INTERNET ROUND UP

Time for another internet round up of interesting links from the past few weeks!  It's been a while since the last round-up, but most of these articles continue to ring true past their publication dates.

Oh, and in case you haven't picked up on it, my reading follows a strong trend of food and feminist subject matter.  What can I say?  I'm a liberal girl who likes to eat.

New York Times: A Case for Getting Far, Far, Away

A beautifully written piece on the value of remote places of natural splendour.  Words to live by: "These trips are guided by an unstated hypothesis: a trip is memorable in inverse proportion to the number of bars of coverage on your cellphone.

BCC: Small Firms that want to Profit from Doing Good

Apparently first world do-gooders don't necessarily have to sacrifice life's little luxuries to live by their morals.  Who knew?

Grist: Don't get Backyard Chickens Unless You are Prepared to Kill Them

The admirable author of the site nwedible.com shares her take on the pitfalls of the backyard farming trend.

BBC: GMO Salmon Can Breed with Wild Fish

Terrifying update on the FrankenFish discussion.  I hope salmon labelling in North America reflects these developments or else I'll be forced to abandon one of my favourite foods!

Grist: Flowerpot Roof Tiles

Simply brilliant! 

Mojito Jello Shots

Just sayin'... these will be making an appearance at my 24th birthday next month.  

Civil Eats: From Food Security to Food Sovereignty

An important look at why focusing on food security isn't enough to ensure a sustainable and equitable international food system.

New York Times: In Love with My Planet Author Interview

How I would love to get this book... *hint* hint* 

Japanese Vegetable Pancakes
I was amazing to see that just two days after my leftover "invention" of a lifetime - scallion, ricotta, egg and sesame Japanese pancakes - it was posted on one of the internet's most popular food blogs.  Collective consciousness much?

A LIFE UPDATE, or, A LIST OF EXCUSES

There are no excuses as to why I haven't written anything for the entire month of April.

That said... here are a few.

We did heaps of travelling in early April. First there was a lovely long weekend camping trip to coastal Albany and tree-laden Denmark. We swam, fished, hiked, ate lots of cheese, 4WDrove in an AWDrive [go Forrester!] and generally had a magnificent time. Only a few working days later and we were off for an indulgent week of annual leave down in Margaret River wine country.  Rock climbing and surfing lessons? yes please! Gourmet naked cheffing in a forest bungalow? mmhmmm. Beaches next to vineyards? you've got to be kidding me! Getting paid the whole time? next level.

Work has gotten incredibly busy, leaving no time to fiddle with my blog in the office, and also resulting in a hard-earned promotion this very morning! With the acquisition of my company this January, integrating all our policies, branding, and payroll has been quite the administrative challenge.  That challenge became even more hectic when staff started dropping like flies, leaving myself [with a whopping six months of experience] as the last admin employee standing. I've taken on a scattered collection of new roles including accounting and building supervisor duties, and I've definitely been enjoying the new challenges that pop up each day.  As it was time to resign my contract anyways I haggled with the big boss a bit and got a nice little raise to accompany my shift into head office administrator duties.  Pretty good for a working holiday stint!

In my spare time I've been training for an 8k run that's coming up this Sunday [that's 5 miles for all you Americans]!  The run is for the Perth Mother's Day Classic event held each year to raise funds for breast cancer research.  As Tom's mum has been subjected to the hardships of breast cancer more than any woman should have to be, the cause has become really close to my heart.  I know 8ks isn't that far for all you avid runners, but I'm still shaking in my sneakers just thinking about race day.  All I can do is my best, and if training 6 x per week for the past month hasn't helped me then nothing will. Feel free to donate what you can to the cause through my fundraising page!

A few weeks back I took advantage of Tom being away to revamp our bedroom. Our apartment was such a blank slate when we moved in that immediate needs [couch, fridge.. liquor] needed to be addressed before we could devote any time or ca$h into our bedroom. Now that our pad is looking pretty sweet and feeling super cosy, we decided to devote $300 to room improvements.  This has included duvet dying, frame pinching, and gumtree hunts and so far progress is looking great!  Not too long until our bedroom will be a relaxing oasis.  A post is on the way!

And of course, me being the perfectionist I am, I'm still hesitant to send people the link to this bad boy until its completely perfect.  But the fewer people that know about my little blog, the less pressure I feel to write frequently... and I need that pressure to motivate me!  Moreover, we all know I'm not super tech savvy.  Why are my post fonts different colours? I don't know! Where is the comments section? Beats me!  But I'm trying, and I need to start embracing imperfection for the sake of progress.

