Sugar Shakes

Today: My Kitchen Utensils Get Some TLC

2010-09-21T00:33:00.001-05:00

Noooooooo!!!!!!!

Yes!

Oh, yes!

My boyfriend jokes that our kitchen drawer was like the "NO" picture in some infomercial advertising a better way to store your cooking utensils. We had two "organizers", but they were big and had amorphous shapes that did nothing to inspire us to relegate certain utensils to specific spots. Instead, everything was sort of swimming about haphazardly. As a result, we had to dig through the entire drawer to find the measuring spoon, vegetable peeler, or any tool we desired,. Another annoying thing is, more often than not, it was a hassle to get the drawer to open or close.

Determined to correct this, I set out to find something huge to toss all my larger utensils in. At Fishs Eddy, I found this really cute Brooklyn Crock. Fortunately, an exceptionally helpful salesperson intercepted when I told her what I would be using the crock for. She suggested I use wide mouthed Ball jars of various sizes. This would help me better organize the utensils by size and possibly even by color and material (steel, black plastic, wood). I was so grateful for her help because 3 jars were a faction of the price of the crock and seemed to be the perfect way to avoid bringing the chaos that existed in the drawer up to my counter.

I ended up needing only two of the jars (pint and quart sized) because I had so many other suitable containers at home: A large vintage green glass vase and a smaller vintage purple vase (both from Salvation Army), three adorable Moroccan themed glasses from a dollar store in Queens, and two cup sized Ball jars. All this stuff has been just hanging around my various apartments for years awaiting their destiny beyond holding the occasional flower or breakfast juice. I now feel like I could stare at my counter forever. Everything on it is beautiful and orderly. It feels almost just as good to open my utensil drawer and look my knives and backup cutlery who, if they could speak, would surely say how happy they are to have some breathing room.

I can't clean or organize without it being a party so I let Pandora play DJ. I heard Erykah Badu's The Healer for the first time. She is so fantastic! Watch this video to hear the song performed live, and to see her fantastic afro! I need to find that wig!!!!!

Crow Hill Community Association Mural Project

2010-09-19T23:20:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I participated in a mural project organized by the Crow Hill Community Association. I was one of over 30 community artists chosen to paint a panel on an 8 foot high board that had been bordering a vacant lot on Franklin Ave and Eastern Parkway for a couple years. The project was a superblast for my self-esteem as both an artist and as a community member. I am grateful to have been part of this.


Me, at my mural.

I will post more photos of the project soon. Lots of folks were taking photos, so it's just a matter of time before they are shared.

Today, Monday August 24th, as best I can remember it.

2010-08-23T23:49:00.000-05:00

Today I slept until 10, then I lounged on the couch while eating a bagel, watching a little of Ms. Wendy, and surfing the internets. Before I knew it nearly two hours of my day had gone by and I had nothing to show for it. Yikes!

Cloth Mops: Simply the Best!

So I did what I normally do when I have no idea what else to do: I cleaned. I swept and mopped our entire apartment for the first time since July. Yuck, I know! July was nearly two months ago and since that time we have had a huge party and have cooked lots of tasty, sticky meals, so our floor was good and dirty. My only excuse is that it's too effing hot to do any hardcore cleaning in the Summer. Today offered some relief thanks to a crazy windy rainstorm, so I was happy to seize the opportunity to return our apartment floor to its former shiny glory. After two hours of pre-scrubbing and re-scrubbing to the tunes of Modest Mouse, our floor looked fantastic and felt just as great to my bare feet!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful: Richard and I hung around Sit & Wonder for about an hour. I went to work at AK and shuffled some hungry weird people. I also drew a weird monster with nads on my hostess pad. I've never drawn anything with nads before, so it made me giggle like I was in middle school. Gotta draw more nads!

Today, as best I can remember it.

2010-08-23T01:51:00.001-05:00

Today was your typical lazy couple's Sunday. Richard and I slept in until nearly 11. We skipped showers and headed out for a light brunch at Milk Bar. I got the avocado toast. It was simple and delicious-- a thick slice of hearty multigrain bread covered with the perfectly ripe meat of an entire hass avocado and dusted with chili powder. I also had a fantastically refreshing glass of freshly squeezed oj. I am always surprised by how little fresh oj tastes like the gross stuff sold in cartons. It's almost hard to imagine both were extracted from the same plant.

After brunch, we headed over to Duane Reade, where we picked up snacks for the half-price matinee screening of The Kids are All Right at BAM. Before the movie, we stopped into the Brooklyn Flea. I love the flea because its positively inspiring to see smaller local businesses and individuals selling their art, junk, food, and more directly to the people. And all this just a few steps from a mega mall featuring Target, the soul- and local economy-draining ubermart.

At the flea, I bought a hunk of soap from the bargain bin at Australian Scent for $1.50/oz , $.50 cheaper than the packaged soap and just as deliciously herbal smelling and moisturizing. I don't even need soap but the salesperson was so genuinely delightful and friendly, as was the company's owner when I met her at the flea months ago, I couldn't resist indulging the both of us. Besides, it's nice to have another bar of soap around for when I tire of the oatmeal scented bar of Sappo that I use everyday.

Two other vendors worth mentioning are Charlie and Sarah and Ghost Pepper. Charlie and Sarah is a Brooklyn-based company that makes hipster British themed clothing for children. Don't really care about that, but what did interest me were these great color prints of quirky, creepy drawings, many illustrating characters from fairy tales. I loved them, but the salesperson was so pushy: looming over me and reminding me of how they aren't online and wouldn't be at the flea after next week. All this while I quietly tried to decide which one of the several dozen I liked the best. It was a mood killer. As much as I liked the art, I couldn't stand to shop under such high pressure. The Ghost Pepper stand was hot, literally. The Ghost Pepper is the World's Hottest Pepper and the stand sold not only hot dried peppers in cool packaging, but Spicy Hard Watermelon Candy. The sweets, which are handmade in Brooklyn, had many sumultaneous flavors- sweet, sour, and spicy. It was an oral adventure! I only wish it wasn't $5 for a tiny bag. Oh well, I wish them luck.

The Kids Are All Right was every bit as awesome as everyone says it is. It had really strong characters who were performed excellently and the plot managed to both surprise me and make sense. I loved it and so did Richard.

After the movie, we went to Moe's and drank a couple pints of Kelso pilsner while watching the rain. We left and made out on the street before attempting to do some drunk shopping at Green Light. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the book I wanted on my own, so I had to ask the staff for help. I described the book as "photo portraits of people from around the world" and as being featured in the store the past winter. I think it was pretty clear I was drunk, but I tried to not make a total fool of myself. Sadly, they didn't have the book. (I just found it on Amazon using those same search words in like seconds. It's called 6 Billion Others: Portraits of Humanity from Around the World. I think it'd be a helpful reference for portrait drawing, so I'll order it from the store now that I know what it is.) So, we left empty-handed to Hot Bird, where we ate lunch from their food truck. There's something kinda silly about a food truck that is always parked in the yard of a bar. Is it still street food and therefor cool or are they just so obviously, and offensively, banking on a hipster trend? Either way my veggie bratwurst was awesome, so I won't hate.

Back at home, we had an even awesomer evening: A little bit of-- okay, a lot of-- afternoon delight. A homemade dinner of pesto pasta with local veggies, paired with local wine from the farmer's market. A marathon of 30 Rock on the couch.

I love Sundays!

It's 2010 bitches! The past two years, as best I remember them.

2010-08-22T03:09:00.001-05:00

Me, drawn by my classmate Diane

Hopefully this post's title doesn't alarm anyone since it's already August of 2010. The title is just in case any of you readers happened to be on a life-support system that was powered by my blogging. Surely, if you are not dead, you must be in a state of shock to awaken from your coma to find that not only is it more than two years since you were last conscious, but that America has a Black president.

