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This morning I "won" Nano Wrimo!

I'd like to send a special thank you out to Ming and all my friends for putting up with me as I have been busy and making very short blog posts.

orange crush and plum

1.  acorn squash
2.  ahead on pretend novel and set to "win"
3.  banana bread
4.  binding zines
5.  birthday surprise

nails as painted by E

SLO bear box

park cabbage

us at the beach

no turkey

1.  vegetarian sushi
2.  potato leek soup
3.  laundry
4.  buying ingredients to use in recipes in order to not waste other ingredients
5.  oh, and Thanksgiving

really liked the tapestries

1.  satsumas
2.  green designs on purple nail polish
3.  baby goats
4.  rummy
5.  free museum in SLO

yesterday in a nutshell

1.  bestie visiting from Goleta
2.  park day
3.  Cafe Noir
4.  fish tank gazing
5.  pecan pie ice cream

holy, holy, holy

1.  behind-er on book
2.  more collards
3.  Oso Flaco walk to the beach
4.  sand dollars with barnacles
5.  sky

yesterday multi-memory

1.  beach walk: shells, rocks, volleyball, boogie board thoughts
2.  pier walk: pelicans, fish, blue crab, ruined viewin'
3.  AG farmers market: chips and tomatillo salsa, satsumas, bridge fear
4.  collard greens from home, chocolate pudding, pretend ice cream
5.  still behind on book but might catch up?

travel haps

1.  a good peace vigil at Livermore Labs yesterday 
2.  then a good drive to our destination
3.  stopped at a Denny's in Morgan Hill where Ming had a Hobbit-themed meal
4.  behind on pretend novel--oops!
5.  sweet potato breakfast

all punks got

Today we're going on a journey.  Yippee!  First we'll stop at Livermore Labs to peace vigil.  Then we'll continue south.  I should be doing the last minute packing. 

I have new zines out--functionally ill 17 and hat genius 4.   I ordered bookbinding thread in the mail and am having it delivered to the place we're going. 

Well, remember:  never drive faster than your angel can fly, buckle up because it makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car, and all we got is each other.

full day

1.  met word goal
2.  free breakfast
3.  photocopies in Elk Grove
4.  prepared mailing at church
5.  tea with Swami

That doesn't sound like much, does it?  But it was actually a lot.

oh and

The brownies solidified in the fridge!

http://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-gluten-free-black-bean-brownies/

vegan mac and cheese realized

What a perfect early lunch for a cold fall day.  I made it without the chipoltles and without the brussels sprouts (because the brussels sprouts were $6.69 a pound at the co-op).  It's a little too salty--too much miso?--but so good.  Thanks to P for the use of her blender.

vegan mac and cheese

Last night I soaked cashews for making this vegan recipe.

http://www.theppk.com/2013/06/chipotle-mac-cheese-with-roasted-brussel-sprouts/

raw brownies

We decided to make brownies, and we made them in muffin tins.  It was a gluten-free vegan recipe using black beans.  "Such a thing is doomed," you might be saying.  But the food blogger said it was so good.  And you couldn't taste the beans. 

We have a blender we'd never used that our friend P gave us when I wanted to make some fake cheese with cashews.  So we used that to blend up the beans.

To make a long story short, they were a failure.  They never cooked.  The blogger said they'd be fudgey in the middle, but this is just raw.  We cooked them more than ten minutes beyond the suggested baking time. 

Oh well.  I ate two with a spoon.  Sadness. 

happy

Great review of functionally ill 11!

http://zine-reviews.tumblr.com/post/67374524891/functionally-ill

Olema apples

Today we were supposed to go to Berkeley to see Ming's kids, but BOB is running so rough, we didn't want to risk it.  We will take BOB to the mechanic tomorrow morning. 

Taking the train was going to cost us $116 buying the tickets the day before.  We could have gotten them half that if we had ordered three days ahead.

So now we have an open day to get some stuff done.

Yesterday at Jagadhatri puja we got four huge Olema apples, and I ate one yesterday.  It was one of the most delicious apples I have ever tasted, not too sweet, very hard.  But it had a stickiness to the outside that I didn't understand.  Are some apple skins just sticky?

Googled "Olema apples" and got a ton of hits for Robert Hass's book of poems The Apple Trees at Olema. Nothing about the apples.  Oh well.

three bad things

Today when Ming and I were leaving Jagadhatri puja, we were behind this vehicle with a bumper sticker that said COEXIST but the word was made out of weapons, mostly guns.  It was really creepy. 

It's football day. It's loud from the high school.  I wish football season would end.

At church lunch, I heard someone say something about "another dry winter" this year.

And that's me, full of complaints.

halfway there

I am at 25,100 something words on my pretend novel.  I feel like it's a lot of work and I can't do it anymore.  At the same time I feel like I can totally do it and in fact it's easy because of how it's broken down into small bits.  I can't believe I have to do this much again.  But it's okay.  I think I can do it.

What's going to get hard is if we travel for Thanksgiving and I have to skip days and catch up.

We take BOB to the shop on Monday morning.  We'll see what they say.  I'm curious whether BOB's problems are something that can be fixed or if it's time to say goodbye. Right now it's running rough but running.  And it starts, but it takes three or four tries. 

