#no hummus because it went bad :c

[horse-hero]

Wholemeal pitta bread so good! They must be putting they whole entire tasty and delicious ingredients in them! AAAAANNNNDDDD POST

[celsidebottom]

Some of my favorite lines from RQGG today (minus the bits where they read things in character because there are already so many)

“The banana forests of Scandinavia”

“Baby Empty.  YEET”

“#DropTheChild”

“Alexander Jail Newall”

“Tell me of the ghost rotor”

“We still got to use the ruler and that’s valuable in and of itself”

“The secret is the fourth dimension”

“The subgame of removing the bodies”

“Oh look!  Jonny’s named someone Michael!”

“When I give you guys power… boy do you go ham”

“HE’S A BAD COW”

“Sean Bean is an ancient being”

“Helen’s being filthy!!!”

“What’s a lead in line for Sean Bean?  Oh, bastard.”

“The cow has replaced everything”

“It’s really simple: Sean Bean is older than time itself.  He’s also fifteen people.  You are one fifteenth of Sean Bean. “

“Spies are inherently sexy”

“Convene the beans!”  “Bean con!”  “By all means, convene the beans!”  “The scene of beans has been seen”

“All aboard the tea trolley”

“Let’s round up some children”

“On stream, we’re family friendly so no families are dead”

“Three strong, northern, craggy dads”

“Immersed amongst the present spikes”

“I’ve got lots of money under my clothes”

“If there’s one thing I like more than money, it’s naked poor people”

“Come with me into the sexatorium”

“Our sexatoriums are drastically underfunded”

“The coolant pigs”

“My cat believes I am so incompetent that he brought me a marinated pork loin with a bit of cheese on top”

“I’m ready to Santa… the proper way”

“There are Macedonian… cosplayers…”  “Not in Sheffield!”

“For the sake of time, I’m just going to say you failed”

“Visit the north!  We’ve got above average schools!  Do you like cities?  We’ve got a few!”

“Imagine a three piece hazmat suit”

“It’s neck o’clock! Ding ding ding!  Everybody get some neck!”

“I love standing on dogs! Boo me some more!”

“Are you guys up for some mounting?”

“He starts and possibly never ends”

“Too much mounting. Not good for the health.”

“We got some Canadians here? Has Michael Buble come out of hibernation yet?”

“I would wash you like a mummy cat”

“I’ve taken up an extreme sport, say, sky punching”

“We do not speak of the bolo tie.  It is America’s greatest shame”

“I would make you a delicious deodorant pie and kill two birds with one stone.  And maybe you!”

“That I want to lick your armpit during sex is a bad thing?”

“I like stabbing people. Who would you stab, and why?”

“Cars Movie 5: Weird Sex Car”

“No third party lubricant for this guy!”

“You can’t get a good crumb on a child”

“That cacophony is the screams of our fans”  “Aww, that’s so personal!”

“I never took any anatomy classes.  I hear that was good call”

“CORN SMUT”

“Interwstong”

“What’s the difference between most people and dragons?  They don’t fireball themselves”

“Bryn looks like a cross between seventeen corgis and a whole ass dragon” vs “Bryn looks like a cross between a welsh cake and a tomato”

“My family is like Tim: just tremendous” vs “My family is like Tim: Insufferable and omnipresent”

“That cow looks scared of something.”  “It’s probably the knives”

“‘I’m Tim Meredith, I’m a high brow comic!’”

“I like my sex like I like my hummus: with peppers!”

“I came up here in good faith!”  “That was your first mistake.”

“You have to be Boris Johnson forever.”  “That’s the worst fate ever!”

“Zolf can swear! Struck by fucking lightning!”

“If I’m not directly talking I’m not interested”

“He’s a prospector with glorious thighs.  She’s an actual snake.  Haunches and the Snake.  Coming to CBS this fall to be immediately cancelled.”

“Haunches is a good character, you shouldn’t have given him to me.”  “You gave me a beer, it’s fine.”

“Fuck!  Piss!  Shit! They’re all on the table!  Oh no”

“Regular bits Tim”

“You keep your beautiful, chiseled face out of what we have”

“Where the fuck is the pickle?”

“You’re a half pint of horse shit.  You know that?  I take it back.  Full pint.”

“It’s a game about playing cards and trying not to make an erotic atmosphere, Tim.”

“You draw one and then you play?”  “You draw one and then you play.”

“It wasn’t a joke I just like the tiny island”

“It’s pickles all the way down”

“Lovecraft can take it, he’s dead.  Good.”

“I need the wet”

“When’s the last time you pitched a bail of hay, you fraud?”

“I think the last vaguely country thing I did… was carry a load of dead birds”

“Jane Prentiss?  Super good character.”  “I gave those worms a home!”  “And I have the world something to do!”

“This game is a thicc boi”

“This game is a chonky, chonky boi”

“I explained that I work with a podcasting company and she walked away very quickly, so, waitress at Nando’s, thank you for that”

“[A relationship is] not a competition, it’s a fight to the death”

“These are the traits I don’t want Alex to have”  “Insomnia went in the pile, that’s interesting”

“You’re a young ish man”  “That was a very big ‘ish’ and a very quiet ‘young’”

“Marriage is a lot like poker”

“‘I’m over my head in deadlines.’  And then I have a PTSD flashback to my actual life.”

“Aren’t relationships just sexy networking?”

“You ask a man if you can hold his baubles once…”

“Mike is now crowd surfing naked… Unfortunately, the cameras can only pan so wide… I think that’s his hand waving…”

“I’m not used to having emotions, I don’t know what to do with them.”

“Those wholesome bastards are gone now!”

“Asking for a friend.”  “You don’t have friends, Tim”

“I’m going to shuffle slow just to piss off Mike.  It’s just because I’m drunk… I am not abusing the alcohol!  We are in a consensual relationship!”

“A safe play by a safe man.”  “Saucy”

“Deal me in, motherhuggers”

“He knows how to play! That’s cheating!”

“What are we playing?”  “Doesn’t matter.”

“I got dukes coming out the butt!”

“Got dummy thicc stacks”  “Forgive me for being anti-meme but I’m going to take from your stacks… they’re thicc with one c.”

“I don’t trust you.”  “Why do you keep casting me as people who kill people?”  “Because I don’t trust you! What about this doesn’t check out?”

“I’m going to coup Alex because I don’t like having a job”

“Other gods, deities, and belief systems are available.”

[yominestore]

TOP 10 ZERO CALORIE FOODS FIT GIRLS SWEAR BY

So what’s a zero calorie food? Well these are foods that are supposed to help you burn as much calories as the food itself contains. Now there has been no studies to confirm this, but there has been plenty of research done that shows these foods do help you burn a ton of calories. Hopefully one day a study is done to prove it!

Some people go as far as to say these foods are actually negative calories. Which means you actually burn MORE calories when you eat these foods. My bet is that these foods really do what the zero calorie theorist claim… Or maybe I’m just hopeful! But I’m not on board with the negative calorie thing. Sorry. I wish though! What do you think?

But either way these foods are AMAZING! Add these into your diet and sprinkle in a little exercise and BAM… sexy body! Here are the Top 10 Zero Calorie Foods Fit Girls Swear By!

1. WATERMELON

Did you know that a watermelon is made up of 90% water? That means it’s one of the best fruits to eat when you are trying to shed some extra pounds. Watermelon contains a high amount of arginine which is an amino acid that helps you to burn fat at a rapid rate.

At just under 50 calories for a one cup serving, it’s hard to find a better food. Eating watermelon in between meals will leave you feeling full and super hydrated!

2. LEMONS

The average American drink around 21% of their daily calories. And the average calories we consume a day is around 3600, up from 2880 back in the 60’s. That’s a lot of unnecessary calories! It’s no wonder so many people are obese these days.

So lets do the math… 21% of 3600 = 756. Wow! That’s how many calories the average person drinks a day! We need to do better for real. Switching out soda, shakes, sugar filled coffees, etc. will help you lose weight dramatically. And replacing those drinks with lemon water is super amazing for your health and weight loss goals.

Just adding a couple slices to your glass of water (you should be getting about 64 oz. a day) is perfect. Besides helping you reduce your calories, lemons also vamp up your metabolism and make you feel full.

3. APPLES

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. We’ve all heard it. But did you know it can also keep the pounds away too? This fruit is packed with fiber to leave you feeling full, so you aren’t tempted to eat junk.

If you avoid apples on the go because you don’t want to hurt your gums or you don’t feel like cutting them up when you’re out, try cutting up some slices and putting it into an air tight container in the morning. Pack it in a cooler and take it with you for a snack when you start to feel just a bit hungry.

4. GRAPEFRUIT

One of my favorites! I eat half a grapefruit every morning. Several studies have shown that people who ate grapefruit before meals lost more weight than people who did not. Grapefruits contain more water than any other fruit… yes even more than watermelons.

A lot of people are actually thirsty when they think they are hungry. So eating your water is a great way to feel full since it helps to keep us from getting dehydrated.

5. BERRIES

Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are amazing for everything! Weight loss of course, but also for our skin and even helps protect against cancer! And in this day in age, cancer is a serious threat. The best prevention is watching what you put into your body. Our bodies are meant to thrive on natural foods, not precessed ones.

Blueberries in particular have been shown to change the way we metabolize fat and sugar. That means blueberries actually help reduce body fat. Along with a healthy diet of course. Eating a handful of berries a day and eating bad the rest of the day won’t help you in the weight loss department.

6.CUCUMBER

Cucumbers are 96% water so they are amazing for keeping you hydrated and also they are a great low calorie snack that will help speed up your metabolism.  There is a high content of potassium, vitamin A and C which will help flush toxins out of your body. Which will help to get rid of some of that stubborn belly fat. Try dipping cucumber slices in hummus for a low calorie treat!

Something else I like to do is to make fruit/veggie infused ice cubes. I hate when my produce goes bad so this is the perfect way to avoid that. I chop up a cucumber and some lemons and put them in ice cube tray. Fill it up with water and let it freeze. Perfect addition to your water!

