My existence is based on potato chips

I was going to save this post for next week but I can't wait that long. I read 84, Charing Cross Road (by Helene Hanff-go read it as soon as possible) this weekend which made me even more excited writing this post. Enjoy a bonus from the Island!

My family is from the great state of Michigan. Both of my parents grew up in southwest Detroit and met in high school. The majority of my extended family still lives in the Detroit area. I love Detroit and Michigan as much as I love New Orleans and Louisiana (that's where the whole Southern/Midwestern part of the blog subtitle comes from-there's a reason for everything).

People make fun of Michigan and never seem to have any nice things to say about Detroit but I think that's usually because they've never experienced Michigan (and I don't mean in a Tim Allen Pure Michigan kind of way) or at least given Michigan a chance. There's lots to do and cool people and great restaurants and Dearborn Music. And Hamtramck Disneyland. And The Henry Ford. (Yeah, the Henry Ford Museum is called The Henry Ford. I don't get it either-he's not buried there so the Henry Ford is not on the premises.) You can experience the Great Lakes and some amazing architecture and Red Wings hockey. And the UP! Detroit is the birthplace of Motown and MC5 and Iggy Pop and Eminem and the auto industry.  Michigan is one of the leading producers of fruit in the US—Michigan cherries and blueberries are amazing. And Michigan cows are much happier than California cows. I'm sure of it - I believe it's the lack of pretension. Kellogg’s Cereal is in Battlecreek; Ball Park Franks and Hebrew National are also based in Michigan. You're welcome America!

My three favorite Michigan based food companies are Vernors (which is the oldest surviving soft drink in the US), Faygo (the Original Party Pop!), and Better Made Potato Chips. When we would go back to Michigan for visits when I was growing up, we’d always stock up on all three because you couldn’t get them outside of the state. Now you can get Vernors and Faygo all over (although you can’t always get Rock & Rye outside of Michigan…sigh) but you usually pay more for it. All three have online stores too so I guess I could pay an exorbitant amount in shipping to have Red Pop, Rock & Rye, Vernors, and the best potato chips ever made shipped to my door.

Which brings me to how Better Made and I are connected. Imagine if you will, Detroit in the early 1940s. World War II is looming and women are working in new industries across the city. One woman, Kathleen, worked at the Better Made Potato Chip factory where (I'm sure) she made amazing snack foods for the war effort. While working there, she met another woman named Frances. The two became friends and Frances introduced Kathleen to her brother, Stanley. Kathleen was engaged but that didn't stop her from writing to Stanley while he was stationed in the Pacific, you know, as a friend (because friends wrote to one another back then). She wrote to him throughout the war despite that fact that her fiancé was not pleased with her doing so and wanted her to stop. Kathleen didn’t stop writing letters to Stanley but she did dump the fiancé. When Stanley returned from the war they began their courtship and eventually married. In 1947, my uncle Joe was born and in 1949, my mother was born. If not for Better Made potato chips, my grandparents might never have met.

I love this story for so many reasons but my favorite is that my grandparents wrote letters to one another. Victory mail (what the US Government called wartime mail) was a major morale booster and encouraged. People wrote to their loved ones but also wrote to men from their town, friends of friends, and complete strangers. Letter writing was a patriotic duty. If you read this blog regularly, you know I'm obsessed with letter writing and want to find someone to write letters to. Now I know that it's in my blood and I'm not just complaining about the death of civility in the digital age. I also often wonder if my great Aunt Frances intended for all of this to happen when she introduced them. I never asked her so I'll just pretend that this was exactly what she intended. 

I thought about this nugget of awesome from my family’s history on Friday when I found out that Better Made is on Twitter. I found them through an education blogger I follow (because Twitter makes us all smarter). Of course, I immediately followed Better Made. And do you know what happened? Better Made followed me!! This is my single greatest achievement on Twitter to date. I admit I don't use Twitter to its fullest potential but I love following companies and celebrities. You get to be part of their (often bizarre) 140 character world. I particularly like it when two celebrities have a "conversation" and I get to read it. On the same day I followed Better Made, I also started following Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy. I feel like I’m taking part in the 2012 version of their computer moment from Pretty in Pink.

