The Connection Between the Iraq War and NOT Living Green
My family and I joined about 750 fellow peaceniks this past weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah to rally against the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq. Almost one fifth of the protesters came from Idaho Falls, Boise, and Hailey. The Idaho Falls group was primarily composed of our local Drinking Liberally chapter and the Snake River Freedom Coalition, who, I am proud to say, got behind this movement in a big way. I am so proud of my fellow Idahoans for showing up and taking a stand for peace!
We gathered at the Utah State Capitol building and from there joined other lively and loud marchers down Salt Lake City's State Street to the rally at City Hall where various speakers (including war veterans), passionately and powerfully affirmed their patriotism in stark opposition to the unconstitutional aggressive war policies of the Bush administration. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson gave the concluding speech: an indictment of news media dereliction, presidential malfeasance, and public apathy.
Speaking of public apathy, I've been asking myself the question (actually for 4 years!) "So, what is this war really about? Is it coincidence that this particular area of our planet has one of the largest crude oil reserves? Former Federal Reserve Board chief Alan Greenspan hit the nail on the head, me thinks, in his new book, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World: "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil."
So what does this have to do with public apathy you ask? A lot! How does my lifestyle and yours contribute to war? The energy gluttony of the American people and the corporate greed of the oil companies who provide the oil to quench our never-ending thirst for the black stuff, are largely responsible for the invasion of Iraq.
Most American are waiting for the magic bullet, the right hybrid car, or bio fuel – any technological solution that will save us from ourselves and our own over-consumption. Maybe we should, instead, look at ways we can offset the oil we get from the Middle East. Perhaps if everyone would slow down and ride a bike whenever possible, turn down our heat and air-conditioning, recycle, air-dry our laundry, stop eating meat, etc. we could offset the oil we get from the Middle East. New bio-fuels and technologies get most of the press, but the fact that individuals can make a difference doesn't get much.
And while the Bush administration would have us believe that the war was/is about weapons of mass destruction, liberating the Iraqi people, fighting terror in defense of our way of life and promoting democracy, most of us -- at least in hindsight -- can see that those are excuses at best and outright lies at worst.
As Americans, taking a stand to make ourselves energy efficient and independent should be our top priority. And not only because of the real threat of global warming, but because, if we value peace, we are duty-bound to do so.
Isn't it interesting that conservatives ridicule energy efficiency and independence as something only liberals, tree-huggers and sissies believe is necessary and possible?. My response is this: living green is not some weak-minded, new age way of being on the planet. And it is definitely NOT for sissies! It is a tough-minded and patriotic thing to do. And if you do it right it isn't easy, either. I, for one, have had enough of this Bush-Cheney nonsense that conservation, energy efficiency and environmentalism are some "hobby" we can't afford. And I'm not going to take it any longer!
If we as Americans are not outraged by this war, we are not thinking. I can't think of anything more cowardly or un-American than to continue to support this war and disregard our own personal responsibility for living a greener life. Real patriots, real activists and real advocates of spreading democracy around the world live green!
Oh, and one last thing. Having been raised in a very devout, Mormon household (I no longer practice that religion) my favorite peace sign this weekend was: "If you support Bush's war, you are NO disciple of Christ!" Perhaps something the Bush administration and the Christian right, who continue to support this immoral war, should take to heart!
Salt Lake City Peace March (YouTube)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Pictorial Vignettes: Backwards through time.
It is difficult to get to passionate about life in St. Louis. It is always interesting but never stirs any deeper emotion. It does not have the sort of landscape that motivates me to wax poetic nor go off on a detailed narrative of any one event or place. It has the capacity to overload the senses (and the pocketbook) w/ its abundance or urban offerings. I do not complain (too often), mind you. There are much worse alternatives to "interesting".I tend to derive a certain sense of self from my geographic surroundings. Landscape is ever-so-important to me. In New Hampshire I was never happier than on those solitary Sunday mornings in January that I would set fresh tracks on century old carriage roads. In Idaho my favorite place to be is heading south up Taylor Creek trail at either dusk or dawn. More likely to happen upon a moose or mountain lion.. hee hee..at those hours.
