Occupy Wall Street: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, But It Will Be Blogged

Photo Courtesy: Peter Whitley

The revolution is being blogged, facebooked, tweeted, tumbled, youtubed, photographed, written about, and discussed.  Occupy Wall Street has been taking place for weeks in New York City.  Protestors began occupying Wall Street September 19th, 2011; many have not left, many continue to come.

Within in the first week or so it became clear the police were not trained knowing how to deal with peaceful protestors.

 Immortal Technique uses Occupy Wall Street as a platform:

Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West discuss the Occupation with Keith Olbermann

Today marks 30 days of the movement; Occupy Wall Street has moved out of NYC and protestors are occupying world wide!  Here is a video of Beethoven's 9th Ode to Joy played live in Madrid. The crowd raised their empty palms chanting "these are our weapons," a sign of their peaceful resistance.  It's a beautiful sight.

Citibank Customers Arrested for Closing Accounts.  Is this what they call customer service?

A message from Anonymous to the 99%:

I AM NOT MOVING- A short film: perspective.

"It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."-George Carlin

Do you stand in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street Movement?  Have you been to any of the protests?  Comment below or email me shapedbymylife@gmail.com

From Dirt to Dinner

One thing I've always loved about summer is the fresh fruit and vegetables.  Growing up with a garden, fresh vegetables never seemed like as big of a deal as I can now appreciate that they are.  I love the plethora of ways fruits and veggies can be prepared, especially when all you do is clean them off and then you eat them!

The vegetable garden has come a long way this year!

  Here is a picture of one of the salads I've made with our fresh lettuce!

 Swiss Chard from the garden with angel hair pasta & feta cheese. 

 More meals and pictures to come!

Are you gardening? Or shopping at a local Farmer's Market? Have a favorite recipe you want to share? Comment below or email me at shapedbymylife@gmail.com

First Flower Garden: Update!

If you don't remember, you can read and see more pictures from what my garden looked like here.

I had already planted Lavender, Snapdragons, Lupine, & the Dahlia's in the front.

Now, after more weeding, planting, watering, tender, love, and care the garden looks like this:

A look from the left; the Cosmos are doing very well.

Dahlia's, mini Hollyhock, Marigold in bloom.

Beginning of the stone path. Yarrow & Foxglove where the Hosta was.

Mini Hollyhock, aka, 'Party Girl'

Butterfly next to Dahlia

One of the many Dahlia's

Arizona Sun

Marigolds!

Poppies were cut down until they bloom again next year. Hosta removed. Stonecrop, Foxglove, Yarrow, Arizona Sun, more Marigolds & Dahlia's were all part of the newest editions. Plan on finishing the stone path making the garden bed three separate sections.

HOT HOT HOT

I have moved from one air conditioned place to another today; by the time I was awake this morning, the heat in our non air conditioned  house felt unbearable.

I made the coffee, went outside and turned on the sprinkler to water my flowers for about an hour before venturing out for the day. After a quick cold shower, I got dressed and filled my water bottle.  Today is one of those really important days to stay hydrated.  A great way to do so, and be green, is to use a reusable non-plastic water bottle!  I have one with this peace quote on it, because it's a good reminder.  Using a mason jar works too, or nalgene.  I also found this place so cost really can't be an excuse for not wanting to buy one.  Also, using a reusable water bottle is more cost effective in the long run.

The weather said a high of almost 100 degrees today, with the heat index reaching 110 degrees.  So, I packed my computer, my folder full of literacy training paperwork and the few things I need to return to Kohls.  I went to the bank first, then up to T.J. Maxx to fulfill my love of shoes and see if I could find stuff for the house I'm still looking for.

By the time I left, the heat had only gotten worse with it being about 1pm and the sun being close to it's highest point of the day.  I realized I was hungry, stopped at Ithaca Bakery, but it was too busy.  Then I drove to Wegmans, but the parking lot was overwhelming, so I went to Short Stop Deli on the corner of Seneca St. and Albany St.  I picked up lunch and went to Gimme Coffee on State St.  I got nice and cozy in the back corner booth--my favorite spot because no one can sit behind me--and watched an episode of 30 Rock on Netflix Streaming and ate my lunch.  It's a great place to meet friends and to also see unscheduled visits with people.

I stayed there for a few hours enjoying the AC until training, but when I went to walk into the building at 5:15pm, there was a sign on the door that read: Closed due to the weather!  So, I have been wanting to check out this new antique place called Found, so I headed over there.  The piece of furniture I'm interested, in and saw via their Facebook page, is $325.00, which is way more than I can afford or want to pay for one piece of furniture.  So, after walking through and finding several very interesting pieces, but not sure what I'm really looking for, and also being drained from the humidity and heat today, I left with only a flyer for their upcoming flea markets.

Now I wait for my next air conditioned adventure; that, or swimming.

Welcome Wagon

I am shaped by my life, both twisted and straight. -Marge Piercy

I'm a 27 year old female living in Ithaca, New York. After graduating with a B.A. in writing in 2005 I moved away and have been back in town now for three and half years.  I've wanted to start a blog but was undecided about whether I wanted to focus on a single theme; I came to the conclusion I don't want to limit myself. I am my favorite subject to analyze, dissect, create and recreate. I will write about sex, relationships, food, the world, art, music, books, and writing. Maybe as time goes on I will get more of a grip as to what this space is for. So here it is. Follow as this twenty-something tries to take it one day at a time.