Whenever I see something incredibly strange and perhaps scarring, I get this urge to share it with my friends. "Hey, this hurt my soul, maybe you should check it out!" Don't worry, I never do this without warning people first.
Watermelon juice that tastes like squeezed watermelon is at Trader Joe's. Go get some, because it is delicious.
Americans produce so many anti-dystopic themed stories but we are sort of living in a dystopia in which we are the fat cats. Of course, we are now sort of paying the price and taking everyone down with us, but think about how corporations affect labor laws to keep their bottom line down. The problem is that those who don't generally don't swim.
Here is an interesting structure called "The Bat Spiral". I like this article for these two lines: "I'm led to wonder, however, what non-human future might await something like Aranda\Lasch's 10 Mile Spiral if it were to be constructed – and later abandoned – amidst an ecosystem for bats... We are inadvertently building the future infrastructure of an animal world."
One of the gifts I was planning on making Chris was a terrarium with abandoned architecture, so he could watch the plants slowly grow over and break it down. I'm planning on making one for myself in that magical time known as the future.
Here is a reason why they like physicists and computer scientists in Wall Street.
Also, though I talked about how much I dislike Twilight in the last post, I would like to point out the irony of calling Edward gay-ish: the main fans of the series are women.
Today saw me trying to dissect Mario, figure out optimization strategies, and then ask myself what exactly am I doing. Things are more fun when you're good at them, but this no longer feels fun. I'm doing it wrong.
I have a love-hate relationship with my computer. Computers provide access to tons of information, the news, television, movies, and my friends. They used to provide me access to games, but I haven't played one in the longest time. I only interrupted my long dry spell to play Age of Empires I, but I started in the "Nomad" age where the computer glitched and didn't even build a town center. Thus went an hour and a half of my life.
In a tangent, play is an important part of life as it engages the player inside the system, but I dislike how limited computer games can be. In AOE no volcanoes are going to blow up your palaces, mimicking the downfall of the Minoans.
However, for all the reasons listed in the first paragraph, computers can be extremely addictive and provide the illusion of growth. Almost nothing available online gives the exhaustive treatment to a subject that books provide besides e-books, of course. Also, I adore the sun and actually visiting places.
I hate the feeling of being trapped at the computer that I sometimes get. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Initial reactions to the Diva Cup: It is painful to put this in right after showering(if you're a woman you can probably guess why without my being overt). Otherwise, it's actually pretty easy to deal with. Beware thumb nails.
After all this time using pads and on rare occasion, tampons, the Diva cup is a vast improvement. I did not realize how psychosomatic some aspects of periods are until using this, which I cannot and you are not supposed to, feel. I feel like a normal, competent, uninhibited person. The feminist side of me is a little enraged to discover how easy the solution is and does feel as though I have been put down all of these years by inferior products. I can do anything with ease and cannot stress how wonderful it is to not worry about accidents.
Plus it is environmentally friendly and actually saves money. So far it seems like my kind of product, though I did put it in after two days, missing the most troublesome of my cycle.
PS, did you know that silicone is used in many hair products, including shampoo and conditioner?
So I opened my vermicomposting bin today to put in some grapes and was surprised by a soft layer of fungus. My reaction was naturally "euuurgh!". I wasn't completely caught off guard since peat is a extremely nutrient rich and in a moist environment attracts many members of the animal kingdom. After my initial emotions I realized that fungus and earthworms coexist in naturally in many places around the world and there were earthworm tunnels near the sides of the bin. Besides, even as I watched the fungus faded from being exposed to sunlight. For those not familiar with creating ecosystems this simply meant there were enough excess resources for some outside source to utilize. This led me to wonder if there was a fungus relatively harmless to humans which could compost quicker and more efficiently. I realize that most people's reactions to this would also be "euuurgh", but remember what cheese is etc. Just don't breathe too deeply around the thing and you'd be fine. I actually don't use that much organic material in my house. I generally finish what I eat and haven't used a single paper towel since I bought my Trader Joe's cloths. Cardboard and plastic are recycled as necessary. I'm wary of putting cardboard in the bin before the colony of worms is fully established since there definitely would be excess resources for other kingdoms to use. I'm even going to buy a Diva Cup(women only, it's about PERIODS). I've heard many women state that they are very pleased with theirs, so I'm going to try the product myself.
