My First CSA Package

Not sure if you could tell from my previous post, but I am beginning to garden. So far, I love it. Yesterday I spent the whole day working on my flower bed, now a mixture of cacti, succulents and perennials. I moved the asiatic lilies indoor with hopes of salvaging what are left of the lilies after the squirrels have feasted on the bulbs. Squirrels are not as cute as they seem, especially when they eat your flowers and leave a mess for you to see. They just don't give a fuck.

To me, gardening is trial and error. I have no time or interest to read or learn about gardening. I am one of those people who prefer not to read instructions. I can indeed read and comprehend instructions, however, and I am also quite good at following them. But I'd rather not. It feels too time-consuming and repressive.

Due to my general disinterest in instructions, rules and some laws, I decided to wait for my father Yip Yee to visit and provide a vital tutorial before I start my salad and produce garden. I cannot wait. In the meantime, I am participating with a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) for my local, seasonal and organic fruit/vegetable needs.

The produce pictured above is from South Central Farmers' Cooperative for $15 a box! It is a great deal and I love supporting the now famous South Central Farmers. Yet I felt very, very overwhelmed. I do not cook and, to be honest, I couldn't even identify some of the vegetables, at least in its raw form... Blu-Tooth volunteered to assist me and calm my anxieties. Together we determined that the package contained beets, carrots, green onion, spinach, cilantro, kale, broccoli, collard greens, three types of lettuce, and one additional leafy green vegetable we could not accurately identify. I added the spinach and green onion in my udon for dinner and it was lovely. The produce really looks and tastes fresh. Additionally, I have begun to prepare a vegetable and bean soup for the crock pot. Official assembly will commence tomorrow evening after the beans are soaked overnight. I refuse to let any of this produce go to waste!

The only negative aspect was that the package contained no fruit. Because of this, I've decided to also try CSA California for my next patronage. I will keep you posted on any and all new developments. Isn't this like so cool?

How to Grow Your Own Food

So I have a personalized google page at work where I added a wikiHow section. I haven't found too many of the listed topics that interesting, except how to talk to your cat (which apparently, according to the list, I already know how to do) and today's HOW TO GROW YOUR OWN FOOD.

I can't wait for the opportunity to grow hemp and poppy! And perhaps squash or some shit.

Another baby boom

(Dude, you can find the strangest pictures on the internet...)

So I have been watching local news because I do not have cable and, as a result, only am able to pick up two fuzzy channels (CBS & NBC) through the antenna (old school, baby!). Anyway, local news in Los Angeles is really, really stupid and is likely dumbing down Angelenos... but I did learn that the United States is now experiencing another baby boom, the first in 45 years! And the US is the only industrialized country to experience such an increase... hmm, could it be that the premise behind the movie, Idiocracy, could be coming true? Better get use to drinking electolytes then... it's what we crave!

All joking aside, I wonder if any of these procreators considered the ecological and fiscal impact of another baby boom? I'm not objecting to folks having babies, but I just wonder if any of this is a consideration.

It's interesting when people say that having children is the most self-less act a person can do... You know, I'm just not so sure of that....

"Humanity must drastically scale down its industrial activities on Earth, change its consumption lifestyles, stabilize and then reduce the size of the human population by humane means, and protect and restore wild ecosystems and the remaining wildlife on the planet." -- The Wildlands Project

I'm metamorphosing into a hippie

I have been fearful of this. But it's slowly and unwittingly becoming my reality.

I was super EXCITED to receive Dr. Bronner's magic soap as a gift from Tonkhero, after I expressed my desire to also have a complexion of a fifteen year old girl. Read about the soap's organic ingredients that support and encourage sustainable argriculture, ecological processing methods and fair trade. Also, Dr. Bronner's missive on social responsibility is a must-read. He seems a bit crazy, but the man makes sense to me.

Then, instead of my standard fare of alcoholic beverages and/or store-bought goodies, I made a hippie dippie casserole for Minnie Mouse's potluck this weekend. The ingredients include... (drum roll, please)... mashed sweet potatoes, ground soy mixed with vegetables and organic nonfat plain yogurt, and organic refried black beans with organic gouda cheese sprinkled on top.

What is happening to me?? HELP!!

Happy International Women's Day!

