Archive: Q&A

Lady Susan asked:

So this isn’t a question, but rather a request: I would like to see examples of these rather infamous spreadsheets of yours.

and Aleta added:

Do you keep a spreadsheet for blog post topics? (I second the request to see examples! of any kind of spreadsheet.)

To answer the easy part first, no, I do not keep a spreadsheet for blog post topics. I do have some long-standing drafts waiting in the folder to be filled in, but I don’t have an organized Master Plan.

As for the spreadsheet samples … well … I thought long and hard about this. I wasn’t sure what would be most generally useful, and I don’t like slogging through details without a degree of certainty that people will hang in there with me. Besides, do we all mean the same thing when we say “spreadsheet”? This is not a formal definition, but I call information organized into columns and rows a table, whereas a spreadsheet is a table that involves automatic calculation by way of formulas or macros. Anyway, after all of that deliberation, I decided to go through the basics of one type of spreadsheet I use a lot and then field questions from there. Okay? Okay.

Let’s jump right in to the spreadsheet I use most often, which I call “deposit-debit.” Continue reading →

NPW asked:

What I would like to know is what you find the easiest and hardest topics to write about. Everything you write seems to be clear and honest and you always seem to have the right words, but I can’t imagine you always feel that way (at least, I know I don’t!). So what topics do you enjoy writing about the most?

Aw, shucks, NPW! How nice of you to describe my posts this way! Much to my chagrin, I rarely feel coherent and eloquent. When I write, I usually have to herd my thoughts into order, and it’s a matter of wrestling the words into submission before I feel like something is worth publishing. It helps if I have a very clear idea of what I want to say, and that happens all too rarely. In that case, what I want to communicate informs the format of the post — like if I write it in one piece, as scripted dialog, in blurbs, or bullets — and usually gives me an idea of how I want to lead and conclude. I also edit microscopically, always asking if that particular word is the right one for what I want to say, and I’m pretty militant in cutting sections that aren’t doing anything. Or, at least, I try.

The hardest topics for me to write about are:

• What I did over the weekend/straight exposition: There are times when I want to lay down what I did, but I can’t think of any way to do it besides rattling off, “And then … and then …” etc. So, sometimes, I cheat with a run-on sentence or haiku.
• Memes: I always get a little thrill when I get tagged, but then, once confronted with the meme itself, I draw a blank.

The easiest topics for me are:

• Life with JG: As a nerdy teacher and my husband, he can hardly help being an easy target. However, I also have a habit of saying ridiculous things, which he can’t help but immediately point out, so that’s just as good blog fodder. My “Hitched” category is the most populated by a long shot.
• Mild epiphanies: You know, like realizing that I don’t have to stay at a job, or that I question myself all the time. It’s nothing earth-shattering, but significant nonetheless.
• Recipes: Since my recipe streak of 2008, I haven’t done much food blogging, but I am tweaking a one-pot chicken-and-orzo recipe I want to share soon. I just have to get the proportions and times down on paper and try to take a picture that is not totally heinous.
• Q&A: I love having posts laid out for me in advance; what could be easier? I try to keep myself honest by spreading out the answers and only soliciting questions once a year.

Aleta asked:

Who would you say is more outgoing, you or JG?

Generally speaking, JG is more outgoing than I am because I tend to be introverted, and social situations wear me out. His family is much more gregarious than mine, and he feeds off of strong opinions and debate. My parents are really reserved, and I tend to be more conservative in my conversation.

That said, I am much better at small talk than JG is, so I appear as the more outgoing one when we meet people for the first time. I lapse into what I call “Russell Fellow mode,” so called because that was the name for freshman mentors, a position I held for two years in college. It was our job to be friendly, helpful, and accessible, and I learned how to spin off a conversation from any of the major small-talk topics I brought up (usually hometown, major, and outside interests). I was pretty good at retaining those starting points, too.

So, JG is more naturally outgoing, but I am much more likely to remember your name and where you work.

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NGS asked:

If you could change one thing about your husband, what would it be?

I would definitely take away JG’s Teacher Voice. Yes, in capital letters. Most of my teacher friends have this tic where they can’t turn off their authoritative tone and high volume in normal conversation, and while I think I could tolerate it occasionally, it is very hard for me to live with. It’s worst when we’re in the car, talking about something mundane, like what our schedule is for the next week, and I feel like JG is battering me over the head with his volleyball game time. I know he’s not attacking me, but it feels totally condescending. Something inside me shrinks instinctively, and I shut down.

In more than four years of teaching, JG has learned to control his Teacher Voice, but every so often, it flares back up. In that situation, I have to say softly, “I’m right here.” It’s a trigger to say, “Lower your tone,” or “Calm down,” without insinuating that JG is, you know, not calm.

Yes, that’s the first — uh, I mean, the one! — thing I would change.

Erin asked:

What’s your favorite book?

I usually dread answering this question because it’s like choosing a favorite child, but I have come to what I hope is a satisfactory response. My favorite author is Madeleine L’Engle, and my favorite book that she has written is Two-Part Invention, a memoir about her forty-year marriage. I’ve already waxed poetic on this one, but seriously: read it.

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Heidikins asked:

What is your favorite flower?

and:

What are your top 3 favorite recipes?

My favorite flower changes every so often. For a long time, I liked tulips the best, but now I have a shine for mums. I love how many petals each bloom has, and that they are so hardy. They seem like a humble, reliable flower to me. Plus, I can get a nice-sized bunch of them at the grocery store for maybe $4, so there is really nothing not to like about them.

I am choosing to interpret this recipe question for the top three things I like to make and eat:

• Sour cream cookies (after the jump): I made these cookies all the time with my mom when I was a kid, and I think the original recipe is from The Joy of Cooking. These days, I use the 4×6″ recipe card my mom wrote out for my bridal shower, and the cookies come out just how they did in my childhood. It’s also the batter I use to pipe out pi-shaped cookies to celebrate Pi Day.
• Portobello lasagna: Although this is one of the least healthful things I make, I love it deeply. It is so ridiculously delicious, and I don’t even mind burning off my fingerprints when I lay out the hot lasagna noodles.
• Chili (also after the jump): There are few things I love more than throwing a bunch of stuff into a slow cooker and magically producing enough food for a dozen people. For me, chili is the perfect combination of ease and comfort food.

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Unrelatedly, Happy Mole Day!

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