welcome to kimberland...: PGEW

Showing posts with label PGEW. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

giddy giddy giddy

3:49 PM |

Posted by Kimberly A. Morales

Despite the fact that I'm hobbling around at a snail's pace these days, I've been pretty darned giddy. It's August - my favorite month of the year b/c it's my birth month - and it should be plenty fun & busy, provided I don't break, sprain, or otherwise maim other parts of my body.

Today's been particularly giddifying (in Kimberland, if it sounds like a word, it's a word). The ceviche recipe I worked on for the Sacramento Bee last week made the front page of the Food & Wine section today (and the front page, now that I look more closely); I just found out that I've scored a small voice-over part for a statewide video the folks at work are producing, AND the Spanish webmistress position for the agency; the swelling on my toe & foot has gone done enough for me to fit into my favorite flip flops again; and that ever-so-evil Prop 8 was finally deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge.

Granted, I'm not gay so it's not like I will benefit from this, but many of my closest friends are and this is a big effing deal for those who are in super-committed relationships. About the only thing I can't tolerate is intolerance, so it's nice to see that there are those within the judicial system who still have some common sense and agree that civil rights and human rights are often one in the same. Denying anyone the liberty to love and commit to someone else is in violation of both of these rights, and this makes today's ruling a step in the right direction for California: a step forward towards progress, not a step backward like what the passing of that ridiculous proposition was in 2008.

*steps off soapbox*

My bouncygiddiness is also due to the fact that the date for the International Food Blogger Conference is swiftly approaching! In just a few short weeks, I'll be headed to Seattle for the very first time to attend this foodie-star-studded event. Featuring foodie notables like James Oseland, the editor-in-chief of Saveur Magazine; Victoria Von Biel, executive editor of Bon Appetit; and Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame, we are in for quite a weekend of tips and advice from some of the best in the food publishing world. I was a little scared I wouldn't be able to go at first because I'd only been able to secure sponsorship for the conference itself from Red Lobster, and finances being what they are in my world, forking out a few hundred bucks for plane tickets just wasn't feasible. And the few flights I could afford had such terrible departure times that I would have missed what I consider one of the most important sessions of the conference: Pitch to Publish. Fortunately, another company stepped in and made my trip to Seattle possible so I wouldn't have to miss a thing.

I'm excited about the Pitch to Publish session because it could give me the tools I've so desperately searched for to finally make my book happen. Most of you know that I'm dying to write and publish a book based on PGEW, but as of yet I've been unsuccessful in finding the right way to get noticed by big publishing houses. Since one of the presenters for this workshop will be Molly Wizen of Orangette, my personal food blogging hero for starting off like I did and making it all the way to full-fledged author and writer for Bon Appetit, this is one session I cannot possibly miss! Not that it'll result in a book advance right off the bat, but I'm hoping to glean some good info and possibly make some connections that can help me get started. Who's to say I can't have my own Julie Powell moment someday, right?

Just thinking about that possibility makes me even giddier! I know it's a long shot, but other bloggers have been able to cross over into real authorhood. If they can do it, so can I!

And then I'll be giddy, giddy, giddy for life.

Labels: being, life, PGEW, travel, writing |

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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Getting used to photo shoots...

11:44 AM |

Posted by Kimberly A. Morales

Yesterday I had a photo shoot with a couple of the folks from The Sacramento Bee for a future article in their Food & Wine section. It's been a little over a year since I was first featured in the Bee in an official capacity (there was that small bit in June...), but after a couple of brief mentions for this and that over the past couple months, I was approached by Bee staffers once again. This time around they were looking for someone who could A) make a wicked ceviche and B) do so on a budget. It's rather flattering that I'm quickly becoming Sacramento's go-to person for eating well on the cheap, and I was happy & honored to work on this feature with them.

I worked with Chris Macias this time. If you're a Sac local, you've probably read some of his pieces in the Food & Wine section every Wednesday. Chris was very friendly, easy to work with, and even offered to go shopping for the ingredients himself (for which I felt strangely guilty & ghetto, but Poor Girl means it when she says she's po'). He dropped off the ingredients the other day, surprising me with organic splurges from the Safeway down the street and some gorgeous red snapper filets. Since they wanted to do a step-by-step "how to" sort of article, I used half the ingredients to prepare the ceviche for the "finished product" shot and saved the other half for the "step-by-step" shots. It all felt very Food Network-y, with some things already pre-processed for photographing, others left whole for the actual shoot. As I was pulling out the staged food, I realized - welllookatthat: I'm actually not nervous about this anymore.

When all the media stuff first started, it freaked me out. I was worried about how many extra pounds the camera would add, whether or not the bags under my eyes were huge, how my hair looked. Nowadays I'm all about how the food looks and what the final write-up will be like. Sure, I still fuss about how fat I look in photos, especially because I've been residing in double-digit sized clothes for a good 10 months now (note to self: never get chronically sick in your 30's. This prevents you from working out several times a day, which, in turn prevents you from being a size 4 like you may have once been). But it's not the most important thing anymore.

Having my work represented well takes precedence over everything else, and having a lens shoved in my face or right up by my knife doesn't distract me anymore. It seems I am no longer fazed by all the extra attention. Last year, putting a mic up my shirt and having a camera in my face was foreign and odd. Now it's part of the drill. Granted, I haven't reached the level of popularity as many other food bloggers have so I'm not dealing with the same coverage they are, but considering how "young" PGEW is, I've had a lot of positive press. It's flattering, weird, scary, unexpected and awesome, all at the same time. But if this keeps up, I could totally see myself opening up to the idea of my own local access TV or internet show, a la Wayne's World. I'm not sure that I could pull it off without stuttering like mad at some point, but it's comforting to know that cameras in one's face can actually be kinda fun. For now. :)

Labels: being, food, life, PGEW, photos |

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