SPOILER ALERT: Awesome recipe for teriyaki chicken at the end of this bloggeronie.

So, a not so glorified but still pretty epic award was given to me by whoever has the rights to do so over at MTV and/or Harras and/or Harmonix; the award being "Best Pipes" of the Total Rock Total Rewards Rockband competition hosted by said industries above, that happened this past June. I must say I am humbled by the little tid bit of recognition on their part. With all the trouble I have had dealing with my self confidence issues, the Atlantic City competition really jump started my confidence, and this "best pipes" award has done that for me even more.

So I am making a promise to myself: to go out, have fun, and not freak out about trying to be who I know I am inside. I will go to karaoke when I say I will, and actually karaoke. I will not shy away from praise and applause, or brush it off like it is not important. Because being recognized for excellence in something should be embraced, not scorned.

In other news, I have begun to ponder ideas for a book. I am still in the infant stages; I don't even know what type of book I will write. Writing some fiction has always been a deep desire of mine, but it is such a huge process to begin with that I fear I will fail each attempt without some sort of training. So, what then? A children's series seems easy and profitable, but is it fulfilling at all? The best part about it would be that I could illustrate and write the book. My biggest and best ideas have centered around cook books. I love food (and whoever doesn't must not be human), and I love to cook. But cookbooks are no niche, and the only way to be successful with one (or at least this is how I see it) is to write a cook book that is either novelty, or focused on "healthy eating." So novelty it is; because my views on healthy eating or dieting, no matter how accurate they may be, will likely be criticized by many. So how about cooking for the lazy? Or healthier cooking for the couch potato? How about "From Can, to Can-do! A guide to turning canned and boxed food into tasty masterpieces!" A novelty cook book is not just funny, and fun to read, and fun to cook, but seems most fun to make! So, before I even establish the type I will write, I must write and consolidate a bunch of recipes! And so, without further ado, TERIYAKI CHICKEN!

Ingredients

• A breast of chicken per person (now, I buy Safeway brand chicken, and the breasts are usually either very large, or very small, but the bag is always totaled at 8lbs)
• Your favorite Teriyaki sauce. Recently I have been using Soy Vay. It is super delish, super kosher (I think-may want to look that up), and super awesome. You can use your own favorite sauce, but I recommend a sauce that is thick/syrupy to some extent, because a thin sauce - like a marinade - will not work with the way I am cooking this dish; i.e. if it has the consistency of soy sauce, it is no good.
• Broccoli! This is the only veggie I use, but I have been known to add green or red peppers, and maybe carrots. Instructions for cooking either will be included.
• Rice Noodles. These are the type of yum yum noodles you can find in the "Asian" section. I buy mine at the official Asian Seafood market in my area. No matter where you get them, just know that there are a few rules to rice noodles (at least, according to ME): 1) The less you understand/ can read on the package, the better the noodles. This rule is usually valid in all cases (unless the noodles look super gross to you). 2) NOT ALL RICE NOODLES ARE CREATED EQUAL. Some are thicker, some or thinner, some are more opaque, some are super solid. Which leads to rule 3) The thinner the noodle is based on how many layers/ loops the noodles are in. It is tough to explain this, sorry; for example, super thin/flat noodles are coiled like x-mas lights around the plastic thing you wrap x-mas lights around, and packaged in a way so that the layers are visible from the side of the packaging, and a flat layer of rows of noodles is facing up; the thicker noodles have less of this wrapping (less layers of it) and are often packaged so that the layers are visible on top, and the flat row of noodles is visible on the side. I KNOW THIS IS COMPLICATED, BUT ITS THE ONLY WAY I CAN THINK OF EXPLAINING IT. What also may help is: thinner noodles are packaged hamburger style, and thicker are packaged hot dog style. 4) transparent=thinner noodles + take less time to cook. Foggier/ solid=thicker noodles + take longer to cook. DISCLAIMER: You can use rice - which is more typical for teriyaki [anything] and is super delicious. However, rice is easy to make and boring sometimes, so it will not be part of this teriyaki!

So there are your ingredients.

But my apologies folks: for Cody's sake, I am kicking myself off the computer, and finishing my recipe instructions another time. Apologies to those who wanted to make this for their 4th meal.

A friend gave me an awesome gift last night. Well, he merely suggested it, and I needed to go access it myself, and it was free; so, kinda like a gift.

Anyway...

I am listening to remixed versions of my favorite tunes from my favorite video game series; Earthbound (also known as Mother in Japan). One of the BIG reasons why I love Earthbound is because 1&2 have awesome music! We all know that classic SNES games, and others on different systems around the time, had the best little *beep boop beep boop* music ever; I argue that Earthbound had the best. The games did their best to make the music as real sounding as possible, and even (in both games) put a Jazz band into the plot, so the player can enjoy some crazy nonsensical beats and sounds.

