We. Are. The. 99% (and so are you!)

So fast forward one year since my last post (has it REALLY been that long??) and I find myself recently back from a NYC visit. After an interesting and informative evening with my friend MW, I got a much greater sense of what Occupy Wall Street was all about. I officially woke up on the evening of Sunday, September 25.

On Monday, I began researching where things truly stand for most Americans. 25 years ago, 13% of Americans held 33% of the wealth. Today, 1% of Americans hold 40% of our country's wealth. This is UNACCEPTABLE. The more I processed, the more I realized that I was called to participate in this movement, which was giving a distinct voice to my concerns and fears for this country.

OccupyAsheville held our first meeting on Wednesday, Sept 28 -- it was my first time attending a meeting like this since college. Attendees had many ideas on the levels of activism they were prepared to take to join this burgeoning movement. We agreed to start our occupation on Saturday, October 1 at 11am -- starting as a funeral/protest/celebration for Troy Davis (RIP) and moving into a rally for the financial and economic goals of this movement. It was a powerful day of protest, speakers, and activity on Wall Street (ironically one of Asheville's most charming streets filled with locally owned small businesses ).

On Sunday, I attend church at 8:30 at jubilee community, a non-denominational church that reads from all sacred texts to celebrate humanity, the environment, and creation. At the end of the service, we sing (every Sunday) a Carly Simon song which has the line: Let all the dreamers wake the nation. When I got home, I decided to make a poster with this slogan, which ended up in the Asheville Citizen Times.

Let all the dreamers wake the nation. These words continue to inspire me every day of this massive movement to WAKE UP the nation to the injustice that is so pervasive and reclaim American to be the country we envision. A country where corporations are fairly taxed, a country where banks are not too big to fail, a country where education is more valued than war, a country where our poor are fed and our rich are generous, a country where our food is safe and fresh veggies are subsidized instead of GMO-filled processed junk food, a country not consumed by consumerism but rather aware of the delicate balance of true need versus mindless waste.

The Sunday protest may have been my favorite so far -- that sign guided me and my voice, and I felt, for the first time in a LONG time, AWAKE and UNITED with a group of people that are committed to making a difference -- however long it takes.

I must admit, it surprised me how uncool I felt the first time I posted something about my activism on Facebook -- I felt like I was willingly engaged in a social pariah behavior, and I was surprised by how many of my liberal friends have posted bitter remarks about this movement. While some offered other ways to make a difference (support a local politician to effect change), I still believe that this movement, as it grows, will have far greater and longer reaching impact than we (or any election) has had in a long, long time. When did political discourse become taboo? Let's bring back conversations about local and national governance, activism, and opportunities for making things better to our nightly dinner table, to our social media, to our daily lives. I realize that those that do not want to hear my opinions will simply hide my stream, and that is most certainly their choice, as being vocal about it now is mine.

As the unions join, and other organization, my heart swells with hope. This is happening, on a mass level, and it is getting bigger and bigger. We all have special talents -- if you can't protest (or don't want to) there are still MANY ways to get involved...Write a letter to your local paper about the unjust balance of money and power in America, make a graphic illustrating corporate greed and post on facebook (as more and more people are doing), make a piece of art, send supplies to NYC, organize a salon with your friends to talk about this -- there are MANY ways to be active in this movement.

Onward and upward, my 99% friends!

TAKING THE Y OUT OF NYC

I think there is always a question in every New Yorkers mind: can you leave? should you? will you be filled with regret moving away from a life in the City that took years to build and involved enormous sacrifice? I recently received an email from a book club friend asking me about the move -- regrets? joys? advice? As I began typing a response to her, I reflected more and more on what inspired us to leave (nature, money, family, job flexibility -- the big guns) and what kept us in the daily NYC grind (friends, work, biking, history, food, and the oh-so-NY belief that it is the only place in the world to live).

There is something amazing about finding your community in the City. It feels more necessary and important -- the life raft that keeps you sane in the midst of bad weather, holidays, blackouts, and beyond. It's been 3 months now since I abandoned ship with hubby, two cats, and a full 16 ft. moving truck. My nostalgia is for my friends, though I had the pleasure of a week visit from one of my besties and we had a ball in Asheville together, so that was deeply reassuring that our friendship transcends location (as I knew but moving can of course awaken so many weird worries).

