Tony has been recovering from a cold for a while, so last night we went to the store to get some Musilex so he can “harden the mucus and cough it out”… Yum! Anyway, we’ve been frequenting Rite Aid a lot lately due to his cold and the cold that I had last week and up until yesterday I had been good and had limited my candy perusing to the picked-over-75%-off-Valentines-day candy… but yesterday, I was on my cell phone while we were at the drug store and I inadvertently wandered into the Easter Candy aisle… and it was GLORIOUS!!!! I kept my cool though I only ended up buying 4 boxes of peeps and 2 Cadbury Cream eggs… and I only ate one Cadbury egg and 1 box of peeps last night…My self control is pretty impressive, I know.
I must say, Easter has the best candy of all of the holidays! Halloween is all about candy so you’d think that it would be the winner of the best holiday candy award, but it is not even close… for Halloween, and Christmas and Valentines day and all the other holidays they just give you the same ordinary candy that you get for the rest of the year, but they color it or wrap it differently… except at Valentines day they have those crappy hearts that say things like “u r sweet” and at Christmas there are candy canes, but those suck, so whatever.
Easter also has regular candy that is colored differently … but I think candy tastes better when it is shaped like an egg or a bunny… I really like some of the hollow bunny chocolates … and then there are chocolate truffles or chocolate with marshmallows from Sees Candies and other such places that are shaped like an egg and then have decorative sugar designs on top and they are just super good and you don’t see much sugar painting on chocolates except at Easter time… But for me the crown jewelws of Easter are: Cadbury Eggs, Peeps and Jelly Beans and oh and also those little egg cartons filled with chocolate covered marshmallow eggs… YUM…
I am a little disappointed in Peeps though ‘cause they seem to have turned into money hungry whores in recent years… now they have Halloween “peeps” shaped like pumpkins and Valentines day “peeps” shaped like hearts and Christmas” peeps” that are snowmen… but that’s just stupid… it doesn’t make sense to eat something called a “peep” unless it looks like a baby chicken… damn are those little sugary marshmallow chickens tasty though! I think it’s the sugar on top that really does it or maybe its just the light fluffiness of them… I didn’t really appreciate peeps as a young kid, but obviously I have a more refined pallet now.
Easter is also cool ‘cause you get to paint eggs and have an Easter Egg hunt. What other holiday has a built in competition? My family had a game tournament on Christmas this year (which Tony and I dominated)… but it was no where near as exciting as an egg hunt. It's like a magical sport. You get to paint eggs funky colors and then supposedly a magical bunny hides them and then you get to run around and find them so you can eat develled eggs and eat candy for the next week.
It’s pretty fun to dye the eggs, but mostly ‘cause of the anticipation of looking for them later… although we used to buy these plastic sleeves with pictures and designs on them that you put around the egg and then put in boiling water for a second and it would shrink the plastic onto the eggs and they would be perfectly decorated. I haven’t seen them for years but I though those were really cool… Hunting for Easter eggs is just awesome though! I think it should be a pro sport! Finding hidden prizes is a really rewarding feeling and also egg hunting can be more challenging than most people realize. You have to be shrewd and try not to let your fellow hunters know when you’ve seen an egg, but you still have to get to it, so you’ve got to kind of casually walk over to the area with the hidden egg and then just subtly place it in your basket.
When I was a kid I remember my brother and I running around and looking out all of the windows around our house see if we could spot any of the eggs and therefore have an advantage once we were allowed outside to start the hunt. There were certain places that there would always be an egg hidden too… like the mail box and pretty much every pot ted plant would have an egg by it. Also, my dad would always spray-paint one of the eggs gold; that was the big find. It would be hidden in a harder to find place than the other eggs and if you found a gold egg you would get to cash it in for a super prize.
My parents used to hide the chicken eggs we had decorated and also plastic eggs with candy in them. Then we could trade in all of our regular chicken eggs for plastic eggs filled with candy. If you traded in the gold egg you got a big plastic egg with better candy in it than the regular sized plastic eggs.
Every year there seemed to be at least a couple eggs that never got found though, and my parents would not remember where they had hidden them, so either one of our dogs would show up with egg shell all over her face a few days later, or in May or June we would find a cracked open plastic egg filled with slugs and stuff. Finding the slug filled one would still give me some satisfaction though ‘cause I had found an egg that was obviously really well hidden.
My bro and sister in-law were supposed to have an egg hunt with Tony and I last year, which would have been the first egg hunt I’ve had with my brother for at least 10 years, but it ended up not happening. One of these days though I’d like a rematch. I think I could definitely be a contender now.
Tony and I had an egg hunt 2 or 3 years ago. Our friend Stephanie came over and hid eggs in his apartment. I think I found about 3 times as many eggs as Tony did. He really wasn’t hustling. Indoor egg hunting isn’t as fun as doing it in a yard though ‘cause there is stuff you can break, so you can’t really run full speed or throw an elbow if you are going for the same egg at the same time as someone else. The year we had an egg hunt at Tony’s apartment, he had bought me a ring and hid it in one of the eggs. That was really really cute of him I thought.
Now that we have our own house I think we are going to have to have an off the hook Easter Egg hunt. My friend Anushka will be here for Easter… I wonder if she would rather hide the eggs or hunt against me.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
I'm blah years old and I'm pretty eehhh at it
I used to always think it was supremely impressive when young people would do remarkable things. When an 18 year old wrote a novel or a 16 year old graduated college or something I would be like: "Wow, they are just about as amazing as a person can be 'cause they have accomplished so much in such a short time"... now that I'm a little older I have shifted my view... Now I feel that the title of supremely impressive should go to the older folks that do things... When I was younger I was hopeful and driven and untainted. I had time... kids and younger people have time and energy. Now that I've worked a full time job for a few years and I have bills to pay and other adult responsibilities, I realize it takes a lot more courage and moxy to push ones' self to do impressive things when you're older... lately when I hear about a grandmother graduating with honors from a major college or an old lady writing a best-selling novel at the age of 65, I am like "hat's off to you Mam, you went through decades and decades of working to earn money because you had to and paying taxes because you had to and conforming to all of these things that you had to do because you are a member of society... and yet you still managed to maintain your sense of self and managed to conquer your goals... very very impressive... I hope that's me some day". The young kids are still impressive of coarse, but you had the youthful vigor and innocence on your side. Old folks have got to fight harder to make time to go for their goals and they have more at stake when they take risks, so that just seems harder. I think it's like the old folks are running around the track jumping hurdles and spinning plates on their nose, and they aren't going to make it around first, but all the young kids have to worry about is going fast, they don't have to worry about dealing with all the other obstacles.
