Unconquered

A recently released movie 'Invictus' got me wondering where the title came from a few weeks ago. A little google search led me to this short poem by William Ernest Henly. This is the text compliments of wikipedia:

Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.

The opening of the films trailer was Morgan Freeman reading this poem as Nelson Mandella, The story is that this was written on the walls of his cell when he was in prison. I think its an amazing poem and it gives me chills when I read it. I can't wait to see this movie, partially because of the story behind the characters but also because it is about an amazing rugby world cup year.

Locavore Slow Food challenge

So seeing as the first of the year is steadily approaching and I've made claims to start this locavore slow food challenge (props to Kate for the new word) I thought it appropriate to give an update or at least start defining the ground rules of this idea. I have been reading this book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver that a friend suggested to me and its giving me quite a few good ideas on how I am actually gonig to pull this off.

This book is about how a family moved out from their city life in Arizona to a farm they owned in Virginia and decided that for a year they would only eat local food and try and reduce distance their food traveled. Its pretty amazing when one steps back and actually looks at the food cycle he or she is a part of. Especially when a book like this points out how silly it actually is to eat food that comes all the way from China instead of food from the farmer who lives less than an hour away. Not only does it take less fossil fuels but it is healthier and promotes responsible farming practices and fair treatment of workers (not to say that non-American farmers can't farm w/out destroying the land - just that industrial farming doesn't really take into account the land they are destroying and that most food imported is owned by large farming corporations).

I am stepping off my soapbox now. Back to the topic at hand, the challenge. It started out in the form of me not eating any meat that doesn't directly result from me (hunted, caught or raised etc.). This is somewhat hard to do considering I have 20 square feet of front lawn and no room to raise any sort of animals. This also doesn't take into count all the vegetables I would be eating, that is a big part of the food 'industry'. So I have designed the ground rules as follows.

The Locavore Slow Food Challenge:

1. If I cannot produce something first hand I will and get it from the farmers market or a farmers co-op that sells all year round online. If i still cannot get it I will go to the local health food store and look for it organically. If I still can't get it depending on how much I need it I may go to Meijer and get it organically.

2. Starting in the middle of the winter is probably the worst timing for this challenge seeing as I have only stockpiled venison and frozen fruits that are mostly not organic, so I am affording myself some loopholes until the growing season starts in March so anything I already have stocked up is fair game (but I'm not going to stock pile anything else)

3. Any meat must be non-CAFO (Confined Animal Feed Operation) In other words no meat from industrial meat operations. Any vegetables must be at least grown locally if not organic (although certified organics are also becoming kind of a joke).

4. The hardest rule of all (bar nights and long car rides will suck!) NO FAST FOOD.

This is how I am going to do it:

I will make a monthly order from the West Michigan Co-op.

I will shop at my local independant grocer that carries many different kinds of organic food.

I will buy bread from the local bakery by my house

I will try to cut out as many packaged foods as possible including organics.

I will become a member of a local CSA at Trillium Haven Farm (anyone in the GR area want to go in on a share? Trillium with doesn't split shares and I dont need vegetables for a family of 4 but two other ppl would work out good)

I will buy vegetables as they are in season from the farmers market on saturdays and can, freeze and pickle as many as possible.

I've got enough venison to feed a family of 4 so after sharing I should have enough to totally cut out the need for purchasing red meat and I will buy my poulty, dairy and any other meats I need from the co-op or the local farm store as needed.

There are still probably millions of things I am not taking into account but I will cross those bridges when I get to them.

Humongous Pillow Fight

So there was a giant pillow fight in Rosa Parks circle this Sunday. I was fishing and saw some people walking around with Braveheart-esque face paint and wondered what was going on. Little did I know there were hundreds of people gathered to smash pillows in other peoples faces, how fun that would have been. My Grandmother heard about it down in Tennessee!

There is an Mlive article about it but the general idea was this: a GRCC student wanted to do something fun that involved a bunch of people around town so he organized the event on Facebook and eventually the city ended up sponsoring it and payed the expenses. The guy who planned it is looking to do another "Urban Event" It would be fun to be a part of that. It was suggested by the author of the article that everyone gathers in Calder Plaza and does the Robot for 5 minutes - thats kinda weird, but I break it down with a mean robot so I might have to partake.

Number 2

Having a flooded basement is not fun. It started with just a little bit of water coming through the walls of a very holy michigan basement, and ended up as water seeping up through the hole in the ground where the sump pump should be but is not. Then things got smelly as the city sewers started backing up and water/fecal matter started coming through the drain. Which was even cooler.

Luckily most of my posessions stayed dry because the neighbors with whom we share a basement with were nice enough to knock on the door and let us know there was about an inch of liquids covering the basement floor - ah the luxuries of living in a vintage house.

On a brighter note I have offically started attending rugby practice for the Grand Rapids Gazelles Rugby Football Club. Even though I will be out of town hunting most of October I hope to get some B-side time in the next few weeks which will help me stay in shape.

It's nice to have some time to try and put down roots in Grand Rapids and get used to being in one place for a while.