I know a few people participating in the AIDS LifeCycle ride this year, and they're tougher than I am! The training, dedication and devotion it takes to prep for this ride and then finish it is something I admire. Most of the people I know who are doing it are people who aren't hardcore athletes, but they've been pushing themselves in a way I know I can't, to make this ride a reality. I like this fundraising effort because it doesn't shovel funds towards research and paying for luncheons and red ribbons - money raised by the people who make the 7 day trek go towards education, and assiting men and women living with HIV/AIDS. Good stuff that can't be forgotten.

There's a group of LA riders who have been working hard not just on their endurance, but finding a way to make their ride something that will not only provide for the beneficiaries of the AIDS LifeCycle, but something that will enrich the LA bike community, and I encourage everyone to check it out - it will be at my favorite immediate-neighborhood bicycle community center, The Bike Oven on Figueroa. Fun place where good things happen.

You can find more info on the thread posted on the Midnight Ridazz board, and while you're there, check the list of upcoming rides in your area (or beyond) to have some bike fun of your own.

My bike and I have been apart for a while... too much travel, not enough time at home, and nowadays, she has to compete with a horse - which isn't easy. I'll be in Japan next week, and hope to get a bit of my bike fix on when I meet up with some Tokyo bike peeps. I'll be sure to share when I get back. But yeah, in the meantime, everyone else should live it up and keep the rubber side down!

Happy Buff Day!

You may recognize the character above from walls around the country, from vinyl toys, art galleries and t-shirts. This cake is Buff Monster's, Pink Pirate, and it was by far the coolest birthday cake I've ever seen. Buff's brother planned this surprise for Buff's birthday, and in doing so, blew everyone away with the enormity and awesomeness of this cake. It wasn't vegan, so I can't say much about the tasty factor, but everyone who had a slice seemed pleased. Underneath all that fondant was chocolate cake with massively fat layers of chocolate frosting in between the cake - three or four layers I think. Decadent, just the way Buff likes things!

Speaking of decadence, I popped into Whole Foods inbetween errands this morning. My tummy was rumbling, and I needed to get a few things for the critters and the house before packing up to head off to New York Comicon this weekend. The Whole Foods in West Hollywood is like a pseudo eco-friendly, free-range meat market - always a good place to watch self-righteous Prius driving people watching people.

After finding some seitan to snack on, I went to the drink cooler by the salad bar to find a juice to wash the gluten down with with. There was an old white guy in front of the case trying to get people to try a new Green Tea beverage Whole Foods was carrying, called Carpe Diem. There weren't any weird non-vegan ingredients in it, so I chose the "Ginkgo" version for a taste. It wasn't half bad, but I almost gagged on the spiel the old white dude was dishing out.

It started innocently with a lesson in Latin, and degenerated into a monologue about the Green Tea in all the drinks, and how Asian's knew the score on secret ingredients, which was some sort of indication that Asians knew all kinds of other secrets - like how to build better cars, better tiny technology, and how their food was the best.

I couldn't argue with a lot of the points he raised, I mean... we have a tendency to look like the master race most of the time, but I couldn't help but feel like this was a racially motivated sales pitch. There are lots of those thrown our way at GR, and it's something I never get used to. I have an urge to launch into my own monologue about race here, but I'm kind of wiped out from the weekend and the current week of madness. I'll save it for another day.



I bought a bottle of the Ginkgo Carpe Diem, kind of out of pity since the old white guy reminded me of the Korean women handing out kim at the Korean market, trying to get you to buy the grocery item they've been assigned to shill that day. If I try it, I usually buy it unless it sucks. This drink was okay, I guess... kind of like an oddly carbonated Arizona Green Tea. I won't be buying it again, even if the person pushing it tells me that my almond eyes are exotic and asks me how to say "Green Tea" in Korean.

Only 99 Cents!

This is one of the reasons I love living in Lincoln Heights. The 99 Cents Only Store on Broadway never fails to surprise me with a whole mess of vegan food and treats. I could pretty much get away with doing all of my food shopping there, save some proteins and fresh green veggies... Of course, this isn't a new concept. These guys did it once before, and did it more creatively than I do. They did this in blog form first, but then... as seems to be the fashion lately, looks like they turned the popular blog into a book.

I'm not much of a cook, so I'm all about the easy eats. If I don't have to do much more than boil water and open a package or two, I'm happy!

Speaking of bad cooking, this afternoon I Tivoed an episode of Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares that takes place in a little vegetarian restaurant that I visted in 1999, Piccolo Teatro. The place has changed hands and had a facelift, but according to this episode, itwas still struggling to make good food.

Eating vegan in Paris was tough... tougher than anywhere else I've ever traveled. Parisians like their meat. I ended up going to 4 or 5 different places during my stay there, and only really liked one or two of them. This place kinda blew because after a full interrogation about the presence of dairy in my dish, there was still some in the gravy that was poured all over my seitan steak. I spent most of that evening in the tiny little French bathroom in the tiny little French apartment we were shacked up in for the stay.

I guess Gordon Ramsey wasn't able to bail them out in the end. The place is closed and for sale. Maybe I should move there, buy the place and show them how it's done. For lunch I'll serve Malt O'Meal knockoff cereal and soymilk, apples with peanut butter, and on weekends, fried ramen. Dinner will be a little fancier.... maybe some rice stick noodles in vietnamese sweet and sour soup paste with a spoonful of garlic siracha, novelty pasta with sauce out of the jar, a Gatorade sangria, and for dessert, these AMAZING maple cookies that are 100% artificial, and taste 99% like very un-vegan glazed donuts.

Let me know when you're ready for seconds!