–Elise Boulding

We’ve all heard the tried and true beans and rice or PB+J remedies for snapping the grocery bill in check, but in truth, a single dish strategy can only take you so far. You need a comprehensive approach to last any amount of time. Tasting the spice of life is of the utmost importance, literally in this case. With that in mind, I’ve found a basic recipe for cutting the costs of food down to almost nil. It’s effective, still tasty and probably healthier than your current diet. I feel like we all know a lot of these things but they aren’t often practiced in the wild. I’ve seen some of my poorest roommates struggling with rent, all the while buying the tiniest Ben and Jerry’s tub possible every few days. Ugh. Practical economics train wreck! Let’s look at the specifics of how this works. Take my hand for a stroll down freetarian ave.

If you take nothing else away from this post it should be learn to cook often and well. Hard to overstress this really. Prepackaged anything is not only less tasty than fresh food, but almost always unhealthier and pricier to boot. Frozen dinners are portioned for a six year old; Ramen is tasteless garbage and the included bullion is a poor excuse for taste; mac and cheese doesn’t have an ounce of nutritional value. Shelf life be damned, it can’t possibly redeem this cesspool of a ‘food’ category. Instead, get to work on your own concoctions. Start with jazzing up pasta sauces with veggies and spices. Move on to hot dishes, quiches, meat/veggie loaves, whatever. Ask granny for a cookbook and go nuts. Even a simple blend of sautéed veggies and noodles can be made in a bazillion different ways to tantalize the taste buds. Rule of thumb: If a mash up sounds interesting, it probably is! Veggie pancakes might have been the best executed idea I had all last month. Learn to cook, get familiar with herbs and spices and never look back.

Before I go any further, I should say that if you’re really trying to chop the grocery bill, other things need to be chopped in concert, like your scruples. That lovely organic and natural grocery market down the road will have to survive on their yoga-pants wearing customer base until your income picks up. That said, not all of my ethical eating habits have been thrown to the wayside for the simple fact that meat is friggin’ pricey, and in stark contrast, a veg diet is waaaaaaay budget-friendly. Find your local fresh produce spot or farmers market, plan out potential meals for ~2 weeks and go nuts! Honestly, you’ll leave the place with more than you can carry for something like 20 bones. I almost feel like I’ve gotten away with something felonious when presented with this sort of bill. Fruits should be made a primary staple. Apples last weeks in the fridge and cost next to nothing. Oranges don’t have quite the same longevity but also cost chump change. Finally, no frugal fruit list is complete without mentioning the queen of them all, the trusty banana. Something so tasty and costing 59 pennies per pound is anything but bad choice. Buy produce in season to pinch a few more pennies and throw new bits in the mix.

The next commandment is to buy in bulk if possible. Newsflash, your friend with the Costco or Sam’s club membership, just moved up a notch in your social scale. If nothing else, pay your new bestest friend to get a gift card, which serves as a valid admission at the door. The fundamental point here is to get familiar with the numbers. Keep notes if you have to. Rates are the only digits that actually matter. That didn’t sink in completely? Rates, RATES, RATES! What you’re paying per ounce, per pound, or per item matters more than anything else. Establish a baseline rate for each of your foods and never buy below that number. Sale signs are admitedly shiny, but walking into a store in with a concrete, bottom-line-based mindset will overcome any amount of glittery signage. Some stores (ahem Trader Joe’s) aren’t so kind about putting rates even in the extra fine print. If the mental math is too overwhelming, avoid these places. They’re probably ripping you off anyway.

What’s on tap to quench the poor man’s thirst? Lots of tap… of the water variety. Of course, don’t be shy to make your regular tea or coffee, just be reasonable about it. What to avoid? Bottled anything. Get your gatorade fix by the powder if you must. Bottled water? If you drink this stuff regularly, stop reading this post, climb some stairs and hurl yourself out the nearest window. Reusable bottles are the new black, moron. Energy drinks might be liquid candy but they cost their weight in gold. Kick em completely. A frothy, caramel swirl, chocolate capichiniato at a coffee shop? HA! Puh-leazze. DIY, skip the frills, and save a fortune. Booze is a little tricker and near impossible for me to avoid all together. Plastic 1.75s suddenly have to become fair game. You’ll consume it slower anyway. Bars ding you for something like 5x what you’d spend on the store bought equivalent. Employ an alternative and more clever strat if you’re headed out. Pocket a flask, get a single cheap rail drink, pace yourself, keep inconspicuous and ride out your supplies. You’re not fooling anyone by playing classy anyway. Speaking of classy, what’s the consensus on powdered milk? Undrinkable? Haven’t gone there… yet.

Taking a dietary supplement? Has your doctor ever explicitly told you, “You have vitamin deficiency xyz and you need to take these daily?” No? Supplements cost a loan and a half AND pssssst, I’ll tell you a secret, the modern western diet gives you all the nutrients you need without much effort. Vitamins are largely a luxury for the well-meaning rich, not a solution for the hungry poor. Blah blah blah calcium, yadda yadda vitamin C… there are a few arguments to be made but for the vast majority of your needs, eat right and let the food you put in your belly serve as your source of nutrients. Guaranteed, an orange is much nicer on the senses and tummy than your vitamin C pill.

