Welcome to the world of the plastic beach

If everything I'm told is true

I have no reason to care anymore. Might as well just give up and let them win. In time I think I could even grow to respect them. Maybe even love them. Any problems that occur by their actions won't happen until long after I'm dead. Then it's not my problem. I'm only worried about myself like a good God-fearing American. Let the next generations worry about green house gases, energy dependence, environmental disasters...

There are days that I really that I could. However I can't accept that. Defeat is not acceptable. This aggression can not stand! Too many generations before us have taken that very approach and left us with up against the wall.

Every time I hear more about what going in the gulf I get angrier. Rage is nearing maximum level. I'm about to burst and just start spewing out 5,000 barrels a day!!!

Now is the time to step up and make sure this doesn't happen again. I don't want to hear anybody giving up. Remember what Captain Planet told us all as children, "THE POWER IS YOURS!" It's still true.

I was pleased to hear the western states are already making moves to permanently ban drilling on the pacific coast (excluding Alaska). This is a great step forward however it's not far enough. We need to make sure that other states follow suit. If the federal government isn't paying attention we need to make sure that they know we are and we're not going to tolerate it anymore. If it happens in the gulf it could happen here.

Grab your pen!!! Write some angry letters people!!!! Before this is the only fate we have to look forward to...

What's in store? We don't know just yet.

There was a plane crash. Everyone died but a 10 year old boy. It really make me wonder what fate has in store for him....

The Green Fest is coming back to Seattle. Here's a blurb about it over at Polar Bear Soup...

I went boating last weekend. It was great. We went up the Duwamish river and then over to Blake Island. I got a few pics with my phone of the totems they have, lighting was horrible, but you get the idea. Really made me want to start making one immediately. Patience though. In time I will...







Speaking of totem poles. They've decided what to do with the guy who stole the pole in West Seattle. They're fining him a total of $20,200 and NOT pressing charges!! I can't believe it. What might be even more unbelievable is that the guy wrote them a $17,000 check. If he had that kind of money sitting in his checking account, why was he stealing a totem pole?...

I've had dreams two nights in a row now that involve a woman named Evelyn. In the first she was elderly and helped me get home from my grandma's. When we got downtown she seemed to reverse her aging by 30 years and we went to a house party in Georgetown. Last night she was a young child that was lost in a shopping mall and I helped her to find her parents. Even though her age varied I could always tell it was the same person. I hope that I get to see her again...

A Changing Climate

If there is one thing that really gets me worked up lately it's people who deny the sobering reality of climate change. Now I don't want to argue whether its man made or a natural occurrence because in the end it's doesn't matter. The climate is changing and placing blame isn't going to solve the problem. We are at the threshold of a major turning point in our relationship with the planet and things don't look too great for us.

The thing that I struggle with most is those who insist on ignoring the evidence and propagating the idea that we don't need to change anything about how we live and we don't need to worry about the amount of carbon that we're releasing into the atmosphere. I recently heard one such account.

This morning I was watching C-SPAN before I left for work and had the misfortune of hearing Rep John Shimkus (R-IL) and his view on climate change. I have never heard anything quite like it and decided to do some more investigating into this man. I was appalled. Here is one of his bold statements:

"It's plant food ... So if we decrease the use of carbon dioxide, are we not taking away plant food from the atmosphere? ... So all our good intentions could be for naught. In fact, we could be doing just the opposite of what the people who want to save the world are saying."

Now I was completely caught off guard by where this ideology so I dug a little deeper. One defense used for this argument cites the Cambrian Period when CO2 levels in the atmosphere were much higher than they are today. However they fail to mention that this is also a period in history in which most of the animals that survived did so by burrowing and vegetation all but went extinct. Is he advocating we need to start digging cities underground and finding ways to survive without plants for sustenance? I'll grab my shovel.

Now there is a another twist in the whole story. Rep Shimkus has more than one reason why not to be concerned with the changes in our climate:

"The earth will end only when God declares its time to be over. Man will not destroy this earth. This earth will not be destroyed by a flood."

Now I'm not sure what kind of church his is attending but this seem ludicrous to me. It seems like he's using his perception God's will as an excuse to be irresponsible and destructive. Now I'd love to find a scape goat that removes any responsibility that I might have but somewhere in my life I stumbled into a moral and social conscious. So using God as a scape goat is completely baffling to me and seems to border on sacrilege.

