i'm thankful!

Wow, can you believe it’s thanksgiving tomorrow? Thanksgiving is late in the year, it’s when the holiday season kicks into high gear, when plants finally decide to put all growth on hold until next spring, when the weather becomes seriously colder, when animals start hibernating and we start cross country skiing….but it seems way to early for all of that. Where did the fall go?

Regardless, of where time went, or whether I am actually ready for winter to start descending, it is Thanks-giving, and so we should do just that. I’m thankful for so many things, it would be almost ridiculous to try and think of them all…. my family, my friends, the beauty of nature around me, the endless opportunities I’ve had in life and those that are on the horizon, the inner beauty of people I’ve come to know, my health and the health of my family and friends, the small joys in life, the big joys in life, the traveling I get to do, the love I am able to give and receive, the sacrifices people have made for me and my lifestyle, the satisfaction in the work I do and the landowners who make it possible, the hope that our generation has for the future, the earth and everything it makes possible…I could go on and on. Wow, you know, we really are very lucky people in this world. Not only in the physical needs sense, but the sense that we can so readily appreciate the small yet wonderful moments in life. Can you imagine life without being able to appreciate a little envelope of sea stones and shells? Or the words of a friend? Or sunsets over a desert/ocean? Or the plain old fact that HERE WE ARE!! That in and of itself is amazing!

cayons at their best

We left Friday morning and drove to just west of middle-of-nowhere-Utah. The drive was absolutely beautiful through canyons and red cliffs and over washes and, with the help of satellite radio, we had great bluegrass with us the whole way. We were on the trail by 1pm and hiked out over a flat, gently rolling red-sand area for a few miles and then dropped the 200 feet or so into The Canyon from the southern rim. The sandstone canyon twisted and turned and had all kinds of cool rock formations from lots of little holes, like swiss cheese, to big alcoves where we could climb up and sit, to super narrow slots, to wide open areas with different colors of sandstone marbled together. It’s simply amazing what wind and water can do to stone. I was in awe at every turn of the canyon floor. On our hike up the canyon we saw a beautiful panel of petroglyphs carved into a dark varnished area. After a few hours of hiking in the canyon we looked for a route up and out and found one out to the northern rim and by sunset we had found a perfect camping spot, on flat sandstone, facing south over a small tributary canyon and toward Jacob’s Chair (a tall red butte formation sticking up prominently up out of the desert.) After we found a water pocket and made dinner, we sat on the sandstone watching as the last light disappeared. Since it was nearly a new moon and there wasn’t an ounce of light pollution, the stars were absolutely gorgeous. I must have seen 7 shooting stars the hour we sat there.

After not a quite complete night’s sleep (I woke up at 2am and had to force myself out of my sleeping bag and all it’s warmness to go pee…not fun when it’s 20 degrees!) we were up with the sun and on to a whole day of exploring the canyon and it’s tributaries. We found some amazing slots which we had to wedge our way through, some lush seeps with fresh pools of water and fresh green plants, some more beautiful pictographs, and all kinds of rock formations. It was a perfect day, sunny and warm and still and we were wearing t-shirts. Mid afternoon we had to find a way out of the canyon toward camp….if we couldn’t find a way out it would have been a long 5 hours of backtracking to where we entered it. Luckily, with some scrambling, we made it out. Just then a little breeze picked up and one guy broke out his kite and we flew the kite and went looking for water pockets and arrowheads. A friend found ½ and arrowhead and another almost complete one. And it was another gorgeous night of shooting stars and coyotes howling and an owl hooting. It was surreal.

Sunday morning I woke up with ice on the end of my sleeping bag but as soon as the sun popped over the hill, it was gorgeous and warm. During breakfast a raven flew slowly overhead and we could hear every flap of its wings in the perfect stillness of the morning. Morning and late afternoon-evening are my favorite times of the day. That moment right before and right after the sun sets, that time between a warm glow and a dew setting. The colors can be so intense, the sounds sweet.

After some yoga on the edge of the canyon, I packed up and the three of us hiked in, down and then back out of the canyon …by then my feet had had it. So the last couple miles across the flatter stuff was a little more tedious but we made it to the car by 4 and decided to do the quick tour of Natural Bridges while we were driving by. The drive back toward Moab was gorgeous with the sun setting on Comb Ridge (a big sandstone ridge that runs north-south and so was brightly lit in reds and pinks during sunset), various mountain ranges, and all the buttes. I can’t even begin to describe how pretty it was. Wide open space, red buttes, snow capped mountains, sandstone formations, dark canyons cutting out from the road, all of these bathed in golden light changing to orangey then blushing rose then moving toward a deep red and eventually fading to lavender and blue-grey as the sun set. Sigh.

I still can’t believe how much beauty can be packed into such a few short days. Trips like that can sustain a person for a long time. I feel all rosy and happy and liberated inside. Mm.

somethings in life can make a big impression on a person. my heart goes out to all those whose family, and friends are on this site.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

ooh, vegan icecream for everyone!

so, i found a new site... and it's so delicious. recipes for vegan icecream. who doesn't love icecream (even in this very cold weather that seems to have decended on us...at least i've been scraping ice off my windows in the morning...i won't go on), and who doesn't love saving animals from some cruel fate, or saving resources and helping limit pollution and environmental destruction? well, now you can do all of that in one move... make VEGAN ICECREAM, it's fun, easy, simple, delicious and will make you feel good about it too!

thanks agnes!

http://veganicecream.blogspot.com/

plastic is everywhere (no #3 for me)

some of my pillows have plastic (poly-fil). my toothbrush is plastic. the liner of my soymilk container and the bag for my cereal is plastic. my fridge handle is plastic as are the tubes that deliver water to my sink. my shampoo bottles, my sneakers, my fleece coat, my hair band, my lunch container, my toilet, my earing backs, the coating in the inside of canned peaches, the handle on my teapot, my cell phone, my savings cards on my key chain...ok, and i still haven't even made it to work...nor left the house. that's a lot of plastic. and then you hear all this stuff about plastics off-gassing or breaking down and causing health problems. and stuff about recycling plastics. so here are the main kinds of plastics (taken from wikipedia.com):

1. PETE (PET): Polyethylene Terephthalate - Commonly found on: 2-liter soft drink bottles, cooking oil bottles, peanut butter jars.
2. HDPE: High Density Polyethylene - Commonly found on: detergent bottles, milk jugs.
3. PVC: Polyvinyl Chloride - Commonly found on: plastic pipes, outdoor furniture, shrink-wrap, water bottles, salad dressing and liquid detergent containers. (**AVOID # 3**)
4. LDPE: Low Density Polyethylene - Commonly found on: dry-cleaning bags, produce bags, trash can liners, food storage containers.
5. PP: Polypropylene - Commonly found on: bottle caps, drinking straws
6. PS: Polystyrene - Commonly found on: packaging pellets or "Styrofoam peanuts," cups, plastic tableware, meat trays, take-away food clamshell containers
7. OTHER: Other - This plastic category, as its name of "other" implies, is any plastic other than the named #1–#6, Commonly found on: certain kinds of food containers and Tupperware.

