Finding Sabbath

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 01:39:00 +0000

Health and mortality

I'm working with my doctor on cholesterol. I've got too much. There's good and bad cholesterol. Three months ago, my good cholesterol was up, but so was the bad. Now, the bad cholesterol is down, but so is the good. Gotta figure out how to get the bad down, good up. I strongly suspect that what I eat has a huge impact on both.

And I need to exercise more. Don't know where these extra pounds came from, I didn't have them 5 years ago. Truth is, I can't take my body or health for granted. I'm getting older, I have risk signs for heart attacks, and someday there will be dying. The healthier I can be right now, the better off I'll be in the long run.

Mortality is a frightening thing to contemplate. Particularly for the single person. Who is somewhat disconnected from her family. Who will care when I'm sick? Who will take care of me? And now that I'm no longer convinced of the afterlife/an afterlife, what we do now here with THIS life matters so much more.

Eat better, exercise more. That's what they say. Why is it so hard to do?

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 23:07:00 +0000

Caucus!

Today I attended my first ever caucus.

The numbers:
My precinct: 110 voters came (estimate 1/3 of total voters for precinct)
Obama: 78 votes, 4 delegates
Clinton: 31 votes, 2 delegates
Undecided: 1
2 hours

Impressions:
We were at a school, and about 10 precincts gathered there. It was very crowded, and a little chaotic. I heard probably double from the last caucus. I wish I had brought my camera! Sadly, no pics from me.

One of the guys in my precinct challenged the delegate assignment math. He was well heeled, young, wife and child, obviously successful and used to taking leadership.

Delegates turned out to be actual people from the precinct. We asked who wanted to be a delegate, who wanted to be an alternate, and had the right number volunteer. These folks get to go on to the county convention? and cast the votes for the candidate.

It was cool to see neighbors I'd never seen before, all crammed into a small room with small chairs, making democracy happen.

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 20:53:00 +0000

CSA

I just signed up for a CSA. Small box, delivered every other week. I'm only one person, after all!

I'm a little worried about how far away they go to get stuff, because not all of the box content is from the farm running the CSA. But the website was easy and I can modify box contents online. And there is a pick up near me!

Full Circle Farms

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 01:47:00 +0000

Just Ask

I took a risk today, bolstered by such platitudes as "nothing ventured, nothing gained" and "The worst that will happen is they'll say no" and "when in doubt, do it". And it worked out!

So, I got a Christmas present that was almost but not quite. I have a Settlers of Catan game, and my brother (also a fan) got me the Knights and Cities 5-6 player expansion. The only kicker was that you need the Basic 5-6 player expansion and Knights and Cities to use it - and I have neither. It was just a bit of miscommunication, no big deal - I could hang on to it until I get the other sets.

However, this was my thought today - what if I take it to a game store, and ask them if they'll do a straight across swap? My expansion set for a Basic expansion set? No receipt, not even bought there - just a swap. Why not? Then I'd have a gift that was immediately usable!

So I ventured out, stopped at a little independent game store downtown, asked, and voila! Basic expansion pack for me. The barter system still works!

I'm feeling immoderately pleased with myself.

In other news, the snow and ice has finally melted off my car after nearly a week - just in time for, you guessed it, more snow. This is not the weather I'm familiar with for Seattle.

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 01:46:00 +0000

Weather

We had a big windstorm, accompanied by record rainfall. Over a million people without power! I myself was without power for about 12 hours, most of which was while I was either sleeping or at work. So not really a big deal for me.

My mom's house almost had a tree fall on it - it was stopped by other trees that were in the way. Luckily for her, no house damage. Hopefully she will get out of there an into a smaller, safer place before to long!

It's interesting to see how people react when life is disrupted. Can't cook, can't heat, no gas, internet, or TV. Fear sets in. Survival mode kicks in. And it was just a 24 hour period (or a week, maybe, depending on where you live) with reasonable confidence that the power would come back on shortly.

What if it didn't?

