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wMonday, July 24, 2006 |
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Where I will be the next couple of days...and so should you!
Tuesday July 25th
Irreversible, 7pm @ Alamo Downtown
-->After that, I'm walking over to the Velvet Spade (912 Red River) for the FREE Pong show! PONG @ 11pm, w/ Peel @ 10pm - Listen to some Pong Songs:
• Pong - Interpol
• Pong - Killer Lifestyle
• Pong - Incapacitated
--
Wednesday July 26th
Summer, 7pm @ Alamo Downtown
-->After that, I'm walking over to The Side Bar (602 E 7th) for their 2nd Birthday Party:
PARTY! PARTY! PARTY!
Hey Everybody!
It's that time of year again! The Side Bar is turning TWO!
So to celebrate and give a big thanks to our awesome bar family, we are throwing a huge bash! There will be a yummy BBQ spread, fun raffle, free commemorative tees, DJ for some bootie-shaking and the famous slushy-shots! Oh, and we'll have a keg of Lone Star and cake. We can't forget the cake!
So, we'd love to have you join us for what's guaranteed to be a great time had by all! After all, we would be nothing without you guys!
The party starts at 7PM, Wednesday, July 26th!
See you there!
Trey, Soo and the side bar gang
602 East 7th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
512.322.0697
--
p.s. Listen to some new Scissor Sisters while you're at it.
posted by
zenbetty at 2:07 PM
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wMonday, July 17, 2006 |
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Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.
~H. G. Wells
The bicycle points a direction. It allows people, in a simple but radical way, to gain control of their lives.
~Andrew Ritchie
The future belongs to those who understand that doing more with less is compassionate, prosperous, and enduring, and thus more intelligent, even competitive.
~Paul Hawken
The honest man is the one who realizes that he cannot consume more, in his lifetime, than he produces.
~John Galt
posted by
reform school jill at 3:50 PM
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TNR
How cool is this?!
You may have noticed that Northfield (North Loop Area) is blessed with an abundance of cats, some of which have one ear shorter than the other. They're our neighborhood TNR cats.
TNR is an acronym for "trap-neuter-release," a form of animal control that regulates the population of stray and feral cats. Volunteers humanely trap and neuter the cats, then release them at their original location, where they are fed and monitored in a permanent colony. While the cats are being neutered, about 1/4" of one ear tip is removed so that they can be recognized from a distance. This alerts animal control that the cat is part of a maintained colony and should not be picked up.
Studies have indicated that TNR is a more effective and less expensive means of stabilizing and ultimately reducing stray and feral cat populations than traditional trap and kill methods. Once neutered, much of the inconvenience caused by stray cats is greatly mitigated. Neutered cats fight and roam less, which leads to less spread of disease and inconvenience to neighbors. The TNR colony prevents other cats from moving in, and as the TNR cats die off naturally, individual new cats that appear can be trapped, neutered, and integrated into the colony. More information about TNR is available at www.alleycat.org.
Northfield currently has two small successful TNR colonies: one near 55th & Ave F, and one near Link & Nelray, that are managed by local volunteers. If you would like to learn more about the colonies, or would like to start one on your own block, please contact minerva@io.com.
-From the Northfield Newsletter
posted by
zenbetty at 2:04 PM
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wSaturday, July 15, 2006 |
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So today I went to the Austin Farmer’s Market at 4th & Guadalupe. It was my first time there. Last month while I was on vacation, it was one of the things I vowed to do upon my return. My first Saturday back, and I’ve already done it! In Greece, all of the meals were so fresh, practically straight from the restaurant owner’s garden. People seemed to buy what they need and what was available and not to go overboard shopping, like I tend to do. So my 'resolution' was to try shopping more weekly & buying fresh, rather than stockpiling my cupboard. So now when I do use those instant rice mixes or cans of pasta sauce, I will mix in fresh veggies and fresh garlic to make it taste more homemade.
So, today I purchased...
