I do

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Vyv Does Oz: the Devil is in the Details

Or at least, that’s what they say. Whoever “they” may be. Fortunately for me, “they” are wrong. The devil has left the details to me, and they’ve been taken care of. First, I’ll be in the City of Lights for two weeks, and knowing me, anything might happen, especially if it involves running into traffic whilst still half asleep or stumbling over my own feet. To cover any potential bumps and bruises, I’ve taken out overseas insurance. It was both easy and cheap and took about five minutes via my automobile club (“why, it’s the nice young man from the automobile club!!” -chuckle-)

Because my trip is nearly six months away, I’ve sprung for travel insurance this time round, too. I’m fervently hoping I won’t need to use it, but better safe than stuck with a huge bill, right?

I remember that getting into Australia is not as easy as landing at the airport, showing your passport and getting sent on your way. Especially, do not mention the word “work” if you’re a tourist (won’t happen. I’m on holiday, yo!). Nor should you attempt to smuggle in tiny bits of chocolate. So what, if you got the bloody choccy from some Qantas guy, and he probably got it from his Aussie caterer in Sydney. Yeah, there’s a story behind that, but since I wasn’t actually trying to smuggle choccy in, I’ll stop here. I’m also not flying Qantas this time, but Quatar. What I thought was supereasy was getting the e-visa. Takes no time at all, just do it online. It’s good for a year, so should I win the lotto between now and next August, I can still do Brissie in September before it expires.

If you think there’s something vital missing, you’re right. I haven’t made any arrangements for accommodations yet, although I have a few non-hotel options. I really, REALLY want this one place… near Cottesloe… like I’m gonna cry about beachside quarters… 😉 Update to follow, once there’s something to follow up on.

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What We’ve Lost By Staying Connected

I’ll admit, I’m a glutton for convenience (note the clever wordplay, haha). Hence, I’ve been a huge fan of e-cards, email, instant messaging, Skype, Facebook and all those other little services that keep me connected instantly with my friends and family. Sadly, there’s no such thing as free internet (uhum, not so clever wordplay), and all that typing and immediateness comes with a price. Over the years, my handwriting has deteriorated to the point where I can barely legibly finish a regular greeting card, which I enjoy sending for Christmas. Back in the day before email, I was a voracious writer, often sending up to six letters a week. We took notes by hand in school, too, and my neat handwriting was a point of pride for me. Now, although I’m not a doctor, I could convincingly play one on tv.

Therefore, I have decided on a little retraining project for myself. Beginning after the new scanner/printer is set up for use, I will write one page by hand every day for 30 days. I’ll upload it to the blog so you can see how it’s going, and for those of you who are really motivated to help me out, you can send me either your address or leave a comment below, and I will send a special handwritten message just for you (postcard or upload). Nifty, ey?

So let’s get out those notebooks and pens!

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If This Was Your Last Year

…what would you do? Hollywood would have us believe that knowing that your time is coming to an end, you’d turn altruistic. You would seek out your enemies to forgive them, make plans with people you haven’t seen in a long time, spread cheer and joy, thereby ensuring you’ll elicit a maximum of tears and regret in those you’ll leave behind. Me, I’m not going quite that far. Perhaps because I’m only moving on, and not in the metaphysical sense. However, right now, looking down the long, wet stretch of young year yet ahead, I feel a certain mellowness creeping in. A Facebook friend has started a thread of “paying it forward”, which I intend to participate in. The likelihood of follow-through is actually quite good, since it doesn’t really require me to go out of my way to do something for people I don’t know (and if you know me, you know that I can’t stand most other people, so no surprise there). Rather, I get to see if any daring soul comments on my status. The first five who do will be the recipients of a homemade item, to be delivered before the end of the year. I have a few ideas already. But of course, there is a hook: if you sign up to receive, you must in turn offer this artistic creation of goods to others. Therefore, the scientifically interesting question behind this event is really: how lazy are my Facebook friends?

For my turn, I promise to spread cheer and joy with my little presents. You’re not required to cry when I leave.

