inspiration point

-self portrait at the top of the trail

-view of glendale and eagle rock from the top of mt verdugo

so..i wanted to hike to inspiration point. i was discouraged, though, by hiking blogs that warned of the hike being rigorous and taking the good part of the day.

i stuck to verdugo mountain, which is closer to home. the blogs also reported a more slight change in elevation and a shorter round trip time.

it was o.k., but i wish i would have done the mount lowe hike. i've been waiting to do it all week, but the rain has been relentless. verdugo mountain was easy. it only took two hours roundtrip. i hiked at a brisk pace and felt no burning whatsoever. it was also quite boring. it was a fire round and there was just some bare chaparral plants on the fringe of the trail. although the griffith park trails are lame and touristy, they make for more interesting hikes because of the non-native plants that people have brought into the park. yes, that proved disastrous in the last fire, i know. apart from an elderly couple that didn't seem to make it very far, there were no signs of life.

well, i will hike mt. lower and maybe even henninger flats before my break is through.

break

we call this the "edge of the world." i think that everyone else calls it "fermin state park." anyhow, it is one of our favorite spots. when we first met, we stayed up all night and decided to come here for the sunrise. i remember that there were about 30 or so mangy cats ascending from the bottom of the hill in a pack. we finally realized that a crazy woman in spandex was feeding them out of her van. we couldn't stop laughing for some reason or another.
yesterday, we made a kite out of newspaper. it did quite well and i was able to retrive it in one piece. i want to make some different designs. i've read that trash bags also make good kite material.

we went to claremont today to check out the converted packinghouse. it was a nice day to eat a turkey sandwich and take a stroll around an east coast-ish college town, but the packinghouse was sort of a let down. i wanted to ask the people at the prison book project if they needed volunteers, but noone was present. i worked at a similar project in olympia. i probably devoted twenty or so hours a week when the rain season was in full swing and when i didn't have any spending money. that was pretty much the entirety of our stay. i'll try again.

t-giving

Thanksgiving was "bleh" as always. I've never liked the holiday much. I'm not the biggest fan of thanksgiving food. I did run the 10K race in about 50 minutes, which is not bad considering the fact that a lot of people were running with strollers and dogs and the path was PACKED!
Buy nothing day turned out o.k., we stayed in and watched movies. Both of us were feeling under the weather. I'm still deciding what to do for christmas gifts. I haven't really learned how to knit. It looks like I'll be making donations on behalf of people..or something like that. Grrr. I really wish that we could just skip the formalities of these holidays. It causes more stress than what it is worth.

the compact

so...i found about a group in san fran that is in the midst of a year-long fast. i'm not the only one. i decided to nix the knitting yarn from my list of acceptable items. i have enough lying around to make at least one scarf. besides, it is easy to buy a used sweater or blanket, tear it apart, and create something new. people did it for generations..before all of this madness set in.

so far, the fast is easy and manageable. i don't think that i've mentioned that i live across the street from a goodwill.

i need to find other bloggers who are either part of the "compact" or who generally make a habit out of buying everything used.

Consumer Fast- Day 9

I'm not buying anything new for a year. There are a few exceptions, but the goal is to buy:

-no new consumer goods for an entire year. this includes, but is not limited to the following:
-no electronics
-no new clothing
-no new shoes (this will be hard because i run up to 50 miles a week)
-no new cell phone
-no new furniture
-no miscellaneous items (tupperware, office/school supplies, hair clips, etc).
- no bottled water
-no NEW CDs, LPs, DVDs

the following items will be considered acceptable:

-health and beauty aids within reason
-food (eating at restaurants will be limited..i've been living off of canned and frozen food that
i've had for over a year..i figure that i can kill some of it off before buying grocieries)
-knitting yarn (i'm going to make, bake, or cook all gifts)

-gasoline (sounds pretty... well.. ridiculous...but i can't find a way around driving to work. i do have a hyrbid, though.

because we decided last minute not to buy anything in L.A., i'd like to add even more to my accumulated savings. when we move, i should have a considerable amount.

i've spent about $10.00 over the past week, mostly on vegetables.

this is so easy.
i even washed some of my clothes in the bathtub..like the japanese.

the transition is just about over.
i love the new place here. the neighborhood, albeit dodgy, has grit (a la Pulp's common people).
here are some pictures. my days have not been too eventful, but that is exactly what i wanted. i wake up, make a pot of coffee, read the entire newspaper, run errands, make lunch, plow through a book, work on the apartment, eat dinner, jog, watch a movie. these are the things that i usually cannot find the time for during the school year.
i'm going to pittsburgh tomorrow and at the moment, i'm updating my ipod so that i can practice my spanish and listen to some podcasts on the plane.

my weakness

This scene...me holding a cup of coffee that is bigger than my head...is becoming too common of a sight. Its pricey...labor practices are questionable...and the adverse health effects are many. I can't stop though.