The Blog Formerly Known as BeeARawFoodie

Weight Loss Commandments Demystified as Only Suggestions

2010-06-23T10:13:00.005-05:00

Like many tv-talk-show-personalities, you either love him or can't stand him.
Dr Oz's tv show is now on in the afternoon after another medical advice show called "The Doctors" (which is alot like The View, only instead of 4 catty women being all opinionated, this show is 4 catty doctors being all opinionated).

But this crossed my path... I am relisting the entire list of 10 here for education and discussion purposes. . The parentheses comments are all my own.

1. Thou Shalt Not Wear Pants that Stretch

(Oh thou art a cruel deciever stretchy pants. You can live in the land of Denial a lot longer when wearing yoga pants or stretch pants as your comfy fashion choice.)

2. Thou Shalt Not Keep Bad Clothes in Your Closet

(Ditch the fat pants? Only a man would put this as a commandment! HA ha ha. Seriously, its not about the fat pants. Even Stacy & Kelly from What Not To Wear would likely advise you need to ditch the fat pants, the ugly pants, the holey pants, the unflattering pants, the flannel shirts, the oversized shirts, the ugly shirts, the tattered sweatshirts, the frilly 1970s prairie girl blouses and every other thing in your closet that you cling to thinking it defines "your Style"-- ditch the slouch and the ugly and fill your closet with classics that flatter your body. I suffer from having half a closet of Someday Clothes -- clothes that will fit me when I'm thin and beautiful. They anchor me in Someday. Why? My reality clothes, fat clothes (even the zip up pants with no stretch) don't make me happy. And aren't flattering. When with designers of Big Big Girl clothes get a clue about what's appropriate?) For now, I'll wontonly break Commandment 2, as Bad Clothes are all I've got, thank you.)

3. Thou Shalt Not Eat Meat That Walks on Four Legs More Than Once a Week

(Science + Lifestyle Fact Noted: women who eat large amounts of red meat more than once a week have a 50% higher chance of dying from heart disease and red meat eating women also have higher cancer rates. That's why I'm all about being a vegetarian/vegan... even if its a real struggle esp. in social situations where others socially demand you eat meat) But there's a reason I gravitate toward raw vegan! I want my health back and I don't want to eat anything that had a mother, no matter how many legs or fins it has/had. )

4. Thou Shalt Not Graze

(Again, I disagree. Dr Oz, this is too broad. Its a suggestion, dude, just a suggestion, and a vague one at that. Grazing on healthy food, esp veggies all day, is ideal for me. I never get hungry and I never feel like I have to woof down a big 'rabbit food' salad at meals. Yes I plan it out. Five to Six "small meals" a day instead of 3 Big Meals... that's commonly suggested to folks transitioning to weight release. And to go from 3 to 6, yeah, feels like grazing to me. Now if you mean grazing like cookies, cupcakes, candies, sweety granola bars and stuff like that, then yes, don't graze in that pasture people! The (wheat)grass is greener on the Veggie Grazing pasture! Graze on snap peas, califlower, broccoli, carrots, green peppers, tomatoes!)

5. Thou Shalt Not Eat After 7:30pm

(Every diet/ weight loss/ nutrition /fitness book says this. Every Single One.)

6. Thou Shalt Not Pile Food More than 1 Inch High or Within 2 Inches of the Plate Edge

(Really? This is a commandment? That sounds a bit Big Western Plate Centrist Dr Oz. Instead of eating off the dinner plate, do what lots of people do: eat off the small salad plate for your entree plate, and its okay to put small portions of food on saucers too. Smaller portions look bigger on small plates. I have a collection of vintage plates and they are the most gorgeously detailed plates. I love them because they are classy, but also because 40 years ago plates were smaller. Plates have become supersized. Go with smaller plates. Now with my smaller plates, if I follow your commandment Dr Oz- two inches of plate edge I'm left eating petit four sized meals... or a caprese salad standing up, tomatos and mozzerella stacked on a skewer. But that violates the one inch high rule. Ugh. I think this is a suggestion, not a commandment when you get real about plate size.)

7. Thou Shalt Not Chew Food Less than 20 Times Per Bite

(Counting each bite takes the joy out of eating. I'm for savoring your food, eating it slowly yes. Turns out most people don't chew their food much. Being more tuned into Raw Veggies I've re-trained my face muscles. Masticating is an art. Seriously. You can help your digestion, your stress level and your food portion size and your over all eating consciousness when you pay attention to chewing. Agreed.

But counting as a Commandment? Again, dude, this is a suggestion. So much processed food is created and designed to be consumed without much consumer effort. People transitioning from Processed to Raw, early on talk about how sore their face is from having to chew veggies so much. I used to be an Eat Fast person. Following the social lead, I ate on the go go go. Eating while travelling or just standing up eating next to the stove. Fast was the name of the game and I was good! Now I look forward to eating slow. And I take it to classy heights and will add that I love table cloths, cloth napkins, even a candle when I eat. I like taking the time to chew and enjoy my veggies and fruits now, but don't make it a Commandment to count how many times I chew per bite.)

8. Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Plate

(Truer for mothers of young children, than for any other group or demographic I think. Most people don't want to finish other people's food or eat off another person's plate. But moms who don't want to waste food when Junior doesn't finish his plate may benefit from this suggestion. Again, suggestion, not a Commandment.)

9. Thou Shalt Not Carry Small Bills

(This one refers to vending machine and snackies. I think money guru Dave Ramsey would disagree. He'd likely advise be smart about your $ choices and eat healthy, but by all means carry cash.)

10. Thou Shalt Not Eat While Standing Up

(See also #7. Addendum may be, And try to avoid eating in the car.)

I'm surprized that in the 10 Commandments (which when critically analysed seem to only be suggestions and not hard fast Commandments) not one mention of Food Journal/ Food Tracking / Daily intake Food Diary. That's a key to weight loss. Commandment or not, many people are unconscious about what they eat. And nearly every Program or Weight Loss coach out there suggests tracking what you eat and how much of it. Some folks like tracking calories, others track protien vs carbs, still others track Program Points assigned to foods. Seems careless to leave this critical weight loss tool off a doctor's Commandments!

And seems downright ignorant to ignore Exercise advocacy on a Weight Loss Commandment list! Not one word about exercise, but you tell me to chew each bite 20 times? The other necessity in weight release is expending calories consumed for energy with adequate movement, action, exercise, and fun. See, that's another reason I can't call this list he's created "Commandments." They're more accurately "eating suggestions."

And the final reason why I can't agree that this is a Weight Loss Commandments list -- where is the water? Most people are dehydrated. Not enough water. And in the course of the day they drink too much soda, energy drinks, and other chemically wackadoo liquids that the body can't accurately translate into health. The body is made up of water in every cell and water is necessary for digestion, detox and elimination. Water is also necessary to sweating.

Water is also necessary for proper brain function. When one gets tired and reaches for the caffiene soda pop, its like a drug hit, a short term fix that leaves you craving another hit. Water however feeds the body what it really needs. And it helps all matters of thinking and activity far better. I think for a Dr to leave the critical element Proper Hydration (of ditching the chemical fluids and adding in drinking plenty of water) off a Weight Loss Commandments list is just irresponsible leadership.

Sorry Dr. Oz. This list is not a well advised "10 Commandments." Thumbs down. Its merely a eating suggestions list.

Big City Newspaper covers Ick Factor in Food

2010-06-22T15:15:00.003-05:00

I love feeling a little ahead of the curve. I'm delighted to see the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Variety Section front page article about finding out what's really in food. I talked about the crushed up crustaceans that are used in red food dye here on this blog. And now the mainstream press is talking about such things! Food labelling here will become slightly more transparent in the upcoming months. The crushed up bugs "Carmine" make up a red dye. Problem is, even if it goes from "natural red coloring" to "Carmine" who in the mainstream could tell you what Carmine is? Um, yeah, hardly a soul!

So there are folks pressing for even MORE transparency. Like that HFCS pink yoghurt in theose little cups should be honest and say: "Contains Ingredients from Insects." Naturally, the food industry wants nothing of the sort!

I did the happy dance of joy when the author went on to list other food ingredients with "the ick factor."

Direct cite from the article:

Some other surprising food ingredients with an ick factor include:

• Shellac: The secretions from the lac beetle found in India and Thailand are used to give confections such as Skittles and candy sprinkles a shiny coating.

"Nothing synthetic does this as well," Reineccius said, adding that, yes, it's the same shellac that's used to finish wood. Jacobson said it can also be used on fruits and vegetables to seal them.

• Rennet: An enzyme taken from veal calves at the time of slaughter is added to milk to make cheese. At some point in ancient history, someone put milk in a bag made of a calf's stomach and discovered that it curdled, and cheese was born. A non-animal version is microbial enzyme. It sounds better when it's listed as "vegetable rennet" on cheese labels.

• Castoreum is bizarre, said Reineccius. It's a secretion from the anal glands of beavers, used mostly in perfumes and sometimes to enhance raspberry flavor in candies and fillings. How did it make the jump from beavers to perfume?

It was an article I was happy to see... way to go Food News in the Midwest! Hooray!

You can read the article here for yourself!

2010-06-19T09:21:00.003-05:00

Foodie news lately talks of 40% increase in food prices in the next 10 years, hundreds of thousands of families really need to re-learn everything about meal prep and cooking, kids need more recess and activity time, and food shelters and other food assistance programs are at an all time high.

In our local newspapers a local dairy site is now going to be hi-rise apartments, and another local dairy was demolished for being empty and unused for 50 years.

There is a local garden plot that was created a few years ago with hopes that community members could rent a plot and grow their own produce. Turns out some deal was made and only the Girl Scouts in town are allowed to use the plots. And the plots are now overrun with weeds. Our local Girl Scouts have not been out there at all. And there aren't that many GS in the local troop to begin with.

This is all part of the same problem.

Look, Food is a National Security issue. Food is a local security issue. Food is a regional security issue. Food is a family and household security issue.

We as a nation are happy the White House has a garden. Great. Good for them. But I stand firm that each city, each state and yes, even "leadership" needs to step up and strongly encourage and enforce education about how people can take back their food choices. I'd much rather support a few local dairy farmers with a small local dairy. I'd love that. I'd much rather see AmeriCorps volunteers trained and out en masse teaching people how to grow their own veggies in pots if they don't have garden land.

I want so much for personally grown, locally attended food sources to become a viral phenomenon.

Where are our food leaders?

Why don't we have food growing people locally on local access stations?
Why don't we have biggest-loser style shows with local people and local trainers on local access stations?
Why don't we have after school programs where kids are growing their own food in school garden plots?

Why don't we have a local or statewide or national push to create yard gardens?

Oh the answers are simple enough. We've become LAZY.
And our health suffers as a result.

I've been reading biographies, stories and novels about people 100 years ago who were working for their own food - working hard - and were connected to the land, and their neighbors as a result.
I never see my neighbors. I can't even tell you if children live in my neighborhood. After a tv-tells-you-everynite about child abductions melded with computer games in the home, now children outside is a rare commodity unless they are in a sports league. Why aren't there kids outside on their bikes? What about playing AnnieAnnieOver throwing tennisballs over the roof of the house to a friend on the other side? We have institutionalized fear. In our families, in our neighborhoods and in cities thus its a national epidemic.

I know I'm rambling. I can see why we are lazy and why we fear so much of our abundant lives. I just wish more people were willing to have the discussion.
Instead... they're eating garbage processed food, living mentally numb, and after work or after school are numbing out more with facebook, netflix and the endless stream of video games.

We are so disconnected. We need some real visionary food and community leaders to step up. Where are they? IF they are in the shadows, has the institutionalized fear grown so looming that people are afraid to be leaders at all?

Your Refrigerator is a Reflection of your Life

2010-06-14T18:46:00.006-05:00

Your car is a reflection of you.
Your job is a reflection of you.
Your kids are a reflection of you.
Your home is a reflection of you.
The contents of your purse or wallet are a reflection of you.
Sheesh, today I read a piece about how even your your email name and @ handle are a reflection of you.

Open your refrigerator.
Refrigerators are sacred spaces. Refrigerators, ((Sigh)), refrigerators. Showing others our refrigerators makes us feel vulnerable.
Why?
Refrigerators give you an instant and accurate account of how healthy your lifestyle is, and more importantly your level of ownership and involvement in your own life. You are what you eat.
What does this fridge tell you?

What can a person tell from opening your refrigerator?
Everything.
What does this refrigerator tell us?

Plastic tubs of leftovers? Processed foods? Sweets, syrups, sauces? Sparse, save the margarine bucket, pickles and the diet coke and diet protein shake drink cans? Lots of meat? Lots of Dairy? How clean is it? Spills? Sticky goo? Expired packages? Food that has now crossed over into the Science Project timespace continum? Noticeable smell?

Or is it a vegan fridge like this one?

What do you want your fridge to look like inside?
Something to think about.
What does your refrigerator say about you?

Photos used for purpose of education and discussion. All rights belong to respective owners. credits: all from Flickr (1) Kapishdadi@Flickr (2) Locoesteban@flickr and (3) FelipeGomez@Flickr.

Back to rawfoodie venting roots

2010-06-06T13:16:00.003-05:00

Add this to the files of Absurdity has No Boundaries in the Foodie World:

Okay, scan past cookie dough dust powder in a box. Look at the brownie box on the right.

