Evidence of why restaurants should label their calorie contents...

The other night we decided to go to Panera for dinner.  It's convenient because it's quick, not ridiculously expensive compared to other things around here & generally healthy depending on what you get.  My go-to is a soup & salad combo.  While waiting for J, I got to stare at warm, cozy, delicious looking posters promoted their NEW Peppermint Hot Chocolate.  YUM!  Looked divine.  Seasonal, warming, yummy....  So I checked the board to see how much it would break the bank.  If you haven't been in the past year, Panera started posting the calorie content on the board next to the prices...  Oh, holy, frickin______!!!  610 calories?  Almost twice as much as a regular hot chocolate there??  More than my entire main meal?!?!?!

Needless to say, I decided against it.

*sings*: These are a few of my favor-rite things!

So, I don't know if it's the season (I think they play the Sound of Music song as a holiday song), or what, but this song has been running through my head for days and I really want to do a blogpost about my favorite things (in a kind of inspirational essoteric way):

• Buckminster Fuller
• I love this from the wiki page:  "...this caused him to drink frequently and to contemplate suicide for a while. He finally chose to embark on "an experiment, to find what a single individual [could] contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity.""
• Dymaxion Car: article & NYTimes piece about a new replica
• Dymaxion House
• Wallace Neff & his Airform houses
• Interior
• Don't forget to check out the link in this article to the archive photos
• Short article about Airforms
• Trivia:  There was one at one point in Falls Church, VA, but it was torn down to make way for I-66.  Boo!  : (
• Nikolai Tesla
• Historical fashion anything - this site is my new favorite!

We need a better look at Autism

I just ran across the following article, Siblings of autistic children may share some symptoms, and it reminded me (again) about something I had heard a while back about a scientist proposing an little-talked-about theory linking Autism to prenatal androgen exposure (example of research on the androgen link).  I will be really interested to see where future research in this field leads.  If the Androgen hypothesis is correct, it could also account for the findings in the science article that I found today.  If we could some day get something solid that will lead people away from the oft-refuted, but still accused immunization link, that would be a good thing.  Trying not to harp on another subject, it's also making me wonder once again if this is at least partially influenced by the shitty state of the Standard American diet...  I've heard a lot about how PCOS, which is also characterized with abnormal androgen levels, is influenced by diet and insulin resistance.  Just something I'm pondering right now.

For the record, this is just the pondering of a layman with a general science background.  I'm not a medical professional, nor do I play one on TV.  But I still wonder about these things.
_________________________
UPDATED:  Link to the guy from whom I first heard about the hypothesis

Friday Article Wrap-Up

• Eating Berries May Activate the Brain's Natural Housekeeper for Healthy Aging
• Lectins - a Little Known Trouble Maker
• Muscle Retains Memory of Past Glory
• Chicken poses significant drug-resistant Salmonella threat - it may be too little too late, but this is all the more reason to support meat producers who go non-hormone, non-antibiotic...  that and, arguably, if they're a small producer, they know if animals are sick and don't redistribute them.
• Gut Bacteria Reflect Dietary Differences
• Dance Your Way Into her Heart...  With Science!
• Repeated Antibiotic Use Alters Gut Bacteria
• How do you get Inflammation and Where does inflammation come from?
• Everything really is relative

Friday Article Wrap-up

• Happy Employees May Be the Key to Success for Organizations
• Top 10 Ways Your Brain Is Sabotaging You (and How to Beat It)
• NYT: Scientists Probe Effects of Technology on the Brain
• How I beat Depression and Weight Gain

Friday Article Wrap-up

• Guided By Parasites: Toxoplasma Modified Humans (- with a video by my favorite guy ever!)
• How to Beat Depression
• Study Finds Fructose Can Cause Cancer Cells to Grow Faster
• Cholesterol Myth
• Real Names of 23 Fictional Characters
• Chimps Kill Chimps... for their land
• Monkeys Hate Flying Squirrels, Report Monkey-Annoyance Experts - how do I get THAT job??
• Not an Article, but EVERYONE should listen to this... gives a very good overview of metabolic stuff within the body.
• Cat Fashion Show
• Why Barefoot is Best for Children
  

Will I?