*--------*
I attempt to desexualize myself because I wish to be viewed for who I am, a person who is fairly androgynous and does not wish to have feminine generalizations applied to her. How many desexualized male icons are there vrs the amout of desexualized female icons? It's not fair, as some of us do not find sexualization empowering or what we wish to be known for. I attempt not to do this since it is silly, but I have sometimes ended up suppressing feminine aspects of my personality in order to disassociate myself. And really, every time a negative stereotype of behavior is encouraged by a member of the same sex I get angry. Men "are programmed to sow their oats" and grunt and posture at each other; women having an outburst at any time of the month blaming it on PMS. We all know the saying about one white crow. So don't blame shortcomings or personality traits on gender and accept them for what they are. If you want to start a sentence with "most women are encultured in our society..." that is a different matter. For example, most women in our society are encultured to worry an excessive amount about their bodies.
Trader Joe's is one of my favorite places to shop, with its quality products which include many choices for vegetarians and all-around low prices. I can count the number of times I've been disappointed in their food on one hand and have heard first hand that people who work there get better pay and treatment than at comparative grocery stores. So today I'm going to research this chain to see if perhaps I am missing a dark underbelly.
"A huge German discount-grocery chain best known in the U.S. for no-glamor stores often located in marginal neighborhoods....The article claims that Aldi is so good at selling cheap goods that WalMart couldn’t compete with it in Germany. How do they do it? Here’s one way: "Store-brand goods generally make up 22 percent of U.S. food sales in terms of unit volume, according to research by Nielsen Co., while in some European markets, they account for about 30 percent. At Aldi, 95 percent of the goods are the retailer’s own brands."”
Quotes from a 2004 article in BuisnessWeek: " TJ's develops or imports many of its own products from sources it has developed over decades and sells more than 80% of them under the Trader Joe's brand or a variant thereof:.." "After complaints from animal-rights activists about the way ducks are slaughtered, it stopped selling them. Ahi tuna is caught without nets, its dried apricots are unsulfured, its peanut butter is organic -- and has no trans fats to boot." "One place where TJ's has never stinted is with its employees. Besides above-union wages and generous bonuses (pay for entry-level part-timers starts at $8 to $12 an hour; first-year supervisors average more than $40,000 a year), TJ's contributes an additional 15.4% of each worker's gross pay into a company-funded retirement plan.
The company got its start when Joe Coulombe was trying to figure out how to protect his three Southern California convenience stores, called Pronto Markets, from the onslaught of 7-Elevens in the 1960s. He loaded the stores up with hard-to-find gourmet items and low-priced wines, and cherry-picked food manufacturers' discontinued and overstocked merchandise, which he peddled at steep discounts. Coulombe sold the renamed Trader Joe's in 1979 to the family trust established by Theo Albrecht, and he retired in 1988."
Deciding to get more obscure results, I clicked on page twelve of the search. This led to the site "Responsible Shopper". If this site proves to be legitimate, then I am extremely happy. Even they think that Trader Joe's is pretty ok, besides the fact that child labor may have harvested the shrimp I routinely buy. This report was filed by The ACILS . Great, what's left in the bag I have now is going to taste like guilt. An easier-to-read article summarizes the situation on CNN. Though I just made a joke, what's taking place really is no laughing matter:
"The report makes clear not all shrimp imports into the United States from Thailand and Bangladesh come from problem plants.
The report names some of the most popular retailers in America, including Wal-Mart, Costco and Trader Joe's.
The center's 40-page report found sexual and physical abuse, debt bondage, child labor and unsafe working conditions are common in Thailand and Bangladesh's shrimp processing factories, and that Thai plants often use trafficked workers."
CNN places Trader Joe's fourth in another article about the healthiest places to shop. It only got a lower ranking because it lacked the variety of the other stores.
Two other things that I learned from my search are that many other people are wild about Trader Joe's and that Kroger is a horrible company. I don't know why yet, but I will when I get the energy to investigate.
This was a random and haphazard search using Google. But since so many reputable sources vouch for the company I would consider it to be one of the few legitimately good ones out there. I will look up its parent company and trust fund owner later.
Oh, and I have not looked up Greepeace's allegations about Redlisted fish being sold at their stores. Considering the chain phased out ducks when animal activists complained I have my doubts about their crimes.