Try as I may, I am unable to compose a respectable blog-length piece on any one St Louis event thus far. So what follows is a series of descriptive photos on a handful of the exploits that have occupied our time since arriving in the Show Me State.
These are the Arch Rival Roller Girls flying by my camera. This is St. Louis' All Female Flat Track Roller Derby and yes, we attended a "bout". These events attract an eclectic crowd w/ a decided goth overtone. Owen did not enjoy it so much. The humor was adult (e.g. spanking booth for charity) and went over his head...oh the innocence.
Nellie in a state of repose.
Tony finds a handy new use for his rack.
Owen competing in the Halloween Pull Down in Kansas City. It is hard to tell in the close-up photo, but he is coming out from under an overhang. He placed 3rd in the recreational division beating out most of a field who was 2 or more yrs older. The kid is a sight to behold....if I do say so myself.
Red River Gorge, Kentucky. This is the best place I've been so far. It is truly a geologic wonder with over 100 natural land arches. It was the venue location for the Petzl RocTrip Climbing Festival. My parents and brother's family met us there. We had a blast! Owen won a lot of climbing shwag and rubbed elbows with some of his sporting heroes.
Who said you can't bring a baby camping? 
Owen's favorite climb of the weekend? Up the pole of the big top tent. Hey, there were no signs saying "no climbing". 
Hanging around at the Loop.
Sushi Festival downtown. The featured event was a sushi eating contest. Winner ate about 70 pieces in 10 minutes. Think you can eat more? So did they. Most predicted eating over 100 pieces.
An afternoon at the beloved CITY MUSEUM!! .....for Tony, Owen and friends. An afternoon of Harry Potter for Wendy!!! Thanks Tony.
Views from a bike ride home from Illinois.
Dining at our favorite restaurant. Perched along the bluffs of the Missouri River and with an ever- changing menu, each dining experience is unique from the previous. This time I ordered sauteed trout topped with a root vegetable lyonnaise served on a bed of italian parsley puree and crispy cabbage au gratin. Tony had a grilled strip steak with crayfish lobster butter, rosemary grits, beer-braised greens and smoked paparika dusted fried leeks. How do they come up with these culinary combinations? 
Although Nellie definitely preferred last year's daily runs along the Chubb Trail, a 12 mile drive away, this year she is making-do with the off-leash dog park just a short walk from our back door. The Puppy Pool Party, held the final day of the season at University City public pool is a fund raiser that benefits the park. 
Thursday, October 18, 2007
On a Quest
I emailed out a nifty little link I had heard about on NPR whereby you answer lifestyle questions, in the format of a game, and find out how many earths it would take to support your lifestyle if everyone lived like you.http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumerconsequences/ It is a test of one's "green-ness" and I flunked...big time. How the hell can that be? I obsess over recycling, not using my car except when necessary, reducing my consumptive habits, keeping the heat so low in winter my friends bring jackets to dinner, replacing w/ fluorescent light bulbs, air drying laundry...yet it is not enough. Needless to say I am now perseverating (thanks Emily) on how to better my "score". Everyone being equal, just how many earths will it take to support our collective fat ass in the lap of luxury to which I am so shamelessly accustomed? 3.5!!! You read right. Three point five earths.
So lets talk about this game (that has ruined my smug self perception) and how one is measured. My friend pointed out that the game is biased against people living in the country (or suburbs). I speculate that sustainability is biased against those living in the country or suburbs. When I was playing the game I had to decide which of my lives (I have two, you know) I was going to examine. At first I was cherry picking for the best results. Then I got honest. My life in Idaho is dismally unsustainable. It is darn near impossible to live without using my car, glass and most plastics are not recyclable, no public transport system, little moral support of like-minded individuals, nary an organic option at my local grocer of choice (Winco), big freaking house (4,200 sq/ft) and I could go on. There are two glaring green positives in Idaho Falls. Our electric power comes from hydro and wind and the shopping options, franchises and more franchises, are such that who would want to spend any money.
I have a sneaking suspicion that those impoverished, uneducated Americans, of which there is an abundance here in St Louis,(disproportionately African American, of course) who have likely never even contemplated the idea of sustainability, would score way better than I or any of my accordant allies. They live without the bells and whistles of a middle class life style because they have no other choice. I should strive to be more like them.
