why veganomicon cracks me up

"Broccoli gives polenta a great texture. It just makes it, like, "RAR!" That's the only way we can describe it."

I made the Maple Walnut Cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance this afternoon, and while they are tasty, they weren't very pretty. The first couple of trays, I didn't oil the cookie sheet, as suggested, because I was using my silicone baking mat and our well-seasoned pizza stone. NOTE TO SELF: JUST FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS. Much of the non-prettiness resulted from their reluctance to leave the cookie sheets.

I thought the dough seemed a little thin, and if I was making them again, I would add a bit more flour, and/or crush the walnuts more finely. But, tasty. And when I finished, the kid asked me if he could take a plate to our neighbors who have a very large family. Which was darned sweet.

obama playlist

iTunes doesn't have all the tracks necessary to build this as an iMix, but I burned this CD for my brother-in-law the other day. It's quite good :)

Elect Obama Remix - Big Hit Buda
Clap Your Hands - They Might Be Giants
Supersoulfighter - Lenny Kravitz
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours - Stevie Wonder
It's a New Day - will.i.am
Sure Hope You Mean It - Raphael Saddiq
Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing - Marvin Gaye
Sweet Potato Pie - Ray Charles & James Taylor
People Get Ready - Aretha Franklin
Beautiful Day - U2
Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End - Phil Collins
Put a Little Love in Your Heart - Al Green & Annie Lennox
Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Ooh Child - Beth Orton
All That We Let In - Indigo Girls
Down to the River to Pray - Alison Krauss
2004 Democratic National Convention - Barack Obama

'cause I keep forgetting

First snow (no accumulation): November 6, and then some MSAR (my abbreviation for mixed snow and rain) tonight, November 20. Okay with me if it fails to accumulate for awhile, though I should probably have the person who knows the location of the snow shovel bring it out of storage.

(IT CAN'T BE BURIED THAT DEEP, SINCE IT ONLY STOPPED SNOWING IN JUNE.)

in which

the President Elect wears a bicycle helmet. You can too.

too lazy to upload the photo

of my bike computer when I hit 1000 (.1) miles on Saturday, November 2nd. It was the day before the time change, and I rode in to work in conditions I would not have ridden in on a week day (i.e. in more traffic). Dense fog, dark, and really not all that super safe.

I haven't ridden since (sadly) because it's now dark when I come home from work, and while my small-town traffic hardly qualifies, there are a couple of spots on the ride where I don't have much of an alternative, route-wise, and the lack of light just isn't good. Even though I blink A LOT when I ride in the dark. With LED lights, that is, not with my eyelids.

Re: lack of blogging, my laptop had to go see the doctors at Dell. It seems fine now. It was gone during the election, which was a mixed blessing. I couldn't obsess as much, but the obsessing I did do was challenging. Fivethirtyeight.com doesn't format very well for my cell phone screen.

I spotted my choice for all-time oddest vehicle name the other day: the Pontiac Parisienne Safari. Which is a 1970s fake-wood-panel station wagon. I cannot begin to fathom what they were going for with that name.

the aminals

I've been carrying mail for the last two weeks, and anyone following me would conclude that I am a certifiable lunatic. I talk in goofy dog voice to almost all the dogs, and I meow at all the cats. Today, my heart just about burst when, after I'd already delivered the mail and was on my way back to the truck, the big husky emerged from behind the fence and loped over to me, and when I scratched behind her ears, she immediately flopped onto the ground for a belly rub. Awwwww. Shortly after that, I got to my favorite kitty's house, and she seemed hungry, and I couldn't tell if the people had been around lately, so later on, I went back with a plate of cat food. She didn't come when I meowed, and the people *may* have been around, so I didn't stay too long, but I did leave the food.

I'm lurching toward 1000--I think I'm at 980 miles right now. I missed two days of riding this week--one planned, and one the result of being ridiculously foggy headed, and thereby LATE. Thursday might be the day...

my kid is funny.

I have one of those square peg sorts of kids, which is awesome, and which tends to mean that our many, many parenting challenges do *not* include staving off boredom.

That said, he may be catching on.

(notation in the corner of his school planner): "Note to self: Do not make Coach angry."

me: Hey kiddo, did you get into trouble in PE class?

kid: No! But another kid did, and he was doing something I would do, like making smart alecky comments, and he had to do eighteen pushups!

leavenworth, pt. 2

Hi Mark!

Okay, Mark, in the comments on the previous post, took me to task for describing Leavenworth as "kitschy." I take his point, sort of, in that I actually do know enough about the history of the town to appreciate its transformation into a successful Bavarian-themed tourist destination. (Short version: hard times, dying local economy, business community transforms the city by mutual decision and sheer force of will. Inventive, and fairly awesome.) HOWEVER, it was created, and while its achievements are notable*, without actual Bavarians, it is not authentic.

