A New Book to Look Forward To!

I love the first one, so it's good to hear that the sequel, Good Eats 2: The Middle Years, will be coming out in just a few months. If this book series maintains the level of value the first one has set forth then I'll forgo purchasing DVDs of the television series, as it would be completely unnecessary.

Perhaps I might give a review when it comes out. A definite purchase on my part.

Percolating Writing

One of the difficulties I run into in writing is making sure I do an adequate amount of thinking for each piece. Some pieces take only a few minutes of thinking while others can take hours of planning. Some pieces have actually taken me over a month to think about before I felt ready to write about it.

As such, sometimes I run into the problem of trying to construct a piece when I have done an insufficient amount of thinking. Those pieces I usually end up either leaving uncompleted or deleting them upon completion, no matter how much time I spent writing them. (I don't feel bad about not having a product to show for my work since the actual writing serves as practice anyhow.) On some rare occasions I have recognized that I did an insufficient amount of thinking, went and did some introspecting, and then came back to the piece and wrote beautifully.

I would like to remedy this problem of underthinking an idea. It's the reason why I don't do as exhaustive writing as I've done before, like with Dr. Doolittleism in Foreign Policy and Slavery or the Highway: "Volunteerism", which I consider to be some of my best writing.

Here's an idea I got spontaneously yesterday while walking. I thought about how I remedied my underthinking before by actually starting work on the piece and then noting my deficiencies, and going back to do additional introspection, which cured my problem. What I was thinking of doing is this: When I get the urge to write extensively on some subject, I'll go out and construct a detailed outline on it, including clustering ideas, writing the theme, organizing the points, and all, and then afterwards putting the outline down for an indefinite amount of time so that I can gather more introspective material. In other words, turn my outlining into a process in which drafting applies.

Already I am seeing benefits to the drafting process. I have outlined a piece I don't plan on writing for a while due to a need for more evidence, but already I've noticed that after completing the outline I came upon new thoughts I want to include in that piece, thoughts that would have been otherwise neglected if I had taken to writing the piece right away.

I don't know how well this will work, but it's worth trying. This isn't a self-improvement venture I plan on tracking on this blog; I just thought it would be worthwhile to share a possible good writing practice.

A New Proof for My Resume

Well, since the last notification of my employment situation things have not changed much. I did manage to snag an interview at a hardware store, but disappointingly did not get the job, and restaurants are still indicating that they want only people with previous experience. At the very least, I've stopped being harassed by those multitudes of insurance companies, though I plan on increasing my presence on job websites and so may open myself up again to such harassment.

While I still have hope for the future of America, my personal situation leaves me a bit discontent. I have long-term optimism, but definite short-term pessimism: I believe economically, especially for Michigan, we have yet to hit the bottom of the hill. To avoid at present a lengthy analysis to why I believe this, I'll just say that given a certain set of ideas a man is going to act a certain way. Since our politicians have yet to reexamine their ideas, they're simply going to apply the bad ideas that got America (especially Michigan) into this economic mess to begin with, which will but exacerbate the problems. The worst is yet to come.

But I digress. There's little to do in that area except be an activist for positive long-term change and live the best I can in the meanwhile. If my disappointment should surface, I'll just try to get myself lost in goal pursuits or the enjoyment of a value, or to sleep it off.

Anyhow, the main purpose of this post is to present a possible new way of establishing credibility for my resume. After having reached a compromise with the person I live with, I am virtually free financially to be able to focus my funds on other necessities and to invest in certain things to increase my employability.

Keeping in mind how I'm focusing on restaurants, I thought it might be a good idea to construct a professional food portfolio. I realized that while studying and practicing would allow me to add new skills to my resume, it probably wouldn't impress restaurateurs very much given that it would still need to be concretely proved to them. So what I thought I could do is go out and purchase a cheap digital camera, use it to photograph the various dishes I prepare, upload them to my computer, arrange them into a recipe, print them out, and then organize them in a three-ring binder. This portfolio would, of course, only be available upon the employer's request, but I think it would do well to enhance my credibility and worthiness since it would show I can put my money where my mouth is.

So now I consider myself in the market for a camera, and would appreciate some input. What considerations do I need to take into account? What do I need to know?

What I desire is a simple indoor camera that can take high-resolution pictures, and for it to be able to hook up to my computer via the USB port so I can upload pictures. In all honesty it need not hold more than ten or so photographs at one time, since I plan on uploading the pictures approximately right after they're taken (that is, after I have eaten what I photographed). Battery life is not much of a concern for me either.

I know there are many camera junkies out there, so got some suggestions?

"Good" vs. Evil

A few days ago or so it dawned on me that I don't know a proper antonym to the word "evil." Sure, one may immediately respond that "good" or "moral" would be fitting, but I don't think they're appropriate given how intense the word "evil" sounds, and by intense I mean the degree of badness this particular word connotes.

