Every day is exciting when you're the motley princess

It's the economy, stupid

2011-03-26T11:22:00.003-04:00

I heard someone on the radio today criticize the shortsightedness of this oft repeated James Carville quip. The criticism was that it's not the economy, but the culture.

Economy is just the quantification of culture, if you ask me. We are always trying to measure things and the economy is great for that -- we assign numbers to everything. However, if you've ever tried to do any sort of accounting, it's nearly impossible to actually come to an accurate, watertight answer. Have you ever prepared your taxes or balanced your own budget? Real life isn't cut into exact pieces.

It's similar to the environment and social spectrum. It always confuses me when people conceptualize the environment as a place you go to, rather than the place you are (plus a few other places). The environment and society are impossible to disconnect. So why do we think of them as separate? I think it's the numbers game again. We can measure emissions and waste. It's harder to measure happiness (although, that's being done too).

Being a bit of a data nerd, I'm inclined to like the numbers, the measurable version. However, as an anthropologist and a human in general, I know the world is more complex than our measuring systems and sometimes we have to use stories and experience to gain understanding.

Peace

2009-10-09T20:54:00.002-04:00

I was washing the dishes this morning while listening to NPR and said aloud myself "did he say Obama?" and as the next stories--all about the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize--rolled my astonished suspicion was confirmed. Then I went to work with a bunch of Brits and made travel plans with a Swede and checked facebook. A lot of criticism. And strangely enough it was for Obama, not for the committee. Most of the Obama jokes lately are focused on the lack of check marks next to his to do list. Fair enough. But those are tactics. What Obama is is a charismatic leader. We've had several charismatic leaders in world history--many of them also Nobel Peace Prize winners. And what they have in common is an ability to persuade people, an ability to change things at a cultural level, not a policy level. But charisma isn't enough. Hitler was a charismatic leader but deeply flawed and scarred and mislead. I think giving Obama the prize at this point in his presidency is a signal of his immense potential to effect change. And the prize helps to guide him toward the right path. It is a recognition of his strong record of good judgment and leadership and encourages him to continue on that path. We also have to remember that his nomination was made only 2 weeks after he took office. It wasn't made because of his great accomplishments. We all agree on that (although if you compare him to normal humans his accomplishments are actually pretty impressive). He is a human being who still shows enormous potential. He convinced Indiana, a state that hasn't voted democrat in over 40 years to vote for someone who was billed as a lefty democrat. He's got great power and, like Spiderman's uncle Ben, the prize committee is telling him that with great power comes great responsibility. Our last president abused that. With the right influences, I think Obama has the great opportunity to show how leadership should be done. I applaud this award.

It's a beautiful day in my neighborhood

2009-07-25T22:36:00.002-04:00

Well, it was.

Coffee
Dwell
Used Shazam to identify song and then realized why I recognized it and bought soundtrack to Slumdog Millionnaire on iTunes whilst sitting at coffee shop.
Tried out new lens
Shopped for random housewares resulting in finding perfume shop amongst industrial buildings and breweries
Tofu Salad Sandwich (surprisingly delightful) and Orange Carrot Ginger Cucumber juicefrom Urban Rustic
Lunch in the park with the WSJ I took from work (couldn't bring myself to read the anti-healthcare bits)
Grocery shopping in the park (fresh veggies)
Random yoga class in the park, which I joined midway
Trip to local kitchenware store, which is dangerously close to my house
Reheated penang curry from Song
Loaded 132 photos of my colleagues 30 days later to flickr... sorry they're private.

Stuck on Tarmac

2009-07-16T20:55:00.001-04:00

If they say they can't SELL booze on the ground, does that mean they're giving it away?

Transit

2009-07-15T18:44:00.002-04:00

First flight of the morning (630am): Prop Plane to Baltimore

Captain: Thanks for joining us this morning, folks. We're waiting for a mechanic to come and tighten some bolts on th exterior of the aircraft and then we'll be on our way. It's really not a big deal.

Flight attendant (in response to rolling eyes, nervous laughs, and one woman who said "I didn't want to be on this airplane in the first place!": They're not really bolts. Just screws. We'd be fine without them anyway.

State of affairs inside the aircraft: Lavatory had no sink, appeared to be partially taped together, and the door did not actually lock (meaning that the light didn't really come on either).
Flight attendant also made good joke about inserting the metal fitting into the buckle… in case we hadn't been in a car since the 1960s.

Good times.

Baltimore Airport
Most airports look exactly alike in my estimation. The only difference is the inhabitants, and in this case, they were much larger than the ones I left in NYC. Is it that hard to figure out that people need to build exercise into their routines instead of trying to make up for it in the gym? I'm sure part of it is that NYC has a culture for beauty or something, but in most cases, there's not a parking lot at Wendy's and there's often a staircase inside.

Second Flight of the Morning: 757 from Baltimore to Charlotte
Don't remember. Passed out after reading one page about climate change… noting the irony of a 3-flight trip to my meeting.

Charlotte Airport
Bathroom attendant named May. She's getting ready for her revival. Her daddy was a preacher and ain't nobody gonna change her no way. She loves Jesus and she doesn't care who knows about it.

Inhabitants of airport definitely increasing in size and accents are getting even deeper.

Third Flight of the Morning: TinyJet from Charlotte, NC to Fayetteville, AR
It's still morning???? I'll resist the urge to have a beer at 10am, but it's OK if I eat pizza, right?

Arkansas
My mom was born here, but I've never been before. Now it's down to 6 states to visit (must include overnight stay to count): Delaware, Maryland, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Hawaii

I arrived and not only had they sent my luggage to Fayetteville, NC instead of Fayetteville, AR, but the car rental company didn't have any cars left... well except this one car. it was on its way to the windshield repair person when I arrived, so instead of a subcompact, I'm driving a 2009 Nissan Murano. And it's actually kind of nice. Except that I'm attempting to be taken seriously in my role as a climate crusader.

So I showed up to my business meeting to promote mitigation and adaptation to climate change wearing skinny jeans and driving an SUV!

Good times.

Independence Day

2009-07-15T18:43:00.000-04:00

July 3 Out-of-Office message: The NYC office is currently closed in observance of Independence Day. If you need immediate assistance please call our London office. Please excuse the irony of this request.

Let's do this thing!

2009-07-15T00:47:00.002-04:00

On Friday May 16th, I sang one of the hardest pieces of choral music ever written (Beethoven's missa solemnis)before an audience of about 1000 paying customers. Then I met "the doctor". Then we went on a date the following Wednesday. I showed up to work the next day with a hangover, a ticket to Mexico, and a request to take Friday off.

So our second date was a Friday morning flight to Mexico.

Not bad.

MInneapolis, so far

2009-03-28T11:04:00.004-04:00

Greeted at our hostel by a young man we called "beard-o", or alternatively "Alex." We later learned his name is actually Charlie. The welcome sign had, in just as big font, "Check out time is 11am. If you are here after 11am, you will be charged for an additional night." He brought our sheets up to our room, tossed them on the bed and said, "They might not be the right size. If not, just come and let me know." They weren't. We didn't.

Then off to the car to get our bags. While transporting them into the hostel, a man stops his car and asks:
Him: Are you OK? What happened?
Us: Um... we're taking our luggage out of the car.
Him: Are you sure you're OK? You're carrying clothes!
Us: Um, yes we're sure.
Him: Well, be careful. There are bad people around. Crack heads.
Us: Um, OK. Thanks for the heads up.

So we asked Beard-o/Alex about it and he said that the crack heads were fine. They just want change and cigarettes. We also interrupted his American Beauty watching to ask for a restaurant recommendation. He suggested a pan-asian place called Gangchen. We promptly forgot the name, so when we were walking toward it and not sure if we had gone the right way we asked Lee Ann from CVS whether we were on the right track to the pan-Asian place. She said, well, I don't know of an Asian place that way, but there are some restaurants down the other way. OK, well do you have a recommendation? Yeah, well, there's this other place right down here called Gangchen. It's Asian. We managed not to laugh directly in her face.

Then while at Gangchen, a woman named Carl managed to fall off her barstool and Amy, being the good nurse that she is, went to check her basic neural function in case she had had a seizure or something. Diagnosis? Drunkenness.

Exercising New Vocabulary

2009-01-11T17:50:00.005-05:00

Whilst I was on the bus, I rang my mate to let him know I was getting close to the underground station where we were to meet. I had packed my brolly in the event of rain, and had worn long trousers with fresh knickers (of course). I was running behind because of a queue for the loo in the pub, but it was alright because his flatmate had just come up the lift from the tube to meet me. My mate was right behind but had stopped to toss some rubbish in the bin. He told his flatmate that I was the girl with the fringe and glasses. We went to dinner and I ordered a hamburger with chips. "Do you fancy some ketchup?" Yes! Brilliant!

Cultural Quirks

2009-01-11T17:34:00.003-05:00

Sometimes you have to experience another culture to better understand your own. I was afraid of culture shock coming to London since the standard of living, the language, and even the climate are approximately the same. The thought being that subtle, but distinct, differences in those areas can be more shocking than when you go to a place where none of those things are the same (and the latter has described most of my travel experience). To make a long philosophical, anthropological boring ass tangent more relevant: Americans are incredibly passive.

How do I know? The Brits are really direct.

I didn't think I was passive. I didn't think I was shocked by directness. I didn't think I really adhered to American culture so much. But compared to this frankness, directness, I'm a waffling, backwards talking hillbilly.

I think I prefer direct. [Let's try that again: I prefer direct.]

Charmed, I'm sure

2008-11-16T08:58:00.004-05:00

The past three months have been a trip. Check it out:

August 5: Terminated employer, gave 2 weeks' notice.
August 19: Last day of work at Previous Employer (yippee!)
August 20: Purchased airline ticket to San Jose, Costa Rica
August 20-27: Sublet apartment to roommate's brother, sold furniture, moved everything I own into a very small closet and my small hiking backpack, gave up all keys to everything, let friend borrow bike.
August 28: Flew to Costa Rica
September 1: Started three weeks of Spanish classes in Playa Samara, Costa Rica
September 18: Traveled to Monteverde , La Fortuna , and went white water rafting on my way to meet my dad in San Jose
September 24: Met dad at fabulous San Jose hotel, visited Manuel Antonio with him, toured San Jose
October 1: Flew back to NYC

During October: Couch surfed, learned to drive a pedicab, half-heartedly applied to jobs (until I found the one I eventually took -- I worked really hard on that one), enjoyed New York, rode my bike an average of 15 miles/day.

November 1: Moved into new, fabulous Williamsburg apartment
November 5: Interviewed for what is now my new fabulous job
November 12: Received job offer
November 13: Accepted job offer
November 14: Commencement of 3-week stress-free vacation in anticipation of new job start on December 8

Yes We Can. Sí, se puede. Favorite quotes so far.

2008-11-05T00:08:00.004-05:00

The next president of our country, Barack Obama, had the following to say. And then really super dramatic music played. It was awesome.

"I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face."

"This victory... is the chance for us to make the change we seek."

"Each of us resolves to pitch in."

"We rise or fall as one nation, as one people."

To those whose vote I did not earn tonight: "I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president too."

"the true strength of our nation.... comes from the enduring power of our ideals: liberty democracy and unyielding hope."

