MARCH 16, 2012

The Pioneer Log Features

Sustainability is Sexy:
Guerilla gardening
BY LUCY ROBERTS
Staff Writer

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA SARVET

Venture into the divey underground at

SHANGHAI TUNNEL
A place for mixed drinks, peanut sauce, tofu and noodle bowls

Whats sexier than being covered in dirt and sweat after a long day spent in the garden? Not much, if you ask me. Growing food and carbon-consuming plants in your own back yard is pretty awesome. Whats not sexy are empty, disregarded plots of fertile soil and land, yearning for some tender love and seed-planting. Neglected public spaces and backyards are just painful to look at, especially when they could be used in a much more beautiful and bene cial fashion. is is the theory behind a growing worldwide trend of guerilla gardening. According to www.worldchanging.com, guerilla gardening is the practice of taking over public spaces and turning them into urban gardens. is movement is starting to show up in cities all over the world, including Berlin, New York, Paris and right here on the west coast. is is a labor-intensive process, and it works best on a small scale with a few dedicated volunteers who share tasks such as watering, planting, weeding and other maintenance duties. Examples of successful guerilla gardens and further information can be found at www.guerillagardening.org. Similar to guerilla gardening, seed bombing is an activity in which compressed clods of soil and seeds or live vegetation are tossed into empty public spaces to beautify and restore these sites. A combination of wild owers and vegetable seeds are often included in these seed bombs. While this is technically an illegal activity, there are many neglected and straight-up ugly sites around us (all over the LC campus, cough, cough) that could bene t from the beauty that seed bombing produces.

Self care: a how-to

BY DANIELA JIMENEZ
Staff Writer

ILLUSTRATON BY SAMANTHA SARVET

PHOTOS BY DARYA WATNICK

BY DARYA WATNICK
Editor-in-Chief

From the outside, Shanghai Tunnel looks like a bit of a dive. Its dark and dingy and generally unattractive. Inside and down the stairs, past a tiny, e cient kitchen, it is a large open room with a well-stocked bar, a pool table and pinball machines. e open downstairs is still a bit of a dive; the rows of booths have cracking pleather seats and the exposed wood feels a smidge drab. Despite all this, the food and drinks at Shanghai Tunnel are lively, supplemented by Asian-inspired wall art and a backlit mirrored bar. Shanghai Tunnel stocks a lot of liquor and beer from Oregon distilleries and breweries. e bar creates many sweet cocktails that cost around $6-8. A personal favorite is the Pearl Necklace, which should not be judged by its name. Coconut rum, pineapple juice and half and half are shaken together and poured over ice. e best part about Shanghai Tunnel is its noodle bowls. ey are about the size of

my head, lled to the brim with vegetables, a choice of noodles and Asian sauces. I usually get udon noodles with peanut sauce and tofu. e tofu is pan-fried in peanut oil, which gives the already light tofu a delicious avor. e peanut sauce, even when ordered mild, has a bit of kick, but its a good complement to the sugary cocktails. Even with two people sharing a bowl, there is always plenty to take home for a midnight snack or bleary brunch the next day. e noodle bowls are good amount of food at $8, perfect for college students looking to maximize their funds. Shanghai Tunnel also has a happy hour every day from 5-7 p.m. Drinks and selected food o the menu are one to two dollars cheaper. Overall, the ambiance of Shanghai Tunnel is comfortable, relaxed and unpretentious. e proximity to Voodoo Doughnuts is also a bene t for alcohol-induced sugar cravings. Happy hour every day from 5-7pm. 211 SW Ankeny

If you spend most of your days trying to cram as many possible awesome things into each twenty-four hours, making you feel stressed, frazzled, erratic and disheveled, welcome to life! Youre probably fun, smart and possess the drive to enjoy all of the things that are good in this world. Getting an education and having friends while still taking care of yourself can be time consuming, so here are a few ways to keep yourself looking and feeling good, even if you dont have much extra time. 1) Drink lots and lots of water. Often when we think we are hungry or feeling tired, its actually because we are dehydrated. Make a point of glug-ing a few pints a day to keep the ol noggin hydrated. Your brain and body will thank you! 2) Take breaks. Seriously. We go hard here. It may seem like every last fteensecond increment you can possibly squeeze

ADVERTISEMENT

out of your day will be put to use toward getting that essay done, but a small break to stretch, walk around or even just sit and talk with a friend will refresh you and leave you in a better state of mind to nish up whatever youre doing. You work hard; breaks let you show yourself a little love! 3) Try to take a really, truly excellent shower at least once weekly. In a place where its gloomy, rainy and chilly for over two-thirds of the year, its nice every once in a while to stand under the hot jets of water and soak your troubles away. For extra points, use soap that has aromatherapeutic properties. Ahh. 4) Wear clothes you feel comfortable in. Comfortable can mean anything from a sweater and jeans to a pair of favorite platform heels. Its not about the style or the t, its about how you feel. If you walk around feeling like a million bucks, you will probably look the part as well. So choose things that make you want to strut your stu ! You got it.

Registration is now open.

Summer Sessions at Lewis & Clark College

Session I May 14-June 22 Session II June 25-August 3

go.lclark.edu/college/summer