Friday, October 29, 2010

How to Fail with Panache

So I get these urges every now & then to cook something extravagant (i.e. time consuming & laborious). I start out all stoked about it (homemade stock! braised haunch of saber-toothed tiger!) & then feel overwhelmed about halfway through. I am made of culinary fail. Tonight we are having a salad. Just greens & grilled chicken & a homemade vinaigrette. There is a giant vat of slow-simmering Italian gravy on the stove & it's freaking me out right now. It smells good but I don't want to finish making it.

I am still in a holding pattern regarding the new batch of poems. Empty brain syndrome. This is accompanied by a bout of profound social awkwardness. When I speak, it comes out all backwards & strange. I am pretty sure I am inadvertently offending people. When I write stuff, it comes out all stormy & full of fucked-up-ness. I need a nice, productive-style creative occupation with practical results. I wish I knew how to knit or quilt or something like that.

There are two upcoming readings in November & I'm feeling nervous.

I could just sleep for days & days.

My dog needs a haircut.

Jellyfish are fascinating. So are spiders.

Samhain approaches. There might be ghosts in your cooking pots. Be aware of the unseen.

2 comments:

Kathleen said...

The salad sounds wonderful. You can call it Samhain Salad.

Today I made a healthy-ish pasta salad that nobody but I will eat. Whole grain penne, green pimento olives, tuna. Cold. I call it What the Sam Hill Salad. As of today.

Roasting veggies for dinner for daughter and me, and hubby gets meat.

Susan said...

The salad was good! Grilled chicken & toasted pecans on arugula & endive with apricot-balsamic dressing.

I am on an arugula salad kick, though my favorite has roasted pears & walnuts & slivers of Parma Cheese.

I do like the idea of Samhain Salad! I should serve it in a jack-o-lantern.