In case it has escaped your notice until this point, or you haven't stopped to question why my writing has taken on a slightly cynical, always sarcastic, and utterly distinguished tone, let it escape your attention no further. I am writing in the current of one of North America's most distinguished writers of novels and traveling works. Yes he, the writer of such works as Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and The Innocents Abroad. Yes, only Mark Twain himself could conspire such humorous and fascinating works of literature.
Now however, he has passed the flame on, the passion for writing, to following generations and, in honor of him and his essays, which I am now daily laboring through with the utmost vigor, I dedicate this post to his writing style and realm of expertise: Travel.
I will begin with a few peculiar habits, or interests, which I have hired to facilitate my mendicant ways and achieve some semblance of normalcy in my daily bouts with the world. Firstly I wish to draw attention to my daily wrestling matches with Hollywood. It appears that in an individual's absence from their culture of origin they experience what is now termed a "culture shock." I believe I have been hit with it in a rather odd way.
As of late I have grown quite fond of Hollywood. In the states I never expressed much love, or held a passion, for the pastime of movie going. I think now, however, the moving screen serves as a balancing elixir. Such a magical potion serves to occupy some of my vast reserves of unoccupied time, while also connecting me to a cultural heritage of the mother country.
A second interest I have so dutifully employed is one of a more artistic bent. Not that films aren't artistic, but more of a personal artistry. I hired cooking as a means to express my innermost emotions in an oevre representative of my entire being. I throw mind, intellect, soul, and passion into the pot and in return I am awarded a splendidly prepared dish which I can subsequently devour heartily. I will give an example.
The other day I took a ramble to find some fresh produce with which to make one of my startling creations of culinary genius. I take these rambles quite often, and I find on every occasion I am either greatly impressed with what I find, or greatly troubled. On this particular occasion I was troubled in a very good way. My mission was a few apples and tomatoes with which to prepare pasta and omelettes. I was confronted with typical prices at my local produce stand. $10 for two tomatoes and $10 for two apples. I respectfully inquired in broken Spanish if I could purchase one tomato and one apple, however something obviously was lost in translation as I received the largest bags of tomatoes and apples I have ever seen for only one individual and all for the $10 pesos each I had inquired about.
Now I faced the most insurmountable of questions. What to do with 4.5 lbs of slightly over-ripe tomatoes? I only wanted two, I thought to myself. Heck, paying $2.50 US for 4.5 lbs of tomatoes is an investment to be proud of, why not make tomato sauce that I can use for my pasta?
So I set my culinary genius to work and concocted a pasta sauce of delightful comportment and hearty flavor. I added four cloves of garlic, a handful of salt, a few heaping spoonfuls of red pepper, oregano, and a dash of apple vinegar. Twas a wonderful way to pass an unemployed afternoon. In the previous sentence I use "unemployed" in only the strictest sense of the word for, in a less strict sense, I was employed, as you can see below.
Mmm, the pasta was amazing!
I will be moving apartments on December 22 and am looking forward to a change of scenery. The place I will be staying in is on the top floor and commands a sweeping view of the city. I will present myself tomorrow at an inquiry into some teaching work which I hope to obtain in early January. It will be a nice respite from my unemployed state and I think it is worth noting that working seems often to be less work than not working.
Kyle as Twain
Happy Holidays from the Galerias Pacifico
No comments:
Post a Comment