Author: cbcrenshaw

C.B. Crenshaw is a musician, artist, writer, coder, gardener, and maker in Alabama.

Make it Yourself: Starting My Home Cooking Journey

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This week I’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Like many Americans, I’ve spent my entire life on a weight loss “journey,” but the only times I’ve ever had any success have been those times when I truly take ownership of everything I eat and drink. This means planning meals and cooking for myself.

I’ve also been spending a lot of time thinking about what it means to live in a world being “eaten by software”—a world in which computer technology replaces our other technologies one by one, changing our lives forever in ways that we are only just beginning to understand. As food delivery and, soon, on-demand food “printing” and manufacturing powered by the web begin to take the place of home cookery, what are we losing?

With those things in mind, I decided this week to try something new: I don’t want to eat or drink anything that I haven’t made myself. No ordering out, no vending machines, no packaged “convenience” food. Just fresh, simple ingredients and food that I can feel good about.

Here’s my example from last night: Teriyaki Grilled Salmon with sautéed Asparagus and Roasted Sweet Potatoes. It’s not fancy, but it was healthy and delicious. Just as importantly, it allowed me to step away from the keyboard for awhile.

It’s more important than ever to make things by hand. We may not be able to go back to the analog world, but the planning, focus, and skill needed to make things for ourselves offer a powerful antidote to the digital doldrums. More to come.

Wonderland/Wasteland

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It was over 100 degrees when I took this yesterday. The railings on the boardwalk overlooking the marshy fringe of Lake Jackson burned my arms as I leaned to capture this photo of dead trees and scorched grass lining the shimmering lake. This lake disappears every twenty years or so, leaving a scarred grassland in its place on the north side of Tallahassee, but Florida’s most powerful Mississippian chiefdom was based on its shores 500 years ago and this rich ecosystem continues to shape the region. Florida’s prosaic landscapes, far away from its charismatic beaches and springs, have both delighted and baffled humans for thousands of years. It’s difficult to know what to make of scenes like this, but for me they are just home.

Prompt 2: Tension

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Close your eyes and check in with your body. Start with the top of your head and scan down to your toes. Check for places where you’re holding tension. What’s your posture or pose like? Where are your muscles relaxed or contracted? Write about your current state.

People say we “hold tension” like it reflects negatively on our character. I just want to say hey, maybe this tension is carrying me right now, but I don’t think we’re supposed to say that here in the always-be-positive land of the lean-into-adversity go-getters. And then again maybe I’m just troubled by this prompt because I am carrying a bit more tension, I think, in my neck and shoulders these days, and I don’t know what to do about it.

With education you progress, it seems, from a machine to a bench to a desk; but here, eyes straining behind dusty spectacles, legs and arms bent in a collared shirt and wrinkled slacks, I sit before a more cerebral machine as it shapes me into an image of itself.

Prompt 1: A Postage Stamp View of my Office

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Note: I am working through the book The 1-Minute Writer by Leigh Medeiros, which is available right now as part of a Humble Books Bundle at Humble Bundle.

You’re on the phone with a far-flung friend who wants to hear about where you are right now. Check out your surroundings. Capture the essence of what you see around you in just a few sentences.

The light streaming through the windows in my office is brilliant most mornings, but this morning it is shifting with the clouds: bright yellow-white one moment, a dull gray-white the next. It shines on a mess of papers spread around my computer—the litter of a week in which I missed two days sick and came back to a growing list of things to do. The computer and its two glowering eyes perched atop the desk leave little dominate my field of vision as thoroughly as they dominate the room itself. I wonder sometimes if I am meant to serve the computer or if it is meant to serve me. The brilliant light streaming through the windows eases these thoughts, while the pines, water oaks, flowers, and grass it reveals with each blossoming moment offer a compelling antidote.

A Gift

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I live for moments like this. The ‘secret pond’ I like to visit every few weeks was aflutter with chattering songbirds when I stopped by a few days ago. I walked slowly around the edge of the pond, trying desperately to capture a good shot of the Jays, Wrens, Warblers, or Mockingbirds hidden in the leafy branches hanging over the water, to no avail. I had given up for the day and started heading back toward the car when this little bird stopped to have a look at me. Moments like this are a gift.