Life here is more about me, though I was alone much more in NYC than here -- I feel more myself and able to slow down enough to hear and respect my needs, goals, and boundaries. When folks ask about the move, I say my only regret about leaving the City is not leaving it sooner. And while that is true, I am so grateful to be able to go back and enjoy the companionship of my wonderful friends (almost completely in brooklyn at this point) with the awareness that I will be returning home to a town where I have to sweep the leaves off my porch to keep them from coming into my living room (something I haven't had to do as a 12th floor apartment dweller for over 8 years).

To someone who has not lived long-term (over 10 years, i suspect) in the City, this post may be baffling -- what IS the big deal about leaving anyway? It's just a move, after all. To those who do live there, and reflect on life both in and out of the City, I think you will understand the emotional magnitude that leaving can evoke. To you, I say -- you'll know when it is time. The City is always there, and you can always move back. But, in my personal experience, I doubt if you'll want to. A visit to see dear friends, your favorite boutique, and your favorite food shops (Russ & Daughters, anyone?) will be quite enough!

A 1st Attempt at Making Mozzarella

I only learn what to do when I have failures. --- R. Buckminster Fuller

Last Sunday I was my 1st attempt at making mozzarella after learning from a Facebook post (recipe here) that it is actually the easiest cheese of all to make.  I thought that was a good place for me to start venturing into the world of making some of my favorite things myself.  I was able to get a couple of gallons of raw milk courtesy of my new acquaintance Farmer X outside of Asheville.  I made a donation and acquired unbelievably tasty "dessert milk" as one friend called it.  

Making moz is pretty easy - all you need is a gallon of milk, citric acid, rennet, a candy thermometer, and a slotted spoon.  The first few stages of the cheese making went great.  Added citric acid dissolved in H20, then another temp increase, and in went the rennet....The separation of whey and curd began in earnest then, and I felt hopeful as I spooned the moz-looking blobs into my glass flat dish.  The next step was 30 seconds in the microwave, and then kneading each of the two cheese balls like dough.  THIS was the stage where all went awry.  As I kneaded my first ball, in crumbled more and more into itself, becoming curds.  So, I left the second ball unkneaded, so it would stay together.  The taste? It's actually QUITE tasty and while it is dense and I definitely need to figure out what when "wrong", I think it will melt beautifully on a pie, which I hope to try later this week!  Keep you posted.

Ruminations on Life, Now.

So, it's been two weeks to the day since we moved. It is also the Fall Equinox and last night hubbie and I sat outside at The Prospect and toasted the moon with an icy PBR (we needed some downtime from the beer amazingness that embodies Asheville). Life in Asheville is pretty much COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than NYC. Sure, there are the common threads, like hubbie and the cats and my favorite coffee mug, but so of my daily life is so very different.

A major change in my time on the computer, which has gone down substantially. My normal week in NYC involved about 7 hrs daily in front of the computer -- working, emails, surfing the net, etc. Now, spending time with Dad, meals with the family, running errands, visiting friends, seed meetings, gym, breweries, antiquing, etc. have lowered my computer time to about 2 hrs per day. Sure, work still =s computer time, but the surfing time has gone to almost nil. I kinda dig it, at least for now. I'm interested to see how winter changes this aspect for me.

Also, I've gone from riding my bike 24/7 to driving everywhere. I thought giving up my bike (at least for now, no place to park it in the condo) would be more difficult than it has been. The car is a necessary luxury, and I try not to take it for granted, but it does make my life easier. From picking up Dad from exercise class to loading in large bags of potting soil and shrubs for Mom's yard to heading up Rt 209 to Hot Springs for a lazy Saturday in the mineral tubs, it's just HANDY to have a vehicle, though it is definitely making me think about our next car being more green.

Speaking of green, probably the most difficult part of our transition has been our condo's location. Who knew it could be noisier in Asheville than the Lower East Side? Living next to a helicopter landing pad (MAMA) hasn't helped, and the fact that Asheville High School is across the street and the stoners park next to our condo doesn't help either. Kids are LOUD at 8am chainsmoking American Spirits. Zoiks! So, while the condo is awesome in regards to location / city living -- it is not at ALL what I imagined when moving home to this lovely mountain town....Ditto for the rush hour traffic.

I have to say that my food preference is definitely Asheville, simply because (at least where we're living, downtown) almost every restaurant has amazing, local, fresh, affordable food so it feels easier and certainly more convenient to go out and have a great meal. That said, I've been cooking less (crappy kitchen) so I'm hoping to start getting back into the cooking mentality, and the farmer's markets here are pretty rad. I'm looking forward to Saturday morning's City Market as I found a fall soup recipe for Ribollita -- a fantastic rich Tuscan dish -- that I'm really excited to try.

I'm super happy to be back at my church where I'll be spending today in a silent meditation in reflection of fall and the equinox with my mom.

