miriamSpace

I love winter. I was doing great - staying very active with bicycling, faux hockey, and plenty of dancing. Then IT caught me and dragged me down into the damp dark world of SICK. In theory I am a big fan of getting sick - it slows me down and gives me an excuse to mope around the house all day in my pajamas watching bad movies and indulging in comfort foods. However, sickness that you can't seem to shake is a whole different matter. It's been a week since my fever subsided and I am still running at half mass trying to hack up half my lung as if I'd been smoking for several decades (how do they do it? I hate not being able to breathe). And I have even been taking care of myself! I've drank so much tea it came out my ears, ate plenty of vegetables and have been averaging nine to ten hours of sleep a night. What else can a girl do???

Fighting this bug just makes me tired. So... very... very... tired...

All I want to do is lay in the sun - which isn't very easy to do in the winter - hence the winter blahs. If I could afford it I would fly myself to Mexico right now.

To top it off, this illness came at a really bad time (is there ever a good time) as it has caused me to miss the last few good weeks of winter. I discover that March brings a real threat of depression because the sun is too high and the weather too warm for real winter sports but it isn't quite warm bicycling everywhere and all the fun things that happen when it isn't winter.

Sigh... I guess there isn't much to do besides sleep.

Posted by Miriam at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This just in!

The plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean now covers an area twice the size of the continental U.S.

Key excerpts
The UN Environment Programme estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic

"The original idea that people had was that it was an island of plastic garbage that you could almost walk on. It is not quite like that. It is almost like a plastic soup. It is endless for an area that is maybe twice the size as continental United States."

"It moves around like a big animal without a leash." When that animal comes close to land, as it does at the Hawaiian archipelago, the results are dramatic. "The garbage patch barfs, and you get a beach covered with this confetti of plastic," he added.

To view the complete Alternet article click below

Continue reading "Plastic Soup" »

Posted by Miriam at 06:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I went to my umpteenth Lindy Hop class tonight. It was a bit frustrating and involved a lot of practice and an unfortunately amount of arm twisting (and my arm really shouldn't be twisted these days due to a strain that occurred during one of my favorite winter activities). Sometimes I think I don't like learning new things as much as I like having learned new things.

When I am in the muddle of it - practicing and practicing - life can be pretty frustrating. However, once I have practiced it enough that I can lift up my head, enjoy the music, and not trip over my feet - that is the part about learning I really like. These days (at least with Lindy Hop) it feels like a lot of work to get there.

Sigh...

Posted by Miriam at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This just in - plastic is bad for you. Okay, that is old news. However, scientists are continuing to do studies on Bisphenol A, an endocrine/hormone distrupter that is used in making polycarbonate plastics (baby bottles, nalgene bottles, and CDs). They've already known for awhile that as you wash and scrub your plastics toxins leach into your water (or other liquid). However, this new study shows that when you pour boiling water on the plastic (like to sterilize a baby bottle) Bisphenol A is released 55 tims more quickly.

You can read the serious story here

Posted by Miriam at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After the board meeting tonight I was inspired to join a friend at the last minute to see Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis in movie form. I originally read her books years ago - they are all about growing up in Iran both before and after the revolution in the late seventies and early eighties. I was amazed at how well the film carried the spirit of the books, maintained the story line, while keeping a viewer has read everything Satrapi wrote interested.

After driving some friends home I took the long way home on the freezing cold night. It is negative 13 degrees (F, -25 C) out. When you add the wind chill in the thermometer goes all the way down to negative 38 - one of the coldest nights of the year. This meant no one was out and the road by the river was peaceful and beautiful. I had to stop the car and stare in awe at the vast quantities of mist rising from the un-frozen Mississippi River.

Posted by Miriam at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This article is worth reading if you want to challenge a few social assumptions:

Bonobo Society: Amicable, Amorous and Run by Females

Natalie Angier is a fabulous writer, author of "Woman: an intimate geography" and regular writer for the New York Times.

Posted by Miriam at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I saw the Carolina Chocolate Drops tonight. They were amazing - old timey blue grass music played by young charismatic musicians. It was an educational show with the majority of the audience being high school students and a few kids of other ages. As I watched them perform, laugh, talk, and have a good time on stage I realized that what I was seeing was "structured play".

Continue reading "Play" »

Posted by Miriam at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)