OCCUPY WALL STREET, NOT STARBUCKS

I'm just so full of sass. 

Here is the email I fired off today using the Starbucks.com contact section:

Please see to it that this messages reaches the desk of Howard Schultz.

Mr Schultz, I recently read an article describing your call to end corporate funding of political campaigns. You said that corporations should be, in summary, putting all those piles of money to better use. Well, being that you earn over 12 million dollars a year and I earn $8.00 an hour while going to school full time, I think it would be super if you could help me out and toss a few pennies my way to help me finish paying for college. You'll be interested to know that I am an undergraduate at NMU - your alumni. In the mean time, while waiting for your check to come in the mail, I hope I don't have to read anymore about your great ideas on how to better society as they come to you in your billion dollar house. What's it like to be part of the 1% controlling 35% of the nation's wealth? I bet it's real cool. Thanks for your time, don't forget to send those pennies Howie.

Sincerely, Erin

Surprisingly, I got a reply that wasn’t totally generic:

Hello Erin,

Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.

Thank you for your feedback in response to the pledge taken by Starbucks chairman, president and ceo Howard Schultz. We will share your feedback. If you'd like to offer further feedback or suggestions, we encourage you to continue the discussion at www.upwardspiral2011.org. Thanks once again for your interest.

If you have any further questions or concerns that I was unable to address, please feel free to let me know. 

Warm Regards,

Ryan H

I posted my first email on facebook as my status and received a lot of feedback. Which is awesome. It is my opinion that more people my age need to be engaged in discussions on the actions of our political and corporate leaders. This mini social outburst of mine was no doubt inspired in me today by two things: 1. I read an article yesterday about Howard Schultz’s call to end corporate backing of campaigns and instead using the money to create more jobs. And 2. I’ve been closely following the Occupy Wall Street protest that has been going on in New York since Saturday.

On the first issue, you might ask me why I’m so against a CEO actually taking a public stand against something negative that nearly all large corporations do. Well, I’m not. Actually, ending corporate funding in political campaigns is a big issue for me. I’m happy to hear that Starbucks will no longer be doing this. However, Howard Schultz is not breaking any major ground here. People have been calling for this action for years. It is fairly new for a CEO to say that they will accept this call and choose to end the practice, and for that I offer my respect and support. The problem I have here is hailing the Starbucks CEO as a great guy who has all of our best interests at heart because of it. I followed the link included in Starbucks' response and it lead me to a spankin new website devoted to Schultz’s noble cause. Here we can see softly glowing black and white photos of millionaires smiling. A thoughtful quote from old Howard and a taupe background gets us all warm and fuzzy inside as we can see, by evidence of this here website, that corporate America is really ready to do some good. Now let’s pump the brakes. To me this is yet another exercise of power and coercion by the wealthy 1%  over the rest of us. Let’s not be sheeple. Are we going to get off the backs of these enormous money gobbling, human rights exploiting corporations just because they make a pretty website? Fuck no. This is our revolution and I refuse to let is be one more thing that corporate America takes away. Which leads me to my second point.

For the past couple of months, the #occupywallstreet campaign has been gaining momentum across the internet and social networking sites. I first heard about the idea in the August issue of Adbusters magazine. The idea is simple: Thousands of people show up on Wall Street, set up camp, and don't leave until we make our point. But what is our point?

1% of the nation holds 99% of the wealth. While corporations enjoy rights equivalent to people, CEOs earn more money than their company pays in taxes, the wealthiest 1% receives tax breaks, politicians run million dollar campaigns, and corporations report all time high profit margins, the rest of us, THE OTHER 99% OF US, lose our jobs, pay higher and even more unreasonable tuition to get an education, rack up loans that will take decades to pay off, pay more taxes, enjoy less funding for public programs, and have to sift through the endless stream of lies, manipulation and general bullshit that our politicians and corporate world flood us with daily. There have been multiple arrests, videos showing potentially excessive force being used by the NYPD (which baffles me considering that police officers are most definitely part of the middle class), and at least 1,000 people protesting, occupying and sleeping the park renamed "Liberty Plaza" at all times. Yet most people haven’t heard a peep about it. Mainstream media is intentionally not covering the story. Can you guess why? Main stream media is controlled by multi-million dollar corporations who have totalitarian control over what does and does not get reported on the news. Disturbing isn’t it?

