Tuesday, September 30, 2008

kitty 2


it looks like we will be adopting a cat. her name is lulu and she is black and white. i am allergic to cats, but i'm allergic to everything, so we thought, what the heck. she will have the run of the house, with the exception of our bedroom. this rule will probably last an hour. we were third in line, but the first two people who responded to the ad didn't follow through. i have been talking with her current owner for a couple of weeks now and he seems to like the fact that i replied to his emails. does anyone have advice on how to care for a great big pussy...(cat)?

Saturday, September 27, 2008

free shit

lately, i have been into free-cycling. i am a member of a group called latah free exchange. instead of throwing things away or buying new crap, this group offers a way to unload without filling up a landfill.
here are the rules:
within a year, in order to remain a memeber you must offer and take.
you must offer more than you take, and
you must post an offer before you take or post a wanted.

so far i have offered two items, i posted one wanted, and i've replied to two offers. a friend of mine was moving and was downizing her place by 1/3. she had a bunch of stuff to give to goodwill, so we took a load to goodwill for her, took some stuff for ourselves (half of her liquor cabinet, some sweaters, and a bed frame), and posted some on the free exchange. i have successfully gotten rid of her gingerbread house mold and some jelly jars. what did i get?

the free exchange is very fast paced. you must respond quickly to get what you want. i was first in line for this very cool, bubble gum pink dresser with scooby doo stickers on it. we recently gave away a dress that we bought for $4 at a yard sale. i sanded, repaired, and painted it. but a friend of our just moved back to town, so we gave him ours. though we needed it, he needed it more. so we decided to go find another fixer-uper at another yard sale. two days later, pinky the dresser was offered on the free exchange and i was the frist to respond. it needs a little work, but is a perfectly good dresser as is. we are currently in line for a cat. the first person passed, the second person is thinking, and we are the next in line.
free-cycle accomplishes several things:
1. i get free shit
2. things don't go to landfills
3. i get projects (i live for redoing furniture)

the one down side to the group is that there are people who reply because they might want it and then don't do it. like in the case of the cat. i really want her. apparently she looks just like my partner's childhood cat, hamburger, and she also looks a lot like my friend Michael's cat Marzipan, but fatter.

when i joined the group, i got really excited for doing thing second hand, but i realized that i didn't pay for most of my things (furniture wise). here is a list of things that i bought.
-shelf for tv/stereo (year 2000)
-coffee table from ikea (2008)
-full sized bed (2004)

here is some of what i have snagged for free.
-dresser (2008)
-bedframe (2008, total cost after repair and paint $15)
-car, 1993 plymouth laser in working condition, only needed an oil change (2008)
-bedside table (2008, was built by my great grandmother's brother in the 1890s)
-shelves (2007, grandma moved to a retirement village)
-couch (2007)
- tv (2007)
-dvd player (2005)
- laptop (graduation gift 2005)
-computer (2003/2004)
-chair (2002, college friend didn't have room for it in his place)
-table (2000, found it in my mom's barn)

-dresser (1997, it was my dad's baby dresser)
-love seat (1995, my aunt's from when she was in college, then mom's, then mine)



Thursday, September 18, 2008

mmm....

i am in the middle of making some wicked awesome tofu. it is a basic garlic pepper tofu, but i did it without any help or recipe. it isn't super hot, but it has a nice gradual warming to it. the end product will be a little spicier.
here is what i did...
chop up a shit-ton of garlic.
put some oil (i used extra virgin because i'm out of canola)
heat it up real good
add cubes of tofu (don't forget to press the water out first)
cover the tofu with black pepper, then red pepper flakes, then dark mushroom soy sauce and mirin
fry the crap out of it.
then set it aside.
in another pan, put more garlic in there, heat it up with more oil.
then begin to fry the mushrooms, add green onion, asparagus and more pepper and sauces, i think i'll add a pinch of sugar because i am out of plum sauce.
serve it over brown rice. if you want, put some cock sauce on the side, it should be good.
i'm not done with it, but I'll comment on the outcome.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

kitty

so, there is this cat in our apartment right now. i knocked on a couple of doors with no answer and it seems to think that our porch is home. i am allergic to cats. i can already feel my throat get scratchy, my eyes are a little watery, and my nose is a little runny. that said, this thing is so freakin' cute. it is a dirty white color (the cat is not dirty) it has a grey face and grey tail, and big bright blue eyes. it is now perched on our couch by the window. we know it has a home, because it is so friendly. it heard me grab a bowl for water and it instantly knew that bowls were full of yummy things. the down side to this cat is that it has no collar, which means that we have no way to tell where the owner is. i am already selfishly wanting to adopt this cute creature. allergies be damned!
i named it "cat"