tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378862482024-03-14T05:51:20.793-07:00Casual KitchenCook More. Think More. Spend Less.Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.comBlogger1467125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-47107351295081023522019-08-27T03:11:00.000-07:002019-08-27T03:11:03.670-07:00Winding It Down: Update for Casual Kitchen ReadersThis is just a quick note to readers to let you all know that I'll be publishing a lot less frequently here at Casual Kitchen as I start up work on some other projects. <br />
<br />
There's a few more things I'd still like to do here: strip down and simplify the layout, organize a guide for readers new to the site, put together a longer-form work based on some of Casual Kitchen's key topics, fix the ad units so I can monetize the site a little less incompetently, and so on. <br />
<br />
But after more than ten years, 3.3 million pageviews (and counting) and well over a thousand articles, I'm (finally!) running out of things to say here. It's time to let this project go... and start something else. <br />
<br />
Casual Kitchen has been a really fun writing project, one that exceeded anything I ever, ever expected. I hope readers have learned a few things over the course of this blog's life; I know I have by writing it. <br />
<br />
Let me thank you, readers, for your all your support and interest!<br />
<br />
--Dan<br />
<br />
************************<br />
You can support Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-25144162217306570572019-08-20T03:11:00.000-07:002019-08-20T03:11:01.309-07:00My Ego Doesn’t Want to Hear It. Why?<i>"You're going to want to 'peel' your feet up off the pavement more. And then lay them back down with a mid-sole strike. It'll help you make more of a circular motion with your legs as you run."</i><br />
<br />
This was Laura, helping correct my running form, and quoting directly from <a href="https://amzn.to/31z2R7n" target="_blank"><b>Danny Dreyer's excellent book Chi Running</b></a>. Which, oddly enough, I had <i>her</i> read years ago to improve <i>her</i> running form. Hmm.<br />
<br />
I had a negative reaction to this comment, even considering it (wrongly, as we will soon see) vaguely condescending. <br />
<br />
My reaction was nothing more than my ego attempting to "protect" me. And what I'd like to do in today's post is explore how dangerous our egos can be when they defensively and aggressively overprotect us.<br />
<br />
I'll start by considering reality from my ego's deeply insecure point of view. Assume for the moment that my ego was 100% correct in its worst-case interpretation of Laura's comment: that Laura's intention was to lord over me how terrible my running form was, and by implicit comparison how amazingly <i>perfect</i> her form is. Her comment was intended to condescend and to indicate superiority.<br />
<br />
Yes, I know this sounds ridiculous already (<i>I mean, jeez, who wants to go through life automatically assuming such negative intent in everything said around you?</i> <b>[1]</b>), but bear with me. <br />
<br />
Now, we're both reasonably intelligent people who try to be "meta" about a conversation while we're in it. We're both mostly aware that it pays to say things in such a way that the other people understands the point you're trying to make. Likewise, we also try to be aware that the other person has "intentionality" in what he or she says too. In other words: I can generally assume if something is important enough for Laura to say, there's most likely a decent reason for her to bother to say it.<br />
<br />
Otherwise, I've chosen to marry somebody who blithers at me for no discernible reason, something I <i>really</i> don't want to be true.<br />
<br />
Once you start considering the <i>real</i> purpose of a conversation about running form (instead of your ego's insecure and false assumptions about that purpose), and once you ruminate a little bit about why somebody might offer a suggestion about something they noticed about your form, you start to see how important intentionality is, and likewise how important it is to assume positive intent in what others say to you. <br />
<br />
Let's go back to my ego for a second, and return to my ego's negative interpretation of Laura's statement. My ego arrived at this negative interpretation in a split second, without any real consideration of Laura's intentions. The only thing it "considered" was the idea that I was likely being insulted somehow. Thus my ego reacted in order to protect itself from a potential ego injury... and this ended up preventing me from improving my running form, by insta-rejecting an excellent idea <i>from a book I already knew and totally agreed with.</i><br />
<br />
Thanks ego! Thanks a lot. <br />
<br />
If you can believe it, it gets even worse: our ego protection reaction, if it's habitual, will condition our psychological environment (including those people unfortunate enough to be in it) <i>to never offer us any helpful suggestions.</i> Think about it: if I were to react this way to every idea or suggestion Laura ever makes, eventually she'll stop bothering to try and help me.<br />
<br />
A disturbing way to look at this is to conclude that <i>the more reactant your ego, the more your life will be bereft of help in all forms. </i><br />
<br />
Yes, you and I both know the truism about never giving unsolicited advice. But at the same time, helpful suggestions exist only if they manifest in other peoples' minds, and those helpful ideas and suggestions appear in other's minds when they appear, not necessarily when we want them to appear. Thus we have to be ready for this "help" on other peoples' schedule, not on our own. <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-teacher-was-already-there-all-along.html" target="_blank"><b>It's just like being consistently ready in case a teacher appears</b></a>. <br />
<br />
There's yet another aspect of our ego protection reflex that's just as pernicious. Consider an example I read recently about <a href="https://twitter.com/financequant/status/1157353591482572807" target="_blank"><b>trees in a biosphere project</b></a>. Scientists couldn't understand why all the trees inside of the biosphere kept falling over before they matured. Well, it turns out that if you're a tree inside a biosphere, you never get exposed to wind. Wind is a type of stressor, and trees exposed to wind as they mature become far stronger and resilient. <b>[2] </b><br />
<br />
Essentially, our egos want to keep us in a biosphere, where we never face any wind. Our egos presume negative intent, they presume insult and condescension, and they do so instantly, reflexively. If all we do is reflexively ego-protect, all we'll end up with is a fragile, brittle, easy-to-injure psyche. <br />
<br />
So I started peeling up my feet. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=casukitc-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1416549447&asins=1416549447&linkId=b1b2cf3f2b875534322a731854c4f08b&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Footnotes: </b><br />
<b>[1]</b> One useful heuristic to use at all times when interacting with others: <i>do not automatically <a href="https://youtu.be/KBCcDrG2NjM" target="_blank"><b>presume negative intent</b></a> in the things other people say.</i><br />
<br />
<b>[2]</b> A fancy word for this is <i>hormesis,</i> or <i>hormetic response.</i> The tree's hormetic response to wind strengthens it over time. For further reading on the human body's hormetic response to running and how even <i>running shoes</i> intefere with hormesis, see also <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/11/what-barefoot-running-taught-us-about.html" target="_blank"><b>What Barefoot Running Taught Us About Expensive Sneakers (And What Nike and Others Really Don't Want You To Know)</b></a><br />
<br />
<br />
*****************<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-90804773906015370542019-08-13T03:11:00.000-07:002019-08-13T03:11:03.272-07:00Why Are Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes Obsessed with Looking Like Meat-Based Meals?Why do so many vegan or vegetarian recipes try to look like meat-based meals? <br />
<br />
Here's a textbook example of what I mean, a <a href="https://youtu.be/XjuihUDdEWA" target="_blank"><b>vegan deviled eggs recipe</b></a>. This recipe is totally vegan, with no animal products used at all, <i>but it is designed to look exactly like a non-vegan food. </i><br />
<br />
In other words, it's supposed to be a simulacrum of a food a vegan wouldn't eat. <br />
<br />
Now, my goal isn't to criticize this person's recipe per se. <b>[1]</b> What I want to do is get at a more central problem endemic to vegan and vegetarian cuisine. Which is: <br />
<br />
<b>With so many great vegan and vegetarian recipes out there, what is the benefit of making facsimiles of the very foods you would never eat in the first place? </b><br />
<br />
Remember, here at Casual Kitchen we are not vegan or vegetarian, but we often eat vegan or vegetarian meals, and <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-top-25-laughably-cheap-recipes-at.html" target="_blank"><b>we feature dozens and dozens of easy, healthy and laughably cheap vegan and vegetarian recipes here at this blog</b></a>. <br />
<br />
But imagine a rabid meat eater who didn't know any better. To her, it would seem as if vegan and vegetarian cooking has an insecurity complex. A form of penis envy even. It's as if vegan/vegetarian cooking somehow is all worried that it isn't "real" food, so in order to compensate, it has to somehow imitate or resemble non-vegetarian food. <br />
<br />
And so, we are presented with processed pseudo-foods like tofu scramble, vegetarian hotdogs, or my personal favorite: tofurkey. It all suggests that unless a meal looks or seems like meat it can't be taken seriously as a meal. <br />
<br />
We all know that this could not be further from the truth. Vegans and vegetarians have no reason to be insecure--much less have penis envy--about what and how they eat. So why the imitative food simulacra? Why so many processed pseudo-foods when there are so many amazing vegan and vegetarian recipes already out there? <br />
<br />
<b>Readers, what do you think? </b><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>READ NEXT:</b> <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/06/casual-kitchens-core-principles-2.html" target="_blank"><b>Casual Kitchen's Core Principles: #2: Embrace Low-Meat Cooking</b></a><br />
<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>Footnote:</b><br />
<b>[1]</b> That said, I can't say I'm appetized by egg whites made of agar agar, which then require a dose of black pepper to mask the taste. This is pure pseudo-food.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-49163312283205261722019-08-06T03:11:00.001-07:002019-08-06T03:11:03.351-07:00A Sucker Born Every Minute in the Spice Aisle Everybody knows the famous quote from P.T. Barnum: "There's a sucker born every minute." <br />
<br />
I'm one of those suckers.<br />
<br />
The other day Laura <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/05/recipe-chicken-with-potatoes.html" target="_blank"><b>was making a recipe from her Indian cookbook</b></a> and she asked if I'd like her to grind up some extra coriander. "We should never buy ground coriander at the grocery store any more. We have a lifetime supply right here." She reached into her big secret bag of Indian spices and pulled out two packages of coriander seeds, 600 grams in total (about 21 ounces), which, <i>together,</i> cost about $4.50. <br />
<br />
Needless to say these coriander seeds were not purchased in the grocery store spice aisle--as Casual Kitchen readers know, <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-spices-are-complete-rip-off-and.html" target="_blank"><b>the grocery store spice aisle is a corporate conspiracy</b></a> that exists for no reason other than take willingly captive and credulous consumers and rudely separate them from their money. Laura long ago got smart: she buys all her spices at an Indian grocer. <br />
<br />
We also have a little $18 spice grinder, and Laura used it to grind up enough whole coriander seeds to fill a just-emptied 1.25 ounce jar of McCormick ground coriander. It took two minutes. <br />
<br />
Okay. Let's do some math and find out how much of a sucker I've been by buying ground coriander in a standard grocery store--in total contravention of my very own recommendations here at this blog.<br />
<br />
* At our grocery store, it costs $7.99 to buy that 1.25 ounce jar of ground coriander.<b>[1] </b><br />
* Laura's 21 ounces of whole coriander seeds = 16.8 x 1.25 ounce jars. <br />
* 16.8 jars of grocery store ground coriander at $7.99 per 1.25 ounce jar = $134.23.<br />
<br />
In other words, Laura paid $4.50 for spices that would cost $134 in the grocery store. <br />
<br />
And here comes the part about me being a sucker. I was paying a markup of more than 2,900.00% for a spice. (!!!!!) [math: 134.23 / 4.50 = 29.88 or 2,988%]<br />
<br />
I get queasy just thinking about it. <br />
<br />
Stay out of the grocery store spice aisle. It's an oligopoly designed to overcharge you. And they do it because they can.<br />
<br />
Instead, find another source away from this totally non-competitive market environment, like a local ethnic food market. And if you can buy your spices in whole form, all the better: they'll be cheaper still and they'll last forever.<b>[2]</b><br />
<br />
My example of spice industry exploitation is interesting to me (uh, and hopefully to you too, dear readers), because it basically involves me acting out of convenience while not thinking. However, another consumer might easily argue, "Heck, does the eight bucks I wasted on 1.25 ounces of coriander really matter? Really? What's the big deal?" <br />
<br />
Well, on one level, it's <i>not</i> a big deal. It's only eight bucks. But then again, doing things on a small level trains you for detecting and avoiding exploitation on a much larger level. Furthermore, it trains us in the healthy exercise of throwing creativity--rather than money--at a problem.<br />
<br />
And even on this small level it isn't really that small: there's enough value in Laura's $4.50 worth of whole coriander seeds to pay for <i>six spice grinders,</i> which we could use to grind up any other whole spices we might purchase, which will help us <i>further</i> escape the clutches of the spice cabal.<br />
<br />
Back to P.T. Barnum's quote about suckers. Everybody knows this quote, but rarely do people enjoy finding out that <i>they're</i> the sucker. That phrase is always for somebody else. Right? Which is why it's always painful to figure out that you've been a sucker who's been getting needlessly separated from your money, for years, for no real reason. Easier just to argue that it's only eight bucks, and eight bucks doesn't really make a difference. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>READ NEXT:</b> <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/03/whats-your-favorite-consumer.html" target="_blank"><b>What's Your Favorite Consumer Empowerment Tip?</b></a><br />
<b>And:</b> <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/05/recipe-saag-murgh-chicken-with-spinach.html" target="_blank"><b>Recipe: Saag Murgh (Chicken with Spinach)</b></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Footnotes: </b><br />
<b>[1]</b> This 1.25 ounce jar of ground coriander used to cost $6.99, but in recent years McCormick has <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/09/is-organic-food-healthier-or-just.html" target="_blank"><b>jumped on the organic bandwagon</b></a>, and so they've added both the magic word “organic” and another dollar of price premium to their already overpriced product. Lovely.<br />
<br />
