Chuckin' It

So the other weekend I just passed a major milestone in my quest to graduate from Graduate to Actual Adult. I went out, and for the first time in my life, bought a pair of shoes that cost more than $40. In fact, they cost double that. At the behest of a friend and a girl from work, I replaced some cheap and rapidly deteriorating Chuck-like Walmart sneakers with a brand new pair of plain-Jane, black and white leather Converse Chuck's. $80. Not even on sale or anything.

They're pretty nice and comfortable. The laces are oddly short (surely, a conspiracy to purchase new ones), but they look pretty good. I feel somehow proud of myself for having something of quality and of a brand that isn't generic-sounding and reeking of a budget shelf. I don't know if I should be proud of the fact, though, that I've bought into some big brand name. Does it make me cooler now? A sellout? Or just desperate? Who cares.

One thing's for sure, though. I am going to be mighty pissed if these things don't last more than 6 months. That must've been the main point of the whole purchase in the first place.

Anyways, onwards and upwards.
-Cril

Chikkin'

So I think I just had the best darn chicken I've ever had in my life. Even weirder? I made it. After literally clicking on the first link after Googling "how to prepare a chicken breast". So here it is, in a nutshell. Why? Mainly for future reference, as another saved link will just get lost in the collection of all the other saved links I've never visited twice.

1. Beat dat chicken (flatted it out).
2. Season dat chicken (I used some seasoning salt, Italian herbs, and a bit of garlic powder)
3. Put some olive oil into a pan and warm it up on high. 
4. Reduce head to medium/high, and put in dat chicken. Cover the pan.
5. After a minute, flip dat chicken over.
6. After another minute, set the heat to low and let it simmer on low (with the lid still on) for 10 minutes.
7. Turn off the heat and let it sit (still with the lid on) for another 10 minutes.
8. Eat dat chicken. It will be delicious and unbelievably moist.

Bonus step: Take the runoff from the chicken pan and drizzle it over dem potatoes for extra flavour.

I know this sounds weird, but this is probably the first time I've cooked with proper chicken in ~2 years, so I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out so well. 

Lately I've been getting tired of eating, and I find that having new/different things to eat gives me incentive to not miss a meal. Plus, I get to learn how to make something new. Although, the question arises, am I going to run out of new things to try? I still need to be somewhat responsible with my grocery budget. Which, fun fact, has increased from $120/mo while I was in school to a whopping $200 now. In the back of my mind I worry about losing my job and having to go back to $120 a month, which makes for a pretty repetitive diet (things like ground beef very quickly turn into a 'treat'). But I guess it makes just as much sense to worry about that as it does running out of new recipes to try. 

In the mean time, I'll be having me some kickass chicken.

-Cril

Say everyone's talking 'bout chicken

Chicken's a popular word

But anywhere you go, you're bound to find

A chicken ain't nothin' but a bird

Some folks call it a fowl

That's the story I heard

But let 'em call it this and let 'em call it that

A chicken ain't nothin' but a bird

You can boil it, roast it, broil it

Cook it in a pan or a pot

Eat it with potatoes, rice or tomatoes

But chicken's still what you got, boy

It was a dish for old Caesar

Also King Henry the Third

But Columbus was smart, said, "You can't fool me,

A chicken ain't nothin' but a bird"

Cab Calloway - A Chicken Ain't Nothin' But A Bird Lyrics

I'm Qualified

It's been a good couple of weeks.

First, I played The Stanley Parable.

What an incredible, fantastic game. Not only is it an emotional and horrifying experience, but it's surreal too. Do you remember that moment in the original Arkham Asylum, when the game "crashes" and restarts? This game takes that sense of genuinely intelligent player manipulation and runs wild with it. I'm not going to spoil it, because to spoil it would absolutely ruin the experience. But I had fun, so much fun, that I found my mouth was cycling between being agape with disbelief and amazement to being a huge grin. I don't think I've ever played a game that has pushed its medium and the preconception of storytelling so far. Incredible, incredible experience.

Just get it on sale - the price they're asking is a bit steep.

Still gets 5/5, though.

---

Next, I played GTA5. Still am working my way through it, actually. Much to my chagrin, I can only get it to run on low settings, lest is causes my computer to hang every hour or so. Nevertheless, the game is good. Really good. Whereas Stanley is a radical new idea, GTA5 is an old idea that has been cooked to perfection. The gameplay is fun, the handling solid, it looks good (yes, even on low settings), and so far it's well written. It's even a bit less repetitive than previous iterations of the franchise.

I don't know why, but only now am I really appreciating the game's writing. And I'm not even talking about anything plot related, but everything world related. The stupid billboards, the obtuse strangers on the street, the bizarre commentary from the radio DJs. Yes, it always been chock full of parody, but now I'm kinda realizing just how well conceived it is.

Here's something for you: Jimmy (Michael's deadbeat son) and Trevor are the same character, one which is a commentary on gamer culture. Trevor's life is the endless smack Jimmy talks, but followed through with. And it's all a critique of the very people buying and playing GTA. Hell, I'd go so far as to say that Jimmy is/was inspired by how players act outside of the screen, and Trevor is inspired by how players act on the screen (probably in GTA in particular).

Anyways, it's good, and I've been enjoying it. I can tell it's good because I can't seem to put the damn thing down and have stayed up playing until 2AM before heading into work bleary-eyed 6 hours later.

---

In other news, with the aid of my uncle and his vast collection of tools and mechanical intuition, I did some repairs to my car this weekend. Over six hours we did the mundane (installed a new washer fluid pump), the slightly challenging (changed out all the vacuum hosing), to THE FRIGGIN' INTENSE (removed, cleaned, and rebuilt the throttle body). This last one was quite the feat - the air intake had to be completely removed and many parts unclamped and unscrewed. Then we took off the TB and transformed it into a collection of tiny bits which were scrubbed and reassembled with new seals. It was quite the ordeal and very nerve-wracking to not just remove such an integral part, but utterly take it apart.

But we got everything put back together, and when I turned the ignition... It worked just fine.

I'm not sure if the improvement was worth $250 in parts and 12 man hours of labour (the throttle response is now a bit more crisp and consistent), but I think it's safe to say that the whole process was probably one of the most badass things I've ever done. And I learned a TON too, which was a big part of why we did it in the first place.

And damn, did it leave me feeling empowered. We must've left a leak somewhere, because all that fuel-infused hot air has gone directly to my head. I CAN NOW FIX ANYTHING, AND HAVE FUN DOING SO. I DON'T NEED NO MECHANIC.

I just need the tools. And specialty parts. And someone walking me through the tricky bits.

I'm actually going to bring the car into a shop to get some hefty alignment work done, but am currently planning to do my own tune up (high voltage cables, distributor, coil, spark plugs) and cleaning out the idle air control (which'll involve removing the fuel rail). I hope I have as much luck (and fun) with the latter two as I did this weekend.

Here's to more successful repairs down the road, hopefully all of them more preventive than not.
-Cril

Lookey here
Better hurry up and check it out
Lookey here, lookey here

Your steak ain't no hipper than my porkchop
Your Cadillac ain't no hipper than my bus stop
Your champagne ain't no hipper than my soda pop

Lookey here, I'm ready to take care of business
Have no fear, I'm already here

Dr. John - Qualified