resistance is fertile

living underground in the real world

the magic of small April 30, 2010

Filed under: chocolate,cooking is vegan (of course),self-titled,small (business) is all — lagusta @ 2:50 am

I was feeling sort of exhausted and down tonight, at 2 AM, packing up Mother’s Day chocolates, Jacob helping me ship them out at the kitchen. We were chatting like we do super late at night, trying to make plans so that our lives aren’t so weird and 2 AM-y. When it’s super late, I always get in this crazy mode where I want to analyze every aspect of my life even though I’m too tired to make any sense, so I just ramble on about things like how the Pyramids mold is ridiculous because it only has 8 cavities and is thin plastic and why won’t any companies make molds with firm dishwasher-safe plastic that have like 20 cavities because really when you start thinking about the time you waste making rinky-dink 8 pyramids at a time it’s ludicrous and not to mention how the chocolate gets in between the cavities and I’d love to learn more about injection molding and commission custom molds but that’s a whole crazy world and—

basically, I am really super irritating.

Tiredness + mind constantly whirring = eye-rolling annoyingness.

So, perhaps to veer my mind away from exhausting drivel, Jacob started asking me about the customers whose packing labels he was putting on boxes.

The conversation went like this:

“Who is this Severed Unicorn Head Superstore person?”

“Oh, that’s M. She lives in Michigan, I think, she’s really cool. She used to run that cool animal charity, and has a really cute rescued greyhound, and once we traded for that brown hoodie I wear about every day. She also used to work at that vegan-run print shop where Juan gets all his merch for his bands printed.”

“Who’s C.O.?”

“She really likes pomegranate truffles.”

“Who’s L.P.?”

“She lives in Connecticut and works at Planned Parenthood. She got truffles for her wedding–I think lemon and orange ones.”

“Who’s J.J.?”

“The wife of some movie producer–they got the meal delivery service for a while, when they were living in New York. She emailed me recently to ask what I thought of LA veggie restaurants. I sent her that email we wrote up for Celeste a while ago with places you like. She went to Madeline’s Cafe and loved it.”

“Oh yeah. Who’s L.J?”

“My client–those are for his mom. He used to work for NPR and donated a ton of money to Kucinich!”

“Ha! Who’s J.P.?”

“She’s that singer-songwriter I’d never heard of until she sort of got obsessed with the truffles and sent them as holiday gifts to everyone at her label and stuff last year, then remember how your cousin adores her and saw her on the beach in Hawaii one year?”

It’s not that I knew the back story of everyone who had ordered in that particular batch, but I knew enough (even if I did find out some of it through FundRace) that my heart swelled with that weird sort of small business owner glee, the kind I get when I’m wrapping up people’s truffles and am tying the bows pretty for no reason other than that it’s fun to open pretty packages—and I suddenly felt calm, and wonderful, and successful, and lucky, lucky, lucky.

And then I told him another cute work story: how a client of mine got super busy and couldn’t get deliveries anymore. She was so busy and traveling that she didn’t have time to arrange for us to come by and pick up the cooler bag with containers and everything (you wouldn’t think I’d deliver in disposables, would you???). It had been maybe a year or so since she’d gotten a delivery, and I had been lax about reminding her about the bag or charging her for it, but yesterday a big box came in the mail from her. Inside was the cooler bag, the containers, a lovely note, three brand new containers (best. present. ever.) and a lolcats magnetic poetry kit!! How did she know I was a lolcat lover??

Magic.

Once a podcaster I listen to was talking about how there’s supposedly some fact about how if you have a tiny business (podcasting, vegan trufflizing), if you find a thousand people who get what you’re doing and support you, you can make a fine living. I’m sure in the food world it’s different because of the tight margins and stuff, but I think about that a lot: how I’m curating my thousand people. That’s why it kills me when someone’s not happy—I don’t want everyone in the world to get my chocolates. I want to create this wonderful little club, where you feel at home, and cared for, and where I can make wonderful things for you that make you gasp with pleasure and satisfaction and excitement.

And it’s happening. Amazing.

Magic.

Now if only I could learn to iron a tablecloth.

 

not the cruelest month, not at all April 27, 2010

Filed under: self-titled — lagusta @ 4:17 pm

Every year when I’m bitterly complaining about winter, someone asks, “So, why do you live here, if you hate the cold so much?” And I just look at them like they are insane, and reply: “Spring, of course.”

And so I’ll write the same post I seem to have to write every year.

I grew up in a land with no spring (in the worst state in the entire world). No winter either! And no beautiful, bittersweet fall. Just SUMMER. In all caps, bold, italicized SUMMER. It got old. And then I went to the East coast for the first time in my life, and winter hit me like a baseball bat. Winter in Rochester, where I went to college, lasted pretty much into summertime. There were some lilacs, then a few months of glorious sun, then winter descended again. Now I live 5 or so hours southeast of Rochester, and winter isn’t so bad. Or maybe it’s not so bad because of global warming? Sigh.

