So long suckers!!

I will be over at my NEW blog Dixieland Vegan--if want to hear any of my zany kitchen adventures, (or if April wants to know finally, for reals, what a scoby is).

Kombucha Adventures

So I have been trying to make my own Kombucha. Um- well,




...let's just say it's tart.

Really I have started more like a Scoby factory than anything. I will fill a bowl with liquid and it eats, and makes babies and leaves nearly NOTHING to bottle. Check this out:




That is A LOT of mushroom. If anybody needs a scoby, hit me up. Please. I am running out of tupperware.

I have to say...

... sometimes facebook/ myspace can be a rather depressing place for me. I get to see all my friends having parties, going to parties, or just hanging out, which would not be so damned depressing if I ever could go myself. I usually cannot attend because of my back-assward work schedule. I work all night at the tattoo shop, and two mornings a week I have to drag myself out of bed at 5:30 am. This means, the nights I don't have to work the next morning, I have worked 16 hrs that day. You see what I mean. I kind of feel left out, everybody else looks like they have way more fun than I do (that may not be true at all--but still).

Everybody at the tattoo shop is 30 and up, all of us have partners that work the nine to five, so we don't hang out outside of work for one reason or another... blah, now it looks like I am just whining. I don't expect to get invited to much anymore because I have to decline so often. It just sucks sometimes to feel like all you do is work, and you're just getting older. And working.

I would like to do guest spots and conventions but the shop can't spare me, also, I have a husband and dogs and house to think about, and so, I work. And feel a little stagnated. Maybe turning 30 is bothering me more than I would like to admit.

My New Love Affair

with Carl Sagen, and the cosmos. Every time I have ever heard the last line about humans being made of the same stuff as stars and the possibility that we are the cosmos' way to know itself, my mind gets blown. And then I want a bad-ass telescope.

Lack of posting...

Well, my house was robbed, and laptop got stolen, along with 90% of my photos. Hence, most of my posts.

but in the meantime, there is this:



I did this up from a photo of Shelby that works at Otherlands with me. I am very glad I e-mailed this to myself... would have been a shame to have lost it.

we did it!!!

Check out the new website: www.change.gov

amazing.

On a side note, I keep hearing on the boards that it looks as though the stress of the campaign may have cost Michelle a few pounds, in the plus direction. Me too, First Lady-Elect, me too.

A little late...

...but happy Birthday Gandhi.

...

Inspired

A series I am thinking about doing, based on these photographs taken at a party of a bar-food buffet






*Note the hot wings!*

There it is--

...in the boys room...

These were in the Otherlands mens room before the paint job. I think I am going to print them off and frame them, and hang them back in the Mens bathroom.

Spilled

I bought the most awesome bike. I got really lucky and found it used, and it is (let me repeat this) awesome.




See??

Brett and I went for a ride today, and I promptly fell. Gloriously, as Brett put it. I was coming over the tracks--where there is a steep incline-- couldn't find the ground fast enough, panicked that I would roll into southern ave traffic, and applied the front brake. Hard. I flipped right over the handle bars... I remember seeing the ground in front of me, like a wall, as I came down on it. I will post pics of the bruise(s) I will be sporting tomorrow. The Bike only sustained a few scrapes on the handle bars, but I am going to got to peddler Monday to get it checked out.

Also, I loaded up all the pics from my camera... I realized, really, I am a visual person, I should leave the writing to the writers. So, expect quite a few photo blogs.

(BTW the fleas have been defeated!! Hoo-rah!)

End of a Dynasty

SO we caught opossums, and drove all the way to fucking way out east to let them go (which I believe to be WAY illegal). They looked at us like we were crazy when we opened the cage...and had to shake it for them to get their butts out. Then they ran into the woods. awwww....

...We also found a skeleton in the yard, circle of life, I guess.


But in the wake of this chapter coming to a close, A new battle has been raised. A gross one. With their former hosts gone, we have unleashed a plague of fleas into our bathroom. I know, gross. They have collected in the corner in front of the toilet. Spray works, however, if I clean up the carcasses, new ones emerge to take their place. So, for now, until we fog the shit out of our bathtub crawl space, Brett and I have determined that we have to leave the dead as a warning to the others. Brett suggested little stakes to mount the bodies on.


Luckily, we have kept the infestation from the dogs, hence the rest of the house. It is, however, really annoying when you, oh, say, have to use the toilet.

To Catch An Opossum...

Opossum Watch 2008:


This afternoon we set the trap...and waited. Around midnight we heard the trap door slam. We opened the closet door and saw its face peering out of the cage. "Awww" said Brett. I went and opened the front door to prepare to take him to his new country life... Correction--her. As Brett opened the closet door fully, he quickly shut it.

"There is more than one."

"What? How many more?"

"only one that I can see, a baby."

That's right y'all, a baby, outside the cage. We decided to slide a grate in front of the door frame and open the cage...and let them back under the bathtub and leave it to the professionals. Why? Because as it turns out, an average opossum litter is seven. We only saw one, and that could be it--but we really are not feeling up to taking that chance.

On a side note, baby opossums are freaking cute. Especially, when it and it's mom are not at all scared of you and, outside of the cage thing, are quite content to ignore you while you clap and carry on to get it to go back in its friggin hole.

Surprise!!

For the last few nights, the dogs have been driving Brett and I nuts over their newfound obsession with the bathtub. They have been hearing something under it for nearly a week.. Last night, I finally heard it for myself--and we decided to get some of those catch and release traps, you know, for mice or rats.