Pass it up often as you can socially afford, but at some point, invariably, you’re going to end up out to eat with comrades. If your buddy grabs the bill intent to pay, skip the script of reaching for your barren wallet. Instead express your gratitude and repay them in the interim with coupons for hugs and such. Never forget these friends.

Be extra conscious of snacking and overeating. Recognize what your body needs and cut yourself off early, drinking liquids to tide you over. Your meals will be more reasonably proportioned and, as a bonus, you’ll spend 10% more of your day to visiting the washroom. Yay! *flush*

Scruples still firmly out the window? Let’s see if I can’t push back a bit further because dumpstering suddenly isn’t below you. Taking a half step back, no one reading this blog is too good for day old loaf of bread a coffee shop is throwing out or a slice of pizza that’s sat under a heat lamp for the tail end of the night. These things are thrown out every single evening. Taking the plunge is definitely going a little further and in most cases technically trespassing. If you manage it, remember that the onion/mushroom/carrot sitting in a box or bag, now the garbage, at one point came from the dirt. Some of these items have outer layers we discard anyway. It’s a last resort but one that I’m glad I was shown the ropes for a year back. Speaking of freebies, are you or roommates moving? Even better, is Costco friend moving? Lend a hand, make sure good eats aren’t being tossed and salvage even the strangest of canned items. Expiry dates be damned! It’s worth a smell test at the very least. Hard to pronounce spices will be your best friend in this arduous journey.

Generic brands are the same as the brand name 99% of the time. Shell out the extra expense only if you know the store brand is inedible by comparison.

Finally, when you have a job and the lunch bell rings, if you aren’t reaching for something you packed, you’re doing it wrong. Such an easy step goes quite a distance in the long run. Most of the workers at a construction job I once had would get their lunch from Super America. It doesn’t take a college degree (or even a high school diploma) to understand that you’re pitching a good chunk of your not-so-substantial paycheck in that simple act.

TL;DR: Cook virtually all meals for yourself, learn to utilize that spice rack, buy based on rate, seize freebies and avoid eating out. Get used to being satisfied with a set of basics, adding a dash of a new spice from day to day. Whether you’re broke as a joke or sitting on an adequate number of pennies, something here can improve your diet and budget. Lastly, be happy for a life made simpler, healthier and more flavorful.

Postscript: A friend added that overlooked the average westerner’s ludicrous soda consumption habits. It’s so firmly cast out of my diet that I spaced on it entirely but Scott makes a valid point. Soda pop is completely unnecessary and full of junk. Put something useful in your body instead. Something other than bottled water.

Exceptional question 1: Describe your favorite video game and why it was your favorite.

• My reply: Hands down, Command and Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour. There’s nothing more satisfying than optimizing build orders, strategically managing the macro and micro aspects of the map, and ultimately beating well-matched opponents in a non-stop effort of building and defending while wreaking havoc. The strong elements of strategy and the twitch-fast dexterity required had me hooked from day one. Aggressive play and relentless attacking was rewarded with wins up the wazoo. Playing in the Clan Wars league was uber challenging and I became a formidable GLA competitor in the 1v1 ladder.
• Why this question rocks: This was early in my interview process and took me completely off guard but it sparked an enthusiasm from the gamer I was in a past life. Basically, this question gets at the core of who I am and what sort of problems I find most compelling; namely, those where I can deploy a tried and true solution, adapting quickly to a new scenario in a sink or swim environment. The pressure has to be high and the pace needs to match.
• Brandon fun fact: I loved this game to an unhealthy degree and almost flunked out of college playing it obsessively. My best account had something like 1,500 wins at an 85% win rate. But while I was busy flaming noobs in forums and pioneering new strategies in a virtual RTS universe, we’ll just say my Calc III grade wasn’t exactly the same 85%.

Damn fine query 2: What happens when I load a web page in a browser?

• A shortened version of my response: On the DNS level, requests are made up the DNS hierarchy until the server with that URL namespace and corresponding IP is identified. Packets will hop from node to node, arrive at the destination server to request data and bounce back with the requested packets.
• Why I like this question: The whole concept of how the internet works is fascinating and I think everyone should know how information gets from A to B on a basic level. It’s hard to find an answer to this question in plain language. This answer comes from parsing through a lot of jargon and finally putting the pieces together on my own.
• Why it’s a good and not great question: There are too many ways to answer it and it’s difficult to know which will sound best to the interviewer or what level of detail they’re wanting. One could discuss the rendering of HTML/CSS/PHP in the browser or the processing that occurs on the destination server’s back end. Alternatively, one could go through logical network layers in any of a handful of network models and summarize what happens step by step. Figure out your audience and tailor your answer accordingly.
• Alternate universe response: The internet is a series of tubes…

Gosh darn good question 3: What’s your favorite layer in the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model?

• My reply: The physical layer. Binary is the new black. In fact, my desktop clock runs on binary UNIX time … and it follows that I never know what hour it is.
• Truth: My desktop clock is on 24-hour format. The more you know…
• Why I like this question: It’s not difficult but gives you some freedom to be silly while showing just a small nugget of knowledge.
• A better answer: The presentation layer is the best layer for three reasons. 1. It’s all about the presentation. 2. Presentation makes things look pretty. 3. There’s no time like the present… ation.

