Oh Xmas Tree

I'm here at home studying before heading to school, listening to Christmas music and enjoying our tree. Did I mention we have a tree? We weren't planning on getting one this year, but then Bryn arrived at home on Sunday while I was slogging through homework with a tree and assorted trimmings. I'll admit that I was frightened by the selection of things he got. Mainly the lights. There are four different types of lights on this thing, white LEDs, colored LEDs, other colored LEDs that twinkle, and a strand of crazy starburst lotus light with glitter.

But we put it all together and it looks just fine. It may not be a designer tree, but it's the first time I've had a real tree in years and the house smells nice! Plus he bought some weird gadget for it so we have a Christmas tree with a remote control to turn the lights on and off. It looks like a keyless entry fob for a car. The only thing that would make it better is if it would "chirp" when I hit the button!

Snack Update: Belltown

Went out earlier tonight for a few drinks with a fellow interior design student (Jasmine). Even though we probably should have been studying for our History of Interior Design final tomorrow or frantically working on our final project presentations for our studio class on Wednesday, we were technically doing homework since our studio teacher had mentioned we should check out a couple of places in Belltown for our projects we are working on. Since it was the most snack-related thing I've done in a while, I figured I would report as follows:

1) Viceroy is gone. In its place is Rob Roy, which is exactly the same aside from the name. We stopped here first because Jasmine had never been and I hadn't been in years. I do adore that place. Where else can you find a padded black leather wall, velvet painting of a topless woman, and a lamp made out of some animal's hoof all in one bar? And you know what? Somehow it works. (Linda Derschang knows what she's doing.) We had a quick happy hour drink and avoided the goldfish crackers that were sitting on the coffee table nearby.

2) I really need to go back to Spur Gastropub. I had a "Gentleman's Lemonade" (Gentleman's Jack, lemons, honey) and Jasmine had a draft beer. We split the pork belly sliders. They were AMAZING. There is a really cool thing on the wall with a giant black and white picture that keeps changing images. It was upscale and casual at the same time. It was also not cheap, but they do have a promising happy hour Sunday-Thursday from 5-7 that I will have to investigate further.

3) Now I can cross Black Bottle off of the list of places I need to go. I guess it is a "gastro-tavern" which sounds awkward. Whatever. I'd noticed this place a few years ago when I lived a few blocks away and never made it in. Then I forgot about it. Tonight we finished our evening with some sort of raspberry champagne cocktails and split the most amazing lemon dessert. It was a soft and fluffy cheesecakey type of affair covered with lemon curd and sitting atop a lavender crust. Perfection!

My Very First Movie

Warning: It may take a few minutes for the video to load completely.

I've been working on it ALLLL day. In fact, class ends at 4pm and here I am still sitting in class alone at 6:30! It is for my final in Environmental Design where we have to create a "digital landscape." My very first attempt at using Flash and also Windows Movie Maker. Bryn will be very proud of me for turning to a Microsoft product in my time of need.

The quality of the images isn't the best, but I was going more for mood with the combination of imagery and sound anyhow. Took the shapes from the prints I've made this past year. I'll be projecting it on a wall or fabric or something next Friday when we all present our projects. And then I will be free, free, FREE from classes for a whole month!!! I'm so ready.

McCafe Taste Test

After writing about the coffee wars the other day, I couldn't get McCafe out of my head. Is it really a better, cheaper version of Starbucks? I had to know.

On my way down to class yesterday (we were meeting at the art museum downtown), I stopped at McDonald's for dinner. I confess that the McRib is sleazy and disgusting, but I still love it. I also grabbed a "medium mocha" since that is one of my usual coffee drinks. The verdict? Well the price was better, $2.79 compared to $3.40 at a Starbucks a block away. It also didn't have that burnt taste that Starbucks coffee drinks frequently have. But it was cloyingly sweet and tasted like it was made from corn syrup. Which it probably was.

I still don't mind their regular coffee, but perhaps next time I should just try a $1.99 latte. On the mocha front, I'd have to say they failed.

Xmas Shopping Made Easier

Are you finding it difficult to find the "perfect" gift for that "hard-to-shop-for" friend or family member? Here are a few suggestions:

If they live in Indiana you can always get them a nice gift voucher for Planned Parenthood. Now you can rest easy, knowing that their insolvency won't keep them from having access to sound family planning care.

Not living in Indiana? Well how about a lovely fetus cookie cutter? Don't worry about touching off political arguments, because it can be used for pro-life OR pro-choice purposes and is sure to provide hours of delight and indignance!

For the person who has everything, there's always a fully-loaded Four Seasons gift card? They'll have $100,000 to use toward luxury hotel stays, and you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you've probably given them the their most expensive gifts ever.

