So I guess the world's largest oil skimmer is on its way down to the Gulf of Mexico. It's about damn time!

I live right down the street from a BP gas station. Up until the Gulf oil spill, I used to patronize them weekly.  Not anymore. I can't even fathom stopping there and drive farther away to get gas from another company.

I haven't seen any protesters outside of that station, but wondered if anyone around the city had spoken out about the issue. I just did a quick search and found multiple videos on YouTube. I'm posting a couple of recent recordings below because I find this kind of thing to be refreshing.

Thank you, Baltimore. Keep me informed of future protests, please.

Allan's mom and Aunt Holly from Alaska came over tonight to have dinner with us. I was excited to finally  meet Aunt Holly -- she has her own radio show in Alaska and I've heard a lot of great things about her.

We decided to walk down the street to Alonso's, it's a good standby if you want to go out, don't feel like cooking, or if it's too hot to grill. We were just paying the check when who walks in? Baltimore's 49th Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. While I tried to regain my composure, Mayor Rawlings-Blake held hands with her adorable daughter, Sophia,  as they slowly made their way to the booth in the back corner.

If I had stayed in my work clothes and hadn't downed a big glass of Heineken, I would've gone over to thank her for all the great work she's done for our city. But it just didn't feel right. She probably doesn't remember my "thank you for coming" comment when she came to speak at the University of Maryland School of Law, where I was working until a few weeks ago. But I would've like to have met her (again) anyway.

This wasn't the first time that the mayor chose to dine at Alonso's, so maybe next time.

So I just went on Facebook and saw in my news feed that Andy Bienstock, Program Director at WYPR 88.1 FM, went to high school with Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan! Remember the seven degrees to Kevin Bacon game? I wonder how many of us are even closer. Get the full scoop on this national Smalltimore moment here.

By popular demand, I'm posting that fake chicken, or tofu "chicken", salad recipe that I mentioned in my last post.

I made some modifications to the original "Faux Chicken Salad" recipe from the cookbook, "How It All Vegan" by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2002). Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of tempeh or firm tofu, cubed
• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
• 1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
• 1 medium dill pickle, finely chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
• 2 tsp prepared mustard
• 2 tsp of soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove, crushed and minced

Directions: Steam the cubed tofu for 15 minutes on medium-high heat. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, celery, pickles, onions, parsley, mustard, soy sauce, and garlic with the tofu and toss lightly. Serve over toast, as a side dish, as a sandwich filling, or alone. Makes 2-4 servings.

Sarah and Tanya recommend tempeh before the firm tofu (I couldn't find any tempeh when shopping). But I think the tofu worked fine. They also recommend that you add 1-2 tsp. of curry powder if you want to spice it up.

Bon Appetit!

I know that Seth (Godin) wouldn't approve. (See #11 here.) But I'm going to do it anyway. For the past couple of days, I have been outnumbered. 4 cats to 1 human. I have my own cat, but I also watched the 3 that live in the apartment below.

They come in all sizes and colors, but one thing is universal. THEY REALLY LOVE TO EAT. In fact, I think each cat lives for that moment when he or she sees you approaching that part of the room where the food's stored, followed by the sound of the crack of the can or the scooping of the pellets. Knowing how much it means to them, when I opened one eye to my very own cat staring at me indignantly at the crack of dawn both days this weekend I looked into her desperate eyes and imagined three other hungry faces. So I got my butt out of bed to, well, get them on a good start.

To treat myself, last night before I went out to celebrate a friend's birthday, I decided to make tofu "chicken" salad, based on a recipe I found in a vegan cookbook I bought eons ago.

I thought to look for the directions on how to make tofu "chicken" salad after having some at One World Cafe for the first time a little over a week ago. I didn't have very high expectations of my own concoction because I'm not the best in the kitchen. (Did I ever tell you that I once put an entire head of garlic in a recipe that required one clove?) But I was really proud of myself when I took the first bite because it tasted great!

Before my culinary breakthrough yesterday, I stopped by the Eddie's off Roland Avenue in the late morning/early afternoon. It was the first time I'd been to that location and might be the last, at least for a while. Ever been in there? I felt like I was decades too young and like I had tens of thousands of dollars too little in my savings account to be in there. It probably didn't help that I was half asleep, but hey, a weird experience is just that. Weird.

Commuting to one side of Baltimore takes a lot less time. Moving from an office located in the west to a building headquartered in the central/east part of the city, I never thought that it would take me 10-15 minutes shorter to commute somewhere a mile and a half farther from my house. But somehow that's the way it's worked out for the past week and a half.

Yesterday was the first official day of summer and we've had record high temperatures lately. Many days have reached the 90s and are expected to continue to do so until next Sunday! As much as I hate sweating and making sure that I'm drinking enough water to stay hydrated, this video I found on YouTube (created about four or so months ago) puts it all in perspective. Bring on the heat  and enjoy!

I had never been to the yearly Charles Village Festival before yesterday. I wasn't really sure what to expect. Would it be like Hampdenfest, Fell's Point Festival, you know, your typical neighborhood festival? I only knew that I would be standing around the WYPR booth for at least three hours, probably dripping in sweat while trying to sneak sips of water.

Surprisingly, there was plenty of opportunity to sip -- hell, even chug -- my bottle of water. The festival was really low-key -- probably the least attended outdoor neighborhood festival I've ever been to. The fact that I could see the pavement in front of the booth at all times means that not too many people had to have been there. Aside from the few cool people that I met (of course, to balance it out there were a few run-of-the-mill loonies), I got this awesome WWF (not the wrestling organization, but World Wildlife Fund) shirt with a zebra and message on the back. I've always dreamed of working for WWF.

Lately I've been thinking about my future. More and more I've been wishing that I would've pursued a field that I never thought of when beginning college 11 years ago. I've been thinking about how I wish I would've learned how to become an animal caretaker or animal trainer. The recent story of my friend Miguel and his girlfriend Laura -- who happens to be an animal trainer at a Sea World in California -- really hits the nail on the head because I couldn't be more envious of what the job may potentially entail. Just recently, Miguel had to rearrange a room in their house because Laura was in Florida picking up a baby kangaroo for Sea World, it would need to stay over at their house during the evenings because it's still so young.  The kangaroo is there now, his name is Melbourne. He's only about 4 months old and each night Miguel and Laura feed him formula with a bottle, just like a human baby. They have a pouch for little Melbourne to climb into and according to Miguel he climbs into it every night.

How adorable is that!