School and Yoga

Well, I'm off to another field of science.  Took the GRE, applied and got accepted to the Food Science department for graduate school.  I've been accepted as a student for the Spring semester, but I'm not really starting until the Fall.  The spring, and summer, will be filled with prerequisite courses and a full-time job, which is currently statistics.  Yep, I've decided to have no life, working 45+ hours a week during the day, grabbing a big gulp and honey bun for dinner, and promptly spending the rest of the night in classes.  The summertime will be a continuation of the same, excluding a well-timed Eurotrip to France and England.  There is a bit of anxiety, but mostly, there is a thrill of excitement similar to arriving at the peak of a rollercoaster track.  I'm afraid of my intolerance to focus, but excited at what might happen if I follow through to the end.  One thing, some people might know, about me is I'm never the best at anything.  I've become good at multiple things, but never the best.  One part concentration, one part loss of it, I get close to arriving at nirvana, only to drop off to another subject.  I want to become the best in something.  I think this might be my ticket.


I like yoga.  Not the metaphysical bullshit a lot of people associate with the term, but the physicality and relaxation I seem to find with it.  I don't believe in chi or chakras, which are completely made up and only make you sound like an asshole when you talk about it.  I do believe that taking long, over-drawn breaths can over-oxidize your brain creating a high, and stretching and working out muscles that don't get a lot of attention is good food for you.  Ok, with all that being said, let me tell you somethings that piss me off about yoga classes, which I've had to resort to since my house is now too far away for lunch.

People Breakdown:
1. Fat Bitch - That one fat person that tries to start conversation with the instructor in the middle of a sun salutation.
2. Old Bitch - That one old person that requests alternative poses, thus destroying the idea of getting a decent workout.
3. Reoccuring Bitch - That one person that shows up to every class to give bad looks to newcomers and clap at the end of every session.
(By the way, the term Bitch is referring to a man or woman, excluding the "Fat Bitch" who is always a woman. I've just never seen a fat dude participate in a yoga class)

Move Breakdown:
1. Mooing Cow - I'm not even sure this is a real move or I've got the name correct, but it's completely useless. Position description: doggy-style without a partner
2. Six Sun Salutations in a Row - I just don't understand why we can't add a couple of harder positions into each cycle.
3. Long Pauses - If I wanted to rest, I'd be sitting my ass on a couch, watching The Wire, and stuffing my face with Doritos.




Picture of the Day

Question of the Day

Would you rather see a Ghostbusters prequel or Bill and Ted sequel? 

Moms and Cats

You know how that dude got famous with his twitter account "shit my dad says", well I need to replicate it, but instead use my mother.  Today, she sent me a message, using her new favorite technology texting, that said "I got charged for a kids price at the movies!  Do I look 14?" My response, appropriately, was "You go girl!"  Actually with her recently acquired free time, we've been hanging out quite a bit.  Cooking once a week, going to movies, and getting coffee.  It's weird, but I've learned more about my Mom in the last 2 months, than I had from living in the same house for 18 years.  I guess, that's just how things work out.

One thing my Mom always brings to my house is a goodie bag.  Now everybody's Mom, or Dad, or grandparents, carry around a thing called a goodie bag.  Whether it be chocolate delights, water guns, or just old shit they found in the attic, the goodie bag exists.  For me, it exists every week.  And every week I obtain new oddities that sit in my house because I don't have the heart to throw any of them away.  I'm also a pack rat, but we'll get to that another day.  This weeks bag was pretty random like most weeks. Listed below are some of the items:

• Pencil sharpener
• Two magnet clamps
• Two pan scrapers
• Poster of Arkansas Delta Family Gospel Fest
• Plastic cup
• Box of Fiber One bars
• Four Arkansas Animal Guides (Birds, Snakes, Waterfoul, Fish)
• Wildlife calender and pencil
• Riceland frisbee
• Two coupon pages (Burger King and IHOP)

So my cat is on vacation at the Reilly's house, and I miss it a bunch.  Last I heard, it's getting along with the other cats, cleaning them and occasionally staring out the window.  That's pretty much sums up Lilly's life, adventure and mystery wrapped up in a giant ball of hair.

Before the trip to Russellville I found learned something new. One of the most daunting feats a man can take is getting a cat into a car.  They really don't like surprises, car trips, and they will meow a lot.  Like 30 minutes worth, then realize that it's not too bad and there are worse things that could be happening.  Lilly finally came to this realization and began to explore, eventually tiring out and falling asleep in my lap.  Towards the end of the ride, she woke up, placed her paws on the window seal, and hung her head out the window like a dog.  Talk about getting a lot strange looks from truckers.

Question of the day:

What is your favorite meme?

Stress and Disney World

Hey.  Let's talk about stress.  Everybody gets it; some people know how to deal with it and some do not.  Most types of stress can be placed into two categories: eustress and distress.  Eustress is a positive form of stress that happens when you complete something or have desirable events happen in your life.  Distress on the hand is a piece of shit.  This bad boy carries some nasty kinds of medical conditions like psychological coping and anxiety.  According to the General Adaptation Syndrome, stress follows three stages.  Alarm is the first stage is activated by a stressor or threat.  Now the funny thing is this threat can be real or fantasy.  And if you pick fantasy, you're on a road of fatigue.  Because the real world really isn't too bad, and there's always a point when everything works out.  The fantasy world doesn't have those limitations.  And without walls, it is free to manifest into a phoenix.  This phoenix has a pretty likely chance to drive you bat-shit crazy over and over again.  That's when stage number two happens, Resistance.  You try to find a way to cope with it.  I prefer to drink a lot.  Once you've depleted your coping resources, or bottle of Jack.  You fall right into the third stage (or maybe a screen door), Exhaustion. This can result in fatigue, high-blood pressure, or getting sick.  For me, I get sick and my balls start to hurt.  Yes, I'm pretty sure it's not normal.  It's probably due to getting punched in a balls everyday at recess from Joseph Newton.  I don't really know, but it sucks.  I'm actually writing this post to not think of them.

Ok, enough of the bullshit, let's talk about Disney World and all the rides I'm going to fucking own.  If you're not in the know, Disney is one of the happiest places in the world.  There's cotton candy, talking mice, fireworks, and a big fuckin castle.  This is a fantasy land that actually exists.  As soon as you walk in, all your problems melt away and you become a 10 year kid with a brand new pair of roller blades.  This year is going to be even more awesome than ever because we are going in October.  This means three very important things, no lines, Star Tours and Mickey's Not-so-Scary Halloween Party.  Boooyah, big time!  Yeah, that means all day power hours, the original dark lord (not that voldermort asshole), and goofy kids running around with goofy costumes.  It is going to be epic.  Just so you can have a little taste, check out this video.

Question of the day

Mr. or Mrs. Pacman?

Laziness and Scripts

Hey.

I had an enlightenment moment today.  I was eating a no-bake cookie and glossing over an internet article about computer patent wars when I realized I've been a lazy piece of shit lately.  I realized how much I complain about my current situation in life and stress about the impending future, but don't do anything, or almost anything, about it.  I half-ass things.  I start something, but don't finish it.  I write scripts, but don't film them.  I study for the GRE, but don't take the test.  I watch TV, but never get past the second season.  I think it's about time to finalize something worthwhile.  To stay focused and craft something from start to finish.  It's time to grow up and be awesome.


Talking about scripts, David and I have been working on a couple of them.  One is a dark comedy about kidnapping, and the other is about samurais.  I know, pretty deep shit.  We haven't finalize any of the scripts, but the dark comedy, after some dialog rehashing, is almost ready to film.  But we need people, props and a place to shoot.  We're being doing auditions soon for the parts, we've got a couple people in mind.  We also need an old-style diner to shoot the film, you know, the one with checkered walls and those bars with the cute, red seats that spin.  If you know of that kind of place, let us know.  The samurai film is just in its beginning stages.  I fill you in with more details as they come.


Ok, recipe time!  This week's recipe is a simple one where you can substitute, and create something totally different tasting.  It is also a good recipe for those tiring days at work, where you get home stare blankly in the fridge looking for something quick to make so you can completely be useless for the rest of the night (not a bad thing).  Ok, now feast your eyes on simplicity.

rice parts
1 cup of rice
2 cups of water
1 tsp of salt

sauce parts
1 carrot (diced)
1 potato (cubed)
1/2 onion (diced)
1 tsp of marjoram
1/2 tsp of mustard seed (ground)
1 tsp of salt
1 beef bouillon cube
1 cup of water
1 large tomato (diced)

Throw rice ingredients in steamer and flick it on, or add parts to a pot, bring it to boil, and then simmer with lid on for about 22 minutes or so.

To make the sauce,  add onion, carrot and potato to a pan with olive oil on medium heat.  Saute for about 7 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown.  Now add the spices and cook another minute.  Then add water and bouillon.  Bring to a boil on high heat, mixing to stir in beef bouillon.  Next lower heat to a simmer, add tomatoes, and cook until half original volume (about 10 minutes).

Cool sauce and top rice with it.  Good eats!  For future recipes, play around with the ingredients.  Try using chicken stock, instead of beef, or change the spices to be more Chinese influenced.

Question of the day
What is your favorite band from the 90s?

Summer and Spain

Hey.

It's been a great summer so far.  I've been enjoying the sunshine while it's here and taking lunches to bike ride and evenings to garden.  That right, the sun is up and my garden is reproducing.  So far I've plucked three squashes, one cucumber, and one zucchini.  There is also a shit load of tomatoes about to turn red, just waiting for those suckers.  And like always, with happiness comes a tear, my pepper plants are dying.  I don't know what to do with them.  I water them, I care for them, and even sometimes sing outside, but they just won't grow up.  Little stubborn punks.


Lately, I've been obsessed with Spain.

Been reading up on it's culture, some of its history, but mostly its cooking.  A good Spanish dish is an amazing and simple creation.  It lives without too much complication or spices unlike it westbound neighbor Portugal.  I've only reached the middle of the country, by the Castiles and the oh-so-well-know La Mancha, home of the Don Quixote.  It's been a pleasant trip, and enjoying it in Arkansas allows me to not endure the noxious weather luring in its homeland.  You see, while we enjoy a nice well-rounded four seasons, Spain sits through a nine month winter and a hell-like three month summer.  The lands of Castile, both north and south, are also surrounded by large mountain ranges and many meagre, almost baron communities, unlike its famous Madrid.  Madrid is the screwball virgin in the whore house.  (Not really sure why I used that analogy; maybe it's the fact that I've been watching a lot of Game of Thones where whore houses are very popular). Anyways, the crossroads of Madrid is a cultural gangbang of culinary pleasures.  A fancy hotdog.  Ok Bob, enough with the comparisons.  For the rest of central Spain, food is not about eccentric plating or something to talk about, it's about keeping the common warm through the harsh winter or cooling him during the summertime. It's about a nascent tomorrow, making dreams for it and pursuing them again and again because you are alive and can do it.  Here's a little taste of that realization with soup.

Sopa de Ajo (Spicy Garlic Soup)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 1/2 tbs of chopped garlic
1 1/2 cup of coarsely crumbled bread
1/2 tsp of paprika
3 cups of water
1/2 tsp of salt
1/8 tsp of cayenne
1 egg, beaten (or not)

Instructions:
Get a small sauce pan, add olive oil, and warm it up on the stove on medium low heat.  After a couple of minutes, add garlic and cook until it starts turning a light brown in color.  Next add bread crumbs and mix with wooden spoon.  (You don't have to mix with a wooden spoon, but it does feel more authentic).  Make sure you don't burn the bread, constantly play with it.  Once it looks toasty, add paprika and mix it with the breadcrumbs.  A minute or less later, add the water, cayenne, and salt.  Mix it up and bring soup to a boil.  Once at boil lower temperature and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.  When the time goes off, swirl the soup around with your mixing utensil of choice, making sure all the bread is broken up.  Take pot off heat and slowly mix in beaten egg, stirring constantly to ensure it does not curdle.  (An alternative option is to add a full egg to the pot and poaching the egg).  Now pour the soup in a serving bowl and present to hungry people!


Question of the day:
What is your favorite type of firework?

New life, new recipe

Hello.  Bob here.  It's summer time, finally.  Although it doesn't feel like summer too much with shit tons of rains hitting us everyday.  But my roses are blooming and the birds built a new nest in my light fixture outside so it's got to be nearly here.
I've been doing a lot, and a lot has changed.  I've started a garden which was almost completely wiped out from the flood (not the halo infestation).  I've also decided to go back to school for Food Science, and I've decided to sell my house.  Yep, I'm growing up and becoming a kid with a complete 180.  I think you got to change sometimes to keep life interesting.

I like doing summer right, so I'm beginning it with a bang!  This 10 gauge shotgun is called LR's Riverfest.  And it's double barrels are shooting off two shells named Poison and Nelly.  I'll probably check out Creekfest in Russvegas as well.  The following weekend is LR's Film Festival, 5 days of watching films and partying.  Next up, Bonnaroo.  Here's a festival where you camp, drink, talk and enjoy lots of really bad ass bands.  On the lineup we've got Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, Scissor Sisters, Lil Wayne, Primus, Explosions in the Sky, Neil Young and more!!

Recipe time!
Seeing how I'm looking into the world of food and the chemical reactions that make it taste oh sooo good, I've been reading a lot of science books and cooking even more than usual.  Here's on my latest creations, a rustic beer stew I call The Rhineland Stout Massacre.


Ingredients:
1 onion
3 carrots
1 large potato
4 broccoli forets
3/4 sam adams cream stout
2/3 cup of chicken stock
1 tablespoon of apple vinegar
2 tbs of butter
1 tbs of flour
1/2 cup of fresh parsely
1 tbs of dried marjoram
2 tsp of ground sage
1 bay leaf
2 tomatoes with 1 tsp of tomato paste or 2/3 cup of tomato sauce

Instructions:

Bring out grandma's skillet, toss with one part olive oil and one part butter, and add in the veggies (onion, carrots, potato, broccoli).  Cook for about five minutes at medium heat and then add spices (parsley, marjoram, sage, bay leaf).  Cook for another five minutes at medium heat.  Meanwhile, in a separate pan, cook flour and butter together to create a roux.   Next add roux, beer, chicken stock, and tomato sauce or concoction to the skillet.  Bring to boil and then lower heat to a simmer.  Let it stew for about thirty minutes.  Add apple vinegar and cook for an additional five minutes.  Turn off stove and enjoy over a bed of rice or spaetzle.  Yum Yum!

Question of the day:

What is your favorite beer?

Symbiosis and Lists

Some people have a very addictive nature.  They find a certain person, place or thing and attach themselves to it.  This symbiotic relationship can be for the better or the worse.  You see, symbiosis comes in three flavors:  The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.  Actually there is another form called Amensalism, but we'll leave that for another day so I can use my Sergio Leone reference.  The Good involves an attachment where both the sides gain a benefit.  A perfect cycle of continual partying where the booze is cheap and the chicks are hot.  The Bad is when only one side gets pleasure while the other doesn't give a shit.  This is the guy who shows up to the party wearing a tie-dye shirt and carrying a neon-flashing hula hoop. He's going to have a fucking blast.  And last comes The Ugly, a parasitic relationship where one side gains while the other loses.  It's the asshole who steals your date and your cat.

I'm not a very addictive person.  I can barely concentrate on things for longer than a couple of minutes.  Don't believe me, have a conversation with me.  I'll either entertain you or piss you off.   In my world, curiosity and daydreaming is King.  And with both gestures come sticky notes and lists.  Here's a few list for you.

Current crushes from the 80s:

   Audrey Rouget

    Sherilyn Fenn

    Helen Slater

    Lita Ford

I order these every time I see them on the menu:

1. Reuben

2. Fish Tacos

3. Curry

People I currently want to hang out with:

1. Bill Murray

2. Special Agent Dale Cooper

3. John Locke

Places I've been recently:

1. Wizard of Oz Sing-a-long

2. Megalodon Exhibit

3. Kansas

4. Keeper of the Planes

Things on my mind:

1. Twin Peaks

2. Stir fry

3. Gardening

4. Robots

Questions of the day:

What is your favorite things to list? 

Planes and Coasters

I'm on a plane again.  Except this time, I feel different.  I'm not going on an adventure, or an unknown place, I'm heading home.  Home to the same old faces, the same old job, and the same stale air of Rogers.  It's nice to settle for the same, but I'm too young.  I don't want it now.

I should have kept with my childhood dreams and become an astronaut.  A space cowboy.  I still blame my parents for not letting me go to space camp (lol).  Heck, I space out enough,  I might as well be there.  The quickest high I can get now is planes and roller coasters.  The quick thrills of being weightless for a split second and the strange feeling of having your balls sucked up in your body cavity.  To see above the clouds and crowds of people is just spectacular.  It might be a superiority thing or whatever, I don't know.  But whatever it might be, it makes me feel awesome and worth two shits.

Talking about coasters, I recently went to Seaworld.  They have two new coasters since the last time I visited which involved me standing too close to the Shamu tank (bad idea!).  Epic roller coaster names: Manta and Kraken.  Yeah, dangerous shit.  Just throw in a mechanical shark or a crocosaurus and you've got an Asylum production.  These coasters are two furious beasts both in nature and pure steel.  The Kracken is a legendary steel floorless coaster with speeds only second to the fastest Seaworld attraction, Steel Eel, around 65mph.  It boasts a 144-foot drop which leads into an epic 119-foot vertical loop.  The Manta is a flying roller coaster that is intended to create the experience of flight by tilting the passengers horizontally with the ground.  It has got a lot of twists and turns that includes a face-jarring 98-foot tall pretzel loop and a counter-clockwise inline twist that places 3G forces against your puny  human face.

Music lately:
Bright Eyes - The People's Key
Tennis - Cape Dory

Pic of day:

Questions of the day:

What is your favorite time travelling movie?

Bars and Comets

I went drinking with people I barely know the other day.  I'm with them, but only for setting up this convention.  Then we part ways.
We started on city walk, at Universal, and ate at Jimmy Buffets (who I'm pretty sure is an alchoholic).  We then proceeded to the hotel bar where I cruised on a beer from my room and ordered a gin-and-tonic (my beloved drink of choice).  The guys were getting a little antsy so we decided to check out a dueling piano bar called Howl of the Moon.  It was prett fun, and we got them to sing the only song that matters, "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns n' Roses.  After this song was over, I'm about knee deep in some gin-and-tonics and feeling pretty damn saucy, so we stagger to a latino dance club.  There was quite a bit of dancing going on, but all of it was on the tables.  Well I was getting jealous, I wanted to dance too!  This lead to a guy telling me I can't dance on the tables, only employees.  And now having a taste of some of dance, I only wanted more.  So we headed to a hotel with the same name as our hotel, but a totally different building (I learned this from the prior night) and hit up its disco club.  It was pretty awesome.  This couple kept buying me drinks as they tugged on my mustache, and a 50+ year old lady taught me some salsa moves while my friend danced with her daughter.

Ok, let's turn this shit around with a little friendly science

Have you ever sat down and thought about comets?  You've probably seen Deep Impact or Armegadden, but those movies only show those pipsqueak comets.  Just imagine a comet the size of earth, yes this wouldn't be catagorized as a comet any more, but bare with me.  I've been reading a lot about Nemesis hypothesis lately.  Nemesis theory is the idea that thier is a planet four times the size of Jupiter in the Oort Cloud, really cold region on the outskirts of our solar system, that uses its gravitational force to sling comets into our known solar system.   It's the logic currently being developed to understand where comets even come from.  It also sounds pretty crazy to think that there might be an even larger planet than our now eight, and it hasn't even been discovered yet.  It's also fun to think planets getting out of alignmnet by unknown forces and creating a cataclysmic chain-reaction of chaos in the cosmos.
Currently we've go the WISE and the Hubble Space telescopes trying to pin-point it so we might know the awesome truth soon.

Pic of the day:
Here's a picture of one of my many giant burrito creations so you guys don't think I'm full of shit.  It's a curry potato one!

Question of the day:
Which one would you rather ride by sadle?  A kraken, humming bird, manta ray or killer whale.

Business and Dads

My business trip has been a doozy.  It consists of working 13 or 14 hour days and lots of walking.  I have basically perform a couple of marathons everyday since the convention center is so gigantic.  It seriously takes 20 minutes to walk from one side to the other, and I'm constantly having to find people (our walkie system sucks, doesn't even have camouflaged receivers).

But the people at the job are a least a great source of entertainment.  If you don't know I work in IT.  And the IT crowd is one of made of a different breed.  With their two phones holstered on each side of their cutoff denim jeans like a western meeting the 80s, these men take justice and broadcast it at a unknown frequency. Comb-overs, fanny packs, baggy shirts, and forward struts, they've got them.  One of their names is Jack, and he's my partner in crime when it comes to the tangled cob webs of interweaving fibers called networks.

Jack is this monster of a man.  At 6' 9" and 300 pounds, this wrecking ball has the strength of a F30 pickup and sometimes displays the personality of an Ogre.  He has one goal, as he has informed me many times, and it is to make me emotionally breakdown and cry like a little kid.  He has not only made me his personal scapegoat, but also puts insult after insult to trigger some kind of response.  So far it hasn't work, and even as the day grows more tiresome, I'm able to beef up.  Actually we are starting to find many different qualities in common (not films or music).  Today we hate apples and caramel snack packs in an empty two-story auditorium talking about the origin of expressions we've been saying since kids.

I really want to build a high class Victorian steampunk outfit.  I just need that kind of respect in a fake community.  I've got the whole outfit planned out, just need some pressure gauges and the time to build it.

How men and their shirt types evolve:
Age 5: Monkeys (probably curious george)
Age 10: Lizards (way cooler than monkeys)
Age 15: Christian heavy metal (rebellious and hardcore)
Age 20: Designer shirts (cool graphics or indie band shirts)
Age 25: Fashion shirts (multi-button or v-neck-like)
Age 30: Polos (you're married now)
Age 35: Tie-dye (you're married and need some youth)
Age 40: Best dad shirts (you might as well be proud about being married)
Age 45: Oversized shirts (you're slowly losing grip of reality)
Age 50: Button up shirts showing chest hair (you're now listening to more disco than ever for some reason)
Age 55: Son's old shirts (retirement is near)
I don't know after 55.

Question of the day:
What are you five favorite films of the decade?

Me and things I don't understand

Do you guys ever pretend that there is always somebody watching you?  Someone you might just want to impress.  I do this about 90% of my life.  My time is everybody’s time.  This might sound a little conceded, but hey, I have to live with myself my whole life.  Sometimes I play music with my windows down in a public parking lot, even though I was listening to a sci-fi podcast on the drive.  I’m not blaring the music, but I am thinking “hey maybe someone will dig my music and hangout with me.” I’ll sometimes try to yawn and stretch in a sexy manner; people might disagree what I propose as sexy.  I don’t know, it’s just something I’ve done for a long time.  Since I was a kid, I’d play on our outside basketball court and pretend there was a full stadium of people rooting me on.

Why are people always in such a big fuckin rush?  As you age, are you enlightened with some kind of knowledge that beckons haste? Like the world is going to literally shit on you some kind shit that permanently halts your mobility or you heart will stop beating unless you pump it with adrenaline like that movie Crank.  I just don’t get it.

Do you think people who watch too many movies or read too much lose touch of reality?  I mean love is kind of a perfect setup for those mediums.  You find a gal, have a great time, go home with her, have great sex or talk for hours, and then either see her or don’t see here again.  And if you don’t see her again, you don’t stress out cause the movie only has 30 minutes left.

Let’s talk about ice breakers.  I’m not good at them.  I usually just bring up the big three: movies, music, and books.  Where general questions about a topic are boring and specific ones are considered snobby.  Another approach, I’ve used, is to mention something on your mind.  This tends not to fend well with strangers, definitely if it’s a bit right field (or is it left).  They either think you’re interesting, until you continue talking about it, or strange (not as strange as the kid in dreads playing with the neon hula-hoop, but strange enough to ignore).  So what do you talk about?  Yourself, politics, conspiracies, favorite babysitters, that restaurant you want to open.  I don’t know.

This post really shows how much I love writing about myself.  Actually the whole blog thing does.

Vid of the day:

To infinity and beyond.

Hey guys,

I’m writing this in a plane.  Some people have anxiety before a flight, but I love it.  I love it from the initial take off, climbing speeds of 200 mph in just a couple of seconds, to the landing where you feel the jolt of the plane landing and gravity bitch slapping you in the face for ignoring it.  During flight, the plane transcends reality into a bitter, sweet blizzard of clouds.  From way up high, the ground below loses its complexity and become an easy 500 piece puzzle.  Life feels simple and manageable.

I find myself thinking a lot before a flight.  Thinking of my friends, family, latest crush, gin and tonics, and the rest of the day is going to play out.  I want to have those memories backed up if we do crash and burn.

I have been real busy lately.  I got a new position at work, met a nice lady who I turned off by trying to turn on (Maybe I have lost the ability to kiss passionately), made a kegerator, and got drunk.  And now I’m flying to Orlando for two weeks to setup a meeting for 10,000 folks.

Friday, my roommates and I hosted a classy party.  Here are some of the highlights:

• 20 + people dressed up all fancy
•  Walked around with appetizers: citrus onion tomato brochette with melted mozzarella, cream-cheese caper and lox brochette, chocolate-hazelnut banana foster brochette, cream-cheese raspberry preserve brochette, stuffed mushrooms, spinach-stuffed pork tenderloin, and jalapeño popper wrapped in bacon.
• Photo booth with Mallory the photographer (she’s pretty much pro)
• Lots of Frank Sinatra
• Raffling out of a King of the Cosmos hat
• Midnight toast with Champagne
• Transition of classy to skanky with the revealing of the kegerator (filled with Fat Tire!)

Question of the day:

Do you like straight up cranberry juice or one of the funky Cran creations?  Or do you not even like cranberry juice and wish people would stop asking you?

Pics of the day:

Leggo my burrito

Mirror Mirror on the wall whose got the grandest burrito of them all?
I'm on my burrito kick again and going BIG.  I don't need those tiny, kiddie burritos taco bells been screaming about, I want a super, duper baby-sized burrito.  A daunting burrito of legendary status, cascading shadows on my plate and tormenting my not-so-equal belly.
Recently, I have found one of these so-called Uber burritos at a local Mexican restaurant hidden in the corner of a Hispanic supermarket.  I couldn't even eat all of it, and if you know me, I can put the smack down on some food.  But it was very enjoyable and accompanied with salsa verde...yummmy.  After eating my burrito, I talked to the waitress and she told me they sell the burrito shells in the supermarket.  So I went and picked some up along with a random Mexican pastry (I've always gotta try one).

So now, with the power of the big wraps, I'm off to making my own grande burritos.  The first burrito made was an eggplant one.  The stuffing included an eggplant mixture with onions, garlic, tomatoes, and a few spices.  Spices were pretty simplistic, just basil, thyme, pepper and salt (I like to keep the eggplant flavor intact).  After braising eggplant, to give it a firm exterior, I sauted it with the rest of the ingredients for 10 minutes, holding back the tomatoes until the last 5 minutes of cooking.  Next I placed fresh mozzarella strips on top and threw the whole mess in the oven for 10 minutes at 350.
Took the eggplant stuff out of the oven, warmed up a mega tortilla, and dumped the eggplant contents into it with a cup of cooked rice.  Giving it the fold and tuck, I realized the monster that was created.  Commanding it to rise up and face its master, one hand on the bottom, the other midway up its side, I stared into it slightly tanned face. It was love at first site and all I could think to do was eat it.  So I did.

Tonight is going to be another burrito night; I'm thinking chicken stroganoff.

Question of the day.
What should I put in my giant tortillas?

Fact of the day:
Taco bell doesn't care about you, and their meat is mostly fake. http://bit.ly/gHNupl

Picture of the day:

stole this pic from swisher

Rock n Roll Bitches

So far I've fucked up two New Years resolutions.  But the year is still chugging along and that's a good thing.

It's been snowing a lot lately.  The city has turned into one big iced cupcake.  No snowmen have been created and the Mexicans next door don't have any lawns to mow, meaning my neighborhood is unemployed.  But I like the snow, I like its shimmering crystal look and feel that doesn't give me one significant glimpse into the future.

I watched a western a few weeks back, "Two Meals for Sister Sara".  It's about an ugly nun whose intentions are good, but she's shit out of luck, stuck in the desert with her only friend Clint Eastwood.  Not a bad friend to have in the wild junkyards of south Texas.  With two loaded guns and a attitude to match, Clint's one hell of a ladies man.  I should probably study his actions and take course, but instead I sit on my ass with only the visions of a blazing, battling drunk Indians and scantily clad women dancing atop bar tables.

I've been trying to become more productive.  Watched some tutorials on film editing, cleaned my bathtub, and started drinking bourbon straight.  I've also been reading quite a bit.  Just finished a book about two factions in an information security war, one who still and one who protects, set in a futuristic world where a random data shuffler gets mixed up with the wrong people.  The story deals with the subconscious, alternate realities, unicorns, and chubby lady who wears all pink suits.  Below you will find the playlist I listened to during those last, crucial chapters of the book.  It's a composition of classical, jazz, and a touch of bob dylan.  Enjoy.

http://listen.grooveshark.com/playlist/Just+Another+Day/43086520?src=5

Recipe of the day:

So being stuck in your house for four days because of the snow makes you realize how empty your cupboard really is.  That being said, I got creative and made some tasty-ass gravy beef tips.  Recipe is as follows:

1 cups of red beans

1 onion

1 tbs ground caraway seed

1 tsp celery salt

2 cups of chicken stock

2 cups of water

1 pound of beef tips

3 chopped garlic

1 tbs of molasses

1/2 cup of red wine

2 tbs of butter

1/2 package of country gravy mix

First cook your beans!  I did the quick soak method to prep them before cooking, but if time allows, go ahead and soak them over night.  Once a little soft to touch, simmer them in the water and chicken stock for one hour.  When you have 15 minutes left of that hour add the chopped onions, caraway seeds, and celery salt to the mix.  Also begin working on that beef.

Grab yourself a cast-iron skillet (the older the better - steal grandmas, it's her secret weapon) and throw in your beef tips and garlic with a splash of olive oil.  Once you see them start browning, drizzle in the molasses and add the wine (start drinking the rest of the bottle, it makes the meal taste better).  Let that set for about 5 to 10 minutes at a medium low temperature.  Next add the butter and gravy to the batch of goodness, and let that sit at the same temperature for until the beans are done.  Then drain your beans, keep a cup of the liquid and put it to the side.  Add the beans and let the whole thing become bubbly at medium heat for about 10 minutes.  Add water if it become too thick.

Take off stove and put it over white rice.  Yummmy!

Question of the day:

If they made a new paper bill whose face do you want to see on it?

Pic of the day:

Yummy...it's a new year!

Hey guys.
So it's a new year and I have the feeling it's going to be a good one.  Well it better be cause I got a tattoo of dino yelling it!  This year things are going to change, not drastically, but change for the better.  I even made a list.  With check marks!  Thanks Sara for the idea.
So here's 2011 in nutshell.

Read at least 1 book a month
Write a screen play and try to film/sell it
Update blog once per week
Learn a new language
Take GRE and make 1200 or better
Enroll in Food Science Graduate program
Start a small business
Start a podcast
Learn a mixing/sample software
      Create some electronic songs
      Create songs with the keyboard
Learn the art of extreme couponing
Make a kegerator
Brew my own beer
Trade some stock and learn the market
Research sites of France and England
Throw crawfish broil
Make boardgame
Get a deeper understanding of superposition

Yeah, it's pretty big and bold list, but I'm going to do it.
So one items -besides the blog one, obviously- I've been working on already is creating a movie script.  I've got two scripts ideas, both dealing with obstacles faced in a non-traditional relationship and the interworkings of those types of relationships.  Yes, some people might say I'm fulfilling on of my most desired fantasies about being in a committal/confusing/living relationship with a 40 plus year old woman through the use of ink and paper, but I'm not

Living update.  My sister just moved back to Arkansas so people might meet her or see her around.  She's a very tiny woman with a big attitude.  Seriously, don't get in her way unless you want to het the shit beat out of you.

Question of the day:
If you could create a KFC Double Down competitor, what would it be?