New Year, New Music...

They may have been dreams in the past but this year I am vowing to make some changes. I definitely am striving for a work-life balance and am trying to enjoy the little things in life so that I find more happiness. While experiencing one of these little things today by going to get coffee, I heard this great song. It made me think of my sweetheart, so I wanted to share the good vibes.

Song of the week

Sometimes a song just hits you and you are profoundly affected. Earlier this week, that was the song below - Grace Before Sleep by Susan LaBarr. The words and harmonies hit a perfect frequency with me that just resounded. This is one of those songs you put the earphones in, close your eyes, and breathe... enjoy!

How can our minds and bodies be

grateful enough that we have spent, 

here in this generous room…

This evening of content?

Each one of us has walked through storm

and fled the wolves along the road;

but here the hearth is wide and warm.

And for this shelter and this light

Accept, O Lord, our thanks tonight.

Goodnight Moon

I know it's been a while but I had to share this song. One of my favorite books growing up, as I'm sure it's a staple in many other homes, is Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. One of my favorite choral composers recently put this children's book to music and I couldn't be more excited. Enjoy!

Tuesday Vibes...

Song of the day...

If you like this kind of music, this video is posted by Majestic Casual on YouTube and they always have such great music so enjoy! 

Music moments...

So, I can't help but share my new-found music. It may not be new but it's new to me and I love new music.

So I watched this adorable movie last night - St. Vincent - and the last song was by the great Bob Dylan. Just loved it, loved the movie, had to share. Here's a video of the end of the movie with Bill Murray singing away. Loved it.

The other song I heard while at a few Mariner's games recently. It happens to be the theme song for one of their players. Here's "Night's on Fire" by David Nail for all you country fans.

Good music for this summer day... Enjoy!

Song for a Tuesday - Friends

So digging this song today and had to share. The only unfortunate part is the Kanye West part in the beginning... so ignore that and enjoy ;)

It's that time of year again...

Back by popular demand (and yes, I'm aware I may be the only one who has waited all year for this), the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Falcon Cam! A tradition was started 13 years ago by the university having a falcon box placed on top of the tallest building in the area, the Du Bois Library. Here's a little history about the 2014 season:

This box has housed multiple nesting falcons and you can be a part of the family by watching their webcam! Riveting as always, I think it's like a great movie, unfolding every day. Happy watching!

Watch Falcon Cam

Song of the Day

Totally diggin on this new song so I thought I would share. Plus, beyond great beats, this video is super sweet and makes me remember that I really need to read "Where the Wild Things Are".

Enjoy...

Green Lake's Phosphorous Problem

Last week, Seattle's Green Lake got an alum treatment to help combat the phosphorous issues that lead to blue green algae. Alum is a non-toxic chemical that binds with phosphorous to inhibit the growth of toxic algae. Since this is an issue that should be dealt with, it's great that Seattle is taking a step in that direction. However, this is a small indicator of a bigger problem that needs attention... humans.

First Issue: Lawn Care 
While Seattle might be slightly better regarding sustainable lawn care practices than many places in the country, it still has a long way to go. Many homes in Seattle do not apply heavy chemical treatments for herbicide and fertility issues. And to their credit, most homeowners in Seattle and the surrounding Puget Sound area do not water their lawns, preferring instead to bring sexy back with their brown lawns during the drier summer season. However, bad habits continue and making matters worse, many homes are built next to waterways, exacerbating pollution issues.

We've all seen these homes before. Grass lawn or turf is planted right up to adjacent waterways. This close proximity aids in water pollution.

In Seattle, the moist environment often encourages moss to grow in lawns in addition to other weeds that plague most lawns. Scott's and other "turf experts" out there have successful advertising campaigns saying moss is terrible for your lawn and must be removed, most often by herbicides. This treatment of so-called undesirable vegetation is the reason for pollution that in recent years has been making headlines. The Great Lakes, for example, are battling a huge issue with blue green algae and chemical pollutants. When will it be enough?

