I like yellow

2009-07-17T16:42:00.005-03:00

This is my 2nd post today...I'm waiting for my Mom to finish making potato salad so I can help her set up her Skype account. And I found this while perusing the lovely Gala Darling's archives.

The Boy and I went out for sushi and pretended not to know each other. You never know what you'll learn about somebody - for example, I had no idea that my boyfriend invented thought and gave birth to the dinosaurs. They didn't teach us that at my ninja school in Sweden.

2009-07-17T13:07:00.003-03:00

Just thinking about how spectacularly privileged I am to be alive enough to receive the world-class ass-kicking the Universe is currently delivering.

2009-07-11T15:02:00.004-03:00

(image from http://fatknowledge.blogspot.com)

So I am kinda sorta on vacation now and The Boy and I are packing up our stuff to move out and the apartment is SCARY and we're trying to work out a trip to Cape Breton or SOMEWHERE for a few days before he starts work and I leave on a jet plane.

Also, I have a travel blog that will be up and running as of (approximately) 23 July.

Overheard on my phone

2009-07-05T11:01:00.003-03:00

The Boy: So let me get this straight. The Hip "pulled out" of Virgin Fest?

Me: Oh, grow up.

2009-07-03T18:15:00.000-03:00

Sassy Tortuga loves: Mortified

2009-06-16T18:52:00.004-03:00

Step One: Wallow in self-pity. Temporarily.

Step Two: Eat some ludicrously expensive, high-quality chocolate.

Step Three: Get yourself off. Better yet, get someone to do it for you.

Step Four: Move on.

2009-05-24T16:20:00.002-03:00

The breakfast that stole my heart many years ago in Costa Rica was recently featured on The Kitchn (they get credit for the delectable photo). Try it! Oh, and Haligonians: you can get Salsa Lizano at Pete's Frootique, although it ain't cheap.

Need a kick in the pants?

2009-05-17T22:47:00.003-03:00

Excuse the BSG montage. I just had a jarring (in a good way) iTunes moment and I wanted to share.

All year it's felt like the world has been repeatedly hitting me upside the head, trying to stir me from my complacence. Maybe I should forget about the job applications that don't really excite me, and if I don't get anything cool just buy a share of a farm and somehow prove the naysayers wrong by building a thriving business selling $17 balls of alpaca yarn to dilettante knitters who don't care about the recession. I have a plan, see. I'm going to buck the ridiculous trend of selling yarn in hanks, which all the local producers seem to think is a great idea. But since we don't all own one of those machines that turn hanks into centre-pull balls. I figure saving my customers the agony of winding it by hand would win me a cult following. Centre-pull marketing. I'm telling you baby, if Wal-Mart brands can do it, the high-enders should, too. All I'm saying. Business plan.

2009-05-11T21:46:00.002-03:00

Okay, my apartment truly is disgusting. And it kind of feels like that messiness is manifesting in the rest of my life. So I'm cleaning, for real this time. Scrubbing it from top to bottom, making it my own - somewhere I WANT to live. My fridge doesn't know what hit it.

2009-05-10T19:48:00.000-03:00

Spring is in the air and new links are popping up around here like tulips on the front lawn. Check it out!

Okay...

2009-05-06T19:30:00.002-03:00

I know I said I'd update on 4 May. But my apartment's still dirty, I haven't been to a yoga class in almost a month and I am most emphatically not a model of spring renewal right now. There's a lot going on! And I have a ton of job applications to do up tonight because The Jenn and I are meeting up tomorrow (it's ladies' night, ohhhhh yeah) and I can't put this off anymore.

xoxo

2009-05-03T00:02:00.001-03:00

Maybe I wasn't entirely fair the other day. I am in fact related to some very intelligent people with experiences different from my own. They're frustrated that their ideology doesn't find expression in most mainstream media and to be fair, my horizons consistently expand when I visit them. I spent the exam season ignoring the newspapers but I now have at least an idea of what's going on with the US's economic stimulus, interrogation techniques and why Miss California blames her loss in the Miss USA pageant on Perez Hilton. And it serves as a reminder not to let ideology cloud my own opinions - a reminder we could all use once in a while.

It's just that the sentiment at my American grandparents' house is so emphatically anti-liberal that most of the time I don't feel comfortable expressing my own opinions. Plus, Rush Limbaugh makes me want to bash my head against the wall with his nonsensical rants and trademark tendency to ignore nuance. Apparently when Obama says that he wants the US Supreme Court to include people who understand what it's like to be marginalized or to be outside the system, what he means is that he wants to appoint ex-cons, illegal immigrants and a disabled, black, lesbian single mother with no legal training. I'm not making this up. Here I was thinking that there was a middle ground - that the immensely talented group of people with increasingly diverse cultural, ethnic, sexual and socioeconomic backgrounds that is entering the legal profession might have something to contribute. Dal Law negligently forgot to inform me of how idiotic I've been, that there is no middle ground between a rich, white, male judiciary and total anarchy. Good thing Rush is around to set me straight.

But I shouldn't pick on Rush. It's too easy - I feel like I'm taking cheap shots. And here I am going on a rant of my own - guess it rubs off. Still I feel that it's my right after holding my tongue through approximately 5 hours of Glenn Beck alone. I'm harbouring a week's worth of snarky comments...but I'm going to bed now.

2009-05-01T18:23:00.001-03:00

Happy May Day, fluffies. Plant some flowers, manifest abundance or just canoodle in a field. Summer is coming!

Okay, I'm done.

2009-04-30T19:40:00.002-03:00

Don't get me wrong. I love my family to pieces. But I can only take so many diatribes against gay rights, so many bitter critiques of the minutiae of Obama's demeanor, so much nonsensical speculation about some apparent liberal plot to destroy America.

Give me Canada. Give me the CBC. Give me my bike and Frenchy's and the farmers' market and people who recognize the comedy in Fox News trying to sell itself as "fair and balanced."

spring. clean.

2009-04-25T21:58:00.004-03:00

It was a brilliant and hyper-productive spring day here in Halifax. The Boy is on a plane headed towards Tokyo and, being on my own in the apartment for the next month, I busied myself with upgrading it from "squalid" to "messy." I'll be visiting family for the next week but check back on Monday 4 May because I'll be diving into some inner and outer spring cleaning and I'll need you to be my cheerleaders. It has been an intense, beautiful, enlightening and sometimes excruciating winter and it's time to sweep away the dust bunnies, air out the stagnant places and polish all the ugly bits until they shine.

Green smoothie + chocolate chip cookie - breakfast of chamipions

2009-04-19T12:03:00.002-03:00

It wasn't easy but I came out the other end of Second Year in one piece. I actually plan to get some decent content up here, so if you haven't given up on me by now, please stick with me a little longer. Just don't expect much this week - I have loose ends to tie up, job applications to send out and a Boy to spend QT with before he heads off for two months to bum around Asia and then write the Bar. But soon! Soon I will once again be the sporadic blogger you all know and love.

xoxo
ST

I am a consumer whore.

2009-03-21T23:01:00.003-03:00

Ok, I'm sure you all know of my love affair with Maha Devi Design. Well, they're currently having a Spring Equinox Sale and I definitely bought a whole bunch of yoga wear...and a pair of "Pixie Pants" that are utterly impractical for yoga but will look superb while I hoop.

They also have a kids' collection and just let me say, I will be the most ridiculous parent because I absolutely will dress my child like an elf:

Whoa!