At first glance it is just brownie mix. Nothing new. Nothing genius. Nothing all that special.
Okay, for the sake of a colorful arguement, the name hints at "outrageous." Turn the box. Makes: Nine. Nine brownies. That's it? Its a heavy box. Weighs more than 9 brownies.
I keep reading.

Ingredients Two packets? Okay, maybe that makes you special. Nope. It doesn't. Your competition does that too. I keep reading. I want to find the "Outrageous" in the ingredients. The TomCruiseOnThePhone Voice in my head demands more from the list now: Show Me The Outrageous! Show! Me! The! Outrageous!

Ingredients Packet 1: Semi-sweet chocolate chunks (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor processed with alkali, soy lecithin [added as an emulsifier], salt). Ingredients Packet 2: Mini chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor processed with alkali, soy lecithin [added as an emulsifier], salt), sugar, malted wheat flour, alkalized cocoa 22-24%, natural flavors, baking powder, (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate, salt). [as taken from product website]

It should be called Obnoxious Brownie Mix.
Sugar AND Chocolate Liquor AND Cocoa Butter THEN more chocolate liquor?
And that is only packet one.

Packet two? Hold the Phone kids!!! Wait for it! Wait for it!!
MORE Chocolate! That's right Chocolate Chips and that means MORE Sugar, More Chocolate liquor, More Cocoa Butter, and then literally Ina and her corporate chef peeps feel the need to add, oh, well, yeah MORE SUGAR?

Obnoxious.

Okay, its just a brownie mix.

No.
Look back at the picture.
Its a $14 brownie mix!

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??
Who in the world buys a $13-14 box of specialty sugar that bakes into brownies?!
Okay, I get that its branded because Ina put her name on it.
Okay, I get too that it was featured on Oprah's show.
Okay, I'll even grant you that it is a celebrity product because she has her own Cooking Empire with books and tableware and electronic egg cookers and $100+ gift baskets.
If you serve these do you have to repeatedly flaunt that "These are from Ina. These are Ina's recipie fresh out of a box. I got this from my friend Ina..." OR do you wallow in how astounding your family/friends must think you are to serve these 9 squares of decadence?

Price Comparison shopping:
Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix goes on sale for .99 cents a box...
vs
Obnoxious (oops, my bad) Outrageous Brownie Mix for $13.99

But the only things Outrageous about this box of 66 grams of sugar are the arrogance to assume your product is worth that, and the ghastly amount of processed sugar in it.

But if that's your deal -- and you need celebrity pre packaged hyper processed sugar squares to make you happy. Then I celebrate you too. No hard feelings. Someone has to keep the celebrity chefs employed. What would happen if they knew you could find happiness in farmer's market fresh fruit and you didn't need them anymore? Gasp. The Foodie Netverk panics at the thought. Shhhhhh... this is just between you and me. The foodie celebs and the illuminati need not know you and I had this conversation, okay?

Wow, I have a sugar rush just thinking of these things... Who knew it was humanly possible to create a food only as big as your two thumbs that is nearly 300 calories. Yep, add it to the Absurdity has No Boundaries in the Foodie World file. Case closed.

Lesson Learned

2010-06-01T00:15:00.002-05:00

I've had more nasty messages (almost all foreign language posts) and finally learned my lesson.
After visiting another persons blog and wanting to comment it said Comment Will Wait to be Verified.
Wholly beans and rice.
That's an option?!
Well sign me up for that.

I love getting comments.
Love that.
It is the best part of writing this dorky blog knowing someone somewhere read it.
But oy vey I hated getting all the nasty links people left in comments.
No lie, more than once I was like, "That's it! I'm done. I'm deleting this whole thing and I'm never blogging again!!! Rowr!!"

Lesson learned.
Lesson learned.
Halleluia! Amen! Praise the Comment Board Technology SmartyPants People!
This stuff was Bananas. B A N A N A S!
Moderation is so choice.
Lesson learned.
Lesson learned.

2010-05-28T09:40:00.002-05:00

Hang tight!

The new phone to computer data cord is in the mail.

I wish I had a camera that did long exposures. The open lens makes waterfalls look air brushed or allows you to capture the moon. Last nite I was up at 1 am enjoying the full moon. I loved it. And driving around town there were little things I wanted to take pictures of... businesses with their sprinkler systems with the glow of the street light, the reflection of the downtown businesses parking lot lights reflected in the river, and more. It was beautiful out. So many little magic moments of wow.

In other news Blogger tells me I'm runnin' low on photo space on my blog. Looks like part of this holiday weekend I'll be archiving previous posts as word documents. Then there will be more room to play.

On Writing and Creativity

2010-05-10T20:15:00.002-05:00

This week I admit that I'm into creative writing more than I have been in a long long time.

I grew up knowing I was a writer. And I wanted to be a grown up who was a writer.
Enter Elizabeth Gilbert on TED Talks. Words I needed to hear. Perfect words at the perfect time. Gave me goosebumps.

Lots of people over the years have told me that they liked my hand written letters.
And that they miss them.
Others tell me that they remembered articles I wrote in High School and always thought I'd go into journalism.
Recently I saw a friend who spelled it out in no uncertain terms. Basically she said: "You're a writer. You're really quite good. You have to do what you are. You have to write. People are waiting for your stories. Not everyone can write, but you can. And so get a job to pay rent, and then write. Write a lot. I expect at least two books from you this year. Now shut up and get on it."

Its true. I miss writing.
I miss writing letters.
I miss writing characters and seeing where they go.
I miss doing the research.
I miss journalistic writing. I can't stand the garbage that is printed daily at the local newspaper. Its horrifying to me that THOSE people are published writers. It burns me that as an adult, I'm not.
So this 100 days has opened Pandora's Box.

I'm writing again.

Thank you to my friend... and thank You Elizabeth. Words I needed to hear.
And I now accept that I have been neglecting my loving relationship with words and characters... and my readers.

I am all over a story I started the summer after I graduated college. The gift has been there waiting for me this whole time. Okay, enough blogging.

Bookshelf

2010-05-10T18:36:00.007-05:00

Part of this 100 Day Creativity Challenge also is about books. I have bookshelves full. And some I keep moving but have never read. So I'm forcing myself to read something other than non-fiction again. I've been in league with the non-fiction for a long long time now. Its best I revisit the expanse of fiction.
Books I'm currently reading:

Something Rotten by Jasper Ffjorde ~~A recent acquisition!

But the UK book cover is far superior.
I loved Jasper Ffjorde's Nursery Crime novels, especially The Fourth Bear. Now I'm getting into his other series, the adventures of Thursday Next (that's her name, she's a literary detective). I am loving this book. I like that its nerdy about books and characters. Its a fun romp so far.

Moon Over Minneapolis by Fay Weldon

I got this for fifteen cents at a thrift store because of the title. Turns out the author is from Britian. It was one of the pile of Read-it-Now or donate it to a different thrift store books. So I'm reading it. Its actually not a novel but a short story compilation. Chapters are grouped into themes. I am liking these character centered stories. Again, I am greatly appreciative of an intelligent, articulate author who actively explores the complexity of the modern world. I am really liking this. And I feel like I champ cause I am reading it quickly. This book is a surprise. It makes me want to look into writing short stories again too. I used to write a lot of short stories. I should get back into it!

Books recently finished
Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single
It is a MN writer and its fluffy chick lit. I didn't think it would be bad - I mean fluffy chick lit is fluffy chick lit, right? UGH. I slogged thru this.
I struggled trying to identify with Jennifer. She wasn't 3 dimensional. She was vapid. She was 1 dimensional with a lot of problems Cosmo solves. It was hard to believe this got published. Okay, I'm not a Cosmo type reader. I'm more of a BUST and MS. reader type reader. Maybe this book was not written for me, but I pity any one who really identifies with this type of lead character, I really do. Even the 'gay friends' were cookie cutter BS and absolutely hard to believe. I should know! I have dozens of gay friends in Minneapolis, and I'm sure each one would roll their eyes in horror at what bad, stereotypical depictions this author gave to the gay couple. Bad all around. It had lots of MN and Twin Cities specific references, but even that didn't save it for me. Oh well. Into the donate-me bag it goes!
But it was this book that confirmed for me that anyone can get published. So with renewed enthusiasm I tossed this book into the donate-me bag and got back to my own creative writings! I can, with confidence, say I did get THAT out of this book!

Water, its just water, right?

2010-05-10T18:16:00.004-05:00

I watch the documentary/film "What the Bleep Do We Know" all the time.

I wanted to share this clip with you. I love What the Bleep. Just love it.

WE are 60% water.
If our thoughts can do this to water, imagine what our thoughts can do to us...

And if that grabs your attention, here's an interview with Dr Emoto.

2010-05-10T16:14:00.002-05:00

Okay, I admit. I'm not keeping you posted on all the creative stuff I'm doing like I said I would.

I lost the USB phone connector cord.

I know.
That's really sad.
Its been gone for three weeks now.

I'm on a mission to get two books proof read by friends and get them independently published with LULU.
Also have photobooks created and in que waiting for extra deneros for printing costs. But sooo excited-- can't wait to see my photography on glossy pages of my own book!
I'm still taking pictures! I've got a few that are just awesome.
I'm still finger painting!
I finished hand stitching the edging on a quilt project and can't wait to see the friend it's going to!
I'm now on a doll dress kick. I had a 1770s immersion weekend watching The Scarlet Pimpernel and Amadeus. I want to make 1770s dresses, but on a smaller scale, requiring much less fabric than those real pannier dresses.
I costume designed a whole Shakespeare show in an hour. Sketches are rough, but it was a most brilliant HFCS overdose put to good use. It was fun! It was inspired and easy! I haven't had that much fun designing a show in years. Now I'm wanting to have another sugar overdose afternoon on a quilt in a park with script, pencil and sketch pad in hand and see what happens with another Shakespeare script. Naturally I want to be really good at costume sketching -- like Tom Tierney good. But I accept that creativity is still creativity even if it isn't level of creating an empire of coloring books and paper doll books.
Oh And an Apron kick. I want a full length one with ruffles at the shoulders.
I found a Peanuts coloring book and want to make embroidery transfer patterns off of them. Tea towels with Snoopy atop the dog house, Linus surrounded by pumpkins... cute! Someday, there's always a someday!
And I found an astoundingly beautiful bed ruffle at a thrift store and I want to make an obnoxious 1950s style skirt out of it.
And I'm engrossed in studying and learning about "fascinators." I have a stock pile of supplies waiting for the proper time to experiment, create and play with headbands, hair combs, feathers and baubles.
But I need a place to sew! Hence there fore I need to be chatting with my fairy godmother for a 2br apartment so I have space for an office/sewing room. Well if I get a 1 br maybe the dining room space will just have to be the sewing room.

I also bought color hair extensions -- red! Fun! But playing with my hair now makes me want a curlers set and lots of eco friendly bottles of heavy duty hairspray. I want big 80s hair. Big Texas Hair. Poofy hair. I want to rebel against boring straight hair. I want to bleach my hair then dye my hair purple, but I'm still job hunting. The only places you can work with purple hair are tattoo parlors, back stage theater and any business you own yourself. Since I have to play in the legit world, then purple is out. And yes I know I can't have big curly poofey hair *and* wear the extensions. Straight barbie hair does not do well in these circumstances.

And side note: I have been to three Sally Beauty Supply stores across the state and all I have to say is When I am the only person in your store, why not pay attention to me? Why not ask me questions? They may have a wide array of supplies but they are all seriously LACKING in customer service skills.

I also want to create events -- don't know if/when/how it could happen but I want to create a Project Runway style event for HS/College/Univ/Professionals/Interested souls. A weekend event, and yes models and a rock and roll runway experience. I figured if I did a months worth of weekends with Themes then I could have these budding designers design and create an eccelectic Shakespeare show. It would be a hoot to have Project Runwayesqe events on the weekends while the cast is rehersing. Fashion show runway events, spotlighting local design talent! It would be a hoot! I'd love to meet others and encourage their costume designing skills too! After the show have a gallery showing of the artwork and the artists. Oh I'm thinking creatively BIG. And it feels Fantastic!

I may have to go sell plasma to get $ to finance a new photo cord.

Next in my Netflix cue

2010-04-25T02:58:00.004-05:00

2010-04-21T07:18:00.000-05:00

Listening Challenge and I now swoon for Ninjas

2010-04-19T21:40:00.005-05:00

Meanwhile... I'm also on a 100 day challenge to listen to new things. Widening my views. Challenging my ears.

New favorites:
Mystery of Iniquity by Lauren Hill -- so many words; its like slam poetry but elegant.
Eryka Badu's new video that is causing a stir because she strips down at Dealey Plaza and is eventually shot parallel to JFK's -- but was filmed in one take at 3:30 on a regular Saturday. If you haven't seen this yet, go to her site and click on the Ahnk. Her statements after the song, but still part of the video are spot on the pulse of art and culture. You need to see "Window Seat" for yourself: http://www.erykahbadu.com/
And all sorts of folks I've never heard but am grateful to have found on NPR's Global Cafe. I love music whose lyrics are not in English. Sezen Aksu from Istanbul; Iranian rock band; Pomplamoose duo; Ravi Shankar; and some classical arrangements with the Harpsichord...

