Quote time. This one comes from, who else but, Fabio Viviani. I was just reading his blog and he was recapping last night's episode of Top Chef.
"Life is hard my friend but if you don't think it's even harder.... There are 2 things infinite.... Universe and Stupidity, Richie your move didn't look like Universe."
Genius, Fabio, pure genius. Like I said, you should read his blog. It's pretty funny.
_andyjoe
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Food
So I thought I'd focus on some food and tell you about some of the things I've been cooking and eating. First off, last night I baked some classic chocolate chip cookies and I must say don't underestimate the power of simple chocolate chip cookies and milk. After I took them out of the oven, I sat down with a glass of milk and few warm chewy cookies and enjoyed the hell out of them. I wish I took a picture of them so I could share with you but unfortunately they are all gone now. =) There was something very comforting about the experience. So if you ever have a moment to yourself and just want to enjoy it, try baking some cookies and then devouring them while their still warm and with a glass of milk. It just may bring you back to your childhood.
Moving on... earlier this week I decided to clean my fridge of excess random foods. So what better way than to mix random ingredients with some pasta. So I started with some rotini pasta that I boiled to al dente. Then in a saute pan, I rendered some bacon 'til they were almost done. Using the bacon fat in the pan I cooked some chopped up bratwurst, jalapeno, shallots, and garlic. I seasoned with salt and pepper, liberally as I like my foods to be well seasoned. Once the bratwurst was heated well through, I poured in some white wine and buttermilk. I like it all simmer as the alcohol burned off and then turned the heat off. I folded in the pasta to help absorb the remaining liquid and also absorb all the flavor. I seasoned with salt and pepper again and added in some basil that I tore apart. It probably would've been faster to chiffon the basil with a knife but I like the uneven sizes that's created when you just use your hands. That was it. Simple, easy, and quick pasta dish. Nice that I think about it, I probably could have added in some sun dried tomatoes as well but all in all it was still a good pasta dish.
I made baked mac n cheese two nights ago. (I really should start taking pictures of the things I cook before consuming them so that I can share with you all.) I didn't use the typical macaroni pasta, instead I used cavatappi pasta because they're larger and hold up better. I started by melting butter in a saute pan and added flour and mustard powder until there were no more clumps. To this, I tempered in an egg and once that was incorporated I added onions, milk, a bay leaf, and a liberal amount of paprika. I also seasoned with salt and pepper and some chipotle chili powder. After about ten minutes I added some cheese and then folded in the pasta. I transferred everything to a baking dish and then in another pan I melted some more butter and toasted some panko bread crumbs. I topped the pasta with the bread crumbs and then stuck the whole thing in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. This is the second time I've made this dish and this one came out cheesier than the last but I felt like it still needed some more salt and pepper. So if you try making this make sure you season enough to your liking. Overall, it was still good though. I brought it in to work for a little "pot luck" with my employees and they seemed to like it. I also baked an Apple Yogurt cake with cinnamon sugar swirls for the "pot luck". This came out well too. There's still some left in the fridge that I'll probably take home today and I'll be snacking on throughout the weekend. =)
Last week, I made some chicken "burgers". Basically all I did was cook some chicken steaks that I seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cajun seasoning. Then I put them on some sourdough bread that I toasted with butter and garlic powder. I added some strips of bacon, slice of tomato, swiss cheese, red onions, and a few basil leaves. They turned out pretty good tasting. Just make sure you don't overcook the chicken so that it's still juicy. I also did this with leftover burger patties I had. I made the patties out of ground beef and ground turkey that I mixed together with some chopped jalapenos, onions, garlic, and shallots. I also seasoned with salt and pepper, of course. With the burgers, I also topped them with some mushrooms and onions that cooked down in a saute pan with some olive oil. This version came out well too.
Oh, by the way (I noticed I use this phrase a lot) the Ducks WON last night!! Thrilling comeback at the end with Teemu Selanne notching the tying score with 6 seconds left in the game. Then a game winning score by Cam Fowler less than 2 minutes into overtime. That's 3 games in a row for the Ducks that have gone into overtime and won by the Ducks. They are 8-2-0 in the last 10 games and are in 8th place in the Western Conference, which means playoff spot! But there's still 9 games left so we shall see what happens. If you don't follow hockey, I'm sure none of this made sense to you but just know that Selanne is AWESOME and he's 40 years old. INCREDIBLE! The Ducks play again tonight in Nashville at 5pm so tune in on FSPT and make sure to wear your Ducks jersey - I will.
_andyjoe
Moving on... earlier this week I decided to clean my fridge of excess random foods. So what better way than to mix random ingredients with some pasta. So I started with some rotini pasta that I boiled to al dente. Then in a saute pan, I rendered some bacon 'til they were almost done. Using the bacon fat in the pan I cooked some chopped up bratwurst, jalapeno, shallots, and garlic. I seasoned with salt and pepper, liberally as I like my foods to be well seasoned. Once the bratwurst was heated well through, I poured in some white wine and buttermilk. I like it all simmer as the alcohol burned off and then turned the heat off. I folded in the pasta to help absorb the remaining liquid and also absorb all the flavor. I seasoned with salt and pepper again and added in some basil that I tore apart. It probably would've been faster to chiffon the basil with a knife but I like the uneven sizes that's created when you just use your hands. That was it. Simple, easy, and quick pasta dish. Nice that I think about it, I probably could have added in some sun dried tomatoes as well but all in all it was still a good pasta dish.
I made baked mac n cheese two nights ago. (I really should start taking pictures of the things I cook before consuming them so that I can share with you all.) I didn't use the typical macaroni pasta, instead I used cavatappi pasta because they're larger and hold up better. I started by melting butter in a saute pan and added flour and mustard powder until there were no more clumps. To this, I tempered in an egg and once that was incorporated I added onions, milk, a bay leaf, and a liberal amount of paprika. I also seasoned with salt and pepper and some chipotle chili powder. After about ten minutes I added some cheese and then folded in the pasta. I transferred everything to a baking dish and then in another pan I melted some more butter and toasted some panko bread crumbs. I topped the pasta with the bread crumbs and then stuck the whole thing in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. This is the second time I've made this dish and this one came out cheesier than the last but I felt like it still needed some more salt and pepper. So if you try making this make sure you season enough to your liking. Overall, it was still good though. I brought it in to work for a little "pot luck" with my employees and they seemed to like it. I also baked an Apple Yogurt cake with cinnamon sugar swirls for the "pot luck". This came out well too. There's still some left in the fridge that I'll probably take home today and I'll be snacking on throughout the weekend. =)
Last week, I made some chicken "burgers". Basically all I did was cook some chicken steaks that I seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cajun seasoning. Then I put them on some sourdough bread that I toasted with butter and garlic powder. I added some strips of bacon, slice of tomato, swiss cheese, red onions, and a few basil leaves. They turned out pretty good tasting. Just make sure you don't overcook the chicken so that it's still juicy. I also did this with leftover burger patties I had. I made the patties out of ground beef and ground turkey that I mixed together with some chopped jalapenos, onions, garlic, and shallots. I also seasoned with salt and pepper, of course. With the burgers, I also topped them with some mushrooms and onions that cooked down in a saute pan with some olive oil. This version came out well too.
Oh, by the way (I noticed I use this phrase a lot) the Ducks WON last night!! Thrilling comeback at the end with Teemu Selanne notching the tying score with 6 seconds left in the game. Then a game winning score by Cam Fowler less than 2 minutes into overtime. That's 3 games in a row for the Ducks that have gone into overtime and won by the Ducks. They are 8-2-0 in the last 10 games and are in 8th place in the Western Conference, which means playoff spot! But there's still 9 games left so we shall see what happens. If you don't follow hockey, I'm sure none of this made sense to you but just know that Selanne is AWESOME and he's 40 years old. INCREDIBLE! The Ducks play again tonight in Nashville at 5pm so tune in on FSPT and make sure to wear your Ducks jersey - I will.
_andyjoe
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Fabio Viviani
So yesterday I spent a good deal of time at work on the internet and one website I was looking at was fabioviviani.com. On his site, there's information about his restaurants, a biography, some pictures and videos, and his blog. His blog is absolutely funny and entertaining. I'm personally not much of a blog reading person and really only started reading blogs a couple months ago. Fabio's blog, though, is highly entertaining because he writes the same way he talks which is usually in broken English. It's amusing not because he doesn't know how to speak English very well but because he's just being himself. Within his videos section, there's one where he is in Miami for some food and wine festival and Top Chef: All Stars is on TV. He missed the TV showing but is able to watch the episode on some website so he records himself watching the episode while also tweeting and also eating dinner in his hotel room. Since he's recording himself he's talking to the camera but also talking to his buddies in the episode. It's thoroughly entertaining. Also, there's a couple videos of a dog that he recorded playing with a ball in a water fountain and he keeps inferring that the dog is drunk. I like these videos just because the dog is very cute. I'm a dog lover and previous owner, by the way. Anyways check out his website if you have a chance. Here's some quotes that come from his website too...
"You don't know how much you love food until you have to walk through hell barefoot to make the exact dish that you have in mind."
"Cooking is a marathon, not a sprint. You can get to the end and be happy even if you limp a little bit."
"Life is hard already, but if you're stupid could be even harder..."
Also here's a link to watch that video of Fabio watching Top Chef, eating a salad, and tweeting. Enjoy.
Fabio Viviani
_andyjoe
"You don't know how much you love food until you have to walk through hell barefoot to make the exact dish that you have in mind."
"Cooking is a marathon, not a sprint. You can get to the end and be happy even if you limp a little bit."
"Life is hard already, but if you're stupid could be even harder..."
Also here's a link to watch that video of Fabio watching Top Chef, eating a salad, and tweeting. Enjoy.
Fabio Viviani
_andyjoe
Ducks vs. Stars
Quick Post... the Anaheim Ducks are playing the Dallas Stars tonight at 5:30pm on FSW.
_andyjoe
_andyjoe
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Talk
Let's talk about something other than myself for a change. This whole blog has so far been about me (and rightly so) but I want to try to talk about something else. Disclaimer: the subject will probably get back to me. I don't have a specific topic in mind yet as I write this but let's see what pops into my head.
"Mistakes and failure are humanity."
I heard this quote on TV, of all places. I was watching Palladia channel and the band Phoenix was on Unplugged. During an interview section, one member (Christian Mazzalai, I think) said this about performing live in front of people. I thought it was an excellent response, especially given the question because it doesn't just apply to performers but regular, everyday people. I know this is stupid to say but humanity is what makes us humans. Humans are not perfect, not even close. So to try and hide imperfections is to hide yourself. If someone is "perfect" in the sense that everything they do and are is correct and their "image" should be sought after and copied, trust me when I say that they are not perfect and that you should never try to copy anyone else. Just be yourself and stay true to who you are and want to be. Want to be yourself.
