I know I'm slow on these things, but I've just recently started to enjoy Indian food!
I love this recipe, and it's really easy too.
I never would have thought that I would look at a pot of chickpeas on my stove and think, "Yummy!"*, but there you go ... It shows that even a bad chickpea experience can be overcome! :)
Update: I forgot to mention that I throw random amounts of chopped zucchini in this recipe. And a lot more spinach than the recipe calls for. It's delicious!
* Do people use the word "yummy" any more, or am I just slow on that too? Come to think of it, I haven't heard anyone use "yummy" for a long time, unless it's paired with "mummy". And I'm really not sure what to read into that.
Update to the update: Alert! Alert! This part is a public service announcement for all culinary twits like myself - when the recipe calls for the juice of a lemon, for the love of Pete do not allow any of the pips (seeds) into your concoction! And if you somehow let one of the pips into the food, you can still not eat it. Just now, after feeling like my mouth was going to turn itself inside out to avoid the bitterness of the first pip, I spotted a second one still in the bowl. I momentarily pondered actually eating it so I could scientifically prove that they are one of the most disgusting fruit parts ever imaginable, but then I decided that I'm just not that committed to science.
Now, to appease my tortured tastebuds, perhaps a few cranberries covered in dark chocolate? :)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Chana Masala
Monday, May 14, 2007
An awful but heartfelt poem
Not everybody blogs.
Not everybody needs to.
Sometimes I blog to share information, such as how to help the environment.
Often I want to share a laugh with you.
Always this blog is an expression of myself.
In an awkward way, I am more open through this blog
Than with most people face-to-face.
Not because I have anything to hide;
It’s just easier this way.
You are a trusted visitor,
A guest in my home.
I may err or offend,
But you can tell me directly.
If I am still such a stranger
I must wonder
Why you are still standing in my kitchen.
Tara and Max
Tara and Max
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.
I recently had the privilege to observe one of the coolest parent-child relationships I have ever seen. Tara treats Max with a rare respect for his creativity, his intelligence, and his personhood. Max in turn is an extraordinary young man.
A fabulous modern poem
I just happened to find this poem online. It is fascinating and powerful, but accessible. Give a visit.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Fun in the cold
I was cleaning up my e-mail accounts today and found this picture sent to me by Lillian. It was taken at the outdoor Philosopher Kings concert this past winter. So it's chronologically orphaned, but still fun. We had a fantastic time that evening.
Left to right: Julian, Linda, me, Tara
If you look really closely, you will see a neon-orange object protruding from my ear. This was one of a pair of the most protective earplugs I could find at a local pharmacy. I value my hearing, and hate how my ears ring for a day after a pop/rock concert. I came prepared so I could stand as close to the front as possible. They worked great, and I was still able to fully enjoy the music.
Yes, I am a dork. A dork with a really great auditory range. LOL
A rant: I am not my relationship
Okay, before my mother’s heart starts to flutter with excitement and her head fills with dreams of her only daughter finally getting married and starting to pop out more grandchildren to show off to her friends whose grandchildren are already teenagers or older, let me set the record straight: I’m actually not in a relationship.
But the point of this rant (and it is a rant; let me take a moment to apologize in advance for sounding harsh/judgemental/negative) is still the same: my relationship (or lack thereof) doesn’t define me.
I love talking with men. I love looking at (attractive) men. I hope to eventually be in another relationship with one of ‘em. But I honestly don’t think about it all that much, and enjoy talking about it even less.
This is my observation/experience only, and maybe it has something to do with my age group or whatever: there’s a weird thing that seems to happen when many women get together – whether they’ve known each other for 5 years or 5 minutes. They talk about men and their relationships. Ad nauseum. They dissect, they analyse, they complain, they feel superior, they feel victimized, hour after hour going round and round. I never hear an “aha!” moment when answers are found, issues resolved, and thank god we can now talk about something else.
I can’t explain it, although I guess there are a few theories I could conjure. But they’d likely be as general and meaningless as “Men aren’t socialized to be in touch with their own feelings”.
I have an excellent auditory memory; I remember all the crap I've heard before. All I want is for us to talk about something else. Preferably something worthwhile and meaningful and intelligent. Or, at the risk of sounding anti-social, dare I suggest silence as a preferable alterative?
Honestly, one of the reasons I like talking with men (or my kick-ass female friends) is that I can generally have a discussion about politics/current events/issues/music/film/nature/travel or something that at least I may never have heard before. With my closer friends, I can discuss these topics plus our dreams, our art, our aspirations.
Don’t get me wrong: if you’re a friend of mine and you’re struggling with your relationship (or lack thereof), I promise I’ll be there for you when you need me. But after a while I will want to tell you, “Hon, get another life. You are not your relationship.” I find it particularly frustrating with patently intelligent women with a long list of cool life experiences still persist in fixating on relationships.
I've been a feminist ever since I can remember. It frustrates me that, even away from men, women can be so defined by their relationships with them. It seems such a pathetic waste of time, talent, and opportunity to me.Years ago, living in the suburbs with nary an eligible man in sight, I guess I came to the realization that life still went on. I started pursuing interests that brought me joy regardless of my relationship status. I enjoyed the challenge of learning Mandarin Chinese (regrettably, I’ve forgotten most of it since) and biked every weekend the weather cooperated and volunteered with a newly-immigrated family who became like my own family. Life became a thrilling challenge and adventure. I was amazed at the life I was starting to lead.
I realized that I could hold myself back in the hopes that I could be easily incorporated into a man’s life as his girlfriend, or I could truly spread my wings and do what I love to do, prepared to be alone if that’s the way it worked out. In the end I think I’ve become more intimidating to men than ever, but whatever. Because regardless of whether I ever date or live with another man, I will always have to live with myself. Flaws and all, I like my own company more and more.
I am the culmination of my own choices.
Part of the gang at Stratford
DSC_0014
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.
Some of the gang at Stratford (there to see "King Lear" yesterday).
