dangerous compassions

back of sign

2012-02-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went birding at Vic Fazio then to Berkeley for photocopying and fun. I took some pictures and have posted them here for your viewing pleasure.

Y2K curtain pattern

2012-02-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

At our favorite restaurant in Berkeley there are Y2K curtains in the women's bathroom.

Erik with Berkeley plum blossoms

2012-02-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

parking sign

2012-02-15T09:17:00.000-08:00

Erik took this picture for me.

bathroom light

2012-02-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

I'm always afraid of getting in trouble for taking pictures in bathrooms. This one's at Shorebird Park.

rusted garbage can

2012-02-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

garbage can

2012-02-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

garbage can with me

2012-02-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

RIP

2012-02-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

the star of the show

2012-02-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

potato leek soup

2012-02-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

Tonight I made some vegan potato leek soup for dinner. It's delicious! It feels really wholesome too. I had to make myself stop eating it so there would be some left for Erik, who's doing yoga.

It's really easy. It only needed to simmer for 20 minutes. It's very quick, for a soup.

The older I get, the more I find myself loving potatoes. And I never much thought about leeks, but they keep showing up in our CSA.

Here's how I made it, but I think it's forgiving.

***

about five medium potatoes, diced
about two and a half leeks, white and pale green parts only, chopped up
earth balance
two vegan bullion cubes
salt
pepper
plain unsweetened unflavored soymilk

I sauted the leeks in a tablespoon of earth balance for maybe five minutes. Then I added potatoes, enough water to cover, a teaspoon of salt, and two vegan bullion cubes. Simmer for 10 minutes--stir. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Mash the soup with a potato masher. Put some in a bowl and add some soymilk. Stir. Eat!

***

Oh, and I'd like to thank my ex-mother-in-law for the potato masher. So much of my kitchen stuff came from her--the green tupperware measuring spoons, for example. Thank you!

Chewy Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

2012-02-13T16:18:00.000-08:00

Today I made the chewy chocolate raspberry cookies from the Veganomicon. You can see the recipe here--I didn't make them in cookie sandwich form, though.

http://yeahthatveganshit.blogspot.com/2008/02/chewy-chocolate-raspberry-cookie.html

They are so good. I had been craving sweets, and these were perfect.

carrot oatmeal

2012-02-13T07:38:00.001-08:00

Oh my god, carrot oatmeal is the best! I got this idea to grate a carrot and a half, saute it in earth balance, and then make oatmeal like usual, only I added a tsp of vanilla. It was subtle! It was tasty. I love it.

"Never Get To Know" by Paul Baribeau

2012-02-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

This is one of my other favorite Paul Baribeau songs.

"Ten Things" by Paul Baribeau

2012-02-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

Plan-it-x super sale

2012-02-11T15:18:00.000-08:00

I sent twenty bucks to Plan-it-x records for the super sale. I got sent a lot of cds and two dvds. One of the cds was Grand Ledge by Paul Baribeau. I was so happy because I love the Paul Baribeau cd I already had. I'm listening to Grand Ledge right now and love it. It has "Ten Things" on it which I find inspiring.

I also got Here, Not There by Heathers which I sent to my best friend A because she liked the two songs of theirs I put on her latest mix.

I also got Romance, Conflict, Adventure by BFF which I want to give someone but I don't know who.

And all the other cds I don't know and haven't listened to yet, and I haven't watched either of the dvds, but I am so happy they are waiting for me.

radicchio

2012-02-11T15:15:00.001-08:00

We got radicchio in the CSA last week. Erik really likes it. I think it's quite pretty.

Here's a not-the-best picture of it from wikipedia.

quinoa in chocolate

2012-02-11T15:14:00.001-08:00

Hey, we tried some dark chocolate with puffed quinoa in it. It's pretty good.

quinoa for breakfast

2012-02-08T08:37:00.000-08:00

I tried something new, making quinoa for breakfast. I made it with sweetened soymilk and cinnamon and salt, and I put some molasses in Erik's bowl. It's okay--it's good for a change. After it was cooked, I kept putting more and more extra soymilk in it, and the quinoa kept absorbing it.

When Erik noticed, he said, "This isn't oatmeal. This is grain bubbles." Do you ever eat quinoa? I hear it has good protein in it.

party night

2012-02-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

I wrote a blog post then deleted it because I wanted to use what I wrote in my new zine instead.

It's party night! Party night for the downstairs neighbors, that is. It's a work night for us. Erik's working a 12 hour day.

