First Real Post!

This is my first real post! Its very exciting I'll tell you.
I guess I should give a good rundown of the personal aspects of this blog, locations, and major players.

Eli - My mate! 27 and a computer programmer for the local college.

The Parents: En and Jay own the place we live, a duplex not far from downtown, they live in one part us in the smaller in a not always harmonious fashion.

Asuka - The cat. Currently on a much reviled diet. I took away her kibble and am making her poor starving self eat only nutritious wet food. Natural Balance in various flavors. She whines and whinges constantly for food.

Nibbler - One of the rats. Loves to lick people and run around on the couch. Is very silly.
Baldy - The other rat. Has silly curly fur as he is a rex, and now had a respiratory infection and something going on with his eye. He get medicine for both. He's very sweet but more reserved than his brother. Secretly, he's the boss.

Location: DeKalb, Illinois. I've been making a stink about leaving here for years, but I'm learning to find what is good and unique about this place. Recently there was a flood in town which I'll likely post the photos I took at some point soon because they are entertaining.

So what's the point of all of this? I'm trying to learn to write! The best way to do anything is to practice at it and frankly I'm rusty at this writing thing. I also am using this to try to articulate the ideas that I'm thinking about currently. Recently I finished reading House of Rain, by Craig Childs. In this book he follows the path of the Anasazi Indians "disappearance" from the southwest and comes up with some convincing and engaging ideas about culture, migration and the environment. He literally walked all over the southwest to get an idea of the landscape in which the Anasazi, lived, traded and communicated. I loved this book. I easily could have gone sappy or new-agey, but tread a fine line of reverence balanced with realism that just captivated me. The ideas of environmental collapse and the way that culture had learned to deal with drought and rain cycles really seems to be meshing well with the book I'm currently in the middle of. The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan got a bunch of press a while back and I was going to buy it but opted for Marion Nestle's Food Politics instead. (That was great too) So I've finally gotten around to reading it (go library!) and so far so good. Its very nuanced where it could have been alarmist, though factory farming in and of itself is alarming. I'll post a more thoughtful blurb about it and its connections to other things I'm reading when I finish it, but I think its relevant.

The more I learn about where my food is coming from, and about the way things grow healthiest and best the more I realize that cutting out as much processed food as I can from my diet is a salient choice. There is a 3 prong argument in favor of this.

1. Better for the environment - the less fossil fuels that go into making my food the smaller my carbon footprint, and believe me, a lot of fossil fuels go into processed foods, even organic ones.
2. Better for my health - I think this is the strongest argument I can make! Unprocessed food has no preservatives, less salt, fat, cholesterol, sugar, no random untested chemical additives and has more nutrients and fiber.
3. Supporting local business and sustainable agriculture - buy your food locally, this helps save fossil fuels and ensures the food is picked ripe and chock full of healthy vitamins and minerals.

So I'll probably look up some studies and statistics to back this stuff up at some point, but these are my main thoughts about it. There is a deeper, sort of esoteric undercurrent of simplicity to these thoughts as well. I don't think I can prove it but I feel like eating basic and simple foods will help me be healthier. I've been struggling with the difference between health and wellness. I have seen 4 different doctors in this past month and all of them tell me I am healthy, but I still don't feel well. I'm tired, I get headaches, I feel weak. I think improved nutrition, better eating habits and finding a way to be more active might be the key, but its a struggle.

So thats it for today I think, it was a lot but I think it was all important in some way. I'll get around to posting some pictures of things later tonight or tomorrow.