I think I’ll wrap this post up as it’s getting a bit long and a bit ranty and I have more homework to do. I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Erin 

What I'm Listening to: The Whole Love - New album by Wilco
What I'm Watching: Harold and Maude
What I'm reading: The Small-Mart Revolution  by Michael H Shuman

MINTY MINT TEA

I just fell in love with mint tea all over again.

     I'm wrapping up my labor day weekend doing some reading for class and making lists for the week ahead. The newly revealed fall weather inspired me to brew a pot of tea and a recently abandoned bag of bulk tea by a customer at the coop provided me with some "morrocan mint" loose leaf to try. The first few sips were so delicious that I developed an overwhelming urge to tell someone how tasty it is. My solitude in the learning laboratory (my bedroom) nearly lead me to scribe a proclamation of affection onto facebook. Fortunately, before firing off the first sentence of this post into a status and subjecting my network of friends and acquaintances to such trivial information, I remembered: nobody cares. Not to be melodramatic, but seriously, other than showing off in some weird way over the fact that I drink mint tea why would I put that on facebook? If I did, a couple of my fellow snobby tea drinking friends would probably "like" it or even go so far as to recommend another tea that they especially enjoy. The whole thing would have been quite pretentious I'm certain. HOWEVER, my sharp little college brain prevented that tragedy from unfolding. And then something amazing happened: I REMEMBERED THAT I HAVE A BLOG. I actually have a place to write about things that I think make me cool and people only have to read about it if they want to.

That being said, if you're interested to know- I had a wonderful summer full of wonderful people and wonderful adventures. It was so ful of wonder that I didn't even slow down to brag about it on the internet. I won't try to make up the gap between this post and my previous post. Instead, why don't we just march ahead into another season of the thoughts, qualms, ideas and interests that I feel compelled to write about on the internet.

Cheers,
Erin

What I'm listening to: Panda Bear's album Tomboy

What I'm watching: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

What I'm reading: City of Thieves by David Benioff -- highly recommend this novel for an easy, totally enjoyable weekend read

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

My little brother posted this on my facebook:

If you were going on a trip to the moon for a year, and you could only take 10 cd's. What would you take?

Challenge accepted. I decided to add another element to it, which was that you only have 5 minutes to decide. Here's what I came up with: 

 
Evil Urges - MMJ
Swoon - Silversun Pickups
We Are Pilots - Shiny Toy Guns
...A Mouthful - The Do
Louder Than Bombs - The Smiths
The Moon and Antarctica - Modest Mouse
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
The Ruminant Band - Fruit Bats
The Ugly Organ - Cursive
On Letting Go - Circa Survive

I feel like those would keep me pretty happy for the year.

 LIFE UPDATES:

-Semester over. Finally. Grades pending.
-Moved into a new house with 3 roommates. Love it.
-The moving process - slightly insane. Basically I got off work at ten, took a nap, packed all night, had to be out of my apartment by noon but wasn't supposed to move into my house until 1...oh and I had to work at 1:30 at the coop. My friends totally saved me. Thanks guys.
-I have my first pet ever....My friend Stephanie is letting us keep her cat at our house! Love you Syd.
-I'm delivering for Jimmy John's this summer...On my bike! Never thought I'd be getting paid for going on bike rides. 
-It snowed today. I wish it would stop doing that. I'm itching to get my mountain bike out.

Hopefully I will have some interesting posts this summer. Keep an eye out for recipes, music, movies,  books, what I'm doing to become a bigger hippie, brilliant thoughts, plans, ideas and oh so much more.

Erin

What I'm Listening to: Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
What I'm Watching: After School   Dug it.