7. ZUCCHINI

Zucchini has the power to improve digestion AND slow the process of aging… all the while helping us lose weight! And it actually tastes really good too. Need more energy to get in those workouts? Zucchini has you covered there too. Since it’s loaded with B vitamins, you get more energy and an improved mood. Perfect combo to help push you closer to your weight loss goals!

I really like using zucchini in place of my pasta. You’ve probably heard of it. I did for a while but thought it’d be too different and pasta is super amazing so how could zucchini compare, right? Well I went to a restaurant one day and they had a picture of a zucchini pasta on the menu. It looked good so I tried it… and now I’m hooked!

Get a good spiralizer like this one and making your own zucchini pasta is a breeze!

8. BROCCOLI

I consider myself blessed… my 4 year old loves broccoli. Broccoli is too healthy for us to skip on. Green vegetables is where it’s at for real. It’s great for skin, eyes, preventing cancer, bone health, and yes weight loss.

Broccoli is rich in fiber and is a good carb so it helps to prevent you from overeating. It also contains protein to help build those muscles. You skinny body is not necessarily a sexy body, but a toned one is.

9. CAULIFLOWER

There is only 25 calories per cup so you can eat A LOT of cauliflower and you don’t have to worry about it making you fat. Ever heard of the cauliflower soup diet? I don’t recommend it because you miss out on so many other nutrients, but it does help people to lose a ton of weight because you can eat as much as you want of it. So…bottom line is add cauliflower into your diet and start seeing the results!

I like to cut my cauliflower up into fairly big pieces, season with salt and pepper, and stick it in the oven on 400 for about 20-25 minutes. Amazing! And so easy to make.

10. CARROTS

Who doesn’t love carrots? I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that didn’t like them. Some people are picky on preparation, but they still like them all the same. Carrots are packed with vitamins and lots of vitamin A. Our bodies convert vitamin A from food into retinoids. Long story short… these retinoids interact positively with our fat cells and help to reduce belly fat.

[shianneblog-blog]

Pre-Challenge Reflection: Wednesday, April 1st

I have been trying to plan and prepare for this challenge for a number of days. However, it has surprisingly caused me some stress and anxiety to even think about going to the grocery store... so I brought my mom with me to help! I think I felt these emotions because I knew how challenging it was going to be to find enough food to last me the week with this budget. I made a list of cheaper foods that I had an idea to buy for each meal and used that as foundation to reference back to. My goal was to reach a budget between $18 to $21 to match what people below the poverty line are allocated for food expenses.

We started our shopping trip off at Dollar Tree, where we surprisingly found many perishable foods including: bread, rice, crackers, and beans for $1.25 each! I was so excited that I found bread for this cheap because I know it is close to three times that price at grocery stores. Originally, I did buy tuna from here but I decided to remove it at the end of the shopping day because I went over my budget amount and thought I could do without the tuna. I ended up spending $6.31 at Dollar Tree. 

We then made our way to Superstore, and even though we were worried there was going to be a limited amount of food due to the pandemic, we were happily pleased with the stock on the shelves. Superstore is where I bought the rest of my essentials: mr. noodles, oatmeal, macaroni, canned mixed vegetables, soup, eggs, cheese, and bananas. Originally, I did buy apples from here but I decided to remove them as well, because I wanted to keep my budget amount under $21. I ended up spending $14.24 at Superstore.

At the end of the day, I spent a a total of $20.55 on food for the week. During the shopping I was quite stressed an overwhelmed but my mom and I tried to rationalize the best choice in foods, and I am happy with what I ended up with. While shopping I quickly realized that I could not buy what I wanted, but what I could afford. For instance, I wanted to buy hummus for my crackers, as this is a lunch that I often have, but it came to just over $3 which resulted in me having to put it back on the shelf. Nonetheless, I was still somewhat surprised with the amount of food I got for this amount; especially because I easily spend $20 on one meal at a restaurant, let alone food for the whole week. 

I also found it quite interesting that I did not get any fresh vegetables or fruits (other than bananas), because they are much more expensive compared to the packaged and processed foods. This leads me to understand why the low-income population are at greatest risk for developing diet related health conditions, such as diabetes and obesity, as most of the foods I could afford are not healthy or nutritious (Daniel, 2020). With healthier foods having higher prices, this keeps shoppers from buying these nutrient filled foods such as fresh produce and fish, meats, and nuts (Daniel, 2020). For many families of the low-income population, affordability of foods is often based on whether or not it will last until the next source of income received, which is usually monthly (Daniel, 2020). 

This week will be challenging for me because I feel as though I am so adapted to the easiness and accessibility of walking into the pantry or fridge and having the option to eat a variety of foods; compared to now only having a few options to choose from. I have a bad habit of buying Tim Hortons or Starbucks whenever I am out and about, but being stuck inside during this quarantine might come to my advantage! I am a bit uneasy and unexcited to eat these bland choice of foods; however, I am encouraged to experience and relate to what others below the poverty line endure in regards to food and nutrition. I think this challenge will be a very eye opening experience for me (the shopping portion already has been) and I am happy to be able to document it along the way!

Reference

Daniel, C. (2020). Is healthy eating too expensive?: How low-income parents evaluate the cost of food. Social Science & Medicine, 248. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.ardc.talonline.ca/loginurl=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=142004871

[treeseat]

not using this platform much anymore cept for sometimes friend checkins makes posting out on the open ocean feel like shouting/being naked in front of strangers so hello welcome to another readmore thankyou; feeling so very ~*~HEALing is never LINear~*~ or something; monday i couldn’t do anything really but curl up in my room and watch to each, her own (c came to a realization: that i am very bad at relaxing without worrying and i was like uhhhh ya, yes??? and is now texting me reminders not to feel guilty and it is actually a helpful voice, joining in to strengthen the voice i’ve made that can talk down anxiety) (btw to each, her own is weird and Great comfort movie material); this was a delayed reaction to saturday & seeing a “client” (school’s official term) again and having it go well on the surface but the more i thought about it the worse i ended up feeling about my Capabilities; was exhauuuusted tuesday and wednesday for some mysterious ongoing health reason; and this past week food has been hard in a familiar/old way but also kind of in a worse way than it used to be which is surprising because; i am doing better w practicing Gentleness with myself e.g. re: client, recognizing i was freezing up w/ homework because i had to do a write-up and face my flaws in detail, and being like okay, you’re scared! you’re scared of this but i bet you can do the scary thing; & i did it and it was less bad than i expected; though i do still feel like a big ol fraudy fraudster gonna get caught out and abandoned by those i like;

all that mess to say today i went for a morning walk before doing anything, and bought a too expensive and too sweet breakfast, and did work and made beet hummus and had a hot shower and read a bit of lean out and now am putting off more work but i Will do it and then probably hang out with C; and it’s okay that i did not get as much done on my two days off this week than i should have/wanted to, and it’s okay i’ve been putting a lot of time into making myself comfy, and i can do the work i want to do, and it’s okay to still feel weird and not 100% believe myself about all of this, but just try to see all of it & keep goooooing!

[rotationalsymmetry]

How to eat less meat (without going fully vegetarian) and/or make more sustainable choices about meat — pick one or mix and match:

Pick one day a week to not eat meat on. (If that goes well you can increase the number of days you don’t eat meat, or you can stick to one day if that’s what works for you.)

Mostly not eat meat but have some exceptions (eg when someone else is providing the food)

Cut out certain types of meat (such as red meat or highly processed meat — red meat is usually higher impact compared to chicken or seafood, highly processed meat like sandwich meat is more likely to be especially bad for your health.)

Only eat certain kinds of meat based on where it comes from: eg, local. (Keep in mind that some words mean things and others really don’t; “natural” doesn’t mean much as a label, and as far as I’m aware “sustainable” doesn’t by itself mean anything. So be prepared to ask questions/do some research. The Monterrey Bay Aquarium ranks fish and seafood on sustainability, and they’re considered very reputable.)

On the subject of asking questions, if you have a farmers’ market you can get to, chances are they’ll be happy to talk to you. I wouldn’t necessarily assume all “natural” food stores have well informed employees, but some do. (Maybe co-ops more than traditional boss/employee stores?) Generally I assume the packaging on food products won’t flat out lie but will often try to mislead.

You can also/instead experiment with eating less meat in meals where you do eat meat. For instance, a beef burrito has meat in it, but it’s one ingredient among many, whereas if you’re ordering a steak, then the meat is the main thing you’re eating.

Some tips for preparing/eating vegetarian food when you’re not used to it:

It can take a while to get used to new foods, and it can also take a while to get used to thinking of food in terms of “is vegetarian/isn’t vegetarian”; embrace the process and don’t sweat perfection. (Unless you’re the sort of person who can’t do most of the way without going all the way. Know yourself.)

Your tastes might change when you start eating different foods, and if there’s something you decided you didn’t like as a young child you might like it now. Try things you “don’t like”.

There’s two nutrition things you might want to worry about (more than this if you’re going vegan): protein and iron. There’s a variety of good sources of vegetarian protein, including eggs, dairy, tofu, beans, hummus, whole grains, and nuts and seeds. Most vegetarians get enough protein, but it’s worth developing a little awareness. Read something (more than this post) or talk to a nutritionist. Keep in mind that many restaurants etc use “protein” to mean “meat or something serving the same culinary role as meat” — they’ll do weird shit like call roasted veggies “protein” and not call cheese or lentils protein. Meat substitutes and dairy substitutes might be good on protein or might not be, you have to actually look at the nutrition label. If you’re just skipping meat occasionally you probably don’t have to think about this at all.

(Personal story: I was a teen when I went veg and my parents had me see a nutritionist. I’d already been doing my own research so I don’t think that affected what I ate much…but she was really big on proper hydration and I leaned that a bunch of minor things I hadn’t paid much attention to were actually signs of mild dehydration and started drinking way more water. Which incidentally was probably a good time for that, since I started eating a lot more fiber when I went vegetarian too.)

If you’re cutting out red meat and have periods (if you’re pregnant then this probably still applies but I’d recommend getting more info) it might be worth noticing which foods have iron in them (since red meat is a very good source of iron and people with periods need 50% more iron than people who don’t have periods) and also be aware that iron absorbs better in the presence of Vitamin C, which is present in orange juice and a lot of fruits and vegetables. Personally I take an iron supplement now, although I was fine for idk over a decade so again it’s not like you can’t get enough iron on a fully vegetarian diet without supplements. Chances are your iron is going to come from a variety of so-so sources rather than one really good source. Unless you really like molasses.

Start by focusing on food you already like, then trying out new things that are close to what you already like. Some people prefer sticking with food they already know and using substitutes, others prefer avoiding substitutes even if that means having to find new go-to foods. Personally I didn’t cook before I went vegetarian and pretty radically transformed my eating habits, but that’s kinda doing things in hard mode and you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to. If you want to go full vegetarian but feel overwhelmed, phasing it in over a period of months or even a couple years might work better than switching all at once. Even if you want to switch all at once, it might make sense to plan a time to switch it over to give yourself a chance to find new recipes and preferred foods, rather than doing it right away. Making slow changes that you can stick to for the long haul is better than diving in immediately then giving up because you decided it was too hard.

If part of your motivation is health, honestly I would not expect really dramatic differences, especially not weight loss. Lots of vegetarians are fat. (Vegans less often…but it’s dramatically harder to get enough food on a vegan diet in a meat-eating culture.) I wouldn’t expect sudden surges of energy or clarity of mind. Go ahead and notice if you feel any differences. But, uh, it’s probably not going to be massively transcendently different. You’ll probably get constipated less. There’s some studies suggesting lower risks of cancer and heart disease, but it’s possible to get those lower risks with dietary changes that aren’t full vegetarianism.

You might notice you need to eat more food and eat more often, especially if the foods you’re eating are low on fat and high on actual vegetables (like if you eat a lot of salads.) This is normal and fine. Plant foods are higher in water and fiber and less dense in terms of actual calories, and the calories they have tend to be more carbs which are digested faster than protein and fat. If you get hungry more often then plan more snacks into your day, or eat more fatty foods during your meals. On the other hand, if you eat a lot of fries and grilled cheese sandwiches, or if you were eating fairly low-fat before, you might not notice a change.

The normal health and nutrition guidelines still mostly apply. Trans fats are still bad for you. Salt still affects your blood pressure. Fruits and vegetables are still high in micronutrients. There’s been kind of a thing about the old “fatty foods are unhealthy” paradigm getting challenged; I don’t know what’s going on with that and frankly it’s not for lack of reading up on it. I’m a fan of moderation and intuitive eating mostly, I’m not about to go off the Atkins/keto/sugar-is-the-root of-all-evil deep end. (My aunt has. As far as I can tell her life has gotten strictly worse for it.) Eat sugar if you want to eat sugar. Eat other things too. We all die in the end and you can’t life-hack your way to immortality or perpetual good health. (If you’ve got a specific condition like diabetes, look for info about that condition, this is general advice here.)

Have good judgment about what’s going to work for your life and what isn’t. If you’re interested in vegetarianism for sustainability reasons (which is kinda what I’m assuming here) then keep in mind there’s limits to how much a given individual can do and you have a right to live. 20% of effort makes 80% of the impact, etc. So focus on what’s going to make the most impact for the least sacrifice. And look for ways that doing what’s good for the planet is going to be net good for you and your loved ones as well, even if it’s more effort at first.

[canaryatlaw]

mmmmm, I’m tired so let’s go. Today was fine. I think I originally woke up around 9:40, and then lied awake for a bit before falling back asleep and waking up again around 11:30. We were set to leave for the airport at 2 so we had plenty of time. I had breakfast (leftover chinese food, of course) then hopped into the shower (because bangs) before finishing getting ready, then basically just went on my computer for a while. A few minutes before 2 I requested an uber to the airport, and the wait wasn’t too bad for a place that isn’t a city (they’re in the suburbs of Detroit, but emphasis on suburbs), the driver was friendly enough and we made pretty good time, we left earlier than normal in an effort to miss the rush hour traffic that would soon be coming. There was a little hold up with an accident, a city transit bus that had smoke pouring out of it, but strangely enough didn’t seem to show any actual fire, which was...odd. But we got to the airport, checked in and dropped the bags off, then headed to security. I need to be better with wearing leggings or yoga pants when flying because whenever I wear pants with zippers in the front (like jeans) it shows up weird on the scanner and then I had to get all padded down, it’s happened at least 4 times now, the lady was like trying to explain it to me and I was like “yeah, I know, this isn’t new” she was probably somewhat disconcerted that I was more amused about the situation than anything else, but I got cleared soon enough and was back with my mom since we’d been temporarily separated through security. This wing of the airport was massive, literally going up to gate 78, fortunately the security leads to the mid point, not the first gate, which was helpful because we had gates 57 and 70. We walked a bit and decided to get some food at a Mediterranean place since we had some time to kill. I got a beef kebob pita which was basically just some steak wrapped in a pita spread with hummus, but I mean that was mostly my fault because I didn’t want the tomato and red onion that were supposed to come with it. but yeah, it was good. my mom was somewhat disappointed with the salad she got unfortunately, so she may have grabbed something else before the plane. When we finished we walked all the way down to gate 70 and lamented that we didn’t walk all the way down to find a restaurant because there was a chickfila down at the end, lol. Oh well. We sat at her gate for a while, our flights to Chicago and New York both left at the same time, so slightly before boarding started I said goodbye and started heading over to my gate. It wasn’t a very sad goodbye, even though my emotions threatened to come bubbling up, because I’m going to see all of them on Friday, so not that much of a wait. I grabbed a seltzer from a store before going to the gate, where I charged my phone on one of their complimentary outlets until we actually boarded. They were having some issue with the A/C that they couldn’t turn it on without the engine on, so until the plane started moving we were sans-A/C, lol, so that was less than great. Delta always has Kenken puzzles in the back of their magazine along with Sudoku, i’m pretty sure that was the first place I saw Kenken and became interested in playing it. But yeah, I finished both the easy and hard puzzles before we even pulled away from the gate 😂 I was amused by this. I’ll have to see if I can find another app that has good puzzles because all the Kenken apps I have right now I’ll completely all the puzzles on. But anyway. The flight was fine, I read fanfic mostly, short enough. It was funny because it left at 5:30 pm in Michigan and we ended up getting in at 5:30 pm in Chicago 😂 (time zone change, obviously). Got off the plane, stopped to go to the bathroom before going to baggage claim, so I was a little late getting there. It was great though, I just came walking into the baggage claim era, grabbed my bag off the turnstile that was right in front of me, threw it over my shoulder and walked out without even stopping moving 😂 I don’t think anyone really cared, but I felt cool. I got over to the uber driver section and decided I’d try an uber pool because I didn’t particularly feel like spending $46 on a ride home. They do the ubers weird at the airport so you have to wait a bit, and when I sat down on a bench waiting and opened my seltzer, which immediately exploded, soaking myself and many of my belongings, which of course was just fucking great. I was at least thankful it was nice enough of a day that it didn’t make me feel cold. Uber driver eventually shows up and we start going, there weren’t any other pool recipients from the airport so it was just me (but still at the pool price) and like, I’m pretty sure 3 or 4 times it popped up that it was going to have us pick up another person, and idk what he'd id but we never actually got to pick any of the other people off, which was pretty optimal, lol, he also had a super long usb cord he offered to me to charge my phone, which was a nice touch. A lot of drivers are going all out on amenities in an attempt to get better ratings. But we got home, I dumped my stuff and got some food, then sat in front of the tv and was like “oh, let me see if anything got recorded” so I go to the cable setting and OH RIGHT, IT’S SUPERGIRL TIME, so I ended up like 17 minutes behind live, almost caught up by the end. I’m like falling asleep right now and I really need to end this and go to bed so I will have to save my analysis for another time (but I definitely will get to it). Goodnight peeps. Have a lovely night.

[outvoo]

Interview with Chef Tu David Phu, part 2

OutVoo Interview with Chef Tu David Phu

Conducted by Ian Ippolito & Merced Gonzalez

Today we are talking to Chef Tu David Phu, a contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef, and one of Oakland’s very own. Since Oakland is where OutVoo was born, we are thrilled that Chef Phu is a fan of the app:

“Whenever I open up Yelp I want to know what’s near me and the thing I hate about Yelp is I have to type in where I am and what I’m looking for specifically.  [OutVoo] does that all for me!”

What were your initial thoughts of Oakland?

When my parents first immigrated over here they landed in Oakland.  My dad received a job offer in Minnesota, but after a couple of winters, and my sister getting frost bite, we returned.  Basically I’ve been in Oakland all my life.  I grew up in Oakland in the 90’s.  It was tough. Like murder capital tough!  I’m not the person to be resentful of that. I feel like within chaos and bad things there is always beauty.  I think the beauty that I had growing up in Oakland was cooking with my mom, having our own little tiny garden in the tiny apartment we lived in.  I found preciousness in the things we were blessed with.  

Oakland is experiencing a culinary renaissance.  What are your thoughts on the food scene?

I think it’s great! I think it’s more diverse now. The only thing I’m really sad about is the homeless situation.  I want to invite everyone to Oakland and I think that’s beautiful, but I just wish there was more regulation on the people who were displaced.

I think the Mayor is working on a few things.

I think the issue is bigger than the Mayor of Oakland.  I don’t blame the City of Oakland. It’s the flaws that we have in our systems.  There is something wrong and we pour money into building more prison systems and a fraction of that could house a lot of homeless people in California.  

When you complain about politics everything is intertwined.  In that aspect I believe in prevention and I think prevention starts at youth.

Were you surprised by this culinary renaissance?  

