Cup O' Baby

Sooo, we've been kind of busy. Really busy, actually. I have about 5 unreturned phone calls (plus the unreturned work phone calls!), and a dishwasher full of dishes to be unloaded and a list of grownup type things I'm supposed to do but haven't had the time (or will) to do. But I need to post the darn pictures from our ultrasound. 'Specially since this was the big one, though we're still on the yellow team.

Here's a close up of baby's face.



And here's a close up of baby's face as well as baby's brain. The ultrasound tech. has this little switch that can add or remove baby's skin layer so you can see the organs underneath, for medical purposes, not just to be weird. So the upper right side of baby's head really is missing, and that really is his/her brain showing. It's a big one! Baby takes after mommy.



And lastly, here's a picture of baby's foot. Baby was in the standing position when we went to the ultrasound, so he or she is literally standing on my bladder and using his or her head to push on my stomach, causing me much heartburn. That's love.



At the time of the ultrasound, about a week and a half ago, baby was about 7 inches tall (standing up!) and 8 ounces. That's a cup of baby. But by the middle of this week baby will be almost double that size, 14-16 ounces! Which makes me feel better about always wanting to eat, you can't double in size without plenty of carbs! Geez. I really do need to eat the bagels, you see?

And, for the first time, I am wearing official maternity pants. They're actually too big and keep falling down, but my regular pants are too small, so I opted for feeling skinny rather than like a sausage. Which reminds me! I'd only gained 1 pound at my ultrasound appointment! That's 5 in total, so I'm not freaking out quite so much anymore. Supposedly I'm going to gain about a pound a week now, we'll see.

Last update, last weekend I finally felt the baby kick (or somersault?) for the first time! And I've been feeling baby shake and shimmy ever since. Especially if I lay down. For some reason laying down makes baby want to mosh? Last night baby kicked so hard Tripp thought I was having a contraction - it was awesome. I'll have a rant on maternity clothes shortly. Maybe tomorrow? There are many aspects to rant about.

Elise and other people

Sunday we had my dad, step-mom Liz, and lil' sister Elise over for brunch. They hadn't seen our apartment so this was their first time visiting us while we live in a real apartment, not a little hobbit hole.

Tripp was the chef. He whipped up his world-famous grits (famous in our world at least) along with some yummy sausage and some of my left over sweet potato cornbread and bosc pears. Tripp's grits include sauteed onion and garlic and I don't know what else. We have this unspoke rule that whenever one of us is cooking, the other must remain far, far away from the kitchen. We both think we're right about everything and that our way of doing things is better. This can become problematic, so I'm not exactly sure what all he does to his grits, but he makes them awesome. Plus you sprinkle on some Monterrey jack cheese......the memory is so good, I shiver when I think about it.

Safe to say Elise, being 3, was very entertaining and way cooler than the rest of us.



Here Elise shows us just how awesome our floors are - you can easily glide across the floor by holding onto the pant leg of any unsuspecting adult.



After stuffing our faces we made our way to our local playground so we could work off some of the extra grits we ate.













The reason Elise is so f'ing cute is because she took after me, her big sister. I mean, it's obvious. We even have the same eyeballs!!






Here's one more just cause her face makes me want to eat her up with frosting on her!

Don't mess with pregnant women, they will kill you.

Okay, so my ultrasound was scheduled for Tuesday (yesterday) morning at 8:15. Monday morning the receptionist from the doctor's office left me a voicemail saying that they had to cancel my appointment because the doctor wouldn't be in.

Umm, hello? I scheduled this appointment over a month ago! What the F do you mean the doctor won't be in?! Now, some of you may not realize why it is sooooo wrong, and fairly dangerous, to cancel this appointment on a pregnant woman: the ultrasound in the second trimester is the "BIG" ultrasound, the most important one of all 9 months, the one everyone waits for! For most people this is when they find out the sex of the baby. Despite not wanting to know the sex of the baby, I still want to see the baby (everyone minute of every hour of every...) so these mother fer's must be out of their mother f'ing minds to cancel the day before. Seriously. I almost committed acts of violence.

