Jackie Koerner

Living by Someone Else’s Beliefs

Under Health Law, ‘No-Cost’ Birth Control Starts Today

Unless you work for an organization with a religious affiliation, which now have a 1 year pass while an agreement is in the works.

But, wait! Now if you work for any organization who claims to run according to Catholic beliefs, you might be out of luck, per one Colorado court.

My wonder is how many of those beliefs only include contraception. Are the courts going to make the owners only claim this violates their beliefs? Hopefully, they will make them prove they follow more of the faith than just the debate over birth control.

Real Beauty

While many have debated both campaigns, both have their good points and their bad. For one, the VS campaign only shows fit/thin women. These women, while not the majority of women out there, do work hard at their body for their job. They are women, yes, but they do not define the majority I have to argue.

With that being said, neither does the Dove campaign. I don’t see a true variety in either picture. I’d like to see a real size spectrum – short, tall, thin, thick and athletic.

Early Morning Koerner Commentary on Corporate America

Chris touching the Rescue iPad.

Jackie: Don’t touch the iPad.

Chris: I am IT. I can do whatever I want.

Jackie: No, you can’t.

Chris: I’m calling HR.

Jackie: I am HR.

Chris: Let me get my HR representative. Picks up Kit Kit.

Jackie goes downstairs to iron clothes.

Kit Kit jumps down from Chris’ arms and follows Jackie.

Jackie: I buy your HR with kibbles.

Morals Adrift

As an adult, one comes to recognize events that happen, and even though they are not desirable, moral, etc. they happen. They just do. I recognize these atrocities, injustices, and moral dilemmas of others, but sometimes I just do not understand them. Do what is right. Just do.

This morning on NPR I heard a story about passengers who were bird watching aboard a Carnival cruise ship observing a fisherman aboard a small vessel without a motor waving a piece of clothing – any normal person would think they are in distress. The birdwatchers did and alerted the crew. The crew observed this and told the captain of the ship. The cruise ship did nothing to help the stranded fisherman.

Once back home, one birdwatcher followed up on the incident and was fed a story by customer service.

Later a story came out in the news about the fishermen. Three men were alive the day they saw the cruise ship. They had already been drifting for 14 days at that point. One died that night. The other 5 days later. Only 1 man was alive when help finally came another 14 days after the cruise ship spotted them.

This stuff happens. I do not understand why it does. How could someone make a call to not go help? It’s even maritime law. Sad it has to be, as people should go by compassion.

Your Heroine Is Too Fat

I love the Hunger Games. I love the books. I love the movie. I even have the cookbook. And, like a proper fan, keep up on the news about said obsession.

I love how Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss Everdeen.

Then the critics got involved. One commented on her ‘lingering baby fat’, and the New York Times had no problem just laying it out there:

A few years ago Ms. Lawrence might have looked hungry enough to play Katniss, but now, at 21, her seductive, womanly figure makes a bad fit for a dystopian fantasy about a people starved into submission.

In an industry where other people make it their industry to focus on the shape, weight, etc. of women, no wonder everyone looks bone-thin and unhealthy! No wonder all of these young women in America think they’re too fat. And now this ‘Oh no, we have a strong, healthy female actress on the screen portraying the heroine from your favorite books! She’s too fat!’ What?!

I love how Jennifer Lawrence looks. I admit, I noticed her weight. I loved that she wasn’t the normal Hollywood prescription. She has the curves in the right places. Her bones are not jutting out strangely.

I love even more how honest she is about body image in UK’s Marie Claire and how it needs to change. Now young women are not just being bombarded by images in magazines, movies and on television as ‘ideal’ but being told their Katniss Everdeen come to life is not thin enough, well, what damage does that cause?

Critical Thinking from NPR

Note: Although these stories were on NPR on Friday, this post was a process over a few days due to one evil sinus infection. 🙂

The first news item that struck me was about a Spanish Lake documentary. A former resident was making a documentary about Spanish Lake. The main focus was about race and why St. Louis remains so divided. Here is a KETC piece on Spanish Lake from a few years ago.