Outstanding question 4: In 60 seconds or less, describe the game of lacrosse.

• Brandon’s high-level description of lacrosse: Played on a rectangular grass field with a net at either end, two teams of even numbers try to score a ball in the opposition’s net using sticks with a small pocket on the end. Goalies for each team have larger pockets on their sticks. Players wear padding and routinely rough each other up. There are various rules to regulate hitting, ball control, where goals can be scored from, ect. Interviewer: How do you know when a team wins? Me: Ahh but of course! There’s a time limit, which spit in halves I assume. The team with more goals when the time expires is the winner. I suppose there must be overtime rules for a tie…
• Why I love this question: It probes your method of thought more than anything else. Though not technical, it’s still logical and straightforward. Most people (myself included) don’t know shit about lacrosse and can still answer the question on some level.
• A better question: The same thing in 20 seconds. 60 seconds just gives you too much room to stammer through unimportant details.
• Epic failure on my part: There was a god damn white board behind me that I only noticed after these interviewers left the room. FML. I promptly pointed out my error to the next interviewer who laughed and agreed that it would have been a clever way to run with the question.
• Lighthearted and just as truthful approach: Lacrosse? A bunch of brutes in plastic armor playing a form of field hockey where high sticking is not only allowed but encouraged. Requirements to play: You must be from a stupidly wealthy family and at least as douchy as hockey players if you aren’t one in the off-season.
• Feminist response: Originally a Native American sport, the modern version of Lacrosse is a grossly misogynistic game where boys assert that women they can’t hit like their XY counterparts. :sock the male interviewer in the nose and promptly exit:

Noteworthy question 5: Tell me about the last book you read.

• I replied: “Actually, the last book I read was titled” :pause, look around, BINGO!: “The Annotated Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. This book is delightful on so many levels…” And I went on for two minutes about how well thought out the 2-d universe and social system was explained in every detail mathematically.
• What I actually read last: The pause and look around was stalling because I’d actually just finished reading The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World by Michelle Goldberg. Interesting book, but going on about the global battle over women’s reproductive rights might have been more than the interviewer bargained for.
• Best/worst reply possible: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.
• Why this question is important to me: I read books and like to talk about them. More importantly, I like my potential employer acknowledging that I have a life and interests outside of work. That is, unless he was hoping for…
• The proper kiss ass response: Mastering Windows Exchange Server 2010 i.e. 900 pages of ultimate snooze fest. I’d sooner check out a knot tying book and master the noose.

For the sake of brevity, I’ll cut it short and save the terrible, no good, very bad questions for another post. Definitely share a response to any of the questions above or tell me an awesome question you’ve been asked recently.

Which jeans to wear today? Dark and 2 sizes too large in the waste? The trusty former-favorites sporting uber trendy crotch holes? Perhaps I’ll try the pair that are all but shreaded at bottom, victims of a time when I didn’t roll up the pant legs while cruising two wheels. Who am I kidding? I have nothing to leave the house for anyway today. Sweatpants it is!

Waiting for laundry to finish, I stroll down the Ave toward the local produce spot. Passing a computer repair shop I recall applying to the week previous, I wander in and have a look around. Tracking down the manager, I inquire if maybe they would be doing interviews this week. “If you weren’t contacted by the recruiter, you must not have met the qualifications.” I shake my head laughing and leave in haste, steam jetting from my ears as I push onward to the market. This guy clearly didn’t know he was talking to The Brandon “TF” O’Connor! I recall the job posting in some detail. It stressed in all caps, “THIS IS AN ENTRY-LEVEL POSITION. PREVIOUS TECHNICIAN EXPERIENCE PREFERRED BUT NOT REQUIRED.” I hesitated four or five times before hitting the send button on this one, knowing this was lowering my standards five if not six levels. I could have done this job well 5 years ago. In a moment of weakness (or maybe strength) the deed is done and 100kb of carefully written material disappears forever into cyberspace oblivion, probably never read, much less replied to by a human.

This is to speak nothing of the nightmare that is dealing with financial institutions who seemingly never get a request right the first time. That is, unless of course, it’s in the form of greenbacks headed their direction. I hate you so much citibank.

The word picture paint you is of course a portrait of a recent college grad in the modern American economy which, at present, remains firmly in the pooper. Specifically, these are my accounts of living jobless for months on end, struggling to not end up homeless, constantly being denied work well below my experience and skill set, all the while trying to maintain some level of sanity. Dramatic as I make it sound, it could be a lot worse (thank you times a billion to friends and family). Through weathering this mess, I’ve found a handful of simple ways to ease getting by financially, psychologically, socially and physically. These things, I hope to share with you dear reader.

I want to make it clear before I go any further that I absolutely take a good share of responsibilty for not having a job right now. At some point soon, the search will end whether it be landing a less than ideal gig at a help desk or putting on an apron in a kitchen (let’s talk wasted education). To shift blame entirely to the external would be irresponsible and unrealistic. That said, I’ve done what I can to line myself up for success as best as possible. On the job search front, I’ve applied for upwards of 120 positions over the course of the past three months. Some of them push my current capabilities, others fit well below what I have done and can do for an organization. I’m a university graduate with plenty of people to vouch for my work. I’m technically savvy in a handful of arenas including Linux administration, networking, Python/bash scripting, Windows support and server administration, hardware troubleshooting, (I’m boring you already so) ect. I’m broadly knowledgeable in sciences and politics, debatably socially inclined and slightly above average in appearance (someone once told me so). What about that screams “I should be unemployed!” I don’t have the first clue.

