i've been infected

I just finished reading the semi-sappy and light hearted memoir, Barnheart: The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One's Own by Jenna Woginrich. After a long spell of not reading (coming off of a roller derby hangover), it was nice to read this over a week and to also have such an unseemingly book kind of rock my world.

In her opening she describes the insufferable feeling of barnheart:


Barnheart is that sudden overcast feeling that hits you while at work or in the middle of the grocery store checkout line. It's unequivocally knowing you want to be a farmer -- and for whatever personal circumstances -- can't be one just yet


The opening had me bawling my face out because I honestly suffer from this every. single. day. And the book also is helping me to understand what commitment becoming a farmer, having a farm, and living and working off the land is actually like. And that there's no waiting to have a farm of one's own. It's a way of life, a life commitment, and something you just do. I akin it to roller derby in my life, and am looking at farming on my own farm within the next three years. AH! Which means, 2012 is my last year for trips and glitz, and saving, seeding, growing, and selling are close by in my future. HURRAH!

GIVEAWAY WINNER (and hair update)

Congrats atomiquelle!! You are the giveaway winner! Thank you to everyone that entered and the numbers are skewed because of a double comment but I renumbered them before I did the generator. Anyway, if you didn't win but would still like to get your hands on Feminism FOR REAL you can order one from the CCPA.

In other news I've started the process of dying my hair like Ramona Flowers. When I ordered the dye I did so under recommendation from Kaylah's posts at Dainty Squid (here and here) and ordered some manic panic in two colours, cotton candy and fuschia. I also ordered a beyond the zone bleach kit and I left it on for 45 minutes and it came out super yellow, but i liked it. I just spent the last 1/2 hour covering it with the cotton candy and getting it under a plastic bag and secured on my head. Now I'm going to sleep with it on and rinse it out the AM. I'll probably go pale pink/yellow for a few days/this whole week, and then go to the fuschia. If it turns out I got this job my start date would be the 17th of March? So, I'd have to dye it back to brown the Sunday night before (b/c it's a real adult job). If i dont get it, i might go light pink for as long as i can and then go fuschia. We'll see. The pictures below are of me pinning my hair up and looking 90s, the yellow, the pink on yellow, and my hair cover. Now, to SLEEP i go! I offered to host sustain-a-table again tomorrow night and am going to make a feast similar to one found at the foundation: lower east side, nachos, and sugar pie. XO

Some news and a Giveaway!

An essay I wrote is being published in a new Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives book edited by Jessica Yee-- Feminism FOR REAL: Deconstructing the academic industrial complex of feminism. (Book info link here)

And, to celebrate I'm going to be giving a copy of the book away! All you have to do is leave a comment with a way for me to get a hold of you! The giveaway will end this Friday the 25th at 10PM PST and I'll pick from the random number generator thingy.

Book Description:

Against a backdrop exposing a 500+ year legacy of colonization and oppression, Feminism FOR REAL explores what has led us to the  existence of 'feminism', who gets to decide what it is, and why. It provides thoughtful, honest and unapologetic insight into how different communities; including Indigenous and women of colour, sex workers, disABLEd, queer, Two-Spirited and trans youth define and relate to feminism; what it means to them -- and more importantly, what it doesn't mean.

In the words of editor Jessica Yee, this is not a hate-on of feminism or of academia. It is about truth-telling. And, as explained in the introduction, in the process of uncovering truths, facing them head-on and seeing where they lead us, we can redefine feminism beyond a first, second, or third wave policed by academic institutions so that it becomes about truly cross-cultural human movements that are about real justice - and doesn't end up reinforcing the very forms of oppression it claims to confront.

Jessica Yee is a self-described "Two-Spirit multi-racial Indigenous hip hop feminist reproductive justice freedom fighter". She is the founder and Executive Director of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network (the only organization of its kind in North America) that works within the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health by and for Indigenous youth across the continent.

Click here to pre-order your copy of Feminism FOR REAL.

Join the discussion and follow along as the book launches across Canada on the  Feminism FOR REAL Facebook page.

In Toronto on Feb. 25?  Then don't miss the Feminism FOR REAL  national book launch.

Join us on Friday February 25th at the Toronto Women's Bookstore to celebrate the official book launch of "Feminism FOR REAL: Deconstructing the Academic Industrial Complex of Feminism" edited by Jessica Yee.
Where: Toronto Women's Bookstore, 73 Harbord Street, Toronto
When: Friday February 25th, 7pm to 9pm
Main area is wheelchair accessible. We regret that the washroom is not wheelchair accessible.
Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191238847561961#!/event.php?eid=191238847561961

With an opening address from Lee Maracle, drumming by Shandra Spears-Bombay and rattle dance by DJ Danforth, this event will feature spoken word performances and round table discussions from the book contributors, followed by a screening of "The Road Forward", dedicated to the countless First Nations women who have "disappeared" on British Columbia's "Highway of Tears". More information about "The Road Forward" can be found here: http://www.reddiva.ca/?p=557

Proceeds from the evening will go to a scholarship fund created for the children of missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

For more information please contact Erika Shaker at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives at erikas@policyalternatives.ca

To pre-order your copy of the book, visit http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/ourschools-ourselves/feminism-real

i know your name, i got your number

in between in every extra second i have (not many) i've been slowly reading through Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle. it is one of the better "food revolution"/"the sky is falling!" books i've read to date. it's so beautifully written, the descriptions of their family farm are full of beauty rather than of stoicism/high-fiving for sticking it to the man, etc. give it a read if you haven't already.

i have been on a local food kick. local everything kick, really. BE local. my sister and i fantasize about owning a farm (even though i'd settle for enough garden in town and an old house with walking distance to local businesses, etc) and i'm dreaming of bike riding, picking berries, canning, cooking up a storm. etc. which, in all honesty, could be enough of a response to having infecta-tit and a newborn baby hanging around (though we've gotten to know each other so well i feel like he's been here forever!)

anyway, i somehow managed to tank him up enough to get him to sleep. which meant i got to eat my first real meal of the day (chocolate oatmeal cookies, granola bar, and grapes do not a meal make): toast with Camembert, spinach, and egg fried in butter. the best way to fry anything, really. i have definitely come to LOVE butter. i want it on everything all the time.

k will be here soon and i'm underslept. so i'm going to snatch up my lil' typeface and snooze! xo

thanks lady in the back, i appreciate that

c'est our other cat: pickle. she's fickle. and finicky. and wouldn't look into the camera when i took the shot. and her purr when she's sleepy and happy is a lawnmower. she growls like a crocadile, and she has no front claws (stewart's ex had them removed??) so she "claws" your legs all the time and it tickles.

i'm feeling better. phew. a few friends called and we got to chat for a while and i just feel better. yesterday was really hard! anyway, we're curled up and listening to smofe + smang (m. doughty). and we're drinking strong strong coffee (jeremy bought us organic fairtrade saltspring island espresso for xmas! yay!) and eating moonrock biscotti. i'm almost finished reading the great gatsby. i have so much reading for my one class (contemporary feminist theory), but i think i need to try and fit in a few more "fundamental texts". ie. the grapes of wrath, heart of darkness. if you have any suggestions as to what i should read next??

the other night i updated my etsy store. keep me eating good food! buy my stuff.