Feb 27, 2008

Freegan


First I must admit that I am watching Oprah (sorry Brandon) the reason being is the topic.

Freeganism is an anti-consumerism lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on "limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed."[1] The lifestyle involves salvaging discarded, unspoiled food from supermarket dumpsters that have passed their sell by date, but are still edible and nutritious. They salvage the food not because they are poor or homeless, but as a political statement.[2][3]

The word "freegan" is a portmanteau of "free" and "vegan".[4] Freeganism started in the mid 1990s, out of the antiglobalization and environmentalist movements. Groups such as Food Not Bombs served free vegetarian and vegan food that was salvaged from food market trash by dumpster diving. The movement also has elements of Diggers, an anarchist street theater group based in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco in the 1960s, that gave away rescued food.[4](Wikipedia)

For more info check out...

http://freegan.info/
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/21/garden/21freegan.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
http://www.freegankitchen.com/


There is soooo much more info out there, but I will let those of you who are intrigued do the homework. I have not made up my mind on this, but it sure makes you think.

So what do you think?

this is an early edition of my article for the Church Chatter

What Lies Beneath
By Trinity Kay

I just finished reading a 5 page article in the New York Times online edition titled Learning to Lie, by Po Bronson. The article makes many claims and I would suggest that parents and those who work with kids take a look at the entire article as it is worth the time it takes to get through. Bronson’s main focus is the research done by Dr. Nancy Darling, then at Penn State University that shows that 98% of youth are lying to their parents.

Her team’s research came up with the following statistics;

“Out of the 36 topics, the average teen was lying to his parents about twelve of them. The teens lied about what they spent their allowances on, and whether they’d started dating, and what clothes they put on away from the house. They lied about what movie they went to, and whom they went with. They lied about alcohol and drug use, and they lied about whether they were hanging out with friends their parents disapproved of. They lied about how they spent their afternoons while their parents were at work. They lied about whether chaperones were in attendance at a party or whether they rode in cars driven by drunken teens.”

The Times article goes on to say that while 98% of teens are lying to their parents 98% of parents are rating honesty as one of the most important characteristics for their child to posses. So why the disconnect? Good question. According to the article there are a few answers that rang true in the research. All of which point to the habit of lying beginning at a very early age. The most disturbing answer is that parents have taught their child to lie. Not on purpose of course but by example and by setting them up to lie.

Behavior is often learned through observation and as children watch their parents tell little white lies to ease an awkward social situation, such as, “Your fruitcake is amazing!” They begin to see how lying can have a positive outcome. They might begin to try out a few of their own little lies when their birthday roles around and they get a knit sweater with a giant dolls head on the front of it from grandma. As they show their fake excitement over the gift they receive looks of gratitude and pride from mom and dad that they have raised such a polite kid. This is not to say that raising polite kids is a sin, but according to the article it is where this cycle of lying is traced back to.

While all of that is interesting it was page four of Bronson’s piece that got me.

By withholding details about their lives, adolescents carve out a social domain and identity that are theirs alone, independent from their parents or other adult authority figures. To seek out a parent for help is, from a teen’s perspective, a tacit admission that he’s not mature enough to handle it alone. Having to tell parents about it can be psychologically emasculating, whether the confession is forced out of him or he volunteers it on his own. It’s essential for some things to be “none of your business.”
This is not news to me but what you may not have realized is that while in previous generations this was thought of as a concern regarding high school students it is now much more of an issue for our middle school kids. It is around 13 that this is a major factor in the conversations taking place between parents and their children.

It is this trend that has influenced parents in the way they relate to their children. Some trying to set up vast set of rules and guidelines to keep their kids on the straight and narrow and other trying to be their kids “best friend” in order to have a more open and honest (key word there) relationship. Neither of which according to the research seem to have worked well in establishing the character quality of honesty in the teenagers. What has worked is setting a few firm rules, and explaining the reasoning behind those rules to the children, and having more grace and openness in things that are not under those few rules.

The most informative part of the article for me was this, “In the thesaurus, the antonym of honesty is lying, and the opposite of arguing is agreeing. But in the minds of teenagers, that’s not how it works. Really, to an adolescent, arguing is the opposite of lying.”

Meaning that when a student is actually willing to confront an adult with a situation, they are willing to deal with the truth and while I hate arguments because they make me uncomfortable, according to the research for this study teens do not view arguments as damaging. Rather they see them as an opportunity to understand the other person’s perspective. I am in no way going to condone fighting, and I think that arguments should happen only in respectful ways, I found this information enlightening.

Again, much of this is not news as it is a reminder that though we wish that the world and our students within that world were truthful it just isn’t so. The truth hurts don’t it? But the truth can set you free.

