 | 30 Jun 09 |
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about onion rings, and it’s not just because I’m on my annual pre-Nationals crash diet. You see, I have a personal philosophy that helps me conquer change and try new experiences that I call the Onion Ring Theory because it was that humble band of batter that first taught me a life-changing lesson.
My mother didn’t like onions. She didn’t like a whole lot of things, to be fair, like dogs and visitors and most of my boyfriends, but she really curled her lip at “exotic” food. I know, onions aren’t exactly cracking the culinary envelope, but my mother was a fan of pedestrian meals, so onions were out of my childhood experience. Honestly, I was kind of terrified of them, based on the face she would make when onions were included in a restaurant dish.
At sixteen, I took a job as a waitress at Sweet Williams, a diner and ice cream parlor combo in the shopping center near our house in Pittsburgh. One of the most popular items on the menu was a overflowing plate of crispy, hot, golden fried onion rings that customers crooned over every time I’d set them on a table. The tangy sweet fried aroma would jolt me sometimes, making my mouth water despite my instinct to hold the offending platter at arm’s length lest one touch me. My mother’s disdainful voice in my head, I would resist the urge to reach out and snag a ring for myself. (Good thing – don’t you hate when waitresses take your food?)
Joe Consolmagno, an adorable brown-eyed fry cook, must have sensed my torture and temptation. Every time our shifts overlapped, he offered to make me a plate of Sweet Willie’s O-Rings…if I would go out with him. But it wasn’t the chance to date a cute cook, and it wasn’t how good they smelled that finally did the trick. It was the sheer amount of people who ordered them and raved. So many people loved onion rings, and just by pure volume, their opinion outweighed mine. I mean, how bad could something be if the masses adored it so?
I said yes to Joe and did the deed in the employee break room, gingerly taking the first hot bite into my mouth. No, dirty birds, not the fry boy. The onion ring. And can I just say…wow. Oh sweet keeper of all that is delicious and fattening, comforting and perfect, get me the ketchup and give me some more! At that point, I realized if that many people love something, there’s probably a damn good reason why. Thus was the birth of my Onion Ring Theory. (And, I should add, a lovely summer romance with Joe.)
Over the years, the OR Theory – aka a willingness to join the masses even though instinct is to avoid the unknown – has led to many positive changes in my life. Most recently, this attitude got me to rethink my cell phone choice. Perhaps it was time to let go of my old school flip phone with no internet service, despite the fact that the little device was so comfortable I thought of it as a natural extension of my fingers. I could make a call, take a call, find a friend, text with ease, and snap a picture without mishap. That is all I could do, but I could do it quickly and efficiently.
But…zillions of people are using their phone for so much more than talking. They can browse web sites from the supermarket, check their email from the school pick up line, and (this might have been the tipping point for me) they can twitter and tweet from anywhere on God’s green earth. Why shouldn’t I?
Well, because it seemed complicated and unnecessary. Still, all those CrackBerryheads looked like they were having a good time with that smart phone technology. How hard could it be? I mean, on the Technlogically Adept Scale of 1 to 10 (1 being an infant and 10 being Bill Gates), I’m about a 5. It would be so cool to send and receive email on our family road trip to Virginia and our week of vacationing before RWA. I could twitter about the sights that I found from cruising the internet. Plus, my conference calendar would be at my fingertips, changing as it does that last week. It was decided. I must have a BB before DC. Seriously, millions of people….onion rings….BlackBerry. How hard could it be?
Really flippin’ stupid impossible out of this effing world no onion ring is worth this kind of hell hard.
Now I don’t want to turn this into a rant about how Sprint never told me I had to change my plan to the tune of $50 a month more, or how I got a blinding headache from inputting seventy-five phone numbers into the address book because my little ol’ Katana couldn’t download and save them (don’t tell me about the software – it didn’t work and I’ll be honest, I had my technologically advanced 11 year-old assist), or how I spent hours trying to figure out a way to change the ringtone, or why I called my son every time I tried to dial my daughter….that’s not the point of this blog.