There are lots of other things for me to talk about sometime soon, but just wanted to make a quick note of this article and correlations...

Click it. Read it. Will I?

Hehe. Anyway, it was quite cool for me to read because it puts into words something that I suspected for a long time... I think I succeeded at running because I approached it this way. I started out "can I be one of those people who likes running?" We all know the answer at this point. Now, after reading that blog post, I'm also seeing a connection with most of the other things that I've learned to do and succeeded at. Can I learn the Piano? Can I sew? Can I Crochet? (the last one, I can affirm that I can and I can do it well, but I choose not to because it makes me very angry. go figure.) Just as a teaser: the next one I have lined up is "Will I be able to make a business out of my creative skills?" We'll see how it goes. : )

Friday Article Wrap-up

As always, here are the things I've been reading this week in no particular order:

• The Best Thing I've Read All Year
• 7 Ways to Get Fit on the Playground - guess I'm not the only crazy. THis lady goes too conventional for my taste though. Try climbing UP the fireman's pole instead of sliding down it! : )
• Children Educate Themselves III: The Wisdom of Hunter-Gatherers - dangerous link-reading grounds coming off this article... : )
• Gladiator graveyard found in U.K., experts say
• A dad's lessons for his daughters
• Etruscan house reveals ancient domestic life
• Bad medical writing and public health
• Most cans of food contain controversial BPA - it's interesting to see the lag time between non-conventional sources and normal "news"... I picked this up here back in December.
• Everything You Know About Muscle is Wrong
• http://www.fasciaresearch.de/
• LARD

Mindfulness

Mindfulness... such a simple word. So little meaning if you look at it and so much meaning if you think about it.

More and more I am drawn to a quote attributed to Buddha: "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and our own common sense."


Mindfulness is changing my life.

Though I can maybe argue that I've been practicing mindfulness all my life (and that brings to question some nature v. nurture questions), I was never really "mindful" of mindfulness until last summer.

I was first introduced (or rather, first noticed the word and its usage) to mindfulness last summer at the MovNat Seminar with Erwan LeCorre. He introduced me to the idea of mindfulness in movement - the difference between long jumping and long jumping with a purpose... don't just jump. think about why you're jumping (give it a purpose) and how it feels and if you failed, why you failed - was it lack of ability or mental interference? Also, don't just jump, and don't just move, but be mindful of your environment and your senses... what works for a dry area or a man-made area may not work for an unprdictable environment of change. Really, it all relates to awareness.

Next I ran into it through my work with Exuberant Animal. First, I interacted with Kwame M. Brown and then at the East Coast Jam, I met Frank Forencich, the founder. I can't remember specific quotes, but I remember recognizing the term 'mindfulness' and that is really the basis behind Exuberant Animal. It is play-based fitness, but it also specifically to combine the mind and body and community by performing purposeful,mindful movements that are fun because you interact with other people.

About a month ago, I ran across a post by Greg Carver, who I met at MovNat. He's posted once before on mindfulness of movement but this post was referring to introducing mindfulness in eating as well. It makes sense to me.

Greg Carver:
Mindful Movement, Mindful Eating - "it seems logical to me that we can also be mindful about food and eating."

Two nights ago I attended a lecture on Barefoot Running by the authors of a book by the same name, Michael Sandler and Jessica Lee. At some point, I think when discussing the issue of glass on the road (people always ask, well, what about glass?!? you're going to hurt yourself), he said you end up being more mindful about where you're putting your feet.


Today, I ran across this video, which is cool in and of itself, but here again mindfulness pops up.


Mad Viking:
http://vimeo.com/12459183 - "I take kids up here and get them to turn off their cell phones, which is step one of mindfulness training, and just sit for ten minutes and listen to the birds that are around here..."

So, noticing "mindfulness" in the Mad Viking video was the key that clicked the lightbulb on. I don't know why, but the repetition and connection hit today and I started pondering... I think I've always practiced some degree or another of mindfulness - whether it's from my mother asking me to think about why I did this or that, or if it's something as simple as being hypervigilant with being aware of my surroundings, which has kept me safe several times.

