and I quote ....

"On the issue of climate change, we ought to cap carbon emissions in the United States. We ought to invest in clean alternative sources of energy. We ought to invest in carbon sequestration technology, in coal technology. A billion dollars, at least, into making sure we build the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the planet. We ought to ask Americans to be patriotic about something other than war. To be willing to conserve."

- John Edwards at the First Democratic Debate in Orangeburg, SC April 26, 2007

Read some quotes from the other candidates here.

The way I see it, even if by some far stretch of the imagination climate change is not being sped up by human beings, isn't it always a good idea to use less and conserve? What's the harm in being as energy efficient as possible? Mostly these are just my thoughts to myself. I have leaps and bounds to go when it comes to conserving and being more energy efficient. But knowing is the first step to change, right?! I hope so. This idea of conservation and sacrifice seems to fit seamlessly with the gospel as well. It all goes back to the whole, being good stewards thing. Do what you will with the opinion of John Edwards. I just thought it was interesting and happens to be something that I have been thinking of for quite some time.

editorial note

I realized the other day that most of the pictures that I post are of places and buildings that I think are pretty. I don't really have that many pictures of me on here. At first this was a "be web smart" thing. But then it became a self-conscious thing ... lets face it - I take a lot of bad pictures. Then I thought to myself that there must be a few ok ones. And I searched. And searched. And searched. And then I went to a wedding in Boston and people took some pictures of me. Some terrible pictures ... but some ok ones too.

This is my explanation for the new photo additions to the right side of the blog. Keep in mind that I don't have any cute children or animals or anything like that to post photos of, so most are of me. But wait - I do have cute friends, so they are posted here too!

today is That day

I just realized that today is the day that Vice President Cheney speaks at BYU's commencement. Here is the outline for events surrounding commencement. I don't know what to think about the last listing - the alternative commencement ... but its pretty awesome that Ralph Nadar came to Orem/Provo. Rockin. I love that the BYU Dems are by the "Enter to Learn - Go Forth to Serve" sign. That is definitely what BYU is all about. I am glad to see some Cougs stepping up and I am interested to hear what Cheney says at commencement.

Commencement Happenings

Noon to 2 p.m. BYU College Democrats demonstrate at 1230 North and 150 East around the "Enter to Learn - Go Forth to Serve" sign on campus.

Noon to 2:30 p.m. Pro-Cheney ralliers demonstrate on the lawn of the Provo City Library, at 500 N. University Ave.

Noon to 6 p.m. Veterans for Peace will hold a vigil protesting the war on the southwest corner of 1230 North and Canyon Road.

7 p.m. Alternative Commencement featuring former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, former Amnesty International director Jack Healy, and former U.S. Senate candidate Pete Ashdown at the McKay Events Center on the campus of Utah Valley State College in Orem.

This list came from this article in the Salt Lake Tribune. More to come.

flower boxes and copper bay windows

I spent a long weekend in New England - Boston and Cambridge to be more specific. It was beautiful. Amazing weather, beautiful buildings, cheerful flower boxes, and crumbling tombstones. I really really like Boston. So much so that I had a small twang of fear that perhaps having not considered BU was a mistake. I had to console myself with the constant reminder that the winter is long and cold ... longer and colder there than it is in DC.

Random Thoughts and Stories About Boston:

I have never seen so many flower boxes as I did on Beacon Hill. It seemed that many of the houses where these window boxes were found had the same designer, which comes as no surprise since it is the upscale neighborhood of Boston.



While stopping in at one of Boston's fine Dunkin Donut establishments on our way to Harvard Square a nice middle-aged gentleman caught a glimpse of my California drivers license and said, "California, huh?! Harvard or MIT?" I paused and then realized what he meant. I believe I fumbled through my response of "oh, no I am just in town for the day". I was flattered and felt really smart for a moment.

We stayed at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel for a few nights before the wedding, which is located very close to the Boston Public Garden and the Boston Commons. The Public Garden has wonderful weeping willows - I love weeping willows ... they tend to be very big, old, billowy, and grow on the banks of ponds or rivers with their weepy branches lightly kissing the water.


