Why I am Vegan

I stumbled across the page today, while paying bills. While taking a break from paying bills, to be truthful.

Why I am Vegan

It states much more eloquently that I could hope to what motivates me every day.

Buy Nothing Day

Today is Black Friday.


But. Today is also Buy Nothing Day. This campaign is spearheaded by Adbusters as an informal protest to combat the mass consumerism that is associated with the day after Thanksgiving.

How do you do it?

Well, spend today by not spending.

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Here is an excerpt from Adbusters' website:

Suddenly, we ran out of money and, to avoid collapse, we quickly pumped liquidity back into the system. But behind our financial crisis a much more ominous crisis looms: we are running out of nature… fish, forests, fresh water, minerals, soil. What are we going to do when supplies of these vital resources run low?

There’s only one way to avoid the collapse of this human experiment of ours on Planet Earth: we have to consume less.

It will take a massive mindshift. You can start the ball rolling by buying nothing on November 28th. Then celebrate Christmas differently this year, and make a New Year’s resolution to change your lifestyle in 2009.

It’s now or never!

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P.S. Hope everyone had a Fantastic Thanksgiving!

*****Edited to add: A man was killed at a Walmart on Black Friday by Stampeding Shoppers. Here's the link.

Modified Style

Andrea, her boyfriend Ryan, and I all made the quick drive up to Seattle yesterday. We saw a cute dog on the way:

This Seattle trip was for a fashion show called Modified Style. Each designer paid ten dollars and received a bag of scrap material. After choosing a model, the designer has to make an original dress. Andrea, who had never sewn before, decided to jump in and do it, and she picked me to be her model. She's been working on it for a few months, in addition to a full-time job and finishing her MBA. Busy girl!

The dresses are sold in a silent auction, with the proceeds going to charity. There were 9 of us models total, 2 of us being under the age of 10. :) We all had a blast.

I don't have any pictures of my dress yet, but I'll post them when I do. Here are some pictures of the night:

The girl on the left won. They're both really sweet girls, and they both designed their own dresses.

She looks like Mira Sorvino to me.

Alice, on the left, co-produced this fashion show and made a dress. Rose, to her right, was her model.

Me and Erin Wong, who lives in Seattle now.


Here's Andrea and Ryan:

I drank *way* too much wine and sangria, ate *way* too many nachos after it was over, and the 3 of us passed out by 9:30 pm. Yikes! I woke up really early though and went for a walk along Green Lake.

This was a blast and Andrea and I are already in the planning stages for a Modified Style: Portland.
If anyone is interested in designing or modeling, let me know!

Filler

It is so pretty in Portland right now. We're having a remarkably dry fall. Cold, but dry. Here are a few pictures I took last week.

Am I going to glow in the dark now?

My brother and his wife Michelle just purchased a juicer. Those things are magical. I kinda want one. But I also kinda just want to use theirs.

You put in about 12 carrots and an apple and you've got this superfood drink. We didn't really play around with it, but it'd be fun to add spinach or flax seeds or something.
The carrot juice drink was delicious, and very filling. My brother and I ran a lap around the track close to their house, and came home for some delicious carrot juice. I was a little trepidatious at first. I wanted to protect my little tastebuds from something so orange and creamy and... different. But! I tasted, I drank, and it was good.



Talk about beta carotene! Mmmmmmm.

Wordstock 08

Wordstock.


I found this:


I escorted Rolf Potts' to his workshop.

Abby filled water bottles:
Abby, my brother Ahimsa, my friend Damien and I all volunteered our time today. Abby helped a blind lady out, and met and escorted some intriguing authors; Damien really wanted to see just one guy--Willy Vlautin. He bought his book, traded assignments so he could escort him, and planned to ditch out early just to attend his reading. But Willy Vlautin didn't show up. Boo. Poor Damien.

I wanted to escort Andre Dubus III (The House of Sand and Fog) or Rolf Potts (a vagabonding travel writer). Damien got handed the Rolf Potts assignment. I talked Damien into trading with me so I could escort him instead. ("Talked into" is a lie. I grabbed it out of his hand greedily, then realized I was acting like a grabby obnoxious baby, so asked nicely. Not a pretty moment for myself.)
That was the highlight of my day. We chatted a bit, I escorted him to his workshop, and I invited him down to the Ale House sometime this week for a beer, on me.

I, uh, also didn't have a time keeping device so had to keep asking him for the time, and didn't know any questions he asked me. So. There's that. One could say I wasn't the best author escort, but I would argue my passion and dedication more than makes up for my prepared-edness.

My brother Ahimsa was there from 9am to 3pm.

He did a lot of escorting and answering questions and also attended several panels and readings. There was a great panel of authors discussing their first publication, which he found helpful. One guy, 66 years old, finally got published, after trying since 1966. Sheesh. What tenacity! His name is Seldon Edwards. This is him:
It was a fun day. Then again, anything involving books, words, literature, authors, etc etc will be always be viewed as a fun day for me.

Obama! Yes we can!

I had what was probably my worst day of work yesterday. Ever. I don't say that lightly. Frustration building upon frustration. It was the Murphy's Law of Restaurant Management. One thing on top of another. I at one point had to go outside to breath deeply, I was shaking so much.

BUT!

When I finally left, at the 12th hour, I locked up, headed outside, and saw... Pandemonium. People on the street. Yelling, waving their arms, kissing. Every time the crosswalk light flashed, hordes of people ran across the street, shouting, crying, laughing. Fireworks in the sky. Horns honking. Homemade drums beaten. To see this many people so happy, to see that we do believe in change, that anything is possible, gives me and my generation hope. My bad day melted away. We live in a place where we can vote, where we can celebrate when we (finally) win, and where Barrack Obama just became our 44th president elect.


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I tried to capture the mayhem on the street, Rob lifting his bicycle to the melody of car horns honking, and then there's Shelley and I, bathing in our happiness (and with a glass of champagne, naturally).

Some scary Halloween pictures

Involving punch, zombies, and Jason Voorhees.