2009-03-06T13:15:00.004-04:00

I'm going to Asia, baby! Singapore, to be exact, for an exchange next year. Yeah, the Tortuga in all her crunchy dirt-worshipping glory is going to spend 4 months in a conservative city-state where it's illegal to sell chewing gum and they increase green space by expanding the land mass into places where the ocean used to be.

And I'm beyond pumped.

Epic!

2009-03-03T18:23:00.002-04:00

Long ago, when I worked as a desk jockey, Trainee and I would chat on MSN. Whenever I made a typo (which was often) he would make me come up with a definition for my new word. The Hipstionary has been lots in the sands of time (although a fragment has survived: "delicions" are the particles in food that make it tasty). There's a new one, and you can keep up with it here: Hiptionary. Time to expand your vocabulary.

2009-02-01T21:02:00.004-04:00

Are you in on the Icing Transformation Challenge? Why not? This month - for the whole month - I'm going to exercise every day, eat at least 50% raw and totally forgo refined sugar. Please help peek me on my toes!

2009-01-21T22:12:00.000-04:00

Looks like Sassy Tortuga needs to get herself to Istanbul.

New

2009-01-19T23:06:00.002-04:00

(In which Sassy Tortuga engages in a long-winded and self-serving narrative about her personal journey)

Image from Bristol Life Drawing

Life is full of times of intense inner transformation, and for me this is one of them. A year ago I found myself questioning my path, my choices and the relationship that I had been in for three years. I had stagnated. So took off - across the country, looking for a place to call my own and a magical transformation that would show me exactly what I wanted. But as with so many life-changing experiences, there was no thunder, no fairy dust. I had a moment alone in the forest in Haida Gwaii, a magical place with which many people (some of whom I now count as friends) have fallen in love and decided to stay. But what I got out of that moment was simply "not here, not now."

I kept going with the career path - not because I had suddenly fallen in love with the law, but because it was still a reasonable option before me at the time. I still believed in my ability to use this degree to make a difference where it matters.

I ended the relationship. In retrospect it wasn't a sudden decision, but it was the first time I had found the courage to face that little voice inside. The person I long considered my best friend will no longer speak to me. But it was a sacrifice I had to make.

At that point I thought that things would begin moving, and quickly. I expected bursts of clarity, astonishing vitality. Instead, I couldn't concentrate, I got shitty grades and I slipped into a funk. Again I started to question what I was doing in law school and what I could do to get out - and whether I would have the guts to do what I had to do when I figured out what that was. With the economy in a nosedive I was anxious about money, about my future prospects. I had to think, and think fast, about job applications, and I had never felt less qualified to do what I was expected to do.

I felt like my Self was a dark house and I couldn't find the light switch. I knew it was around somewhere and that once I did things would begin to get better. But I couldn't find it, and I was stumbling and tripping over things in my efforts.

That was two weeks ago. I have since learned the most important lesson of law school so far, and that is not to let my self-worth depend on arbitrary comparisons to the people around me. I had created this identity for myself that was based on being a high achiever in my undergrad, and when I didn't keep doing more of the same I thought that I had failed. But quite apart from the fact that law school is a much bigger game than undergrad Poli Sci, that the players are all intellectual heavyweights and that even getting INTO the game is a colossal achievement, I needed to realize that it doesn't REALLY matter whether I have a superior grasp of the principled hearsay exception or if I'm hyperinvolved in student government.

I have brains in my head, I have feet in my shoes (with apologies to Doctor Seuss)...I make a mean salad, I have the cajones to take off across the country (or the continent) by myself, I'm not afraid to get dirty and I see the world differently than most people do. No matter what, I'll make a great life for myself.

Of course I haven't totally snapped out of it. There will always be things I want to change about myself. But most of the job applications are in, and the response so far has been positive (although I'm not going to elaborate just yet). I'm dating someone who truly blows me away - he's incredible. And I'm really putting the effort into honouring myself.

Instead of making a million and one resolutions this year, only to abandon them and then beat myself up over it, I've made one. I have committed to taking care of my body. The rest, I think, will follow. I'm eating healthy and getting active. I hate the gym so I'm finding ways to never feel guilty about not going: not just doing yoga and taking the stairs, but really awesome fun stuff: salsa dancing on Thursdays, swing dancing on Saturdays and hula hooping on Sundays.

Life is good, my friends, even when it feels like garbage. Thanks for sticking with me. I love you all.

Besos,
Sassy Tortuga

2008-12-22T23:35:00.000-04:00

2008-12-20T11:40:00.003-04:00

Confession: I have long harboured a desperate desire to go to a masquerade ball. We even have one in Halifax but I somehow haven't gotten there yet and it's also kind of more fetish-y than fantasy. Which is rad, don't get me wrong - it just doesn't quite scratch that God-I-Want-Jennifer-Connelly's-Hairdo itch. I might go for my birthday, though - as long as there's a good theme in January

Maybe I should learn to crochet in the meantime. Crafty lust!

2008-12-17T10:37:00.000-04:00

2008-12-12T10:57:00.000-04:00

Victoria so desperately wants to be British.

2008-12-11T15:32:00.002-04:00

11 Winter Salads to eat right now

2008-12-10T15:07:00.001-04:00

At the Capilano Suspension Bridge in Vancouver

2008-12-09T12:20:00.004-04:00

If I could be anywhere in the world right now, it would be at Linnaea Farm, doing their gardening program. I mentioned as much to The Boy a while ago and he replied, "Well, what's stopping you?"

What, indeed? One of these days I really will pick up and go - just wait!

(Not Linnaea, but the farm I was on this summer - also delectable!)

2008-12-08T15:28:00.000-04:00

Saskatoon. Flat.

2008-12-08T09:22:00.001-04:00

Dear Vitamix,

I can't stop thinking about you. You haunt my dreams. I fantasize about pressing your buttons and feeling you come to life - 2 HP of raw strength under my fingertips.

You may think I'm being unfaithful, messing around with those other blenders. But they mean nothing to me. I just keep trying, fruitlessly, to find satisfaction with them until your $600 price tag is within my means. You're the only one I want.

Please tell me you feel the same way. We can make such sweet, sweet smoothies together - not to mention soups, dips and nut milks.

Maybe the magic of eBay will bring us together soon. Until then I remain

faithfully yours,
Sassy Tortuga

2008-12-07T17:42:00.004-04:00

Creepy art in Ottawa.

2008-12-06T23:27:00.004-04:00

Angela's rooftop in Montreal.

2008-12-06T00:32:00.003-04:00

'Tis the season: I'm hopelessly devoted to the good ol' balsam fir (comes from growing up on a Christmas tree farm) but how about these zany alternatives to ease your treehugger angst?

2008-12-05T11:29:00.003-04:00

This girl's life:

The very green beverage, by the way, is spinach, pineapple and cilantro with bee pollen granules sprinkled in top. Sounds kind of gross, right? Surprise! It was totally yummy. Of course, The Boy might have a warning for you about how much faith to put in my description of something as "yummy"...

2008-11-29T21:55:00.002-04:00

As I try to pound out an answer to a brutal Environmental Law take-home exam, as I berate myself for dropping the ball on the readings for this class, as I yawn and rub my eyes and wish that I'd picked up some chocolate and remind myself that it's too late for chocolate anyway...I keep reminding myself:

This isn't suffering. You are incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to do this. In choosing to keep on keepin' on, you honour the blessings that the universe is showering all over you.

Then I stick my tongue out and raspberry the universe, and then I go to bed because I am WIPED OUT.

Good night darlings! Wish me luck!

2008-11-25T10:01:00.001-04:00

THANK YOU.

2008-11-21T21:53:00.001-04:00

Forest love!

(You might want to turn down the sound if you're at work)

2008-11-16T23:33:00.002-04:00

Knitting pr0n alert:

How much do I love this sweater?

2008-11-16T13:32:00.003-04:00

This morning on The Kitchn: Weekend Meditation - The Shared World. Food speaks volumes about our relationships with each other. What are you saying with yours?

My buckwheat pancakes say "I like being around you, spending time with you even when it's just lazing around on a Sunday morning". Sometimes they also say things like "I have an essay due tomorrow and I don't want to do it" - but let's focus on the warm and fuzzy, shall we?

2008-11-13T21:37:00.002-04:00

Today the experiential portion of my degree taught me that Chambers is really boring.

I was actually supposed to go last week but I went to the wrong courthouse and had the following conversation with the security guard there:

Me: Excuse me, can you tell me where Chambers is being held?
Him: What matter is it about?
Me: Well, I'm a law student...
Him: Oh. My condolences.

I feel the same way sometimes.

2008-11-13T07:46:00.004-04:00

Love in my tummy: kohlrabi!

Crunchy, juicy and a little bit sweet. Apparently there's a lot you can do with this crazy-looking brassica, but I just like to cut it into matchsticks and eat it as-is. Then again, I'm a rabbit in human clothing.

2008-11-13T07:37:00.003-04:00

Small island states looking into new real estate as a climate change contingency plan

2008-11-11T21:38:00.001-04:00

An attempt to curb my compuslive web surfing when I should be studying

2008-11-11T21:01:00.003-04:00

My Mark is famous!

I have no idea what he's talking about in this *incredibly geeky* video but I'm so proud.

2008-11-07T22:03:00.002-04:00

Oh, Maha Devi. I will never cease to lust after your whimsical collection of textile delights.

Picture Sassy Tortuga covering her ears, saying "What recession?" and ordering arm warmers in every colour.

2008-10-30T09:27:00.003-03:00

Hey there. Remember me? I'm currently in the middle of the first term of SECOND YEAR (dunh dunh DUNH) and I'm burrowing in piles of paper (sounds kind of happy but it's so not). But I wanted to share this with you. Because who hasn't been there?

Date Local: The Case Against Long-Distance Relationships

Think of it as a new slant on the "eat local" movement.

Oh, my. Was that naughty? :)

Sassy Tortuga's Hot Date

2008-05-15T20:56:00.005-03:00

ZOMG. Prince Caspian comes out tomorrow, and shameless Narnia fan that I am...I'm so there. That lovely man of mine is actually willing to sit through two hours of me acting like a kid at Christmas, clapping and trying not to squeal and going "ooh, this is the part where Aslan shows up! With the voice of Liam Neeson! OMG so awesome."

But first, if the Hungry Chilli's weird hours allow, we're gonna get us some damn fine Szechuan food, maybe some tangy eggplant and hot numbing tofu. *coo!*

A feast for the eyeballs

2008-05-14T15:21:00.002-03:00

Okay, my travel blog, viscountesslucy.wordpress.com is now up and running. What's up with the name? You'll just have to go and see!

One week to liftoff...

2008-05-10T20:33:00.000-03:00

Cornish-English-Japanese phrasebook - you know, just in case.

Seeking more suggestions

2008-05-10T15:44:00.002-03:00

I take off on my epic pan-Canadian Road Trip a week from Wednesday, and I'd like to have a separate travel blog for it. Any ideas for a clever and charming title for said blog? Also, do you have a recommended hosting service? Not that there's anything wrong with Blogger, but I'd like to expand my horizons. I'm thinking maybe Wordpress, which give you the option of including an actual calendar as a sidebar. Your thoughts?

Love in my tummy, vol. 4

2008-05-06T20:30:00.003-03:00

Totally on a roll with the food posts. What can I say? Winter is a long time to go without tender leafy greens. Sometimes you really just need a good leafy salad...and kale's great cooked, but I just CANNOT get into it raw.

In my fridge right now I have spinach, mizuna, arugula, dandelion, sorrel and beet greens. Imagine all the salad-y possibilities!

2008-05-05T16:28:00.001-03:00

Another great quote, this one from George Carlin:

"It's called the American Dream because you've got to be asleep to believe it."

And now for something completely different.

2008-05-03T18:47:00.006-03:00

Prettiest vibe EVER. You could totally hide that baby in a handbag for fancy parties or leave it out in plain sight when your Mom comes to visit, and nobody would be the wiser. Only thing is that it's made of plastic. Violet Blue says hard plastic is okay, but when it comes to toys I don't know if I can see myself upaying $75 for anything other than silicone. But that's just me. And it is awful pretty.

2008-04-29T22:47:00.002-03:00

On Casaubon's Book today, a great quote from Carla Emery:

"Life is always a struggle, whether or not you’re struggling for anything worthwhile, so it might as well be for something worthwhile."

By the way

2008-04-29T14:32:00.002-03:00

I'm on the planning committee (well, sort of - except that I keep flaking for exams, etc.) for this event that's coming up in May. It's a make-your-own-festival festival, and it will be delightful. Check you the Mudder's Day website and bring yo mama to the Commons on 11 May!

Are you artsy?

2008-04-26T16:26:00.004-03:00

In the advent of the big move, I've been feeling sickeningly domestic. And I'm trying to choose a paint colour for the walls. Problem is, I'm not terribly visual - and the condo is a bit challenging. I'll post some pictures soon, but here's an idea of what we're dealing with: a remodeled unit in a very old building, with an open concept kitchen and living room area. The front door and kitchen cabinets are two different variations on a goldish wood stain; the floors are mahoganyish; the countertops are medium gray; the fridge, stove and light fixtures are metal and the kitchen wall is done in brick behind the stove. The walls are currently a variety of builder's beige, which goes quite unoffensively with everything but isn't terribly interesting. It's a big, airy space - which is great, but it would be nice to make it feel more cozy, especially since right now our furniture is so, shall we say, minimal.

No doubt the other elements of the room will evolve organically, as we get donations from friends, family and Freecycle. Right now we have a mishmash of hand-me-down furniture: two grayish-blue armchairs, an antique trunk for a coffee table and an ugly gold floor lamp, plus some chocolate brown bar stools that The Boy's parents bought last summer. The most substantial art we have to speak of is a giant poster of The Great Wave of Kanagawa. As you might imagine, I tend to gravitate towards Earthy and spicy colours as well as jewel tones like turquoise, and natural materials of all kinds. I also really like the orange and gray look but I fear it wouldn't mesh well with my general style or the several mismatched shades of wood that pepper the condo.

Any ideas? Suggestions from creative types are always welcome!

Love in my tummy, vol. 3

2008-04-25T18:57:00.006-03:00

Warning: unless you're a sushi fan, you're probably about to go "ewww, SEAWEED?" But yeah! After years of snubbing it, I've suddenly fallen for dulse.

So far I've only tried it on salads - just snip it into small pieces using scissors, then sprinkle them on top. It's salty, delicious, subtly ocean-y and very PURPLE! I think it also adds to my Nova Scotia cred.

