Sunday, August 31, 2008

Busy Weekend


We had two weddings on Campus this Labor Day Weekend. The Red Hat Society filled up the 1:30 PM Cooking demo and with the walk-in traffic there was a lot to contend with here at Greystone. I started the day by going to mass. St. Helena Catholic Church is undergoing a major renovation so they are asking for a lot of support. I dropped my lunch money ( all of ten bucks ) into the collection basket and know that I will feel the pinch. I am doing what I can to bring some extra cash in, but I won't be paid until at least the first week in September. Once I got to work, I had to set up both the Concierge Station and the Camera station in the theater for the cooking demo. After everything was set up, I noticed that I was missing my name tag. The only place I figured it would be... would be back at the Church, probably where I parked my motor scooter. This would be a likely place because the name tag has a magnetic back and it probably latched onto my keychain and subsequently dropped off as I left to go to work after mass. Anyway, it is a shame how attached I am to the damn thing.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Okay, my bad...


I haven't been keeping up with my blog lately, but it's not because my life have become a boring as a bag of potatoes. I spent most of my summer working on the Chef's hat designs and trying to figure out how to make it cheaply and where to sell it. So far, I have made five and have sold them for twenty bucks each ! That's a good start and has inspired me to make more. I am currently working on a pirate chef's hat and have had good success with it. My next design will be a "Hell's Kitchen" motif. I don't plan on stealing their logo, but I do plan on making a generic one with a pitchfork and some fire to give the idea.Our purchasing agent, Jim has gone to a trade show this past weekend and tells me that he will investigate to see if he can locate some disposable chefs hats without a company logo on them that I will be able to purchase wholesale.Hopefully, that will be one cost-cutting factor.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

My Question for Mick

Not long ago, I visited a web site promoting the Rolling Stones documentary, " Shine a light". There, I found a button that read, "Ask the Stones a question". So I was instructed to upload a video of myself posing a question to any of the Rolling Stones. I had heard in the past that when the Beatles had gone to India to study meditation, that the Stones went to Haiti to study Voodoo. This idea had always piqued my curiosity, so I decide to ask Mick that specific question.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Mick's Answer

Watch the video
An Answer to a question I posed to Mick Jagger

Taking the time


After getting all my domestic chores completed ( i.e. Laundry, shopping, bill paying, etc.) I can now enjoy the second day of my vacation. It is Sunday, August the 3rd, 2008. I started my day with mass at 8 am in St. Helena.I offered a prayer for my friend Herschel, who is going through tough times right now. After mass I spoke with Eve, who is another renegade from Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Calistoga . Ever since the mass times got consolidated there, I've been attending mass at St. Helena because I can still make it to work on time around 9:30 . Eve, said she has been attending mass here because she doesn't much care for the "social environment" at O.L.P.H. We had a conversation as we walked down towards the Sunshine Market. She wanted to get a little something to eat, I wanted to stop by the ATM to pick up some cash.
Eve is quite spontaneous and also a little fragmented when focusing on a particular train of thought. Her father was a Russian Orthodox Jew and her mother was Irish Catholic. She is very bright, and very spiritual ( and yes, very opinionated too ). I can say that, because I know of her past. I know also of her struggles. She was pregnant at seventeen and like my sister Terry, was an artist who tried to raise a child on her own. She admits to her staunch independence and in a reflective moment, will say that she suspects that (like me) she is growing eccentric as she gets older. She gave me a loaf of bread that she purchased at the Model Bakery before we parted ways this morning, mentioning that there are bargain prices to be had for the day old products. I promised to draw her a picture in reciprocation for this gift. I ended up taking my sketchbook to the Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company for a cup of Joe and a little social time. There, I eased myself into reading an article about saving money verses spending it, in the current issue of the Bohemian. Garnering enough courage, I broke out my sketchbook and began drawing a picture for my friend Eve. It was a loaf of bread, dontchaknow. How apropos.