 

 

My opinions are like onions; some people don't like them and they will probably make you cry.

Erin

INDIE STIR FRY

Tired of the same old stir fry recipe? Try out these new ingredients that you've like, probably never even heard of.

Garlic
Ginger
Toasted sesame seeds
Kale
Bok Choy
Zucchini
Fava Beans
Broccoli
Onions
Heirloom tomatoes

Throw on some hot sauce, soy sauce, or whatever sauce you please and put over rice or rice noodles.

Best stir fry I've ever made.

Erin

What I'm listening to: Interpol
What I'm watching: The Graduate
What I'm about to do: Clean my apartment

RAW VEGAN QUINOA RECIPES

Here's a couple of tasty recipes that I concocted this weekend. I apologize in advance for not including measurements...I don't measure, it's not my style. Just add  till it tastes good!

SASSY SPROUTED QUINOA (keen-wah)
First sprout your quinoa: Soak in water for a few hours, move to a colander, rinse every few hours with cold water. When they start to grow little tails your sprouts have sprouted! Once they have grown to the desired length store in the fridge.

Then add:
diced tomatoes
diced cucumber
minced fresh jalapeno
minced garlic
minced fresh basil
minced fresh cilantro
apple cider vinegar
lemon juice
spinach

Eat it right away or let it sit over night to absorb the flavors. Tons of protein and iron, great post work out recipe!

And another variation I enjoyed:

Diced cucumber
minced cilantro
minced jalapeno
minced garlic
lemon juice
apple cider vinegar
finely chopped kale


Finally, a delicious snack recipe I found on Vegweb

KALE CHIPS

cut fresh kale into chip sized pieces.
mix 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp apple cider vineger
coat kale. add salt.
bake at 350 for 10 minutes.


Holy pants! I may be addicted.


Erin


What I'm listening to: Fang Island
What I'm watching: Teeth. I definitely do not recommend it.
What I'm enjoying: Mountain biking, longboarding, beautiful weather.
What I'm bitching about: 10 more pages to go on my research paper.

Vapid Narccissim

It's been a minute since my last post. I've recognized the need to update a few times in the past weeks, but I haven't felt that I had anything worthwhile to write about. To get the ball rolling I think I'll just do a general update. I try to make this blog about more than the little joys and tragedies that make me who I am, but I guess even the most interesting of us hit blah patches. Let's see where this goes.

On the economic front, I've landed a vegan's dream job. I am now a part time produce clerk at the Marquette Organic Food Co-op. Responsibilities include treating the fruits and vegetables with tender love and care, arranging them in pleasing displays, wearing an apron, and smiling. I've never worked with so many friendly people. Fear not though, I will continue to be a corporate minion at Jimmy John's in order to fund my eccentric lifestyle.

I recently joined a boxing class. I funking love it. Just what I needed to get back on my feet (literally?) after my goals and dreams in the sport of running took a grenade. I also bought a used full suspension mountain bike for a good price at Switchback with a little guidance from my friend Charlie. Can't wait to get it out on the trails. Hopefully a summer of boxing, mountain biking, yoga, and rock climbing will be enough to take the edge off not being able to run competitively.

Some of you are well aware of my love affair with baking soda. I've found a couple new uses lately: In the bath to make my skin soft, combined with apple cider vinegar to unclog a drain, on the carpet to remove a hot sauce stain. <3 you baking soda.

Lots of sauna-ing lately. I made an announcement at work the other day: No matter how rich or poor I am when I am grown, I will have a home sauna. It should work out considering I plan to never own another car. The thousands of dollars spent per year on car costs will easily cover the sauna costs...especially since I plan to start dating men in the construction management major. Saunas improve my quality of life in so many ways.

There are 3 more weeks of class, I'm the last living person in Marquette who is under 21, I miss my bff Kyla horribly, I have a cold sore, and my hair is growing.

 (I feel weird taking pictures of myself on a webcam...I don't know where to look? But the point is basically a hair growth update.)

And I think that about covers it.

Erin

What I'm listening to: Secret Cities
What I'm watching (well, about to watch as soon as I post this): Brick

IN THE MOOD TO MAKE A LIST

THINGS I LIKE:

• coffee
• tea
• babies
• writing in pen
• chalkboards 
• natalie portman
• napping
• hugs
• snow
• thunderstorms
• bikes
• the smell of fall, spring, and right before it rains
• books. holding them, smelling them, turning their pages. i will never have a kindle.
• laughing to the point of pain
• avacados
• baths
• live music

THINGS I DO NOT LIKE:

• being talked down to
• rollercoasters
• spiders
• junk mail/email
• when people say "awkward" when a situation really isn't that awkward
• driving
• passive aggressiveness
• sweat pants that say "pink" on the butt
• jersey shore, glee, tv in general
• all video games execpt for nintendo 64

I would say this post is pointless, but I enjoyed writing it.

Erin

What I'm listening to: Interpol - Antics
What I'm Watching: Grey's Anatomy Season 1 (no comment)

"With fuel prices rising and the cost of food at an all-time high, experts have said Americans have far less cash to recklessly fritter away. However, many have reportedly managed to continue splurging on stupid shit by finding ways to make their wasted dollars go further."

-The Onion

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010

Yes it's March. I realize that year countdowns usually occur in December or January... But you have to realize that I do what I want, always, and all the time. So here is my vote for the 11 best albums of 2010 as counted down on my radio show last Saturday. 11 because I just couldn't say no to Born Ruffians.

1. Teen Dream - Beach House

2. A Mouthful - The Dø

3. Die Stadt Muzikanten - Woodpigeon

4. Oh Scorpio - The Films

5. Broken Bells - Broken Bells

6. Postcards From the Friendly City - Have Gun Will Travel

7. The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night - The Besnard Lakes

8. Gorilla Manor - Local Natives

9. Hidden - These New Puritans

10. The Suburbs - Arcade Fire

11. Say It - Born Ruffians

What I'm Watching: National Geographic: Solitary Confinement 

DOGTOOTH

I just watched a really surprising movie. I had no idea what I was getting myself into with Dogtooth. It's a Greek film about a family who keeps their 3 young adult children fenced in on their property in the countryside and controls their knowledge of the world. Only the dad is allowed to step outside the fence to go to work. If a word enters the household that the kids don't understand, the parents invent a definition for it- for example, the mother explains to her son that a "zombie" is a small yellow flower. The only outsider allowed on the property is a security guard from the factory the father manages. She is paid to satisfy the sexual needs of the son and she must ride in the car blindfolded on the way to and from the house. This outsider's presence creates a kink in the family's idyllic invented world and that's where the trouble begins.
The story is nonchalantly disturbing; some kind of alternative horror film. I found the intentional non contextualization effective in a frustrating way. When a movie makes us guess or draw conclusions, we get a bit annoyed and on some level just wish they would show us or tell us what they mean. But then you see a movie that does all the work for you and it's crap. For me, this was a fantastic movie. I would recommend it to a person who is really into movies. But probably not to the average blockbuster movie goer. Be forewarned of the sexual content. Be prepared to think.

Morning Teleportations

SODIUM BICARBONATE

A very cool chick I know recently started a zine. A zine is a small, independent publication...I don't really know what else to say about it. This one is called Nuts and the writers are all female. The content is open to whatever the women of Northern Michigan University want to write about! I think it's very cool to have an alternative publication to the school newspaper that is totally out of the university's hands...way to go Lucy! All women of NMU are welcome to write for it, so let me know if you have an idea and I'll help make it happen. Here is the article I wrote for the first edition:
 
My younger brother loves to refer to me as a "dirty hippie." Real hippies would probably disagree with his assessment, but he's not completely unjustified. I'm a vegan, I care about the environment, I own a tie-dyed shirt, I once went a week without showering, etc. My latest "hippie" activities involve a love affair with baking soda. Since last May I've abandoned toothpaste, shampoo, face wash, laundry detergent, deodorant, and many other standard household items for one little orange box of powder. It's extremely simple.

Toothpaste: Dip wet toothbrush in baking soda. Brush. Rinse. Tastes a little salty, but does a great job. Gargle for breath freshening.

Teeth Whitening: Combine enough hydrogen peroxide with baking soda to make the consistency of a paste. Brush with it 2-3 times per week.

Face wash: Sprinkle baking soda in hand. Gently apply to wet face in circular motion. I've had my fair share of frustrating skin, especially in the past year. I've tried plenty of harsh chemicals, lotions, and crèmes. Nothing has worked better so far. My skin is clear and smooth (most of the time!) and my morning/night routine has been significantly shortened.

Shampoo: This one is probably the hardest to commit to. Those who know me might be saying "yeah, of course you can get away with that Erin, your hair is only a quarter inch long." This may technically be true, but short hair is a recent development for me, and I spent many months with super long, super thick hair and baking soda worked fine for me. Here's the logic: Normal shampoos strip away all the oil from your hair. This seems like a good thing, because who wants greasy looking hair right? Unfortunately our scalps/hair are meant to have some oil to remain healthy, and when you strip it all away using synthetic shampoos your body responds by simply producing more to compensate. This leads to more and more washing-maybe even every day for some people- to avoid having "greasy" hair. So I'll get to my point: Baking soda is a natural cleaning agent and removes odor and grime from your hair while leaving a healthy amount of oil behind. After about 2 weeks of baking soda washing, I noticed that my hair was a lot less greasy, and anymore I only wash it about 1-2 times per week. It's awesome! I just pour some on my hand, massage into my scalp, and rinse. If I'm feeling really motivated I'll even do a diluted apple cider vinegar rinse afterward to condition.

Deodorant: Surely there are more complicated ways to make homemade deodorant. But I like to walk the line of "socially appropriate." My method is to wet my fingers and under arms just a little bit. Dip fingers into baking soda (separate container then the one for my teeth!) and rub under arms.

Laundry: Again, there may be a fancier way of doing this, likely involving pleasant smelling oils and the likes. My tactic for laundry these days is to toss baking soda in willy-nilly. It's probably anywhere from ½ cup to 1 cup per load if I were to measure it.

Cleaning: Baking soda is great for cleaning the sink. No bleach necessary! Water + baking soda + sponge. You can clean almost anything.

At $3 for a 4 pound box, I defy you to find a cheaper alternative! Plus, when people find out you don't use deodorant or laundry soap your "poor college student" image gets major cred. Trust me.

My final plug: Baking soda is a great way to reduce the amount of chemicals you expose to your body and the environment, cut down on consumption of plastic and other packaging waste, save some money, save some time, and make some space in your cabinet. I think what I'm trying to say here is that baking soda is the bomb! Arm and Hammer should probably be paying me for this article.
 
Erin

What I'm listening to: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
What I'm watching: I Like Killing Flies

TOP MUSIC LISTS

TOP TEN ARTISTS

1. 1. My Morning Jacket
2. The Shins
3. Modest Mouse
4. Bob Dylan
5. Circa Survive
6. Iron and Wine
7. Beach House
8. Animal Collective
9. The Black Keys
10. The Decemberists

Honorable Mentions- Radiohead, The Smiths, Mates of State, Interpol, The Strokes, Fleet Foxes, Wilco

TOP 20 SONGS (ten was impossible)

1. Such Great Heights - Iron and Wine... don't judge me!
2. I'll Take Care of You - Beach House
3. Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups
4. Librarian - My Morning Jacket
5. Kicking Your Crosses Down - Circa Survive
6. Boy With a Coin - Iron and Wine
7. Fluke - Mates of State
8. We Used to Vacation - The Cold War Kids
9. There is a Light that Never Goes Out - The Smiths
10. House of Cards - Radiohead
11. The World at Large - Modest Mouse
12. Eli the Barrow Boy - The Decemberists
13. For Reverend Green - Animal Collective
14. New Slang - The Shins
15. The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth
16. Taper Jean Girl - Kings of Leon
17. Black River Killer - Blitzen Trapper
18. Some Red Handed Slight of Hand - Cursive
19. White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes
20. The Ruminant Band - Fruit Bats

