Makin' Beeswax

The Year of Waste Reduction

2012-01-20T16:23:00.019-06:00

This year, I'm trying to be more conscious of all the crap that I throw away. There's not really an "away" for things to be thrown, actually, so I need to do my part to reuse or recycle as much as possible. Doug and I have been good about recycling for a long time. Recycling to me is no big deal. And, when you see your big recycle bins fill up over a month or so, you just can't ignore the importance of making sure all that junk doesn't go to a landfill. We also recently started a compost bin for all of our kitchen scraps and such. Coffee grounds, banana peels, the yucky butt part of the onion, even paper towels (unless they're covered in cleaner) get thrown into the compost bin to be turned magically into good food for our garden. Even if you don't have a garden, composting is still an important part of the reduce, reuse, recycle and save-the-earth thing. We also have one more new addition to our waste reduction and that is....CLOTH DIAPERS! So, I'm mostly going to talk about cloth diapers here.

What in the world made you decide to do that, you ask? Well, my older sister (from whom I get the wonderful life advantage of watching and learning before doing) decided to do cloth diapers waaaay back five years ago when her first baby came along. Nobody but hippy fruitcakes in California even thought about using cloth diapers then, but my sister was always more environmentally conscious than the rest of us and she decided to give it a go. I got to help, and was able to see firsthand that it really wasn't so bad. Worth the savings in both money and yucky yucky landfill waste. Now cloth diapers are all the rage (meaning I don't get quite as many raised eyebrows as she did) and I get to use her very same cloth diapers for my newly-arrived munchkin. Talk about reusing and recycling, right? Plus, they were free and that's awesome.

So, what's it really like? I'll be honest and say it's pretty gross. I mean, cloth diapering is not for whimps. And I'm still a big whimp some days. But any amount of cloth diapers used instead of disposables makes a difference. So...one day at a time. I've found that creating a convenient, organized system is what has made it easier for me. There's just no comparing to the convenience of disposables, so you have to make a system that works for you, and this can take some trial and error. After a few tries I think I finally have my system down, and I'll describe it for you shortly. Cloth diapering is hard work. It's messy, smelly, and kind of a pain in the ass. BUT! It is so worth it for three reasons:

1. Money: You will save thousands of dollars over the course of your baby's diaper days by using cloth....even more dollars if you also use cloth wipes.

2. Earth: The amount of waste created by disposable diapers each year is astonishing. It's gross and irresponsible. Plus, new studies show that the chemicals and gels used in disposable diapers contribute greatly to the amount of cancer-causing yuckiness seeping out of landfills and into our soil. Not to mention all the energy, oil, and chemicals used to produce and distribute all those diapers across the country.

3. Baby: Cloth diapers are less likely to cause diaper rash, cause fewer blowouts (I didn't believe this at first, but it's true!), and often help toddlers potty train more easily (because they feel the wetness, I suppose).

Okay, so here's how I do it. First, a photo of my diaper-changing station:

The basket on the top shelf holds all my diaper covers, which are the cute, waterproof outer layer of the cloth diaper. The two brown canvas bins in the tower on the right hold all the diaper liners, which are the cloth part that catches all the poop. The trash can on the left is where all the dirty cloth diapers get tossed. The green bag liner is a wet/dry bag made to repel odors and funk and it can be machine washed with the diapers. I use the cloth insert/waterproof cover combination and the fancy gDiapers. I'll show them both here, but there are all kinds of other cloth diapers out there, including all-in-ones that are pretty close to disposables in terms of convenience. They are, of course, more expensive.

Okay, so I have my old-fashioned 100% cotton cloth diaper and my waterproof cover.

I fold the cloth part in half and insert it into the liner like this (my folding technique will probably change a couple times as Lucy grows):

Then, I fasten it on her! It looks like this:

And, on her, it looks like this (not the same diaper, but similar):

When she needs to be changed, I get a clean diaper ready to go before taking the dirty one off (learned this the hard way). If it's wet, the diaper goes into the pail and the cover goes back into the basket to be reused later. If it's dirty, I clean her up and put the fresh diaper on (setting the dirty one aside), then put her in her crib and turn her mobile on while I go to the diaper sprayer. Usually, with a dirty diaper, I rinse both the diaper and the cover and toss both into the pail. Sometimes, if it's just a tiny poop, I will reuse the cover. The diaper sprayer hooks into the water supply with your toilet, and works like a super high-powered kitchen sink sprayer.

So, I spray the poop off, wring out the diaper (the worst part of the whole process), and then toss it into the pail.

That's it! All done. Except the very last step: WASH HANDS! Please note that cloth diapering involves serious hand-washing. Have fancy hand salve handy (no pun intended!) for dryness that will occur from excessive washing.

gDiapers work similarly, but they have biodegradable, flushable inserts! You can also use cloth inserts with gDiapers, AND you can throw away the flushable ones, which is nice if you're out and about. They don't have as much yucky stuff as regular disposables. Also, gDiapers are cuter and less bulky than the regular cloth diapers...and, of course, more expensive.

First, make sure to have your clean diaper ready to go before taking off the dirty one! You have the cute cloth outer layer with the snap in liner (if one liner gets dirty, you can snap in a clean one and use the same outer cover), and the disposable/flushable insert that looks like a giant maxi pad.

Place (more like shove) the insert into the white snap-in liner, and hoorah! Cute diaper!

The gDiaper is super cute on!

The frustrating thing for me about gDiapers is that you have to take the insert to the toilet every time, not just for poopy ones. But there's no spraying or laundering and everything goes bye-bye down the toilet. First, you tear off the side of the insert (I usually tear both sides) so that the fluffy inside part comes out into the toilet. Then, you use your special swish stick (it hangs on the side of the toilet) to break up all the fluffy part so it will flush down easily. As you flush, drop the outer layer (still in your hand from when you tore the sides) into the toilet and watch it disappear! No more poop. No washing. Gone down the hole, where poop belongs.

And that's my diapering story. I got off to a rocky start and thought I wasn't cut out for it at first, since newborns poop 5-6 times a day and their poop is pretty runny. Ew. But, now that Lucy is bigger and poops less often, it has gotten much easier. I think it will get even easier as she grows and starts having even fewer, more solid poops, which can just be shaken off into the toilet. And, I really do feel a twinge of guilt each time I use a disposable. I've been using them whenever I go out, but I recently bought a small, zippered wet/dry bag for use on the road. Not giving in to the convenience of disposables while I'm out is the next step for me. And, I'm sure that any time I actually travel (overnight, for instance) I will use disposables. I do have to do a lot of laundry, which uses energy and water, but the green bag that lines my pail keeps me from having to do it every single day, and when it gets warmer out, I'm going to try and line dry the diapers once they've been washed. The dryer uses a lot of energy. But, even with the extra water and energy use, cloth diapers are still incontrovertibly the most responsible choice. They're yucky, but important. Next, I'll talk about recycling and composting (in a much shorter post)!

Oh Yeah, mah blog.

2012-01-05T10:39:00.005-06:00

I haven't posted anything in over six months. Unacceptable in the world of blogging, I'm pretty sure. But, I had a baby and then before I knew it Christmas was here and now it's a new year. Golly. No time for blogging til now. Lucy arrived on October 12th, three weeks early, and I couldn't have asked for an easier delivery. Of course, I experienced the worst pain of my life, but it didn't last too terribly long and I only had to push for 10-15 minutes and then she was here! Even though I ended up needing an epidural, I'm super grateful that I didn't have to have a c-section. Surgery sucks.

Baby story out of the way, there have been lots of new ideas and plans stirring around in my brain the last six months, so I figure I'll lay them all out for myself in the form of New Year's Resolutions. I don't really do those usually, but whatever. Here goes:

1. Take more pictures.
I've rediscovered my love for photo-taking in the past year or so, since I've been shooting more without my lovely hovering husband. Sorry, Doug. I love you, but I become paralyzed behind the camera when you're around, mostly because of my own natural tendency to second guess myself. Now that my confidence is coming back, I need to get out with the camera more.

2. Create a cohesive body of work outside weddings and such.
Ideas for this have been wiggling around in my brain for about a year and a half. I'm getting really close to nailing down specifics for my project. It might seem ridiculous to spend so much time planning and thinking, but it's how I work. I like to know exactly what I'm aiming for, or I'll lose my steam. Of course, I need to be shooting all the time, but I like to have a clear and specific project going, also.

3. Eat better.
Finding fresh, seasonal, local food here is kind of a chore. It can be done, though, and I need to be better about it. In a few months, Lucy will start eating real food (!!) and I want to make sure it's the safest, yummiest, freshest food I can find for her. Also, I need to eat more veggies. So does everyone, I imagine. Maybe one day we'll live in a city where access to such food is easier.

4. Start a mom blog with my sister.
Blogs can make monies, and we want to capitalize on this. My big sis has two little people of her own, and we're thinking of starting a mommy blog for the middle-of-the-road granola types. Mindful living and parenting ideas from moms who don't raise chickens or ban Chik-fil-a. Moderation, people. Also, Sarah's planning on unschooling, and (unofficially), so am I. So the blog will talk about life without school and all that jazz, too. If you decide to look up what unschooling is, don't be alarmed by all the crazies. Call me and we'll talk about it.

5. Travel some place new.
This year, we'll have friends in California and Boston and would like to take full of advantage of their presence there. I'm not ashamed to say, "hey, let's visit, because we've never been there and we can have a place to stay and friends to show us around." This is the way to see new places, my friend. Am I right?

6. Plan less. Risk more.
I'm a planner, and I have a tendency to get stuck in future mode. I need to learn to be more conscious of my thinking habits and enjoy my youth more. Doug and I are so young, and we need to be enjoying ourselves more. Easier said than done, but important to note. And moderate risk taking is good for mental health.

7. Figure out how in the hell to live by my sister.
I want to live by my sister and her family. Like, next door neighbors close. I want to be part of her kids' lives, and I want our children to grow up together. Annie will be five in March, and sometimes I panic that we'll wake up and our kids will have grown up already, without each other. I don't want that to happen. This will require some two-footed jumping in at some point, I'm sure.

