Tomorrow

It has been a long and terrible time since tomorrow mattered as much as it does today.

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Tomorrow is a place of definitions, where change may come and be welcome even in the smallest degree. Tomorrow will see millions upon millions from every national nook and cranny pour forth in celebration of their own lone and lonesome voices.

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What they call change is nothing more than choice. Tomorrow is another choosing, perhaps the greatest of our lives. Something will happen, and afterward, we will know.
Tomorrow has come at last.

It's the Environment Stupid

The obvious environmental impacts of plastic have long motivated me to reduce my plastic consumption. Jen's studies in Naturopathic Medicine, especially Environmental Medicine, have caused a great reduction in the plastics around our house. And this excellent article gives me even more motivation to NOT buy that next whatever that has more plastic in it. After all,

Aren’t disposable razors and foam packing peanuts a poor consolation prize for the destruction of the world’s oceans, not to mention our own bodies and the health of future generations? “If ‘more is better’ and that’s the only mantra we have, we’re doomed,” Moore says, summing it up.

So as,

awareness of just how hard we’ve bitch-slapped the planet is skyrocketing.

Remember to do something this Fall!

Five Words

Patagonia's The Cleanest Line, one of my favorite blogs, has a recent post I think is worth archiving and keeping an eye on as I think the comments will be great.

Check it out.

Finding a groove

Today is the fifth day in Spain, and I feel like I am finding my rhythm here. Not sure if there is any significance to the fifth day of a trip, and I think if there were it would only hold relevance to a fairly sustained trip -- I remember on the Grand Canyon (an 18-day trip) the fifth day felt like I settled in. But after the challenges of travel (restlessness and poor sleep on the plane, jet lag, gaining bearings in a new place); the shock of a new culture (smokers in the booth next to you during lunch, businesses that you need closing at 2pm - siesta, miscommunication results in large bill); and the adjustments to new cuisine (first meal is a leg of pork = skin/fat/muscle/bone/veins/more fat and skin, veggie sandwich = wonder bread, some veggies and lots of mayo) I found my self today feeling the groove of daily life in Espana. Waking at about 8am, simple desayunos (breakfast), off to classes (Euro Human Rights, Civil Law, Urban Planning Law), followed by a stroll down one of the many great boulevards of Mardid until I found a cafeteria for almuerzo (lunch) at 2:30pm, Spanish lessons to follow, skipping the siesta today and studying for three horas until a meeting with some classmates at a tapas bar for pre-dinner snacks and some futbol - the Champions Cup (or something similar), Milan won - back home for dinner at 11pm (Spanish dinner time), and then some studying, emails and blogging before falling asleep to more studying. The highlight of the day was a marked improvement in my Spanish skills and confidence, which I am sure helped the rest of the day along. Ok, time for bed. Pictures hopefully in the next post.

Don't Drive

I need to hear some simple

Its been awhile ... and maybe that is why I need to hear some simple so badly. Say what?!

From Patagonia's new in-house blog, THE CLEANEST LINE, I love that name and its underlying meaning by the way ...

Fifteen year-olds scare me to death. I’ve never been cool, and 15 was when my nerdiness fleshed out in all its glorious fullness. And now, the great karmic card dealer has dealt me this hand: I’ll be living with a whole posse of them in the Tetons for the next three weeks.
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This crew—all boys—is LOUD; all loud voices, noisy bodies, clamorous movements. They come from loud places where they have to struggle to hear and to be heard.
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Just trust me on this one, you need to read IT, your gonna love IT, so just click IT.