So it comes as a slight surprise that I have a vitamin B deficiency. But not much. I’ve kind of suspected that for a while and responded to that suspicion with a general, “meh.” I’m tired of not really knowing where my food comes from. I’m tired of lack of choices. I’m tired of paying a lot for not much. So slowly but surely, my laziness is being won over by my boredom with insufficient food options.

Of course, making such a change in habit is not easily done, and for me, it helps a lot to have fun accessories. Suffice it to say, I’ve been doing a lot of research, getting some ideas for super healthy meals, and of course, patronizing j-box. I recently ordered a new lunchbox, so that I can easily and fashionably transport my lunches from my home to my place of business. I also got a little tote so that I can actually lug it onto the trolley instead of carrying it with two hands. My god, my life is so challenging, isn’t it? And let’s be honest, I take the trolley entirely out of laziness and not at all out of necessity. Also, sometimes, it is chilly outside and I don’t want to get my feet wet. How spoiled am I? Tremendously.

I purchased the above donburi bento, which gives me loads of options, sections, containers and a handy snap on lid so that everything stays put. Oh, also, I can make noodles and drain them with the handy included strainer. How posh!

I’ve been busy, and when I say busy, I mean, “avoiding doing useful things like cleaning the house, folding my clothes, brushing my hair, actually going to the market, or anything else that might have a tangible benefit to our immediate future lives,” coming up with some easy recipes and rules for eating:

Breakfast (choose one):

Crockpot Oatmeal

1/2c steel cut oats
1/2c flax seed meal
41/2c water
1tsp salt

1. Optional – spray crockpot with cooking spray to avoid sticking.
2. Pour all ingredients into crock pot and stir.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
4. Add fruit, nuts, and milk to taste.

Suggested Additions:

• Raw walnuts for extra omega-3
• Sliced bananas
• Maple syrup (natural)
• Substitute rice or soy milk for regular milk, or use organic, locally produced milk.

Easy Eggs

I am not a morning person. I do not like thinking, smiling, laughing, talking, cooking, or anything else when I get up in the morning. Consequently, the idea of “cooking eggs” or oatmeal or anything is a hateful thought. Here’s how to make quick, easy, tasty eggs without dirtying a pan:

2 eggs, lightly beaten
cracked pepper and salt to taste

1. Beat eggs in a small, microwave safe bowl
2. Microwave high at 30 second intervals, stirring in between to mix cooked and uncooked egg.
3. Cook until desired consistency is reached, then serve.

Optional Additions:

• Veggies, such as spinach, tomato, broccoli, etc.
• Cheese
• A tablespoon or two of milk for creamier texture
• Knob of butter for creamier texture

And now, the final episode of Lost is on, so you’d better believe I’m out like a scout.

I’ve long mentioned my desire to plant a vegetable garden indoors. I’ve grappled with figuring out where and how I would set it up, what sort of mixtures I would use for different plants, how much light I could give them, what types of fertilizer I would need to get, and so forth. The limitations of an indoor apartment vegetable garden combined with the complex needs and desires of such a garden were daunting. I ordered books, I did research, I realized, to my increasing frustration, that the world was patting me on the head and going, “there, there, darling, wouldn’t you like some lovely flowers? Perhaps you won’t kill your next dull potted plant.”

That is, at least, until I remembered that I had done a hydroponic garden as a science experiment in high school (independent study, long story). We’d been given at some point an expensive hydroponic garden, everything included, by someone who’d grown fed up with it and given up. I was able to more than make it work, but in fact make it produce, even without fully understanding nutrients and pH levels, (worse, I didn’t entirely understand the science of which plants needed which nutrients, and as a result, all the plants got too much or too little of what they actually needed).

The benefits of a hydroponic garden are many, but let’s look at how they stack up against the limitations of an indoor container vegetable garden:

Suffice it to say, I discovered that old hydroponic system is still around and fully intact, if unused for about ten years. I’ll be setting up our storage closet in the coming weeks, dusting off the system, replacing necessary parts (presumably a new motor for water filtration), perhaps adapting some new functionality, such as an air stone, getting a sturdy and adjustable stand (and probably some new bulbs) for my light, buying a light timer, seeds, new grow media, pH tester and adjusters, liquid nutrients and a big ol’ floor mat to protect our carpeting.

I’m very excited to start growing a vegetable garden at home! It’s not quite as romantic as I’d originally envisioned, but it will be well-contained and protected, out of harms way, and out of our way, and hopefully we’ll get some wonderful yields!

So at 3 am, I wake up and realize I have a bladder infection. While peeing, I call my doctor, get a prescription called in to a 24-hour pharmacy, and my superhero boyfriend gets on his bike and rides over to pick it up. For the first time ever, I also get this stuff called phenazopyridine, (google it), that does little else except turn my pee dayglo orange. It’s a dye that’s supposed to limit the effects of a bladder infection, the burning, the constant need to pee, all of that, while the antibiotics do their thing.

In my case, this doesn’t really happen. I just start to notice that my pee is changing color from clear (all that water) to bright, dayglo. I mean, you turn the lights off and the toilet glows in the dark. I guess that’s how I know it’s working. But the real point of this story is that my boyfriend got up, after being ready to fall asleep, and got on a bike and went out into the cold, dark night to get me drugs. He did this if not cheerfully, then without any complaints at all. Not even a grumble.

My theory is that it was the pathetic sobbing from the bathroom punctuated by the pathetic little tinkling of a few drops of pee that really won him over. It was go now, or listen to that shit for another 6 hours. He knew, in his heart, it would escalate to horrible primal howling, which is unsettling at the best of times, but in the middle of the night from a bathroom? The acoustics would be terrifying. What’s great is I didn’t have to make that threat, he just knew.

LeVar Burton thinks I’m badass, and he told me so.  As you can see, he clearly knows what he’s talking about. That is all.

1. Love. This year, more than any other before it, is full of love. Platonic, brotherly love, familial love, romantic love, it’s the trifecta.

2. Faith. I’m not faithful, in the sense that I conventionally subscribe to any one religion, however, there’s an acceptance and respect for the quiet faith; faith in humanity, faith in the world, faith in the universe. I’m tremendously grateful for being permitted to be myself, quirky, unconventional, and altogether human.

3. Hope. Nothing is easy, nothing is simple, and after a long, dark decade, we’re finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. After war, terror, death and the absolute ugliest side of humanity, we’re able to brush ourselves off and still hold out for the better part of humanity. We can accept that part of being human is being terrible, but there’s another side to humanity, one worth fighting for and hoping for.

4. Thrust. You thought this was a serious entry, didn’t you? You really did. It is serious, but come on now.

ALL THE MAN DID WAS LOL.

These are the nightmares I have.

“Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.”

“I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I feel myself infinitely the happier for it.”

“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”

“I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.”

“Liberty is to the collective body, what health is to every individual body. Without health no pleasure can be tasted by man; without liberty, no happiness can be enjoyed by society.”

“Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions.”