hangin' on the cusp

Last year, I:

-Lost a dog and finally stopped blaming myself for it
-Switched jobs and got a better picture of what I'd like my big girl career to look like in so doing
-Applied to law school (see above)
-Moved again and again hoped it would be the last time
-Spent 7 months+ as a vegetarian and a month of that as a vegan
-Took some sweet trips - Seattle, Montana, the Sierras, Puget Sound and Phoenix* - to see some of my nearest and dearest
-Rode my bike nearly every day
-Started my first garden
-Learned to knit
-Got back into counseling
-Came out as a birdwatcher (expect more bird blogging)
-Occasionally got laid and even dated someone for a bit
-Fell out with a good friend, made some good friends, wrote faraway friends
-Reasonably accomplished my 2008 theme of "be mindful" - resolutions are too constraining, maaaan...

Next year I'd like to:

-Keep up with the above, particularly the travel and hobby parts
-Attend all five weddings (!!) I've been invited to without using my credit card (much)
-Get back to Alaska at some point
-Start at Lewis and Clark or UW Law (fingers crossed!)
-Write folks
-Call folks
-start a spanish class
-Figure out excel - hate that shit
-Take up the themes "get organized and follow through" - those are hard.

Also:



*This is my cousin's baby, Lia Beatrice aka the Bean. She's the happiest baby and the folks at Trader Joe's in Phoenix agree.

a plea on behalf of my fave bookstore

In Other Words, an absolutely rad non-profit, collectively-owned, volunteer-run, feminist, queer-friendly bookstore is going under and needs $11K to stay afloat. I've already chipped in, and, if you're a fan of them and their rad gatherings and radder community, you should too. I love this place. You can find all the activist and feminist reading you could want, plus great cookbooks, nature books, and gifty trinkets that aren't appallingly kitschy. They host Dirty Queer, a notorious monthly erotica reading. It's a great place to spend a few hours and more than a few dollars. They're taking donations in any amount, so kick 'em a few bucks and help keep one of the places I adore most in Portland up and running.

They're at 8 NE Killingsworth, if you feel like stopping in.

Merry Christmas to me!

The fact that I'm so excited, nay, ecstatic about this shows:

a) that I will likely live and die the rest of my days in the Pacific Northwest
b) I can most definitely lay claim to the adjectives "outdoorsy" and "pear-loving"
c) that I am not afraid to shill in my blog

It's really, really good.

Moving Update: The mountains of boxes are closer to hills or knolls, and every piece of clothing I own is no longer on the floor. Also, roommate's dog has annexed my bed. Or maybe I'm allowed to sleep in her second bed. Either way - cute.

moving sucks!

and that's what I'm doing, so bear with the silence, please.

ha!

Bill Sizemore, local anti-teacher author of tremendously moronic ballot initiatives, was jailed for contempt of court. His above-linked "non-profit" has been suspected of and investigated for fraudulent practices, and Sizemore blew his fourth chance to file required state and federal tax documents. As such, the judge tossed him in jail. This man, I might add, is a convicted racketeer. Pardon my glee, but I do enjoy watching corrupt folks go down.

a pleasant thought for cyclists/talking about the weather

It turns out Portland averages as many days over 65 degrees (F) as it does rainy days - round about 150 each. To be precise, PDXers get 156 warm days, and 151 wet ones. Not bad for a reputedly damp, depressing and gray city. (If you follow the link, you will also see the rather unfortunate statistics on how many cloudy days we get. But it's still better than Anchorage!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

two-wheeler edumacation

I took apart my drive train this weekend and cleaned it all up. Sadly, this is the time of year where that fresh, well-oiled machine feeling lasts about a day and a half. To say nothing of the state of my bike generally - let's just say the little lady is starting to slow down in her old age. Next stop: hub overhauls.

Senator-elect Begich!

I'm not going to get tired of that title for a while, either. Check it.