The point is…I’m learning and loving. Granted, the learning curve is steep and uncomfortable and I’m earning a place in hell for the amount of F-bombs I’ve detonated. But I’m figuring out my way around this particular challenge and once I do, I’m going to love it. I’ll tweet from Monticello and the Smithsonian like a pro; I’ll cruise web sites, get directions, and find good restaurants all from the passenger seat of the car while my husband drives and my kids kill each other play Twenty Questions. I’ll even show up here and comment during RWA when Leslie Parrish (Leslie Kelly) guest blogs in two weeks. I won’t miss it (nor should you) because I’ll have my BlackBerry.
But, it’s not only technology changes that have me thinking about the Onion Ring theory. In my professional life, I am also about to embark on a huge and massive change, doing what many, many other writers have done with grace and ease and success, but I haven’t attempted before. I’m changing publishers. I don’t know exactly what this means yet, as I don’t have all the details lined up and smoothed out. I can’t answer questions about my series or my books or even my new publisher yet. But the change is happening, and I’m as excited and expectant as the first time I picked up that onion ring and opened my mouth to take a bite of what I’d been missing all my life.
Risktaking is both intoxicating and frightening, and change is one big fat risk. I’m going to take it anyway, and I hope it tastes really, really good. I’ll let you know, just as soon as I figure out how to change my (onion) ringtone.
So tell me, friends….how do you feel about BlackBerrys? (Advice is welcome!) About onion rings? (Recipes are encouraged.) And, most of all, about change? (Personal philosophies will be borrowed!)
© 2009 Roxanne St. Claire. All rights reserved.
Roxanne St. Claire is a bestselling, RITA-Award winning author of twenty-four novels of romance and suspense. For the past several years, she's been writing a popular romantic suspense series called “The Bullet Catchers” for Pocket Star Books, featuring a cadre of bodyguards and security professionals. In 2010, she's launching a new series, "The Guardian Angelinos" focusing on an extended family of renegade crime fighters and investigators based in Boston. The first book in that series, EDGE OF SIGHT, will be released from Grand Central Publishing in November, 2010, with two more scheduled in 2011. In addition to the RITA, her books have won the National Reader’s Choice Award, the Daphne Du Maurier Award, the Maggie Award, the Booksellers Best, the Book Buyers Best, The HOLT Medallion, multiple Awards of Excellence, and Borders “Top Pick” for Romance in 2007.
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Let’s just say I love onion rings, but they don’t love me, and leave it at that. My mother was the same way as yours about onions, but only because her stomach can’t handle them. And now neither can mine. Damn genes.
Change, though… I’m ambivalent about it. It happens. Sometimes it works out for the best, and others not so much. Right now I’m happy in my routine, but if change should happen, I think I’m ready for it. (Especially if that change means either publication or moving again. Or both. I could live with both.)
by B.E. Sanderson June 30th, 2009 at 6:10 am“Happy in my routine” could be my middle name…but change does happen and we have to go with the flow. I’m glad I didn’t inherit my mother’s anti-onion gene!
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 6:57 amI especially love onion rings made with Vidalia onions, but that wasn’t always so. It took me a long time to like O-Rings. Took me a long time to like mushrooms too. Loved escargot the very first time, but I’m not sure they are adored by the masses.
Don’t have a Blackberry but may be changing phones soon. I won’t be getting the service w/ email and Internet and ringtones — too expensive for my little budget. But I would like a smart phone for the touch screen technology and have been perusing the Verizon webpage.
Yay on the new publisher! And I look forward to seeing you in DC.
by Marilyn June 30th, 2009 at 6:12 amWell, to be honest, Sprint came through and knocked the cost down after I balked. They will do that, but you have to fight. No new publisher yet…but I am optimistic.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 6:58 amTry onion rings sometime with remoulade sauce, instead of ketchup. OR’s for grownups! Burger King serves a fairly good one with their onion rings, although their rings are subpar, which seems a shame.
