today i wrote the most beautiful song i'd ever heard,
and then i promptly forgot it

Baby Birds.

Today I found some baby birds outside the laundry room.



When I took their picture with the flash on accident, all five of them opened their mouths like in that picture! Their little eyes don't even open yet!

Then they went back to napping.

They are little Robins! I know because their Mama Bird just tried to peck my eyes out.

Basic flower. I'm going to work on making them more symmetrical.

OH goodness. This will be an addendum to the last post. I also went to my cousin's wedding in Michigan. On the ride there, my train passed a couple having sex in the woods. They tried to hide behind a pine tree, but let me tell you, pine trees are not the least revealing of hiding places.

Ben Said So.

My mom came to visit! It was freezing almost the whole time she was here, but we got to go to the museum of Science and Interesting which is awesome.


I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo! In case you don't know, that's a free zoo that's AWESOME. This zebra was given to them because he happens to have epileptic seizures. I wonder, when he's seizing, does he look gray?


I made this a few weeks ago but didn't get around to uploading it. Sad puppy in a double latte.

this is what I'm making for dinner tonight.   I stole the idea from an article in Self a while ago.  

Lentil Tacos::::

Take some onions (like, 3/4 of an onion, or a whole onion if that's your jive), some garlic (as much as is nummy), half a green pepper (or more), and sautee them in some olive oil until they get soft.   Then put in a packet of taco seasoning.  Then add a cup of lentils, then 2 and a half cups of vegetable stock.  Then cook it until all the stock gets absorbed and the lentils are soft.  Then kind of mash it up.  Then put it in tacos.  I made some quinoa tonight too,  just to add more protein, but it's real nummy.  

Lady Parts Post

This is weird, but I got a great pap smear today.  Usually I really, really hate them and feel like I'm going to throw up when they're doing the scraping, but this one was really great.  Last year I cried because I went and got one and it was HORRIBLE, and I got home and was like, well thank god I won't have to do that for another year, and then they didn't get enough cells and I had to go back the next week and it was horrible all over again.  But this time, it was great.  Very quick. Very easy.  Only slightly painful. I didn't want to puke at all.  I think I'm going to become a gynecologist so I can give such great pap smears.  

I made a tres leches cake for Eddie's birthday yesterday.  I should probably state for the people who read this who aren't as familiar with my food hangups, that I. Hate. Eggs.   And any food that tastes or feels like eggs, I also hate.  But I really like baking.  I  decided to bake the fancy pants cake this time, which I will put the recipe for.  The recipe called for six eggs, separated.  I bought a whole carton of eggs from whole foods; twelve large, beautiful brown ovules.   To do the first one, I remembered how the dad of my best friend growing up used to cut open eggs with a knife to separate them.  I tried to do that, and wound up covered in egg, on account of I  have no idea how the hell he did that.  One egg down.  So I cracked five more eggs, separated them beautifully and carefully, and got lazy on the sixth egg.  I cracked it over the bowl of whites and the inside was completely. rotten. and bloody. Chicken lood. and rotten eggs.  all throughout my nice egg whites. Thankfully, the yolks remained intact.  So I had to crack and separate six more egg whites, which, if you do the math, winds up being the whole entire carton.  Hateful little devil orbs! My house still reaks like rotten egg.

The cake turned out really great though!  

Tres Leches Cake:::

Take 6 egg whites, minus rotten eggs.  Beat them on low until they thicken up and form what Emeril calls "Soft Peaks."  This took me about 5 whole minutes.  

When they are thick and white and fluffy, slowly add in two cups of white sugar while you continue to beat the whites.  Then add in the yolks one by one and beat continuously. 

Mix together two cups of flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder.  Then add these to the egg/sugar mixture slowly, along with a half cup of milk. Then add 1 tablespoon of vanilla.  Pour into a greased pan (I floured it too) and bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until the cake is done.  

When the cake is done, let it cool.  When it is completely cool, poke little holes all over the top with a fork.  Mix together a can of evaporated milk, a can of sweetened condensed milk, and a cup of heavy cream.  Then pour the three milks over the top of the cake. It helps to do it slowly so the cake absorbs the liquid.  Also, kind of tilting the pan back and forth helps it get into the bottom.  

I usually top these cakes with whipped cream and shredded coconut, though a lot of recipes I found made buttercream frostings with fresh fruits.  I think thats a big much. This cake is crazzzzy good though.  

Becca Dang sent me a dreamcatcher in the mail today.  It's my new favorite thing.  

I went to the petstore across the street after work today, and were you aware that you can get a prairie dog as a pet? They are hella cute.  Big bellies.  Big eyes. Big noses.  ADOORBELL.  I just want to play with cute animals all day. 

It's finally summer in Chicago.  Winter ended like, last week. I don't really know how to respond to that.