Shakaround Shakcago

My third official vacation this year.  It was kind of a mistake, but when you have to throw in your vacation requests in November, you're kind of taking a gamble, hoping that something will be going on/you come up with some plans, 10 months into the future.  The plan wasn't to be enrolled in school right now during the summer months (I would therefore have a bit more time to truly relax during this week) but switching universities changed all that crap.  Still have a lot of projects/tests to take over these next several days of PTO, but I figure I can still get something done in the meantime.

This past weekend Jon Scott and I went to Detroit for a rally where he won a super cute lipstick red 1965(?) Vespa SS 180.  My hatred for the color red has been relinquished.  We decided to ride it back home, as I had to be in Grafton so I could leave for Chicago the next day.  He still had to get himself to Pittsburgh, however.  Well, we made it. We stopped at a cupcake joint in Birmingham and were out by 2:30 or so. Arrived in Grafton at my folks' house by 9.  My parents had dinner ready when we arrived and Jon decided he wasn't gonna mess with trying to get home in the dark, as the tail lights were out and it was still going to be another 4 hours back to Pgh.  He made it home without fault the next day.  I, on the other hand, have an ass that's bruised in at least a dozen different places.


Now I'm in Chicago.  Jay and I spent the day drinking coffee, watching the balloon ladies and chicharrones  men sell their wares on the beach shore, and riding bikes around Andersonville.  Up next is pizza.  PIZZA PIZZA PIZZA.  No matter how many times I come here, it never gets old.  


The agenda consists of Chicago for a few more days, a wedding in Pgh, then a weekend camping with some girlfriends.  


Relatedly, Jay did a quick tarot reading for me today at Kopi Cafe and mentioned something about me cramming too much stuff into my life.  

Patients are more than just a source of aggravation

I cannot explain how darned excited I get when someone has good taste in television programs.  I'm talking specifically about patients at work.  I've not had proper cable for over a year.  So when I see the Food Network on in someone's room, the only decent thing to do is to quit working, sit down, and watch with them.  Hell with that weeping wound dressing change or incessant IV pump beeping.  Only kidding, of course.  But when my patient and I began to talk about baking, she told me she'd share with me one of her best recipes.  It's for strawberry nut bread, and she had this particular recipe published in a magazine back in the 70s.  She said that she makes it every year, but her health has really dwindled recently, and this is the first year she hasn't made it. 

I tried it last night for Daniel's birthday.  And.  Totally a recipe worth the ink on paper.




FC's Strawberry Nut Bread


2 c sugar
3 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2-3 t cinnamon, depending on personal preference

4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 c canola oil
2 c fresh strawberries, cut into quarters or eighths
1/2 c walnuts or pecans




Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 2 loaf pans.


Sieve the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Create a well in the middle.
Add eggs and oil, stir until just combined.
Add strawberries then nuts, stir after each addition.

Divide batter between loaf pans.  Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out (mostly) clean.


FC said to let it cool completely before cutting.  It's pretty crumbly.  She also said that it is absolutely divine with strawberry or plain cream cheese.  I had picked some up yesterday morning before Daniel came over, but we never touched it.  This quickbread does not need it.

Enjoy!!!!

Take THAT, food nomer "purists"

http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/educators/faqs.asp

I never put fruit on my burgers, and I always learn something from class.

Accutrap

Oh, the things we do for beauty and self-esteem.  I don't usually require much more than a semi-annual trip to Victoria's Secret and a Rite Aid brand eyelash curler, but the past year of city-livin' has really wreaked havoc on my mediocre complexion.  I've been on a number of medications of different classes, via different routes, since I was an awkward adolescent (I'd just like to point out here that I was never really that awkward).  Whatever, teenage years come and go and at some phase of life, you look how you're supposed to look.  That is, unless you live in something like one of the most polluted cities in the country.  After a several failures of new-to-me medications that my dermatologist had prescribed, he suggested Accutane.  Yeah, yeah, my skin really isn't all THAT bad, but after just 5 short months, I'll look like a Disney princess.  I'd totally settle for Pocahontas.

The catch??  Well, there are many.  More than a fisherman could ever want.

