Archive for April, 2006

Sore buns and Sunday runs

Published on April 23, 2006 in fitness and running. 0 Comments

Just returned from running the 24th Annual Schlotzsky’s 5k Bun Run. I finished in 27:30.

My time was 57 seconds slower than last year, but given that I’m not running 5 days a week like I used to, and I’ve had an injury, I feel pretty good. And my ankle didn’t hurt. Am I finally healed? Overall it was a good time. I love a races. Good energy, good exercise, and good shwag (bagels, powerade, bananas, cookies, and potato chips; how anyone could eat a bag of potato chips after running 5ks is beyond me, but people were doing it!).

Today was also the London Marathon. The BBC has an entertaining as-it-happened commentary, including this snippet about celebrity runner, Jade Goody:

0932: Distressingly Jade Goody, of Big Brother fame, has just revealed to Sue Barker the most she has run is half-an-hour on a treadmill in training. She revealed her training regime involved eating Chinese and Indian food as well as boozing. Her biggest concern is that her toenails will fall off!

made from bullshit so it tastes like bullshit?

Published on April 23, 2006 in nutrition. Closed

Sugary Sweet
Originally uploaded by codebleu.

Blame it on all those free-at-work Frescas* I’ve consumed lo these many months.

Last week, I was feeling off balance. The source of my sudden discombobulation was not immediately obvious to me, but then, half-way through a “Sprite Zero”, I observed a slight turn in my tummy.

So I dumped the rest of my drink, tossed the Splenda packets I stashed in my desk and on the homestead, moved the diet soda to the back of the fridge on the bottom shelf well out of my line of sight (good to keep them around, though, for guests).

It’s been a little over a week since I’ve consumed any diet soft drink or artificial sweetener of any kind. Since then, I’ve felt noticeably more energetic throughout the day, especially in the afternoons. Plus, no carbonated beverage bloat: a good thing.

Still, wtf? I thought Splenda was “made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar”, which somehow made it not as nasty as aspertame. How wrong I was! I quick Wikipedia search revealed the following:

Splenda (Sucralose): It is 500–600 times as sweet as sucrose, making it roughly twice as sweet as saccharin and four times as sweet as aspartame. It is manufactured by the selective chlorination of sucrose…Sucralose is a chlorocarbon (an organic compound containing at least one covalently bonded chlorine atom), like many insecticides.

Also learned this interesting factoid about the NutraSweet Company:

Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist working for G.D. Searle & Company. Schlatter had synthesized aspartame in the course of producing an anti-ulcer drug candidate. He discovered its sweet taste serendipitously when he …In 1985, G.D. Searle was purchased by Monsanto. In this acquisition, Searle’s aspartame business became a separate Monsanto subsidiary, the NutraSweet Company.

Having read all this, followed by a well-timed viewing of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and The Corporation, I am left paranoid that there is nothing left that is safe to buy/eat/wear/consume that also doesn’t cause harm to myself or someone else (the planet and all of its living creatures qualify as “someones” in this case). Again, I ask - WTF?

* A special note to MC: it was Fanta, not Fresca, that was branded by Coca-Cola in 1939 and sold in Nazi Germany in order to keep profits during the war - tsk tsk. Fresca is also a Coca-Cola product, but wasn’t introduced until 1963. Fresca was the favorite drink of Texan and former president Lyndon B. Johnson, who dispensed the stuff from a soda tap installed in the Oval Office.

Peep Tunes for Monica

Published on April 16, 2006 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

My mom made me a mix CD for Easter. Her commentary on the track listing is superb:

Bruce Cockburn (what an unfortunate name!) is Canadian and I thought you might enjoy him given your love for Canada.

I must have sounded extremely excited when I talked about Vancouver. Oh right, I was really excited about Vancouver. Bad ass.

Also superb are the track choices themselves. It’s scary how well my mom knows me…

Grapefruit Moon - Tom Waits
This Eye - Edie Brickell
Sandy - Harry Chapin
Hang Down Your Head - Tom Waits
Circle - Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians
Constellations - Jack Johnson
Burn - Ray LaMontagne
In Between Love - Tom Waits
Bright Sky - Bruce Cockburn
Gravity - Allison Kraus
Old Shoes (And Picture Postcards) - Tom Waits
Sweet Old World - Lucinda Williams
Happy Good Morning Blues - Bruce Cockburn
Me By The Sea - Edie Brickell
Do You Remember - Jack Johnson
A Montreal Song - Bruce Cockburn
Bittersweet - Ed Harcourt
Which Will - Lucinda Williams
Rainfall - Bruce Cockburn
Down Into Mexico - Delbert McClinton
She’s Too Good For Me - Warren Zevon
Laughter - Bruce Cockburn

Life update: I’m moving on May 31st (!!!)

Published on April 16, 2006 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Last week, one of my housemates invited a few of us to go to dinner with her parents who were visiting from Huntsville, Alabama for the weekend. My roommate and I get along very well, not so much as friends, but more as two people who share many mutual understandings. We have similar hang-ups, sleep schedules, and the occasional tendency to obsess (fortunately, we don’t share the objects of our extreme attention).

I think my roommate and I would be friends if we didn’t live together. Indeed, we often invite each other to various social events, but usually decline because the event isn’t quite right for some reason or another.

So to break the trend, I said yes to her offer without considering the restaurant of choice.

We ended up going to The Salt Lick which, in case you didn’t know, is one of Austin’s premier BBQ joints. As a pesco-vegetarian, I’d never been. Was this really the best way to start my initiation into my roommate’s social life?

