Sunday, May 23

Here fishy fishy....

For the health of myself, I am trying to eat more proteins.

This is tough for a few reasons:
1. I LOVE BREAD. Unfortunately breads are carbs which are high on the glycemic index. Damn.
2. I like being a "vegetarian." Sure I'd eat chicken once in awhile, but I always pick the vegetarian plates out at restaurants over anything meat.
3. I'm lazy. I gotta admit it. I dig convenience foods - cuz I'm lazy.
4. I really really don't like the texture of red meat. Sure a fillet mignon might taste all melty and buttery and good, but its weird (um, and expensive).

So, exploring other options for animal proteins, I come to fish. After my envi education, I know that a lot of fishing practices are unsustainable and are slowly killing off some varieties of fish. The one that comes to mind first is Orange Roughy. It takes up to 30 years for the fish to mature enough to breed and thus replenish lost population from catches. Tilapia is one kid of fish that can be sustainable. You can raise many in a small area and are quick to reproduce.

Other than those two fish, I wasn't aware of what other kinds of fish I should lean toward. Until I located this Blue Ocean Institute guide to sustainable fish species. How handy....you can even do a search and it will tell you how the species are raised/caught or if there is a risk for elevated mercury contaminants.

Thinking before you eat is so much easier. And of course, that appeals to my lazy side. :o)

Anger on a Sunday

And here I am again.

I was up early and of course hopped online. FOr some reason, compelled to check some news outlets covering environmental issues. Deepwater Oil spill in the Gulf is still making headlines....because they still haven't made any headway into stopping the flow of oil.

Found a documentary where even the TRAILER pissed me off:
Chevron Rep: "..no evidence contamination is causing these cancers, it is due to poor sanitation."
...you don't get cancer from crapping in a pit lady. Plus, they have been around as a culture long enough to work out sanitation issues before YOUR culture was even created. CRUDE

Also for some gruesome photos (don't we all love those..) : Discovery Photos of the Spill

And finally some words of wisdom from a seasoned worker for and with the oceans:
"Constantly being surprised by catastrophe is stupid because unpredictable events in nature are totally predictable." --Jean-Michel Cousteau

Wednesday, May 19

DIO

Oh man, I am so excited. I just started downloading Back Sabbath: the Dio Years. I listened to a few and it just happened to be just what I wanted to listen to today.

It's gunna be a good nite.

Things to come...

Many...many things to come. So much in fact that it's all I'm thinking about.

-Beach trip to Delaware in less than 2 weeks!
-Golfing. Anytime.
-Seattle in August.
-Philadelphia in September.
-CSA box in June.

I'm thinking that it would be pretty neat to document what I get with the CSA box and what I end up making with the vegetables. The Boy and I are splitting it with my aunt. Perhaps even photos of the farm where it comes from!

Not an original thought by any means, but it's something positive to post. :o)

Tuesday, May 11

Deepwater

This morning I heard on the news that the "oil spill" in the Gulf of Mexico- associated with the busted oil rig- is "leaking" at least 200,000 gallons of oil a DAY.

Here's one link. Then there's this link. ::sigh:: THIS is why we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

Recovery is a risky game. This scale of release is pretty unimaginable seeing as in my line of work, a spill of a few thousand gallons on land is a big event. This spill is hundreds of thousands of gallons PER DAY in a medium that readily allows for movement of contaminants. It's pretty intimidating. And it's more intimidating that no one really knows what to do. As of the date of these articles, decisions on what to do to staunch the bleed still haven't been solidified.

This the biggest reason I am opposed to expanding the natural gas drilling. Accidents. So far, I've been told that NYS is digging in their heels and denying the natural gas drillers rights to "pour billions of dollars into the economy." However PA is accepting drilling with open arms. Yes, I'm sure that this money will be good in the short term. But what happens in the "rare event" that groundwater aquifer is contaminated or a collapse would occur? I have a feeling this is a built-in cost for these companies, and the amount of money for compensation is much less than what they can make from natural gas recovery. Meanwhile, the local residents who were already struggling and accepted this drilling with the promise of money have to deal with the unsightly, unfortunate, and devastating consequences of an accident.

I worry for that area of the Gulf. Hopefully they WILL be on top of it all like they say. Right now though, all we can do is hope.

Monday, May 10