Oh. Herro.

I am sure that my legion of followers have been wondering where I have gone. My summer got out of hand. I got so busy, and when I had free time I vegged. And visited a boy. And tried to keep my life and sanity from falling apart.

The grandeur of my intentions when I started this whole blog business has not halted. It was just put on hold. I am now back to impart my wisdom onto all.
Despite numerous ideas I am at a loss for a subject for tonight's entry. Let's go with the subject that keeps word vomiting out of my mouth in everyday conversation-- Colin Beavan's book "No Impact Man", which I started reading a week or two ago and have not yet finished. "No Impact Man" has already made me want to completely alter the way I live my life.

I always wanted to be a normal person. I wanted to fit in and didn't feel like I did. I dreamed desperately of living like everyone else my age. It wasn't until recently(when, I'm not sure. Maybe the past half a year, maybe the past few years) that I am not normal. And that being normal is not something that I should EVER have strived for. Fuck fitting in. Fuck talking about the same shit that all the other dummies are talking about. I am an intelligent individual and it is people like myself that have the potential to save the world while everyone else is so wrapped up in the trivialities that they don't even know what the leader of their nation is doing. It is our duty to try to change "everyone".

Since starting reading No Impact Man, I have shifted my beliefs slightly. I suppose I had just come to accept that the way the world is is the way it always will be. I'm just a part of that world and need to do what I can within it. I need to follow the societal practices that will help me get through this life. I never wanted to do things differently for fear of "rocking the boat" and becoming a social pariah(I've done enough of that without even trying). Believe me, telling a clerk that I didn't need a plastic bag with my purchase used to be a struggle. They were always at the ready with it. Because I didn't want to disrupt this clerk's rhythm I would always get a bag to contain my purchases regardless of size. Plus, what if I bring a Safeway bag into Walmart? Will the Walmart guards come and kick me out of Walmart for not showing complete allegience to the store, and yell "You hurt Walmart's feelings so now we're going to hurt your body!" as they hurled me out of the store and kicked me a little for good measure? Now I say confidently that I don't need a bag, except in that odd occasion when I forget my reusable ones and have many decent-sized purchases. This is a small example. My refusal to accept more plastic bags into my life is not even a drip in the ocean or some sort of cliche phrase like that that means it's not noticeably helping the world.

But add these things up: using a reusable mug for coffee, tea, etc instead of the automatic cardboard cup they give you; choosing to bike instead of drive(even in the rain bitches); and cutting back on certain unnecessary purchases such as makeup. These actions can change your habits and make a change. Because guess what folks? The present societal practices are not fucking cutting it! And everyone who has any sense about them needs to come to terms with this. I don't expect everyone in the world to. But I've seen the power I've had with the people in my life with such small tasks, the folks who think I am annoying for not letting them toss out recyclables, to get them to turn the tap off all the way-- those who think I'm weird for always using reusable bags. Once you change habits and get someone thinking about the actions they subconsciously take everyday, that's the foot in the door. That shakes up the monotony we all get sucked into. I'm not going to harp on people to change. But I believe that if they are aware of the alternatives to the way they are presently living, once that seed is planted in their brains, there is potential for it to grow or for it to die.

Colin Beavan took the ultimate alternative to our present way of living. He did something that is seen as radical because he chose not to take part in a consumerist lifestyle for one year. How ridiculous is it for people to be shocked by someone choosing to put limits on themselves? With the limit being zero in cases such as use of disposable diapers and meals in fast food restaurants. Of course, in our society, putting limits on consumption IS outrageous. We are wealthy enough to waste, so why not? When you have enough money, you can buy a solution to everything. Fuck. Is it just me, or does society sound more screwed up than Colin Beavan?

For example, yesterday I served a table that got a super extralarge pizza. It is a massive pie. There were two slices left when I asked if they wanted it taken away. I asked if they wanted it boxed, and papa Bear boisterously joked "Yes, we've been saving all year for this pizza!... No we don't want it boxed". The people at that table were ok folks. But doesn't it seem a little insensitive to be like, 'of course you can throw our leftovers away, don't be silly. We have more than enough money to feed ourselves.' Not everybody does indeed have that comfort. And even though this family did, would it really have hurt them to have that food around for when they inevitably get hungry again(you know, because despite their immense wealth, they are in fact human)? I throw away customers' food all the time and don't think this much about it. It was the comment that got me going. It is a reiteration of my previous statement. "We can afford to waste so why not".

This blog entry is not long enough for me to get into my feelings on why the Earth and its resources need to be valued. And this entry definitely isn't long enough for me to list how big of a hypocrite I am for having so many beliefs that I rarely act on. But I'm sure that you, my loyal and large group of followers, comprehend what I'm getting at. You better! Because I even went back and proofread my rants and fixed them for that purpose. Anyways, there shall be more of my excessive blogs to come. Hope you gleaned something/anything from this one(besides how remarkably verbose I am of course).