Your turn

Coolest thing ever

The Oxford Project

Read more about it here.

I got goosebumps reading about this and felt very moved for some reason.  Maybe I am missing the feeling of a small town?  It's just the idea of that snapshot of two moments in time separated by many years, twists and turns, the expected and the unexpected...wow.

I imagine a few of my loved ones who might appreciate this like I do may find a copy of the book under the Christmas tree this year.

(Speaking of Christmas gift books, this was last year's:  My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals.  Very fun and beautiful photography).

Something to talk about

This is as important an issue, if not more important, as anything else in this election, in that it could have a much longer lasting/far reaching impact on the politics/policies of this country, in fact for the rest of my adult life.  From CNN.com:

Election could decide future of the federal courts

"The future occupant of the White House could have the opportunity to name perhaps three or four justices, which could either solidify an ideologically split bench or dramatically move it further right."

I can only hope that this is talked about more leading up to November 4.

Huh.

PETA Urges Ben & Jerry's To Use Human Milk.

My first instinct is how very weird and kind of gross that would be.  But really, is it that off the wall?

From the article: "The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman.

Hmmm, interesting.  I think.

Neat.

Experts "solve" mystery of Stonehenge.

I find places like Stonehenge beyond fascinating.  I can just imagine the energy you feel when you're there, a place just charged by thousands of years of people passing through.  It makes me wonder, when did Stonehenge become a mystery?  How did its original purpose get lost?  On the small scale, who was the last person to "know" what Stonehenge was all about?  What was their life like, what did they eat every day, who did they love?  On the large scale, how does something that was obviously so important to a society become obsolete to the point that no one has any clue what it's for or why it exists?  I hope to make it there one day, it's in my top 5. 

Oh, to just lay a hand on those stones and think about how they were formed, where they originated, how they were chosen, molded, hauled into place, the thought of someone at a different moment in time with their hand in the same place as mine, it just gives me chills.  I seriously just want to go up and hug one of the pillars, close my eyes and see what happens.  Feel the energy of the place course through my body.  It's just one of those places that I feel connected to for some reason, even though I've never been there.

My parents visited it in March 2006, here's a picture of my mom there, sick with a major cold, if I remember correctly, but a total trooper, as always.

I love this.

And I might buy it, or one of dozens of other fun "_____ for Obama" buttons here.

And I'd wear it to the Grateful Dead Reunion Concert for Obama if only I happened to be near Penn State on October 13.

Want to make the world a brighter place?

Here's how, from Real Simple's Guide to Happiness.  It's the little things, after all.

Happy People Dancing

This video is a Youtube sensation that I saw for the first time today thanks to my sister. It was amazing and almost moved me to tears. Created by this guy. Watch it, and smile!

Can also be seen in better quality on Youtube here (click the "watch in high quality" link right below the screen).

What's on my mind these days

So I have seriously been neglecting this blog, but that doesn't mean that I don't have a lot on my mind.  I am such a perfectionist sometimes, I'd rather not write at all than have to commit to the time and energy to fully elaborate on whatever I'm thinking about, edit the post 87 times before I post and then get annoyed about everything that I left out!  I have to work on that.

Things on my mind lately include:

1. How completely and utterly offensive I find Sarah Palin, both as a "politician" and as the Republican VP nominee.   I could elaborate on this in a big way, but I'll spare you from reading me rant and I'll spare myself from getting all worked up about it.

2. Figuring out ways to become less of a consumer.  My job is getting cut back to 32 hours (with the associated 20% pay cut) starting 10/1 and I have the luxury of being kind of psyched about this both for the free time I will have and the challenge it will present to me to modify my spending and saving accordingly.  I have spent money on things for years just because I could and I find that very annoying about myself.  (Granted I contribute all I can to my Roth IRA every year, paid off my student loans 2 years ago and have zero debt, but still).  The last 3 visitors who walked into my bathroom remarked on how many lotions and beauty products I had.  Who needs 3 shampoos and 5 lotions?  I want to get back to the basics.

