Introducing … Lady Camping!

Dear reader,

As some of you may know (or may have guessed, based on the fact that I wear an inordinate amount or gore-tex), I am a fan of camping. I like camping in the rain, in snow, and also in comfort, when it’s available. I camp surrounded by good food, good books and nice wine, but the most important thing to me is camping with great friends.

My female friends make for particularly entertaining camping mates, due to heightened creative instincts, coupled with a lack of some basic camping skills, and a habit of bringing an abundance of People magazines, but perhaps, no tent. Just as an example. No matter what our shortcomings are as campers, we make up for them with innovative new cocktails (boozy cowgirl coffee, anyone?), giant meals cooked on (scarily) open flames, and the most stylish and functional camping attire around, complete with plastic grocery bag over-coats.

So: This weekend I am embarking unpon my second all-female camping excursion, and to celebrate and document the occasion, I am launching my new website, ladycamping.com… I will do my best to bring you stories, tips and adventures from my motley crew of outdoorswomen, but I also invite you to join me. Take your girlfriends camping. See what happens. Then write about it, take pictures or video, and send it all my way. Contributors welcome!

Yay for Lady Camping!

Introducing… Student Life!

Lady Clue was recently accepted to grad school, and will be officially starting an MA in September. This is exciting news, and also a bit scary. 10 years after a BA, I am going back from more formal learnin’! … and a free bus pass, which is a major perk, I won’t lie to you.

Because I am a grownup with a mortgage and a job I love, I am planning to do my school part-time while working full-time. Have any of my readers (all 3 of you!) attempted such a thing, or know someone who has? Got any advice?

Introducing… the Kitchen Library

Dear Reader,

Do you ever get tired of running to the computer several times over the course of preparing one focaccia recipe to check – again – how many teaspoons of salt it called for? (hint: the answer was one, no matter how much you like salt.) Do you get annoyed having to flip between open tabs in your browser’s window because you were checking out a conversion chart for grams to tablespoons (hint: they don’t convert), plus trying to review the proper method to proof yeast (warm not hot, add sugar), and also keeping the bread-baking tunes pumping with a quick youtube playlist? Yes, reader. The innevitable result is crusty dough on your keyboard, a trail of flour leading to your computer, to the liquor cabinet, the TV remote, and eventually to your cat because she was being cute and you had to pet her and – oh! I should get a fire going for you my little meow-y lady love, and … what was I doing just then? Oh right! That youtube playlist! I wonder if I can find that awesome tune from the grade five dance parties. Okay for real, why is there dough everywhere? And what is that burning smell?

Well, dear reader, may I introduce to you… the Kitchen Library. Stock your kitchen shelf with cookbooks, and refer to them everyonce in a while, instead of running for the internet every time.*

You are welcome.

* By all means, keep referring to those idiotic reader-submitted recipes if you love the helpful reviews with such thoughtful feedback as: ” I tried this but doubled the water, omitted the spices, baked it 50 degrees hotter and swapped in [insert food item] instead of [insert completely unrelated food item]. It didn’t work at all. What a stupid recipe! 0 stars out of five.”

Introducing… the Valentine’s Day poking stick

It’s not just any day. February 14 is THE DAY to create a frilly but mostly useless expression of your inappropriate sentiments for your co-workers and acquaintances. If you are in a relationship you might even want to make something that doubles as a hair pin, or a weapon. Get crafty this year, dear reader.

Grab the skewers from your barbecue-supply drawer, dust off your glue gun, and treat yourself to the paper doilies from Michael’s. At 1.69, there is no cheaper way to say, Hey World, remember me? I am the single lady who made gluten-free cupakes for the entire office this year, individualized, frosted and decorated. And also planted freaking decorative LOVE FLAGS in them. Yep, I’m the one. THE ONE.

STEP ONE: BE AWESOME. MAKE LOVE FLAGS.

Valentine's Day Pokers

DONE.

Happy Love Day, dear reader. Maybe if you’re not doing anything later, you could come over… BYO frosting.

Introducing… The Modern Major Generalist

Okay, I’ll start.

I’ll start with a brief quote that inspires me, from Robert Heinlein. The quote appears before the Foreword of the 2nd Edition of Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training (a particularly awesome tome I shall return to for comment at another time), and I have tirelessly retyped it for you here:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

This philosophy makes me feel happy, and also inspired to work on all of the skills I don’t practice for income, but for pleasure. I hope you take something from it too; If nothing else, let it remind you of all the important trades, crafts and abilities in our fellows. For instance, if you are over 50, hug a computer programmer today! And everyone, hug your main order-giver, or hog-butcherer, or ship-conner, because you probably can’t do it all yourself.

Yours for now,

Lady Clue