Grocery Shopping

The Future and What It Holds

When I first moved down to Oakland, I made it clear that one of my intentions was to dream, plan, and investigate what the future had for me.

So here I am.

After getting to know a few people in the city, I have reached a conclusion. The word occupation is an ugly, yet accurate, word. It is incredibly true that many folks are occupied. They go to work, do something that they don't necessarily hate, but definitely don't love. 

I don't want to be occupied at any stage of life. 

I want to live.

Whatever I end up doing, I want to enjoy it, love it, and do it with a passion. So,"Nice work, Cameron. You have spent a month and a half figuring out your future and all you know is that you don't want to hate what you are doing? Bravo."

So what?

I need to explore some options.

Bartending. I know that a lot of people have objection to me choosing this, but I think that it is something that would be redeemable and valuable to my list of life experiences. I don't think that it would get boring, and I definitely have a desire to do something that is people oriented. (Sorry Datawise)

Baking. Wait a second... did Cameron just write Baking? Yep, while I am here with World Impact I am asking Hendrik to teach me to bake bread. I figure that, at the least, it is a cool skill to have going forward. I also think that a bakery could be a place to work when I am seeking a new place of employment (wherever I end up). Interesting people and food in the same place, you can't tell me that's not heaven.

Entrepreneur-ing. Ever since, I don't know, 7th grade or so, I have dreamt of opening a coffee shop. Having already worked in a couple, I have some pretty neat ideas for a shop but I won't share those on the internet since I know all of you are just dying to steal my ideas! It would be fun to be self-employed and have unlimited creative license in my place of employment. Even so, I have no illusions about how challenging it would be. I once heard that some 70% of small businesses fail within their first three years.

Art. So, there is a reason I am leaving this one for last. I don't really think I am good enough to make art a way to support myself, nor do I think that I will be in the future. But hey, I am in the dreaming stage and I have plenty of folks cheering me on here. I love to imagine a big white walled room with hardwood floors dedicated to my art... in the middle of New York City. 

Dreams.

Soundtrack

One thing about being separated from all of the people that I used to hang out with is that my sphere of influence and, inversely, the circle that influences me is completely different. So, in order to bring you guys back home up to speed on what's hip in my world. Here are some songs that are keeping me going in Oakland.

In This City- Iglu and Hartly

Geraldine- Glasvegas

Microphone- Coconut Records

Paul Revere- The Beastie Boys

Dancing Choose- TV on the Radio

Welcome To The Occupation- Cold Wars Kids

Don't worry, I'm not one of those guys that thinks that I have a "superior" taste in music. But these are some songs and artists that I think you would enjoy! So... enjoy!

Finally

So, as long as I have been here in Oakland, there has been one thing eluding me. I haven't been painting. Call it lack of inspiration, motivation, or just plain laziness, I just haven't been able to put paint on canvas like I did in Redding.

I think I figured out what my problem was. For a while my furnace wasn't working, so I have been experiencing cold for sure. I was trying to paint warm colors, but just wasn't finding it... So, I made a late night trip to Michael's and picked up some warm "cafe" colors. This is what I painted: 

All Dressed Up, With Nowhere To Go

 I am glad that I was finally able to get something. Note: the copper color is actually metallic, but I couldn't get a picture to show it.

Later.

What I Miss.

So, almost three weeks is all that has passed since I left Redding and already in almost every conversation I have had with folks from back home there has been this common question: "So do you miss Redding yet?" 

First of all, you speak of it like it is inevitable that I will eventually miss Redding.

I don't.

But here is a short list of things I miss FROM Redding.

I miss poker.

I miss the patio and Sunday nights.

I miss my Grandparents.

A lot.

I miss someone else buying all of the cranberry juice that I consume.

I miss all of the friends that I left behind.

However, I am NOT homesick. It is awesome here. The weather is typical Bay Area weather, and I love it. I love working in the resource center and I love that God is moving here. 

P.S. If you thought that my parents are missing on the list above, they have both visited me in the last week, so I guess they don't count or something.

Realizations and Discoveries

First of all, I apologize to those of you whom I told that I would try to keep this up to date. I have a plethora of excuses, none of them any good.

On this adventure that I am on, I kind of feel like I am putting myself to the test, finding out what I am made of. So, I guess I will make a list of the things I am finding out about myself. 

I am lazy. I know this one was fairly apparent from the git-go but I mean, seriously. I let dirty dishes stack up until I am out of both plates and bowls (and effectively let my options for food dwindle to snack bars and chips). Ridiculous.

People watching is my new favorite pastime. The people in the bay area are way more interesting than Redding!

I can actually save money. Weird. In direct contrast to the laziness factor, being "out on my own" has actually brought out the best in me in this part of my life. I hope that I can save enough to get out to New York!

I am not a great cook. See post below.

Why I Need A Girlfriend:

This post is for those of you who thought that I wouldn't be able to cook for myself when I moved out. Well, I showed you? Read on.

So it was around 11:15 when inspiration struck. I decided that some bacon sounded really good. I stumbled into the kitchen, flipped on the lights, and grabbed some bacon from the freezer. I popped it in the microwave to defrost and while I was waiting the wheels began to turn. I saw my bag of tortillas and flippantly thought bout all of the things bacon could do in a tortilla. And so, the bacondilla© was born.

And now, you can clog your very own arteries with my step-by-step instructions.

Step one:

Throw some bacon in a pan, on high heat (turn down slightly when sizzling becomes so fierce that you fear for you life). Continue flipping until the perfect level of charredness is achieved. There should be a nice pool of grease in the bottom of the pan. When finished, leave pan on low and remove bacon. DO NOT REMOVE GREASE.

Step two:

Lay out a tortilla with two Kraft Singles and lay your charred bacon over, then lay two more slices of cheese on top. Finally, add the second tortilla on top.

Step three: 

Put your bacondilla into the pan and crank the heat up. Flip after 20 seconds or so, and repeat on opposite side. Remove from pan onto plate.

Step four: 

Let stand for at least 2 or 3 minutes. That bacon grease is still hot smarty pants.

Step five:

Devour.