012 Damnation, Good Books and Listener Questions

...’s massive Three Gorges dam. I didn’t mention it during the podcast, but I used to work at the Center for Land Use Interpretation. The CLUI did a show on towns submerged by dam building projects called Immersed Remains. What we are Reading Kelly is reading The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. Erik is reading Psychomagic by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Listener Questions We answer Gloria’s questio...

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Seed, nut and fruit energy bars

...edge seed (gathered while foraging) and Erik’s favorite part–cacao nibs. I used these ingredient because they were in my cupboard. It turned out good. The thing is, these always turn out good. Some fussy details: 1) It’s all about the dates! The dates should be Medjool dates, the soft, sticky kind, for both their sweetness and their binding properties. If you want to use another dried fruit in the mix, I’d recommend you still use dates for at leas...

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Diyas: oil lamps from India

...te appeal to you, may I interest you in diyas? Diyas are little clay lamps used in India. They usually burn ghee, but any vegetable oil works well in them, too. I just found them being sold at our local Indian supermarket. There, the fancy molded ones, like the one pictured above (one of many shapes) were 3 for $1.00. The simplest ones, which are basically teardrop shaped pinch pots, go for 5 for a dollar. That’s a lot of fun for a dollar, and a g...

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Is Facebook Useful?

...k and you’re signed up for an invasive and unpaid marketing focus group. I used to think that I could post quirky and random things in Facebook to throw off their algorithms, but I guarantee you that Facebook’s programmers are always one step ahead of us all. Who needs the NSA when we’re (myself included) willing to give up so much personal information? Competition for eyeballs At the risk of sounding bitter, Facebook takes eyeballs away from Root...

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An Early Resolution

...come in disposable cups. If I try to imagine how many disposable cups I’ve used in my life–say the earth (justly) vomited them all back at my feet–how high would the pile be? As big as my house? So I’m making a resolution. Instead of berating others, I’m declaring a personal moratorium on to-go cups–all disposable cups for both hot and cold drinks, actually, because why not? I banned plastic water bottles from my life long ago. Why it took so long...

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