I still do this:

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I have my reasons. One day, I would like to have taken enough thoughtful photos of delicious breakfasts to make a little gallery of them. I have so few currently because they are usually consumed before that can happen, as it should be. Yes, that's fake bacon. I have my reasons.



Ever since the dentist cleared all the stuff out of her side of the garage, I look like the one with a bit more of a stuff-collection. Granted, I live there. She just stores her printer paper and outdated machinery in there.


Fred's fur is iridescent in the sun.


Really, Mario? Really? That's clever...

back to normal(ish)...

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

I'm really digging this quote this week. It really applies to my non-existent work life and somewhat to the home life as well. For with everything that's changed these past few months (employment status, the State of the Courtyard apartments and it's inhabitants, the coming and going of new and old friends), I realize how concrete certain people and things are becoming in my seemingly "unattached" lifestyle. It's hard to put into photos in a simple yet convoluted manner the minute flux of life over time without revealing to much about myself, since I haven't been taking as many photos lately, just thinking about them...

Things that haven't changed much:


I'm still cooking a lot. This was a veggie and Mahi coconut curry. It was delicious.


The garden's been kind of on and off sucky lately since I haven't had time to build the planter boxes for organic veggies like I wanted to. In the mean time, I have these tiny burgundy beans and some vines that will hopefully someday produce cantaloupe. I'm fascinated by the way the send out little "grabber" shoots to help propel themselves upward!

Some serious changes:


My 17-year-old cat with the recent kidney disease? SO MUCH BETTER! It's insane - with no treatment other than some new food, this sweet little buddy is back to her old antics. Excited about her new office assistant job, here she is expressing her boredom with my line of work and then attempting to engage me in a game of "knock over the wacom pen" - an afternoon favorite.


Remember the gutter cat that showed up shortly after my 30th birthday? It managed to adopt the only family in the courtyard with a little kid. The dad managed somehow to tame the ferile thing just enough to feed it and name it Jonsey. That neighbor is English and I think they have a certain obligation to naming things Jonsey, male or (even in this case) female. Even the little neighbor-dog has made peace with gutter cat, knowing to keep his distance from the little thing that's gone up against racoons and won. Everyone in the complex, however (human and animal), are doing their best to adjust to the new neighbor. Well, maybe not the animals. Neighbor-dog barks like a crazy chihuaua every time he sees the guy and gutter cat just runs and hides. Too bad it doesn't work that easy for people!

I think the biggest change, though, is the thing I can't express in images, really. Or just really wouldn't here, I suppose. It started a while ago as the unemployment rate rose and friends within the industry started moving away for better work opportunities. It's weird when you realize that you've spent all this time trying to keep from getting comfortable with your job or your surroundings, only to have to admit that it's the people and the interactions that have become so familiar. With or without the corporate or social structure, the relationships we've built are still very much in tact. Months after working with my former boss, I'm still stopping by his house to exchange camera gear the night before he sets off for location; and months after tossing back a last beer on some balcony at work, I'm still at a bar on a weeknight saying good bye to more and more colleagues that will always be more than just people I once worked with.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

favorite things blog-post # whatever (I think #4)

While all sandwiches in general are at the top of my favorites list, this veggie BLT with avocado which I made a couple nights ago was so good that it warranted it's own post. I am easily a self-proclaimed sandwich-expert, and know a number of veggie and meat eaters alike who would happily agree while consuming one of my masterpieces. I was not surprised to find out that my sister covered an eerily similar subject on this week's Domestic Tuesday, wherein she compared BLT's to blow jobs. In either case (Leah or Georgia, blow job or BLT), enjoy!

Blapricot...

Sometimes I like to buy a whole package of a single kind of fruit at one of my (many) neighborhood Trader Joe's rather than picking out a variety of solo fruits because it's easier. This example is called a Black Apricot but I've renamed it the Blapricot because my sister had been combining words a lot recently - any that may form a slightly cohesive and, therefore, more efficient new word. Frankly, I find this practice to be hilarious.

I pondered for a moment the possibility that this was just a plum with another name, for either marketing or biological reasons, but after getting these babies out of the package, I realize they have a fuzzy apricot feel to them and none of the tartness of plums these days. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you (well, Trader Joe's does anyway...) the Blapricot...

you can take the girl out of the OC...

...but you can never take the Del Taco out of the girl.

The straight-edge vegan kids got one thing right... bean-fries. Their version was just beans on fries with guacamole but I always liked it with the works since I'm not a total wuss and only skip the chili concoction instead of also missing out on the wholesome goodness of Del Taco's dairy-related products like the sour cream that comes out of a tube. As far as I'm concerned, this is one of those guilty-pleasure/vegetarian-cult-food-faves that far surpasses In 'n' Out's "secret" grilled-cheese.

The cat's not-so-secret guilty pleasure? French fries.

favorite things blogpost #3

They just opened one of these right near my work and I couldn't be happier! The only thing keeping me from eating every meal here in the past was driving to their Melrose location. The only thing stopping me now is my empty wallet and keen bugetary ethic... we'll see how long that lasts...

The Catching Up Blog!

It seems that when you have so many of these unhealthy obsessions/healthy addictions (cooking like 90% of the food you eat and growing some of it, talking to your cat, dogmatically debating between contact lenses and new glasses) well, you tend to stay pretty busy. Here's what I've been up to that I can take photos of - you'll just have to imagine the rest (swimming a lot to firm up my already-nice ass, mouthing off at work and planning my upcoming trip to the most geographically isolated country on earth!)




the cat gets pissed when my new laptop sits in her spot. she marks her territory during a recent movie night by leaving her chewed popcorn all over my couch.


music mission - biking to spaceland with georgia and megan, plus some new (for me) records... because a gal can never have too much Billie.


there's all kinds of things growing in my garden these days...




it all tastes better than it looks, I swear.


I sliced my thumb open while making yam chips a couple weeks back - the photo of my hand is after 2 and 1/2 weeks of healing! I thought it was an interesting coincidence that I hurt my hand the same week I had a very important hand to photograph at work - I was just totally stupid with hand-job jokes for like 3 weeks about it! The chips were delicious, by the way.


I think I may go with contacts if I can ever get the right fit...


This is a combo. of a blank sign and a word-bubble shape that was cast onto my floor one day by the light of my office window being partially obstructed by my desk. I have a couple of these word-bubble shapes in my collection but can never really find a good use for them.

for love not money...

So it seems that I've started volunteering to shoot food experiments for other people now too. It was either this or a pie cookbook this weekend, and the pies fell through. But honestly, I'd never miss a chance to photograph a food experiment and I even got into the "mood" of the day by sampling some of the local fare - no mc nugget's for me but I did have some of a shamrock shake and enough of a fillet-o-fish to realize I should never do that again! Here are some of my favorite compositions from the day:

God bless you, Martha Stewart!

She would be proud of my perfectly hard-boiled egg - no green ring around the yoke and perfectly cooked through the center. I'm sure at some point in time, this was a useful skill to have mastered, though Martha seems to be the only one of the two of us who's making any money off this rare talent these days - you go sista'.

whole lotta fritatta...

Mmmmm....Cuisinart stainless mirror finish ALOMST makes being a lonely-old-cat-lady worth it, don't you think?

buildin'a tiny lil'army!

"Your stocking won't be the only thing getting stuffed this year!"

Tofurkey and sweet potato fries with home-made cran sauce, MMMmmmmm.....