Uncategorized | NZ Muse

May 21, 2012

Price no object

A little while ago, we drove out to the Clevedon farmer’s market for the first time. (I highly recommend it if you haven’t been before. There were llamas. And donkeys, one of whom we christened Graham.)
Llama at Clevedon market
There was a pie stand. It’s darn hard to find a good pie these days; bakeries aren’t what they used to be. It was also close to lunch time. T wanted a pie, so it was settled. I marched on up to the counter and ordered without pause. I didn’t even ask how much it cost ($6, by the way). I never do that. But it was what he wanted; at most they couldn’t possibly have charged more than $8 or $9; and it didn’t matter because we were buying one anyway, and knowing the price wouldn’t have changed anything. (There was no sign with prices, obvs.)

Then a few weeks ago, we made a rare outing to the cinema when The Avengers came out. I had movie vouchers in my Entertainment Book, but for a different cinema chain; we’d have to drive all the way to Sylvia Park to get the deal, when there’s another movie theatre less than 5 minutes’ drive from home. I decided the extra long drive didn’t warrant the savings, so scotched that idea, and we headed to our local and paid full price. We were in a rush to make the next screening, so again, I didn’t stop to actually confirm the price of a Saturday daytime ticket (which has gone up). In hindsight, it might have been worth it to make the drive …

Have you ever bought something without knowing how much it cost?

May 21, 2012

Link love (Powered by creative envy and blue cheese)

I am always astounded by the sheer number of mechanics in the city. They are EVERYWHERE. Surely they can’t all have enough business to get by? Still, we are a city of a couple million; many of us have cars – and we also tend to drive older cars here – that need warrants and repairs and tuneups.

Likewise, the proliferation of creative agencies also baffles me. But business is business, right? Some of these guys are doing seriously stupendous work, be it for up-and-coming challenger brands or refreshing the likes of Nike and Fila. I wish I was more visually creative… I’d love to be doing work like that (although not working those crazy hours). Outstanding advertising is art in its own right.

To the point: I was lucky enough to be at Semi-Permanent this weekend, a creative and design conference featuring ad types, illustrators, artists, designers, filmmakers. (I was stoked to see a lot of Asian faces in the audience – too many of us still get stuck following our parents’ dreams, and it doesn’t always go the Glee way with the kid standing up for their artistic dream and the parent coming around.)

And there were so many great quotes shared by Florian of design agency Hi Res I just had to share here with you:

Be passionate about your work but remember there are other things in life

Learn to separate sense from nonsense

Learn to question, but don’t question as a reflex

Fail better

You learn balance by losing it

Life is trying new things to see if they work

Experience is something you get just after you need it

Other highlights – Kelli Anderson (you might know her for her stunt creating a paper record player), cute as a button, doing amazing graphic design work for huge brands like JC Penney and infographics for Wired and Fast Company to things like Google Maps hacks and mapping income equality over a map of NYC; and Wallpaper magazine in London – I had to marvel at the creativity of their covers (letting 22,000 subscribers design their own; printing every issue with a unique range of hues) and how they’re pushing both analogue and digital boundaries, integrating their print and online properties.

Tell me, what’s inspired you lately?

And in meantime, peruse this jumbo edition of links:

WORK

The topic of passion and work continues to intrigue me. Following your passion – it’s easier said than done. Try asking these questions to get to the heart of yours, via Grow.

The real secret to making money by following your passion, via Get Rich Slowly.

Kyla Roma on what she wishes she had known about finding/following her passion.

And Sense to Dollars expounds on how passion always pulls her through at work.

A nice post for freelancers on cracking online business markets. Wise words. I often see blogs advising freelancers to get their sales calls out of the way early in the day. NOOO. We do not have the time to deal with pitches in the morning – yours will likely get ignored or lost.

Sean Ogle blogs about how to extract more enjoyment from your day job.

Rachel Hills on getting started in the world of writing (something I touched on this week)

Freelancing isn’t for everyone, says Krystal.

Don’t assume you need a prestigious career, at Afford Anything.

A Cat of Impossible Colour has some fantastic quotes to reinspire the writers among us.

Two stories from the Billfold also caught my eye: insights into the life of a professional cellist and an interview with a Wall St journalist. Favourite quote: “Really high finance has very little to do with personal finance. The things that companies do, we would all get arrested if we tried.”

LIFE

Erika ponders what happens when the recipe for successful 21st century life fails.

Penelope Trunk argues that more than anything, we’re in the age of personal responsibility.

Diary of Why explains why she’s better off alone.

Suburban Sweetheart has a lovely post on family, heritage and identity.