This is not my regular midwife, I go to another doctor in the city for my ultrasounds so Tripp can be there. This is some fancy pants doctor uptown. AND at my last ultrasound there was no doctor! There was just a technician, so who the hell cares if my doctor wants to go play golf somewhere, give me a god damned technician and show me the baby! Hormones people, don't forget about the hormones. Steam was coming out of every orifice on my head for about 45 minutes. Then I was finally able to reach the evil hag receptionist and reschedule for this Friday at 10. After the phone call my hormones made a left turn somewhere and I had to go to the bathroom three times because I was on the verge of hysterical crying.

By 3pm I was so emotionally drained and tired I could barely keep my head up straight. I'll have baby pictures to post on Friday - lucky for that receptionist I didn't take matters into my own hands and pay her a special visit on Monday that would not have ended well. There would have been yelling, and crying, and probably breaking of things.

Dinner party!

Claudia finally ended months of boyfriend secrecy and brought Jude around for dinner at our new place. She was really afraid that Jude would be so utterly terrified of Tripp and I (we are rather frightening, aren't we?) that he would run away and never call her again. Finally I told her that if she didn't bring him around I would stalk him at work and introduce myself, which would be scarier. So I, along with my lovely assistant Claudia, whipped up some Southern style Man Food, and...um...Tiramisu. Not really manly but good.



Le Menu:

Sweet Potato Corn Bread
A lot of servings (recipe works well if you half the ingredients, too)









2 cups flour
2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar (add a bit more if you like sweeter corn bread)
7 tsp. baking powder (I use 6 because I can sometimes taste the baking powder when I use 7)
2 tsp. salt
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups of cooked, mashed sweet potato

Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In separate bowl combine eggs, milk, oil, and sweet potato. Pour wet mixture into the flour mixture. Combine until moist. Pour into a greased pan (13x9). Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Broccoli with Lemon Butter Sauce
4 servings

16 oz. package frozen broccoli
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan (optional)

Bring frozen broccoli to a quick boil then let simmer until tender. Heat butter/margarine, water, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and let simmer. When broccoli is finished pour sauce over broccoli, sprinkle with Parmesan over broccoli before serving.

Southern Red Rice
6 servings

1 cup white rice
1 16 0z. can of crushed tomatoes
1/4 lb. Jimmy Dean spicy breakfast sausage (the kind in a tube)
1/2 small onion, diced
1 tbsp. butter
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Melt butter in 2 quart sauce pan, add onion and sausage, cook until onion is translucent. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, stirring. Turn heat to low, simmer, covered until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender (about 25 minutes).

Herbal Chicken
4 servings

1 tbsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
1/8 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil to coat chicken
6 chicken cutlets

Combine all spices. Coat chicken cutlets with olive oil, rub with minced garlic and herb mixture. Let sit for about 20 minutes (longer if you can). Saute until lightly browned and no longer pink inside (5-7 minutes on each side).




Tiramisu
1lb Mascarpone cheese (if you are cooking for a pregnant lady Bellagioso makes pasteurised cheese)
6 eggs (pasteurised if you like your friends)
3 tbsp. sugar
20 lady fingers
8oz. espresso
3 oz. brandy
cocoa powder or grated semi-sweet chocolate - garnish

**Using pasteurised eggs reduce the risk of food poisoning because eggs are raw!

In a shallow dish combine espresso and two shots of brandy (you can add a tsp of sugar if you like)
Separate egg whites and yolks.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks.
In a large bowl whip eggs, sugar until white and fluffy. Add mascarpone and shot of brandy. Mix until combined and fluffy.

Dip lady finger (carefully) in espresso. Lay a layer of lady finger at the bottom of dish. Cover with 1/2 mascarpone mixture. Lay another layer of lady finger (dipped in espresso) cover with remaining cheese mixture. Sprinkle powder chocolate or grated chocolate to cover entire surface. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. (Kept covered and refrigerated will be good for 5 to 7 days).










We are all fat and happy. The men folk are drinking beer and watching football, yeah, as if football is half as interesting as Claudia and I. I mean, really. And Claudia brought me my own special pregnant lady six, of orange and pineapple soda. Mmmmm.

18 1/2 weeks!!!

For all you baby-free people, that means 4 1/2 months pregnant. That's, like, half way done! Which is crazy, I can't believe that after this point it's nearly over. I don't even look pregnant yet!

