Introducing a New Feature!

Hello my lovelies! I hope everyone is well-rested after a weekend of celebrating sweethearts or presidents or both... or neither. Me? I'm kicking back after a decadently lazy weekend in Oregon and excited to unveil a new recipe section of The Brains for those who love full, fresh bowls... of food, that is. However, before I get to that I need to fill everyone in on the weekend's details.

From Portland to the coast, Gerad treated me to one epic win of a Valentine's getaway. Zac and Kristi, as always, were the coolest hosts a person could ask for. Seriously, Portland should put them on the payroll as, like, professional tour guides or something like that. They take us to the most amazing restaurants and always have a new place to check out when we visit. This trip down, we splurged on spiced sangria and debated the difference between prawns and shrimps at Nuestro Cocina and then got our lounge on at the all- night Friday the 13th party that their roommate was involved in organizing. By 1 AM, I was about to turn into a pumpkin so Gerad and I went back to the bed and breakfast he had sneakily made reservations at for the night. We woke up in the morning and ate shitake fritatta with an older couple from San Francisco who were in town to take tango lessons.

From PDX, we headed west toward the 101 and drove down to Beverly Beach. The drive out to the coast is a kaleidoscope of scenery: Lush farm land gives way to winding mountain highways that suddenly run up against jagged shoreline. We stopped at a seafood shanty in Depoe Bay that I had once stumbled upon during a college road trip called the Sea Hag. I didn't know that calamari came in steak form but apparently it does. And when it's fresh, battered and fried it's heaven with a side of cocktail sauce.

At about 3 PM, we rolled into our camp site. Yes, I said "camp site". February is a perfectly reasonable month to plan a camping trip. We walked down to the beach and I went nuts with the picture taking while we waited for the sun to set (see my Slideshow for the new photos). And I have to say, I was very pleased with how our sleeping arrangements worked out. We set up the ultimate lazy man's camp. Why bother with a tent when you can just set up a nest of pillows and sleeping bags in your hatchback car and cover up with an electric blanket? We even set up the laptop and spooked ourselves silly by watching scary movies all night. It was great, I felt very leet. The next morning we capped off the weekend with a stop to a very sacred place for Gerad and I: the Tillamook Cheese factory. We skipped the tour and went straight to the cheese curds. :)

And speaking of food, back to the matter at hand. Without further adieu, I'd like to present to you a new section... The Stoners' Kitchen! I will give you one guess as to what its purpose will be. My inspiration for this comes from vegan recipe sites such as Happy Herbivore (see Ch-ch-check It Out!). I've recently adopted a nearly vegan diet. With the exception of cheese, I've managed to cut all other animal products out of my cooking, which has restored a significant amount of nutritional value to the meals I make.

Another trait that all my meals share is that they are prepared with enthusiasm and *ahem* a little help from my green grocer. It saddens me to see my kind friends forced to live off Hot Pockets and fast food because too many complicated instructions or fear of the stove stand between them and fresh, healthy food. My recipes eliminate the guess work, can be prepared in one pot with minimal kitchen utensils (when my recipe calls for a tablespoon, I mean an actual table spoon, like one you would eat cereal with) and will normally feed up to three hungry stoners.

This first recipe came to me when I decided that $3.00 was too much to spend on an Annie's Organics Burrito. I envisioned this wrapped up in a whole-wheat or corn tortilla but we didn't have any at the house so I made a side of sweetened couscous to balance the spice of the curry. I'll include the recipe for that at the end. You can add ground beef to this if you want to be a filthy carnivore, or use TVP or tofu to keep it vegan.

