the whole weekend is in front of me...

...I've got somewhat of a to do list, including boring chores like laundry, but im excited about not having many real obligations (except 2 co-op shifts so we don't get suspended). dreaming of all kinds of kitcheny crafty plans like baking bread and making and canning apple butter - not sure where this idea came from but it's either that or pickles and it could possibly take all weekend. with D. planning to brew beer any moment now, it could get a little crowded in there. do we even have a pantry in which to store this business?

these homebrews seem kind of un-New York to me, especially since it possibly means not going out Saturday night? Then again, someone here was just telling me about the glory days of Brooklyn when every Italian had their own vines and made their own wine. the latest from Chateau Gowanus for you?

if you want to come help stir the apple butter, please do. bring bread and wine.

got my cards read & she said big changes were in my future.

courage is necessary.oh, hey. it's been a while, huh? did you hear i'm moving to New York on Sunday? I'm a little nervous, and hoping that my couch surfing won't be too much a burden on my friends. have you a reasonably priced apartment for us? just me, the fellow and our charming cat. hopefully this orchid and trompe l'oeil print will make it too. it's trying to snow today and i wish it would, while simultaneously sending everyone to leave me big tips at the pizza shop tonight.
so, moving out of state, for good even, is kind of a big deal, and there are a lot of things I need to do and meant to do but will never get to (for now)

To Do:
-Beardstravaganza, find kickass beard or merkin to wear to my first appearance at this annual shindig - perhaps dave's pricklypear beer will make a debut?
-get rid of lots of stuff - do you need some blank periwinkle t-shirts? a biography of Proust? a Schwinn Peapicker lowrider? a '94 Saturn SL2? slightly broken sewing machine? a huge green couch and a pair of star trek-esque endtables? some old magazines?

-find a suitable tenant for our apartment - is it you?
-go dancing - but where?
-leave this fucking town. yay! screw you yuppies and politicos. remaining friends: I still love you.

meant to do in DC, but won't:
-visit all Smithsonians - only got to less than half. bummer. still time to hit the aquatic gardens and portrait gallery?
-eat vegetarian soul food, eat at Cafe Nora,
-see the Beastie Boys at the 930 Club, spot Dave Grohl hanging out at Black Cat,
-ride the secret US Capitol subway,
-write a DC city guide for Bust,
-fight for District equality including having true Congressional representation, and proper budgeting for the seriously suffering public schools. oh well.
-ride bikes to Mount Vernon (did i ever really mean to do this?)
-get on the board for Transformer gallery (James said I could if I had $5K. Maybe next year)

how to occupy time when marginally employed

1. make salsa.
now, i do love burritos, but from the amount of postings i have here about salsa, you would think that I have some kind of obsession. however, this is really just because we grew tomatillos in our community garden plot this year, and they exploded! i know of nothing else to do with these green paper-covered citrusy fruits but salsa. so with jen's goading and the feeling like we shouldn't let such bounty go to waste, I turned to tomatillo-roasted jalapeno salsa.

it was mostly home-grown, though not entirely by us. some jerk pulled an entire jalapeno plant, full of fruit, out of the ground, and left it, and all the peppers, in the compost pile. I greedily stripped the peppers off the plant, swearing about wasteful americans and trying to imagine what i would do with two pounds of jalapenos.
So, into the oven they went, (400F for 20min) until roasty and skins black, sneezing in the house because of the capsicum in the air.

Next, spent a long time online trying to find a salsa recipe that was appropriate for me for canning (tasty, and not giving me botulism). Ultimately bought Ball's Blue Book of Preserving at trusty Frager's Hardware. I was sure they wouldn't give my friends botulism.
spent about half the day making a double-double batch of tomatillo salsa, canned with the aid of some of dave's beer brewing supplies, and a veg steamer at the bottom of the pot instead of a canning stand. by about 10pm, there were 9 pints of salsa cooling on the table. expect to get some in your stocking.

The kitchen has been busy this week. Professor Burpy is gurgling again, filled with a lambic-like prickly pear cactus wheat beer. it smells sweet and is electric pink, flavored juice of the prickly pear, picked by the side of the Beach Rd. in Southern Shores, NC, thisby the thankseating. a loaf of vegan banana-raisin bread has already been devoured, and i may make some coffee cake soon, too.

other projects include: intense planning for hot new years dance party, knitting a balaclava, scheming on some xmas crafts, mustering the courage to ask for a tarot reading, yoga, bicycle-hunting, dreaming up other projects.

do you have a job for me that requires brain power ?