things not to do-a short story by Janel Astor
Several months ago while trooping through oregon, washington and california-sometimes by bike and sometimes by car-i had ALOT of time to contemplate my life and the simple fact that i wasn't going to be able to move to portland anytime soon. With this in mind i decided that the time had come (23 years later) to finally embrace san jose and make it my home, rather than just the place i live.
I came home with piles of ideas and promptly (in true Janel fashion) started work on accomplishing everything in one day. i joined my local neighborhood association and got active in my primarily spanish speaking neighborhood-i speak 17 words of spanish, many of them animal sounds. i applied to the bike and pedestrian advisory committee for the city of san jose (and got accepted), i already had a full-time job and a part-time job and a really part-time job, so when offered the opportunity to teach a class i thought, "what the hell, i need the money", and i took that job. i also had 6 new baby chickens,one older arthritic dog, an old house in constant need of repair, a small urban garden/farm and a desire to continuing riding my bike 3-4 times per week. Did i mention that my full-time job involves work for a non-profit serving very young children in programs that our governor decimated this year? Not the best year at the office with everyone wondering if they would have a job and me being the one responsible for these types of things. did i mention that i have some troubles with my back and kaiser is my health care provider? oy
Somewhere around october i began to realize that i was really screwed. That not only was i no longer able to work 4 jobs, but i had over committed and i was over employed, and baby chickens, dogs and friends require care and feeding. Holy shit was i screwed. Of course by then there was little to do except see it through. i absolutely freaked out, but put my head down and plowed through. And here i am emerging from the prison of my own creation and ready to roll, or stumble, back out into san jose and my little life experiment. hope you'll join (again), and i hope that anyone who's interested will come along on my weird jaunts to find worthwhile stuff in san jose
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Around here, the chicken came first
When you get chickens and raise them from tiny babies in your house on the dining room table, and then talk about them all the time and stop eating chicken, people tend to ask all the time about the eggs. How many eggs do you get each week, how do they taste, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.
So far, no eggs.
i feed the girls well, i care for them, i pamper them, but the bottom line is you just have to wait until it's time.
And then-it's time.
Your chicken(s) starts clucking and making a general ruckus and acting weird and then it does what chickens have been doing for millions(?) of years. With no help from me, it climbs into the prepared box and lays an egg. If you're lucky (and i was) your silly chicken redeems your dumb christmas eve by choosing this day to lay it's first egg. How ridiculously cool is that? There has to be some sort of christmas spirit lesson in there, even if you're not looking (and i was).
i will not post a picture of the first egg as it was kinda like a practice egg and not particularly pretty. However, the second egg, while small, was perfect. Light brown with dark brown speckles. Merry Christmas
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
A cup of Jo(se)
Coffee. My hand feels uncomfortable without a cup in it. My desk feels naked when no cup sits on it or near it. My brain feels fuzzy without the comforting buzz-i am no longer clear exactly what would happen in a day without coffee to fuel me. Ah, the mournful call of the addicted.
i go through phases-regular coffee with a little milk/soy/cream-whatever-, lattes, cappuchinos, americanos-and always about a pound of sugar per cup. Friends and strangers shy away as i fill my cup with sugar and add a splash of coffee as a compliment (truly, this is only a slight exaggeration).
So, if you love your coffee you must search out your city's offerings. Once you get through the pot of coffee at the house in the morning, there still has to be a good working knowledge of where to get your subsequent cup(s) throughout the day. Since San Jose is still a fledgling city (it doesn't quite know how to be a city- it is stuck between an orchard and a mini mall and can't qutie grow up) searching out coffee that is drinkable is important. Decent coffee shops do not abound.
Follow me on this girl's tour of coffee (mostly) in downtown San Jose. i'm not actually endorsing any of them-i tend to be an equal opportunity sipper, but each has a distinct style that appeals to the varied coffee drinkers who reside inside me, and i'm guessing in you too.
