An Exciting Development
Most people who’ve interacted with me know that I have a law degree. Some even understand that I’ve been using that degree in the role of general counsel for Extreme Arts & Sciences for a while now (along with driving web stuff and product development, which are easily the bigger parts of that job). I’m also trying to keep my toe in the ever expanding internet v. intellectual property traditions adventure. And, of course, when you’re a lawyer, you get the usual range of “can you do a thing for me?” inquiries. Many of those I’ve had to redirect or turn down, either to ensure that the people involved receive competent counsel in a highly specialized area, or because I was simply too busy to justify both the project and the project management hours required. I didn’t hang a shingle after leaving my previous firm precisely because there was no way to balance the demands of minding the shop, the legal work itself, and my commitments to EASCI. Without hiring someone, there didn’t appear to be a solution to the “running the store” part of legal work.
Until now. A fellow named Chris Matthews recently left Perkins Coie to play in the street, founding a firm called Workbench Law. Workbench is focused on real estate transactions, general corporate counsel work, and “spirit guide” participation in emerging companies, providing people/legal/regulatory advice as required, brokering deals, and generally just working alongside start-up companies as they move into adolescence. Chris has nearly three decades of experience in transactional and corporate law, and is a heck of a lot of fun besides. He’s a lawyer with none of the standard – dare I say asshole-ish – traits that the profession so often drums into its membership.
I’ve accepted what amounts to an as-needed associate position for Workbench Law. Chris needs help, and particularly once we beat django into submission, I’ll probably have about 20 hours per week to give him that help. As for myself, I get all the office support that I previously lacked, an amazingly experienced and intelligent senior partner to work with and pester with questions, and best of all, a chance to do the stuff I went to law school to do; help small and start-up companies do great things.
So for anyone who’s ever pinged me about some thing or another, the answer has changed. If anything comes up, I’d be honored to hear more about it. You’ll get handy-dandy associate rates, backed up by the deep experience of Chris and the wicked skills of the paralegals and other attorneys in his employ.
Soon (probably January 2009), http://www.workbenchlaw.com/ will be up and running with more information, but for now, shoot me an email with any questions at the regular old gmail address. Strictly speaking, I “start” in January as well, but only because of the Blizzard of aught-eight and that whole holiday thing.
Empathy
Bridget Pilloud is a little weird. She talks to animals. Like, really talks to them. It doesn’t take long to discover that she’s both in earnest and truly legitimate, but in between that realization and the first experience with the site, it’s like you’ve stumbled into a parallel universe.
The idea of pet whispering is nothing new, of course. Some guy wrote a book, and stuff. To read Bridget’s reports of her interactions with animals is entirely different, though – somehow personal and also totally intriguing. She could be a cable show.
Tomorrow she turns 39, and she’d like to have some help improving the welfare of animals. To participate, all you have to do is go read the post and take some action to help animals who are disenfranchised. If you do, you’ll get a gift certificate for one question for Bridget to ask your pet (or your friend’s pet). This obviously only makes sense if you’re in Portland or surrounding metro, but hey, if you can video conference (and your pet isn’t completely freaked out) you could always try that.
Give it a shot. I mean, even if you don’t do the certificate bit, you can help out animals, yeah?
The Great Portland Interview Experiment: Steph Stricklen
I was shamed by Rick Turoczy’s mention of Chris O’Rourke’s Great Portland Interview Experiment, of which I am a part. I finally managed to answer Dawn Foster’s excellent questions last night, but I had done nothing with Steph Stricklen’s responses to my questions. UNTIL NOW.
In what is either a clear violation of the rules (if you go by the first paragraph of the blockquote on Chris’ blog) or totally in the spirit of the project (if you choose to believe the second paragraph instead), I’m posting my interview with Steph here on my blog. You’ll probably soon be able to also see it over at her blog as well.
1. Name your favorite disease or malady from your time on the health beat at KGW.
I like your use of the word “favorite”.
I pushed a lot for stories on obesity and heart disease. A lot of people don’t pay enough attention to those two big killers. Of course, I was handed the occasional “fat burning pantyhose; do they work?” type stories, too. But overall, I preferred to focus on stories that impacted a lot of people.
2. The Square has taken an active interest in engaging with the Portland tech crowd. What are some lessons that you learned that other traditional media outlets should know about?
Um, don’t copy us? No, seriously, that’s hard to answer because producer Aaron and my interest in technology, social media, blogging, etc comes organically. I’m a nerd. Aaron is a nerd, too. Well, he’s cool, clever, hip, and well-balanced, but a nerd. He just read that over my shoulder and says he prefers to be called a geek.
3. You’re featured on HOT TV LADIES: http://hottvladies.blogspot.com/2008/04/stephanie-stricklen-kgw.html – Creepy factor?
