a little a' everything

One small eco-friendly step I have taken and of which I am proud of is my purchase of wooden cutlery from J'Ustenbois. I bought them last year at the Salon des Métiers d’Art expo. It’s one of those “If I pay for it, I’ll care for it” deals. Yes, they are more expensive than just any random set of stainless steel cutlery. BUT, I’m not tempted to put them in the dishwasher, thus losing them to the eternal cycle of utensil consumption in the workplace (do spoons disappear where you work, too?) And I always keep them in my purse, so even when I pick up food on my way to class, I save on plastic forks too. It isn’t much, really, when you consider what it saves me, but I think their greatest success is the discussion that invariably starts up when I pull them out. Yes, I really can cut through pizza with a wooden knife. Maybe their eco-friendliness lies in spreading the word. TAG! Pass it on…

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I’ve accelerated the pace just a touch, with 6,400 words in just shy of a month. Let’s say that by the weekend, I’ll be at 7,000. Instead of the 50,000 I’ll need to be in November. So instead of ten times faster/more, I’m now at nine times faster/more. Hmm.

I just don’t have confidence in my writing, though. I keep looking at my blog and think it doesn’t have enough pictures. But dammit, it’s supposed to be a writing blog! It’s supposed to be filled with words! Go figure.

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I really enjoyed Pierre Foglia’s article on cyberpresse this morning concerning the death of four sealers in Îles de la Madeleine. I wholeheartedly agree with him. OK, the loss of four men looking to make a living is a sad event, and not a reason to rejoice. That being said, Canada’s position on seal hunting remains pigheaded at best. Seals are NOT responsible for the collapse of cod stocks, no matter how convenient that would be. People are, particularly the Canadian government for not imposing and policing quotas until it was too late anyways. The seal industry is a public relations disaster, and an industry on life support at that. It is time to let it go.

Some people who know me will wonder why I don’t share the opinion of those who think that the loss of those four sealers is a win for the seals. In this case, I’m holding out hope that these guys come from little villages, where there are few options to make a living. As well, they were killed when the tow they were getting from the coast guard went awry and their boat toppled over. Had they been attacked and killed by seals, I would have had a good laugh and enjoyed seeing karma at work. This was a stupid and preventable accident, no more, no less.

However, I do reserve the right to laugh at every matador/bull runner/rodeo rider who gets bested by a beast. If you’re willing to play, you gotta be willing to lose. It really got my goat when Bodacious was retired, simply because he was too dangerous. Hell, he had figured out that if you buck just a certain way, riders break their faces on his back, and they get off. Problem solved. Of course, they've now retired him to stud. I guess his problem is otherwise solved now. As well, I hope his innumerable offspring have the same knack for problem-solving.

As for Hispanic bull events, they should cease to exist. No bull-fighting, no Pamplona. Not all traditions are worth keeping.

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Afternoon wisdom in the workplace:
Goodness, I need to learn to shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Sometimes, silence really is golden. You are more keenly aware of the blissfully insane things that get said when you just…shut…up.

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In six: One class until two weeks' vacation.

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