Yep, that’s how I’m choosing to make this post fit this week’s theme that I didn’t announce and don’t have to hold to, but am because I need something approaching structure in my life.  Why hello there! And welcome back to Kitchen Catastrophe. I’m your Chaos-Consumed Creator, Jon O’Guin. Today’s post isn’t going to be…look, I don’t know what today’s post is going to be. I’m literally just freewheeling some vague ideas I had when I went to bed last night hoping that going to be at a more reasonable time would continue my recent advances in waking up at a reasonable time. (It did not) Will we be funny? Sad? Uplifting? I have absolutely no idea.

These are confusing times, after all, and there’s a lot of uncertainty in them. Many are struggling financially, others are struggling emotionally or mentally, some are doing both. One of the reasons we increased post production (a choice that, humorously, has reduced post-production, a joke for my technical nerds there) was to give people a bit of stability. In the same way you’d each out and grab a friend if they started to fall, we started doing more to help people get through the initial chaos and fear. And though this is all far from over, we have to acknowledge: I’m starting to stretch a little thin. And no, I don’t mean the hot yoga is getting me trim.

Unlike this guy, I’ve never set foot in a Bikram Yoga studio.
Also, as a bearded Bostonian, I understand this sacrifice must have been “wicked hahd” for him.

A month of 50% increased production wears on you, no matter what it is. And I know I have it easier than MANY people struggling in this pandemic: my family is, to my knowledge, healthy and safe, we’re financially secure. I’m just becoming more concerned that the rate I’m doing these that is harming their quality. Maybe I’m wrong: if you don’t agree, let me know, whether in comments here, FB, wherever. I just feel like some days I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel, and I don’t have a day to “Crash” and breathe for a minute: my standard process Is write one day, edit and post the next. With 3 posts a week, that’s 6 days a week…not including planning, shopping, cooking, etc.

So, am I just here to complain that I’m working too hard making jokes and teaching people about Monkey bread and silent film stars named ZaSu Pitts? (Whom I didn’t even get to clarify is Za-Su, not Zazu, as her name is Eliza Susan, named for two of her aunts) No. Of course not. I can’t even be that not-reflective in expressing my feelings in THERAPY, we sure as shit aren’t getting an unvarnished whine-fest here.

No, All this is just to say that I’m going to take at LEAST a week back on the old schedule of two posts a week, so I can try and sort things out, and get myself back in a position to get the “three a week” (which is technically like, 3.5 a week: I’ve been TRYING to do one Patreon post a week too, starting in January. So the last two months have included a couple weeks where I was posting twice as many posts as I had the rhythm of doing.) with some proper set-up and planning. Maybe I’ll keep it Monday-Friday, in case I get my shit sorted really quick, and it turns out this feeling was just a brief but necessary breakdown, maybe I’ll go back to Monday-Thursday.  I just need to, figuratively, catch my breath for a minute, and get something like a plan.

It’s a kindness I’m extending to myself, because we need to take care of ourselves as well as each other. There’s tons of people doing important things, and I’m going to be there as much as I can. But (to rely on the parlance of my generation) I just can’t even right now. And I need to even. Or things are just going to get really odd around here.

And while that kind of feels like a great place to end it, with a neat little rhetorical bow, it also feels kind of stupid and self-indulgent, so some quick other points/thoughts:

-Just to clarify, we WILL have a post this Friday. THIS is not the week I’m dropping production down to two, but NEXT week. That feels cleaner to me, since this is the sixth week since I started, so I’m resting on the seventh week for totally non blasphemous reasons. (I actually just realized that as I wrote it)

- If you haven’t checked out George Motz’ Burger Scholar Sessions on Youtube, I recommend you do. Motz Is a Burger Historian who was an amazing guest on The Burger Show in multiple seasons. He’s currently covering a variety of regional burgers (most of which he already covered on Burger Show, but I get the impression this was kind of a “hey, we can’t film more stuff because of things being shut down, but George has a camera and family to work as a crew, so he can make us burgers and talk about them)  I want to save doing a full review of the show/the later seasons of the Burger Show until I’m actually making some burgers, but right now, I’d say it’s a great series to watch with the ONLY downside being a slowly deepening craving for burgers.

I mean, THIS is what a ‘slugburger’ looks like! It looks GREAT despite having a TERRIBLE name. (“slug” used to mean “a nickel”. These burgers used to be 5 cents.)

Because like, that’s one of the three main cooking shows I’ve been able to reliably watch of late. It’s all George Motz, SortedFood, and J Kenji Lopez-Alt. If you haven’t checked out those guys, I suggest you do to kill some time. Kenji is mainly cooking at home, recording on a Go-Pro, the Sorted guys are mixing pre-done content with stuff they’re recording in their homes, George has a bunch of appearances on the Burger Show, and his new series to check out.

Hell, if nothing else, getting a day to breathe back might let me binge some more shows and tell you if they’re good.  

Alright, that’s what’s going on around here. Sorry it came out so late, I really struggled with how best to explain myself here; whether I should just suck it up, push through, and all that; or whether I should say anything at all. And just NOT post. But people prefer to know, I’ve found. So I’m letting you know I’m taking a day off of the increased schedule next week, to plan out what we’re doing next.  

FRIDAY: I SAID IT WAS GOING TO BE AN EGG AND CHEESE BOAT. THAT TURNED OUT TO BE FALSE. INSTEAD, WE’RE GETTING GARLIC CONFIT COINS WITH PARMESAN.

MONDAY: I REALLY DON’T KNOW. I HAD RECIPES PLANNED, BUT I DON’T KNOW WHICH OF THE INGREDIENTS ARE STILL GOOD. IT MIGHT BE BEETS, CROQUETTES, UDON, OR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.