Either way, spring is glorious.

Even if your fancy camera is at work, so you are reduced to documenting it with your phone camera.

first day of outside laundry

The patio, ready for dinner outside. Not that this workaholic is ever home around dinnertime, but it’s ready, nonetheless.

Just outside the frame: peonies just beginning to poke up.

I never eat my ferns, because I want them to grow up all ferny and huge, but the temptation is there…

Running errands with no jacket!

Cleo celebrates the season by resting her head on a comfy twig.

All that, and a brand new Moleskine too!

I hope my friend Katy won’t see this and notice that the copy of David Copperfield she gave me (“You’ll LOVE IT!!!”) is, 2 years later, still hanging out, uncracked, on the nightstand…

 

reduxes and raspberry truffle tarts April 21, 2010

Filed under: book reports and the like,chocolate,cooking is vegan (of course),new paltz,recipe!,truffles — lagusta @ 8:29 pm

Following up on a few previous posts:

1) As mentioned in the comments below, I’ve secured an interview with Gina from Cri de Coeur! Chats to come!! Woo!

2) I not going to do the ad. Really, I think in the end it comes down to taste. It’s not my taste. But don’t worry, I have a plan fermenting (wait—fomenting?) away in my head to use some celebrity cred in a way that won’t agonize me.

3) I did not, after all, yell “nutbaggers!!!” at the last School Board meeting. I settled for clapping or strenuously rolling my eyes when appropriate. I had to leave early so I couldn’t get up to speak, and I can’t go to tonight’s meeting, but my god I hope this ridiculousness settles down soon.

4) So, remember when I was whining about the Edible Hudson Valley issue that included not only an awesome recipe of mine, but a cover story on foie gras that got me all hot and bothered (as duck force-feeding + killing does to people like us)? The other day the publisher of Edible Hudson Valley, one Eric Steinman, called me up to discuss the blog post, and we had a really lovely chat. Us Hudson Valley people are nothing if not polite, yo!

Eric wanted to make sure I didn’t feel like they were hiding the cover story from me or anything (I didn’t feel that way at all, I was just sad the article existed), and, basically, just wanted to reach out and be sure we were still cool. What a nice gesture, don’t you think? The food magazine publisher reaching out to the radical vegan?

We had a very kind, interesting talk about the foie gras article, where I basically repeated my points from the original post and he talked about how he made sure to place the interview with Eating Animals’ Jonathan Safran Foer on the very next page–clever, that one.

We talked about meat eating, and I said that I understood that radical vegan chefs will always, by definition, feel a little left out in the cold by the mainstream food world, and even (especially) the slow food world, of which his magazine is a part. I reiterated that I didn’t think, while placing an ad and giving them a recipe to print, that it was a vegan magazine in any way, so of course I knew that people could be thinking about the tastiness of a force-fed duck and my truffles at the same time. It’s just that it’s my job not to be silent about these things, just as it’s his job to bring them up. The article turned my stomach, but for a non-vegan food magazine it wasn’t the rah rah rah force-feeding ducks piece it could have been. An article about industrial honey would have also turned my stomach, what can ya do.

I was touched that Eric took the time to give me a call about my little blog post, and the conversation we had was one of those inspiring ones that reaffirm my constantly-needing-to-be-reaffirmed faith in humanity. It wasn’t that Eric is now vegan or anything, or that I’m no longer sad the article existed, but it’s always nice to talk things out and keep the communication channels open, you know? How are us animal rights people ever going to win this battle if we can’t talk to those who disagree with us?

I also suspect that Eric is more on my side of the foie gras issue than he wants to admit, which was nice to hear….or, well, to infer.

And hey, remember how I said I’d post the recipe for the Raspberry Truffle Tart in the magazine after it went off the stands? Here you go! See the original post for the pictures of it.

And before I go: what do my new shoes from Cri de Coeur look like? I knew you were wondering! Jacob took a bunch of photos, but they were indoors with his phone camera and this was the best one. You can’t really see the shoes, but the cool circular scarf and organic cotton leggings were also from Donna’s lovely place, Cow Jones Industrials! I got the dress at the Salv—how great are t-shirt dresses?

Can I give you a bit of advice, heels-wearing freaks (like me)? If you are new to the world of walking in these ridiculousnesses, and figure you’ll go to YouTube and will watch a few videos with titles like “How to Walk in High Heels,” do not, under any circumstances, branch out and start watching videos with titles like “shoe play” “dipping,” or “heel popping.” I’m not against anyone’s fetish (see previous post!) but…who knew! Of course I knew shoe fetishists were out there, but did everyone but me know that taking your heel out of your shoe is called “heel popping”??

