New in Grist:
Where's the Beef?
Roni Neff explains how the media miss the story on food's connection to climate change
Ask most people about the causes of climate change, and they shoot a stern glance at gas-guzzling cars and SUVs. But while Hummers do plenty of damage, hamburgers may be even more at fault. Recent research concludes that agriculture -- especially meat production -- spews more greenhouse gases than the transportation sector. Why don't people more readily consider food when they're thinking about climate change? Johns Hopkins researcher Roni Neff has been studying just that very question. Her conclusion: The media have largely failed to cover food's connection to climate change. Anna Lappé recently caught up with Neff to discuss her just-released study on media coverage of the food/climate connection.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
19 Things That It Took Me 50 Years To Learn
By Dave Barry
1. Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be “meetings”.
3. There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.”
4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
5. And when God, who created the entire universe with all of its glories, decides to deliver a message to humanity, He WILL NOT use, as His messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle.
6. You should not confuse your career with your life.
7. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
8. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.
9. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
10. Never lick a steak knife.
11. Take out the fortune before you eat the cookie.
12. The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
13. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
14. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
15. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.
16. “The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.
17. The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.
18. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
19. Your friends love you anyway.
1. Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be “meetings”.
3. There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “mental illness.”
4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
5. And when God, who created the entire universe with all of its glories, decides to deliver a message to humanity, He WILL NOT use, as His messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle.
6. You should not confuse your career with your life.
7. No matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.
8. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.
9. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
10. Never lick a steak knife.
11. Take out the fortune before you eat the cookie.
12. The most powerful force in the universe is gossip.
13. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
14. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
15. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.
16. “The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.
17. The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them.
18. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.
19. Your friends love you anyway.
Monday, June 23, 2008
R.I.P.
"The whole problem with this idea of obscenity and indecency, and all of these things — bad language and whatever — it's all caused by one basic thing, and that is: religious superstition. There's an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body. ... It's reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have."
George Carlin
1937 - 2008
He will be missed.
George Carlin
1937 - 2008
He will be missed.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Who cooks for you?
So, for the past couple of weeks, John and I have intermittently heard an interesting owl-y noise in the woods surrounding our house.
I am quite excited to learn that this:
is our new neighbor. He's a Barred Owl (strix varia)!!! You can hear a sample of his call here, go to the Barred Owl (I tried linking to the wav file directly but it just bounces you to the list).
For numerous reasons, this has me incredibly psyched. Suffice it to say - I'm very happy to hear him.
I am quite excited to learn that this:
is our new neighbor. He's a Barred Owl (strix varia)!!! You can hear a sample of his call here, go to the Barred Owl (I tried linking to the wav file directly but it just bounces you to the list).
For numerous reasons, this has me incredibly psyched. Suffice it to say - I'm very happy to hear him.
Friday, April 18, 2008
DM & the DL... Phenomenal!
So the Seattle weekend was unbelievably perfect! Here's the blow-by-blow:
We arrived Seattle Thursday night at around 7:30pm local time, picked up from Sea-Tac by our friend Travis* and headed back to Travis, Mary and Camille's uber-cute house in Tacoma.
Friday was phenomenal, kicking around with Travis, taking the ferry, seeing the panorama of Seattle from the top of the building Mary works in (the tallest west of the Missisippi or some such!!). A nice meal at our fav Seattle brew pub, the Elysian in Capitol Hill (discovered on our 1st trip to Seattle in '06). John swears by The Immortal IPA... Personally I'm a Perseus Porter or Dragonstooth Stout person.
Then off to the Dalai Lama show, saw the Dalai Lama which was... there are no words. The format was a bit awkward, Dave was nervous (and adorable!) and if you've read the Dalai Lama books then what he said basically reiterated those messages... but to see him? To be in the same room with him (OK, granted, a BIG room...)? To take part in a little piece of history? Well, that was the thing. Another life moment engraved on my heart.