Vegetable Samosa Filling

Utensils
1 shallow sauce pan with cover
1 chopping knife
1 spoon

Ingredients
1/2 tbs ghee (if you want authentic Indian taste) or coconut oil (if you want vegan and healthier)
a 2 pour of water
a 4 pour of veggie stock
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 tbs garlic, chopped
1/2 tbs ginger, chopped
1/2 tbs ground coriander seeds
3 shakes crushed red pepper
1 tbs garam masala
1/3 tbs turmeric
1/3 tbs cayenne
2 tbs curry powder
5 large red potatoes, chopped dice-sized
enough water to cover potatoes
a bunch of frozen green peas
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt ghee or oil in pan on Med/High heat and then add all ingredients up to the potatoes. Stir well and let the stuff boil until the onions are soft.
2. Add the potatoes, as many peas as you think are necessary and enough water to just cover the potatoes. Cover and let boil until potatoes are soft.
3. Uncover and turn heat down to Med/Low. Take your spoon and mash potatoes until the mix is paste-like with a few whole chunks. Continue to cook until most of liquid had been absorbed.
4. Cool and serve.

Slightly Sweet Couscous

Utensils
1 measuring cup
1 small pot with cover
1 spoon

Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup couscous
10 drops of vanilla extract
a bunch of crushed almond
pinch of parsley
a drizzle of agave nectar or honey

1. Bring cup of water to boil.
2. Add vanilla extract, almonds, parsley and couscous to water and stir.
3. Wait for couscous to boil then cover and remove from heat immediately.
4. Wait two minutes and then uncover and fluff with spoon before serving.
5. Top with a drizzle of agave or honey.

Voila!

!!!

Teaser

I have a lot to recap from this weekend but, alas, it must wait until I get fed, showered and out the door to Lord Marsh's house. Here's what you can expect:

• Valentine's Day camping getaway to the Oregon coast recap.
• The first entry for a new section of The Brains called Stoners' Kitchen. A place where my green family can go for munchie recipes that extend beyond the local 7-11 or Jack In The Box, set down with instructions easy enough for even the most lifted. (And guess what! It's all going to be HEALTHY FOOD! *GASP*)
• Bitching photos from the weekend taken by moi. 

Tune in again later this evening.

!!!

Let's Check Ourselves Before We Wreck Ourselves: A Call To Arms.

I wanted to start this blog by saying that the first month of 2009 has passed by uneventfully, but of course, that's not entirely true. We have a newly elected president in office who is the complete antithesis of the retarded good ol' boy who previously held the position: Progressive, intelligent, diplomatic and eloquent. Mmmm... he even has that new hope smell!

My only misgiving is that this new initiative of "Yes We Can!" has arrived a day late and trillions of dollars short. After all, 2012 is right around the corner and we, as a species, have been digging ourselves a sizable grave to lay in since we were first told to go forth and propagate without contraception (see "Bible, Holy") and we invented the engine. In my opinion, this nation's/world's problems are so profound and deeply rooted that the scale of it all is indescribable as well as insurmountable.

We are swimming against the water circling the drain. Yet even when all signs point to certain destruction, we continue to strive. What choice do we have? We're humans. We want to make it. So, if for only that reason, I say, "Go, Obama! Go!"

Obviously, skepticism is my modus operandi. However, even a Cynical Sally like myself can't deny how invigorating it is to feel a real sense of positivity shared by so many people. Is real change possible? Can our actions live up to our lofty expectations? I don't know. Perhaps? Let's find out! The only surety we have is that nothing can be accomplished for the greater good until we look to the individuals.

Obamarama has engendered a real sense of togetherness. What else could we do with this momentum and is it more than just a fleeting thing? We have to find a way to keep it moving and really hit home the idea that we are all in this together, so let's get together instead of being douches (directly or indirectly) to each other. This fact has lent a sense of urgency to my New Years resolutions. I feel like I not only owe it to myself to take steps to improve, but to my friends and peers as well. This year isn't just about quitting smoking or eating healthier or picking up new hobbies. This year is epic. This year is the truth.

This year is about removing the excuses that keep me docile and apathetic. I want to get rid of the things I turn to for quick and easy fixes when I feel restless or bored. I want to make things harder for myself. I know that it's going to take a certain type of person to make it in the times to come, no matter how things turn out. You'll either have to be strong enough to help turn the tide or strong enough to survive the aftermath. Now I don't know what you or anyone else would do to make those changes, but I know a few ways I am going to.

