This Bus

 I think one of the most important skills one could have in life is to know how to drive a stick shift. My sister taught me. I remember her teaching me in three different vehicles.

Me and my red hair, jacket and bus sometime around 1993.

There was a Pontiac Fiero. I think I was about 14 or 15. We were driving in hamlet north of my town, looping around between the Bull 'n' Bun and Martha's Donuts. Thinking I was in first gear, when actually being in 3rd the whole time, I just couldn't get it. These two hesher dudes, late teens driving a beat up Trans Am yelled out their window "smells like clutch." The driver of the Trans Am lived in the neighborhood. I knew his brother, but I knew this guy only by reputation. It was rumored that he wrote poetry so scary that if you read it, evil would befall you.  

The next two cars belonged to my sister's boyfriend at the time. This time was a year older and had my license. We would take these cars out to the parking lot by the Crocker Bank. There was a BMW and a VW Bus. I don't remember anything about the BMW other than I felt fancy driving it. The Bus, however, I loved. I loved sitting up higher. I loved being super close to the windshield. I loved the long gear shift. I loved the rumble of the VW. 

I loved it so much that 6 years later I bought myself one. It was a 1972 VW Bus. It had a camper,  a pull out bed, a closet, and a sink with a sticker on its cabinet that said something about the 2nd Amendment and arming bears. I bought it for $500 sometime around 1993. I had this boyfriend at the time who lived just off Haight St. It was a super noisy neighborhood and I never got a good night's sleep when I spent the night there. Many times I got to my car in the morning and found that someone had spent the night inside.  Since it was so easy to break into, I figured it would be easy to steal. So, to "lock" my car, I would remove the distributor wire, pop it in my backpack, and then reinstall it when I was ready to go leave. I drove it until it almost died, then I sold it to some hippie chick for $500 who wanted to follow Phish around. My guess is that the Bus gave up the ghost before she made it to Red Rocks. 

I had some good memories around that vehicle. I hope that wherever it broke down, because it totally broke down somewhere, someone took it and restored it. It was a good one.

Community at the Watering Hole - Stay Safe Out There

Last night I learned the value of being part of a community. 

I have a watering hole where I'm a bit of a regular. Nobody yells "NORM" when I walk in but the bartender knows my drink and usually has it poured for me as I'm sitting down. I know (or know of) most of the regulars. They know me as well. There's the old guy from Ireland who greets everyone with a friendly yet bone crushing handshake. There's the one guy from Nebraska who drinks fancy drinks with top shelf product, who tells innocuous yet slightly uncomfortable stories I'm never sure how to respond to. There's the other guy from Nebraska who is a friendly ex-marine who made his home in San Francisco when he finished his service. He's friends with the guy who always has Taco Bell in his backpack and a deck of Uno cards with him and is always down for a game. There's the married couple who are so nice and so genuine, and just looking at them together you can see how much they love each other.  There's the old guy who is always given the remote control for the TV upon entry; he knows a lot about local sports and San Francisco sports history.  There's the super tall handsome man I may or may not have a tiny crush on. There's the mom of a kid my oldest kid went to school with who I wasn't friends with when our kids were in school, but we're forming a nice friendship now. There's the woman who looks like she could be a "woo" girl given the right circumstances, but usually just keeps to herself and eats cookies. There's the guy who really likes sorghum and knows a lot about outer space.  There's the guy who speaks mostly in hyperbolic metaphors but tells really amazing tall tales about growing up in SF's Excelsior neighborhood. I could go on and on. All of these people form a community and I was really comforted by that fact last night.

It was my regular Sunday night; Jazz / Laundry night. My local watering hole has a live jazz band on Sunday nights and luckily my local laundromat is just a few doors down. I get to mitigate my displeasure of doing laundry by listening to some great music surrounded by a great group of people. Despite having to do laundry, it's become my favorite night of the week. 

Last night I was in the laundromat getting my washers loaded. There were two men in there who were standing right behind me. They were both over 6 feet tall. One guy was big and round and the other was tall and beanpole like. Both had a yucky vibe going on. The big one offered to help me with my laundry bags. I told him no, but thank you. They started talking about how women don't let men help them anymore. Then they started speaking to each other in Spanish. My Spanish is rudimentary at best, but I do understand a good bit. They were standing right behind me, too close for my comfort and saying really creepy things about what they wanted to do with me and with what body part of theirs they wanted to do it with. When I dropped a few socks and had to pick then up off the floor they made comments about my ass. Other people in the laundromat noticed the men and were looking pretty weirded out as well. 