8. Other stuff.
There are lots of other things on the agenda for this year. Exercise more, meet other stay-at-home moms, build a new and improved website for Studio A, make my own baby food, remodel my kitchen, build something wooden. And we have some big life events this year, too. My best and oldest friend in the world is getting married. Doug's sister is getting married. Lucy will have her first birthday. Time moves faster and faster. All the more reason to chill out and not worry so much about the future. And to make sure you're not doing things that make you miserable just for the sake of having stuff and being prepared for imaginary What If?s. Be conscious of your thinking habits.

There it is. A little summary of the past six months' brain activity. Here's to self-motivation! Cheers, everybody.

Skin Care Things

2011-06-09T10:07:00.005-05:00

I think I did a post a while back about cleaning my face with castor and olive oils. It's supposed to clear up your skin and make it look healthy and moisturized. I tried it for a little while (two different times) and gave up. It did reducetheredness in my face and make my skin glowy, but it didn't clear my skin and it's kind of a pain to do (washcloths and oil droplets everywhere). I never had skin problems until I went off the pill (which I'd been taking since 8th grade, gloriously skipping over teenage acne years). And now that I'm pregnant, there are only certain things I can use on my face. Pretty much all the stuff that actually works isn't safe to use. And....I've been pretty determined to find a natural way of making it better. For one thing, I quit using BareMinerals makeup after a friend told me she knew of several people who'd said it made their skin freak out (something I may not have noticed while still on the pill). I also started using pure tea tree oil, a natural antimicrobial, on my blemishes. The tea tree oil worked great, but it smells weird and some people say it's not safe during pregnancy, so I quit using it. I will be using it again for sure, once baby is here. Those two things cleared up my skin quite a bit, but without the tea tree oil, I still have trouble keeping the zits away. Another friend told me recently that the SPF ingredient in makeups and moisturizers can cause breakouts. So, I've changed both my makeup and moisturizer to see what happens. Meanwhile, I've been on the lookout for just the right face wash....something gentle and effective that's safe during pregnancy. Harder to find that you might think. Here's what I've been using that I've been really happy with so far:

Pure Olive Oil soap! I found it at Publix and was very excited. It's made in Greece and smells wonderful. All the effects of the oil cleansing without the yucky mess!

Fancy moisturizer. Smells fantastic (if you like Lavender) and feels SO soothing on my skin. No SPF or other weird stuff, and I put it all over my face, neck and chest, it feels so good. It's kind of expensive, though ($12.95 at Publix).

Makeup stuff. This stuff is called Halo Yellow Color Correcting Powder (made by Smashbox) and is $40 at Sephora. It's lightweight and magically reduces all the redness in my face. I just wear it over the fancy moisturizer, unless I'm going somewhere nice and need more makeup. It really is magical. And it's so lightweight, I can look presentable without having to wear icky liquid makeup (which I really hate). Just moisturizer, concealer under my zombie eyes, mascara, and magic yellow powder. Ready to go. This is my new favorite thing.

So, that's it...the new skin care regimen. Simple, natural (mostly), and effective. Fingers crossed that it keeps working.

In other news, we're having a baby girl! I'm super excited and have already started decorating her room. Before and after baby room photos will be posted in the coming weeks. Hooray! Here she is. Her name is Lucy. She says hi. =)

Spring Garden-Round 2

2011-04-07T13:27:00.003-05:00

So, I haven't given up on trying to grow my own veggies. I'm trying it again this year. Everything's organic, like last time. I'm determined to get at least some veggie production this time around. Last year, I made lots of mistakes like:

planting too soon

overwatering

not planting in full sun

falling and being stuck on crutches most of the season

So, this time, I started my seeds indoors, under controlled (mostly) conditions. I bought a seed heating mat and a thermometer to control the temperature of the soil. I used special sterile potting soil, sure to be free of any bugs or disease. I put them in front of a south-facing window, which is supposed to be the best. I keep the soil moist but not wet. I rotate the seedlings often so that they don't stretch toward the light and get wimpy stems. If I don't get veggies after all this, I will be thoroughly frustrated. Here's my garage set-up:

So far, so good. I have about a 95% germination rate! Hooray! The onions are the only thing that didn't germinate, which didn't surprise me, b/c I was really pushing the limit on their season anyway. The other seedlings are tomatoes (three varieties), red and orange bell peppers, and eggplant.

Within a week or so I'll direct seed some other foods outside. Plants with larger seeds do better if you just plant them outdoors, so I'll put beans, cucumber, squash and maybe some others out soon. I'm also going to do some herbs on our deck. Our deck gets full sun all day long, so I'm also going to plant a few of my tomato seedlings out there....just in case. Soon, my seedlings from the garage will be ready to get acclimated to the wild outdoors and I'll have to slowly introduce them to being outside. Seems strange having to do that for a plant that's meant to be outside, but they haven't experienced wind, rain or temperature fluctuation at all, so they're kind of fragile. If I just plop them out there, they won't make it. So....that's the garden update for this year! Cross your fingers that we get some food! If you live close, maybe you can come share in our harvest. I'm excited.

Also, if you've read this whole post, you either are interested in growing your own food, or you're a friend. So, I've saved our other update for last. We're having a baby!!! Due this fall. It's kind of fun that the life of my seedlings coincides with the life of our new little addition. Is that nerdy? Anywho, we're excited. Hooray for gardens and babies!

The One

2011-01-20T08:25:00.004-06:00

This is quite possibly the best photo I have ever taken:

It references this photo of French writer and philosopher Albert Camus:

I've been reminded recently of photographer Henri Cartier Bresson's famous quote, "Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." I've definitely taken that many photos since I got my first film camera in 2004, and I think I'm just now starting to get good at it. I'm just now finding that happy place between what I love and what I'm good at. I've known that I love photography and that I'm okay at it for a long time now. But only in the past year or so have I really started to explore the particular type of photography that I love and can do well (thanks in large part to having Josh and Lou in our house for the better part of that year). Hopefully, I'll keep getting better at it.

Delicious Soup

2011-01-19T09:31:00.005-06:00

Doug and I tried a new recipe the other night for Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup. Tomato soup is not my favorite thing, probably because my choices have always been the stuff in a can (ew) or the rich creamy stuff (bad news for my lactose-intolerant tummy). But Doug loves tomato soup and even eats the canned kind without adding any water. So, I decided to give this recipe a shot. It was SOO delicious! The recipe is from America's Test Kitchen, but I altered it slightly. Here's what we did:

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

pinch red pepper flakes

1 280z can whole tomatoes

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 slices high-quality sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces (we used french bread from the bakery)

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon brandy (we substituted bourbon)

black pepper

olive oil

1/8 cup chopped fresh chives

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in large pot or dutch oven. Add the onion and pepper flakes. Cook until onion is translucent, stirring frequently. Stir in the tomatoes and their juice. Mash with a potato masher until no pieces larger than 2 inches remain. Stir in the sugar and bread; bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium

and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bread is completely saturated and starts to break down, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the soup to a blender (you may have to this in batches if you're blender is small). Add a touch more olive oil and process until the soup is smooth and creamy, 2 to3 minutes. Rinse out your pot/dutch oven and return the soup to the pot. Stir in the chicken broth and bourbon. Return soup to a boil and season with pepper to taste. Sprinkle chives on top and serve.

We enjoyed ours with cheese toast/grilled cheese made with cheddar on french bread. Perfect for a winter day.

New Pictures!

2011-01-02T12:05:00.004-06:00

When friends come to visit, they get their picture made. It's mandatory. =)

Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T13:18:00.009-06:00

Doug and I had Thanksgiving with his family this year out in the country. It was super low key and I got to try a few new recipes, which is always exciting. I was able to find fresh, locally grown green beans, sweet potatoes, and pecans. Yum! For the green beans, I just sauteed them with butter and garlic, and added some chopped pecans and a touch of Worcestershire sauce about halfway through. The sweet potatoes turned out to be the best sweet potato dish EVER. I used a recipe from Food Network's Guy Fieri that included Agave Syrup (found at our friendly neighborhood Publix), whiskey (we used Bulleit bourbon), pecans, nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, butter, and apples. Incredibly delicious. Next time I think I will add more apples.

Our local health food store had free range turkeys for sale and I really, REALLY wanted to get one, but they were $50-$60. Not outrageous, in my opinion, but still more than we could pay. Maybe one day we'll either be rich or have more access to local food and can buy a smaller free range turkey. Or maybe both of those things will happen.

Hope everybody enjoyed their time off from work and time spent with family and friends. And I hope everyone will participate in the required kick-off-the-christmas-season tradition of watching Home Alone. It's not a real holiday season without some John Hughes.

What is with Damien Hirst?

2010-11-16T16:06:00.006-06:00

Damien Hirst is one of the most famous (if not the most famous) contemporary artists in the world. His art is highly controversial, and lots of people think it's total bullshit (myself included). Hirst's most well-known pieces are the giant formaldehyde-filled tanks with dead animals inside. He won the fancy-pants Turner Prize for new contemporary art for the piece below, entitled The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. Ha.

This piece was done way back in 1992 and people still talk about it. Here's another animal-in-a-tank piece, called Mother and Child Divided. It's lovely.

Yes, the cow and calf are divided, as in cut in half and placed in separate tanks. What is this? What does he want us to take from this? No wonder average joe doesn't want to go to the art museum. Who can be impressed by this other than people just like Damien Hirst, artists who talk about themselves and make art to shine light on their own divinely bestowed intellect, rather than to say something about the world.

So, I think this type of contemporary "art" is total hogwash, nonsense, bullshit. I'm not alone in that. But art and literature, films, etc. are what we use to learn about a particular culture in a particular time. So was does the presence of this type of artwork in our most prestigious museums say about our culture? What does it mean that there is a huge disconnect between the world of "important" artists and the world of everybody else, that art has become so lopsided on the side of intellect and concept that no one can really take anything from it without reading about the artist's intentions, and are then still left feeling confused and inferior? And who are we that we can't seem to articulate why we don't like this artwork or why most of us don't really consider it art at all? Does it mean something that while we can't seem to sufficiently describe what makes art good or bad, many of us can't decide what truth is, or explain why we disagree with war or why we hold the religious or moral beliefs that we do? Hell, many of us can't even tell each other why we like the music and movies that we do. And of course it means something.

