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---------->Do it from scratch<----------
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---------->Do it from scratch<----------
Falling into place. Thursday, August 6, 2009
Humph. It's been a while. Maybe I should just give up on trying to regularly update.
I think the biggest reason I haven't been updating is that I've been really freaking busy the last few weeks, and before that I was in Boston for a week for cousin's wedding/ family reunion. And before that I was preparing for Boston, and blah blah blah.
Why the busyness? I'm kind of hella employed, but almost completely by accident. It's not like I went out an submitted applications and begged corporations for a job, I just kept saying yes to small jobs that quite rapidly added up to something significant. I've been tutoring for ages now, but it's slowed down for the summer due to summer camps, conflicting schedules, vacations, kids needing a break from math for serious. Now that the beginning of school is in sight, I've picked up a couple more clients and suddenly my goal of having 3-4 hours/clients of tutoring a week isn't that unreachable any more.
Then about a month ago I put up an ad on Craigslist advertising myself as an artist/artistan assistant, hoping I could re-live the glory days of my job senior year of high school. I got a couple of not-so-serious responses (some guy asked me if I was single, ew, then said "if not, I have some piece work you could do". No.) and a response from a professional and established fine-artist who relocated to Portland a few years ago and was looking for a studio assistant. And so there I was. I've been working for him for a few weeks now and it's working out great. So that's another 10 hours/week, give or take.
Then there's our friend from church. The Hillsboro church, which we only attended for a few months and then decided it wasn't for us. We kept running into eachother coming to or from Fred Meyer, since she lives right around the corner from us. One of those times she asked if I'd be interested in helping her organize her photos (50 years of photos!!), and that she'd absolutely pay me because it's going to be a big job. I said yes, and suddenly that's under 5-7 hours a week. And this 50 years of photos to be artfully put into albums so... it's kind of a continuing thing.
Just a couple of weeks ago I felt unemployed and extremely scared of my rapidly diminishing savings (Summer tutoring has brought it barely more than $200/month, which is definitely not enough to cover rent, utilities and student loan bills). But suddenly it's not so bad. And even if any of these opportunities fall through (if the artist can't continue to pay me, if we finish the photo project early, if one of my tutoring clients stops calling) I've seen just how easy it is (finally) to make ends meet through several small jobs. I'm only working about 20 hours a week, and I'm not going to say how much any of these particular jobs are paying, but let me say that it's absolutely enough.
But not only am I just employed now, we're also moving! We're escaping the suburbs, sprawl, strip malls and Starbucks, finally. We found an apartment in close-in southeast Portland, in the vicinity of Hawthorn and Belmont. The rent is double what we're paying now (but keep in mind we're not paying much right now), but we'll be close to EVERYTHING. Within a mile and a half of our apartment there is a farmer's market, downtown, Hawthorne, Belmont, a co-op, a New Seasons, a library, a park, excellent restaurants and food carts, and more pubs and coffee shops than you can shake a hipster at.
We drew a rectangle on the east side of Portland, representing where we would like to live. The western edge was at 12th and the eastern edge at 40th. The northern edge was Burnside and the southern edge was Division. This rectangle (the magic rectangle, as our future landlord calls it) is teeming with life and people our age. It's not up and coming like Albina or whatever, and it's not new and trendy and expensive like the Pearl or NW 23rd. And it's definitely not far away from everything like Sellwood or St Johns. It's just... there. Right in the middle of everything. Our apartment is situated firmly in the middle of that rectangle.
The rent is definitely reasonable for it's location, the apartment is cute and not too small. For the rent, it's actually pretty big. It's only one bedroom, but it has a walk-in closet in the hallway that can be Rob's music room, and lots of room in the living room for me to have my art-crap. Basically, it's way too perfect. The oven's got to be shitty, or the management will be overbearing or something. Whatever the un-perfect-ness is, I hope it's not too bad. We get the place a week from tomorrow and have until the end of August to move in, thanks to overlapping leases.
EVERYTHING IS FALLING INTO PLACE AND I ALMOST DIDN'T SEE IT COMING!
Experiments part 2. Saturday, June 27, 2009
Experiments update:
I'm not sure if anyone could have guessed, but I sort of gave up on jogging. My hip kept giving me grief, and then I got out of the habit for a couple days and then... well, that was a month ago. We'll see what happens in the future, but for now... yeah. Lazy butt.