3. Things I can be doing to tread lightly on this planet of ours.  Plans include: cutting out beauty products that are wasteful (mostly due to packaging but also variety (see #2)), such as my beloved Dove Cleansing Cloths and Dove Body Wash, and going back to good old soap and washcloths.  Same with cleaning products (goodbye Clorox Wipes, hello vinegar). I'm considering investing in an Amazon Kindle and will be using the library for books almost exclusively going forward (I have $50 in Amazon gift certificates that have to last me until the end of the year...no new books after they're used up until maybe spring 2009).  Finding at least semi-homemade ideas for gifts.  Making big pots of soup instead of buying soup.  I like that these ideas also tie in with #2. 

4. How much I miss Tim Russert and the perspective and excitement he'd bring to the remaining 55 days in this election.  Tom Brokaw is ok, but Meet the Press is just not the same.

5. How excited I am to read Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need A Green Revolution - And How It Can Renew America by Thomas Friedman (for which I might use $15.37 of the $50 in Amazon gift certificates).  He was on Monday's Fresh Air (please listen!) and Sunday's Meet the Press and I have a crush on him.  My favorite part was when he was talking about how the Republicans were chanting "Drill, Baby, Drill" at the convention and he said "What planet are these people from?"  And also how he likened the chant to people chanting about typewriters as PCs were being invented.
 
6. How much I'm enjoying not having a car payment anymore and how my last 2 tanks got 36.5 and 35.4 mpg respectively.  And that they each cost me less than $40.  And that the decrease in price from the $45+ a tank earlier this summer wasn't due to increased offshore drilling!

7. How cool it is that Lance Armstrong is making a comeback!  The Tour hasn't been the same without him.  Yes, I am a fair weather cycling fan, I hate to admit.  But this is so exciting!

8. How bummed I am about Tom Brady's ACL.

9. How psyched I am to attend this year's Sarah Josepha Hale Award dinner with my parents to see the winner Ken Burns!

10. How much I like Shelfari and its online bookshelf where I can track the books I’ve read, what I’m reading now and what I plan to read.  This will fill the void left with me cutting back on buying books, I can at least go look at my virtual bookshelf and be happy!

11. How excited I am to see my parents, grandma, sister and this little pumpkin in just 15 days:

 
12. How great it feels to finally be working towards the career change I’ve wanted for so long (more on this in a later post).

13. How much I miss fall, and, yes, winter in New England and how excited I am to experience them up close and personal again starting next year.

14. Whether or not to become a vegetarian.  Or, more accurately, a Pescetarian, as I would continue eating fish.  I keep tossing around the idea but I have yet to commit to giving it a try.  I rarely eat red meat anymore and will have meatless days (unintentionally) more than once a week, but I still can't take the plunge.  This also ties in with #3...it would be better for the enviroment.

15. How much I love Vanity Fair magazine.  It definitely has a liberal bent, which I love of course, but the articles are just so well written and on such unique and interesting topics, I usually read it cover to cover.  I highly recommend picking it up sometime or checking out the website.

16. The circle of life.  2008 has had life and death, illness and wellness and I am just doing my best to tune into it all, celebrate it all as a part of being human and do the best I can to make my days count.

So yep, that’s what’s been on my mind lately, at least on the surface of it!  I will probably make many of these topics into entire posts as time goes on, but for now I just wanted to get something out there!

For the record

Just wanted to clarify something about my last post.  I absolutely 100% DO believe that John McCain was tortured as a P.O.W. in Vietnam.  I wasn't at all trying to discount that by posting the blog.  It was more a comment on the Bush Administration, who McCain seems to have closely aligned himself with for some odd reason as his campaign has progressed.  Just for the record.

Worth noting

Happened upon this facinating blog post yesterday at The Daily Dish called Does Bush Believe McCain was Tortured? when it was linked to on my favorite liberal blog Daily Kos.  The author Andrew Sullivan noted that the torture John McCain endured as a POW in Vietnam would not be defined as torture by the Bush Administration.  Text posted in full below.

