Part One: Should "It" Really Be That Difficult?

I try not to rant too terribly often, but two things lately have gotten under my skin just a wee bit.

I went to the Chili Cook-Off on Friday to help my dear friend Amy in her quest for an amateur prize with her delicious sweet mole chili recipe. I ended up slinging chili for a few hours. I had a blast as I scooped chili and chatted with patrons and looked the goof in my "Vote for Amy" t-shirt and chili pepper earrings, complete with lights. After a while, I thought about the fact that I was scooping chili into styrofoam cups, and refilling a festive bowl with plastic spoons for the patrons.

I decided to check the website to see who won which categories, as it was difficult to hear the announcements during the festival. I noticed that they (yes, that ubiquitous "they" who noone knows who exactly "they" really are) estimated 10,000 people in attendance at the event. I thought about how much chili I served, and figured each patron averaged around 5 servings a piece, which I believe is a low-ball estimate. Given those assumptions, roughly 50,000 styrofoam cups and plastic spoons were consumed. There were no recycling boxes set up for the cups or spoons. That is a whole lot of trash to landfill in the name of chili. Especially when the event is run by the Lansing Board of Water and Light. Hmm...that's a utility company. Ohhh...shouldn't a utility company be concerned about the environment?

So, I wrote an email to the organizer of the cook-off. I was civil and polite in pointing out that there are alternatives to styrofoam (would you like paper?? And couldn't you, BWL, incinerate that paper trash as some sort of energy recovery?). And I noted that there are ways to recycle styrofoam. I also gently suggested that instead of plastic spoons, wouldn't patrons be excited if, when they purchased their wrist-band to enter the festival, they received a commemorative spoon that they can take home and reuse? I tried my best to offer solutions, and not just point out problems. Two simple suggestions would make the event much closer to zero-landfill and more environmentally friendly, boosting the BWL's reputation and committment to the environment in the community.

I haven't received a response yet, and I don't necessarily expect one. But I will hold out hope...

The Art of Scrolling

I just started blogging a bit over a month ago. Surpassing my own expectations, I have stuck with it, despite past experiences that would indicate the odds were not in my favor (see myspace...or don't bother, as my page is pathetic). In honor of this achievement, I decided to take some time to learn more about my blog options.

For those who have been visiting, you may notice a few changes. I just discovered how to change my time zone. Yes, I will admit, I had the worst urge to pick a funky time zone, but I stuck with good ol' Eastern simply because I didn't want to have to try to figure out when I actually wrote. So now, it will accurately show that I generally post after work around 6 (not at 3pm Pacific as in the past) or later at night (say, midnight instead of 9 pm). And yes, I am now officially from the United States. Of course, it was difficult to not pick the longest name on the list (South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands if you're counting).

I hope you're as entertained by this as I have been so far.

Currently in my CD player: Buddy Holly's Greatest Hits

Awww, nuggets!

I guess it was a matter of way too many questions over an extended period of time. Picture it...June 12 at BW3 in East Lansing. Trivia night. NTN, to be exact. I made a random comment that I would blog about something that occurred, but alas, I can't remember what it was. Perhaps it will come to me in a dream...

By the way, Happy Friday the 13th!

Civil Rights

I watched a documentary about Emmett Till, a 14-year old black child killed in Mississippi in 1955, and viewed as one of the events that sparked the Civil Rights movement. I have talked to various people over the years about civil rights and equality, and their experiences during the 1950s through the present time. I am often reminded of how lucky I am that I can look at such horrific acts of violence and discrimination, and have absolutely no clue as to how people perpetrating these crimes could be so ignorant. I just don't understand looking at someone and feeling they are worthless, or worse yet, feeling they should die so brutally for something seemingly harmless such as whistling at a woman, and, oh yeah, being black. It's just disgusting.

But the documentary also made me think, have we really come very far? How many more prejudices to we have to attack before people have equal protection under the law? Will same-sex marriages being legalized in California actually be detrimental in the next election, banding the conservative christian right together even stronger, and drawing them out to vote to "protect" families, and keep gays from creating families? And why do people care so much about something that likely will not impact them? In all reality, to how many gays will Jesus Camp attending, mega-church supporting, fear-instilling christian warriors really be exposed?

