Amy's blog

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Amy — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:07:34 +0000

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If you are at all interested in contributing to the small yet mighty fight against corporate media consolidation, you can visit stopbigmedia.com.

Twisters, Media Consolidation, and Thoughts on the Corporatizing of America

Amy — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 19:48:45 +0000

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Santa Fe

So it was about 3:30 PM Saturday and the family and I were gearing up to head out to the Santa Fe Brewing Company for the Media Consolidation Panel meeting, where members of Indie 101.5 and local media were going to discuss the â€œbig boxâ€ intrusion into independent media outlets in Santa Fe. A friend of ours, who was already at the Brewing Company, called and said, "Um, just wanted to let you know that there's a tornado out here."

Pause. I asked, "What?" and he replied, "Thereâ€™s a tornado! It's out near the racetrack and we're watching it. It's pretty small, but it's on the ground ... " Then I asked him how many beers heâ€™d had.

I went outside to take a look, and sure enoughâ€”there it was, a small, skinny funnel cloud stretching from the ground to the clouds. Now, I'm from Oklahoma so my first thought was, "That's a puny looking tornado." But nonetheless, a tornado in Santa Fe County is a very rare event.

My second thought was, "Crap. This is going to affect the Media Consolidation Panel.â€ But we loaded up the family and headed out to the Brewing Company anyway. We got there to find Indie staff and other panelists and volunteers hurriedly moving the electronics from the patio to inside, which was a good thing as lightning was flaring. Once the panel discussion got going, the heavens opened up and it not only started to pour, but hail the size of half-dollars fell and covered the ground completely.

The noise of the rain and hail made it hard at times to hear what the panelists were saying, but it did not drown out the passion and vehemence of what everyone was expressing. It was moving to hear other people voicing the same concerns that we have about the potential homogenization of Santa Fe.

The times, they are a changingâ€”but there is hope. We still have a voice, and we can make it be heard. We donâ€™t have to sit by and let Santa Fe become â€œEverytown, USA.â€ If we lose all of our local media outlets to corporation conglomerates, then we lose the soul of our community. As I pointed out in my recent letter to the editor in the New Mexican, â€œhomogenization and Santa Fe do not mix.â€

A truly independent, local station should reflect the community it serves. It is the voice of the community, and it gives back to the community by advertising and promoting locally owned businessesâ€”not Home Depot, McDonaldâ€™s, or Applebeeâ€™s. As someone on the panel pointed out, for the last sixty years Santa Fe has been tourist destination because it is unique and different. We need to preserve these aspects. A tourist doesnâ€™t want to come to Santa Fe to hear ads on a â€œlocalâ€ station promoting a Great Value Meal at a chain restaurant; a tourist wants to hear about great local restaurants to visit, gallery openings, or a band playing at a local cantina.

Someone else on the panel also pointed out that Hutton Broadcasting, which claims to be â€œlocal,â€ has most of their shareholders in Florida. How much do you think those Florida shareholders know about New Mexico, much less Santa Fe?

Hutton is only concerned about their bottom-line profit, not our community, not our local businesses, nor our music lovers. They claim they will support local nonprofits and businesses, but their track record says otherwise. They give a lot of lip service in the beginning, but time will show that the big corporate bucks from national advertisers will be more prominent than local advertisers.

After the panel discussion at the Brewing Company was over, the weather started to clear up, with some sunshine out to the west. I thought it a great metaphor for what weâ€™d gone through during the panel discussion: it might be dark and dreary in this moment, but there is hope at the end.

If youâ€™re concerned about the nation-wide trend of local radio options becoming ghosts in the face of corporate profit, make your concerns known to the FCC; visit keepindiealive.com and take a few minutes to send a letter to the FCC.

Indie 101.5 may not be able to hold on to its current signal, but itâ€™s not going down without a fight. It will continue to stream live online, and the staff is searching other options for it to stay on the air. Keep in touch by visiting indie1015.com for further details.

Pesto

Amy — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 21:10:40 +0000

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We haven't been able to have much of a garden for the past several years because of the severe drought Santa Fe has been experiencing. But one thing I have tried to maintain is an herb garden, and every year I plant genovese basil. This year, thanks to one of the wettest summers on record, our basil grew to be about three feet tall. So far I think I have harvested over 20 cups of fresh basil leaves. What in the heck do you do with that much basil? You use it on everything that basil goes with, and you can mix it in with your favorite salad greens. And of course you make pesto, and you make lots of it.

