On being a grown-up

Here is an interesting article about Pavlovsk. (Have you signed the petition yet? There’s a link in my sidebar. Just to the right of you. Sign it. Thankyou.) Also, Luigi from agro.biodiver.se says:

Pavlovsk did not witness the death of 12 scientists, who starved to death rather than eat the seeds in their care.

And he says it in bold, so he must mean it. Ohhh. It just sounded like such a noble, poetic thing, but I suppose such things are rarely true. He also says it’s a ‘story for another time’ so I don’t know the facts…

Also, here is an interesting article about urban agriculture, and about how it should be economically viable and a real tool for resilience, as well as a vehicle for achieving social objectives as it is at the moment. (Which is important. But, yes, it would be nice to have viable local food systems as well.)

Finally, I have recently been on a bit of a ‘being a grown-up’ kick. This has involved: discovering my bedroom has a floor; acquiring a credit card;* buying work clothes; getting shoes reheeled; cleaning the toilet; cooking some meals involving vegetables; looking for a new house that is not ridden with mould and falling apart; actually knuckling down and doing some of the work I need to do. And, most recently, I realised I’ve achieved a special kind of grown-up: instead of getting drunk and stealing traffic cones, on my way home from the pub I now swipe large amounts of cardboard that my neighbours have put out for the recycling. Because it’ll be REALLY useful for sheet-mulching.

*sigh*

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* I possibly think this was a terrible mistake. As part of a general long-term project of moving my finances towards ethical banks, I got one with the Co-op Bank instead of my usual Corporate Bank of Evil. I now feel that buying things on said credit card will somehow stimulate the financial system which invests in projects that won’t fuck the planet over, whereas saving money in my ISA with Corporate Bank of Evil will give people money to invest in planetary destruction and screwing over the developing world. Argh. Buying stuff I can’t afford is NOT a force for good. Remind me of this.