Architecture of an Outfit: Hoping for spring & A BEAUTY GIVEAWAY SWEEPSTAKES!

We’re hoping for spring. We’re hoping that spring springs anew sooner rather than later, as “spring” tends to do here in Michigan. March is just one giant weather cock-tease which taunts us with semi-warm weather and delicious golden sunlight searing our retinas. Then, BAM! a freak late season snow storm and solid grey skies for another month or so.

Outfit architecture: Drape cardigan, cowl neck top, Anthropologie; belt, scarf, h&m; jeans, BDG via Urban Outfitters; Shoes (not pictured), Jeffrey Campbell.

Then spring finally arrives about mid-May, wilted, spongy, brown and sopping wet from the thaw of the brutal winter here in Lake Country, smelling of decaying leaves and twigs that had been trapped under the ice for three months, now feeling the air and disintegrating back into the soil. And then after the slow, grey melt, we see a few trees blooming, perhaps some grass growing again, when suddenly we find ourselves under oppressive heat of a full-on summer, no evidence of beautiful blooms or flower fragrance floating on the air.

“Spring” in Michigan is a cruel, cruel joke. And yet it is one we hope for every single year.

The Hana Elite 1″ iron is a powerful yet gentle hair straightener, which I found to be far superior than other irons I have owned in the past! (See my review HERE.)

Misikko.com will bestow one lucky reader with a Hana Elite iron of her very own just by being an avid reader of this website!

The first rule about Fight Club is that you don’t talk… oh wait, wrong set of rules. :)

1. Comment on this post, and tell me briefly what your go to hair style is. = 1 Entry.

2. Blog about the giveaway with a clear link back to thereafterish. (http://www.maeko.org, in case you didn’t know) and this very post (USE this shortened link: http://www.bit.ly/dn2vzo). Comment back here with the URL to your blog post for another entry.

3. Tweet about it for a third entry. Comment back on this post (USE this shortened link: http://www.bit.ly/dn2vzo) with a link to your tweet in order for the entry to count. (To grab the URL to your tweet, go to your Twitter Home Page, click on the actual tweet, then grab the URL from Address bar.)

4. Re-tweet the giveaway and comment back the URL for a fourth entry.

Multiple comments or blog posts do not = multiple entries. Maximum # of Twitter entries = 2. Maximum # of entries = 4. Tweets must contain a link to this post (USE this shortened link: http://www.bit.ly/dn2vzo) in order to be valid.

Open to international readers!!!

This sweepstakes/comments will close on 3/15, and I will announce a winner shortly thereafter(ish). (See what I did there?) :)

HAPPY HUNTING!!

Mar 05, 2010 | Fashion, Giveaway, Go/Do | 56 Comments »

A Letter to My Hometown: Dear San Diego

Because my cousin Ria is visiting my hometown, I though I’d write about it. (Have fun, Ria! Make sure my town treats you well!)

San Diego.

I once lived there. All of my formative years, and most of all my childhood memories were formed there. It is sometimes my pride for close to twenty years to say I grew up there. It’s such a golden, warm, beautiful town that it’s really easy to forget that there’s a whole world out there to be experienced and explored. In Southern California, we all lived in some sort of sheltered bubble, encased with our endless seas and perfect sandy beaches.

About five years ago I met a man on the internet that tore me out of dull-brained existence, and woke me up. Meeting him left me salivating for a greater world. And in June of that year, I packed up most of my worldly possessions and moved across the country to Detroit.

Before I left, I wrote San Diego a good-bye letter.

—

Dear San Diego, Once upon a time, I loved you.

As a little kid, growing up on the border of the ghetto, I would feign a ghetto-fabulous accent and holler “reppin’ the 6-I-9″ (for 619, the original sole area code of the Greater San Diego Area). I’d frequent San Diego-only chat rooms on AOL as a teenager. If we saw a San Diego Store (like the Made in Detroit store in Detroit) I’d go there and try to find a bunch of San Diego gear to sport my loyalty for you.

But the thing is, you’re just one big typical Southern California town with a big attitude, pretensions of being a big, bad bustling metropolis with edgy urban things to offer, but you’re really just a vacation town for old Republicans to retire in if they have the money, and stupid fat head frat boys and sorority girls from all over the US to come and make party time hell for the people who actually live here.

You’re stunningly beautiful, don’t get me wrong. Very beautiful. And you have a history and culture all your own. There’s no denying that. There is an artistry in some of your neighborhoods that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. There is a poetry that can be felt in the nature found here. Balboa Park and it’s gardens and museums. Historic Gaslamp Quarter and its restaurants and old building facades, and the many drunken Friday and Saturday nights I spent there, giggling and dancing with my best friends… Hillcrest and all its vintage shopping grandeur. La Jolla Cove and its cliffs and small grotto. The beaches. God, the beaches. The mountains. The quaint tea and coffee shops hosting acoustic folk pop and poetry slams well into the indigo night.

You’ve got a simple gorgeousness that you won’t find in big, complicated, drama-filled LA. There’s nothing else like you anywhere else in CA.

But after living here for so long, you’ve lost your lustre for me. Even this letter is losing its lustre.

Let’s just say I’m ready to move on. For now. My eyes are looking East. Detroit. Chicago. Toronto. Enyce? Maybe. Anything is possible. And the only thing I know is that my love for this city no longer resides in the city itself but in the people who live here who love me and I love in return.

After all, home is where the heart is. So, I guess, you’ll always be a home to me. A place where I can return and still feel all the warmth of love I’ve always felt.

I just didn’t know it was possible for me to call more than one place home. I guess I can now.

Take care of yourself. And never change. I’ll see you again some day.

Love, Mae

Img cred: Balboa Park Lily Pond (www.sommersetsuites.com>; Historic Gaslamp (Ron Niebrugge via www.californicating.wordpress.com ); Hillcrest (hillcrestlodgings.com); La Jolla Cliffs (www.pdphoto.org); San Diego Beach (www.cbnsandiego.com).

Feb 16, 2010 | Travel | 9 Comments »

Add a Little Eco-Chic to Your Valentine’s Day: Green Up V-Day

Improve your love life, and protect your mother (Earth).

Img cred: RefineDesigner.Wordpress.com

As I’ve mentioned before, I choose not to celebrate Valentine’s Day to a various number of reasons. Namely, I don’t like the combinations of pink and red. And the overabundance of hearts and shiny red and pink things induces bile. Lastly, my dating anniversary with my husband is a mere 10 days away, and it seems pointless when the most important day of our lives is round the corner.

However, don’t let my non-celebratory mood deter you from having a fete of your own! But let’s try to have a better, more wonderful holiday of love, by showing some love for our planet at the same time! what can be better than celebrating a day with your tasty-treat of the moment, your soulmate or your life-long companion than giving back to the life-giving world you live on? It’s a pretty romantic ideal, I think!

This year, you need not get lost in a sea of stale candy hearts, red plastic packaging and wilted white flowers. Instead of a blizzard of unsatisfying consumerism, follow these suggestions to enjoy a more meaningful, and planet friendly, holiday.

