Updating the blog

Just a heads up. I'm basically trying to organize a ton of pictures taken recently.

Garden Life

I've never been much of a gardener, but this winter I decided this was the year to jump right in. After doing a lot (a lot) of research and reading, I picked up a shovel and dove in. Green thumb first.

First was preparation. Basically, the backyard was neglected for over a year. And if you live in an established neighborhood like my wife and I do, neglecting your yard for a year is like giving weeds their own paradise. Weeds, including the dreaded wisteria, took over and consumed - almost killed - our entire back yard. After building a retaining wall, I let the yard go, and it morphed into this:

The patio furniture was rotten, broken junk laying about - but look at those weeds! While the winter seems to have killed them, this is simply an illusion. Having already spread their seeds throughout the soil, they were poised to make a strong comeback. My wife, however, got a tip from a friend, and heard about a master gardener sale going on in the spring. A little bit of work and only $40 later, I turned our eye sore into a focal point:

Granted, it's just a facelift with a few perennials - and perennials generally take about a year to really pop. But it's a start, a step, a thumb in the right direction. Up next: the pay off of hard work - pictures from the garden, including insects, birds, flowers and flora.

Make Your Own Homemade Soda Pop

Down south, we don't call soda pop soda, pop, or soda pop. That sentence reads funny, but it is what it is. We usually say "coke" and - confusingly enough - that stands for anything that fizzes.

After being diagnosed with Celiac, and adding in to that disease's complications allergies to corn, corn derivatives, and dairy, I've gone through the gamut of finding healthy alternatives to foods and drinks I have grown to love.

I'll be posting a lot on the subject, if only because my natural passion for research and writing has caused me to learn and incredible amount of information in regards to my auto-immune disease. Bluntly, it has changed my life and marriage drastically.

But, now, for the positive! Here is a homemade "sprite" alternative that is much more healthy than the store-bought sodas in cans and plastic bottles. This type of beverage alternative isn't just for those with a corn allergy or intolerance. Here's the science behind the health of the homemade beverage: it eliminates the worst sugar of all - high frutcose corn syrup.

This is not news to many of us. There are excellent articles to be found all over the net that go into detail in regards to what sugars are good or bad for you. So how do you make a drink that mirrors the fun explosion of taste in your mouth and on your taste buds? It's actually very easy to do...

The stuff dreams are made of

List of thing's you'll need:
Perrier, or some other naturally carbonated drink
Sauce Pan
Measuring Cup
Lemon
Lime
Evaporated Cane Sugar
Water
Spoon
Slicing Knife

The process:
1. First make your simple syrup by heating up about a cup of water and mixing in about 1/4 cup sugar
2. After the sugar is dissolved, remove the pan from heat and pour into a small container
3. Cut a lemon and lime in half
4. Juice a half-lemon and a half-lime over a strainer to prevent seeds and pulp mixing in
5. Pour in the sour juice mix into the simple syrup container
6. Chill the syrup mix in a fridge
7. Mix half the mixture with about 12 oz. of Perrier

You should have enough syrup for two servings of homemade soda, but that all depends on what kind of taste you are looking for. One process that I skipped the first time I did this was making the syrup on the stove. The result was an awkward bubbly mess that still tasted good, but had a thick froth residue that made the experience of drinking unpleasant.

Pure lemon and lime juices - as well as other high acidic juices like grapefruit juice - are very good at preventing mold and candida growth in the intestines. While mold loves sugar, as long as you aren't consuming more than your body can handle, you'll use the glucose made from digesting the evaporated cane sugar long before your mold population can start feeding on it. Furthermore, the lemon and lime juices will force the mold to lose its grip on your intestinal walls, as it acts like a cleaning agent for your intestinal walls.

I've been drinking this homemade soda for a few days now and absolutely love it. For someone who can't drink alcohol, or any flavored beverage on the market, I get pretty bummed every so often drinking nothing but water and fruit juice. Fruit juice is good in moderation, but can be too sweet and contribute to mold overgrowth.

Enjoy your new homemade soda - and if you have other homemade recipes, let me know! Another homemade soda option is a type of root beer - but the process is a lot more intense, and requires a lot of ingredients. That being said, I'll try and tackle this project if only for another reason to post to this blog.

In the future, look for health food rants, raves, reviews and recipes by using the page menu located underneath my banner.

Andrew DeWitt Releases New Site

A friend of mine from college is continuing to make a name for himself now that he has relocated to L.A., that wondrous city of wannabes, never have beens, and maybe some dayers - but Andrew DeWitt isn't one of those.

He's got talent and is worth a cult-following if you reside in the Greater Los Angeles area - but if you don't - he's also got a cool blog called Dorksplosion, for those of us who fantasize slightly about being a Dark Elf. Well, it's for those of us who fantasize every day about being a Dark Elf and married to a Nymph in a string bikini made of  koala bear fur.

Fair warning - the blog may not be suitable for the workplace environment, depending on whatever mood he's  in. Still, it's worth being caught.

Summer, Sweat and Sorbet

I get it.

I am supposed to update my blog a certain number of times per week. And I have failed. I love to write, take pictures, and be way too opinionated about the innocuous and trivial. So what's the hold up?

See that post below about cleaning and writing? Well that cleaning spree turned into a complete Garden re-design and interior home makeover. The proverbial domino effect caused my brain to hone in on my 1951 bungalow and see it for what it is: once a house described as having "character," but in reality a nightmare to make elegant and modern.

The sunroom before I attacked it with my skillz...

And... ahhhhh. The after shot.

Now that summer is here, the heat is kicking me out of the yard. My office is complete, and has one of those cool rotating fans that helps me cool off despite my wonderful home's AC unit's best efforts to air condition the entire upstate area. Wooden floors are awesome until you realize that all those cracks aren't insulated. Great starter home my ass.

So, cooling off now. 'Bout to hunker down and write some poetry. And while writing, to help cool off, I'll be periodically sampling my latest sorbet creations. I just got through blending mangos, bananas and strawberries. I know, you want more pictures of all this madness. And I tell you now - you and the other dude reading this - blog posts are backed up in my intestines and I just drank a glass of milk.

And I'm allergic to dairy.

Man. I really need to work on my metaphorical expressions.

Clean House, Clean Mind, Clean Writing

I'm not a clutter guy. I can't stand it. Clutter mentally impacts my thinking skills and renders my writing skills useless, which is why every spring I seem to take a step back from writing in favor of more important things - like spring cleaning.

It drives my wife crazy. When I clean, I pull every single item in a room out. What you see in the picture is my shed, barely tall enough to fit a rake, let alone my own self standing in the middle of it. But somehow, I've managed to organize everything that fits into the category of "man work" into that shed. In a sense, its my clubhouse. I am this close to spraypainting "Girls not aloud" on the front, but if anyone knows my wife, that'd just be an invitation.

Cleaning is a tad addictive, however, and now that I've got the shed done, I've moved on to the rest of the house. I love it. It gives me a chance to think, to slow down, and appreciate how exactly my mind works. Best of all, it somehow fine tunes my writing skills. Granted, reading will always be the best catalyst for writing, universally speaking. But for me, and I'm wondering about other artists out there, the process of re-organizing and cleaning my house is essential prep work for a season of good writing. I'd like to hear from others: does cleaning and organizing in one area of your life impact your production in another, or are you fine with clutter?

Up Next: My Office

Japan's Continued Nuclear Struggles Need A New Godzilla

The original Godzilla was a unique Japanese cultural phenomenon rivaling our own King Kong, although seemingly with much more political agenda beating the monster's giant mutant heart, created by nuclear detonation and, let's be honest, the sci-fi of radiation side effects. His destructive behavior and larger-than-life size no doubt reflects the symptoms and imagery of Japan's war efforts against the U.S. in WWII.

Over a half century after surviving two nuclear atomic bombs, the country stands on the brink of a unique catastrophe ironically caused by the same culprit: nuclear technology. In times of catastrophe, there are direct consequences in the artistic world, most notably literature in the 20th century, and linked with war time, which often causes change in and helps re-define the artistic tendencies in literature, or literary movements.

Since 9/11, America's movie theaters are packed with viewers in need of justice for a wrong committed against our country. Seemingly, we can't escape the need for a hero, and luckily this summer's blockbusters are full of 'em. But what will be the response in Japan? Specifically, what will be the artistic response?

My Feet Stink

My feet have a unique odor.

The odor has been around ever since I wore my first pair of leather Sebago shoes, without socks, during the first day of school, in the heat of August, of the 5th grade. The result was a few blisters and a stench that would evolve into the horror it is today. Now, I was used to blisters: I frequented local rollerskating establishments donning my poor fitting Chicago skates. So a few first-day-of-school blisters were more like a symbol of some sort of accomplishment. But what I wasn't used to was the smell.

Add a few years of puberty, sports, about a decade of the same wool socks, and a unique ability to forget to wash my feet in the shower, and I present to you my wife's interpretation of my unique odor as described innocently a week ago:

Scene 1 of 1
Me: takes shoes off, turns on TV to look for movie, expresses concern of smell 
Mary: "Hey there sexy, is that seat saved for me?"
Me:    "Sure is."
Mary: snuggles into his neck "You smell good, you smell like vanilla."
Me:    "Really? Vanilla?"
Mary: "Well... yeah, well, now it -- kinda smells like butter!"
Me:    "I smell like vanilla and butter?"
Mary: "Why do you smell like vanilla and butter?"
Me:    "It's not like I put butter on me - I'm allergic to dairy, why would I smell like - oh, wait..."
Mary: "What is that smell? Now it smells like burnt butter and vanilla... almost like..."
Me:    "Well, I did just take my shoes off."

Cleaning my feet isn't the problem - I do get down there and do some dirty work in the shower. TWSS. But lately I've been on the brink of developing a foot complex. What did I not learn as a kid? How come my shoes stank like rotten pumpkins?

Photography Page Update

New holga images are up - spanning two trips to exotic locations: Charleston, SC and Maui, HI. Enjoy!

Man v. Puppy - Round 1

There seems to be but one living thing on this planet that can manipulate my understanding of what it is to be a man. Some would say women do this to men, or rather, that men do it to themselves based on what Johnny Radar needs, but, no, women and sex drives are catalysts for self manipulation. I'm talking about third party manipulation. Puppies, it seems, have a way with getting their way when they are being cute - and our new puppy, Walter, has mastered his temporary art.

Round 1: Teaching Walter How To Pee

Well, I figured the best way to teach Walter how to pee was to actually go outside and urinate on the grass. You know, lead by example, visually stimulating the wee pup. I punned it. I don't care. I'd been doing this nightly, for discretionary purposes, about 5 days and it became clear to me that two awkward and embarrassing things would probably happen at some point in the future: 1) I'd get caught by one of my neighbors or 2) he'd eventually get curious and I'd accidentally pee on him.

As I was contemplating the scene of the nice elderly woman next door actually catching me mid-lesson, for a second, I lost sight of the black-and-tan long hair dachshund against the black ink of a 10 o'clock winter night, and wouldn't have found him save for his desire to find out what exactly I was doing. I noticed, first, the sound of urine flowing over fallen leaves had diminished considerably from a cymbal-like clash of kidney-filtered sweet tea attacking the crispness of vintage oven baked Valentine's Day cards (I do this every once in a while, to capture the warm memories) to the sound of gutter rain, saturating the soaked straw of our back door welcome mat.

Although, the more I think on it, having a welcome mat on the back door seems too hip.

Sure enough, I was peeing directly on his head. But before I moved my stream, there was a split of the splittest of seconds, which I can only analyze as thus: he couldn't figure out where the stream was coming from, and was fascinated with the fact he changed the course of what I consider my natural flow.

There were many lessons learned, but ultimately, be wise and keep your eyes on your puppy at all times. Especially when genitals are involved.