Mmm, delicious!

}}} If you're wondering where that music is coming from, scroll down, it's a player of recent discovery of mine. Feel free to let it roll, or stop it until you've read what I've got to say, below. {{{

Today, I decided that we should break the mold of how we've been operating, and rather then Vanessa coming home from work, tired (she works at 7:30am) I met her at the gym associated with her work, and we got in some exercise. Then we headed out to the South Yuba river, but not before going to Fudenjuice, a wee juice, and you guessed it, food place, that, in our first trip today, made a mouth puckering Lemon Lime Apple juice slushy ( there seems to be a fondness for healthy slushies here, rightly so in this hothot place!) and a most delicious, monstrous wrap thingee, with eggs, spinach, rice, and um I forget, I didn't order it, I was just a sampler of it. Oh and it had some zesty green dipping sauce. Ah, nice!

We then moseyed through the lushly tree lined windy little road to the South Yuba River. My second visit, Vanessa's first. You could see her spirits brighten, her eyes too, as we got down to the water. She pointed out some lovely fair sized fishies swimming in the water. They were green, and unafraid of humans, except those of the young and wiley variety, who would try to catch them with their hands.

We both made our way in, and eventually found both of us floating on our tummies, sandal clad feet floating behind us. Vanessa looked not unlike a flying superhero of some sort. She enthusiastically said she'd like to make this a regular occurrence. I'm so glad, she was feeling like all she was doing was working, and not enjoying our new environs. No longer. :-)

And now I find myself home, and yet again, Amie Street scores with a selection of music I can't do without. This time it's Vieux Farka Toure, who is the son of world famous Ali Farka Toure, the Malian musician. Apparently he'd wanted his son to be a soldier, but it couldn't be helped, Vieux had talent, which he's developed nicely. Here he remixes next generation Malian music, with electronic aspects, to great effect. I bought a heap of tunes, and liked them so much, I've added the music player here for you to check VFT out for yourself. My favorite tracks are 3, 5, 7 and 9, but please check them all out, as interests you...

Enjoy!

Grrrr!

I heard Vanessa chuckling and typing away on the computer last night, and now I know why...she's busted, big time! For the record, I have been a big consumer of Goddess dressing in the past, but have since learned to be more moderate (I can see Vanessa giving me the mm hmm, surrrre look now. Arrrgh! :-9)

I think what she meant to write was, "Paul, oh he's my dream, last week he brought me this beautiful rose from our garden. I just melted. He's such a sweet, thoughtful man." Or something like that.




And in case you're wondering how Stella and Joe, our dynamic cat duo, are doing, well here's an example of the rough life they lead.



This is atop the kitchen cabinets, on which they spend a substantial amount of time. Stella especially likes to lean her head against this one particularly point part of the cabinet, while sleeping. To each their own, I suppose...

Am I right, or am I right?

Ladies, is it not the man's job to take care of the spiders?

I'm all for each person embodying both male and female qualities. In fact, Paul's empathy and listening skills have saved me on many an occasion. Yet, when it comes to spider clearing, that's a man only job.

He only protests slightly. I think to give me a hard time more than anything else. Then, he'll take care of business, as needed. No killing of course. Just finding a way to get the scary looking ones outside.

He's a good guy. I'm glad I married him. Most of the time he racks up the good husband points. Except of course, when he monopolizes the goddess dressing.

OK, this time I am going to bed.

It's my turn

I figured it was about time to make a cameo appearance on our aptly named joint blog. Paul has been the literary maestro up until this point. Mwah ha ha, and now, it's time for the take over! 

I just noticed that blogger does an automatic save on my drafts. Damn, I wish yahoo did that. I can't tell you how many times I've lost a well thought out post to my unsuspecting trigger finger that accidentally presses god only knows what button, or of course, yahoo just being wacked out at the moment. 

