Happy Year of the Dragon. Or, Chinese New Year’s Resolution.

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I avoid making New Year’s resolutions on Jan. 1. But, having not blogged since Dec. 12, I’m making a Chinese New Year’s resolution: Today, I will blog.

We celebrated Chinese New Year early this weekend and what a fabulous celebration it was. The Chicago Chinese Cultural Institute hosted the Eighth Annual Chinese New Year Dumpling-Making Dinner. For two and a half hours, we made dumplings, learned about Chinese New Year traditions, ate course after course of great Chinese food by Chinatown restaurant Hing Kee, watched a lion dance and mixed and mingled with some fine Chinese folks (who seemed intrigued that we’d heard about the event from Crain’s, of all places.)

Some observations:

- No two dumplings are created equal. After washing our hands with wipes (thank you for supplying those!) we got to choose between pork + shrimp or veggie fillings, and then wet, fill, fold and seal the dumplings. We, along with about 30 others, then put them on plates and they were boiled in back. That means there was mixing and mingling of dumplings, and the odds of eating the ones you made were minimal. I had three dumplings and only one was made with solid precision. I love the idea of learning to make dumplings, but if I’m going to eat one, I’d rather have it from a pro (or one that I made).

- Chinese food is far more innovative and delicious that I credit it. And that must be because most Chinese restaurants stick with the lowest common denominators of food, like General Tso’s chicken and sweet and sour pork, which, while delicious, would never entice me to eat at a Chinese restaurant in this day and age. However, after this meal, I would totally reconsider that and put more time into exploring Chinatown. We started out with some incredible pumpkin and seafood soup, then moved on to an appetizer platter of phenomenal fried eggplant, fried wontons, marinated cucumbers and seaweed, followed by giant meatballs, crab fried rice, fried whole fish, beef with garlic, lemon chicken, abalone mushrooms with bok choy and braised tofu. It was fantastic.

- I have still not met a Chinese dessert I would eat by choice. Sticky rice ball soup and water chestnut cake? My philistine palate just doesn’t understand.

- Dancing lions are impressive (and difficult to photograph)! I’ve always taken them for granted from afar. But one found its way into our banquet room, and the two men working it flexed some impressive acrobatics.

- The Chinese like money. Money and wealth came up over and over again when talking about symbolism and gifts on New Year’s Day. I guess I don’t blame them.

Thanks to the Chicago Chinese Cultural Institute for a truly enlightening day. May the adventurous tone be set for the rest of the Year of the Dragon.

And may I blog again sometime before March.

 

Who ya gonna call?

What’s Big in Kids’ Hair Care for 2012

From natural shampoos and ‘Groovy Goo’ to hair tinsel, big
barrettes and the ‘Big Time Rush’ look, kids will be on the cutting
edge in 2012

By Kate Silver
The hot words for hair and hair accessories in 2011 were
“feathers,” “pink,” and “The Justin Bieber” (followed by “the haircut
formerly known as the Justin Bieber”).

With 2012 just around the corner, we polled kids’ hair-care
specialists across the country to find out what to look forward to in
the coming year. In sum, expect to see their hair accessories big, their
hawks “faux” and their products natural (and smelling like bananas).
This is what else we found:

Hairstyles
For older girls, the face-framing long layers are in, says Theresa
Lamb, manager of Pigtails & Crewcuts
(www.pigtailsandcrewcuts.com/glenview) in Glenview, Illinois, and
so are hair tinsels—shiny, metallic strands that are tied into the hair
by a stylist. Those clamp-on feathers, seen on everyone from Steven
Tyler (who’s credited with bringing the plumes to fame) to Jennifer
Love Hewitt, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Hilary Duff are losing their
allure with the tween crowd, but the trend isn’t over yet, according to
Lamb. “I think the younger girls are starting to get more into the
feathers now, because they’ve seen older siblings wearing them.”
Also popular for girls: The classic bob and braids, including
waterfall and fishtail braids.

