Why do I even look at the news – my “consumption” of which is out of spiritual necessity minimized to reading the headlines in Google News? 8-year-old boy shoots himself in the head at a firearms expo, 7-year-old boy kidnapped then shot to death, Neo-Nazi plot to assassinate Obama. The places where my jawbone fits …
Category Archives: future worries
We Riot 4 Austerity
We have decided, DH and I, to try the Riot 4 Austerity. It was that whole business with Sharon’s run-in with the New York Times that finally did it: we got really upset about it and this seems the best way to address that kind of inanity. We’re now trying to establish our baseline (starting …
In Sharon’s Defense: Reaction to the New York Times article
I have been a daily reader of Sharon Astyk’s blog Casaubon’s Book for years now and I am rereading her book, Depletion and Abundance: Life on the New Home Front, with pencil in hand. Sharon was the one who made me conscious of the opportunity for a different, more sound kind of lifestyle, like I’ve …
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Pollan’s Letter to the President-Elect
Sorry I’m a bit late posting this, but this article by one of my heroes Michael Pollan appeared in the New York Times a couple of days ago and it put a chunk in my throat that is still stuck there. It’s a good thing… balance, especially when you’re a pessimist like I am. I …
Freeze Yer Buns Challenge 2008
Yes, I’m taking the challenge, probably the most difficult one of all for me, because I’m one of those people who always feels cold. At the bookends of the summer, when other New Englanders are still/already wearing their t-shirts outside, I’ve got my scarf on and a sweater. I am unapologetic about that, but not …
The Beginning of Our Woodpile
To many of you it might seem like not much, but to DH and me it looks like the foundation of paradise! Some trees (in the background: 1 large white oak, 1 smaller birch and 1 smaller maple) had to be felled to make way for the new septic system. Their remains have been lying …
US Cesarean Rate: 31.1%
News alert. This is in from the Childbirth Connection: Relentless Rise in Cesarean Section Rate The National Center for Heath Statistics has just released the preliminary U.S. national cesarean rate for 2006: 31.1%. This rate has increased by 50% in the past decade, reaching a record level every year in this century. The most common …
The Story of Stuff
I can’t remember or find out via which blog I discovered this (my apologies), but it is fantastic and I want to spread the word. It is “The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard,” an informative, entertaining and especially rousing little movie (20 minutes long) about, you know, stuff. Go have a look-see! I’ll just reproduce …
Wendell Berry is my hero
Thanks to Moonmeadow Farm, this is Wendell Berry’s poem “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” from his book The Country of Marriage (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973). I hope it’s ok to reproduce it here… Oh but be fearless!  So: Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry (my hero) Love the quick profit, the annual …
Global Disaster
Ok, very very depressing post here… I repeat: very… Who hasn’t seen that old tv-movie, The Day After? I watched it, on Belgian television, when I was about twelve or thirteen years old. I don’t think my parents knew what it was about, and they probably weren’t paying much attention as it unfolded, because otherwise they would have …