<b>[2]</b> <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/04/on-spice-fade-and-utter-insanity-of.html" target="_blank"><b>Another scam about spices is the idea that they "fade" over time</b></a> and thus need to be thrown out every so often. In some places you will even see recommendations to throw out "old" spices after as little as six months, something that is scandalously, criminally false. Of course the spice industry would <i>love</i> for you to throw out and re-buy all your spices every six months. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-43223848472737233492019-07-30T03:11:00.004-07:002021-04-12T12:58:36.716-07:00How Martha Stewart's Brand Lost Its MojoGrant McCracken, an anthropologist and an insightful commentator on modernity, <a href="https://medium.com/@grant27/martha-stewart-the-old-guard-departs-6fa93780ab6b" target="_blank"><b>offered an intriguing quote recently about Martha Stewart</b></a>:<br />
<br />
<i>"She's the mistress of the semiotic codes dear to the upwardly aspirational middle class… Martha's semiotics were powerful. Fresh flowers. Fresh linens. Fresh colors. And an embargo on all things unsophisticated and déclassé."</i><br />
<br />
To anyone who lived through the 1990s, this quote captures Martha Stewart's brand perfectly. <br />
<br />
Except that things change. Eras and generations change. And Martha's brand, at least in that form, simply doesn't click with the Millennial generation. Millennials don't even want to buy <i>homes,</i> much less fill them with fresh linens and flowers. They don't bake. Or read magazines. <br />
<br />
But the companies out there selling to us need to keep brands like these alive, alive for as long as they can. This is done by "repositioning" and "staying relevant," both repulsive marketing terms that, to me at least, merely serve to underscore the rampant cynicism infesting the world of branding and consumer products.<br />
<br />
As an example: Do you remember Emeril? Remember him and his show, his <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/06/cooking-like-stars-dont-waste-your.html" target="_blank"><b>celebrity cookbooks and celebrity-branded cookware</b></a>? Do you remember "<a href="https://youtu.be/8dxpMxULHnA" target="_blank"><b>Bam!</b></a>"? Martha Stewart's company bought the entire Emeril brand, back in 2008, in a failed effort to stay relevant. Once upon a time <i>Bam!</i> was cool. It helped sell a lot of overpriced cookware. Now nobody remembers.<br />
<br />
So how does "Martha Stewart" (as a brand) stay relevant, now that civilization has thankfully moved on from mansions, fresh linens and other pretensions of a lost, pre-financial crisis era? How does Martha sell--and more importantly, <i>what</i> does she sell--to a generation <i>that doesn't even cook? </i><br />
<br />
Back to the cynical parlance of modern media: Martha will "pivot." She'll attach her trusted name to a food delivery service.<b>[1]</b> She will "reposition" her brand by getting on the marijuana bandwagon, doing a bunch of campy skits with Snoop Dogg to sell you trendy cannabis products. All of which will make her "relevant" to today's consumers. <br />
<br />
In other words, she'll do anything, <i>literally anything,</i> to sell to you.<br />
<br />
Doesn't it make you feel like a sucker, having stuff like this force-fed to you? Do you enjoy being encouraged to chase one branded aspirational lifestyle in one era--only later still to see it replaced by another new, "more relevant" branded aspirational lifestyle in a later era, just so you can chase that too?<br />
<br />
The whole thing feels like an extended elaborate joke, played on three generations of consumers.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Timeline of Martha Stewart, her brand, and her companies: </b><br />
<b>1999:</b> Martha Stewart IPOs her company, market value reaches $1.8b<br />
<b>2003-4:</b> Stewart indicted, convicted and jailed for lying under oath and obstruction of justice in connection with a suspicious sale of shares of Imclone stock, one day before Imclone collapsed in value (due to failing to receive FDA approval for the drug Erbitux). <br />
<b>2005:</b> Martha's comeback: Stewart is released from prison, and over the next few years, her company announces deals to sell Martha Stewart-branded merchandise at Kmart, Macy's and JCPenney, all of which devolve into lawsuits. Later she announces deals to sell merchandise through Petsmart, Michaels and Home Depot. <br />
<b>2011:</b> After serving a five year ban from public markets as part of her conviction settlement with Federal regulators, Martha Stewart rejoins her namesake company's board of directors. <br />
<b>2015:</b> After years of declining ad sales, declining branding revenue and declining circulation of her various publications, Martha Stewart Omnimedia is sold to Sequential Brands [ticker: SQBG] for $350m.<br />
<b>2019:</b> Sequential Brands, collapsing under a mountain of debt, firesales Martha Stewart's brand, as well as the Emeril Legasse brand, for a mere $175 million, <b>[2]</b> less than half what they paid for it just four years earlier, and less than <i>one-tenth</i> of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's peak valuation. Sequential Brands now trades at penny-stock levels, at approximately 50c a share. <br />
<b>2019:</b> Martha Stewart announces a deal with Canopy Growth Company, a Canada-based cannabis company, to market a line of cannabis supplements and other pot-infused wellness products for pets.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Footnotes:</b><br />
<b>[1]</b> It's hard not to notice the rich irony of Martha Stewart's meal delivery service brand using the slogan <i>"recipes from America's most trusted home cook."</i> As if calling your meal delivery service "home cooking" actually makes it so.<br />
<br />
<b>[2]</b> Get ready: <a href="http://www.marqueebrands.com/" target="_blank"><b>now yet another company</b></a> will likely be ramming a pivoted and repositioned Martha and Emeril in our faces all over again.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>READ NEXT:</b> <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/01/aspirational-marketing-and-unintended.html" target="_blank"><b>Aspirational Marketing and the Unintended Irony of Pabst Beer</b></a><br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-73953622473281662112019-07-23T03:11:00.005-07:002022-03-24T06:01:10.150-07:00DisplacementWhen you buy something, you aren't just buying that something. Buying a TV isn't just buying a TV. <br />
<br />
It's buying a device that may suck up as much as two months' worth of time <i>per year</i> from your life (yes, on average, people watch that much TV). Further, watching TV actually makes us less happy. <br />
<br />
In other words, "buying a TV" is really displacing about 15-20% of your time, and likely displacing an equivalent amount of your happiness. <br />
<br />
If you knew that gleaming new TV you were about to buy would actually provide anti-time, anti-enjoyment and anti-happiness, would that change anything? <br />
<br />
Let's say you buy one of those meal prep/meal delivery services like Blue Apron or HelloFresh. The benefits (as they are presented to you) are clear and concrete: you'll save time, you won't have to cook, your life will be easier. This is why these services appear worth buying.<br />
<br />
But what might this service displace?<br />
<br />
It will displace the practice of a <i>basic life skill</i> that, over time, could become increasingly easy for you through use--<i>or increasingly difficult through disuse</i>. It will also displace the act of building efficient grocery shopping skills, yet another basic life skill that gets gradually easier and easier over time. It displaces healthy social activities centered around the practice of cooking. And this is to say nothing about the displacement of all the other things you could do with the money you've spent. <br />
<br />
You can certainly drive yourself crazy overthinking this, but it doesn't change the fact that all of our purchases (really, <i>all</i> of our acts and <i>all</i> of our decisions) displace something else that we could otherwise do.<br />
<br />
And in the heat of the buying moment it's nearly impossible to focus on the abstract idea of "what a purchase will displace." But because it tends to put the brakes on spending actions, I believe <i>thinking about this idea</i> could be a useful frugality tool to have handy when making any purchase. <div><br /></div><div>Of course, it goes without saying that the companies selling these items or these services to you <i>do not want you to think about this at all.</i> They want you focused on the easy-to-visualize realm of apparent benefits--benefits that they shape and present to you in order to get you to buy. They don't want you in the abstract realm of displaced activities and displaced happiness.<br />
<br />
With all this in mind, I've created a mini-checklist of pre-purchase questions you can ask yourself to help you focus on what that purchase will displace:<br />
<br />
<b>1) Am I being humble about the results of this purchase? What incorrect assumptions might I be making about how I'll use (or mis-use) this product or service? </b><br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>2) Unintended consequences will undoubtedly result from this purchase. Have I considered them? What might they be?</b><br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>3) Should I hold off on this purchase to think through questions 1 and 2 a bit more? </b><br />
<br />
Readers, what would you add?<br />
<br />
<br />
See the intelligent and useful book <a href="https://amzn.to/2xd2Okl" target="_blank"><b>Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending</b></a> by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton for related ideas on this topic.<br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Money-Science-Happier-Spending-ebook/dp/B008J4L17K/ref=as_li_ss_il?crid=10JN599MZSDN5&keywords=happy+money&qid=1561470213&s=books&sprefix=happy+money,aps,348&sr=1-3&linkCode=li2&tag=casukitc-20&linkId=030dd4148518f460a0d4dee3c840884e&language=en_US" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B008J4L17K&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=casukitc-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=casukitc-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=B008J4L17K" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-5899899193292897282019-07-16T03:11:00.000-07:002019-07-18T10:04:33.698-07:00Planting the Tree Today<i>I'm back. Thanks, readers, for indulging me while I took a little time off from writing. </i><br />
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<br />
I've been thinking about this quote a lot recently: <br />
<br />
<b><i>The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. </i></b><br />
<b><i>The next best time to plant a tree is now. </i></b><br />
<br />
Unfortunately, I've been agonizing lately over why I didn't start doing certain things earlier in life. I wish, for example, that I had begun <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2018/06/compounding.html" target="_blank"><b>compound lifting</b></a> much, <i>much</i> earlier in my life. My body (at its current age) just doesn't respond all that well to heavy workouts. It takes me days to recover, and after a good workout of deadlifts, squats, pullups and bench presses, I am <i>wiped.</i> Wiped out for the rest of the day. I wish I were fitter and more robust than I am, despite all the effort I put into my fitness. <br />
<br />
Sure, there are solutions here. I can do lighter, milder, maintenance-type workouts. I usually feel good after workouts of that level of intensity. But then I'll just be in maintenance mode. That's fine, but in maintenance mode I won't be getting stronger, I won't be growing. <br />
<br />
This is one of those examples where I think to myself, <i>"shit, if I had just planted this compound lifting 'tree' twenty years ago, I'd have a real tree now. I'd be much more adapted to lifting at a level that I'd be satisfied with."</i> But I can't go back to twenty years ago and plant that compound lifting tree. I can only plant it today. (Well, technically, I planted it a few years ago, but still.)<br />
<br />
I can come up with lots of other examples, sadly: I wish I had taken up drawing or painting earlier in life. I wish I had learned to surf earlier. I wish I had taken up language learning wayyyy earlier--like back when I was still a teenager.<br />
<br />
And then, I recall a conversation with a friend of mine who's then-partner told her, "It's too late for me to get started on retirement. I'm too old now to bother to save money." He was just thirty-seven at the time.<br />
<br />
Now, let's take a moment and notice the circular logic and self-defeatism of giving up on doing something simply because it's possible you could have started earlier. This should resonate with anyone embracing YMOYL, <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2018/03/dont-want-it-also-on-value-of-re.html" target="_blank"><b>early retirement</b></a> or any of <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/10/saving-money-on-food.html" target="_blank"><b>the frugality strategies discussed thoughout Casual Kitchen</b></a>. If your first thought is "it's too late for me" then nothing can ever be worth doing. Tough to go through life like that. <br />
<br />
And so here, readers, is where I confess my hypocrisy to you. The complaint about not starting to save money earlier and <i>my</i> complaint about not starting lifting earlier <i>are identical!</i> They are the same. <br />
<br />
Of course it's always easier to see flaws and hypocrisies in others than in ourselves, isn't it?<br />
<br />
So there's my problem and my challenge--and yours too, if you struggle with the "it's too late" issue anywhere in your life: <i>Get over yourself and plant the tree.</i> Now. <br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>READ NEXT:</b> <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2018/03/good-games.html" target="_blank"><b>Good Games</b></a><br />
<b>AND:</b> <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/02/your-money-or-your-life-full-archive.html" target="_blank"><b>YMOYL: The Full Companion Guide Archive</b></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-81119474592639484592019-07-09T03:11:00.000-07:002019-07-09T03:11:01.006-07:00[Links] A Recession-Proof Guide to Saving Money on Food<i>Readers, I'm still doing some traveling, so please enjoy this post from Casual Kitchen's archives--one of the most popular posts from the early years of this blog.</i><br />
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<br />
Here at Casual Kitchen I spend a lot of time writing and thinking about ways to save money on food, and today I thought it would be a great time to run a retrospective of some of our best and most read articles on the subject.<br />
<br />
Feel free to peruse the links below for posts on how to cook more efficiently at home, ideas on how to eat well on very little money, and other articles on how to save money in the kitchen.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Recipe Ideas:<br />
</span><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/laughablycheap" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">All CK Recipes Filed Under "Laughably Cheap"</a><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
Money-saving Tips and Ideas: </span><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/ten-tips-to-save-money-on-spices-and.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Ten Tips to Save Money on Spices and Seasonings</a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/05/simple-way-to-beat-rising-food-prices.html"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">A Simple Way to Beat Rising Food Prices</span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><br />
</span><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2006/12/mastering-kitchen-setup-costs.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Mastering Kitchen Setup Costs</a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2006/12/eight-tips-to-make-cooking-at-home.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Eight Tips to Make Cooking At Home Laughably Cheap</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/03/exploit-your-cookbooks-april-is.html">How to Get More Mileage Out of Your Cookbooks</a><br />
</span><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/05/limping-dinner-spicy-brown-rice.html"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"></span></a><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Longer Essays on Food Costs: </span><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/08/stacked-costs-and-second-order-foods.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Stacked Costs and Second-Order Foods: A New Way to Think About Rising Food Costs</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><br />
</span><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-spices-are-complete-rip-off-and.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Why Spices Are a Complete Rip-Off and What You Can Do About It</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Tips on Saving Money while Eating Healthy:</span><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/07/whats-most-heavily-used-tool-in-our.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">What's the Most Heavily Used Tool in Our Kitchen? Our Rice Cooker.</a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-make-your-own-inexpensive.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">How to Make Your Own Inexpensive Sports Drink</a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-create-your-own-original-pasta.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">How to Create Your Own Original Pasta Salad Recipes Using the Pasta Salad Permutator</a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/01/two-useful-cooking-lessons-from.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Two Useful Cooking Lessons From Another Cheap and Easy Side Dish</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/11/fresh-herbs-part-2-solutions-to-waste.html">Fresh Herbs Part 2: Solutions to the Waste Problem</a><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><br />
</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Cooking Strategies and Tactics:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-to-put-your-spouse-to-work-in.html">How to Team Up in the Kitchen</a><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-to-apply-8020-rule-to-cooking.html">How to Apply the 80/20 Rule to Cooking</a><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/04/more-applications-of-8020-rule-to-food.html"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";">More Applications of the 80/20 Rule to Diet, Food and Cooking</span></a><br />
</span><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2006/12/seven-ways-to-get-faster-at-cooking.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Seven Ways to Get Faster at Cooking</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"></span><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/02/ten-strategies-to-stop-mindless-eating.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Ten Strategies to Stop Mindless Eating</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"></span><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/08/doing-your-favorite-thing-how-to-spend.html" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Doing Your Favorite Thing: How to Spend Exactly the Right Amount of Money For an Important Celebration</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"><br />
</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/05/limping-dinner-spicy-brown-rice.html"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"></span></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms";"></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-4160019572401354502019-07-02T03:11:00.000-07:002019-07-02T03:11:00.414-07:00Ask Yourself These 21 Questions Annually<i>Readers, for the next few weeks I'll be doing some travelling, so please enjoy this post from Casual Kitchen's archives. </i><br />
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<br />
Readers, I wanted to share a list of questions from <a href="http://amzn.to/2oW4JnG" target="_blank"><b>How To Retire Happy, Wild, and Free</b></a> by Ernie Zelinski.<br />
<br />
This unusual and indiosyncratic book comes from the same family of foundational works as <a href="http://amzn.to/2oSWIPy" target="_blank"><b>Early Retirement Extreme</b></a>, <a href="http://amzn.to/2oSZunL" target="_blank"><b>Your Money Or Your Life</b></a> and <a href="http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/" target="_blank"><b>Mr. Money Mustache’s blog</b></a>. And as any Casual Kitchen reader knows, these books and sites have massively influenced my thinking. Zelinski’s book is yet another work that pushes readers to think wildly differently about the world we live in, and like these other books, it offers thoughtful, open-minded readers an opportunity to "<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/03/checkers-and-chess.html" target="_blank"><b>play chess instead of checkers</b></a>" in the game of life. <br />
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The following list of twenty-one questions is structured in a way to get you to think and reflect. Are you surrounding yourself with the right social and informational inputs? Are you spending your time properly, in a fulfilling way? Are you making truly active choices about these things? Or are you making passive choices while telling yourself they’re active? <br />
<br />
I consider Zelinski’s list of questions to be an important contribution to the canon of early retirement/anti-consumerist literature. And while these questions come from a book about retirement, the questions below are really about living a mindful life of quality. In other words, anyone--at <i>any</i> stage of life--will benefit from thinking about them. <br />
<br />
<b>Questions to Ask Yourself Annually</b><br />
<br />
1) Am I in control of my lifestyle?<br />
2) Do I make the most of my money to give me the best quality of life?<br />
3) What can I achieve in my retirement that would make me proud?<br />
4) What can I do that is unique?<br />
5) Do I have enough great friends in my life?<br />
6) Do I devote sufficient time to see my close friends?<br />
7) Do I watch too much TV?<br />
8) Does my lifestyle complement my partner's?<br />
9) Do I travel as much as I would like?<br />
10) Do my time commitments allow me to make a contribution to making this world a better place?<br />
11) Do my time commitments allow me to indulge in creative endeavors?<br />
12) Am I developing spiritually as a human being?<br />
13) Do I exercise enough, in my own enjoyable way?<br />
14) Do I complain too much?<br />
15) Am I as grateful as I should be for what I have in my life?<br />
16) Am I continually learning something new?<br />
17) Do I do something special for myself each and every day?<br />
18) Do I take enough time to meditate and keep my mind in tiptop shape?<br />
19) Am I living in the right country or in the right part of the country?<br />
20) What will make me feel better?<br />
21) Do I have everything I need to be happy, but don't realize it?<br />
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<br />
<b>Readers, what do you think? Which questions do you find particularly helpful or provocative? And why?</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>READ NEXT:</b> <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-official-your-money-or-your-life.html" target="_blank"><b>The Official Your Money Or Your Life Reading List</b></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!<br />
<br />
<br />
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Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-17791346538795344142019-06-25T03:11:00.000-07:002019-06-25T09:57:35.719-07:00Humps<i>Readers, for the next few weeks I'll be doing some travelling, so please enjoy this post from Casual Kitchen's archives. </i><br />
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Much of human behavior essentially amounts to comfort seeking. When we're hot, we seek air conditioning. When we're hungry, we eat without delay. When we want something, we buy it, even when we don't really have the money. <br />
<br />
A few years ago, when I fortuitously stumbled onto <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195374614/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195374614&linkCode=as2&tag=casukitc-20&linkId=e33835770cd67434829cb67d1faf778b" target="_blank"><b>William Irvine's brilliant book on Stoicism,</b></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=casukitc-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0195374614" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> I started embracing various types of "<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/11/waiting-until-we-are-hungry-before-we.html" target="_blank"><b>voluntary discomfort</b></a>" as part of my (halting) efforts to learn to appreciate life more. Stoicism is a really intriguing set of philosophies, and I didn't realize how many misconceptions I had of it. For example: Stoics don't "do" voluntary discomfort because they get off on suffering--that's just a snarky and condescending misreading of the practice. Rather, they do it <i>to appreciate the comforts they have</i>, and to avoid taking those comforts for granted.<br />
<br />
At this point I'd also read Julien Smith's short book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NLJHGOA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00NLJHGOA&linkCode=as2&tag=casukitc-20&linkId=ba5aa4cbdc12188c594e1464e5581abb" target="_blank"><b>The Flinch,</b></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=casukitc-20&l=am2&o=1&a=B00NLJHGOA" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> which is about how our "flinch" reaction often covertly produces avoidance behaviors that divert us from valuable life experiences. This book taught me to <i>invert</i> the flinch reaction and <i>seek out</i> experiences I'd normally flinch from. Finally, it was around this time that I'd begun exploring compound weightlifting in an effort to combat aging and get back some of my lost athletic footspeed and endurance. <br />
<br />
Now, I'm awfully slow--window-lickingly slow--at learning things, but I'm finding surprising synergies, big ones, across almost all "domains of discomfort" in my life. Let me describe three examples: <br />
<br />
<b>1) Cold Showers</b><br />
A crucial metaphor from The Flinch is the cold shower. And holy cow, the idea of taking a cold shower is something I <i>definitely</i> flinch from. It seems like such an incredibly awful experience that some days (uh, like today, the very day I'm working on a first draft of this post) I simply can't do it. I turn the water to a nice hot temperature and I wait like a wuss for the water to warm up. <br />
<br />
But on the days I <i>can</i> do it, the actual experience of a cold shower isn't really all that bad. <br />
<br />
Hahaha ...hahahahahaha... yes it IS that bad! That first shock of the cold water is hellish. I hate it. <br />
<br />
Except... three minutes into that shower, the water oddly doesn't feel cold any more. More importantly, I always feel great after a cold shower. I feel refreshed, calm, replenished. Moreover, there's compelling evidence of both positive physiological and psychological effects of cold showers. For example, after difficult athletic training sessions, cold showers help your body recover. I've also found I get cognitive benefits from cold showers too: I feel sharper, mentally fresher afterwards. <br />
<br />
The point here is that you've just got to get over the hump. And in the case of a cold shower, that hump is just three minutes long. That's it. And all these benefits are yours, in return for a minor exercise of voluntary discomfort and discipline. <br />
<br />
<b>2) Deadlifts</b><br />
There's a lot to talk about in the domain of compound lifting, and most of this domain is still outside of my circle of competence. But I <i>can</i> speak to my experiences learning to do deadlifts, and one thing I can say confidently is that my road--the road between nervously picking up a deadlift bar with exactly zero pounds on it, and now doing a somewhat respectable 3x10 reps at one and a half times my body weight--was <i>paved</i> with humps. Lots of them. <br />
<br />
In contrast to nautilus-type machines that work one or two muscles at a time under more limited conditions, compound lifting trains your entire body: your muscles, bones and connective tissue are all forced to work in concert. And this includes lots of minor muscles overlooked in most standard workout routines. <br />
<br />
So, as I worked toward making my body deadlift-compliant, I tweaked parts of it I didn't even know about, and pulled muscles in places I didn't know I had muscles. In my first few months of deadlifting, I experienced intercostal muscle pulls throughout my rib cage. I experienced strains in all kinds of random places in my abs and upper hips (the so-called "abdominal cuff" area is fertile soil for injuries for beginning deadlifters since most people are shockingly fragile there). I tweaked my elbows, wrists, collarbone, <i>even my fingers. </i><br />
<br />
It was kind of like a cold shower... except that it took me about a year to come out the other side. But once I got over the hump, I had a more robust and far less fragile body.<br />
<br />
In how many other domains do we see a "hump" of discomfort between us and serious insights and opportunity? And where else do we lose out on longer-term gains because we flinch from (or fear) the upfront discomfort?<br />
<br />
<b>3) Learning to Cook</b><br />
With my typical slowness, I've come to discover that cooking is yet <i>another</i> discipline of voluntary discomfort, with enormous benefits once you get over "humps" of various types.<br />
<br />
The discomfort here is a bit more metaphorical, of course. In the very short run, learning to cook is way more of a pain in the ass than grabbing takeout or going out to dinner. So the voluntary discomfort at first involves deferring an easier solution in order to develop some basic cooking and shopping skills. <br />
<br />
And then there are the dinners and recipes you screw up as you learn. You'll make mistakes, and ruin a few meals. More humps and discomfort, in other words. It's a necessary part of the road towards competence, and later, skill. <br />
<br />
There are many more layers to the metaphor: you'll have to learn how to keep a stocked pantry, how to shop efficiently, <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/11/ten-tips-on-how-to-cut-your-food-budget.html" target="_blank"><b>how to avoid rookie errors like buying out of season fruits and veggies</b></a>, and so on. These are all examples of humps to be overcome, but on the other side of those humps are enormous benefits.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
I'd speculate that when it comes to cooking humps, most readers here at CK have long ago gotten over them, to the point where we can whip up several days' worth of laughably cheap food in less time than it takes to <i>drive</i> to the takeout place. Some humps used to be big, but as they recede into the rear-view mirror of life, it gets deceivingly easy to forget about all the work that went into getting over them. Don't forget to give yourself credit for this! <br />
<br />
Once again, though, this is still more proof of the enormous value of what's on the other side of those humps. Which is why I'm trying to look at the various humps and sources of discomfort in my life in a different way. I am trying to think about what's on the other side of them--usually really good stuff--<i>and I'm trying to train myself to run towards them rather than flinch from them. </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=casukitc-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=0195374614&asins=0195374614&linkId=a4cda85fef3fdcd1ef2e515acef9822d&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"><br /> </iframe><br />
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<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-52077650040778291872019-06-18T03:11:00.000-07:002019-06-18T03:11:00.543-07:00Tragedy at Peat Village: A Natural Resource Fable<i>Readers, for the next few weeks I'll be doing some travelling, so please enjoy this post from Casual Kitchen's archives. </i><br />
*********************<br />
<br />
It was Ireland, during the 11th Century, in a tiny little community called Peat Village. <br />
<br />
Peat Village was nothing special, just a tiny village on the edge of a huge peat bog. People there lived very simply back then, and life in this forlorn little village was at best brutish and short. Average life expectancy was 24 years, disease was rampant, and famine and hunger were constant realities.<br />
<br />
One day in Peat Village a villager stumbled onto a significant discovery. The peat from the bog next to the village could be used as a fuel! Yes, it was a dirty fuel--it was awfully smoky when it burned--and of course it had to be harvested, treated and dried before it would really burn well, but without a doubt it could be used as a serviceable fuel. And there was so much of it! This villager began using peat to heat his home, his food and his water. In the following years, he and his family enjoyed a meaningfully improved standard of living. <br />
<br />
Others in Peat Village caught on to the idea of using peat as a fuel, and they began heating their food, water and homes too. Their standard of living also increased. It wasn't long before everyone in Peat Village was burning peat, and as this little community's living standards improved, things changed irrevocably for the better: disease became just a little less rampant, food became a just little more plentiful, and life expectancy became just a little bit longer. Life became a little less brutish and short.<br />
<br />
However, there was a very intelligent villager living in Peat Village who began to worry. He wondered about the longer-term consequences if everyone in Peat Village continued to use peat to heat their homes and their food and water. He started to worry about what would happen if Peat Village ran out of peat. <br />
<br />
And he was right to worry about this. It was clear--to the point of obviousness--that there was a limited supply of peat. Yet each year, villagers used more and more of it. What would happen when, inevitably, all the peat was used up?<br />
<br />
The other villagers considered this nothing more than scaremongering. Some laughed. But this very intelligent villager was absolutely certain he was right. He could see the writing on the wall. After all, when the supply of a resource is fixed and demand is growing, it is only a matter of time before that resource runs out. It could be years, it could be decades, but the logic was inescapable: at some point--probably soon--Peat Village would run completely out of peat. <br />
<br />
Clearly, this would be an unmitigated disaster for the Peat Village community. "Peak Peat" was coming, and with it would come a total collapse in the peat-based economy. <br />
<br />
Our scaremonger friend traveled throughout Peat Village to spread the word. He created a list of rules and recommendations for peat conservation for all the residents to follow so they could avoid, or at least postpone, the inevitable Peak Peat catastrophe. He encouraged villages to use peat only when absolutely necessary, if at all. He got into many debates with villagers who didn't agree with him. After all, the villagers wanted to <i>keep</i> their heated homes and heated food. These things improved their quality of life and their standard of living. And some of the villagers thought it was silly to just leave the peat sitting there in the bog completely unused when it had brought about such improvements in their community. Finally, the villagers said, it will be a long time before we use up all of our peat. In the meantime perhaps we will discover another fuel source to replace it. <br />
<br />
But our scaremonger friend didn't think very much of the intelligence of these villagers. He considered them unsophisticated and naive, and he mocked them by calling them "deniers." He told them they already achieved significant improvements in their standard of living, and it would be impossible (and not to mention irresponsible) to maintain their current living standards in the post-Peak Peat era.<br />
<br />
There was another vaguely bothersome thing about this scaremonger villager. It a small thing, but bothersome nonetheless: since he traveled so much throughout Peat Village, he didn't exactly follow all of the peat conservation rules he set down for all the other villagers. When he stayed at inns and homes across the village, he would often enjoy peat fires and peat-heated food. He reduced his peat use slightly in his own home, but because he was so successful speaking, writing and teaching about Peak Peat, his thatched hut was one of the largest in the entire village. It took quite a bit of peat just to heat a small portion of his house! But in any case, he told himself, his personal use wasn't all that important. What was more important was that he get out the word about Peak Peat and the coming catastrophe that would inevitably follow. <br />
<br />
Centuries later (our scaremonger friend lived for a very long time, you see), a new and revolutionary fuel came along. It was called "coal." Coal was hundreds of times more efficient than peat, far cleaner, and in every sense a superior energy source. In Coal County, which wasn't very far from Peat Village, homes and industries switched over to this new and advanced fuel. As a result, Coal County began to enjoy a significantly improved standard of living.<br />
<br />
But not tiny Peat Village. They were still busy preparing for Peak Peat: conserving peat as much as they could, shivering over their tiny peat fires, huddling around their half-warmed meals, and earnestly following the rules and guidelines as they were told. Their standard of living hadn't increased at all for centuries, and their community never developed sufficient scientific or engineering expertise nor any extra economic capacity to make use of a newfangled energy source like coal.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, our scaremonger friend continued traveling widely, spending the passing centuries getting the word out on the coming collapse of the peat-based economy. Since he’d already fully convinced everyone in Peat Village of his views (what few remaining "deniers" there were had been totally ostracized by the community), he often found himself traveling into Coal County to give speeches on Peak Peat. Sadly, he couldn't find many people in Coal County who were interested in conserving peat, as hard as he tried. Peak Peat just didn't seem to be a priority there.<br />
<br />
One day, however, after giving yet another sparsely attended speech in Coal County, our very intelligent villager stumbled onto a brilliant insight: The supply of coal had to be limited too! <br />
<br />
Once again, he could clearly see the inescapable logic: when the supply of a resource is fixed and demand is growing, it is only a matter of time before that resource runs out. It could be years, it could be decades, but the logic was inevitable: at some point--probably soon--Coal County would run out of coal. This would be an unmitigated disaster. A collapse in the coal-based economy was coming, and coming soon.<br />
<br />
And he was right to worry about this. It was clear--to the point of obviousness--that there was a limited supply of coal. And yet every year more and more people were burning more and more of it. What would happen when, inevitably, all of it would get used up? Peak Coal was coming. Anyone who doubted so was clearly a denier. <br />
<br />
Our scaremonger friend began traveling even more widely (even using coal-based modes of transportation) in order to get the word out. He created a list of rules and recommendations for coal conservation for the residents of Coal County to follow so they could avoid, or at least postpone, the inevitable Peak Coal catastrophe. <br />
<br />
By this time, he hardly ever visited his friends back in Peat Village any more. With all of his important work on coal conservation, there was just no time. <br />
<br />
Another century or two passed. Coal began to be replaced by a new and even better energy source called "oil." It was far more efficient than coal, hundreds of times less polluting, and all around an infinitely more flexible and useful fuel. In fact, it was such a superior fuel that throughout Oil Nation (which was just few days' journey by coal-powered steamship from Coal County) most homes and industries quickly switched over to this advanced fuel. As a result, Oil Nation enjoyed a much improved standard of living.<br />
<br />
The residents of Coal County, however, were still preparing for Peak Coal: conserving as much coal as they could, huddling over their modest coal fires, and earnestly following the rules and guidelines set down by our scaremongering friend, just as they were told. Sadly, however, their standard of living hadn't increased at all for several generations, and needless to say, their community never developed the scientific expertise nor the extra economic capacity to make use of a newfangled energy source like oil.<br />
<br />
Our scaremonger friend continued to travel widely, often using coal- and even oil-based energy to the extent he needed to. After all, spreading the coal conservation message was far more important than following a few minor rules, you see. <br />
<br />
Interestingly, by this time, he never used peat-based energy at all. Why would he use such a laughably primitive fuel source, especially with such important work to do?<br />
<br />
One fine day, while he was speaking to a mostly empty auditorium in Oil Nation (oddly enough, there wasn't very much interest in Peak Coal there), he hit on yet <i>another</i> truth. Admittedly it was a somewhat derivative truth, but it was staggering in its implications: the supply of oil had to be limited!<br />
<br />
Once again, he could clearly see the inescapable logic: when the supply of a resource is fixed and demand is growing, it is only a matter of time before that resource runs out. It could be years, it could be decades, but the logic was inevitable: at some point--probably soon--Oil Nation would run out of oil. This would be an unmitigated disaster. A collapse in the oil-based economy was coming. And coming soon.<br />
<br />
It was clear--to the point of obviousness--that there was a limited supply of oil, yet every year, more and more people used more and more of it. What would happen when, inevitably, it was all used up? Peak Oil was coming. Anyone who doubted it was a denier. <br />
<br />
Our scaremonger friend redoubled his efforts. There was important work to do! He created a list of rules and recommendations for oil conservation for all Oil Nation citizens to follow, so they could avoid, or at least postpone, a Peak Oil catastrophe. He began traveling even more widely, all over Oil Nation and beyond, and his utterly logical and inescapable conclusions became so widely accepted and respected that he began receiving invitations to speak internationally at major conferences like Davos and the World Economic Forum. He became one of the world's wealthy elites, sharing his important and far-seeing knowledge through books, speeches and media appearances. <br />
<br />
Needless to say, he never visited Coal County any more. His work on Peak Oil was far too important.<br />
<br />
And of course, by this time we'd all but forgotten about the people of Peat Village. <br />
<br />
<br />
*********************<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-45341542163095685052019-06-11T03:11:00.000-07:002019-06-11T03:11:05.050-07:00Are You Sure Your Farmer Wants To Get To Know You?<i>Readers, for the next few weeks I'll be doing some travelling, so please enjoy this post from Casual Kitchen's archives. </i><br />
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<br />
<i>The First Lady has planted a garden, organic, of course, and the Department of Agriculture is spending 50 million or so on a program called Know Your Farmer. The effort is likely to disappoint: in fact, a suburban housewife determined to know this corn farmer is likely to be mortified by my looks, the way I smell, and my opinions. I can't imagine why any resident of Manhattan would want to know me, and, trust me, some of my neighbors are even worse.</i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>...One of the assumptions implicit in all this local food stuff is that we farmers are dying to make a connection with our customers. In many cases, nothing could be further from the truth. All we want is to sell corn and to be left alone.</i><br />
<b>--Blake Hurst, farmer and president of the Missouri Farm Bureau</b><br />
<br />
I borrowed this striking quote from <a href="https://amzn.to/2Mf5qZl" target="_blank"><b>The Locavore's Dilemma</b></a>, partly because it had me laughing out loud, but also because it illustrates an intriguing point about the food and ag business. <br />
<br />
Take a Brooklyn hipster (no, really, take one!). Imagine her, freshly done reading one of <a href="https://amzn.to/2McxkFt" target="_blank"><b>Michael Pollan's books</b></a>, and deciding, firmly, that she wants to get "close" to her food. She’s gonna know her farmer, man. Now she'll make regular trips to the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket, take a weekly subway ride to Manhattan's Union Square Farmer's Market, and maybe even once a month line up a Zipcar Prius to drive up the Hudson Valley (staying within 100 miles of course) to visit an actual organic farm! <br />
<br />
Hipsters are usually quite good at irony. But there's one question, ironically, that this hypothetical Brooklyn hipster never thought to ask: <i>what if her farmer doesn't want to know her back? </i><br />
<br />
You'd think this imaginary friendly farmer, if he really wanted to know this hipster and others like her, would take a job where <i>he'd actually get to meet hipsters.</i> He wouldn't farm at all! He'd work at the Apple Store. Or at Whole Foods. <br />
<br />
If you take Blake Hurst's word for it, <i>most</i> farmers just want to farm. They didn't sign up to meet hipsters and agri-intellectuals. That's the reason <i>other people</i> sell, distribute and retail their food: because selling, shipping, distributing, retailing and hipster-meeting <i>isn't farming.</i><br />
<br />
Think about this a little bit. Does your farmer want to know you? <br />
<br />
Are you sure? <br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Related Posts: </span></b><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/12/thoughts-on-recipe-development.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thoughts On Recipe Development</span></a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/09/an-interview-with-appetite-for-profit.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">An Interview with "Appetite For Profit" Author Michele Simon</span></a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-cup-of-morning-death-how-big-coffee.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A Cup of Morning Death? How "Big Coffee" Puts Profits Before People</span></a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/01/did-newark-mayor-cory-booker-really-try.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Did Newark Mayor Cory Booker Really *Try* With His Food Stamp Challenge?</span></a><br />
<br />
*********************<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-59261719574623672542019-06-04T03:11:00.000-07:002019-06-04T03:11:02.772-07:00What Happens Once You've Cooked a Recipe 100 Times?<i>Readers, for the next few weeks I'll be doing some travelling, so please enjoy this post from Casual Kitchen's archives. </i><br />
*********************<br />
<br />
