Affect

Spent all afternoon making a rice dish, and then a chicken dish; ended up being enough to feed six or eight people. I moved my reading over to the island, so I wouldn't forget what I was doing. I made a pot of Pecan Rice (one of my favorites, from Louisiana) with finely minced shallots and red pepper; then started the chicken dish. I don't eat that much chicken but this was 1.88 lbs of boneless breast for $3. I brined it, dried, then rubbed with a spice/chili mix, seared them, then braised in a bit of orange juice and butter, set aside. Caramelized a very large onion, then a red pepper, cut up the chicken and stirred it all together. Next time I think I'll brine, then partially refreeze, then cube, and fry the chicken in a very hot wok. I'm still trying to get the mouth-feel right, the texture. Since I'm from the south, that would involve a certain crunch. By affect, and in fact, I'm a pretty normal guy. A couple of early encounters with the law: having sex on the golf course, drag racing down Beach Boulevard, juvenile shit. I think for most of the formative years we merely battle. Not what I'm fed, not what history is become, you can't believe anything, but it's instructive. If you don't die at 28 you've got a good shot at 82. Editing today, and I had to get up and go for a walk. Removing articles and changing commas requires full attention, intense even, and I'd cramped-up, mentally. Walked part-way down the driveway, turning over large rocks that had been pushed aside in one grading or another. Looking for salamanders. I just like to see them; I don't do anything with them, collect them, or pickle them or anything, but I find them oddly beautiful. Slick and colorful. Don't get me started on odd and colorful, most of my relationships, nor the barge I barely pushed upstream. Walking home, considering failure and success, I'm mostly contained within myself. Curl up and read a book.