What else is new? I currently share an apartment in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn with my ever supportive and loving supernerd boyfriend Richard and our soul-survivor cat Lucy (a.k.a. Big Lu). Our landlord Jacob Lev is a total slumlord, but thanks to Abraham Hicks I am appreciating the contrast. Besides, we have so much. Our apartment is spacious and has roof access, which we take advantage of at least a few times a week by lounging with cold beers. We live minutes away from the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park, Grand Army Plaza and it's awesome farmer's market, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and Brooklyn Museum of Art. There are tons of vegan and vegan-friendly eats nearby. There is Stumptown Coffee served one block away at Sit & Wonder. There's LaunchPad, the best community center EVER! I can easily walk to Park Slope, Bed-Stuy, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, and Fort Green. I can hop on the subway; correction: I can walk for 10 minutes then get on the subway and visit friends in Brooklyn Heights or my favorite riverside park in DUMBO. I can see why they call this neighborhood the Heart of Brooklyn!

For cash, I have been hostessing at Angelica Kitchen for almost three years and I've been a salesperson at Sustainable NYC, an eco-friendly boutique, for nearly two. I love working at places that are in sych with my woman warrior battle cry of "defend the planet and equality for all inhabitants!, "still I am growing bored with only using my vivacious personality at work. I have so many other talents and gifts to share, and with more people! I just read Jonathan Mead's amazing- and free- eBook Zero Hour Work Week and am inspired to indulge my passion for creating art, creating poetry and prose, and conscious-consumerism and living. The idea is to just do the things I am most passionate about and talented at in a creative way that can give unique value to others, and this value will be rewarded in profits. Sounds like it is worth a shot to me.

What about SuperVegan? Well, it's a great website, but I am not sure if the work I was doing there was fulfilling. Actually I am certain it wasn't. I enjoy writing, but there came a point where writing entertainment and lifestyle content for an audience of committed vegans (many of whom were holier than thou-- not to exclude myself) seemed like such an utter waste of time. People (rich people, crazy people, ignorant people, powerful people, disenfranchised people, mean people) were out there kicking the shit out of all kinds of innocent animals and people and the planet in a million different ways and not only did I have to deal with knowing about this and figuring out what I could about it, I had to deal with ten million promotional emails a day. Some events and products were more important than others, but oftentimes it was hard to tell since I was drowning in a sea of requests to write about books, benefit parties, art projects, adoptable kittens, and meat analogs.

WHINE ALERT: Most of the emails and calls were from Karen Dawn demanding that I read Thanking the Monkey in its entirety before writing the positive review I said I would write after skimming it. She seemed to think it was the most important book ever written, though further examination of the book suggested to me that it was your classic animal rights introduction book. Not bad, but far from exceptional and likely to end up as the kind of coffee table book one uses as a coaster without even thinking twice. Having said that, I'd like to add that I am a fan of DawnWatch and I wish she had directed her energy toward that project, rather than pestering me to read her mediocre book. Grrr...

Some people can withstand this kind of pressure and information overload. In fact, they get off on it. In the end, I discovered I am not one of those people. I realized that my interest in vegan culture is not infinite. I can get enough of all things vegan, and limited interest-- no matter how far expanding-- is no substitute for pure passion and infinite love. So this explains why Karen Dawn can be in the vegan/ AR media game since the dawn of time and I couldn't last even two years. I may still write the occasional SV post, but I'm not cut out to be a major player there anymore.

Again, I am pursuing some passions that I have infinite interest in. This summer I took a portrait drawing class at the Educational Alliance. It was great! The instructor was engaging and engaged, it was affordable-- only about $30/ class with free figure drawing open sessions on Sundays (I never went though), and my classmates were a mix of pretty cool older adults and fledgling youngsters (ha ha!) like myself. Pictured here are some of the my own favorite in-class drawings (all done in compressed and/or vine charcoal), but you can see more student drawings on my teacher's blog. It is all so exciting!

One of those nights

2008-04-06T21:50:00.004-05:00

I drew this with Sumi Ink during my craft group meeting today. I think I'd like to add some color to this, but because I'm a little scared of color I wanted to somehow preserve this drawing before I botched it. It's not the best scan, but it's the best scan I could get on my little freebie Dell printer.

This drawing is called "One of those nights" and it's an illustration of a bunny's nightmare. It was influenced greatly by my visit to Brooklyn Museum, which was recently given a super Japanimation makeover. It was also influenced by that picture of the furry stuffed monster running in a field to escape a gaggle of cuddly kittens. (Who made that?) My craft group mates Tammi and Marissa also helped by making suggestions and offering support. FYI: The meatwad looking things in the right corner are supposed to be rotting heads of cabbage. It doesn't really look like that though. Maybe I should add some flies.

The drawing is sort of a part two or finger wag at the character in this earlier Curly's placemat drawing about a real-life giant Brit rabbit who had been "stealing" massive amounts of veggies from village gardens. Unfortunately the real rabbit was killed, but my bunny just got a stomach ache and had a nightmare.

This is my second time drawing with ink. The first time was on Easter, when I participated in the Sumi Ink Club event at Little Cakes. It was super fun, but I just checked out the L.A. drawing group and I noticed they had tons of space and even chairs and a table! Fucking L.A.!

P.S. I'm a little sad today because Charlton Heston is dead. I know he wasn't the most politically correct person, but I loved his work. Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green are two of my favorite movies. He will be missed. On the upside, I guess we'll be able to get that gun now.

Great in 2008 Check-In

2008-01-16T01:02:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's no mystery. I'm not really sticking hard and fast to my list of resolutions...err, "goals." Surprise. Still, I am making steps in the right direction. I think.

I am currently reading a book--The Best American NonRequired Reading (2007). I've been consistently reading on the subway and even read a few times at home (gasp!).
I attended the first meeting of a new writer's group on Sunday morning. I wrote something during the meeting and struggled for several hours to develop it into a longer fiction piece about a monkey and a mad scientist. It didn't really work out, despite the support provided by Jason and Jessica. I kind of got lost in trying to develop plot and then lost interest altogether. Perhaps, I should focus on writing in genres I feel more comfortable with for now. Fiction isn't really my forte. I still need to come up with something to be workshopped by Friday. Dang it!
Draw more? Okay, I haven't been. I'm saddistic. Still, I put the Monday night uninstructed Life Sketch at the Art Students League on my calendar. (It's only $6!) I'll go for the first time next week.
It's hard to quantify if I have been procrastinating less. I mean, I wasn't a total mess before and I did finally do the painful chore of redeeming the massage coupon Jessica gave me for my birthday. But in general? Uh...well, I do have some mail from 2 weeks ago that I should open, like a million SuperVegan friend requests on MySpace to approve, and a few good restaurants to add to our resty guide. Dang it!
Think less. Do more...well, I've been adding and attending lots of things on my calendar without sweating if I'm totally prepared or if I'm going to have to go it alone.
I've been drinking so much water my eyeballs are floating.
As far as eating more at home, does it count if I eat leftovers from work at home? That goal isn't going to well. True, I've been eating out less, but mostly that's because I've been eating less in general. Note to self: Buy some groceries!
I downloaded an audio book crash course in Spanish from the Brooklyn Public Library's E-Library. Despite putting the book on my MP3 player, I have yet to listen to it. I blame my self-consciousness about wearing headphones in public for this.
I have yet to visit anywhere new, but Chinatown in Sunset Park is calling me. Oh, wait. I went to the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa for my massage last week. That place was new and felt totally foreign. I guess I was thinking more geographically when I made the goal though.
I am far from freed of my TV addiction, but I am making an effort to watch less TV. In fact, I didn't watch any TV today! I think the key is to get out of the house. Binging on Netflix also helps the me stay clean of TV for about 48 hours. (Last night Jessica and watched 4 episodes of last season's L Word.) I haven't watched a full episode of CSI: Miami in about four days. I do miss Horacio Cane as others might miss a close friend they haven't seen in a while, but (theoretically) I do have more important things to do than watch the forensic unraveling of a fictional murder mystery in Miami.

NYE: Gearing up for 2008

2008-01-05T00:05:00.000-05:00

New Year's Eve
Anyhow...I don't work today since it's Monday. Instead, I wake up at 11am and wait for Jessica to get off of work and join me for lunch at Curly's. I'm nearly 20 minutes late because I decide to eat a bowl of soup and some bread before leaving home. On the way there, I beat myself up for starting the new year this way--late, again. Then I remember it's still 2007. Phew!

After a delicious lunch, Jessica and I spend an ridiculous amount of time--over an hour--picking out her new cell phone and an emergency phone for her aunt. The options are limitless, confusing, and, ultimately, meaningless. It's just a phone, for chrissake. Still, when you're surrounded by a few dozen of them, yet have to make a long-term commitment to just one, the entire thing is overwhelming.