Left to right:
Jenny, Hong, Shannon, Jan
I particularly like this group photo for the energy it has.
Adorable baby wear
DSC_0052
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.
I saw these baby clothes in a store in Stratford yesterday. The store was already closed by the time I arrived, so I just took pictures of the products in the window. They are too funny!!!
Just in case the slogans in the picture are too difficult to read, they read:
"MOMMY'S BOY - Get your own mommy. This one's taken."
"I'M NEW - What's your excuse?"
Friday, May 11, 2007
Diary of a neophyte FLAP volunteer
Note: I've been meaning to post some of what follows for days.
Day One: On My Own
Last night, I had trouble sleeping, thinking about my first solo patrol for FLAP this morning. I am totally unsure of myself and my “skills”. Will I be able to catch the migratory songbirds? Will I cause them further harm? Will I even see them? (A former roommate once called me “the least observant person” she had ever met.) But I drag myself out of bed obscenely early this morning, because, as the great Lyle Lovett croons, “But what would you be if you didn't even try?”
And then the incredible happens. Within minutes of beginning my patrol, I see a dark lump at the base of an office tower. As I approach, I note the breeze stirring the feathers of a Brown Creeper and I initially think it can’t possibly still be alive. But as I get closer, it sees me and chirps but is otherwise helpless to move.
But to say it chirps is a disservice; I think the song of the brown creeper – even an injured one – is one of the sweetest, purest sounds I have ever heard.
My heart becomes a strange mixture of compassion and realism. I can’t imagine this bird surviving once having reached such a helpless state, but I am passionately determined to protect it from being eaten by a gull or some other kind of grisly fate.
The Brown Creeper is soon in its brown paper bag (for transport and reassurance), and I fight through the associated documentation (Which building is this, anyway???) before continuing my patrol. All too soon, I come upon a dead White-throated Sparrow. Again I plunk myself down on the cement to go through the paperwork. This time, there is a smoker standing in a nearby doorway who takes an interest in what I’m doing. Like quite a few Torontonians, he is aware of FLAP and the problem of migratory songbirds hitting windows. He tells me how a Northern Flicker tried to fly through the 10th-story window of his office just the day before, and how he saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in a tree in this courtyard a week prior. Uh … I’ve heard the name of a yellow-bellied sapsucker before. Boy, this guy knows a lot more about birds than I do. I make a joke about how long it’s taking me to document this dead bird, and he encourages me by telling me I’m doing a great job. We both laugh. I place a numbered tag around the dead sparrow’s leg, and after some more friendly chatter, move along in search of more birds.
As I walk along the streets of
In the next hour, I find two more White-throated Sparrows, one alive (but again helpless) and another dead. I give both live birds to Brian, one of FLAP’s most tireless volunteers, to take to the Toronto Wildlife Centre for assessment. I don’t dare believe that either will survive, but fervently believe in the value of the efforts made to protect and save them. Oddly, I am somehow invigorated by this patrol. I don’t enjoy seeing dead or injured animals at all, but it is such a powerful experience to rescue a wounded, helpless wild animal that I am charged up, amazed, and inspired. I decide to patrol again the next day.
Day Two
Once again I am pounding the sidewalk at some god-awful time in the morning. I run into fellow volunteers Brian and Eric again today, but initially it seems like a slow day for me. It is a clear, beautiful morning, and perhaps this bodes well for the birds. I continue to briskly walk around the buildings, figuring it’s great exercise and at least I’m not bored.
Doubling back to a place I’d been only 15 minutes prior, I see a pair of White-throated Sparrows desperately flapping along a wall of windows, trying to get through. They are strong birds and seem liable to hurt themselves through this effort. As I approach, they become more frantic. Not good. I easily capture one of them in my net, but can’t get the other one with it as well without possibly hurting the first. As I focus on extracting the first sparrow from my net and putting it into a paper bag, Eric happens to walk by. I call him over and the second sparrow is easily netted and placed in a paper bag so it won’t harm itself. We hand them over for temporary storage at the local security desk and continue our separate ways.
Later, in separate instances, I find three more live birds – one in dubious condition and colder than the two additional dead birds I’ve found. In each case, I hand the birds into the local holding station for pickup by a FLAP driver. Eventually, hollow-eyed and yet feeling like I’ve never done anything more optimistic or worthwhile, I head home.
Two Days Later
I receive news that the little Brown Creeper, whose life I feared was ending, was actually examined, assessed to be relatively healthy, and released the same day into the wild near the city, as were the White-throated Sparrows (WTSP) that Eric and I captured together. The live WTSP from my first day and the cold WTSP from my second day were also examined at the Toronto Wildlife Centre and held back for treatment. I’m beginning to think that some of these birds just hit the buildings and are stunned, but would be okay if they could just be protected from predators while they regain their senses.
Day Three – a week later and after my bird-handling workshop
This morning I meet my friend Lucy, who took her introductory FLAP training last weekend but has yet to do a patrol. I try to share with her all that I have learned in the last week. At one point she remarks about how much experience I seemed to have gathered. Although I would certainly not call myself an expert in any way, it is remarkable to me how much more confident I already am compared to how I started. Maybe this is just a good fit for me. All I know is that somehow this resonates with me – perhaps there was a little heroine deep inside who was just waiting for an opportunity?
Today we find one dead Pine Warbler (still warm) and a live Chestnut-sided Warbler.
I still suck at doing the paperwork.
Lucy bought her own bird net today at lunch.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Brown Creeper
Brown Creeper
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.
I've already rescued two of these birds in Toronto among the skyscrapers. Teeny little birds. They are becoming a sentimental favourite for me.
Tree Swallow - male
Tree Swallow - male
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.
This was probably my favourite bird of the day. So beautiful.
We newbies didn't get to hold it because the tree swallow has a rather short neck, and its wings are delicate. But it was still incredible to see up close.
Teaching
Teaching
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.
Last Sunday morning - EARLY! - I attended a bird-handling workshop at the Tommy Thompson Park Bird Research Station (TTPBRS). Lori, a volunteer with FLAP, taught us how to properly handle live songbirds.
The TTPBRS captures migrating birds through the use of gentle mist nets. They then examine, band, and release the birds, capturing important data that will be used to monitor the health of various bird populations.
We were there as FLAP volunteers to learn how to handle live birds. When we pick up injured birds, they are already very stressed and need to be handled properly. The birds captured at TTPBRS are healthy and much less stressed, so it was better to learn with them.I took a lot of pictures. You can see them all here, although I will post some of what I consider to be the highlights on this blog. Note though that these are not exactly the pinnacle of photographic excellence, as I didn't have the proper lighting, and the whole point of the session was to receive training on handling and identifying birds, not photographing them (I think if I'd asked for people to move out of the way or to turn the birds into a better lighting position, Lori would have dispensed with me quite quickly! LOL).
But overall the experience was very cool.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Adorable
Again from Rude Cactus, one of the most endearing things I've ever heard about a toddler:
My daughter kisses my knees. When I come home from work, she helps me change. When I take my pants off, she screams "knees!" from wherever she is, runs to me and gives both my knees kisses. Sometimes several kisses. Being my knees is a pretty cool gig.
Moral dilemma!
You've simply got to check out this blog posting at Rude Cactus and let me know what you think!
New Avaaz e-mail
I am loving Avaaz! Please read the e-mail below and do your part:
Dear fellow Canadians,
Wow, I couldn't believe it when I heard about our government's sneaky ways of undermining the world's efforts to stop climate change. This week, the press reported Al Gore calling the Harper government plan on CO2 emissions "a complete and total fraud…designed to mislead the Canadian people". Recently, Canada also received the international "Fossil Award" for misleading countries and quietly undermining international efforts at the climate negotiations in Kenya.
Canada? Misleading people and undermining the world's efforts to save their children's futures and stop deadly flooding, storms, desertification, diseases? Not my Canada. Surely not.
Well, it's true. And now I'm a strange mixture of hopping mad and really sad. This isn't our country, not one bit, and we need to let our Prime Minister know which country he's leading, and remind him that he works for us. Please click below to send a message directly to Stephen Harper asking him to come up with a real plan on climate change that doesn't disgrace our nation and let down good people around the world:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/harperdotherightthing
Will the Prime Minister do the right thing this time? It's an election year and he has a minority government. If he knows he can't fool us with a fake plan, he'll have to meet our demand for a real one that doesn't put Canada almost 20 years behind schedule on the Kyoto treaty targets.
We'll need one heck of a flood of messages to get him to finally listen. But Avaaz has over 100,000 members in Canada. If each of us can respond to this message, and then forward this email to a few friends, that's going to add up fast, maybe even to the number of voters that tipped the balance for Harper in the last election. That's a number he'll notice. Oh Canada, let's do it!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/harperdotherightthing
With much respect and hope,
Ricken Patel,
Director
Avaaz – The World in Action
PS - Here's some links and more information on this issue:
David Suzuki Calls the government's new plan a national embarrassment: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/latestnews/dsfnews04270701.asp
Reuters reports Canada receives international "Fossil" award for misleading countries on climate change: http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39038/story.htm
Al Gore Calls Canada's Climate Plan a Fraud: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070430/ap_on_re_ca/gore_canada_warming
Sunday, April 29, 2007
THIS puts West Nile into perspective
From the website for Lost River Walks:
As part of the effort to monitor the virus last year, the state asked counties to report on bird deaths. Of the more than 80,000 birds turned in at state request, only a few thousand died from West Nile. The single leading cause of death among these birds was pesticide poisoning, from chemicals used on lawns for aesthetic reasons. Diazanon, Dursban and other compounds used for lawn and garden care in the attempt to control grubs, fungus and weeds. Citizens who labour for the perfect lawn also keep backyard bird feeders. They are apparently unaware of the conflict between the two pursuits. Birds are "indicators" of environmental perils. They warned about DDT in the 1970s. Now they're warning us that it's time we kicked the pesticide habit, for their sake and our own.
From article passed to us by Great Lakes Laboratory, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
867 Lakeshore Road Burlington, Ontario Canada L7R 4A6
phone: 905 336 6425 fax: 905 336 6437
Otters holding hands
Amazing - you MUST watch this short video!
Many thanks to Andrea for the link. :)
Friday, April 27, 2007
Help get a Bush crony fired!
From a recent e-mail from Avaaz.org:
Paul Wolfowitz -- President Bush's key architect of the Iraq war, now president of the World Bank and self-styled fighter of corruption -- was caught red-handed in a corruption scandal of his own. He pushed a huge pay raise for his girlfriend, and hid the facts from his organization and the world.You can also see a very cool video about this here.
He's got to go.
The World Bank's board, made up of our governments from around the world, is now deciding whether Wolfowitz should keep his job. An immediate, massive, and global outcry could make the difference. Our petition is three words long: "Sack Paul Wolfowitz." Sign it here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/sack_wolfowitz/
When Paul Wolfowitz was a top official in President Bush's Department of Defense, he was one of the Iraq war's biggest backers. When the war became a fiasco, instead of firing Wolfowitz, Bush gave him a promotion--to president of the World Bank. At the Bank, he vowed to make corruption his top issue--but alienated the world by delaying aid packages to India, Kenya, and other countries without consulting the bank's Executive Board.
Now we've learned that he didn't practice what he preached.
Wolfowitz's girlfriend was a senior World Bank employee. When he became president, the Bank's ethics rules would not allow him to keep her on staff under his supervision. So he transferred her to the US State Department--but kept her on the Bank's payroll, and gave her a US$60,000 pay raise. Her salary rose to US$193,590, higher than Condi Rice's. What's more, it appears that Wolfowitz hid the evidence of what he'd done.
Fighting corruption is a key to ending poverty. But there can't be one standard for the rich and powerful and a different one for everybody else.
The 24-member board of the World Bank, which uncovered Wolfowitz's corruption through a special investigation, is now deciding his fate. Bush is likely pulling strings to help Wolfowitz keep his job. It's time for global public opinion to weigh in--which means it's all up to you.
Click here now to sign the petition, and then send this email to ten friends:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/sack_wolfowitz/
Wolfowitz claimed the Iraq war would spread democracy, but it sparked a civil war. He promised to fight corruption, but engaged in it himself.
He talks a lot about accountability. It's time to bring some accountability to Paul Wolfowitz.
Please - sign the online petition if you agree that Wolfowitz should be fired. An Avaaz petition has made a big difference already in another much-needed area:
Last week, Avaaz campaigners hand-delivered our 100,000-signature climate change petition to the environment ministers of the world's most polluting countries. It worked. The chair of the meeting waved the petition in the air, calling on his fellow ministers to act--and they agreed that climate change would be the #1 issue at the G8 summit in June.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
An object lesson from nature
Ralph Waldo Emmerson once wrote, “The earth laughs in flowers.” Well, today was the proverbial giggle that echoes through a church during a funeral.
I’m not sure what the climate is like where you are, but here in Toronto we’ve only had a few warm days so far, and most trees are just starting to grow buds for their leaves. So everything is still pretty much grey and brown and drab and dirty-looking. Until today …
This morning when I left my apartment building, I noticed that there was a large shrub across the street that had – overnight, apparently – burst into small, bright yellow flowers. It is so cheerful and happy to look at.
Here again, nature provides an object lesson. Your job could be a veritable suckus uninterruptus, or maybe you just left your husband, or maybe you have some stupid complex problem with a loved one that seems impossible to resolve. But nature tells you: life can turn on a dime. This is both cause for hope during those looooong terrible grey days, and it’s also an urgent warning for us to savour what’s good about the present. Because you just never know.
Tomorrow I’ll try to post a picture of this shrub, and one of you incredibly smart and knowledgeable people can tell me what it is. :)
Cool slogans
The other day I was in a store called Grass Roots, and I saw a number of buttons/pins that I thought were very cool. I honestly don’t know how/where I would wear them, but I was afraid I wouldn’t remember what they said if I didn’t buy them. So here are their slogans, for your reading enjoyment:
“It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.”
“The best things in life aren’t things.”
“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. – Edward Abbey”
“Create the future – don’t consume it.”
And, finally:
“JOIN THE ARMY – Travel to exotic, distant lands, meet exciting people, and kill them.”
You’re welcome! :)
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Where nature and man collide - literally
Yesterday, I held a wild bird in my hands.
It was my first on-the-street training as a volunteer with FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program), and yesterday around 7:00AM, our little group found a Northern Flicker (a woodpecker that tends to be about a foot tall) lying at the base of an office building in downtown Toronto. It must have just recently hit a window, because after we picked it up, it appeared to be conscious and its feet clung strongly to my finger as I held it with the other hand. The way its head drifted to one side and its eyes bulged slightly suggested that it had suffered some kind of brain trauma. Irene, our trainer, blew gently on its head to separate its feathers so she could apply aconite, a first aid homeopathic remedy, to its skin. With reverence and hope, it was placed in a paper bag for transport to the Toronto Wildlife Centre, where it could be examined, treated, and, hopefully released north of the city to continue its migratory route.
Why were we in the downtown core at some god-awful time yesterday (and today)? Because we knew chances were good that the Northern Flicker – and perhaps dozens of other migrating songbirds – would be confused and trapped among the maze of skyscrapers. And we wanted to help.
Songbirds migrate at night so as to avoid predators like hawks. Apparently they navigate by the stars, and can be confused by the lights that are left on overnight in buildings. They end up hitting glass in the hours around dawn or, weak and exhausted from their overnight travels, will spend the day among the buildings, disoriented by the reflective glass. The results are often injury, death, or such exhaustion that they are very vulnerable to predators.
Conservative estimates suggest that one billion songbirds die each year in
You might wonder why you don’t see masses of little songbird bodies all over the place if the problem is so prevalent. Well, the answer is a bit grisly. There are seagulls, raccoons, rats, and cats that clean up the dead and injured birds pretty quickly.
So I’ve decided to do my bit to help. There are lots of causes out there, and I truly have little justification for caring about songbirds rather than the homeless people I see while on my rounds. But this is what I’m drawn to, and at least I am doing (and learning) something.
And I have the added benefit of holding in my hands – for however short a time – something wild and beautiful and wondrous.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
YIkes
Yesterday I noticed that my cat Cleo had a really sore-looking hind paw, so this afternoon we made the trip to the animal hospital.
Oy.
I will say one thing: if you’ve never tried using Rescue Remedy for animals or stress before, you might want to try it. I gave Cleo some of this homeopathic remedy this morning when she seemed to be in pain, and it made a world of difference; her eyes became clear again, and she had her normal perky manner again. It didn’t fix her paw, obviously, but I think it helped her feel better.
Next time, though, both cats are coming with me to the animal hospital, so they can smell equally disinfectant-y!!!
The most boring blog update EVER
So it’s been a while … I had been doing so well with relatively regular updates to this blog, but then I just needed to focus on some other things for a bit, namely going to the gym regularly, going to bed on time, and keeping my apartment tidy. Pretty boring, I know, but I’d slipped into some bad habits, and they weren’t turning around easily. But it’s getting easier to wake up at 5:00* in the morning to go to the gym before work, I generally wash up the kitchen after dinner each night**, and I’m now going to bed between 8:45 and 9:30 (rather than the midnight – 12:30AM that had become my habit just a month ago or so!). Needless to say, this radical change in schedule and activity hasn’t come easy, especially when I was getting up early but still was getting to bed late. It didn’t help that Daylight Savings Time started too, and sent the schedule in the opposite direction. But in spite of these challenges, I am prevailing and continue to be determined. I’m rather proud of myself! :)
* I know you’re wondering: why do I get up so early for the gym? I’ve tried going there after work, but it seems harder somehow, like work has squeezed me out like a limp washcloth, and going to the gym is the last thing that I want to do at the end of the day! As well, now that spring is teasing us with its possible arrival, getting up really early is great for photography on the weekends (since my gym doesn’t open until 7:30 on Saturdays and Sundays). Also, I will be doing some volunteer work once a week or so that is best to do around dawn (more on that later).
