dis(au)gusta, here we begrudgingly, heavyheartedly come!

Emily and I are a week away from our favorite annual tradition: moving!  I mean, it appears that we dread it and hate the whole thing, but it must be a favorite if we do it every year, right?  anyway, this year, we are moving another hour north, up to Augusta, ME.  well, maybe less “moving” and more “being sent into exile.”  I think that’s what Emily has decided to call this next year: Our Year in Exile.

here’s a photo of Augusta:

do not be fooled by this photo!  it’s of the only halfway decent blocks in the city, and there’s not even that much cool stuff (stores, book stores, antiques, etc.).  Hallowell has three times more in a third of the distance.  this is more like what you’d find in Augusta.

minus the flooding, of course.  when we went up there to find apartments, we were initially optimistic that some of the cheap listings online would be livable, so we could then save lots and lots o money, but they really weren’t.  some were tiny with no storage, some were run down, some were tiny and run down, and so on.  it was really discouraging.

in the end, we took an apartment we’d seen online for some time in Hallowell, which is right by Augusta by is kind of cute with an arts-and-crafts-y downtown area (albeit a very tiny one). this is Hallowell (with Augusta — the nicer part by the capital — in the distance):

it’s super tiny, but at least the people there seem to take pride in the appearance of their homes and yards (not to mention the fact that most, if not all, of them were fully clothed).  apparently Hallowell is an extremely gay friendly part of Maine, so that’s also a plus.

the apartment itself is a step up, insofar as our current place is very tiny (with the tiniest kitchen in the world).  so it will be nice to take advantage of the increased storage and living space.  there’s also a deck in the back leading to the yard, which we don’t share with anyone (being the only apartment on that level), so we may even have the chance to have some potted plants or grow some veggies starting next spring.

no matter what, it will be an adjustment.  no more walking down to Whole Foods ever (other) day for fresh groceries.  instead, we’ll be making weekly or bi-weekly trips.  on the plus side, though, Augusta has the world’s first platinum-certified LEED grocery store, a Hannaford, so that means lots of energy efficiency, organic and local offerings, and even a section (supposedly) where we can pick our own veggies!?  so that will be fun checking out.

it will also be very strange adjusting to the quiet.  not that Portland is the noisiest place in the world, but we do live on a busy corner, so we hear people (sometimes screaming and fighting) and loud vehicles (esp. emergency ones) all the time.  hopefully the kittens won’t be too bored staring out into…nature?

overall, the year is likely to go very fast.  Emily will be working longish hours in various hospitals, and I’ll be commuting down to Boston two days a week, and continuing to volunteer two days a week to build up my library/archives CV.  I’ll continue to volunteer with and do my internship at Maine Historical Society, in Portland, but I may also use one of those days to volunteer in Augusta, probably at the Maine State Archives, but maybe at the state museum.  we’ll see.  and during my three “free” days each week, I’ll have plenty of course work and editing to catch up on, so we’ll be really busy.  throw in monthly trips to Boston and/or Portland, as well as Newburyport, and we’re fairly confident that the year we’ll go by very quickly.

PLUS the “housing” market in Boston opens up so far in advance, that we’ll get to start looking for places and waiting for the right apartment to open up (come on, Davis Sq!) as soon as February or March.

as much as we don’t looooooove everything about Portland, it’s still very nice, and we’re definitely going to miss it next year.  part of our deal with Portland is our desire to get out of Maine, period, and moving further into Maine, to a town with less things to do and probably even less diversity (if possible), is scary.

so wish us luck this week and next!  we will need lots of physical and emotional strength, not to mention bug spray, to make the move and to make the best of the coming year.

bulk shopping

Emily and I are excited about these new bags we just bought, which can be used for shopping for the various bulk items we get a Whole Foods or elsewhere.  it’s another small step in trying to reduce some of our waste (though the paper or plastic we’d use before is recyclable).

we hope to find something to use for the various spices we buy.  maybe we can just use small plastic bags and reuse them?  I saw a bamboo “tree” online today that is used for drying plastic bags so you can reuse them.  my mom always reused freezer bags when she could.

we also bought a few glass jars for storing some more of our bulk items.  we figure that we make beans enough to justify buying them in bulk and not buying cans each week (so again, less waste), though this means a bit more prep time for our meals.

now all we need is a giant kitchen to store everything in…

break out the elastic pants

’cause we done found a new way to make us some delicious vegan pizza, y’all.

we used the recipe for “basil tofu ricotta” in Veganomicon for the “cheesy” part, and then just threw on some veggies (along with the sauce from Whole Foods).  so far we’d been making pizza with a basil-walnut pesto as the base sauce, which is super delish, but this is a great new addition.  in fact, it’s sooo good and so much closer to what I would traditionally have as a pizza (yet still much better for you than having it covered in cheese, I must point out) that my extra stomach opened up and I ate my entire half, whereas I’d been much better about only eating two slices (or maybe three…).

no impact? shmimpact.

as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, Emily and I are baby-stepping our way toward living more responsibly and having a less negative impact on the environment.  living verdantly, if you will.  so, for instance, we replaced paper towels with cloth napkins that we wash, we bring bags when we grocery shop and refuse them at stores (whenever possible), we eventually hope to have a home garden and compost (soon as we can get a porch…), we try to buy locally (we participated in a farm share this summer) or organically, I try to buy only used books (I do think the printing industry needs to be reined in — why can’t we print on recycled paper already?!), we now use an environmentally friendly cat litter which we can flush, and we’ve managed to use less than one trash bag per week (we recycle everything! — that’s not bragging, that’s weariness at having to cart it all out sometimes).

and obviously going vegan (or even just vegetarian) is a huge step in “going green,” as the kids say.  there’s an abundance of literature and data out there (such as a 2006 UN report, reported here by the FAO) on the effects of the meat industries on the environment, in terms of emissions, run-off pollution, land and forest ruination, and the amount energy (and food!) it takes to produce so much meat, etc.

in fact, PETA (of which Emily and I are not fans, mind you, for various reasons) has a campaign, aimed at growing environmental consciousness, based around the idea that meat isn’t green.  I would say that there are “green” and responsible ways to produce and consume meat, but it’s much more expensive and you have to know exactly where your meat is coming from to be able to say that you’re taking part in that type of solution.

but anyway, there’s much, much more we can do — and a whole mess of things we can do only when we’re homeowners one day.  so we’re up for suggestions and figuring out what we can gradually, practically, affordably work into our everyday lives.

enter “no impact man,” the man, the movie, the book.  while I haven’t read or seen much at all of this, I am aware of the “no impact” challenge and the overall idea.  here’s a brief video about what he did and the challenge (warning: a bit cheesy):

now before I comment further, I have to get this out of the way: I am a rather skeptical person, and I cannot help but see all of this and wonder, how much of this was based on a sincere desire to change for the better, and how much was a struggling writer/journalist seeing giant dollar signs.  I mean, only a year?  It’s not like he’s a blogger who’s gone nine years without purchasing anything like this guy.  plus, I imagine that there are swarms of freegans out there who overall make less of an impact, though not in a way that contributes to society, of course …

plus, he turned this into a popular blog, a book deal, and a freaking’ movie! he had cameras following him around from the start, so you know he had the whole media package in mind.  now, a lot of good may come of this, and I can’t blame him for trying to make a change and incorporating ways to share that venture and then subsequently promote lasting changes — because he has to stick with this for however long he’s riding the publicity train.  however, I see a lot of self-interested opportunity in the whole thing, and so there you have it.  (also, as I mentioned, the video is a bit sappy, so I wonder who the film is.  you needed to go “no impact” before you could improve your relationship with your wife?)

anyway, I at least like the fact that the book is printed on 100% paper, but that’s just something we should be doing in general.  as much as I love books, we seriously need to make the transition fast before we inevitably move to all digital technology.  one day I will get a kindle-like device, which will be somewhat sad, but I recognize the necessity and inevitability (though the devices themselves will still produce more trash, so I want one made responsibly that will run efficiently, etc.), and I can always keep collecting the endless books I still haven’t read yet in their already printed paper versions.

OK, on to the practical tips, which can be found listed here.

3) no coffee in disposable cups: I used to have a mug I carried with me all the time as I commuted and followed this policy; then I stopped going as often and never have my mug and so have started slacking on this when I do go.  OK fine, back to vigilance!

9) how in the world can I take my own take-out boxes/bags to a restaurant?  maybe we should just start eating at places instead of producing the trash … will have to give this one a think.  life isn’t worth living without occasional Indian or Thai, so…

13) I’d love to be able to buy locally from people who will take back jars and whatnot … in our farm share, we give them cloth bags and we cycle them around, so we didn’t produce any waste.

26) making our own cleaners: we’ll look into that.

