Who Do I Think I Am??

This one's about the scratch and save entry.

30DBC PROMPT: "The old skills of making food from scratch, like jam, pasta, butter, cheese, etc, are being lost. Talk about a time when you've made something from scratch."

'Sup people? Now that I've sufficiently untied my shorts from yesterday's fiasco of entry drama, we're back to regular old prompts made out of the language we speak. One final nail in the coffin of it and I'll never speak of it again...I don't care one way or the other if the prompt is word- or image-based. As long as we're all respectful and understand something...even if you don't write every day, or every six days, or every other day, or twice a year, you're going to see a prompt you don't like. It happens. Between two blogs I've written probably near 700 entries. It's always hilarious in some way when I don't like the prompt...and more often then not, those are the days that usually start off with me wanting to write more than other days (some days you have it, and some you don't) and looking forward to something that I can make good use out of. That's a part of life. We want cheeseburgers that taste great and don't make us fat. We want more currency in our pockets. But I don't care so much about the grass being greener as long as you keep your dog off my lawn, ya know? That's just the way I look at things. That's why we do this however and whichever way we do it. That's it. Sneak preview of this month's edition of the Blogging Bliss newsletter (less than two weeks away): There are millions of bloggers out there, which means there are millions of ways to define it (and don't go running to https://www.dictionary.com to shove your definition up my cornhole).

That's enough about that.

Today's prompt comes courtesy of Elle - on hiatus , who, by the way, I want to thank for the awesome newsletter put together by her and Dodgy Steve . It's a fun little read, and features some of the talented (and hungry) folks in WDC's hugely populous Blogville. It was a pleasant surprise to open my mailbox and see my name on "Invalid Item" . Check it out, if only for the recipe for making brownies in a coffee mug.

Now, because of leaving Buffalo, I haven't done much cooking lately. I know, it's bad for me and unhealthy and blah blah blah. But that's not the point. The point is, when was the last time I made something from scratch? The easy answer is "I dunno" with a shrug. But since this space isn't about easy answers, ya gotta gimme a minute and think. Enchiladas? Nope. Even though I cooked the meat, I used a taco seasoning packet as part of the chicken mixture (and my ex hand-shredded the chicken, so all I had to do was mix it and top it and make sure they didn't burn).

Ugh. Memories. I made my ex homemade truffles for Valentine's Day a few years back. Luckily I had the day off from work so I could make and chill the filling, shop for a gift, come home and finish the coating. Making them is easy...I took recipes from the newspaper's weekly food section. Yes, recipes...I made two different kinds: chocolate-covered peanut butter, and a cookies n' cream one (white chocolate mixed with bits of Oreos, covered in crushed Oreos). They actually turned out halfway decent. Bought her a heart-shaped box, lined it and filled it. Best. Boyfriend. Ever. I wish I still had the recipes (I'm sure they're online in many variations). And the girl.

But as far as making things from scratch? I can't think of anything I've ever made that didn't require some store-bought help. The first time I tried making chili and spaghetti sauce from a recipe, I bombed. I tried making my dad's sauce, and asked him for the recipe...he looked at me like I was actually speaking Italian. Pop Diesel was like, "I dunno, I just kinda mix some of this and some of that, and let it simmer awhile." Gee, thanks. Another frickin' life lesson there.

I will say this though...even though it's not totally from scratch, there's a lot of satisfaction that goes into being able to eat something you didn't completely have to unpack and shove in a microwave for two minutes, making sure to let it sit another minute. When you have a purpose in the kitchen, you tend have more purpose in life. That's not meant to be sexist in any way...when you can provide someone (even if it's just yourself) a good meal, it's one of those nice feelings.

(Oooops...I said "feelings". Didn't mean to get emotional. )

BCF PROMPT: "Who is your hero?"

Huh. Tough question there, no joke. I don't have any of the easy, typical, go-to heroes a lot of the population has. I don't have much family, and if surviving's the best thing any of us has done, then we're doin' ok. I'm not religious, and I don't believe in saying actors, musicians or athletes are "heroic". It makes me uneasy when I read an article that says someone has given a "heroic performance" during a game or a movie. Bullshit. You make bazillions of dollars sneezing and hitting curveballs. Sure, I don't look like <insert stupid favorite actor/actress here> or stick myself with needles fall apart in the playoffs get overpaid to suck like <insert your favorite New York Yankee here>, but I'm also not worth stupid amounts of money (and if I am, it'd be great if someone told me).

I guess I do have a stock answer for this question though. You do hear it said that many service professionals...doctors, nurses, servicemen/women, firemen and policemen, people who do those jobs. Those people are heroes. That's a statement I can certainly get behind. There are times they're placed in positions where lives are at stake, and just gettin' a paycheck isn't the reward at the end of the day.

We often gripe about the things that hate us. How doctors want us to lose weight and quit smoking, or how the cops gave us a hard time for walking through a parking lot at night. But have you ever heard anyone complain about fire fighters? "Effin' hosers got water everywhere! This carpet is soaked. We're gonna need a new rug. And a roof. And maybe some walls too. Geez!" Nope. Nobody says that. See? That's the breakdown of heroes in the nation, by the level we complain about them. Soldiers deserve our respect too, and you can't say anything bad about what they do...other than they chose their path (and don't try to trick me into believing that "the path chose them"); so did the people in medical school and art school. Soldiers and fire fighters, #1 and #1A. Everybody else gives you reason to occasionally hit 'em with the giant middle finger in your head.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

I almost caved in and took the easy way out, using the first song available when you type "David Bowie heroes" into the YouTube search engine. But then I saw this band in my subscription list, and I'm pretty sure when I started this blog, I checked the box that said "I vow to use this video every chance I get". So I am.

VITAL STATS:

Ok, make this the second "last thing" I'll say about yesterday's entry. It kinda felt weird not copy/pasting an image. I thought that would shave a little time off the duration it takes me to get an entry out. Nope. This has taken me forever for some reason today.

Since it's kinda pointless (and stupid) yelling at someone else's kids, I'm gonna start cussin' out parents. It's a library, not a playground. We don't let our children run around a library, playing "hide and seek". Besides, the floor plan in this building makes it a really dumb idea to try that anyway.

Started using the iHeartRadio app yesterday (although I only listened to the Atmosphere channel, which plays a lot more than Atmosphere). I'm kinda crushin' on it a little bit. The sound quality is better than Apple's iTunes (and I suppose I should've known that). I suppose I should know that I also need some kind of internet connection to make it work, and that it stops working when your connection drops. But did it really take me 10 minutes to realize the connection dropped between two songs?? Hey, where's the next song? What happened?? Your Wi-Fi dropped, you ass. Seriously, there's gotta be a name for when something like that happens. Get on that, yo.

Ok, I'm gonna hope it stopped rainin', grab me a bite to eat and maybe a movie, and peace myself on outta here. Feels like I've been here forever even though I got a late start on the day. Peace, we don't need no water, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!