"To reclaim the american dream."

Pedicab-o-ween

2008-11-01T13:06:00.004-04:00

Halloween is a great way to break in a new pedicab driver. I had a great time anyway.

Most surprising comment of the night?

"Is that a dude?"

Yep. People thought I was a tranny. I guess that means I looked like I was trying pretty hard to look cute and feminine... but jacked.

I corrected most people, but for a certain few leering guys, I informed them that I used to be a dude. Usually made them back off a bit.

Joe the Plumber

2008-10-31T09:52:00.005-04:00

My mom told me this joke when I was a little girl. It kind of reminds me how a certain political candidate is using his new-found blue-collar friend. I feel bad for Joe the Plumber.

Suzy came home from school one day and announced "Mommy! I made a quarter today!"

Her mother said, "That's great! How did you do it?"

"The boys said if I climb the flag pole they'd give me a quarter. And boy do I know how to climb the flag pole."

"Oh honey. You know they just wanted to see your panties. Don't do that again."

"Ok, Mommy."

The next day, Suzy comes home from school announcing, "Mommy, Mommy! Today I made a whole green dollar!"

"I told you those boys just want to see your panties."

"Don't worry mommy, I didn't wear any panties."

It's debatable

2008-10-16T11:41:00.003-04:00

For the first time in the McCain-Obama race, I watched an entire presidential debate last night. My reaction? Disturbed, appalled, and perplexed. I honestly don't understand how someone who cannot answer a question is allowed to progress so far in a political race. I think that in many ways all candidates are trying to at least appear to offer a better life for as many of their constituents as possible and that people have different perspectives on what might work to achieve that. Clearly, no one has 100% amazing foresight and everyone makes mistakes. We can't predict the future, as hard as we might try.

The point of signing up to be a leader is to have the ability to represent and make decisions on behalf of your constituency and to be able to convey policies, changes, relationships, etc. to the people you lead. This requires you to be able to understand other people and have them understand you. It's called "communication" in some circles. John McCain is incompetent. I thought it was an interesting strategy to underhandedly attack Obama's eloquence. What? You mean his ability to utter an entire sentence without getting distracted and to listen to and then actually answer a question? Or was it his ability to coherently talk about his own policy ideas and not just repeatedly attack his opponent with the same non sequitur argument?

If we end up with the "wrinkly white haired dude," I might have to go back to Costa Rica--or become a community organizer dead set on counter-acting the problems he and his cohort create. I suppose that would be a more positive way to deal with it.

What I really don't understand is how you can be "undecided". I think those people are lying.

Hay Mucho Trabajo

2008-09-08T19:01:00.001-04:00

You may or may not know that I am planning to run a triathlon in October. Haven´t decided which one, but it will definitely be sprint distance and hopefully involve beer or some sort of spirits at the end of it.

I was feeling pretty athletic today and it was hot hot hot, so I threw on my speedo onezie and my rash guard (for sun protection) and set out to take a swim. On my way, I decided to run. So I ran ALL the way to Jesse´s Gym. It seemed really far away. As far as I can guess, this link will lead you to my route (for the lazy, it turned out to be less than a mile). Then I got in the water and decided to swim, like real swimming, not just catching waves and/or letting them thrash my body around. I decided I would swim to the thatched roof house which seemed like it was about 200 or 300 meters away. I guess I dont really know how far that is in real life, but let´s just say I did not make it before saying to myself "maybe you should just catch some waves". So I did. I´m not sure I actually know how to swim properly. I definitely don´t put my face in the water and that seems to be key. Maybe next time I will wear goggles.

This whole triathlon training thing is going to be pretty fun (and by fun I mean pathetic)... Oh and my bike handicap? Um, let´s just say the "FearGiant" MTB single speed conversion isn´t exactly going to do the job.

Bob Barker didn´t make it to rural Costa Rica

2008-09-07T13:34:00.001-04:00

There are a lot of strange things here in Sàmara... like cattle fields with beach and palm tree back drops, cowboys on bicycle, wild herd dogs, horses roaming the street, tough guys riding beach cruisers, etc. However, one of the most surprisingly strange things is the abundance of dogs with cajones. (I suppose the abundance isn´t so surprising if you really think about it, but I think you know what I mean.)

"Help control the pet population; have your pet spayed or neutered."

La Cucaracha Entró

2008-09-07T13:30:00.001-04:00

Apparently this trip (to Costa Rica) was meant to build character. Yes, that was the intention. However, I didn´t realize just how much character I would be building. I came home on Wednesday evening to change clothes (I was soaking wet from playing soccer in the rain) to find a giant tropical cockroach on my pillow (and one on my night stand too). I´m getting used to it. I go in, turn on the lights, chase cockroaches for a while, and then turn on the fan, hope for the best, and get in bed. This is big news consdering how I´ve dealt with them in the past.

I´m planning to extend my stay in Playa Sàmara, but I´m getting my own apartment for the rest of it.

Study Up

2008-08-27T10:12:00.005-04:00

I found the following list written in my Series 6 study books from last Fall. I was clearly fully engaged in learning about variable annuities . . .

must like wheat bread
must like sarcastic humor
must enjoy non-blockbuster films but not expect me to be an expert
must take interest in social and/or environmental issues
must be a little romantic with a penchant for sweeping me off my feet, but without being too mushy

breath-taking good looks are preferable
familiarity with/knowledge of the female anatomy desired
personal charm required
interest in dancing or dance class a plus
healthy sense of competition/ambition
willingness to travel

I'm currently interviewing qualified candidates. . .

Motley Princess Strikes Again

2008-08-22T13:04:00.002-04:00

Life is about to get a little crazier. Tuesday was my last day of a 2+ year job that I wasn't really excited about anymore. So now I start an adventure. I'm going to Costa Rica next Thursday and not coming back until October 1. The plan is to learn some Spanish, learn how to surf, go on zip-line canopy tours, get from place to place on horseback, and generally enjoy myself. I bought a new fancy rain jacket because I'm supposed to see a lot of that. I bought a refurbished ipod nano. I'll probably buy a few other toys before I go.

Wait a second.... what about when you get back? Well, I don't know. I'll think about that when I'm away. I have some ideas, but no point in spewing out that crap here.

Rest Ice Compression Elevation (RICE)

2008-07-16T09:17:00.001-04:00

High school health class came in handy this week. A friend of mine got into what turned out (very luckily) to be a minor motorcycle accident. He rode home from the event without a scratch on the bike and barely a scratch on him. But his ankle was pretty swollen and through a series of phone calls and internet research sessions, we determined it was sprained. So he stayed off of it. We iced it until he couldn't stand it anymore. I learned how to wrap an ace bandage. And of course he kept it elevated.

Pretty good orthopedic nursing job if you ask me. We'll see if he runs that triathlon on Saturday though.

Pray with me.

Anorexia Bicicleta

2008-07-09T17:24:00.001-04:00

I made a few more changes to the bike. New back wheel and hub. Ditched
old cassette (the cogs/gears in the back). Replaced tires with much
skinnier ones. Removed lock holster. Removed bracket for bike pump
(since I don't have one). Removed bell (might put it back on). New
single cog in back.

All in all: Bike lost 9 pounds and a whole lot of extraneous junk and
I can carry it down 7 flights of stairs in heels. It looks kind of
like it's anorexic.

Now I need pedals to clip into, shoes, and a water bottle cage.
That'll be next month.

Converted!

2008-07-06T13:32:00.006-04:00

A friend of mine (B) met a new friend (G) who has an art studio which he lovingly refers to as his "getting dirty space." They were talking at a party and came to the conclusion that they would help me convert my bike. So yesterday, G called B and they made plans to meet. B and I arrived at the studio and 1 hour and a few country songs later, we were flying out of there on my new single speed setup. Removed a couple of chain rings in the front, ditched the shifters and derailleurs, and shortened the chain. We also chopped about an inch and a half off of my handlebars. Way better handling. G also polished my remaining chain ring and it's so pretty.

I still need to get new wheels/tires so that I can get rid of the back cogs and really lighten this baby up, but I can already feel the difference. I'm gonna be one zippy little thing especially after chugging along on 35 pounds of bicycle. But for now, I'm still a little heavy and on an odd gear ratio, so going up hills kinda sucks, but I still rode about 10 miles today -- more than 7 of them were with a friend who lives in Brooklyn now, but was my skating and biking buddy in middle school back in Indianapolis.

Sweet Dreams II

2008-07-02T23:14:00.002-04:00

My little sister (age 9) recently had a dream that she went to heaven. So my mom asked, "What did God look like?" Without missing a beat, she replied "He had white pyjamas with red spots all over them, bunny slippers, and spiked hair."

Of course he did.

Not So Cute

2008-07-01T12:07:00.002-04:00

Lately, my friend Laura (soycube) has been posting about interesting-looking bugs on her blog. She seems to find them endearing and cute. Well, I had a slightly different experience yesterday morning.

I had just arrived at the office and was taking a quick post-bike ride rinse in the shower, when I saw something moving in my peripheral vision. "Oh, no, you're just imagining it as usual" I thought. Then I looked again and on the wall of my shower was a 2+ inch long water bug (some might say cockroach).

So imagine: I'm completely nude, trapped in a small room with a huge bug, with no options but to take it on. So I did, but not without repeatedly screaming at the top of my lungs. My colleagues came running down the hall thinking that I was being attacked (I was). One thought I was singing, but he obviously has very little faith in my ability.

It was terrifying. I couldn't escape (because I had no clothes on), I couldn't get help (same reason), and I had to take on this battle in the nude (which is extra terrifying when you hate creepy crawlies like I do). I felt like I was Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises, only I was armed with a Puma (shoe) and not a knife. But I got the job done. It took me a few hours of cooling off to be able to go back in there and remove the carcass, however. But I did that too.

Vegetable Pie II

2008-06-27T09:55:00.003-04:00

I made another pie with vegetables. When my friend asked me to bake a pie for (what turned out to be) her fabulous summer dinner party, I was stoked. I searched for a recipe at gourmet.com with only one criterion: rhubarb. I've always wanted to use it, but never have. I found recipe that makes what they call a cake, but you bake it in a pie pan, so it still counted in my mind. Plus, the whipped cream called for whiskey, which was an awesome addition. I also altered the recipe to include real vanilla bean instead of just the extract. What a treat!

So, true to form, I'm asked to make dessert and I bring a vegetable dish!

Mermaid Parade

2008-06-24T23:15:00.003-04:00

Saturday's event was the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. I went with friends and it was hot hot hot. Apparently many of the participants were also hot. Most of them were wearing very little clothing. I generally enjoyed it. If you want to see more colorful pictures, check the flickr feed. All photos are unedited, uncropped, even. Maybe I'll get to that one day.

Deconstructing Chicken

2008-06-24T23:08:00.004-04:00

I realized recently that I've never cooked a whole chicken all by myself. I'm guessing that this is because I was vegetarian when I might have learned this from my mom, then I went to college where my food was cooked for me (and subsequently made me gain 20 pounds), then I cooked for myself but armed only with vegetarian cookbooks. So I never really figured out how to cook anything other than a boneless breast.

All of this probably explains why I used to think that chicken is kind of like tofu: flavorless and able to take on the flavors of its surroundings. Well, when you leave the bones in, it's a different story.

