Friday, May 27, 2011

Kitties Galore

I went to Jezebel.com today to grab the email address that we're supposed to submit our stories to and found out that they stopped accepting stories early due to overwhelming response.  Bummer.  But, no worries, I'm going to use this opportunity to expand the story into the full version I intended.  I'll post a new draft when I reach the new ending.

Satchmo has been out in the apartment since Tuesday and both cats are doing well.  Ava seems to have caught a bit of his cold, but we're giving them both the herbs now to help.  

Here's one photo from his release day.  I'm in Whole Foods on lunch and the internet isn't being timely with the upload, so I'll post the rest of the photos and good stuff later.




Sunday, May 22, 2011

Micro Story

Since I've been out sick, I've been trying to be productive all the same.  It's time to start getting the Jecheon book in order.  I need to build a portfolio and put together an outline so that I have something to show potential editors.

First thing's first, though, I need to start clearing out the cobwebs in my ol' brain.  Jezebel, a women's interest site that I follow, is having a very general short fiction contest.  They're calling for stories 500 words or less with a female protagonist.  The deadline is Friday and the prize is a pile of books penned by awesome lady writers.  

I figured this was a good opportunity to stick my big toe into the water.  So, I took a post from Everybody Jecheon Tonight and turned it into a micro story.  Here's the first draft, criticisms and comments, chuseyo (please).  I'm also not sold on the title, so let me know your thoughts.

Welcome Dinner



We followed Julia out to the car. Like her, it was stately, expensive and a little intimidating. The black sedan was straight to the point and though she had probably owned it for months, the interior looked and smelled as if she had bought it earlier that day. She motioned for us to take the back seats as she slid into the driver’s. I sat. The awkward roil in my stomach was something that I was growing accustomed to in the three days that I had been in Korea.

“Where are we eating dinner again?” I felt like Julia had given more details to Ian than to me.

“I don’t know. “ He leaned forward. “Julia, where are we going to eat?”

“Uh,” then she said something I didn’t understand. I tried to work it out in my head. ‘Bead-um’ is what I had heard her say. I spent the next several minutes running through every food or type of food that started with the letter B. While I was playing my own personal alphabet game, Ian was productively narrowing it down. “Rice, vegetable, fish, rolls,” Julia was continuing to Ian.

“Does she remember that we’re vegetarians?” I was letting Ian take all the falls tonight. He tentatively reminded her.

“Oh, yes. Okay. You eat fish?”

“No, no fish, chicken, beef or anything like that. We do eat eggs and milk, though.” His body was tight with discomfort. He was able to talk to her, however. After the last eight hours spent making and remaking lesson plans for her approval, which I still hadn’t won, I could hardly look at her. She exhausted me. I looked out the window and let the neon shop signs overwhelm my train of though. I counted glowing red crosses atop churches. Eleven if you count the ones just past those hills. I thought Koreans were Buddhists.

“Your parents are vegetarians?” Julia and Ian’s conversation had continued.

“Mine aren’t. They eat a lot of meat, actually. Casey’s mom is, though.”

“Oh, really? It’s good to do. You are nice children, obedient.”

We drove a few minutes more in silence. She began to mumble to herself in Korean and drive more slowly down the street. I leaned toward her a little, worried she was trying to talk to us. She wasn’t. She was lost. She dialed her phone and made a U-Turn. I squinted at the headlights of the oncoming cars as we changed directions on the four lane street. After less than a minute of what we could only infer as a frustrating conversation by the way it was punctuated by sighs, she made another U-Turn and we pulled into a nearly empty parking lot. “Vietnamese Cuisine” was written in small, blocky type on the bottom of the brightly lit rectangular sign.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Waiting


I will be so happy when we can let Satchmo out.  I can only hope that Ava will be, too.  They're cordial through the door, at least.

He had hi vet check up on Wednesday.  I took him to a holistic vet.  She was pretty rad.  He seems to have a virus (respiratory, no doubt) and he was running a fever when thy got his temp.  He's also about 2 pounds under weight.  So, it's good that he's here.  And good that he's quarantined, too, even if it makes for two lonely kitties.  The vet didn't want to put him on antibiotics unless she had to, so she made us an herbal tincture instead.  We mis it with fatty, cheap cat food and force it on him with an oral syringe.  He's pretty tolerant of the whole ordeal.  Already he seems to be eating more and sneezing a little less.  But, probably due to the wet food that we mix with the tincture, he has the runs.  The good news is that he is very good at hitting the litter box.  ...Not that you were particularly interested in that information.

