Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Summer in June!

One year I froze my butt off at Stensin Beach, another year I froze in Santa Cruz, there was one time I tried to plan a picnic by the lake and it was grey and cold all day.

I am a summer baby. All of my childhood birthdays were in the sunshine, with watermelon, rhubarb pie in the front yard, or by the pool, running around in short sleeves!

It makes me perpetually miffed that June 28th is usually bloody cold and grey in the bay area. Last year I ran away to Idyllwild for some guaranteed summer. This year it was summer. This year it was warm walking through the redwoods. I was quite happy that the weather colluded with the date this year.


Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Why Dogs are Awesome


Seriously stuck in traffic... driving at 2mph (maybe) and going nowhere... and then I get a glance in my rear view mirror and see this dog LOVING life... also stuck in traffic wearing a cone. Instantly I feel better about sitting in traffic. At least it's a lovely day. Enjoy the breeze.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Haight homes...

"Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light. "
Le Corbusier- Swiss architect 1887-1965

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Dear Joe, I'm not sure this relationship will last...

I have a problem with Trader Joe’s. The more I shop at Berkeley Bowl and the Farmer’s Market, the more it bothers me. They ask you to bring in your own shopping bags but then almost everything in the store is severely overpackaged and nothing is local.

Roma tomatoes come in hard plastic boxes, zuccinis come shrink wrapped on styrofoam trays, Carrots that have been pre-peeled and sliced come in plastic tubs and cost three times more than a 2 pound bag of unprocessed carrots. You can buy delicious Indian lunches that come in sealed bags that have been packed in boxes and portioned just enough for one person. All manner of frozen veggies are available with little globs of seasoned butter included, also in serving sizes for one or two people… because throwing a handful of greenbeans in a sauce pan with water, rosemary and butter is too hard!

This brings me to the second problem I have with Trader Joe’s… everything that has been pre-packaged three times over is all ready to heat and eat. So much of it is little more than a glorified and improved TV dinner. It is helping to perpetuate the helplessness of the urban dweller. It encourages shoppers to think “I don’t have time to cook” “I don’t know how to cook, it’s too hard”. Seriously! I am not a gormet chef but from the need to eat economically I’ve learned how to make a few really good meals. Salads are not difficult but you can still buy those in a bag. Is it because it’s too time consuming to wash lettuce, and chop up a few veggies?

There are so many Americans who just don’t cook for themselves, they have no idea about what they are shoveling into their mouths, there is too little thought about food and nutrition. There is too much thought about calories and suppliments. TJ’s also has an amazing array of cheap vitamins by the way, because after all eating a balanced diet is just too hard… you will need to be ‘healthy’ and add these pills to your diet. Despite the good things about TJ’s I just can’t deal with how much of it is fully pre-packaged and designed to allow consumers to feel good about their ignorance.

I’m torn. On the one hand they do sell a lot of tasty things that I enjoy, but when I went in yesterday I wound up leaving with my bottle of cheap wine, a pint of sherbet and a seltzer water. All of the overpackaged produce in number 5 plastic containers (my city only recycles numbers 1 and 2 plastic) just made me ill.

Be sure to bring back your canvas bag to carry home all of the small plastic bags that your food comes in… you don’t want to kill the earth do you?

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Up with Natives!

Pollen.
Itchy eyeballs.

Lethargy.


Fills me with arsonist rage against the horrid Australian trees that line my street.


Last week I went to two national parks that were filled with nothing but California native flora... look how pretty...

... the whole time I could smell dirt and flowers and everything...


Sigh. There is little to be done. I may just join the Native Plant society out of selfish purposes though...

Friday, June 11, 2010

Friday, June 4, 2010

The Land of Plenty

This is the wonderland. This is my grocery store. This is a fantasy of plenty that my ancestors could never have imagined for me. This is an Organic produce section larger than my apartment.
This is a "standard" Produce section three times larger than the organic produce section. This is eight types of potatoes, eight types of orange, every type of fancy exotic fruit and green thing available in North America...
I shop here every week and it still leaves me in awe... someday I'll show you the beer selection.
Oh Berkeley Bowl, you are an unnatural dreamland and I love you!