Jessica and I part ways after the phone fiasco. Needing to poop and buy baking supplies, I head to Whole Foods. The women's bathroom line is obscene. I fantasize about using the men's room the entire 15 minutes that I wait to use one of the two stalls in the room designated to my gender. It's finally my turn, but I can't poop knowing there are a dozen women on the other side of the plywood door listening to me and silently commanding me to hustle. It's not fair! Defeated, I pee instead and head downstairs to buy overpriced organic groceries. I actually score some really awesome orange extract for $3--not a bad deal.

Though it's technically still 2007, mentally I'm already in 2008. 2007 sucked and I have no problem saying goodbye to it. Though I'm an awesome person in general (beautiful, friendly, funny, caring, multi-talented, modest), in 2007, I was ruled by the not-so-great parts of my personality: flakiness, t.v. addiction, reclusiveness, and a self-loathing that prevented me from doing many of the things I enjoy.

In an effort to turn over a new leaf, I compose the following list, titled "2008 Goals", because calling them "resolutions" just seems like an invitation to failure:

Read more.
Write more.
Draw more.
Procrastinate less.
Think less. Do more.
Drink more water.
Eat more meals at home.
Learn another language.
Visit 3 new places.
Watch less television.
Learn to shoot a gun.

I'm pretty confident that at least half of these goals will be accomplished, especially since I carefully avoided quantifying what the terms "more" and "less" mean.

Last week, as best I remember it: Oct 29 -Nov 4

2007-11-09T23:00:00.000-05:00

Alas, the Livers Digest is back...

Monday, October 29
I stayed in my apartment and sulked, like any self-respecting, underemployed recluse would do on a startlingly chilly day. I did all the stuff you're supposed to do when you don't want to do anything:

I woke up late.
I skipped my shower.
I neglected to brush my teeth.
I refused to change my underpants. (Double Gold Star recluse move!)
I ate only 2 meals, both consisting of leftovers from work. No snacks.
I watched tv talk shows and home/beauty/lifestyle improvement shows for hours.
I shirked my own responsibilites toward to home/beauty/ lifestyle.
I got bored enough to wish I could evaporate.
I broke down at 5PM and accepted a temp assignment for later in the week. (Negative points.)

Tuesday, October 30
I did all the things on my underemployed recluse checklist. Except just before 3PM, I realised I needed to get going on making cupcakes for the Farm Sanctuary Halloween Bash. I did a quick search on VegWeb and decided to make these darling, yummy Zombie cupcakes, but I didn't have the jam I needed. So I had to do something I hate doing: Go outside and walk on a major thoroughfare when kids are getting out of school. Don't get me wrong, Liv loves the kids, but kids can be evil especially when they are: a) teenaged, b) in large groups, and c) unshackled by adult supervision. Around 3PM is a great time to find youth in this combination. Yikes! Of course, in recent years no neighborhood kid has ever done anything to make me have such distaste for the being in their company, but the trauma of my personal experiences with harassment by my peers as a pre-teen and teen. I'm still in recovery, so I'm allowed to be a biggot, dammit! Well anyway, I made it to the supermarket and back home unscathed. This time.

Like my 3PM jaunt through the 'hood, my Zombie cupcakes were surprisingly successful. I baked quite often, but this was my first voyage into The Land of Holiday themed sweets. I did alright!

When Jess came hone from work, I prepared to leave the apartment. I got dressed up in my Marylyn Bun-Roe costume, which featured a clean pair of underpants, thus destroying all the anti-street cred I had been cultivating (pardon the pun) during the previous 48 hours.

Jessica and I had a good time at the Farm Sanctuary party. It was, like, a REAL party! In a club! With velvet rope! And booze! And saucy dancing! And JD Samson from Le Tigre was the DJ! Fucking awesome! It totally raised the bar for AR parties. There were lots of people there--including a few people I didn't know!

My only complaint about the party was that there wasn't much savory food. I seriously had a headache for a whole 24 hours due to the amount of sugar I ate at that party. Okay, maybe the lines of cocaine I did in the bathroom had something to do with it too. JK! It was totally the sugar.

Wednesday, October 31: Halloween!
I temped as the receptionist at Lavazza Premium Coffees. I feel like all roads lead back to Lavazza. I love those crazy I-talians and they love me!

Another good thing about being at Lavazza is that the office is right across the street from Franchia. I love Franchia. It's owned by the same folks who own Hangwai. I don't love Hangwai, though I haven't been there since the first time ate there 3 years ago, when Jessica and I celebrated the anniversary of our first date and both agreed it sucked. Anyways, sometimes people confuse Hangwai for Franchia because they're both Korean and racist people can't tell Asians apart. Sometimes that person is a half awake receptionist who places and order for pick-up via phone. Sometimes people don't realize they placed an order at the wrong restaurant until fate spares them one shred of dignity, even if it happens when they are just about to grasp the wrong door knob. Sometimes it's nice to go for a walk during lunch anyways. Sometimes the food isn't as bad as people remember it being.

Jessica and I celebrated Halloween by chasing down kids with candy. No, really. There was no one on our block T-or-Ting, so we decided to walk down the Nostrand and Fulton handing out candy. We also left a bunch of candy at bushbaby, as it seems Bed-Stuy kids are too lazy to walk up and down stoops to collect candy. They prefer to weave in and out of bodegas and other businesses on Fulton Street and Nostrant Avenue instead. One kid who came into bushbaby seriously had breasts--that's how fat he was. Show me a 10 year old dracula with a rack that could get him on Trick or Treaters Gone Wild and I'll show you someone who does not need any more candy!

Our Fulton Street festivities were cut short by a bunch of teenagers who were recklessly throwing eggs at each other, without regard to the small children and dairy shunning vegans who approached them. Fucking teenagers. Jessica and I had to take the shortcut down Bedford home.

Thursday, November 1: Dia de los Muertos! 1st DP Anniversary!
The day started of terribly. I woke up late, despite the fact that I had to be at Lavazza at 9AM. I spent forever trying to figure out what I could wear that could take me from Work Day to Romantic Evening. There was nothing good in our fridge, so I had to pack 2 peanut-butter sandwiches on stale bread for lunch. Yuck! Once I finally made it outside, I noticed that it looked like it would rain so I ran upstairs to get an umbrella. Once I finally made it to the train station, the A train came within a few minutes, but the conductor announced it would be stalled due to a sick passenger on a train ahead of us. I sat and griped for a minute or two before deciding I didn't need to do put myself through this. I just got off the train and left everyone and all the drama behind. It felt so liberating. Fuck the 9-to-5!

I'm glad I intervened because the rest of my day was great! I came home and changed into real clothes. I hung out at Tiny Cup for a few hours. I surprised Jessica by having a bouquet of flowers delivered to her office. I went to Bargain Hunters and bought tons of stuff for our place. I changed a light bulb and cleaned the bathroom. I made a card for Jessica. I mailed my Mom's crochet hooks. Woo. I was on an errand spree!

I met Jessica at Counter where we celebrated the one-year anniversary of our domestic partnership. We shared all the items on their special Day of the Dead menu, followed by a Farmhouse Walnut-Lentil Panini (which may be the best sandwich of all time). Once we were home Jessica gave me my presents: a collection of poems by wonderpoet Lucille Clifton (who we saw honored at an event back on '05), an Ani album, and a set of karaoke Love Ballads!!!! We sang karaoke and enjoyed a bottle of ice wine that did not come from Trader Joe's for dessert. It was superromantic. I love Jessica!

Friday, November 2
AM shift at Angelica. Bill, one of my regular juice bar wackos, yells "I said no tape!", even though he is 6 inches from my ear and the soup container that I am taping as courtesy does not belong to him, but rather to one of the other customers in the dozen of people waiting nearby. Cuckoo. Someone told me that he's always so tightly wound becuase he's been working on the same play for 15 years, and that's the only thing he's been doing. Eating at Angelica and working on his play. How dreadful! Serves him right!

The traveling Mustache art show/ party that Jason is participating in came to Williamsburg. I showed up in sideburns and mustache made of orange acrylic craft fur. I was an instant party celebrity. Several girls wanted to take pictures with me and some guy told me I was "attractive" even after we discussed the possibility that there was a real mustache under the fake one. Where was this art show when I was single?

