In Sickness & In Health

Our apartment is totally cheerless this morning. I am sick with a horrible cold and M. not only has a migraine but a bum knee. The only happy camper here is Radley (Stevie could never be said to be a happy camper). I got through the work day yesterday, thanks to my trusty friend Dayquil, but as soon as I got home, the lights shut off upstairs. I ate the tasty soup that M. brought home for me and immediately went to bed at around 6pm. I slept for 12 hours, took the dog down in a delirious state and then slept a few more hours. M. has always been good at taking care of me when I'm sick. I hope he doesn't catch what I have.

The last good thing I remember was my meal on Saturday night. Brande and I went to Tsunami Sushi, which really is my hands down favorite sushi spot. And I love that place across the street from the No Name Sushi restaurant in San Francisco (whose name I'm obviously forgetting), which has an amazing motorized sushi bar so that you can grab what you want if it looks good. But really, when it comes to good rolls, great ingredients, and tasty experimental stuff, Tsunami wins. Their Crunch Roll can turn non-sushi eaters into sushi fans. If you have someone on the fence about trying sushi, bring them to Tsunami and they will believe they like sushi and start trying rolls left and right. I tried to get a pic of the delicious rolls we ate, but forgot about it until the last one was on the table. Oops.
There is one caveat. Or two. Well, for one thing it's in Huntington Beach. Right on the border of Huntington and Sunset Beach, which makes it barely Orange County, but that's all you need for a brodeo, you guys. The patrons can be lame HB dudes and OC wives/girlfriends. Once, Brande and I sat open-mouthed and horrified as a teppan table full of tween girls and a couple toddlers in bejewelled "Juicy" tank tops sang and danced to Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back" in full view of their sloshed parents. Another time I remember having to hear a loud woman talk about how Iranian immigrants aren't American because they don't speak American and shouldn't be allowed to run for mayor. So there's that. But, on the other hand, the wait staff is full of cuties (both male and female), and there is a full bar. I wonder if one of those bros that was hanging out too close to our table gave me my cold? It's entirely possible.

It sucks to be sick when there's a beautiful day like this outside. But I am stuck inside today, hoping to get better for another work day tomorrow. It's days like this I wish I did some online teaching....

nerd art.

I said I wanted to finish before the semester started, and damn if I didn't get just under the wire. Here's my retablo, a dia de los muertos diarama of my family in time for the fall festivities. Traditionally, the Mexican Day of the Dead is a day to remember those who have died in celebration, not mourning. It coincides with All Souls and All Saints days on the Catholic calendar. There is a costuming tradition as well, with people dressing up as elaborate skeletons. That's my inspiration, basically.

This is my family celebrating in song, with M. and I in the center as bride and groom. My step-dad Miguel is in front in the wheelchair (he plays the trumpet in real life). My Brothers and mom are behind me. M.'s brother is in front on guitar, and his parents are behind him. Our pets are next to us (also skeletons!) Some of the decor are loteria card pieces, but a lot of it is little pieces of flair and clay things that I made.

Now, I have never really done clay modeling, but my core belief system ("I can totally do that") was challenged, and so I went to the place all researchers go--Google. Google has all kinds of sites aimed at showing you how to create metal armatures and foil pieces for the basic body of your clay figure. Now, the quality is kind of not-so-hot, because my abilities are not well formed, but I kind of like the home-made quality of it. I may do more skeletons in a bit larger scale, so that the skulls can be a little more detailed. Maybe in a bas relief frame-like format so that they don't have to be completely three dimensional.


Check out my points-friendly meal of low-fat chili and a chicken taco! My own special chili recipe was already low enough in fat to qualify as a 4 point meal. The trick is using just 1/2 a pound 4% fat lean ground beef and lots of veggies with red beans. Bulking up with veggies is my new way of getting healthy. I have lost some weight with the Weight Watchers thing, but that isn't as rewarding as the feeling of knowing what I'm actually putting in my body. It's much easier to say no to Cold Stone when I know that it would be like a third of the food (calorie-wise) I should be eating for the day. And it gets me cooking more, which is nice, even though the lack of air conditioning makes it a chore sometimes. Luckily my sweet husband does the dishes when I cook, so I can at least cool down after the meal. Can't wait for the cool down in weather. I miss my sweaters!

ooh, I almost forgot to mention, my weird "freak magnet" rears its head again. I posted a pic of my dog on Flickr. He loves when I do laundry and the other day, he hopped right on the bed to put his face right into my folded underwear. So naturally, I took a picture and posted it. I didn't even use the word "underwear" in the description, and yet I got a new "contact" who thinks my photo is a "favorite" and he commented on my photo in order to tell me "looks like someone likes the Victoria's Secret cotton collection." How could you not go take a look at this person's photo site, right? I expected a total grody dude with booby pictures or pictures of himself at "the river" wearing a beer hat. Well, hold your horses, because it's a tranny-one that only takes pictures of himself from behind in satin granny panties from waist to knee. He's a panty-fetish tranny who loves telling people things they already know about their underwear. As Eddie Izzard would say, "weirdo transvestite." And this is only second in my tranny freak magnet lifetime moments. I got hit on at a club by Joan Crawford. Not young starlet Joan, but old-ass Mommy Dearest Joan Crawford, with the white fur hat and melty face. She said, "you going home alone tonight?" in a gravely voice. Maybe I need new perfume....

Weds Night – Taco Night!

Many people know that M. loves tacos. I do too. Taco night might happen more than one night a week at my house. Last night I made chicken tacos and guacamole. Here is my bountiful meal (actually 2-3 meals, since there is only two of us):

Baked chicken, grilled onions and peppers, low-fat refried beans, cheese, salsa (La Mexicana-Hot Salsa is my favorite store-bought kind), lettuce, guacamole and chips.

I think I have perfected my guacamole recipe. It’s gotten good reviews inside and outside of the house. If you like simple, low-fat guacamole, here’s the recipe:

2 ripe avocados
2 cloves garlic (I love garlic, so I usually put in one per avocado)
1 tablespoon of your favorite chunky tomato-y salsa
Juice of 1 lime (totally necessary if you don’t want brown guacamole)
1 green onion, chopped
¼ cup of cilantro, chopped
pinch of kosher salt (it’s less salty and the chips will add salt anyway)
pinch of pepper
pinch of cumin
pinch of oregano

Put everything but the green onion and cilantro in a food processor. If the avocado is really ripe, mash it with a fork and chop up the garlic by hand instead. After you’ve mashed or processed, add the green onion and cilantro and stir it up. This makes about 1 -1½ cups of guacamole.

You will notice there is no sour cream or mayo or anything like that. That’s what cuts some of the fat. Avocados are supposed to be pretty good for you, with all that polyunsaturated fat. Just don’t let your dog get a hold of them! They are toxic for doggies.