Obama's energy goals

Tuesday night I went to a very politically active friend's house to watch the State of the Union. She took fall term off to run a campaign in her home district. Somehow, by the end of the night, I was one of three members and secretary of the Knox College Democrats, which hasn't been active in a few years.

I am pleased that President Obama proposed a goal of making 80% of the country's electricity "clean" by 2035... but, like many other environmentalists, am thinking "who is he kidding?!?!" While it may be possible, more likely it will not be made a real priority and fall by the wayside. Here are my main thoughts

-We have an archaic, inefficient energy grid. If we want to be sustainable, let's start there. Clean energy production will be no good to us unless we make distribution efficient.

-Is President Obama including "clean coal" in this 80%? Cause that's an oxymoron.

-How will we manage this financially and politically? The last few years have proven it's hard to get much of anything done, let alone something that will inevitably (and sadly) be seen as a "liberal" issue.

Keith Schnieder from Grist writes this: "Arguably the central provision of President Obama's state of the union address last night was the proposal to generate 80 percent of the nation's electricity from clean energy sources by 2035 -- including nuclear energy and "carbon capture and storage" coal technology. Getting there will take a miracle, the same sort of pie in the sky thinking that allowed our president to also present the daft notion of giving 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail by 2035. This in a country that last built a great rail station over a century ago."

Read the rest of his article here.

Also read about the latest fast food debacle involving Taco Bell here.

Please give me your input on President Obama's State of the Union energy proposal!

Real Food Challenge

The Real Food Challenge came to campus last week. There were strategic planning sessions, workshops, and potlucks! I met lots of other food activists on campus and we have decided to start KFC (the Knox Food Coalition) to work on food issues. So excited to work on getting more real food on campus!!!

Real Food: food that nourishes producers, consumers, communities, and the earth.

I love this!

MUSIC PAINTING - Glocal Sound - Matteo Negrin from Lab on Vimeo.

My first tractor

This little gem found it's way into my Christmas stocking this year... my very first tractor! I keep it next to my alarm clock so in the morning it gets me going!

Eat a Vegetable!

From "The Onion", a fantastic semi-fictitious news network, comes this wonderful bit. Eat a vegetable!

I have been running around the last few days with events by reps from the Real Food Challenge. Awesome. Inspiring. Can't even begin to describe. I will be back with LOTS of info soon. For now check out their website!

I don't usually do music stuff on here, but I absolutely love getting music suggestions... so I'm hoping you do, too!
Here are my top 5 albums right now!

-The Weepies: "Be My Thrill"
Favorite track: "Hummingbird"

-Andrew Belle: "The Ladder"
Favorite track: "Static Waves" (features Katie Herzig)

-Ben Folds and Nick Hornby: "Lonely Avenue"
Favorite track: "Picture Window"

-Pearl & the Beard: "God Bless Your Weary Soul, Amanda Richardson"
Favorite track: "Slow Motion Machine Gun"

-The Spring Standards: "Would Things Be Different"
Favorite track: "Queen of the Lot"

Also check out this awesome a cappella version of Coldplay's "Fix You" by Straight No Chaser. My a cappella group is doing a similar arrangement, and it isn't all men, but you get the jist. It's gonna be amazing.

This gives me hope.

"The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives - to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let's remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other's ideas without questioning each other's love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.

I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here - they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us."

Watch the full video of President Obama's speech at the Tucson memorial service here.

Food For Thought boxers!

Before break, I was talking with the foodie club I'm in (Food For Thought) about club apparel. The club wanted to get boxers. We realized that the companies we were considering ordering from were going to be too expensive for us. Then I realized- HEY, I can silkscreen! So we bought boxers cheap and I brought them home with me over break to screen with my pre-existing carrot print.

They turned out pretty well, even though I had to use a system of cardboard and binder clips to stretch out the elastic and keep them from scrunching.

We distributed them at our club meeting tonight, and everyone was super pumped about them. So yay for local food, and yay for local art!

Mail

THIS lovely book showed up in my mailbox today!

(okay, it wasn't magic, I ordered it a few days ago...)

Super excited to read it- it's a compilation of photos, interviews, and info about the actual farmers leading the food revolution! Check it out.

Quidditch

Something AMAZING happened Christmas day! Santa brought me a Nimbus 2000!!!

After admiring it with my siblings and making sure it wasn't jinxed....

... I decided to try out for the blazin' orange Vermont Quidditch team!

Here I am about to catch the Snitch. I couldn't post any more flying pictures because that would be breaking the Wizarding Statute of Secrecy. Some of yalls are Muggles.

Despite the serious depression that followed my 11th birthday (and the lack of owl from Hogwarts), I still hold the Wizarding world in my heart. And Santa is pretty darn awesome.

My spoon!

My wooden spoon is complete! It is made of cherry wood procured in a somewhat questionable manner. I used unorthodox tools, including a beveler, skill saw, hot coals from the fire... and finally some actually legitimate carving tools.

Not quite useful or "correctly" made, but not too bad for a first shot, right?!?!

The stash... continued!

Since I cleaned out my room and consolidated EVERYTHING (yes, even my craftiness supplies), I didn't feel as bad indulging my fabric addiction at nido in Burlington, VT over break. Although I wanted everything in that store, I limited myself to these selections: a scrap bag, some fun yellow moon canvas fabric, and utterly adorable Matryoshka doll fabric.

Sadly all my fabric is still at home, for future projects. For now I can think fondly of it!

Post-Christmas peek

Now that it's after Christmas, I can show off what I made for my family and friends!

For my lovely friends at school, I made personalized half-sized notebooks.

Very simple but useful!

For my family, I silkscreened canvas bags with my Soldier of the Soil screen I made this summer. I like the black on olive, it looks very militaristic. This way my family will have another bag to use and use and use for groceries, books, lunch- whatever they think is most useful and re-useful.

Back, and more to come!

My mom calls me her "little Chickadee", and here is one on our tree!

Oh my. What a holiday season! SO much fun, so much food. Saw family, went on plenty of adventures, and received some SPECTACULAR gifts, almost all homemade. Our family has been doing homemade/local/artisan Christmas for a few years, and I will be sharing some of the joy I found under the tree in the coming days!

I am back in Connecticut from the Bit of Earth in Vermont, where I was without internet for the Christmasy times. I survived :) Tomorrow I head back to Illinois for winter term. Doing laundry, packing, and fondling all my lovely gifts.