Thursday, July 22, 2010

new trend

What? Blogging again? That's right.

Maybe this is the best place to blab about what's going on in my mind in terms of my parents moving away. Without further ado...

I'm scared. When I moved out of my parents' place, it was because my mom and I weren't getting along with each other. I left, we had our ignoring-each-other phase, and then our relationship improved a bunch. We both put a lot of effort into trying to accept one another and put our roles (mother/son) first. From that point forward, I always knew I had my parents to look towards for anything I needed. They live like 20 blocks north of my apartment. In a few months they'll be in another country. Clearly living with my brother is in the best interest for us both, but it'll still be weird not having our parents around.

Ever since I started cooking (a little over a year ago), I never actually made a meal for my family. One time I brought over chicken curry leftovers, but just so they could taste a bit of Indian cuisine. Baking, on the other hand, was something they almost expected; back then I felt like I was spoiling them with how many times I brought over banana bread or brownies, but now I feel like I didn't do it enough and have to make up for it. Anyway, tonight I decided to cook for the fam.

I had to pick a recipe that would go a long way (since my dad and brother are human garbage disposals, not to mention how much I can eat if I try hard enough), and something that they don't eat often (Peruvian recipes are 50% of my kitchen repertoire) but nothing too crazy (no curried lentils or mushroom risotto)...so I decided on baked ziti a-la-Mark-Bittman, columnist for the New York Times and national foodie. (Apparently he's won several "Julia Child" awards...what the hell does that even mean?)


The recipe is pretty basic and leaves a lot of room for creativity. I added minced carrots, zucchini and mushrooms, along with Italian seasoning for the meat. Making sure the pasta and the sauce mix well is essential. Ignore the part about letting the meat sit and cook "untouched," as you may end up burning part of it (like I almost did). And I've learned that, with this recipe, the more cheese the better.


I haven't been cooking as much as I used to, and I've decided that needs to change. Also going to make sure I get as many recipes out of my mom's mind as I can over the next couple of months.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

15th

Epiphany: after spending years of high school thinking that every word that came out of my mouth and made its way into someone's ear or onto some piece of paper or internet page was worth gold, I've become almost afraid of blogging or writing. I've always been a compulsive over-thinker about my writing, but now instead of thinking about how many funny quips I can fit into a LiveJournal post, I question if it's my place to crowd the world wide web with my ramblings. I blame that on pausing my education.

Not being in school is tough. I want to keep learning but right now is not the time. I need patience. I've found purpose in what I do—helping my boss be a kick-ass lawyer and preparing high school kids for useless but unfortunately important college admissions tests—but every day seems like a variation of the same thing. I'm growing but not as fast as I could be if I were studying. The funny thing is that I know what I need to do so I can have less difficulty focusing on both the importance of what I'm doing now and how it's contributing to my long-term goals.

Change is coming. My parents are planning on going back to Peru in October, while my brother and I are going to start living together. It would seem that the time to leave Kibbutz Aish has come. I have so many memories from this apartment, both good and bad, so the change will be bittersweet. Living with my brother will definitely be different, but I know we're going to get along. The quest for a place begins August 1.

I think it's funny that I only blogged twice last year. This is my first post of 2010. So much has happened since December 3, 2009. I took my first mostly-on-my-own trip (went to NYC the week of New Year's Eve) and had an amazing time. I ended the first and only serious relationship I've ever had. I started working full-time. (note: more responsibility is worth being on salary - paid vacation days, paid sick days, paid holidays…it's awesome.) I saw Sound Tribe Sector 9 live. I turned 21.

I learned what it was like to live on your own and be single. I rolled at Ultra. I went to Bonnaroo for the third time and had an amazing experience as always. (Everyone should try 2C-I at least once.) I traveled quite a bit (Sarasota twice, Gainesville five times, Atlanta right before Bonnaroo, New Haven and NYC last weekend) and committed to doing more of it (going to St. Louis, MO next month to visit a friend at WashU and see Broken Social Scene).

Progress.

P.S. This random post was inspired by the soundtrack from A Single Man. If you haven't seen that film already, watch it. ASAP.