burn fat not oil

don't get me wrong - i loooooooooooove my miata & cars & the whole business. i mean, its my livelihood. but this sure does make me laugh.

terrarium attempt

after reading a few articles on terrariums, i put that on my list of things to do this weekend. while i was in berkeley & oakland on sunday, natalie took me to some really hip gardening stores. after a bit of an adventure, we finally found annies annuals. there, i purchased some fun things for my potential terrarium.

picks for project: (minus the big fuzzy white plant from greece, and the lupin)


a few hours later, i realized that making a terrarium is way more difficult than it looks. dirt gets everwhere, plants break, and sometimes it just doesn't look right... i ended up simply putting one plant in the vase i set aside for terrarium madness:



any advice would be much appreciated. i'm still trying to work out the layout in my mind. also, i'm a little nervous that the plants will simply die because there is no drainage in the glass.

either way, cactus jungle in berkeley has pre-made terrariums that are just gorgeous! i might have to concede, and just get one already made. i think my hands are too whatever to make these miniature worlds...

dayfour

of biking to work, eating breakfast @ home, bringing my lunch, & not stopping for coffee...

it has not been easy. :) its honestly one of those things where every morning i wistfully look at my car with the joy of getting that 4 dollar coffee treat... one morning i had the keys in my hand, and was ready to call it quits on the biking... so close! but i resisted. like all addictions, this one will take a few weeks to kill, and by august, i won't even think of taking my car as an option. it is very nice looking at my bank account on saturdays and seeing the same balance that was there monday morning. the other perks are obviously health & environment. blah blah blah.

the sandwich bag replacement is a local company here that makes these kinds of things. i've forgotten their name. but i'm sure they are at the thursday farmers market in san rafael, ca.

Anchor Summer Beer

website: here
color: light golden summer summer summer!

taste: (here's where i offend the snobs) it tasted like a slightly more bitter coors light or PBR.
temp: best cold. these kind of light light light beers need to be borderline slushies.
sillies: buy a box, and it wasn't listed on the bottle. i'm guessing this one might be a 3 or 4%
hangover: none.
label: traditional Anchor Steam label - outfitted with lighter colors to attract the summer crowds.
overall: 6. i probably will not buy this again. its basic and common. but i like sweeter more interesting beers.

walkswithrowdy - june

i have a new neighborhood. its been fun getting to know my new neighbors and gardens and habits. rowdy has been a real trooper. here are some pics from our walks during june:



i have my own mailbox.

lobotomy bock

new beer review section:

why? beause good beer tastes good. because i spend a lot of time with a 'beer snob'. because i just recently moved into a place of my own, where i can actually purchase yummy drinks, and not have to hide them from drunk roommates. because there needs to be more reviews by regular janes like me.

so here goes: lobotomy bock from Indian Wells


where: Whole Foods
website: none to speak of...
other reviews: dallas, ratebeer, 97 bottles, beeradvocate
cool flickr find: from ron & judy
cost: about 9 bucks for a 6 pack
sillies: 10.8%
color: dark amber
taste: smoothy molassesy - not to hoppy or bitter.
chug factor: definately chuggable because its so smooth
temp: its great cold. my 2nd one I had warm, because I poored it, and then realized i had a couple errands to run - when i came back an hour and half later, it was drinkable.
slurring capacity: the 1st beer was chugged. i was thirsty and hungry. no real slur. the 2nd beer was sipped during a movie, and before bed. i was tired. i might have slurred. either way, it knocked me out. amen.
morning after: aside from waking up at 3am and going through scrapbooks from my trip to scotland this one time.... there were no real hang-ups the next morning.
label graphics: on a scale of 1-10, i give these graphics a 5. the red caught my eye, but i kind of wanted some cute explanation at why they call it lobotomy bock... instead i got a minor map of the brewery on the bottom of the cardboard carrier. i didn't take a picture of that. sorry.
overall rating: 7. If i am going to spend 9 bucks on a 10% beer, i might as well stick to my tried & true "undercover" by lagunitas. its closer to home, has a cooler label, and just tastes richer.

a little confused

More interesting pictures from the gulf oil spill - here

nytimes survey timelapse

I'm just wondering why movie stars or art funds or non profits aren't rallying to "save the gulf" from this monstrous natural and financial mess? Where are all the haiti helpers now? Why aren't I getting emails to donate 2 dollars to the gulf? why are people losing their jobs and no one is helping them?

oh, maybe they are all still in haiti helping?

or maybe everyone is home from haiti now, and too busy boasting their chests out while reading their articles about how they helped haiti.

i don't mean to bash on haiti. i'm trying to make a point. we have problems here. that we are directly paying for and our children will be paying for. like we are taught before we fly in a plane - can we please try to put the mask on ourselves first, before we put it on our neighbors??

when we have nothing left, and our resources are tapped, or spilled,,,,,,,, how are we going to help our neighbors then?

oil spill from space

here are 2 ways to help - i simply wish that these were getting more press than they are.
international bird rescue
National wildlife federation