Exercise and YOU

So I've been walking around all day like a zombie with a stick up its ass because I had way too much fun working out a couple of days ago. It's weird. I've always hated exercising in a gym--organized sports or outdoor recreation was the only way I ever wanted to get into shape. But now my metabolism has slowed and YES I AM FAT. It's super-annoying and you'd think such a negative thing would make exercising like super-shitty but for some reason, it's been great. I ran 2 miles, and it was, by far, the most fun 2 miles I have ever ran. There is probably a shorter way to say that, but because this is an informal blog I am prone to rambling.

I also appreciated that I didn't have to join a (retardedly expensive) gym, and could just use my apartment complex's fitness center. For those of you who weren't aware, they are retardedly expensive!!! Urban Active was a (still steep but) fairly reasonable $30/month, until I was ready to sign, and they told me about the "$80 initiation fee. Oh and once and [sic] a while the gym will hit you with a maintenance fee; that's about $20." Um. No... So I went to Whole Foods and spent a bunch of money on cheese. Yeah teenage rebellion, I still gotcha!

Today's snack is mostly badass because it is freaking cheap, but also because it is a complete meal. It's something we liberals know and love: sushi! But easier to make! A Fresh Market just opened down the street from me on Old Brownsboro Rd. and the Watterson Expy. They sell sashimi tuna for $10/lb., and you only need about 1/6 lb. to get full. That's $1.67/serivng!!! Beat that, Takahashi.

You'll also need:

1/4-1/2 an avocado, sliced and/or diced (it's raw; this isn't complicated; think "bite-sized")

1 cup sushi rice (erring on the "too much" side)

1 1/4 cups water

a dash of rice vinegar

a pinch of sugar

1/8-1/4 sheet dried nori (optional; I really like it)

a bunch of pickled ginger/gari

a bunch of wasabi (man up)

soy sauce

I feel like everyone is laughing at me because of how stupid-simple this is. STOP THAT.

Put the water and rice and rice vinegar and sugar in a pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer. Chop up all of the aforementioned other stuff. Put over the rice. Congratulations, you needed these instructions.

I had the greatest day yesterday, everyone. It was sorta bizarre because I had a rather stressful time cooking up some Indian food and slept TERRIBLY. Hey, does anyone who exercises late at night (I went to the gym at 6 pm) have unrestful sleep? Maybe "unrestful" isn't the word, because in the morning I actually felt very refreshed and energized, but I woke up a million times in stress. Anyways! I can't remember the last time I felt so optimistic throughout an entire day. Must have been "runner's high". Listening to a great Dick's Picks volume (#20) of the Grateful Dead in the morning on my way to work was a real treat, too. Since I took the whole catalogue off of my computer (couldn't stand the 20 gigs of it anymore...too much to sort through), it's been years without them. It's a band that you can't just choose one song to play, but a band that you listen to once in a while. Highly quotable/impressionable, I might add, but maybe that's my high school nostalgia/paternal-bonding-memories kicking in...

I also got my iPod up and running again. I had left it dormant because it was slightly too full (probably like 1 or 2 songs, literally, too full), and my music library is 40 gigs larger than it (not including the goddamned Grateful Dead) so I knew it was going to be an existential project that my impatient mind-brain couldn't handle. But because I wanted to go to the gym and listen to it at work in the back while I UNSTAPLE and TAPE and PAPERCLIP tons of paper products for hours on end in order to prep said paper for scanning, I had to update it. I can tell you that the following music is freaking awesome:

1. The Van-Dells, off of the complete Stax-Volt recordings (also an excellent compilation). I feel like I'm in a movie about Chicago when I listen to them; somewhat reminiscent of Booker T. and the MG's

2. Roxy Music, Country Life. Roxy Music is Brian Eno's band so you should probably listen to them. I hate Avalon but Siren is great too.

3. Everything Peter Johnson hooked me up with. In fact, I wish I were listneing to Peter Johnson's iPod instead of my own. It's so, so sad. But we got Heart (uncanny resemblence to Joni Mitchell that I just noticed...if you can get past visualizations of Guitar Hero's "Crazy on You", this is well worth it--and a CONCEPT ALBUMMM), Dreamboat Annie; XTC, White Music; and Idlewild (they sound like REM!), 100 Broken Windows

4. Dennis Wilson, Pacific Ocean Blue. I bought this (and lent it and lost it, same old story) while I was writing my thesis and never had a bunch of time to listen to it, though I dug it immediately. It's like John Lennon meets Elton John. Wow they have similar names. Yes Dennis Wilson was in the Beach Boys. This album is rich with genius transitions and has a variety of genres and themes. Just released in 2008 or something. Look it up.

