Things that should scare the crap out of you: Tuesday Edition

I had no idea that the Southeastern US was in the midst of one the worst droughts in 100 years—apparently the situation is so dire that several communities are in danger of completely depleting their water supply reservoirs within the next few months. One of those locations would be the charming hamlet of Atlanta, a city of merely 4 million people. Imagine, turning on the tap and nothing coming out. Many believe that future wars will be fought over potable water (you know, if other stuff doesn't wipe us out first) and this event hopefully will be the canary in the coal mine that wakes people up to serious water conservation.

Zen and the Art of Amtrak: Part 3

When Amtrak is doing what it should, it’s a wonderful experience. I mean it! Turns out the westward trip from Chicago to Los Angeles wasn’t just on time, but we ended up being 45 minutes early arriving into Union Station. Perfect way to end my trip.

I find myself just staring out at the landscape most of the time on the trip. After about an hour, I catch myself and think, shouldn’t I be doing something productive? But there is definitely something peaceful about watching the country roll by at a leisurely pace. Even the…let’s call them, ‘less fortunate areas’ (only because, who wants train tracks 6 feet from their back porch?)…were peaceful to watch. It was also interesting to watch the progression of each environment come and go. The wide open deserts of south eastern California, the painted desert of Arizona, the red clays of Albuquerque, the greens and yellows of the low lands of Colorado, the farms and prairies of Kansas, Iowa and Illinois, the steel paradise of Chicago, the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. Each is so unique that now I could probably tell you where I was just by looking at a picture. How am I supposed to get any work done with that rolling by right outside my window?

Zen and the Art of Amtrak: Part 2

When taking the rails, the first rule of Zen and the Art of Amtrak is foremost: “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” If you’re brave enough to attempt the cross country rail trek, you must be willing to throw your schedule out the window. Do not schedule anything for 24 hours after your arrival in either direction. Trust me. If you give yourself that 24 hour buffer zone, your trip will be that much more relaxed, so that the odd derailment, mechanical failure, 2 hours waiting for goddamn freight trains to pass you in the middle of the night (more on those later) will seem like nothing but small trifle on the great adventure that is your Amtrak journey. Okay, so that’s overstating it just a tad. Even the Dalai Lama would probably be swearing like a longshoreman some of these bumps in the road. It’s just important to know that no one should ever take the train to rely on the schedule that Amtrak has set. They are so notorious off time that I can’t believe they haven’t built in at least one secret hour onto all scheduled routes. So far all of my trips this “adventure” have been at least a half hour late, and the lateness goes up exponentially, the longer the trip. Just for laughs, I thought I would play the home game with the handy time schedule provided in my Superliner Roomlette (quite nice for myself, I think that if I had to share this with another person, even one of my nearest and dearest, it might not be so Zen). The time schedule is nice because not only does it give you the time you’re supposed to arrive at the next station, but it gives you the miles between stations so when the train is moving at a speed that you could walk faster than, you can weep extra hard at thinking how much further you have to go.
Our kickass conductor Bree (I can call her that now, since boarding she’s already threatened to throw 2 people off the train, one for smoking the other for opening a door while we were stopped) is determined to get this bucket of bolts back on schedule which makes playing the home game that much more entertaining.Here's a view from the front, bug guts and all. And an early morning glimpse of La Junta, CO site of the train clearing detour from the west to east version of my trip back in September.

Zen and the Art of Amtrak: Part 1

(Here's a series of dispatches written while criss-crossing the country via rail but unfortunately not posted until now, because well, Amtrak is still working on that wifi situation.)

