FREE stuff
some jerk down the street keeps tossing out perfect-ly good things (ice skates, a beanbag chair, a dartboard...) that i salvage and then pass on to freecyclers. apparently there are still people out there who don't know about freecycle, although i'm doing my best to remedy it, with 3 converts this week.
also, i'm hot to trot for the free market. i didn't know what to expect- i figured it'd likely involve cardboard boxes filled with stained, putrid clothing. to my delight, the volunteers fastidiously fold and organize everything, so it looks just like a miniature thrift store. they also have a free food share, with donations from local stores. all they ask is how many people the food's going to feed. AND they give out free energy-saving kits so you can kick up the efficiency of your electrical outlets and windows and doors!
i'm helping with an event that's going down in mid-to-late april, where we'll gather the essentially brand new stuff college students mindlessly purge at the end of the semester, in addition to people's general spring cleaning goodies, and have a huge free-for-all in a field with live bands and free food. hah! so great.

plus, i get to learn all kinds of new skills like how to write a press release.

nudibranchs

at the mere mention of these naked-lung beauties my soul turns to a trembling anemone, awaiting the delicate nibblings of their radulae.
i'll be honest- i can waste extensive periods of time oogling sea slug photos and sighing like a middle schooler with a hopeless crush.
i miss california, where we'd go down at low tide as the sun was setting and find 10 or 12 species in a matter of minutes.
this album is incredible:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/nudibranchs/doubilet-photography

vinegar and coconut oil
i have moon eyes for these guys. if they were humans, i would be absoloutely (spelling corresponds with country preference) intimidated by their range of abilities. from cleaning to beauty to cooking, i can't get enough of their effective, safe, inexpensive attributes (independently. although there's undoubtedly stuff you can achieve by combining them). i started listing their uses, but why don't i just direct you to some resources instead:

http://www.vinegartips.com/ the biggest thing i'll push for is the cleaning angle. replace those toxic chemicals with vinegar- hey, give it a try before you scoff. it works.

http://www.coconut-oil-central.com/ poke around here. good god it's great stuff. (although its hydrogenated oil, which is everywhere, is not great. even superhero coconut can't defeat its fierce hydrogenated nemesis.)

this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETv3NURwLc

brian buckley
this is the band of a good friend of jesse's. i spent my bus rides this week re-discovering why i like them. i prefer the songs where they're tearing it up or brian's destroying it with his killer vocal range, but these clips will have to do:
http://www.myspace.com/brianbuckley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gCndNVWlys

comic relief
certain images can be life-affirming. when you think things are at their worst, stop and rejoice that in a moment's haste (or the significant period of time that large tattoos take) you didn't think that any of these would somehow enhance your life:

amália rodrigues
from power yoga sessions to writing abstracts, this week amália's been my background artist of choice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nENsPuSeOGQ
(primavera means 'spring' in spanish and portuguese, which explains the excessive flower imagery.)

recycling
here in The Great North, all the trash cans are accompanied by recycling bins, which makes it harder for people to mindlessly trash their cans and bottles. the town also collects compost, which is noteworthy - at least for those people who aren't vermicomposting (my worms have moved in, and we share an intimate moment every morning when i lovingly simulate a rain shower). the other reason i love recycling this week is that i can root through people's bins on tuesday and pilfer glass containers to use in place of tupperware. the only problem is when a coveted container is actually frozen to something (like the ground, or an old tissue with an unknown life history...).

salsa in the kitchen
although i'm also a big fan of the tomato kind, i'm talking about music. kitchens are very joyous places for me, and my mood can't get much better than when i'm dancing around with my racy apron strapped on. although lots of music gets me going, salsa in the kitchen is la crème de la crème.

ted.com
i could post talks i love from this site all day. here are 2 to wet your whistle:
hans rosling does a really neat thing with graphs and global poverty. and of course there's his finale...
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html
barry schwartz's talk is compelling; he covers things i'm often musing about- things that have been flavored recently by "the lucifer principle". check it out.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html

raw desserts
last week i began eating nothing but raw food, which i'll be maintaining for at least a month. it hasn't been difficult, maybe because to me it's unfathomable to be unhappy in a world that encourages the copious consumption of fruit. there are a host of unruly raw recipes out there, including some insane desserts. the other day i made a lime-avocado pie that the most narrow-minded culinary connoisseur would've swooned over. the best part about raw desserts is that they double as health food! the sweets and fats come from whole food sources, so you don't have to worry about things like white sugar WRECKING YOUR LIFE (which it will). here's one of my favorite raw sites, with one of carmella's dessert recipes featured to make you drool and get motivated to whip up a little concoction of your own (although for a first timer, a google search for something less involved might be in order):
http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/03/recipe-of-week-layered-blueberry-cream.html

raw food is fun FUN!

