My goal is always: Less. I’m forever striving to need less, want less, use less, and waste less. When I was young, we had the book Diet for a Small Planet on the bookshelf. I never read the book, but the title alone conveyed to me that 1) our planet has a limited number of resources for us all to share and 2) individual choices have global impact. These notion have stayed with me, in fact, they have become guiding principles.
I am very aware of the impact my consumption has on the planet. The truth is, I’m a bit obsessed with garbage. I read an article in Rolling Stone about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch forming in the Pacific Ocean. Twice the size of Texas, this plastic continent is a scary reminder that most of what you have ever thrown away is still with us. It’s not gone anywhere. Think about every piece of plastic you touched today. Last month. In the last 10 years. It staggers me. And it renews my commitment to needing less, wanting less, using less and wasting less.
What can I say? Just when I thought I was back on track, October laughs and says: Mwah, ha, ha, ha. Our family has faced some stormy weather. Every day has felt like a full moon, like we were all at the mercy of much greater forces beyond ourselves.
My sister always says that when life feels crazy and out of control, you should get as quiet and still as possible. So as the autumn winds blew chaos into our lives, I put the family into love lockdown. We did only the most essential things and I let go of everything else. The blog had to be suspended. As much as I wanted and needed to write, my family was the priority and they needed me more. And I’ll be honest, I’ve had some dark days. It was not a place I wanted to broadcast from anyway.
Where have I been? Hard to say. I spent this entire week working on a post to explain it, only to discover it cannot really be shared without sound cheesy or cliché. I’ve been in a strange sort of limbo since returning from our trip. It is great to be home, we were away a long time and were all ready to get back into our lives and routines. Yet when we got back, I didn’t want to just jump back to our busy ways. I wasn’t ready to give up that vacation calm and restored sense of faith and purpose.
The trip was magical, it was like the planets were aligned from start to finish. I wanted to honor the experience, reflect on it and cherish the memories that were made everyday we were away. So when we returned home, I kept the slower pace and the extremely stripped down version of our lives. I got the pictures sorted and set up a vacation slideshow on our screensaver. For weeks, I would see these lovely images and marvel at the whole experience. The vacation gave me such a sense of how far I have come. For two years, I have done a little bit, everyday. And it was marvelous devoting an entire month to celebrating the progress that has been made. Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve been back from our life changing trip to the Netherlands since Friday, but have somehow managed to maintain our post vacation buzz. Perhaps it is because we had such a marvelous time. Or because I am relaxed to the very core of my being. The trip was an amazing success, from start to finish.
We went to the Netherlands for my international high school reunion. It was a happy accident that we spent our first real family vacation among the dutch, who have evolved holiday into an artform. If you want to learn to vacation, look to the Europeans. And the dutch like to have a good time and access to beer at any time of day, which is something I like in a country.
So I leave for the Netherlands in 5 days. My big international high school reunion is one week and ain’t no party like a my pre- party, cuz my pre-party don’t stop!
So, after the jump, music clips and some more pics. Because Bonita is going on a journey twenty years in the making and I’m taking all of you along for the ride.
This weekend I was hanging out with a neighbor and fellow geek. We were talking tech and I told him about the issues I was having with the live blog parties I was hosting last weekend. He said, in a very kind way, “I don’t really get the live blogging thing.” I laughed, “Yeah, I’m still exploring what it means myself.”
It’s nice to hear feedback. Everything I’m doing makes so much sense to me, it’s fun to hear what others are making of it. Thinking about his comment, I realized what it looked like from the outside. I declared it a pre-party but I was the only person there. And for me, that is completely normal. But I probably should have mentioned to readers on the blog that I host parties for one all the time.
Alright, I’m kind of loving this live blog concept. Today I continue the live blogcast as we get ready for my twenty year high school reunion. Oh, did I mention it’s in HOLLAND. That’s right, the Applebums are going to the Netherlands, land of cheese and tulips. My class reunion is less than two weeks away, so in honor of the party that’s been 20 years in the making, we are live blogging all day. So strap on your swatch and best benetton shirt, we’re going back to 1988-1991. What up Jerusalamlaan! It’s a Reunion Pre-party! Word to Mr. Zey! Woot!
My UK Homegirls
After the jump, videos, music, stories and lord knows what else. It’s an ISSE Reunion Pre-party Kick Off, cue the music.
This is the beta party ya’ll. That’s right, the first evah saturday night blog party:
After the jump, music, video and links to read. And I’m gonna try my hardest not to dance on camera, but the spirit keeps moving me folks. What can I say? God made me funky.
A theme is emerging this week, so let’s just go with it. I have spoken about how we’ve helped create a tight-knit neighborhood. But if you think my zone of friendliness and community stops at the end of my street, well, then you don’t know me at all.
My homies at central.
These are both people that have become friends over the years. We have been friends with Octavio and his family since I recognized him at our garage sale last year. He and his wife, Chavela, hung out with us on our lawn for hours while the kids played. We have been friends ever since. We’ve been to each others houses and Chavela is schooling me on how to make posole and flan.
I met Jonathon through Octavio. He is a nice kid, a bit shy but always polite. A few weeks ago, out of the blue, I handed Jonathon a cd (and in my head it’s pronounced the way Octavio says it: Yonathon). Crazy music in the purse lady strikes again! Next time I saw him, he said, “I just got a new system in my car, the cd is great.” I was so glad to hear he liked it. ” That’s exactly what it’s made for,” I said, “A boomin’ system.”
Don't you stop the party and don't you lose the faith!
And this past weekend, we celebrated: Block Party 8.0! We had a revival and everyone was invited! So sit back and relax, because I am going to tell you a story that is going to make your heart happy. The song of the day is Revival by Me Phi Me, so play it if you got it. And hopefully this will inspire you to reach out to your neighbors to start building up your hood and strengthening your community!
