Welcome to my Website

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I tend to rant a lot. I don't intend to. It just happens. Since I keep saying the same things over and over (we used to have things called broken records. You young people don't remember them), I figured I'd write some of them down and save my breath.

Some of my rants have a purpose. The goal of some of these pages is advocacy. In a sense, I'm trying to convince everyone that they should do things my way (it's my website -- I can do that)! But really, I'm only doing that in cases where I truly believe people would be healthier (both physically and mentally) and safer and the environment would be healthier.

My definition of advocacy is sometimes broader than other people's, and often more subtle. So in some of these pages I really do rant about X being better than Y, or Z being a bad thing, but in others, I try to show that certain things bring me happiness in the hopes that other people might try them as well.

My other rants are just rants with less of a purpose. I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything -- I just didn't know when to shut up! Some of my opinions may not be popular. If you disagree with me, don't come after me with a torch and a pitchfork. Just make your own website.

Main Sections:

Bikes are better than cars -- this is the section that started it all. Could be subtitled "How one lone obsessive-compulsive woman tried to save the world," I suppose.

Our culture is mentally ill -- that pretty much sums it up. Everything I think is wrong with our culture. I do actually offer some solutions though.

Gardening -- this is the history of my garden, my evolution as a gardener, and my philosophy of gardening. Lots of photos.

Knitting & Spinning -- happy warm fuzzy things. Pretty colors. Meditation. Knitting and spinning keep me sane and warm.

Misc. happy good things -- good things that aren't bikes, gardening, knitting, or spinning.

So, who is this Riin person, and how do you pronounce that anyway? Yeah, everyone gets confused by my name -- don't feel bad. It rhymes with green. It's Estonian. As for me, I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan with my two rabbits. I work at the University of Michigan as the head of Interlibrary Loan at Taubman Medical Library. You'll get a pretty clear idea of my hobbies and interests from the rest of this website.

If you want to contact me about something I've written (and you're going to be polite, and you aren't just going to tell me I'm going to burn in hell), you may email me at riin at umich dot edu. If you send me spam, you shall be cursed with a flat tire every single day for the rest of your life.

A note about updates: someone asked me to make it easier to find the new material on my site, and I'm happy to oblige. Any new link I add, whether to a rant or article that I write or to someone else's site, will be preceded by a friendly orange New! for one week. Hint: I add material to the Bikes are better than cars -- Links page almost weekly.

 

This website is dedicated to the memory of Ken Kifer.

This page has had visits since February 1, 2004.