High Points

I'm not really sure which was better. The hour + myself and the other PA spent moving seven not so light folding tables and thirty folding chairs from our stage to our production office. Or when, 45 minutes before we were supposed to leave for the night, that stage manager came over to tell us that we had to move them all back... Yeah... That happened.

I'm working!

Two weeks on some reshoots, I got the call on Sunday, started yesterday at 8 AM, and that's how this industry works. (Ironic as I just put something similar in a short story and my character made a point of saying that this is NOT how the industry works. Really, I should know better)

It's busy! Super! And I'm tired! Super.

Actually, it kind of hurts to stand up right now. So I stopped doing that. I blame the chairs. The ones I carried, not the ones I sat it. Right.

We're also working in the ghetto. The part of LA you never enter. Unless the production space is cheap and then yeah. Just, um, don't go out alone at night? Or something like that.

I'm enjoying myself. It's exhausting and I'm a little bummed I've had to put some of my own writing projects on hold but it's so super nice to be back doing a little feature work. And to have a job for two solid weeks.

I'm not going to think about how sad it is that I now consider two weeks a long time... Also figures that someone else I know called to see if I was available to work on another thing this week. It comes in waves.

Right. On that note. I'm going to bed. I need sleep. And did I mention that my feet hurt? They do.

We'll see if the next two weeks bring me any stories to share. No promises. Sometimes you take what you can get.

Hopefully all of this work I've been getting lately means things are picking up. It's actually starting to kind of feel like it.

The State of the New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

I have to say that I'm incredibly excited about the start of 2010. There are good things in the works over here people. I'm still unemployed, go figure, but I'm now moving full steam ahead on two projects. Two big projects.

One of these big projects is my novel. I've brought the first little bit to my writing group, I've started revisions, and I'm really excited to be working on it. My goal is to have it finished and readable and out in the world by the end of the year. Will see how life cooperates with me but I'm feeling rather confident at the moment.

Project two I can't really talk about yet but it's shaping up nicely into a very solid, very real thing. Project two is a film project. Project two has its first meeting scheduled for tomorrow. The monster is coming to life.

Can't really say much else about it yet but don't worry, you will hear all about it. It's very exciting. There will be things for you to get involved in. Just you wait and see.

Consequently I haven't been on this blog nearly as much lately. I'm going to try and continue updating but for the next couple of months I expect to be concentrating mostly on these two projects along with any work I may be lucky enough to find. Okay, the work thing may also not be that desperate at the moment. The maybes have also turned into at least one very real possibility. So we shall see.

Hope everyone has had a good start to 2010. And here's hoping that 2010 is an improvement over the last couple of years. I'm looking forward to a good one.

Unemployment Tuesday: Work!

This edition of Unemployment Tuesday finds me actually working. Yay! Sadly it's only for this week but it is on a commercial which pays a bit better than my usual rate. The people are also great and the hours haven't been hideous. All in all it's a pleasant working experience at a time when I desperately need any working experience.

I have a bit of work to do before sleeping happens so I'm going to keep this short, share a couple of links, and then get done what needs to be done before sleep.

Mike Harvey has this great list of The 10 Best Long Tracking Shots. Don't agree with all of them as necessarily being the 10 best but they're 10 great ones in any case. It made me happy that he started the list with I Am Cuba. It's the first movie that always comes to mind for me whenever I think of my favorite tracking shots. I Am Cuba is a beautifully shot film throughout but some of the shots are just downright amazing.

I cannot get over this site. Number One. Check out some of the guest Rikers a bit down the page. Keep scrolling, it's worth it.

Then for any of you Twilight fans (or any of you other women whose inner feminist cried a little after watching Twilight) there's this list of 20 unfortunate things girls learn from Twilight.

Unemployment Tuesday: November Edition

A couple of months ago I posted this entry here mostly just talking about my mental state after a month of unemployment. Since that post I've had one job and have left town once for my trip to Israel. And now here I am, once again, unemployed and sitting on my couch. So now what?