The average consumer spends just over $100 on Valentine’s Day, according to the National Retail Federation, with total sales approaching $14 billion. That buys nearly 214 million roses, $2.5 billion in jewelry, 180 million cards, 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, tons of stuffed animals and more. All those resources can really add up, especially when you consider that conventional flowers are raised with tons of toxic pesticides, the mining industry has left open scars and polluted water across the planet, logging has created barren wastelands, and chocolate harvesting has resulted in toxic, substandard working conditions.

Here are some suggestions to keep the fun in Valentine’s Day, and go a little greener:

• Give her sexy green lingerie, and she’ll enjoy the comfort of organic and natural materials all year long.

• Give organic and fair trade flowers, the latter of which are now even available at Sam’s Club!

• Savor organic and fair trade chocolates.

• Pour organic and biodynamic wines.

• Consider eco-friendly jewelry.

• Send an e-card or greeting on recycled paper.

• Buy organic or local flowers.

• The way to most hearts is through the stomach: Make your lover a home-cooked meal with local or organic produce from your neighborhood grocery store, or if you can’t boil water, take him or her out to a restaurant that focuses on local, seasonal, sustainable or vegetarian foods.

• Drink wine. Not too much. Mostly Californian.

• Get an organic couple’s massage or spa treatment.

• Staycate or vacate (with style).

• Give Eco-Lux gifts for the more “STYLISH” Valentine.

More ideas here:
Share your green heart with friends and loved ones. Also get Everything You Need for a Green Valentine’s Day
Creative Ideas for Valentine’s Day Gifts
Organic flowers
5 Greener Ways to Say “I love you”.
Green Your Love Life

Tips, images credit: Refinedesigner.wordpress.com, The Daily Green, Ingle & Rhode Ethical Jewellers

Feb 12, 2010 | Eco, Go/Do | 4 Comments »

Waxing Poetic, Waxing Lyrical on Twitter: Weather Forecasts Indicate Better Writing

(NaBloPoMo Day 3)

So sometimes I wax a bit lyrical on Twitter, and other times not so. For the most part, Twitter serves as a place for me to photo-whore; connect with other writers, style-bloggers, and runners; and retrieve and retweet informative, important news from other Green Activists…

**

But sometimes, the medium is useful for getting out bullet thoughts and miniature writing ideas. It’s easier to grab a handy micro-computer than root through a satchel for a pen and paper.

And you know what? Some of my best writing lately has ended up in Microblog form, probably because I hardly do any other form of writing.

We are all in this together. In a ship without a sail, toiling the ancient seas until we reach our distant home shore. #ManicMondays

Lazy, pathetically drifting snowflakes on sad wind currents.

Dear 2:30AM, you and I and whatever the hell this is needs to be over. You and I are not healthy or each other. We need a break. Goodbye.

11:38 PM Jan 29th from Twitterrific

Yes, ma’am, I am that madame! Who donned skin colored socks & skin colored shoes. It looked bad–but cold or warmth, what would you choose?

5:53 AM Jan 29th from Twitterrific

Peach clouds hang, downy, under clear cellophane skies. The wind at our backs, we trudge along, heads bowed, seeking warmth and shelter.

5:42 AM Jan 28th from Twitterrific

That same impetuous biting wind that shakes the tree boughs propels me along the salt chalked sidewalks under a dull metal sky. Ah, winter.

3:06 PM Jan 27th from Twitterrific

Cookies and tea do much to improve many situations.

39:17 AM Jan 27th from Twitterrific

Snow has stopped its weak & pathetic dusting, & the sky is a dappled sea under brushed steel clouds. A brilliant day in the neighborhood!

8:18 AM Jan 27th from Twitterrific

Most of the more “poetic” imagery comes as a consequence of the grey blustery clouds or salty, white-washed streets that result from crappy winters here in the Great Lakes Region. You’re stuck in a fabric cubicle jungle across from a window that only lets in weak, dull light. It gives you pause. And much time lost in sad rumination culminates in strong imagery. A much needed catharsis.

Most humans are, without question, affected by the changes in weather. Some of us are so strongly tied to the loss of golden sunlight that we develop Seasonal Affectedness Disorder (SAD).

On the greyest of days, I find myself even thinking in such language. But such is the way of silver skies and cutting wind and shining, cold diamonds on your windshield. We hole up in our warm blankets and pyjamas at home, cursing the sky and the wind currents and the dead trees, and thoughts fly into our brains a mile a minute.

If you get a rare golden day, with tolerably warm-enough weather, get out of your comforting little hole and run around under the clear skies, under the silver clouds, drinking in the brisk air. You never know what sort of change you may feel in your body, mind and soul.

Outfit architecture: sweater, BR; striped dress shirt, random boutique; belt, skirt, Forever21; stockings, Tarzhjay; Oxfords, Payless (yes, you read that right); Headband, GoJane.com; watches, Anne Klein, Random boutique. Yes, I AM wearing two watches.

Feb 03, 2010 | Fashion, Go/Do, The World | 13 Comments »

Maeko Loves News #1

Ain’t no big thing, being Green!

I’m a self-professed Eco-Nazi… obsessive and addicted, but without that whole oppression/genocide thing. Like that soup Nazi from Seinfeld, but with eco-activism.

Maybe it’s no secret. If you work with me, you’ve seen me rooting through the trash, picking out Styrofoam computer packaging, cardboard lunch containers, plastic bottles and soda cans, etc, and packing it in her car to take to the recycling center on the way home… all with the occasional freak out if an errant drip of food or old syrupy beverage makes its way onto her work clothes or beloved shoes. Yes, I will admit it, I am that girl. But I can’t help it!

It’s a sickness to try to change everything I can around me for the greater ecological good of the planet. I try to be my best. (**Extra points for anyone who knows where that quote is from!) I try to reduce packaging when I have to buy new, and I try to buy products with as much post-consumer recycled content, I reuse as much as I can. I’ve banned almost all the paper towel usage in our house, I mix my own cleaning supplies (if you need a recipe or six, just ask me… I have tons!), eat organic and local as much as possible, reduce my daily trash output, recycle about 90% of what I throw away, even though our condo complex has no curbside recycling program, I try to cook meals at home and take lunch to reduce carbon emissions by driving to and from restaurants for take out. We even recycle our old small appliances instead of throwing them out (e-waste!). If I do something wasteful, I am wracked with eco-guilt nightmares for a few days… it’s a sickness.

But admittedly, I wouldn’t change myself at all. If anyone else adopted this sickness, imagine how much greater our local environments would be!

Anyway, that said, there is recent local and global GREENish news that tickles and prickles me:

#1.) Tickled. Michigan Clears the Air.

Come May 1st, Michigan will be the 38th state to go Smoke Free in public. Finally, after a more than decade long fight to clear the air, the bill passed through the stalemated Michigan legislature, with a promise from Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) to sign the bill into law last Thursday.

The ban affects restaurants, hotels, bars and clubs, but exempts smoking/cigar bars and non-American Indian owned casino game floors. First time offenders will be fined $100, and then $500 for subsequent violations.

