Artful Blogging

2011-01-27T18:29:00.000-08:00

So I know my last entry was about being full of gratitude and stuff, but I just woke up from a nap in the sourest of moods. I opened my eyes to pages of job searches on my laptop, and I was just fell into an attitude of...its hard to describe it any other way besides desperation. I give up! I am not going to get a job that I actually want. Maybe there is no such job out there for me, or maybe it is just not in the cards. I tried looking at the sunny side, but that just felt too much like both complacency and disingenuity. When I tried being thankful for what I have instead of being bitter about it, I was reminded so much of my former Christian self, and I realized how much easier and more comforting it is to rely on the explanation that "God has a plan" and "all things in God's timing" when you're backed into a corner. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those beliefs, because it absolutely does provide relief in tough situations. I'm just not sure I believe it anymore. Also, I think maybe being in an Ivy League institution has skewed my perception of the world. Maybe I feel too entitled to the good things in life because of where I came from. Maybe I've been to inundated with the principles of the American Dream--that if I work hard enough and am deserving enough, I will eventually get the privileges I've earned. Maybe I should face the reality of where I live and that there are plenty of people in American society that work hard but don't get anything. It is so crushing to finally understand what it's like to work so hard for nothing.
So I feel like this entry is something of a dead end, because the options I'm coming up with are 1) be grateful and complacent or 2) be bitter and complacent, neither of which I like very much. Maybe I should take another nap and I'll wake up in a better mood next time.

snow day

2011-01-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

Hello readers (aka Sherry). I am thrilled to finally have a moment inspirational enough to get me blogging again on this wonderfully snowed in day. I just watched Neil Pasricha give an "awesome" speech on TedTalks (http://www.ted.com/talks/browse) on the three A's of an Awesome life. At a glance, I know it sounds a little cheesey and too much like an over contrived motivational speech, but it really did lift my spirits. The basic message is that life is good and we only have 100 years to enjoy it, so we should live each day appreciating the wonders around us. As you know, I've been in a tough spot lately. I can't quite look at my job and bills with a sunny disposition, but I think I need to get out of this "woe is me!" slump and take on the brighter side of things. So today, I'd like to just make a short list of small things I appreciated about today so far:

1. sleeping in
2. sleeping rats (which means peace and quiet and not having to pick up something that they knock over every 10 seconds)
3. eating leftovers from yesterday's dinner
4. hot tea
5. no work!!

Calling All Dissatisfied Social Workers

2011-01-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

I'm fed up with my job, my pay, and my lack of options...Anyone interested in building something new, get in touch with me.

Praxis Social Worker’s Collective

Mission Statement
The Praxis Social Worker’s Collective exists to build a sustainable movement in which the relationship between the community and change agents is mutually beneficial, satisfying, and transformative. This relationship is set into motion to radically alter the political and cultural landscape in which we exist and holistically undermine the unhealthy climate that persists.

Blog Revival!

2011-01-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

Hi readers. Happy New Year! As one of my resolutions, I am reviving my practice of reflection. I was an avid journaler in my younger years, but as the working world and graduate school came around, writing my thoughts and experiences down fell off my list of priorities. It's a great regret since I often think about how my journals will be my only record of personal development. I'm also a bit of a hoarder of artifacts and relics, so thinking about all that lost time makes me want to cry a little. But I refuse to let my thoughts go unrecorded any longer! For a long time (my whole life, really) I absolutely rejected virtual diary keeping. I thought handwriting on physical paper was a dying art form that I needed to preserve. This may be true, but I've realized that hand writing takes way too much time and effort and it actually prevents me from getting thoughts out faster and more frequently. So, I had to compromise somewhere...