Feeling uncomfortable, I quickly loaded my stuff in the washer and got the heck out of dodge.  I walked over to the little market to get a salad before heading to the watering hole. On my way to the watering hole, I had to pass the laundromat. The men were sitting in their truck outside and started cat-calling as I walked by. I ignored them and went inside the watering hole.

As I bellied up to the bar I mentioned to the bartender what had just happened. I was about to ask her if she'd seen the guy from Nebraska (the Marine, not the fancy drink guy) or the super tall handsome guy I may or may not have a tiny crush on, thinking I would ask one of them to walk me back to the laundromat when I had to switch stuff to the dryer. Before I could get my question out she volunteered one of her friends to do the job, someone I had never met, but had seen before. Turns out he was the GM of one of he restaurants down the street.

When it was time to switch the wash around, the big truck was gone. I thought they were gone, but it turns out, only one of then was gone. Icky Beanpole was still in the laundromat. The friend of the bartender, the  kept himself between the guy and me and wouldn't let him engage with me. I was able to get everything in the dryer and out of there without having to worry about the icky guy. When it was time to get the laundry out of the dryer and into my car, the good guy walked back with me. Icky Beanpole guy was still there. Again the friend played interference not letting the icky one engage with me. As we were leaving, an Uber pulled up and Icky Beanpole guy got in and left.

When I got back to the watering hole, the super tall handsome man that I may or may not have a tiny crush on was standing outside. I told him what was happening. He gave me a few pats on the back and said he was glad I was OK and told me that that's what a good community does, helps out its members. 

I got back to my seat at the bar, bought my new friend a few beers and after a few more songs, I left for the evening. As I left, I said goodbye to the bartender, my new friend, the Marine and cookie girl. I passed by the super tall handsome man I may or may not have a tiny crush on and he gave me a really awkward side-hug and air kiss, then wished me a good week.  

What started as what could have been a really scary evening turned into a good night feeling good about my community.

Stay safe out there. 

Tranquility of Solitude Ruined -- A Dream

My dream life of late has been disappointing. I used to be able to recall a lot of my dreams. They were so vivid. Not so much lately. However, this morning between snoozes on my alarm I was got a welcome surprise, a weird dream with a celebrity in it. 

I was walking through a fancy restaurant alone, being shown to my table. I was about to sit down and enjoy the experience of dining in a fancy restaurant. I was really looking forward to my evening of solitude. I was in a great mood and really looking forward to my dining experience. All of the tables were curved booths with high backs, puffy and a little sparkly, like paint on a bass boat, but delightfully muted. The table linens were crispy and bright white. The dishes looked like mother of pearl with a satin-y blue border.  

Olivia Wilde, as her character on the TV Show House, Dr. Thirteen came up to me. She had a stethoscope around her neck and was carrying a clipboard. Like the restaurant's seats, her hair also sparkled like the flecked brilliance of a bass boat. She told me that she noticed that I was about to dine alone and didn't want me to. She said that nobody should have to dine alone and she sat down at my table, without asking, just assuming I needed company whether I wanted it or not. 

I scowled at her the entire time. Her good intentions ruined my meal. 

Crunchy Salad Days

One of my sisters says that salads and sandwiches taste better when made by someone else. I believe this is true 90% of the time.

Anywhoozle, today before work I went into my local Food Hole to pick up something or other and I thought I'd fancy a ready-made salad for lunch. The three that I like, my go-to's if you will, were displayed side by side, just waiting to be chosen. 

Their Caesar's salad is pretty good, but it has chicken. I don't always want meat in my salad. I eat meat, but I don't need it for every meal, or every day, even. I can do without it. It does come with a lemon wedge and something with a spritz of citrus is usually welcome. I didn't want to pay $10 to pick out chicken today. I wish they had a version without chicken.  They a vegan Caesar's from a different brand, but I didn't want vegan. I wanted real cheese and real anchovy in my salad. I wanted the real thing, just without chicken. 

They have this one salad with mixed greens, candied. pecans, bleu cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette. I like that one, but halfway through the salad the balsamic vinaigrette gets really cloying. I didn't think I'd be mentally available for something cloying today, so I skipped it. 

The one I chose totally fit the bill for today. I got the Burma Love Fermented Tea Leaf Salad. It not only checked all the boxes today, it also created a few new boxes that I needed, but didn't consider in the moment. It had a nice pop of citrus, it had a little bit of sour, and a really pleasing bit of crunch. The crunch is what did it for me today and made me happy. 

Busy Bars

When I was 14 my parents took me on a long-ass 3 week trip to the East Coat. Some of it was kind of fun. Some of it was kinda neat. Some of it was alarming (ask me about my monkey story). A lot of it was a big drag being around my parents the whole time. I enjoyed following the lines painted on the sidewalk in Boston. I liked going to the House of Seven Gables, partly because gables are an enjoyable architectural addition to any home, and partly because they had the bedwarmer that was used on an episode of Bewitched on display. I enjoyed walking around Greenwich Village in New York and going to some clothing store I was really excited about. It was the storefront from a catalog I had. Dang it. I can't remember. It was along the same vein as the stores Alloy, Modcloth, Delia's, but from the 80's and it wasn't Benetton. I did not enjoy touring the Naval Academy, but I think it was because I was 14 and with my parents for too long, and not because the Naval Academy wasn't interesting. I did not enjoy driving around Maine looking for a dumb ass covered bridge. Except for the hour I spent in Spencer's, the mall store that sells fundies, fart spray and posters of Heather Thomas, I did not enjoy New Hampshire.  The Statue of Liberty wasn't as exciting as I thought it was going to be. I enjoyed Washington, DC. I got to see Fonzie's jacket, Dorothy's shoes, Archie Bunker's chair. I got to see airplanes and spaceships. I really enjoyed the FBI museum. We toured the White House. One of the only souvenirs I bought the whole trip was a cookbook. The First Ladies' Cookbook. It was filled with recipes that were the favorite of each President, presumably, what the First Lady cooked for the President. I got it because there was a recipe for a fried egg. I thought it was weird that a fried egg recipe needed to be published somewhere. Totally unrelated but nonetheless serendipitously coincidental, prior to my DC trip, my dad gave me a book from The Galloping Gourmet Graham Kerr. In it, it had a recipe for Perfect Scrambled Eggs. I thought it was funny that there were recipes for fried eggs and scrambled eggs. The book ended at Regan, because it was 1986. I wish I knew where it was right now. It's not something I would have thrown away. It'll turn up sooner or later, I suppose. 

Anywhoozle, I made cookies yesterday for the freezer, so we could have cookies whenever we want them. I made peanut butter chocolate chip, masa cherry and white chocolate, and speaking of First Ladies, Busy Bars.

Busy Bars are kind of like cowboy cookies, but more kitchen-sink-y. The recipe I use as the base is Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookies. It's a big recipe and makes a shit-ton of delicious cookies. It's my favorite cookie. It's delicious raw and frozen, an equally delicious freshly baked. A Cowboy cookie is a yummy cookie with a base that's kind of like a chocolate chip cookie, but with cinnamon in it. Added to it are 10 cups worth of oats, coconut, pecans and chocolate chips. In my version, I play fast and loose with that 10 cups and add whatever the heck I want. I always add 2 cups of oats, and then play with the remaining 8 cups. This time around I added chocolate chips, white chips, coconut, dried cherries, dried pineapple and macadamia nuts. In times past I have added walnuts, toffee pieces, m&m's, dried cranberries, butterscotch chips, chopped up Hershey kisses, broken up Ghiradelli squares. What goes inside is subject to whim, necessity and access, really. The world is your oyster Busy Bar. I line a pan with parchment paper, press the dough into the pan and bake it into bars. 

You could make it cookies instead of bars, but bars are easier to make and Busy Bars is more fun to say.

On Post-Hula Snacks - a food review

 Tonight was a good night. I went to hula class tonight. It was the first time in quite a while that we met in person. It felt great to be around my fellow haumana, giving each other the most welcoming, warming and awkwardly reticent embraces, (I want to hug you. I want to give you the aloha I've been longing to give and receive...but...you know...).  We started learning something new. My knees were behaving. I was there. I was present. I was engaged. It felt really really great to be at hula tonight.

