So, most of you know- my newest project is a bikini. to wear to the beach! next week! i'm so excited! first, it's the beach! who doesn't love the beach! plus, i'll see krista and sarah (though not at the beach, but in the city!) and amy and z and the party in a box, plus the usual fun of my parents and my pop-pop. only better, because there will be OCEAN involved.
and a knew knitted kbikini. oh yeah.
but i realized last night, if i finish my bikini on the way too the beach and am wearing it on the beach, what will i KNIT on the beach? sweater of doom? rife with problems. another grocery bag? boring and too quickly completed. one of my two pairs of unfinished socks? too big. I want something i can wear myself.
i had more requests. i want a new project. something small like socks. only fun, like lace or faire isle. ooh, i haven't done two color knitting in a while. but it has to use up some of that yarn i got for xmas. maybe something with noro stripes like the scarf joe made? and then look what i found:
the ziggy socks.
Perfect. absolutely perfect. so excited about this i actually put my name in for a ravely invite. because i know all of you don't really care, but i want to be excited with someone who does. and save you from the agony of any other knitting posts.
Showing posts with label crazy hippie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crazy hippie. Show all posts
19.7.08
11.7.08
cherries jubilee
Along with other unremarkable vegetables (i guess i'm a bit jaded) this week, i got a pint of the most magnificent black cherries. how do you eat cherries? i bite them in half, eat the half, pry the pit out of the other half with my teeth, spit it out, and then eat the other half. i was intending to work my way through this pint the same way, and then they came, and the suggestion for them is "for a simple dessert, cover with amaretto and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. serve with whipped cream." well, what ISN"T better marinated in amaretto (note to self- invent amaretto tofu marinate)? so i got out my little knife and my cutting board and i sat down to half cherries. this takes a long time, did you know? prying those stupid little pits out is a huge pain. i was bored before i'd done two dozen. i started thinking about fifties housewives who would bake cherry pies from scratch. my goddess! it would take all afternoon just to pit the things. then i got the marvelous idea- no one is going to eat these cherries besides me. so i started prying the pits out with my teeth. hugely successful! ended up doing the whole pint! they are marinating RIGHT NOW! i can't wait for tomorrow. it's like christmas. do you think if i go to bed early, my cherries will be sufficently marinated sooner?
10.6.08
the rest of the article
Ok, i just want to blog about SOMETHING else, so i'm taking care of the rest of this so it will stop haunting me, not because i really have time.
6. Accept genetic engineering. I tend to be against it for other reasons. Again, at what cost to what makes life livable are we willing to cut carbon emmissions? the crazy rules for the corn my grandfather grows for monsanto- it's a scary world out there. i'm not a scientist, so i don't know exactly where i draw the line- somewhere between hybridization and genetic engineering- but i definately have a line. And the examples they give are pointless, I think. in 3 they were anti organic, but now they're all,"fertilizer is the biggest cause of greenhouse gasses in farming." hmmm. and the other things genetic engineering may discover seems like a poor use of energy. instead of genetically modifying crops for ethanol, why not use the technology to try and get all that energy out of switchgrass? why not try using less? and of course, lab-grown animal flesh is not something i think we should be investing any sort of energy into at all.
7. Carbon trading doesn't work. on a global scale, no. i mean, bush was right about the problems with kyoto, but that still doesn't make for a good reason not to sign it. it's certainly something that can be easily abused. but i don't think that makes it bad in and of itself. i mean, i feel like i'm a "meat trading" vegetarian. americans need to eat less meat. they won't. so since it's an easy thing for me to do, i won't eat ANY so i'll balance out the guy who has it for every meal. i feel like i'm doing as much as i can in my lifestyle to curb my emmissions. but it's nice to be able to do something about the 3 or 4 tons i do relase per year.
8. embrace nuclear power. yeah, it's better than coal. no one will argue with that. but come on. you can't do it without nuclear waste. you just can't. and it's a dangerous job for poor homer simpson. and there is no place to put the waste. no one wants it. we are constantly creating more of it. again, why save the world from global warming just to destroy it by nuclear irradiation? i didn't realize that it produces less carbon than renewable sources. i'm not sure how that can be, but it must have to do with manufacturing.
9. used cars, not hybrids. this seems to be a "well, duh" one for me. public transit? anyone? it also speaks to the consumer culture, however, and how to be green one needs to buy things these days. save the planet by buying the right cleaning supplies, makeup, hybrid car. my mom's husband has been searching for a new used car, because the suv gets such bad gas milage. they need to keep the suv to haul the boat. and my mom won't let marty drive her car- plus he doesn't do stick. so they bought a convertable. two people. three cars. ANYWAY, there's the great fact in this one that a 1994 Geo Metro XFi gets the same average gas milage as a prius. so the carbon gap from the expense of manufacturing it would never close. it doesn't say anything about buying HYBRID cars used, though.
i promise that will be the most i ever write about used cars. i can't believe i wrote that much. anyway,
10. prepare for the worst. i don't need to hear this. first, i want to have faith that things will get better. i don't think that change being inevitable is a good enough reason to not make any changes. i think instead of preparing for the worst, we should work like crazy to make the worst not happen, and then deal with the consequences of what comes when it does.
so there it is. cut carbon, kiddos. just be reasonable about it, please.
6. Accept genetic engineering. I tend to be against it for other reasons. Again, at what cost to what makes life livable are we willing to cut carbon emmissions? the crazy rules for the corn my grandfather grows for monsanto- it's a scary world out there. i'm not a scientist, so i don't know exactly where i draw the line- somewhere between hybridization and genetic engineering- but i definately have a line. And the examples they give are pointless, I think. in 3 they were anti organic, but now they're all,"fertilizer is the biggest cause of greenhouse gasses in farming." hmmm. and the other things genetic engineering may discover seems like a poor use of energy. instead of genetically modifying crops for ethanol, why not use the technology to try and get all that energy out of switchgrass? why not try using less? and of course, lab-grown animal flesh is not something i think we should be investing any sort of energy into at all.
