WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.365 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.365 --> 00:00:01.740 align:middle line:84% All right, and now I'm just going 00:00:01.740 --> 00:00:03.980 align:middle line:90% to read one short piece called-- 00:00:03.980 --> 00:00:07.260 align:middle line:84% if you are reading along, called, 00:00:07.260 --> 00:00:10.860 align:middle line:84% called, called, "Love in the Time of Global Warming," which 00:00:10.860 --> 00:00:14.670 align:middle line:90% must be on page 92, which it is. 00:00:14.670 --> 00:00:17.330 align:middle line:90% And it's relatively short. 00:00:17.330 --> 00:00:19.260 align:middle line:84% All right, and this is what I feel like. 00:00:19.260 --> 00:00:22.110 align:middle line:84% So a lot of people understand this book 00:00:22.110 --> 00:00:24.210 align:middle line:84% to be a book about marriage, and how hard it 00:00:24.210 --> 00:00:25.882 align:middle line:90% is to get a marriage to work. 00:00:25.882 --> 00:00:27.840 align:middle line:84% And then some other people understand this book 00:00:27.840 --> 00:00:30.990 align:middle line:84% to be about sustainability, and how impossible it 00:00:30.990 --> 00:00:34.860 align:middle line:84% is to sort of be consistent in one's attempt to sort of try 00:00:34.860 --> 00:00:42.150 align:middle line:84% to maintain some good existence while the planet seems to be-- 00:00:42.150 --> 00:00:43.470 align:middle line:90% that's the word? 00:00:43.470 --> 00:00:45.510 align:middle line:84% Not eating itself, but I think I just 00:00:45.510 --> 00:00:49.500 align:middle line:84% read that about hamburgers, but collapsing in a way 00:00:49.500 --> 00:00:52.740 align:middle line:84% that we can barely wrap our brains around. 00:00:52.740 --> 00:00:54.540 align:middle line:84% But some people, I think, see this 00:00:54.540 --> 00:00:57.330 align:middle line:84% is as what I really hope the book to be, 00:00:57.330 --> 00:01:01.500 align:middle line:84% which is about how you can make connections between things, 00:01:01.500 --> 00:01:05.610 align:middle line:84% and that's why the first essay about sustainability 00:01:05.610 --> 00:01:08.100 align:middle line:84% is about all the animals, and all 00:01:08.100 --> 00:01:12.110 align:middle line:84% the connections between Italo Calvino and Jacques Derrida, 00:01:12.110 --> 00:01:16.270 align:middle line:84% and the sun blowing off the water from the planet. 00:01:16.270 --> 00:01:19.290 align:middle line:84% I feel like the more connections we make-- maybe anyway, 00:01:19.290 --> 00:01:21.930 align:middle line:84% my idealist part of myself suggests 00:01:21.930 --> 00:01:23.910 align:middle line:84% that the closer we can get to each other, 00:01:23.910 --> 00:01:26.460 align:middle line:84% and to the things around us, the less likely 00:01:26.460 --> 00:01:29.140 align:middle line:90% we are to destroy them. 00:01:29.140 --> 00:01:35.040 align:middle line:84% But in this essay, in the heart of the-- 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:39.780 align:middle line:84% well, a third of the way through the book, 00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:43.163 align:middle line:84% it's about what I think is fundamentally 00:01:43.163 --> 00:01:45.330 align:middle line:84% the most difficult thing about living on the planet, 00:01:45.330 --> 00:01:47.910 align:middle line:84% and that's living with another human being. 00:01:47.910 --> 00:01:51.480 align:middle line:84% And the other thing is trying to decide what 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:54.850 align:middle line:90% to buy at the grocery store. 00:01:54.850 --> 00:01:57.570 align:middle line:84% So this essay is called, "Love in the Time of Global Warming." 00:01:57.570 --> 00:02:00.280 align:middle line:90% 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:02.430 align:middle line:84% "I don't think Erik, that's my husband's name, 00:02:02.430 --> 00:02:06.600 align:middle line:84% and I had the be as one phrase in our marriage vows, 00:02:06.600 --> 00:02:09.210 align:middle line:84% but there are days when it's true. 00:02:09.210 --> 00:02:12.840 align:middle line:84% It's usually in a car driving, Johnny Cash sings, 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:17.940 align:middle line:84% 'If I were carpenter and you were a lady, 00:02:17.940 --> 00:02:24.030 align:middle line:84% would you marry me anyway, would you have my baby?' 00:02:24.030 --> 00:02:26.790 align:middle line:90% And June Carter sings, 'Yes.' 00:02:26.790 --> 00:02:29.610 align:middle line:84% And Erik sings along with her, and I sing with Johnny, 00:02:29.610 --> 00:02:31.290 align:middle line:84% and we are on our way to Home Depot. 00:02:31.290 --> 00:02:34.500 align:middle line:84% Erik is installing baseboards in the hallway. 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:37.470 align:middle line:84% I told him the molding was fine, but he's right, 00:02:37.470 --> 00:02:41.100 align:middle line:84% the old ones have been kicked and scuffed beyond repair. 00:02:41.100 --> 00:02:43.350 align:middle line:84% It will take him three weeks to paint the trim 00:02:43.350 --> 00:02:48.150 align:middle line:84% using his toxic scuff-preventing paint. 00:02:48.150 --> 00:02:49.710 align:middle line:90% He does it freehand. 00:02:49.710 --> 00:02:52.050 align:middle line:90% He is perfect and precise. 00:02:52.050 --> 00:02:54.720 align:middle line:84% That's why he paints our daughter Zoe's fingernails 00:02:54.720 --> 00:02:57.450 align:middle line:90% instead of me. 00:02:57.450 --> 00:03:00.150 align:middle line:84% But there are days that are not like that. 00:03:00.150 --> 00:03:02.100 align:middle line:84% Days at Sam's Club because we don't 00:03:02.100 --> 00:03:04.080 align:middle line:84% have a Costco in Flagstaff, Arizona, 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:06.660 align:middle line:84% and the kids need 36 juice boxes to get them 00:03:06.660 --> 00:03:11.610 align:middle line:84% through two weeks of school, and to mom brings the snack events. 00:03:11.610 --> 00:03:13.620 align:middle line:84% 'I think we should cancel the membership. 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:16.900 align:middle line:84% It's the same as Walmart,' I say. 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:19.920 align:middle line:84% 'But we're sticking it to them by buying gas,' Eric says, 00:03:19.920 --> 00:03:23.220 align:middle line:84% 'the gas is actually a loss for them. 00:03:23.220 --> 00:03:25.770 align:middle line:90% And I hate Walmart so badly.' 00:03:25.770 --> 00:03:29.430 align:middle line:84% 'I like the snacks,' Zoe chimes in and as she asks if she can 00:03:29.430 --> 00:03:32.880 align:middle line:84% have another sample of bacon Tillamook cheese. 00:03:32.880 --> 00:03:37.500 align:middle line:84% And $13 bottles of Joel Gott make it worth it to me. 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:39.060 align:middle line:84% I won't buy the steaks there, even 00:03:39.060 --> 00:03:41.970 align:middle line:84% though their meat is supposedly the freshest in town. 00:03:41.970 --> 00:03:44.760 align:middle line:84% If I'm going to eat meat, I'm only going to buy the kind from 00:03:44.760 --> 00:03:48.240 align:middle line:84% Flying M Ranch, grass-fed local which is $6.99 a pound 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:51.390 align:middle line:84% for hamburger, three times what it is at Sam's. 00:03:51.390 --> 00:03:54.120 align:middle line:84% And I mean it, I won't buy it until I 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:56.820 align:middle line:84% see the steaks and the hamburger on sale, 00:03:56.820 --> 00:03:59.070 align:middle line:90% and I really want to make tacos. 00:03:59.070 --> 00:04:01.590 align:middle line:84% I put the Sam's Club meat in my cart. 00:04:01.590 --> 00:04:04.170 align:middle line:84% I hate being a hypocrite, which just 00:04:04.170 --> 00:04:07.380 align:middle line:84% makes me more of a hypocrite, which just makes me grumpy, 00:04:07.380 --> 00:04:10.140 align:middle line:84% and oversensitive, and a fun shopping partner. 00:04:10.140 --> 00:04:14.040 align:middle line:90% 00:04:14.040 --> 00:04:15.840 align:middle line:84% So I'm still complaining as I continue 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:17.730 align:middle line:90% to pile stuff into the cart. 00:04:17.730 --> 00:04:20.519 align:middle line:84% Erik puts his own addiction into the cart, 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:23.850 align:middle line:90% a city full of paper towels. 00:04:23.850 --> 00:04:25.590 align:middle line:90% 'No way, not those. 00:04:25.590 --> 00:04:28.070 align:middle line:84% We do not need that many paper towels. 00:04:28.070 --> 00:04:29.070 align:middle line:90% Where will we put them?' 00:04:29.070 --> 00:04:31.260 align:middle line:90% I ask. 00:04:31.260 --> 00:04:35.310 align:middle line:84% 'I need them to finish painting in the hallway,' he says. 00:04:35.310 --> 00:04:37.320 align:middle line:84% Finish painting the hallway are usually 00:04:37.320 --> 00:04:40.470 align:middle line:84% golden words to convince me to go along with anything he says, 00:04:40.470 --> 00:04:42.236 align:middle line:90% but not this time. 00:04:42.236 --> 00:04:45.390 align:middle line:84% 'They're not even recycled,' I say. 00:04:45.390 --> 00:04:49.380 align:middle line:84% Although I protest, we both keep walking toward the checkout. 00:04:49.380 --> 00:04:51.090 align:middle line:90% I have my own card. 00:04:51.090 --> 00:04:53.700 align:middle line:84% He puts them on the conveyor belt. 00:04:53.700 --> 00:04:57.223 align:middle line:84% At first I let him sit there, then I shake my head. 00:04:57.223 --> 00:04:59.640 align:middle line:84% I'm snarky under my breath, and then I get loud and I say, 00:04:59.640 --> 00:05:02.140 align:middle line:90% 'no way, we cannot get them.' 00:05:02.140 --> 00:05:04.630 align:middle line:84% I take them off the conveyor belt. 00:05:04.630 --> 00:05:08.380 align:middle line:84% Everyone is looking at us I know I'm embarrassing Erik, 00:05:08.380 --> 00:05:11.350 align:middle line:90% but this is beyond unreasonable. 00:05:11.350 --> 00:05:14.290 align:middle line:84% 'Everyone is looking,' he whisper-yells as he puts 00:05:14.290 --> 00:05:17.440 align:middle line:84% the paper towels back on the belt. 00:05:17.440 --> 00:05:21.170 align:middle line:84% 'I don't care if they're looking, they're not recycled.' 00:05:21.170 --> 00:05:23.150 align:middle line:84% I leave them alone on the conveyor belt, 00:05:23.150 --> 00:05:24.963 align:middle line:84% but I keep yelling, 'You don't even care? 00:05:24.963 --> 00:05:26.380 align:middle line:84% The planet's going to hell and you 00:05:26.380 --> 00:05:28.450 align:middle line:84% don't care if it's scorched and burned for your kids. 00:05:28.450 --> 00:05:29.935 align:middle line:84% Sorry kids, go get another planet.' 00:05:29.935 --> 00:05:34.040 align:middle line:90% 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:38.704 align:middle line:84% Erik comes back, 'Oh, and your wine bottles are so recycled?' 00:05:38.704 --> 00:05:41.710 align:middle line:84% Oh great, now it's not just drinking the wine that's bad, 00:05:41.710 --> 00:05:43.600 align:middle line:90% it's what the wine comes into. 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:45.790 align:middle line:84% There's no free drinking in this land. 00:05:45.790 --> 00:05:48.610 align:middle line:84% 'That's fine, tell the kids to their faces that you don't care 00:05:48.610 --> 00:05:52.390 align:middle line:84% if they even have any trees left when we die.' 00:05:52.390 --> 00:05:53.440 align:middle line:90% We leave. 00:05:53.440 --> 00:05:57.460 align:middle line:84% I'm still yelling, paper towels purchased, in the cart. 00:05:57.460 --> 00:05:59.560 align:middle line:84% We load the groceries into the car, 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:02.227 align:middle line:84% handing paper towels and wine to each other, picking up one kid, 00:06:02.227 --> 00:06:04.560 align:middle line:84% putting him in the car, shutting the door for the other. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:05.990 align:middle line:84% We can shop with our eyes closed. 00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:08.650 align:middle line:84% We can argue with them closed too. 00:06:08.650 --> 00:06:11.110 align:middle line:90% Erik gets in the driver's seat. 00:06:11.110 --> 00:06:13.720 align:middle line:84% You can go to yourself to Sprout's. 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:15.850 align:middle line:84% He drives home, climbs out of the car, 00:06:15.850 --> 00:06:18.430 align:middle line:84% takes the kids and the paper towels, 00:06:18.430 --> 00:06:20.410 align:middle line:90% leaves me in the garage. 00:06:20.410 --> 00:06:22.390 align:middle line:84% I've ranted, and raved, and still we 00:06:22.390 --> 00:06:25.360 align:middle line:84% have 900 rolls of paper towels, and $50 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:27.430 align:middle line:90% worth of non grass-fed meat. 00:06:27.430 --> 00:06:29.560 align:middle line:84% Who wins by yelling about paper towels? 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:30.550 align:middle line:90% Not me. 00:06:30.550 --> 00:06:33.490 align:middle line:84% Scorched Earth policies, it's the worst thing 00:06:33.490 --> 00:06:37.330 align:middle line:84% he can do to me, maybe go to the store alone on a Saturday 00:06:37.330 --> 00:06:40.160 align:middle line:84% when we're supposed to be together." 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:41.080 align:middle line:90% Thank you very much. 00:06:41.080 --> 00:06:45.445 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:06:45.445 --> 00:06:55.640 align:middle line:90% 00:06:55.640 --> 00:06:57.380 align:middle line:90% Thank you so much Nicole. 00:06:57.380 --> 00:06:59.420 align:middle line:84% Now we're going to do Q and A, and if you 00:06:59.420 --> 00:07:01.190 align:middle line:84% don't mind, because we're recording this, 00:07:01.190 --> 00:07:04.155 align:middle line:90% can you repeat the questions? 00:07:04.155 --> 00:07:05.650 align:middle line:90% I will. 00:07:05.650 --> 00:07:06.770 align:middle line:90% Can I hold this one? 00:07:06.770 --> 00:07:09.380 align:middle line:84% You can, but you might want to be closer to it. 00:07:09.380 --> 00:07:11.330 align:middle line:84% Oh, this is the recording microphone. 00:07:11.330 --> 00:07:12.380 align:middle line:90% Yes, all right. 00:07:12.380 --> 00:07:14.720 align:middle line:90% He's like, ouch. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:18.140 align:middle line:84% Thank you, I will stand here with this microphone like this. 00:07:18.140 --> 00:07:22.520 align:middle line:90% Be cool, Johnny Cash. 00:07:22.520 --> 00:07:25.580 align:middle line:84% All right, do we have any questions for Nicole? 00:07:25.580 --> 00:07:33.770 align:middle line:90% 00:07:33.770 --> 00:07:35.030 align:middle line:90% We'll edit this part out. 00:07:35.030 --> 00:07:37.160 align:middle line:84% That's fine, this is normal behavior. 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:41.360 align:middle line:90% 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.810 align:middle line:90% I got a question.