el que le gusta a mi gente

2 awesome things that happened to me today

2012-01-09T22:52:00.003-05:00

1) I was driving back to Seattle from Wenatchee listening to The Beatles song Anna. I passed a car on the side of the road with the name ANNA written on the windshield.

2) I was sitting at my computer singing The Beatles song Hold Me Tight. I clicked something that was un-clickable and my computer made one of those "you can't click that" sounds and it was the root note of the key I was singing in.

Beatles music is magical.

Top 11 purchases of 2011

2011-12-12T15:32:00.003-05:00

All of these things have improved the quality of my life this year.

(in order of purchase)

snow boots
ukulele
ipod touch
ipod speakers
wheel barrow
large shovel (2 of them actually)
garden shears
plane ticket to New Orleans
truffle oil
wok
music stand

It's been a good year.

Restoration Talk

2011-09-26T14:30:00.001-04:00

From 9/25/11

I want to speak today about restoration and I’m going to ask for you to humor me for a bit by stepping into my world because I’m actually going to start by talking about wooden boats. As I do, I’m going to ask that you tune in with your spiritual ears because there is a lot in my heart that I’m hoping to convey, but I’m going to need your help to listen for it.

I am fortunate enough to get to spend several hours a week restoring old wooden boats and I love it. Recently, I helped to bring a 70-year-old sailboat back to its original glory over the course of several months. This boat had been carefully designed as an all-purpose sailing boat for the everyday person. It was made with a generous cabin so that it could accommodate any person. It was designed with a deep keel so that it was nearly impossible to capsize. It was intricately fitted with accessible lines so that it was manageable for nearly anyone with a willingness to learn how to skipper it. It was not known for speed, but it was a reliable and tested boat that had brought many sailors safely to their destination.

When we started the restoration project, we did a survey of the boat so we could estimate the work that needed to be done. From far away, it looked like it was in decent condition. We had just taken it out of the water so up until that time, it was still floating and still in use. There were some nicks and chips here and there, but to me it seemed like some routine sanding and painting would be sufficient. All boats need a degree of ongoing maintenance to stay in working order and this boat had obviously been a regular recipient of that kind of care since it was made. However, the lead shipwright pointed out some issues to my untrained eye.

1) There were a few places where the original hardware had been unwittingly replaced by ill-fitting pieces. These mismatches had created friction that damaged and wore the areas around these makeshift fixes.

2) There were also areas where some shipwright at some point had used the wrong paint or technique or not properly prepped an area before painting. In these cases, the paint had not fully adhered to the boards, leaving pockets of air between layers that eventually collected moisture and rotted away the wood on the inside where we couldn’t see it because the exterior paint was intact.

3) The original sailboat also had a boom that had snapped in half. The boom is the spar or beam that attaches to the bottom of the sail. In wooden boat building, any time something breaks or needs to be replaced, you always keep the original pieces to use as a template for the replacement pieces so you know that what you replace them with will fit and work. Someone at some point had built and put in a beautiful replacement boom, but didn’t use the original plans. The original plans had called for the boom to be wider in the middle and tapered on the ends. The replacement boom was straight—the same width all the way across. This shortcut is a common way to build replacement booms and often causes no problems, but on this boat, while the replacement boom looked and functioned fine, the extra weight gained from not tapering the edges added extra strain to the hardware that, over time, compromised the strength of everything attached to the boom.

These were some of the issues. Clearly, even though the boat had been in use and had been serving a purpose, it had not been maintained as originally designed and had suffered because of it. More than likely, the sailors who had used the boat in the interim had not had the sailing experience intended for users of that boat. Without the interventions that we took, the boat would not have been fit to sail. At best, it would not have been able to perform its designated function: to provide safe transport for the sailors. At worse, its continued use in that condition could have resulted in loss of property or loss of the sailors.

Clearly that was not an acceptable outcome. So despite what had been done before, the hull was more or less sound, we had the original parts to use as templates, we had improved technology and we had the direction of the lead shipwright who knew the plans of this boat intimately. So we were able to fully restore the boat.

These were necessary steps because no matter how skilled the mariner, a vessel that is not fully restored and maintained cannot stand against the storms, weather the seasons or cross the depths without taking on damage (even if unseen). Ultimately this compromises the ship’s ability to get you to your destination which, although a ship can do many things, is really the only reason it was created.

Now I want to step away from boats for a second and tell a parallel story by quoting the sacrament hymn #187:

God loved us, so he sent his Son,
Christ Jesus, the atoning One,
To show us by the path he trod
The one and only way to God.
He came as man, though Son of God,
And bowed himself beneath the rod.
He died in holy innocence,
A broken law to recompense.

There are a few important things that I want to call out from that hymn.

God loves us. We are his children. He wants us to return to him. So he sent his son as an example and director of God’s plan. God didn’t just design the vehicle and leave us to our own devices. During Christ’s mortal ministry, not only did he teach and leave a legacy of enduring love, he also organized his church very specifically and established authority and ordinances. In a time when people were divided between lawlessness and strict rigidity to empty traditions, He gave us a meaningful plan—not a vague one, but a very specific, detailed, illustrated and tested one. He gave us the collected experiences of His people before us in the scriptures. He gave us laws. He gave us guidelines. He gave us ordinances. He gave us commandments. All because he loves us. There is order and design and intention in our mortal journey and Christ established that in its fullness during his time as a man.

God loves us. So he sent son. We are part of a fallen race. As imperfect beings who make mistakes, we are in a position where we are constantly in a spiritual deficit without a way to ever fully pay that debt. But God loves us and knows us so he anticipated our shortcomings in the storms of life and provided a way for personal restoration. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, despite what we have done in the past or what has been done to us, we can access the power of the atonement to experience personal restoration that repairs and betters us. Where a law is broken, the atonement can compensate for that and restore us personally as individuals.

Additionally, through the power of the atonement as part of God’s master plan, all things can be restored.

If you’ll remember the boat that I began speaking about, it was built with a purpose, a plan and intention. However, poor maintenance and neglect of design rendered it unable to perform its essential duty.

Similarly, soon after Christ’s death, the Church of Christ was damaged in a way that had been predicted by prophets. In his epistles, Paul told of a “falling away” (2 Thes 2:3) that would happen prior to Christ’s 2nd coming. He told of “grievous wolves” (Acts 20:29) that would come and try to devour the flock. The prophet Amos spoke of a spiritual famine (Amos 8:11) that would follow Christ. In our April 2000 General Conference, Elder John B Dixon of the 70 said:

“These prophecies became a reality when in the years following the Savior’s crucifixion, the Apostles were killed, the authority to direct the Church was eventually lost, and for many centuries, including the period known as the Dark Ages, the Church of Jesus Christ was not found on the earth.”

Whether through evil designs or from misinformation, because men neglected to follow the originally intended design of the gospel and swapped precious truths with ill-fitting replacements, the authority to direct the Church and perform ordinances was lost and men lived in a state of apostasy.

I do want to point out that during this time testimony did not leave the earth. The work did not cease. The plan was not put on pause. People were still using the boat, so to speak. Some of the most beautiful hymns of joy and praise that we have were written during these so-called dark ages: hymns like “I Know My Redeemer Lives” that speaks of a clear understanding and love of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many righteous men and women continued to spread the message of Jesus Christ and laid the foundation for religious freedom that would prove necessary to restore what was lost. Sincere seekers of truth thrived during this time, but it was the authority to direct the Church and perform saving ordinances—it was the organization of the Church that was lost. Though people were still organized to some degree and the outward appearance of an operating vessel was intact, internally, the ship was compromised. The beauty of that design and plan and intention that we spoke about was weakened and lost through the neglect and misdeeds of mankind.

Remember that God loves us. He loves us so he sent his son. He loves us so he gave us a plan. For one who loves infinitely, knows without boundaries and approaches the fate of his children with the utmost attention to detail, God would not, so to speak, want his children to continue to make their mortal journey in a ship that would eventually sink. In the book of Acts, Peter declares that all of God’s prophets since the world began have spoken of a restitution of all things (Acts 3:21). From the moment that authority and organization left the earth, God was figuratively circling His vessel, prodding, probing, prepping for things to come.

So we believe that in 1820, the climax of these preparations was realized when a young boy named Joseph Smith knelt in sincere prayer seeking to know God’s will for him. He was answered with revelation that began the restoration of that which was lost. And “we believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God (9th Article of Faith).”

“We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel (3rd Article of Faith).”

We believe that those laws and ordinances were established by Christ, lost by man and restored for us in this day. We believe that we have access to continued spiritual maintenance. The gift of the holy ghost gives us access to personal revelation that can provide the proper guidance for individual maintenance. Continuously unfolding revelation through our prophets can provide the proper guidance for our collective maintenance as an organized people of God.

I want to end with another thought, again from hymn #187:

Oh, love effulgent, love divine!
What debt of gratitude is mine,
That in his off’ring I have part
And hold a place within his heart.

I have a testimony that at the center of the gospel is a message of love. God said: this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. He meant it. This is his work. We are his work. The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ was motivated and sustained by love. The fullness of the gospel was established with love and restored with love. Christ, as the lead shipwright in our mortal experience still directs the maintenance of the church to this day. I have a testimony of the beauty, design and intention behind the plan. I have a testimony that no matter what has been done in the past by or to us, there is always a way to restore that which is lost.

favorite band + favorite thing=the best website on the world wide web

2011-04-11T23:33:00.005-04:00

and probably the best project in the world. ever.

http://thebeatlescompleteonukulele.com/

31 projects for my 31st year

2011-02-26T02:52:00.007-05:00

These are things I want to make this year:

complete

in process

not yet started

a cold frame for my garden
a grape arch for my garden (updated to potato tower)
a sweet pea tee pee for my garden
my garden
a fire pit for my yard (updated to clay oven)
a dress for Elise
a dress for me
a tofu mold
the best homemade tofu ever
a tortilla press
the best homemade tortillas ever
lots and lots of pies
lots and lots of bread
refinished kitchen chair #1
refinished kitchen chair #2
refinished kitchen chair #3
refinished kitchen chair #4
homemade wood stain
homemade paint
lots and lots of waffles
updated 10-year plan
a handmade book
shoe clips
a pair of ballet flats
a poem
a picture
a letter
a song
memories
friends
amends

you know how i feel about this

2011-01-13T16:42:00.004-05:00

From Food Democracy Now!

Save the Bees, Tell the EPA to ban Bayer's toxic pesticide clothianidin

For the past several years scientists have been alarmed by the mysterious collapse of bee populations worldwide. Known as “Colony Collapse Disorder”, massive bee die-offs discovered by beekeepers has resulted in the loss of as much as 30% of the commercial honeybee population in the U.S. since 2006.

Last month a leaked EPA memo uncovered proof that the U.S. government approved a pesticide toxic to bees based on "fatally flawed" science and they have no intention of banning it even though it is harming the U.S. bee population. Incredibly, beekeepers and scientists around the world are pointing to Bayer's clothianidin as a leading factor in colony collapse and 4 European countries have already banned it. Join us in telling the EPA to immediately ban the sale and use of clothianidin until proper tests can be conducted.

=============================

FYI, I just want to highlight that Colony Collapse Disorder is almost exclusively an issue with commercial bee farmers. I make it a habit of talking to the bee farmers whenever I go to farmer's markets (because I want to be that cool someday) and they've all expressed that their bees are doing great. It's the commercial bee keepers whose bees are constantly transported and exposed to chemicals that are experiencing CCD. So in addition to writing policy-makers, a really good way to personally do something about the issue to is buy local and organic as much as possible. Just saying.

people & things i'm crushing on right now (addendum)

2010-11-04T01:26:00.002-04:00

1) Savion Glover

2) 64-degree weather

3) when guys get fat after they get married

4) other people's smart phones

5) tearing paper along perforated lines

people & things i'm crushing on right now

2010-09-27T02:32:00.005-04:00

seth meyers
rivers cuomo
the entire cast of 30 rock
the guy who drives the purple ice cream van through the central district and drops beats out the back
ezra koenig
wooden boats
babies
heirloom tomatoes
puppies

bread alone

2010-07-18T00:08:00.003-04:00

2 things of note:

1) my moto has finally finished the trip from nyc and joined me here on the west coast a couple weeks ago. good job, moto.

2) i have made 5 loaves of bread in the past 3 days. i don't eat a lot of bread, but for some reason, i have craved fresh-baked bread recently at odd hours and not done anything to suppress that craving, which is why i was enjoying a fresh baguette at 1:30am thursday and just wrapped up a couple loaves of crusty artisan bread. it is amazing to me how far a couple cups of flour will go.

for amy: stuff i grow

2010-07-04T17:25:00.007-04:00

Among the +45 species of edible plants in my container garden, here are a few:

kohlrabi

heritage blueberries

sweet million tomato

green peas

strawberries

salad greens

salad greens about to become a salad.

pea blossom

russian tomato

italian broccoli

dwarf sugar snaps

sugar sprints

hair.

global freezing

2010-07-03T03:30:00.001-04:00

dear july,

i heard you were in town. prove it.

-becca

p.s. you can still let may hang out for its shower power because my plants still need it. i'm sure you can work something out between the both of you.

Raw Week: Day 7

2010-05-15T03:34:00.002-04:00

Despite everything I had planned and all of the veggies still uneaten on my counter, today I ate left overs for breakfast and lunch and made an awesome smoothie for dinner. The rest of my leftovers will be turned into raw crackers. Turns out I love raw crackers.

Also, in case anyone cares, my strawberries are blooming, my greens are doing awesome, my lavender is over 2 feet tall, 5 out of my 6 tomato varieties are looking good, the peas are climbing, the broccoli and blueberries are getting ready to bloom...Besides the fact that all of my squash seem to not like my porch jungle, it's green and fragrant and the neighborhood squirrels and birds all think so too.

Hope everyone had a good raw week. I now return to my regularly scheduled infrequent blogging.

Raw Week: Day 6

2010-05-14T01:23:00.002-04:00

BREAKFAST: APPLES & OATS

8 min
This is basically what it sounds like. Peel an apple and chop it up into small pieces. Add about 3/4c oats. Squeeze 1/2 a lime on it. Sprinkle some dried coconut, cinnamon and nutmeg on that. Squirt a little water on it and sweeten it with a natural sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave). Mix it all up. Yumsville. If you have some nut milk, splash some on.

LUNCH: ASIAN LETTUCE WRAPS
10 min
Get a bunch of veggies (even the odds and ends that are edible, but you might not normally eat (think broccoli stalks, slightly floppy carrots, beet greens, etc). I like carrots, broccoli, celery, radishes, spinach, onions, garlic, cauliflower, sprouts, mushrooms, nuts and seeds (anything). Throw them in a blender or processor with fresh ginger (or do it by hand). Chop into fine pieces. Add a splash of rice vinegar, sesame oil, freshly ground pepper, sesame seeds and a splash of soy. Serve wrapped in lettuce or red cabbage and garnish with cilantro.

