A Whimzy Feast

I had some art displayed on the wall at Starbucks in Williston, VT for a couple of weeks.  It was all acrylic/mixed media on canvas.  In case you missed it, here are the paintings (sorry for the poor photo quality):

To the man at the five corners yesterday:

We were in the car going through the five corners - one of THE WORST intersections ever.

"What is that guy doing?" regarding a car stopped about three cars' length away from the light in one lane.

We shrugged it off.  Barely even thought about it.

A portly man comes running from all the way across the intersection.  He looks really crazy, and maybe even mildly handicapped - nothing surprising for the Junction.

As it turns out, he was running over to knock on the door of that car, the one we shrugged off.  He thought the driver was dead.  The driver was actually asleep.

No wonder he looked so crazy - I'd be in a panic if I thought I was about to find a dead guy.

I really can't believe we didn't notice or look further into the car.

But to that man, running across the intersection in a panic: You should get an award.  Thanks for caring about your fellow men and women.  Thanks for noticing something most of us just disregarded.  The world is a better place because of people like you.

Foodie Friday

This little piggy slept until 11 today!

I had the day off, and though it is beautiful and sunny, it is not quite warm enough to sit out on my shady patio.  So instead, I've been listening to my favorite music - 1990s pop/rock/alt - and hanging out in the kitchen.

I started the day by chopping up a nice ripe cantaloupe.  There's nothing like fresh fruit in the morning.

Then I moved on to start making homemade classic vegan ice cream sandwiches, which are still in the works!  Making ice cream without an ice cream maker takes a looooooong time.  These do look like they are going to be really tasty, though.  Just a few more hours and they should be good to go.

 fresh-baked cookies

ice cream in the works

I had some kale in the fridge that I forgot to use, plus Billy Goat hates kale, so I decided to make some kale chips.  They came out a little burnt, and we are still using weird and overly olivey olive oil.  They look super ugly, but they're not completely gross.  Billy Goat might even like them because of the burnt crispy thing they have going on.

I started prepping a chickpea broccoli casserole for dinner - it has to cook for an hour or so, so I figured if I got it out of the way there might be some time to go grocery shopping.

not cooked, but ready to go

my cute casserole dish!

Well, the day is running out and because this ice cream is so high maintenance, it looks like this little piggy will NOT go to the market today!

Please forgive my photos - I am not a professional photographer in any way whatsoever and the lighting in my kitchen isn't great for food pics anyway.

A cappella

I can't explain it, but I love a cappella.  

All these Things that I've Done by The Killers is one of my favorite songs.  I heard a random a cappella version of it on The Mike a while ago, and found this on YouTube!  Some of these guys have hilarious faces.

This, however, is by far my favorite a cappella song in general:

And this, this just makes me laugh:

I saw these ladies at The Flynn a few years ago when I was on a date that I didn't realize was a date until the boy tried to kiss me at the waterfront!  They have such soulful voices.

jars, loofahs and handkerchiefs

Billy Goat and I have been on an eco-friendly(ish) kick lately.  Especially since we saw this video about plastic:

"Plastic Paradise" Promo HD from James Witker on Vimeo.

We've been doing the obvious reusable grocery bags, and I have been trying to be good about using my travel mugs and water bottles - I do have like, EIGHT for Pete's sake!

Here's the problem, so much of our food comes in nonrecyclable/reusable packaging.  I've ditched all those pesky produce bags and just started making the cashiers gather up fifteen apples, wet lettuce and more.  I've been on the lookout for reusable mesh produce bags, but I can't seem to find any that are cheap enough.  Yes, leave it to me, the cheapskate, to try to save the environment on a budget.

Of course, I've been shopping in the bulk bins for a while - and Healthy Living at least lets you bring your own containers, as long as you weigh 'em!  So yes, I do walk into the store with several canvas bags and one full of clanking jars and tupperware (any time we run out of olives, vegenaise, pickles, etc I save the jar!).  And yes, I get CRAZY looks - even in Vermont - but honestly, it makes so much less garbage!

For the stuff where I can't just put it in my own thing, I have been looking at products that make some effort at eco-friendliness.  There are tons of post-recycled material packages and more and more are going to more plant-based wrappers (wood pulp?!).  I feel like I am always paying more for the eco-friendly packages on these things and it is really driving me crazy!  WHY can't the better-for-the-environment packaging be cheaper?  Or, at least why can't more places commit to using it and make it a standard for consumerism?

In theory, I could bypass the whole issue by making my own foods.  But really, am I going to actually be able to make a delicious and satisfying gluten-free and vegan pasta or bread or chips?  Probably not.  I like to leave that to the pros.  And the idea of handkerchiefs makes me want to barf.  Reusable snot rags?  Save some boogers in your pocket?  G-R-O-S-S.

