June 2009 – An experimental week without Facebook and Twitter

I declared last Sunday, on Facebook, that I would be going on Facebook hiatus. I didn’t say for how long, but in my mind, I’d be quitting FB and Twitter cold turkey for one week. I am 5 days into this experiment. I find myself resisting that URL address bar like an unsmoked half pack in the back upper corner of my closet, kept for emergency use only. Nagging at my mind every couple minutes. But mind you, I don’t smoke. Never have. I know my addictive personality well enough to not bother trying. Just thought it was an appropriate simile for habit breaking. But I haven’t faltered yet. Those links are everywhere, though. EVERYONE trying to be someone is on Twitter, to the point of ridiculosity. Well, not really…just businesses, oddly enough. CKNW, CNN, BBC Science, BBC Health, Daily Planet…(my personal favourites) …and there was that one week where everyone hopped the bandwagon at the same time. T’was an odd week.

But I couldn’t have picked a more interesting week to go FB/Twit free. I just couldn’t break the habit of thinking that my thoughts all needed to be expressed and thrown into some intangible online world, that, excepting global nuclear meltdown circumstances coinciding with the time of my death, will exist beyond me, providing that inactive accounts don’t get deleted after a certain period of time, and there isn’t a massive server crash affecting all the backup copies of my accounts…etc. SO…I took to writing down all my thoughts on index cards. GOD do I love index cards. For some reason of kinaesthetic x visual learning it works for me. And here are some of the thoughts that rampaged through a manic mind going through withdrawl. Actually, happily, this week seemed like one of those rare weeks that I wasn’t overly manic or depressive. Actually, no. I take that back. I may have thrown a temper tantrum on monday. But after that things seemed to clear up, mood wise. Hopefully it lasts a little longer this time.

From the index cards:
June 23 1700h: Fascinating that so many things – economic phenomena etc. can be described/explained by little lines on a graph. Really cool.
June 24 10ooh: How the hell did I injure my knee? Left inside tendon/ligament thingy sore upon awakening. Did I sleepwalk?
1110h: There are a lot of funny looking asian men in ECON103.
1230h: I really enjoy talking to professors in office hours.
1345h: Correction: I enjoy talking to ungrumpy professors in office hours.
1400h: For every short and cute asian woman that exists, there exists an equally short, not-so-cute-asian man.
1415h: When you can’t figure me out: The secret to women is that we say things we don’t mean and we mean things we don’t say. But not all the time.
1415h: Today I feel very happy and calm and content.
1710h: I am quite possibly…floored. On gradebook, if “MT” stands for midterm, I just got 34/34, i.e. 100%. WTF?! In CMPT120! And so far I have 100% in the course! This has Never Happened Before. Not even close. Never.
1734h: Just discovered my flash animations don’t work on the CSIL computers. Not pleased.
1756h: The secret to not being frustrated and irritated all the time…getting laid.
June 25 1000h: Farrah Fawcett died. Cancer. Brings out my fears. And Jon and Kate Gosselin are divorcing. Not that that matters to anyone except their kids. I hope deep inside that all people who die are at peace. I hope the suicide bombers and war criminals, and serial killers given the death penalty are all at peace. I hope the man who believes he will be rewarded with 72 virgins in the afterlife gets just that. If that’s the best thing he had going for him, I really hope he gets it.
1315h: I just get so fucking agitated at jerks like the guy who made a left turn from behind me while I was halfway across the street during my pedestrian walk light who then told me to look for traffic. It’s my walk sign, fucker! Concentrate on your own fucking half baked fucking driving, idiot!
1350h: playing piano really gets me unagitated. New “easy piano” piece yeah that disney song “A whole new world” from Aladdin. Love it and it’s just so beautiful and takes me away to a different time and place and imaginary life. Need to get a piano of my own so i can stop renting rehearsal space.
1425h: Low F + high GAC chord. Quite a nice way to end a song.
1700h: I had a breakthrough at singing class today. Lowered larynx + space + focus. Singing the exercise “Me-lia”. Letting go. Throwing it away. Fuck yeah. And going to McD’s inbetween rehearsing and class and thinking to enjoy fully and be present doing anything because it might be the last time I do that thing – gosh Steve cried last week when he ate a chicken nugget, having not had one for so long, and thinking that it might be his last. So I went and bought chicken nuggets today to remind myself to live. I couldn’t bring him any, though because he’s fasting, preparing for his colonoscopy tomorrow. And then I came home to find that Michael Jackson had died. What a day. What a week to choose to be facebook & Twitter free.
June 26 1117h: Watched Confessions of a Shopaholic and it wasn’t good. I am disappointed because I had been looking foward to that one for quite some time. Movies and people that try too hard to be funny are rarely really funny. The Make More Money scene ended up on the cutting room floor. All the essential bits of the story that made it a charming and funny story got cut out of the script. Nobody is sympathetic towards a woman who spends too much money (GUILTY!), but somehow the book made you identify so strongly with the protagonist, and the movie just did not succeed. Director needs lessons in directing comedy.
1440h: Been at Burnaby General Hospital since 1230. Steve’s colonoscopy today. yay. One year since we’ve been here for one the last time and we’re still where we began. Not pleased. Hopefully some answers.
1700h: +1 Medication for Steve. Prednisone. At least it’s cheap. + Humira starting ~2 weeks pending all clear from upcoming “urgent” MRI. Apparently the colonoscopy looked very different from last time. Some serious side fx on prednisone i hear. fuck.
1745h: Found out Lorena Gale (Priestess Elosha on BSG) passed away on June 21st. Shocked and saddened. Cancer. Found out Google, Twitter and Wikipedia etc crashed yesterday from too much traffic/too many edits. Again, I re-iterate. What a week to be Twitter and Facebook free.
1800h: Realized that I have this lifelong pattern of disillusionment with stuff. Note to self: write blog entry about disillusionment.
2143h: Made myself a little jar with little 1/8 index card chips inside with things to do when I don’t know what to do. Will pick one each time I find myself not knowing what to do and be just one minute more productive. Each task can be completed within one minute. I like this jar already. Note to self: write blog entry about this jar.