More for your reading pleasure: Trash, Violence, and Versace: But Is It Art? by Theodore Dalrymple

Group of artists with a strong distaste for art like Damien Hirst's: http://www.stuckism.com/info.html Try to disregard the hideous website design (or lack thereof). The content is interesting, I promise.

And, on a happy note, one painting I do love. It's called Chop Suey and was painted by Edward Hopper in 1929.

Making Connections

2010-10-03T09:47:00.003-05:00

I've been reading about education a lot lately. This week I read an article my sister sent me about a married couple of academic types who decided to homeschool their three children. This is happening more and more. Homeschooling used to be reserved for country bumpkins, religious fanatics, and all-around strange folk. Not any more. Academics and intellectuals are now pulling their children out of formal schooling and are educating them at home. They take their children to museums and parks, travel to new places, and only spent a minimal amount of time doing formal study. These new homeschooling families emphasize that learning takes place constantly, learning units of measure while cooking, learning about biodiversity at the farmers' market, learning Dewey Decimal inside the actual library, and learning color theory at the art museum. It's a wonderful new movement, I think, as more people realize that our formal education system crushes creativity and discourages real thinking. The most significant difference in this type of learning (learning by doing in everyday life) is that it is almost always relevant to daily life. Their learning take place within context, not within a classroom. Because they might actually be in the forest while learning about leaves and bugs, there is automatically an opportunity for them to discover something new on their own. "What kind of bug is that, mommy?" they might ask. And the parent may reply, "I'm not sure. Let's look it up." And then, through the entire process of figuring out what kind of bug it is, they may also have hidden "lessons" on how to take a photo of the bug, how to look things up, and how to determine what information about the bug is most important. And not only does homeschooling allow for more relevant and in-depth learning, it also creates incredibly strong and meaningful relationships within families. Older siblings teach younger siblings, parents and children really get to know each other, and the family becomes the foundation by which they all understand how to build outside relationships and community. Many educational reformists are convinced that this same kind of learning, experiential learning they call it, can take place in a school with teachers and classrooms. I agree with them, though I know it will be no easy task to try and make such sweeping changes in the way we all think about and do school. We do not currently teach our children how to think and connect ideas and how to learn new things on their own. We teach them how to do school, to stay in the lines, sit quietly, and do what they're told. We are teaching compliance. We are raising a generation of people who are not prepared to think for themselves, form opinions, create new systems. We are raising a new work force of people who know how to stay in the lines, sit quietly, and do what they're told. Don't ask questions, don't wonder why, don't make suggestions for a different way of doing things. This is very dangerous for us. Without thinkers, people who push the boundaries and search for new ideas, we'll have no new discoveries and we'll be unable to create new systems when our traditional systems fail us. So, no worksheets and no homework, I say.....and that's just a meager start. We need to totally overhaul the way we've always thought about education. And I understand that not everyone can or should homeschool. But everyone can get involved in educational reform. We have to.

As a sidenote, I think it's very interesting that at the same time that you have the local food movement with people growing their own stuff, composting and recycling, and people moving back to downtown and trying to rebuild communities, you also have the new homeschool movement. None of these "movements" is very new, actually, but all have newly found attention and interest. Are people really moving toward a slower-paced, relationship-emphasizing, home based life? Will people really stick to trying to make everyday life more meaningful rather than trying to achieve, succeed, and attain? I hope so. Time will tell, I suppose.

This is my three year old niece cutting up vegetables with a knife and cutting board, with supervision from my mother. She uses a small knife, of course, and needs to be supervised, but she can learn to do pretty much anything she wants. Children are so much more capable than we give them credit for, and it really upsets me. Part of the problem with our education may be that adults have so little faith in children. They can do it! Look at her go!

Bobby Kennedy

2010-09-23T13:38:00.002-05:00

I started reading a new book called The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days that Inspired America. You might wonder what in the world would lead me to pick up such a book, so I'll tell you. A couple of years ago, I read an excerpt from this book in an issue of Vanity Fair, the very first issue I had ever picked up. It was so powerfully written that I kept that issue of the magazine with Bobby Kennedy's photo on the cover, made a mental note to some day read the whole book, and began grabbing a copy of the most current Vanity Fair whenever I got the chance. After reading two books lately that were both about young thirty-somethings who needed to "find themselves" as their marriages were falling apart (no more memoirs for me for a while, thanks), I wanted to read something with some real substance. Then I remembered the book about Bobby Kennedy. I'm only about sixty pages in, but I there's a passage from one of his speeches that I just really wanted to share. For those of you who don't know anything about JFK's younger brother Bobby (I didn't either before reading this book), he decided to run for president in 1968 because he felt morally obligated to do whatever he could to oppose Lyndon B. Johnson and his involvement in Vietnam. JFK had been assassinated in 1963 and when Bobby decided to run, people (especially young people) loved him. But many of his colleagues and family members worried greatly that someone was going to shoot him. They were right. 82 days into his campaign, Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed. Martin Luther King, Jr. was also assassinated that year. And a lot of people still believe that had Bobby become president that year, America (and particularly it's political climate) would be very different today. So, here's a piece of Bobby's speech from the early days of the campaign: '"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things," he said. "Our gross national product, now, is over eight hundred billion dollars a year, but the GNP - if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead...and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage...it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."' Bobby Kennedy, 1968.

The Thing About AutoTune

2010-09-07T12:12:00.002-05:00

Lately I've had several conversations with friends that go like this:
Me: "Man, I wish they weren't using so much autotune."
Friend: "What's autotune?"

Autotuning is what make T-Pain sounds like T-Pain. If you don't know who T-Pain is, wake up to some pop culture and look him up. But T-Pain intentionally overuses autotuning to create a particular style/effect. Everyone knows he doesn't really sound like that. But what's happening lately is that music industry people are using it left and right to make their singers sound perfectly in tune. Key word here is "perfectly." What we're left with is music that sounds digital and overproduced. The music is sterile. I've attached an example for all you learn-by-hearing people. The first video is of Barbara Streisand singing "Don't Rain on my Parade" in the 1968 film, Funny Girl. The second video is of Lea Michele from the cast of Glee singing the same song. Listen.

Do you hear it? The Glee version sounds computer-y, doesn't it? If you don't hear it, do some more listening of other music and keep your ears tuned. You could listen to Michael Buble's first album...and then listen to his most recent album. Major autotuning happening on the newer one. The thing that really gets me is that people like the Glee cast members and Michael Buble don't need to be autotuned. They're good singers already, so the autotuning makes them sound even more perfect, which makes them sound even more computer-y.

So, the thing about autotuning is that it's a good example of what's happening in the world of the arts in general today. Because of our access to incredible digital technologies, there has become a demand for perfection in everything from show tunes to graphic design. People want flawless music, flawless photographs, movies, design, and on and on. Luckily, though, there's a culture of artists who recognize what's happening and are creating a pretty strong backlash. Designers are hand-drawing their stuff, musicians are recording analog and releasing their albums on vinyl, photographers are shooting film (and no, I can't photoshop your eyes open). And, it seems like all this is part of a bigger cultural shift....like people are longing for more authenticity in every aspect of their lives. We need that rawness in art...that's what helps us distinguish the good art from the bad. And it's what makes that emotional connection to the music or art or whatever. I mean, imagine a voice like Louis Armstrong's on autotune. No, thanks. Keep your ears peeled, people. Autotuning is gross and we need to say so.

Number Two

2010-09-04T15:00:00.003-05:00

Another peek...

The inspiration for this one (from the June issue of Vanity Fair):

Okay, no more until I get the film back. Although I took a few digital shots, I mostly used professional black and white 400 Tri-X 120 film for these and shot them on my Mamiya 645. Let's hope they turn out.

New Project Sneak Peek

2010-09-02T13:47:00.003-05:00

I've been inspired lately by two things: Vanity Fair and Lady Gaga. Lou's been helping me achieve my weird vision by modeling interesting "hats" and helping me create them. Here's a sneak peek. Enjoy!

New Painting

2010-06-30T13:31:00.002-05:00

I actually did a new painting the other day! This is the first painting I've done since college (almost four years ago) that I've actually been please with. Hooray! We hung it in the kitchen.

Summer 2010

2010-06-19T18:02:00.002-05:00

More Pictures

2010-06-12T17:18:00.001-05:00

Hot Pink?

2010-06-12T11:53:00.002-05:00

My highlighter pink cast finally comes off on Tuesday. Here's one last look at it.

Also, I gave the blog yet another makeover (obviously) and posted this new picture of Doug to celebrate.

Josh's Turn

2010-06-11T17:00:00.003-05:00

We set up our white backdrop and studio light for some more photos. This time, I had a much clearer vision of what I wanted and I made sure the light was just right before we started. And... we did it all inside because it's three thousand degrees out. The photos of Josh turned out great and I'm getting excited about doing this more often when I have normal use of my feet again.

Garden Update

2010-06-03T10:21:00.003-05:00

Our vegetable garden, I'm very sorry to say, is not doing particularly well. Everything has come up out of the ground and looks green, but it's stopped growing. It took me a while to realize it wasn't growing as well as it should because we were dealing with my foot situation for a hundred years (I finally get my walking boot a week from Tuesday). We've had a really rainy season so far, and other people with gardens in the area have said their gardens aren't doing as well as they'd hoped either. Plants can get too much water....especially when they're young. Anyway, I'm trying to be proactive and figure out ways to help the garden. Today, I finally made it out to the garden and thinned the sprouts, choosing only to leave the strongest little plants. Here's one of the weaker carrot sprouts I pulled. It looks like a carrot! That's a little encouraging. And there is new growth on the cucumber and green bean plants....also a little encouraging. The next step now is to add organic fertilizer. I ordered some Liquid Fish and Liquid Seaweed that are supposed to really help the little guys take off. We just have to wait for all this rain to let up before we can feed it to them. Wish us luck.

So much rain. You can't really see the sprouts in the picture...I apologize.

Yum. I'm not looking forward to the smell of this stuff.