(If you find my rambles about unemployment boring and/or depressing skip to the end for links to fun stuff! I promise fun links!)

What do I do with myself as an unemployed girl in LA? My lack of job doesn't leave much room for any sort of activity that requires money. Los Angeles is not a cheap place to live and I have to be incredibly careful about what I spend when and on what. Want to buy groceries this week? Guess I'm skipping the movies! Want to go to out with a friend on Tuesday night? Let's see if I can stretch the groceries I bought last week through til next. I don't have to cut out every single thing I'd like to do, I just have to be very, very careful in my planning.

What else do I do? Socially, things like hiking are wonderful. It's a mostly free activity (there's always gas to consider but I don't do that much driving in general), I get outside to enjoy the nice weather, I get exercise, I get to spend time with friends, and the combination of all of those things is wonderful stress relief. When I have groceries (I'm kidding, I eat) I spend a lot of time cooking. Another wonderful way to relieve stress, be creative, and save money. I usually get not just one meal out of whatever I cook but several. Fabulous way to save money and stay healthy! Woo!

I don't know what to say really about the state of the economy. Last report from the L.A. Times puts National unemployment over 10% and California's over 12%. The highest since 1983. The year I was born. Not sure what that means other than the fact that I don't have a job and I'll be lucky to find one before the end of the year.

One of the problems with my industry and trying to find a job this time of year is that typically productions don't start up now. The holidays are kind of deadzone. Hollywood shuts down for almost two weeks and what's the point of starting up a film office or a television show if you're just going to have to close it all down for two weeks anyway? Why not just wait until January? Most productions do. I would love to find a job in the industry now but I can't count on it. What else can I do? Troll craigslist, register with temp agencies, continue to send my resume out to wherever I can. This wherever now includes jobs that are not necessarily film or television related.

Another question I'm frequently asked by friends is what I do with my day when I don't have a job. I do things like go for hikes with friends and ride my bike of course. Mostly though, I do actually work. I write. A lot. I read, another important activity for anyone wanting to write. While I have this free time I spend several hours a day at my computer just writing. I spend another big chunk at my computer job searching. I take advantage of the time I have being unemployed but I don't relish the idea of remaining in this state forever. If for no other reason than the difficulty it causes for things such as paying rent. I like to pay rent. It's nice having a place to live!

Hey also, guys, this whole healthcare thing... Dude, healthcare is expensive! I'm not completely thrilled with the bill that passed the House on Saturday but hey, it's something. When did trying to care for people become such a bad thing? Don't we all deserve a basic level of care? The healthcare system as it is broken. Any step towards actually fixing it seems like a step worth taking.

ANYWAY. Not trying to start a political debate on my film blog.

Hmmm... what else? How about you guys go see some movies for me and tell me how they are? Suggestions: Where The Wild Things Are, Antichrist, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Paranormal Activity... anything else out worth seeing? I'm also super excited about the upcoming Mr. Fox movie. Looks great!

How about some books? There are good reading things to do! I finally finished Stays Crunchy in Milk
which is fabulous, especially if you like fun stories about cereal characters (and you should really). Actually that's the only book I've read lately. I have another pile of reading things to do from friends so I'm focusing on those. I have a lot of talented friends!

Speaking of friends, a couple of mine and the things they've done have been mentioned places lately. A few days ago Roger Ebert's twitter (@ebertchicago) linked to this piece at Etheriel Musings about "Medicine For Melancholy". Elsewhere my friend Amy and her film "City On A Hill" was mentioned here. Nice things were said in both places about good people doing good things! Check 'em out.

Finally, my friend is trying to go to China. Vote for him?

Oh, while you're at it, you can check out my pie video on youtube (like you haven't all ready), rate it, and let me know if you think I should make another one. Maybe this week? Not that I'm going to make a video EVERY week but I am making more pie anyway... so maybe? What do you think?

Thinking Things Through

There are always lots of things to think about. My mind has been mostly full of one of them for the last few weeks.

In just over a week I'll embarking on one of the biggest trips of my life. No exaggeration! I'm leaving L.A. for two and half weeks and what's more, I'm leaving the COUNTRY for 10 days. This is huge guys. I'm 26-years-old and I've never left the country. Maybe it's my socio-economic place in this world, but from where I'm coming from this is not really normal. Almost everyone I know has at least been to Mexico or maybe Canada. I never have. Up until two days ago I didn't even have a passport.

Needless to say, I'm very excited. Excited and nervous as heck. Mostly emphasis on the excited though. My plan for the weekend involves lots of last minute shopping and packing. I don't need to get much but there are few items that need to be purchased. I've already picked up my shoes.

I'm also not planning on bringing my computer with me so this means that as of a week from Saturday I will be offline. No blogging, no Facebook, no Twitter once I leave the states... no more online timesuck. I will have my ipod with me so I could potentially be updating from there when wireless makes itself available. But that's about it.

I have to admit that I'm almost as excited about the prospect of disconnecting as I am about the trip itself. I love the internet and what it does for me but sometimes... I just need a break. This sure is going to be a big one.

In the meantime, there are still other things to occupy my brainspace with.

Roman Polanksi. Okay, not going to say much more about this but I think I can better articulate my thoughts on it all after reading more and talking to folks and thinking about it. Here's what I think. Looking at the crime - reprehensible. There's no excusing it, plain and simple. Looking at the reactions to the story - ridiculous. On the one hand, we have people yelling for his head. People who up until a week ago couldn't have cared less. 33 years and you get offended now? Come on. On the other hand, this petition to free him? No matter what else, he's still guilty. Whatever other absurdity is going on, how can you justify signing a petition to release someone guilty of the crime? And Woody Allen signing in support? Seriously? I feel like I'm watching a satire, not real life. It's all absurd.

And I'm done. That's all I'm going to say about it. I didn't much care about what Polanski was doing last week beyond a passing interest in what his newest film might be and I think it's probably best to stick to that. There's all ready enough hypocrisy to go around.

More fun things!

For the Vegans: Came across this site thanks to @ecovegangirl. Curious if your beer/wine/liquor is vegan friendly? Check out Barnivore! Happy to see that some of my favorites like Stone and Abita are on the list.

Also on the vegan front is Vegan Oktoberfest  at Verdugo Bar on Sunday. I probably won't make it since I'll be at the book fair all day but it looks tasty!

And how many times can I link to the book fair? Really?

Rashomon is playing at the Nuart! I have so much going on and I've seen this movie not just a few times but still. A nice new 35mm print? Tempting...

Thom Yorke is doing a surprise show tonight but good luck getting tickets to that! And if you did get tickets, don't tell me. I don't want to know. You jerks.

Adam P. Knave has an interview up about Stays Crunchy in Milk. It's good! Go read it! And then read his book that my favorite grammarmonkey edited.

That's all I got at the moment. This work thing is actually requiring me to work. So back to that!

An Actual Conversation

That I had with myself...

Me: I'm hungry.
Me: There are cookies.
Me: But I'm really hungry.
Me: They're Ginger cookies.
Me: No, I mean like I need a real meal hungry.
Me: That's silly. Have a cookie. They're so freakin good. You'll be happy.
Me: Okay, one cookie...

(Three cookies and 20 minutes later)

Me: That so did not work. I'm still hungry.
Me: Have another cookie!

***

Don't worry, I didn't have another cookie. I actually left the office for my real meal.

Today feels like a really long day even though if you're counting the hours it really hasn't been that terrible. I didn't actually get here til close to 1 PM. Granted, I did drive up from my mom's place in Carlsbad this morning after driving down to pick up the dog for the weekend. Those aren't really work hours though. I tell myself this, it makes me feel better.

I'm allowed to be muddled right now, right?

This is one of those vaguely frustrating evenings in post. The Friday night, sitting around waiting for your weekend to start, it all being entirely dependent upon a computer and how fast a DVD burns.

Did I mention I'm still working on the pilot? I've been hired on through post which is fantastic. After the slowness of this year I am thrilled to have another few weeks of work. And being in post is interesting! This week has been a lot of carry-over from production but it's still being in a new world, seeing a bit more of this side.