And of course listening to radio stations from London and finding Professor Green using INXS' "I need you tonite" riff, and his cheap tawdry psuedo rapesque attempts at singing atop the music;
fluffy sugar pop of Ellie Goulding;
BRIT award winning emotional songs of James Morrison ++PIeces Don't Fit Anymore++ was added on my itunes (And James, ooodeloolly, really ought to be getting prime air time here in the states because I want John Mayer to disappear from the music scene);
so too I added the catchy tune 4ever from the Aussie twins The Veronicas, who have taken that pop number to chart topping success in 5 countries, but here in the states we're likely to never hear it;
ever heard of Booty Luv? No, really, that's their name. You'd definately know who they are if you are on the dance club floors for the last few years. "Say it" is now on my exercise tunage list. Good stuff!

In the luxurious because its free Pod Cast world I've also been trying to expand my horizons -- found a Steam Punk audio book in progress;
found a Museum's Tours podcast *super wow;
brushed up my foreign language by listening to simple converational German language lessons;
listened to some Science girls;
discovered MuppetCast and learned about PuppetUpUncensored (gasp!);
And now I can proudly tell you I have become one of the legions who enjoy the Ask A Ninja video pod cast (Oh too funny - I love the gestures and the deadly sharp hiiii-ya ninja wit, yes I have a new crush, and its this Ninja guy!! ((Swoon)).

I leave you with the Ninja. If you miss some of this because your ears can't adapt to the ninja verbals, feel free to play it again... and again. Its that good. And Ninja here taught me the term Twitterbomb in context. Kudos Ninja!

Update

2010-04-19T21:15:00.002-05:00

I am really enjoying this art challenge. I just haven't put up pictures. I've been too busy taking them! Spring flowers! Spring budding leaves! Sunshine! There was even a turkey in the front yard today. None of these are likely to make the 100 day art themes. They are more challenging than they seem. I've also invested in my first finger paints since college. I loved finger paint stress relief nites -- tiny dorm rooms, ancient tile flooring, printer paper that was meant for reflection papers instead transformed into finger painting. Its not all silly kids stuff. Nope. Finger paints can be pretty deep and cathartic too.
I am more aware of the details around me.
I am more aware of wether I have my camera with me.
I am more aware of colors and patterns.
I am more aware of magnificent details and mysteries all around me.
I am more aware of my own patterns and mysteries.
I like this 100 days. I'll get some more poloroids up soon.

6:100 Breaking Away

2010-04-04T05:10:00.002-05:00

5:100 Seeking Solace

2010-04-03T22:04:00.003-05:00

Bucky has a heart after all. Bucky hugs Satchel in his time of need.

image note. "Found art"; Get Fuzzy Comic from March 22 @ Comics.com.

4:100 Dark

2010-04-03T21:39:00.006-05:00

image note. Not my photograph nor my creation. I have searched and searched, I cannot source out who did this photoshopped Goth makeover. I quite love it; my 100 days, my rules category "found art." I'd love to give credit where credit is due, so I'll keep looking.

3:100 Light

2010-04-03T21:36:00.003-05:00

2:100 Love

2010-04-03T21:33:00.002-05:00

Preview

2010-04-03T21:29:00.002-05:00

day 1:100

2010-04-03T21:25:00.001-05:00

Theme: Websearch Paper Dolls

2010-04-02T21:35:00.000-05:00

I think Paper Dolls are such lovely way to do costume research.

This artist is amazing. She's making historically detailed, colorful, stunning paper dolls and dresses today. And I'm agog. Such talent! You can find Liana's creations here!
Pin Up paper dolls! Yes, more cheesy than Cheesecake! Yep, the Hollywood era was the golden age of paperdolls. And in many ways, modern fashion (and pin up girls)!

Victorian Paper Dolls. I truly think that we need to bring wearing corsets back into the mainstream. Yes, I do. I marvel at women in this era. Its one thing to read about them, its another thing to imagine their lives AND living in corsets and bloomers and petticoats and shoes with 18 buttons.

100 Days to Improve My Life: Creatively, Clutterly and Clean Livingly

2010-04-01T07:55:00.006-05:00

Its a lofty goal. But I'm up for a challenge these days!
So How about some biggies?

1. Starting Today I'm following the Deviant Art 100# Challenge Variation 1. I won't be posting there, only here. All will be photographs, but I hope to tap back into my creativity along the way with sketches, paints, sewing maybe even some Peeps. I'm going to make this even more fun using Polodroid, a software that makes your pics look like Polaroids. I have a 1988 Red Poloroid camera. Yeah, its vintage, is a limited edition, and yeah I think I'm cool. It will be featured thru out this 100 Days Art project. The end result will be my first photobook (via Walgreens or some other online photbook publisher, we'll see!)

2. Sell 100 things in 15 days. In 15 days I leave to go to Colorado. I'm thinking of moving there... and no way am I going to take all this stuff I've ammassed. So the challenge is to sell 100 things in 15 days. (Plus I need the income for gas $$. This means learning and experimenting with Craigslist, Ebay, Etsy and very likely setting up a garage sale just before I leave. The next 15 days are going to be heavy work days~~ INTENSE with great rewards!

3. 100 Days of Detox. 1 Gallon of water each day, a green smoothie each day, eat oatmeal daily, walk or bike 7-9 miles each day. Its April and near 80 degrees in MN. That never happens, so its time to shake off winter, and have some fun detoxing. I'm going to create my own Earth Day 5K while I'm on the road somewheres between here and Colorado and then the Memorial Day Bolder Boulder 10K event and then something else in June and a 4th of July Run to honor the end of the 100 days.

Also on the list
Finish a quilt for a friend
Swim again (last time I was in a pool was 2004) [with a custom swimsuit I'm creating]
Updated Passport
FT Job
Apartment of my own

Kids Say it Best Valentines Cards

2010-02-11T06:45:00.002-06:00

You can't go anywhere without all the red, pink and hearts of valentines... and valentines sales, and valentines merchandise, and valentines candy. But amid the sea of heightened romantic expectations mass marketed this time of year, I offer you a few gems from the card aisle.

When the Sun Came Out I Went to the Pet Store Today

2010-02-09T22:24:00.003-06:00

This huge German Shepherd dog was left out in his owners car, at the pet food store.
And this chap, so loved his owner that he didn't even notice me standing next to the car taking his sweet, sweet picture.

With Westminster Dog show this weekend and pet sitting withdrawl all I can think about is:
I so want a dog!!!!
How about a St. Bernard! 4 AKC pups still available!
Or how about a Beagle??? I so want a dog!!!

Been Following the Tea Party... but the fact remains

2010-02-09T22:19:00.002-06:00

I've been following the politics meets sociology phenomenon The Tea Party.
And many shocking things are catching my attention. This is not a political blog. But the fact remains: Bad Spellers of the World - UNTIE!!
See For Yourself! Thanks Jimmy Kimmel!
object width="560" height="340">

SNOW DAY! Kids go sledding!!

2010-02-09T21:53:00.003-06:00

The past three days have been miserable and dangerous on the roads.
Hundreds of car accidents on roads. Trecherous to get anywhere.
Two days of school closing at noon, practically state wide. Oy vey!
Today school was cancelled. By late afternoon the sun came out. Cabin Fever now had a cure: The blanket of fresh snow was calling kids out to play and go sledding and tubing! And it was fun and refreshing to see kids out and about enjoying their snow day!

More freakin' Snow. This is getting ridiculous. And expected to be a 3 day storm.

2010-02-07T21:27:00.000-06:00

I'm grateful to not be in Philly or in DC where the whole city shut down. But this picture is taken out my car window. The snow is THAT tall piles up off the street from Le Plow. These folks left their holly day decor in their tree. That is a lot of snow accumulation. I'm just sayin'.

More Snow. Theme: Snow on Tractors

2010-02-07T21:18:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the Snow, I found a whole new beauty in the unfamiliar: farm implements.
Who knew?

Theme of the Day: What does your Tshirt Say about you?

2010-02-06T21:08:00.000-06:00

The green shirt is first, because it is my favorite. Its from a junior high. I'm sure it was part of a peer helper intervention/leadership program. Great! But, yo yo yo, the "peace sign" you used in your little logo? Check yourself befo' you wreck yo'self. That's a Mercedes Benz sign. Ha ha ha! I mean, google images is not that hard to use. Google Peace sign has THREE prongs. Benzes has TWO. So this Tshirt tells me only the poshest yuppie kids are allowed to be Peer Helpers!
Maybe this shirt is from a school in the Hamptons!! :D Haaaa ha ha ha!

Detail: Scarf and Hat

2010-02-05T20:56:00.001-06:00

Theme of the Day: On your feet - Uncomfortable but Fun

2010-02-04T20:44:00.000-06:00

Theme of the Day: Colorful Toys

2010-02-03T20:39:00.000-06:00

Theme of the Day: Vintage Plates

2010-02-02T20:34:00.000-06:00

Expressionist Digital: Suits on Saturday

2010-02-01T11:06:00.003-06:00

Expressionist -- like Monet. Digital -- From my ancient cell phone's camera.
Suits on a Sunday -- High School Cafeteria on a Saturday morning; all students in business suits for the Speech compettion. Next Saturday I'll bring my real camera.

Reflections of the Way Life Used to Be

2010-01-31T21:08:00.001-06:00

Adulthood is increasingly teaching me that Adulthood is about navigating loss and grief and learning to keep moving forward. Here at the end of the month I just want to honor those I miss. And today I watched the movie Meet The Robinsons for the first time. Oh I just cried for the last 10 minutes. The tears felt good. Movies like that really help me grieve. Now that I look back over this post. I look at their names and their pictures and I hear them whisper back at me "Caaaaarrrrpe. Carpe Diem."

I miss you Ann-Marie. Thank you for making me laugh and telling me I have gifts the world needs. You were a kindred spirit for a fellow Wacky Chick. Thank you for who you were and all you did.

I miss you Debbie. Many of my childhood happy memories happened when we came out to visit you and your family. Of all the people I know, I don't have any bad memories of you, it was such a blessing to see your three kids on Friday after 15 years. What a gift you were to so many.

I miss you Truman. Mankato doesn't have icons, but that's the category I'll always put you in, even if you yourself would not like to have been remembered as someone on a pedestal. I miss your gregarious approachabiliy, love of learning and love of people, and even your love of new-fangled technology. Most of all I love that day when I was over for lunch and you took my picture with Reta and Jean. You showed me what "Bloom where you are planted" really means. Its been a month now since you left us, but you are never far from my thoughts. I want to be like you my friend. I just wish you were here to tell me how. Here's the article I have read a dozen times already.

I miss you Howard Zinn. My American history teacher, writer champion-guru, and turns out Matt Damon's neighbor. Matt, The bar scene in Good Will Hunting, and My University History classes and then later me teaching with your texts in the classroom, I count those as part of our 6 degrees of separation. You single handedly re-wrote history to make it real and accessible. You pointed out the humanity and the problems that encompass the lasting effects of people's actions on history. The People's History of the United States, and all of your writings are now more cherished in my heart and my library. From your arrival in the 1920s, you saw it all, you participated in it all-- and then taught what you knew! You were a writer whose voice of being a 'liberal lion' I admired. I'm sad that I'll never get to meet you as once hoped and dreamed of. Howard, I consider you the friend that told me that American History classes have to be taught differently at the HS and University level if there is to be any change in how this nation sees it self. Thank you Mr. Zinn.

J.D.Salinger... You loved your Privacy. WE loved your words. Glad to discover that your short stories published in the New Yorker so many decades ago are now available online for reading and enjoying all over again.

Miep Gies. Thanks for keeping Anne's story alive. Our lives are better because of your 100 years on the planet with us, what you saw, who you loved, who you kept hidden, whose words you found, yet did not read because you believed even a teenage girl's privacy was sacred; you who kept those writings safe until you could pass them on to her Father's safe keeping. Miep, your humility great:
"I don't want to be considered a hero," Miep said in a 1997 online chat with schoolchildren. "Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty. I am afraid nobody would ever help other people, because who is a hero? I was not. I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary." So many amazing people by choice and historic niceties, their names and faces will never be known. We know you because you, darling Miep, were one name and face we could honor because you represented the thousands of souls who worked tirelessly for what was right, but we will never know their name or their specific story. We loved you Miep because you gave us just one story, just one little book, and for that, we are ever grateful. God Bless Anne and your diary and God Bless all those lost to war's atrocities and Bless those who are just ordinary people doing their human duty every day to help their neighbors.

Erich Segal. You were one of the premier go-to professors of Greek/Latin. Students at Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Oxford were blessed and lucky to have you as their teacher. In a eulogy delivered at his funeral, his daughter Francesca said, "That he fought to breathe, fought to live, every second of the last 30 years of illness with such mind-blowing obduracy, is a testament to the core of who he was -- a blind obsessionality that saw him pursue his teaching, his writing, his running and my mother, with just the same tenacity. He was the most dogged man any of us will ever know."[Thanks Wikipedia] I just want to say thank you for writing Love Story and screenwriting Yellow Submarine oh so many years ago.