For example, take the word "bad." When we say "bad" we have a certain degree of meaning attached to it. In the moral context, when we visualize its referents we see children standing by broken vases, dogs having wet on the floor, taking candy from a baby, and so on. "Evil," however, makes us visualize murderers, rapists, dictators, and the like. "Bad" and "evil" are both similar to each other in that they both present the same end of the moral spectrum, but they differ in their intensity in that we speak about much much worse things when we speak of "evil" than we do "bad."

As such, I believe that "good" and "moral," while they do denote the opposite end of the moral spectrum, don't go far enough in that opposite direction to match the intensity of "evil." When I visualize its referents I see children having done their homework, adults being responsible for their own well-being, a layman developing his intellect through study, and so on, but nothing that could counter villainy.

I have received two good responses in regards to this conundrum already, but I'm not entirely convinced. Ms. Zawistowski recommends "normal" and Mr. Fleming recommends "righteous." "Normal," while I agree it is technically correct to call such a person that when he is acting completely and consistently moral, seems to have too much of a morally neutral connotation. "Righteous," on the other hand, seems to be the proper word, but may perhaps be more appropriate in comparative situations against those in the wrong, as opposed to signifying a man's moral status independent of the moral statuses of those around him.

I ask my readers then: What would be a good antonym?

Selective Memory: Writing Aid

For some strange reason when I write something down it gains a significance that stays in my memory, regardless of whether or not I actually consult the writing again. For example, with the blue notebook I carry around in my pocket it is often the case that I can write a list in it and never have to consult it again to remember it, but if I don't write it down in the first place then I can't remember those thoughts. Writing, therefore, may be a technique that could assist me with my involuntarily selective memory, specifically in regards to my reading.

What I plan on doing is keeping a scrap notebook at hand when I'm reading something, and then write down my thoughts whenever I deem that I have come across some material or thinking that's worth remembering. The emphasis here is not on constructing well-formed notes to study for later on, but simply writing something down to force myself to put into coherent words my thoughts and engrave them in my memory.

But then again there could be a potential conflict. I notice that when I read something that's really interesting I get nearly totally absorbed in the piece, and so am interrupted by any outside stimulus. Today while I was trying to read an article and write about it at the same time the writing broke my concentration, made my mind wander, and eventually made it so I couldn't get as absorbed in the article as I had before. I believe that intense concentration itself may contribute to successful memorization, so I may only be hurting my efforts if I cancel out one memorization process in favor of an inferior one. Given this, it may be better to write my thoughts down after I have finished the reading piece, kind of like a summarizing essay. However, if it is the case that I am not interested in reading something but find benefit in doing so anyway, or else have little choice in the matter, writing at the same time could force me to concentrate. I'll adjust my habits according to the type of piece I'm reading. If it's for my personal studies and I'm intensely interested in the piece so as to be absorbed, I'll hold off the writing until the end. If I'm not highly interested but will read the piece anyways, I'll write to aid concentration. If I'm both highly interested and believe it to be beneficial to take proper notes, I'll read the piece at least twice, once "purely" and the second with note-taking.

That sounds good. I think I'll employ the third method when I get to studying Cookwise, which has yet to arrive at the library. Knowledge and good habits may be a struggle to achieve, but they priceless possessions once obtained.

An Urge to Sacrifice?

Given the proper moral context I have no fondness nor grievance towards charity as a concept -- except when I'm an unnecessary and most unwilling recipient of it.

As my other posts have indicated, for the time being I am unemployed and am dependent on somebody for shelter and internet access, with my grocery needs primarily satisfied by myself (the person I live with is in disagreement with my nutritional standards, so I rely on my own savings so that I may exist independently in that area). Right now all my necessities are being taken care of and I am fine and in good health. I may be frustrated in that I may not be able to satisfy all my economic wants, but it's a reality I must deal with for now and can cope with.

Absurdly enough, however, there's a person in my life who, despite being aware of the fact that my necessities are taken care of, nonetheless views me as a perpetual object of charity. He has offered me money on many occasions, and I have politely declined him, but he has persisted (and continues to persist) to the point that he has bypassed the threshold of politeness and I fully express anger at him. We have an agreement that if I were to need anything I would ask him for assistance and that he would not be allowed to offer me assistance until that event, but I fear he will soon attempt to subvert that agreement.

Simply put, whenever the matter of my spending money comes up he offers to subsidize whatever it is I plan on purchasing, and he has in at least one instance commanded that I take his money. I am not frivolous with my money: My spending habits include groceries, health supplements (fish oil, vitamin D [which I'll stop soon in place of tanning], and a multivitamin [to assist with a magnesium deficiency and to cover general bases]), bills, gas, and limited luxuries such as almond butter (very cheap at Wal-mart) and dark chocolate. The next wasteful luxuries I plan on spending my money on are some movies that will open in May and June, and even at that seeing both of them combined will probably cost me less than ten dollars (I forgo the movie snacks). I am not irresponsible with my money, and with my savings I am optimistic that I will be able to sustain myself until I do find employment.