So where did I go wrong? 1. The air travel I do yearly, about 15 hrs, negates all my hard-earned miles on the bike. Solution: take Amtrak if possible. 2. I rarely drive here in MO, but in Idaho I am beholden to my car. Solution: car-pool on Teton trips, when possible. Check out the Greyhound situation. Just say no if it is under 5 miles and then hook up the Burley trailer to my bike. 3. Food. We eat out too often, eat too much meat, drink too much coffee and don't buy enough organic or locally produced. Solution: This is the category on which I am currently concentrating. I claim progress, not perfection. I will save it for another post.
So lets talk about this game (that has ruined my smug self perception) and how one is measured. My friend pointed out that the game is biased against people living in the country (or suburbs). I speculate that sustainability is biased against those living in the country or suburbs. When I was playing the game I had to decide which of my lives (I have two, you know) I was going to examine. At first I was cherry picking for the best results. Then I got honest. My life in Idaho is dismally unsustainable. It is darn near impossible to live without using my car, glass and most plastics are not recyclable, no public transport system, little moral support of like-minded individuals, nary an organic option at my local grocer of choice (Winco), big freaking house (4,200 sq/ft) and I could go on. There are two glaring green positives in Idaho Falls. Our electric power comes from hydro and wind and the shopping options, franchises and more franchises, are such that who would want to spend any money.
I have a sneaking suspicion that those impoverished, uneducated Americans, of which there is an abundance here in St Louis,(disproportionately African American, of course) who have likely never even contemplated the idea of sustainability, would score way better than I or any of my accordant allies. They live without the bells and whistles of a middle class life style because they have no other choice. I should strive to be more like them.
So where did I go wrong? 1. The air travel I do yearly, about 15 hrs, negates all my hard-earned miles on the bike. Solution: take Amtrak if possible. 2. I rarely drive here in MO, but in Idaho I am beholden to my car. Solution: car-pool on Teton trips, when possible. Check out the Greyhound situation. Just say no if it is under 5 miles and then hook up the Burley trailer to my bike. 3. Food. We eat out too often, eat too much meat, drink too much coffee and don't buy enough organic or locally produced. Solution: This is the category on which I am currently concentrating. I claim progress, not perfection. I will save it for another post.
Friday, October 5, 2007
It's All About the Bike
As a child of the 70s I, of course, had the mandatory Schwinn single speed ( purple) purchased at the Schwinn Bicycle Store. It was used to get to and from my best friend's house a mile away and to go down to the Aquilla State Park store for candy. Besides that it languished in the garage.
Bicycles have been an integral part of my life since the late 80s when I first saw a "mountain bike". I was working as a crew member for Alvei http://www.alvei.com/, a 100 ft. sailing vessel that was being brought down to Portugal from where it was purchased in Norway. The captain owned a mountain bike that he kept in the hold. It would be pulled out when we arrived at various ports and made available to crew members for the purpose of tooling around town and running errands. It had 15 gears and big knobby tires that were perfect for jumping curbs. When I got back to the states I immediately started saving my money.
My first mountain bike was a used $200 Cycle Pro but I quickly upgraded to a $400 Nishiki Colorado. I was living in a cabin in the woods of New Hampshire and did not own a car so I needed a good bike for going up steep hills and over rough trails.
I vividly remember my first trail ride with my girlfriend and roommate who had recently scored a job at the local bike shop. After poring over the local topo map we discovered a network of trails that would take us into town in a circuitous fashion. Perfect. It had just rained. The trail was extremely slippery and technical. The ride resulted in a spectacular crash that left us both laying mid-trail in a bloody heap laughing our asses off. I was hooked.
Within months I had again upgraded, this time to a $1,150 hand-built Fat Chance http://www.firstflightbikes.com/1990_Fat_Chance_CC.htm. You must click on this link and admire this bike. It was the bomb! It was a work of artistic craftsmanship. Unfortunately Fat City Cycles is no more, having gone the way of too many hand-built, frame makers and small, locally owned bike shops; it gave way to the corporate giants of the industry. That same year I took my first bike tour, riding from Oslo to Trondheim Norway, a distance of 250 kilometers, by myself and loaded down with enough gear to keep on peddling to the Arctic Circle and perhaps beyond.
