaches -- my parents?

Why is it that when some people tell stories about others, they classify those characters based on the institutions they attended rather than some remarkable fact about how good of a person he/she is? (Note: I'm not saying that I don't do this, because I've caught myself doing it and my husband has called me out on it). For example, why is it necessary to say, "oh, you know Mary, she went to MIT and has an MBA from Columbia. Yeah, she's pregnant." Clearly, her scholastic achievements have NOTHING to do with the fact that she's pregnant, yet the need to classify persists. Does her academic branding require her to be a CEO some day to be successful? What if she decided, to hell with all of this education, I'm going to be a farmer. Would we scoff at her decision? Or, what if she decided that she wanted to be a stay at home mom and raise her child, maybe even home school him or her? Would that make her less of a person? Why must we criticize others' personal life decisions? Why can't we just be happy? When it is just "enough"?

It's clear there are generational divides on this subject and I want to learn your thoughts. How do you define your personal brand and success?

ESPN Radio, Colin Cowherd, or Seinfeld...take your pick

yes....all of these media are on in my house 24/7 - I wake up to Colin; I go to sleep to Mike and Mike; and in between I catch a few episodes of Seinfeld - everyday. I live in Groundhog Day, but instead of Bill Murray and a furry rodent, I have my husband, ESPN and NBC reruns.

Is this necessarily a bad thing? Probably not; I'm learning all sorts of things about the coveted male 18-34 demo that I can leverage in my daily work. What I've also learned is that men are really pretty simple. All they need is sports talk radio, comedy, a cocktail, good food and a comfy bed.

What's truly amazing about the first two needs is that the content NEVER has to change. Seinfeld isn't coming back (well, save the "reunion" on Curb the past few episodes), but that doesn't matter. It's still funny because it's about nothing; you can watch the episodes over and over again and they never get old - i.e. CASH COW. You've already sunk the cost of content development, now you just sell the heck out of ads to new audiences for generations - genius.

As far as sports talk radio is concerned - the same sporting events come around at the same time each year. You know that there will always be a Cards/Cubs showdown, a USC/UCLA battle, an OSU/Michigan blood bath - each year you may have to change the script slightly (i.e. is this Michigan pre-Rich Rod?), but repurposing the content is snap. As commentators continue each year, those scripts are emblazoned on their foreheads. When a commentator retires or passes away, just sub in the new guy; you know he's been memorizing the same scripts for years waiting for this moment anyway. Again, you have a golden asset that never depreciates and you never have to repair; just keep pumping in those sponsorships and ads - instant cash.

To continue to beef up the ratings (and keep those sponsors happy), make sure that your "talent" hates a couple teams with a passion and knows how to incite calls from disgruntled middle-aged men (preferably Browns or Cubs fans). This keeps the material "fresh" and tricks listeners into thinking that the content has changed - clearly genius.

So it's not that I'm bitter about my media consumption as of late. Mostly, I'm in awe of the elegant solution that sports talk radio and Seinfeld pose. If you can show me similarities for the female media consumer, I'm all ears. I think that Project Runway and Top Chef come close -- same script, just different players year after year, but I'm open to new suggestions.

What are the media cash cows for women??

Seinfeld lives on

Every night my husband and I catch two episodes of Seinfeld before going to bed. This provides great levity at the end of generally long working/studying days. But it also makes me think....how can a show that's now been off the air and in syndication for 10 years still be popular? I think Michael has seen every episode at least twice, yet his face continues to light up at the same jokes. And the show is pretty formulaic -- George is the pittied fool; Elaine is always chasing the wrong guy and can really only be fulfilled by Jerry; Kramer is the court jester; and Jerry strings everything together like the ring master that he is.

Are there any other shows or even movies that live up to this type of stress test? Watching them over and over and over again and they're still fresh for some reason? I suspect that the ad dollars coming in for Seinfeld syndication are still pretty decent as well.

