Twisted PA

Self,

This past weekend I took a trip to Pennsylvania, Harrisburg specifically, for both business and fun.

No the title does not imply that it was a bad trip. What it really refers to is the fact that a lot of food there often has some form of pretzel to it.

My first venture was in a small diner near my hotel. I had a sandwich with ham, bacon and bbq sauce on a pretzel roll/bun. That was good

But my favorite was this place called Duke's which is a Riverfront joint. They serve as an appetizer a large pretzel smothered with their own crab dip and cheese then baked! OMG! it was soooooo good.

I was told that a lot of the pretzel dishes come from the Amish/Dutch influence. That said I have to mention one of the dish that I tried that's from the Amish kitchens, it was a dessert (of course king of the sweet tooth had to try it.) it's called "Shoo Fly Pie." This is also good. and apparently it's one of those things that people either love or hate. I loved it. the filling is much like a pecan pie, but instead of nuts on the top, it has a crumb top...HMMM!

Just wanted to share,

Sincerely,

Pharaoh

What Is Going On?

Self,

I'm not being superstitious. I'm not trying to say there's some funky mojo going around. I'm not saying some malevolent forces at work. I'm not saying these thing because I don't want to put energy in to such things.

But the last 7 days have just a series of unpleasant events.

I already spoke about my car and my fish tank having problems. I took the car to the mechanic....it's NOT ready yet. Earlier today, I was quoted a invoice for $550. Muy Malo! =(

As I said the fish tank ran dry somehow so my parents had to rip out the carpet and decided to replace it with what looks like more hardwood floors but the pieces are in the shape of tiles so it almost look ceramic. ANYWAY the point of that is once the floor was finished I tried to re-establish my tank. I spend most of Saturday doing that (along with running to Petco to get more supplies) I find that it was basically all for naught because even though I checked it before starting it seems that my filtration system is leaking and to leave it on would cause it to drain it out all over again. SO obviously I can't, finish it.

On Friday, a friend sent a text telling me (Schehimazade and probably others) that she had been in pain and in the hospital but didn't say anything til she was released because she didn't want anyone to worry.

Today is Monday and these are the things I've been told.

A friend in NYC was in the operating room with a friend of his who was having surgery (I don't know for what.)

An associate told me that his grandmother just died on Sunday.

I was told that a recovering cancer patient I was schedulede to sit down with as a client this coming weekend is cancelling our appointment because she just learned that her husband has been having an affair.

I'm sure there something else but my mind has gone on the blitz.

Along with not wanting to give any energy to the idea of some malicious force causing problem, I know that these things are just life. We all have high an lows. I know I'm not exempt from the lows, and although it would seem to be a wish worthy of making, I don't think it's one I would make. My burden at the moment is that these were all thrust upon me almost at once. The problem is I don't really know how to shake it all loose.

Anyway, at the moment, my quick fix - I'm baking a cake!

Sincerely,

Pharaoh

Recap - My Life

Self,

Well the last couple of weeks have been busy. I had to attend a Convention in Las Vegas for work. It was fun and educational. But it was a bitch to get myself ready to leave. It nearly drove me crazy!

My car, Thunderbolt, nearly overheated on the drive up to Vegas. I was disturbed but I made it just fine. I didn't use my car during the convention so it sat in the parking structure of the MGM for a few days. The last couple days I was there I did some running around but it was fine.

On the drive home, the temperature gauge went up really high again so I had to stop and let it cool down. This happened twice. Fortunately I made it home safely.

I get home to find the fish tank completely dry as a bone (as the saying goes,) the fish in a bucket, all the furniture in disarray, and all the carpet yanked up off the floor exposing the bare concrete. Nobody really knows what happened to the tank but fortunately my family noticed the catastrophe in time to save my fish.....That was Monday - the car and fish.

Tuesday was fine.

Wednesday - Thunderbolt acted up again and was hot under the collar. Well getting to work was fine. But I had to stop three times to let him cool off. After the third time I had to drive home with the heater on and the windows down. Well that's not true I didn't drive home, I took that badboy directly to the mechanic. Thunderbolt was left on the street right in front of the shop for when the mechanic arrived in the morning.