Last month even I saw a BBC Story about St. Louis Divided. BBC. The BBC is writing about our small city and our racial division. We’ve made the news, folks, but not in a good way.

Spending much of my life in St. Louis, the division is evident. The inequality is there. I have had close family friends of non-white heritage harassed for driving through upper-class neighborhoods. It’s heartbreaking and embarrassing.

How in St. Louis are we going to get beyond this stigma? It’s not this or that race moving into the neighborhood. There are people who do crime in all races.

Let’s focus on crime. What motivates crime? Is this person angry, greedy, or maybe just hungry? Needs to pay the rent? We need to look further into what motivates individuals to do crime; was this crime just because or maybe because of family needs. Crime might be more prevalent in one particular race because the majority works hard to put them there. We work hard at our prejudice in St. Louis to be sure fewer African Americans and other minority races have fewer good paying jobs. Fewer housing opportunities. Less educational opportunities because there are fewer tax dollars to pay to schools, parents are always working and not able to focus on homework help, students might have to eventually work too shifting focus away from school. Etc. Etc.

This is a cycle. If we keep doing what we’re doing or do nothing, this will continue. It might get worse, but certainly it will not get better.

Second item to catch my attention was about bullying and even a new documentary about bullying. The one way other students can combat bullying is to not give the bully an audience and even advocate for the student being bullied. It is difficult to be the one to speak out, but sometimes it can make a huge difference.

I am glad schools are taking bullying more seriously now than they did when I was in school. Many times administrators and teachers would turn the other cheek to me being bullied, physically and verbally, and then I’d get in trouble for standing up to the bullies, physically and verbally, while they got away with it.

I even took up a habit of standing up for other students who were being bullied. The bullies backed off. The students acted like I’d done something amazing. Why shouldn’t we stand up for others?

To me, bullying was dumb. Why not just be friends? Was that so strange of a concept?

My daughter is now in kindergarten and experiencing the first tastes of bullying. Is she the bully? No. The victim? No. She’s the advocate. I am so proud of my outspoken, stubborn little 6 year-old for standing up for those other girls and asking the bully why she says mean things. I was so happy the day she came home from school frustrated because a girl who said “not nice things” to other girls wanted to be Kari’s friend, and Kari just wasn’t comfortable with that on account of her actions. No, not happy because she didn’t know how to navigate the social waters even we struggle with in adulthood, but because she at 6 years-old knew what was right, recognized the wrong, and wanted to stand up for the other person. This is what will change bullying. Teaching advocacy and that it’s ok to say you’re not ok with the behaviors of others.

Social Media As The End-All

Each day during my morning commute, the work day when not in meetings and my evening commute, I listen to NPR. Most of the stories are interesting and I wholeheartedly agree with the issues presented as being issues for society. But this morning my interest was greatly piqued.

Listen/Read: NPR Story Facebook May Not Be So Friendly For Those With Low Self-Esteem

I understand most people have lower inhibitions regarding self-disclosure via social media. This could contribute to the concept of airing dirty laundry more openly on facebook and the like. Also, the potential negative effect that the lack of reaction (like, share) by others to wall posts by those with low self-esteem could occur. With this part of the story, I agree.

The part that somewhat shocked me was from the 24 year-old law student quoted in the story. He mentions if something is posted an no one likes it or shares it, you feel your idea is worthless. He goes on to speak about pictures of events being posted where you were not included. He notes feeling deliberately excluded or forgotten, and the fact that those pictures of the exclusion are posted for all to see.

Has facebook replaced our social interactions to the point where this is the only interaction that matters? That gives us self-worth? We are social creatures and our happiness is derived from those around us (and even the social network of those who surround us), so what happens to our happiness when our interactions with those around us are limited to simply text with no diction or tagging in pictures?