Although this blog was originally intended to keep track of last year's Fun-A-Day project, I'm just going to use it for any old purpose now. I'm not going to put too many restrictions on what I post...just gonna let the blog take shape naturally. I may keep some posts private for personal viewing only, but otherwise I'd like to keep things fluid and less contrived. So love it or hate it, I'm finally gonna let it be me, which is maybe where this resolution is really intended to go--to be more honest with myself and with the people around me. A form of transparency I suppose...and in a form that's easier for me to handle. It's a virtual space that i'm pretty sure won't get too many hits, so it doesn't really matter what I post because no one's gonna read it anyways! It's kind of like singing in the shower--someone might be listening, but it's really my own private space and time to let loose and listen to my voice reverberate.

more maps

2010-04-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

There are lots of improvements to be made. This is just the first draft...so stay tuned for the final product.

Assignment 3

2010-03-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

I made this document for my Community Mapping class, and it took me WAY longer than it should have. Oh how taking notes in class would have come in handy! Since figuring out how to get the stupid mapping functions in ArcView took so long, the library closed before I was able to finish. I don't have the computer program at home, so I had to slap everything together last minute RIGHT before class. So please do me the favor of skipping over the writing portion of the document and just look at the maps. It's not my best piece of work, but pretty decent for how quickly I rushed through it.

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

2010-03-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be away for so long, but there's just been such a whirlwind of stuff these past few weeks. My last major project was a research proposal put together for the Mathematica summer research fellowship. Although research proposals don't readily come to mind when you think of art, there is and element of creativity in designing a study. So, I'm posting my abstract so you can take a look at my most recent attempts at utilizing the crafty part of my brain.

SUICIDE AS SOCIAL ACTION IN THE KOREAN

IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY

IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND SERVICE PROVISION

Christine Kim

ABSTRACT

The Korean immigrant community in the United States has seen a spike in suicides among its members. Most often, economic hardship is the reason named for their tragic decisions. This trend in the United States echoes suicide statistics and motives in South Korea. Since the financial crisis of 1997, Korea has undergone major economic structural changes which have had a profound impact on their culture. Many scholars who have looked at this phenomenon often frame it as a micro problem, or as an individual choice stemming from personal difficulty couched in terms of larger systemic issues. However, there may be an alternative lens in which to view the increase in suicides. Given Korea’s collective values and its long history of suicide as an act of protest against political repression, the recent acts of suicide in the U.S. may be in the same action-oriented spirit. An alternative view of the problem may suggest a need to shift intervention methods and policy to more culturally appropriate strategies and may also call for programs that help alleviate the economic causal issues rather than the individual‘s symptoms.

March 4th Walkout in Support of the California Takeover

2010-03-03T16:39:00.000-08:00

http://afterthefallcommuniques.info/

A Departure From Baking

2010-02-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

My latest creation. Quite different from cupcakes, no?

Zucchini Muffins

2010-02-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

Oh holy moley I'm tired! It's only 1:30am, but I just cannot find it in me to go downstairs to that cold cold kitchen to bake 3 batches of cupcakes for tomorrow's Fun-A-Day opening. That's what I get for putting my school work first. :(

So, in lieu of cupcakes, I'm going to post the lovely zucchini muffins I made for Vegan Brunch last weekend. The recipe called for spelt flour, which I thought I had, but I didn't...And there was no way I was going back out into the snow to trudge my way to the co-op to get some, after already having gone that day. So I made them with white flour, fingers crossed the whole I time I was baking. They actually turned out beautifully. I think I'm going to make them a brunch staple from here on out because they're super easy and oh-so-delicious.

Corey's Birthday

2010-02-09T20:14:00.001-08:00

So the Fun-A-Day experiment is over, and even though I didn't quite make it through 31 days of baking I still put in a heck of a lot of effort to learn the cupcake craft and create edible art during the month of January. So I'm gonna give myself a pat on the back and say, "Job well done!"

In honor of the man who brings us Fun-A-Day, some friends and I planned a surprise hoop-la for his 29th birthday. I volunteered to bake his cake, naturally, and was sent a recipe for a pretty fantastic sounding vegan Chocolate Cherry Cake. I gave it a go, but in my characteristic way, I found myself incapable of following the instructions. Unfortunately, the cake did not take kindly to my tweaks and ended up being quite sloppy. It also tasted...less than stellar. It was edible, but so so dense! And I couldn't find cherry extract at the coop or my neighborhood grocery store, and I was NOT about to drag my lazy butt all the way down to South Philly in 2 feet of snow to buy it, so I improvised with vanilla and almond extract. The almond gave it a marzipan-y flavor, which I usually like but it turned out not to be a good pair with the chocolate and cherry in this case. :(

Not the prettiest cake in the world, right? When I pulled it out, I wondered how I was going to put cherries on top without them just rolling down the slope.

But they stayed on. Probably with a little help from the chocolate ganache I poured over it first. I thought the cake was so ugly that I needed to cover up the cracks with some sort of frosting or glaze. The ganache was also an attempt to glue one side of the cake back together, which crumbled when I took it out of the pan.

Day 14: S'mores Cupcakes

2010-01-30T20:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I actually got these to look like the ones in the cookbook! Just like yours Isa & Terry! I hope you're proud!

Even though they look nice (in my opinion), I still ran into some obstacles during the baking process. First, I was worried that I had left the wet ingredients out too long. I measured everything out, combined them in a bowl, and then left the table for a good 1/2 hour to 45 mins to try to cut a mouse out of a sticky trap. Baking's all about the chemical reactions, so sometimes timing can be a crucial factor in making good desserts. I was really glad I hadn't added the dry ingredients in as well. Otherwise, I'm sure my cupcakes would have been a sloppy disaster. Oh, and about the mouse...

So, I live in West Philly. I rent out a room in an old Victorian house that's been here since people first started developing it as a suburb of old Philadelphia. Probably since the 1800s. Old house = mice. It's just a fact of living in a neighborhood like this. And to tell you the truth, I really don't mind them. I think they're cute. I just make sure I pack my food away in containers and stow them in my cabinets. But my roommate's been a little squeamish about them since one of them nibbled on her bagels. So I bought a humane mousetrap and baited it with a rice cracker smeared with peanut butter. But today, a different roommate saw a mouse in her bathroom run for cover in a sticky trap the landlord had set down a few months ago to take care of roaches. I tried the best that I could to remove it, but the poor thing stopped breathing before I could finish. So to everyone reading this, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not use sticky traps! Whatever gets caught in it struggles and suffers for a long time before it dies. And moreover, if you're feeling particularly humane today, you should opt for alternatives that let you and other animals that share your living space co-exist!

RIP little grey mouse.

Don't worry. I washed my hands thoroughly with hot water and lots of soap before I continued to handle food. And if you're still grossed out by the fact that I touched a mouse, washed, and then touched food, I'm pretty sure you touch things that are much worse and put them in contact with your mouth, nose, or eyes without even thinking about it, especially if you take public transit, so get over it.

Barrier #2 was that when I put the batter into the oven, I forgot to set the oven timer. I didn't realize this until some time had passed, and I couldn't remember when I had put the tin in. So I kept opening and closing the oven to stick a toothpick in the cupcakes, which made them kind of sink instead of rising to a nice dome. Also, I think I overbaked them by a bit, making the tops really crunchy.

Despite all this, they still turned out pretty nice.

S'mores cupcakes topped with buttercream frosting, graham cracker crumbs, shaved dark chocolate from Papua New Guinea (it's really not that fancy...it's from Trader Joe's), and a graham cracker square.

Day 13: Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

2010-01-25T20:20:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day... I went to work late (no one noticed), walked home under a blue sky, made myself a salad, and then baked a batch of cupcakes that redeems me from my last few bad bunches. Now if I could just fit homework in there somewhere, the day would be perfect. Ah well. Perfection is not a realistic standard anyway. :)

These are delicious, and quite nice looking too. I'm learning how to wield the ziplock bag when its loaded with frosting. So thanks to exposure therapy, I'm finally over my fear of makeshift frosting pipers and can get on with my life! Phew!

I was kind of worried after I had mixed the frosting. When I dipped my finger in it to give it a taste, it reminded me too much of toothpaste for me to enjoy. But on top of the chocolate, the flavor combination worked really well! Who knew toothpaste and chocolate went so well together?!

