I just returned from seeing Julia Butterfly Hill with Ashlee and Jessica. Ashlee had to go for her women’s studies class, and Jess and I tagged along as part of our movie night. Ms. Hill sat in a tree to save it and the forest of Redwoods it was in from being destroyed by some company. The company was apparently breaking some laws by logging the trees, and she sat in the tree for over a year to protest this. I only know this from what Ashlee told me, so I may have the details wrong. Anywho, I may be a liberal, but I was not at all liberal enough for that lecture/community gathering. She used ‘divine,’ ‘sacred,’ and ‘love’ way too much for me to not roll my eyes. We started it out with some black man with crazy hair hitting a ‘singing Tibetan bowl’ and invoking the spirits of air, etc. That’s half the reason why I left the Wiccan religion: too much B.S. to go along with the sound ideals. One particular thing that bugged me was her saying that some days, she just wants to stay in bed and have a cup of ‘Vegan cocoa.’ Not the part about staying in bed, but the Vegan cocoa. Why the detail? Her whole thing tonight was about connecting with other people, and it seemed incongruous for her to be preaching connection when she’s distinguishing herself from all the non-Vegans. The type of cocoa was completely irrelevant to her point of “some days it’s hard to be an activist.” Jessica took the evening as complete bull shit, Ashlee was all for it, and I saw some truth surrounded by a lot of crap.

This Saturday is Todd’s birthday, so I’m going to his parents’ house with him and his brother. The whole family should be there, along with Steve (Todd’s sister’s boyfriend) and myself. It’ll be nice; their house is pleasant and I always seem to 1) sleep well, 2) watch a lot of Food network, and 3) lounge around on the couch. Those three things are hobbies that I miss greatly, as I’m busy during the week, so I’m looking forward to the visit.