Not on the box, not even close.

Inspired by another bloggers weekly efforts to successfully recreate recipes found on boxes from the grocery store shelves....

I think everyone I know is familiar with my hot dog fever. Also, that I want to own a hot dog/gourmet beer establishment. I have tried out a lot of crazy hot dog ideas, some good, some awesome. Sadly, I have never been able to really get a good breakfast style hot dog down. I love 7-11, but that breakfast bite is a no go. I am tired of seeing people try to take the hot dog out of their breakfast dogs. I think I nailed it today.

It all started with a towed car. Friday night I ended up staying at a friends because my car was taken from me while I was enjoying myself in a bar. Before bed, she made me fried eggs. I have always been a scrambled sort of guy, but you cant shun good hospitality.

Of course as days passed I couldn't stop thinking of fried eggs. I had tried a hot dog with scrambled in the past and it was a big failure. Those sweet nuggets of failed germination just fell out of the bun and all over the place. That is just something this hot dog chef will not tolerate. This fried egg thing stays put together. And comforms to the shape of the bun and dog like a temper-pedic breakfast food.... hmmmm.

Ingredients.
-one hot dog
-one bun
-one egg
-two strips of bacon
-spreadable butter
-shredded cheese
-sriracha hot sauce
-mrs butterworths syrup
-pepper

i started off by tossing my two strips of bacon in the skillet and preheating the toaster oven. once the bacon was done i set it aside so it could crisp up, drained the grease and cracked my egg. while the first side cooked i buttered the inside and outside of the bun and set it in the toaster oven. while the egg cooked, i made sure to manage the shape. i wanted to keep it from being too round. more of an oval shape... for better bun/dog coverage. flip, sprinkle with cheese, pepper and some hot sauce. move to dead burner. take bun out of toaster oven. (here comes the cop out) i didnt feel like grilling the dog. i nuked it. i wrapped it in a paper towel and popped it in the microwave for 45 seconds. while it was cooking i slid the egg onto the toasted bun and put one piece of bacon per side. hot dog right in the middle and then a light coating of syrup in the place where one might typically put mustard.

usually, when i tell someone about one of my crazy hot dogs, they think its gross.i can imagine that right now you are saying the same thing. well, think dennys. all american grand slam. eggs, bacon, cheese, sausage and toast. only thing different with the hot dog is the pork sausage is now a pork dog (actually, i only use all beef) and i put a little syrup on it. but other than that, we have egg, bacon, cheese, and toast.

i found it to be amazing. this is one for the store, and certainly one for a plate in my near future. it took roughly 10 minutes total and all of the ingredients are things that i imagine are already in your kitchen. if you try it, let me know what you thought.

the 4th

I am outside. It is REALLY HOT. Im setup in a parking lot that has basically turned into a night club... during the day. It is pretty much a collection of people who have parents that are not proud of them. Well, maybe they are... but if they are, they have never seen them act like this. At one point I really thought that a few couples were gonna, well... you know, in front of the whole crowd. This music is wretched and it has been wretched twice. Two DJs and they both have played pretty much the same stuff. You know, whatever songs that make people wanna do it in public. Horrid. Did I mention its really hot?

I guess the important part is that there is a check waiting for me. Honestly, that has the be the most American thing I can do today. Work. So here's to you America... but you aren't getting your gift til April 15th.

perspective.

A few days ago July 1, 2010 only had one point of interest for me. Gears of War 2 experience points were going to be worth 8 times their normal amount. Then I got an email.

Richmond has been in the high 90's all week. It's been unbearably humid and after working outside in DC heat this past weekend, the last thing I wanted was to sit in a hard stadium seat and drip sweat for four hours. I mean, I don't even like baseball. I certainly don't like crowds and I hate bad beer out of plastic cups. Some emails just mean more than others.

I could not have constructed a such a wonderful night. From where I stand, no one could have. It was the most perfect weather of any Richmond night as far back as I can remember. Even the crappy hot dog was good. I kicked off my flip flops, propped my feet up on the empty seat in front of me and just enjoyed the game. Knowing me, it probably sounded like I was miserable and I am sure I complained about more than everything, but I was on a ladder that was on top of the tallest building in the highest part of cloud 9.

So much of life comes back to you when you're at a ball game. I remember going to games with my dad and the Ellermans as a kid. I remember my Dave Justice autographed ball that I lost in the back yard. I remember loving Dale Murphy more than any man on the planet. I remember John Oleruds rookie card in a pack of Upper Deck cards I got on my birthday. I remember messing up my birthday the year I threw a tantrum and decided to stay home... missing my name on the scoreboard screen. I remember being a kid. Maybe that's why people love baseball. The nostalgia. Even if it's not, that's a pretty good reason.

