Yeah, it's been a minute...or 12...

Ok, so I know - I'm not the world's most frequent blogger. Let's see - since that last blog, I became a personal trainer, formed my own band, and, well - there was summer. Now it's over six months later, and here I am again.

Well, my weight got as low as I was five or six years ago, but this time, my biceps, triceps, quads, and hams are all solid muscle. My suggestion for arms? Only do regular bicep and tricep curls if you want huge ones - otherwise do lats, chest, shoulders, and shoulder blades - they work your arm muscles as well. For your legs? Squats and lunges. Hate machines? Learn more about the medicine ball (it's your friend!) and resistance bands. Really want to get in shape? Work with a trainer (I'm reasonable for my friends).


Want to lose weight? Cut calories. A great way to do this? Cut back on drinking. Also, get off your butt and exercise - 30 minutes of cardio a day should do this. You can even break that up into two sets of 15 minutes or 3 of ten.

And yes, I'm still doing shows, as many of you know. My band had one show in August. I'm not sure when we'll perform again...hopefully soon. We know the world can't live without us. Ok, it can, but it shouldn't.

Yeah, it'

Boozy Vegan French Onion Soup

This is a spin on something posted by someone named "vegan miss". I don't want to take credit where it's not due, but I changed some things to make it, well, less "maird"-y. ;P I hate bay leaves and used rosemary instead, which I love. I also divided it by four to make one serving. I recommend dividing it by two so you can have three portions of it, because now I'm left with a half-cup of soup, and WTF is the point of that?

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 small red or white onions, diced (less crying if you throw them in the food processor
a whole lotta rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup brandy
4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup red or white wine
4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 fresh baguette, sliced, to serve


Directions:

1. Place pot on medium heat and add olive oil. Once melted, add the onions, rosemary, and salt and pepper.

2. Caramelize the onions for about 1/2 hour, stirring here and there so they do not stick. Add the brandy and allow to deglaze (not my word - not sure what "deglazing" is).

3. Add the broth, red wine, and thyme. Cook the soup for another 20-30 minutes.

4. While the soup is cooking, toast bread.

5. Place soup in bowl and top with the bread slice. Enjoy!

Awesome arms

You've lifted weights or done pushups, and now your arms resemble baseball clubs. Terrific. You were going for that Jennifer Aniston/"random other actresses who work with trainers"-arms. Nice sculpted arms with the little indents.

Ok, want to know how to do this? I'm-a tell ya how it's done.

Ok, stand with your arms out like you're the letter T (but with a neck and head - maybe more like a "t"?), palms facing the floor. Ok, now:

1. rotate your arms forward for thirty seconds.
2. Now rotate them backwards for thirty seconds, palms still facing downwards.
3. Rotate your arms so that your palms are facing up, and like they have a cup of water you keep spilling - do this also for thirty seconds.

Do three sets of this three times a week, and you'll see results. I definitely did. It helps to look in a full-length mirror as you're exercising. It also helps to put on your favorite music.

♥♪

Easy cauliflower soup

Yeah, it's soup season. My mother made a different version of this when I was a kid with butter (which I obviously wouldn't eat now). Here's mine:

One head of cauliflower
2-3 carrots
5 or 6 mushrooms (unless you're allergic)
chopped garlic
Scallions
Your favorite oil (mine is toasted sesame, extra virgin olive oil also works)
Cilantro, dill, or parsley (whichever you prefer)

Fill a soup pot with water. Add ingredients until soft. Purée in blender. Top with ground sea salt and pepper. This produces many servings. Share with friends!

Ok, so...I saw on NY1 today that tiger cubs were born in the Bronx Zoo recently. My friend Alex who plays guitar in NYC rock band Atom Strange (www.atomstrange.com ) jokingly warned that they feed hot rock chicks to lions and tigers. I responded that I must be safe, then. He asked if I was fishing for compliments. My answer: "Vegans don't fish! We search...as we do for items on the menu we'll eat or for restaurants in a new city!"

Who said vegans don't have a sense of humor (albeit corny)? ♥♪

Why Being Vegan ROCKS - my two-year veganniversary

Ok, so you may have noticed in my previous post that I am in fact vegan. As a matter of fact, this weekend marks my two-year veganniversary. A friend of mine thinks it's rude to ask why people become animal-product free - she feels it's too invasive, like asking someone why they would choose to practice certain religious beliefs. To some extent I agree.



Nonetheless, I'll tell you anyway. I read Skinny Bitch and decided I was DONE. No more animal products for me.


That said, I stopped eating red meat when I was 20. I still consumed chicken, fish, eggs, and dairy. While saying I was a "lacto-ovo-aves-pescaterian" was a mouthful, I felt that eating mammals was in poor taste, as we're also mammals.


Ok, I know what you're thinking - you're ready to gag on my ingestion metaphors. Nonetheless, I decided after reading the book that if I could become a vegan, I could accomplish anything. No task would ever be too difficult (that's not to say they're not strenuous) again.




It wasn't easy. There are poultry, beef, and pork substitutes (well, some of the latter) on the market. There is a veritable cornucopia of dairy substitutes (soy, rice, almond, hazelnut, to name a few) on the market, some of which actually taste better than the real thing. A lot of cheeses (vegan brie? When's that happening?) However, there are none for eggs or fish, two things I'd enjoyed for close to twenty years. And try being at a party with dairy-and-eggs cake! Not fun.

