writing in September, zine event listing, and food from my kitchen

I joined this Facebook group to challenge myself to write 15 minutes per day in September. It’s been really helpful. I expected to write for the fiction split but the muses had other things in mind. I have been compiling a zine about zine events. It has been going really well.  I have been kicking around the idea that there should be a calendar of zine events. Well, in true DIY fashion, I started one myself and attached it to this blog.

Go here and let me know what’s missing. I’ll add more when people tell me what to add.

I was also invited to the “Last Night’s Supper” group. I feel like I am posting more than other people. Maybe I have been cooking more? Here’s what I have made and forgotten to take photos of.

*Red peppers stuffed with quinoa, corn, black beans, kale, and onions. Green beans with slivered almonds, and sauteed summer squash from the garden with fresh herbs.

*House made BBQ seitan, coleslaw, and potato salad.

*whole wheat bread and strawberry/blackberry jam from fruit grown in our yard.

*multi-grain pilaf with lentils, quinoa, teff, a variety of rices topped with steamed kale, green beans and peppers with a green salad.

*roasted garden tomatoes with a sweet pepper, some olive oil, and balsamic vinegar for hours in the oven at a low temperature and made into a sauce served over spiral pasta and sauteed garden squash and greens.

*vegan perogies (potato, onion, mushroom) topped with sour cream and caramelized onions. Also with steamed corn, kale, and zucchini. I used some left over perogie dough and made tiny blackberry turnover with berries from the yard.

*Home made vegetable soup (veg, red and green lentils, split peas and alphabets) roasted beets, and store bought vegan Field Roast sage apple sausage.

Last night was pretty epic and super yummy:

* ravioli from scratch filled with tofu ricotta and topped with a coconut milk based alfredo sauce with mushrooms. And also bruschetta with fresh tomatoes from the garden.

I was asked on facebook for the recipe, and I’m horrible with recipes so I just explained what I did in this Facebook post.

tomatoes from the yard that were made into sauce!

Whole wheat bread and blackberry-strawberry jam, two great things that got great together.

Some graffiti from the guest cave. Up the witchy punx!

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I’m looking forward to Mercury going direct on the 26th. How about you?

Last week was expensive. I spent about $400 in button parts, $400 buying all new toner colors, new laser paper, and a bunch of postal stamps. There were a couple other small expenses. I had the money, I just hate it when I have to spend all of it at once. ugh. So, if you were thinking of ordering buttons, now would be a good time. I’d like to have a little extra cash before my trip east at the end of September.

Stuff that happened at my house this week:

-Paul and I ate the first tomoto from our garden. There are seriously few things tastier than standing in the garden barefoot and eating a freshly ripened sun warmed tomato. I planted lots of tomatoes because I’m going to can them to make soup in the winter.

-I have been picking blackberries from the tiny patch in our back yard and I plan to make jam out of them instead of pie. I always make pie, eat one piece, and then try to get other people to eat it because I’m just not a sweets person. I have all these scratches on my arms from picking blackberries and I worry that people will think I’m a cutter!

-We had two lovely folks staying in the guest cave for a few days. They just got back to the US from WWOOFing in New Zealand. You can check out their blog about their adventure here. On their last day they made us a great meal and then…

-OJ jumped up on the table to get attention/entertain us. We had this berry basket on the table with candy and weird toys left over from the symposium. There were 3 or 4 DumDum lollypops in it and OJ would pick them out with his paws and drop them on the table. Sometimes he would chew on the end of the stick, sometimes not. But, if you put the lollypops back in the basket he would fish them out again. What a silly cat!

-Paul has to leave for work at 6:30am and he always comes up stairs to hug me and give me a kiss goodbye. Today, he came up stairs as usual and when he  let go he grabbed something under my pillow…there was a Sharpie there. Then he told me the Sharpie Fairy must have came to visit. I checked my mouth to make sure I had all my teeth! My hair is getting long enough again to put it up with pens so I think one must have fallen out in bed. it still made me giggle this morning to think about.

-I decided to tweak Brainscan: Nine Stories and Brainscan: it’s complicated and release them as issue numbers later this year. Hooray for tiny zines that require me to do a lot of work. I’m a glutton for that.

-I went to the book store at the community college down the street to buy a pen and a new notebook. I’ve joined a group on facebook where we plan to write 15 minutes everyday in September. Let me know if you want to join. I plan on using it to work on the fiction stuff for the split zine I agreed to do. I was also thinking I could spend a week using that 15 minutes to write down recipes for the cookzine I have been meaning to do.

Speaking of cooking…I’m going to go think about what to make for dinner tonight. We got out Organics to You box yesterday and we have some many vegetables!

I really need a better name for this than “squash bake”

Right now I just finished eating some left over enchiladas  that are pretty yummy. Paul and I just got back from the grocery store and there aren’t many things that make me as happy as having a fully stocked kitchen. I even bought some cans to make some jam with the strawberries and blackberries from the yard that we have been stockpiling in the freezer.

