Chick! Chick! Chick!

The brewery is now the proud parent of 8 little chicks! Fuzzy, chirpy goodness, these girls will (eventually) provide eggs to the greater brewery family. It is quite a fabulous treat to be a part of this...what is really step 1 in a larger urban farm that is being established at Oakshire (hurrah!)

As I'm sure other chicken owners will acknowledge, they're fun and they grow fast, it's absolutely amazing.
We all get to name one, and true to form the first thing that popped into my head was a book character, so meet Bokonon (from Cat's Cradle) I think I'm funny, because for short we can call her "Bok" ...bok bok bok (heh heh heh).

Further evidence of nerds

Not staged...I swear.

Seen in downtown

Yet another reason to hate grass.

for a little inspiration...

During the course of my MA studies there were a handful of activists and scholars that I can now point to and say that they were incredibly influential in my thinking and further study. Tonight I had opportunity to see Frances Moore Lappé speak. My attention was captured by her books "Diet for a Small Planet," "Hope's Edge," and "The Quickening of America," to name a few; as well as her activist work and the work of the organization she co-founded--Food First.

Although she did not explicitly discuss food issues tonight, I feel that old familiar excitement that came from reading her books. So much so that I have to get it all out right now or I feel that I'll lose it to another day of sitting in my office reading. Lappé is on tour for the new edition of her book "Getting a Grip" and is, in my opinion, spreading the enthusiasm for a different kind of social, economic and political future. Just to highlight some of the sticking points from her talk tonight where she identified three major issues that cause such unevenness and disparity in a world of plenty and then turned them on their heads.

Problems:

1. The concentration of power in the hands of the few (and with that I would add wealth)
2. The lack of transparency (at multiple scales) in politics, economics and social welfare
3. The increased propensity to "other" (or play the blame game)

Solutions for what Lappé refers to as 'living democracy':

1. The dispersion of power
2. Transparency and community cooperation
3. Recognition of accountability

We are living in a time of a facade of democracy in which we have what Lappé calls the biggest oxymoron ever..."privately held government." What a contrast it would be if we scale-jumped to allow for community interaction and citizen voice. I get a sparkle in my eye with this kind of talk and then slowly and quietly doubt and cynicism creep up on me and I become angry with the reality of life, the universe and everything. She must have been prepared for my train of thought because she started giving examples of where this is happening. I certainly didn't write them all down, but several caught my pencil and I will be exploring them in days to come. I will highlight briefly that she spoke specifically to Bellingham which warmed my heart. Apparently, Bellingham has been extremely successful at convincing citizens that buying local is the way to go, to the tune of 60% I think....

...more on this...
some things to look into:

• timebanks.org (could it be?! a social wage?!)
  
• Apprentice citizenship in Maine (youth activism and education)
• The Fair Elections Now Act (what if we were able to exercise our free speech rights as well/much as corporations?!)
• Brazil, food as a right
  

and a thought to chew on....in our super individualist society we have great difficulty, it seems, breaking away from social norms, how is it that as individuals were operate in a way that will not let us leave the dominant group and choose differently?

Spring Break'ish

Last year Spring Break was completely dominated by the Annual AAG Meeting in Vegas, which is really not my ideal locale for time away from school, although I did get to break away from the city and the conference to glimpse Red Rocks.

This year however, the meeting is later and I had the opportunity to take a week off (as such) and garden, read in bed, paint, travel near (wineries!) and far (Ashland!), and get a modicum of research done on my local project. School starts again tomorrow and I'm almost certain that tonight will find me burning the midnight oil, trying to make this week last just a little bit longer.

I went and picked out 50 rocks to try to separate the growing ground cover from the flower garden area...the bulbs are coming into their own, and I cannot wait to see what the transition is like. I'm trying to make it so there is color spring, summer, fall...winter'ish. I think I need some more bulbs, but it's our first try, so I'm going to watch and wait this year (and take pictures so I remember where we planted....)I started and finished Jasper Fforde's newest offering, Shades of Grey, which I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys reading dystopian themes and has a sense of humor.

And we painted. Finally. The back wall of the bedroom is now a beautiful chocolate brown and the bathroom has gone from a cream and taupe (read: yellow and brown...who does that!?) to white and purple. The bulk of the work is done, now I can just take the next 10 weeks doing the little things. We decided to hang the new tp holder funky to try and discourage Pocket from using it as a toy, despite the adventure that using claw shredded tp can provide.
Joe and I took last Friday afternoon out at King Estate, playing the industry game. The world changes when you bring bottles to trade and we were treated to quite the tasting. The following day we headed south to check out the Cheese Guild tasting at Rogue Creamery and then onward to Ashland where we sampled some brews from the local coffee shop, Standing Stone, and then"checked out" the canning line at Caldera.
Portland was also in the mix and we spent good time with good friends, traded up our film SLR for a digi, had a few research meetings and enjoyed excellent beer and food.

Some things that had nothing to do with school that I managed to do winter quarter, Part III

Play with dirt and rocks......well depending on the class I was in, there was some of this too, but in this case, it was in my own yard.
The front yard will always be a work in progress, which--even given my ultra uber planning mentality--is okay with me.
So for this moment, it appears that I was interested in changing the aesthetic of the front = bulbs, weeding, more sedum, Mexican red pebbles (not pictured here) and a tree stump too large to chop down for the fireplace.
Joe has also been working on a water capture system...

Intermission...

This appeared one week...I seem to remember buying the materials and making an attempt at planning, but I had nothing to do with the construction.
It's not quite done yet, but Joe turned our dustbowl into a nice pad.

Some things that had nothing to do with school that I managed to do winter quarter, Part II

Snowshoeing in the Giant Sequoia National Forest...

We hiked into a cabin (generally for summer use) and pretty much had the forest to ourselves for three days. Being completely surrounded by snow--and the enormity of the silent forest--was absolutely incredible. And at night, we bundled up again and sat with a nightcap enjoying the bliss that comes with seeing more stars than we have seen in a looooooooong time.

Some things that had nothing to do with school that I managed to do winter quarter, Part I

Make Butter:

I would never have attempted this without a kitchenaid...so when I say butter making is easy, I'm not being obnoxious...I really had very little to do with it.
Starting with cream...
The point of no return, whipped cream to milk fat and buttermilk:
Washed and unsalted butter:Results:
1 pint organic heavy cream = 1 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup butter
Salted fresh butter:1 cup buttermilk = just enough for a modest amount of soda bread

1 modest loaf of soda bread = desire for braised cabbage, carrots and potatoes

.....mmmmmmmm

It takes a Madonna....

I'll need to look into this more (in all my spare time), but with climate change, earthquakes and economic issues all causing whole villages of people to relocate, do we really need to add Madonna to that list?

Malawians move for Madonna school

Some 200 villagers in Malawi have ended their protests and agreed to leave their land to make way for a school being built by pop star Madonna.

The villagers have finally accepted compensation of $105,000 (£67,000) after their protests had delayed the start of the building work.

A local chief reportedly told the villagers to "accept reality" after the government ordered them to move.

Madonna has adopted two children from Malawi, where she has an orphanage.

Work is now expected to start soon on the Raising Malawi Girls Academy outside the capital, Lilongwe.

The AFP news agency says it is expected to be finished in two years' time.

As well as the compensation, the villagers have also been given new land elsewhere.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/8513052.stm
Published: 2010/02/12 15:44:38 GMT

the wiki is down

The wikipedia is down and somewhere undergraduate students are crying.

King County Caloric Intake

I'm a full hour early for my interview this morning. We're meeting at
Starbucks.

The other night at dinner I was reminded by John and Annajo that King
County now requires calorie counts on all restaurant menus, today was
my first taste of that:

Evidence of nerds...

USB orgy...

A Geographer, I am not.

Fall quarter came to a close without a winding down period. I worked up until the last possible second and I'm now back in the research saddle.
To get things started on the right foot, I promptly got lost on the way to my first appointment, walked at least as far as I took the bus and had to reschedule. I am a total disaster.
However, humbled, I returned to my home base, had a nap and gave myself twice the allotted time needed to get to my next interview.
I'm almost glad that my second interview became my first. It was fantastically amazing...
...and now I get it.

In a future life...

...I want to do this:

Read All Day

Right now I am dragging along in one book and will soon give in to the pleasures of re-reading.

Intitating Project One Line

I was kindly asked by a good friend to "not disappear" when classes started. Well, classes officially start tomorrow.

So, I therefore initiate 'project one line' it is my goal to try to keep in email contact with people by sending out one-liners.

This is selfish in two ways (that I can see): (1) I want you to know how I am; and (2) I desperately want to be kept in the loop and know how you are.

