The Japan Effect

"I know I keep saying it, but I really wish I was in Japan right now."
A sentence my brother has uttered to me said daily since the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster happened in Japan.
To some people, hearing both of us say that might sound a little strange. Why would we want to be there in the middle of a natural disaster? Japan is where we grew up, it is our home so naturally we want to be there to help the people we love rebuild a country we love.
Hours after the earthquake my Dad was skyping and e-mailing our close family friends, The Sato's, to make sure everyone in their family was accounted for. We got word that everyone was safe but Tomoko and Yuka were stuck in Tokyo because of the trains.
My family being one that is familiar with disaster (and being Mormon) we knew immediately that the Satos would most likely need an emergency food source since the grocery stores were quickly running out of food and batteries. My Dad consulted my brother and I on the best brand of backpacking food and then took off for Costco to buy a life type supply of batteries and dried food for back packing. The next day it was shipped off to the Sato's, since they were still receiving mail in Fujisawa. I received a forwarded e-mail from Sato san a few days later that read, "You are such a great man. We opened boxes. Surprise ! Many batteries.Lamps! foods.survival goods. You absolutely Ultra man ! We just laugh and then tears... We have great family in USA. Really appreciate you and Jodie san. No words for thanks. If you can open attached movie files,watch our joy."
Since the Sato's are family to us, Eric and I decided to send our own box to them. One filled with all the sweet moral boosters you could ever need. Girl Scout cookies, Ritter Sport, and Fruit Loops.
Ok, I know what you are thinking, but in the middle of a crisis wouldn't you want something to boost your moral?Sure, we could have saved that money we spent sending a package to them and donated it to a relief fund, but I am happy to know that my contribution is going to directly impact people I love.
I am encouraging everyone I know to donate whatever they can to support the cause in Japan. Whatever you can donate, they can use.

Notes on a (environmental) scandal

It is no secret I am an environmentalist. By profession, no. By passion and dedication, yes. I don't need to give a laundry list of reasons why I am dedicated to making the world a better place. In all honesty, it just happened that way for me.

Having worked at a student bike center focused around sustainability and for the Utah Conservation Corp for a total of three years, I have gotten to know the environment. The simple changes we can make in our daily lives to better our bodies and the world around us make more of an impact that we think they do. For example, making meat 10 percent of your protein intake will not only help you become healthier, you are also helping decrease factory farming, one of the most unsustainable farm practices (in more than one way).

In the Spring of 2009, while on (bike) tour with the band Shake Your Peace!, I was told about a man named Tim DeChristopher who had bid on 14 parcels of BLM land that were going to be leased for oil and gas drilling. His bidding tab amounted to $1.8 million. At first I thought, "Wow, this guy is a hero! Way to stick it to the man and dedicate yourself to the environment." I did a little research on him and thought he had done the right thing, to some degree.

Last March I moved to Moab to do conservation work on BLM land with the Utah Conservation Corp. I fell in love with the beautiful landscape and often found myself thinking, "Why would anyone want to screw this land up by drilling on it?"

While living down South I was taking an environmental studies class focused around public lands. I got to know why BLM land is range land, why we drill on parts of it for oil and gas, and why it is important to protect it.

As part of the class we were required to read a number of articles on Tim DeChristopher written by different points of view. I hadn't thought about DeChristopher much since 2009 but now I was interested in what was going on. I dug a little deeper into his case and realized, he didn't bid on those parcels for environmental reasons, he bid on them for personal reasons. Though people may think that DeChristopher had done something revolutionary by bidding on those parcels of land, he is only one in a line of environmentally conscious people who have bid, and won, parcels of land headed for oil and gas drilling. The difference? He had no intention of paying for them, the others paid up.

I am extremely skeptical of DeChristopher and his "environmentalism". I am familiar with a large amount of environmentalist, extremists and none extremists, all having their own reasons for doing what they do. But they all have one thing in common, they don't show horse the work they do for the environment, they do it because they love it. Their actions are also similar, they ride bikes, plant gardens, support local projects dedicated to sustainability, and are about 80 percent vegetarian. None of them seek the lime light for their actions and they never seek out celebrities for their cause. They are all quiet riots of sustainability.

This is not the case for DeChristopher. Seeking out the support of Patagonia clothing company, Robert Redford, and other celebrities seems like only a personal ploy. If DeChristopher had really wanted to use his environmental foot hold for good, he would have got involved with grassroots organizations, marched with the people in West Virginia to end mountain top removal, and spent less of his time seeking out celebrities to back him at film festivals.

I realize that I sound angry. That is because I am. Angry that some one would use environmentalism to gain celebrity status and expect to not get the book thrown at them for breaking the law. I work hard to make sure people don't think that sustainability is a movement full of hippies. when someone like DeChristopher comes along, he makes us all look like Earth First, E.L.F (earth liberation front) freak shows and I get a little irked.

Tim DeChristopher broke the law and no "necessary evil" defense is going to change that. As far as I am concerned the only necessary evil is on public lands. Oil and gas drilling and range land leasing are necessary evils because we have made them so. If we want to protect our lands from these things, we have to change our life styles so we no longer rely on cows, oil, and gas. That is only way for more protection to happen.

I want thoughts on this. If you think Tim DeChristopher is a saint, I want to hear why.

Being outside

I have been reading up on bike a lot lately. My brother and his girlfriend are doing a tour of Napa Valley and need some help getting bikes and touring gear together. I feel like a kid in a candy shop with every bike parts website and shop I look at.
Damn, I love bikes. I love them a lot and I feel so blessed I get to go to mechanic school in a two months and learn more about them. What a fine machine. Looking back into the memory banks of my mind, some of the best and most calming moments are those associated with riding my bike. Even in Europe, where I was miserable, I was so happy to be riding my bike and seeing the country side of Bavaria. What is there not to love about bikes?
I went to the climbing gym on Wednesday and had a bonfire ignited inside me that I can't seem to put out. I forgot how much I loved climbing and how good it makes me feel. I have had some great moments at the crag with friends; night climbing in Logan Canyon, learning how to lead with Annie, getting lost in the City of Rocks, climbing at the only crag in Kanab, Utah with my crew from UCC.
Since Wednesday I have been doing some research on where I want to climb this summer. I don't want to put climbing on the back burner again, I bought a 70 meter rope for a reason. There are three big spots I want to hit in the next six months; City of Rocks, Triasic, and Moab. I want to get back in touch with climbing on a bigger level. Not a First Assent kind of way, but a, "I love the rock, I love the earth, I love myself, so I want to climb this." I want to do multi pitch climbs, easy climbs, hard climbs, bouldering. I guess you could say I want it all with climbing. I have been at the same place with climbing for a while now. I don't want to be in that place any more, I want to be better than that place. I am done being mediocre, so I am going to do what I can to be great. I know I will never be Lynn Hill when it comes to climbing, Evelyn Stevens when it comes to cycling, or a Lindsey Vonn when it comes to skiing, but I've got passion, isn't that what matters the most?
Today I am taking that passion to the mountain with me and enjoying the 19 inches of powder we were blessed with last night. I am fully aware of my inability to ski powder like a champ, but I have to start some where and Honeycomb Canyon sounds like the place.

Gotta let it out

When your Saturday night looked a little like this, it is hard to remember where Sunday went.

Actually, I worked a double last night, which means I was working from 3 pm- 8 am. I still haven't slept and I am wondering when I am going to get tired. Even after skiing for two hours, still wasn't tired. I have been up for over 36 hours. What is wrong with me?

Skiing today was beautiful. I know it is Sunday and by my own standards, I really shouldn't have gone out on the slope. But I was up at the mountain any way so I thought I would make a few runs. I met up with my friend John and we did a couple runs together. I like skiing with other people, it makes me more confident. Having some one to ski with is always worth a few laughs too.
I can't quit thinking about how beautiful it was on the mountain today. Blue bird skies, no wind, a chill in the air, only a few people on the mountain and a friend to share it all with.
For the past few weeks everyday has felt like the best day ever. I don't know why. I could get yelled at by a patron at work and five minutes later I think, "Man, today is great!" Call me resilient.


I made two loaves of sourdough bread this weekend. They were devoured by the beasts and a can of Nutella.

I found these

Gina will probably kill me for posting these but...whatever.
I found my digital pictures from senior prom the other night while looking for a pair of scissors in my desk. There are a whole slew of photos from 2004 on the disk but the Prom ones called to be posted on the interweb.

25? Why are you not married?

Yes, I did get asked that today. Again. For the 2nd time this week.

So why are people asking me this?

Good question.
For those of you who don't live in Utah, that may have stumbled upon my blog, being female, not a return missionary, and single at the age of 25 in Utah means there is something wrong with you.

What is wrong with me?

I am a radical. An extremist. A hippie. A brazen woman.

Really?

No.

I am none of these things.

I'm not marries because I haven't met the right person.

This could be due to the fact that I call a spade a spade, I speak out at inopportune times, I don't trust easily, I have opinions I share often and don't change easily. I some times go a month without shaving my legs (but I cover them up so you can't tell). I swear....like a sailor. I lived an equal amount of months outside as I did in a house last year. I wear Carhartts. I drive a Subaru with stickers on the trunk window that read "Quit eating babies America! Eat more poetry" and "Protect Wild Utah" and "No Farms. No Food". I shop organic. I can repack the baring in a bike wheel, overhaul a drive train, adjust the breaks and fit someone to a bike better than most guys.

I am not married not because I compost, vote, quilt, cook dinner for three people nearly every night of the week, have a BS in journalism, garden, ride a bike, make bread weekly, ski, play violin, minored in music, collect vinyl records, scrap book, crochet, start my garden from seed, love making people smile, give willingly, wear high heals, love unconditionally. Because I'm 32 flavors and then some.

I'm not married because it hasn't happened yet.

Plain and simple.

Bread

Bread has once again taken over my life. Outside of working, skiing, reading, preparing the garden, and training, I have been geeking out about bread. No, I am not working at a shop again (sadly) but since my roommates and I are trying to cut costs and I have the ability to make bread, I have become the head bread maker in our house. It has been great to take on that responsibility again since I love making a really good loaf of bread.
Since getting a starter going again my bread production has increased and my excitement for bread as well. There is something great about having a really good starter that makes bread production that much better.
I fed the starter tonight in preparation for tomorrows dough. Giddy and smiling I head to bed knowing that the microorganisms are having a party in the glass bowl sitting on my counter top. mmm.....