Raspberry truffle tart with shortbread crust

1 (11”) tart, 16 slices

Shortbread crust

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons coconut oil (4.5oz) (Spectrum refined brand coconut oil is a high-quality, healthy coconut oil. Unrefined coconut oil has a pronounced coconut flavor that doesn’t fit with all recipes. For more information on coconut oil, I wrote an essay about it that is online at lagustasluscious.com/coconut.html.)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup packed powdered sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup almond meal (most purchased almond meal is stale, so you can make your own by toasting almonds until fragrant, then cooling and finely grinding them in a food processor.)

½ cup cornstarch

¼ teaspoon sea salt

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. If coconut oil is solid (at room temperature), heat it in a pan on the stove, then measure. Whisk together coconut oil, vanilla, and sugar.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and stir just to combine.
  4. Press crust evenly into an 11” tart pan, preferably one with a removable bottom (dust your hands with powdered sugar to make the crust easier to press). Prick the bottom with a fork a few times, then refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  5. Line crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil, then weight crust with beans or pie weights.
  6. Blind bake the crust until edges are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights and continue to bake 5-10 minutes more, until crust is deeply golden.
  7. Cool crust completely before adding filling.

Raspberry ganache

½ of a 14 oz can coconut milk (7 oz, a scant cup)

2 tablespoons coconut oil

¾ lb good quality dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces

1 ¼ cups raspberries (frozen raspberries are OK)

  1. In a small pot, bring coconut milk, oil, and 4 tablespoons water to a rolling boil.
  2. Meanwhile, chop chocolate into small pieces and place in a medium bowl.
  3. When coconut milk mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Cover with a plate or lid and let sit five minutes.
  4. Whisk this mixture together to create a thick ganache. Add raspberries and use a potato masher to gently mash into small pieces. Combine with the ganache.
  5. When all chocolate is melted and ganache is emulsified, assemble the tart. Do not let the ganache sit too long at room temperature, or it will harden. (If it does, heat over a double boiler to remelt.)

Assembly

  1. When crust is completely cool and ganache is pourable, pour into crust. If desired, smooth with a knife or offset spatula.
  2. Let tart chill for at least an hour before cutting.
  3. Slice tart into 16 thin slices, dipping knife into warm water and wiping clean after each cut.
 

Reclamation is my middle name. April 21, 2010

Filed under: politics — lagusta @ 7:31 pm

First of all: FUCK YES. Oh, Jon Stewart!*

While watching this episode, I had a HUGE GIANT BRAINSTORM:

I am the liberal élite Fox News so loathes!

I embody every aspect of it, from the veganism to the anarchism to the brilliance to the heart full of care and concern for….well, everything. Because that’s what “liberal élite” means. That you are smart, and that you care. It’s time to reclaim the phrase.

(And just to piss off anti-French anti-intellectuals even more, I’m adding the accent aigu that really no one uses except The New Yorker. [Of course.])

Liberal = you care for things. (Well, you know that really I’m a radical, but we’ll put that aside for now.) Liberals believe that capitalism, in and of itself, is not enough to run a society and therefore government should function as a system of checks and balances on the natural corporate rapaciousness that capitalism, by definition, demands. Liberals believe that people should be free to decide how they live their lives, as long as they are not hurting other animals or other people. Liberals see no contradiction between those two believe because liberals are not idiots and can therefore see nuance.

Elite = you have standards, and believe that hard work and a good head on your shoulders means you should rise to the top.

Liberal élites, thus, believe that there should be no limits on what anyone can achieve, regardless of how you were brought up, how much money you have, what you believe, the color of your skin, or who or how you like to fuck.

Liberal élites believe in the infinite, ever-expanding possibility of the human race.

So, no matter what Christofascist racist homophobes (i.e., conservatives) say, stand loud and stand proud, my fellow liberal élites!

Now, you say (because I know you worry a lot about how my particular rant o’ the day squares with my previous screeds), Lagusta, yo, calm down. You’re not a liberal élite! You’re an anarchist!

Ah ha! I can be an anarchist élitist—totes. Elitism merely says that the coconut cream rises to the top, not that the bosses should own everything. Anarchism says that in order to achieve our full potential as humans, we must be, first of all, FREE. No contradiction there.

Liberal élite pride!!!

*I hope you don’t get the commercial for Axe body spray that I did, however, because that almost made me blow my fucking brains out.

 

the trouble with vegans; the trouble with me (aka the PETA problem, part 10,303,303,755) April 20, 2010

Filed under: chocolate,cooking is vegan (of course),politics,small (business) is all — lagusta @ 1:23 pm

Hey, vegan world!

HI!

