Against Monsanto

I'm going to put this link right here. Link.

CT NOFA, or the Connecticut Northeast Organic Farming Association, is one of my favorite nonprofits in the state. The link is to their latest blog post regarding Monsanto's stance on GMO testing. There's also a further link provided in their blog that will lead you to studies that have been done on GMO testing.

Largely, my issue with GMOs is that buying GMO-laden foods supports companies like Monsanto who clearly do not have the public health in mind considering their long history as a chemical company, their cyclical abuse of power in their contracts with the farmers who have become dependent on their products, and their patenting of foods which are necessary for human survival. Monsanto is a corporation with only the almighty dollar in mind, and I use my dollar to vote against them by buying mostly organic, often locally produced, and non-GMO foods.

Understandably, not everyone can afford organic, and many people live in "food deserts." As an AmeriCorps volunteer earning a monthly stipend, I can sympathize - most of my money goes to rent and food, and I have little left over for other things. That's the choice I've made. I do, however, have access to multiple grocery stores and farmer's markets, so I take advantage of these things.

Plus, I'll be taking part in a CSA for the first time this year. CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture, are a great way to support small farms with diversified crops, and to bring healthy, whole foods to your table. Consider finding one in your area, or checking out any farmer's markets.

 Some quick tips on avoiding GMOs:

• Buy organic
• Purchase a CSA share from a farmer who doesn't grow GM produce
• Read labels - anything derived from soybeans or corn is most likely genetically modified
• Avoid processed foods - a large percentage of them contain GM soy or corn
• Read the PLU labels or produce labels - any five digit number starting with "8" is a GM piece of produce
• Grow your own produce - even if it's just a small amount, you can purchase heirloom seeds online
• Purchase grass-fed beef
• Buy wild caught fish

Here's a link that goes further in depth, including listing foods that most likely contain GMOs.

It's with our dollars and with our voices that we can temper the strength of powerhouses like Monsanto.

Happy Foraging!

Friends, Knitting, Pumpkin Soup, Cholent, and Home

How I live for the weekends now. Even if not much exciting is going on, I just like the time to relax, and the time to organize, and the time to socialize. I just like the time to do whatever the hell I please.

We went to a our friends' house for a brunch of whole grain pancakes with blueberries and bananas, and then we spent the day traveling to various places. Having finished Lover's scraf, I started a new one, and a new pattern for me, the Petit Fleur. My good friend Liz and I talked about our upcoming CSA - we are splitting a share from Stone Gardens Farm. We both have our own gardens, but who could resist more fresh veggies, and when you get too much, it's great to share with friends and family.

Liz is a really fabulous person who I see just about every weekend. We're both foodies, we love to garden, and we love to get crafty. In fact, we've decided to start having more crafty times together, and open an Etsy shop should we make too much stuff.

Today was all about the household chores, and then dinner with Lover's parents. They made a Jewish winter dish called cholent - this was my first introduction. Pretty tasty, and easy to throw together. I immediately began looking for vegetarian versions online (they made theirs with a beef layer at the bottom, and I just ate from the top), and I'm thinking it's gonna get made for the next snowstorm.

I also plan on making gingerbread cookies with the cookie cutters I got from Ikea. Yum.

Tasks completed this weekend:

*I sat down to do some creative writing for a while
*I did my taxes. Taxes!
*I made pumpkin soup in the slow cooker using a recipe from the Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly cookbook, with my homemade pumpkin puree.
*I moved all my clothes from the downstairs closet into the upstairs to be in our new bedroom. We put shelving in the closet so now the only things I will hang are dresses and coats - everything else gets folded! I am super thrilled about this. It really is the little things.

Mini-POLs, Work, and Documentaries

Today was a wonderful day. Wonderful. First thing was Mini Presentations of Learning with Public Allies. Us Second Years and the First Years give five minute presentations of lessons learned while in placement. I gave my presentation on the perspective I've gained in an administrative position and how it has affected me personally and professionally. Hans Holbein helped me out.