In all the discussion of John McCain's recently recovered memory of a religious epiphany in Vietnam, one thing has been missing. The torture that was deployed against McCain emerges in all the various accounts. It involved sleep deprivation, the withholding of medical treatment, stress positions, long-time standing, and beating. Sound familiar?

According to the Bush administration's definition of torture, McCain was therefore not tortured.

Cheney denies that McCain was tortured; as does Bush. So do John Yoo and David Addington and George Tenet. In the one indisputably authentic version of the story of a Vietnamese guard showing compassion, McCain talks of the agony of long-time standing. A quarter century later, Don Rumsfeld was putting his signature to memos lengthening the agony of "long-time standing" that victims of Bush's torture regime would have to endure. These torture techniques are, according to the president of the United States, merely "enhanced interrogation."

No war crimes were committed against McCain. And the techniques used are, according to the president, tools to extract accurate information. And so the false confessions that McCain was forced to make were, according to the logic of the Bush administration, as accurate as the "intelligence" we have procured from "interrogating" terror suspects. Feel safer?

The cross-in-the-dirt story - although deeply fishy to any fair observer - is in the realm of the unprovable. But the actual techniques used on McCain, and the lies they were designed to legitimize, are a matter of historical record. And the government of the United States now practices the very same techniques that the Communist government of North Vietnam once proudly used against American soldiers. When they are used against future John McCains, the victims will know, in a way McCain didn't, that their own government has no moral standing to complain.

Now the kicker: in the Military Commissions Act, McCain acquiesced to the use of these techniques against terror suspects by the CIA. And so the tortured became the enabler of torture. Someone somewhere cried out in pain for the same reasons McCain once did. And McCain let it continue.

These are the prices people pay for power.

Very interesting.

Rainbow bright

They say you should strive to eat many different colors of produce, something about different colors containing different nutrients and antioxidants.  I find that variety in my diet makes a huge difference as if I'm not careful, which I wasn't for the past 12 months or so, I can lose all interest in a former favorite and lose out on its particular health benefits.  So as I was unpacking my groceries recently, I was pleased to discover something from each shade of the rainbow:

Red bell pepper and carrot for Spicy Chicken with Snow Peas recipe found here.  (It was delicious).

Roma tomatoes for my new favorite Melted Cabot Cheddar* on Whole Grain Toast with Tomato and Avocado and also BLTs. (*I don't care what anyone says, the funky orange cheddar that is most common out here is not the same.  Thanks Grandma for always sending us Cabot cheddar as a gift!). 

Bananas, strawberries and blueberries just to eat plain or in my cereal.

Cucumbers and clover sprouts for salads and sandwiches. (Plan to try growing my own sprouts sometime and will surely document it here if I do, it's supposed to be incredibly easy.)

Red grapes just because I love grapes.

And our hot sauce collection just for show.  Just in case you're curious, my favorites are Cholula and the green jalapeno Tabasco.

I love food and have been trying to cook more lately.  Recipes are kind of like books to me...there are just so many out there and I sometimes like to keep some of them just hanging out there, anticipating the day I finally get around to them.  Next on the list to try are:

Lemon Spaghetti (will use Whole Foods' 365 Brand Whole Wheat pasta which is amazing, try it!)

Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiatta Sauce (yes I love Giada)

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup (using jarred peppers and canned tomatoes, of course)

I can be a little experimental too, I found and modified to my liking an amazing turkey chili recipe and have been making a really nice mustard vinaigrette lately (white balsamic, shallots, dijon mustard, herbes d'provence, salt, pepper and olive oil).  All of this food talk is making me hungry!

What are your favorite recipes?

A little support

I was pleased to discover that Time Magazine agreed with the closing sentiments of my last post, that checking tire pressure is a totally reasonable suggestion when it comes to dealing with the energy crisis.