DINNER: CURRY OVER "RICE"
10 min
Put a carrot, a clove of garlic and about 1/4 of a head of cauliflower into blender or processor and pulse until rice-like. Set that aside. Make a curry paste with oil, tumeric, coriander, cumin, black pepper, chilis/cayenne (if you like heat), 1/2 an avocado, maybe some fresh ginger, a couple sun-dried tomato slices and dried coconut. Blend that all up. Pour it over your rice. Shoot me if this isn't delicious. So so good.

SNACK/DESSERT: CHOCOLATE SHAKE
5 min
In a blender add a banana, assorted nuts and water (or nut milk, cacao nibs or cocoa powder (not actually raw), a little vanilla, honey/agave/maple syrup (not raw), a sprinkle of salt, a couple dates and ice cubes. Blend it up. Drink it up.

Raw Week: Day 5

2010-05-12T23:05:00.003-04:00

BREAKFAST: AVOCADO SMOOTHIE

5 min
Don't let the fact that you a) don't particularly like avocados or b) think this sounds repulsive throw you off. It is delicious.
Put a ripe avocado (like ideal for guacamole ripe) in a blender with some ice and blend until you get a smooth milkshake consistency. If it is not blending well, add some water. If it is too watery, try some more avocado if you have it or a banana. If it is too gritty, your avocado may not have been ripe enough (save it for cracker pulp). After it's all smooth, pour it into your glass and add a natural sweetener to taste. Milky, creamy, greeny, dreamy.

LUNCH: SUMMER ROLLS
15 min (mostly veg prep)
Make a sauce by combining some soy sauce (not raw, sorry) or miso paste, lemon juice, minced garlic, optional chili pepper, maple syrup (not raw) or agave, freshly ground pepper, a bit of sesame oil and a teeny bit of salt. In leaves of romaine or other large-leaf lettuce or red cabbage, lay thin slices of cucumber, cilantro, carrot, avocado, bell peppers, sprouts, celery (even the leaves). Pour sauce over contents and garnish with sesame seeds. Wrap it up and eat it up. This is a good portable meal. You can take the sliced veggies in a plastic baggie along with the lettuce and assemble at work.

DINNER: TACOS
15 min (mostly veg prep)
In a blender or food processor, pulse a mixture of raw nuts and seeds for the taco "meat." Make sure to pulse so the mixture is grainy and not creamy. You may also want to throw in some sprouts if you've got extras lying around. Season meat with olive oil, and taco seasoning including chili powder, paprika, onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, cumin, oregano, etc). I will look the other way if you just use a ready-made taco seasoning pack. No biggie. You may also want to try fajita-type seasoning depending on what you have on hand. Put a spoonful of "meat" onto a leaf of red cabbage and top with tomatoes, bell peppers, cilantro, lime, avocado/guacamole, etc. If you've got left over veggies or Meixcan rice from last night, throw those in the mix too. Sing "La Cucaracha."

SNACK/DESSERT: RAW TABOULEH & RAW CRACKERS
5 min (for the tabouleh), +/- eternity for the crackers.
Disclaimer: I didn't end up making the tabouleh because I could not stop myself from eating the accompanying crackers. By the time I was done with them, I was done snacking. Also, the crackers weren't totally dehydrated when I started munching on them, but they were so delicious I couldn't wait anymore. So they weren't crispy, per se, more like crepe consistency, but so so good.
In case you want to make the tabouleh, here's a recipe I stole off a website:
Raw Tabouli Salad
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch parsley
2 scallions, sliced
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, diced
1 cup of raw almonds (soaked or unsoaked, your choice)
1 lemon
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp agave
1 tsp salt
Loosely seperate the cilantro and parsley leaves from the stems. Rinse well under running water in a salad spinner and spin dry. Chop the greens well and add the green onions, tomato, and avocado.
In a food processor or blender whiz the almonds until fine. Add to the vegetables.
In a small bowl mix the juice of the lemon with the oil, salt, and agave. Pour over the vegetables and mix well.

Raw Week: Day 4

2010-05-11T17:17:00.004-04:00

SPROUTS & OTHER PREP

Sprouts: 0 min
Pretty much no more sprouting stuff to do. If you want to start sprouting more things, do it.

Other prep: wait time
After having started the crackers, I realized that they will likely take a long time. I tested my oven and the warm temperature is 125 degrees. Since raw foods are generally ok in the 115-120 range, I warmed up my oven and stuck my crackers in for a bit and turned it off and let them sit. If your house heater is on, it might be good to place the tray near the vent or in the room while you're drying your hair...Clearly I'm making things up, but anything you can think of that will speed up the dehydration process without raising the the temp too much would be good.

BREAKFAST: RAW OATS & NUT MILK
3 min
Disclaimer: This will be the most unhelpful recipe ever. Put a bunch of oats, mixed raw nuts, sunflower seeds and fresh or dried fruit cut up into small pieces into a bowl (it can be the bowl you're going to eat out of). Pour in some natural sweetener to very lightly coat your oat mixture. With a fork or spoon, mix it all up until it is granola-y.

5 min
Take a handful of nuts. It can be any kind of nuts or a mixture of different kinds. I like almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews and hazelnuts especially. You can also use slightly more if you want or if you have small hands, but it won't take much more than a handful. Put it in a blender or liquid-tight food processor. Fill it with water. Blend until the nuts are finely chopped and the water is milky. At this point you have a few options.
1) You can blend more until the nuts are basically powder. Just know that the bits will settle a little in between uses so you'll just have to shake/stir the nut milk between uses
OR
2) You can pour the nut milk into a pitcher through cheese cloth, a screen or some sort of fine strainer. Full disclosure: once I used a clean sock to strain my nut milk. Don't hate.
This is where I usually stop because I'm used to nut milk like this and once you get used to it, the subtle nuttiness is enough delicious sweetness that you don't need anything else, but most people who are new to homemade nut milks need a transition. So to make it more like milk that you are use to you can:
1) add a pinch of salt
2) add a 1/4 c of honey, agave, or pure maple syrup (any kind of natural sweetner is fine)
Seriously, it is so easy. If you think it is just easier for you to go down the street to buy milk, consider that you could have cheaper, healthier milk in your glass quicker than the time it would take for you to go to the corner bodega to drink gross, processed cow's milk.
**Side note: I don't want to cause any illusions. Nut milk is healthy, delicious, cheap and EASY to make, but it is not cow milk or soy milk. It can be used for all of the same things, but it is a different product. Also, the first time I made it, I made a huge mess. This is not because it is difficult or messy, but rather because I was trying to strain it through a nylon stocking. Turns out that mesh is really fine! I wasn't expecting that. Now I don't bother straining. I just blend longer.

LUNCH: CURRIED SPROUTED QUINOA SALAD
5 min
You've already got your sprouted quinoa. Put it in a bowl or in the container you're going to bring to lunch. Chop up a little carrot and onion or whatever veggies you have some leftover pieces of and throw that in. Toss in a handful of cashews or other nut. I used sliced almonds since I had some on hand. Add curry powder and salt to taste. If you don't have a curry powder ready made, you can put in a mix of tumeric, coriander, cumin and pepper. If you don't have those, borrow them from you're cute neighbor or dress it any other way you see fit. Then mix it all up and eat it
.

DINNER: MEXICAN "RICE" AND MARINATED VEGGIES
15 min prep + marinating time
Cut, slice, or leave whole (however you like it) a mixture of veggies, etc you would like to marinate. Try diced avocado, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, mushrooms, celery, jicama, radishes, corn--literally whatever you want. Put them in a bowl with minced cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper and let them marinate.

In a blender or food processor, pulse until rice-like: 1 head of cauliflower, a handful of cilantro, a couple tomatoes, a couple celery stalks, 1/4 onion, a cucumber and a bell pepper. Mix in a splash of lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. **You may have better luck doing the cauliflower separately and then mixing in the rest of the veggies after processing those on their own, but I'm lazy and always do it all at once.

SNACK/DESSERT: RAW HUMMUS WRAPS
1 min
Take the hummus you made from yesterdays sprouted hummus, wash some lettuce and eat away. You can also eat it with veggies spears (carrots, sweet potato, cucumber, etc). I actually haven't eaten my hummus yet because I am in the process of experiencing a garlic overload. I have eaten so much garlic in the past few days, I need to give it a rest. If you have not reached garlic capacity, chow down.

Raw Week: Day 3 UPDATE

2010-05-11T02:10:00.003-04:00

When I started Day 3, my garbanzo beans were not quite ready. By the end of Day 3, they were more than ready. I had a little time, so I decided to go ahead and make the hummus that I had originally planned for Day 3, postponed and now...well, I made it.

SNACK/DESSERT: HUMMUS
5 min
Give your sprouted garbanzos one last rinse and pat dry. Put about a cup in your blender/processor with a glove of garlic, a little olive oil, a big old spoonful of tahini, 1/2 a lemon's worth of lemon juice, salt pepper and a dash of cumin. I didn't have tahini so I put in a big old spoonful of sesame seeds and hoped they would blend in. I also didn't have lemons so when life doesn't hand you lemons, use lime. Process until smooth...or until acceptable. Mine never got smooth. It started out chunky. I added water and some olive oil. Now it is kind of watery. It tastes fine, but the texture is a little gritty. I'm not the hugest fan of hummus to begin with (I like it fine, but I like it smooth). So fair warning, it may not be the best thing to attempt if you have a low tolerance for hummus texture variance. Hopefully I can spread it on my crackers (whenever they're ready) or wrap it in lettuce and be ok with that. Not the most successful endeavor, but everything else up to this point has been great.

Also, it occurred to me that people might find it helpful or inspiring to see pictures of food. Then it occurred to me that I am not a good food photographer so any pictures I would take would be neither helpful nor inspiring, but I'm including some anyway for the jolly heck of it. Unfortunately, everything I've made up until now has been either consumed or blended into cracker dough. So I'm just going to show you my crackers (in the making) since they include little bits of everything I've already made. Also, I had so much dough, I am trying to make a pizza crust with some of it.

Don't be thrown off by the fact that they are in an oven. I had to put them somewhere. If you must, imagine some artsy angle where you can really see the texture and it is beautiful and delicious-looking.

Other updates: 1) I would add more corn to the corn chowder and less garlic. It was SUPER garlicky, but otherwise tasty. 2) Jen and I made another batch of the raw cookie dough because it is awesome and sat in my rocking chairs downing it while talking about feminism and the gospel. Celestial.

Raw Week: Day 3

2010-05-10T21:07:00.010-04:00

**Recall, but not regret: I want to take a moment to call out that maple syrup is not raw. If you want to go for 100% raw, use raw honey (not vegan, if you're counting) or agave nectar (vegan and raw). I have a very limited supply of raw honey in my cupboard and I was too cheap to replenish my supply of it. I have maple syrup so that is what I've been using as a natural sweetener, although it is not raw. Just so we're clear on that.

SPROUTS & OTHER PREP

Sprouts: 5 min
Your lentils and quinoa should be done. Rinse them off one last time. Drain them and store them in the fridge until you're ready to use them. Rinse and re-invert the garbanzo beans and wheat for another 1/2-day to a day.

Other prep: 20 min prep + wait time
Disclaimer: I have never done this before so please don't hate if it totally bombs. For raw crackers that you will enjoy in about 2 days, soak about 1 c of flax seed in water in a 1:1 ratio (about) for a couple hours until it gets gelatinous and gooey. Get all the edible odds and ends out of your fridge that you don't really want to eat, but don't want to waste and put that in a blender. I have some zucchini pasta and lentil salad left over from today as well as some veggie stalks (edible, but not my fav). Blend it all up until it has a thick, but pliable consistency (it won't hold it's own shape well, but is spreadable like hummus). Add water or more veggies to get the right consistency. You may want to add salt or throw in some herbs. I'm not going to since I'm using all manner of random stuff in the fridge. If you don't have leftovers, use veggies that you do have and blend until you get the right consistency. Add garlic, pepper or whatever you think would be tasty. Stir this veggie mix in with the flax seed goo. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and spread the cracker dough on the sheet as thick or thin as you want it. I don't have wax paper so I'm going to lightly coat it with olive oil and sprinkle sesame seeds on it and hope that is good enough. After you've spread it out (you may need more than one sheet), Use a pizza cutter or knife and score the dough at even intervals in the shape of the cracker you want to eat (squares, triangles, etc.). Find a dry place to let it dehydrate for a day or so. The warmer the better, but not like in the oven. It may take less than 1.5 days to dehydrate, but I'm just playing it safe.

BREAKFAST: SPINACH SMOOTHIE
10 min (if you squeeze your own orange juice)
**Top pick of the day: I know that this sounds disgusting, but it is one of my favorite things for breakfast even when it is not raw week. It is really refreshing and you'll have a total energy buzz from it.
Get out the cup that you want your smoothie to fill to use as a measuring cup. Fill it up to within an inch of the top with spinach. Pack it down. Cut a few slices of beet--just enough to cover the top of the spinach with beets with a 1/4-1/2 in layer. Grate or slice fresh ginger and make a thin layer of ginger over the beets. Pour fresh orange juice over everything until it comes to the top. Blend until creamy and uniform (and green).

LUNCH: LENTIL SALAD
5 min
In a bowl, add your sprouted lentils, a little olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. You can call it quits there or add any odds and ends you have left over. I put walnuts, diced tomato and jicama. I also mixed in a little miso paste for kicks and giggles.

DINNER: CORN CHOWDER
5 min
In a blender or food processor, blend until smooth: a bag of thawed frozen corn or about 3-4 ears worth of fresh kernels, a handful of walnuts, a clove of garlic some salt and olive oil and water. If it's too thick, add more water. Top with diced tomatoes, cilantro, cracked peppercorn, avocado, etc.

SNACK/DESSERT: MACERATED STRAWBERRY POPSICLES
5 min prep, 2 hrs to eat popsicles or 25 min to eat just the macerated strawberries.
I was originally planning on making hummus, but my garbanzos needed a little more sprout time. So I'm making the macerated strawberries I had planned for day 4. Besides eating a banana, an orange and various handfuls of nuts, this was the perfect snack and dessert. Fill a quart-sized jar to the brim with strawberries. If you don't have a jar, use a pitcher or a nalgene bottle. Pour 1/4 c vinegar and 1/4 pure maple syrup, raw honey or agave over the top. Let that sit for at least 15 min. The strawberries will reduce as their juices are drawn out. After about 15 or so minutes, stir or shake the strawberry concoction to make sure everything is evenly coated. Let it sit for about 10 or so more minutes. At this point you can just grab a fork and eat them straight out of the jar or pour them mixture into popsicle forms with a stick until they freeze. If you dont' have popsicle forms, use flexible tumblers and chopsticks (fat end in the liquid) or toothpicks and ice trays. Toothpicks can slide out kind of easily, but worse case scenario, you have some amazing strawberry ice to plop in your raw lemonade.

Raw Week: Day 2

2010-05-09T20:35:00.004-04:00

SPROUTS

5 min
You should start to see little sprouts on your lentils, wheat, quinoa and garbanzo beans. I also tried to sprout some pigeon peas for kicks and giggles, but they don't look like they're cooperating. If your sprouts look wet, you can leave them or you can rinse them. If they look kind of waxy (not wet, but not bone dry), rinse them and then invert them again. Your quinoa and lentils should be ready tomorrow morning. Your garbanzo beans and wheat might need another 1/2 day or so.

BREAKFAST: PARFAIT
5 min
In a blender or food processor, put about 1/2 c of oats, 1/2 banana, a palmful of flax seeds and about 2 T of pure maple syrup, raw honey or agave nectar. Fill a glass or bowl with alternating layers of fresh berries, sliced almonds, the oat mixture and the rest of the banana. I also put in a layer of dried coconut since I had it. This is a good meal to do in a jar the night before to take to work the next day.

LUNCH: CARROT & PARSNIP ALFREDO
10 min
Use a spiralizer, cheese grater or potato peeler to grate carrots and parsnips into noodle strips. Put 2-3 handfuls of nuts into a blender or processor with a clove of garlic, salt, black pepper and enough olive oil and water to give it an alfredo consistency. Pour the sauce over the "noodles" and garnish with parsley. I have some left over bell pepper and things from yesterday so I added that to the mix and harvested an awesome salad from my container garden to accompany it. I dressed the salad with blueberry vinegar, black pepper, salt, sesame seeds, fresh berries and walnuts.

DINNER: CHILI
15 min
This makes a bunch (like for 3-4 people). So if you don't want leftovers, make less. Pulsing in a food processor or chopping by hand, chop 1 zucchini, a couple tomatoes, 1/4 onion, a few cloves of garlic, a deseeded jalapeno pepper, a carrot, a couple portabello mushroom caps or 1/3 of a large eggplant. Put all of them in a big bowl and stir in a palmful of crushed coriander seed, a dash of dried red pepper, a tsp or so of cumin and tumeric to taste. You may also want to stir in a few of your sprouted lentils or quinoa to add some protein and crunch. Garnish with cilantro and avocado slices if you're into that. I am.

I wanted something a little heavier and I don't own a dehydrator (nor did I want to wait a day to have some chips or something on the side) so I processed some cashews, salt, pepper and olive oil into a mash and lined my chili bowl with the mixture.

DESSERT: RAW COOKIE DOUGH
5 min
This makes enough for a large mug-full that you can curl up on a couch with and eat with a spoon while watching 30 Rock. In a blender or food processor, put about 3/4 c of raw oats, 1/2 to a full banana, a palmful of de-pitted dates, a palmful each of walnuts, cashews and cacoa nibs (I used cocoa powder which is not raw, but neither were any of the cacoa nibs that I found). Process until you have a cookie dough consistency. At this point you can go at it with your spoon or roll the dough into little balls and coat with crushed nuts or dried coconut.

Raw Week: Day 1

2010-05-08T23:15:00.004-04:00

For 3 meals, a snack, dessert and tending to my sprouts, I spent about 40 min prepping food today. Not bad when you consider that if you ate out for 2 meals, you would spend that much time waiting for your meal. Here's how I did it.

SPROUTS

Prepping sprouts today will take about 15 min. After today, it will take about 5 min/day to tend to your sprouts until they're ready.

Quinoa: Rinse them off and drain them. Spread them out evenly on a plate or baking sheet. Put them somewhere out of direct sunlight. A couple times a day mist them if they look kind of dry. They will be ready to go in about 2 days.

Everything else (garbanzo beans, lentils, wheat, etc): Rinse them off and put each kind into a separate jar or pitcher so that they take up about 1/3 of the container. Put some water into the container. Cover the mouth partially with a folded over paper towel, cheesecloth, mesh, etc--anything that will let water out, but not the thing your sprouting. I use a folded over paper towel and the secure it around the mouth of the container with a rubber band, tape or string. invert the container so that the water passes through the barrier on the mouth, but the stuff your sprouting stays in. Let that drip for a while so that most of the water drains off. Find a place to keep your container inverted so that the mouth is pointed down constantly. I just use a book to prop up the bottom and put the mouth in a tray so the water can drain off. The sprouts will be ready in about 2 days. In the mean time, if they look kind of dry, add some water, swish it around and invert to drain off.

BREAKFAST: RAW OATMEAL

3 min

Put about 1/2 c oats (more if you want more), 1/2 banana and a palmful of nuts or seeds into a blender or food processor. Add a splash of water and blend. Top with cinnamon, nutmeg, walnuts, raisins and pure maple syrup.

LUNCH: BANANA SALAD

3 min (my top pick for the day--surprisingly delicious)

Put 2-3 ripe bananas in a container with a lid. Add a splash of olive oil, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt and cilantro. Put the lid on the container and shake it to coat the bananas evenly.

DINNER: ZUCCHINI PASTA

10 min (mostly chopping veggies)

Use a spiralizer, cheese grater or potato peeler to shred zucchini into strips. I used 2 small zucchini, but it was too much for me. Chop up some bell peppers and tomatoes and throw on top of the zucchini noodles. In a blender or food processor, make a pesto with a bunch of basil, a garlic clove, a handful of pine nuts or walnuts (or any nuts), salt, pepper and olive oil. Spread the pesto over the "noodles."

DESSERT: FRUIT PIE

5 min

In a blender or food processor, blend together a mixture of nuts (about 3 handfuls) and about a T of raw honey or pure maple syrup. You can just use one kind of nut and you can also add seeds. You may also want to try spices like cinnamon and nutmeg in the crust. Process those until it looks crumbly and kind of like granola. This crust dough should stick together when pressed together. If it doesn't really stick together, add a little more syrup and process more. Press the dough into the bottom of a bowl or pan to form the crust. To make the filling, get a bunch of frozen and fresh fruit (whatever you want) and blend it up to form a sorbet consistency. If it is too tart for your tastes, add a little maple syrup. Spread this sorbet into the crust.

BONUS: JICAMA/SWEET POTATO FRIES

3 min

I bought some jicama and cut them into spears like french fries. Then I coated them with olive oil, salt and pepper for a snack. You could also do this with sweet potato spears.

Raw Week: Day 0

2010-05-08T03:21:00.003-04:00

I bought some of the ingredients I need today and started soaking the grains and legumes that I'm going to need later in the week. I'm sprouting garbanzo beans, wheat berries, 2 different kinds of quinoa, pigeon peas instead of mung beans and 2 different kinds of lentils.

Literally day zero was buying things and putting things in jars to soak. No big deal, right?

Happy day 0.

Raw Week

2010-05-07T02:19:00.007-04:00

For anyone who needs a little nudge during raw week, below is my plan. I'm going to start a day early so you can mimic, adapt or get ideas for things you might want to try. I'll blog about each day so even if you've never done it before, you can see how it works. Fair warning: it might not work. Most of this stuff I'm making for the first time, but that's part of the challenge. So check out what I have planned, decide if there's anything that sounds like something you'd want to try and get the ingredients for that. Check back in the night before to see how to make it.

DAY 0: Shop & Prep Day

Shop

Look for the ingredients in the bulleted lists below to compile a shopping list for the things you might want to try. I tried to pick out meals with ingredients that most people will have access to and that represented a variety of things to try, but also don't be afraid to just eat an apple for a snack or something simple.

Prep

In separate large bowls, jars, or pitchers, soak the following overnight:

lentils: these will almost double in bulk so picture how much you want to end up with and soak 1/2 of that. Add twice the amount of water
garbanzo beans: these will almost triple in bulk so picture how much you want to end up with and soak 1/3 of that. Add 3 times the amount of water.
mung beans: see lentils
quinoa: see lentils
wheat berries: see lentils
NOTE: I'm going to use these sprouts for multiple recipes so if it seems like you're making more sprouts than you eat, consider that you can throw them into lots of meals or eat them plain. Or if you decide to sprout less and find that you don't have enough, as long as they are not the main ingredient of the dish (ie. sprouted lentil salad), then you can leave them out most likely.
Disclaimers
1) If you look at something and think "I don't have that nor do I want to purchase that. Couldn't I just use ___ instead or just leave it out?" The answer is most-likely yes. Don't let 1 ingredient discourage you.
2) If you don't have a lot of these ingredients it may seem like a hit to the wallet to buy a bunch of stuff you may not normally use, but once you use them, you'll know how and much of the raw ingredients you'll buy actually go a lot farther (nutritionally and actually) than cheaper processed food. I just bought some legumes, grains and seeds to sprout at a pricey market. If I were hardcore, I could easily live healthily on the sprouts produced from my purchase for a week. They cost $5.
3) If you look at this menu and think, "There is no way that is enough food for me. I won't get full on that," don't sweat it. I've found that the raw-er I eat, the less my body needs to take in because what I'm eating is more nutritious. When you eat raw, you don't have the cravings you might normally have. You also get to experience the difference your body feels when it is nourished ("I don't need to eat anymore") versus full ("I can't eat anymore").
4) The prep for today looks like a lot, but really it will take you 5 min to get out bowls or jars, pour in some legumes and grains and put water in them. If you don't feel like you can spare the counter space, think about sparing space on top of the fridge, on the kitchen table, on the window sill, on a storage box, on the floor in the corner. They don't have to be on display, they just need to be soaking.

DAY 1

BREAKFAST

Raw Oatmeal

raw oatmeal
1 ripe banana
raw almonds
cinnamon
raisins (if you're so inclined)
raw walnuts
pure maple syrup/agave nectar

LUNCH

Banana Salad

2 ripe bananas
olive oil
cayenne pepper
sesame seeds
cilantro

DINNER
Zucchini "Pasta"

1 zucchini
olive oil
raw pine nuts or walnuts
tomatoes
1 bell pepper
basil
garlic
salt

DESSERT/SNACK
Fruit Pie

an assortment of raw nuts. I love walnuts, pecans, almonds, cashews and hazelnuts
an assortment of raw seeds. Pumpkin, sunflower and sesame work well, but the seeds are optional
frozen berries
pure maple syrup or agave nectar
other fruits frozen or fresh. I like mangoes, pineapple, anything!

DAY 2

BREAKFAST

Parfait

raw oats
flax seeds
raw sliced or chopped almonds
fresh berries
1 banana
pure maple syrup or agave nectar

LUNCH

Carrot & Parsnip "Noodles"

carrots
parsnips
raw cashews, walnuts or macadamia nuts
salt
olive oil
garlic
parsley

DINNER

Chili

1 zucchini
tomatoes
red or yellow onion
garlic
jalapeno pepper
carrot
portabello mushroom cap or eggplant
coriander
red pepper
cumin
tumeric, to taste

DESSERT/SNACK

Raw Cookie Dough (Amy's recipe)

medjool dates
walnuts
some cacao nibs
a banana
some cashews

DAY 3

BREAKFAST
Spinach Smoothie

*This is the one meal that I'm going to make a special plug for. It is delicious and refreshing. You will seriously have a natural energy buzz from this smoothie. Mind-blowing.

baby spinach
1 raw beet
fresh ginger
2 c unpasteurized orange juice (obviously freshly squeezed is the best, but do what you can)

LUNCH

Sprouted Lentil Salad

sprouted lentils (from Day 0 Prep)
olive oil
1 carrot
onion
black pepper
vinegar
salt
sesame seeds (optional)

DINNER

Corn Chowder

frozen (thawed) or fresh corn
raw walnuts
olive oil
garlic
salt
avocado
tomato
cilantro

DESSERT/SNACK

Raw Hummus Wraps

sprouted garbanzo beans (from Day 0 Prep)
tahini
garlic
salt
tomato
bell pepper
parsley
lettuce

DAY 4

BREAKFAST
Raw Granola

oats
assorted nuts
pure maple syrup or agave nectar
raw sunflower seeds
fresh berries or macerated strawberries (see Day 4's dessert for ingredients)

Nut Milk

nuts
salt
pure maple syrup or agave

LUNCH

Curried Sprouted Quinoa Salad

sprouted quinoa (from Day 0 Prep)
cashews
onion
curry powder (tumeric, coriander, cumin, pepper)
carrot

DINNER

Mexican "Rice" and Marinated Veggies

cauliflower
tomatoes
cucumber
celery
cilantro
lime
garlic
olive oil
assorted veggies for marinating (anything, but for this I like asparagus, mushrooms, bell peppers, eggplant--think of things that would be good on a kabob)
vinegar
cumin
oregano

DESSERT/SNACK

Macerated Strawberry Popsicles

sliced fresh strawberries
vinegar
pure maple syrup

DAY 5

BREAKFAST
Avocado Smoothie

RIPE avocado
ice
pure maple syrup or agave nectar

LUNCH

Summer Rolls

lettuce
soy sauce (not actually raw) or miso paste
lemon juice
fresh ginger
garlic
chili pepper (optional)
pure maple syrup or agave
freshly ground pepper
sesame oil
salt pepper
cucumber
cilantro
avocado
carrot
bell pepper
mung bean sprouts (from Day 0 Prep)
celery leaves
sesame seeds

DINNER

Tacos

raw nuts (any kind, but for this I prefer cashew and walnuts)
raw seeds (any kind, but for this I prefer pumpkin and sunflower)
olive oil
optional sprouted lentils (from Day 0 Prep)
Taco seasoning (chili powder, paprika, onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, cumin, oregano)
red cabbage
tomatoes
bell peppers
cilantro
lime
guacamole or sliced avocado

DESSERT/SNACK
Tabouleh & Raw Crackers

raw sunflower seeds
raw walnuts
almonds
tomato
onion
flax seed
cumin seed
salt
cashews
parsley
tomato
onion
olive oil
lemon juice
optional mint leaves

DAY 6

BREAKFAST

Apples & Oats

apples
oats
cinnamon
pure maple syrup or agave nectar
optional sunflower seeds

LUNCH

Asian Lettuce Wraps

red cabbage
an assortment of veggies (any kind, but for this I like mostly harder veggies like carrots, cauliflower, celery, onions, radishes, bell peppers, beets, etc and a couple softer veggies like spinach, garlic or other kale)
optional nuts
mung bean sprouts (from Day 0 Prep)
fresh ginger
rice vinegar (or any vinegar)
soy sauce (this is not actually raw so you can use something else or leave it out if you want)
sesame seeds
sesame oil
black pepper

DINNER

Curry Over "Rice"

cauliflower
carrot
sundried tomatoes
avocado
onion
fresh ginger
tumeric
cumin
coriander
cayenne pepper
dried coconut
flaxseed
optional cucumber
cilantro

DESSERT/SNACK

Chocolate "Milk" Shake

banana
assorted raw nuts (for nut milk, if you already have nut milk from Day 4's Breakfast, you don't need more nuts)
raw cacao nibs, carob powder
vanilla
pure maple syrup or agave nectar
salt
optional medjool dates
ice cubes

DAY 7

BREAKFAST
Banana Pancakes

ground flax meal
ripe banana
medjool dates
cinnamon
coconut oil
pure maple syrup
fresh berries to top

LUNCH

Tomato, Basil and "Cheese" Bruschetta

tomato
basil
garlic
olive oil
cashews
pine nuts
flax meal
Italian seasoning
garlic
nutritional yeast
balsamic vinegar
salt
macadamia nuts
lemon juice
onion
bulb fennel
soy sauce (not actually raw)
pure maple syrup or agave nectar

DINNER

Portabello Steaks & Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes"

portabello mushroom caps
balsamic vinegar
red onion
olive oil
cayenne
salt
cauliflower
cashews
nutritional yeast
garlic
optional rosemary

DESSERT/SNACK

Raw Apple Pie (from Amy's post)

pecans
walnuts
medjool dates
apples
cinnamon
nutmeg
lemon juice

would I lie to you?

