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I’ve been on a cooking kick for the last few days. I love to cook, but it’s rare for me to do it – and even rarer to do it for three days in a row! Main courses are really what excite me. Here’s what was on the menu the last three nights:

Monday: Drunken Steak ala Steve Raichlen (replete with Jim Beam)
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday: BBQ Meat Loaf

And here’s what’s ahead:

Thursday: Baked Chicken Tenders
Friday: Grilled Tilapia
Saturday: (I’m out of town, so I can’t cook!)
Sunday: Baked Mostaccioli

I even have some ideas for next week already… chili, turkey balls, beef and broccoli…

Yeah, okay, so this is kinda weird. I’m just sort of spouting out food stuff like this. It almost feels like I’m tweeting (but with a much higher character count). But there is a method to my madness:

Preparing dinner is like writing a song – “preparing” a song, if you will. You need to have all of the right ingredients (inspiration, a pen and paper, an instrument) and you have to add everything together at the proper time and place (time to sit down and write, a quiet place to work).

You can’t force a good meal just like you can’t force out a good song. When I force a dish, I usually under- or over-cook it. When I force a song, I blunder it – and it ends up in the trash.

And, of course, if any of you are interested in getting recipes from me, I can get them to you…

The past six days have been awesome. I’ve worked my butt off, rehearsing for a concert I had yesterday, writing a song for this week’s vlog, and practiced several instruments. I can’t believe that my last post was two weeks ago! Seriously, unbelievable. I don’t know where two weeks went.

This past week, Monday through Thursday, I moved my live show rig into a secret, secluded location, away from the chaos of my small apartment. (Actually, it was my parents’ basement. They graciously opened their home to me for the week.) I started my nights at around 4:30 PM, and rehearsed and recorded until about 11:15 PM. They were long nights, but rewarding ones. Plus, I was fed well (although I never expected to be fed at all).

Another big factor in my lack of posting was the fact that, until this afternoon, I haven’t had internet service at the apartment since last Saturday – eight days ago. To make a long story short, I screwed up. I canceled Comcast service, then ordered AT&T service, then AT&T screwed up and it took them an extra four days to get us online. Phew! We’re good now, though.

My concert at Columbia College, as a part of Manifest, the school’s end-of-the-year urban arts festival, was awesome. I met a ton of really cool people, made a few friends, and was able to share – if only a part of – my new, live show, incorporating piano, triggered effects and drums, and my new computer. I’d like to give a special thanks to Cynthia Vargas for inviting me to perform. It was a blast, and I’d love to do it again next year!

I’ll be posting pictures from the show some time this week, when I get pictures from a few student photographers who were covering the event.