The Dave & Tim concert was nothing short of magical. Dave was unusually lucid (I think he parties his ass off at the Gorge!!!) and his banter in between sets was one of the best parts. Tim Reynolds? I'd never heard of him (other than in the context that he occasionally does shows with Dave), had sort of "who is this guy?" attitude in the back of my mind. And then I heard him play. Yep, he can hold his own - both with and without Dave Matthews... which is pretty cool.
Saturday was ridiculous. I decided on Saturday that all the folks in Seattle just lie to everyone else and tell them that Seattle is rainy all the time, cause I tell you, I just haven't seen it!!! It was high 70's and perfect. We did the Seattle tourist thing and kicked around Pike Place Market for a couple of hours, had some lunch, picked up the most amazing spread for dinner. The resultant meal was lavish and delectable - my mouth is watering thinking about it. The appetizer consisted of an artisan cheese tray with pears, dried apricots, smoked almonds, handmade cracker/toast/thin-cut biscotti like (?) thingies with dates & walnuts in them and two gorgeous heirloom tomatoes sliced thin and served with a sprinkle of sea salt and balsamic. The meal for the meat-eaters was salmon steaks, I had a portobello cap filled with artisan goat cheese with dill and chopped pine nuts (YUM!). The side was some rather average (by comparison to all the other goodies) asparagus from the market.
The afternoon began with the meal around the umbrella-topped table and ended with the chairs circled around a fire pit in the brisk clear evening.
The entire experience, touch down to take off, was phenomenal.**
* We met Travis, Mary, and Mary's daughter Camille (then 3) at the Gorge in 2006 when our tent wound up pitched next to theirs at the Wild Horse Campground. We all enjoyed each other so much that we connected and camped in parallel again in 2007, and plan to execute a complex year three plan involving a caravan and way too much camping gear (can you say kiddie inflatable pool?!) in August.
** You may wonder at my overuse of this word in describing the weekend. Not only is it a perfect descriptor, but on Saturday night I realized I had been overusing this word the whole weekend, in a singsong tone, "pheNO-meNOL." Like a gay decorator, describing the perfect accent piece... Think in terms of that accentuation and tone (!). We all laughed heartily at the way I had expressed it, but it does quite naturally sum up the weekend in a word.
We arrived Seattle Thursday night at around 7:30pm local time, picked up from Sea-Tac by our friend Travis* and headed back to Travis, Mary and Camille's uber-cute house in Tacoma.
Friday was phenomenal, kicking around with Travis, taking the ferry, seeing the panorama of Seattle from the top of the building Mary works in (the tallest west of the Missisippi or some such!!). A nice meal at our fav Seattle brew pub, the Elysian in Capitol Hill (discovered on our 1st trip to Seattle in '06). John swears by The Immortal IPA... Personally I'm a Perseus Porter or Dragonstooth Stout person.
Then off to the Dalai Lama show, saw the Dalai Lama which was... there are no words. The format was a bit awkward, Dave was nervous (and adorable!) and if you've read the Dalai Lama books then what he said basically reiterated those messages... but to see him? To be in the same room with him (OK, granted, a BIG room...)? To take part in a little piece of history? Well, that was the thing. Another life moment engraved on my heart.
The Dave & Tim concert was nothing short of magical. Dave was unusually lucid (I think he parties his ass off at the Gorge!!!) and his banter in between sets was one of the best parts. Tim Reynolds? I'd never heard of him (other than in the context that he occasionally does shows with Dave), had sort of "who is this guy?" attitude in the back of my mind. And then I heard him play. Yep, he can hold his own - both with and without Dave Matthews... which is pretty cool.
Saturday was ridiculous. I decided on Saturday that all the folks in Seattle just lie to everyone else and tell them that Seattle is rainy all the time, cause I tell you, I just haven't seen it!!! It was high 70's and perfect. We did the Seattle tourist thing and kicked around Pike Place Market for a couple of hours, had some lunch, picked up the most amazing spread for dinner. The resultant meal was lavish and delectable - my mouth is watering thinking about it. The appetizer consisted of an artisan cheese tray with pears, dried apricots, smoked almonds, handmade cracker/toast/thin-cut biscotti like (?) thingies with dates & walnuts in them and two gorgeous heirloom tomatoes sliced thin and served with a sprinkle of sea salt and balsamic. The meal for the meat-eaters was salmon steaks, I had a portobello cap filled with artisan goat cheese with dill and chopped pine nuts (YUM!). The side was some rather average (by comparison to all the other goodies) asparagus from the market.
The afternoon began with the meal around the umbrella-topped table and ended with the chairs circled around a fire pit in the brisk clear evening.
The entire experience, touch down to take off, was phenomenal.**
* We met Travis, Mary, and Mary's daughter Camille (then 3) at the Gorge in 2006 when our tent wound up pitched next to theirs at the Wild Horse Campground. We all enjoyed each other so much that we connected and camped in parallel again in 2007, and plan to execute a complex year three plan involving a caravan and way too much camping gear (can you say kiddie inflatable pool?!) in August.
** You may wonder at my overuse of this word in describing the weekend. Not only is it a perfect descriptor, but on Saturday night I realized I had been overusing this word the whole weekend, in a singsong tone, "pheNO-meNOL." Like a gay decorator, describing the perfect accent piece... Think in terms of that accentuation and tone (!). We all laughed heartily at the way I had expressed it, but it does quite naturally sum up the weekend in a word.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Is Blue the new Green?
Interesting piece - you'll need 1/2 hour or so to read it!
I often wonder what the "right" choices are. While a meat-eating diet has obvious issues, is a vegetarian diet faultless when there has been significant rainforest destruction in the Amazon to farm soybeans?
I often wonder what the "right" choices are. While a meat-eating diet has obvious issues, is a vegetarian diet faultless when there has been significant rainforest destruction in the Amazon to farm soybeans?
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Tibet: It is well past time.
Free Tibet. Sign the petition. Make a statement - boycott "Made in China" and the Chinese Olympics.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Animals force people to re-evaluate concepts of intelligence
"The featured article in March’s issue of National Geographic grabbed my attention recently. The article, “Inside Animal Minds,” was an in-depth exploration of animal intelligence in species ranging from octopi to dolphins, with a domesticated pet or two in between. I don’t think I need to tell animal lovers that animals have their own unique brand of intelligence, but the scientific community is still coming to grips with the issue." Read more here.
I love my sister...
I love my sister...
Friday, March 07, 2008
Hawt Diggety, another season of DMB begins!!!
I love it... So I'll be seeing Dave & Tim Reynolds with The Dalai Lama in Seattle on April 11, then here in ATL on July 7, and... for year 3 in a row... Dave for 3 consecutive days of concerts at the Gorge!!!
I just cannot begin to explain the magic of the three days spent camping and grooving with Dave in the middle of freaking nowhere in Washington. Waking to the sound of cows mooing, brisk air, early hot showers (before the line) and breakfast burritos to dull the edge of the previous day's hangover... Trying to find a square of shade for you and your frosty beverage in the mid-day heat, jamming with Dave & the band high above the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge... Riding in and out from the evening concerts on the bus (do NOT stay at the campground at the Gorge, people... Wild Horse is the way to go)... Eating apples that have fallen to the ground in a seemingly abandoned orchard... Having brunch at Cave B Inn, hoping to catch a glimpse of Dave or the band...
Times when you remember - life is so good.
I just cannot begin to explain the magic of the three days spent camping and grooving with Dave in the middle of freaking nowhere in Washington. Waking to the sound of cows mooing, brisk air, early hot showers (before the line) and breakfast burritos to dull the edge of the previous day's hangover... Trying to find a square of shade for you and your frosty beverage in the mid-day heat, jamming with Dave & the band high above the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge... Riding in and out from the evening concerts on the bus (do NOT stay at the campground at the Gorge, people... Wild Horse is the way to go)... Eating apples that have fallen to the ground in a seemingly abandoned orchard... Having brunch at Cave B Inn, hoping to catch a glimpse of Dave or the band...
Times when you remember - life is so good.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
I ((heart)) Vampire Weekend... They will be at The Earl this weekend, but shi*, of course I just found them yesterday and there are no tickets available for the concert this weekend.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
A great quote
"There are no simple congruities in life or history. It is possible to soften the incongruities of life endlessly but all such strategies cannot finally overcome the fragmentary nature of human existence. The final wisdom of life requires, not the annulment of incongruity, but the achievement of serenity within and above it.
Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved completely in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by HOPE.
Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by FAITH.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we must be saved by LOVE.
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of others as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is FORGIVENESS."
Reinhold Niebuhr, from The Children of Light and The Children of Darkness.
Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved completely in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by HOPE.
Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by FAITH.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we must be saved by LOVE.
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of others as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is FORGIVENESS."
Reinhold Niebuhr, from The Children of Light and The Children of Darkness.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Yet *another* reason (as if we needed one) to BYOB (bag, that is!)
Bring your own bag for groceries. Please.
As if the fact that extraordinarily cute versions are now widely available wasn't reason enough, here is environmental reason # 9,935,641:
"sea turtles mistake them for jellyfish snacks and are dying from clogged intestines."
As if the fact that extraordinarily cute versions are now widely available wasn't reason enough, here is environmental reason # 9,935,641:
"sea turtles mistake them for jellyfish snacks and are dying from clogged intestines."
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
Do you worry about what you drive as it relates to the environment? Why not what you eat?
"To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius." - Mark Bittman
Full article here.
Full article here.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
When PMS strikes...
It’s been a bad day, and I can’t even tell you why.
Pablo asked me today why I’m not writing. Maybe losing my voice has something to do with losing touch with people. It’s been so long since I’ve had a good friend that I’m pretty sure I don’t remember how. I don’t even know how to be a friend to myself. Mayhap the same thing happens to your artistic voice… That which is unused (or stifled) is eventually just filed under “been so long now that I don’t even know if I can any more.” Or maybe “been so long now that I don’t remember why it mattered.” And you forget all the whys and what made it good to begin with.
I’m just floating by out here, in my cesspool of empty. Every which way I look I just don’t see a horizon, so the feeble paddle I dip in every so often isn’t powered by much in the way of hope. The life is getting sucked out of me, one minor passion at a time. All hopes drain away in the face of droning meaninglessness of passing time.
The irony thing is I’m the one that left each island I've encountered to begin with. I’ve just realized that I may never find what I’m looking for. And frankly, I’ve been looking so long now that I don’t even remember what it is.
Maybe it’s all just a bad skewed perspective. I’m missing it all, waiting to find the salvation inside – the problem that it is truly not there, and I’m only alone in the context of my own internally directed tunnel vision. In reality, am I surrounded by offered lifelines (check out Ben Harper’s song, resonated with me)? I'm so mesmerized staring at the bottom that I forget to look up.
They’re all bad days.
Pablo asked me today why I’m not writing. Maybe losing my voice has something to do with losing touch with people. It’s been so long since I’ve had a good friend that I’m pretty sure I don’t remember how. I don’t even know how to be a friend to myself. Mayhap the same thing happens to your artistic voice… That which is unused (or stifled) is eventually just filed under “been so long now that I don’t even know if I can any more.” Or maybe “been so long now that I don’t remember why it mattered.” And you forget all the whys and what made it good to begin with.
I’m just floating by out here, in my cesspool of empty. Every which way I look I just don’t see a horizon, so the feeble paddle I dip in every so often isn’t powered by much in the way of hope. The life is getting sucked out of me, one minor passion at a time. All hopes drain away in the face of droning meaninglessness of passing time.
The irony thing is I’m the one that left each island I've encountered to begin with. I’ve just realized that I may never find what I’m looking for. And frankly, I’ve been looking so long now that I don’t even remember what it is.
Maybe it’s all just a bad skewed perspective. I’m missing it all, waiting to find the salvation inside – the problem that it is truly not there, and I’m only alone in the context of my own internally directed tunnel vision. In reality, am I surrounded by offered lifelines (check out Ben Harper’s song, resonated with me)? I'm so mesmerized staring at the bottom that I forget to look up.
They’re all bad days.
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