"Signs" and September

Peanut butter!

I just thought you should know that I'm still out here! You know how it is in September, trying to get back into routien...it's nuts! (pun intended?)
I haven't had much time, however that's no excuse for giving up! I will not! Too much has happened telling me otherwise.
I mean really, I'm not much of a spiritual person...or a huge believer in like "Signs" (although I do have a tendency to think that certain things are meant to be...) but I sware I've had more "signs" for this PB & J thing than anything else...ever.
Call me crazy, (I mean I'm sure they're all probably coiencedences) but I think the world is trying to tell me something:
That I have to do this.
I'll give you one example for now. Today, this kid walks by me on my way to class and he's wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. Nothing special, right?
BUT on his shirt he had used Sharpie to write something on it.
GUESS WHAT HE HAD WRITTEN.

"Peanut Butter Jelly Time"

(like the song!)

Is that not a sign or what?
Ok, so it's lame. But whatever. I consider it a sign. Besides, its the best I can share with you at the moment, being so busy of late.
That, and the fact that I haven't given up. I'm positive that this project is going to be HUGE.
Every time I talk to someone about PB and J, there becomes a whole discussion about it. A long discussion. It's something people are passionate about. It roots back to who they ARE. I've learned a lot of things about myself, and who I am, just by observing how I eat PB and J.
I DARE you to try, you'll be surprised what you find. And if you get a chance, let me know those findings!
I'm still waiting for more responses people!
Three responses is not enough to write a documentary. I need some help here you guys. Please?
You're not going to regret it! I understand not making a video...but a comment? It takes at most three minutes of your time. Three minutes! Is that too much to ask? If you won't do it for me, at least do it for the sake of PB and J?
Bread and Butter,

Judy

Youtube Video

Peanut Butter!

I am now about to post a video on Youtube about this project!
Hopefully I'll get some responses ;)

For those of you who have checked out the video and are still confused, here's basically what I'm looking for:

1. A COMMENT:
-Explaining a memory with PB and J (i.e. the first time you ate PB and J, a funny experience with PB and J...etc)
-Explaining why you like PB and J (is it the combination of sweet and salty? The fact that you're mom fed it to you when you were a kid...etc)
-Talking about HOW you eat PB and J (as I explained in my first post here)
When I say eating it, I mean the EATING of it.
I mean do you eat the crust first and work inward, going in a circle?
Do you cut it in half (horizontally? vertically? diagonally?) and eat from left to right?
Do you turn it sideways or up and down?
And of course...like most would assume when asked this question, how its prepared.
What kind of jelly? Or do you use jam?
Do you cut the crust, or eat it?
Whole wheat bread, white bread, pita, rye?
Crunchy peanut butter? Smooth? From the jar? Fresh?
I could keep going...

2. A VIDEO:
-Where you answer the first two questions about, and instead of just answering the last question you on camera CREATE your entire PB and J and/or EAT a PB and J .

3. PASS THIS ON:
-As hard as I try...I know this won't reach THAT many people unless I get a little help...spread the word people! Even if you can't do something, maybe someone else can!

Anywhoo....that's the deal! Any help I get would be so much appreciated you don't even know...

Bread and Butter,

Judy

Update on the Peanut Butter Lady! (& more)

Peanut Butter!

I'm sorry I haven't updated more, but its just been such a hectic week! You'll never guess who emailed me...(okay, you probably will)
The woman from Peanut Butter Co!
And...SHE DIDN'T SAY NO!
She had a load of questions which I'm still trying to figure out the answer to...but once they're answered...who knows!? I might get that interview *gasp* wouldn't that be insane?! (insanely awesome!)
Meanwhile, I have burned the footage of my grandmother onto a dvd. I also took some more footage of my friends in Whole Foods. (Whole foods=best place on Earth, btws)
I want to be able to interview strangers though...since friends can be biast occasionally, haha. (I love you guys!)
However, that seems a little difficult...considering strangers in New York City...well its a little sketchy...and me coming up to them and asking them about peanut butter and jelly...I'll seem mental and sketchy. (Haha...actually I AM mental and sketchy...I just don't need everyone to know it)
So yeah...I mean everything about this project is sketchy...(dude, I'm seriously starting to love that word, sketchy)
Bottom line: I don't know.
I'm also considering posting something on Youtube...I think that would help...ask people to send their videos in...that would be AWESOME.
Again, uncertainty.
Just spitting out some of the random ideas floating through my head (and my friends heads)
I really need to do more research, unfortunately, Summer homework has taken priorty in this last stretch (13 days!) so I've been much too busy.
If anyone's out there and has something to contribute...I'm here...waiting...
So yeah...I guess its Bread and Butter for now...

Judy

Blog Background :)

Peanut Butter!

Guess what?
You can probably already see this, but I've changed the format of my blog, and now the background matches the project! And what's even better...I made this background myself! Photoshop is possibly the awesomest program ever...after Sony Vegas Pro, of course.
I just hope that it helps in some way, it was a lot of work! Making it was the easy part...formatting it to fit the blog was the hard part! I had to redo it around, I don't know...SIX TIMES to get it just right! It was insanely frustrating, but so worth it, don't you think?
Anywhoo, that's all I wanted to tell you about for now. I'm still here, anxiously awaiting those emails, still awake at hours not suitable for people, and I'm still in love with PB and J...so, until next time I guess, bread and butter!

Judy

Food Network Star

Peanut butter!

Trust me, I'm not usually full of such good news, but today brought another good thing!
My grandma (who used to be an actor back in the day...not quite famous, but oh well...she's famous to me!) offered to make pb and j her way on camera for me!
It was like a dream come true.
And I don't just mean as far as the documentary goes.
When I was little, I would sit in my grandmother's kitchen and watch her cook. To help pass the time, she would often explain to me what she was doing, like she was a food network star or something. I would pretend to hold the camera, and call when it was time for the commerical break.
Letting her help me with this project was like furfilling a childhood dream.
Sure it wasn't perfect...but two takes, a loud speaker announcement interuption, three hours of editing, 45 minutes of rendering and one six minute video later...
I had offically finished a tiny part of my documentary!
It was the best feeling in the world.
I just hope things continue to go so well (*crosses fingers*, I wouldn't want to jinx it!)
I emailed another women about another blog entry having to do with pb and j...this one actually had some information pertaining to when pb and j was first created! I'm still waiting for her email back about permission.
And of course, the publicity director from Peanut Butter Co has remained silent thus far. It makes me wonder if she even read my email. I mean, sure, she's probably a busy lady, and she probably gets hundreds of emails a day...but still? How long does it take to write one small note?
However, I'm going to be fair. I'll give her a week before I give up all hope. 7 business days.
Until next time my sticky friends, bread and butter.

Judy

Peanut Butter and Co

Peanut Butter!

I know it's around 3 am right now, but I can't help myself. I have something more to share!

There's this store in New York called the Peanut Butter and Co Store. They sell every type of peanut butter sandwich imaginable, and they're only a subway ride away from me!

Wouldn't it be great if I could get some footage of their shop, or better yet, an INTERVIEW with someone from the shop? An interview like that in my documentary would make it amazing, don't you think?

Thus, I have emailed their Publicity Director, Jennifer Neiderhoffer, in hopes of getting these things done. Sure, the website said to email that address if you were "a journalist" or whatever. But who's to say I'm not a journalist? Sure, I'm no professional, but does that change anything? I can still give them publicity, maybe better publicity considering I can reach their demographic better than any news station could!

I mean, hey, its worth a shot. I know I'm probably setting myself up for rejection...but at least I'll have tried...right? I mean, the women from the blog surprised me. Why not this publicity director? Sure, this is a much bigger thing...but still...you never know...right? I'll be sure to let you know.

Anyhoo, I'm bushed from a nights worth of researching and emailing, so I'll just leave you with this fun fact.

FUN FACT: The typical American kid will eat around 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time they graduate high school!

Until next time, bread and butter.

Judy

p.s. This is Peanut Butter and Co's website, incase you're interested: ilovepeanutbutter.com

Permission

Peanut butter!

Good news seems to be in abundance today.

What happened, you may ask?

Well, first let me tell you a little something about a nasty thing called copyright laws. Copyright laws prohibit you from taking someone else's work and using it as your own.

The problem:

unless your project isn't going beyond a school assignment which a teacher looks at and that's it...you can't just right a bibliography giving people credit. You have to ask them, and get permission.

And if you don't get permission or can't get permission:

You can't use it. (Well you can, but you're breaking the law, and could end up owing a lot of money)

So, when starting this project, and my research, I thought, who knows where this project could go? Will it one day land on the desk of a teacher as an assignment? Or will it go on to be something bigger?

