Wednesday, 28 July 2010

bored at work?

look no futher:

Annotated Recipes from Weight Watchers circa 1964. BEST SITE EVER:
http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards/chickenliverbake.html

Don't believe in the trickle down/supply side republican bullshit? a complete destruction of the idea that tax cuts create revenue for the gov't:
http://blogs.ft.com/martin-wolf-exchange/2010/07/25/the-political-genius-of-supply-side-economics/

Babies sleeping put in funny poses:
http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/

Glenn Beck and his gold buying scheme:
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/GoldlineGlennBeck.jpg

Thursday, 22 July 2010

My Baby!

Today I am announcing the birth of my beautiful baby, the ACLU of SD website. After spending 5 months arguing with the National ACLU about whether to use the wording "privacy policy" or "privacy statement" and wanting to rip my hair out and send it to the IT department in response to their ongoing jargon, the website finally went live yesterday evening.

Now I didn't do any of the programming or anything awesome like that, but I did write all of the content and found all the graphics and created the design template for each page. I am really proud of the finished project. I think it's going to be a great resource for the office long after I'm gone. Also it turns out that I can actually finish a longterm project, setting weekly goals rather than racing at the last minute, or the last 4 days (thesis writing be damned!) to finish. It's weird but when other people would talk about their thesis as their baby, I never had that same reaction. I felt like my thesis was a brain dead kitten that I just wanted to put out of its misery, except it wouldn't go away! But now, this website which started out in much the same way, turned out to be my normal, full-functioning, and dare I say, cute:) baby!

But yeah, weird metaphors aside, I'm very very happy:)

Check it out! www.aclusd.org

Let me know what you think!

Wednesday, 21 July 2010

new pictures

my next installment of japanese adventures is up on facebook (sorry, carms....i tried to 'share' it with your email address, but they might have just sent a fb message to your account...ehhhh). just thought i'd let you know. a picture is worth a thousand words, and i'm mad busy so 1000 words is not an option. i've been working on all kinds of random but totally fun conservation bio and climate change projects, trying to hang out with other gaijin (foreigners) on the weekends and nights, doing a lot of schmoozing with japanese scientists. i'm STILL not tired of the food and i'm even sort of getting used to the bitchass hot and sweaty weather. the rainy season just ended so it's less wet but the blazing sun now makes daily appearances to deep-fry me. i now understand the parasol thing, although the skin-bleaching seems like a BIT MUCH. can't we all learn a lesson from the late great michael jackson?

also, if you are in the field or position to take interest (which is peripherally everybody i think), my old Environmental Econ prof Kate Sims just came out with a couple of papers on the economic trade-offs of establishing protected areas in developing countries - https://www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst/news/news_releases/2010/07/node/206397. You can check them out but the basic idea is that protected areas are not economically harmful to poorer surrounding communities. But whether or not they represent the interests of those communities or impinge upon their traditional practices or sense of independence is a question for ya'll anthro ladies. From a conservation bio standpoint, enormous government-funded reserves are pretty awesome, but it's almost always a top-down endeavor.

anyways, miss you all (and English! and idioms! ah, me!) see you on the flipside.

Monday, 19 July 2010

it's thunderstorming in amherst!

Hello!

I am so excited to have been invited to join you all in this blog thing! Thank you, Selena! I've been nostalgic for last summer these days, thinking about those few weeks in August when many of you were here & we played so carefreely, so it was nice to 'reconnect' with everyone who I have seen only rarely or not at all since then.

Life in Amherst is coming to a rapid close, and this year of mellow saturdays and bottomless wine and country roads is almost done. I'm trading it in for something with a bit more of a pulse, and probably a huge smack in the face from city living. Next Tuesday Scott & I are moving out of our lovely little apartment (courtesy in part of Sarah Z's minivan, which naturally makes an appearance in all major life events) and relocating to the DC area. I go to Atlanta not long after for the American Community Gardens Association conference, followed immediately by a two week volunteer project in urban gardening in Reykjavik, Iceland. It feels great to have so many exciting things ahead, but of course bittersweet to be leaving behind all the simplicity of this year and its predictability and routines.

This morning I landed at Bradley after a crazy weekend in LA with my brother and other family that lives out there. It was awesome to see my older brother, who's working for a Burmese education organization in Northern Thailand, and becoming bald at the age of 28. He was always much cooler than me, so I finally have my revenge. :)

For anyone considering moving to Los Angeles, please...don't. I spent so much time in the car/ in traffic, I began to feel nauseous just getting near the passenger's seat. Oceans & great weather aside, I really don't understand how humans survive out there.

Anyhow, for those of you still in a reasonable distance to 45 N. East Street, please come over before we go. And I'll take the opportunity to extend a standing invitation to all of you in my future home in DC, should you ever need your fix of politics or swampy weather.

Be Well!

Love,
Sara

p.s. even though i can't understand most of what the site says, this is awesome: http://www.blogotheque.net/ . check out especially: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Swa9CYgRk&feature=related

Tuesday, 13 July 2010

Not-so-new things.