And here's a bit from Grist.org about which plastics to avoid. Most important thing: remember "no 3 for me."

Ask Umbra On which plastics to avoid

a hopeful american

well, i think the elections show that americans were/are ready for a change. hopefully (and i am a person eternally full of hope) it will be a swift change for the better. and hopefully the middleclass will be heard and minorities will be heard and women will be heard and the environment will be heard and scientists will be heard and people's hopes will be heard...though for any real change to occur it will require a lot of listening, not just hearing.

this is a great first step... here's to the red, white and blue and hope for something new! (and something green too!)

100 mile thanksgiving

i've been reading about the 100-mile diet. essentially the premise there is that there is a ton of energy used to transport mangoes to Colorado from Mexico, and bananas to california from Brazil and soy beans from Peru and rice from china and apples form New Zealand…When the average North American sits down to eat, each ingredient has typically travelled at least 1,500 miles....so the idea is, the more local food I eat the less of a negative impact I’ll have on the environment. Makes sense. And, the idea was implemented by a couple in BC who went on a 100mile diet for a year…(read their story here: http://100milediet.org/) So, that’s what Greg and I are going to try and do for Thanksgiving when i visit him. A 100 mile meal, meaning we’re going to try and use only foods that come from a 100 mile radius around Charlottesville. i'll report back on what we actually eat!

New Book: WorldChanging

oooh, cool. there's a new book comming out (or rather just out) called Worldchanging: A Users Guide for the 21st Century. The summary of the book states "From consumer consciousness to a new vision for industry; non-toxic homes to refugee shelters; microfinance to effective philanthropy; socially responsible investing to starting a green business; citizen media to human rights; ecological economics to climate change, this is the most comprehensive, cutting-edge overview to date of what's possible in the near future -- if we decide to make it so."

I think a lot of the information is taken from (and it is layed out based on) the WorldChaning website. it has 7 sections: stuff, shelter, cities, community, business, politics, and planet. i think i'll get it. adn hopefully i get a chance to read it relatively soon. after i finish Michael Polland's excellent, fact-packed, intersting, terrifying: Omnivores Dilema and a book called Becoming Vegan and the list of fun novels i want to read. Here's a link to the new book: WorldChanging

god will be mad at you if you mock the mormons

So, Tuesday was Halloween and my last ceramics class. Which was great adn we did a Raku firing. I was out of there around 9:30 and on my way home when Bryan called. He was out and he told me to come out to the bar when I got home. So at 10pm I was on my bike headed all 3 blocks to the bar. Everyone was already standing outside (the bar had closed) in their Halloween costumes, quite raucous and crazy. Then we all rode our bikes to another bar and danced and sang to the juke box. Finally a Mullet-man (I have no idea who he was) announced that Brad and Joey’s (whoever they are) bonfire was ready.

So everyone was back on their bikes, cruising the 1 mile to their house. It must have been quite the scene, 20 semi-drunk people, on bikes, in costume, at 10:30pm cruising down Main St of a very small town. On our way one girl had a very slow-motion fall onto the curb, but she got right up and said she was fine. When we got to the bonfire we all stood around chatting. It was fun to meet a whole bunch of new people, though I don’t know how many I’ll recognize in the daylight, with no costumes.

About ½ hour after being there, right as I was thinking of riding home, the Mullet-man was talking madly into his cell then he turned to me and asked “are you sober?” I was. “Can you drive?” Yes. So I was led upstairs to the bathroom where the girl who had fallen was sitting, having had the cut in her knee cleaned out, with 10 drunk people looking on. It was a huge 2 inch gash, that definitely needed stitches. A guy gave me the keys to his truck and me and this girl, whom I’d never met, and her friend all got in the truck and I drove them to the Fruita emergency room…all 6 blocks away. (By the way, the ironic thing: the girls were dressed as Mormons on their mission who had gotten into a biking accident…with the black pants, white shirts, ties, backpacks, helmets and bikes plus the fake blood and fake scars.)

So we get there and the nurses had kind of a hard time figuring out what had happened, but they actually thought it was funny. And they called the doctor, who had to come in from another town. In the mean time, the Guy-who’s-truck-we’d-borrowed shows up, having removed his fake boobs, eyelashes, and most of his girly makeup and he’s just standing there cracking jokes. And finally the doctor arrives….he had long red hair in a ponytail, a mustache, old jeans, cowboy-boots, and a flannel shirt (but, no, he was not in costume). What a hoot. After looking at the girl’s knee he said “ooh, I can see your patella.” Lovely.

Meanwhile Guy-who’s-car-we-borrowed is taking pictures of this whole thing. Then, as the stitches commenced (7 internal, 8 external), in walked my friend Bryan and our friend Milan…they’d ridden their bikes over and somehow managed to bring my bike too. So there we are, 6 folks in the emergency room (all but two in costume), with three nurses who are laughing and a cowboy doctor. They guys were blowing up gloves on their heads and playing eye test games, and just thinking everything was so funny. At that point, 1am, I decided I was pretty much done with all that. And I rode my bike the less than one block home and had a great night’s sleep. Just way too short.

