adventures of a little fish

@ percy street barbecue. it’s time for my nap.

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:56:08 -0500

@ percy street barbecue. it’s time for my nap.

estringsgstrings replied to your post: privilege Ugh. I want to suggest you write more, but I’d...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:04:22 -0500

estringsgstrings replied to your post: privilege

Ugh. I want to suggest you write more, but I’d rather you have no reason to write this. Take care of yourself. The good news is, you’re probably going to kick ass at jiujitsu.

i feel the same way about your writing lately too - including the wish that you didn’t have a reason to write a lot of what you’ve written. but i find it brave that you’re willing to unpack your luggage in writing. i’m too much of a coward.

anyway, the interesting auto-biographical stuff, i can’t write about in public. ;)

i figured out what to do about this message sitting in my inbox!

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500

estringsgstrings answered you:

What do you think about the Washington Post article “The new domesticity: Fun, empowering or a step back for American women?” (11/25/11) It seems like you’re totally into the domestic activities they talk about in the article! I find the social and moral sentiment behind the modern DIY home ec movement very appealing, but I find it also interesting that between finishing a professional degree and working p/t, I just don’t have the inclination to spend time in the kitchen making elaborate things.

I like to think about food like this: when the zombies come, or when whatever happens in The Road happens, and people start trolling for food, eating whatever they can find, and eventually turning on each other, it’ll be really helpful for as many of us as possible to be able to actually understand where food comes from, and how to provide it. I’ve followed this through enough to know that when there’s no time to stay and wait for plants to grow, we’ll be sprouting seeds in bags in our pockets, because it’s the only way to procure food while staying in motion. If we stop they’ll eat us.

I’m being dramatic but:

There’s a lot of hateful food out there. Let’s stick with McDonalds as our example. Everything, from the places they’re getting their animal based foods, how those animals are treated, the lives they lead, how they’re killed, the lack of any nutritious value, the damage it can actually do to you, the lack of imagination or love in it’s actual production, or the taste (is McDonalds really delicious? I definitely view people who believe it is as wildly duped). Nothing about their food has any single living person or animal, or this earth’s best interests at heart. Perkins. Other fast food restaurants. Other chains. All of these places built for convience and price. Let’s be dramatic and say something does happen to these businesses (or maybe we’re being hopeful, here), places that many many many people have come to view as viable sensible sources of food for themselves and their families. People will be lost. Honestly, when someone says they hate tomatoes, my first thought is they’ve never actually tried a real tomato. Yeah. You hate tomatoes when all you know is the kind that come on a McDonalds hamburger.

This question is awesome, and I’m getting to my point, but it’s coming on the heels of probably the first food photo set I’ve posted that I had nothing to do with. I was actually feeling bad that of the Thanksgiving food photos that I posted, I stuffed the samosas and made the sweet potato marshmallow biscuits. My loving boyfriend baked the bread, made the curry blend, made the filling for the samosas, and made a blueberry apricot compote stuffed pinwheel cookies, not pictured. I made some paneer, but that man outperformed the fuck out of me. Most of the food pictures I post are projects we’ve spent hours on, true, but together. And we do want to have our own quail, and we have a garden that we work on together. He’s far cleaner than I am, which is something I’ve been making chore lists to try and be better at.

Things I agree with about the article, wholeheartedly: our current food system is broken. If I had a child, I would want to home school, or move somewhere where I could assertain my child would be in good hands. A lot of this has a lot to do with things really honestly needing to change. There’s so much power in being able to do things for yourself. Shelter, food, clothing, basic survival techniques in any climate. Shopping for clothing at places like Wal-mart, again an easy target. Everything, from how the fibers are procurred, the shapes and cuts of the fabrics, where they come from, how far they have to be shipped, who’s making it, what they’re getting paid. That stuff is hateful to me, too. If it’s about balance, it’s because people get that we need it.

I don’t believe it’s just women feeling this way, at all. That part of the article I’ll believe when I see actual believable statistics. I know just as many, if not more women than men who straight up refuse to take part in household chores, simply because they are liberated women. Even if that means that they have a cigarette in one hand, a drink in the other, and aren’t doing shit otherwise.

privilege

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:07:00 -0500

i’m going to my first jiujitsu/self-defense class tomorrow. jiujitsu was recommended to me because the starting spar position is on the back.

the doorman across the street and i used to be friendly in passing. once, he helped me hail a cab. but last week, he crossed the street to talk to me, gave me a hug, then asked about the food i smelled like. it probably wasn’t a freudian slip that he said, “i want to taste you.” then he grabbed me and kissed me on the cheek more than a couple of times.

i wasn’t sure what to do so i made up my mind to tell him that he made me very uncomfortable if he approached me again, kept my lights on constantly, and kept my curtains drawn. the man’s job is to watch me come and go. he knows where i live.

last night, i guess he could still see into my apartment even though my curtains were almost entirely drawn - just the slightest crack allowed a side view. i got home - sweaty, skin peeled, sore - and i came back out into the main room of my apartment to get dressed after my shower. he crossed the street and sidled up next to the window. he tried to press close to the wall of my building so that i wouldn’t see him.

i walked away calmly from where i sat. i got dressed. i took the books off the windowsill and pinned the curtains shut.

$50,000 a year at penn still won’t buy me the right parents, or the urge to fit in with people who think that betty draper is a cool halloween costume. it will never pay for the masculine ability to walk around without fear of being raped.

but at least it pays for commissioned big-city police officers who work for the school. big-city police officers who actually offered me a beverage and kindly treatment, and made a stern phone call on my behalf. it’s a lot better than what a lot of women get.

still, i certainly wouldn’t want to be unprepared on my back.

5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7 tore my skin off on the last climb and called it a fucking day. me...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:19:00 -0500

5.7 5.7 5.7 5.7

tore my skin off on the last climb and called it a fucking day.

me and peter are totes going to do 5.8 before the end of the month.

it took me a long time to pick this one for cocktail night. the...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:53:00 -0500

it took me a long time to pick this one for cocktail night. the “big brew”:

2 oz gin
1/2 oz fresh squeezed lime
slice of fresh ginger

shake the ingredients with ice. pour into a cup. top with ginger beer. garnish with mint leaves.

a huge list of gin cocktail recipes

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:27:00 -0500

a huge list of gin cocktail recipes:

pauline’s hobbies, circa 2012: rock climbing, bicycling, casual photography, cooking, drinking craft beer and classic cocktails, being quietly pretentious

Silk City

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:13:14 -0500

Silk City

my typical breakfast. i try to alternate with yogurt so my...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:52:00 -0500

my typical breakfast. i try to alternate with yogurt so my cholesterol doesn’t get crazy.

this took me many years to realize, but it’s so obvious: fresh ingredients are so much easier to incorporate in one’s diet - especially as a cook for one - if you just chop several portions and refrigerate the rest. i never would have bothered with the green onions this morning if i hadn’t just tossed them on from the little container in my fridge. i feel bad for anyone standing near me (and my breath).

this monster is done. conquered. slain. the overhang sticks out...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:21:43 -0500

this monster is done. conquered. slain. the overhang sticks out ninety degrees from the wall. peter, who has superior forearm strength, tried it last week, and failed, so i didn’t bother. this time - my first attempt - it was… easy? it was actually graded a mere 5.4. whatever. i started off strong at a 5.6+. there’s a 5.7- calling my name within the week.

on being tired

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:22:00 -0500

i think i kicked up the “i’m a second semester 3L with tons of time to exercise!” thing too quickly - feeling like i’m run over by a truck right now. last week, i went to the rock gym three times, ran 18 miles (one of which was an 8+ mile run), and lifted; the week before, i lifted multiple times, went to yoga, did a bunch of running. i haven’t taken a real rest day for a while. my muscles feel slightly kicked in the ass from yesterday since we focused almost entirely on chest and abs - abs are totally my weakest spot.

the thing is, after i go to the rock gym or lift, i feel great! since i haven’t been climbing in so long (and i certainly haven’t climbed more than once a week since 2009), i basically started at the very easiest level at the local rock gym - 5.4 - but in a week, i’ve already recovered enough muscle memory to be back on the 5.6s. i can’t imagine it will take too long to get up to 5.7.

i should probably cut down on the running since i was only 10 miles at most before the start of the semester and ease back up. ok, that’s my plan.

gotta go ride over to the rock gym now. the weather’s soooo good.

Day 1 of Pauline’s Magical Crepe-venture. Unpictured:...

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:41:18 -0500

Day 1 of Pauline’s Magical Crepe-venture. Unpictured: raspberries, Orangina. I kind of want to start stocking champagne so I can have mimosas every weekend.

i’m cooking! these ingredients made me cry and sneeze, but...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:15:00 -0500

i’m cooking! these ingredients made me cry and sneeze, but they’re worth the drama. this (with my adaptations) will be enough super-delicious lunches to last me the week. last time, i actually went home to eat instead of buying out when i didn’t pack my lunch, it’s so good.

barbuzzo for lunch yesterday. the salted caramel budino was sooo...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:21:35 -0500

salted caramel budino

barbuzzo for lunch yesterday. the salted caramel budino was sooo very delicious.

cooksuck: This was my lunch, jelly? You should be :) here is a...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:27:49 -0500

cooksuck:

This was my lunch, jelly? You should be :)

here is a list of people who are ‘jelly’ of this:

- the jewish concentration camp population in the latter stages of world war 2.

- the majority of north koreans.

- university students with heavy drinking/gambling/drug problems

i love love love this tumblr

amazing restaurant week menu at the farmer’s cabinet. the...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:30:32 -0500

gin fizz

duck rillete

detail of the duck rillete

hangar steak

bread pudding

amazing restaurant week menu at the farmer’s cabinet. the duck rillete was unbelievable - it’s a bit like a duck pate with a top layer of duck fat.

cindy and i have been training together, pushing each others’ weaknesses. i’m very proud that her upper body looks more muscular after only a couple of weeks. tomorrow morning i organized a group ~~run~~ jog, a very slow recovery-pace jog. i’m getting everyone out of bed at 8 (none of us have early morning obligations). should be her first time running outside for more than half a mile. it’s going to be lots of fun, all of us crawling along at turtle pace.

happy lunar new year!

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:33:55 -0500

it’s the year of the dragon. wear red today.

psa to the strippers that follow me: you guys should celebrate and make sure your customers know it’s chinese new year! because the most important tradition of chinese new year is getting money!

all joking aside, i wanted to go home this year (as i do every year) but no time - the new year crept up on me. at least i called my parents!

You are (figuratively) looking at the proud owner of a brand new...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 18:07:49 -0500

You are (figuratively) looking at the proud owner of a brand new membership at the local rock climbing gym, home of the tallest indoor rock wall on the east coast.

You are (literally) looking at the tallest indoor rock wall on the east coast.

I turned in my paper! Immediately overloaded on fun afterwards...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:05:45 -0500

I turned in my paper! Immediately overloaded on fun afterwards - was out the door to dinner/drinks within 10 minutes. Got up early this morning and ran 6.66 miles before class. My paper gave me carpal tunnel syndrome, so it’s an enforced break from my computer. Haha.

J made this super cute penguin cupcake! I loved it!

bibimbop from tampopo. tampopo is definitely an under-rated...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:03:00 -0500

bibimbop from tampopo. tampopo is definitely an under-rated restaurant in my mental hierarchy of nearby restaurants… it’s run by koreans and has a ton of food that i like (korean and japanese). eel rice bowl? check. japanese-style curry? check. bibimbop? obviously.

i’ve been writing about climate change securities disclosures…the reason why i’m burnt out is that i still have a paper from last semester hanging over me! i’ll be so, so happy when this is done. maybe i’ll even go grocery shopping instead of eating takeout!