Photo taken from http://www.seaweed.ie/algae/seaweeds.lasso

2008-04-23T17:41:00.003-03:00

If you'll be in Halifax on Tuesday 27 April and if you eat food, you should come out to a public forum entitled "Crops, Cars and Climate Crisis" that will be held a 7:00 that night in the Rowe Building at Dal. My friend Nicole has been hard at work organizing the event, which will feature speakers from Argentina, Canada, Colombia and the UK, talking about the very real effects that the agrofuels rush is already having on people's lives all over the world. Expect some really thought-provoking discussion of why we might want to think twice about using food crops to feed cars rather than people in a world of increasing scarcity.

Oh, and admission is free. For more information see cban.ca/agrofuels.

Love and bicycles,

A

Spring Clearing

2008-04-22T09:55:00.005-03:00

Photo by ranhar2

I think April is vastly superior to January in terms of making resolutions and a fresh start. For example, this year I actually called a do-over on my New Year's because school started up so suddenly and got so overwhelming, so quickly, that I fell into old patterns almost right away in the name of surviving the school year. Then I felt guilty about it - not good.

Spring, on the other hand, is so effing inspirational that I can't help but WANT to make changes. Exercise is suddenly fun because it's a matter of going for a walk or bike ride outside rather than hauling ass to the gym and sweating all over some retro elliptical while reading a copy of Good Housekeeping from 1988. Everything's coming to life and you don't want to be left out. Plus, you're probably going to do some spring cleaning anyway - so why not do it right?

At this point you probably, like me, have lots of junk to clear out of your home, body, mind and spirit. How you deal with it depends on your style and schedule, but how about some inspiration?

Real Simple has zillions of cleaning and organizing tips, plus printable worksheets for keeping track of anything you can possibly imagine. There's even a feature for e-organizing your favorites.

Apartment Therapy's Kitchen Cure at TheKitchn.com - make a space where you'll actually want to eat, and figure out what to do with that leftover barley, clam juice and moonshine jelly.

The icing Transformation Challenge with Gala Darling, your purple-haired cheerleader.

Get some perspective from Kris Carr, creator of Crazy Sexy Cancer, who's delivering an ass-kicking to cancer with whole foods and positivity.

Laugh!

Personally, I'm cleaning the bejeezus out of the condo in preparation for moving in all my stuff (!) and just generally being really good to myself. I'm replacing processed crap with fresh, whole, mostly-local veggies; doing yoga every morning and meditating every night; going to bed early; getting outside as much as I can, and catching up on all the life I let pass me by during the 1L exam insanity. Aaaannd...wasting time blissfully, guilt-free, because I finally can!

Gah - please help

2008-02-28T17:19:00.003-04:00

I may or may not have blogged about this before, but in case I haven't - or in case you've forgotten - there's an organization in Hants County, Nova Scotia called the Avon Peninsula Watershed Preservation Society who are opposing an open-pit gypsum mine on the peninsula. There's already one gypsum mine in the area, and the company is applying to dig another one. They recently submitted their environmental impact assessment, which means that public input has to be received by early next week - I think Wednesday, but possibly even by Monday. So I shouldn't have put off writing this post until today - bad girl. Anyway, there are a number of problems with the proposal.

1) The environmental impact assessment process is notoriously soft. There's a desperate need for full and independent assessments of projects like this, but no dice.

2) The area is covered with valuable farmland and farming communities, which we need more and more as fuel prices rise, the need to curb global warming becomes more dire, and the public increasingly demands locally-sourced foods. It's also a big tourism area because it's ridiculously beautiful.

3) The topography is karst, making the watershed particularly vulnerable to contamination (say, from mining runoff...).

4) The proposed mine would destroy forest habitat which is home to a number of rare and endangered plant species and which protects the watershed by filtering out contaminants.

5) Even the possibility of a mine (and definitely the construction of one) destroys property markets, so retiring farmers who need to sell their land to pay for their retirement have little choice but to sell it to the mining company, making it even harder for the rest of the community to make decisions for their own future.

6) The company started clearcutting and doing other pre-mining activities even before the environmental impact assessment was completed, and local residents are already seeing a degradation in their water quality and forest resources.

7) Gypsum is 100% recyclable. Loads of it are taken to dumps every day, but builders are beginning to source recycled gypsum - calling into question the long-term viability of gypsum mining as a profit-making enterprise

8) Mining companies...aren't exactly rockstars when it comes to cleaning up their mess after they've raped and pillaged a piece of land. It's the local residents who will be left to clean up the mess...well, at least the ones who haven't left town in search of jobs once there's nothing left in Hants County...

It goes on. So please take a moment to go to the APWPS website (at the top of this post) and sign the petition. maybe even send a message to the Premier and to your MLA. We're talking about food, water and the ability to make a living without being beholden to some foreign company that doesn't give a shit about the big toxic hole they're digging in your backyard. These things are fundamental, and the consequences of one mine flow far beyond the immediate area...

2008-02-15T21:46:00.002-04:00

Apologies for my failure to post regularly or to cut the excess white space off the above photo. But y'all should go to the next M4F - it's Saturday the 23. I'll be there, and so will a whole bunch of yummy food. besides, law school is eventually going to drive me over the edge and I'm going to become a farmer. So by supporting the farmers NOW, you're supporting my future. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Thought so. See you there!

2007-12-22T11:33:00.000-04:00

Yikes - according to Carbon Zero, for Adam and I to fly to Calgary and back will create 1.65 tonnes of CO2. Gah! Instead of buying offsets, I used Carbon Zero's calculator to find out how much the offsets would have cost (just under $40) and I'm going to donate that much to the Ecology Action Centre for their ongoing work to create a more sustainable (or, as Sharon at Casaubon's Book prefers to say, "regenerative") society.

2007-12-22T10:11:00.000-04:00

Battle of the Beasts

Bigfoot said:
TOMORROW. 3 PM. THE TUNDRA. WE PLAY MILLE BORNES. DECIDE WINNER ONCE AND FOR ALL!

2007-12-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

Holy crap! It's a Japanese teen-girl ska band! And they're making a movie!

Freedom! Almost.

2007-12-16T21:12:00.000-04:00

The last of the winter exams was Friday, which means that this lady has engaged in some high-quality brain rot over the weekend. I'm not out of the woods yet, however. The Christmas shopping has yet to begin in earnest.

What's a hipster to do when the consumer-whore season hits? Giving charity donations in lieu of gifts is fab, but it really depends on the person - and you can't do it ALL the time. I think a good strategy is to reserve that for the people who live far away, who will understand that you want to get them something more meaningful than a card but don't want to ship a bulky gift. And, of course, the treehuggers and social activists in your life will always appreciate it. But in terms of gift-gifts, there's lots of room for creativity. I happen to come from a really practical family - most years I'll ask my Mom and stepfather what they want, they'll tell me, and the surprise will be either a little something extra of a variation on the theme of whatever they wanted. For other people, it's generally a good bet to think of something they'd get for themselves anyway - soap, coffee, snack food, etc - and get them that, except of a higher quality than they'd normally get for themselves - and with a little hippie flair. The key to responsible gift-giving is quality over quantity. Most people have too much crap anyway, so if you get them a smaller gift that's obviously of high quality (bonus points if it's one-of-a-kind or has a neat story behind it), chances are they'll be just as happy, if not more so, than if you had gotten them a pile of cheap stuff.