Still, it's been a long week and I'm really tired right now. I'm looking forward to these DVD's being done and delivered, getting home to my dog, and then I don't know. Depending on the time I may join a few ladies for a girl's night or I may crash and just sleep. Or I might watch Dollhouse. So many choices! What will she do? I just don't know!

Also, I may have lied. I may have had another cookie...

The Work Excuse

This is it, it's finally here. Thursday. Maybe not as good as Friday but certainly better than Wednesday (minus the Reno Happy Hour of last night, that makes any Wednesday brilliant). There are lots of reasons why Thursday is a great day. For one, it's bagel day in the office. I don't care if they're not healthy, if I shouldn't eat so much bread, deep down I'm still a Jew girl from New Jersey who loves her bagels. I also love free food.

Thursday is also great because it's Girl Talk Thursday. Sadly I will not be participating in this one. As comfortable as I am with many things, talking about my underwear on this blog is not one of them. Sorry guys, you don't get to read about my panties this week.

Mostly though, Thursday is great because it's only one day before Friday which is the last work day of the week. Then comes the weekend and sleep. Glorious, glorious sleep. Sure, Thursday is the new Friday or some nonsense like that but no matter what else it is, I still have to wake up and go to work Friday morning. I'm looking forward to the weekend morning when that doesn't happen.

All this being said by the girl who was unemployed for most of the year. I'm one to talk about waking up and being tired from work, right? You know what though, I'm about to play the Work Card. Because for almost the first time all year I can! I'm tired because I'm working. I am probably not going to go out tonight because I'm working. I'm not writing or sketching as much because I'm working.

Wait, what? That last one isn't good! That last one kind of makes me sad! It's true though. I've been working and cooking and socializing and not writing nearly as much as I'd like. Saturday was supposed to be a writing day but after spending an hour staring at the screen, writing nothing, I gave up and made it a reading and sketching day instead. Which isn't a terrible thing but it's not what I wanted to be doing either. The sketching was my tree climbing story that I still haven't been able to scan. The reading was a bit of Harlan Ellison.

Why Harlan Ellison? Why pick up another book when I still have a stack of three next to my bed (and one in my purse, two in my back seat, and one more next to my TV...)? I blame it on Josh Olson. Last week two friends, independent of one another, linked to articles by Josh Olson. The first was a story he wrote about a friend who had fallen victim to an emotionally abusive con artist. The second was about screenwriting and how he will not be reading your script. I read both and recommend both. In the first he mentions Harlan Ellison. After reading so much about Harlan Ellison it seemed logical that I actually read a little Harlan Ellison. Put it all into context, you know? Not that I haven't read him before, but it's been a while.

This is how my brain and my life works. One thing links to another, connects to another, flows to something else. It's how I discover new and interesting things. Hopefully I can occasionally share a little of that all here with my dear readers (all 5 of you).

I digress.

What was I talking about?

Oh yes, Harlan Ellison and Josh Olson and how I haven't been writing. Forget about the part where I'm slacking on my writing for a moment, I'm playing the Work Card remember? Let's go back to Josh Olson because it's an interesting discussion.

As a writer, I have to admit that I'm still quite insecure in my writing. I've only ever taken one screenwriting class and beyond that I've never really had any kind of instructional feedback or peer review or any of that. In lieu of that, I send my writing to my friends and family. Who I send something to depends on what it is I've written and I always send it to at least two people. Two people because I figure that 1) I like different opinions and 2) if I send it out to two then I know at least one of them will get back to me. People are busy! Yes I want feedback but I also don't want to force my writing on people who have lots of other things to do. If someone doesn't get back to me, that's cool. I totally get that. I hope it's because they haven't had the time to read rather than they thought it sucked and were afraid to tell me. Even bad feedback is good.

Even so, these are my friends I'm talking about. Beyond the fact that I don't believe my writing is anywhere ready for professional reading, I can not imagine approaching someone of bare acquaintance and asking them to read my script. It just seems so awkward to me. Awkward and rude and an imposition. As far as it goes, I love talking to writers. I love hearing stories and tips, ideas and techniques. I see value in good conversation, you can learn a lot just by listening to what people have to say. If someone happens to offer to read what I'm working on, then great! Honestly it's an offer that I may not even take you up on, yet at least. When I'm ready to share I will. At the moment I am very not ready. However, it is still not something I am going to ask.

So if I've asked you to read something, it's because I think of you as my friend. I respect your opinion and you, I believe you're going to give me honest and full feedback. Along with that, I respect your time. I'm not going to be pissed off if you don't have time to read what I've sent. I'm also going to do my best to ensure that what I'm sending you is something that I feel is ready for others to read. Time wasting is bad! I don't want to do it to myself or others!

That's my opinion as an amateur trying to work work my way towards professional. I find the opinions from the professional side even more interesting. You should go read what Josh Olsen has to say ("I will not read your fucking script") and then follow the discussion over to POV online. Mark talks about Josh's article a couple of times.

I'm sure there are even more people talking about writing and sharing their opinions and whatnot. I'm going to play the Work Card again. I'd love to read more but I just don't have the time at the moment to find the more to read. Feel free to share links if you have them!

Girl Talk Thursday: HALLOWEEEEEEEEN!

Girl Talk Thursday! Yes, I know it's Friday. My day yesterday allowed no time for the blogging. It was one of those 9 AM to Midnight kind of work days. Which between commute time and whatnot works out to something more like 8:30 AM to around 1 AM. So sorry for you, there was no Halloween-y-ness to be had here yesterday.

With everyone traveling today things are a little slower in the office. I'm literally the only person here. Other than the comical phone answering debacle* of ten minutes ago it's pretty quiet.

*Imagine cubicles on opposite sides of the row. Then imagine me trying to answer the phones in both of them at the same time. PHONEANSWERFAIL.

But yes, HALLOWEEN. Anyone who knows me is probably aware that Halloween is only like one of my favorite holidays ever. I loves the dressing up! Last year was incredibly sad as I was working until around 11 on Halloween night. When I finally arrived at my neighbors party, frazzled and exhausted looking from a stressful work day, my answer to the question "What are you?" was "I'm an over-worked, under-paid assistant. I wish it was a costume."

This year I have BIG costume plans to make up for last year's lack. Not sure if I'm quite ready to reveal them yet as I'm still kind of deciding between two great ideas. I'm excited though. Don't you doubt that.

I tried in vain to find recent costume pictures but I somehow managed to not take any over the last couple of years. Two years ago I was a "Princess Pirate" complete with plastic sword AND tiara. It was awesome. The year before that I was Door from Neil Gaiman's novel Neverwhere. That costume was easily one of my favorites.

I wish I had pictures of either of those. In fact, I think pictures may exist on friends's cameras. If anyone has any, please send them my way? I will love you forever!

I don't have pictures of those but I DO have a couple of pictures from costumes in college. Check these out!

From Stuff

Yeah, I was totally a zombie school girl ala Stacy. You should have seen the looks I got as I walked across campus. Especially from the girls who were dressed as Serious School Girls. What is up with college girls dressing like skanky school girls? Don't get me wrong, I understand the "hotness" of it. I guess. But seriously, tiny plaid skits and bare midriff tops? Can you get more generic for a Halloween costume?

From Stuff

You can't tell me that blood does not rule.

I don't quite remember what the idea for my costume was the next year. It just also involved lots of fake blood. I was apparently big on the covering myself in blood thing. Let's not read to much into this, k?

From Stuff

Actually that year it was a super last minute costume. As in, fifteen minutes before the party. I was incredibly busy with various college things and was running a Zombie Movie Marathon Fundraiser that night. I wasn't going to dress up or go to the party but a couple of my friends convinced me. I pretty much just dumped fake blood over myself in the English building's downstairs bathroom. I sometimes wonder what the janitor must have thought when he went in there the next morning. Not that I left a mess but it was hard to avoid a few blood splatters...

What are some of your Halloween favorites? Any good ideas for costumes this year?

Happy Labor Day!

What did everyone do for Labor Day?

I know I sure had an enjoyable weekend, even if I wasn't at Dragoncon. I feel like I really needed the three days. Two days is just not a long enough weekend. Even with the extra day I still managed to not get everything done that needed doing. I did relax though and that is important.

Highlights from the weekend included:

Friday night seeing my wonderful neighbors and their band Ocelot Robot at The Good Hurt on Venice Blvd. I'm still not quite sold on Good Hurt (the Stella was warm! What up with that?) but it's growing on me. Mostly I just enjoy seeing the guys play and hanging out with everyone. They have another show coming up on October 17th. Sadly I will be out of town but if you're in the area and need something fun to do, check out The Good Hurt and Ocelot Robot! If nothing else, it's always cool to support your local bands.

Saturday I actually got down to it and spent the day writing. Yes, as usual I've been slacking on the writing around work. Saturday was good though. The screenplay re-write is still going slowly but I did make a little progress. I also cleaned up a short story I've been working on. I think I'm fairly satisfied with that one so I may even release it into the world soon we'll see.

Sunday was delicious. After spending the morning dealing with the plumber (boo!) I ventured into downtown to one of my favorite new spots Wurstkuche. Sausage and beer really has to be one of the best combinations of tastiness to ever have been discovered. This place does it's beer and sausage right. They even have veggie sausage for me! Throw in the exotic Rattlesnake and Rabbit or Alligator and Pork with the sausage classics and you've got a little something for everyone. If sausage isn't your thing but you like beer, this is still an excellent spot to try. They have an impressive selection of beer on tap that always seems to include something new or rare or just plain not on the menu. The guys working there all seem to love the beer and will enthusiastically recommend something to your taste.

I should look into this more but I believe that veggie sausages are even Vegan as are the fries. There's apparently some question on the buns. Either way, it's a super tasty place to go for the eating.

My Chouffe beer. An excellent recommendation.

Veggie Chipotle Sausage
 

After an incredibly satisfying beer and sausage adventure, we made our way out to Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the Cinespia screening of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. If you live in LA and haven't checked out the movies in the cemetery yet, well, what are you waiting for? This season is almost over (they only screen in the summer) but there are a few flicks left. Go catch one! It's $10 a person and you can bring blankets, food, drinks, or whatever with you for a picnic and movie on the lawn. It's a lovely way to spend an evening with some friends. I'm also always impressed with the range of films they screen over the course of the season. It includes everything from the classic to the artsy and it's almost guaranteed that they'll show at least one movie you love by the end of the summer. I try and go a couple of times a year and I have yet to be disappointed.

Ferris Bueller, you're my hero.

Monday, the actual Labor Day, I finished off a few errands while pretending to be a responsible adult and then said Screw the laundry, I'm going to the beach! Well, I never did make it to the beach but I did make it to a sailboat. We sailed off of the beach though, so that sort of counts right? Seriously, it was amazing and completely made my weekend. Sailing is one of my favorite things ever even if it is something I haven't done nearly enough of yet. It was the perfect way to spend the holiday.

At times like these, I enjoy living in LA

Once I got home last night I somehow managed to find the energy to actually pull together lunch for the week. I made a slight variation of this Tomato and Corn Biscuit Pie and it is AMAZING. If you need something simple and savory and wonderful, go make this right now. Seriously. I stayed pretty close to the recipe making a few substitutions based on what I had in my kitchen. I only had white onion so I used about half of one of those. I sadly also had no fresh basil so I went with dry. Finally, we didn't have any lemon (my bad, I thought we did) so I used about a tablespoon of orange juice. It was sweeter than the lemon would have been but I thought it worked out quite well. Really, the key to this dish is the tomato and corn. If those are fresh (my corn was soooo sweet and good) then you're pretty sure to get a tasty meal. The biscuit crust is also super, super easy. I can't wait to try just making actual biscuits with that recipe.