Second Issue: Pet Waste
Isn't he adorable? Don't you just love dogs? So much fun... oh wait, they come with a lot of issues!

Seattle is a mecca for dogs and their people. For dog owners with yards, most of us have no idea how damaging pet waste is for the environment. In my soils class a few years ago, I used my yard as a test case for a project. It is relatively small and, at the time, I had one large dog and multiple small dogs. While we did pick up after the dogs, it wasn't an everyday occurrence. When I sent a sample of my soil in for testing, I found it had extremely high levels of phosphorous. This problem is a small glimpse of what could be ailing parks like Green Lake.

The park at Green Lake is a popular destination with a trail around the perimeter attracting every type of person for all types of activities, many of which include dogs. Even though people are fairly good about cleaning up after their dogs, this doesn't take care of the liquid waste issue. If this is part of the pollution issue, what can be done with vegetation and soil treatment moving forward to help combat this problem?

By the way, the dog above is our foster Sawyer who is, as of the date of this post, up for adoption through People United for Pets.

Explaining the Science Behind the Issue
Watering grass can be a tricky thing. Grass blades naturally bend when water is applied. It takes a slower process like rain to get past the natural sheeting effect and penetrate the root system. Most irrigation applies water to grass at a rate that is impossible for it to be fully used by the roots. All that excess water then sheets off downhill. This is part of the issue regarding polluted stormwater runoff.

Another issue in water and nutrient uptake is the pH of the soil. If the pH is off, which it often is, applied nutrients will instead leech into waterways. Seattle tends to have acidic soils so limestone can be applied appropriately to balance the pH levels. While you can optimize the pH of your soil, it is something that requires constant maintenance, something which most homeowners are not interested in doing.

This results in problems when applying chemicals such as fertilizers or herbicides. Due to soils not being able to take in all applied nutrients, what does not get taken up by the grass leeches into our streams and waterways via rain or irrigation. This is why having that waterfront property I discussed earlier is a big problem.

Disclaimer: Please get your soil tested prior to applying any amendments. 


Bottom line is we need to be better stewards of our green spaces. This responsibility is not only on homeowners or even renters, but on businesses and city governments. While it is not the only source of pollution in places like our now fair Green Lake, our actions in these green spaces need to take into consideration the bigger environmental picture and the impact our actions have. In the continual water cycle we learned about in grade school, our water eventually goes to places that affect wildlife like fish that are vital to ecosystems. Let's take our responsibility to the earth seriously for once and change our default from reaction to ACTION!

Save Dory!

Song of the Day

Yes, it's been a while, and for that I would like to dedicate this post to my dear friend Orinda.

I just had to share my newest favorite song... totally obsessed. Enjoy!

Holiday Moments...

So, we just passed a big milestone! On November 30th, while my parents were visiting me here in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving, this little guy celebrated his fifth adoptiversary! (You can read about how his adoption came to be here.) He was utterly spoiled by his grandparents with yummy food and treats as you can see.

It's so hard to believe we've had him so long. That would put him around 15 years old as best we can tell.

So as I've been in deep with finishing up the final deliverable for the fall quarter at school whilst shoveling snow... I thought I would take a moment. In honor of the Christmas season, because I love them and because I miss the Sing-Off show where they debuted, I'm sharing a video of Pentatonix singing Little Drummer Boy... enjoy!

Moved...

Once again I am moved to tears about the power of many at the climate march that happened just over a month ago. You can read all about my experience here. This video is so awesome. To see everyone coming together with one goal in mind, coming together to say what is going on is not okay and we need to make a change. Everyone taking a stand for our earth. It was and is amazing. Just as we paused for a moment, all 400,000 of us, we took a moment to recognize the fight, the loss and the magnitude of what is happening. And then to hear a collective sound that was almost deafening... amazing. Just think of what we can do if we all come together. My hope is this inspires all of us to do at least one thing in support of our climate.

Living Machine...

As school has started, I am a little behind in all the things I wanted to blog about. So, I thought I'd take a moment to look back and cover some cool things that have happened.

The first week of school we went on an orientation trip all over Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. We saw so many cool things and continue to learn a bunch every day. As my year progresses, I am committing to sharing all the amazing things I'm learning so we can all join in the process of being more earth-friendly.

On our last day of the orientation trip, we went to see a living machine in Grafton, Massachusetts called the Living Systems Laboratory. A living machine is defined as a form of ecological wastewater treatment designed to mimic the cleansing functions of wetlands. You can read all about this specific one here and here. The story of this site is based on the industrial history of the river.  There was a mill located upstream that produced various types of things over the 150+ years it was in operation on the Blackstone River. It was closed in 1986 and the structure subsequently burned down in 1999 leaving a toxic rubble. Since then the mill site has leeched oils and contaminants into the ground, heavily polluting the river.

In response to this issue, John Todd Ecological Design built a living machine to help with the cleansing of the river. Here's how it works:

First, the water is skimmed and cleansed by passing through these floating islands of vegetation. At this part of the river, the water is murky and when the temperature outside increases, you can see the oils in the river bed rise to the surface creating a nasty film.

They are made to float on the buoyant material below and planted with water-loving plants and fungi that help take up the harmful toxins in the water through their roots, thereby starting the cleansing process.

The water then moves through piping at the bottom of the river and is pumped into the main core of the living machine in this greenhouse.

When it's pumped in, the first station is the fungi station. Water is pumped successively through these fungi-inoculated trays.

Here's a close-up of the fungi in action!

The water then moves to a series of large planted vats resembling ponds. They too are planted with various water-loving plants and fungi. Most of the greenhouse is filled with these large vats containing water and filtering plants/fungi.

  

Here's a close-up of the plant life in the containers.

Just like the fungi trays, the water is successively pumped from vat to vat where it is moved further along the cleansing spectrum.

After the water moves through all these stages, it is pumped back into the river, better than when it came in. This living machine is constantly in motion which is very cool. The plants and fungi that were originally placed in every stage of the machine have changed and other plants have taken over. That is the beauty of nature - it changes and adapts to best work with the situation.

The best thing about this project is that they have measured a considerable reduction in toxins downstream from the living machine. How amazing plants and fungi are. Just think how our world could be improved if we incorporated more of this technology into our everyday lives. It's out there. People have systems even in their own homes where all their grey water is filtered and cleansed so that it can be re-used. Water is a limited resource, something that is hard for especially those of us in the Northwest to comprehend. It should be treated as the precious commodity that it is. I'm so glad places like this living machine are out there doing the hard work to repair what damage humans have done every day.

A little country...

Since moving to the countryside in Massachusetts, I have seen this as an opportunity to take a break from hip-hop-ish music to delve into country again and I love it. I love country because the songs always tell a story and often make me tear up.  I have found a couple songs recently that make me very happy when I hear them so I thought I would share.

Dirt - Florida Georgia Line

Video's a little cheesy but what a great song!


Perfect Storm - Brad Paisley

Enjoy!

Today, I made a statement...

Today I marched in the Peoples Climate March in New York City.  This march, along with other sister marches done in solidarity around the world, was done to bring change and communicate the urgency just days before a UN climate summit.  In New York alone, it was estimated the march brought around 400,000 people.  If you want to read more about it and see lots of photos, click here.

As I sit here, very tired, head and whole body hurting from a long day, I am overwhelmed with emotion in realization of the magnitude of what was done today.  I was a part of a movement making a statement that we are willing to fight for our world.  We're not willing to accept that our children may have a future earth akin to the likes of Mars.  We're not willing to accept plants/species dying, sea levels rising, contaminated water/air and continuous addiction to fossil fuels.  The time for drastic change has come.

