Taking it Seriously

Cancer. 

Maybe it’s cancer awareness month right now, maybe it isn’t. I have some reading to do- but I’ve become awfully aware.

It’s become inavoidable- this plague on the world. I honestly don’t know anyone who hasn’t been affected by cancer, be it through direct bereavement, or the friend of a friend. Right here in this little community, a dear friend, Bob Church, said goodbye to his family this spring after a terrible battle. I won’t identify them out loud, but at least two other people in this community have lost parents to the disease.

In the world offline, cancer has hurt and ravaged someone close to my heart, tallying up the losses. And you can’t go anywhere without seeing the growing threat. Baseball-

The inspiring John Lester, Red Sox pitcher and a lad if I ever saw one (age 25), has already fought and survived lymphoma. For now.

I joke, all the time I joke- about cheetos for breakfast and brownies for midnight snack. I come from an old skool brand of kitchen that sees butter as something godly, but it’s no longer a matter to take lightly.

The very air we breathe now packs a carcinogenic punch, and a body that hopes to live in this era has to be safe-guarded. As is so often the case, the cultural attitude hasn’t quite caught up to the physical reality yet: Cancer is coming to a body near you. Now fight this bastard with all that you’ve got.

It was while reading Norm, over at Unmerited Gifts that it dawned on me. He was visiting a friend in a hospital bed- someone whose cancer has gone to the bones, and who sounded as if he had laryngitis because a tumor had grown in the discs of his neck.

He’s in the wheelchair, and fighting, and getting radiation treatment.

some people survive past this point, but not many.

Basically, by the time you’re in the hospital, it’s already really late in the game to be fighting cancer.

I’ve enjoyed sort of an extended youth, health-wise, but if I’ve drawn anything from the heaps of tragic stories I’ve heard all too often lately about cancer, it’s that I don’t want that fight. And I sure don’t want my daughter to have that fight.

All things in moderation isn’t really the rule anymore- I mean, when the poultry we eat can only be kept alive by pumping antibiotics through the little chicken system by force, when the very soil that houses crops reads higher levels of dioxins and PCB’s then you’d find near an active volcano, and when the ocean has become host to billions of tons of plastic, slowly leaking their toxic signature into the food chain, it’s no longer enough to say- “A few chips won’t hurt.” “An occasional run to McDonald’s won’t kill anyone.”

Statistics say otherwise. You reap what you sow- and our food sources (not to mention decades of pollution in every form) – are killing us. En masse.

 I’m not exactly an expert on what a cancer preventative lifestyle looks like, and I’m not at all certain that 32 isn’t too late to give it a shot- but having never been a sun worshipper, maybe it’s not such a lost cause.

Anyway, I’ll share. Share as I learn. I know this much-

If it’s fried, don’t eat it. Not just cus fat is bad- but that way of preparing food is kind of like a carcinogen party.

Oatmeal is probably good.

Ocean-raised salmon from the Pacific is probably good. The Atlantic fishies have pretty high levels of mercury.

Eat your veggies. But wash the pesticides off first. 

Some fats are good, some bad.

Nuts, berries and seeds is what the native american diet primarily consisted of for hundreds of years, and as far as we know, they didn’t get cancer.

Exercise is good.  A lot of products people use on their skin and hair have ingredients that seem to cause tumors in rats. 

Wear sunscreen. Don’t get over-stressed.  And if people in your work place keep getting cancer, quit your job.

No matter what the liability bitches say, where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire- so run.

This is our cause now: I’m going to try and keep my kid off of reality t.v. shows and also keep us from getting cancer.  I hope all of you guys will fight back the monster, too.

Rather Remarkable

I know it’s pretty natural for a parent to boast a bit about their child’s accomplishments, and maybe see signs of greatness in small, rather commonplace things.

However-

However, I am about to indulge in a little wonderment, cus I couldn’t hardly believe something Sierra did yesterday, just as casually as could be.