Another option is something you know they could really use but won't get for themselves. This year my stepsister and I got our parents a digital camera (I can publish this now because we already gave it to them). For years Mom has been using disposable cameras, and she was totally thrilled to have a real one. As for me, the thought of all the plastic that will stay out of the landfills makes me want to dance.

And finally, I might be a little biased, being a member and all - but any chefs on your list might like a copy of the Ecology Action Centre's Food Action Committee cookbook. And your significant other would look fantastic in a pair of the EAC's brand-spankin'-new Radical Undies (get it? I said spankin'...and they're underwear...um, never mind).

The point is, have a wonderful and safe holiday season. Eat some pie for me!

2007-12-04T09:15:00.001-04:00

Are you STILL checking back here? oh, my. So dedicated. Well, I should warn you that exams start tomorrow so there will be no new posts until at least the 15th. So save your time, get away from the computer and go have coffee with a friend, silly.

2007-10-24T22:15:00.000-03:00

You know what's good? red wine, Italian food, chocolate and girl talk with your roommate. Not so good? Trying to do legal citations and make sense of finders' rights cases afterwards. Oy.

Correction

2007-10-22T08:46:00.000-03:00

Re: my post of 15 October: The Chebucto Neighbourhood Association has until October 31 to drum up enough public support to STOP the (stupid, shortsighted, stupid, asinine, stupid) widening of Chebucto Road. Or at least to have it reconsidered by City Council. Please act. Seriously.

Post-Apocalyptic Skills Training

2007-10-17T21:09:00.000-03:00

I'm learning to knit! My lovely amiga Angela has started a knitting club - we meet every week for beer and craftery...we had our first meeting last night. So now, if global climate change end up making it disastrously cold here, I'll be all set in my cozy socks and scarves and mittens and sweaters and legwarmers. Guess what you're all getting for Christmas...

2007-10-15T20:27:00.000-03:00

It's that day when bloggers everywhere write about the environment - something that, you know, I definitely never do...

OK, first of all I want to call all Haligonians' attention to an urgent issue that's staring us in the face right now. The Chebucto Neighbourhood Association has until October 31 to drum up enough public support to start the (stupid, shortsighted, stupid, asinine, stupid) widening of Chebucto Road. In case you haven't heard of this issue, all the information is here. Basically, while other cities are responding to ecological realities by trying to DECREASE traffic in and out of their urban cores and to promote human-powered and public transportation, our illustrious Council wants to displace residents so that they can build more roads. So please, sign the petition on their website, and write to the mayor and your councillor to let them know what a colossally bad idea this is.

Next - and I'm not going to spend as much time on this as I had planned, because I am sleepy and also a little ill and still have 25 pages (legal size) of Public Law to read for tomorrow morning, and I'm also hoping to get some research done for my Pro Bono placement before I collapse. But I said i would blog about the environment today, and I like to think that I'm a woman of my word. So without further ado, allow me to introduce Sassy Tortuga's Guide to Saving the World for Poor Students and Cheapskates.

There has been a huge surge in interest in environmental issues lately, and that's fantastic. The problem is that, in adopting these fabulous new environmental values, we haven't questioned some of the social values that prevent us from making real progress - namely, the drive to consume. My understanding is this: during WWII, governments urged frugality so that resources would be available for the war effort. But once the war was over, capitalists needed to find another market to keep their businesses going, so they turned their gazes to Jane and Joe Everyperson. All of a sudden the frugality message was turned on its head, and modern-day consumerism was born. It's a tenacious ideology that has managed to subvert countercultures ever since (witness, for example, the pseudo-punk being sold at the mall). I've spoken to a lot of people who are discouraged about their ability to make a difference, because 'environmentally friendly' consumer products cost so much more than mainstream ones do.

The fallacy, of course, is the belief that we need most of these products to begin with - or even that they enrich our lives in any way. It's an attitude of "Buy the change you want to see in the world." And I'm sorry, but you're not saving the world by buying an organic t-shirt. It may be less polluting than a conventional one, but it most certainly has an ecological impact - there are still fossil fuels involved in the growing, harvesting, processing and shipping. It may be coloured using high-impact dyes, and it may be made in a sweatshop. Honestly, save your $50 and get a vintage one for $3.

The mistaken belief magical powers of consumption is the target of the "voluntary simplicity" movement. My favourite description of voluntary simplicity is that it aims for a "high joy-to-stuff ratio." Consuming less is not only better for the environment, it's better for your health, your sanity and your bank account. I didn't make a lot of money when I was working last year, but by curbing my spending I was able to take an entire month off at the end of the summer in which to do whatever struck my fancy. I spent some quality time with my Mom, went to the beach, got some fresh air on the South Shore and engaged in some high-quality sloth - and I still managed to keep a decent financial cushion to sit on. Voluntary simplicity isn't a doctrine of self-denial - it's a path towards freedom from the machine.

I promise to write some more about this later - I have some delicious and realistic ways of incorporating it into real life - but in the meantime I recommend the No Impact Man and San Francisco Compact blogs (see sidebar).

Nighty-night, greenyheads!

So. Yum.

2007-10-05T21:44:00.000-03:00

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

On the sidebar, click on "Baking Porn" and drool your face off.

Miscellany

2007-10-02T21:44:00.000-03:00

I know! I've been so very neglectful, breaking promises to post about various subjects and just generally being MIA. It seems that vacation, and then law school, have gotten the best of me. I had planned a post about the scrumptulous Equinox fest that The Jenn and I made, but then reading, etc. happened. And I've been at Adam's for the past several days so I haven't gotten the photos on to my computer in order to show them to you. I'm still at the Boy's so we'll have to put off that gratification for a bit longer, but in the interim here are a few things for you to ponder.

First, a small tribute: if you haven't already heard either from me or from Jenn's blog, we lost out baby girl Kali. It was all very sudden - she had a particularly vicious and untreatable kitty disease which we just found out about recently, and the vet advised Jenn that the best thing to do was to have her put down so that she wouldn't suffer. Love and kisses, Buddha Kitten. I miss you.

Second, I've been reading Casaubon's Book faithfully, and Sharon has some fascinating insights into myriad issues such as the the environmental crisis and sustainability, feminism, religion, family, etc. etc. if you didn't explore her site after I posted that last link to it a little while ago, I strongly encourage you to do so. There's one recent post that made my heart stop, both in its imagery and its implications. So often we think of issues like, war, poverty and climate change as abstract issues with no real consequences in our own lives. But as a woman, I was actually physically pained to read this piece. It spells out, in brutally human terms, one of the consequences of our actions and inaction, of the choices we make to either remain complacent or to work for change and demand it of our elected representatives. Can we sit back and let these things happen to human beings? Can we stubbornly refuse to change our habits until they start happening to us, or to our loved ones? I'm suddenly compelled to DO SOMETHING, having let myself get lazy and comfortable for too long.

And finally, not to end things on such a gloomy note...Gala Darling's blog is my daily fluff, and this post cheered me up somewhat after reading Sharon's dire warnings. I don't see myself going out and buying any Disney accessories, but maybe a whimsical trip to Frenchy's (or even just to the dark recesses of my own closet) might be in order...

2007-09-30T09:28:00.001-03:00

2007-08-14T14:44:00.001-03:00

How to explain Peak Oil to anyone

"More beer good. Beer comes from oil. Must. Save. Beer."

