blogs aren't really my thing. neither was updating livejournal, myspace, keeping anything current on my facebook, etc etc. i've never felt the need to float my personal thoughts out into the nebulous world wide web and being consistent is not a major asset of mine. in fact, i'm generally pretty awful at keeping in touch with people i don't see on a regular basis. however, the idea of this blog was born to me while i was out on a run with my dog on a sunny day this past week and whether it was the runner's high, the brisk january sunshine, or what - i decided it might be a decent idea.
all that aside, here's the jist of what (i'm hoping) this baby blog will be. for starters, i've been doing a growing amount of reading and research on the state of agriculture in this country and around the world. it started out with "silent spring" (by rachel carson) and a lecture by jim merkel that i attended as an undergraduate. that desire to learn about what we are doing to our earth and, perhaps even more worrisome, what we are putting in our bodies has been driving me to educate myself about the costs of my diet and ways that i can change for the better the impact my eating habits have on the world, the local economy, my body, and so on. a side effect of my preoccupation with learning and thinking about these things has led to me attempting to share this information with my friends/family/random passersby, perhaps against their will (someone i served a bagel to recently at work commented on how they never liked their bagels toasted until recently. a few minutes later he walked away with his sandwich after hearing about human evolution and the newly hypothesized importance of the role of cooking in our development - he seemed interested, i think?). in other words, when i learn things i find fascinating and relevant, i like to share. in fact, i fairly bubble over with statistics, facts, hypotheses, and the life cycle of apis mellifera (aka the european honey bee) to anyone in earshot. in an effort to minimize this overflow for friends and family, i have decided to put these thoughts, interesting quotes, and other odds and ends spilling out of me down on internet paper. hopefully this will limit exposure to those who are sick of it (my boyfriend will probably sleep better at night without me sitting next to him trying to tell him about the looming flu pandemic and how modern agricultural practices could easily set it off) while providing a place for those who are interested in the subject matter to read about it.
i suppose having an outlet to ramble at will about that sort of thing is the predominant reason for starting this blog, which is why "eater" and "thinker" come first in the title. i would also like to be a resource for finding CSAs (community supported agriculture - food shares that you buy into with a local farm in advance and then are supplied vegetables, fruits, or whatever the arrangement is while the product is available/in season), farm markets, local events, and also will be posting recipes i like from time to time.
now to address the "biker" part of the title - i am a competitive cyclist in new england. while that does not mean that i'm a great cyclist, i like racing, training, and being outdoors. i compete in road, track, XC (cross country mountain bike), and cyclocross events. i also like to cross train with running, a little swimming, a little romping, and i try to supplement my life with plenty of vitamin d. a lesser intent of this blog is to chronicle my training, racing, and outdoor time (note: it is very likely that there will be lots of pictures of my 11 mo puppy on here, as she's my new running companion & i have a new camera that i'm still breaking in).
well, those are the basics. i'm off to go read some more of the book my friend margaret got for me as part of my christmas present: "eating animals" by jonathan safran foer. about halfway through, really liking it so far!
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