Random Musings

if you really dont get it – then read this.

i received an interesting email this weekend from some acquaintances who want to work on changing the yellow pages distribution system. at the moment, most residences automatically get yellow pages and white pages delivered to their homes once a year – and may even get 2 or 3 versions of the books from competing publishers.  the email contained some interesting facts about how wasteful the entire process is and a link to an organization that is working on an opt-out program called Yellow Pages Goes Green. some quick facts from their site:

Over 500 million of these directories are printed every year. That is nearly two books for every person in the country!

To produce 500 million books:

• 19 million trees need to be harvested
• 1.6 billion pounds of paper are wasted
• 7.2 million barrels of oil are misspent in their processing (not including the wasted gas used for their delivery to your doorstep)
• 268,000 cubic yards of landfill are taken up
• 3.2 billion kilowatt hours of electricity are squandered

when you sign up for Yellow Pages Goes Green, they send a cease and desist to the yellow pages publishers. amazingly, they have less than 100,000 sign ups:/ its a great idea and i just signed up.

i know a lot of people do not have decent internet access in this country, but i assume that a significant % of the population (maybe even a majority) no longer use their yellow pages for anything. do we really need automatic delivery of yellow pages to every house in the US once or twice a year? its amazing that we allow this kind of waste to continue. and although the opt-out method is a good start, i think out-in would be even better.

its been a long day. after waking up several times in the middle of the night fearful that i had missed the inauguration, i finally got up before the sun rose.  i started of the morning in my pjs in front of the TV switching between CNN and CSPAN when i couldnt handle the annoying chatter of the talking heads at CNN.  then i sat in silence for the next few hours watching the historic day unfold.

i wont add too much to the litany of other accounts of today. but i will say that a major obstacle in this country’s history has been overcome. i never thought this day would happen in my lifetime – and i am so full of pride, joy and peace that i was able to witness this day.  this was the first day in my life when i watched the news and had tears of joy fill my eyes and not tears of sadness.  (yes, sometimes i cry when i see horrible things on the news, but it doesnt make me any less tough. i can probably still kick your ass;)

i hope there will be more days like this in my lifetime when CNN will make me cry with joy (first female president, peaceful reunification of north and south korea, equal rights for the gay community)

i hope this has awoken something in the country’s moral fabric.

i hope. i really do.

this week i started watching pushing daisies – the fairy tale forensic mystery series on abc. (quick cap: man has mysterious ability to bring dead people back to life with a touch. but they can only stay alive for 60 seconds or else someone else dies.  if he touches said dead person again, either within the 60 second limit or after, the person dies again for good).

i really started to enjoy the whimsical visuals of the show,  the quirkiness of the characters, and the ridiculously cute wardrobe of the two female characters, chuck and olive. after getting 5 episodes deep in season 1, i did a quick google search of the show to read up a bit on its background. lo and behold, the very week i decide that i am falling for pushing daisies, its cancellation is announced.

so sad. first firefly. now my pushing daisies. tv gods, please dont take away sarah conner chronicles…

but there is a glimmer of hope. as i was digging through the blog posts narrating the show’s demise, i came across this nugget of news.  the produce of the show, bryan fuller, was one of the talents behind the amazing season 1 of heroes.  and now that heroes has lost so much talent with the firing of jesse alexander (who i saw speak at om and liz’s new tee vee live conference) and jeph loeb, the future of the show seems so much more…boring.  this last season hasnt quite caused my heartbeat to race like it did in seasons past. but, EW is reporting that now that pushing daisies is canceled, fuller may return to heroes!

there may be a silver lining in the cloud afterall.

Travel memories:

- accidentally spilling water on the NW flight btwn bangkok and tokyo and the flight attendant sees this and gives me 3, count them three, mini napkins to clean up.  when i ask for more, she rolls her eyes.

- the worst tasting veggie airline meals i have ever had. (note to self, never fly northwest airlines. every aspect of the flight was subpar)

Obama-themed memories (all before the election):

- Chao Phraya Express Boat driver asking an american on board if she likes mccain or obama.  she replied obama and he said “me too!”

- at three pagoda pass, burma/thailand border crossing, a coffee shop owner telling us he thinks obama is “a very good man! good man!”

- waiter from dinner on ko samet island asking ted if he would vote for obama even though their skin color is different. ted replied yes. waiter said, “i dont think so” and ted replied, “i already did before i came to thailand.”

- on bangkok to toyko flt, the election results being announced. the plane full of asian passengers bursts out in applause.

Baan Dada memories:

- sleeping in a tent in a bamboo drying hut

- learning that roosters do not crow only once and only at sunrise from the rooster that lived next to the aforementioned bamboo drying hut

- during a sudden really heavy downpour, all the lil kids stripped down to their undies and started to dance in the rain, laughing

- ted eating an orange, hitting seeds and saying “what is this? o yea, fruit has seeds!”

- kamput asking me if i would be back for christmas