Just sayin'

2010-01-30T21:48:00.000-06:00

Not a picture, but worth capturinga few Twitterings from the people I follow.

Recent Twitter post:
Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 9:40:53 PM
NiaVardalos: RT @johncmayer: More people would watch the State of the Union Address if President Obama introduced a new gadget at the end. Just sayin'.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 11:01:50 PM
GhostPanther: As my 9 year old said about Obama tonight "It's easier to talk than to do" But she also wants to eat cupcakes in the pool.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 11:07:49 PM
aplusk: dear congress, stop trying so hard to get re-elected and try a little harder to represent my best interest #dearcongress

Saturday, January 30, 2010, 5:42:33 PM
tonyrobbins: The iPhone & iPad will now allow skype over At&t 3G wireless. http://bit.ly/aWFb5t too bad they didn't put camera on iPad 4 video conf

Wanted: Immediate Helpful Feedback in my Life

2010-01-28T08:35:00.000-06:00

Going Thru an old stack of Mary Engelbreit Magazines I saw this and took a picture of it. Two things about needing a good, new teacher to encourage me crossed my path today. This is exactly where I am at too.
From Penelope Trunk, Brazen Careerist's blog:
Being an expert takes time, not talent
Thursday, January 28, 2010, 11:39:02 PM | Penelope Trunk

I've been walking around with the July/August 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review constantly, for close to three years.

The article that I’m attached to is The Making of an Expert by Anders Ericsson, Michael Prietula and Edward Cokely. I would not normally bother to tell you all three authors for one article in my blog. This is not a medical journal. But I love the article so much, that I want you to know all of them.

The article changed how I think about what I am doing here. In my life. I think I am trying to be an expert.

Being an expert is not what you think, probably. For one thing, the article explains that “there is no correlation between IQ and expert performance in fields such as chess, music, sports, and medicine. The only innate differences that turn out to be significant—and they matter primarily in sports – are height and body size. “

So what factor does correlate with success? One thing emerges very clearly is that successful performers “had practiced intensively, had studied with devoted teachers, and had been supported enthusiastically by their families throughout their developing years.”

There are a few things about the article that really make me nervous. The first is that you need to work every single day at being great at that one thing if you want to be great. This is true of pitching, painting, parenting, everything. And if you think management in corporate life is an exception, you’re wrong. I mean, the article is in the Harvard Business Review for a reason.

I am panicking that maybe I am just figure skating again. Maybe I am doing something I’ll never be great at. I worry about this because I don’t actually know what I’m doing. Am I getting good at bringing a startup from fruition to exit? Am I getting good at writing career advice?

This reminds me of the day I realized that my figure skating coach was an alcoholic. My dad picked me up at the rink. He asked why my skate guards were on. I said I never went skating. I said, “I think Ivar is sick.”

My dad said, “Yeah. I’ve been thinking that for a while.”

I said, “I don’t think he really can teach me any more.”

My dad said, “I’ve been thinking that for a while.”

I remember the heartbreak I felt knowing that I didn’t have a teacher. I remember also realizing that it’s important to know who can teach and who can’t. If you are a person who wants to be an expert, the thing you want most is a teacher. I think that’s why I carry the magazine with me everywhere I go. To remind me to look. Like my life depends on it.

But I've recently started reading research beyond the article, and it turns out that the teacher isn't the important per se, but rather, what you need is immediate, helpful feedback. And this is what you get when you have a blog. So maybe I am still on my path to being an expert, and I'm just crowdsourcing my coaching.

Apollo the el gato

2010-01-28T08:22:00.000-06:00

I need a new friend. I need a pet. That can't happen until I get my own place. Today I remembered the good times I had with "'Paulo 'Paulo." His name is Apollo, but for the whole month I pet sat and lived with him, he was my friend, PauloPaulo.

Strawberry Shortcake

2010-01-27T08:14:00.001-06:00

This coloring page is my inspiration to learn embroidery. I want to make these three and the Purple Pie Man into 4 tea towels. I like the classic Strawberry and Friends MUCH MUCH more than the modern reincarnation of her in jeans. I have 4 tea towels ready to go. I have found my stash of embroidery thread from my junior high "friendship bracelet" making phase. I thank 1980s Strawberry shortcake for teaching me the power of green and white striped tights. Progress on this Fearsome Foursome tea towel project as the year goes on.

driving in the snow mix

2010-01-26T11:20:00.002-06:00

dryer. ball. drama.

2010-01-25T11:05:00.000-06:00

There was some hollering. Someone felt bad that dryerballs expected to be at the dryer weren't there. Someone accuses and demands. Its gets ugly. When Someone's expectations aren't met, ooh it not good. Someone gets mad. And its hard to live in the house with Someone when she gets like this. You just want to say, "And why can't you help look for this object you prize so much instead of automatically lashing into eveyone around you?" But one does not dare utter those words. More drama and wrath would ensue.

So today's picture is like "Where's Waldo" only it is "Where's Dryer Ball?"

Oh look Someone... its on your kitchen table, amid all your clutter and your nest of stuff. Yep, right there next to your new crock pot.

Passive aggressive people really really vex me and make life difficult.
Who lives with a kitchen table that is always like this?? Oh, Someone does.

2 Pizzas

2010-01-24T10:56:00.003-06:00

Dad's fave pizza place closed and he's been on a hunt to find a good pizza since. He's now found it. And he gets a Large Veggie and a Med Meat. Dad loves getting fast food to go as he's given up cooking altogether.

Pink Skirt

2010-01-23T18:45:00.000-06:00

What a flag means

2010-01-23T17:57:00.000-06:00

Today, my thoughts are with Haiti.
They have been for the last 10 days.

So many souls in need. So many souls lost. So many more on the brink.
I want to be there to help!
My heart breaks. I can't watch the coverage anymore.
The earthquake hit Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 04:53:09 PM at epicenter (Haiti time). Entire schools of children and teachers lost in one long minute, one fell quake. People who are coping with the known loss of 10 people in their families, and waiting on word on another 10 of their loved ones. A whole generation of orphans created in a horrific minute.
Supplies stuck on the tarmac of a teeny tiny airport trying to accompodate hundreds of flights as if it was JFK international. A system of help mired in a logistical nightmare on so many fronts creating a secondary nightmare of undelivered supplies to a people already existing in a humanitarian night mare.
I hear the cries. I see the faces.

The HopeForHaitiNow telethon came and went.

Today I post this picture because I know what it means for me to see my flag flying in the midst of adversity (after a hurricane or after a blizzard). I hope soon the people of Haiti will be strengthened with hope by their flag flying their tent cities, flying near make-shift hospitals.

There is so much work to do before that happens.

Haiti and all her souls struggling for safety & survival, all those offering their time, expertise, monies, supplies, transportation, food, opportunities and hope to loved ones and strangers, you are never far from my thoughts.

I just want to be there like I was down south after Katrina. I just want to be there and hug someone who feels hopeless and forgotten. I just want to hold a baby so a mother can talk to an aid worker and get paperwork sorted out. I just want to hand out water and I want to smile and serve a fellow human being when the food is hot and ready. Its the little things that mean alot.

UPCYCLING: I'm making a booksafe out of old trashy romance novels, just for fun.

2010-01-22T17:46:00.000-06:00

They were free.
Trashy novels are always available in abundance for some reason.
When you take something and re-purpose it for a new & different use, it can be called Upcycling instead of recycling.

Bookshelf needs some love

2010-01-21T17:26:00.002-06:00

Anonymous image from my scanned collection

2010-01-20T17:10:00.000-06:00

I'm still too sick to come up with anything interesting. This is from a magazine. I rip out stuff like this and scan it and archive it for my costume design and fashion inspiration files. Every costume designer I know does this.

Screen Capture: Lady Gaga in her Bad Romance Video

2010-01-19T17:00:00.000-06:00

"They look like doll eyes."
"They look like Kermit the Frog's eyes."
"How do you do that with makeup?"
Cool or Creepy? You decide.

** disclaimer. I'm not smart enough to know how to capture screen shots. I got this from google images, bless them.

This video is Gaga meets Kubrick. And its a knock out.
Pop music has a new queen. This one is a force to be reckoned with.
Turns out her eyes (seen here in the bathtub scene) are digitally enhanced as is her spine in the creepy shower scenes. With all the set,prop details & dancer and costumes, oh and the pyrotechnics, this little video cost near a million dollars.
For those who haven't seen it yet, thanks to Vimeo, now you can:

LADY GAGA «BAD ROMANCE» from KOSSMOS.COM on Vimeo.

Slept all day with movies playing in background

2010-01-18T16:52:00.000-06:00

It was either a picture of this or my other best friends of the day: Nyquil, ibuprofen and tylen-all. I went with this.

VCR: Wonder of Modern Science
NyQuil: Wonder of Modern Science

Disclaimer: I did NOT watch all of these movies in a day or two. They just live next to my tv and vcr. No I don't have dvd capacity with my tv, only my laptop. Today I had a Six Feet Under episode marathon on at low volume (I know this season so well its like listening to friends voices in the bkgrnd) and then White Christmas. For whatever reason, no matter what season, I watch White Christmas when I feel crummy and when its on in the background when I sleep I have happy dreams. Its a keeper. Last movie of the day: Strictly Ballroom. I love Strictly Ballroom. And today I love how when I'm awake I can't breathe/much less swallownormally but I love Nyquil and how my body knows how to function all on its own when its looped out and sleeping. Oh how I hope to feel world's better soon. Being sick sucks.

Mad Men era Sure was Shocking!

2010-01-16T16:08:00.001-06:00

Today I have a nasty sore throat, can't swallow. Taking on a project I've been putting off. I have a collection of LPs that have lived in a box since my aunt died. Today I put them on my book shelf. And there were a few gems worth noting.
Someday I want to find a record player that records to CD and adapt these into my listening realms. Until then, I have to judge them by their cover!

Ann Corio: Before Dita VonTease there was Ann Corio film actress and ecdysiast (one who makes burlesque an art). Album with Sonny Lester, 1966.

Four Roses Society: I loved the cover art and that it was one of the few in her collection that had masking tape on it (sign it was listened to so much it's beloved cover needed to be taped together!). It is a sing-along-album (My bonnie lies over the ocean, etc) that was released to promote Four Roses scotch. Look close at the dog's collar: That's product label placement. Also noted: only the men are drinking! Album circa 1958

Rusty Warren: One of the first stand up comedian women, and she talked about sex!
This was her third album. Circa 1961. Third of Sixteen! Apparently called the Mother of the Sexual Revolution?! WoW! Why were we not taught about her in Social studies classes -- or even in my University Women's History Classes? Found songs online, what a hoot and a half! Rusty? She's still alive, and I really enjoyed her website!

VHS: HBO series Six Feet Under, Season One

2010-01-16T16:06:00.000-06:00

D's Golden Globes Bday Party

2010-01-15T14:04:00.001-06:00

My Xmas treats thanks to a Thrift Store

2010-01-14T15:43:00.000-06:00

I don't have $$ to spend, I really don't, but I wanted to get myself something for Xmas. I had to wait to get my Xmas check from working the holiday, and these are my Xmas prezzies to self! Happy Christmas Me!
A $5 pear and these treasures:
Book: The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green (I've wanted to read it for a spell, but our lame-o library doesn't carry it, and likely won't.) (Turns out I learned today that the author is Zach Braff's brother. Rock on.) $1.99 on half price green tag day = $1
Two patterns: Both vintage 1980s. Burda - wickedly fun high waisted, paperbag waist, pleated pants/shorts. And Style - Sailor dresses. I have a growing vintage pattern collection. Someday I'll do something noble with it. Been thinking I need a third blog - a pattern a day sort of thing! Ha ha haaa! Both 25 cents, total $0.50
Drinking Vessel: Hand blown glass goblet, two tone with blue rim. This thing is massive. And heavy! It feels regal to hold it and drink anything in it. I have eyed Hand Blown Glass goblets at the MN Renaissance Faires for over a decade, but could never justify $65 for one, or $120 for a pair. Someone somewhere gave up their goblet. I love it more than I can explain. And get this: $2.99 + on green tag day = $1.50. No lie, I hugged this goblet as I walked out the store feeling like the happiest, luckiest girl in the world.

Xmas gifts to self budget: $10. Originally wanted to catch a movie, but thought better of it. That's only two hours and I have nothing to show for it. Whatever is showing in theaters now will be on Netflicks, and someday I'll be able to afford Netflicks, so nope. No movie.
Xmas gift giving to self total: $5 pear + $3 prezzies = $8*

*extra $2 used to fill car gas tank. Its the world I live in.

$5 for ONE pear? Really? Yes, really. 'Twas quite good.

2010-01-13T15:30:00.001-06:00

Went to Harry and David Shoppe. Big Splurge of the Day. I must have been out of my mind. $5 for one pear? Yep. Ghastly. But I was spending my Xmas gift $ and when I ate it (wow it was super sweet and super juicy) I imagined myself in a warm loving home, full of happy joyful people, lots of laughter and silliness and someone had brought me a large Harry and David fruit basket. Savoring food like this, each moment and each bite matters - it inspired a little holiday mini-vacation, a lucious little fantasy of how I wish my holidays were. Worth the price of admission just for that.

Boys in my Room

2010-01-12T14:39:00.000-06:00

My Pet Sitting Buds

2010-01-11T14:35:00.001-06:00

Orange and Red

2010-01-10T14:28:00.000-06:00

Chilly Chap Needs a Hat and Scarf

2010-01-09T14:26:00.001-06:00

Neighbor's Cute Snowman with New Dusting of Snow Inches

The mountain of Snow on the side-of-the-house driveway from BIG snowplow

2010-01-08T14:24:00.000-06:00

Snowdrifts along the road & Snow blanket across the field

2010-01-07T14:20:00.000-06:00

Christmas Cactus blooms look like Lovely Little Dragons

2010-01-06T14:18:00.001-06:00

Colorful Lights Trapped in Icicles

2010-01-05T14:16:00.000-06:00

Leftover Colorful Pointsettia

2010-01-04T14:13:00.001-06:00

Wintr'y Day - Brrrr!

2010-01-03T14:09:00.000-06:00

New Years Snow Covered Doors

2010-01-02T14:07:00.000-06:00

house on New Years Eve

2010-01-01T14:11:00.003-06:00

Fruitcake Eating Fish and The Fine Print

2009-12-11T22:36:00.004-06:00

I'm done blogging....

Just thought my 10 readers may want to know.
I may just whittle this down to a handful of previous blogs, but maybe not.

I think in my holiday fruitcake I'm gonna bake into it Facebuk's security report, and all the garbage stories that were toted as news this past year. Green cherries, barf jon and puke kate, balloon heave boy, red cherries, tiger's life, Palin's book Joan Of Arc pedestal, Karl wretch Rove being a commentator on non news stations still telling the world they are news stations, and toss in some cloves, cinnamon, plastic surgery updates and analysis on a certain radio station I once listed to alot, MJ's death, ongoing war, death, destruction, famine, walnuts and bake until crispy.

And then I'm gonna use it as bait on a really big hook as I go ice fishing. I've heard those fish are really into the most absurd things. Should that fruitcake of the year fall off the hook and sink to the bottom of the frigid lake, I'm okay with that. At least I can say I went Ice fishing**. Even if I did catch that grandaddy of all fruitcake eating lake fish, I'd look at him, thank him for digesting garbage that I cannot and send him back to his friends and family. I have bigger fish to fry.

Disclaimer ** -- I've no interest in ice fishing. Much like the actual cooking of said holiday fruitcake this is all allegory.

This has been circulating lately even though I remember it back from the early part of this wacky decade, and I wish I know who actually wrote it so I could give them credit. Its a sign of the times. Live long and prosper.

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all...and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, mental capacity, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

THE FINE PRINT: (By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.)

Oh and I might be pregnant...
Or I booked a ticket to Uzbekistan...
Or I have joined a group of passionate people trying to save the world from doomsday and the Mayan Calendar 2012 prophesy by underwater basketweaving reeds grown in all places that start with the letter I (Idaho, Ireland, Israel, India, etc) into Tisket A Tasket Baskets so people have something to hold onto when they yell May Day May Day...
Or whatever reason you creatively come up with as to why I may want to curtail blogging. You're creative. I trust you!!

Linking Money and Weight

2009-11-14T05:40:00.004-06:00

This is a complete article reprint from KaraMcGuire at the Mlps Star & Tribune.

Paydirt: Obesity of our spending and our bodies
A financial planner's journey to trim his ballooning weight holds lessons about financial health, too.

By KARA McGUIRE, Star Tribune

Last update: November 11, 2009 - 1:30 PM

John Hanselman knew that too many steak dinners with clients and too little exercise were adding inches to his waistline.

A 2003 divorce and a 2007 bankruptcy due to investing in a retail golf store that failed added to the stress-induced pounds. Busy juggling his work as a financial planner and raising four children, he ignored the fact that his 40-inch-waist pants were on the tight side. That is, until he tipped the scales at 280 and his doctor put him on cholesterol and high blood pressure medication -- at age 37.

That was in April 2008. Today Hanselman weighs less than 200 pounds, no longer needs the medications and competes in bodybuilding championships. So what does this have to do with money?

Overeating and overspending often go hand-in hand. After all, our society makes it easy. Grabbing a calorie-laden extra-value meal is easier than planning a healthful lunch to take to work. Buying on credit is easier than saving up for a purchase. Our economic system almost came crashing down thanks to too much greed, too much risk and living too large.

"It's the obesity of our minds of wanting more, more, more, more," Hanselman exclaimed.

How did he lose this mind-set and nearly 100 pounds? He got serious about his health and sought expert advice.

For years, Hanselman, the president of Two Rivers Advisors in Blaine, ignored his deteriorating health and expanding waistline. He likens this behavior to homeowners who took out interest-only mortgages for pricey homes and investors who know they aren't saving enough to maintain their lifestyle but say, "I don't want to be concerned about it now, I'll be OK," he said. It wasn't until his doctor told him he needed to change his behavior or risk premature death that he focused on changing.

He held himself accountable
When Hanselman decided to get serious about his health, he didn't want to be like the average 401(k) investor who randomly decides which mutual funds to pick or who asks his co-worker about asset allocation. Hanselman hired a nutritionist so he'd know the foods and portion sizes that would help him reach his goal, much as you'd hire a financial planner to select appropriate investment choices.

He also wanted someone holding him accountable. He wrote down everything he ate in a spreadsheet and e-mailed it to his nutritionist. Sound similar to the tedious-but-effective method of tracking your spending to find budget leaks?

Do-it-yourselfers don't need to hire a financial expert to get out of debt or revamp retirement goals. A spouse or a close friend can hold you accountable. Or you can head online to websites such as smartypig.com or stickk.com and share your goals with cyberspace.

But to stay motivated, you have to come up with reachable milestones. Instead of trying to save up a bunch of money and then invest it, Hanselman suggests putting a small amount of money into an emergency savings account or retirement plan every other week. Or make larger-than-the-minimum payments on your credit card with the smallest balance so you can see progress toward paying it off.

As we're heading into the holiday season, many of us are planning to spend less. And who doesn't vow to eat fewer Christmas cookies? But research from marketing professor Kathleen Vohs has found that exerting self-control in more than one area at a time is difficult.

Give your self-control some time

"Your ability to control your behaviors is like a precious resource," said the marketing professor at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. "There's not going to be enough to go around.''

That doesn't mean you can't say "no" to a cookie and "no" to spending more than $50 on Grandma's gift. But you don't want to leave a holiday buffet and head straight to the shopping mall. You need to give your self-control time to rejuvenate by spreading out activities that will tax your willpower.

2009-11-11T10:24:00.002-06:00

Being thin will make you happy.
I believe that.

I want to be thin, happy, valued, accepted and successful, is that too much to ask.

And yes I see now that obcessing about healthy food, raw food, the whole shebang is not "healthy."

Yes I'm fat. Hello!! I'm one of the Lardy Ladies you see walking by and you can't imagine how she lives with herself.

But if I stay on this track I'm surrounded by people who are talking about miracles and weight loss. Great. Good. Happy for you. But when does the I'm content part come in.

For the last three weeks I've read more raw foodie journey related blogs.
And I'm just seeing that I'm setting myself up.
And its dumb.
I like me.
Golly I'm smart, and a swell person to know.

But I'm fat, so most people never see that, if you see me at all.
So yes I'm on a "gotta lose weight" journey.
But where is the "I'm skinny now" marker. I'll be happy when I'm a sz 18 and out of the 20 pants Tent and Awning Fat Lady store.
No, not really. I want to be a size 12.
Then I'm reading blogs about women who are "sooo fat" at a size 12.
Studies have been done that skinnier women are more likley to be recognized professionally and advance in their careers.
In TV actor land its expected that you are a single digit size.
And men are visual creatures. They don't want your for your mind.
See, size matters.
And if you watch all the infomercials on tv, you're not there until you are a size 2 or 4.

So does all this obcessing about food really serve me?
Does all this food talk serve you?

Orthorexia nervosia is about people becoming so obcessed about healthy food and eating that they waste away. They are never skinny enough. For them, the gaunt look is in.

At the opposite end of the spectrum recent studies just announced that there are more MORBIDLY OBESE people in the US than just OBESE people. We are getting fatter faster.

America has been a diet obcessed nation for decades. My own mind can't fathom how many billions are spent on programs, books, classes, seminars, weigh ins and the rest.

So maybe the way I deal with this is just to deal with it.
And not blog about it, not hang my thoughts about being fat and about food out there.
Because I have thought SOooooo much about food in the last two years that, yeah I want to be a single digit size. And I want sweat equity. And I'm surrounded by people that think its healthy to drink phytoplankton, argue about sea salt vs himalayan salt and bicker congeneally about What Percentage Raw are you? Its a total judgement thing. "Oh poor you, sorry you're only 50% raw. When you're ready, you can join the cool 100% club."

In the raw food world the goal, the aim, the pinnacle, the apex of being a TRUE raw foodie is 100% just like its a test of your will, your grocery shopping list and your dedication & committment.

And quite frankly I'm just done with thinking about food all day.

Maybe I'll just be all extreme and write you again only after I'm a fat size 12. Shower me with compliments. I'll appreciate it. And secretly I'll be thinkin' about what else I have to do to be a size 2.

Skinny people have problems too. Sure. But atleast they aren't fat.
Skinny people might be obcessed with food too. And they might have job problems, money problems, family problems, and everything else that's normal to the human condition. True. But I'm telling you its gotta be like having money. Its easier to be happy when you have money in the bank so you can do what you want to do than to be penniless and scared about every penny you delegate. Being thin has to be better than being fat. I'm just sayin'.

2009-11-11T10:10:00.002-06:00

Test for Orthorexia

-- Do you spend more than 3 hours a day thinking about your diet?

-- Do you plan your meals several days ahead?

-- Is the nutritional value of your meal more important than the pleasure of eating it?

-- Has the quality of your life decreased as the quality of your diet has increased?

-- Have you become stricter with yourself lately?

-- Does your self-esteem get a boost from eating healthily?

-- Have you given up foods you used to enjoy in order to eat the 'right' foods

-- Does your diet make it difficult for you to eat out, distancing you from family and friends?

-- Do you feel guilty when you stray from your diet?

-- Do you feel at peace with yourself and in total control when you eat healthily?

-- Yes to 4 or 5 of the above questions means it is time to relax more about food.

-- Yes to all of them means a full-blown obsession with eating healthy food.

Okay -- I'm getting some flack from the raw food community because I question the need to talk about percentages all the time.

And I had a chat yesterday with someone who told me that there is a new diagnosis out there for people obcessed with healthy eating. And I think that's where so many of my peers are. And I'm here to tell you I see it everywhere in the social networking sites for the raw community that I am a part of.

I'm this close to bowing out of those networks.
and I'm this close to shutting down this blog.
Being obcessive about food, fine, but when the holier than thou, you've not been 100% so I don't think you understand what it can do for you... none of that I care for. I think I'm done trying to be a community member. I'm just gonna continue to eat healthy, but I'm not going to talk about it. And I'm not going to think I'm a better person for being raw. I see now that I might as well shellack a broccoli and wear it around my neck instead.

I pretty much answered YES to all of the test questions.

Read for yourself: 'Orthorexia nervosa'

This is quoted in its entirety from this site.

A new type of eating disorder is emerging where people are becoming obsessed with eating to improve their health. According to the Swiss Food Association, this new wave of nutritional obsession, known as 'Orthorexia' or 'Orthorexia nervosa', from the Greek "orthos" meaning right and correct, and "orexis" meaning appetite, is reaching worrying proportions.

In a quest to cure themselves of a specific disorder, or simply just taking healthy eating to extremes, orthorexics develop their own increasingly specific food rules. Working out how to stick to their self-imposed dietary regimen takes up more and more of their time and they are compelled to plan meals several days ahead. They tend to take a 'survival kit' of their own food with them when they go out, as they cannot eat readily available foods for fear of fat, chemicals or whatever their particular phobia might be.

Sticking to their regimen takes strong willpower and they feel self-righteous and superior to people who do not have such self-control. "Someone whose days are filled with eating tofu and quinoa biscuits can feel as saintly as if they had devoted their whole life to helping the homeless" states Dr. Steve Bratman, the man who initially described orthorexia back in 1997.

By contrast, if the orthorexic breaks their health-food vows and succumbs to a craving for a 'prohibited' food, they feel guilty and defiled. This drives them to punish themselves with ever stricter dietary rules or abstinence. This behaviour is similar to those who suffer from anorexia or bulimia nervosa, except that anorexics and bulimics are concerned with the quantity of food consumed whereas orthorexics are concerned with the quality.

In Europe we are now bombarded with information about what is 'good' and what is 'bad' for us all the time. Food scares and the organic movement have added to the complexity of decisions people need to make about the food they eat. Dr. Bettina Isenschmid, consultant for food disorders at L'Hopital de l'Isle in Berne, believes that this focus on good and bad foods is problematic and fuels an increasingly neurotic relationship with food in modern western society. Health is now an important consideration for many Europeans when menu-planning . How do we get the right balance between eating healthily and healthy eating obsession?

