after a long, somewhat busy sunday, albert and i went to morton williams to pick up some veggies and other accessories for the burgers being cooked back in my EC flat by grace. we got onions, tomatoes, 2% kraft singles american white cheese, and romaine (none of that iceberg crap) lettuce. back in EC, we triple-teamed the burger effort in the kitchen, splitting the veggie preparation and meat cooking duties. the meat in action were of the omaha steaks variety, part of the multi-meat package i had received last week via special internet order. we made six burgers for four people. our fourth dinner member, christina, joined us just as we finished putting the freshly chopped veggies, sauteed onions, and hot meat with covered cheese on the table as a sort of a burger “bar” setup. the last two burgers we made had extra flavor as we added a dash of heineken to the cooking process. taking one last glance before creating my own burger, i remembered that i had a box of bacon (100 slices, also part of the omaha collection) in the freezer. thanks to its precooked composition, i was able to prepare the bacon in less than 3 minutes via microwave. albert and i then proceeded to “upgrade” our burgers with this extraordinary burger accessory.

while watching What Women Want (starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt) on TBS and eating our burgers on the floor of grace’s room – highlighted by the green and light green striped carpet from crate & barrel, a “centerpiece” of sorts – i caught a quick flash of awareness and noticed what a blissful moment this was. delicious burger in mouth, beer on hand ready to wash it down, decently entertaining movie on television, and three superbly pleasant friends in the same room. jeff, coming back from the gym, joined us on the floor as well, and i was once again reminded of the “good” things in life. we joked some, laughed some, and finished the burgers. it was too bad that reality had to invade so soon and take everyone back to their world of responsibilities and deadlines.

being the egomaniacal person that i am, i’ve decided to end this entry by referencing something i wrote a while back – a little more than a year ago on my now defunct pk@columbia series:

“I wish I can stop taking myself so seriously. When you get to thinking that everything you do is so important, that’s when you’re just asking for extra stress and unwanted problems. Forget the pressure, forget the big dreams, and lose the feeling of self-assigned importance. Learn to enjoy the nice weather and be happy to see your friends. Gosh, I sound like a fortune cookie. I’ll have myself another Choco-pie now.”