Flash Mob!

Today was convocation day at MCC -- which meant free food, a free shirt, and a belly dancer. What's not to like? This was the first time we held convocation, and, though I was initially cynical, I have to say it was a great time. I got to participate in a flash mob dance, write a skit for our branding campaign, write and help direct a funny video (which will hopefully be put on YouTube soon) and ... did I mention the free food?



I put most of my pictures on Facebook, but here are a few of my favorites from the dance and the skit. We did the same dance that was billed as the largest flash mob ever (?) on the Oprah show to the Black Eyed Peas. The Oprah version was kind of cool, because it started with one crazy woman, then eventually the entire crowd was dancing the same dance. I think ours was the largest ever done at MCC. Haha.







This is the only shot where I can be seen flashing...dancing...flash dancing. Or is it flash mobbing? Moves like Jagger, no?


(just added!)
Someone did tape the event, so hopefully this will stay up on YouTube despite the use of copyrighted music. We started it off kind of the same as Oprah, with one person suddenly starting to dance, then slowly everyone joins in. What we lacked in coordination, we made up for in enthusiasm.



This is my boss, Christina, and Jay Geller, who teaches theater and speech, during the skit. It's kind of a long story why Jay is dressed as a cow. Suffice it to say, though, it was a hit, and Jay gets the "other duties as assigned" award...for the decade.

Miles To Go

This headline refers to both my recent attempt to bike commute (fantastic) and preserve Swiss chard from the garden (not so great).

First the commute. I eased into it by stuffing my bike into the back of the Mini (no small feat) on Monday and then riding my bike home. I discovered a route via Google maps (love their bike route feature) that almost completely avoids busy roads and gives me a safe route to the bike path, which is about 80% of my trip. I've been wanting to do this ALL SUMMER while we had Fridays off, but it was either raining or 100+ degrees...or I forgot to plan ahead. So, anyway, the ride: it was great!! It's just under 15 miles and takes me just over an hour. Going home, I enjoy a slight (2%) downgrade for part of the way too.

The next day, I biked to work, which was also enjoyable, even though I was stressing a little about keeping up my pace. But I finished just a few minutes over my going-home time and had plenty of time to put my bike back in my car and take a shower. I had packed an extra change of clothes in my gym bag Monday, so it was all good.

The only part I don't like is an off-road portion I have to traverse to get from Oak Street to the bike path that takes me right to the college parking lot. It's all overgrown by weeds and the path itself is basically a dirt rut in the ground. There's *supposed* to be a path (where the white arrow is below), and it's even shown on Google maps, but it's most definitely not there. So I had to take a dirt path of slight resistance (red arrow) to get to the road.



Anyway, I'm so psyched, I may do the same on Friday and then ride back Saturday to get my car. Then next week, maybe I'll do the bike ride 'round trip a couple times.

On the chard front...oy vay. I had this brilliant idea to puree fresh chard with a touch of apple cider and then freeze it in Dixie cups for use in smoothies throughout the winter. First of all, do you know how much room Dixie cups full of chard puree take up in the freezer? Second of all...what a freaking mess chard makes when you blend it with juice and neglect to put the top on tightly. Talk about going green... So I have a smallish supply of Dixie cup chard, but I ain't doing that again. Also, I read that not blanching the chard before freezing can cause it to go a bit "off" if you store it too long. Greaaat.

So then I tried to blanch a buttload of it, but that was also a wet, sloppy, time-consuming mess, and I wasn't sure how to portion it adequately for freezing in food saver bags. Note, you can't use a food saver with freshly blanched chard, because it's so wet, it sucks all the liquid out and into your machine. So I froze wads of soggy chard first, then attempted to food saver them.



Nothing like a ball of blanched chard to make your mouth water. And the end result was just stupid and, again, I don't have enough room in my freezer to really store a winter's worth, so I may just forget the whole thing. These frozen lumps don't blenderize too well -- they kind of ping around in the blender, the action of which forms a nice round ball of green ice. Delicious! I know I can buy chard in the store, but I don't like to use that stuff raw in a smoothie due to pesticides and who knows what else may be on the leaves.

However...I may try another round by "blanching" the leaves in boilable bags or in the microwave. I have to clean out my freezer first though. Right now it's full of rhubarb, freezer jam, bread and a layer or two of things I've forgotten about. I may have to invite Odie home to eat some of it.

All Better

On the hair front, I threw caution to the wind...and I'm glad. It's definitely more blond than I would normally have, but still, I like it a lot better. It's very Billy Idol. She fixed it for free, though I gave her 10 bucks. Jeeze, it's grown quite a bit in just one week.



Note, there's still one memorial strand of red. But I think it's jaunty.



Here's the first August nosegay!



And here's my latest shipment of delicious digestive biscuits! Yum.



It's hard to find them around here, or, if you do, they're way expensive. I remember buying these in Germany for what amounted to about 50 cents a package. Four bucks is a deal in the states, and I've found Amazon (with free shipping!) to be the best bargain, especially since they vastly improved their packaging technique. The only rub was the expiration date on this batch was a little too soon for my liking. I like to freeze and then ration them when I need a fix. I complained to Amazon, though wasn't really expecting much, but they credited me for the FULL AMOUNT! Sweet!

A Wild Hair

I can't decide if I like my new highlight job or not. It was supposed to be a mix of "caramel" (which I assumed to be a light brown) and the regular bleached highlights, but it came out rather distinctly copper. Like a new penny. People at work said they like it, but I don't know if they're just being polite. I can't get in until next week for her to try and fix it, so I have 'til then to decide if it's worth the effort. The cut, however, I love. It was getting way unruly -- it's back to a quick towel dry and able to withstand 100 mph again.

Whadya think? Fix or leave it alone. My co worker said fixing hair color can sometimes make it worse, and she has a good point. And I'm not sure if the fix will be free or not (though I think it should be), so there's that too!

(click images to see them larger)

Good Plants Gone Wild

I am quite literally up to my ass in Swiss chard. Actually, some of the leaves (like these) are even higher than my waist.

These are more normal sized plants, but still, going to town. Notable in and of itself, but I can't help but marvel at the fact that chard is one of the more photogenic vegetables.




I wanted to post some garden progress pictures, but really the whole garden scene looks like crap. The unreliable spring weather resulted in poor planning on my part and hasty planting overall. The result is a roughshod plot that demonstrates little organization or foresight, and I've got stuff growing I didn't even plant. Like this -- I think it's corn (next to the non producing eggplants).

My favorite Chinese co worker convinced me to plant a sweet potato that had started sprouting on my desk. So I did. And the vines, or whatever they are, have bullied the adjacent tomato into submission and are now about to swallow the shed. Actually, I'm not 100% sure I did it right, because sometimes I don't always understand EXACTLY what she's saying. Something about burying the potato "just little bit," then snipping off the vines and re planting them? I planted a few snipped vines and left some as is. We'll see what happens.


Also, random sunflowers and peanut plants are popping up, no doubt planted by squirrels that are either really brilliant or slightly retarded, depending on your perspective.


And here's a tomato plant growing out of the compost bin.


It may be the only survivor, actually, because the rest of the tomatoes are being slowly consumed by blight. I'm trimming and spritzing with a home remedy concoction I got off the Internet, but I think it's going to be a losing battle.

My little patio tomato plants are particularly blighty. Isn't that pathetic?

I'm hoping they hang on long enough so I can at least get a few little tomatoes off of them. I have two more out front in pots that are doing a little better.

Black eyed Susan's, which usually offer a reliable splash of color and charm, are kind of...out of hand, frankly.


But on the plus side, the basil seeds I tossed out have turned in to a bumper crop (left), and so did the chard seeds, which I didn't even expect to grow (right).


I've also got some baby bell peppers...


Tiny hot ornamental peppers that my dad said will blow the top of your head off if you attempt to eat them...


And some menarda (a.k.a. bee balm) that I accidentally uprooted and then attempted to relocate seems to have "took," and a flock of teeny tiny butterflies (I guess, or maybe they're moths?) have been flitting around them on a regular basis.



Here's the back garden behind the shed with my newly added anti varmint fortification in place. I'm sure it would be totally ineffective if a deer or other critter made even half an effort to thwart it, but I'm thinking maybe it's enough of a deterrent to make the interlopers wander into my totally unprotected neighbor's garden instead. Don't tell.


Here's the back yard part of the garden -- it's kind of an embarrassment and limping along due to increased shade from tree growth.



Herb garden I looks OK.



Herb garden II (not pictured) is a little sad looking and being overrun by chipmunks. I found a dead one in the garage yesterday though. Karma! I know they're cute, but damn...they suck. And they stink a lot more than mice when they die behind the freezer. Make a note of it.

Here's some baby chard I thinned out and have been consuming in green smoothies.


I'm wondering if I can make chard puree in the blender and then freeze that in large cubes (Dixie cups maybe?) for future use over the fall and winter in smoothies. What do you think?

In other news, mom and dad celebrated their 51st anniversary Saturday! I called to wish them happy anniversary, but, like last year, my dad wasn't exactly sure where my mom went. Later I asked if they had done anything special that day and my dad said, "I did laundry, and I think your mother went to the library." I get a little misty just thinking about it. We were going to go to Colonial, but decided that was too much effort, so I brought over some Dairy Queen. Here's dad sampling the toppings, pre sundae assembly.


I convinced my mom (who HATES wind chimes), that 51 is the wind chime year. She was not thrilled. Truth be told, I got that little chime at the annual Hysterical Society garage sale for two bucks. My dad kind of liked it and wondered aloud if he could hang it in his room, but my mom quickly nixed that idea.


Speaking of the garage sale, look at the cute little nosegay vase I got for 50 cents! This arrangement is for Tracey :)


I also got a space heater to combat the ridiculous air conditioner settings at work, a small dresser, a bunch of colored envelopes and paper, two extension cords, a cement ducky, a buttload of plastic and wooden hangers, some baskets, linen napkins, a camera, and ... other essential treasures I can't remember right now...all for about $35 bucks that went to a good cause. I wasn't fast enough to snag some polka dot rubber garden boots or a pair of metal frog statues.