On top of all this hecticness is a plain, simple and distracting truth... I'm crazy in love. I truly thought all those stupidly romantic emotions would go away after a year and a half, especially after the move in together.  But still I can't help but smile every time I see his face, and moreover, I want to bring that same smile to his face in any way I can.  There are very few people who help me transform into a better person, and I'm lucky enough to say he is one of them.  However, I definitely still need to work on maintaining my Independence, my hobbies and my creative outlets now that we're so close.  It can be hard to pull myself away, but I've learned from experience that it's sooo necessary for the health of a relationship.  Each half has to be able to stand on its own, you know?

So in summary, the nesting nomad has indeed been doing a lot of nesting, living, learning and loving... but not much blogging.  Good thing my life isn't time stamped so I can fill you in over the course of this May!

TOURIST FOR A DAY: CLIFF JUMPING!

Recently me and my partner in crime decided to hit up a spot along the river that we had seen during a boat tour while my Dad was in town. We jumped in the car, grabbed some beers, and went to pick up our friend Will for some riverside R&R.  

Well, if you call jumping off 10 metre cliffs relaxing.

At Blackwater Reach, just north of Fremantle and a 25 minute drive South from us, the river reaches its deepest point.  Lining the riverside in this area are huge cliffs, so its no surprise the locals have made Blackwater their area of choice for cliff jumping on hot afternoons.  This afternoon, we came to join them!

 

I've jumped cliffs before (in Italy!), but I won't deny that, creeping up to peer over the edge, the first look down scared the bejesus out of me.  Still, after mustering some courage I took the plunge! And despite some water up my nose, I'm still here to tell the tale.

A bit wary before the jump

I only jumped once more, but the boys clearly took it to the next level and braved the 11 metre cliffs beside us. Sorry, but I'll pass.

Tom in the distance, taking the 11m plunge

The sunset was brilliant and we even saw some dolphins frolicking in the river as we packed up to head home! Seeing them in the wild, though relatively common here, will never cease to amaze me.

So yeah. While I do miss the snow, and the spring tulips, and the autumn leaves, and all that jazz... Perth living ain't too bad. It ain't too bad at all.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

...Better late than never, right folks?!

I need to get used to this whole routine of documenting things as they occur.  I mean, I'm that girl who instagrams pictures taken months before... and then gets publicly called out for it.

Prior to writing this, I wikipediaed (wow, never put that one into writing before) St. Patrick's Day and was totally prepared to rant about the commercial appropriation of an Irish religious holiday... until I realized how seriously boring and insignificant the holiday sounded, and began to understand why the Irish- and the rest of the world- would rather use the day as an excuse to get loose.

So that's exactly what I did too.  Tom and I kicked off our morning with a good ol' Irish themed breakfast: green eggs and ham!  

These weren't some disgustingly food-coloured concoction amongst the likes of green beer, but rather pesto eggs with a side of sauteed portobellos and Australian cut bacon!  Tom took care of all four bacon slices.

And since I used my own homemade pesto, they were obviously a bajillion times better than any made with pesto out of the jar [duh].

Washed down with some Irish coffee, it was definitely the right way to start the day!  Well... this particular day at least.

Recipe after the jump! 

TOURIST FOR A DAY: PERTH BY BIKE

Often when I move to a new a city, or when I stay in one place for an extended period, I quickly fall victim to what I like to call "Act-Like-A-Local syndrome".  Give me a week and I'm too proud to ask for directions, too stingy to pay admission for silly tourist attractions, and already trying discover that perfect hole-in-the-wall cafe where I can sip my chai and silently scoff at anyone who enters the nearby Starbucks/Tim Hortons/Dome/Insert-large-national-coffee-retailer-here.

Sometimes this happens unintentionally.  In Montreal, in the frenzy of my undergraduate lifestyle, I never took the time to visit Cathedral Notre-Dame, explore Basilique St. Jean-Baptiste, or even stop by Musee McCord right across the street from my university.  While I've regretted those oversights in some ways, I still have a whole host of fond Montreal memories that suit me just fine.

Perth, however, is another story.  Here I have a partner in crime, a true local, accent and all.  He makes it that much easier to feel at home and ease into the twenty-something scene in the city.  We go to concerts.  We watch old movies at outdoor cinemas. We go to chinatown for Friday night Thai takeaway.  Here I have a job contract, a yoga studio, even a liquor store cashier who knows me by name.  Cool and all, but this leads me to wonder... when it's all over and Australia is just a sunlit memory, will I remember Perth for PERTH, or will it be just another city I've lived in?

To make sure I celebrate my current hometown for all it has to offer, me and my partner in crime decided it was time to play tourists for day! We planned to take our bikes on a long loop around the city, from East Perth, across the bridge, along the South Bank of the Swan River, and back to our place in West Perth.  We tacked a fair bit more distance on to the final trip, but only because we were enjoying ourselves so much!  

And guess what?  I even brought my camera.