I decided, just to be safe, that everything required permission from the author/publisher.

And that's when I found it. A blog, with an entry about peanut butter and jelly, perfect for my documentary.

BUT, I need that little thing...called permission.

I was scared out of my mind. I'm actually a pretty shy person around people I don't know, and even though I was in the comfort of my own home, behind the mask of my computer screen...the chance of being rejected still made me uneasy.

I knew what the worst thing that could happen was:

They would say no.

And what would I do then? Use it anyway? I couldn't. I had already promised myself that I would do this legally.

I really wanted that blog entry.

So I took the chance.

I left a comment asking if I could borrow the piece, with credit given, of course.

The email response was better than I ever could have expected.

The women was flatter, wished me luck, and gave me full permission. I couldn't believe it!

Sure, it may seem like nothing to you, but it meant the world to me. It was almost like a sign.

"Keep going Judy, you were meant to do this!" It was telling me.

I feel relieved but panicked all at the same time.

There's so much left to do, and yet, I'm somewhat at peace because I know now that I have to do it, and that I'm meant to do it.

The email was like a giant confidence booster. Assurance.

It only makes me more eager to get started.

Until next time, bread and butter!

Judy

Jellybeans?

Peanut butter!

It's me again, here to tell you a little more (at a better hour, I might add).

I figure you're probably wondering where I got this idea of how people eat sandwiches. Or as I mentioned in the first post, "the back story".

Well, in the words of my favorite TV detective..."Here's what happened..."

It was a Tuesday in July, and I was at a birthday party. The birthday girl, one of my best friends, I hadn't seen in over a week, none of my friends had. She had been away on vacation.

It was unfair really, that she was having her birthday party now. The rest of us were going on vacation the week of her birthday, which is why she was forced to celebrate it so early.

Anyway, the point is, after the hugs and the hellos, our first task was to make some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to take with us while we were out for her party. The birthday girl started to make the sandwiches.

However, it didn't take us long to realize that she made them much differently than how we each were accustom to. Each guest had a preference as to how they preferred their peanut butter and jelly. And I don't just mean what type of jam.

Somehow, our discussion shifted after a bit to each person's eating habits. Someone said how one person nibbled, whereas another took big bites. One held the sandwich upright, where as the other cut it diagonally and held it sideways. Pretty soon we were demonstrating how we ate our sandwiches.

It was strange to me, the fact that we could talk for so long and so passionately about how we ate peanut butter and jelly, when really, we should have been catching up after not seeing each other for an entire week. The biggest argument we'd ever had...about something so simple. It intrigued me.

Time passed, and the whole ordeal never left my mind. I wondered, how do people eat peanut butter and jelly? Is everyone different? What does this say about who they are?

The discussion reminded me of a quote I found once, said by Ronald Regan.

"You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans"

Sure, these aren't jellybeans, but it is the same idea, isn't it?

How much can we tell by the way someone eats a sandwich, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?

Well, that's what I want to know.

Until next time, bread and butter.

Judy

NOTE: Link to where I found the quote: http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/128.html

My Idea...

Hi, my name is Judy, and I'm on a mission: to create a documentary about one of the most famous sandwiches, a classic, peanut butter and jelly.

It's probably not one of the most original ideas, (I'm sure it's been done before) but I don't care. I know I can put my own spin on it. Just like people have been putting their own spins on the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich for years.

My goal is to go beyond the sandwich itself, and everything about it. My goal is to understand the people who eat the sandwich, why they eat the sandwich, and more importantly HOW they eat the sandwich.

Not just whether they like grape jelly or strawberry...although that's certainly a valid question. I want to know HOW they eat it, something I don't think anyone has ever done. (Although I could be wrong)

Truthfully, this project didn't have to be about peanut butter and jelly at all. (It certainly would have made my friends who are allergic to peanut products feel better) It could have been about any old sandwich, and how people eat it.

Sure, there is a back story behind why I chose peanut butter and jelly, but it just happened to be that way. It could have been any sandwich.

But I'm glad it is what it is. I mean, when you think about it, this sandwich has history. It has stories waiting to be told. Just about everyone knows what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is, and how to make one, whether they like the way it tastes or not.

Personally, I don't think I could have picked a better sandwich for this, even if it was all coincidental.

Until next time...bread and butter!

Judy