"The road is there guys. You should just go for it. You are the only shadow standing in your own sunshine."
This quote comes courtesy of Fabio Viviani from Top Chef. He said this while saying goodbye to the cameras when he was eliminated from Top Chef: All Stars and it's a great quote. I was rooting for Fabio and was sad to see him go for making a "boor-ger". Nevertheless, this quote is great and should be shared with everyone. I think it's self explanatory and doesn't need any elaboration.
"You have to know the difference between you, your, and you're; and there, their, and they're."
This really isn't a quote so much as a philosophy. Everyone should know the differences between you, your, and you're as well as the differences between there, their, and they're. If you don't then I'm sorry but you need to go back to school. Improper grammar is a huge pet peeve of mine and it absolutely bugs me when I find them in co-workers' emails or documents. It's sad but I slightly judge them because of their grammar (correct usage of their, btw). I think grammar is hugely proportional to a person's education. So if you use poor grammar I may judge you and think less of your intellectual knowledge. I may not think less of you a person but I will question your knowledge from time to time. Harsh but true and I'm sure I'm not the only one to do this. For those of you who may not know, here are my simple explanations (I hope they're right, haha):
You = noun referring to you (crazy, huh)
Your = pronoun referring to something belonging to you in some sense (It's on your arm.)
You're = contraction of "you are" (blowing your mind yet?)
There = noun, adverb, or adjective referring to person, place, or thing (He is over there, There is water, etc.)
Their = pronoun referring to possession (Their bag, their drink, their food, etc...)
They're = contraction of "they are" (mind blown!)
_andyjoe
"Mistakes and failure are humanity."
I heard this quote on TV, of all places. I was watching Palladia channel and the band Phoenix was on Unplugged. During an interview section, one member (Christian Mazzalai, I think) said this about performing live in front of people. I thought it was an excellent response, especially given the question because it doesn't just apply to performers but regular, everyday people. I know this is stupid to say but humanity is what makes us humans. Humans are not perfect, not even close. So to try and hide imperfections is to hide yourself. If someone is "perfect" in the sense that everything they do and are is correct and their "image" should be sought after and copied, trust me when I say that they are not perfect and that you should never try to copy anyone else. Just be yourself and stay true to who you are and want to be. Want to be yourself.
"The road is there guys. You should just go for it. You are the only shadow standing in your own sunshine."
This quote comes courtesy of Fabio Viviani from Top Chef. He said this while saying goodbye to the cameras when he was eliminated from Top Chef: All Stars and it's a great quote. I was rooting for Fabio and was sad to see him go for making a "boor-ger". Nevertheless, this quote is great and should be shared with everyone. I think it's self explanatory and doesn't need any elaboration.
"You have to know the difference between you, your, and you're; and there, their, and they're."
This really isn't a quote so much as a philosophy. Everyone should know the differences between you, your, and you're as well as the differences between there, their, and they're. If you don't then I'm sorry but you need to go back to school. Improper grammar is a huge pet peeve of mine and it absolutely bugs me when I find them in co-workers' emails or documents. It's sad but I slightly judge them because of their grammar (correct usage of their, btw). I think grammar is hugely proportional to a person's education. So if you use poor grammar I may judge you and think less of your intellectual knowledge. I may not think less of you a person but I will question your knowledge from time to time. Harsh but true and I'm sure I'm not the only one to do this. For those of you who may not know, here are my simple explanations (I hope they're right, haha):
You = noun referring to you (crazy, huh)
Your = pronoun referring to something belonging to you in some sense (It's on your arm.)
You're = contraction of "you are" (blowing your mind yet?)
There = noun, adverb, or adjective referring to person, place, or thing (He is over there, There is water, etc.)
Their = pronoun referring to possession (Their bag, their drink, their food, etc...)
They're = contraction of "they are" (mind blown!)
_andyjoe
Jeep
My car is in the shop and I'm driving my parents' car, which I conveniently had at my place thanks to the fact that I took them to the airport last week. I spoke to the shop this morning and they recommend that I get the thermostat and another part (I forgot now) replaced. I swear I just got the thermostat replaced within the last year or two and at the same shop. When I go pick up my car, I'm going to bring along my past receipts and see what I can do as far as not being charged again for the same parts. So, having to get my car fixed again (don't get me started on how many times I've had to take it in for maintenance) has got me seriously thinking about getting a new car. Unfortunately, there are only two cars that I want - a Range Rover or another Jeep Grand Cherokee. Since the latter is basically half the price of the other I think I will work towards getting another Jeep. I'm happy with this decision. Ever since I was a little kid, I've loved Jeeps which is why I have one right now. Although they may not give the best mpg they are reliable cars (except mine apparently) that stick around for a long time given regular maintenance. I make mine the exception because I bought it used and it's the first car I've even bought. Now I need to come up with $40-50K to spend on car... this will be fun.
I've been on the Jeep website all day just looking at my future car and it's pretty nice. Expensive, but nice. My goal is to get the car within a year's time. Of course this means that I won't be able to the buy the car straight out with cash and I will have to finance most if not all of the car but that's okay. I should be able to get a good rate and put in a decent down payment. The thing that I'm really looking forward to with a new car is an audio port so I don't have to stick with the radio and CD's all the time and 4WD so I don't need snow chains when I want to go snowboarding. Not having a car that needs costly maintenance quite as much will be a plus as well.
_andyjoe
I've been on the Jeep website all day just looking at my future car and it's pretty nice. Expensive, but nice. My goal is to get the car within a year's time. Of course this means that I won't be able to the buy the car straight out with cash and I will have to finance most if not all of the car but that's okay. I should be able to get a good rate and put in a decent down payment. The thing that I'm really looking forward to with a new car is an audio port so I don't have to stick with the radio and CD's all the time and 4WD so I don't need snow chains when I want to go snowboarding. Not having a car that needs costly maintenance quite as much will be a plus as well.
_andyjoe
Monday, March 21, 2011
Commitment
I've decided to make a commitment to myself This is actually something that I decided on a while ago but I just feel like putting it down on "paper" now. I need to save money. Everyone needs to save money, but me especially. If I want to achieve my goals and do what I want to do in life, I need money. Unfortunately that is the fact that every person has to face. In order to do what you want to do you need some type or form of money. One of my goals is to attend culinary school and that is going to cost money. So I need to start saving money so I can pay off some debt and work on going to school. This will not be easy. I will need self-discipline, tons of it actually. But I think I can do this. I just need to be true to myself and then things will just unfold.
So, this means no more shopping for clothes. I have enough and I don't need any more no matter how much I may want them. This means no more excessive spending on groceries; and eating food when I have food to be eaten. No more unnecessary spending on luxury items - TV, watches, toys, etc. No more excessive alcohol purchases. No more random spending on random crap.
I can do this. (Additionally, I would like to get a new car soon. I can't keep fixing my current Jeep. It's not worth it.)
_andyjoe
So, this means no more shopping for clothes. I have enough and I don't need any more no matter how much I may want them. This means no more excessive spending on groceries; and eating food when I have food to be eaten. No more unnecessary spending on luxury items - TV, watches, toys, etc. No more excessive alcohol purchases. No more random spending on random crap.
I can do this. (Additionally, I would like to get a new car soon. I can't keep fixing my current Jeep. It's not worth it.)
_andyjoe
Monday...
Sunday was bad and good. Started like this...
Woke up a little later than I planned but still earlier enough. I was going to meet my brother and his girlfriend for snowboarding. It had rained the night before and my car was nice and clean. Packed up my stuff and headed out. On my way to the freeway I stopped and got gas - $70!!! My stupid Jeep is making me broke (I shall elaborate more on this in a bit). Got on the freeway and was flying. Then hit traffic... at 7am. Cars were at a complete stop - RIDICULOUS. Was stopped for about 20 minutes and then started moving. I saw no sign of any accident by the way. Started flying again and I was making good time. Started going up the hill and it was raining pretty hard. I was getting excited because this meant that it would be snowing on the mountain. I started to make my way up the mountain and then had to turn around to buy some snow chains. Unfortunately my Jeep is only 2WD. So I turned around, drove about 10 minutes and bought some chains. Side note - I actually already own a pair of snow chains, heavy duty ones too, but they were left at my old apartment with my ex-girlfriend. Whomp whomp.
So I bought the chains and made my way back up to the checkpoint. I pulled over and put the chains on my tires. Wasn't too hard and only took about 25 minutes. Felt like longer though because it was COLD and WINDY. I started to drive off and then I hear a thumping sound. I thought it was just the chains getting used to the car but it was really unnatural sounding. I pulled over and took a look at my tires and the chains on my left tire had torn. Apparently I bought some defective chains. So with only one side of snow chains on my car, I made my way back down and went to the same store and bought another set. They wouldn't refund me or exchange. Apparently it's a manufacturers thing and I have to take it up with them. It was a like a convenience store with only this Asian lady there. So I just bought another set. I put the left side on my car right there just in case it broke again but luckily it didn't. I made my way up and finally got to the resort. By the way, luckily I didn't just risk driving up with only one side of snow chains on because as it got snowy and the entire road was cold and covered, I could feel my front tires sliding.
So, I finally got to the resort, parked, saw a family with their kids and dog running in the snow (really cute), and started getting ready to snowboard. Let me just say that I haven't been boarding since last February 2010 when I was in Vancouver for the Olympics. Great place to snowboard by the way. So I have had this incredible itch to go snowboarding for the longest time now which made this trip exciting for me. So, all changed and my snowboard ready, I walked up to the lodge and met up with my brother and his girlfriend. We went to the ticket booth and got lift tickets. However, it was extremely WINDY. It was snowing which was absolutely great but it was so windy that while we were standing around the lift waiting, almost everybody was knocked down due to a huge gust of wind. At this point the resort decided to close the mountain. It was not safe to be on the lifts with this kind of wind. I appreciated the safety concerns that the resort expressed and the fact that they gave everyone vouchers for another day in the season but I was still BUMMED. This was my chance to get back on the mountain and snowboard and it was swiftly gusted away. At least I got 10 seconds of snowboarding in as I glided from the lift back to the lodge. =(
So, we regrouped and decided that we'd just go grab something to eat. We decided on Boiling Crab in Alhambra. So driving down the mountain was fun, tedious, and SLOW. Still, I appreciate everyone's safety concern. I eventually made it to the checkpoint and got out to take off my snow chains. Once I walked around to the back on my Jeep, I noticed my right taillight was just hanging there. Apparently, the fantastic crew at Pepboys remembered to put the screws holding my light back in. If I haven't said so before, I just LOVE Pepboys. (Sarcasm, major sarcasm) I pushed it back in and hoped for the best that it would knock itself back out since the chains were off now. I started driving again and was cruising but then I noticed that stupid OBD indicator light was on. The car was acting fine and I don't know how long that light had been on but it wasn't there when I left the mountain. So I exited the freeway and pulled into a gas station. I consulted my car's manual and it said the car was still drivable but I should take it in to get it diagnosed and serviced as soon as possible. So I figured there's nothing I can do here at this moment so I got back on the freeway and continued to the head to Alhambra, while constantly looking at that stupid indicator light.
