Ashley Richards

Since it’s been feeling like summer here in Vancouver (finally), Brendon and I have been drinking some good old-fashioned sweet tea. There’s only one company on the West Coast that I know that serves it, and it’s the restaurants at the Flying J truck stops on I-5. Since we’re nowhere near one and Vancouver thinks that sweet tea means Nestea or Snapple, I’ve been making my own. It’s one of the few things that makes me want to move to the South – super humid, buggy summers keep me away.

If you want to try making it yourself, you can try my recipe. Everyone has their own and the best way to make it is always a debate.

1. Get yourself a 4 cup Pyrex glass measuring cup.
2. Boil 5 cups of water in a tea kettle.
3. While the water is boiling, put 1 1/4 cup of sugar and a pinch of baking soda into a Pyrex measuring cup. (Baking soda helps to make the tea brew darker and less bitter.)
4. Set aside 7 round Tetley tea bags. (Others swear by Lipton, but I like the round Tetley ones.)
5. Pour the boiling water in a circular motion into the sugar and baking soda.
6. Stir the sugar until the water becomes clear and syrupy looking.
7. Add the 7 tea bags.
8. Gently stir 5 times.
9. Let it sit for 30 minutes.
10. Fill a sealable plastic 2.5 quart (2.4 litre) pitcher with ice. (This will make a super sweet tea. If you don’t want something that tastes like you’re getting cavities, try a gallon pitcher.)
11. Take the tea bags out of the Pyrex cup. DO NOT SQUEEZE THEM. Toss them in the sink and squeeze later if you don’t want all the water in the garbage or compost.  Squeezing causes the tea to be bitter.
12. Pour the tea/sugar syrup into the pitcher with ice.
13. Top it off with cold water.
14. Seal the pitcher and shake.
15. Serve right away over ice if you’re impatient or let it sit in the fridge for a half hour or more. The longer it sits the better it tastes. Always serve with ice. It is called iced tea after all.

Green tea version – Before WWII green tea was the most popular tea in the U.S., and supposedly the first sweet tea recipe used green tea. If you want to try a green tea version, try replacing the Tetley bags with jasmine tea bags. And replace the sugar with 1 cup of honey and 1/4 of sugar.

On the usage of mint – It’s up to you. Sometimes I add it at the same time as the tea bags, and remove it before pouring it into the pitcher. It can add an interesting little flavor. Don’t leave them in the pitcher - it gets gross after a while. 

Filtered or unfiltered water – It’s up to you. I’ve found that filtered water can make a clearer tea, but you miss out on any natural minerals or floride that’s good for you. Vancouver has really good water, so for me it doesn’t necessarily make much of a difference with the taste.

If you think you have a better recipe, you can add it below – or perhaps we’ll just have to face off at the Sweet Tea Challenge.

Tip 1 – Avoid Antibiotics, but take probiotics if you do.
Don’t ever go on an antibiotic unless it’s absolutely necessary. And when you do, take a probiotic. You don’t want to end up with what I have.

During my trip to Costa Rica I got sick and the ship doctor put me on cipro (yes the anthrax drug). And it was lovely. It got me home and feeling fine in no time because it killed off all the nasty bacteria. Bad thing was, it killed off all the good ones too. So lesson learned, take a probiotic whenever you have to take an antibiotic. Or if you have a stomach infection, ask your doctor about Florastor first to avoid the antibiotic (but that wasn’t an option for me.)

Tip 2 – Go to the doctor if your stomach is weird.
Anyway, a few weeks pass and my stomach was not completely right. But I’ve always had a sensitive tummy. I kept putting off going to the doctor because I thought it was something I ate.

Tip 3 – Challenge a doctor if you think they’re wrong.
I went to a doctor, not my usual one, and because my symptoms weren’t typical she chalked it up to a virus. Stomach pain is never good sweetie. I should have pressed her on the whole fact that I took cipro. If you’re not going to be an advocate for your health, who will? Well, after a trip to emergency we figure out I have c. difficile.

Tip 4 – Don’t do too much research on the internet.
I don’t think I have it as bad as some people get it. But reading the internet about what you have will make you starting thinking that you have all the bad symptoms when you don’t and that you’re going to die. Yes I may be acting like Camille. But I’m still able to go to work at my new job (granted it’s been rather sporadic of which I feel very guilty) despite the tiredness and stomach weirdness. Other people don’t sound as lucky.

Tip 5 – WASH YOUR HANDS
Before you eat. Before you touch your keyboard or mouse. After touching the handrail on the bus that the snotty guy who just coughed in to hands touched. I’m not talking about the anti-germ soaps; just use normal soap and water. I’m not suggesting you turn into Monk, but I’ve seen people leave bathrooms without washing their hands. Imagine what they might have, what they’re touching and what you’re touching.

Well I think that’s all that I’ve learned so far. And I think I’m on my way back to normal. I’m on my second course of Flagyl and now trying the Florastor along with the bacteria probiotic. It’s really not a fun thing to deal with.

Image by beneneuman

I should have written this post over a month ago. I tried Bikram’s again in the afternoon, twice. Both times I drank a lot of water throughout the day so that I wouldn’t feel sick during the class. No luck. I’m thinking that it’s just not for me.

