Skills

I often dread the question, "what do you do?" because what the person means is "How do you make money?" I admit that this is not an entirely pointless question, particularly in this society, but it irks me that this is one of the first questions asked when meeting a new person. Now, the reason this annoys me so much is that most of the people I regularly interact with are in my age/socioeconomic group and people in my age/socioeconomic group do not make a living doing things they enjoy or choose to associate themselves with. This does not mean that I don't have friends who do not love their jobs, or are not proud of the good work they do, but I think most do not see themselves as Barista/House Painter/Child Care Provider/Online Tech Support/What-Have-You. That is what they do for money.

It would be neat if, when asked the dreaded question, people responded instead with Comic Artist/Bass Player/Quilter/Singer\Song Writer/What-Have-You. It would be even better if when people asked that question, that was the answer they were looking for.

Someone once asked me what I did to stay out of trouble. I knew exactly what they meant and was able to tell them about my fondness of cooking, and the new print I was working on, and my kung fu class. I feel this gave a more telling description of my character than heaving a sigh and saying I do home remodeling and general contracting work. It's not that I don't like my job, it's just not who I am. Unfortunately, whenever I've tried to use that phrase on others, they either assume I mean what they do for work, or think I'm implying that they are troublemakers.

What I'm getting at is, I wish the question were "What are your self selected skills?" Meaning what are the activities that you have invested your personal time into becoming better at? What are you best at? Why that activity?

Now if only someone would coin the phrase that asks that as simply as, "Whad'ya do?"

Return?

I am probably just dooming myself by writing these words, but I want to start writing in this space again. I originally set out in December of 2008 to write a post every day. Well, I did do that for a while, but things petered out and I didn't get nearly that close with (a still respectable) 135 posts in 2009. Then only 11 in all of 2010, and none so far this year. hmm...

I am intrigued by the "thing-a-day" concept, and have seen some pretty cool projects come out of it. I am currently five months into doing a silly thing on Facebook I call "Today's jimmity-jam" which has me posting a song I like everyday. Now this is actually much more difficult than it sounds, what with selecting a suitable song, finding it on youtube, and keeping track of them all so as not to have duplicates. Buuuuut, it's not very creative. I'm just sharing things that other creative people have done.

SO! I plan to write everyday! But, I do not consider myself I writer, so it's kind of a weird choice. I plan to start with writing and expand to some different projects like drawing, painting, cooking, martial arts things, and videos.

I hope to see y'all 'round here!

Breakfast innovation

This morning I was lazy and felt like going to the diner and getting some pancakes. However, I didn't want to get dressed, nor spend the money. So I rallied, went to the kitchen, and created a breakfast masterpiece.

Now, what you are looking at may look like a burnt mushroom/basil/chevre omelet, but if you look closer, you will be able tell that the burn marks are, in fact, a thin layer of crisp fried prosciutto.

I started by laying down two thick-cut slices of prosciutto into the skillet, overlapping slightly at the edge. I then added chopped crimini mushrooms on top of the crackling meat, cooking them in the released fat. A few dollops of chevre, and a loose bunch of minced basil were added to the mushrooms while a whisked up a pair of eggs. I poured the eggs on top and quickly and continuously scooped up the egg dribbles that escaped over the edge of the prosciutto. After a moment waiting for the eggs to set, I folded the omelet over, sealing it closed.

The Prosciutto had a crisp snap as the fork bit through into the moist interior, and added a smokey meat flavor to the omelet. The presentation could use some work, but overall I am very pleased with this sudden spike of inspiration.

Field notes on handwriting

Some notes on handwriting:

1) I noticed yesterday while signing a receipt at a phở restaurant that I have somehow, without thought or intention, removed all vowels from my last name in my signature. It reads Eli Gbsn. I'm not sure when this happened or how, but it has, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Too, the "i" in Eli is no longer dotted.

2) For the past week or two, I have begun to write the numeral four differently than I have my whole life. I have always written it in one stroke, with a closed top, as so: 4. But now, I have an involuntary urge to write it in two strokes, with an open top. This is rather annoying because whenever I come upon the number four, my hand stutters with uncertainty and somehow comes out with this new, unintended four.

That is all.

VROOM-VROOOOOOM-VROOOM

It's probably my y-chromosome that makes me so entranced by this video, but I love it.





Song of the Day: Please Set Me At Ease (Hip Hop mix), Madlib This song is SO good

Hey there,

I'm still working for UKH Construction. Though, for a few months there it was extremely slow, and I thought I might starve. Luckily, as the Boss predicted, the Springtime has brought in several clients, new and old, and I am slowly recovering from my poverty. I keep feeling that I am actually getting good at my job, then I'll do something completely stupid, and feel like I'm back where I started. ah well, such is life.

During the slow period, I renewed my role as occasional fill in guy at elsa+sam with a weekly post on Tuesdays. Come visit me sometime! I'm there from 11am-6pm every week. See you soon.

My Brother and I have recently been hatching a scheme to do something really cool. We are trying to improve our life in a creative and productive way that will fulfill both our financial and emotional well-being. Manifest destiny and all that. Stay tuned for announcements as we figure out how to pull it off.

I finally, eight months after my bike wreck, have teeth in my head again. It was a six month process including countless dentist visits, several false starts, a disconcerting number of x-rays aimed at my head, one titanium screw and two precious metal/ceramic teeth, and thousands of my generous and caring parents' dollars. The teeth aren't perfect, but I no longer look like a Jack-O-Lantern.

Too, it's a beautiful day.

Song of the Day: Ya Mama, The Pharcyde

Return of the Ankh

Erykah Badu's latest album, New Amerykah part two: Return of the Ankh, dropped on Tuesday, and boy is it great! I've had it on repeat for the last three days. It is super groovy, funky, and fun; a welcome departure from her challenging 2008 release New Amerykah part one: 4th World War.

Return of the Ankh is joyful in sound, but perhaps at times a little woebegone in lyrical content. The feeling I come away with after listening to the smooth and bouncy songs is that of optimism, as if Badu has been through a dark patch and is finally overcoming that weight, remembering what it's like to feel whole again.

Perhaps I'm reading into it all wrong, but I'm sure of one thing: This is one hell of a record. Personal favorites from Return of the Ankh are Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY), Love, and Window Seat.



Song of the Day: Hurry On Now, Alice Russel - I also purchased Pot of Gold by Alice Russel on my visit to the record store. This song is what turned me onto her music. So great.