I feel like I am at a point in my life though where I can't really do anything that will be super impressive. I'm 25; I totally missed the "oh you've accomplished so much at a young age" boat and I am years and years away from the "wow, what courage and tenacity you have to go and do something impressive now" wagon. I am a middle aged person and anything I do will at best be mildly impressive, yet I feel like it is still a very important time in my life... this is the time where I can start lining myself up to be the impressive granny. I suppose it really is never too late to go and accomplish your dreams... but I think it will make it a lot more possible for me to go get my farm and whatnot if I start learning the skills I need now and line myself up to go in that direction. Some things do take a life time to master, so I should get on that.
Also, there are a lot of things I would like to do and see in the mean time... I get kind of jealous and bitter when I find out about all of the cool things that people my age are doing... Facebook is horrible for me because of that. Yesterday I was looking at people's photos on Facebook and it made me so envious of everyone and then I got mad at myself for being jealous of my friends. Why should I feel anything other than happy that my brother and his wife got to go to Europe and have tons of fun there? Why does it bother me that a couple of my friends went hiking in castle rock and couple others went hiking in the Muir woods? Why do I think it's so cool that a friend of mine seems to have just spontaneously decided one day to take a trip to So.Cal and back and why does that make me feel bad? It makes no sense. It is completely illogical... and illogical things are very frustrating to me, but at the same time I do appreciate emotions... usually... I wish that it didn't make me feel bad about myself to see other people enjoying things that I would like to do, but I guess what it comes down to is that I feel left out... and it makes me feel guilty that I don't go out and do more... I hate feeling like I am being a loafer and wasting my life... and feeling left out kind of reinforces my feeling of worthlessness because I feel like I'm not cool enough to be taken on outings like that by my friends... I mean obviously I don't expect Rob and Nicole to take me on their romantic European get away, but seeing their pictures are just a reminder of the fact that Tony and I have pretty much never been on a trip of our own... other than the trip I took Tony on to the San Diego Zoo for his birthday the first year we were together. All of our trips since that one have been to see family... and that is fun and I love seeing our families, but ahh to have a romantic get away wouldn't that be fantastic?
Usually I can work through the jealousy though and tell myself one day I will get to go to all of the places I want to... or at least a lot of them, but there always seems to be some excuse not to go... the weather or money or the allure of the couch... sigh... I like going out in the rain sometimes though... there are less people around and it makes things feel more adventurous and a lot of the trips that I would like to take are very low cost things... and I get plenty of couch time during the week. Next time I have a day or a weekend I am going to drag Tony's ass out of the House and we're going to go somewhere... even if its just to the trails behind our house... I still have time to load up the impressive granny wagon and ride it all the way to impressive geratric glory.
I feel like I am at a point in my life though where I can't really do anything that will be super impressive. I'm 25; I totally missed the "oh you've accomplished so much at a young age" boat and I am years and years away from the "wow, what courage and tenacity you have to go and do something impressive now" wagon. I am a middle aged person and anything I do will at best be mildly impressive, yet I feel like it is still a very important time in my life... this is the time where I can start lining myself up to be the impressive granny. I suppose it really is never too late to go and accomplish your dreams... but I think it will make it a lot more possible for me to go get my farm and whatnot if I start learning the skills I need now and line myself up to go in that direction. Some things do take a life time to master, so I should get on that.
Also, there are a lot of things I would like to do and see in the mean time... I get kind of jealous and bitter when I find out about all of the cool things that people my age are doing... Facebook is horrible for me because of that. Yesterday I was looking at people's photos on Facebook and it made me so envious of everyone and then I got mad at myself for being jealous of my friends. Why should I feel anything other than happy that my brother and his wife got to go to Europe and have tons of fun there? Why does it bother me that a couple of my friends went hiking in castle rock and couple others went hiking in the Muir woods? Why do I think it's so cool that a friend of mine seems to have just spontaneously decided one day to take a trip to So.Cal and back and why does that make me feel bad? It makes no sense. It is completely illogical... and illogical things are very frustrating to me, but at the same time I do appreciate emotions... usually... I wish that it didn't make me feel bad about myself to see other people enjoying things that I would like to do, but I guess what it comes down to is that I feel left out... and it makes me feel guilty that I don't go out and do more... I hate feeling like I am being a loafer and wasting my life... and feeling left out kind of reinforces my feeling of worthlessness because I feel like I'm not cool enough to be taken on outings like that by my friends... I mean obviously I don't expect Rob and Nicole to take me on their romantic European get away, but seeing their pictures are just a reminder of the fact that Tony and I have pretty much never been on a trip of our own... other than the trip I took Tony on to the San Diego Zoo for his birthday the first year we were together. All of our trips since that one have been to see family... and that is fun and I love seeing our families, but ahh to have a romantic get away wouldn't that be fantastic?
Usually I can work through the jealousy though and tell myself one day I will get to go to all of the places I want to... or at least a lot of them, but there always seems to be some excuse not to go... the weather or money or the allure of the couch... sigh... I like going out in the rain sometimes though... there are less people around and it makes things feel more adventurous and a lot of the trips that I would like to take are very low cost things... and I get plenty of couch time during the week. Next time I have a day or a weekend I am going to drag Tony's ass out of the House and we're going to go somewhere... even if its just to the trails behind our house... I still have time to load up the impressive granny wagon and ride it all the way to impressive geratric glory.
