Trash

Do you ever stop to think about the amount of trash that you generate in a single day? Or week? Or year? After living in Samoa for a semester and seeing the negative impacts of trash build-ups I have tried to become a more conscientious recycler. But even recycling does not completely eliminate waste, it just extends it's life cycle. There is a real problem with the way things are packaged today. It's a plastic overload. Sure it's convenient and cheaper in the short run but plastic does not biodegrade so we'll be living with it for a long time to come.

Two interesting stories I read recently. One is about the 3.5 million tons of trash floating around in the dead zone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The second is about a man who saved every single piece of trash he accumulated for a whole year. Disgusting yeah? I agree. But it does make you think about your own lifestyle and things you can do to minimize your own "trash footprint."

• Continent-size toxis stew of plastic trash fouling swath of Pacific Ocean


• California man saves year's-worth of trash

A Little R&R

It's not often that I find myself at my apartment on a Saturday evening, but since I am recovering from a rather nasty cold I decided it was a good idea. Definitely a change of pace for me. I sleep a lot when I go back to visit family, but not necessarily here. Rather nice to sleep away the afternoon, and I even managed to get some stuff done. Ok maybe not that much but I did write a few thank you letters. That should count for something. :) I also got to spend time with my roommates. Doesn't happen as often as it should. It was a movie marathon evening: Love Actually, and then the first two Bourne movies. But now it's one in the morning and I need to be up in a few hours for church. I think I'll probably spend most of tomorrow sleeping as well. haha

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Christmas! I am once again back with my family enjoying an unexpected week off from work. Unexpected because until two weeks ago I did not know that I had this vacation time. I love happy unexpectedness. :)

I had a wonderful Christmas. Right now all my younger siblings are running around the house playing with their new toys. It seems like the game of the moment is some sort of laser tag.

For the first time in several years all of us went to the same Mass on Christmas day. Normally half of us go to midnight and the other half go in the morning, but this year everyone went in the morning. I actually went to the vigil as well to accompany the soloists on the organ. Exciting but also a little scary as it's been about five years since I've played the organ in church and it was very last minute. Three of the pieces I received two days beforehand, and the final piece I received when I arrived at the church for a brief rehearsal. The organ is in need of some desperate repairs, and I had a few problems with stops the first two pieces, but the Communion pieces turned out much better, at least in my opinion. Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to play more often. I'm planning to take a few lessons to brush up on technique, pedaling, and the stops. The biggest determining factor in how much time I spend will be whether or not I can obtain a key. My ultimate goal is to start playing for weddings again. Music took a huge backseat in college, but I don't think it could ever stop being a part of my life. One of these days I will get a piano as well, but for the time being it would be in competition with the TV and I don't think my roommates would approve. :-P Aside from the organ I am also playing a few times a month with a couple of friends. Right now we are working on Bach's Double and I cannot wait to have it done. It's going to sound awesome. I'm really enjoying having more difficult pieces to learn, because otherwise I am tempted to just stick with music that I already know or that is fairly easy to sight read. The challenge of having to practice difficult passages is exciting. And yes, I know that I have now managed to sound like a complete dork. :)