I've sincerely enjoyed this English class. I'm a little sad its over, but thankful for all that I've learned.I spend a lot of my free time writing or making art, so this was a great outlet for me. I have been wanting to create a website for my trade and I think that this was a great stepping stone towards putting my thoughts and art work out on the web. I'm usually pretty personal about my writing, as most of it is very introspective. I appreciated all of the encouraging responses from my peers. I definitely want to continue posting things online once I get a little website set up.
The blogging assignments for this class is an exciting element. I would drive home from work after class with ideas dancing around my head. Not only was it extremely therapeutic for me but it forced me to consistently be brainstorming and pushing those words out of my head. We do live in a digital age, so this was a great move forward from the traditional style of handing in writing assignments. Thank you Chris!
Monday, March 7, 2016
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Entry #10 Mori
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| - Tiffany Holman, colored pencil, dry pastel, and gold paint on wood 2015 |
Little did I know, the wake of morning. In clear consciousness, the hum of generators and crickets creeping into my mind. But what do I now if not the little things. So easily overlooked, mediocre in the grand scheme of being. What is there to know? Seconds to minutes, hours and days. What we see on the surface is but a fraction of reality. How could I forget? The desert is not without the sand, without these tiny rocks under my feet, where do I stand?
This art piece was made for my second family I made while working in a Korean sushi restaurant.They taught me not only about the inner workings of the business and how to be a timely server but, life lessons on having integrity as a business. The little things do matter, and in this small family, every fraction of efforts count. Here is a song by delta spirit, a band from California that always gives me nostalgia at the West Coast.
Entry #9 WWB Co.
As the sun sent beams through my window, I rolled out of bed and watched the dust particles dance in the light at I pulled my comforter over my pillows to make my bed. It was a Spring morning in Walla Walla, and my studio apartment on the second floor of an old colonial building had two immaculate windows that made it seem at though you were in a terrarium. The apartment faced an enormous vintage house that was buried in a jungle of plants, the owner had let the lawn over grow and it became a huge garden of herbs and vegetables randomly scattered with no organization throughout the yard. He too understood the importance of letting nature run its course, and the pleasures of being surrounded by a variety of his own produce. I got on my bike out front and began my Monday.
I'm a spatial thinker who typically lives spontaneously, but I had become fixed into a routine. Every Monday morning I would ride over to Walla Walla Bread Company. A local bakery in town that welcomes you at its doors with several standing herb gardens. The wooden fencing outside that surrounded the front patio was obviously handmade, like most thing in town. As you got closer you were soon enticed by the aroma of freshly made bread, and you could see it too, through the huge glass front window that led straight into the bakery. I would greet the lady at the front counter, who knew me by name. She would set me up with my usual. A quiche with fresh local vegetables that mirrored whatever was in season, and a cup of their soup of the day, which was always rotating as well complete with a house made French macaroon that I couldn't resist to take home with me for later. This my friends, it the beauty of a small owned business.
After watching the video of Pink Slime, which was about the ammonia hydroxide added into the burgers from McDonald's to kill the bacteria. The meat used for these burgers in made up of the odds and ends of cows mixed with blood and bone that makes the slime look pink. Truth be told, I am not surprised at all. Common sense tells me that any of these corporate restaurants and fast food places do not distribute good food.The obvious reasoning beyond the prefrozen vegetable mushy taste and the rubbery meat texture is the face that no matter where I travel throughout the states the menu's and the taste of the food stays the same. The consistency tells me that there are synthetic additives to make the food taste this way. Its mass premade where ever and by whoever the corporate hands are, preserved, and shipped to what ever Olive Garden, McDonalds, Applebee's, or which ever corporate restaurant needs it. It is then often, microwaved, then set on the grill for and amount of time. I have known plenty of previous employees of these businesses, and heard enough kitchen horror stories to keep me far away from them.
Once you go local, its hard to go back to any other way of eating out. And if money is the issue, there's nothing better than a home cooked meal, with all of your own hand picked ingredients!
I'm a spatial thinker who typically lives spontaneously, but I had become fixed into a routine. Every Monday morning I would ride over to Walla Walla Bread Company. A local bakery in town that welcomes you at its doors with several standing herb gardens. The wooden fencing outside that surrounded the front patio was obviously handmade, like most thing in town. As you got closer you were soon enticed by the aroma of freshly made bread, and you could see it too, through the huge glass front window that led straight into the bakery. I would greet the lady at the front counter, who knew me by name. She would set me up with my usual. A quiche with fresh local vegetables that mirrored whatever was in season, and a cup of their soup of the day, which was always rotating as well complete with a house made French macaroon that I couldn't resist to take home with me for later. This my friends, it the beauty of a small owned business.