Img. Susan Tusa via Detroit Free Press

Though this makes a lot of people (like me!) elated, there are a number of opponents who have helped block this legislation for years, and are extremely unhappy the resolution passed. Small business owners believe this will kill their business. And sports fans and smokers balk at the ban. Others oppose the ban because they think of it as government meddling in people’s personal lifestyles.

While business owners may see a downturn in their revenue, we have to keep in mind that 1.) The majority of Michiganians oppose smoking in public places, 2.) they will begin to come out to support businesses they did not frequent due to indoor smoke, 3.) other cities like Chicago, New York and Columbus did initially lose a percentage of their revenue after a smoking ban, yet bounced back much stronger after a small amount of time.

My own personal reaction to this is: GET OVER IT.

Smokers always feel entitled to a sense of freedom, while they do not consider the entitlement of non-smokers who have their own right to breathe clean air! “I have an American right to do whatever I want, smoke where I want, so fuck off,” is the attitude I often come across. I guess I could rebuttle that I have a right to breathe oxygen untainted from nicotine, tar and other carcinogens. “I have a lung condition” I should say! My lungs are currently in perfect condition, and I want to keep them that way!

In addition, people who have auto-immune diseases and other health problems like cancer have a compromised immune system, and second hand smoke further weakens their immune systems making them prone to infection, sickness and in some cases, serious illness which could lead to death. In my case, second hand smoke in clubs has often caused me to lose the ability to walk, or searing pain in all my joints for days at a time.

While I believe in your right to smoke almost anywhere, I do not believe in that right when it compromises essential functions for many people to live a normal, healthy life–

You love your smoking, right? Like devotion and love for anything else, you will do whatever you need to do in order to carry on the habit/addiction/love. Businesses that want you around have and will invest in things that will allow you to frequent their establishment while still accomodating your… devotion. Like that club in Dearborn that cleared part of their parking lot, installed insulated tents with couches, heaters and an outdoor hooka lounge/bar. If you love smoking, you will make it work. You smoke outside your office despite snow and freezing weather, and you smoke out of a cracked window in your car during a rain storm, why should restaurants or bars be any different? Isn’t it only fair that while you get to take 15 minute breaks every hour and hog up all the great restaurants, that people like me who love food but literally can’t take smoke finally get our time to breathe while we eat and dance?

And on the Beauty Note: cigarette smoke, being a pollutant, actually contains free radicals in the tar, and also in the the smoke in the form of gas. These free radicals are those pesky atoms that lose an electron, and frantically search around for a free floating electron to become a stable molecule… Free radicals form when external factors disrupt the stability of a molecule. Free radical production is what causes aging.

Here is the basic summary: pollutants = free radicals = aging. No smoke in public places = less free radicals = less aging.

This is good news for Michiganians who care about their skin. This also means we can save money on those expensive anti-aging tonics and serums. Seriously, how is this not good news?

I believe this spring will be a happy spring in Michgan indeed!

The Reality:

Twins: Non-Smoker vs Sun-loving, pack & a half a day Smoker

Why does the fashion industry glamourize smoking? It sure makes for great photography, but there is nothing glamourous at all in getting older faster, vomit-breath, and dirty, stained teeth! Fashion + smoking sends a message that smoking gives you an instant chicness, while omitting the disgusting, truthful deets: there are dire health and beauty consequences for sustaining a smoker’s lifestyle. /end rant.

Original Article here:Freep.com

Img Cred: ~tale-like-me @ DeviantArt, Style by Me, Dan Martensen via Refinery29,Shizuka NY, Susan Tusa via Detroit Free Press.

#2.) Prickly, Tenuous Tickle: Hopin’ in Copenhagen.

Deforestation aids drought & Global Climate Change, study finds (via All Voices.com)

NY Times reports that negotiators at the World Climate Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark are close to completing an agreement that compensates contries for preserving natural landscapes, like forest, swamps and fields, which help to curb climate change.

…forests are efficient absorbers of carbon dioxide, the primary heat-trapping gas linked to global warming. Rain forest destruction, which releases the carbon dioxide stored in trees, is estimated to account for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally.

The agreement for the program [called REDD, or "Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degredation"], if signed as expected, may turn out to be the most significant achievement to come out of the Copenhagen climate talks, providing a system through which countries can be paid for conserving disappearing natural assets based on their contribution to reducing emissions.

The final draft of Redd was to be given yesterday to the Climate ministers of almost 200 countries. However, final agreement could be compromised in part because little progress has been made on many other issues at the summit… and recently, the UN Climate Summit President Connie Hedegaard resigned, amid rumours of a negotiating text drafted by the richer nations to be pushed through talks under Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen…

While this potential program would be a huge leap forward in the fight against climate change… it seems shaky at best. Going to have to keep watching to see if this REDD program gets through all the beaurocracy!

Original Articles Here: NY Times.com, & UK Guardian.

Img. cred: All Voices.com.

**Line from Dollhouse, uttered by Dolls, in their Doll-state, when the memory and brain map of engagements have been wiped clean, in response to reason for living.

Dec 16, 2009 | Confessional, Eco, Health | 12 Comments »

“Wake Up, Wake Up, Wake Up. ‘Cuz It’s Da First of Da Month…”

Yesterday was the First. Did everyone have a good First of the Month?

I’m a bit late, yes. I know.

I got a new camera from my Husby. Well, New to Me kind of “new.” A Nikon D70s. So I’ve been playing around with it and learning to shoot then edit in Aperture. Mostly taking a lot of “reflection series.” I think it’s a skill to be able to shoot yourself Myspace-style with a “real” camera.

Firsts…reflections… It got me thinking about things.

Well, FIRSTLY (lots of this word in just the FIRST few minutes… repetitive much?), let me tell you about my most recent, terrible fright.

While I was sleeping the night away on 11/30, a dream attacked me savagely. (I’m almost crying, thinking about it now.) We were celebrating Yuletide with our family in Victoria, Canada with an ailing, but very venerably aged 96 Gram, when my father broke the news to us that he was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, and that doctors had given him months–no, weeks!–to live. He would pass with a violent, painful end sometime around Valentine’s Day.

I don’t remember the details much, but I remember white halls of a hospital and doctors leaning over a very tube-covered patient I once knew as my little father (he is shorter than I am). The hot and many tears woke me up, my chest was tight and racked with pain. Tried as I might, I couldn’t get the image of my father ending before my eyes out of my head. I knew my dream was supposedly just a dream, but I couldn’t let it lay like a dirty, fetid, sleeping dog.

You see, my father, who is a normally healthy fellow, had an injury when he was a toddler that caused his spine to curve, or curl upon itself near his neck, giving him a hump back and scrunching his rib cage so that all his organs squished into a smaller than average torso. I believe it’s called Kyphosis, a defect of the spine which causes extreme curvature. He also has a deformed chest… it’s kind of shaped like a Mayan pyramid. Because of his cramped organs, he has developed Congestive Heart Failure, often gets Walking Pneumonia, developed Asthma, and was diagnosed a year or two ago with Panlobular Emphysema. He hasn’t smoked a day (well, maybe a day, but that’s it!) in his life. He’s a semi-vegetarian and lives in a healthy, warm climate. He walks several times a week, and is relatively stress free.