Here's the latest visual:





There isn't a huge difference between week 14 and week 18, but there's definitely a little somethin'. My mom said she popped at 5 months, so I'm hoping that in the next two weeks there will be definite baby stomach visibility. This is definitely the only time in my life that I've been hoping and looking for a bigger belly. But I mean, geez, who wants to be pregnant without the belly? The only way anyone knows I'm pregnant is if I point it out! That's no fun. I want "Oohs" and "Aahs" and smiles from old ladies. Is that too much to ask?

There has also been a noticeable rounding of other areas that I'm not very pleased about, see exhibit C:



I'm pretty sure the baby is nowhere near this part of my anatomy, so why the rounding? It's probably the ramen noodles. Lots of them. Just sitting there on my legs. Damn it.

We go for the big ultrasound on Tuesday morning at 8:15. Hopefully the technician will make sure we don't see the little wee parts between the baby's legs, cause that would totally piss me off! I need to not know the sex of the baby, it's going to be the thing that spurs me on through labor - I'm impatient so I know I'll get that kid out fast to find out what we're having. If we know the sex of the baby, well then all I'll think about is how scary it is to push 6-8lbs of human through such a small space and I'll just try to avoid labor. It's just best for all parties if we don't know. Which is totally driving my mother insane.

First she thought it was a boy because the heartbeat was sort of calm at our first visit. Then at the next visit the baby's heartbeat was really fast and frantic sounding, so she was sure it was a girl. So I might be having both...oy.

I'll have new ultrasound pics either way on Tuesday, yay baby!

Tan boobies

We came home from St. Martin yesterday evening. I have to say, it suited me just fine to have no access to a cell phone or computer for an entire week. Though when I checked my email last night it took me an hour and a half to sort through everything. That's the bad part about vacations.

This vacation was the first and last of its kind - Tripp and I, plus my mom, Cathy, Phyliss, and two family friends. Spending 8 days with your family members, even if it's on a beautiful tropical island, is just not fun. By day 5 everyone was ready to go home. It wasn't all bad though. From now on we'll stick to a friends only policy.


Tripp and I visited 5 different beaches, Dawn Beach, Baie Rouge, Orient Baie, Friar's Bay, and Pinel Island. Orient Baie, Baie Rouge, and Pinel Island were amazing! Really good snorkeling at Baie Rouge, and the water is gorgeous. Well, all of the water on the island is gorgeous. . . Orient Baie is the ritzy frou frou beach, lots of naked boobies and extremely tan old French guys in very little bikinis. Pinel Island requires a ten minute ferry ride and it is definitely worth the $6 round trip. The beach on the island is somewhat small, you can rent chairs and umbrellas, there's a restaurant and a bar on the island, no other trappings of the land locked world though - not even electricity. The water on the beach is completely still, no waves, and doesn't get more than waist deep. The main recreation on the beach is to buy a large alcoholic beverage, sit in the shallow water, and get drunk and tan. Very nice.

When we first got to the island I gave Tripp a quota, he could only see 20 sets of boobies, penalty free. That number totally went out the window, especially once we got to Orient Baie. So to make it some what fair I got to go topless too, and give the ladies some time in the sun. They enjoyed it thoroughly. As did Tripp.

Though the island's motto is "The friendly island" the majority of people were not entirely friendly. The island's wildlife, however, is very cordial. While driving down any given road you are likely to be greeted by many friendly goats, lots of cows, some horses, several dogs, a few roosters, and of course, some pigs. They just roam about freely, greeting tourists and happily accepting any leftovers you might be willing to spare. My mom almost came home with a puppy she met in Phillipsburg. Tripp and I almost came home with a baby goat, they are way cute. We were going to name it Boris, but then found out there's a good deal of red tape when it comes to flying live stock on international airlines. Ugh.




Hurricane Dean almost scared us into coming home two days early (not that we minded by that point) but we found out the airlines wouldn't move our tickets forward anyway. So we stuck it out - Dean visited St. Martin on Friday with some showers, many dark, stormy clouds, and big ass frothy waves. We didn't go swimming that day. There was lots of detritus (new big word found on many beach signs on the island!)and yucky stuff washing up on shore. I don't like to swim with yucky stuff. A few crazy surfers did tempt fate and surfed with Dean. That's what happens when there's too much testosterone in your body.

Tripp and I ended up coming home only with a lovely set of tans and some kick ass guavaberry liqueur. If you go to St. Martin, get a guavaberry colada from the guavaberry emporium in Phillipsburg. It will rock your socks off. Seriously.