Check it out. This painting is called "The Ambassadors" and aside from the Lutheran propaganda, the strange, oblong object in the foreground can be seen clearly for what it is from a different angle - or another perspective. Lean forward and to the right of the screen and look at the object from your periphery. You may see that it's a skull. I asked everyone to line up and stand (I had it in a Powerpoint that was projected onto the wall), and take a gander for themselves. Most everyone saw it, but not everyone does. Meanwhile, I discussed perspective and what it means from a philosophical and psychological standpoint. I expounded on how perspective helped me to understand my staff, understand the setting, and make informed decisions without letting emotions come too far into play. Pretty sweet exercise, right?

After, I did some work stuff. Grants, oye!

Then, I mixed the ingredients for blackberry protein mini-cheesecakes, and put them into the oven. I settled into my couch with my kitty Quadrapus, and finished up Lover's scarf while watching Food, Inc., followed by a couple episodes of Discovery's Nature's Deadliest Creatures. The mini-cheesecakes are a tasty source of protein exploding with berry goodness, the knitting was relaxing (not to mention how great it feels to finish a project!), and the documentary was informative and moderately horrifying (nothing really new to me, as a practicing vegetarian for over 9 years) but keeps me hopeful for a changing tide. The Discovery show had an over-the-top narrator, but the biology behind some of the abilities of these deadly animals is fascinating. I LOVE learning, and I love nature, so sit me down for that stuff anytime.

 [blackberry protein mini-cheesecakes]

We ended the night spending it with good friends. Life has its sweetness.

Eating with Mindfulness

One of my intentions for the year 2012 is to consume food, among other consumables such as tv and radio, with a sense of mindfulness. I've started by reading Thich Nhat Hanh's "Savor: Mindful Life, Mindful Eating." (Also written with Lilian Cheung.) Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and a popular spiritual leader (and by spiritual, I mean of "spirit," or that which is the "animating or vital principle in humans and other animals"). I'm pleased that he has written a book all about food - primarily concerning weight loss - and not only proposes a holistic approach to eating food through a decidedly Buddhist lens, but also asks the reader to consider the impact of their food choices on the planet and our fellows (meaning other humans and other animals).

I have been reading paragraphs at a time for over a week now, and I am trying to remember to be mindful at each meal and snack, but largely I forget! I'm hungry, I'm thinking about other things, and I am not present in the moment, truly enjoying the food before me. I just sucked down a delicious banana-peanut butter smoothie, and it wasn't until at I was nearing the dregs that I realized I had forgotten to truly savor the drink, make it last longer, really appreciate the luxury of having food, and having so many food choices, and knowing that the banana and the rice milk and the PB2 (powdered peanut butter) would never have been possible without the backbreaking work of numerous others. I'm not even sure what it smelled like because I didn't take the moment to pay attention to what I was consuming.

In my fitness journey, and in the journey of my self, I will learn to practice mindfulness. Much like yoga, this is a practice. That takes some of the pressure off, don't you think?

Though the book is geared toward an overweight audience, I am not intending weight loss. I am looking to lose fat and gain definition through healthy eating and circuit training. I find it is still applicable to anyone, that we together as a species are more mindful of our food choices (to help ourselves and the planet) and slowly, savor each bite (to help us make healthy choices about when we are full and listen to what our body actually needs). That in savoring each bite, we know the toil that produced this food, and we know the extent of nourishment that it brings to our bodies and minds.

 Doesn't that sound truly delicious?

This American Life - Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory

One of my favorite podcasts is This American Life. If you haven't heard it, it's an Emmy-award winning weekly public radio show broadcast that tells stories along a theme. The episode which aired January 6th of this year was captivating, chilling, and still humorous. If you've ever wondered about the people behind our electronic gadgets, or if you're just in the mood for a good story, click on the link. You won't regret it.

Mike Daisey is a storyteller who decides to investigate the lives of the people who, by hand, build our laptops and iPhones and iPads. What he finds, and the following Act wherein NPR does their fact checking of his story, is moving, horrifying, and yet gives a small sense of hope that things will get better. As consumers submerged in capitalist culture, it doesn't hurt us to know where our stuff comes from - and how we can make it better.

Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory

Guerilla Grafters

As a gardener and semi-activist, I wholeheartedly endorse this small movement.

Etsy Favorites for Winter 2012

Oh, hello there, Mr. Owl. 

He's just a sneak peek of my recent Treasury List on Etsy. 

Check it out, and consider supporting artists/crafters for all your gifting needs.

Success!

 
Do not let ambitions overshadow small success. - Fortune Cookie

I needed to see this fortune last year. Though perhaps I wouldn't have really received its meaning. I get it now.

With a job that has me running every which way just about every day, my own personal ambitions, the relationships with significant people in my life, and my daily duties to my pets and home, I have many busy days. I might watch twenty to forty minutes of Netflix during dinner (my dumb-down time, and time to laugh with my Lover), but then I begin thinking about how the rest of my night will play out - when to spend time on the interwebs reading blogs and articles, when to do some creative work, when to prep for my next day and when to go to bed after having some time for reading. Oh, but I also have to clean the dinner dishes!

So on occasion, I let a ball or two or a few drop in my routine and from my intentions. I am learning to be okay with this. I get a lot of things done. I have my small everyday successes. I forget that when I am zeroed in on the goals of my ambitions.

Today, I e-mailed a finished annual report to my boss while I fielded phone calls, payroll issues, and prepared ten binders of paperwork for the very first Peer Educator training. The Peer Educators program is what I was hired for, though I got handed an after-school program to manage as well. I am really excited about the Peer Educators. This group will complete twenty-five hours of training in the evidence-based human sexuality curriculum our Health Educators deliver to the local high schools. They are teenagers themselves, so the idea is that they will learn this information and pass it on to their peers. They will also plan and implement two entirely youth-led service-learning projects related to issues of teen pregnancy and HIV/STD prevention.

I love working with teenagers. Especially when it has to do with leadership and service-learning. There are very few things so rewarding as investing time in another person's learning and watching them develop into a stronger, more capable human being. Today's orientation went well - I heard one participant as she whispered to her friend "I am so excited about this!"

I know I will make a connection with these teens and build them up as best as I can. It makes me think of the Women Leaders Rising class I used to teach at my old after-school program - a female leadership and service-learning program for high school students. I am in my element.

Success. I also ate really, really healthy all day. No exercise. It's okay. Small successes.

MLK Day of Service - Seed Bomb Style

Of course, I love doing service - I'm an AmeriCorps volunteer for the third time. For AmeriCorps volunteers (among other groups and individuals), MLK Day is all about service. This year, I got to spend the day at the Yale Peabody Museum coordinating the...

Seed Bomb Making Activity!

Seed Bombs are a super easy cheap way to entertain kids. And adults. Despite the mess, they're a cool way to get people thinking about things like beautification and gardening. This activity of the guerilla gardener is hitting mainstream - I saw seed bombs being sold in West Elm of Westport just the other day! But buying seed bombs suck, when it's so easy to make them yourself!

You'll need:

• clay
• compost
• seeds, preferably ones native to your area (we used a CT wildflower mix)

You take a marble size of the clay, flatten it, put in a heap of compost, sprinkle a few seeds on top, close it up like a burrito and roll it between your palms, et voila! You have yourself a seed bomb. Let the little guy dry out, and then throw it where you'd like to see some flowers - an abandoned lot, along a fence, at the bus stop or at a stop sign, your neighbor's perfectly manicured lawn...I kid! Really though, they're so easy. The rain will soften the clay, germinate the seeds, and in time, you have flowers!

We weren't the only organization at the Peabody. ACLU, DEP, and plenty of other (mostly environmentally-friendly) organizations were there, spreading good and healthy messages with plenty of take-homes for the families that came in. There was a poetry slam and some performances by breakdancers, and everyone loved it! I will definitely try to return next year - and the museum admission was free! Gotta love good vibes with good people in a good place.

So that was my MLK Day of Service, how was yours?

