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

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?

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

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

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

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!