I got to Alhambra with no more incidents and made my way to Boiling Crab. It was about 12:45 and they had just opened at 12pm but nevertheless they had a line with about a hour wait. After waiting for 10 minutes we decided that we would just take it to-go and eat at my place. So we ordered 4 pounds of seafood and some side dishes and took off. The freeway was moving but then we hit traffic again. Pretty much stopped but moving ever so slowly. I could see flashing lights ahead in the far distance and it was raining pretty hard so I cursed my luck that people just do not seem to know how to drive in the rain, especially in LA. Eventually got past it and saw that a car was upside down on the right side of the freeway. I do hope that the driver and any passengers in the car and anybody in any other car involved in the accident are okay. So I finally made my way past the accident and got home. Cleaned up a bit and got ready for the feast.
After all the chaos that went on during that morning and afternoon, it was nice having lunch with my brother and his girlfriend while watching college basketball and Chopped on Food Network channel. I say "college basketball" because I partly don't care about the tournament anymore now that UCLA is out. Stupid Florida... it's always Florida. Once our stomachs were full which had been growling like monsters after our "long" snowboarding session, we commenced in a game of Super Mario Bros on the Wii. We accomplished a lot and overall, it was full. They eventually took off and I was left with peace and quiet again. But then my phone notified me of the score of the Ducks vs. Flames game. I'm a hockey fan by the way, specifically an Anaheim Ducks hockey fan. The score was 5-4 Final in overtime in favor of the Ducks. This got me excited and also sad because I forgot about the game and didn't get to see it but fortunately there was a replay of the game at 1am. So it's recorded and waiting for me on my DVR. Go Ducks!
So to recap the day: woke up late, got stuck in traffic, bought 2 sets of snow chains, didn't get to snowboard, need to get my car fixed, didn't want to wait in line, got stuck in traffic again, ate seafood, played Wii, missed the Ducks games, watched TV. Not the best Sunday, but still an adventure.
_andyjoe
Woke up a little later than I planned but still earlier enough. I was going to meet my brother and his girlfriend for snowboarding. It had rained the night before and my car was nice and clean. Packed up my stuff and headed out. On my way to the freeway I stopped and got gas - $70!!! My stupid Jeep is making me broke (I shall elaborate more on this in a bit). Got on the freeway and was flying. Then hit traffic... at 7am. Cars were at a complete stop - RIDICULOUS. Was stopped for about 20 minutes and then started moving. I saw no sign of any accident by the way. Started flying again and I was making good time. Started going up the hill and it was raining pretty hard. I was getting excited because this meant that it would be snowing on the mountain. I started to make my way up the mountain and then had to turn around to buy some snow chains. Unfortunately my Jeep is only 2WD. So I turned around, drove about 10 minutes and bought some chains. Side note - I actually already own a pair of snow chains, heavy duty ones too, but they were left at my old apartment with my ex-girlfriend. Whomp whomp.
So I bought the chains and made my way back up to the checkpoint. I pulled over and put the chains on my tires. Wasn't too hard and only took about 25 minutes. Felt like longer though because it was COLD and WINDY. I started to drive off and then I hear a thumping sound. I thought it was just the chains getting used to the car but it was really unnatural sounding. I pulled over and took a look at my tires and the chains on my left tire had torn. Apparently I bought some defective chains. So with only one side of snow chains on my car, I made my way back down and went to the same store and bought another set. They wouldn't refund me or exchange. Apparently it's a manufacturers thing and I have to take it up with them. It was a like a convenience store with only this Asian lady there. So I just bought another set. I put the left side on my car right there just in case it broke again but luckily it didn't. I made my way up and finally got to the resort. By the way, luckily I didn't just risk driving up with only one side of snow chains on because as it got snowy and the entire road was cold and covered, I could feel my front tires sliding.
So, I finally got to the resort, parked, saw a family with their kids and dog running in the snow (really cute), and started getting ready to snowboard. Let me just say that I haven't been boarding since last February 2010 when I was in Vancouver for the Olympics. Great place to snowboard by the way. So I have had this incredible itch to go snowboarding for the longest time now which made this trip exciting for me. So, all changed and my snowboard ready, I walked up to the lodge and met up with my brother and his girlfriend. We went to the ticket booth and got lift tickets. However, it was extremely WINDY. It was snowing which was absolutely great but it was so windy that while we were standing around the lift waiting, almost everybody was knocked down due to a huge gust of wind. At this point the resort decided to close the mountain. It was not safe to be on the lifts with this kind of wind. I appreciated the safety concerns that the resort expressed and the fact that they gave everyone vouchers for another day in the season but I was still BUMMED. This was my chance to get back on the mountain and snowboard and it was swiftly gusted away. At least I got 10 seconds of snowboarding in as I glided from the lift back to the lodge. =(
So, we regrouped and decided that we'd just go grab something to eat. We decided on Boiling Crab in Alhambra. So driving down the mountain was fun, tedious, and SLOW. Still, I appreciate everyone's safety concern. I eventually made it to the checkpoint and got out to take off my snow chains. Once I walked around to the back on my Jeep, I noticed my right taillight was just hanging there. Apparently, the fantastic crew at Pepboys remembered to put the screws holding my light back in. If I haven't said so before, I just LOVE Pepboys. (Sarcasm, major sarcasm) I pushed it back in and hoped for the best that it would knock itself back out since the chains were off now. I started driving again and was cruising but then I noticed that stupid OBD indicator light was on. The car was acting fine and I don't know how long that light had been on but it wasn't there when I left the mountain. So I exited the freeway and pulled into a gas station. I consulted my car's manual and it said the car was still drivable but I should take it in to get it diagnosed and serviced as soon as possible. So I figured there's nothing I can do here at this moment so I got back on the freeway and continued to the head to Alhambra, while constantly looking at that stupid indicator light.
I got to Alhambra with no more incidents and made my way to Boiling Crab. It was about 12:45 and they had just opened at 12pm but nevertheless they had a line with about a hour wait. After waiting for 10 minutes we decided that we would just take it to-go and eat at my place. So we ordered 4 pounds of seafood and some side dishes and took off. The freeway was moving but then we hit traffic again. Pretty much stopped but moving ever so slowly. I could see flashing lights ahead in the far distance and it was raining pretty hard so I cursed my luck that people just do not seem to know how to drive in the rain, especially in LA. Eventually got past it and saw that a car was upside down on the right side of the freeway. I do hope that the driver and any passengers in the car and anybody in any other car involved in the accident are okay. So I finally made my way past the accident and got home. Cleaned up a bit and got ready for the feast.
After all the chaos that went on during that morning and afternoon, it was nice having lunch with my brother and his girlfriend while watching college basketball and Chopped on Food Network channel. I say "college basketball" because I partly don't care about the tournament anymore now that UCLA is out. Stupid Florida... it's always Florida. Once our stomachs were full which had been growling like monsters after our "long" snowboarding session, we commenced in a game of Super Mario Bros on the Wii. We accomplished a lot and overall, it was full. They eventually took off and I was left with peace and quiet again. But then my phone notified me of the score of the Ducks vs. Flames game. I'm a hockey fan by the way, specifically an Anaheim Ducks hockey fan. The score was 5-4 Final in overtime in favor of the Ducks. This got me excited and also sad because I forgot about the game and didn't get to see it but fortunately there was a replay of the game at 1am. So it's recorded and waiting for me on my DVR. Go Ducks!
So to recap the day: woke up late, got stuck in traffic, bought 2 sets of snow chains, didn't get to snowboard, need to get my car fixed, didn't want to wait in line, got stuck in traffic again, ate seafood, played Wii, missed the Ducks games, watched TV. Not the best Sunday, but still an adventure.
_andyjoe
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Going Crazy...
There's a movie that I watched recently that had something very specific about it that I liked. By "watched recently" I mean I probably watched it within the last two months, however I cannot remember the name of the movie. On top of that, I cannot remember the name of the actor nor the plot of the movie. I have been racking my brain this whole day trying to figure out what movie I am thinking about but the only result is that I am driving myself crazy. When I tried to explain to people what movie I was thinking about, the best description I could come up with was "it's a movie with fast moving sequences where the main character narrates what's going on in the sequences; for example, 'I met a girl, we talked, we smoked, we ate, we talked'". Unfortunately not remembering the plot, the actor, or what the movie looks like is not helping me. I was hoping writing about it would help get my brain juices flowing so that I would just get that epiphany and remember it all of a sudden. But that doesn't seem like it's happening. Hopefully, when I go to sleep my sub-conscience will help me out.
I hope this is even an actual movie.
If you go on YouTube and watch that video about the guy who found a roll of film in New York during the blizzard and then developed the pictures and is trying to find the owners (apparently he found the owner not too long ago), he narrates it with a somewhat monotone voice. This is similar to the movie that I'm thinking about. Though, the scenes in the movie move quicker. It's similar unless my mind just wants to find something similar and just picked this YouTube video. I don't know... I think I'm going crazy.
_andyjoe
I hope this is even an actual movie.
If you go on YouTube and watch that video about the guy who found a roll of film in New York during the blizzard and then developed the pictures and is trying to find the owners (apparently he found the owner not too long ago), he narrates it with a somewhat monotone voice. This is similar to the movie that I'm thinking about. Though, the scenes in the movie move quicker. It's similar unless my mind just wants to find something similar and just picked this YouTube video. I don't know... I think I'm going crazy.
_andyjoe
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Let's get real
Today is Monday. I had work today and I went in around 9:30am. I stopped by Starbucks as usual and although my neighbor was working there this morning, another barista remembered me and knew my order. If I haven't mentioned this yet, the Starbucks on National Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA is AMAZING! My favorite Starbucks ever. Not just because they remember, but they remember me because I go in everyday because they are so quick. They take your order and your order is ready within a couple minutes, except for the one day they were training a new barista. So I went to work and worked. Another fantastic eight hours spent doing something I love to do. (that was sarcasm, if you didn't realize it)
Throughout the day, my mind wandered quite a bit. On Saturday, I invited my friends to come over, including "the girl" that I been thinking about quite a lot lately. She was out with someone else earlier in the day and he came over too for a little bit. Of course, I was absolutely happy to see her but I was also jealous to see him. I have nothing against the guy but you know how jealousy works. No rhyme or reason, it just rears its ugly head. So as the night went on, the guy left and I started to get dinner ready and the night progressed. Unfortunately, it didn't progress the way I would have liked. I don't think I was very approachable, if that's the correct word for this situation, throughout the night. I stuck and contented myself with cooking and making sure everybody was fed, drinking, and happy. I wanted to talk to this girl but things didn't pan out the way I was hoping they would. I probably didn't make a good enough effort, if any at all. I waited too much. I always wait too much.
