Back in the Hizzouse!

I'm back in VA from my trip to NYC and Boston. I must say I really enjoy being away from here. But my 5 days gone tired me out, so it's good to be back home, relaxing in the barrio and combating the cold that has descended upon the region inside my own place.

This photo reveals just one of the many reasons I love New York. Where else can you dress up in a cowboy hat and tighty-whities, play guitar and take photos with giggling tourists and most likely make a ton of money? Only in NY, only in NY! America really is the land of opportunity.

It was really good to see Lisa and Alexander, even if it was just for a few days. Here is a photo of them in Central Park on what was a truly unseasonably warm day in November. We weren't wearing jackets! It was a just perfect day to take photos in the park as the leaves were turning and falling to the ground, blanketing the ground with a beautiful golden color. Gorgeous!

We also got to see the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center being set up, several days before they light it up for the crowds to see. It was dusk, so we couldn't see everything very well, but we were lucky to get to see it at all! I took this photo after we had gotten off of our bus tour. We got to see all of downtown Manhattan. I really liked what we saw, but Alexander confessed that he wasn't as impressed with New York as he'd hoped he'd be. But I called him out and told him that he only likes Hamburg! He complained about Frankfurt when Erin and I were there and he picked us up from the airport, so I think he's just biased.

Here's a photo of a store we passed on the bus tour. It has specific relevance to me! It's not the best thing I saw in NYC but it certainly ranks up there as one of the funniest!

So I love New York and was sad to leave, but Boston was fun...er, interesting. I always like to see my family, and fortunately I got to see my Grandma, Mom, great-aunt, great-uncle and 2nd cousin and his family. So it a family-bomb if you will.

So, I'm going to sign off, but this was just a snippet of my trip. So I'm glad to be back, but also very glad to have gone.

Random musings

So, I've recently been told by a little bird that I'm not very good at blogging. Well, I think that's true. I noticed that the time between posts had previously been 2 years. I'll attempt to rectify that serious neglect of this blog by posting today. Just a little update about what I've been doing; completing my peace corps application, checking my email every 2 minutes, reading websites about organic cosmetics, doing chores and running errands.

I've found a good website that sells organic cosmetics www.saffronrouge.com. I like it for the range of products, though I do think some of the prices are a little high and it is light on editorial content about the products themselves. The website features "Kristin's blog" and "Kristin's favorites", both of which detail new organic beauty products and the founder's favorite products from each of the lines sold on the site. I would like to see more articles about advances and happenings in the industry. Other sites that accomplish that come off a little too hippie-dippy (see http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/index.cfm). So I think there is a need for a website that marries the purely marketplace aspect of Saffron Rouge and the activist slant of Organic Consumers.

My interest in collectives in Latin America is being piqued lately, ever since I read this article in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/dining/05choc.html?_r=1&ref=americas&oref=slogin

It details how an indigenous group in Ecuador is leveraging it's access to cacao and translating that into greater income by learning techniques of processing cacao into chocolate. They're being supported by leaders in Swiss chocolate-making techniques. I think it's a real sign of progress towards greater income stability for a historically marginalized group.

Okay, I gotta finish packing for my trip to NYC!!! Bye for now.