Hopefully I will make good on this project and you'll see something from me every once in awhile...such as: Hello, I am grading and pulling out my hair; how are the kids? love Linds.

A Matter of Perspective

Somehow, I always end up getting selected at the security checkpoint at the airport to be violated by the TSA. I hate getting patted down by security, I understand it, but I doesn't mean I like it.

Perspective number 1: This is a total invasion of my privacy. This is my body, my personal space is being invaded by a federal agent. Getting patted down between my legs in an official capacity is not my idea of a good time. It makes me feel uncomfortable.

...but then I thought to myself, perhaps this is a thrill to someone...

Perspective number 2: Wow, there is a cute federal agent with her hands underneath my armpits running her fingers down the sides of my body. This is awesome, Perhaps I should have let them bring me into that special room--nudge nudge, wink wink.

The overhead announced that the security level was orange (a. what the fuck does that mean to a lay person? and b. who the fuck cares anymore?), so pay extra special attention to your surroundings for today, and be careful. Sigh.

So I took the weekend off.

Research Trip Daze

It's hard to conduct research without research subjects. The good news is I'm staying with family and I had a friend fly in for the weekend. Also, I spent the entire day Saturday at the Farmers Market taking in the scene and talking to people about food and my research:





Sunday it was a free Shakespeare in the Park--"Comedy of Errors" and Monday I tried to get in contact with the farmers again.

I know that a lot of research is just waiting, but this is a real exercise in patience for me. I spent most of the day at the computer yesterday trying to figure out how to make the most of what's left of my time here-making new contacts and sending out emails. So far, the most responsive person is the furthest away (Seattle).
Sigh.

nothing else can possibly go wrong...

Research Trip: day 2

Those words came out of my mouth after finally getting on the road yesterday.

I was wrong. Perhaps I am not cut out for adventure. I managed to lock myself between the gated door and the front door today and could not figure out how to get the door unlocked. I had keys, should be simple...suffice to say, after one desperate phone call, I emerged unscathed. But really.

Successes today:

-unlatching cat door with written instruction

-getting Prius to start

-not getting lost on the way to car return (without a map)

-returning car on time

-finding wifi

-befriending super-talkative crazy electrician

-taking 4 different buses to the places I actually wanted to go

-meeting with owner of farm

-unlocking front door on first try (upon returning after city adventure)

Failures:

-obviously, what I've related above-being caged

-trying to get directions from the car return place over the phone

-befriending super-talkative crazy electrician

-discovering that a mini-coup is taking place at the farm, since yesterday.

so, no site visits, no client meetings. I have the weekend to read and take in the city. Will recommence research on Monday if there is still a farm.

'Everyday is the start of something beautiful'

Research Trip Day 1:
I wanted to post this yesterday, but instead I crashed into the softness of a cozy bed.

To start everything went wrong. Not catastrophically, but frustratingly. I am trying to be intrepid, I am trying not to ultra-über plan everything, I am trying to be a researcher viewing the city and exploring. So, I had the opportunity to hitch a ride with a friend going to Berkeley--perfect, toss in some gas money, pack a backpack and stay with my uncle in the city. no big deal. a couple of emails, done.

We spent the weekend without a cell phone connection. Simply, glorious. A four day weekend away before my research trip, a relaxing moment to keep the fear of failure off the brain. It worked. Until we got back in cell phone range. My ride left without me and I had no plan. And my efforts to not be an annoying house guest before I arrived also failed, to the tune of four voice mails seeking more details.

Other friends stepped in to the rescue-I rolled into the city last night on the wings of a one-way, rented Prius--those things are scary, fucking awesome, but scary--(500 miles to one tank, I put 3 gallons in to get the rest of the way), you would cry to know the deal I got.
I saw Shasta, and took in some views and then spent some nice conversation over a beer with one of my delightful hosts. This morning, I am well slept, hoarse from singing to myself for 8 hours and cheerfully typing away in a cafe, sipping coffee and thinking about the bus.Try not to think about the fact that I took these while driving.

"be sure to wear some flowers in your hair"

I'm planning (sans excel sheet) what to bring on my research trip down to SF and all I can think of are the lyrics to this song. I think Tuesday morning is going to come fast and with a large dose of reality.

I have no idea what I'm doing...but I'm setting out as a tabula rasa researcher. This is not to say I have no pre-conceived notions about my topic, but that I have no clue how to be a researcher. So, I will learn and it will be good--I hope.