peace bombs, and other subjects.

Is it possible for a raging workaholic to enjoy himself away from the work site? I believe that the answer is that for a true workaholic, the whole world is his work site. It's Saturday, my day off during the Portland Farmers' Market's off-season. So the first thing I did today was spend a couple of hours answering, clearing, and filing my Outlook inbox. My load thus lightened, I climbed on my elliptical trainer, presumably burning 1313 calories while watching a DVD of the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughn in concert. If I'm not mistaken, there has never been a finer musical performer, ever. This guy lived his life to be great. He must have made many sacrifices in other areas as he devoted himself to attaining such a level of virtuosity.

Who has time for that?

My friend, Than Clevinger http://www.tridentblog.blogspot.com pointed me to a cool internet page about "how to be creative" http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000876.html and it made me feel pretty doggone good about what I've done, what I'm up to now, and what I can hope to accomplish in the future. Soothing and uplifting food-for-thought for a workoholic on a mission.

And my mission? Well, it's about making great bread, and having a great time doing it. And a whole lot more, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it if I don't get to everything.

Toward the end of making the best bread, we at NatureBake got our second visit from Zia McCabe and her 2-year-old daughter, Matilda yesterday. Zia, from the Dandy Warhols dandywarhols.com is my celebrity guinea pig, who's giving lots of good feedback on my new light bread made from sprouted wheat. The Dandy's got a few shows lined up, one of which my brother Glenn and I will be attending in Eugene on March 1rst.

I've got other guinea pigs, too. Over the past 18 wonderful months, I've met some very supportive folks, who are always willing to take some time to test and give honest feedback about my projects. Not being an overly-social cat, my bread gets me out of my shell. I'm very grateful to have found this simple, straighforward path.

And if you're wondering what the new cartoon (Ryan Alexander-Tanner) is all about, it's for the back label of our new "Peace Bomb", which I introduced toward the end of last year's farmers' market season, without a label. It will also be a sprouted wheat offering, as a baguette.

The best bread, and lots of fun. My mission continues...