Weight issues - like, oh my god

So today I'm 15 weeks pregnant - that translates into 3 months and 3 weeks. I'll be four months a week from today, holy crap! It goes by surprisingly fast when you aren't nauseous and asleep by 7:30pm.

Okay recap - the first trimester I was nauseous, a lot, but no actual throwing up took place. There was mandatory napping if I didn't get at least 9-10 hours of sleep per night. Safe to say Tripp and I didn't see each other much, our days went like this:

7pmish: Tripp comes home, "Hey Nicole how was your day?"

Nicole - "Great honey. I'm going to bed in a half hour. As soon as I finish eating this entire gallon of rocky road."

And then I went to sleep. Repeat every night for nearly three months. Also, smells were bad. Most smells. Food of all kinds smelled bad. The gyro guy outside of my office, who I visited at least three times a week pre-baby, yeah, he and I had to end our relationship for the first trimester.

A note to any who may be expecting sometime in the future: ice cream is a wonderful way to deal with heart burn. All that creamy, cold deliciousness just turns that tummy acid right off.

Now I'm in my second trimester and it is waaaaaaaay better. The pregnancy glow doesn't occur in the first trimester, you're usually just green in the face. Now, now there is a glow. The glow is caused by the increased blood production. The increased blood production is also the cause of all of the extra urinating you'll be doing. (For instance, when you now wake up every single morning at 4:30 to use the bathroom - that's the extra blood you're making.) And in the second trimester I'm actually awake. And food smells good. In fact it smells great. Perhaps too good. I like to eat now. A lot.

- Edy's 1/2 Fat Ice Cream (Butter Pecan)
- Pickled Banana Peppers
- Tostitos and salsa.
- Everything Bagels (accounts for 3 out of the 4lbs. I've gained. I should really just tape two bagels to my butt instead of eating the bagels and then take them off once the baby is here.)

In my first trimester I lost a pound. I have since gained 5! So, altogether 4 pounds gained....and counting.

My mom gained 65lbs. when she was pregnant with me(!) and I am determined not to follow in her footsteps. In fact, I'm thinking that 4lbs. is plenty. I mean the baby is only 3 1/2 ounces right now! Those pounds are all in my butt and boobs!!! Okay, having boobs is kind of a perk. But the extra butt weight, that I could do without.

Next appointment is this Monday - hopefully I will manage not to gain 5 more pounds in the mean time.

Baby Makin'

I'm now 14 1/2 weeks pregnant and officially in my second trimester! Tripp and I went to our first ultra sound about two weeks ago and got to see the little bean. We knew without a doubt that I'm pregnant, but boy does it change things to actually see a baby in your belly!

The technician squirted some belly jelly on my stomach and the instant she put the...ultra sound handle thing...on my stomach there was a baby on the screen! It was kind of surreal and I didn't realize that the ultra sound would be in 3-D so we saw a real live baby shaped baby on the screen. I started laughing and the baby started kicking its legs and waving its arms around. It's really strange to see that happening on a screen and to know that the movement is going on inside your stomach but you don't feel anything! Once I stopped laughing, I actually held my breath, and the baby calmed down. So here are the first pictures of our little bean (You can see more detail if you click on the pictures.)! He or she is about 3 1/2 inches from head to toe right now.



I'm a little disappointed that I don't look more pregnant yet, but everyone keeps telling me that I should be glad because once I have a big belly I'll just want the baby to get here so I can have a flat stomach again. My mom said her stomach "popped" at 5 months, so I might not really show for a whole 'nother month and a half! So lame. Here's all I've got to brag about so far:



And no, I don't ordinarily wear clashing green clothing, only for photos.

Pants: the good, the bad, and the camel toe

I make my grand re-writing not because of an end of the busyness and laziness, oh no. It's the state of pants in the tri-state area that has made it necessary for me to get back into the blogging habit.

The Good: The re-emergence of the wide leg pant and the demise of the skinny jean (praise Jesus)

Much to my glee I've noticed wide leg jeans and pants making appearances in store windows, on racks, and on a few of the more aware fashionistas. I was so excited by this realization that I immediately started researching the availability of wide legs online. Some chain stores aren't quite up to speed but many stores already have wide leg jeans and pants in stores.

