Monthly Archives: April 2008
Needies are interactive plush dolls inspired by codependent, high-maintenance… Read more
Toppling the Big Myths of Republican… Read more
Richard Dawkins lets another mouth-breathing meat-head have… Read more
We start as social creatures, isolate ourselves into small rooms writhing with power strips, then make friends with similarly sequestered people, trying to re-create the very communities we’re… Read more
The top 10 biblical… Read more
Digging In To the South
Quite literally. For the last several weeks we have been working to get our planting done before it got really hot here, and today we finish up putting in the first round of vegetables. Biodynamic, open-pollinated, heirloom seeds from Abundant Life and Nichols nurseries are going to provide us with Artichoke, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Celery, Chard, Chickpea, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Garlic, Greens, Leeks, Lettuce, Melon, Okra, Onion, Parsley, Peanut, Peas, Pepper, Radish, Shallots, Soybean, Spinach, Summer Squash and Tomatoes. Most have already been sprouted in a mini-greenhouse, and all of our soil prep was finished yesterday evening, finally. Still to plant are more herbs, some gourds, mushrooms and grapes and then it’s off to the nursery to get more fruit trees. Just call me farmer… Read more
How To Choose The Right Thing To Do
Is it even possible to do so? How to go about discovering what in the East is called ‘right-action’? How is “right” defined, and is that definition flexible, subjective, relative? Relative ‘truth’ is self-refuting, so is relative ‘right’ also self-refuting? Why can’t we discuss ‘right action’ without constant and overwhelming recourse to the dialectic of ‘need’ and ‘want’. “Authenticity” – how is this concept of authenticity anything, in the modern usage of the term, other than an exercise in solipsist utilitarianism? Isn’t the popular search for authenticity really a method of discovering the wants in yourself that the fulfillment of will bring the largest amount of… Read more
On (Not) Wasting Food
As an avid reader of “foodie” blogs, I run across articles like this one all the time, and I’m really not sure why they even exist. How hard is it to not waste food, particularly if you like food enough to read a food blog? Everyone occasionally has a few leftovers or some fresh herbs that it was impossible to buy in an appropriate quantity go bad, but for food waste to be a big enough issue to have to write about it seems to me to bely a deeper problem; these people don’t have any idea how to cook. Let me say this as plainly as I can: good cooks do not waste food. Ever. If you waste food, you are a bad cook, end of story. If your leftovers molder in the refrigerator, you are not planning portion sizes correctly, you are buying too much, and you have no concept of food cost. Therefore, you are a bad cook. Following recipes in glossy food-porn magazines and shopping at Trader Joe’s does not make you a good cook. Practicing economy and the mathematics of recipe sizing makes you… Read more
What Every American Should Know About the Middle… Read more