I got in!

Tuesday morning, I was getting ready for work and decided to check my e-mail before leaving the house.  I was finishing up a cup of chai as I clicked and typed and, in my inbox, I saw it.

We are very pleased to make you an offer of a place to study at SOAS.

“Aaaaah!”

I got in, I got in!  I got into the SOAS MA programme for Anthropology of Food!  I’ll be starting in the fall, which means I’ll be moving to London in the summer!

Aaaaah!

So now comes the serious business of accepting the offer (oh, yes, please), applying for entry clearance and a student visa, finding a flat, probably getting a roommate (no more crazies, please), sorting out my belongings, etc, etc, etc.  I don’t know which is more intimidating: the move or the graduate curriculum.

Any case, this is all the more reason why I need to go to the restaurants I’ve been meaning to go to here in the US, because soon, I won’t be living in Orlando.  Instead, I will be exploring the culinary delights of London.

Oh boy!

Get your garden on

So this weekend I walked to Leu Gardens for their annual plant sale.  I met up with Kate and Rob, who had already been there for about an hour, and made the rounds from stand to stall with them, taking photographs of many flora and… more flora the vendors had to offer.

I was there strictly for edibles, and after a good walk around, I bought an assortment of organic herb plants from these growers out of Eustis.  At two or four dollars a plant, I spent sixteen bucks on a future garden of awesome that will be filled with pineapple sage, two kinds of rosemary, thyme, “mojito” mint and fennel.  Considering you cannot buy bags of fresh herbs at these prices at the supermarket, I thought the plants were great, and so I trundled the two bags of potted plants back home from Leu Gardens.  The new plants joined the mess of dirt-filled cans with sprigs of unknown, and the poor Greek basil that’s decided to live again now that it’s spring.

Sunday evening, I went to Target to buy a bag of organic soil among other things, and spent a good part of the night transferring a couple plants and sprigs around.  I had also gotten some seed packets, and have sown a small area with seeds from cilantro and chives.

At Stardust, I asked for some big cans to be saved for me in order to use them as budget pots.  I’ve already moved the fennel into a bigger pot (although it could go in an even bigger pot), and I’d like to do likewise for the rest of the ones in the wee pots to encourage them to grow.  I’m excited!  It’s all still very modest, and I would like to expand it a bit more, perhaps by creating another raised area on the south side of the house for more plant action.

Although I will be moving to London in the summer (more on that later), I think this foray into gardening will be beneficial in creating something nice to look at outside of the house, as well as ensuring a good, solid supply of herbs for cooking and baking.  When I move, at least I can give whatever I have away to friends and family, or leave some plants behind for the next tenant should Clark move out.

Someday, my sweet Henrietta

It’s been something I’ve been aware of, but it wasn’t until after reading the segment in Jamie Oliver’s book, Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life, that I’ve become enthralled with the idea of keeping chickens.  I guess the excitement Jamie Oliver conveys about raising chickens and how fantastic their fresh eggs are has sold me on the dream of having my own set of hens for egg-laying purposes.  Not that I eat that many eggs to begin with.  Actually, I don’t really care for eggs in general, aside from deviled and hard-boiled eggs.  I don’t even like quiche all that much.

But I want chickens!  When I get settled in somewhere and have a scratch of backyard, I’m going to get two or three chickens, and one will be named Henrietta.  Of course.  They can roost in a tree and cluck and hang out in the backyard.  It will be great!

My history with chickens has been much like everyone else’s.  I had been chased by angry chickens as an unsteady toddler in the Philippines, ate chicken adobo with rice, then abstained from chicken meat and all other meat at the age of twelve, with occasional dining mishaps in which I was fed chicken from a small collection of places over the years.  My uncle Greg in Manila has raised roosters for cockfighting, which is a brutal sport that’s persisted throughout human history not just in developing nations, but here in the US as well, despite it being illegal in all fifty states and in DC. 

I previously had a rather dismissive opinion on chickens until reading the chapter on this humble bird in Altruistic Armadillos to Zenlike Zebras: A Menagerie of 100 Favorite Animals, by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson.  It’s a swell book for any animal lover, and my opinion of the chicken was changed to that of respect after Masson’s loving anecdotes and information about the fowl.  It was in Masson’s book I learnt chickens can, indeed, fly.  The reason why those of us not acquainted with live chickens seem to think chickens are unable to fly is because chickens actually don’t fly very high or far, and most conventional farmers clip or pin their wings.

