Leila Elliott - March 11, 1915 - April 18, 2010

My grandmother died last week, she was 95. When I was driving from Chicago to Buffalo, Solitude by Black Sabbath came on somewhere in Indiana. I was overcome and lost it completely. The fact that I would never get to see her again hit me like a wall.

I know she lived a really long and happy life overall. I know that her years of suffering with dementia and blindness were over, but in that selfish moment I knew that was it. The minister who spoke at the funeral read some beautiful verse about love and how it endures when everything else falls away. Regardless, I still have a lump in my throat when I think about her. She was one of the most kind-hearted, sincere people I've known. I love her and I miss her.

Donations to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation can be made: http://www.macular.org/howhelp.html

"the air in here is dead industrial & so austere"

My grandfather used to work here, pretty sure he got cancer here too.

Kill Me, Kill Me, Kill Me

Ranunculus, Gerber Daisy, Primrose

Kale Salad

I am making this tomorrow but I am parked comfortably in front of my computer listening to the Billy Club radio show so I am ready to keep rolling.

Kale is one of my favorite greens, both red and green varieties. Its heavy and its full. It makes iceberg lettuce looks so fucking sad and paltry in comparison. Plus its good for you. Wikipedia says:

"Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties; kale is considered to be anti-inflammatory. Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Because of its high vitamin K content, patients taking anti-coagulants such as warfarin are encouraged to avoid this food since it increases the vitamin K concentration in the blood, which is what the drugs are often attempting to lower. Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane (particularly when chopped or minced), a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties."

I use a whole bunch of green kale for this recipe which is stolen and modified from the whole foods cafe.

Wash kale twice and chop roughly
Cherry tomatoes cut in half
Dried cranberries
1/4 c. pine nuts, chopped walnuts or pecans
Thinly sliced red onion (I just omit this)
Juice of 1-2 Lemons- need at least 4 tbls
Olive Oil 1/4 c.
Salt
Pepper

To chop the Kale, I roll each leaf and cut across, you can always just tear it up by hand too. Remember though, you don't want all the nutrients bleeding out so try to do this as close to eating as you can.
Dump in the tomatoes, cranberries, nuts and onion, toss all.

I make the dressing separately in a covered tupperware.
I like it a little heavier on the lemon, add lemon juice (roll out the lemon on the counter/table top first, cut in half then squeeze, use a fork to get it all out if needed) oil and salt and pepper to tupperware, shake and toss on the salad.

You will probably need to double the measurements of the dressing to get enough to cover a whole bunch of kale.

If you are allergic to nuts you can use roasted, salted sunflower seeds instead of the pine nuts.

Sadie loves kale, she and I share this often. This is a delicious little power house of a salad.

Nachos

Yeah, I know, nachos can be pretty pedestrian. I fear this isn't gonna be the most exciting blog for the short term especially since my camera is trashed.

Nachos are my idea of comfort food and in this case they can be pretty good for you.

Brown ground beef or TVP (Textured Veggie Protein)
Now its easy to find pre-soaked, seasoned TVP like Morningstar Farms crumbles. Tonight I used the "Smart Ground" mexican seasoned version which you open and dump into a pan or heat in the microwave. Try to use the pan, its a little better for you.

If you find your self with unseasoned dried TVP, follow the package directions for soaking. I usually mix in dried spices to the TVP before I soak it, in this case, go for garlic, onion, chili powder and cumin. Then soak in veggie stock instead of water. If you need it to look brown add braggs aminos or soy sauce (just don't use too much)

If you are using ground beef or the plain pre-made TVP, be sure to spice it up. If you don't have a lot of spices on hand, you can always buy one of those little packs of taco seasoning and stir it in when you are browning your protein.

Guacamole
4 good avocados (they should be pretty purple and firm to the touch- not too soft)
Juice of one lime or more to taste
2-4 cloves garlic
1/4 small red onion
Roma tomato
Cilantro to taste
if you like it spicy add cayenne and red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper to taste

A girl I work with keeps one of the pits from avocado in the guacamole and she swears it keeps it from oxidizing and turning black but I think its the lime juice that does that.

