one slice of bread with peanut butter on it no cut no fold no butter

Things not to do when you have to work the next morning at 8am and it’s your friend Travis’ birthday:

drink a Gordon’s vodka martini
eat salad without protein for supper


Tonight:

Eat something horribly bad for me as tomorrow begins spring renewal/spiritual awakening/start running/get healthy days.

Seriously. It’s time.

the last call for aunt julie

Things that have happened this week I failed to mention as my internet time has been severely restricted ‘cause I got busted for being on the internet too much at work:

I went on home visits with my coworker Sue. This is where 2 totally intimidating library employees (Me: wearing legwarmers; Sue: 50-something short and smiley Irish Catholic woman) go knock on the doors of people who never returned anywhere from $150-$1000 worth of library materials and attempt to recover them. The good news: we didn’t get shot, bitten by a dog, or arrested for breaking and entering (the last could have been a possibility as Sue briefly contemplated going into a foreclosed home to see if amongst the ridiculous amount of trash strewn about we might find a cd or a dvd or two). The bad news: we recovered nothing. First two houses were empty (welcome to living in Michigan!), next two places we heard things like “well he lives in Detroit and he said he returned them things and I know you can steal outta that there box as I done it myself, I mean, I put ‘em back but you can steal shit outta there!” and the last place we saw a naked 60-something year old man. Thankfully we could only see to his waist. This was also the same neighborhood where I came up with what might be the title of Peter's next chapbook: 5 mexican children rolling down a hill. Good times.

I’m buying heirloom tomato and bean seeds and hopefully making raised beds. My coworker Alice brought me seed catalogues. I have dubbed them Veggie Porn.

Saturday night we went to Melissa and Reuben’s house for supper and cards. Neal was so chatty that at one point Melissa took him from Peter thinking he was crying. He was not. He was just.that.vocal. An hour later we wished we could tell Neal that he was truly in the most perfect place nestled up against his Momma wrapped in an afghan and having a bottle. That child is amazing. The same night Reuben blindsided us into taking Poe. JUST FOR A WEEK! But if it works out with Grace we’re going to keep her. And if it doesn’t work out there’s going to be a really cute slightly skittish long haired kitty up for adoption.

A poem I wrote a very long time ago came out in print this week. It’s kind of cool seeing my name in print, but I really hate the publication and quite honestly am not that fond of the poem any more.

The blog title is thanks to a very special episode of Seventh Heaven during which, you’ll be surprised to learn, Aunt Julie has become an alcoholic and strangles Simon in an attempt to get the liquor cabinet key away from him. This episode taught me never to stop drinking as the withdrawal symptoms appear to be awfully similar to what I imagine the withdrawal symptoms are for heroin.

be wary of the she-bear

This weekend I

made outstanding rice and beans
and mango avocado salad
and Xtina’s cookies
and got IPAed
and saw a happy grubby talking baby
and played euchre not badly
and swept the driveway
and baked bread
and raked leaves
and discussed possible chapbook titles


This week I

apply for a new grown-up 40 hour a week position at the library
be cool

spring has sprung

We’re joining a CSA. Eater’s Guild has $285 half shares with a $50 salad extra add-on from mid-May to mid-November. Given how much money I’m apt to spend on produce, I’m relatively certain we’re going to save some serious money and we’ll be eating organic. I’m pretty excited about the plan-your-meals-based-on-the-box thing too. It’s one thing to come up with a recipe based on what you want to eat. It’s a whole other way of cooking when you eat based on what you get.

I’ve decided to not go full out with a garden as I previously wanted to. Instead I’m going to try to grow heirloom tomatoes. From seed. And then try and propagate the seeds for next year. Because nothing is sexier than heirloom tomatoes.

I’m going to attempt to make bread without yeast. Because, you know, I’m such a freaking expert bread maker I thought I’d add a couple of more ways I might screw up. Like 14 days worth of possible ways to screw up. But seriously, I took out the Reinhart book and I’m going for it. I’m sick of spending over $5 a loaf for sprouted whole grain bread. I can do this myself.

I baked the infamous Xtina cookies last night sans eggs (seriously! flax seed works!), but avec butter (I just cannot bring myself to buy earth balance which is so…manufactured when I can just buy organic butter for baking) and though good they’re missing…something. Well, half of them are missing being in the shape of a cookie as my stove is so teeny I only have one small cookie sheet so the remainder of the dough was made into bars. Nothing says Midwestern dessert like a bar. I think it’s because I used walnuts instead of almonds. And I was on the phone as I was mixing them so I know didn’t mix them as well as I could. Regardless, it was easy and a perfect recipe for starting off on a cooking-baking adventure.

Tonight: Spanish brown rice, black beans, mango and avocado salad, tamales, and oaxacan chile salsa made with the infamous de-seeded by Erin without gloves chiles.

And beer. Of course.

choosing to get married is like sitting at the whites only lunch counter

Good hollandaise sauce can be a spiritual experience.
As can homemade sausage.
And vegan cookies.
And shallots.

Bonnie Prince Billy at the Vic ranks somewhere in the top 3 best shows I have ever seen. It might have had something to do with being in the fourth row, but more likely it had something to do with his awesomeness.

I barely recognized Chicago. And I’m still not over $2.25 WITHOUT a TRANSFER for the CTA. What I did recognize was that feeling I get whenever I’m in a city: pure love. I love walking from neighborhood to neighborhood. I love the architecture. I love how there is always something going on somewhere. I love the variety of people. What I didn’t love was how gentrified everything felt. Wicker Park was, uh, slightly different than I remember. Marc Jacobs? BCBG? Steve Madden?!? Thankfully there are still places like Myopic Books and Reckless Records nestled amongst the Starbucks and the soon-to-open Jimmy Johns. Next time I would like to see in the daylight what happened to my old stomping grounds around Belmont and Sheffield.

And by “next time” I hope it to be sooner rather than later.

i can tell it's day 6 of 7 in a row

Things I wish I was doing:

drinking a Magic Hat IPA
reading the ya book I randomly picked up that’s about a robot girl
watching The Wire
going for a hike in the dunes

Things I’m doing:

dealing with mouthbreathers


Things I will be doing once I no longer have to deal with mouthbreathers:

drinking a Magic Hat IPA

things i learned in oaxaca

1. Germans and Argentineans can be snotty. And cheap.

2. Mexican otc cold medications are far superior to American otc cold medications.

3. If it only costs 10 pesos to go 30 miles it’s probably going to be a fairly filthy experience.

4. Hammocks are the bomb.

5. Octopus should actually be tender when cooked properly.

6. I thought I knew mole. I did not. Eating good mole can be a religious experience.

7. Good cab drivers are worth their weight in gold especially ones who encourage you to drink beer in their back seat.

8. Time means nothing in Mexico.

9. Never overlook market food. It will probably blow your mind.

10. Corn ice cream is amazing.

11. Learning to say “cuanto” isn’t really very helpful if you can’t understand how much the item will be.

12. The world is small when viewed from a beach at night under the milky way with a stranger who yearly visits to your very small hometown in Vermont.

Pictures.