I didn't take a lot of photos. I was distracted by the food, booze and the pain in my feet from wearing heels.
Lena did a really good job making me look like a woman. It ain't easy...or cheap!
We had an anniversary and totally fell off the vegan wagon.
The Giants won the World Series again.
Fixed my olde Polaroid Mio and sacrificed an exposure in the process.
I scanned a lot of photos. This one makes my mom look like a rough-n-tumble motorcycle lady. I won't confirm or deny if she was. Let Erlinda be an enigma.
Disneyland is a classic in itself. I think my mom has gone more times than me. That lady in the Pepto colored top is distracting.
And so is my dad's mustache.
If you look closely, there is a crease in the photo from the disapproval of my first interracial relationship. My Auntie Ning used to watch this kid. Apparently he was a crybaby and I would console him. "Jamal, stop being a little bitch." Just kidding, I don't remember his name.
It was All Souls Day and I missed my grandma a lot. I always miss her. The back of the photo translates as "To Grandpa Anoy. Mother and Nicole Entrolezo Espinosa. Nicole is two years old. She's always with me. She calls me 'Mother.'" For the longest time, I did not know that "nanay" meant "mom." Everyone called my grandma nanay, so I went with it. My middle name isn't my mom's maiden name, by the way. I think it might have been my dad's decision.
I rediscovered the beauty of my mom's photos. This is New Year's Day in San Francisco some time in the 1970s. My mom said that everyone took advantage of the paper tossing to dump actual garbage.
Japantown, San Francisco...which I still have never been to.
And my mom's first car, a tomato red Toyota Corolla. I vaguely remember it. My mom gave it to my Uncle Rudy (her little brother) when he immigrated to the States. He traded it in for an ugly Nissan and my mom cried. I remember that ugly Nissan. It was a tragedy of the '80s in itself.
Anyway, I was inspired to dust off the olde Olympus Pen. I took pictures with it before. Once when I went to the Planetarium in the 5th grade and my first year at Girl's Camp when I was 14. The pictures turned out pretty crappy. The lens cuts the exposures in half, so I've got twice the shots. More room for mistakes!I repurposed the camera strap from an olde Kodak Trimprint I bought from Deseret Industries for $3 some time ago.
I've been toting all of my cameras since the weather has been milder. I finally got my Lomo Supersampler to work, as well.
I decided to kill and resurrect my olde Flickr account because I am insane. Mostly I just wanted to delete the old photos and start fresh.
And I voted!
My dad tried to pull a GOP voter suppression on me be saying "Obama already has Nevada. It's not important for you to vote." I won't call the Department of Justice on him. I can't teach him how to unzip a file from jail. Plus, who's gonna drive me to work? I'm a free-loading, queer, liberal. ¡Obamanos!
In preparation for an upcoming wedding and in the spirit of self-loathing, I've made a drastic change in my diet. It's mostly because L read a book and turned into a vegan. So, I became a part-time vegan by association. At my most disciplined dietary moments, my "cheats" consist of:
- Iced Thai teas from Archi's
- Trenta sized passion ice teas with 11 pumps of classic from Starbuck's
- Seafood pan-fried noodles at Pho Kim Long (which is maybe once every two weeks)
Apart from omitting animal byproducts, L and I have also given up processed sugar and flour. So instead of double cheeseburgers and chicken wings, our meals look mostly like this:
Flax seed waffles with berries, soy butter, agave nectar syrup and almond milk.
Whole wheat toast with almond butter, strawberries, sliced almonds and a drizzle of agave syrup.
Mixed fruits with turbinado raw sugar. Whole wheat naan with Smart Tenders chicken tenders, vegan ranch dressing and hummus. Tofurkey frozen pizzas. Spinach salad with mushrooms, sliced almonds, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar
.
Taco salad with fake taco meat, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded soy cheese, vegan sour cream, home made guacamole, cilantro and etc.
Faux chicken wrapped in roti chapatti with spinach, tomatoes and vegan ranch.
Boca burgers with romaine lettuce buns, rice cheese, Vegenaise & organic ketchup mixture, and oven baked fries tossed in olive oil and dry herbs.
Aforementioned Tofurkey pizzas. I added sliced mushrooms and shallots to the plain cheese pizza.
Vanilla Soy Delicious ice cream with vegan Newman-O's (or sometimes Whole Foods vegan chocolate chip cookies).
Sometimes I like to splurge on the vegan chocolates at Whole Foods. These in particular have gotten too rich for my blood (let's be real, they always have been), but they do have a dark cacao bar with rice crisps for around $3. I like to open it up like a Wonka Bar because I'm a child.
My absolute favorite quinoa spaghetti tossed in an olive oil and soy butter sauce with sauteed garlic, shallots (I LOVE SHALLOTS), mushrooms and a sprinkle of dried herbs. My old favorite had regular angel hair pasta and globs of buffalo moz.
