The Free Frontier

While the term "Mongo" itself is new to me, the idea of sharing with strangers is something I've been part of on both ends.  I've lived downtown at a few places now, mostly Front St, and furniture moves around there more than the homeless. I've picked up a chair (which I sit in while I write this), a folf disc or two and some bitchin BBQ-ware.  And I put out a couch which was gone in under two hours.  It was really cool to be a part of this totally random act of sharing. It wasn't fulfilling or anything, it was just kind of neat--the idea that something as simple as putting a free sign on something you lay near the sidewalk can be beneficial in so many ways. The most important benefit, I think, is what the process does to change our way of thinking.

In her trash article, Nagle describes how the problem with our trash output is a cognitive issue. I feel that when you do something like give away things that you would otherwise throw away, you are forced to consider the future of your trash.  You have to think about things from a broader, more long term perspective.  Sure this thing has no use to me now, but it may prove useful or even necessary for someone else.  I was quite alarmed to discover that the process of "mongoing" is illegal.  But resourceful people find a way around that with things like craigslist and freecycle.org. 

There was an article in the Independent a while back that featured an article about a woman who had outfitted something  like 80% of her house with "mongo"ed stuff--decorations and artwork included.  "Every single thing you see is future trash," says Nagle. An observation that should certainly leave you with something to think about. With so many people in the world, I believe that any action which simultaneously limits trash output and helps somebody else along their journey is, at least, progressive. 

A "symbiotic, probiotic colony of yeast and bacteria."

Kombucha tea is a popular product in most health food stores. It is made by combining a culture of yeast and bacteria with a mixture of black tea and sugar according to a kombucha website.  It tastes something like a carbonated (by means of natural fermentation) sweet vinegar. Don't scoff, people love this shit. I got interested in Kombucha after it's raw form was pulled from shelves.  The FDA did a random alcohol test on some batches of GT Millenium's raw kombucha tea (which claims an alcohol content of <0.05%).  What they found was an average of 3-4%.  Needless to say, this caused a stir.  And then it caused another stir--some people are lost without this stuff. 


I work at the Good Food Store and i've seen, firsthand, into the depths of raw fermented yeast tea withdrawl. Customers claim (many before it was taken off the shelves) that "it gives you a fantastic boost of energy unrivaled on earth."  "It can improve liver problems, circulation and it works on nail fungus!" "It helps with exzema and psoriasis and can lower your blood pressure!"  "After you have two, you feel like you could run a marathon"...yeah well, I feel pretty great when i'm buzzed too. When it was on sale, we could've hired a person just to restock the raw kombucha 8 hours a day.  Each bacteria junkie smiling, eyes-closed at one another, sharing a secret source of pure, fermented awesomeness.   One website calls it a "miracle used around the world for centuries." There are loads of people in Missoula who brew the raw stuff in their homes. 


Well, we still carry a pasteurized version of kombucha--as does the UC Market and a large handful of other stores. But I haven't heard a single customer rave about the health benefits of pasteurized fermented yeast tea.  Of course, i'm sure there are tons of people riding a high from an hour of having Dr. Oz injected into their brain, just looking for the "kombucha" printed on a bottle when they toss ten of them into their baskets.  They don't notice it's not raw and then they're stuck with something containing only "trace amounts" of the benficial probiotic bacteria (world tea news). Well, maybe the placebo effect will lower their blood pressure.

Numero Uno

I am Ryan.  My credits say I am a junior--though I've been going to school (on and off) since 2005.  I folf regularly and am quite fond of playing the guitar--mostly Neil Young, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, and the like. Looking forward to getting my first electric and adding some new songs to the repertoire. I work at the Good Food Store and really like to backpack. I live with my girlfriend Laura and my flop-eared bunny Gracie.


I haven't read nearly as many titles as I'd like.  I'm currently reading as much Kurt Vonnegut as I can get my hands on--Wampeters Foma and Granfaloons, Armageddon in Retrospect, Slaughterhouse Five...  Right now it's Cat's Cradle.  Lately, other than Kurt, I quite enjoyed Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman.  I like some of the commonly-studied classics: A River Runs Through It, To Kill A Mockingbird,  1984,  Alas, Babylon,  All The Pretty Horses.  I'm a big fan of most Michael Crichton books. Some Other titles I can recall enjoying: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris, Ender's Game (and the rest of the Ender Series) by Orson Scott Card, Where the Wild Things Were by William Stolzenburg, Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Marie Rilke.  Oh, and as far as poetry goes...huge fan of Robert Service.