I stopped by American Eagle Outfitters earlier this week (I know, I know, it's a store for 80 lb. teeny bopper waifs, but I've almost always found good jeans in this store!). American Eagle does indeed have several different styles of wide leg denim. The denim trousers are my favorite style, of course, because they're definitely tinged with 70s. There are also a few styles that are more casual and definitely worth a trip to the dressing room. The only negative, since it is a teeny bopper store all the jeans are low rise, no high waisted denim here.

There are wide leg pants at the Gap, but no wide leg denim. I haven't tried on the pants yet, but I plan to. Will update with my thoughts on the fit.

The Bad: Skinny pants and denim

Okay those pants are the bad. BUT - the good news is they're on their way out! I'm pretty sure that about only 1% of the population in the tri-state area could possibly look good in skinny pants and jeans. The other 99% of the population is either too skinny and suffers from complete flat ass and stick leg syndrome or they're too heavy so it becomes painfully obvious that their rear ends are the widest part of their bodies. And, hello!, your bums look like squashed donuts in those pants, large, wide squashed donuts. Attractive? No. Stylish? Decidedly not.

I would fall into the latter category, only I'm aware of that fact and therefore do not wear skinny jeans or pants. Unfortunately much of the population is either unaware that they are dressing themselves in a completely unflattering manner, or they think it is better to be "in style" than to actually accentuate the positive.

Well skinny jeans, at least you brought about the revival of wide leg bottoms. It was worth having you around, if only for the wide leg backlash.

The Camel Toe: I shudder

Dear young women of the tri-state area, this is a call to you. You may not realize this, but leggings...are not pants. They were never meant to be pants and they will never be. They are an accessory, to be worn under skirts, dresses, long tunics, etc. They are not meant to be worn with short tshirts and tank tops. No matter how cute your behind may be it was not meant to be seen in your leggings.

And have you ever thought about what's at the front of your rear end? Yeah. That. No one wants to see your camel toe. Seriously. Except for those really nasty, grimy perverts who can be found in abundance in the tri-state area. So, unless you really like attention from these camel toe loving perverts, you should probably switch to real pants, or wearing your leggings in an appropriate manner. And, your safety and comfort aside, I don't want to see that crap. It's worse than the thongs sticking out of your pants.

Running the Numbers - An American Self-Portrait

Okay, see, my husband came back home and then I don't post anything for almost two months! But then Tripp sent me a link to this artist's site and I think his work is so awesome and such a great representation of all the things I write about here that it spurred me on to finally write a new post.


So this artist, Chris Jordan, has created these massive images that visually reinforce just how much we as Americans consume on a regular basis. And I don't just mean food or clothing. The first image on his site is of 213,000 Vicodin pills and it depicts the number of emergency room visits in America each year due to misuse or abuse of prescription pain killers. And when you read the number 213,000 or think of it in your head, it's just too big to comprehend, really. So seeing it represented concretely really takes the message home.

There's another image of 2.3 million folded prison uniforms, that's how many people were in the American prison system in 2005. 2.3 million people. That's pretty much everyone you know, and then everyone they know, and then everyone they know....I mean it's more than we as humans can wrap our brains around.

He also recreates the famous Seurat painting using 106, 000 cans, the number of cans used in America every 30 seconds. 106,000 cans every 30 freaking seconds! This is why I hate all you people that don't recycle. Bastards.

So, it's a cool site. I can't tell from the site if he's showing his pieces anywhere in the U.S. currently. If anyone has heard of this guy and knows if he is indeed showing his work somewhere, please do tell, I would definitely like to see these images as they were meant to be seen - big and in your face.

Fig - towards sustainable urban living

My friend, Ms. Craptina, brought this great little web site to my attention. If you're interested in some sustainable living/life simplifying tips I highly recommend checking out Fig. This looks like Fig's first issue. Hopefully there will be plenty more to come.

Fig's winter issue offered some advice for the holidays, and alternatives to wrapping paper, which typically isn't recyclable, and obviously increases garbage output by a ridiculous amount every December. They've also got links to sites, like a sustainable/eco friendly hardware store, which I happen to find way cool! And there are restaraunts and community-building sites listed as well.

But - my absolute favorite aspect of the site is the article "Day Tripper." This article listed a great place to visit using mass transit, within two hours of NYC, and for a round trip price of $20 (plus any food/entertainment you may supply yourself with). New Dream has articles about eco-friendly trips as well. I love to travel, but always feel terrible about the damage done by car exhaust and even worse, jet fuel. So these articles are great for me. I like to know that I can still travel without causing as much damage (and for less $$)!

And, yes, that is a picture of figs...not very creative...I'll do better next time.

I miss Tripp!

He's in LA for work for a week! A freaking week!

I just want to listen to the Pixies over and over and over . . . Here comes your man. . . here comes your maaaaaaaaan......

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our wedding - this is a form of therapy for me, or torture. Either way:



That's during our toast...



That's us being so in love you probably just want to throw up on your shoes...



......just marriaged....



Aaaaah, the honeymoon - lots of sex, lots of food, what more could you ask of life?

I'm going to pout now.

You can tell just how much of my time Tripp takes up when he's home by the number of posts I've made since he left. More than in any other month. I don't like it.

China Blue - go see it!

China Blue, a documentary, playing for the next week at Anthology Film Archives and other theatres across the US, covers the lives of workers in a denim factory in China over the course of several weeks. The best thing about the film is that it is from the point of view of the workers, they narrate the film. No middleman narrator putting a spin on things.

You can find out more about the film and where it's playing at the Teddy Bear Films web site.

Also, here is an article from BusinessWeek Online about Wal-Mart and their "inspections" of Chinese factories. The link can also be found on the Teddy Bear Films web site.

Living Simple

Okay, so I'm trying to live my life more "simply". As in, in every way I can think of. This is something I've sort of always done without actually realizing what I was doing until other people pointed this aspect of myself out to me. I've always tried to keep things simple, I don't like drama, and I'm not into fancy cars, in fact, a fancy car doesn't make me turn my head, I couldn't possibly care less. I don't like flashy new hi-tech gadgets, "Oooh, the new iPhone!", I don't care about jewelry, or luxury clothing. Never have. But now I'm actually actively seeking out living simply now.

Things I'm now doing:
- Tripp (the husband) and I don't own a car. And if it remains up to me, we will never own a car. If we happen to move somewhere that makes owning a car an absolute must, I would only buy a hybrid or a car that runs on diesel so that we could use unprocessed grease instead. This would of course require planning and I'm aware of that.
- I did not own a TV but once Tripp and I moved in together I became the owner of a television by default. I'm not a fan.
- There are times when I do like to buy clothes, sweatshop free only now, but for the most part I'm not a big shopper. I don't usually feel any urge to buy superfluous things. Buying an iPod was really the biggest splurge I've ever allowed myself.
- Try to spread the word to friends and family about the value of spenging less money and spending more time doing things you actually love.

Thins I want to do:
- There is someone on New Dream.org that has made a vow to keep the thermostat off until November, and then they only turn ot up to 48 degrees. 48 degrees!! I thought I was being so good with keeping the thermostat at 65, below the average 72, and here's this guy keeping his house at 48 degrees! Clearly my thermostat is not as eco/financially friendly as it could be. I need to improve here, but I don't know if I'm quite ready for 48 degrees.
-I need to shop even less than I do for clothing. My problem is that I won't shop for anything for months, and then all of a sudden I'll realize I really, really need to replace my worn out stuff. That doesn't seem all that bad, but I could probably work on this. A big problem is finding well-made, durable clothing that is sweatshop free and not obscenely expensive.
- Stop my frigging family from spending $1,000 dollars or more every Christmas on presents! Initially all of their spending makes me angry and I want to retaliate against it. Instead I feel the need to shop more for them to make up for how much they are spending on me. It's a ridiculous, stupid cycle. Next year I'll have more resolve. Damn it.

There are definitely other things I could do, and I'll make note of them as I think of them. And this isn't all about, "Oh, I'm going to save the environment!" Honestly, I believe it's too late to really stop the damage we've done to the planet as a whole, but I'm also not a fatalist so I just keep trying.

Living more simply is really about reevaluating my life and how I think and behave. Sometimes I'm amazed to realize how much of my thinking is really affected by modern society. And because of the society I grew up in. Meeting people from different places across the globe really makes you realize how you can think as an "American" and how American mentality is really so different from the mentality of other people across the world. Some people would not believe how much food we throw away because, well, we just don't want it. Or how quickly we replace things that aren't even broken, or that could easily be repaired. Seeing how little other people not only survive on, but actually thrive on, has made me aware of how little I actually need in order to survive and be happy. Thus, I am becoming more serious about my simplicity.

