slight evening headache

My head started hurting as I consumed mac and cheese in a restaurant this evening. Ow. I bet it is the quantity (and perhaps quality) of cheese I have eaten lately. I should watch that a bit closer. And I should have gone with fish tacos tonight. Maybe a lack of protein is the cause of this ringing? I'll have a small piece of fish too right now. (I cooked Coho again last night!)

Tomorrow I'll turn in some paper that I have written. FINALLY finished my summer paper. Due only 5 1/2 weeks ago! It's as ready to go as it's gonna be. Along with the 3-page works cited reference list and a lesson plan. It's a nice project that I am proud of.

Also tomorrow is the first paper for THIS quarter. A short reflection for "Foundations of Environmental Education" class on Richard Louv's Nature Principle. It's a good read and inspiring for those of us with any inclination towards the natural world. It is a compilation of various things that folks are doing to integrate their lives more with nature, save money, create peaceful and safe communities and raise the value of life. There are lots of ideas that each of us can pull from this book to make our lives more fulfilling. Really.

Something I read in "Conservation Psychology" class really bugs me. In Clayton and Myers' Conservation Psychology (2009), from a poll to college students, "Although there were some differences depending on the behavior being examined, conservation behaviors were uniformly seen to indicate lower status" (67). These behaviors include: drying clothes on a clothesline, taking public transportation, and recycling.

This explains how I want to live. I suppose that means in the eyes of my peers or neighbors or others, I will be deemed a lower status. Ooooh. Not a big deal for someone like me who is always doing the opposite of everyone anyways. But it bothers me that others, who might be more inclined to care about image, will purposefully NOT do these things because of what "it might say about them to others." I will not hate on those people; indeed image is what some folks need. But the idea that these elements creates a "lower" image SHOULD change because it is wrong.

These actually say: "I care about the earth," "I care about my health," "I care about you and your health too," or simply, "I care." This image must change, and post-haste, because it is false. So, if you see anyone recycling, or drying clothes on a line, composting, taking public transportation, growing vegetables in a garden or raising chickens, then the first thought should be, "that person cares about me because they are minimizing our human impact on this planet." A second thought could be, "how might I mimic them to show others that I care too?"

Wow, I got preachy. But this is it. This is the web space that I have to share my truth. Good night moon!