And even though

moving out and driving back to LA were a little tiring, I was far more bothered by the news of Dr. George Tiller's murder ='(
Thoughts, condolences, strength..

( '_' )

Wisdom teeth = gone. No eating.
Camera = Death by Beer. No taking pictures of food.
Now must rely on older photos. Bah!

Bakesale Betty's! If you take any of the AC Transit lines that goes down Telegraph, you've probably seen this quaint corner shop. Y'know, the place with the ironing boards for tables? Jes!
This is their fried chicken sammich!
Strawberry shortcake.
I'd probably consider it more like a scone with strawberries and whipped cream. Still yummy.
Couple o' delightful cookies

P.S. CA Supreme Court... sigh..

So tired, but...

The co-founder of Rockstar energy drinks has a foul, foul mouth.

WTH, Michael Savage, I'm so tired from the PP157 paper, I oughtta take out my exhaustion on you! ::proceeds to throw moistened banana peels:: Yeah, you better put them in the compost heap!

O_O

Balls to you, Ms. California!

Blegh, Carrie Prejean... still at it.

"Keith Lewis, the co-executive director of the Miss California pageant, said Prejean was attended to by gay beauty experts before the Miss USA contest, and that he always knew her to be friendly to gays like himself.
But Lewis said he was disappointed with her stance against same-sex weddings, and that while she keeps her crown as Miss California, she is speaking for herself on gay marriage."

Damn skippy!

Buh..

Now, I don't know about you, but I think opposite marriage is just as big of a deal as same-sex.
...
Huh?

Oh, Carrie Prejean of San Diego, California...

The Lastest Share from Prof O'Hare

"The research, presented in late March at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, locates hot spots based on the frequency and draw of cultural happenings: film and television screenings, concerts, fashion shows, gallery and theater openings. The buzziest areas in New York, it finds, are around Lincoln and Rockefeller Centers, and down Broadway from Times Square into SoHo. In Los Angeles the cool stuff happens in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, along the Sunset Strip, not in trendy Silver Lake or Echo Park."
-"Mapping the Cultural Buzz: How Cool Is That?" full NY Times article

Last Thursday, PP157 discussed the arts as a means of stimulating the national economy. This bled over into a discussion about local arts development and whether or not the creation of a museum or gallery in an impoverished neighborhood would boost the local economy as a result of building the community's cultural capital. Can the arts effectively do this? Are their other industries that have boosted SES better? ::gagrealestategag:: [I won't get started on that...]

I bring this up only because of the article's reference to Echo Park. Seriously... "trendy... Echo Park"? Dear me, if you referenced Echo Park six years ago, you would have been laughed at and slapped with a wet noodle.. or drenched with Echo Park lake water.

Oatmeal with strawberries!

And then some!

Healthy Heavenly Foods. It's by Bear's Lair. Two summers ago, I really enjoyed their grilled tofu, egg sandwiches, and green lychee-coconut drink. Recently, I was surprised to discover that they sell Spam musubi- yummy, but I kinda wish they used plain steamed rice as opposed to sweetened varieties.

Yesterday, I decided to treat myself to their mushroom and pork dumpling and a slice of their tapioca-coconut dessert.

[Taken before I tinkered with the camera settings]
The Dumpling.
The desserty thing.

Now, I'm not the biggest critic of food because I just don't know what to critique! But these were so bad. The dumpling had like a 1:8 filling to glutinous rice ratio; I like glutinous rice most of the time but in this case, it was just too plain and greasy to handle. And the desserty thingie was stale! :( It was hard and chewy and while the flaky crust could have made up for those shortcomings, the toilet flushed before the keys could be salvaged. (hahaha, what?!)

I was in utter despair in PH150A because of these greasy globs.. until I saw this on my desk

Thank you, worm-looking thing. What a reliever of sorts.

You can't stop the snacking!

I snack. Like a beast.

Which is why my heart cries when libraries/lecturers/other places prohibit eating. I mean, I get ya, I really do. Snacking on crunchy, noise-making, messy things can be bothersome and sometimes destructive; I'm definitely not the cleanest eater on the block.

But, I'm in the ER right now [I'm okay, it's Snowflake who's in minor cahoots (but he's okay, too!)], and I couldn't help but whip out my apple.

I did think twice, though. Nosocomial infections are no joke!

But I ate it anyway. [I did, however, snoop the walls to see if Alta Bates has any "No Food" signs. I couldn't find such impediments.]

And just as I was pulling out my baggie of carrots to continue the snack-a-thon, I read, "No Food in Waiting Area." Ugh, it's in bold yet stealthily embedded in an unrelated sign! You don't put a "No Food" sign on an informational Medicaid placard!

Foods of the day

I wanted to get a second helping of pumpkin soup from Whole Foods today, but this lady laid a fury on the pot. You shoulda seen her! Pumpkin soup splatters, ladle throwing, the whole shabang. Needless to say, I did not get my pumpkin soup. Instead, I went to Vegi Food, the Chinese vegetarian restaurant on Vine/Shattuck.

This is their "Gluten puff with mushroom" dish. Um. Not good. I like plain things, but you really couldn't get more plain than this.

Is this really what a gluten puff is? Maybe I'm ignorant to the world of gluten, but this doesn't really look puffed now, does it?
To get passed this awful order, I decided to use the leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge and make anything. A little bit of milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg made this liquefied pumpkin pie thing. Tina said she liked it.. poor thing, always the guinea Tina...
So then I decided to take a crack at that almond milk. I bought a pound of raw almonds from Whole Foods and used about a cup for the milk. After two or three minutes of blanching, I peeled each one with apprehension.

Check out the almonds!

With some water, brown sugar, and cinnamon, I blended the almonds into something that surprisingly does look like cow's milk! It was mighty pulpy, so I strained out the almond shtuff and put the remaining liquid into a nifty mason jar.An evening with no work, and this is what I do.