Monday, February 23, 2009
This one's for you immune system
I was watching the academy awards last night and it was kind of boring, but hearing all of the movie people do their thank you speeches kind of got me thinking about what I'm thankful for... and one thing that really has been standing out to me lately is what an amazing immune system I have. ( I just knocked on my wooden desk... jeez I am getting so superstitious in my old age.)
I feel like I really put my immune system to the test every day, and yet I rarely get sick. Last week I had a cold for like 4 days and that was the sickest I've been for about 2 years... but I wasn't even sick enough to miss a single second of work. In fact I wasn't even sick enough to not ride my bike to work IN THE RAIN every day last week. I was just kind of sleepy and mucusy and that was it. I think someone with a lesser immune system would have gotten pneumonia if they had ridden to work with wet hair and wet socks for 5 days while they were coming down with something, but my immune system just fights like a bad ass soldier no matter how inclement the weather is and no matter how extreme the temperature is and no matter how many desserts I eat while I am feeling less than 100%... Armed only with copious amounts of water, some lemon juice and green tea, my immune system has single handedly fought off all of the common colds, flues and viruses that have been thrown at me over the last few years.
My coworker, Theresa, sits about 5 feet away from me for 9 hours every day and I think I can count on 1 hand the number of days, in the last two years that I have worked with her, that she has not been at least partly sick; yet I have hung tough without even so much as a sniffle for about 360 days of each of the 2 years we've worked together... and on those 5 other days, I still was not debilitatingly sick I was just a little bit more phlegmy and sneezy and honestly I love sneezing... it really is as satisfying as people say it is.
Here is another example of the prowes of my immune system: This one time, in college, I was with my boyfriend at the time, Michael, and we were walking through the parking lot of our dorm when we happened upon an open, used, dirt encrusted stick of deodorant. "what would you pay me to lick that ?" I asked Michael. " you wouldn't lick that" Michael said... so of coarse I had to lick it for free... just to prove that Michael doesn't know everything... and let me tell you that deodorant tasted awful... and the flavor of it did not go away quickly, but let me also tell you I did not even get slightly sick that day... and I think the only way that someone would not get sick after licking a nasty dirty stick of used deodorant is if they have the best immune system in the world... or maybe if the deodorant contains some antibacterial chemical that kills germs and isn't entirely toxic if ingested in really small amounts... either way I think I sure showed Michael that he is not, as he claims to be, omniscient!
.... anyway, back to the topic at hand...
I eat candy and sugary things all the time. I drink almost every weekend. I don't wash my hands every time I got to the bathroom. I do not head the five-second rule. I bite my nails(... actually come to think of it I seem to have stopped biting my nails... hmm imagine that I guess I became less of a nervous nelly at some point and didn't even realize it.) I pretty much do not go out of my way to be particularly healthy at all and yet the vast majority of the time I am healthy.
so I would really just like to take this opportunity to say thank you mom and dad for bestowing me with an excellent immune system and thank you uncontrollable need to constantly drink water for flushing all of the baddies out of my system, but most of all thank you immune system for rocking so hard! You really make my life so much easier and so much better. I love you immune system I just don't know where I'd be without you!
I feel like I really put my immune system to the test every day, and yet I rarely get sick. Last week I had a cold for like 4 days and that was the sickest I've been for about 2 years... but I wasn't even sick enough to miss a single second of work. In fact I wasn't even sick enough to not ride my bike to work IN THE RAIN every day last week. I was just kind of sleepy and mucusy and that was it. I think someone with a lesser immune system would have gotten pneumonia if they had ridden to work with wet hair and wet socks for 5 days while they were coming down with something, but my immune system just fights like a bad ass soldier no matter how inclement the weather is and no matter how extreme the temperature is and no matter how many desserts I eat while I am feeling less than 100%... Armed only with copious amounts of water, some lemon juice and green tea, my immune system has single handedly fought off all of the common colds, flues and viruses that have been thrown at me over the last few years.
My coworker, Theresa, sits about 5 feet away from me for 9 hours every day and I think I can count on 1 hand the number of days, in the last two years that I have worked with her, that she has not been at least partly sick; yet I have hung tough without even so much as a sniffle for about 360 days of each of the 2 years we've worked together... and on those 5 other days, I still was not debilitatingly sick I was just a little bit more phlegmy and sneezy and honestly I love sneezing... it really is as satisfying as people say it is.
Here is another example of the prowes of my immune system: This one time, in college, I was with my boyfriend at the time, Michael, and we were walking through the parking lot of our dorm when we happened upon an open, used, dirt encrusted stick of deodorant. "what would you pay me to lick that ?" I asked Michael. " you wouldn't lick that" Michael said... so of coarse I had to lick it for free... just to prove that Michael doesn't know everything... and let me tell you that deodorant tasted awful... and the flavor of it did not go away quickly, but let me also tell you I did not even get slightly sick that day... and I think the only way that someone would not get sick after licking a nasty dirty stick of used deodorant is if they have the best immune system in the world... or maybe if the deodorant contains some antibacterial chemical that kills germs and isn't entirely toxic if ingested in really small amounts... either way I think I sure showed Michael that he is not, as he claims to be, omniscient!
.... anyway, back to the topic at hand...
I eat candy and sugary things all the time. I drink almost every weekend. I don't wash my hands every time I got to the bathroom. I do not head the five-second rule. I bite my nails(... actually come to think of it I seem to have stopped biting my nails... hmm imagine that I guess I became less of a nervous nelly at some point and didn't even realize it.) I pretty much do not go out of my way to be particularly healthy at all and yet the vast majority of the time I am healthy.
so I would really just like to take this opportunity to say thank you mom and dad for bestowing me with an excellent immune system and thank you uncontrollable need to constantly drink water for flushing all of the baddies out of my system, but most of all thank you immune system for rocking so hard! You really make my life so much easier and so much better. I love you immune system I just don't know where I'd be without you!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The SweetTs
I don't have a band, so I'll throw this out there for any ladies who do... if you are looking for a band name I think a really good one would be "The SweetTs"... there are so many interesting possible meanings...