As a teen/adult, I've always tried to be mindful of how I interact with other people and the things around me. I realized I was unhappy in shoes where I couldn't feel the bumps on the ground. I discovered that I enjoy running, but only barefoot and only when I can "go inside" my body and feel the ground and feel how my muscles and joints are reacting. I also have found that I LIKE "working out" if I have a purpose. I've started to find that being Mindful of what I'm eating , as Greg suggested, is wonderful. I'm having more luck optimizing my health by being mindful of how my body feels after eating various things and that being mindful about my eating habits can really change what and how I eat... I relly enjoy cooking most of the time now because I've changed it froma chore into a creative process. I had a problem with preparing a whole chicken for grilling until I stopped tossing it around on the counter and started treating it with respect and being gentle with my preparation. Small changes are becoming big changes and it's really interesting to sit back and look at.

Maybe I live by mindfulness. Maybe it's the essence of my being and happiness and I just never had a word for it. The more I'm realizing that isolating myself from my environment and nature makes me unhappy, the more I am finding ways to make myself happy. I think being mindful about things help one be more open minded. When you can separate yourself, even temporarily, from your feelings and view things with a clear mind... a blank slate... interesting things happen. I like stepping back and watching people as if I were not a person... like Jane Goodall watching chimps. I don't think it's harsh, I just think it's being mindful of the fact that I'm an animal too - that we all are - and that some things people do make as little sense when you take yourself out of context as watching some of the things animals do that we don't understand.

I've also been finding that it's not a natural reaction for most people. It seems hard to convey to my Exuberant Animal classes how to be mindful of their movements or even that they should. I think it's something that can be learned. Maybe most people don't understand any importance of it or might understand why some people would find it important, but see no personal value in it.

Ah well, I've rambled into some other realm here.

All I know is that I really believe the overall concept of mindfulness is important to me, though I may avoid using the word, and I really hope it isn't a word or concept that gets picked up as a "thing" that people get behind and strip of all it's importance or meaning by overuse. I worry when people corporatize good concepts.

Here: I'll leave you with something to be mindful over... : )

Friday Article Wrap-up

• Are there dangers in being 'spiritual but not religious'? - should I be offended that the picture of a "spiritual" person looks like a dirty beach bum?


• Fisherman's Wife Breaks Silence - there's something sick if people are saying "oh, not related, sorry..."


• Are we joyless working machines?


• Jet Lag


• Living in denial: Why sensible people reject the truth


• Out of the shadows: our unknown immune system

Dietary Observations

So, I came away from this past weekend with an interesting observation.... as of Tuesday I had developed a rash along my stomach, back & chest. Not itchy, just bumply.

Observations: it was similar to a rash that I came away with from MovNat (recap at bottom of original post)... During MovNat, I ate whole, fresh foods that were cooked, but not processed. I also had no grains or dairy. When I came back, I treated myself to a pizza & beer Saturday night, Sunday we were stuck at an amusement park, so I ended up with Fish & chips & mexican food. Monday I had the rash.

For the past three weeks I've been eating 80% whole, fresh, minimally processed, and grain-free. Tuesday, due to schedule conflicts, I had to eat & run and ended up with Filet-O-Fish ^ fries for lunch & a breaded buffalo chicken wrap and battered fries for dinner. Wednesday I had a rash.

This is twice now that I've had a similar sequence of events and come away with a torso rash. From this, I conclude that I was more likely right than my doctor (I figured it was diet affected and Dr. said it was from crawling around in the woods). This lets me form several hypotheses... A) grains are doing it, B) processed fried crap is doing it, or C) potatoes are doing it, listed in order of likelihood (in my opinion). As of lunch time today, I will start back on a whole/fresh diet again, keep at it for a week & then see about reintroducing bread products in quantity. See what happens. If that doesn't do it, I'll try fried foods. Then potatoes, etc....

I want to figure my body out.

Oops and thoughts about the future...