I should also add that the anecdote I give in no way reflects my opinion of the folks in the Obama White House. To implicate fault on the current administration when financial overlords irresponsibly ran amok over the past decade (plus) leaving us in the current mess, would be both short sighted and dishonest. Say what you want about the stimulus, this recession won’t reach great depression levels precisely because action was taken. Argue whether more or less action should have been taken, but it’s pretty clear that he’s improved the economic landscape or at least saved it from ultimate disaster.

This post doesn’t (just) serve to vent frustrations or to extend an e-tip jar, but rather to set up a series of writings focused on living frugally while maintaining good overall health and wellbeing. I’ve lived with poor folk of all walks of life and a consistent trend I’ve noted is markedly bad economic decision making skills. Practical day-to-day economics are cake when you understand the basics, yet the obvious pitfalls happen all too often and serve a primary role in perpetuating poor living circumstances. Hopefully someone out there can take a note or two from what I’ve learned and extend their dollar a little further or track down a killer event on the cheap (or free!). I’ve got a few topics in mind, but suggestions are always welcome. Today, I bid you cheers with a glass of water.

I don’t live near Dexter and it’s actually not my quickest route home from downtown but I quite prefer its dedicated bike lanes and lack of stop lights compared to Eastlake, my other route home. I found it interesting that most people who attended the open house were from the immediate neighborhood, often living a block or two from the road in question and each having at least one pet concern with the project. Why won’t there be a light on both sides of this crosswalk near my house? How I (a cyclist) pass a bus pulling over with the middle lane removed? How am I supposed to pull into my driveway without the center lane? The concerns were all over the board and the SDOT folks did an excellent job of fielding the questions. More than anything, I think it’s way positive that SDOT seeks out direct feedback from the people who will actually use the roads on the daily. You can engineer all you want but usability is almost never perfected on the drawing board.

I asked a few questions specific to the bike lanes, on street bike parking, speed limits, and also questioned their conclusion to use this solution compared to other bike lane options (e.g. separated by parked cars, barriers or planters for separation, ect.). These were more curiosities than anything and I agreed mostly with the proposed approach. When my inquiries had expired, I broke out the camera and asked if it were okay to take a few snaps. An SDOT rep said it wasn’t a problem and laughed about the state of citizen journalism. “You’re not one of those bloggers aren’t you?”

With a devious grin I snapped another photo and replied, “How could you tell?”

“Just a hunch. It’s an age of opinions we live in. Everyone seems to have a perspective of their own these days.”

“Isn’t that the idea of democracy?” I replied as I clicked a few more times and moved along.

Later I spoke with the older gentleman concerned about getting around buses while on his bike headed up the Dexter hill. He insisted that the entire plan should be scrapped for this tiny, but in his eyes make or break, flaw. I disagreed and expressed that these proposals would yield net improvements by taking all modes of transportation into account. Some modes will see more cons than others, but overall, it’s a step in the right direction for the system taken on the whole. He didn’t have much of a response but still managed to walk away clinging to his position. I suspect he wasn’t the only concerned citizen walking away unhappy that his individual squabble wasn’t fully addressed and corrected to his liking.

[wicked sweet slideshow]

Fast forward to this week. A report by Washington State Ferries gets Seattle bike bloggers of all stripes up in arms. The report reads…

WSF is seeking ways to expedite loading operations for several reasons. Currently, bicycle loading/unloading is a challenge since they are first off the vessel and can impede the unloading of cars. This creates a safety issue, which is more important than the delay, with the anxious drivers that have waited to unload now following the bikes down the road.

Panel recommends that cars be unloaded ahead of bikes.

Safety is of the paramount importance with efficiency second. The Panel recommends that a trial project be undertaken to change the loading/unloading sequence with bicycles being loaded last and unloaded last. This allows better separation of vehicles and bicycles and gives the Mate more control over the space allocated to bikes. Bikes are also slower than cars and can slow the disembarkation of those they are in front of. By holding back bikes, it also avoids the need for bicyclists to move through the car deck with their bikes in order to get to the front of the vessel. By off loading after the vehicles, bikes will not be sharing the road at the same time as the disembarking vehicles, allowing for a margin of safety.

All reasonable arguments, right? Apparently not to everyone. In zombie lockstep, local cycling evangelists have emerged with pitchforks in hand, completely dodging the primary issues WSF raises: the safety and practicality of unload procedures. Instead, they whine about cycling not being further incentivised, point to fuzzy language in the proposal and dispute that bikes don’t actually impede anything in this scenario. It’s the highest level of annoying when those you consider to be on your team suddenly become irrational in the name of tribalism and self-centeredness. This isn’t an attempt to keep cyclists off ferries and us two-wheeled travelers aren’t going avoid the ferry just because we’re last in line (don’t make me call the waaaaambulance). Let’s be realistic.

