fresh & easy

(We just finished reading Like Water for Chocolate and the girls do an assignment where they produce a food contribution, the recipe, and a write up that fleshes out some sort of symbolic value in the food they prepared.  Here was my contribution this year.)

Caesar Salad

Ingredients:

1 Vehicle or friend with a vehicle or mode of public transportation or working legs

1 Fresh & Easy Store

2 Bags of Salad

1 Bowl and Scooper Thing

Directions:

1.  Go to store.

2.  Purchase 2 bags of salad.

3.  Open all the little bags in the big bags.

4.  Dump all the things together.

5.  Mix the things all around.

                  When I was younger, I remember my dad telling me about the supreme intelligence and general awesomeness of Sherlock Holmes.  He’s a fan.  He told me at one point, “Sherlock Holmes says knowing everything isn’t important, the key is to know how to FIND OUT what you need to know. “

                  I didn’t like it.  I was the kind of kid who really LIKED memorizing a bunch of things and spitting them back out on tests.  I didn’t have the best mind for trivia sort of knowledge, but I really liked the process of sitting down to memorize something- and an important part of that was feeling like that skill was somehow going to be useful.   I had big dreams of memorizing all of the countries of the world.   And maybe I’d get wild and memorize their capitals too.  Sherlock Holmes seemed to be deflating those goals.

                  -Flash forward to 2013 (cue video of that endless rainbow kitty video)-

  OK, Sherlock.  OK, dad.  You were so right.  We live in a world where the rote memorization of facts is less and less meaningful.  Our reality is in a constant and increasingly rapid state of flux.  The world I knew as a teenager and the way we connected or learned is DRASTICALLY different than the world you encounter today.  It’s not just technology, either.  The way my generation approaches career options is so different than my parent’s generation.  We shift.  We jump from job to job.  We are transient.  The importance in being a viable candidate in the workforce is no longer really a particular skill set or knowing how to do one thing really well, but the ability to adapt quickly to a new environment using the variety of skill sets you’ve accumulated from your past experience.  (there’s a little nugget of advice in there- did you grab it?  EMBRACE EXPERIENCE.  All things teach. )  If you don’t’ know a word, it’s no longer necessary to drag out the ol’ 20 pound dictionary (I LOVED my beloved 20 pound dictionary.  LOVED.  Rest in peace, you big beautiful clunky tome).  Instead, click on it and your Kindle will tell you.  Or ask Siri. 

                  So my point is, change is happening at an infinity rate I say we all embrace it and make the best of this brave new world.  In a mindful sort of way, of course. 

                  For example, running short on time, I opted to go the Caesar salad in a bag route for my contribution today.  I was aware of my own time constraints, and I used knowledge of my present situation to best utilize my resources and to adapt.  Even if I don’t know or can’t make a salad “from scratch” (ok, it’s a little stretch), I KNOW WHERE TO FIND IT.  Fresh & Easy.  Emphasis on Easy, glad about the Fresh.  Sherlock would be doing little fictional cartwheels of joy if he could see me now, I just know it. 

                  But here’s where the mindful part comes in to play.  I knew how to solve my problem, but purchasing I’m also aware that my solution could have been more optional.  Purchasing the bag salads includes buying a bunch of plastic packaging, the excess of which is putting our environment in a terrible sort of condition.  My convenience comes at a cost.  Also, even though Caesar salads walk around like they’re all healthy and green and beautiful, the real part that ropes you in is the Caesar dressing, which is nutritionally void and the opposite of health.  Let’s not even get started on croutons.  So my simple solution bag salad is not without it’s pitfalls.  Like technology.  Like pretty much everything.

So here is my concise list of bag salad wisdom nuggets:

1.      Knowing how to find out what you need to know is more important than knowing it.

2.      Embrace experience.  A variety of life experience leads to improved adaptability.

3.      But don’t go ignoring the pitfalls.  There are always pitfalls.  Be aware.

                                                                                                            J Ms. Ingram

never forget

weeks ago debbie and i had dinner at gallagher's pub.  she ordered a cajun chicken salad that had some sort of grilled vegetable medley as a topper.  when the salad came out, the top of the salad was covered in sliced bananas.

bananas.

i was so thrown off i didn't even take a picture.  debbie immediately began eating all the bananas because, as she recalled later, she felt like they didn't belong there and she had to remove them as quickly as possible.

nothing was said by the waitress and, oddly enough, debbie and i remained so shocked and confused by the mysterious banana suprise that we didn't even inquire.  i thought for sure that some sort of confusion had taken place in the process of taking the order, but when the receipt came it revealed no strange add-ons. just cajun salad.

banana salad toppings on grilled vegetables.
that really happened.

growing pains

on the eve of my thirty-first year
freshly showered
sans makeup and bra
netflix
garlic breath
a calm night before a busy few days

also present:
3 fresh cat scratches,
2 brown bananas,
1 cup of coffee- brewing.

1.  the only thing i think i'm noticing about aging is the whole weird body thing.  my weird foot bump that surfaced a few years ago seemed to foreshadow the impending doom of the body-in-decay changes that start to happen after 30.  i feel like overnight, my metabolism screeched to a halt.  i had to stop wearing skinny jeans because my calves seem to have double in size.  what's with THAT?  and i'm starting to believe that those terrible rumors are true... once you're past 30 you just don't drop weight as easily.

2.  in most other ways- i feel no age at all, really.  things seem exciting and possible most days.

2.5.  OMG- my dear select readers.  do not share this with the outside world upon penalty of something grave and serious.  watch and you'll see why.  just.... enjoy.  and... you're welcome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHm7eTUOpPI


3.  yesterday i photographed my first wedding.  although i was unsure that i would enjoy wedding photography, i think i might have a heart for it afterall.  it was beautiful to share some of the behind the scenes excitement, and i get the pleasure of sharing the joy i captured with everyone once i finish editing.

4.  the wedding i photographed happened to be for 2 gay friends.  when i posted the teaser picture today, i noticed that i lost a "like" from my facebook business page soon after.  i expect that i will "lose" a few more in the next few days.

i just started up my business page two weeks ago.  i have nearly reached 200 likes (193 as of right now) and i feel really excited about using social media to reach more and more people.  some of my initial "likers" are people from the long ago christian past.  although i am still their facebook friends, i have hidden many of them from my newsfeed because of my irritation with the irrational and often offensive religious propaganda they fill their pages with.  many from that group are the type who would post "boycott starbucks because they donate money to planned parenthood" or whatever.  i wish it weren't so, but people really do sort of arrange themselves into "types"... and this type happens to be bigoted and closed minded.  because they've been out of sight and out of mind for so long, i've forgotten how extreme some of their views are.   i've become so comfortable and confident in my atheist skin, that i often forget that many people still don't know that aspect of my identity.  but thinking ahead, i had actually considered that posting a picture from a gay wedding might cause a little stir in that crowd.  it's not shocking when i think of it, but it is a little disappointing.  on one hand, that person is exercising the same right that i do when i hide people from my newsfeed.  we have every right to exercise an amount of control in what we expose ourselves to (my aunt kate situation, for example).  on the other hand, isolating ourselves from exposure to other ways of thinking is what LEADS to misunderstanding and the narrowmindedness that furthers hate and prejudice.  i hide that type of christian from my facebook feed because i've BEEN there and EXPERIENCED that world view, and i now understand it to be dangerous and problematic.  i'm nearly POSITIVE that the people i consider to be the most judgmental in that group do not even KNOW an outed gay person.  DO NOT EVEN KNOW ONE OPENLY GAY PERSON ON A PERSONAL LEVEL.  although the actions of the "unliker" and i are the same, i think that they come from a fundamentally different place.  i'm not really offended so much as sad.

5.  i have bunions.  and maybe arthritis.

5.5.  something witty!  something wonderful!

6.  having a lot of highs and lows with photography.  so pleased with some results.  so frustrated with myself for so many rookie mistakes.  i made the mistake (?) of looking at some of my earlier work the other day.  AHHHH- the lighting and color all wrong- just so much off.  it's good to see so much progress.  it's tough to know i still have a lot further to go.  i know i have the eye- but the eye isn't enough.   i feel like i would be growing so much more quickly if i more time to practice.  i should be shooting and studying tutorials every day.  it feels nearly impossible to carve out the time i'd like for it.  also, the more i make contacts, the more i'm realizing that there are handfuls upon handfuls of experienced and talented people in this area trying to do the same thing that i am.  that's a little intimidating.  i'm still trying to find my niche, but i find myself moving more and more toward Fine Art.  I love it, but the opportunities for profit are MUCH less open.  so i find myself in need of honing my skills in portrait settings to earn money to purchase equipment to do what i'd really like to do.

7.  MONEY IS TERRIBLE.  i keep thinking i'm getting ahead, and i find myself just scraping by.  forever.  how does anyone think of retirement or any of that shit?  feels impossible to save even the smallest amount a month, let alone huge chunks to live off from someday.

8.  typhoons.  tornadoes.  all that planning, all for naught.

9.

10.  i haven't read a book since Franny & Zooey a few months ago.  i HAVE watched all of Breaking Bad, 5 seasons of Mad Men and HUNDREDS of episodes of Cheers, among other things.  no regrets.  they stimulate my mind too.

11.  candy crush- level 66

12.  

it's true.

13.  people come and go.  sometimes stay.  

14.  we only get one.  we only get one.  it's both paralyzing and mobilizing.  violent swings between everything having such meaning and value  ----> everything being completely meaningless and having no value at all.  we can only be sure of our dying... so what are we to do with ourselves in the meantime?  i've been having fall time thoughts.

14.5.  sunday night dread in FULL effect.

15.  looking back- this was 30.

Brian

What about Brian?
Whose acne ridden face stared at me across the table in Religion class,
Whose incessant gum chewing did not mask his terrible, tinny breath,
One of few who wore cologne,
Who I always appreciated and never took seriously,
Who showed up at our five year with a blonde wife on his arm
Who came to visit at my dorm and sat around for an hour or more while I ignored him in favor of the Sims.
Who does not have Facebook
And may not even exist.

What about him?