Excellent, hilarious, true: Why Yoga Can Be So Irritating (Although You Should Go Anyway!) (The part about "There are teachers and students who think flexibility is some kind of indication of how good a person you are," especially rings true to me - so much (self) judgment!) Related: I've decided September I will tackle a month of Bikram - every day for 30 days....

I've heard great things about Gun Hill Road, looking forward to seeing it.

I'm in the midst of a week long vacation (much of which has involved being unplugged, hence the lack of posting). I spent the weekend in Portland, eating a lot of good food, looking at a lot of nice stuff, drinking a lot of excellent beer, and generally indulging. Now, I'm back home, trying not to get bogged down by the "to do on vacation" list....So far I've been doing exactly what I wanted, which is sleeping a lot, and reading a ton - most recently Bel Canto, An Ordinary Decent Criminal, Borderlands, and Nemesis. (Image: I'm also drying peppers (outside), drying tomatoes (in the oven), and generally tackling some domestic projects I've had in the works for a while...more to come)

Some tips for fellow introverts: How To Get Some Time To Yourself.

"Slow gardening," eh?

From Serious Eats, this video: "Janus Youth Programs has operated community-based programs for children, youth, and families in Oregon and Washington since 1972. They have a network of over 20 programs includes, including Janus Food Works, which employs 14 to 21 year-olds from Portland. The youth get involved in the planning, growing, selling, and donating of over 4,000 pounds of organic produce each year from the one-acre organic farm on Sauvie Island."

Image: source.

Image: source.

from “What Work Is” by Philip Levine

We stand in the rain in a long line
waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work
You know what work is — if you’re
old enough to read this you know what
work is, although you may not do it.
Forget you. This is about waiting,
shifting from one foot to another.
Feeling the light rain falling like mist
into your hair, blurring your vision
until you think you see your own brother
ahead of you, maybe ten places.
You rub your glasses with your fingers,
and of course it’s someone else’s brother,
narrower across the shoulders than
yours but with the same sad slouch, the grin
that does not hide the stubbornness,
the sad refusal to give in to
rain, to the hours wasted waiting,
to the knowledge that somewhere ahead
a man is waiting who will say, “No,
we’re not hiring today,” for any
reason he wants. You love your brother,
now suddenly you can hardly stand
the love flooding you for your brother,
who’s not beside you or behind or
ahead because he’s home trying to
sleep off a miserable night shift
at Cadillac so he can get up
before noon to study his German.
Works eight hours a night so he can sing
Wagner, the opera you hate most,
the worst music ever invented.
How long has it been since you told him
you loved him, held his wide shoulders,
opened your eyes wide and said those words,
and maybe kissed his cheek? You’ve never
done something so simple, so obvious,
not because you’re too young or too dumb,
not because you’re jealous or even mean
or incapable of crying in
the presence of another man, no,
just because you don’t know what work is.

An interview with the filmmakers behind the excellent documentary Better This World.

From GQ: An Intimate History of Gay Men in the Military: "On a day to come very soon—September 20, 2011—a serviceman's sexuality will no longer be grounds for dismissal from the U.S. Armed forces. These are the voices explaining what it has been like to be a gay man1 in the American military over the previous seventy or so years, from World War II veterans in their late eighties to young servicemen on active duty."

Image: source.

In honor of my upcoming weekend in Portland: A Dirt Cheap Guide To Portland, OR and The Stumptown Vegans Guide to One Day in Portland

A photo gallery of the "Stone of Hope" granite statue (created by Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin) in the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. And an op-ed from Cornell West, "Martin Luther King Jr. Would Want a Revolution, Not a Memorial."

Cyndi Lauper Opens Shelter for Homeless LGBT Youth

loving: Liz Prince comics

A friend (hey Lex!) recently asked for tips on starting running. Truthfully, my running days seem far off, but it is true (as I need to remind myself occasionally), that I went from barely being unable to run a mile in October 2010 to completing a marathon on May 1, 2011 - and running the whole darn thing without stopping. Hope these help you reach your running goal!

- To start, go slow. Like, even slower than you think possible. Most people start out too quickly, then get uncomfortable or in pain and are like, f it, running is impossible. At least that was my experience for the first 29 years of my life.

- Don't be afriad to alternate walking and jogging, but try to do it in a planned way, not just, "Ugh, I don't wanna jog anymore." Say you will give this walking/jogging thing 30 min, and then do little spurts of jogging - set a tree to jog towards, then walk till the next house, then jog again, maybe till the next bush or phone pole. Don't be afraid to set really small goals for jogging, just keep moving with some brisk walking in between.

- Eventually step it up to do tiny sprints, too. Walk a block, jog a half block, then try to "sprint" (or just more than super slow) for like 10 feet. Even little variations like this help your body get used to jogging and running and strengthen different muscles (and help prevent injury!)

