10 days!!

10 days have gone by since I last posted! erg! Matt and I have been moving, moving and more moving, and this afternoon is the last day of our moving plight. Thank the hippy gods! I can't believe how much stuff I had! It felt so good to get rid of a lot of it. Matt and I got rid of almost half our stuff. I can't tell you how much of a relief it is to get rid of stuff you don't use, and only have the stuff you really care about surrounding you. And I literally mean "surrounding" us. There is a maze of boxes in our living room. Boxes are stacked precariously, and there is a tiny path you must navigate through to get to the kitchen.

But, never fear fellow hippies! I didn't just throw stuff away, that would not be very "earth warriorish" of me, I turned to the best site ever invented: www.craigslist.com!! Oh it is amazing! I sold our couch (because it wouldn't fit in our new place) and a bed on this wonderful site. A very nice girl who was moving into her first apartment came and picked them both up. Very cool. The rest of the stuff, we donated to Goodwill. But, we did get desperate at one point and had to heap a pile of junk outside our house with "free" signs all over it. When we came by the next day, every single thing was gone. Magic, hippies, magic!!

Project ideas?

So, my boss just walked by and told me I need to update my blog today so he can read it this weekend. Oh! And that he wanted to post a hamburger on here but thought my hippy friends would get mad. I said "Hippies don't get mad yo! We are a peaceful people.... that's just how we roll." But then I rethought...I mean I'm not totally a hippy yet right, I can still shank a fool!

So, I need some help. I have these cute little bottles left over. You know those tiny ones that hold 8oz. of water. I love tiny things and know I could make something super sweet out of them, but can't for the life of me think of anything. So, in honor of my boss, please share some zero waste ideas hippy friends!! Here's what they look like:

Moving

I am the worst hippy ever! I haven't updated my blog forever! Erg.... Anyways, here is my excuse... I'm moving this weekend. I hate moving! It's so final. Also, I find out how much crap I have bought that I never needed. The new hippy in me is appalled!! APPALLED!!! Boxes and boxes of things that I haven't looked at since our last move (2 years ago!!) But it has to be done. Our new place is 6.2 miles from my work and right on the bus line, 4.2 miles from Sam's, and a flight of stairs away from BFF Dan and Marie. It's 1.1 miles from Matt's school, so he can ride his bike or walk. We might even be able to get rid of one of our cars. Nice! Plus, we'll be practically in the middle of downtown, so lots more walking fun to be had. I can't wait!

Hippy

Phew. I was a little worried that my entire blog was built around a misspelled word. BFF Dan told me that hippy actually means someone that has big hips (that would also apply here), but according to the American Heritage Dictionary:

hip·pie also hip·py (hĭp'ē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. hip·pies
A person who opposes and rejects many of the conventional standards and customs of society, especially one who advocates extreme liberalism in sociopolitical attitudes and lifestyles.

So, in other words.... extreme pacifism... there is your oxymoron of the day!

APA Citation for all you sticklers out there:
hippy. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved August 07, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hippy

Plastic Bottle Herb Garden

I found this great project in this book "ReadyMade: How to Make [Almost] Everything: A Do-It-Yourself Primer" by Shoshana Berger and Grace Hawthorne (also check out their very cool website at readymag.com.) It uses all of those pesky plastic bottles we have and it cost me about $3 to make. I just put a note up at work that said I was collecting bottles and I had enough in less than a week. I tweaked their directions a little bit, so these instructions are based on my modifications:

1. Collect 12- 24 oz. plastic bottles and 12- 16.9 oz. bottles.
2. Cut the smaller bottles in half. Drill 3 drainage holes in the bottom.
3. This part can be a little tricky, but you basically cut off half the front of the 24 oz. bottles so that the big bottles look like this (sorry for the terrible picture, but you get of the idea...) I found it easiest to hack of the top with a pair of scissors and then use a box cutter to lop of the "window" area.
4. Drill a hole in the "hanging" part of the big bottles.
5. I found this sweet owl picture at a thrift store for $1.50. It's all painted wood, so I was able to hammer 12 nails directly into it, but you could use any piece of wood.
6. Then you hang your pre-drilled big bottles up.
7. Plant your little bottles (I used aloe vera, geraniums, and started some tomato plants from seed I took from T-Gro's fruit.) Smaller, or starter, plants work best.
8. Slide your little bottles into the bigger, hanging bottles.
9. Enjoy your sweet work!

Update: I already killed the geraniums!! But, the aloe seems to be doing very well.

Bus Update

Erg... I just had to cancel the bus and Fringe Festival trip with Marie and Dan because I have this badass headache. Dang. Hopefully we can reschedule and I'll make sure and update you on our adventures!

Oh! Speaking of the Fringe Festival (insert shameless plug here)... you should go see my friends', Ellen and Sam, and the rest of the cast of "Streaming Twin Cities, or I'm an artist what's your excuse?" at the Fringe Festival (info below). Visit their website at http://streamingtc.com/.

Update: Yikes! I forgot to mention that another friend, Ph!l was involved in the show as well (I think they just let him hang around because he's so pretty, but I still should've mentioned him!)

Wed, Aug 8 - 8:30pm COMING SOON

Fri, Aug 10 - 10:00pm

Sat, Aug 11 - 1:00pm

At The Red Eye Collaboration Theater
15 W 14th St, Minneapolis MN 55403

"WE" Culture

All of Minnesota experienced a horrible loss on Wednesday. The 35W bridge collapse was a staggering tragedy. I know that all of our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.

As more and more of the amazing stories are coming out, I can’t help but feel an incredible pride to call myself a Minnesotan. The ordinary people that found themselves in an extraordinary situation and stepped up to help everyone around them, these stories are incredibly inspiring. It gives me hope that when faced with these circumstances, it wasn’t every man for himself; it was that those that were able helped those who were not.

If we can learn anything from this heartbreak, I hope it is that.

Worm Evacuation

Ahhhh!!! I added some new worms to my worm bin last night and when I woke up this morning, I noticed that there were two worms a-wigglin' on my kitchen floor. Weird...but maybe I dropped them and didn't notice. I opened the door to the cabinet under the sink and worms are everywhere! As I opened up the bucket and worms like popped out onto the floor. I'm not exaggerating. It was disgusting. Seems the newbies didn't want to hang out with the oldies. Great. I think to myself "I'm a hippy chick, I can handle this." But, when I went to pick one of the squirmies I squealed like a prissy girl. Oh crap...I've totally fell off the wagon in my recovery. So, I grabbed one of those hamburger flippers that you use for the Bar-B-Que and started flipping them back into the bucket. I'm not sure what happened, I checked the bedding and it's not too wet or too dry, but I read that when you introduce new worms to an environment they sometimes wig out a little. Hmmmm.... I'll keep you updated.....

Taking the Bus

Hippies take the bus. (They also bike!) As a true hippy chick, I need to start taking the bus. Problem is...

I've never ridden the bus in my life.

I'm not kidding... I really have never ridden a bus. I've heard that there are lots of bus crazies and weirdos and that it's a generally horrid experience. But my friend Sam does this kind of thing all of the time! And she's really pretty and hasn't been felt up once! (on the bus at least) So, I feel that it's time. I'm going to become a bus rider.

I'm scared.

So, I recruited my BFFs Dan and Marie. We're going to see Sam's show on Sunday and we're totally taking the bus! Dan is a "bus master". He knows all the bus lingo. I will definitely not end up somewhere in Wisconsin (erg....sconis!!!). Wish me luck!