My optimistic spin is not sustainable. I am down right bummed out. I wish BB would wake up from her nap and jostle my life into perspective. Also, the disqualification is making me obsess about public perception.
On the CCC forum, someone made a casual mention about food writing that totally launched me into a paranoid panic attack. Was that mention directed at me? Are people mad at me? This is why I should not be allowed out in the general population-- I mean I seriously doubt anyone is out there google searching me. I keep telling myself what my mother used to say whenever I would get neurotic like this about appearances, "they're not thinking about you, dear." But I do worry whenever I win something (which hasn't happened in AGES) that someone will come across my JUF recipes online and be like "what??"
Ahh, JUF-- the United Fund for Jews. I'm not paid to do it, but I write recipes for their fancy shmance donor newsletter at Rosh HaShanah and Passover. A woman I know runs the paper and after I blabbed one too many times about my contesting obsession, asked me if I would "donate my time" to write holiday recipes. Now that's my type of volunteer work!
I think this sort of thing happens to a lot of us in the contesting world. People learn about our hobby and ask us to do things-- like share recipes or give tips about food. The popular bloggers can turn their contesting aplomb into advertising revenues, but I still think it all counts as amateur because it all comes from a hobby. That's the key word: hobby. Retired, amateur, NON-professional. I mean, I work at a synagogue...if the Sisterhood asks me to show them how to make latkes because I won a latke cook-off last year, does that make me a cooking teacher? I don't think so.
I just feel like the bottom line on this is: Yeah, we are contesters and we are good at it because we love cooking and food. Most of us have had that interest for a long, long time and it manifests in different ways in different eras (and areas) of our lives. For me that interest started with the idea of working in the hospitality industry. That didn't come to fruition, but it was a building block, you know? And I think that should be OKAY in this contest! And if it isn't-- well shoot, I wish the rules had made that clear.
I think this sort of thing happens to a lot of us in the contesting world. People learn about our hobby and ask us to do things-- like share recipes or give tips about food. The popular bloggers can turn their contesting aplomb into advertising revenues, but I still think it all counts as amateur because it all comes from a hobby. That's the key word: hobby. Retired, amateur, NON-professional. I mean, I work at a synagogue...if the Sisterhood asks me to show them how to make latkes because I won a latke cook-off last year, does that make me a cooking teacher? I don't think so.
I just feel like the bottom line on this is: Yeah, we are contesters and we are good at it because we love cooking and food. Most of us have had that interest for a long, long time and it manifests in different ways in different eras (and areas) of our lives. For me that interest started with the idea of working in the hospitality industry. That didn't come to fruition, but it was a building block, you know? And I think that should be OKAY in this contest! And if it isn't-- well shoot, I wish the rules had made that clear.
Baby Bird? BB, please wake up and PLAY so I can shift my brain back to the important things.
6 comments:
Just remember, never wake a sleeping baby. There's some sort of curse attached to it :-). You need to talk the Pillsbury mess out of your system. Those of us who have read your blog for a long time know you're not a complainer. We also know what happened is not fair. So vent away.
Aww, I'm so sorry you were disqualified, I know I would have been heartbroken if I knew they had picked my recipe but I wasn't allowed to go.
I also had to let you know that I've been reading your blog for awhile now (I stumbled upon it from a link from Cookie Madness) and I always enjoy it! Your have a way with words that makes me feel like I know you. I wish I still lived in Chicago so we could get together and I could meet BB!
aw josie, I know you would have won that contest if not for those dang RULES. Chin up girlie, you are still the best cook I know. And maybe you should send your really articulate blog post to Pillsbury and let them mull it over. What do you have to lose?
hugs
WOW, thanks so much you guys! I really feel much better thanks to all the support. I think "talking it out" in blog land actually was really cathartic. I'm ready to move on now. And BB finally woke up (on her own :-)) and we had a BALL. She crawled for the first time; how's that for a treat??
It's like BB knew you needed to be cheered up and pulled out all the stops by crawling for the first time! How exciting!
We moved to Boston almost 2 years ago, after I finished grad school at UofC. I really miss Chi-town, because the restaurants here just aren't as good!
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