war dance

a documentary about kids in uganda living in a war zone who enter their national dance competition. it made me miss the lives in which i might've grown up in a different culture (i belong somewhere that dancing is integral), and gave me sweet memories of the kenyans' seemingly endless graciousness. for a whole host of reasons, i spent much of the movie with goose bumps and or crying. it's so profoundly terrific. (go watch it.)

an appropriate day for a love list post, eh?

kombucha (and kefir too)
i'm getting mailed a kombucha baby so i can start another round of tea. i had to give my last sweet little symbiont away in new mexico when fleeing the first of the voodoo cars, and i think i've spent an adequate amount of time mourning that batch's passing. i'm also being sent a kefir seed, as i've learned that apparently they'll be happy in alternative milks (soy, oat, almond, etc). am i speaking moo goo gai pan to you?

kombucha (1) and kefir (2):



















http://www.gaiaresearch.co.za/kombucha.html (i chose this site for its more scientific angle- many other sites are sensationalized, but you could always google kombucha and poke around on your own.)
http://www.kefir.net/


check out this site to see if there are people near you handing out free babes and turn your kitchen into an edible lab like mine!
http://www.kombu.de/suche2.htm#usa (go to the main site if you don't live in the states- they have exchanges from countries all over the world)

vermicomposting
while on the topic of lively kitchens, my next exciting project will be to start an under-the-sink composting project with red worms. this is another fun activity that i encourage you to impart on with me. think of all the late night chats we could have about the highs and lows of raising wily worms!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiculture

the lucifer principle
my newest reading material has to do with humanity's predisposition to "evil". it's a scientifically founded book that reads like a novel, and it's positively titillating.

community groups
i went to my first (of many) scottish country dance group meetings this week. the first 15 minutes are spent dancing with the advanced group (the lifers) before we go downstairs and learn our dances. after an hour we break for tea and snacks, followed by another hour of dancing. i want to eat the cute button nose off these guys. APPARENTLY there are scottish dance groups everywhere (like, in every country in the world) and the methodology is homogenized. that means you could start going to a group near you, and we could ren dez vous at a dance anywhere in the world (where they have big live bands and kilts and so on)!

i'm also going to start volunteering with some local public interest research groups (the free market- a thrift store where everything's FREE, a fair trade group, the animal collective- vegetarian things), and i'll be helping with a theatre event going up later this month called 'food not bombs'.

sam cooke
listen to these
http://www.rhapsody.com/sam-cooke/portrait-of-a-legend-1951-64/summertime/lyrics.html
http://www.imeem.com/people/v8ivAr/music/OgTLPrr8/sam_cooke_lovable/

gift-giving
i'm not an advocator of v-day purchases...unless v stands for vagina. this v-day i approve of the following gift of love for all the ladies in your life:
http://www.keeper.com/
it makes me frustrated that everyone doesn't know about these. pads and tampons aren't healthy, cause copious garbage, and cost a fair amount. these keepers (there are multiple brands: diva cup, mooncup, instead, ladycup, lunette, miacup, softcup...) take a little getting used to like any longterm relationship, but the ensuing passion (and comfort) you or your lady will feel about it never wanes.

*NOTE: whereas the idea of a valentine's day keeper makes me swoon, the lady/ies in your life may not share my delight in menstrual ingenuity. this might be more appropriate as a "just thinking of you, period" gift.

leafy sea dragons

these guys are on my lifelong love list. i just can't get enough of them.

tire-d trees
on the city sledding hill 1/2 block from my house there are tires tied up and down the trunks of all the trees to soften the impact of poor sled navigation.

pears
it's saturday, which means the farmer's market's up and running in the big horsey barn. as much as i like the winter carrots and rutabagas and potatoes and onions and cabbages (and even apples and green peppers and green beans, which were a surprise), my happiness could not be matched as i made my way home crunching through the snow with a fresh pear.

the picture of dorian gray
i just finished reading 'the picture of dorian gray' by oscar wilde. i spent most of the book chuckling at clever wilde (i'm a little smitten with that man) and shaking my head as i scribbled quotes. great stuff.

bookstores and coffee shops
there 6 used bookstores and 4 coffee shops less than a 5 minute walk from my house.

soaked stuff
ok so i've been on a huge sprout kick for awhile, but recently i've also been soaking nuts and dried fruit (i find my serving sizes are more appropriate when my dried fruit's been plumped. plus: YUM).

try sprouting (it's Great. and easy.):
http://www.i4at.org/lib2/sprouts.htm






the cat empire
these guys get my vote for their trumpets and piano and latin flare.

sample clip of "fishies":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUEASs1wz6w&feature=related