One Size Fits All

Apples are in season (I think) and so I made something. However it got slightly burnt because I was too engrossed in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. An excellent read.

The pie however, came out great despite the slight burns. I used honey instead of sugar and it tasted better.

The constant exhaustion and sleep deprivation.

I am currently reading Happiness, a book by Matthieu Ricard. A section on renunciation really spoke to me, the section is below:

The Intelligence of Renunciation

Renunciation is a way of taking one’s life into one’s own hands, that is, of becoming fed up with being manipulated like a puppet by selfishness, the scramble for power and possessions, and the never-ending quest for pleasure. She who practices genuine renunciation is well informed of all that goes on around her. She does not flee the world because she’s unable to control it, but knowing how prejudicial pointless worries are, she has no interest in entertaining them. Her approach is eminently pragmatic. The renunciant shows no weakness, only daring.

Renunciation also conveys the delicious taste of simplicity and profound well-being. Once you have sampled it, it becomes easier and easier. But there is no question of forcing one self into renunciation, which would be doomed to failure. First you must clearly see its advantages and aspire to free yourself from that which you want to renounce. Once you’ve done that, renunciation is experienced as an act of liberation.

While we must never neglect those with whom we share our lives, we can get off the endless roller coaster of happiness and suffering. In so doing, we reject nothing but simplify everything.

Here are my favorite posts from the Urban Vegan:

* summer express :: 101 simple vegan meals ready in 10 minutes or less
* Recipe: sun-dried tomato pesto
* vegans gone wild! contest :: and the winner is….
* vegans gone wild runners up :: part 1 of 3
* vegans gone wild runners up : : part 2 of 3
* vegans gone wild runners up : : part 3 of 3

Telephone Conversation with FIA Card Services.

Me: I’d like to reduce my credit limit from $1,800
Customer Rep (CR): How low would you like it to go?
Me: How low can I go?
CR: Its up to you
Me: Ok then, $50
CR: Uh…you can’t go that low
Me: Well then, how low can I go?
CR: $500 dollars
Me: Can I go lower than that?
CR: No
Me: Okay then, please lower my limit to $500

From Penelope Trunk’s blog, Networking tips for introverts. An excerpt:

Help others. For instance, send leads to jobseekers you know. You don’t have to talk to them, but they’ll remember the favor and view you as a friend. My husband maintains a list of specialized job sites that he sends to friends who have recently lost jobs. They’re grateful for his help and the time it saves them, while my husband is grateful that he only has to research job sites instead of having to talk to people.

Last weekend we decided to get the week’s grocery supplies from Reading Terminal Market. While at the market, I came across a beeswax candle shop and decided to buy some candles. Later after the sun set I asked my husband if he’d be willing to to spend the rest of the night in candle light. He said yes….and we did.

We’ve spent every night since then in candle light and its been an interesting experiment so far. For example, it seems that its easier to go to sleep since we haven’t had any bright lights for several hours. Our home seems to much more peaceful being basked in candle light instead of a harsher electric light that simulates daylight. Our place seems quieter even though we continue to use our computers and refrigerator. We don’t know how long we plan on doing this, but you should try it once in awhile. Try reading by candle light, eating by candle light…everything seems much more gentle, and quiet.

Image credit

Classes are in session along with loads of homework, papers due, assignments due, exams due. I am severely stressed as evidenced by the vast amount of hair I manage to shed. Only a few more months and I will be done. And I can’t wait.

I read “Alternatives to Plastic” sometime in 2006 and immediately set about eliminating plastic from my life. It has been, by far, one of the most challenging goals I’ve ever set for myself. While I am a lot better now about avoiding plastic in my life than I was before, it still has a way of creeping into my life. This goal has also made me feel…isolated. None of my friends are interesting in avoiding plastic. The local grocery store clerks look at me like I’m nuts when I tell them I’d like to bag my own grocery in my own bag. So when I found Enviro-Woman’s blog, I was thrilled. While her goal seems to be directed toward removing plastic from her life in 2007, I hope she will continue the project and her blog when 2008 comes around. Below are the posts I’ve bookmarked from her blog:

* Plastics 101: Part 1, Bad Witch, Good Witch
* Plastic free: Trash Bags
* Brain Food: Plastic Ocean
* Plastic free: Pens
* Plastic free: Toothpaste
* Plastic free: MASCARA

Eating Beans and Rice by Pat Meadows

I wasn’t very good in saving much money buying textbooks this semester, but I did avoid purchasing 2 required textbooks and saved some money for one of my classes. Here is how I did it.

Both texts are required for a single class. Textbook #1 is from a publishing company. However after reading reviews on ratemyprofessor.com, I learned that the text was not actually needed, because the class notes that the professor provided were more than sufficient to get through the course. My second required text is a “bulk pack” that cost about $40+. Its a bound compilation of articles. However, the syllabus lists the article names and the source from where the articles were obtained. Since my university subscribes to nearly all the magazines/newspapers from which the articles were taken, I thought that I’d rather spend my time (and money) hunting down the articles individually, instead of forking over the money.

Total savings: ~$150.

While reading for a class, I came across the story of Java Logs. I promptly looked it up. From the website:

Java-Log, an innovative new firelog made from 100 per cent recycled spent coffee grounds that burns brighter and more beautifully than sawdust firelogs.

Java-Log burns for up to three hours, producing higher, brighter, and more consistent flames than wood, while also releasing a faint, sweet aroma. The log produces 25 per cent more energy and emits over three times the flame capacity (per unit of wood) compared to wood, for a better, cleaner flame.

“With the temperature dropping and people spending more time indoors, there’s no better time than now for Java-Log. It provides features that heighten the fireside experience,” says Marcel Sbrollini, President & CEO of Ottawa-based Java Products Corporation “Not only does Java-Log burn brighter and more beautifully than sawdust firelogs, but it also diverts waste from landfill. Plus, it reduces the overall amount of chimney maintenance needed, and represents a safety advantage, with 50 per cent less soot build-up than with traditional firewood. ”

Java-Log generates 14 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions than sawdust firelogs, which could result in a reduction of up to four million kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions per year in North America. The environmental advantages of Java-Log are apparent, not just in the product, but in its packaging. Java-Logs are packaged in environmentally friendly brown paper wrap that can be burned safely in a fireplace.

The product benefits the environment using the world’s most consumed beverage. Turning recycled, spent coffee grounds into reusable energy-based fuels means a reduction in landfill waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

Java-Log is available in the North East U.S. at Whole Foods (including the Mid-Atlantic region), Shoprite, King Kullen, The Food Emporium, Stew-Leonard’s, King’s, Waldbaum’s, Harvest COOP, Price Chopper, Shaw’s and Farmer Jack in Michigan and Ohio. In California it is available at Whole Foods. It can also be purchased online at www.java-log.com.

I recently watched a documentary about Ralph Nader and read a few articles and books about/by him and decided to join the Green Party. The Green Party has 10 Key Values, all of which appeal to me:

GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY
Every human being deserves a say in the decisions that affect their lives and not be subject to the will of another. Therefore, we will work to increase public participation at every level of government and to ensure that our public representatives are fully accountable to the people who elect them. We will also work to create new types of political organizations which expand the process of participatory democracy by directly including citizens in the decision-making process.

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
All persons should have the rights and opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment. We must consciously confront in ourselves, our organizations, and society at large, barriers such as racism and class oppression, sexism and homophobia, ageism and disability, which act to deny fair treatment and equal justice under the law.

ECOLOGICAL WISDOM
Human societies must operate with the understanding that we are part of nature, not separate from nature. We must maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities and our planet. We support a sustainable society which utilizes resources in such a way that future generations will benefit and not suffer from the practices of our generation. To this end we must practice agriculture which replenishes the soil; move to an energy efficient economy; and live in ways that respect the integrity of natural systems.

NON-VIOLENCE
It is essential that we develop effective alternatives to society’s current patterns of violence. We will work to demilitarize, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, without being naive about the intentions of other governments. We recognize the need for self-defense and the defense of others who are in helpless situations. We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace.

DECENTRALIZATION
Centralization of wealth and power contributes to social and economic injustice, environmental destruction, and militarization. Therefore, we support a restructuring of social, political and economic institutions away from a system which is controlled by and mostly benefits the powerful few, to a democratic, less bureaucratic system. Decision-making should, as much as possible, remain at the individual and local level, while assuring that civil rights are protected for all citizens. COMMUNITY-BASED

ECONOMICS AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
We recognize it is essential to create a vibrant and sustainable economic system, one that can create jobs and provide a decent standard of living for all people while maintaining a healthy ecological balance. A successful economic system will offer meaningful work with dignity, while paying a “living wage” which reflects the real value of a person’s work. Local communities must look to economic development that assures protection of the environment and workers’ rights; broad citizen participation in planning; and enhancement of our “quality of life.” We support independently owned and operated companies which are socially responsible, as well as co-operatives and public enterprises that distribute resources and control to more people through democratic participation.

FEMINISM AND GENDER EQUITY
We have inherited a social system based on male domination of politics and economics. We call for the replacement of the cultural ethics of domination and control with more cooperative ways of interacting that respect differences of opinion and gender. Human values such as equity between the sexes, interpersonal responsibility, and honesty must be developed with moral conscience. We should remember that the process that determines our decisions and actions is just as important as achieving the outcome we want.

RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY
We believe it is important to value cultural, ethnic, racial, sexual, religious and spiritual diversity, and to promote the development of respectful relationships across these lines. We believe that the many diverse elements of society should be reflected in our organizations and decision-making bodies, and we support the leadership of people who have been traditionally closed out of leadership roles. We acknowledge and encourage respect for other life forms than our own and the preservation of biodiversity.

PERSONAL AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY
We encourage individuals to act to improve their personal well-being and, at the same time, to enhance ecological balance and social harmony. We seek to join with people and organizations around the world to foster peace, economic justice, and the health of the planet.

FUTURE FOCUS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Our actions and policies should be motivated by long-term goals. We seek to protect valuable natural resources, safely disposing of or “unmaking” all waste we create, while developing a sustainable economics that does not depend on continual expansion for survival. We must counterbalance the drive for short-term profits by assuring that economic development, new technologies, and fiscal policies are responsible to future generations who will inherit the results of our actions.

So I am now a card carrying member of the Green Party.

I recently read a very interesting article by Vicki Robin where she reiterates facts I’m learning in B-School:

Few of us realize that our money is no longer backed by anything real – not by gold, not by land, not by heads of cattle. Nor do we realize that the government doesn’t create and control money. Money comes into being when banks make new loans. This isn’t money that existed in savings accounts – it comes into existence as a line of credit that must be paid off with interest. Fully ninety-five percent of money is based on interest-bearing bank loans.

I found an ecovillage in PA, Hundredfold Farm. From their website:

The Hundredfold Farm Cohousing Community is an effort of several families to create a 14-household rural cohousing community in the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania area . The members of this multi-generational community are learning together as they explore the art of living in a sustainable way.

Hundredfold Farm is a collaborative housing project that offers an alternative to alienation and isolation exacerbated by most other housing alternatives. The cohousing model is characterized by private dwellings, clustered housing, pedestrian friendly design, and extensive common facilities. Additionally, cohousing communities are generally funded, designed and managed by the residents.