Blueberry Flax Pancakes

2 2/3 cups quinoa or whole wheat flour
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups milk
2 large eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup flax seeds
lots of blueberries

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. In a medium bowl whisk the wet ingredients.
3. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and mix until smooth.
4. Lightly spray a nonstick frying pan with cooking oil and place on medium low heat. When the pan is hot, pour the batter into the pan in about 5 inch rounds. Sprinkle with blueberries immediately.
5. When several bubbles have formed flip the pancakes and cook for another minute or so.
6. Spray the pan with cooking oil again and repeat until all the batter is used.
7. Top with fresh or frozen berries, sliced bananas and a light drizzling of maple syrup.
8. Enjoy!

Torture Devices

The Judas Cradle

The Judas Cradle is usually attributed to the Spanish Inquisition. The victim would be stripped, bound with ropes, and suspended above the device. They would then be lowered, usually very slowly, onto the device, making the pyramid enter the vagina, anus or scrotum. The amount of pain the device inflicted could be changed in several ways. The victim could be rocked, they could be dropped repeatedly onto the device, one leg could be lifted, olive oil could be spread on the pyramid or brass weights could be hung from the victim's legs.

Sometimes to prolong torture the victim would be suspended above the device over night and torture would continue the next morning.

The device was rarely, if ever, cleaned. If the victims did not die from the device, they almost always died from infection. Torture with the Judas Cradle could last several hours to several days.

Apart from the agonizing pain one suffered, the humiliation was the primary attraction for this method of torture. Whenever the victim fainted from the pain, the torturer would lift the victim until the tortured person was awake again to commence with the process.



The Brazen Bull

The Brazen Bull was invented in Ancient Greece by Perillos of Athens. Perillos proposed his idea of a more painful means of execution to Phalaris, the tyrant of Akraga. Phalaris liked the idea of the Brazen Bull and so it was made. Once finished, Phalaris ordered it to be tested on Perillos himself. Perillos was removed from the Bull before he died but was later killed by Phalaris when he threw Perillos off a hill.

When a victim is placed inside the Brazen Bull he or she is slowly burned to death. The device gradually became more sophisticated until the Greeks invented a complex system of tubes in order to make the victim's screams sound more like an infuriated bull, and also made it so the smoke from it rose in clouds of incense.

Even though this torture was not used as frequently during the Middle Ages as it was used earlier by the Greeks and Romans, it was still used in Central Europe. This torture is similar to being boiled alive.

Autumn is Fantastic!

I'm going to go ahead and say something shocking: autumn is awesome! Here is why:

I love the crisp mornings and evenings.
I love curling up some place warm with a hot beverage in my hand.



I love wearing sweaters and toques and shoes with thick socks.



I love not being too hot when I exert myself a little.
I love the leaves and the chestnuts.





Are these dumb reasons for loving a season? If so, I challenge you to come up with better reasons. In fact, I DARE you to come up with better reasons.

Kino Cafe

10 Books in 3 Months

These are the only books I need to read for my classes this semester. Not a daunting stack of literature at all!

Cambie Street Past Bedtime

Mastercard

2 skytrain passes to Stadium Station: $5.
2 tickets to the Canucks vs Flames pre-season game: $100.
2 hotdogs and 2 Rickard's Reds: $24.
Watching our boys from the fourth row with the love of my life: priceless.

Neighbourhood Photos

A few photos from a walk around the ol' neighbourhood.

Rebecca's Riced Red Peppers

2 red peppers
half onion, diced
half zucchini, diced or shredded
2 tomatoes, diced
5 mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
half cup of rice (brown, white and wild)
few splashes of Worcestershire sauce
half cup feta
half cup grated chedder
half cup tomato sauce
cup of water
spices (salt, pepper, basil, oregano, etc)

1. Cut tops off peppers, clean out seeds and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Saute garlic and onions in a skillet for a few minutes. Add Worcestershire, tomatoes, zucchini and mushrooms. Add rice, water and spices. Mix. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
3. Add the feta, chedder and tomato sauce. Mix. Stuff each pepper with the mixture, adding a sprinkle of chedder to the tops of each pepper.
4. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until the cheese is melted.
5. Enjoy with a salad and crusty bread.

Four Items

These four items have served me well over the past few days. I feel almost in the bloom of health again.

Picture Frames

I've been stopping by yard sales over the past few months and have collected a few picture frames. Now to fill them!

Back to School

"He writes like E.E. Cummings. Except worse." Said by student to her friends on the skytrain.

I'm suddenly very excited about going back to school.

Having a Blue Milk with Friends

These guys are adorable.