I won't lie to you, it's expensive eating healthy and depending on where you live, restaurants with vegan menus are hard to find. If neither one of us has the energy to cook, we have a few options:
Tofu panang curry at Archi's Thai Cafe is the SHIZZ!!! There are three locations in Las Vegas, but we usually stick to the Fort Apache location. The servers are familiar with us and don't even bother to give us menus because we order the same thing every time. Typical pisceans.
Chipotle has a vegan friendly menu (and a sometimes reliable iPhone app). Plus, I saw them feed a bum at the West Sahara location. But I won't get into the boost of bummetry on the West Side.
Another option is vegan pho at Pho Kim Long, but I always end up getting the pan-fried seafood noodles because I can't quit it. They have delicious deep fried tofu, but I think the dip might have eel in it.
Once in a while, we'll have a vegan taco salad at the Red Velvet Cafe. We prefer the Fashion Show Mall location because the service is better than at the West Sahara location. Something weird always happens there, whether it be a waitress who goes on break without giving us the check, or the joint being FILLED with Summerlin douchebags. Their red velvet cake is really good, but I can't tell you if it's completely vegan or not. WORST BLOGGER EVER!
I know there are more vegan eateries in the valley. The restaurants at the Wynn have vegan options because Steve Wynn is a vegan, but I work in retail, so it's going to be a minute before I get my chips in order.
Confession time: I fell off the wagon a little and have been eating caprese salads two weekends in a row. And as delicious as it was, the time spent on the toilet was not worth it. Sure, I got to catch up on my Tiny Tower, but no one enjoys constipation.
In the three or so months of changing my eating habits, I have noticed a boost in energy, good skin and a drop in two pant sizes. I think I may have hit my peak in weight loss by diet alone, so I have to start working out to attain my ultimate goal of a size 6 (but my parents will still call me fat). L and I were doing brisk walks around the neighborhood in the evening, but I got the flu and then threw out my back at work. Pros of better eating also include softer stool and non-lingering flatulence. I still crave things like steak and beer, but my double chin and my belly are smaller than what they were three or so months ago and I'm pretty happy with that. Lil L is to thank. She is constantly saving my life; from alcoholism, slore-ism, hypertension, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, what else? Oh yeah, I went back to school! Added bonus?
My family on my Mom's side visited over the 4th of July. We did all the touristy things like hit up Fremont Street, Red Rock Canyon and the Hoover Dam. I was pissed that my cousin Lei couldn't get the time off from work because I was one out of seven not partaking of the Romney koolaid.
At one point, there was a really stupid conversation about 1%ers deserving their outrageous tax breaks because they have good accountants? What?! But then again, you do have to realize that people who only watch Fox News are more misinformed than people who don't watch the news at all (they don't even know where Egypt is). AND THE DEFENSE RESTS. Wacky politics aside, I love my family and I really enjoy hanging out with them for days on end. So I took them to Smashburger. I had some fries and an iced tea.
Then we picked up my Mom from work and went to Bass Pro Shops because the Entrolezo men love their firearms. Firearms, guitars and expensive cameras.
After losing my Uncle Renato and Auntie Precy, we went to Fremont Street to walk among freaks - after we found them, of course. I had to text Lei to text her dad. It was hilarious.
After dinner at Pho Kim Long, we watched the fireworks at Red Rock Casino and lit sparklers. Best $10 spent.
The next day we got up bright and early to hit up Red Rock Canyon. I was sweatin' my ovaries off!
We refueled at the Feast Buffet at Red Rock Casino.
I started with a salad of spinach, mushrooms, black olives, sunflower seeds and a dressing of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My main course was some white rice, Chinese broccoli and some spicy tofu concoction. Then for dessert I had slices of pineapple and watermelon. But what I really wanted was scalloped potatoes smothered in cheese, medium rare brisket and vanilla soft serve with a pound of rainbow sprinkles. Cry now, smile skinny later.
After lunch, we went to the Hoover Dam. First we went to the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. The latrines at the parking lot were pretty gross and scary. If you got the white toilet, you could see everyone's drippy dooks splatter. It was less noticeable if you got the black one. But even then, hovering over that hole was frightening because it seemed as if there was a vortex underneath trying to suck you to your poop doom. At that moment, I wished I had a penis.
We didn't get out of the car much after that bridge experience. Everyone was sick of the height, the heat and the other tourists. So we made a quick trip to Seafood City and had dinner at home.
The next day we took it easy because my Uncle Chuck was tired of driving. Plus, I had a shift earlier in the morning. We went to the Swap Meet where my Mom hooked it up with a blingy Hello Kitty phone case!
However, three of the stones had already fallen off by the end of the day! But I can't be too surprised because, hello (kitty), it's the SWAP MEET.
Then we had lunch at Cane's and I don't really want to talk about it because I totally had a moment of weakness and split a Caniac with my mom and felt so gross afterward.
Then we went to eCosway where I stocked up on vegan Newman-O's and other treats. Then we hit up the additional 40% off sale at my job. Then we took pictures at Desert Breeze Park and took home Chipotle.
I love my relatives and I wish they didn't live so far.
I also love YouTube because they make my videos look less crappy.
