Earth Day, Swimming

Happy Earth Day, everyone

My plants made perfect time in sprouting today. Plant intelligence > human intelligence?? The world may never know - just watch M. Night Shyamalan's the happening. I'm a huge fan of his movies and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one of my friends who leaves the theater satisfied with his work. His work is over-glammed but under-appreciated.

I have mentioned in the past that I am forced to eat in the dining halls of my midwestern college. Every once in a while they will surprise me with a tasty vegan meal, but more often than not I leave the feeding trough annoyed (and with a bag full of stolen fruit). C'mon, they say we can take ONE piece? There's no way what I eat in one meal measures up to the $10 they charge me.

I should start taking my camera to dinner so that I can document my massive cornocopias of salads. They win me stares from omni onlookers, it's humorous.

Two days ago for lunch they served really tasty falafel, for which I was pleased and I complimented it with some hummus. (Note: I'm considering leaving an anonymous tip for the kitchen staff in the form of a hummus recipe. The spacle they label hummus leads me to believe they've never heard of tahini. It's nearly tasteless and there's usually half-crushed canned chic peas in it. Alas, I'll eat anything if I think it's good for me, so I eat their concoction daily.)

For dinner last night I consumed a hummus and guacamole sandwich with sprouts and a side salad. The guacamole didn't taste like straight avocados, which got me wondering: is it vegan? Is it common to mix sour cream in a guacamole recipe? I will ask the kitchen staff at my next opportunity...

Sorry I don't have any original pictures for you. It's been really rainy and cold.

http://implaced.blogspot.com/

On a high note, I just got back from the pool. I love, love the water. I always have. So I celebrated Earth Day by enjoying my favorite part of the earth: water. It's the coolest element, anyway. Fire's too hot, air is invisible and sometimes smells badly, and earth is, well, dirt.

Lazy Monday

There's definitely a possibility that I'm just a lazy person, as this is my second post in a row with "lazy" in the title. Luckily I was prepared for the weather. I walked back from class in full rain gear today, splashing in every puddle I could find; rain boots are great for that.

When I was younger I had the coolest umbrella. It was clear with purple details and it had pictures of minnie mouse hop-scotching on it. My parents got me the cutest things, seriously. I tried to find a photo one like it online but no such luck.

I'm appreciative of all this rain because I know Austrailians would kill for it. The latest Nat Geo had an article about the draught's affect on Austrailian agriculture. The fires weren't the end of the country's worries. This is around when I start to get really cynical about politics and how little governments do for their people. The protection we get according to John Loche's philosophy covers our basic right to clean drinking water.

When I graduate I really want to work for Americorps, possibly teaching or working on an organic farm. Maybe that will open doors for me to work for an NGO in the future and take food and water overseas. That's really what I feel a passion to do, and I know I'm not alone.

I love to chill out with the windows open while it rains. I love to hear the smacking of rain on the catwalk outside. How incredibly spring.

Which reminds me, I saw the most massive rabbit the other day. Hir owners took hir out for a hop in the park - you should have seen that rabbit go!

I can not wait to get settled into a place that will allow for me to have a furry friend. I think my friends with pets are beginning to suspect that I'm more interestsed in seeing their animals than them. They're right.

On a vegan note, they had falafel in the dining hall today. I was shocked. I got three giant pieces in celebration! Plus hummus. I was not disappointed, either. If there's anything our dining halls can do right, it's deep frying. Go falafel go!!

I signed up to attend a local foods cooking class tonight with my friend, but as it's raining I'm not really feeling it. Plus I emailed to ask what vegan options they would have, and apparently only the samosas are vegan. I love me some samosas, but I had them very recently. Have you ever had something prepared really well and it's almost like every time you think of it, you can still taste it? I had samosas at an indian restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana while I was visiting my aunt and uncle over spring break. They were delicious and I don't want to taint my memory of them with a samosa rendition that's not up to par.

(Interesting side-note: If you Google "bad samosa"...you won't get ANYTHING that matches. Yet another example of x + fryer = success.)
No wonder they fry Twinkies, Snickers bars, and cheesecake. This could be deep fried animal droppings and some people would never notice, let alone care. When you take a closer look at some of the stuff that people shovel in their pie-hole these days, the animal droppings might just be more nutritionally adventageous. How nausiating is that?

Lazy Sunday

As I've decided to begin observing the Sabbath, I did all of my homework Friday. I'm not following any strict rules for the day, simply not working (and for a full-time student, that would mean homework) and reading some scripture.

