Back to Blog A-Z

A. apricot and cherry crumble with alden's vanilla bean ice cream
B. basement = "summer palace" when it's 94º outside at 8:30pm
C. our new favorite card game is called "hand and foot"
D. waiting for DVR to capture a good chunk of sytycd
E. sick of walking on eggshells around certain stressful individuals
F. font: CarbonType
G. goal!!
H. our neighborhood hollywood farmers market rocks my world
I. inspired somehow to get back to blog
J. joke - q: Why does a chicken coop have two doors? a: Because if had four doors it would be a chicken sedan!
K. thinking of getting a flip camera or a kodak Zi8, please share thoughts if you've got 'em.
L. love my hubby lots
M. our 2 yr old nephew maceo loves trucks and hummus
N. nuts i love: almond, macadamia, cashew, filbert
O. our nephew oscar brought over his pet hamster furball
P. harry potter. obsessed. anxiously awaiting for bk 6 from the library.
Q. we made two different, delightful quinoa salads last week
R. reading like mad
S. word scramble 2 interface on my ipod touch is very cool
T. finally got our tax return
U. conveyor belt sushi delivered unagi tonight
V. on the librarian recommendations new release shelf, picked up ether: seven stories and a novella by evgenia citkowitz. evgenia. neato.
W. time to talk about something besides the weather
X. x-ray? x-men? xylophone?
Y. finally getting some yardening on
Z. zit on my nose = contact lenses

Sweetness

I'm trying NaBloPoMo again this month. I tried it a few months back and lost steam because I went out of town a few times. For the month of May I will post on my blog once a day. Yes, every single day in May. That's 31 posts. Of course I picked a month with 31 days! But it is spring, so I suppose I'm feeling inspired. The theme for the month is "Sweet" if I choose to use it. Today I will...

If we're talking sweets, we're talking dessert. If we're talking dessert, then for me, above all else, we're talking CHOCOLATE. And I mean the real kind, not the icky, weird concoction they call "milk chocolate." Here's a few factoids and trivial things about our friend chocolate:

• The Mayans and Aztecs were the original chocoholics. Some of them loved it so much they even grew cacao in their backyard gardens. Now, that's my kinda urban gardening!
• One of my favorite chocolate books is Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquival. Each chapter of the book begins with a recipe. The novel employs a heavy dose of magic realism which works well with the foodie, soap operatic plot.
• Xocolātl is a popular cacao drink that the Mayans and Aztecs made. Dagoba makes a bar they call Xocalatl.
• Seeds from the evergreen tree Theobroma cacao are used in making chocolate.
• Another fictional chocolate I enjoyed is the film Chocolat with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. The themes aren't entirely different from Like Water for Chocolate with passionate chocolate making and high drama about a small conservative French town who receives a big shake up with a new chocolatier in town.
• Theobromine is the bitter alkaloid in chocolate that gives you that nice chocolate buzz.
• "Chocolate gives you zits." Remember that old rumor? Well, bust that myth, cuz it ain't true.
• Portland is home to some pretty nifty chocolatiers. Alma Chocolate, Cacao Drink Chocolate, and Moonstruck Chocolatier are some of the standouts.

Here's a young girl after my own heart. Photo courtesy of RIPizzo on flickr.

Gorging on the gorgeous Gorge

Matt and I took a much-needed day off today. It was time for a little nature adventure. Our first thought was to hit the famous Multnomah Falls. A friend advised we try some of the other, slightly less popular (and less crowded) hikes. So, we consulted our trusty Afoot & Afield Portland/Vancouver hiking guide. After considering a few, we decided to check out Horsetail Falls.

I can't believe how close all this stuff is to Portland. The Columbia River Gorge is only about 30 or so miles east. I'm embarrassed and a bit regretful that we haven't explored here sooner.

This is Horsetail Falls. So wonderful to sit underneath and just experience the falls crashing into the creek. It's springtime so all the falls are going off.

As you can see from my curry chicken salad sandwich, we enjoyed a divine lunch in front of Three Falls.

