BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

29Sep/120

Pizza Pan!

No... not Peter Pan.  I said pizza pan!  Well I didn't actually say it, I typed it in the title of this blog.  Anywho this is going to be a little shorty post since I'm really tired.  I worked a whole lot today and got a lot done at work.  I came home and did a little bit of some things on my creative to do list but mostly I just made a frozen pizza and cracked open a craft beer and watched some netflix.

I've been making pizza's without a pan ever since I moved in to my apartment.  I just figured eh... who needs a pizza pan???  Well the last time I was at the store I bought a pan for 2 bucks, or maybe it was 3 bucks.  It wasn't very much though.  And how it makes ALL the difference!  For one it stops the bottom side from always coming up slightly on the burnt end of the spectrum.  Also it helps to keep things neat and doesn't let crumbs drop all over the oven.  I REALLY need to  clean my oven.  I should buy oven cleaner.

Finally the last thing it does is lets me take it out of the oven and let it cool a little and then cut it up nicely without just making a huge mess all over the place.  Also it helps to grip easier with the oven mitts so I don't burn my hands or anything.  Previously I would use like 2 spatulas and try to balance it and then put it on a cutting board that was half the size of the pizza and move it around as I cut it... it was just no good at all.

This thing is the best.  I'm a fan.  I probably should have bought one when I first moved in!  I don't know why I waited so long.

Oh also... I THINK it can double as a cookie sheet and I can make cookies on it.  Not that I ever make cookies.  But I just might try that!  Why not?

Anywho yes tonight has been just great.  I just love being able to relax with some yummy dinner and something good to watch.  I think since I'm super tired I'm going to turn in and head to bed.  It's not even 10pm on a Saturday night and I'm going to sleep!  But in my defense I did get up early for work and work all day!  And tomorrow I get to sleep in!

So remember... don't forget the pizza pan!  It's soooo worth that extra couple bucks.  Who knew a little piece of aluminum or whatever it's made out of could be so useful?  Mmmmm non-"almost burnt" pizza... soooooo much more tasty than how I was cooking it before just straight on the rack.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
27Sep/120

Bought a second pair of scissors

So I bought a second pair of scissors JUST for construction paper cutting-out-ing.  Yep yep.  Previously I would be using the other pair I had in the kitchen or other random places I usually used to cut open package and things.  Then I would sit down to work on the construction paper ideas that I have for videos and such... and I'd forget where I put the scissors!

Then I would get up and run around my apartment in a grand search for the missing cutting apparatus.  When I finally found them, which was obviously in the last place I looked (You know... because it's always in the last place you look), I would then get back to my project and forget what I wanted to do.  Then I'd sit there staring at the idea and not be able to figure out exactly what it was I wanted to get out of my brain and into the world of cut up construction paper.

So to solve this... I plunked down my hard earned 2 dollars and some odd cents on a brand new pair of generic Walmart made in China scissors!  They work just great.  I was using them tonight to make walls and windows and the outside of a building for the background set of my latest video project.  They aren't all that fancy, just a plain black handle and the normal silver scissor color.  But they work pretty darn well and feel pretty comfy for being just a little over 2 bucks!

Now that I have dedicated "crafty creative construction paper only" scissors hopefully I can work much more diligently and get down to business much more easily.  And... who knows... maybe some day after I'm super all kinds of successful... I can splurge on the 4 dollar EZ grip super extra shiny spiffy bright orange handled scissors.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
25Sep/120

How to decide what to do on things

I just finished watching this Charlie Bartlett movie.

 

Yep that movie.  It came out in 2007.

In the movie Charlie kind of pretends to be a psychiatrist of sorts.  He helps people by giving advice and telling them what they should do.  Soooo I figured I would dispense my wealth of knowledge to the world too!  I'm feeling inspired.  Ok maybe not my wealth of knowledge buuuuuut... how about... some little tiny bit of advice?  OK cool.

So here is what I've figured out after living 29 years.  I figured out that there is one little secret to life that will help in every day life.

What is it you ask?

Well... it's pretty simple.  It's a way to decide what to do on things that are going on in your life.

Basically do this...

Do the thing you don't want to do.

That's it.  Just plain and simple... if there is something that you should do or you are faced with a choice... do the one you don't want to do.  It will for the most part 9 times out of 10 pay off.

So for example in the morning when your alarm goes off and you don't want to get out of bed and you want to snooze it up another 20 minutes... just get up.  Do the thing you don't want to do.

If you want to go out and party it up one weekend but you are running low on cash?  Stay in.  Do the thing you don't want to do!

If you just want to go home and be alone... but friends are asking you to come out... go out!  Doooooo the thinnnngggggg you don't want to do!!!!

If you are asked to volunteer or help and elderly person or help someone move or donate money... and you basically want to do things that involve not doing those things... you know it... I know it... say it with me...