I was in public the other day when I overheard one worker say to his coworker, "How's your mental health?"
She replied, "It's much better now," with a tone of annoyance, her eyes never leaving the computer screen she was using.
"I'm not going to bring it up again. I just had to bug you one last time," he said.
From this back-and-forth, along with the adjacent non-verbal communication, I drew a few conclusions: a)The woman had recently taken a mental health day from work b)The man thought this a ridiculous idea and was perhaps jealous of her time off - that is, unless he is the type to think himself a stronger person than she for foregoing the opportunity.

I once took a mental health day from high school. It was needed - I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Mental illness runs in my family and the transition from private middle school to public high school proved to be my trigger. After much counseling and religious growth I was fine, but it was a bit dicy there for a while. The mental health day came the morning after my lowest point. It helped me because I was able to focus my thoughts for a long, drawn out recovery.

Those who do not suffer from mental illness are fortunate and should heed their blessings in tolerance of others who do. Mental health can be forged, of course, but we still have a long way to go with the recognition of mental illness as a legitimate disease.

Starving Artists Lunch

What an amazing spring day...FOR VEGAN COOKING WORKSHOP. Here's the first of many that I will document for you.

VCW is put on by a group called Conscious Ohio and it is a co-op. On Tuesdays we get together to help cook, eat, and clean a vegan, mostly organic meal. The man who runs it all is named Boaz. He's a hare krishna who loves to share his passion for life (and yoga) with us.

Thursday nights Boaz runs an intro to meditation and yoga philosophy group called reflections. Afterward, yep you guessed it, there's a free vegan meal.

Fridays are actually a lunch we call starving artist's lunch. When the weather is nice we get to chill outside on the green.

I eat vegan so this group is a total gem - I schedule my weeks around it. It is my stability, and if any of you remember from your college days, stability is hard to come by! I doubt I could happily sustain myself without this balanced nutrition. Not only is the food cruelty free, it is also AMAZING. VCW has a following around 300 strong and it's growing in popularity all the time. We have a pretty big artsy/hippie crowd here at the midwestern college I attend.


What you're looking at are noodles in a light creamy sauce tossed with broccoli, green, red and yellow peppers over a bed of salad greens, carrots, cucumber, and pumpkin seeds. There was also a salad dressing that was roasted red pepper vinagrette-esque. To the side we have a chocolate chip cookie - Boaz is famous for these!! He must infuse them with all of the wisdom of yogis past. (No, I do not mean weed. The cookies are really just THAT good.)

After lunch we hung out at a cool little antique shop that didn't allow for picture-taking. Then we wandered some more, cleaned a friend's dorm room, ate dinner, and now I'm in for the night. How many college kids do you know that stay in on a Friday night? In my defense I've had two early exams the past couple of days that kept me up late studying.

Before lunch I was hanging out in the stacks at the library and I found a book about beading, which should be cool. Hopefully it will inspire me to start making some new jewelry. It's been since, um, Christmas.

Have a good evening!! TGIF - relax, yo.

Why

Why am I doing this? Why do I feel the need to blog? Why have I given in and decided to publish my thoughts online regardless of my gut instinct to run vehemently in the opposite direction from my computer?

Because what I have to say is really so important that I should subjugate the world at large to its monotonous cynicism? Nope. Because I find myself unabashedly goofy and unique? Yep. Welcome to my world of nonsense. Call it pretentious but don't call it late for dinner.

I'm a journalism student at a college in the Midwest. I like spinjongle and listening to free podcasts of NPR - especially "Wait, wait don't tell me..."

I have been frequenting vegan blogsites for the past year and a half or so, and I thought it about time I tried to contribute. As a college student living in the dorms, I haven't the opportunity to cook for myself save the vegan coop that I attend weekly. You can look forward to pictures of my Hare Krishna buddies and the amazing ethnic combinations that we whip together.

I consider myself to be a "strict vegetarian", as some of the products I'm forced to use here in the dorms are not vegan. I have been living this lifestyle for about a year and a half. I stopped eating meat as soon as I left home to come to school a couple of years ago.

So this blog will document my quest for a lifestyle more conscious of my eco footprint. I am also very spiritually inclined, so you may well hear of developments in that department as well.

I think that's enough information to start out with, so I wish you all a good day! If you're in the midwest - enjoy the sunshine. :)