OMG delicious

Yes, I am very, very satisfied with the state of my lunch this week.

We shoot this weekend so I don't expect to be writing much for the rest of the week. Today was all ready super busy and I suspect that will continue for the next few days. I will try and get something out for Girl Talk Thursday though. This week's topic is Halloween costumes! A topic I dearly love to discuss. I'm all ready thinking hard on what this year's costume will be. Maybe I'll let you in on the possibilities come Thursday.

On that note, I am out. Hope everyone had an excellent weekend!

Lazy Veggie Tortilla Soup

So lazy in fact that I don't even have a picture for you. All though there is still some soup left so I suppose it's not too late.

It's great being back at work but I am definitely not used to the schedule anymore. Amazing how quickly that can happen. Gathering coherent thoughts for this post is harder than it possibly should be. Work is going well though, it's good people which is the most important thing for me at this point. I'm tired but it's obviously more than worth it.

Now maybe one of these days I'll get a job I like AND it will last more than three weeks! What a concept!

After a day at work, the last thing I normally want to do is commit to hours in the kitchen. Tuesday night is not a good night for a homemade dinner. Last night was not just any normal Tuesday though. It was J's birthday (happy birthday again!!!) and we were having a few people over for a Vegan Taco Night.

In addition to the tacos, I decided I wanted to make a Tortilla Soup. It just sounded like a really delicious way to add something to the dinner. The soup itself is super easy. And the tortilla part is in theory super easy as well. This isn't just Veggie Tortilla Soup though, it's LAZY Veggie Tortilla Soup. As in, I made the soup and then was lazy. I didn't make any tortilla strips. I definitely went with the crumbling baked tortilla chips into the soup... The soup itself also takes less than an hour, prep time and all. Another plus when you've got a dinner for 8 people to prepare for.

If you decide to not be lazy, you can very easily accomplish the last step. Grab your tortillas, spray a skillet with some olive oil spray, cut the tortilla into strips, fry them up, and there you go. You can of course actually heat a pot of oil and deep fry them if you want the less healthy option. Apparently this works better with slightly older, dry tortillas.

I didn't do any of that. If you don't want to either, baked tortilla chips work surprisingly well. All you have to do is take a handful of chips, pile them onto a baking sheet, and pop them in the oven until they're nice and toasty. You don't need the oven to be all that hot, around 200 should do you well. Stick them in for the last 15 minutes of soup cooking and you should be set for when it's done.

On to the soup!

This recipe is completely vegan since it was for J's birthday. If you are a cheese person, you can also add some shredded cheese for garnish. I was really happy with how this turned out. Only thing I would possibly recommend is adding a little more water, mine was a little thicker than I really wanted it to be.

Vegan Tortilla Soup

1/2 large white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried basil
2 Tbsp olive oil

3 sticks celery, chopped

1 12 oz can tomato paste
4 cups veggie broth

1 small tomato, chopped
1/2 cup corn
2 cups water

Cumin
Cayenne Pepper

small bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1 lime

Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion, garlic, and basil. Saute until the onion is soft. Add the celery and saute another minute or so, keeping an eye to not burn the garlic. Add the tomato paste and veggie broth and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Once you reach a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the tomato and corn. Add the water and let simmer for five minutes or so. Add your cumin and cayenne pepper to taste. I start with maybe a tsp of each and go from there. At this point, add more water as needed to get your desired consistency.

Let simmer for at least another five minutes. The longer you let it sit, the more the flavors will integrate. The last thing you want to do is add the cilantro and lime, around five minutes before you're ready to serve. Stir in the cilantro and squeeze the lime into the soup. I used one but I think I could have actually added a little more.

If you actually manage the tortilla strips or if you went the lazy way with the chips, add them as you serve. One way to go is to add some strips to the bottom of the bowl, pour in your soup, and then garnish with some more strips. You can also garnish with avocado. It's all delicious!

The soup is also amazing served cold the next day, something perfect for these hot LA days. Made for a great lunch today at the office!