7. Carbon trading doesn't work. on a global scale, no. i mean, bush was right about the problems with kyoto, but that still doesn't make for a good reason not to sign it. it's certainly something that can be easily abused. but i don't think that makes it bad in and of itself. i mean, i feel like i'm a "meat trading" vegetarian. americans need to eat less meat. they won't. so since it's an easy thing for me to do, i won't eat ANY so i'll balance out the guy who has it for every meal. i feel like i'm doing as much as i can in my lifestyle to curb my emmissions. but it's nice to be able to do something about the 3 or 4 tons i do relase per year.
8. embrace nuclear power. yeah, it's better than coal. no one will argue with that. but come on. you can't do it without nuclear waste. you just can't. and it's a dangerous job for poor homer simpson. and there is no place to put the waste. no one wants it. we are constantly creating more of it. again, why save the world from global warming just to destroy it by nuclear irradiation? i didn't realize that it produces less carbon than renewable sources. i'm not sure how that can be, but it must have to do with manufacturing.
9. used cars, not hybrids. this seems to be a "well, duh" one for me. public transit? anyone? it also speaks to the consumer culture, however, and how to be green one needs to buy things these days. save the planet by buying the right cleaning supplies, makeup, hybrid car. my mom's husband has been searching for a new used car, because the suv gets such bad gas milage. they need to keep the suv to haul the boat. and my mom won't let marty drive her car- plus he doesn't do stick. so they bought a convertable. two people. three cars. ANYWAY, there's the great fact in this one that a 1994 Geo Metro XFi gets the same average gas milage as a prius. so the carbon gap from the expense of manufacturing it would never close. it doesn't say anything about buying HYBRID cars used, though.
i promise that will be the most i ever write about used cars. i can't believe i wrote that much. anyway,
10. prepare for the worst. i don't need to hear this. first, i want to have faith that things will get better. i don't think that change being inevitable is a good enough reason to not make any changes. i think instead of preparing for the worst, we should work like crazy to make the worst not happen, and then deal with the consequences of what comes when it does.
so there it is. cut carbon, kiddos. just be reasonable about it, please.
25.1.08
my little sister's boyfriend
just watched an inconvinient truth. wow. that al gore's a smart cookie. i miserably depressing movie though. it's just terror fear and panic in a culture of all news being terror, fear and panic. there was so little hope- and even less practical things. every practical thing was just text interspersed within the credits. maybe because he was planning on not just preaching to the choir, but i wanted more hope. i guess there are still lots of people out there who believe global warming is just at "theory." (side note: the tribune had a really interesting article on how the word theory means something different in science than it does in general english. usually, theories are just opinions- so conservitives can roll their eyes and say, oh, evolution is just your opinion. but in science, the word theory means something much more substancial. theories are just one step down from laws. do people not believe in gravitational theory?) but i guess i'm one of the ones who hop directly to dispair. i wanted more on the cfcs.
do you remember cfcs? as i child of the 80s, i do. i remember in "50 things kids can do to save the earth" being told to not buy aresol hairspray, and to be careful how old air conditioners and refrigerators were disposed of. and it, like, worked. al gore says the hole in the ozone layer is actually SHRINKING. i swear. that's what i want to hear about. not about the cute adventurous npr chick who chases methane bubbles in siberia. methane is too much for me- the co2 stuff is enough.
along with other versions of terror, fear and panic, both d and ch called me within moments of each other during the 10 o'clock news. the owner of the minimart around the corner from me was shot and killed today at 11am. d's been in the minimart and while i haven't actually met the guy, i do push my laundry cart in front of his shop on a regular basis. ch said the news hyped up the terror fear and panic by interviewing loyola students about how they felt. d didn't want me to be scared, but i can't help but feel that living in a big city is a choice i make, and i i live in a low crime area, and while what happened to him is terrible and awful and i wouldn't wish it on anyone, statistically speaking it only will happen, oh, once a year, and i'm going to consider myself lucky it wasn't me, and feel i'm safe for another year. it's like my mugging experience- it's happened, it's over, and while it was terrible and i wish it didn't happen, instead of making me feel scared it makes me feel a lot more confident knowing the chances of it happening again are exponentially lower.
so anyway, about the man z's stealling away from tipper, of course being the person that i am, i went to inconvienient truth's website and did their little emissions calculator- again. which is always a really fun exercise for me, because i don't drive. and of course, because my landlord pays my heating bill- i have no idea how the building is heated or what the thermostat is set at. that's another frustrating thing- all these changes that i, as a renter, can't make. anyway, my, oh, 2.3 tons of CO2 emissions per year (i almost typed admissions- a pretty funny homophone, if you think about it) can be offset for just 2 bucks a month. i had no idea it was so cheap. i can live a carbon neutral lifestyle for less than my coca cola budget. hey, sign me up.
whoops! sign me up after i pay february rent, i mean! gotta remember to tighten the belt until another job comes through!
do you remember cfcs? as i child of the 80s, i do. i remember in "50 things kids can do to save the earth" being told to not buy aresol hairspray, and to be careful how old air conditioners and refrigerators were disposed of. and it, like, worked. al gore says the hole in the ozone layer is actually SHRINKING. i swear. that's what i want to hear about. not about the cute adventurous npr chick who chases methane bubbles in siberia. methane is too much for me- the co2 stuff is enough.
along with other versions of terror, fear and panic, both d and ch called me within moments of each other during the 10 o'clock news. the owner of the minimart around the corner from me was shot and killed today at 11am. d's been in the minimart and while i haven't actually met the guy, i do push my laundry cart in front of his shop on a regular basis. ch said the news hyped up the terror fear and panic by interviewing loyola students about how they felt. d didn't want me to be scared, but i can't help but feel that living in a big city is a choice i make, and i i live in a low crime area, and while what happened to him is terrible and awful and i wouldn't wish it on anyone, statistically speaking it only will happen, oh, once a year, and i'm going to consider myself lucky it wasn't me, and feel i'm safe for another year. it's like my mugging experience- it's happened, it's over, and while it was terrible and i wish it didn't happen, instead of making me feel scared it makes me feel a lot more confident knowing the chances of it happening again are exponentially lower.
so anyway, about the man z's stealling away from tipper, of course being the person that i am, i went to inconvienient truth's website and did their little emissions calculator- again. which is always a really fun exercise for me, because i don't drive. and of course, because my landlord pays my heating bill- i have no idea how the building is heated or what the thermostat is set at. that's another frustrating thing- all these changes that i, as a renter, can't make. anyway, my, oh, 2.3 tons of CO2 emissions per year (i almost typed admissions- a pretty funny homophone, if you think about it) can be offset for just 2 bucks a month. i had no idea it was so cheap. i can live a carbon neutral lifestyle for less than my coca cola budget. hey, sign me up.
whoops! sign me up after i pay february rent, i mean! gotta remember to tighten the belt until another job comes through!