Tonight, at the direction of my little sister, I roasted an entire 3.22 lb chicken. Only used a bit of butter, salt, and rosemary. And guess what? It's delicious. Flavorful, juicy, and delicious.

I also made a vegetable pot pie with biscuits.

Now I'm tired.

Miracles of Science

2008-06-20T01:23:00.005-04:00

Another ophthalmologist story.

I was there for a contact lens fitting (four months late), so I was testing them out on my way to work. When I got back on my bike, the world had suddenly changed. I felt like I was about 12 inches taller. Peripheral vision is amazing, but it was weird because it was as if I were floating or something and suddenly I could go faster and be more nimble.

Who needs a real road bike when you can see?

Eyeballs Roll, Bikes Rock

2008-06-18T21:26:00.003-04:00

Today my ophthalmologist told me that since February my prescription has changed. So, just in case, I asked, "You mean it got worse, right?"

"No, actually, it got better. What have you been doing differently?"

The bike. It's the bike. I can't believe it! Yeah, maybe I've changed my diet or my work habits a bit since then, but the only real, significant change is the bike. I've read about eye exercises and other things you can do to improve vision, but like all exercise, it's hard for me to do it just for the sake of doing it (even with a goal in mind). However, if I work it into a utilitarian purpose, life will change. And that's what happened. I'm getting toned arms, toned legs, toned butt, toned core, and toned eyeballs... and all from my 9-mile R/T daily commute and weekend getaways. Are you convinced to start a 2-wheel commute yet?

Weekend Adventure Numbers

2008-06-16T19:32:00.004-04:00

I could tell the stories, but it would take too long. Plus, what happened in the tent stays in the tent. So here you go:

Travelers: 4
Total Miles Traveled: ~40
Roadkill we passed, ran over, or otherwise encountered: at least 20 including 3 robins, 3 rats, 10 squirrels, 2 raccoons, and several unrecognizable animals including one that might have been a frog
Hours after our intended arrival time we actually arrived at our campsite: 3
Wineries visited: 3
Goat farms visited: 1
Greenhouses used to wait out rain and hail storm: 1
Round trip detour mileage due to navigational difficulty: ~3
People our tent was intended to sleep: 2
People our tent actually slept: 4
Caterpillars found on my body in the night: 1.5
Attempts at making fire: 4, including one successful attempt
Attempts to use the neighbor's fire: 1 (successful)
Number of pet birds brought by neighbors: 3
Bottles of wine consumed during breakfast: half
Caterpillar droppings on hair, clothing, and food: well, if we had known that's what that was from the start, the number might have been smaller, but since that was a late discovery, more than we can count
Emails sent: 0
Phone calls to "dad": 4

Countless good conversations, laughs, and good times. Can't wait to go again -- but I will be purchasing a new (to me) bike before then or significantly modifying mine. And panniers might also be a good idea. Carrying a wet tent in a backpack is not actually advisable.

Oops-ident

2008-06-13T15:42:00.002-04:00

I shouldn't post this here because you'll worry. But you shouldn't.

Today I had a bike accident on a large thoroughfare. I was powering through a yellow light across 6 lanes of traffic (in hindsight not the most brilliant move), when I suddenly saw a car coming at me poised to make a left turn directly in front of me. Brain: "Oh Shit! Oh Shit! Oh Shit!" Body: "Slam on brakes" Bike: "Front brakes are tighter than the back ones." Back tire fishtails and throws me off. I'm lying in the road with my bike next to me. Uninjured. Slightly shell shocked. Lady from the car yells "are you OK?" I said, "Yeah, are you?" She said "yeah". I got up, a little embarrassed. She split. Still made it to work in 30 minutes.

So I went to the bike shop today and got my rear brakes repaired. Much safer.

P.S. Yes, I was wearing a helmet.

OMG I Never Celebrated

2008-06-12T23:02:00.003-04:00

Obama is now the presumptive nominee. Hilary made a really fantastic endorsement speech. I'm totally excited, but like the candidates, a little worn out from it all. I didn't really work that hard, but I thought really hard and I suppose I campaigned by talking to anyone drunk enough to listen while the primaries were still in play.

Now we just have to prove to the world (or enough of our American colleagues) that this old man is not the answer. (As if I would paste his name on my website -- come on.) I haven't decided exactly how I'm going to participate, but I'm sure Barack and his team of amazing change maker Web 2.0 social marketers have some ideas.

So what are you waiting for?

I don't get it

2008-06-12T01:19:00.003-04:00

How the hell are Ice Cream trucks profitable?

Low margins. Rising costs (fuel and food). General mistrust from consumers regarding cleanliness and safety.

Conclusion: they really are selling drugs.

Plus, it's the only possible explanation of the 10pm ice cream truck drive bys in my neighborhood.

Breaking the Cycle

2008-06-09T23:25:00.003-04:00

I had questions about whether it was a good idea to ride my bike when it was expected to reach over 100 degrees today and I figured I'd regret it when I decided to take the train. I was correct. Not only did I forget my subway pass, which means I had to pay $4 cash for the round trip (obnoxious when you have over $40 in subway fare sitting idly in your purse), but it also took eons to get across town. Eons! One should not wuss out just because it's hot. That's why we have water. It just makes me angry not to exercise, so I guess I won't be doing that again.

14 Year Old Boy

2008-06-04T23:19:00.004-04:00

I said in a previous post that we can't all look like girly 14-year-old boys (forever), but apparently I've managed to hang on to that look -- or at least that persona. This morning a guy with chisled, split calf muscles zipped past me on his road bike up the hill on the Manhattan bridge. However, after I took (as I call them) the jumps and got some sweet air, I bombed past him on the way down.

It was a rainy morning, so not too many people out on their bikes. That is usually accompanied by some decent attitudes because there's an understanding that everyone who's actually out is pretty serious about their bikes. He saw me coming and waved me on, and I yelled something back at him about 35 pounds. He caught up to me on the road later and we had a nice discussion about the fact that I'm still a 14-year-old boy, and that my bike is more like a sled than a bike (his words, not mine). He also noted that 14-year-old girls do stupid shit like take the jumps too. Point taken.

Coffee Cycle

2008-06-04T00:07:00.005-04:00

french press my coffee
delicious morning beverage
i like it a lot

Like many days, today started with a fresh pot of French press coffee. Sadly, I cannot commute with my coffee because as I learned one day with a paper cup from the bagel store, I cannot drink and drive. Not even coffee. I spilled it all over myself including my new bad-ass fingerless gloves.

I saw a bike in a catalog today that comes with a travel mug holder. I'm sorry, but that's lame. What suburb are you riding in and why the hell do you need coffee while you ride if you're just going around the block? There are way too many potholes and assholes in NYC for that to be practical. Drink it when you get there and get over it.

Speaking of potholes, there are a lot of them, and my grubby little monster of a mountain bike takes them like a champ. However, I learned today that my bike is not only heavy, but exceptionally heavy. It weighs 35 pounds! So apparently, I've been taking the hills like a champ too. So even though my boss makes fun of me for being a slave to fashion, I'm getting myself a single speed road/track bike. I won't necessarily go fixed gear, but I definitely want something lighter and more maneuverable.

Ba-a-rack-O-ba-a-ma-a!

Negligent

2008-05-31T15:37:00.003-04:00

Yes, it's true. I've been negligent and for that I apologize.

However, I think that in some ways it's an improvement. The weather is nicer. It's easier to stay out later and be outside for longer periods, so I don't end up at home writing blog posts. So here's an update, in no particular order. I think I'll also post some things I started and never finished long ago.

1. I've been riding my bike a lot. I haven't taken the subway in 2 weeks. So all of my commuting, going out, etc. has all been done via bike or foot. I've even biked in the rain. Commute is about 4.5 miles each way, so I'm bulking up and spending an inordinate amount of money on food!

2. Because of number one, I'm thinking of investing in a lighter ride. I currently mount a Frankenstein of a mountain bike with way more gears than I need or will ever use. I'm thinking of going single speed or even fixed gear. Then I could have one of those sexy machines with no rear brake. That would be hot.

3. Also because of number one and the corresponding lack of subway time, I've significantly reduced my reading time. I'd like to get back into some books. From the end of August through about February I read something like 12 books. I haven't read a whole one since then, but I have read some magazines (like Outside and Fast Company).

4. Finished Spanish class in early May.

5. Spring concert with Grace Church Choral Society, which I should have announced here and didn't, was fabulous.

6. Other non-blogable personal and professional events.

Harlem

2008-04-26T22:05:00.004-04:00

Biked to Harlem via the Hudson River bike path. It was a beautiful day. One of those "I totally understand why they have those t-shirts -- I LOVE NEW YORK" kind of days. The trees are all in full bloom. Pink. White. Purple Green. Amazing.

I was headed to the demonstration protesting the gratuitous killing of Sean Bell. I don't really know much about the case, so I can't in good conscience comment on the right or wrongness of the aquittal, but I can say that either way, 50 shots seems excessive. So, with a journalist friend, I biked up there to see what was going on. We got there a little late for the actual demonstration. There were a few people with signs and flyers, but nothing really noteworthy. Or was it?

I think that the expectation is that the black community would be the folks who are outraged in this event since Sean Bell was black. However, the people sticking around to the bitter end were white, asian, latino, but not really a black presence.

Another thing came to pass while we were in Harlem. My friend's bike got a flat. So, we started asking people about a bike shop. The man at what I'm calling the "Jesus Table" suggested that we go to a man who sets up on the side of the road and fixes bikes for "the children". Sounded good to me, but I wasn't quite sure about the directions. So I asked someone else. This guy said he'd lived in Harlem for years, knew the neighborhood like his hand, and had never seen a bike shop. That's why (he said) that there was so much violence around -- people don't ride bikes here. So we decided to follow the directions of the Jesus Table man. And then we encountered "The Doctor". The Doctor was a barber-shop-esque setup in a garage where three or four guys sat waiting for customers surrounded by bikes.

For $20 we got the flat fixed, tightened the brakes, straightened out the rim, and got back on the road.

The most surprising thing? The philosophy lessons. I'll admit it. I'm a little limited in what I think that most people think about religion. I think that sometimes people take things literally and I'm not down with that.

However, I overheard a woman talking on the phone with someone about tackling problems by setting the right frame of mind and letting things happen from there -- making the mind the most important, or at least the beginning, part. Then, the man who fixed the bike told us he had had 2 strokes, 2 heart attacks, spent 2 years in a wheel chair, and had beaten cancer. He attributed his current health to faith and an internalization of the divine. Deep.

10+ miles by bike. Cultural experience. Good company along the way. And guacamole and homemade lasagna when we returned home. Beautiful day.

Check This Out!

2008-04-24T11:12:00.002-04:00

My roommate, the creative composer, fabulous (classical) guitarist, amazing editor, fantastic chef, among other things, has added a new incredible skill to his repertoire: Flash designer/programmer.

Check out his website at www.grantdamron.com to see all but the cooking skills. And if you need someone to write some music, play the guitar, edit sound, or design/program in Flash, please get in touch.