Since lots of other people posted recently, here's what's going on in my life: not too much, since moving out to the west coast.

I really like living in California, so far, and love living in the middle of a city, especially since there is great public transit. Produce out here is to die for, so all you ladies who like cooking (everybody, if I remember correctly) should plan a visit immediately. I've started working at Stanford, though it's been quite low key so far. I'm also broke as a joke, since moving across the country and setting up an apartment is expensive (who knew!), so I've been scouring San Francisco and the rest of the area for free/cheap things to do, which means lots of walks and parks and farmers markets.

Also, I just spent about 9 days in rural Alabama, reconnecting with all the primitive Baptists and potato farmers and gay New England hipsters who also attend Sacred Harp singing camp. Which was awesome.

I also just read a pretty great Zadie Smith novel, On Beauty. Not quite as good as White Teeth, but very entertaining and thought-provoking. It's also set mostly in a Massachusetts college town that reminded me so much of Amherst it was crazy. I recommend it to anybody who enjoys making fun of people that go to and work at liberal arts schools (hey, that's us!).

Finally, I leave you all with a song:


-Julian

Sunday, 11 July 2010

island living

Hi friends! I hope summer has been treating you well in your respective corners of the world. Life on the island has been pretty great. LOTS of work, but lots of playtime too. here are a few facts about my life as of late -
-I never go anywhere without my bathing suit, a change of clothes, and a raincoat (although we haven't had a drop of rain in over TWO WEEKS! We're all super happy about the endless beach days, but the plants are a little sad).
-Swimming in gorgeously hidden swimming holes is like a drug, and I'm addicted.
-As a result, I haven't had a shower in........ let's just say, I'm pretty sure I have Selena's record beat.
-I have a crush on a boy with a head of lettuce tattooed on his shoulder.
-my social calendar mostly consists of get-togethers put on by other random young farmers on the island where we might kick a ball or throw a frisbee around, but where we will DEFINITELY drink beer and barbeque.
-I went to my first karaoke bar by accident on a Thursday night in my pj's. My roomie and I just went into town to get a late night ice cream treat and she saw the karaoke contest sign outside a bar and we waltzed right in. We stayed for 2 hours jamming out with some prepsters in too many variations of white on white/popped collars, and Hannah won 2nd place!
-I recently assisted in the "processing" of 75 chickens (or to put it bluntly, the assassination) that were then sent off to restaurants to be cooked for dinner. (talk about fresh!) Thankfully, I was at the end of the chain, so I was bagging and weighing the birds, rather than slicing open their jugular vein and waiting for them to stop thrashing about before dunking them in boiling water. yeah, it's a pretty brutal process, but being a part of it actually makes me more okay with eating them.... go figure.
-On the weekends, I work as a nanny for a family that lives in a giant McMansion complete with 2 of everything (dishwasher, washer/drier, flat screen T.V., etc). Also, all the walls, furniture, bedsheets, absolutely everything is either white, cream colored, or ecru- which is okay, if you don't have 3 children under the age of 5. but they let me borrow their beemer on the weekends, so I'm not complaining.

anyway, enough jabbering. now f0r some photos! (i'm in photo deprivation mode because I don't have a facebook anymore, and i've barely taken any at all since i've been here! it's weird!) anyway, here's a little snippet of island living --



the clay cliffs at aquinnah


the ferry dock at oak bluffs, the town i'm living in

OB at dusk

my ride home (pictures don't do it justice)

the bridge from jaws! it's really fun to jump off it



a new batch of chicks arrive on the farm.
they're kosher kings, a heritage breed of chickens that we're trying out.

me and bethany, a fellow farmie, enjoying pizza night at a local bakery
with a communal outdoor wooden stove


carms and hannah ringing in the 4th of july in style (or, in vermont speak, with great "steeze")



that's all folks! sorry if that was unbearably long. also, i'm going to try to come out to the valley soemtime in august, but it might not happen. so you should probably all just come out here asap. yep. or come out to the newport folk fest with me and destry!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, 8 July 2010

I don't want to work, I just want to bake in my kitchen all day.

I can not stop making pies...all this fresh summer fruit! Other than that...not a whole lot new. Started seeing someone who I enjoy a lot, and our office moved into a larger space WITH A WINDOW. It's awesome to see sunlight during the day again! Also am addicted to that foodgawker site (thanks Rose!), and may have heart problems on the horizon. I bet my boss that I could eat 3 KFC double downs in 12 minutes...i think i can do it if the ol'ticker doesn't give out first. Will totally be worth the free double downs and ice cream for a month :)

Here's a funny video for those of you who haven't seen it yet, The Grapist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqq051BU2MY

Oh and Carms, I mailed your sweatshirt to you today via UPS. Enjoy the SD jam and honey! I like the jalapeno jam with cream cheese...a little too much since i've gone through about 4 jars of jam in 2 weeks. Jam= pie in a jar!!

Hope everyone had a good 4th!

Love!

