Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

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I don’t cook as much as I used to, and this weekend, I remembered LOUDLY why that is. I am much more excited about cooking when I can do it with others.

On Sunday, I met Sunitha, Nanu, Poornima, and Koichi for brunch at 11am. Afterwards, we stood in the parking lot and created a menu for later. We spent the next hour or so driving around to markets in Bloomington getting ingredients. We spent the entire afternoon cooking and at about 6pm. I realized that since I left Bloomington, it usually goes a different way. I am told that there will be a dinner party or potluck. I do all the planning, shopping, and cooking alone. The only part of the experience that is shared is the eating. To me, that misses the point. Eating is fun, but the collaboration is the point. And I swear food tastes better when you eat it with your collaborators.

From a nerdy neuropsych perspective, I think my executive functioning (e.g. my ability to organize my thoughts and develop a plan) isn’t my best skill. It’s nice having Sunitha ask organizing questions like “How many recipes require onions?” While I am able to create a menu myself, it’s an effort for me. I’ve always had a strong experience of social facilitation in pretty much every area. When another person is there and there is collaboration, I’m highly productive. When working alone, I’m far less so. Cooking with Sunitha and Nanu and Poornima felt so natural. We all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We all enjoy ourselves. Noone panics. We all have enough skills and interest that we work it out, no matter what. In the end, we had a wonderful experience and a delicious meal.

Sunitha called this our “Set List”

I have enough foodie friends in the Triangle that I’m thinking about trying something similar. Even though none of my foodie friends really know each other, I’m confident that if we all sat in a room with a stack of cookbooks, we would – over the course of a few hours – have a lot of fun and end up with a culinarily/photographically-worthy set of dishes that we will remember for a long time. My birthday is coming up. I may have to have one regular party and one “Let’s Cook” event. Kathryn? Ajith? Josh? Don? Katy? Nik? Ears ringing yet? Maybe Cathy? Jen? Perhaps we could have others come for the end part, too. I’m plotting. It always seems to work out. I’ve found that the natural head chef/sous chef roles always become clear very quickly. When it was Indian, the leader was either Sunitha or Nanu. But when we cooked more Mediterranean (or even Southern) dishes, I was in charge. Perhaps this sounds like pandemonium in the making, but I have to try.

Update: Well color me lame. How on EARTH could I forget Baron?!! Major oversight!!

“Some plots are moved forward by external events and crises. Others are moved forward by the characters themselves. If I go through that door, the plot continues. The story of me through the door. If I stay here, the plot can’t move forward, the story ends! … Don’t do anything that may move the plot forward. Instead, let’s see if the plot finds you.” (Professor Hilbert of Stranger than Fiction)

This is a good philosophy when it comes to relationships, and a bad one when it comes to job-hunting. To that end, I am going to begin meeting with my friend Molly every Monday morning at a local coffeeshop so that we can help each other come up with a job-hunting plan for the week. She’s unemployed, too.

Reminder to self: Life is directed by forces and events I may not understand or even be aware of. Chance occurrences often manage to alter even the most structured of lives. While life can be unpredictable, the outcome is always change; sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. My path through life is never a ride down a perfectly straight highway. Sometimes, I may even experience hairpin turns or complete reversals of direction. Despite my plans, “the Universe” has its own agenda from which I cannot escape participation.

Can you tell I added the Tarot application on Facebook?! I’m not a believer in the mystical magic of Tarot, but I do love the wisdom of the individual cards. When I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life (separation and divorce), I found it very centering to compare my current thinking and emotions to the symbolism found in the cards or card spreads. Even when it was wrong, it was helpful (“No, that’s not quite right. It’s more like this.”). This particular bit of wisdom has been brought to you by the letter F. No, that’s not it. It was actually brought to you by the Wheel of Fortune card.

I woke up thinking about that scene at the end of The Wizard of Oz when the Wizard finally “grants” powers to the three companions, particularly the part with the Scarecrow. He’s given a diploma, and he holds it to his temple, then says something that sounds smart, but kind of isn’t. From a pretty early age, I noticed that he got the Pythagorean Theorem wrong, because the squared hypotenuse is equal to the SQUARED sum of the opposite sides, not the “square root of any two sides”. And it pertains to RIGHT triangles, not isosceles triangles! Silly Scarecrow.

Let’s just hope my knowledge demonstration today is correct and not just correct-ish.

A few on the way out photos:

Jeep is sick again. Sitting in her sick basket on my bed, growling, wagging her tail, not moving, won’t eat or drink. I hate not being able to help. Once she woke me up, I couldn’t get my mind off the fact that I’m supposed to (according to my own schedule) take this exam in 3 weeks, and my scores are nowhere near good enough yet. If I fail and have to retake it again, I have to repay the $500. I’m trying not to panic, but I’m failing at this point. I feel like I never have enough concentration for this stuff to sink in. I’ve taken to memorizing answers rather than learning in a more holistic way. It seems to have a better effect, which is actually a testament to how poor the test is constructed. OK, I’m going to attempt more sleep. Only about 4.5-5 hours so far.