Yeah, so I just realized that I posted the Friday article Wrap-up on Thursday and my sense of time is all off. I thought last night was Friday, but then I thought today was Thursday or Wednesday while I was driving to work. Oh well.

So the post yesterday had something to do with a hint that I'm contemplating teaching again. I am. It'll probably be years down the road. I'm looking into programs. I should get my degree in it this time at some point. There's a fast track program which would be more my speed, but it looks like I'll have the same problem as last time because I won't get classroom management or grade assessment skills until after I'm already in the classroom... but I've found some good resources on my own this time and may look into that down the road. I do need to figure out what prereqs I need though because while I could be fully competent going into the fast track program in Physics and maybe Math, That's not all I want. I'd also like to have the necessary reqs. for health and Phys. Ed.

Why?!? Why would someone who HATED Phys ed want to teach it? How could I teach phys ed if I still have an innate loathing of volleyball? Well, I don't know the answer to the third question, but to the first and second I put this: through my work with MovNat & Exuberant Animal this past year and by being exposed to SPARK (the book) and stuff like this, I think I can best apply my knowledge and positively impact people by applying my science at an early age... It's so empowering when someone tells you WHY you should move and move a lot, rather than when someone tells you that you SHOULD move a lot. It's also better getting the education in WHY and the experimenting and learning it for yourself. I think I can do the most here. That is why. : )

This is why: Physically Active Play and Cognition

Friday Article Wrap-up & Teaching Commentary

• 7 Step Model to (some) cancer
• The Fundamentals of Bodyweight Strength Training

• Clock Ticking on 100,000 teacher jobs
• How Should We Teach our Future Teachers?

OK, I normally refrain from adding commentary on the Friday Article Wrap-up, but this one is near and dear to me since I'd wanted to teach since 7th grade, taught for a year (hellish) and am considering going back to it someday. It's especially near to me because I had an opportunity to be one of those people who gets left behind in school at an early age and I also (thanks to a wonderful teacher who pulled me back from the abyss) went on to excel in school.

Long story short: the more I hear about education cuts, the more I feel ill. I hear people complain about jobs going overseas and worries about the US staying competitive in the marketplace, etc, etc. Then people go on and complain about bipartisanship & spending and we're spending too much, so let's cut education. OK, I admit that's a very simplistic view of what people are expressing, but those sentiments exist. I really WANT people to start thinking about teaching and education the same way they think about doctors and engineers. They are critical. They get paid alot because they are critical. But you don't get doctors or engineers without the teachers teaching them first. Teachers and kids are the building blocks of all other industries. How much they succeed dictates how much our country and industry succeeds later. You can't have an educated voter participating in the democratic process without an initially educated student. And engineering jobs and innovation jobs will continue to go overseas if the better educated people are overseas. Just think about it. END of rant.

Friday Article Wrap-up

• But I Like My.... - whether or not about nutrition, I think this principle applies to a lot of life.
• The War on Children's Playgrounds
  
• How to Store Fresh Produce

New Swamp-Water Smoothie

Ingredients:

• ~ 2 cups washed & loosely loaded spinach
• ~2/3 c. shredded carrots (or the equivalent whole carrots)
• ~1/2 standard pkg blueberries
• 1 medium red apple
• ~2 Tbsp. Almond Butter

Directions:

Put in blender. Blend until ready, put in glass & enjoy.

Nutrition for the whole thing.

Mango Chicken

Made a yummy dish yesterday and thought I'd write it down & post it before I forgot... : )

Ingredients:

• 1 small super ripe mango
• 1 small onion or 1/4 medium/large onion
• 1 Orange pepper (red or yellow would work too)
• 1-1.5 Tbsp. Coconut oil
• 0.5 - 0.75 lb. Chicken
• 2/3 pkg. frozen artichoke hearts
• ~1/4 c. unsweetened, shredded coconut
• ~1-1.5 tsp. cinnamon
• ~.5 tsp. Tummeric
• ~ 1 pinch ground ginger

Directions:

Using a large skillet... Slice onion and pepper into strips & sautee in Coconut Oil with cinnamon, tummeric, and ginger over medium heat until soft. Add frozen artichoke in about half-way through. Cut Mango into small strips. Cut chicken into bite sized bits, & toss into pan to cook. Make sure to mix it around so as to coat chicken in oil & spices. When chicken looks within 5 minutes of being done, add in mango & shredded coconut.

Serves 2. This dish paired well with steamed Asparagus drizzled in lemon juice & seasame seeds.

Friday article Wrap-up

It's been a while, but I want to bookmark this for myself, so here goes...

• Kids, Paleo and Nutrient Density - the name says it all. Read only if it interests you.
• Study Finds that Low-quality child care has lasting effects into adolescence - I'd like to actually look up the study later, but I've long said that I want to stay home with my kid at least until it goes to school because I don't feel comfortable trusting someone else to form them as a person. I'm sure there are good providers out there, but I want to laythe groundwork myself.
• New "Roadrunner" Dinosaur Found in China - cool!
• Free Portal - also cool
• Virgin Mobile $25 for unlimited text, email & internet - SWEET!
• Nutrition and health in agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers - bookmarking this again so I can find it later.... one day I did find a writeup of the study and that was far more interesting to read, but oh well
• Postpartum depression: When moms feel out of control - I really want to find out more about this "brain protein called monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A)" so I can see if anyone knows by which pathways it occurs & works. That could be helpful someday...
• For once I agree with Dr. Phil...

Project Reminder

I want to put this out there so I can remember to make it and to hold myself accountable, but in addition to making the pieces listed at the end, I hope to make a suit like this:

• Jacket from Vintage Vogue #V1019
• Skirt from Butterick #B4859

This will come sometime after:

• the pseudo regency maxi dress made out of a printed red & white mesh
• retro butterick bolero, halter, skirt & shorts set made out of white Pique & a peach beach print pique
• red lace skirt from Amelie
• Black liquid satin infinity gown
• orange & brown crushed stretch velvet fan-tailed victorian skirt
• a victorian suit made out of a blue-teal sharkskin fabric made from these patterns: 1 and 2
• another walk-away dress
• remake my 1950s cocktail dress that's self-destructing
• make a 50s 2-piece wrap dress

So many things to make, so little time. *sigh *

Copyright updates...

Some of you may remember a post that I had in November of 2008 discussing my exploits with trying to control the use of a Binghamton at Night photo that had gotten used by various sources.

And if anyone is interested, here's a link to the wikipage that discloses the license.

I spoke with Broadway Binghamton and they were totally cool and if you watch the banner ad, when my picture comes up (third frame) it says Photo by Laura Roth in the lower right (YAY!).

Nyseg Solutions originally took the picture down, so I dropped my complaint and left it at that. The picture is now, however, back up and I've contacted them again. [UPDATE: as of 4:27 PM, they've taken it down again...?] This time I will be following up with their photo supplier to see where he got it and why he believed it to be free to use in any manner at all.

This update comes after discovering JUST how viral the use of my photo has gone. *sigh * If I had only known, I could have... I dunno... made $5 or something? eh. Here's a listing of other places that are currently using it:

• Greater Binghamton Airport: contacted & not heard back yet [UPDATE:5/6/10 - they contacted & offered to name me! Yay!]
• Live Music in Binghamton FB page: I contacted them and supposedly they'll work with me on it. The Admin was really nice.
• Binghamton Nightlife FB Page: Contacted, but no response yet
• Binghamton Nightlife, RMC: (beware, has a zillion graphics to download) contacted, not heard back yet, and am completely concerned since it states that it's a FreeArt license which is wrong.
• Scranton Alumni Association of Greater Binghamton: contacted & not heard back yet
• Binghamton, NY FB Page: has the photo in the "around town" album... trying to contact
  

Well, we'll see what happens.... it's coming out of the woodwork now. : )

Just a Thought....

Just a thought...

What IF:

• by making play safe for kids, we're actually setting them up to get hurt more...
• by making sure our children have most of what they need and want, they are developing less ingenuity and fewer abilities...
• by giving children more opportunities, we're actually narrowing their horizons...
• by keeping things clean and sanitary for kids, we're actually compromising their health...

