A friend emailed to respond to yesterday’s post After the Pride and Queer Liberation Marches 2022: Washington Square Park wrecked again. I could cry to say “I have to admit I can’t even get myself to watch the videos, the images are truly horrifying! I don’t know what to say…” I responded with a sentiment I’ve posted to this blog before, but I think it bears repeating. Leading in unknown[…] Keep reading →

In college, after I stopped eating meat but still ate dairy, I met a young woman who was vegan. I think I knew then that I intended to become vegan at some indefinite future time, but didn’t see a path to it. I’d lived in Paris a year and learned to love cheese too much. She was allergic to dairy, so ate none. Since then, I’ve often commented that nearly[…] Keep reading →

Okay, I’m speaking a bit tongue-in-cheek because I know most people think what they do doesn’t matter and imagine touching anyone else’s litter risks keeling over and dying, or maybe gangrene and covid-19. People claim to be germaphobes and the like to excuse their inaction. But I know there’s no risk if you just avoid dangerous things, which still leaves an infinite amount to pick up, so I discount their[…] Keep reading →

Podcast guest Dr. Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM did a video on doof, which he calls ultraprocessed food, junk food, or ultraprocessed junk food. He’s a multiple time number one bestselling author and host of Nutritionfacts.org. Experience shows me that using the word food confuses people into thinking it’s food when it isn’t. Just because something fills your belly when you’re hungry doesn’t mean it’s food. Heroin would make the hunger[…] Keep reading →

I hear people say “it’s the journey, not the destination” all the time. Then when I say I don’t fly but get more value that I did from flying, they say, “Oh, I couldn’t do that.” What happened to the journey being more valuable than the destination? I concluded they were just talking and hadn’t thought through what the journey means. Sadly, if they did stop flying, they’d find more[…] Keep reading →

As you know, I pick up litter daily, including at least three pieces from the northwest corner of Washington Square Park since the pandemic brought such hopelessness to it in the form of syringes, pipes, and the community and police abdicating responsibility to it. I don’t expect to revitalize the area by myself, but I’m not going to do nothing. I’m going to do something. As I walked along yesterday,[…] Keep reading →

I’ve meant to list the things I avoid. I can’t keep track sometimes. I’ll try to update it as I think of things. If you’re reading this post soon after I posted it, it’s probably incomplete. Animal products Owning books Owning things I don’t need Air conditioning Heating when it’s not too cold out Lights when I’m not in the room Fiber-removed foods Long showers Cars Planes Food packaging Keeping[…] Keep reading →

On March 22, 2016 my flight from Paris landed in New York. Before embarking on that trip, I had started to second guess how I had weighed my values to conclude flying was overall good. Today marks the first day of my seventh year without flying. I’ve traveled and seen more of the world and its people more in this time than when I flew. I grew up flying. My[…] Keep reading →

How much does this pattern I see correlate, or am I just looking for patterns? If they correlate, is there causation? I see many industries driving growth to the point of defining historical eras as based in craving, even addiction. Look at some of the biggest: Refined Sugar, which drove the growth of plantations in the Caribbean. Coffee, likewise Fashion, likewise, for indigo and cotton Drugs, likewise for coca, poppy,[…] Keep reading →