Jam or Jelly?

Sunday, April 19, 2009

By Bianca Gubalke

Jam or Jelly?

Cape Town, 19 April 2009 – by Bianca Gubalke

The Internet is full of surprises… especially when following and researching a certain line of thought… in this case:

“Why would someone call something a Jelly?”

When collecting the deliciously fragrant ripe quinces with that slightly sticky velvet coating from my tree to make jam or jelly, I didn’t think that “jam and jelly” would become an issue in my online work from home environment!

Firstly, what actually is the difference… I mean between jam and jelly?

The answer is simple and sounds like coming straight from an Ycademy Business Seminar: the contents and the look!

Basically, both jam and jelly are made from fruit mixed with sugar and pectin, however, the main difference lies in what form the fruit takes: in jam we deal with the whole fruit – meaning every edible part of it like seeds and peels (which gives it a significant texture) … In jelly the fruit comes in the form of fruit juice or as a liquid leftover from making jam (which makes it sort of semi-transparent). Also, unlike jelly, jam does not need added pectin.

These thoughts shot spontaneously through my head when reading yesterday’s article by Yorgo Nestoridis about the “Jelly Idea” … and of course I had my mouse ready for the next “spontaneous sketch”… just wait for it :)

I don’t know about you, however, this whole Jelly story was totally new to me. I’m much more into jams than jellies, see… and as we are on the topic: Jam Sessions make a lot of sense to me… in fact, they were always part of my life to this very day… those magic moments in the garden or in the community when all sorts of musicians – amateurs and professionals – come together and “jam” – often improvising spontaneously without any special preparation, just for the fun of it… or to experiment with new arrangements. And as in the early 1940′s in New York, today’s Charlie Parkers also try to outdo each other with powerfully improvised solos that are absolutely divine!

So now that we’ve gone through the Jams, let’s look at the Jellies… which brings to mind those extraordinarily graceful semi-translucent aquatic fairies that can be found in the oceans and aquariums … and sometimes splashed on the beaches. Personally, I had quite some ‘toxic and extremely painful embraces of these fine and almost invisible tentacles when scuba diving in the magic waters of the Philippines… Believe me, a jellyfish sting burns like fire even 30 feet under water… I remembered it vividly when giving it a spontaneous 20 second shot on the “Life is Lemon Pie” tool:

Bianca Gubalke Spontaneous Sketches 4 - Jellyfish

While I do not look at jellyfish as a culinary speciality, what fascinates me with these mysterious creatures is the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and another bioluminescent protein, called aequorin, which cause the jellyfish’s bioluminescence.

Today, it has become a useful tool in biological science and medicine, eg. as a treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. In genetic engineering it is used as a fluorescent tag to show in which cells or tissues certain genes are expressed (no Gene, I don’t mean you !). Nature has it all. . . and I had to experiment with the sketch above and take it a little further this time to capture that incredible lightness of being… and the fire in the sting…

Bianca Gubalke Images - Jellyfish

So why is a Jelly called “Jelly”?

Frankly, I don’t really know, however, perhaps it has to do with those brilliant electric sparks that illuminate our thoughts and give wings to our creativity during real brainstorming sessions… ?

Maybe that’s what makes “Jellies” - started in 2006 in New York City by Amid and Luke – so popular amongst all those who like to give and take, who are always open for new ideas and who like working together with other professionals in the same online LIVE environment – like for instance our online Conference Center yorGOtalk – be it writers, internet marketers, business owners, teahcers, artists, designers, developers, photographers, musicians, even tourism freaks, working from home moms and you name it… from all over the world!

Therfore… to Jelly or not to Jelly is not the question, especially if you are “Working from Home” on the Internet and even writing about it like Zo Nicholas, there is just the REAL thing: JOIN MY JELLY !