5.8.07
she's so blue...
dear germans,
what do you want from america? i want german tampons. i want, to be precice, o.b.leichte tage comfort tampons. the blue ones. they're perfect. i mix an match a box of american pink ones and a box of german blue ones and i'm good to go. except- 2.5 years after my last german stockkpiling i'm running low. and i've been trolling the internet trying to find an acceptable u.s. substitute. and, well, there's good news and bad news.
the bad news is there is nothing that looks similar and easily accessable.
the good news is, it looks like they've discontinued the stupid nasty silk ease in favor of something pro-comfort. i am FACINATED by what this says about the influence of america. once you bring the product here, just comfort isn't good enough. it has to be PRO. and then there's the size comparison. america's all clinical about it, giving absorbency in grams. in german, they just have little raindrops. but the names! the smallest ones in both contries are pink. but in germany they're called minis, and in america, they're regular. the next size up in germany are the ones i like, the light days. in america the next ones are super. no way do i need SUPER. or maybe that's the german influence, because the next two sizes in germany are normal and super, then there's also a super plus. you may wonder what america has after it's super. it goes super plus and then ultra. only in america do we have the ultratampon!
so what do you think? do germans bleed more than americans, that their light days are our super days? or do you think we have taken super sizing to such an exreme that we can't even talk about TAMPONS in rational terms?
if i was mimi smartypants, i would sign off here in a clever way referencing the vanity sizing of everything an american woman wears.
what do you want from america? i want german tampons. i want, to be precice, o.b.leichte tage comfort tampons. the blue ones. they're perfect. i mix an match a box of american pink ones and a box of german blue ones and i'm good to go. except- 2.5 years after my last german stockkpiling i'm running low. and i've been trolling the internet trying to find an acceptable u.s. substitute. and, well, there's good news and bad news.
the bad news is there is nothing that looks similar and easily accessable.
the good news is, it looks like they've discontinued the stupid nasty silk ease in favor of something pro-comfort. i am FACINATED by what this says about the influence of america. once you bring the product here, just comfort isn't good enough. it has to be PRO. and then there's the size comparison. america's all clinical about it, giving absorbency in grams. in german, they just have little raindrops. but the names! the smallest ones in both contries are pink. but in germany they're called minis, and in america, they're regular. the next size up in germany are the ones i like, the light days. in america the next ones are super. no way do i need SUPER. or maybe that's the german influence, because the next two sizes in germany are normal and super, then there's also a super plus. you may wonder what america has after it's super. it goes super plus and then ultra. only in america do we have the ultratampon!
so what do you think? do germans bleed more than americans, that their light days are our super days? or do you think we have taken super sizing to such an exreme that we can't even talk about TAMPONS in rational terms?
if i was mimi smartypants, i would sign off here in a clever way referencing the vanity sizing of everything an american woman wears.
27.6.07
you should be glad you're reading this....
and not actually talking to me, because that would involve smelling my breath, and whew are these garlic scapes stronger this week than they were to weeks ago. i was going to mix up som dakon, garlic scapes, fresh herbs and goat cheese for dinner, but after trying the burning, burning dakon and the inedible garlic, i sauted them first. still good, still a lot of bite though. are you all interested in what my share contains and what i do with it? or can you read that over at pesky mac more regularly and in more detail? let me know what you like, oh faithful blog readers, and i will be glad to acquiesce. or however it's spelled.
anyway, until i hear otherwise, i have still left to use:
half a dakon
4 garlic scapes
a bag of spinach
a head of green leaf lettuce
2 small heads of broccoli
1/2 pint of cherries
i think i'm going to saute the scapes and broccoli and have them with cashew ginger sauce tomorrow, and chop up the spinach with a tomato and maybe some chickpeas and chana masala spices, or perhaps more goat cheese, tonight. i WISH i could think of something to do with that damn lettuce. i fed last week's to the worms, too. i just am not a big salad person. and it goes limp so very very fast.
anyway, until i hear otherwise, i have still left to use:
half a dakon
4 garlic scapes
a bag of spinach
a head of green leaf lettuce
2 small heads of broccoli
1/2 pint of cherries
i think i'm going to saute the scapes and broccoli and have them with cashew ginger sauce tomorrow, and chop up the spinach with a tomato and maybe some chickpeas and chana masala spices, or perhaps more goat cheese, tonight. i WISH i could think of something to do with that damn lettuce. i fed last week's to the worms, too. i just am not a big salad person. and it goes limp so very very fast.
30.5.07
inspiration
so was going to waste more time on the internet, but read an article about khipu in my wired magazine (facinating, just facinating) and now i'm going to macrame a little cage for my pothos to hang in my bathtub, instead.
big solutions for small lifestyles
so all sorts of green stuff is all about how small lifestyle changes can make a big impact on your life. and i'm sure there are lots of people that that is true for. but even with all the changes i make, nothing will make a big impact on my life, and that is because: i have a very small life. for instance: changing all the lightbulbs in my house to CFs will decrease my energy bills by 10%! well, that's wonderful. but the thing is, i only have (let me take a moment to go count them) 11 lightbulbs in my house. not counting the flurecent over the sink or the sewing machine lightbulb which is is like a christmas light. ten percent of my energy bill works out to like a buck fifty.
i'm getting frustrated by the green movement for two reasons right now.
