Content Warning: Recipes (No joke)

I’m going to take a break from politics to discuss a very serious concern that I have regarding the cultural identity of America. Secondarily, I think this matter speaks directly to the foundation of family values.

I had a message to share from an early age. I was that nerdy kid with an electronic typewriter in the 90s, sitting in his ranch duplex, typing out a chapter from some random children’s novel purchased from the grocery store. Eventually, I graduated to typing out my mother’s recipes on an HP Pavilion Slimline. I found these recipes in a box the other day, maybe I will get around to digitizing them. If I do, they’ll be open source I believe.

There was a point in time that I tried to put advertising on my website. Early on, like that would work out well. I thought I was going to make money off it. Then, I realized that it’s not so much about slapping billboards all over my corner of the internet, but instead about sharing something meaningful.

Speaking of money, I was working tonight and one of the tasks that I was on required an in-depth analysis on baking potatoes… Yeah, my thoughts, too. Anyway, I just contemplated how the universe lives in this beautiful duality. I remembered how things change over time and things don’t change over time. How, it’s some 30 years later, and I’m still pushing a bunch of buttons on a keyboard. Also while I am still sitting before a pile of recipes, I do so in tabs instead of cards. Instead of typing out my mother’s recipes, I’m tutoring synthetic reasoning and logic.

While I am navigating something like thirty recipe pages, comparing citations to textual bits, I realized that there is a perverse assault occurring. The reason I am writing about this right now is because this very thought has occurred to me before, in scenarios very similar. I continued my work, analyzing the information before me, comparing the differences.

When my mom gave me her ridiculous collection of recipes, it came in the form of books, most of which lacked proper covers. Inconsistent writing in the margins (perhaps a scribble or two from a toddler). Cards, in these tacky and gaudy plastic containers. It’s a chaotic mess, and it all started with this monstrosity of a beast of a book that lost all it’s binding. That’s what did me in back then.

Today, what does it me in is a monstrosity of a different beast. It’s the advertisements. Has anyone found a zen cookbook online? And by that, I mean a minimalist and mindful approach to cooking? Because, I am in no shape or form in any which way a cook. I microwave at best. Let’s play a thought game, I decide to cook one night.

F*ck going to those websites.

I am about to unpack my mother’s belongings and pull out her old recipes. I am sure it’s going to be full of casseroles and pot roasts, but at least my soul won’t be taken by a marketing agency.

When I signed up with an advertising company for this blog, they demonstrated what it would look like with ads. It looks very unobtrusive, truth be told. So, I wholeheartedly understand the misguided nature of the dilemma.

I find so many people complaining about the coming advancement of artificial intelligence. Especially since it’s able to replicate images and videos. A long time ago, when the digital age was in it’s infancy, I watched some guy from the UK discuss the dead internet theory. I forgot his name, but he had black long hair, white skin, and a red streak in his hair. Anyway, pretty sure that’s where I saw it first.

But, if you’re unfamiliar with it, it pretty much says that at some point there’s going to be so much content generated online from robots or computers, that it’s not going to be the same internet, it’s going to be a fake internet that gives the illusion of being an online community.

AI Slop is what they’re calling it these days. Essentially, it’s any sort of like extraneous or filler content, whether it’s text, image, or video. It’s bullshit that’s generated to serve a purpose. For example, cost-effectiveness in perspective of marketing agencies. That’s just one thought, but anyways, there’s a bigger point I was trying to make here.

And, I agree. That artificial content generation deserves a serious handicap in how we delegate value in society, I also think that it has some value. One of the primary factors of it’s adoption is the cost factor. Money. Our attention earns certain agencies a lot of money. Money that gives them power to control certain narratives.

All I’m saying is, when I go to look up a recipe on some website, I fully support that website earning money off their work, but I highly doubt they would be excited to see what their partners are displaying in juxtaposition to their food. Duality is built into the universe though, and it’s here to serve a purpose.

I decided to pay a subscription of $12/month for news. Why? Because it’s important to stay informed, and I’m 37-years-old, and that’s what you do after your mid-thirties. Right? And I noticed the same topic spanning two articles within the span of a week. And yes, I know, that’s often by design. But, it was about Zoomers and how they’re often turning in their all-in-one device [smartphones] for many dedicated devices (think mp3 player, flipphone, digital camera, paper map).

The trend isn’t to subsidize the cargo pant industry. Instead, the mentality is that this generation prefers the idea of owning the media they consume.

Ew, and I feel old when I sit here and reflect on the memory of choosing not to carry my iPod Classic anymore. I probably stopped carrying it around the time I had upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy 3. It no longer made sense to carry around a device that carried a curated selection of 1,100 or so songs, but instead open an app on a device I was already carrying in my pocket to listen.

I remember those times fondly, but do I want to go back? I’m not too sure. I think if I took up professional photography, I’d get a dedicated camera. But, for the three or so images I take a month [mostly of Bubba], there’s no reason. I’m not exactly an audiophile either, so there is no point in carrying a dedicated music device.

I enjoy reading, but don’t find that much time. I game, but again, time? I work. You’ll often find me carrying my laptop. And I carry my phone, which is almost everything else I need.

I don’t need a fanny pack, even though sometimes they pull the whole outfit together. I don’t need a purse or backpack. Because the beauty of the device is still there, and always has been there. It’s the simplicity of having all your problems in one easy-to-smash…. I mean, I’m lazy folks. I only want to carry one thing.

Anyway, SIMPLICITY, that’s right. Cooking is inherently not simple. Particularly for folks like me, those who are naturally inclined to require…. recipes.

It might be considered not quite as ethical as accessibility, but maybe morally better to tone it down.

I don’t know how it is in other countries, where everyone grows up cooking the same types of food within their own culture, but in the U.S., one of the most glorious things about working in offices is the potluck. Everyone brings a dish, and you never know what you’re going to get. Sometimes it’s a simple pasta salad, sometimes it’s a “chili dump” — where everyone pours their own version of chili into one giant pot. Sounds insane, but it tastes incredible. It’s chaos and community in equal measure.

What makes it special, though, is that you learn to adapt. Your taste buds evolve. You try new things, you discover flavors that trace back generations and cross borders you’ve never set foot across. It’s this living, breathing exchange of culture and creativity — all through food.

Now, I’m no cook. Never claimed to be. But even I can appreciate how deeply cooking is baked into the American identity. It’s something we inherit, remix, and pass along, one casserole or chili dump at a time. It’s a form of storytelling — recipes as a kind of family folklore, shared and reshaped with every generation.

Back in the day, people used to write these long walkabout letters to one another, articles, or just personal journal entries. They would take these winding journeys around several topics before arriving at their point.

I can’t be the only person like this, but I carry around a shameful barrel of cables. Like, ethernet cables, power cables, coax cables… a few phone lines too? Idk, maybe I’ll need to plug something in. Everything comes with the necessary cables. I don’t know why I keep the cables even though the thing is gone.

To me, I think the value that I place in it is ideologically equivalent to connection. I’ve always had some sort of nerdy respect for connection. Unfortunately for anyone within earshot of a keyboard, it’s been this fashion. Part of that toolset has it’s foundations in those very cords, so it’s difficult to say goodbye.

Clutter

It’s all about clutter, isn’t it? We’re all just trying to get rid of all the clutter in our lives. And, I agree. I need to and am getting rid of a box or two of clutter. Some clutter is easier to rid ourselves of than others. Like mail, having to sort through all of that mail. Can’t it be starter for those houses where firefighters practice? Donate it to a good cause.
I thnk you’re all… well, the few of you that have made it this far, can probably figure out where I’m going with this. But, before we tie everything together, there’s one last detour I’d like to make.

I remember reading something long ago, maybe an opinion article or something, but essentially what it said was that by this time, things would exist in this weird duality in which you’ll either pay for an ad-free experience, or you’ll supplement the paid experience by forking over your checkbook.

Well, in so much as we use checkbooks. Enough of that. But, one thing that I’ve learned is to walk a line of balance. Information should be freely available. I believe that it’s important for a democratic republic to have a knowledgable voting base. But, I also understand that that information cannot be made assembled and distributed freely, and therefore the costs must be burdened somewhere.

Can’t we come to some sort of reasonable agreement? You know, I wouldn’t dare suggest such a thing as context clues for web page and advertising imagery. But, perhaps I could read the full recipe before you show me the giant bug-infested eyeballs.

I’m sorry, I’m really annoyed. And I have been writing this for too long and I am tired and ready for bed. I don’t know if the blame belongs to the content creators or the agencies that orchestrate this, but trust begins by choosing not to assault the eyes.

Goodnight, folks. Take care.