Honorable Mentions: Maggie's Farm by Bob Dylan, Calm Like You by The Last Shadow Puppets, Weekend Wars by MGMT, Running up that Hill covered by Placebo, Let Go by Frou Frou

Coming soon: My favorite albums and songs of 2010
Listen to Eat Your Beats tomorrow on 91.5 fm Radio X 9-noon!

Erin

YOUR CHANCE TO BE ON THE RADIO...SORT OF

New time slot at RADIO X! I will now be on air 9am-12pm eastern time. A definite improvement from my 6am-9am Thursday slot #lazysleepycollegestudent. <-- Isn't that the Twitter thing to do? Ugh, technology. (Says the girl operating a blog? Wtf.) I digress. You can listen to my show, Eat Your Beats, on 91.5fm or online at www.wupx.com.

And on a related topic....

I'll be doing a post here soon with my top music lists from 2010 (I know, I know). I'll definitely be devoting a show to my lists but I want to hear yours too! Anyone (literally, anyone I know, even just slightly) is welcome to send me a top ten favorite songs or albums list and I will combine them all and do a show. Please send them by February 21st!  If you are in the Marquette area I would love to have you come in and do an hour segment with me where we play and talk about your top ten songs and why you love them. If you are too shy or can't make it on Saturday mornings, I would also be open to playing your list without you there ... But I am only requesting Marquetters for this one so the local audience can relate in some way instead of struggling to care about DJ EMAC's dad's favorite songs (sorry Pa!). I will name drop for you in my combination show though :) I'm also open to list submissions of other types....maybe top ten live acts you've seen, or top ten female artist albums, etc. 

So shoot me an email with your lists or questions and we'll get this going! emmcculloch@gmail.com

Erin

What I'm listening to: The Do (pronounced "dough"...zey are French)
What I'm watching: Restrepo

GREATEST DISCOVERY OF LATE:

Chunks of green pepper in place of tortilla chips with salsa. These are the things you discover when tortilla chips are out of your budget. But it's really good!

Also, I made a very quick simple meal at Summit St. House last night. Thanks for providing the ingredients girls! Here is the equation:

Couscous+olive oil+spices of your choice (try garlic, cumin, and chili powder)+sauteed vegetables of your choice.

Hummus

Salsa or hot sauce if you wish

Tortilla wrap

Combine. Devour.

Erin

What I'm listening to: Woodpigeon. A wonderful folk band.

DON'T THINK TWICE

I think it might be possible to explain every feeling and situation in life with a Bob Dylan song. This one seems appropriate at the moment:

I ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don’t mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don’t think twice, it’s all right

 -Bob Dylan 'Don't Think Twice, It's Alright'

And that's all I have to say about that.

President Obama -or as my friend Evan has so endearingly nicknamed him, Barry- will be here in Marquette in just a few hours. The U.P. is all abuzz with excitement and preparation...or something like that. I actually do think the gifts we are giving to the First Family are kind of cool... check out the story here. An audience of 1,000 will get to see the president speak today, as requested by the White House. The Audience will be mostly students; students who fall under certain criterion of worthiness. I am not one of them. I am slightly annoyed, but definitely understand the situation. I am, however, getting pissed off at all the "I've got a golden ticket" posts on facebook, as well as all the other pro/con good/bad posts about Obama coming to town. I think I'm just grumpy. I'm not interested this time in all the debating that goes on between students every time something..anything happens that you can have an opinion about. Posting in all caps doesn't make your warrant-less  argument any more affective. Again, I am a huge grump.