I didn't really have a revelation tonight. Just a really good time. Everything that ran through my mind is surely typical for anyone who spends most of their free time locked inside drinking beer and playing video games. It was out of nowhere and it was much needed. I see a lot and do a lot while I am out on the road. I guess I have conditioned myself to overlook all of the wonderful things I can do while I am here at home. I am not claiming that in 11 innings (we went over) I figured out the key to life, but I am pretty certain that at least for tonight, it was baseball. Baseball and perfect company.

another christian holiday

you wake up. you know at some point everyone will want to pray. youre not gonna pray... you dont believe in it. everyone is going to remember jesus and being raised from the dead. sacrifice and all the other things that come along with easter. you dont believe in it. what the hell does an atheist do with this day?

look around. smiles. hugs. love. no matter who you are and what you think about anything.... the cradle of family rocks you gently. no matter who is right or who is wrong, we are all here right now being loved. be thankful that you have an excuse... no matter what the cause... to spend time with the people who would do anything for you, just because.

8 reps of reading?

i don't care who you are and what you think about anything.... the mind is a muscle.

if you go to the gym and really dedicate yourself to forming and strengthening your body... it will improve. you will grow stronger and things involving strength will become much easier. i know this from experience. at one point in my life i gave a crap. i went to the gym. i exercised muscles and focused on making them stronger. when i went to work, manual labor become much easier.

i hope that any rational person would agree that the mind is perfectly similar. when you read, research, ask, learn... your mind grows stronger and will certainly be able to handle more intricate and extensive questioning and learning.

man, i really hate that i don't care enough to exercise my body or my mind. fuckin' xbox. i just get heavier and dumber.

Not that theres anything wrong with that...

I don't live too far away from DC. Very recently DC passed a bill that allows same sex marriage. In reading various forums and blogs I have noticed that this doesn't really sit well with a large part of the US population... even well outside of the DC borders. I can't say that everyone that disagrees with this bill (or any bill approving same sex behavior) draws their reasoning from their religion but I can surely say that the majority does. In fact, it is what most of them use to defend their opinion.

Though most of you that will read this already know my views on religion I won't go into it here. I am just going to lay down what I see to be as fact and let you decide for yourself.

James 2:10 (New International Version)
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

That is from the New Testament of the Holy Bible. That means that Jesus has already come and made the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world and that thru him, we may all be saved and forgiven according to God's will. That does not change what the words say. You break one rule, no matter which one, you are just as guilty as if you had broken them all. Aside from whether or not this flows well with me, I can read and that seems to be what it says.

Numbers 15:32-36 (King James Version)
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Now here is a guy... in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible... who was out collecting sticks for whatever reason and it just happened to be the sabbath. So God ordered him dead. Since it was the Old Testament I am sure we can all agree that the sacrifice of Jesus in the New Testament would allow for the forgiveness of working on the sabbath and related sparing of this mans life? I thought so. That is probably why so many people work on the sabbath here in the modern world.

Leviticus 18:22 (New International Version)
Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.

This verse, also from the Old Testament, seems to be the ultimate line of defense for people who are against same sex marriage and/or rights. I failed to remember an example of someone getting stoned or killed by order of God as a result of homosexuality. Please, if you know of one, I would love to be refreshed (it's been a long time since I read most of this stuff). Again, this is from the Old Testament. Blood of Christ washes clean and forgiveness is granted, on with life.

So unless the Old Testament is strictly for history, we should still strive to obey the laws presented. If we do not observe the laws as a whole and disobey even one, we have disregarded the entire bunch of them. I don't think most Christians would disagree. The difference is the New Testament. Now, instead of being stoned a person has the option to ask God for forgiveness. "God, forgive me, I worked on the sabbath" or "God, forgive me, I slept with someone with the same parts as me". You can break the rules, be forgiven and continue to live life. I imagine that the sacrifice of God's only son came along with the idea that if you sin, and are forgiven, you will try really hard, really really hard, not to commit that sin again. Maybe that's just me.

Let me remind myself....
break the law, ask for forgiveness, try not to do it again.

I guess my point without all of the run around is this as follows

If you work on whichever day you observe as the sabbath you have sinned. If you sleep with someone of the same sex you have sinned. If you ask the Lord for forgiveness it will be granted. If you continue to do either after the first time you ask forgiveness.... personally I think you have shit all over the face of your creator. So now that all of you fundamentalist Christians out there have wiped shit in the face of your God, maybe you should worry a little more about getting Him a moist towelette than you are about two dudes who want to be happy and live a life all their own.

And to show how a rational and open mind can change... up until mere hours ago, I defaulted to saying "marriage is a practice with origins from the Holy Bible and therefore should only be allowed in the eyes of an approving God. anything else should be considered a civil union". When I did some comparing and research I changed my mind. Marriage is traceable back as far as 5000 years and the earliest recorded marriage was 2500 years ago. These occurrences did not have relationships to the church in question. So I basically learned that just because we celebrate Christmas as a Christian holiday now doesn't mean that it was spawned as a result of Christianity. Marriage, it's just a word. I was stupid to think that it belonged to anyone.

