Chore Day, Jan 23, 2021 -- Chores and Cooking a WFPB Cheese-like Sauce

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Taco, on a bench at the Letterman Digital Arts Center, San Francisco, 2011. In this pose Taco is staring at our Staffie, whom he hates.

Today’s chores were the same as last week’s chores. Truly, there must be a loop in time that repeats on a weekly basis: laundry, vacuuming, cooking. It’s not a rut — it’s a groove.

I cooked up a batch of a highly-touted vegan cheese-like sauce. The creator guaranteed that even carnivores and omnivores would mistake the sauce for actual queso. My review: it’s okay, but, as a former cheese-eater, I wasn’t fooled. Listen up, vegan Youtubers: overselling a recipe raises my expectations so high that I may feel that an otherwise decent recipe doesn’t live up to the hype. Skip the sales pitch — you’re preaching to the choir, remember — and let the food speak for itself.

Chore Day, Jan 25, 2020

Today I shopped and cooked and updated my iPad apps. When I checked the App Store I found 36 apps needed updating. The only app I use regularly is Procreate.

Chore day is the day I rest my brain. I sketched for about an hour to relax. I’m searching for Jimmy’s permanent hair style, one that I will feel good about using for the rest of this series. I want a style that I could write down simply, such as “three prongs of hair shooting over the forehead, with the bottom prong curving to cover the forehead. Thick glasses rather than thin. No iris in the eye…only the pupil.”

Today’s sketch shows Jimmy with a prong of hair curling over his forehead, and a slightly pointed chin, which makes him look about 10-years old. Getting the character to look his age is proving to be challenging. The thin eyeglass frames look too mature—thick glasses would look younger. I look at his ears and think, Do I need the ears? Jimmy didn’t have ears in the first book, so why am I adding ears now?

Chore Day, Jan 4, 2020 -- Cookin' and Sleepin'

Today I ran out of steam. The hectic week caught up to me, and my body said, “Dude, get some rest.” After I went to the local food co-op and did the shopping, I baked burgers for my furry children and made a plant-based cheese-like sauce for myself. Then I crashed on the Kivik (a piece of IKEA furniture) and slept the sleep of an exhausted artist.

My wife took this photo because she thought I looked picturesque and a little angelic. On the footstool are issues of Apartamento Magazine. By my left foot is the air filter we need to deal with the summer air pollution.

Chore Day, Dec 14, 2019: I Put My Name on the Cover of My Children's Picture Book

Today I moved another centimeter forward: I added my name to the cover of my children’s picture book: Doug Doukat, I thought a lot about the font and chose a comic book font named “Jack Armstrong BB”. It’s one of the default iPad fonts. The main title uses the Impact font, a brute of a font. I figure that using a comic book font lightens the mood and says,This book will be fun and serious at the same time.

As for chores, I cooked for my furry friends, and for myself. I made more plant-based cheese sauce. There’s not cheese in it, of course. It just feels and tastes something like cheese, but better. Really. It does taste better.