On Summer Time and the Living’s Easy

In which we fondly look back before excitedly looking forward.

Remember growing up how much you looked forward to summer break?  That agonizing wait for school to end and freedom to begin?  It was fantastic.  Some of favorite summer memories growing up include the following.  Sitting on the front porch of my house on Kent Avenue watching as patchy, windswept clouds blew past the sun.  I can distinctly remember looking down the street as shadows moved down the road like cars.  I’m not sure what about it was about that moment that made it lodge so deeply in my mind but it is there none the less.

I also remember skipping the last part of the last period of the last day of seventh grade.  All day my friends and I talked about cutting class and starting summer break early but we never had the stones to go through with it, until eighth hour rolled around.  We probably didn’t skip out much more than 30 minutes before the bell rang but man that extra half hour of summer was awesome.

One of my most pervasive memories of pre-college life was going to my friend Ryan’s house and playing laser tag.  At some point in the mid-90’s Ryan and his dad were at a store and saw a pile of laser tag guns on super clearance, specifically they saw these:
This is the Electronic Survivor Shot, the best home-based laser tag gun that you could buy.  What made it the best?  See that ugly thing at the top of the picture, that’s the sensor.  While most laser tag sensors were on the gun or on the player’s chest this was strapped to your head.  It has a 360^o receptor so you can get hit from any direction and when you get hit a motor rattled a button on your temple, which, when you are running around in the dark can freak the crap out of you.  What made this experience so amazing was the fact that Ryan lived on a hill overlooking an elementary school.  So we would play over a huge area that had lots of fencing, dark corners and narrow alleys.  I can still remember what it was like to walk along the tree line in the pitch black wondering if there was someone hiding just out of sight.  Or finding the perfect spot and being able to light someone up without them even knowing where you were¹.

Summer doesn’t really have the same feel that it used to.  There seems like there is always something that needs to be done, some project to work on, or money that needs to be earned².  But there are still things about the summer that I am very much looking forward to.  Now you may be asking your self, “Isn’t it still April? Didn’t spring start like, a month ago? Isn’t the summer solstice, the official start of summer, still held in late June?”

The answer to all of these questions is undoubtedly yes.

However, for two organizations summer starts in week.  What are these mystical events that have sped the seasonal calendar up by over a month?  College and Hollywood.  Next week is finals week here in Bloomington, Indiana, with the spring semester officially coming to an end the summer session will start on Tuesday morning.  Which brings me to the first thing that I am looking forward to this summer³. The summer exodus.

I love living in Bloomington, it’s why I came back to IU for grad school and it’s why I am hoping and praying for a counseling job in the area.  But as much as I enjoy living here during the year summers in Bloomington are simply the best.  It’s when we get to say goodbye dude bros, goodbye Ugg girls⁴, goodbye wide-eyed freshmen, goodbye jaywalkers, goodbye people stopping on third street to pick up friends, goodbye thirty minute trips across town.  We won’t miss you.

Hollywood is the other perpetrator of summer’s early arrival, because Hollywood loves money, and the summer is when they make it.  Next Friday Iron Man 2 opens up across the country officially kicking off the summer blockbuster season.  Every year Hollywood rolls out a swath of big-budget, big-effect movies one right after another in an attempt to separate you from your hard earned dollars.  Most of the movies will be mediocre, some will be terrible and some will be great.  A bold prediction on my part I know, but that’s how it goes.  With so many movies coming out it can be difficult to keep on top of them all.  But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.  Here is a super-trailer for you covering most of the big summer movies.

So what else am I looking forward to this summer?  A lot of things really.  I’m excited that I will get to hang out with my family a number of times throughout the summer.  I get to go to Young Life camp again, but this time as an adult guest which will be super rad.  I’m looking forward to playing disc golf⁵ and riding bikes around town.  I’m glad I get to be a part of the Rose’s garden from the ground up, literally.  I’ll be honest I’m kind of excited to hit the one year mark with this blog because I didn’t think it would last.  And I’m really excited to find out what’s next for me.  But really I’m just looking forward to spending some quality summer time here in Bloomington.

So let me be the first to welcome you to the summer, here’s hoping it’s an outrageously wondrous one.
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¹  My best spot was 30 feet up in a pine tree I sniped so many suckers.
²  Which is a part of why I am looking forward to working in a school full-time, summers off.
³  False alarm.  I made this footnote mark, but now I can’t remember why.  Apologies.
⁴  How is that look still in fashion, it boggles my mind.
⁵  Can’t wait to check out this homebrew course my friends came up with on campus. Check it out.

