Good Bad Good Bad: Bad good bad, #2

By Michel Bluteau

Good bad good bad picks up where the first book left us.

After the attack against brain implant manufacturer Neocuris has been somehow mitigated, we follow Kim to San Francisco where she is trying to stitch her relationships back together.

She eventually makes it back to Portland where she will have to consider an amazing career opportunity at the cost of putting her personal life on the line again.  But here the story takes an unexpected turn for the healthcare giant Neocuris.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michel Bluteau
• Release date: Dec 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781540818638

Michel Bluteau

With Bad Good Bad, I wanted first to share my passion for science.  I got my M.Sc. in Computational Physics after my undergrad combo Math+Physics.  I ended up enjoying a fulfilling career in Information Security and Identity Management working for major software editors, but I am still reading Scientific American and Discover every month, keeping in touch with the latest science discoveries and insights.  I also have the chance to travel around the world for work.  Bad Good Bad is a collage of all my experiences.  I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, switching hats between reader and writer.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Good bad good bad | Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Good bad good bad

Chapter 1

I jump off the tram.  Back on the long board.  A few minutes before I get to Voilà!

Amanda, she’s my mom.  She is a fighter.  And an entrepreneur, not unlike Tom.  Pregnant at 17, no paper, she had to raise me alone.  I never met my real dad.

She always wanted the best for me.  She always protected me.  She had to roll up her sleeves, she got help from the extended family.  She opened her first restaurant in Los Angeles, a taqueria, nothing really fancy, but she was always trying to find something different from the start.  She was both running the business and the kitchen at first.  At one point she hired a chef who was really inspired.  The menu started to evolve in a unique way.  It became a famous stop for those who were looking for an inspired and healthy Mexican cuisine. 

Amanda married my stepfather, Randy, when I was 4 years old.  Cristina my little sister was born 2 years later, when I was 6.  I was very excited when my little sister finally arrived.  I could hold her in my arms at the hospital.  I liked to think she was my little baby. 

After a few years, my mother sold the restaurant.  She was ready to start a new one.  She is a busy woman, and as a young girl, I enjoyed a lot of freedom.  I became autonomous at a young age.  I was also a little rebel in my teens. I would end up fighting with Randy, my stepfather, a lot.  He was trying to be a good dad to me, but I had strong opinions.  I would rebel against his authority, I would defy him.  When he left my mother, Cristina was 10 and I was 16.  That’s when we moved north to San Francisco.  Cristina got the idea somehow that I was responsible for splitting the family, and still to this day, I think she is a bit angry at me.  She is very close to Randy, she loves her father.

Last year, Amanda was on the run again to open a new restaurant.  She was looking for something unique, something new.  San Francisco has a lot to offer, but she has ambitions and she is setting the goal for herself to be recognized as an innovator.  She travelled to Paris in April.  She wanted to catch the vibe, learn about the new trends, and see where the best chefs in Paris were evolving what she calls ‘La fine cuisine’.  She told me she found out about a few chefs who were trained in Japan, then in France, by flipping the pages of a magazine that was on the coffee table in her hotel room.  She was expecting to be served some foie gras sushi or some other catchy combo, but no.  Just traditional French cuisine, with a kick:  New combinations of spices, sauces and presentations that are out of this world.  The plates were not too filling, and each one a little piece of art to the eye, a hidden gem.

She convinced Toshiro to follow her back to San Francisco.  Toshiro spent 4 years in France.  At first he had to work very hard to make a name for himself.  He was starting to be recognized as one of the top new chefs in Paris.  Amanda told him that he could always use the experience in San Francisco to boost his credentials as an international chef.  He is an adventurer.  He jumped in.

I can see the restaurant now, and the vertical sign for Voilà! Written from top to bottom, with a little Japanese feel to it.  I grab my board and push the door.  It is 8 pm, the place is starting to be busy.  I don’t recognize the woman at the welcome desk, probably a new employee.  I have not been here in more than 3 months.  I don’t have a reservation, but she finds a table for me.  I sit down after putting my board against the wall.  I open the menu, but I am not really reading it. I don’t feel very hungry right now.

Amanda spots me.  She walks to my table in a hurry, looking very concerned.

Amanda:  What are you doing here?  Are you out of your mind?  Get out of this place!  Amanda grabs me by the arm and she drags me outside