I also don't really know how to craft my own loofah.  (Yes, I use a loofah.  I love sudsy showers and freshly exfoliated skin.)  They have all sorts of post-recycled material ones or the ones made from actual plant.  The ones made from plant tend to be too scratchy or too pricy.  And I'm wondering - is post-recycled material really a better option?  I guess that if it is not the first time it is being manufactured and processed, that's a good thing.  And maybe when it ends up in the landfill, it will be a few less loofahs, but how much better is it?

On another note, I got a bicycle at the bike swap a while ago.  AND I HEART MY BIKE A LOT.  But I am having trouble committing to using it.  My car is on it's way out.  If I get on the highway, it inevitably tries to stop working - first it repeatedly pitches me forward, then it starts decelerating beyond my control only to speed back up out of nowhere while people try to pass me!  The thing is, my ride to work is a hilly forty-five minute ride.  And sometimes I have to be at work at five in the morning.  I always end up with limited time when I am around town too, so the trip out then back to my house to get the car to go do whatever that requires the car makes it impossible to accomplish anything!  Hopefully this will all be remedied soon when I find a job closer to home.  Regardless, I really need to start loving my bike a lot more.  It is way better for the environment, my body and my wallet with these gas prices!

What kinds of things are you doing to reduce waste and help out the planet?

A teeny tiny platypus? Yes, please!

If this brings a smile to your face, be sure to check out Daily Squee for your daily dose of ultra cute animals!

Barista Rant (Numero Uno)

Here is a basic outline of an encounter I have on a regular basis with customers:

At the register

    Customer:  Can I have a decaf (insert coffee beverage of choice here)?

    Me:  A decaf (coffee beverage)?  Sure.  What size would you like?

    Customer:  Decaf.

    Me:  Yup.  What size?

    Customer:  Oh, uh...I guess the middle size.

    Me:  Alright.  Would you like anything else?

    Customer:  That's decaf though, right?

    Me:  Yup, a decaf medium (coffee beverage).  Anything else?

Less than two minutes later at handoff

    Me:  Here's your decaf medium (coffee beverage).

    Customer:  Is this mine?

    Me:  Uh-huh - the decaf medium (coffee beverage).  Thanks.

    Customer:  This is decaf?

    Me:  It is.  Have a nice day.

HOLY COW.   

First of all, why WHY does this always happen?!  I mean, I can totally understand wanting to make sure your beverage is decaf, but come ON!  1 - I am not stupid.  2 - When I repeat what you asked for, it is because I am conveying to you my understanding of what you would like and giving you opportunity to make modifications.  3 - When you continually reiterate what you would like, you only make yourself seem completely idiotic as well as careless.  I am a human, I am speaking to you and asking you questions.  You are not listening to any of the words that come out of my mouth.  4 - Asking me that many times, no matter who you are or why you're asking, makes me really REALLY want to give you caffeine, or dirty sink water.  Don't worry though, I wouldn't actually do that. 

So please, be kind to your barista.  Pay attention when we talk to you.  Trust that we are not completely careless and incapable.  Our job is harder than it looks and a lot of us are damn good at it.  We also have the power to mess you up without making you aware of it; lucky for you, our judgment is usually better than that.  =)

Postscript: You can expect a lot of these little gems - around forty hours of my week are spent slinging coffee and providing legendary customer service while trying not to completely lost my mind.

Water for Elephants

Read this book!  I read this near the end of last year and fell completely in love with it.  It is full of suspense, compassion, humor, and life.  

Sara Gruen's characters are well-developed and we can sympathize with each of them in one way or another.  Jacob, our protagonist, has a heart of gold - though he continually gets himself into trouble, he does whatever it takes to do what is right, be it for other people or animals.  August, though totally batshit, we can understand his jealousy and fear, and his desire to do anything to hold on to his wife.  Some of what helps us feel sympathetic to this character is that he screams mental illness.  Though I took some issue with Marlena - Jacob's love interest, August's wife, spectacle star - I attribute most of what I didn't like about her to the status of women in the time period.  All the peripheral characters are there with purpose, and the more significant ones - Walter/Kinko, Camel, Rosie - are also completely sympathetic despite their flaws.  

Gruen - through what I assume takes a ton of research - also brings a depression-era world to life.  Beyond her descriptions of cramped and grimy living conditions on a rail car, and liveliness of all corners of the circus - the sideshow, cooch tent, menagerie,  and more - the novel is peppered with authentic circus pictures.  Not only do we get some of the behind-the-scenes of traveling circus life, we are also exposed to the conditions created by prohibition - Camel's 'jake leg', speakeasy raids, etc.  The huge gap between social classes of the era is so apparent - when August hosts intimate but fancy engagements in his train car, while other workers are being 'red lighted' (thrown off the train, often in the middle of the night while it is moving) for no legitimate reason aside from not being the most valuable and therefore not having money to pay them, I couldn't help but get angry!

The storytelling itself is fully engaging.  We are thrown back and forth between Jacob's current life in the retirement home and his memories of life with the Benzini Brothers.  He is both a hilarious and disgruntled old man - he gets into fights with his pairs, is immovably stubborn and really only seems to want human connection, and maybe his livelihood back.  We get snippets of the real meat of the story from the beginning of the book (make sure you read the prologue, this isn't high school english!), which resides back of mind until it is revisited in context.  The tension builds with momentum throughout the story, where we almost get lost in all of it until we are grounded back in Jacob's current reality at the nursing home.  There's just so much passion and momentum in here!

So, again, read this book!

The movie, however... not to be harsh, but I wouldn't call it a "must see" by any stretch.  I didn't dislike it by any means, but it was lacking a lot.  It was fairly true to the story, with the exception of some characters, which is great, but there was also simply no element of suspense.  Perhaps if I hadn't read the book, it would have been more exciting.  Knowing what was going to happen (although obviously a huge part) was not the only reason for the lack of suspense - some more creative cinematography could have been used to achieve some of this.  I was disappointed that all of the nursing home scenes had been left out - that stuff was FUNNY!  Maybe with this, some of the tension that was missing could have built.

The characters didn't have nearly enough depth to gain my sympathy, except for maybe Jacob.  I did however find myself filling in what I could recall from the novel, so I'm not even sure if he was developed enough.  They combined August and Uncle Al into one character - totally fine, because Al was peripheral enough for it to not make much of a difference.  Walter and Camel were both under- and over- developed in the film.  They do play a significant role in the novel, but their roles are certainly less defined in the movie.  Camel's 'Jake Leg' seems totally out of place and comes with a one line explanation from Walter.  We also don't have the opportunity to really understand Jacob's sympathy on any level for him and we don't get to see what lengths Jacob is willing to go for others.  The relationship between Jacob and Walter is just diluted.  It is hard to fit a novel neatly into a two hour length film, but there has to be a better way.  They should have either left more out and went with the information that was there or taken the time and measures to accurately convey these relationships.

Despite the lack of character development, the acting was great!  I have never actually seen Robert Pattinson in anything else, but I was under the impression he was just a 'pretty boy' without much talent - he was a wonderful Jacob.  I wish they had kept the old man as the narrative voice, but I got used to the younger one after a while.  I find often that younger actors have trouble looking like they belong in older settings, but he fit in fine.  Reese Witherspoon - wow, she is starting to look old!  Marlena is sort of a helpless girlish (but woman) character, and I thought the performance was good.  She was able to command respect and attention when needed and played the helpless woman role well.  Though in the novel she is older than Jacob, as is with the actors here, something about their relationship/chemistry was a little off.  The force of love that comes through in the novel was just not there.  Christoph Waltz is just so good at playing an ass (hmm...I wonder what he's like in real life).  He plays crazy and controlling and flips to being Mr. Nice Guy - if the character were better written in the movie, this would have been so powerful!

This movie was really beautiful.  There was dramatic lighting, picturesque landscapes, and majestic animals.  Some scenes were filled with people buzzing with movement and action, while others were very quiet and calm.  I really really really LOVED some of the costumes.  I want clothes for riding elephants!  The make up on the circus characters was loud and lovely.  The clown outfits and August's ringmaster outfit are just the way you would imagine.

This movie wasn't bad, I just really wanted more from it.  It's worth renting, and definitely worth watching if you don't want to read the book (but the book is way better)!  

Student Loans Terrify Me

I am continually getting letters telling me about grace periods and various payments for student loans.  Trying to be responsible, I decided it was a good idea to review all of my student loan information.  Now I want to cry, or barf...or maybe both.  Who knows?  Maybe selling my organs on the black market is the best choice - anyone need a kidney?

For a bachelor's degree in english, here's the current damage (mind you, I have already made several payments):
    $19,681.34  VSAC
        4,523.00  ECSI
      32,516.22  Citibank
      20,989.56  Bank of America
   + 18,643.00  Direct Loans        
    $96,353.12  total student debt

To consolidate or not to consolidate?  That is one of the questions.  Beyond that, anyone out there have any financial advice?

Coming soon: art for sale!

Available now: girl for hire*
    *restrictions apply