Readers, do you have any recipes you've cooked so many times that you've lost count? <br />
<br />
When you reach this point with a favorite dish, interesting things happen. You barely need to look at the recipe. Preparing it becomes relaxing, even meditative. You don’t think about the process steps and how to do them. Heck, you hardly need to think <i>at all,</i> and the recipe comes out great every time.<br />
<br />
Despite all I've written here at Casual Kitchen, you'd think cooking would be meditative and relaxing for me all the time. You'd be wrong. Usually I try to avoid cooking--or even better, shirk it off onto somebody else. But there are several key recipes here, recipes like <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-make-mol-sauce-intense-exotic.html" target="_blank"><b>Chicken Mole</b></a>, <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-make-risotto.html" target="_blank"><b>Risotto</b></a>, <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/10/black-beans-and-rice-laughably-cheap.html" target="_blank"><b>Black Beans and Rice</b></a>, <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2010/02/north-african-lemon-chicken.html" target="_blank"><b>North African Lemon Chicken</b></a> and <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/11/groundnut-stew-classic-and-exotic.html" target="_blank"><b>Groundnut Stew</b></a>, that I've made hundreds of times, and I’m so comfortable with these recipes that preparing them becomes as mentally demanding as folding the laundry. Which <i>is</i> my idea of a meditative exercise.<br />
<br />
My introduction to this idea was in New Zealand. Our friend Richard, who owns <a href="http://www.simplycatering.co.nz/" target="_blank"><b>a cafe and catering company in the city of Christchurch</b></a>, was teaching me how to make a "flat white" (like a cappuccino, only better). Coffee is a refined art in New Zealand and <a href="http://hawaii4-oh.blogspot.com/2009/02/dan-goes-to-barista-school-in.html" target="_blank"><b>I was struggling to get it just right</b></a>. The grounds needed to be pressed just enough, the milk needed to be frothed just right, and everything needed to be combined with just the right amount of flair. I screwed up several that went right into the wastebasket. Then, finally, I made one that got a passing grade. Maybe a C-minus.<br />
<br />
Richard told me, "after you've properly made 200 of these, I'd let you in front of a customer." I stared at him. As naive as I'm sure this sounds, this was the first time I'd really thought about the concept of making something so many times that it becomes second nature, that you don’t have to think about it, and you can start to add your personality to the process rather than just complete the process. <br />
<br />
These are the kinds of things you can do after you've cooked a recipe 20, 50 or even 200 times: <br />
<br />
1) You can carry on a conversation while you cook, and pay sincere attention to both tasks.<br />
<br />
2) You can scale up the recipe for a large dinner party or a big group with little additional stress.<br />
<br />
3) The cooking experience becomes easy, even effortless.<br />
<br />
4) You confidently modify the recipe, or add improvisational flourishes as you cook. You know exactly how the recipe works and you know what variables you can and cannot tweak.<br />
<br />
5) You make it... and it tastes amazing every time. You may not even know why it tastes amazing, but it just does. <br />
<br />
Perhaps this is the home cook's version of the so-called 10,000 Hour Rule. Then again, <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/11/malcolm-gladwell-was-completely-wrong.html" target="_blank"><b>you certainly don't need 10,000 hours</b></a> to get good--really, really good--at cooking. Why? Well, just do the math: It only takes fifty hours to make a 30 minute recipe one hundred times (the majority of the recipes here at CK can be made in under 30 minutes for $2 a serving or less). Using the time-saving strategy of <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/07/glossary-of-casual-kitchen-memes.html" target="_blank"><b>heavy rotation</b></a>--rotating in the easiest, least expensive and most-loved recipes on a twice- or three-times-a-month basis--you could hit the <i>I cooked this 100 times</i> mark with four or five favorite recipes within just a few years. <br />
<br />
Which makes cooking healthy food for your family an even easier part of your life than it already is. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Related Posts: </span></b><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/12/thoughts-on-recipe-development.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thoughts On Recipe Development</span></a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/10/making-it-treat.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Making It a Treat</span></a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/06/re-seasoning-how-to-never-be-bored-with.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Re-Seasoning: Never Be Bored With Leftovers Again</span></a><br />
<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-paradox-of-cooking-shows.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Paradox of Cooking Shows</span></a><br />
<br />
*********************<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-51033404486845293492019-05-28T03:11:00.000-07:002019-05-28T03:36:34.166-07:00Greeting Card SCAM! How to Save $6 (Or More) on Greeting Cards -- and Defeat the Greeting Card Industry Once and For AllWhy are greeting cards so ridiculously expensive? <br />
<br />
It's hard not to think about the incredibly fat and juicy profit margins of these little folded pieces of paper when you find Mother's Day, graduation and birthday cards priced at $4.99, $6.99, and even $8.99 in your local suburban grocery or drug store. Sure, some have glitter or cute ribbons on them. And bad poetry. But the bottom line is this: greeting cards are one of the most profitable products in modern retailing.<br />
<br />
And long term readers of this blog know why: it has everything to do with competition. Or the lack thereof. <br />
<br />
While there are plenty of items in our grocery stores sold at fair prices and reasonable markups, there are also certain items sold at unfair prices under surprisingly limited competition. Many <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/02/zombies-processed-foods-and-advertising.html" target="_blank"><b>branded/advertised foods</b></a>, the <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-spices-are-complete-rip-off-and.html" target="_blank"><b>dreaded spice aisle</b></a>, and of course greeting cards are all good examples of non-competitive submarkets in the grocery/retail world. <br />
<br />
Two companies dominate the greeting card aisle, Hallmark and American Greetings, making it one of the least-competitive segments of all of retail. Worse, when consumers need a card for Mother's Day or an almost-forgotten anniversary card for a spouse, they don't care that much about the card's price. Typically, they just need to get the card and get on with their day. <br />
<br />
An economist would call this <i>a non-competitive market with minimal price sensitivity.</i> An investor like Warren Buffett would call this a wonderful business,<b>[1]</b> because in markets like these companies can actually <i>raise</i> prices, every year, little by little, and consumers just passively keep buying cards like they always do. <br />
<br />
There may appear to be thousands of cards to choose from, the choice is illusory. The market and its egregious prices are under complete duopoly control. And that's why you can hardly <i>find</i> a card for less than $4.99 any more. <br />
<br />
Just to focus our attention here: for $4.99 you can buy a paperback book. Or five pounds of pasta. Or three dozen eggs. Or three pounds of <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2016/04/learn-to-live-on-lentils.html" target="_blank"><b>lentils</b></a>! Many of <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/10/25-best-laughably-cheap-recipes-at.html" target="_blank"><b>Casual Kitchen's most popular laughably cheap recipes</b></a> cost less than this. <br />
<br />
Looking downfield a little bit, I wonder what the consumer reaction will be to the first basic greeting card that exceeds the $10 price point? It's coming. And here's something really mortifying: at the rate card prices are currently compounding, we could easily be paying $20 for greeting cards in a decade, give or take. <b>[2] </b><br />
<br />
Which brings us to a question: how high does the price of a greeting card have to go before it becomes... insulting? Or even condescending? As in <i>"We, the greeting card industry, have so little regard for you consumers that we expect you to mindlessly pay 60,000% markups for a folded card."</i><br />
<br />
Don't misunderstand: I have no problem paying money for a gift card. But I have a huge problem paying sums of money that are ridiculously divorced <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/01/ymoyl-chapter-4-answering-three.html" target="_blank"><b>from the value we receive from that expenditure</b></a>. As an empowered consumer, you should too. <br />
<br />
So, what do we do? Well, as in many consumer empowerment situations, the answer is "it depends." But a good starting point is to stop using our typical buying patterns. Clearly, the greeting card cabal can easily prey on us if we seek to satisfy our greeting card "needs" the way we always have. <br />
<br />
One solution we know <i>won't</i> work: going to another retailer. Remember the simple technique of <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/09/ten-tips-to-save-money-on-spices-and.html" target="_blank"><b>going to a local ethnic grocery store to find more reasonably-priced spices</b></a>? This tactic, which worked so well to subvert the non-competitive grocery store spice aisle, isn't effective against the anti-competitive greeting card industry. They've pretty much locked up control of all of the shelf space at all retailers, everywhere. <br />
<br />
Which takes us to a more elegant solution, something we might call <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2018/03/dont-want-it-also-on-value-of-re.html" target="_blank"><b>a modified "don't want it!" technique</b></a>. Rather than submitting to the greeting card cabal, and paying their prices on their cards, screw 'em. I'm playing this game on my own (much more fun) terms, <i>by making my own cards.</i><br />
<br />
So, for Laura's birthday, this was this year's card:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbi19DqwP7oCaTnkUvgQPkG9Zb1l7_tDHiJ0ZLWsjDZMHc4FcgG0xfOZrlRu0qiM6xrOOtcJfHZLEZeBabM0TO0y35RHfOyF2zuKj-fIhUeq1bmHrEXVbvsyal7H4aUbOGmJHkOg/s1600/IMG-20190515-WA0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1141" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbi19DqwP7oCaTnkUvgQPkG9Zb1l7_tDHiJ0ZLWsjDZMHc4FcgG0xfOZrlRu0qiM6xrOOtcJfHZLEZeBabM0TO0y35RHfOyF2zuKj-fIhUeq1bmHrEXVbvsyal7H4aUbOGmJHkOg/s400/IMG-20190515-WA0005.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d5dc5904-7fff-0cc4-f47b-8f94e10232ef"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I muffed the ice cream cone, but that's an </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">exact</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> likeness of Laura.</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Sure, we save a little money. But more importantly, Laura LOVED it. She thought this card was hilarious, adorable even. We both got a huge laugh out of it. And it was free. FREE. <b>[3]</b><br />
<br />
And if I can do this with my pitiful artistic ability, you can do better. <br />
<br />
Here's the broader takeaway for anyone interested in consumer empowerment: in any anti-competitive marketplace where prices are way out of line with the value we receive, <i>don't buy.</i> Don't be so damn obedient. Figure out another way. <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/03/checkers-and-chess.html" target="_blank"><b>Play chess</b></a>. <br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
Saved six bucks. She's amused (and impressed even) by my artwork. <br />
<br />
And on her birthday neither of us was exploited by the greeting card cabal. For once. <a href="https://t.co/k3OiVAUEKy">pic.twitter.com/k3OiVAUEKy</a></div>
— Daniel Koontz (@danielckoontz) <a href="https://twitter.com/danielckoontz/status/1129104968785514497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br />
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<br />
<b>Footnotes:</b><br />
<b>[1]</b> Lamentably, American Greetings and Hallmark are both privately held. Recall elsewhere in Casual Kitchen where we discussed <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/09/consumer-empowerment-how-to-self-fund.html" target="_blank"><b>how easy it is to self-fund many of your consumer products purchases</b></a> by investing in the stock of the company and receiving dividend payments. That won't work here unfortunately. <br />
<br />
<b>[2]</b> Don't laugh, hear my math: Assume a $7.99 card and imagine the greeting card cabal gradually raises prices at an average 8% annual rate, consistent with recent pricing activity. In just 12 years, that $7.99 card will have compounded to $20.12. It's coming. <br />
<br />
<b>[3]</b> Okay, I lied. It wasn't <i>quite</i> free: the cost was technically 1 sheet of standard copy paper at $7.49 per 500 sheets, or about 1.5c. Thus I provided Laura with an amusing birthday card for less than one 300th of the price of a standard $4.99 greeting card. <br />
<br />
<br />
****************<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-59933761609572550652019-05-21T03:11:00.000-07:002019-05-21T05:03:09.904-07:00Okay Then, So… When Can I Talk?All this talk about <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2019/05/narcotizing-dysfunction.html" target="_blank"><b>talking and its role in subverting our actions</b></a> may have left readers somewhat confused about what they can talk about and when. Heck, <i>I'm</i> confused, and I'm the guy who wrote this stuff in the first place. <br />
<br />
Recall that the type of talk we're considering here is the kind that fools our minds' reward centers with "a sense of completion," makes us confuse talk with action, and <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2019/05/how-to-stop-narcotizing-dysfunction.html" target="_blank"><b>narcotizes us into apathy and inaction</b></a>. If we could figure out what kind of talk <i>doesn't</i> do that, that would be awfully helpful. <br />
<br />
With that in mind, here are a few general rules for which types of talk you can safely engage in that <i>won't</i> trigger the subversive "sense of completion" loop:<br />
<br />
<b>1) You can only talk about actions you have already performed. </b><br />
a) "Hey, last week I did deadlifts for the first time (and boy are my arms tired!)" <i>(contrast this with "I'm thinking of starting deadlifting" which, as we've seen, produces a sense of completion and therefore prevents you from doing deadlifts)</i><br />
<br />
b) "I did my very first run today, 1.5 miles." <i>(contrast with "I really need to start running.")</i><br />
<br />
c) "I made five <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/10/25-best-laughably-cheap-recipes-at.html" target="_blank"><b>new healthy and laughably cheap recipes from Casual Kitchen</b></a> last month. My grocery bill was down by 45%!" <i>(contrast with "I really should look into ways to cook healthy for less.")</i><br />
<br />
<b>2) You can talk about future tweaks you'd like to make to things you've already done. </b><br />
"I'm noticing some minor muscle tears all over my rib cage after a few weeks of deadlifting practice. I wonder if adding an occasional cold shower would help my body recover."<br />
<br />