And to be completely honest, I just spent an hour fishing the web for Earthbound secrecy and more EB music mashups. Seriously. I did this, just now; spent the last hour not typing in this blogosphere, and instead obsessing over The Runaway Five, game glitches, and finding a copy of Earthbound for SNES (english) on ebay for less than $100.

So where was I? Oh yes, Earthbound and MUSIC.

So for EB 1 (or mother 2) the music was pretty awesome; far more interesting than other games in the mid 90's. The real surprise for me came when I began playing EB 2 (mother 3). EB 2 not only has music that is just as awesome as EB 1 fare, but the game is almost entirely about music! Now I know EB1 seemed this way, because *spoilers* you visit sanctuary locations and collect melodies; not to mention the creator of the games was obsessed with la musica and loved the Beatles, and filled the game with such references.

But...EB 2's battle system is centered around, and completely relies on, MUSIC.

So, you encounter similar silly enemy types as you did in EB 1 - Slitherhens and Muttshrooms - but when you fight them - with similar silly attacks as EB 1, like throwing staples and PSI [insert power here] - pressing the buttons on your controller (or in my case, on the computer) to particular beats in the battle music (which are more often than not unique to each enemy; sometimes same song, but you need to press to a different beat) ups your combo count! Basically you can (and sometimes need to) be musically inclined, and be able to recognize and synchronize yourself to the beat in order to beat your enemy quickly! Now, the system isn't perfect when you're playing on the computer; it is harder to recognize the beat you need to sync with, and I mess it up sometimes cause the game slows or speeds up while playing. *sigh* Need the original copy for GBA (japan only).

So, a video game series that embraces music and executes music (rhythm) game play better than any RPG I have seen is PRICELESS!

I'm out. Time for lunch.

Why I haven't been looking for a job.

Each Monday I make an unofficial (and unwritten) list of things to do for the week. Since graduation (June 12, 2010) I've put "find a job" at the top of the list. After a few applications, and hours of staring at the computer, fishing for jobs in the field I desire, I found ZIP that would hire me. I guess what "they" say is true; you can't do anything with a B.A. in Psychology (or at least, without 3 fucking years of experience doing [insert some type of specific social service here]).

After a few weeks the #1 spot morphed into "find volunteer work." My reasoning was that if a potential employer saw that I had more recent volunteer/intern work (cause I have a lot of past volunteer work, though inconsistent), regardless of the duration, I'd have a better chance of getting hired. So, in my defense, I actually looked for volunteer work and sent out inquiries, and all but one gave no reply. You think with the state of the economy, and social structures in general, more organizations and businesses would want free workers. Not only do they not want unpaid employees, but they don't even want educated and qualified unpaid employees.

WTF

So I've given up on that endeavor, for now. I've come to the conclusion that I deserve some time off! I have spent nearly 18 years of my life in school, non stop (with a year break somewhere in there); I'd like to entertain the idea of having some "me time."

So I say "here here!" to getting wasted at least twice a month, and drunk at least once a week; to getting back into drawing and painting; to overcoming my fear of singing in front of others; to having a "girls night out" at a bar once in a while; to starting a save file for some video game classics, and to finishing all save files for those games I have neglected to complete.

But wait...there is a problem with all this. I have a life that I need to keep on track. I have a house now, containing boxes that remain unpacked. I have a garage that needs to be cleaned out, and bathrooms that need to be fixed. I need to work as much as I can so I have the funds to ensure we even get to keep this house.

We also need money so we can even have a nice wedding. Why does everyone ask me why it has taken so long to even get engaged. Well, here is the answer: cause we're poor.

And, well, irresponsible too; but thats because it took us 3 years to realize we even liked each other enough to want to marry each other.

Anyway...yes, Cody and I are pretty poor kids. Been poor our whole lives; growing up we had little compared to everyone else, and we knew it. Once we became adults, with good paying jobs, and little rent courtesy of our parents, we suddenly had an influx of money, and we finally knew what it was like to have what we wanted. So we had a lot of fun for two years. But now...now we finally realize how better off we could be at the moment, if we had known back then that we'd still be together, in our own house, planning a wedding.

And weddings, mind you, are hard to plan; especially when you are as lazy as I am, and you are stuck with doing it all by yourself. So though I have been taking time for "me" and not for "things that involve me, but are not directly effecting me at this very moment," I think I need to use all this free time to get cracking on the pending nuptials.

And that is why I haven't looked for a better job.

We're #1

And so I begin an "official" blog on an "official" blog site; or is it?

Well anyway, not since the days of Live/Dead Journal have I conjured up any musings on a regular basis; and Facebook is for faces, not musings.

AND! I am already bored. Watching a movie with the girls, which makes it somewhat hard to attempt any sort of qualitative writing acquisition.

Love you!