Bicycles have figured prominently in my relationship with my husband. In 1991 Tony had just moved to town and showed up for the Wednesday night group ride of the shop at which I was employed. He was impressed with my bike. I was impressed that he had a real job and a brand new Subaru wagon in spite of his almost prepubescent appearance. Our first date was to the Bike Nashbar factory outlet. Our first vacation together was riding our bikes from Ohio to New Hampshire. We got married at Elk River Touring Center http://www.ertc.com/ , a mountain bike touring center in West Virginia owned by some friends. The post-nuptial ceremony activities included a mountain bike polo match and a 3 hour group ride through some of the sweetest single track WV has to offer. We were teammates for 11 consecutive years at the 24 Hours of Canaan/Snowshoe in West Virginia until we finally moved too far away to be able to drive to the race.
Bicycles have been an integral part of my life since the late 80s when I first saw a "mountain bike". I was working as a crew member for Alvei http://www.alvei.com/, a 100 ft. sailing vessel that was being brought down to Portugal from where it was purchased in Norway. The captain owned a mountain bike that he kept in the hold. It would be pulled out when we arrived at various ports and made available to crew members for the purpose of tooling around town and running errands. It had 15 gears and big knobby tires that were perfect for jumping curbs. When I got back to the states I immediately started saving my money.
My first mountain bike was a used $200 Cycle Pro but I quickly upgraded to a $400 Nishiki Colorado. I was living in a cabin in the woods of New Hampshire and did not own a car so I needed a good bike for going up steep hills and over rough trails.
I vividly remember my first trail ride with my girlfriend and roommate who had recently scored a job at the local bike shop. After poring over the local topo map we discovered a network of trails that would take us into town in a circuitous fashion. Perfect. It had just rained. The trail was extremely slippery and technical. The ride resulted in a spectacular crash that left us both laying mid-trail in a bloody heap laughing our asses off. I was hooked.
Within months I had again upgraded, this time to a $1,150 hand-built Fat Chance http://www.firstflightbikes.com/1990_Fat_Chance_CC.htm. You must click on this link and admire this bike. It was the bomb! It was a work of artistic craftsmanship. Unfortunately Fat City Cycles is no more, having gone the way of too many hand-built, frame makers and small, locally owned bike shops; it gave way to the corporate giants of the industry. That same year I took my first bike tour, riding from Oslo to Trondheim Norway, a distance of 250 kilometers, by myself and loaded down with enough gear to keep on peddling to the Arctic Circle and perhaps beyond.
Bicycles have figured prominently in my relationship with my husband. In 1991 Tony had just moved to town and showed up for the Wednesday night group ride of the shop at which I was employed. He was impressed with my bike. I was impressed that he had a real job and a brand new Subaru wagon in spite of his almost prepubescent appearance. Our first date was to the Bike Nashbar factory outlet. Our first vacation together was riding our bikes from Ohio to New Hampshire. We got married at Elk River Touring Center http://www.ertc.com/ , a mountain bike touring center in West Virginia owned by some friends. The post-nuptial ceremony activities included a mountain bike polo match and a 3 hour group ride through some of the sweetest single track WV has to offer. We were teammates for 11 consecutive years at the 24 Hours of Canaan/Snowshoe in West Virginia until we finally moved too far away to be able to drive to the race.
Bikes and bicycling have been an important part of our child rearing philosophy. Ben was off training wheels at 3 1/2 yrs old, rode his first 20 miler at 5 1/2, went to more mountain bike races than I can remember and on his 10th birthday was somewhere in the hills of central Pennsylvania, having agree to accompany me by bike halfway to New Hampshire from Ohio. He no longer rides but I imagine he will as an adult. Owen was on his own bike at 4 1/2. Our anti-car rhetoric has really taken root in him. He usually prefers to ride places in order to NOT use the car. He has really embraced the party line, as opposed to Ben who thought it was stupid to ride our bikes when we had a perfectly good car sitting in the driveway.
