Posted by suzi on Mar 4, 2010 in
General i’m a little shell-shocked from acupuncture this morning. what a trip.
…a little embarrassed that it hurt too. as we were walking out of the office my grandma asked me if i felt relaxed. no! i was totally jittery and freaked out. i can still feel the needles in my skin. maybe this is an exercise in masochism. ::shrug::
it’s just a sensation, it’s just a sensation…
My grandma has been getting acupuncture for her asthma and she swears by it, and convinced me i should try it for my allergies. I’ve been severely afflicted by the damn things my whole life, and yea, i could do without all the drugs (that all tend to only work sometimes anyway). what the hell.
my nose felt really clear after a while of lying there all stuck with pins. it took me a while to notice because i was having a mini panic attack, trying to
a) focus on my breathing
b) not think about how much it hurt (it only hurt when she first put them in, but the memory was strong)
c) not wonder if she was going to come back and stick me with more
d) hold back tears
e) unclench all of my dumb, scaredy cat muscles.
i finally started to relax at one point, and i could breathe so clearly; it felt like my nasal passages were huge tunnels, like big open fields of wildflowers, made for running through and not for collapsing in a pathetic pile of sniffles in.
i’m curious to see if i do better or worse next week. might not be such a good idea to do it before work, i feel super weird.
Tags: acupuncture, eastern medicine, pain
Posted by suzi on Jan 17, 2010 in
General i should preface this saying that i have been anti-smartphone for quite some time now. i was stubbornly adamant about not wanting even a camera, let alone internet, let alone APPS. why does it need to do everything? i don’t need all that crap, i need a phone. i often contemplated losing the cell phone altogether, perhaps finding a sweet-ass rotary phone at some thrift store and being content with that. Call me a Luddite, but i’ve got enough tech-clutter in my life as it is. Fancy phones are not imperative to my lifestyle. Blech.
i went through many lovely nokia candybar phones, and they all did me quite well. Had a motorola for a while, didn’t like it.
…and then my parents finally kicked me off their plan (hey, hey, i was paying them for my share, get it straight). So i got to thinking, and really the only thing i really wanted was freaking google maps. ahem google *transit*. i don’t drive, i bike/walk/bus/BART all over this place and having bus times in my pocket would be such a godsend. So i dove off the deep end, and i’m here to tell you that smartphones aren’t nearly as evil as i had hoped.
i should also mention that my distaste for smartphones goes hand-in-hand with everything else i hate about our society’s deterioration of public space and interaction. i’ve never owned an iPod (ok, ok, i have a 1st gen shuffle but it’s really only good for the gym). A BART train full of tiny white earbuds kinda makes my heart sink. i can’t explain it, it’s completely irrational and rooted in fictional nostalgia. But you get what i mean.
Not to mention our obsession with productivity! Do i need to check my email/facebook/twitter even MORE often than i already do? i think not! What if clients and/or my mother find out?
Let’s also not forget the blatant submission of all of my data AND whereabouts IN realtime to the government of they so choose to ask for it. Ugh i don’t even want to talk about it.
Sigh.
So Coop and i went into T-mobile, $80 unlimited text/talk/web AND it’s month-to-month? yes please! (got a sweet deal on the phone itself too, ask me about it sometime, i’ll get you the hookup too) (by the way thank you to Cooper for holding my hand and answering all of my obnoxious questions :D)
Verdict: ridiculously awesome things i have discovered after spending an entire day playing with my G1:
1) yes yes yes google transit is so sexy when it’s in my pocket, holy hell. now to find (write?) a bike route app…
2) i’m currently streaming pandora from the phone to my living room stereo. it’s a beautiful thing.
3) NPR + BBC podcasts! eeee!
4) Layar: augmented reality. Ok, so now i don’t actually have to leave my house to see what’s outside. Great. …but in all seriousness, something about being able to say ‘phone, find me Thai food within 5 miles of where i’m standing’ and it politely doing so feels really, really good.