On What’s Been Cooking

In which cooking is discussed and recipes are given.

I enjoy cooking.  Whether I am grilling out, baking, chopping and seasoning, roasting or even throwing some stuff in a crock pot and walking away it is always an enjoyable experience.  My familiarity with a recipe doesn’t matter either, I’m just as happy stumbling through a new recipe as I am making something that I know so well that I can cook with my eyes closed¹.

There is something rewarding about the act of cooking.  It probably has to do with my limited proficiency when it comes to the arts.  I can’t draw or paint so when I want to create something is usually though cooking (or writing).   Here is the thing though, I’m not as good at is as I would like.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I can make some food that will rock your face off John Travolta and Nicolas Cage style².  But the fact remains when it comes to knowing what flavors will best compliment each other or cutting down the heat of a spicy dish I am a novice.  If you would like some proof just come watch me as I attempt to chop onions, always an embarrassing affair.  So certainly there is still a lot I have to learn, which is why when a recipe turns out it is pretty exciting and I look forward to making again to try and add my own spin, or to streamline the process, or even to devise a better “all around” meal.

Recently I had the opportunity to make a couple of things for the first time and I wanted to share them with you.  We’ll start with dessert³.

Last weekend my friend Mary Beth, and her friend Kate (I think), had a wine and dessert party.  I thought it would be fun to get a little creative with my dessert.  However, I was also craving cupcakes.  Cupcakes though are not normally creative, though they can be.  So I went in search of a new take on cupcakes that wouldn’t be too big of a headache.  That is when I discovered something mind blowing.  Chocolate-chip cookie-dough cupcakes.  What exactly is a CCCDC?  Exactly what it sounds like, a cupcake with cookie dough in the center.  It is gluttonous, and tasty.


Here’s how you make them.  First you need to whip up some cookie dough⁴.  Once that’s done form them into little tablespoon sized balls and freeze them for two hours.  Once your two hours are up grab a box of yellow cake mix (it’s okay this time) and follow the directions on the box.  Fill your cupcake tins 2/3’s of the way and place a doughball in each cup.  Throw them in the oven for 17-20 minutes, when they are done get your frost on⁵.  You can find the original recipe here.  Next time I make these I am going to try making everything from scratch (maybe not the frosting) and I’m going to go with chocolate cake with white icing to see if I can get my teeth to fall out of my head at the same time I slip into a diabetic coma.

So recipe part two starts with a completely different cooking experience.  A week or so ago Carrie and I made some spicy sweet-potato soup that called for pureed chipotles.  Unfortunately we only needed 2 tablespoons so we had a bunch left.  Jump to this week, Tim, Carrie and I had been talking about making pork chops for a while now and I decided enough is enough, Tuesday they were getting grilled no matter what.  I also knew we needed to use some of the chipotle puree, at first I thought a marinade would work the best but after a while I landed on a glaze.  A cranberry chipotle glaze to be exact.  Here is the recipe:


In a small sauce pan heat, over low stirring frequently:

• One cup cranberry sauce, from can
• 3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons pureed chipotles

Light grill, allow charcoal to heat until white.  Brush pork chops (x4) with olive oil and sprinkle with crushed black pepper patted on.  Grill on each side for three minutes.  Brush on glaze and grill for an additional three minutes on each side.  Remove from heat and let rest for 10 minutes⁶.

These were some of the best pork chops that I have ever had, there was a prefect balance of sweet and hot.  The only thing that didn’t turn out great was our side dish.  We made a quick stir-fry with some stuff we had around the house.  It was way too spicy and didn’t go well with the pork.  Next time I make this I will grill some asparagus and red potatoes along side the pork chops and have a little white rice on the side.  That would be outstanding.

So those are my recipes, I hope you enjoy them.  I guess the only thing to do now is to ask, what’s cooking with you?
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¹ Not that I would do that, it sounds dangerous.
² I want to take his face…off.
³ One of the joys of being an adult.
⁴ From scratch please, no tubes or break’n’bakes, those are for busters.
⁵ Let these dudes cool completely before you try and frost them, you will thank me later.
⁶ That tip comes to you courtesy of Alton Brown.