I had the freshest hibiscus mint tea + lemonade combo. With lots of ice. ($2.00 – Nile Valley Herbs) Refreshing! Already ninety degrees at noon, I went back for a refill before I was two booths away. The next booth I stopped at was the Ethiopian food. Upon first glance, I was going to buy the spinach pie, but after tasting the spicy lentil, I was sold on that instead. ($3.50 – Aster’s Ethiopian Catering, 786-9524 – available at the Farmer’s Market, Whole Foods, & Wheatsville) Aster’s Ethiopian Catering, Spicy Split Lentils sandwich: onion, chili powder, olive oil, water, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, salt, spices. Mmmm.
The one good thing about going at noontime (the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays is only open till 1pm) is that the prices may be $.50 off or 2-for-1 by then. The bad thing however is that they have practically run out of everything worth buying. And…they’re hot & tired and ready to pack up. I got there about 12:30pm. I almost felt rude for showing up so late, but they still appreciated the business. I even ran into an old friend/roommate Laura & her boyfriend. The pesto & soups made by Julie (Austin Readymade) sounded wonderful per the listed ingredients, but I’m gonna have to show up earlier some Saturday and catch all these treats before the booths shut down.
One booth down were the kolaches. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so the cream cheese kolaches weren’t that enticing to me. Oddly enough, poppy seed kolaches were said to be the standard original kolache. Those definitely didn’t look good to me (and some lady whispered to me that she didn’t really like them either), but all of them were practically sold by 12:30pm anyway. I purchased the Tomato & Feta Cheese kolache ($2.50), which was more like a sandwich. (I just ate it now. It was delicious. Also, I am currently in love with feta cheese.) I would assume from the list of vendors that these were from Southside Kolaches (because they were the only kolaches listed) but don’t hold me to it. Everyone was super friendly there, not just trying to sell their goods, but earnestly friendly. And they had been there since at least before 9am when it opens. (I'm sure I would have fizzled out by noon.)
There were plants for sale, some crafts like soaps, candles, and t-shirts (which surprised me because I thought it would be more food products out there), honey, salsas, etc. It was a manageable size, just two rows, but still enough of a variety to stock up your pantry with fresh goods for the week until next Saturday.
The second row of booths was mostly fresh veggies. As soon as I saw the sign, I knew I had to have some: Farm Fresh Eggs. We’re talking farm fresh eggs. So I marched up and asked…unfortunately, she had sold out by 11am or so. Durn! And to get my hopes up. And then I saw the back of a pick-up with towers of empty egg cartons teetering out the back. "Say you do?" Yes. One dozen eggs = $3. I’ll take ‘em! Free-range, organic-fed. (Makes me think of all these happy chickens frolicking around on their big farm in Wimberley and laying their fresh eggs daily for me. I think I might invest in a chicken someday. Someday…) And I ask, do I just bring this carton back for you? He said, “Oh yes please. See all these? We re-use. Recycle.” I said, yes I see, I love it. I’ll be back.
PLEASE BRING CLEAN CARDBOARD EGG CARTONS TO THE MARKET: These can be reused by the smaller 'yard' egg farmers. Bring them to the farmers selling eggs--they'll gladly take them off your hands.
I couldn’t walk away without some veggies, the original reason I had set out on this mission today, but the yellow tomatoes and the okra and others weren’t that appealing to me. I’m sure all the standards had walked off early, and now were just the exotic or unwanted. But I found one last booth that caught my eye, and I walked away with 3 Italian eggplants (they’re smaller & rounder than the larger black eggplant, and the lady said they were also less bitter), 1 red onion, and 1 head of elephant garlic (altogether $5.50). She had another type of garlic, but I forgot the name already, as she said it is less garlicky, and that is not what I want out of garlic. What I want is more garlic. Now, I don’t know what I’m gonna make with this veggie combo, but it should be delicious, if the freshness of the ingredients has anything to do with it.
And yes, it’s probably more expensive than those super grocery stores, but I don’t care. I’m buying fresh, organic, local, and from people in Austin. So I’ll pay a few cents more, please & thank you. I will definitely be going again. Not next Saturday though because I’m helping my mom with the Sunshine Kids. Oh, and not the next Saturday because we’re having a camping/tubing weekend. So...the first Saturday of August, I will definitely be back to Republic Square Park. They also offer a Thursday evening Farmer’s Market over on 5th & Comal, 4-7pm, so I might actually check that out over the next couple of weeks since my weekends in July are already tied up. I even signed up for a card that you can submit for a drawing for a free basket of fresh veggies (if I bring a friend, I get double stamps...wanna join me?). I think last month they were offering SW airlines tickets to entice new customers, but I think that promo is over.
