Go Tigers!

No, I haven't turned into a Tigers fan (but at least they win games. . .) but we went down to Detroit Monday nite for a game against the Texas Rangers. The tigers were on some streak (6 or 7 in a row) and the pitcher dude (Jeremy Bonderman) hadn't lost since the fall of '06. So of course we show up and the lowly Rangers beat them 8-3 - but we had fun, got to check out the new-ish ballpark (reminiscent of Pac Ball & Safeco) and eat ballpark food. I don't really know any of the players but figured I'd see at least one former G-man. The leadoff batter for Texas? Kenny Lofton! And their DH is Sammy Sosa (who knew. . .) and of course, the former Dodger - Sheffield is on the Tigers. (They have a promotion now for "Shef hats" and it's an actual chef's hat. .I kind of wanted one!

They don't have a Coke bottle and baseball glove, but they do have a full-sized carousel (random!) with tigers instead of horses, a ferris wheel, historic player sculptures, liquid fireworks, and lot of food options. Dave opted for a Chicago-style hotdog (with onions, pickles, hot peppers & a pickle spear on a poppy seed bun) and I had a Kosher Bratwurst (which was small, I could have eaten two!). We sat way up in the upper deck, but like Pac Bell, even those seats are good and have good sightlines (unless 4 tall/wide dudes sit in front of you). At game-end, it was about 85 degrees - so I think this is how baseball is in the rest of country (no jackets!).

So the G-men are 10 games back. . . I think the season might be over - but Barry will get his HR record and then we can dump his sorry ass and hopefully get some decent hitters/pitchers!

I took more pictures, let me know if you want me to post them!

Farm Fresh!

Our CSA finally started! CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture" and basically, it's a farm share. So we bought a half-share (which is supposedly ideal for 2 adults) and each week from mid-June to October I go pick up our share of whatever is ripe and ready that week. Our farm share is through Titus Farms and we've bought from them at the regular Saturday Farmer's market before (their corn is the best!). Week one, we got a big bin of strawberries (not as good as Lucero, but still good), a bag of fresh picked salad greens, some basil and some garlic scapes. I had to do a little bit of research on the scapes (pictured) but basically, it's a green shoot of the garlic plant that eventually straightens out and becomes the tip of the garlic bulbs we buy. Seems like it's just mild garlic - to add a bit of flavor anywhere you want some garlicky taste. I made some garlic hummus which is quite good and will probably do a garlic scape pesto with the rest. It's so nice to have fresh fruit & veggies from the farm (rather than packed in celophane from the supermarket, which is what we ate all winter) and also nice to support a small, local farm. Our farm share includes 2 visits to the farm if we want. . . now that should be interesting!

"Grow Something We Can Eat"

So nothing too exotic or difficult. . . here are the beginnings of my herb "garden". It's shiso (Japanese green, sometimes called Japanese mint), mint, basil and thyme. I picked these because I use them all in cooking and they should be easy to grow.

The plastic egg containers (that house even the organic eggs) drive me crazy b/c they use so much plastic & are such a waste (I prefer cardboard, which can be recycled) but they are actually perfect for sprouting the seeds. There is a domed lid and a drainage layer (I poked holes in the bottoms of the egg cups) and so it works well. The whole thing sits on the window sill and in the morning, gets a good 4-5 hours of sun & then a steamy greenhouse effect. You can see the initial sprouting of the basil in this photo. More photos as it grows!

Video-blogging - BETA "Joji needs a helmet"

So being the early-adopter that I am (please, we still have a 27" tube tv and my cell phone is from 2004!), I am using the latest feature on Blogger (still in beta): Video Upload (I think they used to have this feature, but it was eliminated in an "upgrade"). Check it out:

Ok so my camera is from 2003 (I'm upgrading soon!) and so the video capture is a bit suspect, but it's kinda cool, no?

"Up North"

So pretty much everyone in Michigan lives in the lower half (Detroit & surroundings to the east, Kalamazoo/Grand Rapids to the west and Lansing in the middle) and so the upper half (+ the Upper Penisula, where I think it's like a forest?!) is pretty uninhabited and the place to go for vacations. I *think* people like to hunt, get out on the lakes, visit state parks and see some hills (more hilly & interesting terrain up north). Anyway, so you often hear about people who want a house "up north" or spent the weekend "up north".

So up north we ventured over Memorial Day weekend on our (ok, my) quest to see all parts of the state. We went to the northwest shore of Lake Michigan to a small town Charlevoix, via a day (lunch, some sites) in Traverse City. Not a whole lot to do there, but for a few days, we bopped around town, walked out to the lighthouse, ate a lot, shopped a bit and chilled out on the deck reading. Very relaxing! From there, we drove north east to the northernmost tip of the lower peninsula of Michigan to Mackinac City. From there, we took a ferry about 8 miles to Mackinac Island, home of the sort of famous Grand Hotel.

The Grand Hotel is sort of "do it once - just to see" type deal (for us anyway). You have to be in ties & dresses after 6pm in all areas of the hotel, breakfast & 5 course dinner are included in your stay and there are people to wait on your hand & foot! It was a little weird for us - it felt pretty colonial (Most of the servers were black, from the Caribbean or Asian from SE Asia & most of the patrons were white). So while it was a fun stay and the hotel and surrounding grounds are beautiful, 2 nites was enough! There isn't a whole lot to do on the island, but we rode bikes around the island (about 7 miles), sat by the pool and read, sat on the porch and hung out, walked around downtown a bit (many fudge shops). Oh and we visited the Butterfly House - which is pretty much just that (the pictures are pretty funny).

All in all, a very relaxing weekend. I think we may go East to Detroit & surroundings next. All the photos are here.

Birthday Blanket

Guess what we gave Akemi for her birthday. . .her very own Jesus blanket (had to buy it on ebay, couldn't find anymore in the stores). Since she lives in a subterranean climate, she can use it year-round (unlike we Michiganders, who've put ours away for the summer). It is just another "thing" for her (she has many, many things) but she seems to like it and actually uses it - so all in all, a good gift!

It's been a month since I last posted - over 2 weeks in SF and then a long weekend "up north" for Memorial Day. Will post those pictures shortly!