Zoopity doo dah

Zoooooooooooooop!

And by zoop, I mean soup, of course. Oh, it's crisp and blustery outside and we all enjoy a nice bowl of soup this time of year and blah blah, but the real reason I like eating soup is my insane ritual of what I term "Zoop Zongs." Zoop Zongs (that is, soup songs) basically consist of any tune with either most or all of the lyrics replaced by the word "zoop," sung quietly or silently during the entire soup getting/making process. For instance, a week or two ago I made this turnip soup:


It was really good, but that's beside the point. While chopping the vegetables, I started off with the tune of the dreidl song you're supposed to sing at Hanukkah: "Zoopy zoopy zoopy, I made you out of zoop! Zoopy zoopy zoopy, zoopy zoopy ZOOP!!" Other favorites include "Row, row, row your boat" ("Zoop, zoop, zoop your zoop" -- especially popular while walking to the store to buy soup ingredients) "Super Trooper" by Abba (almost too easy) and, well, "Bananaphone" by Raffi ("Zoop-zooper Phone"). Uhhh, yeah. See, don't you want some soup now?! Zoop Zongs really work!

Ok, here is some news:

1) I made chili tonight! (Chili counts as soup, so there was singing.) I would rate it a solid B+, but the real news is that it was accompanied by the best cornbread I've ever had, which I picked up on a whim from the bakery at New Seasons. I love that the world's best cornbread has been hiding all this time in an unassuming supermaket bakery. Nom nom!

2) I have some new glasses.

I like 'em. The guy that works at the eye place (6 blocks from home, hooray) totally picked them out for me first thing, then waited patiently as I tried on thousands of other pairs before finally admitting he was right. By the way, he was from Peoria! Also, if you look very closely at the background, you'll see that my bed is holding a black mask, a package of tinsel, and two chocolate bars. I believe the phrase is, "That is how I roll."

3) Here is a typical weekday for me: Drudge drudge drudge, coworkers complaining, more news of downsizing, nearly being run over walking to the bus stop, getting crushed against the window on the packed bus back to Portland while everyone yells into their cell phones. Dejected, I am dumped off the bus into downtown Portland. And then I walk over the Hawthorne Bridge, and instantly forget I've ever had a problem:

Walking over the bridge is absolutely one of my favorite things, ever. There are always boats out, and the sun shines off the water, and you can see Mt. St. Helens. It's the country's busiest bike commuter bridge, so there are always tons of people whizzing by on their bikes, cheerful to be getting off work. Last week a car broke down in the middle of the bridge, and 2 bikers immediately hopped off their bikes and ran to help push the car, then cheered and waved goodbye when it picked up momentum and got going again. People here are kind.

From there it's about a 40 minute walk home (or, when it's raining, a 10 min bus ride). It's my favorite part of the day. It mostly looks like this:

I walk through a neighborhood called Ladd's Addition, which ends about 4 blocks from my house. I love it. It's like a giant maze, much bigger and more confusing than the map conveys (my house is just off of Division and 24th, which you can also see on this map):


But from the street, it looks more like this:

It's filled with alleys, and big houses, and kitties. Each roundabout has a (huge!) rose garden, with twisty paths and benches that you can sit on.


This sorry photo gives absolutely no sense of what it's actually like. The center roundabout is especially large; it's filled with big trees and you can't even see to the other side. One one of the streets there's a tiny cafe, which I occasionally stumble across but can never seem to find when I actually want a cup of coffee. If you don't know exactly where you're going, you'll never get there.

And then: this is my street! Hello, hello.

Unfortunately, it looks like I've run out of time, which is a shame, because we still have some things to talk about. In particular, I'm sure you'll all enjoy hearing the sad tale of how a bee defied the laws of physics and flew up my pant leg. (Spoiler: not a happy ending) Something to look forward to, I suppose!

Cusp

I feel like something good is about to happen! I dunno, I've been having this premonition all day long. (I'm wearing purple tights. Maybe that's why?) Don't let me down, future!

Help me live my life

Here are two scenarios for how I will spend the next few hours. Please help me choose the correct one:

1) Go to bakery, buy bread, go for a run, shower.
2) Go for a run, shower, go to bakery, buy bread.

I am paralyzed by the weighty life decisions I'm always having to make.

EDIT, 2.5 HOURS LATER: I chose option one, which ended up working out pretty well, though I can't help but wonder how my life would have turned out differently had I chosen option two. Ah, two roads diverged... !

Mud, butter.

