Don't Blow Up the Mountain

As a person who greatly enjoys scenery, one of the most patently offensive things to me is mountaintop removal. In fact, I can't think of anything more blatantly disturbing off the top of my head than the idea of people blowing up mountains. If this is news to you, you might want to check out Mountain Justice Summer, a group that is actively working on this isssue.

Nell Levin put together a video about it that you can watch here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CddjKEVeos0.

casual friday

Nothing profound happening today (except that the sun finally came out). Maybe we can say winter's over??? I sure hope so, I'm totally sick of it, and I feel completely different now that the perma-gloom has lifted off.
Here's a check-in, because I ain't got no shame in my game.

4. Do YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? no it's terrible! I don't write things by hand much anymore, so it's like I've forgotten how.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH
YOU? Definitely! (unless I was lame or something)
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yes. It helps me remember things.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? still froot loops but i eat it more as a snack than as a breakfast item. For breakfast I normally eat grits or granola in the summer.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yep! I have to be. Real life ain't for wimps.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my brother...
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? a cinnamon roll and tea.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? I'm really into Orishas right now. It's really growing on me.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Mom!
34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? black-I've had this shirt for almost 7 years.
5. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer, I'm soooo sick of winter (which just ended yesterday, I hope. So over it. I feel so much different now that the sun has returned.)
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? The Little Chinese Seamstress (fiction) and Working with Culture (non-fiction).
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? South Park and some of the LA/Boston game.
46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I have mad skills with dealing with teenagers, am really good with autistic people for some unknown reason, know Japanese, and know just about everything there is to know about plants.

DONE!

That's it...it's official. I just went to my last class of my graduate program, I am FINISHED! WOO HOO!

my redneck neighbors

I knew my neighbors were rednecks, but I really underestimated how far it went.

So I'm sitting here and outside the window, my redneck neighbor is mowing his lawn in a rather strange fashion. (This is a welcome postlude to the hour he spent earlier revving an unmuffled engine in his backyard for no obvious reason). Nothing is inherently weird about mowing your lawn on a sunny day, except for the fact that about every minute and a half, he goes "Yee-haw" at the top of his lungs. Now keep in mind, the Mason Dixon line is thousands of miles away. I think it would be almost normal if we were in a small town in Alabama, but we're not, we're in Southeast Portland...hardly a redneck nirvana. And furthermore, it's not like he's riding a tractor/lawnmower...no he's just pushing a pushmower in the front yard. And going Yee-haw. Over and over.

Wow. Sometimes you just gotta wonder...

I really wish I had a videocamera handy, this is SOOOO youtube material. Alas, I don't.

hello subaru!

Bought a new (to us) car today! Now for better or worse, we have a 2003 Subaru Outback. I think this will be a very useful vehicle in the years ahead.