This happens to me all the time, except that it's usually what I'm thinking and I don't eat giraffes. From xkcd.
Thoughts on Star Trek: 1.)I like that after any of the characters have an outburst, they apologize 2.)Apparently being in space for so long has made the crew and captain susceptible to any pretty female who is not in charge of the ship's communications. 3.)Those are really short skirts. The crew is lucky that gusts of wind don't exist on the ship. This article on memory strengthens the theory of memory connections I mentioned before. There is probably a more eloquent way to phrase the previous sentence.
This article from Jezebel about the abuses of the fashion industry, where young girls are powerlessly in the hands of much older and more experienced men, and citing the prevalence of rape in our society, is devastating and something I would definitely recommend checking out.
Another article discusses the true perils and motivations for mothers who adopt from Africa vrs celebrities like Madonna. It also elaborates on a sentence that I posted yesterday: "I don't think that all people from third-world countries are broken or something similar". There is a difference between feeling empathy for others and portraying them as simple, lower beings needing our mercy. People were whole, complete beings long before electricity was harnessed; I just don't think it's fair that somebody's relative or child could potentially die of the flu or something similar. I could write a lot on this topic, clarifying and clarifying, even putting in my own personal experiences, but I will leave it here for now.
Muhahaha, my picture is the first, second, and third result for my full name on Google. On one hand I want this blog to be the first result, but on the other I have an unusual enough name that it probably would not be hard to find out a lot of details about me, especially since I have mentioned the general area where I live. Perhaps when I need to be hired I will make the switch, as I know potential employers look for web presence. I have deliberately not promoted this blog up to this time.
It's interesting that the first hits for "SchizotypalVamp" are ones which I barely use. I don't particularly comment on io9 or Jezebel. I haven't used Library Thing since I was fifteen or sixteen. My original idea was that a searchable database for our collection would be ideal so that we could confirm if we had a book or not before buying it, since we did accidentally get a few books twice. One hundred and twenty-two books later I realized that if I continued I would never get a chance to actually read anything since there remained many more still to be listed. I have posted once on Twitter. I haven't visited The Planted Tank/Frank's Aquarium/MFK in forever. I haven't used my Flickr in a long time, either. But it's nice that my pseudonym retains exclusivity in a Google search.
Frostyposted about Vermicomposting in her apartment earlier today. My attempts to create a compost pile at home fizzled, and it's always something I wished I could do. There was the slight issue in my last home that my parents would string me up as a warning to other messy daughters. However, looking at the composting bins in the pictures of this article, I could always get a box and put it outside. Heck, I could even pretend it was a table, a table my mom would never, ever sit at. Now when I mentioned getting more plants to my mom, her answer summarized to "you better not make it any more difficult to move out", a sucky but valid point. However, I live right by a university. If making a few calls does not help, I can always dump the fertilizer in the random nature park.
"Why did you bring a large plastic bag on the bus?" "Uh...no reason"
I'll figure it out. Meanwhile, I believe they sell earthworms at Petsmart. I'm off to go get myself in trouble. Also some pizza.
This is SO COOL
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
One of the problems with the internet is that there is too much good stuff to keep track of in it. I am not a culture blogger; being a university student with a lot to learn and a voracious appetite for books makes it hard to keep up with all of those who deserve recognition. Not that I am sorry about being a university student with a large appetite for books.
I have to admit that I really like good journalism and entertaining, informative writing to accompany my news stories. I've tried to be an aggregate of raw facts and I simply don't have the time to be one. I'm not quite sure I'm pleased with the situation. Bear with me while I figure it out.
It's incredibly hard for me to look at difficult news stories, which is ironic due to the fact that I have chided others for not doing so. It's just that I have gone through so much pain from my medical disorders and I come from a well-to-do family. What about those people who hurt every day and can't get medical care? What about those people who can barely get water because they've been uprooted from their homes? What the hell must they be feeling, thinking? I've tasted but a drop from the pool that is despair. Maybe I'm weak, but I can't imagine what it's like to wade or swim in it.
I don't think all people from third-world countries are broken or something similar. It's simply the barriers needed to leave that poverty. My intelligence as a peasant girl in India would not have mattered if I had married at nine and had my first child at twelve(though I most likely would have become as close to a monk as I could have been). Wanting to read, write, or learn is simply not enough in that climate.
