Ironically, in exactly two months I will be getting on a plane and flying to Australia. What happens after that is unknown - well I'm assuming I will find a place to lie down and SLEEP because that is a hella long flight.
Australia is a place that has long captivated me. But even with planes and advance technology, it's far away and it takes time and money to get there. It became a reoccurring theme in my life that when I had the time (unemployment), I did not have the money and when I had the money, I didn't have the time. Well really, I never had the money. Until now.
I'm back, my lovelies!
I have been working, werking, and workin' it like you don't even know and after a solid year of saving, I am going to Oz. For two whole months.
I have so much to tell you. Working in a professional kitchen is... words fail most of the time. Strangely, I love it. Or rather not so strange, because I've certainly accrued a mountain of debt to find out.
But the plane ticket has been purchased, the electronic visa is secure, and as of this morning, my bedroom is sublet (subletted? who knows).
THIS. IS. HAPPENING.
Now I just need to tell my (very loved) job. Eek.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
Straight Trippin'
They lean against the cooling car, backs pressed Upon the dusts of a brown continent, And watch the sun, now Westward of their West, Fall to the ocean. Where it led they went.
-Thom Gunn, Discovery of the Pacific
My externship is one day from being over. What now?
I want to go on a road trip.
Suggestions?
Sidenote: I can't actually get much farther west, I just love this poem.Sunday, October 16, 2011
Wedding Cake Massacre
You guys, it's been three weeks since I've been in a classroom. Three weeks!?! I haven't had time to miss it because, trust me, I'm getting plenty of quality bake time at my externship - which I love.
But I also just realized I never shared the beautious joy that was the wedding cake I made. It was a huge project and one of the most social. Oh, I made everything myself, but when you're sitting around making fake flowers by the dozen, there's not a lot else to do but chat with your neighbor. I should note that I never had to bake an actual cake for this project; it was constructed on foam blanks because it took about 8 days from start to finish and a real cake wouldn't have been able to withstand that.
Without further ado:
And it came to pass that there was to be a wedding cake, and that cake would have three tiers, and each tier would be layered in fondant, and each layer would have a focus flower and each focus flower would beget a filler flower.
And it was good.
But I also just realized I never shared the beautious joy that was the wedding cake I made. It was a huge project and one of the most social. Oh, I made everything myself, but when you're sitting around making fake flowers by the dozen, there's not a lot else to do but chat with your neighbor. I should note that I never had to bake an actual cake for this project; it was constructed on foam blanks because it took about 8 days from start to finish and a real cake wouldn't have been able to withstand that.
Without further ado:
And it came to pass that there was to be a wedding cake, and that cake would have three tiers, and each tier would be layered in fondant, and each layer would have a focus flower and each focus flower would beget a filler flower.
And it was good.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Julie Andrews Ate My Muffin
It's been two weeks since classes have ended at Giant Corporate Cooking School, how have I been spending them?
Working.
Or technically externing. So far I kind of love it. It's hard work and I'm still getting up ass early in the morning, but it's been a really enjoyable experience. For one thing, unlike my stage at a certain other place, I actually get to do stuff. Like make English muffins. Yes, if I have to do it for years, I will either find it tedious or think of it as a physical white noise, just something I do without thinking. But as for now, I've made the recipe maybe a dozen times and I can see how things like the weather and forgetting the salt alter the recipe. I make decent English muffins right now. By the end of this, my English muffins are going to rock.
Speaking of English muffins, a certain English rose enjoyed one of mind. Julie Andrews came into the restaurant and got eggs benedict. You guys, Mary Poppins/Maria von Trapp ate my muffin! Only in LA.
Working.
Or technically externing. So far I kind of love it. It's hard work and I'm still getting up ass early in the morning, but it's been a really enjoyable experience. For one thing, unlike my stage at a certain other place, I actually get to do stuff. Like make English muffins. Yes, if I have to do it for years, I will either find it tedious or think of it as a physical white noise, just something I do without thinking. But as for now, I've made the recipe maybe a dozen times and I can see how things like the weather and forgetting the salt alter the recipe. I make decent English muffins right now. By the end of this, my English muffins are going to rock.
Speaking of English muffins, a certain English rose enjoyed one of mind. Julie Andrews came into the restaurant and got eggs benedict. You guys, Mary Poppins/Maria von Trapp ate my muffin! Only in LA.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Bittersweet
I tied my last cravat yesterday.
Classes at the Giant Corporate Cooking School are over. People I have seen and worked with at obscene hours of the morning on a daily basis for the better part of a year are going to stop being a part of my life. Or at least I won't be seeing them every weekday and commiserating about whatever the task du jour was. There are a few people I will keep up with, but it won't be the same.
I've been so frazzled lately (witness the half a dozen blog posts that never made it), I hadn't even given it much thought. It wasn't until we were scrubbing down the kitchen for the final time that it hit me: I won't be cooking in here anymore. And that was the tipping point, that was when I began to look around and realize, this is it.
I didn't cry, but I thought I was going to. Everyone lingered a bit longer than usual. There was hugging. We did the hokey pokey (I kid you not). And then...
Well, I had to go to work. Life rolls on, even when you want to stop for a moment.
Classes at the Giant Corporate Cooking School are over. People I have seen and worked with at obscene hours of the morning on a daily basis for the better part of a year are going to stop being a part of my life. Or at least I won't be seeing them every weekday and commiserating about whatever the task du jour was. There are a few people I will keep up with, but it won't be the same.
I've been so frazzled lately (witness the half a dozen blog posts that never made it), I hadn't even given it much thought. It wasn't until we were scrubbing down the kitchen for the final time that it hit me: I won't be cooking in here anymore. And that was the tipping point, that was when I began to look around and realize, this is it.
I didn't cry, but I thought I was going to. Everyone lingered a bit longer than usual. There was hugging. We did the hokey pokey (I kid you not). And then...
Well, I had to go to work. Life rolls on, even when you want to stop for a moment.
Friday, September 16, 2011
No one rides for free
I just went to get my oil changed because I had a coupon for a $17.99 oil change with complimentary fluid check, tire rotation, and the like. Do you know how much I paid?
$282.67
It turns out that the rubber protecting my right front drive axle was gone, vanished, simply not there and eventually it would mean that I would go to make a turn and the car would go no further. At least this is what I was told. Sadly, cars and car parts are relegated to the realms of unreal for me; I would just as soon believe I had gnomes living in the engine emitting a magical juice that makes the car run. Actually, I 'd prefer that - then I could attempt to bribe the gnomes with food.
Because I have no way to confirm or refute what I'm told about my car, and because I desperately need it to get around, I panicked and agreed to replace it immediately. I, of course, was in no way prepared to shell out nearly $300 today.
Cars break down, I know. And I should be better financially prepared to deal with emergencies.
What I would rather do is just say "to hell with it" and drive the car into the ground and on that fateful day when it does make the terrible crunching noise and stops - I wish I could be the kind of person who would just leave it there, title and keys on the drivers seat and hitchhike out of town. I wish I was the type of person who could let every material possession I have slide through my fingers like sand, never holding tight, always running free. I wish I wasn't nostalgic, I wish I didn't look back, I wish I didn't let myself become stuck between this endless adolescence and the trappings of adulthood without the paycheck. I wish, I wish, I wish.
But here I am. It hardly fixes what's wrong with the car either. Twelve years and almost 110,000 miles means things wear out and need to be replaced. Like the breaks ($250) which are getting thin. And the tires (no quote given) which don't have much tread left. And the pinion is leaking oil ($400+).
All of this leaves me with a longing for public transportation that borders on religious ferventness.
$282.67
It turns out that the rubber protecting my right front drive axle was gone, vanished, simply not there and eventually it would mean that I would go to make a turn and the car would go no further. At least this is what I was told. Sadly, cars and car parts are relegated to the realms of unreal for me; I would just as soon believe I had gnomes living in the engine emitting a magical juice that makes the car run. Actually, I 'd prefer that - then I could attempt to bribe the gnomes with food.
Because I have no way to confirm or refute what I'm told about my car, and because I desperately need it to get around, I panicked and agreed to replace it immediately. I, of course, was in no way prepared to shell out nearly $300 today.
Cars break down, I know. And I should be better financially prepared to deal with emergencies.
What I would rather do is just say "to hell with it" and drive the car into the ground and on that fateful day when it does make the terrible crunching noise and stops - I wish I could be the kind of person who would just leave it there, title and keys on the drivers seat and hitchhike out of town. I wish I was the type of person who could let every material possession I have slide through my fingers like sand, never holding tight, always running free. I wish I wasn't nostalgic, I wish I didn't look back, I wish I didn't let myself become stuck between this endless adolescence and the trappings of adulthood without the paycheck. I wish, I wish, I wish.
But here I am. It hardly fixes what's wrong with the car either. Twelve years and almost 110,000 miles means things wear out and need to be replaced. Like the breaks ($250) which are getting thin. And the tires (no quote given) which don't have much tread left. And the pinion is leaking oil ($400+).
All of this leaves me with a longing for public transportation that borders on religious ferventness.
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