After watching the video of Pink Slime, which was about the ammonia hydroxide added into the burgers from McDonald's to kill the bacteria. The meat used for these burgers in made up of the odds and ends of cows mixed with blood and bone that makes the slime look pink. Truth be told, I am not surprised at all. Common sense tells me that any of these corporate restaurants and fast food places do not distribute good food.The obvious reasoning beyond the prefrozen vegetable mushy taste and the rubbery meat texture is the face that no matter where I travel throughout the states the menu's and the taste of the food stays the same. The consistency tells me that there are synthetic additives to make the food taste this way. Its mass premade where ever and by whoever the corporate hands are, preserved, and shipped to what ever Olive Garden, McDonalds, Applebee's, or which ever corporate restaurant needs it. It is then often, microwaved, then set on the grill for and amount of time. I have known plenty of previous employees of these businesses, and heard enough kitchen horror stories to keep me far away from them.
Once you go local, its hard to go back to any other way of eating out. And if money is the issue, there's nothing better than a home cooked meal, with all of your own hand picked ingredients!
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Extra credit: Food Inc
"The way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than the past 10,000" -Robbert Kenner (Food Inc)
These words echoed through my mind as I went through my day after watching the documentary, Food Inc. The reality of how much modern America has changed through the past century hit me right in the gut as my daily consumption was rendered by the many things I was reminded of by this film. While I was living in Walla Walla, WA; a town that is surrounded by windmills and farm land. I learned about how fresh the strawberries are, looking at them you could obviously tell. As the hands that picked them held the juicy little fruit in his palm. He took a moment to describe to me how most of the strawberries you see in the store are "gassed", but these ones were not. The memory of those delicious berries popped back up in my mind after the "gassing" of tomatoes was shared in this documentary. The narrator mentions how, there aren't any seasons in the supermarket. All fruits and vegetables regardless of the climate are readily available to you and not just in the store, but perfectly ripened and ready for consumption regardless of how far the food has traveled. How you ask" The secret is ethylene gas.
So, I decided to do a little research of my own. This led me to find the web page Front Line Services . This site is obviously supports gassing, but describes the effects and uses. Ethylene gas is naturally produced by fruits, the "gassing" effect can even be reproduced in your own kitchen. Simply, by putting a ripe fruit like a banana which at that stage of maturity is producing plenty of gas, in a paper bag with an unripe avocado to speed up the process. This website also suggest to keep ripening climacteric fruit separate from other types of produce to minimize loss of storage life and eating quality. I have not tried this theory myself, but am very interested to see if it will work!
The fruit at the store will be kept in a temperature controlled room that has a concentrated amount of ethylene to enhance a synchronized ripening status. This ensures that when it is out for the consumer it is ready to eat. This science of using gasses to ripen fruits has been documented since the time of the Egyptians, who would gash their fruit to speed up the ripening time. Also the Chinese, who would place their pears in rooms with incense that when lit produce an amount of ethylene.
As a kid I would get oranges in my stocking. A tradition as I was told, that began around the great depression. When food was scarce at the time and it was a special treat to receive an orange. Especially where I am from in Idaho, where orange trees do not exist. I'm thankful that I can simply just walk to my nearest grocery store and have complete access to any kind of produce from anywhere across the country. Although the idea of "gassing" fruit is still a little iffy to me. I will continue to happily eat my produce that is ready for me as needed.
So, I decided to do a little research of my own. This led me to find the web page Front Line Services . This site is obviously supports gassing, but describes the effects and uses. Ethylene gas is naturally produced by fruits, the "gassing" effect can even be reproduced in your own kitchen. Simply, by putting a ripe fruit like a banana which at that stage of maturity is producing plenty of gas, in a paper bag with an unripe avocado to speed up the process. This website also suggest to keep ripening climacteric fruit separate from other types of produce to minimize loss of storage life and eating quality. I have not tried this theory myself, but am very interested to see if it will work!
The fruit at the store will be kept in a temperature controlled room that has a concentrated amount of ethylene to enhance a synchronized ripening status. This ensures that when it is out for the consumer it is ready to eat. This science of using gasses to ripen fruits has been documented since the time of the Egyptians, who would gash their fruit to speed up the ripening time. Also the Chinese, who would place their pears in rooms with incense that when lit produce an amount of ethylene.
As a kid I would get oranges in my stocking. A tradition as I was told, that began around the great depression. When food was scarce at the time and it was a special treat to receive an orange. Especially where I am from in Idaho, where orange trees do not exist. I'm thankful that I can simply just walk to my nearest grocery store and have complete access to any kind of produce from anywhere across the country. Although the idea of "gassing" fruit is still a little iffy to me. I will continue to happily eat my produce that is ready for me as needed.
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