Thursday, January 28, 2010

Salt and Vinegar

A potato chip, anyway, is pretty easily obtained.

So I've been reading my favorite life coach, about clean pain and dirty pain. Clean pain is, like, primary pain. Like I'm sick and can't stop coughing, I feel all shook up. Dirty pain is secondary pain. Like I've been sick three times in as many months, I keep missing valuable workouts & I'm going to keep falling behind everybody else. And the reason I keep getting sick is, I'M A LOSER. I'm not tough enough for this, I need to look across the river and think about the rabbit farm.

[ETA: Look how toxic that is even before you get to the part about the rabbit farm, how "I'm going to keep falling behind everybody else" already assumes that I'm falling behind. Which I sort of am not, this is how dirty pain works!]

Or in other words, secondary pain is the story that we tell about the pain. Let's say that the pain is true, and the story is not true. I mean even the good stories. As a writer, I accept this pretty easily. All stories are made up. Fine. But. True does not mean good, and not true does not mean bad. True and good are different things.

Even better, the pain is real and the story is not real. Forget about true.

Once you accept that all stories are made up, you free yourself to make up stories that are good or stories that are bad. Or in ethical terms, stories that work and stories that don't work. A good story works. A bad story doesn't work. And by "works," I mean that it makes you feel good about yourself.

So, what. You make up some story that makes you feel good about yourself. But how can you feel good about yourself, you know you made it up! All stories are made up. So you can make up a story that makes you feel good, or you can make up a story that makes you feel bad about yourself & which do you think is going to work better.

So my story is, being sick is my body's way of getting rest and fluids. Which it's using to build in the muscle memory of all the sunrises and substitutes and skate practices over the past six weeks, and that's how it works: you break yourself down and build yourself up...

...and in another six weeks, it will be spring.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

I've Had Just About Enough Of Sweet

I am dog, dead tired. I mean, I'm sick. I have some sort of bronchitis. It's not the worst thing in the world. Not being able to breathe is the worst thing in the world. That, actually, may be objectively true. But I can breathe, I just can't talk without coughing. I can stop coughing if I constantly sip Coke. Or take vicodin.

One day, I will tell you about the vicodin.

I really can't be taking vicodin. And I draw the line at two Cokes in a day, after which I switch to throat coat tea and then water; they are effective in that order. I'm sick of sweet. I'm sick of wet, I feel like my mouth is getting wrinkly like your fingers get in the bath. I mean, it isn't—

I want a potato chip.

I'm tired of having to pee every two minutes.

But I was tired before I was sick, because of the horcruxes. Or maybe when you're tired, your immune system stops protecting you from horcruxes and then viruses.

I want to sleep for like a week. I want red flannel hash and orange juice for breakfast. I want to sweep out every room in the apartment. I want to clean out the refrigerator. I want to scrub the bathroom. I want to run. I want there to be sun. I want that grilled spinach sandwich that I used to get at Filter. I want to ride my bike. I want to wear my bikini.

Eh, I thought it might help.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Veganly Mexican Pinto Beans and Hominy

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 chipotle pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can broth
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can hominy, rinsed and drained

Gently heat oil over low heat as you finely dice the onion and chipotle; you can add aromatics to the pan as they are diced. Add oregano, and stir until fragrant. Add tomatoes and broth, and bring to a strong simmer. Add beans and hominy; simmer until slightly thickened, about twenty minutes.

Per 1/2 recipe, 482 calories

Monday, January 25, 2010

Poppy Munt and the Half-Baked Horcruxes

Lord have mercy, I got started rereading Harry Potter about two weeks ago & the first three books are like they're always eating delicious, delicious food, and what do you know, reading is like an escape into another world, a world FULL OF MAGIC & you know how Buffy isn't about surviving vampires, it's about surviving high school (some say), Harry Potter isn't about discovering that you have magical abilities, it's about discovering that you have any abilities & that is straight up magical, but then it turns at the fourth book, and then the last three books are like horcruxes for the love of Peter Pettigrew, I mean, I know that structurally it makes sense, it's The Big Gloom, and I'm not actually saying this to be critical about the Harry Potter books, not that something critical can't be said about the Harry Potter books, but I'm just talking about what it feels like to read. All I'm saying is, I felt those first three books and felt good & also the fourth book, is actually my favorite. And for the last three books, I felt bad. And they're long, too!

So it was sort of like a psychological experiment where you artifically make yourself feel bad for a week and see if it affects you, which it does me. As in, it slightly took away my will to live; I don't mean I was suicidal, I just didn't want to do anything that didn't involve lying on the chaise.

Be specific, Munt! Be precise! Did you really only lie on the chaise for a week? No, I did supersets and substitutes. I went to work. I taught the derby lite park district ladies. I went to rioters practice, and speed and circuit. I did eight hundred and sixty pushups.