On Getting Out of a Hole

 In which an allegory is appropriated and applied to real life.

My friend Sparkles spoke truly when she said that Aaron Sorkin¹ knows what he is doing when it comes to making Christmas themed television episodes.  He just really knows how to bring it in a real way and evoke an emotional response.  In the second season of The West Wing the Christmas episode, titled Noël, has a scene that just grabbed a hold of me when I watched it a few weeks ago.

Without spoiling much, the episode revolves around the deputy chief of staff Josh who is dealing with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.  Throughout the episode there are times when he seems to lose his grip on the present, suffering from flashbacks and cold sweats.  He also becomes irrationally angry and at one point gets in a shouting match with the president.  None of these things are good things for anyone to be dealing with, but especially someone who is working so closely to the president.  Josh is obviously concerned that this issue may lead to him losing his job.  In fact he is required to meet with a psychologist for an evaluation to determine if he is still fit to be at work.

When he comes out of the meeting his boss Leo is waiting for him.  What follows is the scene that takes place between the two of them.  I’ll write out the dialogue in case the YouTube video is taken down, or if you can’t view it at work.  But you should really watch it instead of just reading it².

Leo McGarry: How'd it go?

Josh Lyman: Did you wait around for me?

Leo McGarry: How'd it go?

Josh Lyman: He thinks I may have an eating disorder...

Leo McGarry: Josh...

Josh Lyman: ...and a fear of rectangles. That's not weird, is it? [pause] I didn't cut my hand on a glass. I broke a window in my apartment.

Leo McGarry: This guy's walking down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep, he can't get out. A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, "Hey you, can you help me out?" The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up "Father, I'm down in this hole, can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey Joe, it's me, can you help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, "Are you stupid? Now we're both down here." The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out." [pause] Long as I got a job, you got a job, you understand?

I started to think about all of the people that I have met in my life.  Friends, family, students, co-workers, everyone.  I thought about times that they were in need and how I responded, or will respond in the future.  “I want to be like Joe,” I thought.  I don’t want to throw a prayer at someone.  I don’t want to throw a Band-Aid³ at someone.  I want to do something unexpected.  I want to get down in the hole with them and help them find the way out.

How great would it be if that is how I lived my life?  Jumping down into pits help people out when they are stuck.  It would be amazing.  But here is the deal.  The more that I thought about it the more I realized that’s not normally the situation that I find myself in.  And that is not the character that I find myself relating to.  More often than not I’m not Joe; I’m the dude in the hole.  I, all too often, find myself looking up at people as they pass by not knowing what to do next.  And that, I realized, is why this scene resonated with me so much; it contains an important bit of truth.

When you find yourself stuck down in some dark place there are people that want to get down there with you and show you the way out, because they have been there too.  The thing is, and I really think this is really important, the thing is, you have to let them know you are down there.  You have to be willing to say, “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?”  And sure you might get some prescriptions or prayers tossed at you, but eventually a friend is going come down to where you are, and he or she is going to show you the way out.

But you need to ask first.
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¹ Of Sports Night, Studio 60, The West Wing, A Few Good Men, and Charlie Wilson’s War fame.
² You should really just watch the whole episode, it was stellar.
³ Or any generic self-adhesive strip.

On the Chicago Adventure: Tapas and Beyond

In which our intrepid band of characters brave Spanish cuisine, cab rides and t-shirts.

After walking what seemed like an inordinate amount of time we finally reached the tapas restaurant.  Upon our arrival we were brought through the crowded restaurant to a long table in a side room.  The patrons around us filled the space with conversations and we huddled close so that we could hear one another.  Wafting through the air was a combination of all the food being served, teasing our appetites as we looked over the menu.  A discussion of what and how to order¹ began.  The first decision was made quickly, sangria was a necessary component of the meal.  Upon his return the waiter deposited a pitcher of deep red liquid, fruit floating near the top.  Glasses were filled and passed around.  The aromatic liquid had the spicy flavor of a red wine but also a sweetness to it.  Eventually our food arrived and we enjoyed a delicious feast.  Once we had finished we food we paid out bill and went out into the night.

Our next stop was a small pub near by.  We entered and enjoyed a few beers and caught up some of Katie's friends.  While there we discussed where to head next.  Katie admitted that she would be departing for the evening so we did the only thing we could in this situation.   We gave her a hard time in an effort to make her feel guilty.  Unfortunately it was a futile effort and we parted ways with her.