So thanks Better Made. Without you, I would not exist and the world would not have amazing potato chips (and other snack foods) to enjoy. Check them out at bmchips.com. Or you can follow them on Twitter @BetterMade. If you ever find yourself in Michigan (or maybe just at the Detroit airport), do yourself a favor and buy a Better Made snack - I prefer the regular potato chips and pretzels. You'll thank me later.

Yes, I have a Better Made purse. Don't be jealous.

Couch Kingdoms and Grown-Up Sick Days

One of my favorite things about being a kid was staying home from school when I was sick. I didn’t like the sick part (who does?) but I loved the staying home part. I honed my Ferris Bueller faker skills early in life too. While I never borrowed a fancy car or sang a Beatles song in a completely unnecessary parade sequence, I had all the symptom faking skills down.  And I was a cute kid so I’m sure that didn’t hurt. No parent is going to tell their cute kid to go to school if they say they’re sick. If I ever have children, I will probably let them stay home all the time. I’m a pushover when it comes to cuteness and sickness—hugs, blankets, and toast will make it better (even if you’re lying).

Childhood sick days took place in what I like to think of as the Couch Kingdom. Pillows and blankets would be arranged just so on the couch and you could burrow into them to nap the day away. Books and magazines would magically appear (along with your missed work for school which was promptly ignored). Ginger ale and cinnamon toast (my mom makes the best cinnamon toast in the world) were staples.

I was Queen of Couch Kingdom. I preferred Teen Beat and BOP magazines and Judy Blume, Babysitters Club, and Sweet Valley High books (although this would eventually morph into Christopher Pike and Stephen King—I was a weird kid). Probably the best part of being Queen of Couch Kingdom was absolute control of the television. I could watch whatever I wanted. Even when my brother got home from school I was still in control because I was sick (and bossy and bratty). Some days I’m amazed that my brother likes me.

For the majority of my elementary and middle school years, television control meant that I watched the movie version of Annie over and over again. Annie was the middle school equivalent of You've Got Mail - I had to watch it. My family, and I’m including aunts and uncles here, hate this movie and it’s my fault. Occasionally I’d change it up and watch some other movie (probably Strawberry Shortcake themed when I was younger) or I’d watch soap operas with my mom. I have a soft spot in my heart for All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital. I haven’t watched any of them since 1991 but I love an Erica Kane joke as much as the next person.

The magic of the Couch Kingdom was that someone was there to take care of you. It didn’t really matter that I wanted to watch Annie my mom would still be there with more ginger ale or Kleenex or calamine lotion (when I had chicken pox). She’d bring another blanket if I needed or buy me a magazine at the store. Being sick as a kid was awesome. Being Queen of Couch Kingdom was even better.

I participate in a 30-day photo challenge on the Facebook. For those of you not familiar with the concept each day has a different theme and you post a photo depicting said theme. The photo has to be taken and posted on that day. It’s a great way to be creative and take wacky pictures. I love photo challenges. One of the themes this week was “If I Was a Kid Again” and I posted a picture of my grown-up sick day. Grown-up sick days are terrible.

Kitchen Table Kingdom isn't as much fun

I have spent the better part of this week sick and feeling sad that grown-up sick days are not anything like childhood sick days. Most of my sick days as an adult have really just been “work from home” days. I might stay in my pjs (although I rarely do this) but I’m still checking email and doing work stuff. When I taught high school, I felt guilty calling in sick; my colleagues would have to sub for me (which meant that they lost a planning period or lunch time for many of them) so I often went in despite the fact that I was hacking up a lung. This may have actually been my penance for faking so much when I was kid. I wasted sick days instead of saving them (like some sort of bizarre sick day karma).

Unfortunately, Pumpkin is useless when it comes to taking care of a sick person. She lays on me (which I guess is comforting) but she’s a cat. She can’t make tea or cinnamon toast. She would prefer to ignore more or play with her toys. I have to remember, “Pumpkin is not Lassie.” Lassie would have been able to make tea or at least tell someone I was sick so they could come and make me tea.

What Pumpkin does when I'm sick. Isn't she amazing?

Elvis, Lou Reed and The Monkees are driving around the East Bay with me...

I’m a planner. I like lists (that much you know). I like to know what’s going to happen when I go places and do things. I would not describe myself as particularly spontaneous, although I occasionally surprise myself. I mean, I did move to California sort of out of the blue so you know, I can work without a plan.

