Mrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Braaaaaaans. Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaans!

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS!!!

Well, the oddest thing - sirens going off like crazy around here.

I thought it was yet another fire, cuz two houses around the neighborhood have gone up in the past 3 months, but these were all ambulances and police cars.

Turns out the funeral parlor around the corner was holding a viewing for one of the local vegan chefs (I think they said he did catering for the veg celebs who make movies here or something) and a lot of the people seemed to come down with some kind of really nasty bug. The cop doing crowd control said they're calling it some kind of noro-virus, and trying to track down the people who left the viewing early. That and the usual "nothing to see, move along" type of stuff.

I talked with one of the EMTs, and she said it started with one guy that got threw up and started shaking who the other mourners assumed was just a very close friend being very upset, but within about a half hour, a good number of the people there started coming down with whatever it is, too. They're all looking rather pasty, and sorta grey, with bloodshot eyes and all. She said the weirdest thing was that the ones that seem the most sick and out-of-it were getting up and mindlessly devouring the floral arrangements, and if you tried to stop them, they went totally apeshit.

I'm just hoping I didn't catch anything from going out to check. My stomach's feeling a little queasy...

.

For those of you who haven't done so, I highly recommend reading The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. They are wonderful - and the movie comes out in December.

I just got a letter from the IRS charging me a $150 penalty for being late on my 2005 taxes - the taxes my CPA held onto until the end of February of this year.

Christ on a bun... what's next?!!?!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18696606/

Please send out good thoughts - this blaze is 7 miles from my brother's home. :(

Hello, friends -
I will be on my way back to Chicago for a brief leave of absence from my internship.

My endo has gotten to a stage where surgery is necessary, so I will be back in town in a few weeks to get everything taken care of.

If anyone has any recommendations for Reproductive Endocrinologists/Gynecologist surgeons specializing in endometriosis, and/or any GI doctors/surgeons in Chicago, I'll need to consult with both.

thanks in advance for any help you can give me. Hope all is well in your worlds.

~Kit

So anyways...

   Last night was the book release party at reboot in NYC. It officially started at 9pm, then ran until the sun came up. I reported for kitchen duty, and made sure the food was out and available until I crashed hard at 3:30am. Doris, the owner of reboot, was kind enough to let me crash at her house around the corner, and Lacey said she'd come and join me when she was done.

   I took a shower and fell into my side of the bed around 4am, put in my earplugs, and fell into a leaden sleep, vaguely aware that sometime after the sun came up, someone crawled into bed. A couple hours later, I felt a hand on my side - totally out of it, but thinking "wow. Lacey must be pretty drunk..." I crawled out of bed to the bathroom, and when I returned, I saw that she'd rolled over and curled up, So I got back under the covers and went back to sleep.

   At 11am, I got a call... from Lacey. Needless to say, I was mighty confused, looking at the mess of long brown hair peeking out from under the covers. I got up and sat at the edge of the bed, while Lacey apologized to me for not having come to Doris' after the party, and staying with her friend Lisa down on Wall Street instead. Still woozy and confused, I got up and picked up my jeans. We hung up, and from behind me, I hear, "hey, you..."

   And there is a man in the bed with a beard and long brown hair.

   uh, yeah.

  Not Lacey. A man. 

    So, with my jeans and jacket in one hand, I walked back over, held out my hand, and said, "Hi, I'm Kit. I don't believe we've met." 

"uh - what?"

"I'm Kit. I was working in the kitchen last night. I don't think I met you."

He seemed a bit taken aback, so maybe I had been introduced to him on one of my runs out with food, who knows?

"I'm Loren."

I shook his hand and said nice to meet you, and then went into the bathroom to dress.

Man. What a bizzare awakening. 

He seemed nice enough, but it's not part of my idiom to wake up with strangers in the bed.

(and, no, Sweetie - he didn't grab any of the good bits.)

Hi all -
   A quick note for the craziness that has been the Down to Earth Cookbook tour:

I arrived here in the NYC area early, early morning Thursday, after driving my car and belongings out to SF from Chicago with Rantmo. (note - for some reason, my tags aren't working. Will have to fix them later)

I barely made the last train into NYC, due to mechanical difficulties with the Newark Airport Airlink, only to arrive at my crash space down across from the NYSE around 2:30am.

Up at 8am to work out details with one of the signing parties, then to the Natural Gourmet to start Friday Night Dinner prep.

Late night to bed again, then up at 8am again to do prep cook for the Saturday party, then to Natural Gourmet for Friday Night Dinner. The diners loved it, but some of the student workers were simply awful, with horrible attitudes. Got to sleep very late once more, and yet another early morning to get to Whole Foods here in Middletown, NJ for the 1-4 book signing.

We'll be on the next train back into NYC for the release party at reboot, and then back here to Red Bank in the morning for a friendly gathering/potluck.

I will be glad to get back to a warm, soft place to sleep. ...and be able to sleep in. Sleep. Ah yes... sleeeeeeeeep.

sleeeeeeep good...

~Kit

PS- buy my book: www.downtoearthcookbook.com

It is official. I am the tallest woman in Oaxaca.

Out walking today, I generated 5 "wow!"s (a word I had no idea existed in Spanish), lots of stares, and countless sniggering as I pass. Luckily, there has been none of the "Hora! Kitzilla!!! AIEEEEE!!!" that I received from the children of Japan, so I consider that an improvement.

I spent the day supporting the local ecomony. It started out at the organic market, when I ran into my friend Lindsay, who came back early from Chiapas. I picked up enough organic Oaxacan chocolate to last me a bit (at least a week, I hope!), then headed down to the Zocolo (town square - every town has one) to get my ticket for the bus ride to Mexico city tomorrow.

Afterwards, I toured the Mercado Juarez again, but ended up buying nothing but a bag of muy yummy peanut mix from a street vendor (peanuts salted & roasted with chile peppers and garlic - and I don´t even usually like peanuts!). Despite my near constant queasiness of the past few days, I decided to go to La Olla (an organic restaurant) for lunch and feast. I had fresh guacamole, which for some reason, they top with cheese here, a wonderful salad with roasted pecans, watermelon, sauteed apple slices, flax seeds, and goat cheese. I also had dessert for the first time here: a light chocolate cake covered in Oaxacan chocolate ganache served with mango/pineapple salsa and strawberry slices. Swoon...

I then toured the Cultural Museum of Oaxaca, which was very interesting, and dropped a good chunk of change at MARO - an artisan co-op of women dedicated to preserving the traditional arts and crafts of the region. The money goes directly to the artisans, and there´s some beautiful stuff.

I´ve been unsuccessful in the quest for <lj user="carneggy">´s requested almond tequila. Perhaps I´ll have more luck in Mexico City or the airport...

hasta luego, mis amigos!

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