EATI

EATI: Equipment and Assistive Technology Iniative. It's really quite cool. This government funded program helps people with disabilities get the equipment and training they need to be able to work and live independently. Through this program, people with disabilities who have depended on others to be able to leave the house, have access to technology that allows them to explore and participate in their community. Can you imagine the ecstasy of being able to leave your home unaided, after years of laying on a bed unable to move? Some people who have been helped by EATI have pasts like that.



One man, who is now in his forties, was injured in a diving accident when he was a teenager. He broke his neck. He doesn't have control of his arms, legs or diaphram even. He underwent a tracheotomy so that he can breathe through a tube that enters directly into his trachea. He uses shoulder movements to force air into the tube, just as we use our diaphram to force air into our lungs. He has to consciously focus on making those movements though, or he'll run out of air.

But the most amazing technology this man has is his power wheelchair. I had never seen anything like it before I started working for BCITS. He has three tubes arranged near his mouth that are connected to the chair. By sipping or blowing he controls his chair. Different lengths and intensities of breath tell his chair to move back, forward or turn, fast or slow. It's amazing to watch. He gets around quite well and lives a very full and satisfying life.



We are so blessed to live in 2010 with this amazing technology available to us. For more information about EATI, visit the website.

Turkey

Did you know I visited the Republic of Turkey with my sisters a few months ago? It feels like a lifetime has passed since that trip.

I remember the four of us walking the streets of Istanbul and being accosted constantly by street vendors and restaurant owners urging us to patronize their establishments.

I remember how crowded the Blue Mosque was; how hundreds of tourists were packed inside to marvel at the intricate tiling and to gawk at the Muslims praying with their backs to us. I felt both grateful to have been allowed the opportunity to enter such an impressive, historically rich building and disgruntled on the locals' behalf who surely find the ever present tourists obnoxious.

I remember the Aegean cruise on our little gulet; eating meals together; playing backgammon; exploring ancient Greek ruins on tiny islands; diving into the clear clear blue ocean and clambering over rocks to find sea creatures.

I remember the places we stayed, how we alternated sleeping arrangements so that we would have a chance to spend one-on-one time with one another.

I remember carpet buying in Selcuk; the tea and talk; the proprietors laying carpet after carpet in front of us searching for the colours we liked, the patterns that pleased us. Jennie bought a beautiful carpet for her home from a skinny charmer named Osman.

So many memories are packed into mere two weeks. I can't wait until our next sister trip.

The Worst Service Provider = Bell Mobility

It all began with a lost cell phone...

...and it ended with John and I writing my first strongly worded letter ever. I'm not angry at Bell; but this is the first time I've ever written a letter to try and correct what I see as an injustice and I want to share my enthusiasm for it.

My favourite part of this sordid tale was listening to John talking to manager after manager on the phone on Bell's Customer Support Line. He was magnificent, explaining clearly and methodically (but with a gusto I've rarely heard in him) what the situation was and why it was Bell who broke my trust by failing to provide a service that I, in good faith, have paid for. I almost shuddered in delight when he told the manager to "take a little pride" in the company he represents.

I'm sure you'll come to understand the details of this thrilling account from the letter following:

I called Bell seven weeks ago to replace my lost cell phone at which time I was promised a promotional offer for a phone that would arrive in five to seven business days. After seven hectic weeks of scrambling for other means to communicate, I called Bell to see what the delay was and was told that the phone would not ever arrive. Apparently, the agent I spoke to seven weeks ago was informed of this but decided not to follow up with me.

The poor customer service I've endured these past two months has led me to the conclusion that Bell is no longer a company I would like to be associated with. When I called earlier today to cancel my account I was told that being lied to by Bell about the delivery of the phone, as well as being charged for two months of service I was unable to use, were not substantial enough reasons to void my contract and nullify the cancellation fee.

This break of trust with a service provider that I have used faithfully for five years leaves me profoundly disappointed and upset. The supervisors/managers that John spoke to on the phone earlier today were completely unapologetic about the admittedly flawed service I have received these past two months. When John was told that the grounds on which he was asking for my cancellation fee to be waived were unacceptable, he asked what would qualify an individual to have their cancellation fee waived. The manager refused to answer and threatened to "terminate this phone call". This lack of courtesy is shocking and disrespectful. When customers can't call the Customer Support Line and be given reasons why their requests cannot be fulfilled, you have failed in your mandate.

On the whole, Bell's lack of pride in maintaining an efficient and customer service driven company is embarrassing.

What do you think? Are we tough beans or what!

In Loving Memory

My Town

Dear little town of LaVerkin
I wonder how you feel today?
Do you sometimes have growing pains,
As you expand, first this way, then that way?

