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...

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.