I'm going to bed--night, friends.

new

2012-02-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

I made myself a new address book. My old one, I couldn't stand to look at it anymore. It was emotional deciding who to keep in and who to leave out. My old one was made of grocery bag paper. This new one, I used regular white computer paper and some pretty scrapbooking cardstock for the cover. And I bound it with string. Anyway, I need to proofread everything in the new one against the old one. Then I can put the old one away and not have to look at it every day.

new postal rates chart

2012-02-05T11:06:00.001-08:00

http://www.undergroundpress.org/pdf/postalrates.pdf

Thanks, Zine World!

haircut, zine libraries, dinner

2012-02-05T08:24:00.001-08:00

Guess what? I cut my hair! It's not dramatic, but I'm happy with it for now. Thanks for your encouragement, J! You helped me find the bravery.

I get contacted by zines libraries wanting me to donate zines. The postage can be expensive. But I do it because I want people to read. The other day one in Tokyo contacted me, and this morning one in West Covina.

Last night we went to dinner with our friends HR and M. It was fun. We talked about movies, games, books, their recent wedding, their rings (for which they paid a fortune). We ate Lebanese food.

It's SAT scoring day four.

my hair

2012-02-03T17:29:00.000-08:00

I want to cut my hair, but I've read some tutorials and watched two youtube videos and don't feel confident that I can do it! I asked my friend HW and she expressed concern about never cutting curly hair before. I don't think Erik will do it. It's so thin--seems like it should be easy--but I'm afraid of messing up and having to pay money to get it fixed. So I don't know what to do, but I'll keep thinking about it.

romanesco broccoli

2012-02-03T14:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture I took of Erik holding the strange thing that came in our CSA this morning.

Colas by Dan Zanes and Friends

2012-02-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

This is my new new favorite song!

Pollito Chicken

2012-02-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

The Dan Zanes song "Pollito Chicken" is incorrectly labeled "Polito Chicken" in Windows Media Player. I was looking for the lyrics and got confused because I didn't understand it was labeled wrong.

Anyway, here's a link to the song lyrics.

http://www.danzanes.com/songbook/nueva-york/pollito-chicken

"After the Curtain" by Beirut

2012-02-02T12:43:00.001-08:00

My new favorite song!

happy

2012-02-01T07:51:00.001-08:00

Happy February, friends! It's valentine time.

lazy Sunday

2012-01-29T17:05:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the big farmers market under the freeway to look for the Really Really Free Market but couldn't find it. But facebook tells me they were there. Arg.

But we talked to a really nice 99%er and bought Bariani olive oil and some organic pink lady apples. Then we went birding near Davis. It was good. Pictures follow. Snow geese, tundra swans, blackbirds, a meadowlark, raptors, LBJs.

Then we went to Davis to a cafe, and I got lemonade and a vegan brownie, and Erik got coffee.

Then we went to the Davis food co-op, where we got green noodles and vegan coconut peanut brittle (so good!) and a grapefruit and a stainless steel tea strainer.

Then we came home and ate green noodles, and I talked on the phone with R for an hour. It was great. I told her how I feel about goals. She explained meeting someone who she possibly had already met in a dream. She was making soymilk with a soymilk-making machine.

bird formation

2012-01-29T17:03:00.000-08:00

I took pictures of this bird formation but couldn't see anything on the small screen but blue sky. I thought they were too far away for the camera to photograph. But here they are!

bird formation 2

2012-01-29T17:01:00.000-08:00

bird formation 3

2012-01-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

feathers

2012-01-29T16:57:00.000-08:00

Delta of Venus bathroom graffiti

2012-01-29T16:52:00.000-08:00

new saying

2012-01-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

This is the new saying at Chez Erik and Laura-Marie.

Don't worry about breaking the drill bit if you already broke the drill.

an alley on College

2012-01-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to Berkeley, and here are some of my finds.

a better view of the art in back

2012-01-25T09:33:00.000-08:00

street art in an alley on College

2012-01-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

graffiti at Tilden Park

2012-01-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

graffiti at House of Curries

2012-01-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

San Luis Obispo

2012-01-23T18:06:00.000-08:00

Today on our way north we stopped in SLO. First we went to this cafe, which we loved. We drank soy mochas (mine decaf, with a shot of almond syrup) and sat in the little room on the left, where we stared out the window at people and a sweet little dog that escaped its leash.

Photo by Erik.

Tom's Toys

2012-01-23T18:05:00.000-08:00

electric box

2012-01-23T18:03:00.000-08:00

bubblegum alley

2012-01-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

me in the alley

2012-01-23T17:57:00.000-08:00

Erik in the alley

2012-01-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

Erik on the bridge

2012-01-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

blob ball

2012-01-23T17:50:00.000-08:00

This sculpture is really called Web of Life.

home again

2012-01-23T17:49:00.001-08:00

I am home after long travels.

chestnuts

2012-01-19T16:48:00.000-08:00

Hello, friends. I am with my parents and have been for a week. A few days ago Dad and I bought some chestnuts. I researched online how to cook them. We came up with two methods--roasting in the oven or boiling on the range. I decided that boiling was the superior method, so I cut little x-es in the shells and we boiled them for 19 minutes. I thought they came out delicious, but no one else did.

Chestnuts, if you have never looked at them up close, are beautiful. The insides may not be too beautiful, but the outsides are, the dark brown.

roasted shallots

2012-01-11T10:37:00.001-08:00

I roasted shallots last night, about 40 minutes at 400 degrees, I think, tossed with good olive oil and salt. They were heavenly.

birds we saw yesterday at Bobelaine

2012-01-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

western bluebird
great blue heron
great egret
spotted towhee
kinglet
bushtit
woodpeckers (downy and/or Nutall's)
northern flicker
pied-billed grebe
fox sparrow or possibly hermit thrush
white-crowned sparrow
other sparrows
crow
avocet
hawk
(gray bird with tail tilted up like wren)
scrub jay
starling
yellow-rumped warbler

Bobelaine

2012-01-09T13:26:00.000-08:00

Today we went birding at Bobelaine.

bee boxes

2012-01-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

orchard

2012-01-09T13:24:00.000-08:00

island

2012-01-09T13:21:00.000-08:00

the sun

2012-01-09T13:19:00.000-08:00

more sun

2012-01-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

trail sign

2012-01-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

more bee boxes

2012-01-09T13:10:00.000-08:00

I have a special fondness for bee boxes.

Consumnes

2012-01-09T13:09:00.001-08:00

We went to Consumnes two days ago with our friend A. Here are sandhill cranes.

sandhill cranes

2012-01-09T13:05:00.000-08:00

our heros

2012-01-09T13:02:00.000-08:00

Birders!

milk

2012-01-07T11:22:00.000-08:00

I took this picture today on the way to the Book Den warehouse book sale.

goat

2012-01-06T21:15:00.001-08:00

I made three ATCs tonight. Here are scans for your viewing pleasure.

Why is this happening?

2012-01-06T21:14:00.001-08:00

The World

2012-01-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

oranges

2012-01-06T20:24:00.001-08:00

This morning we went to a new friend's old apartment to pick up oranges. He needed help with his apartment, which he was cleaning out. We ended up taking a poor-quality desk to the dump along with some e-waste. The dump was near Elk Grove. So we went to Loving Hut for lunch, which was nice. We had vegan cheesecake for dessert.

Also, I got to see my friend HW when we dropped off her bag of oranges and I got a nice hug. She wore a soft sweater. She is so nice and I feel so comfortable with her.

HH

2012-01-06T20:13:00.000-08:00

Wednesday we saw Hardtraveling Hero, a friend from the east coast. We went to a farm near Davis to pick up his ebay win of Lego. Agitated turkeys approached us, the male all puffed up with his feathers out. They gobbled at us and moved closer. I was afraid they'd peck. Eventually we escaped.

Then we had Mexican food at a place we'd never been before. Hardtraveling Hero had all different types of tacos, including cheek and tripe. Then we went to my favorite park and walked around. I read Hardtraveling Hero's postcards, including the ones from Roswell, New Mexico with kitschy aliens. Then we went to the post office where he sent postcards, including the postcard addressed to me, the one I wasn't allowed to see at the park.

It was really exhausting and I went to bed early that night, like 7:30, despite neighbor noises. We have a white noise machine.

Kitty pics

2012-01-03T13:33:00.000-08:00

He has a cute little tongue.

Kitty

2012-01-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

Kitty

2012-01-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

zine =/= zone

2012-01-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

I tried googling a zine called American Puberty and google was giving me results that had "zone" instead of "zine."

morning at Consumnes

2012-01-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

I took some pictures this morning while we were birding at Consumnes. Here's a nice one of Erik.

Erik

2012-01-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

bridge rail

2012-01-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

plants

2012-01-01T14:35:00.000-08:00

web

2012-01-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

nope

2011-12-31T18:23:00.000-08:00

Today I took some pictures of graffiti at McKinley Park. This one was my favorite.