Grand total = $16.50, for a drink, two sandwiches, fresh veggies & a dozen eggs. I also feel like I invested in a little piece of Austin, and that, my friend, is priceless.
--
My day of being a good Austin Samaritan was not over yet. Before I had left my house, I had loaded my car with my house’s paper recycling that had accumulated over the past few weeks, and dropped it off directly at the 9th St main recycling location for Ecology Action. All the good Saturday Samaritans were there, unloading their recyclables before starting the rest of their weekend. It felt good. I felt good. I had already accomplished two on my mental list of what to do when I returned from vacation:
1) Shop local. Shop at the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays & Thursdays. Buy organic, fresh, & local as much as possible.
2) Recycle. Reuse. Use less. Waste Less.
3) Bicycle more. Bike to work. Bike to friends’ houses.
4) Simplify your life. Remember what is important.
--
My day of being a truly Austin granola chick was still not over yet…and it wasn’t even 2pm yet.
p.s. Did I mention that Johnny Depp was hot? Yeah, just in case you didn’t know already. He was on Inside the Actors Studio last night on Bravo. He’s pretty funny & insightful, too. I wrote down two books that he recommended for acting, or at least they were two books that he had encountered when he began his acting career.
Start with:
On Method Acting, by Edward Dwight Easty
Then throw away everything you’ve learned with:
No Acting Please, by Eric Morris
Okay, he’s on USA right now (which was the reason for my wandering eye), with Nick of Time, not one of his better flicks (nor Christopher Walken’s) but oh well…
--
So off to Wheatsville, for some soy milk and toilet paper. Now, I won’t tell you my total at Wheatsville, because I tend to overspend when I go grocery shopping. I’m one of those people who you probably hate to go grocery shopping with unless you are one in the same and enjoy grocery shopping to the level I do which consists of reading all the labels and standing in the produce section, sniffing the garlic and giggling about five times before actually buying. Then going back and smelling the garlic again, and giggling, and imagining eating the garlic raw, right there, what would happen, who would stare, then you drop some garlic and laugh, and then look around and hope no one is watching you, but then again, everyone else in Wheatsville is half-crazy too so who cares if they are. Then finally buying the baggie of fresh cloves of garlic for only $1.99 and daydream about what you are going to make with fresh garlic all week and imagine yourself reeking of garlic for about a month and envision yourself rubbing some garlic on your wrists and would anyone buy an eau de parfum made of garlic if I invented it. Yes, that’s how I shop. I usually need a good half hour in Wheatsville and about 2+ in HEB. But I’m gonna try to stop that because my time equals about $100/hr. So my thirty-minute stint in Wheatsville still totaled fifty bucks.
I usually get the Silk soy milk, vanilla flavor, but there was a $.50-off coupon for Vitasoy, so I thought I’d give it a try. I got organic original so we’ll see. I also opted for Almond Breeze (almond milk) which was on sale too so I’ll let ya know. I've never tried almond milk before. I usually only use the soy milk for my cereals, which I have three unopened boxes from before I left for some reason. (See earlier statement, about stockpiling for Armageddon every time I’m in HEB.) If there’s a coupon or a sale item, I’ll buy it. Unfortunately. There was a $.50-off coupon for Bisca crackers, so of course I will try. And, hmm…what can I dip on the crackers? Let’s try some of Wheatsville’s baba ganouj. And let’s pick up some cheese. (I would so try to be a vegan except for my undying love of cheeeeese.)