There is the obvious sweeties option as in oh what sweet hearts...
Then there is the good old southern "Sweet Tea" option... which has vastly expanded in popularity thanks to Mc Donalds serving it as of last summer (although due to Tony's roots I have been acquainted with sweet tea for several years now... he has deep southern roots, so I get to be an OG of sweet tea... oh yeah).
Also there is the possible "Sweet Tease" interpretation which I happen to like the best. Sweet tease in itself has so many deliciously sexy meanings... a sweet tease could be the sweet heart who likes to bait her pursuers with milk and cookies (or some other type of girl next door antics) in order to encourage the affection of her would be lovers, but then once they are all good and worked up and they think that they are going to get some from her she DE-nies them. Or it could also be the act of teasing as seen by some cat-like minx who simply enjoys teasing her pursuers but is not necessarily sweet to them as in "oh how delicious it is when I go in for the sweet tease and toy with my helpless victim! "
I really think the key thing when you are coming up with the name for a band is to make sure that there are as many possible interpretations for your name as possible... it just seems more artistic that way... and one of the meanings has to relate to sex in some way because sex sells.
Having different layers to your name also allows you to have a more versatility sound while still relating your music to your bands name... so if you have a sweet love song that is popular and someone hears it for the first time they'd be like "oh gosh darn it I love those sweeties. What dears they are!" , but if you have some sexy and or hardcore song the person would be like "Fuck yeah the Sweat Tease are so hot. I would love for that lead singer to tease me. YEAH!" Or if you are down South and you sing a jingle about a hot day the folks would all be like " I tell you what those sweat teas' are just as nice and refreshing as a glass of sweet tea... hmm I think wanna go get some sweet tea right now come to think of it... and also maybe some grits..."
Yet each of those people would all be talking about "the sweetTs", the worlds greatest girl band... hmm maybe I should copy right the name... if its available on go daddy I'm buying that domain name just to be safe... I think that's like the same as a copy right ... right?
Update... I now own www.thesweetts.com ... now i just need to sit and wait for someone to read this blog, form a band, name it the sweetTs, and pay me tons of money for the domain name... wow, I guess I don't even have to be in a band to be a sell out... maybe I could manage the band once the contact me...I'm sure it can't be too hard to be a band manager... It's probably pretty easy to make a website too. I'll have to have Tony show me how to do that... then I can put a link from www.thesweetts.com to this blog post... and it will be like Donnie Darko, where you are just led in circles... or maybe it's not like Donnie Darko at all... that movie was pretty confusing...
There is the obvious sweeties option as in oh what sweet hearts...
Then there is the good old southern "Sweet Tea" option... which has vastly expanded in popularity thanks to Mc Donalds serving it as of last summer (although due to Tony's roots I have been acquainted with sweet tea for several years now... he has deep southern roots, so I get to be an OG of sweet tea... oh yeah).
Also there is the possible "Sweet Tease" interpretation which I happen to like the best. Sweet tease in itself has so many deliciously sexy meanings... a sweet tease could be the sweet heart who likes to bait her pursuers with milk and cookies (or some other type of girl next door antics) in order to encourage the affection of her would be lovers, but then once they are all good and worked up and they think that they are going to get some from her she DE-nies them. Or it could also be the act of teasing as seen by some cat-like minx who simply enjoys teasing her pursuers but is not necessarily sweet to them as in "oh how delicious it is when I go in for the sweet tease and toy with my helpless victim! "
I really think the key thing when you are coming up with the name for a band is to make sure that there are as many possible interpretations for your name as possible... it just seems more artistic that way... and one of the meanings has to relate to sex in some way because sex sells.
Having different layers to your name also allows you to have a more versatility sound while still relating your music to your bands name... so if you have a sweet love song that is popular and someone hears it for the first time they'd be like "oh gosh darn it I love those sweeties. What dears they are!" , but if you have some sexy and or hardcore song the person would be like "Fuck yeah the Sweat Tease are so hot. I would love for that lead singer to tease me. YEAH!" Or if you are down South and you sing a jingle about a hot day the folks would all be like " I tell you what those sweat teas' are just as nice and refreshing as a glass of sweet tea... hmm I think wanna go get some sweet tea right now come to think of it... and also maybe some grits..."
Yet each of those people would all be talking about "the sweetTs", the worlds greatest girl band... hmm maybe I should copy right the name... if its available on go daddy I'm buying that domain name just to be safe... I think that's like the same as a copy right ... right?
Update... I now own www.thesweetts.com ... now i just need to sit and wait for someone to read this blog, form a band, name it the sweetTs, and pay me tons of money for the domain name... wow, I guess I don't even have to be in a band to be a sell out... maybe I could manage the band once the contact me...I'm sure it can't be too hard to be a band manager... It's probably pretty easy to make a website too. I'll have to have Tony show me how to do that... then I can put a link from www.thesweetts.com to this blog post... and it will be like Donnie Darko, where you are just led in circles... or maybe it's not like Donnie Darko at all... that movie was pretty confusing...
A tribute to almighty Food!!!
I am re-reading the little house on the prairie books right now... and I LOVE THEM!!!! I sometimes wish that I enjoyed reading books that were intended for people my age to read, but I guess its ok to nourish the inner child in me. I still have to look up some of the words I come across in these books, so I feel like that justifies the fact that I am reading them... although that probably is just a bad sign for my vocabulary.