Buying Things

2010-05-24T20:34:00.007-05:00

I've been stuck at home for a month and a half now. I only leave the house when necessary for food or sanity. And because I don't go anywhere, I don't buy anything but groceries. I'm hoping this will carry on even after I don't have to use crutches anymore. It also helps that Josh and Lou are here, so I have friends and food and house projects to keep me perfectly entertained at home. I don't see anything that I want to buy because I stay home most of the time...and we don't watch TV, so I don't see ads for things that I might want to buy. It's like I'm able to forget that there are things out there that I want, because we've made it so that everything we need is right here. It's nice. And...I find myself having to create ways to stimulate my brain cells and entertain myself at home, so I've been working on projects and singing to myself. Doug helped me fix this recording of me singing Julie London's Cry Me a River. We were going to add guitar, but turns out it's quite a difficult song to learn for just a funzies afternoon tune. So, it's just me. Oh well.

Out Driving

2010-05-20T17:32:00.000-05:00

Today I went for a much needed outing all by my lonesome. Because of my injury, there are only a few things I can do without help. Driving to Nowhere is one of them. I've been feeling really down from not being able to do anything on my own, so today (while on the verge of a breakdown) I went for a drive to Nowhere. I drove out to the super rural parts of this area and kept driving for almost an hour. I felt soooo much better when I got home. Doing things for myself and having alone time are so important to me. Anyway, while I was driving I got to thinking about what it means to live in the present, and whether or not that's really possible. And I was thinking about expectations....how our cravings for something better, something more, can keep us from living in the present.
When I was in college, I wanted nothing more than to be somewhere else. I just knew that somewhere there existed a place full of intellectuals reading and learning and growing together in a beautiful world of culture and thought. I was determined to find it, and I was determined to be miserable until I did. Well, I certainly succeeded at the second part. And I'm pretty sure I succeeded at making other people feel like they weren't worthy of my presence unless they too were miserable. I felt irritated most of the time and I looked down my nose at people who did not think like me. I knew that all my misery would cease if I could just find that place full of smart people. But I was stuck in Auburn, and good thing, because I'd still be looking for that non-existent world otherwise. I had to learn to make my own happiness, make my own world of beauty and intellect, and make my own world of peace. I had to let go of being so hard on other people by letting go of being so hard on myself....not an easy thing to do. I stayed so angry at myself for having clutched to the Christian belief system so tightly, and I wanted so badly to find the new set of "answers." And because I was angry at myself, I was angry at everyone else. It was a long time before I realized there aren't any answers....and an even longer time before I realized that's a good thing.
Anyway, back to this idea of living in the present. I remember what it was like to dream of this far off "better" place, and what it felt like to really believe that I would find it. When I was in London, I rode the train a lot. I loved riding it alone, and I have a very specific memory of standing on the train listening to Amelie, and thinking to myself, "This is it. I'm here. I'm right here in this very moment." It obviously was some kind of important moment for me, because I still remember it and it was such a fleeting, ordinary thing. But today I started wondering....was I really in the present right then? Or did I just feel like I was because I was reflecting on the fact that I had finally come to do something that I had always dreamed of doing? Or can you really only experience the present in retrospect...you can only think you were living in the present? That, of course would suggest that no, you cannot live in the present. So what of our cravings for something more? Surely most of us have longed for a life more meaningful, more important, more exciting than the one we lead. What is that craving for? Why do we have it? Are we supposed to listen to it? Will it ever go away? Suppose I had chased like crazy that idea that somewhere everything was just as I had imagined it should be. Would I have found it? Even if I had never found it, could I have found any happiness or rest along the way? I don't know. But I know that I'm glad I found a way to let go of it...and I'm also glad that I didn't let go of completely. I think it's important that I still believe that things (in the big picture sense) should and can be different....that people can do more. Monotony was once my greatest fear. But, I had to learn that monotony doesn't jump out and get you.....you allow it to take you. It was kind of a hard lesson to learn, because once you know that you're in control, it means that if you want things to be better or different you have to get up off your ass and make it different for yourself. You can't sit around waiting for things to change, thinking everything will be better for you someday when something-or-other is different. You have to make it better. It's easy to complain. It's easy to put on your smart hat and talk about how the world's shitty and nobody thinks for himself but you. But what good is your smart hat if it doesn't teach you to live in such a way that you grow and change and learn from the people around you? Right? Right. I'm out of coffee.

A Fun Day of Shooting

2010-05-19T17:55:00.002-05:00

Lou and I played dress up and took pictures in the garage with special assistance from Doug. My favorites of the day:

Getting Inspired

2010-05-19T10:38:00.002-05:00

I got my real cast yesterday (it's hot pink), and I've been trying to get inspired to work on some fun portraits so that my brain doesn't turn to mush while I'm stuck at home. I've wanted to try using costumes and props in my portraits for a while now, and we just got our first studio light, so I really need to jump in. And, it's something I can do in the house, without having to crutch myself around outside somewhere. My beautiful friend Lou is living here, so I'm going to try and convince her to be my model. Here's my inspiration for my portraits of her....

Lately

2010-05-14T12:41:00.003-05:00

So, I hurt my foot really badly after a fight with a shopping cart and ended up needing surgery. I've been on crutches for a month now, and I still have a month to go. The surgery was two weeks ago, and since then I've been in a clunky and very heavy cast. It's so heavy I usually need someone to carry my leg while I crutch around to the bathroom or wherever. Mostly, I've been on the couch for the whole two weeks, though yesterday we ventured out for fancy coffee drinks and a short trip to the bookstore. Were Josh and Lou not here to keep me in good spirits, Doug and I would both be in a total depression from lack of moving about. Anywho.....I've been thinking a lot about what I'll be most excited to do when I can walk normally again. I want to ride my bike and stand in the shower and cook and tend to my garden. But I also want to go places. New Orleans is first on the list because Josh and Lou have never been and it's only 2 hrs. away.

I want to travel more. I wish it weren't so damn expensive. Travel is so healthy. I've been thinking about how I glad I am that I went to London all by my lonesome when I was in college. It was so good for me....traveling alone gives you such a sense of freedom. Actually, doing other things alone can give you a similar feeling: hiking alone, sitting in the park alone, driving long distances alone. It's just good to be alone from time to time, really. But maybe it only works if you're alone on purpose. Hmm. Anywho, I'm rambling and my lunch is ready. Doug has to carry it to me. I'm still on the couch.

Married and Living Together

2010-04-07T09:25:00.005-05:00

I decided I need to do a happy post after that last "I hate the world" post. Next week, Josh and Lou are moving in with us. They'll be inhabiting our guest bedroom, sharing with house duties, etc. And, yes they'll pay rent like real roommates. They're married...we're married. And soon, it'll be like we're all four married. Soooo many people think it's freaky weird that two married couples have decided to share living space. They ask, "Well...I mean...how long will they be there? What will y'all do about groceries? Where will they put their car? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Well, first of all....NUNYA. And secondly, yes, I'm sure it's a brilliant idea. What could be more fun than doing something everything thinks is weird with another married couple who shares your same values and outlook on life? We'll cook and eat together, play music together, budget our limited monies together, build a new deck and play in the yard. And all the while, we'll be giving them a cheap place to live that doesn't tie them down, and they'll be giving us a little safety net while we try to jumpstart our home business. Sounds pretty great to me. But some people are naysayers. Oh well. Poo on them. The video below pretty much sums up how I think our life with Josh and Lou will look like: sheer delight over splitting one $5 sandwich four ways. Yesss!

Why the English are Happier, Despite the Dreary Weather

2010-04-06T17:44:00.003-05:00

This post is long overdue, but better late than never, I suppose. Doug and I traveled to Europe in February, thanks mostly to our dear friends Josh & Lou who graciously let us crash at their place in Italy for ten days. We stayed with them in Florence and then traveled on to London for a few days and spent a full day in Oxford, England (my favorite part of the trip, aside from frolicking around with Josh and Lou). In order to get from Florence to London, we had to take a two hour train ride from the heart of Florence to the airport in Pisa. We sat on the train in front of a young British couple and across the aisle from an elderly British couple (the two couples were not traveling together). We all started chatting because we felt relieved to know we were not the only people around who spoke zero Italian. And so my story begins...
The young guy behind us started telling us about his travels around the world and was excited to learn that we were from the United States because he and his girlfriend had never been. He asked all sorts of questions about life in the American South: "Is it really a hickville like in the movies?" And, as the conversation progressed, we began talking about how much time we Americans spend at work, what our healthcare debate is all about, why the rest of the world was glad we elected Obama, and so on. Big issues for a couple of 25-yr-olds on vacation. I tried to be honest without sounding like Debbie Downer....though he did ask me at one point, "how can you live there?" Anywho, I don't want this to be a three hundred year long post, so I'm going to try and sum up the conversation. Here's what he told me:1. He is a nurse in a psychiatric dept. in an English hospital. He gets 8 weeks vacation every year. This is normal for nurses, though most other working people only get 4-5 weeks. Only.
2. It is illegal to advertise for prescription drugs in England.
3. Last year, he took a 6 month sabbatical to travel the world...he did not get paid, of course, but walked right back into his job as if not a day had passed.
4. Working women who become mothers receive 6 months paid time off, and after that can take up to a year at 50% pay.
5. Taxes are high.6. Laws are not as tough on crime as they should be (though you could argue ours are too tough).7. Only psychiatric doctors are legally allowed to prescribe drugs for mental illness...including anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds.

