The North Loop

It was such a beautiful day, I decided to walk home from work.

I am going to ride my bike to work most days once it gets warm enough. I could go through downtown for a shorter trip, and almost no hills, but that's seems almost suicidal to me during rush hour. I think I'm going to take West River Road, which has a nice winding bike path. It's just under 4 miles instead of a little over 2, and there are a lot of hills, but there's safe and scenic paths the whole way. There's a bike trail that branches off of the river that runs about 1/4 mile from my work, but for the life of me I cannot googlemap a convenient exit from the trail. 

So I decided to scope it out on my walk home, and walked to where I think the bike trail should start. I'm going to have to try it out with my bike on a Sunday or Saturday once it warms up a bit more and the bike paths aren't muddy and icy.

To get to the river, I have to go through the North Loop, and up-and-coming upper-crust neighborhood in Minneapolis. It's the only really really nice part of North Minneapolis. There are nice areas, but this place has million dollar condos and the like. I felt like I had jumped the fence and entered a gated community where I did not belong.

It is ridiculously nice. There are small independent fitness centers on every block, and fancy specialty gourmet restaurants as far as the eye can see. It's even got the little banners on all the street lights letting you know where you are. The North Loop is very clean and well-maintained. With one major exception: Dog Poo.

There is dog shit everywhere. If you can afford to live in such a nice neighborhood, you can probably afford some little pooper scooper bags. Or are they so rich they're too good to pick up after their dog?

Seriously. It's gross. The hedges were well-trimmed, and the lawn decorations were tasteful and beautiful, but there is simply crap everywhere. I get that melting snow reveals a lot of doggy waste that wasn't necessarily visible before the snow melted, but even my neighbors in my litter-ridden neighborhood can pick up their dog's crap.

Of course, if that's all I have to criticize the area about, they're doing pretty well.

A picture of the river from my walk home today.

Bums

Living and working in Minneapolis, I see and talk to a lot of bums. You know, the people who are most likely homeless, really stinky, and are way too talkative for their own good?

For example, I was in the library bathroom downtown yesterday, and one homeless woman (didn't even see her, so I can't be sure she was a "bum," but she told the whole bathroom she was homeless, so I'm not even assuming anything about her) waited to use the last stall. She explained why:

"I spend a lot of time here because I'm homeless. I only use the last 2 stalls because the camera can see you in the other ones."

There I am, in the 3rd stall to the end, peeing. I look up, and what do you know?

A camera. I stuck my tongue out at it and waved.

The bum I see second most often is not actually homeless. I call him Chair Guy. The first handful of times I saw him, he was carrying a folding chair. I think he lives in the mill district, which is strange, because that's a pretty nice area. And he has no teeth, lays on the sidewalk while waiting for the bus, and has nothing in his backpack, which he can never get all the way on his back, and it's always open.

Anyway, I was sitting across the aisle from Chair Guy in the front part of the bus, staring absentmindedly at the ground near him, when I saw a Hershey's chocolate egg fall out of his pants.

I was very confused, but he didn't notice. The egg proceeded to roll away from him. I know it was just because the bus was moving, but it really looked intentional. Like when the Ring of Power bounces away from Gollum. I had to try really hard not to laugh.

I probably should have told Chair Guy that his egg left him. But I'm an introvert, and his mouth was really bloody and gross. Anyway, the egg rolled back up to the front of the bus when Chair Guy got off.

Unfortunately for Egg, PersonGettingOnTheBus stepped on it the same stop Chair Guy got off.

Tragic Ending.

Recipe: Falafel Hot Dish

Whoever said "Always walk with your head up. Don't look at the ground." never lived in Minnesota during the winter. Those sidewalks are skating rinks! Try not only walking on the sidewalk, but while carrying 40 pounds of groceries. Downhill. I'm proud that I didn't fall.

Anyway, those groceries are being put to use right away. I was craving falafel, but falafel is a little too fussy for me, plus the fresh veggies that go along with it tend to not last as long as I need it to. So, I did what any smart Minnesotan would do: made hot dish.

The rest of the country may call it casserole, but they're silly. It's a hot dish. Casserole doesn't even mean anything. Hot dish is pretty self-explanatory. And this one is healthy and simple!