If you’ve never seen the film ‘Ratatouille’ by Pixar, it’s a pretty entertaining use of a couple hours. We saw this film in the theater, and since then we’ve seen it twice on movie channels. My daughter may have additionally watched parts of it at a friend’s house.

Yesterday, she was downstairs watching hip-hop videos on YouTube in my room, and I was upstairs, sort of reading, and sort of watching Ratatouille again on t.v. My daughter came to the bottom of the stairs to call up a question, and she went, “Oh! You’re watching Ratatouille!”

I’m going to show you the clip that was playing here in a moment. At the time she called up, none of the characters were talking. It was kind of cool that she derived the movie from the score, but not like- amazing or anything. It’s pretty distinctive.

But then-

She went on to say what the action was, with pauses- kind of like punctuation in the clip. I was like- “Cool.” on the first one, but then- my eyes got really wide. She described stuff like, ‘He almost got flamed by the oven.’ ‘The guy shut the window.’ I started to prompt her at that point. “What now?” “Luigi hates the soup.” And then she didn’t talk for a bit. I think, like so often happens with kids, my getting involved made her promptly lose interest, so she ended with, “Now he’s looking at the mouse.” and then went back to her videos.

Understand, there is hardly any dialogue in the whole scene, just music and a few sounds that might give hints. I bounded down the stairs, just to check- wondering if somehow she had Ratatouille playing on the computer, or what. Nope, just hip-hop. “What mom?”

“Nothin.”

You try. Watch this clip, starting from where the mouse falls through the window.

Could you do that? Try it with your eyes closed. I knew she had really good pitch, and tends to be sensitive to loud sounds. Both me and my brother are auditory types, too- but I couldn’t do that. I rely on dialogue for that kind of thing.

It just struck me as kind of amazing.

A few words on Vegetarian Dog Food

Sometimes, I think I’m pretty funny. Others don’t necessarily share that opinion, alas. Case in point, I used to write articles for an online site who paid very poorly. Since the pay was so ridiculous, and the format so open, I didn’t always take the proposed topics very seriously. Due to their new nazi profit sharing tactics, it has become somewhat worthwhile to revise the articles that were not particularly well received so that my portfolio makes a little money without me doing anything.

Before I erased it for all time, I wanted to share what I feel is a very helpful article on How to make Vegetarian Dog Food. (I may also share my valuable insights in a later post on ‘How to Date Your Older Home’… very interesting information, that. Stay tuned.)

How to Make Vegetarian Dog Food

1) When you set out to make vegetarian dog food, it is important to start with a vegetarian dog. If budget allows, several vegetarian dogs are ideal, in case your cooking makes one or two of the dogs fatally ill. If you can’t afford several vegetarian dogs, one vegetarian dog and a few vegetarian guinea pigs will probably work just fine.

People sometimes ask “How do I know if my dog is a vegetarian?” That’s a fairly dumb question: A vegetarian dog will not eat meat. Be careful when you get your vegetarian dog that you don’t accidentally get a vegan, because feeding a vegan is a pain in the tookus.

2) K, you have your vegetarian dog(s), now you need your ingredients. You might be thinking that vegetarian dog food consists primarily of vegetables, but vegetables are only one component. Grains, beans, cookies, these are all fair game when you go shopping. There are two main rules to follow when buying ingredients for vegetarian dog-food. First: The ingredients must be vegetarian, which means no meat. Secondly: Your ingredients should not be poisonous to your dog. Outside of those parameters, you might as well try anything. You’re the chef, the entrepreneur, the culinary mastermind. And hey, if you can find some vegetarian dog food while you’re shopping for ingredients, that will save you a lot of work.

Here’s an incomplete list of ingredients to avoid because they might be dog poison.

chocolate
onion powder
citrus fruit
rat poison
Preparation H
rhubarb
raisins
draino
acne medication

3) So you have your vegetarian dog(s), you have your non-poisonous vegetarian ingredients- now it’s time to make the food. Depending upon your ingredients, you will likely have to chop, puree, and boil stuff together. Make sure there are no large chunks of any ingredient that your vegetarian dog or guinea pig might choke on. Write down the ingredients in each concoction so you won’t forget. Avoid seasoning with a tremendous amount of ketchup or salt, as large quantities of these are unhealthful to canines. Navigate by smell. A hungry dog isn’t all that finicky, so if you’re not gagging they might go for it.

4) Let your dog perform the taste test. You might be really curious, but ideally you won’t be the one eating your vegetarian dog-food, the dog will.

5) Monitor your dog for digestive upheaval for 48 hours- kind of like a quarantine. If he lives, document the taste-test winner. Put it in your recipe box. Congratulations! You’re a canine Betty Crocker!

The Toblerone Factor

Here it is, 6:30 am, and I already suspect today maybe isn’t the sort of day to get up early for. Nonetheless here I am, in good faith, wearing a quilt toga-style and preparing to ruminate on guilt and disappointment, as they may be applied to the world of Swiss Chocolates.

Do you remember the first time you tried a Toblerone? To be honest with you, I don’t. My dad liked to partake of things he felt were finer than the main-stream offerings, so we would have the occasional Toblerone with a movie, instead of like say, a Hershey bar, or coconut oil soaked popcorn.

I don’t remember the first taste, but I remember they were good. Really good; I mean really, really good. These things are shaped like an elongated pyramid, too, which makes them seem good to the third power. How come more candy manufacturers don’t apply shapes to their offering?

Shapes make it more fun.

And on the front of a Toblerone is a line of copy which speaks to the goodness in all men’s hearts:

S W I S S .  M I L K . C H O C O L A T E . W I T H .  H O N E Y .  A N D . A L M O N D .  N O U G A T

If you soak in those words for a minute, the subliminal message floats to the surface: This sturdy cardboard triangle is the cherished land of milk and honey.

And you’ve found it. No! It’s found you. It came all the way from Switzerland just to make your day.

How cool is that?

Well, it’s very cool,  except-

while I don’t remember my first Toblerone, I remember yesterday’s Toblerone, and I’m pretty darn sure that it wasn’t as good as it was supposed to be.

There, I said it.

I was actually disappointed. I was so ready to feel that chocolate melt againt my tongue, and sink into the river of yummy goodness, that it took awhile to figure out I was kind of… surreptitiously…bummed. I was trying to make the most of it, but even that effort made me feel a little guilty.

I almost felt I was being unfaithful toward my early experience of Toblerone, as I became increasingly aware that my Toblerone just wasn’t turning me on.

It wasn’t bad or anything. It just wasn’t great.

Aren’t they usually great? Surely that was what fostered my love of Toblerone to begin with, the great tastiness? Not just the shape, and the message, and the prettiness; the powerful impression that this candy bar is the true-blue whole package.

I don’t really trust my own perceptions enough to know for sure. Was it always not so great? Was I simply lured in by  the awesome potential? Or do my memories of its greatness have validity, and has the Toblerone gone tragically downhill?

Which is it?

I confess, my first instinct was to blame Lindt Chocolate. Now there’s a Swiss company who obviously hasn’t capitulated to the sneaky practice of upping the wax-content in candy. Toblerone likely suffers in comparison because those Lindor truffles are so damn good. And those saucy little wrappers! Who could stand up next to that shameless, silky chocalatiness? The texture: The texture alone of a Lindt truffle is melt-your-face good. It’s actually pretty suspect, in all honesty. Lindt must employ some unfair, voo-doo practices in order to enchant me the way that their truffles do.

I feel compelled to stick by the old triangles from a sense of loyalty. I will make myself enjoy the gosh darn Toblerone, if need be.

It’s a little freaky though-  the sliding scale of memory/impression, and that whole self-doubt, loyalty thing that kicks in when an old faithful suddenly doesn’t seem to measure up. Personal attachment can be so very fickle.

Maybe I have been a little miserly to my dear, sweet Toblerone.

Maybe if I just ride this out patiently, he will taste good again to me, tomorrow.

An historical glance at 4-20

It is the twentieth day of the fourth month of the Gregorian calendar. The date 4/20 is of particular note because…      

* Today, the territory of Wisconsin was created, in 1836. It’s a beautiful state if you have a taste for sweeping agricultural vistas, and the big north woods. If you’re going to go explore, leave your Mary Janes at home and wear some hardy hiking boots.

* Today, in 1861, Robert E. Lee resigned from the U.S. Army to serve as senior military advisor in the newly established confederacy. His tactical intelligence nearly thwarted the union at several points, but his decisive defeat at Gettysberg marked a turning point. When the new Union Commander, Ulysses Grant  took control, Lee’s forces could not sustain their losses, and the North won the war. Many Southern states still have their nose out of joint about that.

* Today, in 1770, Captain Cook allegedly discovered Australia (with a band of interesting fellows who got some ambitious notions about how things ought to go when their Captain tromped off to explore for awhile) Bill Bryson, in his book ‘A Sunburnt Country’ points out that this discovery was a bit less trail-breaking then it sounds:

“At some undetermined point in the great immensity of its past—perhaps 45,000 years ago, perhaps 60,000, but certainly before there were modern humans in the Americas or Europe—it was quietly invaded by a deeply inscrutable people, the Aborigines, who have no clearly evident racial or linguistic kinship to their neighbors in the region, and whose presence in Australia can only be explained by positing that they invented and mastered ocean- going craft at least 30,000 years in advance of anyone else, in order to undertake an exodus, then forgot or abandoned nearly all that they had learned and scarcely ever bothered with the open sea again.

It is an accomplishment so singular and extraordinary, so uncomfortable with scrutiny, that most histories breeze over it in a paragraph or two, then move on to the second, more explicable invasion—the one that begins with the arrival of Captain James Cook and his doughty little ship HMS Endeavour in Botany Bay in 1770. Never mind that Captain Cook didn’t discover Australia and that he wasn’t even yet a captain at the time of his visit. For most people, including most Australians, this is where the story begins.”

Yup. Our intrepid (proprietary) European Might !! sort of takes a hit against the backdrop of historical accuracy.

* On this day in 1889, Adolf Hitler was born. Approximately 50 years later, all of Europe went to pot. Seriously, you couldn’t get a decent latke if your life depended on it. Between 8 and 11 million peoples’ lives did depend upon a reasonable and basically decent political culture. They died while friends, neighbors and family members stood by, paralyzed by fear.

Happy birthday, dolfo. If there’s such a thing as Hell, you’re gonna have trouble blowing out your candles.

* On this day, in 1916, Wrigley field opened in Chicago. Gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. was the team owner at the time. The site of the stadium was previously home to a Chicago Federal League team, the Chicago Whales, but has been home to the Cubs since then. Sometimes they smoke their opponents, and sometimes their opponent smokes them, but it’s generally agreed upon that the hotdogs are decent, regardless.

(Here- A ‘colorful’ but very entertaining account of the ‘Wrigley Field Hotdogz’)

.

Peep Slaying

 

A bright yellow box of freakishly cute peeps.

 

 

A first and last look at the wide world.

 Can you drown a peep?

 

Not really.

 

This little peep met a utility truck...

 

Poor Peep!!!

 

Handsome peep comes to comfort squashed peep.

Uh oh. The seagulls like the look of handsome peep.

 

One of them snatches up handsome and runs!

He attempts to eat it.

 

He attempts harder to eat it.

 

He really, really tries to consume the darn thing.

After awhile, he takes a little rest.

 

Finally, he swoops off with the still intact peep prize.

 

Peep 3 decides it is her turn to commune with angels.

 

In the iron belly of a seraphim.

 

She goes on to prove that you can, in fact staple marshmallows.

 

Peep 4 is the 'Hellraiser' of the brood.

 

He attempts to fly coop; gets stuck in tree.

 

He hits on a couple of old birds.

 

And then he goes down in a blaze of glory.