1. suddenly it's trendy. not that that's a bad thing in itself, i want green to be important to everyone. but now it's this catchphrase, and instead of transforming popular culture, popular culture is transforming it. it's similar to how i feel about the beer companies cashing into the gays. i don't like to think gay liberation was about freeing us to be trapped into the same gender cliches the straights are. i'm not saying it well- i don't want to be free and accepted in their society- i want my own society. but this blog ISN'T about gay liberation. it's about ecological living. and i hate how the way to solve problems here in america is to buy things. and it seems to me that that's what the green movement is all about- buy the right cleaning supplies and the right vegetables and the right building materials for your house. buying bono's hip and trendy $50 t-shirt may be marketed as green, but you're probably gonna make more of an impact shopping at the brown elephant. i'm just saying. the thing i keep chanting is the fourth R. i read it on recycling chicago's web site, and i love it. people are all about recycling. but before you do that, you should make sure you can't reuse it for something else. and rather than have stuff around you have to reuse, you should reduce your consumption in the first place. but there's a new one! the whole thing should start out with RESIST! don't give into the temptation to get the newest, biggest, greenest thing! isn't that clever and inspiring?
2. i'm feeling, as i said at the begining, trapped by my small lifestyle. i feel like i've made all the little changes there are to make, and the big ones just aren't applicable to me. renting in the city. i am sick of being told how to save my grey water. no one has given me a useful thing to do with my greywater! my garden is aprox. 10 cubic feet of dirt. i am not going to be able to use all my greywater for "landscaping"! and i don't think my landlord would take very kindly to hooking my sink up to my toilet. i'm not going to buy a more energy efficient car, because i don't drive a car. i'm not going to build a more energy efficent house, because i'm not going to buy a house. i feel like there's no middle ground for people like me. you're either a "cloth napkin using, canvas bag carrying" hippie, or you're a "solar panel building, composting toilet owning, prius driving" organic gardner. i think that'w why i love my worms so much. cause they're something that's been adapted to my lifestyle.
here's what i really want: now that i've found a way to compost, i want a way to make my own energy. sure, i use rechargeable batteries. but there's that annoying sattelite dish the downstairs neighbors used to have. why can't i get a little solar blanket or something i can just plug into an outlet and throw over the balcony? why don't they make portable turbines, like box fans, i can set in my window? i've SEEN solar powered ipod chargers. you just unfold their little plates, plug in your ipod and set it in the sun. and there is a new messenger bag with a solar panel you can plug your ipod or phone into. i want some sort of gadget i can pull out of the closet, plug into my outlet, set the back weel of my bicycle into, and ride away the energy my computer's used today. especially in chicago, where 80% of our energy is nuclear, and the rest is coal. cause i realy use so little energy. it would be awesome to be able to make up for that.
i'm getting frustrated by the green movement for two reasons right now.
1. suddenly it's trendy. not that that's a bad thing in itself, i want green to be important to everyone. but now it's this catchphrase, and instead of transforming popular culture, popular culture is transforming it. it's similar to how i feel about the beer companies cashing into the gays. i don't like to think gay liberation was about freeing us to be trapped into the same gender cliches the straights are. i'm not saying it well- i don't want to be free and accepted in their society- i want my own society. but this blog ISN'T about gay liberation. it's about ecological living. and i hate how the way to solve problems here in america is to buy things. and it seems to me that that's what the green movement is all about- buy the right cleaning supplies and the right vegetables and the right building materials for your house. buying bono's hip and trendy $50 t-shirt may be marketed as green, but you're probably gonna make more of an impact shopping at the brown elephant. i'm just saying. the thing i keep chanting is the fourth R. i read it on recycling chicago's web site, and i love it. people are all about recycling. but before you do that, you should make sure you can't reuse it for something else. and rather than have stuff around you have to reuse, you should reduce your consumption in the first place. but there's a new one! the whole thing should start out with RESIST! don't give into the temptation to get the newest, biggest, greenest thing! isn't that clever and inspiring?
2. i'm feeling, as i said at the begining, trapped by my small lifestyle. i feel like i've made all the little changes there are to make, and the big ones just aren't applicable to me. renting in the city. i am sick of being told how to save my grey water. no one has given me a useful thing to do with my greywater! my garden is aprox. 10 cubic feet of dirt. i am not going to be able to use all my greywater for "landscaping"! and i don't think my landlord would take very kindly to hooking my sink up to my toilet. i'm not going to buy a more energy efficient car, because i don't drive a car. i'm not going to build a more energy efficent house, because i'm not going to buy a house. i feel like there's no middle ground for people like me. you're either a "cloth napkin using, canvas bag carrying" hippie, or you're a "solar panel building, composting toilet owning, prius driving" organic gardner. i think that'w why i love my worms so much. cause they're something that's been adapted to my lifestyle.
here's what i really want: now that i've found a way to compost, i want a way to make my own energy. sure, i use rechargeable batteries. but there's that annoying sattelite dish the downstairs neighbors used to have. why can't i get a little solar blanket or something i can just plug into an outlet and throw over the balcony? why don't they make portable turbines, like box fans, i can set in my window? i've SEEN solar powered ipod chargers. you just unfold their little plates, plug in your ipod and set it in the sun. and there is a new messenger bag with a solar panel you can plug your ipod or phone into. i want some sort of gadget i can pull out of the closet, plug into my outlet, set the back weel of my bicycle into, and ride away the energy my computer's used today. especially in chicago, where 80% of our energy is nuclear, and the rest is coal. cause i realy use so little energy. it would be awesome to be able to make up for that.
24.5.07
more vegetables!
i ordered extra stuff this week in order to have a small dinner party this weekend. the hot delivery chick hauled it up the stairs and took the crate back, so i don't have to store it in my kitchen all week. she just handed me the big bag of veggies to explode all over my kitchen table. i got asparagus, a kiwi, goat cheese, honey. my regular mix included spinach, salad mix, saute greens (i think they're collard) pink pink radishes, cilantro and bright rhubarb. their strawberries didn't come in, so they sent me 2 boxes of blackberries- free! i'd gone to the the grocery store yesterday to buy more bagles, and i ended up buying yoguhrt and granola as well, cause it's a better hot-season breakfast. a nice change. and i bought a great big bag of cherries, because i was hearing the berry siren song. and the cherries came in bigger bags than blueberries or blackberries or raspberries. they're a bit early, and so are alternately crunchy or sour, but they are beautiful in the blue colander.