Protein Pow(d)er

I love this new baking site I've come across - baking with protein powder! Banana Pumpkin Protein Muffins are warming up in the oven at this very second!

This morning I was working on my nonprofit's annual report in Photoshop, and my laptop suddenly ran out of space. I should have seen it coming. I had to spend time trying to save my work while closing programs and deleting files. I put my entire folder of photos (32 gigs) onto the MyBook and deleted them all off the laptop. Annual report saved. Whew.

All of work was running from one task tot he next - a meeting with my Public Allies program manager, writing and printing out an offer letter for a new employee, showing a volunteer the way, orienting a new employee and then putting together a new schedule with my staff. Then leaving an art activity for the students to do while I fly back to the office and finish up the report.

I did meet up at a great lunch place: Shandal's Vegetarian Cafe in Bridgeport. It's a Jamaican-vegan-hole-in-the-wall on the corner of Capitol and Main. The guy behind the counter, Shandal, is seriously cool, and the food is completely vegan. They only have a few tables, the reggae music blasts, and Shandal sings along with it while he cooks in the back. I ate the Barbecue Tofu, Vegetarian Chicken stew, Rasta Pasta, and some boiled veggies. De-friggin-licious.

Well, my banana pumpkin protein muffins are done! Pretty tasty - I added stevia and pumpkin pie spice to the recipe because I have to have the sweet'n'spice! I spread a little strawberry preserves on top - delicious, delicious! A wonderfully healthy and tasty night-time snack!

I made them with my homemade pumpkin puree. I also used the puree in my breakfast - oven toasted oatmeal with banana and cinnamon. Yum.

Okay, so now it's off to some creativity time before bed - writing or pen-n-inking, what's a girl to do?

Click on the link.

STOP the Internet Blacklist Bills.

Discomfort

 

The path to achievement is uncomfortable. Yet a little discomfort now will prevent a lot of regret later. ~Ralph Marston

 This quote could apply to so many different areas of my life. Growth IS uncomfortable! There's the pains and the stretch marks and the mess...oye.

I've started remembering my dreams again. I dreamt of something horrible this morning - headless people whacking the heads off of other people - but it gave me a new idea for a short story, beginning to end! With our new study setup, I have easy access to my desk and a comfortable seat where I can spew words on a page. It got me thinking that I wanted to take time to sit down and write again.

So a couple weeks ago, I did. Pulling story ideas and characters from my head was like pulling teeth! It was terribly painful, and I began to fear that my well of creativity had gone dry from disuse. In a way, it did. But I kept sitting down to write - I made the time and I sat in front of my computer and I wrote out some ideas and some paragraphs, and I deleted ideas and paragraphs... I just kept doing it until in frustration I poured out a lot of deep-down feelings about what it meant to write and what did I really want to write, and from there, an idea began to form. An idea for a novel, and though this kind of novel will require more research on my part, I'm excited and nervous about its formation.

Then I have this dream, and in my head throughout the day at work, I wrote a story around the dream. Now it'll mean some time putting it to the page, fleshing it out, and editing, but I am so ecstatic to have a story at all. Even if it's terrible, it's something. Earlier this evening, I brewed a cup of caffeine-free peppermint tea, lit my chocolate-scented candle gifted to me by a dear friend, and started the writing.

I can continue working on the novel, and still write short stories. Who knows, maybe the poetry will make an appearance, too.

In another area of discomfort, I interviewed a few candidates for a position at the after-school program I manage. I have the delightful privilege to tell someone (who is currently unemployed) that they got the job, but I have the sticky displeasure to tell three other people (two of whom are also unemployed) that they did not. I've also had to, in this year, fire someone, suspend someone, and have given a few employees warnings. This is all in the best interest of the program. I expect for staff to be professional, safe, and flexible. We serve approximately one-hundred-forty K-6 students, and I have got to ensure the quality of the program, and therefore the quality of its staff. Also, I have to stretch to fit new shoes of a supervisor, and improve upon myself.

Again, discomfort for the sake of good.

Food Craze

Tonight I baked a pumpkin and started making pumpkin puree! I plan on making banana pumpkin protein muffins, pumpkin smoothies, slow cooker pumpkin soup, and pumpkin pie chia pudding!

I've also been enjoying making lunches with my bento box. 1. Romaine lettuce, egg, avocado, tomato (Mexico Midgets from my garden) and a container of lite soy sauce. 2. Quinoa with black beans, bell pepper, salsa, and Greek yogurt (great sub for sour cream!). 3. Steamed tofu, snap peas, potato, and the little container holds a mixture of soy sauce, peanut butter, and sriracha.

This weekend, I:

*put books up in our new shelves

*bought a ton of blueberries and blackberries (I want to make these blackberry protein mini-cheesecakes)

*had a blast following 45 min of Zumba videos on YouTube!

*sat down and wrote some ideas out for a book

*bought new workout clothes - black and teal pants with a teal jacket

*hung out with another awesome couple - we tried out Bon Appetit Cafe and Creperie, and the food was amazing! I had ratatouille in a buckwheat crepe followed by a flambee (La Salidou - apples in a wheat crepe with caramel salted butter, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and Chantilly)

*penned in a new drawing

*pored through seed catalogs with a good friend to pick out some new varieties to grow this season!

*got my first copy of Yoga Journal! I used to have a subscription in my early twenties, but I forgot to renew, and then finally got around to just picking it up again last month
*read more of "Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life" by Thich Nhat Hanh

*baked Blueberry Baked Oatmeal and Apple Breakfast Cake - both nutritious and delicious!

Today was MLK Day of Service with Public Allies - there's a post coming up soon! Hope your weekend was productive or restful - whichever you need it to be!

Croissants and Kayaks

Hello 2012, Day 2! My sister spent the weekend with us, and this morning we three indulged in chocolate croissants from Trader Joe's. Though I am getting back into eating clean, I made the decision to have these since they've been sitting in our freezer for months and they needed to go. I hate wasting food, so the next best thing was to share it with two of my favorite people on the planet.

There was some work to be done. I am putting together the annual report for my placement organization. Then, after running some errands (including buying a new mechanical pencil, a new sketchbook, and sumi ink for my bamboo pen) we drove my sister home. We took our truck because...

The kayak was coming home with us! My mother won the kayak in a raffle months ago, and I was more excited about her winning it than she was! She decided obviously I was the bigger kayak enthusiast, so as of Christmas Day, she gifted the kayak to me. Isn't she wonderful? Lover will be investing in his own kayak so we can explore the nearby waterways together. I am so excited!

I made baked apple breakfast cake topped with blueberry muesli for our PJs and Pancakes Party (happened yesterday), and I tried it for the first time tonight! It was scrumptious, and healthy, made with buckwheat flour, apples, cinnamon, and only two tablespoons of brown sugar.

I also sketched out a pencil drawing to be filled in with ink. January is Pen & Ink month, so I hope to put in a lot of hours exploring this medium.

How about you? How's the post-holiday transition into a new calendar year?

Hanumanasana

I practiced on the mat today, moving from Baddha Konasana to Supta Virasana to Hanumanasana (pictured above, though I am not so pliable) and ending in Tadasana. It's my one of my resolutions to achieve the true form of Hanumanasana, and in the meantime build a regular habit of yoga practice. I like that yoga is always a practice, and never a performance.

I worked further on my scarf for Lover - a simple stockinette stitch alternating between a chocolate brown merino yarn and a reddish mahogany-colored merino yarn. My sister stayed for the night and we made popcorn and put in "Hook," reliving our favorite parts of a kick-ass movie. All this after our very fun PJs and Pancakes Party.

Hanumanasana is all about careful positioning, stretching, and balance. I have a feeling this will be a pattern for 2012. A balance of play and work, creativity and mundania, fuzzy rabbit slippers and polished dress shoes. I will continue to stretch in my position at work, and I will stretch myself as a creative and artist. The positioning will be all about my time management and to-dos.

Here's to us, and our ability to stretch and grow.