I’ve always believed in Oakland. I’ve always thought Oakland has so many amazing offerings.  Not just cuisine wise, but also ethnic wise.  There are so many different cultures.  I didn’t really appreciate it until I moved away. Then when I moved away I understood that Oakland is going to blow up so hard.  I moved away in 2010, I was in New York for 2 years.  

Top Chef! What was it like?

It was amazing!  When I signed on to the show...it was to have fun, interact, network and build a brand.  I felt Top Chef was the perfect opportunity for me to tell my story to a bigger audience.  I found that work very purposeful.

Coincidentally enough, there was an episode where I was able to work with immigrant women at Comal Heritage Food Incubator.  I worked with South American women who made green mole and pork for me.  I worked with Syrian women.  I’m not sure if it was in the episode.  There was a moment where we were exchanging our immigrant stories and they told me that they were in a refugee camp for 10 years.  My parents were in a refugee camp for one year during the Vietnam war.   I understand because I hear the stories from my family.  They were telling me the stories of the hardships they went through. They looked at me and said, “All we want to do is be able to cook.”  That sheer rawness of emotion and purity made me feel close to them.  I felt the suffering they felt through my own family and I had this human compassion moment.  I started shedding tears, Tanya Holland started sharing tears and a few of the other ethnic people started shedding tears.  Some people just can’t relate and I don’t hold that against them. The ethnic immigrant story and the suffering that comes along with it is very specific.  It resonates throughout generations.  I see it in the blood, sweat and tears of my parents working hard every fucking day.  They were janitors at the Fox Theater.  I have a tattoo of it.  They really did almost every laborious job you can probably think of to make ends meet. In my personal experience, specifically being on Top Chef, the most powerful thing that inspired me was that moment working with those women.  And I said on TV, this is probably the best meal I’ve ever had, partly because of the stories and compassion.  The centuries old recipes.  They made hummus that was beautiful.  They made lentil soup that was so simple but delicious. It was all hand made, they’re not fine dining trained, but at the same time I can confidently say I cannot execute the way they executed it. At that moment it just confirmed my notion and perception of cuisine and where it comes from.  In that moment I championed them and continue to champion the root of cuisine which is usually mothers and aunties.  The funny thing is, I’m a fine dining trained Chef, and I champion women, and that is were cuisine comes from, but that is not reflective in the industry. It’s weird to me that there is a lack of women in the industry because it’s so machismo.  Not to say women should be cooking, I’m just saying that the best food I’ve ever had came mostly from women.  So it’s revisiting that notion.  If there is any pinnacle, peak of Top Chef, that inspired me, that would be the moment.  

Has Top Chef affected your career? Has it changed your plans?

Are you talking about direct messages in Instagram?  (laughter)

It gets scary sometimes. There are extreme fans and regular fans, but I think for the most part, my portrayal on the show has been very positive.  And I think if you don’t give TV crap they can’t shoot crap out.  I was just myself and I wasn’t trying to be anybody else. It turned out for the good.  

You were a likable, lovable kind of guy, and you helped other people.

It’s not even about the point of me helping people out, I just was raised well.  That’s what my parents taught me.  I’ve been a Chef for a kitchen for a few restaurants and there are young cooks to this day that I keep in close relationships with. And I was very cognizant of how I behaved.  I do commencement speeches and I speak to and I hang out with kids.  I cook with them and I’m aware of the way I conduct myself and that what I role model could inspire and influence them in some way. At least I hope so.  So that is why I try to make sure to be positive.  I think it’s very important.  Not all Chefs think this way.  They can be egocentric, whatever it takes to win ...

It’s a competition, and you’re in a different element, some people snap.

If I’m going to beat someone, I want to beat them at their best.  I don’t want to beat somebody by default.  The reason why I helped out Bruce is because Bruce and I knew each other prior. We were colleagues and we had somewhat of a friendship.  But I wanted to challenge Bruce, I wanted to have the opportunity to challenge Bruce.  That’s the whole reason why I went on the show, I went to see my excellence versus your excellence.  I’m very happy with the Top Chef cast and we’re all a family and I’m very happy with the way I did.  I think just getting on the show was an accomplishment. You know how many people apply for the show? Thousands and thousands.

Was it a long process?

I went through several interviews.  I applied for Season 14 and they told me to come back the next year.  I came back and got on.  There are some people on the show that apply like five, six times in a row, so I got lucky, food timing, they were in need of a token Asian guy! (laughter)

So the amazing and funny thing is that when I got the phone call from Paolo Lucchesi about the Rising Star Chef, the following month they called me to let me know I was on Top Chef.  I was like, oh my God, somebody’s looking down on me.  

And through that course of a year it was very rough, I had a friend that was murdered and I had an Uncle pass away.  So it was a rough year. I felt like those were blessings from them.  I’m not suggesting that I’m religious but I am spiritual and I felt like those were blessings that I’m very appreciative of, you know?  Especially with family and friends and people close to you.  Would I rather have the accolades and opportunity or would I rather have them?  I would rather have them in my life.  So that is the thing with these opportunities, more than focusing on the win, but just embracing the opportunity and just representing yourself and your story well.  I feel like that is the most important thing.

Hung Thanh 1895 Fish Sauce.  Tell us about this!

It’s my family’s fish sauce that we’ve been making for over a hundred years. I’m very very proud of it. I feel like---I’m trying not to be biased--but I’ve tasted a lot of product blindly among my peers, my colleagues, my friends and we all agree that my families sauce is best! (laughter)

Where can we buy it?

My sister is working on distribution to the states.  The conversation has begun but to announce a release date would be premature.  I don’t want to be irresponsible.  

Is your cousin running the company?

Yes, he is.  They’ve won tons of awards and accolades!  They currently sell it in Vietnam and Japan. They even sell to some chefs in Japan and they sell to a distributor in Japan where they re-label it as a Japanese product.  And they sell it in France as well too.  A bunch of French Chefs in France love the stuff.  And that’s the thing, if your product is good and the leading culinary nations buy from you, then you’re doing something right.

You’ve got to send me this playlist!

Chef’s Hawker Centre ...

My new baby!

I had to look up Hawker Centre

The term is derived from Singapore and the way I spell Centre everybody gives me shit for it, C-E-N-T-R-E. That’s the British way to spell Centre. It derives from Singapore but it exists all over Asia, specifically countries that exist along the South China Sea. It was a courtyard where everyone would have a kiosk and all walks of life would go there, rich, poor, that’s where you go to get your food.  Period. Frequently visiting Vietnam I found a certain beauty in that.  People were gathering from all different walks of life.  You can have a millionaire or a government official and a peasant kid and they’re all sitting at the same table eating and they are all somewhat interacting.  I wished Westerners would embrace that more.  I feel like in the 2000s leading up to 2018 there is this elitism that we have that we’re not conscious of.  And what it boils down to is if you want better food, better quality, it reflects in the amount you pay.  So what does that suggest for poor people? That means poor people would never be found in those establishments.  That means poor people would be kept far away.  To remind you, I grew up fairly poor.  And that is why I wanted to offer the Chef’s Hawker Centre.  I wanted to offer a middle price point where it wasn’t an elitist thing.  It was people from all walks of life that can join and eat, and share a table.  It’s very Oakland.  Even though it’s very Asian.  I take that across the nation.  Especially with the current political climate.  Everyone is very divided.  Everyone is very angry at each other.  Everybody has their own reasons to be upset and I think most importantly after we get angry the next step is to stop and listen.  Start to understand.  Have compassion for each other.  I think a great way to do that is at the dining table.  

How do you find the different Chefs?

Every city I go to I try to do four seatings.  Two per day. I would cook at at least one of those sittings.  Just so there is a feature.  Partnering with other Chefs, sponsored by Cochan555 and Feastly among other key brands which keeps the price point and the impact on the consumer low.  It’s $99 for nine courses, alcohol included, it’s a great deal.  It’s a very creative, outside of the box model, mainly for me personally to build my consumer base.  It’s a way to market and I think it is cheaper to do that and more efficient to do that because I’m personally connecting with diners, not just through the dinners, but also through social media with a story attached.

Thank you for sitting down to interview with us!

OutVoo is available for download in the App Store.  

[adalcs]

with great excitement and not so much honor i (re)introduce you a d a l a  c e r n y — resident activist & copyrighted the phrase ‘spread hummus not hate’. okay but serious business — hello there ! my name’s dallas & i am eighteen, and am from the netherlands. i love dogs, i love football, i love watermelon and i love any roleplay shenanigans. send me pictures of your pets ?1!? if you’d like to plot, talk, send me pictures of your pets, you could either like this post or message me at any time. it’s free, it’s a good offer js.

without further ado, meet adala cerny. your resident activist, environmentalist, feminist, metalhead and hummus addict. endlessly notorious for her bare face except for when she claims to wear lipstick as wair paint, making everyone vegan brownies, handing you out flyers to local protests and urging you to go green.

born and raised in portland, oregon, the only parental figure she had in her life —ever— was her mother. she grew up as the child of divorced parents. she barely remembers a time they were together & the marriage was pretty much doomed since the minute she was born, or at least that is somewhat what she assumes ? she stayed with her mother in portland while her father moved to new york city, to kickstart his business.

the reason he left was pretty much clear ; he was an absolute asshole, if you were to ask adala. daddy issues, you may ask ? well um , perhaps. adala had been more of an accident than anything, her parents weren’t too young but lacked maturity or the true desire for parenthood. they did decide to have the baby, as soon as they figured out they were pregnant. her father having a steady job, they were supposedly going to be fine, but everything turned to shit as soon as adala was actually born. her dad became more & more neglectful, not only in funds but also presence, and this perfect family they were supposedly creating was just nowhere to be found anymore. it was when adala was around two that the bomb truly exploded, resulting in her dad leaving to nyc and leaving them both behind in oregon.

