I’ve been tagged several times lately to do the meme where you post between six and eight random things about yourself on your blog. I’m keeping all of the things I post related to the underpinnings and purposes of this blog—all things that are near and dear to my heart. So here goes. . . .
1. I’m applying to a graduate school related to sustainability, and I’m unbelievably excited about the program. At this point I believe I would utilize what I learn in the courses to take a variety of paths. One of those paths would be that the program would deepen my ability to convey issues of sustainability to others in a digestible way. In other words, it would allow me to help people connect sustainability to their everyday lives—including good nutrition and financial peace!
2. I’m considering having another blogger or a blog reader write one of my recommendation letters for the application process for grad school, so if you feel I, through my blog, have had an impact on you adopting a greener/more sustainable/richer/more self-reflective life and you’d like to write me a recommendation, you can leave me a comment here or send me an email at sally dot parrott at gmail dot com.
3. I’m currently reading In Defense of Food, which I find interesting but also find more like unincluded footnotes from The Omnivore’s Dilemma than a separate tome. The thoroughness of The Omnivore’s Dilemma appealed to me. The simplicity of In Defense of Food may appeal more to people with less extra time to read, people who have spent less time researching eating’s relationship to health and planet, and people who find themselves struggling terribly with the power/appeal of different fad diets that come along. (A more thorough review will probably come along when I’ve finished it.)
4. My husband takes most of my food photos on this blog—I pass on all the compliments!—though I’ve been learning to take photographs and really love some of the photos I’ve taken as well. Dan’s favorite type of (his own) photography is landscape photography, and he sells pictures occasionally through Atlanta shops, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and his photography website. (The photo of the pipes has a checkerboard pattern that emerges when you are standing a certain distance from it. That photo will someday be blown up huge to go on the wall behind our couch in our eventual house.)
5. I’ve been devouring Barbara Kingsolver’s books lately—and she speaks with so much well-thought-out wisdom that I keep wishing she were my friend or relative so that I could call her to get her opinion on elements of my life and my loved ones’ lives. Animal Vegetable Miracle, her book about eating almost entirely locally produced food for a year, is not the first book I’ve read on that subject, but it’s become part of the foundation of what I believe about the interrelatedness of food, joy, and health.
6. I am a person of very disparate interests, and this blog is one of my most important outlets for interests and skills I otherwise (at least at this point) do not have avenues to release into the world.
7. I would love to write full-time. Or actually, to be completely honest, I would love to write about 20-30 hours a week and explore other interests the remainder of the time. Sometimes it’s hardest to admit the hopes we hold the deepest in our hearts, and for that reason, it’s taken me until now to feel comfortable admitting my writing dream to others. If you find my blog valuable, you can encourage me by reading it, of course, but also by leaving comments, and/or by linking to me in your blogroll or posts, and/or adding me to your RSS feed, and/or sending the info about my blog to others you think might glean value from it. I’ve currently got 200-400 readers a day, and I would love to reach 1000 people a day by May. I’ll throw a big blog party when I get there.
8. What I know for sure is that each and every one of you can achieve, in some form, any dreams that lie deeply in your heart as well. But you have to take action, over and over, when it’s easy and when it’s hard, to make that a reality. That’s one hard part of being a grown-up for me. The bonus is when a dream you have becomes your reality, you’ll value it like little else.
I won’t tag anyone in particular, but if you want to participate, do so, and then come back and leave a link so others can check out your items.
14 responses so far ↓
1 hanlie // Feb 12, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Thank you for visiting my blog. What you are doing is resonating with me, so I have subscribed to your feed.
2 Amanda // Feb 12, 2008 at 4:09 pm
wow. dan’s pictures are AMAZING. i want.
(totally unrelated; but i didn’t know he had a website for them until now).
3 Ginger // Feb 12, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I am currently reading Omnivore’s Dilemma, I love his books! I am working on a Victory Garden blog post right now about sustainability. I don’t know if you have the space for a garden, since you belong to a CSA, but you might be interested in these two blogs/sites that I just found: http://www.growveg.com/ and http://eatclosetohome.wordpress.com/ and this one too: http://www.ethicurean.com/
Cheers and I am trying your method of slow baking my potatoes this eve!
4 Onestripperpole // Feb 12, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Way to go with applying to grad school! I would love to go back to school again sometime, but life keeps getting in the way … lol. Your husband does take amazing pictures and thanks for sharing about you!
5 Helen // Feb 12, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Hey girl…love your list and I could comment on every single one, but one overriding thing I feel is: have you considered coming to Burning Man? I think you would love the vibe…check it out.
6 i i eee // Feb 13, 2008 at 5:49 am
Ooh! Yay for grad school! I’m planning on applying for grad school at the end of the year for MFA programs in Creative Writing.
I’m curious, when you say you’re applying to a school that’s related to sustainability, is it some sort of nutrition program altogether that’s allowing you to specialize in sustainability? I just haven’t known anyone personally who has done something like that, so I have to ask questions.
Rach: There are several sustainability programs with different foci around the country. Most of them are interesting to me. This particular program is an MBA in Sustainable Business at Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Seattle. I never thought I’d ever ever ever be interested in an MBA, but this program is about how to incorporate care for the environment, social justice, and care for employees into the life cycle of production processes and into how companies and organizations are run. I visited for a day in January and felt really at home there. The food thing comes into play because food systems is one of the concentrations they offer—and it’s where probably my greatest interest in this field lies. –SJPA
7 Jen // Feb 13, 2008 at 7:08 am
I felt very similarly about “In Defense of Food,” and will be really interested to see what your final conclusions are. In general, I was disappointed…
Also, FYI, I’ve taken down my blog for now. I just do not have the desire to write after writing for 9 hours a day at this point! (That’s the one downside to writing full time/for living!) I look forward to keeping up with you on here, however!
8 HotThickChick // Feb 13, 2008 at 8:05 am
Thanks for such a great list Sally! You clearly put so much thought and so much of yourself into your posts - it’s inspiring - I frequently don’t put so much of myself into my posts and I know the quality would improve if I did.
In any case, I don’t think your dream of writing is such a lofty goal - you’re gifted in this capacity and you should absolutely shoot for this!
And the grad school degree in sustainability?! AWESOME! My girlfriend just did a program at PSU called Leadership, Ecology, Culture, and Learning (or something like that?) which is basically a sustainability education program. So cool!
9 Ricki // Feb 13, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Sally,
Great list, and congratulations on the application to Grad School! (Brings back memories for me–some of the best–and toughest–times of my life!). Best of luck with it.
Two other points that resonated with me: I, too, loved reading Barbara Kingsolver and went on a binge when I first discovered her; in addition, I have no doubt that you could be a full-time writer (and 20-30 hours is probably MORE than full-time, for most professional, “full-time” writers). Actually, you already are a terrific writer, so it’s just a matter of getting people to pay for it!
I’m already subscribed to your blog–always look forward to reading it (and the party sounds good, too).
10 Kara // Feb 14, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Hi Sally: Funny…I just finished In Defense of Food, and I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma last year about this time. My take on this latest Pollan book is that it’s an attempt to cash in on the success of OD (that’s the cynic’s opinion) and also to take the ideas of OD that one step farther (unfortunately, that makes less of an independent book than 1 or 2 extra chapters of OD). I agree with you about it being less in-depth, though I did find that I really want to read the books he’s read. Wendell Berry is on my list next. I also LOVE Kingsolver….Animal Dreams is my fav!
11 alexsandra // Feb 16, 2008 at 4:26 am
I just admitted #7 today to a friend, that I would love to be writing full time. It was a hard one to verbalize.
Thanks for your encouragement to take care of myself. That has been another challenging area for me. Your blog, your thoughts and personal process convince me it is right.
This is what I love most about blogging.
12 K Renee // Feb 16, 2008 at 9:12 am
I feel so strongly about living a sustainable, eco-friendly life, but I feel like an alien down here in the South. My university doesn’t even have a recycling program for paper!
There’s a holistic nutrition program in CA that I’m interested in, but I doubt I’ll ever do it. Crap, I can’t even get myself together. I guess I need to do that first.
13 glutenfreeforgood // Feb 16, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Oh, I’m glad you’re reading Michael Pollan’s book! He’s one of my favorites. “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” I love his take on things. And I also loved Barbara Kingsolver’s book. She has a nice website as well. Have you read any of John Robbins books? Intense reading. He’s of Baskin Robbins fame, but gave it all up to devote his life to the environment, animals, and sustainability.
14 cris // Feb 21, 2008 at 11:52 pm
If you get into your program and are on your way to Seattle, drop me a line. I’d love to meet you/show off some of my favorite things about my adopted hometown.
Congrats on all the good and lovely things you are doing for yourself.
Leave a Comment