Attention Bookworms!

I just found this site today: http://www.bookbrowse.com/

If you love books, like I do, check it out. It looks like a winner. And you don't have to join - you can still browse the site without putting up any dough. But if you wanted more, membership looks to be about the cost of a magazine subscription.

I'm guessing this is probably a better site to surf than celebrity gossip sites. Not that I browse celebrity gossip sites.

Box full o' good stuff

I picked up our first "farm-box" today! I was so excited that I left work a little early to head over to the pick-up place. After feeling like a trespasser to go get our box (it was in the backyard of our pick-up location!), I brought it home. When I opened it, I could hardly contain my glee.

Look at this bounty!

Nice radishes! (Why thank you - and I love your carrots.)

Pasture-fed chicken eggs.

The eggs were easily the most expensive item, at about $5 for a half-dozen. However, they are from happy chickens who are free to roam the farm. Supposedly these have a wonderful rich flavor and I can't wait to have one for breakfast tomorrow.

TH is as giddy as I am about this box, and he's all set to make me some carrot and couscous salad.

More questions than answers

The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know; the world opens up in more directions, and I see how much more there is to think about. It's a little bit mind-blowing; and some days I can really appreciate the saying, "ignorance is bliss."

I attended a lecture at Sacramento State yesterday by Wesley J. Smith, a lawyer and writer about bioethics and related topics. His presentation was titled "Bioethics: Creating a Disposable Caste of People?" and he discussed his opinions in regards to personhood theory, bioethics, euthanasia, assisted suicide, stem-cell research, and more. Interesting lecture, passionate speaker. I haven't dabbled much in this area of study, but the organization that sponsored this presentation brings really interesting speakers and topics to the campus. For free!

So. You can read about Smith's ideas on his blog or in his books. Here are some of my (rhetorical) questions based on his talk.

• In a world where some lives are more valued than others, who gets to decide which lives are valuable and which are not? What are the standards? Some would suggest cognition, or an ability to communicate, or an ability to care for oneself, or quality of life, or ability to feel pain.
• What is the difference between personhood (a being who is self-aware and values its own life) and humanity (the biological state of being a living human)? Is the state of being alive, and a human, a moral value in itself? How do we define the moral value of life?
• What is the purpose of human rights? Do they exist to protect the weak, or to protect the priveleges of the strong?
• Is killing wrong in itself, or is it wrong because it takes away something of value from the victim? Is killing an acceptable response to human suffering? [In these questions, "killing" refers to ending life. So, is the use of the word "killing" even appropriate?]
• Is there such a thing as a "duty to die?" If someone is too old or too young, too infirm, too disabled, too expensive to support, does that person have a duty to die?
• Is the purpose of society to support people in living virtuous lives, or to help people avoid suffering?
• Where is the balance, the "dynamic tension," between personal autonomy and a collective sense of morality? What is our obligation to each other as individuals with the right to make personal choices, and our obligation to each other as people in community?

I don't have the answers, nor do I expect you (my lovely readers!) to have them. But I believe there is value in thinking about these questions.

Molasses Sunday

Something New

Lately I've been hearing/reading about smaller farms who will deliver a box of produce weekly to individual consumers. This is part of a movement called CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture.

I've been wanting to try it. Getting a big ol' box of produce from a local farm, instead of buying from the grocery store and getting stuff from Chile and Mexico? Sounds good for me, for local farmers, and for the environment. I figure, I live in one of the best agricultural areas in the country, what have I got to lose? So yesterday I sent in an application to a CSA farm called Eatwell. I can't wait to hear from them! TH is intrigued, too.

I signed us up for a box of produce and a half dozen eggs, to be delivered in a local neighborhood for my pick-up every other week. The cost is about $125 for this arrangement, which seems like a really good deal. Unless the box is full of radishes, eggplant, and turnips.


ADDENDUM: The $125 cost is for the introductory 4 box offer, plus a half dozen eggs with each delivery. We're spacing our deliveries out at every other week, so this trial will go for about two months. See more about their prices and plans here.