Well, today is Earth Day. This is supposed to be a day where people try to do something good for our planet. It’s a milestone for me, because Earth Day 2008 was the first day I started to walk to work every day. I had just returned from Scotland and felt like making the change, so I did, and I’ve been trying to be green ever since. I won’t soap box today, but it’d be cool if anyone reading this stops to do something good for Earth today, even if it is as simple as picking up a piece of trash or maybe using a reusable cup when they get their morning coffee. Small things add up.

I know I haven’t posted recently — I have been unmotivated. I need a break and I’m not sure when it will come. I am still trying to sort out vacation plans for the summer, but I fear that I may have missed my ideal window to go to Egypt, as was the original plan. With work commitments, the best time to travel would be late August and early September, but that’d put me back there during Ramadan, and I’m not sure I want to do that two years in a row. Doing it last year was an experience, but it wasn’t a vacation.

Hmm, what else? I’m into another Kay novel now, Sailing to Sarantium. It’s great, but a departure from the other books I have read since it is decidedly more historical in nature, with less emphasis on the supernatural. The city of Sarantium seems to be based on Istanbul (heck, it even has something called the Hippodrome!), which makes sense, since Istanbul once served as the capital of the Roman empire and many of the political elements of Sarantium mimic the Roman structure. At any rate, I am mowing through it and will be on to the second book soon.

I’ve updated the recipe section of the site, organized things by the type of dish they are. Also, I’ve put up a quick guacamole recipe. I like my guacamole simple, without too many things that hide the taste of the avocado. If you like, it great.

A track for the post? Well, given that it is Earth day, I have to give the nod to Ozzy, and Revelation Mother Earth. The link is to a live version, done in 1982. If you have only ever seen Ozzy on TV on The Osbournes, or something, you owe it to yourself to watch him perform in what is arguably his prime. Awesome track. It does not, however, feature Randy Rhoads on guitar, since he was killed most tragically just before this was done. I believe the guitarist who filled in for him in this footage was Brad Gillis from Night Ranger. He does a pretty good job.

This month’s National Geographic is a special issue about water. All of the articles feature information on either conservation, water management, or technologies for purifying water. One article describes the process that African women must go through each day to get water, usually many hours, lugging back containers of water that is usually dirty, and very often not safe to drink.

One problem is that the act of filling your container usually disturbs the water, which causes problems for people doing the same thing down stream. Metaphorically, I fear that i am muddying the water for a few individuals by offering advice that may be biased, or by even just being around. I don’t want to alter a situation simply by observing it, irregardless of what Heisenberg says has to happen.

I picked Superhero by Ani DiFranco this time. Everyone wants to be a super hero, right?

i used to be a superhero
i would swoop down and save me
from myself
you are like a phone booth
that i somehow stumbled into
and now look at me
i am just like everybody else
i am worse than everybody else

Well, it is the long weekend now, and Easter will soon be here. This holiday, and other holidays like it, now make me pause and reflect on some of the choices I have made in my life over the last few years. Choices that I believe are for the better. Obviously, any holiday that revolves around food is a difficult one for me. Christmas dinner, Thanksgiving dinner, Easter — they all more or less revolve around the consumption of animal products, and that makes being vegan tough. It is practically impossible for me to spontaneously sit down at a friend or family member’s home and have a traditional meal with them. Culture and rituals revolve around food, and when you don’t eat the food, you are often sidelined when things happen. It is a choice I have made. I am happy I’ve made it, but holidays like this can be, well… they can be lonely.

Despite this, I am enjoying the weekend. I’ve finished the Kay novel I’ve been reading, which means that I have an excuse to obtain even more reading material. It has been wonderful outside, I’ve become a bit sunburned, and I am about to head over to the insanity that is the Fredericton Market on a warm, sunny, long weekend, during a holiday that needs food to be complete. I have a few recipes I’d like to get up soon, and will hopefully have some time to do that this weekend. Also, need to replace a kitchen faucet. I have the faucet — I found one I liked a year ago — but for some reason I haven’t installed it yet. It’s got a high spout which makes it great for getting a tall pot under.

Life continues to surprise. Since travel is in my future, today’s track is a (longish) song by Porcupine Tree, called Arriving Somewhere But Not Here. The video is live, and I saw them in Toronto a few years back, at the Danforth. The show blew my mind — Steve Wilson is genius.

Never stop the car on a drive in the dark
Never look for the truth in your mother’s eyes
Never trust the sound of rain upon a river rushing through your ears

Arriving somewhere but not here

Did you imagine the final sound as a gun?
Or the smashing windscreen of a car?
Did you ever imagine the last thing you’d hear as you’re fading out was a song?

All my designs simplified
And all of my plans compromised
All of my dreams sacrificed

Ever had the feeling you’ve been here before?
Drinking down the poison the way you were taught
Every thought from here on in your life begins and all you knew was wrong?