Remoulade, for those who don’t know, is what Outback serves with their
fat bombbloomin’ onion.Change: In my own life I’ve discovered that change is almost always a good thing. Sometimes it sure doesn’t feel like it at the time, but in retrospect I can almost always find a silver lining. Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I suspect you will find the same, if you’re honest with yourself.
Good luck with all the new events in your life. Embrace change!
by Karen in Ohio June 30th, 2009 at 6:31 amBlast it! Now I see the tab for “close tags”!
by Karen in Ohio June 30th, 2009 at 6:31 amLOL on fat bomb, the close tags notwithstanding. You know, when I leave Outback (unsnapping my jeans) I don’t even remember there WAS a steak on the plate. I’m all about that Bloomin’ Onion. Kind of like a Linda Howard book. Was there a heroine in that book? I never got past the hero.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 7:00 amForgot my quote about change. I read this one recently and it’s pretty good:
Real change happens, when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing.” ~ Sheldon Kopp
by Marilyn June 30th, 2009 at 6:35 amI couldn’t live without my crackberry! I’ve got it tricked out with all the various IMs and Google apps and Facebook and twitter and Pandora (which, unfortunately, is not included in my overseas dataplan and I had to stop streaming mp3s because it cost a fortune).
Love the Onion Ring story. Over the past year I’ve been teaching myself to like olives. I went from nausea/hate to begrudging tolerance to now I kinda like ‘em and eat them voluntarily. Next up: cherries. (I know, I know… who doesn’t like cherries? I’m weird like that… but I’ll keep trying until they grow on me!)
by Erica Ridley June 30th, 2009 at 6:49 amCould use a Crackberry tutorial, Erica. Are you going to be in DC? Olives…yes, another exotic food. However, my mother did like her martinis, so olives we had. Seriously, stick with calamata – they’re heavenly.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 7:01 amI wish I were going to DC! I’ll still be in London. (And missing out on my First Sale ribbon. Grrr.) More than happy to answer any cb questions. I will teach you tricks your kids only dream about… muahahahaha.
by Erica Ridley June 30th, 2009 at 8:16 amYou have seen my ass and you wonder if I like onion rings? Are you freaking kidding? LOVE THEM! LOL
Phone – funny you should bring this up. I am looking at our phone and service now (since we are migrating from Alltel to Verizon). Looking at Blackberry, and other smart phones.
Congrats on the new publisher. Can’t wait to hear all the details!
by ArkansasCyndi June 30th, 2009 at 6:54 amIt was easier picking a husband than a phone, honestly. I really liked the Rant (another Sprint phone) but my kids both have them and they were horrified that I might have the same phone. But I’m pretty sure you should get either an iPhone or BlackBerry. Also Sprint has this new Pre (I think) and it’s supposed to be the best of both. Whatever you get, plan to spend a weekend figuring it out.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 7:03 amI love my iphone but then I’ve never been an onion ring person. I always come back to what works best for me! Let yourself shine!
by Debra Webb June 30th, 2009 at 7:41 amPart of me wishes I had a crackberry, but then part of me thinks that extra $70 a month I’d be paying would be better spent on new shoes.
As for change? I think change can be fabulous, especially when it means opening up to new opportunities or learning something new.
And now, I’m really wishing I had onion rings.
by Kristen Painter June 30th, 2009 at 7:56 amIt wasn’t $70. It ended up being $30 a month. But with the way you shop, that’s three pairs of shoes. Let’s go get some rings, stat.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 9:14 amWhen my verizon contract is up next summer, after 11 years I’ll be switching to AT&T just so I can have an iPhone.
I love onion rings. They don’t love me.
by Allison Brennan June 30th, 2009 at 8:04 amOkay, now who are you and what did you do with Allison?
by toni mcgee causey June 30th, 2009 at 8:16 amSrsly. An iPhone? Allison?