So here we are, Paul, Stella, Joe, & I, chillin' in our new place. It still feels new to me, yet more like a home than any other place we've been in before. It's 10:06 pm, and Paul is munching on cereal. That man can eat cereal at any time in the day. I try not to judge him for it, but sometimes I still do. I really do have to practice turning off the nutrition critic in my head. I think, should I tell him that thoroughly chewing his food really will help him digest it? Or what about mentioning that having peanut butter on top of almond cheese probably isn't the best combination? Or that emptying out 1/3 of a bottle of goddess dressing on whatever I've just cooked has more calories and fat than he needs for the whole day? Granted, I need to learn how to spice up the food fare a bit more. It's just so nutty, to chop up a whole load of garlic or ginger, and add sesame oil, or some other flavorful spice and still have my dishes taste blah. WTF is up with that?

Moving on.

It's getting close to bedtime for me. I am now in the third week of a job, that I like (I know, go figure that I'd like to do anything but my business, my business, my business- sorry y'all, I get a little obsessed with my business sometimes, it's just passion really). Anyway, this job is requiring me to not only be up early in the morning, but to be functional with my little name tag on at 730am. Anyone that knows me, knows this is a feat in and of itself. Needless to say, I'm still getting used to the schedule. Which means, it's beddy bye for ness ness. 

Stay tuned for more about the job...

Peace.

Woah....

It's interesting how quickly you can get acclimated to a new situation. A day or two ago, I was pining for the more vibrant Bay Area, more people around, etc etc. Now, having driven down with Vanessa to do a few cameo massage appearances/catching up with my Presidio classmates, I found myself a little, ok a lot overwhelmed, being in Whole Foods. From the busy, competitive parking lot, to the obstacle course of people and objects inside, it all felt like too much. Heh, I was now missing the mellow, friendly ease of Briar Patch, our sweet, green built co-op market we shop at these days. 

An example of how it is there: We rarely, if ever, need to park past the 2nd row of parking. Last night I went in there, sent on a mission by Vanessa to get a key missing ingredient for a peach pie she was making for a potluck we were going to at Blue Bird farm, an organic farm 20 minutes from us. I go in there, and ask a staff member if they had it. It being, um, gara gara, or some such repeated word, a form of seaweed that serves as a gelatin substitute, apparently. The guy takes me to where it is, takes it off the hook. 

He gets a wrinkled brow, and says, "Hmm, this is *way* overpriced...hang on, I think I know someone who will have another suggestion for you." He comes back with a friend, who suggests two alternatives, but one wasn't organic in this store (Yet. It's a new store from 3 months ago. Well new to this location, they keep on expanding over the decades...) and we all walk over to where they can be found. She tells me of all these different things that old school corn starch can be used for. How sweet, eh?

It turns out that that was for thickening, already covered by what Vanessa had. Ah well. The pie? Not one for the record books, but a nice effort, despite doing it, it turns out, totally out of order. We're not the world's best cooks. She's much more then I'll ever be, though, that I can say.

 I can also say that I came across a chef who was asking to trade weekly massage in exchange for making meals. Ooh, a whole foods focused, diversely abled, really cool sounding guy, making us food every week? Now, though I'm officially mostly retired from massage, that's a client I'd be happy to see every week. Though I do miss many of my clients from back in the Bay Area. Tried to see them this and next weekend, when I'm coming down with Vanessa. No dice, for the most part. Ah well, I'm meant to do other things with that time, perhaps? Ironic, it is, that I got an email today from someone asking for their boss, who wants to give his wife a massage a week for a year. Down here. Hmm, let's see if I can make it happen, with someone other then me doing it...Oh and the chef? Graham Hayes, the Gleaned Gourmet

This cafe (somewhere in I think Walnut Creek) is quite busy. A bit too. Ha, learn to be at peace and with wherever you are, Paul. Enjoy it as it is, not as you wish it were...

Our house, pt. 1

Some of you were asking for pictures of our new home, to "place us" in this new location in your mind. Well here you go...at least the outside. The inside isn't all purtied up enough to take pictures, yet, so that will have to wait. Meanwhile drop be here to check it out. 

Just do it

I was going to write about Powerpalooza from this weekend, but some roses got in the way. Some really beautiful ones, out in my front yard, to be precise. I decided to chop the "deadheads" off, pretty far down the stem, per our landlord's advice. I thought it would be a more cathartic experience, but as I began making my way through them all, I really felt a sense of affection, care for them. I was so happy to see that my efforts to keep them well moisturized were paying off, all this new growth. I seem to be getting the gardening bug. 

Dang, our old place, we had some potted plants (still do, keeping us company inside) But now, we have roses, peach and plum tree (two distinct trees, but wouldn't that be neat to have two in one?) three proudly flowery trees, poppies, grass, and "weeds" with flowers that open and close with the sun. Plus lots of other things, including several beeg trees. And dirt. Red, red dirt. They say it's because of the presence of iron in the soil. The walkway around the back side of the house is colored that way, I'm not sure if by nature or by choice. Either way, it's very pleasing to the eye, soul, to have non gray pavement.

I'm listening to music that seems to go well with this. And heck, many other situations. They are Jed & Lucia, whose music is a nifty mix of acoustic, with electronic atmospherics, and the two of them singing, creating this evocative music, that goes well with long road trips, ends of days, and just whenever you want to decompress, dream. One song in particular, Tree Song, is ideal for meditating, looped. Perpetuate the Cycle is particularly delicious too. You can have a listen here. 

BTW, Amie Street is my absolute favorite place to buy music these days. They give a good chunk to the artists, and you, the public, decide the pricing, by the number of purchases and recommendations a song gets. And you can play stock market with your recommendations as they increase in value, the more the song goes up in value after you do it. Will it plateau here? Will it go up? Hmmm...Amie Street just did a nice retooling of the site, making it even more useful. Mosey on over there here

As for Powerpalooza, well let's just say it was very encouraging to see so many people out to support, learn about sustainable living. Much of it was familiar territory to me, but it was good to get my face seen by the locals, and I had an especially good takeaway: It started with a conversation with Annika of Smart About Carbon, who spoke of how SAC, with nearly no promotion, and none outside the area, has been written up in a Japanese blog, and written up in another with extensive analysis about it. 

This reminded me of how Chad Upham of my cohort at Presidio spoke of hearing from people in New York about his just born endeavor, Covive. It also had had no PR to that point. This would lead me to believe that there is a certain magnetic pull around sustainability focused businesses. A desire to seek them out. 

Add to this the experience of attending a workshop by Michelle Long of the very inspirational Sustainable Connections, who basically said just start. Start even if you don't have it all mapped out. Start even if you have $0 (they did) And look for the roses, not the deadheads (I'm transposing from her talk to my life there ;-) 

So I'm going to. Even though I'm not a staff of 50 around the world, don't have 20 years experience in the field, haven't been one before, I'm going to start my own green business consultancy. 

Tomorrow I'll take pictures around the house, of all the nifty details I mentioned. Including the now very lush looking rose bushes. What a difference a whacking can make :-)

Biking, mmm...

So I don't know if it's a Grass Valley thing, or a biker thing, but tonight, on my inaugural ride of my new bike, this person who was riding on the other side of the street rode over and starts chatting with me, about my bike, and about his. I asked him where he'd recommend buying a helmet, and he says we could stop and he'd show me. I thought he meant going back to the store a a few blocks back, but no, he meant literally, we could stop and he could show me his cool helmet. How nice! He said proudly he got it at Kmart, they're $15! I decided to hold my tongue about the effects of buying big box vs. local, as I didn't want to alienate my young biking friend. But wow, how neat, eh? I don't have a comparison to the Bay Area, having not ridden a bike there since a few months after living there ('94) and getting it stolen...from my flat's storage. :-/ I've experienced it more then once now, complete strangers just deciding to talk to you. And not psychotic ones either, woot! I could get used to this...

In Mekka...

...you can get things like an Italian Slush. It is a slightly more refined, and to my mind much tastier verion of what one can get at the Mecca of all things convenient, 7 Eleven. In this case, it's blackberry flavored. 

Speaking of, when Vanessa and I were preparing to move, and she needed to look into switching carriers, I spent a little time toodling with various "smart" phones. Boy howdy is that an oxymoron! They were all so anti-intuitive, ridiculously overcomplicated, and just a plain drag to use. Especially the Blackberries. But bear in mind, this was after having given iPhones a spin, and becoming a semi-pro in 20 minutes. Is it that I'm stupid, or that there is a more well thought out user interface at play here? Hmm...

So anyway, I am at a fine little cafe in the town neighboring mine, Nevada City, called Mekka. Looking around, it's a perfect metaphor of this area: they have what looks like remnants of the previous incarnation here, looking possibly from the 1800s (when this town, and many surrounding it, were founded, during the gold rush era.) On the walls, the wallpaper is partially removed, exposing brick. They cut out the majority of the ornate ceiling, leaving these big slice of toasted sandwich bread with a pattern looking sections around these ornate light fixtures. There's a guy across the way talking to this woman, with this slow, countryish drawl...and yet, he has a tufty blond mohawk,  and is wearing a fine shiny, slightly old fashioned looking purple shirt. This is an area of many great contrasts, and I'm definitely liking it. 

I've been meaning to add to our (well my, so far) blog about life up here, but I've been, well, living it. Slowly. Settlingly. Meltingly. Emotionally. Exasperatingly. Beautifully. Serenely. Happilly. Is that enough ly's? :)

I've been feeling like I want to write it all down, all the things we've been experiencing, so I, with my in some ways fragile memory, won't lose these first tastes of being in our new home. But I realized it's impossible...well not impossible, but not desireable, to try and document it all. It's like being on holiday, but spending the majority of time behind the lens, rather then being there for it. 

So let me just say, we, after a whole heap of moving (three roundrtrips to Oakland) and much cleaning (two days past midnight) and a big nudge to finish up from the universe in the form of surprise visitors last weekend, are now happily in our new home. They say animals are a barometer of the environment around them, and I think it's true here too. Our cats, Stella and Joe, are so relaxed here. When before, at our old place in Oakland, they'd go running for the door any time we were leaving, here, they for the most part casually watch us as we approach, and stay put when we enter. Having the ability  to open most of the windows wide I'm sure makes a difference. Having trees, flowers, and sun all around you I'm sure helps too.

And yet, our house is above what the locals call "Burger Basin," a place that not too long ago, was a lake. It was drained. Now it has all manner of fast food places, and the trappings of suburbia. But at the same time, here we are, surrounded by trees, with a beautiful broad deck to eat, relax, create, and do yoga on. Ah, contrasts. Our neighbors across the street have all manner of large, rumbly vehicles, including big Fords, GMCs, and  a monstrous (but oh so fun looking) offroad creature of some sort. It's complete with multiple vehicles with weeds growing around them, chopped tree trunks, and unidentified metal objects. Just when you think you've got them nailed, up comes one of them, bobbing his head to hip hop as he pulls in. Nice.

I've got lots more to say, but I want to get back to looking around me, soaking it in. And reading the newest issue of Ode www.odemagazine.com Ooh, there's some juicy gossip going on around me, a woman who's got a new boyfriend from her living in Africa, but is afraid to tell her still current, psycho boyfriend about it. Ah, life...Tonight is the Nevada City Film Festival www.nevadacityfilmfestival.com and this weekend I'm going to, pardon the pun in advance, plug in to the sustainable community here, at Powerpalooza  www.powerup-nc.org

More to tell...stay tuned.