Phillip Retuta's Blog

The Life and Times of a Filipino-American

Archives for February 2016

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Make America Great Again… By Not Voting For Trump And Trivializing His Constituency.

As a liberal, what I fear most about this upcoming election is not the Trump and his incredulous and hateful rhetoric, but rather the people who support him. Watching crowds upon crowds gather at his rallies and his loud, asshole-ish arguments get overwhelming applause at debates and town hall meetings make me cautious of America as a whole. I wonder how anywhere in this country — outside the major metropolitan cities or college towns — can have such close-minded views to support a demagogue and egomaniac such as Donald Trump. All Trump has done is given a voice and legitimacy to such ignorance and hate. The people who support him are doing so out of a deep animosity and fear of one group or another. All they know is that Trump’s candidacy pisses off liberals and — from their perspective as low to middle-class, white Christians — minorities.

A huge part of me feels that Trump doesn’t even believe half the things he says, and that he is merely pandering to the frightened, ignorant masses of America. He’s being opportunistic, which in itself is disgusting (also, look at Chris Christie — who I somewhat respected for breaking out of bi-partisan lines on a few occasions — now take advantage of political opportunity and endorse Trump. Even his co-finance chair condemns him for forsaking his principals).

In any event, I’m worried about America more than ever before. The country — at least from what the media is portraying — is acting like a scared, desperate, petulant victim.

Here’s a list of videos I’ve stumbled upon legitimizing Trump’s awfulness:

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Thoughts On Quitting Smoking.

cigarettesIt’s been about three weeks since I’ve last had a cigarette. I decided to quit — not because of health reasons since I don’t give a fuck about my health — but because I was bored. I wanted to be challenged, and nothing is more challenging than trying to abruptly stop an addiction. Now making stuff and doing art/design work does stimulate me intellectually, but to quit smoking after 7 years would be a whole new undertaking.

The first three days were physically rough: it wasn’t as if I craved nicotine, it’s just that I’ve been coughing non-stop. I could only assume the chemicals in my body were starting to clear up, and the alveoli inside my lungs had started to repair themselves. For the longest time, my lungs are acclimating themselves to fresh air. On top of that, I’ve been coughing up brownish phlegm — physical remnants of my life as a smoker.

I’ll admit I do miss smoking now, but for purely psychological reasons. Having a solitary cigarette was a way to completely isolate myself from the world and just think. No one was there to bother me; it was just me, a plume of smoke, and my thoughts. When I had a cigarette, I excused myself with whatever I was doing, and I gave myself the few minutes to do a lot of thinking and introspective analysis: what should I do next? How am I feeling today? What can I do to make my life better? Now, I need to find a legitimate reason to be alone and momentarily away from work, friends, or obligations just to find that inner peace and retrospection. Maybe I’ll take longer bathroom breaks. Maybe I’ll start chewing on toothpicks so I won’t look weird standing outside by myself and essentially appearing to do nothing.

Still, the health benefits are starting to materialize: I no longer have a hard time breathing when it comes to moderate exercise. I no longer wake up in the morning and cough to the point where I felt I was going to throw up. I’ve even saved a few extra dollars not buying a pack of cigarettes from my local bodega. Of course, we’ll see how long this lasts. My most prolonged stint of not smoking in the past 7 years was five months — and guess why I started to smoke again? I was bored.

Keep your fingers crossed that I don’t get bored again.

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Garlic Quiche with Parmesan and Spinach.

quicheI had some unused frozen pie crust and a whole lot of eggs, so I decided to make a quiche. The recipe is a variation of something I found in Bon Appetit:

Ingredients:

  • 1 frozen, 9-inch pie crust
  • 3 heads (yes, heads) of garlic
  • 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon of thyme
  • Handful of fresh baby spinach
  • 1 cup of parmesan cheese, split in half
  • 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese (I used Italian Truffle white cheddar)
  • 3/4 cups of crème fraîche
  • 3/4 cups of cream
  • 1 cup of water
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put 1 head of garlic in a large jar and attach the lid. Next, shake the jar between 2 to 5 minutes; this breaks up the garlic into individual cloves and peels them without crushing each one. Set aside the peeled cloves and repeat this process with the other garlic heads.

Place the frozen pie crust in the oven for 13 minutes, then take out and cool.

