Jerry Timms

I don’t know if anyone has checked MSN maps (http://local.live.com/) lately, but their satellite imagery is vastly better than Google’s. Today I was checking my house on MSN (Google’s imagery looks to be over 2 years old - it shows a carport that was removed before I bought my house). Well, the image was clearer on MSN and a year old or less because it shows the garage I had built.

But what else did I see? I’m in the pool! I have a Kreepy Krawly thing in the pool, but that would only produce one dot. So there are clearly one or more people in there (I’m guessing 3). Click on the picture to see it a little clearer:

I thought this was interesting, because I can actually look at a few different aspects of this photo to determine when it was taken. For example, the angle of the shadows gives me a time of day, condition of the road and of my landscaping tells me an approximate time of year (before the roads were repaved, and before my front sprinkler system was fixed). So, basically any stranger could tell me that people were swimming in my pool at an approximate time of day and year. Which is not in itself terribly private information, but what will things be like when these photos get a little clearer?

Are all my pool parties going to be open to public scrutiny?

Likely a testament to how hard I’ve been working out lately, tonight I simply craved the thickest and rarest steak I could get my hands on. I interpreted this as a sign that my body needed protein for some serious muscle building, so I gave in and headed to Safeway where I bought a couple choice top sirloins. I threw one on the grill, but only for long enough to get it warm and juicy.

Exquisite…lemon flakes performed admirably (as they always do) as I sliced and stabbed my way to heaven. Rare, soft and juicy, and just perfect. A perfect finish to my evening of running a mile and working out in the gym.

I’ve been working out fairly regularly for about 6 weeks now. I’m starting to see some real results, and it has me excited since I think I may be in the best shape I’ve been in for a few years. That’s both physically and mentally. Funny how both efforts have been actually very closely tied together.

Working out with Jerry and Daren has been really fun…and there’s actually a lot more involved to our evenings than just the workouts. We’ll also often go out to a bar or two afterward (or hang out at Jerry’s loft), drink some beer, and hang out and bs with one another. Steve also started hanging out with us, and we always have a good time. Talk about dates, significant others, work, etc. Jerry describes this as his new fraternity, and that’s a fairly accurate description of how it feels.

Hanging out with Rich, Justin, Philip and Bernard is a very similar fraternal part of my life lately. I am impressed, and humbled, by what strong bonds exist within this circle. And deciding to do some of the party curcuit with them this year is what’s motivating me to stick with those workouts, stick to my diet, and what had motivated me last year to finally give up smoking.

I’m not quite where I want to be yet, but I know my goals are achievable and right around the corner. So, cheers to all of you that help. My shoulders are looking better, but what’s on top of them is feeling pretty good, too.

Sorry if it seems like this is turning into a recipe blog, but I find that if I plan on posting my dinner recipe, it forces me to come up with something more delicious and healthy than what I normally cook. I ate this after work today, and it was delicious. The secret to a good low-calorie shrimp fettuccine? No Fettuccine!

Calories: 239 (39 g protein, 7 g fat, 3 g carbs, 2 g fiber)

Chef-Boy-Are-Jerry’s Shrimp Fettuccine

14 Black Tiger Shrimp, 26/30 ct.
Big Handful frozen broccoli and cauliflower (approx. 1 cup cooked)
1 tbsp. butter
Trader Joe’s Lemon Pepper (with Lemon Flakes - you knew that was coming)

Saute the vegetables in the pan with butter until almost cooked. Add the shrimp and cook until entirely pink. Don’t overcook shrimp, or else they get all gross. If you don’t see any gray left then you’re fine. Grind some lemon pepper over the whole thing to taste, and toss a few times.

This is important! Use a slotted spoon to remove the shrimp and vegetables from the pan (most of the butter will drain out of the spoon and remain in the pan) and place in a serving bowl.

Enjoy!

Enjoy this selection of albums currently wearing out my iPod.

Masterbeat Presents Winter Party 2007 (Mixed By Brett Henrichsen)

Favorite Songs:

Offer Nissim Featuring Maya - For Your Love (Club Mix) I was never much of a fan of female vocals until I heard Maya in Second Time. Her voice is sexy and ethereal, and this track is no exception.

Red Carpet - Alright (Tony Moran & Jody den Broeder Mix) Positive and upbeat, you will be up and dancing by about the 2 minute mark.

Soul Logic - Let’s Get Together (Harrington’s Tribal Anthem) Excellent mix of what has become my White Party anticipation theme song.