** Now that I’m a vegetarian, I find I’m cooking more for myself (rather than heating frozen prepared food) and need what little counter space I have in this kitchen to be cleared of dirty dishes. This means washing our dirty dishes on a daily basis rather than after 2 - 3 days. It took a little time for my roommate to understand this, but now we both really enjoy having a clean kitchen. Woo-hoo!!!!
There have been some other things going on, of course, but I’ll leave those for their own blog entries. But in the meantime, thanks for checking my humble blog for updates! :)
Friday, April 06, 2007
Loss of a friend is also a loss for science
Another fascinating column by David Suzuki ... it amazes me how short-sighted we are when it comes to commerce vs. the environment, and how little most of us understand (care?) about the impact of our dietary/lifestyle choices. Thank goodness for people who will stand up and tell unpopular truths.
Loss of a friend is also a loss for science
On March 30th, Science, one of the world's most respected scientific journals, published a paper about how the overfishing of big sharks in our oceans has led to an increase in ray and skate populations which, in turn, is having cascading effects down the ocean food chain.
It's a fascinating piece of work - one of those big-picture studies that helps connect the dots and shed light on the complex interconnections between various species in an ecosystem. But what makes this particular piece of science so important to me personally is the lead a- Ransom Myers of Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Dr. R.A. Myers, RAM to his friends, died earlier that same week.
The Science paper is typical of RAM's work. He was a brilliant scientist who became a tireless advocate for conservation after finding disturbing trends in our oceans. It was those trends that led him to raise alarm bells over mismanagement of the Atlantic cod when he was with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans. For his efforts, he was first ignored, and then reprimanded. The fact that he was later proven right I'm sure offered him little consolation as he watched the fisheries collapse. More than 15 years later, it has yet to recover.
In 2003, RAM published a paper in the journal Nature that earned him worldwide recognition. The report was a culmination of years of work with his colleague, Dr. Boris Worm. Together, they had carefully dissected decades worth of fishing data and found that major large predatory fish - the ones we most like to eat - such as tuna, cod and swordfish, had seen their populations plummet by some 90 per cent in just 50 years.
The paper was controversial, especially in the fishing industry, because it warned that many more fisheries would face collapse if we don't seriously cut back on what we are taking out of the oceans. But RAM was never one to back down from controversy. In fact, controversy probably helped the story earn media attention around the world - shedding light on a problem that for many is out-of sight, out-of-mind.
It was this sort of big-picture thinking that helped make RAM such a giant in his field. In 2005, Fortune magazine named him one of the world's Top 10 people to watch. He was indeed a distinguished scientist, an engaging public speaker and leading advocate for change. Sadly, we will now never know what else he may have accomplished. His death from a brain tumor, at just 54, came at the height of his scientific career and at a time when the world needs him most.
In February, I was fortunate enough to be able to visit RAM in the hospital. By then, he could only say yes or no, but he understood everything that was going on and what was being said. I hope I was able to adequately convey just how much he had accomplished and how much he had done for science and for conserving nature for future generations.
RAM's Science paper on the demise of sharks seems to be getting good publicity, as it should. Rather than merely being mindless man eaters, sharks are an integral part of the ocean's web of life. As the report shows, killing them off for shark fin soup has allowed other species, like rays to thrive. But booming ray populations are now decimating their favourite food source - scallops. And since scallops help filter water, their loss has actually resulted in poorer water quality in some areas.
Dr. Ransom Myers was at the leading edge of conservation biology. He consistently strove to dig deeper and go further in the search for answers to pressing ecological issues. His efforts raised the public's understanding of the plight of our oceans, and he inspired a generation of marine biologists. His work will be sorely missed, and so will he.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
A day at a cabin
Wow, had a fantastic day yesterday. My friend Jim and I drove up to
I spent the rest of the day hiking, eating, and otherwise loafing around and enjoying being with an amazing group of people in a lovely natural setting:
In the afternoon, I went for a hike by myself, partly because I hike so slowly and I didn’t want to hold anyone back, but also because I just wanted to focus on being out in nature. It was incredibly relaxing and invigorating – I need to do this more. Afterward, I returned to the cabin and read for a bit while others napped/read/hiked.
MUST. DO. THIS. AGAIN.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The Power of Myth
I just started reading the book, The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, and it's amazing!!! I've learned and really thought more from reading a few pages of this book than anything else I've read in a long, long time. There's something about what Campbell says that just rings of truth. Example:
People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t that that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, to that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.In the first chapter, one of the things that they discuss is the importance of ritual (funerals, weddings, etc.). Ritual was something that I had come to deplore as mere theatre until I read just a page or two of this book, and now I think I'm starting to actually get it.
This book has been out a loooong time, so maybe you have read it as well. Your thoughts?
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Parenting is tough
Not that I know from personal experience, but stories like this one make you appreciate the HARD work that goes into loving, conscious parenting. It's more kitchen sink drama than tragedy, but take a read and send Linda some love.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Have you ever seen anything cuter????
And no, I don't want to hear about the idiot "animal rights activists" who have said the zoo should put this polar bear cub to sleep. I've never heard such drivel in my life.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Bitter Irony
I was working out at the gym last night when I saw this interview by Ann Curry of NBC re. the genocide in Sudan. Did anyone else catch it?
