NSFW?

I did a nude race this morning. Things ave been really looking up the last week or so. Making big gains lifting running and biking, now that I have the time to fully immerse myself in it. Enjoying orgo more the last week in a couple of different ways. Getting a few more tattoos later this week, started working with my professors research team, have a few trips planned. Hell I even ate ostrich earlier in the month. 

The race started cool, I couldn't believe there was over 160 people there. Besides from about 10 or so people, everyone was nude. The thing that surprised me is that noone even acknowledges that fact. There was a group of guys discussing the economy with their penises within a length to use horse terminology. 

animalswithcasts tumblr

I don't know if it was because I was avoiding looking down, or what, but at one point maybe a mile and some change in I rolled my ankle. That kind of thing happens every other run for the most part so I didn't really give a shit. But this time it hurt a lot and I actually had to stop, looked down and saw the side of my ankle about the size of a softball. 

I found I couldn't run on it and began my first ever injured walk of shame at a race. Compounded by the fact that I was more naked than a bag of kashi.

youcantmakeitup

 I walked 2 miles out on it since I was in the very back of the trail when it happened, in accordance to Murphy's Law. I actually felt okay at parts, but by the end, going around hills was torturous because the stress it placed on my ankle. By the time I got to my car, a solid hour later it hurt more from the swelling pushing against my shoe. I managed to drive three hours home using the cruise control as much as possible. I have a standard, so using my left foot wasn't really an option. I stopped at one point for gas and this turned out to be the shit tipping point. I couldn't place any weight on it at all because it had become so stiff and swollen and had to hop to the pump. Foreshadowing. 

I was so spent by the time I got home and knew I could finally actually relax it and try to see what happened, I got really out of it and was kinda stumbling all over.

youcantmakeitup

I gotta say, Kevin and Quinn were godsends. As soon as they saw me they got me to the couch and got me tea, water, ice, the whole nine yards. I was blown away, they are amazing.

My ankle by this time was at the peak swelling of the ankle, and bruising had started.

whoisboomerwilson

I spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch practicing RICE like a good Emt and watching Community. Great show. By the time we were watching a movie at night though it was so stiff that anywhere I tried sitting was painful. It was pretty much pain or a lot of pain. I basically OD'd on ibu and went to bed on the couch.
The next morning, Sunday, I woke up feeling little pain and I could actually put my foot on the ground, which was an improvement.

You can see the swelling moved down to my upper foot and the color peaked on my ankle. However it just got more and more painful and stiff as the day progressed, and it was clear that hopping everywhere, with the recoil killing it each time was not gonna cut it so I went to the walk in center to get an xray and at least a boot or soft cast just to stop it from moving.

I got lucky enough to injure myself the same weekend my sister was in town. She was staying with me because she is looking at apartments down in the area of her new teaching job. Woo!

youcantmakeitup

In the waiting room I took another picture cause it seriously looks like another foot has my shoe on. The swelling was all pretty much on my foot now, and the bruising was spreading that way.

I managed to impress all the nurses with my injury, and they all felt bad because they didn't realize my ankle was the complaint till I had hobbled like a cripple into the back and up on the chair.
The verdict: avulsion fracture. Essentially the rolling ankle ripped the ligament on the outside of my ankle away from the bone, taking part of the bone with it. Think of it like peeling a banana partway. That happened to the bone.

from snapguide

Hopefully. That's actually the best case scenario, I'll find out if it's tore enough to require surgery when I visit the orthopedist. All the bruising and swelling was from internal bleeding at the injury. Same guy that took care of my hand last November, we are getting really familiar. They gave me a temporary fiberglass cast in the meantime.

 You can see the swelling moved up to my front foot. The whole area covered with bandages was bruised. ie a lot of internal blood pooling.

Its now monday night. The swelling and coloration are poking our of the bandages at the toes. Which means it is still oozing, the my man Stephen will be in the office tomorrow to look at the xrays though, thank god.
I'm keeping this updated so just look here and stop texting me every damn minute people.

tealinkseattle

UPDATE: wednesday june 27
The orthopedist says I tore all three ligaments connecting my fibula to the ankle bone, and one of them also tore off a piece of the fibula. But they are not severe tears and everything is still in line somehow, so I hopefully don't need surgery! Here is the furthest extent of the bleeding that caused all the bruising and swelling. Fair warning, this picture even makes me nervous.

 I got a new brace.

 Typing this up now, on wednesday, after just 12 hours of the new brace, (the old one was actually holding my ankle at an angle) and keeping my leg elevated more then I had been, my leg looks a lot better than that picture. The ankle and toes are still purple, and the foot is still swollen, but the colors and swelling in between has decreased.
I'll be sitting on my ass watching my muscles atrophy the next 6 weeks. I had so much planned too! Between the bike tour and possibly hiking the next week, a whole 2 months pretty much is shot. The rest of my summer is going to be summarized by the next week, going home to Utica for the week and sitting on my ass with my leg in the air.
Yea, I said it.

