dean karnazes

this dude rules. he has completed his goal of 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. he makes me feel lazy, yet inspired.

i had anticipated running with him when he was in baltimore in early november, but failed because of my knee injury. it has still barked at me when i push the envelope. however, most of my time the past few months has been spent in the water, staring at a line painted at the bottom of the chlorinated pool. swimming is like meditation, with the added benefit of a full body massage via water rushing down the length of your frame. the weather out here has been spectacular, too, and we have been able to go on a long bike here and there.

right on, dean.

"you green blooded son-of-a-bitch"

of course those are the words of dr. leonard mccoy referring to his fine vulcan cohort. this green blood, however, is none other than the joyous wheatgrass juice, packed with a number of amino acids and an invigorating tongue-tingling taste.

i have lugged this czechoslovakian-cast steel manual juicer back and forth across the country to enjoy the glory that be within the comforts of the home. it is one of those things that takes a week or a bit more of preparation (in this case, sprouting time) and then is consumed within a few minutes. incidentally, that kimchi that i put together a couple of weeks ago was gone in 6 days post it's week of active fermentation.

there is nothing else quite like it in the world. amy and i both had our fixes this a.m. and can't wait for the next batch to mature.

tofurky day and q. tarantino

thursday a.m. we cracked our eyes to welcome a morning of dark java and tofurky basting. we thawed our byrd for the recommended 48 hours in the fridge and carefully sliced open the outer-casting. this year, a small bag of apple-cranberry dumplings were juxtaposition the signature tub of veg gravy and jerky-wishstix. a fine festive meal in a box. we spent the day with amy's family out at her sister and bro-in-laws place out in harford county. good times.

mr. tarantino came into play last night as one of his late installments made the feature showing on our dvd player, hostel. now, i am unsure if this was an absolute crap film, or just semi-crap.

tarantino reaches for the obscure in this poorly written 90 minute dud. the obligatory bimbo boobs bounced, the blood surged from severed veins, and the in-vogue torture chair was bolted semi-firmly to the floor.

ugh, lest we have to weed through tarantino's inane dialogue and obligatory set of cliched references he laces into every film? unless the point is to detest the protagonist and not really care if he gets his nads chopped off, stop writing like a high school boy, mr. t.

i want my 90 minutes back.

note: the film was produced/guided by tarantino. see comment #2

vegan carrot cake

tis baking season, no?

first came the carrot cake, dense with raisins and crushed almonds (in substitution for walnuts).

then the "cream cheese" icing (i usually consult a few recipes to get a general concept of the main players of a dish and then wing it. in this instance, the icing came out a little runny, but damn good)

as you can see...splayd lickin' good.

hydration

it is coming to that time of year when i find myself not drinking as much water. the old adage of 8 glasses everyday is easy in the scalding heat of the summertime, but at the cusp of winter my thirst does not beg for the quenching quite as much as the prior season did.

one part of my problem is that the glasses at work are small little 8oz vessels that are more or less devoured in one long gulp, and i can't be running to the refill them every time the cup is empty. i usually have a cup of green tea perched next to the water glass and it takes me about an hour and a half to drain it and then i refill the water glass at the same time. huh, writing that out, maybe i am drinking plenty of water. perhaps it is just the sensation of thirst that i am lacking in. nevermind...

battleship

life is much like a game of battleship. there are vague parameters to your life experience, your goals randomly placed throughout a gridwork of opportunity that is blind to you. you make decisions based on strategy or random chance, the effort directed toward moving ahead in life. meeting your aircraft carrier goal of a satisfying and rewarding career. finding a relationship, other personal achievements, etc.--all taking form of the battalion ships.

now this may all sound a bit like i have a belief in a predestined order to life. this is not inherently true. for within this battleship analogy, i believe that the rules are flexible and the playing grid undulates with expansion and contraction and the ships are not complacent and move about, much like everyday life. if we stop playing the game for awhile, the little people aboard those ships seem to rebuild the damaged ships and give more illusions of being on the right track toward achieving your goals. you may hit something out there, but it might not be exactly what you were searching for.

the trick is to stay active in the pursuit of your goals, to continue to hunt for your battleship and succeed in what you set forth to do. in this regard, it is my belief that you, in essence, are your own opponent. you determine the ships that will be set up, and the universe sets them up for you to find. the universe can be defined as existence, the unknown, the orderly chaos of what is. it is key to accept all the unknowns and focus on what you can control-- your dedication and perseverance to getting it done.

for a little target practice, go here.

cycling

took a long bike ride today. cruised around ft. mchenry, the muse for francis scott key's catchy tune. there is a path that circles around the edge of the small peninsula, and here is a 2min. video from today...

homemade

i've got the next couple of days off work to dedicate to the completion of my thesis. met with my professor this morning to go over the progress and went home feeling pretty good. for lunch, i whipped up some soba noodles and baby bok choy with a soy and rice vinegar dipping sauce. mmm, good. our water heater pooped out the other day and a plumber is coming shortly to replace it, showers at the gym come in mighty handy about now. in the interim, i decided to put myself to use on the vegan kimchi project that i mentioned a couple weeks ago.

i improvised on the recipe, looking at several recipes out there on the internets. for this, i took a tablespoon of rice vinegar, 1 T. soy, and a few T. of dried korean chilis and let them soak.

grated up a 1.5 inch piece of ginger, 4 cloves of garlic, and shredded 3/4 of a carrot into the compote. tossed in a dash of sugar and a healthy dash of salt.

then sliced up a little baby bok choy and 1 green onion to add for good measure. peeled a stout korean daikon and sliced into 1/4 diameter pieces about 1/4 inch thick.

mixed it all up as best as possible and funneled it into a good ol' mason jar. the fermentation period is supposed to take 4-7 days until its ready for eats. it will be difficult to walk by this bubbling vessel the next few days as it gurgles up a hello from the counter top.