1. I am minimizing my Internet footprint. No more Myspace, no more Facebook. Social networking sites have led me down a long path of procrastination and wasted time. They encourage too many bad habits and unhealthy behaviors (stalking, fixating, obsessing, etc..) My friends and acquaintances don't really need a 24-hour direct feed into my every move and there are more straightforward ways of staying in contact with a person. At least a blog I can defend. I actually have to string thoughts and emotions and ideas together intelligently, which is good practice for me. And no more Warcraft, either. I don't care if two of the three definitions for the word "interactive" on Dictionary.com pertain to computers, MMORPGs are not a fulfilling means of socializing nor are they productive.
   
2. I am making a conscious effort to not turn on the television. Reality shows and entertainment gossip pwned whatever quality TV programming once had and they reel you in like a crack habit once you tune in. 90% of the shows on TV are the lowest form of entertainment. It seems like every fucking channel has their own version of Sluts of Love, I'm Fucking Retarded But I'm Rich So It's Okay, Women Acting Like Crazed/Rabid Banshees or Exploit Yourself for Money. And let's not forget the myriad of Hollywood "news" shows that only seem to lend validity to the sycophants and materiopaths* of the world. The day CNN started reporting on Hollywood is the day I declared war on the media. And to make matters worse, all of it is packed tight with flashy advertisements urging you to "Spend! Spend! Spend!" or "Watch! Watch! Watch!" (or, subliminally, to "Kill! Kill! Kill!"). It's A Clockwork Orange for real, but with expensive clothes and fake tans. Leave Battlestar Galactica, Flight of the Conchords and The Soup, the rest you can shove.
3. I am not going to take the path of least resistance any chance I get. If I wasn't up on a soap box before, I sure as hell am now. The dire problems we're now facing can be attributed to so many things it's impossible to go through them all. Personally, I'd like to attribute it all to technology, and I will, but I'd like to preface everything I'm about to lay down with this: You can't fight progress. Humans are born with free will and fierce curiosity. Some of those humans happen to be brilliant scientists/engineers/inventors, and together they are doing a bang up job of bringing a significant percentage of science fiction into the realm of reality (HEY SCIENCE! WHERE'S MY GOD DAMN HOVERBOARD?). We have gadgets and gizmos aplenty, we have whozits and whatzits galore! You want thingamabobs?... I don't think they'll sync with your iPhone until after next month's software update. Anyhoo, my point is "Yay!" Humans are smart, but are too smart for our own good? Jaymbles, what does any of this have to do with not taking the path of blah, blah, blah? Okay, here it is as concisely as I can put it: Technology has made everything easier. Not just some things, but EV-ER-Y-THING. From entertainment to the way governments are run. And once things start to come to you easily, it's only a matter of time before you expect it all to come to you that way. You feel entitled to convenience and ease. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Feeling entitled changes your perspective on the world. There's you and then there's everyone else. A fairly innocuous frame of mind if we're talking about a handful of people, but I'm not talking about just a handful. There are billions of people in this country and we all have the same basic mindset. How can we expect to persevere in the face of a global meltdown when we get too pissed off to think when the Internet doesn't work and it's too much trouble to put a ballot in the mail. It's a very dangerous thing in this day and age to denounce the progress of science, those who do so are automatically written off as religious fundamentalists or crazies who live in cabins and build bombs out of fertilizer. I can't help it though. The way I look at it, we've taken Prometheus' torch and decided to set everything ablaze with it. Our boundless ingenuity and brainpower has led us this far. But where are we really? In a country where the economy is crumbling around us and our natural resources are failing and we spend more money on shit other people decide is important for us than we do educating ourselves and taking care of our families.
   

As I read back, I have to admit that my last point went off on a very severe, zealous tangent, but you won't find any apologies or embarrassment here. This, this modern, civilized age we live is just bullshit wrapped in fancy packaging. Why? Not because we're bad people, not because we have malicious intentions or we're not capable of affecting change, but because we recognize the need for it and are stymied on how to take action. All of our great achievements have made it chillingly straightforward to exist in a bubble of shallow creature comforts and positively labyrinthine to take control of our path as a people.