Do that thing you don't really feel like doing!

Trust me.  It wil pay off.  I haven't figured out how it works... but it does.  It nearly ALWAYS works.

oh wait... maybe that's it... maybe it's do the thing you don't feel like doing... not the thing you don't want to do... sorry yea... the thing you don't feel like doing.

It's sort of like if we give in to temptation we pay a higher price later on in life then if we just sorta say no to temptation and do that thing we don't really want to do.... I mean even as a little kid... home work... cleaning our room... going to bed early...

Eating veggies.  Working out.

So here's a scenario...

I make my lunch every day for work... but some days I don't feel like making it.  Then I just say... eh I'll get up early and do it in the morning... guess what?  I don't... I hit the snooze button... and then I sleep longer than I wanted!  And then I'm rushing around trying to make lunch and I forget to put something in my lunch bag and then my whole day is askew...

Seeeeeee... If I had just done the stuff I didn't feel like doing... like make my lunch the night before and get up instead of snoozing... things would be a lot less helter skelter.

But yea it's weird!  I don't get it.  Every time I do the things I don't want to do I end up kind of getting rewarded later on.

Ok so it seems to work for me anyways.... I guess individual results may vary.  But it seems to just work for me so I wanted to share it.  No one has to try and... but if you are curious... instead of the snooze button the next time you set your alarm... just get up.  See what happens!  It could change the course of your entire day.

Disclaimer: this advice and blog post is only intended for entertainment purposes... I am not responsible for any unintended consequences that happen from doing the things you don't want to do.  Obviously there are some things people shouldn't do like don't eat peanut butter if you are allergic to peanut butter.  Use your best judgement.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
23Sep/120

The Fall Season

This weekend was the first weekend of the fall season.  This is my favorite time of the year.  Maaaaaybe because it's my Birthday?  Maaaaybe... but also because I love the turn of the leaves.  I love the pumpkin flavored things.  I also just love the cooler temps.

I don't know exactly what it is but I just enjoy this time of the year the most.  One of my favorite things is when I get to start wearing my comfy hoodie sweatshirts.  I love that.  I love just being comfortable .

It was just beautiful this weekend.  I didn't really go out and do anything special.  I pretty much stayed in the whole weekend and just went out a few times to go on runs.  I worked on various creative projects that are in various stages of production.  I also ate yummy foods that I made and watched some netflix.  Food and netflix go together like sleeping in and weekends... speaking of... I slept in too.  It was pretty swell.

Some of the things i want to do involve trying every pumpkin flavored or spiced beverage they make, go on a hay ride of some sort or go through a hay maze, and carve a pumpkin.  I think it might be fun to go take some leaf pictures as well.  Yea, the fall is a pretty awesome time of the year!  Ooooo and I LOVE that fireplace smell in the air too.  Just makes it seem like someone is sitting all toasty around a fire somewhere.

But I think my favorite thing is when it really starts getting chilly and I can just hang out on my couch and watch something on TV and drink a hot beverage of some sort and just know that I'm all warm and toasty inside while it's getting chilly outside.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
21Sep/120

An interesting fact about myself

So something interesting that most people don't know about me is that I enjoy keeping things all nice and tidy by using labels and containers.  One of the things I do is make my lunches from scratch.  But I combine all the ingredients the night before and keep them all separate in little separate containers until that point.

So that way I can keep all the singular ingredients frozen in little containers in the freezer and then when I run out of one single one I can just replenish that ingredient instead of having to buy a whole mess load of things at once!

Since I keep all the ingredients in little containers and there are quite a few ingredients I add to my daily lunches... sometimes it's tough to know which one is which especially when the freezer is blasting you in the face with cold air and mist and all kinds of freezerness.

SO... what I do is label the containers with masking tape and sharpie.. it's a little bit eccentric I'll admit.  BUT, it helps me keep down on the amount of time that I have my freezer open since I can quickly identify what is in each of the containers in the things in my freezer.  So if you ever peaked in my freezer you would see everything nice and neat in little containers with little labels on them of sharpie on masking tape.

That system seems to work perfect for me.  If it works for you feel free to use that idea!  If not and you have your own way of keeping things neat in your freezer...  I say whatever works for each person!  To each their own.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
17Sep/120

I’m Odd

I'm starting to wonder what's wrong with me.  I don't seem to fit into my generation.

I want things that a 50 year old would want.

I want a house on in a quiet town on a small street.  I want to save a lot of money.  I want a little economical car.  I want to be married and have kids and live a little slow pace of a life.

Seems like most of the 29 year olds want to move to the city and party.  They just want to save up enough money to hit up their next vacation or travel destination.  They just want to save a little enough to then pursue their next degree in their latest interest which changes every week.