Some things that don't require lots of shopping and money that bring me the most happiness/fun:
- Filling our planters in our backyard in the spring. This past spring was the first time I was able to do this and it was SO relaxing and enjoyable I was actually surprised. Not to mention how proud I was when things actually grew! I paid for some soil and seedlings and then I was off. No pesticides or gross chemical stuff either.
- Dancing with my girlfriends. Granted, I do usually spend some money on booze, but I'm a bit of a light weight so I never really have to spend too much. And then the dancing until 4am is an amazing release of tension, and it makes me feel good. No one loses there.
-Books, books, books, a lot of books. In fact I am out of books to read now. I'm reading the last few stragglers that I never actually intended to read because I had to go a week without any books at all and then I just couldn't take it anymore. The funny thing is I actually am really enjoying these books I never intended to open.

So many ways to live simply, I just haven't thought of all of them yet. If you happen to be into living a simpler lifestyle feel free to fill me in on the ways that you've simplified your own life. I'm always open to new things.

New American Dream

Dear fellow bloggers,

If you:

a.) are concerned about the environment
b.) are an obsessive recycler
c.) freaking hate junk mail because it's a waste of your time and a waste of landfill space
d.) don't buy into the whole, "Oooh, I'm an American, my favortie activities include buying things and piling up credit card debt," mentality
e.) like organizing things like book swaps, clothing swaps, and other community building activities
f.) love the holidays because you get to spend time with loved ones, NOT because of the shopping mania
g.) want to meet other people who are into points a.-f.

you should definitely check out the New American Dream web site.

The New American Dream is an organization that promotes, well, a new "American Dream". In short, it's a web site full of resources for people who don't buy into American "consumerism". Most of our culture promotes buying things as a means to "finding yourself", giving you fulfillment, and making you happy. Television is full of commercials telling you how much happier you'd be with this new shiny car, that bigger house, a new flat screen television....the list goes on.

Well if you are like me, and you don't think that a new pair of shoes will really give your life more meaning, you might find this site a valuable resource. New American Dream offers information, web sites, contacts, petitions, and more to help you live your life in a more meaningful way, by spending time with the people you care about, doing things you enjoy, and overall improving your quality of life. It sounds cheesey, but seriously, do you really want to spend the rest of your life working 50-60 hours a week so you can pay off your credit cards, mortgages, and whatever other kind of debt we can manage to compile in your pursuit of shopping happiness? I don't!

You can set up an account on New Dream, post a picture, search for New Dreamers by location or interests, and send emails to other New Dreamers (kind of MySpaceish only without the pedophiles and annoying bands). This is really useful if you're trying to organize something in your neighborhood, say a food co-op, a yard sale (everyone on this site LOVES second-hand goods since it cuts down on waste from production and it's less expensive than shopping at the mall) or some kind of public event.


There are also discussion forums on lots of great topics. You can even find really good book reviews and local events.

The greatest, most wonderful feature of the New Dream web site is that they have a database of forms (both electronic and paper) that are addressed to the appropriate people/offices to remove yourself from junk mail lists! I removed myself from every single junk mail list that New Dream has listed and after about two months the amount of junk mail I received dropped, a lot. I hardly get any junk mail at all now, which makes me happy. It also keeps my recycling bin empty.

Take a look, and if you like the site let me know!

How to be a mostly normal commuter in the tri-state area

Okay, let me first say that this post should not need to be written. The following bits of "advice" may seem like common sense to most people, because that's what it is. The following is a list of common sense for the many people who live, work, and commute between New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Because, clearly, not everyone is born with the same amount of common sense.

You don't have to follow these rules, but failure to do so, may and should result in verbal and/or physical abuse by other people with more common sense.

Let's start with the basics: WALKING

1. When walking, on streets, in subways, on staircases, etc. STAY TO THE RIGHT. Failure to stay to the right means that people walking towards you must now navigate around your ridiculous self, causing congestion, confusion, delays, and anger. Serious anger.