My phone didn't pick up the green in this photo, so just imagine they are the color of the frosting in the picture above and you'll get an idea of how glorious they look in real life.

Day 12: Pineapple Right-Side-Up Cakes

2010-01-24T00:03:00.000-08:00

I think I jinxed myself with the blog entry that praised my improved baking abilities. I was so proud that each batch was getting better and better, and since then I haven't had a successful cupcake to date. Sigh. These Pineapple Cupcakes are so disappointing. The topping was runny and waaaay too sweet, and the cupcake itself was just mediocre. The only good thing about this batch was that my friend Sammy came over to help me bake them. Only now I'm afraid she'll get the wrong idea about vegan cupcakes altogether! I guess this just means that I have to bake a really killer batch tomorrow to redeem myself and save the reputation of cruelty-free cupcakes!

Sammy and cupcakes.

Day 11: Maple Cupcakes

2010-01-19T19:41:00.000-08:00

Today I got started baking right after work with the intention of wrapping up early, and somehow, I am only just now getting to the rest of my to-do list. It's 12:30AM, and I have a class tomorrow which I haven't read a single page for! Blast you maple cupcakes!! You succulent little devils!

This recipe called for "sugared walnuts," which made the kitchen smell like heaven even before the cupcakes were put in the oven. I carmelized some finely chopped walnuts, which I think were meant to stay individual little pieces. But being the blundering baker that I am, they turned into one giant pancake. When I tried to fold them into the batter, I just tore the pancake into nuggets and threw them in, hoping that the other liquids would magically melt away the bonds between the walnut pieces. But my batter remained chunky, and the cupcake tin was a big pain in the rectum to fill.

When I pulled the tin out of the oven, my precious little buns were oozing! It looked like they had been wounded and were secreting some sort of bodily fluid. The walnut brittle had melted inside the cupcakes and burst out while baking! I was terrified that they wouldn't recover, but as it turned out, the injuries weren't anything a generous helping of frosting couldn't bandage.

The Creamy Maple Frosting is sooooo goooood. It's made with soy milk powder, which was hard to find but so worth the scavenge! When I mixed it in with the rest of the ingredients, it was like seeing magic happen! Everything just began to gel into this fluffy, marshmallow-y texture, which was so much fun to spread!

Unfortunately, the melted walnut brittle sticks to the cupcake wrapper, and it is impossible to peel off some parts! So while I was giving my cupcakes a trial taste test and I found the paper wouldn't budge, what did I do? Why, I ate the paper of course! Nothing comes between me and my tasty tasty cupcake. Besides, a little paper never hurt anybody...I think.

Day 10: Brooklyn vs. Boston Cream Pie Cakes

2010-01-18T09:38:00.000-08:00

I took the weekend off from baking to travel to NYC, and I'm debating whether or not to feel guilty about breaking my 31 day commitment. On the one hand, even GOD took a break after 6 days of work! I think I'm WELL entitled to a vacation after 9 days, then! On the other, I don't want this to be indicative of my behavior post-graduate school. I need to stay on top of things and not be a lazy ass!

But regardless of whether or not I let guilt get to me, I've gotten back on track, which is a good quality whether I keep chugging along or falter along the way. I whipped up a deliiiccciiious batch of cream filled cupcakes last night. It was time consuming, and somewhat anxiety provoking, but the work was worth it. These are my favorite batch so far. I know I keep saying that, but that just means that each batch I bake is better than the last. Next time, however, I have to remember to buy silken tofu instead of firm tofu, to blend into a smooth cream for the filling. I was afraid these were going to have a cottage-cheese texture in the center because of my boo boo, but they turned out okay! Phew. I would have cried if they didn't, because these are the most time consuming cupcakes I've baked so far. Between all the cooling of the separate components, I'm sure I could have finished this week's readings for at least one of my classes. But in typical Christine fashion, I just putzed around in my pajamas instead.

The toothpick test, fresh out of the oven.

After cooling, I got to poke holes in the center with my finger to make room for the cream filling. Shhh. Don't tell the Health Inspectors!

My lovely assistant for the day. He took his hole poking job very seriously.

Filling in the cupcakes with cream in a ziplock baggy. This time it didn't explode all over everything. Phew.

Topped off with chocolate ganache. Oooh. Shiny.

Day 9: Chocolate Cherry Creme Cupcakes

2010-01-15T00:13:00.001-08:00

These are delicious! My best work always comes out in the wee hours of the morning (it's 3am!), whether it be a last minute paper, a blog posting, or a cupcake.

The basic chocolate cupcakes as the base...

...with wells cut out...

...to make room for the cherries and sauce...

...and frosting, well top, more frosting, and a cherry on top.

This batch has really pushed me towards investing in a frosting piper. So in a few batches, expect much more professional looking goodies.

Day 8: Peanut Butter Cupcakes

2010-01-13T21:38:00.000-08:00

I just finished frosting these bad boys, and they look awesome! These are my favorite looking so far. The book recommends putting a quick melty ganache in a pastry bag or plastic bag to drizzle over the cupcakes. I don't have a fancy pastry bag yet, and after my last ziplock disaster, I'm afraid of trying any makeshift squeezers for a while. A third option the book suggests is just drizzling it on with a fork. I tried this, but my ganache was a bit thick and wouldn't really drizzle so much as plop. So I tried my best to make it look nice and just started raking the glob into fun rows.

The texture of these cupcakes are also perfect. They're moist without being sticky, and crisp on top. While experimenting with my crimson velveteen cupcakes yesterday, I figured out that the dial on the oven and the actual temperature are mismatched. The oven is not actually as hot as it says it is, so everything should bake for just a few minutes longer. I put these in for just 5 extra minutes and it made a world of a difference!

Day 7: Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes

2010-01-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

Ohmygod these are delicious! They're also a big hit with my housemates, which is nice since half the fun of baking is bringing a smile of satisfaction to the ones you share with. Unfortunately, they weren't the perfect cupcakes I was hoping for. I only had half the amount of red food coloring the recipe called for, so they didn't turn quite "crimson." But that's alright because they were still a nice, deep red that passed as more than satisfactory in my eyes. The real bummer was the frosting. I made the buttercream frosting that I made for the first two batches of cupcakes, but this time it turned out really runny and dribbled down the sides. I think I made the mistake of melting the butter and shortening when I should have used an electric beater to just cream everything together. For some reason, I am really resistant to electric mixing tools. It seems like cheating...and it takes joy out of using your own arm power to get everything mixed just right. Maybe this is a wake up call--if I want perfect cupcakes, hand-made is not the way to go.

Day 6: Gingerbread Cupcakes

2010-01-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

I started baking these a little earlier in the evening than usual, since I noticed my boyfriend tends to call at the same time I begin whisking everything together. In hopes of finishing earlier so I could have a conversation with my boo, I found myself catching my housemates who were rolling through the kitchen to make themselves dinner during my baking session. We're all busy folks, so I rarely see them throughout the day. The simultaneous chatting and ingredient mixing was very nice, and now I can say that these cupcakes have not only saved me from a creation-less lifestyle but they've also done WONDERS for my social life! :)

These cupcakes looked quite pretty when they came out of the oven. They were nice and round, unlike the carrot cakes from the day before. But when I ate one this morning, I found them too moist and gingery for my taste. I should have known not to put so much ginger in, as I usually do not like foods that give me that burning sensation in my nose (ie ginger, wasabi, turnips, horseradish, etc.).

Day 5: Carrot Cake Cupcakes

2010-01-12T20:19:00.000-08:00

To get you caught up quickly, these were a flop! I was so disappointed on how they looked when they came out of the oven. They seemed really oily (too much cooking spray on the cupcake tin?) and the wrapper wasn't sticking to the cupcake! Moreover, none of them rose properly, so they all looked like they had great big moon craters in the middle. I covered up the sink holes with lemony cream cheese frosting pretty well though. They tasted ok, but I can't get over how terrible they looked! My worst batch yet!

The best looking of the bunch.

Day 4: Chocolate Gluten Freedom Cupcakes

2010-01-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days everyone (and by everyone, I mean Sherry). I've been kept busy and away from my blog, but I definitely have been making time for baking. So no worries, I'm still on track with my cupcake project.

On Saturday, I made Chocolate Gluten Freedom Cupcakes with the assistance of my lovely helper, Giulia, who bused herself in all the way from NYC to attend the weirdest party ever. The night was a hodgepodge of drawing with crayons, odd instruments, and Jewish ceremony. What an experience! Unfortunately, my cupcakes didn't quite hold up to all the excitement of the evening. They turned out...less than memorable.

Giulia and I went to the neighborhood coop to shop for ingredients and found everything but ground flax seeds and tapioca flour. So to substitute, I bought whole flax and amaranth flour, thinking the replacements would work out fine. Well, we managed to get the flax ground up in a blender after Giulia's unsuccessful attempt to mash them up in my mortar and pestle. But the amaranth flour...Bleh! The switcharoo resulted in super dense, hard cupcakes that cracked on top! Now, I realize I could just be blaming my inability to bake on amaranth flour, so I won't be biased against it quite yet and will give it another chance. But never again on an item meant to be distributed to guests at a party. Oh how sad. My reputation as a hostess has been marred!!

Thanks to Giulia for getting this picture of me and my creation!

The final product. We tried to make them prettier by dusting the top with some Halloween sprinkles Laura dug out of her cabinet. And on the two bottom cupcakes we split our last vegan marshmallow to place on top.

I have a few more days to catch up on, but I'm afraid if I don't go to bed now I won't wake up in time for work. Goodnight. ;)

Day 3: The Simple Vanilla and Agave Nectar Cupcake

2010-01-09T00:25:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow there's a musical shindig at my house that's been a few months in the planning process. There should be a good number of people, and I'm usually stressed about what food to prepare for big parties. But this time, I know exactly what to make: CUPCAKES!! LOTS AND LOTS OF CUPCAKES!!! And not just any kind of cupcakes. Not even just your run-of-the-mill vegan cupcakes. I'm making vegan, agave sweetened, and gluten free cupcakes! There are two guests tomorrow who have special diets, and my heart goes out to them because I know what it's like to be somewhere and not be able to eat anything. So I'm making special treats for both of them.

A friend's friend's girlfriend has an unrefined sugar-free diet, and the friend's friend (the boyfriend) is allergic to wheat gluten, so tonight I made the simple vanilla and agave nectar cupcakes, and tomorrow I'm planning on making chocolate gluten free cupcakes. I would put the two together so I wouldn't have to make two separate batches, but I've just started my baking career and I'm not that skilled yet! So to avoid disaster, I've decided to keep the two specialties separate.

Simple and unadorned...

That's a dollop of blueberry on top, not caviar, in case you were wondering.

And the one in the bottom right corner is missing...because I ate before it's photo op.

Day 2: The Basic Chocolate Cupcake

2010-01-07T22:16:00.000-08:00

This recipe was so simple even I couldn't mess it up! It took about 15 minutes to put everything together, but it took me 3.5 hours to finish the whole process. Most of the time was spent impatiently fanning the cupcakes on the cooling rack so I could frost them.

I tried to get fancy with the frosting and put it in a little ziplock baggy to pipe it through a cut whole in the corner. Plan failed. The bag exploded on my hand while I was squeezing and it left a feces-like heap on one of the cupcakes. Luckily, frosting is malleable and I was able to smooth the poo pile with a spread of my butter knife.

Day 1: The Golden Vanilla Cupcake

2010-01-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

As promised, I baked my first batch of cupcakes today. I chose the first recipe in the book...the Golden Vanilla Cupcake. Sounds magical, doesn't it? Well, it turned out less than so, but not bad. Hopefully the next 30 batches will rise more and stick to the wrapper less. I ate three of them in 5 minutes...not because I like to gorge myself on sweets (hehe. Even though I do!), but because I couldn't get a sufficient mouthful with half of it still clinging to the liner! According to the book, that happens when the eater isn't patient enough to let the cupcake cool all the way before bingeing. Oops.