MY REFRIGERATOR IS FULL OF BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY, YUMMY THINGS! i wish so many of you could come over and help me eat them all.
MY REFRIGERATOR IS FULL OF BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY, YUMMY THINGS! i wish so many of you could come over and help me eat them all.
18.5.07
say goodbye..
i've been trying. but it's so hard. but i got a forward from my GRANDFATHER. so now i'm doing it. that bag of minatures in my freezer is the last one. no more hershey's for me. it will be replaced with worse tasting, 4 times the price fair trade chocolate that hasn't closed plants in PA and exported jobs to third world countries, while enslaving african cocoa harvesters with unfair wages. goodbye. goodbye to 5th Avenue, Alaternatives, Almond Joy, Breath Savers, Candy, Caramello, Care*Free, Chipits, Chipits baking chocolate, Fast Break, Fruit Stripe, Glosette, Good & Plenty, Gum and mints, Heath, Hershey's, Jolly Rancher, Kit Kat, Krackel, Milk Duds, Mounds, Mounds coconut flakes, Mr. GoodBar, Oh Henry, PayDay, Peln Pelo Rico, Reese's, Rolo, Skor, Special Dark, Twizzlers, Visconti, Whatchamacallit, Whoppers, York, York Bites, York cookies, York Swoops, Zagnut, Zero.
can you believe it? tv- easy. wal-mart- not even noticeable in chicago. meat- never really liked the stuff anyway. but giving up hershey's chocolate's perhaps the hardest boycott i've ever done.
can you believe it? tv- easy. wal-mart- not even noticeable in chicago. meat- never really liked the stuff anyway. but giving up hershey's chocolate's perhaps the hardest boycott i've ever done.
16.5.07
empty landfill
so my trash situation is kinda crazy. i produce about 1 shopping bag worth of trash per week- and it's clean and lightweight, mostly fabric scraps and packaging like tetra-pak or saran wrap. (also, oddly enough, junk mail and catalogs. i have such a problem sorting. i don't know why there's such a mental block for me to recycle them, but there just is.) there is nothing "ew" about it all piling up stinkly till i can walk to the dumpster, and this makes me so happy. there are three major reasons for this:
1. d and i drop off our recycling at the city of chicago's bins- it's easy to do, but has a better chance of being recycled than blue bags mixed in with the trash. also, they accept plastics 1-5.
2. the worms. anything icky, slimy, stinky, mushy- it all goes in the worm bin. the really gross stuff in my kitchen trash was organic, so as long as it doesn't weigh more than a pound or so, it's safe to just clean out my refrigerator into that little black box. i tested it with a whole container of cheezy pasta primavera i made secretary's week- and ended up carrying around with me for 48 hrs. it was about a pound and a half and was pretty nasty smelling before i buried it. i was sure it was going to stink up my kitchen, but for a day or two it just smelled earthy- a good dirt smell, not disgusting at all. then it got this huge black mold on top. then it dissapeared. horray for the wormies!
3. flushable. cat. litter. best idea ever. i think i'd probably use it even if it was WORSE for the environment, i'm such a fan.
1. d and i drop off our recycling at the city of chicago's bins- it's easy to do, but has a better chance of being recycled than blue bags mixed in with the trash. also, they accept plastics 1-5.
2. the worms. anything icky, slimy, stinky, mushy- it all goes in the worm bin. the really gross stuff in my kitchen trash was organic, so as long as it doesn't weigh more than a pound or so, it's safe to just clean out my refrigerator into that little black box. i tested it with a whole container of cheezy pasta primavera i made secretary's week- and ended up carrying around with me for 48 hrs. it was about a pound and a half and was pretty nasty smelling before i buried it. i was sure it was going to stink up my kitchen, but for a day or two it just smelled earthy- a good dirt smell, not disgusting at all. then it got this huge black mold on top. then it dissapeared. horray for the wormies!
3. flushable. cat. litter. best idea ever. i think i'd probably use it even if it was WORSE for the environment, i'm such a fan.
8.5.07
scented world
this weekend: magic. lilacs bloomed, suddenly, bursts of purple across chicago, on what were once merely newly green bushes. walking to work this morning i walked under a glowing pink tree, some sort of flowering branch dripped a delicate rain of petals when the wind blew. ch bought an herb hanging basket from our wholesalers last year, and loved it. he got it again this year, but alas he has no outside space. so i brought it home, and hung it from my balcony. chewing delicately on leaves. it has lemon thyme, lemon balm, peppermint, pineapple mint, and lavender. it is green and sweet smelling and fills me with joy, like the rest of chicago these beautiful days.
21.4.07
important people, greenness
d and i went down to mccormick place for the green festival today. it was lots of fun, free samples of everyone's favourite whole foods brands. fantastic foods, seventh generation, trillium organics, fun fun fun. d and i were very impressed with the swheat scoop demonstration. i heard mayor daley speak, and so that was my first celebrity citing for the day. we took our canvas reader bags full of all our free samples and headed to d's square dance class on the bus. as we were going up clark street we saw a filming, and we figured out it was for er when we saw john stamos. he waved to our bus!
after square dancing we argued over dinner, as usual, but i won and we went back to the ikosium kafe. i love that place. long live crepes! then we walked to the grocery store, and i bought liquor, brownie mix, and some of that wheat cat litter. as you can tell, it's going to be a fun night. i should sign off, so we can pop in the movie, while getting drunk and eating brownies....
after square dancing we argued over dinner, as usual, but i won and we went back to the ikosium kafe. i love that place. long live crepes! then we walked to the grocery store, and i bought liquor, brownie mix, and some of that wheat cat litter. as you can tell, it's going to be a fun night. i should sign off, so we can pop in the movie, while getting drunk and eating brownies....