Also, I'm a rocker - um, no leather? If I wear used leather, I'm not contributing to killing animals, but unless someone bought it before I went vegan, am I then contributing to it by waiting? Fake leather looks real. Stuff I had before becoming vegan is leather...

Then I remembered: I'm not doing this because I care what people think - I'm doing it because it's what feels right to me. Does buying new leather feel right? No. Wearing used leather? Well, with the bedbug burdens of late, not sure about anything used. Fake leather? Wore it before; will wear it again. Feathers? I try not to.

Basically, it's all about self-control. You wouldn't eat rocks, right? BECAUSE AT A YOUNG AGE YOU WERE TOLD NOT TO. Well, you might not be as young, but you can still consider meat as something you just don't eat - if you feel inclined to do so, as I did.






THE GOOD NEWS


Over time, I disabused myself (ie, get un-used to) some of these things and stopped craving them a few months later. I ate hummus instead of tuna salad (and still do anytime I crave it). I make scrambled tofu with casein-free cheese and a variety of vegetables. And with all the fake-meat products available, I was able to eat "steak" again without hurting anything. I hadn't eaten any red-meat products in 17 years, and now I got to!



THE TRUTH IS...



There are thin vegans and meat-eaters. Conversely, there are also overweight vegans and meat-eaters. I've been all four. Being vegan isn't for everyone (as I like to joke, we can't all be perfect). If you want to make the conscious decision to change your lifestyle, kudos. If you want to lose weight through portion control and exercise, that's great too. If you choose to do neither and are still happy, well, that's great too. Of course, I'm not here to preach - this is my choice and what works for me.

♥♪

Easy AND Vegan Facial THAT WORKS!!!

Last night, on the L train to Public Assembly for my hard rock party, Hipsterwrecktomy, I overheard the girl next to me telling her friend how she likes to use an overripe avocado as a moisturizer. I chimed in (I couldn't help myself - it's who I am) and told them that sounded amazing, but it would probably be better if it was organic, to which they agreed.

However, I thought that might be oily, and what to do for acne? She suggested egg whites, which of course, being vegan, I shuddered - but only on the inside. I merely mentioned my lifestyle and suggested using ground flax seeds with water instead.

Lo and behold, this morning I found an unbecoming blemish below the right side of my lip, and decided to put it to the test. I've also read that rosemary has great cleansing powers, so I threw some in, too.

THE RESULTS

My skin has never felt softer, and the repugnant rosy mark - practically non-existent. And it smells really good!

HOW TO:
1 T flaxseeds (organic if you can)
1 T rosemary (again, organic if possible)
¼ cup water (filtered is preferred, obvz)

Grind these together in a Magic Bullet (that's what I have), blender, or even a coffee grinder. Put on a thin layer (it dries more quickly) until pasty and dry (duh). Rinse. FYI - these all work fine even if the seeds or rosemary are not organic or if the water isn't filtered.

♪♥♪ shar gorgiiss

On relationships and live music - may the two sometimes meet

I had a conversation with a male friend last week about dating. Well, actually two. They both told me that maybe I should stop looking.

That's when it hit me. I don't really look at all. I just kind of have fun with my rock'n'roll crowd, and if someone attractive, funny, or hopefully both should, um, cross my plate, well, I won't pour ketchup on him or anything, but I'll see where it goes.

Hence the fun with my hell-raisin' friends. But...but...then it hit me. Like I said, I don't look. I know it sounds entitled or maybe naïve, but I really don't like to put that much effort into this - I'd like it to just somehow happen. To me, falling in love should be as natural as breathing or eating or something.

And that's how I end up with the wrong guys. Sure, they're fun. A lot of times, they're also hot. The whole "hanging out with what shows up" thing tends not to produce the desired results.

But then what? Dating sites? Getting set up on blind dates? Both seem contrived to me. Sure, I went on one OkCupid drink date. Physically, he wasn't my type (except for being tall - his profile picture was a total letdown), and he wasn't really into music that much, but he was pretty funny and smart. He told me he felt like he was talking to someone he'd known for 22 years (why that number? who knows).

Of course, I left when he suggested dinner.

It's funny, because a little over ten years ago, I wrote an online column (to which we refer these days as a "blog") called The Serial Kisser, which was - in case it's somehow not obvious - about my dating misadventures. I used to put effort into dating (the column was weekly). I realized how much energy it took to try to meet someone - and this was before dating Web sites were ubiquitious. I wanted it to be about my friends and me (who were less than pleased with me even though I changed their names), but even as I started, I realized I was slightly more, shall we say, active?

After writing the weekly work for awhile, I started to develop a disdain for the whole dating process. I started thinking, what's so special about my dating life? I'd rather give something else light - something that maybe someone needed help with. Until that point, I'd wanted to write about lifestyle, beauty or fashion (I still want to raid the Vogue closet); at that point I realized that maybe my first love, which was music, might be what needed me more. So that's how I started in my music journalism career.

Anyway, getting back to the original point, I could be single forever and probably not care. Being with the right person is great, but I really don't want to half-ass it just to be in a relationship. I've done that already, and it sucks. Being single means that you don't have to consult someone to make a decision or plans. Being single means you don't have to worry about whether someone will like your friends or not.

Being in the right relationship means that most of this is not something to worry about and works itself out in the end.

Oh, as for the other night - there were four great power-pop punk bands, one that almost lead to another Philly trip last night. I ended up at St. Jerome's at 3am after negotiating my new Blackberry, doing - what else? Having a blast with my friends.