Monday, 5 July 2010

more more more

I was so happy to check on the chap and see your posts! Rachel, I totally support you. I mean, the basic point of my life is to get where I have the time and resources to be zen chill-state all the time. Or something. I'm talking to Carms right now and it seems like we're all nuts busy. I miss you all a lot. I don't really have any close friends here, and what friends I do have I don't get to see so frequently. However, I did go to Osaka and Kyoto this weekend and crashed with some cool people that I met at orientation. Two spunky half asian scientists, a boy and a girl, and a biochemist who works in the same area as me. We sort of just wandered around, saw temples, ate and drank. I have some pictures on a new fb album. The longer I'm here the more excited I am to get home to Boston and Rachel and Romain and all my friends. We're still looking out for a roommate (no one can truly replace Becky and Steve, but still) so let me know if you hear any "hey, i'm moving to boston"s from your friends. Other than that, I'm just chillin in Japan, still. Eating lots of rice and noodles and strange confections. Loving it. Don't even crave chocolate, though I'm still drinking lots of coffee. I think the people at work judge me for it. My lab is funny. It's Hiromi the wonder-woman and about 5 boys who are all kind of skittish (maybe that's because I can crush them with my ankles) but are all really nice and occasionally work up the cahones to try and interact with me in English and that's always really fun and generally confusing. Woo. No real language barrier though, since I've mastered the art of mime. :)
Love you.

a change in plans

hi loves,

i'm finding this entry difficult to write! it's not often that plans change so swiftly and without any concrete reasons..

basically, i concluded last week that i was sick of walking the appalachian trail, and so found a fully furnished room in greenfield to live in for the month of july before my job begins in boston (august 9th).

maybe you're interested in why i quit the trail.. why i decided to live temporarily in greenfield.. and what my job is in boston..

impossible to explain without writing a book! maybe i'll write a book now that i'm hanging out unemployed in greenfield! hahaha..

quit the trail for many reasons, the main one being that i am supposed to be superbly happy and free in the time before i begin working a job, and since i was not superbly happy on the trail, i exercised my freedom and found a room in a place where i can be, at least, happy. greenfield: reasonable distance from destry, becky, sara dz, and other amherst friends. a space to be alone and read and write and go for long walks in the countryside (without a pack) and live peacefully (unwind) before things get hectic again in boston, hopefully. the job is at a charter school that does some neat shit, many more info's on that in august!

i moved into the house in greenfield saturday afternoon! and i love it! i'm actually living in the renovated second-floor of the barn, which is a huge sweet-ass pad with a sofa and comfy chairs and a big old bed and a mini-fridge next to the bed, stocked with my dad's homebrew... my landlord is a gay catholic priest - his church is on the first floor of the barn (yesss..!). but mostly he's just a kind oldish man who likes to feed all the funny people who live under his roof! (free food!)

i descended upon noho today to hang out with becky... we ate frozen yogurt and swam in the deerfield river and had dinner at viva fresh pasta where the waiter hit on me without any shame... no shame whatsoever. ridiculous. and now i'm in haymarket surfing the nets and waiting for destry to drive by on her way home from maine! yay!

i love you all soo so much!

rach

Sunday, 4 July 2010

new things!

hi everyone, i know that posts are getting less and less frequent and that makes me sad, but i also know that it's due to the fact that everyone is so busy doing amazing swtuff ch is why I'm so in love with everyone in the first place. This is all to say that I miss you and hopefully I'll hear from all of you soon in some way -- phone, gchat status, carrier pigeon, etc. Anyway, here are a few new things with me:

1. Monty is coming to visit Austin as a part of his epic road trip. I'm very excited to show him Austin and also feel a little nearer to Destry. Hopefully some of Destry's Destry-essence will still be on Monty!

2. I think I'm going to train to become a paramedic because I'm apparently not very tolerant of desk jobs and I need something that gets my adrenaline going.

3. Today, Alese and her boyfriend and I went to San Antonio to visit the Alamo and the riverwalk, etc. It was really cute. The historic society had people dressed in period costumes and they were handing out slices of watermelon. That was half of our intention in visiting San Antonio. We also tried street performing. So I played my autoharp, Alese played the guitar, and Lucas played the harmonica, melodica, and the spoons. It was a very strange, strange experience. People were taking photos and videos since I suppose street performers are integral experiences to tourism. We also made 31 dollars and 45 cents! 29 singles and a lot of change. We also made a new friend, Jerry and his dog. Jerry is an amazing harmonica player who sat down with us when he saw us play and played the entire set with us. He actually made the most money because he is actually good... And has a really cute labradoodle. He was there for the 75th anniversary of Alcoholics Anonymous. The International AA hosted a conference in San Antonio, and brought a very diverse crowd. It was weird to see so many people yet so many empty bars.

4. I bought a mood ring and it makes me very happy.

5. My mom gave me a magic bullet food processor so I'm excited to experiment with it. My latest food experiment was hollowing out a tomato and cracking an egg into it and baking it in the oven. It turned out... interesting. Will try it again with modifications.

Hopefully I'll have pictures up of all these things! And hopefully I'll hear from you all soon!