atlantalarry

Walletmouth

I've always been interested in the social, environmental, and economic consequences of the decisions we make.

Where we live, what we eat, where we shop, what we buy, how we travel ... the list is endless.  I  stumbled upon a blog which explores those sorts of decisions in a great deal of detail.  It's called Walletmouth, and the slogan at the head of the blog states:  "Your wallet is a mouth.  When you spend money you  tell the  world how you want it to be".

I've only begun exploring the blog, but it has an amazing array of resources on corporate behavior,  which seems to be the blog's main focus. 

The blog also covers more mundane consumer environmental issues.  The most recent post (as of this writing) is an article on diapers, with a description of a sort of hybrid between disposable and cloth (reusable cloth outer layer with a biodegradable disposable liner.  Not as much discarded as a disposable, not as much transportation energy consumption as a diaper service).

Overall  Walletmouth is interesting, entertaining and informative.   The blog's name and slogan is great, too.
 

Sheldon Brown 1944-2008

On February 3 one of the most prominent figures in the American cycling world passed away.  Sheldon Brown's knowledge of the technical aspects of the bicycle and cycling, and his willingness to give of that knowledge in both his extensive web site and on various forums on which he participated were legendary.

I'm not even going to attempt to add to the written summary of his life in cycling or his impact on the cycling community, but I will mention that the current interest in the fixed gear bike was greatly facilitated by his writings on the subject.  Of even more interest to me is his writing on the venerable Raleigh Twenty folding bike.  If not for Sheldon Brown I wouldn't even have known they existed, and now my 1969 Twenty is my favorite utility bike.

His most lasting legacy in the cycling world just might be the glossary of cycling terms on his website.  If I ever encounter a term with which I'm not familiar this glossary is the first place I visit.

Wikipedia has a brief biography of Sheldon Brown with links to other articles by and about him.

Veganomicon

I have no idea what caused me to abruptly adopt a vegan diet.  I imagine it was some combination of the recent news from the beef industry involving the slaughter of animals too sick to walk, environmental concerns regarding the efficiency of animal-based food production, and the health issues involved with a meat centric diet.

But mostly I think I'm just an experimental sort of guy, who also loves to eat and cook, and given the existence of stores like the Dekalb Farmer's Market, Sevananda, the Rainbow Market, and Return to Eden, it's both possible and fun to set some parameters on what I will or will not eat. 
And restaurants like the Cafe Sunflower and R Thomas make it possible to eat out without being relegated to the bland and oddly textured portion of the menu.

Another thing making veganism possible without descending into a miserable sort of asceticism  is the proliferation of decent vegan cookbooks.

A few weeks ago I bought a copy of Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.  These two interesting women produce a vegan cooking show called the Post Punk Kitchen.  Their website contains past episodes of the show, in addition to recipes, a discussion forum, and lots of other interesting stuff.

I have many cookbooks, but I can say honestly that Veganomicon has become my primary cookbook over the past several weeks.  I began by making their Tofu Florentine with a side of Diner Home Fries.  It was absolutely wonderful.  I've used their instructions for roasting vegetables nearly every day since the book arrived.  I've made their Chickpea Cutlets twice, and have made numerous batches of their Cheezy Sauce (a gravy like cheese sauce substitute centered around nutritional yeast).  And bear in mind I've only been using the book for a little over two weeks!

Everything I've cooked from this book so far has been delicious. 

The recipes I've used from the book were not for the short-of-attention span, however.  With the exception of the roast vegetables and the Cheezy Sauce the prep time has been considerable, particularly the first time.  But I think the preparation involved is worth it.  If you're interested is checking out just how tasty vegan food can be, this is the cookbook I'd recommend.

My first trip on the CCT

I've wanted to try out some of the county transit systems for the past few years.  It's ironic that my first trip on the Cobb Community Transit system (CCT) was to pick up my automobile from a garage in Mableton.

The garage was located on Veteran's Memorial (the old Bankhead Highway) about midway between Oakdale Road/Discovery Boulevard, and Floyd Road/Mableton Parkway (Veteran's Memorial seems to be the dividing point for a number of name changes of roads).

My original plan was to cycle to the train station, ride the westbound train to the Holmes station, and cycle to the garage.  But the car was ready a day early, and I'd taken the train to work with no bike.  So I got the brainstorm of trying to make connection with the CCT.  I knew absolutely nothing about the routes, fares, or schedules of the CCT, so I hit the CCT website.
So far so good.  The website indicates that the CCT actually wants people to ride the system.  I don't know what made me think they wouldn't.  I then hit the link to the system map.  Hmmm...
Weird.  One would think that a route straight out Veteran's Memorial would be a natural, since it would run through the center of Mableton and Austell.  But the closest route was the 30, which departs from the Holmes MARTA station and intersects  Veteran's Memorial  where Mableton Parkway  becomes Floyd Road, very near the Mable House.   I checked the map legend, and determined that if I got off there the walk would be two miles at the most.  Good enough.  I then
phoned the CCT to find out how to transfer from MARTA to the CCT.  I found that transferring from
MARTA to the CCT at the train station was no extra cost with my monthly Breeze ticket.

So  I walked the half mile from my workplace to the Georgia State MARTA station at about 3 PM on a Friday.   I took the westbound train to the Holmes Station, and asked one of the MARTA staff the location of the CCT stop.  He pointed it out to me.  When the bus arrived (about fifteen minutes later) I boarded and asked if the Veteran's Memorial stop would be announced.  The driver said yes.  The bus was crowded at around 4:30 PM, the stops were frequent along it's meandering route with people both boarding and exiting along the entire route through South Cobb.

The woman seated next to me, who'd overheard me ask the driver about the stop,  let me know about two stops in advance that my stop was nearing.

I disembarked, crossed Veteran's Memorial, and walked to the garage.  The sidewalks along my path to the garage were smooth and walkable, although needless to say the overall streetscaping along Veteran's Memorial is dismal.

The entire trip, from boarding at the Georgia State station to arriving at the garage took about an hour and twenty minutes.  I could probably have cut the time by calculating the connection schedule better.  But all in all that wasn't too shabby.

I intend to explore the CCT more thoroughly over the next few months.  But overall my first experience was very positive.  I generally  evaluate public transit routes based on  how good they are in getting me from East Atlanta to some useful  or interesting destination.   Looking at the CCT's  system  map there are routes to the Mable House/Barnes Amphitheater,  the Silver Comet  Trail, the Marietta town square,  Kennesaw  Mountain,  and a route within walking distance of Smyrna's well designed town center.  The question is how efficiently the CCT can get me there.
I'll keep you posted.

I do intend to contact the CCT and request that they consider a route running straight out Highway 78 (Veterans Memorial).  One of my longstanding notions is that the towns formed by the railroad to Birmingham would be a logical extension of the westbound MARTA rail line (Mableton, Austell, Powder Springs, Douglasville, Villa Rica).  Since Cobb doesn't have a rapid transit system yet, at least they could fill in that gap with a bus line within their own boundaries.