In other thoughts, our culture has so many dichotomies, one of which being that the religious majority of this country encourages abstinence before marriage, yet culturally male promiscuity is encouraged. It reminds me of a quote from Joseph Campbell's Creative Mythology:
"In Christian Europe, already in the 12th century, beliefs no longer universally held were universally enforced. The result was a dissociation of professed belief from actual existence and the consequent spiritual disaster, which, in the imagery of the Grail legend, is symbolized in the Waste Land theme: a landscape of spiritual death, a world waiting, waiting-"Waiting for Godot!"-for the desired Knight, who would restore its integrity to life and let stream again from infinite depths the lost, forgotten living waters..."
Not only must we actualize ourselves but charge forth in battle against those who would suck us dry. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I started the review of the Trader Joe's cloths today. I used one to clean my oven top and was impressed. It did the work of about 10 paper towels due to various cleaners I implemented to test it. Soap with water, which will destroy several paper towels in one go, was easily dispensed then mopped up. The cloth proved to be durable and porous, and rinsed out very easily. I would definitely recommend this over paper towels while cleaning so far(or if you have fish tanks). So far I have used the other cloth as a dinner napkin. It requires a little wetting to create the consistency needed to pick grease off the fingers. I will keep you updated. Note that since a two-pack costs $2.99 this could actually save money as well as breaking down easily in compost piles and reducing paper consumption.
There is a character called Dr Strange who I wish to check out. Also, Ellen Roger's Flickr(Via Warren Ellis) is so, so good. The picture is credited to her. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes I don't understand what it is trying to say. These pictures do not invite you into their worlds but simply taunt you with their beauty, daring you to ponder while shutting the door.
I think I need The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana.
Has anyone created a Captain America comic that comments on American policy today?
Remember when I was talking about the SKOY cloth? Apparently Trader Joe's has a product that's basically the same. I'm going to use it and write about my thoughts here. One will be used for cleaning and the other for cleaning up random messes and spills. Here is a quote from the back:
"This cloth is created from 100% Viscose, a miracle fabric.." (Way to make me suspicious, Trader Joe's) that absorbs over 10 times its weight in any liquid."
Let's Google Viscose, shall we?
Wikipedia tells us that "Cellulose from wood or cotton fibres is treated with sodium hydroxide, then mixed with carbon disulfide to form cellulose xanthate, which is dissolved in more sodium hydroxide. The resulting viscose is extruded into an acid bath, either through a slit to make cellophane, or through a spinneret to make rayon. The acid converts the viscose back into cellulose...Viscose currently is becoming less common because of the polluting effects of carbon disulfide and other by-products of the process, forcing some factories to close."
Trading one evil for another. Either we cut down the forests or make the water undrinkable. Everybody wins, and by wins I mean dies.
I have no idea what the credibility of Wisegeek is, but here are some quotes: "...including some of the products that many people use every day that are made from this substance." Wiki also mentions this. Apparently viscose is really common, especially in apparel, and is used in Nylon sometimes. The things we learn from random research. Here is a table from Time (Yes, as in The Times).
So I have lots of work to do, or I would probably start looking up polymers and other things that are lots of fun. Feel free to do your own research and post it up here.
I finally added a "Household Products" tag but can only remember two entries where I discuss them. I still haven't finished tagging all of the "Random Thoughs" entries, either.
Here is an interesting post on good startup search engines that I will read in full later. Also, I was a little skeptical about Cracked's post about the blind man who learned to echolocate, but now an article on the phenomenon is on Wired and if humans can do this I want to learn. I have officially converted Chris to Cracked(.com)! Go me.
This is a pet I really want. Howev- er, they are illegal to own in Califor- nia.
I despise modern advertising. I believe the notion and acceptance that exaggeration and lies are commonplace within marketing becoming mainstream does more of a disservice to our culture than we realize. It is impossible to do research on everything. How many of us have looked up the most environmentally friendly paper towel or dishwashing liquid? Billions are spent every year based almost solely on marketing and sales prices. Human eyes are naturally drawn to more artistic trappings and when fast music is played adrenaline automatically swims through our bodies, perhaps creating the same response when the product is seen in stores. To sever these connections is, in fact, harmful, but we must constantly monitor our unconscious reactions to product placement, jingles, and a thousand other things. Even through all of this I notice my eyes being drawn to more interesting packaging or the words "environmentally friendly!"(which a product may not be) at Ralph's. Also, more sinisterly, though I don't believe this is actually the goal of any company, a well-educated and discerning population is not favorable to sales.