Will there ever be another Seinfeld? Or did we tap out with that one?

Do you like Tuna Wiggle?

I'm on the look out for the best tuna wiggle recipe. Yes...did she just type Tuna Wiggle??

Indeed, despite my husband being a near gourmet chef, my favorite meal of ALL time is Tuna Wiggle. As a kid, this was a great option for my working mommy as all she needed to do was open a box of mac n' cheese and a can of tuna and combine. Simple, delicioso and pretty darn cheap. This is actually what got me through many dinners at grad school as well.

This Friday is my 28th birthday and really all I want to eat is Tuna Wiggle. I asked my husband to create the best mac n' cheese from scratch (and oh yeah, it needs to be gluten free) and then add a couple of the cans of tuna that have been sitting in our pantry for a couple weeks. I'm getting him prepared if/when I get pregnant as this is probably what I will crave then as well.

For all those out there who have had tuna wiggle and might have a great recipe (or really just a spectacular mac n' cheese recipe), please send it my way. I'll buy you a box of mac n' cheese as compensation for the winner.

Also, check out these blogs as something new and fun to read: www.milkwasright.blogspot.com

www.sogoodblog.com

www.extraordinarymommy.com

I look forward to hearing from all of you tuna wiggle lovers!

It's been a while.....

So sorry that I haven't written in a while. I went off and got married on August 22nd, honeymooned in Maui, and started a new life in Pasadena.

I don't really have a good topic for this post, so I'll open up the floor to you. Here are some questions to ponder:

What do you do during fall in Southern California where the leaves don't change color and the coolest it gets is about 60 degrees?

If you've moved away from where you grew up, why did you do that and will you ever go back?

Do you have the job of your dreams? If so, what do you do for a living and why?

I'm just really curious to hear your stories. Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me some good news!

Best,

E

Part-time Mothers? No...double-time mothers

My entire life I've been the daughter of the hardest working woman I know. When it was just the two of us in my formative years, she worked fervently to provide me the best education in St. Louis, to instill in me the ethics and morals I needed to be a community-contributing citizen. Throughout my childhood, she worked 50 and 60 hour weeks, traveled frequently for work, but made it to every softball, volleyball game, tennis match...she listened to me recite my speeches for the Bellarmine speech league; she sat in the classrooms all day on Saturdays and listened to me perform...she drove me to piano lessons and listened to me bang out the same Clementi Sonatinas for years...she tried to teach me simultaneous equations to solve my basic algebra problems when I was in third grade....she took me to the library because books were always free entertainment and I really loved the "choose your own adventure" Nancy Drew stories.

I guess why I'm writing today is because my mother has been guilted her entire life as a mother into feeling like she wasn't good enough--she didn't make the right Halloween costume or throw the right type of themed birthday party. Or frankly, other women told her to her face that she was just a "part-time mother." THIS IS THE BIGGEST BUNCH OF CRAPOLA I'VE EVER HEARD.

Shame on you who put down mothers who have careers. And shame on you women in the work place who disparage other women for staying at home. The women's movement is about having the CHOICE to do either, both, or frankly neither. There is no right way to "mother" and who is anyone to judge how a mother chooses to spend her time providing the best for her children.

The next time you think about judging a mother, think critically, hold your tongue and take a look at yourself in the mirror. Are you doing everything in your power to provide a better life for your children?

I hope that I can be half the woman and mother, my mother is. It's not mother's day, but call your mother and tell her how much you love her today and how your life would be nothing without all of her sacrifices.

Eating on $50 a week?

So I hardly ever post twice a day...especially within minutes of one another, but I just saw a cool link to this blog about an experiment to eat on $50 a week per adult in one's household.

Check it out here:
http://cheapskate.blogs.time.com/2009/07/14/how-to-eat-well-on-50-a-week-theyre-doing-it-can-you/?iid=digg_share

I would love to take on this experiment as well. I know that my fiance Michael will be on board.

Who's with me???