<b>3) You can talk about things you <i>don't</i> want to do. </b><br />
Again, remember: the sense of completion loop means talking about things you <i>want</i> to do <i>makes it more likely you won't do them.</i> Here we simply apply the reverse example, where we use the sense of completion loop on purpose to <i>evade</i> action. Thus, only talk about things if you actually <i>do not want to do them. </i><br />
<br />
<b>A final postscript and disclaimer:</b> Readers, first of all, thanks for being patient with me as I slowly and painstakingly articulate and attempt to solve a challenge I've struggled with, even though it has next to nothing to do with this blog's usual subjects. Second, despite all the prescriptive advice here, please remember that <i>of course</i> you can talk about whatever you want, whenever you want. ;)<br />
<br />
<br />
*******************<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-83693522055978295252019-05-14T03:11:00.000-07:002019-05-14T06:18:20.670-07:00How to Stop Narcotizing DysfunctionLast week's post was pretty darn depressing wasn't it? Well, at least it depressed me. I can't stand the idea that <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2019/05/narcotizing-dysfunction.html" target="_blank"><b>I might be narcotizing myself</b></a>, and I <i>certainly</i> don't want to fool myself into thinking I'm being "part of the solution" or "becoming informed" when really I'm just lulling myself (and worse, those around me) into inaction and complacency. <br />
<br />
The only course of action is to <i>take</i> action--and so today's post is an attempt to offer solutions that readers (and I) can use to avoid, subvert and beat the problem of narcotizing dysfunction. <br />
<br />
Four things: <br />
<br />
1) <b>Eliminate the narcotic.</b> What I mean by this, obviously, is <i>stop consuming media.</i> And for good measure, stop all news, all broadcast media, all social media, and most importantly, stop consuming peoples' rage-driven posts about any issue you care about. These things narcotize you and lull you into apathy, while fooling you into thinking you're doing something about the issue. Embrace a low-information, zero-media diet.<br />
<br />
2) <b>Read less</b> about the specific issue that's important to you. Not more, <i>less!</i> Admittedly, this seems counter-intuitive. We all like to think we're missing out on being informed when we read less about an issue, but remember, <i>we're up against a media that has interests that differ substantially from our own.</i> In other words, the information made accessible to us through media isn't the information we want. Which brings us to the next solution...<br />
<br />
3) While reading less, go directly to the source for your subject or issue information, <b>do not use media or social media intermediaries</b> that distort or impose (their) narratives on the information reaching you. Thus, read books or papers by genuine experts in the subject--<a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/11/oppositional-literature-key-tool-for.html" target="_blank"><b>and then read an oppositional book by opposing experts to make sure <i>your own brain</i> doesn't impose its own narrative on you either</b></a>. I'll share an example in the domain of personal investing: I go directly to company quarterly earnings report transcripts (they are free at SeekingAlpha.com) and never read analyst reports or financial media reports telling me <i>their</i> interpretation of what happened. I don't want the intermediary's perception! I want to shape my own. <br />
<br />
4) <b>Be aware of the phenomenon itself, always.</b> If you can remind yourself that "<i>this information I'm seeing about issue X (or this discussion I'm having about topic Y) is likely displacing or supplanting action I would rather be taking"</i> you are far less likely to be lulled into narcotized complacency. <br />
<br />
5) <b>Take specific action.</b> <i>Fricking actually do something about the thing.</i> And no, once again, posting rubbish on social media does not count. True action involves putting your own skin in the game: If you want to do something about the pay gap, hire a woman. If you want to do something about wealth inequality, teach people how to invest. If you want to do something about XYZ political issue, run for office. If you want to write a novel... <i>write a novel.</i> Do not talk about it or consume media about it unless you wish to be narcotized and made inert and impotent. See how that works? <br />
<br />
<i>To summarize: </i><br />
<b>Eliminate media consumption.</b><br />
<b>Read less about the issue.</b><br />
<b>Go directly to source documents; never use informational intermediaries.</b><br />
<b>Be aware of the phenomenon: you are always at risk of being narcotized.</b><br />
<b>Take action. </b><br />
<br />
<br />
***************************<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-20679689023862229832019-05-07T03:11:00.000-07:002019-05-07T19:44:04.079-07:00Narcotizing DysfunctionNarcotizing dysfunction is a theory that as mass media inundates us on a particular issue, we become increasingly apathetic to that issue.<br />
<br />
Worse, we find ourselves substituting factoids and other ersatz knowledge <i>about that issue</i> in place of taking action to help.<br />
<br />
As an example, everybody knows about the gender pay gap, and most of us know specific ersatz information about the issue--like the standard factoid <i>women get paid 23% less than men.</i><br />
<br />
But do you know anyone who's actually put their own skin in the game to do anything specific to ameliorate this pay gap? Me neither. And no, posting something about it on social media doesn't count. More on that in a minute.<br />
<br />
I used the phrase <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/08/using-your-sophistication-and-great.html" target="_blank"><b>ersatz knowledge</b></a> earlier on purpose, because it begs the question <i>whether it's even in our interests at all to know this kind of information.</i> If you really think about it, the "23%" factoid appears to persuade us of something, but at the same time it <i>lulls us into not doing a darn thing about it.</i> It results in people talking rather than doing. Or worse: complaining rather than doing. And just to make sure readers don't get wrapped around the axle about the pay gap as an issue (<i>see the postscript below</i>), we could substitute many other issues in many other domains just as easily, including issues like obesity, <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/08/your-money-or-your-life-full-archive.html" target="_blank"><b>saving money and financial independence</b></a>, the <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2010/03/its-too-expensive-to-eat-healthy-food.html" target="_blank"><b>alleged high cost of healthy food</b></a>, etc.<br />
<br />
There's another psychological phenomenon called "sense of completion," by which talking about something--merely <i>talking</i> about it--produces a tiny squirt of dopamine in your brain. That squirt of dopamine, and the small blurt of satisfaction it produces in your mind, is a miniature replica of the genuine sense of satisfaction you'd get if you'd actually completed the task.<br />
<br />
Thus we <i>talk</i> about writing a novel, or post something on Twitter/Faceborg about writing a novel, but our talking produces a "miniature replica of satisfaction" that fools us into a feeling of taking action when we haven't. <a href="http://quickwritingtips.blogspot.com/2010/01/hypothetical-novel.html" target="_blank"><b>And we end up not writing a novel</b></a>.<br />
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Everyone thinks they don't do this of course. But the truth is, talking is far, far easier than doing, and our brains take the easy route: we talk about doing stuff, we post online about doing stuff, and <i>we don't actually do the stuff.</i> We settle for a mental simulacrum of accomplishment rather than the accomplishment itself. <br />
<br />
So now we have two psychological phenomena: sense of completion and narcotizing dysfunction. Both help explain why people are full of natters and they don't do shit. To put it crudely.<br />
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Talking, debating, quoting ersatz factoids about "the issues," consuming mass media, and (perhaps worst of all) consuming social media: <i>It all narcotizes us.</i><br />
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If you start to think about these mechanisms, it starts to make you a bit suspicious about what you think, why you think it, and who's giving it to you to think. And, exposure, repeated exposure, to the very factoids you "know" about an issue seem only to keep you inactive. To keep things just as they are.<br />
<br />
Call me crazy, but if you wanted to run a gigantic nationwide experiment on how to impose complacency on a society.... this might be how you'd do it.<br />
<br />
Once I finally wrapped my mind around these concepts, my desire to debate politics--in fact, my desire to debate most issues, certainly over social media--instantly died. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>READ NEXT:</b> <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/09/how-to-use-ersatz-knowledge-for-your.html" target="_blank"><b>How to Use Ersatz Knowledge For YOUR Benefit, Not Theirs</b></a><br />
<b>AND:</b> <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-paradox-for-locavores.html" target="_blank"><b>A Terrible Paradox for Locavores</b></a><br />
<br />
<b>Postscript: </b>A discussion of the gender pay gap is obviously far beyond the scope of this blog and far outside my circle of competence, and as a result I don't have the credibility to offer an opinion on it. Furthermore, keep in mind that this post isn't about the pay gap per se, but about our complacency about any important issue <i>even after we're persuaded.</i><br />
<br />
What's even more intriguing is how there are other types of "gaps" that we <i>never</i> hear about that actually favor women, and in some cases <i>monstrously</i> favor women <i>(examples: workplace deaths, workplace injuries, pay gaps for workers younger than 30).</i> It begs the same questions: why do we all "know" (and are relentlessly fed) the "23% less" factoid, but not the others? And why would we even want to "know" this, then, if the result seems to be nothing more than our complacency? It bakes your noodle just to think about it.<br />
<br />
<br />
*****************<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-36644006122738572212019-04-30T03:11:00.000-07:002019-04-30T06:50:28.918-07:00Big Grocery Stores + Decision Fatigue = Sticky ConsumersI stumbled onto an interesting post last week remarking on <a href="http://www.rachellaudan.com/2019/04/my-mother-never-had-to-go-grocery-shopping.html" target="_blank"><b>the tediousness of navigating a new 30,000 item grocery store</b></a> and figuring out where everything is.<br />
<br />
Decision fatigue is a real thing, and--if I'm any evidence--it's one of the reasons I hate going to new grocery stores. We got a new Wegmans in our part of New Jersey recently, and as much as I love that grocery store chain (this is something perhaps only people from Upstate New York can truly understand), I don't want to change to a new store. <br />
<br />
Why? Because it's incredibly time-consuming, annoying, and vaguely stressful to "learn" a new store. <br />
<br />
Hmmmm. Maybe that's <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/03/checkers-and-chess.html" target="_blank"><b>part of the game</b></a>. <br />
<br />
An important idea in marketing is the concept of stickiness: the idea that it's not enough just to win a customer. You have to <i>keep</i> that customer, keep them coming back. <br />
<br />
In the corporate world, companies will do all kinds of things to keep customers sticky. They'll use periodic discounting, branding, associative advertising and all kind of other techniques to keep our buying behavior as habitual as possible. In my old Wall Street career, every company would brag about how sticky their customers were, while laughing about how easily they could manipulate and play their suppliers off each other. In other words, <i>their</i> customers were always sticky, but whenever <i>they themselves </i>were customers, they weren't sticky at all. Always manipulating, never manipulated.<br />
<br />
The point here <i>is that sticky customer is a manipulated customer.</i> There's a lesson in there for us as consumers.<br />
<br />
Well, I now realize, with my typical window-licking slowness, that <i>the complexity of a big store is yet another factor that makes us into sticky customers.</i> Customers do not want to have to learn an entirely new grocery store. They don't want to spend time wandering around looking for items, and waste weeks--or even months--of grocery store trips acclimating to a new product geography. Just like buying a given consumer product or even a given brand is largely a habit-based decision, going to the same store <i>and knowing where everything is</i> likewise is based on habit, and it keeps us going to the same store. It keeps us sticky. And it keeps us coming back. <br />
<br />
Except that <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/03/whats-your-favorite-consumer.html" target="_blank"><b>truly empowered consumers</b></a> don't want to be sticky! <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/05/brand-disloyalty.html" target="_blank"><b>We want to be brand disloyal</b></a>, able to switch stores and brands based on <i>our</i> needs, not theirs. We want companies to compete for our consumer dollars, and we want to buy our items when we see the prices we desire to pay.<br />
<br />
But I haven't figured out a solution to the "big store" problem, not yet. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>READ NEXT:</b> <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/08/when-things-dont-make-sense.html" target="_blank"><b>When Things Don't Make Sense</b></a><br />
<b>AND:</b> <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/08/using-your-sophistication-and-great.html" target="_blank"><b>Using Your Sophistication and Great Taste Against You</b></a><br />
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<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-47810952901969215072019-04-23T03:11:00.001-07:002019-04-23T03:11:01.792-07:00Worrying About All the Wrong Things<i>The average consumer is 15 times more likely to drown in the bathtub than to die of pesticide-related causes, and they are 1,500 times more likely to die in a car wreck than die of pesticide-related causes. But people still get in their car and drive. </i><br />
--<a href="https://www.farmprogress.com/story-food-economist-consumers-are-enemy-8-107321" target="_blank"><b>Jayson Lusk</b></a><br />
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It's interesting to think through examples where we as humans are both risk-blind and probability-blind. We fear flying and would rather drive, despite overwhelming evidence that the risk of the latter vastly exceeds the risk of the former. In my case, even though I <i>know</i> the relative risks of flying versus driving, <i>I'd still rather drive.</i><br />
<br />
Our minds evolved to their modern form perhaps half a million to a million years ago, long before statistics and probability were conceived as a way of looking at reality, and long before our day-to-day reality became as complex as it currently is. And once you have any familiarity with domains of behavioral finance or the psychology of human decision-making, you quickly absorb the disturbing truth that the decision making process of our own brains is obscure and opaque to us. We don't even understand ourselves.<br />
<br />