I remember reading this Fit for Life book by Harvey Diamond before, and I was trying to remember one of the recipes or eating guidelines: corn tortillas + avocado. So I buy both. Along with some sprouts and oh yes, spicy mustard was what went with it, yes. Mmm, Reed’s ginger brew. My old roommates J&K used to always drink that. I’ll just take one instead of a four-pack. Okay, so $.50-off coupon for bottled water, I’ll take that. The hibiscus tea was so good this morning (and it’s so hot outside) that I go and find something comparable in the instant iced tea department. Well, raspberry tea, but that’s okay. And cheap. I check out the lemons, but they’re organic and mongoloid huge (is that totally un-pc?) and they scare me with their size and deformities. I guess I like the tiny unnatural lemons better. And then I run into the garlic (see earlier description). I have this strange love affair with garlic: I love garlic, and I don’t know whether or not garlic loves me back. Much like most of the relationships in my life. While in the fresh produce, let’s get some kiwi for dessert and some mushrooms for dinner. Now, what to make for dinner…
I pay $20 cash towards my lifetime membership. Only $25 away from being an investor in Wheatsville, so I better frequent there more often now. Oh good! I see now that my total was really on $30.42. Thank goodness! The additional $20 (which I saw my total as $50) was the extra of my cash payment toward my membership. Look, I’m getting better. Only $30 for 30 minutes. Oh well, wait, I did spend $16.50 earlier at the Farmer’s Market, so we are pushing near $50. But hey! I didn’t go out last night and there’s still money in my wallet from getting paid on Thursday. Let’s see how long it lasts…
Next Saturday July 22 is Member Appreciation Day at Wheatsville, where members save an additional 10% all day. Remind me to hit there again next weekend. With a stopwatch and an exact shopping list. And next time I'll remember my own bag.
Now, I'm off to go swimming at Bull Creek with my sister and five-year-old twin nephews! Happy Saturday!
posted by
zenbetty at 3:53 PM
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wFriday, July 14, 2006 |
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Margaret Cho is my new hero:
3/23/06
Beautiful
Once a friend was upset about going home.
Me: "Why?"
Her: "Because you can take a cab, but I can't."
Me: "Why not?"
Her: "Because I am really pretty. You are so lucky because nobody bothers you. I could get raped."
Me: "I could get raped too!"
Her: "Marg. Ok, get real now. You would not get raped. They don't go for girls like you."
Me: "Like what?"
Her: "Whatever..."
A DJ asked me, "What if you woke up tomorrow, and you were beautiful? I mean really beautiful. You were 19, blonde, weighed 110 pounds, 5'11" and beautiful. What would you do?"
I am beautiful now.
The DJ says, "You know what I mean."
No. I don't. Just because you are blind, and unable to see my beauty doesn't mean it does not exist. I am so fucking beautiful I have players lined up around the block around the clock waiting for me...
I have to believe that I am beautiful because if I don't I will die.
--
Read more here
posted by
zenbetty at 3:32 PM
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so my travel-high wore off already. yeah, that was unforgivably fast. five days. i went out tonight and watched my friends flirt as i realized i'm too old or whatnot for anything to change for me in this town. so i cried all night when i got home. and here it is, 4:30. maybe it was long overdue, but still, i didn't need that. i needed a night out, a night out as good as i was feeling inside. but it didn't happen. the truth happened. and now i see why people move and people need change and people are stifled when they're subjected to the same routine over & over. if only they could see who i am and who i was and see what other people saw, other people, strangers, who don't take me for granted and who don't assume i'm gonna be the same ol' person that i've always been. it's people who don't let you change, don't let you grow. i'm not blaming anybody but myself. but i know, there is more inside of me than any of you here will ever know.
posted by
zenbetty at 4:41 AM
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wTuesday, July 11, 2006 |
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I am back. Did you miss me?
Austin will always be here, right? I can leave again, and come back...or can I? Things change when you leave. When you're not part of that change, then that change happens around you not because of you, it happens without you, and you have no say or influence anymore.
I don't know. I'm already daydreaming about Summer '07. Already planning Italian language classes & French classes. And looking up Greek recipes I want to make now. And and and...
Let's celebrate Bastille Day this Friday July 14. I mean, the Italians won the World Cup (and I will have a Dolce Vita Sunday someday soon...this Sunday perhaps?) but this Friday is the French equivalent to our Independence Day. So let's give the Frogs some credit.
How to Celebrate Bastille Day
It is a day to celebrate freedom for all people and to proclaim, "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité!"
Celebrate by having an evening picnic of wonderful French cheeses, French bread, French wine, grapes, pâté and your other favorite French gourmet treats.
Bon appetit!
(Cut off short - I have to go work now. But you get the idea. All of my ideas, right?)
posted by
zenbetty at 12:14 PM
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