I am undergoing several experiments at the moment.
1) Exercise.
Anyone who's known me for a while knows that I am notoriously un-athletic, but, as most do, I have a desire to be in shape. I'm just lazy and have hip problems and don't have proper shoes and don't have time and don't have blah blah blah any number of excuses. I've decided that June is going to be the month when I make an effort to jog or walk every day. I'm starting off slow - just a mile a day for the first week until I get used to it. I got lost on my loop yesterday and ended up going almost 3 miles. I am extremely sore today.
2) Oil cleansing method - OCM.
I have never had problem skin, and I'm not a big fan of talking about beauty procedures in public forums (besides hair dying... that's different!), but I read something online recently about the Oil Cleansing Method for face washing and I was intrigued.
Here are the steps:
Make a mixture of castor oil, extra virgin olive oil, and maybe some other oils/essential oils. My mixture is 50% castor oil, 25% extra virgin olive oil, and 25% grapeseed oil, with some tea tree oil added.
Rub this mixture on your face.
Get a washcloth wet with hot water and lay it on your face, let it cool to room temperature.
Rub in the oil again.
Washcloth steam again. (repeat these last two steps as many times as you want)
Get washcloth wet one last time and gently wipe away all excess oil.
Rinse face with cold water to close pores.
You're supposed to do this anywhere from twice a day to a few times a week. I'm going to try it every evening and see what happens. Supposedly it's lifechanging or something? Also, it's cheaper than facewash, more gentle, and way greener.
3) Sourdough.
I still haven't made my old bread recipe since my sad experience a few months ago. Heidi, my sister-in-la-la (I challenge you to tell me a better term for your sweetie's sibling's sweetie), gave me some sourdough starter last week at Folklife and I tried it out today. I used the Tassajara recipe and it was ok, but it came out really, really dense and I was expecting something a little... fluffier.
Today is day 2 of both OCM and excercise. I'm feeling good. My skin feels excellent and my legs are hella sore.
I've decided I want to post more recipes I use or make up here. Let's see how that goes.
Also, I can't stop watching West Wing. I can't believe I never watched it before now.
Experiments. Sunday, May 31, 2009
toothpastefordinner.com
tee hee.
Folklife was fun. Now I am exceedingly tired and not desirous of living a real life.
Live music! Thursday, May 21, 2009
John Vanderslice show tonight! I got to preview his new album (which came out on Tuesday) and it's fantastic. I only really know two of his other albums, but all the reviews I've read say it's his best yet and I wouldn't doubt it. Also, there are supposedly going to be copies of Moon Colony Bloodbath (the EP he recorded with the Mountain Goats earlier this year) available and I'm hella excited for that too.
And Folklife is this weekend! We went the year before last, when Rob was still living in Port Townsend and I was in Portland, working at Lewis and Clark for the summer. The festival is in downtown Seattle and runs Friday through Monday of Memorial Day weekend. I got up to Dev's house Friday night, and Rob had work and was supposed to join us Saturday. He even requested work off. And then they didn't honor his request because they were lame, and he didn't think he could drive to Seattle after working a full shift... so I took the ferry to Port Townsend, picked up Rob at 11pm, and took the ferry/drove back to Dev's. We didn't get to go last year because I got really sick at the last minute and was just miserable. So this year we're going for reals and I'm excited and I haven't been to Seattle in forever.
I made the best lentil chard soup EVER the other night. Absolutely delicious. I followed this recipe and added some cumin and pepper (and obviously used veggie stock instead of chicken stock).
Catch-all. Tuesday, May 12, 2009
I've been sick since last Thursday. That was five days ago. What is up with this cold? Just let me gooo! I guess five days is actually a pretty standard length for a cold, I'm just ready for it to be over.
I've been exceedingly lazy and out of my element since con. I've had a hard time finding the energy to do my usual activities and have had the need to push myself back into them. Make an awesome dinner, even though I'd rather go out. Garden, even though I don't feel like it. Clean, even though I'd rather just sit on my butt. I'd been getting back into it slowly, and then I got sick, which threw a total monkey wrench into the machinery. Who wants to cook when they're coughing and sniffling all up in there? And we've gone back to buying Dave's Killer Bread. I messed up the baking time the last time I made bread and it turned out awful and underdone. I haven't made bread since then. I really just need to push myself back into it, and I thought this would be the week I would do it. We'll see. It might have to be next week.
Part of the problem is that I've lost my good bread baking window. I've been helping out at an urban farm in Sellwood that has work parties Wednesdays and Fridays from 9-1pm, and I've had a regular tutoring gig Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:30pm. And I have class Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-4pm (but because of the bus schedule, it's more like 12-4:30pm). Baking bread takes a really big window - something like 5-7 hours, but I've never timed it. The time I made the awful bread, I told myself I could do it on a Wednesday between garden and tutoring. I was wrong :(. And I'm rarely in the mood to do it Mondays or Fridays. Luckily now that the big work is done at the farm, we're only going to have work parties on Fridays from now on. There's 3 of us regulars, plus the guy who's spearheading, and just not enough to do to meet twice a week. So perhaps Wednesday will be bread day from here on out.
And then, of course, everything will change as soon as school lets out.
It's been really eerie seeing all the "woo I'm graduated!" posts on Facebook from my friends a year younger than me at LC. Did I really graduate a year ago? Well, no, I didn't. I walked a year ago. I finished my classes at the end of June last year, and my diploma date is August 31st, 2008. But that whirlwind of graduation activity and parties and goodbyes to friends and moving in with Rob and Peej - that was a year ago. Wow.
On another, craftier note, I've been working on a lace crochet hat for the last month and a half. I wanted a light cotton hat I could wear when I wasn't ready to shower, but my hair was greasy enough for me to be self conscious*. At first I worked on the hat feverishly. Then sporadically. Then sluggishly. Luckily, getting sick (and discovering the HBO series 'Big Love') kicked me back into overdrive and I finally had the will to finish the project through to the end. And here is the final product! I'm particularly pleased with how the top turned out.
(sidenote: holy crap my hair is long! No one ever notices because I almost always wear it in a ponytail - but really, when was the last time I was able to wear my hair in a ponytail??)
And finally - Beaverton Farmer's Market has started again! My life is complete!
*I've been showering every 4-5 days. Partially to conserve water, partially because the less you clean yourself, the less you need to be cleaned. As I pointed out the last time I did this, it's like the chapstick cycle. The more you use, the more you need.