Roy's in japantown is quickly turning into a favorite for a few reasons. The people who works there are all really nice (if annoyingly good looking). The coffe and tea selections are yummy. They also have food and treats and I suspect they are fresh each day, and not your totally typical run of the mill coffee shop stuff. It's also relatively new and hip, without being tragically hip-which is nice. Best of all is the large outdoor seating area-something most coffee places and restaurants in San Jose don't get to have, which is ridiculous considering our amazing weather (this city has some of the most ridiculous limitations). It pours rain in Portland Oregon 3 days out of 4 and you can sit outside at most places in there.
Peet's (any Peet's really) enjoys the distinction of being pretty consistent no matter where you find it. I have favorites at Peet's and also find that they know how to make soy milk foamy in a way that many places don't. Of course every Peet's looks the same and you have to love your classical music, but familiarity is sometimes comforting in it's predictability.
Trieste serves good coffee and feels kinda hip. The color scheme is a little country for my taste, but I am happy as a clam with the new outdoor area and the genral funkiness of the 1st street "residents" who wander about. It almost makes me feel like I live in a real city! They also serve beer and food and keep adding to their menu. They post local events and change their music regularly which is lovely
Philz should grow on me, but the jury is still out. It' s on the slowly developing little paseo de san antonio, and it is definitely the hangout of fixie riders and hip hipsters. That being said, it isn't quite cutting edge enough in it's decor to match it's super cool clientele, the lights are usually too bright and the music a bit loud. The staff however, are amazingly friendly and helpful
Cafe do Canto in little Portugal is just so European, right down to the smell. Walking in reminded me of every small Spanish cafe i have ever been in (i've spent tons of time in spain rather than portugal, so that's my reference) and i felt instantly happy. This place is right in my general neighborhood and most of the clientele are Portuguese men speaking Portuguese. i almost always feel that i am not in California anymore when i hang here. Something to be said for that.
Of course there is always Starbucks and Tully's-two places i see alot but rarely go to. i unhitched myself from Starbucks when there started to be more than one per mile, and Tully's never really grew on me.
Please add to this blog-i am forever on the search for coffee, and appreciate ideas.
i go through phases-regular coffee with a little milk/soy/cream-whatever-, lattes, cappuchinos, americanos-and always about a pound of sugar per cup. Friends and strangers shy away as i fill my cup with sugar and add a splash of coffee as a compliment (truly, this is only a slight exaggeration).
So, if you love your coffee you must search out your city's offerings. Once you get through the pot of coffee at the house in the morning, there still has to be a good working knowledge of where to get your subsequent cup(s) throughout the day. Since San Jose is still a fledgling city (it doesn't quite know how to be a city- it is stuck between an orchard and a mini mall and can't qutie grow up) searching out coffee that is drinkable is important. Decent coffee shops do not abound.
Follow me on this girl's tour of coffee (mostly) in downtown San Jose. i'm not actually endorsing any of them-i tend to be an equal opportunity sipper, but each has a distinct style that appeals to the varied coffee drinkers who reside inside me, and i'm guessing in you too.
Roy's in japantown is quickly turning into a favorite for a few reasons. The people who works there are all really nice (if annoyingly good looking). The coffe and tea selections are yummy. They also have food and treats and I suspect they are fresh each day, and not your totally typical run of the mill coffee shop stuff. It's also relatively new and hip, without being tragically hip-which is nice. Best of all is the large outdoor seating area-something most coffee places and restaurants in San Jose don't get to have, which is ridiculous considering our amazing weather (this city has some of the most ridiculous limitations). It pours rain in Portland Oregon 3 days out of 4 and you can sit outside at most places in there.
Peet's (any Peet's really) enjoys the distinction of being pretty consistent no matter where you find it. I have favorites at Peet's and also find that they know how to make soy milk foamy in a way that many places don't. Of course every Peet's looks the same and you have to love your classical music, but familiarity is sometimes comforting in it's predictability.