When we arrived, there were hundreds of people outside drinking beer and waiting for a table. Literally, hundreds. Something about Easter weekend, I guess.

It’s BYOB, so everyone hung out on the patio with coolers and were slowly getting loose and meaty on Bud Light and Shiner (our cooler contained Corona Light and Dos Equis). One group even had a keg. The crowd was mixed with college students, parents, kids, and Texas natives. Lots of beer bellies.

The wait was over an hour, but I didn’t mind (I’d had a sandwich before hand). When we sat down, outside at a picnic table in the warm summery breeze, the food came in massive quantities. Plates of meat, brisket, sausage, and sauce. I had some cole slaw and potato salad which, by the way, was some of the best cole slaw and potato salad I’ve ever had. No mayo. The cole slaw was simple, with a basic vinaigrette and toasted sesame seeds. The potato salad was some kind of mustard thing with cumin and onions. I was impressed. I also tasted the bbq sauce with some bread - also delicious.

It was a fine evening with beautiful weather and lovely conversation. But after witnessing the gorge fest, the dripping meat, the massive guts, the bleary beer-soaked eyes, the smell of meat in the summer, I’m definitely ready to put Texas behind me.

So I’ve given my notice to work and the plane ticket is just as good as purchased. I’m moving on May 31st. Destination: All over the goddam place.

First stop: Chicago, with a possible multi-day layover in Houston to visit with the coolest chixx0rs in the world and get INKED.

Stay tuned.

Saffron Couscous with Chickpeas and Raisins

Published on April 16, 2006 in recipes. 0 Comments

This afternoon I decided to mix some couscous willy-nilly with some other stuff I had around. The result was very yummy! I bet it will be especially tasty tomorrow once all of the flavors have mingled.

1 cup veggie stock
1 pinch saffron
3/4 cup whole wheat couscous
juice from half a lemon
a few spoonfuls of chickpeas
a couple spoonfuls of raisins
zest from half a lemon
2 tsp flax oil
3 pinches of cumin
3 pinches of coriander
sprinkle of fresh italian parsley
salt to taste.

1. Put veggie stock and saffron into a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Remove pot from heat, add couscous, cover. Wait ~10mins or until water is absorbed.
3. Add everything else, mix, let sit for a bit to let the flavors blend. Enjoy hot or cold!

Pandora: Can you help me discover more music that I’ll like?

Published on April 14, 2006 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Pandora is freakishly cool.

Pandora is a music discovery service designed to help you find and enjoy music that you’ll love. It’s powered by the Music Genome Project, the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Just tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we’ll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the music universe.

(Thanks to Jim who pointed it out to me.)

30 seconds with Google Calendar and already, it’s the ‘leetness

Published on April 13, 2006 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Just seconds ago, I heard Google had a calendar feature, and I had to check it out…

First thing I saw was a “Quick Add” link. I clicked it, which gave me a text box. I typed “Move from Austin May 31″, clicked the “+”, and sure enough, it added the event “Move from Austin” on May 31.

That was hot. I wonder what else it can do better than iCal.

harmony: black beans and sweet potoatoes

Published on April 12, 2006 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

I had a wonderful bbq last Saturday with Rachel, Dave, Matt, Michael, Francesco, and Courtney. I’ve been overdue for a bbq for a while, and Courtney’s visit from Boston was a fine excuse to reignite the grill.

As is usually the case, there was an abundance of food, including veggie dogs with spicy mustard and sweet & sour pickled carrots, grilled portabellas, and spinach salad. Matt brought sweet potato and black beans, which is as simple as it sounds: black beans mixed with mashed sweet potato and some salt (if anything else was included, I couldn’t tell). It’s delicious, and silly Matt forgot the leftovers in my fridge. This spawned an interested lunch recipe

bikemare

Published on April 7, 2006 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Last Tuesday I woke up to a flat tire on my bike. Groggily, I changed my tire and headed off to work. Upon my arrival, I noticed that the wheel was slightly out of alignment, so I reset it.

No problem.

But did this minor incident set off this latest bout of paranoia? I’ve been feeling a little off balance on my bike lately. No doubt this is due to my recent commuting with only one pannier and a head cold that may be causing an inner-ear thing that I don’t quite understand but skews my balance nonetheless.

Evidence: a sudden inability to balance on one leg in yoga class. Progress: stunted.

Given my recent instability, last night’s dream is no surprise:

I’m riding my bike to work. Clumsily plodding along, having extreme difficulty keeping the wheel straight. When suddenly, I loose all control, the wheel spins around and I fall to the ground (a gravelly patch of road I am not familiar with). I look at the bike and both wheels are warped, reminding me of the time a car backed into my bike while it was parked at the Dog & Duck. I suddenly remember that a new bicycle shop has opened near work (this is not a figment of my imagination

Photos from Vancouver (and a recipe!)

Published on April 5, 2006 in photos. 0 Comments

Oh yeah, so I’m back from Vancouver. It was an absolutely amazing trip and I am still getting used to being back in the real world, or at least, the here and now.

I might have some stories to share later. But for now, here’s a drink recipe I learned at a semi-eurotrash tapas restaurant in Vancouver’s west end. Enjoy this fine beverage while you check out my photos. (You’ll need the booze to dull the jealousy.)

Dark and Stormy

1.5 oz dark rum
4 limes, juiced
ginger beer

It all goes in a tumbler with some ice. It’s superb!

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