Here's a video preview of the race that Ben is coming up to Portland for on November 9th (he will be here Nov 1-10). It's the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championship, otherwise known as "Best Most Totally Fun-Time Awesome Spectacle." The video was filmed at last year's race, and occasionally you can see us leaning into the frame, doing dumb stuff (you really won't be able to spot us unless you know exactly where to look, so don't spend too much time doing that). Anyway, I'm really looking forward to heckling those fools from the sidelines and pouring beers on them as they struggle to run uphill with their bikes in the mud. I hear Ben has an orange bike with hot pink tires and matching 80's helmet! Oh, and the winner gets a tattoo and a golden speedo. I would lose on purpose.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: I just found out today that there are TWOOOO waffle stands within 10 blocks of my house!! This is big news. The thing I missed the most from my old neighborhood was the waffle stand down the block, which I visited so often they knew my name and order. It was like "Cheers," with butter and powdered sugar. Don't worry, I will update with detailed info as soon as I visit both carts. These things are important.

UPDATE: I've had several people ask me if the giant spider ever appeared again at my workplace. Luckily, it has not.

Turnips!

PERFECT FALL DAY ALERT!!

Actually, my plans for the weekend kind of failed. On Saturday, I walked over to the Laurelhurst to see the Don Hertzfeldt screening, only to find a crowd of mid-30's pudgy animation nerds (my people) staring dejectedly at a "DON HERTZFELDT IS SOLD OUT" sign in the window. Ugh! Despite my best efforts, I couldn't seem to work up a hunger or thirst, so I just wandered around the area for awhile, eventually finding myself in a cemetary. I don't know how autumn manages to be so sneaky, but it seems like there's always one day where I totally get my mind blown by the realization that the leaves have started turning, and I guess yesterday was it. So I stomped around in my boots and my skirt, admiring the wet leaves and the crisp air and imagining an exciting future filled with caramel apples. Also, I now have a large jug of apple cider, so I feel that anything is possible.

My other unrealized goal for the weekend was to watch the Portland Marathon, especially since I plan on running it next year. Instead I... slept. For 14 hours. I woke up at around noon, sorta confused and weirded out, since on normal days I've usually been up for at least 6 hours at that point. I feel illness looming, so I suppose it was warranted. In true "I'm almost sick" fashion, I have accomplished nothing today, save dragging myself to New Seasons for vitamin C smoothies and the Sunday NY Times. Luckily, I made a big batch of this the other day, which I plan to consume with gusto in about an hour:

Hello, I am poorly-photographed lentil & spinach soup!

Ok, but can we be serious for a second? I need to talk to you about vegetables. All summer I've been going to the Groundwork Organics booth at the farmer's market, and all summer I've been having my, uh, existence rocked by the quality of their produce. I know this is a boring subject, but this week's cauliflower made me want to weep. It's such a treat to buy from people who are knowledgeable and passionate about the food they grow. I consistently buy stuff there, get it home, and think, "I had no idea that ____ could taste this good." These are vegetables with character. After suffering through years of tasteless produce that's been shipped across the country and had the life bred out of it, I'm falling back in love with food.

This week was especially exciting for me, because they had turnips, and I love turnips! Two varieties of turnips, which... I didn't actually know there were other varieties of turnips. How many more times can I say turnips in this paragraph? Turnips, turnips, turnipsturnips. Turnips? Anyway, the mystery turnips are red! Red turnips! They look like citrus fruits:

The color's off, sorta. But man, these turnips -- do you mind if I call them "rad"? So spicy, so complex, so at home in my belly. Also pictured are some carrots, some Romaine lettuce, the aforementioned cauliflower, and a green striped Roma tomato, which I had no idea even existed. And yes, all are now at home in my belly.

Sigur Ros tomorrow. Also, my wrist is now able to bend! (Slowly.) Yes, yes, yes, concerts and wrist-bending, here I come.

!!!

La la la! Here are some things I'm very excited about:

1) Sigur Ros on Monday!
2) Cut/Copy show on Tuesday!
3) Pine nuts. Oh, yum.
4) Hot cider and Tuaca. Get thee to an orchard, then get thee to a liquor store.
5) Watching the Portland Marathon on Sunday.
6) Training for the Portland Marathon next year!
7) Seeing Don Hertzfeldt (of "Rejected" fame) speak on Saturday.
8) Seeing Art Spiegelman (writer of "Maus") speak next Thursday!
9) Doing another vegan experimentation month during October. I swear, it's fun!
10) I have a new stovetop espresso maker! Sometimes I get excited to go to sleep so I can wake up and use it. I have a tiny cup, too! You can drink from it if you come over.

I'll tell you more later. What are you excited about?