As the night continued, we barely talked and this did not sit with me well. I got the feeling that whatever we may have had, if there was anything at all, she was over it and moved on. Unfortunately, I haven't. I have a tendency to be able to move past someone, I think, fairly easily however this girl is something special. So special that I can't seem to get her out of my mind throughout the day. The last time I felt this way was with my last girlfriend. So...
pause
This is a side note that I want to mention quickly before I forget. I just made a little realization about why I am the way I am, at least why I'm as shy, quiet, calm, etc as I am. I just took my parents to the airport and as I was driving, my mom and I were chatting about something and my dad just sat quietly in the passenger seat. That is so me. A few years ago, when my grandmother on my dad's side passed away, during the service my aunts and uncles each stood up and said something. My dad got up and said that he was always the quiet one in the family who was never much of a talker but always a better listener. Again, that is so me. I have always said that I am a great listener. I always listen to people with great interest and I have always felt that I have been blessed with this ability to comprehend both sides of an argument. I think this is why I have always been able to stay calm and understand people when others cannot. I have my father to thank for this.
unpause
... going back to what I was saying. So, I like this girl. I refuse to stop trying because I don't want to look back and see "what could have been" if I had just tried a little harder. Even though, I still do look back and I already see things that I should or shouldn't have done. I may have already messed things up but, hopefully, that doesn't mean that I can't save or make up for things and still work on any potential that may be there. I don't know if anything will ever happen more than friendship with this girl but if something does... =)
_andyjoe
Throughout the day, my mind wandered quite a bit. On Saturday, I invited my friends to come over, including "the girl" that I been thinking about quite a lot lately. She was out with someone else earlier in the day and he came over too for a little bit. Of course, I was absolutely happy to see her but I was also jealous to see him. I have nothing against the guy but you know how jealousy works. No rhyme or reason, it just rears its ugly head. So as the night went on, the guy left and I started to get dinner ready and the night progressed. Unfortunately, it didn't progress the way I would have liked. I don't think I was very approachable, if that's the correct word for this situation, throughout the night. I stuck and contented myself with cooking and making sure everybody was fed, drinking, and happy. I wanted to talk to this girl but things didn't pan out the way I was hoping they would. I probably didn't make a good enough effort, if any at all. I waited too much. I always wait too much.
As the night continued, we barely talked and this did not sit with me well. I got the feeling that whatever we may have had, if there was anything at all, she was over it and moved on. Unfortunately, I haven't. I have a tendency to be able to move past someone, I think, fairly easily however this girl is something special. So special that I can't seem to get her out of my mind throughout the day. The last time I felt this way was with my last girlfriend. So...
pause
This is a side note that I want to mention quickly before I forget. I just made a little realization about why I am the way I am, at least why I'm as shy, quiet, calm, etc as I am. I just took my parents to the airport and as I was driving, my mom and I were chatting about something and my dad just sat quietly in the passenger seat. That is so me. A few years ago, when my grandmother on my dad's side passed away, during the service my aunts and uncles each stood up and said something. My dad got up and said that he was always the quiet one in the family who was never much of a talker but always a better listener. Again, that is so me. I have always said that I am a great listener. I always listen to people with great interest and I have always felt that I have been blessed with this ability to comprehend both sides of an argument. I think this is why I have always been able to stay calm and understand people when others cannot. I have my father to thank for this.
unpause
... going back to what I was saying. So, I like this girl. I refuse to stop trying because I don't want to look back and see "what could have been" if I had just tried a little harder. Even though, I still do look back and I already see things that I should or shouldn't have done. I may have already messed things up but, hopefully, that doesn't mean that I can't save or make up for things and still work on any potential that may be there. I don't know if anything will ever happen more than friendship with this girl but if something does... =)
_andyjoe
Monday, March 14, 2011
Text
Throughout each day, there are moments when I reflect and I think about what has happened so far that day or I wonder about what the rest of the day may bring, or I wonder what could have been and what could be. My life is full of these "what could have been" moments. These moments range from things that involve my education, family, social life, friends, relationships, jobs, food, self, etc. I read a quote today that said "I'd rather look back at my life and say, 'I can't believe I did that!' instead of saying, 'I wish I did that...'". This quote hits home for me, in all aspects of my life. It's because of this reasoning that there are thoughts in my head - but that's another story for another time.
With my education, I wish I finished college and got my degree. Actually even before college, I wish I did better in high school, especially my senior year. Actually during my senior year, I wish I did a better job in ASB. I was vice-president and then president and I will be the first to admit that I did a shitty job. I put my responsibilities second to my girlfriend. Bad move. I know I still have time to go back to school and finish and get my degree but there are many logistical problems that need solutions first for this to happen. I won't go into details but these can get solved, hopefully, fairly quickly if I am serious about going back to school. And there's also the option of culinary school. I know I've mentioned this many times already but it seriously is a legitimate option that I need to seriously consider.
With my job, I have a good steady job. I am making enough to pay rent and put some food on the table. However, I am not happy. The constant thoughts of quitting and doing something else also comes back to my mind time and time again. I am a person that likes to be hands on. I do not enjoy sitting a desk working on a computer throughout the day. I need to be active. This is why I work so many event shifts. During these shifts I am "in the field", if you will. I think this is another reason why I enjoy cooking. With cooking, I am working with my hands, I am in charge, I am physically in control of the outcome of my work. Every day will not be the same. The work will not be same everyday. It will be something new - something that will keep my mind working and processing. Another reason I enjoy cooking is because I enjoy entertaining - being the host. I enjoy making sure that other people are happy and are having a good time and I believe food helps people to have a good time. When people enjoy my food and are a little bit happier because of it, it brightens my day and my mood. To be able to bring some amount of joy to somebody's life is an indescribable feeling.
With my family, I wish I was closer to every single one. This can be changed. I can be closer to each one. I need to make the effort. I will make the effort. With my parents, I will visit them more often and chat a little more on the phone with them. With my brother, I will call him every once in a while and try to go visit and do something with him. With my cousins, I will try to contact them, see how they are doing, and continue to keep in touch so I know what's going on with them. With my aunts and uncles, I will take them up on their offers to go visit and stay with them for a weekend. I do love my family and I would honestly do anything for them. We all have our own lives and staying in touch is always hard but it's always easier when a little effort is put in on both sides.
With my social life and friends, I will try to reconnect with friends I haven't spoken to in a long time and I will make more of an effort to stay in touch. My friends that I am still close with, I still lose connections at times and that pisses me off. I shouldn't do that with my friends. I shouldn't do that with anyone. My friends deserve better. Everybody deserves better. I guess this includes myself.
With my relationships, I will be myself. I will continue to go after what I want to go after. I will not be afraid of rejection and if rejections happens, which I am sure it will happen more often than I will like, I will accept it and take it as a life lesson. It will not deter me from trying to build friendships but it will teach me a little about myself. Earlier I posted "Put yourself out there. What's the worst that can happen?" Rejection is the worst that can happen and that isn't bad. It doesn't mean you are not good enough, it just means that you were not the right person for that person. It doesn't mean a friendship can't develop but probably nothing more and that's still worth it.
With myself, I will be true to myself. I will follow whatever I want to do and I will respect that. I am me.
Moving on...
_andyjoe
With my education, I wish I finished college and got my degree. Actually even before college, I wish I did better in high school, especially my senior year. Actually during my senior year, I wish I did a better job in ASB. I was vice-president and then president and I will be the first to admit that I did a shitty job. I put my responsibilities second to my girlfriend. Bad move. I know I still have time to go back to school and finish and get my degree but there are many logistical problems that need solutions first for this to happen. I won't go into details but these can get solved, hopefully, fairly quickly if I am serious about going back to school. And there's also the option of culinary school. I know I've mentioned this many times already but it seriously is a legitimate option that I need to seriously consider.
With my job, I have a good steady job. I am making enough to pay rent and put some food on the table. However, I am not happy. The constant thoughts of quitting and doing something else also comes back to my mind time and time again. I am a person that likes to be hands on. I do not enjoy sitting a desk working on a computer throughout the day. I need to be active. This is why I work so many event shifts. During these shifts I am "in the field", if you will. I think this is another reason why I enjoy cooking. With cooking, I am working with my hands, I am in charge, I am physically in control of the outcome of my work. Every day will not be the same. The work will not be same everyday. It will be something new - something that will keep my mind working and processing. Another reason I enjoy cooking is because I enjoy entertaining - being the host. I enjoy making sure that other people are happy and are having a good time and I believe food helps people to have a good time. When people enjoy my food and are a little bit happier because of it, it brightens my day and my mood. To be able to bring some amount of joy to somebody's life is an indescribable feeling.
With my family, I wish I was closer to every single one. This can be changed. I can be closer to each one. I need to make the effort. I will make the effort. With my parents, I will visit them more often and chat a little more on the phone with them. With my brother, I will call him every once in a while and try to go visit and do something with him. With my cousins, I will try to contact them, see how they are doing, and continue to keep in touch so I know what's going on with them. With my aunts and uncles, I will take them up on their offers to go visit and stay with them for a weekend. I do love my family and I would honestly do anything for them. We all have our own lives and staying in touch is always hard but it's always easier when a little effort is put in on both sides.
With my social life and friends, I will try to reconnect with friends I haven't spoken to in a long time and I will make more of an effort to stay in touch. My friends that I am still close with, I still lose connections at times and that pisses me off. I shouldn't do that with my friends. I shouldn't do that with anyone. My friends deserve better. Everybody deserves better. I guess this includes myself.
With my relationships, I will be myself. I will continue to go after what I want to go after. I will not be afraid of rejection and if rejections happens, which I am sure it will happen more often than I will like, I will accept it and take it as a life lesson. It will not deter me from trying to build friendships but it will teach me a little about myself. Earlier I posted "Put yourself out there. What's the worst that can happen?" Rejection is the worst that can happen and that isn't bad. It doesn't mean you are not good enough, it just means that you were not the right person for that person. It doesn't mean a friendship can't develop but probably nothing more and that's still worth it.
With myself, I will be true to myself. I will follow whatever I want to do and I will respect that. I am me.
