skip the store

i need to get back up on my little soap box... go eat local food! i know i know you have all heard me rant about this before. the farmers markets in the city are such a joy. not to mention that where ever you live in this city no matter what day off the week it is, a framers market is not far off. why not swing by there instead of the grocery store you stop into for your evening fixing? unless your local store is the dill pickle do you even know where your store got that head of lettuce? what does it taste like? is it fresh and clean and flavorful? has it had all the nutrient frozen out of it for transport? how much did the farmer actually get paid for it? like i said get to a farmers market and support our local farmers. feed your body with living food.

every time i walk into a market i feel like a child bursting of anticipation on halloween. something wonderful is about to happen.

you know what i think it is? community.

please fallow this link to find the closest market to you.

my frequents are

green city
andersonvill
logan

the below images were taken at the andersonvill market with susie q this last wed evening. nothing like hand made pasta, amazing pasta sauce,  fresh mushrooms, and a good friend to help you study for an unpassable final exam!

beach

i simply adore the beach in late summer. even more so right before sunset. can you smell it? fall is in the air..... that means pumpkins!

back to sanity

tinley park is a frighting place to me. i feel so disconnected and alone when i am there. the thing is though that i don't want to relate. for the first time in my life i am excepting of being an outside. tinley park is filled with big box stores, a huge stadium concert hall, and every fast food chain you can think of. suburban culture is such a strange one to me. it lacks personability, uniqueness, individuality, it's almost the anti culture, or devoid of culture. it seems content with instant gratification and total disregard for sustainability. it makes me feel as if everything is topsy turvy and i have lost my mind. i feel as if the people around me are complacent, no longer have a hunger for information and don't question the status quo. 

now i don't claim every suberb is like, for i have been to some rather nice ones with lots of character and charm, nor do i claim that every individual in tinley fits this mold. but tinley really feels that way to me. tinley is where i spend most of my days currently. this all creates such a tension in me.

i have had a few classmates ask me how i can live in the city, for it's a dirty, and dangerous place. i smile and ask if they have been to this beautiful city i love so much. 

the chicago sky line is iconic. however, im sure it hold different meaning to different people. above is the first glimpse of it as i speed back to the city as quick as i can. i have suburb phobia, i swear it. when i see the sky line i can't help but smile and all is right with the world again.

to me the sky line is
culture
intelligence
art
music
theater
great coffee
freedom
farmers markets
bikes
intresting people
change
compassion
open mindedness
adventure
great food
diversity
people i care about
people i respect
people i relate to


please add to my list.... it goes on and on


as i continue driving i hope on lake shore drive. lately there have been lots of boats out, people are walking, running, cycling, sunbathing, recharging their bodies and minds. this makes so much more sense to me then the suburban sprawl. this is where life is. it all makes me want to grab my bike or running shoes and get out there... a lot of the time i do.

yesterday in one of my classes we were working on aerobic cardio strengthening. to reach our vo2max

we had to pick one of two testes to do.

the first was to walk a mile as fast as you can (no running) and to see how long it took. class average 15min!

the second was to get as far as you could in 12 min. I was in this group. me and a small handful of the group ran. 

today most everyone was limping due to the fact that they were so sore. i was floored! how can you be limping from walking... yes it was a mile... but it's walking. 

then i thought about. people in a city walk. people in the suburbs drive.  

how do we get people out of their cars and moving their bodies more? 
what is the purpose off all this suburban sprawl? is there any up side at all?

Romanesco

romanesco broccoli, or roman cauliflower, is an edible flower of the species Brassica oleracea, and a variant form of cauliflower.

romanesco broccoli was first documented in Italy (as broccolo romanesco) in the sixteenth century. it is sometimes called broccoflower, but that name is also applied to green-curded cauliflower cultivars.

also known as coral broccoli, romanesco broccoli is rich in vitamin C, fiber, and carotenoids.

the vegetable resembles a cauliflower, but is of a light green color and the inflorescence (the bud) has an approximate self-similar character, with the branched meristems making a logarithmic spiral. in this sense the broccoli's shape approximates a natural fractal; each bud is composed of a series of smaller buds, all arranged in yet another logarithmic spiral. this self-similar pattern continues at several smaller levels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesco_broccoli

i found it at the dill pickle steamed it on a rice cooker and it was wonderful.

World Naked Bike Ride

WARNING: THIS BLOG WILL CONTAIN IMAGES OF NAKED PEOPLE

my dear friends i finally had the pleasure of  riding my bike naked through the streets of Chicago, well almost naked…. i did wear my little hot yoga shorts. i was surprised how many people were all out nude… mainly men!

so the entire point of the world naked bike ride  is to promote independence from oil and positive body image. on our 3 ½ hour, 14 mile, ride through the city (yes including michigan ave) we hit up and protested at two bp stations. i find this very fitting given the current situation.

 the mail slogans chanted in this years ride were “ less gas more ass” , “ im nude but im not crude” or right and then there was the all out right “fuck bp”.  i found it interesting how people stuck in cars of traffic were trying to high five rides. we drew huge crowds, people running out of bars and clubs and gathering on the streets, people on mich ave coming out of posh restaurants and shops. for the most part people were cheering us on and chanting with us.

until about half way through the ride when we stopped at oz park did i look around and say to my friends oh man there are a lot of naked people here! it’s kida interesting being naked in such a large group of people, it’s not sexual and you defiantly forget that your naked, or that that’s not normal anyways. you start to feel very comfortable being naked with a large group of naked people.

 

this is a video of me getting my back painted

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU_BKcFfMzc

try that link if the embedded video is not working

this video is taken near the end of the ride. we stopped and blocked the 6 way intersection of north, milwaukee, and damen in wicker park. needless to say a very traffic heavy area on a saturday night. people started picking their bikes up over their heads and dancing. i was surrounded by naked dancing people with bikes over their heads... naked dancing people far as the eye can see. it was quite amazing.

  and the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBNjUOgk8zE

sky

we chicagoans have been privy to some rather intense weather lately… go figure its chicago right? last friday we had winds so strong the blew out windows on the sears tower (no i will not call it willis that’s just stupid)  . really 77mph winds? i was out riding my bike in that.

well that might be the reason i started coming down with a pretty bad could the fallowing day. then i got k sick. so last night we were both in our pj’s, eating thai food, drinking herbal tee like some cute old couple or something, well minus the pile of tissues.

about half and hour before sunset the rain broke and we had the most amazing sky i have ever seen in chicago. i mean this sky would make a texas sky and a washington sky jealous. k and i ran down stairs and sat on the front stoop, pj’s and cups of tea and all. surprisingly the thick heat had not broken even after the storm. the images i took and that i am lovingly sharing with you do not do justice.

 

True Love

true love is riding my salsa casserole down quiet side streets late at night in a light rain. i ride these roads so often that my body naturally banks the turns and sways to avoid the potholes i am so familiar with that they are almost friends. these streets are still in a city filled with noise and chaos. it’s a fine line and a delicate balance to the alternative, the next block in either direction into an entirely different world.

my salsa cradles my body and is my worrier, my protector. her steal takes the impact of the roads imperfections and i feel the smoothness. her tires on the asphalt are a comfort to my ears. i have never known a bike like this. i fly. i sway. i am in rhythm. i am in love.

spring rain dabs my face and wind runs his fingers through my hair. little beads of sweat form on the small of my back under my rain coat and i endearingly welcome them; anticipating how amazing i will feel sweat drenched moving and stretching in the fallowing days yoga class.

scents of springtime flowers and wood burning fill my nostrils and i yearn with every part of my being to be near a camp fire on the oregon cost. sleeping in a tent under the starry sky.

quickly i am back to the awareness of the present and enjoying my ride too much. it is freedom with clarity. this kind of independence and self sufficiency comes with great self respect and love.

the quiet side streets unavoidably spit me out into congestion. couples out for the evening, gangs of drunk men looking to chase tail, taxies, noise, girls made up and in heels, frat looking boys, evening runners, other cyclists… my senses are overloaded in part to the cardamom and cinnamon spiced coffee i sipped on while having deep conversation with a true friend. he is caring, gentle, honest, and blunt. he is a true friend.  

i fly and the people on the street with their own agendas cannot touch me so i do not judge them. before i blink my eyes again i am around the corner of my home and my final destination for the evening. there is slight disappointment there. the evening ride is over.

soon i am entering my space high over the city with a view and sit and day dream on. this place has been transforming into a sanctuary and a comfort. there, a man i adore waits for me and smiles at me, bear foot as i enter. true love is adoration without forcefulness. my heart is happy as i lean my salsa gently agents the wall.

purple rain

shopping locally to support local farmers and small businesses is a priority for me. you could imagine how happy i was when the dill pickle food co-op opened right around the corner from k’s house. it’s a community-owned grocery store and, to me, it feels like portland, or. i do believe this is the first co-op of its kind in chicago. please correct me if i am wrong. it’s such a cute little store and carries a quaint selection of organic and locale goodies. to my further delight, their produce is seasonal which I guess goes with the territory for carrying local and organic.

for the month of march, one color is jumping off the shelves at me. purple. purple broccoli, purple beets, and purple potatoes are in season this month along with loots of hardy root veggies such as radishes, leeks cabbage (also purple), and eggplant (once again purple) and mushrooms. yum.

having the dill pickle just around the corner reminds me of living in italy. little local and fresh grocery shops are on every block. it is wonderful to swing into the shop on your way home from work and pick your evening meal by what is fresh.

i will certainly enjoy the month of march. let’s all just hope i don’t turn purple.