April 30th, 2007
This and other Peak Oil arguments. Do I believe in all of it? I am not a scientist to form comprehensive opinion independently but I understand enough of what they’re talking about to be quite depressed about the issue. The only plausible source for optimism is hope in technology and innovation which might or might not deliver. People have been predicting the doom for humanity for centuries– we were going to run out of food, mysterious diseases would wipe us out by 1990 etc. etc. Nothing like that happened so far but the problem persists: there are too many of us using up Earth’s resources too quickly– unless the population or consumption (or both) will start decreasing, we will run out. Right?
In the meanwhile, what do I do? Incremental changes to my own lifestyle seem like a drop in a bucket, going off the grid completely will still not persuade the other 6 billion of people to do the same. Reducing amount of water my toilet flushes or biking to the local food co-op seem insignificant in a world where people use disposable everything and drive their SUVs from their homes to the corner store. In fact, I am a bit annoyed by the gentrification of the environmentalism in this country– popular media would make you believe that if you change to more efficient light bulbs and start recycling pop cans, you have saved the planet! That’s definitely a step into the right direction but it is not coming close to mitigating the damage we are imposing onto our planet. I have entertained the idea of never flying again and getting rid of my car but unfortunately, these changes would make existence in the current social infrastructure almost impossible. Should I turn into a crazy Greenpeace activist or join a political lobby? Move to Kansas and compost my poop? Change my career path and try to invent a new way to capture renewable energy? With looming crisis so large and options for meaningful action so limited, I feel so hopeless that I might as well do nothing. (faulty reasoning, I know…)
Can someone make me feel better about this issue? (and I don’t mean smoking/snorting/swallowing anything to make me forget about the whole silly thing 
) Sometimes, I feel that being ignorant is better for one’s happiness.
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April 29th, 2007
I love Freecycle! As of today, we are now happy owners of a new LCD TV and we needed to get rid of the old TV. As a tree-hugger in training, I was not about to throw out the old set; even disposing of it responsibly wasn’t enough for me. Re-using is the key! For most of us, taking stuff to Goodwill is a standard answer for getting rid of items we no longer need. However, I tend to postpone those trips and going there involves, well…, going somewhere. I am lazy.
So I use that fabulous website to list things I don’t need– tonight, I got 11 responses from people willing to show up and log that old brick of a TV away! I had nothing but good luck with the website (score so far: old couch, old PC screen, and now the TV) — I don’t need to even haul old stuff to the garbage and people who come to get it are so genuinely excited, I know it is going to good use in a new home. Genius!
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April 18th, 2007
I just found a gray hair. Couldn’t it wait till tomorrow when I am 29 and more ready for that?
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April 15th, 2007
What is worth going to a Happy Hour with coworkers on a Friday night just to drink Diet Coke, going to bed at 10 PM, getting up at 6, and then driving for almost 2 hours?
A personal best in a 20K is good enough for me. Genya, myself, and another friend, Maggie, ran a 20K race where I finished in about 1:59 which makes my miles to be at about 9:35. Yay! The course was mostly flat and the competition very fast. I am now sore and happy and also consuming carbohydrates at an alarming rate. It seems like I get hungry every 2 hours, no matter what I had eaten beforehand. I’d better go to bed now– can’t eat when you’re sleeping 
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April 5th, 2007
Bush Bypasses Senate to Name Ambassador - and I can hardly believe Faux News is carry it. The primary issue is that Bush, once again is abusing certain loopholes to push his agenda and friends. And while the ambassador to Belgium may not be the most critical position in government, it is the principle, the fact that he will specifically defy congress to reward his political friends and donors.
How can we not have come to the conclusion this president needs to be impeached? Clinton was impeached for failing to admit he screwed around with an intern - Bush has failed to admit numerous lies, half-truths and outright illegal activity, why is he still around?
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April 1st, 2007
This evening, Genya and I went for a 10 mile run around the lakes. That alone doesn’t necessarily make us very hardcore runners, so let me expand the picture just a little bit. We usually run on Saturday mornings but this weekend we decided to wait due to the rainy forecast. We waited, it rained, we waited some more. Our social calendars got in the way (have a fabulous dinner photos to post!) and we were left with Sunday afternoon run. The bad news was that it never stopped raining…
I must admit I was pretty negative getting out of the house: 38 degrees and 30 mph winds blowing cold rain in your face is not exactly the perfect set up for 1.5 hours worth of running. Once we got going though, it didn’t seem too bad even though I lost feeling in the right side of my face for about half a mile. Surprisingly, we did see fellow runners, some dog walkers, and even a couple of people roller-blading. Way to go guys! And thanks Genya for dragging me out today
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