(Please note that I started this post on the date indicated above but sadly was too busy to finish it. Don't get confused, ok? I don't want you going around wishing women a happy day and looking foolish and ignorant. You should have done that last Thursday, though it's a good thing to greet someone in the spirit of feminism. Anyway, thank you for your patience.)

To my Sisters in the struggle, this is OUR day. You are special and beautiful, and DYY loves you very much. So shine, bitches, shine!

In celebration of OUR day, a group of my female friends (including Tron, of course) and I went to check out Andrea Zittel's CRITICAL SPACE exhibit at the MOCA Geffen Contemporary. She's the featured artist of WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, the latest big exhibition at MOCA. I attended the member's party last Saturday. Le Tigre was dj'ing and they were cool and all but it was fucken crazy crowded and we had to wait in line for a long while before we were allowed to enter the museum to see the exhibition. To my chagrin (since I don't do lines anymore, well, not those types of lines), most of the art and artists were uninspiring... EXCEPT Andrea Zittel who is amazing and is my absolute favorite artist at the moment. Seriously, I wish I could be her.

Andrea was even better and more inspiring the second time around. I encourage everyone to check out her exhibit. You will be in awe.

For a far better description, check out her biography here. But this is why I adore her: She incorporates art in her everyday life and challenges that life with her art. She pushes our conception and construction of time and physical space. For example, she would create these tiny living spaces that incorporate a bedroom, bathroom, or whatever, and maximize the space so that every inch is utilitarian and functional, yet super designy and modern... so when you look at it, you think to yourself, damn this space is small, but I think I can live like this because everything looks so cute and comfortable.

Did you know that many of her structures can be folded into a trunk (which I had not noticed the first time)? Not only does she challenge the fallacy that bigger is better, she also believes in self-sustainable living and makes all her own very stylish clothes, furniture and architecture.

I am once again inspired to learn how to sew! I wish I knew how to make cool shit. Since her exhibit, I have also been thinking philosophically about my own lifestyle and my perpetual quest to downsize and minimize in order to truly expand and maximize. It's a struggle, man... but I've come to realize that the creativity and adaptivity that derives from such a struggle is really amazing and quite fulfilling. It's a natural high.

I can really go on and on about Andrea's pieces as she's quite prolific and diverse. But I know I'm not doing her any justice so visit her website for a glimpse of her genius. By the way, Andrea's a part-time resident of Joshua Tree and creates a majority of her art and conducts experiments there. Now do you see why I want to be this bitch?

I'm doing it

It's official. Starting today for two months, I am now a lacto-ovo-pesco vegetarian. Excuse the latin. It means I still eat dairy, eggs and seafood. But no beef, pork, chicken, duck, etc. Blu-tooth has also decided to do this with me, but she's going to be strictly vegetarian. I'm actually excited and feel confident that it will not be difficult. I hope.

In preparation of the big day, I ate bacon all last weekend and had Korean BBQ for lunch yesterday. I had wanted to eat tacos from my favorite taco truck last night but Tron made dinner instead and made sure to include lots of meat. Of course that's how he regularly cooks.

Some have asked, why? Why forgo and deny myself the foods of the Gods? Besides the fact that vegetarianism is a more sustainable way of living, I'm just not interested in eating hormone-induced, genetically modified meats anymore. And I'm definately not going to eat cloned meats. So my goal is to try it for a couple of months to see how difficult it would be, if at all. I think it may be easier than we all think.

Beware of becoming a garden lady

This morning, Pure White and I volunteered at a community garden at a middle school in the westside. Since I am interested in learning to grow vegetables this year, I thought that volunteering at a community garden would be a nice introduction to gardening in general.

Well, I was wrong. It's kind of like how I thought working as a Project Assistant at a big corporate law firm would be a good introduction to law school. It's not. Fortunately, I only committed to one morning of gardening versus the full year at Jenner & Block where my spirit suffocated.

We were asked to pull weeds. And not the type of weeds I am accustomed to.

It was cool and all but I like the weeds. They are living creatures too and should have an opportunity to survive, just like the rest of the plants. But Pure White said that if we allow the weeds to live, the other plants will die. I suppose so. I'm just not comfortable playing God. So I kept Pure White company while he rigorously weeded an entire section. Check it out:

I was impressed by Pure White's vigor... and a bit fearful too. I had no idea how much he enjoyed rolling around in dirt.

