Skyparks, Stoves and Snow Battles

The word of the week is cookery.

January 14 - Reflection

Two videos came to the fore in my life this week.

The first was shared by Peter Jurasik, a fine actor from B5 and proved rather timely, as I've been feeling rather blah for a bit. It's about finding what you love to do, and what to do about that( turn off the subtitles with the CC button ):



The second video is a long-time favourite of mine that I first heard back in 2002 on the radio, on my way to the bank for another fun session of 'Why isn't my interest rate lower?' that I like to play. Good advice, no matter where you get it from, is worth listening to:

Gets you thinking, doesn't it?

January 15 - Vision

Focus is something that's been on my mind a lot these last few months.

With focus, one can do anything, given enough time. But not TOO much, or you lose focus. Ironic, no?

Someone who's done a lot with their focus is Kaleb Lachowski, who used his talents and time to create a CGI short-film masterpiece called R'ha. What he's created below rivals that of many Hollywood productions, yet he wrote, directed and animated the short by himself. Watch in amazement( and hit the full screen button! ):

This is what I want to do with my work. Somehow, I have to find a way to support myself while still doing what I want to do, which is to write. And do voicework. While still being able to enjoy some of the things in life, like traveling and seeing my far-flung friends… without having to wait 25 years until I retire. 2013 should be a good year to figure that out, and why not?

Kaleb's already doing it.

January 16 - Singapore Skypark

Sometimes the future creeps up on us unaware as we build it all around us.

In some cases, we notice, because the future is in the shape of an entire building! Like Singapore's Marina Bay Sands Skypark, a purpose-built resort that looks like it belongs on Coruscant, a planet from the Star Wars universe.

*click* for more detail - there's a LOT to see!

Straddling three buildings, the namesake 'Skypark' portion of the resort is literally a park in the sky. With a swimming pool stretching the length of the building and restaurants with a view beyond compare, this place has definitely made my 'Must See' list for when I get around to traveling the world. Incredible!

 

January 17 - Star Wars In The Snow?

Back in 1980, The Empire Strikes Back came out. I was already a fan( even at that age! )and of course I picked up a fair number of toys for Christmas that year, including the Rebel Snowspeeder. Which begged to be used in the snow that season, along with a few other toys. I shoveled snow for an entire afternoon one day after a decent snowfall, piling it in our front yard by the porch, making it solid and deep. Then I dug for another entire afternoon, hollowing out the little hill… to create the Hoth Rebel Base( see this HUGE cutaway pic! )from  the film! I was quite proud of the scope of my creation, as it had a long trench, several short corridors, a control room AND a hangar bay JUST large enough to fit my Millennium Falcon!

Sadly, it didn't quite look like the picture above, as I didn't own( and never would )an AT-AT, or the Rebel defense turrets… or nearly as many toys as the picture shows. I also didn't get any pictures of my creation( nor did my parents )for some reason, which I regret. But the memory lives on in my mind.

It's the ONLY reason why I still like the snow. Thankfully, there's been none here in Victoria.

January 18 - Stove power!

Alternative power sources are another interest of mine; who doesn't like new ways of doing things? Though I wrote about thermocouple electric camp stoves before, they were hard to find and rather expensive beasts that most people weren't likely to find, let alone buy.

But the one above doesn't cost more than a tent AND can be found easily at MEC, which is just down the road from here( and also online too ). Now that we're all hooked on bringing our electronics with us wherever we go( and with GPS in smartphones, it's useful in the bush! )we also need power for these hungry devices. Solar panels are nice but to be honest, hooking up your phone to a panel for eight hours isn't great, especially on a cloudy weekend. Soon enough we'll have new tech come along that will run more frugally on a charge, but for now it's nice to know we can cook AND charge our devices from the same campfire!

January 19 - Comfort Foods

Back when I was working midnights around 2002 in Niagara Falls, I stumbled upon a tasty secret! On my way home to Fonthill one bleary morning, I stopped in at an IGA( now called Foodland? )to pick up something for breakfast. Following my nose to their busy bakery, what should I discover but fresh croissants? Yet they weren't quite normal croissants; looking closer, I saw they were labeled 'Pretzel Croissants' which confused me. Still, they smelled delicious, so I bought one of each variety and took them home.

A delicious, chewy exterior hides... a less-chewy interior!

WOW! Some baking god had decided to smile on me that day, in marrying the chewy texture of a pretzel with the folded lightness of a croissant. I ate two before I knew it, then had the others for dinner and made a point to stop in at least once a week to stock up. They were THAT good! Sadly, once I stopped midnights I was nowhere near an IGA that made these wonders, so I could only make the occasional trip to get them, which soon faded into not going. I've never found them anywhere else since. Until...

*click* to see the lovely pretzel-like texture up close ...

Today at a small local grocery down the road in Cook Street Village, I discovered… PRETZEL BUNS! Purely by accident, I'd been checking out their bakery section by force of habit and espied a set of six odd-looking kaiser buns for $2.99… to my delight, they were VERY similar to the Pretzel Croissants of old! Better still, they are a REGULAR ITEM at the store!

Will the wonders of Victoria ever cease? This made my week!

January 20 - Making More of Muck

Today I did little save re-edit the three chapters of my peer's work for tomorrow's writer's group meeting. I've worked on them all week but to be honest, my mind was occupied by many worries and so today I wanted to be sure that I had given these writings the proper attention.

It's hard right now. I've been the rock of my family for so long that it's proving difficult to change my mindset from that of being the one to provide solutions for others to that of one needing help. Not that I'm afraid to ask, no. What's difficult is breaking my habits of conservation of resources, of needing( from necessity )to be the one who always has the resources and backup plans to pull us out of the muck. 

I'm in the deep muck now, and it's bogging me down with its weight.

It may be months before I find a job; in this market and with my work history, I may not find one until later this year. In the meantime, it will be my family supporting me, which I'm totally unused to. It's a difficult thing, leaving me with conflicting feelings that I SHOULD be working, SHOULD be easily employable, SHOULD be earning a living instead of trying to shape one out of nothing.

Which is what it comes down to, I guess: making something.

Of myself, of my talents. Of MY wants and needs and yes, skills. I've put all those on the back burner for so long, that they're congealed. I stirred the pot this past summer and created a novel, which was wonderful to taste. Now I have to get down to the business of learning how to cook, and to keep tasting of that soup until it's ready.

It's going to get hot in the kitchen for me this year. I'm going to see if I can stand the heat.

My calender's free this week. Time to make some homemade recipes for success!