Forever Tel Aviv (Offer Nissim)

To be fair, I only got this album yesterday. But I can already tell that I will be playing this quite frequently for a long time.

Favorite Song:

Offer Nissim pres. Ivry Lider - Nights In White Satin That’s right, I’ve been a huge Moody Blues fan since high school, and this track absolutely gives me goosebumps from the beginning. A chilling and brilliant remake of this classic.

Burning Empires (VNV Nation)

This one is probably outside of the familiarity of most of my readers, but you really should experience this. VNV (Victory Not Vengence) is the most interesting thing I’ve found in the last several years, and I’ve really just scratched the surface of this genre.

Favorite Songs:

Further A true Libra, I crave balance with my emotions and thoughts. Tracks like this are a comforting indulgence in nihilistic rumination. The Sun was born, so it shall die. So only shadows comfort me. I know in darkness I will find you giving up inside like me.

Standing Although we know that we cannot look forward without acknowledging and understanding past struggle, the idea of living forever in the moment of success is truly what keeps us going. And fighting time so much I ask. I will this moment last forever. Though seasons change and things come to pass Remain inside of me. I had no faith before that time In any vow or deed. Days followed days and Years were meaningless. Despite the wisdom of defeat I bore my heart for all to see The wonders I’d seen.

It seems that a new favorite pastime has developed after a night of drinking with friends - to go to the local Bertos and get a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast burrito. The BB’s there are so good, it’s literally my new favorite thing I’ve ever eaten! However, they are laden with calories and so I was on a mission today to replicate a healthier version. This version is not exactly like the infamous one, but it’s really good and would make a relatively healthy (but very satisfying) breakfast.

Approximate calorie count: 400

Jerry’s Guilt-Free BB

2 slices bacon
3/4 cup Southwestern flavored Egg Beaters (equiv. to 3 egg whites)
1/8 cup Kraft fat free shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tortilla
Butter Flavored Pam

Fry the bacon in a pan until most of the fat is cooked off, and drain in a paper towel. Empty the grease from the pan and wipe the pan with a paper towel.

Spray the pan with Pam and cook the egs until done. Combine the eggs and bacon in a tortilla, sprinkle with the cheese, and wrap tightly.

Enjoy!

Well last night was the Core event with Jerry, Vicky, and Deanna. We went to La Cage Aux Folles at the Arizona Broadway Theater, to Burn where we met Daren, Rich and Justin for dancing and drinks in our VIP cabana, and then finished the night at the governors mansion. I didn’t acually end up with as many pictures as I thought, but we all had a great time and it was fantastic as usual to see everyone!

Yesterday was one of those days where I did so much, with so many people, that I feel like I’ve just returned from vacation. That was only one day? Well, I had a really great time and I’m just taking it easy right now in preparation for the core event tonight!

So, where to begin? I went to Chelsea’s Kitchen at around 5pm to meet Bernie, Justin, Rich, and Mark and Andrea. Bernie is a coworker and friend who was in town from Denver because he wanted to meet Mark, who is interested in working with us. I drove up with Rich (who, remember, works with me now) and we took a diversion along the way so that he could show me a house he and Justin like in the Willo neighborhood. The house is gorgeous, and it’s on the cutest cul-de-sac ever with medium sized historic homes and lush landscaping. But, I digress.

So, we get to Chelseas Kitchen on Camelback Rd. in Phoenix (sorry, SEO moment) and Mark, Andrea and Bernie are already there. Everyone is kind of low-key when we get there, and I remark how interesting it is that most of us hung out last weekend, and now are hanging out again in more of a work-employment-professional context.

This is Mark and Andrea yesterday at Chelsea’s Kitchen

This is Mark and Andrea last weekend at Burn

So, you can see how I’m sitting there and thinking wow, everyone acts much differently depending on the reason for the social gathering. I mean we were basically the same group of people, just with the addition of Bernie and a pretext of hiring Mark as a consultant. Now I’ve gotten pretty crazy with Bernie, so when I’m with him at a bar I don’t really think of it as “work.” Anyway, maybe you get what I’m saying and maybe you don’t. I tried to explain it to everyone at the table and I just got some blank stares, so I’ll just leave it at that.

We all had some drinks, talked shop, and played Bernie’s “hot tub game” which is a game where everyone has to pick famous people to be in their make-believe hot tub party. I picked Eddie Cibrian, but nobody knows who he is.