*It is thriving--I was there on a Monday, and there were LOTS of people in the streets.

It should be further noted that I *like* kitsch. Folks were very friendly, I was able to find a satisfactory vegetarian lunch with no trouble at all, and the natural beauty is breathtaking. Plus there is Bavarian-themed mini-golf, which I didn't play (why?!??), so I will return. That there's an artificial conceit in play bothers me not at all.

In other news, the rain is potentially hampering my efforts at reaching the 1000 mile mark. I rode today, but got utterly drenched on the way home. Hopefully it will let up by morning, as arriving at work that wet is not so fabulous. At least if I come home soaking wet, I can take a hot shower and put on my pajamas right away.

leavenworth

Columbus Day is a minor annual holiday for me; a day on which I take myself off on an adventure someplace. Alone. This year, I drove north to Leavenworth, a kind of kitschy Bavarian-themed tourist town. I managed to get my hair trimmed (a major achievement), wandered around a lot, bought only a couple of balls of yarn, and rode my bike* on the rather excellent city trails that parallel the river.

I enjoy monkeying around with the self-timer, although I tend to try to avoid being observed....

*Bianchi, not the electric. It did quite well on the trail, even though I had to switch to the road tires. I dismounted briefly three times--once for loose gravel, once for big rocks, and once for mud.

pointing out the obvious

(Listening to the third presidential debate in the car on the way home from soccer practice. Kid starts talking about something unrelated with great enthusiasm.)

Me: SSHHHH! This is really important!

Me: I'm sorry. You're really important, too. But they're only going to say this once.

Kid: MOM, it'll be on YouTube later....

I love it when he is in steam train mode.

bonus post!

1) Using Biology, Not Religion, to Argue Against Same-Sex Marriage HEAD THUNK. 6.6 billion people, folks. Protecting human procreation is not really our issue just now.

2) Raphael Saadiq.



That an album released in 2008 sounds like this makes me REALLY happy. There's a live video on YouTube, but it doesn't do this track justice.

3) Charlie Haden - Rambling Boy

No adequate video on this, but go listen at iTunes or Amazon or something. Or you could go to the official site but I warned you about the Flash attack. Lots of the Haden Triplets, together and separately, plus lots of well-chosen guest artists. Even Jack Black's contribution on "Old Joe Clark" works.

4) Extra more, because I am nice like that:



5) (further video aside: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! is on heavy rotation around here, but Nick Cave's mustache here is blowing my mind.)

Oh. hi.

Regular busy, three places at once, etc. etc. sort of stuff. Riding still, even though it has only been 30 freaking degrees in the morning. I gave up and wore long johns the last two days, and my wool mittens are pulled on over my riding gloves, and sometimes I'm wearing my Buff and a wool stocking cap, but whatever. It's also getting darker, so there are lots of blinkies--LED headlight, a seatpost taillight, and one attached to my messenger bag. My coworkers who pass me up in their cars assure me that I am visible.

I'm up to 920 miles since I installed the bike computer, and my goal is 1000 before the snow sidelines me for the winter. I ride about 45 miles/week, so I fervently hope this is not unrealistic.

I've also had a number of irritating mechanical issues, which are making me a bit paranoid. It started a couple of months ago when I had a bent front rim, but no corresponding bending event. Then a while later, I went out back one afternoon, and my rear tire was flat. Then again this week. (Lucky break: dad (and all-around nice guy) of one of the kid's friends was driving by in his pickup, threw my bike in the back, and gave me a ride home.) Anyway, that all of these events have occurred in conjunction with my commute HOME, not TO work, has me struggling not to be a paranoid freak. I have my reasons. So the bike is coming inside in the afternoons, even though there is no incredibly spectacular place for it.

We have Columbus Day off at work, and even though I harbor all the usual skepticism about that particular holiday, it serves the annual purpose of providing me with a day to go mess around all by myself. The town I am visiting this year has a yarn shop, an independent bookstore, and bike paths, so it's all good. I am taking the Bianchi with me, and in advance of this, I knew I had a flat to change (I'm getting quite good at this...). When I went to do it, discovered that it wasn't the tube, exactly, that was the problem--the tire itself was totally shredded. Luckily, I had the original road tires for the bike in the basement, so I swapped them for the hybrid tires I'd been riding with. On which I'd been riding. I adore that bike, even though the electric suits my commuting needs better. Hoping for a nice day.

I highly

highly, highly recommend the audiobook version of Dreams from My Father, read by the author.

Sarah Palin makes me furious on so many levels, but her snarky description of him as a "man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate" (which is false) makes me wonder if she has bothered to read them, which I think would surely be wise. Dreams is a thoughtful, honest, and insightful meditation on race and family. Mocking it reveals a world view that is so debased and cynical, that...well, consider the source.

the awesome allure

of items that aren't in commercial production yet, and which I probably could not afford if they were. But cool!