In a saucepan of salted boiling water, cook the peeled garlic cloves for about 5 minutes. Drain, wipe the pan dry, and heat some of that olive oil. Start sautéing the garlic until golden brown on all sides (maybe 4 minutes). Add the balsamic vinegar and 1 cup of water till all the liquid starts to boil. Add the maple syrup, thyme, rosemary, ground pepper, and a little bit of salt. Reduce the garlicky sauce until it’s slightly thickened, between 5 to 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Add the crème fraîche and cream and mix till smooth. Add a little bit of ground black pepper, as well as half of the parmesan cheese.

Add the remaining parmesan cheese and the cheddar cheese to the bottom of the cooled crust. Next, add the spinach on top of the cheeses. Pour the egg-cream mixture over the spinach, and add the sautéed garlic with any remaining sauce on top.

Bake in the oven for approximately 45 minutes, or at least until the custard is set. Cool. Now remember, even though it appears that there’s a shit-ton of garlic, the quiche is pretty mild — especially when you boil and sauté the cloves with balsamic vinegar. I also cooked some bacon to serve with the quiche, because — well — bacon is fucking awesome.

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Relaunching of NYIT.edu.

siteRelaunch_Email_blogToday we launched the new NYIT.edu site. After nearly two years of work — beginning when I was pretty much hired — it’s finally done. From the hiring process of a design firm, to the countless meetings discussing design and functionality, to the editorial staff combing through the thousands of existing pages and cutting the fat, to our writers creating new copy, to our freelancers producing new videos and photography, to the coding by our IT department, and to the implementation of all the new stuff and the subsequent beta testing by my web team and me, I’m very proud of our new product. Moreover, I’m very thankful to our team who collaborated together and created such a fine, brand new site worthy of awards (hell, I want to finally win a legitimate award for design).

I’m so happy that the hard work that my team and I put into the site — sacrificing our vacation days, weekends, and working extra hours — finally paid off. As for me, personally, I’m happy that the art direction — from beginning to the very end — and the image creation I’ve contributed has received positive feedback and is well-appreciated from both my co-workers and university colleagues. Throughout this entire process, I felt like a boss. Like I was important. Like my voice was heard and respected. I’m sure there are haters out there who will nitpick the site or even friends who’ll try to undermine this accomplishment, but I feel invincible for all the work I’ve done. I’m overcome by this alarming pride that something I put my heart into transformed from a mere concept to actual reality. It feels good. Watching and helping the new site evolve is a lot like watching your kid go off to college: the time and effort you put forward into something that started so small has matured into something greater.

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Até Breve, Brasil.

ToBrazilI’m going to São Paulo, Brazil.

In passing, my friend Brett asked if I wanted to accompany him to São Paulo, and I said yes. I may have mentioned it before, but it’s been my dream to travel, especially to other countries. Aside from the Philippines when I was 4 and my most recent trips to Tokyo and Montreal, I’ve never really been outside of the United States. Like Japan, going to South America could potentially be a life-changing experience: a new culture, different architecture styles and the energy of a different environment, great food I’ve never had before, and that thrilling feeling of unfamiliarity. To stray away from one’s routine and the conventional surroundings you’re used to everyday — that’s what I want. As far as my work schedule goes, I figured by the time he and his friend Clayton would be going to Brazil, I’d be essentially done with all the major projects I have for work and freelance, and I can start using my vacation days for 2016. Luckily, the travel dates also coincide with Spring Break, where all the students are off for a week and us employees have a long, 4-day weekend.

So, with the stars aligned and funds in check, I bought a roundtrip ticket last week for $499.

I know I’m outwardly suppressing my enthusiasm over this trip (Brett explicitly said, “show some fucking interest in life and the world”), but I am genuinely excited to go. I’ve been reading up on places to visit and trying to learn basic Portuguese on YouTube. I’ve been staring at my passport, anticipating getting a second stamp aside from Japan’s. Hell, I’ve been trying to lose a little more weight so I can have that Brazilian-ready body. And don’t worry, Mom and Dad — I won’t get the Zika Virus, although I’m certain that’d make for an interesting story.

After all the hard work with launching my job’s new website and the endless hours that ate into 2015’s vacation days, I’m ready to go out, see the world, and relax.