The Actual New Year

I the spirit of the annual shift, I'd like to share about the second most wonderful time of the year -- the new year. A few years ago, I realized that there are actually more than one new years in 365.25 days. One is the first day of the calendar year, and the other is each person's own new year, the birthday. The planet Earth's new year and mine actually happen in only a 24-day difference. Such a short period.

And so, in a lame effort to "discreetly" make known my wishlist, I blog thee:

The Ideas for an ldeal Birthday Gift for Conan

WAIT!! Before you close the window due to your non-interest in gifting me any of these, at least read through it just so you could know me better. More than a list of I wants, it's actually my way of putting out myself in the universe and saying, "Hey, I'm interested in these things. How about you?" So please do read on... and even feel free to comment at the bottom. : )

This (planet Earth) year has started quite fruitful for me. Plans have gone a-churning and my life has gone a-moving. It hasn't been like the past year's beginning. So I think I'll end this rhyming, 'coz I'm totally blowing it. Haha. Recent events have inspired this list, and so here it goes:

Available in Amazon.com

1.A... Driving lessons: I've been praying for God for a car to go about with my business. It's been impossible to make bulk deliveries when riding a commute. But although I don't own one yet and I'm believing I'd own one on or before the 2nd quarter of the planet Earth year, I reckon I'd have to take the first step to owning a car: LEARN HOW TO DRIVE properly... and then get a license. I accept personal lessons from anyone or a gift certificate consumable as driving lessons from any reputable driving school in Metro Manila.

1.B... A good car care and repair book. When I get my car this year, I'm sure it's gonna suffer a lot from the nube that's been sweating balls and trying his best not to hit every lamp post along the street. So aside from the fact that I'd like to see my car live at least another 10 or 15 years, I think it's cool for a guy to know how to maintain and/or fix his car when it breaks down in the middle of a road trip, don't you think?

2... Strengths Finder 2.0. I just wanna take the test. They say it's gonna help others a lot. I know your eyebrows just looked at each other now or at least one of them stood higher than the other after the two sentences that didn't seem to connect. You see, at the beginning of this year, I've prayed for God to help me be a better person towards others. Somehow,  I've gotten feedback that people "fear me" or that I'm a snob. I'd say I disagree but hey, it wasn't just one person who said it, and I commend them to have the intestines to tell that to me even if they "fear me" (it must be the sarcasm). I didn't feel comfortable hearing that but I knew I had to do something about it. Strengths Finder 2.0 (allegedly) has a way of finding out your strengths not just so you could crown yourself with a pat on the back but also to help others via your strengths. Now that, I think, would make me a better person towards others.

3... Any food book that is above (or almost) PHP 1,000. Don't get me wrong. I'm not after the price. The price is simply a gauge for the quality of the book. If you noticed, I didn't say cookbook lest you misunderstand that I seek for recipes. When I  mentioned food books, I meant books that answer the why's of the kitchen rather than the what's. A good example is the Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, and Maxime Bilet. They explain why your burger has to be cooked this way, what adding this does to that, and all that. It's USD 600 by the way. So no, don't buy me that. But if you find it in your heart to do so, I pray that God will bless you more. Hehehe. With that, I'd just recommend Ideas in Food by Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot; Working the Plate by Christopher Styler and David Lazarus; Alinea by Grant Acahtz; and On the Line by Eric Ripert... read up!! And for all these books, an e-book reader would be nice too.

4... Kitchen tools and equipment. For any time of the year, occasion or no occasion, these would make an excellent gift for me. If I may, I'd also like to formally announce that we are officially in the planning stages of a concept food shop. As early as now, we are trying to build our shop, one measuring spoon at a time. So we'd really appreciate any peeler, wire whisk, ladle, silicone spatula, Pyrex measuring cup, knife, chopping board, mortar and pestle, cookie sheet, stew pot, baking pan, frying pan, sauce pan, cast iron pan, pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, hand-held blender, stand blender, electric mixer, food processor,  bread toaster, oven toaster, microwave oven, gas/electric oven, gas burners, chiller, freezer, sous vide machine, an entire kitchen if you would like to, or as simple as an apron, dish towel, and good quality mittens. Those... would... be... great.

5... Meatballs. I'm such a sucker for them. If I were a mighty African tiger, meatballs would shrink me into a kitten and a ball of... well... meat. Haha!

I hope you learned a little more about me today. This is one side of the dodecahedron that I am. This new year is has become very personal to me. Not in a selfish angle but in a way where I think I'm thinking less about myself and thinking more of the people surrounding me. I'm starting to choose a direction for my life (yes, I've been fooling around all these years). While around friends and family, I'd like to think that it's time for me to build something for my future. And although I'm not in a relationship right now, I'd like to be ready when my heart finally tells me that it's time. Meatballs and gooeyness. Told ya I was a dodecahedron.