Earlier this year, I had read an article from NPR, City Folk Flock to Raise Small Livestock at Home.  The idea of a young man walking around LA with a fat, happy chicken in his arm amused me, and I was interested in this movement of keeping chickens, whether due to financial strains or a desire for a humane, sustainable source of food.  Also, some of the comments on NPR’s website for this article are truly inspiring, such as Nancy Pullen’s:

I’m a backyard chicken keeper. I have two lovely hens, Clementine and Buttercup. Not only do they furnish us with fresh eggs daily, they are hilarious. They’re as curious as any cat and as eager to greet you as any dog. A fifty pound bag of feed costs about eleven dollars and lasts months. In return you get a dozen eggs a week and free entertainment. I have a Rhode Island Red and a Barred Plymouth Rock. They’re hearty, easy to care for (ten minutes a day) and truly a delight. I live in a subdivision on a half acre lot and my neighbors enjoy my girls as much as I do. The kids like to scatter feed and the adults know who to borrow eggs from.

Although I have to wait on getting my own little brood of feathered ladies, if you are intrigued, there are several websites online that will help you get started on learning the basics of chicken care, what to look for in a chicken, what sort of home your chicken needs, and soforth.  The City Chicken seems to be a grand start, with an extensive FAQ section on how to fight City Hall if they try to smack some law down on your backyard brood, common chicken diseases, how to introduce new feathers into the existing flock, and more.  You can also find information on WikiHow on how to keep chickens for an idea.  Another great link is BackYardChickens.com, featuring an active Chicken Forum.  Some cities already have developed a chicken-raising community, so you may want to see if your town has one; Duluth, Madison and Seattle are just a few places where people are raising chickens in their backyards (or maybe even apartments, considering this group in NYC).

There are also quite a few books out on how to keep chickens.  Pick your favourite bookstore or library to see what they have in stock.  YouTube is also loaded with videos of people filming their pet chickens.  

I told my roommate about my feathered aspirations, and about how chickens will roost in trees (yes, chickens can fly a bit) and they like to be around people whose company they enjoy, and he told me, “You just want little friends.”  

Perhaps I do, and what’s so wrong with that?  Like Jamie Oliver, I’d like to reach the good life, with chickens in the yard, a couple of beehives here and there, edible plants in the garden, and, well, an urban ideal based on sustainable, locavore living.  I can’t reach it now, but  I’d like to be ready for the moment when it comes.

Eating after a sleep hangover

I took a nap sometime around 6:30 pm today, and woke at 8 in the evening, rather disoriented.  Sometimes after naps I have a “sleep hangover” in which I shuffle around the house aimlessly as the slow grip of sleep unfurls its tendrils from my brain.

I was hungry, and in the mood for Stardust or pizza.  Pizza was the winner, but not before I found out about Pom-Pom’s change in opening hours on the weekends.  Looking at their hours, it looks like they’re open for sixty-six hours straight from 11 am Friday until 6 pm Sunday.  For reals?!  Seriously?  I still thought they closed at 8 at night this whole time!

Oh man, now there is no need to deny oneself a Danny G craving at 4 am during the wee weekend hours.  You can just go!  I’m imagining all sorts of scenarios when I’m actually not being a homebody and going to Pom’s right after whatever late-night adventures: Pom’s after I-Bar, Pom’s after Redlight, Pom’s… after waking up from a late-night nap.

So, if you’ve got a hankering and can’t take another early morning at Denny’s or IHOP, go to Pom-Pom’s on Bumby and have a look at their menu.

Fun at MegaCon

I went to MegaCon on the 1st of March with Hao, which was the final day of the three-day event, and had quite a bit of fun. There was a lot to see–celebrities of sorts, costumed con-goers, merchandise, artists’ tables, bizarre fighting rings where strangers whack swords at each other–and I was glad I had just enough money to experience it.

First off, let me say the most exciting event at MegaCon was my chance to meet James Callis of the awesome television series Battlestar Galactica. Unfamiliar with Battlestar Galactica? This BSG primer on Salon.com will give you some background into the series.  I only just have begun watching it myself last month, so I’m a very recent fan.

James Callis, who plays Gaius Baltar on the show, was one of the headlining celebrities of MegaCon, if not THE headlining person, alongside Tricia Heilfer, also of BSG fame who portrays the many incarnations of Six.  Heilfer, who is also an awesome actress on the show, was only making a Saturday appearance, so she wasn’t there on the day I went.  James Callis, happily, was there, and Gaius Baltar is my favourite character.  So at the convention, I trundled off into the midst of geekery to the side of the vast room where the tables were set up for the stars.

When I first got there, though, Mr Callis went off to take a break, as I was informed by the two women seated at the table in front of Mr Callis’ table.  I should note that these women at the table were about mid-age; not members of Gaius Baltar’s religious harem on television.  When I came back around twenty minutes later, James Callis was back, and the line wasn’t terribly long.  I was excited.  It was only then I took notice of something on the womens’ table: their cash box.  My face fell.

Me: “Oh, is there a charge…?”

One of the ladies: “Yes, it’s $25 for an autographed 8″x10″.”  She gestures over to the stack of glossy Baltars, some of which featuring a sexy Six.  ”It’s $20 if you want to have a picture with him taken with your camera.”  She nods to my digicam in my hand.

Me: “Oh.  Well… I was just wanting to tell him what a great actor he was…”  I begin to shuffle sadly away.

One of the ladies: “Oh, no, it doesn’t cost anything to just talk to him!”

The other lady: “Yeah, if you wanted to just chit-chat with him and tell him that, go right ahead!”

So I did.  I waited in the queue, and after a photo-op with a baby (seriously), it was my turn.  I walked up, rather timidly, and shook hands with with James Callis and introduced myself and began with something along the lines of, “I just wanted to let you know what an amazing performance you do…” and continued to babble with things like “The show is just fanastic!” and “You’re my favourite character!” and, at the end of my gushfest, James Callis looked at me and said, “Thank you!” and came around the table and gave me a hug!

I GOT HUGGED BY GAIUS BALTAR!!

In my tomato-blushed giddiness post-James Callis’ hug, which was FREE and WAY BETTER than a damn 8″x10″, I texted a status update to Facebook–I couldn’t help myself: Doreen just got a hug from James Callis from Battlestar Galactica!  Later, I got a response from Miriam: Shut up! Gaius Baltar hugged you! Man I wanted to go sooo bad, but alas I am poor!

So folks, just remember….

8′x10′ glossy of James Callis as Gaius Baltar signed by the actor: $25.

Photograph of you with James Callis at Megacon: $20.

Going up to James Callis and getting hugged by him after a huge gushfest about what a wonderful actor he is, how he plays your favourite character, and how fantastic Battlestar Galactica is: priceless.

Aside from that spectacular moment of being embraced by awesomeness in the form of James Callis, there was still a lot to do and see at MegaCon.  There were many, many vendors selling things from shirts and swords (really pointy swords), comics and corsets, Pocky and plushies.  At times, it was a bit too crowded to get a good look at some of the tables, but I did get a good look at some.  I saw Christian Slade, author/illustrator of the Korgi series at the Top Shelf merchandise table.  We have some of the Korgi series at the library, and I recently checked out the first volume of the series. It’s excellent, and if you like graphic novels, especially if you’d like something both you and your pre-teen niece or nephew might both enjoy, I would encourage you to check it out.

I was interested in much of the merch for sale at MegaCon, especially from the PinkGhost display, but had to skulk away from folks eager to sell their goods. Fortunately for the vendors, there seemed to be quite a few folks engaged in exercising their purchasing power.  I saw a young woman dressed as Harley Quinn trying on corsets over her costume, which was a little surreal.  The only thing I wound up buying was a cup of frozen yoghurt.  Tasty!

There were also displays of famous movie and television robots, including Bender from Futurama, which was alongside an R2D2.  Another display showcased LEGO landscapes of a Japanese castle during a battle.  If you’d like to see photos from MegaCon, have a look at my Flickr account.

All in all, MegaCon was worth the experience.  I still blush about getting hugged by James Callis.  Clark says I’m part of Baltar’s harem now.  Oh well, frack it.