It is only natural that, as we reluctantly settle into the aging process, our recreational passion is evolving into a form of advocacy. I know that someday bicycles will be an important component of the global solution to the mess we have made of our natural environment due to our addiction to the automobile, petroleum and all its byproducts. It will not always be just a fringe group, represented by the likes of our family, friends and relatives, who takes up cycling as a way of life. It will take a seismic shift in what we deem acceptable in the geography of transportation but I am beginning to feel the tremors of change in the most unlikely of places. Idaho Falls, a place where the word "progressive" is never used in the same sentence as the town's name (unless it is preceded by the words "not even remotely"), actually has a nascent organization devoted to promoting non-motorized transportation. WOW. Way cool.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Shame on Yew, Dougie Few!
We are lucky enough to have a grocery store right behind our neighborhood. There are two ways we can arrive there from our house. Get in the car an go right on Yale Ave (0.30 mile), right on Delmar (0.33 mile) , right on Midland Blvd (0.43 mile), right on Vernon Ave and into the supermarket parking lot and locate a parking space (0.42 mile). ...for a total of 1.48 miles.
OR
We can get on our bikes (or walk) and take the path right next to our house (0.07 mile) to the neighborhood behind ours, take a right down Pennsylvania Ave (0.17 mile), cross Vernon Ave and arrive at the bike rack in front of of the supermarket (0.08 mile)....for a total of 0.32 mile
On Friday morning I realized I did not have enough change for train fare so Tony volunteered to go to the grocery store to get milk and money. A half gallon of milk cost about the same as the fee the bank charges us for not getting an account here in MO so we always get cash at the grocery store. Well he grabbed the keys and started to go so I volunteered to go on my bike (hint, hint) if he wanted to take over lunch-making duties. He declined.
Owen came downstairs and wanted to know where dad was and I told on him. "HE DROVE? That's stupid" Yeah, well.....
So when Tony returned I asked him if he felt dirty. Our car wouldn't have budged in over a week if it weren't for him. He looked sheepish and mumbled something about it seeming so cold outside and being a wimp. But then he came around and said it WAS stupid and that he did, in fact, feel dirty.
Now, if only the rest of America could be cowed so easily progress could be realized. It IS shameful to get in one's car to drive less than a mile. Everyone should feel it. This global warming thing ain't a hoax people. It's not some ploy of the liberal media to dupe you republicans just for kicks. If everyone changes their habits just a little it may start to make a difference. Please.
OR
We can get on our bikes (or walk) and take the path right next to our house (0.07 mile) to the neighborhood behind ours, take a right down Pennsylvania Ave (0.17 mile), cross Vernon Ave and arrive at the bike rack in front of of the supermarket (0.08 mile)....for a total of 0.32 mile
On Friday morning I realized I did not have enough change for train fare so Tony volunteered to go to the grocery store to get milk and money. A half gallon of milk cost about the same as the fee the bank charges us for not getting an account here in MO so we always get cash at the grocery store. Well he grabbed the keys and started to go so I volunteered to go on my bike (hint, hint) if he wanted to take over lunch-making duties. He declined.
Owen came downstairs and wanted to know where dad was and I told on him. "HE DROVE? That's stupid" Yeah, well.....
So when Tony returned I asked him if he felt dirty. Our car wouldn't have budged in over a week if it weren't for him. He looked sheepish and mumbled something about it seeming so cold outside and being a wimp. But then he came around and said it WAS stupid and that he did, in fact, feel dirty.
Now, if only the rest of America could be cowed so easily progress could be realized. It IS shameful to get in one's car to drive less than a mile. Everyone should feel it. This global warming thing ain't a hoax people. It's not some ploy of the liberal media to dupe you republicans just for kicks. If everyone changes their habits just a little it may start to make a difference. Please.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The not so Savvy Family
This post is, in fact, tangentially related to sustainability but I will get to that in a roundabout way.
I picked up a magazine left behind by the owners of the house we are renting called Savvy Family. I wonder if there are qualifications to be allowed monthly delivery of this periodical. The word "savvy" implies, in my mind, a sophisticated shrewdness that neither I, nor any other member of my family, possess.
So it was with interest and curiosity that I perused this periodical, paying particular attention to the paid advertisements. It is a local St. Louis, family-issues oriented rag that likely attracts the upwardly mobile. Included are ads for Kindermusik, pricey private schools, baby boutiques, COCA: the Center for Creative Arts, stuff like that. You know, for the enlightened parents of today. There was a self- affirming article by a mother who no longer wears a size two ( boo-hoo) and is working to instill in her offspring positive body images, invoking the mantra "muscle weighs more than fat". Another piece was about the many challenges faced by kids and parents as they anticipate the start of another school year. Then there was the one about trading in the Wonderbread sandwich and Cheetos school lunch for more healthful choices. Thanks, wow, how novel. I truly never considered the possibility. I hope Owen doesn't freak.
They saved the best for last. It was entitled, "Growing up....Painfully". And indeed it was was painful to read. Sadly enough, the author is a very educated woman, a pediatrician who decided to stay home to raise her brood. The premise of the article is that kids these days are just growing up way too fast and we adults have no control over it. By way of example she tells us about her 8 year old daughter who is embarrassed that her legs are hairy and sneaks off with mom's razor to remedy the problem. She laments the fact that her daughter, at only 8 yrs old, already has body-image issues. She blames it on the likes of Hannah Montana, High School Musical, movies and other such delicacies offer up by the ever present media source known as television. She then posits that she is smart enough to figure this situation out on her own and does not need any outside help.
Of course she is wrong. If she wasn't I would have nothing to write about.
It amazes me how the OBVIOUS eludes. And this elusion is an equal opportunity afflicter. It matters not a parent's race, gender, education, sexual orientation...s/he just dudn't get it. So here is the solution. Listen carefully lady, I am only going to say it once and I am going to say it using an indoor voice. Throw the fucking T.V. out the second story window! Don't bother opening it first. The shattering glass will have much more of an impact ( get it, impact...pun) on your family. It will make a great family story in years to come. Think of it, your children will be sitting around at the dinner table telling their kids (2nd generation non-t.v. watchers) about the time their kooky grandma threw the t.v. ("Mom, what is a t.v.?") out the window. Lady, you invited that floozy, Hannah Montana, and her minions into your house. Now, just ask them to leave. Problem solved.
"So what does this have to do with sustainability?" I am so glad you asked. I have a beef with media, in most forms, but mostly t.v. advertising. Yes, television programing, in and of itself, is a mindless waste of time, degrading to women, celebrates violence, blah, blah, blah. But I believe its greatest trespass is more insidious, not nearly so obvious. Its commercials perpetuate a voracious consumer culture that brainwashes at an early age. You must own this to fit in with your peers. This tastes delicious. You are not quite thin enough to look good in this outfit; get that finger back down that throat. Always low prices. Always. ....add nauseum.
A little anecdote on one of the benefits of a television free life: One of my proudest moments this summer was when my girlfriend called from McDonalds to tell me my child was a freak. He had no idea what a happy meal was. So he ate a happy meal that afternoon. Later that summer another friend's mother took him to McDs. He declined lunch and went without food for the afternoon. No one had repeatedly told him how delicious McNugget are, so he got to decide all for himself that they were not so tasty.
The not so savvy parents, their not so savvy kids and definitely not so savvy dog.
I picked up a magazine left behind by the owners of the house we are renting called Savvy Family. I wonder if there are qualifications to be allowed monthly delivery of this periodical. The word "savvy" implies, in my mind, a sophisticated shrewdness that neither I, nor any other member of my family, possess.
So it was with interest and curiosity that I perused this periodical, paying particular attention to the paid advertisements. It is a local St. Louis, family-issues oriented rag that likely attracts the upwardly mobile. Included are ads for Kindermusik, pricey private schools, baby boutiques, COCA: the Center for Creative Arts, stuff like that. You know, for the enlightened parents of today. There was a self- affirming article by a mother who no longer wears a size two ( boo-hoo) and is working to instill in her offspring positive body images, invoking the mantra "muscle weighs more than fat". Another piece was about the many challenges faced by kids and parents as they anticipate the start of another school year. Then there was the one about trading in the Wonderbread sandwich and Cheetos school lunch for more healthful choices. Thanks, wow, how novel. I truly never considered the possibility. I hope Owen doesn't freak.
