petitionwatch 2007.

So, our first direct call to action since my advent at this little grassroots non-profit--it has gone out. I have been obsessively watching the numbers of signers creep up ever since.

The only thing keeping my head from exploding is the fact that season four of this debuts tonight. Nothing like a little bit of catty fashion reality television to take your mind off all you're not doing to make the world better and consequently poking out your brain with a stick.

Like, who names their kid VictorYA? These are important questions, folks.

I have also taken to egging my german biologist friend into saying "you're in? or you're aus!" Which, if you know him, is... hysterical.

what is radical?

One result of my moving from government work into advocacy work, is that I've been thinking a lot about radicalism. Radical ideas, radical action. What does it mean to be "radical"? It can mean "out there" or "crazy." For others, radical means "passion," "movement" and "the cause." I work for an organization whose identity is deeply tied to the idea of radicalism. So. How radical am I?

I saw my old buddy Capt. Charlie's appearance on the Today Show the other day, and it occurred to me that perhaps radical is simply about "new." New ideas, new approaches. What is radical one day, is commonly accepted the next.

Posted some thoughts on GGG.

Radical or not, what I CAN say is that both advocacy and change happen to be a lot. of. work. Like, endless hours of it. So for everyone and anyone I owe a call or email, please know that you are in my thoughts! With radical love!


Sometimes, what "saving the environment" really looks like is lots of paperwork!

form improved, function the same.

The amazing Vicky of makehay has just released the new, improved Green Girls Global site. I just posted about my move, please go check it out!

innocent balls.

I like to think that anyone who might find there way here, does so by way of searches like, "brilliant observations on organics," or even, "dogs in clothes not good."

It turns out that the top searches to this blog are "bull haircut" and "innocent balls."

As a public service, internet, I am letting you know: there is no such thing as a bull haircut. And there ARE NO innocent balls. All. Balls. Are. Guilty.

...the more things stay the same.

In my old job, I sat in an office at a government agency and spent the bulk of the day writing and reading reports and responding to emails. Now I sit at an office at a grassroots environmental organization. And spend the bulk of the day writing and reading reports and responding to emails.

I kid. A little. (Have I mentioned that that environmentalism is an astonishingly LOT of paperwork?)

Certainly, some things have not changed. But many things have. I have never felt such a sense of purpose and urgency in my work--not simply that the work I am doing is meaningful, but that the work I am doing is truly part of something greater, a small contribution to things that might actually change the future of this place. And for the better.

Perhaps unconsciously, I have always considered myself to be "from" here--three generations before grew up and lived and worked in Hawaii. I am finding that I am a true Californian in ways I didn't know, and that in me is a heart for Hawaii in ways I hadn't expected.

Other differences? Well, it rains a lot more in Hawaii than LA. I walk to work, instead of driving. I eat more chinese takeout than I used to, and it's harder to find organic greens. There is no Trader Joe's (the horror!), but the mangoes are much, much cheaper. And the papaya is much better. Oh, and rainbows. Lots and lots more rainbows.

because nobody gets it.

For Halloween, I was one of a trio of "Super Ferries." An attempt to be topical, and a spoof on the recent Hawaii Superferry debacle. For the record, I am ALL FOR clean, affordable inter-island transport options. I'd just rather those options actually be clean and affordable, and not require the legislation of special exemptions from Hawaii's environmental laws. Er, please.

The costume consisted of fairy wings and a t-shirt with the superman emblem on it. Oh, and a small bloody cetacean. JR's also came with a Super Fairy manifesto across the back. Something about the inalienable right to spread invasives and run at high speeds over marine mammals and dirty hippies.



We were all feeling quite clever, before we went out in public.

Them: So what are you, a super princess?
Us: Sigh.