Three from Last Week

Tips for Company Retreats

Bring Oreos. When it’s 3am and there’s no food to be found in the little town you’ve crashed into, Oreos are like cigarettes in prison.

Know your range. This specifically refers to karaoke vocals. But feel free to extend to all physical, mental, emotional, and professional challenges you may face.

You’re on parade, so don’t be a shithead – everyone’s watching. It is work, even if it feels like play. The same rules do apply.

On Being Emotionally Invested in Client Work

The project is not your project no matter how hard you think it is. It’s the client’s project. Even if you spent several more three-month stretches of your whole-entire-life on it than they did, even if it was a great idea that you helped come up with, even if it was successful, even if it was the best work you’ve ever done. It’s not yours. It never was.

What is yours are the lessons you learned, and the good (and bad) times you had with the people you worked with. When the project is over (done, killed, sunsetted, “ended”), you’ll still have the lessons and the people. Pour one out with them.

How To Make Babaganoush

Take an eggplant or two – smaller ones work better than bigger ones because the seeds aren’t as big and there aren’t as many – and throw them over some fire. Could be a grill, your stovetop gas burner, or (the best choice) a campfire. Let them cook until they turn black on the outside; the more charred they are the smokier the result.

Pull the eggplant off the fire and set them aside to cool for a few minutes. Crush a few cloves of garlic in some salt and lemon juice. Cut open the eggplant and scoop out the pulp with a fork or spoon, the center should be very soft. Mix the scooped pulp and the crushed garlic with a wooden spoon in a rigid bowl so you can work out the tougher fibers and crush the seeds. Add tahini and salt to taste.

Enjoy with friends. Tell them that the the Arabic baba ganoush translates to English as “pampered papa”.