Zen and the Art of Amtrak: Part 1

I’m a little like a battered wife with my relationship with Amtrak: I tend to forget all the bad things they’ve put me through and come running back for more of the same. At least I’m not surprised anymore by it. But I’m still prone to defend them to anyone who questions my sanity for being a repeat train cross country traveler. Case in point: after a derailment (or “putting the train on the ground” in railroad lingo) interrupted my trip from west to east, causing a 4 hour wait for a bus to show up and drive us around it, resulting in a nine hour late arrival to Chicago, which caused everyone to miss their connecting trains and thus forced us all to spend an extra 22 hours in the Windy City…even after all that, did I say, “Hmm maybe we should switch back to planes?” Nope. And this morning, after arriving in Chicago another hour and 45 minutes late did I say, “hmmm, really is it just my train travel that’s cursed, that would be pretty odd…” Nope. Back on the train for another dose of sado-masochism. This evening’s adventure came in the form of some sort of “mechanical difficulty” less than 150 miles out of Chicago (that’s 2050 miles AWAY from our final destination for those keeping score at home) where apparently something started sparking (I could hear it from where I sit, sounded just like when someone doesn’t close the between train car doors and it bang bang bangs until someone gets fed up enough to close it tight) and then apparently flames shot out to the side of the train. Damn, I miss all the good stuff. God love this crew (at least so far… at 150 miles, even the fact that they’re just giving us information about what’s going on is still leaps and bounds ahead of any other crew I’ve dealt with so far on this “adventure”) So we sat, on the tracks, in the middle of an Illinois corn field while the crew stood outside and assessed the sitch. My vantage point is approximately 3-4 cars back from the engine so I could hear them talking about the problem but didn’t want to listen too closely because I didn’t want to hear those dreaded words about turning back to Chicago. Or riding to Kansas City without power. But once again, god love this crew, they had us up and running in probably just a half hour. I may have to hold my breath the rest of the trip so I don’t jinx it.
I think this is the offending cable that caused the stoppage. It will furthermore be housed in an unused roomette near the bathrooms.

Get on the Train, Y'all

So I've been getting a lot of crap lately about my upcoming cross country trek via the hobo method of choice: Amtrak. I'm not sure what the problem is for most of my critics, my travel plans don't affect them one way or the other, I'm arriving everywhere I need to be when I need to be there, so what's the big deal? I'm personally excited about the adventure, and I think the fact the people think I'm a little bit crazy for doing it just makes me want to do it more. I haven't checked out the ecological impact as compared with flying, but I believe pollution at ground level is slightly less damaging than burning kerosene right next to the ozone layer. I'm excited about being on my own for a while with nothing to do but focus my attention on writing. We'll see how it goes.

Time Out for an Art Break

Wandering through mental_floss again, I came across this post for a gallery showing which remarkably is less than a block away from my current working situation. I'm kicking myself now that I let time expire while being so close to the exhibition, especially after catching an article about the installation in Utne this month. The Paul Kopeikin Gallery sponsored a showing of artist Chris Jordan's new installment "Running the Numbers". Awesome... I mean, to borrow the classic adage, I don't know art, but I know what I like, and these works are amazing. Each piece from a distance is it's own work of art, but lean closer to see the intricate details- row upon row of children's building blocks which are actually there to represent the 9 million children without health insurance. Or line after line equaling 65,000 cigarettes, the number of American teenagers under age eighteen who become addicted to cigarettes every month. Or 426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the US every day. Each piece he has constructed from close up photographs and digitally replicated to create a visual puzzle that makes you look closer and think deeper. (The photo here is a partial zoom for the work "Cell Phones", click the photo for sharper detail)

I ♥ The Metro!

Well it's time for the big tally: My goal for Memorial Day to Labor Day was to ride 1,000 miles on my bike—I gave myself a few extra days on the back end since this weekend was hotter than Hades (108º in my neck of the woods). Though I knew I was going to fall short of my goal, the grand total of 668.46 miles was still pretty impressive, oui? Best of all this goal has opened my eyes to all the possibilities for getting myself from point A to point B here in Los Angeles. I'm a public transit addict now!

Garden Burgers for everyone!

A good pal sent me this link (more so because he's of the "South Park" mentality but knows I'm a treehuggin' hippie, so this is where our world's collide) and while even I was squeamish after 10 seconds, the message is pretty powerful. This video was created for Live Earth, and while the images might be difficult to look at, the message is crucial. For the daring, (warning the video is pretty graphic) the full video is here. For the rest, here's the summary: FARMED ANIMALS PRODUCE MORE GREENHOUSE GASES THAN ALL THE CARS AND TRUCKS IN THE WORLD COMBINED. Wow. That's a big one. And if everyone ate one less meat meal a week, there would be a drastic reduction in gas output.

Book Review: "This Moment on Earth"

Just finished John & Tereza Kerry's latest book "This Moment on Earth" and was pleasantly surprised. When researching global warming and other environmental crises, it gets kind of depressing after reading the umpteenth statistic on melting glaciers or rising sea levels or dying polar bears. It's enough to just throw your hands up and say, "what's the point?" The Kerry's book instead is very accessible, filled with productive examples of people who are making a change in their communities. The gloomy statistics are there, but they don't beat the reader over the head with them. I'm also thankful for them introducing me to this great quote based on an African adage: "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today." That one sentiment sums up the tone of the book perfectly. :)

Back on the Bus Y'all

So Labor Day is fast approaching, and truth be told, I will fall short of my 1,000 miles by bike between Memorial Day & Labor Day... final numbers are still out—I do have 6 days left to try and catch up. I knew it was an ambitious goal to set, and though there were a few weeks I could have ridden more, I am most excited about the fact that I've mapped out a bike/subway/bus route to my latest day job. I am most excited about how easy it is, and the fact that at peak hours, it really is fast than driving!

Power Flexing

Had to comment on these new provocative billboards we've got up here in Los Angeles, courtesy of Flex Your Power, the California statewide marketing campaign for energy conservation. The tagline says it all: "Global Warming isn't just a fact. It is a choice." I couldn't have said it better myself. The ads play at parents: what kind of legacy will you be leaving your children in terms of the environment? Drought? Floods? Extreme heat or cold? Commercials can be watched here.

Staying Simple in Times of Banana-Sandwich-Craziness

Ah yes, I am back finally...been a busy couple weeks with the cat accident and finishing up the big show. Now I'm back and ready to rumble. These are one the most difficult times to remain true to one's beliefs of simplicity. When there's no time to think about getting your plastic dishes to eat your lunch on, when it's just easier to throw the aluminum can in the trash, when it's just easier to print on white paper just to get the job done quickly, when sleep has to take precedence over eating healthy and getting enough exercise. It is most important to remain mindful in these times but also to not beat ones' self up too much. If you're simple year-round, a few days of slipping here and there, won't undo all the good we've done all along.

It's been a pretty random and traumatic week here both personally and nationally—adventure kitty got attacked by a big dog on Monday, necessitating many stitches and the entire country is dealing with watching the recovery of the freeway bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Both incidents in their own way probably could have been prevented, but in the grand scheme, pointing the finger of blame after the fact probably won't help with coping with the trauma. It's always a struggle for me to face up to reality, I'm much more content to stick my head in the sand and ignore it until it stabilizes. I think a simple lifestyle requires finding that balance between being informed (NPR) and not being a blatant voyeur (Fox News). So that's this week's simple challenge.

The Couch Cushion Debate

Still on the fence about this couch cushion thing. On the one hand it was wonderful of my mother to offer to make me a full new set of cushions because I can’t seem to let my 10-year-old $200 wood frame Ikea couch die. But here’s the issue, the new fabric (that would be the cushion on the right side of the photo) matches little to nothing in my current living room. So do I a) politely ask my mother to reconsider the fabric selection or b) accept the fabric choice and then ask for 3 new sets of curtains, new pillow covers and start shopping for wall paint and drawer pulls. I mean change is good and all, and it has been 10 years with the couch and almost 15 years with the curtains. I enjoy the pattern still myself, they’re starting to get almost an antique feel to them, something that fits nicely with the tone of my apartment (I have always felt a vibe of the 1930’s or 40’s in there) but maybe a new modern style will give me a new outlook on life. I’m going to at least check out paint to see if that’s a valid option, a pale green would be a good choice. But I don’t know what the curtains would be. As a simplist, I feel like I should keep my furnishings and linens the way they are, but as a hip young(-ish) go getter, a little updated style never hurt anyone. That’s one of the things people fear most about the simple life, is that fact that they’ll have to compromise their sense of style in the name of saving money, staying green and reducing scale. In reality, it just takes a little more creativity.