These are literally just thoughts that are popping into my head, but if I am ever considering procreating and/or going back to teaching, these are thoughts that must be considered and addressed so as to form my own opinion. I hope you all, whoever you are, will think about them and go out and form your own educated opinions as well. I know others have discussed these things further, but let me delve into why I started thinking about this. I'm going to ramble, but I'll highlight what I see to be the key points in case you want the abridged version.

I sat down at a pre-interview at a martial arts studio... it was a free "self defense" session and they wanted to get a picture of my movement background first. I got to the part about how I started going back to playgrounds last year and the guy said, "Oh, you mean like with Monkey Bars & Merry-Go-Rounds?" Me: "Yeah, but you can't really find Merry-Go-Rounds anymore at all." "Really?" "Yeah, it's generally a liability thing. They're 'too dangerous' to keep around." Guy's co-worker pipes in: "Yeah, actually, just a month or so ago a kid in my neighborhood fell off the Monkey Bars & is now paralysed!"

I don't know if any of you have been to playgrounds recently, but if you haven't, I suggest you go out and take a look around. More and more of the playgrounds are becoming less and less challenging. The vast majority appear to be formatted like castles and tree houses with elevated platforms, stairs, ladders, and slides. That's fun. But you'll be hard pressed to find slides that are more than 4 ft. high and made of anything other than than stupid plastic that gives you ridiculous static cling and lets the speed top out at, oh... the pace of a caterpillar. Here is what you WILL NOT see, unless you've found a relict from the dinosaur era: 6-8 ft high metal slides, a merry-go-round, and teeter-totters. While I am sad those are largely gone, this is where I have a real issue... these things are HARD to find: Monkey bars, rings, fireman's poles, balance beams, parallel bars and pull-up type bars.

Stairs, small ladders, small slides and platforms are great for make believe and safe play, but it's the hard-to-find items that are really responsible for helping kids build strength (through PLAY) and helping them learn more about how their body moves (subconsciously through PLAY).

When I jumped into movement & fitness with gusto two years ago, it was just to help find myself, help center myself emotionally, and "get in better shape." After trying more conventional approaches, (i.e. gyms, running, etc...) I wanted to get stronger and have more fun. I thought about how I got strongish as a kid and remembered climbing on things a lot, playing on the swing set (I still love swings), using the monkey bars, etc.... so I got a friend and went to the playground. The next day, my arms and thighs hurt from using the swings for 40 minutes. Long story short, I went back & kept playing on the playground, found MovNat, found Exuberant Animal, and started really going beyond fitness and just decided to explore movement and see what my body is capable of doing. I'm now trying to find my limits and push them instead of going for set goals like strength. Strength is a side product of what I can do - it's actually circular. The more I try, the stronger I get, the stronger I get, the more I can try.

Along the way I discovered this: I don't know how to move. I'm learning. I'm 30 and I'm learning how to move. I understand momentum and weight transference to some extent. But you tell me to do a pull-up & I try to contract my biceps & expect that will do it. I tried to push myself up & hold myself up on a pair of gymnastics rings and I fell right off because I was trying to use my triceps. I stopped. I tried again. I listened to what parts of my body were affected when my attempt failed. I felt it in my laterals, my pectorals, my shoulders and back. I was ignoring the function of a whole slew of things that needed to work together. Next time, I tried to push up & used those shoulder/chest/back muscles and guess what.... it worked! It makes me feel really stupid. It makes me realize how much I don't know and how much more I need to learn.

So back to the topic at hand.... From my own experience, I understand some basic movements and got some building of strength from playing on this "dangerous" equipment as a kid. If, as an adult, I still don't feel like I know enough about how to move and use my body (can be helpful if you need to save yourself or get out of physical trouble), how are younger generations going to learn & how will they turn out? Yes, there's more prevalence of organized sports, but those result in specialized movements and skills, not general awareness. And what about kids in underprivileged areas where they might not have access to leagues and only have access to "safe," unchallenging playspace. Will this relegate them to a weaker body and lifestyle in the end? I don't know. It's something I'm thinking about. Maybe others should too?