Anyway, one of the things that I love about reading the Little House on the Prairie Books, besides how bad ass it is that "Pa" can make everything from a house to a baby doll from nothing more than earth and wood, is THE FOOD! Those books make me so damn hungry and those prairie folk eat like dinosaurs. Almonzo, the main character of "Farmer Boy", which is the book I am currently reading, typically eats three kinds of meat, beans, corn, two kinds of bread, potatoes, yams and 3 different kinds of pie for LUNCH... DAMN! and I get the feeling none of these people are particularly chubby. They just work until they are about to collapse and then eat about it.
I want that life so bad! I have a small scale-part time version of that going for myself... I ride my bike to work and feel kind of tired, but then I watch what I eat during the week days for the most part so I can eat copious amounts of whatever I want with 2 different desserts at night and on the weekends...and so far, other than during the holidays when I wasn't riding my bike, I haven't gained any weight. Also, I am raising a garden. Right now my garden consists mostly of dirt, but I have 1 bed with wheat and fava beans and vetch, but there will be corn and tomatoes and beans and many other fabulous things to come.
When I read my "prairie" books I love hearing about all of the care and work they put into growing their food and then the work that goes into the preparation of the food. I want to do that too. It would be a dream come true if I could churn butter once a week and make my own damn soap from the cooking fire ashes and bacon fat that I'd saved... or actually maybe I would make soy soap or olive oil soap... I'm pretty sure that's just as easy, but anyway, just being able to fend for yourself and create everything on your own would be awesome. Not to mention that I wouldn't have to worry about the people and animals suffering in the process of creating almost everything I buy from Safeway or Target.
Anyway, this is why I have decided this late spring or early summer when I have veggies and fruit in my garden I want to have old-timey day and have a bunch of people over and cook tons of old fashioned fashioned things with the products of my garden... and dairy products that I have purchased... I wish I had a cow or a goat or something but I'm pretty sure that we are not zoned for that. I want to make a strawberry pie and a lemon meringue pie and have lemonade and home made ginger-ale and corn on the cob and veggie pot pie and baked beans or something. mmm... I would just like to gather people together and celebrate good fresh food.
It feels like words do not begin to explain the love I have with food. It's a basic necessity for life, but eating can also be one of the most supremely enjoyable experiences of living and to me it is enhanced by having total quality control over the food you eat by growing it yourself. I guess I feel like I can make my food the best that it can possibly be if I make sure work and care has been put in to it from its conception to its preparation. I'm sure that is a pretty arrogant notion considering the last time I grew any veggies I was like 14, but hey, I grew some pretty tasty corn and artichokes and I didn't put in half as much effort then as I have in my current garden.
There is something about working hard on a meal that makes it taste better I think.... I get majorly offended when Tony doesn't love one of my meals that I think is really good. It feels like he's taking for granted all of the work that I put in. I seem to be able to taste that hard work, but he apparently can't... sometimes my dinners do not turn out the way I would hope though and that is disappointing... but now I can compost my shitty meals so at least it's not a total waste.
I love composting too. It saves me from a lot of guilt about not using things before they go bad and not finishing everything on my plate... although I almost always finish everything on my plate. I eat too fast not to. Lately though, I get so excited to feed my compost pile that I find myself sometimes letting a couple slices of bread or a piece of fruit go moldy on purpose so I can toss them into my compost bin. I can't wait until everything in my bin is broken down and smells like sweet dirt... my soil is going to be UBER fertile . My veggies are going to be in heaven... and then so shall I be when I eat them.
Anyway, one of the things that I love about reading the Little House on the Prairie Books, besides how bad ass it is that "Pa" can make everything from a house to a baby doll from nothing more than earth and wood, is THE FOOD! Those books make me so damn hungry and those prairie folk eat like dinosaurs. Almonzo, the main character of "Farmer Boy", which is the book I am currently reading, typically eats three kinds of meat, beans, corn, two kinds of bread, potatoes, yams and 3 different kinds of pie for LUNCH... DAMN! and I get the feeling none of these people are particularly chubby. They just work until they are about to collapse and then eat about it.
I want that life so bad! I have a small scale-part time version of that going for myself... I ride my bike to work and feel kind of tired, but then I watch what I eat during the week days for the most part so I can eat copious amounts of whatever I want with 2 different desserts at night and on the weekends...and so far, other than during the holidays when I wasn't riding my bike, I haven't gained any weight. Also, I am raising a garden. Right now my garden consists mostly of dirt, but I have 1 bed with wheat and fava beans and vetch, but there will be corn and tomatoes and beans and many other fabulous things to come.
When I read my "prairie" books I love hearing about all of the care and work they put into growing their food and then the work that goes into the preparation of the food. I want to do that too. It would be a dream come true if I could churn butter once a week and make my own damn soap from the cooking fire ashes and bacon fat that I'd saved... or actually maybe I would make soy soap or olive oil soap... I'm pretty sure that's just as easy, but anyway, just being able to fend for yourself and create everything on your own would be awesome. Not to mention that I wouldn't have to worry about the people and animals suffering in the process of creating almost everything I buy from Safeway or Target.
Anyway, this is why I have decided this late spring or early summer when I have veggies and fruit in my garden I want to have old-timey day and have a bunch of people over and cook tons of old fashioned fashioned things with the products of my garden... and dairy products that I have purchased... I wish I had a cow or a goat or something but I'm pretty sure that we are not zoned for that. I want to make a strawberry pie and a lemon meringue pie and have lemonade and home made ginger-ale and corn on the cob and veggie pot pie and baked beans or something. mmm... I would just like to gather people together and celebrate good fresh food.
It feels like words do not begin to explain the love I have with food. It's a basic necessity for life, but eating can also be one of the most supremely enjoyable experiences of living and to me it is enhanced by having total quality control over the food you eat by growing it yourself. I guess I feel like I can make my food the best that it can possibly be if I make sure work and care has been put in to it from its conception to its preparation. I'm sure that is a pretty arrogant notion considering the last time I grew any veggies I was like 14, but hey, I grew some pretty tasty corn and artichokes and I didn't put in half as much effort then as I have in my current garden.
