The Road Ahead
Lost in the Redwoods

a brief respite

This afternoon, while we were preparing lunch, N pointed out what was so out of place about the morning: utter silence. Ok, not utter silence, but relative to what we normally experience. Our apartment is conveniently located at the base of the UCSC campus, right on the main entry road. 15,000 students plus, say, 2,000 staff, makes this something of a local highway. So much so that we have to use a white noise machine to sleep at night. And yet, this morning, for the first time ever: silence. No cars. Or rather, one every 10 minutes.

Of course, now, as I write this, things are returning to normal. Plus ca change…

in praise of celery

Growing up I never really cared for celery. I mean, true, it had valuable non-dietary fiber and served as a useful peanut butter container, but flavor? Not really there, I thought. My opinion began changing last year, when we subscribed to Boston Organics in Somerville and I got a taste of organic celery. Everything I had heard about celery was finally revealed to be true: peppery, somewhat lemony, incredibly fresh tasting — like celariac’s more assetive cousin. I have been fully converted, though I have to say that non-organic celery still remains the same insipid stuff destined for mirepoix.

Chelmsford pride!

The Times reports today that a Chelmsford, MA company called Phoenix Science and Technology has uncovered a way to safely remove lead paint by vaporizing it with high-intensity light pulses. I feel that strange, groundless pride that can only come from proto-nationalism — Go Lions!

On being ornery

I have just returned from the much-vaunted The Queen, which I decided to see after spending a remarkably rainy day in doors working. N just left for the East Coast last night, leaving me and the cat with each other for entertainment. So off to the movies. The choice was a bit tricky, given that it seemed a bit unfair to see something both of us wanted to see (such as The Queen), but in the end the current crop of movies left only Apocalypto, which I only wished to see for the language and really think will be best watched on video, in installments.

So I saw The Queen, and have returned rather puzzled by the all hubbub. It’s a tame film, scrupulously acted, if not especially brilliantly. And therein lies the puzzlement. More

Starting to fit into Santa Cruz?

It’s quite possible that I am becoming the crazy slipper lady in Santa Cruz. 

As many of you know, I am driving a heck of a distance every morning to work.  So, to avoid the perils of driving in heels, I wear my slippers.  They are nice slippers, thick with rubber soles, round and covered with a shiny red fuzzy material.  I like them and they are very comfortable - enough said. 

It started slow.  I began by doing small things like pumping gas in my slippers or running into the bakery to get a cup of coffee.  Then it became more, running short errands after work, grabbing a quick bite to eat. 

What’s next, slippers at work? Slippers out on the town?  There may be no stopping me. 

Bush joins a gamelan

Ok, so a bit of guilty pleasure just now. CNN.com has a movie clip of Danny Devito’s drunken appearance on The View. I don’t really care about this, and frankly, I sympathize with his need to take pain medicine before encountering that crowd, but that’s not what I’m blogging about.

Interestingly, the clip at the very end contains a couple seconds of Bush playing a Javanese saron (presumably after he listened to a gamelan performance in Singapore). He apparently requested to play afterwards, and doesn’t seem to do so bad. I had thought, in fact, that he had been trained. But it’s raw musical talent. Good for him.

Want to be like Bush? Check out this cool vitual gamelan you can play yourself.

What’s a dissertation?

Overheard on the bus onto campus two days ago:

Student A: Yeah, I might go for my Ph.D., but I don’t know. I’ll have to write a dissertation….

Student B: What’s a dissertation?

Student A: Like a 300 page paper.

Student B: (shocked awed silence) Oh my god. How can anyone write that much?

I had to control my laughter at this. After all, can’t be mocking the customers. But a dissertation is hardly a 300 page paper, although at this point I’m not sure which would be harder. I was also a bit surprised that Student B didn’t know what a dissertation is, or at least hadn’t heard of dissertations. But people can be remarkably ignorant: I remember learning in college that an acquaintance didn’t know who Mao Zedong was, and I only learned about the existence of Oxfam a couple of years ago.

Or maybe this is the Cambridge effect, where everyone is writing a dissertation. It’d be like asking what a producer was in Hollywood.

starbucks

About a month ago I was volunteering in Watsonville at a legal aid agency while I was looking for a job.  Watsonville is the kind of town that makes you feel like you are out of the country.  Old Latino men with big cowboy hates sauntered down the main street, the street smelled like mexican food and of course everyone spoke spanish.  It is a wonderful place to be.  In need of a break, and tired, I decided to get some coffee.  The only coffee shop in the area was of course a starbucks….but I went in anyway. I decided it was like a carbon credit situation, my volunteering at the legal aid canceled out my purchasing coffee from a major chain store that probably put all the other local coffee shops out of business.  With cup in hand, I walked back to my little agency and a woman came up to me, gave me a mean look and said, “I’ve been known to hit people with a starbucks cup.”  Not liking the idea of getting hit, I quickly walked away…still holding the cup.  I had that feeling you get when you’re caught by your parents coming home late….and unfortunately, that was a feeling I was quite familiar with as a teenager.  Needless to say, the coffee did not taste too good after that.  Now my guilt has increased since I heard on NPR today that Starbucks is fighting Ethiopia’s attempts to trademark their coffee to help the farmers who grow it make (more) fair wages…probably still not good wages in their economy.  Starbucks is fighting fair trade wages in a country that needs any help it can get. 

The bottom line - I should really stop drinking coffee.  However, what does that leave me with…tea? I’m sure there is a lot of fair trade tea out there (ha ha).  Then there’s the bottled water industry (nope), the milk industry (nope), orange juice (migrant workers…nope). 

No more liquids is clearly the only solution.

- N.