Stu News and Photos

For the first time in my young life, I made fried chicken. It was awesome.

I picked up some thin chicken filets and egg-beaters from the store, then waited until hunger became the family's position on any given topic. I pulled out my big frying pan, my go-to pan, a Calphalon sauté pan (whose dimensions I forget - let us just say it's pretty damn big, maybe four quarts, maybe six). I gently placed her in her rightful seat on the stove, the front-right burner, and then poured some canola oil in, filling the bottom to a bit more than a quarter-inch deep, then set the fire on high.

Next, while the oil was gettin' all kinds of hot, I quickly put some flour in a bowl, added some salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano. In another bowl went maybe a cup of egg beaters. Then I rinsed a boneless chicken breast, popped it between two sheets of wax paper, and pounded the ever-loving crap out of it with a cooking hammer (really, a tenderizer, but hammer sounds more awesome). When the oil was hot (but not smoking-hot), I took the smooshed chicken, dredged it in the flower, then the egg, then flour a second time, then placed it gently in the hot oil. The frying commenced to seal the deal - All I had to do from then on was turn each boob breast once they got brown on the bottom. When they looked as yummy as I could stand it, I pulled 'em, dried 'em with paper towels, and gently, with utmost respect and dignity, made them go all-gone.

The whole process was beautiful, especially for my first time. And not for nothin', I was cooking without a recipe in front of me. I'd read a few, familiarized myself with the process, but then decided to do the actual cookery without a net. And it absolutely worked.

Damn, it feels good to be a gangster.

I strongly recommend you take 4 minutes and digest this short article by Jacques Vallee (heavy-duty computer/science master).

If You Don't Have No House, You Don't Need No Sofa

The breeze
I feel it now
And will remember it
When Sandman takes me to my rest
Tonight

-Stu Mark 7/20/10

There are many wonders of my wife, wonders that escape the gravitational pull of my senses. Her eyes are one such wonder, a profound amazement in my soul. If her eyes were gemstones, the word that is used to describe what captures my breath is the chatoyancy, in French: œil de chat. Someone described this quality as the sheen off a spool of silk. For me, her eyes are the blue shimmer of the Caribbean Sea. My heart, my head, I fall away as I stare into her eyes.

-Stu Mark, July 17th, 2010

I caught this on Palladia, a newly acquired HD channel on DirecTV. This show was terrific, a wonderful way to relax. The musicianship was top-notch, energetic, varied, thoughtful, and contained not more than an ounce of ego and pretension.

My dad gave me this tape when I was in my mid-teens. I wore out that cassette, lovingly.

For my brother, Dave, who introduced me to some very wonderful music.