never did i think i would be

spending halloween: 
*hanging out with the other
3 anthro writing tutors & our
coordinator talking about
electromagnetic radiation,
*sitting in my 3 hour senior seminar

eating dal & mac n cheese/

talking about nomads of the Ottoman Empire/

presenting a summary of & my thoughts on Turkish feminism,

*voting for the first time,

eating chocolate ice cream

and researching the different
props with my housemate.

Camellia sinensis.
real tea should taste like this:

'"Epigenetics" means what we eat, how we live and love, alters how our genes behave"

supporting local organic farms:

*helps local small businesses

*reduces transportation costs

*contributes to protecting the environment, esp top soil

*reduces toxic chemicals

*prevents soil erosion

*tastes better!!

*promotes biodiversity

*strengthens community

*improves workers' rights

*contributes to a more sustainable future!
*spreads awareness & involvement
in environmental & social activism

*is not necessarily more expensive

in the long run.

lastly, regarding labeling,
just knowing what it is

you are consuming is a nice and valid thing to know :)

it's that time of the quarter again.

o the madness.

fa'amalosi!

“Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: 'You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself — educating your own judgements. Those that stay must remember, always, and all the time, that they are being moulded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society.”
― Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook

to totara!

“if all insects on Earth disappeared,
within 50 years all life on
Earth would end. If all human beings
disappeared from the Earth,
within 50 years all forms of life would flourish." 

i just went to hear michael pollan speak!

(i won a free ticket from the food systems raffle).

 he & the panel talked about:

*a war on awareness

 *plastic in sea turtles

*nurturing vineyards without

the wire, poles, and fences
*monsanto (he has an interesting
& surprising perspective)

*how everything relates back to food

*how the current debate isn't on

if gmos are "healthy" or not,

but that we have a right to

KNOW what it is we are consuming.

afterwards, while maryna

was getting her book signed

i asked michael what his

favorite vegetable is.

"kale, but tomatoes are good too,

and bitter greens."

“My name is Eva, which means 'life,' according to a book of names my mother consulted. I was born in the back room of a shadowy house, and grew up amidst ancient furniture, books in Latin, and human mummies, but none of those things made me melancholy, because I came into the world with a breath of the jungle in my memory.”
― Isabel Allende, Eva Luna

her book was like a very long

thick poem wrapped in

wild vines and blossoms.

a dutch fort in:

i'm writing a 20-page paper on postcolonial tourism

(in the pacific, esp hawai'i)

~*~*~

the other day, dominique
and i walked through the forest.
 it was so wonderful that we could
chat about haunani-kay trask
and epeli hau'ofa's 'our sea of islands'

i just remembered that

i had to memorize a samoan poem once.

o oe se a? 
(~80% of the poem consisted of vowels) 

it occurred to me the other day that i:

*am taking 5 classes

*have 1 job

*intern at an alternative

elementary school once a week
(i'm really liking this place.
i'm definitely sending my future kid
to a non-traditional school).

time is so precious now.

sometimes, i look my blog up on google.

it took me to this site

where a girl had blogged about my blog.

she posted some pictures

she drew and wrote:

"I don't doodle often except when I have something due

... (cough  cough) The fish was inspired by Linda's

drawing of a gypsy chicken,

found on thegreenpeartree blog. Her art is great."

“she would rather light candles than

curse the darkness and her glow has

warmed the world”
— adlai e. stevenson.

“when you realize how perfect everything is

you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky”