mercury rising

i read a comment on a story about the mercury in high fructose corn syrup today. a mom wailed,
"now what are we supposed to feed our kids? AIR?"
i wanted to reach through the screen and shake her. no, you dingbat! you are supposed to feel them FOOD! not some frankensteinian, better-living-through-chemistry food substance. ain't nothing like the real thing, baby! instead of a packet of industrialized, over-packaged, chemically "enriched" peanut butter crackers, try (drum roll please) a carrot! an apple! some real peanut butter on a real cracker! there are still some companies out there that don't use ingredients you can't spell. (and yes, i know, peanut butter is a problem at the moment, too. but i checked all three organic brands in my pantry, and they weren't recalled.) and, about the excuse i hear all the time, "they just won't eat it!..." two questions: one, will you? because they will if you will. especially if it's the only food in the house. two, who's the mommy here, anyway? my favorite pediatrician in all the world, dr. paul b. welty, used to say, "when they're hungry they'll eat." my very wise mom paraphrased that to, "when they are hungry, they will eat what you offer."
try it, america. declare yourself liberated from factory foods. you don't have to eat the rubbish they advertise on tv just because your toddler says they "have to have it" or because the american pre-fab crap imitation food council has brainwashed you into thinking that cooking is hard and time consuming. it's not.
so, here's my challenge to you. ALL OF YOU. spend a week not eating out of a cardboard box. all fresh, frozen, or single ingredient in the can or package foods. if you need recipes, email me. i'll be your iron chef for the week. (one caveat: i'm a vegetarian.)
i promise you that it is easier than you think. after your body detoxifies (and it will) you will feel fabulous. and if i am wrong, i will email you a picture of myself at which you can fling poo. i will not, however, come over and clean your keyboard.
go for it!
lovepeace
heather

octopus attack! aaaaaa!

okay... so i missed the inauguration and our new and fearless leader's first week in office, but never mind about that s--t, here comes Mongo!
i made this today at clayspace. kudos to becca floyd for assigning closed form boxes. how do you like those feet?
until next time, love and peace
h.

why?

i wonder why we do these things to ourselves. listen to experimental jazz. watch cell phone footage of a young man being killed by a cop on a subway platform. read faulkner...
what urge is it that makes us do things that make us feel sick of spirit? or is there something wrong with me that external things affect me so personally?
okay, and the real curious question: why does tom waits make me feel BETTER? i swear, he's better than prozac. (so i've never tried prozac. your point?)
i'm gonna go listen to small change. i'll be right as rain before the espresso finishes burbling.
h.

asheville's ice queens

to ring out the old year properly, we (sadie, lori, and i) decided to so something we rarely ever do. we went ice skating. now, i know that conjures up lovely images of snow covered hills and scintillating frozen ponds, but it is not quite that cold here. chilly! but not quite 6 inches on ice on the french broad chilly. so we skated indoors at the civic center. it was fun! parents and children crowded the ice with the occasional really fast big fella from the actually frozen north zinging circles around us all. we looked and felt like grand dorks in our rented skates, but it was tremendous fun! i waited at one end of the ice to catch the video posted here.
and we didn't kill ourselves. not even once!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
lovepeace
heather