As with most aspects of diet, moderation is the key. Changes in food choices should be made gradually and in a way that fits in with a person's tastes and lifestyle. Eating more healthily should have a positive effect on health without reducing the enjoyment of life or affecting relationships with others. To check if someone has healthy eating in perspective, or is becoming obsessed, try the 'Test for orthorexia'. {{I posted it at the top of this post}}

So I'm kinda done with all this.

Your thoughts?
Reactions?
Has anything I've blogged about helped you? Made you think?
Were any of my posts memorable?

Tell me here, or via FB or whereever.
Tell me you support me or tell me I've got it all wrong.
Just talk to me about this, ok? Thanks in advance.

Done with obcessing about food, B

This is my video letter to you

2009-11-08T00:04:00.003-06:00

If I was to write you a letter today, I'd want to send you this.

I like how Rob thinks

2009-11-07T22:43:00.004-06:00

The following is not my writing.
It belongs to a guy named Rob.
Rob and I think alike.
So I wanted to share Rob's writings.
His book is now on my xmas wish list.

"May you eat an unfamiliar dessert in a strange land at least once every three years.

May you wake up to salsa music one summer morning, and start dancing while you're still half-asleep.

May you spray-paint Rilke poems as graffiti on highway overpasses.

May you mix stripes with plaids, floral patterns with checks, and yellowish-green with brownish-purple.

May you learn to identify by name 20 flowers, 15 trees, 10 clouds, and one extrasolar planet.

If you bury your face in your tear-stained pillow and beg God to please send you your soul mate, may you not slur your words in such a way that they sound like "cell mate."

May you dream of taking a trip to the moon in a gondola powered by firecrackers and wild swans.

May you actually kiss the earth now and then.

May you find many good excuses to say what physicist Niels Bohr once did: "Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true."
*
The preceding oracle comes from the revised and expanded edition of my book, PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings."

The great news is that yes! You can order Rob for yourself at Amazon.

Quotes Captured!

2009-11-07T07:54:00.003-06:00

Quotes Captured!
This all was taken directly from the RFR site. I did not alter it -- I just wanted to capture it here so I can reference it later. I have created quote books since HS. And this time, until I move, I'll just keep things online. One less thing to pack.

Inspirational Quotes from Raw.Food.Rehab community site: Week 2 of 11

There have been so many empowering, inspirational and uplifting things said around the halls and in the rooms of the RFR Mansion this week. Please feel free to add to what you've been inspired by in the comments, I know I missed plenty this week because of business with the eBook. So here is just a sampling of quotes that were overheard this past week:

"i am very pleased with the calm energy i have been experiencing." ~snowdrop

"I really like feeling empowered over food decisions. I really like that some of my cravings are being channeled in a new direction." ~ Denise Coleman Lyng

"When you heal, the weight of the world will be lifted off your shoulders and you will feel so light. You are SO worth this journey!" ~ T.

"My plan is to clean the house and just chill at home drinking green smoothies all day long." ~Alice

"....Excess weight is only an outer effect of a deep inner problem. To me, it is always fear and a need for protection. When we feel frightened or insecure or "not good enough," many of us will put on extra weight for protection...The only diet that does work is a mental diet - dieting from negative thoughts....."

"Been keeping up with my vow I made to myself" ~Tanya

"One of the things that brought me here was what my body was telling me...it had had enuff...." ~ tina

"You survived that whirlwind and today is a brand new day!" ~ Denise Coleman Lyng

"I have always wanted to have this lifestyle but now that I am achieving it I can hardly contain myself." ~ Roberta Martin

"....Think of a rose from the time it is a tiny bud. As it opens to full flower, till the last petal falls, it is always beautiful, always perfect, always changing. So it is with us. We are always perfect, always beautiful, and ever changing. We are doing the best we can with the understanding, awareness and knowledge we have. As we gain more understanding, awareness and knowledge, then we will do things differently...."

"Definitely going to be drinking green smoothies and green juices today." ~ Stephanie Brown

"In order to be truly healthy, the inner wounds need to be healed. A diet works for awhile but long lasting success needs to come from the inside out." ~ Eden Grace

DRINKING GREEN JUICE IS LIKE MAIN-LINING NUTRITION!

** --- > This is where the picture of my green plaid sheep was. I'm so proud of my green plaid sheep.

"I'm not just the black sheep around here I'm the juice feasting plaid sheep around here." ~ Bee

"I love being a part of a group of people choosing to eat raw food for health and well being as an act of loving ourselves more. Raw Love- It changes you!" ~ Jodi

"On a quest to be MY BEST!" ~Judy Boehmke

Your personal level of rawness is an ongoing journey!

"I eat a diet high in raw living foods. But, I'd much rather focus on the raw high I experience from eating those foods...
Raw high: what you experience after flooding your body with live enzymes and awakening from a food-induced stupor.
Raw high: beats a sugar high, hands down.
Raw high: feeling vibrant and ALIVE.
Raw high: now available at your local farmer's market."
~ Earth Mother
EM-

"I am here to heal....period." ~ tina

"...when we are cleaning our mental house. There is no need to get angry just because some of the beliefs in it are ready to be tossed out. Let them go as easily as you would scrape bits of food into the trash after a meal. Would you really dig into yesterday's garbage to make tonight's meal? Do you dig into old mental garbage to create tomorrow's experiences? If a thought of belief does not serve you, let it go! There is no written law that says that because you once believed something, you have to continue to believe it forever......."

"This journey for me has been about headwork as much as bodywork." Robin

"I am amazed what a nourished body feels like opposed to a body full of crap. I now crave greens. I crave fresh produce" ~Mauri

Someone shared this from Eleanor Roosevelt. "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."

Louise Hay quotes......

"I believe in my own power to change." & "I give myself permission to learn."

1. We are each responsible for our experiences.

2. Every thought we think is creating our future.

3. Everyone is dealing with the damaging patterns of resentment, criticism, guilt, and self-hatred.

4. These are only thoughts and thoughts can be changed.

5. We need to release the past and forgive everyone.

6. Self-approval and self-acceptance in the "now" are the keys to positive changes.

7. The point of power is always in the present moment.

photo credits: FarmersMarketBeets from RFR Founder Penni and MyFavePunkins is from my friend's facebook page featuring her two daughters.

¡Gracias por ser mi profesor Lau-raw!

2009-11-01T08:18:00.004-06:00

¡Gracias por ser mi profesor Lau-raw!

photo from Lau-Raw, as posted on Raw Food Rehab. It is also on her blog.
I love Halloween theme food. And I love this picture!

While languages and distance may separate us, I love how pictures are worth a thousand words, and how smiles are an international language of acceptance. Lau-raw is in Mexico and her blog is in her native Spanish. But she has so many wonderful pictures! I love to appreciate how in our modern world, people are people, and we have so much in common!

(And it may not be perfect, but its worth even a crude translation incase she visits my blog) Babelfish translates the above paragraph into:

Mientras que las idiomas y la distancia pueden separarnos, amo cómo los cuadros valen mil palabras, y cómo las sonrisas son una lengua internacional de la aceptación. Lau-crudo está en México y su blog está en su español nativo. ¡Pero ella tiene tan muchos cuadros maravillosos! ¡Amo apreciar cómo en nuestro mundo moderno, la gente es gente, y tenemos tanto en campo común!

Near as I can tell:
A Web of raw spaghetti (?zuchinni)
The red sauce is tomato based made from the guts of the creepy
Tomato Spider Body (Half of a tomato with cored out holes)
and the Head is a raw 'meat ball' with the cored circles from the tomato as eyes.

How RAWsome is this!!
I don't yet have the foggiest idea how to make raw meat balls. My educated guess is that it is from a nut puree paste and dehydrated.

Muchas Gracias LauRaw! Thank you for this healthy, creepy, Halloween meal picture!

In an effort to do the right thing I wanted to understand her writing and descriptions more than just guessing at the ingredients. I popped over to BabelFish translator to help me out. Under the pictures of the rawsome spider and webs on her Halloween Themed Plates she wrote (and this is Babelfish talking):

"So I decided " crudiveganizarla" doing spaguetti with pumpkin in spiroli, the small ball of meat with a combination of nuts and verduritas, I used a rawgú sauce, the shell with orange pepper morrón and the legs with pumpkin in slices style fetuchinni."

Rawgu sauce? Is that what it can be called!? How clever! Thank you for being my teacher Lau-raw! ¡Gracias por ser mi profesor Lau-raw! And I was wrong, turns out the web spaghetti is pumpkin spaghetti and the shell is an Orange pepper! I learn something new every day!

I got the BEST Gift Today

2009-10-30T03:38:00.003-05:00

I love plaid. I'm mad about plaid. (So much so that I joke that I must have been from Scotland in a bygone era). I can't get enough plaid in my life.
And yes I love sheep. Not as much as a friend of mine (You know who you are), but I love sheep.

And today I got the BEST gift of the year from a comrade in Raw Food Rehab.

Bee, loved your response on PL's post - and also thought what you said.... "I'm not just the black sheep around here I'm the juice feasting plaid sheep around here." ....was totally hilarious! So I made you a plaid sheep:

I may not be in the Vault of Super Support at Raw Food Rehab, but I like that I'm connecting with more raw people. Raw peeps are my herd of choice these days. And you'll recognize me as the green plaid sheep. In honor of MJ's This Is It movie release: You know I'm baaaaaa-ad, I'm baaaaa-ad, sha'mon~ :) Ewe know, sometimes I just try too hard... I know I know, your ears are bleating. I'll stop.

More about my Someday Kitchen

2009-10-28T22:00:00.009-05:00

More thoughts on my Someday kitchen....
I don't want much (if any) plastic in my kitchen. And I don't even want to use those plastic film bags for veggies from the store to bring my kale home. I'll use these colorful, rockin' ecobags instead. They are from Etsy, of course.

And with all my fruit peels and cores and veggie peels and stems, I want a worm box. All those happy red wormies can feast and make rich compost, every day of the year. No smells, no funk, no odor. And no walking outside to a funky compost heap. I've read the book Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof and loved it. Every house should have one of these!
No wait.
Most houses don't eat enough fruits and veggies and lots of people I know would think this a grody idea. I take it back.
Every ecologically minded house where there are healthy eaters should have a worm box! Much better.
Two of my friends have them. I learned about them after asking "So what's the black bin up against the wall?" Very cool. Even the local nuns are teaching people about the worm boxes in local Extension classes. Sister Dorothy Olinger teaches a student about worm composting (vermicomposting) at the School Sisters of Notre Dame's Center for Earth Spirituality and Rural Ministry. This photo was taken by Pat.Christman from the local paper the Free Press. Lead by example works triumphantly again!

Art reminds me: You are what you leave behind

2009-10-28T10:26:00.003-05:00

I Love Art from London!
When I was in London, I spent hours in as many galleries as I could get to.
And I'm not just a fan of classics. I'm also quite a fan of British Contemporary Art.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster created this work of art. Its called "White Trash (with gulls)." It is 6 months worth of trash and two dead gulls making this abstract. Turn off the light and its a pile of trash. Turn on the spotlight and who do you see? Brilliant.

Check out the link for more of Tim and Sue's striking silhouettes from trash.

49 cent Tea Towels

2009-10-28T04:04:00.006-05:00

I also found 49 cent tea towels / dish towels at Ikea.
And as I was waiting for the jet plane to fly on to its runway, I sipped my coffee and daydreamed about what I could do to tea towels with my excess fabric.
I think they'd turn out like etsy's pam.wares's collection

and if I wanted to get back into embroidery work I could create a set of days of the week tea towels. I especially love the Sunbonnet Sue style from the 1930s and 1940s. The Navoo.quiltco has a PDF of her available on etsy. Dream dream dream, all I have to do is dreeee-eam.

I've never appliqued anything. And I think I could learn and do applique veggies. One per towel could be a fun project. I like the veggie applique inspiration from sarah.scher.f on etsy. These are sweet, cute veggies. I like mooey much.

Then I got to thinking about a green and white set. Why stop at broccoli? And I could embroider the major greens out there in applique abstract. Kale, Bok Choy, Spinach, Parsley, Collard greens, Romaine lettuce, and Dandelion greens. Now that could be fun. It could also be a lot of work. Well, it was a nice daydream.

Call them what you want: tea towels, hand towels or dish towels, but I love having them around. And I love the idea of a crisp, clean, wacky, fun, new one each day. My kitchen in my someday life is all about girly towels. Creative ideas about ikea towels, warm sunny windows and daydreams are good company when waiting for a flight to arrive.

Anglo Saxon Literature, Beowulf and Grundtal

2009-10-28T03:26:00.006-05:00

This summer I pet sat and house sat in a house whose kitchen was small. Their use of Ikea genius products in the Grundtal line was spot on. A bar on the wall holds tools & utensils on S hooks and nifty accessories take countertop clutter and put it on display. And in two deep hanging cups grew fresh herbs. Classy, clean, functional and I dig it.

Grundtal, you sound like Grendel in the ancient Anglo Saxon tale of Beowulf. In the tale of swashbuckling, the heroics of the courageous fighter Beowulf are only great because of his worthy monster of an opponent. Grendel suffers a tragic end. Grendel's large limb is left hanging in the Great Hall for all to admire after his demise.

I can't help but think that somewhere in the universal language of all things near the North Sea, Grundtal is a modern day cousin of the ancient Grendel. Grundtal is the Ikea like of hanging things on kitchen walls for all to admire.

