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Reflect the right to be who you are…
With a declaration of independence,
Defended under the eyes of God!
Achieve your greatness.
Share and bring it out of others.
Expect it from yourself,
And everyone will respect you.
This is the process much neglected.
Unmask your heart from dreams sheltered!
Stand up and welcome them.
They did not appear in your mind…
Just to rest unrealized,
Criticized and left ignored.
And betrayed by dismissed wishes.
They need you to make them come true.
Make them flourish!
On this 4th of July, please remind President Obama of his pledge to repeal the military’s Dont-Ask-Don’t-Tell policy. It is, after all, our right to celebrate who we are that makes us truly American.
Okay, fine. Maybe I don’t quit. But seriously, I spent yesterday afternoon re-potting my herb garden and raddishes and then the raddish pot just flew off the window sill onto the ground. it might have had to do with a freak thunderstorm at 8 PM and Jon and I rushing around to close windows without, maybe, looking at wheter or not the window would be closing on the pot if we just slammed it down but whatever.
I’m requesting this book from the library and am hoping that it will give me some tips for growing herbs indoors because, for serious, right now it’s been kind of an epic failure.
At least we’re going to Artomatic tonight, that’ll improve my mood I’m sure.
I am not sure I’ve felt the so-called “runner’s high” yet but yesterday AM after I finished my 3/4 mile run I did have a a wee moment of enlightenment… or I came up with an aphorism or something. Here is my great insight:
Running isn’t rewarding because you finished a race, running is rewarding because you started the race.
Of course, my friend Andy pointed out that this doesn’t exactly work since basically I’m saying you could punk out half way through and head to the bar like in that Stella commercial (which cracks me up every time, by the way). What it means to me, though, is that crossing the finish line isn’t itself all that rewarding but the work it takes to get across a finish line commands my respect. They put up with all the aches and pains and early mornings for something as simple as getting from point A to point B in a (comparatively) ineffecient manner.
I suspect that, come Sept. 5, crossing the finish line will be rewarding not becasue I’ll be doing it with good friends or for a good cause but because I’ll remember these days feeling like my heart might pop out of my chest or my thighs might give out from under me.
So, no runner’s high yet… but I must be getting close if I can wax philisophical on running at 7:45 AM.
Last night we feasted! Well, maybe not feasted but after some research I figured out that my basil plants were way overdue for some pruning given the small size of the container I’m growing them in. So, I plucked the leaves off, gave them a quick rinse, and broke out the bread, mozzarella, peppers, and salami. It made for an excellent light dinner.
Despite the tastyness of this batch of basil, I’m going to have to start over with the herb garden…. [Read more →]
Detail of art hanging on living room wall (Click through to Flickr for information on the friends and artists’ work shown here).
So, our apartment has really nice thick walls– great for insulating us from neighbor noise. Seriously, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve heard our neighbors. However, these lovely thick, plaster walls are KILLER to hang art on. Either we have to use really sticky, nasty tape that hurts the prints, posters, and photos we’ve amassed or we have to put nails into the wall (which leaves super visible holes). Well, this weekend we finally decided to deal with our art after I had a GENIUS brain storm! After the jump I’ll share my secret to low-impact art hanging in an apartment with plaster walls… [Read more →]
BEND low again, night of summer stars.
So near you are, sky of summer stars,
So near, a long arm man can pick off stars,
Pick off what he wants in the sky bowl,
So near you are, summer stars,
So near, strumming, strumming,
So lazy and hum-strumming.
A few weeks ago I listened to Louis Fresco’s TEDtalk on “Feeding the Whole World.” By the way, if you don’t listen to the TED podcast please subscribe to it now). I’ve been thinking about it ever since and have more than once used it as part of an argument on behalf of responsible corporate farming.
Two things really struck me about Louis Fresco’s argument and the audience’s response. First, Fresco argues that by moving beyond subsistence farming the world has made a great deal of progress (in all kinds of fields, medicine, technology, etc) and that the tendency to romanticize the small farmer ignores what grueling, difficult work it really is. She also suggests that mass produced bread can provide a large number of calories for many people in the developing world. Now, we can argue about the associations between bread and obesity, large farming and resource allocation, etc. etc. etc. However, I think she is absolutely right to suggest that a regional farming model that looks at the benefits of mechanization and better/safer/cheaper fertilizers in feeding a lot of people nutritionally.
As if we needed more evidence that I am an 85-year old lady: my new electric kettle makes me unbelievably happy. I’ll freely admit that it is probably more electric kettle than I really need– I mean it isn’t like I can actually taste the difference in my 212 degree made coffee and 200 degree coffee but… it is nice to know that I’m really doing it right.
Not to mention, this kettle has a metal pitcher and you’d be amazed how few electric kettles actually have metal pitchers!
Anyway, this is a short post because all I can say about it is that it works great, I love it, and it makes my just add water breakfast (oat meal) and love affair with tea and coffee even more delightful. Basically I’m just bragging.
Some readers of this blog know that I really, really want to be a runner but am, at best, a fast walker. I have a lot of admiration for long distance runners– much of it because I’ve never been able to really push through that first mile of yucky, unfun, heavy breathing, feeling like a fat fish flopping down the street. Now that I’m no longer in school and no longer have access to a gym (and an eliptical machine) it’s time to push through.
Last weekend while we were visiting family and friends in Charlottesville, Virginia a friend mentioned a 4 mile race in September. I figure, 4 miles I can do. No reason to set myself up for something like a full-on marathon. So I’m going to start with this 4 miler, with excellent friends, that raises money for cancer research at UVA. I’ve got two months to prep for a 4 mile race. I. Can. Do. This…. right? Today was my first day in “training”– just half a mile, and I’ve already learned a little and know not to do a few rookie mistakes (running downhill gave me a side stitch). [Read more →]
We’ve been going to a lot of movies lately– in part this is because Jon loves movies and will sit through just about anything. Mostly, though, I think Hollywood has finally come out of its slump. For a while there was just nothing I wanted to pay $8 to sit through. That phase seems to be over. This weekend we saw Brothers Bloom (and I ended up buying some sunglasses like one of the character’s) and I am totally embarrassed to admit how excited I am about Away We Go.
Last night we watched The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and I loved every minute of it. About 10 minutes in I was hooked. Jon pointed out that it is filmed like the kind of photos I like to take (i.e. slightly off center, linger on details) in a color pallet I love (blue-gray and bright gold) and the script sounds a lot like the poetry I enjoy. It’s a long movie, and I don’t know that it’s for everyone– you’ve got to love the 19th century, feel comfortable with long stretches of silence, and really bleak scenes of the American West.
“Intertwined” from Dan Buczynski’s Flickr Stream. Licensed via the Creative Commons.
from the library and am hoping that it will give me some tips for growing herbs indoors because, for serious, right now it’s been kind of an epic failure.
