MOLTISSIMO!

holy sh!t.
holy sh!t.
holy sh!t.
...from out of nowhere, man.
that's where the new hottness shows up from,
after having been hiding out and keeping a low profile.
that's real.
and when you're out in the world,
getting surprised and discovering new things about old friends
and new skins for old ceremonies;
feeling comfortably uncomfortable and absolutely at-home in new experiences?
well, then i guess there's a verdict being passed down.
wait for it-
you're a competent and capable, adaptable and adept real-life grown-up person.
that's pretty neat, huh?
like, where'd that come from?
i think it's cool.
ok. that's all a little bit vague-
what new hottness?
which old friends?
what's up with the really-real world?
maaaan, mind your business-
we're discussing principles here, not specifics...
ha!
here's the thing:
the secret universal plan is open to interpretation,
but the choices that shape our actions are forged in the furnaces of time and space.
that's not metaphysics, bro-
it's willful warrior poetics mashed up with determinism's darkest corners.
it's all really happening, and it's all working towards something.
that's the whole point.
***********
huh?
what about the food?
oh,
well, on monday i got seriously activated, and went delving into the depths
of italiano activation...i really did, and it really worked,
and i'm really psyched about it.
it started with some fancy weirdie mohawk elbow pasta jauns,
and then the SAUCE came through and turned it up to eleven with the quickness.
that's no joke.
teleport:

MAMA MIA!!
now, here's where it got sexxxy-
dry-fried slab-cut baby bella mushrooms,
and par-boiled fried potato wedges, with that olive oily crisssspiness, neighbors.
mmmmmhmmmmmmm.
so TILTY.
it goes like this:
mushrooms and salt and a hot pan, five minutes per side,
and a drizz' of olive oil to get 'em just that much more expert.
then,
you take your halved and sliced potatoes, red-skin-on,
and boil 'em until they're fork-tender in salty water.
drain 'em, rinse 'em, and sizzle 'em up in that same pan,
sans 'shrooms, until those muhfuhhhhs be LOOKIN'.
y'feel me?
and they lookin' af, look:

see?
and the sauce? the sauce was legendary.
really.
-
*
LEGEND SAUCE!
-
1/2 sweet onion, in chunks;
3 cloves sliced garlic;
1/2 green bell pepper;
2 tsp olive oil.
saute all that until it's softened slightly,
and add in:
1 cup halved baby tomatoes;
1 15oz can stewed tomatoes, in the juice.
simmer five minutes, and drip in 1 T red wine vinegar;
add 1/2 tsp GPOP;
oregano, basil, black pepper, crushed red pepper, and a punch of nootch.
mmm.
next, add 1 cup of vegetable broth,
and let all that bubbly away, until it thickens slightly,
and gets that telltale orange-tint to all the juicy juice.
WORD.
did i add a punch or two of baby kale?
duhhhhhhh.
OBVI.
what do you think i am?
some kind of an A*-hole?
no way.
kale is good for you.
dirt-leaf thickness, and wholesome whatever-whatevers, for your face.
potatoes and pasta and peppers and portobellas?
yes, and yes, and yes, and also yes.
if you aren't ready to get thiqqq, you ain't ready for molto mondays at my house, man.
real talk.
***********
truth tellers can never stop.
it's a blessing and it's a curse.
most folks appreciate when we tell it like it is,
until we tell them about how it is.
and don't think it's easy.
nothing any good ever is.
you have the kind of honesty that makes people flinch, because you don't?
it's not a popularity contest winning talent,
but it is the virtue that victors value.
so, what do we do?
we do the thing, man.
catching surprises and apprising the situation,
interpreting and translating and telling the true stories that unfold from there;
never quiet, never soft.....