I am not gay. I also do not slight anyone for a belief in anything. I do however disrespect anyone who thinks that they have the right to alter the laws of their respective deity or to let the "freedom of religion" slip into a "freedom of religion as long as it's okay with me".

OS wars.

the very first thing i want to say is that if you have a computer, its a pc. pc means personal computer. it does not mean windows. stop saying mac or pc. say mac or windows or linux. pc is a blanket term which covers ALL OF THEM!!

second, this is not a fight between bill gates and steve jobs. if youre one of the retards that thinks each of them is the sole contributor to the company's each and every idea, wake up and quit replacing the S in microsoft with a dollar sign. last time i checked apple is the one who are the kings of mark up. i can buy two windows machines with the same specs as a mac for the same price as that one mac. the two dudes are the leaders of their company... you cant any more credit them for each of their products than you can credit Brian Roberts (comcast ceo) for creating broadband. and further.... bill gates is only a chairperson these days.

i am sick and tired of hearing how one is better for something than the other... to specify, mac is better for graphics and music.... why? they have the EXACT same hardware these days. photoshop is available on both, pro tools is available on both. office is available on both, so is itunes. shut up.

hey, shut up, macs do break. thats why they have a genius bar and thats why there is always a line and thats why they take appointments. i am on my 4th ipod cus they break like mofos. and you know what, so do windows machines... i dont say windows, i say windows machines because remember.... microsoft doesnt make the hardware. if your windows machine breaks, blame hp or dell or gateway or sony. if your software breaks... you can more than likely blame you... just like in mac world.

lastly.... just get over the argument. somethings are good for some people, other are good for others. i have 3 windows machines. i have an ipod and an airport express. use what works for you. shut up about how one is better than the other.

simple things to make life better

i went to the grocery store tonight. i got mad about so many things. it is so easy to make the lives of stangers so much better in so many simple ways. oddly, i feel like even most good people overlook simple ways to help out others simply because its so easily excused. here are some things that i saw that made me sad....

pedestrians should ALWAYS have the right of way. there is no good reason that any shopping center should have to have stop signs in front of the building. none at all. even if you (in your car) have to wait for like 5 minutes straight for some people to walk in front of you, that should be no problem. after all, youre sitting, in a climate controlled car. there is a good chance that its cold, or hot, and they are outside with things to carry or push. calm down. let them thru. i cant even tell you how many cars tonight passed right in front of people who were waiting on sidewalks. put yourself in their place, look and them and imagine you very cold and wanting to get to you car.

push the carts back. seriously, chances are that you are going to use a shopping cart. so instead of going all the way inside and getting one... grab one from the lot. even if its from the cart return. just grab it and push it in. the little cart pusher boy will be happy about it later... even if he doesnt know about it. and honestly, if everyone grabbed a cart from the lot on the way in, cart boy could maybe be bagger boy instead and not have to work outside.

park further away and certainly not in the handicapped spot. i saw two cars tonight in the handicapped spots that didnt have tags or plates allowing them to do it. if youre in good health then there should be no problem parking a little further away. let the elders and preggers and people with lots of kids part a little closer. leave a few spots empty before parking.... i mean really, walking is good for you. why do you think treadmills are so popular?

if a person gets in line behind you and has one item and you have 20, let them get in front of you. it will slow you down by one minute where you will be slowing them down by 5. line placement is all chance. there is no reason anyone deserves to be where they are in line. so just bite the bullet and make someone feel good for once.

say things. i cant begin to tell you how much better you can make someones day just by cracking a joke or making a compliment to a person behind a counter. just say anything. this one is the easiest. it doesnt put you out at all. just be friendly. can you imagine how many people go in and out of stores each day and just act like the clerk isnt even there. handing money back and forth and not saying a word. seriously, say something... anything.

for the most part, our lives arent hard. you never know what kind of day someone else is having, or for that matter, what kind of life they are having. if each and everyone of us took tiny steps to make every persons life a little better... even if they dont know it.... we would all smile a little more. i think that would be nice.

mission statement

so yeah, recently i watched jerry maguire again. a movie that starts off with a narrative. a mission statement that changed a mans whole life. he wanted to make his industry better. change the heart of it.

rock and roll is cool. working in production is awesome. but sometimes you come across professional practices that seem far less than professional. it bothers me. i strive to be so very professional and work so very hard but i find that so often i have to deal with attitudes and behaviors that are so much less than they should be.... in the workplace.

i want to write a mission statement like jerry... for rock and roll.

maybe when im not drinking.

rise and shine

so friday evening i took a shower, got dressed and headed out.... for the last time until today. as most everyone knows, virginia got pounded with snow late friday night and all day saturday. one foot of the crap. i had an excuse! i have been sitting inside ignoring hygene for 5 whole days. when i woke up this morning i could almost hear the sheets begging for me to bathe.

today is the day. i will shower, i will dress myself proper and i will go out in to the world. maybe.