Memorial Day

How exciting! We are taking off to LA and then Santa Barbara for the extended long-weekend. Many food pics to come :)

Ron

So Ron and I are lying in bed last night, watching tv all cozy. I like to lay my head on his shoulder and he rubs my head and back a little. So there I am all tired and cozy, and Ron gives me a kiss on the head and leans in close to whisper in my ear. What does he say? "Would you be mad if I had lice?"

Umm. At least we are both weirdoes’, right?

Guess who fell off the blogging wagon??

Well, I went to Victoria and my blog went to hell in a hand basket, so to speak. Every time I go home, I think I am going to go to all my old favorite restaurants, do a few hikes, catch up with friends, and see about 400 family members. This time I figured I'd through in a couple days of teaching, a trip to Calgary, and oh ya, a blog. When will I learn?

First pic = biggest.dissapointment.ever.
Second pic = best.baby.ever.

Ecology for Dummies, part 2.

So what to do with all these pesky rabbits?

Well, UVic is trapping and culling the rabbits that live near the stadium. Grounds personel say that the rabbit burrows are a threat to athletes, who train on the grounds and could break a leg if they stepped into/through a rabbit hole. They have trapped and killed over a hundred this month, but haven’t said how many more they plan to exterminate.

Here is the problem. Trapping and killing a few or even say half the population is useless. Rabbits are highly fecund animals and if a portion of the population is suddenly wiped out, more individuals from the remaining population will survive and inhabit the recently opened space. This is Ecology 101. So although they are culling some rabbits, the effect of removing those individuals from the population will last all of about two months, if that.

There are two solutions to UVic’s rabbit problem. 1) Cull every bunny on campus. 2) Capture, spay/neuter, and release as many as bunnies as possible (like a few hundred). By sterilizing and releasing the rabbits, rather than killing them, the bunnies will no longer reproduce but continue to occupy a niche in the environment. Culling every rabbit is probably rabbit is not very feasible, but a spay/neuter program could be a good compromise. UVic “tried” a spay/neuter program in February, with a whopping 40 animals. They weren’t wowed by the results and moved forward with the current cull.

This cull is cruel and unnecessary. Rabbits that have never been handled by humans would be highly stressed by the entire process. Trapping, transport, and eventual euthanasia is no fun for a semi-wild animal. Who knows how long they wait in traps, or wait to be taken to the Vet, or wait to be euthanized, all in terror. Plus, given that it is spring, many of these recently culled animals likely left behind dependant offspring, who would have subsequently died of dehydration. All for NO good reason, as another bun-bun is simply going to take their place.

Same on UVic for not thinking this one through.

On another note, I am about to dive into the above pictured chocolate cake. Drool. Thanks, Mom! I promise to be more cheerful tomorrow ;)

Ecology for Dummies

UVic (the University of Victoria, of which I am alum) has all these bunnies on campus. These rabbits, or at least the founding population, were former pets which people dumped when they didn’t want them anymore. Now there is population of 2000 or so rabbits which are neither wild nor tame. Although it would be difficult to catch one of these bunnies, you could say, feed one a carrot or get close enough to take a good photo.

These rabbits are of course an invasive species to UVic, and they are a real pain to the grounds and facilities workers. In addition to the lawn, the bunnies mow down the rhododendrons, and the roses, and all other forms of lovely shrubbery. They burrow all over, which makes potholes in the lawn, and they also poop everywhere, which is of course problematic. The population is clearly growing and without intervention, could get out of hand pretty quickly, that is if it isn’t already. I get it, you get it, the rabbits are a problem.

So, what to do?

More tomorrow…

"Home"

Once again, it is way past my bedtime, so its just a couple of pics for today... They are unrelated, but are from my day. 1) Crub!, 2) UVic bunny making a nest, 3) Strech getting a refreshing drink.

Top Ten Reasons My Homeland is Adorable

10. Canadian Tire money is a currency.
9. Tim Horton’s and Roll-up-the-Rim.
8. The ridiculously cute Olympic Gear.
7. “Eh.”
6. The atmosphere is 99% Argon.
5. It’s necessary to remind people that they cannot bring their hockey sticks on an air plane. Seriously, I just saw the sign.
4. Canadians go around oiling everything, with tiny personal oil cans (think Tin Man), lest it rust.
3. Moose are feared.
2. The actual money.
1. Tomato juice + clam nectar = legitimate beverage that you can purchase anywhere.

Ack

I got carried away with today and completely forgot about this whole blogging thing. Now, it is way past my bedtime! Night.

Fish taco, part 2. The Revolution!

The pics, from top to bottom are: Blue Water Seafood, Bull Taco, and Don Panchos (note the sauce, drool).




Ok, so since we started taking our tacos more seriously, Don Panchos has been our favorite fish taco in San Diego County. When I am in town, Ron and I drive 26 miles there and 26 miles back to get our much adored $1.99 fish tacos in IB. Don Panchos is a greasy little dive with no restroom and lots of graffiti. Here is the line-up: 2 mini corn tortillas, a dab of unknown white sauce, and small fried slice fish, all topped with pico, cabbage, cilantro, fresh lime and amazing home-made hot sauce. Super yummy! A bit like junk food, because the fish is fried, but totally worth it.

