My Favorite Things

Alex J. Cavanaugh is hosting a blogfest today! And it's an interesting one. Favorite Genre of Movie, Book, and Music. Then a Guilty Pleasure of any of the 3....Hmmm.

Favorite Genre of Movie. That's pretty simple. Sci-Fi. I'm pretty sure it's because these movies have it all. Thrill, plot, romance, explosions, comedy...everything. Yes. They can be terrible. But Serenity? Amazing.  Aliens. Star Wars (of course). I would even argue that the way TV is going now, it's becoming better then movies. The Walking Dead! C'MON! Firefly. Nuff said.

Favorite Genre of Book. That's harder. It would be such an easy thing to say fantasy/sci-fi. But honestly, I don't know. I read a hell of a lot of murder mysteries. I have a ton of historical fiction on my shelves. But yes. The books I buy are epic fantasy. Rothfuss. Rawn. Orson Scott Card. I love getting lost in the world. Getting immersed in the different culture.

Music. Simple. Jazz. Hands down. Something about the chaos of the music. It's visceral. Earthy. Hot. Painful. Everything you need music to be. Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ella Fitz, Billie Holiday. Music today wouldn't be what it is now without these amazing musicians.

Guilty pleasure...hmmm. Probably in Movies, Period Dramas. I love sitting down and watching movies set in Victorian times! The Drama! The Beheadings! The Clothing! The Angry Church-Guys! Seriously...they were all so ...Angry...Awesome.

That's it for me! Check out Alex's Linky List for more participating in this Wicked Fun Blogfest!

In Defence of it All

I happened to be wandering about the blogosphere the other day and stumbled upon the tumbler blog of a friend of mine. Well. By friend I mean friend of a friend. That sort of person. We've met. He's nice. I like him. Very intelligent well spoken individual. Which is why what I read surprised the hell out of me.

LONG story short...due to some experiences he had he said, "I have already declared that none of my children will be allowed to work in the restaurant industry when that time of their life comes around."

I'm Hoping that he was saying this with his tongue firmly in cheek.

I'm Hoping that he was being more than a little sarcastic. As he's prone to be. And I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here...because this statement was so out of character for him. On so many levels.

But I'm going to approach it on why it upset me.

If someone, namely my parents had said to me, you're Forbidden to work in the restaurant industry I would have missed out on a huge part of my self. And because of this world I worked in I learned skills that I was able to carry over into every other job I have had since.

Waitress: The organization needed to maintain 12 tables of hungry people, all at different stages of their meals. You learn to move quickly. You learn efficiency. You learn customer service or you don't pay your rent.

Line Chef: Again. Organization. Time management. Taking your day and breaking it down by tasks. And you'd better have your mis en place right or you are fucked for the night. Just like any other job. If you don't have your shit together for that meeting? Yah. And working as a team. Huge with this one. Learning how to take my 'stuff', leave it at the door and get the job done. Which was interesting, because generally, by the time the job was done...my 'stuff' had worked itself out. We didn't need umpteen different meetings and write-ups about it to discuss it.

Catering Chef: This can possibly be summed up with the title of my forth coming book "101 Uses for a Latex Glove". From Tourniquet to piping bag, I've seen and done pretty much everything with these handy buggers. But the underlying lesson? Creativity. Being able to look at an object and see dozens of uses for it. Who doesn't need to know how to McGyver their way through life?

The biggest lesson I carried away from my years in The Industry? Customer Service. Dealing with the public. Not just, 'Meh, customer service...'. Doing it well. Getting the details right. Understanding that when you fake it people can tell. And understanding that when you are on that side of the desk, or the kitchen, you have the ability to make, or ruin, someone's day. Yes. People suck sometimes. Hungry people with screaming kids in a foreign land with jet lag? Good times. But a genuine smile, followed by laughter and a box of crayons will get you quite far in this world.

Now, don't get me wrong. There is quite a bit wrong with The Industry. It is one of the most abusive, sexist, drug and alcohol infested work environments that I know of. I saw, heard, and experienced more shit then I care to remember.

But.

It is also one of the most diverse, accepting, hard-working and creatively inspiring professions I've ever been involved in.

So, please, my friend. If you were possibly even remotely at all serious about barring your children from this avenue of profession. Reconsider. I managed to make it through 13 years without being scarred for life. We aren't all degenerate psychos.

And Yes. My knife skills come in handy...but they seemed to be frowned upon at the offices I worked in...

Thunderstorms a'brewin'

Oh the audacity! The Nerve! I can't even...*splutter* ...it's....humph...

*Rant ahead*

Not much gets under my skin more then people who bully. People who assume their situation is the only space in the universe that matters. I know I don't usually (ever) talk about my job here...but I had a very frustrating phone call happen the other day and I needed to clear the air.

First of all. Is it even conceivable, in this, for lack of a better term, Day and Age, that someone NOT have access to a computer with internet capability? Seriously? If all else fails, the Library? But I get ahead of myself.

There was a "person of interest" quick article of me, in a local here. :) Just a quick bit. On the last page the story gave my contact info for my business. (This is important, trust me.) My phone number, email, and webpage. All good information to have! Yay!

