Denim Day -- 4/27

I received the email below at work the other day and wanted to share with others. I had no idea what Denim Day was so my guess is that you don't either!

I'll be wearing my denim tomorrow :)

-----

UNCW students, faculty and staff are invited to wear jeans to campus April 27 in support of Denim Day, a campus-wide effort to protest sexual violence. Sponsored by the Collaboration for Assault Response and Education (CARE) office, Denim Day is designed to protest the myths that surround rape and sexual assault. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

“We are asking everyone in the UNCW community to join us in wearing jeans on April 27 to speak out about this very important issue,” said Jen Adler, CARE associate director for violence prevention and response. “UNCW administrators are supportive of this effort and have given permission for employees to wear jeans even in offices where business dress is normally required.”

CARE will also provide stickers inviting people to ask participants why they are wearing jeans, so they can share the story of Denim Day, which started after a 1998 decision by an Italian High Court to overturn a rape conviction. The justices reasoned that, because the 18-year-old rape victim work very tight jeans, the 45-year-old defendant could not have removed her jeans by himself, so the victim must have participated and given consent. Wearing jeans during Sexual Assault Awareness Month has become an international symbol of protest about common misconceptions about rape victims.

“Since 1999, people have made a social statement by wearing jeans to promote awareness and show support to all those impacted by sexual violence,” said Adler.
Please join CARE in bringing attention to the issue of sexual assault by wearing jeans to campus April 27.

For more information on Denim Day, go to www.uncw.edu/denimday.

"I need to feed the worms."

I find it hilarious that I say things like "It's time to feed the worms." or "I need to feed the worms."

No, I do not have a tapeworm so I am not speaking of worms in my belly. Nor does Banzai have worms so I am not speaking of worms in his belly either.

I am speaking of the worms who live in our compost pile.

(On a random note, I was googling images of worms and this website popped up. I warn you not to look at these images if you're squeamish. You will probably puke, gag, or something of the like. I think I have a steel stomach because I want to get in there and operate and play around.... I should have been a doctor.)

Last fall, my roommate decided that he would like to start a compost pile since we always have little scraps of fruits and veggies that randomly find their way into the trash. He also eats a lot of eggs, and I drink a lot of coffee, so we needed a way that the earth could benefit from our "trash." He did a little research and came to the conclusion that we could minimize our trash output by donating our natural food scraps to some worms. So, he went to the bait shop and purchased some worms (don't ask me what kind because I don't know), put them in a container that he built, threw in some food scraps, placed shredded paper on top, and we were good to go!


We usually keep our scraps in a large tupperware container for about 2 weeks or until it gets full. Once one of those limits are reached, we feed the worms and cover the food with shredded paper. The shredded paper comes from my paper shredder, which is full of important personal information, no doubt. I mean who in their right mind is going to sift through that in a compost pile?! So not only am I essentially recycling paper but I am also preventing identity theft. Go me!

Here is a great site about composting with worms. There are tons of other websites that teach you the in's and out's of such a practice, but this is a good start. NC State University also has a great website completely devoted to composting with worms.

For most of the year, the worms and their house stay outside in the shade on the porch. When the summer months are here, however, we're going to have to find a new location for the house. It gets into the upper 90s here and that's about 20 degrees too hot for the worms. I refuse to let them inside the house because fruit flies do live deep down in the soil sometimes. (And my roommate emits enough smells - no need to add to that.)

So, if anyone has any suggestions on how to create a climate controlled area for our pet worms, please let me know! As if the living creatures in our house are not already spoiled enough, now we have to go and spoil the ones who live in dirt. Geeze.

Ever Forward

Today, as a sister of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority, we celebrate Founders Day. (Please spare the jokes about how it is on 4/20. Thanks.)


Tri Sigma has members who have served as a Supreme Court Judge, created the Care Bears, authored books, etc. Our most recent claim to fame is the fact that Carrie Underwood is a member of our sorority. (I knew I loved her for a reason!)

I'm sure that most of my friends don't even know that I was in a sorority in college. It's not something that I advertise, but it's not something that I hide either. The fact is that most of my friends from college came from either my sorority or others on campus.

For example, my best friend Cassie is in Alpha Phi. My other best friend Megan is my sister and in my pledge class.

The experiences that I enjoyed during my college tenure with Tri Sigma and other Greek organizations on campus were truly life altering. I absolutely cannot imagine my life had I chosen another path. I will be eternally grateful for all of the experiences and opportunities that Tri Sigma and Greek life have given me.

I am Faithful Unto Death, a sister of Sigma Sigma Sigma.

In Our Bonds,
TAB

Arts & Crafts

Springtime means arts & crafts time - YAY!

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Springtime in this house means that it's time to plant seeds so we can start our garden. Last year, my roommate built huge flower boxes for our porch so we could grow fruit and veggies year round. It seemed that tomatoes consumed all of last year's garden since he did the planting, but I'm taking stake early this year so I can plan some other yummies.

About a week and a half ago I planted these bad boys:


I only remember what is in one pot and that is green peppers. The other one could sprout a child for all I know.

Today, I planted seeds in some old egg crates that my roommate collected. Here they are full of dirt and seeds (thrilling, I know):


Let's hope they grow and sprout into beautiful pieces of fruit and veggies! I'll keep you posted on the progress, since I know you're all just dying to know how everything turns out.

Are You Being Served?

I am insanely stressed about many things right now and this article did not help with my mood. But I just had to share because I know of at least one reader who watched "Are You Being Served?" and found it just as hilarious as I.



