Pesach Cake

I was charged with the task of dessert for Passover with the Newmans this year. I found the recipe I wanted to try here and, being a cheesecake-virgin, I thought what better time to liberate myself from the bonds of fear of cheesecake making than on Passover (and when I'm making it for 12 people? Easy!)

I bought a spring-form pan and Kroger makes kosher-for-passover cream cheese and the matzo cake meal wasn't too hard to find at JewFC. The recipe doesn't call for a water-bath, but I know from my mom that that makes the best, moistest cheesecake. The toasted almonds that were leftover from the crust, I left whole and sprinkled under the crust and on top. The results were freaking amazing, if I do say so myself. Not bad for a shiksa.

She's got Legs...

Here is (finally! Sorry Grandma Lolo!) the picture of the beana's legs I mentioned in a previous post.


Her feet are on the left, ankles crossed and knees tucked up to her head, which is tilted down. The toes just slay me! So cute! In the middle of the picture, around the knee of her right leg (the one on top), you can see a little bump that is her little hand holding her leg. It makes me giggle with delight.

Lots of things are making me giggle with delight these days. Her hiccups. Her rhythmic kicking when we play loud music. When she kicked Jon in the stomach when we hugged goodbye before work the other morning.

It's so hard to image that we only have 13 weeks left (give or take...probably give). I want to savor every minute of this part.

Obama Abides?

Simply a pr move, but a good one in my eyes...I love the thought of ol' big ears saying, "Fuck it, Dude...let's go bowling."

Bathing John Malkovich

Sometimes you just post a video because it's effin' awesome.

Random Blog Awesomeness

If I had a quarter for every quarter I put in the jukebox at the Moose Lodge to hear The Devil Went Down to Georgia while I waited for my grandpa to finish his beer, I could buy a moleskine notebook.

--Wagging Tales

Making the world better in about an hour

I watched these two speeches yesterday and it took about an hour and I feel like a better person for having listened to their smart, smart words.

First, Dave Eggers who started the first of the 826s, which is the organization that I work for. They finally put his TED speech up on the TED blog. Unfortunately, they cut out the part about 4 of the other 826 locations (which Seattle is one) but the idea and the tone and the inspiration are there.



Second, Barack Obama, who dares to make me feel hopeful about this country. This is the first time in my life I felt like a politician was speaking to me like a real human being. Not condescending, not making it fit for sound bytes, not catering to the whims of the media for better spin. The first time in my life. I will vote for him even though the Republicans will steal the election again anyway.

Welcome to Weirdsville

Oh let the onslaught of ridiculously named baby supplies begin: Announcing the Prince Lionheart Wash Pod

She's a mover and a shaker

We are narrowing down names, but girl bean has been redubbed "Beana" for the time being. Much bigger than a bean now (in fact, she is just about a pound and a half!) She is moving like crazy and kicking and making herself known many times a day now...it is heavenly! I simply love knowing she is in there and alive and well.

I know I am pissing off women everywhere who have had morning sickness or food aversions or horrible heartburn and anxiety and insomnia, but I find myself saying the following phrase often and repeatedly: There is nothing about being pregnant that I haven't completely loved.

During my ultrasound on Wednesday the technician paused and looked at me.
"How tall are you?"
"5-9" I said.
"How tall is her dad?"
"He's tall!" I answered. "6'5" or so."
She nodded and smiled. "This girl's legs are l-o-n-g long. She's measuring around the 28th or 29th week for legs." She snapped a cutie pie picture of her long-ass legs all tucked up, knees to forehead and ankles crossed and handed it to me. It's precious.
Later I told Jon who laughed and said, "That's my girl!"

What this brought crashing beautifully home to me in a way that tugs at that place in your throat that trembles when you know you're about to cry is that this little person, this perfect, wondrous being is something that is completely Jon and me. We made her. She is us. God I love that. I love that almost as much as I love that she is kicking me softly right now -- a deep and tender thump somewhere under my bellybutton, letting me know she's there.

Quote of the Day

"I do feel that when you're born into the world, you're given a ticket to the freak show, and when you're born in the United States, you're given a front-row seat." - George Carlin

Effin' Awesome Sweater

Nothing else to say...

Garfield Minus Garfield

This is brilliant. Genius.

From Garfield Minus Garfield

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

Mahalo, Hawai'i

It's our last night here and, of course, it went too fast. Since I last posted, we've been snorkeling in a protected, crystal clear cove and swam with all manner of tropical fishes, where the waves gently pushed us too and fro in the warm water. I could have stayed in there all day. We returned today to snorkel in the same cove and I watched in awe as a humongous, ancient sea turtle swam just inches from my face.

Thursday, we drove around the north and east sides of the island, another all-day car ride, but so worth it as we saw gorgeous, tropical valleys, stunning waterfalls and ate delicious sandwiches in little hippie towns (where no one takes credit cards or has restrooms.) We ended in Hilo, as far from Kailua-Kona as we could be, just as everything was closing. We looked in vain for an ice cream parlor and drove down Banyan Drive where notable people have planted banyan trees when they visited Hilo (most of them in the 30's)...Nixon and Babe Ruth were amoung those we didn't see, but we did catch a glimpse of Cecil B. DeMille's tree.

Today I went to the spa and for dinner we ate steak and the most sumptuously sweet, fresh pineapple I have ever had. We and watched our final Hawaiian sunset from the balcony.

Volcanic Emissions

The drive to the volcano was long and slow. I got really car sick, so Jerry let me drive which freed up all his energy for complaining about what a waste of time going to look at some steaming LAY-vah hole is.

When we got there we learned that some roads were closed due to abnormally high sulfur-dioxide emissions but that if we rolled up the windows and turned the a/c on recycled air, that we could drive through those places. We had a picnic at the visitor's center and then drove off on the 11-mile loop around the crater. It was pretty spectacular to see from up top, much bigger than I imagined and there were steam vents everywhere. It looked prehistoric and smelled even worse.

We were turned back about 10 minutes along the route due to the roads now being closed. Apparently, the emissions had got worse. We looped back the other way to see what we could before heading home. At one of the lookouts, there was a sign warning children and pregnant ladies not to go any further, so I stayed in the car while the others held their noses and explored.
All of us got a little congested and my throat was a little sore. The fumes were very uncomfortable.

The final stop was the Thurston Lava Tube, which was a tunnel formed by a lava flow 550 years ago. It was about 15 feet in diameter and now surrounded by rain forest. It was the highlight for me. A 20 minute walk down to it and through was well worth it and the highlight of the trip for me.

Black sand, guava smoothie and breaching whales

Our day yesterday was a long one. We drove past the southern tip of the island to a black sand beach, supposed to be home to hundreds of green sea turtles, but the water was cold and the sand rough and not a turtle in sight.

On the way there, however we did stop at several cool places -- an ethnobotanical garden, comprised of native and early-introduced species of plants, a painted church whose interior walls were (somewhat crudely) decorated with biblical scenes to educate the natives about Christianity over 100 years ago, a sacred lava flat with 20 foot tall tikis and a fruit stand with the most amazing fresh fruit smoothies and macadamia nut brownies ever. By the time we got to the (somewhat disappointing) black sand beach, we had had such a cool and full day of sights and tropical fun that we were hardly even fazed.

Here are a few shots from yesterday. he first few are from our balcony in the condo. That's a humpback.

Rest assured, we are relaxing really hard

I'll let some photos speak for our second day:

We took the car to the north and discovered exotic fruits, new road signs and hung loose with kings.

Paradise is exactly like where you are....only much, much better.

Actually, Laurie Anderson's words aren't ringing true right now. If there is such thing as paradise, we are in it. It is about 74 right now (at 10:00 AM). We slept to the sounds of the waves crashing literally feet from our balcony.

We arrived last night around 5:30 at the condo after a trip to Costco. The surrounding areas are a little industrial and there are crusty, black lava flows leading all the way to the water.

The crusty shores and business parks give way to the trademark turquoise waters and crystal tide pools. Drove through a quick little touristy downtown of Kona and we arrived in our home for the next week. The deck looks out to the ocean as far the eye can see. Below us are sea turtles sunning themselves on the rocks and whales are breeching and crashing a few hundred yards out. Yep. Paradise.

It's a...

What kind of baby is it?

Thanks to a great idea (loaned to me by Dan, owner of Neptune Coffee on Greenwood Ave.) Jon and I have now in our possession a sealed little card which, on the inside, will reveal to us the sex of the bean. Sometime tonight, we will know if he or she is a she or a he and while I was not on board with the whole, "finding out before it's born" scenario, I am really excited now. We can nail down the perfect name and stop calling it "it."

We had our second ultrasound yesterday (pictures to come soon). We get to have a few more ultrasounds, thanks to my borderline high blood pressure and they want to measure the bean every 6 to 8 weeks and make sure s/he is growing at the right rate and getting enough blood etc. The technician said she was pretty sure she could tell what it was (adding the necessary disclaimer that they are rarely 100% sure), and she obliged us by not telling us what it is, but by writing it on a card and sealing it. This is the card we will open tonight, together after a celebratory dinner at Coupage, just Jon and I. Eeee!

Stay tuned.

In: Caucusing - Out: Voting

Sometimes I really feel like I am living under a rock. I have heard people say that "your democratic vote in the presidential primaries in Washington doesn't count" but until today, I had blinders on (or ear plugs or whatever it is that makes you tune things out that you don't understand.)

I went to the Washington State Democrats webpage and found out all about caucusing and primaries and our stupid, idiotic state that holds a primary election seemingly for the fun of it to the tune of 9 or 10 million dollars. Neat. When I try to find out why this stupidity is part of our system, all I find is weird cop out finger pointing -- "It's not us, it's them!"

The Washington State Legislature was the body who voted to hold a primary. The means that the Washington State Democratic Party, which chooses how delegates are decided, had no participation in the decision to hold the primary...

And on the Secretary of State's website, they basically say that the caucuses are unfair and everyone should be able to participate, so they will hold a fakey election so everyone at least feels like they are involved.

The…presidential nominating caucus system in Washington State is unnecessarily
restrictive of voter participation in that it discriminates against the elderly, the infirm,
women, the disabled, evening workers, and others who are unable to attend caucuses and therefore unable to fully participate in this most important quadrennial event that occurs in our democratic system of government.

The Legislature further emphasized that the presidential selection process must be more open and representative of the will of the people.

Jon and I are going to caucus this year and see what it's all about.

In totally unrelated news, we are going to see Riverdance tonight. It's a long story, don't ask. God help us. Help with what, you wonder? How about with staying awake or not laughing during the smackdown dance-offs.

First Photos

Last week Jon and I had the thrill of seeing the bean for the first time. S/he is about 85 millimeters long and moved around the whole time. We clearly saw the heart beating. Amazing.

We got this body shot. The head on the left and the back toward the camera. The little butt and feet tucked under on the right.

The next one shows a close up of the bean's skull. The top of the head is on the right. The eye sockets clearly visible, nose and open-looking mouth. The white line with a little bend in it at the bottom going from right to left is an arm bone!
Wow!