Last year, I read Don’t Call Me, I Won’t Call You. At the time, I was shocked. I never thought of the phone call as a rude form of communication. I still don’t. Why? You don’t have to answer it. And if the person I am calling (intruding upon) does not answer, I leave a voice message. This is something many people do not do, and I find that awkward. Through text message, diction is lost. I am not sure how one can feel truly connected with someone through text message or liking their facebook posts.

I must be one of those dinosaurs who enjoys a coffee date, a phone call or just a good face-to-face conversation with one of my girlfriends, right? Sadly, I’m not. I’m only turning thirty this fall. And, yes, I do use facebook, just evidently not like some of my generation and younger.

Facebook and other forms of social media are wrought with miscommunication potential. Think about what the 24 year-old law student said in the NPR story: pictures posted without you in them, were you purposely not invited? Just because you were not invited to that particular event, does that mean you have no friends whatsoever? Of course not, you have 568 friends on facebook.

Are we getting to the point where we prefer passive interaction? Can relationships be retained with 140 character bursts?

Communication is Key

Communication is key.

How often have we all heard that phrase?

Now let that phrase marinate.

Why is communication so key? Communication is so important in our lives we even have a word for the times when communication goes awry. Few of us master communication, and definitely not with everyone. Why? Communication is always a transaction. Verbal. Nonverbal. Always receiving. Always responding.

I talk. You listen.

You talk. I listen.

Right?

One would hope. In written word, this seems rational; however, once we get so fixated on what we are trying to say, we forget to listen. I talk. You talk. No listen.

In reality, it’s not all about me. And it’s not all about you.

One thing I have experienced in my role as a student recently is the propensity of everyone to talk in the classroom. I left the classroom last night with my head reeling with questions not about the class topic, but human behavior. We were to work on a group project. After twenty of the thirty minutes assigned, two of the six were not budging. They allowed their personal opinions to get in the way of the research and trends. In the remaining 10 minutes, we debated, but came up with a good idea to present. Someone presented, but only presented their opinions and pieces of the project they liked. I was dashed that our project was not presented. Especially when we all had good ideas.

Everyone is so concerned with being heard. It seems as though instead of listening actively, we are all so busy thinking about our response while the other person is talking, thus not actively listening or reflecting. We will only be intelligent as a society if we act like a society. Collective knowledge benefits the whole community.

Collaboration is amazing. It happens when communication is at least roughly effective. Groups of people connect over common ideas, issues, etc. and create something. Their minds come together to create! Amazing!

Why are we all so hung up on our own ideas? Why are our experiences more important than those of others?

Yesterday Drove Me To Bake

Anyone who knows me knows if the kitchen is full of baked goods, I’ve had a bad day. Last week, I had a big, ugly bad day. Now I baked, got over my bad day, and lived to tell about it.

Recently, like everyone else, I have become so addicted to Pinterest. Being I love food, I’m always checking out the delish pins of others. And, again, if you know me, I just can’t leave a recipe well enough alone. I always am tweaking, tweaking, tweaking…

For my bad day menu, I chose yeast breads. Those are always good to get the anger out with the kneading, kneading, kneading… my mom read once that eighty-seven times is the appropriate amount to knead dough. It works just about right.

First, I decided to make these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting.

I read the recipe and thought, “Holy Butter, Batman!” Now, while I am not in fear of eating and using butter, and do only use the real deal, I do like to conserve where I can. Here is my revised method and recipe:

Dough
1/4 cup warm water (between 112-115 degrees)
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup pumpkin puree (either fresh or canned)
1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups all-purpose flour

Filling
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2/3 cup pumpkin puree

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
3 cups powdered sugar

Method
Stir yeast, 1 T sugar and 1 T flour into warm water. Allow to proof for 15 minutes. Stir in the milk, eggs, pumpkin puree, butter, salt and remaining sugar. Stir in flour 1 cup at a time until you cannot stir any longer. At this point, begin to knead. I am short so I always put my bowl on the floor and knead in a huge mixing bowl. Add the flour as you go. The dough should not stick to your hands when it is finished being kneaded – you shouldn’t need to flour or grease your hands. If it sticks, add a bit more flour a little at a time. The weather affects baking and cooking – the more moisture in the air, the more flour needed, and maybe longer baking times – the opposite for dry weather.