Anywhoozle, when I get home from hula, I am hungry. My go-to after-hula snack is toast with butter and peanut butter. Any kind of toast will do, but my favorite is a piece of thickly sliced sourdough bread. (You toast the bread, add butter, then before the butter is spread or melted, add peanut butter then spread the butter and peanut butter together. The butter sort of forms a ripple in the peanut butter. Sprinkle it with a little sea salt if you want to get fancy.) It's really delicious, filling and satisfying. 

Still anywhoozle, as yummy as my peanut butter toast is, I was wanting something different tonight. I wanted something with a little bit more protein, and a whole lot more salt.  Tonight I had a super craving for some Kimchee Beef Fried Rice from a super yummy Korean restaurant in my neighborhood. However, I'm on a bit of a budget right now so I had to pass, but thankfully I remembered that I had something in my freezer that could scratch that itch. A while back I bought Trader Joe's Bulgogi Beef Fried Rice with Kimchi. It had been in the freezer for a month. I totally forgot about it until tonight. I heated some up and topped it with super runny eggs and let the residual heat from the rice cook the eggs, and just for kicks, added a sprinkling of Aloha Soy Sauce. It was pretty good. It was just what. I needed. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it totally did the trick. It wasn't perfect. The beef was too sweet and I think I could have done without it. It was good on it's own, but it definitely wasn't the star of the show as the title written on the bag implied. The rice had a nice bite to it. It wasn't as kimchee rich as the original dish I was craving. I broke one of my yolks, but it was still pretty good. 

It hit the spot, in a slightly better than it'll do kind of way. I'll be going to bed happy; happy that both my body and spirit were fed tonight.

You're Innocent When You Dream - A Dream

 I had a dream last night - 

I was driving though some kind of outdoor community commerce area; people sitting at cocktail tables eating tiny sandwiches and drinking coffee, people walking their dogs, people buying pretty stuff they don't need. I stopped at a crosswalk to let a group of people pass by. Once the last person passed my car, I started to go, but just as i started to go, one of the people from the group turned around, made eye contact with me and walked directly into my car. I pulled over and walked over to the person I hit with my car and started talking to her. She told me she wouldn't be seeking medical care or pressing charges. She was living under an assumed identity and wasn't ready to tell anyone who she really was and if she were to seek medical care or involve the police she'd have to tell everyone who she really was and she didn't want to do that. So instead of me getting in trouble for hitting someone with my car, the victim and I drank Campari and people-watched.

If You Want to Be a Top Banana, the Cheese Stands Alone - a dream

 I had a dream this morning.

I wasn't the photographer, but I was in charge of taking the pictures at some kind of event where the walls looked like something like if David Lynch had a hand in decorating the Madonna Inn. My job was to take portraits of families dressed in their very best clothes, all made out of cheese. 

American cheese was the big stand-out, very versatile, especially good for lapels. 

A Very Duggar Destination Wedding - A Dream

 I had a dream this morning

My family and I were invited to a Duggar wedding. I don't know which Duggar was getting married. It was a destination wedding. First we had to all meet in Arkansas at the Duggar compound then as a group, fly to Hawai`i. Nobody would tell me why we couldn't just fly to Hawai`i and meet them there. We got our hair done at the Duggar house then flew to Hawa`i. After the wedding we went to the reception. We were dismayed to learn that we weren't assigned a seat at the reception. We weren't allowed to attend the inside. They told us to look at our invitation. We are told that although our presence was requested, we were invited. All of the invited people got to go into the reception. All of the requested people had to wait outside. 

We left feeling really put out and disappointed. 

Steve Martin's Personal Life - A Dream

I hate when I can't remember my dreams. 

This morning I woke up at the end of my dream and said out loud .....

If only I could remember what this dream was about.

The Bearded Dragon and the Basking Snake - a dream.

 Last night I had a dream I had a pet snake, but I didn't really enjoy him. He snuck out of his enclosure and went outside and ate a crow. It came back inside and started basking in the cat tree in the window that looked like a real tree, a ficus, actually. 

When I went to grab the snake to put it back in its enclosure, I grabbed a bearded dragon with the agility of a feral cat by mistake. I kept trying to go downstairs so I could return it to the neighbor but the stairwell was flooded and I couldn't get outside, so I did the only thing I could think of doing, I made the bearded dragon wear a top hat with a feather hatband. 

The snake just stayed in the tree, basking like the crow-eating, ficus-loving snake he was.

Fennel Salad

When I was in college I worked for a time at a cafe in the Financial District. I mostly liked it there. I put in a mostly full week of work, the schedule complemented my school hours, and I had weekends off. I took home a shit-ton of food on Fridays and ate free every single day. There wasn't a whole lot to complain about except for the go-nowhere-ed-ness nature of the job, of course.

Anywhoozle, this deli had a few salads it served on a regular rotation that I really enjoyed. Two of them even make me think for a moment that strawberries aren't so bad after all. 

One of the salads, not one of the strawberry ones, is the one I made this afternoon. I was craving it, so I made it. It's macerating right now.  I took a few bites of it right after I made it and it was good, but it will be so much better in about an hour or so

. 

Fennel, Parmesan and Walnut Salad

I never actually saw the actual recipe for this salad, so this is what I came up with on my own and it's delicious. 

Take a head of fennel and cut out the core and remove the outside pieces. Take your super scary hand held slicer with the ceramic blade and slice until you are afraid you're going to slice off your knuckles and fingertips.  

Add chopped up walnuts, grated parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt, Timut pepper. You can also add some parsley if you want a little bit of color. The Timut pepper is my own contribution to the gleaned recipe. I like the grapefruity essence of this type of pepper. 

It's yummy. 

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Bus #2 Rules!

The first day of school. I'm feeling a strange mix of excitement, trepidation and ennui. Excitement because my kids get to see their friends and learn with them together. They get to be outside, running around. I'm excited because I don't have to have 12 different alarms on my phone letting me know what kid had to log in to which class. I'm filled with trepidation because the virus is still out there and even though 3/4 of my household is vaccinated and I live in a city and state that takes covid safety seriously, it's still a bit scary. I'm also feeing a bit of ennui, It's been a hard time, this pandemic. I can feel it in the air that everyone is experiencing some of this. We are excited to be together again but wary of those destructive few who don't take this virus seriously or those who won't get vaccinated. They could seriously fuck it all up for us. We worked hard to stay inside, wear masks, use sanitizer. We missed people we love and didn't get to attend important events. I'm optimistic that we will be through with all of this soon enough, but sheesh. 

Anywhoozle, my kids comprise a brand new college graduate, an 8th grader and a 3rd grader. 

Upon my college graduation, I was definitely not as put together as my oldest. She rocks. I wish I had just an ounce of her determination and drive. 

When I started 8th grade, my teacher was brand new; I don't know if she was new to teaching, but she was new to the school. 8th grade is also where I had an English teacher who is the best teacher I ever had. He was really tall and had a really great "weird" about him. So much so that by his example, I became more comfortable with my own "strange." Life got a little easier after that. He liked music. He played guitar. He told great stories about him growing up. One time he brought his guitar into class and said nothing the whole class. He just played his guitar and sang Arlo Guthrie's Motorcycle Song.

When I started 3rd grade I started a new school.  We took the school bus (Bus #2 Rules!). Our driver was named Mrs. Black. On the walk on the way home from the bus stop after school we could take two routes. One took us by the liquor store. We would spend our offering money on candy there. The other route home took us by a house that I think Nicholas Cage grew up in and another that had a 3 foot statue of King Kamehameha holding a Swedish flag in its front yard.  I knew some of the kids from Sunday School, so I thought I would have an easy time making friends. Turns out, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The cool kid clique formed early in my class and I wasn't a part of it. However, it was also around that time that I met one of my closest friends and favoritest people. We're still friends to this day and I consider myself lucky because of it.

I hope this school year goes smoothly. I hope the vaccination rate goes up and the infection rates go down. I hope my kids are successful in their paths ahead of them. 

Limping with Pride and Dignity

I made some cookie dough today. I like making a Cowboy-ish kind of cookie. It's oats, dried coconut, dried cherries and chocolate chips. I don't add the pecans that are usually in a Cowboy. My kids don't like them and while I like a delicious pecan pie, I don't think these nuts make or break this cookie. It's a yummy cookie (and in its raw form, it's a delicious frozen sneaky snack). 

Here is the recipe I used. I used regular chocolate chips instead of white one and I traded the amount of dried cherries and chocolate chips. The last time I made this cookie it was too dried cherry heavy. I want the chocolate chips to be the star of the show this time, not the cherries. Also, I used regular oats instead of the quick-cooking kind. 

I don't have a picture of the finished product because I only made the dough.  I guess I felt like mixing but not baking today. I doubled the recipe and separated the dough into three parts. Two went into the freezer and one went into the fridge to bake tomorrow. 

Anywhoozle, when I got started I realized I was out of brown sugar so I walked to my corner Walgreens and I got my brown sugar, paid the lady and brown sugar in hand, I left to walk back home. 

There is a homeless person who frequents the corner of my Walgreens. As I walked by him he shouted "I like your walk. You walk like you have a lot of pride and dignity." *

I stood a little taller and under my mask, smiled a little wider, walked home and made some cookies. 

*This got me right in the feels. I walk with a slight limp. I've had knee problems and foot drop problems for the last 20 years or so. As I get older, the effects of the damage are not lost on me and whereas 10 years ago I limped after a day of strenuous activity, now I limp pretty much all the time. It's just the way I walk (and dance) now. 

Incorporating Pauly: A Dream

So this morning I was dreaming -- 

I was at some kind of function where there was a pool but nobody was allowed to go swimming. My cat Pauly came close to the edge of the pool to get a drink. He slipped and fell in. My sister dove (dived?) into the pool and rescued him. He turned orange, but we gave him CPR and cuddles and he was fine, but still orange.

When I woke up and got out of bed, I went to pee and noticed some cat litter on the toilet seat like Pauly was trying to drink out of the toilet. Then I went into the kitchen and Pauly's water bowl was spilled all over the kitchen floor. Pauly had his face in the bowl drinking up the few drops that were left.  I threw some paper towels on the spilled water, refilled the water bowl and started my day.

Good Morning!

Pineapples and Podcasts

When I take drives longer than say, 45 minutes or so, I like to listen to podcasts. 

The podcast that got me hooked on podcasts was Stuff You should Know; it was on biospeleology, the study of eco-systems in caves. Who knew?  After a while I moved on and found Serial, devoured the first season (and limped my way through the second. I'll get around to the third soon enough),  Podcasts I've really enjoyed lately are  Business Wars; DC vs. Marvel and Nike vs. Adidas and Monster vs. Redbull are particularly interesting. I like American Scandal; the Balco Scandal was really engrossing. I like the series Nice Try which discusses failed failed utopian experiments; who knew the Oneida silverware people did so much forking? Or how a chair could summarize the history of a city in northern India? I tried some of the True Crime podcasts like The Black Dahlia story, but the one about The Dating Game Killer creeped me out too much so I had to stop. One of my current favorites is Spectacular Business Fails; I love the episode about U-Haul as it confirms my strongly held conviction of never, ever working for a small family-run business ever again. I did it twice and both ended up badly, (another blog post for another time, perhaps).

Anywhoozle, I recently introduced Pua to podcasts. We like Ridiculous History. We listened to one about the history of the Flea Circus, the history of Pie-to-the-Face, the history of Pink Lemonade and the one that got us hooked in the first place, the history of the Pineapple in Europe, it was a two parter.  She and I were driving 45 minutes or so to meet some friends for an afternoon of badminton and sunshine. I put the podcast on, hoping she would like it. And yay! not only did she tell me midway through Part 1 that she was enjoying it, she asked to listen to Part 2 when we were on our way home. On the way home though, she ended up falling asleep by the time we got to the bridge, but she was all-in up until that point. A few days later we were driving once again. She asked if our drive was say, 45 minutes, or so, and if so, could we listen to a podcast.  It wasn't, but instead we got to talked about what we had learned about the pineapple and its influence on the landed gentry of Europe. 

I'm very excited she likes learning, and even more excited that she likes learning about off-the-wall and interesting stuff. 

I love watching my kids discovering things they love. 

Pandemic Pondering

 I've done a lot of things this pandemic since the SIP started. 

I bought a springform pan with a bundt insert and tried to turn everything I cooked in to bundt form; banana bread, brownies, frittata, monkey bread, meatloaf-bundt. I saw an episode of Master Chef where they were making tarte tatin, and thought I'd try my hand at it. I tried it with puff pastry. I tried it with pie crust. I tried it with biscuit dough. I tried it with all kinds of fruit. Then I went back to my springform pan with the bundt insert and made cheesecakes, for a whole week. I've rewatched Lost, Buffy, Angel (I watched Buffy and Angel in order of airplay), Hawaii Five-0, all the Harry Potters, all the Godfathers, every Gordon Ramsay series, All the Star Wars (twice, both in order of release date and in order of episode number), all of Finding Bigfoot (a few times), House, Phinneas and Ferb, and a lot of more things that I can't remember now, but you get the point.  I gained back half of the weight I lost a few years ago. That sucks. I started running again, got a few months into it and the arthritis kicked in full force. I got to the point where I couldn't climb stairs without doing them one at a time. I turned 50. I had a few Old People medical problems that I had to get fixed. All this while making sure the kids were taken care of, fed, exercised, inspired, signed in at their online school, remembering to keep them bathed, making dinner every night; all that stuff.  I got to see and spend some quality time a few times with Captain Awesome. Each time I am reminded of how much I love him and how difficult being apart is/was.   I didn't dedicate as much time to Hula, which I regret. I think the stillness it brings me would have really helped me through all this. At the times when my body felt its worst, hula would have at least given me some peace, or at least a break. I did start regularly attending Hula Meditation class. It's slowly bringing me back to full aloha-strength. I lost my job 3 months into the SIP, and have been looking for a job since. It's been a bit of a struggle. We have what we need, and augment it with a food bag from the food bank every week or so. I am thankful that the Biden Bucks supplement my unemployment payments. I was able to complete a certificate from Cornell, and am currently working on a second.  My oldest graduated from college. I got to see some sisters and my parents. Yes, these are sucky times, but there are good things happening as well.

My circumstances are pretty much the same as a lot of us; a few details change here and there among us, but this year's been weird, hard and not a lot of fun for most of us. I am looking forward to life and times steadily improving as we all get vaccinated and keep wearing our masks for just a little bit longer. 

Anyhow there were two bandwagons I did not jump on. I did not watch Tiger King and I did not clean out every single closet, nook, cranny, box, and suitcase.  Until now. I started cleaning out, reducing, shredding, throwing away, reorganizing, etc.  I like throwing stuff away, and I have a whole lotta junk to do it with. Lucky me.

I was cleaning off my dresser, going through my jewelry box and I found this ring; the one in the middle. My Godmother gave it to me. We were at a family event at my sister's house in 2007. She said she was going through her jewelry and found something she wanted to give me. I asked her if she was sure about that. Wouldn't she want her kids to have her jewelry? She threw her head back and let out a loud long laugh. "No, you're fine," she said. "My kids are getting the good stuff."

Like a Good Neighbor

 

I believe that it is important to do good for other people. It doesn't have to be a grand gesture of good, it doesn't have to cost money, or if it does, it doesn't have to be expensive; it just has to be genuine. Easy, meaningful actions can make someone's day. Pay for someone's load of laundry at the laundromat, buy someone a drink at the bar, take someone's cart back for them at Target, add coins to someone's parking meter, and if you're feeling really generous, let the car behind you take the better parking spot or (admittedly, my least favorite method of doing good) let someone with fewer grocery items than you go ahead of you at the grocery store. You don't have to know the person, you don't even have to interact with the person in most cases; the goal is to make someone's day a little bit brighter, show them that although a lot of things suck in this world, there are a lot more things that are good. 

Barry's Tea is my preferred AM hot water based beverage. Tea wakes you up and keeps you going at an even pace, never too buzzy, never too crashy. Coffee makes me both buzzy and crashy, plus it gives me weird coffee breath I can't get rid of even if I brush my teeth 5 times or eat 27 Altoids. However, coffee also is sometimes necessary. It mitigates that uneven night's sleep, or gives that extra bit of motivation at the dawn of a busy day. This morning my tea wasn't quite cutting it. This morning I needed a bigger boat. After dropping off Pua at school I went to my local coffee house to get that extra buzzy (which I plan to temper with some green tea later when I get crashy). 