Fact: Cars are faster and accelerate quicker than the average cyclist. If bikes go first, the entire line of cars can only go as fast as the slowest cyclist taking the tiny lane and the result will be a less efficient ferry unload from start to end. The logic is pretty straightforward. Bikes going after cars is an easy and practical solution to improve safety and efficiency at the small cost of cyclist convenience. We should also remember that this is a trial run and the data from it should speak for the final policy implemented. Dodging facts like a republican and sidestepping the real issues destroys our collective credibility. When we raise these petty complaints, we look like that douche in the back of the plane at a window seat, standing up as soon as the aircraft touches ground. Sit back and have some patience or better yet propose a better (equally safe) strategy to share the exit. Much as you want to believe so, this isn’t car-centric people trying to be bullies. This is a group of individuals devoted to ferrying passengers in the most efficient and safest way possible, maximizing their costs and minimizing liabilities. Let’s be sensible and take our neighbors (yes, even car people) and the system as a whole into account, eh?

Both events clearly point to the same issue I believe plagues modern society. The SDOT lady was absolutely right, we live in an age of opinions and I think that’s indisputably a good thing. Much better than an apathetic citizenry. At the same time, it’s important to recognize when opinions are stupidly wrapped up around our very specific situations while accounting for little else. Maybe, just maybe, the best, most optimized and efficient solution doesn’t put me me me at the front of every line, receiving the highest pay out or getting the best tax break. I think we can all do a better job of thinking outside of our small, personal situation and remembering that there are often many constituencies and goals that play into policy decision making. The sum of the parts is what we should each strive to improve.

If the madness of a job hunt weren’t enough, with first of September creeping up and my summer sublease expiring (thank the gods) I was also on full time apartment prowl. I’m comfortably in the new digs now and concluded that craigslisting should probably be a life skill shoehorned into every public school curriculum. This marks probably the 5th time I’ve gone through this sort of housing search and I still learn something new each time. Power searching using google, creating different email templates according to what the ad does and doesn’t specify, adjusting your presentation style to every which type of renter, sniping ads as fast as possible to capitalize on ridiculous deals, avoiding scammers, ect. It’s a game not to be played sans cheat sheets. Google first and save yourself a lot of hassle.

These net intensive tasks wouldn’t have been so bad, if only we had an internet connection at home. Arg. Not a huge deal in the end. A different library, coffee shop or cafe each day would serve as my refuge. I appreciate a kick in the butt to get out of the house now and again but forced out is different entirely. This combination of events was slightly toxic and at one point ran me to physical illness… sort of.

Last Thursday, between room showings I stopped and ordered the largest pizza possible from Zeeks in Phinny. The half Veggie Thai half Tree Hugger masterpiece was an absolute party to the senses. Threw down five slices before my tummy said “No more.” Knowing I’d be on bike for another half hour hopping from here to the next prospective room, to a wifi hot spot and finally home, I made sure to not overindulge. *Bing bing* On my merry way with half a pizza in my pannier.

Finishing out the night at Trabant, out of nowhere my stomach decides it hates me in a big bad way. It hits like a ton of bricks and all at once I feel throw up shitty. The flu-like chills come over me. The smell of coffee beans never rendered me so nauseous. Each machine grinding and barista banging gives a deafening blow to the ears. I left in a hurry and somehow managed to keep the pizza down all night. Had I been mugged on the way home I’d totally have given up and yakked on the perp’s machete. “Had I really destroyed myself that hard this week?” I pondered. Brandon’s immune system rarely buckles so violently.

I felt considerably better the next morning as my system cleared out. The pizza was number one suspect and nervously waited another day before having another couple slices for late din din with a movie. It didn’t knock me on my ass this time but I was some level of miserable and had definitely found the root cause. Garrr I demand another (dis)satisfaction survey!

I wish I could say this story leads to an invite for my pals to join me for unlimited pizza at Zeeks but thus far no dice. They couldn’t help me on the weekend and my emails have gone unanswered. The manager I spoke with tried to tell me they usually only handle these complaints within 24 hours of the original order. I’m not having it. I’ve been punished for doing the diligence of ruling out a hectic lifestyle. Dumbfuckery if you ask me. Waiting on emails is pointless and I’ll be calling again tomorrow asking for Mr. Zeek himself.

For now I’m totally comfortable at the new place, this month’s roomies seem excellent and the pace of life is smoothing out nicely. Wicked outing at Bumbershoot music festival lined up for this Saturday. Some of the Vancouver gang is joining and special guest Kris ’can’t-get-enough-Greyhound’ Perkins (tumblr) makes her Seattle stop just in time for the shenanigans. Edward Sharpe, Bob Dylan and The Decemberists. Say it with me, yes and please!

Last week I attended my first local bike advocacy event (other than critical mass) at Ada’s technical books in Capitol Hill. Elly Blue and Joe Biel, hailing from Portland, OR, are touring the western states and engaging local cyclophiles in discussions on all things bike related. The tour, dubbed Bikestravaganza: Off the Chainring, will cover ten states over the course of about a month. The duo shares what solutions have worked for cities abroad, talks about some struggles faced in Portland, invites those in attendance to discuss local issues and brags good a bit about the finer accomplishments of their cycling community at home. Having personally biked the streets of Portland, I can attest that the bragging rights are well earned. The culture is bicycle friendly (good car/ped/bike relations), the political atmosphere is mad progressive (throwing a lot of funds at bike projects), and the citizens have largely embraced the movement with open arms (crazy ridership percentage-wise). One of few bicycle Meccas in America? Absolutely. Of the world? Mmmmmmaybe. I think it’s a stretch but more on that later.

The awesome folks at the Seattle Bike Blog have a series of excellent posts on what exactly went down and provide a good place to continue of the conversation.

I probably don’t give myself enough credit for how informed I actually am about the Seattle bike scene so in the moment I didn’t contribute more than a few words at the meeting. I’ve since given it some consideration and want to elaborate on some thoughts. In the near future, I hope to break down the merits of the cities I’ve ridden, pick apart Seattle’s transportation and cycling issues, and explain why I think Portland’s cycling scene is an exception to the established rules in a few important ways.

In any case, the event was marvelous and I can’t express in words how joyous it makes me knowing this message is on the road. Any city would be lucky to have this E&J show em some velo-love. If they’re skirting by your town, start organizing, give em a shout and they still might be able to squeeze you in. I leave you with bikestravaganza’s promotional video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amHTmCsV4HA&feature=player_embedded

One tool I think all internet savvy folks should be aware of is google alerts. It’s basically a cleverly designed system to monitor search terms recently popping up and in turn notifying you with an email on a reoccurring basis. If you haven’t done this already, your name might be a good place to start. A pseudonym you use online would be another rather obvious search term. Alerts is most helpful for tracking down who might be mentioning you, checking back with previous comments and keeping the discussion active. To protect and build your persona online, you have to keep tabs across a lot of web; this tool is perfect for the job.

In theory it’s a fantastic concept. In practice, it means that each week, I’m reminded that all-star track runner for Florida State University, named Brandon O’Connor, at has won yet another 200 or 400 meter race. With a name that awesome, I would expect nothing less. 

But that isn’t to say alerts catches absolutely everything. I guess the implications of putting anything and everything on flickr under a very share-friendly license didn’t completely sink in until just now. A few people have included a photo or two of mine on their sites and kindly passed along a message to let me know. It’s a boatload of fun both receiving that email and checking out how they’ve included your content. However, the license doesn’t demand that you give such notification, only that the author is credited to the image in some way. Last night, using an image search for brand0con, I tracked down two more sites using my shtuff.

The first can be found over here. My Spanish has never been rustier, but the translated headline reads: Mouthwash improves athletic performance. I’ll have to double check with H, but I’m pretty sure there wasn’t Listerine in that bottle. From what I gather, the research suggests we can trick our bodies into thinking we’ve consumed liquids simply by rinsing out the mouth with some sort of carbohydrate containing liquid. Interesting find! I want to say we used to do this in wrestling while trying to cut the last bits of water weight, tricking our bodies to keep sweating it out. Cool beans!

The other instance in question borrows from my photos at the paralympic games. Since the article has nothing to do with adapted sports and more to do with athletic performance generally, I would guess the author probably didn’t even notice that both of these biathletes are only carrying one ski pole. Doubly excellent!

The takeaway? I couldn’t be happier to participate in a massive project that sometimes, I don’t even know I’m partaking in. To find out that my images are used with science in mind is even more rewarding. Moral of the story: sharing is caring people. 

Anyone having the slightest bit of exposure to the science blogosphere is more than likely familiar with the name PZ Myers of the wildly popular science blog, Pharyngula. While I don’t regularly keep up with his posts, I do casually follow PZ on twitter (@pzmyers). Through his tweets, I found out that he was in the hood while visiting family and he’d be making a pit stop at a downtown Seattle pub where adoring nerds like myself could congregate to shake his hand and buy him a beer. I hemmed and hawed about the possibility of showing up and ultimately decided it wasn’t an opportunity to be missed. I ditched the sand and sun with my sights set and my wits firmly about me. I’ll have to pause here and rewind a few years before I say much more. Ready for a brief history of yours truly?

Something like four years ago, I was introduced (I think by digg) to two blogs that ended up having an innumerable impact on both my education and eventual world view. The first blog, which I still follow, was Bad Astronomy, the very rational and witty ramblings of astronomer Phil Plait, whose primary goals in online life seem to be illuminating the excellence of modern astronomy and debunking pop culture misconceptions. The other blog, Pharyngula, was loosely focused on developmental biology, while also being unflinchingly critical of right wing lunatics and fundy religious insufferables. Both bloggers identified as skeptics, lefty liberals and atheists. Even sexier? Each delivered regular tongue lashings to the mostly irrational opposition on a pretty frequent basis. I was hooked.

These two bloggers, while far from the most influential people I’d eventually stumble across on the web, were certainly responsible for initially peaking my curiosity and normalizing the idea of non-belief. I came across them at at time when I was finally primed to grapple with big questions about God, religion, ethics, science and politics in a very real way. I dug as deep as I could, started reading a lot of non-fiction and scientific literature, religious texts, philosophical greats and a gang of weblags. I was thrust into a world where suddenly nothing was sacred and certainty could be found in verifiable facts. It became clear that the scientific method itself (perhaps humankind’s greatest discovery) was definitively the best way of knowing and understanding the world around us; nothing more was needed to appreciate the magnitude of wonders in this life. It would only take a half year before I would follow suit and come to proudly identify as both a skeptic and atheist. I’d finally freed myself from the shackles of religious dogma.

