golf tee colony

I had to write a poem with a pastoral theme for my environmental literatures class, and here is what I wrote:

______________________________________________________________________________________

Everyone has a place they feel is theirs,
Some place they call home.
A place where you feel like one complete connected being
Where a peaceful content warms and embraces you.

My place is not surrounded by borders or walls
But is a continuous journey,
Changing with each season.
Though it is a part of me, it does not belong to me
And I don’t want it to.

Sometimes the wind blows harshly here
Sometimes it is calm.
Sometimes I walk and endlessly explore
Sometimes I just sit in one place
And that one place is perfect.

A deer jumped across the path the other day
And I felt honoured to be in its presence
A butterfly fluttered amongst the wildflowers
And I was happy it was sharing this moment.

A place that is your home
Doesn’t have to be where you lay your head at night
Or where you keep things you own
Or where your family lives.

A place that is your home
Can be anywhere you feel safe.

I remember wanting to get lost
So I could stay here forever,
but the time always came
to return to a home with four walls and a roof.

I’m grateful that my childhood memories
Revolve around a place
That changes with each season,
Where a river flows through each bend,
Where life changes
But the place remains the same.

I’m grateful that my cherished moments
Occurred in the open air
That is there for all
Where no money is exchanged
And nothing is sold.

The trees sing to the open skies
And the wind blows a tune through the reeds
The water ripples on the rocks
And pebbles gently sleep on the soil.

The riverbank watches all that pass through it
All who journey along this path.
The trees watch all who stop to linger
Who claim this place as their home
For awhile.
Though this place is still,
I am not alone.

cover of Kids by MGMT

Summertime. Lovely to hear birds chirping and you can even see a butterfly fluttering among the flowers near the end.

help fund an awesome project

This queer comics anthology looks rad and I really want to see it happen! I just made a donation and they'll send me a copy of the book when it's done! If they don't reach the required amount of funding they need for the project by Nov 24, then you don't get billed. I have become a graphic novel nerd and this summer went to the library every week to get new graphic novels to read. I don't generally buy graphic novels since they are $$$ and don't take long to read so I can't really afford to spend money on something that I'll finish in an hour. Maybe if I had more nerdy friends to share them with...
Anyway, I'm glad to support a creative project since generally I just read them for free and don't actually support the artists..though I don't think people should feel they need to support things through capitalism (ie buying things).

What I really love about graphic novels is that they are so incredibly diverse and tell stories about anything..everything! in unique and beautiful ways. Check out the page for more information. I can't wait to read it, and I hope it actually happens!

pb&j cups

Last night, at 3am, while I was procrastinating from writing the paper that was due last week, I visited this site that used to be one of the many food blogs I was addicted to a few summers ago. While drooling over peanut butter fantasies, I was inspired to make some homeade peanut butter cups. So tonight I made them.

I melted dark chocolate in a double boiler (you put the chocolate in a pot, and put the pot in another pot that is filled with water. It melts it without burning the chocolate. or you can just melt it in a microwave).

I spooned the melted chocolate into muffin cups, and spread some up the edges to fill in the ridges.

I put them in the fridge to let them harden.

I mixed some peanut butter with a bit of powdered fruit sugar. The sugar isn't really necessary, it just depends on your tastes.

I took the muffin cups out of the fridge, and spooned in peanut butter, then strawberry jam (which I made this summer), then chocolate, then another layer of peanut butter, then another layer of chocolate.

The strawberry jam is so good in these! It's like a fantastic version of a pb&j sandwhich (since everything with chocolate is better).

Check out this site for more peanut butter inspiration:
http://fuckyeahpeanutbutter.tumblr.com/

coconut couscous

Here is a delicious and simple meal idea. It's very easy and quick to make and has all the nutrients you need for a balanced meal.

I cooked 1 cup of couscous in 1 cup of coconut milk and 1/2 cup of water. (If you haven't cooked couscous before, you boil the liquid, remove it from the heat, add the couscous, cover with a lid and wait 5 minutes. so easy!)

I threw in white onion, green onion, red pepper, chick peas, corn, peas, dried garlic, and oregano.
This was so good, the coconut milk gave the couscous a nice flavour and all the vegetables added their own unique taste.

It took less than 8 minutes to make and lasted me 4 meals.

In the winter I eat a lot of root vegetables and apples, since we can get them locally and they last for a long time. But I wanted something a bit lighter, so I made this. I got cans of canadian corn and peas for 50 cents at the dollar store - handy to have on hand if I run out of fresh vegetables, especially since I live in somewhat of a food desert.

I used to find that once I opened a can of coconut milk, I would have trouble using it all up. Adding it to smoothies is one good way, today I tried a couple other things.

I made chocolate pudding (just the packaged powder that you add milk to and cook) and used 1 cup of coconut milk along with 2 cups of soymilk.

I also steamed some soymilk and coconut milk, added honey, pure vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and a chai tea bag. A nice treat (rather than going out for lattes, invite your friends over!)

pancakes

This morning I really felt like making pancakes. Though I generally prefer to make most foods from scratch, this summer I found that I actually liked the taste of pancakes from a mix better than homeade, maybe because they had cornstarch and more indgredients to add flavour. I find that most simple pancake recipes taste boring - I don't really like the plain white flour taste.

So this morning I looked online for a pancake recipe, since I didn't have any mix. I really liked the way they tasted, so I won't be buying any mix and will continue to make these. I like hearty flavourful tasting pancakes, and found that these suited my tastes perfectly.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour
ground flax seed (I just poured a lot in, maybe 1/4 cup or something but I wouldn't bother measuring it)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup soymilk
2 tablespoons sunflower oil (but you can use any type of vegetable oil)

set stove to medium heat

combine dry ingredients

add the soymilk and oil

spoon onto pan...and you can probably figure out what to do from here.

I also put chocolate chips in some of them when they were on the pan.

*notes on the ingredients:
-if you don't have any flax seed that is fine, I just like it for the added taste, texture, and nutritional benefits
-you can use any type of flour or sugar, but whole wheat makes them heartier and healthier
-if you don't have soymilk on hand you can use any other type of milk and the recipe will still work
-if you're wondering why it called for so much baking powder, most vegan pancake recipes use a lot of baking powder, and it makes for a thick and fluffy pancake

I made a huge heart shaped one that was as big as my plate.

Here is the original recipe:
http://www.food.com/recipe/5-minute-vegan-pancakes-132263

I'm really excited that I finally just figured out how to post links and videos. I sersiously could never get it to work before. I haven't been writing much poetry lately or doing any art, so this blog might take a different turn again for awhile.

a safer world for sex workers

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/judge-decriminalizes-prostitution-in-ontario-but-ottawa-mulls-appeal/article1730433/

Great news! Ontario has decriminalized prostitution. While it was already legal, there were rules surrounding prostitution that make things harder for sex workers and put them in dangerous situations. Since bawdy houses have been decriminalized, sex workers will now be able to take their work indoors, which means safer areas to work. And since they can now communicate for the purposes of prostitution, workers won't have to hide their business and be forced into shady situations.

Now let's hope this doesn't get struck down.