Thursday - It was fine except I waited all day to hear news about Thunderbolt, only for me have to call the mechanic at the end of day for him to say that the car didn't show signs of over heating, so he wanted to keep it long.

Friday - well technically I should have been sleep when Friday started but I am writing this post. I'm going to sleep for a few hours before having to get on the "subway" at 4:45am to go to work. I guess something good is coming my way, they say the devil seems most interested in bugging you or tripping you up just before the blessings arrive.

We'll see what the rest of the day brings.

Sincerely,

Pharaoh

Zodiac

Self,

Ok like alot of people there are times when I use the work computer for non-work related things. However on Friday, the crappy computers prevented me from doing even the simplest thing like e-mail. they were HELLA slow.....probably always will be. If I could throw it out the window of a 12 story building....even though my building is only a single story - I would.

Anyway, as part of the problem with the computers is an email I got from Double D.

That read;

Aquarius - The Water Bearer

Often simple and unassuming, the Aquarian goes about accomplishing goals in a quiet, often unorthodox ways. Although their methods may be unorthodox, the results for achievement are surprisingly effective. Aquarian’s will take up any cause, and are humanitarians of the zodiac. They are honest, loyal and highly intelligent. They are also easy going and make natural friendships. If not kept in check, the Aquarian can be prone to sloth and laziness. However, they know this about themselves, and try their best to motivate themselves to action. They are also prone to philosophical thoughts, and are often quite artistic and poetic.

Surprisingly, it one of the few horoscopes that I kinda like and is pretty close to accurate about me.

Sincerely

Pharaoh

Comrades

Self,

Over the weekend I had a chance to observe my brother, LilBro, (not to be confused with my mentee, BabyBro) with a couple of his friends. Well actually I notice this behavior/action between them before but this time it made me take pause.

They have a secret handshake....Atleast that what I've noticed among the males in the group. I mean it's not that secret in so much that they don't go hide or ask everyone in the room to close their eyes. So I guess it more accurate to say that they have a uniquely specific handshake. In a way it reminds me of the handshake "Will and Jazz" use to do on the "Fresh Prince of Bel Aire" show. I'm not going to describe my brother's handshake. (I may ask LilBro if that's where they got it.)

However, it made me think what bonds individuals create. I mean I don't have a special handshake with any of my friends,(hmm I might be a tad jealous about that,) but they all turn to me with open arms looking for a hug. Does that count. Of course, we know of the bonding that happens through shared tragedy/trauma. Those are usually referred to as being "forged by fire" or "made in the trenches." This is often responsible for friendship between soldiers and/or police officers. Granted there are others friendships that are "forged by fire" as well, some that aren't even bad. For instance players on the same sport team, women who are in labor and deliver babies at the same time, students in the same class or school, or even those who were burned/hurt by the same individual(s), rather romantic or otherwise.

Now from where I stand I wouldn't consider my brother's friendships as being "forged by fire" since from what I see outside of working together they spend most of their time eating, drinking, and smoking. And just as I consider the notion of categorizing their friendship as meaningless, I recall how someone had repeatedly try to do the same to me and my friends because we "were forced on each other because of school." I, of course, disregard this person's opinion on the objection that the person wasn't present for the moments that connected us. I really had to stop and think then. I realized that I shouldn't judge the bonds LilBro has with his friends. I am not privy to all the experiences that they shared.

So it made me wonder what is it that makes individuals come together as friends? I'd love to hear about the things that bond you with your friends.

Sincerely,

Pharaoh

Fondue Fiasco

Self,


Well first off it seems like i'm going to keep having cycles of being a vagabond so I decided to give these posts their own tag.


So since July 7th I've been staying with a pair of friends (who are a couple) in her house. This was a rare situation since she have three kids who happen to be traveling with their father (her Ex-husband.) That week I really only stayed with them for two nights before I returned home for the weekend. However, this week I'm staying four nights, plus his son is spending the week there too. So I wanted to do something for them to show my appreciation for letting me make their place base camp for 6 nights. So I decided that I would make dinner last night.

