Adventures in Foodland

I've made a couple of soups out of The Body Ecology Diet book and I have to say, so far, I'm very unimpressed. I made the Quinoa Hash for some guests recently and, boy, do I wish I had tried it myself before serving it unawares. GOLLY, IT WAS BLAND. Needed tons of salt and flavor. It was nothing like the quinoa dishes I've had at R. Thomas. What is their secret? Does anyone know? I made the Broccoli and Fennel soup a couple of weeks ago and it was bland...ONLY UNTIL it sat in my refrigerator for four days and I tried it one more time because it looked like there was only a bowlful left and I ate it--finally--THAT TIME...it tasted alright. I also made the Cauliflower Dill soup and it's kinda bland and watery looking. I tried to boil a lot of water out, but imo, it needs something with substance like cream or seafood or something. Perhaps the answer is...crawdads?

Speaking of crawdads, I attended my first crawfish boil recently. They were free and they were delicious, but impossible to eat quickly. Also, you need to eat A LOT of crawfish to get full so my advice is to eat before going to the boil so the crawdads are like little yummy nuggets of southern love in your mouth and you're not scrambling to eat multiple plates like a starving mooch.

So, to sum up: Body Ecology Diet recipes: Overwhelming blandness. Crawfish boils: yay!

New: Things, News, Thoughts, Orleans

I thought I might post a new blog. I mean, post a new blog post.

Ok, Mardi Gras is happening. I think that if the rest of the country were aware that Mardi Gras is actually a month-long celebration, they might be very jealous. Or angry. Or both. I've said it before and I will now type it: The city of New Orleans is very much like its own country. There are more reasons for this statement than I care to post at this time. More on that later.

I am anxiously awaiting new books from Amazon. I will finally own a copy of Light on Yoga--a secret mystery book on my cultish practices that includes incantations and different yoga poses for each deity that I worship. I will also be reading The Body Ecology diet, recommended by the R. Thomas folks. It's about putting good stuff into your body to appease the gods.

OH! I just found out where to get fresh produce in NOLA--the Hong Kong Supermarket. I can't wait to go!!

I dyed my hair a new shade of red. It looks way darker than I want it to be. I look like a vampire, but I have to admit that I feel more comfortable in this city now. (Because it's full of vampires, you see.) I have also involuntarily reverted back to my original paleness. Oh, wait, I'm supposed to say "porcelain-ness".

I love po'boys!

That is all.

Mexico: My Top 20 Red Hot Tips!

1. Befriend a maxin', chill girl who is fluent in Spanish and can hang with the locals.
2. Stay in a posada. You will make lots of cool friends. I recommend Casa Vilasanta.
3. Commit the phrases "Eres casado?", "Tienis novia?", and "Tienis hijos?" to memory. Trust me.
4. Take every opportunity to dance even if it means looking freaktastic onstage.
5. Never turn down a free shot of tequila (this does not apply strictly to Mexico).
6. Take a bus to a distillery in the town of Tequila and learn how to professionally taste tequila.
7. Do not turn your back on your camera. Ever.
8. Never turn down a shot a flambe.
9. Do not talk yourself out of attending at least one La Luche Libre match. You won't regret it.
10. If it's your birthday and everyone else has gone to bed, take a birthday shot anyway (thanks for trying, Josh!).
11. Never pass up an opportunity to speak French, even if it's spoken very poorly.
12. Make friends with the front desk people. The front desk people at the cooler hostels are especially nice. Ahem. (Melissa, we need to talk!)
13. Take every opportunity to speak Spanish, even if you royally suck at it.
14. Travel with an awesome person and you will never get lost (Amy, you rock!).
15. Take the night bus for long trips. Don't sit in the back.
16. Kindly ditch the people who judge you (this does not apply strictly to Mexico).
17. Girlfriends + long bus rides + tequila + Squirt = rockin' good times.
18. Yes, there are places to party on a Sunday night!
19. Mezcal is an arguably safe alternative to tequila.
20. Yes, Virginia, there are tall Mexicans!

The Hotness

An extremely more detailed report will follow, but let me just tell you how amazing Costa Rica is. It´s amazing. I do NOT want to leave. A brief listing of activities that I have engaged in over the past week and a half:

bungee jumping
canopy zipline tour
surfing
crazy hiking through rainforests
hiking to a few intense waterfalls
jumping off one of the intense waterfalls
mangrove tour in a boat replete with monkeys (originally I didn´t know nor did I care one iota about mangroves, but now I consider them part of the hotness)
absofuckinglutely fresh roadside fruit stands with the biggest carrots I have ever seen (i.e. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde episode of LooneyTunes circa 1983)
Turkish Delight smoothies
wild horses
fresh coconuts cracked open by machete beachside
hell yes
Dope.

Goodness Gracious Me!

As you may know, I visited the southern portion of this great state this past week. I am happy to report that I lived through the experience, but not without sacrificing a small percentage of my soul to the great wasteland that is Columbus, GA and it's surrounding areas. I did not do it willingly; it was stolen from me. Fortunately, the way soul-stealing works (at least with me) is as soon as the buildings of Atlanta are visible from the freeway, the portion that was stolen is immediately returned back to me and all is well. The suffering is undone. I do not completely understand how it works, but I am thankful nonetheless.

Despite this painful process, I did try to enjoy what I could while I was ensnared in the thickets of hell on earth. I took some pictures. I make some funnies. I did some laughs. I tried to focus on the good things surrounding me: cows, peachtrees, grass, summer thunderstorms, heat lightning, fireflies, and vegetable gardens. But I could not entirely escape the insufferable boredom that accompanies these beautiful things. As soon as I stuck my head out of the window to breathe in a lungful of that precious polluted air, I felt real comfort and joy.

Ray Bradbury

So I'm back into reading literary fiction again and it is quite refreshing. I always loved Fahrenheit 451 and I finally got a copy of Something Wicked This Way Comes. I'm lovin' it. Here is my fav excerpt so far:

"His wife smiled in her sleep.
Why?
She's immortal. She has a son.
Your son, too!
But what father ever really believes it? He carries no burden, he feels no pain. What man, like woman, lies down in darkness and gets up with child? The gentle, smiling ones own the good secret. Oh, what strange wonderful clocks women are. They nest in Time. They make the flesh that holds fast and binds eternity. They live inside the gift, know power, accept, and need not mention it. Why speak of Time when you are Time, and shape the universal moments, as they pass, into warmth and action? How men envy and often hate these warm clocks, these wives, who know they will live forever. So what do we do? We men turn terribly mean, because we can't hold to the world or ourselves or anything. We are blind to continuity, all breaks down, falls, melts, stops, rots, or runs away. So, since we cannot shape Time, where does that leave men? Sleepless. Staring."

Wow.

Good times, great oldies.

For those of you who are not familiar (god bless you), Columbus, GA is a military town. I have always had an ongoing *almost* love affair with all things military, but I have never immersed myself in the knowledge or been able to be fully swept away with the lifestyle. It is still fascinating, though. I respect the discipline, the hierarchy, the extreme commitment by those involved. It makes so much sense from the outside, but it is flawed like everything else. It is a human organization, so there are mistakes and politics and probably an enormous amount of bullshit to be tolerated. But they have supremely fast aircraft and that's a big draw for me.

Recently, I heard an interview with Gregory Levey on NPR who was talking about how, as a (bored) law school student in NY, he was unceremoniously drafted into writing speeches for Ariel Sharon. You should listen to his story. The U.N. is actually a really kickin' club and I want tickets to their tea parties.