(big sigh of relief)

2007-07-29T21:16:00.000-03:00

Hey everyone, thanks for sticking with me and checking back here despite my dismal failure at regular blogging. That may or may not change now that I'm on vacation - yes, for a whole month! Plans include beach bumming, Frenchy's shopping, family visiting and a combination of general productivity and utter sloth. Because as of September 4th I won't have time for any of the above for a good long time. If you think that's an exaggeration, there is actually a new-student guide on my school's website that pretty much says, "there is no such thing as 'after law school.' You won't have time for anything ever again." maybe not in so many words. But you have to read between the lines, y'know?

Anyway, Adam is partially moved in to his new place and it rocks my world. If anyone knows where I can find some fabulous art that is (a) big enough to fill most of a 12-foot-high wall, (b) suitable for a 20-something man-with-a-girlfriend's condo and (c) cheap, please let me know.

My mother has recruited me to help with her home repairs. The first stage is to get rid of anything she doesn't use, and today was Kitchen Day. To really understand the scope of this project, please consider that Mom has been hanging on to shower gifts from when she married my Dad in the late '70s. I came home with three boxes of stuff that may or may not fit in my closet-sized kitchen...

And that's all the news for today from the lazy and disjointed mind of a vacationing Hipster. I have a hankering to write some future posts about libraries, red currants, voluntary simplicity, how I ended up buying soap that looks suspiciously like hashish, my new lunchbox and other miscellany. In the meantime, please enjoy the new links!

Holy crap

2007-07-20T22:03:00.000-03:00

I just got Scientology propaganda in the mail. No joke. I was about to put it in the recycle bin by the mailbox when I realized that it was in fact an offer for a consultation with the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation. Now I'm keeping it on the fridge so we can laugh at the perverse awesomeness of it all.

Still alive!

2007-07-17T18:17:00.000-03:00

This is gonna be pretty much the most pointless post ever. But I wanted all (five or six)of my readers to know that I WILL be updating soon - with links, photos, more food porn, a little wisdom and a whole lot of stickin' it to the man! Don't worry, my vacation starts next Friday and then you might get more Tortuga than you can handle.

Love and bunny food,

A.

Photos, farmers, food porn and more!

2007-06-23T14:27:00.000-03:00

My only observation of the Solstice on Thursday was to look out the window and say, "When's it going to LOOK like summer?" SO here are a few celebratory items to compensate for that oversight.

This is a photo I've been meaning to share for a while now - from back in May when Mark and I went hiking in Hemlock Ravine. The magic of this little nook, clearly inhabited by faeries, took my breath away. Mark was sensitive enough not to laugh at my delight.

two delicious events to check out:

"Musicians for Farmers" is the brainchild of a member of FAC who is also a local musician. It's happening next Thursday and proceeds go to Heliotrust, a wonderful organization run by the lovely Jen Scott. It's mandate is, quite simply, to keep traditional farming wisdom, heritage food varieties and small, local farms alive. For more details, please visit the website or better yet, come to the concert! There will be delish, local, organic food (included in the $10 cover price)and live music.

I'm also thrilled to be finally fulfilling my dream of learning to build a yurt! Selene and Alex at Little Foot Yurts are bringing their yurt-building workshop to Halifax in order to accommodate those of us who are without transportation of the car-like persuasion. Adam gracefully endured much teasing from his colleagues to get the weekend off work so that he could attend with me. I am one lucky girl.

And now for the much-anticipated food porn, I present to you my crowning achievement in the risotto category:

The recipe is from The Complete Vegan and the risotto is more Asian- than Italian-style. It's made with asparagus and oyster mushrooms, both readily available at the Halifax Farmer's Market. The red pepper was imported - I just had to make the splurge. This risotto was absolutely delightful - the flavours blended well, and the mushrooms were so tender they would practically melt on your tongue. *sigh*

And my fresh-fruit dilemma is finally solved. Just take a look at these beauties:

That's right, the year's first strawberries. Sooo luscious. I have other things to talk about here, but they'll have to wait because I need to go stuff my belly...

2007-06-09T11:03:00.000-03:00

Straight from the Muppet's mouth

2007-06-08T21:02:00.000-03:00

Seymour Green's new blog

Love in my tummy, vol. 2

2007-06-07T20:19:00.000-03:00

Have you heard of The 100-Mile Diet? These two people spent a year eating only food that was grown, caught or produced within a 100-mile radius of their home. In an era where tomatoes from Mexico and apples from New Zealand are the norm in our grocery stores and refrigerators, that's a really remarkable thing - but please don't be scared off by the idea of it. Eating locally is getting trendier by the day, and the beauty of it (aside from the joy of really fresh, healthy food and the experience of living within nature's rhythms) is that "local" is open to interpretation. It might be 100 miles, it might be your community, it might be your backyard. Or, it could be bigger. I personally consider food to be at least relatively local if it was grown within the Atlantic provinces, although I try to opt for things grown closer to home when possible. I don't compare myself unfavourably to the 100-milers because most of my 100-mile radius is ocean and I'm not ready to go back to eating fish. And, after about a year of striving to eat primarily Maritime-grown food from the farmers' market, I've found that that these boundaries offer a stunning variety of flavours and textures. That's why I've started the Love in My Tummy segments: to celebrate local foods and the many glorious things one can do with them.

So, we're used to the usual four-seasons-in-a-year thing. But the truth is, there are seasons within seasons. Strawberries and blueberries both grow during the summer, for example, but not at the same time. Get my drift? Similarly, in the spring you start with the winter hangover - the last of the coarse, starchy produce like potatoes, onions and apples, plus a taste of the season's first hardy greens. Then you get to where we are now, surrounded by a smorgasbord of tender green foods that clean the winter out of your body and get you ready for the warm days of summer. These include asparagus, fiddleheads, green onions and beet greens. They're heaven if you've been living on a local diet all winter, but there is a slight conundrum: where's the fruit? Apples, which have been my default sweet food since October, have all but disappeared from the market. Rhubarb performs a solo as THE fruit of the season, and while I adore rhubarb I'm not about to start chewing on a raw stalk of it after dinner (but I won't judge you if you do). Fortunately, thanks to the wonders of modern refrigeration I was able to combine some free 'barb from my Mom's garden with last summer's frozen strawberries into a luscious strawberry-rhubarb crumble.

My photography leaves something to be desired but I am proud to say that my desserts do not.

If you have any local food recipes to share or if you have any special requests for LIMT reviews, please post! I love to hear from you all.

P.S. For more local-food porn, check out Slow Food Nova Scotia or the EAC's Food Action Committee - the latter website is slightly out of date at the moment but is soon to be updated by moi.

2007-05-27T14:09:00.000-03:00

Following yesterday's ridiculous hotness, Adam suggested that we have a picnic in the Public Gardens today. We took some samosas, fiddleheads, rice and fruit downtown and lay on my recently-unearthed picnic blanket in the sunshine. Then we went to Dio Mio for some trendy douple-scoop frozen desserts ensconced in waffle cone - he had Cappuccino and Chocolate & Vanilla gelato, I had Green Tea gelato with Pear & Cardamom sorbetto.

Life is tasty.

2007-05-27T14:08:00.000-03:00

Let's all wave to Mark in Scottishland!

2007-05-27T13:47:00.000-03:00

Just opted myself out of the Canadian Marketing Association's mailing lists.

Link

I'll let you know if it actually cuts down on my junk mail.