There is something about working hard on a meal that makes it taste better I think.... I get majorly offended when Tony doesn't love one of my meals that I think is really good. It feels like he's taking for granted all of the work that I put in. I seem to be able to taste that hard work, but he apparently can't... sometimes my dinners do not turn out the way I would hope though and that is disappointing... but now I can compost my shitty meals so at least it's not a total waste.
I love composting too. It saves me from a lot of guilt about not using things before they go bad and not finishing everything on my plate... although I almost always finish everything on my plate. I eat too fast not to. Lately though, I get so excited to feed my compost pile that I find myself sometimes letting a couple slices of bread or a piece of fruit go moldy on purpose so I can toss them into my compost bin. I can't wait until everything in my bin is broken down and smells like sweet dirt... my soil is going to be UBER fertile . My veggies are going to be in heaven... and then so shall I be when I eat them.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Come on already
I am so sick of watching sappy movies where someone's lover dies in the end... it's been done some many times its not even particularly dramatic anymore. I have watched 2 movies in the last 2 days where the love interest bites it in the end and at this point I'm not even crying about it. I'm just annoyed.
Can't these stupid writers give me something new to think about... I get it death is sad and sad = good movie right? ... I mean sometimes yes, a sad movie is really good, but usually if I'm watching a movie I dont want to feel sad at the end. I'd like to rejoin the real world feeling happy and hopeful... Can't they just think of a different twist .... how about the character gets herpes. I've never seen a movie where someone gets herpes... that would be quite a twist... no one would see it coming... and hey, we might all learn a thing or two about treating a common VD... but no... nope everyone just wants their charcters to die so they can wrap up their little story with a nice pretty ribbon and say... THE END....
I have tried to write stories too... and I have a problem with endings... It is so simple to just say ... "and then he died". Clearly you know it is the end of the stroy and you don't h ave to think of anymore plot when you just stick a fork in your main character and say. "BAM you're done!" I would like to see writers challenge themselves more though... actually I will forgive a writer who kills a character half way through the movie (or book or whatever)... then you can see how people deal with shit and life goes on.... and I will forgive authors of true stories where someone dies... there really isn't much you can do about that... I mean I really wasn't happy when Prefontaine Died in the end of his movie, but that is what happened and the whole movie was about that one guy so I guess you had to stop there...
But the last two movies I've seen had the person die with less than 10 minutes left... and in the last scene time has passed and life has moved on and everyone is happy and you have no idea why. It's bullshit! LAME ! Untamed heart you could have been a pretty good movie, but no, you just had to go there so you are LAME and you're only getting 2 stars on netflix... geeze why do I keep writing all these bitter worked up blogs... oh well. I feel better now.
Can't these stupid writers give me something new to think about... I get it death is sad and sad = good movie right? ... I mean sometimes yes, a sad movie is really good, but usually if I'm watching a movie I dont want to feel sad at the end. I'd like to rejoin the real world feeling happy and hopeful... Can't they just think of a different twist .... how about the character gets herpes. I've never seen a movie where someone gets herpes... that would be quite a twist... no one would see it coming... and hey, we might all learn a thing or two about treating a common VD... but no... nope everyone just wants their charcters to die so they can wrap up their little story with a nice pretty ribbon and say... THE END....
I have tried to write stories too... and I have a problem with endings... It is so simple to just say ... "and then he died". Clearly you know it is the end of the stroy and you don't h ave to think of anymore plot when you just stick a fork in your main character and say. "BAM you're done!" I would like to see writers challenge themselves more though... actually I will forgive a writer who kills a character half way through the movie (or book or whatever)... then you can see how people deal with shit and life goes on.... and I will forgive authors of true stories where someone dies... there really isn't much you can do about that... I mean I really wasn't happy when Prefontaine Died in the end of his movie, but that is what happened and the whole movie was about that one guy so I guess you had to stop there...
But the last two movies I've seen had the person die with less than 10 minutes left... and in the last scene time has passed and life has moved on and everyone is happy and you have no idea why. It's bullshit! LAME ! Untamed heart you could have been a pretty good movie, but no, you just had to go there so you are LAME and you're only getting 2 stars on netflix... geeze why do I keep writing all these bitter worked up blogs... oh well. I feel better now.
Friday, February 6, 2009
My moment of inspira... ahh fuck it I'm over it now
Last Friday night when I got home from work I was feeling really pumped up to do something productive and meaningful... so after re-reading the planting instructions for all of the seeds I bought for my garden I decided I should make a diagram of my garden beds and figure out which seeds I should plant in which bed... but then I remembered I still had one garden bed to dig and I wanted to make sure I was able to measure that bed before I went and started making any plans so i would have the proper spacing between plants, but I still had this vivacious creative feeling...I started to think about what I might be able to make to satiet my hunger for creation... and then all of the sudden I had an idea about how to re-work a story that I've been blocked on for like 2 or 3 years... ( I will not go into further detail about the story 'cause I am paranoid that someone will steal my idea... even though I probably will never actually finish my story)
Anyway, I sat down at my boyfriend's PC and started to write down my idea... and about 2 sentences into typing my idea the fucking keyboard just goes ape shit and won't stop writing w's... so I told my boyfriend that his computer was broken and I went into our guest room where my old computer from college was. We had not hooked up the computer since we moved into our house about 6 months earlier, but I was desperate to put my idea down and get started before my inspired feeling started to fade, so I frantically started to gather the mouse and key board and things for my computer... seeing that it was going to take a while, I decided I better just go old school and write the idea down in a good old fashioned note book. I did a very very rough outline for my story in an old college notebook and then started to hook up my computer 'cause I was sure that I had saved the story I was looking for on that computer.
As I startedto pull wires out of the box and put things together my boyfriend comes in and says very shortly "What are you doing? I'm fixing the other computer. I'll set this one up later".