Trieste serves good coffee and feels kinda hip. The color scheme is a little country for my taste, but I am happy as a clam with the new outdoor area and the genral funkiness of the 1st street "residents" who wander about. It almost makes me feel like I live in a real city! They also serve beer and food and keep adding to their menu. They post local events and change their music regularly which is lovely
Philz should grow on me, but the jury is still out. It' s on the slowly developing little paseo de san antonio, and it is definitely the hangout of fixie riders and hip hipsters. That being said, it isn't quite cutting edge enough in it's decor to match it's super cool clientele, the lights are usually too bright and the music a bit loud. The staff however, are amazingly friendly and helpful
Cafe do Canto in little Portugal is just so European, right down to the smell. Walking in reminded me of every small Spanish cafe i have ever been in (i've spent tons of time in spain rather than portugal, so that's my reference) and i felt instantly happy. This place is right in my general neighborhood and most of the clientele are Portuguese men speaking Portuguese. i almost always feel that i am not in California anymore when i hang here. Something to be said for that.
Of course there is always Starbucks and Tully's-two places i see alot but rarely go to. i unhitched myself from Starbucks when there started to be more than one per mile, and Tully's never really grew on me.
Please add to this blog-i am forever on the search for coffee, and appreciate ideas.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Life without chicken (but everything else)
It would appear that the quickest way to rid your diet of chicken is to begin raising chickens. Ridiculously i find myself pretty unable to eat chicken since i have gotten the girls (mother clucker, kentucky, jesus christ, byrd,(pictured in the header) henny penny and della-also referred to as tweedle dee and tweedle dumb), but i remain completely happy to eat beef, lamb, pork, fish, etc.
i should clarify. Chicken was already on the dietary outs before i adopted my small brood. After reading animal, vegetable, miracle for the umpteenth time (amidst a bunch of other sustainable, slow food, organic gardening books) i had finally decided that there was no true reason for me to become a vegetarian IF I made some other changes to my life. These included growing a lot of food and eating meat and food that was raised well and locally - thus reducing my carbon foot print and not supporting grossly unhealthy agricultural and farming practices that wipe out so much while producing such unhealthy food (what a smug ass i am, right!).
Since i have enough land i thought i might as well start work on that small farm, grow organic food, swear off pesticides, build compost, start shopping almost completely at the farmers market, support local food, forsake safeway, build a shrine to Michael Pollan etc., etc., blah, blah, blah. This led to buying organic farm-raised meat, which is a bit pricey, which means less meat. Sooooo why waste a bit of my meat budget on chicken-the absoutely least exciting meat you could really ever cook with. All of the sudden i have reason(s)to experiment with lamb and eat more fish, so that's what i do, AND i can hang with my girls without feeling that i might be eating their cousin. Somewhat twisted logic, but my logic never the less. Most of my friends are still insisting that it is fine to eat chicken since it's not MY chickens-that's a slippery slope for sure. Now i have a slight inkling how all my vegetarian friends feel when people question their choices (not really, but....)
Now don't get me wrong. i'm new to this. i make mistakes all the time. i make exceptions and i compromise. i eat food (and meat) at restraurants that aren't supporting local or sustainable. i baulk at the price of organic lettuce, my "farm" is a TOTAL work in progress with tons of work involved, fast food is easier and i am addicted to white sugar (seriously). i also freak out when i accidently kill snails by stepping on them and i thank heavens that i don't have to kill my own meat because then the "decision" about whether to be a meat eater or a vegetarian would likely last about six seconds. BUT i also recognize that one way or the other things are dying to feed me, and that any step i take to improve my impact on the world is a step worth taking.
peace
i should clarify. Chicken was already on the dietary outs before i adopted my small brood. After reading animal, vegetable, miracle for the umpteenth time (amidst a bunch of other sustainable, slow food, organic gardening books) i had finally decided that there was no true reason for me to become a vegetarian IF I made some other changes to my life. These included growing a lot of food and eating meat and food that was raised well and locally - thus reducing my carbon foot print and not supporting grossly unhealthy agricultural and farming practices that wipe out so much while producing such unhealthy food (what a smug ass i am, right!).
