Summer Return and Recipes

Anyone who uses the library probably already knows the summer reading program has started. Since I am the young adult (teen) services person at my branch I had to do a ton of outreach -- I was scheduled to talk to more than 500 students -- and I realized I would probably be unable to update regularly. I did not count on, however, having a violent case of stomach flu that left me dehydrated for about 4-5 days followed by a serious worsening of the sinus infection I had. I am currently on antibiotic pills the size of a walnut for two weeks. On top of that, my lupus has not been responding to medication so I have been way too fatigued and arthritic to cook much -- or really to do anything other than lay on the couch stroking cats. My doctor and I decided to up my methotrexate to see if that would help keep it in check.

On the positive side, I had my first ever facial courtesy of the Aveda Institute. Despite being done by students, everything I have done there is always done extremely well. The lady who did my facial was adorable and did not even make a big deal about my coughing and wheezing from the sinus infection. I have also decided that if I finally get a librarian job, regular facials are going to be my guilty splurge. The significant other took me to L.A. for a birthday weekend, which was really cool. There is an amazing Mexican restaurant that offers soy meat options on top of super fresh ingredients. So fresh that I'm actually recommending it on the basis of it's fresh veggies. The S.O. discovered a beer place that has gourmet sausages and I had an amazing apple sage vegetarian sausage with saurkraut and dijon mustard. I also managed to spend at least $3o on cupcakes from Babycakes. I hadn't even realized there was a Babycakes L.A. but it popped up as a vegan downtown eatery. Not spectacular (what's up with the frosting consistancy?) but since I don't really get a chance to eat cupcakes regularly, they were a nice splurge.

On top of that, librarian jobs have opened up locally so I have been able to put in another job application. I'm remaining hopeful despite two different rejection letters I got this month.

To make up being gone for so long, here are a bunch of recipes. :o)


Chipotle Yam Salad

• 2 large-ish yams (I used one Jewel and one Garnet)
• 1 large-ish parsnip
• 1 1/2 to 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
• 3/4 to 1 cup Veganaise
• 1 tablespoon lemon/lime juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• salt & pepper to taste

Chop yams & parsnips into uniform pieces dependent on your size preference. Steam or roast until just tender. Cool at room temperature.

In a blender or food processor, blend the rest of the ingredients until smooth. Mix with the vegetables and chill in refrigerator.

Herb Syrup (Fruit Salad)

• 2 tablespoons fresh herb(s)
• 3/4 to 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of sugar

Make an herbal infusion by simmering the herb choices in water until scented. Feel free to use a tea ball or just drop in branches or leaves; I added two springs of rosemary.

When scented, measure out 1/2 cup of the infusion into a pot. Add sugar and bring to boil. Boil until sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and bring to room temperature.

Makes a decent amount of syrup for fruit salads. Store in a jar in the refrigrator for up to a month. Chop up any extra fresh herbs to add for garnish and extra flavor.

Berry Cream Cheeze

• 6 ounces of blueberries (or other berry or even a mixture of berries)
• 1 container of vegan cream cheeze (I used Vegan Gourmet but Tofutti has a good one too)
• 1-3 tablespoons liquid sweetener of choice (I used the herb syrup from above)

Toss the berries and cream cheeze in a food processor and process until relatively smooth. Add sweetener one tablespoon at a time until it reaches desired sweetness.

Alternately, you can cook the berries for little bit before blending; just add them to a pan with about an inch of water. This might actually work for fruits with less squishy textures, like pears or apples -- apple cinnamon cream cheeze? If you try it, let me know how it turns out.

Cognitive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified

Since about July/August I have been having dizzy spells. For the last two or more years I have also been having memory issues, problems controlling my hands, and an increasing inability to say what I mean. One time it took me three+ attempts to say "bale of hay" rather than "hale of bay." After anti-dizziness medication didn't work (or worked in that it put me to sleep & I won't be dizzy asleep), my rheumatologist had me do an MRI and sent me to a neurologist.

In order to rule out seizures and arterial inflammation in the brain, the neurologist had me do an EEG and MRA as well as do eight hours of testing with a neuropsychologist. I finished all those tests at the beginning of April and met with both the neuropsychologist and neurologist last week. I have neither seizures nor arterial inflammation in my brain. Yay!

What I do have is Cognitive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.

Joyfully, this seems to be a subject that even a librarian is having a hard time finding any information about so all I can really go on is what my doctors told me, which is that I have impaired:

• motor skills (fine and gross)
• processing speed (or alternately, LD self-advocacy; just scroll down)
• working memory
• concentration

What this all translates to is that my brain is slow. Really slow. Some of my scores were so low that a sloth (or slow loris) picking random answers would probably have scored better than myself on the neuropsychological testing. The EEG showed significantly slowed brain wave reaction (long, rounded peaks) to having lights shone in my eyes; normally, and understandably, having a light shone in your eyes when you're half asleep results in sharper brain wave spikes. This occurs in some 35-75% of Lupus patients according to my doctors.

So I'm really sick! Yay! And it is normal! Double yay!

Sometimes I worry about my excitement over new issues with the Lupus but it really is a major stress reliever. Now I have a diagnosed issue rather than an issue everyone just attributes to me being flighty or an artist or another random excuse that they can ignore.