And that story is why:
1. you shouldn’t go out when you have no plans to stay out late
2. you shouldn’t dress as a Mormon on a mission in a bike wreck, god will be mad at you…especially this close to Utah (if you are Mormon, don’t be insulted, it’s totally meant in jest.)
3. you shouldn’t drink and ride

back to the southeast: Part I, going to Atlanta

so i flew in to nashville on saturday and rented a car to drive down and visit some of my bestest friends in atlanta. if you've read this blog you know that i have some wonderful, wonderful friends and that some of them have had babies. and one couple lives in atlanta. and wehn i arrived (after a beautiful sunny drive) i hugged everybody and was immediately sat down to hold teh 3 month old penny rose on the back porch. she's absoluteley perfect and sweet and adorable. and the fact that her parents are so in love with her just makes me so happy...not that one would ever expect otherwise. i guess it is just such a very happy thing to see a family together like that.

and i was so lucky to have friends that all enjoy eachother enough to congregate in atlanta for a few days. 2 friends from durham drove down, afriend from dc came down, i have a few friends in atlanta and greg flew down as well. and it was so nice of my friends in atlanta to host us all, especially with the new baby and all. We just hung out and went out to eat and played with the baby and hiked a bit and had a generally lovely time enjoying each other’s company. It’s so wonderful to have friends like that! we didn't do anything crazy and yet i enjoyed every last second of it and was very sad to leave everyone.

back to the southeast: Part II, going to RALLY

Then Wednesday night Aileen and I went back to Nashville (a beautiful drive) for RALLY. That a great event!!!!!! I feel so rejuvenated (well not physically) and like I’ve made some great connections and expansions and learned a ton and had fun and all….the event had 2,000 land conservation people from through out the us…and a few from Canada.

When we got in Aileen and I went out to eat with my co-worker and Michelle and this guy Wes, from Seattle, who works for Jones & Jones ....they did the American Indian museum in dc.

Then Thursday it was an all day seminar on tax issues. And we went out again, this time with more young folks and we stayed out listening to music until 1:30 am.

Then it was up Friday morning to do field trip (biking, boating and hiking) from 8-5. It was beautiful though cold, and I met a lot of really cool people on the trip. (And the director of the land trust I worked for in NC was on it so that was fun.) Then it was off to the welcoming dinner. Lovely and all organic (impressive for a crowd of 2,000 attendees.) And the governor of TN, and Bill Mckibben spoke. Great talks. Though it lasted until 10 and which made us go out kind of late. I went out with a bunch of folks I knew from NC and a fellow-fellow and we went dancing at a great bar until 3:30. I had my "git r done" tank under my sweater, and since we were dancing the sweater came off and I met almost everyone in the bar because they loved my shirt....including the bass (the big one) player in the band who came up to me and talked to me later and asked if I’d stay later...but it was already 3:30...so, like no, though he was cute! Hah!

(A note on Nashville: not the best of cities but not the worst. Sections are rundown and sections are hopping. We mostly went out in the latter and there was live music in every single bar and no covers and bands played until 2:30 or 3! Awesome! Even though most of it is bluegrass or country. This in turn makes the town very country. Everyone wears wranglers and cowboy hats and boots and big blonde hair. A totally other world but a fun place for a few nights...not more!)

So then Saturday was 4 workshops (12 to choose from per session) and most of them were just great. And I met so many, many new people it was crazy. And it was good because I felt totally on this weekend, so I had no trouble about saying hi to people. Note here: on Saturday morning, from across the hall of this huge center I noticed this freaking adorable guy…I couldn’t help but look. But then he caught my eye and I kind of smiled and looked away. Too adorable for me. Though late in the afternoon we happened to be in the same workshop and I looked back at one point (not knowing he was there) and he looked directly at me. hm!

Then after a great day of meeting and greeting and learning and being exhausted, I went to the Duke reception for alumni that were attending the conference. Amazing how many of us there were! And it was fun to see everyone. So much so that we went out all together with a bunch of other NC folks. More live music…but I couldn’t stay out past 12 I was so tired.

Sunday it was up early again and workshops all day. And I saw cute guy briefly, once again from across the room. And I met a ton more people and ran into people from past lives (like my summer roommate from smith one year!! And a woman I had interviewed with for a job a few years back crazy what a small world it was. And a guy i had met on a raft trip back in grad school) The workshops were again very interesting. Though right before the last workshop of the day I got very tired. And I was walking up the spiral type stairs to my workshop and cute guy was walking down and we literally almost ran into each other and we just shook hands and introduced ourselves (he’s Dan) and chatted really briefly about what we do for work and ran off to our respective workshops. He had such a nice little twinkle about him I was kind of disappointed we’d only gotten to talk once and very briefly. (Though it was great that we did get to chat at all seeing as there were that many people at the conference.) Anyway.

After the last workshop it was out to dinner with some tax credit people in Denver (very fun loving) and then on to the closing reception which ran from 7:30-midnight at the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was fun with live music and we got to have the whole things to ourselves. (Though the country exhibits didn’t mean much to me) and more meet and greet and lots of desserts. And then I was just sitting there talking to some folks from Ontario and this older man comes up and asks which one of us two-steps. Of course none of us do …but he picks me out of the bunch and I had to have the first dance, on an empty dance floor, two-stepping with a guy I don’t know in front of hundreds of people. Possibly my worst nightmare! But it was actually fun and he was a good leader and everyone clapped when we were done. But my armpits were sweating. Anyway. So then more mingling.

Then around midnight the western slope Colorado folks were all leaving to go to another bar and Dan appears and says hi and we start talking and we ended up walking down to the river park just chatting and chatting and then went back to the bar and met up with my favorite Colorado folks and some fellow-fellows and other people out here. And we all were dancing like crazy until 2:30! Ahhh! Then we got kicked out of the bar and we al went next door to a bar that was open all night but Dan and I decided it was too loud and from 3-3:30am we just walked around Nashville and looked at the Capital and in old churches and just had a great time. He was such a very, very nice guy. Don’t worry, he knows about Greg and he has a relationship too, we were just having a wonderful time. And at 3:45 i got back to the hotel and I ran upstairs, finished packing, made sure Margie had all her stuff (she was a little tipsy still) and we checked out and were on our shuttle to the airport at 4. Then my plane was at 6. And i was back in Grand Junction by 10am and off to work.

Now that i have been rejuvenated with a couple good nights of rest, i can tackle the world of land conservation with great energy and enthusiasm for what i do. it was so wonderful to meet so many people whom are doing similar things across the nation, whom all have a love for their work and are so happy to talk about it. Rally!!

aspens

just a quick comment on this article that caught my attention. there is a buzz going around in various circles lately...what is happening to the aspen? why are they dying? is it global warming? drought? a disease? something else? no one seems to know. and that scares me a little...or saddens me? especially after having visited the mountians this weekend, and enjoyed the beautiful, huge, spans of golden aspen. Emblem of the West Is Dying, and No One Can Figure Out Why - New York Times

Colorado home-builder reflects on going green

having just been in aspen for a conference on open space, i found this interesting. (quick side note on aspen and open space, wow..those in Pitkin county sure can raise money to fund conservation easement acquisitions and open space. they are really doing well...but maybe they shoudl now work on smaller houses and more energy efficiency...a limit of 15,000 sq ft really doesn't seem like much of a compromise!)

anyway, this read: just a quick look into building a green home and the costs and compromises associated with it. and it's written with some sense of humor and the realization that, well, quite honestly, things just aren't perfect yet. maybe materials will be cheaper and more energy efficient and more sustainable and less toxic when i build my home. when. though i have designed it about 7 times. now i have to start thinking materials, location and efficiency. maybe that can wait...for another 8 years or so!
A Colorado home-builder reflects on his attempt to go green By Daniel A. Shaw

a weekend with my dearest

ooooo, i just had another great weekend with my dearest. he was here. and we went up to the mountains and went to a wedding party and danced and had the world's bubbliest bubble bath and hiked in the changing aspens and got snowed on and basked in eachother's company. this was the first time, in a while, that our visit was pretty much perfect. now i miss him more than ever. but: i get to see him again in less than 2 weeks. and i get to see some of my best friends in the whole world. it's weird that the people i feel closest to, are in fact, some of the furthest away. though i guess that really proves that we are great friends. i can't wait.

terrestrial planets

sometimes certain things just seem like such a mystery to me. yes, i've been to school and learned about the formation of the universe, the reason why we circle the sun, and the elements that make up the planets. however today i was struck by this picture. it shows the terrestrial, or inner planets: mercury, venus, earth and mars. and all of a sudden the earth looked so beautiful. and unique. and serene. how is this rock, with water all over the surface, going to support our exploitive life styles? sometimes i think we really need to step back, step way back in order to appreciate what we really have. all of a sudden that new pair of shoes or that extra-large serving at a fast food joint seem irrelevant. i'm guessing the earth will continue spinning far beyond the existence of humans. and i hope it's future inhabitants appreciate our planet and the rare beauty it contains.

get serious about reforming school lunches

this is my second post recently that concerns school lunches. they are atrocious. i read somewhere recently that prisoners eat better than kids who eat school lunches. well, that's just ducky. and now that school lunches have been corrupted (how many of us would eat smiley fries, pizza and jello everyother day o fthe week?), the corporations and our fed govt woudl like to start in on breakfast. with calims that kids don't eat breakfast anymore, they are trying to push school breakfasts of things like juice, pop tarts and god knows what else. don't get me wrong, i think kids should eat breakfast, but i'm not sure if sugar, grease and artificial color shoudl count. besides, once again it's just more money in the same ol' companies' pockets. damn it.
It's time to get serious about reforming school lunches By Tom Philpott Grist Victual Reality 06 Sep 2006

glimpses of my trip to india last summer

12 Great Places You've Never Heard Of

i just randomly looked at mother earth news today. and lo-and-behold, here's an story about new places to explore. and potentially to live. of course, since i am always dreaming of new places and perfect little towns i had to read it. and there it was, shining in all it's spelndor. the one and only gj. Inconceivable!!12 Great Places You've Never Heard Of

Grocery Warning

i've been wondering lately what this new "torula yeast" thing is. and i even went so far as to find who manufactures it and what it's derived from. of course their website is all clean and shiny with pictures of yummy looking food. well apparently it's like an MSG. great, and i thought it might be like nutritional yeast or something. here are some more things that are dangerous....
Grocery Warning: The Seven Most Dangerous Ingredients in Conventional Foods

Tord Boontje

i have a new love. Tord Boontje. he's a designer based in france, and his stuff is just....perfect. it's whimsical and forest-y and flowered and filled with a magical kind of spirit. and at the same time it's crisp and clean and modern. i want to meet him personally and say "tord, i think you have read my mind and created some pieces of art that fit my life, perfectly...now can you send me a set of your forest stories dinner plates for cheaper than $78 a set of two?" but really, quiet fun. just google him.

Pack a Lunch With Punch!...in the gut

i am very disappointed with PETA right now. sure i think they are a little extreme all the time, but they are PETA and that's what they do. but this has nothing to do with their splashing red paint on fur wearing celebrities or renouncing the use of glue on envelopes. this has to do with the health of our future. i agree that vegetarian diets are much better for our children than feeding kids (and ourselves) hamburgers and cheesy fries. however in an effort to appeal to the masses, i believe PETA has slightly lost sight of part of the point of abstaining form animal products. a large reason for abstaining is for health reasons. but on their veg cooking site, there are numerous rather unhealthy lunch suggestions for kids school lunches. amongst these are peanut butter slices (packaged like american cheese) and smuckers frozen pb&j sandwiches. these are neither healthy, nourishing, nor life giving foods. these are for lazy parents who don't have the 2.5 minutes to make a regular pb&j for their kids school lunches. i hope that PETA thinks more about the overall impact (on families, the environment and health) next time they come out with a list of vegetarian alternatives. let's look for overall healthier foods, not just convenient meat alternatives. to a longer healthier life...once again. VegCooking > Pack a Lunch With Punch!

you are what you eat

hmm, just the type of website i would be intersted in looking at. somebody (the folks at George Mateljan Foundation for the World's Healthiest Foods) took the time and effort to look at a bunch of different foods and determine their healthy-values. this is simply a list, not a ranking system. and i liek it that way. so instead of saying "oh, i need to eat more brocoli than spinach and more blueberries than peaches" you can simply try to stay with the foods on the list. and really, there are quite a lot so it's pretty simple. the website also has a link for every food, and the link tells you all about that food and it's benefits. more and more it appears we should just be eating simply. WHFoods: The World's Healthiest Foods List, A-Z

a whole week together

ooh, two weeks ago i got back from a trip out east. a whole week of vacation, and with my lover on top of that. It was beautiful and fun and we had a great time. (except for the beginning which was terrible...my flight out of Charlotte, NC to Portland, ME got delayed and once we got on the plane and were 1/2 way to Portland we had to turn around and go back to Charlotte due to bad weather. We got back at 2 am so I spent the night in the airport. bleh, but at least I made It to Maine on Sunday afternoon!) Sunday-Tuesday we went camping in Acadia national park. And i realized how much i miss the coast. and i found starfish in the tidal pools and watched the sunset in reverse and swam in the ocean. Then we went up to Baxter state park and climbed Mount Kathadin, Maine’s highest peak (also the end of the Appalachian trail.) It was such a hard hike, the ascent was so steep! Then it was on to the farm for Thursday-Sunday. We went to Québec city for a day and met up with my sisters and Emily’s boyfriend and they all came up to the farm for a couple days. damn, vacations are way to short.

and another

and i found out that penny rose has decided to finally show her beautiful face and arrived last saturday. wow!

having seen pictures nw, i must say they are both adorable. and perfectly formed. penny rose has an adorable, serne face and sonya has an alert look about her, like she might just start talking..and she's got great hair.

i am still trying to take in that two of my great friends are now mothers. now totally in a world apart. and yet very much themselves at the same time. i'm so happy for them. and curious about their lives now. and content in knowing that these two moms (and the dads) will do such a wonderful job. yay!!

a baby!

i just found out that the first of two babies due this week was born last night. sonya arrived, just under 8 lbs, and is doing fine. i am so happy for lisa and dave. how wonderful it must be to be holding your own little baby. a person who's life you created, and can now fill with lots of love. she is a blessed little girl.

perfection in a flower

here's a picture of the beautiful basin, looking out over the lakes above upper ice lake. near silverton. can i just say that the wildflowers were....perfect. absolutely, 100% perfect.

and below is a beautiful shot of a little strem trickling out of the mountains. the water was crystal clear and actually kind of blue. withe the hot pink flowers it was quite the contrast.

i just spent another beautiful weekend away. this time it was a backpack trip to the san juans. the place: ice lakes. the elevetiaon: 13,000+ feet. the company: bryan and nebe (the 10 week old puppy.) the weather: perfect, it only rained for 20 minutes when we set up the tent. the food: delicious pasta with fresh mushrooms, zuccini, tomatoes and cheese sauce (eaten with strips of cardboard as we'd forgotten utensils.) the views: spectacular, perfect peak wildflowers. the coldest part: skinny dipping in a crystal clear, turquoise, 6ft deep stream. the hardest part: well, not counting the vertical uphill hike with packs...leaving. and the best part: the fact that i just spent another beautiful and perfect weekend in good company and in a brand new breathtaking space. i love it here. and there. and all those palces i've never been.

start imagining a positive future

well, i do agree with Karen Hurley here. having been through grad school and studied all about the depletion of our natural resources, the declining biodiversity, the massive climactic shifts and the endless suburban sprawl, i know (as much as anyone in those classes) what a sad things we have done to our planet. and so many classes left it at that. a handful offered solutions such as "save the biodiversity hot spots," or "work on some open space planning" or "encourage recycling." however i never had a class or an "adult" really go into an entire course on how to envision our whole future. how can we make what we want happen. get rid of the doom and gloom. if it is really that gloomy why do people continue to make love and make babies. i think there is an innate hope in everyone, that yes, the future will be bright. there will be streams and nice neighbors and good things happening, and the underdog will come out and do something great, and the planet will still be here with the sun shining. we need to be positive thinkers, and incorporate that positive thinking into reality. because, as i have so often heard quoted, you create your own reality. and i have found that very true thus far. thanks karen!
Drop that apocalyptic vision and start imagining a positive future By Karen Hurley Grist Magazine Soapbox 11 Jul 2006

canoeing

just got back last night from a canoe trip down the colorado river. it was fiarly flat water, a few little rapidy things but nothing too crazy. bryan and i put in friday evening and had a leisurely trip down the first part of the river, between steep red canyon walls and green banks an dlots of little beavers swimming around. after setting up camp on a rocky ledege we took a skinny sip in the river, and it was pretty much dark at this point. and then spent a couple hours eating cherries and chatting about life and playing games until we were sleepy enough to actually go to bed. and we had a great night's sleep except for the puppy running through the tent all night and dragging things like giant sticks and muddy water bowls and our chacos across our faces and in the tent. and it rained for a good part of the night. which was lovely. i love the sound of the rain on a tent. and my new tent (msr hubba hubba) worked wonderfully. i highly recommend it. and rain in the desert is always special and welcomed with open arms. saturday we got up and packed the canoe back up and floated (with a tad bit of rowing) down the river to mee canyon. we stoped at the mouth of the canyon and set up camp, around 2...just in time for another deluge of rain. after naps and lunch we took a beautiful hike up the canyon. it smelled so wonderful and the birds all seemed to approve of the after rain afternoon. at dinner along the river we pretended to be in a french resturaunt and had more cherries and chcolate. and slept much better because the puppy was tired and slept. morning greeted us with a gray face again so we had a leisurely breakfast and took a lovely swim when the sunshine finally showed up. and packed up camp very slwoly and headed down the river even slower. we spent time chatting and meditating on the beauty of life and checking a gauge along the river and eating lunch and being in the hot sun and getting poured on and splashing eachother and taking swims and just enjoying our time. then, sadly the adventure came to an end. and we pulled out and packed it all up and drove home and said good bye. and i was greeted with the reality of dishes and the fact that my room smelled weird and the need for a shower. and the fact that i just spent another beautiful weekend, without my lover. but in two weeks it'll be all about us. together. arm in arm. face to face. lovely.

pandora

i know this has been out forever. i've been listening to pandora for awhile, but still..it's worth blogging about. how great! i've been exposed to lots of new music and new artists. much better thant the radio. and the ability to create and share stations. also good. woohoo! and it streams quite nicely. and no commercials. instead i'm practically like a commercail here. oh well, it's worth it! try it.. Pandora Internet Radio

bush's resume

strangely unsurprising and simultaneously terrifying. (not my happiest post.)

RESUME

grorge w. bush
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20520

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

LAW ENFORCEMENT
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days.

My Texas driving record has been lost and is not available.

MILITARY
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam

COLLEGE
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldnÂ’t find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.

With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry, including Enron CEO Ken Lay, I was elected governor of Texas.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS
I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union.

During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.

I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.

With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT
I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.

I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.

I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. History.

I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.

In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.

I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleezza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President. I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.

My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.

I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution.

More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip- offs in history.

I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.

I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.

I have broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.

I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. From the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law. I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).

I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.

I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protests against any person in the history of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families-in-wartime.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.

I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES
All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.

All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my ice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

I am a member of the Republican Party.

dream

My dreams lately have been crazy and yet about very powerful things...

I dreamt I was pregnant with two different people's babies, Greg's and my friend Chad’s . It was weird because there was no getting-pregnant part, there I was, just pregnant and in my dream that was just the way it worked. People just would get pregnant without “doing” anything. I was trying to figure out how to explain to Greg that I was also having Chad’s baby...but in retrospect I should have been trying to figure out WHY I was pregnant, especially with 2 babies of different fathers.

Then last night I had a dream I was getting married. (To this scrawny farmer-guy who was probably like 20 years old.) I was going over to the ceremony and freaked out and couldn't do it because I couldn't think of the guy's first name nor what his favorite color was, and because I had just walked by his car and he had cleaned it and there was a new vacuum in the back which I though was so sexist as I assumed he was going to make me vacuum. So I was crying because I felt so bad for going through all the wedding planning (it was really fun) and having my parent's pay for it all, and then I didn't get married. but luckily my parents had all these coupons and went and got all these refunds. Anyway.

I think these dreams are coming from the fact that so many of my friends are taking steps further in their relationships (Elena & Kevin, Jodie & Chris, Lesley & Robert (college friends), Kelly & Matt (friends here) and Rob & Sherry(my boss) are all planning their weddings and then Georgia, Lisa, and Roxanne with their babies… ) and I find it all very fascinating. (Could I also be perhaps just the tiniest, tiniest bit envious?) Anyway, the conclusion is, everyone who is having babies/planning weddings are much more successful at it than I am in my dreams!

healing foods website

hmmm. i came across this interesting website that has information on which foods and which herbs are helpful for disorders. all ypu do is click on your disorder, or search for it and the website brings up a list of food/plants that are helpful for your condition. i think it's great because so many things you cna actually help by the way you eat. however i also think that people have to be tuned into their body and aware of the "other" food they are putting in it. for example, are sunflower seeds really going to help your allergies if you are eating cups of milk/yogurt/cheese every day///probably not. but still, an overdue and intersting website: Healing foods reference database

maps

so i should, at some point, inform you of my great love of maps. i really do love them. one of my favorite things to do on any given lazy afternoon is to sit down with the road atlas and just look at it. follow roads through the mountains. imagine how the landscape might fold in a particular area. create an image of the beaches around an island in the middle of a lake. think about how the bright ball of fire might look, as you're driving into it, across a desolate highway. discovering all those places, that from a map can be anything you might imagine. i feel like an explorer looking at maps. maybe noone has been through this area, maybe it's filled with a great forest, maybe i'd see a moose just troddign along the road. maps make everythign so vast, so accesible, and yet so... for lack of a better phrse, mapped out. i have a brand-spanking new map of colorado to hang on my office wall. greg sent it to me. yay!

well, someone got a puppy

a friend called me at 3:30 on friday, asking if i could ditch out on work early...to ride with him 1.5 hours away to look at puppies. what girl doesn't want to go look at puppies? so i did. and he, of course, got one and came back with it. and i held it all the way home. she's an adorable smooth coated border collie. already loyal to him and even lets him know when she needs to pee.

but at the same time, damn, what a responsibility! but i guess the unconditional love of a puppy, really makes it all worth while. also it's a good thing for him. a good outlet for his own love. now if he would only choose a name for the adorbale little girl!

e-mails regarding the fine line

from my friend:

Tears of the evening.... I guess they're kind of building in both of us, and we've been slurping them back. I love your company ilana, perhaps too much. You're an amazing, vibrant, beautiful, and strong person. I see you as having a lot to impart as well as a lot to learn. As we started our true friendship, this is what made me excited about being around you. You're very different from companions of my past, breaking the mold soughta speak - one that i know needs to be broken. Your strength is the purity of your spirit. Honesty derived from a supportive family and a strong core. It's beautiful and refreshing for me to experience, and as equally hard to try and distance myself from. I would love more of those experiences like last weekend with you and I know there's room for many more. I am definitely at my best in beautiful places, they recharge my soul, and would look forward to sharing those moments with you. In order to do so, I think we have some figuring out to do.

from me:
You have such a great way of articulating things, and feelings, and just…stuff. I also love your company. I feel so comfortable with you, and we laugh a lot together and then can have a serious conversation about something in the next breath and then just not say anything at all for a long time. Your friendship has come to mean so much to me over the past few months. However somewhere in there I have let the line between true friendship and a glimpse of something else become blurred. But I take a lot of responsibility for it, because I am the one who has a boyfriend far away. I should be stronger and stand firmer. I should be thinking more about how my actions might harm the ones that I love. And for that I feel terrible. ... Like you were saying the other night, so much of a relationship is “this:” the being together and the looking at each other and the speaking closely. I don't want to encourgae you or give you the wrong ideas. And I think that’s why I cried last night.

I want to go to the mountains with you. And explore places I’ve never been. And spend time together like last weekend (it really was pretty perfect) But I also agree that we should do some figuring. Let’s lay it all out there and see where we are. I know we genuinely enjoy each other’s company, so let’s talk and just get on with enjoying it!

reply from him:
That was really nice - what you had to say, and what you feel. I'm right there with ya. So as we both agree that feelings are more apt to be shared than typed or jotted down, we'll share them together. And we are both good people, so we will not hurt anyone, and we will be the best of friends. It's a persons choice to make, have, and keep friends. I've always made the choice to be strong and keep a good friend, rather than be weak and lose them. Although I have not always had the same strength in return.

reply from me:
So yeah, I’m all about us chatting more. And “being best of friends.” I agree about hanging on and keeping good friends. You just have to do it when you find someone that is worth it. You can’t let good friends escape. So, no escaping.
-------------------------------

can friends, this close, and this willing to be friends work it out? i truly believe so. here's to true friendship. one that can transcend beyond the physical attraction that society seems to emphasize. to friendship that lasts, beyond all else, because you value each other.

if i were to get a dog, or when i'm 80

If I were to get a dog (of which there is a 1 in 32,915 chance that I would) I would get a Great Pyrenees or a New Foundland. But I wouldn’t have anywhere to put it and all my stuff would disappear under a layer of hair and slobber. Maybe when I move out to the country. With my lavender garden. And my green shingled house. And my purple bathtub with gold stars. When I am 80 and have long hair and many lovers.

Well, I think it’ll be a great life when I’m old. Perhaps you can come by every once in a while and can brush rosemary oil into my hair and give me haircuts. Though not above the shoulders. I’ll make you super nice salads with homemade dressings and goat cheese. (I forgot to mention I will also have a few goats.) And we’ll talk about the good ol’ days when kids listened to decent music like 50-cent and marilyn manson and they wore decent clothes like hip huggers and short tank tops and didn’t drink until they were old enough to drive. Yup. We’ll be pretty old then.

just another beautiful sunset...from march

time well spent.

so, I just had a great weekend. when i left work at 6pm on friday, people were still moving into our neww office, and I told them I was going camping and my boss told me I should have left earlier. so, i rushed home, threw my gear together and met my good friend Bryan at the grocery store parking lot, transferred my stuff to his car and we were off. We stopped at an outdoor concert up against the bookcliffs outside of town where we met up with 6 other folks. The concert was really fun and we were all dancing barefoot in the grass until 11pm. Then we were back in the car and drove south of here towards Gunnsion (we were supposed to meet up with Bryan’s friends for a rafting trip in central Colorado), finally at 1am we decided that was enough driving and we stopped to camp in a small canyon. our camp spot was right next to a creek and the stars were gorgeous. and we just laid there with our heads out of the tent, chatting and enjoying ht enight for almost an hour before falling asleep. when we got up early in the morning I realized I had camped there with my dad almost 10 years ago! we were out of camp by 7 and back on the road.

we got to the put in along the Arkansas River at 9, when we were supposed to meet. But folks were still straggling in, and by the time we ran the shuttle and got all the gear set up, we weren’t on the river until 11. Which was actually fine by me because it was finally warm by then. we ran Browns Canyon, a 12 mile stretch with class3-4 rapids but luckily it was running at only 1700 cfs, last week I guess it was at 3000 cfs. There were about 15 people in our group (only 3 of whom i'd met before), on 4 rubber rafts and 4 kayaks. For the most part they were all extreme boaters, so they put me (and Bryan) on a big rubber raft with this guy “Haus” who manned the huge raft all by himself. And we got to just sit there and chat and laugh and generally have a great time. It was so much FUN. The rapids weren’t too tough and nobody except one dog had to swim, and the sun was warm, and the company crazy but fun. I learned a ton about rafting and boating etiquette from just watching and listening. For example, most scary rapids are named things like Kevorkian’s rapid or Deatheater II; when you need to pee, you just drop the drawers and pee right into the river because it’s the high desert and you’re not supposed to pee on the sand; it is ok to start drinking at 10 am, drink all the way down the river, and keep drinking at camp until everyone goes to sleep. About the latter info there, I couldn’t believe people could drink that much! And no one acted drunk or anything. I guess if that’s what you do every weekend, you get pretty used to it. anyway, it was a fun trip.

After cooking up a ton of spaghetti we all played Frisbee and star gazed and (they) all exchanged crazy-extreme-boating stories and spent another beautiful night under the stars. (I have always wanted to hang out with extreme outdoors people because they fascinate me. But at the same time they intimidate me. After the first few hours they were all very friendly and when we left Sunday morning they all gave hugs and invited me to go out with them when ever again. Yay!)

Sunday morning Bryan and i took off on our own because folks were going to run another section of the river but weren’t going to be getting out until 6pm, meaning we wouldn’t get back home until after 10pm. So we drove through the mountains and after going over the continental divide we stopped for a hike up to an alpine lake. It was another beautiful day, and the spring had just set into the mountains. The first flowers were just popping up, and the streams were roaring the snow was melting like crazy. The lakes were gorgeous, though still had light blue ice floating in them. nothing like taking a nap, in the sun, on soft songy ground, in the middle of the mountians, with creeks gurgling and marmots squeaking. right before we hiked back down, we decided to take a quick dip. So, I almost died. It was so freaking cold!! I couldn’t make a noise for about 15 seconds after going under. But after running around the shore for a few minutes we air dried and warmed right up. Then we stopped for ice-cream in Aspen. (Which is such a strange place in and of itself) and we didn’t feel like we fit in, being all grubby and not wearing all black.

We were very sleepy on the ride home so had to listen to bad radio stations and sing along while driving into the hot sun towards Grand Junction. And I made it back to Fruita just in time to make sushi for Father’s Day and my sister made a cherry pie and that was the end of a great time.

(after re-reading this, i don't think i adequately expressed the happiness i had the whole trip, from the dancing, to stargazing, to rafting, to laughing, to hiking, ot just being with lovely people...my mouth hurt from smiling so much. there.)

oh, kids! we have to love them

i found this interesting website (bluebutterfly.org) yesterday when i was looking up, oh i can't even remember. anyway, it has good tips for making homes healthier for children, and i listed it at the bottom here. i think children are such an important part of life, and though i have yet to begun a family, i love them. two of my good friends are expecting in a month, which i think is super exciting, though extremely life changing. i remember when my (now 8 year old) brother was born. i was almost 17 at the time, and life became crazy around the house. and strangely quiet so early in the evenings, Mix 104.3 was off limits after 7pm. for teenagers, it was such a change, but we loved the little man. and of course, we still do. even better than a newborn!

he said the funniest thing to my mom. he was sitting in the garden just staring at a rose plant for 15 minutes. then my mom finally asked what he was doing. and he said "oh, just watching these two spiders. they are dating." my mom asked why he knew that. "oh, because they are holding hands, even their tiny little hands!" he said. kids are so funny, what they take in from the world, and then how they process those thoughts and then re-project them onto their surroundings. i hope my kids are just as cute as johnny. and smart and healthy and happy. a healthy environment is so important....

Blue Butterfly: Creating a Healthier Future for Children

What's a 100 mile diet?

wow, i found this to be a very interesting arcticle. and such a good idea at the same time. it's essentially the idea that you only eat food that comes from 100 miles from your home, thus eliminating the waste of resources getting the food from a farm to your plate. (like apples from new zealand...not that i've never had an apple form new zealand.) also things taste fresher and are much riper if they aren't from far away. and you are supporting more local farmers. yay! like the cherry orchard i was at this morning. our organization helped the landowners place a conservation easement on it, and we held a press release there today. damn, bing cherries sure taste great picked right off the tree!! i think i shoudl try this 100 mile diet thing. and what a better tiem to start, now. when the fruits are comming into season, the leafy greens are ready to eat and the farmer's markets are starting. first one tonight!
TIME: The Lure of the 100-Mile Diet -- Jun. 12, 2006

impromptu visits

there is nothing more exciting to me than having a friend randomly call me and say "i'm passing through the area, let's get together." and it's happened twice since i moved here!! my friend elizabeth from undergrad (it'd been 3 years) called in july and was taking a camping trip in the mountains. she came by with her boyfriend and we picked up right where we left off chatting and she ended up spending 2 days here. and then this morning i got a call from matt from grad school who was passing by on his way from san fran to dc. and we had lunch and great desserts goods from the bakery and chatted about all sorts of things. (the pic is of graduation, last time i saw matt before today.) yup, nothing better than an impromptu visit, especially when your friends are so awesome. so if you're in the area, give me a ring, stop by and we'll shoot the breeze. i love spontaneity!

love spanning the distance

so, an interesting question arose to me this weekend. can love span a distance, a really great distance? can my love grow so much that it actually reaches out and touches my guy who is 1973.9 miles (not that i'm counting) away? i sincerely believe that my love for him has exploded, it's grown exponentially, it's ginormous, just in the past couple months. it's gotten so big despite the fact that we only see each other every few months. the distance, i feel, has had no effect on my ever increasing love. when i think about him, my heart beats a little more heartily, when my microsoft outlook pops up an e-mail with his return address my hand reaches for the mouse, when i see his name on my cell phone i stop everything else and look forward to his sweet voice, and when i love him, i love him more and more.

i saw him this weekend. and while we were sitting at the edge of the river i found out that, well, apparently it's slightly different for him. he claims it's hard for his love to grow when we're so far apart. it tends to stay at the same level. i didn't understand so i cried. and my love keeps growing to try and span the distance between my heart and his.

back in the bubble

this past weekend i went back east to northampton, ma for my sister's graduation. since i went to smith as well, it was like a mini-reunion for me. it was so great. ivy day was gorgeous as usual, and i almost wished i worn all white and walked in the alumni parade. and we had some nice family time, wandering around in the botanic gardens where i used to work, walking in northampton (for which i renewed my true and undying love over a cup of chai at haymarket) and eating at one of my all time favorite mexican restaurants, la veracruzana. they even had a band playing that night, which i never see, but they were excellent. i also ran into a bunch of friends from college and chatted with some of my all time fav professors. and people watched, noho is great for that. and of course we moved my sisters out of their houses and watched graduation. lovely, lovely, lovely. it almost made me want to move back to paradise city. but really, time just moves on, and i guess 4 years was enough. enough happy memories to last a long time.

sweet smell of a potential bowling alley success

here's an idea for bowling alleys, just add a (good) smell to the lanes. it’d be aromatherapy bowling, bowling for the young and hip and alternative. there could be different scents for different days or different lanes: peppermint for those that are always tired and need some pep, ylang-yalng, jasmine and rose for the lovers’ lanes, lavender to relax those that lead a high powered life, and myrrh for the spiritual seekers. the balls coudl be made to match as well. like peppermint(candy) patterened ones. though those might make people dizzy and sick. thus we coudl have a chamomile tea in the drink area to help those folks. a whole new world…

Local or organic?

i think like many other socially-environmentally conscious people...we over think things. do we do plastic or paper or byo, do we use this soap or that soap, buy in bulk or only the amount you need, make your own or support a local bakery, etc, etc, etc. so here's one: buy local or buy organic: which is more important, has a better impact on the market, is better for farmers, is better for the environment, is better, ultimately, for us? with organic it's better for our health, we're not eating all those chemicals and pesticides that cause crazy problems and probably cancer later in life. also organic keeps these same chemicals out of our water, soil and air. but local, you support a local business, keep farming in your area, and prevent all those fossil fuels to be consumed in the shipping of goods around the country/world. so, what do you do? here's an article that talks about this issue. essentially, we just have to make choices and decide, for our own reasons, that one is better than the other. read on.
Local or organic? It's a false choice By Samuel Fromartz Grist Magazine Arts and Minds 18 May 2006

And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva...

ahh, yes, love is what i'm referring to here. it appears we are at a great point in life. new jobs, new degrees, new loves, new families. my best wished go out to my friends who got engaged this weekend and those that got engaged a month ago. wow, what a powerful thing to say to someone, to agree to do, to promise. yes, i want to be with you forever. i'll bet they are on cloud 9, or maybe even cloud 10. wuv, tru wuv...

spring greens

sometimes i miss the verdant fields of a québécois spring.

healthy body = happy planet

so one thing i've been thinking about lately when i'm at the store is: "which of these products is healthiest for me/the planet?" you know, i think about things like this a lot. well, the environmental working group has a report where they looked at a ton of cosmetic type products, (including soaps, lotions, makeup, etc) and tested them and categorized them and have arranged nice little lists of brands ranked according to how harmful they are or aren't. you can click on the brand name (or search) and then on the individual products and even get a list of ingredients and learn why each product ranked where it did. (it tells you if they are toxic, endocrine disrupters, immune system toxicants...etc...) the organizational-scientist in me loves all the information and the concerned consumer in me feels better now that i can figure out which products are safer, for me, my future children, animals, and the world.... here's to keeping clean, both our bodies and the planet!

SkinDeep: Review of Products

my first post and blog ever

this is my first post as i join in on the-not-so-new-trend of blogging. for those of you that ever read this please forgive my: bad spelling and bad grammar, my lack of capitalization, my sometimes judgmental attitude, my use of "...", and my lack of effectively explaining things