Two things about you, then one about me:

1) Stop using palm oil-saturated Earth Balance, OK? JUST STOP. You’re killing us all. Why do I need to keep repeating myself? Even if a “sustainable” palm oil gains traction, you’ll still be cutting down trees to get to their oily insides. (Whereas coconut oil comes from…well, you know where. Not tree insides!)

2) When one buys things from small lovely friendly vegan businesses, and the lovely designers of said lovelinesses tell one that said things are made in China, could we also maybe talk a bit about how they are made, you know, ethically in China? I was too polite to ask, and now have lain awake in bed three nights in a row wishing I’d asked. Because you seemed so nice! Maybe you’ve been to the factory and it’s all eco-friendly and it’s, like, a worker-owned co-op and you pay for carbon offsets to counteract the shipping and and and….and I don’t even have the balls to email and ask you this now, because I know how being a small business owner is: REALLY FUCKING HARD. You live and die by how satisfied your customers are, I know this. And I am satisfied! And I don’t want to start anything or be mean or not supportive of the cause of styley vegan things made by women-owned companies, but…I keep lying in bed thinking about it.

And now onto my own ethical quandary:

Just as I was contemplating taking out an ad in every ever-so-slightly “alternative” feminist’s favorite magazine, one with which I have a long, wide, deep relationship, I got a little tip that someone I know, someone whom I happen to know likes the Bonbons, is going to be on the cover very soon. Someone very nice, who couldn’t be more gracious and lovely and who I am not talking trash about or hatin’ on or blaming for anything. Let me be clear about that right from the start.

So everyone in my life was all, hey, — and — are going to be on the cover of —! You should ask her for a quote about the chocolates to put in your ad!

And this teeny simple thing has basically been running through my head for two days and I’m just sitting on the shelf about it, sort of going crazy. I’m not going to do it. I decided this and went, as one does, to Facebook to make the proclamation:

My heart is pure. I will not ask the truffle customer who’s going to be on the cover of the magazine I am taking an ad out in if she will give me a quote about the chocos for the ad. I just can’t be that person. Oh…..ick. I’ve got those old capitalist blues again.

And then here’s what some smarties said:

  • “There is no shame in being That Person, because you could never be That Person, even if you ask (which I think you most definitely should!).”
  • “There is not shame in networking, so long as it’s person to person, with real connections made. I am as anti-capitalist as they come, but if a personal connection is made, and a request proffered, in total sincerity, what is the harm in that?”
  • “Besides, even in an anti-capitalist society, even if you go so far as syndicalist, you still need to sell your wares, no?”

And I said:

  • “Oh…I see harm. First of all, I just hate asking people for stuff like that. Second, do you buy things because celebrities say they like them? Do I really want those kind of customers? Third, isn’t it massively cheesey to have a quote from someone in an ad in a magazine that features them? It makes my insides feel too wiggly.  Oh god, I am the kind of business person who makes decisions based on if my insides feel wiggly. Lord, help me.”

And then other smarties said:

  • “But the real question is…who is it??!”
  • “Understood about hating to ask people for stuff, and the ickyness that entails. Second, I would not consider you a “celebrity.” I’m sure you don’t either, and that’s my point. You are an established proprietor in your community, and trusted at that, I would assume (correct me if I’m wrong, :p).  Third, I’d argue, again, that if you’ve made a connection, a personal connection, with the person making the “quote,” then it isn’t out of bounds to ask them to say something nice about your business. This isn’t about you, necessarily, it’s the business that you own that you want to see succeed, and the people that you want to affect through it. Therefore, person-to-person marketing is not a bad thing at all. I understand the “wiggliness” of it all, but being someone who has only seen your business through Facebook, and only that because of a recommendation of a mutual friend, I say, “go for it!” I understand the last paragraph may weaken my argument, but I don’t think it does, actually. I’ve given this some thought before I responded.
  • “I think you should ask – first of all, your chocolates are the best ever anywhere! The person is a customer of yours, so she must obviously love them too. I don’t know if people buy just because a celebrity says something but it does get attention – and attention to a highly ethical and wonderful business like yours is a GOOD thing!”

And I said, in my typical long-winded way:

  • “Here’s the thing. I am very wary of going the PETA route of justifying any tactic because the cause it’s trying to promote is just, therefore any way of “getting the word out” about it is just. PETA uses mostly skinny, mostly white women as disposable objects, and though we share the same goals, I can’t support them because for me, the means are always the ends.In this case, yes, it’s all complicated by the fact that the ends are making $ for my (lovely, sustainable, vegan, etc, but still) business, but I have to still abide by the same ethical code I adopted in my old activist days: if you disagree with the tactic, you won’t get results you agree with.If I disagree with a culture that says that popular white skinny rich women (as this celebrity happens to be) have greater influence over purchases, since attaching their name to something automatically makes it cool, then I can’t use that same tactic to bring in business. It would catch people’s eyes….but which people? People who are influenced by rich white skinny celebrities.

