HOTT drinks



i've acquired a pretty impressive assortment of tea/hot drink options, because i drink a pretty impressive quantity of hot drinks. just so you know- if you're planning to visit me, you can worry about any logistics you like except being provided an adequate spread of drink choices.

Joe
following all my (well-deserved) gushing, i've received a peppering of questions about my prof. i can now direct you to his website, where you can learn more about this great man, and a little about my and my labmates' projects:
http://people.trentu.ca/joenocera/

spring fever tunes
devendra banhart (i chose this dorky home video version for its rampant spring fever):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CISi3EonZ88

the lovin' spoonful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIuEj7a0Oxw

avett brothers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4pjrmH967c&feature=related

the CBC
i got a free radio from freecycle, and it's inordinately improved my morning routine. i find it hard to have a bad day when i've started it with public radio, a crossword puzzle, my "intellectual devotional" and sun shining on my plants.

yummy beauty



you might think smearing food on your body is strange, but i counter: isn't it strange to smear chemicals on your body? organic food's gotten a lot of hype over the past couple years, but what about the toxic things you're wiping all over your biggest organ? the perceived "superiority" of the lotions, shampoos, soaps, etc. on the market is a result of effective marketing. in fact, i've found simple, cheap, natural alternatives to every product i used to buy, with better results. PLUS, i'm not buying all those bottles! (i know i keep plugging how much plastic sucks...but it does. big time.)

try looking up the products you use and learn about their toxicity: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1

there are an abundance of online resources for alternatives- both buying products, and making your own (which i recommend).

the future

it's imperative that i pummel and shower beloved Jesse (my new business partner...hah!) with affection. after years of lonely dreaming, my hopes of unifying theatre and science to change the world are coming into fruition. although i'm fully capable of doing so, i won't launch into a lengthy description of the organization we're starting. i'll just say that our plans are wickedly wonderful and fairly massive in scale. the next two years we'll be developing and prepping for a 2011 launch. i will certainly be utilizing (although not in the "idiocracy" sense) any/all of you for the design and function of this beautiful beast. you should be stoked.

peggy seeger

:)

http://hypem.com/track/697728/Peggy+Seeger-Gonna+Be+An+Engineer

migration

it's begun! almost every day i see a flock of geese traversing the skies, and i always feel compelled to watch until they disappear from view. i like to think of my chimney swifts ruffling feathers and kicking their fat butts into gear down south, with ontario as their destination. i've still got weeks and weeks before they arrive, but that's good; i have towers yet to build for them. if you've never seen any of these neat fantastic flock-dance videos, check it out.

health care

i moseyed into the government offices on tuesday and inquired if i was eligible for a health card. ten minutes later my picture had been snapped and a card was in the mail. i'll try not to gloat for those of you battling the asinine US system.

seedlings

not much tugs my heart strings like germination. i still get misty-eyed when seeds i've jammed in the dirt burst forth. my peppers are getting planted in old, totally worthless sneakers, and my tomatoes in a hole-y bag i can hang in the window. even MORE live stuff in the kitchen! (not to mention feverish batches of non-dairy yogurt)

skype

i first used skype to talk to Jonny while he was in kenya. the connection had a lag and wasn't particularly clear. granted, it was -almost- simultaneously patching my voice from the US to a remote village in kenya... as it turns out, if you're not calling an african cell phone it's great! so great in fact, that i was almost offended by the clarity. really. it's so clear it kindof invades my personal space. it's phenomenal. and freefreeFREE! i've enjoyed having my mind blown by video phone calls, which still strike me as totally futuristic. did i mention it's FREE?

walking
i realized on my way home from a potluck wednesday night that when it's in the single digits most people wouldn't choose to walk for half an hour in the blowing snow... yet there i was, being happily and violently tousled by the wind after refusing multiple rides and passing up the bus. i've been having a tough time convincing my dance teacher that i enjoy walking the mile and a half to practice, and the first couple weeks were spent evading her persistent phone calls and drive-bys until she finally gave up. she still consistently asks me if i want a ride home, and then shakes her head when i decline and pull on my wrist warmers. AC/DC and Julia deserve shout outs for providing my killer walking tunes this week.

gardening
after watching "the future of food" last week i got even more riled about monsanto and GMOs and the stupid FDA and EPA, which i didn't think was possible, so i was happy to buy local tomato and pepper seeds from a woman through an artisan exchange today. it was nice to lament with her about all the horrible things happening to agriculture largely because the government is a free-loving slut to big business...but i digress. i'll be growing tomatoes from hanging bags, and peppers in the windowsills. thankfully i have south facing windows. it also did my heart good to sign up with garden 579, an organization that describes themselves as:
"a garden for workshops of all kinds, for children to play, for public debates, potlucks, art, jams and anything else you can imagine - so long as it is in the spirit of grassroots community building and the free and open exchange of knowledge, skill and resources."
my nails are clipped and ready to be plunged in the dirt.

the sun
this week was the first time i was able to make it down the sidewalk from my house without doing The Foot Shuffle to keep from eating ice. the sun's been hacking at winter's layers of ice and snow, and it's fun for me to see this city undressing; there's exciting exposed skin in the never-before-seen sidewalks and bikepaths and grass. running and biking is also significantly easier.

blue and purple and green and red and maroon and silver
a dynamic sunset, perhaps?
no no, although seeing an array of foreign money does evoke similar sentiments in me(for non-capital reasons).


why would you ever settle for monotone green when you could bask in a harmony of multi-color, accented by holograms?! you'd think in a country that condones a feverish spending of money, the US would embrace the emotional attachment people have to things of beauty. do americans study their dollars with awe, marveling at the pixellation of their currency? do they look forward to spending a green 20 to get a purple 10 and blue 5 in return? do they rejoice in a sunny day because the dollar's holograms will glint and shimmer, casting rainbows on white walls? ... not that i condone an emotional relationship to money, i'm merely noting that most people enjoy sensory experiences.

bulk food
have i really not mentioned this one yet? peterborough is brimming with bulk food stores and i have my choice of maybe 8, all of which carry everything you could possibly imagine. i really enjoy that i rarely take out my trash and recycling, as through the farmer's market and bulk food i've basically eliminated packaging.




i think i watched this a couple years ago, but i recently fell in love with it again. it's a great 20 minute bit that uses a fun approach to illustrate concepts of which i feel everyone should have a working knowledge. happily, we're holding a screening of this and the documentary "addicted to plastic" a couple days before the free market give-away.


http://www.storyofstuff.com/

sorry guys- i was off on a darling trip to colorado and posting here wasn't one of my priorities...