So wish BOB luck or pray for it, if you pray for trucks. 

devastation

My zine friend in the Philippines sent me this appeal she has on her blog.  I would like to share it with you.

http://candiesandwhimsproject.blogspot.com/2013/11/an-appeal-from-philippines-devastation.html

winter garden

We're late starting our winter garden, but hey.  Some neighbors planted leeks, shallots, and chard from starts just recently.  I think it's too early or too late for broccoli and cauliflower.  But maybe we could just try.  We planted a tomato plant way early this year and it was a great producer for us. 

1.  weed bed four
2.  cut back white chard in bed five
3.  plant rosemary in bed six by the lemon verbena
4.  plant leeks bed four
5.  bunny poop tea bed four

three good things

Today we bought two simple, beautiful glass candle holders at Goodwill.  I washed them with dishsoap and dried them off with a paper towel.  They were 49 cents each.

I have a draft of hat genius 4.  It's sad, though.  I think for the cover I'll use a drawing of Ming that I made a couple weeks ago.  It's a really strange drawing.

Today I forgot to send or failed to send a lot of mail.  Not one person has ordered girl holding onto my legs yet.  So I'm sending some out to poet friends.

pumpkin dream

Yesterday we took my learner to Elk Grove to visit his son who's imprisoned there.  But it turns out the son has different visit times from everybody else because he's pre-trial.  It was sad because we couldn't see him.

Yesterday I roasted about ten poblano chiles ranging in size from small to medium.  Remember the red one?  I photographed it a while back.  It didn't roast--it just burned.  I don't know why such a different kind of chile got on the same plant with the others.  Very mysterious.

Day before yesterday the landlord came around.  He said the garden out back looks bad and we need to clean it up.  I want to do some weeding.  Last night in my dream there were pumpkins hiding under the weeds.

I'm at 16,794 words on my pretend novel.  It's going well, and I'm on track for finishing. 

non-fiction herb funny

I lost then found the thyme.  It was hiding under the spice rack.

lying on tum

1.  a pound of farmer's market green beans for $2
2.  Thai peanut sauce
3.  broccoli
4.  drew a picture of Ming I like
5.  "Little Red Corvette"

girl holding onto my legs

My best friend Ellen made a book of poems by collaging phrases chosen from a year's worth of my emails to her (around 200 emails).  It's a beautiful little book bound with yellow thread.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/168419672/girl-holding-onto-my-legs-poems-by-ellen?

joy

1.  church food giveaway
2.  roasted root veggies
3.  made vegan split pea soup in Ming's crockpot
4.  visited Battery Bill--they said BOB does not need a new battery
5.  bought some new Plan-it-x music

package of organic split peas
diced onion
five cloves garlic pressed
two chopped carrots
water
salt
bay leaf
veggie bullion cube

Check peas for rocks.  Put everything in the pot and cook for several hours.  Eat with joy.

best rap lyrics ever

Smart like lucky kids who get born to smart parents
who feed them locally-grown farmer's market cart carrots,
I eat fair trade cheese and fart fairness.

--Open Mike Eagle

10,000 words

1.  A truck in the parking lot has one of my favorite bumper stickers on it: Jesus Loves Wikileaks.  I keep seeing it and wanting to take a picture for you.  But that would seem really weird.

2.  Yesterday we went to Pushkin's Bakery.  It's a gluten-free place.  We got vegan cupcakes--they were $3.25 each.  Yikes!  I had the barracuda, which is all chocolate.  Ming had the espresso.  They were good.  But I'm wondering what they use instead of wheat flour.  I should have asked.  But I don't know if we'll go back.  The worker there did not know gelatin is not vegetarian.

3.  I have been annoyed. 

4.  But I met my word goal again today.  I'm at more than 10,000 words, which I would like to celebrate.  But I don't know how.

today's lunch

1.  delicious rice and veggies dish
2.  neighbor and Ming looked at BOB and came to some conclusions
3.  oil change survived
4.  vegan cupcakes from Pushkin's Bakery
5.  multiple walks

Looks like I'm into making lists for November.  I met my word goal again today.  I'm at 8,961 words. 

       today's lunch

Saute half a diced onion and some garlic in olive oil.  Add a few handfuls of chopped, de-veined collard greens.  Add half a bag of Trader Joe's mushrooms.  Saute with some smoked paprika until everything's done.  Add two cups of precooked rice.  Add the juice of half a lemon, some soy sauce, and a few shakes of sesame oil. 

Some interesting flavors.  This is not the best lunch I've ever made, but it was delicious.

getting stuff done

1.  met word goal again today
2.  picked up prescriptions
3.  mailed bassoon books
4.  phone called places
5.  free breakfast

All in all, a good day, and it's only 12:15.

cassiopeia

All these wonderful things are happening.  Like Kali puja, and I completed my word goal on my pretend novel this morning.  I like Joanna Newsom, which I'm listening to, and Sleater-Kinney, which I listened to earlier.  I just feel like good things are here to stay.  I got state disability, which might mean I lose my food stamps, but if that happens, I can go to the food bank again.  I can get dentistry done now.  Hurray!

mushrooms

me: I hate washing mushrooms.  How about you?
Ming: I find it very difficult because how do you know when you're done?  It's like sweeping a dirt floor.

five things for today

1.  met my goal of 1667 words again today
2.  bra shopping for pink bras
3.  Kali puja tonight
4.  got garlic
5.  nice emails from bestie and Mom

vegan candy corn

Oh my, want to make vegan candy corn.

http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-candy-corn-396882

eeeee!

I'm so excited I met my writing goal of 1667 words for the day.  Yep, doing NaNoWriMo again!