Cochlea:Animal

Wet Noodles for Peace

2011-09-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

Yoga for Peace is the perfect example of a wasteful concept that promotes false action in the name of a blanket, generalized principle: "People from around the world will join together to create peace in the world by performing 108 sun salutations in unison. The idea behind this event is simple and very clear...peace begins within and the goal is to unite the yoga community to create peace in

Ignore-amus

2011-08-06T12:36:00.003-05:00

Spending up to an hour every day reading the news has turned me into . I don't want to be someone who sticks her fingers in her ears and ignores how messed up things are, but you output what you input. So I'm making an effort to lighten up on the news: No longer will I have a cup of Post-Dispatch with a Huffington mint and an NPR chaser every morning. It's time to focus on the nuance of what

Public Housing, Private Labor

2011-07-24T15:51:00.008-05:00

Disclaimer: If you are reading this in your own home with a nice drink next to you, in a temperature-controlled environment, take a moment to recognize your good fortune. It is not because you deserve it or worked for it. It's because the odds fell in your favor. You were not born in Somalia. You were born with ample control of your limbs. You were born to people who had enough money to feed

Known and Unknown

2011-07-04T11:10:00.004-05:00

I failed. I did not finish Donald Rumsfeld's Known and Unknown. I made it to chapter 20 or so, ending somewhere before 2004. It has been very interesting to hear a conservative's first-hand account of the majority of republican presidential administrations since President Johnson. Hell, it's interesting to hear anyone's first-hand account of the executive branch during the second half of the 20th

Withnell

2011-07-02T10:22:00.006-05:00

This is the abandoned school across the street. There's a ballroom on the top floor, and sometimes the people who run the adjoining church, St. Agatha's, have dances. I know this because they own a set of these and use them until midnight. They shine on through the bedroom window, rotating green, purple, blue. Given the small congregation and the financial problems I'm sure they have, sometimes I

Special and Ordinary

2011-05-30T11:52:00.008-05:00

It takes 13-14 hours to drive from St. Louis to Austin. Excluding the first 6 when I discovered I'd downloaded the wrong software, I have spent a total of 20 hours listening to Donald Rumsfeld's Known and Unknown, narrated by him, truly. I'm not even done yet. I'm on chapter 26 of chapter-god-knows-how-many. As of chapter 26, he's only just begun to describe W. Bush's presidency. I will discuss

Porch Garden

2011-05-29T11:42:00.005-05:00

Do please step into the garden of my porch...Pepper blooms:Tomato blooms: With your keen eye, you may have noticed the mint looking a little wimpy. As do the hot banana pepper plants. This is because they've outgrown their home! They will soon be re-potted. So far, this has been the only good outcome of all the rain. It's nice to grow plants, but it feels sort of hands-off for me. I

Windows

2011-05-21T12:41:00.004-05:00

towards the end of maywe noticed how dusty all the wood was.with circadian rhythm on the stereowe took out rags, dusting our way out the doorand forgot to come back inside.

Hailing in Austin

2011-05-12T09:16:00.008-05:00

For Austinites, I know this downpour is welcome and appreciated. I was in a yoga class on Tuesday evening when there was thunder and lightning, and everyone in the room gasped and cried out. The teacher said, "There is nothing better than some rain and Radiohead."Yes, "Karma Police" was on the teacher's iPod that second.Yes, 100% of the students were white.After the class was over, the woman who

Grackles

2011-05-11T13:18:00.009-05:00

A large group of Grackles is referred to as a “plague.” I don’t disagree. As I sat at the café in the above photo, I was told they were brought in to control the mosquito population, but some quick research proves that statement to be inaccurate—they eat bugs that can harm plants, but they also eat plants. One web site recounts how some people tried to scare off a plague of Grackles that had

Commodity Correction

2011-05-09T14:03:00.006-05:00

(That is the headline on CNBC at the moment, brought to you by a business reporter who has silver-gilded lettering on his business card)I have learned two important lessons over the past few days: 1. GPS outshines online maps & directions 2. Hotels like to tout “going green” as code for “cutting corners.”Considering you can see the detail of the stone on my front porch on Google Earth, I assumed

The Job Search v.2.0

2010-01-18T18:32:00.004-06:00