I'm also considering this

Love in my tummy

2007-05-22T22:34:00.000-03:00

Nothing says "FINALLY, winter's OVER!" like the lowly fiddlehead (photo from New Brunswick Tourism). Yes, they look like alien appendages but they're SO delicious and made even more so by the fact that they're only available for a few weeks out of the year - after that they turn into full-grown ferns and are no longer tender and delectable.

I developed a taste for these suckers when I was a wee little tot living in backwoods New Brunswick and they grew all around my home. Now I gleefully shell out $5 a pound and patiently stand at the sink rinsing off the weird brown stuff for the privilege of eating wild green stuff at the end of a winter full of squash and potatoes.

If you live in Atlantic Canada and have never tried them, I command you to get thyself to a farmers' market (the ones at the grocery store just DON'T COMPARE) and pick some up. They don't need any fancy seasonings - just steam them and add some olive oil, lemon juice and salt to let the flavours shine through. They're good on linguini (that's my plan for tomorrow's supper) or served alongside a light entree, but for the purist (or anyone, really) nothing beats a big plate of lightly-seasoned fiddleheads at the beginning of the season. They're a feast in their own right and will proudly stand alone in all their alien-appendage-y glory

Do you feel pretty?

2007-05-14T20:24:00.000-03:00

For all the harping I do about excessive consumption, I'm addicted to Gala Darling and her fabulous dressing-up blog. I guess we're both just trying to make the world a more beautiful place, in our own ways. Plus, you have to dig that she's all about finding your personal style and using it to enhance - not define - your life (which should be satisfying in and of itself).

I'm inspired to see what I can create with the items I already own, and maybe a few vintage finds for good measure. Oh, and maybe something from Maha Devi because I could easily spend upwards of $500 on their hemp-and-bamboo, LOTR-inspired fantasy designs and yogawear. At heart, I'm really just a geek and a girly-girl.

If there's any interest in seeing it, I might finally figure out how to use my camera and take some photos!

2007-05-14T12:42:00.000-03:00

Documentary about Dr. Bronner! Everybody celebrate by taking a bath and practicing the Moral ABCs!

2007-05-07T20:12:00.000-03:00

I have found my American counterpart. She hugs trees, refuses to use disposable coffee cups, anthropomorphises her cat and has an unholy love for Martha Stewart and argyle socks.

New and Different

2007-05-01T21:10:00.000-03:00

Spring is slowly returning to my little corner of the world, even though the weather is being even more of a tease than most girls I knew in high school. I felt it was time for a new look - to hold us all over until such time as we can finally put our winter clothes in storage. I've actually spent some time lately doing this strange girly activity called shopping. I got some brightly-coloured work clothes from Twice-Shy and "American Apparel. They're so summery and fun, I can't wait for the warm weather to come back so that I can show off my pasty legs.

No amount of retail therapy, however, can ever beat the thrill of a clothing swap...getting together with the girls, bringing a bunch of old clothes and dumping them into a pile. Everybody jumps in and takes what they want - absolutely free - and the leftovers go to charity. One of my friends had one recently and while I couldn't go, she invited me over the next night and I scored bigbigbig just from the castoffs. I got a gorgeous, earthy scarf that made a perfect cover for my computer desk, a nearly-new purse, two shirts, a pair of jeans that fit my ass perfectly, and best of all - a fab fedora-type pink hat. All free, all second-hand (and thus without the ecological and social costs of manufacturing)...and my old stuff will be loved once again.

In other news, after about two years of saying "hey we should join the Grainery Jenny and I finally did just that. I had my first shift at the Farmers' Market last weekend and it was such a blast. I got freebies from the other vendors (and this girl LOVES freebies) and saw a bunch of my friends who are market regulars but who I somehow never manage to run into. As a result of this socializing I have a potential biking buddy (for when I finally get my bike) and maybe, possibly, I'll get my guaro and my copy of The Lorax back from the person who's had them since 2004.

Life is good good good.

Famous

2007-04-17T18:03:00.000-03:00

This is KC. He is two years old and lives in Halifax with his two Mommies.

KC is hot stuff and he knows it. He likes to accessorize with shoes and bags. He also likes to perform spirited musical numbers in the wee hours of the morning while everyone else is trying to sleep.

Of course, celebrity has not come without its costs. Being adored by millions has led to an embarrassing nip habit, but so far KC has been successful at keeping any incriminating photographs out of the tabloids.

If you love KC, feel free to send cards, gifts or money.

Proof that you really can find anything at all on the Internet

2007-04-12T20:13:00.001-03:00

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

Maybe I'll let my bangs get really long

2007-04-05T12:43:00.000-03:00

I'm having an emo day today, and obviously I can't let that go by without sharing my imaginary, middle-class-white-girl anguish with the rest of the world. I'm looking forward to this long weekend as a welcome respite from dress pants, makeup, email and the general 9-5 gig that seems to be slowly sucking my soul out of my body.

It's an interesting trap that we get ourselves into, the attitude of "my life would be perfect if I just had x" where x = money, a car, a significant other, chocolate cake, hot girl-on-girl action, beer or, in my case, a vacation. I tend ridicule that attitude, but here it is invading my consciousness. There's no reason to be exhausted, cranky and useless, except that I'm focusing too much on what's "out there" and not enough on how I choose to engage with it.

Lately I've been (slowly) doing a big, multifaceted Spring clean-and-purge in the interest of maintaining my sanity and lowering my ecological footrpint. I think I'll be putting a greater emphasis on the mental and emotional overhaul that is part of that process.

The fabulous lives of the keen and nerdy

2007-02-28T21:03:00.000-04:00

George Bailey wanted to travel the world. Sassy Tortuga wanted to move across the country. Neither accomplished said goals. But while one was stymied by family tragedy, the other was wooed by a certain nnearby and highly reputable law school offering freedom from shoddy part-time employment and student loans. Said school also offers exchange programs to trendy overseas locations so as to satisfy Sassy Tortuga's wanderlust. And she'll be around to see a certain two little girls start school.

The future looks very different now than it did just a few short months ago. This is me not complaining! I plan to use this freedom to mount an opposition to Facebook. I have yet to join Facebook. I am a Luddite and became highly distressed when Blogger forced me to switch over to Google just now. I might start etching my blog onto scraps of birchbark and tacking it up on a building somewhere rather than posting online. The geeks in my life would go into convulsions. But they'd get lots of exercise.

Snow days

2007-01-17T12:57:00.000-04:00

How did Australians get so good at making candy?

Lately I've felt very...blah...and I made no secret of that fact. When I was in school and swamped with work, I remember still having the ehergy to do more, more, more. Now that I have a day job that I can actually leave at the office, I'm mysteriously too exhausted to even handle my usual stuff, let alone to take on more. I recently had this conversation with a friend of mine, a fellow overachiever who is experiencing a similar post-degree slump. We lamented our respective lack of zeal and wondered when we had gotten old.

I had an epiphany at the bus stop on Sunday. It's winter. it may not have looked or felt particularly wintery in these parts, but it is undoubtedly winter. In the wintertime, we are told as children, the trees lose their leaves but they are not dead - only resting. Similarly, the cold and dark have driven me indoors and into a dormant state...a time for reflection, recuperation and re-evaluation. There arebig decisions to be made and big changes for which to prepare. And nobody can be "on" all the time - as much as I try to be.

I hereby command everyone to give themselves permission to be a turtle for the winter. What's the fun in always being fun?

