"Bees, Jim! Bees!"
In the middle of a conversation with my friend, Doubles, a few days ago a big, big bee flew into my apartment (I'm guessing) through the crack between where the air conditioner unit stops and the window moulding begins. (Yes, I have the foamy stuff you stick in between the cracks to stop it up. It is sitting coiled in its bag next to the window, leaning up against the unit. I figure that's the same thing as using it.) It was loud and active and the size of my thumb.
Thanks to a lifetime of being on the lookout for bees around my mom, who is *extremely* allergic, my immediate reaction to a large bee inside my small apartment was to go to high alert. "Get the fuck out of here! What the fuck do you think you're doing?! Go! GET OUT!" (Bit o' trivia for you: when we had a mouse in the Cambridge apartment, I had the same reaction. Not scared shrieking, but angry yelling.) So the bee flew back to the window, but couldn't find the hole he climbed through in the first place. I'm hearing buzzing behind the dropped blinds and I pull the curtains in front of the blinds, too, so it can't fly into the room. Eventually the buzzing stops (though I swear I was hearing ghost buzzing for the next hour) and I assume the bee has found its way back into the wilds of Dupont.
Not so. Just now I see a big, fuzzy bee hobbling across my floor in front of the tv. (Insert obvious joke here about the only reason Halley saw it was because it was blocking her view of the tv.) Since it seems to only be able to walk (I'm sure it was starving after living on my windowsill for a few days), I trap it under a bag with structured sides while I go to open a window to let it out of. For twenty minutes I'm going back and forth between my windows and can't move the screens on any of them. After failing on the first round, I go back to try again. Nothings moving. I look back at the bag with the unhappy bee inside. Fine, Bee. I'll put on clothes and we'll go outside. So inside an Ann Taylor Loft bag covered with mail from my investment portfolio people (it was the only envelop big enough to cover the bag), the bee gets carried out the front door of my building.
I flip the bag over on the grass by the flowers (give it access to what it wants, right?) and it won't let go of the tissue paper. So I start talking to it. "You're free. Let go. Bee, this isn't smart." And as people walk by, smiling at the crazy lady, I manage to shake the bee off of the paper.
Stupid bee.
it's part of my charm, okay?
I've finally posted the last 6 albums of photos from Aussie, including the trips to New Zealand, Sydney, Adelaide, and other Melburnian whatnot.
Don't say I never gave ya nuthin'.
http://aussiehalley.shutterfly.comPS- Yes, it's me down in that hole. I went exploring. (I think I found Miranda.*) Then needed help getting back out from exploring.
*Points to anyone who knows what I'm talking about.
Life in the tropics
Is it possible for it to rain slush? Because it think it is. Not freezing rain, not sleet. Slush.
an insight into my character...or an exercise in banality
On this gorgeous, gorgeous day (67!) I took a walk to the organic market down the street, wearing jeans and a tshirt with flip-flops, since my feet relish any opportunity to be in contact with the outside, unconstrained by pesky things like socks. I brought my "Soul Mama-Global Vegetarian Cafe" bag from Melbourne (St. Kilda), where bringing reusable cloth bags for your groceries is common, encouraged, and an opportunity to show your team colors. My team, in this case, being the vegetarians. On the reverse side of the bag, there's the George Bernard Shaw quote: Animals are my friends and I don't eat my friends.
Here's my organic booty:
-zucchini
-woodstock extra firm tofu
-Buckwheat frozen waffles ("Gluten Free! with real berries")
-Wallaby blueberry yogurt (yes, I got it because it said 'wallaby' and 'australian style')
-Stonyfield Farms vanilla chai ice cream (omg! I know! I saw it and had to get it!)
-veggie bologna (LiteLife, if you're curious. I also like Yves)
-a brick o'Colby Cheddar cheese
-Stroopwaffels (they're Dutch and sweet and kinda like waffle cones but in circles, like a cookie, with a layer of maple syrup-kinda thing in the middle)
-a veggie turkey sub on a seasame wheat roll
-Soy Dream Vanilla Enriched soy milk
-Ezekiel bread (the one with the orange label)
-Stacy's Naked pita chips (plain. so good.)
-Ethnic Gourmet Shahi Paneer
-vegetable broth (for the soup I'm making later with my box from greengrocer)
-And a big ball o'fresh mozarella from the deli next door ("So's Your Mom")
So what's this about greengrocer?
(linky-doo) I had a box delivered Thursday (the small, orgranic box). They set the list each week and if I'm in need of produce, I say to their website, "send it, website." The stuff is fresh and tastes better (for the most part, noticeably) than grocery store stuff. The fruit I got last time was some of the best I've tasted. (Some of the other best was at the exotic tropical fruit farm up in Cape Trib. If you're ever up in Queensland, go there.
http://aussiehalley.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_archive.html)
So what did I get this week?
-broccoli (the whole big thing is already gone. I went on a broccoli binge, what can I say?)
-green leaf lettuce
-spinach (2/3rds gone)
-carrots with tops
-roma tomatoes
-avocados
-anjou pears
-mango
-navel oranges
-granny smith apples
-bananas (one left)
-and I ordered basil, too (two bucks for a whole big bag of really fresh stuff. I'm in love with it.)
So that's what's in my kitchen. That, and dirty dishes (which will hopefully be gone shortly. They're soaking, okay?). I'm not sure what any of this shows. But I love grocery shopping, I really do. I can spend hours roaming aisles of the mega-grocery stores and minutes on end reading packages. I'm fascinated by groceries. To come home with a bagful of new things to eat feels luxurious. It feels like abundance. There are almost endless possibilities to what can be done with the food. Groceries are a promise of future - if we were to die today, we wouldn't need groceries. Groceries say, you will be here tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Each item has the potential to be a promise of fulfilling resolutions to start cooking more or eating better or taking care of one's emotional well-being through cookies. Groceries allow us to travel and to be home. Even if everything all goes to rot, the potential for all these things remain. And potential breeds whatever happens tomorrow.
I'm going to go finish my veggie turkey sandwich.
Taken from TamPontification (It's free, ya lazy bums, so do something good!)
Women’s shelters in the U.S. go through thousands of tampons and pads monthly, and, while agencies generally assist with everyday necessities such as toilet paper, diapers, and clothing, this most basic need is often overlooked. You and I may take our monthly trips down the feminine care aisle for granted, but, for women in shelters, a box of tampons is five dollars they can’t spare. Here’s some good news: you can help us contribute to rectifying this situation by making a virtual donation below!
For each virtual donation, Seventh Generation will send a pack of organic cotton tampons or chlorine-free pads to a shelter in your state.
http://www.tampontification.com/donate.phpFeel free to send the link on to your friends, and also support Seventh Generation environmentally-friendly products. Because, hey, who doesn't think the idea of recycled toilet paper is hysterical?
Swiss Miss
Funny article from the NYT about how the Swiss recently, accidentally, invaded Lichtenstein.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/10/opinion/10stamm.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=sloginI knew a Swiss guy in Paris. He never tried to take over anything while I was there. He was really tall, though, (about nine feet, I think,) so I wouldn't put it past him. Gotta keep an eye on those tall people.