Boys spent the last year striving to be Justin Bieber—even long
after Justin Bieber had moved on to a less mussed
look. But now, the boys are asking to look like the guys
on the Nickelodeon series, “Big Time Rush.”
“It’s actually similar to the Justin Bieber,”
admits Lamb. In addition, faux hawks and
skater-like mushroom cuts are popular. But
most of all, Lamb says she focuses on doing
whatever works best with the lad’s hair. “A lot of younger
boys have cowlicks, so you have to work around that and give them a
style that’s good for them,” says Lamb.

Hair Accessories
Big is better, when it comes to hair accessories—and just about
every girl is will be accessorizing their hair in 2012. Kara Dahn, coowner
of Queen Bee Barrette (www.queenbeebarrette.com), based in
Newburyport, Massachusetts, says that
large barrettes, fluffy flowers and bold,
classic bows are a way of making a
feminine statement. “It’s girly, it’s like
high fashion,” she says. Popular colors for
the coming year include ivory, pink,
orange, brown with polka dots, animal prints and anything metallic
or glittery.

Annie Sayer, co-founder of No Slippy Hair Clippy, Inc.
(www.hairclippy.com), based in Vacaville, California, says that she’s
seeing an increased interest in headbands in all age groups—from
babies through adults. Sayer says she expects bright colors with fun
and whimsical themes to be a big hit in hair
accessories in 2012. “People really want to dress their
kids bright and fun,” says Sayer. “Parents want to
brighten things up, because things have been hard the
last few years,” she says. By spending just $5 to $10,
adds Sayer, hair accessories are a simple way take an
outfit to the next level and make a statement without
spending a fortune.

Hair Products
For years, parents expected kids to share their adult hair
products, assuming that hair of all ages had the same needs. Now,
kids have access to kid-centric lines, made with high-quality
ingredients to keep their hair pure and free from chemical damage.
Dick Hegener, president of Custom Formulations, a hair care
manufacturing company based in Cologne, Minnesota, says that
parents are really embracing more natural products aimed specifically
at kids, including styling aids (i.e. hair-spiking balm),
like Pigtails & Crewcuts’ Groovy Goo. He said that busy
moms on the go gravitate towards Pigtails & Crewcuts’
No No Knots, a detangling spray that makes it easy (and
painless) to make sense of bed head, without
shampooing, and kids are also drawn to products for
their inviting scents, like the strawberry-scented Pigtails & Crewcuts
Berries and Bows conditioner and grape-like Goofy Grape shampoo.

Scott Knapp, account executive with Circle of Friends
(www.cofbath.com), which is based in Los Angeles, says that
shampoo scents such as raspberry and pineapple have also developed
a huge following, and he expects banana to be a popular scent in
2012. In addition, Circle of Friends, which specializes in gentle kids
shampoo that is free of harsh chemicals, including sodium lauryl
sulfates, will be coming out with a new product aimed at kids that’s
similar to Moroccan oil, giving the hair a beautiful finishing shine.
“This is something that’s grown tremendously in the adult category,”
says Knapp. “Moroccan oil is everywhere.”

Knapp adds that the place that Circle of Friends is seeing the
most growth is the lice prevention category. That’s right—prevention.
“In the past, when you were dealing with lice, you were dealing with
treatment,” says Knapp. “It’s been proven time and again that people
are getting more sophisticated, as they realize there are ways of
actually preventing lice from getting into the home.” Circle of Friends
sells a line of products that combine tea tree oil, lavender and other
oils that actually repel lice. “If there is a lice outbreak and the children
are using our products, they will not get lice,” says Knapp.

Cyber Detox: Five Facebook-Free Days

Last Sunday, I cast my phone and computer aside and declared it would be a week without Facebook or Twitter (except for the fact that my blog automatically tweets itself). Aside from the time-wasting potential of both sites, I needed a break from being overly involved with friends and “friends”–you know, the Facebook people that you would never actually share bits of your life with in real-time, but now that they now fill out your collection you know more about them than their own grandmother does.

While I love being connected to many in the FB community, I was tired of getting caught up in other peoples’ relationships (and relationship endings) like some kind of living Mexican soap opera. I was unimpressed by your breakfast cereal selection. I don’t care about most of your kids.