Since i have enough land i thought i might as well start work on that small farm, grow organic food, swear off pesticides, build compost, start shopping almost completely at the farmers market, support local food, forsake safeway, build a shrine to Michael Pollan etc., etc., blah, blah, blah. This led to buying organic farm-raised meat, which is a bit pricey, which means less meat. Sooooo why waste a bit of my meat budget on chicken-the absoutely least exciting meat you could really ever cook with. All of the sudden i have reason(s)to experiment with lamb and eat more fish, so that's what i do, AND i can hang with my girls without feeling that i might be eating their cousin. Somewhat twisted logic, but my logic never the less. Most of my friends are still insisting that it is fine to eat chicken since it's not MY chickens-that's a slippery slope for sure. Now i have a slight inkling how all my vegetarian friends feel when people question their choices (not really, but....)
Now don't get me wrong. i'm new to this. i make mistakes all the time. i make exceptions and i compromise. i eat food (and meat) at restraurants that aren't supporting local or sustainable. i baulk at the price of organic lettuce, my "farm" is a TOTAL work in progress with tons of work involved, fast food is easier and i am addicted to white sugar (seriously). i also freak out when i accidently kill snails by stepping on them and i thank heavens that i don't have to kill my own meat because then the "decision" about whether to be a meat eater or a vegetarian would likely last about six seconds. BUT i also recognize that one way or the other things are dying to feed me, and that any step i take to improve my impact on the world is a step worth taking.
peace
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Eating real food
Why oh why must Janel start another blog?
My goal is to put together a spot that chronicles my adventures trying to have more fun for less money with people i really like, and for other's (friends, followers, whoever) to also help supply ideas and feedback about places to go, people to see and things to do. Ideally my focus will revolve somewhat around all the odd things i like to do, i.e. hang out with chickens, eat out a lot, ride my bike, drink beer, create random things out of whatever comes to mind, etc., etc., etc. That being said, i'm open to other things too.
With this in mind i was trying to start the blog with a dinner party I had on Saturday the 20th. The party was a potluck, but all the items had to be homemade -no store bought food. I have news for you. This is an excellent way to get fed well if your friends are decent cooks. Apparently all of my friends are really good cooks because the food rocked. Please be sure to ask Chris about his vegetarian jamaican "adult-style" shepherd's pie. A total hit, including the coconut mashed potatoes-who would imagine this would taste good?
If you're not a cook your other option was to bring alcohol, so it's fair to say that nobody at this party was suffering from hunger or thirst. i think the following link will get you to photos taken by Lupe, but I'm not tottally sure this is true. I promise to learn how to post things better. http://www.flickr.com/photos/37344445@N07/sets/72157622300549911/
Anyway, i'm thinking that his was pretty easy and am considering a Dia De Los Muertos dessert and drinks party. Interested? let me know
My goal is to put together a spot that chronicles my adventures trying to have more fun for less money with people i really like, and for other's (friends, followers, whoever) to also help supply ideas and feedback about places to go, people to see and things to do. Ideally my focus will revolve somewhat around all the odd things i like to do, i.e. hang out with chickens, eat out a lot, ride my bike, drink beer, create random things out of whatever comes to mind, etc., etc., etc. That being said, i'm open to other things too.
With this in mind i was trying to start the blog with a dinner party I had on Saturday the 20th. The party was a potluck, but all the items had to be homemade -no store bought food. I have news for you. This is an excellent way to get fed well if your friends are decent cooks. Apparently all of my friends are really good cooks because the food rocked. Please be sure to ask Chris about his vegetarian jamaican "adult-style" shepherd's pie. A total hit, including the coconut mashed potatoes-who would imagine this would taste good?
If you're not a cook your other option was to bring alcohol, so it's fair to say that nobody at this party was suffering from hunger or thirst. i think the following link will get you to photos taken by Lupe, but I'm not tottally sure this is true. I promise to learn how to post things better. http://www.flickr.com/photos/37344445@N07/sets/72157622300549911/
Anyway, i'm thinking that his was pretty easy and am considering a Dia De Los Muertos dessert and drinks party. Interested? let me know
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