I'm going "no poo"

Okay, that title might freak you out a little, but trust me it's not what it sounds like. In my continuing quest to simplify my life, I have found a new lifestyle change that I just started trying out. It's called "no poo" and its the idea that you don't use shampoo on your hair - ever. I know that you just hand an image of some grody chick living in the woods not bathing with legs that put Tom Selleck's chest to shame, but this concept is actually very clean.

The purpose of stopping the use of shampoo on your hair is to restore the natural health and oils to the scalp and hair, improving its condition, look, and feel. Most people think that the oil will build up and make your hair greasier if you don't wash it, and this is true - but only temporarily. The body naturally produces only enough oil to keep the hair healthy, but in our society we wash our hair nearly everyday which strips the hair of it's natural oils, thus causing the body to pump up production. As most of us have been shampooing daily or every other day, this overproduction has become the norm for our scalps.

The "no poo" movement focuses on this idea, and dictates a process of stopping the use of shampoo all together to allow the oil production to reduce as the scalp receives less washing, which eventually means that your hair will be healthy, shiny, and not greasy after a period of two to six weeks. From this point on, apparently all you need to do is rinse your hair in the shower.

But how to get there?

When I read about this idea, and did some research and it seems as the public has had mixed results. Some boast that it revolutionized their hair, others that they felt like those seagulls near the Exxon-Valdez.

Despite the possible Snape-like outcome, I decided to give it a chance. Here's the steps:

What you need.

1. Stop shampooing your hair.
2. Use one tablespoon baking soda in one cup water to scrub your hair with. Helps with a bit of the greasiness without stripping all the natural oils.
3. Rinse
4. Do a vinegar wash to condition. One tablespoon vinegar to one cup water.
   
5. Rinse
6. Repeat 2 - 5 a few times a week, becoming more infrequent as it is less needed.

I last washed my hair Monday night, so on Wednesday I tried out my first baking soda and vinegar wash. When I showed up at my apt with a bag of backing soda and a bottle of vinegar, and explained the process upon noticing my roommate's questioning looks, she looked at me like I was a little nuts. However, I was not discouraged! I showered and scrubbed and I learned a few things: baking soda makes your hair feel grimy, vinegar makes your hair feel slimy, and that vinegar also really, really, stings if you get it in your eye. However, after a good rinsing and brushing my hair felt pretty much the same.

As soon as I dressed I popped into the living room and promptly shoved my head in Tricia's face and asked how it smelled.

"A bit like salad," she replied.

Could be worse. But when my hair dried the smell was gone, and it actually felt pretty darn good. It wasn't greasy, and more excitingly it wasn't frizzy. I had absolutely no fly-a-ways and that was a definite plus.

Today I showered and tried the washes again, and trying to combat the salad smell, added a few cinnamon sticks to the vinegar. As a result I smelled like a Christmasy salad, but I think that's a step up. Hair is feeling good still, and I am hoping it will continue as the days go on. I'll keep you posted.

The Dumpster Vigilantes strike again!

Mara and I went out hitting up the dumpsters again (after a week of rain) and in our limited time found a new resource. Pretty, but I wish they would compost.

Hitchhikers - Update

It's been about a month since I posted about hitchhiking, but I finally got around to trying out hitchhiking again. As of yesterday I had only hitchhiked once before, and only because my car broke down while I was running errands on my lunch break from my substitute teaching position. I really had no choice as I didn't want to be late for the next class, and I was only eight or so blocks away.

So today was my first premeditated hitching, and it went swimmingly! I decided to hitch to my grandparents house where I was going to dinner since it was on a main road, and only about 35 blocks away, so if I couldn't get a ride it would be a feasible (if a bit long) walk. I headed up to the a main intersection a few block from my apt, and stationed my self by the road and proceeded to stick out my thumb at passing cars while trying my best to put on a winning smile. After the first few minutes i realized that I positioned myself across the street from the Salvation Army, and two men there seemed to be amused by my attempts to get a ride. I waved to them and assured them that I would get a ride and for them to just wait and see.

