Politics of coca leaves

Okay, let me just begin by stating I am not a druggie, never have been and never will be.

Then let me direct you to LatinoUSA.org There you can inform yourself a bit to the current issues surrounding the coca plant, from which cocaine is produced. The coca leaf has been in use in native indigenous Latin American cultures for eons, and has even been used by yours truly and close friends, government officials, etc. as a remedy for soroche, or altitude sickness, in the Andean highlands. Merely drinking mate de coca or chewing the leaves, which most natives do, will result in nothing more than a slightly numb feeling of the tongue, much akin to eating a stick of raw celery (no es verdad, j?) It is through a chemical process that cocaine is produced.

The United States, in its unending quest to rid the country of All Things Bad For You, erroneously believes that eradicating all coca plants in the world will end cocaine production. Much as the case with meth, synthetics will constantly arise...the problem does not lie in the indigenous use of the coca plant and the destruction of their customs, although the US tends to be very imperialistic in that sense, ignorantly calling for the mass destruction of all cultural phenomena in the name of the U.S. War on Drugs. The Aymara, the Quechua, the numerous indigenous who incorporate coca leaves are not the drug lords and do not deserve to have their livelihoods robbed from them in the name of millions of dollars of U.S. aid to, for example, Peru's government.

We need to stop and ask ourselves, is it really worth it? Aren't there better ways we can spend our non-existent money, anyway?

Truckin'...

We are shopping for a truck. Yes, I have finally suceeded in wearing down poor MQE to get rid of his beloved 44 year old cloth top Beetle (any buyers out there? It IS an antique, for diehard VW Bug fans...) to see the reason in getting a truck, maybe a Tacoma. Approved for the loan at the lowest rates, so we can do it, but phew! What effort! Just no longer practical with two little kids and, once having a yard it's really helpful to have a hauling machine for rock, mulch and the like.

Then, the Green me talked him out of a 4WD as a 2WD gets better gas mileage...plus, if we already have a 4WD Subaru, why on earth do we need 2 4WD cars???? There is absolutely no reason beyond selfish desire.

Speaking of Green, we tried Elevation Burger yesterday for lunch...all organic burgers, fresh-cut fries done in olive oil, real milkshakes. Tasted pretty good...not Fosters, but also not the grotesque amount of food you get with a regular Fosters burger. I like the grilled burgers better than the fried burgers, however...if you are a McD's fan, you'd love Elevation, and the prices are not bad. If you don't like McD's, in which category I find myself, then I guess you're SOL.

From Green to Nerdy...

There's a sudoku tournament coming up. Winner gets trip for 2 to London. Should I go for it?? jajaja. Would be fun, kickin' some sudoku booty. We'll see. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

Okay, I got up at 6 on a Saturday morning just so I could get a workout in that my son did not permit me to get yesterday, so wish me luck. Gotta keep myself in shape! Sometimes I think that's all I've got left.

The magic of friendship

It has been just over two years since L and I have seen each other and she flew in yesterday to spend the day with us before heading into the City for the conference she's attending this week. It seemed like no time at all had passed. I have missed her. She was one of my brightest spots of my graduate school career. Now, with a burgeoning family of her own, we can relate on multitudes of different levels. I am proud of her--she is one of my Famous Friends, well-published, tenured and faithful to career and family both. Success, however, has not gone to her head, as would be the popular tendency amongst academics. May she always keep her feet securely on the ground...somehow, I think becoming a parent is always a humbling experience for even the surest of souls!

Problems of being literate in an illiterate society, vol. 1

Se we went to the Mall yesterday...who didn't?

I got slippers for Christmas, which I really needed, but didn't get my robe and jammies that I wanted so I found what I was looking for at Sears. SIDEBAR: You know, Sears has been really coming through for me lately. I wonder why that is. They have some cute stuff, even in junior sizes when the mrs. stuff is too baggy, and they're fair price-wise. Okay...back to the story. Then I was standing in line behind the little sign that said: Purchases to the right, Returns to the left. I was on the right with K, my daughter. There was one checker and all these other people lined up where there was no established sign or line. When the checker announced she was only taking people from the line I was in, all those who had not read or chosen to ignore that sign came in and crowded IN FRONT of those of us who had CORRECTLY read the signs and, when I protested, said they had been in line longer than we had, anyway. Blood boiling and yet not wanting to set a really great example of how to tear someone apart in public to my 4 year old, I stormed away, throwing my purchase back on a rack as I left. Then I turned around and yelled down the aisle: "AT LEAST WE WERE ACTUALLY STANDING IN A LINE. IF YOU KNEW HOW TO READ A SIGN, YOU COULD HAVE BEEN IN LINE, TOO."

I ended up going back an hour or so later and buying the robe and jammies at 50%. And I didn't have to stand in line for more than 3 minutes.

The time to go shopping on the Day After Christmas is definitely in the late afternoon to evening. Sure, things can be picked over if you are looking for great deals on Christmas ornaments and the like, but judging from the looks of every single Christmas ornament department I saw, with broken glass all over the floor, crushed by nonobservant and rushed feet, I don't think I would have wanted to be in the middle of the entire fiasco. Plus, when you know what you're looking for, there is absolutely no need to show up at 6 a.m.--chances are they didn't have it to begin with, anyway.

So that's that. No more shopping for me this week. Perhaps a trip to Target to get kids' photos taken. One of these days I'll get my 17 month old's pics done. It's so much easier once they're in school...

el principio...

Starting a blog seems so intimidating. Anyone can read anything. And what a waste of time, no es cierto? But it's an outlet. Let's see how it goes and go from there.

Tis the night after Christmas and all through the house
All the kids are asleep now...finally.
Got all the crap put in the ごみ for the time being, but there was no garbage pickup today so we sure missed that boat. Nothing like Christmas to make someone like me, who already suffers from Guilt Complex Extraordinaire, to feel even more guilty about what we're doing to our planet...we probably produce more trash on Christmas Day than many countries produce in a year.

もう疲れているよ。。また明日多分かける。
お休み。。。