Check out the full article for yourself at http://nymag.com/news/features/43893/

Feb 14, 2008

My Heart




Friends I walked into my office today, cappuccino royal in hand to find this equally lovely gift on my desk. Which was left there not by a secret admirer, but rather my darling naturally creative secretary (office manager) Heidi Oh what I would give some days to be this creative.

I secretly (until right this moment when I decided to share with you) envy those people who can look at a scrap of fabric and a window and think to themselves I could turn that into so much more. Or like this girl whose name I do not know but who can doodle, knit and create with the best of them. I love these girls. They seem quintessential, they make my life a bit sweeter.

So I dedicate my Valentines Day to these sweethearts who have captured my heart.

Feb 10, 2008

soul changes


All Done
Originally uploaded by trinitykay
Well friends, I did it. I finally got my tattoo. For those of you wondering what the junk my foot says allow me to translate...Om Namah Shivaya. Which we would describe as "I honor the divinity that resides within"

Why? Why did I permanently mark this down on my foot? I am glad you asked. It is for several reasons.

1. I read a book earlier in the year which many of you have also read titled Eat, Pray, Love. This phrase comes straight from those pages. The book changed my way of viewing and responding to life.

2. I do strive to honor the Divinity that resides within me. For me that is the Lord of the Bible. I believe that my body is His dwelling place, and I choose to do my best to honor Him with my life. This serves as a reminder to do so.

3. It is on my foot to further remind me to allow Him to lead me and to follow willingly my God.

4. As many of you know this year I have taken part in a spiritual retreat where I ask God each day for the grace that all my intentions actions and thoughts be solely for the praise and service of God.

5. For me this is a marker of the transformation that has been taking place within my own soul this year. Some people set up alters, to remind them of times where they have encountered God. This is that alter, but I get to have it with me always.

Feb 6, 2008

ashes to ashes; life born of death

John 11 in the Bible is the story of a man named Lazarus, or so I thought until yesterday. As I reread the story everything struck me differently than it had previously. This time I was reading with the intention of observing the humanity of Jesus. I read the story I have heard a million times and saw for the first time the pain of Jesus.

Up until this last read through I had always focused on Mary and Martha, and their grief at the death of their beloved brother. Sure I had seen Jesus weep, but it had always struck me as insincere. That he was crying out of expectation and duty rather than sorrow. Why would he weep over the death of the one he came to save?

It was with fresh eyes and conversation with Jesus during my prayer that I was able to see his pain as so much more than I had given him credit for. Not only was Jesus coming to comfort Mary and Martha in the loss of their brother this was for him a foreshadowing of his own death and resurrection soon to come.



Perhaps he was brought to tears then not because of the death of Lazarus but rather because he was seeing for the first time how much pain his own preeminent death was going to cause those whom he loved. Not only that but the idea that they still were not expressing the kind of faith that he knew they were going to need in order to deal with his death until he was able to be with them again. He knew what was going to come and perhaps this knowledge was what brought him to tears.

For the first time I also became aware of a different truth held in this story. The idea that the death of Lazarus was not only a projection of Jesus’ death and resurrection it also paints a picture of what we all must go through in order to be saved. We like Lazarus all must die (not physically like he did) to our own human nature, our own will so that we may be saved by Jesus’ intervention on our behalf.


As we observe Ash Wednesday and enter into the season of Lent I think it prudent of us to remember the humanity not just the divinity of Jesus. That he in the weeks leading up to his death experienced emotions that we can relate to. There were moments like in this narrative of deep sorrow and anguish and there were moments of elation with every other emotion in between.

Jesus was fully God, yes. He was also fully man. His willingness to die so that we may live is what love is.

Feb 3, 2008

spinning


She looked around, a bit confused. What was this place? Oh, well there would be time for that later all she knew was that she had just a few minutes before the already nearly deserted carnival would close down. Where was it she was supposed to meet him? The carnival seemed to be spinning in circles around her as she tried to gain her bearings. Making her way through the strangers and shadows she stumbled upon a group of rumble tumble boys hitting a ball round. The one who seemed to be the leader walked over silently fumbling with the situation as well as his role in it, he handed off the package and quickly turned back to his boys. Unsure how to make her exit she hesitated briefly then turned now the world truly seemed to be making circles around her. Her steps quickened trying to flee faster to the safety of anywhere be here.

As she came to the edge of the carnival she remembered her mission, all she needed to do was return it, but how was she going to find them in this place? The parking lot was full of cars, and trailers, but they all appeared deserted. Where was he?

quotes i love

  • "they will never care how much you know until they know how much you care."
  • "never be afraid to trust a well known God with an unknown future." - Corrie Ten Boom
  • "God doesn't need you, He loves you, that is much better."
  • "the world has yet to see what God can do through a man/woman who is totally commited to him." - D.L. Moody
  • "be who you is, cause if is ain't who you is, you is who you ain't."-
  • "some people say movies should be more like real life. I say real life should be more like the movies."