(More photos here.)

Saturday, November 3
AM shift at Angelica. Today, a fairly regular customer who bears resemblance to Gilbert Godfrey violently pushed a female New-Agey, hippy customer because "[the juice bar] isn't a place to socialize". This is after he called her a piece of shit to which she responded by asking him what he was ordering and suggesting "maybe you should eat a piece of shit." I had to get the floor manager. Later they had me go through the reciepts so we could pin-point the exact time that the guy was in the JB. They are going to go through the video footage so they can get a screen capture of him and have him 86'd like the rotten nut he is. It was so CSI: Miami.

After work, we celebrated my BFF Adia's Birthday with karaoke at the Carriage House in Park Slope. Jessica and I did Rick James' "Super Freak" and Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are". Adia and I did "I Wanna Sex You Up." Fun!

Sunday, November 4
Jessica and I had brunch at bushbaby. God bless that place! We then went to Bread Stuy for a craft group meeting, except it wasn't much of a meeting since we were the only ones there. I think folks forgot to change their clocks.

My PM shift at Angelica was boring. Just a lot of work with no payoff. No fights. No inappropriate, juvenile outbursts. All the looney tunes took their meds. Snore.

Simon Doonan likes my look!

2007-10-05T14:12:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know, I began working part-time in the juice bar at Angelica Kitchen this Wednesday. Being a juice jockey is not at all a glamorous job. I'm having to get over my whole attitude of coming into work and chilling out over coffee, a muffin, and email for an hour or so before I really get started. Working in a juice bar, the first two hours are actually the most hectic and even once you get over that hump, there's still plenty to do. But despite all this, so far I love working there--love the vibe, love the healthy food, and love that they're so eco-conscious and un-wasteful.

The one really bad thing about working in a kitchen--the one thing that my initial reaction was nearly to resign before I began over-- is that the dept. of health requires that I cover my hair. MY HAIR! My beautiful, quirky, sexy, wild hair--the essence of all that is uniquely Livi!!!

Determined not to let this law stop me from being as cute as a button, I put on my fabulous huge brass sculpture earrings and wrapped a funky, bold West African print cloth around my head. And guess what happened?! One of our earliest customers, a little man with a British accent who looked vaguely familiar, complimented me. "I like your look," he said with a smile as he grabbed his brown-bagged meal and walked out the door. Who was that little man with excellent taste?, I wondered.

Then this morning, while combing my locks, I saw him on a re-run of America's Next Top Model Season 3! Simon Doonan, creative director of Barney's, likes my look! I guess head wraps are totally the thing right now. Go me!

Bitchin' Birthday Sing-A-Long Saturday and Smashface Sunday

2007-09-19T22:43:00.000-05:00

Bitchin' Birthday Sing-A-Long Saturday and Smashface Sunday

I'm turning 28 this year and I'd like to celebrate my birthday with you. Here's a line up of the fun things I have planned for my birthday weekend. I hope you can make one it out to one or all events.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th

7PM- 9PM: Cake, snacker-roos, and booze @ Olivia & Jessica's place
Send email for location and home number.

10PM- 1AM: Off-key Karaoke @ The Carriage House
312 Seventh Avenue at 8th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn!
Directions: F to 7th Avenue Station. Exit at 7th Avenue and 9th Street. Walk on 7th Avenue for one block to 8th Street.
Enjoy totally FREE karaoke, cheap alcohol, pool, and darts at this random sports bar that has a great blend of old school neighborhood folks and anti-hipsters.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th

3PM- 6PM: Gift Tour at Atlantic Antic
Watch me ooh and ahh over wonderful things you can buy me for my birthday. Oh, yeah, take in the sighs, sounds, and tastes of Brooklyn's diverse cultures in this ginormous street fair on Atlantic Avenue.

7PM: Stew perform songs from Passing Strange and a few songs with his band, The Negro Problem
Joe's Pub @ The Delacorte Theater in Central Park
Free but tickets must be obtained at 1PM either at The Delacorte or at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street (near Astor Place), from 1PM to 3PM. Check out the website for details.

9:30PMish- 11:30PM: Cheapshots!
140 1st Ave (Cross Street: Between St Marks Place and East 9th Street, East Village
Since I was born on this day 28 years ago, I think it's only proper that I try to drink myself to near death for free this evening. You guys can enjoy pretty decent booze prices too. Bring singles for the jukebox!

WISH LIST
I have no shame. I want things. Maybe you could hook a sister up...
Re-gifted or gently used but awesome items will be totally accepted.

Karaoke CDs--various artist. The cheesier the better!
Trader Joe's Gift Certificate
Whole Foods gift certificate
Cool Clothes. Let me eliminate the guess work: dress, pant, skirt size 5/6. American Apparel t-shirt size Medium/OS ladies cut. Shoe size 8.
Cooking/Baking/ kitchen supplies.
Craft supplies.
Vegan goodies.
Laptop case to fit 15.4" laptop.
Subscription to BUST, Craftzine, BITCH, HEEB, VegNews, Readymade, and Naturally You magazines sent to my home address (see above). Pick one!
Something cute from ETSY.com or perhaps something you made.

I should be in bed but instead I'll tell youwhat happened today, Sep. 10

2007-09-10T22:46:00.000-05:00

Today I continued my temp assignment at the fabulous Bloomberg NYC headquarters. There is lots of natural light, open spaces where co-workers gather to buzz, technology and news themed art, and--best of all--unlimited snacks--many of which are accidentally vegan. Terra Gold chips in all varieties, plantain chips, cassava chips, pita chips, kiwis, green apples, bananas, coffee, iced coffee, fancy syrup for coffe and soda, Poland Spring bottles (or Dasani, for folks who prefer tap), Oreos, Cinnamania, and Chicken Style Cup of Noodle (which I haven't tried yet because I'm not sure if it's safe to eat peroxide). My previous employer is rumored to have used the expression "All she does is eat and gossip" to describe my work ethic, so you can imagine how Bloomberg is like a wet dream come true for me. I actually don't hate my assignment either. I'm working in Ad Traffic in Web Publishing area--helping them transition from one server to another. It's pretty quiet and low key and, best of all, I do not have to use anything related to Microsoft Office, Lotus Notes, or a phone. Sweet relief.

Today, my amazing chef/ caterer friend Yoli and I filmed the pilot for our potential cooking show. We had a blast and I actually learned a lot--like how to correctly chop an onion and the difference between curly and flat leaf parsley. Hopefully, things look good after editing.

Inspired by my day of cooking with Yoli, I prepared a cook-up of Okra and Plantains for dinner, along with oven roasted corn and quinoa.

Here's the recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put corn directly on the wire rack. Don't remove husk! Set timer for 20 minutes.
Start preparing quinoa according to box instructions. I usually add about 1 tsp of Spike seasoning.
Meanwhile on the stove: Saute 2 cloves garlic, 1 half small onion, 1 small tomato, and about 1/3 cup diced green pepper in canola oil over medium heat until green pepper is soft. Be sure to push it around a bit, so it doesn't burn.
Add a handful of okra that's been cut into little wheels and one ripe plantain that's cut into bite size pieces. Cook for about 7 minutes or so. (Honestly, I don't remember how long I cooked it, but 7 minutes sounds good. Just make sure the plantain isn't raw or else you won't be able to digest it--if you know what I mean.)
Add 1 TBS lemon juice and pepper, salt, cumin, coriander, and paprika to taste. (I used about 1/4-1/2 tsp of each.)
Cook for another 3-5 minutes to let the flavors meld, then remove from heat.
Remove corn from oven once timer goes off.
Put everything in a bowl and enjoy with a cold beer--you deserve it!

Farm Pizza!

2007-08-20T23:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Jessica and I joined up with other Bed-Stuy CSA members to visit the farm where Hector grows our food. The farm was much smaller than I imagined it was. I'm really impressed that Hector manages to grow so much on such a small space. Oh, Jason (the only person who reads this blog) was with us. I beat him at travel Connect-4 and then he made us play Boggle by the offical rules--which was great because he actually beat Jessica who has been undefeated in every house game she and I have ever played. Schweet!

While at the farm, we harvested part of our share. We picked about 300 Whole Foods dollars worth of heirloom tomatoes. This afternoon I went over to Jason's and we made a huge pot of tomato sauce, which neither The Cat nor I were a big fan of. Stll, it was fun to cook with someone else. I love cooking with friends. Plus, I didn't have to do any dishes.

