Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Happy Happy Earth Day…
My tribute to the ethanol rage… but seriously, I was searching for a picture of myself to use for a profile. And I came across this on the website of a photographer I worked with a little while ago. Obviously photoshopped… It reminds me of Oz- of a Kansas cornfield dropped in the middle of Oregon.
This is definitely set up to the biggest-hyped Earth Day ever. “Green” is now an adjective used everywhere, for everything… and recognizable by everyone. It’s definitely great to see how even large companies are realizing that they need to at least be seen as making an effort. I guess the skeptical side of me just wishes they spent as much cash on actual scientific innovations and solutions as they do on letting us know about it. Walmart is now on the “green” bandwagon and sells organics. I suppose it should be good news, it just seems like the “green washing” is more about PR and advertising these days than it is about the principle and doing what’s best for the planet. Maybe it’s impossible to separate the two. And maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe I’ll just always be suspicious of the biggest players. We have reason to be. It just feels weird to suddenly find them on our side.
On a happy note, the printer I use (Greener Printer.com) just announced that they are giving away 200 free business cards to celebrate Earth Day and their new thicker 100% recycled card stock. They use soy ink too and have done beautiful work for me.
We should all take a moment tomorrow and celebrate any changes we made this last year to decrease our footprints on our planet. (My favorite is that Ian and I were able to lower the electric bill for our house to $20/month). It’s also a good time to reflect and think about Spring Cleaning- inside and out.
Some Celebratory Ideas:
Go Veggie or Vegan for the day
Drink a green smoothie
Make an Organic Feast and toast with a glass of biodynamic wine
Take a walk
Read a book (like the Food Revolution)
Don’t shower! (you know you shouldn’t be washing your hair every day anyways!)
Screw in a CF lightbulb
Turn down your thermostat (yes- it is still FREEZING in Oregon)
Turn your hot water heater temp down a few degrees
Bike to work
And on the commercial side of things:
Sign up at idealbite.com for daily tips. This is a fun site.
How about a green cell phone? No kidding. Credo Mobile (formerly Working Assets Wireless) has the greenest phone on the planet! I wish I hadn’t renewed my contract last fall. I’ll be switching when it runs out.
And there’s always carbon offsets, but do some serious research before you buy. There have been many reports of bogus companies just collecting money and doing nothing.
Yeah- same old stuff… but a little does help a lot. It’s got to.
Wishing you peace & balance, Dana
Back in the Saddle
Last Wednesday I left for North Carolina to visit my good friend Judith (from college) for her baby shower. Since we never see each other I was going to come early so we’d have a few days to spend together. She took some time off from work (she’s an RN at the Duke medical center) and we were going to go to the coast where her parent’s have a house in the Outer Banks.
So, on Thursday morning we got up, made coffee (for me) and chatted for a bit before she rushed out to get to a doctor’s appointment at 9:30am. She told me she’d be back in an hour….. but she never came home! I went for a run, showered, made some breakfast and then still no word. I began to get concerned and decided to take the dog on a walk to keep myself busy and since he had been so devastated to see me leave to run without him. When I returned to the house there was message from Walter, her husband (and yes: they are named Judith & Walter, and no: they are not 75, they are in their late 20’s). Apparently they were running more tests. hmmm.
Well, the phone calls and messages went throughout the day… I slept with the dog in the warm sunshine on the porch and read the addicting novel that I bought in the Newark airport: (The Other Boleyn Girl). And then the call came that she was scheduled to have a C-section at 6:00pm. Judith’s wonderful mom and sister came to pick me up around 4 and we headed to get tiny diapers and other last minute supplies at Babies R’ Us… (wow, that was an overwhelming place). And then they took me, finally, to Whole Foods… I had eaten Judith out of pumpkin seeds and dried cranberries and was very hungry. Then we headed to the hospital.
I talked to Judith in her room right before they took her in. She was calm. She is always calm. This is perhaps one of her greatest strengths… and why we had been such great friends so quickly. She is so steady and grounding and the only person (besides Ian of course) who I think I could ever live with long term. She told me what they expected and how it would go and she was excited, in the way that Judith gets excited and she was, I could tell, under the cover of collection, a little nervous. Because this was all so new to me, it was quite surreal.
The surgery came and went very quickly and soon we were allowed to see baby Alister, all 4 lbs and 12 oz of him, through the glass of the baby area. He looked so tiny and helpless squirming in his little plastic bassinet. And how strange that just 45 minutes ago, he was inside my friend as I hugged her. It was a lot to take in and at once, I understood the commonly used phrased: “the miracle of birth.”
Though I hadn’t planned to be there and it meant less time with my friend, I was so happy to have been there for the occasion. When we left the hospital that night, her parents and sister and I celebrated at a nice dinner with a bottle of champagne and toasted the new baby boy.
I spent the next few days reading my novel, walking the dog, roaming Whole Foods, hanging out with Judith’s sister and brother and visiting the hospital. It was a long trip for 5 days. In a way it was totally exhausting and in other, it was remarkably enlightening. In any case, it was much to digest.
Priceless
Stuff White People Like…. genius. Somehow I think this guy is making fun of me. Especially when the first thing I read was #75 “Threatening to Move to Canada.” It was like having a wagging finger pointed in my face… I started using this line right after the first Bush election hanging chad debacle…. (though to be totally honest, I would rather move to Australia).
Excerpt:
Within white culture, it is agreed upon that if Canada had better weather it would be a perfect place.
Being aware that this information can be used quite easily to gain the trust of white people. Whenever they say, “I’m moving to Canada,” you must immediately respond with “I have relatives in Canada.”
When I read this, I immediately thought: I DO HAVE RELATIVES IN CANADA.
On the end of the article he adds these notes:
Note: Canadian white people threaten to move to Europe.
Note: Europeans are unable to threaten to move anywhere.
I actually cried reading some of the posts. I probably looked like a crazy person in the cafe where I was sitting on my laptop… which should probably be the topic of a post in and of itself. “Blogging” too…
I love Irony, oh wait… that is #50.
Running Into the Ground: Iron Basics
Reasons Why Runners are Often Low in Iron:
1. Foot Strike Hemolysis—red blood cells are destroyed by runners’ feet pounding on the ground. You literally squish them as you strike the ground. This loss can be even more intense at altitude.
2. Sweat & Urine—small amounts of iron are lost in sweat and urine and these amounts can add up over time and worsen in hot weather.
3. GI & Menstrual Bleeding—small amounts of iron are lost due to bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract that is common with intense training/racing, while larger amounts can be lost through a regular menstrual cycle. If your cycle is causing you to lose more significant amounts of blood due to an extended length, heavier flow or increased frequency, you should report this to your doctor so that she can try to find the cause.
4. Low Iron Intake—runners who follow the traditional high-carb/low-fat endurance diet often do not consume much red meat, which is the best absorbed source of dietary iron. Many runners also tend to under eat in an effort to maintain an artificially lower weight. There is evidence that this type of calorie restriction lowers metabolic functioning and over the long term may lead to a sluggish thyroid or hypothyroidism.
Key terms:
Hematocrit— the percentage of red blood cells in the blood
Ferritin— the body’s stored iron (primarily in bone marrow, liver, and spleen)
Iron-Deficiency Anemia—clinically low hemoglobin or hematocrit levels
(B12 deficiency can cause another type of anemia, more common in vegetarians than meat eaters because B12 is difficult to get from a vegan diet)
Iron Depletion—low ferritin levels (for running purposes 30)
What exactly is ferritin again?
For one thing, different people seem to require different levels to feel good. One athlete may perform best as long as her ferritin is over 40, while another may require double. When fine-tuning for performance enhancement, it is best to track ferritin levels over time, that way you can get a baseline level of what might be normal for you. Unfortunately, few people think to go in for blood tests when they are feeling fine. Some sports medicine docs and coaches like an athlete’s ferritin to be above 100. It is commonly accepted in the running community that a score under 30 means you should be pumping some iron into your system, in whatever form necessary.
Serious female runners should have their iron levels checked a minimum of twice (preferably four times) per year. Competitive male runners should be tested annually, and those with a history of iron depletion (or vegetarians) should be tested at least twice per year. To ensure consistent results, always have your blood tested before running (i.e., when you are well-hydrated), because dehydration will make your iron levels appear higher than they are. Again, the major iron status tests of interest to runners are: hemoglobin, hematocrit, red blood cells and ferritin. And, depending on how savvy your doc is, you may have to specifically request the ferritin to be checked. Unfortunately, it is still not a commonly performed test by many family practitioners.
More on iron supps and common signs of deficiency in another post.
