The good, the bad, and the cute

+ It's Friday!

- I have a weekend sans boy, in the same week in which my date with other boy got cancelled. *pout*

+ Hey, this gives me an opportunity to get some stuff done, like shopping for a good shaving brush for my dad and visiting farmers' markets

+ And at least I got to go out for dinner with the boy last night! We had yummy seafood at the Summer Shack.

- I'm sick. Yeah, it's definite. The coughing kept me from sleeping well last night. I need to pick up some cough medicine today, but not the knock-you-out stuff, because that pretty much guarantees that as soon as it wears off, I'll wake up in the middle of the night and be unable to get back to sleep.

+ Still, at least it's not as bad a cold as I am prone to getting. Even so, if I get a decent bit of work done early today, I might ask to head home early. And it's enough that even if I did have a cute boy present, I wouldn't be able to enjoy that fact as much as I might like to do, so it makes the absence of boys less of a bad thing.

- It's also enough that while I'd like some socializing with friends this weekend, I have to admit that staying away from them is probably nicer to them.

+ Wow, Stones Rising fast approaches. I'm a little apprehensive about some recent changes at the Farm, but I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and pulling some rocks! It's about time to start making sure that I know where all my camping shit is.

And the cute: My little Lucy is un-freakin'-believable. When she walks around with that feather-boa-on-a-stick-like toy in her mouth, meowing through the feathers, it just cracks me up. It's like she's saying, "Hey Mom! Look what I just killed! LOOK! I did it all by myself!"

AMEN.

So, whiteboy just posted this NY Times article elsewhere. Basically, it's about how cooking has become not an activity that people do, but a spectator sport, something we watch other people do on TV. It's about how that came to pass, why, and what it means to us as a society.

Let me tell ya, as much as I love watching Food Network and food shows on other channels, I was going "YES! YES! YES!" all the way through this.

Speaking for myself:

1. Going for too long without preparing a meal from scratch makes me feel uneasy and restless, somehow.
2. Going for too long without eating home-cooked food makes me feel physically uncomfortable and unhealthy, most of the time.
3. The food shows I watch DO make me want to get off the couch and cook, to the point that I occasionally get up and start cooking in the middle of a show, nipping back out of the kitchen to see a bit of it now and again. This happens mostly when I'm home alone on weekends.
4. My gods, there really are few pleasures in life like the handling and treatment of high-quality raw ingredients, and the transformation of those things into FOOD.
5. You only have to look at me to know that I love to eat. But I really, really do love cooking just as much. Sometimes I don't feel like it, but in general, it is honestly one of my favorite things to do in life.
6. The average American spends 27 minutes a day on food preparation? *boggle* I'd die.
7. One day, when I have kids, I'm going to teach them to cook. I really look forward to teaching someone how to cook. Heck, if any of my local friends want a cooking lesson, I'll give them one! Seriously! I mean, I'm no expert, but I'm a decent home cook who makes food that people usually enjoy, and I can show people how to do that.
8. One of these days, I really do need to make that Cross-Cultural Seasoning Spreadsheet, which gives a host of spices, herbs, and other seasonings, and lists which types of cuisines traditionally use each one, and then you can sort it by ingredient or by cuisine. That is something I think might be helpful to inexperienced cooks.
9. I am so going to a farmer's market or two this weekend. Yeah! Fresh veggies! They're so colorful and so tasty. I'm so glad that the person who I cook for the most other than myself (that'd be pierceheart) is a veggie fan.
10. Oh, and also, incidentally, I prefer food shows that involve cooking but not competition. Exception: No Reservations is one of my favorite food shows. One of my favorite shows, period. Tony Bourdain is an amazing guide to the world, and not just the world of food.

I almost wish that I were willing to live the life of a restaurant chef. If I were, I think it would be so wonderful. I mean, I love to cook, to plan menus, to source ingredients, etc. I just don't want to have to deal with the hours. Maybe I don't have enough passion for cooking? How can one make a living from one's love for cooking, without ever working in a decent restaurant? Not that I'm looking for a new job, mind you. I do like this one. But I love to cook.