I made two pizzas when I got home. Both have an herbal-nutritional yeasty crust. One pizza has an heirloom tomato basil sauce base and was topped with roasted garlic, red onion, black olives, and zucchini. It was great. The other has a pesto base, red onion, black olives, tomato, zucchini, and Mexican field roast sausage. It wasn't as good as the tomato based pizza--that's why there's so much left. I guess it's official, I really don't like pesto.

So yeah, that was today. Since I haven't written in here in a while I should brief you on the past six months. I had some funny times temping. I started feeling bad about my life. I wanted regular income, friends, a place to put my coffee mug. I got a permanent admin job. It was boring and made me feel bad about my life. I quit. I still feel bad about my life, but a little less hopeless though a little more broke. I've got to find a way to follow my dreams (except for the cocaine dreams) and make some paper. God, are you listening?

You can flush me down, but I'll still pop up!

2007-08-17T23:18:00.001-05:00

It's been like forever since I've written on this bloggy blog blog. I feel like such a turd...a turd that has been flushed down and forgotten, only to resurface hours later when company needs to use the restroom. Rouge, intrusive, gross, and embarrassing.

So, what's happened since I last went down that dark path? Um. Okay. I had a job as an admin at a bank. (Snore.) I resigned. (Cheer.) I realized it's not my job that's making me depressed and bored. (Yikes.) I wish there was a way to kill yourself and be guaranteed to be reincarnated as someone who won't make you miserable. Perhaps I should enter the witness protection program. ("Yeah, I know things.") They might hook me up and I wouldn't have to go through that whole dramatic choose-your-own-adventure suicide bullshit. I'm a libra. I'd probably be 80 before I decided how I was going to do myself in.

This week, as best I remember it: Feb 26-Mar 4

2007-02-28T00:09:00.000-05:00

Monday, February 26
I went to see Marcellus Hall at the Lakeside Lounge with Jess and Zman. Marcellus Hall was vocalist/ guitarist in the band Railroad Jerk, which I was obsessed with in high school and miss since they dissolved back in '96. Afterwards, Jess and I had dinner at Life cafe, then took a cab home. (Ballin'!)

Tuesday, February 27
I wasn't feeling emotionally or physically well again and I had like a million things to do. In the evening I baked these lemon coconut raisin scones and felt a little better. Mmm...Cooking as therapy!

Wednesday, February 28
The weather was so beautiful; I regret that I didn't make it out until 5:30! April came over for dinner. I had planned on making butternut squash risotto, but they didn't have any Arborio rice in the supermarket. I ended up making broccoli and tofu spicy peanut stir fry with couscous. Jessica came home early too, so it was so nice to hang out with them both and "girl talk." April is so funny and cute--and boy crazy, she couldn't stop talking about her crush!

Thursday, March 1
In an effort to do something with my life while I still have it, I sewed an apron this morning. I used my old bathrobe and a supercute bed sheet from Goodwill. Though it was intended to be a very simple and quick project, my sketchy "measure once, cut once" sewing ethic added at least two hours to the entire process. All in all, I'm pleased with the apron and next time I set out to make an apron I have a clear picture of how to construct it. I can't wait to get cookin'!

Friday, March 2
I passed the time while temping by reading about the "white devil," processed sugar. Apparently sugar is seriously bad for you. Not just in a playful "you'll get cavities and a fat ass" kind of way. I'm talkin' in a super evil, fuck up your immune system and life kinda way.

Here are a few choice facts about sugar that I discovered on LagustasLuscious.com under the essay How to Eat.

It lessens germ-killing ability in the body for up to 5 hours because it reduces the production of antibodies.
It interferes with the transport of vitamin c (don't eat sugar when you're sick!).
In order to deal with the wreckage brought on by sugar, the body depletes its own store of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Without these the body cannot function property, for example, anemia can result from the body stripping itself of iron.

Lagusta explains the cause for sugar addiction:

First, a word on sugar cravings: if you are not getting enough protein, you can crave sugar because protein and sugar are on opposite ends of the food spectrum and therefore balance each other out (white sugar is 99.5% carbs, whereas proteins like meat are almost all protein and fats and water and no carbs. This is why 3- or 5-grain tempeh is a complete protein -- it has carbs and protein!). This is why everyone knows some schmuck who can eat lots of steak and lots of refined sugars and can sort of survive OK, until he has a heart attack and dies, of course. But for you, my little vegan love, sugar will wreck you, because most likely you're not getting a ton of protein (which, is better for you, as too much protein is not a good thing). Sugar addiction is stronger in low protein diets and in low calorie diets -- if you're not getting enough calories, your body craves something simple it can digest quickly -- refined sugar fits the bill perfectly. Ditto with not getting enough complex carbs. BUT the same is true if you're getting too much protein and not enough complex carbs -- you've swung over to the other side of the spectrum and will again crave the white devil. If you're dehydrated you might crave sugar, so drink some water before you go have a pint of rice dream ice cream. If you're eating really refined, fragmented foods you might crave sugar because you are not getting enough whole foods and your body is searching for fulfillment. If you're macrobiotic and are getting too many contractive foods (meat, salt, miso, grains, nuts, sea vegs) you might crave expansive things like drugs, alcohol, fruit, tea, coffee, and sugar and veggies. If you eat enough whole grains and quality protein sources you will not crave sugar as much.

Suddenly my life made sense! I'm sick all the time because of all the refined sugar flowing through my veins. Determined to turn over a new leaf, I decided to eschew sugar for good. Despite my minor setback of eating a handful of jelly beans a few hours later, I feel really empowered and am sure I can kiss sugar goodbye. I have to.

After work, Sabrina and I went over to Cassandra's place for a Taco Benefit Party to support the SHAC 7. Cass can cook! I enjoyed a very tasty chorizo taco, marvelous mexican rice, and some chocolate cake with maple and chocolate frosting. I probably shouldn't have had the cake given my recent commitment to my health, but there's always tomorrow and the day after.

Saturday, March 3
A mystery. I did make this fantastic dinner of black-eyed peas, ginger coconut rice, tostones, and a tasty garnish of sliced green peppers. I followed Madhur Jaffrey's recipe for Trinidadian Spiced Black-Eyed Peas from the World Vegetarian cookbook and Nava Atlas' recipe for Ginger Coconut Rice from The Vegetarian Five-Ingredient Gourmet.

Sunday, March 4
We held a SuperVegan potluck brunch/ board meeting at Jason and Susie's place. I made my fantastic Tropical (French) Toast. Laura made roasted root veggies. Susie made her classic meat wad (see Friday, Jan 26). Jason made his signature DaSalad and a tofu-herb scramble. Working is so delicious!

Tropical (French) Toast by me!

Tofu-Herb Scramble by Jason Das!

DaSalad by Jason Das!

Roasted Root Veggies by Laura!

Meat Wad by Susie!

This week, as best I remember it: Feb 19-Feb 25

2007-02-27T16:28:00.000-05:00

Monday, February 19
President's Day! No work! Whoo Hoo! Wait, I don't have job. Holidays like this are such a rip off. You'd think they'd at least give you double unemployment benefits for Holidays or something.

Holiday or not, this was not the most exciting day ever. Jessica and I took Lucy to the Humane Society of NYC vet for her final booster shot. We then spent the remainder of the day recovering from the horrendously cold weather--Jessica studied and I did stuff on the 'puter.

Tuesday, February 20
Susie and I met up for dinner at Curly's. (Note to reader: Do not ever eat their Corn Chowder.) We then proceeded to Drop Off Service for a release party for the Third issue of Syncopated, which features a great essay and drawing by Susie. Jason joined us at some point too. There was free beer from Brooklyn's Sixpoint Craft Ales--and everyone knows how I love free beer--so I ended up getting buzzed (okay, drunk) after only two pints. That kinda sucked. Somehow, I managed to follow Jason (who met us at DOS later) to Mercury Lounge, where one of his Swedish friends performed with two bands, back-to-back. I don't remember much, but I think I enjoyed myself. I mean, April was there, so how could I not have had a good time. I have to say, I'm a fan of Jason's exes. It almost makes being friend with Jason worth it. (Heh heh.) Susie and April are tops!