But this Emphysema diagnosis threw me when I learned of it.

How could someone who’s practically never smoked get a “smoker’s disease”?

So, as ridiculous as it sounds, in my dream lung cancer didn’t lay outside the realm of possibility. And for him to die of it was entirely possible. Hey, it’s a dream!

But the terror I felt when I woke up was real. I awoke at 4:30, shaken, and couldn’t get back to proper sleep until about 6, which is about 45 minutes before I wake up then snooze.

Frantic, I went about my normal routine in a haze, my morning agenda items ticked off in haphazard and scattered fashion. My reports and conversations were a blanked out mess.

At 9:30, I dialed my dad, hoping he’d still be in bed (he lives in San Diego, 3 hours time difference from Detroit). Thank the Universe, he was!

On the verge of tears, I asked him, “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I miss your mum. She’s at the Lawrence Welk Resort until Thursday.”

“No, Poppy, is everything okay? Are you sick?”

“No! Why would I be! I’m just sleepy,” he said, trying to explain his croaking voice.

I told him about my dream, and he started laughing, which did not put me at ease.

“It was just a dream, anak*, I’m fine. I’m healthy enough, other than the normal cuff and whizzing. Stop worrying. I’m fine!”

*(“Anak” means “child” in Tagalog, my father’s native language of the Philippines; and he has an accent on certain words, though he is completely American in the rest of his diction and accent.)

—

So my dad is okay. My dream was just a freakish moment of my stresses manifesting themselves in a nightmare.

It got me thinking about the First of the Month, which the First of the Year is around the corner.

How often do things like this–life-aware moments–make us resolve to do things better? And in addition, how many of those resolutions actually stick? Instead of waiting until a life-changing event, or until the first of the year, why don’t we just start LIVING better for ourselves… now? I can’t wait until my dad’s health could possibly dive for me to start calling him and my mum more often, let them know how much I love them. I can’t wait until my friends move across the world, out of my timezone, to start letting them know regularly how much I think of them, and how much I wish we were all together. I can’t wait till a job opens up to start honing my skills so I can get a better salary. I can’t wait until I get a book about xyz to start trying to learn abc concept–which will make me a more accomplished young woman… I can’t get a job in the creative world without knowing how to create… right?

I can’t run a marathon without starting to run right now. So I strapped on my shoes and ran a mile and a half, and made mental plans on how to reach my marathon goal by next December–for lupus sufferers all over the world, and for the lupus sufferer in myself!

I’m not waiting till after the holidays to get better at life. I resolve to get better at life right now.

I think that’s a more powerful style statement than any “statement necklace” or “statement IT bag” or “statement shoe” that the Actress of the Moment has been scoped wearing in the latest glossy mag.

Living better is a style statement that can’t, and shouldn’t wait.

Dec 02, 2009 | Fashion, Go/Do | 11 Comments »

Gratitudinousness

Edit: Another thing for which I am grateful.
Score!! @Shopruche is having a sale through Monday! 15% using this code:

Be Grateful.

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving. And though I’m not a born American, like a true modern American youth, the historical significance in a way, is lost on me. I’m the indulgent, self-absorbed super consumer like most kids my age in this great nation of ours.

But today is special. Today is the measly one day out of three hundred and sixty five, that we set aside to ponder (I would hope) on things that we should be grateful for having.

We are a blessed, privileged and powerful country. And though there are many flaws, many people suffering all over this country, all of us as a whole enjoy a more charmed, comfortable life than most people in the developing (AND developed) world. It should not be so much to ask of ourselves to be content and thankful that we live in this great nation, have what we have, and enjoy the freedoms our ancestors emigrated to this country for… for what they came here and helped build so that we could have even more than they ever did…

2009 was kind of a bum year and a great year for me. And in the end, those losses are easily trumped by the many wonderful and many mundane things that in the end, still make my life incredible.

There are many other things for which I am blessed, but I have rambled on and on.

For what are you grateful?

It is through adversity that the people can shine. It is through trial and tribulation that our resilience becomes brilliance. And it is through hardship that we learn, grow and enhance. Even the crappiest things in life should never be taken for granted!

You’re alive. (And, if you read this blog, one can assume you have somewhere comfortable to read the internet, which means you have a computer, probably in a home you rent or own or live in, and you probably have a safe, somewhat comfy life… another thing to be grateful for!) Thank the powers that be (God, Allah, Vishnu, The Void, The Universe, whatever!) that you are and have.

—
Go on! Read on!

Be sure to check out my list of recent loves–I am grateful for them!
Maeko Loves #1.

And take a trip with me through a magical “Saturday in the Life”!
Weekending.

Nov 26, 2009 | Go/Do, opinion | 13 Comments »

Maeko Sez: Waste Not, Want Not!

Maeko Sez! “I’ma help you. Trust.”

In honour of Thanksgiving, I’m posting a few things that:

1. Are awesome and save you $,
2. Save you $$ while you get people (or yourself) stuff,
and 3. Help save the world (in a way).

Firstly! Save money, get stuff!

Shop Ruche is having a sale on Black Friday (11/27) and Cyber Monday (11/30). You get an extra 15% off their already immensely affordable (and organic!) selection of bohemian and sophisticated clothing. So rush to the store and get your extra bucks saved… And stimulate that economy while you’re at it!

Just use the code below!

Secondly! Stop wasting stuff this holiday!

Every Thanksgiving Holidaze, there are thousands and thousands of pounds of waste that go into the garbage without a second thought (in addition to the thousands and thousands of calories that end up going onto our bellies!). This waste wrecks havoc on the ecosystem, while at the same time the mass consumption and immense amounts of product packaging contribute mightily to our climate change problem!

Try to waste less this year… and your waist may thank you for it, too.

Follow this tip from Ideal Bite.com:
Go on a trash diet – just follow a few easy waste-reducing tips

The Benefits:

Doing something matters:

Guess what:
If 10,000 people eliminate their average food waste this holiday season, we’ll save enough cash to buy and donate 13,939 organic, 20-pound turkeys to less-fortunate folks.

Now that’s thinking smarter…

Tip Credit: IdealBite.com, Img Credit: The Daily Green

Thirdly, Save $ and save the planet.

5 Easy things from The Daily Green – That save you cash money.

1. Reusable Shopping totes.
When you go out shopping, bring your own reusable bags. This preserves resources by cutting down on the huge number of paper and plastic bags that are discarded after a single trip.

2. Save money on power.
2. Save on Electricity
There are many ways to trim those electric bills. Wash your laundry in cold water instead of hot, line dry your linens, and use a toaster oven for small heating needs instead of a bigger electric stove. Open windows to let the light in, turn off unneeded lights and appliances, and unplug unused electronics to counter the ‘energy vampire’ effect.

(Personally speaking: I have my computers, entertainment equipment and kitchen appliances plugged into power strips. When I’m done using them I shut the strip off to keep the surge from idling. And I unplug my phone charger, unused lights, personal electronics from the outlet when not in use… This has cut my average energy bill by over $15 each month!)

