Illustration of Derek Powazek by Adam Ellis

NaBloPoMo Q&A 1: The Mundane

Mihow asked:

What’s a typical weekend like for the Powazeks? What do you eat? Where do you go for fun? What time do you go to bed? Wake up? I like the seemingly mundane. ;]

You want mundane? We’ve got mundane!

Heather’s an early riser, I’m not. I’m really, really not. (Remind me to write about my old friend insomnia sometime. Preferably at 1am when I can’t sleep.)

So Heather usually wakes up before me, feeds the pups, and takes them for an early morning walk. Lord knows what she does after that. I’m asleep.

After I wake up, generally around 9 or 10, I’ll make us breakfast. I love cooking breakfast. Dinner is somehow such a commitment. It’s dinner! You’re supposed to light candles, right? And lunch is, generally, something I skip, so I never really got good at making it. But breakfast? Give me some eggs, a pan, a little butter, and veggies and I’ll make you a helluva frittata. And don’t be fooled by that word – I make a manly frittata.

There’s something so great about cooking breakfast. The day is still young, possibilities are endless, and you know you’re about to share a meal with someone you love.

I love cooking breakfast for Heather. I think she knows it, too, because when we first started dating, she hated eggs. But after a few years of “here, just try this,” she’s acquiesced. She’ll now eat eggs, but only my eggs.

Wow, that sounds kinda dirty. Anyway.

Most weekends, we’ll take the dogs for a big walk, often to Buena Vista park. Bug chases squirrels, Chieka barks at the world, and we keep a lookout for hawks. (Really! Bug’s been swooped more than once.) Our Buena Vista walks are fertile. We have big talks, make big plans. JPG Magazine was born on one of these walks.

Other times we’ll load up with cameras and go for a wander around San Francisco. Shooting with other photographers is a challenge: If your shooting partner has interests that too closely match your own, you’ll trip over each other going after shots. If your interests are too different, you’ll get stuck in an environment you find boring. Luckily, Heather and I are great photo partners. She goes for the arty (closeups with shallow depth of field), I go for the action (random passers by), but we always have a great time.

Reading this now, I realize there’s no mention of other people. I guess we’re a little anti-social on the weekends. Heather deals with people for a living as a community manager, and I have lots of other social outlets. Our weekends are mainly for us. I like it that way.

Thanks for the question, Mihow! Who else has one?


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Hi, I’m Derek. I used to make websites. Now I grow flowers and know things. I’m mostly harmless. More.