I don’t usually plan Record Store Day. I don’t make lists of albums or special releases I’m looking for. I don’t normally go to more than one store in a day. I like to just enjoy the day and buy some music (and support local businesses). However, I do like an event. And I really like a theme so this year I changed up my RSD habits and planned a record store crawl.

My (ambitious) goal: to go to 4 record stores in 3 cities in 1 day.

The stores: Rasputin Music, Amoeba Music (both in Berkeley); 1 2 3 4 Go! Records (in Oakland); Fats Music/Record Gallery (in Alameda)

The wrap-up: Watch Empire Records and/or a dramatic reading from the book High Fidelity

Here’s what happened: I should have planned better. I don’t pay attention to the goings-on of the UC Berkeley campus so how was I supposed to know that yesterday was also Cal Day? Freshmen open houses are crazy events (I know, I used to be in admissions) and it was as if every prospective freshman and their parents were in Berkeley yesterday taking up parking and not crossing streets like normal people. Seriously, you are about to go to college. Take a moment and learn how to walk across the street without texting, stopping in the intersection, or pushing people. This is not the 7^th grade field trip to the state capital, this is Record Store Day and you are in my way.

After I finally found a parking space on College Avenue (and it was shear luck that I found it), I finally made my way to Rasputin. For those of you not familiar with this particular part of Berkeley, Rasputin and Amoeba are about a block away from one another. There are lots of shops and restaurants and on the weekends there are street vendors so it's normally crowded but it was insane. It’s near the People’s Park so to say that the neighborhood is interesting would be an understatement. Anyway, I started at Rasputin. It wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be but by the time I got there the special RSD releases were pretty wiped out.  Curses to you shoppers who are now selling those records on eBay—y'all suck. I did find a Lou Reed album and a few CDs (Dr. John’s new one and a great 2 CD set of The Replacements) that I had on my list (yes, I brought a list this year) so I made my first purchase of the day. I got a nifty reusable RSD bag for my purchases and got to listen to a little live music (I heard the end of The Blank Tapes set). 

At Amoeba, I had more luck with the special releases. I got Karen Elson’s Milk & Honey and the Side by Side record for “You Be Illin’” as done by Run-DMC in 1986 and the Carolina Chocolate Drops in 2012. Later in the day I learned that the labels are on that record incorrectly so it’s an awesome RSD buy (or so I’m told). I just really like that Run-DMC song and the Carolina Chocolate Drops are pretty cool. All I can think about when I think of Run-DMC is that time they played Loup Garou at Loyola. They were on my college campus and played a show in the quad. Crazy. I also got The Civil Wars CD Live at Amoeba. I thought it appropriate to buy it at an Amoeba Music store.

I decided to skip 1 2 3 4 Go! Records. The parking nightmare of Berkeley made me cranky and it’s probably a good thing I skipped this one. My friend, Erin, lives nearby and told me later in the day that the line was insane all day long. It may have ruined my RSD buzz. Waiting in line in the heat (because it was hot yesterday) was not really on the list of things to enjoy on RSD. Anyway, I made my way back to Alameda to my last destination, Fats Music/Record Gallery. I’m not entirely sure what the deal is with this store. There are two names and it seems like there are in fact, two different stores at this location. Up front, it’s Record Gallery (used CDs/DVDS/LPs and other music stuff) and Fats Music in the back (instruments, more LPs). This was the only place all day were I got normal record store snark—no wonder I never come in here. I was the only person in the store at the time and all I could think was “Find something to buy so you can get out of here.”

And find something I did. I found two somethings: Elvis’s “Aloha from Hawaii” and a hard to find Monkees album “The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees”. It was worth the snark for these two albums. My mom and I both love “Aloha from Hawaii.” I remember a VHS copy of the 1973 concert being in our VHS collection (yes, we had a collection and I’m sure they’re still my parents’ basement if I really wanted them) and watching that tape on occasion. My mom has the concert on CD and I borrowed it from her a few years back. (Borrowing music from my mom?! Yes, please.) This is Elvis in all his white sequin jumpsuit glory. It’s a phenomenal concert and album (Burning Love or maybe Suspicious Minds). I love “Suspicious Minds”; he kisses the lady twice towards the end. You know she died a little that day. If you haven’t seen the whole concert, you should be ashamed of yourself and you should find it now. I’ll wait.

I love Elvis. I once had a boyfriend who told me that you were either an Elvis person or a Beatles person. While I believe this is absolute crap, it makes sense to me now. I’m an Elvis person; he was definitely a Beatles person. I like the Beatles but only after 1967. I love Elvis no matter what. Maybe this is the gauge that I should use for all relationships. 

I also bought The Monkees album. I wrote about my love of Davy Jones a few weeks ago so I was super excited to find this gem. I’m guessing from the title, that we’re supposed to learn about love and relationships from The Monkees. Why not? If you can’t learn about those things from rock music, where else will you learn them? There are two amazing things about this album's artwork: the guys on a boat on the upper right hand corner and the back cover. This is why I miss albums—the artwork is the best part.

I didn’t finish the day by watching Empire Records or reading from High Fidelity. I’m saving the movie for today (to watch while I anxiously await the return of The Real Housewives of New Jersey). I think next year I might celebrate RSD by dressing up as my favorite character from Empire Records and only sticking to one store. I’m not sure anyone will get it and I’m really not sure that I can commit fully to being Deb since I’m not shaving my head but maybe I can be Deb before her haircut or something. I've got an entire year to plan.

In need of an intervention...

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I don’t have a crippling addiction to drugs or alcohol. I’m not a hoarder. I don’t buy shoes like I used to. I keep my collecting habits (owls, Russian nesting dolls, fleur de lis anything) to a minimum.

My vice? The movie You’ve Got Mail. I have seen this movie about 100 times. That’s not true; I’ve probably seen it more than that. I have to watch this movie every time it’s on tv. I don’t own it; I only watch it on tv. If I owned this movie, I’d probably watch some part of it at least once a day. This is why I can never own this movie.

It’s not a great movie but it's also not a terrible movie. It's perfectly adequate - it’s a typical romantic comedy from the 1990s. It’s a sort of remake of the movie The Shop Around the Corner (1940). In The Shop Around the Corner, Margaret Sullivan and Jimmy Stewart play co-workers at the same shop who don’t really like one another. But they’re actually falling in love with one another because they’re anonymous pen pals. Seriously, they write letters to one another and fall in love. Sigh. If only life worked this way and people still wrote letters to one another.

In You’ve Got Mail, Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) and Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) meet online (in the early days of chat rooms and meeting online) and email one another. In real life, she owns a little bookstore, The Shop Around the Corner, and he owns a big box bookstore and they hate one another. Fox Books literally puts The Shop Around the Corner out of business. They also don’t know that they’re secret email pals. Hilarity and romantic comedy awesomeness ensues.

I can’t help myself when it comes to this movie. There’s something so charming and lovely about it. I watched it again yesterday and came up with a list of all the things I love about this movie. You know I love a list.

In no particular order, the 32 things I love about You’ve Got Mail:

1.     Steve Zahn as George Pappas, one of Kathleen's eccentric employees. I love Steve Zahn. That Thing You Do, Reality Bites, Sunshine Cleaning, Happy, Texas, Treme—I could go on but I think you get the point. I recently watched season 1 of Treme and I totally would have stayed in New Orleans if Davis had planned that day for me. His role in YGM is small but I love him and appreciate that he tells Joe that Kathleen is sick later in the movie. Best quote: “This place is a tomb. I’m going to the nut shop where it’s fun.” Interpret that how you will.

2.     Parker Posey as Patricia. Patricia is Joe's girlfriend and this is how he describes her: “Patricia makes coffee nervous.” Best line ever.

3.     The Shop Around the Corner—I wish there were more bookstores like this. It just seemed friendly and magical. What child wouldn’t want to read a book that they got here?

4.     YGM makes me want to move to Manhattan although I know that there is absolutely no way that I could live in that city like these characters do. Totally unrealistic living arrangements - where do these apartments even exist? How many millions of dollars do you need to live in one?

5.     Caviar as a garnish—I don’t want to eat caviar whether it’s a garnish or not but I do love that Joe takes all of the caviar and that it enrages Kathleen.

6.     “I would send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.” Joe writes this to Kathleen at the beginning of the movie. I LOVE this line. I would take a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils (or my favorite pens, Le Pen) over roses any day.

7.     Brinkley is the greatest dog ever. I think Brinkley knows what's going to happen at the end of the movie. He knows people.

8.     The Fox family—so Annabelle (who's maybe 6 or 7) is Joe's aunt and Matt is his brother (and he's maybe 5) and Joe's dad is about to marry a women who eventually runs off with the nanny. Such a 90s family if there ever was one.

