Dirty Water Kills More People Than Violence

To be completely honest, I stumbled upon the statistics about unsanitary water in my search for a hammock. MiiR has teamed up with KAMMOK to provide a MiiR water bottle to Kickstarter backers (and $1 of the proceeds from each bottle provides a person with clean drinking water for one year). I followed a link to MiiR and discovered that one in eight people is without access to clean drinking water. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, “at least 1.8 million children under five years-old die every year from water related disease, or one every 20 seconds.”

I Want A KAMMOK

When I was little, my family had a hammock. I think it was from my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Belize — and it was amazing. It was so comfortable, and I loved it. Sometimes I’d use it for napping (okay, not really — I didn’t nap when I was younger because I didn’t want to waste the day — but I’d lay down in it and just enjoy); sometimes my friends and I would use it as a swing. It eventually went away (I think it wore out), and I miss it. But now I have just discovered the KAMMOK on Kickstarter, and I want one. 

Back When It Was Not Called “A Very Potter Musical”

I wish that Darren Chris would show up when I said his name (check out 3:20). That would be totally awesome. So, A Very Potter Musical used to be called Harry Potter: The Musical. And then it went viral, and they got worried about being sued. There’s a kind of hilarious bit around 1:00 where they bleep out anything related to Harry Potter (Azkaban, Hogwarts, Dumbledore) as they toss around titles that they can’t use. The video, by the way, is two of the A Very Potter Musical‘s writers explaining why they took all of the videos down about two years ago — and it ends with Darren Criss singing a song about not wanting to be sued. So fantastic.

Taking Up Space

A while ago (when I first started this post), Genderqueer Chicago’s topic was taking up space — “When does it feel necessary to take up space and when does it feel dangerous?” It feels, like so many GqC topics, apropos. How much space I take up, and how that makes me feel, relates to gender for me. Sometimes it feels necessary; sometimes it feels dangerous — and sometimes, it feels both at the same time.

Sometimes I Wish I Were A Kangaroo

Sometimes I wish I were a kangaroo. Other times, I think that if I were a supermodel, then everyone would want to be my friend. But still the thought lingers: why don’t I own a waffle iron?

One day in seventh grade, I walked into my classroom (well, the smaller auditorium — I had homeroom or English or something like that) to find the above passage written on the white board. I thought it was fantastic — absolutely the perfect mix of random statements. 

Cocktail Hour at the Lake Elmo Wine Company (A New Video!)

Tonight, I went to the Lake Elmo Wine Company (a little, really fantastic, locally owned wine and alcohol store) with my mom for a cocktail making party/lesson. Despite the fact that it was technically “for women” (apparently, I still pass as a woman), it was a whole lot of fun. Here are my thoughts on it:

Capogiro: The Best Gelato I’ve Had

I’ve mentioned that I love ice cream. Ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt, gelato — I love it all. Some frozen desserts stand out in my memory, either for sentimental reasons or because they’re just that delicious. Capogiro is one of my favorites for both reasons. I miss it so much that if I were to win the lottery, I would be very tempted to take advantage of their “Gelato for All Seasons” (six pints of gelato sent four times a year). If you’re ever in Philly, Capogiro is definitely worth the visit. 

I’m Keeping My Oxford Comma!

I’ll admit it: I’m that person. I care about my punctuation. I couldn’t read more than the first few sentences of The Color Purple. I’ll say things like “ze is the person for whom this was designed” or “this is the book for which I was waiting.” Although I break grammatical rules all the time, it’s always intentional. But dang it, I’m keeping my Oxford comma; I don’t care if the University of Oxford Writing and Style Guide thinks I should avoid it!

This Will Be A Good Weekend

I’m spending this weekend up north, at the cabin of a family friend. They moved to the West coast years ago, and we rarely see them, so I’m excited to spend time with them. I walked in the door tonight and was greeted by old friends, enthusiastic puppies, an excellent Cosmo, and warm chocolate chip cookies. Clearly, this heralds the start of an amazing weekend. 

College Grads: The Lost Generation Of Our Time?

I just found Chris Isidore’s article “The Great Recession’s Lost Generation” — the idea of recent college graduates like me being “lost” due to the recession is incredibly worrisome. At the same time, the analogy seems excessive: from what I can tell, the original “Lost Generation” of World War I was labeled lost because so many of them died. Elite college grads may not be starting the prestigious careers they’d planned, but it’s a far cry away from death.