Yes it's real.
A published book called "No One Cares What You Had For Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog" by Margaret Mason.
My good friend who I'll call "Mama Jewel" (a sometime lurker on OWFL) came across this book while doing her X-Mas shopping and sent me a copy.
I called Mama Jewel and thanked her and we shared a big laugh about it.
I immediately wondered aloud if our blog was the writer's inspiration.
My good friend who I'll call "Mama Jewel" (a sometime lurker on OWFL) came across this book while doing her X-Mas shopping and sent me a copy.
I called Mama Jewel and thanked her and we shared a big laugh about it.
I immediately wondered aloud if our blog was the writer's inspiration.
Was OWFL the final straw that made her say, "Enough! I need to write a book to stop this lunch nonsense!"
And if OWFL was that final straw then how should I, how should we, feel about that.
Was she ridiculing us by singling us out, or was she in a sense praising us by the mention.
And if our blog wasn't the specific source of her inspiration (the more likely scenario, allow a Czar to dream) then should the book be taken as an insult to our carefully constructed lunch blogging craft or as a guidebook for turning OWFL into a blog powerhouse (no idea what that means).
I took a quick peek at Ms. Mason's blog (no I'm not going to link to it) and wrote her the following email on 12/19/06 because your Czar is a friendly sucker like that.
It read:
Ms. Mason,
I received your book as an ironic gift last night and couldn't stop laughing.
I'm not sure if you have stumbled across it, but some friends and I started and maintain www.theoriginalwhatsforlunch.blogspot.com
I plan on purcahsing copies of your book for all of our contributors this holiday season.
Please stop by and say hello sometime.
Good luck with book sales and have a happy holiday season.
- (real name redacted) aka "Josephus"
I took a quick peek at Ms. Mason's blog (no I'm not going to link to it) and wrote her the following email on 12/19/06 because your Czar is a friendly sucker like that.
It read:
Ms. Mason,
I received your book as an ironic gift last night and couldn't stop laughing.
I'm not sure if you have stumbled across it, but some friends and I started and maintain www.theoriginalwhatsforlunch.blogspot.com
I plan on purcahsing copies of your book for all of our contributors this holiday season.
Please stop by and say hello sometime.
Good luck with book sales and have a happy holiday season.
- (real name redacted) aka "Josephus"
I have yet to receive a reply.
I'm sure she's a very busy lady, and I did kind of lie by not buying the books (sorry guys but I honestly can't even find my copy, and no I didn't read it), so I'm not bothered or surprised that she didn't write me back or "stop by" OWFL as I invited.
But it got me thinking, do you think she's right?
Do people really not care what we're eating?
And if they don't care does that mean that we, the few of us who have pledged our lives to OWFL, are some sort of mutant strand of human not unlike any others on the planet?
Let's discuss that question today and determine if Ms. Mason is right that no one truly cares about what other people are having for lunch.
And while you're at it tell me, because I know I care, WFL?
And Happy Irish Coffee Day!
81 comments:
I would have to say that I don't care what anybody is having for lunch... unless I'm buying, then I'm mostly just concerned with the cost.
Don't get me wrong, i am somewhat interested in knowing that LT has finished her Jambalier, but that is because it is like following a drama here.
While I say that I don't care, that doesn't mean that it is not important to me to hear what folks are having, because I may just have th einspiration to solve my own lunch quandry. Also with yesterday as an example, sometimes this community can turn you on to something Like the location of SoHo, and the 6 peice fried bird parts moving to the dollar menu.
SO this author, whoever she is, can blah blah blah all she wants she ain't going to:
A) make me care or not care any more than I want to,
B) Stop listening to what other folks are into for lunch today
C) blogging about lunch
D) buy or read her book.
I am skipping breakfast today, so lunch may be something enjoyable, but I have to swim tonight so it has to be good fuel. I'm thinking Baja Fresh.