2010-04-04T19:54:00.005-04:00

aren't they cute?

wouldn't you love to feed a couple of hungry brooklynites?

listen to them, love them and buy their album: http://www.myspace.com/majesticshakedown

keeping bees

2010-03-10T16:23:00.008-05:00

As part of my 2020 goal to build boats and live on a small farm, I have been volunteering at places and taking classes to learn stuff that will help me get there. Last night I went to a bee-keeping class and I feel inspired to share the good word of the value of the honey bee.

If you've ever read The Secret Life of Bees or watched a National Geographic program about bees, you can appreciate how amazing bees are as organized, complex creatures. Something most people don't think about is how important honey bees are--and not just for honey. For as much as I love me some Honey Nut Cheerios, we could live without the sweetening and medicinal properties of honey and we could live without the health benefits of bee pollen, but even if we found something else to fill our honey bears with, it would be slim pickins at the buffet line without our buzzing buddies.

1/3 of all the food we eat is pollinated. Much of the un-pollinated food we eat depends on systems which include pollinated food. Bees provide 80% of that pollination. Simply put, you can thank bees for more than 1-out-of-4 bites of food you enjoy. Pretty awesome, right?

Unfortunately for the bees and for us, in the last 50 years, the bee population has dropped by more than half. Disease, a decline in hobby bee-keeping and a number of other known and unknown factors has led to this and it totally stinks in an urgent way. On top of that, a few places have started passing nuisance laws to outlaw bee-keeping. We can’t afford to ignore the implications of the declining bee population on our health, our food supply and the well-being of the environment.

It may seem silly to even worry about saving bees and people have concerns.

1) What if I’m allergic to bees?

Only 5% of the population is allergic to bees and most don’t react in My Girl proportions. Bee stings kill about as many people a year as lightening (that counts killer bees). In fact, toothpicks kill more people a year than bee stings. 100% of the people who are allergic to bees still need to eat.

2) What if I don’t like getting stung?

Don’t. There are lots of ways to avoid stings. Google it.

3) I’m not a bee keeper. What can I do?

You don’t have to raise bees to save bees. You can help by:

· gardening (particularly heirloom and flowering plants)

· buying local honey (or at least being vocal and asking for it)

· avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that can harm bees

· donating time, money and support to organizations that research and advocate for bees

· getting involved in legislation or at least signing petitions to keep bee-keeping legal

· getting involved in local bee-related events (I bet you a high five of triumph you have those in your area. Google it.)

· learning more about bees and talking to people about them

4) Aren’t there more important things to worry about?

Yup. If you’re too busy solving all of the world’s other problems, come back to this later. If you’re too busy complaining that you have more important things to worry about (ie Lost is on), maybe you could afford to lend a bee a hand.

30-Year Wish List

2010-02-25T14:21:00.010-05:00

30 things I want in my 30th year

~~Sasquatch tickets for Saturday, May 29th~~
~~Sasquatch tickets for Monday, May 31st~~
zipper on shift dress fixed
~~winter coat dry cleaned~~
~~cheap, but durable light set for bike~~
~~good floor pump~~
~~Seattle Tilth's Maritime Northwest Garden Guide~~
haircut
my ring fixed
~~bike tuned~~
~~good bike computer with cadence~~
~~black tights~~
~~bike hook~~
moto fixed
~~go to movie in a theater~~
~~good pedals~~
moto rain gear
~~blackberry bush~~
~~grape vine~~
~~tomato plant~~
~~green bean plant~~
scotch bonnet pepper plant
~~onion plants~~
~~garlic plants~~
~~basil plants~~
~~thyme plant~~
~~cilantro plants~~
~~spearmint plants~~
~~zucchini plant~~
~~play with babies~~

ignore this

2010-02-10T01:26:00.005-05:00

unless you want to buy it from me.

chat from the past

2010-01-07T02:11:00.005-05:00

Sometimes searching my gmail for something useful brings up something unrelated, but awesome.

me: so someone just drove by blasting color me badd's "i wanna sex you up" really loudly

Nick: oh dang!!

2:41 PM so hot, that song.

me: right?

those jr high dances

Nick: the video was so trashy, i remember

me: so was that guy's hair

Nick: and the light beard. ugh.

me: i just remember thinking as a young person, "there is no way that girl would sex that up"

Thanks, google (and Oklahoma).

ode to geddes

2010-01-04T01:06:00.003-05:00

I am posting this from my kitchen right now because Geddes "the amazing" Munson did what no outsourced foreign customer service rep could do: fixed my wireless connection.

When I'm watching 30 Rock while brushing my teeth, I will thank you.

9:59 PM me: geddes is my new hero

Amy: he's pretty great.

10:03 PM me: seriously, how did geddes get to be a genius fixer of my problems?

10:04 PM Amy: i have no idea how geddes exists

he's like a normal guy

but he knows everything.

EVERYTHING.

plus he is in my nerd club.

i'm pretty happy about that fact.

me: he must have studied awesome and graduated with honors

Amy: haha. true that.

Lemonade

2010-01-01T00:56:00.003-05:00

During the last couple of hours of the decade, this is all I have to say:

1) Last night I lit a fire in my fireplace. It took many hours before I realized how smoky it was in the apartment. I opened the windows and doors to let out the smoke and realized that it is the same temperature in my apartment as it is outside my apartment. I should have known from the fact that I can always see my breath and that my shampoo is too frozen to come out of the bottle by itself. So this morning as I got out of my warm bed, I marched right over to the back door and opened it wide because if it's going to be 39 degrees in my apartment, I might as well get some fresh air too.

2) A few days ago, my bathroom sink exploded with the contents of my upstairs neighbor's garbage disposal (at least I keep telling myself that's what it was). The flood ruined almost everything in the bathroom and some things in the storage closet. I have been cleaning it little by little everyday because it is extremely gross, has required more products that I was originally equipped with and requires more concentration that I care to give it in one day. Today, when I was getting started on it (with the intent to finish it all off), I decided to just forget about it until next year, add it to the resolutions and get double satisfaction by getting it done and making good on at least one resolution.

3) I was going to go out and do something New Yearsy, maybe go out to dinner or see a movie or just go out. Then I remembered the facts:

a) I have limited income
b) I have limited friends here
c) I'm in a moo moo with little chance of that changing

It was bleak math. Then I got a text from Ty who had the brilliant idea of video chatting me into his party. Just after midnight, Brook walked me through the living room where horns were still blowing and my peoples were still dancing and cheering.

So basically, it's going to be a good year, right?

reading rain

2009-12-13T19:17:00.005-05:00

I've gotten to read some since I don't have a job and all. Here are some books I've read recently and my rating of them on a meaningless 5-asterisk scale.

Books I have read since moving from NYC:

**She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb

***Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan

****A History of Love by Nicole Krauss

****The Road by Cormac McCarthy

****No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

*****Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

*****The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

****Killing Che by Chuck Pfarrer

Books I read the entire year before:

****I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb

***The Autobiography of Mahatma Ghandi

Interestingly, both of the books I enjoyed the most involved factory farming/meat-packing. Incidentally, I've officially sworn off of factory-farmed meat which means I'm back to not eating meat since it's almost impossible to find meat not from a factory farm. It makes me greatly concerned for food security in the US and all the more anxious for my 10-year-plan farm. I'll make sure to keep a cot in the barn in case anyone wants to visit.

happy halloween

2009-10-31T19:49:00.000-04:00

it's true

2009-10-25T05:51:00.006-04:00

i officially miss new york.

evidence:

when i was visiting my sister a couple months ago, she told me that half of everything that i say starts out with "one time when i was on the subway..."
every movie i've seen and every song i've listened to has some new york reference
i have probably watched 3 whole seasons of law & order: SVU since i got to seattle simply looking for places that i'm nostaligic for
i just spent 4 hours e-stalking everyone that i know and love from the big apple. that was my saturday night and i loved it
i can tell anyone right now what the cheapest flights from seattle to new york are
i can't stop thinking about thin-crust pizza and bagels
i still haven't stopped checking out what events are going on in the city that i would want to go to
it's sometimes hard for me to fall asleep without the sound of traffic or reggaeton or yelling
when people ask where i live, it is still hard for me not to say 127th & convent off the A
i dream about nyc peeps nightly and think about them daily

i don't regret moving, but leaving new york, even 3 months later, never easy.

building boats

2009-10-10T22:16:00.003-04:00

So I moved out to Seattle last month so I could learn how to build boats (among other things). I took a little trip out to a boat-building school this weekend to get a feel for how things work. I camped out in Port Townsend and got to spend Saturday helping out on a community boat-building project. These are the reasons it was awesome:

beautiful, sunny weather
whenever I looked up from drilling or sawing, I was met by a sweeping vista of fir and water and sails
the area was surrounded by blackberry bushes which became the main snack throughout the day (along with the cookies that someone brought)
people were really kind, well-educated and well-traveled
lunch was a pot of boiling stock that people just add veggies to as they come (BYOV)
we worked out in the open air next to a big shop and the smell of saw dust and evergreens was everywhere
at the front desk in the office, instead of having a bowl of candy out on the counter, they had a bowl of heirloom cherry tomatoes
there were boats, pieces of boats, beginnings of boats and sails everywhere
the trip out there and back involved a beautiful, rolling drive and a ferry

Yes, please.

Enabling Power

2009-09-23T15:53:00.010-04:00

I gave a talk in the Harlem ward a few months ago and got a lot of good feedback on it and requests for copies. So I'm sharing it because I feel like I learned a lot preparing for it and it's knowledge that I hope I remember.

Today I was asked to speak on the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. "Enabling power" is a term we often hear in a gospel context, but I never actually took much time to think about what it really means because it seems pretty straight forward. Even without knowing exactly what it is referring to, we can make a pretty good guess. To enable means to encourage, facilitate, aid, make possible, etc. Knowing that, you can get by with a basic understanding that the Atonement encourages, aids and otherwise helps us to do stuff.

We often think about that power in terms of trials. I have trials. We all have trials. The Atonement gives us power to overcome trials. This is absolutely true, but I wanted to understand the enabling power of the Atonement in greater dimension as I was preparing for this talk.

I went to the Church's website and searched for "enabling power." A list of references came up. I scanned through them and quickly realized that "enabling power" is always linked to "grace." In fact, sometimes they are used interchangeably. This was a new discovery for me. The idea that enabling power = grace put the concept in a different light for me. When we think of someone who is gracious, we think of that person as being forgiving, tolerant, accepting or understanding. Likewise, when I had thought of grace in the past, I thought of it as the Lord overlooking our mistakes when we repent and making up for them where we fall short.

In 2 Nephi 25:23, Nephi explains his motivation for keeping the sacred records.

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

When I've read that in the past, I've always thought about grace in terms the graphic below.

I thought about grace as something that kicks in to make up the vast difference after the point where we exhaust all our efforts. As in, grace comes into play "after (and only after) all we can do." We get to a point where we just can't do anymore or get any better due to our imperfections and then grace takes over. I thought of it like a curved test where grace would take my imperfect score and turn it into a passing grade.

However, if we think about grace as enabling power (something that facilitates, aids, encourages, etc), it changes things. If grace is enabling power, it cannot be something that kicks in at the end. It has to be something that is present from the beginning and every step of the way in order to truly enable. Think about it in terms of the graphic below.

In this light, grace strengthens, directs, pushes and grows us in the process. It takes our imperfections and infuses them with divine help. Grace, that enabling power of the Atonement, doesn't disguise or excuse our weaknesses by filling in the gap. It turns our weakness into strength and increases our capacity so that we can expand to fill in the gap ourselves. As we study to understand the gospel and strive to apply it and align our actions to it, grace is the power that converts those efforts into godliness.

Nephi said that "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" because he knew as Paul wrote to the Philippians "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). Paul knew this because he had been reminded by the Lord when he had asked three times for a trial to be removed from him. The trial was not removed and Christ answered simply, "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Corinthians 12:9), knowing that through the enabling power of the Atonement, Paul could accomplish what he needed to.

When Christ gave his sermon on the mount and commanded followers saying "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect," (Matthew 5:48), he was not giving them an impossible or eventual commandment. He was encouraging them to partake of his grace and reach their potential as children of God. He was encouraging them to believe that truly "with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26).

Elder Bednar, in a talk on enabling power said,

It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. ("In the Strength of the Lord," October 2004, General
Conference)

Elder Bednar does not say that grace makes it as if we did good when we did not. He says that it gives us the strength to do what we are charged with doing.

This leads us to a beautiful thesis of the Atonement: The Lord died for our sins as well as for our goodness.

Think about the Atonement in terms of a pencil.

We would probably tend to say that the eraser end represents the power of the Atonement because it removes mistakes. However, the primary function of a pencil is as a writing utensil. It is a creative tool before it is a remover of mistakes. Pencils are designed to be used for writing, drawing, crafting and creating. Then it has this great contingency plan for when we mess up or craft something less than ideal.

So it is with the Atonement. It is primarily designed to help us express and create the goodness that is in us. Then it also has this built in contingency to help us move past our sins and mistakes. If all we did was repent of sins, we'd be perpetually in the same place, repenting of the same sins all the time. However, we're not just supposed to not sin. We're supposed to get better. We're supposed to build. We're supposed to be more than we are. We're supposed to work on being like God. That is what the Atonement is aimed at doing for us.

In other words, the Atonement makes it possible for us to right our wrongs as well as to write our goodness. It enables us to nurture the budding godliness within us and overwrite the natural man. When we talk about the all-inclusive nature of the Atonement, we're not just talking about its ability to cover all of our sins, but also it's ability to uncover all the good we are capable of. Considering we are God's children, that potential is great.

In the New Testament, we read of an adulterous woman who was taken before Christ by a group of deceitful people in an effort to trick him. Christ reasoned that the person among them who is sinless should cast the first stone at the woman. As this applied to no one, they left. Christ then instructed the woman to "go, and sin no more" (John 8:11). Christ doesn't tell her it's OK that she sinned. He doesn't tell her that he'll let this one slide. He recognizes it and tells her to go and sin no more. It's as if he is instructing her (think of the pencil) to erase what she has done and not to let it affect what happens next.

Repentance doesn't just mean getting rid of a mistake. The Greek root for the word repentance refers to change. Therefore, repentance requires using every part of the Atonement to get rid of the mistake and then to change and redirect efforts to something usable, productive and godly.

I have a testimony that there is beautiful poetry, prose, essay and art to be written with our lives through the enabling power of the Atonement. We are not here just to not make mistakes, but to make goodness.

Sister Sheri Dew said,

Our responsibility is to learn to draw upon the power of the Atonement. Otherwise we walk through mortality relying solely on our own strength. And to do that is to invite the frustration of failure and to refuse the most resplendent gift in time or eternity ("Our Only Chance," April 1999, General Conference).

In the 3rd Article of Faith, we read,

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

We may be saved. We are welcome to it. It is ours for the taking.

I have a testimony that this is true.

