Old Pants

OK, so, first a quick veggie burger update. Lauren and I made another big batch of delicious burgers and found that it is important to keep the chopped up pieces really small or the oatmeal flour and egg will not hold them together so well. We froze half the mixture anyway and have been adding it to various food items to make them delicious. The other half we chopped up smaller and made patties out of. I have been so busy that I have misplaced two patties that I had intended to take to work the other day. Hopefully I will find them before they turn even greener than they started.

Somehow I have become a cook and a baker again. Although I am usually happy as long as there is a little bit of chocolate in the house, my girlfriend needs real food, so I have begun to bake cakes and brownie type things instead of purchasing them at the store. My favorite is this vegan apple ginger cake.

Since I started to cook and bake more often, my apartment has become an even bigger pit then before. So I am really excited to start the next portion of our blog, which I have determined will include an ecological queer eye for the messy student episode.

In other news, I switched my vacation destination from Isla Mujeres to Austin, Texas at the last moment. Not to be "greener" but to avoid places where tectonic movement might happen. Apparently the moon is getting really close to the earth, which has coincided with tectonic movement in the past, though scientists think this is just coincidental according to the interwebs. I had been thinking of changing my trip when I heard that there was going to be a "supermoon", as the phenomenon is termed. I was teetering on my decision, but the recent obvious tectonic movement clinched it, even though it was nowhere near Mexico. So I will be saving my mosquito nets and steri-pen fantasy for later (thanks for the tip, Kim!).

Lauren and I will now be venturing to Austin, Texas where we can drink the water, enjoy the music, eat at our pick of vegan restaurants, kayak on Lake Travis, and lounge about in the sun. I feel relieved for so many reasons. Though I love to venture to other cultures for the learning experience (Berlin inspired me to get involved in city composting), I am much happier visiting the most progressive city in Texas this time.

Instead of the mosquito netting and steri-pen, I will bring my favorite blanket, upon which I Lauren and I will sit for our lounging experiences. A couple of New Year's ago, my friend and I decided to exchange homemade gifts. Her gift to me was a blanket made out of a bunch of our old pants. Mine was a song. I would like to think that the song stood the test of time, but really, the blanket made of pants wins.