    You’ll probably say that by running my business this way I’m limiting myself, and I’ll say that you’re right. I’ll say that I don’t want my chocolates in Whole Foods, I don’t want them in supermarkets, I don’t want exponential growth. I want to pinpoint my advertising to find the exact right customers, and keep them forever because of the quality product I’m selling. I want to stay small. And free. And able to sleep at night.

    (Basically that was a pep talk to myself. It worked….I think.)”

And then I called up my pal Ken from the HV Seed Library to talk (hey, gardeners, are you reading their blog as you plan your garden? It’s so great!!!). And Ken is one of the smartest, kindest, most gentle and leading-with-my-heart-type people I’ve ever known, and we hashed it all out.

How great to talk to other small business owners! Because Ken & Doug had their seed packets designed by the lovely twins Megan and Sarah who also designed my boxes, I always feel like our businesses are sort of cousins (is that weird?).

Ken and I talked about the dangers of preaching only to the choir*, and how little the mainstream world understands about that food comes from seeds, that little African children who are not paid and are forced to work make mainstream chocolate bars, and that yes, if this particular opportunity doesn’t pass my particular smell test then I shouldn’t do it, but that we can’t put ourselves in these little ethical boxes that prevent us from taking a single step, that we have to move forward with our hearts and our brains and our revolutionary politics.

It was a very good, very inspiring talk. Ken and Doug’s business has sort of exploded, publicity-wise, lately (proving to my hard old heart that [coco]cream does often rise to the top!), and it’s been interesting for me to see them navigate those rocky waters.

Man, I don’t know.

Stumbling and shambling and ranting and oversharing, I’m pushing my way through to a business that keeps my dreams of a better world—on all fronts—alive. And I need to remember that that’s what counts.

What do you think, O darling blogreaders/pals/customers/frenemies of mine?

Off to make the donuts vulvas,

Lagusta Pauline

*Here’s my worst business trait: I’m always asking myself, “Would I buy it?” Which is weird not only because I don’t actually like chocolate, but also because…well, just exactly how many customers do I want to have? But it’s something good writers do—they write what they want to read and hope they find an audience of like-minded people.

So I vowed years and years ago never to do anything that wouldn’t appeal to me. I read the ads of this magazine, I have for a decade or so. I look up a ton of the companies who take out ads. And I know that if I came across a new ad with a big banner saying “[cover girl] says: ‘I love Lagusta’s Luscious chocolates!’” I’d roll my eyes and turn the page to the porno story in the back of the magazine, not run to my computer. It’s just kind of tacky to me, you know?

 

old soul song (for the new world order) April 16, 2010

Filed under: cooking is vegan (of course),self-titled — lagusta @ 2:42 pm

Well, not really.

But I did create a shiny new blog just for my meal delivery service!

It might be interesting to the more food-obsessed among you all. I’m planning on posting food news and notes and photos. I think it’ll be a good sort of diary for me as I cook through the seasons.

Don’t worry though, I’ll still have this blog to post recipes, expletive-filled food rants, and all the many, many things my Upper West Sidey clients don’t really need to hear, like: I am today wearing a vintage super tight romper I bought for $5 that is about to cut me in half down the middle. Or, more accurately, up the middle. Plus 4″ heels. I can’t really explain why. When Jacob saw me tottering down the stairs and clutching the banister like a 90-year-old woman, he said, “You do know we’re just going to the coffeehouse, the health food store, and your work, right?” Fair point. But I pointed out to him that I did have a pair of black flats with me for when I had to actually, you know, walk.

I am puzzled by my own clothing choices, and thus can’t really expect others to understand them. It’s fun to dress up, I guess that’s what it boils down to. As long as you don’t have to, like, use your legs. Or, in my case today, bend over, lest your shorts ride up so tightly that they also provide highly effective birth control.

Anyway, the very non-cameltoey brand new blog is at lagustasluscious.wordpress.com.

See you tomorrow at Cow Jones (scroll down for the details)!

 

fancy new address/hair/freebies/the usual outrage April 13, 2010

Filed under: chocolate,i heart feminists,meta: blogging about blogging,new paltz — lagusta @ 9:27 pm

Pals!

Four quickies, illustrated with ultra blurry photos of myself wearing outfits I want to remember to wear again. (So dorky, but who cares!) First of all, can I brag that I made this dress (and the belt!!) from a shapeless sack thing I got from a clothes-by-the-pound pile? Long-sleeved dresses are my jam lately. So versatile in these mercurial temperatures!