None of this deters the person from constantly offering me charity. I try to avoid taking charity from him since not only am I able to sustain myself but I also do not find the person to be of personal value to me, so it would, I think, be immoral for me to accept help from him except under certain circumstances. I also think that accepting unnecessary charity would harm my sense of self-dependence and train myself to habitually look towards other people for my livelihood.

Throughout my purchases he exclaims that he "feels bad" to see me spending my money so, as if somehow I was pained and resentful to be carrying my own weight. Even assuring him that I feel no disdain towards such responsibility, that I actually enjoy it and prefer it to the alternative of financial dependence, he still "feels bad." I believe I have told him that maintaining such emotions is irrational, but still he refuses to readjust his ideas.

What I don't understand is why he feels as if he needs to give me charity. When I decline his offerings he is obviously pained that I have done so, and such discontent has grown over time, with him becoming more and more persistent and upset with each declined offering.

More observations need to be made, but I have a hypothesis: His offerings are a result of his endorsement and subconscious integration of the morality of altruism. Altruism states that the moral good lies in sacrificing one's values for other men, which makes morality completely dependent on a social context. Under this theory it is only possible to be moral when other men are around and are willing to accept sacrifices. When the available men aren't willing to accept sacrifices, however, then not only has one's offering been declined, but one has also been prevented from performing what is considered to be a moral action. When I reject that person's offerings he is not pained at my suffering, since I'm not suffering, he's pained that he has been prevented from doing his "duty." As I reject his offerings over time he comes to start viewing himself more and more as a person who has moral failings, and his persistence increases as a result of his increasing guilt.

I am not certain as to whether this theory is the case, but I am certain that he's an altruist. Unluckily for him, I will continue to decline his offers in the near future (except in extraordinary circumstances) since I'm a selfish egoist, not an unselfish altruist. I do not demand nor practice sacrifice.

New Priorities and Their Hierarchical Importance

I finally managed to get a job interview. It was at a hardware store and occurred on last Tuesday with the promise of callbacks on Thursday. While I was optimistic about my chances, I didn't get the job. It's quite disappointing since it took such a long time for me to achieve that interview, but after giving myself a mental pep talk while traveling (I find it pleasant to think while driving on the expressway, however discourageable the practice may be) I feel refreshed and have my resolve restored. I also have new goals.

A common question I have been asked when applying to restaurants is whether or not I have previous restaurant experience. I do not, and I believe that may be the greatest obstacle to my getting considered for employment. As such, I have decided to shift my attention in my goal pursuits and focus on kitchen practices and resources.

For practices, I'm going to adopt two: 1.) After each grocery day I'm going to try at least one new recipe or variation of a previously tried recipe, and 2.) to take the harder routes in cooking so as to not deprive myself of practice (e.g. cutting up vegetables manually rather than opting for the food processor). So far it's been easy and enjoyable to stick to these goals, and I've been enjoying the added variety and learning. I think the area I need to focus on the most is my cutting skills: I'm terrible at the quick-paced movements.

For resources, I plan on reading Cookwise: The Secrets of Cooking Revealed and BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes to increase my general understanding of food preparation, and also How Computers Work to increase my technological competence since computer skills seem to be a growing desirability in employment prospects and I am lacking in that area. These readings will also allow me to resume my work on my involuntarily selective memory.

All in all, I would say this is good for now. But I have to confess that one of the things I find to be supremely difficult in pursuing goals is choosing which goals to pursue at what time; that is, determining the position a goal takes in my value hierarchy. Many times I get confused at which to pursue first since sometimes all the goals I list out appear to be of equal importance, and I know it would be counterproductive to try and pursue them all at once. Irritating, but a conflict that needs to be worked out nonetheless. I think, however, that I have correctly identified my priorities in the above mentioned pursuits: I need to find employment since I can't live off my savings forever, so I ought to focus on the appropriate means to achieving that goal, which amounts to cooking practice (since cooking is a value to me) and learning, and also learning about computers since that would help my employment prospects and since I have been intending to increase my knowledge in that area anyhow. The work I'll be doing on my selective memory is simply another goal I can integrate into this pursuit without getting sidetracked.

Oh, and just because it seems appropriate to close this way: tonight (Saturday as of this writing) I'll be having hamburgers, with beef I ground up myself, fried in bacon grease alongside some caramelized onions and green peppers, and perhaps with some mozzarella cheese broiled on top and a dab of hot sauce.