Anyway, the other night I made a sort of casserole type thing. First I made saffron rice and placed that in the bottom of a dish.

Then I tossed some summer squash and tomatoes with olive oil and herbs and stuck them on top to look pretty.

pretty colors!

It looked pretty much the same when it was cooked.

I think I would add more liquid if I was to do it again, maybe some broth or use juicier tomatoes, maybe?

I served it with a warm bean salad with herbs and greens from the yard, some lightly steamed carrots chilled with mint from the yard, and an iceberg lettuce salad ( I know! I never eat iceburg lettuce, but my mom gave it to me) I also drank it with a really good ginger pale ale.

We STILL haven’t had any ripened tomatoes in our yard! It has been such a cloudy summer that the tomatoes don’t know what to do. We have lots of green beans and yellow squash so far and I see a nice pumpkin that is ripening. I had to cut down the skeletons of the daisies today, that’s always a hit to the end of summer. I have been making plans for moving some plants around in my yard when it cools down a little more.

 

 

looking for a new housemate! Violet cookies! My D&D character rulz!

Hey, we are looking for a new housemate. Could it be you? Check out our Craigslist ad.

A few weeks ago I got an idea to make violet syrup. I grabbed about a cup of violets from my yard, cleaned them off and dropped about a cup of hot water on top of them. Once it cooled I put it into a clean jar wit ha lid and let it sit on my counter where I would shake it up a bit. After a day or two I strained out the violets and squeezed half a lemon into it. It made the color more vibrant. Then I put the water into a saucepan and added somewhere between half a cup and a cup of sugar stirring it til it dissolved. The let it cool down and poured it in the cleaned out jar it was in before then I stuck it in the fridge while I figured out what to do with it.

Paul and I had been watching a really cool BBC documentary on spices-their history, where they came from, etc. It was interesting to see and really made me appreciate spices even more. It reminded me of the fistful of vanilla pods I had in the freezer that my friend Sam had brought back from Bali for me. From the documentary I learned that vanilla is originally from Mexico, but it still tastes yummy when you scrape the seeds out and put them in sugar cookies! So, I made some vegan sugar cookies and placed the spent pods in my sugar canister to make vanilla sugar. Then I decided to make some frosting out of the violet syrup. I also went out and grabbed some fresh violets to put the petals in the icing and for garnish.

I love my stick blender!

I only ate one and gave the rest away. I'm not a big sweets person but these were good.

And in Dungeons & Dragons news…I’m stoked to be playing in a group again with what feels like old friends. I mean, we have been playing together on and off for 6 or 7 years. Right now I’m playing a shifter barbarian in the Eberron world. I don’t think I have ever played such a hack and slash friendly character. It is pretty fun. Two of my compatriots went down last night and I finished off about a dozen fighters by myself. No critical hits though. boo.

In Nobody Cares About Your Stupid Zine Podcast news, there have been way more downloads of the 3rd episode in less than two weeks than the whole run on the second episode.  I guess people like controversy since episode 3 is all about that Fanzines book.

Speaking of zines! My co-host, Derek, and I are headed to Chicago on the train next week for the Chicago Zine Fest! I’m looking forward to seeing all my zinefesty friends! I’ve actually arranged to get a tattoo while I am there. I’m finally getting a sharpie tattoo…crossed sharpies…crossed sharpies with a brain! Also, an empty banner so people can fill in the banner with sharpie tattoos. Two tattoos in a month! I had this thing where I thought I should old get one tattoo a year and now I have 3 and I started getting tattoos in 2002 so, I have some catching up to do. Doug and I are talking about getting utah tattoos. The idea we are kicking around is a beehive with the shape of utah as the opening and with bees flying around like atoms. This idea may change but we are thinking of doing the tattoos on pioneer day! Bonus points if we can find a tattoo artist from Utah. I’m also planning a 24th of July party in Portland. Details to come.

Ok, back to button making!

My Little Pony hair, vegan food, and stuff

My sister told me that my hair looks like a My Little Pony, a bit like this. It’s fading but I think it is sort of neat so I haven’t dyed it yet.

pretty mane!

I got a pasta maker! Paul and I made some raviolis and they were excellent. We made a big batch and ate them over a few days. The first night we just dumped some pasta sauce on them but the second night I made a coconut based vegan alfredo. It is super creamy and savory, not sweet.

vegan ravioli alfredo with sald topped in our new salad favorite, grated beets!

Last night was all about cashew cheese! I made a beer cheese cauliflower soup with a cashew base that was pretty awesome a some vegan mac and cheese with bread crumbs.

Soup and mac and cheese! The soup base has Kingpin red ale in it.

