Category: Well why not?

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Freeganism anyone?

Have you heard of this? Freeganism? I never had until today, but now I’m intrigued. Check out this article I found on HuffPost:

Gio Andollo, Freegan

From the first paragraph of the article:  “Freeganism is a lifestyle in which one employs “alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources.” Gio Andollo is a writer, artist, musician and freegan. Andollo became a freegan when he realized that artists don’t get paid much, but he didn’t like the idea of working a “crappy, part-time job” to pay the bills. So he found another way. Andollo performs on the subway for about 20 hours a week, typically in two-hour intervals. He makes $10 to $50 per shift and has a love/hate relationship with busking. Andollo will buy food, but very rarely. The majority of his food comes from trash touring, or dumpster diving. To learn more about Gio, visit his personal blog and portfolio here, his living-on-a-shoestring-in-New-York blog here and his blog about washing dishes here.”

Interesting. Too bad he didn’t live in NYC the same time we did, or else I’m sure I would have passed him at least once on my countless subway rides.

I’m having trouble deciding if I could do this or not. Employ my skills (which ones? that i have no idea) to make enough money without having a job to keep a home and pay bills, and dig through others’ garbage to find food for my meals? Hmm, that sounds pretty haughty of me, no? For if faced with the need, I’d like to think I would do anything I had to in order to feed my family. Fortunately, I don’t have to do that right now. But it sounds like Mr. Andollo doesn’t necessarily have to go on trash tours, rather he chooses to because he doesn’t want to work a conventional job to make the money he needs for such necessities. All right, to each his own of course, as long as whatever you’re doing isn’t a detriment to the rest of us. And his backstory is pretty interesting if you check out his blog. It’s honestly one of those lifestyles about which I always think, “What if I lived like that? Would I be able to pull it off like they can?” I don’t really think it’s a lifestyle to which I’d be well-suited, though, seeing as I’m not an artist of any sort and I do enjoy getting my food from sources other than discarded trash bags, but I think it’s kind of cool how there’s a whole subset of our culture out there who lives like this. Like the complete opposite of me. And they can.

What do you think? Could you be a freegan?

Also, I feel guilty because I threw away a plastic cup today that should have been recycled. Ick.

 

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I’ve heard Neptune is lovely in the summer

Let me start off on a tangent here for a second. Yesterday I had to get 3 fillings at the dentist to seal some sensitive areas at my gumline. Hey, at least they weren’t cavities. Yeah, whatever, they were still fillings and involved drilling. Fun. So anyway, why do dentists try to make small talk as they’re preparing you for this oral nightmare? I mean really – I’m sitting in the chair, one quarter of my face is numb from the giant Novocaine shots, I can’t move my lips properly to actually form words anymore, and you want to know what my plans are for the rest of the summer? Come on. I’m trying to psyche myself up for the fact that you’re about to drill holes. In my head. Let’s cut the chitter chatter and get this over with. Now don’t get me wrong, I really like my dentist’s office. The girls who work there are awesome, my dentist himself is really good, and if I’m just in for a routine cleaning? Fine, I’ll shoot the shit all day long. But when I have to get needles and drills shoved into my mouth, please don’t waste any time and prolong the torture. Ok, that’s all. And now back to our regularly scheduled posting.

I knew there was a reason I don’t like to read the news that often. Take a look at some of these recent headlines. And they all appeared on the same front page of a national news website. I didn’t even have to do any scrolling or anything!

“Norway hunts answers after massacre”
“Landslide kills 32 in South Korea”
“Gulf storm could become cyclone”
“U.S. Olympic skier kills himself”
“Why was skeleton in bank chimney?”
“Amy Winehouse’s final days”
“Teen bride talks sex with husband, 51”
“Actress: I got compliments for looking emaciated”

And over here we have some lovely ones from a local news site:

“One acquittal, one conviction for man in execution-style murders”
“City records fifth unsafe sleeping death of infant”
“Suspects in custody after armed robbery, exchange of gunfire with Milwaukee Police”
“Sheboygan teen charged with assaulting 7-year-old” (ok, well, that is from sheboygan)
“1 dead, 1 missing after boat accident in Minnesota”

And my personal favorite:

“Woman sues man for her herpes, seeks $350,000”

No, I promise I did not make that last one up either. I can send you the link if you really want it.  But seriously, what a grim state of affairs in which to be living. Not to mention all the debt ceiling bullshit that’s going on in Washington right now too. Where’s the good news? Is there even any to report? Is there nothing out there to uplift our spirits, or are we stuck with political battles, natural disasters, death, and STDs?

Maybe we can just hightail it outta here and set up shop somewhere new. One of the outer planets, maybe? Who’s in? I’ve got an aerobed and a bag of marshmallows for roasting. Jumbo size ones, too!

 

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The little things

Today I’m wearing a necklace that has been one of my favorites for about 10 years now. It’s nothing fancy, just a little silver necklace with some purple crystals every couple inches interspersed with pale lavender freshwater pearls. I wore it every day for the longest time after I got it, but it has since come to be worn mainly when it perfectly matches certain articles of clothing, like the lavender shirt I have on. Do you do that too? Match specific pieces of jewelry to corresponding outfits? It’s like I never think of some of my jewelry until I put on that one shirt or dress. Funny. Anyway.

