They got him...

For those of you who don't know, one my old friends was murdered in April of 2007. One of the guys who did it was a citizen of Mexico and they've been trying to extradite him for the past year. They finally got him. On some message boards Greg was made out to look like the bad guy here because he was 'lured by sex with a minor'. In my opinion, you cancel out your 'minor' status when you purposely lure someone to your house, tie them up and murder and rob them. Losers - too bad they're not seeking the death penalty, but hopefully they will both be tortured horribly in prison for a long long time.

Go to hell you meanless excuses for human beings. You're wasting our air.

The Greatest Comeback of All Time...

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

So I've Been Doing Some Reading...

It all started with Botany of Desire by Michael Pollen. The premise of this book is to look at the world from a plants-eye view. It sounds strange but it's really intriguing! The typical way humans look at the world is basically that we are in control, we plant the food or plants and water them and care for them and manipulate them to suit our needs. But think about how plants might see this relationship, what are they doing to get us to cater to them the way we do. Pollen says that the goal of any species (not the individuals) is to duplicate itself. So somehow these plants have figured out how to get us to provide them with what they need to duplicate. It's a give and take relationship - we give them what they need, they give us what we desire. To demonstrate this he uses 4 common plants and explains how each of them have fulfilled our desires, which in turn fulfills their needs. The plants along with our associated desire are: apples/sweetness, tulip/beauty, marijuana/intoxication, and potato/control. It's a really interesting take on the world. Very educational too. I highly recommend this book.

You have to watch this!

Read This Book!

I finished reading this book at least a month ago and I can't stop thinking about it! I think I'll just have to read it again. Obviously I recommend it. It's so interesting and it really makes you think about things in a different way than we're used to. One thing I liked is that Mr. Weisman really looks at things objectively and avoids the "humans are inherently evil" attitude that many enviromental advocates tend to have. I've never bought into that. While it would be completely blind to think that humans don't have a huge impact on the earth, to think that we have the power to all out destroy it is also ignorant. The truth is that the earth was here long before us, will be here long after we're gone, and has always and will continue to change whether we're here or not.
Some parts of this book made me feel better about where we stand with our relationship with the earth (it's NOT doomsday!), other parts were a little scary, but most of it was just plain interesting.
Those of you who have never heard of this book are probably wondering what this book is all about so here's some info from the website for the book:

In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity's impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us.

In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; what of our everyday stuff may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe.

The World Without Us reveals how, just days after humans disappear, floods in New York's subways would start eroding the city's foundations, and how, as the world’s cities crumble, asphalt jungles give way to real ones. It describes the distinct ways that organic and chemically-treated farms would revert to wild, how billions more birds would flourish, and how cockroaches in unheated cities would perish without us. Drawing on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders from rabbis to the Dalai Lama, and paleontologists – who describe a pre-human world inhabited by megafauna like giant sloths that stood taller than mammoths – Weisman illustrates what the planet might be like today, if not for us.
From places already devoid of humans (a last fragment of primeval European forest; the Korean DMZ; Chernobyl), Weisman reveals Earth's tremendous capacity for self-healing. As he shows which human devastations are indelible, and which examples of our highest art and culture would endure longest, Weisman's narrative ultimately drives toward a radical but persuasive solution that doesn't depend on our demise. It is narrative nonfiction at its finest, and in posing an irresistible concept with both gravity and a highly-readable touch, it looks deeply at our effects on the planet in a way that no other book has.

Where have I been?

Around. I don't know, I guess I've just been lazy. Spring is almost here and today was the first day I didn't have to wear a coat to work (remember, I catch the bus at about 6:30am). It was already over 50 degrees! I am getting ready to propagate my houseplants now, they are doing so well! I'm putting shelves on my windows so I'll have more room for them to get light and I'm thinking of getting a portable florescent light to supplement. Anyway, I don't have much else to say right now, I'm going to try to keep up with this better!

How Do I Love Portland? Let Me Count the Ways... #3!

The Saturday Market - Supporting artists since 1974
It's a giant bazaar downtown every weekend from March through Christmas Eve. It's apparently the largest continuously running outdoor fair of its kind in the United States. Part of it is under the Burnside bridge which is a very central location. Here's a picture from the bridge, under the sign are stairs which go down to the market.

The MAX (our light rail) runs right through the middle of the market, which makes it VERY easy to get to. If you must drive you can just park at any transit center and hop on the MAX. It's only $2 from anywhere and if you spend $25 at the market they'll comp your fare. I don't worry about that because not only do I have a monthly transit pass, but I can walk there from my house. This picture is from the other side of the tracks, it's not dark, this is just the part of the market that is under the bridge.

The Saturday Market has all kinds of arts and crafts and food and entertainment. The 'food court' is full of interesting choices, including British, Himalayan, African and Hawaiin foods, as well as many others. The market is definately a must-see if you're ever in Portland. This picture is another view.