Are you thinking yet?

Max brought this to my attention recently and I have to say that while it is somewhat shocking for anyone steeped in the Christian world views of the modern US, it is very thought provoking and pretty much spot on... in my opinion anyway...



Pat Condell has more good videos and you can get them here...

a rant...

I hate moving. I am not moving, but we are getting two new inmates at Flock Hall 2.0 and one of them will be taking up residence in my room, so even though I am not going any where, I am moving my stuff, cleaning out storage and making room for a bird cage. I don't suppose that I have a ton of stuff, renting kinda precludes it. But I am more of a collector than anyone at flock hall, and I have sort of sprawled out a little bit when I got some extra space. Now I am having to suck it back in, or trim it out. I don't like trimming, even when I like the results - more space and new companions. The process is at best tedious and at worst painful. Most of it is only out to the garage - more tedious than painful - and multiple moves have really pared down the collection urge, or at least prevented me form giving into the urge with any frequency. But there are still the boxes and totes that need to be sorted through and weeded out, or at least consolidated. It makes me want to run screaming in the opposite direction. Or go take a nap. But I wouldn't be able to sleep, because I would be thinking about all the stuff I need to do. Or I would fall asleep and dream about it and wake up more tired than I started...

Bah Humbug!

I think I will go cook something, food makes everything better...

Not so serene...

We have all heard it...

Lord,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Well it seems that the guy who thought that he thought it up was wrong, or stealing, depending on the way you look at it...

the NYT article is here...

Astrophil and Stella

Sir Philip Sidney
1

Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,

That she (dear She) might take some pleasure of my pain:

Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,

Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain;

I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe,

Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain:

Oft turning others' leaves, to see if thence would flow

Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sun-burn'd brain.

But words came halting forth, wanting Invention's stay,

Invention, Nature's child, fled step-dame Study's blows,

And others' feet still seem'd but strangers in my way.

Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,

Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite--

"Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart and write."

Survey says...

I know there are musical people out there in my sparse and nebulous readership, and I have a survey for you. What would you say my theme song is - a song that represents my personality, quirks, and interests? Please let me know...

When Candy Goes Wrong

I can't decide what is funnier the title, which sounds like something from a budget horror film, or the picture, which speaks for itself...

It is my passion.

Do you remember falling in love, discovering your passion - I was nine. We had free-time. I was laying on my stomach looking at the books on the bottom shelf of the classroom bookcase, books we never used in class. I have always had a fondness for things that involve never. There were lots of books i knew by then that i was supposed to be interested in, classics - Treasure Island, The Jungle Book, Black Beauty. The there was this old, faded blue book - you know that weird library-binding blue that is nothing like the author or publicist intended. There was a grainy, faded picture of a girl on the front with her yellow skirt and hair blowing out to the side - rather unrealistically, I now know - but completely wonderful to my rather overdeveloped imagination of the time. The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I started reading it. For people who know me now that may seem like no big deal, but let me assure you it was. I did not read. I was in Chapter 1 reading, not because I didn't know how, I was reading when I was three years old, but because I refused to do it. The power of my will to not do something I didn't want to was such that I almost failed out of school - before the 5th grade. So me reading, and right there in the middle of the classroom even, that was not normal behavior. But it was free-time and no one noticed. It was not the first book I had read, but for some reason I was pulled into that world. It was the first time I wanted to read. I took the book home with me. I finished it in two days. I read it again. And again. (I did eventually give it back - but only after I had acquired my own copy at a school book fair.) Then I went to the library to see if Elizabeth George Speare had written any other books. The Calico Captive, The Bronze Bow, and The Sign of the Beaver were all quickly devoured. And just like that I was a reader. It is my passion.

except it is so windy here that you can't feel that melting power... =(

6 June 1944

a guide...

a dedication...

to Strong Soviet Mother...

The new release list...

So I was browsing the through the cookbook section, as I am wont to do on occasion, and what do I discover, but a lovely conflation of my interests in food and technology. If you thought about getting me a gift to celebrate the end of a successful school year, this is something you might want to consider (and if you didn't, why not - it is always a good time for presents)...


