Merry Unbirthday!

After watching Alice in Wonderland when I was a kid, I started celebrating unbirthdays. I viewed them as equally as important to any other holiday. It didn’t really catch on but I loved the idea, still kind of do. Alice in Wonderland was my all time favorite movie as a kid. But it didn’t have much competition. As a kid, I was allowed to watch very few movies and very little amounts of TV. Media platforms in my home were selective. Things like the computer and television were used seldom but our books and music were essential in our entertainment. I would delve into the adventures of my books for hours. Reading in my household was looked at as the ultimate excuse. If we didn’t want to do something, my siblings and I would just read and use it to get out of anything. I would also escape into music exploring my tastes. As a kid, I spent hours at a time listening to my dad’s old records and CDs, and I definitely had the best collection of cassette tapes among my friends.

When my friends talk about their favorite shows and movies on the other hand, I am often on the outside of those conversations. I watched the Disney movies on special occasions and Alice in Wonderland if I begged my mom enough, and it wasn’t nice outside. T.V. was not allowed until I was about five or six. Aside from the news and Sunday football games the television was a dead box that lay in the corner of the room. As I got older and went to school, screen time was allowed a little more. I could watch educational shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy and the occasional Nickelodeon show. As my siblings and I got older we were allowed to make our own decisions in regards to how much we wanted to watch television. None of us really felt as though we had been missing out. Over the years we’ve all developed our fair share of favorite TV series but for the most part we never really caught on to it.

The computer was sort of up in air about whether or not it was a good source of media. I was allowed to play educational games like Math Blasters but not much else. Once we got Internet when I was in the fifth grade, things started changing. My computer demands went up and the rules in my house changed with that. I wasn’t using the computer to play stupid games as my parents were worried about but rather I was chatting with my friends, which apparently was more acceptable. That was pretty much the extent that I used the computer up until about high school. Then the rules of the computer seemed to seize to exist. Aside from the battles over the computer my siblings and I would have, my parents didn’t get involved in our use of it. They didn’t know how to. We needed the Internet for many aspects of our daily lives. My parents had a limited understanding to the extent in which the Internet could be used and what we used it for. The Internet changed the rules of screens in my house.

My parents were strict about my screen time not because they were oppressive or boring but rather because they wanted us to have real life fun. I never felt like I was missing out on those extremely popular media because I was never bored as a kid. I wasn’t allowed to watch TV or play on the computer as a child because there was so much entertainment around me. Between living in a neighborhood with tons of kids my age and having two siblings, there was always someone who wanted to play. My neighborhood was safe, and I could play outside until it was dark or later if my parents were feeling nice. I couldn’t imagine a childhood any different. It is what has led me to appreciating the importance of the natural world around me not only on a biological level, but also on a spiritual one. As I got older, I played sports and was in clubs and activities so I was usually really busy. The free time that I did have I spent with my friends. I didn’t really have time for the computer or television.

These popular media have over the years definitely crept into my life. As a kid the thought of watching television and spending a lot of time of the computer would have been really bizarre. But when I graduated high school and got my first laptop, I found this media platform that had everything. I have discovered Pandora and Netflix watch instantly where I can watch documentaries or movies or entire series of shows. I can research the most random topics that I have always been curious about. I can find weird pictures like the one above of Phish at an Alice in Wonderland tea party near a mountain. I basically found the best procrastination tool in the world. And I use it well. My family was selective about the media platforms in my house because they wanted us to connect with the real world instead of a virtual one. It is always nice to go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas for that. I am able to disconnect from so much but feel so much more connected to the ones I am actually with. And if I want to disconnect from everything there’s always fantasy world, where many of my favorite adventures have occurred…

http://cruelanimal.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html

Photo credit: Phish Alice in Wonderland- http://cruelanimal.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html

Helllo there!!

I'm Lizzy Boehmer, that's me over there -->
(photo credit: Knight Ducharme)

I'm a junior environmental studies major with a concentration in policy and development and a minor in political science at the University of Vermont.

I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and lived there until I was ten. When I was in fifth grade, my dad was relocated to Boston, and my family moved to Duxbury, Massachusetts. We lived two minutes from the beach and I fell in love with New England. About nine months later I was informed we were moving to Chicago. That was the year I lived in three different states and attended four different schools. It was pretty wild. I have considered Chicago my home base ever since even though I pretty much live here in Burlington now.

This summer was my first summer living and working in Burlington. I worked for VPIRG (Vermont Public Interest Research Group). VPIRG is a statewide consumer protection and environmental advocacy group. Basically, I was given a bike and a map and campaigned for a clean energy future here in Vermont. It was a pretty crazy job though. I usually didn't get home until around 11pm. One time my bike pedal fell off while on the job and I had to walk my bike for 4 hours. There were times when the entire office would camp in the woods for a week at a time to get to every end of Vermont. We had briefings from Paul Burns, Bill McKibben and even Governor Shumlin. It was an awesome job with a lot of really awesome people. I am passionate about the environment and being able to work towards a sustainable energy future was great. I was on the front lines of fighting for what I believe in and it was an experience I will always appreciate.

In addition to the environment, I have many other interests. I absolutely love going to shows. My summers tend to be filled with concerts and festivals, and I wouldn't want it any other way! Some of my favorite live bands include The Avett Brothers, Phish, Umphrey's McGee, and The Black Crowes. I'm seeing Phish again in just a couple days which is actually a dream come true of mine to see them in their home state of Vermont. I've been watching some of my favorite Phish videos to get me excited including this gem of Phish in Brooklyn with Jay-Z:

I also love to hike, garden and farm, play frisbee, monopoly and chill in my hammock. I hope to travel all over the world, especially Central and South America. I want to join the Peace Corps after graduating and work and live in a culture completely new to me. In the future I would love to work as an environmental consultant for a group that is doing development work in Central America, that or move to Oregon. Who knows?!

I'm all about positivity, fun and good times!
So until next time,

HERE'S TO THE GOOD LIFE :)