From what I understand it's -1 degrees out today. I wouldn't know because I've only been cozy in my bed so far today. I am going to have to get out there soon though and ride my bike to class. Guess I won't be wearing my best Sunday dress for Barry. Snowshoeing later! Always good to get out and enjoy the Marquette winter. I really do love this place.

Last thing: I did not do my radio show this morning. Actually I haven't done it in a while. Circumstances. Sorry to my huge and loyal fan base!!!!!!!!!!! I will be back in action next Thursday 6am-9am.

Erin

What I'm listening to: Brandi Carlile - Before it Breaks

SONGS ON MY MIND

Not sure why.

Bob Dylan - Don't Think Twice, It's Alright  (Can't find a proper version on youtube. Sorry. Did find plenty of angsty teen covers though...)

Mates of State - Fluke

The Smiths - There is a Light That Never Goes Out

LISTS AS LITERATURE

I'm a list maker. Hard core xxx. Sometimes, I make a list that includes a note to make more lists. Interesting. Let me share a few, for fun.

AMBITIOUS SUMMER PLANS:

-Work as a personal trainer; get rich.
-Buy a used mountain bike with said riches. Improve. Participate in races.
-Hike and/or mountain bike the North Country Trail from Munising to Marquette.
-'Practice' camping and hiking thoroughly before that.
-Get belay certified. Dink around on the rock wall at the PEIF.
-Kyak.
-Volunteer at local farms.
-Shop weekly at the farmer's market.
-Brew Kombucha
-Go to a music festival. Possibly two.
-Visit best friend in D.C. Kill 2 birds with one stone.Visit Obama at his house too.
-Visit a national park. Possibly the Sleeping Bear Dunes again.

LOFTY CAPITALIST DESIRES:

-Mountain bike
-Kyak
-Adult tricycle
-Ted Conference tickets
-SXSW tickets
-Pony  ... 

ITEMS WORTH NOTING:
-Obama will be visiting Marquette, MI some time soon
-A kid in my class just snored a few times out loud. Amusing.
-Yes, I'm in class and on my laptop. It's a horrible class.
-I will be 21 in 198 days
-My new Bigby Coffee thermos is wonderfully leak proof. Essential for bike travel.
-I have not fallen off my bike yet this winter....surely that will happen soon.

Erin

What I'm listening to: Darker My Love

What I'm watching: The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia   "I huffed gasoline for ten long years..and it ate a whole out ma brain.”-Jessco White

COLD HEAD

                                                                            photo by Aiden McLuckie

"Oh my god, Erin, WHY did you do that?!"

Because I needed a haircut.
I promise it's not a 'statement.' The idea was not born out of a noble cause to raise awareness (although I will be donating the giant ponytail). Those who know me have heard me spout on about shaving my head since high school. What can I say, I am a girl of my word. What finally pushed me to go for it was essentially apathy. I no longer care about my hair enough to keep it around. I decided I would look fine without hair, and off it went. My mornings are so low hassle now.

New blog. Since my personality was contained in my hair, I am now a different person and need a new blog. Kidding. Aiden and I's former blog, Das Gut Boot, centers mostly around our 3 month trip to Germany, although I will admit that keeping it updated was not our top priority. But it's as good a place as any to look around if you're interested in what we were doing in das Vaterland for so long. This blog will serve as a more appropriate place than facebook for me to share my passing interests, thoughts, accomplishments, etc. People have to come here more voluntarily. I think that frees me to write what I want without worrying that people will find it pretentious...rather, feel comfort in the knowledge that if they do find it pretentious they really can't voice that opinion because they chose to sit in Starbucks and read the whole thing. Suckers.

Short introduction. I think I'll finish my coffee and get ready for class. Because unlike the rest of the U.S.A, snowpocolypse is not going down up here. Rather, everyday is snowpocolypse, and we of the U.P. are hardened eskimos who ride polar bears to class and keep our thermostats at 45. It is worth mentioning that we did have the day off of classes yesterday. But that was because of a shooting threat, not snow.

Erin

What I'm listening to: Born Ruffians
What I'm watching: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
What I'm reading: Grist