I'm sold

2009-09-15T17:59:00.003-04:00

Sign me up for a midwife...you know, when the time comes.

so i live in seattle now

2009-08-30T03:33:00.003-04:00

well, i technically haven't signed the lease yet, but if home is where your stuff is, seattle=home. don't sweat it. i feel a little like crazy horse: perpetually unfinished.

golden slumbers

2009-08-18T03:00:00.005-04:00

I had lunch the other day with my old roommate, the Kelsinator. She is awesome. She was telling me how she re-met this guy who was in the ward we were in as roommates back at the BYU. Thinking back on that time, I realized that I had zero recollection of that ward. I remember the house we lived in well, as it was big and fun and always full of cool people. I also remember that period of time. It was my first year of grad school and I was busy and, for a lot of reasons, I was tired all the time. I also remembered the commute to and from church as we met at UVSC, which was different for a BYU ward. I had lots of fabulous non-ward friends and so I didn't really make any effort to meet people in the ward. So try as I did, I could not remember anything about that ward. I couldn't remember any of the people and I actually couldn't even remember attending although I could remember the commute. After telling Kelsey this, she explained, "That's because you always slept through church. You would fall asleep as soon as we got there and wake up to switch classrooms."

Amazing. I slept through an entire academic year of sabbath-day worship.

My husband was probably in that ward.

Seminary Graduation Talk 2009

2009-06-08T18:24:00.000-04:00

At Belmont Racing Park, just 30 minutes to the east of us here in NYC, there is a statue of a horse named Secretariat. Secretariat was the best racing horse ever. I want to tell you a little bit about this horse and about horse racing, but as I tell you this, I want you to listen very closely with your spiritual ears because there is a lot we can learn here.

The greatest distinction a racehorse can earn is to win all three races in the Triple Crown series. Only 11 horses have ever accomplished that in over 150 years that The Triple Crown has existed. Secretariat only raced for about a year, but in 1973, towards the end of his racing career, he was positioning himself to do just that.

In the Kentucky Derby, the first race of the series, Secretariat set a track record that still stands to this day. More remarkable than setting that record was how he did it. Usually in sprint races, horses will accelerate and reach their maximum speed during the first ¼ mile. They spend the rest of the race maintaining speed and sometimes slowing. Track timers showed that Secretariat accelerated consistently throughout the entire race so that each successive ¼ mile that he ran was faster than the last. He didn’t reach his peak in the first part of the race like most horses, he kept getting faster and faster throughout the race. That means that after he won that race, he still hadn’t reached his maximum speed.

Secretariat at the 1973 Kentucky Derby

The second race in the Triple Crown series is the Preakness Stakes. When that race started, Secretariat was the last horse to break out of the gates, but by the first turn, he had gone from last to first place. He won that race by 2.5 lengths (about 20 feet).

Secretariat at the 1973 Preakness Stakes

By this time, he was getting considerable attention. He was named the Horse of the Year (one of the youngest horses to receive that title). He was featured in the news. He was on the cover of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated. People who didn’t care about horse racing, were suddenly excited about it because of what this horse was accomplishing.

For the Belmont Stakes, the last race in the Triple Crown series and the super bowl of horse racing, close to 70 thousand people showed up at Belmont Park in 1973 to watch Secretariat race. He was so well-favored that most people didn’t bother place bets that day. He was the sure bet. Secretariat did not disappoint. He won that race by an incredible 31 lengths (83 yards), setting a world record that still stands today.

Secretariat at the 1973 Belmont Stakes

I’m telling you this because there are few things that are true of racehorses and particularly Secretariat that are also true about everyone in this room and I believe we can learn from being reminded of them.

• First, the value of a horse starts with its pedigree. Racehorses are selectively bred. Their ancestors and their records of success in large part dictate the worth of a horse. Even before it is born or races, a horse that comes from a line of proven racehorses is valued at a high price. In fact, the Belmont Stakes was yesterday (6/5/09). The winner of that race was a horse named Summer Bird. Summer Bird is a descendant of Secretariat. Before he ever set foot on a track, great things were expected of him because of his bloodline.

We are descendants of God. We are literally his spirit children. There is no pedigree line more distinguished or that carries more potential than that. Because of our unique heavenly pedigree, we are valued at a high price and we have in our spiritual genetic makeup the potential to be like Him. Descendants of racehorses have the potential to be great racehorses. Descendants of God, have the potential to be gods. Scripture Mastery John 17:3. Eternal life is knowing God because God is in us and to know who we are and what we are capable of, we have to understand the nature of God.

• Second, racehorses only race for a small portion of their lives. After a few years of prep, most horses will only race 2-3 years and spend the rest of their lives breeding and passing on their genes. Horses live normally between 20-30 years. So a great emphasis and importance is placed on what they can accomplish in those few years of racing. During that short race period, it would be unwise for a trainer to let the horse take a break or to stray from its practice and nutrition regiment. Taking a horse off-pace would greatly threaten its ability to perform as it is meant to.

We are currently in our own mortal Triple Crown series. As children of God, our mortal tests and trials make up only a small portion of our entire existence, but great emphasis is placed upon what we make of our time here. So we need to ask ourselves, “Knowing that our purpose on earth is to get a body, learn as much as we can, make the right decisions that will help us realize our potential as children of God, what are we prioritizing, what are we doing, what are we saying, what are we studying, how are we spending our time that is helping us to accomplish that?” I want you to take a moment and very seriously think about how you spend a typical day…Now compare that with your knowledge that we have a small window of time to accomplish all that we need to in mortality. Ask yourself, “Do my actions align with my testimony? Am I making the most of my time here?” In answering that question and in safely and righteously navigating the short time that we have here, I want to point to the scriptures. Scripture Mastery 2nd Tim 3:16-17. I point to the scriptures because the scriptures point to Jesus Christ, whose atonement we need to successfully navigate this life. Accessing that power in our short mortality is what will help us to realize our potential as children of God.

• Third, behind every good racehorse, there is a lot of support. Racehorses are supported by owners who invest a lot into their care, comfort and health. Racehorses usually have a staff of skilled individuals who see to it that they are getting the proper exercise, are sheltered from extreme elements and receiving the right practice and nutrition. Racehorses also have a jockey or team of jockeys whose job it is to know the horse’s strengths and weaknesses and use that knowledge to guide the horse strategically in its races.

We are surrounded by so much love and support. It comes from family, friends, teachers, neighbors and church leaders. We are not alone. Where people or systems fail us, we always have the Holy Ghost, our spiritual jockey, whose job it is to know us and to give us the guidance we need to strategically use what we have in our mortal race. We have the example of those who have gone before us in the scriptures and we need to constantly and consistently be tapping into that support. When speaking to the priesthood in the last Gen conference, Pres Monson said, “Crash courses are not nearly so effective as the day-to-day reading and application of the scriptures in our lives. Become acquainted with the lessons the scriptures teach. Learn the background and setting of the Master’s parables and the prophets’ admonitions. Study them as though they were speaking to you, for such is the truth.”

• Here’s my last point that we can learn from racehorses. I want to go back to Secretariat for a second. He lived more than 15 years after his racing career ended and then was put down after he contracted a hoof disease. After he died, they did an autopsy on him to see if there was anything physiologically that made him such an effective racehorse. They found that his organs were all intact and normal and in large part unremarkable, except for his heart. A normal horse’s heart weighs between 7-9 pounds. Secretariat’s heart weighed 22 lbs. He had everything else that any other horse was born with. He had strong legs and healthy lungs, but the thing that made him so incredible, actually the thing that made him able to use those god-given blessings to the best of their ability was this massive organ that was able to pump more blood, more nutrients and more oxygen throughout all of his body.

The analogy here is obvious. We are all born with certain God-given characteristics and opportunities. We all are born with the light of Christ and the ability to choose the right, but it is only when our hearts are pure, when our hearts are strong, when our hearts are healthy, loving, charitable and Christ-centered that we are making the most of what we have. It is so important that we train our hearts to power the good that is in us. The size and quality of our spiritual hearts determines how effective we will be during our mortality.

I want to end with a prayer in the form of hymn lyrics:

Lord, accept our true devotion.
Let thy Spirit whisper peace.
Fill our hearts with fond emotion,
And our joy in thee increase.
Never leave us, never leave us.
Help us, Lord to win the race.
Never leave us, never leave us.
Help us, Lord to win the race.

I have a testimony that as we continually seek to study and apply what we learn in the scriptures, we will increase out spiritual stamina, we will better position ourselves to overcome the opposition of the world and grow closer to our potential as children of God. We have been told that the scriptures are here for our profit and learning. Again, I point to the scriptures because the scriptures point to Jesus Christ whose atonement we need to successfully navigate this life. As long as we are engaged in seeking out the word of God, He will never leave us and we will win the race.

Hop On Hop Off USA: Now recruiting

2009-06-04T12:29:00.004-04:00

I'm moving to the other coast this summer. Meet me along the way or come for the whole ride.

View Xcountry 2009 in a larger map

Stage 1: NYC to UT
Blue path: Stage 1, option 1 (w/ company)
Gray path: Stage 1, option 2 (w/o company)

Stage 2: UT to Seattle
Orange path: Stage 2, option 1 (straight to Seattle from UT)
Green path: Stage 2, option 2 (up the Pacific Coast from UT)

happiness is

2009-05-17T21:37:00.006-04:00

seriously. were there ever two more wonderful creations?

thanks for beatles night, boys.

for every action

2009-05-04T23:21:00.002-04:00

I don't know much about the laws of motion, but this much I know mathematically speaking.

Given:
I made some cookie dough yesterday (for making cookies)
There is a mouse in my house that likes to hide out under the stove
I don't like the mouse and want to make it uncomfortable for the mouse to be under the stove
Turning on the stove makes the mouse uncomfortable
Turning on the stove facilitates baking cookies
Using a cookie sheet to bake several cookies is more clean up than using a small pan to bake one large cookie the size of your face
Eating a cookie the size of your face is delicious with cold milk from the carton
Eating a cookie the size of your face necessitates exercise
Running for 40 minutes and then stepping into a pothole and rolling your ankle 1/2 a block away from your apt is painful.

Therefore:
cookies = pain

sweet, delicious pain

jet lag

2009-03-31T21:49:00.002-04:00

one day i went on a lovely weekend trip to utah. i came back to nyc and was really tired. i took a little nappy when i came home. when i woke up, i checked my work email and commenced work. turns out i wasn't totally awake as i was doing this as evidenced by the following email:

Hi Anu,

So I just wanted to let you know that I had a dream last night about our team meeting on Wednesday. I dreamt that for some reason you sent us an invite telling us that the meeting was at your apartment, but then you didn’t give us directions or an address so we all just showed up to the office. When we got there, there were these cards with clues on how to get to your house, but we weren’t allowed to see everyone else’s cards. Instead, we had to play this game called “ideas” (it was a made up dream game, I think) where we had to do like this combination charades/pictionary game to get people to guess an object on our cards and then after they guessed it we could see the clue they had. My object was flour and I didn’t get anyone to guess it after a minute. Anyway, we were also playing this game in this imaginary lobby of the building where a bus stop went through. There were people waiting for a bus there and this crazy lady who was throwing sharp objects at people. So we stopped our game and moved out of the way, but in the hustle, someone stole my laptop and I was freaking out. I called the police and tried to relay to them how dire the situation was, but they weren’t that concerned. I was relieved to wake up and find that it was all a dream.

Weird thing, though. I’m pretty sure someone broke into my apartment last night, but I haven’t found anything missing yet. Just an open window and moved furniture and stuff. Weird

searching for answers

2009-01-25T16:39:00.002-05:00

after realizing how revealing my amazon.com search history was, i was curious to see what my google search history could say about what my priorities are. here are a few highlights in alphabetical order:

10 virgins
various foreign-based airlines
various bike routes
various camp sites
various central american cities
adjustable wire shelf
all things denote there is a god
aerial acreage
ashley samantha mackay
babymaker generator
balkan beat box
bucket toilet
bulk castile soap
buying a bike in Dublin
central park sledding
chickens for sale
cob
covey quadrant system
desk clacker
effects of over-watering
ethanol cons
glory box
jetsons pill meals (seriously, i searched for that)
jump the shark
mays walsh undefeated
mitosis v. meisos
new york road runners
nuclear energy cons
osu michigan football game
permaculture
pi
poker hands
quitters (i have no idea why i searched for that)
rampage kamryn pump red (if anyone can find these anywhere in size 8.5 , i would pay a lot of money for them)
red hook apt
ragbrai
sawdust toilets
self-sabbotage
speed laces
triathlon calendar
traveling gnome
try try again
unused pneumatic tubes
vegetable protein
village halloween parade
weather machine
wind solar generator
words that rhyme with nostril
write in presidential vote (and yes, i did--don't blame me, i voted for middleton/bryner)
wwoof
zelda

that pretty much sums up my life.

this is what i love about life

2009-01-23T09:45:00.002-05:00

Amazon.com does this thing where it will suggest items for you to purchase based on your search and purchasing history.

These are some books amazon suggested for me:

*Build Your Own Underground Root Cellar
*Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them
*The Renewable Energy Handbook
*Building Green
*The Triathlete's Training Bible
*The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide to Training
*Effective Teaching Methods
*5-minute Math Problem of the Day
*101 Science experiments
*The Essential Ghandi
*Motorcycle Diaries
*Guerilla Warfare
*various Lonely Planet country guides
*everything by Gunter Grass

These are some products amazon suggested for me:
*The Pretty Princess Dress-up Board Game
*Scrabble
*french pop CDs
*red zebra-print high heeled pumps

How does amazon know me so well?

it worked out ok

2008-11-29T21:40:00.000-05:00

despite this.

For Nick, Ty and Joe

2008-11-11T20:12:00.010-05:00

Dear people who have stumbled upon this page via a Google search: This information is severely outdated, but it was a fun trip and I highly recommend you go.

The Tentative Itinerary
So this is roughly the route we'll be taking. It is pretty rigidly mapped out, but that was mainly so I could make sure I was accounting for timing that we need to consider. Let me know what you think. I'm also mapping out approximate costs so that you can know how much to budget for different things. Keep in mind that you may opt to spend more or less according to your budgetary needs. Also, if you plan to hop on the internet or pick up some souvenirs, you'll want to budget for that as well. Please feel free to check my logic on all of this.

T=Transportation
L=Lodging
F=Food
A=Activities

SAT, NOV 22: The Canal
T=$38 L=$0 F=$5 A=$5 (TOTAL: $65)

03:00am cab to EWR ($17)
03:30am check in at EWR 05:30am flight to IAH 08:14am arrive IAH 09:00am depart IAH 02:06pm arrive PTY 03:00pm clear customs 03:15pm cab to bus terminal ($10)
03:45pm buy tickets to Changuinola ($24)
04:00pm cab to Miraflores Locks ($2)
04:30pm admission to Locks to see Canal ($5)
05:00pm cab back to Panama City ($2)
05:30pm dinner ($5)
06:00pm buy food supplies at bus terminal mall
08:00pm bus to Changuinola*
*We had originally talked about going to Boquete (Chiriqui province) first, but I thought it would be good to put the cold area in between the beaches and if we're sure we're going to be wiped from the overnight trip, lounging on the beach sounds like a better way to shake that off. Also, the buses have reclining seats and are pretty comfy so we should be able to sleep some.

