Jenny Jump

Sean took me 'cabin camping' at Jenny Jump this weekend and it was awesome, I didn't want to leave. Being that we went in December (up North called for a little bit of snow to happen days before), we were the only recreational campers there, all the other cabins were regretfully filled with hunters. Although there is no hunting in Jenny Jump, there are places very nearby that allow hunting so the sound of gunshots didn't miss our ears.
Our cabin was so cute and cozy, it had 2 bunk beds in the back which were divided by a wood wall, but Sean and I just stacked two mattresses in thee front of the cabin so we could sleep by the woodburning stove. I almost felt like the Princess and the Pea, except the mattresses were millions of blankets that were stacked on top of me.

Sean and I shared a meal of pea soup (there's that pea again) out of an aluminum pot with big silver spoons. It took about 3 hours to feel warm enough to take my hoodie off. Sean is the fire master and don't you forget it (thanks to him, I'm pretty sure I can make a mean fire myself).
The next day we went hiking on the Summit Trail which was beautiful.
There weren't many human footprints in the snow, but we saw tons of animal ones, mostly deer. We stopped at some outlooks and saw the Delaware Water Gap. Towards the end of a trail, there was a tree covered in carvings, some dating back to '94 (I know, doesn't sound antiquated but that's 15 years!). We then took the Ghost Lake Trail and although we didn't see the lake (must have been the other way) we took a chance and glided across an icy pond. Lastly, we took the Orchard Trail and gathered some fallen branches for our fire before heading back to base.



We relaxed the rest of the night and I gave Sean a matching Spalted Oak wooden tree branch pendant necklace that I bought from Jay at Wooden Treasures.
Here's a link to his Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodenTreasures

We then made a big pasta dish with veggie meatballs, toast and red wine. We also shared that out of a pot even though we brought bowls, it just felt better that way. Sean also brought his iPod and played some music through his headphones which he duct taped to the wall like mini speakers, which worked perfectly.
I wanted to stay there for a week, but it was time to go by 12 the next day. Good thing we left when we did, we were warned by a hunter staying in the next cabin (who happened to be from Whiting) that the roads were starting to ice up and he wasn't kidding. Taking I-280 and I-80 home, we saw literally (and unlike a lot of commercials and infomercials who do not know the true meaning of literally when they say your money "literally flies out the door") 10-15 car accidents, each involving 2 or 3 cars mainly. The roads were so icy that a lot of people had pulled over or were going 25 mph (and this is a highway), and since we wanted to get home really bad, we did the same. The 2 hour drive to get there took 3 1/2 to get home. It was nice though, Sean and I talked about how we wish he had a bench seat in his car as I cuddled next to him my ribs getting poked by his center console. As we looked around at all the accidents it was very unnerving but Sean promised me he'd get me home safe (I know I know it sounds so mushy, but it really was scary if you could see the amount of accidents adorned with ambulances, cop cars and fire trucks).
Well, next year we're going to go back to Jenny Jump during Summer or Fall, or maybe both, for the photos I see are BEAUTIFUL during these seasons. I can't wait! They have group campsites too, so maybe if enough people are down, we could make that happen. I'll start recruiting soon (Nicky, you're down right?).

The burden of stuff

I think it has finally happened. The breaking point. The final realization that we have been conditioned to consume and retain as many things as possible. The realization that it took five hours of work to purchase that one pair of jeans that you don't even wear anymore. The realization that advertisements slap me in the face every which way I turn. No more for me.
It makes more sense to be happy with what you have and to know that in the end, all the material possessions we own don't really make us happy, but quite sick after adding up the total cost of our gluttony. I think many people agree that a cluttered room goes along with a cluttered mind, and that's how I've been living. I've never wanted to fill up as many trash bags with JUNK in my life. I feel like it will parallel the show Hoarders, except I don't have kitty skeletons or 3-month-old pumpkin guts grafted to my carpet.
Not only is consumerism exhausting, it's ignorant. Do you know where more than half your belongings came from? Whose fingers crafted the item you cherished for about a week? More than likely it was a 12-year-old child who was stuck working in a dust-infused cell where no one was overseeing the working conditions. I don't think the ignorance is the most chilling part of it all, I think that the fact that a lot of people now know this goes on but continue not to care.
Anyway, I'll keep you updated with the status of my room. I'll try and take pictures to document the movement.

"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."
-Lao Tzu

Slackin'

It's almost the end of the semester...so close. Next week I'll be on the ball.

