Check out this mad carrot I picked today
I’m totally eating this today.
M
Category Archives: Food
I broke my arm.
Last night I broke my arm. Well, actually Mike broke his arm and now I’m sitting next to him coaxing the words out him. Mike wants to pull out his encyclopedia of literary terms to define what it is we’re doing right now, double narration? Anyhow…the story.
Ummm, long story short (yeah right) I went in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth inning as the PSSBL only allows its pitchers to pitch a maximum of five innings per game and Chris Park, our veteran ace, had just completed his tour of duty on the mound (see, how short this is becoming?). I retired the side in the sixth with ease, no one reached base, no walks, three up three down, I believe. Bottom of the seventh, I go in, I throw my first warm-up pitch, make an “aaaah” sound that’s only audible to myself and the catcher, Andrew Rafferty.
He shouts out, “Are you good?” I say, “Yeah, I’ll be good.” After his throw down to second, he approaches the mound and says, “Are you sure you’re good to go kid? It’s only one game. Don’t hurt yourself for one game.” I say, “No, I’m fine. I wanna do this.”
Things get a little gray, but I believe I strike out the first batter, then someone gets a hit. I walk one, and that’s about as much as I remember before I get two strikes up with no balls on one of the batters. I believe Andy called a fast ball and I was thinking the same thing he was, a high fast ball out of the zone. I reach back and with all I had I deliver the pitch.
I go into my motion, my body goes forward and my arm stays behind and immediately I hear a snap. Everything goes white and I topple like a ton of bricks. I’m writhing on the ground making all sorts of deep guttural moans and yelps. As I twist on the ground, I see my forearm in what appeared to be the distance. My first instinct is to grab it and bring it close and I do so and quickly immobilize my once muscular arm which now seems to resemble a door snake, only this one is 30 pounds of dead weight.
About 20 faces descend, two questions for each face. Puppy dog eyes in a few. Genuine looks of despair, worry. Horror. My legs are elevated. Ice is brought. Minutes later an ambulance in the distance. Quickly enough the parameds, with help from my teammates, support my back as I stand up. The crowd, opposing team and spectators clap as I make my way to the ambulance where they fashion a sling for the ride to the ER.
At this point Mike is distracted by his pain, so I’m afraid he’s not a reliable narrator. I arrived at the ER to find Mike being prodded and questioned, eyes downcast in pain and concentration. When the doc left us alone in the room, he told me he was going to “tough it out” sans modern chemistry. It didn’t take much to convince him to accept a morphine drip and the doc immediately got him started. That took the edge off things, but only slightly masked the pain.
Last night was the last time Mike will ever pitch, and his last game of the season. It will also put a dent in his photography business. But he will be busy nonetheless, stitching together the humerus bone that the fast pitch had cleanly and efficiently snapped apart:
The nurses splinted him with fiberglass and ace bandages to allow for some swelling, then he goes back in a week for a plaster cast. Surgery is an option if his bone doesn’t take to healing. If all goes as expected, it should heal within 4-6 weeks.
Those ER nurses are tough cookies. A Friday night must keep them busy, but having to set Mike’s 30 pound arm while he was conscious was quite an exercise. Hats off to them!
I drove slowly and gently to Walgreen’s for Mike’s pain killers, ibuprofen, Gatorade and Chili Cheese Fritos. Then we hit Jack in the Box for a cheeseburger, probably not what the doctor ordered, but I almost never argue with Michael’s stomach. By the time Michael was settled into his couch, it was 3 am. And here is Michael today, he wants all his people to know he is fine and will carry on as usual. As for me, I’m going to take a nap.
Hungry?
If you know me, you’ll know I’m always hungry. Today, while heading downtown, I made it a point to take this pic from the car.
Mi Chalateca is a little restaurant that opened up about 6 months ago on Aurora Avenue in N. Seattle. Every time I was on Aurora (99) and passed it, I said ‘man, I want to eat there, I bet its good.’ Well, I ate there, and it was good.
They serve Salvadorian cuisine: pork and poultry dishes, soups and fried goodies. Given my Ecuadorian heritage, the flavors reminded me of eating my Mom’s empanadas.
Also wanted to test out this little plugin from Joe Tan called the “Flickr Post Bar” that can be obtained here. It rocks and makes uploading recent Flickr photos from WordPress super breezy.
Ten Megatons of Megablog Entry
I know. Its been awhile since I’ve written. I’m sure there are thousands rapt by this blog, tuning in every day to see what’s new or to feverishly take note of my grammatical/writing prowess.
Anyhow. I’ve been busy with baseball and the productions I’ve been assisting on. Today, I’m trying to catch up on laundry and actually cook food rather than buy it, as I’ve been doing for the past week or so. Below, you’ll find two cauldrons that–when melded together–comprise one of my many culinary masterpieces: Dhal Masala.
It was graciously handed down by my good friend Dhanraj Emanuel, from my days in Memphis (picture a grandmother handing her grandchild the secret family recipe to those chocolate chip cookies old Mrs. Wittaker has been trying to get her hands on for years).