I rode only half my normal distance on Friday, and about two-thirds of it on Saturday. On Friday, at the conclusion of a week in which I worked many hours, and had only one lunch break, I went out back to get a piece of equipment and noticed that my rear tire was flat. Three little letters would express my reaction to that, and I'll leave you to guess which three. I don't carry a frame pump (yeah, I probably should), and fixing it on the spot would have been a pain anyway, so I called for backup. When we arrived home, I left the bike on the bike rack, using it as sort of a pseudo shop stand. I used the bathtub method to find the leak, patched it, and all was well with my biking world again. On Saturday, it just happened that my family passed me on my way home--they were returning from a soccer game. So they stopped to pick me up.

This slayed me.

I'm a big geek.

Yay, Sulu's getting married!

I am not a hockey mom.

And I am going to go ahead and blast Sarah Palin's parenting.

Not because of choices her children have made. I know full well that kids don't always behave in the ways their parents would like, and they deserve our continuing unconditional love and support anyway.

What I find utterly damning about Sarah Palin's parenting is that her position on abortion would potentially cause her own children to endure a pregnancy that was the result of rape or incest. (Citation here.) The lack of compassion present in that position is incomprehensible to me.

Here's a story: my own child was not the result of a neatly planned pregnancy. But I was (and am) married to a good man, in whom I could see the heart of a great dad, and I consciously *chose* to have a baby. And let me state this in unequivocal terms: it was the BEST, most joyous decision I ever made. The fact that it was a decision informs my parenting every day. This is the path I chose, and I have the responsibility to do everything in my power to make it worthwhile for all of us. I make mistakes--we all do. But I choose to do my best to show my kid that he is wanted and cherished, absolutely.

That's my story. Here's another one, abbreviated and incomplete, because it's not mine. In high school, I was friends with a girl. She was being raised by a single mom, and their finances were tight. Still, she found a way to get herself to college. At some point, she was still broke, she needed to get from point A to point B, and for whatever reason, hitchhiking was the option that she chose. She was picked up by a long-haul trucker, and he raped her. She got pregnant, and she had an abortion.

That story haunts me. She was someone I knew, and if I couldn't imagine myself in that position, not exactly, I could imagine her in that position. I could imagine her pain. I shudder at having to make a decision in that situation, and I cringe at the at the idea of a woman who believes she could make it for someone else. For her own daughters.

By the way, I still support Barack Obama

and check out these awesome anti-theft bike stands (via Bike Hugger).

My two main parking locations are at home and at work. At home, I noose a cable to connect the frame and the front wheel, then take the remaining loop in the cable and attach it and the frame to one of the posts on the front porch. Which you could saw through, but if we were home, such shenanigans would wake us up, and if we weren't, the dog would have a full-blown fit. She's a love, but she can sound quite ferocious. At work, it's the same strategy, only I'm locking to some huge metal pipe that comes down the back wall. If I stop at the grocery, the bike gets locked to one of the cart corrals, and all the peripherals go in with me. (Which always confuses the checkers and baggers--yes, I KNOW there is stuff in the bottom of the bag (my pannier). Put the groceries in anyway!)

A friend emailed me this op piece on why Sarah Palin is scary, and not to be trifled with.

Why I support Barack Obama

This is what I wrote when prompted in my profile at the campaign website.

Why I support Barack Obama: I support Barack Obama because I believe we need a President who believes in the American people--one who can inspire us to start believing in ourselves again. We need a national leader who is thoughtful, who can listen to a variety of viewpoints in a deep way, who can bring people together rather than drive them apart. I support Barack Obama because of his opposition to the war. I support him because he believes in diplomacy. I support him because I think the world he wants for his daughters is the world I want for my son--one in which the US is strong, but not arrogant; where we have a healthy economy that is not built on exploitation; where people are treated with dignity and respect without regard to gender, race, class or creed; where the environment is our treasure, not our plunder; where we try, and think, and work, and hope, and work some more.

(That's my main reason, above. Photo taken on the beach at Lincoln Park in October 2000, when he was 17 months old. Deluge followed very soon after the pix were taken.)

90 Days

As of today, it has been three months since I last drove to work. Although I was on vacation for two weeks, so I am requiring myself to bike for an additional two weeks before I think about driving, and truly, I will go for as long as possible after that. I am also confident that I will be able to start biking earlier in the year next year. Although I was biking pretty regularly in April and May.

This morning was very chilly--maybe 40 or so. However, I recently purchased a fleece and cycling jacket combination from REI, and gloves from my local bike shop, and I've been fairly comfortable on those brisk mornings and in the windy afternoons. I also bought a Buff head scarf thing, which works incredibly well as both a helmet liner and a neck gaiter.

Proper clothing makes all the difference.