Wednesday, February 21
Wednesday morning it became apparent that very painful headache I'd been dealing with for the past five days was not the result of my brain tumor--I had a cold. I'm sort of relieved about this especially since it means that it won't feel like my left eyeball is trying to annex from my skull forever, but I'm bummed that it also means no one will believe me when I say I have a tumor. I still have my doubts that the lump my doctor described as a benign bony growth is not something way more dangerous. I guess you'll have to keep reading this blog to find out what happens. It may be just a matter of months before I end up here.

Despite being sick, I made it out to Vegetarian Dim Sum for Jason's birthday dinner. I ate my weight in Chinese Food and homemade cupcakes (thanks Susie). It was a blast!

Thursday, February 22 & Friday, February 23
Nothing so rife with excess is horrible except for a cold. I spent these days doing lots of the following: blowing my nose, sleeping, sucking Cold Ease, drinking water, and peeing. The only fun excessive thing I did was watch disk 3 of Arrested Development Season 1 and eat about a pound of the world's best kettle corn on Friday.

At 11:40pm Jessica and I got a call from Philip who had taken Sophie the House Guest from Hell (see Friday, February 2) in a few weeks ago. Apparently, her behavior hasn't improved over at his place and he's asked her to leave the next day. He wants us to come over to his place when she leaves the next morning. This is impossible so I compromise by letting him know I'll talk to her. I call Sophie and make sure that she knows he wants her out before noon. She claims he's a raging drunkard, but it seems like she's willing to go.

Saturday, February 24
Life is great! I began to feel much better and my headache finally dissipated. I spent the morning studying for my Women's Studies quiz and rocking out to Seven Year Bitch's Sick 'Em album.

Things hit a low point when I learn there was some drama around Sophie's exit from Philip's home. I don't wanna get into it, but key phrases are: police, jail, $200 owed, not my problem.

The rest of my day was a blast. I continued the tough girl music theme of the day by dancing along to L7's Hungry for Stink. "Andres" is the best song in the world to dance The Robot to! I did some organizing. I ate hot dogs and beans for lunch and then had junk food from Curly's for dinner. (God, I love making wise food choices.) I even re-watched some episodes of Arrested Development. What a great day!

Sunday, February 25
We Core Members group for the Bed-Stuy CSA had our first meeting ever at Bread Stuy. I'm so psyched for this year. It's only the second year, and the first year with a Core Members group, so we don't have the restrains of precedents what we can do. Anything is possible and that's really exciting. As an extra bonus, a nice couple (Canek and Ren) that I met at Time's Up is in the group and lives in the 'hood. Yay!

After the meeting I stopped by Sabrina and Patrina's place and watched Daughters of the Dust with their film group. 'Trina cooked up some delicious South Carolina style gumbo to go with the theme of the movie, which is set in the Gulla Islands.

When I left their place the was a snow storm in progress and I could barely see. As a result, I lost track of the blocks I was walking and missed my bus stop. I figured it was just as well, since I don't live too far from the twins' place and I could use the exercise. Fast forward thirty minutes and I'm still walking and unsure if I am anywhere near home since every block looks the same when all the homes and my glasses are covered in snow. (The faulty directions I finally brought myself to ask from a driver didn't help either!) Finally I recognised Lexington Street and realised I was not only really far from home but in the heart of the ghetto. Yikes! Somehow I made it home alive.

This week, as best I remember it: Feb 12-Feb 18

2007-02-19T19:25:00.000-05:00

I would like to sum up the week that's passed as boring and full of moments that could be judged as morbidly insignificant (even when using the standards of this blog). I'll just post the highlights and spare you the super boring stuff.

Monday, February 12
I returned to the financy place to work as a receptionist. As a temp, it's always nice to be back where I know everyone but there weren't any eccentric visitors or callers so things were kind of lame.

For dinner, I cooked up Indian-Spiced Sweet Potato Potpie from my favorite cookbook, The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. I also prepared ginger snaps for dessert. I can't get enough of those cookies!

Tuesday, February 13, Wednesday, February 14, & Thursday, February 15
Temping. Eating. Sleeping. Chores. Boring. Boring. Boring.

Well, one fun thing happened on Wednesday: I caught Somethin' (of Flavor of Love fame) on MTV's Date My Mom. Good to know she's not letting a little rouge turd stop her from finding true love via the teen television circuit.

Friday, February 16
Susie, Josh, and I tagged along with April to a V-day party in Williamsburg. They had some a tasty variety of snacks including pink heart shaped popcorn balls, but (to April's lament) the boy population, though large, was not as delicious. How is it possible that someone could have so many guy friends and not a single cute one? I smell conspiracy.

Still, the evening wasn't a complete loss. The party picked up about 10 minutes before we left. The hostesses finally got a clue and turned off the radio that was tuned to Power 105 and put on some albums. I had the time of my life dancing to songs from Thriller in my coat and thermals. It was hot!

Saturday, February 17
Jazz and I met up for lunch and a blogging tutorial at Soy Luck Club, then I went shopping and bought these great shoes at Strawberry. I know they're sort of tacky, but I love, love, love leopard print and am thrilled to have found heels I can walk in.

Sunday, February 18
Jessica and I don't really spend that much waking time together because she works full time, goes to school three evenings out of the week, and spends Friday nights and Saturdays with her little sister. As a result, Sundays are pretty special in general and this Sunday in particular was one of the nicest days we've had together in a while. We "slept in" and then went to Caravan of Dreams for brunch. Afterwards, we got our eyebrows threaded and then we hung out at Bluestockings (where I met a raw chef who shared a very complicated French Toast recipe with me). Later we walked over to Angelika where we saw The Lives of Others in a very packed house. The movie was soooo good! Our final stop was a late dinner at Red Bamboo.

New Beloved Binge Video!

2007-02-15T20:57:00.000-05:00

I heart Beloved Binge and I double heart their Valentine's Day video, "Love Makes You Fat". Check it!

This weekend, as best I remember it: Feb 9-Feb 11

2007-02-13T13:08:00.000-05:00

Friday, February 9
My temp assignment at the bank copy shop of horrors continues. It's much better though, now that I know I won't be returning next week. I'll be going back to my sweet cushy receptionist spot at the financy place.

After work, I have dinner at Red Bamboo Brooklyn with Susie, Jason Das, Patrick, Benjamin, April, Debra, and Josh. Tons of fun! It was the best time that I've had in a long time. For some reason, Josh mistakenly thinks I'm drunk. That happens to me a lot. I know I'm not the driest person alive, but c'mon! I'm just naturally giggly and loud.

Saturday, February 10
Lucy is crazy about Chinese food leftovers!

Sabrina and I attend a double birthday party for a friend and her jokester husband. I have a great time until the husband makes a habit of kissing my head and announcing very loudly that he has a crush on me. I'm sure he thinks this is all very funny since he has enough alcohol in his system to fuel a Segue, but it's terribly embarrassing for me. I'm still recovering.

Sunday, February 11
Jessica and I have brunch at Caravan of Dreams and sit at the coveted lovers' bench. There are even more couples there than usual, and I find myself nauseated even though I am in a relationship. But it may have something to do with the Yuppie mother changing her baby's diaper on the bench just two seats away from me. I'm sure she thinks everything about her baby is wonderful, but I don't need to see the end result of soy formula and applesauce over brunch. Who let that baby in here anyway?!

The highlight of the day happens at 9:30 when Jessica unveils the Valentine's Day secret she's been keeping for 3 weeks--Kiki & Herb! That's right, we catch the dynamic duo at Joe's Pub! Best present ever!

Remembrance of things past: Feb 2-Feb 8

2007-02-13T08:54:00.000-05:00

Friday, February 2
No temp assignment so I'm stuck at home with the house guest from hell! She's really not that terrible. I mean, she hasn't sparked a crack pipe or invited neighborhood thugs over for a gangbang. Still, I am counting the seconds until our guest leaves and I know my pets are too. She's been treating my cats like left handed, redhead stepchildren--locking them out of the living room, putting their liter box in the kitchen (!), and complaining about them touching the stuff she leaves hanging around. Doesn't she realise this is their apartment and not hers? If you don't like cats why would you ever think of entering a one-bedroom apartment ruled by four of them? I'm tempted to get WWF on her ass and dump her out onto the mean streets of Brooklyn (Nobody puts kitty in a corner!), but instead I did that stupid girl thing and just pretended she didn't exist.

