Thursday, August 28, 2008

First draft



Earlier today I sent off a draft of the proposal I've been working on to fund the work I want to do with the Colors of Green Committee (COG). I think I did a fairly good job, but it took me so long just to get started on it. I've been having troubled balancing my time between my job at Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) and still find time to work with the COG, and work on my PhD proposal. I've been playing around with my schedule and as of yet it's just not working out for me. So I'll have to figure out how I can shift my responsibilities around so that when I actually sit down to do my work I have the energy to do it.

I'm inspired!



Wow! I just finished watching Barack Obama's acceptance speech on TV and I have to admit I got a little misty eyed with the prospect that the past 8 years are not just coming to an end, but possibly a whole era of disenfranchised governance. I used to think I was already jaded, but perhaps I just needed a healthy dose of big thinking to elaborate a vision of a new future. In fact I was so moved I just ponied up some more money to to help get him elected.

Go Obama!

Click here to read the speech

Click here to make your own donations

*****UPDATE 8/29/08*********

Apparently I wasn't the only one impressed with Obama's speech. But who ever thought I'd be on the same side as Pat Buchanan???

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

VIsiting the Carolinas, connecting with old friends, eating ribs..d'oh!



Last week Heidi and I went to North Carolina for our friend Andy's wedding. We took this opportunity to visit do some more traveling in the North and South Carolina to visit with her sister Heather and my old friend from high school, Kim.

It was great catching up with my friends that I haven't seen in far too long. And it was fun to see a part of the country that I've not gotten to know in the past. One thing I was looking forward to was the food. I did bend my goal of moving to a vegetarian diet since I just couldn't resist having some authentic southern ribs. The ones I had in Charleston were certainly delicious, but it wasn't much of a big deal for me to go without them. I had plenty of good meals that mostly consisted of the side dishes like macaroni and cheese, fried okra, fried or steamed vegetables, black eyed peas, grits, etc. And all these meals were equally as satisfying. So now I don't feel like I'm depriving myself by not eating meat, just opening a whole new world of opportunities for me to get more creative with the meals I'm eating.

I was also able to squeeze in a couple of hikes, thanks to Heidi's prodding, so that counts for me getting more exercise too. Ok, just barely. But on one of our hikes we did get a little lost on the trail which probably caused us to walk more than we would have otherwise. The hike was fairly easy, but it still wore me out. So I'm taking that as a sign that I do need to get in better shape. Hopefully my walking and busing to work will help out with that endeavor.

And as the picture up top suggests, Heidi and I did indeed stay in Bat Cave, NC for a couple of nights. Unfortunately we didn't see either Batman or Robin, and the bat cave that gives this town it's name was closed to visitors.

FInally organized...sort of

Well its' been a while since I've last posted and in some ways I feel like I just started something else to procrastinate doing, namely this blog. But as you can see from the photos below I have made some progress in at least one of the goals I set out to accomplish. I wanted to get rid of some of the clutter in my life and be more organized. So for the last few weeks I've been working on creating a more work friendly environment in my room. Since I'm very limited in space I have had to be creative in converting my tiny bedroom into my bedroom/office/reading room. Thanks to Ikea I've been able to do just that.




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I'm sorry I don't have any before pictures for you to compare to, but trust me this is a dramatic improvement of the cramped and clutter living space that I've existed in. I finally feel that I can be more productive. And in fact I have been more productive. I've finally put the OmniOutliner to use by sorting out all the articles I need to read. I've attached links to the article file either on my computer or on the web and I hope to start adding the bibliography and summary of each of these articles.



I had been feeling like I wasn't accomplishing much in the last month and had been feeling that by not posting sooner I was failing my goals, but I've started to shake those negative thoughts away and acknowledge that these things take time and as long as I chip away at them each day I can get closer to achieving my goals.