I'm not going to lie, I was at first a little concerned that I might be waiting there forever. I watched about a dozen cars sail by, some very nice luxury cars - empty but for the driver, and was kind of ticked how they would look at me, and then immediately avert their eyes. Just as my hopes started slipping (which is lame because it had been about 6 minutes) a beat up beige Buick pulled over and offered me a ride!

Hank, the acoustic voodoo metal musician.

Thus I had a ride, thanks to a man named Hank. I let him know where I was headed and we started chatting about this and that. Turns out Hank is a musician who is getting ready to put out his CD of spiritual acoustic Voodoo metal. Nice. He ends up taking me right to by grandparents house, which was nice of him, and then gives me his number, "just in case you get bored and want to have a beer or something." Lovely sentiment but he's a little old for me...

So I arrived with no problem, thought when my mom asked me to run an errend the cat was out of the bag. My family just looked a little exasperated, rolling their eyes at my increasingly common hippie behavior. Although when when my dad found out he told me he would pull my tonsils out through my nose if I did it again, but that's just his way of showing he cares I suppose.

All in all, a wonderful experience!

Couchsurfing

I haven't blogged about couchsurfing before (although I'm not sure why) but I have been trying it out for the last few months and am enjoying it immensely. I've surfed in New Orleans, and hosted a few people the most recent being two women this past Wednesday. Liz and Viji were wonderful surfers, they were friendly, polite and had great stories to share. The are both 32, and know each other from growing up and attending the same high school in Madras, India. Viji moved the the US to pursue her Doctorate in programming which she is now finishing between Pittsburgh and Germany where her and her husband are considering moving when they both finish their degrees (note the pic of Viji and her hubby). Liz moved to Melbourne Australia and became a pastry chef in an apparently ginormous casino complex. Liz is here in the states to visit friends and her and Viji stopped at my places as a layover on their road trip all over the North East US.

This epitomizes why I love couch surfing. I have met some of the most interesting people, and have had chances to swap stories with people whose lives are completely out of my zone in my everyday life. Through couch surfing I have had the chance to meet people who share the same ideals about living simply and enjoying relationships and culture above all else. Good times, great folk.

Not to mention if I end up in Australia on break from American Samoa, Liz insists that I stay with her. Nice to have friends around the world.

Signs of Spring

I love having those moments where you know that the seasons have changed. Driving up I-79 from class yesterday I was looking at the bushes on the side of the road, and they have that look like someone had lightly drew on them with green pastel and smudged it with a tissue so its just a mist of green on the branches. Soon the leaves will be here!

Dumpster Vigilantes

My eyes have been opened, and my mind has been blown by one simple hour of dumpster diving. From "this might be interesting" to "my god, why haven't I been doing this forever?" through the course of one night and three dumpsters. But I'm getting a head of myself...

So as I mentioned in the last post, my friend Mara and I had a plan to go dumpster diving on Saturday night (yeah we are that cool) and that we did. I went and picked up Mara, and we both began discussing how we really had no clue what was going to happen that night - perhaps we would find a few interesting items? Or maybe nothing at all. We decided to start with the CVS down the street from Mara's house.

So I hop in the dumpster, and Mara holds the flashlight. At first I just notice garbage, but before I know it I pull out a six-pack of Gatorade - score! At this point Mara and I think that we must have hit the jackpot, but we had no idea. In the next ten minutes or so I pull out a 24 can case of Monster energy drink, a 4 more Gatorade 6-packs, a 14 pack of Arizona 20oz teas, 4 6-packs of propel, and the crown jewel of 7 gallons of Arizona green tea! Needless to say we were pumped, but we end up wondering aloud about what a waste of drinks this was, but are glad that we are going to be able to keep it from going to waste.


Our next dumpster check is behind a big chain grocery store in a plaza, but we end up in the dumpster for the neighboring hair salon from which we rescue a sweet fully functional hair cutting chair (presently my friends new outdoor smoking chair). Just as we are going to move to the grocery store's dumpster, an employee comes out to throw in some garbage - so we decided it's probably good to try there on another night.

The last dumpster we hit up that night was another CVS just a short drive from our first stop, as we figure CVSs must be good sites. Mara grabs the flashlight and I hop in and start poking into the garbage bags. After a little inspecting I realize that the bag I am looking in is full of unopened snack foods. Wanting to investigate more, I pass the bag out to Mara, hop out of the dumpster, and we check out whats in side. Upon the discovery that the entire bag is full of unopened packages of cereal, cookies, sunflower seeds, and pita chips our initial excitement of free groceries turned into complete disgust with the wastefulness we were witnessing. The drinks did not upset us much, but something about the complete waste of this food made us sickened, especially since from working with non-profits I know that the local food banks accept food even if it is expired. Now I'm a little upset, but decided I should check out what else is in the dumpster, and am even further appalled as I find three more garbage bags full of food items.

Mara and I are now officially pissed. Both of us have worked with the local food bank and shelters in our areas, and cannot believe that such waste is occurring in our city! We decided to take all the bags of food and the drinks to my apartment to sort and inventory what all we had found. Perhaps, we wondered, there was some justifiable reason for tossing this amount of food.

About an hour later Mara and I were sitting in my apartment surrounded by 68 lbs. of food and 56 gallons of drink which had been thrown away. Even more surprising, only about 50% of the food was even expired! At this point our rage had cooled, but were no less disturbed by the waste that we now realized is happening at least on a weekly basis at these two locations. As we had been sorting and inventorying the items, we had been discussing the implications of our discoveries. All of this waste had come from only three random locations we had ended up at, so how much food was being wasted on a daily basis across our community? Way too much. We decided to offer the food to our neighbors and friends, who as poor college students were thankful and very pleased, but even after they chose some items, we had three Rubbermaid tubs left. Mara and I decided to take the extras to the food bank on Monday and see if they would accept them.

Here's the food and drink we found in two dumpsters! How crazy is that?

Perhaps the most lingering question Mara and I had about this experience was why this food was being wasted. First we thought:

1. Businesses are worried about lawsuits if people get sick from the expired donaitons.

Nope. We looked online and there is a Good Samaritan law which protects individuals and businesses who donate items from lawsuits. No excuse here... but maybe:

2. The cannot pay and/or find employees to take the food to be donated.
Lame. The food bank in Erie has a pick-up program where you can arrange for foods to be picked up as often as needed. So it must be:

3. Businesses are not educated about the above material, or cannot be bothered to sort the food and set up the pick-up times.

I hope it's the first...



This morning Mara and I packed up the food and headed to the food bank to see if they would accept the donations. When we explained to the receptionist why we were there she called in the woman in charge of working with companies. We told her the whole dumpster story (I considered leaving out the dumpster part, but I just can't lie), and she told us that they couldn't accept the food because of Health Code reasons. We expected this would be the response, but the woman, Karen, agreed with our frustration with the waste of food. Karen told us that if we could give here the information on which stores were wasting this food that she would contact them to try to set up a donation pick up each week. Mara and I were ecstatic that Karen could hopefully stop the waste, and in addition before we left she gave us her information and asked us to let her know if we find other places that have good food in their dumpster. No prob Karen.

We left feeling much more cheerful, but still had three giant tubs of food in my car. We brainstormed a few different places that could use the donations, and we ended up stopping at a shelter just a couple blocks from my apt, and they were glad to have the donations. It was a relief to know that the food was now not going to waste.

Thus through this chain of events the Dumpster Vigilantes were born. Mara and I plan on going out tomorrow night (weather permitting) and checking out other stores for wastefulness. Hopefully we can help to change more of the waste into donations!

Freeganism

I have just heard of the most amazing philosophy which aims to reduce waste and utilize what others deem as garbage. Basically it's green, free, easy and amazing. Freegans themselves can in explain their philosophy better.

After a bit of research I called my friend Mara to ask if she had heard of it, and it turns out not only has she heard of it but she has tried it before! So tomorrow we have a date to go dumpster diving in a few places and see how it goes, I will post some pics of the result soon!

Easter Monday

Given that I go to a godless state school (which I usually am totally down with) I have no days off for Easter vacation. However, everyone else in my extended family does, and this year they decided to take a mini vacation to Cook Forest on the Monday after Easter for some hiking and a picnic lunch. As I am such a responsible student I had no problem skipping class to join the fun.

