Notes from Steve

I took the week off last week.  I read this 800-page book that I thought was supposed to be good.  It wasn’t.  People asked me why I didn’t stop after 300 pages if it was so bad, and I didn’t know how to answer them.  Sometimes, I’ll make food or buy it, and it’ll be disgusting, but I’ll eat it anyway because I didn’t think enough while eating the food that it was indeed disgusting.  I’m thinking that questioning my behavior and decisions midway through is not a bad thing.*  

The problem with thinking too much is that I tend to talk myself out of finishing things.  My house is littered with half-read books, and my freezer is stuffed with leftovers.  As much as I like to think that I’ll just make this whole pan of lasagna and freeze 90% for later (last night), my freezer leftovers leave a lot to be desired.  And half the time - they have freezer burn, and I have no idea what they were.  

My lesson is that I should finish reading what I started.  (I’ll need to rethink the eight-serving recipes, though, because I’m throwing a lot of mystery food away.)  However, if I want to learn and grow and spend my time better, I’ll research things more effectively before I commit to the task.  I’ll read reviews and study recipes.  

I regret that I spent the week reading that book when I could have been reading something awesome.**

*A story that I’ve told before: In 1992, my friend Tami and I left my place in New Hampshire to go up to her sister’s house in Burlington, Vermont (basically straight up north).  We stopped at a rest stop, and this gal was staring at the map inside on the wall, wondering where she was and how to get to Maine.  We asked her where she was coming from, and she said Boston. We told her she was on the wrong interstate and basically about 90 miles west of where she should be.  She said it didn’t feel like she was going the right way, but for some reason … she just kept driving.  Sometimes, it pays to listen to your intuition.

**A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara … it was like going to a physically beautiful place and getting punched over and over …