Finally! Formal recognition of monosyllabic apathy!

"Meh" has been added to a dictionary. I'm not sure how the Collins English Dictionary - published by HarperCollins - stacks up in the pantheon of dictionary legitimacy, but it gets mad points on my scorecard for including "meh". When the OED gets on that wagon, we know we've got a winner.

briefly: props to Julia Butterfly's heir apparent

Any Ducks or former Ducks know Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky? She's taking to a tree in Salem with the rad and radical enviro group Rising Tide to protest logging and deforestation. Pretty hardcore, considering the biblical amounts of rain we're getting these days. Salem likely won't be hit as hard as Seattle or Portland, but I would still rather not up a tree 24/7 in any amount of Oregon rain. Anyway, props to Jasmine. Go Ducks!

let's make one thing perfectly clear

This election was a landmark victory and a long-awaited and much-needed step in the direction of American decency. I don't want to qualify this, as many queer bloggers have, by saying "but Prop 8..." and I won't. For those who oppose GLBTQI rights, that was a landmark victory too. A landmark victory that galvanizes the removal of civil rights, but I suppose it's all a matter of perspective.

Well. Now that the perspective-talk is out of my system, let's talk about why everyone, absolutely EVERYONE, is to blame for this mess. Myself included. Hell, myself especially.

By now, Dan Savage's surprisingly idiotic comments have gained a following among queers who start sentences with, "Now, I'm not racist or anything..." - often, but not always, white. The thrust of his argument cites exit poll data and cultural stereotypes that indicate homophobic attitudes are more prevalent among African-Americans and Latinas/Latinos. What I got out of this is "they're less open-minded than us" - which, in the world of the smug liberal (my world, mind you) - is tantamount to saying "we're just better people than them." Before you accuse me of being reductive, look at Savage's language.

...I’m thrilled that we’ve just elected our first African-American president. I wept last night. I wept reading the papers this morning. But I can’t help but feeling hurt that the love and support aren’t mutual.

Are you joking? Of course the love and support aren't mutual. African-Americans still get hassled by the cops for nothing at all. Legal Latinas and Latinos get flak about their immigration status from total strangers. I may be a whitey just like you, Dan, but at least I can see that we are far from the Promised Land of Mutual Love and Support. Furthermore, the fact that Savage feels entitled to reciprocity of this support despite no real indication that he has earned it strikes me as a very (pardon me, but) White Male Attitude. Perhaps Savage has done some major outreach to people of color, and has really been active in advocating for minorities other those pertaining to orientation and gender. That would be news to me, and I'll happily take back my ugly words if so. Near as I can tell, though, Savage doesn't deserve the "love and support" of voters of color de facto, based solely on his status as another sort of minority.

What bothers me most about this is that these comments truly marginalize folks whose identities are not tied up solely in their sexuality or race alone. Whether Savage intended to or not, he drew a line and put queers on one side and people of color on the other. We all know that's absurd, since there are millions of queer people of color. We also know that white people can be homophobic too. Many, many white people are. This is so basic! In this great post by Anxious Black Woman, the author rightfully points out that the people who killed Matthew Shepard and Brandon Teena were white. So were the people who keyed my truck when I came out and beat the hell out of a guy I went to high school with. To truly embrace the melting pot means one cannot ascribe valued terms or characteristics to entire identity groups. For crying out loud, can we get away from villanizing identity politics? Please?

On that note, I'd like to point out that demonizing the Mormon church is not going to help matters. Yes, the Latter Day Saints went marching in to California with oodles of cash and may or may not have been a turning point on the Prop 8 front. Removing their tax exempt status will not overturn Prop 8, though. Nor will it do much besides remove the tax shelter for an organization that I frankly don't get but provides community and solace for a bunch of people who think I'm a double sinner for liking ladies as well as this fantastic cup of coffee.

