Craziness at UC

Ever since the library shortened our hours we have been MUCH, MUCH busier on the days we are open.  Mondays have become especially busy because we don't open until noon and none of the other nearby libraries are open at all.  Here are a few pictures from this Monday of people waiting to get in and waiting to get an internet computer reservation - it's craziness!

August 2010 Bird Pictures

I have been trying to get pictures of the hummingbirds that come to our feeder, but they are so fast it's really hard to get a good picture.   Here are a few decent ones I got:

This is a picture I got of two Goldfinches on the feeder at the same time!

Sandy and Roxy - August 2010

Here are some new cat pictures.  In this first one Sandy trying to hide "under" the newspaper.  She loves to try to get underneath anything she can!

These next two are of Roxy sticking her tongue out - you have to look closely.  I tried to zoom in on the second one, but it's a little blurry.

Cat Clocks

I am a big cat person and I LOVE my two cat clocks.  I had this Felix kit-cat clock when I was in high school that I thought was broken, but recently I pulled it out and with new batteries it was working again - not only does it keep time, but the tail and eyes move back and forth!

This clock I got last year when we went to the mountains with some friends.  It meows out loud on the hour, but I had to disable that because it was freaking out the real cats!

Going Organic

For the past few months Chad and I have been trying to eat more organic food. Organic has become such a buzz word that I almost hate to use it, but basically what I mean by “organic” is food that is grown without chemicals, hormones, not genetically modified, humanely raised, etc. We planted our own vegetable garden this year and were very happy with how much food we got from it - and I know each year we’ll get better. We’ve also been trying to buy most of our meat from the local Farmer’s Market. My theory is that we can save money in other areas and that will help when we buy the more expensive local meat. But, I also think when we buy super cheap food we pay for it in other ways - at the expense of the animal’s health and well being, with our own health and the health of the environment as well. We had been trying to incorporate more organic food into our life anyway, but after watching Food, Inc. I don’t plan on going back.

Food, Inc. does more than just talk about why organic food is better - it covers a wide range of issues that impact the food world and what we eat. It talks about the government agencies that are supposed to regulate the food industry, but are really impotent, about huge conglomerates who are taking over the food industry, about how Monsanto and their genetically modified seeds could give Satan a run for his money in pure evilness, the poor animals in factory farms - I could go on and on. I would say this movie changed my life, but really it just confirmed the direction I was already moving toward. But, after seeing this movie I have decided to make some long term changes to our lifestyle:

1) I will not buy non-organic/humanely raised meat anymore.

2) I will not eat at fast food restaurants anymore (they are the main factor behind factory farming - especially of meat).

3) I will eat more meat-free meals (both for health and also to help balance the cost of the meat I’m choosing to buy).

I would highly recommend this movie and also it’s companion book of the same name edited by Karl Weber. Here are a few other books that really had an impact on me:

Farm Sanctuary by Gene Baur
The Compassionate Carnivore by Catherine Friend
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser