brain hurts.

It's Friday again.

The rain is back.

I have a headache.

Today was a crrrazy non-stop day.

I didn't even have time to make coffee this morning,

which is definitely the root cause of the headache.

I made about 23498734 cookies last night for the Geography Dept. coffee hour reception today, which was good because a man from The Nature Conservancy was the speaker; and I have pipe dreams of perhaps working for TNC someday. Maybe. Haven't really thought about the implications, just say it alot. (like I used to "say" I was going to be a pediatrician...)

And therefore have eaten way too many cookies in the past 24 hours.

I also learned a lot today; starting my weekly half semester mini-seminar "research perspectives in human geography"

woah! human geog is deep, dark, and complicated!!

Did you ever think about how we view poverty as an issue that can only be solved through economic means, but then map "poor" areas of cities based on where people live (or spend their income) instead of where they are actually earning their "poverty-level" incomes?

We often associate poor areas with race, because it seems like lots of black people live in areas we associate as being "low income." But where people work is where the low-income happens, and there is actually no correlation between place of work and race, household size, etc.

So, by trying to solve the issue of poverty by searching for "root causes" and making maps of poor neighborhoods is useless and only prolongs the problem.

More money or jobs will not help people who are only yearning for dignity, health, and a safe community.

Therefore, looking at the problem in terms of "welfare solutions" is pointless.

Even more disturbing are government programs that are trying to create jobs and economic development to bring people to "middle class" level. If middle class is defined as a household income of at least $40,000, HALF OF ALL U.S. HOUSEHOLDS are operating below middle class.

It would take $1,000,000,000,000 PER YEAR to bring that many people up to the defined "mid class level".

Perhaps we should try to make ways of getting the most quality out of income, instead of obsessing over the quantity.  Start community gardens, car-pool, design more comfortable and safe living environments.

These are "discourse" based ideas...or how we view relationships between words and the things they represent. (i.e. "car" can connote luxury, success, sex appeal, pollution etc). We see problems based on only one chosen relationship.

Earlier I said the root cause of my headache was coffee deprivation.

But if we try to find the root cause of climate change, or poverty, or world hunger,

we will only prolong the problem.

because root causes actually do not exist

I have learned about all this from a small Indian man named Lucky Yapa, who exclaims "....my young flends!"(friends) a lot as he lectures. 

photo

The. Best. Invention. EVER!

I am kind of obsessed with random but fun kitchen gadgets

(mini crockpot anyone?? 2 kinds of omelette makers? do I really have to wait years until my bridal registry to get a food processor???)

and when I heard about this thing called the SPIRALIZER I for some reason couldn't resist ordering one off Amazon ASAP! It is this thing that you can use to basically cut vegetables into noodle shapes or very thin chips.

People who eat a raw diet (only raw produce, nuts, etc. with the idea that cooking food destroys its nutrient value) use it to make "pasta" and veggie noodle salads.

I use it...because it's AWESOME and I LOVE VEGETABLES!

I busted it out for the first time last night and introduced it to some zucchinis.

It looks like a veggie guillotine or torture device of some sort.

(which is basically what it is...)

Why yes, little zucchini, you are traveling down the Spiral Path.

...of DEATH!

You just stick your vegetable or fruit on the spikes between the twirly handle and the blade and spin the handle! The blades are sharp (safety hazard!) so they cut very easily.

And watch the NOODLES appear!

OH MY GOODNESS SO MUCH FUN!

It's like those old play-doh machines, only for FOOD!

And there you have it, a bowl full of zucchini noodles. 

I only used one zucchini because it produced a ton.

Curly like my hair!

You can then use your noodles to make something delicious,

like zucchini pasta in a bowl

This was so delicious.

If you want to re-create, I mixed together in my biggest pot

-sliced garlic chicken sausage

-chopped garlic

-onion

-1/2 can fire roasted diced tomatoes

-frozen broccoli and carrots

-sploosh of pasta sauce

-can of pinto beans

-various spices including but not limited to:

red pepper flakes

salt/pepper

oregano

garlic salt

DELICIOUS!

The noodles taste like very al dente spaghetti.

And you can feel very virtuous for eating vegetables instead of refined carbs!!

There are 3 different blade attachments for the spiralizer; I used the thin noodle one. There's a thick noodle one (curly fries?) and a slicer one (dried apple chips?)

If you have been sold by my little blogomercial and raving, let me know and I'll tell you how to buy your Very Own Spiralizer.

Color Explosion

I feel like this blog has a pretty strong Autumn theme going on...

I just can't help it!

I have fallen in love with this season, for some reason.

I usually cling on to summer and think of fall as the harbinger of doom (aka the dreaded winter)

But this year is different.

I have completely wiped our little winter weekend from my memory.

Today was positively BALMY!

We're talking, high 50's/low 60's, pure sunshine.

I had a hard time getting out of the house this morning, not wanting to face the day of WORK and PAPER WRITING, and I stretched my walk across campus as looooong as possible.

Taking in all of THIS

and some roses survived the snow!

beautiful

During lunch, my labfriend Nancy and I escaped our windowless cave to walk through downtown so she could hit up Jimmy John's and I could stop by the (small but still awesome) Tuesday Farmer's Market.

To get my latest addiction: sweet bell peppers!

because

Organic red bell at grocery store=$4 (!!!!!)

Organic red bell @ farmer's market = $0.75

score!

It was ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS OUTSIDE

Now I have to try to focus to slap together a paper for Forest Geography due tomorrow
A write-up of one of our mini-research project field trips
It should be no big deal, since it is an undergrad class, this is our first paper, he basically TOLD us exactly what to write, I have written scientific articles gazillions of times before, and not to mention I will be expected to write a freakin thesis in a few months
but...I still get writer's anxiety.
Not writer's block, but an inability to mentally FACE THE WRITING PROCESS!!!
and an easily distracted mind.
grrrr.