Also exciting was the fact that my boyfriend came with me. He has come to the doctors' with me but never into an actual appointment before. He doesn't really like doctors or medical stuff and it was pretty stressful for him. It is kind of nice to have him experience the stress I go through(though it's well hidden thanks to eight years of being sick). Perhaps now he will understand why I have to spend time crying before my appointments.

On a side note, the dizziness has nothing to do with the cognitive disorder. The neurologist sent me to an Ear, Nose, & Throat doctor and it looks like I might have something called a "fungal ball." I have two more tests to do to find out about that.

BADD 2010

May 1st was the start of Blogging Against Disablism Day 2010. (I say the start because, in order to accomodate disabilities, the "day" actually lasts for several.) There are too many great posts for me to pick out any favorites. Just head on over and check out as many as you can.

And check back a couple of times for updates.

Weekly Blog Around

Speaking of expensive diets: Food.

Where the disabled are not welcome.

Big Sparkly Ladies

This, too, is a real thing in the world (best way to spend time EVA)

Good

Because my current home state has managed to lose all sense:

exposing racist roots of arizonas new immigration law

Arizona's Legislators Say Barack Obama Must Prove His Citizenship

Rove says he has ‘problems’ with AZ immigration law (Karl Rove people! Sheesh!)

Jeb Bush speaks out against Ariz. law

More F***ery in Arizona

On Arizona's new law...

Mansplainin' at Tiger Beatdown

The wonderful Kate Harding at Shapely Prose blogged some about the responses generated by a gentleman's comments on this post at Tiger Beatdown. If you want a full idea of the mansplainin' then read all of Freddie's comments. It is a wonderfu example of mansplainin' and male privilege I have come across on the net.

In which is discussed how NOT easy veganism is

"It's not hard being vegan."

"Being vegan is easy."

This is one of those vegan mantras that has obviously been created by white, middle-class, college educated vegans because, for the rest of us, veganism is not as easy as it could be. Time for visualizations!

Imagine the typical vegan. This vegan has a full-time job that probably pays fairly well. (If it doesn't, it is at least indie cool enough to make the poorness appropriately chic.) They are in good physical health, probably a little extra athletic. They either own a car or have a cool bike to tool around on when they are feeling a little extra athletic. The area in which they live probably has at least one large grocery store; if they don't have a grocery store nearby they can drive/bike to a slightly farther away store. Maybe they can even afford to buy organic or visit farmer's markets. More than likely, this vegan can cook and enjoys doing so. Occasionally, they can both afford and find vegan food at restaurants or in packaged food. They can, on a regular basis, choose veganism without any lasting unfortunate side effects; they can, for example, eat some salted peanuts rather than eat the questionable veggie burger & fries when stuck at an airport.

The reality for a vegan with a disability:

I am unable to work full-time because of the stress it causes me. I am constantly worrying about paying medical bills and living expenses which translates to a fairly strict food budget and the possibility of living in a food desert. I am currently not capable of owning a car or riding a bike. I have a food co-op near my house but it isn't cheap and the nearest cheap grocery store is miles away. This means to get food I have to give up a significant portion of my time to commuting via bus. What might have originally been a half hour to 45 minute errand now becomes about an hour and a half to 2 hours of carrying around heavy bags. Usually, I am so exhausted I have to take a nap afterwards. Sometimes I get up and go do it all again in the same day. Outdoor farmer's markets are completely off limits due to distance, transportation, and time spent outside. (I become extremely ill with exposure to UV light.) I love cooking, however, there are times where I am so exhausted and/or arthritic that it becomes almost impossible for me to even contemplate making food. Packaged vegan meals are rare still fairly rare, especially the ones I can keep down when I'm nauseous. Occasionally I can't even walk to the few places to offer vegan meal options within walking distance. (Most of the delivery places here do not have viable vegan options.) Travelling requires taking an entire bag of food or full meals with me due to medications; all but one require being taken on a full stomach. On a regular basis I have to decide exactly how vegan I'm going to be; in airports, I tend to rely on Burger King veggie burgers, without cheese and mayonaise, and french fries. Since I do not have any vegan friends, I repeatedly have to make decisions about whether I need to eat before a get-together. I have had to decline invitations because there simply wasn't enough time for me to get home, eat, and get to the party so I could leave at a reasonable hour. As far as having my own get-togethers, the last time I had one it took several days to recover from it.

All of this, and I'm lucky enough to not be dependent on caregivers for my food.

So when a vegan says "It's easy being vegan" what they are saying is it is easy being vegan for them. Being vegan offers it's own challenges for each person, dependent on their life and abilities.

Weekly Blog Around

Because I was getting a little overwhelmed with my preparing my storytimes for last week, I slacked on the weekly blog around. This is going to be a two week blog around instead.


How about considering that some people's life decisions might not have anything to do with *gasp* men?

Thank Feminism for the Luxury of Your Disdain

Today in Being Radical

In other news...

George Washington's Overdue Library Books


"Normal" and the Dominant Narrative


"I Have Always Depended On The Kindness Of Strangers..."


Being ‘different’


Quote of the Day


Twain's Mark


On Being Well


Top Ten Things That Annoy People in Wheelchairs