15.4.07
missouri highlights
i feel like i kinda shorted you, so i guess i should write something about my reactions to mo. in general, i had a really good time. i loved st. louis. it was the cuteist little city. and i would have to say my fave part was the city museum. it was amazing. d and i had gone to the cathedral, which was amazing too, but i said to her, all that money and time that went into making that huge piece of art- i gotta say, i think jesus would be more impressed with sandwiches for the hungry or microloans for the poor than thousands of golden tessalae. i guess i found the grandeur kind of upsetting. but the city museum! it was such a labor of love, all this spectacular art made out of TRASH! industrial waste turned into jungle gym, and not just jungle gym but ART. it was wonderful and beautiful.
there were more mosaics there, but they were out of chipped tiles and old gears and plates from printing presses. and they were fish and dinosaurs instead of jesus. or teepees.
on the other side of the scale, waynesville was hard. i expected the children to be the diffucult part, but really i was fine with them. it was more the country that upset me. we didn't eat one meal but breakfast in the house, and so it was impossible for me to find a vegetable beyond onion rings or iceburg lettuce. i was so sick of fried foods, i never wanted to see another grilled cheese again. this made me grouchier than i would have otherwise been. i tried not to be whiny, because no one likes a vegetarian that makes her diet an ISSUE, but it's hard to be consistantly cheerful when you are being so poorly fed.
our second night there, i was really starting to feel the country closing in, and we were "going out" with arthena and tony. what do you want to do? they asked. what are our options? we replied. there's not alot to do for fun in waynesville. we ended up going to tony's mom's bar in devil's elbow to play pool. we pull up and there's a HUGE bald eagle painted on the side, with a flag painted in the middle. oh yeah. we go in and order drinks and arthena's joking with an oldtimer sititng at the bar and he starts heckling me about my pink hair. i'm like whatever and go to the bathroom, i hate drunk people. so we get our drinks and our pool table and everyone's apologizing and making excuses for this guy, and i'm like, please, they have old drunk guys in chicago, too. it's the general air that's hard for me to breathe. can we just let it go and not make me stick out any more than i already feel like i do? and d comes over to me and starts touching on me, what's the matter baby? we can leave soon. and i was SOOOOO uncomfortable. and i said, "please don't touch me here." she was of course hurt and we finished our drinks and our game and left. when she was so aloof in the car home, i started to cry and cry and cry, and she softened, and then we talked about it that night. she felt she had nothing to hide, and she doesn't care what anyone else thinks. i felt very very vulnurable. there was no public transportation to get me home if things got hairy. i wasn't a person to these strangers, i was just a symbol of all sorts of things they don't like or feel threatened by. there is so much hate out there. d said tony and arthena wouldn't let anything happen to us... but i guess i've seen too many movies and read too many books to take much comfort in that. (when i told christopher this story, he said, "girl, i've seen the laramie project!")
so that i can safely say was the low point of the trip. and even that had it's good moments- the music was FABULOUS, totally appropriate for the scene, these old old country songs back when contry had more in common with folk than pop. and it was totally the bar out of ani d's untouchable face, though i couldn't find any recognizable constellations when we were playing. and that one incident didn't color my whole trip- the joys of st. louis, and the b&b, and the brazillian restaurant, and the museums and the sightseeing overrulled it all. it rocked. i really love traveling with d. i wish real life was like that. coming home to reality is always so hard.
there were more mosaics there, but they were out of chipped tiles and old gears and plates from printing presses. and they were fish and dinosaurs instead of jesus. or teepees.
on the other side of the scale, waynesville was hard. i expected the children to be the diffucult part, but really i was fine with them. it was more the country that upset me. we didn't eat one meal but breakfast in the house, and so it was impossible for me to find a vegetable beyond onion rings or iceburg lettuce. i was so sick of fried foods, i never wanted to see another grilled cheese again. this made me grouchier than i would have otherwise been. i tried not to be whiny, because no one likes a vegetarian that makes her diet an ISSUE, but it's hard to be consistantly cheerful when you are being so poorly fed.
our second night there, i was really starting to feel the country closing in, and we were "going out" with arthena and tony. what do you want to do? they asked. what are our options? we replied. there's not alot to do for fun in waynesville. we ended up going to tony's mom's bar in devil's elbow to play pool. we pull up and there's a HUGE bald eagle painted on the side, with a flag painted in the middle. oh yeah. we go in and order drinks and arthena's joking with an oldtimer sititng at the bar and he starts heckling me about my pink hair. i'm like whatever and go to the bathroom, i hate drunk people. so we get our drinks and our pool table and everyone's apologizing and making excuses for this guy, and i'm like, please, they have old drunk guys in chicago, too. it's the general air that's hard for me to breathe. can we just let it go and not make me stick out any more than i already feel like i do? and d comes over to me and starts touching on me, what's the matter baby? we can leave soon. and i was SOOOOO uncomfortable. and i said, "please don't touch me here." she was of course hurt and we finished our drinks and our game and left. when she was so aloof in the car home, i started to cry and cry and cry, and she softened, and then we talked about it that night. she felt she had nothing to hide, and she doesn't care what anyone else thinks. i felt very very vulnurable. there was no public transportation to get me home if things got hairy. i wasn't a person to these strangers, i was just a symbol of all sorts of things they don't like or feel threatened by. there is so much hate out there. d said tony and arthena wouldn't let anything happen to us... but i guess i've seen too many movies and read too many books to take much comfort in that. (when i told christopher this story, he said, "girl, i've seen the laramie project!")
so that i can safely say was the low point of the trip. and even that had it's good moments- the music was FABULOUS, totally appropriate for the scene, these old old country songs back when contry had more in common with folk than pop. and it was totally the bar out of ani d's untouchable face, though i couldn't find any recognizable constellations when we were playing. and that one incident didn't color my whole trip- the joys of st. louis, and the b&b, and the brazillian restaurant, and the museums and the sightseeing overrulled it all. it rocked. i really love traveling with d. i wish real life was like that. coming home to reality is always so hard.
29.3.07
worms and filming
first, worm pics are here:
second, i signed on to do the movie. 5 weeks of my life this summer = gone. poof, just like that. poor ch. i wish i could make a movie and work at the flowershop at the same time. but it can't happen.
second, i signed on to do the movie. 5 weeks of my life this summer = gone. poof, just like that. poor ch. i wish i could make a movie and work at the flowershop at the same time. but it can't happen.
28.3.07
grüncait
don't know why i'm feeling so green lately. on monday ch and i were watching the news cause we've beat all his fun video games, and they were talking about ethanol and it was the most depressing stuff ever. what can one do? we are destroying the planet and all our efforts amount to nothing and corporations are evil and i can't believe i let my girlfriend drive me everywhere. no more, i tell you! then i got a catolog for the green festival chicago and i think i might go. a good way to celebrate earth day, it's cheap, esp. via cta, and looks really interesting. and then, yesterday my vermicomposting bin came!
we shall see how it goes. i had to rip up 5 lbs of newspaper for their bedding. you can't believe how much newspaper 5lbs is. it takes a long time to rip into strips. i'm still a bit short, but i'm sure it's not an exact science. i'm all ready to mix it up now- i have to do it tonight because my worms came today (shipped separately to give you a day or two to set up the box) and i don't want to leave them in their priority mail packaging any longer than necessary!
we shall see how it goes. i had to rip up 5 lbs of newspaper for their bedding. you can't believe how much newspaper 5lbs is. it takes a long time to rip into strips. i'm still a bit short, but i'm sure it's not an exact science. i'm all ready to mix it up now- i have to do it tonight because my worms came today (shipped separately to give you a day or two to set up the box) and i don't want to leave them in their priority mail packaging any longer than necessary!
23.3.07
plans for august
went up to the bank today. opened a new savings account. it's called a goal-saver- it's like a christmas account, but instead of getting your money at christmas, you get it when you reach a goal. so i set my goal at the ticket price for the michigan womyn's music festival. they just posted the scedule, and it makes me really excited for summer.
and because i'm too lazy to email right now- liz: thank you SO MUCH for the comments! someone so kind and caring to me MUST be addressed as a friend, regardless of if we've ever spent any time together outside of party setting. coffee= yes, sewing lessons = yes, and i would even love some ex advice, although i'd be glad to wait a week or two if you want to be fully obnoxious. cause sometimes i really like obnoxious.
and because i'm too lazy to email right now- liz: thank you SO MUCH for the comments! someone so kind and caring to me MUST be addressed as a friend, regardless of if we've ever spent any time together outside of party setting. coffee= yes, sewing lessons = yes, and i would even love some ex advice, although i'd be glad to wait a week or two if you want to be fully obnoxious. cause sometimes i really like obnoxious.
19.2.07
overwhelming
liz's last comment was so right on about the suburbs. it was said so nicely in such an understanding way, and i'm glad someone could present it sensibly, because i can't, i am so violently opposed to the suburbs. it's all about the sameness to me. i guess i should look at it as merely underwhelming. but i want to live my life in a state of overwhelm, i guess. no, it's not overwhelm as much as hyperexposure. i want to experience it all, do everything, make all the choices, in color. i want to see the details in the shadows when the sunlight glows so bright it bleeds into the dark areas of the photograph.
i really think all the choices i have are a blessing, not something to be taken for granted. as a rich american, i have so many options, and one of the things i hate most about walmart is how they take options away from people. why do so many people feel they have to go to walmart? why is there no where else in all of small town america to shop? why are we so focused on shopping, anyway?
but when i shop, i want to be able to buy my produce at devon market, buy my clothes at ragstock, buy my camera parts at central camera. the idea of texting my sister in north carolina about what to eat at ruby tuesdays in illinois because she worked at one in new york... it's novel for me, but it's less fun when i realize people live their whole lives like this. i need to remember that simple is comfortable for most of the country, that fewer choices is calming, healthy, that neutral colored wall treatments feel cozy.
actually, another insult that sticks with me was from a member of my old church who came into my wonderful homey apartment and very politely said, "you LIVE here? i couldn't do it, it's too much, i'd be overstimulated." i guess if i expect her to understand how my barrage of color makes me soothed, happy and content, i should understand how her blandness does the same to her.
i'm not changing, though. and you still shouldn't shop at walmart.
i really think all the choices i have are a blessing, not something to be taken for granted. as a rich american, i have so many options, and one of the things i hate most about walmart is how they take options away from people. why do so many people feel they have to go to walmart? why is there no where else in all of small town america to shop? why are we so focused on shopping, anyway?
but when i shop, i want to be able to buy my produce at devon market, buy my clothes at ragstock, buy my camera parts at central camera. the idea of texting my sister in north carolina about what to eat at ruby tuesdays in illinois because she worked at one in new york... it's novel for me, but it's less fun when i realize people live their whole lives like this. i need to remember that simple is comfortable for most of the country, that fewer choices is calming, healthy, that neutral colored wall treatments feel cozy.
actually, another insult that sticks with me was from a member of my old church who came into my wonderful homey apartment and very politely said, "you LIVE here? i couldn't do it, it's too much, i'd be overstimulated." i guess if i expect her to understand how my barrage of color makes me soothed, happy and content, i should understand how her blandness does the same to her.
i'm not changing, though. and you still shouldn't shop at walmart.
22.1.07
two posts in as many days
lucky you! who would have thought it. just like old times. kind of. mondays are hard when i end up posting on sundays. i guess i did a few things last night. watched igby goes down. packed for d's and realized i needed to fix and print this year's vday price list. printer was spitting out blank sheets of paper so had to trouble shoot that. also, had to load ch's 3 new cds on the computer. they are supremely fabulous:
1. dixie chicks, long way around
2. birdy busch, the ways we try
3. the cardigans, super extra gravity
they are great individually, and as a group. aosl i would like to voice my extreme disapointment in wxpn's top 50. i know i didn't vote, but i don't even live in philadelphia. come on, you people! maybe despite our differences doesn't deserve a place in the top 50, but how can you NOT vote for that AMAZING new shawn colvin album, these four walls? it's rather exquisite. thank goodness taking the long way around was on there, or heads would roll.
anyway, after that i did make it to d's house in time for the L word. well, not really, but she tivo'ed it. no, don't ask me why she still has tivo and cable and a cable modem when she can't make rent. it's not my household, none of my buisness. anyway, we had to stop at home depot first, because you know she has a car and i wanted to go specifically to a superstore so that i could get more wackeys. well, they were out of the size keys i need for my front door, so the whole venture was pretty useless. i just go to my local hardware store down the street- they can always hook me up.
also got some hippie stuff at the home depot- there was an article in the newspaper about greening your home and i'm making some changes. i know that the only way to acomplish anything is through small changes. but caitlin, you say, i thought you were already a crazy hippie doing everything you could to be eco-friendly in your little apartment! and it's true, i've already made a whole collection of small life changes, but there is always SOMETHING else you can do. so i'm going to
1. find out more about more reliable recycling (cause i don't trust the blue bag program) i need to ask about the health food store- i heard they recycle cardboard... and then there's the whole girlfriend-with-a-car thing, who can drive me to a different drop off spot. horray! AND coming up is the famous first saturday of the month, when the electronics and household chemicals disposal site is open and i can finally get rid of that FUCKING printer.