In the years since, I’ve obviously continued to grow, adding nuance to my personal beliefs and exploring various sides of the discussions. All the while, I’ve continued following about a billion curiosities, simply for curiosity’s sake. Best decision of my life to keep dabbling in knowledge anywhere and everywhere, figuring out how exactly to triangulate opinions and hone critical thinking skills. My perspectives have shifted more than once, and while I still firmly wear the skeptic badge, when it comes to religion, I’ve shed the label atheist and opted for what I see as the more intellectually defensible agnostic stance.

In retrospect, the years of atheism made a lot of sense. Coming from a Christian background, atheism provided a place to firmly plant my flag elsewhere, even if that place was equally assertive in a realm of uncertainty. Agnosticism lacked that same solid grounding with which to separate myself from religion. In recent times, I’ve come to find a certain comfort in uncertainty. Why are we pretending to have definitive answers about something lacking concrete evidence and sound reasoning? My social science background would affirm that the null hypothesis is a both an okay and humble conclusion to draw in such cases. Part of me wishes I could hold fast to a certain perspective (like nearly everyone), but the better part of me realizes it’s healthy to keep growing and searching for the best and most refined answers, even if those answers are merely questions.

One component of the religion and scientific debate focuses largely on the style and methods of communication. These ideas operate on a meta-level of the religion conversation itself, talking about the medium rather than actually living in the trenches. But, make no mistake, people in this realm are still engaged in warfare of their own variety. An obvious forerunner of this department is Chris Mooney of the Intersection blog. I don’t follow the intersection because well… I find it largely dull (read his bookUnscientific America instead), but from what I can disseminate, Mooney (while I’m sure a multi-dimensional person) can be oversimplified as an accommodationist, advocating for a science-positive, religion-inclusive approach when communicating ideas, rather than the brutally harsh and often hyperbolic route taken by Myers and friends who put religion directly in the cross hairs. I hesitate to draw battle lines of any kind, especially since I see each of us essentially in the same boat, but the Bad Astronomer, Phil Plait, has also wandered closer to the accommodationist territory in recent times. PZ and his many followers remain in the hard line, militant camp of the firmest form of non-belief. This isn’t only the reason I still follow the BA and less of PZ, but I won’t pretend the constant grinding of religious kooks doesn’t wear on the soul after a while. As you can imagine, the in-fighting that results never finds any sort of reasonable conclusion. These groups paradoxically battle with fervor and zeal that can only be compared with religious fundamentalism itself. I can think of few more toxic environments than Ph.D welding bloggers engaging each other in a public space over what largely boils down to semantics. It gets stupidly nasty.

If you can’t tell by now, I find myself persuaded by the softer approach of communicating scientific ideas in a positive way while avoiding targeting religious folks in the process. The radically religious few in this world (worthy of some ridicule) don’t accurately represent the general population whom, on the whole, are well-intentioned people who just happen to have been exposed to a set of religious ideas early on, may not have thought about alternatives or just don’t find alternatives sufficiently satisfying. There are good historical and culturally relevant reasons why people believe in Gods and go to church regularly. Tradition, a sense of community integration and the need for unchanging moral tenets are often deeply ingrained and absolutely inseparable concepts with religion for many people. I too was once involved with this institution and it should be respected that we ALL come from some sort of odd belief which we later deem irrational, whether it be belief in a sky-fairy or Santa Claus. Whatever helps you sleep at night is fine by me so long as my tax dollars aren’t wasted on the teaching and preaching of your particular brand of sky-fairlydom.

This is all to say that I’ve gotten deep enough in the weeds with this discussion that I don’t even find it all that interesting any more and generally avoid the conflict that lives on both Pharyngula and Intersection. In the end I have praise for each camp on the side of non-belief. The inclusive approach renders your message more positive and accessible and in the end can be just as, if not more, persuasive. Still, without the hard line perspective I got early on from PZ, Dawkins, Hitchens and others, I wouldn’t have had the refuge of atheism to turn to as I freed my mind and got curious about the natural world. Those early blogs and books were an important impetus for discovering deeper philosophical meaning and learning to explore the sciences (if only as a lay person) with some tenacity. The facts were initially hard to swallow, the language not always readily understood, but the slap of reality in the face was the exact thing I needed to grow up and take some stock in my education. I feel extra assured giving praise to the new atheist movement (as they’re often labeled) because I know that I’m not the only one with this sort of emancipation story. In fact, just recently a dear friend I’ll leave nameless, who was very active in our campus’s Christian community, is alsostarting to vibe with the skeptical blogosphere, happily coming to an understanding of life without religion. I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to have played even a small part in that transformation in someone else’s life.

