nah pop, no style

Yesterday, at the house where I used to live, there was a barbecue, and at that barbecue, a very good band called Screaming Females played. At risk of sounding like some idiot who can only compare one band with a woman in it to other famous examples of bands with women in them, they had a Sonic Youth vibe early on but broke into dancier stuff that was not unlike the Slits. If they’re coming to your town on their tour, do check them out.

Also yesterday, the Williams-Sharapova match was hella exciting, but then the Williams-Henin match was CUT SHORT BY NBC and I didn’t get to watch the third set. Instead, I was treated to the syndicated “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire” with Meredith Viera. What the hell.

All you need to know about today is that the girl at Bruegger’s this morning asked me if I was “with the furries.”

Who ever said a job writing news releases for Pitt would be dull? Witness, something I wish I had written:

Weathered and Flattened Corpse of Rival Falcon from Cleveland Found When Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning Nest Removed for Restoration Project

Truly grisly detail: Caretakers of the Pitt nest discovered the interloper’s withered and nearly decapitated body in a water drain on the Cathedral’s 40th floor July 2 as they removed the falcons’ nest so that restoration crews can clean the tower’s top.

I’ve been jammin’ smoothies hard this summer, keeping the blender out on the counter because half the time I want to make another smoothie before I’ve event washed the blender out. Here are somewhat-vague recipes for a couple fatty, tropical-tasting summer smoothies. They’re both vegan, to boot! (J is in Japan, I have to pick up the slack).

1. Pineapple-coconut nonsense.

INGREDIENTS (all amounts approximate; just guess, basically):

- 1/2 c orange juice
- 1 c chopped-up fresh pineapple
- 3 ice cubes
- 1/2 to 3/4 c coconut milk
- 1 banana, sliced/chunked into small-ish pieces

Blend pineapple and OJ until pineapple is as smooth as it’ll get. Then add ice cubes and blend more; add coconut and banana, blend until smooth. Serve in a big huge frosty glass or two. Serves two normal folks, one smoothie glutton like myself.

2. Avocado malarkey.

INGREDIENTS (all amounts approximate; just guess, basically):

- 1 ripe avocado (that’s not approximate, that’s exact), cut into small chunks
- 1 c pineapple juice -or- 3/4 c orange juice and 1/2 c fresh pineapple chunks
- 1 c low-fat coconut milk, or, hey, fresh coconut juice, what the hell.
- Juice of 1 lime

Blend the avocado and juice/pineapple first, then add the rest and blend till smooth. Put this in TWO frosty glasses; even such a glutton as myself can’t handle all of this one at once.

Today is the “official” launch of the new blog site, whatever that means. Welcome if you’re viewing the site, or my blog, for the first time. I have a pretty extensive archive (which I should sort a little more comprehensively, but we’ll get there) because I’ve been blogging for a couple years and imported my old posts onto this site. Most of the others have only been blogging a month or so, if that long, but so far they’re doing an awesome job. Expect the site to grow in the future.

By way of an update, Des Ark last night was wonderful; this is one of very few bands that tend to make me care anymore. Also this weekend I got a car and, as my bike is still in need of a new tube and tire at the very least, possibly a new wheel, and I hate going to bike shops, I started in earnest using the car to go places where I shouldn’t need a car to go. But I also went to K-Mart, somewhere I wouldn’t normally go by bike, and got a bunch of things for my porch container garden, which currently consists of:

• 1 Italian tomato vine w/ additional nasturtium
• 2 sweet pepper seedlings
• 1 bunch of transplanted spearmint, thriving
• 1 bunch of oregano and 1 bunch of marjoram, both newly transplanted, both critical
• 1 viola, “Johnny Jump-up”
• 1 palm tree thing
• 1 basil w/ sweet alyssum
• 1 marigold w/ creeping zinnias

Also, Aimee last night extolled onstage the virtues of quinoa, inspiring me to snap some up at the co-op today. I just kinda boiled some up with some margarine and a little seasoning as a side dish with lunch (salt, pepper, nutritional yeast). I’ll let you know if I come up with more exciting uses for it in the near future.