I remember when you were so little and cozy,
In the not so distant past,
When every one was my next door neighbour,
And the pace we lived was not so fast.

I guess we can't stop what we call 'progress'
In this day of the jet and trips to the moon.
But sometimes I long for the 'good old days'
And think, those days have passed too soon.

But some things that linger on forever
Are the memories of this place.
They gladden my heart with rejoicing,
For my memories don't have to keep pace.

- Genevieve Gubler (1913-2010)

I have fond memories of visiting La Verkin, a small town in southern Utah. It brings a smile to my face to think of my grandma being disgruntled at a population boom (3,000 people in 2000) that changed her town from the "little and cozy" one she knew into something a little too fast paced for her. She's an old fashioned country girl to the core.

Sarah, of course, describes our grandma much more eloquently than I.

Symphony of Fire

The annual fireworks competition in Vancouver every year is now called the Celebration of Lights. But John and I agree, Symphony of Fire is much more catchy. We spent the day at the beach enjoying the hot hot sun and the cold refreshing ocean.



Then we set up our towels on the grass at English Bay and watched the sun set as more and more people flocked to the waterfront to await the fireworks.



I love Vancouver more every day. Sometimes its beauty makes me catch my breath. I wish these photos did it justice.

Bonne Fete!

My sisters are pretty great. Esther and Amelia (otherwise known as Esti and AJ) took me out for a delicious dinner out on a sunny patio overlooking the water for my birthday. We ate fish tacos and spinach salad and ceviche and watched little boats as they paddled along.











Then we rushed to the UBC campus for a beautiful performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute. Who knew German could sound so melodic?



Thanks you guys. You always make my birthdays so special.

5:49 am

It's the end of the semester and you have an 8 page term paper on genre theory coming up. You haven't put it off (of course not, who does that?) but somehow the due date is tomorrow and you haven't started writing it yet. It's two o'clock in the afternoon and your class is tomorrow at 6. What do you do?

Recipe for an Awesome Term Paper in 28 Hours:

1. You need at least one comfortable work space in which to spread out all your papers. Ideally several in a close vicinity so that as you get bored of a certain position or vantage point, you can move to a more interesting one. Work spaces must be close to food/water and a washroom. They must not be in places where you will be easily distracted. I prefer my own apartment but cafes such as Waves that stay open 24/7 may be a good option as well.

2. Laptop computer. Important for quick writing and editing.

3. Printer. I've only recently got one and have found that they're such a luxurious luxury. I love printing out drafts of essays that need to be edited so that I can cover them in black ink, input my corrections into the laptop and print off an improved draft. There's just something about doing it by hand. The ability to circle and scribble more easily perhaps?

4. Two pots of tea (Earl grey, hot). That's eight mugs of essay writing power. Essential for Awesome term papers.

It is now 5:49 am and birds are starting to sing outside my window. I can just see a tiny hint of a light in the sky somewhere in the east. I think it's going to be a beautiful day. Just two more drafts to go!

Easter Balls

So I had grandiose plans for Easter crafts this year. I saw a picture of a papier mache bunny and I vowed to make one for each of my nieces. Here is what I did:

Step 1: Prepare the paste and the newspaper strips (courtesy of SFU's newspaper, The Peak).



Step 2: Cover balloons in strips of gooey paper.




Step 3: Repeat step 2.





Step 4: Hang your creations to dry.



*****WARNING*****
Papier mache takes a long time to dry! Longer than you could ever imagine! Please prepare your craft well before it's needed.

After a day and night of drying (with only two layers) it's time to paint.

Step 5: Paint a base coat.
Note - If you have lame paints like I do (Crayola washables from Superstore bought the night before 10 minutes to close) it will take a few coats of paint to cover the newspaper satisfactorily.



Step 6: Let dry.

*******WARNING******
Having to do several coats of paint will probably leave you behind schedule if you don't plan for it. Please prepare your craft well before it's needed.

If you have run out of time like I did (a couple of hours before we were supposed to head over to my sister's for Easter dinner I was still applying base coats) the best project you can probably do is an Easter egg. The bunnies require more time and effort, unfortunately.

Step 7: Apply designs onto egg.

Step 8: Fill with candy.

It's no lie that I'm ashamed of my Easter balls (that look nothing like eggs) however hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes; hence, pictures and a detailed record of my bungles.

I ended up putting them in a plastic bag to take over to my sister's while the paint was still drying so they got a bit smudged. However, the candy inside the eggs made up for the deficiencies in aesthetics and my nieces were happy. Success!!




Here are a few photos of the lovely Easter dinner Amelia provided. She's quite the host. Happy Easter!