Moving on...
_andyjoe
Monday, March 7, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
Ok
So I have failed you all again. I think my goal to write in this blog every day was another one of my dreams that I gave up on. I have a chronic problem where I plan to do this or that and I will start this or that but then fail to complete whatever it is. This is something that I hope to fix in the upcoming months and years. This blog may serve as a medium for me to help fix that problem. If I can keep my promise to this blog, maybe I can finally succeed in something. Moving on...
Friday, February 25, 2011
New Beginnings
Ah, fuck it. haha. So I decided in my last post that I would make this blog private so that I can truly reflect on myself and I wouldn't have to be afraid of anybody from the outside reading this, whether they knew me or not. Now I've made another decision - I don't care. It's okay to let people in sometimes. It's okay to share yourself with people. So, to a new beginning.
First, some personal issues that I have been dealing with. Let me back up a little. So in October, I ended a year and a half relationship with my ex-girlfriend that I loved. We had just moved in together into a brand new place and things were going somewhat well. We had plenty of fights, issues, problems, etc. throughout our relationship but I never thought I would end things. She tried a few, actually more than a few, times to end things but we would always get back together. But in October, a month after we had just moved in, things just started hitting me harder and harder and I was fed up with the relationship. I couldn't deal with any of it anymore and I just needed out. So we ended things or rather I ended things. She was not as friendly towards the breakup as I was. She did try to save things and tried for months but I would not budge because my mind was set and even though I tremendously appreciated the effort she was putting in to try and save our relationship it was still a bit too late. Too many issues, too many problems, too many fights. It was just too much for me. So what happened was I stayed on my friends' couch for a couple months as I looked for a place to stay.
While this was going on, I was happy. I was spending time with my friends and I was "dating". I met a few people and we "dated" for a bit but things never really took off. I ended up not wanting anything further than what was going on with them. I am not trying to be conceited but rather just being real with the facts. Unfortunately though, the latest one now has got me hooked. I find myself thinking about her constantly and wanting to text her throughout the entire day. But I restrain myself from doing this. I do not want to come off needy. We have had conversations and what's come from them is that we're just friends that are hanging out. This I understand and can appreciate but then there are times that confuse the hell out of me. Actions that confuse the hell out of me. I think this is what hooks me. The other girls I've been able to figure out and understand right away and I realize that that is not what I want. But this girl, whether it's a game to her or not, just keeps me thinking. I try to be real with her and express how I genuinely feel but it goes nowhere. I am not the type of person that likes to play "games". I appreciate straightforwardness, whether it goes bad or good. Straightforwardness is something I think everyone appreciates and would like from everybody else.
So, I think about this girl a lot. We hang out every once in a while. It used to be more like a few weeks ago but lately it has been less and less and I've noticed the conversations diminishing to shorter and shorter conversations. Maybe I am over analyzing everything because I do tend to analyze things a lot. I pride myself on the fact that I am always able to look at both sides of an argument. But my analytical mind gets me in trouble sometimes. Granted she has her own life, which includes a full-time job and active social life, so I can't expect her to want to hang out with me as much as I may want to hang out with her.
Another thing, I ended a serious relationship and moved into a new place. I did these things because I wanted to "start my life over". I wanted to readjust myself and focus on me more. I wanted to do more things with my friends and by myself. I wanted to figure out me and what I enjoy doing. So why am I stressing out so much over this girl. I do like her. That is a given. But is it possible that I also just miss having someone to come home to? Prior to my most recent relationship I had a two year stint with another girl. This ended and within a couple weeks I was already in this previous relationship. I did not have a lot of "single" time in between relationships. This has seemed to be my consistent behavior for a while now. I always seem to be in some type of relationship. I thoroughly enjoy my "single" time and any other time where I am by myself or with just friends but I do crave having someone that I can be intimate with and who I can share anything with. Someone that I can come home to or who comes home to me. Someone that I can relax on the couch with while my arms wrap around them with their body pressed up against mine. Someone that I cuddle with in bed with our bodies pressed up so tightly against each other that seriously nothing else matters.
Unfortunately, I have felt this with this girl. I've done all of this with this girl and I want more. So this is how I genuinely know I like her but to what extent I am not sure. I know I like her a lot and I can see a relationship with her but am I rushing into these feelings again? Of course. Should I take things slow? Of course. But do I want to take things slow? Absolutely not. This is not my way. I've had a conversation with a friend about our previous relationships. My friend and I are the same in the way that we both rush into relationships. We dive head first into them and then we see what happens. I believe this is the way you have to deal with new relationships. You dive head first and see if you like it or not. This is how you really figure out if things are working or not. (I think I apply this to my work as well. I am always ready and willing to take on new tasks whether they may be above my head or not. I will get to work in a bit - I have issues on this front as well.)
I don't know what to do about this girl. I've made the decision that I'm not going to read into things too much about her and that I'm just going to let things run their course and if something should happens then great. If something doesn't happen, then I'm not going to be disappointed. I need to just enjoy this time and enjoy my life. I just wish I knew now what to think. Where she stood. Where I should be. What our situation is. She just gets me confused when I wish I wasn't. She's gotten into my head.
Moving on to a new topic... On top of everything else, I am just not happy at work anymore. It is just not enjoyable to me anymore. Plus I don't feel like I get the appreciation or respect that I deserve. I know I am appreciated by some people but with some other co-workers it's difficult. I do the best I can at everything I do and I feel like I do a relatively great job. There are just times when I just have this demanding urge to quit and go somewhere else. I don't know if I will ever do this but this urge has been rising within me for a while now. I think I need a dramatic change in my life. Maybe I really need to consider culinary school and consider it now.
Culinary school has been on my mind more intensely lately. The more I cook the more I have to urge to go to school. Like I've mentioned before, when I'm in the kitchen cooking I feel at peace and I feel like this is where I belong. The kitchen is the one place I really feel like myself and the one place where I'm doing something that I truly love. I love cooking. I love feeding people. I love working with food. I love the action, the smells, the textures, the imagination, the endless creativity, just everything about food. I can't get enough of it. Work, on the other hand, is completely opposite. There are days when I can totally tolerate it and enjoy myself here and then there are days when I just need to get out. I can't deal with it anymore either.
The one thing I hate is being ignored. Of all things, that is the one thing that really pisses me off. Tell me if you don't want to talk. Tell me if you're mad at me. Just tell me, don't just ignore me or give me the silent treatment. I hate that the most. Don't send me a text to have me respond and then you don't respond until hours later.
Something else I remember from the book "The Noticer" is that mistakes are sometimes not mistakes at all. When something has gone wrong or when we do something wrong, we sometimes view them as mistakes. But sometimes, they are not mistakes they are choices. A mistake is something you couldn't control. A choice is something you can control. If I choose to have a relationship with somebody and then later I say that that relationship was a mistake, it wasn't. I was a choice. I may not have been a good choice but it was a choice, nonetheless. If you do business with a shady individual when you know they are shady, then that is a choice not a mistake. If we start to literally view our decisions as our choices then I believe we can start being more responsible with our decisions. If you stole a car and was caught, it was not a mistake, it was a choice.
Read "The Noticer" by Andy Andrews. Thanks for listening to my rant.
-Andrew
First, some personal issues that I have been dealing with. Let me back up a little. So in October, I ended a year and a half relationship with my ex-girlfriend that I loved. We had just moved in together into a brand new place and things were going somewhat well. We had plenty of fights, issues, problems, etc. throughout our relationship but I never thought I would end things. She tried a few, actually more than a few, times to end things but we would always get back together. But in October, a month after we had just moved in, things just started hitting me harder and harder and I was fed up with the relationship. I couldn't deal with any of it anymore and I just needed out. So we ended things or rather I ended things. She was not as friendly towards the breakup as I was. She did try to save things and tried for months but I would not budge because my mind was set and even though I tremendously appreciated the effort she was putting in to try and save our relationship it was still a bit too late. Too many issues, too many problems, too many fights. It was just too much for me. So what happened was I stayed on my friends' couch for a couple months as I looked for a place to stay.
While this was going on, I was happy. I was spending time with my friends and I was "dating". I met a few people and we "dated" for a bit but things never really took off. I ended up not wanting anything further than what was going on with them. I am not trying to be conceited but rather just being real with the facts. Unfortunately though, the latest one now has got me hooked. I find myself thinking about her constantly and wanting to text her throughout the entire day. But I restrain myself from doing this. I do not want to come off needy. We have had conversations and what's come from them is that we're just friends that are hanging out. This I understand and can appreciate but then there are times that confuse the hell out of me. Actions that confuse the hell out of me. I think this is what hooks me. The other girls I've been able to figure out and understand right away and I realize that that is not what I want. But this girl, whether it's a game to her or not, just keeps me thinking. I try to be real with her and express how I genuinely feel but it goes nowhere. I am not the type of person that likes to play "games". I appreciate straightforwardness, whether it goes bad or good. Straightforwardness is something I think everyone appreciates and would like from everybody else.
So, I think about this girl a lot. We hang out every once in a while. It used to be more like a few weeks ago but lately it has been less and less and I've noticed the conversations diminishing to shorter and shorter conversations. Maybe I am over analyzing everything because I do tend to analyze things a lot. I pride myself on the fact that I am always able to look at both sides of an argument. But my analytical mind gets me in trouble sometimes. Granted she has her own life, which includes a full-time job and active social life, so I can't expect her to want to hang out with me as much as I may want to hang out with her.
Another thing, I ended a serious relationship and moved into a new place. I did these things because I wanted to "start my life over". I wanted to readjust myself and focus on me more. I wanted to do more things with my friends and by myself. I wanted to figure out me and what I enjoy doing. So why am I stressing out so much over this girl. I do like her. That is a given. But is it possible that I also just miss having someone to come home to? Prior to my most recent relationship I had a two year stint with another girl. This ended and within a couple weeks I was already in this previous relationship. I did not have a lot of "single" time in between relationships. This has seemed to be my consistent behavior for a while now. I always seem to be in some type of relationship. I thoroughly enjoy my "single" time and any other time where I am by myself or with just friends but I do crave having someone that I can be intimate with and who I can share anything with. Someone that I can come home to or who comes home to me. Someone that I can relax on the couch with while my arms wrap around them with their body pressed up against mine. Someone that I cuddle with in bed with our bodies pressed up so tightly against each other that seriously nothing else matters.
Unfortunately, I have felt this with this girl. I've done all of this with this girl and I want more. So this is how I genuinely know I like her but to what extent I am not sure. I know I like her a lot and I can see a relationship with her but am I rushing into these feelings again? Of course. Should I take things slow? Of course. But do I want to take things slow? Absolutely not. This is not my way. I've had a conversation with a friend about our previous relationships. My friend and I are the same in the way that we both rush into relationships. We dive head first into them and then we see what happens. I believe this is the way you have to deal with new relationships. You dive head first and see if you like it or not. This is how you really figure out if things are working or not. (I think I apply this to my work as well. I am always ready and willing to take on new tasks whether they may be above my head or not. I will get to work in a bit - I have issues on this front as well.)
I don't know what to do about this girl. I've made the decision that I'm not going to read into things too much about her and that I'm just going to let things run their course and if something should happens then great. If something doesn't happen, then I'm not going to be disappointed. I need to just enjoy this time and enjoy my life. I just wish I knew now what to think. Where she stood. Where I should be. What our situation is. She just gets me confused when I wish I wasn't. She's gotten into my head.
Moving on to a new topic... On top of everything else, I am just not happy at work anymore. It is just not enjoyable to me anymore. Plus I don't feel like I get the appreciation or respect that I deserve. I know I am appreciated by some people but with some other co-workers it's difficult. I do the best I can at everything I do and I feel like I do a relatively great job. There are just times when I just have this demanding urge to quit and go somewhere else. I don't know if I will ever do this but this urge has been rising within me for a while now. I think I need a dramatic change in my life. Maybe I really need to consider culinary school and consider it now.
Culinary school has been on my mind more intensely lately. The more I cook the more I have to urge to go to school. Like I've mentioned before, when I'm in the kitchen cooking I feel at peace and I feel like this is where I belong. The kitchen is the one place I really feel like myself and the one place where I'm doing something that I truly love. I love cooking. I love feeding people. I love working with food. I love the action, the smells, the textures, the imagination, the endless creativity, just everything about food. I can't get enough of it. Work, on the other hand, is completely opposite. There are days when I can totally tolerate it and enjoy myself here and then there are days when I just need to get out. I can't deal with it anymore either.
The one thing I hate is being ignored. Of all things, that is the one thing that really pisses me off. Tell me if you don't want to talk. Tell me if you're mad at me. Just tell me, don't just ignore me or give me the silent treatment. I hate that the most. Don't send me a text to have me respond and then you don't respond until hours later.
Something else I remember from the book "The Noticer" is that mistakes are sometimes not mistakes at all. When something has gone wrong or when we do something wrong, we sometimes view them as mistakes. But sometimes, they are not mistakes they are choices. A mistake is something you couldn't control. A choice is something you can control. If I choose to have a relationship with somebody and then later I say that that relationship was a mistake, it wasn't. I was a choice. I may not have been a good choice but it was a choice, nonetheless. If you do business with a shady individual when you know they are shady, then that is a choice not a mistake. If we start to literally view our decisions as our choices then I believe we can start being more responsible with our decisions. If you stole a car and was caught, it was not a mistake, it was a choice.
Read "The Noticer" by Andy Andrews. Thanks for listening to my rant.
-Andrew
=/
Hello all. So as I stated yesterday in a rather "long" entry - I failed. I failed in my attempt to post consistently to this blog. at least on every work day. I missed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and slightly Thursday; granted Monday was a holiday though. Nevertheless, I have failed you and I apologize. I promise to be more vigilant and promise to keep my promise. My sincere apologies to you, whoever you are if you are anyone at all.
So, I know my writing style is not the best. It is not very structured nor is there any consistency within my posts. Well, one reason for having this blog is to develop my writing so that when I do go back to school, my writing will not be as poor as it was when I stopped. I am hoping that this blog helps to educate me, not only scholarly but also inwardly - about myself. So in order to do this I think I may need to get a little more personal than I have in my previous posts. I think I need to delve more into my personal life and share myself with you all. But I am not fully comfortable with putting all my problems, fears, interests, goals, personal feelings, etc. out there for all to read. Therefore, I think I will make this blog private to the public. I think I have to. If this blog is to be as reflective on myself as I am hoping it will be then I need to keep it private. At least for now. So here we go.
So, I know my writing style is not the best. It is not very structured nor is there any consistency within my posts. Well, one reason for having this blog is to develop my writing so that when I do go back to school, my writing will not be as poor as it was when I stopped. I am hoping that this blog helps to educate me, not only scholarly but also inwardly - about myself. So in order to do this I think I may need to get a little more personal than I have in my previous posts. I think I need to delve more into my personal life and share myself with you all. But I am not fully comfortable with putting all my problems, fears, interests, goals, personal feelings, etc. out there for all to read. Therefore, I think I will make this blog private to the public. I think I have to. If this blog is to be as reflective on myself as I am hoping it will be then I need to keep it private. At least for now. So here we go.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Quickie
Hello. This will be a quickie post. I just wanted to share a few pictures from my baking adventures last night. I made pizza again... haha I know, I know. Then I baked some cookies courtesy of the recipe I found online through apartmenttherapy.com's cooking section - Thick and Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies. They turned out pretty great - soft and chewy just like I prefer my cookies to be. I am not a huge fan of hard, crisp cookies. I believe they should be moist and soft. That way you fully enjoy them. Okay, well here are the pictures. I may or may not post other stuff later today. There are some things I'd like to write about but I'm feeling a little lazy right now (it may be because I just ate lunch - food coma). Til next time... (oh yeah, I forgot to take a picture before I started eating the first pizza again, haha sorry)
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Pizza & Book
I forgot to post this earlier. Here are pictures of the book "The Noticer" and a picture of the pizza I made last night. I remembered to take a picture of the pizza after I had already started eating it - oops, sorry. Haha. Enjoy.
Day 2
Hello. This is Day 2 of my blog and an exciting Day 2 it is. No, not really, at least not yet. I started off today by going to the Starbucks by my place on my way to work. I must say that the Starbucks on National Blvd is the BEST STARBUCKS I've ever been to. Their staff is always friendly and although the line can be a bit of wait (usually not longer than 5 mins though) their baristas are so quick. From placing my order to getting my drink, I probably only have to wait a couple minutes. Quick service + friendly baristas + great drinks = BEST STARBUCKS EVER! On top of all that, today the barista remembered my drink order. She didn't remember my name yet but at least she recognized me. That's always a plus. It probably helps that I've gone to Starbucks the last 12 days straight. I enjoy it there and hope I can just relax there one day instead of just stopping by on my way to work.
Last night, I made pizza... again. Haha, I think my blog yesterday about pizza kind of inspired me but I used leftover dough from the last pizza session instead of making fresh dough. This time it turned out pretty good. I rolled out the dough thinner than last time and it got really crispy except for the center of the pizza that was probably drenched with all the toppings (leftover steak, tomatoes, orange bell peppers, prosciutto, olive oil, monterey jack cheese, parmigiano reggiano, basil leaves, thyme). Also, I baked it differently. The oven was at 400 degrees and I had a baking sheet pre-heating in the oven upside. Once the oven and sheet were hot I placed the pizza on top of the baking sheet and left it in there for about 10 minutes. It turned out great and I may make some more pizza again today, but change up the toppings a little bit. Pizza is the best way to get rid of random ingredients you may have in your fridge. Fried rice also works wonders as a way to clean out your fridge too; and it just so happens that that's what I made last night too. I had to make lunch for today. =)
So, I was thinking about what I may want to post about today and something from "The Noticer" popped into my head. This is my recollection of what was said. I apologize if it's not completely verbatim. "There are 5 seagulls on a pier. One seagull decides to fly away. How many are left on the pier?"
If you answered "4", just like the person in the book did, you may be surprised the find that "4" may be an incorrect answer (I say "may be an incorrect answer" because it depends on how you look at the question but then again that is the point). The book says the correct answer is 5 because although the one seagull decided to fly away, it did not actually fly away. Not until it actually flies away will there be 4 seagulls left on the pier. This wasn't supposed to be a trick question, but rather a question where you can possibly learn to see things from a different perspective. I, too, thought the answer was 4 and it may very well have been. The seagull could have decided to fly away and then did just that. But the question only says that the seagull decided to fly away. So depending on your perspective the answer can be 4 or 5.
But the real point of the question was to get you to understand that deciding to do something and actually doing something are two completely different things. This applies wholly to my own life. A little more about me... I graduated from high school and attended college the following year. I survived about 2 and 1/2 years before I was dismissed from school due to poor grades. Entirely my fault. I was given multiple chances to prove myself worthy of staying in school but I did not take advantage of those chances. Remember when I said I was a completely lazy procrastinator? See, it's true. Nevertheless, I was dismissed from school but a great opportunity presented itself. I was working in an office as student and my supervisor left his position as I was dismissed. So I applied for the job and got it. I've been working full-time ever since and it's been rewarding. I'm not trying to brag but I am making a decent amount of money and actually more than some of my diploma-in-hand friends. Again, I'm not trying to brag but merely making the point that I am extremely lucky to be in the position that I am and I am thoroughly grateful for all the opportunities that befell on me.
However, as of lately, probably the last 4 months or so, my life has been changing. As I mentioned, I moved into a new place by myself after ending an almost 2-year relationship with my ex-girlfriend; and although I am happy with my decision and what I'm doing day-to-day, I still have this yearning for something else. I mean I should be happy. I have a roof over my head, a good job, great friends, loving family, and everything else a person could ask for; but I think I need something new. Or I need to finish what I started. I have the desire to go back to school and when I was interviewing for my current job, I mentioned that I planned on going back to school to finish and get my degree but years later I still haven't. I need to not only decide what I want to do but also act on my decision.
Another option that I have is Culinary School. As you can probably tell, one of my great passions is cooking. I love cooking, for myself or for other people. I really do feel like I am in my element when I'm in the kitchen. Whether it's making pizza, cooking fried rice, baking cookies, or just chopping vegetables, I'm happy. So I recently, actually just yesterday, got an information brochure in the mail from Le Cordon Bleu. I requested it last month and I've been receiving calls from one of their recruiters but I haven't picked up or returned her email yet because once I do, it kind of becomes real. I'll actually be doing something to further a possible career and this kind of scares me. I love cooking and if I were to become a chef, that would be oh so excellent but if I were to go to culinary school and then fail (like I previously did) that would be devastating to me. Like I mentioned previously, I am a slight perfectionist and I hate to fail. I hate the fact that I dropped out of college. That is not something I usually do. I am not a quitter.
I played sports competitively when I was little, not like club or anything but like little league. I played soccer and baseball each for 8 years and won a few league championships here and there. I played on the basketball team in junior high and on the golf team for a couple years in high school. I was also in my high school's ASB all four years. I was and still am an extremely hard worker. I work hard at my current job and I strive to complete everything correctly, efficiently, and on time. So this is why I hate the fact that I didn't finish college and I know my parents hate it too.
So, I think I am ready to make another decision in my life. Whether I act on it or not is another thing though. My decision is this. I am deciding that I will go back to school. I will speak to a counselor in a month or two and see what I can do to position myself to being re-enrolled in school. This will probably require me to take classes over the summer, which I am happy to do, and get good grades, which I am hoping to accomplish. From that I can hopefully be re-enrolled so that I can take probably a maximum of 2 classes a quarter since I plan on still working full-time. Taking 2 classes a quarter will probably mean I will finish school in about 3 years, hopefully. From there, I want to pursue a culinary career. I want to take my passion for food and cooking and run with it. I want to see where it takes me. You may ask why go back to college and why not just go straight to culinary school? Why spend the money on college? Well my dear friends, the answer is simple. I need to finish college for myself. To prove to myself that I can do. To prove to myself that I really am not a quitter. To prove to myself that I really am smart enough. To prove to myself that if I really put my mind to it, I can accomplish whatever it is. Just like everybody else in the world. If anybody sets their mind on a goal and actually works hard towards accomplishing that goal, it will happen - IT WILL HAPPEN.
Enough for right now... be back later.
Last night, I made pizza... again. Haha, I think my blog yesterday about pizza kind of inspired me but I used leftover dough from the last pizza session instead of making fresh dough. This time it turned out pretty good. I rolled out the dough thinner than last time and it got really crispy except for the center of the pizza that was probably drenched with all the toppings (leftover steak, tomatoes, orange bell peppers, prosciutto, olive oil, monterey jack cheese, parmigiano reggiano, basil leaves, thyme). Also, I baked it differently. The oven was at 400 degrees and I had a baking sheet pre-heating in the oven upside. Once the oven and sheet were hot I placed the pizza on top of the baking sheet and left it in there for about 10 minutes. It turned out great and I may make some more pizza again today, but change up the toppings a little bit. Pizza is the best way to get rid of random ingredients you may have in your fridge. Fried rice also works wonders as a way to clean out your fridge too; and it just so happens that that's what I made last night too. I had to make lunch for today. =)
So, I was thinking about what I may want to post about today and something from "The Noticer" popped into my head. This is my recollection of what was said. I apologize if it's not completely verbatim. "There are 5 seagulls on a pier. One seagull decides to fly away. How many are left on the pier?"
If you answered "4", just like the person in the book did, you may be surprised the find that "4" may be an incorrect answer (I say "may be an incorrect answer" because it depends on how you look at the question but then again that is the point). The book says the correct answer is 5 because although the one seagull decided to fly away, it did not actually fly away. Not until it actually flies away will there be 4 seagulls left on the pier. This wasn't supposed to be a trick question, but rather a question where you can possibly learn to see things from a different perspective. I, too, thought the answer was 4 and it may very well have been. The seagull could have decided to fly away and then did just that. But the question only says that the seagull decided to fly away. So depending on your perspective the answer can be 4 or 5.
But the real point of the question was to get you to understand that deciding to do something and actually doing something are two completely different things. This applies wholly to my own life. A little more about me... I graduated from high school and attended college the following year. I survived about 2 and 1/2 years before I was dismissed from school due to poor grades. Entirely my fault. I was given multiple chances to prove myself worthy of staying in school but I did not take advantage of those chances. Remember when I said I was a completely lazy procrastinator? See, it's true. Nevertheless, I was dismissed from school but a great opportunity presented itself. I was working in an office as student and my supervisor left his position as I was dismissed. So I applied for the job and got it. I've been working full-time ever since and it's been rewarding. I'm not trying to brag but I am making a decent amount of money and actually more than some of my diploma-in-hand friends. Again, I'm not trying to brag but merely making the point that I am extremely lucky to be in the position that I am and I am thoroughly grateful for all the opportunities that befell on me.
However, as of lately, probably the last 4 months or so, my life has been changing. As I mentioned, I moved into a new place by myself after ending an almost 2-year relationship with my ex-girlfriend; and although I am happy with my decision and what I'm doing day-to-day, I still have this yearning for something else. I mean I should be happy. I have a roof over my head, a good job, great friends, loving family, and everything else a person could ask for; but I think I need something new. Or I need to finish what I started. I have the desire to go back to school and when I was interviewing for my current job, I mentioned that I planned on going back to school to finish and get my degree but years later I still haven't. I need to not only decide what I want to do but also act on my decision.
Another option that I have is Culinary School. As you can probably tell, one of my great passions is cooking. I love cooking, for myself or for other people. I really do feel like I am in my element when I'm in the kitchen. Whether it's making pizza, cooking fried rice, baking cookies, or just chopping vegetables, I'm happy. So I recently, actually just yesterday, got an information brochure in the mail from Le Cordon Bleu. I requested it last month and I've been receiving calls from one of their recruiters but I haven't picked up or returned her email yet because once I do, it kind of becomes real. I'll actually be doing something to further a possible career and this kind of scares me. I love cooking and if I were to become a chef, that would be oh so excellent but if I were to go to culinary school and then fail (like I previously did) that would be devastating to me. Like I mentioned previously, I am a slight perfectionist and I hate to fail. I hate the fact that I dropped out of college. That is not something I usually do. I am not a quitter.
I played sports competitively when I was little, not like club or anything but like little league. I played soccer and baseball each for 8 years and won a few league championships here and there. I played on the basketball team in junior high and on the golf team for a couple years in high school. I was also in my high school's ASB all four years. I was and still am an extremely hard worker. I work hard at my current job and I strive to complete everything correctly, efficiently, and on time. So this is why I hate the fact that I didn't finish college and I know my parents hate it too.
So, I think I am ready to make another decision in my life. Whether I act on it or not is another thing though. My decision is this. I am deciding that I will go back to school. I will speak to a counselor in a month or two and see what I can do to position myself to being re-enrolled in school. This will probably require me to take classes over the summer, which I am happy to do, and get good grades, which I am hoping to accomplish. From that I can hopefully be re-enrolled so that I can take probably a maximum of 2 classes a quarter since I plan on still working full-time. Taking 2 classes a quarter will probably mean I will finish school in about 3 years, hopefully. From there, I want to pursue a culinary career. I want to take my passion for food and cooking and run with it. I want to see where it takes me. You may ask why go back to college and why not just go straight to culinary school? Why spend the money on college? Well my dear friends, the answer is simple. I need to finish college for myself. To prove to myself that I can do. To prove to myself that I really am not a quitter. To prove to myself that I really am smart enough. To prove to myself that if I really put my mind to it, I can accomplish whatever it is. Just like everybody else in the world. If anybody sets their mind on a goal and actually works hard towards accomplishing that goal, it will happen - IT WILL HAPPEN.
Enough for right now... be back later.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Hard Work?
Like with all new things in my life, I constantly look at whatever it is over and over again. I must admit that I have been repeating this occurrence with this blog and I must say that my posts have been dreadfully boring so far. My promise to you is to make things a little bit more entertaining and worth your while. I thought I would only be posting once a day but here I am on the first day with my third post. I know that I am not a great writer nor will I ever probably be but they say if you do want to be good at something, you must do it and do it constantly. This logic can be applied to all things and tasks small and large.
I was just on the phone with a friend and I mentioned that the other day my friends and I had partaken in the insurmountable task of baking pizza... from scratch, dough and all. I informed my friend that the pizza turned out well but that the dough could have used a bit of work. It wasn't that it tasted bad or anything but nor was it the greatest dough ever made by mankind. Now if you know me at all, which you probably don't, you may know or will find out that I am slightly a perfectionist. I am not saying that I am perfect, not in the slightest, but I do like things done a certain way, presented in a certain way, cooked in a certain way, taste a certain way, etc. Usually that "certain way" is the what I imagine to be as "perfect". It was my first time making pizza dough from scratch and I was proud of it but it could definitely be better and I will not settle until I get my "perfect" dough. Going back to my friend, she mentioned that I could have just as easily bought pre-made pizza dough and just added the sauce and toppings to it. My initial thought was "duh" - no offense to my friend. But, yes, this thought had crossed my mind and had been put into practice before but this time I had wanted to make the dough from scratch.
I think that in this day and age, most people have forgotten the value and benefit of hard work. Yes, it is so much easier to just buy the pre-made items and consume them but it will taste all the more sweeter when you have worked so hard to create what you are about to consume. I'm just using food as an analogy, but this belief, rather fact, applies to everything else on this beautiful planet. Of course, I'm not going to go out and build my own car or anything of the sort; but whatever I can do myself, I will try my best to do and do it successfully. I feel like this generation, my generation, has gotten lazy and relied too heavily on the work of other people. There still are a select few out there that work very hard for what they accomplish, and I congratulate and admire those individuals. They are realizing that although things can be bought, true happiness cannot - it is earned.
I am clearly no philosopher nor am I a preacher. I just think I have been fortunate enough to realize some things in life - one of which is that hard work pays off. Things are always easier when you "buy" them, but when you work hard for whatever you want, you are physically and mentally in better shape. This may all seem like I am just rambling on and I am, but I hope that some of this makes sense. I just thought I'd blog about it. I may update more on how I feel about this tomorrow. Until then, good night.
I was just on the phone with a friend and I mentioned that the other day my friends and I had partaken in the insurmountable task of baking pizza... from scratch, dough and all. I informed my friend that the pizza turned out well but that the dough could have used a bit of work. It wasn't that it tasted bad or anything but nor was it the greatest dough ever made by mankind. Now if you know me at all, which you probably don't, you may know or will find out that I am slightly a perfectionist. I am not saying that I am perfect, not in the slightest, but I do like things done a certain way, presented in a certain way, cooked in a certain way, taste a certain way, etc. Usually that "certain way" is the what I imagine to be as "perfect". It was my first time making pizza dough from scratch and I was proud of it but it could definitely be better and I will not settle until I get my "perfect" dough. Going back to my friend, she mentioned that I could have just as easily bought pre-made pizza dough and just added the sauce and toppings to it. My initial thought was "duh" - no offense to my friend. But, yes, this thought had crossed my mind and had been put into practice before but this time I had wanted to make the dough from scratch.
I think that in this day and age, most people have forgotten the value and benefit of hard work. Yes, it is so much easier to just buy the pre-made items and consume them but it will taste all the more sweeter when you have worked so hard to create what you are about to consume. I'm just using food as an analogy, but this belief, rather fact, applies to everything else on this beautiful planet. Of course, I'm not going to go out and build my own car or anything of the sort; but whatever I can do myself, I will try my best to do and do it successfully. I feel like this generation, my generation, has gotten lazy and relied too heavily on the work of other people. There still are a select few out there that work very hard for what they accomplish, and I congratulate and admire those individuals. They are realizing that although things can be bought, true happiness cannot - it is earned.
I am clearly no philosopher nor am I a preacher. I just think I have been fortunate enough to realize some things in life - one of which is that hard work pays off. Things are always easier when you "buy" them, but when you work hard for whatever you want, you are physically and mentally in better shape. This may all seem like I am just rambling on and I am, but I hope that some of this makes sense. I just thought I'd blog about it. I may update more on how I feel about this tomorrow. Until then, good night.
Day 1
So this is Day 1 of my blog "Occupy My Time" and already it's doing its name justice. Setting up my account/profile and the look and feel of this blog has thoroughly occupied my time now for the last couple hours. I must say that those couple hours flew. So I am still trying to figure out what I want to focus this blog on or if I'll focus on any one particular genre at all (probably not). To any readers out there, let this be a warning to you, this blog may be all over the place. It may deal with food and cooking, it may deal with watching particular tv shows or movies, it may deal with friends and family, it may deal with love, or it just may deal with some random thing I saw that day; nevertheless I will trudge on and bring you the happenings of a person who has "lost their way" and is looking to "find himself again". BLAH!!! So cheesy, huh? I don't think I've lost my way nor need to find myself again. Although I would like to find myself more innately and gather more understanding of who I am and want to be. I have all these thoughts and ideas about what I would like to do but I am such a lazy procrastinator that I'm afraid I won't do them. Or I just get distracted. Ha. Oh, also I'm broke. Haha - probably not a laughing matter, but it's always good to be able to laugh at yourself, right? Well enough about me, let's move on to something else...
Last night I cooked a steak. I had a couple steaks defrosting in the fridge and thought I'd eat one for dinner along with some leftover brown rice and vegetable-sausage medley (spicy Italian sausage, mushrooms, corn, brussel sprouts tossed with some leftover homemade pesto). I ended up seasoning the steaks with some salt, pepper, chipotle cayenne pepper, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, and some steak seasoning. I threw them on a hot griddle pan just to sear the outside and get some nice brown color and then I put them on a baking sheet that was pre-heating in the oven. I kept them in the oven at 375-400 degrees for about 10 minutes - to about Medium, which is how I like my steaks. Now let me tell you that I am in no way shape or form a cook, chef, or any other culinary professional. I just make stuff up as I go along. The steaks turned out well - I will I had my bbq grill, they would've came out better but oh well. They still had some pink to them and were tasty enough for me to enjoy.
As I ate my dinner with my glass of milk (don't hate, I'm trying to be healthy and drink milk), I watched that night's episode of Glee (yes I watch it, again don't hate, they sing good songs sometimes - whether they butcher it or not is a different story). I don't want to talk too much about the episode but it was okay, not the greatest but okay. I did enjoy their rendition of My Chemical Romance's Sing and I enjoyed the Diva off song choice but Lea Michele's performance was not her best. I found it funny that she looks like she could be Idina Menzel's daughter and she ended up singing Idina's song from Rent, not to mention Idina's part. Anybody else notice that? I'm sure everybody did. Other than that, the whole Beiber fever tribute band crap.... Yea... I'm not a Beiber fan in the slightest. So BLAH!! Also, Dianna Agron and is getting hotter. I never thought she was when the show started but it's starting to come around; and Naya Rivera is just maintaining her hotness but there have been times when she's not, just my opinion.
So after watching Glee, I did some reading. Reading has been my new fascination this last couple months. I moved into a new apartment by myself and I seemed to have all this extra time on my hands so I thought I'd make up for the fact that I never completed college and I would try to help educate myself by reading more. So last night I finished reading "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. I know this is a young adult book that probably should've been read in junior high but I never did and it was recommended that I do. It took me a while to really get into it. I think I was thrown off by the fact that it was a young adult book but the theme and ideas of the book are so out there that I feel if I had read it back then I wouldn't be able to fully grasp it like I do now - even though it still is a little "crazy". Not "crazy" bad but "crazy" as in making your mind think. It was good and I TEI (thoroughly enjoyed it). That analogy was brought to you by my friends April and Raymond who said it while I was around one day I was completely lost and they wouldn't explain. About 20 minutes later, I finally figured it out. So now I pass it on to you dear reader. When you enjoyed something, thoroughly enjoyed something you can just announce "I TEI". "Trust me, it's a thing" - Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother.
I know this post is pretty long already but I just want to mention something else. Two nights ago I finished reading "The Noticer" by Andy Andrews (I like his name). This book along with "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch are the two books that are really speaking to me right now. If you haven't read them, READ THEM! I will even lend you my copy - as long as you promise to return them because they are GREAT books. They are life changing, well unless you already follow the principles that the books talk about, which I doubt 90% of people do, myself included. They are not self-help books or instructional books on how to lead your life. They are just novels about these two guys lives and lessons that they've learned - lessons that everybody could probably learn. So my final thought for the momment -
Read "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch and "The Noticer" by Andy Andrews.
The Last Lecture ; The Noticer
Last night I cooked a steak. I had a couple steaks defrosting in the fridge and thought I'd eat one for dinner along with some leftover brown rice and vegetable-sausage medley (spicy Italian sausage, mushrooms, corn, brussel sprouts tossed with some leftover homemade pesto). I ended up seasoning the steaks with some salt, pepper, chipotle cayenne pepper, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, and some steak seasoning. I threw them on a hot griddle pan just to sear the outside and get some nice brown color and then I put them on a baking sheet that was pre-heating in the oven. I kept them in the oven at 375-400 degrees for about 10 minutes - to about Medium, which is how I like my steaks. Now let me tell you that I am in no way shape or form a cook, chef, or any other culinary professional. I just make stuff up as I go along. The steaks turned out well - I will I had my bbq grill, they would've came out better but oh well. They still had some pink to them and were tasty enough for me to enjoy.
As I ate my dinner with my glass of milk (don't hate, I'm trying to be healthy and drink milk), I watched that night's episode of Glee (yes I watch it, again don't hate, they sing good songs sometimes - whether they butcher it or not is a different story). I don't want to talk too much about the episode but it was okay, not the greatest but okay. I did enjoy their rendition of My Chemical Romance's Sing and I enjoyed the Diva off song choice but Lea Michele's performance was not her best. I found it funny that she looks like she could be Idina Menzel's daughter and she ended up singing Idina's song from Rent, not to mention Idina's part. Anybody else notice that? I'm sure everybody did. Other than that, the whole Beiber fever tribute band crap.... Yea... I'm not a Beiber fan in the slightest. So BLAH!! Also, Dianna Agron and is getting hotter. I never thought she was when the show started but it's starting to come around; and Naya Rivera is just maintaining her hotness but there have been times when she's not, just my opinion.
So after watching Glee, I did some reading. Reading has been my new fascination this last couple months. I moved into a new apartment by myself and I seemed to have all this extra time on my hands so I thought I'd make up for the fact that I never completed college and I would try to help educate myself by reading more. So last night I finished reading "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle. I know this is a young adult book that probably should've been read in junior high but I never did and it was recommended that I do. It took me a while to really get into it. I think I was thrown off by the fact that it was a young adult book but the theme and ideas of the book are so out there that I feel if I had read it back then I wouldn't be able to fully grasp it like I do now - even though it still is a little "crazy". Not "crazy" bad but "crazy" as in making your mind think. It was good and I TEI (thoroughly enjoyed it). That analogy was brought to you by my friends April and Raymond who said it while I was around one day I was completely lost and they wouldn't explain. About 20 minutes later, I finally figured it out. So now I pass it on to you dear reader. When you enjoyed something, thoroughly enjoyed something you can just announce "I TEI". "Trust me, it's a thing" - Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother.
I know this post is pretty long already but I just want to mention something else. Two nights ago I finished reading "The Noticer" by Andy Andrews (I like his name). This book along with "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch are the two books that are really speaking to me right now. If you haven't read them, READ THEM! I will even lend you my copy - as long as you promise to return them because they are GREAT books. They are life changing, well unless you already follow the principles that the books talk about, which I doubt 90% of people do, myself included. They are not self-help books or instructional books on how to lead your life. They are just novels about these two guys lives and lessons that they've learned - lessons that everybody could probably learn. So my final thought for the momment -
Read "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch and "The Noticer" by Andy Andrews.
The Last Lecture ; The Noticer
Random Question
This is my first blog post!!! I'm excited, are you?!?! Probably not because you don't even know me or know what I'm going to write about or even if my writing/blogging will be good at all. Well I shall began and we shall see...
So as I was setting up my account and profile for this blog, there was the random question portion. I received the below question and responded but my response exceed the 400 word maximum so I decided to just post it instead. Enjoy.
"You’ve rented a sky-writer to propose to your significant other, but it’s completely overcast. What will you do?"
I'd do a traditional rain dance to get rid of all the clouds so that my significant other can see my "romantic" proposal sky-writing; or (and this is most likely what would happen) I'd get rid of the sky-writer and come up with a different plan (because you just can't mess with Mother Nature). Life is full of complications and it is our choice of reactions to these complications that define our lives. You can either complain about it or deal with it and move on with your life. But in answer to the question, another possible outcome might be that I'd rent a helicopter and my and my soon-to-be fiancée would take a night helicopter ride all throughout the city, finally landing at her favorite spot, whether it be the beach or a mountain top, where we'd get out and sit and talk for hours on end until I wouldn't be able to hold it in any longer and I'd die if I didn't ask her right then and there to marry me. Afterwards, we'd lift off again to have dinner, which would be another surprise - I will not reveal this in case my future fiancée-to-be should be reading this. :)
P.S. I know this is pretty lame as a first post so I will post another. Thanks.
So as I was setting up my account and profile for this blog, there was the random question portion. I received the below question and responded but my response exceed the 400 word maximum so I decided to just post it instead. Enjoy.
"You’ve rented a sky-writer to propose to your significant other, but it’s completely overcast. What will you do?"
I'd do a traditional rain dance to get rid of all the clouds so that my significant other can see my "romantic" proposal sky-writing; or (and this is most likely what would happen) I'd get rid of the sky-writer and come up with a different plan (because you just can't mess with Mother Nature). Life is full of complications and it is our choice of reactions to these complications that define our lives. You can either complain about it or deal with it and move on with your life. But in answer to the question, another possible outcome might be that I'd rent a helicopter and my and my soon-to-be fiancée would take a night helicopter ride all throughout the city, finally landing at her favorite spot, whether it be the beach or a mountain top, where we'd get out and sit and talk for hours on end until I wouldn't be able to hold it in any longer and I'd die if I didn't ask her right then and there to marry me. Afterwards, we'd lift off again to have dinner, which would be another surprise - I will not reveal this in case my future fiancée-to-be should be reading this. :)
P.S. I know this is pretty lame as a first post so I will post another. Thanks.
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