Hi All- Apparently I haven't done anything interesting in 2 years, but I feel like I will have some things to post this summer. I would like to use this blog to write about gardening, biking, volunteerism/activism, and possibly a little artwork. There is a lot of overlap with all of these for me, but here is a bit about what I will write about...
Gardening-This year I will have a 100 SQUARE FOOT vegetable garden! In years past I have had a 32 square foot garden and I grew a ton of food, so this should be amazing. It is located at the Monarch Community Garden in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago (http://monarchcommunitygarden.com/). I am anticipating a large harvest, much more than I can eat. I will be giving the surplus to friends as well as a program called Vital Bridges (http://www.heartlandalliance.org/vital/) who sometimes supplies food to patients at the hospital where I work. Until the summer harvest, I am getting vegetables delivered to my house from a great CSA called Tomato Mountain (http://www.tomatomountain.com/).
Biking-Last year was the year of running to train for the Chicago Marathon, but this year is all about biking. I have been riding an old heavy Raleigh road bike for a while, which I love and used to ride the North Shore Century a couple years ago. Over the winter though, I got a fast and light racing bike from the only place I buy bikes in Chicago, Working Bikes (http://www.workingbikes.org/).
I am currently 2 weeks into an 8 week course to learn about all the major components of bikes. I am taking this Thursday nights at my other favorite bike organization, West Town Bikes (http://www.westtownbikes.org/).
In July I will be participating in AIDS Ride Chicago, a 2 day, 200 mile ride(http://rideforaids.kintera.org/faf/login/partMenu.asp?ievent=1080319&lis=1&kntae1080319=2628CA53C9D141F59B37C4D79C3EA2C0). I need to raise $1,000 to benefit TPAN, the Test Positive Awareness Network (http://www.tpan.com/). There are weekly group training rides I will participate in as well.
I will also do Bike the Drive, the ride where they shut down Lake Shore Drive to cars and bikes take over. I wish it was like that everyday. My mom will be doing it again, but instead of on a tandem with me like we did last time, this year she will ride a sweet adult tricycle. This event is the biggest yearly fundraiser for Active Transportation Alliance (http://www.activetrans.org/) which advocates for people powered transportation in Chicago.
Also, just for fun I will do the Apple Cider Century in Three Oaks, Michigan all long time from now in September (https://applecidercentury.com/).
I will try to ride in as many Critical Mass rides as I can as well. These take place the last Friday of every single month and are super fun (http://chicagocriticalmass.org/).
Art- I like to try to create art sometimes. I have made some pencil sketches, wood burnings, comic strips, and will try painting. Get ready for some pictures of my attempts. I would like to try to create something good enough to get into the Inspiration Café auction next year.
Volunteerism/Activism- I will be getting back into running at least one day a week at 5:45am with Back On My Feet Chicago (http://chicago.backonmyfeet.org/). This group finds housing and jobs for people and as part of the program there is running to build confidence and for health.
Since I don't like sleep that much I will also be serving/cooking breakfasts from time to time at Inspiration Café (http://www.inspirationcorp.org/). They place treats people who are homeless with dignity by serving meals restaurant style, made to order and served individually. They have cooking training program and some graduates work at restaurants called Inspiration Kitchen. The one in Garfield Park is one of my favorite restaurants in the city.
I will continue to be a supporter of Wolf PAC (www.wolf-pac.org), to call for an Article V constitutional convention to make the 28th amendment which will states that corporations are NOT people and money is NOT speech to overrule the Citizens United decision at the Supreme Court. I hope to also get more involved with TYT Chicago and Detroit (http://www.tytnetwork.com/meetups/). The Illinois State Senate just passed a resolution calling for a convention and now it must go through the House.
Since corporate media is no longer adversarial just stenographers for the power elite, I will also be supporting my other favorite sources of independent media Democracy Now!, Citizen Radio, Extraenviromentalist, Dan Carlin Common Sense, and others. They haven't brought us to war based on lies even once! I will be volunteering at Netroots Nation (http://www.netrootsnation.org/), which is being held in Detroit this year.
If I have time, I would also like to start contributing articles to Food Tank (http://foodtank.com/), a public policy think take all about food and maybe serve food with Food Not Bombs.
