this week... steven left, my bike broke, and i got a letter from the IRS saying that i owe them 3000 bucks (this is a mistake but it will take awhile to sort out...) then i went to get my ticket to the lawrence arms show, to find it was sold out.

what a fucked up week, man, i was ready to fucking stab myself in the fucking heart with my chopsticks.

i ran my first 10 km on friday, listening to them and trying not to be too bummed out.

on saturday, at 3 p.m., i got an email from... the lawrence arms!... saying they'd put me on the guest list. i had to fucking run to the train station and switch trains 5 times to get to saitama (past tokyo) 20 minutes before their set..

steven and i used to listen to the lawrence arms, get drunk, and drink sake on the balcony here... before he moved over, he used to send me all their songs on mix CDs. it was so significant to me that i could go see them a week after he left..somehow, it made missing him less terrible...they even played my favorite song in the whole world, as well as a lot of other ones a like a lot. they were really cool to me afterwards... it was the best night i have had without steven in a long time.

i think i made a bit of an ass of myself after, because they were so friendly, i hung out and got drunk and i guess they didn't mind.. sometimes it is just so neat, how things will work out for you when you least expect them to...

it reminds you not to lose hope... and not to be too quick with your chopsticks...

I just lost one of my favorite material posessions: my sunglasses.
Carla gave them to me a few years ago, and I grew to love them so much that I have been dreading the day when they would be lost or broken.
Today was that day.
I took a long walk and they fell out of my back pocket somewhere. If there were daylight left, I would have retraced my steps completely... but there is little hope for me now.
Yes, I am ashamed for placing such value on something so stupid, but I'm going to waste a lot of time tomorrow trying to search the internet for a duplicate pair.
At least I have a sweet photo of Peter wearing them.

i bought black lentils (which i've never seen or heard of before) about 3 months ago from fresh fields (whole foods) and have trying to think up a way to prepare them so i would eat them (and actually enjoy them). a lot of lentil dishes seem really bland to me. i basically winged this recipe but it's basically the same as any tex-mex recipe i've used with black beans. the lentils are quite high in protein and fiber--much more so than canned black beans--and they're easy to make. plus, this meal can be eaten by meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans.

preparation time: 40 minutes or less.

lentils:
1 cup black lentils
2 1/2 cups water OR vegetable broth
(if using veggie broth, don't salt water)

spices:
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

veggies:
3-4 cloves garlic, minced.
(if you have a garlic press use only 3/4 clove garlic)
1/2 onion
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1/2 can stewed mexican style tomatoes
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 c. sweet white corn (optional)
green onions
fresh chopped cilantro

other:
soft flour tortillas

optional:
sour cream
sliced avocado


Preparation:
pour 2 1/2 c. water with a 1/4 tsp of salt into pot, bring to a boil. pour in lentils, turn down heat to a simmer, cover for 3 minutes, then leave uncovered until water is evaporated/absorbed. the directions on the bag say it takes 15-20 minutes for the lentils to become tender. when all the water is gone, the lentils are basically done. one nice thing about black lentils is they hold their form, so they don't turn to mush like red lentils.

while the lentils are cooking:
heat about 1-2 tbs of olive oil in a pan/pot. sautee garlic on low/med heat for about 3 minutes. Add onions. sautee until tender. add spices, then pour red pepper, tomatoes, canned tomatoes, corn and a litle bit of fresh cilantro in and cover. cook for about 5-12 minutes (depending if you like your veggies crisp or mushy) on medium heat stirring every few minutes. if there is too much water, just leave uncovered until it evaporates. salt and pepper to taste.

finishing touches
when lentils are tender, pour veggies over lenils and add fresh chopped green onions and fresh cilantro.

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i made this dish a little bit oversalted--at least by my standards, since i'm not a huge fan of salt. the slightly sweet flour tortillas and the slighty salty lentil/veggie mix incredibly well together.