My brother Ricky and my cousin Adam do what they call "forest hopping" in the woods. It involves some pretty elaborate rules about setting a route through a section of woods with a limited amount of steps and certain marks to hit. Ex - "three steps to cross the log across the creek, jump the gap between rocks, hurdle two fallen trees, and leap back over stream - all in less than 25 steps."

My little cousin, Luke, in his best forestry outfit trying to follow the big boys as they forest hop. Being six years old and under four-foot didn't help.

Spring swelling of a tributary.

Still a little chilly.

Adam chatting with a crayfish he caught, Ricky thinks this is hilarious apparently.

Frog eggs!

The manly act of pushing boulders into water to watch the splash.

Fun with Inverts

What could be more fun than catching fish in a creek? Catching inverts! For another fun ecology lab we spent the afternoon using nets of all sorts to catch inverts in three different locations to determine if effluent from the waste treatment plant affects invertebrate diversity. Sounds super boring, but we got to play in the creek instead of juggling excel spreadsheets so no one was complaining.

Picking through the stuff in the net.

My prof looking on as we identify the tiny little buggers.

I look damn fine in waders. Using the D-net to scuff around the bottom for some specimens.

By far the best story of the day occurred after all the collecting in the creek. My friend and I drove together, and before we left she decided to take of her waders so that she could drive more easily. She was born with some birth defects which she is very comfortable chatting about, and as she was taking off her waders she realized that her prosthetic leg was stuck. Apparently she had run out of the usual nylon that she would slip over the prosthetic so she just used the other wool sock she had. Problem was that the extra thickness meant that the foot was totally stuck in the wader. So I offer to help and as she sits in the car I am yanking on the boot, but still to no avail. Ten minutes later we get desperate, and she ends up taking off her leg, and while she braces her self in the car holding the boot - I plant my left leg, pushing off the car with my right and pull on the prosthetic as hard as I can. After much grunting, sweating, and laughing we finally pried out the leg. Needless to say when we arrived back at school late we had an interesting excuse.

Nostalgia

Forget painting eggs, and eating ham - the best part of my Easter weekend was going out with friends. Friday night the Plymouth was packed, but we had managed to push together a booth, table and extra chairs to sit our oversize group of twelve. After I returned home that night (or should I say morning) I was flooded with an appreciation for my friends and all that we had been through. The nostalgia was brought on by our conversations of the evening, which revolved around plans for the upcoming year. Two friends moving to LA, two friends now a couple making all their plans together, one now working a 9 to 5, another taking summer classes, and some plans for grad school. It was a stark contrast to when we all went to college a few hours away and saw each other all summer, especially considering that other friends are already in Alaska and Texas.

Over the rest of the weekend, while chatting and reminiscing I was truly thankful for the times we have had together. Several of us have been friends since grade school, others only a few years - but all bringing something extra. Along with the good times, there have been the bad; interventions, fights, and fall outs that left us not speaking for months. Despite all the problems, we have always come back together once we realized that the fights weren't worth losing a friend. So this post is here to laud those friendships that will be soon tested with distance and time.

We've been together for the good times,

Visiting Mar and Emmy in NYC.

Times that we were exhausted,


And the just plain strange times.


We were always there to help each other out,

Painting the apt.

And to help out others and Camp,

Working to build a campsite and cooking breakfast.

We traveled to other countries,

Road-tripping Ireland

Took great vacations,

Padre Island National Seashore

And randomly trespassed on farms.


We lived out of a car so we could see the West Coast,


and were nerds together.


We did the most random things...

Lesboganing: pulling a bridge through the woods with a tractor.

that no one else understands.


Acting weird, like eating bugs.

Oh, and whale blubber.


And we slept on the ground, for eight hours...


To see a new day.


And we had the best times...


... no doubt.



A toast to the orignial ECBs - yeah boi!

I love you guys.

Pieces Falling into Place

I finally got a hold of the superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa two days ago, and it went better than I could have imagined. I related to the superintendent, Mike, that I wanted to do my independent project for my Masters in conjunction with the park. When he asked what area of biology I wanted to specify my work in, I explained that since I have my undergrad degree in elementary education, and plan on being a teacher, that I would love to work with any education or interpretive programs they might have.