The Tire Gauge Solution: No Joke

I think this stuff's really important so I am going to copy some of the text below:

Politics ain't beanbag, and Obama has defended himself against worse
smears. The real problem with the attacks on his tire-gauge plan is
that efforts to improve conservation and efficiency happen to be the
best approaches to dealing with the energy crisis — the cheapest,
cleanest, quickest and easiest ways to ease our addiction to oil,
reduce our pain at the pump and address global warming. It's a pretty
simple concept: if our use of fossil fuels is increasing our reliance
on Middle Eastern dictators while destroying the planet, maybe we ought
to use less.

The RNC is trying to make the tire gauge a symbol of unseriousness, as
if only the fatuous believed we could reduce our dependence on foreign
oil without doing the bidding of Big Oil. But the tire gauge is really
a symbol of a very serious piece of good news: we can use significantly
less energy without significantly changing our lifestyle. The energy
guru Amory Lovins has shown that investment in "nega-watts" — reduced
electricity use through efficiency improvements — is much more
cost-effective than investment in new megawatts, and the same is
clearly true of nega-barrels. It might not fit the worldviews of
right-wingers who deny the existence of global warming and insist that
reducing emissions would destroy our economy, or of left-wing
Earth-firsters who insist that maintaining our creature comforts would
destroy the world, but there's a lot of simple things we can do on the
demand side before we start rushing to ratchet up supply.

We can use those twisty carbon fluorescent lightbulbs. We can unplug
our televisions, computers and phone chargers when we're not using
them. We can seal our windows, install more insulation and adjust our
thermostats so that we waste less heat and air-conditioning. We can use
more-efficient appliances, build more-efficient homes and drive
more-efficient cars, preferably with government assistance. And, yes,
we can inflate our tires and tune our engines, as Republican governors
Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Charlie Crist of Florida have
urged, apparently without consulting the RNC. While we're at it, we can
cut down on idling, which can improve fuel economy another 5%, and cut
down on speeding and unnecessary acceleration, which can increase
mileage as much as 20%.

And that's just the low-hanging fruit. There are other ways to reduce
demand for oil — more public transportation, more carpooling, more
telecommuting, more recycling, less exurban sprawl, fewer unnecessary
car trips, buying less stuff and eating less meat — that would require
at least some lifestyle changes. But things like tire gauges can reduce
gas bills and carbon emissions now, with little pain and at little cost
and without the ecological problems and oil-addiction problems
associated with offshore drilling. These are the proverbial win-win-win
solutions, reducing the pain of $100 trips to the gas station by
reducing trips to the gas station. And Americans are already starting
to adopt them, ditching SUVs, buying hybrids, reducing overall gas consumption. It's hard to see why anyone who isn't affiliated with the oil industry would object to them.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

Taking responsibility

Time for a politics post.  I have kept these to a minimum recently because I get extremely worked up about it all and I know everyone doesn't agree with me.  Even though that shouldn't matter since it's my blog and I can write whatever I want!  But I've found that it is one of those topics that it is best to keep to myself for the most part.  I do a lot of assuming when it comes to who believes what and have gotten myself in a bit of trouble, or at least an uncomfortable conversation, a few times recently because of it.  Anyway.

John McCain has turned into a monster.  How's that for an inflammatory opening statement?  He used to be his own character, conductor of the straight talk express, someone who told it like it was and wasn't afraid to go against the grain of his own party to support something he felt strongly about.  But he seems to have lost sight of that over the past couple months while going head to head against Barack Obama in the presidential campaign.  The more I listen to him, the more turned off I am by his negative campaign tactics and smug attitude.  I think it's mostly a result of his campaign not having a whole lot of ideas or answers when it comes to what the nation needs, so they are reduced to attacking Obama on such trivial things as his "celebrity status" and patriotism.  Not that patriotism is a trivial topic, I just think there's no basis to attack Obama on his patriotism whatsoever.  Most recent case in point, from CNN.com:

McCain Camp Mocks Obama's Comment on Inflated Tires

In a nutshell, the McCain campaign took a minor comment in a talk Obama gave about his energy plan, that people should make sure their tires were properly inflated as it can make a difference in gas mileage, and they just ran with it like the village idiots.  They handed out tire pressure gauges with "Obama Energy Plan" on them to the press corps, implying that this was Obama's answer to the energy crisis.  Well this just infuriated me.  For one, THAT IS NOT HIS ENERGY PLAN.  Yes, he wants to decrease dependence on oil, foreign and domestic (offshore drilling).  In my mind, forcing innovation is not a bad thing.  People don't really look for alternatives unless they absolutely have to and I truly believe that expensive gas will force innovation into clean energy sources that will have long and far reaching benefits for us all.  Secondly, do they really think the American people are ignorant enough to fall for ridiculous statements like this and the Paris Hilton/Britney Spears commercial (which McCain defended and claimed to be proud of)?  Obama says inflate your tires and that'll solve the gas crisis.  He's a brainless, vapid celerbrity and nothing more.  If McCain would just put out some ads that talk about what HE stands for and what HIS plans are, instead of just attacking every other thing Obama says, maybe I could take him seriously.  As we all do, I respect his service to this country, both in the military and in the Senate.  But I have zero respect for the way he's run his campaign to date. 

The point I intended to make when I started this post, was so what if Obama suggested that people check their tire pressure?  That is a completely legitimate thing for people to do if they want to make sure they are maximizing their gas mileage!  It doesn't add up to much, my (new) tires were quite underinflated recently and it knocked my gas mileage down by about 2 miles per gallon, but it's still something.  I don't think it's unreasonable to ask Americans to take some responsibility and make sure they are doing everything they can for themselves instead of relying on the government to come to their rescue and bail them out for their irresponsible, entitled attitudes and behaviors.  Don't even get me started on the housing bailout...

Only in Vegas

I have had a handful of "only in Vegas" experiences in the 5 years that I've lived here. Two immediately come to mind. First, the drag queen P.R. temp who took a liking to me and showed me the glamour shots from his Cher impersonation show (he did his own makeup!). And then there was the time that I was at a stoplight near the Stratosphere, it turned green and the car in front of me didn't move. I looked around to the driver's side to see if I could see anything and a hand popped out of the window and dropped a pair of purple ladies' underwear out onto the ground. Someone wasn't where they were supposed to be last night! And then, there's this:

Yep, pledge $250 to Nevada Public Radio during their "Summer of Extraordinary Experiences" (I can't tell you how sick I am of hearing that phrase) and you can choose a thank you package that includes a wedding at Treasure Island! Gotta love Vegas.

Justification

I am a total homebody and have been for years. I just love being at home, relaxing and puttering about, with my books, husband and cats. I don't get to spend a whole lot of time doing this during the week, due to full time employment and various other week night commitments. When the weekends roll around though, I do my best to minimize my plans to be out in the world. It's just so busy here, literally and figuratively, and it wears me out! Vegas is just overstimulating at times with all the colors and lights and enormity of it all. Plus I find that my downtime goes way too quickly when I'm out and about, whereas when I'm at home the time tends to pass at a more leisurely pace. Though it really doesn't, obviously, it just feels that way. Ah, perception. Anyway, I think this is one of the reasons I've always liked dreary days, I consider myself a rainy day girl at heart. When it's overcast, there's no feeling of "must get out to take advantage of the nice weather" though in Vegas, with +/- 350 sunny days a year, I don't feel this pressure the way I did when I lived in Boston. So today's DailyOM horoscope really spoke to me, I love it when I find more justification for being a homebody! I think perhaps this could have also been the world's way of reminding me that even though I'm busy right now, I need to make sure to spend some restorative time at home, the place I feel most comfortable, relaxed and at peace.

July 31, 2008 The Comforts of Home Taurus Daily Horoscope You may feel increasingly fatigued as you address your worldly affairs today and thus grow more and more reserved as the day wears on. Pleasant thoughts of home, family, and good friends can divert your attention away from your duties, preventing you from fulfilling the outer-world goals you had hoped to accomplish on this day. Making the most of this low-key mood can be as simple as putting aside those obligations that are not vital in order to retreat into the refuge of your personal space. Whether you immerse yourself in meditative activities that require freedom from distractions or take care of domestic chores today, you will likely feel a potent and satisfying sense of serenity. The many comforts of home become overtly apparent to us only when we make an effort to seek them out through our choice to indulge our craving for quietude in our own private spaces. Our houses, apartments, and rooms can often seem like nothing more than a place to meet our basic survival needs unimpeded by worldly distractions. However, hidden in our homes are pleasures we ourselves have integrated into our lives based on our individual value systems. To enjoy them, we must only commit to using our personal spaces as more than simply way stations between worldly obligations, and then begin exploring the numerous ways we can pamper ourselves in the relaxing atmosphere of these most personal refuges. You will feel utterly rested and renewed today after rediscovering all the comforts your home has to offer.

Quote of the Day

"First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others."

-Thomas à Kempis, German mystic and religious author (1380-1471)

Maybe that is why there's so much turmoil in this world, people don't have much peace within.  I know there are days when all I do is struggle with myself internally.  Hence my drowning-out-the-annoying-people-at-work choice for today: Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

Something that does bring me some peace is the thought of a pea tendril.  I have heard of them before, but encountered them sometime over the weekend, I think in the recipe for a salad.  It is the end of a pea plant that coils around some sort of support structure (in my parents' garden, a length of wire fencing), but apparently brings a wonderful fresh, subtle flavor to dishes, both raw and cooked.

Here are a couple photos I tracked down on the web.

I just love the thought of these things, bursting into life with energy and purpose.  I think it is a beautiful name, just saying it in my head calms me.  Maybe I've found my mantra? 

What sort of things bring you a bit of peace?

A study in contrasts

Barack Obama speaking to 200,000+ people in Berlin, Germany yesterday (AP Photo):

John McCain speaking at...a Pennsylvania grocery store in the dairy aisle? (AP Photo)

 

Yep, that's what he's doing. Who do YOU think is more likely to change the world?

(Disclaimer: I was already planning on posting the Berlin picture and had seen the dairy aisle picture, but took the contrast idea from last night's Letterman show. I just couldn't resist.)

Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver has been one of my mother’s favorite authors for as long as I can remember. I have always kept my eyes peeled for any new books she may be putting out because I know they would make a great gift for Mom. Early last year, I happened upon her newest book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. She is known for her novels, but this is more of a “year in the life” type nonfiction book chronicling her family’s attempts at eating locally and living sustainably for an entire year. Their first step was to move from the desert of Tucson, Arizona to a farm they’d maintained as a summer residence in the lush green farm country of Virginia. A good first step, as I know from experience that there’s not much that grows in the desert!

This book was just wonderful, I enjoyed it from start to finish. There was so much interesting and practical information inside, from how to start plants for your garden indoors in late winter, to a step by step guide to making cheese at home (apparently it is very easy!), to seasonal menus and recipe guides, to resources for heirloom seeds, to short informational essays by her husband and college age daughter. There’s information on growing your own alfalfa and bean sprouts in a jar on your windowsill. They grow so many exciting varieties of vegetables, fruit and flowers. They raise chickens and turkeys. They support other farmers in their community and learn from Amish friends. I laughed out loud more than once (turkey sex, anyone?) and found it just so inspiring. The one glaring omission was pest control…I am 99% sure that their garden is totally organic, yet she doesn’t really mention the gross bugs the flock to gardens! I got so excited about potatoes, they grew several different varieties in the book, and I asked my dad why he never grew potatoes in his garden and he said it was because potatoes are very buggy plants and that potato bugs are gross! I imagine she didn’t do it intentionally, but the thought crossed my mind that maybe she wanted to inspire people so much, that perhaps she glazed over the nitty gritty grossness that bugs bring to an organic garden. Or maybe they’ve just figured out how to manage pests in an organic manner, but she definitely didn’t share the details!