Daring Adventure or Nothing At All

2008-04-10T23:41:00.002-04:00

I've never been a quote person. I've never thought it necessary to associate myself with a quotation of someone else's. However, I was recently, at least momentarily changed. At least for now, I'm really interested in risk and how that plays into everyday life. The rock climbing taught me a lot about managing risk in a really real, in-your-face kind of way, but other things that are a little less tangible have come up in my life and in the world around me. I look at running a presidential campaign as mitigating risk after risk and learning how to take one when needed. Foreign policy. Farm bill. Farmers on strike in Argentina. Al-Qaida.

So when I saw this quote on someone else's g-chat, I had to adopt it for my own propaganda and added it as a signature to the end of my emails. Usually I find the Quote People annoying. So judge if you must. I think it's a good thing to reflect on every once in a while.

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." Helen Keller

Modeling and Modeling

2008-04-10T00:43:00.002-04:00

The article linked above explains the shitty market in terms of its reliance on findings in 19th century botany and the presumption that acts in the market are random. Um... duh! My previous post about dealing with the delicate psyche of a beauty school student is not so unlike the conundrum of dealing with a fickle, emotions-based market. Is this really so surprising?

The article points out that risk models (quantitative computer models used by financial institutions to keep themselves out of just the hot water that they're in) failed to predict the explosion in the mortgage market. However, another kind of risk model, one I'm more familiar with, is one that is a little more qualitative. The kind of work I'm involved with looks at the risks to our society/environment via information about a company's impact on those parts of our lives, not pure, simple financial implications. The Christian Science Monitor has something to say about why funds like that did a little better amid all of this torture in the mortgage crisis. Kinda makes you think that those factors might indicate financial risk as well. Maybe the financial risk didn't come directly from the company, but how do you like having a saggy ass economy.

It's late. This is terrible. Sorry.

Treacherous...

2008-04-03T22:24:00.002-04:00

When you sign up for a $20 haircut at Aveda Institute, you take a bit of a risk, so you take a deep breath and hope for the best repeating the mantra: it's just hair. it will grow back. i can afford to get it fixed.

Many have the theory that you just ask for a trim when you go for this $20 haircut in order to avoid disaster. However, we have to remember that we're dealing with people here, not just some Flowbee haircutting machine. You have to work with the (delicate) psyche of a beauty school student. In my opinion, one has to find the right balance between confidence and caution in order to make this work. Asking for just a trim starts the relationship with an air of mistrust, which is no way to begin if you want to survive.

1. Know what you want when you go in. Stylists at this level are not generally ready to create on-the-fly, even though they might try. Be firm, but gentle about what you want.
2. Instill a sense of trust.
3. Give compliments when they are due.

Otherwise, you might get what the woman next to me got: your hair stuck in a blow dryer! She asked for a trim, just a boring trim.

Let that be a lesson to you.

It's not a race. It's a race.

2008-03-19T22:47:00.008-04:00

I wish we had a better shorthand term for the election. The linguistics involved with "running" a campaign or "race" make it all too close to sport -- to a game.

This is not a game. This is the future of our nation and the well-being of its people. We need a leader who is focused, determined, honest and willing and able to take a risk when necessary.

Barack Obama exhibits honesty, sincerity, and a willingness to express what he believes to be the truth, whether that is what people are asking for or not. You're not going to agree with every single decision that any of the candidates make. I'd much rather know where those points lie than to expect the candidate to do one thing when he or she does the other depending on what mood he or she thinks the American people are in.

A campaign shouldn't be about strategy -- it should be about honesty. How am I supposed to figure out which candidate I trust to lead my nation if all they are doing is strategizing to get my vote instead of telling and showing me who they are, how they lead, and what they believe in?

As a candidate your job, nay, your mission, is to accurately present yourself in order to help people get to know you as a leader and let them decide which candidate fits best with their own goals and beliefs. As incumbent, you listen to the people who chose you to lead them and help make the goals of those people real.

My goals for this nation include broad themes like equal access to education, freedom from persecution, fair treatment, clean environment, etc. For the most part, the democratic candidates agree on the goals, but where they differ is in implementation.

What's brilliant about Obama's campaign and leadership style is that he has delegated not only to his staff, but to all of us. He puts it on the American people to stand up and make a difference. He is already leading us by encouraging and empowering us to lead ourselves. That's freedom and equality in balance--not easy.

We have a lot of work to do. The current president and his administration have left us a big mess including a national debt that is quickly outgrowing even its larger-than-life Times Square home. We need someone who can delegate. We need someone who is running for office on principles -- on his or her own principles -- not running on what the "other guy" isn't doing right -- not running on what they think people want to hear. We don't have time or energy for simply attacking other candidates.

YES WE CAN! Sí, se puede!

Find 35 Minutes

2008-03-18T21:31:00.004-04:00

You must. Because there is a speech out there worth listening to. Listen while you're cooking dinner or getting ready for work or download it to your ipod and listen to it on the train. Or read it.

Never have I heard such a soberly delivered speech incite me to action more strongly.

Yes. I'm talking about Obama's speech today on the topic of race -- but really on the topic of unity of this nation -- a consistent theme along his path to the presidency.

Like my objections to the blog mentioned in a previous post, he encourages us to divorce the idea that race is something that defines our differences:

"For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past . . . it also means binding our particular grievances - for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans . . ."

He's made the case (or the reminder, if you will) that "legalized discrimination" through generations of exclusion from property ownership, unions, police and fire departments and other means of amassing wealth has caused a divide between black America and the rest of America, and that a lack of other community bonds and services have exacerbated the problem.

He talks about deep-seated resentment in both the white and black communities. How both are destructive unless dealt with in an honest, progressive way.

And like he continues to run his campaign, he encourages all people to make small steps. You don't have to become a large scale community leader to make a difference. You don't have to donate the maximum to the campaign. You don't have to make politics your second job. You don't even have to write a blog post about it. You do what you can, because you can, and because there's only one place to start.

Even if you're not voting for Obama, please vote.

On Fiction

2008-03-14T21:28:00.004-04:00

In a previous post, I noted that I need to read more fiction. I think I might need to qualify that statement. I need to read more heartwarming, cheerful, inspirational, funny fiction. I just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner). It was amazing, but intense and mostly intensely sad. He's such a good writer that you really get wrapped up in it and I think my mood is affected by it. So I'm looking forward to something a little lighter next.

Stuff (relatively) Wealthy People Like

2008-03-06T09:14:00.003-05:00

There's a blog out there called "Stuff White People Like" which aims to poke fun at white people by waxing anthropologic about their quirky, illogical, or silly desires. (You can google it. I'm not linking.) However, these include wanting multilingual children, Priuses, modern furniture, and hating corporations. These are not the desires of white people. They are the desires of relatively wealthy people and I'm a little disgusted that it is encouraging people to conflate the ideas of being white and being well-off. Don't get me (entirely) wrong: it's funny and I find myself identifying with the posts. I'm just offended by the title and the "white" theme... am I just not getting it? Am I overcompensating for my own latent racism?

The Great Equalizer

2008-03-02T23:36:00.003-05:00

Despite many differences in occupation, age, race, culture, politics, etc. in my neighborhood, the laundromat is different. Everyone is there to get down to business. Everyone is wearing their least attractive clothes (i.e. the things that don't need to be washed until next time). Everyone understands that you don't want them to see your underwear and you don't want to see theirs. Everyone has to deal with the same broken or stupidly programmed machines. Everyone has to watch the same stupid movies on the televisions. It's nice to have some unity and some neighborly bonding -- even if it's while you're avoiding eye contact.

Prospect Heights

2008-03-02T23:34:00.003-05:00

I have a great neighborhood. There's a delightful mix of races, cultures, ages, income, classes, occupations, etc. Part of this mix is probably due to the rent control system in NYC which encourages people to stay in apartments indefinitely, because staying with that lease guarantees the initial rate or only modest annual increases. So sometimes, when you move into a neighborhood that's an old stronghold for other ethnic/cultural/socio-economic groups, you feel like an impostor reaping the benefits of lower rent (though not as low as your neighbors' who moved in earlier).

It's admittedly a little odd when old ladies at the grocery store call me "mami," but it 's endearing and I love it. Maybe one day that will roll off my tongue too. I'm thinking about going over to the bodega (corner store) to watch the news in Spanish with the shop keeper, but I'm not sure how well that would go -- especially since I'd need nearly everything translated since they talk so fast.

Standing in line

2008-03-01T14:23:00.005-05:00

My dad once told me that instead of looking for the shortest line, he looks for the one with the most interesting people in it (so California, so not New York). I think I'm finally in a ((develop)mental) place in my life where I would agree that this is the best method. However, at the co-op, there's not an option. There's only one line. One terribly long line. But today I got lucky.

I ended up standing in line in front of two very rambunctious and precocious children. And since I didn't have to put them to bed or give them medicine, it was just fun.

Annica and her long-haired, towheaded little brother were shopping with dad this morning. After exclaiming, "Look at all the beautiful vegetables!" (while peering into the freezer case), Annica informed me that "Daddy married mommy, and then we had butterflies."

Seems like the right way to do it.

Is it March 4th yet?

2008-02-28T00:03:00.002-05:00

I really wish the Texas and Ohio primaries were already done and we knew the result.

I also wish the candidates would stop being so nasty. The kids on the elephant team don't get as much press, but they also don't get caught up in bullshit debates about whose mamma did what to whom or whatever petty crap they fight about.

I wish the whole superdelegate system were fair and accurate. Somehow, I think it falls short of those lofty goals.

I wish I understood why it takes over 4 months to complete a primary/caucus season when it only takes 1 day for a general election.

Green Consumerism, Investing, Living, etc.

2008-02-25T23:14:00.002-05:00

I think it's not just me. And I think it's not just the people I work and am friends with. I think that people all over the country and the world are starting (and continuing) to seriously reconsider some of the ways we choose to live. That's a good thing. However, like any mass movement, the mass-ive version is less attractive than the original idea -- it gets a little watered down.

Sometimes that's a good thing. Not everyone can wear haute couture (because we can't all look like 14 year old girly boys forever), but nearly everyone can wear prêt-à-porter. Likewise, not everyone is ready to commit to keeping a worm bin and going off the grid, but they can make changes like recycling, switching to CFL light bulbs, and turning off the water while they brush. When great masses of people take small steps, it's as or more powerful than when a few take some giant leaps.

All of this focus on the environment is welcome in my book, but it has its limitations. What is the environment if not the place where we (and many other forms of life) live? The thing that environmentalism, as it is typically defined, leaves out is the social system.

Environmental factors like carbon emission, chemical pollution, energy use, etc. are relatively easy to measure with the tools of science and therefore easier for us to attach numbers to and wrap our minds around. However, those factors don't exist in a vacuum. They exist in a very messy world of societies, states, emotions, and other human realities. Social issues like poverty, community unity, education, justice, labor rights, and diversity are not so easy to measure. Sure we can get data on these issues, but they're much messier and more interconnected. Plus, improvements might take a while to show up in the numbers. But this doesn't make them less important. Just because science/math can't test for them as individual variables doesn't mean that they don't exist.

That's why I like the concept of sustainability. It's not as limiting to "green" things as our typical definition of environment. But if we start using that word to replace just the scientifically measured side, we'll miss something.

