Karlsruhe Squat Germany

People living together, working together, anarchists artists, musicians...People have the right to shelter. How ridiculous is it that we have to PAY just to EXIST in space. You can't live somewhere for free, but not having a home is loitering. LOITERING?!?! How can just existing be against the law? Houses like the Ex-Steffi are creative universes where people help each other and live. They have a fucking free soup kitchen! Come on!

Vegan?

Considering becoming vegan.
On the fence.
Not sure if I have enough internal drive to do so, enough of a compelling feeling.
I might just be bored.
Or up for a challenge.
But I find that with permanent/semi-permanent life changes, I need that extra internal motivation to really sustain my endeavor.
I have been vegetarian for seven years without making the leap to veganism.
Have I become complacent? Where is that rebelious urge to deviate even farther from the norm?
Veganism has to be done the right way, and yes I do believe there is a right way.
The right way does not involved tons of soy products cast into meat-patty shapes or into soy milk.
It involves lots of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and ingenuity.
Want a dairy-like drink? Trade in the soy milk for rice milk, hazelnut milk, almond milk, whole grain drink...
Trade in the soy burger for the homemade black bean burger.
I could approach veganism slowly, eat vegan 2 times a week, then 3, then 4...or jump into it all at once.
It's just about taking the leap.
Once I fully committed to vegetarianism, at the age of 14 no less, I never looked back.
The same possibility exists for veganism.
Jump in, and never look back.

What is it that you want to find?

Feelings kinda apathetic/listless/whatever the past few days.
Can't seem to find motivation/drive/interest.
Mid summer funk perhaps?
Very distracted and pulled in a million different directions without a course or a path or a goal or a forseeable destination.
Need to re-coop and get my brain clear. Maybe take some time for myself after work today...

Cutest Puppy Ever!!!

One day I will have a lovely Border Collie and a lovely Blue Heeler. And also a few goats, sheep, and chicken.

It's cold inside, hot outside

These days I generally feel too tired to write, hence the lack of entries.
Working 6 to 7 days a week does that to you.

Two things I can say however.

Rainbow swiss chard is very pretty. I spent all day Tuesday weeding swiss chard fields and the pink, orange, yellow, red and purple stems of swiss chard are undeniably lovely all sitting in a row.

Twilight Saga's Eclipse was not as horrible as was expected. It was actually rather well done. Sadly, there won't be as many scenes for me and my friends to make fun of.

Baby Field Mice

Yesterday I brought two orphaned baby field mice to the local wildlife rescue center. They were so tiny, only a week old when I found them at work, stuck in a tarp on the top of one of our greenhouses. Their eyes and ears have yet to open and they walk all wobbly on their tiny feeble legs. I had spent five days caring for them. Feeding them milk from a dropper, massaging their bellies with cottons swabs so that they could digest and poop. They were the cutest little things. But after five days, they proved too much for me to handle. I cared for them well, but did not feel capable of continueing to replace a mama mouse. Now they are being cared for by people better prepared than I, and they will be released into the wild when they reach maturity. For anyone who finds an orphaned or injured wild animal and finds themselves unable to care for it, call up your local wildlife rescue center or bring them to one. You may not even know that their is a wildlife rescue center nearby, but their probably is.
The staff at the wildlife center was pleased with the way I cared for the baby nice and asked me to apply to work as a volunteer there. A four hour shift once a week. I very well may apply to volunteer there on my day off from work. I love animals, and it is greatly rewarding to care for them. Plus, it would be a great learning opportunity.

Music of the afternoon: Devil Makes Three (Thanks to Nat for turning me onto this sweet band)

For the love of reading

I have just purchased two books on betterworldbooks.com and will be awaiting their arrival in the mail.

The first is Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert, which I will be reading over the summer as partial preparation for the environmental ethics course that I am taking in the fall.

The second is Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America by Lillian Faderman. I had been eyeing this book in a bookshop in Princeton a couple of months ago, but the price tag was too hefty for purchase. I tucked the title away in the back of my mind. Luckily, betterworldbooks saved the day and I was able to purchase the book for a mere $3.98. Success!

While I wait for these two books to arrive, I will attempt to finish my current reads. Anarchism by Daniel Guerin and Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. My bf highly recommended the latter and lent it to me months ago, so I am compelled to read it quickly and let him know what I think.

Summer reading! One of my favorite activities. Keeps my mind moving and my imagination going. All things I need when working six days a week, not engaged in academics. Books are the escape, the destination, reality and fantasy, neither here nor there and every place in between.