A big part of this experience for them was that they had to learn to live without, something most Americans (myself included) have long since forgotten was even an option. I think they each got one special item that they could continue to buy, for example her husband chose coffee, but it was fair trade/shade grown of course. And there were a couple staples that they stocked up on such as olive oil, but they really did it, they ate things that either they grew, or was grown/produced within an hour of them for an entire year. She talks a lot about how disconnected we have all come from the sources of our food and what produce is in season at what time of year. This really hit home for me, as I tend to eat whatever produce I like all year round just because it is available in the stores! Well, maybe I don’t eat berries in the winter, but that’s just because they’re too expensive, not because I am consciously avoiding that which is not in season and therefore has likely been trucked in from thousands of miles away utilizing precious fossil fuels and adding carbon emissions to our atmosphere.

My parents have had a garden since before I was born. My dad designed and built a greenhouse that is attached to our house when I was really young so that even in the harsh New England winters, we could still have fresh greens and cherry tomatoes and so he could get a jumpstart on his sprouts for the garden. To me, garden fresh produce was the always the norm and the canned, salty, gray green beans and peas served in the school cafeterias made me gag. At this point though, I can’t say that I truly remember the taste of a tomato fresh out of the garden, still warm from the sun. My dad swears that garden fresh celery actually tastes like something, instead of just water and crunch. So I am lucky to be more familiar than most with these concepts and yet I still feel so far away from it all.

It doesn’t help that I live in the desert and could not do all that much at this point since there’s not a whole lot grown locally. I have always felt lucky that we live so close to California, but honestly I felt lucky because in my mind it resulted in cheaper produce, not the fact that it was probably much fresher having traveled a shorter distance or the fact that the overall environmental impact was lower since the truck emissions were lower for the same reason. It’s a bit overwhelming to think how far away from it all we’ve gotten as a society not to mention how much it would take us to relearn how to appreciate and make this stuff a priority again, to re-establish that connection between that which nourishes and sustains us and our responsibility to tread lightly as human beings…to “live simply so that others may simply live” ~ Mahatma Ghandi

So you can probably tell just how inspired I was by this book. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone, particularly those who don’t know where to start when it comes to some of this stuff and those who maybe have a tomato plant or two, but feel too overwhelmed to try much more. There’s a lot of work involved, but the payoff is just so enormous. There’s a lot to know about this and a lot to learn and this is a great place to start. I’ll finish with saying that your motivations don’t have to be to save the planet to learn more about sustainable living. They can be as simple as wanting to save a few bucks, and in this economy, I imagine we all do. A packet of tomato seeds costs a dollar or two and one plant may produce dozens of tomatoes during its lifespan. (Unless of course, it is my dad’s 13 year old cherry tomato plant in the greenhouse in which case it probably produced thousands). I hope you’ll consider picking up this book, you won’t be sorry.

They also started a website, which can be found here.

Next up for me, in terms of food books at least: The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

Train of thought

"Remember that combination box of Popsicles that has the banana, blue raspberry and root beer flavors?  I remember always having that one growing up, yet I hated all of those flavors," I say to my husband this evening after we finished watching the movie Friends With Money (which by the way, was very good).  He thought that was an incredibly random thing to have remembered in that moment, so I traced my train of thought and here it is:

1. I'd really like a Popsicle right now.


2. I know we still have dozens of them from when there was a good sale 2 summers ago (or was it 3?).


3. I wonder what flavor I would grab out of the freezer (we took them all out of boxes to save space).


4. What I'd really like is one of those twin pops that you break apart in the middle and have 2 separate ones, cherry would be nice.


5. I remember having those growing up, it was hard to break them evenly.


6. I also remember that gross combination box that had the weirdest 3 flavors in it, banana, blue raspberry and root beer!  I wonder why my Mom always got that box?

The End.

(PS.  In searching for an image of the box on Google Images, the one that came up had lemon-lime instead of blue raspberry, but I swear I remember it right.  Anyone else remember?)