NEXT WEEKEND??!#@! Holy hell, this summer is flying. Next weekend is my other charity ride for the summer, the MS 150. I am actually looking forward to it this year – although, not so much with this god awful weather we are having. That’s gonna be brutal.

So, this is my last call for donations. You can donate online here:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/ms.batty

and read up on all the awesomesauce that the national MS society does.

Even, like, a dollar would help.  You should give me that dollar because heyo, have we been paying attention to the weather outside? I’m gonna bike 150 miles in this weather and sleep overnight in a high school gym with no air conditioning. I think that warrants at least a dollar. Think of my pain.

Originally published at batty.us. You can comment here or there.

I am off to do the Bishop’s Bike Ride later today. Umlaut has been tuned up courtesy of Spin, bags are packed, and I am rarin’ to go, I suppose. Outlook for nice weather for the first two days isn’t looking too good.

Thank you, so much, to you generous souls who sponsored me. The Episcopal Church rocks and they do great things, and I am proud to be a member of a faith that advocates such community and diversity.

See y’all at the end of the week on the other side of 250 miles.

Originally published at batty.us. You can comment here or there.

I know, I keep asking everyone for money.

This one’s for Pedal to the Point, of which this is my 3rd year participating. It is probably one of the most grueling rides I do during the year, not because of any hills, but because the route is 150 miles of mostly treeless, Ohio cornfields in August, where the temps on the road have been previously recorded at a balmy 105 degrees. By day 2 I am usually riding half naked. I sleep overnight on a gym floor and eat an ungodly amount of bananas.

When I started this ride, I really didn’t know what MS was about. I just did it because it was a long bike ride I could do for charity. But then my friends started donating to me, and all of a sudden there were a lot of people I knew who knew people who suffer – or have suffered with MS, and I had no clue. And when you hit the lunch stop, or are on the last mile of the ride, and you see these people in wheelchairs waving at you and thanking you for what you just did and you have absolutely no clue who they are. But you know *what* you just did will hopefully help them someday. And it is truly a kickass feeling.

All donations go straight to the National MS Society to aid in their research to find a cure. My fundraising page is here. And if you have a loved one with MS, please let me know, and I will add them to the list of people I ride for.

As always, I thank you in advance for your generosity.

Originally published at batty.us. You can comment here or there.

I have been graced with the fortune of being able to do the Bishop’s bike Ride this year. The Episcopal Bishop of Ohio with the Most Epic Moustache is an avid cyclist, and has been running this ride for the past 6 years or so as a way to raise money for youth mission activities.

250 miles. 5 days.  Amusingly, we start and end at the church my mom goes to.

So, yeah, I am completely pimping myself out for sponsors. You can make donations online. Please select the ‘Bike Ride for Youth’ option and in the comments box, mention you are donating in my name [Amanda Wolf]. My goal is to hit at least $250.

Thank you in advance if you choose to donate. You will be awesome in advance.

Originally published at batty.us. You can comment here or there.

this was taken just after I had it done years ago. There's lots of arm flab here.

It really bugs me when people get some kind of amazingly cliche tatoo and then put some elaborate bullshit reasoning behind it. For instance, they’ll pick the tiger eye/butterfly combo off the wall of flash and say that its an homage to their long gone grandma that they only saw at Christmas and more than likely had no taste for butterflies or tigers. Or, the people that get their astrological sign because THATS WHO THEY ARE and yet don’t even read the horoscopes.

I am somewhat guilty of this, as I have a phoenix on my right arm. At least I drew it myself? And yes, I do have some bullshit reasoning behind it. He is blue, and emerging from not naturally colored radioactive flames because I am constantly reinventing myself. Me of 10 years ago is not me of 5 years ago which is amazingly not me of today. I believe if you cannot say this about yourself then you are not really living.  And, true to myself, my changes are never subtle, they always occur in some spectacular fashion.

I wish more flames would be involved, but that is neither here nor there.

Yesterday, I met with someone who, if all goes well, can combine my past knowledge, current experience, and future passions to carve out the new direction in life I’ve been desiring to take.  It’s still in the tadpole stage of a concept, so I don’t want to say too much because I am a superstitious asshat like that.

However, I will soon be helping people, and changing their lives, and showing them the strength they didn’t even know they had in them.

And that’s all I’m going to say. Positive thoughts would be appreciated as I piece things together.

Stay tuned.

Originally published at batty.us. You can comment here or there.

This week, a bunch of us cleveland groks got together to hang with a fellow grok from Ohio’s nether regions who was in town. I love these guys. Lots of conversation, laughter, and of course, food. I love food. Food is great. We had the grill blazing, the stove going, and a bottle or two of wine might have been involved.

Everyone brought a dish to share, and holy hell, was there a ton of food. And all of it good for us.

I am so mad that I didn’t get a before picture. Obviously, this is the state of the table after the first round. Olives, salmon, Noah’s special sauce crock n balls, chili, soup, organic hot dogs – and that round orange thing by the flowers? crustless pumpkin pie.

I contributed a pumpkin bread type thing [lower left corner - and by 'bread' I mean not bread, as I don't use flour] whose recipe was completely pulled out of my keister, and chipotle lime kale chips. I have developed a mild addiction to kale and it’s quickly surpassing my addiction to spinach.

You smell a recipe coming on, don’t you.

You would be right.

Chipotle Lime Kale Chips

You will need:

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1 chipotle pepper
• 1/2 T chili powder
• 1/4 T cumin
• 1 T lime juice
• 2 large bunches of kale

Wash and dry your kale. Cut the stems off and chop the leaves into large pieces. Depending on your leaf size, you might not have to chop them up too much.

In a food processor, pour in your olive oil and turn it on. Slowly add the lime juice until its incorporated. Add the cumin, chili powder, and pepper. Finally, add the almonds.

Put your kale in a bowl and pour the mixture on. With your hands – seriously, just use your damn hands, you big wuss – work the oil mixture on all the leaves until all of them are coated. You will know this is happening because the leaves will start to shrink. The almonds should stick to the leaves and not end up on the bottom of the bowl.

Put the leaves on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes. Take em out, flip them over, put them back in and bake for another 5. They should be crispy but not charred. Keep an eye on them because kale can char fast.

These are so much better than potato chips.

Originally published at batty.us. You can comment here or there.

The entire family was hugely busy this weekend. Rockstar Conner not only had matrching band, but also performed at the winchester with one of his bands. Sadly I lack photos. Boog also graced the stage this weekend with Jeremy’s band:

boog knows all the words!

He knows the lyrics to a few of the songs, so Jeremy has him join them up on stage.

On top of that, camping with the adventure group at west branch state park, the cadillac of ohio’s state parks. It is maintained by the army corps of engineers, so it is really, really nice. It’s almost not like camping. West branch is located a bit south of Ravenna. With over 5000 acres of park and 2000 acres of water, the park offers over 20 miles of bridle trails, 7 miles of MTB trails, 12 miles of hiking trails, and a whole bunch of other stuff.  In addition to all this awesomesauce, the weather was incredibly cooperative and a good time was had by all.

Read the rest of this entry »

Originally published at batty.us. You can comment here or there.

we are soaked. my shoes are caked in mud, theres a lake in the middle of our tent, and we sold out of everything.
thank god.
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OF COURSE IT IS RAINING
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what
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it is way too goddamn early.
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stormcore is shockering my face
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MOAR HAGIS
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mounds of meat pies
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now we're drinkin. go figure
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in ligonier, PA for tomorrows scottish games. it is midnight but the empire bicuits must be made!
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