Snow Kidding: The Most Reliable East Coast Snow Forecast Yet

No hype. No "explosive" storm or "paralyzing" conditions. Just the facts and tellin' it like it is.

(With thanks to my friend Bruce for posting this on his Facebook page tonight, thereby allowing tonight's blog post to write itself.)

Was Don Draper the Mastermind Behind Those Super Bowl Ads?

Is it me, or did most of those Super Bowl ads seem to come straight from the playbook of Don Draper?

Yeah, GoDaddy, I'm talking to you. (And Dodge, it wouldn't hurt you to listen up, either.) Up until last night, I had been contemplating using GoDaddy for a website. If I'm to do so now, you'd better make it worth my while.

Because really, what's with the denigration of women? Was that necessary? One would have hoped we'd have moved beyond this 1960s mentality. But apparently we haven't. Because according to the ads I saw last night, we're still either objects to be ogled and objectified (much as the Mad Men crew does with the women in their lives) or we're the 2010 incarnation, vampire shrews snaring the men in our lives and slurping their blood - or at least, to render them eunochs in skirts.

You just know Don Draper was behind those ads, don't you?

I mean, can't you picture the scene in Don's office now? I can.

Smokin' Don behind his desk, facing Peggy and Sal (let's pretend for the purposes of this blog post that Sal is still on the team), Harry Crane and Pete Campbell. In my fantasy episode of Mad Men, Sterling Cooper has been handed the Super Bowl biz - they are the agency of choice for each advertiser during the Big Game.

Don, clearly getting out his frustrations with Betty, comes up with the Dodge "take a stand" ads. He's tired of being kicked around, and he's not gonna take it anymore. They all love it - everyone except Peggy, of course. Same with the GoDaddy ads. Just for humor relief, we'll say that one was proposed by Pete, the grand pooh-bah of GoDaddies himself.

You know the Google Parisian love story ad was the brainchild of Peggy. Simple, romantic, an emotional story that everyone can relate to. She meets resistance from the guys when holding up the storyboards for that spot.

"Google's paying us a gazillion dollars for an ad that damn well better be remembered, and that's the best you can come up with? Some sugar-coated sappiness?" you can hear the good ol' boys saying.

But Peggy holds firm to her belief that this ad is a winner - and of course, it is - and Don acquieses, but only if she works with Pete Campbell to deal with the firestorm that has erupted over the Focus on the Family/Tim Tebow ad. There are bigger accounts to worry about when one has been handed the entire Super Bowl ad campaign. Reluctantly, Peggy agrees.

Let us also imagine that Sal has been working on the Mancrunch campaign, only to be thrown under the bus in the staff meeting when Harry Crane announces that CBS has rejected his ad. Don will try to appease him, too, by giving him Motorola - with the condition that he works on it under the direction of Ken Cosgrove and Paul Kinsey. Sal is perturbed that this is beneath him, but he uses that as a chance to send a message when he includes the two guys.

And then there's Bert Cooper and Roger Sterling. (Because it's not a Mad Men episode without some good repartee between Bert and Roger.) Picture a scene in Bert's office. He's just gotten a call from his old flame, Betty White, who's having a hard time paying for her insurance premiums and is wondering if Bert can find some work for her. In the meantime. Roger's just gotten a call from Abe Vigoda, expressing similar sentiments.

"I thought you were dead," Roger deadpans.

Don comes up with the Snickers ad, keeping Bert and Roger happy and Betty and Abe employed. Cheers all around.

Back to Don's ads for Dodge. (He probably had a hand in the Dove soap ones, too.) He's so proud of them, convinced they are going to be the most memorable. And then, it's the day of the big game, and the Sterling Cooper team is gathered around a TV taking up an entire wall of Bert's office. They have their own version of a drinking game, doing as many number of shots as the time slot of the ad each executive worked on.

Meanwhile, Harry Crane has been monitoring Twitter and Facebook for real-time feedback on the ads. He struggles to figure out a way to tell Don that his sexist ads aren't scoring with the ladies ... and that Peggy's Google love story ad is le creme de la creme of the Super Bowl.

For it is the simple, the emotional, the heartfelt story of the underdog that will always, no matter the decade, triumph over brash, in-your-face tactics.

And then the game is over and the New Orleans Saints win for the first time, in their first appearance in the big game. With the images of Don's manly-men ads fresh in mind, the championship Hallmark moment with Baby Brees appears on screen. The men in Don Draper's office remain stoic, while Don demands that someone come up with a way to sign Baby Brees immediately.

Peggy wipes away a tear, glancing surreptiously at Pete.

Fade to black. (But not before the entire staff of Sterling Cooper breaks out some Bud Light and runs around the office in their underwear.)

Update: Some stats from Mashable! here on how online viewers who watched the ads on Hulu.com reacted as well as those who watched the ads in real-time. Interesting to see where GoDaddy falls on those lists.


copyright 2010, Melissa (Betty and Boo's Mommy, The Betty and Boo Chronicles) If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

The Sunday Salon: January Books in Review

When I was compiling my year-end reading stats for 2009, I realized that it would have been an easier task if I did a monthly tally throughout the year. I'm a little late in sharing the books I read in January, which was a pretty pathetic reading month.

1.The Financial Lives of the Poets, by Jess Walter (298 pgs)
2.Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf (190 pgs)
3.The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (audio)
4.Poems from the Women's Movement, edited by Honor Moore (224 pages)

Chapter Books I Read Aloud:
1. Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy, by Francesca Simon (library)
2. Horrid Henry's Underpants, by Francesca Simon

Picture Books I Read Aloud:
1. The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmees, by Stan and Jan Berenstain
2. The Berenstain Bears' Week at Grandma's, by Stan and Jan Berenstain
3. The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV, by Stan and Jan Berenstain
4. Arthur's TV Trouble
5. Backpack Stories, by Kevin O' Malley (library)
6. Michelle, by Deborah Hopkinson (library)
7. The Fastest Game on Two Feet (and Other Poems About How Sports Began), by Alice Low (library)
8. My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., by Christine King Farris (library)

Challenges Update:
Audiobook Challenge - 1 of 6 completed
Support Your Library Challenge - 9/75 completed
Woolf in Winter - 1/4 completed

TBR books read: 1
Re-reads: 1

How is your February reading shaping up so far?


copyright 2010, Melissa (Betty and Boo's Mommy, The Betty and Boo Chronicles) If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

To Whom Much is Given

Our walk and driveway on Saturday, around noon.

Our walk and driveway on Sunday, at noon.

We are comfortable.

I don't mean just in terms of the blizzard that has put our state and surrounding ones into a State of Emergency. In that regard, yes, we are very comfortable. We have heat and plenty to eat. We have electricity and Internet access. We live in an upper middle class neighborhood, as you can probably surmise from the photos on my previous post.

But it's more than that.

All of this comfortability is still new enough for us to make it feel uncomfortable. It wasn't always like this. Neither of us grew up with silver spoons (far from it), and ever since our teenage years, both The Dean and I have worked damn hard for a lifestyle that, now in so many ways, feels like it could evaporate like snowflakes.

There are times, such as last night, when that feeling shows up literally on one's doorstep.

Our doorbell rang last night at 8:45 p.m. The Dean answered it, and standing there in 20" of snow was the guy who has appeared, faithfully, after each snowstorm this winter. He is a friend of the guy who cuts our lawn, and has been helping him out with an avalanche of snow removal needs this season by shoveling the driveways of people like us.

Tony is a scruffy, scrawny, scraggly character, beaten around the edges inside and out. It's evident that life has treated him very, very differently than it has us.

And yet, Tony shows up in the dark, apologizing profusely through a slurred cadence that might be part of these parts or the effects of something imbibed, for not making it over to our house sooner.

Tony explained his tardiness - which required none, given the blizzard conditions - by saying that he works at a chain restaurant (that I'll keep unnamed). One with a local owner that spit in the face of the State of Emergency we are currently under. Despite the State of Emergency and the ban on driving throughout the state, Ebenezer Scrooge demanded that Bob Crachit report to work. (The restaurant in question is 10 miles from Tony's home - "across the railroad tracks that way" - and yesterday, as even Hummers and fire trucks were getting stuck in the snow, foot power was the only way around ... barely.)

Standing on our steps in the dark, Tony asked for a raise from the $25 we usually pay him. Maybe $30 this time, he suggested, given the amount of snow? More than fair, The Dean answered. (We wound up giving him $40, wishing that it could have been ten times more.)

Shovel in hand, Tony began digging out our driveway. Without a snowblower, he might as well have been clearing it by hand. At 11:30 p.m, just shy of three hours since he started, Tony trudged home (or to another driveway, I don't know). He says he'll be back to check in today, after his morning shift at the restaurant.

Because since Ebenezer apparently considers Tony an essential employee, he has ordered Tony back among the Biscuit Bowls and BoBurritos first thing this morning. Because all of us trapped in our homes will need such provisions. I get the sense that calling in sick or achy because of snow shoveling at midnight is most definitely not an option for Tony.

There for but the grace of God go we, I thought, watching Tony walk off into the frigid night, heading for the railroad tracks.

The glint of the moonlight shining on the shovel over his shoulder.

"In this life, some have better opportunities to develop God's character. Others have greater intelligence or natural abilities. God will apply the principle of "to whom much is given, much is required" with perfect fairness." Luke 12:18

copyright 2010, Melissa (Betty and Boo's Mommy, The Betty and Boo Chronicles) If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

SnOwMaGgedon 2.0, In Pictures

You may have heard that we've been getting a bit of snow this weekend here on the East Coast. As of Saturday evening, we have approximately 20" outside. Some photos from our snowed-in day. All of these are taken from inside the house, where we have been hibernating all day (and likely, all weekend and into next week too.)

At the time this was taken (around noon on Saturday), we had about 17" outside our front door. You can see the snow piled up to the right of the photo.

Where did the front steps and walkway go?

This house was not there when I left for work on Friday morning. Always nice to see firsthand proof of the economy being stimulated.

Shrubs out front of our house.

Mrs. Douglas was a little perplexed.

She spent most of the morning staring in disbelief ... as did we.

The side yard. This gives an indication of how intense the winds and drifts are. We can see grass in some spots, even though there is nearly two feet of snow outside. (This was taken in the morning, when there was "only" about 16".)

View from the kitchen window.

Dueling snow creatures (a.k.a. the shrubbery on the front walkway)

"My snowblower is better than yours!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

Our backyard and the neighbors' fence, which usually has a third rail.

The left photo is our foyer, which is 14' high. From the inside, it looks like the snow has reached about 10 feet, judging by what is on the windows. The right photo is a closer view of the window.

An innovative way of plowing a cul de sac. The plow guy just went in a circle, leaving an island in the middle of about 1.5 feet of snow. Can't wait for the kids to go out in this tomorrow and spew snow all over the plowed parts.

And then, after the blizzard comes this sky, reminding me of one of my favorite quotes.

"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."

(Albert Camus)

photography copyright 2010, Melissa (Betty and Boo's Mommy, The Betty and Boo Chronicles) If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Weekend Cooking: Cheesy Tuna-Stuffed Potatoes (in the crockpot!)

With this month's mid-Atlantic states' Snowpocalypse in full swing and Super Bowl Sunday tomorrow, what better weekend to begin participating in Weekend Cooking?

(That's not a commentary - deserved as it may be - on my slacker weekday culinary repertoire, but rather a feature hosted by Beth Fish Reads. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.)

A few weekends ago, I made these Cheesy Tuna-Stuffed Potatoes in the crockpot. It's a recipe from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook, by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. If you're into crockpot cooking, as I definitely am, this is a cookbook that is a must-have.

The recipe notes in the cookbook say that this is a light main dish for lunch or supper, which is true. I also think these potatoes would be a nice addition to a Super Bowl menu, particularly if your plans have been somewhat downsized because of the weather.

Cheesy Tuna-Stuffed Potatoes

Use a medium or large round or oval slow cooker. (I used my 6 qt. crockpot.)

4 medium-sized Idaho or russett potatoes, scrubbed and left dripping wet (my note: I was able to fit 6 russett potatoes in my crockpot)
3/4 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk
One 6-ounce can water-packed tuna, drained
1/2 cup sour cream (reduced fat is OK)
1 green onion (white and some of the green), thinly sliced

1. Prick each dripping-wet potato with a fork or the tip of a sharp knife and pile them into the skow cooker: do not add water.

Cover and cook until fork-tender, on HIGH for 3 to 5 hours or on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.

2. Remove the potatoes from the cooker with tongs and cut in half lengthwise.

Scoop out the center of each half with a large spoon, leaving enough potato to keep the shell intact. Put the potato flesh in a bowl and add 1/2 cup of the cheese, the milk, tuna, sour cream, and green onion. Mash the filling with a fork and spoon it back into the shells, mounding it high. Return to the slow cooker, setting down the stuffed potatoes in a single-layer if possible so that they touch each other. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 of cheese.

Cover and cook on HIGH for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove carefully from cooker and serve immediately.

As I said, this could be a nice addition to a Super Bowl menu. I added some vegetarian bacon to each potato, which we had as dinner along with steamed broccoli. We enjoyed it (well, Betty didn't, but only because there are about five things she eats and the only thing that met her criteria in this dish was the cheese.)

Enjoy!

It's a Blizzard of Books!

Which is going to be higher, do you think? The amount of snow we'll see from this Snowpocalypse of yet-another East Coast blizzard? (They're saying we may get between 18" - 24".) Or the total height of all the books I have checked out from the library?

Yes, I've been kind of ... um, sort of overdoing it at the library lately. Just a smidge.

This isn't just from one trip to the library. Oh, no, no, no. Even I have my limits. This represents the collective total of what I have out, from the last few forays.

I know that we're expecting around 2 feet of snow, give or take an inch or two. I can't find our ruler, so I can only say that I am exactly 5 feet tall and this pile of books comes up to my hip. So, what's that ... like 3 feet or something? (A math major I was not.)

Needless to say, I'm guessing my stack of books will come close to what we will have on the ground by the time this craziness of a storm is over (just in time to ready ourselves for next week's onslaught). In case you're curious, here are some closer views of what the pile contains:

1. Of course, I'm still reading To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. I only have 100 pages left, so if I don't get too distracted by Facebook and blogs tonight, my goal is to finish that up. (Woolf in Winter Read-Along)

2. David Allen's Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and the Business of Life. I'm approximately halfway finished with this, too.

3. Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife by Francine Prose. Really looking forward to reading this one! It's about how, according to Prose, Frank's diary is more than just the journal of a young girl (which we already knew) but that it was a deliberate work of art. (Women Unbound Challenge).

4. If You Stay by Gayle Forman (YA Reading Challenge)

5. Best American Short Stories 2009, edited by Alice Sebold

6. Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton

7. Melissa Gilbert's memoir Prairie Tale (really want to read this ... this would be a good one for a blizzard, with all those visions of Little House on the Prairie) (Memorable Memoir Challenge)

8. The Sweet In-Between, by Sheri Reynolds

9. Endpoint (poems) by John Updike

10. Carlyle's House, by Virginia Woolf. This is one of her "sketches" and I picked it up at the library when I couldn't remember the names of the books for Woolf in Winter.

11. Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama (Memorable Memoir Challenge)

12. I See You Everywhere, by Julia Glass

13. Follow Me, by Joanna Scott

Wait ... there's more!

14. Surfacing, by Margaret Atwood

15.Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall, by Kazuo Ishiguro

16. Exactly as I Am: Celebrated Women Share Candid Advice with Today's Girls on What It Takes to Believe In Yourself (Women Unbound)

17. Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell

18. A Mango Shaped Place, by Wendy Mass (Colorful Reading Challenge, YA Challenge)

19. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

20. The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine (Colorful Reading Challenge)

21. Childhood Unbound: Saving Our Kids' Best Selves-Confident Parenting in a World of Change, by Ron Taffel, Ph.D.

22. The Soloist, by Steve Lopez (Memorable Memoir Challenge)

23. The Seasons of Women: An Anthology, edited by Gloria Norris (Women Unbound)

24. One and the Same: My Life as an Identical Twin and What I've Learned About Everyone's Struggle to Be Singular, by Abigail Pogrebin (Memorable Memoir)

25. True Believer, by Virginia Euwer Wolff (YA Reading)

26. The Best American Essays 2008, edited by Adam Gopnik (series editor Robert Atwan)(Essay Reading)

27. The Best American Essays 2007, edited by David Foster Wallace (series editor Robert Atwan) (Essay Reading)

28. The Sacredness of Questioning Everything, by David Dark

29. Blurring the Color Line: The New Chance for a More Integrated America, by Richard Alba

and for the last pile ...

30. Notes from a Cracked Ceiling: Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and What It Will Take for a Woman to Win, by Anne E. Kornblut (Women Unbound)

31. Memoir, by Ben Yagoda (Memorable Memoir Challenge)

32. Hello Goodbye, by Emily Chenowith (Memorable Memoir)

33. Louise May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women (Women Unbound)

34. Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk

35. How It Ended (short stories), by Jay McInerney

36. Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat's Jewel Box by Madeleine Albright (Women Unbound, Memorable Memoir)

Have you read any of these? Which ones would you recommend that I make a point to get to? And if you're also in the midst of the Snowpocalypse, what are you reading?

copyright 2010, Melissa (Betty and Boo's Mommy, The Betty and Boo Chronicles) If you are reading this on a blog or website other than The Betty and Boo Chronicles or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.