Somehow the thought of making pudding in a bathtub elicited more gross out responses than using breast milk to make food items.
Figure that one out.
Monthly Archive: November 2011
That kind of rep
I know we joke about it, but am I really that vulgar on stage?
Earlier tonight we were talking about doing a family show and immediately everyone got me to focus on keeping things clean. Hey, when it’s a family show I have no problem being sensible. Maybe sometimes one little blue joke slips in there, but otherwise all is well. It all makes me wonder, is this the kind of reputation that I’m somehow cultivating? What does it all mean?
I don’t know. What do you think? Do I have a tendency to rely on vulgar, or sex-related, or gross-out humour?
Price of working alone
Earlier today in baking class I arrived one minute before things began. When I reached my table I saw that my class partner hadn’t yet arrived. She’s arrived late before so I thought nothing of it. Fifteen minutes in it became clear that she wasn’t arriving. By that point I had already scaled out some of my ingredients and was already getting things started. Chef came by to check in on me and asked why I didn’t partner up with someone else who was also flying solo. I just said that I was still expecting her to arrive. And in that moment I basically cemented the fact that I was going to be working at it alone.
In class, things are a little bit chaotic. Everything has to fall into place in a timely manner. It’s not like baking at home where I can afford to take my time. No. There are plenty of others in class. All of us need to get our things done at about the same time so that we can put whatever we’re working on in the oven at the same time. One late pairing can set the whole class back. So, for me today, doing things without a partner was rather tough. There was no moment available for rest, and no moment for hesitation. Luckily, the pairing across from me helped me here and there. And chef came by to assist with things like emptying the mixing bowl into the pans. Still, the whole day wore me out. By the end of class I ended up with twice the food I’d normally get, but at the price of my effort. Outside of class on a bench I started taking my uniform off. The shirt under my chef jacket was soaked with sweat. My feet were aching and sore. I was reduced down to a hobble. You’d think that after ten weeks of this class I’d have a good idea of how much energy all this requires. I guess having someone around to take care of part of the work really does soften the blow. How do the pros do it? It’s amazing.
Defending myself from myself
I spent this past Monday just mulling over stuff going on in my life. There was a fair bit that I was attempting to access in the depths of my mind, but for whatever reason I was having a lot of difficulty. Whenever I got close to anything sort of painful my mind actually managed to redirect my thoughts. It was a little disconcerting because I was hoping to really make more progress in terms of dealing with my issues.
It’s rather fascinating how we have such strong self-defence mechanisms. I mean that’s what it is, isn’t it? The body is just doing what it can to save you from experiencing pain. For me, I’m kind of a big fan of the whole attitude of “the only way out is through.” I believe that that’s usually one of the best ways of dealing with issues that can’t just sit idle. So imagine my frustration when instead of working through the problem I kept on redirecting myself out into the periphery. Ugh! Well, at the very least I know that I’m unconsciously avoiding self-harm. All the same I really need to work these issues out. It’s the only way.
Cake walk
In this past Saturday’s class we covered how to make a black forest cake. As chef was showing us how to put it together I started thinking that it would be rather complicated. I remember thinking “there’s a lot that can go wrong!” However, once me and my baking partner got going the process of assembly was easier than expected. I mean, so much of it was based on stuff we’d done in previous weeks. A few weeks ago we worked on masking a cake. That same week we started working on our piping skills. We got to practice piping further when we made cream puffs and eclairs, and when we did shortbread. With all of that my piping skills have improved a fair bit. Making those rosettes on top wasn’t hard at all. I think the most difficult part of the past week was just making sure that we didn’t fall behind and that we kept moving in an efficient manner. In previous weeks my partner and I had a tendency of falling behind and holding things up. This time we moved swiftly and decisively. It was great!
This cake is visually impressive, but it’s actually not that bad to do. Cutting and filling the cake is one bit. Then masking isn’t so bad. Adding the chocolate sprinkles to the side was kind of fun. Then piping the rosettes and putting the cherries on top didn’t take long at all. The chocolate shavings were entirely a nice touch. So yeah: manageable! And with such a high visual impact this seems to be one of those recipes that’s high value.
When I posted a picture of this up on Facebook it got a lot of great comments. Not bad, right? One of my aunts was one of the people that commented on it. She was joking that I should open a bakery or something of that sort. Obviously such thoughts have crossed my mind. Things is, there’s just no way to switch career tracks at this point and still maintain my current lifestyle. I’m not giving up my condo, for example. So, as much as this would be an awesome thing to pursue I can’t do so just yet. Meanwhile, I can continue taking classes and sharpening my skills. One day a window will open or an opportunity will present itself. I need to keep an eye out for it and hope that when it come time I’ll be able to make the necessary jump.
Resting for my own good
Monday’s workout was a bit of a tough one for me. It involved a lot of jump rope and box jumps. I didn’t do so well if only because skipping requires more coordination than I would have wanted. I went home encouraging myself to just work harder at my next workout. Sounded all well and good, but it wasn’t until Tuesday that I finally noticed that I seem to have done a number on my left Achilles tendon. As I got ready for work I was feeling some discomfort, so I brought some muscle cream. I didn’t care if my desk area had a blast radius of odour. On my way to the office I found it rather difficult to walk up the stairs. It’s like there was a sharp stabbing pain at the affected area. My body, in an effort to compensate, was doing something weird causing my right knee to be achy. All in all I wasn’t feeling great. I vowed to rest my legs well such that by the time Wednesday rolled around I’d be in good condition to head back to CrossFit. Well, when Wednesday came I found that my Achilles was still in pain. Bad!
So, my sensible mind was telling me that I needed to spend some time just letting the pain heal. This was butting up against the other part of my mind that was actually trying to get me to ignore the injury and just go for it. Imagine, the voice was saying things like: “Oh, chances are the that the workout won’t involve a lot of jumping around. You can still lift.” Heh, I really was close to going up until I posted about my dilemma on Facebook. The big consensus was that I should rest. The Achilles is one part of the body that’s not to be messed with. Someone was just telling of someone they knew that ruptured their Achilles and ended up needing 8 months to recover. Crazy! So with all of that in mind that’s why I decided to take it easy on Wednesday. Ah, but I was actually feeling antsy about doing so. What was I missing out on? Was I ruining my momentum? All the same I knew that I was doing it for my own good. Now after the fact I don’t regret it at all. Why put my health at risk just to feel like I’m super-human? Please. God knows there are plenty of other ways to feel that way.
Self-reminders to focus
This is a reminder to myself to always keep my eye on the prize!
The people I need to win aren’t on my level but above me.
Anything anyone else does is simply external to me.
I can only control things in my influence.
Stay focused and diligent: truth and hard work will win out in the end.
Win allies and keep friends by your side.
Take out avenues until there’s no escape.
Have patience to play the long game.
Don’t run from being challenged. Don’t back down.
See through the smokescreen and figure out the hidden motives.
Battle hard on your own terms.
Just a bystander
Last night I sort of fell asleep in a bit of a stupor. I mean, I don’t remember falling asleep. In fact, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. is a bit of a blur. Anyway, one big thing I do recall is waking up at about 1 a.m. or so. I woke up to hear screaming of some sort coming from what must have been the hallway. The screams were female and sort of short yelps. From what I could hear there was a little bit of commotion to get her to shut up. I was too sleep-drunk to get up and peer through the peephole in my door, but eventually the noise stopped. So there I was lying in bed wondering what the hell just happened. Did I dream that? Was that for real? If it was, did I blithely ignore someone in need? Somewhere down the hallway there’s a unit that seems to have some college-age people. Maybe they were just drunk and being stupid. It’s all hard to tell. Would I have acted any differently if it was obvious that something bad was going on? And what of my neighbours? Surely they heard some of what was going on as well. Would we all be guilty of bystander effect?
Way too many questions. I’m not going to let it all bother me, I guess. I’ll chalk it up to drunken stupidity on their part. And hell, how dare they disturb everyone on the floor.
*shakes fist*
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