At about 9pm we decided to split up a little…Bernie and his sister Laura decided to eat dinner at Chelsea’s, Mark and Andrea decide to go home, and Rich and Justin and I decided to go to Ticoz for some dinner. Ticoz was good, and I nearly fell over in my chair after seeing our waiter who looked exactly like Eddie Cibrian.

Eddie Cibrian

Eddie Cibrian is best known for his role as a pensive firefighter in Third Watch, as well as a park ranger in the sci-fi TV series Invasion last year, and of course But I’m a Cheerleader, a 1999 movie where a naive teenager is sent to rehab camp when her straitlaced parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian. But, I digress!

Yes, I probably looked like a stuttering idiot when the waiter asked for my drink and food orders.

So after dinner and some martinis, Bernie and Laura meet us at Ticoz, and follow us to Amsterdam. Laura, being new to the Jerry Timms blog, requires a proper introduction here. She is Bernie and Anthony’s sister, and is great fun whenever she’s out with us. She also looks a lot like Alyson Hannigan, best known for her role as Willow the cute and charming lesbian witch on Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Which is slightly interesting that we were just talking about Willo (the Phoenix neighborhood) earlier in the evening…also cute and charming, but in neighborhood format.

Alyson Hannigan

Laura’s personality kind of reminds me of Willow, too…not the lesbian part, but the cute and charming part. So, we get to Amsterdam and take a tour of the place before getting our drinks and doing some dancing in Club Miami.

Justin and Laura dancing

Bernie and Me

Bernie, showing off his new purse

Rich and Laura - we’re totally taking her out again

So, now that brings us to a little past 1am, and Bernie and Laura decide they’re bushed and want to go home. So I’m hanging out with Rich and Justin on the patio, and Daren calls and decides to meet up with us. So I show him around the bar, and we get fresh rounds of drinks.

Rich, Justin and Daren

We stay at Amsterdam until about 2:30 (Redbull is amazing, isn’t it?) and then decide to call it a night. Thanks everyone for a great time!

So, here’s an interesting story. I was going through my web analytics yesterday, and checking out the different search terms that people use to find my site. One stuck out as kind of odd….lemon flakes. I was a little confused what it was all about, and then I realized that I used that term in my recipe for General Timms’ Chicken. I used some pepper that has little flakes of lemon peels in it. It’s really good, and I highly recommend it if you’re cooking some quick chicken. But the most amazing thing? I rank #9 in Google for the term. Go ahead, go to Google and search for “lemon flakes.” Out of 1.1 million relevant pages, I am number 9. Number 9!

So, not being one to settle for mediocrity, I decided to go for #1. So here you go, this is my lemon flakes blog. Hopefully within a couple weeks I can claim my title as the most relevant site to the topic of lemon flakes! It’s the little things…

Update 3/26/07: Well I guess it only took 4 days, as I’m currently the #1 result!

Here are some pictures from last weekend…

Friday night I went with Rich and Justin to the Red Magazine anniversary party at Burn. The club actually cleared out pretty early, and it felt like we had the place to ourselves!

Saturday evening I was invited over for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner at Mary Lou’s house (that’s Jerry and Vicky’s mom). Dinner was delicious, and afterwards we played an Ireland trivia game. In this pic you can see Mary Lou reading a question while everyone gets excited to blurt out the answer! Mary Lou always goes all out for holidays, and I’m always amazed at the traditions that their family has for each one!

Saturday night started at Fate for an after dinner drink with Rich, Justin, Mark and Andrea. Then we headed to Burn for dancing and more drinks. Notice how hard I’m working on my tan for the White Party? Oddly, I was the only one wearing green.

Sunday night, Rich and Justin called me up to go to dinner with them since they were in the area “taking a drive.” Well, I knew right away why they were in central Phoenix, and that’s because they were looking at neighborhoods and houses! Even though they recently decided they were going to move to LA sometime soon, I think they are starting to get cold feet because of the prices there. So it seems that a move to central Phoenix might be a good compromise for awhile…they get to be in a more urban setting than they’re in now, without having to commit to a much more dramatic move to Los Angeles.

So anyway we went to dinner at Ticoz, where the food is delicious and the waiters make you blush by remembering really old online conversations. Then we decided to go to Padlock for drinks, where we all took our shirts off so that we could get the drinks for half price. It was actually a really odd and unpredictable day, but fun of course. See Rich and Justin, you can’t do this stuff in Mesa!

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