9.     Dabney Coleman as Joe’s dad. I heart Dabney Coleman and the whole conversation about nannies cracks me up.

10. Have you realized how amazingly bizarre and wonderful this cast is? Dave Chappelle may be the best example of this. If indie princess Parker Posey wasn't enough, we get Dave Chappelle as Joe's friend. At one point he describes Kathleen as a "broke, single, white lady" and I just laugh and laugh. It's the most Chappelle moment of the movie.

11. Did you know the balloons in the door and the line “Good thing it wasn’t the fish” was totally ad-libbed? Now you do. You’re welcome.

12. Jean Stapleton’s character, Birdie, may or may not have been in love with Generalissimo Franco. Because people do crazy things in foreign countries. Like fall in love with fascist dictators.

13. Kathleen and Frank have the greatest and nicest breakup in the history of breakups. I wish my life worked like theirs.

14. Daisies are the friendliest flowers.

15. Meg Ryan’s haircut. She always has perfect hair. So not fair.

16. The whole movie is about books. What could be better than that?

17. Joe’s grandfather may or may not have dated Cecilia Kelly (Kathleen’s mom). Or possibly they just wrote each other letters. Enchanting.

18. Joe’s indifference to Jane Austen. I get it—ladies, why do we insist guys read Jane Austen? It’s okay if they don’t want to. It doesn’t make them any less romantic or awesome. It's okay to keep Elizabeth and Elinor to yourself.

19. Starbucks product placement. I have a dream about doing a staged reading of this movie at a Starbucks. If it actually happened the world might end.

20. Because I watch the movie on Oxygen or TV Land, it’s 3 hours long. This movie is not 3 hours long. I can clean my entire apartment, do laundry, and write a blog in the entire time it takes to watch this movie.

21. When I was in New Orleans celebrating my 31^st birthday, I took a picture of the soundtrack at Peaches Records in the French Quarter. It’s a terrible picture because I was a bit embarrassed about taking it. I didn’t buy the cassette tape but I did buy some New Orleans Jazz Vipers and Beausoleil CDs.

22. Twirling—Kathleen talks how she and her mother used to twirl. I think the world would be a better place if we all just took more time to twirl.

23. “She wasn’t just selling books, it was that she was helping people become whoever it was they were going to turn out to be. When you read a book as a child, it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.” Amen sister!

24. “Joe? Just call me Joe? As if you were one of those stupid 22-year old girls with no last name? Hi, I’m Kimberly! Hi, I’m Janice! Don’t they know you’re supposed to have a last name? It’s like they’re an entire generation of cocktail waitresses.” Another great Kathleen quote. Love, love, love this one.

25. Joe Fox is obsessed with The Godfather. Gentlemen, please explain this to me. It’s either The Godfather or Back to the Future. I need to know why and if there's a reason it's one or the other.

26. At the end, Kathleen doesn’t have a purse or keys to her apartment. This concerns me. How does she get back into her apartment? Shouldn’t she have ID and cab money?

27. “She has no cash.” The disdain dripping from that man’s voice makes me always want to carry cash although I almost never do.

28. The fashion of 1998—the sweater sets, the dresses, the tights, the clunky shoes, the adorable dress at the end. Sometimes I dream that I have both Kathleen and Christina's wardrobes.

29. Joe Fox is smug, amusing, mean, and charming. You don’t want to like him but you do—just like Kathleen Kelly. When they meet in the park at the end, I get a little weepy. Because I’m a girl and that’s what we do.

30. “Are you taping this?”—VCRs! DVRs were not a thing yet. I love this as much as I love movies that have characters using payphones. There will be a point in the future where we have to explain VCRs and payphones to our children or possibly very young co-workers. That is crazy.

31. Kathleen, Birdie, and Christina have a formal tea one afternoon just for fun. I would like to have formal teas on random Sundays just for fun. Would anyone care to join me?

32. All problems can be solved with more twinkle lights. I don’t know why I don’t use this problem-solving method in my life more often.

What can I say? I may, in fact, be a hopeless romantic. If there is an intervention program for that, sign me up.

Quotes from imdb.com

The Best of the Butter Lamb Project

Happy Easter! Enjoy this little retrospective of the Butter Lamb Project!!

Bonnie & Clyde (2008)

Bonnie and Clyde

Hanging with his Peeps-this is one of my favorites from all years.