I remember this last spring in my low-impact design class my teacher mentioning this march.  I thought to myself... well I will be over there...  Today it became a reality and I marched for a better planet. And even though I'm just one person, each of us together today created a movement, a march.  Just like it's been said before, a rainstorm starts with just one drop.  What are you doing for the earth today?

Changes will come from the power of many; but only when the many come together to form that which is invincible, the power of one.

My View

This is my view.

I am pretty blessed.  The matron of the yard is the biggest sugar maple I have ever seen.  I have chosen to call her Bea.  (This of course would be in honor of Bea Arthur of the Golden Girls, a lady and show I hold dear.)  Bea has pins holding her multiple trunks together so the limbs don't fail and I believe she has a hose that may have once been used to tap sugar.  Her canopy stretches across half of the back yard.  She's quite impressive.

I am now a resident of Ashfield, Massachusetts.  I have a downstairs apartment which is just the basement of a home referred to as a "cape" style.  The back yard feels like my own private oasis when the owner's family isn't here.  It's peaceful.  Ashfield is a rural community that is mostly farms.  Most of western Massachusetts consists of long winding roads dotted with farms, small towns and homes with stands on the front lawn selling harvested vegetables.  It's lovely.  It's a bit humid but completely tolerable which makes for a nice comfortable feeling to lounge in.  At the moment, it's great to be able to take advantage of all the local produce at the mini stands or at farmers' markets as they are just lovely.

I am here to go to the Conway School of Landscape Design which is 20 minutes away.  School starts tomorrow so I thought I would take stock and prepare for what is ahead.  Today my girlfriend of 7 years returned back to Seattle after moving me over and helping me get settled.  This is devastating.  At the moment, it's hard as I think of being alone this year and not having my girl Fynn as well.  The amount of changes that have occurred within the past couple of months, the amount of trials has just been unbelievable but I have come out on the other side.  And at the moment, I have the rare luxury of enjoying the summer warmth while not having anything to do besides put bug spray on and read an assigned book that should be done by now (oops).  It's beautiful, peaceful, and difficult all at the same time.  But how could we not appreciate that beauty if we didn't have the struggle?  So tomorrow starts a new chapter officially, as I move forward in achieving my dreams.  Scary, depressing and exciting all at the same time.


<breathe>

Happy National Dog Day!

Yesterday was National Dog Day so in honor of that, I would like to call out the two important kids in my life, my dogs.

Milo

This brave little guy just accompanied us on our trip across the United States as I just moved to western Massachusetts for a year of graduate school.  On a side note, to describe the last couple of months, it has been very stressful emotionally in our home as we were dealing with moving and dog issues.  So to add the change in home dynamic to driving for 6 days straight and staying somewhere new each night, it definitely was difficult for him.  But he managed it with a bit of ease and is now an east coast dog.  He's settling in, misses me during the day but is maintaining his good guard dog status as he warns us of any potential intruders.  What a trooper, Milo!

Fynn

The other dog in my life is Fynn.  She's my baby, if you haven't noticed, but this past month and a half has proven to be a difficult journey.  For a long time now, Fynn has been having a lot of mobility issues.  Her back legs were giving out and making it harder for her to walk, especially up the few stairs we have to get into the yard.  Her quality of life was suffering incredibly, so on August 8th we put Fynn down.  It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make in my life.  In the end, she knew what was happening and showed us that she had been fighting to move and work through the pain more than we knew.  There are so many things that would not have been possible like moving across the country with a dog that could no longer get into the car on her own.  The important thing is that now she is no longer in pain and is able to be with her mom and pops, running on the beaches of heaven.

I miss her every day.  Every day things get easier but there is still a large hole in my heart.  She was such a big part of my life, my baby girl.  She always knew when I was sad and would get up and come and check in with me.  She was a comfort, a friend, and the best dog a girl could ever ask for.

Your mama loves you, Fynn.

PSA - Applying for a Job

Written for Valerie, a cohort-in-arms.

