condolences, ricardo

kaaaahnnnn!

west coast field trip

 

5.5 hours in berkeley, california equates to a vegan escapade! breakfast from herbivore is pictured here. soysage biscuit, homefries, and a tasty side salad. deelish.

then came a bag of organic vegan donuts--honestly they were sub-par.

fine vegan gelato in the flavors of blood orange and bosc pear. delightful.

we finished off by visiting sarah kramer's fav vegan resta, cha-ya, which serves up all vegan japanese fair. quite a treat.

all in all, i accomplished the goal of tasting the local eats and acquiring a bit of a stomach ache from belly expansion.

berkeley has some fine haunts for the vegan-inclined.

snowy flatirons

do they rust when the snow melts?

holiday cheer

this holiday season, a and i found ourselves behind the wheel of our trusty japanese-engineered steed for the 700 mile trek across the shit state of nebraska to the icy iowan tundra.

our kitty cat went along on the adventure, too, and was quite pleasant company.

we caravaned on the way out with our friends jen and dave, who were making the drive all the way to ohio for their family convergence. we had walkie-talkies and developed a handle, "burrito tampon."

the drive was numbing across the straight plains. i detest the flaccid state of nebraska and, on this trip, have broken my vow to never trek across this asinine allotment of land. for shame.

alas, we had a very nice time visiting @ "the land" house with ma, pa, and snv. our time with extended family was brief, yet packed with smiles and joy.

the days flew by like well gin in a college bar and we soon found ourselves strapped into the subaru chariot once again.

our travels reprieved nearly as soon as they started as we stopped in on the rossi clan in w. dsm, ioweegia for a short spell. we caught up with them on a walk with q. she is getting bigger and developing quite the personality with her big rosy cheeks and bright eyes. hugs, a few laughs, and jasmine tea with the rossis before we ventured back to the striated white lined concrete.

nye found us dozing on our couch before 8pm. a relaxing evening on a uber-hyped holiday, we saw the omnipotent ball drop for mtn time zone and whisked off to our pillows.

today has served as yet another day of rest, only venturing out to the mailbox as tiny tidbits of snow twinkled down this afternoon.

breaking the shackles with a few days off is a welcomed respite for this dedicated industriously productive worker.

preview to the new economy

employment & unemployment statistics, reported by the bureau of labor statistics, november 2008



* unemployment rate: 6.7%

* number unemployed: 10.3 million

* total employment: 144.3 million

* teenage unemployment rate: 20.4%

* black or african american unemployment rate: 11.2%

* hispanic or latino unemployment rate: 8.8

* number unemployed in 2008 increased by 1.8 million

snow

it finally snowed on thursday. for nearly 24 hours it fell from the sky at a semi-rapid pace, coating the ground with the fluffy white power that colorado is known for.

snow is indeed much different here than in other places that we have lived. in the mid-west you can get a varying degree of different types of ice, ice/slush, slush/ice, slush/ice/snowish, etc combinations--but invariably few occurrences of true powder.

the big flake colorado variety can be easily blown off with a swooshing hand or a pursed-lip puff of air and the snow swiftly marches away.

this too is why skiing and snowboarding on the stuff is such a great experience. you mold it, in many respects. it goes where you tell it to go. snow here is very intriguing, very unique.

charting trends

i do not believe in "flu shots." it is my opinion that the epidemic of pre-remediation of such a noxious virus propagates it to mutate, becoming more resistant to vaccination and therefore more noxious.

despite my ill-feelings surrounding the shock-and-awe of a preemptive strike on each year's microscopic bio-terrorists, google has developed an interesting gis product to chart reported flu cases.

mind you, my interest in this product is the mere charting of data, and, as alluded to, not the subject matter.

voodoo vegan donuts

went to portland last weekend. had a good visit with all. it was fantastic to be back in the grey and wet with the old friends.

nhut quang vegan vietnamese restaurant was a belly-stuffer, a trip to food fight vegan grocery, and major highlight was a midnight trip to voodoo donuts in downtown pdx.

we scored 3.5 dozen vegan donuts from the a.m. baking cycle for a mere $7. smiles and sugar comas punctuated the remainder of the trip.