As mentioned, Nova Scotia's weather thus far has been decidedly un-wintery As if the Earth herself couldn't decide whether or not it was really time to go into Pod Mode. Chalk this up to conicidence, psychology, divine intervention or whatever strikes your fancy, but by the time I got off another bus later that day, snow was blanketing the ground. I put down my hood, lifted my face to the sky and felt the soft kisses of the fluffy white flakes. Somebody else seemed to have shared in my decision...

It's almost my birthday. Wish me lots of fair-trade, vegan chocolate cake with fudgy icing.

So I suppose I should update...

2007-01-04T17:35:00.000-04:00

It has been a most busy time, what with agonizing over law school decisions, doing the Christmas thing and working at a Big-Girl Job. I really shouldn't complain about the first, seeing as how there are lots of people who would be thrilled to get into just ONE law school...but it's ridiculous how a couple of the registrars' offices want my $200 deposit at a ludicrously early date, far too early for me to make a truly informed decision. The life of a smart chick is so hard. Can't they take pity on me for being socially inept, having demanding parents and approxiamting the social life of a monk throughout my undergrad just so that I could get into their esteemed institutions? Can't they at least let me extort big scholarships from all of them BEFORE I hand over my own money?

Chrismas was nice despite my bizarre illness (it's like a cold except that I've been getting one symptom at a time and staying sick for unusually long). We did the colossal 20-pounds-of-mashed-potatoes family thing and I ate some tofurkey. All of my gifts were useful, which makes me immensely happy and relieved. There's nothing like Christmas to undermine year-long efforts to simplify one's life and reduce clutter and consumerism, but my family and friends seem to know me by now.

And now - try to contain your excitement - I have a new desk by a window. Life is good.

Happy Days

2006-12-07T19:43:00.000-04:00

The law apps are done, the job search ended before it really had even begun, and the decorations are adorning the apartment. Sadly, I do NOT have all my shopping done. And I really don't enjoy shopping in general. BUT - our Solstice party is coming up next week! Life is good. I'm getting into the spirit with some Trans-Siberian Orchestra and of course, the best contemporary cover of a Christmas song ever, "The First Noel" by the Crash Test Dummies.

I got caught wearing very impractical fabric shoes and a spring jacket on insta-winter Monday (what?! It was balmy when I left the house!) so I've broken out the cold-weather clothing. I hate wearing sleeves, but my winter coat is all fuzzy and just feels SO POSH that it kinda makes up for it.

The rain came and took away the wicked-awesome icicles that were forming outside our windows, but there's still the rest of the winter for them to come back. I took some superbly amateur photos of them pre-meltage, and once I get around to loading all my pictures onto the computer I'll be sure to post some of them.

2006-11-25T21:32:00.000-04:00

Have you ever felt like a jerk because you were a jerk to somebody, and then they gave you a present because they thought that they had been a jerk to you?

Long story, but now I have my very own copy of The EcoLogical Calendar and it makes me smile to see two seasons of it stretched out across my wall. Unlike the traditional Gregorian calendar, it isn't divided into arbitrary blocks of time... time is presented as a flow, with astrological and biological rythms. The days and months are almost an afterthought. it's so intuitive, so organic - I love it. Now I can feel like I have more of a connection with nature even as I live in an overdeveloped residential area with way too much light and noise pollution and pitifully little nearby greenspace. Sorry, did that sound like whining? It was.

I'm working on simplifying my life, stressing less (ha ha) and lowering my ecological footprint. It's hard to stay motivated, though, when you're surrounded by glass and concrete and a secular religion that preaches consumption as the one and only God. As a child I lived on a Christmas tree farm in rural New Brunswick where I learned the names of trees, weeds and animals. I watched fireflies in July. I made bread with my Grammy - she always let me punch down the dough. On my breakfast cereal I had wild strawberries, picked from our yard the day before.

It was important that I leave the farm and pursue the life I have, but I'm also painfully aware of what I'm missing: the clarity of the night sky away from city lights, the smell of clean air and growing things, sounds that are easily drowned out by car engines. I have lived among all these things and in their absence feel a void that I lack the words to describe.

At any given time I may have up to three calendars on the go. It's currently two: a (gregorian)wall calendar in my room and a datebook that never leaves my side. I also have a notebook filled with to-do lists. I often tell my friends I don't have time to see them I average seven hours of sleep a night. I vaguely recall concepts such as sponataneity, leisure, even - gasp! - BOREDOM. Half of my awareness is perpetually focussed on the next task while the other half is usually on the lookout for danger. There's room for little else. The marvel that is modern western society.

Now I need to relearn how to notice what surrounds me. I can't remember the last time I even looked at the stars. The next cloudless night I'm bundling up and going outside; feel free to join me.

It's a good thing!

2006-11-16T09:20:00.000-04:00

Subversive at-work blogging while the rest of the office is in a meeting, oh yessss.

I kinda feel sorry for the people who read this, because I either don't update or my posts are terribly unexciting. So allow me to tell you a story from yesterday, which some of you have already heard.

I was running late for the bus, as is my fashion. I grappbed my keys and phone and ran for the door - at which point I remembered that I had promised The Jenn I would take out the bag of stinky kitty litter.

So I grap the garbage bag and haul ass down the stairs of our building and back to the dumpster. I toss the bag inside...and my phone goes flying in with it. I'm standing there, already about to miss the bus, and looking at my pretty pink phone sitting calmly atop a pile of garbage bags. Unfortunately, said pile is not high enough for me to simply reach iside and snatch py phone. On the plus side the dumpster is fairly non-gross at the time. So I do what is necessary: I throw all my stuff on the ground and go dumpster-diving.

As I'm emerging, I see the bus pulling up to my stop. So I dash across the parking lot at full speed, only to have my rape alarm dislodge itself from my keychain and fly (screaming loudly) back across the parking lot. For a split second I contemplate just leaving it there but one of my neighbours is staring at me. I run back for the alarm and again dash for the bus - this time attempting to simultaneously fit the pin back into the noisy alarm thingy.

Miraculously, I catch the bus.

In other news I am almost done the law school applications (at last!) and am getting ready for the holidays. The title of this here post refers to the fact that I'm becoming a bit of a treehugging Martha - making soaps and yummy snacks rather than buying tons of useless stuff for the people on my list. I did go shopping with Trainee last weekend and tried to get some of my gift shopping done...I successfully found a measuring cup for myself and a late birthday present for The Boy. I also developed a burning desire for every product in the Lush store (except for the one I actually went in looking for). Sigh. I know I need to get a move on because Noel Nog is out now and if I don't get my gifts first I may spend all my money on creamy soy-based eggnog-esque goodness. It's just so delicious! Right now I'm sickish and losing my voice. that's bad because my job involves answering phones etc.

Anyway - the rest of the office is back. Must go.

Boring

2006-11-04T22:21:00.000-04:00

Yeah that's right, I am.

My brain is mushy for too many hours of sitting around listening to people talk about tax-shifting (and I want a political career? what?). Actually it was really interesting - Ron Colman (GPI Atlantic) in particular is a phenomenal speaker - but just so LONG! Especially for a Saturday.

So now I'm labouring, drone-like, to get stuff done. I just finished my UBC application (it doesn't take much brainpower to talk about yourself, you know...if anything, it was easier than usual tonight). That makes me happy. And I'm listening to Metric and eating fauxgurt straight from the container. HappyHappy.