Here's what I told him:
1. If you are unemployed, you are likely to have terrible, if any, health coverage.
2. We (Doug & me) pay $200/month for insurance, but because our policy requires you to pay the premium for a full 365 days before they'll cover anything pregnancy related, if we got pregnant now, we'd owe thousands of dollars. (Everyone's baby-having is already paid for in England)
3. Working women who become pregnant are considered lucky to get 6-8 weeks paid time off.
4. People our age are lucky to get 1-2 weeks vacation time. No one gets 8 weeks...and if they did, people would certainly raise eyebrows and wonder if he/she ever worked.
5. Every other advertisement we see is for prescription drugs, and any doctor can prescribe mental illness meds.6. Americans rarely take vacation, are terribly stressed, overweight, and unhappy, and think that we are the greatest country on earth.
So. Having had a long an in-depth conversation with this young couple (the elderly couple chimed in occasionally: "Seems like Americans are really manipulated by their news networks"), and having had similar conversations during my time in Norway, I have to wonder. What is our problem? We know we're not happy. We know we work too much. But we do nothing about it. My final two cents in my conversation with Darin from England was this: "We Americans just cannot figure out what the hell our values are." And I absolutely believe that. The only thing we can agree on is that money is king in this here nation, and plenty of individuals and corporations have sold us to the devil to make a dollar. Yet we have hardly lifted our heads. Is it because we don't know what we really want besides fancy houses and cars? Is it because our country is so young that we can't get our values in a row? Is it because so many news shows broadcast fear tactics 24/7? Why can't we get it together?

Barbara Kingsolver notes that we live "in a society whose holy trinity is efficiency, productivity, and material acquisition." And we'll go after those things, no matter the cost. We've lost ourselves, our values, our culture. We are but a sad shadow of the people who founded this nation, wrapped in a fancy plastic package and unsure of how to get out.

So much for not sounding like a Debbie Downer. Oh well.

Pretty Food

2010-04-05T21:08:00.004-05:00

I gave the blog a face lift, so I wanted to post a nice pretty photo to celebrate. This is a photo of some delicious dried fruit at a market in Florence, Italy. It tastes as yummy as it looks. I think I'll get a food dehydrator and try to make my own. Mmm.

Sowing Seeds

2010-03-31T12:36:00.004-05:00

Today I planted my seeds! The weather here is still pretty cool, so I only planted a few things today: tomatoes (supice and brandywine), broccoli, cilantro (slow bolt variety), carrots, onions, and Kentucky Wonder green beans. I'm super excited. In another month or so, when it's significantly warmer out, I'll plant my peppers, squash, eggplant, basil, and cucumber. And then when fall starts, I'll have all new things to plant, like pumpkins and garlic. Mmm. So, my first veggie seeds have been sown and watered. Yay! Now, we wait.

I have a weird feeling that this may be one of the most important projects I ever do...important for me personally. I can't think of any other project that I've dedicated so much time to or researched for so long. And I'm actually going through with it, which means it must really be important to me. Someone once told me that unless something is actually a part of your life, you don't really believe in it. Like, if you talk about how recycling is important but don't actually recycle, you clearly don't value it as much as you say. That piece of wisdom has always stuck with me. And we do recycle, thank you very much. Anywho, I've been on my high horse about food for so long, and now I can realize for myself that it is actually important to me. It's so important to me that I've started a garden of food, even though I've never had much success growing anything because I get lazy and forget to water the plants. But that won't happen this time, I now know....too much is at stake for me. I've worked too hard too long to let this thing slip out from under me. There was something about sticking those tiny seeds into the ground and covering them with the soil I had mixed myself. They're little lives that will give me life, in more ways than just food nutrients. Those plants and I are part of a cycle with each other and the earth. That means something. And I think their growth will give me new confidence to try other new things and perhaps cure me just a little of my fear of failure. I'm not gonna let those little guys down.

Healthcare or whatever...

2010-03-23T12:18:00.002-05:00

I don't care to get too deep into the conversation about the healthcare bill, mostly because conversations about the bill are scarcely actually about healthcare. But I would like to say this: we need change.

And, health insurance should not be linked to employment. Period. Employers shouldn't have to help pay premiums. Self-employed and unemployed people shouldn't have to wonder how they'll get good coverage.

And how about this? What if we didn't need so much healthcare all the time?

1. Eat fresh veggies and move around for at least 30 minutes each day.
2. Don't eat processed food.
3. Drink plenty of water and don't have too much soda or juice.
4. Don't eat so much sugar and sodium.
5. Increase your chances of not needing the doctor so much.

Americans spend too much on healthcare and too little on food. We eat cheap calories and pay for it by having all sorts of diet-related health issues. So...while Congress spends a bajillion years trying to figure out a way to make changes in the way we do healthcare, let's all eat and live better, for our health.

Starting the Spring Garden

2010-03-14T12:23:00.003-05:00

So I've been researching and talking about starting my own vegetable garden for around 8 months, and now the time has finally come for me to actually do it. This is really exciting and a big deal for me, because I have this crippling fear of failure that sometimes keeps me from trying something totally new. It's not very often that I jump into a project that I know nothing about...especially if it's a big project. I mean, trying a new recipe or going to a party with strangers is no big deal....but for me, deciding to grow my own food is. I went through kind an emotional rollercoaster as it got closer to time for me to build the garden because I was afraid I was going to chicken out and not do it...for fear of it not going well. But, of course that's stupid and I know this, so I buckled down and started it anyway. And, here I am doing it and it feels so good! Yesterday, Doug helped me build the frame for our raised bed veggie garden, and today we added the soil mixture. Here's what we've had to buy so far:

3 cedar planks: $45
landscaping fabric: $10
galvanized nails: $3
soil mixture stuff: $45

So...right around $100 for the materials to build a raised bed. Cedar is naturally rot resistant, so we used it instead of any kind of treated wood, because chemicals from treated wood can seep into your soil. Yuck. Most gardening people in my research suggested using 1/3 existing soil (we have red clay, so we bought topsoil), 1/3 compost and 1/3 peat moss for the perfect mixture. Compost can take weeks or even months to decompose enough to be usable, so we bought some. But, we'll start a pile in the yard to use for next season's garden. Build your frame to whatever size you like (mine's 4 ft. x 8 ft.), place it over some landscaping fabric, and mix your soil in. You're ready to plant! Yay! On to seed ordering.

Where ya from, darlin'?

2010-02-02T12:29:00.003-06:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about home and what it's like to really be from a place. Our photography clients ask Doug and me all the time where we're from and I always tell them I was born and raised right here on Mobile Bay. And I've come to realize just how uncommon that is...that a person like me comes back home to put her own roots down in the same place where her parents and grandparents put their roots. It's something I never thought I would do, but knowing a place and feeling connected to a place means more than we know. Anytime I go out to the grocery store or take a walk through our neighborhood (the same neighborhood I lived in for 15 years as a child) I'm surrounded by my own personal history and the history of the people closest to me. It means something to drive by a place and tell a friend, "That's where I used to ride my bike with my friend Anna," or, "That's the treehouse my dad built for me," or "Down there is the railroad my grandfather worked on during the Great Depression." It means something to us...deep down in our soul bellies...to call a place home. Not just a house and the company of those we love, but an actual place. The bay, the beaches, the oak trees....they're the same natural surroundings that inspired by grandparents to paint and encouraged my parents to raise us here. My own children will be the 4th generation of kids to grow up learning to ride a bike along a coastline, swim in the ocean, and throw an anchor from the bow of a boat. We'll get up early and go fishing as a family, like I did with my parents, and we'll be fishing in the same waters, by the same trees. I remember what my town looked like 20 years ago, and my parents tell me how it looked 40 years before that. My dad takes me to the railroad tracks that he walked along to get to school, and he'll be able to show his grandchildren those same tracks. My parents' back-in-my-day stories will have so much more interest and relevance to my children because it all took place right here. I mean, that's pretty amazing, I think. And I think that kind of thing should be more common....people should be more connected to each other, of course (we're desparate for that), but also to the places in which they live. I think it's more important than we realize.

Grass Fed Burgers

2010-02-01T19:26:00.004-06:00

So, we had burgers tonight from some local grass fed beef. It tasted very different from regular supermarket beef....I actually didn't like it very much. But, we're going to try some different cuts of beef and maybe try some from a different farm and see what we think. It's very lean, like deer meat, and even when well-done looks more whitish than we're used to. A very interesting experiment, indeed.

Bathroom Makeover

2010-02-01T16:06:00.003-06:00

Doug and I redid our bathroom this weekend. It started out as a small project in which we were only going to put in a bath vent/fan thingy. And then....we scraped the peeling paint off the ceiling and repainted it. And then....we decided to go ahead and repaint the walls. And then we replaced the vanity because it looked terrible with all the new changes. It was all crooked and had been installed incorrectly and sank down into the tile about 2 inches, so it was short for us tall folks. And somebody along the way had cleaned the countertop with Comet or something terrible, so it had lost its shine and looked really grungy. So, bathroom makeover. But, the thing is, we didn't really plan on all this happening, so we don't have any before photos. You just have to take our word for it that it looks ten thousand times better now. We added a fan, painted, replaced the vanity and countertop, and purchased a fancy new shower curtain all for under $700. Not too bad. Also, we built up the floor under the new vanity, so it's 2 inches (at least) taller than it was. And here's how it turned out!

Weekend Doings

2010-01-24T19:46:00.006-06:00

Went to Lowe's today and looked at paint swatches for the kitchen. I'm thinking this icey aqua blue color with the green glass tile backsplash. If not green, then plain white subway tiles.
Also, I read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food this week. It only took me two days! It's a good read and actually had a lot of new information for me. He takes a pretty hard look at how we've somehow in our eating come to focus on nutrients, rather than on foods: "Eat more fiber." Not, "Eat more broccoli." Anywho, I highly recommend it. An excellent and easy read.

Garden

2010-01-18T19:30:00.002-06:00

Oh, and I've decided I want to start a raised bed organic vegetable garden. Any suggestions?

I should use the library more often, for starters.

Handmade Nation

2010-01-18T18:23:00.002-06:00

So, a few days ago I watched a great documentary that Mallory let me borrow. It's called Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design. Basically it's about people making a living by selling items that they've made themselves, and about the increasing demand for such items. But there's more to it than that. You have these artists (mostly women, but we'll get to that) who are abandoning the fancy-pants art world to create things like clothes, jewelry, bags, paper goods, etc. And not only are they making a living doing it, they're finding themselves much happier and more fulfilled. This was the part that most interested me.