Camping Foods if youre trapped in a peanut and apple factory

Just as last week I was obsessed with peppers and onions, this week I am in love with combining apples and peanut butter. I have a few tasty looking stir fry recipes that involve these two delectable ingredients, but the focus today is specifically on recipes I am bringing with me on my next camping trip. The first term of summer orgo finishes up this week, so Saturday till Monday I'm doing the 'run to Pennsylvania because we only live like 11 miles away' trip I have been wanting to do ever since first coming to Binghamton. Originally I was going to do a 2 day 1 night ultra long run of 52 miles, and the insane part is at one point spring of freshman year I was in shape to actually accomplish that, but Wilderness First aid classes took up all my weekends. Partly because I am not in that kind of running shape anymore, partly because I honestly don't WANT to be in that running shape anymore, and mostly because I have converted to the greater range of operation cycling provides, I am now doing a 3 day 2 night bike tour. Really, why spend 2 hours running to a park a few towns over and being too tired for anything else, when you can bike there in forty minutes and and then go see UNTOLD ADDITIONAL WONDERS. I'm aiming for 150 miles, I have friends really into biking that would break 100 a day, but since this is my first time ever doing something like this I have not a single desire to kill myself. Bike a few hours in the morning, get to the park or forest in the afternoon so I have plenty of time to run, swim and explore. That's the good life.

But that's way off topic now, back to the main characters.

Energy Apples

Ingredients
Apple
Peanut Butter
Chocolate Chips
Raisins
peanuts
Coconut
Caramel

1. Cut off top of apple, and core.
2. Mix all other ingredients in small bowl.
3. Use spoon to fill apple with mixture.
4. Replace top and use either peanut butter or caramel to seal.
5. Experience ecstasy on the trail.

Peanut Butter Apple sandwiche

Ingredients
Apple
Sandwich bread
Cinnamon Sugar
Butter
Peanut Butter

1. Spread peanut butter over both slices of bread.
2. Thinly slice apples, and place them on top of the peanut butter.
3. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the whole apple mess.
4. Complete the sandwich, then butter the outsides of the bread.
5. Sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on the outside of the bread so it sticks to the butter.
6. Brown sandwiches on medium heat until bread is crisp and sugar caramelized, and the apples are soft and gooey and oh god I want some right now.


Both recipes have an alternative that can be used in place of peanut butter. I warn you, its a bit of an over the top spread though.
I learned this from a group of college girls from the Suches area my father and I met just past Woody Gap on the Appalachian Trail. From what I gathered, its the most insane sandwich spread ever.
Combine,
peanut butter,
nutella,
fluffernutter,
condensed milk,
honey,

I feel like there was something else in there, but holy shit. Georgia goes hard.

Amurrica: Icecream and Booze (Mojito)

My housemates and I moved into our new house a few weeks ago. The renters before us left an entire kitchen among other things, notably this:

Don't worry, the joy will be shared. The first ice cream we made was Mojito, basically a mint and lime sorbet with white rum. I'll warn you right off the bat, this has a VERY strong flavor. And its not even the alcohol, its the lime.
Its like, induced mouth hysteria and hallucinations strong. In my opinion its an acquired taste, it takes a few times till you start to experience more enjoyment, less panicked calling of med control.

Recipe(slightly abridged), courtesy of Valerie Lum and Jenise Addison, as follows.


Ingredients
2 1/2 cups water plus 1/3 cup cold water, separate
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup mint leaves, fresh

grated zest of 2 limes
10 gallons lime juice. No it calls for 3/4 cup but seriously I would suggest less.
1/2 tablespoon gelatin
1/2 cup white rum

Mix


1. Simmer the syrup by heating 2 1/2 cups water and the sugar on low heat.
2. Once the sugar is dissolved, add lime zest and 20 bruised mint leaves to the simmer. Remove heat source and steep for 20 minutes.
3. Strain the syrup and whisk in lime juice. Chill until cold.
4.Dissolve the gelatin in 1/3 cup water. Do this by pouring the water into a small pan, sprinkling the gelatin on top, and allowing it to dissolve, or bloom, as much as possible for two minutes. Then gently heat to dissolve the gelatin fully.
5. Put in new bowl, to avoid residual heat and whisk gelatin mixture with the cold white rum. Then use this to spike the syrup you made in steps 1-3.
6. Strain the mixture into ice cream maker and churn for ten minutes. Then, add the remaining mint leaves, chopped into ribbons and fold into the sorbet. Continue churning for twenty minutes or until it reaches a consistency you prefer.