As an escape the emotional turmoil caused by seeing my little ones mistreated and to continue my adventures in deep frying (see Thursday, Feb 1), I make a zepole-donut hybrid I like to call "Zeponuts", following the Cop Shop Special donut recipe from Please Don't Feed the Bears. I diverge from the recipe by adding [in retrospect, copious amounts of] vanilla and almond extract, which makes my apartment smell like cheap men's cologne, but also gives the zeponuts that somethin' special. I cover half with powder sugar and the other half with a powdered sugar/cinnamon combo. [I'll post my altered recipe here later so you guys can make it.] The entire process took less than 30 minutes! The zeponuts are great except I pass out on the couch after eating only 3 due to the high fat content.

Later that evening, I go to this superfancy club in Chelsea to celebrate Anne's birthday. My hipster, err..blipster, homohobo chic doesn't really fit in with all the black and sparkly outfits and the $12 drinks definitely don't fit into my budget, so I can't say I'm having the time of my life but it's good to get out and see friends. I give Anne a bunch of Zeponuts and she writes me the next day to tell me she ate one even after it fell on the floor of her lobby! I don't think a chef could receive a higher compliment.

Saturday, February 3
Today is the first meeting of my Intro to Women Studies class. Suddenly the world makes sense! I'm hip to The Man, man!

After class I have the most wonderful Spinach and Pesto tofu omelet at Caravan of Dreams . I love dining alone since I can read and take forever to eat so this brunch should have been perfect, except it wasn't. Because I'm by myself and the place is super busy they put me at a crappy aisle table where my table is constantly knocked about by a portly waitress each time one of the bourgeois May-December couples eating at the coveted bench seats needs a napkin or water refill.

My spirits are lifted when I spot Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping protesting the Astor Place Starbucks...err, make that one of the Astor Place Starbucks. It is such a fun and creative spectacle, I can't help but be jealous. (Why are so many AR protests complete bores?). Unfortunately, Rev. Billy was taken away by the police after he and his congregation entered the coffee shop singing, clapping, and waving anti-Starbucks signs.

There was also a congregationless, Pro-Starbucks preacher in a dirty white suit, let's call him Rev. Silly. I felt sorry for him not getting any attention, so I took his picture too.

This event immediately followed the protest to save Whole Earth Bakery from losing its lease, which Rev. Billy also lent his support to. Personally, I think the cookies and cakes at WEB are the stuff nightmares about vegan desserts are made of. I'd like to see the place shut down immediately and I bet a lot of chickens and cows share my sentiment. (Good riddance, hippies!) My girlfriend, however, feels differently--something about jobs, livelihood, gentrification, blah, blah, blah, boring. Gimme some sugar!

Sunday, February 4
My house guest leaves and I am so overjoyed that it doesn't even bother me that she left her dirty dishes in the sink. The cats are liberated!

Monday, February 5
Binge drinking and jello wrestling with Barack Obama in hopes of getting the promise of a seat on his cabinet.

I somehow find time to finish reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Tuesday, February 6
I begin the temp job from hell except I don't know it yet. I spend most of the day laughing and gossiping with my new co-workers and occasionally stapling some papers. I'm a $13/hr cog in a wheel that is going to make this bank like a gazillion dollars. Apparently, they're selling a bunch of mortgages, some of which date back to 1870 and they need the files disassembled, scanned, copied, and reassembled. This needs to be done carefully since each documents we handle is "like touching several million dollars". The weird thing is each page feels like a few cents being painfully extracted from my lifeblood and spirit to me, but why split hairs.

After a day of working as an office drone, I need to do something creative. I bake ginger snaps to bring with me to Booklyn Open Salon. The event was kind of boring because people weren't that outgoing or friendly and since Susie flaked on me (sort of, I guess our plans were a bit ambiguous) which left me without a friend to be anti-social and cooler-than-thou with.

Wednesday, February 7
The supervisor at my temp job catches on that I didn't really do much yesterday and moves me from the rebinding team to the copy team. The copy room is hell on earth. It's windowless, loud, and stinks of chemicals. To make matters worse, I have to stand for the entire day! My only respite is a 45-minute lunch at The Green's. The Kosher Vegan Chinese food is great so I eat there every day of the assignment, but the service--Oi Vay! I think all the waitresses are dancing with Tina.

Thursday, February 8: Where where you when Anna Nicole Smith died?
The fumes from the copy room make me light headed and kill at least 20% of my brain cells. I get lost on the way home from work so that what should have been an easy 20 minute commute turns into 1 hour of anxiety--no kidding!

Scrabble Genius!

2007-02-05T23:39:00.000-05:00

Dan and some wonderful woman whose name I can't remember completed this brilliant Scrabble board at Cassandra's Anti-Superbowl Party this Sunday. Way to use your fancy pants NYU education, Dude!

Just say "No": The new battlecry of the unemployed.

2007-02-03T02:42:00.000-05:00

Today I woke up at 6:30am feeling perky, but with no place to go. I oftentimes find myself waking up or feeling sleepy at strange hours, hankering for food served only in a certain area of the city, and wanting to dress myself completely inappropriately for my day's errands. That's the downside of temping; the anxious feeling of being uncertain who's life I'll be living on any given day. Even worse is sometimes feeling afraid to live my own life as it is--formless--when I haven't any assignment.

As cliche as it is, our jobs really do define us. And when you have no permanent job...well, it's really up to you and how you wanna look at things. You can identify your lack of a position as the possession of infinite possibilities and feel totally liberated by this or you can see your lack of a position as the possession of infinite possibilities and feel totally fucking afraid. I tend to feel the later. Without the shackles of a job, I have no one to blame for my life not being the way I want it to. No longer can I blame The Man when I haven't blogged for days, crafted any new creatures for weeks, drawn for months, gone to the gym in a year, ever remembered to take my vitamins, or done whatever other thing I need/want to do.

Of course, it's ridiculous for me to believe that I'd be on top of all that just because I am without a regular 9-5 but how am I to convince myself of this when it's the story I've been telling myself since I was an angsty, artsy teenage just dying to burst through the shackles of Catholic school, my mom, and poverty? I don't know how to live without this tale, without this dichotomy of various social structures and institutions as my oppressor and myself as the oppressed. Here I am with a spare 8 hours a day, the support of a loving partner who looks after my needs, good friends, and wonderful companion animals, but I still ain't livin' the dream. What gives?

(Note: For those who've never been without work and have no reference point for thses feelings, view About Schmidt to get a basic idea of what I'm going through.)

I'm slowly realising that The Man keeping me from doing all those things I think I want/need to do is myself. So far it's been a very painful thing to understand. Perhaps the worst part is that I'm coming to find that I may be very different than the person I've been imagining myself as and attempting to cultivate. There's the very real possibility that a lot of the things that I thought I've just been putting off or been kept from doing are actually things I really don't have any desire for.

I don't wanna stay up all night writing about my feelings so I'll cut to the chase--Being unemployed (for me at least) is an exercise in saying "No". Saying "No" to the personal myth that being jobless is the ultimate freedom. Saying "No" to all the people who think that your time belongs to them "since you're not doing anything else." Saying "No" to those things you really thought you wanted to accomplish, those things that seemed like a good idea at the time, but aren't anymore (or maybe never were).

It's been hard for me to say no. My knee-jerk reaction is always to give people the answer they yearned for. I always wanted to say "Yes "and be positive and affirmative. But now I'm finding that if I say "No" or "I'm not sure" I actually give myself the opportunity to consider my priorities and think about what I'd like to be doing. Saying "No" isn't about my doing less; it's about my becoming more purposeful in every action. This is really scary since I hate to disappoint my friends and family, but I like to think it's something I have to go through to grow up and into the wonderful, sassy lady I'm meant to be.

This week, as best I remember it: Jan 26-Feb 1

2007-02-01T11:03:00.000-05:00

Friday, January 26

Susie made the best seitan ever! She followed a recipe from Isa over at the Post Punk Kitchen. In ordinary circumstances, I would link to http://theppk.com/, which is their website. Unfortunately I can't do that since The PPK site has been down since last Thursday. I assume it has something to do with the site getting too many hits since a glorious article on the vegan chefs appeared in the Food & Dining section of the New York Times that morning. Ah, the painful price of fame!