Upcoming topics to discuss:

1) my homeless advocacy group
2) possibly going to Albuquerque for free
3) camping

Man, sorry for the lack of posts if anyone was reading this. :(

SMASH

The Westboro Baptist Church had the nerve to show their wretched faces in New Brunswick by picketing the high school and the Jewish center at Rutgers. I think these pictures will speak for themselves:The real dealPolice trying to kick us off a public walkwayMe with my reporter's notebook of courseA final message

Some signs the church brought were "God is your enemy", "Fag University", "Fag Halloween", "God Hates You", and "God Hates Jews". I'm going to guess they didn't like my buddy Spina's sign that read "Abort God".
The Rutgers Hillel had a peaceful protest which wasn't even in front of the Westboro loonies. The church only sent about 6 picketers and they left within 15 minutes after someone drove up with a mini-van. It was fun heckling them, one of my favorites being "God hates gas guzzlers" as they were getting in their van. All photos courtesy of my buddy Alex Jackson!

homeless advocacy

GCU is proud to announce a new homeless advocacy group thanks to Dr. DasGupta! I attended the first meeting on the 21st, and there was a great turnout.
Our three main objectives are:

• Advocacy
• Support
• Awareness

I suggested we plan a coffee house on campus to promote our new group and let people know what we're all about. We would have live music, (I would also be playing, hooray!) videos of visits to our local tent cities, and speeches about our group and our plans. Also, we have a petition we need signatures for so we can send it to the Ocean County Board of Freeholders to strive for an affordable housing trust fund for the homeless. I thought we could get most of the signatures at this event, it's just a matter of planning the whole thing.

Power to the people!

Like mother, like.....myself?

My mom and I went to a jewelry party the other night....I usually don't like events like that but I went for sheer entertainment value. It was funny looking at middle-aged women, women going through mid-life crises, and older women who want to look young, pick out the most flashy pieces of jewelry to make themselves look more "classy". I did however, meet the cutest grandma...she couldn't have been taller than 5'0; she was the tiniest thing I'd ever seen. She was the type that told sarcastic jokes to someone else and then would turn to me and wink because she got them good. I miss her already. Oh, and I ended up ordering a cool whirlpool ring. Go figure.

Whoa....blows my minddddd

We walk because they walk....

So the CROP Hunger Walk went very well, I even raised $50 passed my goal of $100! $150 can buy 100 chicks, 2 wire chicken coops, providing 2 families with eggs, protein, and income. GCU was recognized as the top college in N.J. and the U.S.! There were a lot of participants in spite of the cold weather.Me all bundled up....looking a little funky but I was warm!

Some GCU athletesRandom participant with a cool sign

And I just wanted to give a shout out to my buddy Alex who gave me $20 at the last minute even though he couldn't make the walk, thanks man!
Alex and I being silly as usual

Thanks everyone!

What am I drinking?

I was flipping through an issue of Wired magazine in GCU's library the other day and thought an article about coffee was cool. And disgusting. So here are the ingredients:

• Water: hot H2O brings out the flavor/oils from the beans. A decent cup is about 98% water and 2% soluble plant matter *Note: Coffee newbies pee it out faster than those who drink regularly and build up resistance, much like other beverages of choice such as Pabst or Colt 45s
• Ethylphenol: creates tar-like, medicinal odor. Components of cockroach alarm pheromones, chemical signals that warn the colony of danger
• Quinic acid: gives coffee slightly sour flavor
• Dicaffeoylquinic acid: allows the cells to be protected from free-radical damage. Meaning....coffee is a good source of antioxidants. Hooray!
• Dimethyl Disulfide: product of roasting the green coffee beans; one of the compounds that gives human feces its odor. Yum.
• Acetyl Methyl Carbinol: gives a rich, buttery taste. I can deal with that.
• Putrescine: produced when E. coli bacteria in meat breaks down amino acids. That's nice.
• Trigonelline: a molecule of niacin with a methyl group attached. Breaks down into pyridines to give coffee it's sweet, earthy taste. It also prevents tooth-eating bacterium from attaching to teeth.
• Niacin (Vitamin B): From a methyl group. It breaks down from trigonelline.
  

So you ask what's the story morning glory? There's your answer.

