pullups

people visit my blog for random reasons. i'm sure i know about, oh, 5 of the most recent 100 visitors. the rest come looking for baseball cookies, nasal stitches that dissolve in three days, and little girls want wedgies.

it's the latter that i have a problem with. do these young children actually want wedgies? is your daughter saying, please, pretty please, pull my underthings up to kingdom come? does your child have a love/hate relationship with her tush? or is there something else very, very wrong going on here?

so if you've found my sorry state of a blog because of your quest for the perfect diaper thong, halt yourself, stat. you can never start 'em on granny panties too early. 

lately

we bought a home last year, and i've started a several-part series--at the sf appeal--focusing on what todd and i learned in the process. you can read the first few parts:
part 1
part 2
part 3

i think there will be two more additions: making the offer and then inspections/closing. if i make it to a sixth part, then maybe i'll focus on what happens when you actually own the place. expectations, actuality, and the whole nesting thing.

also, i switched gears last week and wrote a movie review. but it was a baseball movie, so not too out of my element!

return of the pancake

with no posts for five months, now seems like the perfect time to crawl out from under this huge rock i've been hiding under. and what better way than with pancakes? pancakes make any meal a party. or brinner.

for my edible flags, i relied on the "perfect pancakes" recipe from vegan brunch (find the recipe re-posted here. my preferred pancake recipe--also one of chef isa chandra moskovitz's--is on her website, but i was afraid that the excessive rise in those might make the hotcakes plus fruit too difficult to flip!).

i subbed in gluten-free flour mix, as i'm dabbling in mostly gluten-free dining. going (almost) totally GF has really opened up my eyes to how much wheat and gluten there is in EVERYTHING. soy sauce to veggie broth to pizza dough (well, duh) to most vegetarian meat substitutes to licorice to beer (and i had just found some sour Flanders ales that I was starting to really love!).

over the past few months, i've experimented with millet and barley. i've made a lasagna using rice noodles. after being disappointed by several local GF bread options, i found bready love in the form of Udi's (especially the loaf with a chia/millet base). i now own a pound of tapioca flour. and after thinking burritos and anything wrapped was beyond reach, i found a delicious tortilla made from teff, the African grain use in injera.

with all of these successes, i encountered a few bumps (like the flourless chocolate cake that, on both attempts, refused to get past the fudgy goo stage), but really, i've enjoyed the change. and physically, i feel a lot better without all of the heavy wheat and gluten.

but back to the pancakes... any guess what day these were made? if you chose arbor day, you're totally sparkly spankingly wrong.

p.s. these looked way cooler before they're flipped. but the important thing is how they tasted: like little bits of fruit-filled heaven!

welcome, february

my last post was november. NOVEMBER. since then, i've ridden a bike (first bike ride in 22 years) along south beach, moved into a new apartment, tasted multiple rum punch concoctions at the local dive bar (the pink one's the best), added a daily dose of levothyroxine to my pill-popping ways, returned to a semi-regular yoga practice, bought strawberry plants, and, over three very long post-new years days, cleansed my insides with juice, broth, and tea. guess i have a lot to write about.

read this

i'd been one of those dedicated google reader users. for my mom and anyone else over the age of 45, google reader was a very cool rss service--this lets you import feeds from websites and such into one streamlined place.

i loved google reader, especially because of the unqiue share functionality. i shared news articles, videos, and blog posts with a select group of people. it was private and friendly without becoming all social media-in-yo'-facey. to put it into the most simplest of terms, it was heaven.

but this week, google revamped the service and in doing so, purposefully deleted the share/following/friend functions with the intent to drive all of us google reader folk to its highly successful (wink, wink) google+. i haven't yet heard of anyone who is happy with this "upgrade."

yesterday's google reader "tips and tricks" offered this little bevy of advice:

You can hit the space key to page down and/or move to the next item. This way you can move through your reading list by using only a single finger.

i think they mean the middle one.

and today, as eve and i chatted back and forth on facebook about this (facebook! not google+), check out the ad to the right of our convo.





thank you, giftly.com, for caring. at least someone does.

i need a maid

saw this "car" this morning. it's a repurposed meter maid cart, now someone's personal set of wheels. my favorite part is the wooden roof rack.

