Girl From Ipanema

 I took things apart and got a collection, I hoped, of 15 things ready to list in the morning/"morning". 

I made gefilte fish using the carp. It was blah. It reminds me of a guy I knew long ago who had a bread maker and only used the official bread maker bread mix. The result was the fresh bread tasted stale as hell. I can't fault my ingredients, the carp was fresh and not smelly at all, the matzos same, egg, that's gonna be fresh, onion, seasoning, etc. Still just bleh. 

I'll have to have another go with cod, since the frozen cod I got from Sprouts is really nice. 

Now or about now it's Shavuot, so it's gonna be dairy for the next couple-few days. I'm going to try making blintzes next.

Yesterday on my way home from H Mart I'd gone around back and "harvested" a good amount of shiitake mushrooms so I'd taken those right home and washed and sliced them and put them on cardboard up in the loft, and they seemed pretty wet in general and wine-y smelling, so before bed I'd turned a fan on them just to move some air, and they're a lot dryer today so I put the fan away. 

After taking all kinds of things apart, I did my usual winding-down routine, brushed and flossed and chewed Xylitol gum. Then I practiced trumpet a bit while watching YouTube. I'd played so much on Sunday that my high notes were gone but I gradually was able to coax them back a bit. This is why I need to practice every day. The most notable thing last night is I worked out "The Girl From Ipanema" fairly well. 

Lunch was a ricotta and jalapeno omelet, that was good! Now as I type, NPR is doing a piece on how they can't get people to work in electronics, in semiconductor factories. They gush about how the jobs are well-paid, but I'm not the only one who's wised up to "high tech". The jobs are very low paying, and take a lot of expensive schooling to get, in return making less than a dishwasher, line cook, or janitor. 

And the dishwasher and line cook generally eat for free or close to it, while the janitor is everyone's friend and gets to keep any goodies they find, within reason. My girlfriend was a kitchen prep person, not even a cook, and ate really good food for free, got paid better than any electronics tech I've ever heard of, and had a union. 

I probably spend too much time on r/homeless and r/almosthomeless but since like 99% of Americans I'm one step away from being homeless it kind of makes sense to keep up with things. But one thing that strikes me is that the people on these subs don't have any special skills. Not even shoe-shining and cleaning, or doing prison style poke-and-stick tattoos. 

I guess I have to be thankful that I was pushed to become an artist because that was a good trade 50 yeas ago, 500, 1000, 3000, etc. But I was treated like my art was only something to be stolen and sold, with myself getting none of the proceeds, or to be used as scratch paper if it was handy. Plus whenever I think about doing art I get this feeling of the poverty and hunger and despair I felt growing up, and I just can't do it. 

But music is a good trade, better than most perhaps because if you play a traditional instrument you don't need electricity or anything modern that can disappear in a wink.