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The Great Estonian Rye Bread Challenge

During our recent visit to Estonian capital Tallinn, one of the first local foods we encountered was the dense, dark, flavorful rye bread that so enthralled us that a bag of it ended up in the suitcase and we purchased a cookbook in order to enjoy it at home. Today, the day has come to start out on the journey to recreate that awesome bread. Recipe #1 comes from the wonderful, informative book “Estonian National Cuisine”, which not only features a wealth of cultural and historical information, as well as lovely pictures, but also some oddly translated ingredients about which I’m not 100% sure. The recipe I chose is for “Three-Day Bread” because it takes that long to make the sourdough starter that gives this bread its distinct taste.

The original recipe calls for 6 to 7 kilos of rye flour. If you’ve ever SEEN that much flour at once, you realize you may need to take your shapen loaves and head for the village bakery to have it finished, so we ended up using one-sixth of the given amount of everything. It barely fit into our largest mixing bowl. At this moment, the starter mixture is resting comfortably in the cold oven, waiting to be fed with additional flour; something that needs to be done every 3 to 4 hours for the next three days. After all the remaining flour has been added, all that goes into it is a bit of sugar and some caraway seeds, and off we are to the bakery, uh, baking pan. I’m very much hoping this will come out edible; my experience with sourdough is fairly limited.

While we wait, if any of you have recipes for bread to share, send ’em on over! They may make it into our test kitchen soon.

For my reader in Japan, there is some news on the Renner front: firstly, the trailer for Mission Impossible is available now, and our man looks both delish and deadly. Also, rumor has it he’s thisclose to signing on for a film co-starring Joaquin Phoenix and Marion Cotillard, which no doubt will lead to rumors about his romantic involvement with the beautiful French woman. Of course, there hasn’t been anything further on this supposed project since June 1st, so who knows.

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The Clean Green Experiment: Oven, the First

One of the nastiest cleaners, IMHO, is oven cleaner. It is a stinky, foaming cocktail of chemicals that still requires scrubbing, no matter how diligently you follow the label. On top of that, it produces unnecessary trash. On the other hand, my oven has been looking, well, kind of baked, if you know what I mean. So today seemed like a good day to try a homemade cleaning solution.

What I used: equal parts hot water and baking soda, in this case, 4 tablespoons of each. I applied it to the inside of my oven and the door and let it sit for about five minutes while I took care of something else. Then I used a soft scrub to work the insides of the appliance, wiping clean with a moist sponge.

The result: it’s not perfect, but pretty close! All but the hardiest black marks have disappeared. This definitely compares well to the commercial cleaners I’ve tried in the past, for a fraction of the cost.

What’s next: this cleaner does not get rid of the burned smell, and I want to see if I can get the rest of the ick out, so when I get in the oven cleaning mood again, I will try the solution for hardy stains. This involves salt and lemon juice, which should also bring a more pleasant smell to the kitchen.

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A Green Clean

We are in the process of making our household greener: nowadays, I only buy unscented, uncolored detergents and household cleaners from environmentally friendly brands. Still, I can’t help but wonder if it’s not possible to go a step further. For example, my oven is currently a cakey mess. Normally, we would purchase some oven cleaner and spray the hell out of the nasty thing. Of course, that’s just a lovely foamy pile of chemicals. So, I went looking. What else is the internet there for, right? And found, to my great delight, a huge depository of easy-to-make, easy-to-use solutions, using ingredients I already have in my pantry!

This site alone has a wealth of recipes, though I would not use the one containing bleach. Kind of defeats the purpose, plus I wouldn’t want my oven to stink like that! A whole assortment of household cleaners can be found here. You’ll notice that a good many of them feature baking soda, the ingredient with hidden talents (yes, it’s not just for deodorizing your fridge anymore!). My favorite way of using it is to sprinkle it on the carpet before vacuuming. Now I can do my pushups down there without having to “enjoy” the scent of sweaty dog feet… 😉

I also dry my cold wash in the critter room, which has the added benefit of acting like a humidifier in there.

Tell me: do you have tips to greenify your life? Let me know!

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Kickass Girl, Interrupted

Back in the 90s, I had two great exercise loves: my step and Kathy Smith. Despite being challenged in the coordination department, which is not a good thing when learning choreography on a box, step aerobics quickly moved up to my number one favorite way to get sweaty ever. And Kathy, well, she taught me a lot about exercising, and being the innovator she is (or was), kept providing me with new and interesting ways to get the perspiration on. One of those ways was an intro to the boxing craze when she collaborated with Michael Olajide, Jr. on Aerobox. Nearly at the same time, I had the idea of improving my coordination with Tai Chi. Neither lasted very long, but led to the discovery of Canadian trainer Ginette Deslauriers and her two excellent kickboxing videos. Ginette had a way of breaking down the moves, then getting even klutzes like me to put them back together and get a great, challenging workout in the process. Sadly and oddly, neither tape is now available on DVD, and I’m not sure where in the bug-infested storage area my video box is. So for the time being, both the stepping and kickboxing had faded away, the tools for both patiently waiting for the day when once again I have a living room which allows for lateral movement.

But then, just last week, a vastly reduced copy of SHAPE magazine’s Get Lean in 4 Weeks DVD fell into my shopping basket. It features a whole body toning routine, an ab section, and two cardio sessions, one of which happens to be kickboxing! Today, I just couldn’t restrain myself anymore; I had to try it. And what can I say? I had a blast! Undoubtedly, I have some catching up to do in the coordination area (sorry, Jillian Michaels, but your combos are not complicated -which is a GOOD thing!), but it was the funnest sweat fest I have attended in a while. Thank you, SHAPE, for sending me Yumi Lee who is very much appreciated as an instructor!

Having done this and the Bootcamp this morning leaves the afternoon free for Zuzana and yoga. Yup, I’m feeling fab!

Unfortunately, Rufi isn’t feeling as fab; his paw has been bugging him a lot today. We have an appointment with the vet in the morning and will keep our outings short until then. Somehow, I have a feeling we’re going to need that booty! Of course, you can see where it would be extremely important to give all the care in the world to a dog’s feet if said dog only has three of them in the first place.

Right now, everyone’s snoozing, so I’ll take the opportunity and get me in the shower… anyone have a movie recommendation for tonight?

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Scheduling Conflicts

Some of my gnattish readers have stopped by in the past months, probably desperately longing to find out what I’ve been up to all this time. Of course, it would’ve been too much effort to simply leave a coherent comment, but I’ll tell you buzzards, anyway. Such is my caffeine-induced generosity this morning.

In actuality, I have not only not had any inclination to post anything, I’ve really not had much time. You’d think that after a rip-roaring New Year’s party, we’d have let things slow down for a bit, but that is not so. The first social event was a reading with Russian author Vladimir Kaminer, who was billed as reading from his newest book, “My Ukrainian Mother-in-Law”, which he did not do. Instead, he read us from a stack of short stories, which was both pretty damned funny and enlightening. Typically Kaminer. During the break, he diligently signed books and CDs, and we got out of there with a new piece of cultural education, the compilation CD “Ukraina do Amerika”. Now picture two blondes in a tiny red Fiat, windows rolled down, blasting Ukrainian music next to a black Mercedes occupied by a bunch of young Turks blaring rap music. The evening was a total success!

One reading seldom comes alone, as we say, and just recently, we mastered this year’s Crime Week with several readings in unusual locations, such as the State Criminal Justice Department and a S&M Club, which I sadly missed because I was living it up in spring-like London. More vacations are in the acute planning phase, such as Hamburg in June and Tallinn shortly thereafter. I have also successfully celebrated a round birthday; none dared to stay away, as hell truly holds no fury like a 40-year-old’s scorn. 😉 Oh, and I’ve unexpectedly come into money; alas, not enough to retire to a castle in the mountains or buy the town of Monterey. Instead, I am now the proud co-owner of a house somewhere else, nowhere near the Golden State.

That’s as caught up as you need to be. If you want to know what else I’ve been up to, stop by for a session at bodyrock.tv and try it on for yourself.

Today’s special greetings go to London. I have no idea who you are, but it’s neat that you’ve stopped by.