Friday Fun: Three Towers Solitaire

In honor of my sister Eva's visit this weekend, let me introduce you to the biggest time-sucking game I've played lately: Three Towers Solitaire.

Eva found the game and led me to it. Nice of her? Not so much. I won't tell you how much time I have spent trying to beat her high score. I haven't gotten close. Does it matter? Of course it does. I play to win.

But, competitive insanity aside, when you need a few minutes of mindless entertainment to unwind, this is good. And it looks like the Mind Jolt site has lots of other fun games. Enjoy!

P.S. If you haven't given me a good thought about winter, I'm still accepting ideas. Because spring is 23 days away. Not that I'm counting ...

Creativity Exercise: Warm Up to Winter

My friend Chris (aka, the son I would have had if I would have had a son) is from Canada. This has totally skewed his view of the world. You want proof? He likes winter. Seriously. The man likes winter. He also thinks I have made far too many disparaging winter remarks.

Heck. I'm a reporter. I can tell you exactly what he said. I was taking notes:

Any hack can spew wonderful things about spring and summer and they do. That stuff's obvious. But winter!

Okey dokey. Let's "hack" away at my complete lack of creative delight in the frozen arctic. Tell me one good thing about winter. Post away!

*Chris also said, "I didn't say YOU were a hack." Uh huh.

Site Seeing: Surrender, Dorothy

I had heard of Surrender, Dorothy some time back, and just started reading it regularly. It's a great blog for people who notice and care about the difference between Surrender, Dorothy and Surrender Dorothy.

And if you happen to live in Toto land like I do, so much the better!

Creative Query: Are You as Smart as a Teenager?

Isn't that a pretty photo of my pretty baby? The young woman who took the photo, Erin, dances on the drill team with my daughter. Erin is incredibly talented as a dancer and a gymnast.

She isn't going to be on the team next year, because it's too time consuming. She wants to focus on her passion: art.

At 16, Erin is smart enough to understand something many of us fail to grasp. Just because you have a talent, doesn't mean you have to pursue it. If your talent doesn't give you joy, if your passion lies elsewhere, go with your heart. Do what you love. Follow Erin's lead.

Creativity Tips: Question Authority

Back in the day, when I was handling media relations and PR for a university, I had this bumper sticker on my car. After a while, someone pointed out that I was the authority.

Which, of course, is why I liked the bumper sticker.

My training is in broadcast journalism, where you're taught to say everything with authority whether you know what you're talking about or not. My mentor -- who has been my role model for the past 24 years -- is an authentic force of nature. My self esteem is high, I'm not a youngster, and I don't tolerate fools.

Put it all together and you have a potentially dangerous situation: When I'm an idiot, people often assume they're the ones missing something. Trust me. You're not missing anything.

The contest I announced last week made no sense whatsoever. If I EVER do that again, I want all of you to post a comment telling me I'm babbling. Promise. Pinky swear. Hand over heart right now and repeat: "If Jan is an idiot, I will tell her."

Thank you. Oh, and congrats to Barb, who won the giveaway! (Barb: Call or email and I'll explain how you can collect!) And the lesson from the giveaway: You can't win if you don't enter. I may never know exactly why BlogHer selected me to be a conference speaker. I do know that they wouldn't have selected me if I hadn't applied. Put yourself out there. It's the only way ...

Food is Love: Be a Cooking Rebel!

I don't cry over spilled milk, but I can throw a pretty good temper tantrum over a crumbled cupcake. Here's the deal: I recently tried a new recipe. I stuck to the recipe. The recipe stuck to the pan. Guest blogger Angela Pritchett -- the mad baker -- reminds us that rules, and recipes, are meant to be creatively broken:

As I search through cookbooks for recipes, I often come across notes written on pages and items or instructions that have been crossed out. Changing recipes may not be easy for all cooks but you can't let the recipe be the boss. My tip for CI readers is to be cooking rebels!

If a recipe calls for white sugar but you only have brown, use the brown. Your cake or cookies will have a richer taste. Do you think you really have to devote two hours for homemade cinnamon rolls? No! Eliminate the last rising and have scratch rolls from your oven in less than an hour. Trust me, anyone eating a warm cinnamon roll will not even think to ask, "How long did this rise before you baked it?"

Don't sweat the occasional flops and disasters. When the Creative Instigator had her recent crumbling cupcake experience, she hated to waste the chocolate. But her hubby and daughter gladly scooped up cake crumbs and said they didn't care what it looked like because it tasted so good.

If your cooking experiment produces a not-so-pretty dish, make notes and try something different next time. Rebels always have another inspiration to try!

-- Angela Pritchett, February 19, 2010

P.S. from Jan: Angela inspired me. I tried the cinnamon roll recipe. Mmmmmm. Seriously good.

Two Quick Updates

1. I apologize. The post for the giveaway was really confusing. So, I'm changing the rules. Everyone who emails or posts an answer is eligible for the prize. You still have until 4:22 a.m. Saturday morning to enter.

2. Speaking of contests, I was asked to submit Peggy's Dill Dip in the "Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook" contest. Please take a second, click here and give the recipe a five-star rating! It would be a wonderful way to honor and remember my sister-in-law Peggy. Thanks!