- Don't feel like you have to run more than 2-3 times a week to start. Make sure to fit in some other activity if you can, like swimming once a week or yoga. I have a Jillian Michaels' "30 day Shred" video I like because it's only 20 min but I feel like its a good work out. Sometimes I bike, sometimes I swim, sometimes I combine them when I'm really antsy and can't focus (bike 10 min, swim 10 min, etc).

- Last but not least, sign up for a race - a walk or a 5K run or something, anything. Races were always when I hit the next level when I was training - for instance, I had only run 2 miles before I did a 5K, or 8 miles before a 9 mi run, had only run 20 miles before the marathon, etc - the adrenaline and community help push you....

Good luck!

It's no Dutchess & The Duke (RIP) but I'm enjoying the somewhat reminiscent The Head and the Heart "Rivers and Roads." (also: their Daytrotter session)

From NPR: Alice Waters: 40 Years Of Sustainable Food

Happy Birthday to the amazing Howard Zinn, who died last year. A true hero.

Image: source.

Every outfit Cher Horowitz wears in Clueless in under 60 seconds. Exactly what it sounds like. Magic.

A recent article from the Times, The High Price of Looking Like a Woman, and commentary from Feministe

One thing I love about Fall (which is swiftly on it's way!) is wearing socks. I love socks - cozy socks, handmade socks, striped socks. So I'll take one of each of these please.

The remarkable lives on Newark sanitation truck No. 2646

NYTimes: Addressing the Justice: "The poor need representation in court and thousands of law school graduates need work. This shameful state of affairs is unnecessary."

Added to the "to read" list: "this article by Berkeley historian Rebecca McLennan, which traces the nineteenth-century legal and political changes that have enabled twentieth-century Americans to write prisoners out of the categories of 'human' and 'citizen.'"

More brilliance from Fashion It So.

Image: source.

Yay bikes and kids, yay BNB, yay Neil! Bike program gives youth a path for life: "...pilot program, On My Way, On My Bike, which started earlier this month. It is a collaboration among the nonprofit Bikes Not Bombs, the city of Boston, and Brandy Cruthird, who runs a nonprofit fitness program in Roxbury for city youths...The new summer program emphasizes fitness, self-esteem, and self-confidence, and the children are encouraged to participate in year-round activities of Bikes Not Bombs, which is dedicated to peace and social change."

On the growth of farmers' markets - are there too many? Are they helping farmers?

Gorgeous: Cozy Swiss Alps Chalet in a Retrofitted Barn

Interesting: from Tiger Beatdown: Moving away from Social Justice towards Social Wellbeing

Paul Farmer, “This I Believe.”

Despite having grown up here, last night was my first time at the annual Daedalus Project, a fundraiser for HIV/AIDS research and nonprofits at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It was a great time, entertaining and touching, and also maybe the only time that the OSF has felt to me like a "locals" thing, instead of mainly for tourists. I'll definitely be back next year.

Image: "Frida Kahlo wore plaster corsets for most of her life because her spine was too weak to support itself. She painted them, naturally, covering them with pasted scraps of fabric and drawings of tigers, monkeys, plumed birds, a blood-red hammer and sickle, and streetcars like the one whose handrail rammed through her body when she was eighteen years old."

Tonight I'm headed to Britt to see Aimee Mann and the Weepies. I'm not a huge fan of either, but any chance to see a show at the Britt with friends is not to be missed, and I'm looking forward to it.

Apply for a School Garden Grant from Whole Foods: "Beginning August 17th, Whole Kids Foundation School Garden Grant Program will be accepting online applications for school garden grants! In partnership with FoodCorps, Whole Kids Foundation will grant 1000 schools $2000 each to build or expand their school garden."

Love this idea! "Tired of forcing your excess garden produce on friends and neighbors? The website Ample Harvest makes it easy for gardeners with extra produce to connect with local food pantries in need of fresh vegetables." source.

Paddle To Seattle: "Follow two friends as they build their own kayaks and paddle together for 97 days through the wilderness on a journey from Alaska to Seattle—only to survive to talk about...most things."

Image: source.

Interesting and beautiful video about photographing rock climbing in Yosemite.

"That buzzing sound you hear at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport could be a jet taking off. Or maybe it's coming from the 1.5 million bees that call the airport home. In May, the Chicago Department of Aviation partnered with a community group to start a 2,400 square foot apiary on-site. Now 23 beehives are up and running and are scheduled to yield 575 pounds of honey this year."

Beautiful and very creative vertical gardens!

Anastasia at Sweetbutterbliss posted a rave review of Yum & Yuk months ago and somehow I just saw it! Thanks for the kind words, Anastasia, and sorry again for the delay!

Bill Clinton's Vegan Journey: Former president Bill Clinton says he consumes no meat, dairy, eggs and almost no oil in an effort to stave off heart disease.

"Let Evening Come" by Jane Kenyon

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to the air in the lung
let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don’t
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

Pesto Love

I did it! My first batch of home grown and home made pesto!