Back to flying for a second. When you think about what flying really entails--basically waiting in a line to use a kiosk, followed by waiting in another line to get into another line to line up for a shoeless, beltless and semi-dehumanizing kabuki theater of body scans, luggage x-rays, and getting yelled at, followed by another long wait, followed by another line, followed by multiple hours in a cramped seat inside an aluminum tube breathing in other peoples' germs--all of a sudden a long drive doesn't seem so bad. Even when we know all the statistics. Thus it's completely understandable that our brains tell us to avoid the entire experience of flying. <br />
<br />
I enjoyed writing that last paragraph, but it pretty much ruined flying for me for a while. <br />
<br />
Now, on to pesticides. One thing that's extremely compelling to our hindbrains about PESTICIDE RISK!!1!! is its vividness. It brings to mind rhetorically powerful books like <a href="https://amzn.to/2DvqPXA" target="_blank"><b>Rachel Carson's Silent Spring</b></a>, spunky activists like Erin Brockovich, and infamous pollution disasters like the 1970s-era Love Canal. All you have to do is juxtapose these stories with a few reports of babies with birth defects, or young women with cancer (even better if you have photos), and you can easily hack readers' amygdalae.<br />
<br />
And of course not only do we fear multi-syllabic chemicals and pesticides, and we fear even more so <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/02/yoga-mat-sandwiches-subway-and.html" target="_blank"><b>the idea that we might actually be <i>eating</i> them</b></a>. <br />
<br />
But then again: How sedentary or active are you? Do you make sure to sleep properly? Do you use seat belts? How many (surprisingly toxic) acetominophen or ibuprofen pills do you take in a given week? How much sugar do you consume in a given week? How much alcohol? And to go "meta" for a moment: <i>How much time do you spend worrying about things that seem worrisome... but aren't?</i><br />
<br />
These would all be questions worth considering long before worrying about pesticides. <br />
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Don't get me wrong: I'm not telling you to go out and drink a glass of Roundup. I'm certainly not saying pesticides aren't bad. I'm just asking readers with critical thinking skills to think through what's worth worrying about. <br />
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<b>Further Reading: </b><br />
1) Jayson Lusk is the author of <a href="https://amzn.to/2DodXlU" target="_blank"><b>The Food Police</b></a>, a book well worth reading and <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/01/interview-with-jayson-lusk-author-of.html" target="_blank"><b>discussed here</b></a> at Casual Kitchen in <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-30-day-voracious-reading-trial.html" target="_blank"><b>multiple posts</b></a>.<br />
2) <a href="https://amzn.to/2Iur8pz" target="_blank"><b>Risk Savvy</b></a> by Gerd Giggerenzer<br />
3) For better risk awareness in the healthcare industry, see H. Gilbert Welch's excellent book <a href="https://amzn.to/2DoEdwl" target="_blank"><b>Less Medicine, More Health</b></a>.<br />
4) <a href="https://amzn.to/2KSu6pT" target="_blank"><b>Thinking, Fast and Slow</b></a> by Daniel Kahneman<br />
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*************************<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-4688291255101190542019-04-16T03:11:00.000-07:002019-04-16T03:11:00.896-07:00Forgetting Forgettable BrandsReaders, take a look at these photos of a can of Chock Full O' Nuts brand coffee, front and back: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmqkHThpMvxAgC7rbdTaDWNZIMHkC2Pul4ejBfy7z3s7VFkIdIKj3zgqYBTLEXnE0R4wnKMVTBvpsjQ4YFkLy21uJSfowe1yVX3XzSRmdZzRrWJUJvl97y5ojga5zwsLm8098dg/s1600/nonutsfront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmqkHThpMvxAgC7rbdTaDWNZIMHkC2Pul4ejBfy7z3s7VFkIdIKj3zgqYBTLEXnE0R4wnKMVTBvpsjQ4YFkLy21uJSfowe1yVX3XzSRmdZzRrWJUJvl97y5ojga5zwsLm8098dg/s320/nonutsfront.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jcpq_T0OgS-VuXIgEeYBN4_zthvuu9OwUzK5lQKYaADOC8NuACKWvzgN8ZY9u7Lpe4uZZ-NUfetD8txwcnFEnftU-_ZFX-NzhqiXAZwGw7pBNvwBPqMe99bvPyB2FeRuAPLoHA/s1600/nonutsback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1538" data-original-width="1026" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jcpq_T0OgS-VuXIgEeYBN4_zthvuu9OwUzK5lQKYaADOC8NuACKWvzgN8ZY9u7Lpe4uZZ-NUfetD8txwcnFEnftU-_ZFX-NzhqiXAZwGw7pBNvwBPqMe99bvPyB2FeRuAPLoHA/s320/nonutsback.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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This was a well-known coffee brand to anyone growing up prior to the 1970s or early 80s. Millennials, however, have never heard of this brand. And Gen Z will need trigger warnings before they learn what coffee is. <br />
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Imagine if you were CEO of the consumer products company that bought this brand<b>[1]</b> right before an entire generational turnover in coffee buyers, and, to your horror, that next generation of coffee consumers had absolutely no institutional memory of your brand of coffee. So much so <i>that they needed to be told that this is coffee. </i><br />
<br />
Also, keep in mind: we're in the OMG PEANUT! era, which explains why this company feels the need to inform us this product "contains no nuts." <br />
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Worse still, <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2019/04/triggered-to-pay-extra.html" target="_blank"><b>because it doesn't cost twice as much and say "fair trade" or "sustainable" somewhere on the label</b></a>, earnest young consumers will assume this coffee was either harvested by slaves, packaged by a company that literally hates the planet, or both. <br />
<br />
At the end of the day, this is a can of unremarkable commodity arabica coffee, little different from any of the other brands sitting on the shelf next to it--including the much lower-priced store brand. Readers here at CK know this and are quick to use this to their advantage, buying this commodity coffee when on sale at significant discounts, and <i>not</i> buying it when not.<br />
<br />
But to a consumer products company--<a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/09/consumer-empowerment-how-to-self-fund.html" target="_blank"><b>or to an investor in a consumer products company</b></a>--this is an unmitigated disaster. New consumers <i>don't even know what this product is.</i> <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2010/10/ten-thoughts-on-true-value-of-brands.html" target="_blank"><b>The brand has no value to them</b></a>. <br />
<br />
Keep this in mind, as both a consumer <i>and</i> an investor, as you navigate the consumer products landscape. <br />
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<b>[1]</b> The (current) owner of Chock Full O' Nuts coffee is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massimo_Zanetti_Beverage_Group" target="_blank"><b>Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group</b></a>, a privately-owned Italian company that owns several coffee brands including Hill Bros, Chase and Sanborn and others.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-56130287356091135232019-04-09T03:11:00.000-07:002019-04-09T06:08:17.872-07:00Frugality and TradeoffsIs frugality always worth it? Is it always worth it to trade your time to save money?<br />
<br />
And at what point does frugality simply become <i>not</i> worth it? <br />
<br />
One of the interesting ironies of frugality is if you get really good at it, you get to a point where you don't have to do it any more. You'll have plenty of money left over because you're using that money as efficiently as possible. <br />
<br />
Which then leaves you with a new decision layer: what types of frugality are worth it relative to the tradeoffs in time required? <br />
<br />
Grocery shopping gives us an excellent example of this decision layer: A competent frugalista will reduce his or her grocery bill to a point where it takes up a smaller and smaller portion of the household budget. Then, all of a sudden, it stops being worth it to invest an extra 25 minutes driving to another grocery store to buy a couple of cheaper items there. The few bucks you save stops being worth it. <br />
<br />
Now, granted, some frugality skills become automatic and thus require no effort. Like <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/06/where-going-generic-works-and-where-it.html" target="_blank"><b>buying lower cost unbranded or store brand items</b></a>. After all, the less expensive product is <i>right there,</i> buying it requires no extra effort. Further, some frugality techniques may remain worthwhile because they offer sustained payoffs. Examples here would be a one-time phone call every few years to renegotiate a cellphone or cable bill, or a quick call to tweak coverage on an insurance bill. That phone call could save you hundreds of dollars a year <i>for years. </i><br />
<br />
And then there are big-ticket frugality decisions that always stay worth it. Replacing a high fee mutual fund with a near-zero fee index fund is a prime example here. This single decision can save you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of an investing career, and the savings differential grows as your assets grow. <br />
<br />
In our home we are grappling with this new decision layer too, and I finding I'm retaining the frugality habits I do automatically and habitually, the ones that come naturally to me and don't require any thinking or extra cognitive energy. And then I try to maintain any frugality habit that saves me both money <i>and</i> time, so I can entirely sidestep the money/time tradeoff above. And this often involves <i>avoiding shopping and avoiding buying things entirely,</i> and re-allocating that time to things I'd much rather do. It's another one of frugality's rich ironies.<br />
<br />
One last thought. What happens to <i>readers</i> who "get" the value of frugality, learn and then master it… and then master it so well that they don't really need to be frugal any more? <br />
<br />
They stop reading blog posts about frugality! It's an interesting <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/05/money-sundays-second-order-thinking.html" target="_blank"><b>second-order question</b></a> for frugality and budget bloggers to think about.<br />
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<br />
**************************<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-5853755178296423882019-04-02T03:11:00.007-07:002021-07-10T09:55:53.313-07:00Triggered to Pay Extra There's a new field of battle in <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/03/checkers-and-chess.html" target="_blank"><b>the chess game</b></a> between consumers vs the companies who sell to us. Have you noticed how easily consumers fall for words like:<br />
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<b>Sustainable</b><br />
<b>Ethical</b><br />
<b>Green</b><br />
<b>Baby-Friendly </b><br />
<b>Chemical-Free</b><br />
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These words are <i>magical.</i> All you have to do is wave a few of them in front of consumers and they instantly say <i>"Ooh, ooh! Can I pay extra?"</i><br />
<br />
We're teaching a brand new generation of consumers to respond autonomically to any premium-priced product containing any of these words. <br />
<br />
So what company then <i>wouldn't</i> use these words? Words are free! You can as many of them as you want, in any order, anywhere on the package, and you can trigger a meaningful percentage of consumers to pay more for product. Often significantly more. <br />
<br />
This reminds me of a post I wrote years ago about a bar of <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/05/who-gains-from-fair-trade-certified.html" target="_blank"><b>extra ethical chocolate</b></a> I received which used these types of words, along with photos of smiling women meant to represent definitely-not-exploited members of a Bolivia-based cocoa cooperative.<br />
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What was shallow and deeply cynical about this chocolate was that you could easily see from the fine print on the label that most of the ingredients came from totally different countries from where this cooperative was, and worse, all the high-value, highly profitable work--the making of the chocolate itself--<i>was done in Switzerland,</i> thousands of miles away. For all we know the smiling, definitely-not-exploited laborer on the package could have been a stock photo. <br />
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With all this in mind, an empowered consumer has to consider a few things. Such as: <br />
<br />
1) If a company uses a word on a label, does that make it true? <br />
<br />
2) What do these words really mean? <i>("Chemical-free" would be a good place to start.)</i><br />
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3) Are these words really any different from vacuous marketing words from prior generations, like "heart-healthy" or one of my personal favorites: "<a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/04/pop-tarts-good-source-of-7-vitamins-and.html" target="_blank"><b>a good source of seven vitamins and minerals</b></a>"?<br />
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4) Have you ever seen a product with marketing copy that said "Unsustainable" or "Unethical" or "Baby-Unfriendly"?<br />
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And finally:<br />
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5) What price premium are you willing to pay for words? Will you pay double? Triple? Quadruple? Where is your limit? <br />
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<b>Readers, what do you think?</b><br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-45735620656413490542019-03-26T03:11:00.001-07:002019-03-26T06:36:27.322-07:00All the Things You Can’t Do -- Instead of All the Things You CanPeter Drucker, in his seminal book <a href="https://amzn.to/2UywO4m" target="_blank"><b>The Effective Executive</b></a>, makes an arresting point about focusing on what you <i>can</i> do rather than what you can't: <br />
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<i>"Most executives I know in government, in the hospital, in a business, know all the things they cannot do. They are only too conscious of what the boss won't let them do, of what company policy won't let them do, of what the government won't let them do. As a result, they waste their time and their strengths complaining about the things they cannot do anything about. </i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <i>Effective executives are of course also concerned with limitations. But it is amazing how many things they find that can be done and are worth while doing. <b>While the others complain about their inability to do anything, the effective executives go ahead and do." </b></i><br />
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We see this same dynamic in many of the life domains we discuss here at Casual Kitchen--of how far too many people give away their power, complaining about things totally outside their circle of control, rather than taking specific action <i>inside</i> their circle of control.<br />
<br />
Some examples: <br />
<br />
1) Complaining about greedy food companies trying to make us all fat--instead of thinking about what specific actions <i>you</i> can take <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-top-25-laughably-cheap-recipes-at.html" target="_blank"><b>to help your family eat healthier</b></a>.<br />
<br />
2) Raging about the political environment, or holding generalized negative feelings about those idiots in that other party who are all total idiots. Usually this is a direct function of consuming too much media. Remember! The media's function is not to inform you, it's to capture your attention by inducing rage or fear. <br />