Urine pregnancy screening EVERY MONTH
Blood pregnancy screening EVERY MONTH
Liver function testing EVERY MONTH
Obtaining new scripts EVERY MONTH
A visit to the dermo EVERY MONTH
Psychological screening EVERY MONTH
Online quizzes about the drug EVERY MONTH

Let me spell out the implications.  Accutane has the potential for HUGE teratogenic effects.  No babies for me, or anyone else in the US of A who is on this drug, as a matter of fact.  Massive, massive birth defects.  Also, the risk of suicide or other psychological mishaps have been known to occur.  And you better not have any birthdays, job layoffs, or any other causes for celebration because Accutane is harmful to your liver.  That is why you get blood drawn on a monthly basis.  This shit needs to be monitored.  As far as the blood AND urine pregnancy screening goes?  I'm not sure why both means are required, but I guess the USDA wants to be more than sure that little acnified girls aren't running around producing mutant babies.

Once upon a time, as per my dermatologist, some senator somewhere had a son on Accutane.  The son (who most likely had underlying psychological issues) committed suicide.  This *may* have been what broke the camel's back.  See here, Accutane was removed from pharmacy shelves.  No one was allowed to have the stuff anymore.  Obviously, there are way too many side effects and adverse drug reactions than this pill is actually worth.  Or are there???

The thing is, Accutane is apparently so darned effective that pharmaceutical companies (I think) wanted it back on the market.  I'm sure dermatologists vouched for it as well.  The only way it would then be allowed to be sold again (at a little over a grand for a one month supply) is to make the patients sign up for something called the iPLEDGE.  I had to promise my doctor that I will not get pregnant (my friend Daniel and I have a joke that Mountain Dew and coitus interruptus are just as, if not more, effective than IUDs, condoms, oral contraceptives, abstinence, hysterectomies...etc.) under any circumstances.  Miss a period?  You damn well better come in to the physician's office for a Plan B and for heaven's sake, skip that dose of Accutane!!!  The iPLEDGE registry also makes you take monthly quizzes about the drug and the importance of not making babies.  Your doctor has to verify you in the system, then you verify you in the system, then the pharmacy verifies you in the system before you can turn in the script.  This whole process didn't happen so swiftly for me this past month, and I was taking off to Virginia with Jon Scott to visit his family for the weekend.  Since there was no time to waste and we had to get on the road, I had to leave Pittsburgh without my filled prescription.  Really shouldn't be that big of a deal.  After making a phone call or two to the local pharmacies in southwestern VA, I found that one store doesn't even carry it.  I'm not sure if this speaks to the cruelties/nastiness/dangers of the drug, or just to small pharmacies.  Perhaps I might find out from the former Midview Drug peanut gallery?

I hope that after all this crap I'm putting myself through I'll be so fresh n so clean and that it will be worth the risks.  I just thank heaven that god invented birth control.

PVSC say FUCK SWAMP ASS!!!!

It was difficult for Selena to get a good shot of me n J Sco as the zippy little extra-points asteroid,  but insert scooter + gold boots, stage left......

This was my last little vacation before school started again this week.  It had been a damn fine 6-week break.  Puerto Rico, Columbus, Cleveland, and a scooter rally.  Even had some time to bake a cake or two.

Spelling Puerto Rico with...

Selena and I went to Puerto Rico together.  The one thing we learned from our experience?  Puerto Ricans like to promote safe sex.  Seriously, we found about a baker's dozen of condom shops, all with almost grotesquely hilarious names:  Condom World, Condom City, Hot Pleasure Condom Shop, Honey I Shrunk the Condoms...and the list never ceases.

This little gem of a photo was taken in San Juan while we were on our way to retrieve our rental car.

"A picture of toothless and perspiring ecstasy..."

Last year, I tried reading The Jungle.  It took me 9 months to realize I'd never finish it.  I was in Nepal and did not have as much downtime as I had imagined I would.  Tariq just emailed me asking for Shyam's phone number.  I had it written down, somewhere, I was sure.  It was hidden in my little blue journal, with all of my favorite quotes, signs, images, that I had encountered on that journey.  Upton Sinclair's words made the cut.