Yesterday was full moon night and after Paul and I spent all day scanning photos of fliers from friends and shows in Salt Lake, we made the food and then got a drink at Pause before heading home to play records and dance. It was really fun. It was not only full moon night, it was paul’s Portlandversary. He’s been in Portland and living with me for 5 years. It has been a really good 5 years.

I made a Facebook photo album of all the photos and fliers from SLPX days in Salt Lake circa 1997-1998. Check it out here.

Me and my first distrto. aw.

headed to Utah! zine storage! New fliers! Vegan funeral potatoes!

So, tomorrow Paul and I are flying to Utah to visit his family and our friends. I was worried that I was going to have to drive in snow after about 11 years of not having done it but it’s looking like it will be relatively nice while we are there. We don’t have any specific plans but I’m sure some will arise. I’m also really excited about going to Cake Walk Vegan Bakery run by the Lovely Kelly Green. I’m not a huge sweets fan but I’m really looking forward to vegan Eclairs and some of the savory yummies that I missed because they were closed last time I was in SLC.

This has been a great mail week! After reorganizing my office I got my new table in the mail. It is great to have a nice big shipping and packing table in the middle of the room. I’m feeling so efficient! I also got a package from my friend Tukru that I had almost thought was lost, a seed catalog, and my computer came back from the fixer just in time for me to leave tomorrow. I was not happy about traveling without it but now I don’t have to!

I forgot to post thus image from my office last time:

Here's how I store button parts, buttons machines, pre-made catalog buttons stored, zines and books.

Also this week I have made new fliers to sent out with zines. I haven ‘t made a flier like this in a long time. Let me know if you would like to send some out with orders for me and I’ll do the same. Feel free to send them to :

Alex Wrekk

5307 N Minnesota ave

portland, oregon 97217

new flier!

I also put some of these together. Brainscan Snack Packs!

10 zines spanning 2002-2010, a Copy of Stolen Sharpie Revolution 2, a CD with a 15 minute zine reading plus 9 tracks of music (The Downers, latenightsleeptv, homesick and The Copy Scams) and various other stickers, buttons and other fun stuff. All for $28!

And since I’ll be headed out to the fair state of Utah I thought i might leave you with images of the vegan funneral potatoes. The only tricky part is getting an equivalent of  condensed soup (yuck!) So I just sauteed onions and mushrooms in lots of butter and then added vegan cream and cooked it down a bit and blended some of it in a food processor. Then threw it in a bowl of frozen hashbrowns with a tub of vegan sour cream, some salt & pepper and an entire package of daiya cheese. Oh, and melted butter to roll the corn flakes in to place on top. Ah, comfort food gut bomb.I’m seriously thinking of having a 24th of July party next summer for Utah ex-patriots next summer. All I need to do now is veganize green jello with shredded carrots.

not much to look at.

Some food photos and last chance to sign up for my newletter!

Tofu scramble! Potatoes and (American) biscuits and gravy!

Pizza rolls! Dough made from scratch, daiya cheese, marinara, basil and kale.

Sweet roll! Apple cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and agave almond!

Doesn't look as great as it tasted. A bed of mixed rices, sage vegan sausages, sauteed onions and roasted red pepper sauce.

I had a nice Thanksgiving with Paul, My sister, brother-in-law, and mom up at the Riverhouse. We had a cobbled together vegan fest that actually ended up being pretty great. It was also Paul’s birthday and we had a nice evening alone up at the Rivershouse on Wednesday. We worked on another song and it is awesome! Last night I made a shepherd’s pie out of the left overs and it was great. I love turning left overs into something else!

Also,  make your way here to sign up for the Alex Wrekk Does Stuff And Things newsletter. I’ll be sending the first one out later tonight with info about my new zine and a coupon code for 20% off both of my online shops! Sign up and stay tuned.

Ok, I’m off to my volunteer shift at the IPRC this evening.

Forgot to post these vegan food stuff from awhile ago, Bad Religion, and cursive typewriters

Vegan pizza: eggplant, peppers, and carmelized balsamic onions. yum!

Stuffed poblanos and green beans with almond slivers

I really need to start taking more photos of my food again. Last week I had what Paul and I were calling “cabbage fest” I had 3 heads of cabbage, two green and one purple. I made a huge cabbage soup with white beans that our whole house snacked on for days. I made two kinds of coleslaw (one creamy and one with a vinegar base). I also made a braised purple cabbage with apples and red wine. I stuffed that mix into perogies and made a mix of perogies some cabbage and others potato/onion with fresh  herbs from my garden.

Jess is coming over tonight, invariably with wine to pair with something that I will cook. I haven’t really accessed my kitchen yet…or cleaned it for that matter but I will make something great. I might take photos with my phone though since I let my housemate Marc borrow my digital camera in trade for his cursive typewriter. I find that a humorous trade.

