and for the grande finale....

...i pass it off to a guest blogger! well, my poor husband...like i wasn't attached to my laptop enough in the evenings, here came NoBloPoMo sucking me in even deeper.

so many evenings: "hey, are we going to watch a movie tonight...or are you clicking?"

me, typing like a mad woman: "no, no, i'll have this wrapped up by 9:30 so we can pop something in...."

9:56 approaches. Blake: "alright screw it, we'll skip the movie and hold out for seinfeld at 10:30."

me: "oh, thanks! i'm almost done--so close, i swear..."


will i continue to blog daily? no. no way. will i blog more? i think so, yes. i think i have found that it's not just the birthday parties and road trips that deserve a blog entry. just a funny story, or profound thought, or even a great meal can have it's place. the more varied the better.

the last week, as my husband has geared up to start working full-time again after over a year of semi-retirement, he has joked that he needs a blog. this is the man who i have taken painstaking efforts to teach the ins-and-outs of basic email to these past few years. he is a brilliant businessman and pioneer in his industry, yet really in his own words he is "merely a simple jungle boy."

here is what he calls his first wanna-be-blog, sent out to family and friends to update them on our current status--and, like everything B writes when he is feeling that rare inspiration, it's got a lot of heart and balls. he gave me permission to use it here. without further ado.....


First wanna-be B-blog--"Same Boat": Message for the new year

After 18 months at home with the family, and working no more than two days a month for that time, I am about to embark on the next five years: Today I sign the Nomad II lease in PDX. By the time I renew it, Nomad will be 20 years old! Feb 14th, 2002 is 15 years! My vision is to take it yet higher; to a "ho-nubba- lebbah" as they would say on Mad TV. I will be focusing on custom jewelry and fabrication; made while each client enjoys the Nomad Museum's cultural ambience. Icing to that cake is that I have met with and received preliminary approval from the Portland Art Museum's head curator regarding a special exhibit of jewelry in 2008. I could not have envisioned such a scenario; Mr. Guenther was extremely receptive to my vision, warm, intelligent, and himself pierced and tattooed, though it was not visible. He loved my book. Good things will happen there. A nice feather in the cap of the "new" piercing studio in town, even though we're the oldest shop in the industry. The frequency of at-home appointments has increased...a lot of PDX peeps have commuted to Bend for 10 years.....their dedication will be rewarded with a shorter commute....I have heard many times from people how much shorter the drive will be; this mornings double industrial ear project drove from Salem and was glad not to have to do the pass and the extra six hours. Mayan is old enough to accompany me whenever she likes (or momma needs)....she's a big helper....with our new baby half way there, the urgency to provide for my family is reaffirmed. We are in a transitional time; one where we will go from over a million dollars in debt to nearly zero. Our family has made sacrifices to get through this tough time, one where we have been living hand to mouth for a while, and momma has put the "clothes-shopping" breaks on, though she does need pregancy cuteness, I know. Full circle, both Dad, Payson and Chemynne have made contributions and loans for the new Nomad as they all did for my San Francisco studio in 1993, when the tribal vision was born. Also contributing is my best friend and manager Rick, who is the age I was when I started this company; He's got another 15 good years in him as well as a wife and three girls to support. Nomad in Bend will be moving to new digs for the next five years as well with Rick, my #1 at the helm. We are in constant contact, though he is in the gamma quadrant and I am in the alpha. Everything is a Star Trek metaphor for Rick and me...2008 is my 20 years in "the business" mark, and I feel a second wind has happened. The base of operations for the Perlingieri family is on the kitchen counter a vast expanse of bills and checkbooks and stamps and calculators....not a random pile, it enables me to coordinate complicated plans and financial juggling for two stores and three houses, much to Leah's chagrin.



This is my future Portland location below...been a lot of grownup stuff with all of this lease negotiating....being my own landlord is now in the past, though we will reap the benefits of Bend land ownership as many of you have. The two Nomad's will spend over a quarter-million dollars in rent alone over the next five years, but it must be done These ultraphat piercing studio/museums will be pimp as fuck and will be seen on the website early 2008. much work remains to be done.My abilities as a body artist obligate me psychically and spiritually to continue to service the tribe, adorn their bodies and spread cultural consciousness. This feeling has never been stronger. It has endured for two decades now. Most of you have read my book. Most of you I have adorned is some fashion. We have shared a special bond.


The old Oxygen Tattoo space...Nomad Bend's new home open January first, 2008.


******



Above, my beautiful and soon to be bigger family; my reason for all of the goings on and all of the diatribe. Hey I've had a year and a half off already. I am truly blessed. I must end on a political note for the precise reason of family. As most of know, the condition of our planet and the immediate economic survival of many americans is declining. The trillions of dollars in deficit/debt being left by the powers that be, to my children (your children), and the air they breathe. concerns me greatly....I listen to a lot of NPR, and PBS and as one who voted against Bush in 2000; voting for the first time in my life. The outcome of 2008 is quite important. Eight years more of what we've just done would surely drive me out of this country. The time is now. We are on the edge. I have studied the three candidates carefully, as I am not a vote-waster doing the Dean or Brown vote of conscience. It is prudent to pick the best person who can win as a democrat, if real change is to occur. It must be clear to all thinking people as it is to me, that that person is John Edwards. Now is not the time to get a woman or a black man in the white house for the sake of it. Both are too polarized as potential firsts and distract from the real issues this country faces, and both are without the inclusive and compassionate vision of Edwards. Additionally, his unique life experiences qualify him. Those who know me know that I judge a person by the content of their character, as I have been unfairly judged for 20 years based on appearance alone. Utube his interview on Charlie Rose from 11-29-2007. No question will remain for those undecided who the best person for the job of running this country is after viewing that interview. Though many of you are jaded and feel all politicians are corrupt, there have been Lincoln's and FDR's and Kennedy's among the bastards. John Edwards is in the Kennedy club and could do much for the future that will be here all too soon. Compassionate, visionary, inclusive, moderate, yet liberal, yet having an appeal to conservative democrats; even liberal republicans. He is a man of the people. His words, especially now, have moved me. The race for our future is on. Our children, our species, depend on the best possible outcome, and given the choices, he is mine.

We must move as families towards sustainability and deconstructing the outdated models where we can. A garden. Biofuel. Green concepts in life and business. Get the fuck out of debt and own less. Recycle more. Don't be a Hippiecrite. Eco is more than a Mother Earth sticker on a gasoline powered car bought on credit. Fucking live it; do it! Those of us with resources must take the first steps. Sign up for wind or hydro generated power, get rid of the goddamn gasoline powered vehicle, even if it's all you have now; even if it's convenient, even if you take a loss. It's not the answer, just a step in the right direction, given the choices. Every little bit helps. Every family's shrinking carbon print assists the planet. We all play a small part in the big picture. There are always alternatives. Donate to the NRDC, PBS, the Sierra Club. Support local. Handcrafted. Organic. Sustainable. Recycle. Often, old cars and homes are better than new ones. 40 years ago a home was made from wood, not off- gassing toxic glue. In all of the random and infinite probabilities of life and it's potential in this vast universe, our scenario is quite unique. Our little blue ball, finite. Our need to work together as a species, as humans, has reached it's perihelion. Though I know most of you are not ignorant enough to just "have faith", and know that's a cop-out, it must be said: God is just a feeble figment born of the human fear of being alone...he cannot save us from our transgressions. Only man can own man's shit. In fact, Nietzsche says of "Mankind and life are that which must be overcome again and again". This is it! It's all we have. If you have no faith in your self, then ask this: Would a compassionate creator allow such unspeakable atrocities as these? Would he allow us to rape and shit upon the mother earth; each other, for so long? Perhapse it is really in our hands. Perhapse acting upon what is real in this life is all that will save our species, just in case this is it!

Good luck to all of you, friends and family, surviving, adapting, procreating, unlearning, spreading consciousness, and living in the here and now. We're all in the same boat. We must all be the example.

Poppa Nomad

our tribe's newest addition

Athena Anne was born just about three months ago to Blake's sister Chemynne and her husband Michael. we found out she was pregnant just about the same time we put an offer in on this house in Portland--at that time we lived 6 blocks away from each other and i don't think anyone (including her!) thought that they'd decide to have a child. but they were so excited and joyful about it, so we were as well...but also very sad that we would not be there to be more of a support. chemynne is a very talented and busy business-owner, running a graphic design studio with a sustainable focus. on top of that she also throws monthly drum and bass shows, bringing some very big d'n'b names to humble but bursting bend, oregon. while there were questions how a baby would fit into this mix, her confidence that it would work out was very contagious.

i was invited to be at the birth, an honor that i graciously accepted. what was extra refreshing was that she was already (without any coaxing from me--lol) preparing for a homebirth with midwives--an experience i am much more prepared for and familiar with in terms of my own community. a laboring mother surrounded by women and her partner at home is a birth i can stand behind with no fear and i knew C would handle it beautifully. which she did of course, and her michael where a spectacular team during the whole process.