The Butter Lamb's Quest (2009)

On an ice resurfacer (because I can't call it a Zamboni)

Mr. Butterton Goes to Washington (2010)

My second favorite picture

Bono shades might be the greatest thing I added as a prop.

Waiting for the Metro

Hopefully, people get the movie reference.

On the Metro

Mr. Butterton Moves to California (2011)

At Crown Beach

Love the Peeps on skateboards!

There are sea lions in the background.

Looking for Mr. Butterton

Happy Easter, Happy Spring, and happy whatever else you might be celebrating this time of year! Normally, I’d be putting the finishing touches on the latest adventure of Mr. Butterton and sending it out to his fans. I’m taking a butter lamb break this year but I couldn’t deny his fans a little something. Think of today’s post as Mr. Butterton’s origin story.

Before I start with Mr. B I thought I’d share some history related to butter lamb because some of you are probably thinking, “Great. Another weird thing Erin does/likes. Awesome.” (Somehow you all sound like me when I write dialogue for you.)

For many Eastern European Catholics, the butter lamb is a part of Easter celebrations. It’s a symbol of the Lamb of God, a common descriptor of Jesus in Christian teachings. My family is Polish and Catholic and we have had butter lambs at Easter for as long as I can remember. (The Polish name for butter lamb is baranek wielkanocny.) I’m certain that as a child I didn’t understand the deeper symbolism of the butter lamb; I just thought he was cute. We don’t buy butter lambs; we make them. My mom has a mold and I bought my own after the first adventure. I’m certain my grandmothers had their own molds too.

Now my butter lamb mold was not purchased out of religious devotion (I’m still pretty sure my mom thinks I’m going to hell for doing this) but for artistic reasons. In 2008, I started the Butter Lamb Project, a photo story involving the butter lamb, Peeps, and other Easter themed candy. This started by accident: my friend, Jennifer (also from a Polish Catholic family) and I were talking about the butter lamb (how we got to talking about this I don’t know). This particular year, her mother hadn’t sent her a lamb and she was a bit disappointed. I knew my dad had already made ours (he makes 2 because you never know if you’re going to get an odd looking lamb) so I offered to take a picture of him for her. Instead of one picture I took 30+ and ended up adding captions to tell the story of Bonnie and Clyde, two butter lambs destined to be eaten by a family on Easter. They watched NCAA basketball, hung out with Peeps and chocolate bunnies, and hid around the table. I sent the link around to my family and friends and they sent it to other people and so on and so on. People started asking me what I’d do the next year and so the annual tradition was born.

I visited Detroit over the summer and bought my own butter lamb mold from the Polish market we go to for kielbasa. The next year, Harold the Butter Lamb, went on a quest. This was the first year that I made props and shot on location (my brother’s work, my office, my kitchen table). The story isn’t great but it’s more thought out than the previous year.

In 2010, I opened up naming rights for the next butter lamb. The winners got to have a character named after them in the story. My mom and several friends contributed to the new name and Sebastian Maslo Butterton was born. I called this adventure “Mr. Butterton Goes to Washington” and spent a day taking pictures all over the city. Mr. B posed with Peeps at the Smithsonian and the Lincoln Memorial and rode the Metro. He even witnessed a protest at the White House. This was also the first year I was really in public with the butter lamb so I got a lot of questions throughout the day. One woman asked me if I was working on an entry for the The Washington Post Peep diorama contest (alas, no) and a man at the White House told me I was funny.

Mr. B’s fans also had questions:

1.     Is he really made out of butter? Yes, I save the ends of butter throughout the months before I do this to make him.

2.     Does he get eaten? After Bonnie and Clyde, no. That would be gross.

3.     Do you make all the props? Yes, I make backdrops and other props as needed (protest signs, clothes, etc.). Getting a Peep to stay on a skateboard was not easy. The protest signs were definitely my favorite props to make.

4.     How do you explain the people in the background? He doesn’t interact with them and it seems weird. I don’t, you are clearly taking this more seriously than it should be taken.

5.     How many pictures do you take? Between 90-200 but I only use half for each adventure (so yes, there are outtakes).

