Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Up and at 'em to Chicago
The scoreboard is on and Owen and I are about to head out of this piece and begin our westward migration. One major tip regarding cost free moving is to schedule your move just after a group of friends have moved and then take all of their recently minted boxes. The other takeaway from this experience is that if you put things on the sidewalk, generally people will claim them quickly. Though I must admit my green office chair has been out there for almost two days. Even the used candles went faster than that. Other than whipping up some broccoli and onion pizza (both vegetables are far beyond their normal lives), the only major task left is to shred the receipts of the past two years. Oh all the trips to Costco, Save-A-Lot, Giant, and Whole Foods; how funny it is to look at your artifacts in retrospect and think about the immanence of life. This year's receipts are a much slimmer pile indeed...
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Craigslist scams
Owen and I are hoping to push no-buy in a new, deeper direction by getting rid of both of our cars before we move to Chicago. Maybe being sans vehicle in Arctic winds will teach us a lesson, but right now the prospect of being carless is a joyful one. Both of our universities give out "u-passes" which allow students to travel on all public transportation for mere pennies a day. This is exciting because I have never been a big public commuter (no need in Portland and no real possibility to do it in Baltimore) and I look forward to the challenge of bus schedules, large bags, and strange seatmates. Something new at least. The sole detractor from all my car-free reveries is the hassle of selling a car, namely on Craigslist. What is the deal with all the scams? Why do I have an inbox full of Nigerian wire transfer offers and sketchy people who want me to drive the car to Columbia (the town in MD, not the country) because they just moved here from a foreign country? Finding renters for the house was so pleasant, and this is just so bizarre. I just want a nice person to hand me some cash and take my bruiser of a vehicle off my hands so that I can start drooling over the Chicago Transit Authority route maps and schedules.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The No-buy birthday
Dudes and dudettes--
I have officially attained quarter century status, as of 10AM MST on July 16, 2007. It's actually a pretty momentous occasion. Usually, when people ask the mock-serious question on your birthday: "so, do you feel any different, any older?" I respond with a smirky, snarky comment. But this year, I really _do_ feel different. I am 25% through a typical 100-year old life. I break that down into 0-25 childhood/major education, 25-50 career and family rearing, 50-75 begin retirement/self-enrichment, 75-100 waiting for the bell to toll for thee. In that frame, I have completed the phase in which I could plausibly be called a child. There's no turning back now, I am officially, and unequivocally an adult. The next step is just the baby in the baby carriage (and maybe marriage before that, if you want to be proper about things). To complement this momentous birthday, my family did a stupendous job of adhering as closely as possible to not buying things as gifts/buying very meaningful things. My sister Katie redeemed a free Victoria Secret underwear certificate and graciously sent me the receipt for verification. And the undies even have little pencils on them. Ironic because I was a teacher and am about to become a student again. My father continued to outfit my nascent kitchen supplies with a top-of-the line Japanese dicing knife. He says that it is the best knife in the world, and my father should know, because he cuts a lot of things up, including his own fingers. My mother thrifted a stunning near-floor length black down jacket (sleeping bag) from the [in]famous bins of SE Portland's Goodwill outlet. She says the jacket will make me look like Jackie Kennedy. Owen says I look more like Cruella Deville. Nontheless, I will be warm and bundled in Chicago. Owen made/is making a recipe binder of all the loose recipes I have collected over the past three years. It's amazing how much I like lentils. This is reflected in the fact that there is a "lentil" section to the book. In all of this using things up mentality, no one takes the cake like my grandmother though. Not only did she make me napkins out of the same material as hers and my father (what a lineage!) but gave me a book of daily meditations from the Dalai Lama called "Reaching Tranquility." I call it my "daily lama." To all my birthday peeps, big ups. You did a perfect job.
I have officially attained quarter century status, as of 10AM MST on July 16, 2007. It's actually a pretty momentous occasion. Usually, when people ask the mock-serious question on your birthday: "so, do you feel any different, any older?" I respond with a smirky, snarky comment. But this year, I really _do_ feel different. I am 25% through a typical 100-year old life. I break that down into 0-25 childhood/major education, 25-50 career and family rearing, 50-75 begin retirement/self-enrichment, 75-100 waiting for the bell to toll for thee. In that frame, I have completed the phase in which I could plausibly be called a child. There's no turning back now, I am officially, and unequivocally an adult. The next step is just the baby in the baby carriage (and maybe marriage before that, if you want to be proper about things). To complement this momentous birthday, my family did a stupendous job of adhering as closely as possible to not buying things as gifts/buying very meaningful things. My sister Katie redeemed a free Victoria Secret underwear certificate and graciously sent me the receipt for verification. And the undies even have little pencils on them. Ironic because I was a teacher and am about to become a student again. My father continued to outfit my nascent kitchen supplies with a top-of-the line Japanese dicing knife. He says that it is the best knife in the world, and my father should know, because he cuts a lot of things up, including his own fingers. My mother thrifted a stunning near-floor length black down jacket (sleeping bag) from the [in]famous bins of SE Portland's Goodwill outlet. She says the jacket will make me look like Jackie Kennedy. Owen says I look more like Cruella Deville. Nontheless, I will be warm and bundled in Chicago. Owen made/is making a recipe binder of all the loose recipes I have collected over the past three years. It's amazing how much I like lentils. This is reflected in the fact that there is a "lentil" section to the book. In all of this using things up mentality, no one takes the cake like my grandmother though. Not only did she make me napkins out of the same material as hers and my father (what a lineage!) but gave me a book of daily meditations from the Dalai Lama called "Reaching Tranquility." I call it my "daily lama." To all my birthday peeps, big ups. You did a perfect job.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Pantry Efficiency
One of the challenges of moving to a new city is trying to use everything up before you go, so as to ensure minimal pantry packing. Coupling that mandate with not buying has made for some interesting meals of late. I would be curious as to meals or dishes that people have made in the throes of pre-packing insanity. Is everyone else as crazy as I am about using everything up? Last night, for example, I made squash soup with old apples, 6-month old chives, corn relish (purchased 4 months ago at Sav-a-lot), and dried coconut from macaroons that I made with my sister last summer. That dish was a coup for me, but I hope that the best of pantry efficiency is yet to come. If you have brilliant suggestions about how to use everything up, comment or send an email. Otherwise, look for more tales of tomato juice polenta (tomato juice from 8 months ago during a misguided attempt at healthy breakfasts) and Rice Krispie treats with Crater Lake marshmallows from circa July 2006.
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