While waiting in line there was an older man in front of me. He had a sock hanging off of the velcro of his pocket closure on his cargo shorts. He had a little sock tail. I said "excuse me, but I think the dryer got the best of you today, you have a sock hanging from your hiney." He did a few circles like a playful dog chasing his tail, grabbed the sock, shoved it in his pocket and giggled (I love a man who giggles). 

When it was my turn to order, I went to pay and the cashier told me the man had paid for my order. This morning someone did good for me.  It felt nice and it made my day and reminded me there is more good than bad in this world. As I left, I thanked him and wished him a great day. I went home and got to drink half my coffee before my cat knocked the rest on the floor. 

Zhoug Power!

My youngest goes back to school next week. She is sooooooooooo excited. It's been over a year since she's been in a classroom with her friends. My sweet Pua needs her friends, the outside and a large area to run really fast and far. In the classroom, with her friends is like photosynthesis for her psyche. She needs it to grow and bloom. I have my concerns, my hesitations and my reservations about it, of course, but I am satisfied with the level of care the school district has invested in bringing kids back to school safely.

Anyhow, I went to Trader Joe's today to pick up some snack items for Pua's school lunches. She requested Z-bars, tiny dried oranges, some kind of crackery-type thing and maybe some "triangle cheese" (laughing cow wedges). I got all of that, but because it was going on 1pm and the only thing I'd eaten today was the last few bites of Pua's frozen waffle, I filled my cart with a lot of things I didn't need: a few shots of Mighty Turmeric Juice Shots, a box of Philly Cheesesteak Bao, stuff like that. 

One of my impulse buys was Zhoug Sauce. I'd seen it before, but had never tried it. Today I decided to buy a container. I'm roasting some chicken thighs tonight for dinner. I thought the heat in the sauce would be nice against the fattiness of the crispety skin. 

On my way back to the car I passed the McDonald's and thought that my kids would like a nice surprise. I decided to bring them home Happy Meals. I got one for myself, as well. 

Once home, I was taking some bites of my fries while putting away my groceries. I happened upon the Zhoug sauce and what transpired shortly thereafter was life changing. I put Zhoug Sauce on my Happy Meal Cheeseburger. It was delicious. The spiciness of the sauce, the sweetness of the ketchup, the hot chopped up onion against the cold smooth Zhoug sauce was so good. 

I have to be honest, though. I don't think the pickle slices did itself any favors with this combination. The pickles do provide a necessary taste experience for the Happy Meal Cheeseburger, but should be picked off and eaten separately when adding Zhoug Sauce.  

I can't wait to try it on my chicken tonight.

What's Your Waiting Style?

Do you like waiting in line? I gotta say for me, it depends on the line and the goods or services I will receive once I reach the front. I don't like waiting in line to get into Costco, but waiting in line to get into a concert isn't so bad. I didn't like waiting in line at the Social Security Office, but waiting in line at Mitchell's Ice Cream doesn't bother me a bit.

The kind of line I usually dislike is the school drop off  / pick up line. 

The school across the street from me is back in session. They have both a drop off line in the morning and a pick up line in the afternoon. And boy oh boy, do they have a pick up line in the afternoon. It wraps around a whole city block, the tail end of which is in the street, right in front of my house. Coincidently, the pick up spot is in the parking lot, which is also right in front of my house. The parents picking up their kids have to drive in a circle the size of a city block to pick up their kids. From 2:45pm until just after 3pm there is a constant stream of cars in front of my house. 

I noticed once day that cars start lining up upwards of 45 minutes before the last bell so they could be first in line to pick up their kids.  I wondered, is it worth it to show up 45 minutes early to be first in line? or is it faster to show up a little later when the line starts moving? The benefit or result is the same; picking up one's kid. You don't get to choose the kid you want to take home if you're first and you don't have to take home more kids if you're last. I decided to time the cars in the line. Luckily, among the Minivans and SUVs, and a surprising amount of Teslas, there is a family at the school who has a very large distinctive vehicle. For a whole week I timed how long it took for the dad to go from the street in front of my house, all the way around the city block, and into the parking lot. My suspicion was true. The bulk of one's time in line is spent idling. Once the line starts moving, even though it winds around a whole city block, takes only about 15 minutes to get from the back of the line to the front of the line. 

Are you the type of person who would rather wait 45 minutes just to avoid the line? Or are you the type of person who would rather be in a constantly moving line? I think in this instance I'm the latter.