So then we were four once again.Monty, Mike, Trumper and I piled into a cab and headed a little closer to Mike's place. The rest of the evening started off innocuously enough. We checked out a few bars in the area none of us drinking very much. Or so we thought.

When we left to walk back to Mike's apartment² we realized that Monterey had had more to drink than we thought.  What follows is, to my best recollection, what took place that night.

Exterior of Chicago bar, night.

Monterey: I want to fight some one.

Jon: What?

Monterey: I want to fight someone. Let's go back in so I get in a fight.

Mike: Monterey, you don't want to fight anyone.

Monterey: No I do, I want to punch some one in the [expletive deleted] neck.

Me laughing: What? Monterey that's ridiculous.

Mike: Yeah Monty, let's just get home.

Monterey: No, I'm going to find some one and punch them, punch them right in the [expletive deleted] neck

The for continue to walk towards the apartment guiding Monterey when necessary. Monterey stops at an alley and tries to walk down it.

Jon: Monterey man where are you going?

Mike: Yeah Monty that's not a good idea.

Monterey: This is a short cut guys I know it, let's just go down this alley.

Me: What if you get jumped Monterey?

Monterey: No one's going to mess with me. If anyone messes with me I'll just punch them in the [expletive deleted] neck. I'll punch them in the [expletive deleted] neck.

Jon: I'm sure you would Monty but let's just head this way.

Interior apartment, night. Jon and I sit on the couch. Mike leads Monterey to an air mattress behind the couch.

Mike: Here Monty just lay down here for a while.

Me: You guys want to watch a Planet Earth?

Jon: Sounds good.

Mike joins others at couch, after a few minutes Monterey sits upright on the mattress.

Monterey: Ugh, it's so [expletive deleted] hot.

Monterey rips shirt from neck down and throws across the room then lays back down and falls asleep.

Jon: ...what the?

Mike: Wow.

15 minutes later Monterey wakes up and looks around.

Monterey: What happened to my shirt³?
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¹ Tapas is, traditionally, a series of appetizers that the table shares but the restaurant also had entrees.
² About 10 blocks away.
³ This story still blows my mind.

On the Chicago Adventure: Michigan Avenue

In which the siren song of adventure is answered in the Windy City.

Chicago in mid-March can be a cruel place.  Well, I guess if I was being honest Chicago from about November through June can be a cruel place.  The wind shoots off the lake fiercely, biting through most anything you have on and in the winter months you add to it snow and ice and darkness.  But I truly think that it is worse in March, April and May.  Spring is around the corner, or in full effect, the sun is often out and even makes you feel warm at times.  Until the clouds come and that cold wind picks up and you remember that Chicago can be a cruel place.

My second spring break of graduate school I decided to take a trip up to spend a few days with Mike and hopefully run into Katie as well.  It was just a handful of days, a long weekend really, but I was looking forward to it.  And then I found out that Trumper and a friend we are going to call "Monterey"  were planning on going up as well, right away I knew this would be a trip to remember.

The visit began about how you would expect it to.  The trip into Chicago took longer than it should, finding a parking space was a huge hassle, the reunion was full of hugs, and we wasted a surprising amount of time just deciding what we wanted to do¹.  Eventually though a decision was indeed made.  Coming up with a plan for the entire evening was too daunting so instead we would take a bus from Mike’s apartment down to Michigan Avenue where we would meet Katie and then we would go from there.  So we were off.

As I think back the bus ride and walking to the bookstore, where Katie was waiting to meet us, was a total blur.  When we reached Katie she had staked out a little table near a window overlooking Michigan Ave, her table covered with a variety magazines and books, she was clearly in for the long haul².  We all said our hellos and stood around awkwardly in our giant coats.  After a time it was decided that Katie would remain in her cove of literacy while we men would brave the cold and the wind and the tourists as we ventured down the road a spell.

With the tall buildings acting as a funnel cold couldn't begin to describe what it was like.  Frigid was much more apt.  As we walked the length of this shopping Mecca we stopped in more than a few stores not out of any interest we had in what they were selling, but rather as an escape from the elements.  Certainly none of us had plans to spend any money, however, that did not stop us from visiting shop after shop.  Everything seemed to be on a repetitive loop, we would walk until we were cold, stop inside a store, warm up, leave and repeat.  But then we met the man with the sign, and everything changed.

