Rattled

It turns out there is no good image for today's post. 

I was looking one that would be the red flashing lights of an EMS going down the street that still gets in your windows and room even with the blinds drawn. 

This is as good as it gets. 

Anyway...........

Blobby, as always, has a hard time sleeping through the night. It's been going on for ages. I can fall asleep with almost no problem, but staying asleep it difficult. In the past few years, I've found out I can go back to sleep for short amounts of time. Mostly. 

Saturday night / Sunday morning, I was semi-awake when I saw bright red flashing lights seep through our closed bedroom window blinds. It was from a slow moving vehicle. Due to no corresponding blue lights, I deemed it to be an ambulance. 

But then it stopped a house or so up from us and left the lights going. For the record there was no siren, which was good...........and maybe not. 

Me, being Gladys Kravitz, I get out of bed (sans glasses) to peer out through the slats in the blinds. No surprise, I can see nothing. I'm not even sure which house where EMS is attending. 

I go back to bed and don't really fall asleep. I am attacked by angst on a bunch of 'what ifs'. 

Just going by my parent's experiences, an emergency vehicle making a non-emergent visit means one of two things:  someone needs help off the floor after falling.  Or there has been a death and this isn't a rescue as much as it is a recovery.  I went with the latter. 

From there it (read: I) just spiraled. 

There are still a few people on this street we have never ever ever seen - and the two houses where the ambulance could be are two of them. So, I don't know their story but in my head one of them lost a husband or wife in the middle of the night. 

From there it was: what if I lose 710?  what will I do?  how will I go on?  and then it just got worse from there. 

About this time, I heard a car pull up and it seemed like a cop. It seemed (to me) like more probability of a death at home.  BTW - I have nothing to back this up. 

But the thought of being alone without 710 just kept me up for the rest of the night. Anxiety filled. 

At some point, Shep, who hasn't slept with us in years, comes into the room and sits by my side of the bed. He eventually lies down next to me, but on the floor. I don't know if he was watching out for me or not, but it seemed that way. 

I left earlier than usual for my Sunday morning run because I was wide wide awake. I pass the house in question, every single light in the house is on. I've walked into my parent's house like that after one has left via EMS.  Or hearse. 

The entire thing - fictitious as it might be - left me rattled all day. Not so much for the unknown neighbors but how it shook my psyche. This isn't the first time, I've had stories like this over my blog throughout the years. I'm also smart enough to recognize I'm doing it on sleep depravation as well. 

No doubt over the next few days I'll be back to normal, but I've added it to the list for my shrink. If I'm paying the guy, he should know from where my crazy begins, no? 

Song by: the Traveling Wilburys

My Music Monday

I am by no means a music know-it-all. I feel I'm somewhat aware of a lot of music things, even if I don't know a lot of bands actually by their music. I mean, I don't think I've ever heard a Jonas Brothers song, but I know they exist. 

Though now and then I kind of run across a song or a band of which I had know knowledge and it just kind of stymies me. 

Bad Lieutenant for example. 

This was a side project for Bernard Sumner back in 2009. 

Sumner was already in a side project with Electronic, though to be fair, they hadn't released new music for a decade prior to Bad Lieutenant. 

I wouldn't call New Order a side project of Joy Division, but as you can see, Bernard had been keeping busy in the downtime of any one of this bands. 

Another member of Bad Lieutenant is Phil Cunningham who joined New Order in 2005. 

It might not surprise anyone that both bands sound similar. Not that Electronic was a huge huge departure either. 

Maybe it's Sumner's limitations as an artist, but there is a certain comfort and familiarity with his style that doesn't make me dislike any of his alternative projects. 

Bad Lieutenant had one disk. New Order hasn't released a new disk for a decade. Electronic for over two. 

Tick tick tick Bernard. 

I selected Bad Lieutenant's "Twist of Fate" (not the Olivia Newton-John song) for today's selection. 