They saved the best for last. It was entitled, "Growing up....Painfully". And indeed it was was painful to read. Sadly enough, the author is a very educated woman, a pediatrician who decided to stay home to raise her brood. The premise of the article is that kids these days are just growing up way too fast and we adults have no control over it. By way of example she tells us about her 8 year old daughter who is embarrassed that her legs are hairy and sneaks off with mom's razor to remedy the problem. She laments the fact that her daughter, at only 8 yrs old, already has body-image issues. She blames it on the likes of Hannah Montana, High School Musical, movies and other such delicacies offer up by the ever present media source known as television. She then posits that she is smart enough to figure this situation out on her own and does not need any outside help.
Of course she is wrong. If she wasn't I would have nothing to write about.
It amazes me how the OBVIOUS eludes. And this elusion is an equal opportunity afflicter. It matters not a parent's race, gender, education, sexual orientation...s/he just dudn't get it. So here is the solution. Listen carefully lady, I am only going to say it once and I am going to say it using an indoor voice. Throw the fucking T.V. out the second story window! Don't bother opening it first. The shattering glass will have much more of an impact ( get it, impact...pun) on your family. It will make a great family story in years to come. Think of it, your children will be sitting around at the dinner table telling their kids (2nd generation non-t.v. watchers) about the time their kooky grandma threw the t.v. ("Mom, what is a t.v.?") out the window. Lady, you invited that floozy, Hannah Montana, and her minions into your house. Now, just ask them to leave. Problem solved.
"So what does this have to do with sustainability?" I am so glad you asked. I have a beef with media, in most forms, but mostly t.v. advertising. Yes, television programing, in and of itself, is a mindless waste of time, degrading to women, celebrates violence, blah, blah, blah. But I believe its greatest trespass is more insidious, not nearly so obvious. Its commercials perpetuate a voracious consumer culture that brainwashes at an early age. You must own this to fit in with your peers. This tastes delicious. You are not quite thin enough to look good in this outfit; get that finger back down that throat. Always low prices. Always. ....add nauseum.
A little anecdote on one of the benefits of a television free life: One of my proudest moments this summer was when my girlfriend called from McDonalds to tell me my child was a freak. He had no idea what a happy meal was. So he ate a happy meal that afternoon. Later that summer another friend's mother took him to McDs. He declined lunch and went without food for the afternoon. No one had repeatedly told him how delicious McNugget are, so he got to decide all for himself that they were not so tasty.
The not so savvy parents, their not so savvy kids and definitely not so savvy dog.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Allow me to digress.
A lot of people ask about Ben. You do remember him? My 18 yr old son. Yes, he is still alive and living in Idaho Falls while we are spending another school year in St. Louis. Funny, but he did not want to return for a second year at the all-boys, Catholic school. Go figure. The truth is, they did not want him to return either, but that is another story.When people query as to Ben's whereabouts I am fond of saying that he gave us, his family, up for an extended Lent. His life is all about his friends and his independence. The moment we stepped back into the state of Idaho it was, "Adios familia, hasta entonces!"
"Don't you worry about him?", so many ask. Most are parent of young children. They have a few years before they realize what a silly question that is.
He seems to be happy in his abject poverty. Perhaps "happy" is not the correct word. Maybe he is just relieved to not be subject to parental tyranny anymore. And I believe that is how he truly views it. I wanted him to learn from my MANY mistakes but it just does not work like that.
So he is doing his senior year on his own. He has a job still, I think. He is a very successful couch surfer, so he has yet to feel the need to fork over the cash needed for a real apartment. People feed him. I buy him gift certificates at fast food joints. Good thing he is a cutey. Research says that good looking kids get away with a lot more than their less aesthetically gifted brethren.
He will be happy to share with you all of my parental transgressions but I think he is forgiving me for being me. He seems to miss me and calls me often. His dad is not so lucky. Tony is much more the level headed authority figure, yet Ben judges him much more harshly and forgives him at a glacial pace.
Next time you are at the Mall, stop by his work (booth outside of bookstore) and say hello. If you don't live in IF then give him a call and let him know you have not forgotten he exists. He will come around someday and not view us all as aliens. I promise.
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