1) There is a new address for this here blog!!! Please update your bookmarks or whatever it is you techie kids do to point to http://blog.lagusta.com/. If you don’t, lagusta.wordpress.com will still point there, but blog.lagusta.com is a cooler address, so please note it.

2) WTF with this article about shaving in the NYT? Here’s my take on it from earlier today when I was starving and grumpy and went to Facebook to vent:

“In a phone interview, Ms. Palmer, who doesn’t shave her legs, either, said, “People assume you’re making a statement, but I’m not.” Say what?”

NO NOT “SAY WHAT” YOU NYT FREAK. grrrrr. It’s NOT a political statement not to shave (or to shave), it’s just ***BEING ALIVE*** and choosing what to focus your energy on. GRRRRRR. I shaved my legs two weeks ago, but don’t see why I should ever shave my armpits. Who fucking CARES? We’re neither “free spirits” NOR “unkempt,” WE ARE JUST PEOPLE. Oh, fuck you, NYT.

Seriously, why is it that women have to be either “free spirits” or “unkempt”? I myself am decidedly neither. I’m an uptight radical who is very much kempt, in that I bathe, take care in selecting my clothes, obsessively style and groom my hair, and own SIXTY-FIVE PAIRS OF SHOES. But because I don’t wear makeup or shave my armpits, I’m a dirty hippie. Oh, society!

3) Totally switching tracks: If you’re in the HV in the next two weeks, there are two opportunities to get free Bonbons samples! Here’s what I said about it in my Bonbons promo email today!

This Saturday we’ll be handing out samples at the all-vegan shoe store Cow Jones Industrials, where Cri de Coeur’s shoe designer will be having a trunk sale that looks nothing short of luscious. [Blog pals, have you already guessed that I am trading chocolates for shoes? OH YES.] Then, the weekend after that (April 24 and 25) we’re headed up to Rhinebeck to the Hudson Valley 40th Anniversary Earth Day Celebration. We’ll be bringing tons of Vandana Shiva chocolates in honor of Vandana herself, who has done so much amazing environmental activism.

Why do I look so mean?? The dress fits so well!

4) Will I see all you Mew Paltzians at the School Board meeting tomorrow? WHAT A RIDICULOUS MESS. These tea-partiers/right-wingers/nutbaggers (I just made that term up! Let’s keep it, shall we?) are starving our town! I mean seriously. The tax system in Ulster County needs to be revamped, we know that. We must switch to income, rather than property-based taxes to determine school taxes. Let’s focus on that, and not on bleeding the schools dry, OK, nutbaggers? Anyway, if I can escape vulvizing, I’ll be there, loud and proud. OK, probably just hanging out to add weight to the outrage, but that counts, right? Or maybe I’ll gather up my courage and just scream “nutbaggers!!!!” in the middle of the whole thing. Who knows. The details, filled with the “our children” language of which I’m not a fan, but we’ll overlook it for now:

Dear Community Members,

At the Board of Education meeting this week, the board requested the district develop a 0% budget proposal.  There is no way a 0% budget would not be devastating to the quality of education in New Paltz.  For this reason, it is crucial that everyone who is able to be present at the next board meeting on Wednesday, April 14th, do so.

Our collective presence and voices need to be heard, and the powerfully vital programs that our district currently has in place need to be protected.  The board listens to those who come out and speak.  However, as it stands right now, the voices have been much louder and much more vigilant from those who are ready to discard the needs of the precious children in our community.   We all feel the pain of the current economic pressures, but we cannot stand by passively allow our children to suffer tremendous educational losses which will result in devastating consequences in the future.  Some of the most devastating program cuts will be most strongly felt at the primary level and will therefore effect those children in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades.

Please help support our children and the dedicated professionals who strive each and everyday to ensure that every student receives the care and attention that she or he deserves.

There is a block of time during the Board of Education meeting set aside for public comment.  Two minutes is allotted for each person to speak, and the time to speak is now!  Come with your comments, pleas, questions, ideas… Come with your voice ready to be heard!  Our children need all of us right now!

Information:
Board of Education Meeting will be held at the Audion in the High School on Wednesday, April 14th, at 7:00 pm.

Please forward this to anyone that you think may be able to help…

Thank you for your dedication and your continued commitment to making sure our children receive the education to which they are entitled.


 

What Amelia Earhart said to her groom April 10, 2010

Filed under: culture and its discontents — lagusta @ 1:22 am

You must know again my reluctance to marry, my feeling that I shatter thereby chances in work which means so much to me…In our life together I shall not hold you to any medieval code of faithfulness to me, nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly…I may have to keep some place where I can go to be myself now and then, for I cannot guarantee to endure at all the confinements of even an attractive cage.