Pure White said pulling weeds reminds him of his childhood when he played with dirt all the time. Now I understand why he often refers to himself as Dirty Jeff. This whole time I thought the moniker was figurative. Again, I stand corrected.

We did agree to Beware of Becoming A Garden Lady if we do decide to continue volunteering or developing our own gardens. Here is a sample conversation I had with the coordinator aka Garden Lady:

GL: Don't you love these plants?

DYY: Yes, I do. Hey, am I pulling the right weeds?

GL: We planted them last year. The leaves are wilting because of the crazy weather, but they are still doing well.

DYY: Uh huh. Hey, where do we throw away these weeds?

GL: If only the school allowed me to do what I want with this space. It wouldn't look like this. (And she walks away talking to herself)

She later returned and asked me to plant these two succulents. Yes! This is what I'm talking about. Giving life, not taking it away!

Sweet, huh? But planting only took two minutes to do. So here I am entertaining myself while I waited for Pure White/Dirty Jeff to complete his labor:

Snow Globes and Politicos

I fear that I seem much more craftier than I am. That's not even my snow globe above. I am merely a wanna-be, an arts & crafts neophyte... but with a deep interest in projects of self-sustainment i.e. making your own shit in order to reduce corporate consumption. It's really hard not to be a cog in the consumer culture (especially for me!) but I think every little action counts. Soon, I'll be sewing my own clothes and harvesting coffee beans in my backyard. Okay, that's a lie. But if I could, I would.

Plus, it's just fun to mix arts & crafts with friends and alcohol.

Pictured above is my christmas tree ornament. It turned out to be a lovely colorful furry ball. Since we do not have tree this year, it's now hanging from the rear view mirror of my car.

It was such a surprise to arrive at Craft Night and see the gang there -- Blu-Tooth, Minnie Mouse, Tron, Lady Pun and the newest angeleno, Mkydy. I love how something so small has grown among my group of homies. I did not expect them as George and I arrived late after attending Mike Eng's Swearing-In Ceremony as the newest State Assemblymember representing the 49th District. I haven't been interested in politicians since college, but I love Mike. He's a solid, progressive leader. He's one of the few politicians that I would wholeheartedly support. In fact, if he asked me to precinct walk for him, I would, even though I hate doing that shit. Thank god he never asked.

If Mike ever asked me to be one of his political strategists, I would be on board in a heart beat and leave my job and everything. I doubt he would ask though since I have 0% experience. But it seems like something I could do and do well. It actually seems fun. Fortunately, I made George promise me that if he ever runs for an elected office, he would hire me as his strategist. Years ago, I also made my former roommate from law school promise me if she ever ran for political office, she would make me her campaign manager. Dude, you always gotta think for the future.

Snowman Puppets

Creations of DYY and WhyJaneInsane at Craft Night at Akbar.
Mine is named Stony the Snowman. Of course. The other one is Stony's very fashionable supplier.

I have been so domesticated lately. See above. Also, I have been baking cookies! Thanks to the 99 cents only store and the Pillsbury Doe Boy, I have placed and baked chocolate chip cookies, smores cookies and reeses peanut butter cup cookies all this week! And I don't even eat that shit! I make it for my loved ones. You know, to show that I care.

The Women of Biodiesel

Women continue to rock.

If you've been wondering what to get that renewable energy fan in your life, look no further. The Women of Biodiesel is an illustrated calendar featuring idiosyncratic photographs of 12 women involved in sustainable biofuel production. Not only will it bring a smile to your face, but it serves as a sweet introduction to a community where people convert waste vegetable oil into fuel for their diesel Volkswagens, acting locally while thinking about the Big Energy picture.

We need a Southern Cali version! You know I would LOVE to model on the hood of my station wagon!

Crafts over Cocktails

Last night, Blu-tooth and I attended CRAFTNIGHT hosted by Julianna Parr and held at the Akbar in Silverlake. CraftNight is a weekly Wednesday night community craft and cocktail social hour.

Craftnight's mission: Run by artists for all people, Craftnight strives to bring forth the unrealized artistic talents of the greater public. We perform this mission by incorporating an atmosphere of bohemia and great cordiality.

Yes, expect bohemia and lots of it. But it's true, there was great cordiality, even for two outwardly-appearing non-bohemians like Blu-Tooth and I. We really appreciated the warmth and hospitality, and the complimentary donuts from the craftspeople of the adjoining table.

Also, the theme changes each week. Yesterday, we focused on public spaces and had a choice to either make a warehouse or a convenience store.

I'm sure you can tell by now there is a slight political bent... but that's what makes Craftnight even more special. There's a reason to the madness and creativity. It's not just about construction paper and crayons and glitter, although I wouldn't mind if it was.

So Blu-Tooth chose to make a convenience store that sells children.

I opted for the warehouse, and made a Crack-Whore House.
Two in one, baby!

Dude, can I tell you that coloring brings me back to the good ole' days! Well, it was either that or I was getting high from the flavor-scented markers... or maybe it was the two margaritas I had. I can't be sure. But it was nice.

In our make-believe crafts world, our buildings would be located next door to one another. When "an accident" occurs in the Crack-Whore House, you can sell IT at CHILDREN R US!

We even made new friends!
I think craft-making bonds people instantaneously. Like Helmer's glue.

Blu-Tooth and I intend to return to make snowman puppets (Dec. 6) and holiday snow globes (Dec .13). We can't wait!

Recent museum and gallery excursions

Okay, I must either be getting older or lamer but I must say... I had a blast at the Huntington Botanical Gardens when my family visited last month. We were suppose to go to the popular Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena, but lucky for me, there was a Rosebowl game and so the museum was closed. As a fairly new fan of horticulture, I was in heaven.

Here I am with the special men in my family.
We're striking a pose in the Desert Garden.

Here's another marvelous work of nature.

Here's my dad picking a tiny unknown fruit from the tree... and yes, he ate it. The white people thought we were strange and probably a bit ghetto or foreign, and my sister walked away in embarrassment, but I found it very amusing and encouraged my dad to eat as much fruit as he could pick... we paid a hefty admission fee so I felt it was acceptable. He just ate one though, just for taste and curiousity.

Two weeks later, Tonk and I went to the opening reception of Street Signs and Solar Ovens: Socialcraft in Los Angeles at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Mid-Wilshire. This exhibition is so so cool. I encourage all my artsy and/or environmental friends to check it out... it runs until December 31, 2006. The exhibit is described as a thought-provoking exhibition featuring artwork created with social activism as its inspiration. The exhibit explores the inventive objects & strategies created by artists in response to the environmental, political and social issues of our time. The objects featured will include protest art meant for public display as well as tools for socially concious living... such as a bicycled-powered blender. I'm totally for real. Another piece I thought was totally cool was Fallen Fruit: A Mapping of Food Resources in Los Angeles. Three artists/activists created map legends of fruit trees in Los Angeles that are accessible and available for picking by the public! When my dad visits next, you know what we're going to do.

We were also able to check out Tigers and Jaguars: LA's Asian-Latino Art Phenomenon on the same night. Unfortunately, the exhibit ended that week, so it's too bad if you missed it here or at LACMA... because it was really rad. Dude, an artist made a low-rider rickshaw. Enough said. I did not have my camera to take pictures, but Tonk took several photos from his camera phone... perhaps he'll share them in a future post.

Finally, a few of us went to the Calavera Fashion Show & Walking Altars at Tropico de Nopal Gallery in Echo Park, in celebration of the Day of the Dead. Since I love love love fashion, as well as Day of the Dead celebrations, and had missed the annual Dia De Los Muertos at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary (one of my absolute favorite places in LA), I knew the fashion show was a must-see. And I am so glad I was right, like usual...

The organizers did an amazing job tranforming the back courtyard into a real professional-looking fashion show runway.

Poli, a close friend of Tonk's grandparents, was jamming! I was so impressed by her artistic vision and dance skills. She was paying homage to her grandmother in this homemade outfit.

A Keith Herring inspired skeleton dancing to Madonna's Vogue.
Let your body move to the music...hey hey hey... C'mon Vogue!

The three women above inspired me to learn how to sew. After all, I do own a classic old school sewing machine. Yeah, it's a paradox.
Anyway, Tonk agreed to teach me. YES!

I'm not generally into goth or death metal, but I was really digging the pinhead dude.

Long Live The Dead!

I joined the Alt-Fuel Movement!

That's right, bitches. After not having a car for one full year, DYY is now the proud owner of an old ass 1980 Mercedes 300TD station wagon that runs on 100% pure vegetable oil!

I named my new car Dolores. Please welcome Dolores with open arms!

I purchased Dolores about a month ago from this Father and Son team in Santa Maria who purchases, re-builds and re-sells diesel Mercedes after converting them to run on veggie oil. These guys are pretty cool.

This is my Beauty Pageant Wave... waving BYE BYE to petroleum and evil bloodsucking oil corporations and HELLO to reuseable waste oil from restaurants!

West Coast for Life, Baby.

This is my gesture of love to drivers who will undoubtedly honk at my Dolores for her slow speed and tempura-smelling exhaust.

South America is the Shit

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush "the devil" at the U.N. General Assembly today.

"The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address on Tuesday and making the sign of the cross. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."

Chavez, who has joined Iran in opposing U.S. influence, accused Washington of "domination, exploitation and pillage of peoples of the world."

Hugo Chavez is my hero. Him and Gandhi.

Other exciting news is happening in Porto Nacional, Brazil. Farmers are being contracted by the government and some major corporations to grow castor beans, soybeans, palm oil and other crops for the purpose of developing biodiesel. Derived from animal fats or vegetable oils, this substitute for petroleum diesel is generating ten of millions of dollars from investors.

No country has been more successful at displacing fossil fuels with green energy than Brazil. Hammered by the oil shocks of the 1970s, the nation committed itself to developing a domestic ethanol industry to reduce its dependence on imported petroleum.

Will other countries follow Brazil's lead? Let's hope...

Good news for my alcoholic friends

Square One Vodka is the world's first certified organic vodka.

Their motto is, We're social and socially conscious.

I think they may need a catchier catch-phrase, but what a pretty bottle, huh?

Check out where you can purchase your own Square One and be social AND socially conscious!

Water conservation is fun!

A reader of Adbusters Magazine writes:

I've noticed that most people leave the water running full blast while they brush their teeth. As an experiment, I did likewise, but left the plug in the sink. In an average quick brush of less than a minute, the sink filled up with four liters of water. This means that if you brush twice a day, you'll needlessly waste about 3,000 liters a year. So instead, simply wet your toothbrush, brush away, and then turn on the tap for a final rince, and you've done a small part to change the world.

DYY admits that she used to to leave the faucet on when she brushed her teeth. But no longer... and she's not experiencing any withdrawal symptoms either. In fact, it's probably one of the easiest habits to change in an effort to conserve water.

Water Crisis: not just for poor countries anymore. Industrialized nations must make drastic policy changes if they wish to maintain water supplies, warned the World Wildlife Fund last week, as supply declines thanks to everything from global warming to wetlands loss. A report by the International Water Management Institute said that a third of the world faces water shortages; water use has increased by six times in the last century and will double again by 2050, mostly from agricultural use. WWF suggests a combination of solutions -- conserving, repairing infrastructure, reducing pollution, and requiring agriculture interests in rich countries to pay more for water and be held accountable for efficient use -- but noted that implementing common-sense measures "in the face of habitual practices and intense lobbying by vested interests has been very difficult."

Here's some more very easy tips to conserve water in your household:

1. Water your lawn only when it needs it. Step on your grass. If it springs back, when you lift your foot, it doesn't need water. So set your sprinklers for more days in between watering. Saves 750-1,500 gallons per month. Better yet, especially in times of drought, water with a hose.

2. Fix leaky faucets and plumbing joints. Saves 20 gallons per day for every leak stopped.

3. Don't run the hose while washing your car. Use a bucket of water and a quick hose rinse at the end. Saves 150 gallons each time. For a two-car family that's up to 1,200 gallons a month.

4. Install water-saving shower heads or flow restrictors. Saves 500 to 800 gallons per month.

5. Run only full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher. Saves 300 to 800 gallons per month.

6. Shorten your showers. Even a one or two minute reduction can save up to 700 gallons per month.

7. Use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways and sidewalks. Saves 150 gallons or more each time. At once a week, that's more than 600 gallons a month.

8. Don't use your toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket. Saves 400 to 600 gallons per month.

9. Capture tap water. While you wait for hot water to come down the pipes, catch the flow in a watering can to use later on house plants or your garden. Saves 200 to 300 gallons per month.

10. Don't water the sidewalks, driveway or gutter. Adjust your sprinklers so that water lands on your lawn or garden where it belongs--and only there. Saves 500 gallons per month.

The case against beef

Did you know...

• You'd save more water by not eating a single pound of California beef than you would by not showering for an entire year.
• Producing a single hamburger patty uses enough fuel to drive twenty miles. It also causes the loss of five times its weight in topsoil.
• More than a third of all raw materials and fossil fuels consumed in the US are used in animal production.
• It takes 4.8 pounds of grain (fed to cattle) to produce one pound of beef.
• A pould of wheat can be grown with sixty pounds of water, whereas a pound of meat requires 2,500 to 6,000 pounds.
• Reducing meat production by just 10% in the US would free enough grain to feed 60 million people.

Making changes in a consumer culture

"Every time we pull out our wallet to buy something, we are casting a vote for the kind of society and economy we want. Whether we fully realize it or not, we vote with our dollars every single day, either for or against sustainability, for or against health, for or against justice," asserts Ronnie Cummins, National Director of the Organic Consumers Association.

"There's only one reason for buying organic food, clothing, and other products; for supporting Fair Trade; and giving preference to independently owned local and regional businesses - because it's the best way to live."

-- excerpt from GREEN LIVING, the E Magazine's Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth.

ps. you like my clip art? It's raining benji's, baby!

"Twin Nipples"

Last Friday night, Tonkhero and I ventured into an off-beat journey with the Midnight Riders, a group of about 300-400 bicyclers who reclaim the streets every second Friday of the month. The theme of the month was "TWINS". And yes, we were a pair of breasts, even though everyone called us Twin Nipples.

Some people didn't understand our costume because they're stupid idiots. But the smart people thought it was very funny and creative. People gave us strange looks when we were a single boob though. That's when I replied that I had breast cancer.

The strangest remark a cyclist said to me was, "That looks like my daughter's nipple on your head." I gave him an unusual look and said, "That's a really weird comment." He immediately became embarrased and said that he has a 9-month old and he was actually referring to his kid's baby bottle... yeah right.
The experience was very liberating. Since there are hundreds of us, there was no way that we could all pass the intersections of the streets in a timely manner. So when the light turned red, either organizers or volunteers would plant themselves and their bikes in front of cars and buses who had the right of way, so that the rest of us could pass and stay together as a large mass. It was really frightening at first, because drivers would get pissed and honk or even come out of their cars and bitch at the bicyclists in their faces. I honestly thought a fight was going to break out, or that some psycho LA driver would become ballistic and run us all down. Still, the human roadblocks wouldn't budge. It's quite a public service, I think.

The crowd were all carrying beers, drinking as they rode. Some of them were visibly drunk but, surprisingly, I only saw one crash, and I think that resulted more from lack of coordination than inebriation.
The SKEET brothers made me take their picture. It's funny and all, but they thought they were so clever... homeboy on the right kept bragging that he came up with the idea and made the shirts at 9:00pm. I pointed at the nipple on my head and said 10:15.
We started in Echo Park at 10:30 pm. Then to Downtown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Skid Row (which I thought was tasteless actually), and ended up here at Mariachi Square in East L.A. We reversed the route and returned to Echo Park by 1:30 am. We ended the night with more beer, pork rhines and tacos from this awesome taco truck next to the ghetto Vons in Echo Park. Very yummy...

Don't Chop a tree for Sticks!

Beijing recently imposed a new 5% tax on manufacturers that make disposable chopsticks.

It's a good way to save the nation's vanishing forests — one chopstick at a time. China carves up about 45 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks a year. That means certain death for about 25 million full-grown poplar and birch trees.

DYY praises this new tax! In fact, DYY believes that we should all discontinue using disposable utensils and carry our own re-useable chopsticks, forks, spoons and knives everywhere we go! They can come together in cute little re-useable sacks with kitchy or cool designs and far-out colors!