And yet, there I was, at any given moment of quiet, reading up on your updates, and, further, reading into them. I read them after phone interviews. I read them while trying to come up with a witty headline. I read them while trying to remember if it’s an “associate” or “associate’s” degree and whether bachelor’s is lower case. I read them while waiting in line. I read them first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

As a self-employed solo worker, I began viewing these updates like my co-workers, providing constant fodder and water-cooler white noise.

It became a kind of tick, like a cyber-Tourettes.

Initially, my goal was to eschew both Facebook and Twitter for Google+ for the week. I’d been lazy about learning the perks of G+ and figured that in the absence of the other two, I would immerse myself. “It’s only a way of connecting with the smartest people on the Internet,” my G+-fanboy boyfriend said. But I have to say, I still am missing the appeal. I’ve gone there a few times and it just doesn’t have the suck-you-in factor, for me, that the other social sites have.

“You have to look at the area updates,” Neil said. He told me that it’s most interesting on your phone, where you can look at the feed from people nearby. I told him I wasn’t looking at it on the phone, I was looking at it on the computer. “Oh,” he said. “You’re right, on the computer it does kinda suck.”

The FB-free first day was a challenge. Slammed with post-Thanksgiving deadlines, I observed myself coming to a momentary break in a grant-writing project and my phalanges itched to type in that eight-letter url. If not that, then at least the seven-letter one? I resisted.

Actually, Neil and I began sending status updates back and forth.

“Fb update,” he texted me. “Just another manic Monday.”

“Fb update,” I wrote back. “I need a vacation from my vacation. Gah.”

“Like,” he wrote back.

Of course, these are things neither of us would have posted on Facebook. But the texting continued.

“Fb update: I will never buy cheap towels again! Do these things come in queen?”

“Fb update: I picked a good week to stop using Fb.”

“Fb update: Do cats find the smell of our pee as offensive as we find theirs?”

“Fb update: That Cenegenics guy freaks. me. out.”

When detoxing, you’ve got to get it all out of your system, right? I quickly replaced my urge to check Facebook with other online tasks. I blogged. I checked the stats on my blog. I checked how many times my other blog, at Inspiratoblogs.com, had been shared. I read the news. Each distraction was a momentary break. I didn’t get sucked in the way I do with those other sites, and I relatively felt free of mental clutter.

A couple of days into it, my cousin texted me that my other cousin, who’s pregnant, is having a girl. I texted back and we caught up a bit over the next couple of days. I then let my sister and Neil know that a girl cousin is on the horizon. “I know,” both told me. “I saw it on Facebook.”

I was proud that I’d heard it personally. I’d expected the week would make me feel disconnected, but it was actually quite the opposite.

I have no plans to dismantle either my Fb or my Twitter account. But I will be going into next week with a fresh perspective and an awareness of my cyber weaknesses. All in all, I’d say this has been a good experiment.

“Fb update: [Insert bad 12-step joke about FB here]“

Elves on Ice

Since we’re in the holiday spirit, I wanted to post a piece I wrote on my elf tour in Iceland. The following is published in the December issue of Luxury Las Vegas magazine:

Elves on Ice

In Iceland, the holidays are the best time to spot the elfin population.
The ‘Hidden Worlds’ tour gives insight into these little people,
who do far more than bake cookies and help Santa.

 

Raucous applause fills Hamborgarafabrikkan, a popular gourmet hamburger
restaurant in Reykjavik, Iceland, as a young server stands on a wooden ladder
and stretches her arms to change a “3” into a “4” so that the latest population
count of Iceland reads “319,724.”

For this isolated island country, which is about the size of Kentucky, a new
addition is reason to celebrate. But ask around, and you’ll find out that human beings
aren’t the only worthwhile population in Iceland. Here, they say the world of hidden
people is also very much alive—particularly at Christmas time.

If you’re in Iceland right now, or heading that way, make your way to the nearest
intersection, grab a gray cat, and wait. According to folk tales, that’s the best way to
spot an elf.