When I was about halfway through the art program at Auburn, I came to the conclusion that it was all hogwash, hocus pocus...bullshit. I wanted out asap and decided to finish early with a BA instead of a BFA. About a year later, Doug and I were talking marriage. So a friend from art school told me I was making a big mistake by not getting a BFA, that I wasn't living up to my potential as an artist (gag me) and that I was destined to "lose myself" by getting married at such a young age. Then, my sister in her infinite oldest sibling wisdom sent me a copy of What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us: Why Happiness Eludes the Modern Woman. It talks about how the feminist movement of the 1960s has affected women today and notes that we've trapped ourselves into choosing either family or career. And, whichever we choose, we are constantly wondering whether we chose correctly and are looked down upon by those woman who chose the other way. Women who have big time careers and send their children to daycare at 4 weeks are scorned by stay-at-home moms and vice versa. It's like we've realized that we do actually long for that family life, motherhood, whatever, just as much as we long to find our own personal fulfillment apart from such things. And we've been conditioned to think that we must choose between the two....which is like asking a parent to choose between their two children. It's impossible and ridiculous. Anywho, many women of my sister's and my generation seem to have finally found a balance. They're sewing, cooking, and gardening, working from home. And they've discovered that unmistakable feeling of accomplishment that comes from making something with your own hands that is not only beautiful, but functional. And, the best part is, people are seeking out their stuff. People want to know that someone just like them crafted their item by hand....someone they could call up on the phone and talk to if they wanted. And skills that may have been lost otherwise can now be passed on to the next generation. We learning to grow and cook our own food, make our own bowls and furniture, sew our own clothes. Could it be that we're on our way to self-sufficiency once again? Could it be that there are enough of us out there to create a beautiful revolution that could tear down the corporate monster that's eating our culture? Perhaps.

By the way...even though I did get sidetracked from the grocery project, you will be pleased to know that Doug and I ate off that $35 grocery trip for a full week. And you may also be excited to know that we discovered a local farm (more than one, actually) that raises grass-fed beef and free-range (actual free-range) chickens. We'll be investigating that more soon. Find one in your town here.

Kitchens!

2010-01-11T12:15:00.009-06:00

We're planning on replacing our kitchen cabinets this spring. I'm super excited and have been spending entirely too much time looking at kitchen cabinets on Ikea's website. Yep, we're going Ikea, and we're installing it all ourselves. I'm sure that experience will make for some interesting blog posts. So, I've been collecting some pictures of what I think I want the end product to look like. I want white cabinets with the beaded board doors....wooden countertops (freakishly inexpensive from Ikea)...and an apron-front sink. I can't decide if I like the darker finish on the counters or the lighter finish. Same with the hardware....dark or silvery (I think they call it brushed nickel, but that's dumb). Whatchoo think?

Lunch

2010-01-10T13:36:00.002-06:00

Quesadillas for Two

one can of black beans $0.89 (at Target...$1.10 at Publix)
2 tortillas from pk of 10 $0.23
1/2 bag of Amish cheese $1.15
1/2 an onion $0.30 (freeze the rest chopped and use later)

Total: $2.57 ($1.29 per person)

For super awesome quesadillas, spend a little more and buy organic black beans and tortillas. The onion was local, so that's a plus. And the Amish cheese is Amish, so it's free of mystery substances. If you wanted to add meat, buying kosher meat is a good idea and it's relatively easy to find.

Sidenote: Moe's John Coctostan quesadilla is pretty much identical to this one, but usually has meat on it. That quesadilla costs about $5 or $6 and has 515 calories and 24 grams of fat with no meat on it. And it contains 47% of your daily sodium value. !!!!! Mine has about 380 calories. I didn't calculate the other parts, but no wonder we're all fat and have high blood pressure. Jeez. Cook it at home, people. Save your money and your health.

Dinner

2010-01-10T11:48:00.003-06:00

Meal number one:

We cooked dinner last night from the following ingredients and fed 3 hungry adults:

one bell pepper $0.69
2/3 of the hickory smoked sausage package: $2.26
one yellow onion $0.60
one roma tomato $0.30
cup of rice $1.09

Total estimated cost: $4.94 (about $1.65 per person)

The prices were best guesses based on my grocery receipt and my subtracting the sausage and rice from their larger packages. Anywho, that was a pretty cheap dinner, right? Here's what we did:

brown the sausage in a skillet
throw in chopped pepper, onion and tomato
let cook together until veggies soften
add cooked rice and mix it all together
throw in a splash of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce or whatever you want
eat it

Yummy on a Budget

2010-01-09T11:49:00.003-06:00

So...I've decided to do a few short posts on the art of eating well on a budget. It's frustrating that buying organic and natural foods is expensive....and cooking from scratch requires planning, creativity and patience. But, it is possible to eat yummy healthy foods even though your budget is tight, and I'm going to do a little project to prove it. I'm going to tell you what I bought at the grocery store, how much I spent, what I cooked, and how much food it made. The first rules of learning to cook well on a budget are as follows:

1. Slowly stock your pantry with spices, olive oil, fresh garlic, etc.
2. Learn the value of meatless meals.
3. Don't be afraid to cook without recipes. Recipes often call for strange ingredients that you have to run out and buy for just that one meal.
4. Know that when it comes to thinking about the environmental, political, and health issues in regards to food, everything's a trade off. It's unlikely that you'll find food that is organically and locally grown. So, if you can't get organic, try to at least buy local...and vice versa. The main thing is that you're not eating Lunchables and the like. Ew.
5. Read labels carefully. Learn what those crazy ingredients are and how bad they are for your health, and look for foods with very short ingredients lists. Skippy Natural Peanut Butter ingredients: Peanuts, oil, salt. Yes.

Okay, so I went to our farmer's market yesterday for some essential items:

16 oz. Hickory Smoked Sausage from Elba, AL
12 oz. Bacon from Elba, AL
Amish shredded cheddar
10 pk flour tortillas
32 oz. bag frozen broccoli
frozen biscuits
Amish whole wheat pasta
2 yellow onions
2 green bell peppers
4 roma tomatoes
1 ginormous eggplant
1 garlic cluster

Total: $34.66

So I have several meals in mind here, and I plan on posting the meals I made, but the most important thing is how long this food will last us. So, we'll see. Obviously, there are other grocery items that I will be picking up here and there that are not on this list: coffee, juice, milk, etc. Allegri Farm Market doesn't carry any of these items except coffee, so I split up the rest of my shopping between Publix and Target. Yes, I go to three different grocery stores. It saves me that much money. Produce at Publix is very expensive...for example, one bell pepper is $1.79 there, and they're $0.69 at Allegri. However, Publix carries organic bell peppers for around $2, so sometimes I buy those. It's all a trade off. For dry foods (cereal, pasta, coffee) and juice, I shop at Target. A box of cereal that costs $4 at Publix is $2.50 at Target. And Publix cranberry juice is $4.29 while Target's (same brand) is $2.79. That shit adds up! I buy my organic foods and some meat from Publix (though finding remotely natural meat is next to impossible here...more on that later). I got a humongous jar of organic Texas rice for $6, and we've been eating off it for weeks and are only halfway through it! Anyway, through all this, I've become very aware of what I'm spending and what I'm eating, and it's given me a great and wonderful sense of having control over my day to day living through my own educated and thoughtful choices of food. I'll let you know what's for dinner.

Fools Rush In by Bill Carter

2009-12-11T10:34:00.002-06:00

So, it's been a while since I've written anything and there are two reasons for that: 1. I've been busy as hell. 2. Everything I've wanted to write about has been the sort of thing that requires sit-down-and-really-think time, which I haven't had much of. Why is it that December is always crazy? It irks me. It's like even though you've finished all your gift-getting early so that you can relax and enjoy your christmas tree that has only lights and no ornaments, when you have to go to the store for toilet paper while everyone there is in panic mode and buying soo much shit, the toxic poison of our obsession with all things bright and shiny seeps into your body and puts you in a foul mood. I'm just sayin.

Anywho, on to the post. I've been reading a new book that my dear friend Mallory sent me called Fools Rush In by Bill Carter. It's a sort of memoir about his journey into war-torn Bosnia during the 1990s. He struggles with the idea that he might in fact be a "war tourist," the term locals give to foreigners who come into the heart of a war that isn't theirs to "find themselves" or whatever. Mostly, Bill Carter (an American) talks about how peoples' everyday lives become so full when they know they may not see another sunrise. These people are dodging bullets on their way to retrieve water or check on a friend. Their night skies are full of explosions and fire. And yet, what he sees in their faces, much more prominently than fear, are laughter, love, joy. They play music and have secret art shows while buildings and streets crumble around them. They are living in the present, enjoying every moment because they know it could all end any second. Bill mentions several times that he gets completely overwhelmed by the constant wonderful feeling of living in the present moment. Here is a conversation he has with one of the locals in Sarajevo...starting with the local:

"You are in the center of the cosmos. Outside, in London and New York, they believe their lives are real. Feed the dog, say nice things to the neighbor, act like they understand everything. That is not real. They think they are real, but nothing is more real than what is happening here."
"So they are surreal?"
"No. They are unreal, the non-real," he said...."Non-real people are people who watch other people die on television and then turn it off to go eat dinner."

And another:

"Yeah, but what can I or Graeme or anybody really do?" He leaned in and for the first time looked directly into my eyes.
"...Tell me. Everyone in your home city is sleeping in their large beds with the alarm set to wake them in time to go to a job they hate. But you are here, yes? They are the ones that are truly dead."

Bill Carter never seems to be under the impression that we should all run off to the war-torn places of the world and save everyone. He does, however, make it clear that he believes we should do all in our power to make our lives meaningful. That we should seek love, live simply, and find joy with friends. We should live in such a way that when the shit hits the fan, we are not lost and we are not wondering who we are or what we ever stood for.

Here's one last passage from the book when Bill is reflecting on what in the hell he's really doing in Bosnia, after all:

"As much as I would like to say I began this journey with an agenda in mind, a fixed purpose I was working toward, I cannot. The truth is, up until this point, I had never thought very far ahead. It was in my training as a traveler: live in short spurts until the next portal opens up.
Yet there would be no turning back. Not now. Not after meeting the people I had met and seeing what I had seen. It would be like hearing a woman scream rape and going for a drink just to get out of earshot. No. It was too late for people like Graeme and me, suckers who believe that if we give a little more it will all turn round for the better. It wasn't that I thought I could save the world. At this point I would have settled for erasing my memory. Once memory gets hardwired into your brain it gets more difficult to erase your sense of responsibility. Why else do we have that cancer called television? Why are we inundated wit sound-bite news, and infantile politicians making promises they never intend to keep? Low ball, baby. Keep it simple and stupid. Keep the masses doped up on false expectations of lower taxes, second mortgages and entry into the country club and you've got yourself a happy society ready, willing and able to ignore those cries of rape. No one can hear them--the TV is too loud."