This is just so sad. RIP Trevor.

If you haven't seen this show then I suggest you YouTube it. Sometimes you can even catch it on your local access station. I just roar with laughter every time it's on! Maybe I should take my own advice and watch it right now...

The Hairpin

The Hairpin is a hilarious blog that a coworker and I stumbled upon one day when we were bored. It provides endless hours of entertainment and various means of procrastination.

I recently stumbled across this post and had to share with everyone, since you all know of my love for penguins. And food.



I'm not so much a fan of olives but I know that tons of other people are so I may just have to make these treats for my next social event. If anything it'll be a great conversation starter.

"So, were any actual penguins harmed in the making of this treat?"

P.S. - Did I mention that I get to see penguins in South Africa?!?!?? Iamsoexcited!!!!! :D

The Food Chronicles: Green Peppers

This month's food obsession is proving to be green peppers. I find this quite surprising considering that up until a little over a year ago I could only eat GP's if they were sautéed and buried under other foods. Now I find myself adding GP's to almost any dish. Last night I even made stuffed GP's! I filled them with ground turkey, mushrooms, a fresh diced tomato, tomato paste, and a smidge of mozzarella cheese.

I also learned these fun facts about GP's from BigOven.com:
- Native to the tropical Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus brought sweet peppers back to Europe where they quickly became a popular ingredient in Spanish cuisine.
- Picked when mature, but not fully ripe, they sport a bright green color. When left on the vine to ripen, green peppers eventually turn to even sweeter reds.

Entertainment Suggestions Needed

As you all know, I will be traveling to South Africa in a few weeks. I have started my search for various forms of electronic entertainment now in an effort to have a complete collection come flight time.

I'm trying not to carry a lot of things with me on the plane so I'm limiting my books to two: a travel book and a word search. Everything else will be on my laptop or Kindle.

Please send me any suggestions for songs, Kindle books, iTunes shows/podcasts/movies, etc.

The Office

I have a tear-away "quote of the day" calendar from The Office. It has me audibly laughing at least 3 times a week.

I just had to share today's quote seeing as how so many of my friends are pregnant right now!

"Pam is constantly throwing up because of the pregnancy. If she eats something the fetus doesn't like, she is screwed. It's amazing; a three-ounce fetus is calling the shots. That's so badass." --Dwight

Ssssssnakes

As most Americans are aware, there was a dangerous snake on the loose last week. It apparently escaped from its enclosure a the Bronx Zoo. (As if people going to the Bronx need to worry about running into snakes...)

This really bothered my friend Jeremy because he is deathly afraid of snakes. Even though he lives in North Carolina, Jeremy was very concerned about the snake happenings - so much so that he even contacted our serpentarium downtown to see what their policy is on escaped inhabitants. And along with many others, Jeremy began following the snake on Twitter.

Here is a photo of Jeremy at our local serpentarium last year. He was clearly very excited to be there...



This is my petition to have Jeremy write a guest blog about his findings (or lack thereof) on snake escape procedures, as well as some words on why he harbors such hatred for the majestic creatures. If you have Twitter, please bug him about writing a post. If you have Facebook, harass him. He likes attention.

The Food Chronicles: Starburst Fruit Chews

My brother has always been the one in the family to eat fruity and chewy candy. We used to trade candy at Halloween and at Christmas, my mom knew to give him the chewy stuff and me all the chocolate. It worked out well for us throughout the years.

Well, I was somewhat shocked when I started craving Starburst Fruit Chews the other day. I haven't had these in years!



I ran to the gas station down the street and picked up a pack. I devoured the whole pack in less than 2 hours. Now I want more.

I also grabbed another favorite, peanut butter M&M's. I'm saving those for a special day, like when I work out extra hard and need a reward or when I refrain from slapping someone I really dislike.

PPOTW: Parental Complaints

This PPOTW was suggested by my bff Cassie.

PPOTW: Parents who complain about how they're so tired because they have a newborn child at home.

Well no shit.

Babies are used to doing what they want in the mother's womb. Remove them from that element, and they need time to get adjusted. This child spent 9 months in your belly getting used to things; don't you think it'll take him/her at least that long to get used to the external environment?

If you can't handle the late nights, midnight feedings, constant screaming, and dirty diapers, then do everyone else a favor and don't have children!

Like the nuns in school used to say, "Abstinence is the best form of birth control."

Color Me Excited!

I have just spent an enormous amount of money on a plane ticket.... to South Africa!

I may have mentioned this trip in passing, very briefly, in the past. Now that plane tickets are purchased, I can finally speak freely of this vacation. I will be traveling with Kristi and my good friend Adam halfway around the world to seek out some amazing adventures over the course of 2.5 weeks.

I cannot be more excited to get out of this country! I've had the travel bug for a while, as I have not left the country since October 2009. If I don't leave the country at least once a year, I go nuts!

Here's to hoping that this trip will quench my thirst until my next trip to France and Belgium in 2012 :)

April Fools is dumb

Am I the only one who thinks that April Fools Day is the dumbest thing on the face of the planet? I mean really, waste my time with something else please. Tell me a story about how your grandmother knit you a sweater with puppies on it or how your boyfriend uses your flat iron but please do not tell me an AF joke or send me a stupid link.

You may think that I don't have a sense of humor because I've said all of this but if you know me at all then you know that certainly is untrue. I just prefer not to waste my time with unofficial "holidays" that give people an excuse to slack off during the day!

Now get to work and stop being dumb.