That’s right, an elf. You know—about three feet high, skinny legs and arms, pointy ears? Elves are said to be everywhere in Iceland—particularly living in rocks, hills and trees—and Christmas, New Year’s Eve and January 6 (as well as June 24) are the best days to spot one. At least, that’s what my elf-tour guide, Sibba Karlsdottir, says.

She tells me this as we’re walking around Hafnarfjordur, the self-proclaimed elf capital of Iceland, located about a 10-minute drive from the capital, Reykjavik. Looking around at the lunar-like lava rocks, it’s easy to imagine seeing something curious out of the corner of your eye—particularly in the wintertime, when there’s often more than 20 hours of dark each day.

As Karlsdottir leads the way through lush green parks and along sleepy residential streets, we don’t see a single person in passing. “There was a survey that we ran here in this town a few years ago, and 54 percent said they believed in the elves,” says Karlsdottir, who leads the Hidden Worlds Walks tour Tuesdays and Fridays throughout the year, and schedules private tours for other days. Still, she says, even if an Icelander doesn’t believe in elves, try getting him to break down an elf rock. They’ll all refuse, she says. Every single one of them.

“So that can tell you something,” she smiles. With her small stature, red-apple cheeks and red hat, she actually looks a touch elfin.

Iceland is, after all, only 1,800 miles from the greatest employer of elves (or so we’ve been told): the North Pole. To put that in perspective, that’s about the distance from Las Vegas to Chicago. As the sleigh flies, not a bad commute.

But it turns out our American version of Santa’s elves are very different from Icelandic elves. There, the Santas, themselves, are elves. Known as Jolasveinar, which means “Yule Lads,” the 13 impish elves are descendants of two child-eating ogres (let us not forget that the Icelandic people are descendants of Vikings, and their children’s stories reflect that). The elves, while not child-eaters, haven’t always been the philanthropic creatures you might hope would come down from the mountains at Christmas time.

“They used to come and harass people. One would slam the door, one would steal candles,” says Karlsdottir. “They’ve improved over the years.”

But they still tend to be troublemakers, and each has a name corresponding with the particular prank to which he’s prone: There’s Þvörusleikir the Spoon-licker, Gluggagægir the Peeper, Bjúgnakrækir the Sausage-pilfer, Hurðaskellir the Door-slammer, and the list goes on. They each come down the mountain, one a day, beginning 13 days before Christmas, and put a gift inside a child’s shoe. Bad children receive rotten potatoes. “We don’t have coal,” explains Karlsdottir.

After Christmas, they head back up to their mountain dwelling one by one, sausage-pilferers, spoon-lickers, peepers and all, returning by January 6.

Of course, just because the Yule Lads are gone doesn’t mean the elf activity stops. Not in Iceland, where roads have been rerouted and buildings halted because of reports of elf activity. (Actually, the reports are about failed equipment, after which a seer, i.e. psychic is called in and describes the presence of elves.)
Karlsdottir says that there are a couple of stories that tell the origin of the elves. She shares one that dates back to Adam and Eve.

“God the almighty paid a visit to Adam and Eve,” she says, taking on a dramatic tone. “Eve was a good mother. She expected her children to be clean, and when God arrived some of the kids were still dirty. And Eve felt ashamed. So she decided to hide them. When God visited, he asked her, ‘Do you have any more kids?’ ‘No,’ she said. Of course, God knew, and he said, ‘What’s hidden to me shall be hidden to humans,’ and these children became invisible. And started to live in rocks.”

She points out different rocks, telling stories about the elves that live within. One has a metal stake sticking out of it, after a man decided he wanted to break the rock and build his house here. An elf caught the stake, however, and it’s been stuck there ever since. The man, rather than risk the wrath of elves, decided to build his house further up the street.

Karlsdottir began giving these tours years ago, after working for the Iceland tourism bureau, where she saw firsthand the great interest outsiders had in elves. She has her own theory about why the Icelandic people know elves so well, and it has to do with their extreme isolation. Stories of the elves date back to Norse mythology, and have carried through the centuries. Icelanders once relied on storytellers for entertainment. They would travel from farm to farm, earning their room and board through their narratives. She thinks that’s how the elf stories migrated and evolved across the country.