2. turn off my powerbars at bedtime. i don't think i can be bothered to unplug my phone charger because i keep it under my bed, but every other little black box i'm going to start turning off when not in use. i'll occasionaly leave my computer on overnight so it can do it's stupid update thing, but my modem will actually last LONGER if i turn it off every night, the newspaper said. i tried this before and gave up after a week of pushing down my bagel and having it never get hot and pop up, so we'll try again, slightly more awake.
3. at the home depot, i also bought 4 compact florecent lightbulbs. i have always been torn about them, cause they use so little energy and last so long... but the light they give off is so UGLY. i find it to have a grocery store quality, and their attempts to make it more "incandecent like" just make it yellowy grocery store. it's just not a warm, comfortable glow like incandescent lightbulbs. but i decided change starts small and so i bought a 4 pack dirt cheap, and i replaced them in my overhead light, which i rarely use. just for cutting out patterns or displaying work or other activities where direct bright light is needed. and i had a pleasant suprise when i put them in tonight- not only are the combined 56 watts from the four flurecents twice as bright as my two old 60s, but the light is actually quite nice. i got the "soft white" in the yellow spectrum of their little scale, and i'm very pleased with the light quality. so perhaps someday i'll actually replace bulbs i use on a regular basis.
ANYWAY, all that to say, after the depot we watched the L word, and i'm starting to be able to keep the characters straight and form opinions about them. went to bed, went to work, went to square dancing. ate the last of my chillean squash cassarole for lunch and my delicious mujahdrah for dinner. must post recipies, photos sometime. soon, baby, soon.
1. dixie chicks, long way around
2. birdy busch, the ways we try
3. the cardigans, super extra gravity
they are great individually, and as a group. aosl i would like to voice my extreme disapointment in wxpn's top 50. i know i didn't vote, but i don't even live in philadelphia. come on, you people! maybe despite our differences doesn't deserve a place in the top 50, but how can you NOT vote for that AMAZING new shawn colvin album, these four walls? it's rather exquisite. thank goodness taking the long way around was on there, or heads would roll.
anyway, after that i did make it to d's house in time for the L word. well, not really, but she tivo'ed it. no, don't ask me why she still has tivo and cable and a cable modem when she can't make rent. it's not my household, none of my buisness. anyway, we had to stop at home depot first, because you know she has a car and i wanted to go specifically to a superstore so that i could get more wackeys. well, they were out of the size keys i need for my front door, so the whole venture was pretty useless. i just go to my local hardware store down the street- they can always hook me up.
also got some hippie stuff at the home depot- there was an article in the newspaper about greening your home and i'm making some changes. i know that the only way to acomplish anything is through small changes. but caitlin, you say, i thought you were already a crazy hippie doing everything you could to be eco-friendly in your little apartment! and it's true, i've already made a whole collection of small life changes, but there is always SOMETHING else you can do. so i'm going to
1. find out more about more reliable recycling (cause i don't trust the blue bag program) i need to ask about the health food store- i heard they recycle cardboard... and then there's the whole girlfriend-with-a-car thing, who can drive me to a different drop off spot. horray! AND coming up is the famous first saturday of the month, when the electronics and household chemicals disposal site is open and i can finally get rid of that FUCKING printer.
2. turn off my powerbars at bedtime. i don't think i can be bothered to unplug my phone charger because i keep it under my bed, but every other little black box i'm going to start turning off when not in use. i'll occasionaly leave my computer on overnight so it can do it's stupid update thing, but my modem will actually last LONGER if i turn it off every night, the newspaper said. i tried this before and gave up after a week of pushing down my bagel and having it never get hot and pop up, so we'll try again, slightly more awake.
3. at the home depot, i also bought 4 compact florecent lightbulbs. i have always been torn about them, cause they use so little energy and last so long... but the light they give off is so UGLY. i find it to have a grocery store quality, and their attempts to make it more "incandecent like" just make it yellowy grocery store. it's just not a warm, comfortable glow like incandescent lightbulbs. but i decided change starts small and so i bought a 4 pack dirt cheap, and i replaced them in my overhead light, which i rarely use. just for cutting out patterns or displaying work or other activities where direct bright light is needed. and i had a pleasant suprise when i put them in tonight- not only are the combined 56 watts from the four flurecents twice as bright as my two old 60s, but the light is actually quite nice. i got the "soft white" in the yellow spectrum of their little scale, and i'm very pleased with the light quality. so perhaps someday i'll actually replace bulbs i use on a regular basis.
ANYWAY, all that to say, after the depot we watched the L word, and i'm starting to be able to keep the characters straight and form opinions about them. went to bed, went to work, went to square dancing. ate the last of my chillean squash cassarole for lunch and my delicious mujahdrah for dinner. must post recipies, photos sometime. soon, baby, soon.
9.10.06
contemplations from granville and broadway
1. when walking home from the train today, there was a big suv with a chick driving. the window was rolled down and "thoughts of you are picketing my mind, they refuse..." drifted out. i felt a bonding happened. but then she pulled off down broadway.
2. my absolute favorite mom-ism from this trip. we're leaving the trainstation, and she says to me, you know, the cta map always reminds me of a breast. the one with the suburbs on it? and i'm like- the train lines are the milk ducts? and she says, more like the loop is the nipple. ah yes. nancy katzen, ibclc.
2. my absolute favorite mom-ism from this trip. we're leaving the trainstation, and she says to me, you know, the cta map always reminds me of a breast. the one with the suburbs on it? and i'm like- the train lines are the milk ducts? and she says, more like the loop is the nipple. ah yes. nancy katzen, ibclc.
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