Sourdough also didn't go anywhere, but I finally managed to bake bread this last Tuesday (Tassajara basic bread recipe with half wheat/half white flour) and it turned out as good as it did in my bread-baking heyday when I was making bread every 10 or so days.
Still doing OCM, not quite daily, (more like every fourth daily?) and my skin seems to be enjoying it.
Business Saturday, June 13, 2009
http://www.7printciples.com
Same stuff, new and easier to remember address!
Vegan Tom Kha Mushroom Soup Friday, June 5, 2009
6 cups veggie stock (I use the Veggie Better Than Bouillon goop. It comes in a little jar in the soup aisle at Freddie's)
2 cans coconut milk
2 whole stalks of lemon grass, cut into 1/2 inch pieces with bottom, top and outer layer removed
1 medium galangal root (cut into about 12 slices)
6 kaffir lime leaves, hand torn
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 medium onion, cut into long, thin pieces
4 spicy Thai chilies (also have seen them called Birdseye chilies?), cut into easy to find chunks
2 tomatoes, cut into big chunks
Juice of 2 limes
1 tsp brown sugar
6 or so stalks of cilantro, hand torn
Whole lot of crimini mushrooms, quartered (maybe 4 cups all cut up?)
~1 tsp chili paste
Boil veggie stock, then add lemon grass and galangal root. Let boil while you prepare other ingredients, then add lime leaves, chilies and garlic. Add mushrooms and onions, then after about 5 more minutes add the coconut milk, lime juice, brown sugar, chili paste. Let simmer until all the flavors are nicely mingling, like pretty ladies at a cocktail party. About 10 minutes before serving add the tomatoes and cilantro and let cook a little bit longer. Serve hot, and don't eat the lemon grass or galangal root - think of them as bay leaves!
Pretty much one of the tastiest things to ever come out of my kitchen. Totally vegan, and tastes as good or better than restaurant variety Tom Kha.
Experiments. Sunday, May 31, 2009
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.
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??)In other news, Cubby has been sleeping in a tiny box. It's extremely cute.
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.
The ground is so proud just to hold us up. Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wow, where have I been the last several weeks?
Well, there was preparation for con, and then there was con. And then there was recovery from con.
I didn't talk so much about con because I wasn't extremely involved in the planning. I was the site coordinator, which really just involved securing the reservation and talking to Yaney, the Corvallis church's secretary. Yes, we had a con at the Corvallis church, which is why I am site coordinator. I was also t-shirt bitch, as per usual (or bandana bitch, as the case may be) and the chaplain. The two weeks before con were mostly filled with bandana-ing: Cutting the bandanas to size, ironing, sewing the edges, designing the logo, learning the art of photo-emulsion, making the screen (three times), learning how to screen print, doing the actual screen printing, and finally heat treating the finished product. And now I know how to screen print, from beginning to end! The other thing I really got into the week before con was starting to plan a con-planning bible that thoroughly explains the process from beginning to end, contains con resources, and has stats on the last several cons. The youth have something like it, the YAs don't.
At con was interesting. It made me pleased as punch that everyone loved my home church so much, that's one thing I can say. I met some really wonderful people, saw some really amazing things happening, and felt the love of a wonderful community. But it turns out that being the site coordinator ended up entailing a lot more than I thought it would, and I wasn't able to chaplain as well or as much as I would have liked. I also didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked.
All in all, the weekend was a very positive experience. The biggest thing to come out of the conference was the decision to split from the district as an organization. During the planning we were advised by Tandi, the district program consultant, to not go through the district this con, and it was actually a pretty painless process. Considering the district hoops we didn't have to jump through this time, and the stress we didn't put on the district during the planning, I'd say it was a positive experience for everyone involved. During the con we had a business meeting that started with a video conference with Tandi so that she could answer questions. We took a vote on an official split from the district and it was unanimously approved by everyone at the meeting. Then we voted on interim position for the new organization (PNW UU Young Adults). PJ was voted treasurer (duh) and I was voted Con Coordinator (so basically I'm doing what I was already doing, I just have a title now). Sweetawesome! Once we had positions we got staff figured out for the next con. We already have the ENTIRE STAFF figured out SIX MONTHS OUT. Wow. Effing sweet.
Then we came home and then some con people joined us and then they left and then more con people came and now I think home is back to normal for now.