Happy sushi snacking!

BI-BIM-BAP, BI-BIM-BAP

U-S-A, U-S-A...oh hello everybody! In the spirit of the Olympics, I'm going to broadcast my new international pallette, but mostly rant and rave about ME in the last few months...

So, Indian food, fucking sweet. I was totally anti-Louisville-restaurant-scene forever until I tried making Indian food (yes, my first Indian cuisine was made by ME) and really liked it to the point where I felt like giving precious moolah to a restaurant. I didn't dig Sitar so much, but I also hate Paneer Saag, an unflavorful mush of cheese and spinach which Americans like to order because they know what cheese and spinach are. For all of you who just can't force yourself to order anything but Chicken Tikka Masala (not actually an authentic Indian dish, by the way; "tikka" just means "skinless" and "masala" is not well-defined but was basically just combined with "tikka" to make it sound more Indian-like), get Butter Chicken (the dish Tikka Masala is based upon) or Chicken Korma (a yogurt-almond dish that's a little sweeter but just as creamy).

Speaking of Asian food, who's tried Korean food? NO ONE. So there's this great restaurant Joule in Seattle, the owners of which are good friends with my fabulous UW librarian godmother, and they got a chance to be on Iron Chef a few weeks ago. Their ingredient was some great fish no one's ever heard of. After watching the show, I knew I had to recreate bibimbap, a very popular Korean rice dish--HOLD UP, WHY IS JERRY GARCIA ON CNBC? Sorry I'm totally at work and we have this great TV that I mostly watch instead of working. Holy shit I am so excited. Did you know that CNBC is hardly boring and more like E!? Er, "E!"?

Whoa, back to bibimbap. It's a dish that allows for a whole lot of creativity, because there's no set way to make it, necessarily. You just need a protein (I've had it with scallops marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, and chili powder, and then a thin piece of steak seasoned with salt, pepper, and sugar, and cooked in coconut oil), a green (a lot of seaweed or kale/collard greens cooked in sliced garlic), something crunchy (thinly julienned cucumber, carrots, and/or green onions), a slightly raw to completely raw egg (I am a HUGE FAN of raw eggs, so sorry...I liked mine marinated in soy sauce, a friend liked his flash fried and all warm and gooey), and THE SAUCE THAT TRUMPS ALL SAUCES, gochujang! That is my JAM!

Enough about food which everyone finds boring and predictable and onto the only thing anyone finds interesting and spontaneous: MEEEE.

Oh me? Life is pretty legit right now! I feel like I'm totally teetering on the edge of something awesome, and pretty much everything is pushing me as hard as it can to try to get me to be awesome, but I can't seem to let that happen yet! I got a book deal with a professor back at Reed, and I am super-stoked. It's on the mathematics of music, a surprisingly undeveloped subject which interests a lot of young folks out there, and it will be geared toward high schoolers or those obsessed with movies like A Beautiful Mind or shows like Numb3rs, which I will always pronounce "numbthreeares", I don't give a FUCK. We're thinking about calling it "Numbers and Notes: The Mathematics of Music", but I kind of hate that title. PLEASE LET ME KNOW if you think of something so clever it would fly off the shelves of Powell's like People Magazine.

Then, I'm just getting started doing independent/freelance web design in HTML/CSS, so, if anyone needs some of that done on the cheap, lay it on me. Also, people, it's SUPER EASY to learn and I'll give you some links to get you started, if you'd like.

I'm photographing a wedding in late May for Jon Ott's younger sister. She is the dope shit. I've sort of put photography on the back-burner (though I did get some nice ones of the great Jonathan Richman the other night at Zanzibar...he's a hoot, oooo-weeee), certainly financially, in efforts to focus and use my time more productively. Plus all of my friends are Nikon shooters and give me shit for some reason and I just don't get it. FUCK YOU GUYS.

Open mic coming soon with me and an acoustic guitar. I'm thinking "Lucinda" (Randy Newman), "Nobody Knows You (When You're Down and Out)" (traditional?), "I Fall to Pieces" (Patsy Cline), "Love in Vain" (Robert Johnson), and something else, maybe an original piece, or something more poppy. 5 songs seems about right though...at least quintessential...

Finally, I'm working this lame office job which cracks me up every day after I get off and I'm super tired and have no energy for the aforementioned. Snow days have been the saving grace. Really, I should be looking for jobs instead of writing this. But...

I'M COMING TO RENN FAYREEEEEEEEEEEEE

as I've saved up enough at this job, and prolly for 4/20 too, beforehand. See you then!