Gingembre

Oh also if you missed it, my post on Kids & Veggies: http://easierthanyouthink.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/make-it-easy-kids-and-vegetables/

I really need to get a pic of Eva eating a raw beet like an apple for this one!

I've got an ongoing series Exes With Issues - actual emails and my replies from an ex of Deme's. It's really hilarious...much like Palin's interviews, I change nothing and you be laughing the whole time. It's better than Reality TV!

http://www.easierthanyouthink.wordpress.com

Transformation Contest Update: http://easierthanyouthink.wordpress.com/2009/05/08/transformation-contest-update/

Day 1 (or 84, as I am counting down) is today! I'll be posting daily to the blog - some thoughts leading up to it here: http://easierthanyouthink.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/tt-contest-day-84/

Sex meme

1. Is there anyone on your friends list you would ever consider having sex with?
Absolutely. And several I have.

2. Sex in the morning, afternoon or night?
It *usually* happens at night (as that is when I have free time) though the weekends are fabulous for both morning and my personal favorite: nap time!

3. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
Usually the left side. I think.

4. Do you masturbate?
Sometimes a LOT and sometimes not so much. It comes in waves.

5. How often? Lately?
Lately...once every few day? Sometimes two or three times in a day though. It really varies. And, if I have trouble sleeping it definitely goes up LOL - I use it in place of drugs. :-p

6. Have you ever taken your clothes off for money?
Yep.

7. Do you prefer showers or baths?
I almost always shower, but the very bestest combo is a quick shower followed by a luxurious bath. Or, a bath drawn for you by a wonderful and amazing husband who noticed that you really need some extra tender loving care. :-)

8. Have you ever had sex in the shower or the bath?
Duh.

9. Do you watch/read pornography?
I read erotica much more frequently than I watch porn. I prefer to really get into the "why" of things i.e. WHY something gets somebody turned on...though, on the visual side, I do have quite the fondness for ultimatesurrender.com

10. Do you want someone aggressive or passive in bed?
By default, aggressive. But, 2009 seems to be all about bringing out my dominant side!

11. Do you love someone on your friends list?
Of course.

12. Do you know all the people on your friends list?
Nope.

13. Would you choose love or money?
Love. But getting the bother together would be really nice!

14. Your top three favorite kinks in bed?
Restraints, toys, pain. <<What she said. 15. Has anyone ever gone beyond your personal line of respect sexually? Very rarely...and I ensure it doesn't happen again. 16. Where is the most romantic place you have had sex? Couldn't say. 17. Where is the weirdest place you have had sex? Depends on your definition of weird. Maybe my mother's workplace? 18. Have you ever been caught having sex? Yes. 19. Have you ever been to a strip club? Only the once. Had a good time, but much prefer burlesque. 20. Ever been to a bar just to get sex? Negatory. <<Ditto. Mind, not that it hasn't happened that I *got* some, but it wasn't my sole objective. 21. Ever been kicked out of a bar or a club for sexual reasons? No. 22. Ever been picked up in a bar? Many a time, with varying degrees of success. 23. Have you ever kissed or had sex with someone of the same sex? Indeed. 24. What's your sexuality? I'm quite queer, thank you. <<What she said, depending on how you define queer. If you mean gay-only, not me. If you mean pansexual, much closer. :-) 25. Had sex in a movie theater? Yes. Several times. 26. Had sex in a bathroom? Yes. Once set off a smoke alarm that way, actually. *shrugs* 27. Have you ever had sex at work? Yes. 28. Have you ever been in an "adult" store? Babeland, oh how I love thee! And I've been meaning to go back to my local SI one soon. 29. Bought something from an adult store? Absolutely. Did I mention I lurve the Njoy? 30. Do you own any sex toys? I. Fucking. Love. Sex. Toys. << DITTO. 31. If yes, how many and what are they? I actually don't own that many. A crop, a sadly now-broken vibrator (one of the Rabbit ones I think it's called?) that I've kept to use as a prop, a butt plug, my much beloved Njoy, some restraints, some collars, a chain or two. Some heels that are only worn on such occasions LOL. A large wooden hairbrush also kept for certain instances now that I think of it. If anyone decides they want to buy me some to help this pitiful collection do let me know! ;-) 32. Does anyone have naughty pics of you or are you on film? What do you consider naughty? 33. Have you ever had sex with someone and called them the wrong name? No. I almost never use names during sex, oddly enough. Sir, now...that has been a mainstay lol. 34. Have you ever had phone sex? Yes. 35. Have you ever had cyber sex? Not yet. 36. Do you think oral sex constitutes as a form of intercourse? Intercourse? Dunno. Sex? Yes. 37. What's your favorite sexual position? Depends on my mood. 38. What's your favorite sex act? Also depends on my mood. Sometimes I am particulary fond of giving oral. 39. Have you ever had sex with more than one person at a time? Absolutely! It can be a lot of fun. :-) 40. Who do you think has the guts to repost this? Quite a few...you know who you are. :-D