Because pine nuts seemed super expensive, I decided to try and make pesto with another nut. Luckily I found Farmgirl Susan's Lower Fat, Full Flavor Basil Pesto, which uses almonds. I made a few changes and additions, and came out with a very garlicky, refreshing, and delicious pesto. I was unsure how lemon basil (which was what I had in the garden) would affect the recipe, but I thought it gave it a nice fresh little bite, without being as overwhelmingly lemony as the basil smelled on its own (maybe the best smell ever). Here's how we did it:

1/2 cup roasted and salted whole almonds
4 ounces fresh lemon basil leaves (about 4 cups packed - it's amazing how much basil it takes!)
6 large cloves garlic, peeled (if you're not a huge garlic fan - whaaaa?? - you might want to cut it in half)
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Process the almonds and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the basil, cheese, and salt, and process until thoroughly combined. With the food processor running, drizzle the olive oil through the chute.

Look at that gorgeous green color! We ate ours with some pasta and a freshly sliced tomato - the first red one of the season from my garden! The thrill of eating food I grew and made has yet to get at all old....

Totally curious to read this (I love me a zine!): Taking the Lane #1: Sharing the road with boys by Elly Blue: "Elly shares her thoughts and stories about being a woman on a bike in Portland, Oregon. Having been a cyclist for several years, Elly is well-versed in the law and her rights as a cyclist. This doesn't, however, stop men from trying to prove her wrong. Thankfully, Elly doesn't back down. Instead, she is one of many women leading the way towards more bike-friendly (and hopefully less misogynistic) cities."

Image: source.

Maybe I'm jaded (well, I'm pretty sure I am), but I can't get excited about this. To me, it sounds like they are just doing what they promised to do a long time ago - deprioritize the deportation of ppl without criminal records. They are still deporting both people with criminal records and without, AND they are still not providing the large majority of undocumented immigrants (including DREAMers) with a path to residency or citizenship: BREAKING: Undocumented Immigrants Without Criminal Records Facing Deportation Can Stay In U.S.

Now, here are some heroes: Undocumented Student Fanny Martinez Arrested Protesting Controversial Secure Communities Program

Awesome news from a local farm: Rooted in community: Billings Farm owners open their acres to less fortunate folks who are willing grow their own crops: "The local homeless population and low-income individuals can sign up for a new community garden at Billings Farm near Ashland. Participants either can work alongside others in a large garden area, where produce will be divvied up according to work hours, or establish their own section to maintain and harvest alone."

Architectures of violence: Famine and profits: The widespread scarcity of food is mistakenly viewed as a crime without a culprit.

Katie Orlinsky‘s photographs, including her incredibly powerful portraits from El Cereso, the Ciudad Juárez prison, in Mexico accompany Damien Cave’s New York Times Sunday Review article Mexico’s Drug War, Feminized." source.

Image: source.

Yum, definitely want to make these corn fritters once the fresh corn is ready to harvest...

From NPR: Songs That Make You Feel Good

Solitary Watch launches a YouTube channel; check it out and learn more about the state of solitary confinement in the US.

Listening to: My Morning Jacket On World Cafe and This Week On Alt.Latino: Reinterpretations

"This is why we can't have nice things...." Love this!

Tonight is gonna be my first foray into pesto-making! If it's successful, I'll share the recipes tomorrow. If not....I'll give you some tips on what not to do....

A short video: Jailing Undocumented Immigrants Is Big Business

Check out this video of "Dudes On Media" tracing the Ganges River. Spending a few weeks in Varanasi (Banares), on the shore of the Ganges (including an amazing sunrise boat ride on the river) was one of the most amazing experiences of my life...

A Solution to Recidivism: Let Ex-Offenders Vote: "According to a recent report by The Florida Parole Commission, “the overall three-year recidivism rate based on all released inmates” was 33..1, while the recidivism rate for released prisoners who were given their civil rights back and were allowed to vote stood at 11 percent."

New Tumblr addition to the GoogleReader: Latin American History, Fuck Yeah!

Image: "This limited edition letterpress print is part of Dutch Door Press’s series "Birds and Blooms of the 50 States". This print features the state bird of Oregon, the Western Meadowlark, and the state flower, the Oregon Grape." source.

Definitely interested in seeing this doc, and appreciate this critique. HBO's Gloria Steinem Doc Glosses over Race, and Fails to Assess the Second Wave's Legacy

Outrageous: No Cause for Marijuana Case, but Enough for Child Neglect: "The police found about 10 grams of marijuana, or about a third of an ounce, when they searched Penelope Harris’s apartment in the Bronx last year. The amount was below the legal threshold for even a misdemeanor, and prosecutors declined to charge her. But Ms. Harris, a mother whose son and niece were home when she was briefly in custody, could hardly rest easy. The police had reported her arrest to the state’s child welfare hot line, and city caseworkers quickly arrived and took the children away."