The menu:
Fried Chicken
sauted spinach with mushrooms and garlic
rice pilaf (Uncle Ben's I wasn't going overboard.)


I stopped by the house before going to the store to see what was there that I could use before going to buy what i would need. I happen to catch them before they left to go to a park so my friend's son could play in the wading pool. The lady of the house had bought a couple peaches for the two guys and I happen to be there while they were eating them. They smelled really good which led to a conversation about chocolate dipped fruit being really good. So I had the idea of trying to have fondue for dessert, with strawberries, bananas and peaches, of course.




So I go to the store and get everything for our meal, but nixed the bananas for angel food cake pieces. I'll admit I had never done fondue at home, so I wasn't sure exactly what I was doing but I figure there had to be a quick & easy way to do it. This is when I thought about just melting chocolate chip morsels, so I go to that aisle to see my options. Well, I get the idea that it would be REALLY delicious (and a bit special) if I got white chocolate chips add some rum flavor and cinnamon, so that's what I bought. (Ok I went a little overboard.)


Dinner was REALLY GOOD! I took a suggestion from Double D and soaked my chicken in a quart of buttermilk for like 30 minutes. (Out of 20 wings, there was only 3 left...granted the lady of the house's twin sister dropped by just in time to join us, but still.) Of course I took some liberties and was a little creative with seasoning the flour that I used to coat the meat.


Anyway we eat dinner on the patio in the backyard. Although the sun had set and there's not much light, it had cooled off so it felt nice to be outside. So although we are all full....everyone was looking forward to dessert so my friend and I go inside to get it ready. He washed and sliced all the fruit and I started melting the chocolate in the double boiler.


I don't know why but the chocolate melted but it never like liquified to become smooth, it just changed shape from the morsel to clumps. So to all of our disappointment (though nobody held it against me) we just had fruit and cake pieces for dessert.


I think I figured out what went wrong, when the chocolate started melting, I think I got ahead of myself and poured in a little milk right out of the frig with the intention of it helping to thin it out a bit to make it manageable for dipping. In my haste, I forgot one of the cardinal rules of cooking;


NEVER ADD SOMETHING COLD TO HOT ITEMS COOKING ON THE STOVE!


I think the sudden change in temperature of the chocolate prevented it from melting the way I wanted and expected. So I'll be trying this again a few time to see if I can get it right!



Sincerely,
Pharaoh

Get a Grip Folks

Self,

There two things that I heard about that just makes me shake my head at the idiocy of folks.

I got here to work and went on to the AOL homepage and a news headline caught my eye. It was a brief article about this "Barefoot Bandit" that was apprehended over the weekend in the Bahamas. Apparently this 19 year old boy is responsible for hundreds burglaries, the theft of several airplanes and a yacht. He has been on the run for over two years! The part that is disturbing is that in the ongoing war between stupidity and intelligence/common & moral sense, this is a victory for stupidity. This boy's shenanigans has caused him to have a huge internet following on sites like Facebook, some reporting to have over 100,000 members. Proof again, Facebook is the devil.

The other thing that worked my nerves over the weekend was the LeBron James and Cavaliers fiasco. I mean...Really? I can understand everyone being upset that the man decided to try his luck with a different team, in so much as they being disappointed that they are loosing a good player, but for "fans" to burn jerseys and all that is just pathetic. I mean it's as if these peoples self-worth are wrapped up in these Companies. Please believe that that is exactly what the sport franchises are, CORPORATIONS. The only "team" are the guys that are on the court, but everything that happens in the head office is all business.

The fact that everything in the head office is a matter of business, makes Dan Gilbert's, the Cavaliers' owner, reaction most idiotic and asinine of all. Of course, James' decision to play on the Miami Heat was "selfish," it is HIS FREAKIN' CAREER. If Gilbert was being offered $2.5 billion dollars for the Cavaliers to move from Cleveland to Tulsa, Oklahoma, he would not give a crap about fan and the residents of Cleveland or the rest of Ohio for that matter, because he would be doing what he thought was in the best interest for him and his career/business. So for him to hold it against James for doing the same thing is just stupid. At the same time, in say 10 years when James is a little bit older and a maybe little bit slower or possibly injured, Gilbert probably wouldn't even consider James' "loyalty" to the team, if there was an opportunity for him to trade James to some other team for some new hot young player(s). On top of that, James would most likely, hear about him (and his family) being uprooted to another city in a freakin' press conference with the rest of the world, and not from a personal conversation with Gilbert.

I need sport fans to come back to the real world and remember that LeBron James is no different from them in the sense that James is simply an employee of Cleveland Cavaliers, INC. (Reality dose y'all, this goes for any player on any sports team.) James didn't do anything wrong by exercising his right to discontinue employment at one job to start at a new one. It would be no different than an employee leaving Microsoft for Apple; Panasonic for Sony; Disney for Universal; Warner Brothers for MGM, Arista for Hidden Beach or hell McDonald's for Burger King. Stop your crying. Get over it.

Sincerely,
Pharaoh

P.S. I think the most accurate description of Gilbert's reaction to James deciding to go to Miami comes from Rev. Jesse Jackson. This is copied from an article I came across online this morning;

"He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers," the reverend said in a release from his Chicago-based civil rights group, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He
sees LeBron as a runaway slave."

Pastor Harvey??

Self,

Ok I know I am already starting this a little crazy with the title of the post. I'm not sure how many people know that comedian, Steve Harvey hosts a morning radio show that is sindicated nationally. For the most part it can be a hot mess....sometimes even entertaining.

Anyway, I'm not here to rag on the show. I don't listen to the show regularly and in the past when I would tune into the show Harvey and the crew were in full swing. However, recently the last couple times I've had the show on in the car, I happened to catch the very beginning of the show. By tuning in to the show early I learned that he starts his show with, for late of a better word, a monologue. Unlike Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and other comedians, there are no jokes or "punch lines" in Harvey's monologue. Honestly, there's not much about it that is funny. I mean, he starts out thanking God, talking about he had some tough times getting to where he is now in his life and some how it becomes a short sermon.

The ironic thing is that the last couple "sermons" I heard from Harvey made me feel like each one was specifically for me and my ears. Like others, I have moments of doubts about the choices I make. Recently some opportunities have present themselves and I've been wondering if I did the right thing by investigating these situations. The reason that it seemed that Harvey's messages were directed at me was because they were center around walking in faith. In a way nothing he said was extremely profound, but it did sit right with me and eased some tension.

Maybe the point of the experience is that I just need to remember to have faith in me and the things I do.

Sincerely,

Pharaoh

Really?

Self,

So, I know I have mentioned that I tend to send a text shout out to folks...and that some time it's just "Morning" but that every once in a while I try to come up with something different to see what type of responses I'll get.

So on Wednesday I sent one of my special messages;

"What a glorious morning."

The responses that came back,

"Tru dat"

"Amen, It is"

"fag"

Obviously, that last one caused me to raise an eyebrow. I mean I didn't really take it personally, but in contrast to my initial message and the first two responses that I received, it was so drenched in negativity that it was venomous, a poison apple if you will. I wanted to ask the "wicked witch" why he would send such a message, but honestly I was in such a good mood of my own that I didn't want to take on his negativity. I don't know if he was just having a bad day or what. Hopefully things have improved for him.

Sincerely,

Pharaoh

Vagabond Aventure with a Twist

Self,


I've made statements about moving back home with my parents and the reasons for doing so. As part of trying to figure out how to make it all work out I have been investigating other commute options for work. So on Wednesday of last week, I tried one of these options, The Metro Transit System.

Although, using public transportation is an adventure in itself, except to New Yorkers for whom its a way of life, in this case it's not the focus of the adventure. Riding the Los Angeles subway system allowed me to attend a free performance by recording artist, Goapele, in one of the outdoor corporate office plazas in downtown LA. She did a good job. For fans, she has a new project that is due to be released this summer, so look out for it.

Sincerely,
Pharaoh