I've been making a mental note of things I've learned since I discovered I have control over my life and my happiness. I was going to put them in another post, but I feel compelled to put them here. Feel free to add to it. These are in no particular order.

1. Eat dinner with your family or spouse or whoever. At the table. With the TV off.
2. Turn off the TV.
3. Be careful not to find yourself "living for the weekend"
4. Actually cook your food.
5. Food made in a factory is bad for you.
6. Know your kids. Talk to your kids. Play with your kids.
7. Never hold on to any set of beliefs so tightly that you become blind.
8. If your job makes you miserable, leave.
9. Don't let other people's ideas about plans and the "future" keep you from doing what you need to do to be happy.
10. Thinking too much about the future is bad for you.
11. Love people without condition or agenda.
12. Don't buy too much shit. It will clutter your soul and your mind.
13. Try new things and go to new places.
14. Engage in meaningful conversation on a daily basis. Even if only on your blog.
15. Read.

Okay, I'm out of coffee and out of brain juice. Til next time, people.

Best Lunch Ever.

2009-10-28T13:31:00.002-05:00

This is my favorite thing to make for lunch on days when I'm at home. It's just an everything bagel (the kind with dried onions and such inside), with cream cheese (1/3 less fat, of course), Classico Pesto sauce and fresh tomatoes. Put it in the oven for a few minutes and yay! Yummy lunch. It's not local, except for the tomatoes. But, it sure beats the hell out of Lean Cuisine. Right?

Food, Part 2: The Vegetannual

2009-10-27T19:16:00.005-05:00

Here's a little guide from Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It will help you become more aware of what's in season in your area.

Also, Doug and I made this yummy dinner from farmers' market foods:

Jasmine rice grown in Fairhope, AL
Hickory Smoked Pork Sausage from Chickasaw, AL
Baldwin Co. bell peppers and onion

And Dessert:
Homemade pecan squares from Heavenly Creations in Fairhope, AL

Food

2009-10-21T09:19:00.003-05:00

We went to see Food, Inc. this weekend. It was gross. Food, Inc. is a documentary about the American food industry...how our food is grown, processed, and distributed. This is a topic I've been reading and learning about since I first read Fast Food Nation about six years ago. Most of the startling info in the movie was not news to me, but seeing all the footage from inside factories and "farms" was really disturbing: moo cows standing knee deep in their own waste, chickens bred to grow so fat they can't stand up, ground beef soaked in ammonia. Ew. Even our produce is genetically altered to withstand traveling hundreds of miles and to resist common pests. And beyond these obvious issues of health and sanitation, you get into major issues of giant multi-national corporations controlling the food supply. Animals are mistreated (to say the least), workers are mistreated and underpaid, consumers are kept in the dark about what's in their food, and profit is the number one priority.....make more money, whatever the cost. Anywho, I could on for days here. Just wanted to tell everyone they should either watch Food, Inc. or read some books...or both, of course.
Some food books:

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
This one will gross you out, but is very informative and interesting. It will change the way you eat for sure. They made a movie from this book, but I haven't seen it.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
This one is a very pleasant, easy read. She's a novelist, so it reads much like a novel, which is nice. She and her family left their home in Arizona and moved to a New England farm where they vowed to eat only food that they had grown themselves (or that close neighbors had grown) for an entire year. Lots of good info in this one.

What to Eat by Marion Nestle
Marion Nestle is a nutrition professor at NYU (I think) and she realized people who learn all this information about the food industry and where food comes from and then don't know what they should actually be eating. This is her guide for buying food. I'm reading it now. Good so far.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
These are both on my need to read list. They're both well-recognized as very important reads for anything food/food industry related.

Let me know if you decide to read one or see the movie. In the meantime, shop at your local farmer's market. If you don't have a farmer's market close by, buy organic.

Home Decor.....it's better homemade.

2009-10-07T17:21:00.005-05:00

This time of year, I always get into Martha Stewart mode. The weather is getting cooler, Halloween is coming soon (my favorite), and I start sprucing up the house and searching for pretty decor. This year, since we're in our first ever fall season in our new house, I wanted to get a nice wreath for the door. I used to think wreaths were only for grannies, but I have seen some pretty ones around, so I began looking for a nice natural-looking wreath for the front door. Well, I was in for a rude awakening about the price of wreaths. The cheapest ones I found were around $35 at Target. And they didn't look very nice...nor did they look like they would last more than one season. The nice looking ones that I came across in craft stores and home decorating stores were anywhere from $65 to $100. That's ridiculous!! I know... if you buy a good one that will last and last....blah, blah. What if next year you're tired of that wreath and want a new one? Doug and I could eat for at least a week on what it would cost us to buy a stupid-ass wreath. So, of course, I decided to make my own. Hobby Lobby had their fake flowers on sale 50% off, and grape-vine wreath forms are only $3.99 (regular price). Had there not been a sale, I would have bought some cheap berry garland for about $8 and wrapped it around the wreath form. But I got some nice things and made myself a wreath for $19, including tax. Hooray! And, I didn't use any glue...only wire. So, next year, if I've decided it's ugly, I can reuse the form. Ta-da!

Playtime

2009-10-02T23:15:00.004-05:00

I've been making things lately, since I have some extra time on my hands. I recorded myself singing a song after listening to entirely too much Judy Garland: Myself singing a song

And, I drew a guy with a hat on!

It's so nice (and good for my health and sanity levels) to have playtime. More people should have it.

Where is Bob Dylan?

2009-09-28T16:58:00.003-05:00

So, we've been listening to lots of Bob Dylan lately. As I listen, a couple of things enter my mind: 1. I really like this music. 2. Why don't people make music like this anymore? People have told me before that I have the musical taste of a fifty year old man. What I listen to most while I'm alone is music that was made quite a long time ago: Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, etc. And the new music that I do listen to sounds like old music: Norah Jones, Nickel Creek, Mason Jennings, The Black Keys, Ryan Adams. What's going on here? People do tell me that I'm an old soul, so maybe that's it. Maybe it's because my parents grew up during the fifties and sixties, and that's the music I grew up listening to. But it's kind of strange, right? Anywho, while I was listening to Bob Dylan I was thinking about how musicians nowadays rarely write lyrics that broadcast their deeply held opinions about what's going on in the world. I mean, Bob Dylan just comes right out and tells us he thinks war is stupid and that all the people up in Washington are responsible and should rot in hell. Gee, Bob, tell us what you really think. And he wasn't talking about war in general, either. Everyone knew he was talking about Vietnam, and he was so popular and well known, and if any bureaucrat every tried to tell him he had to keep his mouth shut, there would have been some kind of uprising. Nowadays, people just keep their mouths shut, even without being told to do so. Why? Do we just not care? Do we think no one else feels the same way we do? Are we afraid of being shut up by some far off Man in charge? When even our musicians and artists and writers aren't speaking up, you know it's bad. Obviously, there are people here and there who are talking about tough issues and raising questions. But it seems like even those people are doing so in a very general, "big-picture" sort of way. Do you know what I mean? People don't just say what they think anymore. Part of it is that people aren't thinking. Our education system and our technology-driven, money hungry culture have trained us very well in how to follow orders blindly and keep our freethinking to a minimum. But there are those who have survived the education system with their thinking parts in tact. What about them? Many have been convinced that they can do nothing, change nothing, that speaking up is pointless and a waste of time. The issues are too big, too complicated, too abstract. There's so much going on that we don't know about. This is how they want us to feel...like we're too small to do anything about it. And they're doing a very good job. So, I guess what I'm saying is....where is Bob Dylan? We need to speak up, speak out.....even if at first no one listens but a handful of friends and family. We need to share our thoughts and opinions, even when it means offending a neighbor or making a coworker feel very uncomfortable. We could all use a little more discomfort, if you ask me. Because when it comes down to it, what's the point of life if you're just a cog in the wheel. Don't you want to do something that matters? that means something, if only to you? Don't you want to look back and know that you lived a full life and that you swam upstream because you stood for something? Don't you want to raise children who care about ideals, values, principles? instead of money and power? I do. Let's talk more. And play more music.

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

Church & Monies

2009-09-12T16:03:00.002-05:00

Doug and I received a letter and pledge card in the mail from our local church. We hardly ever go to church anymore, but my parents were still going to church there. The church recently built a brand new Life Center, which is humongous and fancy, full of classrooms, meeting space, and a lovely basketball court with pecan floors (the kind you're not supposed to wear street shoes on). I realize that building these types of shiny new places is not uncommon in churches, so let me give you some back story on this particular congregation. My parents (in their late fifties) are among the youngest people in the congregation. There is a handful of 40-somethings, but most of the people in this church are well into their retirement. The congregation obviously needs to work on their outreach to young people, including their children's programs (Sunday school, preschool, etc.). So, this new building project was initiated out of that "Build it and they will Come" mentality. The capital campaigning began, and lots of money was raised. The original project plans included three buildings, to be constructed over the course of several years. Of course, it would make sense to start with the smallest, least expensive building, but that's not what happened. The finance committee decided to build the largest, most expensive building first. This building would cost four times the amount that had been raised during the campaign. Four times! My dad, an accountant, was on the finance committee and warned the other committee members that the housing market bubble was on the brink of bursting, and that this project would put the church in way over its head financially. No one listened, and dad was actually made to feel like he didn't have enough faith in God....that he needed to trust that God would lead them all through this project. Well, they went ahead with the 4.5 million dollar building. And then the economy took a harsh nosedive, as we all know. Parishioners were and still are losing their jobs left and right, and are struggling to pay their bills, and of course, their pledge amounts. Then we all get the letter stating that we need to do what we can to give more money, because the monthly note is $28,ooo (interest only). $28,000. A MONTH! That's more than I've been making in a year, people. And this is a really small church...no Joel Osteen mega-church. And not only are they begging for money, they're telling us that we need to give up our Starbucks and our eating out so that we can give more. No, thank you. You were irresponsible with the money we gave you, we're not giving up our earned indulgences so that you can have more money. There's a story in the letter about how, were it not for the people who continued to tithe during the Great Depression, the orphans at Wilmer Hall would have been cold and hungry. WTF? We're not talking about people's lives here. We're not talking about giving more money so that children can have food and clothing. Hello? We're talking about unnecessary basketball courts with pecan floors and classrooms that are hardly being used, and building a Life Center that we don't need. Don't pull the orphan card on me, sir. So now, all the other annual church fundraisers have to give the money they raise (that should go to missions) to the building fund. Way to set an example. I am so disappointed and downright disgusted that this has happened. The church should be teaching people about managing their money responsibly, and now that the economy has gone to shit, we should be offering free spaghetti dinners once a week or something to help families who've lost part of their income. But no. We're asking people to give what little they have left so that we don't drown in this ridiculous debt. I'm sick over it.