Maybe don't watch the video as it has puppets or marionettes or the like. Those are always creepy and kind of distract from the music. 

Revolt

No Kings Redux.

I knew it was coming. Unlike last time, I couldn't get jazzed. 

I'd love to tell you I talked myself out of going at the last minute, but in reality I never made plans to attend.

My spirit is dampened to say the least. 

I can do 'woe is me' at home. And while I get that's not the point of these get togethers, I just couldn't muster the energy to go. 

The day here was perfect for it. It reached the upper 70s and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I can't tell you how many people came to the downtown Cleveland event - not because I was not there, but the new orgs I Goooooooogled just said "thousands". 

Yeahhhhhhhhh.......that tells a story, doesn't it? 

There were to be over 2600 protests country-wide. Ohio had a fair share of them. Even the NE Ohio red areas like Strongsville, Mentor, Hudson and the likes. 

I heard over 40,000 in Portland. 100,000 in NYC and Los Angeles (each). San Francisco had 50k. Chicago had "tens of thousands" - so that narrows it down. One report said there were over a million in Boston, but that last number seems highly unlikely. 

Many cities reported a greater showing than the one in June. 

That's great. 

But can we stop calling it "kings"?   

This fucktard doesn't want to be king, He wants to be - no IS - a dictator. 

Anymore, King / Queens are ceremonial figureheads at best. They are for show. 

Let's call this what it is. Even our own protests stifle the reality of the situation by not calling that out. Maybe "king" sells better in marketing shit, but it is so not the reality. 

I have to give it up to my Old Man's Running Group. Just about everyone who showed yesterday to run and eat at the bakery were leaving to go to one rally or another. It's a group where we rarely talk politics, but these guys were gonna go. 

Someone posted a few weeks back that the US is doing this all wrong - and maybe we are. They pointed to France where when they protest, they do it for days, weeks or months at a time, shutting down systems, cities, infrastructure. 

Let's be honest, like the title image, the Frogs have some history behind their success in that area. I mean, I'd PAY handsomely to go to a public execution of BLOTUS. 

What, if anything, comes out of these protests is to be seen. So far, no one in public office seems to be running scared of anything. Maybe we need to step up the game. 

Song by: Muse

Ridiculous

Pet Pics?

We got 'em. 

Last week I was in Columbus and the folks there were hoping that Ridic would make last week's post. No such luck. I had pre-drafted before I left home so I wouldn't have to blog all weekend. 

....because I'm smart. 

So Ridic makes an appearance this week. And I have enough shots taken where he can probably include him next week too. 

Here we go!

Ridic was loving my pets, but he's a little skittish. 

I had to win him over each and every time I came back in the room. Like a gay bar in the '90s. 

Shep out in a park in Shaker. Bored by it all, it seems. 

Bailey looking back to make sure her ward is still doing their duty. 

One kitten up high. Don't ask me which - I don't know. 

More fall foliage Shep. 

The angle is weird. It looks like an AI pumpkin photoshopped on his back. 

Same kitten, just closer. 

Being told it was past dinner time. 

Ridic is a tall boy. But oh so handsome. 

Song by: Bowling for Soup

Hateful

Jesus Fucking Christ - is it any wonder I'm on multiple antidepressants and in therapy for depression and anxiety? 

Is it any wonder why I don't read or watch the news? 

Even via social media - which I am trying to limit - this took me two days to see it. 

While I wish I never had, somewhere inside of me is weirdly "grateful" that I truly see what it's like out there. 

And don't say it isn't and that this is only a small subset. I don't think that to be true. Not anymore. 

I'm soooooooo fucking tired of the libtards being the seen as the groomers of things - being trans, woke, drag queens and whatever else they throw into that bucket. 

I'd say grooming and hoping for a new holocaust is slightly worse than men in dresses reading to kids. 

And JD Fucking Vance. What can I even say about this fuck twat?  Secret Service can interview me should this filter to the NSA, as I won't go after him, but if he died today it wouldn't be too soon. And I don't care how it happens. Painful would be preferable. 