 

monday miscellany: six things. A movie, a meal, a trade (with you?), and more. April 7, 2010

Filed under: cooking is vegan (of course),culture and its discontents,i heart feminists,Monday Miscellany,NYC,Restaurant rants and raves — lagusta @ 1:27 am

1) This is more of a note/promise/reminder to myself: I really want to a) fix up my New Paltz dining guide and b) work on a veggie-friendly Hudson Valley dining guide. Start taking notes on places and sending them to me, OK? What hidden gems do you love, upstaters?

Also, I just created a new blog category to fit all my restaurant notes into. I’ll go through and re-tag them soon so you can have a handy swear-y vegan-y snooty foodie dining guide right here!

2) This blog, pointed out to me by the ever-fabulous Kara of Wintergreens, is ridiculously fascinating.

3) Eventually I know I must do this, though I will throw the entire library into a very pretty sort of chaos. On the other hand, I could just buy them–ha! Who besides weirdly rich and uncultured people and film sets actually do this? (via Brittany)

4) How to Train Your Dragon: I saw this tonight with 2 BFFs and my bestest 7-year-old pal. I knew nothing about it, didn’t feel like seeing a movie, and was worried it would be too actiony/childish, but by the end I was unapologetically in a puddle of happy tears. (Our bestie Ebert might say I have a 6-year-old’s taste, but I’d argue that it’s solidly that of a 7-year-old, as we both agreed immediately afterward that it was our favorite movie [It's probably safe to say, however, that he doesn't share my other favorite movies: Antonia's Line, Small Change, Au Revoir les Enfants, & Shortbus.].)

First of all, the primary dragon protagonist, Toothless, IS MY CAT SULA. Everyone we saw the movie with agreed. He looked and acted exactly like him, which was pretty awesome. I had no idea my most fearful cat had a whole other career in Hollywood.

More interesting to non-Sula-the-cat pals is this: it seemed to me that HtTYD is the perfect Avatar-type movie for people (like, everyone sane) who loathed Avatar with such righteous ragey fury. It has the same “be nice to the earth and animals!” message, but somehow it’s so much more interesting/well-done/not headachey/not so dudey/not offensive to Native peoples/not so annoying/not too long/ basically just 20 trizillion times better in every way. There is a tiny pro-pets message that will irk the hardest of the hardcore animal rights activists out there, but overall it’s ridiculously heart melty.

5) The other night, we all went to En Japanese Brasserie (previously mentioned by me here), and it was super lovely, a great addition to the ever-growing roster of amazing places to eat in NYC. They make their own artisanal tofu three times a day, and though the vegan dishes aren’t marked on the menu and at first glance it might seem like there isn’t much, a consultation with the waiter will help guide you to what’s safe. They put fish sauce in the shoyu though, so be sure to ask for straight up soy sauce. We had good success by asking for a few things on the menu minus their fishy broths and things, and there were even a few killer desserts—the haunting shiso sorbet was a perfect ending. Give it a try! (We also saw Anna Deavere Smith there, happily knocking back wine and gabbing with a gal pal in high style, not an hour after I’d been gushing about my love for Nurse Jackie, making me not only psychic but also keeping my streak of seeing someone famous on (or near) the street every time I come into the city lately [Scarlett Johansson, Neal Patrick Harris, that skinny weirdo who's married to Ferris Bueller, and that cute guy in Gogol Bordello are all recent sightings, I'm sort of horrified to admit. I'm not a celebrity-y person, I swear! But it's fun when the big ones walk right past you!]

6) Finally…wait, what was the last thing? I can’t remember.

Well, how about this: did you know that the piers on the west side of Manhattan are at the street numbers minus 40? So, Pier 57 is at 17th street. And that the Titanic was supposed to dock at Pier 59 (19th st!)? And that the 7 points in the Statue of Liberty’s crown represent the 7 continents and 7 seas? And that I’ve been doing touristy things in NYC with guests?

Oh dang, wait, I just remembered:#6 was actually important!

It was that I’ve got to do some overhauls to lagustasluscious.com. Are you a great graphic designer who might want to trade mad HTML skillz for food (if you’re in the HV)/chocolates/cash/ some combo of the three (preferably heavy on the first two)? If so, email me some samples of sites you’ve made, OK? Let’s talk! I found my amaaaaaazing bluestockingbonbons.com designer through this here blog, so let’s try again (she’s too busy with general awesomeness to do another site for me, alas. There’s only so many chocos one vegan can eat, ya know?)!

xoxox

atsugal

 

on being, or not, a hater April 5, 2010

Filed under: culture and its discontents,self-titled — lagusta @ 1:10 am

In which I argue both sides.