What truly needs to happen, in my humblest, is an effort toward giving everyone a decent standard of living. "Wait," you may protest, "how does that help gaywads get married?" It doesn't, not immediately, but let's look at the biggest concerns facing the country as a whole. Not everyone can eat or afford their housing. Not everyone can get access to basic medications. Not everyone gets a decent education or adequate legal representation. Compared to these, officially and publicly recognizing that you and your partner shop for drapes instead of have sex is pretty pale. Yes, there are legal implications. Yes, I think queers should be able to get married and divorced, adopt kids, and be with each other in times of need. But other, more fundamental issues of equality are where my top priorities lie.

Damn. I think I'm a traitor to the movement.

Anyway, I know this is a novel, but it's been percolating for a while. Also, I haven't been cooking as much and the latest craftery is still in the works.

Yesterday, I had a fantastic moment with clear skies between rain showers, fresh produce and a bearded man writing not-half-bad street corner poetry. This morning, I had a crappy moment with coffee spilling in my waterproof bag, destroying my work phone and day planner. Talk about the difference between a Sunday and a Monday.

check it!

New layout courtesy Kelly.

Ground control to Major Tom

Happy Halloween and Happy Election Day! GO VOTE.

Vegan MoFo Day 31

Over this month, I've done a fair bit of self-righteous hating (or whining) on my month of veganism. That's pretty out of line, considering it's just an ideological difference and can't we all just get along? So for my final MoFo post, I'll round up some of the benefits I reaped from this and conclude with a plug for my favorite vegan cookbook.

My intake of fats - saturated, un-, trans- and otherwise - decreased drastically. With the exception of EB and cooking oil, meals I cooked for myself were largely fat free. Naturally, I wouldn't want to waste away, so I found ways to augment this situation. A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do to maintain her boyish figure. Further, the amount of fiber I was eating increased drastically. Without being too verbose about my fiber intake, I will say that I think part of the "boy, do I feel great!" element of veganism is due to my fiber consumption.

I successfully broke my cheese addiction, too. Meg posted about casein's addictive properties a while back (can't find the post - sorry, internet), and though I was decidedly omni at the time, that thought stuck with me. In fact, I started throwing the term "cheegan" around for vegans who "just can't give up cheese." Bad cheese - non-vegetarian, factory-processed stuff - is pretty prevalent, and I quickly became very discerning once cheese was off the menu. The shreds in a bag? Kind of off-putting. The stuff from the farmer's market? Spendy. Diminished cheese consumption will definitely be a habit now that I know that the Earth won't shatter if I don't chow down on some cheese for a spell. Very helpful in breaking said cheese addiction was soy cheese. That stuff is not AT ALL to my liking, so I bypassed (ha!) the cheese methadone route.

PB and Js excepted, I was largely gluten-free this month. Go figure.

I ate lentils by the metric fuckload and feel no remorse. In fact, I'm making lentil soup tonight. Just you try to stop me.

There was a good deal of freeganing this month as well, as I'm trying to save my pennies. I found some dumpstery scores on free produce and made friends with the free section on Craig's list. Sometimes people give away food! It's amazing.

My vegetarianism, I think, is here to stay. It was also something I got into without much thought ("eating meat hurts, so I'm not going to do it"), but I've come around to the environmental and ethical notions. Meat sort of disgusts me now, even though I rationally know that I'll probably enjoy the taste of some dishes.

Anyway, enough disjointedness. I'll still post vegetarian recipes (with veganization directions) and such, but I don't think that veganism is my bag. Moving right along, my favorite vegan cookbook is a little something I've had since the omni days. The Hot Damn and Hell Yeah/Dirty South double play is amazing. Hot Damn has some excellent introduction to veganism tips (explanation of TVP, how to drain tofu, etc.) and doesn't shy away from the spice, as the name suggests. Plus, the noot yeast cheese sauce recipe is BOMB. The Dirty South veganizes or reinvents all the southern comfort food that my Virginian-born-in-Texas-raised-in-Louisiana grandma makes. Successfully. I'm a particular fan of her hush puppies. Mmm. Plus, the two together - distributed by a rad Portlandy distro - are $7. It's on sale for $5 right now. Support your vegan zinesters and order a copy.

in totally unrelated news, book club got drunk and I hit my face on my handlebars. things are swollen.

