GreEtings

Today, upon hearing about my friend Ann making great strides in the workplace, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to send her a well-meaning, outrageously cheesy e-card.

Remember the old days of American Greetings and Blue Mountain e-cards? We had mounds upon mounds of cyber greetings to choose from!

I regret to inform all of you that the times have changed.

Apparently there are “memberships” now and if you’re not a “member” you really only have about one to two cards to choose from. Thankfully for me (and Ann!) I was able to snag a little bear triumphantly riding down a rainbow. I'm assuming he was a little gay bear. Anyway, I got to thinking about what kinds of people are actually members...I have a vision of a middle-aged woman named Bev in a homemade sweatshirt made from a kit you’d buy at Michael’s craft store in 1994, consistently reminding her friends and family that the sun shines a little brighter because of them. (I imagine that the sun is wearing sunglasses and smiling.)

But what about the rest of us? Why should we be forced into a commitment with American Greetings just because we want to send some gay bears to our loved ones once ever six to eight months?!

It’s just not fair.

I miss the glory days of the internet when we were free to click throughout the internet with the greatest of ease...the days of AOL profiles, buddy lists, passive aggressive and/or uncomfortable away messages and of course, a bevy of meaningless e-cards.

I will most likely recount these days to my children with a wistful, far-off glance.

Putting the O in Vegan

Oprah's going vegan.

My relationship with Oprah is love/hate. I used to just completely love her, but as you may or may not have noticed, her big egO is currently eligible for its own zip code. I think she's too consumerstic and oftentimes hypocritical, BUT she does good and I can't hate on that. Plus, I met her once and found her to be engaging and charismatic (go figure).

Anyhoo, vegan for 21 days, eh? Remember a few years back when Oprah was sued for saying that she'd never eat another hamburger? Well, she said that because she was informed of the hazards of meat and the meat industry by Howard Lyman, author of Mad Cowboy (the book that changed my life!). This was years ago and now she's coming around? She should try it for a little more than 21 days. I assure you that being vegan is not the Mount Everest that most folks seem to think it is.

BUT...better late than never and better 21 days than none at all. Seeing as so many people shun the vegan lifestyle, I can't help but be elated about the positive light this sheds on it.

I'm going to be keeping tags on Ms. Winfrey on her blog. I'm VERY interested to see where this goes!

Back In Green

First off, I apologize for not posting in ages. I wish I could say it's because I'm out being outrageously fabulous and saving endangered babies, but that'd be a lie. I've just been plain old lazy. Forgive me, adoring fan(s), forgive me.

I can't remember a time recently where I've found myself on a Monday morning feeling excited about just being alive after the weekend. This euphoria is thanks to the Green Festival. Usually I'm depressed about how short the weekend is and the lame job that I return to at the start of every week, BUT not this week!

Rachael and I spent pretty much the whole weekend at the fest- volunteering and seeing the sights. I got to see two speakers- Amy Goodman of Democracy Now and John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman (I'm currently reading and loving it!). Amy was amazing, John was less-amazing, but still good to see and meet.

We volunteered on Saturday for Global Exchange at their store, where we worked as the wacky but endearing cashiers. The crowd loved us and so did John, our "boss" for the day. On Sunday, we were in charge of making sure each vendor cleaned up after themselves, which basically meant Rach and I walked around after the fest closed and took pictures of messy booths and wrote the offenders up- the perfect job for two judgmental ladies like us ;)

It was a wonderful and exciting environment to be in all weekend. We were surrounded by people that care- people who have dedicated their lives and careers to the greater good. Sure, there was a whole lot of green consumerism, but there were also a whole lot of causes and movements that are doing their part and making a dent. It was also pretty awesome that the cuisine was mostly vegan- no perilous searching for something just right for me- I actually had options!

Not only did I leave the weekend more informed and inspired, but I also have a new, socially concious cell-phone provider, Credo Mobile. Go to the site and see what they're all about. I'm going to talk on the phone anyway, so why not have some of the profit do some good?

Rach and I spent a long time talking to John from Global Exchange and it turns out that he's a pretty awesome guy- he's worked for non-profits his whole life, is a cancer survivor, an artist and he's does non-violence advocacy in schools. Check out his art- www.meltguns.com

Oh, and I also picked up the documentary, 9/11 Mysteries. Trust me when I say that you NEED to see this film. It blew my mind. My mom watched it last night and her mind is blown as well. I own it, so you have no excuse for not accessing it!

I encourage EVERYONE to come to the fest next year! There were tons and tons of people there just to see what it was all about. You don't have to be a tree hugger extraordinaire to enjoy and benefit from all it has to offer.





PS- I solemnly swear to blog more often!

Oh, What A World

So, unless you're living under a rock, you've heard about the oil/food/job/overall economic crisis that American has currently found itself in. It's a mess over here!

Anyway, I'm here to share some interesting tidbits I read on the great, big world wide web today...

I got an email from the Union of Concerned Scientists (yes, they email me and no, they have no idea how horribly I did in 9th grade Biology class) and according to them:

"When it comes to most meat, milk, and eggs sold in the United States, consumers have paid more for years—they just didn’t know it.

According to a new Union of Concerned Scientists report, the true cost of meat and milk produced in massive CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) includes billions in unaccounted-for taxpayer dollars that pay for the economic, health, and environmental problems CAFOs create.

CAFOs are supported by misguided government policies. Meanwhile, modern, alternatives are already in practice today that can produce the quantity of food we need, often without government subsidies. These alternatives can safeguard our health while protecting the foundations of our food supply—like healthy soil and fresh water. "

Interesting, eh?

I'm not done yet...

Our fearless leader was in St. Louis today and when addressing the economic stimulus plan, he proclaimed,

"This money is going to be very helpful in helping people deal with high energy prices and food prices."

Hmm...that's interesting, isn't it? Because I'm pretty sure that these economic stimulus checks were originally supposed to oh, I don't know...STIMULATE the economy, not help fund the skyrocketing oil and food prices, ultimately just keeping us where we're at.
(Which, y'know, isn't a good place).

I mean, I don't at all pretend to be some sort of political aficionado, but ever since this "stimulus plan" took the stage, I thought it sounded like something an 8th grade student council president would propose in order to help keep the Coke machine.

But! That's just me ;)


Happy Friday, chickadees and doos!




PS- Come to the Fair Trade Bazaar at Broadway and Addison tomorrow from 10-2pm! It's fair and square and I'll be there!