6.     What will he do next year? I have no idea. Do you have any suggestions?

When I moved to Alameda last year I decided to do a California themed adventure. Mr. B moved here too and spent the day in San Francisco and made new friends. He even tried to skateboard. I thought I got weird looks in DC but that was nothing compared to the looks I got when I was in the city filming. You’d think people in San Francisco would be used to odd things happening but either I wasn’t odd enough or they just didn’t get it.

I think I’ve become a better photographer as a result of the Butter Lamb Project. The project has always been a way to challenge myself artistically and I feel like I’ve done a good job over the years. Everyone needs a little whimsy in their life and I hope that the Butter Lamb Project has been that for those who have enjoyed it. Hopefully, I’ll be able to think of something grand and wonderful for next year. I couldn’t think of anything that I was really interested in doing this year. With any creative or artistic endeavor you have to be committed to it. If you’re not, it won’t be as good and you won’t enjoy the creative process. I don’t really want that to happen with Mr. B.

Speaking of creative endeavors, check out this Kickstarter project. Andrew is one of my favorite people in the world and the idea behind this project is just amazing. Andrew and Tom are definitely passionate about this project and you should be too!

TOMORROW: A Best of the Butter Lamb Project Photo post. It will be amazing!

All I need is an apron and a rolling pin...

I love to bake. It's one of my favorite things to do. Baking is a soothing and satisfying activity. It's creative and delicious. I've been baking forever. I got the baking bug from my parents. They both are excellent bakers and always involved my brother and I if we wanted (Scott makes a wicked pumpkin pie). We even bake Christmas cookies together every year.

We call him the Belushi Snowman. He looks like a Blues Brother.

For the last 5 or so years, my co-workers have been the main beneficiaries of my baking. Every new recipe and experiment has made its way into the office. When I was in the DC office, my co-workers seemed surprised that someone would take the time to make something from scratch and bring it in for them. While I would love to tell each and every one of them that I baked for them because I'm a nice person, I would be lying. The truth is that I am a nice person BUT I really like guinea pigs. Most of the recipes I made for them were new so it was sort of like having a test kitchen of people who had no idea they were the testers.

This group tried my first batch of homemade marshmallows and graham crackers. Of course I brought in chocolate too and we had a S'Mores making party in the kitchen. A microwave is no substitute for a campfire but it works in a pinch. Homemade marshmallows are the greatest things ever in the world to make. It's like whipping up a bowl of happiness. If you've never made marshmallows, I hope you'll go out, buy a stand mixer, and make a batch. They're delicious. And magical. Homemade marshmallows are the only way to combat a Lou Reed gloom. If you've ever experienced a Lou Reed gloom you know what I'm talking about. Trust me, marshmallows make it all better.

I've made countless banana breads (my dad's recipe), chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin cookies, and Fruity Pebble treat marshmallow squares (like Rice Krispie treats but with Fruity Pebbles). People tend to like the simpler things which I appreciate.

Fruity Pebble Christmas tree

 

Since moving to California I've done a lot less baking. I used to just bake because the mood struck me or it sounded like a good idea. Or I was very stressed; baking is stress relief. I'm not really sure why it is that I don't bake as much anymore. (I have a theory that it's all the food judgement and weirdness that exists out here but that's just a theory.) Now I bake for occasions, primarily holidays. I've made Mardi Gras cookies and king cake; Groundhog Day cookies (oh yes); pumpkin cookies for Halloween and Thanksgiving (these are like crack-I could make 10 dozen and it wouldn't be enough and there are only 6 of us in the office).

They're wearing scarves and ties.

Today I made pop tarts. This is one of my new favorite recipes (thanks Food Network Magazine). I've done grape and strawberry with vanilla frosting but today a new combination: Nutella and raspberry frosting. Everyone loves Nutella and raspberry just sounds like it will go well with it. I'm not making these for any reason other than that I want to. Hopefully, my co-workers will enjoy these little treats (homemade  pop tarts taste less like a pop tart and more like a little pie).

Aren't they pretty?

With Easter in just a few days what I really want to make is a bunny cake. You make two round, single layer lemon cakes. One cake is the face and the other you cut into ears (and a bow tie if you do it right). Frost the cake and use jelly beans and licorice to make the face. The recipe is from my mom; she used to make it when we were kids (lemon pound cake is so good). I have absolutely no reason to make a bunny cake except that it will be fun and lemony and delicious. Maybe I could freeze it for some future need. I can't think of a reason I would need a bunny cake at some other time other than Easter but I might be able to come up with one before Sunday.