Ingredients:
20+ ounces of spinach/kale/dandelions/some sort of leafy green.
1 block of soft tofu
2+ cups of feta (or another kind of cheese. I like feta)
2 T fennel seeds
1 box of falafel mix (or your own falafel recipe, just don't make it into balls yet)
2 large tomatoes, diced.
1/2 cup of tzatziki sauce

(NOTE: Don't add any salt. There is enough in the falafel mix. You don't need it.)
(Note 2: You could, however, add some other things. This is just the starting point for my first time making this dish. I would think tabbouli, or chopped onion, garlic or cucumber would add to it. Some basil/parlsey/cilantro would probably taste good too. Lemon juice would give it a nice zing. Maybe some chicken or lamb if you eat meat. I added about a 1/2 cup of quinoa tabbouli, but I imagine it would taste just fine without it)



Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare the falafel mix according to box (just add water!)
In a large kettle, steam the spinach down until it's really sad looking.
In a large mixing bowl, mix tomatoes, tofu, fennel, tzatziki and half of the feta.
Add the spinach, and mix well to make sure the spinach isn't clumpy.
Pour spinach mixture into a hot dish pan (13x9ish size) or casserole dish, if you're not from around here.
Spread the falafel mix over the top, and cover with the rest of the feta.
Bake for 30 minutes, and let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Serve with toasted pita, crudite and hummus. And tea!



Nutrition info (including the tabbouli) per serving (8 servings total):
Calories - 285
Fat - 15 grams (8 saturated)
Cholesterol - 41 mg
Sodium - 955 mg
Potassium - 596 mg
Carbs - 22g
Fiber - 7g
Sugar - 6g
Protein - 22g
Vitamin A - 160%
Vitamin C - 52%
Calcium - 40%
Iron - 28%
Taste - 1 million yums.
Filling - full but not bloated.

Saturday night cravings

As I was sitting around this fine Saturday evening, feeling a little hungry but not wanting to go buy something, even though I have almost no food in the house, I started Googling recipes. At the top of the list was "Feeling hungry on a Saturday at 8pm but don't want to order a pizza?"

Yes, Google, thank you. You were only 2 minutes off, too. (It was 7:58) In any case, the giant search engine led me to try to get more creative with my toaster oven than bread and cheese.

So, I am now waiting patiently for my "pizza" on bread with cheese to cook. Maybe not so creative, but I am getting rid of some leftover marinara sauce, as well as satisfying my cheese craving besides just eating plain cheese. And not just plain cheese and bread (I hate myself for calling it "plain." It's heaven to taste, but it's not very adventurous is all I mean).

I did not win on the low-calorie battle, though. It's 2 slices of bread, 2 ounces of cheese, 2 boca spicy chicken patties and some homemade marinara sauce. It's basically a full meal, but I suppose I didn't have dinner today.

I was trying to only have a lunner and a small snack later because I got a mocha this morning from my manager, which, considering it is a only cup of soy milk with chocolate and espresso, sure has a lot of calories. The whole is the greater than the sum of its parts, and I'm not entirely sure how it does that. Must be a lot of fancy chocolate syrup or something. Cuz it's 330 calories without whip cream, and I know 16 ounces of soy milk is only 180 calories tops, and espresso is maybe 1 calorie.

I am pairing it with some diet cola made with my Sodastream machine. Love it. If you don't have one, you should seriously consider getting one. I don't even drink that much soda, but it's worth having.

Giving Back or Staying Sane?

I have been thinking I need more in my life. Don't get me wrong, I love coming home from work and not having any cares beyond deciding if I should work out or what I should have for dinner, but I also feel like I need something more.

So, I had been considering committing to a volunteer opportunity or perhaps getting a part time job for 6-10 hours a week. One such option would be to volunteer less than 5 hours a week at a non-profit organization, and making it a regular thing so my work schedule would be consistent. It would still leave me plenty of time to bum around and do nothing or go out with my friends.

I thought about getting a part-time job, but decided the probably low pay wouldn't be worth the extra responsibility and time.

I settled on doing office work for OutFront MN instead for a few hours on Wednesday afternoons. OutFront is a LGBT advocacy organization officed in South Minneapolis. Last week I stuffed envelopes. I think I might be doing data entry tomorrow.

I hope it's more rewarding than not having anything to do. I do like sleeping and playing pokemon.

Tattoos!

lt;np, sorry. I'll try to be better this year. I just wanted to share the news that I got a new tattoo! Two tattoos! Three total now.

This is the first one I got, back in 2008. It's a sun with a raven in the center. It's my high school graduation present, and a constant reminder to me that I have goals and ambitions and I am perfectly capable of achieving them. And ravens are awesome, and have a lot of good qualities that I should strive for.

This is the second one, but only by technicality. The artist just wanted to knock this one out before starting the second one for the day. It says Aure Entuluva - Day Shall Come Again. It's written in one of Tolkien's Elvish languages, Qenya. I got it as a reminder that no matter what is going on in my life, it's going to get better, and it probably isn't really all that bad to begin with. I have ways of improving my life if things are really unpleasant. If I'm not trying that hard to change it, it's probably not that bad.

I may or may not have broken not one, but two self-imposed tattoo rules. 1) Wait at least a year so you know that you for sure want it. 2) Nothing below the knee, past the shoulders. But, like my tattoo artist said, "rules are meant to be broken." Plus, I have a Elvish tattoo, which I think is awesome. #nerdz4lyfe

This is my third tattoo. I've been planning on getting this one since the day after I got my first one. It's a grizzly bear. Grizzly bears are great. I got it to remind myself of my own expectations of my behavior. I should be reasonably loyal, protective, resourceful, calm, and sometimes a little lazy. Ferocious or affectionate if the situation calls for it. And it doesn't matter that much if I smell bad, because I can catch fish with one paw! (The last one may not apply to my situation, but it's still awesome!)

Pros and Cons of Living Alone

I live with my cat. No one else, just the two of us. I love it. However, there are some drawbacks.

Pro: You don't have to clean. Your mess is your mess. You clean it up when it's convenient. If your favorite pan is dirty, you have no one to blame but yourself. You can leave your dirty clothes laying all over the house (because we all strip naked in our kitchens from time to time, right?)

Con: You don't have to clean. The freedom to not pick up after yourself is a cruel, cruel trap. It takes a lot more motivation to clean when your place is trashed.  Also, you can't have company over without apologizing.

Pro: You have a lot more privacy. Remember that thing I said about stripping naked in the kitchen from time to time? You can't do that with a roommate (at least a platonic one, unless you're really really close). Heck, you can exercise naked. You can even talk on the phone about anyone without worrying that your roommate is overhearing and repeating later.

Con: It's harder to have a social life. If you don't leave your house, you aren't going to see anyone that day. And unless your friends lives across the street/down the hall, you have to plan a lot more. No more spontaneous dinners out, or a spur of the moment decision to go to for a walk with them. It takes some effort to coordinate things. Despite how Friends made things look, no one leaves their apartment unlocked while they're not home. Nor will your broke friends constantly hang out in the same coffee shop every day. That shit's expensive.

Pro: You can definitely be inconsiderate. Unless you have neighbors in the same building, you can play music, watch TV, exercise, dance, cook, etc at all hours of the day. Get up at 6 and feel like turning up the metal and doing jumping jacks? You can. Want to make curry at midnight while watching your favorite Bollywood movie? If you can stay awake til 4am, go for it. Who is going to tell you "no"? No one. Because you live by yourself, and as long as there is food in the bowl and no crap in the litter box, your cat won't care what shenanigans you get up to.

Con: You don't have to stick to a normal person routine. While watching Shahrukh Khan make a puppydog face a woman half his age while singing and dancing at 3 am may be really fun, it is definitely not a normal thing to do. Being asleep at 3 am is a normal thing to do. Granted, having a roommate can keep you awake sometimes ("Is she still on the phone? It is 3 am!"), turning off the noise and light so they can get up for work in the morning will also help you get up for work in the morning.

Pro: You don't have to compromise. Yeah, it may be there turn to call the landlord about a repair, but you really want it done now. That picture of that turtle may creep you out, but your beloved yet ugly painting of a tree is across the room from it. Yes, you do most of the cooking, but their food deserves a cabinet too. You think he just needs to put on a hoodie, but having the heat at 55 in January in Minnesota isn't something most people are used to, you guess. Reasonable, but really?

Con: There's no pressure to get stuff done. Yeah, the hot water isn't hot enough, but I can live with that. I should probably hang up the painting of a tree, but it's just me, and I don't really need it up. Yeah, I should probably clean the bathroom, but I'm ok with cat hair on the floor.

Overall, I'm bossy and inconsiderate and anti-social and bachelorish (yeah, it's a word now) enough where I prefer to live alone. Despite the fact that I am terrible at cleaning, exercise mostly nude, play my music at odd hours, and have trouble going to bed sometimes, I think it suits me better than having roommates.