Benefits of going green

It's come to my attention lately that I'm consuming the Earth. Little ol' me and my family are damaging the environment without even trying.

I read a chunk of Alicia Silverstone's book "The Kind Diet" and was inspired by her healthy eating and self-care habits. Inspired enough to become vegan? Heck no.  Though I fell asleep last night thinking about it. I like bacon too much.

In fact, I'm at a pizza parlour with a veritable stack of napkins sitting not too far away from me on the table I just cleaned with them. Seems if I'm going to make some changes, it's gonna have to permeate my entire life. Because my wastefulness does.

Sure, I recycle. And, of course I've noticed that they make the recycle containers bigger than the trash receptacles, too. That should give anyone (me) with half a brain (me) a clue that I should be recycling more than I throw away. And, sometimes I do. But the sheer number of rolls of toilet paper our household goes through per week puts me in awe. There's just got to be a smaller carbon footprint than the one these size-9's have been putting down. I'm determined to make a positive change.

What's neat about change is that small increments DO make a difference. Taking a tag off of a piece of clothing and separating the paper from the plastic piece and recycling the paper part is just one small thing toward the benefit of the bigger whole. Better yet, shop at a thrift store. I was pleased to note the other day that my outfit, excluding shoes and undergarments, was second hand. Yay me. And, you can get in on the action, too. Google "being eco friendly" or "green living" and see what you find. Then apply the results in *your* life.

Simon and Schuster rocks.

I was merrily minding my own business... when I came upon an email from a woman who works at Simon and Schuster.  She was telling me about a new book, by Daniel Smith, called "Monkey Mind." It tells of anxiety from an "insider's" perspective - and then she said...

"I’d be happy to send you a copy for review, and I can offer you copies for a giveaway for your readers. Dan is also available for Q&As.

I look forward to hearing from you!"

We emailed back and forth a bit, and I told her that I couldn't commit to reviewing a book by a deadline, so she said she'd send me a copy for my review and I could write about it in my blog when I had time. Knowing what I have on my plate right now (Thesis, work, home, etc., etc..........) I figured I would preemptively write about receiving the book and what it's about - just in case it's a *while* before I get to read it.

So, the book came yesterday. It's called "Monkey Mind" by Daniel Smith. Of course, I haven't read it yet, but thought it would be relevant to post this since I was honored enough to be contacted by Simon and Schuster and agree to write in my blog about it when I've read it.

Ahhh, the sweet smell of nostalgia.

I found this post in my "drafts bucket" - it's from 2007, obviously when I first started undergraduate, with two kids, a disability (or an A-bility, depending on how you look at it), and apparently a lot of angst. Enjoy!

As if I don't have enough on my plate already... I just made it officially official (at least to me anyways)...I am now a bonafide Cal Poly Dolly. Blech.

Being a re-entry student has its perks (more kudos from the general population, for one, on getting up off my behind and doing something with my life) but it's kinda difficult to be lumped in with a "my-daddy-has-a-credit-card-so-I-can-pay-my-way-out-of-any-trouble-I-ignorantly-throw-society's-way" mentality that seems to encompass so many females at a certain college that shall remain nameless ;-)

However, I would like to take this time to expose myself to the elements of this cross-section of the intellectual set, as it were, and share my experiences with you since I plan on being there for at least two more years. Or more. Depends on how much money my sugar daddy plans on putting onto my credit card. Just kidding.

Fourth of July Festivities

This post was written on July 4th...really!

So, being that it's my day off (in the middle of the week,no less), I chose to check my email like any other day. Lo and behold, there was an email from Jamba Juice saying "Happy 4th"! Now, don't get me wrong - I love Jamba Juice. They got me through (calorically speaking) many a Sunday afternoon shopping trip.
But, to send an email to a subscriber - who subcribed specifically for the purpose of getting coupons - and to not attach a coupon of some sort to the email is just silly. Not to say I'm anti-celebratory, especially where our great country's independence is concerned. I just like freebies and think the reason for being on a company's mailing list is for a reason such as that.
Given all of this, I'd like to wish all of you a Happy 4th of July! The fireworks display here locally was spectacular and I got to spend it with people very near and dear to my heart. Enjoy the irony of my entry.

Thesis...take two...

...same project...new topic. I originally tried to write this post from my mobile phone a week or two ago (because I knew it would be a while before I'd sit my happy self in front of a real computer to write this) and it just didn't happen due to cell phone logistics.

So, for all of you holding your breath about my Thesis (with a capital-T, because it's That. Dang. Important.) I'd like to introduce you to my new topic, which has been discussed with my Thesis advisor, so it's likely I won't change it for the 20th time (I'm not joking). I've decided to write about how cell phones affect one's well-being, particularly their social connectedness with others.

This idea sprouted from a "wouldn't it be funny if" moment I was having. I thought if I could go into a classroom and take everyone's cell phones from them to see what happened, it'd be a pretty interesting result. And so the topic was formulated.

Nomophobia, or fear of being without your mobile phone, is an actual phenomenon. John Tesh talked about it on his radio program. And, there's even one, count it, ONE article in the PsychInfo (EBSCO) database referring explicitly to nomophobia. I think it's odd, intriguing and funny all at the same time. And it's startlingly curious that we've turned into a compulsively text messaging society with an actual phobia related to the device we're using to text given that in 2001, we didn't even have text messaging (Wei & Lo, 2006).

I'm not going to APA-style this reference, but if you're curious, the name of the article I'm referring to is "Staying connected while on the move: Cell phone use and social connectedness," by Wei and Lo.

My life or yours? A philosophical quest.

Ever wonder what it would be like to live someone else's life? Sure you have. I know I have.

The problem with living someone else's life is that we still take us with us -- wherever we go -- even into someone else's life. (Otherwise, we wouldn't know we were in someone else's life in the first place). So, instead of having the life we do (or don't) know how to deal with -- but are at least used to -- we have a whole set of circumstances that are new to us, a whole new group of people to call family and friends, and yet the same old 'me.'

Forgive me for the philosophical rant, but I'm on a quest to be grateful for my life... ALL the time. I'd rather get used to, and learn to like -- heck, love -- my own life. I seem to be doing pretty well in this life so far. It has it's challenges, but the one thing I think it's important to note is that no one else can be me -- I am the best person for my job. Be you -- and be you well.