But I thought I'd post some of the Young Republicunts texts. Make it a thing. A humiliating thing. But for some faction, seeing it in print is a badge of honour. 

Part of me is amused that they didn't spell out 'retarded'. Because some lines just can't be crossed? 

If anyone wants to help me ruin the above folk's lives, and wants to do some sleuthing, I'd be appreciative. 

Seems like Peter Giunta has been fired from his job. He also put out a non-apology apology:

“I am so sorry to those offended by the insensitive and inexcusable language found within the more than 28,000 messages of a private group chat that I created during my campaign to lead the Young Republican National Federation. While I take complete responsibility, I have had no way of verifying their accuracy and am deeply concerned that the message logs in question may have been deceptively doctored,” he said. 

FUCK. YOU. 

And to be petty and personal:  Tell me he's not one of the biggest incels ever. 

Alex Dwyer is out after they shut down the Kansas Young Republican group.  

After that, I kind of got bummed and looked no further. But I'm all for keeping their names alive and reaching out to whomever knows them and making their life hell. 

I'm not Hillary fan, but fuck she let them off easy calling them "deplorables". 

Ugh - I can't believe I have to wait two more weeks till my next therapy session!

Song by: the Clash

Right on Track

As of yesterday, despite the government shutdown, the Marine Corps Marathon  (MCM) is still slated for 11 days from now. 

That doesn't mean it's a "go", but as of now it's not a "no go". 

Last Sunday the Army 10 Miler went off with almost 19,000 participants, which is about half of what the Marine Corps does and with more than double the distance. 

More importantly, that race shares some of the same route as the MCM. This bodes somewhat well for the race to still happen. 

The issue isn't with the road closures or finances. It has to do with the US Parks in which runners go into. Technically, the US Parks are to be closed during shutdown, but it becomes an issue of liability if something happens to a runner on those locations. 

The online chatter has calmed down a bit about possible cancellation since the Army did their race. But it amazes me that people purchased non-refundable airline tickets (nationally and internationally) for this race. 

My indignation has nothing do with the race cancellation, but having had several injuries, I wouldn't purchase a non-refundable anything for a race - especially a destination one. 

Others claim if it is cancelled they'll come anyway and run. I'm assuming not the actual route as streets won't be closed. 

While I love DC, if the MCM is cancelled I'm not going to the District just to go. What's the point?  Monuments, Museums, Buildings etc are all shut down.....at least to the public. I don't need to drive 300 miles to eat out - though the restaurants and hotels I'm sure are taking a beating. 

Luckily, we can cancel our hotel room 24 hours beforehand and not get charged, so I don't think we'll incur any costs. 

Should this be 86'd, I've done a lot of marathon training for nothing. There might be small marathons open to me somewhere, but the bigger ones are all sold out.

I'm in my taper now, which has been the most pleasant one yet. More importantly, mentally I'm strong. Usually I spiral for weeks, but with this one, I'm feeling confident. But I still have 11 days to crumble. 

My biggest marathon stressor?  The line for the port-a-potty before the gun. 

Song by: Breakfast Club

Venus

So, I'm reading this book, the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (so far so good), when there is a one line reference to a story I read as a pre-teen.

All Summer in a Day (I had to Gooooooogle the title, as I did not remember it) was a short story written by Ray Bradbury (something else I didn't know until I Goooooogled it). 

This is the second time this story has come up for me in the last 15-20 years. Last time was like in 2007 and a co-worker was trying to remember if it was something they had actually really read or something they imagined.

I was the only person there who confirmed it to be true, but man it took me back immediately, as did the this literary reference.

Neither took me back in a good way. 

Honestly, I think I repressed the whole experience of the story as what came flooding back in both instances were possibly my first story experience of bullying. It was such an act of cruelty and I remember it shaking me to the core at the time - and these two times decades later. 

I never reread the story, but perhaps I should. Perhaps it is not as cruel as I remember, but I think that not the case. 

As many schools are claiming (but not acting on) zero-tolerance bullying, I wonder if this is part of their curriculum. I don't recall there being a teacher-led discussion on this story after the fact, but I think there are huge life lessons to be had. 

While the one character is locked in a closet, the experience is fluid with any other personal "oddity". I'm sure I equated it with being queer - though not quite sure what it all meant at the time - but others could use looks, personality, intellect etc, as their catalyst for being picked on. 

The Wao reference was just so out of nowhere it jarred me. It was days ago I stumbled across it and I'm still thinking about it all. 

Did anyone else read / remember All Summer in a Day?  If so, thoughts on it or if I'm overthinking (again)?

Song by: Bananarama

Free at Last

While I'm not reading news articles, it's hard to miss that the hostage exchange has happened in Israel and Palestine.  

For this I'm glad-ish. 

Obviously for the hostages who did not die within the last two years, it is wonderful. Still there is an underlying stink to it all.

I came so close to clicking on an article to read, but then saw BLOTUS' fat fucking self in pics with Netanyahu. Any deal that was even remotely touched on by that douchebag has bad things written all over it. 

First off - the "man" is NOT a negotiator. He claims he is, but at best in a diplomatic situation, he's a figurehead from all the work someone in the State Department completed. He's a bulldozer, in every regard - mostly in hue and weight. 

I am guessing (again, didn't read), that with this ceasefire nothing has truly changed. There seem to be no peace talks. There seems to be no resolution to conflict itself - not even a faux one. 

There is very temporary peace, I'm assuming. No prize to go along with it - meaning Nobel. 

The prize currently are for the hostages and their families. I'm sure Ben and BLOAT will be doing a lot of back-patting in front of any camera in a 10km radius. They are both shysters. 

But I'll take the hostages being freed as a win. And still mourn the ones who were killed during the last two years.  Along with the hundreds or thousands who have died in this conflict in the last two years. 

It's a black cloud / silver lining kind of thing. 

Song by: Al Green

12 of 12

So I'm doing my 186th 12 of 12.

Normally it is 12 pictures taken on the 12th of the month. Since I only post once per day, you get my images the following day. All pictures taken with my iPhone. Click images to enlarge, if you choose.

Created by Chad Darnell and picked up from, what I can tell, any number of random bloggers who then link back to him and vice versa. Chad is no longer doing this, nor is successor coordinating the linking of other 12 of 12'ers anymore.  

01:23. My first wake-up. 

I spent the weekend in Columbus with the squad. 

04:52. Second wake-up and bathroom stop. 

07:12. Starting my morning run: 6.27 mi. 

07:45. Pic on my run. 

Ran up to, and around, Antrim Lake. Steam coming off the water. Looked more impressive live. 

08:50. A little dab will do ya. Just some lotion for some problem facial skin. 

09:13. Post run, post shower nutrition. 

09:47.  New friend. 

Meredith's dog, Zero Ridic was on-site. We semi-formed a bond. 

12:09. Headed back to the 216. 

14:13. Arriving home. Being greeted by Shep

14:48. Checking running friends marathon results. 

19:51. Pasta for dinner

21:33. Getting ready for bed. 

(We Want) the Same Thing

Well, I finally settled on a frame. 

I considered getting two pairs - different ones - but thought better of it. Let's see how one works out and I can consider another at another time. 

The headache I was having selecting was well warranted. 

My brain usually picks up on things fairly easily - unless you're a really clever NYT Connections game. Then sometimes it's just a crapshoot. Sometimes and out-and-out fail. 

Anyways until I truly found a frame I liked, that wasn't out of bounds price-wise, I was kind of happy. I bookmarked it for later and still looked at a site or two I had not yet perused. 

In two of those, I found the exact same frame.  