Some stuff I wrote up the other morning and forgot to post:

Achievements and learning experiences in 2008

The most noticeable change from the outside is probably my making dance part of my life again. Staring last January, I began taking social dance (salsa mainly) classes twice a week, leading quickly to performing in a student troupe. I have maintained this through the year, and this is huge because it means I have learned to spend big ticket money on myself, as well as to take time for something that mqakes my heart sing, without feeling too guilty about it. In fact, overall this was a big year of "me", which was a great experience although I do believe it went a tad too far - and 2009 will see me correcting a bit of that.
This past year also heralded a job change for me, back into the corprate world and very happy with the change.

In other big news, I took the poly stuff in a new direction this year, getting emotionally involved with someone - a relationship that has lasted 8 months and shows every sign of continuing. To say this was a shock, for me as well as Deme, would be an understatement. We muddled through it as we always do (meaning pretty much on our own) and I think we are pretty cool now, but we recently discussed the wisdom of reading some helpful material together and getting involved in the poly community a bit, and how this could be very helpful to the both os us. I am eager to see where that leads us.

Raw food as a diet - and lifestyle to an extent - was a large part of the last quarter of 2008 for me, and continues to be central in my life. It is not always easy, and I expect 2009 to bring me a lot of learning along those lines. I also am starting to workout regularly, something I should see big results from by summer, so stay tuned lol.

In 2008 I also put together several burlesque shows. This was a great experience, but one I was not able to keep up with all my other commitments. Performing however is something I am still very interested in, and plan to get back into more over the summer.

Kid-wise, everything has been amazing. Ana is in kindergarten now, and has started reading on her own quite well. Eva wants so much to match her sister, and her math skills in particular are impressive. They are both a joy to be around, generally helpful and polite, always funny and full of love. I adore them both!

Deme has been amazing. I fall in love with him again every day. He is not always easy, but he is always worth it. He has so many qualities that I admire (especially his drive and ambition!) And through it all he stays supportive of my goals and our family and reminds me that he is human too (don't believe the rumors...) Plus he is always looking GOOD. Win. Marriage-wise, we find we share many of the same goals, something which is extremely important.

I have learned that house-wise I need to be alert that I do not allow myself to backslide on my FLYing habits. While a little bit of leeway is sometimes neccessary, without correction of that slide very quickly, things go bad. And when my house is bad, everything suffers. So, awareness is imperative.

I still wish I had more time. :-( Socially, if you are not part of my salsa-world, I probably rarely speak to you, and see you even less. And that sucks - I am a pretty social creature by nature, but after family is dance, and after that very little time is left. I am giving serious consideration to <http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/10/polyphasic-sleep/>sleeping polyphasically</a> :-), though to do the "uberman" scedule in my life I do not think would work at the current juncture.

I am behind on my food updating (and forgot to photograph today's food - duh!), hopefully I can catch up tomorrow. I am off soon to the post office to mail something for Deme, pick up some chocolate with any luck, and get myself to dance rehearsal.

This weekend was full of angst. Some hard decisions were made, made the more difficult because Deme and I were very close to being at an impasse, and for a brief moment there was uncertainty if we would make it past. But we have not been together this long for nothing, and in the end we were both able to come to the table and find a solution that addressed both of our concerns.

