#71: walk on the beach 20x

walk on the beach #2

robert's work sent him to manistique for the week, and forgot his work boots, so one night i drove out there (it's about an hour east along lake michigan) with his boots and we went out for dinner and went to the beach. he drove back to the hotel, and i walked back along the beach on the boardwalk.



knowing how to swim is always a good place to start!





notice the scarf from item #34!





this little section of the beach had thousands and thousands of little shells washed up in one spot. this is robert pointing it out to me.

#34: Knit something.

i've always liked knitting, but i only know one "knit" (is that what you call it? like a stitch, but in knitting terms). i don't know how to read knitting patterns and i've never tried to learn. i can only knit squares and rectangles, which pretty much leaves me with scarves. and a girl only needs so many winter scarves.

but! i was really inspired for this knitting project, by my dear friend amanda, who is always a source of inspiration for me in many areas of my life. i was inspired for the construction of the scarf by one she knitted (out of denim she had taken apart and spun into yarn) for a fashion show last month. and my scarf was made out of yarn that she had given me--she may have even spun the yarn? i even improvised and figured out on my own how to knit in a stripe down the middle of it.

#25: write a list of 100 things that inspire me.

i subbed in a sociology/government classroom the other day and it was senior skip day, and 4 of the 6 classes i taught were majority seniors, so very few people were in the classes. the ones that were pretty much got down to work, and then just hung out talking to each other or listening to music, so when i wasn't talking to any of them, i was just sitting there, so i decided to start my list. apparently, i was feeling pretty inspired, because i knocked out the whole list, coming up with 120 items. some of it are things that inspire me artistically, some politically, some intellectually, and some just in general, in life. here we go!

....warm days....budding trees....my mother....the coalition of immokalee workers....the civil rights movement....really great teachers....vibrant colors....1920s, '30s & '40s imagery....howard zinn....direct action actions....strikes and worker-organized boycotts....meeting new people....political discussions....non-fiction books....exercise....belly dancing....a visually beautiful movie....documentaries....bollywood....new dessert recipes....bookstores....thrift store finds....cute heels....elephants....cool journals....pen pals....things made from recycled content....crafster.org....foodgawker.com....sex-positive writing/attitudes....queer theory....queer porn & erotica....gender bending/ers....my friends....lively sea....the great lakes....travelling....the inca....the nahua/aztecs....the maya....the araucanians....the ezln....emiliano zapata....benito juarez....evo morales....cocaleros....machu picchu....llamas....nice yarn....indigenous myths....change....dark chocolate....biking....hairy legs & armpits....sewing machines....stacks of fabric....hot cups of tea....visits with friends....drawings of plants....gardens....puppies....my cameras....chunky necklaces....zines....cute mail....food co-ops....local farms....csa's....farmer's markets....old buildings....abandoned buildings....detroit....blair grinn....belle isle....cobblestone streets....emma goldman....the haymarket martyrs....lucy parsons....martin luther king jr.'s speeches....vandana shiva....chicago....stockholm....train travel....tom waits....cute dresses....old books....libraries....marquette....road trips....new grilled cheese sandwich ideas....small shows....mix tapes....lists....writing letters....prose....journalling....drag queens....drag kings....anti-capitalism....drawing....skeletons....airplanes....the human heart....frida kahlo....diego rivera....jose guadalupe posada....old delta blues....forests....crystal clear creeks & rivers....the upper peninsula....the circus....hip hop....long walks....adventure....ancestry....amanda cinco/my sister....wild lily of the valley....the (international) noise conspiracy....carrots....memoirs....photocopiers....

#14: Cook 40 big breakfasts

The reason for this item on my list is that my mom recently mentioned the saying, "Eat like a king for breakfast, a lord for lunch, and a peasant for dinner," meaning that it's healthy to eat a lot to start your day, and less at the end. It's good for your metabolism. I have a really high metabolism, and I'd like to keep it that way. I try to eat snacks/more than three times a day. But lately I have been lazy about breakfasts (usually just a bagel), and Robert and I tend to make really big dinners. So I added this item to the list under health, to try to get in the habit of making bigger breakfasts! I'm not going to blog about every one, but this one was notable.

Big Breakfast #1: In Birmingham, near the cities I lived in in Southeast Michigan, there was a restaurant called The Original Pancake House, right on Woodward. I think they're a chain, but I haven't seen too many. My family would go there on occasional Sundays for brunch after church, or for dinner some times. (That's my mom and I at the OHOP when my brother and I were both in town a few years ago.) There was always a long line, out the door, but it was always worth it because we would always share "The Big Apple". It's a German baked apple pancake, so huge, and so delicious. We'd always share one between two people.





So, I tried my hand at making baked German apple pancakes this past weekend! It required some improvising once I realized that the recipe called for an oven-safe skillet and we don't have one. Instead I cooked the apples up, but then put them in two separate baking dishes before pouring on the batter and sticking them in the oven. That way Robert and I each got our own (square) pancake. And they were great! Next time I would maybe not use nutmeg, but if you like nutmeg, it's not too strong.


If you want to try your hand at these pancakes, the recipe can be found: here.

#39: complete my on-line and paper teaching portfolios

i got a little burnt out on substitute teaching this week, so i took the day off as an at-home work day, and completed my on-line teaching portfolio. now i can send a link to it with my resume when i apply for jobs--hopefully it'll help me stand out a little, and they can get a little idea of what kind of teacher i am besides just what's on my resume.

now i just have a couple more things to print off, and my paper one will be complete, too. then i will be all ready when any interview opportunities come up!

i love feeling productive.

#42: try 10 new dessert recipes.

so, the way that i remember which one has two s's when i'm spelling dessert and desert, is that this woman i worked with in a medical billing office had a shirt that said, "stressed spelled backwards is desserts!" i think of that every time i'm spelling dessert, and that's how i remember it has two s's.

anyways! new dessert recipe #1: peanut butter cheesecake brownies! yeah, you heard that right. and they were totally delicious. when i was working on not eating sugar for a week, ala list item #1, the last two days of that week i was craving sugar. so, i made these brownies the day after my week was up, to reward myself!

the recipe i used can be found: here.