So far, two weeks in, I'm happy and optimistic about this "year of transition" --though I'm somewhat anticipating the shoe to drop and overwhelming nostalgia for NYC to rear up at any second. For this, I'm working to adopt my mother's mantra: day by day.

The Most Important Box You'll Need: MOVING 101

Sadly, I must report that I learned this packing lesson the hard way! Upon arriving to our new abode, I started looking for a zip lock bag of screws I'd tucked away for safe keeping to put together the bookshelves. Low and behold, that special place I'd so confidently tucked them away was impossible to find. Ditto for the bath soap and the utensils (which I still have not found).

Moving is like camping. You cannot take the basics for granted, or you will be utterly miserable. Our first night...not so hot. But now we have a shower liner and rings, a towel, a coffee pot, and SOAP, and our second night is looking up!

So, with a sigh and a nod to "next time" -- here's my "PACK IN VIP BOX" moving list:

• Coffee pot, filter, and ground coffee
• Two mugs
• Fish Oil, Vitamin C packets, protein bars
• Any medicines, feminine products, etc. specifically needed
• Cleaning Rag (if you wear glasses)
• All phone and computer chargers
• 2 forks, spoons, knifes
• Paper towels / cloth towels and a couple of napkins
• Shower liner and rings
• Bath Mat & 1-2 towels
• Shampoo, Conditioner and Soap
• ALL misc. screws, pegs, nails, etc that have been removed from important furniture
• ALL bedding (2 pillows, sheets, duvet)
• 2 pair of scissors
• Bottle / wine opener
• Big garbage bags

Another learning was to have plenty of cash on hand at all times as we’ve burned through cash in the most random "emergencies”.

Day by day!

Straw Solution! The Perfect Icy Beverage Cup

So, anyone who knows me knows I'm obsessed with straws. Gotta have one in my ice water at dinner, and in pretty much everything I drink that is cold (except orange juice and cocktails).

I hate the wastefulness of plastic straws, so I invested in aluminum straws (3 per pack / $10). They were great -- for a while. But soon, I noticed the inside of the straw didn't appear that clean, even after boiling it. It looked...gunky. Super gross.

So, I've been on the search for a solution, and I found it last week at Stonewall Kitchen in Maine, where my mom and I took a tasty cooking class.

Viola! The Copco Sierra Cold Tumbler, 24 ounce. I got it for my kale shakes, but have decided to keep it solely a water glass, to keep it clean. It's fantastic. Never too cold to pick up, fits in all cup holders, BPA-free, doesn't drip condensation, and....it has a stellar straw!!

Two thumbs up -- I plan to rock it as I drive my 16ft moving truck down I-81 on Wednesday.

Is it a Treasure?

As we're packing up 7 years of cohabitation together, I've had to figure out the bar for packing or tossing (or donating, etc.) --ultimately, I think it comes down to this simply: "Is it a treasure?" And then I think of my friend Erin, who is the most stylish and functional interior and garden designer I know. She inherited a home filled with treasures of every kind, 5 dining room sets, 7 pianos, 14 globes, and dozens of fishing trophies. What's a girl to do? Erin got down to business and held an auction -- and how she selected what to keep and what to go, and I'm pretty sure she was saying, "Is it a treasure?" as she sorted out decades of her grandmother's utterly southern collections.

I've been channeling Erin a lot in this move. I've realized hubby is an amazing packer, but he leaves messes where ever he goes. A little tidying up on my part makes a MUCH more livable home (less face it, we're here for 4 more days and need to get to the loo). My other packing trick is staying happy. This means good home cooked meals or kickass delivery from places that don't exist south of the mason dixon border: vegetarian dim sum anyone? How about a quick cab to korean? or stay near houston street for mexican? large groups? perfect private party? best "local" local LES restaurant? As you can see, making sure we have ample supplies, including food and plenty of ice cold water helps it be a little more bearable. Add to that a dash of trying to take smaller loads and silly computer breaks and heck, I think I'm even having a little fun!

So, packing checklist, ahem!

1. IS IT A TREASURE?
2. keep it tidy while you pack
3. divide and conquer
4. don't forget to take care of yourself in the process -- basic necessities like food, water, alcohol, sleep, fun, exercise, etc. should NOT get tossed out the window for the 1-2 weeks it will take you to pack up yr place, move it, and unpack it. keep up with caring for your self, or you will get sick (speaking of, wear some masks when things get really dusty! truly, your house is not as clean as you hope it is!!)

I think that's it for now. It's back to the process.

It's all about the journey, right?