I urge all of you to write a letter to Rep Shimkus and tell him that we need real solutions to fight Climate Change, not excuses and theology based rhetoric. You can contact him here.

Now, I could go on all day about how disturbing this whole thing is to me, but I won't. I'd just like to leave you all with something to thing about.

To the naysayers: I urge you to consider the implication of your choices. I know that this climate change thing may seem like nonsense, but it's not and you're not the ones who will feel the effects of your actions. Please think of your children. You can either make an effort to make the world a better place for the future or stay in the status quo and gamble your grandchildrens fate.

To fellow supporters: Don't let small blips discourage your resolve. This is a fight that we can't afford to lose. It may seem like a constant uphill struggle but failure is not an option. Our very existence is at stake.

To generations yet to come: I'm sorry. I hope that you can forgive us for our ignorance and arrogance. It's a tragedy that you may pay the price for past follies. I hope for your sake that we open our eyes soon.

For more information about what you can do to help reverse the effects of climate change check out these sites:

We Can Solve It
1 Sky
Green For All

If there is an organization that I've missed send me a comment and I'll edit it into the list.

Short and sweet

I'm trying to wrap up another draft of my 7 project so I'm not going to blog too much today. Just a couple quick things...

Will future generations justify calling us barbarians because of our use of fossil fuels or because of our lack of social consciousness?...

I need to apologize to my dad. I guess after my surgery I made a pretty harsh statement that I don't remember. I didn't mean it. You've been awesome. I don't know how I'd have made it through all of this with out ya...

Step up to fight climate change!

Thom Yorke wants your help. Take a few minutes to show your support for ending climate change. I encourage everyone to get involved!

A Tribute To My Coffee Mug

I have a great coffee mug. It's tall, metallic blue and has a lid. It's logo'd with Starbuck's name and has a nice handle on it. I got the mug many years ago. I have to figure it's been about 4 years. One morning, after a night of drinking in the U Dist, Matt gave me the mug filled with coffee to help get me through the day. Almost everyday since then I've used it. Except for the couple days at work in which my boss stole my mug. Needless to say I wasn't terribly thrilled about it but I recovered it and we've never been happier together.

I encourage every to find a coffee mug that can bring them the same amount of joy. It's also better for the environment. For more information about why you should have a reusable coffee mug check out Sustainability is Sexy.

Erin Go Braugh!!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!! To celebrate I've been cooking up an Irish feast. Shepherds pie, corned beef, cabbage, Irish stew. It's been amazing so far and all I've eaten is the pie!

In honor of St Patrick I've started a green challenge on my wakeupseattle blog. I encourage all of you to show your Irish pride by going green any way that you can!

Moving on

Wow, a hundred posts. I'd like to once again thank Nathan for his guest blog. He was able to capture the true essence of this blog (and here you all thought there wasn't one!). You're awesome Nathan!...

Deerhunter. It's all about Deerhunter. All of you should check them out. They have a sounds that falls somewhere between pop, avant garde and garage rock. I can't get enough...

Its beautiful outside, but only if you observe it from indoors. Once you leave the sanctuary of a building you'll realize that it's freezing cold. The kind of temperatures one would think more suitable for the Yukon than the pacific northwest. Climate change is real...

Here's some Deerhunter...

Another day, Another dollar

I was surprisingly productive this weekend. Watched the debate on Friday (Obama 08!). Went to the Sustainable Ballard Festival. Jeremy and I got the Hawthorn tree trimmed back. Nick's b-day was Saturday. Sunday I made all kinds of food and brewed 10 gallons of IPA...

I'm at work. It's most unpleasant. We lost an employee a week ago. They've hired someone else, but they won't be starting till Thursday. Even then I'm told it will take up to 2 months to train them. I guess it isn't going to get any better for a while...

The Sustainability Fest was pretty cool. They had a bunch of stuff on urban farming. I'm all about it. I'm seriously considering starting a rabbitry. I think that it would be pretty awesome to grow my own meat. Some people aren't so down with this idea. But to all you nay-sayers out there I have this to say. Don't come down on me about eating rabbits when you're stuffing your face with chicken, beef, pork, or anything else that moves around. (Surprisingly the most receiptive people I've talked to about this don't eat meat, go figure)...

The stock market had it's largest single day loss in history today. What does this mean for you and me? I wish I knew...

The darker the setting, the brighter the light...

The bus was uneventful this morning. I got on the 7X at Orcas and sat near the back door. A young woman was in the seat in front of me with two children, a boy and girl. The boy was sleeping. The girl was watching me. I was looking out the window...

Our climate is changing. No one is listening to the facts. Is it because they don't care? Don't really understand? Probably not. I get the feeling that many of the people out there, religious types mostly, are really hoping for the worst. If everything is all fine and dandy why would Jesus come back?...

I'm wearing a nicotine patch today. I've been trying to quit smoking. It's as hard as everyone says. The patch is a strange thing. At times I don't even notice it. Other times it burns and itches. It's also very hard to keep attached because I didn't shave my arm so I use band aids to keep it attached. To the untrained eye it looks like a giant wound. I guess that's what it really is...

If ever given the oppurtunity and training I would walk on burning coals. But just not right now...

Above the cabinet at my desk there is a gorilla. My boss brought it back from Randall for me on a trip to Mt Rainier. By the way, the mountain is out today, what a strange saying. He is wearing a red and white striped shirt and a small hat. His face and hands are made of plastic. The ends of his legs are covered in a glue residue that used to be his feet. There is a switch on the back and if you turn him on he does the macarena...

Right now what we need is more Sonic Youth...

I had a dream last night. I lived with Nathan. I think we were on Capitol Hill. The moon was everywhere. At one point I put on a pair of pants that were so tall they covered my face. Then I began to make faces through the zipper. Nathan couldn't stop laughing. He laughed more when I told him about it today...

The "Big Bright Yellow Sun" set long ago but the question is still very valid. How are you?...

They demolished the Ballard Denny's this morning. I can remember a certain New Years Day. It was the early morning of a late night. We sat in the bar and ate grand slam breakfasts while drinking bloody mary's and white russians. Mickey spilled his drink all over the table and then proceeded to slurp it up with a straw. The waitress was surprised to see people in the bar that early. I think it was even more surprising to her that we weren't hung over when we arrived, but still drunk. RIP Ballard, I'll always remember who you were...

The sun is out in Seattle. I'm going to BBQ tonight. Mickey will be coming over. He has a way of leaving his possessions in all kinds of strange places. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll leave me his laptop so I can tap into the great knowledge of the internet while riding the bus. More likely he'll just leave a bowel movement...

Here's another quote I have up at desk: "And when we break we'll wait for our miracles, God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life" - Neutral Milk Hotel. Love that...

Earth Day!!!

Alright everyone, Earth Day is coming up. I think that you all should do something green. If you're interested I think P Matty is going to head up a group for Duwamish Alive. If you're interested in joining us let me know. It's Saturday April 19th at 9:30 am (I know it's kinda early) at Codiga Park. Here's a link with more info... http://www. pugetsound. org/events/duwamishalive

I hope to see at least a few of you!

Adam

Miscellany

Okay so it's been a while but here some important news you all should know...

1. Chili Cook-off was a HUGE success! We had a total of 13 entries and who knows how many people were there (my house was FULL). I was really pleased to also participate in Earth Hour, where we turned off the lights and spent an hour by candlelight. Thanks to everyone there for making that happen. I also want to thank everyone for attending and I hope to see you all there again next year.

Here's a list of the winners for all of you who missed it:
Traditional (w/bean) - 1st Place Matt and Kelsey's "Durn Good Chili"
Texas Style (no bean) - 1st Place Ray and Jen's "Cincinatti Chili"
2nd Place (very close) David's "Untitled Chili"
Vegetarian - 1st Place Katie's Vegetarian Chili

The next big thing down at Lucile's will be Seafair 08. It's the first full weekend in August and we'll be doing it big just as every year.

2. Birthday Madness!!! So my birthday is tomorrow. And for anyone who doesn't know, we're doing a big thing on Saturday at Havanna on Capitol Hill. We've reserved the upper bar, so I hope to see EVERYONE there!

3. Now a little environmental rant. I hope that at this point you all understand the pressing state of climate change. I encourage you all to do something to get involved. Even something as small as buying a reusable grocery sack (which all us Seattlites are going to have to do soon, or start paying for the disposables) or switching over to compact fluorescent bulbs in your house. If you need more ideas the Green Festival is coming up here in Seattle and I encourage all of you to attend. If you want to go and are interested in carpooling, let me know. I'll be going on Saturday with my family and I'm sure we could pick up a couple of people. Here are a couple of links to check out.

Green Festival: http://www.greenfestivals.org/content/view/767/390/
"We": http://www.wecansolveit.org/