And if I were a prodigal mind, none of this would bother me. If I had some massive insight greater than all my peers' then I'd be resigned to watch it all go down. I'm not a genius. I'm just another twenty-something trying to make a place for myself in a place worth trying in. I've read (and understood) Orwell, Huxley, Asimov, Dick and everyone else who saw this shit coming and so have you, person reading this page right now. I'm fucking done with sucking on the digital tit of complacency. I'm done with sitting in my house with my friends and bitching about how shitty the world is until I've taken active steps to change it. Because, at this point, I haven't done shit to deserve that privilege and at the end of the day, I would rather be a revolutionary than a member of the liberal peanut gallery. How about you? Are you tired? Are you fucking tired of all this? I do believe in "Yes We Can!", but not in the sense that Obama's PR team had in mind. I believe that if we want all the reform that is necessary we need to give the masterminds in charge a reason to fear the people, even if it means going after them with rocks and bottles in our hands.

I've resolved to change the things about myself that keep me a prisoner of my own fear, apathy and straight-up laziness. Now I am begging you, people who were interested enough to read this far down the page without any pictures, to do it for yourself. This past election hasn't resparked my faith in the establishment, not one bit. It has ignited my faith in you, my fellow up-and-comers, as we all are about to be handed the deed to a broken world we've barely had a chance to impact. If it's ever going to happen, it has to happen now and not with a nudge or a pat but with a push, possibly even a slap. Let's figure out a way to keep our pimp hands strong and don't let the powers that be think for a second that we're going to roll over and play ball. I'm not asking you to do what I do, the way I do, I'm just asking you stand up any way you know how. Start with something so small it seems almost irrelevant and then build off it as much as you can everyday. If it's true that many hands makes light work then this over-population problem may work for us, if we play our cards right. Think about it.

!!!



*ma.ter.i.o.path [mah-tier-ee-oh-path] -noun. A person, as a personality, whose materialism reaches the extent that it reflects an inner lack of moral conscience or social responsibility. Donna's husband put her on a weekly allowance because he had to re-mortgage their home and take on a second job to pay for her new Mercedes, her breast implants and her addiction to Hermes handbags. She's a real materiopath.

Free-write from 10/08/08

It just occurred to me that I have a place for these little snippets now.

"The drive from Seattle this morning was unexpectedly soothing. I had been convinced that waking up early to drive Ger to work on my day off would bend my mood in the wrong direction. It did not. Driving south on 167, the clouds parted long enough to let a slow rolling flood of early sunlight spill over the asphalt and cement. Pale light filled the interior of the KIA and the blood in my veins instantly became a degree warmer. Outside the pine trees were lit up with a milky brightness that soaked into the nearby, autumn-mottled maples, giving the world the feel of a vintage postcard. Cars running at breakneck speeds glided past like whispers and I day-dreamed about flying, watching the sun rise on the beach, warm showers and the feel of clean clothes. My whole day played out in my head like a movie and the song on the radio was its soundtrack. But we got sea legs and we're off tonight... . All of it against a backdrop of blue sky. Like the one hanging above my head at that moment, but only for a moment. Soon the brooding October clouds swallowed it all up again and the song was over. I lit a cigarette and changed lanes to the off ramp."

!!!

The Week in Recap

Well, where to start. It's Sunday afternoon, Tool Academy is on, wispy snowflakes are floating outside and I feel... well, cranky. My laptop was acting up this morning and once I finally was able to boot it up I realized I had lost the recipe for the Tex-Mex beans and rice I made earlier in the week. I suppose it's a good excuse to make another batch, but it's just another hiccup in a week that has been filled with stress. I'd say that a good 90% of it stems from work. We had two computers die and normally that wouldn't be more than a major inconvenience, however, one of the two deceased PCs was our main server. That meant that we lost the ability to print drug labels, bill out clients and input medical history. Essentially, we were completely crippled. On top of that, our last back-up was two days before the server bit it, so I spent all of Friday manually re-entering EVERY transaction we had done based off of our invoices.