Along the same lines, what about polygamy? I should really hop off my soapbox and turn the mirror back on myself. Being non-religious and an atheist, albeit moralistic at the same time, should my strong feelings about the importance of monogamy be forced on multiple consenting adults who wish to be married to one another (or should that read "married among each other"?)? I'm not referring to the infamous cults that force underage children into marriage with anybody, let alone someone old enough to be their parent or grandparent, so much as people, who as adults, have fallen in love and chosen to live with more than two adults in a relationship all with each other. And if polygamy were legal, would that lead to the demise of those cults, or make them stronger? Hmmm...

Still Waters...

I've been feeling not quite so chipper tonight. I've been having the great debate in my mind about whether I feel lonely or feel that I'm alone or if there's some other word out there to describe what I am feeling right now. So, in an effort to ease my mind, I went into problem-solving mode. The first mission: what the heck is the difference between lonely and alone, if there is one? Lonely, apparently can simply mean alone, or dejected by awareness of being alone. And alone means being without others. I commonly think of that in the physical sense, yet tonight made me think of it abstractly - alone, as in not relating to others or feeling part of something. Mission result: both options are out the window for the most part. About the only time I am physically alone is late at night, after work and all of the other craziness in my life has ended for the day. And I generally cherish the time, or fill it with never-ending housework (see the blog entry from yesterday about laundry). And I generally don't feel lonely. At least, I don't right now. The weekend was filled with seeing people I love who know me best and accept me unconditionally, and who laugh and have fun and enjoy life. And I feel a definite connection with that, and feel part of that sentiment. And that connection doesn't go away when I'm not with them (definitely a good thing).

The second mission: what the heck am I feeling? I went with my first instinct of maudlin. I had one of those moments of, "does that mean what I really think it does?" followed by, "if not, I've been using that incorrectly for years!" I was reassured that it means what I thought - overly sentimental. Although, one definition claimed the cause was often impacted by alcohol consumption (and no, I'm not drinking alone...). And so I stopped with my first instinct. I'm definitely feeling overly sentimental. It's been a crazy few months - mom's surgery, other family illnesses, a close friend will be moving away, and another is talking about moving away as well. I'm not so naive to think that life doesn't change. I know it does, and I know I will embrace the changes and make the best of them. I think I get so consumed with making sure "everything" gets done, that people are taken care of, and being genuinely happy and excited for all of the new adventures (both mine and others) that I forget to acknowledge all of the other emotions that go along with all of these events - fear, sadness, joy at having amazing memories, excitement about making more fantastic memories. And I become overly sentimental...or maudlin, without the drunkenness. Result of the second mission: success. The third mission is a good night's sleep.

"Would You Rather...?" and Laundry: The Mystery

From zobmondo.com... Would you rather have to kill Winnie the Pooh or Bambi? At first, it seemed clear. Winnie the Pooh, of course. He's bound to die of botulism from all the honey, so why not put him out of his misery sooner? Then I thought about Bambi. Deer are hunted either inadvertently by cars or purposely by intoxicated hunters. Given Bambi's odds, this would also be a mercy killing, right? But I think I'll stick with Winnie the Pooh, as death by botulism seems much worse for an animated creature than being killed by a hunter.

And on to Laundry: The Mystery. I know that in life there are few tasks that are every considered complete. Most are ongoing simply because of their nature. Grocery shopping falls into this category - you either eat the food or let it spoil, but either way, you need to replenish your supply. With laundry, unless you're willing to streak around naked (which I did once for a few hours to prove to myself that all of my washable items could simultaneously be clean), it's never done. It's an endless cycle, unless you're a naturalist all the time. But even so, I don't think naturalists drip-dry after a shower, and I'm guessing they have sheets and blankets on their beds like most other people.

I know I promised all of my posts would be connected. The only connection between these two is that they happened to be rattling around my head at the same time tonight. So I thought I would share.

Operation: New Foot

So my mom had surgery recently...a reconstruction of her ankle joint. I took her to her first post-op visit with the orthopaedic surgeon yesterday. And we saw her x-rays of her newly improved foot and ankle for the first time. If you haven't seen an x-ray of a body part with metal in it, I highly recommend taking advantage of any such opportunity. But if your friends and family aren't as gimpy as mine, or as willing to share their x-rays with you, I've included a few pictures here. Neither are from my mom :)