And a little self-congratulations, today is my 100th blog post! Woot!

Dreamhost: Green Host!

Was happy to learn that my web hosting site Dreamhost has purchased carbon neutral offsets to compensate for amount of carbon emissions the company creates (as much as 545 average sized homes!) It's not going to single-handedly reverse global warming, but if only every company was this eco-conscious. To learn more about Dreamhost's carbon neutral project click here.

A simple post for this weekend's upcoming Simpsons Movie release courtesy of my good pal Hodges and the "Create Your Simpsons Avatar" link from the movie site . :)

Gasoline Guilt Week: Day 4, TERRAPASS

Just learned that the Environmental Defense's Tailpipe Tally site has been "retired" (no explanation given, but seems weird because it would seem now more than ever people would want to be able to calculate their car's total emissions). Bummer because I'm adverse to doing any math myself. Terrapass.com has a quick calculator on their site and gives you the direct link to purchase carbon offsets based on how much you drive. (I know what everyone's getting for Christmas this year!) So it basically comes down to this: in my happy little hybrid, I exude approximately .4 lbs of carbon per mile. Not horrible, but not great either (in contrast, a 2007 Hummer puts out 1.1 lbs per mile) Terrapass is my new favorite site because not only can you offset your auto carbon emissions, but airline travel, as well "dorm living". And best of all, it's not even that expensive. For about $40, I can offset all the carbon my car puts into the air in a year. They take the money invested and in turn reinvest it into clean energy projects such as wind farms, biomass energy and selected carbon reduction projects. Genius.

Gasoline Guilt Week: Day 3, Book Review "How To Live Well Without Owning A Car"

A quick review of this great little guide to how to get around in our crazy overbooked lives without owning an automobile. This one's not just for those who want to go cold turkey without wheels, but for anyone who wants to drive less. It doesn't hurt that author Chris Balish is a cutie-pie news reporter from St. Louis who shares his own stories about giving up his own gas-guzzling SUV in favor of taking mass transit and riding a bike. If only everyone on the LA metro system looked like that. :)

Gasoline Guilt Week: Day 2

So if you go on the LA MTA website and plan your bus route for your trip, you'll notice at the bottom:

I had to wonder, how logical is the 56.2(!) cents per mile average from the AAA, especially when one drives a hybrid? I used this link to figure out that it supposedly only costs me 20 cents per mile. But then again I didn't factor in the $370 I just spent on tires today, so maybe that adds a penny or two. But it is pretty impressive that there's a AAA link on a public transportation site, as they are notoriously pro-car. Hmmm. I'm not sure I'm ready to give up the 'brid even if it saved me $12 a 20 mile trip.

Gasoline Guilt Week: Day 1, Get on the bus, y'all!

So I've been experiencing some major Gasoline Guilt lately to the extent that I grew fed up with my own inability to avoid "walking the talk". This weekend in an attempt to assuage some of that guilt and get myself back on the bus. No one can deny that LA is a car-centric culture but thousands of people do use the mass transit system here, successfully and as a necessity. I figured I could at least give it a try. Now I've read all the books about how taking the bus is great cuz you can use that time for more productive things like reading or being social, but the bad part about the LA bus system is the inconvenience of the schedules: case in point, the 23 mile trip by car should take 27 minutes (per Mapquest), by bus 28 miles and 1 HOUR 43 minutes. Oy. But I did it, I sat at the bus stop, I put my coins in the slot and rode 2 buses all the way down to Culver City to see a movie with a friend (Knocked Up: meh, don't believe the hype.) And while, don't tell my mother I stood on a slightly sketchy street corner downtown for 45 minutes waiting for my connection (only safety factor was that only about 4 vehicles passed in my entire wait). So the overall verdict? While an hour round trip by car ended up taking 4 hours and 45 minutes, I'm still not dissuaded by the bus. I surprised myself by being able to read and relax during the whole trip and while it won't be every day when I can devote that much time to transit, every once in a while, it can't hurt to be a little more conscious of how we travel. Coming tomorrow: AAA's cost per mile: how accurate? And is taking the bus cost effective when you have a hybrid?