long story short, they moved out of their family home into an apartment in the city center of portland where they lived their new lives together. it was just a two bedroom, small and tucked away in the back of some apartment building in the city, but they managed. they didn’t go without trouble at all, but they never went hungry, had a roof over their heads and they had each other. her dad was another story however ! the mandatory meetings with her dad ... those were tense, especially once adala grew older and more stubborn. her frustrations towards him just grow, and grow and grow.

she lived together with her mom ever since then & her mom is truly the person who shaped her and who taught her all her values. i guess you could typify her mom as a hippie ; peaceful and caring, yet fighting for what she believes in. she was a true activist, pro-feminism and environmentally friendly. notorious for inviting her friends around at night, with the house smelling of weed and adala herself tucked away in her room by that time. she wanted to live her life without restrictions & perhaps it ended up with her being more of a friend to adala rather than a mother figure, but they got along so well.

nevertheless, her mom taught her all the important things in life. she’s become independent, perhaps because of the lack of parental guidance but she knows how to take care of herself now, and she’s also a huge activist ! often tags along to protests together with her mom, even from an early age, a huge feminist, values sustainability, and thinks freedom and equality should be protected at all costs.

she’s very skeptical though of many things ; doesn’t trust big corporations, government or anyone’s sorry ass, really ? perhaps she’s a bit of a pessimist even, although she will argue that it’s called realism. the world is going to shit, and nobody’s realizing is her take on it. but whatever, she’s trying to make it the least bit better. better the world, start with yourself kinda ideas — i know, she’s a bit of a hypocrite in that sense with her own pessimistic outlook on nearly everything.

she has the biggest mouth in existence. she has no filter, and will tell you exactly what you need to hear, whether you want it or not ? which can both turn out good or bad. will probably end up dragging your ass even when you do not fully deserve it.

the actual epitome of stubborn ; will not believe anyone but herself until proven wrong completely. she will not change her stance on anything, no matter how hard one tries. out of the kindness of my heart, i would tell anyone to stop trying to convince her after two tries. i even bet if you look up the definition to stubborn, a picture of adala will show up without doubt. or at least it should. she does not cave.

she actually means well though — she’s judgmental, has an opinion on everything from the weather to what netflix movie you watch next, to the political successes of past american presidents, but she is loyal. she’ll be your shoulder to cry on, make whoever made you feel that way pay for it with her own bare hands if she would have had to, if you were only to ask. and once she cares for you, she somewhat always will. it’s a promise she can’t and won’t break.

she’s curious , has the tendency to ask questions for forever & ever and won’t stop until she knows every detail. she has an undying craving to know the why behind every question, behind every action.

so, two years ago she graduated high school & adala decided to go into the law program at bernard university. she now studies pre-law there and wants to go into environmental law as well, save the world ‘n all. the job field might be extra tough though, and it’s something she worries about but also something she needs to do for her conscience. she cannot fight for what is not right and what is not just. going into criminal justice for the money ? it’s something she would frown upon. she would rather go hungry then have to defend a murderer in a case he definitely commited.

the money was the real issue though ; she didn’t get a full ride scholarship and the tuition fee is way too high for her or her mother to pay out of their own pockets and with their father’s forced payment, she cannot pay everything. she’s taking on major, major loans in order to pay for this program however she is hoping that it will all be worth it in the end, when bernard will help her to find a proper job.

her love life ? an absolute mess, she perhaps doesn’t believe in love as fully as anyone else because of the situation her parents are in, but it doesn’t mean she does not yearn for something like it. she is just afraid to admit she’s looking to receive that same kind of love and loyalty she tries to give, i guess ? she is just not necessarily looking for something that takes away her freedom partially. i figure a relationship is something she sees as a burden rather than an addition to life, and perhaps she just has not yet found the person who is not a burden to her, but someone who feels part of her life with ease. she doesn’t want to tie herself down, perhaps. she is, however, completely open and at peace with her love life and sex life. she enjoys whatever she does, and she’s not afraid to give it a shot whenever she wants to — she’s confident enough in herself to make the right decisions, and perhaps that is why she is not ashamed, or completely dependent on what others think of her. she is only interested in her own morals and values.

her aesthetic is leather jackets ( fake leather , don’t hurt the animals kiddos ), metal music, mosh pits, long hair, ripped jeans, tied up graphic tees, boyfriend jeans or skater skirts, dark greens & navy blues, cold brew coffee, black lipstick, band patches, denim, second hand fashion & growing her own vegetables and herbs.

fun facts about her is that she’s super sustainable, hence why she grows her own veggies and is a vegetarian, will definitely promote everyone to do so as well. she loves rammstein, rise against & system of a down. has her favourite leather jacket with all pins on it and it’s gotten a holy status. the true statement piece in her closet. drinks coffee with milk because she thinks it tastes too bitter, although my theory is just that it reminds her of her own bitter soul too much.

CONNECTIONS PAGE CAN BE FOUND HERE ! i am open and available for plots of every kind, although i am super interested in certain close friendships, childhood plots, enemy plots that offer quite a lot of drama and generally plot heavy connections that will give us a lot to work with in threads. so if you’re looking for anyone for that one angsty plot you need, i got you.

[emilyyhill]

Doing the health thing.

As many of you know, the past four to six months has been an absolute roller coaster for me health wise. I have had more diagnoses than I can count on one hand but nothing was drastic enough for to elicit a dramatic response. So I kind of just wandered through this ridiculous season until everything clicked and we worked something out.

Now I’ve only felt good for three weeks, so I’m still taking this very slow. I am not getting too excited just yet. But:

I went super MIA for a good while there. As I’ve reemerged and shared what’s been happening with friends, I hear so many people saying “I feel like that too!” or asking “How on Earth did you get better?” So here we are. The list of things I’m doing to help get/keep me healthy.

Now I’m not a doctor or health professional by any stretch – this is purely what I’ve done and what MY TEST RESULTS informed MY DOCTORS and HEALTH PEOPLE. So please don’t take this as gospel truth.

But I feel like I have some advice for those feeling a bit stuck in a cycle of health that definitely isn’t what it should be.

First things first, it’s not normal to be exhausted. Full stop. We live in a society where we are busy all the time, and a lot of us are unknowingly addicted to a substance (*cough* coffee *cough*) to try and alleviate underlying sleep deprivation. This is not sustainable – you should never be that busy that you are always feeling like you need a weeks worth of sleep.

It’s also not normal to feel tired after 8-10 hours of sleep. Fatigue and daytime sleepiness is a HUGE indicator that your body is not functioning at its peak. It means that something is lacking: whether it be sleep, nutrients, water, positivity – all of things contribute to our energy levels.

For example, fatigue and daytime sleepiness can be a symptom of: • Low iron or excess iron – iron’s can be annoying like that; • Mental health conditions like depression or anxiety; • Food intolerance and IBS; • Sleep apnea or poor sleep routines; • Low blood pressure; • Glandular fever or cytomegalovirus (or a bunch of other viruses); • Super simple things, like dehydration, jetlag or overeating (that post Christmas nap is definitely supported by s c i e n c e); • About a million other things.

So if you are feeling tired even after a regular night’s sleep, first consider your schedule and then consider a further investigation into the inner workings of that hot lil bod of yours 😏

I hear you: “That’s great Em. But who can help me? My doctor doesn’t care because I don’t have blood gushing out of a limb that’s falling off!” I feel you: My doctor ignored me for YEARS until I crashed real bad, and even then, he didn’t really care. *sigh* Not a fun time. Obviously I don’t go to that doctor anymore.

Go see a naturopath. But a good one. Not a hippie one.

Not that I’m against hippie naturopaths, I’m sure they are helpful too. But if a naturopath is going to be your main port of call for recovery, make sure you are seeing an experienced, degree qualified natural health specialist. Looking into your eyes with a shiny light is not enough on it’s own. Make sure they know their stuff.

Make sure they are using reputable brands of supplements (Metagenics, BioCeuticals, MediHerb etc.) that require practitioner prescriptions – in other words, you can’t just buy the supplements “over the counter”. And, they should recommend more than just essential oils.

Naturopathics can be a slow process, and it might take a while for you to see some changes. They look for the cause of the problem and try to resolve that, rather than putting band aids on things (an approach typically taken by mainstream medical doctors). But, for me, once we worked out what was causing my issues, it was a BINGO moment and I hit the health jackpot within DAYS.  

Heads up: naturopaths by definition are a bit alternative. They’ll definitely ask about your poo, want to poke you and their machines make weird sounds but hey, it’s usually pretty non-intrusive.

It can also be expensive, especially when you start taking supplements and vitamins. It’s also not recognised by Medicare or most private health insurance, so it’s usually an out of pocket expense. I totally understand that may not be feasible for everyone. But – if you can, I totally recommend.

I go to Don Graham at Vitage Naturopathics (Springwood). He and his wife Sandy are AMAZING, drop them a line here.

Don’t abandon your general practitioner or specialist.

Look, when things hurt or are causing significant disruptions – GO TO THE DOCTOR. When I’m covered in a heinous rash and I can’t sleep because of it, I can’t wait another three weeks to see the naturopath and then go on an elimination diet and try this, that, and the other. I NEED TO SLEEP DAMMIT. Get me onto those steroids, stat. But not before I take photos to show the naturopath later. It’s teamwork, look it up.

Keep a symptom diary.

We all like to think that we have a pretty good memory. You don’t. Your memory is shit. Write stuff down. Track your period, track your headaches, track the days you have explosive diarrhoea and the days you are constipated. TRACK ALL YOUR SYMPTOMS. 

Whether you go to a naturopath or a doctor, having it all on paper with dates will help you figure out if there are any patterns or if you’re just a loose cannon (still sad about Luke from Survivor, so here’s a meme in his honor).

Find yourself some good friends.

Heck, chronic illness can be lonely as hell. You miss out on parties, on coffee catch ups. you have to drop activities that you did with friends (like going to gym classes or walking your puppies together).

Research has shown that people who report high levels on loneliness are also more likely to develop both short and long term illnesses, ranging from colds to dementia. Loneliness will make it so much harder for you to get better, both physically and mentally.

So what happens when you might drop off the radar for days, weeks, or months at a time?

Rely on incredible friends who understand that every plan is tentative pending health. Find those people who will check in with you when you’ve been a bit MIA, and are willing to ditch the cute café for a cup of tea in your lounge room when can’t get yourself out of the house.

In saying that, reach out to people. Don’t expect everyone to know what’s going on, and still try to take the small steps you can to show people you still care (and just need a little extra love right now).

Be gracious with yourself and the state of your home – you don’t have to have everything perfectly together to invite someone over. Maybe you sit on the couch in your pyjamas and chat for a grand total of half an hour because that is all you can manage. If so, that’s okay! You made an effort, and when you have such little capacity, that will scream volumes to your friends.

Embrace the discomfort of making changes.

I cringe a little bit every time I, a girl wearing a dress with cons, order a soy flat white in my pink Pottery for the Planet keep cup, but hey, we’re embracing the discomfort.

I had to give up God’s most precious gift to humanity: the humble smoked almond. Don’t even get me started on hummus. Yet here we are, feeling a million times better for it. Thank God for a sneaky cheat moment here and there (not a whole day or I’d look like a 22 week pregnant lady…).

Problem was – unbeknownst to me, I relied on food for comfort. It was always familiar; I KNEW I’d feel emotionally better after some cheese and a choccy milk. I had to realise that I needed healthier coping strategies now other than food – like meditation and exercise and… actually dealing with my problems. Ugh.

I also had to embrace the fact that people loved me even when I couldn’t do anything for them. I was still a part of my church when I couldn’t serve on team. My family still loved me when I didn’t contribute to the dishes for a while.

My worth to people isn’t attached to what I can do for them and that was a huge thing for me to learn. I probably would not have fully understood that lesson had I not been so absolutely unable to do anything for anyone but myself.

Embrace the discomfort – you’ll grow from it. I promise.

Find things that you like!

Let’s talk about healthy juices. With this list of food intolerances rounding up at SEVENTEEN, a lot of my faves got the cut (see ya honey, pineapple, mango etc. etc.). You know what didn’t get the cut? BLOODY SPINACH. What is full of iron and good for your belly? SPINACH. What am I eating a lot of right now? SPINACH. 

I don’t love spinach, but when combined with other things and blended to a pulp, it can be good. The only way you are going to stick to a new lifestyle is by finding things you like. Plus, life is way to short to drink gross smoothies every day.

It could be that you try to find new forms of exercise that are better for your condition - I recently discovered yoga and climbing, both of which are heaps less taxing on my adrenal glands and therefore better for my fatigue.  

It may be new routines – I have to go to bed earlier than before which means I often can’t spend time with friends on “school nights”. I had to shift my hours at work from 8 to 4 to 10 to 6 so that I could do what I need to do in the morning before work.

It might be swapping to new products - I changed my skin care products because I was allergic to one of the chemicals in the one I had been using for years. 

It’s trial and error – you have to be open to trying new things, and deal with the fall out of some changes doing more damage than before. But when you work out what works, it’s like a whole new person. Trust me on this, yeah? It pays off in the long run.

Be diligent.

It can be frustrating and it can be so hard not to see the pay off until the long run. Taking your pills twice a day, drinking your veggie smoothie thing twice a day, consistently putting your health first when you just want to go out and eat freaking cheese pizza. I get it, it’s tedious. But consistency is key. It’ll happen and you’ll build a new routine and relish in all your new found health and wellness. YAY.

Pay attention to your mind, not just your body.

The way we think about our body has HUGE implications on our physical health. I touched on this earlier with the loneliness thing. The same principle expands to positivity, to courage, to telling ourselves that our body is strong and rebuilding, not a piece of shit that’s not doing its job. Spend time meditating, reading, reflecting, feeding your mind good thoughts while we feed our bodies with good food!

Wow this got pretty long. If you’re still here, congrats. I really do hope you got something good out of it – even if it’s that you should definitely go buy some smoked almonds because they are something wonderful that this Earth does not deserve.

Hit me up if you ever want to chat! Always open, always keen, available sometimes (because recovering and still kinda tired…).

All my love, E x

[onewheelneil]

Israel Day 10

Waking up at 4:30 was tough. It took me a while to get outta bed and brush my teeth. Once out I stumbled my way downstairs and got some cake before the big hike. Everybody was zombies while we packed the bus before the hike. It was pretty dark when we got off the bus so we could make it to the top at sunrise. It was actually a super comfortable temperature surprisingly. I thought it was gonna be chilly. We got out into still air no breeze at all. The hike itself wasn’t that long but steep. I had to carry my unicycle up some steps but other than that I tried to unicycle as much as I could. At the top there was an ancient fortress that was fun to unicycle around in. The tour guide led us to the top of a tower to watch the sunrise. It was absolutely breath taking. It was pretty fast too. Every time I looked away and then back at the sun it had risen several feet. Eventually it rose above the distant mountain and we started our tour of the fortress. The guide told us history of the Jews revolting against the romans and protecting this fortress from enemies. We arrived at one room that had some Rolling Stones that the Jews used to defend against enemies. They would roll these boulders down the mountain to crush them. Then after more stops and stories of the past we got to a little room with shade in order to bar/bat mitzvah the kids in our group who had not done it when they were 13. It was short and sweet for each person to talk about the Torah portion they were assigned according to their birth date. Each person had done a little research on line before this tiny ceremony but it was still beautiful especially to do it on top of Masada. After the ceremonies we rushed down the mountain in order to get breakfast. I actually unicycled down most of it except for the steps. It was so much fun but the heat really got to me. After many gasps and cheers I made it down the steep declines. My legs were shaking as we got to breakfast and my face was streaming sweat which sometimes blinded me. Breakfast wasn’t anything special. It had hummus and pita hot egg salad which was kinda gross and orange seltzer which was very refreshing. We ate and ate and ate till our bellies were stuffed and then enjoyed the a/c. The bus had a little problem but it only took 30 minutes to fix. The desert sun was incredibly hot so that was not fun. While we waited the guitarist brought out his beloved instrument and different people took turns playin fun songs. There were also a lot birds who hung out and listened in. We boarded the bus to the Dead Sea which took about 40 minutes. We got out changed and rushed down to the salty sea. Getting in was tough it wasn’t a sandy beach it was rocky and burning hot. I had to put on my flip flops in order to get to the water then I took them off. Putting the mud on was thrilling. It slides on so smoothly and I coated every inch of me below my chin. I didn’t want any on my face because it was stinging other people’s. it also stung all my holes. All of them. But I still really enjoyed myself and as one person said “this is the closest I feel to weightlessness” I totally agreed. A bunch of times we would push each other by our feet or hands and see how far we could go. It was a really fun time but in order to get to the flea markets we had to get out after an hour and wash off and get back on the bus. There was also really good slushies that you could buy that were amazing. Mango was the best flavor. We got back on the bus and played some confession games in order to pass the time on the bus. It was funny to see everyone’s semi truthful confessions. The favorite one was “when the guide was faking eating poop I actually bent down and ate some too.” My personal favorite was “I wanted to take onewheelneil’s seat from his unicycle and see if he would still ride it”. They were all hilarious and anonymous which made it even better. After all of them were said we all promptly passed out from exhaustion. Then we got to the flea market and it wasn’t the most exciting thing but we needed food so we went hunting. We also needed to find a bathroom for a friend so that was difficult without seeing one and not knowing how to ask for one in Hebrew. We met a helpful smoking man and he told us to go down this one street that just had a bunch of bars. We looked at one menu and someone came by who spoke English and she let us use her bathroom. We didn’t like the price of this restaurant so we kept on looking till we were desperate enough to get somewhere else pricey. I ordered pizza that came with a free appetizer (a green salad). It was a chill place and it was very artisanal. The salad was perfectly dressed with apples and spinach and arugula and goat cheese. Then the pizza came out right from the brick oven. I got spicy pepperoni cause it had been too long. Didn’t eat it all cause we had to meet back so we could do our closing ceremony and say our goodbyes. We counted off and booked it to the hotel to talk about our experiences as a whole. It was a mixture of thrills and tears during everyone’s reminiscing which was good and bad at the same time. We had so many experiences shoved into 10 days without any temper tantrums. It was phenomenal to go on this trip with this group and I will miss them dearly. Once we got through everyone’s experiences the staff talked for a bit and then dismissed us to dinner. We were very eager to get out of the room because the a/c was not working so we were slowly melting. As we got to dinner one of the guys started playing piano cause you can’t have an outdoors trip without music and family. The dinner was decent enough for our growling stomachs of rice, chicken, beef, and veggies. As we finished up we slugged out to the bus to say our goodbyes and see you laters. It was nice to meet everyone and have this amazing time and we will definitely meet up in the future. Hope they all have a good trip to where they are going. I had to stay in Tel Aviv another day cause my flight was the next night. I’ll be crashing at an air bnb that some other extenders rented. Thanks for reading!

[tellcardtowrite]

Altmal “This is really embarrassing. I’m a cop investigating a prostitution ring undercover as a prostitute and you’re a cop undercover as a patron and wow it turns out we’ve been investigating each other this entire time”

Altmal | R | Sexually Suggestive content; 

The assignment (as far as Altair was concerned) had reached an unacceptable depth of cover.  When he was pulled aside and assessed for his ability to convincingly look like a prostitute (a low-rent one, even), he had been told it would be a one-off thing.  Fast forward six months and countless cold nights standing on a street corner earning himself enough of a reputation to move onto prime territory.

One night, he was told.

Now he was on a first-name, best-friend, coffee-grabbing basis with six other prostitutes that had backstories that read like horror novels and one stupid girl that ran away from her rich parents at seventeen and a half because ‘she was being suffocated’ and cocaine and sexually transmitted diseases were a better alternative.

But the work paid off when the former mob-associate turned excellent entrepreneur approached him with a job offer.  It seemed that his house had a vacancy and he was looking for something a little out of the norm.  Sure, he explained in the heated office just off the foyer of the whore house that was cleverly disguised as an elegant two story in a nice part of town, he had plenty of girls from plenty of places and one or two boys with waif-thin arms and no gag reflex but he needed a specialist.

Altair looked like (so Jimmy-the-nose, or whatever ridiculous name he actually had) was explaining, like exactly the sort of man he was missing in his operation.  

Homos, the man explain to him, were becoming so everyday.  The elegant, high-class, unashamed homos were an untapped market of potential.  Because sometimes, and he wasn’t talking from personal experience, a man just wanted a good-deep dicking in the ass and though his usual guys were good for getting dicked, they were more or less women in every other aspect.

(Altair sat with a stone face and a broil of anger burning a hole straight through his body, trying to digest the understated stupidity and bigotry in the man’s speech.)

They discussed rates over whiskey like civilized men.  

“Of course,” Jimmy-the-nose said when they were halfway through sipping their liquor, “the job requires a successful audition.  I have to know that you can,” he motioned at Altair’s whole body, “do that.”  And offhand, defensively, he added, “Because pretty hookers I’ve got.  I need good ones.”

“Fine,” was Altair’s answer as he contemplated whether or not fucking paying clients was covered in his-deep-cover instructions, “who?”

--

His (future) room was simple with a big bed and an embarrassing floral scent.  There was an assortment of lubes on glass shelves (seemed dangerous to him) with a few drawers of toys that were too ambitious for Altair to contemplate.  While he was stripping off his coat, he was churning up the deep desire to turn in his resignation and wondering what his Mama would think of the clusterfuck he’d gotten himself into.

Standing in the middle of the room, eyeing the cameras set discretely into the crown molding, he was trying to figure out the likelihood that he was going to be one part prostitute and two parts amateur porn-star.  

When his first client (his audition, Jimmy-the-nose said) was shown in, Altair had managed to work himself out of his jacket and one of his shirts but he got stuck on taking his shoes off while his fingers lingered on his belt.  It seemed to him that a man could keep his shoes on just in case he needed a quick escape.  

His client was a sour-faced man with thick-black-hair that was wavy enough to make it seem unruly.  He was almost the same height with a hassled look that motioned back toward the door, “they already took my money,” like that was exactly the sort of talk that would set the tone for the night.

“Well wasn’t that nice of them,” Altair said.  “I heard I get tips though, so hopefully you saved a little.”

“I wasn’t aware a gratuity was expected.”  The man hesitated just long enough to seem suspicious before he dropped both his hands to his belt.  He was wearing business-man-casual like a bad costume as he glanced sideways at the cameras in the crown molding.  His eyes slid across the bed and the glass shelves and settled on the window.  “So I get to pick what sort of lube I want?”

“Sure,” Altair said.  But when the man went to walk past him, he caught him by both his arms and backed him up against the closet door.  The thump of their bodies was loud enough to echo in the empty space.  The client was tensed-up everywhere as Altair’s hands slid down his body looking for weapons in hollow places.  There were palms shoving back at him, patting under his arms before dropping down to the warm space between his legs.  Their mouths were so close they were sharing the same fucking breath, “I think I met you once,” he mumbled.

The client was squinting his eyes at him, making the pretense of foreplay seem believable with his nails digging into the meat of Altair’s lower back, “not sure you did,” he mumbled back.

“Seminar,” Altair said against his ear, wet-and-thick like he was sucking hickies into his neck.  “something about appropriate procedure for traffic stops, if I remember.”

“Oh shit,” was the client tipping his head back so it hit the closet door behind him.  His hands tightened and he smiled like he was oh-so-pleased.  “Look,” he said, “I have to do this.  I’m guessing you do too.”

“Yup,” Altair said.

“So, no more talking.  Lets get it over with.”

Altair snorted, “fine but this is my audition.”

And the client laughed at that, legs opening as his his cocked forward against Altair’s.  His mouth was all red and his fingers were curling into his belt to pull him forward.  “Mine too, make it worth my time?”

--

Six months later, two months after he escaped the dubious hell that was fucking people for money and information on the inner structure of Jimmy-the-nose’s criminal empire, Altair was still taking three showers a day and thinking about taking up Catholicism or counselling.  He was a surly, uncooperative ass put on unpaid leave for fist-fights with the other officers (none of them former undercover prostitutes) in the parking lot (but they did start it) when he ran face-fucking-first into his god-damn audition in a grocery store.

There he was carrying nothing but a can of whipped cream and a six pack while Mr. “Make it Worth my Time” had a basket full of fresh-ingredients of something actually worth eating, cocking up his eyebrow at the combination as realization slowly dawned on his (objectively) perfect face.  

“The whipped cream isn’t mine,” Altair said.

“It wouldn’t pair well with the beer if it was,” he said.  Then he shifted on his feet with the kind of stilted awkwardness that can only come with knowing that your job forced you to go undercover and get fucked on camera by a cop from a neighboring precinct that you should never (in no merciful universe) have ever met again.  “So,” he said.  

“Not a prostitute anymore,” Altair assured him.

“Oh good,” was the answer, “not a John.”  Then he cleared his throat as the line moved forward on dragging feet and the lady with the infant working up to a full screaming fit glanced back at them with outrage.  “Malik,” the man said like he’d been asked.

“Altair,” he found himself answering.

Then Malik looked down at his basket and then at Altair’s beer and back up at his face.  “Obviously, we can’t talk about investigations.”

“Obviously,” Altair agreed.

“I was going to make hummus,” like that was code for something.  “If you invested in better quality beer and chips, we could watch the game at my place.”

“What game?” Altair asked.  It was a stupid question because a, he didn’t follow any sports.  B, he didn’t care what game.  C, Malik obviously had no idea what game was even playing (perhaps didn’t even have cable to watch a game).  But he smiled (nonetheless) while Malik worked out a good answer in the half-seconds he had before he answered: 

“Maybe you should also see if they have condoms,” he said.  

Altair laughed (warm and low), “what kind of beer?”

[ahntravels]

Tallinn, condensed.

Where did I leave off...Oh, yes. Passed Customs, train, and then eventually, I landed here. 

I should backtrack a little bit. The train from St. Petersburg to Tallinn isn’t actually 7.5 hours in terms of actual moving time. You are stopped for about 40 minutes at the border in Russia while officers search your cabin (literally, search) and then bring a dog around to sniff your luggage.

In NYC, the drug-sniffing dogs look like this:

The dogs are usually German Shepherds, or some other similar breed. The dog that came into my cabin looked like this:

Except the dog was short and old. I thought it was a loose pet at first until I saw the Putin-esque guy following him and I realized he was on police business. 

After we past Russian customs, we had to go through Estonian customs, which took ANOTHER 40 minutes. The good bit is that they come to you, so you don’t have to get out of the train or move your luggage. You just sit there and do whatever you are doing and they ask for your passport and stare at you suspiciously. 

The hallway to your train car

I bought a 2nd class ticket, which is one step above 3rd class and one behind 1st (obviously). In my cabin, there is the potential for four people to be here: 2 on the bottom (I bought a bottom ticket) and 2 in the bunks above. Luckily for me I was alone in my car, so I was able to nap above and spread out how I wished. Not sure how this would have been sharing with 3 other people, but kind of glad I didn’t have to find out.

They provide pillows, blankets, slippers, toothbrush, and wash cloth. There is a restroom at the end of the corridor, along with a microwave and tea cups for coffee/tea if you wish. I just wanted to sleep; honestly, I was really tired and felt like I was getting a cold. 

Okay, so fast forward, I landed in Tallinn, got an Uber, and made it to my hotel/apartment!

It’s a really cute space. I didn’t go through an Airbnb because I really didn’t want to deal with tracking the owner down and getting keys, etc. This place kind of works like Airbnb in the sense that this is an apartment more than a hotel, but there are hotel amenities (housekeeping, 24-hour front desk, etc). 

The view from my window is pretty awesome:

Where my hotel is located is 5 minutes from Old Town. I didn’t realize this, but Tallinn is where Skype was founded. There are many startups and other cultural ventures that originated here, so it is a pretty well-connected city. That, coupled with the architecture and well preserved churches and historical landmarks, Tallinn is like...movie perfect. 

Case in point:

Fall is a really pretty time in Tallinn, with the leaves changing and a light mist hanging over the city. If you are looking to have a relaxing, no stress vacation, come here. Everyone speaks English, and the food and culture are really healthy. Healthy in the sense that they value quality products here; they pride themselves on selling items created in Estonia. 

After wandering around yesterday, I made reservations at a VEGAN RESTAURANT! They have vegan restaurants here!

This was a “seafood” sampler: Seaweed hummus, seaweed salad, dulse, spiraled cucumbers, and “lox” carrots. Yes, surprisingly those carrots tasted like smoked salmon...the only difference was the texture. Smoked salmon has a creamer texture. But it was still yummy!

Then I had some yellow curry:

Overall, the food was delicious and I was so happy to get something that was completely vegan. 

I will say that, at this point, my body is starting to rebel a little bit. It’s not happy with the 10-mile a day traversing the city travel, cross-country transportation, and questionable foreign food. And lack of sleep. I woke up today feeling the effects, and tried to talk myself out of it. 

I heard about this pancake place called Absolut that has really cheap but tasty food. Even though I was feeling a little sick, I dragged myself out and decided to try it.

Guys. I will never eat another pancake again. Story time.

I’m not sure if my dad remembers, but there was this one time years ago when we went to San Diego and I think we were going to the Renaissance festival. That morning, we went to some beach place for breakfast, and they had this like...”WE DARE YOU TO EAT ALL THESE PANCAKES” advertisement. Or maybe it was like “BIGGEST PANCAKE CHALLENGE”. Anyway, I told my dad I could eat all the pancakes and he was like...okay, but you have to eat it if you order it. And I ordered it and the pancake breakfast was like 3 pancakes each a foot in diameter and they were like...WHEAT or something really dense and drowning in syrup. And I didn’t want to show that I was weak so I just kept eating them until I felt like I was going to vomit. I ended up spending the whole day at the Renaissance festival feeling absolutely horrible. My brother was able to eat one of those huge roasted turkey legs and those used to be my favorite. I was so sad I couldn’t eat it. 

Sigh. I think I was always a mess.

Anyway, after that day, I really couldn’t look at breakfast the same again. Quite honestly, that experience probably contributes to why I hate eating in the morning. I just remember going a whole day feeling ill from one bad meal, and I rather avoid that.

I didn’t really know what to expect when I ordered these “pancakes”. They had all sorts of pancakes: savory and sweet. I thought a safe order was “apples and vanilla sauce” but didn’t expect what you see in that photo. The pancake was HUGE; stuffed full of warm apples and this cold vanilla sweet icing. I don’t know how people finish it. It was tasty, but definitely not vegan, and I managed halfway through before flashbacks happened to the last pancake fiasco and I just literally stopped eating and left. Oh, and that whole meal was about $6.00.

(I forgot to mention, but Estonia is on the euro. I HATE being on the euro. Basically, it’s an additional $.15 to one euro. I hate doing that math)

After that, I knew I needed to get some air and walk it off. I was still feeling kind of sick, but walking helped. I did some shopping and bought some local crafts. I then decided to just spend the day walking and exploring, and covered a good amount of land:

It says I did 7.9 km, but I did at least almost double that. I spent a lot of time exploring landmarks and areas by the water:

BTW, if you haven’t noticed, there is this weird clash of old ruins with graffiti with high rises. The old, the modern, and the bohemian.

For whatever reason, whenever I am gazing out to the water, I think about “Pirate Jenny” from The Threepenny Opera by Brecht. Specifically the Lotte Lenya version. I mean, I don’t really wish murdering a whole city first before jumping ship to my freedom, but we can all understand the sentiment of living as indentured servants to some THING. 

Um, anyway. Isn’t Tallinn quite a drastic change from Russia?

This is apparently the first Estonian submarine, made out of wood. Not sure how this worked, but innovation has to start somewhere.

I took a stroll through a park, and decided to visit a nearby mall. There was supposedly a thrift store somewhere in there, and thought it may be a good place to find more trinkets. 

Look how cute their shopping carts are! Everything is so clean and efficient here. 

There was a grocery store in this mall, and I bought some vitamin C, B-12, and B-6. I basically just took a bunch of vitamins and about 30-minutes later felt 100 times better. With the lack of control of my food intake, I was probably suffering from vitamin deficiency, which is why I felt bad. 

The other thing I noticed (I noticed it because I have to, and because I am a minority) is that the whole time I have been here I have only seen 2 black people and 1 Asian (both the black individuals and the Asian were with white people). That was it. Everyone is glaringly white here. In terms of finding any sort of ethnic restaurant or market, I found that none existed. I mean, I know there must be some because I saw that there were 3 Korean restaurants outside the city, but overall, within the city, there weren’t like any Ethiopian or Jamaican restaurants. There are a few Indian and PanAsian or EuroAsian or whatever the hell that is, but nothing like...authentic, from what I can tell. 

I’m really missing ethnic food. That’s the one thing I will say that I take for granted in America; America really is a melting pot. Obviously, not everywhere in America, but for the most part you can travel anywhere within the States and see various types of people from various cultures coming together. There are ethnic markets where you can source spices and ingredients and create dishes that remind you of home. I woke up today and really wanted some good kimchi, or a big bowl of bibimbap or a nice burrito from the burrito truck near my apartment with the fresh tomatillo salsa. It’s a bit...sterile here, which isn’t a bad thing at all, just seemingly predicable. 

Overall, this place is probably the closest to like...idealistic I have experienced from an objective standpoint. Good food, nice people, serene backdrop, creative, artistic, and safe. Great place to retire or take a sabbatical. 

But man. I never want to eat another freaking potato again. 

Tomorrow I have to check out of here at 11 AM and my boat leaves at 6PM for Stockholm. The hotel will let me store my luggage here while I wait for my ferry. So, I must sleep, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!

[girishprb]

Montana 4: At Apgar

Apgar village, Lake McDonalds and Apgar visitor center were a minute’s drive from the southern park entrance. Also, near the park entrance, there was a fuel station, a lodge, a gift shop,  a restaurant and a marketplace that looked friendly and enticing. But we headed directly to the visitor center to book our campsite for the night and also to plan for the next few days along with the Park Rangers before it closed. I’ve never had a bad experience till date at a visitor center in any of the national parks. In my opinion, park rangers are the epitome of hard work, dedication and customer service! All the park rangers I’ve met (I have met quite a few) were most welcoming, were really dedicated and helped us in every possible way! With the help of a park ranger, we shortlisted three possible campgrounds for that night - Kintla, Bowman, and Apgar.

All three campsites were first-come first-serve basis. We also got to know that reservations for backcountry campsites started at 7 am and because of multiple backcountry permit centers, we had to have multiple plans ready since each spot only had 2-4 campsites and everything got taken within few minutes. For that night Apgar campground was the nearest, Bowman was a 90 minutes drive from the visitor center and Kintla was another 30 minutes from Bowman. We also knew that Apgar campground would be the first one to fill up due to its close proximity and better accessibility. It was 5 pm and we decided to give Apgar a shot first and then drive to north-western part (Bowman/Kinta) if we were out of luck. There were three loops A, B, C in Apgar campground. We skipped A with the assumption that everyone would go there first :P In B-loop, we found a campsite - instantly we dropped Shruti’s bag there to pseudo reserve it and moved on with our search for a better campsite. On getting a better spot, we dropped Manasi and moved on to see if anything else was available. Finally, in C loop, we found a perfect spot which had a wooden square boundary and the ground was absolutely flat for pitching our tent. I went back to pick up Shruti’s bag and Manasi, but I’d forgotten where we dropped Manasi! I missed her in the first round and went back thinking the worst - that Manasi ran away :P  

At our new home, I peacefully ate my Quiznos whole veggie sandwich with rosemary parmesan bread that was a little soggy now, but tasty nonetheless. Manasi and Shruti unloaded the car and then together we set up my new REI Co-op 3 person tent. This weighed hardly over 4 lbs and I highly recommend it to all the backpackers out there. If you wait for Labor Day/Thanksgiving/Christmas sales - you’ll get it for 300$! Since this tent had a different structure, we took few minutes to figure out what to do. Thanks to our professional backpacker Shruti, we finally got it up within 15-20 minutes. Next, we went back to the park entrance to fuel up, Shruti quickly hopped into the marketplace to buy her nth coffee, HUCKLEBERRY jam, and fresh hummus for future breakfasts. On our way back, we decided to drop by at Lake McDonalds for a quick stop, but ended up staying lot longer than anticipated. Until we reached the lake, we were amongst trees and we hadn’t actually seen anything out of ordinary yet. We had no reason to believe something would change!

View from Lake Mc Donalds was truly spectacular and breathtaking and we weren’t prepared for it! This view is something I won’t forget for a long long time, and every time I remember it - I get goosebumps and I often get lost in thoughts! The lake itself was enormous, with crystal clear water and banks filled with pebbles. On the east side, we could see vehicles once in a while on the road along its banks - this was the famed ‘Going to the sun road’ that we realized later on. There was a boat on which two people were fishing without life jackets. In Montana, if you are above 18, you’re required to have a life jacket but not necessarily wear them while boating/fishing. On all sides, there were mountains, the sun was just about to set on the west side and along the north-east corner, we could actually see loads of smoke and intermittent fires! We later realized that around this time, the park just lost one of its famous park structures to wildfire - Sprague chapel, even after having sprinklers, helicopters ready to douse the fire and all other precautions in place to save it. Because of the best view of wildfire, there were a couple of park rangers with binoculars who gave updates on their walkie-talkie and a constant stream of visitors - all of them asking the same set of questions! ‘how bad is it? Are any sections of the park closed? Was it this bad yesterday?’. I asked them too, and the ranger patiently answered them all. It was pretty bad because of winds, no new areas have been closed yet - they needed to take a stock of the situation and updates would be given next day morning, and it was a lot better on previous days!

All three of us just soaked in this tragic, yet soul-stirring and beautiful view for quite a while then returned to reading with jalapeno chips. I started reading Harry Potter 7, Shruti started with 'To Kill a Mocking Bird’ and Manasi continued on with 'Time travelers wife’ (Hollywood version of Ekta Kapoor romantic drama)! After 15-20 minutes, Manasi and Shruti were hungry again because they just had half a sandwich each for lunch during our drive to the park. I was still digesting my sandwich but agreed as it was about to get dark soon. We had already planned and bought stuff for dinner every night. For this night, we decided to cook flavored Quinoa along with canned black beans heated with loads of curry powder and chips on the sides. We also filled up our fancy flasks with Baileys and relished this creative dinner with sips of creamy Irish coffee liquor. As it got darker, the fires were more easily visible, there were collective gasps now and then as we all spotted a huge burst of flames together - it was as if all were watching some remarkable fireworks in its full glory.

After dinner and washing the vessels with lake water, we headed back to our campsite and discussed multiple backcountry camping options as we had to get up early around 5.30 am and stand in line for permits that opens at 7 am. When asked who would like to set alarm for the next morning, Shruti’s eyes lit up as if someone was offering her a fully paid trip to Europe :P. Later, we opened up our sleeping pads, sleeping bags and I got out my cute little sleeping pillow :) Manasi and Shruti had this identical lightweight, all-weather, expensive sleeping bags from REI whereas I had 22$ sleeping bag from jet.com which has served me well till date! In Colorado trip, we 3 had slept in a two-person tent. (Why? well, that’s another great story that you’ll have to wait until it’s penned down). This time there was relatively lot more space and hence more comfortable. I was made to sleep in the middle facing the other direction to make it even more comfortable - but I think the plan backfired as I most definitely kicked someone in the face in the middle of the night :P