It Was Just Always There

On this cold & dreary day I don’t have much to say. My concentration is kind of zapped. It’s been a gut punch of a week. Long, sad & lonely. There are things I want to write about but my emotions are interfering. I’m tired.

You can get consumed with the stress of life. The unfair things that happen to you or the ones you care about. You sometimes feel like you just can’t catch a break. Everything begins to get filtered through the gloom and the bright happiness of life is obscured. It can be hard to remain positive. To have an optimistic take on life. It’s a relief when you break free. Sometimes you see something on a dark day that brings the light back into your heart. It’s when you need it the most. And it doesn’t have to be anything big or important. It can be the simplest things. A very common things that you just fail to observe on a daily basis. For me, it was in the parking lot at HEB. I was in a deep funk. I was just sitting in my car kind of looking at nothing at all. Zoned out. And elderly couple were walking into the store and the man reached for the woman’s hand to hold. It was this small embrace that touched me in a profound and unexpected way. Something inside me began to burn bright. I felt my eyes begin to water. A deep happiness had settle over me. A feeling that love is all around us if we choose to see it. In the littlest of things. Humans have capacity for horrible deeds, but inside I think there is more love than hatred. It really made my opinion on humanity turn over in that moment. It was a long day of dealing with s*** news and awful people. A sad hopelessness settled on me. The small act of reaching for the hand of whom is likely his wife. The hand that he has possibly held for 50 years. Some involuntary gesture he might preform every day. It touched me and changed my attitude for the day. You really don’t have to look hard to find love. For it’s all around us. It’s just that sometimes you don’t see it. But eventually love finds you and it’s when you need it the most.

I’m just going to post pictures for the rest of this blog.

Jalapeño!

Chicken cheese enchilada soup. I found a rip-off recipe for Chili’s. I really liked it. Thank goodness for that because we had a lot of leftovers since Bekah could not eat it because it was too hot. It was not that hot. I swear.

Chicken taco salad. I made some green sauce to go with it. The chicken had a bit more citrus than I was expecting but that wasn’t a good thing. I Once again had leftovers which I used to make nachos.

Hoisin beef tenderloin. How could u possibly go wrong? Grill to perfection. That red jalapeño was REALLY f***ing hot. I had to give up on it. I believe I was laughed at because I couldn’t handle the heat. Someone liked seeing me cry.

Seared tuna with seaweed salad. Okay, I get it. The salad isn’t for everyone. Bekah absolutely hates it.

I had leftover steak so I thought I would make some teriyaki steak. Oh look, I also have some miso soup. This will be a great meal. Well, the soup was good. The steak was terrible. It was over cooked. Kind of like eating card board. The flavor was WAY to salty. I could have just licked a salt block. This was an utter failure on my part. I even tried to make some sriracha mushrooms a side and that was garbage too. I guess my mind was elsewhere.

I wanted spicy chicken from Ban Moon all week long. I don’t know why I never satisfied the craving. Friday I just decided to basically make my own. It turned out to be a really good meal. I used Panda Express orange sauce as the bass. A little sweet, but what can you do.

Grilled Chicken w/ green chili gravy. A real treat. Just spicy enough. A twist on a comfort food.

Cocktail of the Week: Hot Coco & Jameson

Halloween

My favorite time of year is upon us! Time for glow sticks, trick or treat, spooky movies (“terrifying as f***” per Bekah), costumes, & jack-o-lanterns. The inner child in me becomes giddy as soon as October hits.

The month is horrorfest at our casa. I have an excuse to watch scary movies. We try and watch one every night. It’s a tradition. I say we. I drag my poor wife along for the ride. Already she has had nightmares. Already hearing things go bump in the night. I know horror isn’t for everyone. I warped my mind at a very young age. I remember watching “Prince of Darkness” with my older cousins. They were babysitting. I was probably 7 at the time. I thought it was so cool that they let me watch it with them. I tried to act like a big boy and not show my fears, but that movie forever scared me. To this day I am terrified of beetles. If you know the movie, you know what scene I speak of. Black beetles f***ing give me the heebie-jeebies. I’m 38 and I still feel a repulsive fear when I see one. Do any of you recall that year in the early 2000’s when the town was infested with them. Nightmare for this guy.

This movie ruined my life. See that beetle? No thanks!

Before I was old enough to watch scary movies with my parents I would sneak out of bed. My mission was to see what I wasn’t supposed to be seeing. This was a serious mission, with multiple obstacles in my way. First and foremost, my younger brother. I would have to wait for him to fall asleep or my mission would be failure from the get go. Once he found dreamland, I would get out of bed as quietly as I possibly could. This was made difficult by the fact we shared bunkbeds and mine was on the top. Once on the ground level, the door. Must be as quiet as I could shutting it as to not wake him. Once outside the room, the real trouble began. I had to crawl down a hallway on my belly all the while trying to keep my movement out of my parents’ peripheral vision. It was a real chore and I took my time. Once past the hall, I would attempt to make my way behind them. This was the real risky part. Our dog Leo. If he noticed me the mission would have all been in vain. It was like the little s*** knew I wasn’t supposed to be out and he certainly took pleasure in giving away my position. Sometimes I was unable to move forward because he liked to sleep behind the couch. Frustrated, I’d turn around or move forward to failure once he noticed me. On a good night, he would be sleeping at my parent’s feet and I could move forward. There was an end table between the two couches that I could crawl under with just enough space for me to view whatever was on the TV. Let me tell you, I lost sleep on these nights. I often gave my position away with muffled screams. Was it worth it? Maybe? I had some cool things to tell my friends about at school the next day.

My father always liked scary movies and during Halloween we always watched them. Back in the 80’s & early 90’s it wasn’t hard to find one on TV during that special night. We would get together in the living room after trick-or-treating, light the jack-o-lanterns, kill the lights, and watch the flix of the night. “Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Friday the 13^th”, “An American Werewolf in London”, “The Thing”, “Fright Night”, “Night of the Living Dead” & “The Monster Squad” to name a few. Make no mistake, some of these movies are terrible choices, but they hold a special place in my heart for the memories that remain with them. I miss you, dad.

The weather seems to have finally aligned itself with me. The long, hot summer is in the rearview mirror. See ya! Bye bye!! Cooler temperature have finally arrived! I can handle being outside again. Love the brisk mornings. That’s another reason October & Halloween is my favorite time of year. It just feel so fresh outside. I can finally enjoy a good Oktoberfest beer. No one wants to drink one of those while sweating. Nope. No way.

I still have a good time carving pumpkins. Either blindly setting upon it with the knife, or drawing out a design beforehand to make something truly cool. The end result is always special. The smell of pumpkin. The scents not good but it bring on good feelings. I don’t do it as often as I would like because I hate to ruin a perfectly good pumpkin when it can later be repurposed as Christmas decorations. So last min we decided let’s do it, we always have fun. I went to HEB. They were out of all but the fancy fairy pumpkins. Well s***! Bekah was going to Market Street for soup so I called her up. GET PUMPKINS!!!! They had plenty, no worries. And we carved and had a great time doing it.

Funny how the joy I receive from trick-or-treat has changed over the year. When you are a kid it’s all about the dressing up and the candy. One year I wanted to be Jaws. I had a thing for sharks. Still think they are beautiful creatures. My mom made this really cool shark costume. She did some impressive work. Trick-or-treating was so exciting. Going door to door for that precious loot. The high light of the night was the Coca-Cola house. Instead of candy he would hand out a can of cold Coke to the kids. I don’t know what was so special about that, looking back. It’s just coke. But when I was little it was the crown jewel.

Now I am the one handing out the candy. I love it! Especially now that we have moved we get a lot more foot traffic. We have our regular kids that friends & family bring by every year and the door to door stoppers. It’s always exciting to see what next ghost, goblin, vampire or unicorn might show up on my porch. There are some really cool costumes out there. And it’s fun being in reversed positions. I want to give out something as special as coke was too me, but I have not nailed what that is yet. Time will tell. Maybe glow sticks? Or am I the only one that is obsessed with those? I should be embarrassed to admit this, but I woke up with a glow stick in my hand the other morning. I went to bed with a glow stick. It’s the little things that entertain me.

And we sure did decorate. Have to make the place look presentable for the Halloween guest. Spooky pumpkins, ghost, all the fun stuff that I remember from my childhood. I’ve seen some crazy decorations around town this year. Halloween yard décor seems to have really blown up in the last 10 years. Some pretty neat stuff. I don’t go all out like that, but to each their own. It’s good to see people having fun.

I also still dress up some. Nothing elaborate, you can do a lot with a little improvising. Devil horns and a suit. Bear mask and a suit. This year I went a little scary. Glowing mask and a black hoodie. Hope the kids were not too afraid to come back again next year. I would think the amount of goodies we gave them will encourage a trip back next year. I LOADED down on candy.

Halloween week started off cold & cloudy with a couple days with 80% chance of rain. We did not get that rain unfortunately. I kind of feel we get more rain on the days we have less chance for rain. Anyway, the day arrived w/ temps in the lower 20’s with real feel at 17. The sun was out in all its horrible glory. I guess I should feel blessed that I had 3 days of wonderful gloom but I really wanted it to last longer. Oh well. I should just go ahead and move to Seattle if I’m going to complain about the sun every dang day its out. My closest campus friends all showed up w/ a little Halloween spirit in their attire. I had my ghost & pumpkin buttons on. Some people went full costume. I was probably walking around with a stupid grin on my face most the day enjoying the students & faculty/staff that did dress up. The Llama tried to ruin my day but I kept myself out of the office as much as possible. Not letting that happen on Halloween.

So after work I ordered pizza and rushed to the store to buy more candles for the jack-o-lanterns. Of course while at the store, in a hurry, I run into someone that will spend 20 min talking to you about absolutely nothing at all. FML. After finally leaving the HEB I run to get the pizza that was ready 10min ago. I finally get home and Bekah notices that I am visibly shaking. Blood sugar low. Inconvenient timing, I need to get dressed. I eat pizza. Get a call that “The Slavic” is bringing her kid over. Shoot. Rushed, we dressed up. Bekah as a llama & I as some hooded freak. The kid arrived shortly after 5:30. Creepy clown. I was outdone. Slavic enjoyed a slice of pizza & a beer. They departed. I had some time to really wind down at last. Not long after 6 the kids started really rolling in. I think I scared a few of them. One kid said: “That is freaking scary looking”. Thanks, dude. By 7:30 they were marching down the street. I think the trunk or treat on campus must have helped. This was a much bigger year than the prior. By 8:30 we had 8 kids running around our house and more trick-or-treater’s ringing the door. I must say, this was a good dose of birth control. But it was fun. The kids were loving the glow foam Jamie gave us. They were running around having sword fights. The two girls even took over our job of handing out candy. I was exhausted when everyone left. Once we had the house to ourselves we start up what has become our Halloween movie: “Trick-‘r-Treat”. I have myself a beer and get ready to enjoy a good old scary movie. It was a good night.

Horror Movie Marathon 2019!

Cigarette Burns

Tragedy Girls

Midsommer

In the Tall Grass

Pelts

Evil Dead

Silver Bullet

Christine

Creepshow

Event Horizon

The Autopsy of Jane Doe

The Banana Splits

The Thing

The Broken

The Cabin in the Woods

Videodrome

Society

Wounds

Feast

Abandoned

Ghost Ship

Halloween (2007)

The Void

Final Destination

30 Days of Night

In the Mouth of Madness

Planet Terror

Flatliners

Wrong Turn

Graveyard Shift

The Dead Zone

Hellraiser

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D

The Exorcist

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Hocus Pocus

Beetlejuice

Trick R’ Treat

Jalapeño!!!!

Bekah made her famous enchilada chicken. Another simple recipe you really can’t go wrong with. Sunny side egg was my contribution.

Chili. Traditional? Not really! I was supposed to make it traditional but that just didn’t happen. Oops.

Orange chicken stir-fry. Do I need to say more about this meal? I think I’ve cooked it 3 times since I started this blog. I made this version less spicy so Bekah could enjoy it. Cooked my peppers separately and added afterwards. She was able to enjoy it.

Pizza for Halloween.

Teriyaki steak. Pretty basic. Hard to screw this up. Simple!

Bowling for Beer

Bowling is a sport that I fully support. It was my athletic credit in college. You can be a talentless whack job and still possibly manage to be a good bowler. You don’t have to have any real athleticism. You sit on you’re a** waiting for your turn. You can get loaded on booze and it might actually improve your game. (I fall into that category, I’m not ashamed to admit.) If so inclined, and if the establishment allows it, you can even bowl with a cigarette hanging from your lip. I remember the smoking section of the alley I grew up playing. Through a haze of smoke I could see the ball soaring down the lane towards the pins. You can have a mouth full of pizza and still bowl. Yes, there is competition like all sports. With bowling it’s more often about the gathering of friends. A shared good time. No one’s going to be too upset if they gutter ball every time. You won’t go home feeling like a failure. Competitive league bowling is not what I’m talking about here. If that is at all like joining a dart league, which I begrudgingly did, then it is very serious and very competitive. Almost to the point where it lost it’s fun. I’m talking casual bowling. So I have to say I was excited when Bekah said all her coworkers were gathering again for a night of bowling.

After a long but really rather nice day at work thanks to the overcast cold weather, I went home to prepare myself for the evening. I was famished and needed a little snack to bring me back to the world of the living. The game didn’t start until six so I had an hour. I also enjoyed a couple beers. Like I said, my bowling is much looser after a drink or two. Not to mention this weather is the kind that makes me want to dive into those Oktoberfest that I’ve been waiting to drink. So I chill with the dogs for a bit and enjoy the solitude. Thinking to myself how f***ing dumb my coworker is. I have never worked with someone so stupid. The Llama continues to surprise me with his ignorance and general lack of higher qualities. I decided one more drink won’t hurt. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this guy drives me to drink.

I leave the house feeling relaxed and ready to play ball. I check out my shoes, hoping athletes foot isn’t in my near future. The first thing I do before I’m noticed and forced to socialize is check out the arcade room. I want to see how much has changed since my childhood days of blowing my parents quarters. It’s also nostalgic. Arcades were a big part of my childhood experience. I spent lots of time in the various ones across town. Shakey’s Pizza was a home away from home. (Just writing about arcades right now has me feeling excited. Future blog?) So I want to see what the games people are playing these days. Any of the old classic still around? To my horror, they had killed the arcade. It was all claw crane games & two pathetic excuses for arcade. I always hated the driving simulation & shooters games. Sad!

After leaving the arcade in disappointment I make myself towards the bar and purchase a bottle of beer. A sadness has settled over me. Once beverage has been secured I make my way to the crowd. I say crowd. I was the first to arrive other than my wife, her coworker & husband. I say hi, share brief pleasantries, and am ushered toward tonight’s dinner: pizza. My face probably lit up. Joy was returned to me. Junk pizza, no doubt. But you can’t tell me that just the cheap stuff isn’t still good. I’m no pizza snob. Junk pizza is almost a comfort food. It was delightful. 4 different varieties. I made myself have a slice of each before the night was over.

When everyone else arrived Bekah & I got together with the same group that we played with last time. Good people, and hilarious to be around. Like I mentioned, it’s the gathering of friends that really makes this fun. Here I was, sitting on my a** with a beer in one hand and a pizza in the other waiting for my turn to bowl. A perfect moment if ever there was one. I start off strong with a strike. That was just luck. I have no real strategy when it comes to bowling: I just hurl the ball with all my strength down the lane. I’ve always had pretty good precision when it came to throwing. I continue this way for a bit. Bekah brings me another beer. I bowl and hit one pin. Yikes. Oof. Bekah was beating me at this point. That didn’t last though. I took great pleasure in yelling “OH NO” when she sent one down the gutter. I ended up in 2^nd place out of the 6 of us. Not my best game, but not my worst. Good fun. I really should try and bowl more than twice a year. I always enjoy the game. Till next time.

Jalapeño!!

Does this really look gross? The Slavic said it looked like Hazel threw up on my plate. I took a bit of offence to that. This was a crockpot recipe I got from Jamie and kind of altered. It was really good. Just chicken thigh, jalapeño, onion, cream of chicken soup & taco seasoning w/ a can of corn added towards the end. I might have added a little too much water so it was runnier that I had wanted. It had really good flavors.

Bratwurst. It’s October and Bekah wants some good German foods. This will probably be the only time in a year that I have brats. I have to admit it was a nice dinner.

This is one of our favorites. And we have to make it last. The Lea & Perrins white wine Worcestershire sauce isn’t even available anymore. I have about half a bottle left and I’m making it last. I have no idea why they stopped producing that sauce. It is so amazing. I grew up on it.

Pizza & bowling.

Jagerschnitzel. This was a real treat. German cabbage and some mashed potatoes. Some of the best mashed potatoes. We used heavy cream and it made all the difference. I can’t believe I only just now found out that heavy is the key. Well, that and lots of butter. We only ever make this meal about once a year.

Cocktail of the Week: Samuel Adams Octoberfest

Birthdays, Anniversaries & Hangovers

Our goofy girl Hazel turned 4 on Monday. She is still very much a puppy at heart. To celebrate she got a party hat, a skunk toy, some cookies, a walk, & ice cream. Also, lots of love and belly rubs. Spoiled rotten, this one. Bekah even sang happy birthday to her. She appreciates her gifts. She is a good girl.

Well most of the time. I had to give her a bath 4 times last week. She has developed a habit of rolling around in the dustiest dirtiest spot in our yard. Always while I’m on my lunch break. Usually 5 min before I need to head back to work. Let me just say that I was frustrated. Thursday I returned to work looking like maybe it was I that got hosed off and not the other way around. I forgive her, but she is testing my patience. I guess that part of being a parent. My adorable little angel can also be an irritating little b****.

This was Bekah and my 5 year anniversary. 5 years with the one I love. No one ever thinks that they will meet “the one” at a bar, do they? I mean, I didn’t know where I would meet “the one”, but is certainly wasn’t happy hour. Life is just full of surprises. Chance encounters & such. That was a hell of a weekend. This years anniversary we unfortunately didn’t go anywhere like all past ones. Usually it’s a week off in October. This year it just felt like it got here before we knew it. Plus so many unforeseen things kept coming up that required money I guess our minds were not on it. I doesn’t matter though. I can have just as much fun with Bekah in our house as I can on the beach or in the mountains. We went to our anniversary spot, The Wharf. I got my usual. I don’t deviate much. Blackened Hawaiian chicken, jalapeño soup & bottle caps. I left stuffed. I don’t know how I ate all that. So delightful. Bottle of wine? Sure!! It was a nice dinner. One that made us release we need to go on dates more often. Afterwards it was time for a movie. Do we stick with the horror that we have watched all month or something different? Horror movie! And drinks. Probably a little too much of the red wine. We had to re-watch the movie. I know, that is sad. All I can say is that we had a nice night.

The next morning I had to get up early for the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. I was not feeling my finest. I had a wine hangover. It’s been a while. I dragged myself to the walk. I was told my eyes looked “rough”. Glassy glazed over? Yes! Blood shot & Broken. Lacking spirit. Well, thanks a lot. I’m glad to be here too. Thanks for the encouraging pep talk. . I’m happy everyone I’m meeting for the first time got to see me in my finniest form. Yes, I feel like I look. No, this is not my normal condition. What a number this had on my confidence. Is Chick-fil-A open yet? I could really use some breakfast. I toughed it out.

Once free of my tormentors I had breakfast w/ a little hair of the dog to invigorate myself with the courage I needed to make it through the day. I was to spend the day with my brothers and nephew. Never show weakness to a 3 year old. For that matter, never show weakness to my brothers. They will take it and feed off it. Leave me a shell of a man. I had to soldier on. That meant suck it up and have a beer with my middle brother for lunch while youngest is at a birthday party with kids. It didn’t take me long to realize middle brother was in much worse condition than I. The moron. Hard night at the bar, that guy. Got himself cut off. Tried to order drinks and fell down, they say. Acted a fool. Was being “unruly”. Bummed a cigarette off some guy and proceeded to call him an idiot and some other more offensive names. At Whataburger a cop approached my youngest brother asking him how the middle brother was planning on getting home. “Uber” he said. He was later found asleep on the bathroom floor with his eye open. Contacts dried up and crusted to his cornea. Upon hearing this, I wondered what condition I would have been in had it not been our anniversary & I’d gone out with them?

Over drinks, that we both needed, we discussed the merits of presentation or lack thereof. Is a pina coldada served in a Dixie cup just as good as one served in a pineapple? Does the presentation make the drink? Do we let the aesthetics rule out life? Whatever. We both felt better than we had before that drink. Off to see the nephew.

I swear, kids are exhausting. He is just a bundle of energy. And SO smart. His vocabulary has improved immensely since I saw him last. You can actually engage in conversation with him now. After running around with his aunt Bekah be sat down next to me and we watch Brave together. Fun times. It was really great seeing everyone and hanging out. The only part of the weekend that was a bust was Saturday night dinner. I had my first and last Panda Express. No thank you.

Sunday. That hangover I had forced away decided to reel its ugly head again. This time two fold. It’s no surprise & I was anticipating the beast to bite back. Drinking with the brothers will do that to you. If you have any experience with hangovers you must know that the worst usually come from consuming an abundance of vino. Like Dionysus, the Greek God of wine, we could not quench our thirst. Wine became water. So Sunday morning I pulled my miserable a** out of bed, winced at the sunlight, & proceeded down the halls to find rehydration and nourishment. The day was mostly spent on the couch with the comfort of old horror movies to keep me distracted from my pain. At some point I said f*** it, I’m going to have a beer. This isn’t going away on its own.

Jalapeño!!!!

Hoisin pork loin. I grill everything else with that sauce, why not try it on a nice loin. It was pretty delightful. Bekah thinks I’ve mastered cooking pork. I don’t want to pat myself on the back here, but I have gotten pretty good at it. Never dried out and always juicy and tender. One misconception is that pork has to be well done. This is not true.

Beef tenderloin filet with a balsamic reduction. One of the best ways to serve a steak.

McCormick’s chipotle season packet and chicken. I’m glad I found out about these.

Pre-seasoned hickory pork from Market Street. It was pretty bland, really. I added some BBQ sauce to liven it up some. Bummer that it came as a 4 pack and I have 2 more in my freezer that I’ll have to work with again.

Date night at the Wharf! I discussed this meal briefly above. I must say, they rarely disappoint. The bottle caps had a nice spice. The blackened seasoning on the chicken was amazing. Pretty sure it is a mix of black pepper and chipotle. I actually got a bowl of the Jalapeño soup this time around. Usually I only get a cup. I felt like a glutton. I don’t know how I walked out of the place. Good think we declined bread.

Cocktail of the Week: Tempranillo. Actually let’s add Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon & Pinot Noir. There was a reason I wasn’t in my best form. Mixing of red wines. Oof.

Homecoming

School spirit. That’s something I never once had when I was a student. I was devoid of it. I never attended any events. I never cared if we won or lost in sports. Ask me a question school related and I wouldn’t have been able to tell you a darn thing. I spent enough time in classes and at the library. The hell if I’m going to participate in any of the other dumb activities. That was my general attitude back in the day. That everything thrown on by the campus was a stupid waste of my time & the people that were interested in all that stuff had to be boring. Losers!!! The whole lot of them! I guess I never considered myself part of the student body. I always felt tied to Tech. This isn’t even a real university. This place is a joke!

Just kidding! I had you there, didn’t I? You were probably thinking to yourself “Wow! This guy is a real a**hole. What a jerk! Why am I reading this pompous f***er’s blog?” Don’t run out on me yet. I wasn’t an elitist snob. In truth, I don’t remember them having so many things for the students to do. Or maybe they did a poor job of spreading the news to students that didn’t live on campus. Both Bekah & I were discussing this and we both draw a blank. Aside from the bonfire, we really don’t recall many fun functions.

Door decorating contest, 2nd place winner.

Watching all the students alive with excitement and joy, I feel like I missed out on something. So I’m joining in on the homecoming fun.

I helped decorate the mall with party fliers. It was going to be 30min but it ends up being 1 ½ hours. Barely made it back to the office. Umm, just tie some flyers and be done with it. No way had it needed to take that long. And it was hot! But I had fun. I was with good people and the campus mall looked good for it. Sad that they never decorate it for homecoming. I guess I just never noticed that in the prior years. If asked to do it again I will gladly commit. The next week I was asked if I was going to the “take down party” to remove the decorations since I helped make the mess. Uh… we shall see.

I went and saw the parade down the mall. That was really fun, btw. I almost missed it because some slow a** in front of me would rather chat on her phone than drive. It took me 6 min to get across the campus. My eyes wanted to roll out of my head, but I made it just in time. And I was really glad that I went. Kind of hard to explain the wonder of it. I guess it was a shared energy amongst all that attended. The cheers, the band, everything was just fun.

I was able to sneak away from work and catch the Blue & Gold Party. Lucky that I have somewhat flexible hours. I was all smiles. How easily I am entertained. Watching the blue and gold powder launched into the air. It was soooo cool. (It’s corn starch, btw. Thanks, Jamie. Everyone I asked had no idea.) How it mingled together to form a green fog. Said green fog nearly engulfed me, as I was standing down wind. It was a good time. You really had to be there. Or maybe it’s just that I’m a nerd. That’s up in the air for debate.

For the first time ever I went to the bonfire. It was perfect weather for a fire. I didn’t get as close as I would have liked because “someone” didn’t dress appropriately and was afraid to run into anyone I might know. So we sat on the bleachers. It was still a beautiful sight in this pyro’s eyes. Sadly we missed the fireworks. “Someone” had to pee. So we rushed back to the house and as soon as we got there I heard the first BOOM. Not helped by the fact I got behind someone that would make a snail seem fast. (Notice a trend here? I have a knack for getting behind slow-pokes.) We tried to make it back but it was too late. Epic fail. Oh well. I saw fireworks a few weeks ago. At least I can say I saw the bonfire from afar. Next year maybe I’ll just go alone.

The next morning was the homecoming parade. Walking distance. A beautiful morning if you like cold cloudy days. Once I reached Johnson Street I could see I was alone in thinking the morning was grand. Everyone looked miserable and cold & I had flip flops on. I’m sure that got a few looks. (Listen, I would wear flip-flops & sandals all year round if I could. Don’t judge.) So the parade kicked off. Like I said, people looked uncomfortable and cold riding along in the back of the trucks. I couldn’t help but laugh a little. But there was enough school spirit to elevate everyone’s mood once the cheering began. It was a good time if not a little long. I stuck it out though. If the parade is on campus again next year, I will likely go again.

Spur of the moment move, we attended another Ram Jam. I had no intention of going. The music was hip-hop. I don’t do hip-hop. (Have I mentioned my dislike for hip-hop? I hear it in the mornings when I hate the world. Bekah’s music, so great to start the day with.) Bekah was getting snap chats from our friend that was there and she was trying to convince us to attend. Also, Bekah knew the hip-hop artist. (Is he REALLY an artist?) So we went. And dang-it, we arrived right when the hip-hop was ending. What a crying shame. Damn our luck. I was asked if that was the plan. Arrive after the show? Whatever do you mean, my dear sweet Bekah? I had no idea that he would play such a short show. So we sat back and had a few beers. We laughed, we cheered. It was a beautiful afternoon. The band came marching through to signal it’s time for the big game. This was our cue to depart.

That wraps up a week of school spirit & homecoming. I had a great time. I feel boisterous just writing about it. I’m a changed man. Boy oh boy was I ever missing out! I am already looking forward to next year’s homecoming week! What in the heck shall I do in the mean time? I’m open to suggestions.

Jalapeño!!!!!

Sunday Pizza!

Bekah was gone the first half of the week so I was just experimenting in the kitchen.

Night 1. It was Chinese. I threw together both red & green jalapeño and made a sauce out of soy, mirin, & brown sugar. Cooked it down to a nice thickness and wa-lah!!! This had a high flavor profile and just the right amount of heat. No way would this have been acceptable had she been home.

Night 2. I made a green chili gravy for some grilled chicken. Backed some breaded okra, a healthier way to eat it. The topping you see there is some caramelized jalapeño. Again, this would have been too warm for my dear wife.

Night 3. This meal was HOT. You see a theme here. I hurt myself when my better half is not around. This was just cream of chicken, Rotel, some seasoning from hell, and grilled chicken and jalapeño. I guess that’s sort of what King Ranch is?

Bekah is back. Another experiment. This time with “Beyond beef”. She was going to make her famous Bekah Burgers with plant based protein. She opened the package. Said it smelt like SPAM. I leaned in. No, it smells like cat food. She said the texture was off putting as well. No way were we eating something that initially smells like cat food. Dinner failure. Like, it stunk up my kitchen for a good 20 min after we disposed of it in the outside trashcan far away from the house.

With nothing else in the house to cook it was decided carry out would save the day. We picked up some Ban Moon. I got the spicy chicken, 5-pepper hot w/ a side eggroll. It was delicious. I was a happy camper.

Tortilla soup. We finally have some soup weather. Even if I hadn’t planned on making soup Friday, I would have by the end of the day. I had at least a 10 min conversation with one of the deans about spicy soup. Soup was on the brain after that. It was pretty amazing. The first soup of the year usually is.

Cocktail of the Week: Cherry Rum & Coke

Time Flies

A year has passed since the beloved Llama began his incumbency in the office. That hard working llama. And inspiration to his kind, he never fails to live by his favorite phrase, “work smarter, not harder.” If that means physically straining every muscle in his body to move a 100lb box when a perfectly good cart with wheels is in hands reach, he is doing the job right. Llama has a knack for making things more complicated than they ever should be. Dumbfounded am I. Constantly. For he “works harder, not smarter.” The Llama clearly misunderstood what he has been saying all these months. He got it backwards. Never in all my years have I worked with someone that excels so exceptionally at doing the bare minimal. It’s admirable to say the least. It’s a true marvel. This lazy llama.

Another year has passed. Where does the time go? It only feel like yesterday that I started working here and then I realize it’s actually been 8 year. 11 years if you add on the 3 that I worked as a student assistant for Physics. That’s a minute. I remember vividly when I was the “new kid”. Everyone else seasoned vets. Not anymore. I’ve had 7 coworkers depart since my arrival. Some of them I miss. Others I couldn’t give a f*** for. This is the longest I’ve been in a single position.

Funny that this year is the first year that I’ve actually participated in some campus activities. Bekah & I went to our first Ram Jam this last weekend. I was invited to attend and hounded on Facebook by a friend that I’ve known for years that just so happens to also work on the campus. She had been trying to drag us along for a while now. I told myself that this year I would break out of my bubble and see what all the events were like. I finally said that I was “interested”. That was not a confirmed yes, but about as good as she was going to get. I had some anxiety about actually going. I don’t know why… it’s just me. I’ve always suffered from anxiety attacks. I might hide it well, but on the inside I may be a nervous wreck. Anyway, once we finally got to the party I was able to relax. That’s all it takes, getting me there.

The music wasn’t what I like to listen to, but the band put on a good show and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. Country music… barf on my toe please. So I focused on people watching. A favorite past time of mine, I’ll have you know. This was a good place for it. It was also nice seeing some people from work outside the confines of work. A little more laid back with a drink in their hands. They had so many food options. They had outside game options. There was a guy smashing cinder blocks in a karate get up. I was afraid he might rupture something or s*** his pants, the strain on his face. Not a pretty sight, but entertaining nonetheless. I also got to pet a much friendlier, happier llama then what I am use to. I asked the lady if I could trade her my llama. She gave me an amused/confused look and I said never mind. I went and told my friends there was a llama that they could pet and everyone left me with excitement. See, llamas can be fun.

We stuck around till the band marched through with the cheerleaders towards the stadium. It was time for the game. That is one thing I will not take part of. No game for this guy. So we said our good byes. We would have to do this again. My friend was very happy that we made it. So was I.

That night I even made it to the fireworks launched after the game. Sadly, I was all alone. Bekah was once again claimed by our evil couch. I wondered to myself, would they still launch fireworks if we had gotten our butts kicked? If so, seems kind of cruel. Oh well… it was a fun time.

First week of October!

Jalapeño!

Teriyaki pork tenderloin. Nothing special here. It was good.

Armadillo Eggs. HEB frozen entrée. Its bacon, chicken & jalapeno. I like to baste mine with spicy BBQ sauce. Pretty simple tasty meal.

Some beef pot roast. Yum!

Sesame chicken. I tried to mimic the Mathis Field recipe. It’s been one of my favorite dishes for over 20 years now. My attempt was pretty good. Not the same though. Anyway, we even made this meal again on Saturday.

Bunless burgers.

Lettuce taco’s for National Taco Day.

Cocktail of the Week: Miller Lite

Pumpkin Spice… Let’s have a Discussion

WHY does everything need to have pumpkin spice in it these days? It’s an abomination!!! GROSS! The only thing I dislike about fall. When I saw that they were going to release pumpkin spice SPAM I’m pretty sure I threw up in my mouth a little. That it completely sold out in under 7 hours makes me wonder about the current state of the world in much the same way that the tide pod challenge did. What the hell people! Listen, I love pumpkins. I like pumpkin pie. I like pumpkin bread. Heck, I like pumpkin spice candles. But some things just DO NOT need to taste like pumpkin spice. It’s gone overkill.

Here I present a few pumpkin spice options out there:

Chips. Pringles. What the actual f***. Who was the dumbs*** that thought this was a good idea? I cannot even fathom. I love Pringles. They are an excellent chip. I deem this sacrilege! Burn it with fire!!!
Cookies. So many different types of cookies have jumped on the bandwagon with this. Oreos do not need to come with a pumpkin spice option. They already come in so much variety. Please, stop.
Coffee. Starbucks Latte. The drink that started it all. The domino effect. I’ll get stoned to death by the hipsters for this one. This drink is a disgrace to a good latte. I want to slap the person that thought to ruin a good source of caffeine by adding this foul flavor. You Sir/Madame, should be ashamed of yourself.
Beer. Someone needs a good kick in the a** for this one. My brother likes this garbage. I had some that lingered in my fridge for months before I was able to trick some poor friend of Bekah’s to actually drink it. I felt like a total jerk even offering it to the poor girl. She looked sickened and I told her to just pour it out. That “I know, it’s awful.” This stuff is so gag inducingly bad I am often left in wonder why the grocery stores stock much of it. Then I remember that people actually drink this rubbish and I silently weep a little for mankind. I cry for my broheim, for his taste I know are better than this.
Dog treats. You have got to be f***ing kidding me? It’s bad enough that you subject yourself to this s***. You feed this to your unsuspecting fur baby? Do you have a soul? You monster… Your sweet dog just wants to be loved and this is how you repay them? Animal abuse!!! Someone call the ASPCA.
Cereal. Ummm. This is how you start your day? What in the name of God is wrong with you? You must like bad things? Leave my Frosted Flakes alone you jerks!
Meats. After seeing that SPAM now came in pumpkin spice flavor I decided to dig around and see what other meats did. I was sickened by my discovery. Humanity has reached new lows. Pumpkin spiced sausage links. Please tell me I didn’t see that. Wait, you want something worse? Pumpkin spiced fresh Atlantic salmon. Barf! The degenerate that came up with that. Remove them from the gene pool please. For f***’s sake, Buffalo Wild Wings is now serving pumpkin spiced chicken wings!!! Lord help us!!!!
Tobacco and other nicotine products. I said I like the smell of pumpkin spice, but not delivered in this way. I’m glad my coworker, “Jimmy”, has not developed a taste for this filth. He would be the type of person that would like it. The SOB smokes grape flavored cigars.
Sauces. I saw that they make pumpkin spiced pasta sauce. Why not just plop spaghetti noodles on top of your pumpkin pie you sick f***’s. They also have pumpkin spiced salsa. Please, for the love of god, stop it already. Is nothing sacred? You are going to taint delicious salsa now? How dare you waste perfectly good jalapeños! Shame on you!! This is just wrong on so many levels. Don’t even get me started on pumpkin spice pizza sauce. I am getting angry just thinking about it.
Gum. Who in the h*** wants to use pumpkin spice as means to freshen their breath. Let’s say your “honey” ate some really strong red onions and garlic bread for lunch. They pop the gum into their mouth. They want a kiss from you. You, unknowingly, go in for the kiss. What you receive is a mouth full of onion, garlic, and disgusting pumpkin spice. Your stomach churns. You feel betrayed. Why would the love of my life do this to me? You might as well have eaten out of the litter box. Who is this person that you thought you knew? You can’t ever look at them the same again. This creature you once adored. Love forever blemished.

So there you go. Enjoy your pumpkin spice. Before long everything edible will have a pumpkin spice option. Irregular is normal. I hope you are happy when that day comes. For me, it’s a sign that the end of days is upon us. For we surely do not deserve this life we were gifted.

No Jalapeño……..

Tuesday was a real treat. It was basically my Monday. I was to have my mother over for dinner and I was going to cook. I really didn’t want to cook. I was tired, cranky, and put off by the Llama. I just wanted to chill out and maybe have a glass of wine to calm my nerves. Facebook came to the rescue. My memories show that 3 years ago I was eating a delicious plate of sesame chicken from Mathis Field Café. I immediately called all parties involved to see if dinner could be scraped for take-out. They both thought the place was closed. Not at all, I said! Everyone agreed that that sounded like a good idea. I took down their orders, placed a call, and my mom picked it up since she was right in that area. It was DELICIOUS! Not on the diet, I know. I’m trying hard to get back on that.

We had the chicken Alfredo w/ broccoli tonight. This I had done fairly recently and it was intended to be the meal I cooked for my mom since she thought it sounded pretty awesome. It’s good as always.

Again, a meal I’ve done recently. Orange Soda Chinese Chicken. Almost forgot the soda, which is clearly a major part of the meal. I marinated the chicken for 2 days in soy, ginger & garlic. A little too much sodium. If I’m going to marinate it in soy, I need to not add soy to the sauce. I have only myself to blame on this one. I still finished it off. Bekah, not so much.

As per tradition with Bekah not at the house, I make pizza. Tonight it’s pineapple, pepperoni, Canadian bacon and jalapeño. The crust was perfect, the toppings fantastic. Pineapple on pizza is so divisive. You either love it or hate it. I love it.

Birthday Slumber Party

This weekend we celebrated our friend Maja’s birthday with, you guessed it, another adult slumber party! Bekah is a fan, if you hadn’t noticed by now. Maja requested tuxedo cake. Okay, sure. I have no idea what that is. I don’t do cakes. I LOVE cakes, but they take a lot out of me. Why torture myself. Oh… I don’t bake. Maybe one time I made cupcakes. That’s a BIG maybe. The only bread based thing I bake is pizza dough. Baking my own tuxedo cake would have been a disaster. I asked a around what I should do. Jamie said HEB has them or make a Bundt cake. Well, HEB did have them but now they no longer do. Kaput! Back to square one. I decided to trick her. HEB has a cake that I might be able to pass off at tuxedo cake. Present it on a nice plate, throw away the packaging, here is your tuxedo cake! Cake is cake, am I right? (No, apparently not. She did not fall for my deceit.)

Bekah and I stocked up on food & booze. We had party favors, balloons… some gag gifts. It was all set for a good time.

Maja arrived with Pizza from Christoval. A good bribe for the evening I was going to be faced with. It’s some tasty pizza. She knows that you can win my heart with pizza. If you are aching for favors or need to ease things over, pizza is what work on me. I’m a sucker for it. It’s my Achilles’ heel. My white whale. Ballena Blanca… With a belly full of pizza I don’t even care anymore. The party begins….

Maja was ready… sadly this didn’t help one bit.

Partying with 2 ex-bartenders. Excuse me. I’m sorry. Mixologist. Two mixologist. A plethora of drinks made. The kitchen a war zone. Amateurs beware!!! Each new drink planned like a strategic assault on the liver disguised as sweet nectar to the tongue. And you know what? It worked! They made some mighty fine drinks. And before long it was I that became bartender for the night. I don’t know if it was that the ladies lacked the necessary skills to continue mixing and could no longer tell the difference between good & bad? Or it was that I was getting bored and needed something to occupy my time? Maybe a little bit of both. Whatever the case, I played the mixing game. I was enamored in the game. A duty I gladly accepted. Key lime rum? Sure!! Vodka pineapple strawberry? Coming right up! Cucumber grenadine on the rocks? Yes you may! I was throwing it all together with reckless abandon for the next day! Tomorrow be damned!!!

There was so much laughter. Tears were shed. All emotions touched upon! I guess that’s a good party. We had 3 others join us. I was overwhelmed by the estrogen level. I took my cue to hide in the kitchen from the madness that was outside. Whitney Houston was playing. My ears! It wasn’t long before Maja decided to join me. It was getting late and she was tired of not getting all the attention. She asked me to tell the others to leave. Me: “No! I’m not doing that. You invited them!” Well, I think they got the hint because shortly after they took off. No hard feelings, it was getting late. Well, not late enough. We still had 3 hours till midnight and it was made apparent that we had to toast on her birthday. This was a marathon and these girls could run it.

Bacon wrapped jalapeño. I guess that’s a good idea. I took the reins on this task for fear that they might burn down our house. I guess they were good. No leftovers and they did not even remember eating them the next morning. Midnight was upon us and it was time for that birthday shot. Were all the shots prior to this moment not also birthday shots? No sense in the semantics. My answer a big NO. So what to make? With all the desired booze already consumed, what on earth could I make? Should I share my own stash? Nah. Even if I had wanted to I wouldn’t have been able. Little did I know at the time they had already consumed my liquor. That was a surprise for Monday. 😥 So I told them we were all out. Beer or wine is the only option. Cheers. Happy birthday!!! Yay! What a successful night. Not quite done though. Somehow the party keep going until 1AM. I was done. They found themselves in the guest room with the dogs. I threw glow stick in bed with them and made my way down the hall to catch some shut eye. Goodnight. What a night.

I guess they were good because they were gone the next morning but they don’t remember eating them. lol

The next morning, BIG surprise, someone didn’t feel well. Maja puked. Bekah slept till past noon. The sparkling almond that was supposed to be morning mimosas was sad and lonely. No one wanted any. No one even wanted breakfast. So I treated myself to some eggs and a little bubbly. I owed it upon myself after the trials & tribulations of the night before.

I took Monday off as well. I needed an extra day to myself. Can anyone blame me? Kept under wraps, I planned on only doing what I wanted. Well this grand comedy we call life had different plans. Mainly, testing my patience. Vehicle wouldn’t pass inspection. Guess what, I need new tires. Yay me!!! I just love buying tires. One of the top 5 things I want to spend my money on. So new tires it was. I waited. I waited…. Well there went my afternoon movie plans. Oh well.

It was an overall nice end to the weekend. While I waited “patiently” for my new tires I walked to the Civic league Park to check out the Lily’s. Again… Once my vehicle was finally fit for inspection and registered street legal I had myself a late lunch at Zero One. All my favorites were working. Went to the store and picked up materials to make Tex-Mex casserole. I won’t usually make this because of how much prep work goes into it but I had the day off so all the time in the world. Watched a really cute movie called “The Croods”. I loved the creature design and the movie had heart. I might say I got a little “misty” eyed. The feels. Color me excited to find out that they have a sequel coming out next year. After my nightly walk I thought we might get some rain. A few droplets of water fell from the sky. Enough to bring on that smell I’ve been longing for. But all I got was thunder and lightning. Now I’m at work. It’s a quiet Tuesday. The Llama isn’t here to make my life miserable. Thank goodness. I was told he was absolutely awful yesterday. I’ll count my blessings.

Pumpkins!!!
More pumpkins!!!!
So many Pumpkins!!!!
Falls porch & my pumpkins!!!!!!

Creepy?

Jalapeño!

Blackened grilled salmon. Meh. It was okay.

HEB chili verde chicken thighs. This was excellent. Again, why am I just now trying this? It’s everything I like.

Grilled chicken glazed with Chick-fil-A Polynesian sauce. This was sooooo good.

Stouffer’s lasagna. Bekah was in need of some comfort food Sunday evening. I can’t complain, it was actually pretty good.

Tex-Mex chicken squash casserole. This meal is just one of my favorites, but like I mentioned above, it takes some prep time that I usually don’t want to mess with. Since I had the day off and nothing to do, why not have some fun. And it gave me a vessel to try my hot sauce on. That batch of hot sauce might be my best yet. I’m eventually going to crack the recipe.

Cocktail of the Week: Good lord how do I even choose after Saturday. I guess I’ll go with scotch on the rocks. Ha-ha

9/11

Oh 9/11. That tragic day. We all have our stories about where we were & what we were doing at the time we heard the news. I was living in Lubbock attending classes at Texas Tech and working at a nursery keeping care of all the plants. I was at the nursery when the news came in. I remember I was tending to the junipers, imagining myself in Colorado when one of my coworkers found to tell me what little news there was. I rushed to the office and everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare at the TV. I won’t forget how I felt. Sick inside and scared.

Do you remember how different the world was before that day? Do you think it changed the trajectory of your life? Would you be where you are if it hadn’t happened? What if your life had turned out totally different? For better or worse. And event like that change the world.

*****

Here is a scenario:

Let’s say that you are happily married with 2 lovely children. You and your spouse met 10 years ago while you were attending a business conference in Seattle, Washington. It was a chance encounter. Due to air travel having been shut down because of the terrorist attacks, the two of you were stranded & just happened upon each other at the hotel bar. You instantly made a connection. After the conference was over you exchanged contact information and both went your separate ways. You kept in touch the following months and eventually decided to plan a trip to see each other again. The first night together things became romantic. You had never felt this way with another person. You both vowed to find a way to close the distance keeping you apart.

Flash forward. You are now celebrating 7 years of marriage. You have a 6 year old son and a 4 year old daughter. You have a nice home in the suburbs’. Both of you have made good for yourselves. Although you don’t love your job, you still find it challenging and the rewards outweigh the drawback. The kids are the jewels of your eyes. Life is grand and you wouldn’t change a thing.

Now let’s say 9/11 never happened. Because it never happened air travel was never shut down. When the conference was over you packed your bags and made it to the airport to fly back home. The following weekend you have a wedding to attend. You are not really looking forward to it. One because you kind of want a weekend to yourself after the conference & two, you don’t really know these people anymore. It’s a bunch of old college friends you no longer keep in touch with but somehow you feel obligated to go.

After the wedding ceremony you try and get away from everyone by quietly slipping out a side door to have a quick smoke before going back inside to socialize. It is in this moment that you meet a man or woman who is also smoking. You start up pleasantries. Both of you have enough booze running through your systems that conversation comes easily. It also does not hurt that you find this person attractive. Once back inside you find yourself at a table engaged with this person. The reception is wrapping up and it time to go. By chance the man or woman you met is staying at the same hotel which you are staying at. That night, the romance strikes. Not in small part because of all the alcohol that you both consumed.

You both end up being from the same city. Things move quickly between the two of you and in a years’ time you find yourself married & living in a downtown apartment. At first the marriage seems ideal, but cracks begin to form. You fight often over petty differences. Your husband or wife starts coming home later and later. Suspicion sets in. One evening spent calling and calling your spouse to no response he or she walks in wasted. And argument ensues and he or she drops the bomb that they want a divorce. That he or she has been cheating on you. You are shattered.

Flash forward. You did not take the divorce well. You fell into a dark despair. You had moved out of the shared apartment and found a single for yourself. You turned toward the bottle for comfort on those long lonely sleepless nights. Because of this, productivity at work began to falter. Your boss, although casual friends, is feeling the pressure from his superiors. He has no choice but to let you go. It’s another gut punch to what has become a common fixture in your life.

Weeks without income or the “want to” you are in trouble. You have dipped into savings and are blowing it away on booze. You’ve lost weight. You don’t keep up with your hygiene. There are days you do not go outside at all. You spend your time watching the sun go down through the cracks in the window.

Facing financial ruin eviction is only a matter of time. You make the choice to leave the apartment and lucky for you your parents are kind enough to take you back in. But this means moving back to your home town. The town you swore to yourself you would never return. Your pride is shattered. Once under your parent’s roof they expect you to better yourself. But you don’t listen. It’s not that easy. They don’t understand that you NEED the booze. You actually are beginning to think that you might need something stronger.

You reconnect with a shady old friend form high school who can access prescription drugs. You want to feel numb. You begin taking oxycontin. Your parents immediately notice the difference in you. You have a fight. They try and try but you are not working with them. Matters come to a head when you pawn a cherished family heirloom for money to buy drugs. You give them no choice but to put you out. It breaks their hearts to do it but you burn bridge after bridge. Your father sets you up with enough money to rent an apartment and buy some food. He wants to believe that you will use the money wisely. You don’t.

Flash forward. Your life spiraled out of control. You find yourself in the slums sharing a dilapidated shack with 3 other meth heads. That’s right, you are now doing meth. You have been using for 2 years. That first hit of “The Rock” brought you the peace that you had been seeking. You chase that peace every hour every day. You can’t get enough of it. You have done terrible things to obtain it. You are a shell of the man or woman you once were. Sometimes when you look into your eyes in the mirror you don’t recognize the person looking back. Sometimes you do see yourself and you can’t bare the sight.

One evening while obtaining your fix from an unreliable dealer, the “friend” you are with decides to pull a gun on the man. He thinks it’s a good idea to rob him. You stand by in horror as it all goes down. They exchange shots. Your “friend” is fatally wounded. The dealer coughing up blood. You are too shocked to know what to do. Unfortunately for you, or perhaps fortunately, the cops were on surveillance watching the place. It was known that drugs were going in and out of the place and they were trying to find the supplier. They heard the shots and they bust in the doors to the scene of one dead, one wounded, and you standing shocked in the corner. They slam you down and cuff you.

You are now sitting in a cell downtown. You made your one phone call to your parents who will get in contact with the family lawyer. Lucky for you this is your first offence. As you sit and wait you try and piece together what happened to your life. What was the turning point? Things were supposed to be different. This was not the life you were to live. What happened?

If 9/11 had never happened the lovely life you have would not have been. No lovely husband or wife. No beautiful children who are currently running through the sprinkler out on the lawn laughing together in the summer sun. That pie you smell in the oven that you’ve been excited about wouldn’t be. The vacation to the Bahamas kaput. Everything gone. If you somehow had this insight. Had a glimpse of what your life would be if 9/11 had never happened & somehow you were given the power to go back and prevent it, would you give up your happy life? Would you sacrifice it all to save those 2,977 people? What would you do?

Inspired by a Direct TV commercial

September 13, 2019

*****

Yeah, that was dark. A little creative writing for the day. I miss my short fiction class. It was always exhilarating reading a work that you created in front of a classroom full of people. And then you had to pass out copies so everyone could come up with a critical response to your story. Sometimes that was brutal to hear. Anyways, here is the food of the week. Nothing spicy this time around. Well, except Friday & Saturday. Bekah didn’t think I could go a week without my much loved pepper. I almost succeeded.

Here are a couple pictures from the week.

Snails!
DIY star jar.
Surprise storms!

No Jalapeño!!!!!

Orange Soda Chicken. This was just a weird experiment and I really didn’t know how it was going to turn out. So you blend 12oz of orange soda with soy sauce, minced garlic & ginger. Grill some chicken thighs. Bring the sauce to a simmer and reduce. Once reduced and the sliced chicken and coat fully. This turned out to be a delightful meal. The sauce was just sooooo good I really couldn’t believe it.

Hoisin pork tenderloin. I’m not sure what held me back from making this. Love hoisin chicken & beef.

Grill teriyaki chicken with bell peppers, onion and pineapple.

Bekah made some breaded pork chops. And what’s that side? Cauliflower mashed potatoes. This meal just really came out of nowhere. My pork was overcooked but hers was just fine. The flavors were great. I think it would have turned out better if the pork had not been so thin.

Little crockpot chicken with green enchilada sauce, taco seasoning & peppers. Thank you Jamie for the simple flavorful recipe. I need to use my crockpot for things other than roast and soups. Especially on Friday when I sometimes really don’t feel like cooking.

Bekah was gone so I made pizza. Seems to be the only time that I ever make pizza. A tradition? I experimented with a premade pizza dough. I must say I was surprised. It doesn’t match my own but that’s to be expected. I also made my first ever white sauce pizza. Alfredo, chicken, spinach, jalapeno & onion. Made for a tasty meal. And yes, I am a nerd that bought his own pizza box. 🙄

Cocktail of the Week: Blackberry lemonade spiked w/ rum

The Reading Rainbow

One of my favorite pastimes is reading. I grew up with The Reading Rainbow. Loved that show. And yes, I still read from books. I have a Kindle but I derive more pleasure in actually feeling the pages between my fingers. The smell of the paper. The weight in my hands. The tangible characteristics of the book. I really tried to go the Kindle route. I probably need to. Eventually I’m going to run out of space. I currently could use a new book shelf. But I keep finding myself buying more. I have piles of books I have not even read yet and still I buy. I love getting lost in the worlds within the pages. Why else did I study literature! I love all forms of writing. Biographies, history, poetry, thrillers, etc. My favorite, surprise surprise, is undoubtedly horror.

I thought I might share with you some of my favorites. Notice none are real “horror”.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

This book was pretty much a prerequisite in the physics department. You were not a cool nerd unless you had read this book. Lucky for me, I had. Now if you know nothing about this book, do yourself a favor. It’s just good goofy fun, but with a leaning toward science. I can’t think of many books that have me laughing as much as this one did. And I don’t read much science fiction but this pulled me right on in. To make it even more memorable is that it was a surprise gift from my father. He just brought it home one day. If he hadn’t I would never have been able to fit in with the cool nerd in my Physics department. Thank you dad! Without this book I would never have known the importance of a towel when it comes to intergalactic travels.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

One of my all-time favorites. I still have fond memories of reading through The Fellowship of the Ring when I was in 4^th grade. It brings be back to that sense of wonder that only a child has. Over the years I have read the book more than I can recall. The character’s all mean something to me. I was right alongside Frodo when he was burdened with the Ring. I was overwhelmed with Aragon at the odds of surviving Helm’s Deep. When I first saw the trailer for the Fellowship I got goosebumps. It was exhilarating. And that they knocked the adaptation out the park still warms my soul. To see these characters that I had grown up with brought to the full screen was something of amazement. Now I think I might need to sit down with the book again and see what my old friends are up too.

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

A totally different kind of beast. One that was not easy to read. Terrifying grotesque imagery. A protagonist so vile you fear getting into his head. A book not for the light and faint of hearts. But this book did reward. I have since never read anything like it. I don’t think I would want to read another book of its kind. I would finish chapters shaken from what I had read. Nightmare inducing text. But the thing about the book. It digs its nails into you and you can’t put it down. Patrick Bateman has you no matter how badly you want to run away. You are along for the terrible, horrifying ride. When you reach the end, it almost feels as if your reality has been altered. I probably won’t ever read this again. Its effect on me. It changed my ideas on what literature could be. Although the material might be disagreeable, the language used was oddly beautiful. At times, even quite humorous. And when you find yourself laughing you almost feel guilty for doing so. That’s what good writing is meant to do. Bring upon a multitude of emotions. Make you feel something.

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Cormac McCarthy has a style to his writing that is almost poetic. His use of words almost hypnotizing. His prose stick with you long after reading. I had a bit of a struggle deciding which of his books to write about here. They are all very good. He is one of the greatest living writers of our time. I almost picked The Road, but that book offers not even a glimpse of hope for humanity while this one does. Also because this novel takes place in Texas, towns & counties that I know, the familiarity of the landscape is close to my heart. It deals with the violence of the drug trade along the Texas/Mexican border. Themes of evil being derived from Satan or from humanity itself. The differences between generations and how they view society. At its simplest it’s about the corruption brought on by money. The movie is a pretty fantastic adaptation

The Dark Tower I-VIII by Stephen King

Yeah. I have a thing for long fantasy series. And this one is long. Not counting the 8 books of the main series, it also has connections to 32 other novels and short stories by King. This is his magnum opus. When I started this series I was 13. I was 23 when I finished the final book. 10 years I lived with these characters waiting for King to wrap it all up. And let me say that it was an emotional ending. Since then I’ve read the work in its entirety. All 40 stories. Really immersed myself. The story at heart is one of good versus evil. It really toys with the idea of multiple realities layers upon one another. A friend of mine is thinking about starting this series. She had no idea the scope. The movie was horrible. Total garbage. Don’t ever watch it.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

I have not read this since I was probably 13 or so. It had a big impact on me when I was young. I had always been all about Dinosaurs. Most boys are, I suppose. This was about as good as it gets. How it holds up, I don’t know. I keep meaning to go back and reread it but I’m kind of afraid some of the allure might have faded. My vivid imagination just relished this material. I still get that tickle in my stomach thinking about it. I wanted to grow up and be Dr. Grant. He was a literary hero to the little boy I was. Clearly I took my life in a different direction. The movie is fantastic, but a lot of very great material was left absent. But I didn’t care because they did such a fantastic job bringing dinosaurs to life on the big screen. Any one read this as an adult? Does it hold up?

Big Sur by Jack Kerouac

This is nonfiction depicting mental and physical deterioration of Jack Kerouac from drugs and alcohol abuse set in the beautiful Bixby Canyon, Big Sur, California. This is near the end of his line. It’s a hard read because the man himself is falling apart. Eventually has a nervous breakdown. Kerouac writes it as all fiction, but it is actually just a fictionalized retelling of a time in his life. Being the poet that he is, the writing is simply amazing. The words he uses to describe the beauty which surrounds him paints such glorious pictures in the mind. I read this poolside the summer before my final two semesters. My “last” summer before graduation. I was enjoying myself too much. I think this book helped me realize that. It was a good time though. And the book brings back memories of the lifestyle I was living when I read it.

I am currently reading The Shawshank Redemptions. I don’t know why I’m only reading this now. It’s always been one of my favorite movies. So far, I am enjoying it. What are you reading?

Jalapeño!!!!

Beef ribs w/ some typical BBQ sides. This was my first try and doing beef ribs. I’m more of a pork ribs kind of guy. I like beef ribs, but if I’m going to slow cook beef I’ll stick to brisket. It was good but just not what I wanted.

And as you can see from the next nights we had plenty of leftover. Basically just a slop of chopped brisket and BBQ sauce. Appetizing to the eye, I know.

I guess we were on a BBQ kick because here is some BBQ pork tenderloin. After 2 BBQ flops we finally had something worthy. The pork was perfectly tender & the corn on the cob was fantastic.

To break away from the BBQ we made some cilantro lime chicken. Great simple ingredients with great flavors. The sides, on the other hand, were boring as hell.

This was an experiment that worked. Green chili bun less burger. Made a sea of green sauce, roasted pablano pepper, green chili white queso and whala!! A great meal!!

Cocktail of the week: Pineapple Cider.