2. On escalators, if you decide that you don't want to walk up or down the escalator because a. you're old and should not be required to walk if a machine will walk for you b. you're injured c. you're fat and lazy: you need to stand to the right side of the escalator so that younger, more agile people can continue walking up the freaking escalator on the left. If the escalator is only wide enough for one person and you are not an elderly or injured person, walk down the escalator instead of holding everyone else up, you lazy bastard.

Navigating the subway system:

3. When coming to a subway turnstile have your Metrocard out.
If your Metrocard is not out
go off to the side and get it out. If you hold everyone up while searching through your oversized knock-off Coach bag, someone may mug you for your bag simply out of spite. If I catch someone holding up rush-hour commuters fumbling through an oversized over-priced bag, I'll probably be angry enough to mug you for your bag and toss it infront of an oncoming train. So don't do it.

4. When waiting for the train doors to open so that you can enter a train, stand off to the side. Do not stand directly infront of the doors so that passengers who are exiting have to go around you. Move your ass to the side until everyone is off the train, and then you get on. Got that? People get off the train first, you get on the train after. Two steps. Take it one at a time if you have to. This rule is of the utmost importance. People do not like to be pushed through while they are exiting a train. People can get violent. People like me. If you happen to push through me while I'm trying to get off of a train, I will trip you. Blatantly. And then I will point and laugh at you. Other responses to not being allowed off a train because of pushy subway riders include: loud, violent expletive threats, near fistacuffs, and altercations involving the police.

5. While waiting to get on the train, after the other passengers have been allowed off, do not shove past the more courteous people who have been waiting to get on the train. If you shove, you will be violently shoved back and possibly worse. Late commuters can take on a mob quality, so you don't want to be the rude neandrothal who couldn't wait his turn only to have the mob of courteous people take you out. There will be no witnesses on your behalf. Seriously.

6. If you are not elderly, not handicapped, not injured, and not pregnant get up off your ass and offer your seat to anyone who is: elderly, handicapped, injured, or pregnant. If I see one more 20 or 30 something guy sit on his fat khaki ass reading his newspaper while some elderly person or pregnant woman gets tossed around the train, I will let loose a barrage of curses and oaths so vile you would not repeat them infront of your grandmother (who you would also not give your seat to). Young men, if you read this, you should be VERY ashamed.

7. While on the subway, unless the car is nearly empty DO NOT LEAN AGAINST THE CENTER POLE. Other people, yes I know it's hard to think of anyone other than yourself, but other people will need to hold onto that pole. Most people, like myself, do not want to hold onto the center pole and have their fingers crushed by your back. Nevermind crushed, most people do not want to have to touch any part of some random subway rider. So get your ass off the pole and hold on with your hand you self-absorbed freaks.

These are all of the lessons I have to offer for today. As commuters lacking common sense perpetrate other offenses, I'll be sure to update you on the correct and incorrect manner in which to handle such situations.

I stand corrected

I finally heard the NPR broadcast about the clothing industry in Cambodia. It only took me an entire year after the broadcast initially aired, but at least I am now in the know. The short and sweet of it is this: Cambodia's clothing industry is trying to revive the economy and in an effort to garner more textile business, Cambodia has revamped its policies on workers' benefits in the garment industry. Cambodian garment workers receive a mandatory 40 vacation days a year, they have a minimum wage, mothers with small children have mandatory access to their children for breast feeding at all times and garment workers are among the highest paid workers in Cambodia.

Obviously, I was very much incorrect in thinking that purchasing clothes with "Made in Cambodia" on the label would be supporting sweatshop labor. Now that I know this I would definitely encourage people to seek out clothing that was made in Cambodia, since this could help stabilize Cambodia's economy and pave the way for working conditions in other sectors to improve as well. BUY CAMBODIAN! And American, and from any other sweatshop free nation. To the reader DAS, thank you for your earlier comment about encouraging people to buy Cambodian. You obviously didn't miss the NPR broadcast the first time it aired.

One major store that is definitely a supporter of Cambodian textiles is The Gap. So if you happen to be shopping there, keep an eye out for "Made in Cambodia" clothing.

On another note, American Apparel has lots of new dresses available, as well as a few men's pieces added lately. If only Apparel Agents would get a move on putting out some new items, that would be something to shop for!

To all of my three readers, please do leave me a comment if you have any information related to buying sweatshop free. And if you think I'm incorrect in something I've written here, let me know as well. I'd definitely rather do some more research and spread the truth than unknowingly mislead anyone!