HOWEVER, last Tuesday traffic was horrid on the 5, so Ron and I cheated on our beloved Don Pancho and went to the much closer Blue Water Fish Market and Grill. We had seen it before of the Food Network, but hadn’t given it a try. Lo and behold, we have since been back 4 times! These are hands down the best fish tacos ever. The line-up: 1 not super tiny corn tortilla, a dab of cheese (odd, I know), AMAZING char grilled Mahi Mahi (or sword fish), cabbage, pico and fresh lime. The fish is so fresh and in big flaky wonderful chunks. This taco is well worth its whoping $3.95 price tag. The only draw-back is that they don’t make their own hot sauce, but don’t worry, I am going to make a suggestion about this important ingredient. You can watch a video about the place here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nW8FI1VAAU.
BTW- while I was photographing and gushing over my perfect fish taco, the old couple sitting beside us who must have been partially deaf, said a bit too loudly that "tacos are for young people." Adorable.

I must also give a shout out to Bull Taco in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. The tacos are a bit small for $3.75, but are really tasty and come with the best view around. They are located within a State camp ground right the edge of a cliff overlooking a surf beach.

On another note, I did pretty well last night, with the not being too overly socially awkward at Ron’s boss’s house. I did almost make our gracious host cry, by accidentally asking about her recently deceased much loved dog, but in the large scheme of things I could of said with my horribly awkward manner, this wasn’t too bad.

I think tomorrow I will introduce you to Fridge LaFleur. FYI.

Saturday

5:30 am Awakened by a certain little sardine piggy who wanted her fix
8:00 am Encinitas 5K
9:00 am Belgian waffle with strawberries at Swami’s Café
11:00 am Nap
1:00 pm Shopping at Target (glamorous, I know)
2:00 pm Fish tacos at Don Panchos
3:00 pm Pick up cupcake at Cupcakes Squared
5:00 pm BBQ at Ron’s boss’s house, where I am totally not going to be socially awkward or verbally abusive
Tomorrow? Fish Taco, Part 2. For Shiz.

Coming of Age… Fish taco edition.

San Diego is known for its fish tacos. Ron and I had our token fish tacos when we arrived, and almost always take our house guests for the token San Diego fish tacos. However, recently we’ve started taking our fish tacos a little more seriously, and now have a much better appreciation for how amazing, mistaken, or how horrific these little morsels can be. Not just that, but we now know (a) what garbage we fed our guests (sorry!) and b) what a truly delicious fish taco should be.

Some may balk at my credentials. First, I will never be a San Diego native. Second, I’ve been here all of what, maybe a cumulative year or two? Third, as any good Canadian, I like ketchup on hotdogs. That being said, I’ve eaten a butt-load of fish tacos, and can’t help but view my opinion pretty highly. The following are my ratings the worst, and the best fish tacos I’ve had around town. I’ll start with the worst and make my way to the best. Do with it what you will.

The Worst
Don Chuy (Solana Beach).
Horrible. fish. taco. Thank god they had beer. First the chips were thick, stale and greasy in a dirty-fry-oil kinda way. The salsa tasted and looked like cheap ketchup (recall what I do to hot dogs) with a bunch of spice. And the fish taco, OMG, the fish taco. Tortilla, fine. Cabbage and pico, fine. Fish, a) clearly spoiled, and b) clearly under cooked. Ick. Don’t ever go. It gives me shivers to think about.

The Not Great
South Bay Bar and Grill (Ocean Beach).
I’ve got to give South Bay props for good beer and atmosphere. It’s a great place to have a drink and smell the beach. South Bay’s fish taco’s got them into Bon Appetit magazine's "Best Restaurants in America" issue, so we had to check them out… a few times. The conclusion? Meh, I’ll stick to beer from now on. Why? First, they use flour tortillas. Sacrilege. Second, they put a lot of cheese in places no cheese should be forced to go. Third, they smother their wee tacos in ranch dressing, Sysco ranch dressing. Finally, although the fried fish is tasty (like any fish-and-chips fish is tasty), the grilled fish is overly salty having been marinated in soy sauce. Four strikes, South Bay.

Um, now that I’m ¾ through a glass of wine and have a belly full of fish tacos, I really don’t feel like blogging anymore. Above is a pic of my tied-for-2nd favorite fish taco, and I promise to tell you about it and my very favorite fish tacos tomorrow. Does this qualify as f#%king (see how I'm keeping it clean?!)it up?

79 Days of NOT f%*king it up

So I’ve decided to blog for 79 days. Why? I don’t know, but I think it may have something to do with my impending trip to Madagascar and the fact that I will have no internet (including facebook!) for the majority of my stay. Perhaps it’s my online binge before my inevitable online starvation diet, so to speak.

I generally think blogs* are lame and a sort of narcissistic way of saying “hey look at how interesting/funny/cute I am.” Will my blog be any different? Nope. Do I have anything important or interesting to say? Not at all. BUT, I will try not to “fuck it up.” Ron always tells me “not to fuck it up” before I do something like bake a cake or put together some ridiculously complicated IKEA product. Then when I inventively do something wrong, he says “what was the one thing I told you not to do?” It’s endearing, trust me.

What am I going to blog about? Just mundane stuff like where I am, what I’m doing, and whether I’ve had anything decent to eat. On slow days I may interject a story or two about the seemingly odd scenarios that I get myself into… like checking my frozen cat as luggage, nearly getting thrown into Maricopa County Jail and thinking the drug dog was so darn cute, or stealing a watermelon from Whole Foods. Actually, scratch that last one. It wasn’t unusual; I just stole a watermelon from Whole Foods.

Who do I think will read my blog? Kitty. Oh and if I keep it clean (which I cannot promise due to the nature of fucking or not fucking it up) maybe my Grandmother. Although she is probably busy watching Miss Congeniality. FYI.

Anyhow, here is my blog which I will try NOT to fuck up.

*For obvious reasons cat blogs are not included here.