3. Save fuel!
Every gallon of gasoline you burn produces 19 pounds of carbon dioxide, so it pays to conserve (in more ways than one). Your car will work more efficiently if you obey the speed limit and avoid rapid, unnecessary acceleration. Keep your tires properly inflated and get regular tune-ups. Forget warming up under most conditions.

4. Do the Farmer’s Market thing.
Shop at your local farmers’ market. This will help support farmers in your area, so they won’t be forced to sell off their land for development, and it will decrease your food miles, meaning less fuel will be used to provide your daily meals. Your food will be delicious and better for you. And you will be stimulating local economy, helping to retain regional jobs!

Eat as much local and seasonal food as you reasonably can. Your meals will be fresher, and will require much less fuel to transport, store and refrigerate.

5. Better water.
Drink water from the tap, instead of buying single-use bottled water, which requires much more energy to produce, store and transport. Barely 20% of those plastic bottles end up getting recycled, and most are made out of petroleum. Use filters if you are concerned about your local water supply.

Buy a reusable bottle to take with you on the go, so you can always refill it from a tap and avoid buying bottled water. Stainless steel is a good choice, because you don’t have to worry about the potentially toxic chemicals that can leech out of many plastics over time.

For more eco and moolah saving tips, check out the The Daily Green here: “30 Surprising Ways to Save MOOLAH by Going Green!”

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Read on, read on!

Maeko Loves #1 – See what Maeko loves this week! Lots of stuff.
A Saturday in the Life – Take a trip through a magical Saturday with me and my husband N.

Nov 25, 2009 | Be/See, Eco | 1 Comment »

Green Your Closet: Eco-Fashions!

ECO FASHIONS!!!

H & M Organics Spring Line, selected women’s pieces.

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And for those of you who love YOOX, Yoox is launching a Fashion Site dedicated wholly to those eco-conscious, which will rep Eco-friendly lines from top designers and up-and-comers.

YOOXYGEN will launch on TAX DAY to coincide with Earth Day, April 22.

WHO IS EXCITED???

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Tip Credit: Ideal Bite.
Pic Credit: Green Daily.
News Credit: My It Things.

Apr 14, 2009 | Go/Do | 7 Comments »

Steez Post: Darkness Looks Good On You! Just Turn Out the Lights! (Earth Hour)

What’s sexier than an hour of darkness and seeing the twinkling of a pristine sky, unpolluted by bright lights?

The Greenness of it all!

The second annual International EARTH HOUR is on Saturday night!

Here are 8 sexy tips on how to spend Earth Hour:
8 Sexy Ways to Spend an Hour in the Dark

My personal favourite: Candlelit physical examinations… Or Stargazing…. or.. …

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Mar 27, 2009 | Eco | 1 Comment »

Green Tip of the Day: Eco Land-Lording

**DID YOU KNOW: If 10,000 landlords of high-rise apartment buildings make Energy Star-suggested changes, the energy saved each month could power 1,235 elementary schools for a year.**

Mar 23, 2009 | Eco | 3 Comments »

Green Thursday: Writing a Big Box

**I encourage all of you who have a voice and who care about the environment to WRITE companies to encourage THEM to “GO GREEN”. In most cases, going green on an individual level ends up being fiscally responsible as well, which is a huge bonus, considering these uncertain economic times!**

Why would we want THIS green earth to degenerate?!

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Dear Target Corp.,

I’ve been loyal to the Target stores since I began earning my own money. Due to ethical issues and fiscal irresponsibility on the part of management, I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart, and opt for the more attractive qualities that Target stores offer. Target has always been a favourite and top store on my list of shopping staples, due to the brands, types of merchandise, and even clothing quality the stores offer.

However, in the age of growing awareness of global Climate Change, and in the face of a growing global financial crisis, people like me are learning that we have to be environmentally responsible as well as fiscally conservative. Conserving precious natural resources goes hand in hand with learning to conserve in the home–with personal products as well with energy. If people in households are starting to learn to conserve, product-wise and energy-wise, to benefit the planet, shouldn’t corporations that provide the products we use also learn to preserve and conserve?

I have noticed that while Target stores do stock green options, the options are not as widely advertised nor offered as well as they could and should be.

*

Target brand should start to be more competitive on the green industry. The public doesn’t understand the impact of global climate change and environmental degradation if big companies don’t make it easy for them to have green choices. I notice there is Method and Seventh Generation, but no equivalent by Target Brand to stay competitive on the green front. With the threat of job loss and credit crunching, many people have to rely on buying generic brands rather than name brands in order to save money. While stocking several green product lines such as Clorox Greenworks, Method and Seventh Generation, I think offering a green generic brand alternative would encourage many of those people, like me, who have to be conscious of each penny they spend to still be ecologically responsible. It encourages people to opt for the green choice, because they would help the planet while yet helping themselves.

I also have noticed that there are a few brands out there, like GLAD trash bags, which try to be environmentally responsible, but there are hardly any other bags that offer that same sort of eco-responsibility. Producing plastic uses precious natural resources while at the same time releasing countless tons of pollution into the air, for a relatively small output of product. Target should try to focus more on bringing sustainable, ethically and environmentally responsible choices to its stores.

Target should also try to stock on items that have recycled and post-consumer recycled content. I notice that a lot of the brands of paper products such as paper plates, toilet paper such as Kleenex, Charmin, Quilted Northern, and paper towels such as Viva, Bounty, etc, are made from virgin trees and have absolutely zero recycled paper content. As a result, I NEVER buy paper products at Target, including paper and plastic plateware. Seventh Generation offers recycled toilet paper and paper towels, and I also believe it has a higher selection of cleaning products than what Target generally offers. I find these on Amazon.com. Recent studies released have concluded that forest trees are dying at twice the normal rate, and therefore are less likely to be able to refresh the planet’s oxygen supply quickly. Trees are not 100% sustainable despite many companies claims, because seeds take years and years to develop into mature trees, and forests, once dead, take decades to regrow, before they can make an impact on the ozone.

It would be easier to buy these paper products at Target rather than buying them online. If you make green products more available to the public, your shoppers will become more aware of the impact their daily spending has on the planet as well as on their wallet and they will be more likely to learn to conserve as well as preserve earth for generations to come.

Please consider helping the American public combat climate change by providing these options to them and broadening your Target Generic Brand to include green options.

Thank you.

*Image credit: TreeHugger.com

Feb 12, 2009 | Eco | 1 Comment »

Green Tip of the Week: Go Mobile Wi’ Cho Bad Eco Self!~ Eco-Texting

I’m thinking of posting Green tips on a specific day, but I haven’t decided which one is the best! Sunday? Thursday? Errrr.

The Bite

Ooh yeah, it's such a rush. Saving resources with free cell phone text services that tell you the greenest options makes you feel so fine. 

The Benefits

• Getting down for free. These services cost nothing - you just pay your carrier's usual texting fees (usually ten cents per message).
• Global healing. Get info on the go – which foods have the lowest CO2 footprint, the most sustainable fish species, and the companies with the greenest corporate policies.

Personally Speaking

The listings of the foods lowest in CO2 at the Eat Low Carbon Diet Calculator are pretty extensive, but (and we tried) it doesn't include escargot or Spam.

Wanna Try?