Final peep was so cute, I almost lost my nerve.

 

I talked him down from the toaster...

 

But he would not be swayed from the microwave.

If you have  small children with you, or a medical condition, please avert your eyes.

* * *

 

The horror, the horror!

No more peeps till next year!

Leprechaun Tuesday

I’m a little late. Had to finish the video for today.

Well, on the one hand it’s St. Patrick’s Day, so if you aren’t having green beer for breakfast… (then you’re a lucky cat).

I haven’t figured out the food part today, yet. I’ve barely figured out my name yet, but will probably go with Raisin Bran, cus it requires little anything.

For Tuesday, I had to have an obnoxious song, but  I made an effort to connect you all with the artist’s vision by posting the lyrics… as I hear them.  Not sure they’re all quite er, accurate but… how do you think I did?

Okay. I’m not particularly bright and shiny this morning, so will skip any transference of great wisdom onto weeble-kind, let’s skip straight to things to do today.

1. (obviously) Make things green! Co-workers and family will likely be delighted at your efforts to turn previously appetizing food and beverages a fine mold tinge today. Get creative! Pesto, food-coloring, pistachio pudding, today’s the day to use these things not wisely, but oh so well.

2. Today is a good day to pinch someone whose been irritating you for a really long time. It doesn’t really matter what they’re wearing. Judges rarely prosecute people for acceptable holiday traditions, and you can plead color-blindness if your angst-provider happens to be wearing green coveralls and a leprechaun tie. Actually, if you see someone wearing that, pinch them whether you like them or not. They have it coming.

3. On a more kind-hearted note… any holiday provides a good reason to make some cards and go visit your local assisted living facility. It’s amazing how much having a visitor can brighten an older person’s day. Life is pretty lonely on the fringes of things, and a splash of color might mean a few minutes effort for you, but make someone’s week, month or decade. And in how many instances do we non-elf, non-leprechaun sorts get to spread a little magic and cheer. It’s totally worth it.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Monday of days

Day started with this, an idea Corina told me about:

Cinnamon Oatmeal
(the old fashioned way)

Not so complicated. When you start the water, before it starts boiling, put the dash of salt & throw some cinnamon in there too.

Makes the house cozy-fragrant. Boil the oats. If you like brown-sugar, 2 teaspoons per serving works ok, and throw some raisins in too, for sweetener. I sprinkle flax seeds on the top, and sometimes some walnut pieces, cus I like the crunchy. Goooooood mornin’!

Today’s music, just for you (two songs) (but totally worthwhile auditory time investment).

What I’m having for lunch: Uhhh…

What we’re having for dinner: Pasta.  Angel hair pasta with parmesan sauce. A mind-boggling salad with cucumbers, romaine, tomatoes, green onions and little itty bitty carrot medallions that I’ll cut myself, so there might be finger bits in there too. I would love some crusty, home made bread with all this, but it’s a family birthday so I doubt I’ll escape the day cake-free.

K, each day this week I’ll post a blurb, and three ideas of STUFF TO DO, that might enrich your life, or at least make your throat tickle.

So like, last night I evolved. That’s right, you weren’t just imagining my sloped forehead… No, there’s this patience building game called ‘Human Age’ that Robin introduced me to a month or so ago. I’d been spending some time at it each day, trying to get my character strong and competent. It takes awhile at first. Finally, she was all established in the opening world, and had built the strength and ability to kick people’s asses competently, and make big loot, and that was enjoyable. I was just going to hang out there for awhile and flex my mastery. And suddenly, yesterday, I was just so freakin done with that. It was time to go, time to be helplessly new and inept again. I couldn’t stay in that place another moment.

It got too small.

It’s just a game, but… I was a little proud to choose patheticness in age two over the known and previously navigated route. It kinda restarted my energy and enthusiasm, and I find that attitude still lingering around this morning.

Sometimes being comfortable is the very worst thing to be.