Eating Sustainably – Vegetarian, Local, Organic, Sustainable Seafood, etc.

“Can Vegetarians Save the World?” on guardian.co.uk : http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/16/ghent-belgium-vegetarian-town-environment

To lower my carbon footprint, I will try to eat vegetarian at least once per week. No intention to cut out meat entirely, but I’ll do my part. Will also be trying to incorporate sustainable seafood into my cooking. See the bottom of this post for an interesting conversation I had with a company that produces Kiwi Mussels (a sustainable seafood option).

I’ll keep track on this blog of my progress. This shouldn’t be hard at all, as I find cooking meat the most bothersome part of making a meal. Unfortunately my household will still be eating a lot of meat, as my husband will not be converted. That and he’s on nurse’s orders to eat extra protein for wound healing post-surgery, as well as for keeping his iron levels up. But I often don’t feel the need to eat meat anyway, so this should be easy.

I will rate my cooking creations on a scale of “Disgusting”, “Passable”, “Good”, or “DELICIOUS”. Also will note vegan meals.

Monday May 18th, 2009
Breakfast – Soup Noodles with green onions, ginger, olive oil and parmesan cheese – DELICIOUS
Lunch – Rice with marinated pressed tofu, zucchini and brussel sprouts – DELICIOUS and Vegan

Sustainable Seafood - take a gander at http://www.seachoice.org/ for information on choosing options that help maintain the health of the oceans and not contribute to overfishing/overharvesting, by-catch, and scraping of ocean floors etc etc.

I bought some Pacifica brand frozen kiwi mussels produced in…where else? KiwiLand of course – New Zealand. I was very pleased that it was labled with a “sustainable seafood” logo and all that, but when I got home, I was dismayed to find that the plastic packaging was made from #7 “Other” plastic, which is not easily recyclable, and may find its way into one of our ocean’s landfills – see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch . So I sent them an email and received a nice reply from their Americas/Asia sales rep, Matthew Hewitt, stating the following:

“Hi Beverly

Thanks for the contact.