• Bon Appétit Eat Low Carbon Diet Calculator – text 69866 with the message lcd, followed by the name of the food (say, omelet) you're considering, and it'll send back a carbon rating and lower-carbon alternatives.
• Blue Ocean Institute FishPhone – text 30644 with the message fish, followed by the variety you want to know about (example: tuna), and it'll fire back sustainability info on that species.
• Climate Counts On-The-Go – text 30644 with the message cc, followed by the name of a major company (starbucks), and it'll let you know how well that organization scores on climate issues.
• Bonus: Google Mobile – text google (466453), enter your starting address, then to, then your destination, and it'll send back directions – no printouts necessary.

*Personally speaking* – If being green were this convenient, I would have started this a LONG time ago. Who knew carbon responsibility could be within reach? (Literally!)
Tip: Credit Ideal Bite.com.
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Links:
Take a look at my “12 X 12: Midnight to Midnight: A Day in the Life” post! Take a look at my life in 24 hours.

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Look at my latest outfit shots and give critique I so badly need.

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Listen: Don’t be a Mofo: Resolution for 2009. *Explicit language warning*

Jan 20, 2009 | Eco | 2 Comments »

2009 Green Resolutions

The world is deteriorating at a faster rate in this new Century than ever before. Here are some simple, effective and cheap resolutions to adopt to do your part to slow the effects of climate change and planet degeneration!

Be Greener in 2009!! SAVE THE PLANET!

1. Switch to Reusable Towels

Cost: $6-10

No matter how you look at it, paper towels create waste. During your next trip to the grocery store, buy some reusable microfiber towels, which grip dirt and dust like a magnet, even when they get wet. When you are finished with them, toss the towels in the wash and reuse them again and again. They are even great for countertops and mirrors. When you absolutely have to use disposable towels, look for recycled products. If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100 percent recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees.

2. Run a Full Dishwasher Load
Cost: $0

If you have dishwasher, use it. Running a fully loaded dishwasher — without prerinsing the dishes — can use a third less water than washing the dishes by hand, saving up to 10 to 20 gallons of water a day. Simply scrape large pieces of food off your dishes and let the dishwasher handle the rest. And by using the air-dry setting (instead of heat-dry), you will consume half the amount of electricity without spending a dime.
*if you are in the market for a new dishwasher, make sure you look for the Energy Star logo and check the labels for the energy efficiency statistics of the model.

3. Turn the temperature down in your fridge

Cost: $0

As one of the biggest appliances in your kitchen, the refrigerator is also one of the most power hungry, accounting for 10 to 15 percent of the average home energy bill each month. Get your fridge running in tip-top shape. First, set the refrigerator thermostat to maintain a temperature between 38 and 42 degrees (F). This temperature will protect your food from spoiling while saving electricity. Twice a year, clean the condenser coil at the back of your fridge. Condenser coils tend to get dusty, making them less efficient.

4. Stop buying bottled water

Cost: $14.98 for aluminum water bottle

Did you know that it takes 26 bottles of water to produce the plastic container for ONE one-liter bottle of water, and that doing so pollutes 25 liters of groundwater? Don’t leave a trail of plastic water bottles in your wake! Stop buying bottled water. Use reusable water bottles instead made from materials like stainless steel or aluminum that are not likely to degrade over time. If you choose a plastic water bottle, check the number on the bottom first: Plastics numbered 3, 6 and 7 could pose a health threat to you, so look for plastics numbered 1, 2, 4 or 5.

5. Turn down your thermostat–put on a sweater, throw on a blanket, or snuggle with a roomie or lover, to stay warm!
Cost: $0

Electric power plants are the country’s largest industrial source of the pollutants that cause global warming. By snuggling under a blanket on the couch on a snowy winter night instead of turning up the heat, or enjoying the breeze from a fan in the height of summer instead of turning up the air conditioning, you can save pounds of pollution, as well as some money off your utility bills. Set your thermostat in winter to 68 degrees F (20° C) or less during the daytime and 55 degrees F (13° C) before going to sleep or when you are away for the day. And during the summer, set thermostats to 78 degrees F (26° C) or more.

More tips below.
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Jan 05, 2009 | Eco | 1 Comment »

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas GREEN!

How to be green this Holiday!

I haven’t given anyone a big green tip in awhile, so let’s take this beaut of a tip from Earth911.com.

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Deck the Halls

If you were out shopping this weekend, we don’t need to tell you that there were a lot of people out purchasing not only gifts, but Christmas trees too (30 million evergreens to be exact). In fact, these millions of trees help to offset enough carbon to make a big impact – the equivalent of taking 4,960 SUVs off the road for one year. So before you let holiday stress get the best of you, take a deep breath.

With Boughs of Holly

Gathering round ye olde Noble Fir for some good ol’ caroling and merryment? Ok, so you might not be having an old-fashioned Christmas, but you can make your own ornaments and decorations that are recyclable or compostable. That way when you take them down, you wont have as much to throw away.

Fa-La-La-La-La

It may be hard to think of now, but soon it will be time to take your tree down. After you’ve used Earth911’s search to find a treecycling event near you, you’ll have joined the 93 percent of consumers who recycle their Christmas trees each year. Your tree can be used for a number of projects like ground cover for playgrounds, rebuilding wetlands and restoring coastlines. And to think you were just going to toss it in the trash…

More ways to be green this Holiday Season:
20 Tips for having a Sustainable Holiday
5 Tips to Green your Tree!

Dec 24, 2008 | Eco | Comments Off

The Big Marriage: MKLu + N.Lu

This is me, Mae.

I’m your run of the mill Asian geek. I like video games, computers, karaoke, peace signs, art, music, comic books, National Public Radio and Haruki Murakami. I write, but I wouldn’t really call myself a writer. I like cooking, and I think I’m rather better at it than writing. I like fashion, but not enough to dedicate my life to it. I’m an eco-nazi. I’m that person at the office you make fun of for carting away cardboard home, because it’s being thrown out, rather than re-used or recycled…

I’m twenty six. Still in Uni (not for much longer). I work my ass off during the day at a job I don’t so much like, while I go to school at night.

I’ve been dating my gentleman for close to four years.

And now we’re getting married.

This is my fiancée, Nate.

I think he’s the effing cutest. I didn’t always think so (when we met). But that’s another story for another time.

He’s an Art Director of an Automotive Digital magazine. He’s also a web-designer and coder. He recently just started a design firm.

He broadens my horizons. He was my Reverse Manifest Destiny, bringing me from my myopic, limited existence on the West Coast

to the East Coast, where I touched the Atlantic for the first time,

and Northernmost coast of the country (Michigan).

He also took this sheltered suburban girl

Across the Atlantic

And across the Pacific, to Paradise,

Where he asked me to be his wife, after three and a half years of dating.

He introduced me to running,

And taught me that I am only as limited as I think myself to be, and that I am more capable than I could ever believe… that I am not barred from achievement due to my health, my ailing body or my immune system. Accomplishment is simply a state of mind–you are already capable of doing everything, the only limitation is your imagination.

I am more beautiful to him than any other woman, which is something I am beginning to understand. He is prouder than anyone of me when I attain a goal; he picks me up and pushes me to strive for the best when I short-change myself.