If you're interested in other concepts of what we call environment, No Impact Man has some great posts about the philosophy behind what he calls "human health, happiness, and security." He also has some great things to say about bringing the environmental discussion home -- to air pollution on your street -- not just polar bears trying to find icebergs.

I clearly need to read more fiction.

Departure

2008-02-23T17:26:00.003-05:00

In a departure from my usual electricity-saving choices, I tried something I've always conceived of as wasteful and stupid today. I went to the tanning bed. That's right I got naked, up-close, and personal with a plastic bed filled with ultraviolet light for 10 minutes. And you know what? It was a departure in more ways than one. I was hot and sweaty, and except for the lack of sand in my swimsuit, felt like I was at the beach. Ok, that might be a stretch, but on a snowy February day in New York City, it was kind of nice. The funniest part was the surprise I experienced when I saw snow outside...

Energy Policy

2008-02-20T21:24:00.004-05:00

I find that many pundits separate energy policy and food policy, but end up categorizing them as two major concerns of our era. Are they really so different? They're even similar linguistically. When was the last time you talked about being hungry in terms of having an "empty tank" or needing more "fuel"? Are these not terms more often associated with cars?

It seems to me that we should think of these things as two parts of one whole. We need food to give our bodies energy and fuel. We need energy to produce this food--energy produced from fossil fuel, wind power, solar power, natural gas, nuclear power, and, of course, other food.

Petroleum products not only help to generate much of the food that we eat, but they actually make their way into our food. And if you think of it again, you realize that food (corn, sugar, seaweed, etc.) are being made into fuel. At that point, it all seems to come much closer together doesn't it?

Food is just the edible form of energy... not that you didn't already know that.

Speaking of things you already know: Read Michael Pollan's new book In Defense of Food. It tells you a bunch of stuff you already know, but actually might convince you to take action (like quitting high fructose corn syrup and other processed foods).

Compost Craze

2008-02-20T09:21:00.004-05:00

I keep hearing little peeps from friends and family who are saying things like "Hmm, I really don't see that grapefruit peel in the trash the same way anymore. I keep thinking that it would make excellent worm food. How many worms did you say you have? Do they multiply? Does it stink? How do you harvest it?"

Oh I encourage you! The worm bin makes you feel super wholesome... and if you want to feel a little less wholesome, think about it this way: worms are hermaphrodites and therefore have both sex organs -- they can do anyone! And from the looks of the baby worms we have, I think they do!

I'll find and post some more practical tips soon. I'm just happy that it's catching on without any direct attempts to convert people.

Winter Joys

2008-02-11T15:08:00.002-05:00

It's finally cold here in New York, and that brought with it one thing I had forgotten about winter in the city: frozen puddles of dog pee. It's pretty nasty.

State of the Universe

2008-02-05T09:54:00.002-05:00

This morning I walked down the street with a tangible sense of justice and fellowship and even patriotism. I woke up early and made myself farm fresh pastured eggs, toast with almond butter and red raspberry jam, a french press of coffee, and a tall glass of OJ with lots of pulp. It was pretty wholesome and fulfilling.

I'm sure it sounds entirely cheesy, but it really felt good. I walking down the street was smiling for no reason other than I just felt happy. I even laughed a little. This isn't entirely related to the fact that today was my first time using one of those fancy old machines with a curtain and a lever (they have paper ballots in MA), but also feeling a little more square with some personal issues as well.

State of the Union

2008-01-29T00:22:00.000-05:00

Well, if I'd had any money for beer, I would have played a drinking game for President Bush's last State of the Union address, using the word "terror" or any of its derivatives as the trigger for tipping the cup. If I had done this, I would be too drunk to write this post right now.

Also, did anyone else notice the absence of the word "war" in the speech, despite the fact that most of the speech was about the war in Iraq? I believe he referred to it as the "mission." Sick.

Oh, and did you know that Nukular Power doesn't have any emissions? (just tons of toxic waste that we don't know how to safely dispose of and steaming hot water runoff that damages fragile ecosystems)

Can't someone at least teach him (and his daddy) how to say the word?

I'm sure I have other commentary, but will save it for later.

A final note on my budget: I was afraid that I might have accidentally under estimated the amount of money I spent over the course of the month, but upon review, it looks like I actually over estimated the amount, so I did have the money to buy beer after all.

On Budgeting

2008-01-28T20:15:00.000-05:00

So how's it going, this budget? Let's put it this way.

Yesterday I asked myself, "Why in hell did you buy so many damned potatoes?"

Yeah, January's budget is spent. Plus $1.

Anxiously awaiting February, where I've reduced my budget to about 75% of January's budget. I have a secret savings project.

I really want a beer.

I found it!

2008-01-27T23:04:00.000-05:00

I found the elusive entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side! Turns out I rode right past it last time when I got "lost" and found myself on the Manhattan Bridge. While the Brooklyn has WAY more people on it, it's a much easier ride. Somehow, it's not just straight up and then straight down like its sister bridge, which you can see upstream. There are hills on this bridge. But that's nice because you don't feel like you're going to die at the midpoint. And it's shorter. Much shorter. It must be shorter.

I think I was in no fewer than 10 tourist photos today.

What's with...

2008-01-24T09:31:00.001-05:00

... people on the train who insist on moving toward the door before the train has stopped -- even when there are 65 million people ahead of them? It's just rude. There's nowhere to move, people!

Success! (so far)

2008-01-21T19:52:00.000-05:00

That's right folks, I've been able to find my keys pretty darn consistently since I decided that I needed to focus on that December 10, 2007. I was concerned that I would lose the pattern when I went to Indiana for a week, but I found a way to keep up the habit by being very mindful of other people's keys -- like my mom's car keys which I borrowed a few times. Incidentally, I think the key focus has helped me to be a little less aimless about other things like my checkbook or glasses. Also, I find myself planning things ahead (like putting my book in my bag when I think of it the night before instead of trying to remember it the next morning). This independence from my own memory is sort of liberating. I'm a little concerned that I will get complacent about it and start slipping, but it might actually be a part of me now. We can only hope.

Market ... oh irrational market

2008-01-19T20:06:00.001-05:00

The Market is a funny thing. It (whatever it is) reacts to things like fear and excitement. The stock (and bond and futures and other things that I have no hope of maybe ever understanding) market reacts to feelings, actual real human feelings. So a recession or something like it is a product of people's collective feelings about the future and current value of any given thing. However, the actors in the system (investors and consumers) also react to things that happen in the market, like the changing price of fuel or the change in relative value of the S&P 500. So is it all just made up and a product of one big huge psychological disorder? Sounds like it to me. Luckily, one big thing might change soon, and that's the leadership of this country. I think we need one big giant psychologist to help us out of this muck. Anybody up for it? This probably makes very little sense unless you are in my mind. Maybe I'll unpack it better next time. For now, I'm off to bowl in Manhattan.

25 Going on Self-Help Guru

2008-01-15T12:19:00.001-05:00

No, I don't think I have it all figured out, but I feel like my time of late is often consumed with actively trying to and sharing those trials, successful or not, with others. Food choices. Waste disbursement. Getting organized (or habitual) enough to find my keys. Budgeting. Is this part of quarter century development or is it just me? And if it is quarter century development, I guess I'm a late bloomer...

Bicicleta

2008-01-09T19:13:00.000-05:00

I finally did it! I rode my bike to work.

First of all, the weather here of late has been outstanding. We have literally had the same weather as San Diego for three days running. This, while interesting and liberating (from the layers), is also a bit freaky, but that's a different post.

I was a little hesitant about doing it because I'm not a seasoned biker with my 10-pound chain around my shoulders, rolled up black long johns, worn in jeans, and chiseled calf muscles, and frankly, I was a little scared that I might get killed or seriously maimed. However, once I got on the street with my fancy new lights, I acquired a new boldness. I was running lights with the best of them (well actually more like 15 yards behind them because I was following the cues of others).

I got a little lost but still managed to make it to work in less time than it typically takes on the train. And I was also hindered by the fact that I am not the most fit person in the world. I had grammas with tiny wheels passing me on the uphill section of the (very long) Manhattan bridge. It was a little embarrassing, but I was still beaming with pride when I arrived at the office (and back home) in one piece.

I didn't ride in today because I was being wimpy about the rain, but there were plenty of other troopers out there -- including a guy riding a tandem bike alone. That has to feel a little lonely. It's like paella for two or something (movie reference).

Systems

2008-01-09T00:46:00.001-05:00

Natural systems are complex but they are typically extremely efficient. Manufactured and managed systems often have inefficiencies and redundancies and other problems. Those that mirror the natural system often work better.

Take curbside recycling programs for example. In New York City, residential recycling is required and separate types of bags are necessary to distinguish recyclables from trash. There are fines involved for noncompliance, but they aren't really a deterrent. For the most part, this works because people are accustomed to sorting their recyclables and the system is pretty easy to comply with. However, the system is dependent on people acting in away that might be contrary to their nature and has to be enforced (which is an inefficiency -- enforcement is not a part of recycling, after all). In Curitiba, Brazil, recycling is voluntary. Homeless folks and recovering alcoholics sort trash and are paid in food and transportation vouchers. The proceeds from the products recovered goes toward social services to help the people who sorted it in the first place. Two thirds of the city's daily garbage is recycled. That's not two thirds of the daily recyclable materials, that's two thirds of all garbage. According the the New York Department of Sanitation's 2006 annual report, NY recycles 12,200 tons of garbage per week, but its total refuse (incl. recycling) collected for the week is 84,000 tons, so that's about 15%.

Which one do you think works better?

You should read about grass farming and all the symbiotic systems that farmers like Joel Salatin use on a daily basis to exploit cattle's natural propensity for acting like cattle and chickens chickens and pigs pigs (for that matter grasses grasses and grubs grubs too, but you'll have to read more Omnivore's Dilemma for that). You should read about Terracycle, the company that gets paid for its raw materials.

It's really kind of amazing and I'm not the only one that thinks this.

Part of this post talks about the complexity of systems, but underlying it all is really the concept that you can't change people's motives. And sustainability really isn't a catchphrase -- it's a necessity.

Corporate Social Responsibility

2008-01-08T00:06:00.001-05:00

Three principles guide my reasoning on corporate social responsibility.

1. You can't change people's motives (mostly)
2. Systems are complex and can't (usually) be solved with one-size-fits-all simple solution
3. Sustainability isn't just a catch phrase

Different motives (or values), like I discussed in a recent post on food, can drive toward the same goals if carefully examined. For example, many people are driven by goals like a healthy place to live for themselves and for their progeny. Companies, driven by returning shareholders value (which is conventionally defined in terms of currency), are motivated by cost reduction and increased revenue. These goals can all be met with similar means. For example, a more sustainable environmental program would require it, on a fundamental level, to be more efficient. A more efficient system would by virtue of being less resource dependent, be less expensive in terms of currency as well.

