They Draw and Cook

Cute, Creative, and Tasty!!
Check out this sweet blog of recipes that were drawn!
http://www.theydrawandcook.com/

New Things

Sometimes I just need new things. Like a new category of things to do or love. For me right now its using photoshop to make popart. I used to really be turned off by it, but I've started going on ffffound.com a lot, and I've really warmed up to it. Imagine if I wrote a childrens book from start to finish in Swahili. I wonder if that exists... I feel like MASA is becoming a center for my sudden creative urges. I just feel so good today, only because I've been having fun ideas. I got a children's button maker at Michaels from th clearance rack. Apparently button makers are a difficult thing to find these days...perhaps because buttons are so profitable in the indie decor realm. I want to make school supplies to use for the students. I'm convinced its not simply enough that they have materials, but the right materials. For example, english learning books for students who are not only early learners of a 2nd and 3rd language, but with environment contexts that are familiar to Maasai children.

I will try to make some cartoons on the computer. I'm really going to miss the MC. Having all that equipment and software available to use? That's so ridiculous...I don't want to miss opportunities to use it anymore. Logic and Photoshop, here I come!

Traveling...sometimes it's all I want to do

Bicycle tours for hours and days? Yes, please! Just think, being brave enough to tackle 70-80 miles a day on a bike with everything you have in bags that hang on either side of your bike, carrying water, food, changes of clothes, a tent, a map, repair kits, spare bike parts and little else? I think its all I want to do! I don't know if ol' Ted (my schwinn from the 80s I got from craigslist, probably stolen) could handle such a challenge but I want to try! I hate, hate, hate driving. The writer of a bike touring article puts it perfectly:

" I have left the car at home because I did not want to spoil the mood of the day. To me cycling is a pleasurable activity that I do of my own free will, while driving a car is an uncomfortable activity I have to do in order to meet other people's requirements. My behavior while driving is different from my behavior while cycling. When I was younger, I used to curse and fume at other people's slowness and stupidity while I was driving. Now that I am "over the hill" or "mature" (take your choice), I feel threatened by other people's kamikaze driving. Five hours of driving makes me lethargic and dreamy, gives me aching legs, and leaves me out of the mood for doing anything active. Five hours of cycling passes pleasantly and safely. I feel less at risk, my mood remains cheerful, I remain alert, my legs arrive full of energy, and I arrive happy."

This morning I had to drive from NOVA to Richmond so I could contest a traffic ticket in court. I woke up at 6 AM, started driving at 7, nearly passed out on the road so I pulled out and napped briefly at a gas station, recharged with coffee, made it into the city and had to take 20 minutes just to find a 2-hour metered parking spot, ran into the courtroom and sat for 4 HOURS while I cases ranging from minor traffic violations like mine to missing jail sentences, went outside to find a ticket waiting for me under a wiper, went back in to sit for another half an hour as one of the last people to get called up, flashed my registration at the judge, walked out with a dismissed case, drove to the nearest subway where i tried to calm myself with a footlong meatball sub (I wouldn't call it an addiction, but maybe a weakness) and drove the 2 hours back to Falls Church. I came back home and couldn't even bring myself to go for a walk, much less a jog.

I hate the cramp I get in my leg when I drive too long. I hate desperately searching on my ipod for some band that will keep my attention for longer than 10 minutes. I hate that I spend so much money on gas as one person going from one city to another, a journey identical to hundreds of others that morning, yet we all have to stamp out our own carbon footprint. I'm not judging anyone for doing it, but I really dislike being a part of it.

Here's the cool website about biking long distances.
http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/

I think one day I'll gain the courage and the strength to do it. In the meantime, I'll have to stick to exploring Williamsburg. One of my problems is that I am quite afraid of the world. I'm scared of strangers. I know I'm small and I've come to terms with never having that second growth spurt I've been praying for every night. I also know I'm a woman and that means a very different type of exploring. I couldn't just pitch a tent in a plot of grass on the side of the interstate and camp until morning. But what a dream. I think it would be great to have a partner to do all these exciting things with. One day, I'm sure I'll meet someone.

In the meantime, I suppose I can deal with being an introverted traveler. In fact this article makes a good case for it: http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2010/02/19/in-defense-of-the-introverted-traveler/ I do love traveling and in a way I envy the people who really put themselves out there and meet people and get in on all the activities of the locals. But for me, that's just too much aggression into another place, another culture. I don't feel comfortable acting like a person I'm not when I'm in my own element at home. That doesn't mean I want to ignore people or avoid participating...but certainly I like to be able to observe.

Colorado was beautiful. I wish I could have seen more of it. I bet biking around would be so satisfying and magnificent. Next time...