i have not posted about the birth yet as it was very very intense. it was not the simple, uncomplicated birth i had so wished for her--or for me for that matter. i was 9 weeks pregnant with this baby when she went into labor and have my own complicated "unsuccessful homebirths" under my belt. in many ways i hoping to experience through her what i was hoping to experience for myself--silly, huh? but in the end, after 24 hours at home, she ended up in the same hospital i did, a few rooms down from where i birthed my own babies. but there was one room she visited that i did not--the operating room. turns out the baby's head was resting on a tangerine sized fibroid right near the opening of her cervix, preventing full dilation. while i think the majority of c-section are preventable, this one was a no brainer--it was the only way. i think the outcome emotionally affected me more than it did her--she feels that she really go to experience both sides of the coin, which i can appreciate.


athena is adorable. like, beyond cute (but she'd have to be right to keep up with this fine looking bunch, right?:) mama and papa are working it out just like they suspected--either that or they are just too in love with her to care. don't blame them there, the deep love of your newborn is powerful and transformative, mountains moved if necessary.

i have not seen her since a week after the birth. baby's cheeks have filled out with breast milk, mother and father have seemingly settled into their roles, mastering the art comforting their fussy babe, and generally in new parent-bliss (sleepless as it is.) but c and m took athena on her first road trip, to SF for thanksgiving to meet Athena's namesake, Michaels 98-year-old grandmother. they met up with George and G (Grand-P and Cookie) then they came all the way up I-5 to see us! not only was it exciting to see them but they had never seen our super dope house. all in all it was an awesome 22 hours visit. but i miss them terribly--see why??:

I FOUND MY CAMERA!!

so get ready folks...a little preview of what you've missed before the camera got lost--and some current goodies to boot:

Mayan takes a music class on Tuesdays--her assignment was to design a percussion instrument. this is her Doomagotti:

poor papa--this is the pile of bills that constantly shuffles along the counter. bills get paid on the right, and new ones move in from the left. we split the counter half and half--no food gets on his bills and no bills encroach on my food.

i think mayan took this. it's a little crouching pharoah with Dorothy slippers.

Dia de los Muertos--our alter

after dinner we shared our favorite stories of the people we have know that have passed away. then we got silly for a family shot.

it's baby Nermie! not many things cuter than a kitten in a paper bag sitting in a ray of sunshine...

mayan getting deep into her body art

i was so excited that i found the camera that as soon as i charged the battery, i started snapping away! here is blake getting busted eating my chicken salad leftovers

here is isadore sleeping

and here is mayan NOT sleeping

aaaaand.....drumroll, please..................











belly pic #1 (19 1/2 weeks)

belly pic #2

belly pic #3

today is my 120th day since conception. the Sikh's believe that this is the day that the soul enters the child, and it truly becomes a person. i am not a Sikh but i think it is really cool to have one special day that honors the change a women has mid-pregnancy--out of the woods as far as miscarriage, belly now swelling and obvious to the world, baby is moving and feels more *real*...somehow our culture tends to really "miss it" in terms of celebrating the deeper, meaningful experiences. the change may not happen in one day but subtle, significant changes are happening and i have been trying to honor that more than ever this time around.

xo

the countdown continues

i guess i am still going for it, even though i lost that one day *sigh*. four more days of NoBloPoMo.

my food diary has gone out the window but i am still eating the same--maybe slacking on the between meal snacks but that is b/c i can go longer without getting hungry and nauseous. a weeks worth of diary is pretty darn good. if a midwife requests one, it's usually 3 to 7 days of record anyway, so i'm good. next appointment on Dec 6th. always look forward to those. we are going to try hearing the heartbeat with the fetoscope this time.

other developments...my boobs are huge. (haha, no pun intended, of course.) but they were already huge, you say. well they got bigger, just this last few weeks, i reply while showing my milky white, heaving cleavage. nothing new there. i like v-necks. no one can make me cover-up my chest. crew necks on women with large breasts make them look even bigger and disproportioned, or as they say on What Not to Wear, "like they are growing from your neck." big no-no. so my cleavage shall be there for all to enjoy, but mostly it's for me. and my man. and my babies.

wow, i get to nurse a baby again. i get a faint tingling let down sensation just thinking about it. my breasts are breastfeeding breasts. i believe that 99% of women can actually successfully breastfeed (given the appropriate support, of course) and overcome most bfing obstacles like flat or inverted nipples, or milk supply issues. but i have never had an ounce of a problem. my nipples stand out a good 1/2 inch, so much so they called me Nip in high school. that was fun.

when i had isadore, Mayan was 2 and still "hitting the sauce" so my nips were in prime form-- perky and with little to no sensation. sweet isadore didn't not get to try latching on until her 10th day out of the womb, and as i "prepped the dairy bar" the nurse took one look at my nipples and said "i bet a horse could nurse on those." it was the weirdest compliment i have ever gotten. then they kicked my milk out of the nicu fridge, because i was hogging too much room. i probably could have fed all the babies in that room for a week with all of the milk i ended up throwing out. such a shame.

betcha didn't know this post would be all about boobies. yeah, me neither. maybe i should i should change the title....nah. that might attract the wrong kind of attention.

remember those enchiladas...my soy saga

they fucked me up.

as most of you know (and either know WAY too much or hear it WAY too often), i am allergic to soy in all forms. this makes anything processed or packaged a potential danger. apparently the canned sauce was to blame, although the ingredient label "passed" that doesn't always mean it's okay. it couldn't have been anything else--everything else that day was either a whole food or a tested and trusted product.

everyone asks "what does it do to you?" well. that is always an awkward question. let's put it this way: it inflicts ALL of the holes in my body EXCEPT for my mouth, ears and nose with pain and itching. broken tissue, burning, swelling...did i mention pain and itching? it totally sucks. this is why i avoid soy like the plague. it's not like "oh, it's cool, i'll just have a little bit..." or "oh, i'll just eat it and put up with a headache or gas..." it's more like "if it might have soy, NO THANK YOU!"

the symptoms began as general evening itching when Mayan was one-year-old. i had discovered around 5 months that she was highly intolerant to dairy, and as a breastfeeding mom, i dutifully cut it out of my diet--and of course replaced it with all of those new fangled soy-based dairy-free but dairy-like products. it took me forever to figure out what was causing it as i did not suspect food allergies at all. it just seemed like a constant annoyance--i dealt more with easing the symptoms than the cause for almost two years. by the time i has isadore it had become worse, and there were "flare-ups" that now involved skin issues. i spent so much time searching out Mayan's food allergies (she has a long list) and it FINALLY clicked that this was a food problem when one night we had guest and we ordered some Pizza Mondo--my fave b/c they had a great melty soy cheese...and i had my worse reaction ever. i knew then it was either wheat or soy. since Mayan is gluten-intolerant, i figured it was a good shot it was that, and i cut it out for a few weeks with no real dramatic change. so i got back on wheat and cut the soy. i did have less reactions and felt somewhat better but not "cured"--that is when i started to learn more about where soy hides....not just tofu or condiments and fried foods (soybean oil) but also lecithin which is found in chocolate, all cooking spray and most commercial bread products. those all had to go, too...but still i had a mild nagging itch that lurked on me everyday.....it felt like i was most of the way there, but i was missing something.

then i found it. where i didn't think to look: my prenatal vitamins. the fucking vitamins i had been taking for years as a pregnant and nursing mom had soy lecithin (probably as an emulsifier.) i immediately hucked them and began my first few days of a complete soy-free life.

everything cleared up. there was no question. i felt so much relief and power that i had made this discovery on my own about my own health and body. the challenge proved to be avoiding it--very hard to do especially when eating out which i LOVE to do. i took to calling restaurants before hand and talking to a member of the kitchen staff, quizzing them about what kind of oil they use, ingredient details, cooking practices.....then hopefully find a dish that was "safe." this was much easier than just going somewhere and asking the server questions--they are busy and have less knowledge of the food, and also potentially irritating for the others at the dinner table to sit through my zillion questions and a server going back and forth between me and the kitchen before putting in our order, and myself who inevitably gets asked "so what happens when you eat soy....?"

if i slipped and ate something accidentally containing soy, the reaction was dramatic. sometimes it was painful to even walk the first night, let alone go to the bathroom (ooooooooooh my god, many tears shed the next day) or be intimate with my husband. if i itched, dark red lines would spread down my legs and the urge to itch more would be unbearable--obviously an allergic reaction. it would finally fade off by three days. i tried to stick to salves (usually containing calendula) and nettle tea (an herb with natural anti-histamine properties) but in the worse cases neosporin or topical numbing agent for my skin, vicodin for the pain if i was lucky enough to have it, and benadryl for the itching. not a fan of being on so many drugs while breastfeeding.