I understand and accept your comments re #7 plastic.

It is a recyclable but not as easily recycled as other plastics.

The issue for us is the fact that we must freeze the plastic for up to 2 years. At this stage we can not get other plastics to do this.

But believe me our plastic supplier is working on that solution.

We are aware of the publics issue with #7 and thus want to change that as soon as we can. We are committed to the environment, our farming and production practices are all geared to zero impact.

The #7 plastic is the last hurdle for us.

But thanks for using our product, I hope you found the quality good and hope you will support us again.

All the best, Matthew Hewitt”

which was really nice of him. So they’re working on it. Good to know. I like it when you write to some big company and they actually send a personal reply from halfway around the world.

Buying Local: really liking Simon Fraser University’s Local Food Project http://sfulocalfood.ca/ . Went to their “Pocket Farmer’s Market” last wednesday – a neat concept – and have purchased my Harvest Box for the month of May.

Buying Organic: well, little bits here and there from Safeway’s Organic selection.

Growing Food: my in-laws are starting a garden at their home in Langley. Very exciting.

Composting: am a fan of NatureMill’s Automatic Indoor Composter. Steep price ($200CDN+) but showed my mom in law the website yesterday, and she’s thinking about it…I don’t have a garden right now, so it wouldn’t be prudent for me to get one of my own. Reduces your household waste by 2/3rds by composting all your organic waste (except bones, citrus and peach pits).

So, those are my thoughts on sustainable eating today. What are your thoughts?

Update: May 2009

Whew. Just wrapping up a few of the most chaotic, stressful weeks of my life. But all is very good right now.

Steve: recovering from surgery. Taking it one day at a time. Oh we had our first wedding anniversary late in April! Yay!

ELAN Awards: 2009 is done and done. The producers are getting the ball rolling for 2010.

Acting: Performed as a french-accented character from the 17th century at the Moonlight Masquerade fundraiser for the Giovanni Bastone Foundation last week, raising money for BC Children’s Hospital and childhood cancer research. One of the funnest performing gigs I have ever done. Thank you to David C. Jones and the Laughter Mission Society for hiring me once again!

School: Back at SFU for my first full semester in 4 years. Yes, it has been that long. It’s great though. This time around, I am determined to not allow myself to get into a habit of falling asleep in class. Also very annoyed at teenagers who chatter through lectures and pack up early. How disrespectful.

Art: SFU Linguistics department hired me to do cartoon drawings for an experiment. A real challenge for me, because I don’t draw people! Ever! But the steep learning curve was good for me, and I’m proud of my work.

BC Politics: Did my part and voted at 8:30 in the morning, reminded everyone on facebook etc! Cannot believe the voter turn out – less than 50%?? How pathetic! Mandatory voting and $300 fine NOW. Those that don’t vote don’t have the right to complain.

“I don’t know the issues” excuse is not valid. Go and find out about the issues – it doesn’t take that long.
“I didn’t have time” excuse is not valid. Make time. Vote early. You are entitled to time off work:

From Elections BC website: “You are entitled to four consecutive hours off from work between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on General Voting Day if you are an eligible voter.  It is up to your employer to decide when during the day you can take this time off.  It is illegal for your employer to deduct pay or penalize you for taking time off to vote.  Employers and employees are encouraged to work together so that all eligible voters can vote without disrupting business operations.”

“I didn’t get around to it” excuse is not valid. Voting is an action. You can’t just sit around all day and realize at 7:50pm that you don’t have time to get to the elementary school 2 blocks away.

This sort of inaction really frustrates me. Even in an election where the choices are generally unsavoury either way, you must still get involved! What will it take to get the young vote out there?

Maybe I should run for politics. Would people vote for me? In any case, I’m really feeling the urge to get more involved in something non-partisan, encouraging people to vote. BAH!