No.. Not creepy. Creepy is the letters I get from guys in prison. Creepy is the mother’s day card I got from this relative stranger who knew I was in a relationship but wanted me to know I’d make a good mother someday. Creepy is the person who smooshed a mosquito onto a piece of paper and mailed it to me with a cryptic doomsday note (see attached pic. Yes, it is also creepy that I kept it.). Why are men dumb? They’re really not. Besides, I suspect that site is actually run by a woman. Did you ever have a crush on a TV personality? Does Bo Duke count? I was like 5.
4. If you weren’t inspired by the aforementioned TV crush, what brought you to journalism?
I attended the University of Oregon to get into print journalism but couldn’t afford the out of state tuition. I transferred to the UW and fell, quite by accident, into TV news.
5. Give us the story around meeting the Dalai Lama. That must’ve been awesome.
It was. I mean, who gets that opportunity? He was humble and gracious and totally intrigued by the raffia I used to tie a bow on the book of Oregon photography I got him. It’s not everyday you can impress a spiritual leader with gift wrap.
6. So, Twitter: What’s the most valuable thing you’ve gotten out of your network?
New connections. Unlike some of the other social media/networking sites I use.. my Twitter account is chock full of people I only know on-line. That’s fun for me.
7. What’s your favorite recipe?
You had to ask. I am TERRIBLE about following a recipe. Which makes me either a genius or a disaster in the kitchen. I’m chalking more up in the success column, so that’s nice. I positively love strolling through the aisles of the grocery story and just winging it with whatever looks good. Two secret ingredients that work in a shocking number of dishes: fresh squeezed lime (often added during cooking) and fresh grated nutmeg (popcorn, broccoli, stews, chicken, etc. etc.)
8. What’s the one thing you would tell a middle schooler about getting a job in media one day?
I’d rather have “that talk” with college students. I love speaking at schools– all ages– and middle schoolers tend to want to know what it’s like to fly in Sky8 and if I’ve ever seen a dead body. High school seniors and college students see more of the big picture: is the lifestyle something you like? Are you willing to work holidays, mornings, nights, and odd hours? Are you aggressive enough for it? Thick-skinned enough? But most importantly, do you see yourself having such a passion for the job that all of the above don’t matter because you can’t see yourself doing anything else?
9. What didn’t I ask that you’re dying to tell the community about?
I have a blog. And I’d love it if folks would consider checking it out. Hearing from people who read it and comment makes my day. The URL is misleading. It’s not a health blog, anymore. (Visit Steph’s blog!)
Thanksgiving Surpreze
Surpeze like “surprise” pronounced all fancy, see?
So here’s the problem. Even the best efforts of four adults to eat all of the Thanksgiving leftovers were for naught. I had a LOT of stuff left over, still, on Sunday morning, which is my absolute “freeze or chuck” cutoff for TG-related fare (someone will probably tell me that even that is giving it a day too long).
The following recipe emerged:
Most of the leftover dark meat, diced, including any bacon-wrapped garlic/rosemary spears you may find embedded in the meat.
Two or three slices of white meat, diced
Leftover sausage/pancetta stuffing, also diced if needed (if you made straight bread stuffing, add much less and cut the handful of breadcrumbs in half)
A handful of leftover mashed potatoes
A smaller handful of leftover maple-glazed carrots, diced
A handful of breadcrumbs
Fresh parsley, chopped reasonably fine
A knob of butter
Two large or three small eggs, beaten
Salt & Pepper
Any leftover onion, garlic, fresh herbs or other aromatics you have to hand
Leftover gravy
4 Disposable mini-loaf pans
Preheat the oven to 350. Heat some oil in a skillet at medium. Chop the aromatics and herbs and slap them in the pan. Keep at medium heat and saute until soft and well browned.
Meanwhile, combine the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and carrots in a large mixing bowl. Set to with a potato masher, being sure to break everything up. If your potatoes have gotten dry, you may need to add milk. When the onion mixture is ready, add it to the bowl along with the butter, and mash the crap out of those as well. You should end up with a consistency of course meal. To this, add the beaten eggs. Mash until the egg is well mixed in and things are starting to cohere. Add breadcrumbs, mix, and eyeball it. Does it look vaguely reminiscent of meatloaf? If so, add the parsley, give it a good shot of pepper and a lighter shot of salt, mix one last time, and spoon it all into the loaf pans (if you’re cutting fat out of the dish, be sure to lightly grease the pans). If not, jigger with it – more breadcrumbs? A little more meat? Scrap the whole project, pronounce it “who hash,” and serve with toast? If you get to loaves, top each loaf with gravy.
Into the oven, give it forty-five to an hour. Eat one immediately (because oh my god, YUM), with a little cranberry sauce. After the rest cool, double wrap them in foil or butcher paper, label, and stick them in the freezer. Should make four loaves, each suitable for splitting with another grownup.
Haven’t tried it on Claire, but Carmen gave it a big thumbs up after lunch today. Wahoo!