The whole getting yelled at like I’m in boot camp seems counter productive. And considering that my people don’t do heat well (family members have been known to faint because of it) makes me think that I need to find another yoga studio. I just feel miserable and completely knackered for after a session. With other forms of yoga, I feel better and actually have energy after it.

I think I’ll be exploring some more studios in the next little while.

It’s a quirky little movie. If you like British comedies, you should probably see it. Oddly, I can’t see this being an American movie even though David Schwimmer directed it. (I think he’s found what he should be doing in film.) Not being able to get an American producer to fund it was probably the best thing that happened to him. If it was an American film, the “American schmaltz” (thanks to my British friend Paul for introducing me to that term) that producers would have demanded and the scenes they’d want change would have made it annoying. There’s a light touch of schmaltz like they’re embarrassed to show it but they know they should…I call it the “British schmaltz”.

I liked the story – the topic reminds me of About a Boy – and even though the feat that the main character achieves would be rather unbelievable in real life, it’s believable in the story. I enjoyed the relationship between the father and son, and the father and his landlord. There were places where the film could have had better timing and the some of the actors were playing the characters that they typically play. But it didn’t ruin the movie – like the guy from Blacks Books playing a toned down version of his character from the show. And Hank Azaria was good at playing the American asshole. I’m not sure if I’ve seen him in that role before, and there was no accent for him to play around with.

There are certain scenes where I noticed the cinematography/framing/lighting being good, which is unusual for me. But that might be just because I spent 11 days behind my camera on vacation.

It was worth the matinee price that we paid. And it’s the kinda of movie that grows on you – in a good way. I’d watch it again.

Short post. I’m back from Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Even though it was only 10 days, it felt like I was there for a month – we did so much. Had fun, got sick, enjoyed the cruise, zip-lined, saw lots of wildlife and plants, held hands with a monkey, and saw what it’s really like in a developing country. Photos to follow. Tomorrow I start my new job, so the photos will probably come later rather than sooner.

I think that’s how you say it. Well I’m in Costa Rica waiting for my mom and sisters to arrive. We’re doing a girls only cruise on the Wind Star. Yes, la-de-da. It’s my mom’s big birthday. (Not going to say how old because she may kill me for broadcasting it to the world, but it’s not that old.)

Last night I got in and watched TV – mostly flipping channels, seeing how much Spanish I remember and reading the Spanish subtitles on the English stations. TV doesn’t seem to be much different than what you get up north. It’s a lot of the same exact crap with Spanish dubbing.

The music is pretty good. They have it piped into the hotel lobby. I heard a band that sounds like Blink182, but in Spanish, and they’re now playing something that sounds like your typical girl pop song, but in Spanish. So you could probably say it’s the same crap you get up north, but in Spanish.

I’m typing on a Spanish keyboard, and this is it’s taking me forever since all the punctuation is in the wrong spots.

¡Hasta la vista!

Usually when someone puts up a billboard declaring their love for someone, it’s followed by a marriage proposal. But some wacky Canadians (well 2 Canadian-American dual citizens and 1 poor chap without a vote in Nov) felt they had to publicly declare their love for Obama. Looks like it started with the whole almost NAFTA-gate and to promote their documentary – well they know how to get attention. They’re looking for funding.

Canadians Love Barack Obama

This is a picture I did not take of a homeless man sitting at the corner of Robson and Burrard, next to a newspaper box surrounded by army green blankets and a backpack. He leans on his left elbow, smiles a half-toothless smile, and shakes the curls coming out from his worn baseball cap. People rush by trying not to make eye contact, but they take a quick peek at his small sign. And then another. And another. And then a smile appears on their face, and they start to giggle to themselves. The plastic sign is blue with white writing. It looks familiar. Like a campaign sign. And it says, “I need spare CHANGE I can believe in.” No one gives him spare change.

This post was inspired by UNphotographable.

I went to my second class, last week. This time I went first thing in the morning without eating anything. That was a bit of a mistake for me. I’ve always had a weak stomach in the morning and this was putting me over the top. I felt so nauseous that I couldn’t lie on my stomach when necessary. And I spent more time on the floor than I did the first time. So morning classes are not for me.

But I’m learning that the whole drill-sergeant instructor is pretty much part and parcel for this type of yoga. This time positions were accompanied by the yelling of “push, push, push”. I felt like I was in a birthing room, and nearly started giggling. But she’s a good teacher and came over and made sure I was doing things properly.

I’ll have to go at least twice this week in the afternoon to really start getting into. Hell, I bought the outfit for it (and I give the sales guy at Lululemon a ton of credit for not even batting an eye when I said that I don’t want to fall out of my top when I’m upside-down).

I was writing an email to my friend, and got an incredibly wrong grammar correction. So I typed it into a new email to take a screen shot (without the rest of the personal stuff), accidentally left out some words, and got this lovely suggestion. If you can’t see it in the screenshot, it says that “you is welcome” and “you’re welcomes” are the correct ways to say that phrase. You can’t make this stuff up!I’m running Windows Vista, and my language is set to Canadian English. I used to flip between U.S. and Canadian English all the time in XP and never came across this bug. I guess Vista left out a rule or two in the grammar check.