My Budget Soup

When Autumn rolls around, to me it's time for a good vegetable soup. For about $12 I make enough soup to last me a whole week (depending on if my mom and boyfriend are around to mooch).
Here are my ingredients:

• potatoes
• onion
• radishes
• celery
• cauliflower
• carrots
• green squash
• organic vegetable broth (2)
• olive oil
  
• fresh parsley
• salt/pepper

I don't measure anything except one tablespoon of olive oil to cook the potatoes, onion, celery, and carrots in for about 5 minutes before adding everything else in a soup pot. I just chop however much of each vegetable I want. If I use a lot, I add 1 1/2 cartons of the broth, and about 4 cups of water. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for about 20-25 minutes. I like to add the parsley at the end.

My weapons of choice.

Just add to your favorite cracked crock bowl and voila!
He likes it! Hey Mikey!

Newsies!

Just a quick post of my newspaper staff (The Lion's Tale); we know how to have a good time.
(Clockwise from left: Advisor Dr. Lin, Randall, me, Dalzelle, and Krystal)

Some fun things we like to do:

• Listen to Dr. Lin talk to his wife in Chinese when she calls
• Play music videos on YouTube ranging from Otis Redding to Foo Fighters
• Be sarcastic with Randall
• Have Randall be sarcastic back
• Come up with fillers
• Mess around with fonts
• Find a sister to identify other sisters in photos
  

Pretty good.

Blog Action Day: Climate Change

So I'm taking part in Blog Action Day which is where millions of bloggers post about one issue on one day, which happens to be today, October 15th. The topic is Climate Change so here is my contribution:

Ever since I first heard his story I was intrigued. It had all the right hooks to reel me in: Malawian youth wind entrepeneur, transforms village, builds electric windmills out of scraps. Even better, his storywas captured in a book entitled "The Boy who Harnessed the Wind" by Bryan Mealer.

The young entrepeneur is William Kamkwamba of Malawi. He grew up poor and was actually forced to quit school at age 14 because his family couldn't afford it anymore, but that didn't stop him from learning.

In 2002 Malawi experienced one of the worst droughts which killed hundreds and almost claimed his own family. It was then that he realized something needed to be done. Talk about a dreamer, who at age 14 dreams of bringing running water and electricity to his village?

Everything changed when he stumbled upon an old tattered textbook with a picture of a windmill inside. Thank goodness for curious hands. It was then he decided that he would build one himself.

His weapons of choice were a turbine made from spare bicycle parts, a tractor fan blade, an old shock absorber, fashioned blades from plastic pipes which he flattered using fire. Out of these he constructed a 16-ft tall tower.

Even though all his neighbors (his village contained only about 200 people) thought he was crazy, he amazed them all when he hooked up a car light bulb to the turbine and as the blades moved, it stood aglow.

I found it so endearing reading about his first time using the internet. While we Google things like movie listings, concerts dates, and clothes, Kamkwamba Googled so much information about windmills.

It's amazing that Kamkwamba accomplished everything being self-taught, with no Western influence at all. I'll let that speak for itself.

My digs!

Just a quick post of part of my room; my bed is where I do most of my writing.

STAND UP TAKE ACTION/CROP Hunger Walk

This weekend, the 16-18th, a movement will take place to demand that world leaders achieve the Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs) which offer a plan to end poverty from its roots. My University is doing our own chapter, and we are joining millions of people around the world to help break a world record for the largest protest to end poverty.

Furthermore, on Sunday the 18th I along with other GCU students will be participating in the CROP Hunger Walk which raises funds and awareness for international and local hunger relief.

For more information on these events, check out:

http://standagainstpoverty.org/

http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/PageServer?pagename=crop_main

Tent City

My boyfriend Sean and I went to the local tent city yesterday to drop off a trunk load of stuff including coats, dishes, and clothes. I was really excited because I hadn't been there since classes began again, so it was nice to sit and have a nice chat with Nina.

Nina is a Polish woman who cleans houses for a living. She lives in a camper which she adorns nicely, and she's one of the most caring people I've ever met. Her daughter Maggie just had a baby on Friday named Julia. We flipped through her photo album and it meant a lot that she shared them with me.

I also met someone new, a wonderfully charismatic woman named Merrielle. She used to be homeless but through a program called STEPS, (Solutions to End Poverty Soon) she now has her own apartment. She said one of the best quotes I've ever heard:

"I went from the trees and the leaves to a set of keys" - Merrielle

There are so many awesome people there that always greet you with a smiling face, I'm going to try to interview someone new each time for my school newspaper.

A fresh new blog

I decided to start a whole new blog and at least be half-serious with it since my other one kind of went stagnant.
I'm going to be posting random thoughts, experiences, and photos, as well as keep you updated with my journeys to a local tent city that I donate and visit daily.
It's good to be back.