"I want to set it up myself and I don't feel like working in the office now I'd rather work in here 'cause its farther away from the TV and whatever you're watching is distracting me"
Tony, my boyfriend took offense to that so I had to calm him down and reassure him that I appreciated him fixing the other computer and I appreciated his offer to work on mine, but I was feeling inspired and I didn't want to deflate that feeling by waiting around... my fingers were hungry and they wanted to pound some sweet sweet key board for supper... Tony didn't seem particularly satisfied with my passionate outburst, but he went away, so I got my computer hooked up and of coarse the story I was looking for was not saved on that machine... (we have 2 pcs including mine, 2 lap tops and a another computer that runs our Home Automated Living... so we have way too many damn computers in my opinion, but I am not prepared to give up my computer with all of my beloved college papers and pictures and what not).
By the time I figured that out Tony was done fixing his computer in our office so I went in there and found my story... I opened the story up... wrote my rough outline in at the bottom of the story. re-read what I had already written... wrote a few chapter headings and about 1 paragraph of new text... and then I was spent... it was almost 10:00pm and I'd been up since 5:00 am and I suddenly could not keep my eyes open... but I dont think that is why I stopped writing... It was more to do with the fact that my story idea did not really contain a plot... just a vauge notion of how I wanted to structure my story... Why cann't I be filled with exciting stories like JK Rawling or Tolkien or well any successful author... this rambling stuff is all I seem to be able to do. Sigh... maybe some day some great plot will come to me. Hopefully when it does I will be able to keep the inspiration going.
Anyway, I sat down at my boyfriend's PC and started to write down my idea... and about 2 sentences into typing my idea the fucking keyboard just goes ape shit and won't stop writing w's... so I told my boyfriend that his computer was broken and I went into our guest room where my old computer from college was. We had not hooked up the computer since we moved into our house about 6 months earlier, but I was desperate to put my idea down and get started before my inspired feeling started to fade, so I frantically started to gather the mouse and key board and things for my computer... seeing that it was going to take a while, I decided I better just go old school and write the idea down in a good old fashioned note book. I did a very very rough outline for my story in an old college notebook and then started to hook up my computer 'cause I was sure that I had saved the story I was looking for on that computer.
As I startedto pull wires out of the box and put things together my boyfriend comes in and says very shortly "What are you doing? I'm fixing the other computer. I'll set this one up later".
"I want to set it up myself and I don't feel like working in the office now I'd rather work in here 'cause its farther away from the TV and whatever you're watching is distracting me"
Tony, my boyfriend took offense to that so I had to calm him down and reassure him that I appreciated him fixing the other computer and I appreciated his offer to work on mine, but I was feeling inspired and I didn't want to deflate that feeling by waiting around... my fingers were hungry and they wanted to pound some sweet sweet key board for supper... Tony didn't seem particularly satisfied with my passionate outburst, but he went away, so I got my computer hooked up and of coarse the story I was looking for was not saved on that machine... (we have 2 pcs including mine, 2 lap tops and a another computer that runs our Home Automated Living... so we have way too many damn computers in my opinion, but I am not prepared to give up my computer with all of my beloved college papers and pictures and what not).
By the time I figured that out Tony was done fixing his computer in our office so I went in there and found my story... I opened the story up... wrote my rough outline in at the bottom of the story. re-read what I had already written... wrote a few chapter headings and about 1 paragraph of new text... and then I was spent... it was almost 10:00pm and I'd been up since 5:00 am and I suddenly could not keep my eyes open... but I dont think that is why I stopped writing... It was more to do with the fact that my story idea did not really contain a plot... just a vauge notion of how I wanted to structure my story... Why cann't I be filled with exciting stories like JK Rawling or Tolkien or well any successful author... this rambling stuff is all I seem to be able to do. Sigh... maybe some day some great plot will come to me. Hopefully when it does I will be able to keep the inspiration going.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
"25 random things about me" (repaste from facebook)
THis is cut and pasted from something I did on Facebook...but I put some thought into it so I feel that I am justified in reposting it to my blog... I am pretty sure no one subscribes to my blog, but I might read it later on here... who knows... by the way, this is my 3rd post of 2009 so I would just like to say "SUCK IT 2008 I just toatally beat your ass in blogging !!!!"
25 Random Things (You Never Knew You Wanted to Know) About MeShareWednesday, January 28, 2009 at 12:40pmRules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)
1) I feel like lately I tend to make decisions based on practicality and logic rather than going with my heart... and I often hold it against myself.
2) A lot of times I wish technology had stopped advancing just before the agricultural revolution... and yet here I am using the hell out of modern technology just to write this "note"
.3) I think I have an addiction to using ellipsis when I write... and its probably because I just dont understand commas
4) I love it when girls with accents cuss. Lily Allen for example is especially adorable when she says "fuck" in her songs with her cute British accent. The way she whimsically sings about being a bitch makes my heart smile.
5) It usually takes me just short of forever to feel comfortable enough around new people to really be myself... so if I do feel comfortable around someone it is not something I take lightly at all
6) I don't generally care for the taste of tofu, but I still eat it a lot
7)I don't match my socks to each other because I like socks so much that I want to wear as many interesting patterns as I can at once and also I like to think that I'm having a little rebellion against society in my shoes everyday.
8) I was once in an infomercial that featured a light that could be attached to a pogo stick so that you could go pogo at night and cars would be able to see you or something... and I think that was probably the last time I have seen a pogo stick
9) sometimes I think it's scary how similar my personality is to that of my cat Misty
10) I really want a dog, but I really dont want the expense of having to take care of one
11) I used to be afraid of roller coasters... and then I started going on them and I loved them, but at some point I seem to have somehow reverted back to fear... and I have no idea what the hell is up with that
12) I am jealous of my friends that get to spend months and months traveling all over the world... even though I know I am the kind of person who enjoys being rooted in one place and I get homesick fairly easily
13) I love the free return address labbels that I get from charities, but I never give money to the charities that send them 'cause I feel like they would just waste my money on stupid things like sending out free address labels to random people.