Vegan Mofo Day 29 and things I've made

Look tasty? You betcha. Mosetta Stone got me thinking about foods that are naturally vegan - like produce - hence the raw, no recipe, totally vegan post. Fresh picked by yours truly courtesy of some neighbors and the Portland Fruit Tree Project, a non-profit that solicits fruit from fruit tree owners who can't or won't fully harvest their goods. Half of each picking goes to the food bank and half goes to the volunteers. Hence, ten pounds of pears and four of apples. (Full disclosure: This went down a while ago and most of this fruit is long gone.) A fun morning, free fruit for myself and others, and the chance to play with a really cute two year old? Sweet.

Since I actually have access to my pictures, let's see what non-edible projects I've been up to, shall we? I wish I had a picture of the table I painted before I painted it. The camera has been sick lately. Anyway, the table:



Leg detail. Rock!



Plane detail.



Different plane detail.



The whole thing! Picture taken while the clear coat dried. I'm pretty damn proud of it.

Knitting has taken over my brain lately. I made myself a helmet liner as a maiden voyage project (pic below with my washed-out face). For the record, the difference between a helmet liner and a hat in my world is just a matter of thickness and when I wear the thing. For all intents and purposes, they're the same thing.



Finally, the cabled (!) scarf I'm making my brother for Christmas. My first attempt at cables, fyi. Not too shabby!



Shout out to Vegan Knitting for her tips on finding cruelty-free yarn. Word!

Alaska's Sugar Daddy Goes Down

Stevens got the book thrown at him today - guilty on seven counts, sentence TBA. Although his hard work and efforts to get Alaskans seven federal dollars for every tax dollar we spend paid for a fair bit of my (out of state) education, I'm still more than pleased to see the guy get his. Rampant corruption is the political norm in many Alaska political circles, and this is a sweet victory for honest folks. (Not to get all Joe the Plumber on you or anything...) Another fun fact: googling "Ted Stevens" still brings up his "series of tubes" remark as one of the top five hits. The internet is a funny, funny place.

Totally unrelated, but hilarious. Everyone loves disco, right?

Token Veganism Comments: Larabars are the shit. I have yet to find any other food in bar form that has fewer than six ingredients. And the ingredients are recognizable! Figs! Dates! Cashews!

Anyway, I'm starting to come to a conclusion on veganism as it relates to my life. It doesn't always jibe with trying to eat close to home when any number of grains and beans don't grow anywhere near the West Coast or trying to eat less processed, packaged food (Tofurkey, anyone?) I'd rather keep my eating ideology flexible to accommodate and balance as many of my values as possible than tie myself to one that - sadly - means less to me than reducing my overall footprint. I realize I'm opening myself up for some flak from the animal rights angle. In my defense, I've realized that I definitely don't need animal products to eat well and live happily and have already started eliminating them from the diet, closet and medicine cabinet. But I doubt I'll call myself vegan anytime soon. So while I ditch the leather belt and ice cream (and grill up veggies like no one's business), my goal will be to live within my means in all senses of the word.

I'm finishing out the month strong, though. Cornbread pear muffins were not a huge success the first time, so I'm trying again. Also, lentil burgers. Stay tuned.

Now HERE'S some Alaska pride!

Did I mention that I used to work for this newspaper? I'm so stoked that, for once, ADN is taking a solid, reasoned, liberal stand. Usually one of those is missing.

Day 23: Not feeling creative

So I resort to thievery. From Meg.

1. What was the most recent tea you drank?
I'm a dyed-in-the-natural-fibers coffee drinker, but I believe good old Throat Coat was my most recent tea. It's getting chilly up in here. I'm also a fan of Yogi Teas - a Eugene company!

