Food for Thought

Here is the usual top 5.

5) I recently went to a job fair in San Francisco. I'm not going to talk about the job fair in itself. I thought it was successful and informative. However, it was the process of getting to the job fair and really thinking about the future. I took the BART to San Francisco because traffic tends to be hell by the time I was planning to return home and the price of crossing two bridges and parking is ridiculous. While riding, I began to contemplate about my life in general like, "Where the hell am I going?"

I think I've hit a first in a series of bottoms in my life at this moment. I felt like I could either live a decent life whatever that means, or I could end up some bum overly dependent on the government cheese, which a good number of those living in the Bay Area are doing at the moment. I can definitely portray myself as confident in the job search. However, deep within, I feel like my life is on a massive standstill and I don't like the feeling at all. I'm working hard towards my current goals at the moment, but I feel impatient. I want everything now. Part of it is pride for sure. However, part of it is independence. I love my parents very much and I am blessed that they are still continuing to support me, but I don't want to be dependent on my parents forever; it's not even a possible scenario. I want to live on my own and do my own things. Hell, I'm even considering leaving California in general in search of something exciting.

The thing I need is some patience and a lot of hard work and determination to get out of this ditch. Also, I'm willing to do anything possible to reach my goals. I'm young, and I'm single. That definitely equates to flexibility. I just need to make it happen.

On a side note, I came across one of the lab techs at school that interviewed me for a job that I applied a while back. She noticed me and said that I did a great job on the interview. I smiled and said thanks of course. However, in my mind I was saying, "Well then, why didn't I get the job!"

4) The health care debate has been going on for a long time, and I have been surprised with myself that I have not said a word. The reason of this is that it's extremely complicated. Complex enough that I rather not write about it in a blog. My information has been from MSNBC because I need some optimism, NPR because I need a dose of reality, and the non-partisan fact checkers that actually check if the talking points are fact or total bullshit. I love the fact checkers because they talk about everything from is the H1N1 vaccine safe (which it is) to is the White House going to rename their Christmas trees as holiday trees (which they're not). It is definitely a useful website for any of the current major political arguments.

If you want your frequent dose of facts or lies, here are the links:
PolitiFact
FactCheck.org

3) This video blew my mind. I wonder if it's a psychology thing or is there some sort of mathematical algorithm and probability stuff that makes you pick a certain square.



2) For quite a while now, I've been trying to improve myself as a person. One of those things is learning how to cook. I've been writing down my mom's recipes. They're not really recipes because everything I have seen is in relative amounts. However, I know the process and how it should taste. I've also bought Julia Child's first cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking vol. 1". All the ingredients needed are usually found in a supermarket. The recipe itself is not very short and simple; it's rather time consuming. However, the instructions and methods are very clear-cut, and the results are delicious. Here's a few pictures of what I've done so far:

Mussels in Wine and Flavorings


I love mussels! I don't have access to fresh mussels so I bought the frozen variety on a half shell. The white wine broth that accompanied this dish was also excellent. Ate these with just French bread and called it a night. The only note is to use a good quality wine. The wine I bought was sour so it gave the broth a tangy taste. Also, the book suggested using a dry vermouth instead which is way cheaper than white wine also eliminates that sour taste.

Pear Clafouti


This recipe was extremely simple yet tasted amazing! The pears were soaked in cognac and sugar for a hour. Then layered over the batter. The result was something that tasted like a flan with pears and a strong hint of cognac. The only problem was that I used too much pears so there was less batter to consume. I would just cut down on the pears and it would be perfect next time.

French Rolled Omelette with Swiss Cheese and Parsley


This was another simple thing I could do but give it a rather fancy flair to it. According to the book, if you have all the ingredients prepared, a good omelette should be done in 30 s. I had all the ingredients prepared, but since this was my first time, it took about 2 min to cook. Just added the cheese at the end to let it melt from within, jerked the pan to fold itself on the pan (I used a spatula since I don't have those kinds of skills yet) and added the parsley on top. Probably if I make a few more omelettes I can probably hit the 30 s mark someday and not use the spatula.

1) The times are changing. There were two things that indicate these changes. First was when at Mass, one of the intentions was for the intersession of St. Francis of Assisi for more responsible environmental practices. St. Francis has been the saint for ecology for quite a while, but this has been the first time I have heard of such an intention at Mass. The other thing was a commercial:



I have definitely grew up saying "That's so gay." ever since I was a kid. However, it's going to the point were using that phrase or anything derogatory to homosexuals is falling out of style. Growing up in the Bay Area has definitely made me very tolerable for the gay community in general. However, I don't know if I'll ever stop saying these kinds of phrases. There will always be this kind of negative stigma in the back of my mind toward the LGBT community simply because that is how I and everyone else in my generation has grown up to be. I believe that gays will be fully accepted by the next generation, in other words our kids. Even though our current climate is intense over this one issue of the culture wars, it is no longer a question of if there will be gay rights in the US, but a question of when.

That is all.