Cards

2009-09-09T19:04:00.003-05:00

So, since I'm unemployed, maybe I'll pursue the idea of teaching private art lessons. I made these business cards today. Thoughts?

Chrimmas

2009-09-09T09:12:00.002-05:00

Hooray for comments, everybody! So, yesterday I was talking to my dear friend Julia about vacation time and such, mostly because I want to know when the hell I'm going to see her again. She lives in D.C., and plane tickets are frick-ass expensive. She was telling me about all she has to go through to take a few days off at Christmas and fly home to her family. It's absurd. Now, Julia works for a non-profit organization on which many people in the city depend for help and shelter, particularly during the winter. So, it's not like she can just close up her office and leave. She has to make arrangements for someone else to fill her shoes, or lots of people will be up shit creek. But, for most people who have a hard time taking time off from work to see their families, it's because the companies they work for are solely interested in turning a profit, regardless of how strung out their employees are from not ever having a significant break. When I worked in the stupid world of "Retail Banking," I went to ask off for one weekend, because I was to be a bridesmaid in a good friend's wedding. Obviously, I knew months ahead of time that I needed off, and so I put in my request early. It was denied. Hello? Maybe you misunderstood me, Mr. Computerized time off giver. I'm in the wedding. Not to mention, that had I stayed at said bank, I would have been given one day off for Christmas (if Christmas Day was on a weekday that year), or zero days off it fell on the weekend. And, of course, if we're not letting our employees have time off over the holidays, then we're certainly not giving them a break during any other time of year. What has happened to us? No wonder we're all strung out and depressed and so stressed we can't even enjoy the minimal time we do spend with family and friends. Let me just point out one thing that I've come to learn: Taking good care of your employees is good business. It's not rocket science, people. If employers would give ample vacation time, and be understanding when you need to leave early to pick up your sick child, etc., they'd find that their employees were willing to work harder, stay longer hours when necessary, and will remain loyal to their companies, often spending 20-30 years working for them. Not to mention, if people have at least some vacation time (one week in twelve months doesn't count), they're less likely to burn out and are more likely to produce better work. We give students huge breaks throughout the school year, even through graduate school. But, oh, you're working now? You don't get any vacation until you've worked a solid year. And after that, you get one week. WTF? We cannot function like this. We're not functioning like this. Other countries require that people have several weeks vacation throughout the year. Norway requires four weeks for everyone, regardless of where they're employed, and once you're over 50, it's five weeks. Most people get more than that, and everyone's allowed to take three of those weeks in one chunk. The only people in America who get three weeks at once are super rich, or they own their own business. So, I'm owning my own business, people. And I'm taking a week off at Christmas. And, when my sister has babies, I'm going to see her. And, when my family comes to visit, I'm going to spend time with them. When Doug and I get rich, you can come work for us and do it too.

Buying the War

2009-09-08T12:45:00.002-05:00

Doug and I watched a PBS special last night called Buying the War. It's been a couple of years since it originally aired, but Doug read about it, so we looked it up and watched the whole thing on YouTube. The show was done through the PBS program called Bill Moyers Journal. Mr. Moyers takes an in-depth look at how the war on Iraq was marketed to us Americans, and how American journalists played a key role in convincing the American people that Saddam Hussein had WMDs, was responsible for 9/11, and was aiding al-Qaida. The Bush Administration hoodwinked the American people by passing off unreliable and illegitimate sources as credible and authoritative, and our top journalists fed the bullshit to their audiences diligently and obediently. Anyone who questioned sending troops into Iraq was quickly hushed, moved to page 18, and ignored by the press, and, in turn, the public. People who demanded more evidence against Saddam Hussein were shunned for being disloyal, unpatriotic, and disgustingly liberal. We now know that the inner circles of U.S. Intelligence were well aware that there was no evidence for WMDs, and that little, if any, evidence existed to connect Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida or Osama bin Laden. Few American journalists became aware of this until after the war had begun, though all they needed to do was make a phone call or two. But those who did realize just how thin the justification for this war had become were ignored. Even Ted Kennedy, revered as one of the greatest senators of our time, was largely ignored when he gave a televised speech denouncing our hastiness in marching to Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of people protested the war, marching through streets in numbers scarcely seen in decades. But they didn't make the news, either. President Bush gave speech after speech about the growing threat of Iraq and the need to take immediate action. Top White House officials openly disregarded the fact that few of our U.N. allies supported our decision. And, before we Americans realized what had happened, we were off to war in Iraq. Six years later, we're still there, and we still don't know why. Now, I could go on forever about Iraq and how it has been, as they say, a tragic, historic blunder. It even seemed wrong to me as a high school senior as I asked my parents why all of a sudden everyone was talking about Saddam Hussein and Iraq when we had just determined that we should be looking for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. No one could satisfactorily answer this question. But, what I really want to think and talk about is, what the hell happened to the American journalists? Hello? These are smart people. They're supposed to report the news and find at least pieces of truth, however unsettling. That's why they went in to journalism in the first place, I'm sure: to investigate and report back findings. But now they just roll over and play dead and let the corporate and bureaucratic powers above them control their every move. Now, I've known for a long time that watching the news is bad for your health. I quit watching the news my freshman year of college after following the Bush/Kerry debate for an unhealthy amount of time. I don't trust news people, especially the big guys: FOX, CNN, MSNBC, etc. But, what's really on my mind is the idea that the government will continue to directly control what our news people are feeding us....especially when I consider how many Americans are glued to news channels all day long. They've created a state of fear and panic among Americans, and in doing so have ensured that we'll all do whatever they ask, so long as they say it's for our own safety. And that, my friends, is scary. These are not new thoughts for me, but I haven't talked about it in some time. Writing helps, because the paper will let me get all my ideas out without shouting arguments at me. And this is some crazy shit, is all I'm sayin. Thoughts?

P.S. Your best sources of news are NPR, PBS, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report. Seriously.

Pillows!

2009-09-08T12:22:00.007-05:00

I've made some pillows recently, and have taken twenty years to share them with you. Finally, I photographed them today, so here they are. I made some shams and a throw pillow for our bedroom. I also made some accent pillows for the sofa. All of the fabrics are from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern collection, except the floral fabric on the sofa pillows. That fabric is from the Arcadia collection by Sanae. Anywho, here are the images:

Random Things

2009-09-07T17:07:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about life, and the world, and how I had stopped thinking about life and the world for kind of a long time. I used to read book after book about the state of our culture, the meaning of life, and how we should live. I wanted to talk about it at parties and at dinner and in class. But no one else wanted to talk about it. And I found myself totally strung out and feeling like I was going to have to single-handedly save the world. I grew exhausted and so full of anxiety I would sometimes wake up vomiting in the night. Craziness, I know. So, I stopped reading book after book and started trying to relax and enjoy my daily life. And I learned how to do that, and am much happier for it. But now all of a sudden all of my friends want to talk about it. They're talking politics, philosophy, religion, etc. They want to talk about how the world's gone to shit and what we should do about it. And I'm finding myself nervous about joining in again. I think it's because I know that once you start in on the conversation...once you allow yourself to jump in and become aware of what's really going on around you (and decide to talk about it), everything changes. And this is good, but it's a little scary. That's why so many people don't participate in the conversation. Most people don't even recognize that the conversation exists. People don't want to consider that everything that they hold true could merely be an illusion. They don't want to think about the possibility that we could be wrong about everything. People don't want to think at all. But I do want to think, so I've decided I have to jump in the conversation again....as exhausting as it can sometimes be. I'm going to start by writing more. I used to love writing, and I'm good at articulating my perception of the world. So, consider this post the first of many more. I went through some of my old papers from college, and I'm going to leave you with an excerpt from one of my favorites:
Perhaps there is nothing worse than uncertainty, for with uncertainty comes chaos. The first time we discover that something we always held true is not true at all, we must stop and reevaluate who we are and what we believe about everything else. Because, as C.S. Lewis said, we accept everything we know on the authority of someone else, we can sometimes feel as though we don't really know anything at all. And there lies an almost subconscious choice between living an orderly life in ignorance, or a chaotic life in truth.

2009-04-28T20:09:00.004-05:00

Doug made me a craft table for our anniversary. He made it totally out of scraps, and used no power tools to build it (so he had lots of nasty blisters afterward). It's a lovely place to put my sewing machine, stamps, fabric, and other crafty things. Since getting my sewing machine all set up on my new pretty table, I've made one pillow, and ordered lots of fabric to make more pillows. I also would like to try and make some pot holders and coasters soon, too. Here is the pillow I made, and a nice look at my table. =)

Easter

2009-04-21T20:35:00.005-05:00

For Easter Sunday, our entire family came over for a yummy brunch. It was the first time we've actually used the crystal we got for our wedding last year. Doug took this pretty picture of the dining room table in all its glory. Hopefully we'll have lots more family dinners with that funky pear tablecloth.

Hooray for Amy's blog!

2009-04-21T20:02:00.000-05:00

So I'm starting my own blog. Here it is. Maybe I'll write about something exciting soon.