Kimmay and I went with Jeannette to the Café Venus and Mars Bar, to celebrate one of Jeannette’s friend’s birthday. One of the people in the group was an angry Republican (self-professed). I’ve never met anyone so visibly angry with the world – I wonder if he had experienced a breakup a while ago, and became embittered and joined the Republican party. I attempted to diffuse him with non-partisan conversation, and that seemed to bring him down a bit. It’s been awhile since I’ve met someone that tightly wound.
MPA or MBA?
MPA or MBA? I spent today looking at a couple of options for graduate studies. Evergreen State College has a Master’s of Public Administration: it sounds sort of what I’m looking for and is 8 quarters (2 years) long. Not bad. I’m also looking at the Green MBA program offered through New College – a business program founded on ethics and sustainability practices sounds like a desperately needed foundation for any prospective business student.
The recovery
Today I spent on the couch, when I wasn’t getting sick. We really take our food sources for granted – who knows how far the ingredients traveled? I read ‘Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things’ today, and as a result have a new appreciation to keep my purchases local when possible. The author uses a boating term at the end of the book: ‘Watch your wake’, talking about the rippling effect of our consuming habits and the need to tread lightly (minimal wake) with our lifestyle.
Fun with food poisoning!
Make no mistake about it: the choices we make today can greatly affect our future. I stopped at my favorite Mexican restaurant for a salmon burrito, and while walking back to my place, I ran into my friend Jeannette, who asked me if I wanted to get some lunch. I declined, since I had already bought it, but should have taken her up on her offer: I got food poisoning from the salmon, and spent the rest of the evening throwing up. Ugh.
SWM makes dinner
One of the things I don’t like about living alone is the very important ritual of cooking and eating at home. I eat out a lot, and know a lot of foodies to support this habit, so I decided to try something new and invite my family to dinner at my place as a housewarming and a chance to enjoy conversation, food and wine with people I love. Pumpkin soup, spinach and walnut salad with goat cheese, tofu spinach lasagna (all vegan), and then good old chocolate cake (dairy necessary) for dessert. All the ingredients were organic and locally grown if possible. We played Taboo afterwards – a normal evening by most standards, but something I really wanted after such a turbulent 2002.
Resolutions
New Year’s Resolutions: I’ve decided to lose a little bit of weight (to 175 from my current 195) and go off coffee, but as far as the coffee thing goes, that might be for a couple of months to decaffeinate my system, and then maybe once a week or so. That, and being a vegetarian plus salmon – I’m concerned about mercury levels in fish, and salmon has the lowest concentration, so I guess I’m tempering my mercury intake.
New Year’s Eve
If ever this was the way to start a new year, the Wild Kingdom Rhumba V was the way to do it, in Portland, Oregon. On the way from Seattle, I stopped at a coffeehouse in Olympia and had my farewell coffee, one of my resolutions for the year. I met my friend Jillian in the distant Portland suburb of Tigard, where her and her brother live.New Year’s Eve was spent at the Tiffany Center, a five story building with two two-story grand ballrooms. Everyone was dressed well, including me and Jillian – it felt like going to a ball, something I’ve never done – and the lower ballroom was set up for a live band and – karaoke! We signed up: I sang a classic Diamond tune: “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show”, Jillian sang “Blister in the Sun”. Everyone was dancing, and when we later went up to the upper ballroom to see Pink Martini, we had the chance to rhumba, salsa and meringue to Latin beats. Tonight I start with a clean slate.
Gaviotas
Class felt more inspirational today. We’re discussing the Colombian experimental village of Gaviotas, our last reading. It’s nice to know there are alternatives, and leads me to a conclusion that we must offer mainstream America a realistic alternative if we are to succeed in changing people’s minds. It won’t happen quickly, but the key seems to stay away from emotions like bitterness and cynicism, and genuinely hope things get better. I’ve seen some heavy sadness occasionally during the weekend seminars. It’s warranted, but it reminds me that we have a life to live, and that while we undertake any mission, we have to take a step back once in a while to really enjoy the beautiful things that life has to offer.
Moved in
I’ve moved in. I’m absolutely exhausted, and absolutely thrilled to be here. I can’t believe I ever lived at that other place. Ugh.
Across the street
I’ve found a new place to live! The strange thing about the new location is that it’s literally across the street from Cornish, the school I dropped out of in order to finish up at New College.