Systems are complex. We learned from Michael Pollan that just switching to organic isn't going to do either of the things it purports to do: increase your health and decrease your environmental footprint. This is because many foods labeled organic are still produced on factory farms, processed with fossil-fuel-intensive machines, mixed with preservatives, packaged in unnecessary packaging, and shipped long distances. Eating local foods grown using non-industrial methods often can be much less environmentally destructive. However, as we learned from Sarah Murray, it's not just local either. A system that works with its resources rather than against them is more likely to be efficient and take into account the multi-faceted reality of life. Finding ways for multiple parts of a complex system to work in a symbiotic way is a beautiful thing. It's harder and it takes more time (think: evolutionary) but we're complex creatures and have created ways to adapt our modern simplistic ways back into the complex systems we came from. (I'm thinking nomad, to agrarian, to urban ... and back)

The definition of sustainability isn't CFL light bulbs and compost piles (well not necessarily). Sustainability means returning resources to the system in a way that is usable to future generations so that the system continues to thrive. Sustainability isn't as selfless as it sometimes is made out to be. Why do people have children (on a fundamental, evolutionary level)? They have children because they need to sustain themselves and once they get to a certain age, they might need some help with that. The American system isn't as family-oriented as others, but things like pensions, nursing homes, Medicaid, and Social Security are institutionalized versions of the younger generation paying and caring for the older generation--it's another product of specialization. In addition, those children, grandchildren, and other successors pass on the memory and legacy of their predecessors. It's a beautiful system and not at all selfless, though when changing a diaper or giving up a convenience to diminish waste, it can feel that way.

So if we can convince (or remind) corporations that their goals aren't necessarily in conflict with "social responsibility," maybe the world would be a better place. Our propensity towards specialization keeps us from seeing a bigger picture sometimes -- keeps us from seeing ourselves in the larger scheme and therefore disconnects us from the larger "system." As other measures of sustainability (like carbon footprints, community involvement, and employee satisfaction) gain value, maybe the way corporations view sustainability and return will change.

Budget

2008-01-05T12:18:00.000-05:00

I thought budgeting was unnecessarily limiting and just too hard to manage. However, I've been watching my friend and her budget and she seems to have less anxiety about spending money than I do, which is not what I expected. This is because she knows what she has and what she can spend and therefore if she wants to spend $50 on a manicure, she knows that she won't have to forgo something more important.

The other problem as I saw was management. I wasn't sure what categories to use and I didn't see me cataloging them well. I don't want to get into the business of downloading my bank statement data all the time and I really can't see myself writing everything down or (worse!) keeping receipts. So I found a techy solution.

I use iGoogle as a homepage so that I have easy access to weather, news, my calendar, email, and other things. So I looked for a gadget to add for expense tracking and found one. It is perfect for my needs. It has 10 categories and tracks your spending and automatically totals everything and compares to previous months/weeks.

So, now I'm on a budget. It's based on my previous salary, so hopefully I'll be saving some money too.

New Style

2008-01-01T23:03:00.001-05:00

This New Year's Eve celebration began with 2 hours of mani-pedis with a friend and continued into the night with a prix fixe dinner, wine, champagne, and good company. Just exactly the speed I wanted. Plus, I got to wear pants I bought in high school. While that doesn't say anything about my fashion sense, it does say something about my waistline! I still want to incorporate increased exercise into the resolution package, however.

Convenience

2007-12-31T12:09:00.001-05:00

I can't believe I didn't include that in the set of values in the last post. It is the value that is highly sought after (especially in the US) and also often runs contrary to the other values. How can we have convenient food that is not packed full of unnatural preservatives in packages that destroy the environment? That will probably be the most difficult to overcome.

In many ways, convenient food could be less wasteful. For example, peeled carrots weigh less than their unprocessed counterparts and therefore take less fuel to transport. Does that make up for the machines that cut them? Do they have to then be kept in more packaging and/or liquid to stay fresh? Not sure. But maybe things like this can strike a balance.

Motives

2007-12-29T21:43:00.001-05:00

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think so. There has been a recent dramatic shift in the way people think about food in this country. While, that's probably the case, there are definitely several different motives for these shifts and they all seem to relate to the amount of information available. Here are some that come to mind:

1. Environmental Impact of the process and delivery
2. Health/Nutritional value of the food
3. Food safety (E-Coli, mad cow, lead, pesticides, etc.)
4. Community support (in the form of local farms, co-ops, markets, etc.)
5. Variety of food (exotic, variety for nutrition)
6. Monetary cost (to consumer)
7. Support of economies in need (not always local)
8. National security (having an adequate supply of food lest the entire world embargo us)

Sometimes these values can be mutually exclusive (e.g. 4 and 7) but they don't always have to be. I just finished reading Movable Feasts by Sarah Murray. It is an interesting tale of several food items and how they are moved from their place of origin to our dinner plates.

It's clearly a book written by a talented travel writer. But she also takes the position that long-distance travel is a good thing for us and for the world -- mainly focusing on the variety and supporting economies in need arguments. However she attempts an environmental argument as well. Part of it is completely valid in my mind and we should all consider it as we have more information about where our food comes from and we're making decisions about which of that is aligned with our values. That argument is that it is sometimes more energy efficient to import food from elsewhere than it is to grow it closer to home (with heated greenhouses, for example).

Her other argument for the environmental benefit of shipping food long distance is that driving to the farmer's market uses more energy than shipping the food in a container ship (per capita). However, she leaves out that driving to the grocery store where you buy the container-ship-provided goods uses the same amount of energy (presumably) as the grocery store. So it falls short of convincing.

Where Michael Pollan's book Omnivore's Dilemma helped me to see that it's not just organic (which has its problems) that's good, but also local, Murray's book helped me see that it's not just local either.

Making decisions about the food we eat is extremely complex if we're trying to account for the different values laid out at the beginning of this post. However, the industry is learning that we want more transparency about sources and things are getting better. If you're concerned about the food you eat, maybe you will consider asking your grocer and/or favorite brands more about the sources of the food.

Sweet Dreams

2007-12-27T17:29:00.000-05:00

When getting ready for bed one night (with my 8-year-old sister), I turned on the ceiling fan. I immediately had second thoughts, which I expressed to her, since the fan was so loud (not to mention energy inefficient).

She assured my everything would be all right by suggesting "Just think of it as a lullaby. woo--ooo--wooo--ooo--woo"

Letter to Mommy

2007-12-27T17:26:00.001-05:00

Dear Patti and Lori,

I know you don't believe in me.

Signed,
Santa

[I found this note written in my 8-year-old sister's (impeccable) handwriting]

Indiana is Awesome

2007-12-22T23:26:00.000-05:00

Today, on my way to get the finishing touches done on my sister's Christmas present, I discovered a nail salon. Jimmy's Nails. It was a non-descript white plywood sign painted with red block letters. ORCA and I walked in and we looked a little different from the rest of the crew, but we were welcomed.

Not only did we get our nails painted, but we also got designs painted on. ORCA got butterflies on a blue background and I got "simple chic" black, white, and silver glitter swoops on peachy gold.

Total cost: $8 (yes, for both)
Total paid because I'm a New Yorker: $15

I'm sending mom tomorrow.

Diamante on a Tesselation

2007-12-21T18:54:00.000-05:00

H2O

Snow
White, Fluffy
Falling, Drifting, Melting
Playing in it Rocks.
Flowing, Dripping, Splashing
Wet, Liquid
Water

Written by ORCA and Chrystina

Hangover Karma

2007-12-19T23:59:00.000-05:00

Today I got a call from a friend, we'll call her Lady, asking me where I was. Well, I was in the basement of a Chinese junk shop called Pearl River in SoHo/Chinatown looking at curtains. She happened to be just finishing a shopping trip at Banana Republic where she had met some interesting new friends.

The women in front of her in line started chatting about how hungover they were and then asked Lady whether she liked the Knicks. She, coincidentally, had been trying to get to a game ever since taking a big exam in early December and told them that. So, since they were in no shape for a basketball game, they offered her tickets to tonight's game! And then she, being the dear, wonderful friend she is, called and asked if I would like to join her.

Let's suffice it to say that I didn't buy any curtains tonight, but I did buy a Budweiser.

Final Score: Knicks 108, Cavaliers 90

Chrystina and Lady: Totally satisfied (not to mention the spice of our row of doting men)

Fire the Litter!

2007-12-17T20:34:00.000-05:00

It's obnoxious to me that people litter and spit on the sidewalk, in the subway, and in other public places. This morning I was nearly spattered by some dude's phlegm and spittle because he was standing in the doorway of the train (also annoying) and attempting to spit between the train and the platform. On my way home I saw this sign ironically lying on the floor of the car and thought it was fitting. Not only does litter cause fires which delay trips, but as far as I understand it, litter also clogs drains, which in NYC causes floods in the subway and disables the system, as we learned this summer.

There's really no excuse for this. There are plenty of garbage bins in the subway system and on the streets of New York. You don't need to throw stuff on the tracks and we shouldn't see trash and gum on the sidewalks either, but we do. I realize it's a free country, but the tragedy of the commons prevails I guess. If it's easier (and free) to let someone else clean up your mess, then you will.

I choose to self-regulate and mitigate my negative externalities if I can help it. At the risk of sounding preachy, I think you should too. Do you think we could come up with a cap-and-trade market for litter? I would make so much money.

Reprieve

2007-12-16T20:58:00.001-05:00

I know what you're thinking: not another post about corn! I was tempted. I even have one drafted on the topic of ethanol subsidies since I read an Economist article about it, but I'll spare you for now. On to another grain-related consumer good: beer!

I've recently noticed a lot of traffic on my site coming from people who are searching for "buying beer in New York" or some variation thereof. I went back and read that post and other than commiseration, it doesn't really help anyone. However, in my discussions of this topic and further research, I've discovered that it's not all that impossible, and my reasoning may have lacked a little information.

Most of the difference can probably be explained by liquor laws rather than space premiums and packaging. There are several different classes of licenses broadly ranging from wholesale to retail and from beer to liquor. A liquor license, for example, is more than 10x the price of a beer (only) license.

There are fabulous places to buy beer and it doesn't have to be too expensive--especially if you expand your horizons to include Brooklyn. Here are a few ideas:

Bierkraft - Tons of selection. Reasonably priced. Amazing knowledge from the staff. Delicious cheese. Tasting classes on Tuesday. These get a lot of hype, and for good reason, but get there early because tickets go fast and if you're in the back of the room, you might not be able to hear, and it's not worth it just for the couple of sips of free beer and cheese.

Park Slope Food Coop - If you're willing to work there and invest in the cause, the beer is cheap and selection is pretty good.

Rite Aid - I know it sounds crazy, but actually, liquor licenses for drug stores are cheaper than for other places, so it makes sense. Selection leaves you wanting, however.

Brooklyn Brewery (Happy Hour on Fridays from 6-11, but either bring your own food or get ready to order from their massive menu collection. Beers are $4 a piece. Fresh, delicious, and cheap!)

There are plenty of other places to buy beer in New York, so don't get upset if you don't find what you're looking for on the first try. Of course, if you're from the west coast and you're looking for Deschutes or some other home town microbrew, well, those guys don't distribute out here, so you'll have to find something else.

Drinking local beer is a good idea anyway, if only for the reduction of fossil fuel use. Try Sixpoint! I'm not quite sure what they're up to, but their website has been under construction for a while now and from the looks of it, they have some plans for change in the rest of the organization as well.

Cheap Food

2007-12-16T11:21:00.002-05:00

I wrote this long ago, and it's probably gotten your attention through more traditional media by now, but no point in keeping it in draft mode. It probably needs an update given the news with the farm bill, but I have to make sure I know what's going on there before updating.