Just out of the oven.

Fluffy Buttercream Frosting made from an alarming amount of shortening, butter, and sugar. Mmmm. Heart Healthy.

Complete masterpieces for Day 1. Funny looking little things, aren't they? Notice the sloppy one on the bottom right corner. That was the first one frosted. Goes to show I can improve with practice!

Fun-A-Day

2010-01-05T22:02:00.000-08:00

It's a new year, and I'm ready to get my blogging butt back into

gear. And what better way to get myself motivated than with a

tasty process and outcome?! Starting tomorrow, I am planning

to bake a batch of cupcakes for 31 consecutive days. A dear

friend is organizing a Fun-A-Day (http://artclash.com/) in Philly,

where participants are asked to make one piece of art each day

for a month and then show our projects at the Fun-A-Day exhibit.

I've been thinking about what to do for a while now, and I

couldn't quite come up with a satisfactory project until yesterday.

During a long, leisurely stroll through the city on a self-

proclaimed work holiday (aka Mondays I don‘t feel like getting

out of bed) I found myself perusing the cookbook section at

Wooden Shoe Books. There was a tiny book with an orange spine

tucked between the normal sized cookbooks which caught my eye.

I pulled it out of the shelf, and to my delight, it was Vegan

Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and

Terry Romero. They're the authors of some of my favorite vegan

cookbooks, so I know it's going to be excellent.

Later that night, I took my new cookbook to my friend Sammy's

house to ooh and ahh over the pictures in company. After seeing

the excitement on my face as I thumbed through the pages, she

suggested I bake 31 cupcakes for Fun-A-Day. I considered this for

a second and then discarded the idea. I thought it was a little

Julie/Julia and surely I could come up with something more

original! But it turns out I can't, and I'm actually really excited to

start my adventures in daily vegan decadence!

Monday Night Trash Tally

2009-11-16T22:12:00.000-08:00

One of my No Impact challenges for Day 1 was to collect all of my day's trash and take a look at the waste I create. I had to fish some stuff out of the trash throughout the day because I forgot that I couldn't just throw stuff into a receptacle to make it magically disappear. Just the process itself helped me be more conscious of how much garbage I produce, but actually taking everything apart and looking at what I would have sent to the landfill is pretty astounding and reminds me of how thoughtless my daily consumption routine is. Here's a list of my day's trash:

4 plastic bags

4 paper towels/napkins

4 slices of moldy sourdough

2 twisty ties

2 chip bags

1 applesauce lid and container

1/2 cauliflower stem

1/4 bunch of cilantro

No Impact Weeeeee(k)!

2009-11-16T06:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was supposed to mark the beginning of my No Impact experience. It's a nationwide volunteer project initiated by Colin Beaven, aka No Impact Man. He's the fellow from Greenwich Village who tried to reduce his "carbon footprint" to zero with a year long project (now a lifetime living philosophy, I believe) of living a waste and electricity free life. It was a pretty huge undertaking considering that he had a very young child, North Eastern winters can get pretty harsh even with articial heating, and he lives in New York City--one of the most consumer driven places on planet Earth. Well, he did it. And he claims that he lost weight, saved money, and most importantly, his overall satisfaction of his quality of life improved by miles.

In addition to the fact that I care deeply about the environment, the extra happiness bit is an extra motivator to try this out. Sometimes it's easy to get sucked into the downward spiral of homework and my internship, so I thought I'd take a stab at going No Impact! I'm officially starting today, since I totally forgot the project started on Sunday and I broke all the major rules for the first day. So today, my challenges are to cut out shopping for unnecessary items and carry all my trash around with me so I can look at all the waste I've created at the end of the day. Wish me luck.