Also at Grow, a reminder about being social – and genuine – on the social web (pretty much what I was trying to say here)

20 and Engaged reflects on her first year of being a wife, and loving to the maximum of your capability.

How to get the respect you deserve, by Betsy at Married with Luggage.

Amelia Pontes on the things she’s learned about time.

I loved this post from Zen Habits on finding contentment in small things.

FOOD

A Wandering Food Lover shares her recipe for afghan biscuits.

Love this! 15 sorta-truths about dinner, at Dinner: A Love Story

A fresh take on asparagus by Not Eating Out in New York.

And finally, Iowa Girl Eats whips up some open faced chicken caprese sandwiches

May 18, 2012

5 things you don’t learn at university

5 things you don't learn at university

There are lots of useful things I learned while gaining a degree, but equally, lots of arguably more important things I didn’t learn until I was actually on the job.

Here are five lessons you won’t learn at university….

A blazer is your best friend

It instantly makes you look that much more polished and professional. Everybody needs a basic black blazer in their wardrobe.

How to use email

Sure, you know how to hit reply and send, but did anybody ever teach you when to use reply-all and cc appropriately? What makes a good subject line? How do you phrase a request for something? Should you forward praise emails to your boss? When are emoticons okay?!

That everything is about selling

Even if you’re in a non-revenue generating department – IT, admin, HR, editorial – you still need to know how to present yourself in the best possible light. You’ll need to make it through many job interviews in a lifetime. You’ll need to represent your company to outsiders from time to time. You’ll need to pitch ideas. And if you choose to strike out on your own eventually, you’ll sure as hell need to know how to sell your independent services.

Bring solutions, not problems

Or rather, it’s fine to highlight problems – but it’s infinitely better if you can present the fix at the same time. Bosses like to know that things are working, not that they’re broken. At the same time, be aware not all your brilliant ideas will be used – or worse, they’ll take forever to implement or be warped as they go through many hands in the name of bureaucracy.

The need to toot your own horn

You can do great work, but if nobody knows about it, why bother? (Kind of like that old riddle – if a tree falls in the middle of the woods but nobody is around, does is make a sound?) Self-promotion, like networking, is an occasional necessity (natural for some, nasty for others). Your bosses probably pass on good feedback down the chain to you, but are you doing the same – forwarding on praise, keeping them in the loop on milestones and important updates?

And thus ends my spurt of wisdom for today.

What do you wish they would teach at university?

May 17, 2012

So you want to be a writer…

I’ve worked with a fair few interns in my time. They range from the one who didn’t last a day (so gung-ho at the start but quickly realised the reality of journalism was not what he envisioned) to outstanding candidates I wished we could pay. I’ve been asked by students for industry advice, which I most assuredly do not feel qualified to give.

Ergo: this braindump covering most of the things I would like to tell would-be writers.

You will be overworked, underpaid and underappreciated. Perennially underresourced.

Pay starts low and stays low. It’s not like, say, accounting – where you start on $40k and work on up to $100k in a few years. The industry is relatively flat; it’s not like there is a huge ladder to climb.

You will in all likelihood need to pay some serious dues. Internships help get your foot in the door. (I hope you got yourself qualified, because the degree is practically mandatory now.) Working the crappy shifts will help you get your foot in the door and rack up valuable experience. Although depending what you go on to (breakfast TV? online news? Talkback radio?) the hours may ALWAYS be bad. (At first you’ll feel SUPER IMPORTANT because you’re NEEDED at all hours! And then that novelty wears off and you’ll resent the intrusion.)

It is not (always) as exciting or glamorous as you might think. Sometimes we get to meet important and/or famous people. Sometimes we get wined and dined and plied with crap. There’s also the mundane and often repetitive stuff. You’ll get used to writing stories about similar things: awards, surveys, reports, acquisitions, events, fires, arrests, issues that “spark a debate”, etc. You don’t always get to choose what you write about. The unsexy stuff (tech, business) pays better and has better hours. You might have overbearing subeditors – or none at all.

You’ll need to be fast. Onto it. Understand digital. (I never want to hear “do you use hyperlinks in your web stories?” again.). It will be to your benefit to know what CMS stands for; have a few basic Photoshop skills; have profiles on social media so that you know how those networks work, for starters. You need to exist online. It freaks me out to Google you, expecting to see clips, or at least a Twitter or LinkedIn profile, and come up empty.

It’s thankless. Not just in terms of readers, but also, the self-deprecating, self-mocking culture among us. (From what I can tell, this can be found in academia too – why do we keep doing this? There must be something wrong with us. But we keep plugging away anyway.)

