Last week I had myself a lovely morning so I took some pictures to show you.
First and foremost, did anyone here know that Bethel had a bell tower? (Raise your hand if you did.)
[okay... so it's kind of a bell wall]
Me neither. Cute, right? I've yet to hear them ring and ding though... I'll let you know if I do.
Next great thing: Group presentation in class = FREEEE SUCKERS! (OMG) Oh, and Justine brewed me some delicious coffee. Good day, good day indeed.
[hooray-ness for the yumminess]
Then I found that bethel also has a cute little stepping-stone bridge thing over a cute little creek with cute little leaves covering it in yellow prettiness. Heheh, and don't forget: it was CUTE.
["step, step, step"]
Alright, so the leaves make the water look like the ground, but don't fall in, readers! As you can see in the next shot, there really IS water down there!
["splish, sploosh, splash"]
In conclusion, I arrived in the ol' dorm and took a nap. 'Twas a very good morning, if you ask moi.
[satisfied snoozer]
Hope your mornings are even more delightful than mine!
p.s. Saw a "got Packers?" sticker yesterday. Told you.
It's awesome! I don't know what it means yet though. It's probably a noun, but who can really be sure.
It came into my life through the hand of God when Brian started to call me "Grumplestiltskin" and I wished he'd stopped at Grumples.
Just thought you should know.
["eh sweetie"]
This is me in Frumpsville, my jacket. Since its name is so close to Grumples, I thought the picture was appropriate. I found Frumpsville in my closet at home... no one claimed it. Now it's mine. Luv. 4. EVA.
A while ago I was at a fun Apple Orchard with Brian and my eyes beheld this sight:
["got apples?" said the sign]
It made me think about how the government employee who coined the phrase "got milk?" must be ROLLING IN IT right now (money, not milk). Have you ever noticed how many people rip off that advertising campaign?
When my sister was in choir, they all bought red shirts that said (you guessed it) "got choir?" in white letters.
Of course there is the classic kitch example of the "got Jesus?" shirts saturating the SonShine (Music Festival) sales booths, Christian bookstores, and the like.
Exhibit C:
[this requires no caption]
(That one was actually Marina's idea, and that brown goo was actually chocolate, so stop freaking out already!)
Oh wait a second, examples are POINTLESS because anyone can (and will) do that with every word ever!
Hey there all you virtual readers! Today--October 15th, 2009 is Blog Action Day (B.A.D.) where about 11,000 people blog about climate change! Hoooooooray!
(Don't worry, it will still be fun.)
[Too. Much. FUN. Can't stop moving!]
Sometimes those of us living in nice American suburbs start to forget about pollution and the horrible things it does. I had an abrupt reminder about this the other day when I read about Villa Parisi, Brazil (for class, in an article by Ulrich Beck, and then in another by Mary Milliken). In the 80's it was probably the most polluted chemical town in the world.
It started with an oil refinery. Then a steel company... then a fertilizer company... then Fiat, Dow Chemical, and Union Carbide. Pollution was everywhere. It became so bad, it broke the emission meter in 1977. The whole town smelled, the water was disgusting, children developed chronic asthma, bronchitis, diseases of the nose and throat, and skin rashes. Mudslides came as chemicals eroded the nearby mountains.
[greetings from Villa Parisi]
In the 80's, a bunch of babies in the town were born without brains. Doesn't that kind of make you sick? (Me too.)
FINALLY, in 1983 the government cracked down. Sort of. They didn't fine some of the big companies that much.
As of 2000, people living there were still six times more likely to have bladder cancer, four times more likely to have brain or nervous system cancer, and at least twice as likely for most other types.
I wonder if anything I've bought was made in those factories.
That's an extreme case, but GUESS WHAT, pollution from third world countries is carried over to us. And global warming affects the climate all around the world! Global warming doesn't only mean it will get a little warmer in the summers, it means weather will become more extreme, creating more deserts (less farmland), and worse storms (cough, cough, Katrina).
The pretty pine tree forests of northern Minnesota are slowly retreating north. Forest fires are becoming more likely. Floods are increasing around the world as sea levels rise. The oceans are becoming more acidic and less oxygenated, killing marine life.
Plus, if you go to Mount Nebo, where Moses saw the "promised land," you can't see it anymore.
[P.L. says, "pssst, right here, behind the smog"]
All right, I think I've convinced you after this short rant. We are strangling our planet.
I'm sure you know most of the typical "eco-friendly" tips by now... pretty much all of them reduce or avoid carbon dioxide emissions. Here are a few I'm not doing yet, that we should all consider:
Instead of choosing the cheapest thing, choose the one with the least plastic packaging and/or the one that is local (farmers' market, anyone?) and/or the one that is organic (yay, no pesticides!)
Turn off your car while waiting to pick someone up.
Insulate your water-heater or splurge on a tankless one.
Eat less meat (animal waste gives off methane, which is about 3 times as bad as CO2).
Haven't we all learned something here? If you want to read more blogs about Global Warming, go to blogactionday.org.
Thanks for reading my ka-ray-zay environmental blog-rama!! (I'd say a longie but a goodie.)
A white October? Boo--let it snow? That can't be right!
But (as most of us know) it really happened. Today.
I must admit I was hesitant to join either the "I <3 Summer 4EVER" club or the "Winter is Cool" one (Heh heh). It was gorgeous. White, fluffy, fresh, everything a first snow should be.
[what my eyes showed me on the way to morning class]
But we haven't had fall yet! And fall is my FAVORITE. The leaves were hardly yellow, and now they will probably just die :(. Oh... the horrors.
Not that this will change my enjoyment of fall foods--pumpkin flavor everything, apple products, and the like--but my shivering and the lack of warm hues will likely put a damper on my mood.
[pretty. but wrong.]
[notice the level of confusion/uncertainty caused by such contradictory weather]
Today some hilarious person was playing "Let It Snow" and it reminded me of how much I hate it when people play Christmas music before Thanksgiving... not to mention HALLOWEEN for crying out loud!
In conclusion... come back Fall! Winter, you hold your damn horses and come back this pretty and warm after Thanksgiving.
[but, yes, you got me there, it was fantastically beautiful]
Thanks for reading and waiting between blog-gaps/bloggaps!
p.s. I know everyone in Blogville wrote about the weather today, but I couldn't help it. Besides, I woke up at 7:30 am so I probably got the idea before them ;).
What's fun? Writing a blog about someone while you are waiting for them to come over? I think so!
Even more fun, once Brian gets here I will stop and leave you hanging on the edge of your seat!!
["oh, the suspense!"]
Brian is wonderful because he fell off his bike accidentally and bent my tire and he bought me a new one! What a nice (rich?) guy.
He's fun because we make stupid jokes together that only we think are funny.
Today we went to Famous Dave's and got the garbage can platter for two, which is actually made for 5 or more, I'm sure, they must have labeled it wrong. It was delicious and we have oodles of leftovers.
Brian is cool because he writes a new blog pretty much every day while I just stress out and do homework or laundry or something else mundane instead.
Geeesh, he is taking a long time to come over!!
[this is him looking all rad with shades and such.]
Brian got a brand new kite and I have a pretty fabulous one myself, but we haven't been able to fly because we are busy when it is windy and it isn't windy when we are free! The horrors.
[okay... so it's kind of a bell wall]
[hooray-ness for the yumminess]
["step, step, step"]
["splish, sploosh, splash"]
[satisfied snoozer]