SUN, NOV 23: Isla Bastimentos (Bocas del Toro)
T=$7 L=$10 F=$12 A=$? (TOTAL: $29+activities)

06:00am collectivo ride from bus stop to Finca 60 docks ($1)
07:00am water taxi to Colon($5)
08:00am water taxi to Bastimentos ($1)
08:30am check into hostel ($10)
09:00am breakfast ($3)
-beaches
-surfboard rental ($10)
-snorkeling tour ($15)
-hiking
-bike rental($8)
-Bastimentos Day Parade
01:00pm lunch ($4)
06:00pm dinner ($5)

MON, NOV 24: Isla Colon (Bocas del Toro)
T=$24 L=$10 F=$12 A=$? (TOTAL: $46+activities)

09:00am breakfast ($3)
09:30am water taxi to Colon
10:00am transport to wherever we go on the island ($3)
-Boca del Drago beach
-La Gruta bat cave ($1)
-scooter rental ($10)
-hiking
-bike rental($8)
01:00pm lunch ($4)
03:30pm water taxi to Changuinola ($5)
04:30pm collectivo to bus station ($1)
05:00pm bus to David ($13)
06:00pm pre-purchased dinner on bus ($5)
09:00pm bus to Boquete ($2)
10:30pm check into hostel ($10)

TUE, NOV 25: Boquete (Chiriqui Province)
T=$2 L=$10 F=$8 A=$96 (TOTAL: $116)

07:00am breakfast ($3)
07:30am pre-arranged rafting trip + tip ($95)
04:00pm cab to hot springs ($1)
04:30pm admission to hot springs ($1)
06:00pm cab to Boquete ($1)
07:00pm dinner ($5)
08:00pm night at hostel ($10)

WED, NOV 26: Boquete (Chiriqui Province)
T=$15 L=$0 F=$12 A=$? (TOTAL: $27+activities)

09:00am breakfast ($3)
-mountain tours ($20)
-hiking
-gardens
-mountain biking tours ($25)
-canopy tours ($60)
01:00pm lunch ($4)
06:00pm dinner ($5)
06:30pm bus to David ($2)
08:00pm buy tickets to Panama City ($13)
-catch a movie ($5)
-walk around town
-dance at La Boom* ($6)
10:45pm bus to Panama City**
*This might require paying a nominal fee to ask a local hostel to stash our stuff
**Again, I advocate the overnight bus. We had originally talked about flying from this side of the country back to Panama city. The reason I'm pushing for the bus is because the only advantage the plane has is comfort. Taking the overnight bus, we would definitely be saving money in terms of lodging and travel costs ($13 vs. $100 for the plane ticket, cab to hostel and lodging). Also in order to catch the plane, because of the timing of the flights, we'd actually have to leave Boquete earlier and still not be able to leave for San Blas until the next morning.

THU, NOV 27: Isla Robinson/Isla Carti Sugdub/Isla Kuanidup Grande (Archipelago de San Blas)*
T=$27/$32/$32 L=$18/$25/$45 F=$3 A=$0 (TOTAL: $68/$55/$95)

05:30am pre-arranged jeep to Carti picks us up from Hotel Caribe + tip** ($27)
07:30am pre-purchased breakfast ($3)
09:00am boat to Island ? ($20/$0/$20)
10:00pm check into pre-reserved hotel ($18/$25/$45)
-beach
-snorkel
-Kuna tours
01:00pm lunch
06:00pm dinner
*We need to decide before we leave where to stay so we can call ahead and make reservations. I don't want to show up at the docks and have to island hop until we find a vacancy. All of the options are all-inclusive with meals and tours. I narrowed us down to 3 options considering price, beach access and distance from other tourists. Here are my favorite options (pictures linked):
1. Isla Robinson ($18): teeny weeny, unpopulated island, nice beach on site, backpacker crowd, thatch-roof accommodations
2. Carti Sugdub ($25): populated island near the mainland, homestay in a Kuna community, access to nice beaches via tours, exposure to Kuna culture, dorm-style accommodations
3. Isla Kuanidup Grande ($45): tiny, unpopulated island, superb beach on site, no crowd, thatch-cabin accommodations
**We have to tell the jeep a hotel to pick us up at ahead of time and Hotel Caribe is the closest one to the bus station that I know of.

FRI, NOV 28: Isla Robinson/Isla Carti Sugdub/Isla Kuanidup Grande (Archipelago de San Blas)*
T=$0 L=$25/$45/$18 F=$0 A=$0 (TOTAL: $18/$25/$45)

10:00am breakfast at hotel ($18/$25/$45)
-beach
-snorkel
-Kuna tours
01:00pm lunch
06:00pm dinner

SAT, NOV 29: Panama City
T=$47/$27/$47 L=$12 F=$9 A=$? (TOTAL: $68/$48/$68+activities)

09:00am breakfast
11:00am boat to Carti* ($0/$20/$20)
12:00pm jeep to Panama City + tip ($27)
01:00pm pre-purchased lunch on the way ($4)
05:00pm check into hostel ($12)
06:00pm dinner ($5)
-dancing
-shopping
*Depending on the timing of the jeep transportation, we may need to leave earlier than this.

SUN, NOV 30: New York City
T=$45 L=$0 F=$5 A=$0 (TOTAL: $50)

07:30am pre-arranged cab to airport ($10)
08:00am check in with departure tax ($20)
09:00am breakfast ($5)
10:00am flight from PTY
03:10pm arrive in EWR
04:00pm back to NYC ($15)

Basically, you should budget about $425 for the basic package above up to $600 if you decide to go deluxe with plane transportation, nice restaurants, accommodations, and extra activities. Either way, let's do it.

experimental mp3 2008

2008-10-20T12:01:00.003-04:00

This was fun.

Brief appearances by yours truly at 1:35 and 3:50. I'm wearing a yellow sweater and brown shorts and carrying a cream-colored purse.
An awesome closeup of Karen bringing latex destruction upon opposing forces at 4:20.

Following the event, Amy, Martha, Ted, Clara and I went to go eat. Giddiness and bad jokes abounded. Ted summed it up well: "I think that event just made me happy." Amen.

compound checklist

2008-10-19T15:09:00.005-04:00

My roommate and I sometimes talk about food storage, sustainable building and alternative energy like many people talk about their retirement. That same sigh and "someday" sentiment often pops up as we're sorting our grains and trying to find cheap land in the pacific northwest. Recently as we were discussing the upcoming election and trying to decide who to write in as presidential candidates, I realized that we're not normal. It was a completely new concept for me as I've always considered myself pretty mainstream. I mean, I wear relatively normal clothes. I go to concerts. I ride the subway. I have a normal-ish job. I subscribe to magazines. I do normal stuff. So what if we have a "grains of the month" calendar (happy rye month, by the way)? I don't think I stand out as someone you'd notice from across the room as a person who secretly dreams of building her dream house out of dirt. When I verbalized this revelation, I could tell by her face and her knowing nod that she's actually been aware of this for some time. I'm slowly coming to grips with this reality.

In order to fully own this part of my identity, I'm putting my compound checklist on the record. This is the running list of things that I'll need in order to live my dream life. Feel free to add any suggestions.

For starters, we'll need some chickens

and definitely one of these (along with a local sawdust supplier).We'll also need one of these to make use of those Arrested Development DVDs.
We're also going to need basic things like a food processor, lots of cheese cloth and so forth for making use of our food storage. While we're at it, I'd also like to get one of these because they're cute and it'll keep the weird, woodsy serial-killer-types at bay....and I'll probably want a red wagon too.

questionnaire

2008-09-17T17:18:00.004-04:00

I had to fill out a survey for a facebook my work is putting together. Some of the questions, I was pretty stuck on so I solicited some gchat contacts for some help. I loved what they had to say.

If you could spend a day in the life of anyone, who would it be and why?

Holly: someone who was sitting on a fabulous beach someday. and whoever this person is has skin that can be exposed to the sun. and the beach would be really beautiful. and someone would be bringing me fruity drinks

Jessica: a black child living in the projects. their experience is so opposite from my own, I think it would offer some fascinating prospective. i would also love to be Micheal Phelps and go for a swim. I have decided that I would want to be Bon Jovi for a day so that I could figure out how he can stand to be so dang sexy

Ned: someone close to the leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip...i want to better understand their mindset...that, or some in the Taliban...or someone in North Korea...would be interesting to witness very first hand a very different view of my world

Brook: johnny depp. (So you could make out with yourself?) yes. maybe Renne Fleming. she has a killer voice. ok, she does, but i would pick someone who does things i would never do. maybe an extreme sports person. snowboarder or motocross. the expert. you know. like Hotrod or someone.

If you could have played the starring role in any movie, which would you have picked and why?

Brook: Buttercup in the princess bride. just kidding

Jessica: well for this one I just have to think about who I would really like to kiss and be the girl who got to kiss him

If you had to describe your day as a traffic sign, what would it be and why?

Amy: soft shoulders

Holly: i had to google common traffic signs. i think I've decided on "Under Construction" because i'm always trying to make myself better. (cheesy, I know)

Brook: you need all those yields, and no left turns, and wrong way signs and STOPs. you could say, "I sing to myself all day. 'STOP in the name of love before you break my heart...'"

What is something that most people would be surprised to know about you?

Holly: how hard it was for me to overcome my fear of dead lobsters. most people are surprised by that when it comes up

flashback

2008-07-25T01:14:00.002-04:00

that was fun

consolation prize

2008-06-22T19:23:00.003-04:00

almost dying is fine, if it comes with this:

it happened like this

2008-05-31T21:47:00.004-04:00

in march, i had probably the most amazing joint birthday party ever. it started off with a game of capture the flag in harlem and ended in a dance off where 4 teams, led by team captains, had 30 minutes to choreograph and perform a dance routine to assigned war-themed songs. getting a large group of 20-somethings to dance their brains out in central park...it was the gift that keeps on giving. allow me to share.

team blue 1

team fuchsia 1

team blue 2

team fuchsia 2

facebook in real life

2008-05-28T22:17:00.002-04:00

amy had this as her status update for a couple days. it was at least a couple of days worth of funny.

the color yellow

2008-05-21T00:32:00.003-04:00

i'm breaking the blog silence mainly to get a certain post off of the front page and for some reason it made more sense to write a bogus entry than to change my settings.

this is the color scheme in my apartment. obviously, looking at the colors on a computer screen is probably a bad idea, but oh well. also, it has clearly been met with mixed reviews. some have been more vocal than others in their disgust for these chromatic choices. but guess what. i love it so much. being saturated in color makes me happy. and at least cyndi would back me up on this one.

Save the Date

2008-03-10T00:17:00.002-04:00

Saturday, March 29th all your dreams come true.

http://givepiscesachance.blogspot.com/

Enlist today!

these are a few of my favorite things:

2008-03-03T17:19:00.011-05:00

the 80s:

and the 90s:

watch this

Dear Stephen,

2008-02-06T09:49:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry that you didn't get the evite. I hope you will come to the party anyway because I love you and miss you uptown. In an effort to assuage your feelings of rejection, let me offer 4 pieces of evidence that will show that you have always been, still are and will continue to be invited to the party this Saturday.

Exhibit A:
If you were not on the original evite and added later, your name would appear out of alphabetical order at the top of the list, seen here.

**Note: There's nothing wrong with being added later. That probably meant that I didn't have someone's email address on hand or they were added by a friend.

Exhibit B:
As someone who has always been on the list, you are listed in alphabetical order near your best friend, Ty, seen here.

Exhibit C:
My response, along with others' have been alluding to your personal invitation for days before you accused me of not including you on the evite as seen here.

Exhibit D:

Love,

Becca

P.S.
I've been using the right email address.

in case you were thinking you had nothing to show for the week, consider this:

2008-02-01T21:48:00.000-05:00

It's better now, isn't it?

you're so jealous

2008-01-28T22:56:00.000-05:00

you're not this cool.

i bought this bike today

2008-01-21T21:55:00.000-05:00

remember how i know nothing about bikes? also, marcus and yancy are the best inventions ever!

if you've ever complained about horrible pictures being taken of you, stop now

2008-01-18T15:56:00.000-05:00

there's no way it could be this bad.

This is what my life has come to:

2008-01-09T00:23:00.000-05:00

My alarm goes off. I snooze for about 30 minutes. I get up and check my email as I'm getting ready. I eat breakfast and go to work. Work usually involves getting lost in Brooklyn, miscalculating travel time and overestimating what I can get done in a certain amount of time. I'm there until way past a reasonable hour and then I come home and can do nothing, but browse online for shoes that I don't intend to buy.
That's it. Also, I need to do my laundry, clean my house and take a shower. All in all, not a bad existence.

Thank you, Luke Stay

2008-01-04T10:39:00.000-05:00

For bringing this to my life.

How do you people live?

2008-01-04T00:52:00.000-05:00

I've always felt hard-pressed to budget my vacation time so that I was making the most of it and I still always felt like I never had enough time to do the things that I wanted to. I'm not talking about like having enough time to relax and whatever. Sure it would be nice to do that, but I can relax on the weekends. I'm talking about not being able to bike the Irish coast AND visit the Galapagos in the same year that I visit home frequently and visit 4 foreign countries for a combined 2 months. Somehow though, with obvious deficiencies, I got by.

I realize that I have been spoiled my entire life by the academic schedule and so no one is rosining their bow for me, but I don't understand how you people do it! I got a new planner today, it being the New Year and all, and I took a few minutes today trying to budget my vacation time to do the things that are absolutely essentials for me this year and I can't do it! I feel like I have a generous amount of vacation time and flexibility to boot, but seriously how is it possible that I can't go to South America for a week, Florida for a week, China for 1.5 weeks and still fit in the routine family visits?

How do people who only have a measly 2 weeks and federal holidays survive?

'Tis the Season...

2007-11-10T17:04:00.000-05:00

...to click on this:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/bshim

Some things are worth it.

i'm home

2007-10-27T03:49:00.000-04:00

whatever that means.

worse things have happened to better people

2007-10-16T21:13:00.000-04:00

here are the things that have happened in the past week:

the twins i was staying with had their 4th birthday and it was precious (insert mental image).

i fininshed classes and met mom in liberia.

we went to granada and san juan del sur, nicaragua.

i got on a bus and was stripped of everything, but my dirty laundry. so this is where i would post a picture if my camera had not been stolen. the picture that i want to post would look something like a bunch of angry costa ricans yelling and pointing at a man as he pushed people out of his way to get off the bus with a bag. eventually this man was stopped and his stuff searched, but he didn't have my stuff so they let him go. apparently, he had tossed my stuff out the window to one of his buddies who was also long gone.