Do you know somebody who desperately needs a daily coffee fix? How about buying them a Starbucks Gold membership? (Note: this gift is perfect for "people who really love Starbucks.") It'll save them 10% off most of their drink purchases, includes a free birthday drink, and 2 hours of WiFi a day in selected locations. So it is your standard exclusive-seeming membership rewards program. No curbside valet parking. But you get the cache of carrying another "gold" card in your wallet. And if $25 is still too high for your budget, consider a grocery store rewards card as the gift that keeps on giving.

Lastly, are you tired of the big red bow that Lexus slaps on all of its cars in commercials every holiday season? Do you prefer German engineering to Japanese precision? Then consider giving a BMW this year instead. The Neiman Marcus Christmas Book has the perfect option on page 81, a NM Limited-Edition 2009 BMW Individual 7 Series Sedan. Only $160,000! And that price includes a trip to the BMW plant in Germany to "meet your new BMW and the engineers and designers who helped create it." In fact, I think that one of the fully-loaded Four Seasons gift cards would be a perfect stocking stuffer accent to go along with this gift!

Unsnobby Coffee?

So I got home and had to run to the library across the street to do some stuff online really quick. Hence, another post!

On the way home I noticed a billboard for McCafe stating: "Large is the new grande." I was unaware that this billboard was actually part of the McDonald's/Starbucks coffee wars that apparently took place this past spring until I went online to look for an image of it. This search led me to many things, among them the McDonald's site for Unsnobby Coffee that, although amusing, is highly unlikely to convert diehard Starbucks fans. Among its features is a MadLibs-style letter that you can send to friends (see picture above) to help convince them to kick their snooty coffee addictions in favor of a less-expensive coffee addiction.

Whether or not the billboard I saw was a new attack or a remnant, I thought it seemed timely considering the current economic climate. For instance, right before I came to the library, Bryn asked me if I would go pick him up a coffee (quad-vanilla-latte). I declined, citing the state of both of our bank accounts and the availability of decent coffee beans and a french press in our kitchen. If we're on a tighter budget this December, spending almost five bucks--after tax and tip--for a latte doesn't seem like the best idea. And this applies to Vivace (our personal favorite where espresso is a hand-crafted culinary art) as well as Starbucks (consistent but mediocre espresso made by automated machines).

I don't know that I'll ever find myself seeking out a McDonald's for an espresso fix, but I must admit that in my few experiences their regular coffee is inexpensive and of decent quality. (And it came out on top in Consumer Reports taste tests.) If there was a convenient McDonald's and I was a daily latte junkie, I would probably consider switching.

The Wisdom of Issy Sharp

My internet connection at home has been (I assume temporarily) interrupted, meaning that I am suffering from chronic internet withdrawal syndrome. Bryn has fixed it enough that his computer is connected, but so far the network remains down and he is crafty enough that he types on a Dvorak keyboard so I can't even use his computer either.

While I am posting at school though, I thought I would put up a quote that I heard in a video at a training I attended this week. I should also mention that this saying wasn't just from some blandly corporate training video, but from an award-acceptance speech given by the founder and CEO of a highly-respected international corporation.

Trust is the emotional capital of a company.

I found this significant because I can apply it to places of work I've been in previously, to situations I find myself in currently, and to where I see myself in the future professionally. It speaks to a disparity I see in many current business models where there is a lack of follow-through between what is presented to its target audience (public consumers) and what is actually carried out behind closed doors.

What I liked about it most was that it focuses the attention on what is really important. The people. A business generally has both employees and clients; both of these groups are integral to its success. And this idea of trust as emotional capital extends beyond the client/business relationship to the employer/employee relationship as well. In a corporation, having trust flow from the top down seems like a natural way to encourage a healthy and enjoyable work environment, which results in higher profits and the flow of trust back up the corporate ladder. It creates a stronger company that can more easily work in unison toward a common goal.

When it comes down to it, a business is really about transactions between people. The transaction can be for goods or for services, it can be based in the physical world or in the realm of abstract ideas, but it still is carried out through human interactions. I repeat, human interactions. Not money. And not things.

I don't believe there is any business out there that is perfect all of the time. But I do believe that there are businesses that strive for higher levels of integrity than most. This is what Isadore Sharp was talking about with trust as a business's "emotional capital," and also when he deflects comments about him being a "self-made" man as not telling the whole story. This is the direction I want to head in professionally. Knowing that I'm not willing to compromise my integrity or the quality of work I produce just to save a buck or close a sale.

(And for the record, since my blog may still be under some sort of surveillance, I'm also going to state that this post is not any sort of thinly-veiled attack on Julep Nail Parlor. While what I'm talking about here can certainly be applied to my experiences there--and my experiences there certainly have influenced the way I see and interpret issues like this--I'm more interested in looking at what business ethics mean on a much larger scale. And then to use these types of ideological explorations to formulate my own set of business principles.)