Okay. I'm home from India. No more excuses. No more excuses for not blogging, or not cleaning my room, or for not joining the Park Slope Food Coop. Oh wait, actually, I do have an excuse for that one. I HAVE been meaning to get over to the Food Coop, pay my $100.00 initiation fee, and enjoy first rate produce and groceries at a discounted rate, in addition to becoming a part of a community of greenies like me. Woo! And all this, JUST for working 2 hrs and 45 minutes a month! What a great idea. Yes, well, as the saying goes, apparently every rose has its thorn... or something- because I just read this detailed account of how one well meaning young woman flunked miserably out of the seemingly easy-pass food coop, and all of a sudden I'm having second thoughts. Who knew that if you have to miss your shift that you have to make it up with two shifts before the time of your next shift? I can see how the cycle could spiral out of control. What if I have an emergency rehearsal? What if my boss calls as I'm leaving the house for my shift? What if I JUST FORGET ONE DAY?!!??!? All this pondering to say, I'm just not sure I'm ready for that kind of commitment. I want to be. Just like I want to be a puppy owner, I am telling you I really want it. BUT, as my mother would say, this is a bigger decision than I may have originally thought, and so I think it's worthwhile to take my time in making it.
Wednesday
Cooped Up
Okay. I'm home from India. No more excuses. No more excuses for not blogging, or not cleaning my room, or for not joining the Park Slope Food Coop. Oh wait, actually, I do have an excuse for that one. I HAVE been meaning to get over to the Food Coop, pay my $100.00 initiation fee, and enjoy first rate produce and groceries at a discounted rate, in addition to becoming a part of a community of greenies like me. Woo! And all this, JUST for working 2 hrs and 45 minutes a month! What a great idea. Yes, well, as the saying goes, apparently every rose has its thorn... or something- because I just read this detailed account of how one well meaning young woman flunked miserably out of the seemingly easy-pass food coop, and all of a sudden I'm having second thoughts. Who knew that if you have to miss your shift that you have to make it up with two shifts before the time of your next shift? I can see how the cycle could spiral out of control. What if I have an emergency rehearsal? What if my boss calls as I'm leaving the house for my shift? What if I JUST FORGET ONE DAY?!!??!? All this pondering to say, I'm just not sure I'm ready for that kind of commitment. I want to be. Just like I want to be a puppy owner, I am telling you I really want it. BUT, as my mother would say, this is a bigger decision than I may have originally thought, and so I think it's worthwhile to take my time in making it.
Sunday
A Breath Of Fresh Air
(Those aren't clouds in the background, they're mountains!!!)I know I’ve been a little bit delinquent with my posts, but you’ll have to forgive me, I’ve been in India! Oops, I forgot to tell you I was going. I came to visit my grandparents in the foothills of the Himalayas and then to take them on a short beach vacation to Goa.
It’s always really intense coming back here, and seeing my grandparents living alone in the mountains always makes me emotional. I decided to take a hike in the mountains this morning to clear my head—up to China Peak, an 8,500 foot ascent at the top of which you can supposedly see China!
What can I say? There really is nothing like mountain air to clear the mind. Especially when the air up here is such a huge contrast to the air down in the plains where the big cities are. The air quality in Delhi and Mumbai is so bad, on smoggy days I can hardly see my hand stretched out in front of me, and my eyes, nose and throat get intolerably dry and itchy. It felt great to spend a little time away from the teeming humanity that sometimes seems literally inescapable in India.
Sadly enough, even at 8,500 ft. there was still litter strewn across the mountainside (granted it was cleaner and cleaner towards the top). My disgust at the total disregard for nature was replaced by sympathy after some consideration… in a developing country like India, people are struggling just to have food and clean water, the environment is just not a realistic concern at that point. Even the USA, which is literally decades ahead of India in terms of development, is only just getting smart about the environment and beginning to implement change. My dad told me it would be pointless, but I filled several bags with trash and brought them down anyway- if anything for my own peace of mind.
The complexity of such a beautiful and culturally rich place is only intensified by the contrast brought by globalization. Like every country in such a transitional time, conditions are rough and the environment gets compromised for the sake of “progress”. Hopefully, in time, the balance between industrial progress and social progress here will even itself out. Let’s hope it does, because the natural beauty of this place is too important to waste.
Monday
Bon Autumn
I'm all moved in to my new Park Slope apartment. I love the new place, and the neighborhood is about as cute as they come (I'm already completely enamored with my corner coffee shop, Cafe Regular Du Nord, shown here).
In the few days that it took me to move and set up shop again though, it seems the seasons have abruptly changed. In my last post I was picnicking in Dumbo, and now, I'm wrapped in a blanket doing work on my living room floor, a makeshift office setup until I get the rest of my furniture in here. I've even got my cold weather music on. I may be jumping the gun listening to Bon Iver, a play on French words meaning "Good Winter", but his voice is so soothing and warm that I may just be able to take my blanket off after this song, which I am posting for the enjoyment of your chilly ears. Better yet, Bon Iver wrote the track for Dark Was The Night - a compilation album created by the Red Hot Organization to raise money and awareness for the fight against aids :
In the few days that it took me to move and set up shop again though, it seems the seasons have abruptly changed. In my last post I was picnicking in Dumbo, and now, I'm wrapped in a blanket doing work on my living room floor, a makeshift office setup until I get the rest of my furniture in here. I've even got my cold weather music on. I may be jumping the gun listening to Bon Iver, a play on French words meaning "Good Winter", but his voice is so soothing and warm that I may just be able to take my blanket off after this song, which I am posting for the enjoyment of your chilly ears. Better yet, Bon Iver wrote the track for Dark Was The Night - a compilation album created by the Red Hot Organization to raise money and awareness for the fight against aids :
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