Trumper saw him first.  In fact, Trump was the only one of us that talked to him.  But he let us know what he said.

“Guys, they have suits,” Trumper explained, “there is a store just up the road that sells suits really cheap.  This guy's going to show us where it is, come on.”

So we followed the man wearing a giant sign that said “Suits Half-Off!!” on it.  For a block and a half we followed this man, until abruptly he stopped and pointed us to an unmarked door that led into a nondescript commercial building.  “Upstairs,” he said gruffly as he opened the door for us.  We walked in.

Once inside we took the escalator up and found the suit store.  That was literally all this place was, a store for suits.  Wall to wall, double-stacked with absolutely no room to maneuver, it was if George Zimmer³ threw up all over the place.  Trump was excited, Mike mentioned that he needed a new suit, and Monty kept saying something about a fur store.  I kind of wandered around half heartedly looking at suits and suit related paraphernalia.  At one point one of us looked up and realized that Monterey was no where to be found.

Knowing Monterey as we did none of us were really concerned, or surprised, that he had disappeared.  What was surprising was what he told us when he came back.

"You have to check out this store I found; it is nothing but fur coats."

Mike and I laughed and continued to look around.  Jon (or Trumper), whose interest in this paradise of menswear was fading, left with Monterey.  A few minutes later they return and Jon told us that we really should check it out.  So we headed next store.

The store was small, about twenty feet wide and fifty feet long.  All around the outskirts of the store were fur coats.  Hundreds of them.  Each rack was packed so tightly it seemed that the store itself was one large animal.  There were seven people in the store, the four of us, and three people who appeared to be employees, two men and a woman.  They huddled near the cash register talking quietly, their only interest in us a short glance as we walked into the store.  We each started at a different point walking along the edges the store looking at fur coats.  Every coat was labeled with a tag, on that tag was the style, the price, the type of animal and the county of origin.  The cost of the coats often reached into the thousands.  It boggled the mind to consider how much money was crammed into such a small place.

After a time Monterey stopped and came up to us and announced, "The best furs come from Norway, I think."

What exactly he was basing this on we will never know; but if you find yourself in position to purchase an expensive dead animal to wrap around your shoulders remember to buy Norwegian.

It was at this exact moment when one of the three employees finally came over to us and said, in a thick Russian accent, "You guys looking to buy some furs?"

"Ha ha, no they are a little out of our price range," Mike replied.

"Yes, they are expensive, but also, very nice," the man said.

Monterey turned to the man, "I've got some stock options with my company, maybe when they go public I can afford one."

"Oh you are into the stock market.  That's good way to make money, but risky."

"The company I work for is doing some big things.  These stocks should be worth a lot."

"Then you have the big money, yes?"

"Well probably not for a few a year or two."

"You get the big money from the stocks, then you come back and buy a fur."

"Ha ha, okay⁴."

We left the store and headed back out to Michigan Avenue.  While we were on escalator Monterey said, "Man that guy really liked to talk about the stock market."

Mike replied, "You know Monterey, he was referring to drugs."

"Huh?"

"Oh yeah, that place was a front for the Russian mafia," I added.  "Look at that place, all that money in furs, three people sitting around doing nothing, no one goes there to buy fur coats.  When he asked you if you were into the stock market is was code for selling drugs."

"Oh, that makes sense."

Mike, Jon and I laughed as we exited the building and were hit by a wave of cold air.  We had gotten a hold of Katie and were going to meet her so we could walk to a restaurant she had picked out.  When we reached her Monterey excitedly shared with her what had happened.

"We found this fur store that was really a front for the Russian mob.  And one of the employees asked me if I was into the stock market, but he was really asking me if I made my money selling drugs."

Katie looked from Monterey to each of us before responding, "Uh....okay."

We laughed again and filled Katie in on the particulars of the day's events as we talked to the tapas restaurant.  Little did we know that while the day was winding down the adventure⁵ was just beginning.

To be continued...
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¹ This seems to be the ways things tend to go amongst my friends.
² Which, for those that know Katie Soderberg, will surprise exactly no one.
³ You'll like the way you look, he guarantees it.
⁴ That is not how the conversation went exactly, but you get the picture.
⁵ By adventure what I mean is hilarity.