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 9:15 amI’m will A, I’m getting an iPhone. to go with my mac book and iPod. must match.
by Karin Tabke June 30th, 2009 at 3:38 pmCome bite the Apple, Allison. The sin is delicious.
by Silver James June 30th, 2009 at 11:18 amChange is good! Change is opportunity, so good luck with your new publisher. That said, I too, joined the crackberry minions last week and I thought I was doing okay. I have learned how to check my email, downloaded some important apps (like Viigo) and then yesterday, I tried to make a phone call. It wasn’t a number that was in my address book or call log. Couldn’t figure it out…LOL.
by Shannon Esposito June 30th, 2009 at 8:07 amSo there ya go…sometimes change is also humiliating.
Just use the left side “voice dialing” button. It’s so convenient especially when driving. I don’t know if I’m going to trade in my Blackberry. Love the convenience of getting email no matter where you are. Don’t have to be tied to a computer. Sometimes, I get too much mail and I shut the service off. LOL
by Phyllis I June 30th, 2009 at 8:52 amThat’s just it! I can’t make a freaking call to anyone who isn’t in my address book. Well, I can and I did, but it shouldn’t have been that difficult.
Now what is Viigo?
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 9:16 amI just bit the Apple and got a new iPhone 3G S. I have tweetdeck so I can tweet from it. That’s about all I’ve figured out how to do. On that technology scale? I’m -10. LOL. Talk about a steep learning curve! (fyi, I’m silverwriter on tweet if anyone wants to follow…)
Onion rings. *sigh* Might as well just glue them to the thighs and butt. However, quick and easy batter for deep frying them – one bottle of beer, enough flour to make batter slightly thicker than pancake batter. Dip rings, deep fry until golden brown. Salt to taste. Dip in sauce of your choice.
I’m trying to stay out of the bookstores today, even though I’ve made my list of “must haves.” No discretionary funds until after the first of the month. *pout*
Change? I go kicking and screaming, but the alternative is stagnation. Life in a scum-filled pond is never a good thing.
by Silver James June 30th, 2009 at 8:12 amSilver, you make me laugh. Great suggestion on the pancake batter. I’m actually quite proficient with that stuff.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 9:17 amNow see…I’d never thought of using pancake batter – like the shake and pour kind premade. Hrmmm. Must think on this. And drink the beer I would have used for the beer batter…
Amber Bock, huh? I like Harp’s myself, but AB=positive.
by Silver James June 30th, 2009 at 11:22 amSilver, can you drink the beer or do you have to add the flour to it?
Lorena
by Lorena June 30th, 2009 at 9:23 amTWO beers, Lorena. I meant to say TWO! One for the batter, one for the cook. Standing over that hot Fry Daddy is tough work! Just sayin’….
by Silver James June 30th, 2009 at 11:23 amChange is what keeps us young.
by Leigh Duncan June 30th, 2009 at 8:22 amThen bring it, baby!
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 10:27 amI got the original iPhone just before PASIC (like, the week before) and I am completely happy with it. Apple with their releasing a new iPhone just three months later? Not so happy. (I ASKED at the store if there was going to be a new one soon, because it was not time for my free upgrade anyway. I could’ve waited. I am bummed.)
My son just got the 3Gs and loves it.
So far, I’ve found it to be incredibly easy to use. Of course, I’ve made an all-Mac switch over this last 8 months, but it’s incredibly intuitive.
(Switching to Mac? Best thing I did. I was a die-hard PC person, and any time someone would try to tell me that I would like the Mac better, I secretly thought, “well, *sure* you’d say that, that’s all you’ve known, so it’s easy to you.” I thought there would be this learning curve, and I didn’t have time for no stinkin learning curve. And then there was the whole Setting Up A New Computer and Peripherals melodrama I just did not want to do.
But, the PC was dying. Had to replace it. Was going to get the desktop HP and the sales clerk said, very quietly, “Look. Go over to the Mac store and just look at the mini tower. It’ll do everything you’re telling me you want, it’s about $40 difference in price, and it’s a much better computer.” So I did… and bought it… and then brought it home for the dreaded set up and transfer of files. Told my husband I was going to go set it up. He said, “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
Plugged it in. Turned it on. Everything worked. Loaded my programs in about ten minutes. Transferred the files. (Um, maybe 10 minutes) And voila, done. Even the printer worked. I went back out and told my husband, “Um, it works.” He thought I was lying.
And I now use Scrivener, which is Mac only. Love it.
So yeah, change is good.
by toni mcgee causey June 30th, 2009 at 8:24 amWhat a testimonial! I admit to temptation…but my husband worked for IBM for a million years. He might divorce me if I bought a Mac.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 9:27 amI LOVE ONION RINGS!!! I use that batter recipe. Whatever ounces of beer to same amount of flour. 12 oz. beer to 12 oz. flour. Let this mixture sit for an hour to make the yeast in the flour rise. Then dip the sliced big onion (separated) rings into the flour/beer mixture and put into hot grease. You will be eating them as soon as they come out of the pan.
And yes, I too am a Crackberry head. I did not know this until Chrissy B of Samhain called me one last September. lol
I love change (variety) as it keeps life interesting. You only go around once.
by Phyllis I June 30th, 2009 at 8:44 amI love the beer! BTW, I tried MGD 64 (only 64 calories) and YUCK, it was like beer flavored water. Gimme my Amber Bock.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 9:25 amI like the onion theory.
My cell phone is basic and honestly for now that’s all this tech challenged chick needs. I just joined twitter last week and I’m still tryingj to figure things out.
Good luck on the change of publishers. Keep us posted.
by HollyD June 30th, 2009 at 9:07 amTwitter is addicting, I tell you. Not because of sending tweets, but because of all the amazing information and comments at your fingertips. I have to pace myself or I’ll lose the whole day there.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 10:29 amLove this story Rocki!
I was never an onion fan, either. Then I discovered Burger King onion rings–about as plain and simple a ring as you could ever find–and was in heaven.
Man, do I miss Frankie’s Wings & Things for their outstanding rings! (Not to mention their broccoli cheese puffs!)
Getting…hungry…
by Leslie Kelly-Parrish June 30th, 2009 at 9:11 amLeslie – I am reading SO MANY GREAT things about your books. I can’t wait for you to guest blog here in two weeks!!! And to see you in DC! We’ll eat onion rings and toast to your success!
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 9:28 amI LOVE MY BLACKBERRY. I have the Storm = the iPhone, and it does just about everything my mini9 laptop does, plus a 3.2 mpx camera and video. I download eBooks to read on my breaks, and I upload blogs/word files/etc when I’m on the go. Love, love, love it and Verizon is only $30 per month so you may want to use a price match as a way to get them to lower your monthly access fee.
Onion rings are da’bomb! Where I grew up we had homemade onion rings as there was no, and still no, fast food places within 20 miles. Of course we know how to eat all that fried food down south
Change-ha! Change is a necessary evil to get back to where you started. Sometimes it takes change to show you there was nothing wrong in the first place; sometimes change is all you have left when you hit the $1 menu at McDonald’s.
by Sissi McLaughlin June 30th, 2009 at 9:13 amOh, I love your mini lap top, Sissi. I so envy that toy.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 10:30 amI have to be dragged kicking and screaming into change…this is undoubtedly why the PTB (powers that be) generally just resort to cosmic ass-kicking instead of discussing it with me first.
I like onion rings, but not bloomin’ onions from anyone’s restaurant–way too much grease for my tastebuds. And I like them with mustard.