5) the inevitable smart-ass-itude that comes with wikipedia in my pocket. mwahaha.
6) being able to take pics/video at actions and send them off to the internets immediately. ooh, havoc. See also: interviewing people in the street for documentaries or while canvassing, shits and giggles, really.
7) tethering the damn thing to my laptop for anywhere-internets! (anywhere with cell phone service, that is) (coming soon)
8) more podcasts, gom gom gom
9) snes emulat0r, while completely unnecessary and counterproductive… ::drool:: i miss my gameboy more than i’d care to admit :/
10) still trying to find this, but when i find a good one it will be great: recipe lookups. hell, cocktail lookups too. waiting with baited breath for the Food Genome to hit android. holy delicious batman.
i’m sure there’s more, but this list is more than enough to get my heart bu-bumping. If you’ve found super cool things please share!
Tags: geekery
Posted by suzi on Jan 2, 2010 in
General 
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package of soyrizo (soy chorizo, yum yum)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
handful of different colored bell peppers, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8-ounce) can salsa
1 jalapeño pepper
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 (8.5-ounce) package cornbread mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Grease an 8-inch baking dish with the butter and set it aside.
Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the soyrizo, onions, bell peppers, and garlic and cook about 8 minutes.
Add the beans, salsa, and jalapeños to the skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until heated through and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the cilantro.
Spread the mixture in the prepared baking dish, pressing down on it with the back of a spoon to make an even, compact layer.
Coat with a layer of cheddar cheese.
Combine the cornbread mix with milk and egg. Spread the cornbread batter over the mixture and bake until the cornbread is golden-brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let the tamale pie stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.
(thanks foodnetwork.com)
Verdict
Sugar D was there. Had the Hanz over too. they brought salad and chocolate cake.
Then we watched the It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Christmas Special.
A night to remember, truly.
Happy New Year!!!
cheers!
Tags: housewifery, recipe
Posted by suzi on Dec 23, 2009 in
General 
the gang gets squashed
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (1 1/2 to 2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups whole milk
Pinch nutmeg
3/4 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
Directions
Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour the water into the skillet and then cover and simmer over medium heat until the squash is tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly and then transfer the squash to a food processor. Add the amaretti cookies and blend until smooth. Season the squash puree, to taste, with more salt and pepper.
Melt the butter in a heavy medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, whisking often, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the nutmeg. Cool slightly. Transfer half of the sauce to a blender*. Add the basil and blend until smooth. Return the basil sauce to the sauce in the pan and stir to blend. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to taste.
Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.
Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread 3/4 cup of the sauce over the prepared baking dish. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan. Spread 1/3 of the squash puree over the noodles. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. Drizzle 1/2 cup of sauce over the noodles. Repeat layering 3 more times.
Tightly cover the baking dish with foil and bake the lasagna for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the lasagna. Continue baking uncovered until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 minutes longer. Let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.
*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.
(via foodnetwork.com)
Verdict
Yay!! Tremendous success! We had Nina over for dinner and alongside the lasagna I made some tasty chard. Mmm.
Tags: recipe
Posted by suzi on Dec 3, 2009 in
General In case I ever grow old and start losing memories and/or my mind, I would like to make note over and over again what a fantastic, balabusta-y roommate I have.
observe
she makes pie:
and not just any pie, friends. GRASSHOPPER m’in-f’in pie. does youre roommate make grasshopper pie? hmm? thought not.
and not only that friends, NOT ONLY THAT! in the same afternoon, she made 3 vegetable dishes, and 2 goddamn turkeys!
menschin' it up
oh, the love. it’s… it’s… unREASONABLE!
Posted by suzi on Dec 3, 2009 in
General my body said feed me greens please please please
i acquiesced.
the most perfect chard i have ever tasted.
(quinoa on the side, but it’s just not as important.)
swiss chard, garlic, red onion, aji peppers, a little oil, a little brown sugar, a little magic
i just ate an entire bundle. dear lord.
Tags: food, recipe
Posted by suzi on Nov 27, 2009 in
General pretty dope. besides getting up way too f-in early and being disgruntled and cold, once the sun started coming up it was all worth it. No better way to start un-thanksgiving day. (i give thanks every day, thank you ;D)
the headdresses were amazing, so many different feathers! we weren’t there for too long, probably spent more time waiting to get on/off ferries than on the rock itself, but it was kinda nice just being there, talking to folks about the history of the event (for those that don’t know, the penitentiary on Alcatraz closed in 1963, and a coalition called the IAT [Indians of All Tribes] occupied the island for about 20 months from 1969-1971. This is an annual commemoration of those brave souls who stuck it out, as well as a tribute to those that were there way before all this land-ownership nonsense came about), as well as current issues with land rights and indigenous rights all around.
http://www.aimovement.org/
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/alcatrazisnotanisland/ – documentary
Posted by suzi on Nov 24, 2009 in
General It is a sad day. It appears as though the boat noodle house on Shattuck is closed. for good. WHERE ELSE CAN YOU GET THE TASTIEST AND SPICIEST THAI CURRIES FOR $7?? nowhere, that’s where.
What is there to minister to the silent zones of man as an individual?
:(
long live the boat!
Posted by suzi on Oct 9, 2009 in
General Not much to say. The fall has been delivering delicious veggie-types to our doorstep, I’ve made some delicious stir-fry (finally learned how to not ruin a wok!)
Wok O'clock!
Also, in true oh-shit-its-almost-winter-…-quick!-start-baking-like-a-fiend spirit, I made a tasty apple pie from scratch:
A pie is born!
Tags: food
Posted by suzi on Oct 8, 2009 in
General So apparantly _why the lucky stiff is gone. Whoosh. vanished from the internets. Some mean folx were trying to reveal his identity, all just a joke i guess, but i suppose he was offended*slash*upset*slash*ready to move on :(
i am a sad little panda.
for those that don’t know, _why was an amazing programmer, cartoonist, author, and all around silly-fantastic-sorta-guy. It seemed to me that a big goal of his writing and code-projects was to demystify programming – a few of his projects were specifically aimed at kids. “Get it through your head that a program is made of words,” he sang cheerfully. He wrote this great book called “Why’s (poignant) Guide to Ruby“, that was so wonderful, i forgot i was learning a programing language many a time while reading it. Ok, maybe i didn’t actually learn ruby. i mean, i did, but mostly it was just so adorable…
in his memory, i am posting an email correspondence i had with him a little while ago:
from: Suzi Grishpul
to: why@whytheluckystiff.net
date: Wed, Jan 30, 2008 at 12:53 PM
subject: happy wednesday!
but in all seriousness, i think you might be my favorite person-i-don’t-actually-know, ever.
thanks for being awesome. also, thanks for the cartoon foxes.
with shiny red love,
suzi
from: why the lucky stiff
to: Suzi Grishpul
date: Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 11:36 AM
subject: Re: happy wednesday!
One day you will live in a place far beyond this one, Suzi. A
hybrid virtual world, but chock full of realities, and you will live
beneath a high-resolution waterfall and raise wolves to talk and
stand and drive limos. You will make origami goats (baby goats)
that will need to be nursed from a bottle and who will have
magically rotating teeth that play music like automatic player
pianos. On Thursdays, you will be able to push your arms out to
make the day much bigger and much longer and you’ll be able to move
the sun around the sky using a normal laser pointer pen.
I have very very high hopes for you, kid!! This is what I’ve been
trying to say for your whole life, come on, get it together. You
will have so many limos.
_why
Le’sigh. Goodbye _why. I’ll miss you dearly. I hope you resurface as a suspiciously similar and equally adorable internet persona. If not, perhaps I will continue your legacy. I will have so many limos!
<3
Tags: ruby programming