Bo Knows

2011-12-31T18:21:00.000-08:00

ice cream man

2011-12-31T18:20:00.000-08:00

lewd

2011-12-31T18:18:00.000-08:00

I called this "disgruntled penis man" and Erik called it "lewd man."

purple

2011-12-31T18:14:00.000-08:00

good mothers guild

2011-12-31T18:05:00.000-08:00

I thought this must be the name of a band, but I googled it and got no hits.

oatcakes

2011-12-31T10:17:00.001-08:00

I made a Whole Foods recipe for oatcakes, but they didn't really turn out. They didn't hold together. They were still good, in a way, but I won't make them again. I think the problem might have been using a flax seed egg rather than a real egg.

cupola postcard

2011-12-30T21:19:00.000-08:00

grapefruit

2011-12-30T16:22:00.001-08:00

I juiced the grapefruit Mom gave me and the juice was so delicious, the most delicious grapefruit juice I've ever tasted.

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

2011-12-19T06:29:00.001-08:00

I had a pumpkin from our CSA that needed to be cooked, so I baked it last night then tried it, but it didn't taste good plain, so I decided to bake cookies with it, my loved sweet potato chocolate chip cookies recipe, which was originally a pumpkin chocolate chip cookies recipe, so I knew it would work.

So I made the dough, and the dough was delicious but lumpy. I hadn't pureed the pumpkin, just mashed it with a potato masher.

So then I baked some cookies, and they turned out great though a little strange because they're not smooth. There are little bits of pumpkin that can be seen.

eyeball soup

2011-12-15T18:14:00.000-08:00

I bought this tea towel at the dollar store today. I think it's the most amazing tea towel ever.

LA Zine Fest

2011-12-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

http://lazinefest.wordpress.com/f-a-q/

I want to go!

lament

2011-12-10T19:05:00.001-08:00

me: I can't do the things I do.
Erik: You're doing them.

kiwi fruit

2011-12-09T12:21:00.000-08:00

Did you know you can eat the skin of a kiwi fruit? We tried it, and it's okay. It's a lot faster.

vegan brownies

2011-12-07T08:23:00.000-08:00

I notice I haven't been blogging! But last night I baked vegan brownies. They turned out pretty delicious but more cakey than might be ideal for me. I missed the timer and cooked them about five minutes longer than I wanted to. Erik was reading me The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle for two hours straight. This morning we have our usual breakfast oatmeal. I was thinking about taking a Spanish class next semester at the local community college, but I'm studying the bus route and finding there is a gap in service that will not do. I need to call them and find out if there really is a gap or if the online trip planner is misleading me. Thanksgiving was good, but Erik lost most of his gear, wallet, and keys on a disastrous backpacking trip. And that's my news. I don't know if and when I'll blog again, but I have good wishes for all of you.

dark chocolate covered almonds

2011-11-22T17:02:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the park. I got two books out from the library to see if I might like to read them. Erik helped me pick them out, Life of Pi and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, both books that he actually wants to read.

I walked. I ate dark chocolate covered almonds. I read a zine about women on fishing boats. It's very good. I want to review it.

At home, I made tofu scramble, and we have leeks, so I put a leek in it instead of half an onion. Turned out great. I also put in some fresh sage because we had that, from our CSA. The sage was strong but not overpowering. Kind of like me.

petition

2011-11-21T20:30:00.000-08:00

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/violence_uc/?rc=fb_share2

You can sign this petition if you'd like the University of California to change the way they treat peaceful protestors.

occupied Davis

2011-11-21T20:17:00.001-08:00

Hello, friends. Today we occupied Davis. I was there for about an hour then went to the arboretum. Erik stayed for more than two. We heard kids talk about getting pepper sprayed. We stood in a big group, and there was a little chanting. (Whose university? Our university!) Some people had climbed up into a tree. There was a lot of press with video cameras. And the chancellor spoke. I wasn't there for the chancellor's speech. She was doing some damage control--before, she said she supported the behavior of the pepper spraying cops. Now she's changed her tune and doesn't want to resign like so many people are asking her to. Erik stayed for the general assembly meeting, so he learned the hand signals and everything. He taught them to me, so now I know the sign to make when someone's rambling.

Occupy Davis

2011-11-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

http://bicyclebarricade.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/open-letter-to-chancellor-linda-p-b-katehi/

Yesterday I got really upset at hearing what happened to some student protestors in Davis, and if you feel like getting upset too, read the above link!

Kristin Cato

2011-11-19T20:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.thelightedbridge.com/interview.html

Great interview with Kristin Cato can be found here!

Chocolate Pumpkin Bread

2011-11-19T20:13:00.000-08:00

http://www.theppk.com/2011/10/chocolate-pumpkin-loaf/

This recipe was recommended to a friend on facebook, and I wanted to remember it.