What else: Oh yeah, I’ve been plagued by incredibly unreliable internet stability making it ever so difficult to blog whatsoever. I say this now, b/c I’m actually typing this without internet connectivity. Once, I’ve written a handy amount, I’m going to reset the wifi device, again. . . for the fifteenth time today. . . then hit ‘save.’
Having just saved that last little bit, I’ll say that I had the pleasure to work with Reed Brown and Eric ‘the Creative Director’ in from Nashville, Tennessee this week. The last day of the shoot, I walk in to find Eric drinking a Mountain Dew. My head does a double take b/c when its hot–as it has been for the past few days here in the Emerald City–we from the South reach for Sun-drop which is basically magic in a can.
I remark on his sipping from the receptacle holding canned dew from a mountain, and he remarks about how he has to adapt to his current citrus beverage b/c of dropped sun’s unavailability out here in the NW. He also goes on to give me an incredibly informed account of how all of the five or so major citrus beverages differ, based on his sensitive palette which can detect subtle taste nuances in each.
Totally awesome. On another shoot, I ran into Karl Marks who was working security. That, too was totally awesome.
Last night, exhausted and full of Korean BBQ, I watched “Be Here to Love Me” which is a documentary about the singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, probably known most for his song “Pancho and Lefty,” made famous by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard.
While watching it, there appeared a short clip out of this broadcast, Nashville Now, that used to air when I was a kid growing up in Nashville. Then I said ‘that is where I know him (Townes and his music) from.” The show, hosted by Ralph Emery, also brought back another childhood memory of this guy.
Lawrence of Arabia
On Saturday, in the sweltering sun, I slaved over the barbecue and grilled meat for a crowd of over 15 at a Fourth of July weekend bash.
Thanks to all who indulged, as it was my sincere pleasure to serve up marinated chicken and the like after its couple hour rest on the barbie to keep with proper food handling requirements. I had this wicked Lawrence of Arabia type thing going on with my cap and a red hankie. Someone managed to snap this pic of me above.
I also made some Chicken Biryani and saw “Water,” the third installment in Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta’s ‘Elements’ Trilogy. Do yourself a favor and watch it. ‘Bout it for now.
Uponeth me Weekendethry.
Jennifer Montgomery and I have been hard at work creating the look of my website. Amidst baseball playing on Friday and my Tom Ka Gai making on Saturday, hours of intuition and post-baccalaureate education led us to this prototype page below:
Obviously, this was exhausting enough, and we were in dire need of relaxation and recreation. Luckily, the Emerald City affords one various cultural activities. On Sunday, we opted for dog park action in Magnusson Park. Those who’ve ever pumped a Nihilistic fist to the Grunge stylings of Soundgarden should pay homage to Magnusson, as that is where the outdoor sculpture who the band takes its name from lives.
Here you’ll find a link to a gallery of some of our musings from the day that include, but are not limited to: 1) reflecting on beautiful beach, 2) sun through hat shot, 3) a Manet recreation, 4) kiddie kats that came upon our luncheon on the grass and startled the holy cow out of us both, causing Jenna to elbow me in my now shaved head, 5) Coco, the dog, 6-9) Jenna and I, and Coco and Nature and . . . 10) Mack, the dog, 11-13) relaxing, 14-23) cloud formations, 24-28) Cricket players. . .
If you’ve ever wondered why I neglect my post over the weekdays, it’s more oft than not due to my commercial assisting or shooting schedule. That said, next week, I’ll be assisting on location in Tacoma for a shoot with Mark Peterman. I’ll catch up soon, and look for the newly born website coming ever-so-soon!
'Bout three months behind. . .
on my musical intelligence. Came across this today: Ace Rizzle has a new one dropping in August. Ruh, roh.
I know, I know, website design is on way; ‘I swarr.’
I secured some server space a couple months back and have been meaning to do something with it. Please be patient, as Jennifer Montgomery www.mediamaker.us and I are totally going to hook it up on the collaborative tip. For now, enjoy this juicy burger, and others, courtesy of Jeff Vespa, photographer and co-founder of WireImage.
Imagine Pirate Rap Blaring
This morning was fog as far as the eye could see. Ten foot long fog. Fog two-hundred, twenty-eight feet deep if you were a giant wading through it. It was great. Here are a couple of images from the morning:
When taking these images, I thought how dope it’d be if a ghost ship rolled up. Picture dog walkers with agape mouths, two dollar scones falling and crumbling in unison as a couple hundred pirates roll ashore. Pirate rap blaring. At 9 on a Saturday morning and with Halloween ’round the corner, its not that far-fetched. You can check out the photoset on Flickr here.
What a day. For breakfast: fried green tomatoes; for lunch, some freshly prepared dhal and rice. Then, while watching Glengarry Glen Ross, Ed Harris’ character, Moss, orders some doughnuts and coffee. A fuse ignites, and I see doughnuts being dipped into steaming cups of coffee–this image playing over and over in my head. Not a second after visualizing this did Jenna say, “Man, I could go for a doughnut and coffee.”
Top Pot, being just down the street, provided our delicious fix. Emerging content, we headed over to Third Place Books, where I looked at Luc Sante’s “Evidence.” We wrapped up the evening by bowling a few frames at Sunset Bowl in Ballard–open 24 hours in case you’re ever looking for fun at all hours.