In my someday life, I BeckyBeowulf will have Grundtal parts in my kitchen.
On an Ikea Conquest, to the winner go the spoils!

Photo credit: Beowulf shack is from spy.sgrandson & individ items from Ikea website and spicerack in use from tann.ie and the European showroom wall display is from van.houng, both from flickr. All images are their own and are used for educational purposes only.

I heart Ikea glass jars

2009-10-28T03:01:00.005-05:00

While waiting to pick up a friend at the Mlps airport yesterday I waited for her delayed flight in the comfort of the nearby IKEA.
I heart Ikea.
And in their cafe, sipping on my coffee in my Swedish designed white mug enjoying my veggie wrap I watched little kids in the kid corral area. They had Nickelodeon on the tv, orange fuzzy circle rugs, a wooden rocking chair, kid sized tables and chairs, a wooden abacus, a wooden track for cars and a stuffed green alligator left behind by a kid who left with his mum soon after I sat down. What's not to love about a kid corral like that?

Ikea, if you walk thru the showroom, is visually overstimulating, exhausting to walk thru and as disorienting as a Vegas casino floor. Even if you have a map and know what area you want to look at your eyes throb over the abundant colors and designs and room mock ups by the time you get to your destination.
My destination was the cafe and a catalog.
That I can handle.
So I investing in daydreaming about my Someday Life and how I can creatively incorporate dreamy fun stuff from Ikea in my home.

Kitchen. Turns out you can design your kitchen on the ikea webpage. Woah.

But in my happy little raw kitchen I want glass jars.
And I'm smitten with the unique Fovar jar ($2.99 ea)

And the Slom series jars ($2.99 ea)

and the dreamy Proper series. Each looks like a science class Beaker with a fitted circular lid. ($4.99 ea)

Who needs tupperware when you can have glass jars as food storage?
Ikea, I love you for your glass jars. (*sigh*)

All phots are from the ikea.com site and shown for educational purposes and as reminder what I'm going to ask for when I have my I'm Not Getting Married but have a new Apartment and that makes me Special enough for a Shower- Shower.

Ben, You are my new video hero

2009-10-25T00:28:00.003-05:00

Best Inspirational 3 Minutes of My Day Award goes to:
"The Treadmill Video" as rechoreographed by Granbury HS (a song by OkGo)

And and linked from filmmaker Ben's YouTube Channel, a video documentary that speaks volumes without saying a word. THIS is what great students can accomplish, I just wish more teachers 1) Recognized what is happening here and 2)Encouraged this higher level of learning instead of the ineffective 1909 model we still follow.

Back it Up and Breakfast

2009-10-24T10:25:00.003-05:00

Back It Up
Yesterday Blogger crashed.
Only two days ago a friend of mine told us her computer crashed and she didn't remember the last time she did a big document/picture/video archive day.

S0 today I am reminded how fragile we are in this little interwebs community.
This is my favorite rendition of How Fragile We Are from the Opening Ceremony in Utah in 2002. I get chills.

And Breakfast. I can't even think of eating eggs anymore. But what could I make that is raw that could be protien heavy like eggs and still tasty.
Ani Phyo to the rescue.

I don't trust pedometers anymore

2009-10-23T08:32:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I was working with Elem kids, and we even went outside to work on tree journals. PLUS I went for a walk on my own afterwards.

And the pedometer number was LESS than yesterday.
Pedometer you and I aren't friends.
I don't trust Pedometers... I trust Miles.

10,000 steps is 5 miles.
Great, I can make that happen. That's far more tangible than this steps system.

Today's Mission: 5 miles.
Bring it.

Only 2,000 steps?

2009-10-22T15:33:00.002-05:00

Yesterday step count on the pedometer: about 2700.
Actual steps for a virtual challenge.
Actual socks, shoes and pavement.

10,000 is gonna require a BIG life change to make that happen.
I could make 10,000 in 5 days... but I thought I'd walked about 5,000.
Oh brother, I am WAY off.

Tomorrow is another day.
Right now my calves are sore and tough & hard (from all that lactic acid?)

10,000 steps a day.
How am I gonna do this??

I'm gonna move it move it. I like to move it move it.

I still have to bake

2009-10-21T18:41:00.002-05:00

I admit that financially I'm surviving on scrounged foods (not digging in dumpsters, no, no way). There's plenty of excess carbs in the house here that have been offered to me. Beggars can't be choosers.

Hence therefore again reinforcing everytime I am hungry why I need a job with a respectable income and my own kitchen... and why I need, miss, & crave veggies and fruits.

I still have to bake.
Baking has always been a cheap form of therapy.
Its like laundry and doing dishes by hand.
When I am on a roll I can do a load of laundry (wash and dry), bake something, do those dishes by hand and get back to the dryer.
What's the appeal to these activities when I am stressed?
Instant gratification.
So much of my life is effort but I don't always get instant results.
And so much of my life feels (atleast right now) like I am powerless.

Today I needed to bake again.
And I will not eat either loaf of beautiful golden brown banana bread.
Not even a slice.
I am gifting them.
Its the only way.

I wonder if I will have flour and sugar in my own kitchen when I have my own place... Raw people eschew such vile dangerous unhealthiness. I know. But I like to bake.
And I like baking for others who do not believe what I believe about sugar and flour. They don't like to hear me talk about HFCS and my venting about food dyes and additives.
I don't want to lose these friends.
So I figure my baking therapy serves me, warms the kitchen on a dark grey, cold windy day, and makes others happy when they get "yummy baked treats".

Is gifting banana bread so bad?

I'm on a hunt for Fermentation Foods Festivals...

2009-10-21T16:47:00.003-05:00

New Ulm is close-by. They are home to a brewery and a winery and yes are strong supporters of the Oktoberfest tradition. Note: The Oktoberfests are not city wide celebrations. Hardly. You could be in the town the whole weekend of Oktoberfest and never know it was happening because they limit most of the festivities to two hotels and oh yeah the Lutheran Church Polka service on Sunday morning.

I was talking with a lady there about New Ulm's "Heart of New Ulm" health initiative. And I said "Y'all need to create a Fermented Foods Festival. Sheesh the Germans are all about Kraut, Pickles and the like. Make it a big deal, have other health foodie talks, hands on classes. Incorporate how to grow some of your own produce, because that's a BIG draw too. Yeah, create a Fermented Foods Festival."

They looked at me like I was crazy.
And had that scared look in my eye that I just may be a genius.
It is a fine line I walk these days.

So I'm on the look out and researching what kinds of Fermented Foods Festivals and classes are out there. If I get my act together, sheesh I'll step up and see what I can do. Why? I want to learn this stuff, and I don't want to read a book. I learn best when it is hands on and in community. A Festival can do this. And a festival is so much more fun than a conference.

In late August Portland Oregon hosted one. It was a free day. But from the sounds of it you could talk about fermented foods from dairy/yogurt to breads to pickles and kraut. And it was about local people bringing their creations and talking about them and if you wanted to taste them, they had samples. Sounds like the 4-H Barn at the State Fair kind of event! It was also free!!

A few short weeks ago West Chester, PA had an Fermented Foods Festival. It was only 4 hours long at a Farmer's Market, but it happened!

But I envision a Festival much like the Freestone Fermentation Festival, a destination event full of classes and speakers! They hosted new musicians every hour. They had exhibitors. There was a garden and "Master Fermenters of every kind will gather to share their wisdom. See exhibits on how fermentation works. Sample breads, cheeses, miso, pickles, sauerkraut, natto and kombucha. Learn about making fermented foods and drinks in hands-on classes which will reveal many aspects of fermentation and how our diverse participants make it work for them. Feel fermentation at work by dipping your feet into a cedar enzyme bath" according to the Event description at the Freestone Fermentation Festival site.

Their speakers and their class schedule I could use as a template.
Wow... I think I may be on to something here.

Find Fermented Foods Festivals: Check
Find surprising amount of inspiration in addition to information: Check

You teach best what you most need to learn.
~Richard Bach

Happy Food News of the Day

2009-10-21T11:32:00.003-05:00

San Francisco is already a progressive city. And I love now they are progressive about food waste and composting. Mandatory composting via food recycling.
San Franciscans have embraced the new city law so well that many places got started separating food waste from other waste leagues before the mandatory start date!

The Organics Annex will be the compostable food "Green Bin" dumping ground. Special trucks will do free curbside pick up. And you can order a large or extra large yard waste green bins or a 2 pound little kitchen fruits & veggie refuse box.

They will accept all rotting veggie/fruit greens, coffee grounds, fruit/veg refuse and event chicken bones. If it is food & compostable, they'll accept it. They encourage throwing rotten tomatoes. [Ha ha ha haaaaa haaaa]

Here are parts of the NPR article written by David Gorn.

"Tossing food scraps in your garbage can is a crime — at least in San Francisco.

A brand-new city law requires residents to discard food waste in a separate bin.

It's the first program of its kind in the nation, and so far, it's a mandate San Franciscans seem to relish. In fact, many residents and landlords began implementing the law before it took effect, using their city-provided food recycling bins to separate waste.

Cutting Down On (Stinky) Refuse

Garbage officials in the city have been stunned and heartened by the tons and tons of food waste that is already streaming in.

After picking up curbside food scraps, garbage trucks head to the south of the city to the Organics Annex, the heart of the citywide food waste operation.

Jared Blumenfeld, the city's environmental officer, says the Organic Annex is already processing about half of the city's food waste, which is more than 500 tons per day.

"You can see a lot of lettuce, tomatoes, old apples, rotten cabbages," Blumenfeld says. "You get a kind of vivid picture here of what's being thrown away."

Composting your food scraps is probably the single most effective thing you can do as a citizen in the United States today.

- Jared Blumenfeld, city environmental officer for San Francisco
San Francisco turns all of that food refuse into compost, which is then sold to Bay Area farms and vineyards. The program is the latest effort in one of the most aggressive recycling campaigns in the nation. San Francisco currently keeps 72 percent of its garbage stream out of the landfill by recycling cans, bottles, construction material and cooking oil. Blumenfeld says that even though the program officially launches Wednesday, he's not surprised by how many people are already fully participating.

'Not Rocket Science'

"We hear a lot about climate change, and what we can do and should do, and what's happening in Congress," Blumenfeld says. "But people want to know what they can, practically, do every single day, and composting your food scraps is probably the single most effective thing you can do as a citizen in the United States today."

Blumenfeld says composting is simpler than it may seem.

"This is not rocket science," he says. "This is putting some food scraps into a different pile and then turning it into compost. If we can't do that, then I really worry about our ability to do some of those more complex things," as found on the NPR website.

The Other Blog: 10,000 steps

2009-10-20T16:10:00.004-05:00

I am feeling marooned in Mankato.
So I've taken my other blog and started getting into talking about why this town needs to STEP UP with quality of life events, the lack of 5K and fitness events cutlure here, and how I'm on a mission to

Walk 10,000 steps each day
and
No matter the wretched weather (and there is likely to be many many of these days this fall and winter)
I will visit a list of city parks and city trails
in hopes that I find something to redeem this town while I'm here and on a quest to get healthy.

I can't even find mileage #s for the two malls (Mall walking clubs? Can't find any of those either) in town. Can I find a running club? Yep, but its exclusive in its membership and has zero events. Fine, be that way.

This town claims to be doing great things.
Aside from lots of places to shop... I keep looking for what those great things are.
Follow me on that quest here at my other blog.

In The spirit of The Biggest Loser...

2009-10-19T13:40:00.002-05:00

I'm not watching that show anymore. Urrrrgh so much about it frustrates me. It isn't inspiring anymore.
So this fall I've undertaken a few challenges of my own.

I've joined "Raw Food Rehab" a new Ning Social Network group. Oh my stars! I love it! Its 11 weeks. I even got to design my own suite at the Mansion. How sweet.
And in "The Exercise Room" I created a challenge for others -- Show.Me.Your.Treadmill. And hope the discussion will morph into a "My Extreme.Home.Gym. Makeover" for others like me. {For me it would be getting my own place and actually having a place to set up my life and my exer equiptment #:-D

In that discussion room I'm also undertaking the 10,000 steps a day challenge. And well I really need to step it up.

Its getting cold. Its getting windy. Its gonna get colder, windier, wetter. I know that and expect that. But I've Decided to Start an Ugly.Hat.Walking.Club. And while celebrating ugly hats, I am going to organize walks-no-matter-the-weather in different parks (some parks are big with trails, others smaller so we'll just walk the perimeter). And I am gonna try to see if I can organize a weekly 5K.

How much have I lost my mind? I'm gonna get word out to the local gyms, the faith groups, talk to a few personal trainers in the area and others and see what happens with this.

I hate my living situation and maybe this is the kick in the Karma I need to literally change up my Energy to get me a Job (and a new city). By then I can pass the reigns on to others.

The Ugly.Hat.Walking.Club is born.

Today getting coffee I was told I should create my own career as a Film Festival Creator. I've pondered that too. Maybe this planning walks and 5Ks will give me the confidence to do the Film Festival thing. Maybe I can find a way to make creating 5Ks every week a profitable PT job.
Anyone out there reading this know of anyone who does this?

To Boldly Go Where Others Have Gone Before, only This Time in an Ugly Hat!

