Monthly Archives: January 2010

Helpful Haiti Links

I have been feeling a little silly coming over here and blathering away about my insignificant personal life lately, what with the current situation in Haiti (which today, after a massive aftershock quake, seems to be getting worse, if that were even possible).  At any rate, I’m sure you’ve all been inundated with information, images, stories, and links about Haiti, but I do feel the need to throw in a few of my own, so bear with me here:

Pictures from Haiti
Donate through the Red Cross from your cell phone
Donate through the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
Donate through Médecins sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders

Hopefully if you are interested in making a small donation you can find an appropriate way to do so.

And now that I have gotten that out there (I really couldn’t not), we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming of silliness and insignificance around here, which will resume shortly, after I take a nap and rid myself of this headache that has been hanging around since yesterday and I haven’t even been drinking. (See? Plenty of nonsense to be had.)

Quotation of the Day: Audacious Faith Edition

 

Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time — the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts…. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the “isness” of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

– Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1964

Weekend Update

Well, it’s been a while, huh? I’m alive and have survived, barely, the first week of the semester. It’s always so frantic between getting started in the new courses and figuring out what my schedule will be like. I shan’t bore you with all of those details, though.

Suffice it to say that with the teaching schedule I have this semester, my off days are even more precious and appreciated than usual.

[15/365] Happy Hour!

[15/365] Happy Hour!

We started the weekend Friday Happy Hour Style and I even went to a Saturday morning yoga class with my friend B.

[16/365] Gloomy Weekend

[16/365] Gloomy Weekend

[17/365] Coffee!

[17/365] Coffee!

Otherwise, though, it has been gray and rainy and gloomy, and I have been thoroughly enjoying my laziness by lounging on the couch, taking naps with the dog, sipping coffee, and catching up on all the DVRed shows from the past week. Perhaps boring, but the perfect way to spend the weekend, in my opinion.

Speaking of television, are you watching Dollhouse? If not, it is probably partly your fault that Fox has canceled it and therefore you are now on my Enemies List. If you are watching Dollhouse, then I do not need to tell you the following two things but will anyway: 1) Friday’s episode was great and 2) OMG there is only ONE EPISODE LEFT. Also, allow me to add that 3) I weep.

In more exciting news, my fatty fat cat has lost a whopping seven ounces from her burly frame. A cause to celebrate!

Human, I Grow Weary of This "Camera."

Human, I Grow Weary of This “Camera.”

All the endless hours of her whining in front of an empty food bowl have, in some small way, paid off. The cat, however, does not seem entirely thrilled by this development. Doesn’t she realize that with her newer, sleeker body, she wil now surely be more likely to attract cats of the opposite sex; fit into smaller, more fashionable cat clothes; and maybe one day sit at the popular table in the cat-feteria? Oh wait, nevermind.

You may have noticed that I did not mention my usual glorious long weekend run. Well. I have had to take the entire week off from running because I think I am/was developing a case of the dreaded Goddamned Motherfucking Runner’s Knee (sorry, don’t let that medical terminology throw you off). My hamstrings and calves are ridiculously tight, and with no yoga over the holiday break they got worse, especially on the right side, which I think caused and/or exacerbated the problem. Sigh. I am going to try a short run on Tuesday (at which point I will have had 9 days off) and see what happens. I would like to stay on pace for the half marathon in Birmingham on Feb 14th, but if forced to choose between sticking to that plan and avoiding injury, I’d obviously prefer the latter. I am back in yoga 2-3 times per week, rolling out my calves and hamstrings on the foam roller, and hoping for the best. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

So how was your weekend, friends? Leave a comment and make me jealous of your fabulousity!

Good Developments

Greetings, fellow people of the internet! School starts back tomorrow, whether I am ready or not. Luckily I am ready for my courses — all prepped and photocopied and everything — but I am not really ready for the business of work itself. I have no clean laundry! I think I can scrounge a couple of clean outfits until I have time to get it done, but sheesh. Not the way I wanted to start the week. Maybe I will be able to get some done later tonight?

Anyway, in other news, my half marathon training continues apace. I ran my longest distance yet yesterday — nine miles. It was a perfect run until (as always happens) my hamstrings and knees felt too stiff during the final mile. It’s always just the last mile when that happens, no matter how many miles I have done up to that point, which seems to indicate that this is a psychological thing. Regardless, getting back to a regular yoga class couldn’t hurt. More importantly, at these longer distances, I have been exploring new neighborhoods streets, finding new little parks and creeks and gardens, and seeing my town in a new way.

I also just loving my new camera and Project 365 for a similar reason. On so many occasions I have gone out for a walk or a trip I might not have done otherwise, just for the express purpose of taking photographs. On other occasions, I have seen things right in my own neighborhood that I never would have noticed before had I not been walking around with an eye to photography. Anything that gets me out in the world seeing things in a new way has got to be a good development.

Here are a couple of recent favorites from Project 365:

[8/365] Loved Graffiti

[8/365] Loved Graffiti

Spotted on my walk to school, when I went a way I almost never go. Such nice graffiti. I find the stenciled aspect of it interesting, too.

[10/365] Bicycle Fence (Attempt One)

[10/365] Bicycle Fence (Attempt One)

These people in my neighborhood have built an entire fence out of old bicycles. I keep wanting to photograph it, and today when I finally dragged my camera up the hill to do so, there was a car parked in front of it and a pile of recycling in the way. This was the best I could do, but the fence is unbelievably awesome, so I shall try again soon!

Well, I have less than 24 hours before I am back in the classroom, so I think I am going to try to relax as much as possible while I can. And maybe, just maybe, try to do some laundry. We’ll see.

Operation Vegemite

The other day, I received an extremely excellent package in the mail from the very Baron von Harlot herself. I know! How cool is that?! The contents of this package included one jar of real Australian Vegemite and one copy of TimT‘s new zine, Badger’s Dozen, featuring poetry by Tim, the Baron, and various other cool wordsmith-type people. I know you are jealous, but don’t be, because you can order the zine on Etsy, and I am going to tell you all about my adventures with vegemite so that you can share along with me.

Let me just say what big excitement this all was! I love to try new and interesting foodstuffs (in the limited manner I now can, without eating the meats and the cheeses and such). I had been warned about vegemite, however — warned, in fact, that it might taste “like condensed compost heap with salt.” Oh boy. What had I gotten myself into? Even though I had heard that the only people in the world who love vegemite are Australians and that it’s a taste that’s difficult to acquire, I forged ahead.

[4/365] Operation Vegemite

I spread a very thin layer on toast, as directed, and began my adventure. It tastes very nutty, sort of woodsy, dark, and salty. The flavor is strong in this one.

I later decided I liked to butter the toast first (or, in my case, I use Earth Balance, the vegan “buttery” spread), which sort of complements the vegemite flavor and makes it less concentrated. This isn’t to say I dislike the flavor, but just that I wanted to sort of weaken it a bit.

It occurred to me as I was spreading the stuff on my toast, though, that it sort of resembles toast spread with Nutella. Wouldn’t it be funny to offer someone a piece of toast with Nutella and give them this instead? Um, wait. Forget I said that next time you’re over at my house.

Mission: SUCCESS.
Will I Eat It Again: YES.