Slice avocados in half, remove pit and scoop out into a bowl
Alot of people dice the onion and put it in there but I can't do raw red onion as much as I love it, it doesn't love me so I blanch it (dump in a small sauce pan of boiling water for 1-2 minutes only, drain and dry) and add to the mix
Crush then chop garlic, add to the bowl
Chop up the tomato and throw in
Add spices, cilantro and salt and pepper to taste
Add the lime juice last

If you get small limes like I do, roll the full uncut lime on the counter for a few seconds, like you were using it as a rolling pin, to loosen up the aroma and juice. I cut it in half after, shove a small fork into each side and twist to make sure I am getting as much juice as possible out of the thing. Then I squish it between my palms. Some people strain their juice (especially with pity lemons) too.

Stir all. I try to wait and stir in everything in the end so your guacamole is slightly chunky and not totally smooth. Beat the shit out of it if that floats your boat...

Back to the Nachos.

Spread out some kind of nacho chips on your plate.

Today we had Grande multigrain chips but there are so many awesome brands around here that are delicious, just use what you like and what's cheap.

Sprinkle grated nachos or chihuahua cheese on the nachos, immediately add warm tvp or ground beef and add a little more cheese on top so it all melts

Add Salsa, lettuce and beans as you so desire- load up with guacamole and eat!

Pleasure is a Weapon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqAfAQuprpE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asSRNR33BTI&feature=related

I tried to add enclosure links from two YouTube clips of a Soft Focus interview with Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV Fame. Parts 3 and 4 specifically if the links don't work. Genesis is really fucking interesting. This whole interview is good but these are the best parts.

The thought of having a space where you don't need to be cool or hip and you are free to have fun and feel joy as a radical notion is astonishingly true. It doesn't matter what you are doing, cruising facebook, going to work or standing in line at a grocery store, most places aren't designed for people to feel genuine happiness. I've been lucky enough to eek out some "safe" spaces like that.

In my last blog I said I would talk about the Lungfish. They had this song they used to play live called Armageddon. One of the lines said something like "music, ruined by recording". Its been awhile but I recall reading something where they said music exists in the world and musicians manage to capture it, even if only temporarily. It reminds me of this interview I heard with a photographer who said you don't create art, it already out there, hopefully you're lucky enough to witness it.

That makes a lot of sense to me...

In part 4, the interviewer asks Genesis about the ubiquitousness of music and Genesis talks about the idea of recorded music becoming dubious while live music is "re-empowered". For the sake of argument, I LOVE recorded music, I'm listening to it while I type. Regularly though, I see a band I enjoy watching live but when I play the record, the vim is gone. Listening to music is a very internal, visceral experience for me most of the time. Sadly there are a lot of recordings that don't phase me at all. A recording that truly captures the experience of seeing a band play live is remarkable. As I get older I'd like to think I hear more in the music I listen to but I am always still looking for the record that delivers the proverbial kick in the gut.

Listening to: DUM DUM Girls, Pollution, Devil's Dung

Tuesday Night 11pm

You are the War - Lungfish

"You are the way with no direction
You are a window on the abyss
You are the power of vision and all that is seen
You are awakening to consciousness"



This One's for Michelle

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My old roommate requested this one. Its a great, easy recipe, obviously not to different than the one I posted a couple months ago: Michelle, here it is:

Vegan Banana Bread

1 stick of vegan margarine
Powdered egg replacer and water - Equivalent of one egg
1 c. sugar

Beat, i like a plain old wooden spoon for this.

2 c shifted flour ( i used to use unbleached all purpose)
1 tsp baking soda

Fold in 1/2 cup at a time.

Mash up 2 ripe bananas separately and add to mix, combine all.

Pour batter into a greased loaf pan
Bake at 350 for 45mins to an hour in a pre-heated oven or until knife/toothpick comes out clean

My recollection is that we used to add chocolate chips in this but you can put in whatever you like.

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Listening to Ted Leo cover a Lungfish song I love. I somehow cant find Sound in Time but I know its gotta be around here somewhere. While typing this post I also listened to Grinning Death's Head, No Afterlife, love the guitar tone on the intro. While finishing the pictures I've been listening to Feral Hymns by the lungfish, more about them later.



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Its almost time for gardening. Last year I barely kept up with my yard. A few pictures are included here. This year, fingers crossed, there will be a lot of veggies and herbs. I hope to have a bigger harvest this year. I have already committed to spending a little more time at home this summer and a lot more time in the garden.

I just read a great article about taking your yoga practice to the garden which I am definitely going to try. As some of you know that I have been practicing yoga for, I guess about 8 years. For some reason, since I moved into my house I have been struggling with my home practice. Maybe, hopefully, this outdoor practice will kick my ass into gear.