And then I caught up on sleep and I'm now finally resuming my normal life. I cleaned today, am going to see a capella later tonight. And then there's all this con coordinator hoo-ha to figure out.
Sigh, life is good.
Conconconconcon Friday, April 24, 2009
Holy crap con is today!
I haven't been posting much. I promise I will try harder.
Cheese, Gromit! Friday, April 17, 2009
I found the first 3 Wallace & Gromit movies at Goodwill. For a dollar.
Life. Is. Awesome.
New obsession. Wednesday, April 8, 2009
opbmusic.org
"At opbmusic.org, we play a lot of great music -- popular, indie, alternative, artists from Portland and the Northwest and more -- much of which you won't hear anywhere else."
It's just what I always wanted! I just can't believe I've been hearing about it since I've been listening to public radio, and I just TODAY checked it out. Another reason why I'm dumb..
Today was productive.
1. Took sick Rob to school so he didn't have to stand in the cold to wait for the bus just to take a test.
2. Gardened for 3 or so hours.
3. Baked bread (two too-squishy loaves that I fear are underdone...)
4. Discovery of obpmusic
5. Tutored for an hour
And now I'm going to make Pad Thai! And listen to a radio station with no commercials, made up of solely music I like... weird.
It was you who taught me how to write these kind of equations Friday, April 3, 2009
One more amazing album:
All Hail West Texas - the Mountain Goats
So. Amazing. I don't know how I haven't given it a chance before, as an entire album. Jeezie. Easily my favorite 'Goats album now.
I have come to the realization that I can no longer be unemployed by choice. I owe too much on my student loans, and I'm not getting enough tutoring hours. I would have to tutor at least 10 or 11 hours/week to really be enough. And right now I'm working 2-3. Sigh. I need to be more aggressive with my advertising, make some business cards... sigh. Anyways, I've joined the ranks looking for a "real" job. I applied at the JoAnn's in Cedar Hills, but I didn't have enough experience for the position (it was a management job). I also applied to a couple area McMenamins, pub staff and line cook positions. We'll see what happens. Because I'm actively seeking work, I'm going to try applying for unemployment again.
Also,
I altered a Cosby sweater I got at Goodwill. It didn't used to have a zipper. I like it way better now, and want to make a few more and try to sell them on Etsy.
And my craft table is an absolute mess right now. I am going to clean it up as soon as I'm done writing this.
Old songs from nowhere Thursday, April 2, 2009
This picture makes me absolutely, stupidly happy. (JD+JV=<3)
And JV has a new album, Romanian Names, coming out in May, around the time he's coming to Portland.
In other music news, I'm really enjoying these two albums:
How It Ends - DeVotchKa
We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. - Jason Mraz
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
the Funeral - Arcade Fire
(the last two are more rediscovery than anything else)
Other life news:
- I'm taking a class at PCC! It's in printmaking! It's about a printmaking medium I've never done before! Copper plate printing. The tools I had to buy for the class could do some serious damage in the wrong hands. The class meets twice a week for 3 hours, and the instructor seems pretty swell.
- I'm helping a guy in Sellwood start a permaculture urban farm on his property and it's really quite exciting! We've met once, and there's another work party tomorrow at 9am.
- I put up ads on CL advertising tutoring and garden help, only got one response to the tutoring ad, and no responses to the offer of garden help.
- Con is drawing near and I'm starting to panic just a little bit. I need to get my butt in gear as far as con clothing goes. We're just offering bandanas this time, but Elo and I want to make them by hand. Con is April 24th-26th. WHOA!
- I'm crocheting a sweet hat, using lace crochet. It's gonna be bitchin.
- Rob and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on March 31st! We went to Montage, got delicious foods and a bottle of wine, and shared the gooey butter cake for dessert (I tried to describe it to Rob before we ordered it - "It's like someone took cake batter and made it into a cake... but didn't bake it" - and we decided as we were eating it that that's pretty much a spot-on description). And then yesterday I made 2 year celebration pie: Peach/blackberry with a lattice crust. I've made better, but it's pretty delicious.
- Our old roommate, Tess, has moved out, and our lovely friend LeAnn has moved in with us! The four of us have all been friends for a long time, so I think it will work out really well. She has a cat, Mango, who has been getting along ok with Cubby so far.
