The Weekend in Foolish Attention

Bits and bytes of the week

The Prius does not disappoint. My week started out with a 12-hour road trip through Des Moines to Chicago. I love road trips, even in crappy, cold, wet weather. I listened to seven different podcasts, music, stopped in odd little towns to piss and stretch my legs. I’ve been roadtripping since I was a kid and mom would take us all over the country—just her, my sister, and I—stopping at every wax museum for me and seeing the grand expanse of the United States. I’ll add that I’ve possibly driven over 100,000 miles of these trips in a Prius (both the silver and now the red) and, for my money, it’s the best road trip vehicle I’ve ever had. Even with gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon, I can drive from Wichita to Chicago and back on less than $120. GOLD!

Admitting my limitations. It has come to pass, in my advancing age, that a 12-hour roadtrip takes me a full 24-hours to fully recover from. It’s fine but understanding one’s recovery time is key to avoiding the bitter disappointment in the increase of time with the decrease of ability. I’m still, as my host for the week states, “on or off. 150 miles an hour or completely shut down.”

Pissing in alleys. The plus of a week in Chicago is the ton of walking I do. The minus is that walking in cold weather for hours makes the older man’s bladder ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice. The plus is that Chicago has lots of alleys in which to urinate.

Advice? I was having a conversation with a kid in a Starbucks. We traded tales and, as I was about to split, he asked “Hey. You seem like a dude who has been through a lot. Any advice for a 23-year old trying to figure it out?”

“Advice? I guess it would the same advice I’d give my twenty-year old self. Two things. First, do your level best to minimize the importance of others’ opinions of you. The harder you try to please a lot of people and listen to their always present criticism of who you are, what you believe, your style or lack therein, your approach to money, to love, and to everything else, the less life you have for yourself. Remember, there’s a solid chance that in five years you won’t ever see some of these people again, so minimize their importance in determining your day-to-day.

“Second, if you find yourself chasing a partner realize that the chase will never end. Once you set it up that you chase him or her, that person will always want to be chased. You will find yourself in a constant cycle of uncertainty and proving yourself until your soul crumbles like angel food cake left out on the back porch.”

He nodded. “Shit. That’s better than I guess I expected. Thanks.”

A new way of eating. I had some pretty good for this week and I found myself taking initial bites to figure out what was in each dish like the judges in cooking competitions. Even burgers were mentally dissected in the first couple of chews and it was fun. First, I ate more slowly which they say is good for you. Second, by taking the time to think about the spices and method of prep involved, I found I appreciated it more.

Thursday night, David Fink treated me to a Chicago Restaurant Week dinner at Sofi, a family owned Italian place in Printer’s Row. I ordered three things I’d never had and ate critically. Burrata with Roasted Red Peppers and Prosciutto, a Grand Shrimp Imperiale, and a Molten Chocolate Mold (we thought it had mold but it was made in a mold). He also ordered some faux gras, something I’d never had, and based on all the reading and watching I’ve been doing about cooking, I found cool ideas on how to improve these already delicious plates. David was amused at my breakdown comments with each one and started making me try his food to see what I thought.

This is fun.

We’ll see. I came with an agenda and leave without an answer to the question but all will out in good time.

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I’m back on the road with Chicago in the rear view and here’s to another grand week!