I’m derailing further and further now and I’ve already hit the background beats I wanted to cover. All that was to establish (if I haven’t already) that I hold some respect for the new atheist movement for what it’s afforded me, even though I no longer see eye to eye with either its tactics or world view. In turn, I recognize that I might very well represent something they despise, an internal enemy, because while I’m a non-believer, I don’t agree with them that the best way to go about advocating for science and rational thinking is by sometimes offending everyone and their Gramma. With that, allow me to poorly segue back into the original story and transport us back to a couple weeks ago…

In the end, I obviously decided to meet up with PZ and the Pharyngulites and though I approached with some caution, overall it was a fantastic time. I’ve met up with enough local skeptic and free thought organizations to know what to expect at these events. A non-trivial few want to share their personal background of how they got to be where they are today (not entirely dissimilar to what I just shared). Some have interesting stories, but nine times out of ten I’d rather carry a dialogue with people than have story time. These gatherings also tend to draw a few who are too socially awkward to do much beyond weirdly laughing and nodding along with the rest. Push their odd looks and mannerisms aside and they basically amount to background. And finally, there’s always a contingent who are witty, engaging and delightful in conversation. I like to think of myself as one of them (though I might be the socially awkward type and not know it) and inevitably I gravitate to these folks as the evening progresses.

But of course at an event like this, each archetype can be found surrounding the main man himself, trying to absorb some bit of wisdom through osmosis and maybe get their word in. From what I’ve described above, you’d probably expect PZ to be nothing less than a baby eating, fire breathing heathen; gruff, grizzly and dominating conversation, all at a several decibels above the rest. In reality, he’s a very kind fellow and mostly soft spoken, while also tack-sharp and full of clever insight. I would have been surprised by this but I’ve seen him on a couple bloggingheads discussions and was well aware of of his polite mannerisms beforehand. All in all, I found myself asking him thoughtful questions, steering the conversation into some interesting territory and contributing when I had something intelligent to add. Admittedly, it was a little awkward to be more than likely the only agnostic outnumbered by a bunch of militant atheists, but I’m guessing (and hoping) that it wouldn’t have actually mattered when the dust settled.

Overall, it was a wildly awesome evening and I wasn’t outright accused of displaying Mooneyisms at any point. By the time I was ready for the ride home, I’d made a few pals and was kindly granted a photo with the PZ himself who seemed to thoroughly enjoy the night’s company. Fittingly, within two short days and after a couple follow up comments, the picture became my most viewed photo on flickr. Never underestimate the power of internet fame I guess. I definitely look forward to meeting up with some of these folks again and hopefully discussing all matters of local skepticism and woo. Cheers to all parties in attendance.

This post was originally intended to be a simple throw up the picture, brag a little and be done. It might have exploded a little bit beyond that. Hopefully someone finds it a little interesting.

PZ blogged about the eve over here.

A consortium of Maritime electricity companies is planning to team up with customers to make use of wind energy when it is available.

And plans to…

… recruit consumers to help solve the problem.

While I’m not a consumer of Canadian maritime electricity, I’m going to weigh in anyway and ask why the words ‘distributed computing projects‘ are nowhere to be found? I think there’s real potential for the open source community to gain some footing, specifically in the public sector, by pursuing projects aimed at creating a smarter grid and more efficient households. It’s entirely possible that I’m woefully unaware of the ongoing efforts.

It recently came to my attention that Mrs. Palin (for better or worse) puts in the effort to connect with her loyal following via the web in interesting ways. She regularly spouts 140 character idiocies on twitter (@SarahPalinUSA) to folks who are basically already nodding in agreement. Annoying as a circle-jerk might be, part of me is enthusiastic about political figures adopting social web tools in a genuine way. Recently I’ve been following Vancouver’s mayor Gregor Robertson (@mayorGregor) and it definitely serves to paint a more human portrait when you open up a more-or-less direct line of communication. In a media world full of caricatures, it’s a layer of legitimacy and dimension for those who do it right. The language and tone ShakesPalin uses while refudiating all things rational are a pretty good indication that she doesn’t filter tweets through any third party. Props to her for at least that much! How can you not applaud those going to great efforts to put their foot in their mouth in front of all of America and the world?

And then there’s her presence on facebook, where she often publishes “Notes” which roughly equate to blog posts. Put plainly, you’re either under the age of six, over the age of 56, or an idiot of the highest order if you can’t set up a weblog on blogger.com and realize how much it opens up the medium. Use the right tool for the job I think is the most general way to put it. On second thought, perhaps a system intended to be 4th grader friendly is just the right fit for dear Sarah. Still, half of me begrudgingly admits that there’s a bit of brilliance (if only a pinch) in her approach. Given the near ubiquity of facebook, it’s the ideal platform to reach the widest possible audience. So taking a *note* from Palin, I’m adopting a similar approach and attempting to use the import feature within Notes to see how nicely it plays with an RSS feed. Integrating directly with the site is the best option and you don’t know until you try. I guess even the biggest of zealots don’t necessarily have it wrong in every which way.

Edit: I should readily admit that Obama’s tweets (@BarackObama) are pretty poor in their own right. They’re plastic, calculated and certainly not from his own fingers, which the account, to its credit, outright admits. That last bit of transparency is the saving grace. Besides, do we really want someone who goes by the title Mr. President paying attention to twitter rather than running the country and leading the globe? Me thinks not.

Edit again: Facebook Notes discourages you from using a  <!–break–> separator by cutting off content and sending you along to the original post. Not exactly the intended action. Imported the feed, posts are showing up as Notes, and now it doesn’t want to post anything new, telling me I’m not importing from anywhere? This makes no sense. You’re dumb facebook. Sharing posts by hand and taking back one of the two nice things I just said about SP.