Oddly - or not - I didn't see repeat frames on other sites. But to qualify, I didn't see it with other frames that interested me. Since each site has 200-300 selections, one can see where I might not pick up on that pattern. The green frames from I saw last April I didn't see anywhere else, and I think I would have noticed that post haste. 

So now me being nosy me started to look at the deets (as the kids say) of the multiple frame on multiple sites. 

Frames alone ranged from $60 to $100. Final product, with the exact same type of lenses went anywhere from $170 to $290.  That's not a difference of a little.

Oddly - or not - two of the online ordering programs were identical. 

A friend of mine once told me Luxottica makes the majority of frames and sells them under several monikers. I suppose like Amana makes the same fridge and sells it under their name, or Sears brand or Frigidare. Or - if you're a My Cousin Vinny fan - a 1963 Pontiac Tempest and and the 1964 Buick Skylark. 

Naturally I selected the least expensive. I mean, why not?  The lenses are the same thickness and weight. The frames are identical. Why would I pay $40 or $120 more? 

Hopefully, they won't look sucky on me.  Time will tell. 

Song by: Belinda Carlisle

Animals

Ani-mules.  We got 'em. 

Happy Dog. 

Awwwwww......

Siggie at daycare. He was there when I went to pick up Shep. 

Not Henry. But acts like Henry. 

Not sure if it's Henry or Virginia. But kitten doing kitten things. 

Fall afternoon walk.

Song by: Muse

Shopping

You know, at times - most of them - I just hate spending money. 

Still, I have got a wedding coming up and little to wear. 

When we went business casual a few years ago - pre Covid - my suits fit iffly anyways. Add into that since then I've lost somewhere between 20-35 pounds (depending on which suit we were talking about) that anything in that collection just hangs off me at this point.

Don't get me started on some moth problem(s). 

So a new suit was in order. 

But I also like to procrastinate. 

Not only do I not like parting with dough, I loathe shopping. And being tended to in such stores where I know they're gonna measure, mark stuff and generally fuss is a reason enough to hold off going in. 

Time though is kind of the essence. Shit or get off the pot, as they say. 

So off the pot I went. Or shat. I'm not sure which one I was supposed to do. Or not do. 

I hit one store and found nothing. Then onto another. I realize that I make bad decisions just to get out of the shopping situation as early as possible. So I stuck with it and that thought to help me navigate this once so I do it right and never again. 

It didn't take me long to find a probable suit. The material, colour and lack of pattern suited me (ha! see that?). The guy tried to show me another one with large checks, which might have been nice, but it wasn't me. And in two years people would be say, "that is so 2025!". And it was way more than I wanted to spend. 

Now the store guy / tailor does this for a living, so I'm sure he knew what he is talking about when he said, "are you a 36 or 38 inch waist?". 

O-U-C-H. 

Before I could answer, he said, "don't say 32 or 34 because you'd be wrong". 

O-U-C-H #2

Depending on my semi-dress slacks or jeans I am a 32 or 34 - even if I have to suck it in a bit.

The 44R jacket was perfect. The pants he provided - 36 - were far too big. I felt semi-vindicated. And while I'd l'd have liked them to be 32, the 34s were just fine, save for a small alteration in the hem of the legs and to add a slight break. 

All told, it was still more than I wanted to spend, but you know, if I can maintain this weight, this might be the last suit I ever buy. 

At least I hope it is. 

Song by: the Pet Shop Boys

Similar Features

It looks like Becky was at Lowes or Homo Depot yesterday. And even though it is almost three weeks out from Halloween, the xmas decorations are on display and on the market. 

She sent me a short video of it and I had an immediate reaction. 

Holy Mother of g-d, Yukon Cornelius and Jason Kelce are the same person !!

How have I not noticed this before?? 

And so I mentioned it. If I'm totally honest, I was slightly astounded that Rebecca knew who Jason Kelce was. 

Travis Kelce has a cuteness quotient going on, but Jason is the fun one, hands down. More fun and funnier. He's not the Gucci wearing on game day brother. It's flip-flops or Crocs for Jason. 