Mike responded by telling me a little more information about the park and it's development of their education and interpretive programs, mentioning that they would be receiving their first funding to hire interpretive staff. He continued, talking about how they currently do a significant amount of work with the schools, but it was rather unorganized, and they were looking to work to integrate what the park has to offer with the curriculum of the local schools. He asked if I might be interested on working in this area.

Are you kidding me?!?

I was almost speechless. If someone had asked me my dream project, I would have said creating a program that provided lesson plans which connected available resources and programs at the park into the school curricula, for each grade level. Lo and behold, that seems to be exactly what the park and the schools want to work on developing.

Needless to say I am ridiculously excited, and although I really do not know any of the details yet, I cannot wait to find out more how I can help this development. I'm sending my resume per Mike's request, and cannot wait to start discussing how I can volunteer my time.

Life is phenomenal!

Update!

Apparently Iowa was just the beginning, we are on the way!

Another one bites the dust...

Iowhat?!?

Another triumph for acceptance as Iowa's Supreme Court has declared a ban on gay marriage unconstitutional! Thank you Iowa for standing up for what is right. I can only hope that this attitude will spread and American couples can enjoy the right to be with who they love. Let's be next PA!

Next step: overturn Prop 8 in California.

Seasons Greetings!

May I wish you a very merry April 7th from all of us here in Erie, Pennsylvania!

Sociology in Jeopardy

I typically try not to watch TV too much as I think it's a drain on time, but one divine exception is Jeopardy. About three times a week, my roommates Tricia, Jason, and I gather around the TV to vehemently yell out the answers, reveling in a correct answer and cursing a misstep. Tricia and I agree that watching Jeopardy is the best way to appreciate you education, as all the useless facts gained by four years of a liberal arts education is only ever put to use here on Jeopardy.

In 1643 this Dutch navigator became the first European to reach the South Pacific kingdom of Tonga

"Who is Abel Tasman?"

Correct!

However, even better than bolstering my belief that my education was worth the small fortune it cost me, it is a glimpse into American society through the contestants 'jeopardy stories'. During the introduction of the contestants we learn their name, occupation and hometown - but it is after the first round that we hear their Jeopardy story. I never used to listen to the banter between Alex and the contestants, because really - who cares? But then I realized that the stories people tell give a surprising revelation about the character of the individual. Think about it. These people are average American students, professionals, and housewives given their one and only moment of fame. You come on to the show knowing that you have approximately thirty seconds to fill with a story of your choice for all the nation to see - a half minute synopsis of the essence of yourself - how you will be known for all time by viewers across the nation.

Given this, it is extremely entertaining to watch the show and glean information about the contestant based on their story. The story can tell you what kind of person the contestant is, what is important to them, and how they view themselves. Here's some examples.

Story: Proposed to his wife at the Eiffel Tower.
Meaning: He loves his family.

Story: Volunteers at a historical site doing educational programs.
Meaning: Likes giving back with meaningful work.

Story: Showed up to dressed for a toga party, only to find out it wasn't a toga party.
Meaning: He has a sense of humor.


Based on this analysis, what could be made of this real contestant response?

Alex: So Betty, I hear you have advice for out viewers about where not to drive their cars.

Betty: Yes, don't drive your car into a big hole.

Alex: Ah yes, I assume that you learned this from experience. Was you car totaled?

Betty: No, it was fixed.

Alex: Alllright.


I'm convinced that Betty has no life. Anyways, what I took from all of this unnecessary thinking about Jeopardy stories is that if you ask people what their Jeopardy story is, you can get a nice insight into what makes them tick. Try it out sometime.

The Joy of Bio Classes

There are most certainly some perks of being grad student in biology when the spring weather turns nice. For my ecology class we went out collecting salamanders for a lab on micro habitats, and it was a lovely change of pace from modeling interactions. So we hiked out along a creek in the woods on the far side of campus looking under rocks and logs. Here's some pics from the outing.

My first catch, a red-backed salamander.

I got distracted by a funky fungus.

Some classmates searching the creek.

A big ol' northern red.

They are amazed by the giantness!

An adorable red spotted newt eft.

Fun times, it was a lovely day to be out in the woods in the muck. It was a nice chance to relive the creek playing of my childhood.

I love spring.