Monday night I went to see Bad Religion with my sister, Paul and James. I wasn’t expecting too much. Off with their heads was good. The Bouncing Souls were…. the same as ever, playing songs I haven’t heard but they drip with nostalgia nad sound like other songs I know. I had the realization that the first time I saw Bad Religion was in 1993 and they played with Rancid. The first time I saw the Bouncing Souls was in 93 or 94 and they played with Rancid too.

Then Bad Religion played. Wow. I really was not expecting much but holy fuck they played a great show with an amazing set list! It was about 3/4 stuff from 95 and before. It made me super happy. They also played “You” one of my all time favorite songs from my very first favorite punk band. That song is very poignant to some goings on in my life right now so it was great to hear it live and dance like and idiot….and scream until I was hoarse.

Check out this set list!

I was very pleased to see the show and I’m so glad I went. My sister actually wrote me a letter to say that it was the best show she had seen since we saw the Dead Milkmen last year. Last night Webs and I went to see Greg Graffin (Singer for Bad Religion)  speak about his book that I just finished called Anarchy Evolution. He didn’t read anything from the book but he spoke about Punk and Science and his trajectory with the two in the form of a personal narrative. That’s basically what the book is about. It was a good quick read and was good a putting some things together that I already was thinking about.

Also, I did some work on Nobody Cares About Your Stupid Zine Podcast this week. it’s true!

Alex Wrekk Stuff and things and lots of them are zine related…

I had a few different pages on Facebook for the various things I have my mits in. I thought it would make more sense to consolidate those pages into one place. And because I can’t think of anything clever I’m just going to call it “Alex Wrekk does stuff and things” This will be the facebook page for all the stuff I’m involved with: Brainscan zine, Stolen Sharpie Revolution, Small World Buttons, Brainscan Etsy. It will also be a place for stuff that I di with other people like: The Copy Scams, The Portland Zine Symposium, Zine Organizers Event, Nobody Cares About Your Stupid Zine Podcast, and what ever zine events I get myself into. I uploaded a bunch of photos of zine covers and stuff from zine events over the years today. I hope to add more soon. Please check it out:

Alex Wrekk does stuff and things

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Also, if you aren’t on the facebook you can still sign up for the Alex Wrekk Does Stuff And Things Newletter that will periodically be sent to your e-mail box. Go here to signs up.

In other news, I have had a headache all day and it is not fun. Yesterday though I replaced my own touch screen on my phone! It got busted at our halloween party a few weeks ago. It was a lot harder than I expected but I figured it out. Um, what else? I had 2 heads of cabbage, one purple and one green. I made two kinds of coleslaw and Paul and I went on a picnic last week when we had some beautiful weather:

cider, potato salad, coleslaw, tomato salad, olive bread, pepper and vegan kielbasa

Paul at the Bluffs

My ridiculous orange/pink hair. I was wearing a striped shirt and Paul asked me if I was going to go as kurt Cobain next Halloween! I'm going to be dying it blue again soon.

On the zine front: I have been working on a new zine that is basically updated stuff that I put in this blog about Microcosm and Joe. I have also been doing a bit of work on the Nobody Cares About Your Stupid Zine Podcast and I hope to have a new episode out in a week or so! I have been working with the Portland Zine Symposium crew to put together and ops manual so we can apply for non-profit status. I can’t believe we haven’t put one together after 10 years. And, on top of that I have been conspiring with a few different zine event organizers to put together an event for zine event organizers in Chicago. The hope is to have a place for organizers to meet and talk about zine events and how to organize them. I’m really excited about what could come out of something like that!

Right now I’m going to finish drinking this pot of tea and go to bed early. Hopefully my head won’t hurt when I wake up and I can get to work and be productive.

notes fron Denver and my zine concept band!

Greetings from Denver! Paul and I got in last night, ate some awesome food at Sputnik, picked up some beers we have never tried before and drank them as we watched the sunset into the Rocky Mountains from our hotel room. good times! We picked my sister up at the airport this morning, she was rocking her Dead Milkmen shirt from the last time we flew to a different city to see a band. She was also with me at the last show we went to for old time’s sake where I was elbowed in the head by a skinhead causing me new gnarly facial scar. She promises not to piss off any skinheads at the Warlock Pinchers show tonight

Speaking of bands… I started a band with Steve while he’s in town! We are called The Copy Scams. Steve plays guitar, Marc played bass, Paul played drums, and I sing. It’s a zine themed band and we hope to play a show before the symposium. We have one song down and the skeletons of two more. We’re hoping for a 5 song concept set. The songs are all about zines. The first song is the intro song that is all about excuses for why the zines/band is so late. I also have lyrics about the 24 hour zine challege, and getting caught stealing copies from Kinko’s! Steve and I are talking about making a 4 track recording and only selling them on tape!

Ok, off to try some more yummy vegan food in Denver!