Repurposing

I've decided that this is going to be a different blog, but I'll keep the name because I like it. It'll now be my space for building my whole self: spiritual, mental, physical, social and inetractive. I'm going to try to find something beautiful in each day, preferably outside or at least outside of me, I'm going to practice finding things to be greatful for, I'm going to list things that I've learned, I'm going to track my education and my attempts to get back in shape, and I'm generally going to blog the things I do and know and feel that aren't one of the other specialized blogs I already keep up. 

The comic will continue somewhere down the line, though probably not here and probably not soon.

news from grist

Meatless Monday; cut out one meat meal a week and save the planet!

How to stock up for the End Times-- somewhat sustainably. Including a link to this Latter Days Saints how-much-food-should-i-save calculator.

neat things from slowfood usa

Fourth Graders Protest School Lunches! Go fourth-graders! You're, what? Nine? That's just amazing, and I fully agree that the system won't change until people stop accepting it. Too bad your parents and school system were such stiflers.

Sustainable Chocolate! Mainstream, big name chocolate no less! I feel bad that I can't give it up / am not willing to give it up, and am therefore part of the problem; but this gives me hope! A life were I don't have to give up chocolate OR destroy the world! And being a mainstream company means maybe it won't be 3$ a bar or more for the stuff!

The USDA is turning over part of it's land for a People's Garden. Call me a populist or a communist or a socialist or whatever, but when something is dedicated to the People, I really like it. The People need to be shown that there are alternatives to the way things have been while this group of the People have grown up (it's not 'how it's always been'-- this food-chain crap has only become this bad in the last generation or so, but no one knows that.). The full article here. And the official plans are here.

Who'd'a thunk Detroit could be so green? "Detroit is currently home to 300 plus community farms and over 20 school gardens, and if John R. Hantz’s vision becomes real, Detroit could be home to the world’s largest urban farm—about the size of San Francisco.  According to Hantz’s press release Phase 1 would redevelopment about 70 Acres of vacant lots, and abandoned property on Detroit’s lower east side."

Eco Kitchens

CHOW ran an article that had thirteen neat eco-friendly kitchens, and I wanted to share my favorites:

Pangaia in Hawaii-- their kitchen just looks awesome, and it's open-air so you know the climate must be amazing. Wonder what they do during typhoons?

Eryn in British Colombia, Canada -- The kitchen is basic, but the spheres are awesome. They look like giant bird gourds and they're up a tree. How cool would that be to live in?*

The Flow Kitchen -- I actually saw this somewhere else, one of the other blogs I read. It's futuristic in exactly the way I like, and it's a closed-system that makes perfect sense to me. I want one so bad.**

Earthships -- I love the walls made of cement and recycled beer bottles-- like hundreds of tiny windows. And they can be as amazing as you choose. Fully customisable, endlessly creative.

That Roundshouse -- A sod-roofed handbuilt wonder of a home. Check out the seasonal pictures at the bottom of this page.

* In my head, my dream house is less a house, and more a close collection of green / sustainable modular homes all organized so that together, they form a fully functional home. I've got the T-House that's made of recycled wood beams, the sort of tree houses that balance on stumps, a yurt, a geodesic dome, a vardo... more that I can't remember right now. There's a folder on my computer somewhere.

**In my hodge-podge future modular home.