It's been a technological nightmare at UrbanVet this past month. Between phones that pick and choose when they want to work, faulty internet connections and suicidal computers it feels like if I breathe too hard on anything that uses electricity it'll fall apart. And the kicker to all this is that in the midst of Rachael and I working like crazy to get everything up and functioning again, we find out that our hours are being reduced! Awesome! It's frustrating, mostly because I work so hard for that place. I love my job and I truly feel like I've tuned into something that I can make a fulfilling career out of. I can't recall ever having a job where I've enjoyed the work and the people as much as I do here. And consequently, I can't recall ever putting forth so much effort to be successful in a job and I feel that I've proved myself to be a true asset to the clinic. It just felt like a big kick in the proverbial junk.

Although, I should be thankful, really. Thankful that I'm just having my hours scaled back a bit instead of getting canned because we have too many receptionists. Pardon the coarse analogy, but America's economy is a giant, foul floater in the world's toilet bowl and has been for quite a while now. There doesn't appear to be an immediate solution to the crisis (come on, Obama!) and it really is a testament to Dr. Morris and how much she appreciates us that we all have kept our jobs through all of this financial insecurity. But I can't help but feel the squeeze. Gerad's parents want us to start paying rent at the house, Green River CC just accepted my application so I'll need to start putting money together for classes and I haven't worked an 80 hour pay period since last summer. It's becoming more and more obvious to me that I need a second job if I'm going to keep my head above water and achieve my goals for next year.

But it hasn't been all bad this week. I took a bath so marvelous on Tuesday I'm still thinking about it. Red wine, warm water and ambient tunes to soothe the mind. My bath actually brings me to this week's "Fresh Tunes" section of the blog. Malari brought her Godspeed You Black Emperor! CD to work Tuesday morning and it put me in a pensive mood. Not in a negative way, just very contemplative and stuck on the idea that beauty is intrinsic to all things, even the most hideous or strange. Go listen to GYBE!'s "Dead Flag Blues" off of their F#a#oo album and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. It's a song about love in the face of apocalyptic despair. Pretty heavy shit.

I popped that song into my Pandora radio station and it came back with a handful of bands I had never heard of, two of which I'm going to share with you. They play the same type of intense, panoramic instrumentals. Layered and complicated and arching, their brand of rock sounds more orchestral than indie. Think of it as meditation rock. "Om"die rock. The first band goes by the name of Explosions In The Sky and their album Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever is a mouth full but definitely worth a listen. These guys are out of Texas and you can practically hear the lonesome cry of the dusty, open plains in their music. The second band (and my personal favorite), Red Sparowes, hails from LA and makes deliciously trippy use of steel pedal guitar. I YouTubed some of their live performances, here's one for your viewing/listening pleasure:





Are they not nifty? I'm just hoping I haven't caught on to these bands too late, it would be amazing to see either of them play live.

And of course, there was Angel and Dan's joint birthday party this weekend. It was crunktastic! Stiff drinks, full bowls and lots of Costco appetizers to go around. And if at any point the fun level dropped below a certain point, the fabulous Anthony was there to kick it back up. The only downer of the night was that I broke my 23 day-long smoke-free streak. Just when I thought I was free and clear, a couple of drinks managed to dissolve my resolve. The good news is I am right back on the wagon without a second thought. Pictures speak louder than words, so here's a photo that accurately describes the type of night we had on Friday:

Just take a look at that slightly stoopid expression on my mug. Priceless. That's all for now.

!!!

TOP THREE BATH TUB JAMS

• "Millions Starved" by Red Sparowes
• "Remember Me As A Time Of Day" by Explosions In The Sky
• "Honey" by Mogwai
  

Lazy Weekend

*stretch*
*sigh*
What a gloriously relaxing weekend. There are days when sitting on my ass is the absolute last thing I want to be doing, but then there are days when it's just what the doctor ordered. Friday evening, my friend and fellow Battlestar Galactica fanatic, Zac, drove up from Portland to join Gerad and I in watching the premiere episode of the final season. We drank wine, smoked a little green and I made us a lovely dinner consisting of vegan cornbread (recipe at HappyHerbivore.com), spicy rice and beans and Jaymbles' Famous Beer Bread. I normally use a fancy pale or amber ale to make the dough but this time Safeway's dismal selection of brews led me to pick up a bottle of framboise, a Belgian beer made with raspberries, and the final result was nothing short of delicious.


