Dive!

Dive! Trailer from Compeller Pictures on Vimeo.

This post is for all of you that have given me grief over the last two years for dumpster diving.  Granted, when I dove almost two and a half years ago, I wasn't aware of the social justice action that I was taking part in.  

For those of you that are completely repulsed by the idea of digging food out of a trash can, take two minutes to watch the trailer for the documentary, Dive!  This film was made by the friends of my friends' friends :)  Not only are they surviving SOLELY off of food that they find in dumpsters, but they are engaging in the broader societal issues of world hunger, political machines, and agribusiness.  Additionally, in my mind, they are also engaging in broader theological issues of stewardship (caring for all of God's creation) with regard to the ways we consume as a culture.  The filmmakers expose the horrific facts on the waste that is produced within the food industry and juxtapose our excess with much of the world's deficit.  In other words, they wrestle with the question, "How is it possible that we can waste so much when so much of the world is going hungry?"

While the idea of dumpster diving as a lifestyle is new to me, these broader issues are precisely the ones that I'm wrestling with in the independent research project that I am involved in at my school.  Two other women and I meet every week over a shared meal and conversation about food, community, and spirituality.  We are supervised by a theology professor.  What a beautiful gift these women have been in my life (and in my marriage) to consider how my food choices reflect so much about my sense of self, community, and creation at large.  

If the trailer is intriguing, I HIGHLY recommend watching the whole film (it's only 50 minutes and it's currently on Netflix Instant!)  It has really sparked some great conversation between T and I with regards to the choices we make, our "food consciousness," and our lifestyle.

Stick it to the man!  Watch Dive!

To love is to risk, to be vulnerable, to be permeable.  To love and be loved is hard, but is there really anything else worth living for?

(Found here).

Ikea and Temple Grandin

I had my very first Ikea shopping experience today and arrived home in a state of utter shock-and-awe.  I wasn't sure what just happened, where I had just come from, or what to make of the entire experience.  My good friend, Michaela, and I left at 10am and arrived home at 2pm; from what I understand, four hours was a reasonably decent amount of time to have walked the two miles through the store.  Wow.  


I'm not sure if I liked it or hated it.  


After watching the one of the latest episodes of 30 Rock, in which Liz Lemon and her boyfriend, Chris, visit an Ikea together, I have to say I was a little nervous to go.  I described the actual building as a "giant, blue skyscraper fallen over on its side."  It was gargantuan.  Mammoth.  Titanic.  


When we went inside, after purchasing our $0.99 lattes, Michaela and I went to the starting line.  It wasn't a race, but it was.  It was so strange.  The tensions were high.  Not between Michaela and I, thankfully, but between every romantically involved couple that made their way through the rat-maze.  On multiple occasions I even overheard women on their cellphones snapping at their husbands/boyfriends/partners who weren't even IN the store about what to buy.  I mean, really, it runs deep.


So, my theory of the freaky Swedish jungle that Ikea has created is that they totally stole Temple Grandin's idea for moving livestock - err - people.  

Livestock have wide angle vision....Loading ramps and handling chutes should have solid side walls to prevent animals from seeing distractions outside the chute with their wide angle vision. Moving objects and people seen through the sides of a chute can cause balking or frighten livestock. Solid side walls are especially important if animals are not completely tame or they are unaccustomed to the facility. Blocking vision will stop escape attempts. This is why a solid portable panel is so effective for handling pigs. Sight restriction will lower stress levels. The wildest cow will remain calm in a darkened artificial...box which completely blocks vision. (Found here).

Just like this:

"Checkout" is right.

Ending...
                 Beginning...

Ikat

The cool-kids' version of tye-dye:

Ikat, or Ikkat, is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either the warp or weft fibres.
Bindings, which resist dye penetration, are applied to the threads in the desired patterns and the threads are dyed. Alteration of the bindings and the dyeing of more than one color produce elaborate, multicolored patterns. When all of the dyeing is finished the bindings are removed and the threads are ready to be woven into cloth.
The defining characteristic of ikat is the dyeing of patterns, by means of bindings, into the threads before cloth construction, the weaving of the fabric, takes place. Herein lies the difference between ikat and tie-dye. In tie-dye the fabric is woven first and the resist bindings are then applied to the fabric which is dyed.

(Images found here, here, and here.)

Study Buddy

Whitney

A little story...

We had roughly four incredible days of weather in Seattle this past week: sunshine, only a light jacket needed, and lots of walking instead of driving.  On one of the days that I had class, I wanted to take advantage of the bit of good weather and read outside in the Sculpture Park before sitting inside in front of a computer for several hours.  So, I settled down on this bench overlooking the Olympic Mountains, Elliott Bay, and the train tracks.  I read a bit, watched some of the pedestrians and runners going by, and enjoyed the warm sun.  While I'm trying to concentrate, I overheard the conversation of a gentleman on the phone.  I turned around to see a man in his mid-50s, wearing rolled-up khakis and a bright red windbreaker walking a bright teal bicycle down the gravel sidewalk with a vintage suitcase strapped to the back, talking on his bluetooth.  It was an odd combination of things to exist all at once.  The conversation he was having seemed even more strange; though I didn't get many of the details, I heard snippets like, "Well, that's wisdom honey...We know you stole it..."  He sounded heated.  I went back to reading.  Then, low and behold a few minutes later, I hear trumpet-music.  I look up.  It's the guy.  He's in the corner of the park with the vintage suitcase open on a wall, playing old church hymns on his trumpet and smoking a cigar.  A cigar!  I literally laughed out loud.  And it was some of the most beautiful music I'd ever heard!  He played about seven or eight songs, packed up his trumpet, and walked his bike back down the path - cigar in hand.

I recorded some for you.

In case you didn't know - I love this city.

Found here.

Today: grateful for a mama that encourages me to follow my dreams - even if they don't make a lot of sense.

“From my experience, you can’t wait around to find what you love. You gotta work your ass off. And then you find what you love by doing piles and piles of work.”
                                                                        - Kate Bingaman Burt 

Today, grateful for mountains, sunshine, natural light, toast with lots of butter, my cat's furriness, solitude.