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 04:39:00 +0000

It's winter now, but here's a photo from Fall!
I just got a dawn simulator, and I'm excited! I hope it helps me get up in the morning.

So far this week I've met my goal of doing some amount of exercise every day (since Saturday!) but on the flip side I've been driving instead of taking the bus.

Christmas shopping is upon us, and I will admit to being a little perturbed when I'm out just doing my normal weekly shopping thing and there's all these frigging people around in my space! However, I'm right there with the shopping procrastinators. Since my family didn't draw names till Thanksgiving I have an excuse!

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 23:42:00 +0000

White

I recently read a book entitled Learning to be White. It was an interesting and thought-provoking look at how white consciousness is formed, and the history of "being white" in America.

Here is a very simplified summary of some of her ideas. These were backed by examples, studies and more fleshed-out reasoning in the book.

***********************************************

The price of being accepted into the "white" community is to disassociate with those who are not white, and do dissaociate with the part of yourself that would like to be friends with everyone. Social pressure and the desire to belong exert psychic strength to enforce racist attitudes and behavior; often at high cost to those who comply. This often takes the form of shaming the person who exhibits opinions or behavior that don't conform to the white community.
"We don't play with people like that"
"How could you think it would be ok to be friends with them?"

White racism is built on the shame of being different from the white norm (wanting to know/befriend non-whites) and fear of being rejected by one's own community. Self-hatred and shame manifests outwardly as vilification of the other.

Much of fostered racism has its roots in classism: "racial strategies devised to hide and thereby to promote or protect economic class interests." Upper-class, wealthy whites used racial language and rhetoric to divide the poor into white and non-white interests. This kept them from uniting and demanding social change that would benefit their economic class, and saw poor whites voting for wealthy white interests over their own.

********************************************

I happened to catch an interview with a strongly anti-immigration polictian while reading this book, and was immediately struck by how what I was hearing was upper class, weathly white rhetoric. And racisim, disguised. "Keep them out because they are not like us."

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 04:42:00 +0000

Local community

I went to a "Sustainable Ballard" meeting tonight. Seemed important - I wanted to connect with people who were actively doing something about our changing reality. And this is an energetic group! On Wed they are doing a press release for the goal of making Ballard the first carbon-neutral community in the states.

I sat with the "Food and Health" guild. They've organized into "guilds" to address different areas of concern and expression. I am intrigued by the 100-mile diet (you can only eat stuff produced within 100 miles of your dwelling...)

Frankly, I have to say, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the things I *could* be doing with my time; my evenings. Take up swing dancing again? Throw myself into dating, join some singles groups? Go gung-ho on environmental causes and community building? Yoga several times a week? Plug into the Monkfish Abbey? Join a business-networking group, and work on the new job thing? All while maintaining relationships with current friends and family, and keeping a healthy balance in my life?

I don't think I can do it all!

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 20:13:00 +0000

Reflections

The newspaper

Local leaders plan to spend
creating 2012
ways to keep consuming

turn the page and
the oceans are dying
oil is running out

Reality?

Conflict

The city came to the country
when the food stopped flowing in on black rivers
only to find that the country was armed and waiting

"it's us or you"

The city chose itself only
unprepared to use the artifacts of an eariler age
it wasn't that way after all

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 03:38:00 +0000

Back from my trip

Well, I appear to be over the jet lag if not the cold. We had a great time, packing Sydney, the Outback, the Great Barrier Reef, New Zealand and Hawaii into 22 days.

The first week back was a fog, the second only slightly better. But I'm now back to doing yoga in the mornings and starting to feel like I'm me-ish again.

Highlights of the trip: snorkeling, and seeing all the biological diversity of different climates and a isolated continent in a compressed amount of time. It gave me a clearer sense of the great variety available on this earth, and the sobering reality of Things Going Extinct. (Kangaroos? Only one type of a veritable cornucopia of pouched, long-tailed hoppy things. Many of which are now endangered or gone.)

Oh, and I ate ants. (an ant) Green ones - a little burst of citrus flavor. Really. Apparently they are high in protein and valued by the aboriginals, a great source of food.

If you did not already get the link and are interested in seeing more pictures, drop me a line and I'll direct you to the online photo album!

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 23:43:00 +0000

photo by Rod

Edgar: 1913-2006

With the phone call yesterday, I learned of the passing of my last remaining grandparent.

In fond rememberance...

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 04:19:00 +0000

Changes

So, I've graduated. I have my diploma and my academic transcript, and nights of class and homework are fading into memory.

Rod and I are about to leave for Australia - the three week vacation celebration that will take us to the other side of the world.

After that, I will come back and contemplate my life. What do I want to do career-wise? Should I join an internet dating site? What does climate change and resource scarcity mean for me and my plans? Should I buy a house? When and where? What spiritual components will I seek out and practice? How do I seek out and develop more close relationships?

Big questions.

I'm a little nervous when I think about this trip actually, because it symbolizes such a change point in my life. After Australia, the world is open. What will I choose to do?

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 20:50:00 +0000

War on... ?

Take a look at Apostropher's post about the war on terror - or is it?

The thrust of this post and all the imbedded links is that "War on Terror" is a false construct hiding the fact that we are really fighting a war for resources that we don't have by consolidating power centrally and policing the rest of the world.

It's worth a gander at the post and links; sobering stuff to ponder.

Thanks to BitchPhD for the reference.

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Wed, 24 May 2006 05:14:00 +0000

Spring time flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Tue, 23 May 2006 03:47:00 +0000

Not an Island

A little poetry for you:

We walk on earth
we look after,
like rainbow sitting on top.
But something underneath,
under the ground.
We don't know.
You don't know.
What do you want to do?
If you touch,
you might get cyclone, heavy rain or flood.
Not just here,
you might kill someone in another place.
Might be kill him in another country.
You cannot touch him.

- Big Bill Neidjie, Gagadju Man
as quoted in the book "The Weather Makers" on climate change. (the US release has a subtitle of "How man is changing the climate and what it means for life on earth")

Big Bill was an aboriginal Australian. With perhaps a more stewardly view of the earth than eager little capitalists...

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Sat, 06 May 2006 13:29:00 +0000

Yoga

About three years ago, I searched out a local yoga place and went a few times. But they changed from drop-in classes to series only, and I started grad school, so that kind of petered out.

One of my friends has recently gotten back into yoga, and is doing it three times a week! She's been encouraging me to start it back up myself. Since I have been wanting to get some physical activity back in my schedule; since grad school is almost done; since I have six Fridays off in a row (now through the end of the quarter) I determined I would do it.

So this last week I went to a Monday night class near my apartment and a Friday afternoon class my friend attends in Fremont.

And it nearly took till Friday for my muscle soreness to subside from Monday! (ow-hamstring, ow-hamstring). I am super impressed with yoga's ability to really truly provide a Total Body Workout. Most activities will focus on a specific set of muscles (legs, legs&arms..) but yoga can make you fell like every single muscle in your body has been worked over and found wanting.

So I intend to keep this Monday/Friday thing up for the next 5 weeks, and see how my body responds. Some other side effects I wasn't anticipating: more posture awareness, and more environmental awareness. I came back from Monday and felt like it would be a good thing to light candles and have some tea - I don't remember the last time I lit my candles. This morning I am listening to some tabla music.

mmm yoga.

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Mon, 01 May 2006 04:16:00 +0000

Sunset over the Olympics

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:50:00 +0000

Australia

I'm knee deep in planning for my trip to Australia in July with Rod. The itinerary is:

Sydney, Outback, Great Barrier Reef, New Zealand, Sydney, Hawaii. 3-4 days in each location.

At this point, we've got most all the plane tickets and lodging booked; all that remains is the car rentals, a few events, and trip accessories.

Yeah, it's going to be expensive. And this causes me to wonder if I'm really being wise about spending here. I could be saving up for a house, for instance. Add to that the fact that I really believe we're running out of oil, and trips like this will be nigh unobtainable in 5-10 years. I'm doing it now because I can do it now...but I'm exhibiting the sort of energy-rich activity that has contributed to our current global crisis. mmm guilt.

However, the bulk of the money is already spent. So I'm going to go, and take pictures, and soak up the experience.

All that stands between me and vacation is two months and a bunch of papers! (my last quarter has 6 papers required!)

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 01:41:00 +0000

Accomplished

I was astonished to find that I had the ability to be an effective leader for positive change. That people want to hear my advice, appreciate how I treat them, and trust me to take risks.

I'm just doing what seems right. Setting aside the fact that it has taken two years to get to the place of saying what needs to be said - it seems that I'm good at leading and enjoy it.

Now if I could just deal with the occasional bouts of depression and find some self-discipline and proactiveness in my personal life, we'd be getting somewhere.

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 01:59:00 +0000

Good bye chemicals?

I've just started a foray into the ancient eastern practice of Jala Neti

A number of years ago, a co-worker of mine used neti pots, and talked about how great they were. She convinced another guy in our office to start using them as well, and both of them reported significant postive benefits.

About a month back, in one of my weekly forays through PCC, I noticed they were selling neti pots and salt. And so, poised on the brink of allergy season, I decided to give it a try and see if I could control my allergies via nasal cleansing instead of pharmaceuticals.

This morning I looked at the pot and though "hmm, if this works, I'm going to have to figure out how to do it on my Australia trip. Cause it's really dusty there in the Outback. I wonder how that will go, with the youth hostel shower arrangements?"

Sometimes, being healthy means sacrificing convenience. Sure, you can nuke that pre-packaged chemical laden item that resembles food in 3 minutes... but don't be surprised by obesity and elevated toxin levels!

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 05:08:00 +0000

Jacques the travel turtle, going to Canada.
photo by Rod

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 04:08:00 +0000

Our Changing America

I came across this article the other day while waiting at Red Mill for my chicken burger.

Quote of a quote:

"...I, said O'Connor, am against judicial reforms driven by nakedly partisan reasoning. Pointing to the experiences of developing countries and former communist countries where interference with an independent judiciary has allowed dictatorship to flourish, O'Connor said we must be ever-vigilant against those who would strong-arm the judiciary into adopting their preferred policies. It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, she said, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington."

Yikes. Respected Supreme Court Judge sounds the alarm about the naked power-mongering of the current administration.

I went to Canada last weekend, and wistfully contemplated the concept of Canadian citizenship. Sure, no country is perfect. They have health care problems too, just a different kind. But really. They are so much more politically progressive than America! If I had a cute Canadian to marry, I really might switch my citizenship.

Because I'm a little scared of America. I'm afraid that I'm going to be someone who is Frowned On and Not Tolerated because of myinsistencee on civil rights for all, not just White, Straight, American Christians. Because I don't think capitalism and massive amounts of debt are necessarily the best thing for us. Because I don't think corporations should fuck the environment, their employees, and consumers with impunity. Because I don't think another empire is a good thing. I am not a good citizen. I Have Doubts. I'm educated, and I'll question things.

So America and I, getting a little distant from each other.

noreply@blogger.com (Clare) — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 03:53:00 +0000

All about me

It's the all about me post. Throwing my voice into the rising din of blogland - yep, here I am. Why am I writing? Well, it's good practice to write. And I'm trying to sort things out, keep track of what I'm thinking. And I want a place to connect to other bloggers, and keep track of the links I find...

I'm a recovering conservative Christian. Trying to figure what a progressive faith is, one that gets down with Jesus on ministering to the poor, welcoming the oppressed and marginalized, and working for peace and justice.

You might hear some liberal, heretical thoughts. We might talk about environmental issues, feminist issues, or political issues. Whatever I'm thinking about, whatever I can marshal into coherence and put out for you.

Oh, and I'm in grad school. Only for another couple months, but that may slow the posts at first.

Welcome!