i began searching soy in the internet and found some interesting findings. soy contains isoflavones which have been shown to interact with human estrogen receptors. I read a study showing that phytoestrogens are linked to mice and reproductive problems, and also rats and uterine growth.......

my brain: reproductive system......uterus........my babies were thought to have intrauterine growth restriction...stopped growing at a certain point......soy.......reproductive system....my allergy...hmmmmm...all of my symptoms are near that area..and they came about after i began having children and eating soy......


then i read about the concerns of soy formula. oh shit. i was given soy formula as an infant when it was discovered that i was allergic to milk. i mulled and mulled. and i could not shake the feeling that there had to be some connection--whether it was a big connection or small connection i didn't know but it's all too curious. i was afraid i might be laughed though, but i began with my midwife. she was intrigued and encouraged me to research further. she's in hte past few years, relayed storied to me of more and more women clients she gets with issues with soy. my gyn also agreed it was worth pursuing but also that this research is so new and that it might be a long time before there are more conclusive answers. a handful of health professionals have scoffed at my theory and interestingly enough they seem to be the ones who have for decades encouraged vegetarian diets and the health benefits of soy. finding the Weston A. Price foundation was a gift to me--they are very active in voicing the potential harm of soy products, especially soy formula. i felt like someone had my back.

now that i have been soy-free for over two years, it have become an expert at avoiding it--but that doesn't mean i don't slip up. one reason is that for the last 8 months or so i've been so good at avoiding it, i think i've fully "detoxed" and now when i do slip the reactions are much milder. in fact, quite bearable. so i have been more relaxed when eating out, or will go ahead and use a ketchup packet (i have found most condiments can set off a reaction even if they don't directly contain soy b/c of the way they are manufactured.) maybe i'll itch a little for a day but not the full blown drama i once had. that was until the enchiladas. wow. right back to the peak of the allergy. if i wasn't pregnant, i would have tried to get my hands on a vicodin. this could be for a few reasons:

1) i had had a mild reaction on tuesday from some jalapenos (probably canned with soy oil) on my meal at La Calaca and that pushed my threshold.

2) i am more sensitive right now b/c of the pregnancy.

3) i have just been too lazy and pushing the envelope on my soy exposure.


it's hard to say but now i am being diligent again. i mean this will be my first soy-free pregnancy, and in a weird way i feel like it's kind of like an experiment. will it make a difference? i don't know. but i have to try, not just to avoid the unpleasantness of the symptoms but to honor what unseen affects it could be having on my body and possibly my baby. most importantly, my gut says i should. and there is no trumping that.

oh. my. god.

i forgot to blog yesterday. completely spaced it. in my defense, my sister and law and her husband and their SUPER cute newborn is visiting. so yeah, its Athenas's fault for being so dang cute and scrambling my brain.

i, of course, considered posting and manipulating the date, but i don't play like that. i never break the rules when it's for fun (but frequently if it involves authority.)



off to sit in the corner in shame.

taking my enchiladas to a whole nuthu' level

today i declare left-over turkey day: either make it into something or it will be fed to the dog tomorrow.


my greatest enchiladas yet (half inspired by how my mom made them when i was younger and half by my dinner at La Calaca on Monday):


saute up a yellow onion, until soft, then huck it in a bowl

added a few cups a chopped up turkey and some sliced black olives.

stir in some sour cream and salt and pepper and mix well.

take a pile of warm corn tortilla (i like ezekiel's sprouted corn) and take turns soaking them in a wide bowl of enchilada sauce (hell no, i don't make that myself...yet. use canned of a trustworthy brand) and filling a few spoonfuls of the turkey mixture into the middle of each one. roll them up and tuck them nicely into a pan (9x13 pyrex works well for a nice sized batch). pour the remaining sauce over the tightly packed enchiladas.

top with grated cheese (i used organic valley raw mild cheddar) and crumbled queso fresco.

(this is where i screwed up--i wanted to have roasted sweet potatoes on top so i topped with diced sweet pots hoping that they would roast long enough but Noooooooo, they turned out too hard when the rest of the dish was clearly done. to remedy this next time i would probably toss the diced sweet potatoes and even yellow potatoes in some oil and roast in a glass pan covered with foil at a high heat--like 425 degrees--while i assembled the enchiladas. then take them out and use as the final layer on the main dish and cook according to the rest of the directions)

cover with foil and place in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10-15 so cheese can melt.

remove and let cool for a few minutes. dish up a hearty portion and top with shredded green cabbage and sour cream. i served it with refried pinto beans and avocado, too. add a little salsa verde, if you like.