Ann Curry: Mr. President, I have this map from the U.S. Department of State that shows more than a thousand villages in the Darfur region — more than a thousand burned.So here's Curry, one of the few Americans who gives a damn about Darfur (to her credit, she seemed genuinely and sincerely concerned about it), and this guy throws Iraq in her face. After all, America's trumped up charges about foreign governments before ... it now has no credibility.
And the question is, how can this be done by Arab militias without the support of the Sudanese government? This is shocking.Omar al-Bashir: What do you think about the picture that Colin Powell presented before the national security that confirmed and illustrated the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? What do you think about it?
Curry: You're saying this is not true?
Al-Bashir: This picture is the same fabrication and the same picture as the ones Colin Powell presented about Iraq.
Hope you're happy, Cheney.
True to form
As always, we are our own worst enemies. This time, it couldn't happen to a better person:
Monday, March 19, 2007
Credit card holder beware
Okay, I confess that when I first saw the headline for this article in the Toronto Star, my first thought was, "Yes, more fees, but I usually pay my bill in time and in full." Boy, am I glad I read it anyway. Here's a quote to entice you to read the whole article:
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Sooo cute!
Because in this blog, as in life, I alternate between rage and wonder, here's a link to some very cute baby photos (via Rude Cactus).
Tommy Thompson Park Bird Research Station
How cool is this picture of a Great Horned Owl at the Tommy Thompson Park Bird Research Station? This is a place in Toronto, down by Lake Ontario, where dedicated volunteers track populations of migrating birds.
This is a great blog to visit during migration season.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
First view from outside our cottage
First view from outside our cottage
Originally uploaded by combatwombat.
A gorgeous shot from my friend Abi. Don't you wish, as I do, that you were there???
Sunset Tree 3.6.2007
Sunset Tree 3.6.2007
Originally uploaded by 10thAvenue.
Backer's Lake in Fulton in Callaway County Missouri.
A moonlit night at Honolii
A moonlit night at Honolii
Originally uploaded by Rob Millenaar.
Beautiful!
Parenthood
No, not mine, thank goodness! But this part of Linda's blog makes me laugh:
The other night I was holding Riley after we got him ready for bed and he was tired and cranky and really whiny and I was murmuring soothing mama things in his ear and his body softened and curled into mine and he burrowed in close and he smelled wild and sweet like clover and I could feel his face pressed against me and I was stroking his back and humming and the room was soft and dark and that’s when he bit the living shit out of my shoulder.Parenthood! Every day is an adventure.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Fraud, fraud, fraud, fraud, FRAUD!!!
If you live in the Toronto area, you may have heard this story. Forgive me if this is the case.
It's a fact of life that there are assholes out there. And that there are also gullible, good people whose generosity is abused by said assholes. But I draw the line when these assholes get their ill-gotten money through a thin veil of respectability and don't even pay taxes:
Disgusting. I think I'm going to write to my M.P. and M.P.P. about this one.
By the way, this article came out a week ago, and most parishoners seem to be supporting their pastor. Yeah, kind of like the way you stuck with that bad boyfriend because you'd already invested so much into the relationship that you couldn't bear to accept it wasn't working out;
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Refresh your First Responder skills!
Hey there - back after a few days! Did you miss me??? :)
I just spent a great weekend re-learning CPR and First Aid. Have you refreshed/acquired your skills lately? If not, I would strongly urge you to attend a course, especially since the guidelines for CPR/First Aid have been simplified to make it easier than ever for you to administer. It's also an empowering skill - do you want to be one of those dorks who panics or freezes when someone is dying? Me neither! :)
And when I talk about the guidelines for CPR/First Aid, I'm not just talking about some Canadian regulations - these are international protocols! So if you're my reader in South Africa, Japan, the U.K., or God-only-knows-where, or one of my several readers in New York or Arizona (bless you for continually coming back, though I have no idea who you are!!!), you should ensure that your first responder skills are up-to-date too!
Did you know that people of all ages (adults, children, infants), now should receive the same ratio of compressions to breaths? (The guidelines used to vary.) Did you know that you can now administer an epipen to someone in anaphylactic shock? You might want to learn how to operate one of those puppies! Did you know that First Aiders can now use defibrillators on people experiencing cardiac arrest? You can now learn how to use these devices as well!
Get thee to a First Responder course!
We totally lucked out with our instructor - she was fantastic, informative, and engaging. If you happen to be in Toronto (or Sudbury), I can happily recommend this organization for training. But there are also the Red Cross, St. John's Ambulance, etc. Just go!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Crude Offerings
Okay, obviously I must have a juvenile sense of humour that finds particular amusement in toilet-related anecdotes, but this post just had me laughing out loud - several times - so I had to share. Enjoy!
Lyrics to think about
I was listening to Let Love Rule by Lenny Kravitz today at work:
Love is gentle as a roseThat's all. I just wanted to share these lyrics. You're welcome. :)
And love can conquer any war
Its time to take a stand
Brothers and sisters join hands
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
...
But we got to be strong
We cant do it alone
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
We got to let love rule
Let love rule
Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel
Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel
Originally uploaded by hk_traveller.
This photo of a Valentines Day display in Hong Kong is posted here for my dear friend Wendy.
There is a 95% chance that everyone else will consider it completely ridiculous. :)
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Read with Me (if you like)
I actually have several books on the go at the moment, but here are two: The Best Year of Your Life by Debbie Ford and Mad Cowboy by Howard F. Lyman.
A visit with a nutritionist
My employer’s employee wellness program includes a limited number of sessions with a nutritionist, so after deciding to become vegetarian again, I got an appointment with this nutritionist. Check out her website – she’s not exactly a slouch!