Colin's blog:
www.noimpactman.typepad.com

Tree House

2009-11-08T15:56:00.000-08:00

So one of my many recently failed art projects includes a raccoon house, which my friend Giulia and I were going to collaborate on until the person responsible for providing the actual raccoons went MIA. At my house's most recent dinner party (theme: things you can roll, like sushi, burritos, cinnamon rolls, etc.), a guest mentioned a pair of raccoons that had were becoming regular diners of his roommate's cat food in their attic. They were trying to devise safe and humane ways to get rid of their unwelcome guests, but were down in their luck in ideas. So the following day, after one too many cups of coffee (really, I just had one), I had the brilliant idea of building a treehouse with luxurious raccoon amenities! We'd be like HUD for our urban wildlife friends. I still think its a great idea, but until I actually find another situation where raccoons are in danger of becoming homeless, I'll just have to leave it in my stock pile of unrealized, seemingly silly but totally serious projects.

Anyways, all that was a back story for what I'm about to present. Ever since I saw this book in the window of St. Mark's Bookstore with these incredible tree houses on the cover a few years ago, I can't get the idea out of my mind. Tree houses, houses made out of trees, trees in our houses...More recently, Giulia brought it to the forefront of my mind when she was telling me about this tree house she was designing for her architecture class. So it was kind of naturally on my mind when this raccoon issue came up. And I thought, how perfect! It's a great opportunity to exercise my interest in what people may think are three separate worlds--animals, housing, and sustainable design and architecture. And now, there's this article in the New York Times recently about an architect who builds with whole trees! I'm linking the article below so you can all read it and keep yourselves updated in cutting edge, sustainable architecture. But in case you really really don't have time, I'm posting some pictures too. Just thinking of the possibilities of beautiful design and environmental benefits building with whole trees could yield is making my brain go off in a million directions it really shouldn't right now. I gotta write a stupid paper...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/garden/05tree.html

November Bounty

2009-11-08T07:29:00.001-08:00

Yesterday morning I woke up early to raid the Clark Park farmer's market. I was a little worried that the seasonal chilliness would have already zapped good produce from the farm fields, but look at what I found! It was the most beautiful farmer's market I have seen since I moved to Philly! If you're wondering what that purple lump is in the left hand corner, that's cauliflower! That's right, PURPLE cauliflower! I don't exactly know what I'm gonna do with yet, so if you have any suggestions, send them my way.

I spent most of the AM hours running between my house and different grocery purveyors, emptying my duffle bag and then running out to get more. I can't think of a better way to have spent a beautiful Saturday morning. But that's not to say there weren't some sobering observation made along the way.

The local, organic food distributors in West Philly that I know of are the farmer's markets, the Mariposa Food Co-op, and Milk & Honey. I visited all three yesterday, and the customer demographics are pretty racially homogenous. Mostly White people shop at these places. I also went to the food truck, the International Foods store (which always looks like it's been looted), and Supreme Shop N Bag, where the diversity of the shoppers is much higher. It's not new information to me that the health disparities between races is huge, but every time I see young African American kids stocking up on huge quantities of junk food and think of the high rates of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and other diet related diseases that are through the roof in poor communities, I can't help but get enraged at the demographics. What really stumps me is that these two different kinds of purveyors are in the same neighborhood but are still obviously divided.

Welcome

2009-11-07T10:38:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Artful Blogging everyone. I've been itching to get in touch with my creative capacity lately, so lets hope that I stay on top of this project despite the many many failed ones I have under my belt. Grad school has buried me in reading, and my internship has me wasting away in a corner office with no windows and nothing to do, so maybe exercising what little, whittling artistic proficiency I have is gonna keep my spirits up and in shape. It's like regular artistic calisthenics, if you will.

I'm having some issues coming up with a good name, so I thought Artful Blogging would do for now. It's broad enough to encompass my schizophrenic interests and narrow enough to pinpoint the catalyst for starting this blog. But if you have a better suggestion, please throw it my way. I'm not particularly attached.

Stay tuned in. Keep me accountable. Leave me some feedback.