Maybe you've noticed... the price of food went up drastically this year for the first time since the early 70's. An article in The Economist highlighted the issues and I've summarized them below.

Ethanol, the way we make it from corn, is not much (or maybe any) better than burning fossil fuel as far as net environmental impact is concerned. The one thing it does do is reduce our dependence on foreign oil and potentially reduce our lust after the Arctic oil, which would be a good thing to deter. However, other ethanol, particularly the sugar-based ethanol being produced in Brazil is much cleaner. But that wouldn't reduce our dependence on foreign energy, so the US slapped a whopping 54 cents per gallon tariff on it.

What does this mean? Well, the prices for corn went way up because corn became more valuable when it was used for SUVs instead of for feeding people. (The amount of corn you would use to fill up the tank on an SUV could feed a person for a year. (Not that you'd want to eat corn everyday, but still.))

This means two things: (1) products made with this commodity (like tortillas, and soft drinks, and chicken fingers) went up in price, and (2) farmers changed their plans to plant other crops like wheat and soybeans in order to make corn, since it was commanding a higher price. This reduced the supply of the crops not planted and accordingly raised their price. Net effect? More expensive food.

So expensive food could actually have some positive effects: farmers making more money and therefore able to support themselves without the government subsidies. That would reduce everyone's tax bill and that is generally a nice thing. So the folks on the production end would be doing better. In third-world economies, this is great because over 50% of the population is typically on the producing side. In our economy, that's not the case. The Economist suggests subsidizing the urban poor i.e. the folks on the consumer side rather than the farmers because it is less likely to distort the market value of the food.

Food Bill

2007-12-15T14:47:00.000-05:00

The article I suggested in an earlier post is actually a really nice summary, in case you haven't read it yet. It tells you all of this issues on the docket and gives you the skinny on each side's argument. There's also an interesting set of interviews linked from that page if you have half an hour to listen. These links below are to the same article with a mini-summary from me.

Crop Subsidies

Should we continue to use tax-payer money to subsidize commodity crops? If so, should we make some changes to the structure? What about tariffs?

Qualifying for Payments

Should big agri-business benefit from subsidies or should there be a cap that only supports smaller farmers. And if so, what should the cap be?

Conservation Programs

Paying farmers not to farm the land, paying them to clean up the land, paying them to use more environmentally beneficial practices

Food Stamps

Providing subsidies to food consumers (as opposed to food growers/producers)

International Food Aid

How should we structure giving food (or other goods/money) to foreign nations in need of aid? Is giving out food the right answer? Is our subsidy system shutting out third-world farmers?

Disclaimer: I am not an expert. I have read a few books and articles and seen one very interesting documentary. However, as a consumer in this food system, I think it's my right to speak out about it. Feel free to comment and/or correct me where I'm wrong.

Basically, the problem as I see it, is that we subsidize based on the needs of a previous generation and because we have different problems than they do, the process needs to evolve if we want to ease the problems we're seeing today.

What are our problems?

obesity
diseases associated with obesity (heart disease and diabetes to name a couple),
environmental degradation
economic imbalance

Much of this has to do with the fact that we subsidize commodity crops which aren't actually food until processed (generally using chemicals). Because we subsidize these commodities, we're encouraged and therefore inclined toward eating and feeding our livestock things that we and they haven't evolved to eat. For us that means things like high fructose corn syrup and any number of preservatives, flavorings, dyes, and sweeteners. For cattle and other livestock that means eating corn (the commodity kind, not the sweet delicious goodness that you buy on the cob).

These manufactured food items for us mean that our diet is much less varied. Our bodies are designed, for better or for worse, to get a large array of nutrition which typically comes from many sources. When all of our food contains corn products or is unnaturally raised on corn, this diminishes the variety even when we think we are eating a variety. Plus it supports an economy based on only 5 main crops: corn, soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton. I also tend to think that our ready-made meals (which are largely corn- and soy-based) break down some of our community bonds that come with gathering, preparing and eating of food, but this article is long enough and I don't need to get into that here.

For livestock (keep in mind that I know most about cattle), this corn-based diet is destructive because their digestive systems are designed to process grass. Remember in 1st grade when you learned that cows have 5 stomachs and you thought that was amazing? Well it is pretty amazing. They are able to turn grass into protein in that system--no small feat! It is also beneficial for them to actually graze in a pasture and get some exercise and get some relief from their own waste. However, instead of letting cows do what cows would likely do on their own, we trap them in confined areas where they are encouraged to eat (literally) tons of food that they normally wouldn't touch--all while standing in a slurry of their own manure. This diet and the unsanitary living conditions combine for a negative effect on the health of the cattle. So, instead of having healthy, happy, grazing cattle, these factory farm systems choose to continue this practice and just feed the cattle antibiotics to treat infection. I think we all know where too much antibiotic leads us. Nowhere good.

It's also interesting to know that the government's meat quality ratings are at least somewhat based on having a good "marble" to the beef. Marbling means that there is visible fat in the meat. So our government is promoting fattier meat. It comes as no surprise to me that the same thing that is making our cattle sick and fat is the same thing that makes us sick and fat.

Another underlying issue to the whole debate is the notion of the small family farmer. At the beginning of the Depression, nearly 50% of people were involved in small-scale farming, now only 2% of our population is working on family farms. There's an argument that since we have had so many advances in technology and efficiency, why support the old system? The people who argue against family farms also call it a romantic notion.

Romantic doesn't have to mean wrong if you ask me. I think it would be pretty awesome if when I visit my uncle's farm in Iowa that I would be offered freshly picked food from the farm. However, aside from a small garden which you could have in a suburb, all there is is chemical-heavy #2 corn, which is not edible by humans. It's more complicated and complex to have a food system that is based on small family farms. We wouldn't have 5,000 identical ears of corn or apples or heads of lettuce in our grocery store, but we might actually be able to get all of our nutritional needs met through our food and not have to worry about supplements and pills and antibiotics etc. in order to be healthy.

What a world would that be?

Mixer

2007-12-14T20:04:00.000-05:00

Apparently, wine and sambvca and tequila and chicken fingers and shrimp and mini burgers don't mix. Today was greeted with a nauseating headache and a will to die. I made it to work curled up in a ball next to the door of the train and I received applause when I walked into the office. Yes, it was the day after the company holiday party. Free drinks are dangerous. So are cameras.

Farm Bill

2007-12-12T23:48:00.001-05:00

Yes, I know it sounds weird and country of me, but PLEASE read about the Farm Bill. It's apparently gaining momentum in the senate and we have a DUTY to be knowledgeable about it. I would summarize it for you, but I'm afraid I'm remiss in my reading of it as well.

Food is something that we can take for granted especially in this country, but it is not to be taken lightly. It is a basic element of our daily lives and therefore critical to our health and well-being. We often blindly eat whatever comes in the box or tray or bag not thinking of where it comes from or what has happened to it on our way to our plates. It's so easy to do that. I do it. But we shouldn't. Not only because of what it could do to us personally in the short or even long term, but what it can do to our shared environment, the people who grow it, the economy, and many, many other systems and players.

So please, read something about the farm bill and see what the senate has in store for us. And then maybe contact your senator and tell her what you think.

Quadruple Fives

2007-12-12T23:38:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Grant and his brother were playing backgammon while I researched Ayurvedic stuff on the internet. His brother was completely smoking him and had about one roll left before the game was over. On Grant's next turn he yelled out "quadruple fives!" His brother responded, "if you get it, you win." So Grant took his brother's dice, shook all four together in his hands, and lo and behold... he actually rolled quadruple fives. Someone please comment on the probability of that happening and don't forget to factor in that he called it.

I wonder what else he knows...

Pitta Kapha

2007-12-12T22:35:00.000-05:00

My roommate has spent a considerable amount of time in Nepal and a considerable amount of time dreaming he is in India (he's traveled there too, but not as intensely as the Nepal time). That brings with it certain knowledge and interest. One, of course is Bollywood, which I will not get into now. The other is the Ayurveda.

There are three body types or Doshas in the Ayurveda: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Everyone is a combination of all three, but most people will have a pretty clear front runner. Many will also be in the middle of two, though that's not discussed in the websites I've visited tonight. It's in the book.

You can take a quiz here. I've looked at a few online and this one seems to be the most flexible and therefore most telling. It's kind of fun just for the novelty, but it's also really interesting to see the ancient wisdom and how that works. I thought about trying to change my diet and lifestyle to be more congruent with what I "should" be eating according to my body type, but haven't been able to change quite that much yet. Maybe that will be my next habit (or habit breaking).

Clearing the Clutter

2007-12-11T22:33:00.000-05:00

I'm really good at noticing work patterns and figuring out ways to program the computer to do things. In fact, and perhaps to a fault, I spend a lot of time thinking about how I can avoid doing repetitive work. I'm sure in some cases it would actually be faster and potentially more accurate just to do it manually, but I hate that. So I typically don't. It's generally more accurate for the computer to copy and paste things when it's all rule-based, so I just plug and it does all the chug.

As you may have learned from previous posts, this does not translate into my personal life (except as that involves the computer). In a way I'm actually trying to program myself -- to make things easier by having the program just run instead of having to think about it.

My goal with this whole thing is to eventually be able to find stuff, have a cleaner room, and basically free up time to think more clearly. It seems odd at first to think that starting a habit will allow me to think more clearly, but nothing seems more clear than that to me at this point.

Habitual

2007-12-11T22:32:00.000-05:00

And so it begins. I guess it really already has.

Habit #1: Writing a blog post each day. (Started 12/5)
Habit #2: Putting Keys in bag after every use. (Started 12/10)

I wonder how many I can start before system overload. I think getting these two on their way to solid would be a good start but I can think of a few others that would be good to add. But these are daily and some of the others are weekly/monthly etc. and I feel like that rhythm might be a little more difficult to cultivate. So we'll start small.

27 in a Row

2007-12-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

My friend's mom is a life coach. She recently told my friend that it takes 27 days to form a habit. I'm not sure how it got so exact, but I'm willing to try. However, I have a few questions:

1. How do I choose which one to start with (since I have none)?
2. What if I change my mind? How long does it take to undo the habit?
3. Once I have one settled into habit mode, should I start another one?

Red Wiggler Delight

2007-12-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

In mid-October, my roommate, Grant, and I started a worm bin. A worm bin? In your apartment? Oh, yes, my friends.

Before we even decided to live together, the condition for being my roommate (other than being willing to accept all of my insanities and quirks) was that we would have an indoor vermi-compost system in our apartment. Grant obliged. I've been wanting to do it for years but didn't have the drive to do it and/or didn't want to offend a roommate by introducing worms into our already-established environment. Well no more!

Vermi-composting, besides being a great way to avoid stinky garbage (since all of the stink-causing stuff goes into the worm bin), is also a great way to help reduce greenhouse gases. Rotting food accounts for somewhere around 16% of our residential greenhouse gas emissions [Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions April 2007]. This is because a) we throw away way too much edible food and b) because food is put in the garbage, and therefore a landfill, where it is then anaerobically decomposed. This anaerobic decomposition produces Methane, which, as you know is pretty deadly stuff and toxic us and to our environment. The worms, on the other hand, along with some helpful bacteria and other microbes break down the food waste aerobically, which doesn't produce the toxic gases.

And not only that, but when it's time to harvest my precious worm castings, my plants (and probably the tree outside too) will be extremely happy. I turned my waste into liquid gold for my little plant friends. My garbage will turn into next season's rosemary, sage, basil and whatever else we want to grow!

If you still think living with worms is gross and you have a backyard, it works there too (and you don't have to deal with worms or rotting food inside). Or, if you're still thinking it's not for you, you could at least buy the stuff. (What, buy worm poop?) Well, yes. There is a lovely company called TerraCycle that composts food by getting paid to take it out of the waste stream (brilliant business model, eh? not only do they not pay for their raw materials, but they get paid to take them). They take this garbage and feed it to their worms and then package the castings into all re-used containers. Not recycled, re-used. It's pretty cool. You can get it in regular stores, it's less expensive than the toxic alternatives, and their advertising indicates that plants grow better with TerraCycle than with their more toxic counter parts. Try it! (Plus they have a ton of awesome community building projects that are built into the business.)

Tom's Diner

2007-12-09T10:40:00.000-05:00

Research is a bitch. Sometimes you learn things you'd rather not.

Around the corner from my apartment is a legendary diner: Tom's Restaurant. On the wall in that diner is a signed copy of Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner" lyrics, with the words, "I came, I saw, I wrote." It's enough to make one think that the legendary diner is the subject of this song. To confirm before reporting here, however, I did a little research. I now know this is not the case and I can't say I'm not a little disappointed. The diner in the song is apparently the same as the diner in Seinfeld.

My Tom's is still amazing however. They're not open for dinner and they're not open on Sunday (so I, and probably many others, rarely have the opportunity to go). Another thing about NYC that you might not know if you don't live here is that Brunch is the most important meal of the week and many people partake on Sunday. But not at Tom's. Every Saturday, rain or shine, they have a massive line wrapping around the building. They know how to take care of people at Tom's, though. Line waiters are greeted by fresh orange slices, cookies, coffee, and sometimes slices of sausage while they wait. There's always a band (if not more than one) taking up a table looking hungover, grungy, and band-like. And the food is cheap, delicious, and sometimes a little strange. For example, yesterday, I ordered a chili omelet, which as you may or may not imagine, was a cheese omelet with chili on top. Yep, an omelet covered in soup. And it was good.

Flea Market

2007-12-09T10:16:00.001-05:00

When you think of flea markets do you think of a long drive to a remote location where vendors have little tents set up and shoppers wear those umbrellas attached to their heads? I used to.

It's not the case in New York. There are many many corners in this city where there is a weekly gathering of flea market vendors. My favorite one, largely because it was close to my old apartment, was absolutely incredible. There were tables upon tables of designer sunglasses, jeans, and shoes alongside the mirror man and the junky old shoes guy. An Italian ice vendor stood at the entrance and the rug vendor sauntered sketchily toward the back. My personal favorite, however, was the fancy dress tent. That's where I got my prom dress. Among the hoard, there were other women just like me trying on sparkly dresses over their jeans (or better yet, removing them first).

Yesterday I discovered that in Chinatown, they don't bother setting up a defined block of space for these things. Guys with broken cell phones, busted boots, and packages of fresh Fruit of the Loom line the sidewalks fishing for visitors. I can't say I took the bait.

Make-Up Session

2007-12-09T10:08:00.000-05:00

At the Park Slope Food Coop, where I'm considering membership, one has to be a owner-worker-shopper-member, which means you have to work at the store in order to be included in this socialist revolution. It's only 3 hours every 4 weeks, but apparently, it's not always the easiest thing to work in. If you miss a shift or have to reschedule, your shift leader is authorized (but not required) to give you 2 make-ups to, well, make up for the one you missed.

Does the two make-up rule apply here?

This is becoming a pattern

2007-12-09T09:51:00.000-05:00

The problem with patterns for me is that I'm a non-habit forming individual. I don't wake up at the same time everyday. I don't buy all the same stuff every time I go to the grocery (although, in my old age and some training from an ex-boyfriend, this has a lot more pattern to it than it used to). I don't habitually place my keys in the same location. I take different routes to work.

Being non-habit-forming has its advantages. A lack of propensity toward addiction and the sense that things are always new and changing being the ones that stand out. However, it can also lead to disaster: messy room, burned dinner, lost keys, the list goes on.

So, that's my excuse. Getting myself into a pattern of writing is not easy and requires training.

I already failed!

2007-12-07T14:47:00.001-05:00

I can't believe I didn't post yesterday. I was even thinking about it on my way home. My bed was just so comfortable.

Considering I don't think anyone read the promissory note preceding this one, it's probably OK, but still disappointing.

Let's see what happens today, since this obviously doesn't count.

Jealous Again

2007-12-05T00:35:00.000-05:00

In November, my friend Laura took on the challenge of writing a post per day for 30 days. She thinks that the things she wrote were boring or dull at times, but I thought the whole thing was great. I loved having something to read from her each day. I started this blog because I was jealous of all the interesting things she had to say about life and the culture she was experiencing in Japan. Well, now she is in Indiana, so I have no excuse.

I can't say I'll be as engaging, but arbitrarily starting today (which is technically December 5th), I will start the same endeavor. So until January 4th, I'll find 10 or more minutes each day to give an update to life and/or thoughts.

Book Update: On my way to Thanksgiving in Indiana, I bought Malcolm Gladwell's other book, The Tipping Point, which I basically finished by the time I returned, and now I'm on to J.D. Salinger... Nine Short Stories. And with the way the trains are getting stuck these days, I'll be done in a day or two. Thank goodness I remembered that I really enjoy reading.

Save a Horse -- Ride a Cowboy

2007-11-07T23:26:00.001-05:00

Life is good, isn't it?

Somehow, after all the music I've heard this weekend, that's the song that sticks with me. I'm currently reading Blink and after I ripped through the first two thirds in about 3 days, I was afraid that it would be toast by my first layover on the way to New Mexico, but I was mistaken. Instead, I was found in my seat, mouth open, and fast asleep.

This weekend was a whirlwind of activity since I was work/playing at an industry conference. Yeah, I pulled several 12+ hour days, but they almost invariably involved a water slide, and last I checked you're not allowed to complain about that. So I didn't.

Back to life. Back to reality for me.

Productivity

2007-09-16T11:38:00.000-04:00

Because I'm obsessed with the title of this post, I've decided my next book (to read) should be something pedagogical. So I'm reading The Omnivore's Dilemma to learn more about food in the U.S. (or as the author refers to it: America). I've been interested for a long time in where it comes from, what is better for me, what is better for the environment, organic or local -- does it matter?, and other related things so this should be a good start.

However, it's not quite as motivating for reading as good fiction, so I've decided that I get to read something fun next.

My New Best Friend

2007-09-13T18:56:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what was wrong with me for so long, but I just discovered that books are my new best friend. Or maybe a long lost old friend. Either way it feels new and I love it.

Currently reading: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver

Privacy in NYC

2007-09-11T23:18:00.000-04:00

Don't worry, it's actually an oxymoron.

I've been pondering the idea of privacy in this city lately as I find myself in an odd position -- or at least it's odd if you live anywhere else. I currently live in a one bedroom apartment with another young woman who is about my age. My room is separated from the living room by 4 enormous red canvas curtains that start about 1 foot from the ceiling -- so I am acutely aware of the problem. But from the conversations I hear other people having, I'm not the only one with issues.

Cell phone conversations and things overheard in restaurants range from what you ate last night, to how bad your feet smell, to who you had sex with last week, to how you're feeling about your relationship with your inner child. It's sort of amazing.

Additionally, there seems to be a lot of exposure of private parts.

There was one week probably in late spring when I saw no less than three penises in broad daylight on the sidewalk. Well the penises themselves weren't on the sidewalk. Rather, I was walking along the street minding my own business when what to my wondering eyes did appear but male genitalia shown without fear.

It has also come to my attention that functions that are normally private events (like urination and defecation, as my previous paragraph alluded to) are more frequently done in public here. Nose picking is huge -- maybe because the polluted air causes more build up in the nasal cavity. Just the other day, I saw a man go two knuckles deep to remove what must have been an atomic wedgie. A couple of nights ago, I saw someone who was at least dressed as a woman, wearing naught but a lacy thong and a ridiculously transparent tube of red fabric.

And to my chagrin, and potentially to the chagrin of many others, it seems that young men in this city have a habit of needing to have their hands down their pants. Now I can understand if it's cold out and you're standing on a Frisbee field and that's the warmest place on your body. However, this is New York City in the summer. It's already hot. You don't need to keep your extremities from getting frost bite. In fact, down your pants is probably the swampiest, least comfortable place to be.

I don't know if it's a lack of privacy that causes them to do this or a general numbness to the fact that when you're standing on a subway platform you actually are not surrounded by your own personal, private bubble, but when a young man stands for over 10 minutes waiting for a train with his hand down his pants, you have to think he's doing something more than separating his sweaty balls from his leg.

Delicious Meat Free Meat

2007-08-15T23:03:00.000-04:00

Amid a long day of studying for what quite possibly is the world's most boring exam (Series 6), I made plans to meet up with an old friend from the Boston days. He is vegan, which I can't help but to give him a hard time about, and likes to do vegan things. So we went to Moo Shoes, which is a vegan shoe store so that he could buy some crunchy shoes for his new job. Then we went to Red Bamboo, a store specializing in turning things that are decidedly not meat (soy) into things that taste like meat. It was surprisingly delicious. It really tastes and has the consistency of chicken. Crazy Asians! (My only complaint is that they didn't have a single spicy dish in a 4-page menu)

I have a few questions from my experience:

Wasn't McDonald's the master of the meatless patty? What was so bad about that?
Are plastic/rubber shoes any more sustainable than leather ones?

Cow herding generally means colossally bad land management practices (water, rainforest, to name a few)
The methane that bovine produce is pretty toxic to the environment
Some find it inhumane to kill animals
If they're being killed for food, isn't it better to at least use all parts? Do we do that?
(Yes I understand that if you don't kill for food, then you don't have that problem, but damn cows taste good)
The rubber industry is riddled with problems ranging from child labor to deforestation to toxic dumping and other environmental degradation
Plastic is made out of oil. Need I say more?

Those are the things I can think of to at least start. Anyone have evidence one way or the other? It's definitely partially up to your personal preference on the meat eating issue. I used to be a vegetarian -- for 5 years. And then I went to college, decided I needed to try new things, and gained 20 pounds. Maybe that vegetarian thing was a good idea after all.

Something Else

2007-08-14T09:32:00.001-04:00

Madame or Monsieur Anonymous is ready for me to post something else. I've been debating lately whether this is still the right thing to do. It has come to the point where this blog comes up in google searches when you put in all or part of my name and while I was kind of keen on that idea at first, it poses a privacy issue. I (used to) tend to write much more personally here, but I can't be quite so candid any more. Also, I can't write about work at all because I work in a highly regulated industry that would frown on that kind of activity. And since I haven't been any more creative than that, I haven't posted anything decent in a long time.

I have posted some stuff to flickr lately. Well, more lately than this.

Anyway, Anonymous, point taken. I'll try to be more creative.