Spring! I wore shorts yesterday and Sunday, and I so very badly wanted to put on flip-flops, KBO footwear of choice from April to October. Alas, I only made the transition from winter’s ubiquitous hiking boots to my sneakers. This time of year is my favorite, because the realization that the weather will undoubtedly get warmer is a daily treat, a surprise one gets when they don’t have to wear a winter coat or flinch going outside. I can smell the ground thawing and see little hints of emerging life. The perennial herbs in our front beds are peeking out from last year’s dead remnants. I saw tiny purple crocuses in a neighbors yard. Our yard only has last fall’s leaves and five months of dog shit that I must remove in order to dig my new giant garden bed. If only our dog shit had crocuses growing in it. My yard would be magical. → continue reading
Recently I joined the new Young Professionals board for Safe Connections. If you aren’t familiar with Safe Connections:
As the oldest and largest locally-founded agency serving abused women and teens in the St. Louis region, Safe Connections is essential core of resources and support for survivors of violence. Safe Connections is the only agency providing integrated services for women who have been victimized by domestic violence, sexual assault, rape and/or childhood sexual abuse. (from Safe Connections’ About Us)
Safe Connections provides vital services for women and teens in the area who are survivors of violence, and their work is an area where the need for help is almost always greater than what they can provide. The Young Professionals is a new group formed by Safe Connections to gain volunteers and supporters in the 21-40 age group who can help Safe Connections expand their mission and services.
We’re hosting a happy hour to raise awareness about and gain membership for Safe Connections and our Young Professionals group. This event will be held at Pi in the Central West End on Wednesday, March 3, from 5-7. Chris Sommers, who owns Pi, is also a member of the Young Professionals group, and Pi will be offering half-price appetizers and drink specials for those in attendance. You should come. You need no reason to go to Pi and have a cocktail on a Wednesday, and this gives you free reign to claim it as your good deed for the day or week should you see fit.
Domestic violence is an issue that does not discriminate based on race, socioeconomic status, political affiliation, or religion. I’d love to see you guys come out, particularly my lady-blogger friends.
Gah, it’s depressing around here with all the dying going on. Let’s open the windows and let some air in, shall we? It smells like feet and wet dog. → continue reading
If you are in the St Louis area, please check out Justin’s postsover at the Yellow Tree Farms blog. We are growing plants for sale this year for your herb/veggie garden, and because we have limited space to grow these seedlings with the various projects we’re working on, we’re taking preorders. All the plants are grown using organic methods, and many plants are grown from certified organic or heirloom seeds. I truly believe we’re offering the best variety of plants in the area, especially in terms of tomatoes. If you are interested or have questions, e-mail Justin at justin <at> yellowtreefarm <dot> com.
I had school in Minnesota on Friday and Saturday, and the visitation was not until Monday, so we drove through the snow on Monday morning to get to rural southeastern Iowa, where the cattle were huddled together in the snow-covered fields.
My grandma was 92 years old. The visitation and funeral was unremarkable; family members I had not seen in years and years, church ladies saying goodbye to one of their own, old neighbors from across the county. There was the church lady-catered luncheon, with too many Jello and mayo-based salads to count. There were the requisite plants and flowers sent in memoriam, pictures of her life and our family displayed. One picture caught my eye, something I hadn’t seen before: my grandma and grandpa; sitting at a bar, each with a drink, my grandpa in his Army uniform. The souvenir photo was from Jack Dempsey’s Broadway Bar and Cocktail Lounge in New York, taken in 1946. It cost $1.
My grandma didn’t marry my grandpa until she was 29, older than most women of her generation. She didn’t have my Aunt Pat until she was 35. She had my Aunt Barb when she was 46. 46! My Aunt Barb is 46 now, and her daughters are 18 and 19. I can’t imagine her having a newborn right now, but my grandma, in the 1960’s, was raising a toddler alongside teens. → continue reading
The Bad News (because I’d rather get it out of the way first):
When I left my job helping unqualified people become underwhelming teachers (I KID, at least five of them were competent. Ashley, you’re one of them), I went to work with a friend, helping her with the small business she owned. When I started working with her, we set a three-month trial period, at the end of which either of us could withdraw from the arrangement, no hard feelings. Unfortunately, due to a really crappy economy, she really couldn’t afford to keep me after three and a half months, which I expected. Therefore, as of Friday, I have no substantive incoming coming in regularly.
Howard Zinn died. He was an author, historian, teacher, and tireless activist for peace and civil rights.
I first read his most famous book, A People’s History of the United States, in college. This book was pivotal to my own radicalization; it was the first major work I read that questioned history as it was presented to me in school. I learned from Zinn that there are multiple sides to every story, and the story is told most often is probably the story of the oppressors. I learned from Zinn to question institutions and authority. He will continue to be one of my intellectual heroes.
We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts appeared before us, startled us, and then caused us to question beliefs that were strongly fixed in our consciousness – embedded there by years of family prejudices, orthodox schooling, imbibing of newspapers, radio, and television.
– Howard Zinn, “Changing Minds, One at a Time”, in: The Progressive magazine, March 2005
So far, so good. Really, the pivotal thing for me when trying to get healthy again is working out regularly, and I’m proud to say that I’ve been good about it. I think (fingers crossed) I’ve found a routine that works for me, at least for now. I’ve done Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred almost every single day of the past two weeks. Today, I moved up to the Level II workout. The Shred is working for me for several reasons: I can do it at home; it’s fast-paced so I don’t get bored; it’s challenging without being discouraging. I’ve also gotten into the habit of getting up when Chris is leaving for work and doing it right away. I like the feeling of having it over with as I go through my day, because part of my aversion to exercise is due to the fact that I obsessively dread workouts. I can’t really obsess over it if I do it right away. This is very good for my anxiety. I’ve coupled that with longer walks with Asher every day, and a little bit of Wii. I’m not interested in doing anything hardcore like PX90; I had many years of being consumed by fitness and that time is over for me. Like, really, really, college-drinking over, despite the fact that I get a kick out of looking at my muscles when I played soccer 24/7. But I also wore a tube top during that time, so take that for what it’s worth. → continue reading
This is why Avatar is bullshit: James Cameron spent $500 million dollars (sit on that number for a minute…) and couldn’t throw enough money towards the writing team to get more than an offensive collection of hackneyed cliches.He basically said, “Eh, forget the ’story’. I really want to make jellyfish-like things pop out from the screen. Can we get the guys from District 9, the Transformer-looking motherfuckers? No? Call Michael Bay and see if can help out.” Not only did I accurately predict exactly what was going to happen (and no, I didn’t really read any reviews), but our crew of four visiting the Tivoli Sunday morning predicted entire lines of dialogue. It was that cliched. I mean, ****SPOILER ALERT*** is probably unnecessary because the entire plot is predictable as McGuire being on steroids, but I digress. → continue reading
Six months from today, I will turn 30. That’s approximately 180 days (exactly 182 but we’re going with 180 BECAUSE I SAID SO) from today. Today I start a new project: 180 in 180. I’m tired of being unhealthy in almost every aspect of my life; I’m tired of feeling like dookie all the time. It’s time to turn this nonsense around; why not aim for a relative transformation for my 30th birthday since I will obviously be too old after July 11th to do anything but fade into obscurity. I’ll just be too damn old. I kid. → continue reading
Spring! I wore shorts yesterday and Sunday, and I so very badly wanted to put on flip-flops, KBO footwear of choice from April to October. Alas, I only made the transition from winter’s ubiquitous hiking boots to my sneakers. This time of year is my favorite, because the realization that the weather will undoubtedly get warmer is a daily treat, a surprise one gets when they don’t have to wear a winter coat or flinch going outside. I can smell the ground thawing and see little hints of emerging life. The perennial herbs in our front beds are peeking out from last year’s dead remnants. I saw tiny purple crocuses in a neighbors yard. Our yard only has last fall’s leaves and five months of dog shit that I must remove in order to dig my new giant garden bed. If only our dog shit had crocuses growing in it. My yard would be magical. → continue reading
