Death Life Time

It has been a very long day.
Last night someone died in an alleged explosion and fire in an upstairs apartment 2 businesses down the street, literally 10 yards, from the front door of the restaurant I work at.

Sadly, we were closed today due to smoke damage throughout the whole restaurant.... After the professional cleaners came in and sprayed the bajeezez out of the carpet, upholstery and booths with some funky "smoke and odor neutralizer" i spent today cleaning every single glass object in the bar. Stemware, glasses, bottles, mirrors, picture frames, windows, stools.... just an awful mess.

Luckily most of the food in the coolers and freezers were covered and in sealed containers....but every plate, pot, pan, tong, ladle and piece of silverware was washed and dried. Just a mess.

It's alarming to me, that foul play is perhaps aloof. Only time will tell. I was thinking quietly to myself over a few beers with other staff members this evening, how resilient this community is. Decorah has faced it's fair share of tragedies and hardships in the past year. And thinking back, I find some relief in remembering that tragedy, while awful, has a way of bringing out the very best of us. We were not created for destruction. Days like to today urge me to believe that we were brought to this earth and this world, that we've evolved to this point in history, with the inherent ability to nurture, to love, and to live with compassion and integrity of unfathomable potential.

feeling unprepared for the upcoming week of being a counselor at a Korean Adoption teen camp in Wisconsin. Haven't had time to collect my thoughts, or feelings, or pack a bag yet....which means I'll undoubtedly forget something(s) since I have to be on site in a little under 7 hours, with a 3 hour drive waiting . eff. what a day. prayers for whatever makes sense.

Time, Growth, Belief

I don't think anyone in this world can escape their past. (escape, as in "be separate from" "free" "untied"----how many more synonyms must I list in order for the vast metaphoric gray area to shrink?!?!?)

Whether the past is exhilerating, horrific, euphoric, nurtured, broken, unknown or otherwise.... It is always connected to us. Yes I said it, unknown. I'm not fully convinced that even "the unknown" is something we can escape.

We can cope. Ignore. Harness. Bury. Accept and co-exist with our past, but we can not fully "move on" from it.


Choson gives me the capacity to think aloud. And publish thoughts from days...months past.

Sometimes escape is the only solution we can humanly conclude; running, departing... Sometimes the void and space are the catalysts for clarity, understanding, and comprehension. Sometimes we need isolation.

A Rarity!!!!

Rarely do I have the luxury and good fortune of a Free Monday. But here I am, Free of work.

Thusly, I've indulged in an hour of FLN (Fine Living Network---frickin' love it). I think Mark McEwan is a god. I would love to sweat in one of his kitchens.... anyways, he has a show on FLN, The HEAT, and it's captivating television. Truly. See it and believe it.


Absence from blogger has been due to the gorgeous weather and the greening of golf courses in the area.... I have no apologies. Somehow I've become a decent golfer...weird. I like it.

The restaurant has been jam packed---graduation weekends---and the summer schedule is looking great, weddings, rehearsals, events/private parties filling up the few weekends of the summer. I've been left to more or less manage the restaurant the past couple weekends while the bosses have been out of town at showers, wine tastings, Mother's Day Vacation to Napa..etc. [What a life; don't get me wrong, they're married to the restaurant too...but everyone needs to get away now and again--recharge, re-center, search for new inspiration and focus. I think it's a chef thing.]

Because I've picked up, in this industry, something can always be better. :o) **And if it can't, you're either ignorant and lack motivation, or you're hungover and in a food coma from the most mind blowing, palate tantilizing eating experience ever.

And now I need a sandwhich.

Soup's On!!!!!

Ooooh. I'm excited. Exhausted but excited. It was a crazy crazy shift @ the restaurant cooking... 199 people---not quite as close to the 246 we served on Mother's Day, but pretty ridiculous none the less.

So what would I do with myself after a draining 9 hour shift??

Come home and cook of course :o) I am a NERD.

Anyways---last Monday I ate lunch at Quang's Vietnamese in Minneapolis with friends.... I had a spectacular bowl of Pho. It was inspirational...amazing. Mouth Watering.

So I came up with my own rendition of it this evening.... ooo baby ooo baby! :o)

Very pleased with myself .... :o)

ADIOS!

a very much deserved day of vacation.....

destination: center of the universe ....... minneapolis.

sushi sushi sushi ----- Shopping! market, adventures, AK reunion!

T minus 6 hours!

ZONK>

no more to say.....please see title.

I retract the "please"... just "see Title." WOw...



So true.

Running the front of the house for the next week... FOR REALSkis.

Chef Robert Irvine & DINNER IMPOSSIBLE

I am continually pulled back to tune into this series, because it's aggrivating and that makes it compelling. It's high stress---and for some reason those environments [while potentially hostile and flat out defeating] make entertaining TV. The great thing about this show is that the clock is always ticking DOWN. Always. Time is ALWAYS against Chef Robert. He puts together these ridiculous menus for the most obscure and atrocious numbers of eaters thinkable, in SCARY short amounts of time---with angering working conditions and inexperienced aid.

I'd like to try his food, to see if my mouth thinks it's as marketable as his show. What I would give to be a fly on the wall in his kitchens.....

His show is like--um, an encyclopedia of "Do's and Do NOT's" in the catering world. Lock it into the memory bank. Click Click.