Management Women of ASU

Every December, Amy treats the women of the PhD program to lunch at House of Tricks. It's such a great tradition, and one of the few times we are all together in a social setting. This year was bittersweet, since it would be the last women's lunch for Christy and me.

This year, I gave everyone handmade ornaments since I was obsessing over them. Amy O. is holding hers in the photo.



From left: Amy O, Carla J, Atira C, Christy S., me, Amy H, Kristie B (Thanks to Christy for sharing the photo!)

Thundercats

With one of my student teams at the Anthem Pets Charity Auction.

I Know My Coke

One of the professors has an evening class on the same night I teach. This week, she'd done a cola taste test, so invited me to take it when we were both back to our offices after the class sessions. This was high stress--what if diet coke was hidden in one of the well-masked, cap-switched liter bottles--and I got it wrong?! So, I sniffed and sipped and filled out my ballot... 1) Coke, 2) Pepsi, 3) Other. 3/3!!! (The other was RC Cola.)

New Location for Dog Park

Since the Anthem Community council wouldn't put a dog park in place, Anthem Pets found land in New River. The board was interviewed by an Anthem Independent reporter...Angie and I were the only ones willing to pose for the photo. With luck, we will have a new dog park in October at the site of Jackass Acres.

Note that I am wearing my Herbivore "Keep Smiling" T!

Sock on the Line

To make our household more eco-friendly, George started hanging all our clothes on the line instead of using the dryer. For a time, I resisted. I told him I would wash the laundry, but he would have to hang it. I caved in, though. It seems like a small effort for a large payoff. And here, in Arizona, the laundry dries much faster outside than in the dryer, though I don't particularly like how stiff the clothes are.

It's always so funny to see the clothes hanging outside. I often wonder what the neighbors think!

My Birthday Horoscope

Freewill Astrology by Rob Brezney

CANCER (June 21-July 22): To celebrate your ramble through the most wildly independent phase of your astrological cycle, I'm offering you three inspirational quotes. The first is from poet e.e. cummings: "To be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle that any human being can fight." Your second shot of motivation is from Clarissa Pinkola Estes: "If you have ever been called defiant, incorrigible, forward, cunning, insurgent, unruly, or rebellious, you're on the right track. If you have never been called these things, there is yet time." Lastly, here's a Hindu proverb: "There is nothing noble in being superior to some other person. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self."

California Cows are NOT Happy!

See what life is really like for California dairy cows:

http://www.farmsanctuary.org/actionalerts/Dairy/Dairy_expose.html.

Little Cabin in the Woods

My mother and I sang this song when I was a very young child:

In a cabin in the woods
Little man by the window stood
Saw a rabbit hopping by
Frightened as can be
"Help me, help me, help", he said
Or the hunter will shoot me dead
Little rabbit come inside
Safely you'll abide

I've never known a time in my life when I wasn't fiercely protective of animals. Even in high school, I remember terrible arguments with country boys who would go hunting for fun. I can't imagine not being vegan now. What I can't understand is why it took so long.

Michigan

Grandma and Aimee Visit the Big Apple

Newsweek: Leadership & the Environment

I was glad that Newsweek had a special section in their latest issue on "Leadership and the Environment" special issue, but was disappointed that none of the articles in that section suggested that transitioning to a plant-based diet represents an easy and effective, not to mention healthy, strategy to reduce global warming. Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin, researchers from the University of Chicago, found that the typical American diet (28% of which comes from animal-based sources) generates 1.5 tons more carbon dioxide than a vegan diet (New Scientist, 12/17/2005). In her article, "Vegetarian is the New Prius," Kathy Freston (Huffington Post, 1/20/2007), reports that "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." Reducing meat from our diet is one of the most concrete—and gratifying—acts we can do to help solve our climate crisis.

Even if you can't go vegan, you can eat less meat in general or vow to go meat-free for a day a week. You can also buy organic and choose locally grown produce that has not had to be shipped long distances to reach the grocery store.

Brandi Carlile Show

We went to Tucson over the weekend to see Brandi Carlile perform at the Rialto. It was an amazing show, and I didn't even mind that we were standing the entire time. She and her band were so awesome, and it was clear that she was happy to be there, singing, not just singing, but singing for us. The audience returned the love with rapt attention (and not just a few marriage proposals). The energy was phenomenal. In addition to singing from her self-titled CD and the recently released "The Story," Carlile closed with her versions of Folsom Prison and the amazingly well-done rendition of Hallelujah. Wow! I was extremely happy to see that "The Story" is today's NPR's Song of the Day.

So that we didn't have to drive back to Phoenix late at night, we stayed at the Historic Hotel Congress, the site of John Dillinger's capture. The hotel rooms are about the size of a matchbox, but very charming because they maintain the original feel of the hotel. (And come with signs reminding guests to "respect our historical plumbing".) In the morning, we had to leave fairly early so that we could pick up the dogs from their no-cage boarding and daycare facility, but we ate a quick meal at "The Cup," the Congress' cafe. They had vegan french toast, so I splurged! Yum!

Unitarian Jihad

Our mission, as told to the San Francisco Chronicle. I shouldn't be telling you this, but my Unitarian Universalist jihad name is Sister Broadsword of Quiet Reflection.

Walter Enjoys Pugstock 2007