Funnily enough, I think that such drama-filled situations heighten our psychic connection. It would not be the first time - perhaps it is because we deliberately open ourselves to the other when reconnecting after such times? In any case, I would love to learn how to deepen that connection WITHOUT the need for the drama! What made me think of this? Last night we were heading to bed, and neither of us had a phone upstairs (we use them as our alarm clocks). So Deme went downstairs to get his. And I thought very clearly for him to bring up a particular toy. As it happened, he brought up another one, and I thought he had picked up on the general vibe but not the specific thought (especially as I was finding it a bit hard to keep my focus). Turns out, as I found after, that he not only stopped to look at the toy I was thinking of, but touched it, before choosing another.

Technically, I did not find this, Deme did. But I love it to death! And that is my (can I call it mine? *ducks*) bowling bag. Actually there are two of them, but I tend to prefer the lighter blue one. They are both old school bowling bags, which means they have great retro lines, with fabulous colors and piping, and they are also designed to carry HEAVY stuff. I can fit a LOT in one of these bags - in fact my trip to Florida back in May was four days of clothing and shoes, in this one carry-on size bag. Gotta love it. And someone was throwing them out!! What's funnier is that they didn't throw them both out at the same time - they were several weeks apart.

Rehearsal last night went very well. The technique on the slide that is the ending is coming along nicely. I was able to help someone to get by explaining the analogy I used to get it to work, which she found helped a lot. So that was nice.

Had two glasses of wine at rehearsal, plus most of a banana and a few grapes.


Getting home so late twice a week is definitely tiring over time. I was hoping to get to bed early tonight but Deme is going out so I am not sure if that will happen. I can always hope though! Especially as 3pm hits me like a load of bricks. :-(

This morning, despite running a bit late, I took the 3 minutes to make my smoothie. So I am enjoying that now. Banana & cilantro today, YUM. (I *swear* it is good - I know it sounds bizarre!) I even made some extra for Deme.



I need to ask Deme to give me a little ipod tutorial. Anyone have any apps they just love and I should know about? :-)

I have started logging my food (well trying to) both as inspiration (one hardly wants to cheat when the result is having to post it somewhere) and also as a tracking device (particularly to pick up food sensitivities). The downside to this is that it can be somewhat time consuming. As a baby step, I decided to start taking photos of my meals - if nothing else these can be used quite easily to jog my memories of what exactly I ate when I go to log meals, and also is more visually interesting. So, if anyone was interested in what exactly it is I eat these days, well, now you will know. Luckily my phone has a camera, so this should be pretty easy to keep up with.

Today I did indulge in some "homemade" potato chips from my office cafe. I should have eaten only half the bag - they were okay, but not as yummy as I expected (much preferred the vibrant flavors of my salad, and the rich creamy sweetness of the dates I had earlier), and I realize I finished the bag merely out of habit.

I have salsa rehearsal tonight, which should be good. The injury to my right thigh is recovering nicely, if Monday's rehearsal was any indication. The downside to Monday's intense rehearsal is that my left thigh is immensely sore today! Consequences of the turn we do at the end which has a controlled lowering to the ground on one leg - and which I was asked to demonstrate several times in a row. So, ouchie, but mostly in a good way. We are performing at the end of January, so that is very exciting.

I need - urgently LOL- to re-henna my hair. I no longer have "roots", it's more like the top quarter of my head! I just need to order some henna and then get on with the rather daunting task of application. I will have to find a nice expendable headwrap - I get sone up with a crazy turban style that at least lets me move around for the day. So I look a little crazy...it's a necessary sacrifice.

Twisting turns of mind sink in me like wet sand pouring between fingers
Solidly cementing trains of thought caught between the tracks into inevitable collision
Explosions bringing pain on the way to rebuilding new paths
Sparks remaining alight like stars in the sky being mapped to new locations
Fresh predictions written for an archer on journeys of the mind

I have yet to set up internet service on my ipod, but I will get to it soon. Tonight I have a lot of cleaning up to do (construction equals plaster dust everywhere in my apartment!) I have been thinking over the lessons I learned from 2008 and plan to post something before the week is out on that. Meanwhile, hope everyone is enjoying 2009 so far!!

Coming soon to this space.

Top Ten Things off the top of my head for 2008

1. Getting my new job! I absolutely adore working at a place where the pay is decent and, much more importantly, I have real responsibilities and projects that I own - I am much more than just an assistant.

