Prairie Bag

I took these pictures out at the Green Oaks Prairie Reserve in the fall of 2009. I've always loved trees against sky, and prairie grass against sky was fantastic!
My crafty mom made me this bag for Christmas- just the right size for my laptop or a few school books.
I love it ever so!

Hope

"When Americans can no longer see the stars the times are tragic. We must believe that it is the darkness before the dawn of a beautiful new world; we will see it when we believe it." -Saul Alinsky

I am fed up. Natural disasters, ridiculous politics, having a cold...

So here is some hope!

Americans are starting to trust the EPA! Read about it here.

We are slowly but surely making progress on gay rights! Read about it here.

Farmhack is going to be at MIT March 5th to all you out east! Read about it here.

7 Days did an awesome video about Ice Cutting at Farm and Wilderness, a super awesome cooperative event! Watch it here.

I refuse to give up on the world. It may be going crazy, but perhaps out of the wreckage (whether it be of budgets or downed Cathedrals in New Zealand) we can build something better?

Hands holding strawberries

Reductive lino prints, 4 layers of color.

Chicago

I went to Chicago TWICE this week! First to the Art Insitute, which was great. Then back again last night to see Starship. It was a fantastic show.

Yet another reason my dad is awesome...

I was surprised with this gem in my mailbox today! I gave my dad some little recycled books for Christmas, and he filled this one with thought from the NOFA-VT conference (which I sadly couldn't be at). HILARIOUS and great and I love the pictures best of all. Here are some snippets:

When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. ~H.G. Wells

Knox Food Coalition

After the Real Food Challenge, we decided to start a group that would pull from all the awesome clubs on campus already getting stuff done. Today we started with a professor panel and came up with a few ideas. We are now going to meet once a week. Although I can see that it is going to be a hard journey, I am looking forward to finally having a place to work for the things I care most about!

Thaw

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Wendell Berry

Mad Farmer Liberation Front

Love!

Valentines Day kinda sucked...

Not for the "typical" reasons, but because I woke up yesterday feeling like complete crap-ola.

So I emailed my professors, and went back to sleep.

And slept.

And slept.

But today has dawned a new day, and I think I kept whatever germs they were from launching a full out attack.

So today I am taking stock of all the love that was sent to me.

Valentines from family and friends

Cookies and hearts from my sister

facebook messages from friends far away

a good family call

and soup that a friend brought me last night when she heard I was sick.

I have some pretty awesome people in my life.

Things that are great

-Reading good books (or multiple good books at once)

-Signing up for awesome classes for next term (Environmental Econ, Intro to Gender+Womens Studies, and Food, Policy, and Power In America)

-Making super cool collagraphs in Printmaking (pictures to come?) and starting linos

-Family dinners at my friend's house where she makes us delicious food and we all get to sit around and have awesome conversations

-Ukelele/multiple guitar/piano jam sessions

-Positive dances

-The new Decemberists album, The King is Dead

-Glee being back with new episodes (so corny, I know, but hey, it makes a good study break)

-Snuggling in my awesome quilt that my Marmie made me when its negative degrees+ windchill out

-Getting cute valentines from my wonderful loved ones

-Being able to help others in ways that are really easy for me and mean a lot to them

-Growing radishes with a friend in her sunroom and having all her housemates ask me if they can grow stuff too (and the answer of course being YES!)

-Getting stupid stuff done so I don't have to stress out about it anymore (applications, making appointments etc etc)

And most importantly, seeing that so many things are great!

Oh, Democracy

So remember how I watched the State of the Union with some awesome people and somehow ended up as the secretary of the Knox College Democrats? Well, it has been AMAZING. Already learning so much from these two amazing students who constitute the rest of the executive board of the club. They have both worked on campaign before, and I have in the last week had meetings with 2 local politicians, and gone canvassing for one of them door-to-door. This term has been sort of lack-luster academically, so I've been really excited to be getting more involved in other things.

“The human spirit glows from that small inner light of doubt whether we are right, while those who believe with complete certainty that they possess the right are dark inside and darken the world outside with cruelty, pain, and injustice.” -Saul Alinsky, Rules For Radicals

Snow!

Classes were cancelled for the first time in forever! Enjoying being lazy.