The plan is to let him out on Tuesday if he continues to get better.  I'm going to call the vet first and ask her opinion, though.  Mom is coming this "weekend" to get her tattoo, so I hope she doesn't have to share the guest room.  Fingers crossed.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Purple Porridge


Frozen blueberries have a stunning affect on oatmeal.

I love oatmeal.  I stopped adding sweetener to it when we were living in Korea and it's given me the freedom to be super creative with it.  This batch had a banana, the aforementioned blueberries, a pinch of salt, and cinnamon in it.  After it cooks I stir cold soy milk into to make it creamy and cool it down.

I think it might be my current favorite food.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Random, Delicious

I was craving something saucy for dinner tonight, so I threw a random set of ingredients into a pan and ended up with something really good.  With some work, it could be great.


I'm not going to post the recipe just yet, but I started by browning some almonds and tofu in the pan and then I made a rue out of soy milk, a smidge of Earth Balance, white wine vinegar and nutritional yeast.   I simmered the tofu and green beans in the sauce and seasoned it and added it to the bowl hot and topped it with fresh spinach, allowing the residual heat to cook it a little.


Mmm.  Faux-cheesey.  I think it could have used more sauce, actually.  I'm stoked to perfect this.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Ava and the Laser

It took some effort, but I finally got the video to upload to YouTube from my phone so that I could post it:



Friday, May 13, 2011

Welcome, Satchmo!

Ian and I went to OHS on Wednesday and met with "Fuzzle," one of the Animal Care Technician's favorites.  He was totally sweet and his huge head made him irresistible.  I suggest "Armstrong" because of his puffy cheeks, but Ian preferred "Satchmo," Louis Armstrong's nickname.

I put a hold on him since the shelter was closing and came back the next evening to grab him.  He ended up free because I get a discount for being a volunteer and there's a $25 dollar special on all cats over 1 year during May.  I tried to pay for him, but they wouldn't let me.

So, in two weeks when he no longer has to live in "quarantine," Ava will have a boyfriend.  Things may be rough to start, but I'm sure that they'll grow to be friends.  She needs someone to keep her company when we're not there.

   
His last nap as the OHS kitty named "Fuzzle."


Safety first.


Cheeks!

I had a video of Ava playing with the laser pointer that I bought at the shelter, but my phone failed to email it, so I'll have to record her angrily chasing it this evening and post it.  It's pretty hilarious.


Pictures from BeWon

So, Blogger was down yesterday and it seems to have eaten my BeWon post.  Oh well.  Here are the photos from it (again, the quality is not so great as I've been using my phone):


Swanky.


Makkeoli (Korean rice wine)


Japchae (sweet potato noodles and veggies) appetizer.



Banchan (side dishes served with full meals)


Bibimbap before the mix up.


Post mix up.


Delicious!

I wrote this before, but all in all the restaurant was good and very authentic, but too expensive.  11.95 for bibimbap?  Really?  But it was a great date night.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

BeWon Restaurant

Ian and I went to a Korean restaurant called BeWon for dinner tonight.  Wednesday is Ian's only day off, so it's our date night.  I took all the photos with my phone, so my apologies for the quality.  Also, I'm blogging from my new netbook!  Woot!

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It was pretty swanky.

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Makkeoli, Korean rice wine.

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Japchae, sweet potato glass noodles and veggies.

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Banchan, side dishes served with full meals.

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My bibimbap (sans egg) before the great mix up.

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Post mix up!

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Delicious.

All in all, it was very good, but too pricey.  Maybe we're used to the 4,000 won (about 3.90) bibimbap in Jecheon, but 11.95 per bowl seemed a little steep.  But, it was really fun and I'm sure we'll keep the place in mind for special nights.

Ian and I will be bringing home our new family member tomorrow night and I'll be sure to share some photos of him.  Stay tuned!