Phone books

Ever sick of coming home to yet another stack of phone books on your front step?

Not only do most people not need them in this day in age with computers, but they take up space and are a HUGE waste of paper.  I swear we've gotten 9 different ones delivered to our house in the past year.  

 Visit www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org to take yourself off the delivery list. 

Post Surgery Update.

I had my one and only surgeon followup appointment today. (Knock on wood)  And....

Praise the Lord everything looks good.  The X-Ray showed that the lung is healing well and not re-collapsed.  Whoo....what a relief.  I was just kind of waiting for that final "you're ok" before resuming all activities and hopefully I can stop stressing about it now.  

According to the surgeon "I'm fired" because I'm doing so well.  

Nice.

Food Inc.

Definitely recommend the documentary "Food Inc." It's a good heads up as to what we unfortunately are consuming on a daily basis. 

Here are a few things I learned from the film:

-Tomatoes are picked green half way across the world, and then ripened with ethylene gas to speed up the ripening process in order to sell them in stores.

- Chickens are now made to grow faster and with bigger breasts using steroids in order to mass produce cheaper.  Chicken's bones were not created to withstand that much weight and therefore cause the chickens to only be able to walk 1 or 2 steps before tumbling to the ground.  The farmers wouldn't even allow the reporter access to see inside the chicken farm as the conditions were that bad.  One farmer, though she lost her job because of it allowed them in.  She is actually now allergic to most antibiotics due to the exposure she's had on her farm.

-The farmers seen in this film are basically slaves to the major meat companies and have no say in how they raise their animals.  The farmer still only earns approx. $18,000 per year.

-What used to produce 20 bushels of corn now can produce 200 bushels of corn with the use of pesticides and fertilizers only to be washed away into our drinking water and consumed by animals and humans.

-90% of our food contains some form of corn or soybeans.  Mostly in the form of high fructose corn syrup.  We feed animals who are made to consume grass this corn as well. We feed them this because it's cheap and makes them fat. 

-The average meal travels 1500 miles to reach us.  

Some advise:

-Buy from companies that treat their animals, workers, and the environment fairly.

-Read your labels

-Buy locally and in season

-The money you spend on healthier food will pay off someday

May Day...

Happy belated May Day everyone!! 

What a beautiful Sunday afternoon!  My roommate and I enjoyed a stroll to church this morning and then to the annual May Day Parade in South Minneapolis.  

Every year the In the Heart of the Beast theatre puts on the May Day Parade unlike any you've ever seen.  They use flour, water, newspaper, lots of paint and imagination to tell stories that explore the struggles and celebrations of human existence.  The parade attracts more than 35,000 people every year, namely the more artsy, eclectic ones.  Very cool to see so many people on the streets of Minneapolis enjoying the outdoors today.

This year's theme was Uproar! 

Scene 1: Growl

People struggle to remain standing leashed under heavy burdens of poverty, war, debt & loneliness. They trudge forward groaning and growling racked by disease, grief, and rage, these tigers lash out at eachother and could rip us to shreds as well. 

Scene 2: Breathe

The Whale and Tai Chi Tigers move with conscious breath. People breathe and come breath and dance.  Beyond the grasses, and Elephant trumpets, awakening us to our collective together.  Arks carry seedlings to grow into plants, the lungs of the earth.  Grasses catch the power.  Elephant bones burst with new and fertile life.  Flowers!

Scene 3: Return

Return to wisdom and our ancestors.  Owls recognize and access the treasures of ancestral wisdom, Life and death dance together, embrace each other with joy.  Skeletons shine with fire and light and guide through the darkness.  Ofrendas offer space for remembering. Tiger skeletons grieve.  The four seasons surround a skeleton pregnant with life.

Scene 4: Roar

Rooster chariots call us to roar!  Roar with exuberance in the raw beauty of the world!  Tigers fly contain the roar of the unfolding universe.  When people protect the tiny snail, they protect the Super Roaring Tigers arrive with good deeds to protect this world of infinite wonder!  Snails universe.  The clouds merge and become a tiger.  The tiger sun roars with exuberant energy. 

Following the themed part of the parade, there were a few additions....