But besides that!

I haven't been doing morning pages that are worth anything, I mean not worth anything to me. Morning pages aren't supposed to be worth anything to anybody else. What are they worth to me, though, that might be an interesting question. Probably only interesting to me. I've been keeping up with bills, but not reviewing and planning & not with my weekly log, which you may not know about. I keep a weekly log, imagine that.

I haven't been thinking, is what. I would say that I haven't had time to think, but I did. It's just that I filled it up with Harry Potter.

So I got on the bus for the first time in two weeks with nothing to read, and you know, I'm not saying that it's bad to read. It was nice to look forward to getting on the bus and being in that other world. But when your life is jam packed, it's also nice to leave some empty spaces—

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Orange You Glad

The MRI of my sister's head was clean, can you imagine getting an MRI to check if you have cancer in your head? She was the last person in the country to be accepted into this clinical trial. And her recent symptoms have all but disappeared.

I'll tell you what: you only say good news, bad news, who knows if it's bad news. If it's good news, you take it—

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

How It's Going sunrises to supersets

Then last week, I couldn't face sunrises for another morning. It makes sense, I'd been doing them for about six weeks; six weeks is a good length of time for any program. So I'm switching out sunrises for supersets, which we did last week at strength circuit. A superset is when two exercises are performed back to back with no break, and it's to build muscle faster. Pom is building me an upper body, the better to take blocks with. More TK!

Also last week, at the company dinner, we all goaded each other into a year-long pushup competition. I told you I liked the people I work with. Travis's goal is to do 25,000 pushups this year and my goal is to beat Travis, so I thought I should do 150 pushups every other day; but then we both went nuts and are refusing to back down, it's like the cuban missile crisis of pushup contests...

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Veganly Cajun Red Beans and Rice

2 cups brown rice
3 cups water

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
3 ribs celery
1 green bell pepper
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
1 can broth
1 can red beans, rinsed and drained

Put rice and water in a pot, bring to a boil over high heat, turn heat to very low and let simmer while you make the beans.

Gently heat oil over low heat as you finely chop the onion, celery, and green bell, adding vegetables to the pan as they are chopped. Turn up the heat to medium high and saute aromatics until almost browned, about twenty minutes. Add tomato paste, spices, and broth & bring to a strong simmer. Add beans & simmer until slightly thickened, about ten minutes.

Serve over rice.

Per 1/4 recipe, 482 calories

Monday, January 18, 2010

Being Human

Last Wednesday I say to pit crew, "I have to tell you the saddest story."

Pit crew instantly says, "Is it about Haiti?"

"Oh my god, nevermind!"

But then I tell him anyway that I finally managed to sneak away to the art store to get ink and a squeegee to print my name on the back of my practice shirts, picked everything out, brought it to the register, and didn't have my wallet.

I know, tragedy. I mean, the art store; could there be anything more discretionary? And when I got back to work, my wallet was just on my desk.

But it's like that, you know? Everything in the world, and in your world, all going on, all in your head, all at once.

But I was just about to buy a new set of wheels, and donated to Partners In Health instead.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Glove Surgery

20100111_gloves

Thursday, January 14, 2010

How It's Going that was fun

I've never walked myself through my whole schedule, all the way to the end. That really helped to see the whole picture in my mind. Well, except for the The Blind Spot:

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
MORNING
sleep in
MORNING
sunrises
MORNING
suicides
MORNING
sunrises
MORNING
suicides
MORNING
sunrises
MORNING
Fleetwood Speed
PLAY
WCR Rioters
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
HOBBY
Review & Plan
HOBBY
 
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
HOBBY
 
HOBBY
 
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
HOBBY
 
PASTIME
Choppers
PLAY
interval
PLAY
USA Speed
PLAY
circuit
PLAY
speed or agility
PASTIME
 
PASTIME
 
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches

Eeesh.

But nevermind that, I work for nice people and I don't want to get dooced. And I got a raise. Actually, I got a bonus and a raise. Though I think I'm just going to spend that on not doing a budget review, buy myself some breathing room to not think about what I'm spending every penny on. I know that probably sounds like the worst idea ever, but you have to take into account how tightly wound up I am. When I unwind, I'm still pretty neatly wound.

So that's that. Everything is in place.

Bored now.

Ha ha ha!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Veganly Cuban Beans seriously, so good

1 sweet potato
1 head garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1-2 poblanos
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 can broth
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and cube the sweet potato. Separate the head of garlic into cloves and peel. Toss sweet potatoes and garlic with olive oil, oregano, and a little bit of salt. Roast for about twenty minutes.

Gently heat oil over low heat as you finely chop the onion and poblanos, adding vegetables to the pan as they are chopped. Turn up the heat to medium high and saute aromatics until golden, about ten minutes. Add tomato paste, spices, and broth & bring to a strong simmer. Add beans and roasted sweet potato and garlic & simmer until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.

Per 1/2 recipe, 471 calories

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

LOL

Today's Cat and Girl:

2010-01-12-cgsecond

Monday, January 11, 2010

Diastole

So like I spend half my time doing strenuous physical activity, and the other half lying on the chaise covered in blankets, coughing, like Camille. I was thinking that I need a secondary hobby suitable for an invalid; and then I thought, Oh. I blog.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Hat Surgery

20091225_earband

Thursday, January 7, 2010

How It's Going interval & strength

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
MORNING
sleep in
MORNING
sunrises
MORNING
suicides
MORNING
sunrises
MORNING
suicides
MORNING
sunrises
MORNING
Fleetwood Speed
PLAY
WCR Rioters
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
HOBBY
Review & Plan
HOBBY
 
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
HOBBY
 
HOBBY
 
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
WORK
Office
HOBBY
 
PASTIME
Choppers
PLAY
interval
PLAY
USA Speed
PLAY
circuit
PLAY
speed or agility
PASTIME
 
PASTIME
 
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches
EVENING
stretches

Aaaaand another change. You know that I love me a Monday open derby skate more than anybody else. But, two things: 1) that Tuesday USA speed practice is hard enough, without being the fourth practice of four skate practices in a row and the night after not getting to bed until two; even after a late practice at the space I'm home and in bed by midnight, and Coach Dave's practices are too good to be too tired for, and 2) I need to improve my anaerobic endurance, which I wanted to do with running. So instead of MOD Skate on Mondays, I'm doing interval training on the treadmill; and also some Mondays I teach the derby lite park district ladies, which is fun.

Also rioters have been doing strength circuit with Pom every Wednesday. Yeah, that Pom. It's an hour and a half of Pom throwing interesting exercises at us, like doing squats on an upside-down bosu ball.

I was disappointed at not being drafted, but it does mean more time to toughen up before really getting the crap beaten out of me.

And also, WCR is off break and —yay— I am cleared for agility practices, so those practices will be popping in and out of Thursday nights.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

How It's Going vitamins & water

I'm having a contest with this sort of hot guy at the office about who has the most vitamins lined up at our desks. Though by "in a contest with" I mean that he doesn't know that I exist. There's hoodoo involved. I mean about what I'm taking the vitamins for, not about trying to get the hot guy to notice me. So just take this as an article of faith: glucosamine for joints, lysine for cold sore resistance, calcium for bones —that's for real, my doctor told me to— vitamin C to help calcium absorption and also cold resistance, all the vitamin Bs for aerobic or anaerobic endurance, vitamin D and zinc for cold resistance.

Also for real, water. I don't love water, to tell the truth. I tried to cram in in everywhere, hopefully the amount I actually drink is enough—

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
 
MORNING
sleep in
8 oz water
MORNING
sunrises
8 oz water
MORNING
suicides
8 oz water
MORNING
sunrises
8 oz water
MORNING
suicides
8 oz water
MORNING
sunrises
8 oz tea n silk
32 oz oj2o

MORNING
Fleetwood Speed
8 oz tea n silk
32 oz oj2o

PLAY
WCR Rioters
8 oz cof & silk
gluc lys calc c

WORK
Office
8 oz cof & silk
gluc lys calc c

WORK
Office
8 oz cof & silk
gluc lys calc c

WORK
Office
8 oz cof & silk
gluc lys calc c

WORK
Office
8 oz cof & silk
gluc lys calc c

WORK
Office
12 oz water
HOBBY
Review & Plan
12 oz water
HOBBY
 
12 oz water
b1 b6 b9 b12

WORK
Office
12 oz water
b1 b6 b9 b12

WORK
Office
12 oz water
b1 b6 b9 b12

WORK
Office
12 oz water
b1 b6 b9 b12

WORK
Office
12 oz water
b1 b6 b9 b12

WORK
Office
12 oz water
HOBBY
 
12 oz water
HOBBY
 
12 oz water
d zinc

WORK
Office
12 oz water
d zinc

WORK
Office
12 oz water
d zinc

WORK
Office
12 oz water
d zinc

WORK
Office
12 oz water
d zinc

WORK
Office
12 oz water
HOBBY
 
12 oz water
b3

PASTIME
Choppers
12 oz water
32 oz oj2o

PLAY
MOD Skate
32 oz oj2o
PLAY
USA Speed
12 oz water
32 oz oj2o

PLAY
WCR Circuit
32 oz oj2o
PLAY
USA Speed
12 oz water
b3

PASTIME
 
12 oz water
b3

PASTIME
 
8 oz water EVENING
stretches
8 oz water EVENING
stretches
8 oz water EVENING
stretches
8 oz water EVENING
stretches
8 oz water EVENING
stretches
8 oz water EVENING
stretches
8 oz water EVENING
stretches

Ha ha, that's nine foods and eleven vitamins... oh dear. Kids, don't do this at home.

ETA: Hm you know, I have the most exhaustion problems at my USA speed practices & looking at this, I wonder if it isn't partly because I'm underhydrated...

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Veganly Beans sneak preview

So for beans once a week I was going to make Vaguely Beans, except that half of those recipes involve meat. I'm still keeping a veganish kitchen and eating meat when I go out, which is pretty narrow footing as it is. And I really like, say, red beans and sausage. So I was having to decide if this was going to be where I was going to slide back down the slope, and even overshooting where I thought I would ultimately end up in Lactovegetarianland. But no, I decided to make them into vegan bean recipes, viz., veganly beans; and so far, they are so good.

Here is a sneak preview in scary chart form:

vaguely beans aromatics peppers tomatoes greens herbs & spices starch
cuban black onion
garlic
poblano tomato paste - oregano
nutmeg
sweet potato
cajun red onion
celery
green bell tomato paste - thyme
paprika
rice
mexican pinto onion chipotle diced tomatoes - oregano
cumin
hominy
cowboy kidney onion
garlic
red bell diced tomatoes - chili powder baked potato
italian cannellini onion
olives
peperoncini diced tomatoes - thyme pasta
potato
spanish chickpea onion
garlic
- - spinach paprika couscous
southern blackeyed peas onion
celery
jalapeno - collard greens thyme cornbread
middle-eastern lentils onion - diced tomatoes swiss chard bay leaves
cumin
pita

You get that it's all the same recipe, right? So not only do I only cook beans once a week, I only cook one bean recipe. Well, though. They do all turn out slightly different. I guess I've tricked myself into making eight different bean recipes—

Monday, January 4, 2010

How It's Going food

If I ever wonder whether I'm the live to eat type of the eat to live type, I imagine the crowd of people whispering over the list of ten foods that I'm eating at any given time, like, does she not know? Okay okay, eat to live. Being in a tailspin about food until my (mostly skating) schedule was figured out was a little bit of a clue. So now that's worked out, and the way it works out is that all I have to cook in the week is soup and beans; and pit crew said that he would make the soup. So all I have to make is beans. Once a week.

That is sort of awful.

Here it is in scary chart form:

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT
 
MORNING
sleep in
 
MORNING
sunrises
 
MORNING
suicides
 
MORNING
sunrises
 
MORNING
suicides
 
MORNING
sunrises
pb&h toast
MORNING
Fleetwood Speed
oat ban alm
PLAY
WCR Rioters
oat ban alm
WORK
Office
oat ban alm
WORK
Office
oat ban alm
WORK
Office
oat ban alm
WORK
Office
oat ban alm
WORK
Office
oat ban alm
HOBBY
Review & Plan
cr veg soup
HOBBY
 
cr veg soup
WORK
Office
cr veg soup
WORK
Office
cr veg soup
WORK
Office
cr veg soup
WORK
Office
cr veg soup
WORK
Office
veganly beans
HOBBY
Review & Plan
cinn toast
HOBBY
 
avo toast
WORK
Office
avo toast
WORK
Office
avo toast
WORK
Office
avo toast
WORK
Office
avo toast
WORK
Office
cinn toast
HOBBY
 
choppers
PASTIME
Choppers
veganly beans
PLAY
MOD Skate
pb&j sw
PLAY
USA Speed
veganly beans
PLAY
WCR Circuit
pb&j sw
PLAY
USA Speed
tac bur exp
PASTIME
 
pit crew dinner
PASTIME
 
 
EVENING
stretches
supper
EVENING
stretches
supper
EVENING
stretches
supper
EVENING
stretches
supper
EVENING
stretches
 
EVENING
stretches
 
EVENING
stretches

In English, it goes like this: Oatmeal with Banana, Almonds, and Silk for breakfast, pit crew makes Creamed Vegetable Soup for Sunday lunch and that takes care of lunches for the week, and Avocado and Hummus Toast for snack. And I'm never home for dinners during the week; but I have to eat something besides peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which is where the beans come in. (Bean recipes TK.) I make those for Saturday lunch, and have them Monday and Wednesday when I have time to sit and eat. Pit crew makes me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches Tuesday and Thursday to eat in the car.

And Friday is Taco Burrito Express night, pit crew cooks Saturday dinner, and Sunday is Choppers night.

Oh my god, I just counted and that's only nine foods—

ETA: I also eat pretty much another dinner, let's call it a late supper, after my weeknight workouts. More on this topic TK...

Friday, January 1, 2010

T-Shirt Surgery: Another Racerback Dress

20091225_racerback1

If you thought that my last instructions for cutting a racerback didn't make sense, it's because they didn't.

But I rewrote them, they're better now.