14) I love to karaoki, but I really only ever sing the same 2 or 3 songs every time I go
15) I think that chocolate and corn are the best things that ever happened to food.
16) I drink 2-3 cups of green tea every morning when I am at work now but when I used to work in the San Francisco office for my company and most of my coworkers were Irish I would never drink any sort of hot beverage because there seemed to be an obligation that went with drinking coffee or tea that you had to offer to get some for everyone else in the office as well and I just couldnt be bothered with that
17) I think people look so bad ass when they walk away from you and flip you off over their head without ever turning around.
18) I always feel really satisfied when I use things up... like when I fianlly pull the last bit of tape off of a roll of scotch tape I want to give myself a pat on the back for finishing it... and if I wear out clothes or shoes to the point that they absolutely won't function anymore... I just feel super stoked for sticking it out to the bitter end without cracking and buying replacement clothes or shoes... it's as if I have helped those things fulfill their ultimate purpose... yeah I don't know this one is weird and hard to explain.
19) I have only called out sick from work once in my whole life ... and it was because I had pneumonia so I feel pretty justified for taking that day off
20) I only brush my teeth once a day and I never floss, but my dentist tells me I have "really strong teeth", so I'm not too worried about it
21) I love to be in water, but I hate the feeling of being wet out of the water.
22) Within the span of about 3 months I spent over 150 hours playing final fantasy 12.... and after I beat it, I waited about a year and spent another 120 hours beating it again... and I feel like that was a shameful waste of time... but I am so going to buy final fantasy 13 when it comes out
23) I just dug a hole in my back yard that is about 4 feet deep and 7 feet long while trying to dig up and demolish some random concrete basin that was buried under a layer of concrete that I had previously demolished
24) I used to eat the dirt under the orange tree at our house when I was a kid because the oranges would fall and rot there and it made the dirt taste really sweet and citrusy...
25) I worry all the time that I am not doing enough with my life, but I also feel like too often I take for ggranted how fortunate I am to have as good of a life as I do.
25 Random Things (You Never Knew You Wanted to Know) About MeShareWednesday, January 28, 2009 at 12:40pmRules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)
1) I feel like lately I tend to make decisions based on practicality and logic rather than going with my heart... and I often hold it against myself.
2) A lot of times I wish technology had stopped advancing just before the agricultural revolution... and yet here I am using the hell out of modern technology just to write this "note"
.3) I think I have an addiction to using ellipsis when I write... and its probably because I just dont understand commas
4) I love it when girls with accents cuss. Lily Allen for example is especially adorable when she says "fuck" in her songs with her cute British accent. The way she whimsically sings about being a bitch makes my heart smile.
5) It usually takes me just short of forever to feel comfortable enough around new people to really be myself... so if I do feel comfortable around someone it is not something I take lightly at all
6) I don't generally care for the taste of tofu, but I still eat it a lot
7)I don't match my socks to each other because I like socks so much that I want to wear as many interesting patterns as I can at once and also I like to think that I'm having a little rebellion against society in my shoes everyday.
8) I was once in an infomercial that featured a light that could be attached to a pogo stick so that you could go pogo at night and cars would be able to see you or something... and I think that was probably the last time I have seen a pogo stick
9) sometimes I think it's scary how similar my personality is to that of my cat Misty
10) I really want a dog, but I really dont want the expense of having to take care of one
11) I used to be afraid of roller coasters... and then I started going on them and I loved them, but at some point I seem to have somehow reverted back to fear... and I have no idea what the hell is up with that
12) I am jealous of my friends that get to spend months and months traveling all over the world... even though I know I am the kind of person who enjoys being rooted in one place and I get homesick fairly easily
13) I love the free return address labbels that I get from charities, but I never give money to the charities that send them 'cause I feel like they would just waste my money on stupid things like sending out free address labels to random people.
14) I love to karaoki, but I really only ever sing the same 2 or 3 songs every time I go
15) I think that chocolate and corn are the best things that ever happened to food.
16) I drink 2-3 cups of green tea every morning when I am at work now but when I used to work in the San Francisco office for my company and most of my coworkers were Irish I would never drink any sort of hot beverage because there seemed to be an obligation that went with drinking coffee or tea that you had to offer to get some for everyone else in the office as well and I just couldnt be bothered with that
17) I think people look so bad ass when they walk away from you and flip you off over their head without ever turning around.
18) I always feel really satisfied when I use things up... like when I fianlly pull the last bit of tape off of a roll of scotch tape I want to give myself a pat on the back for finishing it... and if I wear out clothes or shoes to the point that they absolutely won't function anymore... I just feel super stoked for sticking it out to the bitter end without cracking and buying replacement clothes or shoes... it's as if I have helped those things fulfill their ultimate purpose... yeah I don't know this one is weird and hard to explain.
19) I have only called out sick from work once in my whole life ... and it was because I had pneumonia so I feel pretty justified for taking that day off
20) I only brush my teeth once a day and I never floss, but my dentist tells me I have "really strong teeth", so I'm not too worried about it
21) I love to be in water, but I hate the feeling of being wet out of the water.
22) Within the span of about 3 months I spent over 150 hours playing final fantasy 12.... and after I beat it, I waited about a year and spent another 120 hours beating it again... and I feel like that was a shameful waste of time... but I am so going to buy final fantasy 13 when it comes out
23) I just dug a hole in my back yard that is about 4 feet deep and 7 feet long while trying to dig up and demolish some random concrete basin that was buried under a layer of concrete that I had previously demolished
24) I used to eat the dirt under the orange tree at our house when I was a kid because the oranges would fall and rot there and it made the dirt taste really sweet and citrusy...
25) I worry all the time that I am not doing enough with my life, but I also feel like too often I take for ggranted how fortunate I am to have as good of a life as I do.
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