Some of this applies to wannabe pro bloggers, too. I am not one of them, so I won’t speak to this for long (I’ve made a few bucks online without trying but it took me a couple of years; the hourly rate is good but spread out over all the hours I spend on blogging, would be well into the many decimal points of cents).

Again, you cannot simply write about whatever you want and expect to be able to make a living doing so off the bat. You’ll need to learn about SEO and marketing and find a niche, and it’s only getting harder from hereonin as everyone and their dog pursues the lifestyle design movement. You are relatively late to the game; you won’t be a Dooce or Tavi or Gala Darling. (But if that’s the path you want to pursue, you can do it authentically and without being a douchebag.)

If you go the freelance route? Much the same. Learn to pitch. Learn to sell yourself. Learn to market your skills. Read the blogs of those at the top of their game, because you’ll find everything you need to know there: finding outlets, utilising social media, crafting pitches, crafting letters of introduction, setting rates, choosing markets. (See the Career section in my blogroll for some awesome resources.)

I haven’t done the full-time freelancing thing, but I know people who are/have. It’s tough. Rates, at least here, haven’t changed in decades. There are fewer and fewer staff writers these days, which opens up freelance opportunities…but still. Hopefully these days there are also opportunities overseas too.

They tend to supplement writing with non-editorial work (advertorial, marketing, corporate copywriting); many have steady or semi steady/ freelance subbing gigs (it’s infinitely tougher without some regular contracts to rely on). They’re always juggling multiple assignments and looking ahead to securing the next one.

That said, we wannabe writers just keep coming. Most switch over to PR after a couple of years (I’m tempted to sit down and calculate the percentage from my graduating class, but I’ll restrain myself). A few soldier on.

Last thoughts: Like Amy Poehler says in her kickass commencement speech to those who want to follow her into acting, don’t. But if you ignore this and insist on doing so anyway, then you’re probably in the right place.

May 16, 2012

Adventures in the kitchen: The chocolate peanut butter edition

First up: Chocolate peanut butter cheesecake

I’ve actually made this twice. The first time I completely forgot about the icing. T wasn’t a fan of the rolled oats in the base, either (possibly because a few noticeable flakes escaped the punishing blades of the food processor) and thought it needed “something else”, namely the glaze. I thought it was delicious, personally. But I’m not picky.

Take 1

The second time I skipped the flour and oats, and substituted vanilla wine biscuits (the best kind). I did forget to swirl the layers together (there’s always something!) but I made the icing. I wasn’t a fan of the sour cream plus chocolate, so added some icing sugar and cream cheese into the fun.

Take 2

I won’t lie; it’s a little pricey. It’s about $10 alone for the creams and chocolate, plus all the other stuff, but hopefully you’ll have those ingredients on hand. BUT SO WORTH IT.

Original recipe found here. (Sorry about the crappy late night photos!)

Base: ¼ cup caster sugar; ¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar; 50g butter, softened; 2 heaped tbsp smooth peanut butter; 1 egg, lightly beaten; ½ cup plain flour, sifted; 2 tbsp cocoa, sifted; ½ cup rolled oats; ¼ tsp baking powder; pinch sea salt

Cheesecake: 500g cream cheese; 3 eggs; 3 egg yolks; 200g caster sugar; 125ml sour cream; 250g smooth peanut butter; 100g dark chocolate

Chocolate Glaze: 250ml sour cream; 100g dark chocolate

METHOD

Heat oven to 160°C. Line 23cm round springform tin with baking paper.

Base: Place all the ingredients for the biscuit base in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until the mixture comes together in a ball. Line base of prepared tin and bake for 15 mins. Refrigerate for a few minutes to set the base.

Cheesecake: Mix all ingredients except peanut butter and chocolate in the bowl of a food processor and blend until uber smooth. Divide mixture equally between three bowls. Mix peanut butter into one bowl until smooth. Mix melted chocolate into a second bowl of mixture.

Pour half of the remaining plain cheesecake mixture onto biscuit base. Top with peanut butter cheesecake and chocolate cheesecake. Use a bamboo skewer or small spoon to swirl the mixture through. Top with remaining plain cheesecake mixture and smooth the top.

Bake for one hour until the top of the cheesecake is just set.

Glaze: Melt cream and chocolate together and gently – very gently – pour over the cooked cheesecake and smooth it out with a palate knife or spatula. Return to oven and bake for a further 5-10 minutes.

OH SO GOOD!

Frugal factor: low. See ingredient list.

Also: no-bake chocolate peanut butter cake

This is seriously the easiest thing ever. It’s also very rich – small servings will last you a few days.

Original recipe here.

200g (7oz) whipping cream
400g (14oz) good quality chocolate (milk or dark)
200g shortbread biscuits (I actually didn’t measure this or the peanut butter – I used what looked like suitable amounts)
150g peanut butter

METHOD

Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan.

Line a loaf pan with baking paper, cling wrap or foil.

Bash or chop chocolate into small chunks and place in a bowl or jug. Add hot cream and stand for 5 minutes.

Stir cream and chocolate until smooth and well combined. Pour enough melted chocolate into the base of the cake to cover the bottom.

Place a layer of shortbread on top. Cover with peanut butter. Add another shortbread layer then drizzle the last of the chocolate over.

Refrigerate overnight.

The cream and dark chocolate mix is out of this world. It’s not too sweet and not too heavy – a divine blend of thick, rich dairy.

Frugal factor: middling. Some stuff you’ll probably need to buy.

May 14, 2012

Working from home: a mixed bag

I’m a big fan of working from home, from time to time. This is the first job I’ve had where it’s really possible, and at times, it’s rather nice. Sometimes it’s also practically a necessity when I’m on a print deadline and need to eke out time to write my features, without getting caught up with all my other daily to-dos, emails that come in and what not. And I find it much easier to concentrate on crafting longer-form pieces when I’m in my home environment.

(Also, does overreliance on email bug anyone else? I work in digital – and I hate phone calls; email in the first instance please – but I’m not always glued to a screen. I eat lunch. Sometimes I’m in meetings. Sometimes I even have to leave the office for legit work purposes. Hard to believe, I know. If it’s urgent and you haven’t heard back from me, CALL. My numbers are in my signature; pick up the phone and dial them.)

Pros:

No need to get dressed
No commute
(Hopefully) fewer interruptions – be it fire alarms, network going down, colleagues stopping by

Cons:

Using up electricity and internet data on your own dollar
Potentially MORE, different, distractions
Not having access to everything you would have in the office

I think I’m one of those people that would do really well as a telecommuter, working remotely. I don’t need people contact to stay sane (more like the opposite, in truth). I’m self-driven. I’m not in a position that requires lots of teamwork and coordination.

That said, I’m not a telecommuter. And face time with coworkers and higher-ups is important, too.

Do you ever work from home? Or do you wish you did?

May 12, 2012

Link love (Powered by the blahs, but also, ample blogspiration)

Winter has officially swept into town. Boots. Scarves. Stockings. They’re all in, and my sandals and thin cardigans are out.

This is our first winter in our current house and I can see my breath in the mornings in our bedroom. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to be damp and the kitchen gets a lovely ray of sunlight in which I bask while eating my toast. It’s quite pleasant, really.

This week’s links

On my Tumblr: Don’t be one of THOSE comms/PR people. Or we can’t be friends anymore.

Hannah Katy dishes out some tough talk on making a difference in the world.

10 reasons NOT to trust dudes with finance degrees, via Ms Career Girl.

Can you really pull yourself up by the bootstraps? 20s Finances tackles a touchy topic on the Yakezie blog.

Cassie at Digging Out and Up lists all the things she could buy if she didn’t save.

Mmmm. Lemon + blueberry + yoghurt + loaf = a recipe I must try. Via These Little Moments.

Two Degrees shares some of her personal blind spots.

Zen Habits on how to be happy. Word.

Like Cait at Stratejoy, I’ll admit to at least a partial belief in manifesting. I definitely don’t think positive thinking and visualising desired outcomes can ever be a bad thing.

May 10, 2012

On authenticity in blogging

I don’t know about you, but I make a point to only read blogs that strike a chord with me.

I don’t comment on posts merely for the sake of it.

I don’t follow everyone back on Twitter.

I curate discerningly. If we interact online, you can be assured that it’s genuine and for a reason.

I (pretty selflessly) share link love every week and share posts from around the web that I think kick ass, and there are several blogs I read and comment on that don’t reciprocate. And that’s fine. That’s not what the end game is about for me.

These are blogs I enjoy on their own merit, and it doesn’t need to be two-way for me to continue to show my appreciation (though I tend not to comment on a few of the really huge blogs, because I just don’t know if the 100th or 200th comment actually ever gets read). Likewise, I try to always visit the blogs of new commenters – but if they’re not up my alley, I simply won’t subscribe.

I’m not saying that I never participate in marketing of any form. Commenting on other blogs and interacting with you guys on social networks is part of that – but it is NOT the primary reason I do it. As I said just the other week, I blog for love (and narcissism). I was a blog reader before I was a blogger, and participating is something I genuinely enjoy; when it starts to feel too much like a chore, I lay off for a bit.

I didn’t know the first thing about blogging four years ago, and I simply did what felt natural. Turns out it also brought readers, and behold, some of y’all are downright regulars here now. A happy, accidental surprise.

Work is where I worry about traffic, referrals, comments and time spent on site. This is for self expression.

I originally joined 20SB and Yakezie and got into blog carnivals without really knowing what it was all about, because all the cool kids seemed to be doing it. I do participate in carnivals semi-regularly, and when approached to host one for the first time, took up the offer. I see them as a way to discover new blogs I might like to read, and to hopefully spotlight some of my better posts (ones I think are deserving of being shared, rather than whoring posts out blindly). This is deliberate and selective on my part. It’d be an understatement to say I’ve been sporadic about participation over the past couple years, though I’ve been more active of late. Suffice to say it’s not something that is hugely important to me; I don’t do it every week, and I definitely do not sit down to write posts with the mindset of creating something to submit to a carnival.

The blogs I love most, though? Generally, I don’t find them through networks like that. I discover them serendipitously and fall in love with them on my own. I’ve found bloggers gravitate toward networks when they’re chasing growth and monetisation rather than personal, heartfelt writing.

Getting to the point…

Even if you consider your blog a business … even if you started blogging with the sole intention of growing traffic and making money … you can still be real about it.

The best blogs rock because they have a voice. Nicole Is Better, Budgets Are Sexy, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Seth Godin, Dooce, Redhead Writing, Yes and Yes, Healthy Tipping Point, Susannah Breslin, Penelope Trunk? They all have personality, and they got big by being themselves, being honest, being authentic. Not through lame link exchanges, pleading, or threats. When I see people resorting to these tactics, I’m embarrassed for them. Business on the social web is not like business 1.0. It’s about personality, engagement and transparency – without forcing mutual backscratching.

It’s about (corniness alert) heart. It’s about being unselfish; giving before taking; being genuine in all your interactions with others. If you’re not, people will see right through you.

Worry about doing good work. Create awesome content. As Matt from the Oatmeal says: Don’t ask for likes – make things that are likable. Make stuff worth sharing. For me, it’s not always the posts I spend the most time crafting that go off. In reality (corniness alert again!) it’s my straight-from-the-heart, honest, open posts that get the most shares and most responses. For you, maybe it means writing insanely helpful tutorials or insanely funny listicles. Whatever.

I am a writer. Not a salesperson. I know I can blog organically, authentically and with integrity, attracting likeminded readers who appreciate who I am as a person and all the different interests I have. Some have stuck with me as my writing changes; some haven’t. It’s all part of the journey.

My blog continues to evolve, and I don’t know where it will end up. But however long you stay for the ride, your company is welcomed and appreciated.

May 9, 2012

The slow reading movement

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I like the idea of the slow food movement. I’ve always loved to eat. But for a long time, I revelled in my inability to cook. I think I had a twisted notion that it enhanced my uniqueness somehow, along with the fact I played electric and listened to grunge (a girl who can’t cook! And in a post-feminist world, that’s okay!).

Then I decided I loved food too much to hold back. I’ve a long way to go to catch T, who’s been watching Food TV forever and has that instinct about pairing flavours and textures and ingredients. But I’m gettin’ there.

And deliberate, conscious choices in food consumption, I think, should be celebrated and applauded. I’m still very much price-conscious, but quality is incredibly important to me, and really, who doesn’t love to spend a lazy Saturday morning at the farmer’s market?

But I digress. What I wanted to talk about was this: a slow-books manifesto.

Read books. As often as you can. Mostly classics.

(What does that sound like? Michael Pollan, you say? You’d be right. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”)

That’s a big call, I say. I reckon my literary split is about 50/50. Of course, the classics take me alot longer to plough through, so it feels more like 90/10.

Classics are hard work. I do enjoy them, most of the time. They’re demanding, yes, but often proportionately more rewarding.

But I need to break them up with lighter material that’s less taxing. There’s also the fact that the heavier material is usually more, erm, depressing. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with reading fluffier stuff at all. I didn’t personally feel any need to branch out from YA and blockbusters until a couple of years ago. Whatever your taste is, I just think it’s awesome that you are an adult reader, because too many people give up books after school.

Reading should be celebrated and encouraged (though I think the memoirs of reality stars are about as bookish as those foul fruit rollups are foodish).

How would you describe your literary tastes?

Browsing category: Uncategorized

Price no object

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