I use this handy little phrase a lot to preface various hatery statements: “I’m not hatin’, just statin’!” I usually deliver it in a cheerful tone, because I know that my seemingly relentless negativity freaks weak people out. The other day I was having dinner with two girlfriends, and made a public vow not to hate on anything for the remainder of the conversation. The very next sentence out of my mouth was “My god, I fuckin’ hate that dude in that band.” They both burst out laughing (not being weak, they weren’t freaked) and my pal Jessica jokingly fished a rubber band out of her pocket I could snap on my wrist, smoker-style, whenever I felt the need to hate. It got me thinking, so here’s my attempt to work through, for the millionth time, my awesome negativity.

Side 1: BEING A HATER CONTRIBUTES NOTHING TO SOCIETY AND TAKES TIME FROM VALUABLE NON-HATERY PROJECTS

It’s so easy to be a hater. It’s so easy to talk shit with your friends, or to sit at your computer and ruthlessly tear down this and that cultural artifact. I am, well, brilliant at it.

But in the spirit of springtime and new growth (and Jesus dying or not dying or however the fairytale goes today) maybe it’s time to share with the internet something I’ve been quietly working on in the back of my head: letting stupid shit go.

Wow!

SO DIFFICULT!

For example: I’m pretty much over Miranda July (this was the last straw).

But who cares? She will, and should, go on being her bizarrely not-avant-garde, surprisingly milquetoast Miranda July self, with or without my approval. My overness of MJ not only hurts myself, as we sort of have a pal in common, and after all, I do so like her hairstyle, it also contributes nothing to the world. No one particularly knows or cares if I am over her or not, and by spending time hating on her I am taking that exact amount of time from my ability to contribute valuable cultural flotsam to the general jetsam in which we all swim.

There is a lot to be done in this world, and do I really want to spend my time chattering on about idiocy?

My personal Achilles’ heel is, very surprisingly, vegan cooking. Vegan recipes, vegan cookbooks, vegan restaurants—my god, there is some horrrrrribleness out there, and it’s so fun to make fun of it. For every great Isa or Bryant-style recipe, there are oceans of cheesecake recipes that are nothing but agave-sweetened tofu in a cracker crust made with margarine. It’s getting better, but soooo sloooowly, and in the meantime all of us thinking vegans with halfway decent palates are throwing our backs out trying to move American-style vegan cuisine away from its 1970s second-wavey roots.* And as a small vegan company, I can’t deny that it irks me when I see products I know to be tasteless crap selling like crazy.

But shouldn’t I just be happy people are eating vegan food? I always say that my cooking is my activism, so shouldn’t I gratefully recognize all those dusty dry cookies and weird raw energy bars as comrades in the war against corporate food made with liquid suffering? Why must I be meanest to my own family? Best to just let it go, especially since I have a perfectly lovely vegan business that requires pretty much every second of the day. I should put my head down and concentrate on perfecting myself, not the world. Lead by example, or something.

Plus, all the irritating hippies in my life would say that putting negative energy into the world kills dolphins or something.

Side 2: BEING A HATER, IF YOU ARE GOOD AT IT, IS A VALUABLE AND NEEDED PERSPECTIVE

There is something—a lot, in fact—to be said for standing up and calling bullshit on this or that cultural artifact. Cultural critiques are valuable, because they help to change the zeitgeist. And if there was ever anything that needed changing, it’s the zeitgeist. Always.

And being a hater, at its highest level, isn’t “chattering on about idiocy”—in its finest form, it’s speaking truth to power. And though we all know that power doesn’t ever listen, sometimes others do, and sometimes those others are even more interesting and important than those in power.

Plus, it’s mad fun. However: the trick, which I have not mastered, is to point the hater-laser at exactly the problem and not let oneself get bogged down in personal politics, hairstyles, general douchiness, etc. The phrase “above the fray” comes in handy.

And vegan cooking? Fuck those shitty recipes, shitty restaurants, shitty companies. Quality is all, passion is everything, vegan or not. No exceptions. My cooking is my activism, which is exactly why it can’t afford to let itself become associated with bullshit.

And also: fuck those fucking hippies and their stupid fucking negative energy bullshit. I’ve seen that attitude sink ships time and time again. If no one ever speaks up about the icebergs ahead because they don’t want to disrupt the flow or whatever, we’re all doomed. Flow disruption is what it’s all about.

(As I said, I need to work on the “above the fray” part.)

Thoughts, you smarties, you?

PS: Floor is done! Beautiful cork to replace cracked and broken linoleum! I’ll toss a photo up soon.

*Vegans have been around forever, whether Buddhists in Japan or Pythagoreans in Greece, but I do think that in the West, what mainstreamy people think of as “vegan food” is this horrible rubbery lump of awfulness that was sort of codified in the 1960s and 70s by hippies and back-to-the-landers (and my parents, who didn’t raise me vegan exactly but had a vague feeling meat was contrary to their hippie/druggie style) re-discovering granola and millet cakes.

 

 
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