Adventures in cooking and other diversions

Things have been afoot. Not crazy, bad things, I hasten here to reassure you. Nothing great and life-changing either, so you might wish to cancel the party and the order for the carton of balloons as well.

So what's then been happening in the last year, you ask me. And since this is a conversation between you and me, and there's really nobody else in the world who is remotely interested in the answer, answer I will. Little things, common place and ordinary things, things that made the year pass, and its almost the entire year now, extremely fast. I grew old, 28 now and I am kind of getting ready to move into middle-agedness. I am more than a little sad about it, I never had that feeling of youthful freedom that makes no act a folly (as I write that, I realize that just sounds way too pompous and way past middle-aged even and that makes me smile). I have never traveled, except for work. I have never played a sport, except when not kicking a ball would have detained me in PE. I don't know how to ride a bike, drive a car. A pretty dismal and sad state of affairs, I'd think you would agree. But then that's the life I've led and its a little too late to change what has happened and is past and that way lie thoughts of suicide and laughter that breaks into uncontrolled sobs and I do hate a fuss - and so the thoughts, they shall lie untouched, not taking up any more digital space.

I changed jobs. After 5 years and a bit, I moved from a corporate finance job to a job in the banking sector. People seem to be happy about it. I am glad for them. But I have come to the conclusion that while I am probably a workaholic, it doesn't stem from any overwhelming feeling of passion for the work that I do. I hate people telling me, or even indicating that I shirked my responsibilities, absolutely hate it. And so I will do whatever needs doing and I will put in the best effort that I possibly can. I might not be terribly happy about it but I will put a smile on it, just so, and do it well. So there are things to read and processes to adjust to and that should take some time, but I am hopeful yes and a little excited too, about seeing, learning and doing something new. Met new people during the 2 day induction program which is the only part of it I found interesting.

And I am trying to cook. What with brother moving in, I probably feel a little bit responsible and I enjoy the therapeutic and yet experimental nature of cooking. Rice and chicken (and some lentils boiled in lots of water - a thin soup) is all I can manage for now and seafood is something I am getting started on and it is interesting and you get fed at the end of it all. Makes me happy and it is a life-skill, people tell me, so I feel a little bit righteous as well. There's a guy writing a weekly column in Mint Lounge who puts in interesting recipes and thoughts on cooking - so maybe its a trend I am catching on at a fashionable time. We'll see.

A new feature (cue thunderous claps and a standing ovation) is that I will try to put in links to songs/books/other things that I find interesting and worth a bit of attention to. This should act as an erratic chronology of things that pique my interest and in this self-obsessed little corner that's all that matters too. So, without further ado, here it goes -

1. Song - Nick Mulvey - Fever to the Form (http://youtu.be/_242CRH3GI4)
   A few snatched words at the end of a Stephen Fry documentary. They were about being clean but unclear and as I try to find a middle ground between my adoration for both Neil Young and Mogwai, I find myself liking clean vocals, lyrics and understated instrumentation. And this song fits that bill quite well.
2. Movie - Holiday (1938, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030241/)
   A screwball comedy by George Cukor, it is not as good as either Bringing up Baby or The Philadelphia Story, but the dialogue sparkles with dry wit and sly humor while maintaining the innocence that these black and white classics possess. And the physicality that Grant and Hepburn bring to their role is quite amazing.
3. Book - Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe (Bill Bryson) (http://www.amazon.com/Neither-Here-nor-There-Travels/dp/0380713802)
   Honest and opinionated yes, but Bryson possesses such a wicked and wonderful sense of humor that you can't but laugh out loud when he describes his traveler's cheques being stolen by a Gypsy girl in Italy and he goes about replacing them. He falls in love with some of the unlikeliest places and is disparaging about some more famous ones and paints the scenes with some of the simplest and warmest writing that I have read and makes me want to visit Como and Sofia and Rome and so many other places. Someday...

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It is a Saturday and I should now have 2 day weekends. Fingers crossed.