Peppers and Onions (also, Vietnamese Coffee)

I'm going to blow your mind in a few days with some awesome ice cream recipes. But for now I'm staging an intervention. Twinny (kevin) has appalled me the last few weeks because his idea of cooking is making keurig coffees and campbells soup. Also, plain hotdogs wrapped in bread. I opened the doors to college cooking for him, and I'll do the same for anyone else looking for a cheap recipe:
I try to eat healthy, so the bulk of my groceries (at least capital wise) are fruits and vegetables. But any way you chop them, fresh is expensive. So in terms of vegetables I tend to buy a frozen stirfry mix, and I buy the most frequently used vegetables fresh. Normally this means mushrooms, peppers, onions, or carrots. I'll give you one guess which I had this week:

Cheddar Bratwurst with Peppers and Onions
Start with peppers and onions, or whatever you have to throw in it.

First off, get your cheddar bratwursts (that's a separate story) on the skillet using medium low heat. In the meantime prep your vegetables by dicing or slicing them depending on the size you prefer. Season them lightly, to achieve the desired effect. For italian, use basil, thyme, oregano etc, for a hotter taste use cayenne, chili pepper, cumin. For this meal I had a sort of mix of basil, thyme, cumin, paprika, chili pepper and salt/pepper. Once your bratwurst has cooked about 3/5 of the way, add the peppers. About a minute later add the onions, add more seasoning to taste, switch to low heat and keep stirring the delicious concoction every few minute until the peppers are soft and the onions are carmelized.

 Throw that whole mess on a piece of thick cut bread, buttered and toasted, and enjoy.

Chicken...Not quesadilla, burrito without beans? Idk what you call that.

The highlight of this is the taco seasoning.

 Get some chicken breast, generally about 1 breast per person is good. Cut it into bite sized chunks and brown.

 Add the onions and peppers, taco seasoning to taste and a tablespoon or two of water mixed with cornstarch to help the seasoning 'stick to the bones' so to speak.

 Take a soft burrito shell, and rub some taco seasoning into the flour. Then spread a layer of shredded taco cheese over the tortilla before piling the concoction of chicken and vegetables on top. Layer with more cheese, add sour cream if its pay day.

Taco Seasoning

 1 teaspoon both salt and black pepper
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder

This will make a little more than an ounce. It's not an exact science, it really depends on what you want it to taste like. Most of the time I up the cumin, chili powder and pepper to give it more kick.

However you may find after doing that you need to cool down with a nice drink. Enter Vietnamese styled Iced Coffee. This isn't really Vietnamese coffee, but the technique of using sweetened condensed milk is something I picked up from a local Vietnamese restaurant.

 Vietnamese Style Iced Coffee

Start by cold brewing the coffee to make a coffee concentrate to start.

 Keep this in the fridge and when you're ready for some coffee, get your cup and fill about half way with coffee, a little less if you don't like your coffee on the dark side.

 Add a third to half an inch of condensed milk, the amount is something you'll discover for yourself based on preference.

 Here's the cool part. Add milk or cream to fill up the container the rest of the way. The milk usually mixes with the coffee, I haven't tried to keep them separated but I imagine it would be damn near impossible. Then, if in my case its a Tuesday, top it off with a splash of Irish cream or Kahlua.

 I use mason jars for a reason. At this point you can just throw the cap on and shake like the wind. Believe me, trying to fully stir this is terrible. You will never fully dissolve the condensed milk. (its like a thick syrup)

Invest in a good mason jar and shake it to get the drink fully homogenized. You'll thank me.

Scientists conduct search for dark matter; instead find Judge Judy

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Dark+matter,+where+art+thou%3F+New+study+finds+dearth+of+invisible...-a0291353523
Scientists in Chile spearheaded a systematic search for dark matter in lieu of their normal Mario Kart night over the weekend.
After predictions were made last year that dark matter forms a large cloud surrounding the galaxy many times over, the group was told to deliver on such promises "[because]It's on, prepare to get served" by a rival Argentinian team of scientists, The Sharks.
In Science Daily, they explained "With space budgets being slashed worldwide, and Diablo 3's system requirements being too much for Chile's infrastructure, we figured why not do some actual science?"
The problem arose after reviewing the data from the experiment. The group concluded in contrast with previous estimates that dark matter is basically everywhere, that instead it appears there is no dark matter anywhere within ten thousand light years of Earth. They assured worried reporters, saying "Don't worry, its just invisible. There is a whole bunch of dark matter over at 10001 light years, I promise."
Leading scientists now believe the giant cloud of magic matter is instead shaped like a cigar or a beachball, two seemingly at odds shapes that still somehow make more sense then an adjusted gravity law. Unconfirmed reports that the head scientist's vacation suitcase was mistakenly studied instead of the Milky Way are being investigated.
This setback for dark matter comes just weeks after scientists at the National Baryon Institute of Tokyo falsely reported discovering Dark Matter at a 9 year old's birthday party. The objects in question turned out to be Judge Judy, not a novel set of invisible particles weighing more than the observable universe.

WTF of the Day- Dead Helicopter Cat

This is made way cooler by the fact that it looks just like my cat.