I get a phone call, while I'm driving, from a woman who wanted information about the type of massage I do. Easy enough. She had read the article but couldn't find the FIRST PAGE of the article. The Second page was where all the contact information was so I told her about the webpage. She interrupts me and says very annoyed that she won't be going on to a computer to get any information about my business. Not that she doesn't have access but almost like she won't be bothered. Then she asks me to send her information about my business to her through the mail.  Um, ok? Now I'm confused a bit. So I told her I was driving and could I please call her back in a bit. Sure no problem. She was fine with that.

A couple of hours later, in the midst of a big thunderstorm, which I didn't think anything about, I tried calling her back.

Call 1: Her: Hello!! Yes! Do you have a piece of paper you can write on?
Me: (I'm catching about every other word of this...) I'm sorry you're breaking up...Did you say you needed information on the type of massage I do? (I'm thinking I can just simply answer her questions over the phone...)
Her: Yes! You need to mail it to me!
Me: I need to...
Disconnected

Call 2: Her: Hello? Hello! Yes you need to write my address down. I need you to send me information about your business.
Me: I can just answer your...
Disconnected

Call 3: Me: Are you on a cell phone?
Her: I don't understand why you keep hanging up on me. Do you have a pen and paper there to take down my address?
Me: *Sigh* Sure. Go ahead.
Her: It...Disconnected.

At this point I thought maybe it was my phone so I called my mother in law had a great perfectly crystal clear conversation with her for about 5 minutes . Then put my big girl panties on and called this...person...back.

Call 4: Her: Yes. I'm sorry this is NOT a good time for ME right now. And Obviously you are having a really hard time taking my information down so...good by. *Hang up*.

I had a really REALLY hard time not calling her right back and saying something not very pleasant to this woman.

Oi. People. Sometimes. Sometimes it's just a thunderstorm, you know?

Writing Wordless Recipes

I've been thinking about this "wordyness" problem that I seem to have.

I find it amusing.

In my previous life I was the exact opposite of wordy. In fact the more words I used the more of a detriment it was to my job.  I became pretty proficient at reading between the lines.

"Make the Risotto."
There is a whole lot buried in that simple three word sentence. But I don't need the whole spiel on how the stock is made. Or how to dice the onions. Or how long to keep the rice on the burner.

So how to channel that type of succinctness into my writing. How do I say...simply...what I want to say? Get to the meat of the issue, so to speak?

Is it possible to write a story without writing a full on step by step recipe?

Mushrooms, Rice, Herbs, Wine, Bacon...Can you taste it?

   

V - Vino

Ah. Wine. The nectar of the gods.

I was going to write a post about what wines go with what foods...but that's really all a matter of taste. And far too pretentious. Bah.

Then I thought...I really want to write about my first experience with wine. Boring! Class in Culinary school. Yawn. It was really just "This is a red wine" *taste* "This is a white wine" *taste*. "Don't screw them up."

I think most people get their education about wine through just simply experiencing it. And there is simply no rule book that accounts for taste. You can enjoy a $2 bottle just as much as you can a $120 bottle.  In fact. When I had just graduated culinary school Bon Appetite did an article about Wine and wine tasting. They got 10 of the most renowned sommeliers in the country to do a blind taste test of something like 20 wines ranging from $5 to $150 a bottle. The results were kind of earth shattering. First off, some were having a hard time telling the difference between red and white. And then, across the board there was a bottle of 15$ Cote de Rhone that everyone absolutely LOVED. Above all else. Just goes to show. You never can judge by price.

I love stemless wineglasses even though they're kinda not 'right'

I love wine. The only thing I get snobby about is that it's not Merlot. Or White Zin. I've yet to have a good Merlot. White Zin is a candy wine only good to have with popcorn. (I'm not even kidding a little...try it...)  Other then that. I'll try anything once.

Corks Vs. Screw Caps? Meh. Screw Caps are gonna happen folks. They actually preserve the wine better then the cork used to. You get less 'corked' wine. So if you see the screw caps, it doesn't mean cheap wine anymore! Though I do miss using a corkscrew...something very satisfying about that whole ritual.

So just try wine. Don't be afraid. It's true what they say that wine can enhance the flavors of food. It's kind of amazing what happens when you find the right pairing. A great Zinfandel with just the right steak. A beautiful Viognier with an amazing bouillabaisse.

And hey, if you don't like it to drink it...you can always cook with it! Poach pears! Jellies and Jams! Pasta Sauce! The options are endless!

 Everyone should drink more wine...there would be less war.

**BTW...I have the first 400 of my WIP being critted over at Unicorn Bell today! Hop on over and check it out!**

E - Elusive

Why is so much about our craft elusive?

 Chasing down the proper words can be like herding kittens. I'm sure I look quite brilliant sitting, staring at the wall, composing that perfect sentence in my head. Not typing a word because I'm stuck on the description for something that my Whole Plot hinges on!.

Finding an agent, I hear, is like harnessing the power of lighting. In fact this step is becoming so hard to conquer that most writers are skipping it altogether and going the self-published route. Honestly not sure how I feel about this. But I'm not here to Judge. 


And that most elusive part of our craft of all. Acceptance. I've written my masterpiece! Found an agent! Polished it till it shone and now…Now it's up to the people. Popular vote rules all. Because without an audience, well  

Silence