man, i *fuck* with cooking.
in business, my experience has tended towards large projects - endeavors that span years, where progress from week to week can, at times, be hard to distinguish. i find these to be highly rewarding. one begins with a mental construct which is necessarily incomplete, and which develops in ways that are impossible to predict. in ways, this is psychologically challenging; my concept of myself has been deeply entwined with the projects i've been involved in, and the inevitable fact that i will be proven so deeply *wrong* about what i'm working for is troubling. but the experience is also exciting. moments come in which one feels he has a complete - fleeting, but complete - view of what he's doing. it's an exhilarating feeling.
times are, from time to time, that once i get home i want nothing to do with managing any project (read: sitcoms are kinda awesome). but more frequently, i find myself craving something that i can experiment with in a low-stakes setting.
as a result, i tend to go a bit overboard. i will go against specific orders to keep shit simple. i'll make noodles-and-butter into a dish with a dozen ingredients. i become a parody of myself at the grocery store; i fiend for complexity:
me: shit, fiddlehead ferns are in season.
companion: what are fiddlehead ferns?
me: uh, i mean, i think they're just fern heads. they grow wild... i think they're good. i've never had them.
companion: how do you cook them?
me: i don't really know. [grabs bag, reaches for ferns]
companion: wait-
me: no, this'll be good. i've always wanted to cook fiddlehead ferns.
companion: but-
me: [tosses bag of ferns into basket] oh, they have ramps too...
companion: wait - uh, what are ramps?
me: i think they're like garlic. [grabs ramps] i've never had them.
etc.
it's kind of the best. cooking is fun.