Mary's Great Ideas

How I may be using duct tape at tomorrow's protest

2010-02-17T08:00:19Z

I'm going to be wearing my "I am James Chasse" t-shirt at tomorrow's rally in protest of the City's decision to put Officer Ron Frashour back to work after shooting unarmed Aaron Campbell in the back.

The t-shirt was inspired by the "I am Chris Humphreys" t-shirts that police officers wore during a union rally to protest of the suspension of Officer Humphreys, who a month prior had shot a 12-year-old girl with a beanbag gun at close proximity, and was one of the officers involved in the death of James Chasse.
More information here.

But I'm going to try to add things to the t-shirt (duct tape? Sharpies? I'm still working on the textile technology!) - something along the lines of: "I am Aaron Campbell" ... "I am Kendra James" "I am James Jahar Parez" ... (a sad number of possibilities here)

As a privileged white woman, it could be easy to think: "I'm none of these people" - but the truth is, as someone concerned about community safety, who wants to walk her streets feeling secure, who needs to know that police officers are trusted partners -- I could be any of these people: By acting or looking strange, being in the wrong place, speaking the wrong words, having the wrong friends, or having friends or family of the wrong color. And these deaths represent a huge failure in a system that I rely on to help me create a safer community together with my neighbors.

I hope to see you there tomorrow - ultimately, t-shirts don't matter. Showing up, speaking out, coming together does. It matters.

Making Sausage

2009-10-20T16:48:41Z

Tony grinding sausage. Later, I helped stuff it. Even later, it stuffed me.

Dogs and Ladies

2009-10-19T17:06:08Z

Porter the Amazing Fruit Kebab Swallower!!

2009-10-05T10:25:43Z

Pendleton Round Up! Let'er Buck!

2009-09-22T07:59:44Z

Dave and Mabel

2009-09-10T23:04:18Z

Dave tried on my hick hat, then Mabel tried it on, too.

Swimming with Pica and Mabel at Kelly Point Park

2009-09-10T22:50:17Z

Lunch

2009-09-10T22:41:57Z

Sandwich with avocado, cheese, tomato, onion, green pepper on expensive hippy bread.

Greg and Omori at Ecola Park

2009-09-08T01:59:22Z

Create animated gif

State Fair Dahlias

2009-09-08T00:54:17Z

My favorite dahlias at the Oregon State Fair.

Lightning Dance!!!

2009-09-08T00:40:33Z

With your safety instructor!

-Mangled by Greg

Greg's Nose Job GIF

2009-09-08T00:26:46Z

Greg looks cute with an upturned nose. Maybe all that exercise is what made it bleed.

Montana GIF

2009-09-07T23:58:33Z

Arby's Menu Ideas

2009-06-10T02:14:13Z

I don't get Arby's. How do they change their menu so fast?! Doesn't it take a few months just to get the soy/soylent-green molds made up? And what is Arby's supposed to be? I had NO idea (until I read it in a Wikipedia article) that Arby's frames itself an "adult" fast-food chain, and I definitely missed their claim to be healthier than other places -- I always just thought of it as the place with the roast beef. (And, like some other people, I kinda even like the roast beef.) But they don't seem to be able to stick to that.

Right now, for instance, they're featuring "Fajita Flatbread" -- with roast chicken. In the recent past (that I can remember), they've also had "deli" sandwiches (like chicken salad on wheat bread), and a line of what was basically bar food -- jalapeno poppers (still listed on their website as, "Jalapeno Bites with Bronco Berry Sauce" but not available around here, I don't think -- not that I've checked lately), deep fried onion flower thingys, deep fried mozzarella sticks, etc. I'm especially pleased to see that they are selling BLTs at participating locations because I was just thinking the other day that BLTs should be a fast-food option!

Even though it seems to go against the whole franchise business model, and smacks of desperation, I appreciate Arby's nimble ways, and think a more flexible, creative franchise has huge potential as a kind of experimental food space to capitalize nationally in a huge way on micro trends. And slow food is just so ... unprofitable.

Here are some things I think Arby's should put their mass marketing and plentiful drive-thru windows behind:

For the summer, they should try a whole line of "carnival foods" -- corn dogs, caramel apples, caramel corn, asparagus tamales, funnel cake, etc.
Crunchy rolls -- deep fried/tempura sushi. Forget about the other kinds of sushi -- just focus on what Americans really like -- crunchy breading, cream cheese and salt. I don't even think they should cut them up, they should just sell them whole, wrapped in tinfoil, like burritos, and just as big.
They should do falafel sandwiches, and they should advertise them as vegan. I know we've got the Pita Pit but surely there is a market for drive-through vegan dishes.
Tortas -- I've said it before, I'll say it again: some American fast food franchise needs to get into the torta scene. Taco Bell is missing the ball -- maybe Arby's is the one with the gumption to do it?
Korean tacos -- and maybe Korean food, in general -- kim chi lite or something.
An all-dumpling menu - knishes, pierogis, empanadas, apple dumplings, etc.
Maybe an all-pasta dumpling menu, too -- you know, ravioli, pot stickers, etc.
Biscuits and gravy -- I envision a biscuit filled with gravy to make it more mobile (maybe this would fall under dumplings? sort of a reverse dumpling?) UPDATE! Arby's DOES sell biscuits and gravy, according to their website. They haven't put the gravy inside the biscuit, tho.
Deviled eggs. Maybe other "grandma's potluck" items, too, like meatballs in bbq sauce and casseroles?
Salad rolls, with ranch dressing

I'm sure I can think of some other ideas -- you can have these ones for free, Arby's, but won't you please let me be your menu consultant after this?

Photo from Roadsidepictures flickr stream

Heavy Equipment Camp: Update

2008-12-27T18:27:14Z

Remember Melissa's idea for Heavy Equipment Driving Camp?

At least two real-world applications of the idea have recently come to my attention:
A German place called Männerspielplatz and Dozer Day.

I note that the idea for Männerspielplatz came to its creator in 2004 whereas Melissa's idea dates back to late 2003. COINCIDENCE??