Considering the sheer amount of ideas I get for food from this site and simply the inspiration I get from others' tastes, I would say that she is simply tired about the lonely guy\gal out there who tell people simply what they had for lunch on their blog.
My guess is that she is looking to inspire and not denegrate. Simply, shouting into the void is a waste of energy.
My guess is that she is trying to encourage everyone to become that "monkey with a typewriter" maybe something will actually come of it.
Today was "suit up" day at work with our group. We are going out tonight to Pub Fiction for drinks and then heading out to Mike's Wine Dive.
I think she is a jealous spiteful woman who has issues with men and is picking on the loyal lunchers to fill the dark hole in her soul.
I will eat chicken soup today...again...because I made WAY too much the other night.
Holy shit. Why am I so consistently convinced I could never get a book published? Irrefutable proof to the contrary abounds.
First off, I'll concur with the general trend of thought that she isn't attacking us but those folks who are all like: "my cat did the cutest thing today! It was all running around after this crazy feather-on-a-string thing that was blowing back and forth in the breeze created by my oscillating space heater. I love my cat. He's total cute. He's even better than girls. Sometimes I like to kiss my cat and compare it to kissing girls. Or, at least what I think kissing girls will be like when I try it." (from The Heliocentric Files entry, dated 11/3/06).
And, even if she is, what can you do? You think I don't have enough people in my face-to-face life who think my lunch blog participation is questionable? You think this distant book-writer gets any more sway with me than they do?
She does not.
If it weren't for this blog, do you think I would have a Mercedes hood ornament in the pocket of my winter coat? While it's not impossible, it is less likely.
In fact, if it weren't for this ad hoc online community, I would probably not eat lunch nearly as regularly, much less put some thought in to it to try to dress it up some days just to justify my repeated presence here. In other words, I blame you fuckers for my weight problem. Well, you and the major national breweries of at least four nations.
I'm not sure what I'm having for lunch today. I managed to lay a brilliant bourbon foundation with Bad Influence last night, and I anticipate intense hunger around lunch time today. I might elevate my game today.
Aw, thanks for the shout-out Helio! And for the record, the proper way to say 'jambaliar' is to say 'jamba' in a normal voice & then 'liar!' in the voice of Billy Crystal's wife in the Princess Bride. At least, that's how it sounds in my head.
I understand why she named the book what she did. I also believe that we are the exception that proves the rule. I believe we may be the definition of the exception proving the rule. Ok, I don't really know what that means.
This is a very interesting question with deep philosophical implications. I'm going to have to ruminate on it.
WFL: not lunch out with my friend as was planned, but that works out ok as her daughter doesn't have pre-school today for some reason & I have to leave early tonight to babysit my niece. So lunch might be Boston Market. Although I have a free small sub with chip+drink purchase at Quizno's. Hm. What do you all think? Dinner will be thai delivery, so no asian, please. Oh, and I'm all made up (hot-a!) b/c I'm going to renew my passport. Too bad I didn't lose weight so I'll be fat for the next 10 years in my passport. So no food that gets stuck in my teeth either (dammit! There goes creamed spinach at BM).
hahahaha....creamed spinach BM
There's a joke in Lady A's comment about men filling dark holes.
I just threw up a little in my mouth. Woah, that'll stick in the teeth.
And, you know what else? I can't count the number of blogs that counted Pelosi's and Cheney's BLINKS during the SOTU and "reported" it as breaking news. It was on fucking Drudge for God's sake. I also know that not only did both Pelosi and Jim Webb (Seriously Virginia - what the fuck? This guy is just scary... And you can't tell me that you hate women MORE than you hate minorities - you're VIRGINIA for Christ's sake!) dribble food on their outfits (Pelosi's was chocolate ice cream; Webb spilled coffee on his shirt) but today it's been revealed that Senator McCain spilled something - further investigation is needed to find out what - on his tie, moments before he had to walk onto the floor, so he borrowed the yellow one you saw him sporting from a staffer.
Now, if people want to know all of this, they sure as fuck care what I'm having for lunch.
Take that, Mason.
Oooh...LT if that comment made you vomit in your mouth then I suggest that you NEVER buy one large creamed spinach and one large mashed taters from BM with gravy then mix the two together and eat them both in one sitting...not that I'm speaking from personal experience.
Here, Here Lady A! I just realized we both called her jealous and spiteful... mmmmm... wings.
I learned yesterday or the day before that BM is owned by McDonald's, and that they've sold off Chipotle. Was I the last to know?!
And... playing the role of "Diz the uberposter today, will be HT!"
I love it when miso says "flying shit".
Do you think we should invite Ms. Mason to be a special guest speaker at the PITT Conference?
I am getting very hungry now. I'm horny for sweet peppers again.
Lady A, I know what I'm getting for lunch now.
Miso, just the sub is free. I still have to buy the chips & soda. Sigh! Ah, the elusive free meal . . . will I ever find it?
Dude, shut up HT. You don't even have representation. Oh wait, that's right. You don't vote in DC. When was the last time you lived in PA, macaca? That's right, I called you macaca, macaca! Dammit! I'm mad, b/c I know you're right.
I heard that McD's sold off Chipotle (but just like yesterday) but I had no idea McD's owned BM. Hmmmmm.
Soon, very soon, we need to have a discussion about Chipotle.
I still don't get it.
And HT I remember thinking that Jim Webb's shirt choice seemed odd. It must have been his back-up shirt.
Excellent idea, Jo.
Hey, is notwitty planning on coming?
I meant about inviting that author. Although the Chipotle discussion is also a good idea.
jesus, speaking of counting pelosi's blinks, there's an article in the post's style section about how some bloggers are all up in arms b/c bush said 'welcome, to the democrat party' instead of 'welcome, to the democratic party'. blah blah blah.
It looks like I'm going to engage in Phase II of The Great McLean, VA Barbecue Showdown. My colleague Silent G and I initiated Phase I last week when we went to Three Pigs Barbecue. Ambiance was spectacular. It is exactly what a barbecue joint is supposed to be: kind of old-timey with a bunch of stupid shit on the walls, molded plastic booths, no-frills.
Sadly, their barbecue left much to be desired. I had the minced pork sandwich and a bowl of Brunswick Stew. The stew was passable but unremarkable. As for the sandwich, first off, what self-respecting barbecue joint minces their pork? Chop that shit, homies! Pull it! You don't mince it. Secondly, the sandwich was served with negligible sauce on it. If you're in the barbecue business, you better have enough faith in your sauce to commit to it from the get-go. Don't hand me my tray and then tell me there's more sauce in bottles on the table. Barbecue? More like barbesuck.
So, today, Silent G and I are going to Boss Hog's, which is right around the corner. Hopefully, our quest for an acceptable, relatively unknown hey-I-know-this-little-place barbecue joint near the office will end today.
quake, why would one order a minced pork sandwich?
I hope your 2nd foray goes better, and you have inspired me to create some sort of BBQ dish for dinner tonight with the inch and 1/2 thick pork chops waiting in my fridge. BBQ porkchops with some sort of salad heavy with corn, tomatoes and green onions maybe? Hmmm...
I, for one, care very deeply about what the rest of you have for lunch. I metro to work, but work in the burbs, where everything is very spread out and non-pedestrian-friendly. Therefore, my lunch choices are extremely limited and repetitive. Sometimes the only thing that gets me through yet another sad cafeteria sandwich (like I'm eating today) or salad is reading about the bounty and variety of your lunches.
However, I don't give a rat's heinie about what some sad girl who blogs about her cat eats for lunch.
Let's get down to the most important question, though: Where the heck are our books, Jo?!?
okay.. i am trying the rueben again, mostly due to the convincing last time that it should be a second coming of jesus to my tongue. this time i got pastrami.
i'm not really sure what pastrami is.
mau got me the new christopher moore book last night and pastrami was mentioned... so i took it as a sign.
it's books like this that really make me want to put together 100 pages of drivel and see if i can convince a publisher to waste paper on it.