Place the dough into a greased bowl. Turn the dough in the bowl to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with thin towel and rise 1 hour.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin puree.

Roll dough into a 16×12″ rectangle. If you kneaded it well, this will be a very elastic dough and will fight you. But the rectangle can be done! Get your favorite rolling pin out and work it.

Now that your arms are tired, spread filling mixture onto the rectangle. You are now going to roll the dough into a log. This will be messy, but it is delicious. Roll it along the longest side. Be sure to stretch the dough slightly as you roll and it won’t be as messy.

Go grease your pans. Get 2 13×9″ pans ready. Using a very sharp knife, slice the log into the rolls. I did 1″ slices. Cover with that thin towel again and let rise another hour.

Bake in a 375° oven. Bake the rolls till they begin to brown around the edges. Mine took about 22 minutes, so set the timer for 18 minutes and do increment times after that (remember what I said about weather and baking times!).

While the rolls bake, make the cream cheese frosting! Trust me, you’ll want to have everything ready the second these rolls come out of the oven – YUM!

I softened the cream cheese in the microwave for about 45 seconds, added the vanilla and milk, and finally whisked in the powdered sugar. When the rolls are ready, cool for about 5 minutes (I know, you just can’t wait) and drizzle with the frosting with your whisk turned sideways. It’s easier to avoid the frosting pools this way.

Enjoy!

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Cookies are my absolute favorite things to make. They make the house smell wonderful and they put smiles on my favorite faces. Here are my 2 go to recipes, which happen to be a favorite almost everywhere I take them.

One part of baking and cooking that seems to befuddle people is the science part. All items are affected by the weather – cookies included. Sometimes more flour is needed on days with higher humidity – this is why I always do a test cookie! I have modified the traditional cookie recipes just slightly. Following the bag recipes always ends in a brittle, flat, greasy, salty mess. Try these and see what you think!

Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 Eggs
3/4 c Sugar
3/4 c Brown Sugar, packed
1 c Butter, melted (note: not just softened!)
2 t Vanilla Extract
3 1/4 c Flour
1 t Baking Soda
2 c Dark Chocolate Chips (prefer Ghiradelli because they aren’t faux chocolate)

Blend together first 5 ingredients. Sift together the baking soda and flour in a separate bowl. Fold flour mixture into moist mixture. This is important because if you stir too much, your cookies will be tough! Fold in chocolate chips once flour mixture is incorporated. Use 2 teaspoons to drop cookies onto sheet – about a tablespoon quantity mounded. Bake a test cookie on an ungreased cookies sheet at 375 for 10 minutes. If the test cookie looks good, or if your husband devoured it faster than you could check it, proceed to make a full sheet of cookies spacing them a couple inches apart, but this time, start with 10 minutes for the time and add only 1 minute at a time until just golden.

For a twist, change flour to 3 cups and sift in 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the flour mixture – DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES! Yum!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2 Eggs
1 t Vanilla
1/2 c Sugar
3/4 c Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 c Butter, melted (note: not just softened!)
2 c Flour
1 t Baking Soda
1 t Ground Cinnamon
3 c Oats (use the name brand, the offbrand ones are crumbs in the bag)
1 c Raisins

Blend together first 5 ingredients. Sift together the baking soda, cinnamon and flour in a separate bowl. Fold flour mixture into moist mixture. This is important because if you stir too much, your cookies will be tough! Fold in oats once flour mixture is incorporated. Fold in raisins. Use 2 teaspoons to drop cookies onto sheet – about a tablespoon quantity mounded. Bake a test cookie on an ungreased cookies sheet at 350 for 10 minutes. If the test cookie looks good, or, again, if your husband devoured it faster than you could check it, proceed to make a full sheet of cookies spacing them a couple inches apart, but this time, start with 10 minutes for the time and add only 1 minute at a time until just golden.

For a twist, change out raisins for chocolate chips and have CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIES!