Go green by going...blue.



Speaking of canvas bags, check out Blue Avocado. Started by a small group of moms who wanted to do their part in greening the world, Blue Avocado makes reusing bags easy and cute. I found them through Superforest (because they are awesome) and at first I wasn't impressed but after browsing through their site, I was sold. They offer a lot of great info like tips on remembering your bags. What I like most about their totes is how easy they fold and stuff into something tiny (for easy carrying around). Their commitment to sustainability is also a plus. Watch this video about their Billion bag pledge aimed at reducing the use of plastic bags:



BTW if you've never gone to Superforest.org, pleeease do so now. Really. Go. They are the shiz.

Of inner thoughts and feelings. How cute.

I'll admit it, I've given into buying canvas bags for grocery shopping. I've even walked in, realized I forgot to bring my own bags and purchase more. Then I feel better about myself and I expect everyone to do what I do/did when they forget their bags. Man, how self righteous am I?

I've always gotten on others for not doing things my way. I've come to realize that it's not fair to act like that towards them or even myself for that matter. There's a difference between not caring and forgetting. There's also a difference between caring and taking on too much. Maybe not for everyone but for many I'm sure. I think I've got the "take too much on" syndrome (among other things). It's basically an unwavering need to satiate my craving for knowledge and experience. I usually end up overwhelming myself with everything I want to learn/read/do/watch/listen to. I have a serious lack of patience and organizational skills. And I feel like a failure when I'm not a pro at something. ( I don't mean to bore you with my self deprecation but the best way to deal with a problem is to recognize it and then work on fixing it...or so I'm told)

I do things and have beliefs that not everyone agrees with. When I'm criticized about those things I get pretty frosty towards that person. I hold a lot of grudges. Not good, I know. But I'll keep on doing what I believe in no matter what people say about it. I'm well aware that my tastes and beliefs may change with time. And I know the same thing is going to happen to other people. So everyone needs to get off of their high horses and chill out. Myself included.

Humans are fallible, we all know this. We make mistakes, we forget things, we get lazy. We're just not perfect. It's ok to change our minds, to take things back if we didn't mean it.
It's not cool to act like you're better than someone else because they didn't choose your path. The best way to make things happen in this world is by being open minded and...caring *cue the cheesy music*. I definitely don't mean to preach, just thinking out loud. Sometimes I think I care too much and I wish people could change their views so we could finally have some peace in this world. Who knows, maybe we'll find it someday or maybe we're just part of a constant cycle. Part of a group of people who care about themselves, the environment, humankind but...never get anywhere.

So in turning this around to be much lighter and bubbly, I recommend to thee, Jason Mraz. He's the most uplifting mofo I know of. I love his music, his lyrics, and his blog (http://freshnessfactorfivethousand.blogspot.com/). He keeps things real, even if things are ugly.

With that, I am finished.

Namaste.
Peace.
Adios.

The end.

Check out this crazy stop-motion video

Protesting across the globe for Iran

Over the past few days I've been keeping up with the protesting in Iran. The most amazing thing I've seen is the will of the Mousavi supporters. I've also seen how important Twitter's role has been in relaying information out of Iran for the world to see. Many passionate Americans have also taken in upon themselves to help the protesters in any way they can. This moment shows how far we've come technologically speaking. It can't be denied that we've reached a new age where we don't have to rely on mainstream media to know what's going on across the world. All over the country people are showing their support by doing something as simple as changing their avatars to green and spreading information to setting up proxies so those from Iran can still access Twitter and other social networks. The seriousness of the situation is sometimes hard to grasp. Many Twitter users ask that their names remain anonymous due to fear of government retaliation. It's speculated that hundreds have been arrested, from protesters to journalists but it's hard to get a count on how many deaths there have been. We've seen photos of computers destroyed and dorm rooms ransacked by Iran's hired militia, of men bloodied and bruised. Their militia seem like nothing more than bullies who only know how to resort to violence. Death threats seem to be the mantra of the Iranian government at this time.

And yet Twitter has proven to be a powerful tool. The US State Dept must think so too since they asked Twitter to delay their usual update time on Monday so Iranians could continue communicating. Iran has blocked most forms of communication in an effort to stifle the movement and exposure to the violence they're putting their people through. They've blocked things like Gmail, Yahoo Messenger, SMS, cellphones, and ISP's. They're also not allowing journalists to report on the riots. So the Iranian people have taken to using Twitter and Youtube to show the world what is going on.

At first I wasn't sure where I stood on the issue. I had no idea what the candidates stood for in the presidential race but at this point, after seeing the violence committed against peaceful protesters and the complete disregard for those voices I now stand with them. I don't agree with any type of suppression against people who only want their voices heard. I've found out more about what's going on in Iran through Twitter than any other media source and I think that really says something.

It's hard to watch the videos and images of people being shot and beat and not get angry. I can't imagine how hard it must be for some of these people to not fight back. There must come a point where enough is enough, where rage takes over. I feel at a loss as to what I can do to help but I'll continue what I have been doing and hope that justice prevails.


5th day of protesting:


California:


Toronto:


Germany:

Driving the Greasecar

After months of dreaming and searching, we finally got a greasecar (it runs on vegetable oil). It's quite exciting if I do say so myself. My boyfriend, Derek, found some listings on Greasecar.com. We found one we really liked and headed to N.C. for it. Derek, myself, and our roommate Jeff took the leap together. A lot of people thought it was funny that it took 3 people to get a car. But why not make it a vacation when you can? So we hopped on a train from Kissimmee, FL. The whole ride took about 13 hours and was surprisingly awesome other than the persistent dripping of water on me when I was trying to sleep. We arrived in Durham, NC and tried to rent a car which failed. Memorial Day weekend. Oops. 170.00 dollars later we arrived at our destination by cab and got our car, a 1982 Mercedes-Benz 300SD. Love it.

Now we just have to figure out where to get our fuel from...

After getting the car we evaded the cops for a few days since we didn't think ahead about getting tags. Double oops. But we decided to head to Helen, GA anyway. After a really grumpy drive we arrived around 1am to the little German town. The three of us spent a day at Unicoi State Park the next day. Jeff made us some delicious breakfast and Derek fell in the river as he was trying to save a little boys baseball from an untimely death. A success overall I'd say...except for Derek. Sorry babe.

Pictures coming soon!!

Peace.