Life on the edge

While having coffee at Anna Banana's last week I ran into Andrea, one of the creative women I canvassed with at Working America one spring. Working America is the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, and they fight for important stuff, like better paying jobs and health care. With fearless doorbelling, they helped get Jeff Merkley elected and Measure 66 and 67 passed .

Before running into Andrea, I had just found out my landlord wanted his house back because he needs to live in it with his new girlfriend. It turned out most of Andrea's friends are in the same boat, and they are also looking for work. Andrea's contract with Working America ended after measure 66 and 67 passed, so she needs a job, too. We talked about starting a blog just to get everyone connected: housing, jobs, business opportunities. With all of this creative energy on the loose, a million things could get done with some good networking.

In the meantime, I found a cool basement apartment to rent with one of my friends. He used to live in his basement, so it has a great kitchen. I will also be able to grow vegetables there, and the rent is quite a bit cheaper than what I am paying now, so I'm excited. He's a really nice guy and so very much fun to talk to. He has a million stories to share, and he looks a bit like William Hurt.

I learned to make almond milk yesterday which will be very convenient. It's so easy to do. Simply soak 1 1/2 cups of almonds overnight in some water. The next morning rinse the almonds and blend them with 4 cups of water. Strain through muslin or a fine strainer. Wow is it delicious fresh! You can use almond milk in soups, coffee, anywhere that you use milk or cream. It would be terrific in a ganache.

I also sold a few journals and note cards on my etsy site portlandia.etsy.com so I sent those off today. Tonight I am working on my big critical paper for my MFA degree and also rewriting a few scenes from my novel.

Hopefully I can get everything cleared out of this apartment by March 1st and moving won't interfere too much with my studies. It will feel good to simplify my life and hand over some of my belongings to the Goodwill to be used by others who need them now.