a lifestyle

I have been thinking lately about lifestyles. You know, as we move into Xgames and the olympics and as I sit depressedly watching TV, I see a lot of people and advertisements talking about lifestyles; lifestyle this, lifestyle that, you know, how snowboarding is a lifestyle sport...or surfing is a lifestyle sport, or blah blah blah. So basically, if you snowboard, you eat, sleep, breathe, wear, smell, taste, ride, lay on, drive, etc, anything that has to do with snowboarding.

So wouldn’t that make being a cook a lifestyle occupation?

Or does that just add onto generalizations? Such as portrayed by Bourdain in Kitchen Confidential, or any other article, movie, interview, etc...that says we party, do drugs, smoke, curse, yell, scream, throw tantrums, are moody cranky manic depressives, have OCD, eff all the hostesses, drop food and plate it, are dirty, smelly, late night revelers...and on and on and on.

Maybe some of us are this way...

But being a cook/chef is a lifestyle choice. You choose to work where you do...but you talk about food, you read about food, you listen to food, you taste touch feel lick pinch sniff food, you go to farmers markets, shop at eclectic food stores, you cook EVERY day, for yourself or someone, and you eat. You wear ’lifestyle’ clothes...the checks and the whites...the stains and the burns. You listen to ’lifestyle’ music...whether it be reggae, thrash metal, techno, or tejano...wherever you cook there is a soundtrack to your day...every day. You most likely drink...you habit bars...you smell like wine and bourbon all day anyway. You live a lifestyle that you dont turn off.

I mean have you tried not being a cook for the day? You still have to eat...and you most likely critique what ever it is you are eating...because YOU CANT HELP IT!!!

And if you say...I can leave it all at the kitchen door and be a normal person when I am not in the kitchen, then I say YOU ARE NOT A COOK! You are a diletante.

Can you stop being a doctor when you are away from the hospital and you see someone who is hurt? Can you stop being a parent when you are away from your kids?

You cant help thinking about food.

You are a cook.

This quote sums up a lot...from Ruhlman...and talking about Michael Pardus...

"The main fact about Michael is that he is a cook in every fiber of his body, meaning, in part, that when he’s away from his work as a chef instructor at the CIA, when he can do anything he wants because he’s on holiday, he chooses to cook all day. "