2. What vegan forums do you post/lurk on? If so, what is your username? Spill!
PPKers may know me as foodiedyke. I'm not on too much these days, though.


3. You have to have tofu for dinner, and it has be an Italian dish. What comes to mind first?
A silken tofu creamy sauce concoction that involves basil, thyme, rosemary, garlic and a food processor. Better than it sounds.

4. How many vegan blogs do you read on an average day?
A handful. Five or six at most, since my workplace is set up to keep my putzing around to a minimum. It's been a stretch to even post this much.

5. Besides your own, what is the most recent one you’ve read?
Yeah, that Vegan Sh*t

6. If you could hang out with a vegan blogger that you haven’t met, who would it be, and what would you do?
A Portland blogger party sounds about right to me. Every PDX blogger I've read sounds pretty rad.

7. If you had to base your dinners for a week around one of the holy trilogy – tofu, seitan or tempeh, which would it be?
Tempeh. It goes best with BBQ sauce. Also, that is NOT the trinity.


8. If you had to use one in a fight, which would it be?
Those sheets of frozen tempeh could work both as a weapon and a shield. Then it's all conveniently broken up for stir-frying.


9. Name 3 meals you’d realistically make with that tough protein of choice!
Tempeh reubens, BBQ tempeh (last night's dinner) and any variation on the theme of stir-fry.

10. What’s a recipe in vegan blogland that you’ve been eyeing?
The pear and pecan stuffing up on PPK and the carmelized sweet potatoes Meg mentioned.

11. Do you own any clothing with vegan messages/brands on them?
Nope.

12. Have you made your pilgrimage to the 'vegan mecca' yet? (Portland, duh)
I live there. Here. Portland. It's delightful

13. What age did you first go vegan? Did it stick?
I started this month and there has been a noted backsliding incident. We'll see how it works out.

14. What is the worst vegan meal you’ve had? Who cooked it?
See also: the first vegan meal I ever had. Probably 8 years ago - some absolutely dreadful vegan pizza at a friend's house. His mom probably slaved for hours over it, so I didn't want to visibly wretch. Still, it made me sick for a solid 24 hours. Since then I have been intensely shy of soy cheese.


15. What made you decide to blog?
This blog has been around in some incarnation or another since my freshman year of college. It was originally designed to keep me in touch with others while avoiding the indignity that is Livejournal (sorry, friends, but I just can't hack that shit). I also kept an opendiary while those were thing in junior high and high school.

16. What are three of your favorite meals to make?
Any soup (esp. with homemade stock), the shockingly healthy mess I've lovingly come to call "Vegan Frito Pie", or dal. (Daal? Dhal?)

17. What dish would you bring to a vegan Thanksgiving-themed potluck?
My grandma's "nippy carrots" - no idea about the name. Steamed, sliced carrots in a sauce that's equal parts dijon mustard, brown sugar and butter substitute. (Melt the not-butter, stir in other ingredients over low heat. Serve warm with mashed potatoes.)

18. Where is your favorite vegan meal at a restaurant? How many times have you ordered it?
Red and Black's tempeh reuben. Also, anything from Paradox.

16. What do you think the best chain to dine as a vegan is?
I'm with Meg - Cafe Yumm is the shit. When I'm feeling down, a little jar of Yumm sauce will lift my spirits like no other.

17. My kitchen needs a...
Toaster. Breakfast is hard.

18. This vegetable is not allowed in my kitchen...!
Okra. I tried to like it, out of a contrarian nature (my mom has always hated it) and utterly failed.

19. What's for dinner tonight?
One Pot Lentil Mass. I think I posted the recipe back in the day. It's what I eat when I have no dough.

20.Add a question here!
Fun vegan fact of the day? Both Carl Lewis and Martina Navratilova are or have been vegan. Neat!