CO like whoa! Wednesday, March 25, 2009
We just spent the last week in Colorado visiting family. First and foremost, visiting my sister and her partner (who I've never met) and their 7 month old son, my nephew Joaquin (who I've also never met). They all live just outside of Denver. In preparation for the trip I made some presents for Joaquin - a sheep made out of socks, and a crocheted blanket that I started intending to be a present for her baby shower last July. I finished it while we were staying there this last week... oops.
Other reasons for visiting were to see my friend Bruce, who was one of my best friends in Budapest, and to see Rob's Aunt Margaret and Uncle Brad who live just outside of Boulder. We got in Wednesday afternoon, hung out with Bruce in Denver on Saturday, and went to Boulder on Sunday.
First, allow me to introduce Joaquin. He likes bananas and when people say his name.
My sister and Joaquin
Saturday morning love
A close up of the sheep and the blanket
Me and Bruce! Holy crap it had been over a year!
Manuel, Alissa and Joaquin all dressed up for church on Sunday
Me, Joaquin and Rob right before Rob and I left for Boulder
Saturday morning love
A close up of the sheep and the blanket
Me and Bruce! Holy crap it had been over a year!
Manuel, Alissa and Joaquin all dressed up for church on Sunday
Me, Joaquin and Rob right before Rob and I left for Boulder
While we were in Boulder we went to the Celestial Seasonings factory. We got there too late to go on a tour, but we did get to wander around the gift shop, taste some samples, and get our picture taken with the Sleepytime Bear.
Margaret took us to the airport Tuesday morning and we were back at home by 1:15pm Tuesday afternoon.
Now we're back home for a couple days, then it's up to Port Townsend for the weekend to visit Rob's family. Classes start next Monday for Rob, and I'm taking a printmaking class that starts Tuesday.
Pi Day! Saturday, March 14, 2009
It's pi day!
Speaking of math humor, I don't know when this ran, but it's hilarious:
And speaking of hilarity, I give you this:
But now it's 1:56... pi time is just 3 minutes away! (3/14 1:59 omg what a dork)
New Friends Thursday, March 12, 2009
My back porch garden is growing!
And many thanks to mom, dad and Bethany Nursery for helping it grow!
I'm going to make a lot of pies in the near future. Here are some reasons:
- Pushing Daisies. If that show doesn't make you want to eat pie like it's going out of style, I don't know what will.
- Parents/Fruit. Mom came up on Tuesday to go to Art Media and brought me a cooler full of frozen blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, apples and pears courtesy of her and my dad.
- Pi(e) day! It's the day after tomorrow!
Bread is getting easier every time I make it. I tried using brown sugar instead of honey last time, but it came out extra yeasty/borderline alcoholic. I'm switching back to honey from now on.
I am ultra/extra/super thankful that the sun in shining again, but it's still cold like whoa. Sorry, but today's high of 54 just won't cut it. I won't be entirely happy until the day's low is 60.
Daylight Savings, etc Sunday, March 8, 2009
Ok so Daylight Savings Time totally snuck up on me. We had an alarm set for 9:15 this morning for church and after it went off a few times I wondered why I was still feeling so tired and hellish. And then Rob looked at the clock radio, which I never bother to do because I'm blind without my glasses, and it was 8:30. Daylight Savings Time, you bring nothing but sadness and pain to everyone you touch (the first day. After that, you're pretty sweet.) Whatever, I guess we're skipping church today.
Last night Rob and I were watching videos of cute cats on YouTube and we found one of cats talking to eachother. Cubby got really confused and agitated and kept sniffing the computer and trying to talk back to the cats in the video. It was really heartbreaking. He's probably lonely... but it's ok, he's getting a friend! Our roommate Tess is moving out in less than a month and LeAnn is moving in with her cat! There were worries at first because Cubby is a very dominant alpha male who had issues in his last home because there were two other cats. But LeAnn's cat is a very quiet, submissive female, and I think because of that, and because Cubby is the first cat and very obviously already the master of this apartment, they'll get along just fine.
We took a field trip to Uwajimaya on Friday and I have been cooking like whoa every since. Friday night I made sushi with edamame, bean buns and mochi. Last night I made Pad Thai from scratch, and other than the chewiness of the noodles and the lack of bean sprouts (Freddies ran out of bean sprouts. Who does that?) it tasted just like restaurant style Pad Thai. Yumm another way to save money...
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