This was my rediscovery of framboise. Cecilia introduced me to it my last summer in Boston and it slipped from my memory since I moved out to Washington. It probably has something to do with the fact that Washington state has an odd way of regulating the sale of booze. Someday, I'll work up the motivation to research exactly why liquor stores can ONLY sell liquor and beer is relegated exclusively to grocery stores, gas stations and 7-11s.

I thought Massachusetts had retahhded liquor laws, but now I find myself set adrift on memory bliss when I remember the florescent glory of the one-stop booze marts of the Commonwealth. I miss Marty's Liquors, with its seemingly endless aisles stocked full with every assortment of alcohol imaginable. 22s of various Berkshire Brewing Company offerings, bottles of Unibroue with their beautifully illustrated labels. It brings a tear to my eye when I wander over to the beer aisle and my only choices are Coors, Bud, Pabst and Heineken. Suffice it to say, now that I know where I can find framboise, I'm going to have to go back and buy their whole stock.

But I digress. Zac was visiting this weekend and we had nothing planned except good food, good television and great company. We woke up in no hurry on Saturday morning and I cooked brunch-- vegan biscuits (VeganDad.com), Cajun mango mash-up and not-quite-vegan country gravy. Later on we decided to go see My Bloody Valentine in 3D. Of course, they waited until after we purchased our tickets to let us know that the film was NOT, in fact, in 3D at this particular theater. We begrudgingly decided to go see it anyway, deciding preemptively that we were walking into a two hour long suckfest, but lo and behold! It wasn't that bad. It wasn't cinematic gold by any means and, yes, I was under the influence of ganj and Sprite at the time but it's still the most entertaining dice n' slice movie I've seen in ages. I give it three out of four dismembered teenage victims.

Well, I'd like to give you a play-by-play rundown of today's events but the time is now 6:30 PM and that means dinner time at the Markham-Simon household. Tonight's secret ingredient will either be brown rice pasta or black beans. I'll leave you with a photo from today's foggy stroll through Earthworks Park.


!!!

TODAY'S REDISCOVERIES...

• PM Dawn's "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss"
• The awesomeness of watching live episodes of Battlestar Galactica.
• Framboise

Day Off

I had the first of what I hope will be many meetings with the director of the Veterinary Technology program at Pierce College today. All in all, it was a productive trip. I picked up financial aid information and took a good look at the campus. And I found out that I only need to take two prerequisite courses instead of three like I was anticipating (a C+ in my Chemistry lab really counts?). I just need to find out if the Finite Math course I took qualifies as an Algebra class. Keep your fingers crossed!

This was my first real step toward getting back into the academic world. Even after completing four years in college and earning a bachelor's degree, the idea of going back for two more years seems completely daunting. I'm utterly terrified and, at the same time, exhilarated that I'm actually making it happen. My plan is to apply for next fall, so with any luck I'll have plenty of time to get all of my ducks in a row without having to put myself through a great deal of stress and anxiety.

In other news, last night Gerad and I had a night on the town in Seattle. After splurging on leftover Christmas gift sets at Lush (my new retail Achilles' heel) and a delicious Mexican dinner we headed up to Capital Hill and caught a show at Neumos. Colonies, my favorite local band (www.myspace.com/colonies ), was playing and one of the bands that played before them turned out to be pretty rocking and thus worth a plug. They're called A Leaf (www.myspace.com/aleafmusic ) and they sound a bit Oasis-ish but with a singer that sounds like a mix of Thom Yorke and the dude from Death Cab for Cutie. They'll be at the High Dive in Fremont on January 24th, so plan on going out to support your local music scene that night. I'll see you there.

And so ends the inaugural post of The Brains, which seems very appropriate with it being January and all. I'm looking forward to a year full of adventures, great movies, music and delicious food... all worth sharing.

!!!

PARTING WISDOM...

• FearNet On Demand Really Fails At Life.
• Mt. Rainer Could Explode Any Day And I Think That's Really Cool.
• I Want To Make Love To Nick Cave.