pictures from yesterday's hike

Erik took all these on his hike yesterday on the South Yuba River trail.

dudleya cymosa

cute little sedum

something in the pea family?

cute little sedum with inflorescence

harlequin lupine

dudleya inflorescence

dudleya in situ

match

Okay--it's come to my attention that I haven't been blogging enough. Too many pictures, not enough words. Truth be told, I'm blogging elsewhere. I'm blogging gratitude journals elsewhere, and I felt like everything I said here was boring. Is this boring? It's hard to know.

I wrote a poem this morning--it's called "magnolia" but that might change. That was the easiest title.

I wanted to tell you something. Do you remember that day there was a turtle on the dirt track at the park? And my favorite homeless person and I succeeded in getting it back to its pond using teamwork (I watched his stuff while he returned the turtle to its pond)?

Well, I see him almost every day at the park. The guy, not the turtle. And the other day he seemed to be looking at me, so I waved, and he either didn't notice or ignored me.

Then the other day we were at the park and a different homeless person came up to us--this one has a dog. The dog is a lion hunter, a rhodesian ridgeback. This guy was asking about places to get food--we told him Loaves & Fishes. But mostly he wanted food for his dog. I told him he should talk to the my favorite homeless person and pointed out where he sits, the corner of the park, on his favorite bench.

Only problem was there was a huge volleyball tournament going on. But later I looked and the two guys were talking. I was happy.

vegan drunken noodles

http://lazysmurf.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/pad-kee-mao-drunken-vegan-noodles/

I want to remember this drunken noodles recipe.

bird stamps

These came on an envelope which held a letter from my friend T in England.

thisnotart

I find this so appealing. Scanning frenzy today.

book message

I found this in a book years ago. Can't remember what book it was in. The reverse is a receipt for a hotel room in Kansas.

super friends

This came from my friend HH.

flower envelope

I think my mom drew this. I think it's so pretty I couldn't throw it away.

MindFreedom

I want to remember to revist this website.

http://www.mindfreedom.org/

my day, by Laura-Marie Taylor

This morning I chatted with A for almost four hours. Then Erik and I ran errands, like we went to the library where I curiously looked for Foucault. I don't expect to understand him, but I was like, what the heck. I'll just read the first page. But they didn't have any at that branch. I need to go to Central.

And we went to the Book Den where I picked up a book of poems for a friend. And we went to the grocery store.

Then we went to the park, where Erik ran for an hour and I wrote a letter to H in Oakland. I also watched crows.

And that's my super-exciting life! In bad news, looks like my property manager has moved in to my apartment complex? I don't know why and can only hope it's temporary. Well, everything's temporary.

cold

Someone on twitter said "Welcome to Mayvember" and that's how it feels here in Sacramento too. I feel sorry for the people who put away their winter clothes already.

political

Today I did a bunch of political stuff. I marched for disability rights ("We're here / We're loud / We're disabled and we're proud") and attended a rally where I shared a big gay umbrella with one of my favorite favorite people on this earth--friend heaven!

Then in the afternoon I met with my Assemblyperson's representative and mostly just stood there listening while others talked.

Then in the evening I was sitting on a park bench with aforementioned favorite person when H walked by! I was so excited because I wanted those two to meet but couldn't figure out how to make it happen, and it just magically did!

Then favorite and I went to Temple and I had a vegan blueberry bran muffin and some tea and some water. We talked. Talking, emailing, texting, and voicemail listening occurred. Fun was had.

And now I need to go to bed so I can go do more political stuff tomorrow and write about everything.

update

The sprouts are definitely all sprouting. Lentils are so forgiving.

sprouts

I started some lentils soaking and then forgot about them, but then I remembered about them and rinsed them and set them to sprout, and then I forgot to rinse them last night. But I rinsed them this morning, and they're starting to sprout, but I'm not sure all of them are. I might need to toss this batch and start over. Anyway, it's good to be sprouting again, but I must not be too excited about it since I keep forgetting, but I'll try to get excited. They're so good in sandwiches.

undead

My mom bought me some instant oatmeal at Costco, and I was eating apple kind when I found an apple seed.

E: You should plant it.
LM: It wouldn't grow--it's been cooked. Unless it's a Chucky seed.
E: I want a Chucky apple tree!

revival

My mp3 player wouldn't turn on for a day or two, but now it turned on.

Real Live Nude Girl by Carol Queen

LM: I have a book due today that can't be renewed.
E: That's not a problem.
LM: It's a LINK book, so the fine is a dollar a day.
E: No problem. I'll be done in three hours.
LM: Yeah, but then you're going to crash.
E: Yeah, but maybe you're going to work some.
LM: What, me? Work? Work + me = no!

vegan peanutbutter banana cookies

Today I went to the big nearby grocery store to buy some dishsoap but when I got there I realized I'd forgotten my wallet at home. It's not that far of a walk, but you have two cross two streets because of the way the crosswalks are, and it takes a long time to wait. One of the streets is huge.

This evening I baked cookies--they're this recipe.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/12/lower-fat-peanut-butter-banana-cookies.html

They're good but maybe too sweet.

disability film fest

http://www.culturedisabilitytalent.org/index.html

I want to go see Crooked Beauty next month.

white coat

http://www.shamelessmag.com/blog/2011/05/a-white-coat-doesnt-make-you-an-expert/#more

This essay touches on some issues that are important to me.

night, world

I'm trying to think if I have anything to report. Friday means little to us--Erik goes back to 12 hour days tomorrow. This evening we went to the park. I walked in the wind and worked on a letter to H. There was a big party going on at the community center, and lots of people in dress up party clothes walked by. I looked at them and felt so glad I don't have to wear high heels, make up, and dresses that cling to my body. But it might be fun to dance.

magnolia bloomed

the pretzel

I forgot to say that yesterday at Whole Foods we were visiting the case that houses the vegan doughnuts when Erik pointed out huge soft pretzels. I don't like regular pretzels but really like the soft ones. And it had been years. So I bought one--they're $2. And it was so good. We ate it in the car on the way home. I liked the texture as well as the taste and the shiny outside.

carrot almond soup

I don't usually like carrot soup, but the ingredients of this soup intrigued me, so I bought some--it comes in a carton like soymilk. Oh my god, it's so good. I want to go back to the midtown Grocery Outlet right now and buy more. (It's so good that I did something embarrassing--I double checked the label to make sure it was vegan. I thought there had to be cream or something in there.)

more turtle

At the park today, I was walking around the dirt track when I saw a turtle also on the dirt track. It was a long way from the pond and seemed to be heading toward the street.

Someone else saw the turtle at the same time I did, the homeless guy I've written about before. He wears camouflage and has a bike. He used to have a long beard, but he shaved it off.

We said how the turtle was a long way from home. "Should we put it back in the pond?" I asked.

"I've got all this stuff," the guy said, gesturing toward his bike, backpacks, sleeping bag. "How about you stand here for a minute and I'll put it back in the pond?"

I said okay. "He's a big fella," the guy said as he picked the turtle up and walked toward the pond.

I waited with the guy's stuff. I wonder if he remembers me or notices me at the park the way I notice him. I wonder if he remembers that time he told me it was his birthday and asked me for money.

Then he came back. "It's all good," he said.

"Thank you!" I said and walked away.

Mondo Bizzaro

Tonight we went to an open mic. I think I liked it more than Erik or A did. But for the first few readers / singers I was on the phone on the back patio. So I missed them. I got a strawberry smoothie that was so sweet I could barely drink it.

Then we gained two friends and our party walked to Capital Dawg. I had a veggie corndog with mustard. Erik had a veggie chili dog.

Our friend A is moving to New Jersey this week. So we were saying goodbye. But he has a girlfriend here in Sac who he's going to come back and visit regularly. So we'll see him again. He was wearing his green owl sweatshirt.

grapes, chorizo rice, parsnips, chocolate

The green seedless grapes from Whole Foods are so delicious. But they sell them in big bags. Whenever I open a bag to get a smaller amount, I feel like I'm doing something I'm not supposed to.

Today I made soy chorizo rice. We didn't have any bell peppers, so I tried putting some spinach in. It's pretty good.

Today I roasted some parsnips with potatoes. They came out so sweet and satisfying. It was my first time eating parsnips.

We got some vegan chocolate with puffed wild rice in it. So good. It reminds me of some Easter chocolate I had when I was a kid.

loosestrife

Today Erik told me about a flower called loosestrife. Best name ever?

magnolia

All the buds on the magnolia tree
are greenish brown
except for one
white one that's about to bloom.

thunderstormy

Yesterday it thunderstormed much of the day, and I realized I wasn't afraid. Even when lightning flashed, I wasn't afraid. This is a welcome change.

unseasonably

The magnolia tree I can see from my window is about to bloom. I can see its buds bravely pressing up, but it's supposed to be hot outside, and it's not. I wonder if this cold is freaking the tree out.

night

And I can barely focus my eyes--I guess it's time for bed.

grammar is list

I found the "grammar is" list here amusing.

http://poetry.about.com/od/multilingualpoems/a/federmanontranslatingginsberg.htm

pool in Wales

I have been staring at this postcard for a while. I've had lots of thoughts about it. I want to know why it doesn't say KEEP OUT on all sides of the fountain. I want to know if that woman in teal planned to match the pool. I want to know what year it is--any guesses? I'll say...1981?

post

Hey, one of my posts disappeared! Wtf? The movie one.

blog

Hey, blogger's back up! Hurray!

almond milk yogurt

Almond milk yogurt was on sale at Whole Foods today so I bought a cherry one. It's pretty good. But I still like Wholesoy & Co best.

food

I forgot to say that my mom and I made tacos, enchiladas, and empanadas over the weekend. The empanadas have beer in the dough.

officially home

We were at my parents' house for the weekend and are home now, richer with blueberries and strawberries, a melon, some oatmeal, some brown rice. Erik's reading through all the mail that came while we were gone. I'm recovering from the road and watching Kitty's tail wag. Erik seems to be sick with a cold. That's all for now, world.

warming

It got up to 92 degrees here today.

turtle

Yesterday we went to Berkeley where we visited Berkeley Bowl in addition to our usual spots. Berkeley Bowl is a huge grocery store. We found some things there long sought.

1. BBQ potato chips made with avocado oil
2. canned fava beans without EDTA
3. vegetarian oyster sauce

I got letters from two of my favorite friends yesterday--J in Austin and H in the Netherlands. They're both substantial letters that I will think about before replying.

Today at the park someone thrust a turtle into Erik's lap. This stranger was carrying around the turtle for a while--poor turtle. Then he wasn't, and Erik was afraid the stranger put the turtle in a trash can. It was an ordeal. When we finally left, the stranger walked by our truck, and his pants were down (he had underwear on). Coincidentally, the song playing on my mp3 player as we prepared to drive away was Lumeria's "Who Could Understand a Turtle?"

vegan cinnamon rolls

We got some vegan cinnamon rolls from Trader Joe's. They've got raisins, and I don't like raisins, but I can overlook them. The cinnamon rolls are not super sweet and don't have frosting. I think they're good, but Erik doesn't like them as much as I do. We heated them up in the microwave. At fist I was going to say, "We heated them up in the library." WTF? Anyway, the cinnamon rolls are expensive. They're almost a dollar each. They were an impulse buy.

"I like my pastry to be crispy. Like baklava," Erik said. The cinnamon rolls are definitely soft.