Weekend Required Reading

First, a little homework:

The Bush Administration is looking to render the Endangered Species Act into an ineffective joke. You can read more about it here, or read the actual proposed changes here, or more importantly, leave a comment outlining how angry all this makes you here. (Thanks to Burbanmom for those last two links.)

Personally, I worry that electronic comments don’t carry the same weight as bags and bags of letters (I’m thinking of the court scene in Miracle on 34th Street here), so I’m going to hand write a letter, my kids are going to hand write letters, and I encourage you to write a letter too, ASAP. These get mailed to:

The first APLS carnival is live and on the air, talking about what it means to live sustainably. My Rats of NIMH post is over there, as well as many, many other thoughtful, insightful, and funny contributions. I was nervous about this whole project as a fairly new blogger but I’m glad I participated, I really feel like I’m becoming a part of a community.

Jenny at FancyPants brings up an alternative acronym to APLS: the scuppie (Socially Conscious Upwardly-mobile Person). Personally, I’ve learned after much internal turmoil to embrace the term “dirty hippie”. What term do you prefer?

Stores in New York who leave their doors open while the a/c is on may be fined for wasting energy. I thought this was great, but the comments on the article were mostly negative, throwing around terms like “police state” and “government control”. Are these people for real?

I hardly ever watch TV anymore, and we have the most basic of cable- primarily for my husband’s Phillies and Eagles addiction. Now that I know that Planet Green is premiering a new show called Stuff Happens hosted by the superhero of nerds everywhere, Bill Nye, I feel needle-sharp pangs of deprivation. Maybe these episodes will be accessible via the internet? Pretty, pretty please?

Speaking of the Eagles, apparently their cheerleaders are going green, or at least sporting eco-conscious bikinis in their calendar. I will reserve comment on the Eagles in general (and how my husband wastes hours of his life supporting them, ’cause they always let him down) and rather say that I approve of their Go Green program. Hopefully Eagles fans will be inspired…

Vegetables in the UK no longer required to be beautiful! Yay! There be hope yet for Mr. Tomato:

Exactly which vegetables are excused from the beauty part of the competition is not specified.

Which brings me to my next point, which is that many of the things that I have believed to be vegetables are actually fruits in disguise. People! String beans are fruit. Squash are fruit. All this time I have been feeding my children mis-information…and FRUIT!

Rounding out the list with some “happy”, I learned from gala darling that Tim Burton is directing a new Alice in Wonderland. Early rumors hint that the Mad Hatter may be portrayed by (surprise, surprise) Johnny Depp. I have no idea how this news escaped my attention but I am ecstatic, joyful, excited, my heart leaps up, overall my demeanor is comparable to that of a golden retriever puppy, being picked up from the neighbor’s after a week-long separation.

That’s right. I am golden retriever happy.

And if you were wondering why I haven’t been posting as much as I once did, it is all Krissy’s fault at Paper Schmaper for showing me this. It’s like origami, only on steroids, and maybe also laced with highly addictive crack.

If, as Emerson says, we become that which we think about all day long, I am now beautiful, delicate, infinitely complicated, infuriating, frustrating beyond all belief, easily screwed up beyond redemption, totally worth the effort, and also made of 100% post-consumer recycled paper. And I think I’m OK with that.

There! That should keep you busy. Read anything tasty lately? Shoot it my way!