As my time winds down at my current position before heading to grad school, I posted my job last Friday to Craigslist.  I am an office manager at a law firm and as such, I wear many many hats, including the head of HR!  So, I am now going through resumes and cover letters of all the applicants.  The moment they started to trickle in, I noticed an issue immediately - people not reading/following directions.  But first, let me take a moment to discuss something.

In working out the job description for my position with my boss, I championed a few things.  I feel strongly that for administrative positions, a bachelors degree is not necessary (like other postings require) and that experience is far more important.  I can tell you that my education in college didn't prepare me for work in the administrative realm.  I personally believe administration is a quality you are born with and it's not easily trained.  Because of this, I wanted to break down the potential barrier to good applicants who wouldn't meet the education requirement.

Is this inability to follow directions an indicator of lack of education or possibly a symptom of the generation that is applying?  Regardless of the answer, I feel it necessary to list the four top things to consider when applying for a new job.

TOP 4 THINGS WHEN APPLYING FOR A JOB

1. Read the job description.
Read through it in its entirety, including all the way to the bottom.  Does this job fit you?  Do you meet the requirements?  If you don't have the minimum experience required, does your work experience or do your references speak to your ability to tackle this new challenge?  If not, then this is not the job for you so please don't apply.

2. Follow directions.
When the job posting states at the end of the post to please submit a cover letter and resume, that is exactly what is required.  What does that look like?  Preferably, this is short email introduction describing your attachments and expressing interest in the position.  And you have two attachments, one being the cover letter, the other being your resume.  You can put this all inline in your email or use your email as the cover letter but it is better to do as instructed.

3. Be enthusiastic and polite.
Simply put, sell yourself but in a nice manner.  Don't just respond with an attachment and no text in your email.  This is your chance to show who you are and the niceties of that first email mean a lot.

4. Have your cover letter reviewed prior to sending.
Most jobs require writing skills and the cover letter is your chance to show your grasp on the English language.  Huge red flags pop up when I see sentences that don't work.  There are places out there that can help with this so take advantage of that if you plan to apply to a job that requires writing.


Case in point: My position listing stated a required skill is "attention to detail" and yet I have about a third of the applicants with no cover letter submitted.  This just isn't going to fly folks.  It's so simple but so easily done wrong.  God bless all those folks who are applying and whatever their situations are.  I'll be joining you soon in the ranks of those looking for employment.  Just know that it takes more than just replying to a post to land a good job!

Let your hair down...

Because it's almost Friday...

Because I've had a rough week (major deadlines as the quarter winds down, stressful at work yada yada)...

Because I'm having trouble staying awake...

Because I'm having trouble putting sentences together...

It's time to post one of my all-time favs - Gloria by Laura Branigan.

Ah 1982, I remember it like it was yesterday... this song never gets old.

So sit back, enjoy the gold glittering leos and fabulous dance moves with a glass of wine in hand and get down with the jam!

Song for a Friday...

So... heard this on the radio this morning and it had a pretty good beat.  Well, to be honest, anything after "Wasted" by Tiesto sounded like a good thing.  I'm driving around taking care of some errands on a nice Seattle morning and I hear this song come on.  The main lyric of the chorus is "I like us better when we're wasted".  So of course, I automatically get defensive and pissed because although it has a good tune, I'm rather frustrated with the message.  To its defense, I looked up the lyrics when I got to work and the song has more to it than just that small part.  It's a tiny bit deeper but I have a problem with the fact that it will likely become an anthem for summer graduation keggers all over the country, helping all the youngins feel justified in their inebriated chaos. Lovely.

Anyway, back to this other song.  Good beat... I was hooked.  So I came to work and looked the video up and found this lovely bit.  Please take note of the innocent cheetah cub poster in the first sequence and of course, let's all applaud the granny who is absolutely brilliant.  So, for all of you who have had a crazy week (mine has been crazy busy with stress of work and school, then finding out I got into grad school yay!), here's your entertaining and amusing video of the week accompanied by a song with a fantastic beat.

"Original Don" by Major Lazer ft. The Partysquad