Speaking of environmentally friendly products, I did a search for "environmentally friendly paper towel" and found the Skoy. Here are some quotes from the web page:
"SKOY cloth is a chlorine-free product using water-based colors and inks. After an independent composting test, SKOY cloth broke down completely within 5 weeks."
"The SKOY cloth is a durable product due to the reusability factor and can last months. Using a SKOY cloth is equivalent to using 15 rolls of paper towels in an average home. "
"The SKOY cloth is long-lasting because of the wash ability feature. It dries quickly, so it is not a breeding ground for bacteria. Have you ever used your sponge, then smelled your hand and it reeked of horrible bacteria? That will never happen again if you microwave your SKOY cloth regularly. It is also dishwasher and washer/dryer safe. "
"We are two stay-at-home moms living in Encinitas, California. Our children have begun Elementary school and we have a little extra time. We decided that this would be the perfect time to start our business.
We have been working and researching for almost a year on our product."
"The idea originated when Michelle was living in Europe in the late 90’s. She discovered a product that was similar to the SKOY cloth and it was just amazing. Over time she found the cloth to be indispensible. When she moved back to the US, she realized that the use of a sponge was inadequate and the excessive use of paper towels, wasteful. Michelle searched and searched for a similar cloth and nothing even compared; nothing was of the same caliber. This is when Michelle introduced the cloth to Karen. She immediately fell in love with it and could not imagine cleaning with anything else.’
We then put our heads together and discussed a way to bring this product to the US with the requirement that it meet our high standard. Now we are so excited to be able to offer the SKOY cloth to you—which is everything that we had hoped it would be."
There are two problems I have with this website. One is that it is unclear whether the women are creating the product or importing it from abroad. If they are creating it, neither of their education levels or qualifications are mentioned. Of course, one does not need a degree to be smart or do intensive research, but if they can do it, so can I, though I don't have the one resource they claimed was available- a little bit of extra free time. I wonder if it would be possible to order the product and then do extensive testing on it? I forgot the second problem. Maybe I will remember later.
I remember reading the plot of the Nibelungenlied as a child. It was one of my least favorite stories because of how horribly depressing it was, which made such an impression on me that I may never read it as an adult. The ending is the wife of Siegfried locking all of the warriors who betrayed her husband in a hall and poisoning them.
Today I read some of The Ring of the Nibelung, studied quantum physics, did a lot of housework while watching "Bones", and exercised. Ammonia with surfactants is an excellent cleaner. My mom bought me some ammonia ($0.99 for about a gallon)when I was attempting to do a fishless cycle(Aquaria Central's server wasn't responding when I wrote this) which, unfortunately, well, contained surfactants. I decided to use it as a normal person might and was pleasantly surprised. Needless to say, however, my windows are open and I took two showers today. I also use the "Greenworks" all-natural line from Clorox for extra irony, although if they came out with something that effectively cleaned floors I would use it instead. Their bathroom and glass cleaner work very well and their all-purpose cleaner works fine, although not as effectively as some other brands. What? I do live alone and do all my own cleaning, which also probably makes the layer of dust in the previous picture with Monkey self-explanatory. If you want to have an awkward conversation about the relative effectiveness of household cleaners, feel free to bring it up. I must also say that the microfiber cloth my mom bought me is the most effective duster I have used, including Pledge, and the most environmentally friendly. If you are a man and are laughing at this point, let me tell you that one of the most unattractive things to many woman is a guy who won't do his share of the housework. I only clean up after myself because I have to and if somebody put me in charge of his or her mess in addition to my own I would turn into an axe murder overnight. Thankfully, I am with someone with whom that will never be an issue. Significant others should never have to act as parents.
A good idea for a science fiction short story would be a love story between a human and an alien, emphasizing perception shaping the role of both in shaping the other into someone they are obviously not.
Later Edit: This entry sounds much more angry than I meant it to be. I was trying to be funny, not defensive. Btw, another scenario for my becoming an axe murder is working with people like those in "The Scientist and the Physicist".
