Hella Stella

Today I passed the War Museum and saw the folks on strike doing the dance from Thriller. It made me want to hug them all. Here's hoping for a resolution in their favour, sooner rather than later. It's getting cold out there.

I've been having some pretty bad hip pain lately, so I decided to get some new orthodics in case my crappy feet are aggravating things. I saw a new chiropodist, and dude, was she ever neat. She told me that the orthodics I've been using for the last couple of years are not really right for my feet, which made me see red for a minute or two. I know people make mistakes, but my experience getting my last pair of orthodics was so stupid that I'm even more annoyed with the defective final product (especially considering the sheer cost of the things, and the fact that due to an insurance blip, I wasn't covered).

At any rate. I'll have some new orthodics in December and we'll see if the throbbing pain goes away. Here's hoping.

My gig at the Elmdale is in a week, and I have neglected to do any real promotion. Today's task will be to make a Facebook event and maybe send out a little e-mail about the show. If the plan is to slow down gigging this winter, I'd better make my current gigs especially fun.

It looks like my BH won't have final exams in April. You know what that means? We might be able to make it to Japan during the cherry blossom season after all!!! I'm collecting airline sites like crazy to figure out what the damage will be. Please send along your fave cheapo travel pages if you've got them!

My BH and I have a new obsession. Well, it's not so new for me, but it's way more exciting now that he's into it as well. Bento boxes!

Bentos are Japanese-style lunches, usually packed into containers that have dividers or different sections for your food. I grew up with a fairly typical lunch box meal at school, and while it does the trick, packing a bento has more benefits than I can count.

1. Portion control. Bento boxes are not usually that huge, so the chances of totally overdoing it are lower.

2. Packing diverse, healthy foods. Bentos seem especially well-suited to a little bit of starch or protein with a lot of fruit and veggie. I can easily eat bread with bread and a side of bread when unchecked, so it's good to have some encouragement to branch out a bit.

3. Ease. Bentos are designed to be eaten at room temperature, so packing it up (when you have the right supplies) can be pretty speedy and mess-free.

4. Compact. I've gone from having three or four bags or containers to having one bento box. It's lighter, easier and smaller to carry to work or school.

I could go on, but learning about bentos has already inspired me to make better lunches. I'm saving a lot more money too, because I'm actually excited to eat my lunch and not tempted to go buy something elsewhere. Plus, I got all my bento supplies in Ottawa's Chinatown! It's great to have the basics nearby. I'll get the fancy stuff when I'm in Japan next spring.

Here are some of my favourite bento blogs, in case you want to have a peek:

Vegan Bento Pool (just pictures, but total eye candy)

Not Exactly Bento

Bento Lunchbox

Boston Bento

LJ Bento Lunches

Just Bento

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And now for something completely different! It was my old roomie's birthday yesterday, and her beau threw her a surprise party in the Legion. It's been a long time since I've been to a surprise party, and it was just as fun as I remembered. Some pictures for you!

Sparklers! Thankfully, we didn't set the streamers on fire.


Are they pretty or what?

And great tunage. Who knew the Legion could be so much fun? (I know... It's possible that my friends bring the fun with them wherever they go, but still.)

That's all for now folks....

Yesterday was the weirdest day. I felt foggy and out of it, and wandered around in my favourite ratty sweatshirt and jeans in a daze. I noticed at about 11pm last night that I had also been sporting the blonde equivalent of an afro all day. HOT.

It didn't help that I only had three hours of sleep. Although I was good and tired, my brain wouldn't shut up. Chatty chatty chatty. Eventually I gave up on the idea of sleep and baked stuff.

First I made a soup with every green leafy thing I could find in my fridge. Chard, kale and spinach, creamed together in a nice broth.

Then I made a fruit cobbler even though I had almost no fruit. We're talking one apple and some very tart plums. I added some cranberries and mangos from the freezer and VOILA! Super tart cobbler. My BH and I made jokes about being tarty. It was a good time.

Then I noticed that y'all were sticking up for my tofu-loving, tarty, gambling behind. Thanks! I'm sure Zoom's video will blow you all out of the water. I'm happy to convert the rest of you tofu-haters, should you need it.

My BH's birthday is coming up and I'm getting really excited about his gifts. He's dangerously easy to buy for. He and Heather are the two folks in my life who I can always spoil rotten - they like so much fun stuff! DANGEROUS.

I'm also thinking of booking off a week in May to do nothing. I'm saving up for Japan, so any vacation I take until then will be of the do-nothing variety. That way I can blow my cash on bento supplies and drinks for M-A so she won't make me do karaoke. I have a plan, folks. It involves vodka.