My Experiments
Before I get into this week's topic, allow me to digress into something completely unrelated. Now, aside from 'The Simpsons', 'Futurama', 'The Daily Show', and 'Newshour with Jim Lehrer', I never watched much television. I alluded to Scrubs in a previous entry and for good reason, it's an amazing show. It's got that 'coming of age' theme that so totally applies to me at this point of my life. Anyway, I don't want to prattle on about it. I just want to discuss some strange parallels in my own recent experiences. J.D. (Zach Braff) is always trying to gain the approval of his mentor/supervisor, Dr. Cox, who is a classic alpha male. While I'm no stranger to mentorism (There's a couple professors at the ol' alma mater (haha...I can say alma mater (and use triple embedded parentheses, as it were)) who I really looked up to, and I hope I can figure out a way to thank them one day), I keep seeing Dr. Cox reflected in my Computer Security professor, who also seems like a classic alpha male, and I find myself wondering if he's noticed my above average quiz grades. I'm thinking of a plot to somehow fenagle him into being my thesis advisor. J.D. is constantly tormented by an antagonistic janitor, aptly named 'Janitor'. There's a surly janitor in our department building, and sometimes I'd wish he'd purposely remove a 'wet floor' sign so I may slip on it and comically slide into the next room. Much like my current rough patch adjusting to a massive workload, J.D. also has a terribly rough time settling in at his hospital. Most unfortunately, there's no female parallel that could begin to be comparable to the stunning, yet Canadian, Sarah Chalke. In 'Scrubs' J.D. has a token minority best friend....Being a token minority myself, I'm not counting on finding this parallel. Now on to business.
When I moved out here I promised myself I'd learn how to cook. So I've been experimenting in the culinary arts. My entire family, father and mother side, laughs at me when I tell them I've been cooking, perhaps rightly so. It's mostly been fried rice with vegetables and tofu, but I've had some successes with a so called 'tangy carrot chowder' and my mamma's eggroll recipe. My mashed potato pyramind was better served for entertainment than consumption. I find I burn a lot of things. I knew I was in trouble when I had to tell myself, "Self, you're not going to UN-burn it by adding more teriyaki sauce". I think my problem lies in my refusal to follow recipes. My process involves glancing at the materials required while not really heeding the suggested portion amount. That part is just a suggestion, right?
There was also a surprise experiment happening in the cupboard where I keep my potatoes.
As I was reaching up for a fresh russet potato, I felt something squishy. I took a closer look and found it was a previous bag of potatoes. There was a single object in the bag, and alas what was once a savory potato was transformed into a foul mass of sludge. I brought it down for a closer look and placed it on the counter. To my disgust some liquid oozed out of the bag and onto the vinyl. But that's not all that escaped, amidst the brown puddle was a white worm of some sort. Tots, I named him Tots(after his dwellings), looked as if he was most unco
mfortable in his new setting. So I decided to do him a favor and out him out of his misery via garbage disposal. The rest of his brethren, assuming there were others in the sludge, went straight to the trash can and promptly tossed out. And speaking of surprise organisms, I've had the same two bags of cheese since I first went grocery shopping, pepper jack and sharp cheddar, and they're only now starting to grow mold. I find their resilience to be moldless very impressive.
It's been getting cold here and I do believe my winter wardrobe arsenal is complete. A pair of NoSweat high tops for the snow, few pairs of hella thick union-made socks, two union-made beanies, multiple pairs of thermal underwear, standard issue scarf, fair trade alpaca scarf, a heavy wool coat with nylon lining, and one cute-ass peacoat. I've been wearing at least two of these items on colder days and getting a feel for what dressing for cold weather will be like. However, as I was raised in the tropics and spent the past nine years in the Mojave, I am absolutely aware that my apparel will be inevitably insufficient. I hope we learned something new here today. Scrubs is good. Cooking is hard. Potato sludge is gross. Eat around mold. Weather is merciless.
Coincidentally, at this moment I'm watching the Futurama episode where Bender pursues his passion in cooking.
Leila: "You're a robot you don't even have a sense of taste."
Bender:"Honey, I wouldn't talk about taste if I was wearing a lime green tanktop"
Fry: "Bam!"
..Hilarious
When I moved out here I promised myself I'd learn how to cook. So I've been experimenting in the culinary arts. My entire family, father and mother side, laughs at me when I tell them I've been cooking, perhaps rightly so. It's mostly been fried rice with vegetables and tofu, but I've had some successes with a so called 'tangy carrot chowder' and my mamma's eggroll recipe. My mashed potato pyramind was better served for entertainment than consumption. I find I burn a lot of things. I knew I was in trouble when I had to tell myself, "Self, you're not going to UN-burn it by adding more teriyaki sauce". I think my problem lies in my refusal to follow recipes. My process involves glancing at the materials required while not really heeding the suggested portion amount. That part is just a suggestion, right?There was also a surprise experiment happening in the cupboard where I keep my potatoes.
As I was reaching up for a fresh russet potato, I felt something squishy. I took a closer look and found it was a previous bag of potatoes. There was a single object in the bag, and alas what was once a savory potato was transformed into a foul mass of sludge. I brought it down for a closer look and placed it on the counter. To my disgust some liquid oozed out of the bag and onto the vinyl. But that's not all that escaped, amidst the brown puddle was a white worm of some sort. Tots, I named him Tots(after his dwellings), looked as if he was most unco
mfortable in his new setting. So I decided to do him a favor and out him out of his misery via garbage disposal. The rest of his brethren, assuming there were others in the sludge, went straight to the trash can and promptly tossed out. And speaking of surprise organisms, I've had the same two bags of cheese since I first went grocery shopping, pepper jack and sharp cheddar, and they're only now starting to grow mold. I find their resilience to be moldless very impressive.It's been getting cold here and I do believe my winter wardrobe arsenal is complete. A pair of NoSweat high tops for the snow, few pairs of hella thick union-made socks, two union-made beanies, multiple pairs of thermal underwear, standard issue scarf, fair trade alpaca scarf, a heavy wool coat with nylon lining, and one cute-ass peacoat. I've been wearing at least two of these items on colder days and getting a feel for what dressing for cold weather will be like. However, as I was raised in the tropics and spent the past nine years in the Mojave, I am absolutely aware that my apparel will be inevitably insufficient. I hope we learned something new here today. Scrubs is good. Cooking is hard. Potato sludge is gross. Eat around mold. Weather is merciless.
Coincidentally, at this moment I'm watching the Futurama episode where Bender pursues his passion in cooking.
Leila: "You're a robot you don't even have a sense of taste."
Bender:"Honey, I wouldn't talk about taste if I was wearing a lime green tanktop"
Fry: "Bam!"
..Hilarious
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Dinner for 01
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Dinner for 01
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posted by ali-khan at 4:51 PM
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