Stuff you could DO today

1. Get you some marshmallows, and pop a few in the microwave. Set it on 40 seconds. If you haven’t done this before it will BLOW YOUR MIND.

2. Volunteer at your local library or food share. They could use you, trust me.

3. Paint your toe-nails alternating colors in jarring combinations. If you have an eleven year old daughter, this has probably already been done for you.

And have a terrific day.

postponed

I did an excellent job making lush, healthy meals yesterday. Excellent.

But there’s a roach in the honey souffle- here it is:

It’s full moon day. Full moon day! Ya. So basically, while I haven’t given into temptation as of yet, all I *really* want today is something with the words ‘triple chocolate’ in the title.

Conundrum.

I donno if you know what the deal is with the full moon. Women probly get it. Men might be shaking their heads goin’… “What? Do they turn into chocolate vampires or somethin’?”

Basically. Basically I and many like me are a lot more likely to grow fangs and a casualty list during certain times if chocolate (in single, double, or triplicate) remains too scarce.

Lets leave the rest to mystery.

…i had this whole thing planned out. It coulda been dress rehearsal for life coaching. I had ideas. Music. Recipes.

*sigh*

Next week. Next week maybe. Or tomorrow.

You never know what kinda messed up shit can happen on a Tuesday.

“Let me feed you for a week.”

My family-type people have been feeling crapacious. We’ve been sick. I’ve been a little sick, a lot of the time. My daughter has been quite sick, sporadically. At grandma’s house, there’s been general malaise. Mom is stressed about losing her job, and she looks like the walking dead.

I probly do, too. Insomnia’s come by for her seasonal visit, and we’ve been up late together a lot of nights, lately. I’ve watched a lot of infomercials. There’s been quality time spent with the cooking channel.

I’ve either formulated this opinion, or learned it by osmosis: Diet is a great big deal for everyone. Winter has created a pasty, pudgy populous, and there’s so much confusion about *what* to eat, and how to eat it, that pre-formulated habits are kind of what most people cling to under the onslaught of information, to escape awful tasting pre-packaged meals.

There’s great cooking, of course. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to create some of that Julia Child goodness on the home-front, but… who really keeps all the right ingredients at any time? Who has the time and patience and skill?

Everyone does, once in awhile. But nobody does, all the time.

I think… cooking has to be intuitive. The foundation is knowledge, and that knowledge should be custom-fitted to your priorities in the kitchen. You kinda hafta prioritize, and then learn, and once you learn, then you let yourself go. Like anything you want to do well, build the foundations, then get creative.

Here’s some of my priorities in the kitchen.

1. Tasty food.
2. Nutritious
3. Moderate expense
4. Weight conscious
5. Quick preparation time
6. Easy clean-up

Time related priorities are last on my list, cus I actually do have the time to prepare, refrigerate, plan, and mop up after my culinary explorations. That doesn’t mean it has to take a long time, but I’d rather have a basic knowledge about what is tasty, nutritious and affordable then what is fast.

Anyway, we’re going to try and eat consciously this week and see if we start feeling better. I think I’ll post the day’s menu up, but I’m not going to plan the week out. Besides knowledge, the other part of cooking is listening. The body has different needs at different times, and it’s not a bad idea to take into account what the body is hungry *for*.

But here’s some of the basic staples that will shape the week’s culinary direction:

Oatmeal
Blueberries
Salmon fillet (not farm-raised)
Fresh baked bread (pughliese or seminola, from bakery)
Free range chicken (packet of thighs)
Organic eggs
broccoli
asparagus
yogurt (we’re trying a kind without corn syrup)
green onions
basil
garlic
cinnamon
walnuts
flax seeds
raisin bran
cheese
green apples
angel hair pasta
beef and barley soup
purple grapes
home-made chicken noodle soup
snow-peas
carrots
herb-tomato sauce
frozen berries
orange juice
popcorn
fresh greens

I know this is boring as hell, but indulge me. Monday I’ll start posting what it is we’re going to eat. If it *feels good*, I’ll have something to go back and reference later.