He brought home a surprise as an engagement present, and now we have a little family.

As the days go by, despite the regular ins and outs and stresses and bores and ups and downs of daily life, our Life is getting better and better.

Damn, I can’t wait for this wedding!

Dec 16, 2008 | Being Happy, Go/Do, Happiness, Nate and Me, Travel | 11 Comments »

Taking Action for a Change

I’m sick of the government effing students and uni’s over because of dangerously low budgets. I think it’s high time these people stop spending so much on things that don’t benefit the greater welfare of the populace; such as the prison system and corrections industry. Sure, we need safer streets, but if the governmental bodies spent half the money they spend on prison systems on Education, we would circumvent having overcrowded prison cells and corrections facilities. Pundits and educators have all agreed time and time again the education is the key to preventing crime. Education is our way out.

With Michigan being one of the poorest states, with our economy relying heavily, if not solely, on the automotive industry, we are poised to be the biggest loser in this economic climate. Bright, educated minds are the thing that might be our saving grace. How in the world can government even entertain the idea of cutting finances to education, even in these desperate economic times? Cut back on bailing out these banks, they fuct us in the first place!

Well, I wrote the Governor this morning.

I think all states stand to lose money budgeted to their education sectors, so you should stand up and make your voice heard. Google for where you can write your local officials, and your governor to try to pressure them to reconsider budget cuts to the very needed education system of your state.

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Dec 10, 2008 | Go/Do, politics | Comments Off

Photo Collage from This Week

Lupus runner. Diagnosed with lupus 3 years ago. My first race. My first medal. I was so proud.

Oct 23, 2008 | run | 1 Comment »

Green Tip of the Week Round-Up!

Stuff the Coal Industry doesn’t want you to know, Stuff both campaigns aren’t saying about Coal energy… How to cut down on daily waste with your coffee run.

Latest email from The Daily Green… Seriously, Coal isn’t clean, and that’s not what the Coal Industry heads or either Campaign for the presidency want you to hear.

The Truth About Coal: A Skeptic’s Guide to the Coal Industry’s $40 Million Advertising Blitz

An excerpt from the article:

…Coal is neither clean, nor cheap, nor abundant, nor a good liquid fuel replacement for oil, nor is it needed at all… Emissions from coal plants are leading causes of smog, acid rain and the U.S. contribution to global warming…

It also has a video from the Sierra Club, America’s largest, Environmental activist organization, which outlines the argument against coal technology. You should watch it. It’ll open your eyes about this dirty energy source.

Secondly:
Your daily cup of java is ruining the environment, did you know that?

If you buy your daily cup of coffee in a disposable container, you are generating about 22.75 pounds of waste per year. That’s troubling, because polystyrene takes hundreds of years to break down, and is made of nonrenewable petroleum.

In addition… Scientists have also discovered carcinogenic compounds leaching out of polystyrene, possibly even into your hot drink!–Your disposable cup of coffee is poisoning you daily, and you don’t even know it!! Does Starbucks have a vendetta against you? Hmmmmm…

To side step the environmental impact of all of the above, consider using a refillable mug made from stainless steel or ceramic. Not only are you saving the environment, you’re saving yourself! The only con would be that you have to do your own dishes! :)

Oct 22, 2008 | Eco | Comments Off

The Race Report

((Photos to come soon!))

I finished 25 minutes faster than I thought I would! I thought I’d seriously run like 3:15 or longer… I had no one to pace with. Nate called up some friends who were planning on running it quite slowly, but they corralled the 1/2 marathon relayers and runners at the same time and place, and I was in the 13 min mi group and apparently the guy who wanted to run with me was like 5 groups away behind me. So I never saw him, and ran alone myself.

The kick off was completely disorganised. The kickoff was a split kick off. The wheel chair racers went first on the 5K hand wheel race. I think that was at 7. All the streets next to the kick off corral points were completely fenced off, and we had to walk around and around just so I could find my corral. The Marathon racers and 1/2 marathon walkers were corralled across the avenue past the median, and they had a split kick off, where they started 5 Minutes before us. I couldn’t tell when they were letting the different heats go, quite honestly. The sound system was quite fuzzy and one directional. When the MC addressed the Marathoners and walkers, none of us on the other side of the median could hear what he was saying beyond an incoherent mumble bouncing off the buildings. So I just went with the flow of runners.

The first 5K was pretty smooth. Around mile 1 I noticed my shoe was untied, so I darted to the side to re-tie it. Thinking I was losing ground, I sprinted ahead. I noticed my pace was pretty quick, around 11:40 or so. It was really strange when a rally pacer holding a 10:41 sign ran up from behind me. I stayed with that pack for a good 3-4 minutes before I realised I would probably injure myself if I tried to stick to that pace for more than a mile or two. So I knocked my pace down a few notches (thankfully I had Nate’s Garmin to help me with that). About a few minutes later, around 2.5 or slightly after, the pacer for 11:27 ran up from behind me and then slowly passed. Not long after, I passed the 5KM mark. I guess I’d actually had quite a fast start, and I didn’t know it.

The first three miles were awesome! Running through Corktown, we were serenaded by at least 3 bands. Two of which were Mo-Town cover bands. Ahhh, I started running faster, to the beat of the music…

By the time we got to the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, ONT, the sun was just peaking above the horizon. I could see it shining golden over the church steeples and trees. The bridge was kind of steep, and I hadn’t run since Monday, so I was sore on the incline. I ended up kicking down to a 14 minute pace, not walking, though. A woman in a colourful bandanna (the kind you see on cancer patients), rocking out to her iPhone, ran up from behind me and screamed, “So is that a real runners group, or do you have lupus, and you’re a runner?” I guess she was the only one so far in the first 4 miles who noticed my shirt. :) Over the next several minutes we talked a bit, and I found out that she was a lupus sufferer, and that she was aiming for a 2:30 race. Awesome. She’d been diagnosed for years now. She looked seasoned, like she’s done her fair share of running. She said she’d take a look at our site, and probably join! A new member!

At that point, the sun had fully risen over Windsor. It was pretty much amazing.

After coming down from the bridge, I felt kind of a pang of emotion. I’m Canadian (you probably didn’t know), and I haven’t been back in Canada in over a year. It felt particularly poignant that I was running a race that spanned both my countries…

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Oct 20, 2008 | Being Happy, run | 3 Comments »

Brewing My Own Coffee: My Own Special Flavour of Lazy

This weekend was a lazy, dazy, hazy weekend. Lazy Sunday compounded on top of lazy Saturday on top of lazy Friday eve.

We indulged again in our favourite addiction: Lost, watching episode after episode on disc and online, a dizzying, hurtle toward the current season.

Saturday, we slept in late, missed the Farmer’s Market downtown, and ended up running short errands around 3-4. I ran a couple of miles at the gym, sweating it up, trying to get more mileage. Then I went home for a whirlwind tryst at home before we packed up dog food and drove over to N’s mum’s place where she had cooked us a lovely tuna noodle casserole (mmmm, carbs & protein) for dinner in exchange for allowing our “son” Max to hang out for a spell. I sometimes think she might actually love him more than I do. And how do you really compare a mother’s love for her own child? Well… Gramma’s love for her grandson, might somehow eclipse mummy’s love, especially since she’s been a mum twice over. She even refers to Maximilian as her “grand puppy.” Very cute.

Sunday, slept in until about 10, then I spent the whole hour “waking up” listening to the news before sliding out of bed to eat chocolate bites cereal and toast. I pretty much spent the rest of the day doing laundry and browsing rentals in Hawaii. Nathan stated yesterday that if we plan on moving to Hawaii, the sooner the better. Oh my. There is no way I can save $10K before next summer. I can’t even safe $10k in two years. All my savings goes to paying off credit card bills (I charge my education, yes, no more loans for me!). Then there is our wedding… which I have decided to stop planning for now, considering that there are more pressing matters at hand.

Like training the dog, socialising the dog, feeding the dog, playing with the dog, watching Lost, reading up on style, reading in general, listening to the news, looking at listings in Hawaii… and maybe, studying.

Where is the time to plan a wedding? I didn’t even have the wherewithal to fashion blog my outfits from last week, and I had about four that I rather liked. Yeah. My own Flavour of Lazy. Besides being with the dog, and catching up on the show, there wasn’t anything I set to accomplish that I actually got done.

I did, however, run a 10K through the park. It was supposed to be a 10 Miler, but it started to get dark too quick and I had errands to run at Target. I cut it down to 6 miles instead, which I finished in a decent 1:19:11 (breaks down to about 13:10 minute miles–better than my 10K race back in July). I think I can successfully complete the half marathon as long as I carb and taper properly this week.

When I got home from the park and errands, it was about 8:30, and Nathan and I ate veggie bean stew over rice and watched a few episodes into Season 4. We fell asleep after the last drum crash and the Lost logo spun slowly onto the screen.

Oct 13, 2008 | inward, musing, run | 1 Comment »

Green Tip of the Day: Bang for Your Bar

More like Green Tip of the Month or… Season… I haven’t been posting these very often.

BANG FOR THE BITE

If 10,000 Biters buy a bar of soap instead of a container of the liquid stuff, we'll avert the weight of eight paralegals in packaging waste.

The Bite

The bar soap, that is, 'cuz the verdict's in: Bars are eco-friendlier and cheaper than liquid latherers. Plain(tiff) and simple.

The Benefits

• Eco-friendly evidence. In terms of weight, packaging waste accounts for 31% of the waste we send to landfills. Bars use way less.
• Saving to pay your law school loans. Bar soaps cost less than their liquid equivalents.
• An injunction against germs. Studies have found that bar soap (even when you share it with others) keeps you just as clean as liquid.

Wanna Try?

• Skinnyskinny Soap Set – gift-y set of six bars (many made with food-grade ingredients such as exfoliating black pepper), packaged in a zero-waste, book-shaped reusable box, with soaps wrapped in pages of discarded tomes ($48).
• SoapRocks – superlong-lasting, gemstone-inspired soap hunks ($15).
• Sappo Hill Glycerine Crème Soap – inexpensive and made with glycerine and coconut and palm oils; order without packaging for less waste ($2).

Personally Speaking:
I use soaps made by this African American company. I can buy them 4 for $10 at the Detroit Eastern Farmer’s market. The packaging is minimal, and made out of cardboard, which is recyclable. This is another thing I can do for the planet that minimizes my own individual impact on it.

What can you do?

Oct 08, 2008 | Eco | Comments Off

Advanced Loser-Being

I am kind of a loser, in that, I set myself up for failures a lot of the time, and then like to blame other people rather than take responsibility for my actions, and then take steps to surmount the situation I’ve thrown myself into.

I ran ten miles for the first time on Sunday.

But prior to getting myself out the door, I spent the entire day in a virtual angry, cantankerous funk. I didn’t lash out at anyone, but a foul mist, a pervasive sourness settled on all my emotions and shadowed our activities during the day. It got so bad, that after a small nap prior to getting out the door, N rejected me, “I don’t want to be around you right now.” I was repellent to him in my anger.

I couldn’t blame him. I was scared, nervous. Totally aware of the mistake I’d made by not training hard enough, and now that the half marathon is fast approaching (2 weeks), I had virtually nothing to show for but fear and an overwhelming sense of failure. So I got angry. Disappointment, when filtered through the Mae system, churns out anger, hostility, sulking, and frowns. I regress to childhood, throwing tantrums and stomping my feet. I know, I know, it’s terrible, but it is way too true.

I got out on the trail and started out slow, but strong, running 13 min miles, to keep the pain down. I systematically handled my liquid intake, measured when I should downgrade to a quick walk.

The anger started to boil. Around 2.5 miles, I was contemplating striding into the house with purpose, yanking open the door and throwing the engagement ring at N after packing a suitcase.

At mile 5 I realised how stupid I was, then my head started to pound and burn.

I like to blame everyone else for problems of my own making.

After doing so, I devise these complex ways to distance myself from the calamity I’ve blamed these people for. When I get disappointed and angry with myself, I blame N, the most important and closest person I have in my life. I devise theoretical strategies for leaving him with this ring, or running away after he’s said his vows at the altar. But I’m stupid.

It usually takes me a few hours before my head clears and I remember that running away from problems never fixes them, it just defers them. Blaming others for things I’ve done or not done doesn’t change the fact that the failure has occurred on my part, and it is only within my power to make the changes I need to extricate myself from the failure. I think succeeding is in part, acceptance of your faults, and your avid, earnest efforts to overcome them.

Oct 07, 2008 | relationships, run | Comments Off

1 Alarm Fire (My Own Personal Health Alarm)

There is something I found out about myself that really scared the shit out of me:

The rate of my weight loss is disproportionate to my rate of food consumption. I.E., I am losing more weight than I should be considering how much I eat.

I weighed myself this morning, as I occasionally do in the mornings, and where before I was a healthy 106LBS while running regularly and eating just as much, my body has shrunk down to 99.8LBS. Yesterday my weight was 101.3LBS.

My appetite has not shrunk. I am still eating carbs as much as possible. I try to intake as much protein from dairy, bean fibre, and veggies as I can (with the occasional, if pricey, fish). I eat breakfast now (or, I do more than I did a month ago). And I’m running less (albeit a bit harder when I do). (I did not run last night, which makes me feel rotten, because I was supposed to walk for forty-five minutes briskly…) So why the decrease?

I think now, even though I feel healthier, this is a broken spoke in the wheel that was otherwise moving along. If I feel good about my health and somewhat good about my running, there seems to be a universal factor by which something will edge itself in that good. I feel good, okay, so there’s something. I am losing weight I don’t want to lose, and my appetite is the same.

When I was more of a buxom–for me–weight at like 106 or 107, though I wasn’t at all happy with my little poochy belly, my face and arms looked full and curvaceous and delightful…

So what happened? I got so freaked this morning that I walked down to the bagel man when he came in and got the fattiest bagel WITH creme cheese. Carbs, Fats AND Protein. What more can I do? Can someone please enlighten me?

Sep 18, 2008 | Health, run | 4 Comments »