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2a) Related: Letting a certain orange-colored President derange you, letting him live rent-free in your head, letting him make you mad <i>from thousands of miles away.</i> Instead of impotently shaking your fist at him on Twitter, you could be directly and positively impacting the people right around you, right now.<br />
<br />
3) Complaining that <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2017/05/money-sundays-second-order-thinking.html" target="_blank"><b>the investing game is rigged</b></a> (because of "high frequency trading" or "rich insiders" or whatever reason), rather than taking action yourself by improving your own investing game and getting better at it. As with politics, the investing realm is cruel to those who overreact to the media. Also, an innocent question about your personal circle of control: <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-official-your-money-or-your-life.html" target="_blank"><b>What's the last personal finance book you read</b></a>? What is the most recent concrete step you've taken to <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/08/your-money-or-your-life-full-archive.html" target="_blank"><b>improve your family's financial footing</b></a>? <br />
<br />
4) One of the more pernicious traps of modernity: fooling ourselves into thinking we're taking action <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2018/02/fooling-ourselves-with-tips-and.html" target="_blank"><b>by reading and talking about things, rather than actually doing them</b></a>. We get the illusion of taking action with none of the results. I wrote about one painful example of this on my writing blog, about an acquaintance who talked about a novel he would someday write. Unfortunately, his novel never existed in reality--<a href="http://quickwritingtips.blogspot.com/2010/01/hypothetical-novel.html" target="_blank"><b>it only existed in an idealized state in his imagination</b></a>.<br />
<br />
<i>"The assertion that 'somebody else will not let me do anything' should always be suspected as a cover-up for inertia. But even where the situation does set limitations--and everyone lives and works within rather stringent limitations--there are usually important, meaningful, pertinent things that can be done. The effective executive looks for them. If he starts out with the question: 'What can I do?' he is almost certain to find that he can actually do much more than he has time and resources for." </i><br />
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And he (or she!) can do much, <i>much</i> more than all the people sitting around complaining. Put together. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>READ NEXT:</b> <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/10/is-looking-for-tax-efficient.html" target="_blank"><b>Money Sundays: Is Looking For Tax-Efficient Investments Icky? Or Intelligent?</b></a><br />
<br />
<b>AND:</b> <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-official-your-money-or-your-life.html" target="_blank"><b>The Official YMOYL Reading List</b></a><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=casukitc-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=0060833459&asins=0060833459&linkId=ac55ef276dd5b22c21ee3107866194e0&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-2278309324650382372019-03-19T03:11:00.000-07:002019-03-19T03:11:00.533-07:00Major Media Food Writing Is Now Officially Dead. Here's the Guy Who Killed It.Want to know what the labor market looks like for food writing? Have a good look at this job "opportunity" at Epicurious for an aspiring food writer:<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
I have an amazing job for a food writer who is at the beginning of her/his career. Here are the details:</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105188484015419395?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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. <a href="https://twitter.com/epicurious?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@epicurious</a> is looking for a sharp, organized, cooking-obsessed Editorial Assistant to join our small corner of <a href="https://twitter.com/CondeNast?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CondeNast</a>. The right candidate will thrive while performing both creative editorial tasks and detail-oriented production tasks.</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105188484522872832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
So far, so good. But here's where it begins to get ... depressing:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
This is a full-time freelance position based in New York City. Candidates should ideally already live in the NYC area. Relocation funds are not available for this position.</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105188485328179201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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A rough outline of the job’s various duties:<br />
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Newsletter Production (Roughly 20% of the job)<br />
Newsletters are a vital source of traffic for Epicurious, and the EA will be tasked with writing and building our daily send, as well as other one-off sends throughout the week.</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105188485999329280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Recipe Production (Roughly 15% of the job)<br />
The EA will build roughly 30 recipes (our most important editorial resource) every month.</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105188486662053891?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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SEO Maintenance (Roughly 15% of the job)<br />
Several articles and galleries will be updated every week by the EA, so we can stay competitive on search.</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105188487224061952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Writing (Roughly 40% of the job)<br />
A core part of the EA’s job: pitching and writing 2-3 articles and 2-3 galleries every week.</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105188487974801409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Various Administrative Tasks (Roughly 10% of the job)<br />
Such as calling in books/products, shopping for taste tests, helping with mailings, etc.</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105188488515911688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br />
...So, this is three jobs, then? Maybe four.<br />
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Interested candidates should send an email to me (david_tamarkin@condenast.com) that includes a resumé, a few paragraphs about yourself, and links to published work.</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105188489170247680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
"Links to published work" ... for someone "who is at the beginning of her/his career"? <br />
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At this point, this poor un-self-aware gentleman and his "amazing job" began to receive severe blowback.<br />
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Paid hourly at 40 hrs/week, no benefits.</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105507690112004096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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No, it's a full-time freelance gig.</div>
— David Tamarkin (@DavidTamarkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidTamarkin/status/1105507501829697541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>This tweet was particularly blunt:<br />
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This is a monstrously exploitative job posting. <a href="https://t.co/BTeeyo4fgb">pic.twitter.com/BTeeyo4fgb</a></div>
— Steve Mullis (@stevemullis) <a href="https://twitter.com/stevemullis/status/1105813873649766401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
And then... things got serious: <br />
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We've seen the tweets and have shared the situation with our Worker Protection team. They are now looking into it. Thanks for helping to bring it to our attention!</div>
— NYS Dept of Labor (@NYSLabor) <a href="https://twitter.com/NYSLabor/status/1105835929338609665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
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There's an old saying: "Never go inside a sausage factory, you might see how the sausage is made." Well, major food media is sausage--and now we've had a good long look at <i>exactly</i> how it's made: on the backs of people working "amazing jobs" like this.<br />
<br />
This ought to shatter any serious reader's interest in Epicurious as a site, and perhaps also shatter any reader's interest in <i>any</i> of Conde Nast's publications.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Footnotes: </b><br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cond%C3%A9_Nast#Current_USA_publications_and_digital_assets" target="_blank"><b>A list of Conde Nast publications</b></a>:<br />
<br />
Allure<br />
Architectural Digest<br />
Ars Technica<br />
Backchannel<br />
Bon Appétit<br />
Brides<br />
Condé Nast Traveler<br />
Epicurious<br />
Glamour<br />
Golf Digest<br />
GQ<br />
Pitchfork<br />
Self<br />
Teen Vogue<br />
The New Yorker<br />
Vanity Fair<br />
Vogue<br />
W<br />
Wired<br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-45067014432648097182019-03-12T03:11:00.000-07:002019-03-24T09:18:41.391-07:00Neomania <b><br />
</b> <b>neomania</b> [nee oh MAY nee uh] <i>noun;</i> An obsession with the new.<br />
<br />
Neomania is disease of modernity. And in fact the most telling examples of neomania usually involve tech gadgets. Ask any iPhone owner, especially while he's lining up outside an Apple store excitedly waiting to be separated from a thousand dollars. <br />
<br />
But neomania exists in the world of food too. It appears in <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2018/01/ingredient-bragging.html" target="_blank"><b>ingredient bragging</b></a>, a topic we've discussed previously here at Casual Kitchen. It seems so <i>cool</i> to be the first food blogger to share some exotic-sounding ingredient with your readers. For example, ten years ago, if you were one of the early bloggers to offer a recipe featuring "garlic scapes" you were too cool for school! You were in the know, ahead of everybody else. <br />
<br />
What about neomania in restaurants? I know I unfairly pick on New Yorkers all the time here, but New York City is simply <i>loaded</i> with people obsessed with going to the latest restaurant. And since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-restaurants-fail-rate-2011-8" target="_blank"><b>restaurants in New York City have an 80% fail rate within five years</b></a>, neomaniac New Yorkers always have an unlimited supply of the "new" to chase. <br />
<br />
Travel? Yep. If you're the first person in your circle to go somewhere, <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/12/thorstein-veblen-and-conspicuous.html" target="_blank"><b>you get tremendous status heirarchy points</b></a>. First among your friends to visit Medellin? Check. First to Iceland? Check. Bali? Laos? Tibet? Check. Another bonus: trendy locations go in and out of fashion over the years, so when a hip tourist location goes from new to old to new again, you can say you went there before it was cool--and be right twice!<br />
<br />
What's consistently depressing about neomania is how within months of a thing being new, it's quickly no longer new, and we contemptuously roll our eyes at things we recently thought were amazing. You might be too cool for school if you were early to the garlic scapes trend, but heaven help you if you were late to it. Borrrr-ing!! <br />
<br />
Think about various trendy concepts in the restaurant industry: sea foam, lobster ravioli, avocado toast, or, for the beverage neomaniacs among you, overpriced "mules" served up in a distinctive copper cup. And think about how, if we look back honestly at the trumpeting of these experiences when they were trendy, how we all <i>now</i> feel vaguely sheepish having participated in the neomania when it happened: how we wish we hadn't written that me-too recipe featuring garlic scapes, just like everyone else did at the same time. How we wish we hadn't paid $15 for that mule in the trendy copper mug in that trendy upscale bar. And how we'd rather forget all about that time we paid $42 for an entree of "scallops and sea foam" at <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/09/on-true-value-of-forgotten-restaurant.html" target="_blank"><b>some restaurant whose name we can barely remember</b></a>... that isn't even in business any more.<br />
<br />
<b>Neomania in cooking</b><br />
There's one instance where I find neomania to be particularly offensive: when I see a perfectly perfect recipe appallingly butchered by neomaniacs. One example that comes to mind is taking a flawless, timeless recipe like apple pie or apple crisp, and using some abstruse, expensive neomaniacal new apple variety that nobody's ever heard of <b>[1]</b> when anyone with half a soul knows that in-season, traditional Macintosh apples <b>[2]</b> are the <i>only</i> acceptable variety to use for apple pies and crisps. <br />
<br />
Finally, if we extend our time horizon a bit, we can see how neomania has caused us to introduce needless, even harmful elements to our lives. Consider the <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-broken-food-pyramid.html" target="_blank"><b>now-infamous government food pyramid</b></a>, or worse, things like olestra, a new (and supposedly healthier) oil. I'm not sure which is worse: a set of food recommendations that were exactly, exactly wrong, or a new oil that <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olestra#Side_effects" target="_blank"><b>became infamous for causing anal leakage</b></a>.<br />
<br />
Neomania is a type of infirmity, an illness, because it causes us to shun already-familiar things that work well and chase "new" things that usually don't work at all. <br />
<br />
The new is rarely better, but it's always designed to <i>seem</i> so. And it certainly tricks enough of us as we scramble from vacation spot to vacation spot, from ingredient brag to ingredient brag, from new restaurant to newer restaurant, from tech gadget to tech gadget, constantly straining for more, when what we already had worked better all along. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>READ NEXT:</b> <a href="https://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/09/is-organic-food-healthier-or-just.html" target="_blank"><b>Is Organic Food Healthier? Or Just Another Aspirational Product?</b></a><br />
<b>AND:</b> <a href="http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/02/a-false-referent.html" target="_blank"><b>A False Referent</b></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>[1]</b> The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_(apple)" target="_blank"><b>new "Jazz" apple variety</b></a> comes to mind, itself ironically a cross of two other neomaniacal apples: Royal Gala and Braeburn.<br />
<br />
<b>[2]</b> Okay, <i>maybe</i> Cortlands in a pinch. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
You can help support the work I do here at Casual Kitchen by <a href="http://amzn.to/2C86a8l" target="_blank"><b>visiting Amazon via any link on this site</b></a>. Amazon pays a small commission to me based on whatever purchase you make on that visit, and it's at no extra cost to you. Thank you!<br />
<br />
And, if you are interested at all in cryptocurrencies, yet another way you can help support my work here is to <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/join/5426fb6bb1904b6969000002"><b>use this link to open up your own cryptocurrency account at Coinbase</b></a>. I will receive a small affiliate commission with each opened account. Once again, thank you for your support!Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.com3