Category Archives: Uncategorized

Techstars Class of 2011

Posted on by sarah

I just got home from the second night of practice pitches by the Techstars Class of 2011. Techstars requested that we not publish a full list of companies until they are announced on Thursday. You know like I did last year, here and here. Oops. So, instead of the full round-up, I’ll just share two from tonight (I missed last night’s show), which was very much a big data night!

Hands down, my favorite was ReportGrid, tackling big data analytics with only a couple lines of code on your site. These guys have a potentially huge market with a complex problem that needs to be solved by almost everyone right now. To top it all off, it sounds like they have the team to make it happen. It’s where I’d put my money.

While most of the pitches tonight involved big data, there was one really sexy pitch: FlixMaster. These guys allow you to drag & drop to create what they call branching videos. I kept flashing back to the choose your own adventure books I read as I kid. This is the same thing, but it works for video and can link to anything on the web, including pre-built forms. I love the idea, and I’m sure others will realize that it’s great too and will replicate it.  I still think these guys will pull through, though. It sounds like they have the market and domain knowledge to see this through and edge out competitors.

That’s all you get! Here’s hoping I can find a Demo Ticket so I can give you the full roundup on Thursday!

 

P. S. I was wondering how the Class of 2010 was doing, so I took a minute to check out their sites. It looks like all but one of the companies is still actively pursuing the work from last summer. Omniarc appears to be heading in a different direction. Gearbox has become Orbotix, and I’m on the waiting list for their first piece of hardware coming out this fall!

Gumbo

Posted on by sarah

 

 

Yum! I’ve been eating gumbo nearly my entire life, cooking it for just a few years less than that. You see, I was born in Shreveport, Louisiana–Cajun country. While I didn’t really enjoy living in Louisiana, it was worth it for one reason, the food. I grew up eating gumbo, sauce picante, pepper steak, and lots of fish. Everything was fresh and bold. My Dad had a friend who brought in high end ingredients for some of the upscale restaurants in town. My favorite cheese as a kindergartener was gouda, back in the early ’80s when most people didn’t know what that was. I didn’t like the smoked stuff either, covered up the delicate flavor profile of the cheese. I was also a happy camper whenever my Dad’s friend would give us one of the pineapples off of his helicopter. It made daily flights to Hawaii for just picked fruit. Spoiled, that’s what I was, and from a very young age, too!

Back to the gumbo. I’ve been making it for years, and rarely do I make it the same way twice. There’s always a little something different: ingredients, spices, preparation, something. I’ve had friends ask for my recipe, but for this dish, it’s just not going to happen. I just go into the kitchen and cook, usually in silence, which is unusual for me. Cooking gumbo is a form of meditation for me.  I gather my ingredients, and a few hours later, gumbo! If you ask really nicely, I’ll teach you how to make gumbo, but I won’t write down a recipe for this dish.

In Louisiana, there’s a lot of drama over what makes a ‘gumbo’, but I grew up believing that it’s not gumbo if it doesn’t have okra. So, that’s how I make it. There are actually three ways to thicken a gumbo: okra, roux, or filé powder. I use all three, which I know would be sacrilege to some real Cajuns, but that’s how I roll. I start with a roux, add okra towards the end (along with any seafood if it’s going into the pot), and dust each serving with filé. I use the filé for its earthy taste, not its thickening power.

Funny thing about filé? It was actually a trade secret for a couple hundred years. The local Choctaw Indians had been using the ground up leaves of sassafras trees for many years when the French settlers arrived. The Indians sold the mysterious powder to the settlers but kept its origins secret, which turned out to be the quite humble sassafras. It’s so plentiful that I’d almost consider it a weed!

Writing. #reverb10

Posted on by sarah

Today’s #reverb10 prompt:

December 2 – Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)

Like some other people, I struggled with this prompt at first. I thought that it was a little strange but I understood it’s place in this event–we warmed up yesterday & set the tone, today we focus on how to complete this journey of writing every day. I wasn’t certain how the prompt applied to me, though.

Halfway through my day, it dawned on me. It’s not so much an activity that is a barrier for me but an emotion. I’m anxious that my writing won’t be good enough. I’m anxious that I will be honest enough–and that I’ll reveal too much. Perhaps the most repeated piece of writing advice is to “write what you know.” Before last month, I hadn’t written any fiction unless it was an assignment and that was incredibly limited. I started off participating in #NaNoWriMo. If you’ve been reading this blog, you’ll know that I didn’t get very far in word count. But, I had a huge breakthrough. I learned how to use my life to inspire my work–not regurgitate it. I think even in this format, it can be a useful mode of writing. I don’t think I’ll eliminate my anxiety any time soon, but I learned to write through it.