28-29) making our own deodorant and shampoo: tried with the shampoo briefly but with greasy results.  we have just started using all natural, no chemical shampoo and deodorant from Whole Foods (or at least Emily has while I finish up the rest of our old stuff), so that’s a change.  but there is still a bit of trash produced, though recyclable it is.

hmm, so a few of these suggestions rely on using the trash of other people for your own needs.  not exactly a perfect longterm solution, but at least it’s a way of making use of what’s already there as people transition.  eventually, we’d need other solutions (as if everyone’s gonna start doing this anytime soon, though…).  but I do think that if we all make sincere efforts, even some inconvenient ones, to significantly alter our much trash we produce and how much we contribute to waste and pollution with what we buy (where it comes from and what’s in it), and we recycle the rest and get better recycling programs out there — and we buy recycled to support those efforts — then there will be a huge impact.

but is it already too late?  maybe (did I mention I’m also a cynic?), though that won’t keep me from trying to make the best and most necessary decisions to my ability when I’m confronted with what’s what.

garlic smells like home

first day off the provided vegan food, first night for a new recipe.  we loaded up on veggies and fruit at Whole Foods and looked like the healthiest people ever checking out. dinner tonight, adjust for two persons, naturally:

Artichoke & Angle Hair Pasta

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 box angle hair pasta
1 can (15oz) of diced organic fire roasted tomatoes
1 jar (6oz) capers
2 jars (8oz) marinated artichoke hearts
1 can chopped black olives
3 cloves garlic
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon oregano

Directions:

-Heat olive oil in pan over high heat for 2 minutes.
-Add garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes.
-Add tomatoes, bay leaf, and oregano and let cook for 5 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
-Lower heat to simmer and add capers, artichoke hearts, & black olives
-Let simmer for about 15 minutes
-Add Salt & pepper to taste
-While simmering prepare angel hair pasta following directions on the box.
-Serve sauce over angel hair.

my history’s future

once again, been a bit too long since an update.  that always makes it harder to just jump in.  so here’s a montage.

• several Tibetan men throwing our stuff around in a panic-rush to pack our truck
• all day moving into new apt in Portland
• all weekend, with family, building furniture and unpacking
• couch brought in through window cause it was too big to fit in through hall
• Emily starts classes; chops up dead person
• I start editing, slowly
• Whole Foods down the street; lots of good cooking
• Bank of America continues to screw us over with outrageous fines
• Portland/Maine=late 90s

that’s pretty much it.  on a more grand, large-scale note, I am starting to seriously rethink a possible direction of PhD work.  granted, I’m always thinking about it and I’ve thought about several specific directions to take.  but now I’m starting to consider applying to some history of Christianity programs.

originally, I wanted nothing to do with work in just one tradition.  plus, I wanted to specialize in antiquity, being able to teach a range of topics.  still, do, of course.  but I’m also starting to think about a few other things.

1) the most obvious is hire-ability.  chances are better than a school will need someone able to teach in any wider period of church history than just one specific period, and on some very specific topic I choose.  plus, most of the schools with good “religion in antiquity” programs have specialty faculty in all of the areas in which I’m working to be conversant.

2) the more I’m out of a program, and the more I am able to read in general, the more I’d be excited to have an excuse to do wider preparation in various historical periods, especially American religious history.  I’ve been enjoying getting out of my field.  plus, the wider my general preparations, the better (maybe) I’ll be able to judge what specific area in all that history needs substantial work (=dissertation).

3) the more I am dragging myself into religious debates regarding faith in the modern world, the history of secularism, etc, the more I want to have something intelligent, unique to add to debates.  the history of Christianity with regard to, say, developments in the sciences or human rights (or other more secular ideas we take for granted in the US and in much of the world today), is fraught with selective nostalgia and memory loss.  everyone wants to take credit for whatever we deem good and proper today.  Christianity (and other religions) are perfectly compatible with “secular” values and much of the developments in science (and “knowledge” overall)–but only because people will make any worldview or religion compatible with faith, no matter how absurd it may seem at times.  I think it is intellectually and morally dishonest to be a person of faith today and think that so many of our values today, many of which were won DESPITE the majority of religious persons and were considered antithetical to those religions, are part of the “essence” of that religion.  each new generation takes everything for granted and thinks that saving Darfur or the environment is what the gospel is all about, when most people haven’t given two shits about either for so long.  there is so much filching and appropriation of things conceived outside of religious circles as if those things were always what that religion was about.  and the religious persons before who weren’t so concerned with, say, women’s rights or abolishing slavery?  well, they simply weren’t real believers.

anyway, semi-rant finished.  point is: I’m thinking of a new, wider, more general and (peraps) more immediately relevant path for PhD work…..hopefully I can direct some reading and have a good think before I put too much time into applications.

ok, off to a picnic!