Anyways, thank goodness Susie had the foresight/paranoid genius to print out the recipe in advance of getting down to the nitty gritty in the kitchen. Though Susie says the recipe was pretty easy to follow, the meaty loaf did take over two hours to prepare. Fortunately, I surfaced at her place just as the seitan was done boiling. Before being cooked, the seitan kinda looked like Meat Wad from Aqua Team Hunger Force, still it was super tasty. It was even better after Susie fried it up with some onions. Mmmm...God bless you Susie!

Saturday, January 27

Jessica, Sabrina and I saw Pan's Labyrinth at BAM. This is officially the second weirdest movie I've ever seen. (Twin Peaks being the weirdest--the midget gave it that competitive edge.) I may be permanently scarred.

Afterwards,us Mocha Majesties moved on to Jason Atkin's B-day party at Wai Cafe. There I ate my first salad of 2007, even though it featured raw tofu (gasp!) since it was the only decent thing to eat (imagine that!). Jason is quite the socialite with an awesome group of friends and great taste in cake, so it was totally worth enduring a green dinner.

Sunday, January 28

Being the broke and moody recluse that I am, I stayed in all day staring into space while my woman worked. Thankfully, Jessica earns enough money for us to stay on top of all the news that's fit to print. The NY Times article on Blipsters (black fans of indie rock), shone some light on a love that once had no name. Line Out's commentary pretty much sums it up.

My friend Sophie who is hails from Chicago but is here to study at Brooklyn College set up camp in my living room. (Email me if you've got need a roommate and I'll pass on the message to her.)

Monday, January 29

A total blur of unemployed bliss. Lots of What Not to Wear and random HGTV programs. At some point I attempted to do something with my life and hem my new pair of pants. This attempt made me realise that a stint on Project Runway is not in my future. It also left me with a deep reverence for my local cleaners, who had frustrated me with their lack of English skills in the past. Screw English, tailoring is the international language of love!

I also listened to El Oso for the first time at least a year. I forgot how wonderful this album is. Sadly, according to Wikipedia Soul Coughing broke up in 2000, after years of feuding over songwriting credits and publishing money. I miss this band so much. I actually coughed up cash to see them play at Irving Plaza back when I was 16 and twenty dollars translated into many painful hours of babysitting. Why must the fans suffer for their sins of greed?

Tuesday, January 30

I took my kitten Marty (aka Farty Marty) to the cheapo Humane Society clinic to get his diarrhea checked out; he also got a booster shot and AIDS test. Marty's mom was a pregnant teen we found wandering the streets of Bed-Stuy, so who knows--keep yr fingers crossed.

Later that afternoon, I saw The Queen at Sophie's prompting ("It's probably going to win an Academy Award"). Thank God the theater seats were comfy enough to allow me to sleep through most of this. Academy Award Nomination my ass!

In the evening, I attended Open Studio at Booklyn in Greenpoint for the first time. I learned how to do the Button Hole stitch, which is very similar to the Blanket Stitch used in embroidery and applique. It wasn't at all like this, still it was quite fun. I'm definitely a bookworm now and plan to go every Tuesday night. Anyone wanna join me?

Wednesday, January 31

Another recluse day rife with broken promises to visit friends. Sorry but I seriously think I'm suffering from agoraphobia (not to be confused with angoraphobia, which I also suffer from since I'm vegan and am a foster parent of the world's most wonderful goat)!

I did manage spend an hour preparing the most awesome meal of Whole-wheat Couscous and Chickpeas with Veggies. Here's my recipe:

Dice 1/2 ginormous onion (or 1 whole medium-sized one), 5 cloves of garlic, 6 button mushrooms, and 1/2 huge green pepper.
Saute above in olive oil over medium-high heat until onions are translucent.
Add 2 diced carrots (or maybe more if you like sweet stuff and don't want any regrets).
Add 1/2 to 1 whole yellow zucchini.
Rinse, drain, and add one large can (about 19 oz) of chickpeas.
Chop up 7-8 plum tomatoes. Add a bunch of tomato juice (about 1 cup) from the can too. You might also opt to not be a cheapo and spring the few extra cents to buy a can of diced tomatoes, which you could just dump into the pan, juice and all.
Season according to my taste because I have a superior palate: lotsa cumin, many shakes of salt, several shakes of cardamom and coriander, a few shakes of turmeric, 1/8 tsp of cayenne, and a few shakes of black pepper.
Cook over medium-low heat until carrots are sort of tender. This might take between 30 and 45 minutes and might also involve cooking the other veggies within an inch of their nutritional value, but it's totally delish. Be sure to add more tomato juice in small increments if things start getting dry while cooking. Burnt food is never tasty!
Follow instructions to make couscous. Make sure you use Earth Balance to cook with your couscous. The buttery flavor is worth the extra calories.
This serves 3-4 hungry people.

Thursday, February 1

Today's lesson in temping is: Temping as a receptionist is fun and a great way to chronicle your week while still earning money!

Today's other lesson in temping is: Being Jewish is rad! I just picked up lunch for one of the employees here and it came in a sealed paper tote bag. One seal had the circled red K on it and the other seal had the name of the rabbi who certified it and a number you could call if you suspected tampering! How awesome is that! They need to make one of those things for vegans. I guess I'll move on to putting that into action, once I'm done organizing my Jewish brethren behind my class action lawsuit against Christians for stealing our religion to make some crappy spin off that they cash in on at the end of the year.

Today's lesson in temping is also: You can't judge a book by it's cover. I just met the seemingly most straight-laced, super corporate looking guy and apparently he is the person behind the donut fansite: Protectors of the Krispy Kreme Brand. Had I not met this clean cut guy, I would have imagined its author to be either a more portly incarnation of Al Bundy or a cop. Don't I have donut on my face!

For the record, while KK Donuts are Kosher they are not vegan, so I won't be eating them anytime soon. Still, they are the only non-vegan food that not only fails to repulse me, but actually makes me drool whenever I am downwind of one of their storefronts. We really need a Mighty O or Vegan Treats bakery here in NYC. Those hippy donuts available at Whole Foods are okay, but they don't truly satisfy the crazed fat-lust you get when you really want a donut.

Tonight I made another kick-ass dinner. This time it was Eggplants with Scallion-Tomato Sauce. This dish took about an hour and a half to prepare (I'm a very slow cook) and was inspired by a recipe from the goddess Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. I had to alter it a bit to fit the ingredients I had in my fridge. Fortunately for you, this means I can blog the recipe.

1 medium purple eggplant cut into one inch chunks
salt

1/2 large green pepper, coarsely chopped
4 hearty scallions, coarsely chopped
5 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne
3 tsp canola oil
5 plum tomatoes (I used the canned ones left over from Wednesday night)
1/2 tsp salt

enough canola oil to deep fry (I used a small pan so a little less than 2 cups sufficed.)

Put eggplant into a bowl. Lightly sprinkle salt evenly over the top. Move around a bit. Lightly salt some more so that you get the ones that weren't on top before. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile make the sauce in a food processor or blender. Blend green pepper, scallions, garlic, turmeric, cayenne, and 4 tbsp water until it doesn't have any large bits and looks like some weird vitality drink.
Put 3 tbsp oil in large frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the sauce. Fry, stiring ever minute or so, until the sauce loses most of it's moisture (between 7 and 10 minutes).
While that's going on, begin to heat up the 2 cups of oil for deep frying the eggplants. Use high heat. Also gently pat down the eggplants to get most of the moisture off in preparation for frying.
Add tomatoes to sauce and stir and fry for about 5 more minutes.
Place some eggplants in the oil for deep frying once it's very hot. Don't put so much in that they're crowded and piled upon each other. Accept that you'll have to do another batch.
Add the salt and 1/2 cup water to sauce. Turn heat down to low, cover (if you have one: I don't so I didn't), and simmer for 4 minutes. Take off heat and set aside.
Once the deep frying eggplants are a deep golden brown, remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon. Drain on papertowels. Now deep fry the rest of the eggplant following the same cooking instructions.
Set the sauce over medium heat. Once it's hot, gently fold the eggplants into the sauce.
Serve with couscous and falafel (like I did) or rice and a bean or tofu dish (as the goddess recommends). This served two very hungry people.