journey to the center of the earth

i'll say this for christian scientists, they know how to build one hell of a tourist attraction. today i checked out the mapparium in the mary baker eddy library. unfortunately they don't allow photography during the tour, and to be honest, i don't think the pictures i've seen do it justice anyway. these are pretty good though. it's quite impressive and i enjoyed the sense of perspective i got standing in the middle of the bridge and scanning the 30' diameter globe. unalaska (dutch harbor) was even labeled in the aleutian islands. all of the political borders and names are from 1935 which makes for an interesting history lesson as you look at french west africa, the soviet union, british somaliland, etc... they limit your time inside to about 20 minutes, after which i was politely told i needed to leave to let the next group come through. apparently my six dollar ticket wasn't enough for an extended viewing. after the tour i meandered through the rest of the building and learned more about mary baker eddy - an impressive woman and a force to be reckoned with.

as i was leaving i noticed a display of children's artwork. apparently the christian science monitor held an art competition for children ages 17 and under with a world peace theme. i liked this one in particular:

the sun keeps shining here in boston. when i first arrived the snow and ice seemed impervious to the brief moments of sun, and i was told not to expect to see bare sidewalks before i left. what a pleasant surprise it's been. i've had "the sunny side of the street" stuck in my head the past few days. specifically, dizzy gillespie's version on "sonny side up."

good things.

no offense intended

being a social chameleon has it's advantages. living a life of transience, i've dedicated myself to being flexible, adaptive, and reducing my impact on the people around me as much as possible. i think i'm good at it - feel it's actually a strength. and people seem to respond to my unobtrusiveness in ways i find beneficial. i.e. they don't mind having me around and seem genuinely pleased by my company and want to help me out. very advantageous for someone with little resources of his own and no place to really call home.

this awareness of what other people want or need is not always an active thought process, or even a conscious one. naturally, it isn't 100% effective either since i'm not gifted with any sort of psychic powers. usually i'm on my game enough to make that ever-important first impression and create a positive memory of me. presumably, i'm only going to be around this person for a short while so they probably won't ever realize they don't actually know anything about me. i'm so practiced at this i even come off as being open and honest. and i am open and honest... with the things i choose and on my terms. it's only recently i'm learning there may be areas i can't be open about because i don't know them myself. am i ok with this?

lately, however, i've started wondering if my malleability may be a two-edged sword. i think it's possible that somewhere along the way, in my pursuit of pleasing others, i've managed to hide or lose my own sense of identity so thoroughly i'm not sure what it is anymore. or worse, i never knew and didn't allow it to develop. but this probably isn't the case. i mean, i make a lot of self-centered decisions and am not apt to waste time doing something i don't enjoy. so, in my better moments, i feel pleasing other people is what i enjoy, and therefore a worthy endeavor. what i'm not sure about in those moments is whether this is enough for other people to identify with as who i am. more importantly, if it's enough to enable me to lead a fulfilling life.

what can i share of myself with other people? my ability to not offend them? i don't think that's enough. guess it's back to the drawing board.

family visit

i went down to west haven, ct to visit family yesterday and today. i saw my cousin janet and her husband phil and stayed with my great-aunt nancy. i've been fortunate to see them fairly regularly over the years, considering the distance which usually separates us. it's always nice to catch up on all the family activities. plus i got to enjoy the exciting atmosphere of long-distance bus travel. as i was telling my friend tim, i know what kind of people to expect on a bus - i'm one of them! never a dull moment.

i can bake bread

i'm in the process of shifting my dietary habits. for some time i've wanted to eat food in more natural forms. even dabbled with the idea of becoming vegetarian in practice, if not by declaration. really, being vegan wouldn't be that difficult for me either. so recently, when i found myself preparing to move into yet another new living situation, i jumped at the opportunity to take some action on these burgeoning ideas.

it began while still living with friends in vancouver, wa during the weeks leading up to my move - even convinced one of them to join me in the endeavor. inspired by another friend, and taking a somewhat radical tack, we agreed to first undergo a five day brown rice cleansing diet. this meant for five days we would eat only brown rice (as much as we wanted) and sea salt and drink water. after the cleanse i added fruits, vegetables, and grains back into my diet one at a time on a daily basis.

upon arriving in boston to see my friend jess (trail name "freefall"), who i met while hiking the appalachian trail, i found something had already changed. i had made a sufficient break from my old eating patterns to allow a completely new approach to my process of deciding what i eat and where it comes from. this was made somewhat easier by three things: i was in a new environment with new grocery store options, i had a lot of free time available to devote to food prep, and i was spending a lot of time with vegan/vegetarian people with compatible dietary goals.

so what has this meant? well, i feel a new level of comfort with my food and nutrition. it seems more in keeping with my deep-set desire for simplicity and an awareness of my impact, and by buying whole food ingredients and seeking more local sources of food (sometimes this means i decide to go without something. but then again, sometimes it doesn't - after all it's still a work in progress) i have newfound confidence in what i'm putting into my body. plus i can pronounce all of the foods' names (finally made the connection between the sound "keen-wah" and the spelling "quinoa")!

i'm perfecting my own take on bread, focusing on keeping it as simple as possible. having started with whole wheat flour, sea salt, yeast and water, i've begun experimenting with oil, oats, honey, and even raw sugar (just a little) with mixed results. but i'm really enjoying it. yesterday i made a mostly-local soup i dubbed "root stew" in an attempt to use seasonal produce. first i made a vegetable stock by just boiling the living heck out of all the leftover bits of vegetables which accumulate as i eat 'em. knowing i was going to make a stew i added some minced garlic and shredded ginger root to the mix - there were already some pieces of onion in my scraps. in a seperate pot i started boiling red potatoes, yellow turnips (rutabagas), yellow beets, carrots, celery, and more ginger, garlic and an onion. once the stock was ready i combined the pots, threw in a diced tomato (from a greenhouse in maine), some split red lentils, salt, black pepper, and a dash of red pepper flakes. i'm aware this may sound mundane. not a big deal. and really, i have to agree with you. except it somehow satisfies me to create a hearty, nourishing meal from scratch. even better was being able to share it with my roommates and hear them express their enjoyment and appreciation.

as if this wasn't enough, i got to clean my bowl (twice) with a thick slice of warm, whole wheat bread. delicious.