Craftster? Who knew!? Raw California Rolls

2009-10-16T16:07:00.001-05:00

I have excess fabric that I am going to turn into projects. I'm all over craftster these days. Great stuff! Great site. Then I find that there is a how to video on the site to make the one thing I'd love to make and eat everyday for a month (or until I get really tired of it): CALIFORNIA ROLLS.
Craftster you make me happy.

Raw Food California Rolls recipe- Part 2

What does a Raw Foodie Do with Pumpkin

2009-10-13T09:19:00.003-05:00

I asked my two favorite Raw knowledge people AngelaStokesMonarch & KarenKnowler, about how Raw Foodies enjoy pumpkin.

Angela wrote me back out of her busy day to tell me about the raw food recipie hub called www.GoneRaw.com. While it is a site I can bookmark for later, it turned up no pumpkin recipies. It did tell me that Matthew Kenney has a raw pumpkin cheesecake recipie in one of his books.

Karen posted the Q on facebook and people chimed in with their favorite ways to eat raw pumpkin. Ask a Q get feedback. This social marketing thing is awesome when its an information tool instead of "doing my hair and watching the kids" kind of drivel.
As posted on FB:
--> pumpkin pudding: pumpkin, vanilla, dates, nutmeg, cinnamon all in the food processor....yum...and you can make a pie crust with almonds/dates/coconut and pour the pudding into crust and you have pumpkin pie!

--> I won't be able to stop thinking about pumpkin and avocado soup until I make some now! That pumpkin herb and nut loaf sound yumm

--> I make an awesome pumkin pie with cinnamon nutmeg agave sultanas and use a standard almond sunflower seed and date base.

--> Pumpkin recipes sound delish. We love sweet potato, either in a salad or pureed as a dip.

I'm suspecting next year I may want to experiment with pumpkin seed mylk and see how that tastes... and see if I can make a pumpkin and carrot flax cracker in my dehydrator. But that's a year away. For now I'm grateful to know that someday I can try my hand at fresh pumpkin pumpkin pies and fresh pumpkin soup. Raw pumpkin pies, that I'll save for next year too. Baby steps.

Ponderous... Updated "Tabla Rasa"

2009-10-12T16:27:00.003-05:00

What do you do when you don't like who you've become?

Ponderous, really ponderous.

Change... Yes. CHANGE. I am closer than I realize.
I've been chewing on this "Who Do I Want To Be with my one great and wild life?" for a while now, yes its true. Its part of the going raw journey. If what I have done in the past is not healthy (insert: food, job, living conditions, family, friends, relationships, money, anything that qualifies), then how do I set about changing?

I also see that just by asking the question above, I have spent TOO much time thinking about it all and not enacting enough CHANGE to make it happen. And yes, it all hinges on a job and a place to live.

Yesterday, I celebrated being tabla rasa.
It could have been a pity party. Too easy to slide into that.
Instead I celebrated being a blank slate. Talk about a powerful position to be in!

I read a chapter of a book yesterday that talked about looping. Looping is repeating the same patterns, regardless of place, getting the same results. For some people, looping is the comfort structure of their lives. It is their comfort zone and they don't think twice about it. For others, they realize that looping may not be serving their best interestest or looping is preventing them from getting what they need/want. Time for me to leave the loop behind.

Afterwards I get in the car to drive home an the U2 cong comes on and croons to me:
Don't you just love it when the radio sings to you about your life?
"I was unconscious, half asleep
The water is warm 'til you discover how deep
I wasn't jumping, for me it was a fall
It's a long way down to nothing at all

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it"

At the grocery store check out, the USA Today front page tells of people going through metamorphosis in these economic times out of necessity: people forced to get new job or turn hobbies into professions.

I too am jumping out of familiar looping, expecting to get unstuck from sticky moments and going thru metamorphosis. In a 2007 Washington Post article I have bookmarked I know it is possible to reinvent your life. I've done it before - University, each summer of my University years, Tour life.. and am looking forward to becoming more like... me. The universe is reminding me: Change is the only constant. Now get out there and make yourself happy.

Tabla Rasa.
A nice perspective. A nice place to be.

Found an edible pumpkin

2009-10-12T15:49:00.002-05:00

I have been searching across town for an edible pumpkin.
Not easy -- plenty of jackolantern pumpkins though!
But yes! I found one, and a friend told me this month's MarthaStewartMag has a recipie.
It shall be done.
I can cook it into soup....
Success shall be mine.

Do raw foodies eat pumpkin?

But how do you make it into pumpkin pie?

The mysteries continue.

Summer was Fired. Coping food: Green Tomatoes Bread?

2009-10-10T11:41:00.006-05:00

October is unpredictable.
Some years its hot, this year it is cold.

In 2007, a mere two years ago, it was toasty, sweltery hot outside. The Chicago marathon was called off mid run because so many runners were passing out from heat exhaustion. That never happens. Its a time of sunny days, going to apple farms and pumpkin patches and laughing as you watch kids zip through corn mazes. Very few buzzing bugs, so long after work walks are enjoyed and savored. Bike rides on trails for hours marvelling at the crisp breeze in your face, while your back and neck still feel so hot from the sun. Usually early October has plenty of "Perfect Days" Temps in the 60s, 70s even a day in the lower 80s every so often as summer winds down as gracefully as the leaves change color.

This year Summer was apparently another loss from the economic conditions. Summer must have been fired and had to vacate immediately, no explaination, no transition time.

Winter, always a grumpy seasonal worker and icy tennant, just plopped its baggage on our front step. Literally.
It snowed.
For two weeks it has been grey, cold, wet, and windy. The wind makes the cold even colder. But as Minnesotans we are always optimistic about weather. But this fall has been gnarly in a wicked not fun gnarly way.

When your growing season is cut so short, there are bound to be frustrations, and casualties.
Like having plenty of green tomatoes to contend with.

The Movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" offers the suggestion that perhaps they could be eaten in a batter and friend.

Here? Intra-recipie circles have been sharing this one giddy school kids.
It is a dessert bread, made with cut up green tomatoes.
So for three hours I was Chef Bee, there to cut the dozens of green tomatoes into eeeedie-bity pieces, then put most into freezer bags and stocked their freezer.

Today they made the bread -- and I tried it! It is very much a dessert bread! So sweet! How? Green Tomatoes? Well if you've ever had zuchinni bread, then you understand that the zuchinni provides a little body to the bread, but mostly moisture when it cooks. Zuchinni bread is sooo moist! And now I can tell you green tomatoes bread is moist too!

And then I asked to see the Green Tomatoes Bread recipie.
-->Two cups of green tomatoes --> Two cups of Sugar --->Cloves & Cinnamon among others makes two loaves. Way to go Green Tomatoes.
You learn something new every day.

While I expect the snow to melt (wow - it will get to be about 35 degrees today, warm enough to melt it, I am still not emotionally prepared to deal with being robbed of an Autumn. Now I have to go buy a new ice scraper for my car and find and wash all my sweaters, turtlenecks, hats, scarves and mittens. Temps this week are expected to stay between 30 - 35 degrees below normal, translation: near freezing all week. Uffdah! Winter is here early. I so want to move south and not have to deal with all the trappings of winter. C'mon job hunt! Take me to the southern regions of the states before it is too soon!

photo credit greenmaters from cooking.with.michelle. blog and bread on rack from Suzanne.R on flikr

Camera access is down

2009-10-07T04:27:00.003-05:00

I have more picture posts but they are currently trapped in my laptop. My wall converter is kaput and I will be replacing it as soon as $fundage$ becomes available. Meanwhile I'm still out and about taking pictures. And fall colors, even in wretchedly cold, grey, windy conditions make for lovely pictures.

Meanwhile, in the foodie world, the crisp of fall affords the decadence of fresh apples. I am in love with HoneyCrisp. They are THE Minnesota Apple in my opinion. I love them! And I love apples picked at an orchard. None of the "fresh off a truck" transport time. With grey, cold, windy, rainy, cloudy weather for the last week (and forecast for another week - ugh!) I'm in no hurry to go out apple pickin'. But it makes me grateful for Johnny Appleseed and the pioneers of yore who went out each day to make the orchards happen. And I am grateful for the small family farms that fight to stay in business with their orchards and harvest gardens.

And this week I am getting back in my groove of snacking on bee pollen and applesauce. You don't even taste the bee pollen, but I like knowing it is in there! More on MN Bee Pollen here.

Tis the season for pumpkin pie.
I've done the research. And I am in complete awe of how our ancestors (and wise organic chefs of today) transform pumpkins into pumpkin pie. I've read all sorts of stuff about how to cook a pumpkin. Its a complete mystery to me. I don't have a kitchen to experiment in as hoped. I wanted to get pumpkins (there are cooking/pie pumpkins and then there are jackolantern pumpkins) and learn how to tell the two apart. I also want that whole childhood nostalgia experience of carving a jackolantern.
But for today, as I hunger to smell the pumpkin and spice happiness, I can use the kitchen I'm in for pie baking. And so, as a lazy American, I once again can justify using canned pumpkin. The learning curve will have to wait another year.

Happy Autumn!

What Not = #42

2009-10-04T02:30:00.005-05:00

42. Wooden Gothic Whatnot vintage shelving unit. This link takes you to pics of exactly what mine looks like. I had no idea it would sell for that much at an antique store!

Going back to the 1850s and popular in Victoria's reign both in the westwardly expanding States and in the UK, people crafted beautiful What Not shelves, often to make use of corner space. Many were ornate and are in the "gothic" revival style. This one has bobbin turned support legs.

The whatnot (official name, no kidding) apparently took its name from what they held. For the first time in history people had leisure time to collect and purchase nicknacks. And so the whatnots were displayed on whatnot shelving. The victorians invented the leisure & pleasure lifestyle. No wonder they put so much time and detail into little shelves like these.
photocredit from marketplace .fine living. com

Train Cases = #38 & #39

2009-10-04T02:25:00.004-05:00

38. 1960s Grey Train Case (A) my portable bathroom storage & medicine chest-- I don't like using drugs but the coughing/sneezing/phlegm OTC stuff all lives in one little place with my castille soaps, tea tree and peppermint and lavender essential oils, razors, bandaids, neosporin, and the like.

39. 1960s Blue Train Case (B) home to my other little things like the uno make up bag (never wear make up, but I have the bag in case I ever do stage shows again or need to wear make up), my eye pillows, handbeaded purse with matching jewelry set, and little tins with earring collection. Room for more stuff, but its like the other half of a bathroom collection.

I am always on the look out for this line of traincases in amazing condition. Both of mine were like $1.99 at different thrift stores.

photocredits via http://centuryfinds @wordpress

Stuff I love + 100 Things

2009-10-04T01:31:00.007-05:00

Part of my 100 Things
You can see how, for now, things are grouped into not an itemized list (maybe someday after I live in a place for a spell) but as how they are transported. Total result of living out of my van since 2004. I think in terms of boxes, cases, bins and bags and suitcases full of stuff. There's also a peek into the furniture I keep.

...

12. Treadmill
13. Rebounder (aka mini trampoline)
14. The Bean and Exer Ball. (both deflated just now)
15. Pink Yoga mat with travel bag
...

32. Laptop
33. Printer + one liquor box of paper, photo paper, desk contents (tape dispenser, glue sticks, etc)
34. Scanner (lives in a plastic milk crate with some bigger photo albums)
35. Digital Camera
36. One plastic bin full of vintage green glassware. Missmatched mix of plates, mugs, bowls and serving plates. All circa early 1970s. I love that they are glass. They look so awesome on my 37. White table cloth with matching napkins

40. Mint color Esprit Bag (remember those?!) that holds all my Laughter Yoga and Humor is good for you Binders/Books.
41. Health Set: Made all by myself tote bag with all my Raw Food Books, John "The Penguin" Bingham marathon walking/running inspiration books, my Travel guide of NZ (also for inspiration) and a handful of exercise journals.

43. 44. 45. & 46. All my Cds and DVDs are in 4 cd organizers. I ditched all the CD&DVD jewel cases and their literature. Much downsizing happened when itunes came into my life. Next step, back up all itunes music and get a BIG trapper keeper dealie-oh with CD pages. I cannot yet count each movie or music cd as its own entity. Maybe someday I can just let go of them all. For me, they are comforting background noise. I can't say I have really WATCHED any of my collection in years.

47. 1940s Desk. It has sentimental value, but also the perfect desk. Really well made, lightweight (I can move it myself with ease) and has 7 drawers. Perfect.
48. 1940s Bed Headboard with wood carvings-- family heirloom. I love it. If I don't use it in my bedroom I expect to use it in the living room somehow.
49. Wooden sled with metal runners. I expect to use it as a coffee table in wherever I live.
50. Mexican Yarn Doll. Gift from my aunt when I was 5. It hung on my bedroom wall for all of my childhood. I have seen my aunt like 7x in my life. So its a portkey to her, to childhood memories and amazingly it has been my inspiration to travel internationally.

51. 1. Cold Winter Set: travels and lives in closet as one thing) Winter jacket with hood, 2 scarves, 2 sets stretchy gloves, one pr cream colored knit acrylic gloves and one pr Winona Knits mittens (inside is cotton, outside is wool, I just love them).