The architecture of Boston was great! The copper bay windows throughout the city are so dramatic. The patina of age against the brick buildings - that's my favorite.


The shot above I just thought was cool. It was taken on Beacon Hill I think.

There are several very very old cemeteries in the middle of Boston. Most date back to the 1600's and thus the headstones are not very ornate (I like all the crazy details) but were still beautiful. Common themes include an angel's head with wings, a skull with wings, devils and angels dancing and skulls and cross-bones. The picture below is documentation that those early Bostonians are trend setters ... skull and cross-bones are sooo in right now and apparently they were also hot in Boston circa 1660.



And I can't talk about Boston with out mentioning the accent. Here is a list of my favorite words (as well as the fact that the bride's accent came out toward the end of her saying her vows ... I loved it):

wicked hahd cohr (wicked hard core)
pahk (park)
Hahvahd (Harvard)
Mahky Mahk (Marky Mark - you know ... and the funky bunch! Totally from Boston)

A Note on Stewardship

I am now reading about China, its current environmental state, its efforts to expand its economy, its attempts at acquiring 1st world status, and what that means to it's global environmental impact. FASCINATING really.

Many people are familiar with the governmentally instituted and enforced "mandatory fertility control" in China, but did you know that it "dramatically decreased the population rate to 1.3% per year by the year 2001". I am so amazed because statistics are usually never reached in my life time - they usually spout out years like ... in 2065 ... but I guess twenty or thrity years ago 2001 was a far off. The year twenty-oh-one. Yeah. That was the year I graduated from High School.

Anyway, the reason I brought this up was because he goes on to point out a lesser known fact regarding the Chinese population.

"... the number of China's households [did you catch that, households - it took me a few minutes to get what was being said here] has nevertheless been growing at 3.5% per year over the last 15 years, more than double the growth rate of its population during the same period. That's because household size decreased from 4.5 people per house in 1985 to 3.5 in 2000 and is projected to decrease further to 2.7 by the year 2015. That deceased household size causes China today to have 80 million more households than it would otherwise have had, an increase exceeding the total number of households in Russia" (page 360).

Now you may be wondering - how is this so? I was. And I was also thinking - so the 1 billion 300 million people in China shouldn't be allowed to have a better quality of life, have a "first world" life??? Is that what Diamond is saying - cuz that ain't right. He goes on to say:

"The household size decrease results form social changes: especially, population aging, fewer children per couple, an increase in previously nearly non-existent divorce, and a decline in the former custom of multi-generation households with grandparents, parents, and children living under on roof. At the same time, per-capita floor area per house increased by nearly three-fold [translation - fewer people live together but have a house three times bigger than they previously would have ... kind of sounds like the good old U.S. of A]. The net result of those increases in the number and floor area of households is that China's human impact is increasing despite its low population growth rate" (page 360).

He continues to point out that the problem lies in the fact that while these social customs are changing the way the environment is used, the production practices and manufacturing mechanisms remain in third world fashion - using more resources with less efficiency. Change is ok, but you have to be careful how it will effect your surroundings and adjust accordingly.

While I still have 150 pages or so to go in the book, I have developed my own theories ... mainly that this earth has sooo many resources and soo many things to offer. BUT we must manage the earth and its resources responsibly and with the aim of using as little as possible at a time, not whatever we want whenever we want. We need to be environmentally frugal or it might not be there the next time we want it. With the rising of the "global economy" we also must be responsibly for our local actions and their global impacts. [Can't you just see that bumper sticker on the back of a hybrid - "Think Globally, Act Locally"]. We can do so much! We have amazing technologies these days and its only expanding. But our resources are not unlimited ... we gotta take care of this little earth and be good stewards over what God has created for us.

And now I will step down off my soap box and start to recycle on a more regular basis.

