Whew...

This month? It's been busy. I'm finally settled in my new apartment, and as soon as I can be home around noon when the light is really nice and have nothing to do for an hour (HA!) I'll take and upload some pictures! Oh, but it's great, comfy and relaxing.

So what have I been up to?



Now that I have a continually clean kitchen and can cook without fear of strange creatures rising up on their pseudo pods to attack me, I've been baking, cooking, and eating way more fulfilling meals at home. Most recently it was a (much less gringo than usual) version of Chicken Curry, using a free-range organic and tasty whole chicken from Trader Joe's. Combine that with fresh naan cooked in a 500 degree oven on a cast iron skillet, yummy raita, and rice cooked with saffron and sliced almonds, and you have a fucking meal. YUM. I'm anticipating future curries but I need to know a bit more about the spices and quantities; this was pretty successful but I think I'll have to add more onion in the future. A couple weeks earlier, I had a friend over to help me make fresh spaghetti in my Atlas pasta maker, found by my mother at the ever popular Urban Ore. I still have leftover family-recipe tomato sauce in my freezer, and most of a focaccia slab that's now waiting to be turned into breadcrumbs. Oh yeah, Italian sausage and mushrooms were also consumed.

Look - it's pasta drying on my dish rack!



About the recent conversion to carnivorous behavior: Back in November I decided that it was OK to occasionally eat meat if I knew it was ethically treated, i.e. free range / organic and all that good stuff. I was already eating dairy, eggs, and fish on a daily to weekly basis along with vegetarian fare. I know it doesn't really mean a lot now as organic standardization is not really up to snuff, and there are a lot of food manufacturers slapping a big "O" on packaging nowadays, but I can tell when it tastes better. Ethically treated animals are indeed tasty - I think my major reason for going vegetarian years ago (outside of health) was that meat just didn't taste good to me anymore. Lately, tasty critters have been infiltrating my diet, and I've noticed some interesting things happening:

• My stomach is tolerating meat products very well. No stomach aches, *ahem* flatulence (which I'm kind of known for in many circles), or feeling like I'm going to pass out after eating meals.


• My sugar cravings and pint of ice cream or two per week habit have gone away completely. I've been able to turn down sweets - shocking!


• I've lost weight and have more energy, but this is probably a product of slightly increased exercise, and a decrease in carb and sugar consumption. I also don't feel as hungry or want to snack all the time, and smaller meals fill me up.

I discussed this with a friend who is the same blood type, similar age, and also a recent carnivore convert - and she had the exact same conclusions. Since she's in a program studying Chinese medicine and acupuncture, and is generally very aware of health and her body, I trust her opinion. I've been a vegetarian off and on for the last 10 years, with varying degrees of strictness, and I finally feel now that I will not go back as it's not necessarily the most healthy option. Now, this does not mean that burgers and fries are going to be staple in my diet. On the contrary, this allows me more freedom in the kitchen, and when I occasionally go out to eat I don't always have to choose the vegetarian option, which is most of the time not vegetarian at all! Right now, for my body, I feel it's OK to eat animal protein 2-3 times a week. Other days, vegetarian is the best option. I've heard it many times before, now to beat a dead horse: It's all about moderation, people.

Other than food and nesting, I've been playing with the bands 2x a week, and we're gearing up for recording and a couple of gigs lined up. Exciting! I feel like I have my rhythm and energy back after the last 4 lackluster months. There is also small progress on the photography front - for the first time in months, I've been shooting at least a few days a week, and shot another wedding a few weeks ago which I still have to finish editing and send off to the lucky couple. I hope to do another bit of a shoot this weekend at my Cousin's place, where she's helping shoot a student Zombie film. We'll see if I can shoot without getting too much gore on my camera, as theoretically I'll be in the film too.

One thing I've not been doing much of? Unfortunately, knitting. It's for the best though, as it's now approaching summer (not that we really have one in the bay area), and I need to take a quick break to work on other projects. However, I have been working on a few knitting patterns, and eventually I'll finish the garments, write up patterns, and distribute for testing.

'Till then, Ciao!