No offense to Taylor, but Jason also has the better wife. 

But if you ever watch New Heights - the Kelce brothers podcast - it's almost immediate that Jason is the better brother. 

So in a matter of seconds - lit-rah-lly - I Goooooooooged Jason Kelce Yu....and then it just autofilled in with 'kon Cornelius'. It was less than a minute from reading Becky's IM to me when I responded with words AND images. 

While Gooooooogle is good at reading what little mind I have, I'm really thinking many others have already make this connection.  

....and they had. 

Clearly if you go to 'images' in your Goooooogle search, you'll find many like the above. Someone has already put in the work. 

I should be clear, it's not only a physical resemblance, but there are some mannerisms and vocal inflections that are similar. 

The association is just great and it lifts both Kelce and Cornelius' brand image. 

If there is ever a live stage production of Rudolph, casting should have Jason on speed dial. 

Song by: Melissa Ethridge

Raining

It rained yesterday. Poured actually.

I'm not complaining. 

We haven't had rain for weeks. The weather has been nice - if not unseasonably warm. Some days out and out scorchers......in October!

Last evening was also the training groups Tuesday run. I thought the rain was over for the day. I was wrong. 

Just due to might-be bad weather, only a handful of us showed up. I'm not sure if that makes us more dedicated or more foolish. Maybe somewhere in between. 

It was only a four mile run, so it was fine. In case of a thunderstorm though, I did four miles at 05:00. So technically I did eight yesterday. But it was the first time (I think) since June that I ran in the rain. 

I get many don't like it, but I am good with running in the rain. More importantly, it's a good training tool. You don't know what race day will be like, so you should plan for this. Autumn almost especially. Wet leaves? Slickery. One must be prepared. 

Everyone was soaked. I didn't have a change of clothes or a towel, so my car is gonna smell icky today. Wet, sweaty Blobby on leather seats that is now sitting in a garage overnight.  Ick. It's as bad as wet dog smell.  Maybe worse. 

The rain is supposed to cease before most of you read this, but the water was welcome, especially from the plants. 

It also makes for good sleeping weather. 

Song by: Susanna Hoffs

For Your Eyes Only

Months ago I lamented between two sets of frames on which I liked for my next pair of glasses. 

Back then I said there was a 93% chance I'd purchase nothing at all. 

How very very smart I am. 

It got to the point I really needed a new eye script, as the last one was from 2023. Why get new frames if you cannot see out the lenses? 

Last week, I got a new script that was so close to the last one, the doc said I didn't even need new glasses. Except for the fact that with the last visit, I didn't get any new glasses, which means 2021 was my last pair(s). So yes, I'm woefully out of date. 

I'd say the two frames from before are still in contention, except for the fact I don't remember the manufacturer of the top pair. The green pair are still doable, but hnestly, with my lenses it really isn't much of a financial deal. The prices creep up fairly quick. 

As is with the algorithm, I now have 117 different on-line frame places pestering me. Each with uglier frames than the last, or so heavily populated, the one in the ad is almost impossible to find on their site. 

So I'm still at a  93% chance of getting nothing at all. All out of frustration. I lose my patience and attention span almost immediately. Or I jump through the hoops only to find the cost somewhat prohibitive. 

I mean, it's not. But they're not the $52 dollar frames and lenses from Payne Optical. And trust me, I went back there. It seems I ordered the only viable set they had already. 

There is also insecurity on what I'm picking but not trying on first. The last two pair seem big on me. Others disagree, but I feel they're just being nice. And when I compare those measurements to the new ones, they all seem the same size.....or larger. 

I'm sure I'll figure it out.........someday. Maybe with my 2026 prescription. 

Maybe.

Song by: Blondie

My Music Monday

It's My Music Monday Roulette. 

No selected song in advance. No ideas. Just shuffle on my music liberry until I get to the 10th song, or further should we have already covered the one on which it lands. 

It did not. 