2. The experience of putting together my own shows. While I am too busy/tired to do more at the moment (and salsa has eaten my life!) it was a great learning experience and loads of fun.

3. Getting back to dance!! Partner dancing is THE most fun I have had in a long time. And getting asked to be in Roula's performance group was a highlight of my year.

4. Going raw. It's not always easy-peasy to eat this way, but it feels so fantastic when I do it. And raw chocolate is AMAZING (and pricey!)

5. Seeing Ana's excitement at being in school. She is SO amped, every day, and it is a joy to watch her learning so excitedly.

6. Green smoothies and banana ice cream. My two favorite easiest raw recipes ever. They deserve their own entry for being so awesome!

7. Finally getting my painting on the wall. Even if it was ripped down prematurely.

8. Reconnecting with Deme. We have had many days this year where the direction of things was unclear, and we are not out of the woods yet, but the delight that I feel when I am with him is amazing.

9. Raising over $28,000 (including 30 bags of toys for three homeless shelters) as part of the Holiday Drive at my job. I am proud of everyone here for that, but also proud of myself. That is a record number for us.

10. My little Florida vacation. Soooo much fun. The first "real" vacation I have had as an adult.

I am tired. So very very tired. I've gotten very little sleep in the past two days, and it has gotten to me in a big way. However, some of that was self-inflicted...I think I am addicted to masturbation! At least when I eat chocolate too late at night and it gives me a burst of energy...

Over the weekend I ate a bunch of cooked food (kicked off in part by a wedding of Deme's cousin that we attended), and was consequently feeling rather hung over on Sunday, and with quite a bit of intestinal difficulty on Monday. So it is back to the raw for me (although I am not opposed to the occasional steamed veggie or small bite of potato - clearly in a different league than breaded barbecue chicken!)

I went two weeks ago to a raw chocolate party, had an amazing time, and then injured my right thigh quite thoroughly when I did a trick I should not have done with warming up and stretching first. Luckily, with a day off work to recover, judicious application of Tiger Balm, many hot baths, and careful stretching, I seem to be healing pretty well. I have back a 90-degree extension with only a bit of stiffness, so I am confident that the remainder will return in time for our salsa performance at the end of January.

Speaking of salsa, I performed recently - as a leader, aka the "guy" - and if you're interested, video of our first performance can be seen here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v281/themeows/Salsa%20Performance/?action=view¤t=salsa_performance.flv It was such a blast!

I am still a bit lonely feeling, especially over the interwebs, but perhaps being able to go online soon (Deme got me an ipod for Xmas!) will help. I may even finally get on Facebook. My main difficulty with all of that btw is my concern with reconciling my burlesque and nonburlesque identities. Am I, and should I be, concerned with the potential impact on my career - this is the question I have yet to answer. Any advice is appreciated.

I have not had a lot to say lately. Actually, that is not quite true. I have lots on my mind, but I have not been drawn to post here often - or anywhere else online for that matter. In a number of way I have been very internet-antisocial for the past several months. I am starting to post a small amount on a raw food forum, but that is only because I have specific questions or occasionally anecdotes to share, and this has only been in the past few days. I feel a bit lonely.

Sometimes I cheat and eat a little yummy chicken.

Sometimes I want to run.

Sometimes I look across a vast chasm.

Sometimes I am so proud my heart could burst.

Sometimes I choke on anger when I should be letting it flow off me.

Sometimes

I came across an email I sent someone in response to her questions about my raw food experience. Thought I would share it here (partly because I am lazy!)

Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!!!

*************

I have two cookbooks (one by Juliano, and one by Nomi Shannon) that were left behind years ago by a former roommate. Juliano's has lots of beautiful photos and bits of story, while Nomi's is very practical as far as how to stock your kitchen etc. I also recently bought "12 Steps to Raw Food" by Victoria Boutenko (who got me totally hooked on green smoothies) http://www.rawfamily.com/ which is more general about the problems people have getting off cooked food (similar to an addiction), why greens are so important, etc.


There is a blog post I was just reading, she links a number of popular sites http://debbiedoesraw.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-rawversary-thank-you-my-dear-friends.html#disqus_thread.

I found reading various websites to be extremely helpful.

BY FAR one of the most helpful and interesting reads was Steve Pavlina's thoroughly documented 30 Day Trial of raw food.
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/02/raw-food-diet/

Several things made it pretty easy for me to go raw. The groundwork for me was laid over several years in a number of ways: 1) I am already used to be "weird" in many ways, from extended breastfeeding and natural childbirth to polyamorous relationships, and more. So identifying as part of this "fringe" was no longer problematic for me. 2) I was already used to cooking from scratch daily. This is big, as I had already made the change in my head that when I am grocery shopping, quite a few things simply do not register as "food" to me, therefore I don't get tempted to buy them. For example, you will not find boxed mix for ANYTHING in my house. Everything is a "from scratch" ingredient, with the exception of the wholewheat pasta. 3) Further cementing that worldview was when I became intolerant of dairy. That cut out a HUGE swath of baked goods, and nearly every prepared candy you can think of (almost all of the have some form of dairy derivative). It also made clear to me the connection between what I eat and how I feel in a way nothing else had before (i.e., I feel VERY bad and am in the bathroom a lot if I cheat on the dairy!). And last but by no means least, 4) I LOOOOVE salad and veggies of all types!

Wait I lied, there's also 5) I have the full support of my husband, and even my coworkers are pretty interested and supportive, and 6) I lucked upon a raw foods restaurant (Bonobo's) and just LOVED all their food.

Personally, I have had a very easy time of it so far, likely because of those things. I originally decided to do my own 30-day trial (and thus had an out at the end) but am definitely going to keep it going for at least another 2 months, and if I do add any cooked food back in after that, it will be a small proportion (i.e. 85% raw or so). However, many people do very well started gradually and increasing the percentage of raw food over time. And of course the goal does not need to be 100%! While there are some fanatics out there with a religious zeal towards that 100%, there are also lots of people who do "high raw", meaning a high percentage of their food is raw. One of the best suggestions I saw was to slowly make certain meals raw over time, for instance make breakfast raw (I suggest a green smoothie!), and then when that is comfortable, make lunch raw as well, then maybe 1 full raw day a week, etc.

OH and before I forget: Pop Tarts of a sort. http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/2008/02/cant-hardly-wai.html (check out http://rawdorable.blogspot.com/ for lots more!)

(This is an example of "gourmet raw", some of which is easy to do and other recipes way more complicated or requiring a dehydrator, etc. This by no means is to say that raw food can't be simple!)

OK I have rambled on a great deal now LOL!

Clearing out some emails, I came across a reply I sent someone who had some questions about my raw food experience. Thought I would post my reply here...

I have two cookbooks (one by Juliano, and one by Nomi Shannon) that were left behind years ago by a former roommate. Juliano's has lots of beautiful photos and bits of story, while Nomi's is very practical as far as how to stock your kitchen etc. I also recently bought "12 Steps to Raw Food" by Victoria Boutenko (who got me totally hooked on green smoothies) http://www.rawfamily.com/ which is more general about the problems people have getting off cooked food (similar to an addiction), why greens are so important, etc.


There is a blog post I was just reading, she links a number of popular sites http://debbiedoesraw.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-rawversary-thank-you-my-dear-friends.html#disqus_thread.

I found reading various websites to be extremely helpful.

BY FAR one of the most helpful and interesting reads was Steve Pavlina's thoroughly documented 30 Day Trial of raw food.
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/02/raw-food-diet/

Several things made it pretty easy for me to go raw. The groundwork for me was laid over several years in a number of ways: 1) I am already used to be "weird" in many ways, from extended breastfeeding and natural childbirth to polyamorous relationships, and more. So identifying as part of this "fringe" was no longer problematic for me. 2) I was already used to cooking from scratch daily. This is big, as I had already made the change in my head that when I am grocery shopping, quite a few things simply do not register as "food" to me, therefore I don't get tempted to buy them. For example, you will not find boxed mix for ANYTHING in my house. Everything is a "from scratch" ingredient, with the exception of the wholewheat pasta. 3) Further cementing that worldview was when I became intolerant of dairy. That cut out a HUGE swath of baked goods, and nearly every prepared candy you can think of (almost all of the have some form of dairy derivative). It also made clear to me the connection between what I eat and how I feel in a way nothing else had before (i.e., I feel VERY bad and am in the bathroom a lot if I cheat on the dairy!). And last but by no means least, 4) I LOOOOVE salad and veggies of all types!

Wait I lied, there's also 5) I have the full support of my husband, and even my coworkers are pretty interested and supportive, and 6) I lucked upon a raw foods restaurant (Bonobo's) and just LOVED all their food.

Personally, I have had a very easy time of it so far, likely because of those things. I originally decided to do my own 30-day trial (and thus had an out at the end) but am definitely going to keep it going for at least another 2 months, and if I do add any cooked food back in after that, it will be a small proportion (i.e. 85% raw or so). However, many people do very well started gradually and increasing the percentage of raw food over time. And of course the goal does not need to be 100%! While there are some fanatics out there with a religious zeal towards that 100%, there are also lots of people who do "high raw", meaning a high percentage of their food is raw. One of the best suggestions I saw was to slowly make certain meals raw over time, for instance make breakfast raw (I suggest a green smoothie!), and then when that is comfortable, make lunch raw as well, then maybe 1 full raw day a week, etc.

OH and before I forget: Pop Tarts of a sort. http://www.welikeitraw.com/rawfood/2008/02/cant-hardly-wai.html (check out http://rawdorable.blogspot.com/ for lots more!)

(This is an example of "gourmet raw", some of which is easy to do and other recipes way more complicated or requiring a dehydrator, etc. This by no means is to say that raw food can't be simple!)

OK I have rambled on a great deal now LOL!

The end of week three is here. I have meant to post MUCH more frequently, but , well, it just hasn't happened. So, how is it going? FABULOUS.

I am loving the raw food. It helps that I just LOVE salad (in fact I crave salads much more than fruit lately) and having a great raw restaurant near my dance school is a big plus too (as I am there twice a week). I have not had any real cravings for cooked food for the most part. I have more energy, and I feel "lighter" in spirit, as well as physically (I've lost about 3 pounds). I have occasional bouts of euphoria - it can be a bit strange at times! I think being raw has also made me more...psychically in tune. A number of times within the past three weeks I have been thinking of someone and then BAM I run into them on the street, etc.

I had an amazing experience last night. I had decided to skip my last dance class and instead go to Bonobo's to get a superyum salad and then go salsa dancing at La Nacional. Well, I thought that Bonobo's closed at 9 (thus why I skipped my class) BUT when I got there I out it actually closes at 8. Nooooooo. So, I thought about it and remembered that there is a raw food restaurant on E17th, and since La Nacional is on 14th, I figured, let me wander over there and see what I can find. What I found is Sal Anthony's. I had two amazing dishes there (zucchini "spaghetti" with cashew "alfredo" sauce, mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes; and cashew "cheesecake" which was AMAZING) but the very best part was the conversation I got into randomly. As it happened, when I sat down I was across from a couple who it appeared were having raw gourmet food for the first time. As I overheard the woman wondering how the cheesecake was made, I spoke up and told her that it's not that hard. This struck up a conversation on raw food, I ended up sitting at their table, discussing everything from raw food versus cooked, ayurvedic views on eating meat, salsa, samba (she is from Brazil and used to perform frequently), life coaching, burlesque and more. I gave her lots of names of raw food authors, and she ended up treating me to dinner. I was really on a high when I left to go salsa dancing (where I also had a great time).

As I come to my last week of my 30-days raw, I just don't want to stop. So I have decided to stay raw for at least another two months.

OH I almost forgot to write about the green smoothies! A number of people at my job are now interested, and Deme has started getting into the green smoothies as well (he's also getting into a 65% raw mentality, i.e. to eat raw say for breakfast and lunch - god knows he LOVES my salad, I have to make twice as much as I need to make sure I have enough LOL!). Green smoothies, I realize this will sound crazy, but it is just bananas and greens (e.g., spinach, kale, etc.) blended with some water. The thing is, it looks insanely green, but it tastes like banana. I generally use 3 bananas and about half a bag of greens, maybe a bit less. They are SOOOO good for you, very filling, and really taste good. Try it! :-)