Perfect example of how this community helps a man make a lunch decision.
The BBQ discussion will have me going down to the Cafe' for a Carolina Style Pulled Pork BBQ sammie.
Quake, unlike JO, I hope you don't succeed today. I know you like the hunt and if you find what you're looking for after just 2 attempts, that ain't much of a hunt.
Jesus came on M's tongue?
M, I've only read Chris Moore's Gospel according to Biff. Great book. I could probably get involved in another story of his.
And let me replant the image of the Reuban covered in Jizm as the secret sauce. That image courtesy of Paul Rubens, Peew Wee Herman, jerking off in a porno theater.
Rubens are govered in goo. If you cna get past that, enjoy.
NoTwitty's fancy New York talk makes me jealous. I want oysters at GCS, dammit!!
I just ate a pretzel.
I share because you care.
ugh.. i really should have finished it before i checked the blog again.
i think the cornbeef was better than this pastrami substance. The sauerkraut is slightly less offensive than last time... maybe im approaching that slippery slope.
last night i made calamari from whole squid. i am very proud of my new squid cleaning skills. (mau ended up hiding in the bathroom)
miso: bacon.
Jo: I ordered it because I knew it was a chopped pork sandwich with a poor PR team. Turns out the PR team was dead-on. Btw, what time should I come over for dinner?
helio: I like where your head's at, but I really would like to have a good experience today. I don't know if I can handle two disappointments so close to one another.
On my way to Boss Hog's now!
Man, I hate chopped pork sammies. Pulled pork is really the only way to go. I love me some Red Hot & Blue b/c they are good about that. And I agree about the amount of sauce, too - pulled pork sammies should involve rolling one's sleeves up past one's elbows and copious usage of napkins.
Have 1/4 dark with a side of spinach - but it's all good! Pictures were taken prior to lunch & they are in the mail! I hope I don't get presented with a fantastic trip to Europe before the end of March, b/c that's when I expect to receive my new passport. Miso, I totally agree with you about the non-free lunch thing. And I'm kind of annoyed b/c I had a coupon for $1.25 off "any meal or carver combo", so I got the 1/4 dark, which apparently doesn't count as a meal. Gr. Two sides counts as a meal. I bet the cost of an extra side is over $1.25. Grrrrrrr.
Buffet from Soho.
Yum.
Shit LT - thanks for the reminder; mine expires this year too. Need to find that...
I have a lunch quandry - I have had soup everyday for the last four business day lunches. I have soup again today. Do I want soup, or do I head to the deli for a salad or meat platter or something? Keeping in mind that it's cold and windy out... Help me OWFL?
Pulled pork sammies make me sleepy.
Chopped pork sammies make me look around for sauce and get angry.
Any DC person know what this march up Connecticut Ave is all about?
Deli HT.
Jo - I'm just going out on a limb about the demonstration up CT Ave here - something to do with Iraq?? Maybe it's a pre-demonstration for this weekend.
HT - it's not as cold as it looks. And it wasn't as windy, either. If your options are eating soup today & going out tomorrow or going out today & eating soup tomorrow, go out today - it's supposed to be way f'ing colder tomorrow.
LT, you make a good point. I will go out today. Now I have to decide if I want relatively healthy (salad) or relatively unhealthy (gyros, or the mixed gyros and souvlaki meat platter I so enjoyed last week)... hmmm.. what to do...
LT, The Iraq protest is on Saturday. This thing was populated by alot of people who look like me so my first thought was Darfur, (but that would get alot of people who look like you out too). A google search got me nothing.
Peep, a base of fried rice and corn with a piece og bnbq pork, a piece of grilled chicken and some mushroom chicken. some tarragon chicken salad, some bean sprout salad and some cold sesame glass noodles.
Jo, I had SoHo yesterday, but it all tasted like burned steam table to me, which is what SoHo always tastes like to me. So I don't go for a long time, then when I go back I have forgotten about that... it's a vicious cycle.
Enjoyed Tailgate party day at the Cafe' Pulled pork BBQ sammie, curly fries, Gumbo, Cherry coke. It was pretty good, but I've had better everything befrore.
In fact I was spoiled on Gumbo from the moment I tried it for the first time. My college roommate had us to his house in Tampa on the way to a week at my place in Key Largo and his mom had made us her homemade Gumbo. Now, his mom, grew up in New Orleans and was a seafood importer and the shit that she made for us was probably what the gods eat when they grow tired of ambrosia. It was the most excelent gumbo ever, and I've been chasing that dragon ever since then, but can't seem to find anything even close.
HT, there I cannot help you. But how does your hair look?!?
Mmmmm . . . gumbo.
Hmmm. I dunno, Jo. I was going to make some black irish parade/demonstration joke, but I didn't really know how to go about it. Come on, people, help me out here!
Thanks for asking, LT. I love my hair. However, it does not photograph well. It is lighter, but not blonde. I went in with my pda full of photos and the woman said, "NO! EET EES TOO LIGHT!! ALL WRONG FOR YOUR COMPLEXION!!" This was interesting because my hair used to be pretty light. Because she was foreign and older, and very stylish and she smoked, I trusted her opinion and let her have her way with my head. There were several bowls involved, and toner and conditioning treatments. In the end, it was all wonderful and she gave me the best blow out ever. She also cuts hair, and wanted to cut mine, but that would mean cheating on my stylist. I'm not ready to go that far just yet. But, I might shell out $45 for the blowout from time to time.
Oh, you can kinda see it on my myspace - but as I said, it photographs poorly.
OH, LT - on the Jambaliar, I hear it more like the Three Dog Night Classic "LIAR"
JambaLIAR LIAR LIAR
I want some New Orleans BBQ shrimp right now.
Hm - I'm not sure if I'm familiar with that song. Although it made me think "JambaLIIIAAAARRRR" from that Rollins Band song.
Amen E-que.
I nominate E-Que for Best Comment of the Day!
"Cuz JambaLIAR!
Yeah JambaLiar!
I'll eat andoullie,
with some seafood..."
Hee hee! And interspersed with closeups of Rollins is him in a chef's outfit mixing up a big batch (like cannibal-cauldron-sized) of jambaliar.
I second that, HT. It is certainly the most eloquent!
E-Que: I've never been prouder to be wrapped up in confusing abbreviations with you.
You are right, HT. It's hard to tell from your Myspace page. I will just have to wait to see your hair in person.
how was the hunt, eq? er, i mean earthquake?
Wrong blog, Jo...
whatever do you mean HT?
Boss Hog's good. Not cheap, but good. I blew $11, but they have a white board to post the rotating sides. I had a chopped pork sandwich platter (which means two sides). Sauce wasn't terribly courageous, but it was competent. I had okra and tomatos and red onions for Side #1 and collard greens for Side #2. Root beer to drink.
Silent G also had the chopped pork sandwich platter. Sides: deviled eggs & sweet potato souffle.
Sparky had the brisket sandwich platter. Sides: baked beans and cole slaw.
Solid positives on all counts.
Ambiance was at least as good as Three Pigs. Red and white check table cloths. Bottled beer. Also offer breakfast and every Friday is Crab Cake day.
Boss Hog's is not the pinnacle of barbecue joints, but it is good. I will go back there again, and it blows Three Pigs way away.
SSSsssshhh!!! don't tell RoEsq!
I just had one of the best sammys you can have in Houston, TX. I went to St. Pete's Dancing Marlin (a mouthful if you've ever heard one ... [insert fellatio joke here]).
It is called the Dancing Tuna Steak Sandwich (I guess they had the same marketing guy from Starbuck's). I had the sandwich (which is a big piece of tuna steak) cooked "Black and Blue" which is to say it is rather like a Ahi Tuna Steak at that point. They slather some tangy pesto on top and put it on a sweet honey cracked wheat bun an serve with steak fries.
mmmmmmmmmmm
Ok, that aside, I sense animosity in the HT today ... that and she sure is being a mouthy biatch isn't she?
Barbesuck! HAHAHAHAHA
M, you set yourself up for that one. It will be a line that I may use on someone else.
"Second coming of Jesus .... on her tongue." You see it just works unless she is Mormon.
E-que ... you da man.
And, getting back to E-Que's thread: I have to agree. Admittedly, there are many of you I have never met in person. There are many others of you with whom I have erased an entire evening or two. But, whether it is in our virtual community of talking trash and identifying commonalities (did you guys know that m and I both like bourbon? A lot? By the way, last night I went with a Blanton's, an Eagle Rare 10 yr., and a Rock Hill Farms. Lovely on all counts.) or in real-time and face-to-face talking trash and identifying commonalities (did you know Josephus and I both like to prove other people wrong?), I have a sense of community with people I met through this blog or know only on this blog.
Do I shy away just a little from that fact when I explain it to people? Sure, but I explain it anyway.
So, take that, book-writing lady! And, my lunch was pretty damned good today.
Oh, Diz...
I can smell the remains of my BM chicken in the trash. It smells so gooooooood, I want moooooooore . . . .
Shorty! This has nothing to do with anything, but I was wondering if there is CPR for cats, and if so, how I go about learning it? I'm increasingly worried about Dirty Mitts' asthma, though his condition hasn't worsened, I'm just off my xanax.
Ha ha! BM chicken in my trash! It's like that scene from Borat! Which is playing at the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse for any DCers who haven't seen it yet . . . .
EQue for President!! No wait... EQue for Governor of Puerto Rico!!
Who has more power, were an objective scale to measure such things to exist? The mayor of DC, or the governor of Puerto Rico?
I ask these off topic questions because, I believe this blog is about more than just lunch, and I believe that others may be interested in their answers.
The Governor of PR.
Shorty, are you going to Colorado with E-que or to Pittsburgh with us?
I was actually asking EQue Jo, but thank you.
Totally the Gov. The Mayor doesn't have anything but a run down city under his thumb. the Gov has like 4 run down cities, Plus a run down country side and heaps of run down towns under his thumb.
Plus if the US pulls the plug on home rule in DC, then the Mayor's out of a job and congress goes back to adminstering the city, but if they do that to my homeland, the Gov can declare himself president, premiere, emperor, High commander, Player One, Chuck Norris, Pope, King, head chef, quarterback, prime minester, Santa Claus, principal, or Awesome Dude of Puerto Rico.
That's way more power.
The Pitt Conference is gonna be a history maker!
Sunshine are you on tee-shirt duty?
oops. who is sunshine?
I meant to ask helio our events chair...
LT: actually, that sounds perfect.
Quake, does that mean you're COMING?!?
Oh no I di'n't!
RoEsq must be reading the blog ... I got in trouble for eating her favorite sandwich... now I have to do free IT work for Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse who she works for ... that or receive the later.
Comeon ... we can break 100.
diz are you and RoEsq in for Pitt?
Thank you Shorty!! I will call to schedule a time with Diego - but, do you think Diego and Barney can put the past behind them and get along? Otherwise, I'm not putting my face into that mess!
jebus, someone give me permission to go home
How about some representation from the other side of the Potomac? I'm still here, though I'm fading fast. I need to go to the gym but a) I'm not ready to wash my hair yet and b) the Red Hot Chili Peppers are at the Verizon Center tonight, which means parking will be a clusterfuck. ARgh. What to do?
I don't know Jo. We'll have to check her schedule. We are hermits until lawschool is done.
I'm representin the South Coast!!!
SUP SUP!!??
and finally 100 cheap .. I know it ... but typical for me.
We are headed to Pub Fiction for a little fun.
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