I don't mind just staying at the job I'm at.  I don't understand the need to change cities, jobs, entire lifestyles every 6 months or year.

What happened to just kinda living a simple life?

I keep hoping to find a girl that maybe wants that kind of lifestyle but she just doesn't seem to exist.  Seems like everyone is always bored and unhappy with where they are and want some big crazy adventure.

I just feel like I don't fit in my generation.  I would be perfectly happy just hanging out with someone every night maybe watching a movie or making dinner or going out to dinner once a while.

Who knows... I guess I'm one of a kind.  I don't need a big adventure to keep me happy.  I'm happy at home just writing music or working on writing a book or working on something else creative or crafty.  Hopefully some day I'll find a gal that wants that too.  Just have to keep on looking and hoping and waiting I guess.

For now I'll just be odd on my own.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
16Sep/120

Adjustable Size TV

So last night I had a dream about a new TV that could actually change sizes depending on the space you put it in.  So if you had a wall unit of some sort or a table or desk or whatever the space was you would push the size button on it and it would change to fit the space.

See now THAT is a good idea!  I'm pretty sure this was in the future or something.  But they only sell one tv in the store.  And that was this TV.  So you didn't bother to buy different sizes.  You just bought this one TV and then brought it home and it would size itself to fit.

I think whoever thinks of how to make that idea a reality will be rich beyond their wildest dreams.  I mean think about all the times that you move and you have to try and fit the TV into a new space.  The same TV could stay with you through college and all your post college move around a whole bunch to different apartments and then to your first home... etc. etc.  Until you save up enough money to buy the next generation of adjustable size TV.  It could be a real thing in the future.  My dreams could be all prophetic and such!  You never know.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
14Sep/120

Learning through osmosis

I'm fascinated by knowledge.  I love to always be learning new things.  I think the most awesome thing about it all though, is that there are always new things to learn!   I mean even today I learned a couple of interesting things just by sitting and talking for a few minutes at work.  I learn also by listening to iTunes U courses and most of the time I'm doing other activities while I'm listening to that.  So I can't even really be attentively and actively learning.  But I seem to retain things just through osmosis.

I think if you have an interest in something you can just pretty much start doing it and you'll pick things up.  You'll slowly get better and better at it.  And then the learning really takes off and you start to really get good.  I feel like that's a fun way to learn because it's a no pressure approach.  You are just sort of there and being exposed to it and learning small things here and there until eventually all those small things really start to click together and become a huge thing!

I'm convinced that's the best way that I learn.  I just start doing it and playing and tinkering and eventually I figure it out.  I'm a big trial and error kind of person.  I make a lot of mistakes at first but then I quickly learn and make less and less mistakes.  Eventually it all starts to get smoothed out and I really start to understand how it works.  I'm good at just kind of doing and absorbing the knowledge.

So that was my thought of the day that I felt like blogging about.  Actually my thought of the day was how did we come up with birthday cake?  I was thinking why a cake?  Why not a salad!  Or... a burrito!  A birthday burrito!  I think the best reason that I could think of for a cake was... it holds candles pretty well.  While other items are ok at holding candles... a cake... well... takes the cake!

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
8Sep/120

Awesome nacho recipe

I figured out the most awesome nacho recipe today!  Here goes:

Start with those little bite size round tortilla chips.

Heat up some refried beans and put them on

Heat up some diced chicken and put that on top of the beans

In a separate bowl stir together the following: Extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, a little itty pinch of salt, oregano, parsley, basil, and HOT SAUCE!

Use a spoon to spread that over the current half made nachos

Sprinkle cumin over everything

Put some shredded sharp cheddar cheese on that sucker!

Now salsa it up if you like salsa and microwave for 2 minutes

If you want to add gauc at the end... put that on after heating.  I like to leave that on the side and dip.  Same with the salsa... I like to leave that on the side too and alternate dipping between salsa and guac.  You can also alternate sour creme dips too...

Anywho yep that's my super spectacular nacho recipe!  Enjoy.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
8Sep/120

Life choices

So I've finally come up with a way of thinking that finally works for me.  I've always tried to think what's the best way to sum up how I think I should make life choices.  I finally came up with a VERY short and sweet way to guide my life...

Do anything that makes you happy. Just stay out jail and try to avoid things that might put you in the hospital. And show up to everything 15 minutes early.

That's about it.  I think I'm going to tell my kids that when I eventually have kids some day.  It's pretty simple.  But I think it works pretty well!  It covers anything that could possibly get you in big trouble.  As long as you stay on the good side of the law and you stay on the good side of health and you show up to everything 15 minutes before you are supposed to be there... I think anyone will turn out ok in life.

It's just a rainy Saturday here and I'm working on random projects and things.  I'm also cleaning and just relaxing and enjoying my day.  Hope everything else out there is having an enjoyable and stress free saturday!

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments