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!