My phone is ALWAYS the least tech-y phone I can find when it’s time for a new one. I am still firmly entrenched in the “it’s a phone” mindset. I’d be a real Luddite if I could get away with it and still have a career
Lorena
by Lorena June 30th, 2009 at 9:27 amLorena, you sound like my husband. He says “I want a rotary.” LOL. It’s a phone, damn it, not a space shuttle.
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 10:30 amRocki,
by Anne Stone June 30th, 2009 at 9:56 amOnce again your words have spoken to me. Onion Rings, Phones and Change? Ummm. Well, Onion rings a resounding YES! But I know I was an adult before I tried my first. Perhaps at Burger King as mentioned above. I know LOVE the onion straws so many restaurants serve with steaks or burgers. I usually request them instead of fries. ( I know…tough choice!)
But I will be the first to confess that I am a picky eater. Drove my mother absolutely crazy because she was such a good cook. But she made what I now call “phoofie” food. Cuisine-style meals. I was happy with a grilled cheese. Suffice it to say, it caused many a fight between mother and daughter.
But perhaps this will clue you into what my thoughts are about change…
Some changes are inevitable and turn out to be good. But change means facing the unknown and that has been a challenge for me for many years. It has only been in the last year or so that I trying to face the scary “C” word head on. Traveling to D.C. is an example of my efforts to push myself to face the unknown. (I may be on Xanax but damn it I deserve to go!) Facing the unknown, fears can be avoided…but at what cost? So I am taking small steps…well, D.C. is a BIG step.
And finally ~ phones. I would gladly trade my antiquated phone for something newer. I can’t even text on mine. Perhaps when the contract is up in August…? I’ll keep you posted.
Anne
Anne, I am SO proud of you. We shall definitely toast to both of our efforts to face the unknown in DC. I can’t wait to see you there!
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 10:31 amDitto,Ditto, Ditto!
by Anne Stone June 30th, 2009 at 11:03 am(Just don’t make me try any new foods.)
How freaky! I was telling my husband about Sweet Williams last night. My mom would take me there after visiting my ailing grandfather at Presby.
I loved their Teaberry ice cream!
annie
by Annie Oortman June 30th, 2009 at 12:49 pmYou’ve been to Sweet Williams?! Annie, the coincidences in our lives always amaze me!
by Roxanne St. Claire June 30th, 2009 at 3:42 pmI wanted a phone that would take picture (Yes, that’s how old my previous phone was). I got one, but I haven’t figured out how to do much with it beyond getting a picture of the grandbaby as the display.
2 of my kids are total iPhone addicts. Got the new one as soon as it was available. “Resistance is Futile.” I can see this huge, square, spacecraft made up of millions of iPhones out there in space somewhere.
Change – yep. Scary. Right now, EVERYTHING we’re doing is a change.
by Terry Odell June 30th, 2009 at 1:23 pmI am loving your whole post about embracing change. I am going soooo far out on the limb. I love romance. I read romance. I write romance. And I’m writing a thriller. A leave the lights on, check the doors thriller. A Karen Rose/Tess Gerritsen thriller. And I’m loving every single second, every single word. I’m going dark places I never thought I knew existed.
Change is good.
by Jill James June 30th, 2009 at 6:14 pmI don’t think there’s anything as heady as trying a new genre and “hitting it” right away while writing. I’ve done it a few times and I totally get your excitement, Jill. Happy writing!
by Roxanne St. Claire July 1st, 2009 at 11:21 amThere is nothing like an excellent onion ring. too bad they are so hard to find. As for change, yeah, it is hard. I am sticking with a regular cellphone. I’ve had mine 3 months and still haven’t figured it out. At work, the teens keep coming over and telling me what I’m doing wrong. Either that or what else the phone can do that I have no idea about.
by Patricia Barraclough June 30th, 2009 at 8:36 pmThere are times I don’t mind technology advancing beyond my attention span and me not signing on. I hate being that in touchable. Sigh.
For the most part I like your onion ring theory…and then there came sushi. shivers.
by Cele July 2nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm