Two reasons why I like this city

Reason One: We totally scored a free barbeque off the side of the street this week! People in this city like to give away furniture and things by putting it out on the curb with a sign that says "FREE". I tend to be of two minds about the FREE sign-ed furniture: a.) it cuts down on the landfill and everyone in the city is super pumped about getting things for free, but b.) if you live on a not-so-busy street as mine, you get to watch neighbours leave couches out in the rain, day after day, half-covered with a futile piece of plastic. (And then those couches end up at the dump anyway, when the neighbours could have just advertised the free couch on the internet and someone would have come and gotten the couch that day.)

But I digress. So, usually I'm don't let Chris convince me that we have to collect every free item we see on the curb. (He loves the free stuff.) But our next-door neighbours put their old barbeque on the curb, with a sign saying that it works, and it's totally better than my parents' barbeque! (That is not saying much, considering the fact that I spent the summer trying to convince my parents to upgrade their barbeque, but it works and it was free!) And the best part is that it's pretty much warm enough to cook outside all year round. (You know, except for when it's raining and on that one day when it snows.) Now all we need is a propane tank.

Reason Two: Ed Begley Jr. is coming to speak about sustainability at my university at the end of January! Oh, Stan Sitwell.