Misc- I recently went on a trip to Las Vegas. I ran a half marathon in the desert and it was SO HARD! I hope to post some funny pics from that soon, but for now, here is the funniest picture from on top of the Stratosphere....
Gardening-This year I will have a 100 SQUARE FOOT vegetable garden! In years past I have had a 32 square foot garden and I grew a ton of food, so this should be amazing. It is located at the Monarch Community Garden in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago (http://monarchcommunitygarden.com/). I am anticipating a large harvest, much more than I can eat. I will be giving the surplus to friends as well as a program called Vital Bridges (http://www.heartlandalliance.org/vital/) who sometimes supplies food to patients at the hospital where I work. Until the summer harvest, I am getting vegetables delivered to my house from a great CSA called Tomato Mountain (http://www.tomatomountain.com/).
Biking-Last year was the year of running to train for the Chicago Marathon, but this year is all about biking. I have been riding an old heavy Raleigh road bike for a while, which I love and used to ride the North Shore Century a couple years ago. Over the winter though, I got a fast and light racing bike from the only place I buy bikes in Chicago, Working Bikes (http://www.workingbikes.org/).
I am currently 2 weeks into an 8 week course to learn about all the major components of bikes. I am taking this Thursday nights at my other favorite bike organization, West Town Bikes (http://www.westtownbikes.org/).
In July I will be participating in AIDS Ride Chicago, a 2 day, 200 mile ride(http://rideforaids.kintera.org/faf/login/partMenu.asp?ievent=1080319&lis=1&kntae1080319=2628CA53C9D141F59B37C4D79C3EA2C0). I need to raise $1,000 to benefit TPAN, the Test Positive Awareness Network (http://www.tpan.com/). There are weekly group training rides I will participate in as well.
I will also do Bike the Drive, the ride where they shut down Lake Shore Drive to cars and bikes take over. I wish it was like that everyday. My mom will be doing it again, but instead of on a tandem with me like we did last time, this year she will ride a sweet adult tricycle. This event is the biggest yearly fundraiser for Active Transportation Alliance (http://www.activetrans.org/) which advocates for people powered transportation in Chicago.
Also, just for fun I will do the Apple Cider Century in Three Oaks, Michigan all long time from now in September (https://applecidercentury.com/).
I will try to ride in as many Critical Mass rides as I can as well. These take place the last Friday of every single month and are super fun (http://chicagocriticalmass.org/).
Art- I like to try to create art sometimes. I have made some pencil sketches, wood burnings, comic strips, and will try painting. Get ready for some pictures of my attempts. I would like to try to create something good enough to get into the Inspiration Café auction next year.
Volunteerism/Activism- I will be getting back into running at least one day a week at 5:45am with Back On My Feet Chicago (http://chicago.backonmyfeet.org/). This group finds housing and jobs for people and as part of the program there is running to build confidence and for health.
Since I don't like sleep that much I will also be serving/cooking breakfasts from time to time at Inspiration Café (http://www.inspirationcorp.org/). They place treats people who are homeless with dignity by serving meals restaurant style, made to order and served individually. They have cooking training program and some graduates work at restaurants called Inspiration Kitchen. The one in Garfield Park is one of my favorite restaurants in the city.
I will continue to be a supporter of Wolf PAC (www.wolf-pac.org), to call for an Article V constitutional convention to make the 28th amendment which will states that corporations are NOT people and money is NOT speech to overrule the Citizens United decision at the Supreme Court. I hope to also get more involved with TYT Chicago and Detroit (http://www.tytnetwork.com/meetups/). The Illinois State Senate just passed a resolution calling for a convention and now it must go through the House.
Since corporate media is no longer adversarial just stenographers for the power elite, I will also be supporting my other favorite sources of independent media Democracy Now!, Citizen Radio, Extraenviromentalist, Dan Carlin Common Sense, and others. They haven't brought us to war based on lies even once! I will be volunteering at Netroots Nation (http://www.netrootsnation.org/), which is being held in Detroit this year.
If I have time, I would also like to start contributing articles to Food Tank (http://foodtank.com/), a public policy think take all about food and maybe serve food with Food Not Bombs.
Misc- I recently went on a trip to Las Vegas. I ran a half marathon in the desert and it was SO HARD! I hope to post some funny pics from that soon, but for now, here is the funniest picture from on top of the Stratosphere....
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