The famous Multnomah Falls. Stunning.
You can see more of our photos from the trip at my flickr photostream.

And here's my curry chicken salad recipe:

2-3 cups of chopped chicken (you can use canned, or I always used leftover rotisserie chicken)
2-3 tblsp curry powder
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 -3/4 cup peas
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2-3 tblsp mayo

Fold all that stuff together in a bowl until well-mixed. Serve with greens or in a sandwich.

Ruminations from Powell's Coffee Shop

Enjoying a 12oz chai at Powell's always hopping coffee shop/reading room. Not supposed to have more than 5 books, but i suck a couple of extra in. Figure, I'm pretty much set on buying almost all my items. It's always fun, and a bit daunting to peruse this institution. I always find it's good to have a game plan, i.e. a couple of key things you are looking for. This trip I was on the hunt for 3 things:

1) Birthday present for Matt. Wanted to find an fun, encouraging film book to support his pursuit of creative projects.
2) Information/reference books for my Pub Quiz Oregon quiz writing.
3) Zine(s). I'm a big fan of zines (however, as a dabbler, not deeply knowledgeable - just know what I like).

Here's what I ended up with:
1) Making Short Films by Jim Piper (coincidentally the name of our very nice previous landlord). It seems to have mixed reviews, but I like that it has pictures and seems somewhat The Conversations by Michael Ontaje. Looks very inspiring.
2) The reference books are my little secret...
3) A new local zine "Monster of Fun! a collection of Razorcake columns by Amy Adoyzie" which looks very promising. And hey she's APA which is always nice to support. Also picked up "time enough at last" by A.j. Michel out of Lansdowne, PA. I'm a list junkie and this one is subtitled: "A Reading Log 2007" including juicy documentation of A.j.'s reading habits over the past year.

another year, another set of resolutions

Greetings and happy new year, whether it be gregorian, julian, lunar, tet or other. I'll admit it, I've got some resolutions in mind for 2008. Trite, but useful. We've got the rules of improv, recipes for cooking, outlines in coloring books - which can all be considered structures, but in my opinion can also provide a smaller container from which to explore freely. I'd like to think that resolutions can do this too.

"Resolution" as defined on Wiktionary:

1. The state of being resolute.

   His stalwart resolution is perhaps admirable, perhaps foolish.

2. A statement of intent, a vow (often New Year's Resolution).

   My resolution is to cut back on the fast food this year.

3. The act of discerning detail.
4. (computing) The degree of fineness with which an image can be recorded or produced, often expressed as the number of pixels per unit of length (typically an inch).

   Printing at higher resolution will cause a reduction in performance.

5. (computer hardware) The number of pixels in an image that are stored or displayed.

   This monitor's maximum resolution is 800x600.

6. A formal statement adopted by an assembly.
7. (sciences) The separation of the constituent parts (of a spectrum etc).
8. (sciences) The degree of fineness of such a separation.
9. (music) Progression from dissonance to consonance; a chord to which such progression is made.

Some of those sound pretty juicy. I especially like the #7 and #9. Here's just a few of my resolutions, vows, intentions for 2008:

1. Blog at least twice a month
2. Eat more veggies
3. Intentionally move my body at least once a day
4. Work with Matt on completing at least three video shorts
5. Continue improvisation PLAYgroup
6. Organize and maintain my office/craft space
7. Buy a house
8. Raise money for KBOO and Bitch Magazine
   
9. Create one audio documentary piece
10. Learn and practice more Spanish
    
11. Streamline programming of the Portland Grassroots Media Camp
12. Watch lots of films
13. Practice sewing at least twice a month
    
14. Read these books - Omnivores Dilemma; Eat, Pray Love; Brave New World; Tokyo Cancelled; People's History of the United States; Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White; Writing Down the Bones
15. Teach an improv class
16. Take a walk at least once a week
    
17. Sing
18. Practice my New Zealand accent (currently obsessed with Flight of the Conchords)