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Month of fun: Day 21

September 21, 2011

The good thing about writing a book is that I can hang out in my pajamas all day.

The bad thing about writing a book is that I hang out in my pajamas all day.

Sometimes I miss going out to social events, making friends and having conversations with someone who isn’t my cat.

That’s why I was so excited about the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce mixer. Not only was this an opportunity to meet new people and hand out my business card as a freelance writer, but at last I had a reason to wash my hair and put on makeup.

Plus, giddy-up, y’all! This wasn’t some boring ol’ networking event. With a super-fun hoedown theme, the dress code was more jeans and boots than suits and heels.

Buses and jeep coaches brought all the guests to Metate Ranch, a little Western town tucked away in the crevices of the San Andreas Fault. There was music, a glowing bonfire, a shooting range, even a stand where visitors could pan for gold.

 

This sign reminded me of college. And if any of you have been to the Smiling Skull Saloon in Athens, Ohio, you’ll know what I mean.

 

Food was provided by Jackalope Ranch of Indio. I’m still on a food and drink detox (boo!) so I didn’t get to rustle up any grub, but I did hear plenty of raves about their signature mac and cheese.

 

Just when I thought the mixer couldn’t get any better, my friends and I took over the costume booth! Here I am indulging my inner cowpoke, while Xochitl plays the role of my squaw. Now this is original gangsta.

 

Our evening was capped off by a rollicking ride through the fault zone, courtesy of the fine folks at Desert Adventures. Naturalist guide Eric Harmon zoomed through jagged cuts of canyon, showing me a dramatic desert I’ve never seen before.

It was a mini version of their full fault line tour, and it was just enough to whet the appetite. I will definitely be back for more.

Great recipe [/sarcasm]

September 21, 2011

This recipe was printed on the back of my bag of frozen strawberries.

Let’s see … to make one strawberry smoothie you’ll need one cup of strawberries, one banana and ONE STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE.

 

Gah!

Month of fun: Days 18-20

September 20, 2011

Day 18

I made one of my favorite snacks: Yummy eggplant chips.

Eggplant chips are a healthy way for me to achieve what I want (DIP!) while keeping fat, preservatives and all kinds of nastiness to a minimum. Think of them as corn chips, but without the regret.

They are also far more delicious than they sound. The eggplant loses any kind of bitterness, soaks up the salt and condenses into a mild, but tasty, background for my favorite salsas. They never achieve the same kind of crunch as potato or tortilla chips, but they’re another entity entirely.

Want to try them yourself? Good. They’re incredibly easy. Just slice an eggplant into thin rounds. Sprinkle with a little salt (or seasoning of choice), then dehydrate for a few hours — just until the chips lose their chewiness.

Here’s what they look like in the beginning:

 

And here’s the final product.

 

No dehydrator? No problem. Set your oven to the lowest temperature and keep the oven door cracked while the chips are drying. They will still take several hours to dehydrate completely.

 

Day 19

Fun manicure!

 

This was my first time making dots on my own nails. Some were look great, but a lot of them look smudgy and warpy, like bubblegum crying. I think I’ll keep trying.

 

Day 20

Goofing around with the Photo Booth on my MacBook.

Month of fun: Day 17

September 17, 2011

The Husband and I went to a screening of “Drive” last night, followed by a Q&A with Ron Perlman.

The neon noir thriller stars Ryan Gosling as a Hollywood stunt driver by day, a hired getaway driver by night. He is stoic and seemingly emotionless — his job is to drive, no matter the outcome.

 

“Drive” has very little dialogue, but what’s there is important and evocative. The use of sound and light is downright inspired. All that, plus Ryan Gosling. Fuck yeah.

 

I’m not typically a fan of movies with a lot of action, violence and car chases. With a different director at the helm, this one easily could have been a definitive miss for me. As it is, this flick is understated and thoughtful, coming to a slow boil and then quickly spilling over.

Unlike big-budget Hollywood blockbusters with heavy-handed narration and CGI, this film doesn’t assume the viewer is dumb. Nicholas Winding Refn, the director of “Drive,” allows the audience to use their imagination, fill in the gaps and come up with their own ideas about ethics, morality and revenge.

It’s gritty, tender, terrifying and unnerving all at the same time.

 

Ron Perlman, who plays a Jewish crime boss, did a fantastic Q&A after the screening, giving us a little insight into how he became attached to the project and what it was like making this small-budget piece in just six weeks. He said Hugh Jackman originally intended to turn this script into a glitzy, glamorous film, where the driver lived in a penthouse and only pulled off very fancy heists. For one reason or another, that idea was scrapped and that version of Drive was never made.

Eventually Ryan Gosling stumbled upon the story tracked down some old, early drafts of the script and set out to get this thing done.

Lucky for us.

Month of fun: Day 16

September 16, 2011

Fun thing for the day: I pulled on my ugly Nikes and went for a run.

 

Yeah, you heard me. A run was my fun thing for the day. That’s pretty shocking coming from me, since I’ve suffered from a tragic running allergy for many years. (Don’t laugh. Someday there will be a telethon for people like me, and I’ll ask you for money.)

It’s only recently that I started to overcome this severe, but extremely rare, medical condition.

I was slowly making progress, doing my run/walk thing a few times a week. And just as I was making the transition from “Do I have to go running?” to “Yay, I get to go running!”, I injured myself.

Somehow I did something mean to that tendon that wraps underneath your foot from one side of the ankle to the other, and it was incredibly painful. So I took a couple weeks off, felt better, and yesterday I did a quick test run.

This morning I was back in action! I jogged out the door, ran around Ruth Hardy Park and started the day with a little sweat.

OK, a lot of sweat.

It felt so good to be in motion, planting my feet down and springing forward, all while listening to old-school De La Soul. And as I made my way back home, a guy on the street called out to me, “Bitchin’ shoes!”