Today was my first appointment, and it was very interesting. I’d had some “homework” e-mailed to me prior, which included logging my food intake for three days (I did it for four days, probably an indication that I still have a Type A personality - LOL). As an aside, I would really recommend doing this for yourself – you might be really surprised at what you’re eating and when, how hungry you really are (or aren’t) when you eat, etc. It’s even better when you have to show it to someone afterwards because (if you’re like me), you make better choices because you don’t want to be embarrassed when he/she reads about the junk you eat or how much you eat. But I digress …
Jean gave me a vegetarian food guide (produced by the Canadian government, but not nearly as glamourous-looking as the one that includes meats), reviewed my food logs and supplements, and generally commended me on my healthy choices (yay me!!!). But there are some areas for improvement, and I will work on those before I see her again next week.
Jean made two interesting comments today: 1) while she doesn’t consider herself a vegetarian, she did say that she NEVER cooks meat at home, and only eats meat when she’s eating away from home, as when she is visiting her parents – and she wrinkled her nose! (expressing distaste for the meat-eating, I’m sure, rather than for her parents!); 2) at a recent symposium she attended, the chair of the department of Organic Agriculture at the University of Guelph told the audience that if everyone in Canada decided to consume the minimum recommended number of fruit and vegetable servings every day, there would not be enough Canadian produce for them to do so! This latter point, I believe, is more about how we choose to use our agriculturally viable land for housing/retail and crops to feed animals for meat.
Anyway, it was a very valuable way to spend that hour of my day today, and I look forward to the follow-up visits as I fine-tune my diet for optimal health! :)
Drama addictions
So aside from the day my sister-in-law was in labour and gave birth to twins, last Thursday was probably the day my blog had its highest traffic volume. My conclusion: the Internet loves drama. I don't know who those people were who visited my blog last week, or how they found out so quickly that there was some kind of "story" to be found here:
Eclecta becomes an aunt to two adorable babies? Drama! Eclecta cowardly reveals her secret of vegetarianism? Will the family stage an intervention??? (key the organ music: duh duh duh DUH!)
I've given this about a millisecond of thought, and I can't feed your drama addiction. Like my brother (no fan of soap operas) once said, "I'd rather watch a soap opera than star in one." Wiser words were never spoken.
Then again, I do have this link to a video of Steve Irwin (a.k.a. the Crocodile Hunter) who has come back from the dead to observe an amazing natural phenomenon. How's that for drama? :)
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Best pizza EVER
So I have a variety of chopped vegetables ready to go in my fridge from the weekend, because I'm awesome! Tonight, in a variation of the Tantric Pizza I described here, I took a whole-wheat pita (the thin kind), slathered some pizza sauce on it, and heaped slices of red peppers, green peppers, onion, mushroom, zucchini, and broccoli on it. I lightly sprayed the whole thing with some non-stick cooking spray before I popped it into my new toaster oven for about twenty minutes. After the vegetables had sufficiently softened, I added some pineapple tidbits and some cheese, before baking it another 10 - 15 minutes. SOOOO GOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!! I can't say that I miss meat at all.
The broccoli in particular was surprisingly tasty. It makes me wonder why I don't regularly eat roasted broccoli. Try it out if you don't believe me!
Nature Geek Alert!
Oh, another cool buy recently? The Common Birds and Their Songs book and CD set by Lang Elliott and Marie Read. Amazing pictures in the book and sound quality on the CD. After I downloaded the MP3s to my iPod, I let my friend
It’s actually really nice to listen to, especially this time of the year when you just can’t wait for spring! It’s also – um, entertaining? for the felines in your house! LOL
New on my iPod
Have you ever heard the song, “Run for Your Life” by
You’ve never heard of Esthero? Me neither, until a couple of weeks ago, but I bought her CD, Wikked L’il Girls last week, and I’m really enjoying some of the songs, particularly “If Tha Mood” and “Junglebook”. I highly recommend checking them out. I love the way she blends a big band sound with hip-hop, and how she will go from rock to jazz to Beatles-inspired pieces. Eclectic! :)
P.S. - If you're tempted to spend more money on the disk rather than the download so you can get the lyrics, etc., don't bother. The CD doesn't come with much information and has no lyrics. It's cheaper to download.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Paul
I found this anedote in Rude Cactus very cute:
I might have mentioned this before, but my daughter is obsessed with salad dressing. But not any salad dressing. In order to meet with her approval, the salad dressing must be that of Mr. Paul Newman. She's learned to say Paul specifically so she may address the salad dressing. She often lavishes Paul with kisses. Last week, I mistakenly left the salad dressing out overnight. Since I'm weird about food and abide by directives such as refrigerate after opening, I threw the bottle away the next day. Last night, she demanded Paul. All I could give her was Ken. Ken was not acceptable and yielded a tragically sad face. Note to self: pick up Paul on the way home.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Double trouble
Linda at SundryMourning referred to this photo on Swistle. This picture of twins Elizabeth and Edward represents something Joe and Lisa have to look forward to (I guess) with Lorelai and Reece! LOL
Canadians for Kyoto
Unfortunately, I won't be able to make this rally as I have other commitments, but here's the info for Toronto (other cities' info is available here):
Sunday March 11, 2007
Nathan Phillips Square
12pm
John Bennett - Executive Director, Climate Action Network
Olivia Chow -Member of Parliament
Jose Etcheverry - Research and Policy Analyst, David Suzuki Foundation
Dave Martin - Climate and Energy Campaign Coordinator, Greenpeace
Maria Minna - Member of Parliament
Keith Stewart - Climate Change Campaign Manager, WWF-Canada
Cameron Stiff - Founding Member, Canadian Youth Climate Coalition
Chris Tindal - Green Party Candidate
Matthew Barber
Deborah Kimmett
Elvira Kurt
Brian MacMillan
Madagascar Slim
Lisa Merchant
Richard Underhill
Adam Warner
Dawn Whitwell
**Special Guest Performer**
Engaging speakers, live music, a marching band, the "Polar Bears", positive solutions, postcard mailouts to the Prime Minister, an information fair and much more climate action inspiration. Bring your drums and noisemakers, colourful signs and slogans. Show your support in your own way or attend one of our group events
Vegetarian is the New Prius
The other day, I found this amazing blog post about vegetarianism and the environment (I want to quote the whole darned thing, it's so well-written and informative!). If you are completely unwilling to even just reduce your meat consumption, you might want to consider buying more locally produced meat raised by a small farm owner who doesn't feed his/her animals antibiotics, rendered animals, etc. Or just skip over this post. Like I said previously, I don't want to preach.