My favorite pesto recipe comes from a cookbook called Creme de Colorado. This recipe is intended to be more of a sauce to toss with pasta, but you can decrease the amount of olive oil to make the pesto into more of a paste. As a note, I always use a lot more garlic than just the 2 tsp called for ...

Ponderosa Pesto

2 cups fresh basil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup pine nuts (or walnuts if you can't fine pine nuts)
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp freshly grated Romano cheese

Place basil, garlic, salt, and nuts in blender. Blend at high speed until finely chopped. Add oil in slow, steady stream. Can be frozen at this point. Add cheeses and blend until smooth.

And here's another recipe I've been eyeing out of the same cookbook. Since the basil doesn't look like it's going to quit any time soon, I may have to try this one.

Seafood and Pasta with Basil Dressing

1 pound bay scallops, rinsed
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 pound fusilli, cooked al dente and drained
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound medium shrimp, cooked, peeled, and deveined
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 cup Kalamata olives, sliced

Basil Dressing

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
2 Tbsp virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup virgin olive oil
3-4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

In food processor, puree the basil, olive oil, and garlic to a paste. Add 1/2 cup of olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Process until well blended.

Simmer scallops in wine until opaque; drain well. Toss fusilli with garlic powder. Add scallops and shrimp; toss again. Add peas, red pepper, red onion. Pour basil dressing over salad and toss thoroughly. Serve or refrigerate. If made ahead, salad will need extra dressing, so double the dressing ingredients. Scatter olives around salad before serving.

View other herbal pictures we've recently taken ...

A busy end to quiet summer

Amy — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 03:16:11 +0000

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This summer started quietly. Ryan finished the third grade and Owen completed another year of preschool. Amy stayed home with the boys over the summer and for the most part, we've stayed close to Santa Fe.

At the end of June, the boys went to Bartlesville to spend a week with Nana and "Ferg" Ferguson. They spent time at the lake, went to Woolaroc, went to a Tulsa Drillers baseball game, spent time with the kitties at the local animal shelter, road tons of cool rides at Kiddie Park, and visited a zoo—among other things. All in all, a fine time was had by all. The boys came back with arrowheads, marbles, stories, and much more.

Before the boys went to Oklahoma, Amy choreographed a most intricate exchange of people—how she pulled it off, I'll never know, but she did. While dropping the boys off to her parents, she arranged to pick up her best friend Chris Patterson (and Chris's baby, Sean) in Texas. Long story short: Chris currently lives in Sumatra, Indonesia, but was going to be visiting her in-laws in Borger, TX. So Amy and boys drove to Borger, TX and spent the night with the Pattersons. The next morning they all headed to Amarillo and met Jayne ("Nana"), where the Kieffer boys were more than happy to get in Nana's car and merely wave "bye" to Amy.

So then Amy, Chris, and one-year-old son Sean headed back to Santa Fe. Amy and Chris hadn't seen each other in almost three years, and Amy had certainly never met Sean and was excited to have a "little guy" in the house again. The girls were looking forward to some time together to catch up ... and it was almost a perfect visit, except once they got to Santa Fe, baby Sean suffered a nasty allergic reaction to a chicken pox vaccine he'd recently had! So Amy, Chris, and Chad all spent some time nursing little guy Sean and trying to keep him happy. Once the worst of Sean's reaction was over, Chris and Amy did get to go to the grocery store sans children, where they had a "double blonde" moment, which no one will repeat unless they're threatened.

When Chris and baby Sean left to go home to Indonesia, Amy and Chad celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary with a dinner at El Farol, which is a restaurant that is special to them. Then the next day, Amy drove back to Amarillo to meet Nana, who had two happy boys but who were ready to come home. That ended June.

July started out quiet but with a lot of much-needed rain in Santa Fe. Amy's tomato plant grew like mad, and our new trees enjoyed getting real rain instead of water from the hose. At the end of July, Grandma Sue Kieffer came to visit, and Ryan started swimming lessons at the Santa Fe Community College. We had a great time with Grandma Sue, who took the boys for walks and relieved Amy many times of being on duty. Grandma Sue was also there to support Chad when he went for his second interview with a company that he has since decided to work for! More details about this follow later.

So the end of our summer is winding down ... Amy will take the boys to Durango soon so they can spend some time with Abuelita Phoebe while she and Chad go to Las Vegas, NV. Then, alas, school starts for the boys, and Chad will start his new job. It has been a quiet, yet eventful, season for all of us.

Wannabe radio star

Amy — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 12:41:29 +0000

I have always loved listening to the radio. Not the huge corporate radio stations that play the same songs every hour, but local radio stations that are in touch with the community. I can remember listening to a station, KWON, in Bartlesville, and having a crush on a particular DJ, purely based on his voice and how he conveyed a sense of knowing everyone who was listening. I used to imagine becoming a news announcer for an NPR station. I dont know how or why I didn't follow this dream, but there you go. Twenty-some-odd years later and I'm still a big radio fan. For the last ten years, I've been dedicated to 98.1, KBAC, dubbed "radio free Santa Fe." They play an eclectic selection of music, from Bob Dylan to Death Cab for Cutie, and every Friday night they have a show, "The Friday Funk" which is fantastic. Although they were bought up by Clear Channel a few years ago, Clear Channel has had the sense to leave them pretty much alone with their programming format. KBAC broadcasts here in Santa Fe, Las Vegas (NM), and in Albuquerque. So KBAC started running spots featuring local people saying things like, "This is Bob Smith from the Santa Fe City Council, and you're listening to 98.1, radio-free Santa Fe." Or, "I'm Mary Jones, director of the Santa Fe animal shelter, and you're listening to your local, community radio station--98.1, KBAC." You get the idea. I had been listening to these spots for awhile, and one day last spring I called the mid-day jock, Luther Watts, and said, "I want to do one of those spots for you guys." He laughed but said, "Write up what you want to say, and come to the station this afternoon." I was floored. Luther put me in a recording booth, right up next to a microphone, and I recorded my spot: "This is Amy Kieffer, president and director of nothing, and you're listening to 98.1, your local, community radio station." This spot has now been running intermittently throughout the day since last May. The teachers at Owen's school have heard me, as well as some other folks around town, who've called and said, "Did I hear you on the radio?!?" I was at my hair salon recently, and the receptionist recognized my name from hearing me on the radio. What can I say? I told Luther that I've always wanted to be on the radio, and that I would volunteer to do voice-work for free just to feed my ego. He's been more than kind to indulge me. Now I am occasionally doing voice work for ads. It's not always easy--in fact, it's harder than it seems to make yourself sound something that you might not be. There's been a few ads I just could not tackle, but one spot ran for ten weeks (Luther said that was almost a record). Luckily, Luther has been a fantastic coach. The folks at the station are great--now when I walk in it's like Norm walking into Cheers: "AMY!" For my "work" I've gotten a t-shirt and Chad and I were treated to tickets to a Charlie Sexton concert a few months ago. Here are a few spots that I've done for the station. Maybe if we get some snow, the Ski Tech spot will start running soon (that's the sultry voice of Luther with me on that ad). Download the President and Director Nothing spot (320 Kb mp3) Download the Pinkoyote spot (860 Kb mp3) Download the Ski Tech spot (880 Kb mp3) Download the Strictly Southwestern spot (756 Kb mp3).

7/18/11 - MP3's are no longer available after a recent site update.

2004 holiday interview with Owen

Amy — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 02:03:16 +0000

I received a nice gift today when I picked up Owen from school. His teachers "interviewed" each child, then they printed up the interview on nice holiday paper and put it inside a card they made with the child's picture on front. Here is Owen's interview ... A cute insight into the three-and-a-half year old mind of Owen Patrick. I have not edited what the transcript says.

Q. If you could be any animal, what would you be?
A. A tiger, because people will be scared.

Q. If you could be any age you wanted, how old would you be?
A. This many (holding up four fingers).

Q. What do you like most about yourself?
A. Get my cat, Josie.

Q. Where is your favorite place in your home?
A. Ummm ... I have toys and cars.

Q. Where do you like to go out to eat?
A. Uhhh ... eat at my house.

Q. What can you do all by yourself?
A. I work and play with my cars.

Q. What does your Mom look like?
A. Like Amy.

Q. What does your Dad look like?
A. Uhmmm ... Chad ...

Q. How old do you think your Mom is?
A. I don't know.

Q. Your Dad?
A. Don't know.

Q. What do you like best about your Mom?
A. I like my Mom.

Q. Your Dad?
A. My Dad likes work.

Q. What would you like to give your Mom?
A. A cat like Josie.

Q. What would you like to give your Dad?
A. My Dad wants a race car like me.

Q. What is your favorite ...
Color? Red
Food? Pizza
Movie? Scooby Doo
Song? I'm thinking about what songs I like ... Um Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Book? My favorite book is called a car one
Friend? My favorite friend, Kyley
Work at school? Sticker work

My favorite Owen answers are when they asked him what his Mom and Dad looked like. He had to think about what his Dad looked like. :-)

Forget the unabomber

Amy — Mon, 28 Apr 2003 21:04:38 +0000

Check your mailboxes! Especially if you live on Calle Cedro. Not for exploding packages, but for flattened roadkill.

As the weather has been warmer, Ryan has been playing a lot with Brittney and Jonathan, the neighborhood kids, down the street. We've had some "episodes" with Brittney in the past, but I figured playing outside is better than staying cooped up in the house or sitting in front of the TV.

Saturday afternoon Ry went down to play at B's house, and when he came home for dinner he mentioned (quite casually) that they had found a dead squirrel, and that B had dared him to touch it. So I made him wash his hands three or four times, and then I lectured him on touching dead animals. Case closed, so I think.

Sunday morning comes, and B came over around 10:30. They took off for her house, and I settle in to a chair in the back yard, enjoying the peace and quiet of a Sunday morning with some coffee and a good book to read.

Fifteen minutes later, Chad comes out and says, "Come inside. We have an Issue." Inside I find Ryan, bawling his head off, and Chad is hollering at him, "What did your mother tell you about touching dead animals?"

In between Ryan's crying and Chad's hollering, I learn that the dead squirrel from yesterday is now in someone's mailbox on our street. And it didn't get there magically! Wonderful! Chad gets some big leather gloves and a trash bag, and then I had the joy of walking Ryan back down the street to find which mailbox the squirrel was in. As we approached Jonathan's house, I can see a little squished furry head and paws sticking out of their mailbox. Next door to Jonathan's house I can hear Brittney's grandfather SCREAMING at her. Ryan starts crying even harder, but he pulls out the dead squirrel. I'm thinking, "Special delivery!" I held the trash bag while he put it in, and I tried not to puke and/or laugh.

So it turns out that Jonathan's sisters had looked out their window and caught Ryan and B putting the squirrel in the mailbox. They captured Ryan and B and marched them first to our house, and then B to her house.

After the squished squirrel is in our trash bag, B's grandfather comes out to holler at Ryan. Brittney is nowhere to be seen. He hollers, "Who put the squirrel in the mailbox?" Ryan answers, "I did. But Brittney triple-dog-dared me to do it." Her grandfather's face is almost purple, by the way, and he hollers, "Well, if she dared you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?" Ryan answers meekly, "No." Then B's grandfather goes on a tirade about how stupid it was to do something someone dared you to do, etc., Brittney is no longer allowed to play with Ryan, etc., and so on and so on. I echoed the grandpa's sentiment.

I offered for Ryan to clean out Jonathan's family's mailbox, but they said that was okay and not to worry. I walk Ryan home and make him carry the dead squirrel in the bag. He was so upset he was crying and shaking, but I was too mad to feel sorry for him. I also kept wanting to sit down on the curb and laugh. Inside, we make him wash his hands a million times, and then we tell him he's spending the rest of the day in his room. Finally, he's grounded from playing with B indefinitely.

Later on, Brittney's grandfather came down to tell us he wasn't mad at Ryan, but he figured he'd better scare them both to knock some sense into them, blah blah blah. He was very congenial, so we laughed over it. Then Jonathan's dad came down and said that he understands that it was B who put Ryan up to the dirty deed, and he's not mad at Ryan, etc., etc. He adds that Ryan is always welcome at their house.

Ryan spent the majority of the day in his room. When he came out, he was pretty quiet and meek. Chad and I had to stifle the urge to make squirrel jokes (or we did it when he wasn't around). For dinner I made a big pasta salad, and Ryan was pushing it around on his plate, trying to identify the ingredients. "What's in this?" he asked. I replied, "Don't worry, no squirrels were harmed in the making of this meal."

At bedtime, we put Ryan to bed and had a little talk. Here's the transcript.

Me: "What's the most important thing you learned today, Ryan?"
Ry: (Pause.) "Um, not to touch dead squirrels ...?"
Me: "No, it's something bigger and more important than that."
Ry: "Um, not to put them in mailboxes ...?"
Me: "NO! The lesson is, you shouldn't do something just because someone triple-dog-dares you to!"

It's one of those stories that we are going to repeat at family dinners for years. Except right now Ryan is still a little too sensitive to laugh about it. I have never wanted so much to simultaneously throttle him and sit down and laugh until my sides split. I don't think the ultimate lesson has sunk in, but I sure hope it does before he's fifteen and someone dares him to sneak out and take his mom's car on a joyride down to Albuquerque.