Category: Amusing Musings

“You said it, kitty.”

Innings Gate Co. is my company. We do everything except make gates! Well, actually we do Brand Communications and Publicity Events for businesses in the Arts sector. Our services range from writing press releases, to event planning, to copywriting advertisements, and more. We can help a new or existing business establish, or re-establish, their brand identity with creative communications and promotions. Our target market includes art galleries, book publishers, artisan food & drink producers – anything that could be considered a work of Art. Ultimately, IGCo. seeks to be their key to unlocking creativity.

I registered my business in 2005, but didn’t start working on it until 2010 when I was accepted into the Ontario Self-Employment Benefit Program. This is a great opportunity for Ontario residents who have received Employment Insurance within the past three years, and are interested in never losing their jobs again – because from now on they work for themselves! After being downsized from my last “real job” in Summer 2009, and upon returning from a three-month hiatus travelling and working in the U.K., I looked into the OSEB program only to discover it had been cancelled.

However, I refused to accept this, and kept on it. Then one day I read online that the program was re-opening the very next day! Quelle timing. The application process took about three months – from April to June. I had already begun working on some client projects since the start of the year, but that didn’t prevent me from applying to OSEB. You basically have to demonstrate a need for the business training and support – you can’t have a thriving company already. I had potential and a couple clients, but I needed refinement. For 10 weeks, I and 26 other students attended full-day business school, and at the end of of August, we each presented our completed business plan to the Ministry for approval. From the first day we were accepted into the program, legally we were SELF-EMPLOYED! Woo!

OSEB has been really beneficial to me and Innings Gate Co. The major difference between starting your own business, and starting one through OSEB, is that all of us had been recently laid off. It changed the whole dynamic. We didn’t quit our jobs because we had a massive nest-egg and decided to be like Kim Kardashian and “come up with loads of ideas.” (I saw an interview with her the other day on Cityline, where she was all Ooh I’m so creative and can’t sleep at night because my mind just RACES with ideas! Yeah we ALL have ideas, Kim. But the rest of us do not have fame-without-substance and Daddy’s money or contacts to help us actualize them.) Everyone in my OSEB class was determined to succeed because they have felt the loss of a job personally. At the mercy of someone else’s decision. But this time, it would be OUR decision. We would be our own bosses. Only WE could fire us now! (Quick, look busy – the boss is coming! Oh wait, that’s just my reflection – as you were!)

Anyhoo, at the same time as it’s motivating being in this situation, it’s also quite a burden. Because we did lose our jobs prior to embarking upon this journey of self-employment. And that hurts a girl’s ego. Especially when career rejection happens 94 times in a row over the course of one year, as it did for me. Yes, you read that correctly: NINETY-FOUR. I applied to, and did not get, 94 jobs in 2010.

Have you ever seen the film Stranger Than Fiction? Harold Crick is a character in a novel, and when he becomes aware of the fact that he has no control over his life, he tries to stop doing anything that would progress the story. But the story keeps finding him, often in fantastic ways. I guess this goes back to what I mentioned in my New Year’s Resolutions blog post about the universe having a destiny. In the Discover Magazine (April 2010) article “Back From The Future” by Zeeya Merali it is explained that the end doesn’t only justify its means, but actually creates its means. A scientific way of discussing fate. So, since the story Harold exists in ultimately results in his demise, no matter what he does to avoid it, his fate draws him back onto that path. Like a magnet to steel. (One of my favourite songs from the Boogie Nights soundtrack: Magnet and Steel by Walter Egan!)

What I am trying to get at here, in my round-about didactic way, is that perhaps I have not been offered any of those 94 jobs because my end result has me self-employed? And that if I did get one, it would probably end anyway, since it was never meant to be? It’s hard to tell with fate. Sometimes the most obvious signs are the easiest to avoid (like a stop sign on a deserted country road).

Here’s a list of the 94 jobs I applied to in 2010:

1. Sponsorship & Local Marketing Coordinator – Winners
2. Assistant Brand Manager, Innovation – Molson
3. Planning & Execution Assistant – Molson
4. Event Coordinator, Literary – Harbourfront Centre
5. Communications Coordinator – Waterfront Toronto
6. Coordinator, Event Operations – Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE)
7. Account Executive, Corporate Partnership Marketing – MLSE
8. Senior Account Manager – Evidently Toronto
9. Assistant Editor, Meetings & Incentive Travel Magazine – Rogers
10. Associate Producer, Game Entertainment, Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club – Rogers
11. Associate Manager, Entertainment & Production – Ontario Lotto & Gaming (OLG)
12. Event Manager – Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO)
13. Marketing Coordinator, Events – Indigo Books & Music
14. Coordinator, Corporate Events & Communications – Holt Renfrew
15. Marketing Coordinator – PriceWaterhouseCoopers
16. Coordinator – NBA Canada
17. Project Coordinator, Integrated Solutions – Astral Media
18. Public Affairs & Communications Specialist – Coca-Cola
19. Development Officer, Patron Programs – Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
20. Communications Officer – CBC Radio-Canada
21. Coordinator, Corporate Partnerships – Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Club
22. Account Coordinator – Capital C
23. Communications Specialist, Greenberg Fund – Astral Media
24. Corporate & Foundations Coordinator – CanStage Company
25. Communications Manager – Air Canada
26. Marketing Coordinator – Bayview Village Shopping Centre
27. Marketing & Sales Assistant – Ontario’s Own
28. Coordinator, Marketing – Joe Fresh
29. Manager, Event Operations, Air Canada Centre – MLSE
30. Communications Coordinator, Phys Ed – University of Toronto
31. Marketing Coordinator – Tourism Toronto
32. Project Coordinator – Events Marketing
33. Program Manager, TV Division – Rogers
34. Publicist – Food Network
35. Copywriter – Tamm Communications
36. Staff Writer, Hello! Magazine – Rogers
37. Communications Officer – CBC
38. RFP Leader – Baxter
39. Promotions Executive – Tourism Ireland
40. Sr. Manager, Executive Communication – Scotiabank
41. Communications Specialist – Rogers
42. Events & PR Manager – Foster’s Wine Estates
43. Publicity & Promotions Coordinator – Alliance Films
44. Manager, National Programs – CIBC
45. PR/Marketing Specialist – Ikea
46. Coordinator, Content Acquisitions – CanWest Broadcasting
47. Promotions & Communications Coordinator, Astral Radio – Astral Media
48. Marketing Coordinator – TorStar Digital
49. Marketing Coordinator – Bagg Group
50. Marketing Coordinator – LCBO
51. Marketing Coordinator – The Eaton Centre
52. Marketing Coordinator, Brand Partnerships – CTVglobemedia
53. Communications Officer, Corporate Communications – CTVglobemedia
54. Special Events Coordinator – Canadian Opera Company (COC)
55. Communications Coordinator – The County of Simcoe
56. Website Coordinator – foodnetwork.ca
57. Special Events Coordinator – LCBO
58. Part-Time Counter Help – Provenance Foods
59. Part-Time Adminstrative Assistant – Infrastructure Ontario
60. Administrative Assistant, Communications – CBC Radio-Canada
61. Coordinator, Creative Production – Holt Renfrew
62. Copywriter – Option B Creative
63. Account Coordinator – Paradigm PR
64. Media Assets Planner – MLSE
65. Communications Coordinator, Entertainment Channels – CTVglobemedia
66. Writer – Ontario Power Authority
67. Junior Copywriter – Pulp & Fibre
68. Communications Coordinator – Randstand
69. Account Executive – NKPR
70. Scriptwriter – Ubisoft Toronto
71. Online Editor – WagJag.com
72. Editorial Assistant, Publications – York University
73. Staff Writer, Marketing Magazine – Rogers
74. Part-Time Web Copy Editor – The Globe and Mail
75. Stewardship Communications Specialist – Toronto General Hospital
76. Development Associate, Major Gifts – ROM
77. Alumni Development Officer, Arts & Sciences – University of Toronto
78. Donor Communications Specialist – TVO
79. Communications Coordinator – RBC
80. Corporate Communications Coordinator – CTVglobemedia
81. Communications Officer/Account Coordinator – Ministry of Labour
82. Communications Officer, In-House Publicity, Factual Entertainment – CBC Radio-Canada
83. Part-Time Consular Assistant – British Consulate-General
84. Sr. Coordinator, Public Programmes – TIFF Bell Lightbox
85. Major Events & Business Development Coordinator – Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery
86. Communications & Events Manager – Business for the Arts
87. Copywriter – Pi Media
88. Copywriter – B STREET Communications
89. Communications Coordinator, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies – York University
90. Associate – Longview Communications
91. Travel Blogger – Flight Centre
92. Web Content Writer, CP24 – CTVglobemedia
93. Publicist – ROM
94. Public Affairs Coordinator – Toronto Board of Trade (I applied to this last one on New Year’s Eve)

And here’s a list of the ones I had interviews for:

1. Associate Manager, Entertainment & Production – OLG
2. Event Manager – TSO
3. Major Events & Business Development Coordinator – Power Plant Gallery
4. Communications & Events Manager – Business for the Arts

The national unemployment rate is 7.6% right now. I think of job hunting like online dating: you send out this written description of yourself, what you’ve done with your life, where you’re headed, what you’re capable of providing. And you have to sit back and – fingers crossed – wait for someone to find that description appealing enough to want to meet you in person. Then you have to live up to your description, and of course charm the pants off your interviewer/date so that they ask you out again. And, ultimately, so that they never want to stop seeing you. Oh, and hopefully they also want to give you presents (like a paycheque or Tiffany’s necklace).

Sometimes interviews, like dates, don’t work out. Sometimes no one bites your line even when you’ve posted an incredibly witty, charming, and intellectual online dating profile – I mean, resume. Maybe they’re just not your guy. Maybe you’re just not their girl. Maybe fate has other match-ups in store? Who knows?

Regardless of the reason why I didn’t get any of those 94 jobs last year, whether or not it was meant to be, you have to admit the odds seem stacked against me. But for some reason – call it determinism, call it stubbornness – I continue to push on. And I guess the point of this blog is to say, you should too.

In solidarity,

Your friendly neighbourhood Coco Hobo

ps. I suppose one could argue that all hobos are self-employed…

CAREER OPPORTUNITY:

Wanted – One Hobo
Required skills include salesmanship, graphic design (signage), and compelling story-telling
Must be willing to travel
Renumeration depending on experience, plus commission
Benefits include flexible hours, independent workload, (soup) stock options
Office adjacent to (soup) kitchen
No dress code!

x

Update: I ended up getting #94…

There’s parakeets in the Common
(Sea horses in the Thames)
Crows on all the branches
And rain that never ends

White swans upon the water
Crack’d conkers on the ground
Great burls on every tree trunk
And pigeons all around

I walked the trodden pathways
Past fields and ponds and woods
Looked up at leafy heavens
And remembered all I could

~ c.p.grisold

This recipe is from Front Door Organics, the company that I get my fruits & veg delivered by. You can read the original post here.

Sunday is a great day for making a veggie stock, not only because then you have a home-made stock on hand for use during the week, but you can use any veggie off cuts that you collect in the week prior (think onion and carrot butts, mushroom stalks, celeriac peel, the tops of leeks, and more). The essential basis for any vegetable stock is a mirepoix – a ratio of 2:1:1 of onions, celery, and carrots – but you can add many other different vegetables to achieve great flavours.

Now, no stock should be used as a vegetable graveyard – to yield great flavour you need good quality organic vegetables in tip-top condition. Also, cooks and chefs will tell you that there are certain things that should never be used in stocks. Although not everyone will always concur on the ‘rules’ most will agree that turnips and rutabagas are not suited to stocks, neither are broccoli, cabbage, kale and other brassicas – just think of the smell of the vegetable steaming – anything too pungent is not generally used. Also avoid using ground spices or excessive amounts of greens as this will make the stock bitter.

Here are a few more tips to keep in mind when making a vegetable stock:

– Cook at a lively simmer uncovered
– Do not salt the stock rather add salt when you using the stock in your soups and sauces
– Skim any froth or foam that forms on the surface for a clear stock
– Do not stir or agitate the stock if you are trying for a clear final product
– Cut vegetables into chunks about 1 – 2 inches wide
– Only simmer vegetable based stocks for 45 minutes at the most
– Don’t allow a stock to stand after cooking, drain immediately and store in clean glass jars in your fridge

YOU WILL NEED:

1 large onion
2 celery stalks
2 carrots
1 garlic clove, slightly squished
2 quarts water
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of parsley
1 sprig of thyme
8 black peppercorns
Leftover vegetable pairings

NOTE:
Make a bouquet garni with the herbs and the peppercorns – FDO uses tea sachets that you can often find in Asian grocery stores (they are re-usable and compostable, too). Cheesecloth, which is what I use, will work fine also and can be washed and re-used. (Although I do not wash and re-use mine!)

I got my tea sachets in a giftbag at The Design Exchange’s Black & White Gala, but I’m sure you can buy them at Fresh & Wild, as they carry the Nourish Tea line… or any actual tea shop, like David’s. My package of cheesecloth is from the dollar store. Maybe I should have bought non-bleached cheesecloth, but whatchagonnado?

DIRECTIONS:

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium to high heat and add the onions, celery and carrots. Cook until they start to brown then add the water, other vegetable pairings you may or may not be using, the squished garlic, and the herb sachet. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat until you have a lively simmer. Simmer for about 45 minutes, skimming any froth that may form on the surface.

To strain, place a layer of cheesecloth inside a mesh sieve set over a large bowl. Very gently pour the stock through the sieve being careful not to agitate the stock too much. The cheesecloth will catch any of those tiny particles that will cloud your stock. When it is fully drained, remove the cheesecloth and compost the contents (the cheesecloth will rinse clean very easily in hot water if you are re-using it).

Transfer the stock to a nice clean jar and refrigerate. It will last in your fridge for at least a week and is useful for more than just soups! Great for thinning sauces, braising vegetables in or for using as a base to make an elaborate sauce. Remember to season it as you use it. (Salt addicts like me have a hard time waiting to add it, but I try to salt my soup after I’ve served it individually – to taste – so that the whole soup doesn’t get overly salty.)

One of the other pluses of ordering fruits & veg from FDO is that they always include great recipes with your Good Food Box. It’s also just so nice to not have to lug all those f&v home (even though I do have a new stylish damask-patterned not-so-granny cart that I received at Christmas from J&M). And yes, finding a Good Food Box waiting on your doorstep is just like a visit from Santa – my kind of Santa anyway.

Enjoy!

x

If you have read my Resolutions post, you will know that I am giving up pork for 2011. This is mainly for ethical reasons, as the pig is my most favourite of the animals to devour. So versatile! So compatible with eggs! And eggs, afterall, are another one of my favourite foods. I just love anything that comes in its own package. And they are so cute! And also versatile. Maybe I love versatile food? Hmm. I also love sea salt. And goat’s dairy. And tomatoes. And lemons. And cilantro. And hummus. Actually, if I had to pick only one food to eat for the rest of my life, it would be hummus. I honestly eat it with my fingers. No time for pita! Get me straight to the source!

Anyway, the point is, if you take yourselves a gander at my favourite foods, you will see that they are all relatively healthy. I do not list hamburgers or chocolate milk or Jos Louis up there. My body craves natural foods. And it works at its best when it receives them.

I know it’s hard to always eat healthy. Since I returned to my apartment from the ‘rents house for Christmas, I was surviving mainly on Turtles, Orange Pekoe, and toast. Not good. So I decided enough was enough, and after watching a program on W late the other night about which foods are toxic for you, I decided to get thee to a grocery and stock up on the healthy stuff. Because it is not a chore for me to eat well – I’m just incredibly lazy and will always eat whatever is closest to reach. If my fridge is full of stupid fruits and vegetables – I mean, delicious healthy snacks – then I will choo-choo-choose them over the Turtles. Well, for the most part. (I did sneak in an after-breakfast Turtle this morning.)

Mmm… I love breakfast.

I am aware of what is good for me and what isn’t. I believe that everyone has their own Grocery List of what is best for their bodies. I have been mainly vegetarian since I was 16, and although I do eat meat, I only consume it on average once a week or less. (When I live with my parents, who are carnivores, I do eat it more often, but usually come to regret it.) Red meat is my favourite; I don’t like white meat at all. But since I do not eat beef anymore (6yrs and counting!), and I can’t afford to pick up lamb or game at the butcher shop on a regular basis, I actually eat red meat probably four times a year at most. In London I could pick up a venison pie at the local fish-n-chips shop, or game soup at Sainsbury’s. But there are strict rules about game in Canada thanks to the Wildlife Act. Which sucks because we have tonnes of delicious animals roaming our land, just meandering to be masticated. *smacking lips*

The thing with meat, for me anyway, is that it changes my entire diet. If I’m eating pork, I will have a ham sandwich for lunch. Usually with cheese, bread (duh), and mayo. But if I’m not eating meat, I will have hummus and veg instead. Or goat’s cheese, tomato and basil salad. My meat-eating diet revolves around three major food groups: MEAT, CHEESE, BREAD. Whereas my veg diet revolves around LEGUMES.

I have been fully vegetarian before, even vegan for six months when I was studying at Uppsala University. This was very hard because my body CRAVED cheese (clearly not getting enough calcium), and one night after a fest at Stockholms Nation, I bought what I thought was a vegetarian baguette (they sell baguettes after the bar in Sweden, like how we in Toronto sell vendor dogs… no wonder Swedes are better looking than us). I took a bite whilst walking home with a German friend, and thought to myself how delicious the red cabbage was… when it hit me… MEAT!!! It was a ham baguette. My friend asked if I wanted him to take it away from me, and I honestly snarled at the guy. My veganism ended that night, and I pretty much had a ham sandwich every day for breakfast for the rest of my time there.

It is hard for me to commit to vegetarianism since I do love to eat meat, but I found it wasn’t as hard to give up as when I detoxed off coffee in 2005! I had a headache for three months. Though I haven’t drunk coffee more than a handful of times since then. I would like to get back into it, but not in the “double-double” way. I prefer my coffee thick and strong and bitter, like Turkish coffee or proper Italian espresso, and always after a meal. Not as a pick-me-up on my way to work. And I don’t put cream or sugar in there. I love the taste of coffee. Especially when paired with a lemony dessert.

Speaking of delicious lemony desserts, my friends and cousins M&M and I were out in Oakville shopping over the holidays, and stopped for lunch at the most charming crêperie! It is called The Crêpe Kitchen and is on Dunn Street, just south of Lakeshore, near Trafalgar (the cute part).

M&M and I each had our own savoury crêpe, and then shared one with lemon and sugar for dessert. That is my favourite of the crêpes as it always reminds me of being a child at Frieth C.E.C. School in the U.K., where we had a cook (the ancient Miss Butler) who prepared all our meals. I had lemon-sugar crêpes there, and every time I’ve had them since, it always brings me back to that one-room schoolhouse in the Chiltern Hills.

Anyway, I’m getting off-topic here. What I wanted to share with you was my detoxification Grocery List that I hope to stick with for the next 4 months or so:

– Goat’s milk (homo)

– Coconut milk

– 10% M.F. plain yogurt (I was going to buy the goat’s yogurt but it was half the size of the cow’s milk, for the same price. I told myself I can’t afford to detox that thoroughly right now. Oh and I always buy high milk fat yogurt. Will not eat 0% M.F. as it’s usually made with gelatin, and honestly I despise the goupy-ness of it. High milk fat yogurt tastes like a dream in a plastic tub.)

– Frozen O.J. (the only juice I buy, other than Mott’s Clamato lol)

– Chick peas

– Red lentils

– Tinned tomatoes with Italian herbs

– Frozen fruit blend (strawberries, grapes, melon, etc.)

– Frozen peaches & cream corn (frozen veg is better than tinned because it doesn’t have the added salt or sugar)

– Frozen chopped basil (my sneaky cheat, have the cilantro one too)

– Ginger, Mint & Fennel tea (to add to my 35+ tisane varieties)

– Sundried tomatoes in oil (a splurge at $3.49!)

– Sweet basil & tomato pasta sauce

– Blue corn Tostitos (am addicted to salsa)

– Triscuits (they were on special at $1.99, and who doesn’t love a Triscuit?)

– Vegetable hummus

– Eggplant hummus

– Soft goat’s cheese

– Bag o’ carrots

– Baking potatoes

– Sweet potatoes

– Bananas

– Savoy cabbage (so curly!)

– Celery

– Garlic & ginger root

– Baby arugula

– Grape tomatoes

– Bag o’ lemons

– Red Delicious apples (my favourite kind, and actually the most nutritious, due to their dark skins… however, also the easiest to taste woody if you don’t eat them when they’re fresh)

– Red grapefruits (these were covered in a strange sparkly coating, I think maybe the wax to make them shiny? Just shows you to thoroughly wash your fruits ‘n’ veg after purchasing at supermarket. Also why I prefer to buy organic, but can’t always afford them.)

I already have on hand things like frozen fish, shrimp, quiche (made with farm-fresh eggs), veg stock, Indian spices, tahini, nori – you know, your average pantry items :o)

And for breakfast today I had organic green tea with jasmine, orange juice, plain yogurt topped with honey, cinnamon, and muesli, and half a red grapefruit (thoroughly scrubbed). Oh and of course my dietary supplements de choix of acidophillus, fiber pills, Vitamin C chewable tablet (mmm…so good), and Greens+ Glow multi-vitamin. Not a bad start to the day.

Will keep you posted (pun intended) on my detox progress. I did have a glass of Californian Pinot Noir last night at dinner (rigatoni with sundried tomatoes, goat’s cheese, and arugula). Have decided Cali Pinot is my fav red. It used to be Cali Zinfandel (not the pink stuff!), but I’m heading back to my old medium-bodied ways methinks. Anyway, will blog about wine some other day. In the meantime, if you want to increase your oenological learnings, I recommend visiting the website of the lovely Angela Aiello of iYellow Wine Club.

Bon apétit!

x

This hobo, like most, is a travellin’ hobo. I move once, sometimes twice, a year. Usually within the same neighbourhood (i.e. I once lived in three apartments between 2004-2005 within a 15min radius in Lawrence Park). Sometimes I move out of Toronto, sometimes I move back to the ‘rents in Miltonia (shudder, no offence Momsies). Sometimes I pack my bags and move out of the country. I guess I’m just a vagabond at heart. For someone who lives out of a bag as often as I do, you’d think I’d be a better packer. But not only am I the world’s worst jogger – I am also the world’s worst packer. I didn’t even pack a scarf when I went home for Christmas. Don’t ask – I don’t know either.

However, as much as I hate living out of a bag, I do love to travel. Maybe that’s why I move so often. (Although my Daddy-O would argue that I move so often in order to force him to carry boxes up and down stairs repeatedly.) It’s always good to get a fresh perspective on life.

Rollin’ with the hobo’s…

So far, I have been to the following countries:

– Canada (duh)
– Denmark
– England
– France
– Gibraltar
– Ireland
– Sweden
– Spain
– USA
– Wales

Not very many when you look at that list. Sure, I actually LIVED in three of those countries, but there’s so many other ones I would like to visit. Top of my list are Morocco, Greece, and Scotland.

Due to the nature of the ‘bo, I usually embark upon shoestring travel. One of the things I like to do most is take impromptu trips only for a night or two, but with a specific purpose. Like when I spent a night in Gibraltar and had dinner in a hotel atop the infamous Rock, looking out over the Mediterranean as a crescent moon rose, with Northern Africa’s Atlas Mountains shadowed in the distance. Or when I travelled something like 29hrs over three days just to drink a Guinness in Ireland (I planned to only stay one night but got stranded when the ferries were cancelled indefinitely due to bad weather). Or when I went north of the Arctic Circle to see Sweden’s Icehotel. Or the crazy days of my week running a charity golf tournament in Phoenix, Arizona, where J and I partied with Carlton Banks.

It’s not that unusual actually…

OK, maybe that trip wasn’t really shoestring travel. It was quite indulgent, and luckily on someone else’s tab! Ha! But it’s the travel stories I will be featuring in my new series of posts on Coco Hobo: The Blog. A series of nights to remember, that’s for sure!

So, pack your checkered kerchief-on-a-stick, warm up that can of hobo soup, and get ready to hit the virtual road with your friendly travelling ‘bo.

There’s a world that’s waiting to unfold,
A brand new tale no one has ever told.
We’ve journeyed far and know it won’t be long;
We’re almost there, and we’ve paid our fare with our hobo song.

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.

Bon voyage,

x