Food 2.0: Secrets From the Chef Who Fed Google By Charlie Ayers looks like tons of fun, and as one of my goals for the summer is to get back into the kitchen more, it would be a lovely addition to my already extensive, but never complete, collection. And as the buzzword for this chef is brainfood, it would be helpful in fortifying me for my other summer goal of finishing my reading list...

the "Google Generation" can't Google...

"A recent survey shows many students from the so-called 'Google generation' lack the basic skills needed for online research"

In a recent article put out in the UK, the findings of a study say that while they may proficient in the use of Facebook and Wikipedia, this generation (born after 1993) is not actually connected to information in this information age.

status quo...

I have been quite busy - the status quo of the semester - and so, as there was really nothing else going on with me, I thought would tell you a bit about that.

I have really rediscovered a love of literary studies and theory this semester, which is nice as that is what I am planning on doing with my life. I am writing my final paper for my Critical Theory class on food imagery and cultural identity, rather appropriate given my two great loves are books and food. The title will be "Cooking Up Culture: Food Imagery and the Creation of Cultural Identity in Silence" - a bit wordy, I know, but I like it.

I have another paper that I will have to write for Poetics, as well, but that will come together eventually - even though I have no idea where I am going with that one.

I also really need to get my reading list finalized and signed off on. I still have to decide what theory texts and articles I want to be my summer reading. Decisions, decisions...

I think a cuppa tea would help...

a poem placeholder

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal
of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting,
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

some serious funny...

einstein quote of the day...

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."

i am locavore...

so, i am not a big ranter... overall, i tend to avoid conflict whenever possible - i mostly just want everyone to get along...

that said, this is a rant - and not surprisingly it involves one of my two great passions: food... it was inspired by little tatooed girl - our conversation made me realize how seldom i talk about some of the things i really believe in... so you all get a rant...

i am an advocate of local food - or as much as possible in a place like BV city... i believe quite passionately in the importance - to all levels of society - of buying your food locally... it is one of the most important food choices you can make - and it effects all other dietary choices... this does not mean that you have to give up all foods that don't grow within a 100 miles of where you live, which is good, 'cause i would starve here, it just means buying locally whenever you can - let's be real, i am not going to be giving up good dark chocolate anytime soon, and everyone is better off for that decision... but i can get my tomatoes and squash locally, eggs and beef, too.

there are so many good great reasons to eat local...

eating local means more for the local economy - dollars spent locally support the local community twice three times as much as business owned by outsiders...
locally grown produce is fresher... and as a result, local food just flat out tastes better...
locally grown fruits and vegetables have longer to ripen - less spoilage - less waste...
eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic - organic food is often shipped hundreds and sometimes thousand of miles, using so much more fuel and energy to get to you, and thus polluting more...
buying local food keeps us in touch with the seasons - you eat what is fresh when it is harvested, instead of imported out-of-season food...
eating local protects us from bio-terrorism - you know where it came from and who had access to it before it when on your plate - and the opportunities for tampering just aren't feasible in a market which is so much smaller...
local food connects you to your community - you get to know the people who grew your tomatoes and baked your bread...
local food equals more variety - smaller farms can try crops that you would not normally see in your local agri-business run supermarket, and things like zebra tomatoes and purple string beans become available for anyone to try...
supporting local providers supports responsible land development - land being used in a sustainable manner for farming will not be sold to developers to build McMansions - and the variety of crops helps to keep the land continuously productive and in use, without damaging it or leaving it fallow...
and if you do eat meat, you know how the animals were treated before they were killed, what, if any, chemicals and hormones went into their diet, and how fresh the meat actually is...

one of the best resource (for the US readers), no matter what your diet choices are, to find locally produced food is an organization called Local Harvest... you can find all sorts of sources for locally produced food, including CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) - which are kinda like a subsidy - but instead of the government paying farmers to grow (or not) what they think should be on the market, the consumer pays the farm directly for the food, ensuring that they make a fair amount for their products without government intervention - a fresher and more varied product than what is available in most stores... the one that i am looking at is Grant Family Farms, which is just across the border into colorado...

i really could go on for quite some time, but as i stated at the beginning, i am not big on rants and this one covers most of the main points...

it is really just a logical iteration of the maxim that to effect change you have to think globally and act locally...