in the same walk, i overheard a three-year-old boy telling his mom that in order to get enough money to buy a dozen bagels (mom could only "afford" to get him one for breakfast), he is going to sell all his legos. the kid had better hurry. lunch is almost here.

let me be illogical, captain.

i tried to use priceline to bid on a rental car today. not traveling until next month, i thought, "why not bid low? REALLY low? we're in a recession. saving money results in a quality, well deserved high-five from your hubby!" i bid $11/day for a compact car, and felt good about it until forced to stare at william shatner's pulp fiction pose for two minutes. boy, did he make me feel guilty. his image may be intended to solidify his role as my price[pause]line neh[pause]goh[pause]shee-ay-TOR. but instead, my inner save-a-holic is positive he's telepathically telling me "F you." apparently, all participating rental car agencies agreed. tomorrow, i'll chin up and re-bid.

how my week normally begins

it's the dawn of a new day, and i'm beginning my trek to work. the sidewalks are empty, save for a few people bumbling side to side, half awake with dark circles cast under their eyes and their shirts barely tucked in. they make odd groans as we pass each other, me saying "good morning" and them responding with "gawewahaa" or something similar. i admit, my street can emit an eerily vacant vibe early in the day, and i consider running back inside to hide under a blanket and wait out whatever the day may have in store for me. that is, until i see several cars come and go. zombies don't drive cars, which means this is just a typical monday and all is well in the world.

good knight

i've been reading the "song of fire and ice" series recently (aka "game of thrones" for all of you hbo buffs), and last week, i finally finished book 4 of 5. i loved the first two books, but the last two have left me perplexed and tired. before i take on book 5 and become even more jaded, here's some constructive advice for author george r.r. martin:

1. stop killing the good guys (namely ned and king robb). and stop screwing over the still-living good guys (namely, the rest of the stark family). it's really hard to root for someone when it feels like they'll be stuck in some mildew-infested, dank old castle for all of eternity, being forced to smack lips and tangle tongues with their is-she-or-isn't-she-dead mother's sort-of-ex-and-very-creepy-friend-slash-boyfriend.

2. "must needs" may sound all britishy, but it drives my brain crazy. please reduce your verbage to what you need.

3. your continent of westeros is sunk in a medieval mindset where children are married off at the onset of puberty, sisters and brothers get jiggy with it (albeit quietly), rape is more common than baths, and the rights of women include nothing worth mentioning. as a woman reading your books, i keep hoping conditions improve, but i continue to be offended at every turn. and yet i keep reading, hoping one day women's lib comes to king's landing.

4. if you send your knights and what-not out on a quest (or a journey. or a supper run. or a sprightly walk through the godswood), please give them maps. it would save everyone lots of time and, maybe ONE DAY, they just might arrive at their destination. because, dude, none of us (including you) are getting any younger.

i love shiny things

i found a chilean 100 peso coin in my office at work last week. i have never been to chile, nor do i know of anyone who recently has traveled there. the coin roughly translates into 20 cents (US).

i've kept the coin at my desk, looking at it in awe and confusion. i don't know how it got onto my dirtier-than-a-sidewalk carpet, but it's good looking coinage, hefty at 7.58 grams, and a shiny mix of silver and gold coating. for now, i think i'll keep it.

ding-a-ling

last week i updated my main ringtones. i used to have a one-for-all-and-all-for-one three musketeers approach minus the pointy swords, finely groomed facial hair, and velvet capes. no matter who called me, my phone ribbetted and tweeted like a rainforest. but not any more! ladies and gents, i've finally joined the age of basic-yet-useless technology for dummies age.

when my mom calls, my phone tells me via "mom is calling back" (a parody of justin timberlake's "sexyback"). for todd, i get the smooth, hip hop rhythms of usher. and when my older younger sister calls, i get "scoobydoobydoo." for our real estate agent? house music. umf-uh umf-uh umf-uh.

subway

subway is in town. conference lunches feature $5 footlongs of every sandwich imaginable except the one you want (veggie burger, i'm gently referring to you).

post:ballet

this week at the appeal, i wrote a small piece on post:ballet, a small, upstart ballet-ish company here in san francisco.

this morning

this morning as i was walking to work, i looked down, confirmed that my shoes matched, and felt giddy because if it, proof that little things can elevate life from adequate to good. or that i'm a nut.

call me crazy, but i'll just pass.

last week, i came across this house for sale in the city. the property itself needs some work, but it was the description that gave me pause.



"Charming spacious Edwardian two-level 3br + sunroom, 1-1/4 bath home in Central Richmond awaits new owner after 40+ years of ownership. Owner moved to retirement home. All of the rooms are generous in size. Bedrooms and main bath on upper level. Refinished hardwood floors throughout the house. Softwood on stairs. Living room and formal dining rooms have built-in cabinets. Eat-in kitchen plus pantry area. Newly painted interior and exterior. Original kitchen and baths. New garage door opener. Deep garden for potential great landscaping. Staged to show its full potential. As-is purchase. Offer deadline on July 6 @ 12 noon."

things might not work: a pipe could burst, the foundation might slide, but hey, don't fret. you'll be able to get into the garage.

trashed

a coworker posted this on our work fridge the other day. as he's a data analyst, i was slightly disappointed that he didn't provide some kind of regression analysis of the mold spores and how, based on the amount of compounded growth and factoring in the average fridge temperature over a given work day (allowing for so much variance via a 10-second opening of the fridge door for 40 employees), he had determined that the rotting fruit had been in the fridge for x days. maybe this would be accompanied by an explanatory graph. or a colorful comic. but the note was a good start. and yes, he signed it.

q&A with janice garrett and charles moulton

this week at the appeal, i interviewed janice garrett and charles moulton, two choreographers who are in a relationship both on and off the dance floor. read their inspirational words here.

photo by rj muna

raise the roof

last night, i prepped waffle batter, using a recipe from the veganomicon cookbook. it calls for  active dry yeast and a two-part rise. this morning, in just ten minutes, we had warm, delicious waffles. these may be the best waffle recipe ever, and the homemade blueberry sauce doesn't hurt, either!

slackher

lately, i've felt slacker worthy. i'm fairly certain this cool san francisco spring weather has inadvertently encouraged me to accept my inner bear and hibernate. but i'm challenging myself to change it up over the summer.

1. clean the stove top twice a week. right now, i'm lucky if i make it to once a month. hand, meet mr. little scrubbie. and... clean that grime!

2. zumba my ass off. or at least try a zumba class. just one. i'm getting complacent with pilates, and i need a change. but one that doesn't involve krav maga or a steroidal, overly waxed, oranger-than-mama-lohan man in booty shorts blowing his whistle and yelling at me to "hut hut!" and then drop and give him twenty. because then my wallet will be fresh out of cash.

3. find a new genre of fiction. i admit that i'm getting somewhat addicted to paranormal romance/urban fantasy/anything with a strong female character who kicks the evil undergrowth of society to the curb, all while wearing pointy stilettos and keeping her coif perfectly up do-ed. perhaps i'll try historical westerns.

4. drink beer. i hate beer. or most beers. i've never liked bitter or hopsy flavors. but a few weeks ago, i found a delicious beer at a brewery out in the inner sunset. the only problem: it sits in a giant thingamagig with beets, fermenting and all that sh!t for months. and i'm allergic to beets. so for now, i challenge myself to find solomente una cerveza that i just might drink a pint of without getting the sour lemon pucker face.

5. figure out how to get victoria's secret hair. you know, that constantly windblown yet casual, come hither hair. the kind that you want to run your fingers through all day long, all while thinking, "yes, this is natural! look at how effortless i look!" that. i want that.

6. and while i'm at it, let's throw in one serious "want". i want all the crazies (i'm talking to you, fox news, in particular) to stop bitching about how abortion, gay marriage, and public education are ruining society. is it so hard to give a damn about other people's rights? i mean, c'mon. you care so much about arnold's mistress' three bedroom condo in the valley. and how smarmy that country boy is on american idol. and whether sjp really did get that wart removed or maybe how it just retired and moved itself to florida. how about putting that much effort into making the world a better place.

fashion fail?

today i'm wearing this cute tee; it's adorned with clear, colorless sequins, and i paired it with a grey cardigan and black/white houndstooth-like pants. todd asked me if i was dressed to match my office's disco ball. man, if my office had a disco ball, i'd so be rocking me some bee gees tunes and a pair of go-go boots.