So you get Tim Finn's "Persuasion" from 1993. 

Finn was the founder of the group Split Enz back in the early 70s. In the early 80s, Tim's brother, Neil, joined the band and penned the groups biggest hit - at least outside of New Zealand and Australia - with "I Got You". 

The band had other hits domestically - theirs, not ours - and many of those were written by Tim. 

Neil Finn, without a doubt, is one the best songwriters out there. Hands down. But Tim does well too - just overshadowed a bit. 

Now and then, both will record as the Finn Brothers, and those albums have been pretty excellent. Split Enz is looking for a reunion in 2026, so we'll see how that goes. Tim started putting out solo disks before the band broke up and had some decent successes with them - again, down under ways. 

I've always loved "Persuasion".  Actually, I like most of his solo disks overall.  But give this one a try. 

Cooking with Blobby

The weather must be changing. It's still good enough to do the majority of dinners on the grill. But I wanted to try something else - and so I did

Orange Pepper Chicken - I mean, what doesn't sound good about that? 

There aren't tons of ingredients, but this one is about timing. In retrospect - and in the future - I'd prep like it was America's Test Kitchen and everything measured out at the start so things could come together a little more easily. 

It's not that I miscalculated a lot, it is just that some of it was more rushed than I would have liked. I did have one small error. 

There are kind of three steps: making the marinade, cooking the chicken and making the sauce. That last one wasn't exactly my downfall, but I made assumptions that you'd make the sauce in the pan with the chicken. Nope. So I had to pivot and pick up the pace. 

Let's get going. 

INGREDIENTS 

Makes 4-5 servings (It made 3 servings. No way this could feed 4-5 people)

MARINADE 

2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless 

3 cloves garlic, minced 

1 orange, juiced 

1/2 C soy sauce, low-sodium 

1 TBSP rice vinegar 

1 tsp kosher salt 

1/4 C olive oil 

ORANGE PEPPER SAUCE 

Zest of 1 orange 

2-3 oranges, juiced (about 1 C) 

1 TBSP black peppercorns, coarsely crushed 

1 TBSP soy sauce, low-sodium 

1 tsp sesame oil 

3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 

3 TBSP butter, unsalted 

1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated 

1/3 C honey 

Salt to taste 

DIRECTIONS 

STEP 1: MARINADE Combine the marinade ingredients in a bowl or large Ziploc bag and fully coat the chicken. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours, or at least 30 mins. 

That's lookin' purdy - no?

STEP 2: COOK Grill the chicken over medium heat for 12-15 minutes, flipping occasionally. Alternatively, the chicken can be cooked at 400°F in the air fryer for 25 minutes or the oven for about 30 minutes with a flip halfway through. The chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 170°F. 

STEP 3: SAUCE When the chicken is finished cooking, preheat a skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the crushed peppercorns and garlic in olive oil until the garlic just begins to brown and get fragrant, then reduce heat to low. Quickly add in the orange juice and butter so the garlic doesn’t burn. Then add the soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and honey. Simmer on low for a few minutes until it begins to thicken, then turn off the heat and add the orange zest and salt to taste. 

This is the one error. I got soy sauce into the marinade, but for got to add the 1 tablespoon to the sauce pan. I'm not sure how much this might have changed the make-up. 

The sauce was thin, so I did make a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up - which it did, nicely.

Coat the chicken in the sauce then serve.

I served it over jasmine rice. 

It was all good, but not what I was expecting.  I assumed the peppercorn flavour would pop more. The kitchen reeked of garlic, but in the dish it wasn't overpowering, nor was the ginger. Or the orange, for that matter. It melded together just great - but with all those flavours I thought it would be more bold. 

Maybe that was the point, of course. The blend was supposed to happen the way it did. I think the honey had a lot to do with the taming of the taste. While only(?) 1/3 of a cup, the dish had a sweetness factor to it. Garnishing with scallions would have added something too. 

Not an out of the park winner but it has potential. I'd do it again.