However, if you're interested in doing something to mitigate global warming and other environmental damage (not to mention your own health), or just plain curious, read on:
President Herbert Hoover promised "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage." With warnings about global warming reaching feverish levels, many are having second thoughts about all those cars. It seems they should instead be worrying about the chickens.
Last month, the United Nations published a report on livestock and the environment with a stunning conclusion: "The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." It turns out that raising animals for food is a primary cause of land degradation, air pollution, water shortage, water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and not least of all, global warming.
... The U.N. report says almost a fifth of global warming emissions come from livestock (i.e., those chickens Hoover was talking about, plus pigs, cattle, and others)--that's more emissions than from all of the world's transportation combined.
For a decade now, the image of Leonardo DiCaprio cruising in his hybrid Toyota Prius has defined the gold standard for environmentalism. These gas-sipping vehicles became a veritable symbol of the consumers' power to strike a blow against global warming. Just think: a car that could cut your vehicle emissions in half - in a country responsible for 25% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions ... Toyota could not import the cars fast enough to meet demand.
Last year researchers at the University of Chicago took the Prius down a peg when they turned their attention to another gas guzzling consumer purchase. They noted that feeding animals for meat, dairy, and egg production requires growing some ten times as much crops as we'd need if we just ate pasta primavera, faux chicken nuggets, and other plant foods. On top of that, we have to transport the animals to slaughterhouses, slaughter them, refrigerate their carcasses, and distribute their flesh all across the country. Producing a calorie of meat protein means burning more than ten times as much fossil fuels--and spewing more than ten times as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide--as does a calorie of plant protein. The researchers found that, when it's all added up, the average American does more to reduce global warming emissions by going vegetarian than by switching to a Prius.
According to the UN report, it gets even worse when we include the vast quantities of land needed to give us our steak and pork chops. Animal agriculture takes up an incredible 70% of all agricultural land, and 30% of the total land surface of the planet. As a result, farmed animals are probably the biggest cause of slashing and burning the world's forests. Today, 70% of former Amazon rainforest is used for pastureland, and feed crops cover much of the remainder. These forests serve as "sinks," absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, and burning these forests releases all the stored carbon dioxide, quantities that exceed by far the fossil fuel emission of animal agriculture.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the real kicker comes when looking at gases besides carbon dioxide--gases like methane and nitrous oxide, enormously effective greenhouse gases with 23 and 296 times the warming power of carbon dioxide, respectively. If carbon dioxide is responsible for about one-half of human-related greenhouse gas warming since the industrial revolution, methane and nitrous oxide are responsible for another one-third. These super-strong gases come primarily from farmed animals' digestive processes, and from their manure. In fact, while animal agriculture accounts for 9% of our carbon dioxide emissions, it emits 37% of our methane, and a whopping 65% of our nitrous oxide.
It's a little hard to take in when thinking of a small chick hatching from her fragile egg. How can an animal, so seemingly insignificant against the vastness of the earth, give off so much greenhouse gas as to change the global climate? The answer is in their sheer numbers. The United States alone slaughters more than 10 billion land animals every year, all to sustain a meat-ravenous culture that can barely conceive of a time not long ago when "a chicken in every pot" was considered a luxury. Land animals raised for food make up a staggering 20% of the entire land animal biomass of the earth. We are eating our planet to death.
What we're seeing is just the beginning, too. Meat consumption has increased five-fold in the past fifty years, and is expected to double again in the next fifty.
It sounds like a lot of bad news, but in fact it's quite the opposite. It means we have a powerful new weapon to use in addressing the most serious environmental crisis ever to face humanity. The Prius was an important step forward, but how often are people in the market for a new car? Now that we know a greener diet is even more effective than a greener car, we can make a difference at every single meal, simply by leaving the animals off of our plates. Who would have thought: what's good for our health is also good for the health of the planet!
Going veg provides more bang for your buck than driving a Prius. Plus, that bang comes a lot faster. The Prius cuts emissions of carbon dioxide, which spreads its warming effect slowly over a century. A big chunk of the problem with farmed animals, on the other hand, is methane, a gas which cycles out of the atmosphere in just a decade. That means less meat consumption quickly translates into a cooler planet.
Not just a cooler planet, also a cleaner one. Animal agriculture accounts for most of the water consumed in this country, emits two-thirds of the world's acid-rain-causing ammonia, and it the world's largest source of water pollution--killing entire river and marine ecosystems, destroying coral reefs, and of course, making people sick. Try to imagine the prodigious volumes of manure churned out by modern American farms: 5 million tons a day, more than a hundred times that of the human population, and far more than our land can possibly absorb. The acres and acres of cesspools stretching over much of our countryside, polluting the air and contaminating our water, make the Exxon Valdez oil spill look minor in comparison. All of which we can fix surprisingly easily, just by putting down our chicken wings and reaching for a veggie burger.
Doing so has never been easier. Recent years have seen an explosion of environmentally-friendly vegetarian foods. Even chains like Ruby Tuesday, Johnny Rockets, and Burger King offer delicious veggie burgers and supermarket refrigerators are lined with heart-healthy creamy soymilk and tasty veggie deli slices. Vegetarian foods have become staples at environmental gatherings, and garnered celebrity advocates like Bill Maher, Alec Baldwin, Paul McCartney, and of course Leonardo DiCaprio. Just as the Prius showed us that we each have in our hands the power to make a difference against a problem that endangers the future of humanity, going vegetarian gives us a new way to dramatically reduce our dangerous emissions that is even more effective, easier to do, more accessible to everyone and certainly goes better with french fries ...