...time lapse...

got kicked out the US embassy twice, but they did let me take a picture for my new passport that they refused to issue. as you can imagine, it was worse than my last one (and the last one was real bad). i had the puffy-eyed "i've just been stripped of all of my important worldy belongings and gotten kicked out of the embassy twice and it's raining" look. you know the one. anyway, so if anyone has a clue as to what goes on in embassies, i'd like to know. i think it's an international mafia front and they're all in the back playing diplomatic games of bridge or betting on cock fights.

so it's all good. i'll just come home in a couple of weeks and be broke and homeless and unemployed. pura vida.

adios, samara

2007-10-11T16:18:00.000-04:00

it was nice knowin' ya.

good news and it´s accompanying bad

2007-10-07T16:18:00.000-04:00

so you may recall that I bought this beautiful machine in April.

you may also recall this unfortunate occurrence.

the good news: i have been determined to be 0% at fault for the accident. the city has been found at fault for the cruddy road that threw my bike off balance and propelled me into a parked car.

the bad news: anyone know how to get the city to pay for damages?

happy hump day to me

2007-10-03T19:40:00.000-04:00

so i´ve been here 3 weeks and i have 3 more to go.

here's another glimpse of my life in samara.

my room:

my walk home:

**this is where i was going to insert a picture of my legs which have acquired over 50 new mosquito bites this week alone just when the old ones were healing. then after several takes, they were really too disgusting to post so this is where i´m not posting a picture.

also, i just realized that when i get back to new york in 3 weeks, i will be homeless and unemployed. funny how that hasn´t occurred to me at all until now. any suggestions? i´ve been reading che guevera´s motorcycle diaries and i think it is giving me some bad ideas.

semana de tiburones y ramas

2007-10-02T16:39:00.000-04:00

so I went surfing today after classes. gavi, the surf monk, had said that he was going to go out with me, which was a huge comfort because i still really suck and have pretty much no idea what i'm doing. of course, once i got there he informed me that his surf brethren had tipped him off to bigger and better waves and he was making a pilgrimage to another beach to wave worship.

so i strapped myself in and went out. my plan was to stay out long enough to get up 10 times. after 30 minutes when I had managed to get up once, i lowered my expectations to 5. thankfully, the next 30 minutes allowed me to make that happen. it wasn't pretty, though. i was constantly amazed at the strength of the leash--that mere rubber and rope could manage to keep itself together while i was frequently and violently separated from my board. my own toenail proved weaker than the leash and, i´m sad to say, is floating somewhere in the deep (if toenails are bouyant or if it hasn´t been washed ashore).

there wasn't anyone else out today when i went which killed my normal method of go where everyone else is and do what everyone else does. i was pretty much flailing around, pleased when i could paddle hard enough to keep myself in the same position (mind you, i was trying to get further out). so as i was bobbing, desparately trying to stay afloat and waiting for the next wave, i´m telling you, i saw a shark fin fly past in the water. i could see its little body underneath the water as well. it couldn´t have been much bigger than my arm and there aren´t really sharks at samara so i decided it was lost and couldn´t eat me. of course, a few minutes later when a branch surfaced right next to me, i almost wet my trunks (not that it would have made much difference).

i´ve had this problem all along of not being able to read the waves well even when someone is pointing things out to me. thanks to my practice today, i can now identify which waves i can manage to get over (or under) and which ones will throw me and my board in opposite directions and which ones will result in a wave wedgie. that´s not surfer talk because i´m pretty sure people who actually surf don´t experience these with the same frequency that i do (maybe because they learned long ago to identify such waves and accompanying conditions). so there are times, when i think, "hey, this looks like a good wave. i can catch this one." so i´ll lay down and start paddling and as the wave meets me and my board, by some miracle of physics, it grabs my board and my suit and hauls them to shore (keep in mind that i am attached to the board with my ninja grip) and somehow my body misses the boat...yield = wave wedgie.

(you probably can't tell that these kids are less than 10-years-old and some of them are not using a leash)

so after an hour or so of getting schooled by Lady Mar, i rinsed off, watched a really stupid movie in spanish (that was supposed to be about the environmental destruction of oiling companies, but ended up being about lots and lots of sex) and then i went back out and read and watched people enjoy the waves while the sun was setting.

eclipse total del amor

2007-10-01T13:34:00.000-04:00

so i heard this song in its original english the other day and it brought a smile as it is laced with many a wonderful karaoke memory. then on saturday, i heard this version. i`m including the lyrics in case you want to sing along.

Mírame...
De vez en cuando siento que me estás olvidando
Y que no regresarás

Mírame...
De vez en cuando pienso que ya estoy muy cansada
De estar sola y de escucharme llorar

Mírame...
De vez en cuando miro atrás
Y veo con miedo
Lo mejor de nuestros años correr

Mírame...
De vez en cuando quiero escaparme
Y tu mirada me envuelve
Y me vuelvo a perder

Mira mis ojos...
De vez en cuando siento enloquecer
Mira mis ojos
De vez en cuando siento enloquecer

Mírame...
De vez en cuando sueño con alguna locura
Y no quiero despertar

Mírame...
De vez en cuando miento cuando buscas mis ojos
Y preguntas cmo estás

Mírame...
De vez en cuando muero de rabia y de celos
Pero nunca te lo dejo saber.

Mírame...
De vez en cuando quiero escaparme
Y tu mirada me envuelve y me vuelvo a perder

Mira mis ojos...
De vez en cuando siento enloquecer
Mira mis ojos...
De vez en cuando siento enloquecer

Y esta noche quiero más
que me abraces fuertemente
Que en tus brazos soñaré
que el amor es para siempre.
Que en penumbras un rayo de luz
nos envuelva a los dos.
Vivimos atrapados en un juego de azar
Tu amor es una sombra para mi libertad.
Ya nada puedo hacer y no logro escapar
De un fuego sobre pólvora que puede estallar
Y así te tengo que amar
El tiempo acaba de empezar
El tiempo no terminará

Erase una vez una historia feliz
Y ahora es solo un cuento de horror
Ya nada puedo hacer,
eclipse total del amor
Erase una vez una hazaña vivir
Y ahora ya no tengo valor
Nada que decir,
eclipse total del amor...

Mira mis ojos...
De vez en cuando siento enloquecer
Mira mis ojos...
De vez en cuando siento enloquecer

Y esta noche quiero más
que me abraces fuertemente.
Que en tus brazos soñaré
que el amor es para siempre.
Que en penumbras un rayo de luz
nos envuelva a los dos.
Vivimos atrapados en un juego de azar
Tu amor es una sombra para mi libertad.
Ya nada puedo hacer y no logro escapar
De un fuego sobre pólvora
que puede estallar...
Y así te tengo que amar
El tiempo acaba de empezar
El tiempo no terminará

Erase una vez una historia feliz
Y ahora es solo un cuento de horror
Ya nada puedo hacer,
eclipse total del amor.
Erase una vez una hazaña vivir
Y ahora ya no tengo valor.
Nada que decir,
eclipse total del amor...
Eclipse total del amor...
Eclipse total del amor...
Mira mis ojos...
Mira mis ojos...
Mírame...

why wouldn´t the light switch be IN the shower?

2007-09-29T22:01:00.000-04:00

so this weekend, i decided to get away from getting away. i hopped on a bus and then i hopped on another bus and then i waited, drank some papaya juice and hopped on a 3rd bus. i decided to go to playa del coco because it is supposedly near some good snorkeling places. since it´s just me, i had to splurge on a room by myself and am paying $12 a night at this place right on the beach.

this is the beach i`m right on (playa del coco--obviously i didn`t take this picture).

but as you can see, there are many boats docked and so it doesn`t make for the best lounging beach. so i hiked a few miles (and saw monkeys along the way) down the coast to this beach (ocotal).

you can`t tell, but the sand was black. it was all glittery and soft. i didn`t realize that black sand even existed, but there you are. so there were still a lot of boats in this beach, but less people and that island in the background was chock full of interesting marine life. i finally was able to use my snorkel gear as i swam around the island around the reefs and such. it was very cool. i snorkeled, slept, read my book, swam, slept some more and then i hiked back to coco. after showering and enjoying the freedom of walking around naked in my room, i went out and splurged on amazing seafood. by splurged i mean spent $8 on a 9 oz yellow fin steak with all the fixins. then i had a blackberry shake and went back to the hotel and read and watched tv.

i`m thinking about renting a scooter next weekend and driving along the coast to the southern tip of the peninsula, but it all depends on the roads because this time of year they are often flooded. so worse comes to worse, i`ll just surf in between sessions of conference (that i can hopefully stream at the internet cafe).

the tides, they are a changing

2007-09-26T13:54:00.000-04:00

so weird thing about going to bed at 8 every night. you wake up early. so i woke up early this morning and it was stinking gorgeous. there´s talk of a major storm headed this way, but the weather the past couple of days has been quite mild. so i walked along the beach to see if the surf place was open, but they had converted into a snorkel place for the day so i decided to go explore some tide pools that i´ve always wanted to check out, but never been around during low tide.

so i hopped over rocks and waded through some shallow pools and went around a bunch of outcroppings until i was completely alone. i found a smooth rock and set myself up. it would have been a perfect place to roll out the towel and take a nap, but i was afraid i´d wake up terribly sunburned and stranded by the incoming tide. as it turned out, i narrowly escaped both.

apparently the place i was at was set farther back into the rock and i was in a tiny little cove and couldn´t see the surrounding beach so i wasn´t aware of the tide coming in. i started to get really hot so i decided to take a shade break. on my way out i stopped to take some pictures of these crabs (that could jump and walked on water for short bursts--2 things i didn´t realize crabs did). as i was setting up my camera, a big wave came in and filled the pool up to my knees. ¨hmmm,¨ thought i. ¨i should probably get out of here.¨ so i did and it was in good time. i was never too worried because i was in the process of reintroducing my thighs to sunshine and they were still so luminously white that i´m sure they could have been seen from the moon and the slightest movement on my part would have sent the rescue teams in the right direction.

so i got to the school, rinsed the salt away and admired the new racoon-eye tan line i have (along with a collection of shifting backpack tan lines).

pura vida.

el tercer estornudo

2007-09-26T13:27:00.000-04:00

yo estornudé muchas veces ayer, pero solamente dos fueron importante.

estornudo numero 1...mi profesor me bendijo con salud.

estornudo numero 2...mi profesor me bendijo con dinero.

...pero desafortunadamente, estornudo numero 3 vino unos minutos más tarde y me trayό más de salud.

por eso yo pensé:

¿por qué en mis estornudos también estoy soltera?

y después:

¿qué pasa si amor viniera más tarde? ¿por qué el amor necesita esperar para la salud y el dinero?

y después:

tal vez el amor no necesita esperar para estos. Porque vimos todo el tiempo el dinero antes de la salud o el amor sin el dinero.

pero, ¿qué es un estornudo?

es una manera del cuerpo para limpiarse.

entonces tal vez no es una jerarquía. tal vez es un proceso. y el amor viene después del todo porque usualmente se requiere la mayoría de limpieza. y cuando la limpieza está terminado, hay espacio para invitar y recibir el amor.

entonces es posible que yo tenga que estornudar más.

tengo que derrocar el miedo para el valor.

tengo que eliminar la preocupaciόn para la oportunidad.

tengo que expulsar indiferencia para la fe.

mientras tanto, por lo menos tengo mi salud.

tentative itinerary

2007-09-24T12:50:00.000-04:00

because i have an unusual amount of spare time, i´ve been planning (yes, i said PLAN-ing) my post-school tour of central america. using my mad paint skills, i have created a map detailing the tour, past, present and future. (mom, you can keep this for future reference when you´re worried about me).

pink: this shows the route that i took with cristi, jen and christina. we landed in san jose, went on to la fortuna, saw the arenal volcano and toured the canopy in monteverde. christina and i then went on to playa samara where i currently rest my head at night (for several uninterrupted hours).
green: this shows the route that i will take either this weekend or the weekend after that. i want to go snorkeling at one of the beaches near playa del coco and check out the northern beaches.blue: shows the route that i´ll be taking after school is out. i´ll follow roughly this schedule (this is mainly for my mom and for those of you who are interested in which areas i can report on. i really don´t expect anyone else to care).

sat, oct 13th: leave samara early morning. bus to nicoya, liberia, cross the nicaraguan border, spend the night in san juan del sur.
sun, oct 14th: spend the day in san juan del sur. head to granada in the evening.
mon, oct 15th: spend the day in granada. head back to costa rica in the evening.
tue, oct 16th: travel to puntarenas and spend the night.
wed, oct 17th: head to jaco in the morning and onto playa hermosa, spend the day and night at playa hermosa.
thu, oct 18th: head to quepos in the afternoon and spend the night there.
fri, oct 19th: play in quepos and manuel antonio.
sat, oct 20th: head to dominical in the morning and stay there over night.
sun, oct 21st: travel to golfito and spend the night. **if i get short on time, this will be the stop i skip.
mon, oct 22nd: cross the panamanian border and spend the night in david.
tue, oct 23rd: head up to bocas del toro and spend the night.
wed, oct 24th: play in bocas in the day and cross back into costa rica in the evening on my way to cahuita (caribbean side).
thu, oct 25th: play in cahuita in the day and head over to limon in the evening.
fri, oct 26th: leave for san jose on the first bus out of limon, get on a plane and make it back to nyc by midnight.

so it´s tight, but it´s totally doable because, watch me do it.

that´s it. today i have classes. i´m going to start another book and i think i´m going to take some sort of ridiculous latin dance class with vancouver. should be interesting.

weekend

2007-09-23T16:36:00.000-04:00

so first of all, here are some pics and vids that christina posted:

http://leaditout.blogspot.com/2007/09/costa-rica-in-pictures.html

friday after classes, i went out to lunch with this girl from vancouver who is in my class. then i took a long solitary walk along the beach, pulled up a log and read and ate peanuts. then i went home, read some more, ate dinner, read some more, watched law and order, wondered what exciting things other people were doing with their weekends and went to sleep.

saturday, i woke up and it was amazing and beautiful outside. i was going to go surfing, but then i remembered that vancouver and i are planning on going next week after class and i didn´t want to show up and try to earn my chops alongside the locals by myself. it`s always better to embarrass yourself with others. so i packed a few books and a lunch and i hiked 5 miles to the next beach down the coast. it was 5 miles of winding jungly road. it was gorgeous. there were iguanas and birds and crabs everywhere. i pulled up a log under a palm tree and read and listened to my ipod and wrote postcards (all of which will probably say the same thing as this blog entry). i was seriously the only person on the beach and i was sort of waiting for a pirate ship to sail up and start a bloody battle with the natives. instead, a big black dog showed up and was trying to play fetch with me with a coconut. i can`t throw very well so he wasn`t terribly amused and eventually pulled up some sand next to me. i headed home when it started pouring and by the time i got back, i was soaked. so i took a shower (there is no shower like a post-drenched, beach-day shower...wait, post-skiing showers are also choice) and read my book and ate dinner and read my book some more and watched law and order and went to sleep.

so last night i had this awesome dream. i dreamed that there was this group of dogs that instead of lifting their legs when they marked their territory, crossed their legs in a curtsy. this caused an uproar in the community because people felt like dogs shouldn´t be able to position themselves so because it is unnatural. i joined a group of people who were advocating for dogs to be able to mark their territory in such a manner because it was simply an expression of their individuality and was doing no harm to anyone. we ended up taking the case to court and i got to represent the dogs (even though i am not licensed or trained in law). i don`t know how it all ended up because right then (in real life) my wet shorts slipped off the laundry line above my head and woke me up. i`m sure it would have been historical.

sunday (today), i woke up at 6am, got ready, ate breakfast, stepped in fresh cow pie and got it all over my leg and caught a bus to nicoya where the nearest church is. it took about 80 minutes on the bus and then 20 minutes walking. nobody has addresses here so i didn´t know where it was, but i got off the bus and there was this little family walking down the street that looked like they could be going to a church. i just followed them. they weren´t lds, but 20 minutes later, they passed the church so it worked out ok. i got to give the closing prayer in sacrament meeting, the brach president said, so i could have the opportunity to practice my spanish. i think they were going to ask me to speak next week, but i`m probably going to be checking out a beach further north next weekend. so i`ll be somewhere else. anyway, so i just got back into samara and i think i`ll eat lunch and take a nap and do nothing (like i do everyday).

this is the beach

2007-09-21T16:36:00.000-04:00

click here

I'm positive there's a better way to do that, but it's taking too long.

Also, here's one of jen and christina coming in after their final zipline over (not lying) the most beautiful scene imaginable.

click here

oh and here's my neighborhood. notice the river in the street. my house is the yellow one in the background in between the 2 houses in the foreground.

first

2007-09-20T19:58:00.002-04:00

so i went surfing this afternoon and it was pretty awesome. i got up on my first wave and rode it all the way in. my instructor said that i did perfectly and so i was all excited and feeling confident about my ability to do this thing. then i quickly realized that it was a total fluke and my initial success had nothing whatsoever to do with my own skill.

pretty much the whole time i had to kneel down before standing up on the board. i was able to pop up a couple of times, but it was totally dependent on the stars. not only do i have a 4-inch vertical, but also i have really bad jumping aim. i didn´t ever think that was something that one needed. i could hold my own on the hop scotch board, but this was a little different. many times when i would try to pop up, i´d end up too far back on the board and the nose would shoot up. sometimes, i would completely miss the board all together (it takes real coordination for that) and i would jump directly off the board. one time, i missed the board, but my unusually large rump caught it. so instead of plunging into the water, i ended up sitting right down and riding the board in on my butt. i just tucked my knees up and held onto the rails.

it was still pretty magical though, the whole experience. i went in the late afternoon and there were probably about 10 others out (all of them instructors). the sun was setting. the sky was enormous and pink. the jungle was misty. the wind was perfect. the water temperature was perfect. it was pretty rad.

i was really lousy at recognizing the waves. my instructor would tell me to start paddling and as far as i could tell there was not a wave in sight. then magically one would appear from underneath me and carry me to the beach. he tried showing me what to look for, but i think i´ll just watch to see when everyone else starts paddling. so it was fun and then i got seasick and then i took a shower and sucked on sugarcane and watched the others surf with some of the locals. then just now on my way over the internet place, this little girl spit ocean water at me. it was very strange. i think she was trying to play.

the everyday

2007-09-20T14:21:00.001-04:00

here´s the latest. I have like zero news because my life is not exciting. i do the same thing everyday. i go to classes. i walk on the beach. i eat tico food. i watch law and order or las noticias and i sleep. oh yeah, and i walk around in the rain. my efforts to come back tan have been thwarted by the clouds, but luckily those same clouds have kept things cooler and less buggier. the water in the beach is still warm and that´s really all that matters. i´ve already started to plan for my grand beach tour after i finish here in 3.5 weeks. i was originally wanting to go to panama as part of the excursion, but after some research nicaragua is cheaper and sounds more my speed. votes?

so that´s my story. i´m supposed to go surfing this afternoon and it looks likes it´s going to be in the rain. gavi, my instrtuctor, is kind of your stereotypical surfer-type--not like california dude type, but like ridiculously built, dark, sun-streaked and wavy long hair, copper skin, light blue eyes and total zen about him. he has a class that he teaches on wave theory. that´s next week´s lesson.

oh and mom, i´m in playa samara and the school is called intercultura language school. google them.

es todo.

i live on the beach now

2007-09-17T14:55:00.000-04:00

Christina and I arrived at the beach early Sunday afternoon after driving through some pretty amazing scenery. We sat on the beach, sat under shelter while it rained and rained and rained. It was pretty awesome watching people surf while it was pouring.

I checked in with my family. They are pretty adorable. The twins are your typical giggly, chubby-cheeked busy-bodies and the 10-year-old is very polite and seems mature for his age. I'm waiting for the awkwardness of me being new to wear off before he tries to beat me up or something. There are cows and horses that roam around in the neighborhood and they have a green parrot in the back that squawks in Spanish all day. Roosters wake up at around 4am. Frogs croak all night. Monkeys howl and the surf surges. That is my lullaby and wake up call.

I had my first day of classes today and it went really well. There are 2 other people in my class and we're all at the same level. It felt good to study and take notes and it was kind of satisfying to do homework (I'm a geek, I know). It's also nice to have everything be immediately applicable. Of course, when I forgot how to say "twenty" that was kind of demoralizing, but I felt better when I could coherently discuss the problems of the indigenous peoples of Latin America.

So this place is amazingly beautiful and amazingly small. The population is supposed to be 3,000, but I really think that unless you're counting the cows, it's a generous estimate. So that's that.

Here are some pictures. I took some pretty lame ones, but everyone else took better ones and I'll get my hands on them sooner or later and then they will be here.

This is us in the rain forest. It is raining.

This is us eating dinner at a restaurant. It is raining.

***Nevermind. Slow connection. This entry sucks.

This is us waiting for the independence day parade where a giant dog almost ate me. Later on a bus, this guy was like, "Wow, did you see that big dog? It almost kissed you!" It's a small town.

ugh. i give up. i'm not posting any more pictures today. this connection is ridiculous.

yes, i´m begging

2007-09-15T16:54:00.000-04:00

so it would be really nice if the only message in my inbox in 3 days weren´t a message from my mother warning me not to drown in the riptide. a little word would be fabulous. how are you? what are you doing? what great things have made you laugh today? how much do you miss me? (yes, indulge my vanity--it doesn´t take much). also, i can still receive all the texts you care to send my way. do you like how i´m this pathetic after 3 days. try me after 6 weeks...

these things made me laugh a lot

2007-09-15T11:04:00.002-04:00

--Jen turns around clearly distraught after viewing herself in the mirror. She had given herself a quick glance and was startled that there was some sort of large object attached to her chest. Turns out it was her breasts.
--We were in the ranaria getting led around by Ramon, the frog guide. Christina says, ¨I have a question. Why is it so dark?¨Ramon, the frog guide, answers, ¨It´s night.¨Indeed, it was. He´s SO smart.

yesterday was my half birthday

2007-09-15T10:42:00.000-04:00

This is how I celebrated:

We woke up early in the morning in La Fortuna and hiked around the rain forest at the base of a volcano. It was really rainy and really foresty (go figure). Then we went to these amazing hot springs and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

My new favorite sensory experience: lying submerged in hot, steaming water and listening to a nearby waterfall while cool rain falls on my face and then drifting off to sleep (don´t worry, mom. It was shallow, I was in no danger of drowning).

Then we hopped in a jeep, hopped on a boat and hopped in a van for a fabulously dizzying ride up to Monte Verde.

Another favorite sensory experience: floating by mountains covered in jungle and listening to my fireworks playlist.

We got into Monteverde and went to a ranario where all of us developed crushes on Ramon, the frog guide. Cristi appreciated his ability to discuss scientific subjects in perfect English. Jen was particularly impressed with his ability to discuss frog reproduction without giggling. Christina just wanted him for his body. Me...I´m a sucker for accents.

So this morning, we´re celebrating the national holiday in town. A parade should be rolling by here any minute. Then we´re going to go swing from some trees and tour the canopy. After that, we´re probably going to head to the reserve and hike around in the rain some more. Tonight, we going on a night hike. Then tomorrow, the teachers are off to NYC and Christina and I are off to the beach.

I´ll post pictures as soon as I can find a computer with a USB port.

hemos llegado

2007-09-13T19:10:00.000-04:00

yep, we´re here. we´re safe and we´re looking for food. probably going to go dancing tonight. who knows_ $%&/()= those were all of my attempts to make a question mark.

The Great Escape

2007-09-07T09:39:00.000-04:00

This is where I'm going to be for the next 6 weeks.

Before I go (in 6 days), I have much to take care of and I'm not looking forward to it. Ug. Fortunately after that, I'll be living on the beach. I already don't want to come back.

mileage milestones

2007-08-30T09:24:00.000-04:00

So if you'll recall, I bought this bike.I've recently been able to share my hundred-mile milestones with friends riding along. Of course the celebrations all took place in my head (like most of my celebrations), but they were still somehow satisfying. Celebrate with me, if you will:

mile-rider-occasion:
1000-Holly-tagging along for the Harry Potter release
1100-Richard-movie at the IFC
1200-Collin-home from the Simpsons movie
1300-Ann-dinner at Alejandro's
1400-Amy-mp3 experiment 4
1500-Marcus-ride up to West Point

Mile 1600 is coming up in less than 15 miles, but sadly I don't think even I'll be along for that celebration. Mile 1600 hundred would have already come and gone, but now will probably take place while the fine mechanics at BMW of Manhattan are testing out their handiwork. After a frightening yet miraculously minor incident involving a really bad spot of road, my bike will be out of commission probably until I get back from Costa Rica at the end of October. Oh yeah, and I'm going to Costa Rica until the end of October. I guess that's reason to celebrate.

experimental mp3

2007-08-20T13:38:00.000-04:00

Maybe you've heard of the group Improv Everywhere. If you haven't you can redeem yourself by clicking that link and learning about them. On Saturday, I met some kiddies (over 800) downtown for one of their missions. Read about it here or here if you are interested. I'm not going to reinvent the wheel by describing it again. It was big fun and here are some pictures.

Above is an aerial shot of the human bullseye we were instructed to make. As a participant in a yellow shirt, I was one of the darts that got to "shoot" myself into the center.

Above is me trying to wedge my big woman hips through the crowd. I'm easy to identify as I donned my red and white striped helmet for the daunting task.

After our long march, target practice and a game of freeze tag, we were instructed to lie down and were taken through a serious of relaxation exercises. Here's a shot of all of us lying on the lawn. See if you can spot Megan, Luke, Amy, Christina, Yancy and Alejandro...

Here's a shot of us in perspective with the Deustche Bank that caught on fire. We're in the lower right corner. The fire...well, look for the smoke.

Other than that, here's a true story: While we were supposed to be taking pictures of various whatnot, this guy comes up to me with his camera phone and asks if I will be in a picture with him. Not wanting to interrupt the spirit of the experiment, I smiled and he holds up his phone and snaps a shot. As he takes it, I realize that a) I’m wearing a yellow shirt and there was nothing in the instructions about taking pictures with someone with a yellow shirt or anything like that b) he wasn’t wearing earbuds and wasn’t even a participant in the experiment. Just as I realize this, he grabs me and kisses me and wanders off, I can only guess, to do it all over again to someone else. The end.

Bizarre Love Triathlon

2007-08-04T10:21:00.000-04:00

So I recently got really excited about doing a triathlon again. You know, that event where you swim and bike and run consecutively? Problem is, I haven't really run more than a couple of miles, biked more than the occasional Harlem Y spin class or swam at all in more than I'd like to admit. So because I need accountability, I bought a membership on BeginnerTriathlete.com that will tell me what and when to do what and track my progress. So I can just sit back, do an occasional push-up and let the good triathlon vibes come to me. So I'm excited about doing a triathlon next year and I'm excited about getting one of those hot tri suits.

right back at ya, megsy

2007-07-25T23:25:00.000-04:00

the two boys in my life

2007-07-25T22:50:00.001-04:00

I can't decide which one I like more. Help me.

Bachelor #1: Jack-a-man

He's athletic

He's literate

He sings

He knows about machines

(in case you can't tell, he's saying that a dump truck dumps the dirt, a backhoe digs up the dirt, a bulldozer pushes the dirt and a steamroller smooths the dirt)

He cleans

Bachelor #2: Ba-Bear

He has a comb-over

(this is not normally attractive, but he wears it so well)

He's pretty built

He's a good kisser

I'm kind of in love with them both and (scandalous) I spent last week with both of them at the same time.

Luke, does this answer your question?

2007-06-06T20:31:00.000-04:00

Keep your scenarios coming to Blame Richard (TM)
*He's actually an alright kid. We just sometimes get carried away...

Blame Richard (TM) 2007

2007-06-05T09:08:00.000-04:00

He looks harmless, right? WRONG!

You may be unaware of the fact that Richard Gordon-Smith is to blame for all of your earthly woes. Sure he's a "nice guy" and a "hair model." You might not even know him, but give me a scenario (in comments) in which it would be convenient to assign blame and I will trace it back to him. That is the Blame Richard (TM) guarantee.

good intentions

2007-05-20T01:50:00.001-04:00

i was just trying to make some toast.

flip the man into the pan

2007-05-06T00:53:00.000-04:00

This animal lives in my room.

You think it's cute, don't you? You are wrong. This animal is evil.

It rummages around at night keeping me from falling asleep because all I can do is dream about getting eaten alive by a disease-carrying vermin who uses his super-rodent powers to somehow scale a 9-inch plastic, mouse-proof container, bust into said container and burrow through my winter clothes and find my stash of European dark chocolate and contaminate it with his germy mouse fangs and then when I use the same amazing chocolate to bait the electrocution chamber I have lovingly prepared for the unwanted guest, he evades it and instead decides to eat the paper receipt that has fallen behind my dresser causing me to get moody and paranoid and write really long run-on sentences.

This animal is evil and must die. I don't care if it is quick or slow. I don't care if it has a wife and kids at home. I don't care if it just made the team and was going to go pro someday. The mouse must die.

a moment of silence...

2007-04-30T14:44:00.000-04:00

nice run, boys. it was a good season.

mellow color swap

2007-04-25T16:43:00.000-04:00

Recently I participated in a color swap organized by this lady. Coincidentally, Amy was assigned to build a package for me. Below is what was in it. Try to guess what color she chose.

frosted mini wheats
a bowl in which to put said mini wheats
a notebook
strawberry shortcake mini gel pins
a lacy garter
light up rings
magnetic nascar paraphernalia and a beverage cozy
nail polish
emery boards
a spongy thingy
a basket
a flowery bag
a lawn flamingo (my personal favorite)

I feel bad that my contribution to the process isn't as cool, but hopefully some random soul will enjoy life in green.

another darn good weekend

2007-04-21T20:43:00.000-04:00

I had a lot of things on my list that I needed to get done and usually being able to check things off of that list equals a good weekend for me. However, this weekend, I checked many things off of a list that didn't exist and, as it turns out, it was great.

Friday to do:
-homework
-clean room
-churchy stuff

Friday did:
-went here

Saturday to do:
-school
-homework
-clean room
-copy keys
-churchy stuff

Saturday did:
-bought this
-met people here
-watched this and this on Stephen's magic machine.

I love my life.

My landlord is the biggest idiot who ever lived.

2007-04-10T21:22:00.000-04:00

if you think you know of a bigger idiot, you are wrong. my landlord is the biggest idiot who ever lived.