When I came home from work, I was feeling kinda ballsy, and I cleared out the closet by the bathtub that has a little 'Alice in Wonderland'-type latched door (to can access the plumbing), so I could place the trap. I opened the tiny door to find-- an opossum. Looking right at me. Wiggling its pink little nose. I slammed the door and turned to Brett, "I think we are gonna need a bigger trap."

New Post

To tell the truth, nothing too interesting has happened of late.

For the 4th of July, Brett and I traveled to Smithville, TN to see his family (and go to the Fiddlers Jamboree). His mom's family also had a HUGE fish fry. I brought food for the weekend. It wasn't as hard as it could of been, the veganism and finding sustanance, especially during the fish fry-- there were a lot of fresh veggies. The only thing that kind of blew was that I was PMS-ing hard and there was NO vegan desserts to be found... no chocolate... but lots of homemade sweets. Get me?


I had some car issues earlier in the week which made Brett and I miss yoga Monday and we were out of town Saturday morning... and I have been a tight knotted up mess all week. I didn't realize you can cramp up from NOT exercising.

aftermath

It wasn't that bad. I thought my body would go into some sort of shock..which it probably does if you go the whole ten days. I have not binged (whew!), and though I knew before that the 15lbs wouldn't last, it sure is hard to watch it come back.

Honestly, if I didn't hate how non-functional I was at day five, I could have probably kept going--forever (that is called anorexia)

So now, I am watching my diet more carefully, and (gah) exercising. Not just yoga, but good old Jack LaLanne style... did I just date myself?

Day 5 (end)

I stopped the fast today. Yesterday all I ended up consuming the whole day outside of water was a combined 8oz consisting of one 1/2 glass of lemonade (4oz) and a half glass of that green crap (4oz). And water, of course. By the end of the day I was pretty much a not-so-hot-mess. I decided that five days was not so bad... and if I wanted to try again in a month or so, I know I can do a least that much. This morning Brett woke me up with a smoothie he made (delicious-and awesome), then we went to India Palace where I had a small plate, and it was soooooo good. I think the most important thing I discovered is that I have that kind capacity and self control. Also I can control all that emotional eating.

Oh, and I lost 15 lbs. Which I will gain back soon more than likely. But for now, I will wear my skinny jeans.

Day 1 (part 2), and day 2,3, and 4-ish (part 1)

Guess what? I am on day four(ish) of my fast. Why the "ish"? Well, I decided to hit it Wednesday morning, but really I had not eaten since early Tuesday. Yes, I might be giving myself some extra (undue) credit... shut up.

Day one had some rough patches, mostly overcoming boredom, which is still kind of an issue. I know I eat emotionally, but I didn't fully realize how connected it was to just plain old boredom. Also, I got real cold, goose pimple cold. I wore pj pants to bed for the first time since winter.

Day 2, well, I don't recommend working a 16 hr day on a fast. The lemonade in my bottle had become super spicy (the longer it sits with the lemon juice, the hotter it becomes), so I wasn't really wanting it. I gulped it down in large swigs because I knew that I needed it. It ended up that all I drank was a lot of water--I didn't even want the peppermint tea. By the end of the night I was super grumpy, but I actually was able to handle some rather crazy clients' questions with a fair amount of grace-- more than my boss said she could have when she fasted.

All this time- no bowel movements. I have a hard time drinking the "Smooth Moves" laxative tea, mainly because I can't handle that much liquorice flavor. And the saline wash, as it is called, is in actuality a whole crapload of sea salt in a 8oz glass of water... and then you are supposed to drink it. I tried, two gulps and I thought I was going to vomit. I can think about it now I feel like my head is gonna explode. There is a reason we humans don't do salt water, our bodies don't like it. This lack of dookies goes against the whole "cleansing" aspect of a fast, so I made an appointment to get a colonic.

Day 3, colonic. I went out to the place, it was very nice, as was the lady who owned it. She gave me some very good advice on fasting. She said that she fasted during her period every month (goody if you have a 3-4 day cycle, but what about us that go for 7-8?), and about eating small amounts of fruit when you come off the fast. I told her about my lemonade problem, and she recommended this powder drink that supposedly doesn't shock the body so much so you don't loose muscle mass. Unfortunately, it contained dairy, so that was a no-go. I ended up going to Whole Foods afterwards (it is an interesting experience, try it!) To find a vegan version of what she had. I was directed toward this vegan superfood thingy. It smelled good, and would probably be good in juice or a smoothy--not so much with water.

It's really kind of awful. I might be able to choke down one 8oz glass a day... maybe lemonade doesn't sound so bad after all.

GAS

I had been warned, but not prepared.

I know I had been told that there might be an adjustment period in transit to veganism--but oh! my-god! I (and Brett, poor soul) had put up with it for nearly a month, but it got to be painful, swelling, gut busting... and my cloths did not fit my bloated distended belly.

I went to the Good Life health store (wonderful people by the way) and he pointed me toward some vegan gas relief (that's right, most are not--??) and some digestion enzymes. These mainly help break down protein heavy meals, like beans, and wow, how they have helped.

As far as the fasting goes--Apryl may be right. There may be a greater force steering me away from this. Tuesday I took my bottle of lemonade to work at the coffee shop, took a sip and realized it was fermented. And not in a cool way. In a tart, fizzy way. It goes without saying, my taste for lemonade was not that great for the rest of the day.

At this point, I want to do it for myself not only spiritually, not only to cleanse my body, but also to do it because I set out to, and I want to finish it. I sometimes feel silly talking about it here, I know it can seem like just a lot of talk... but for me, now it serves another function. Saying I am going to accomplish something difficult, and daunting, and then doing it--start to finish.