Replacing Lena the Leopard (and the DC metro)

With my up coming move I am going to have to make a purchase. A big purchase. The biggest purchase I have ever made ... a brand new car. I have owned a car before but not a new car (growing up I had my good old black/gold Saturn SC1 Coupe I called Lena the Leopard because I had leopard print seat covers in it ... look I was a sophomore in high school, ok). I won't be making the purchase until this summer, but I am looking around and checking out the options.

Here are my wishes/requirements/hopes/dreams in a new car:

- smallness: I want it to be a small car, but it must be a four door.
- affordablity: It must not cost me too much - I am going to be a graduate student with loans already, I don't need a crazy car payment as well but I am getting a new car because I will have it for awhile. And I will be far away from my dad who won't be able to pick me up on the side of the road if I break down.
- fuel efficiency: I would like it to not cost a bundle to fill up and to get good gas mileage. I would also like it to be as environmentally friendly as possible. This is very important to me.
- cuteness: I want it to be cute and to look cute in it, of course!
- Gadgets and gizmos: It doesn't have to have a lot of gadgets and gizmos except that I would love it if it had an ipod dock built in - that would be great.

So according to these things - I was thinking about the following:

The Scion xA (I guess production stopped in 2006 and now they have a new model - the Scion xD out this summer). I like this car. I see it zipping around town here in DC and I like it more and more every time I see it. Its a great city car - it fits in lots of small spaces.

The Chrysler PT Cruiser. Its a little bit bigger than most cars I am thinking of, which means more room in the back for luggage, etc. Also it has fold down and removable seats which could be nice and handy. Lots of people think its an ugly car - and that is ok. I think its fun. I would love to have the orange one pictured in the link, but I think that is only available on the highest end one.

The Honda Fit. The Fit is Go - I love that slogan. Its sooo ... sooo Japanese sounding to me. This might be tooo much of a hatchback look than I want. It comes in orange, but its a burnt orange that I don't think I can handle. One of the pictures shows an alpaca in the back seat to give you an idea how roomy it is ... like that really helps since I don't really know how big (or small) an alpaca is. But you gotta love the Honda ad team. Of course the sport is cooler and more expensive.

Really those are the only small cars that I have found that I like with my preliminary look. Any comments or suggestions? Not that I have to decide today - but its good to get a feel for what is out there.

a different kind of diamond

I have previously mentioned an addiction I have - tv on the internet. Today I talked to multiple people about various shows. When leaving work I had this fear that anyone who might be listening in on me throughout the day would think I was oblivious to the world outside the tube. But I promise I am not! I now feel a need to defend myself.

I want you all to know that I am currently reading a book. Yes, a real book made of paper with a spine, a title page, a table of contents and multiple pages. It even has chapters. Its a real grown up tome. And its really interesting I might add. Its called The Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed and I am learning sooo much from reading this book. Its the second book by Jared Diamond an evolutionary biologist at UCLA. His first book was the acclaimed Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - which I loved. I found it incredibly interesting.

But back to The Collapse - which has taken me all across the world from the Bitterroot Valley of Montana, to Easter Island (what went through the minds of the remaining Easter Islanders when they chopped down the last tree on the island?), Greenland (why didn't the Norse take any hunting tips from the Inuit?), Japan (did you know the Japanese developed a forest management system independent of the Germans who are traditionally credited with such a feat), Rwanda (the 1994 genocide has a more complicated explanation than just ethnic tensions - there were environmental factors as well), and now I am reading about how Haiti and the Dominican Republic took different economic paths strongly due to enviornmental and political influences while sharing the same island.

This book is so crazy. Crazy smart. Diamond blows my mind with his smart and entertaining comparisons. He asks those general questions that you think may not really have answers - or at least answers that you could understand. And while he is a little redundant at times, he helps introduce you to ecology, economics, sociology, biology, anthropology, agriculture ... he has five main factors that he continue to come back to in order to help us understand why some societies have failed and some have succeeded. It is mind blowing. So don't you worry - I do more than just watch tv on the internet. I read books too.