P.S. I've been very lax about the Veg of the Week, but this week I tried Carrot Tops (the greens). Interesting... like a combo of parsley & arugula. It had quite a strong flavor.

More failure. Mood deteriorating.

I've had this incessant whatever-it-is for a week now. Sinus pressure. Tired. Those are the major symptoms. Today I was extra tired (though I had broken sleep, so...) and found a newly swollen, sore lymph node in my throat. Decided: "hell, I'll go to the health clinic downstairs & see if there's anything they can find." Checked my nose & ears & apparently didn't see anything that would scream "sinus/ear infection" to them. Checked out my throat & saw some discoloration & did a rapid strep test. Negative, but they seemed skeptical. Apparently the tests are very inaccurate. The Dr. sat down and filled a scrip for penicillin and said, get this: "You've had it for a week now, there's a possibility that it's strep. Here's a scrip, but it's up to you. You can wait a day or two and see if it clears up before you take anything or you can start taking it right now. Your choice." your choice. They don't normally say that. I liked him. He looked about retirement age, had a very good personality, was super forth coming with the info. I LIKED him. Then I noticed he's a D.O. Google stalking ensued and he's not covered by my insurance and is barely mentioned, so I figured he does not have a private practice.

On the off-chance, I decided to go back & see if he knew of anyone. I talked to the nurse about my medical care philosophy & she understood what I'm talking about but has not found anyone in the area here. Then we asked him. SOOOOO frustrating. He'd be my perfect doctor. He didn't discount what I was saying, he agreed with my approach to care, he understood what I was looking for and then told me that he couldn't recommend anyone. BUGGER!!! What I got from both of them is "Things are different now and you can't make any money as a doctor that takes a holistic approach to care so even though some still come out of med school, they don't stay in it long." CRAP.

Back to the drawing board. It sounds like the best I can hope for is maybe someday finding a doctor who talks to me at least like they think I'm a semi-intelligent person (or pretends at least).

*sigh *

The fallacy of "big is beautiful"

There has been an emphasis in the media lately of being anti-stick-thin-models and pro "normal" models. Just today I found a slideshow from TODAY that screamed "Big is Beautiful!" On the surface, I agree. I think we all need to get more realistic about body image and realize that not everyone is the same, not everyone is a size 00 and not everyone will wear a dress exactly like it is in the hanger. Somehow, as an average woman who's been big and who's been little and who struggles with body image regardless.... somehow I see this all as a farce . Like a three-ring circus act (with the exception of that one model who posed nude a few weeks/months ago - she and the spread were classy and real). I feel like someone in the media is playing around with the concept to try and appease us to make us feel as if we're being catered to... for now. Here's one generic problem I have: the reaction generally is to counter too-thin by using plus-sized models. I don't have an issue with that, other than it seems like going from one extreme to the other. How about we display a wide range of body type? Secondly, and this is a gripe that I find particularly related to the slideshow (go see it now if you haven't), I don't like the fact that they've taken plus sized models and made them do exactly the same thing as the too-thin ones. Study the pictures... Most of them has been put into an outfit that is clearly too tight/small for them, making them look bulgy when they really aren't. Muffin top is not natural. It is only a product of clothing that is poorly fitted. It makes me sad. I comment on this particularly because I just spent this past weekend at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and walked into one room and was stopped dead by the beauty of a painting... the beauty of this painting by Frederick Carl Frieseke:

It may not look like much on your computer screen (something seems to be lost to me here...), but I highly recommend that you stop by to visit her the next time you're in town. She's beautiful. The painting is beautiful. Something takes you about the human form. She's not a tiny woman.

While searching for this one, I also found a collection of nudes by Kenyon Cox, my favorite being titled Indian Summer. I am in love with his portrayal of the female body because each of his works is quite obviously a real woman. They are put in pastoral settings and given a mythical air, but they are far from being air brushed.

Just my thoughts... take from it what you will. These are good examples of how to show real women.