The reason this necklace will always hold a spot dear in my heart is because it was the first gift R ever gave me. And I will never ever forget the moment either. It was my last minute in Madison before I had to drive home to Peoria and make the big move out to NYC in the summer of 2001. I think I moved out there July 1, so this would have been the last weekend in June when I left Madison. And it was the absolute last thing I wanted to do by then. For R and I had become so close (though we weren’t “dating”, mind you. that became official later), and I had some incredibly good friends who I couldn’t bear to leave. Fortunately they all came to visit me shortly after I moved out east, but still. The actual leaving process was horrible.

The whole day I was dragging my feet, putting off leaving as long as humanly possible. R had helped me load up the stuff I was taking in my car that hadn’t been shipped out on the moving truck, we grabbed some lunch at Qdoba on State Street, then we watched a movie over at their apartment on Dayton that afternoon. And believe me, those closing credits were the last thing I wanted to see. For they meant I had to go. So we were like ok, this is it. He ducked into his bedroom quickly as we were heading to the door, then walked me downstairs and across the street where I was parked. I gave him a big hug that I never wanted to end and said something dumb like, “Well, it’s been fun.” I honestly felt like I was never going to see anyone from Madison again, as crazy as that may sound. That’s when he reached in his pocket and handed me this little necklace.

I was absolutely floored. One, I was certainly not expecting a parting gift, but two, did this mean he actually had feelings for me beyond the “friends with benefits” thing? Holy shit! And now I’m literally getting in my car and moving 1,000 miles away?? Great timing. And I thought I didn’t want to leave earlier that day. Once he gave me that necklace I would have cemented my feet right there in the street in front of him if I could have. That was one long, lonely, confusing drive home.

Obviously he did have feelings for me, and I for him, which we finally admitted when we started officially dating a little over a month later. And whaddya know? We’ve been together ever since. Awww… sappy, I know. But sometimes it’s just the little things that really do mean the most. And every time I wear this necklace I’m taken right back to that day a decade ago when I first thought hmm, maybe this could actually turn into something more.

I love that the clasp is a heart

 

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Takin’ it on two wheels

This weekend was R’s annual family picnic up in the Sheboygan area, and man was it hot. It was this exact same weekend last year, and I remember that because it was the same day my mucous plug came out (oh yeah, that again) and 8 days before D was born. It was equally as hot last year, but this year’s weather was more bearable for the simple fact that I wasn’t carrying around an extra 30+ pounds and going to the bathroom every 15 minutes. This is always a fun event, because R’s family is big and they’re a blast. His mom is 1 of 9 kids (this is their side of the fam that gets together), so all of his aunts and uncles and cousins are constantly coming up with crazy stories. Plus this was D’s inaugural appearance as an outside baby, so of course she was the hit of the afternoon.

The Murray fam (some of 'em, anyway)

Yesterday was one of our few weekend days where we had absolutely nothing planned, so we took advantage of it not being quite so hot and horrible outside and loaded D up into the bike trailer for her first ride. There is an awesome path that runs from just a few blocks from our house all the way into and through downtown, so we hopped on that and cruised along. R had her hooked to his bike and I followed, and he said she looked a little apprehensive at first. But as soon as we were halfway down our block, all I heard for the next half mile was her nonstop giggles. We rode all the way down to the lakefront and to the little man-made peninsula just out from the Summerfest grounds. It was so nice down there, too. The sun had gone behind some cloud cover and there was a cooler pleasant breeze off the lake, so we stopped for a bit at the point in the park to get D out and let her look around. By the time we got home we’d been gone for 2 hours, so that was a great ride. It was still pretty nice since the searing heat hadn’t come back yet with the sun, so R and I both got runs in after the biking, too. Talk about studs! I just did my real quick route, since the last time I had to do a bike to run transition was in the last triathlon I did, 2 summers ago. I ran 1.44 miles in 11:15, for a 7:50 pace. R did a longer run, and I called him crazy.

Ready to roll
In the park w/Daddy
More park, w/Mommy now

This is the bike trailer we got, and it worked perfectly. It holds 2 kids, so when only 1 is riding in it, the straps just turn around and make a harness in the middle of the seat. D loved it, so hopefully we’ll have many more weekend rides in our future.

Then after our runs, showers, and a Goldfish snack for D, we walked up the street a few blocks to watch the last leg of the International Cycling Classic, which happened to be running right through our neighborhood. Talk about amazing! I don’t know how those guys don’t wipe out each turn, they’re going so fast. We were there for the start, which was an awesome site as the field of riders charged down the street after the race car, then separated into a group of 9 leaders followed by the rest of the field, a gap that grew from around 20 seconds to almost being lapped by the lead pack by the time we walked home.  We stayed for about 30 laps, which was just over half the race. What a cool event, and how fun to be able to get to watch it just a short walk from our house. They have it every year, but this was the first time we actually went up to see what it was all about.

And I’m sure you all heard about Amy Winehouse’s passing on Saturday. I can’t say it’s totally surprising, but a tragic loss of life nonetheless. And I did love “Rehab”. She joins the infamous 27 Club – Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain… R always said he was convinced he was going to die at 27, too. Sorry babe, I love you, but you’re not exactly the second coming of Mr. Mojo Risin. Sure glad you made it to this side of that fateful age, though.

 

p.s. One week from today I’ll have a 1 year old daughter. Wow!

 

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Did you know?

That it’s unhealthy to breathe someone else’s farts? Yours are totally ok to ingest, though.

 

Seriously, if you haven’t laughed yet today, go read this. I can’t believe I’m not dead yet, you know, living with R and D and all the ass gas they produce. I’m not kidding – D definitely takes after R in this respect. In fact, one of her favorite things to do first thing in the morning is rip a couple wake up farts as she’s scooting around in her crib. Like hi Mom, my butt wants to say I love you!

And wait, there’s more! Not fart-related, though, sorry to disappoint. But look at this awesome iPhone case I got yesterday:

Hi!

Are you kidding me?? How cute is that! One of the girls I raced with in the Milwaukee Challenge last weekend had one that she’d designed with a bunch of cool words on it, so I went to their site and made my own. It’s awesome – you can upload your own art or photos, pick from their stock art, or just start from scratch and make whatever you want. It arrived just 2 days after I ordered it too! Let me know if you’d like the site; I have some 20% off coupons too if you’d like to create your own.

And wait again! Guess what I did last night and the night before? You’ll never get it in a million years, so I’ll just tell you – I hung curtains in our bedroom! Um, so what? People hang curtains all the time. No, you don’t understand. This involved a power drill, drywall anchors, and a power screwdriver, 3 things with which I am completely uncomfortable. I don’t do power tools. None of them (yes, the 4 years and counting that we’ve spent remodeling our house has all been done by r). They scare me. Because I know that if I put a hole where a hole shouldn’t be, R will kill me. And I don’t just mean that metaphorically either. I’m pretty sure I would be in a body bag somewhere if I ruin our walls that he built. As such I have been terrified to adorn them. We barely have anything hanging in our house yet as a result. There are a couple pieces here and there, but those I was able to hang with simple hooks that go through the drywall and make miniscule holes that even R said are no big deal. We do have one big framed piece hanging in the kitchen, but he did that one since it involved drilling and anchors too. So you see, my hanging 2 curtain rods, which involved drilling 10 holes plus anchors and screws, is a HUGE accomplishment for me. The curtains are just cheapie ones I wanted to use to cover the lack of trim until we replace the windows and maybe get nice room-darkening blinds, so they’re no big deal in themselves. It’s my conquering the power tools and not ruining the walls that excited me most.

Ok, now class dismissed. Have a great weekend!

 

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I’m ba-ack

Hi! Home from vaca, and I’d be lying if I said I was happy about that. Those first couple days back after vacation are the worst. But we had a great trip, D was an awesome little car traveler (something about which we were worried since it’s a 12 hour ride), it was definitely a much-needed break from work, and I’m now nice and tan thanks to our beautiful weather up there.

I’ll be back later with some more posting, just wanted to let you know I’m in the house today. And I’ll give you a nice full photographic synopsis of last week once I go through all the pictures we took and get some uploaded.

I hope you all had a nice time while I was away. Just one thing – who ordered this heat and humidity? Ugh. Coming back to 90s wasn’t so nice.

 

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Aka “Shut the f*ck up!”

Sorry, I didn’t want to put a giant screaming “fuck” in the title. 😉 But I’m sure you’ve all seen this by now:  Go the F**k to Sleep

If not, you’ve apparently been sleeping for a couple months. Someone sent me a pdf version of that book before it was even for sale on Amazon, and I about died from the hilarity reading it. Parents-to-be, just you wait. You will love your child more than you ever thought humanly possible, but those nights when getting him/her to sleep seems impossible? The words of this book will ring oh-so true.

There’s a wonderfully narrated version of it by Samuel L. Jackson that just might make you laugh out loud, too. I’m hesitant to post it here since it is copyrighted, so if you’d like to hear it just let me know. You can also find it on YouTube, but it might make you sign in or create an account to view it since it contains explicit language. Rules.

I saw this article today, however, and I think it’s a little much. No, the profanity in this book is not suitable for children, but the book is not intended for kids. And the author certainly is not instructing parents to physically harm their sleepless offspring in any way. And demeaning to children? Someone’s taking themselves way too seriously here.

This book has simply put into writing what I guarantee every parent has felt or will feel at some point in their child’s lifetime. It is not the cause of parents not reading bedtime stories to their children as much anymore; it is not responsible for the unfortunate fact that many parents do use language like this regularly with their kids. Yes, my heart breaks into a million pieces when I think of all the children in the world whose parents do not care for them as they should, or at all. No child deserves that. But to portend that this book somehow perpetuates that? I think someone needs to lighten up. Go ahead, laugh at the book. It’s ok, it’s funny. And it does not make you a bad parent.