The Voice Thing

I have a voice, like many of you do. I've always thought it was crap/weird/not fun to listen to, so I kept it to myself. Never being able to hear myself, only what I think I sound like though my skull, I didn't think anyone would want to hear that.

To start off, before last night, I had only had one compliment on my voice, EVER. A really wonderful lady I met at Shambhala last year was talking to me and another person I had gone on a walk with. After conversing for a few minutes she said, "Excuse me, this is really weird but I really, really love how your voice sounds. I've never heard anything like that before." I was so taken aback that the only response I could come up with was, "Oh no, that must be the cigarettes!" Her response was, "No, no, past that, hah, I can hear how wonderful it sounds." I was completely astonished.

A month ago, I tried karaoke for the first time. Being with a group, there seemed to be only one person there that was taking it seriously, enjoying herself more than anyone I'd ever seen jam out live. Country singer superstar in her own backyard =] Truly, she sounded stellar. The two songs I tried, if singing alone, I would have tried to see if I could get the hang of it. I'd never spoken, let alone sang into a microphone before. But, I was not singing alone, thus I wasn't able to really hear myself or see what octaves I should be hitting, etc. Nonetheless, it lit a spark.

I ended up thinking this feeling over for three weeks, and mentioned it to one of my best friends, Keegan (he also helped design my logo, Sick Ego). Instead of looking at me like I was insane or stupid, he just said, "I'll introduce you to some of my musician friends and a singer who plays with them and you guys can talk or sing about it." Literally, less than a week later, enter last night:

Starting out, I was a bit stage-frightish. Alright, let's get use to how this sounds, what's this going to do, oh that was strange, oh no was that flat?! All these things going through my head. Finally I just allowed myself to let go a bit; Probably the wine kicking in ;] It started out with sing-songy stream of conscience comedy hour with Kat. Seeing my friends and some random stranger actually enjoy the random word splatter coming out of my mouth, I got a bit more comfortable. Stream turned into lyrics turned into vocal up and downs. Long notes, low notes, high notes. How high could I go? Really, really fucking high actually, and still sing while doing so. Roughly 2-3 hours of jamming out with my singsonger out. I think I found something. Everything.

It was some of the most fun I've had in Bozeman in a LONG TIME. No, that doesn't mean I don't have fun here all the time, with all of my friends. But never have I felt so center, so something I could do way more of. Since I was 14ish, stage performance, art, dance, etc, have been "careers" I have dreamed of; The dream job. Singer/Vocalist was never on that list, until now. Who knows what the future holds.

Special shout out to Keegan; Amazing person, artist, musician, friend. Seriously amazing individual. Let's fucking rock it again sometime dude =]

Get your goddamn groove on, and I'll see you all next time. 

Recipe: Crock Pot Wizardry With A Chuck Roast

Seems this years already turning into a roller coaster, seeing that blogging has had to take a backseat for a second. I'm going to start posting some recipes and adaptions that I have written down over the past few years. For me, for you, quick references and all the good jazz.

This recipe was given to me by word-of-mouth from my mother. It's soooooo easy, level one easy. Amaze balls, and in the dozen times I have used this recipe, it has turned out EVERY time. I love making this and freezing the extra or even just eating it for the next week if you're budgeting.

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Ingredients::

• Chuck Roast
• Vegetable oil (I use extra-virgin olive oil)
• Carrots - generally 1-2 cups
• Potatoes - 1-3 cups (really both of these depend on how big your crock pot is and/or what else you're going to be making with this)
• Onion - 2 tbsp (optional)
• Seasoning, store bought or custom made (I like to use taco seasoning, mild or hot depending on the mood. Generally 1/2-3/4 of a pouch)
• Salt (garlic salt is what I like to use) and pepper
• Beef or vegetable broth
• Optional: Bay leaves and/or thyme (add after adding roast to the crock pot)

Directions::

1. Wash carrots and potatoes. Skin potatoes and add all vegetables to the bottom of the crock pot. Add one tablespoon of vegetable oil to the crock pot as well.
2. Season the top of the roast with salt and pepper. With butter or olive oil in the pan, brown the seasoned side and season the opposite side while it's browning. I've been using heat at 6-7 (medium to high) for about five minutes a side. Turn over and brown the other side.
3. Add to the crock pot once both sides are seared. Add seasoning onto the top of the roast, generally covering the top with a nice layer of it (about 1/2 the package). See picture below.
4. Add water to the sides of the roast, covering all the vegetables on the bottom. Add some broth so the sides of the roast are covered, roughly a CM under the top of the roast.
5. Put on lid and set to high for an half an hour. NO FLIPPING!
6. Without taking the lid off, set to low for 5-6 hours. I generally try to check this around the 5 hour mark, as your don't want that sucker to dry out.

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Next time I cook this, I'll be sure to take some pictures of the final product and update this post with how it turns out! 

Checking some rules of thumb from around the web:: "Generally, start out with about 1 to 1.25 hours per pound for cooking on high and 1.25 to 1.5 hours per pound for cooking on low." Ref

And here's the Best Yahoo Answer on dry meat.

Hope you all enjoy, I know this is one of my favorite "lazy" recipes. ;]

Enjoy and until next time.