Or maybe it has something to do with the surreal, moon-like landscape and moving shadows, the rocks shaped like trolls, the lack of sunlight and the prevalence of a drink called Black Death. Whatever it is, if you’re traveling to Iceland, you should book a tour and decide for yourself. And you may want to take an extra-large suitcase along. Just in case.

To learn more about the Hidden World Walks go to www.alfar.is/Index/English/.

Gliding into Santa Season

Santa season used to smell like cookies and eggnog. This year, if you go by the Black Friday hullabaloo, it smells more like pepper spray.

Nevertheless, it’s here. From the massive mall lines to the twinkling porch lights and the Christmas carols that radio host Delilah has been playing since Halloween, it’s undeniably that season. Which is exciting, because that means we get to read more Santa stories. Not just the usual “Santa lands” stories, meant to perpetuate Santa’s story to kids, but weird stories about the subculture of Santa. (In fact, I just created a Google alert for Santa Claus stories).

The first one to catch my eye this season is in today’s New York Times: “In Gloomy Economic Times, Santas Learn to Help by Curbing Expectations.” In it, we learn of the Harvard of Santa schools in Michigan, where the Misters Claus are taught to keep it simple, have sweet-smelling breath and always keep their hands visible. We also learn that they have the power to step in and suggest kids shorten their list, maybe be a little less greedy.

I first became interested in Santa stories when I heard the This American Life piece about sparring factions of Santas, including a Santa coup from the group The Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas (AORBS). Admittedly, nothing can beat that story. But I did do my own piece on AORBS, pitting real bearded Santas vs. “designer,” or fake-bearded Santas, for Vegas Seven magazine last year, called “The Bearded Ones.”

I also met, though Facebook, a friend of a friend who has been a mall Santa for years. A traveling Santa (Santas often travel because, I’m told, malls don’t want to have a bearded one that kids could recognize), Billy Mo Buckbee was living in a hotel in Mississippi and commuting to the local mall. While he was suited up and doing his best to keep Santa alive for the kids, his Jeep was robbed. Friends band together and raised more than $300 to replace the GPS and other items that were stolen. I wrote about that incident here.

This year, I hope to delve more into the Santa culture and am on the lookout for odd Santa-centric stories. I’ve got a few brewing, but if you know of any, feel free to share.

Calling All Verbal Troops: Kill these words and phrases. Please?

Time for a moody Monday list.

Today: Words/phrases to banish, or, at the very least, avoid:

* Starting a sentence, in conversation, with “So.” When did this happen? Why does everyone in their 30s now do this? Happens in my interviews all the time.

Example:

Me: “Describe your job to me.”

Them: “So what I do is….”

* Troop, in reference to a single military unit, i.e. person

* Police unit, in reference to a single police car or person

* Orientated

* Thank you in advance

* Leveraged

* Deliverables

* House-made

* Hand picked/Hand selected

* Gone missing/Went missing

* At the end of the day…

* Entitled, when referring to the title of something. “The book is entitled…”

* Overuse of “capital,” i.e. human capital, thought capital, etc.

* Overuse of curator, i.e. web curator, design curator, food curator, etc.

* Best practices

* “Acquisitioned”

* Actionable

* Circle back

* “___” is the new black

* Wheel house

* Overuse of large verbs and “relationship.” “I excel at facilitating relationships.” I don’t believe anyone who says that.

* Engaged, engaging, engagement as it refers to work.

* Bandwidth

* Green belt/anything Six Sigma

* Synergy

* Re-engineer

* Win-win

* Low-hanging fruit

* Core competency

* Any phrase with “fail”

* Any phrase with “epic”

* To “socialize” an idea

* Any use of “party” as a verb. Particularly, “sorry for partying.”

* “Big-girl panties”

* Uber

Now you go. What phrases would you like to put in front of a death panel?