Wolf’s Den

Daily Tannenbaum! Drop me a comment so I can mail you the books I have as your winnings, Noelle!

The answers, btw:

1. I may have been a rotten man, but I’m one hell of a woman. Mrs. Madrigal, Tales of the City

2. I’m going on an overnight drunk and in the morning I’m going to kill the shark who ate my best friend. Steve Zissou, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

3. Oh snapity-snap-snap. Joy Turner, My Name is Earl

4. You failed. So what? You failed, you failed, you failed, you failed, you failed. Claire, Elizabethtown

5. I’m not even supposed to be here today! Dante, Clerks

Stay tuned for another contest!

In the next few days I’ll be merging my three blogs together.

At first the reason I had three blogs was because…well, I was nervous about people seeing me as a whole. That is, I didn’t want to offend any of my readers with my views so I thought if I separated my gardening, my thoughts, and my spirituality it would be ok. But it’s not. I feel fractured and discombobulated; scattered. I don’t feel holistic at all. I feel compartmentalized. And while exposing myself is really, really scary, I just can’t continue to pull myself apart in the manner in which I have been so I’m going to merge the three together.

Since Howling Hill is the blog I’ve been writing the longest I’m keeping it and deleting both Tangled Webs and Pensieve. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to do the merge. John did it the last time so maybe I can convince him to do it again.

Anyways, I hope to get this done over the weekend. Continue to check here as I will be posting, just keep in mind I’m moving.

Crunchy Chicken posted she sent a shipment of reusable menstrual pads to Goods for Girls so Kenyan girls can continue their educational needs while menstruating.

It’s a worthy cause. I think all people should have access to education. And it should to equal access. None of this “boys are more important to girls” crap and nothing should keep girls out of the classroom, not even when Aunt Flo comes for her monthly visit.

But it makes me wonder if sending African girls reusable menstrual pads are just another form of cultural imperialism.

There was an article I read a few months back about one tampon company, I think Tampax but don’t quote me on that, and how they’ve been donating their tampons to South African schools to keep girls in educational institutions as a way of showing corporate goodwill. While this may seem like a fab idea, the point of the article was to show corporate imperialism and how said tampon company is actually creating a market while simultaneously creating a disconnect between traditional ways menstruation has been handled and American ways of coping with the monthly bloody. That is, we catch our blood with bleached white cotton and throw it away and, of course, how menstrual blood is “dirty” and must be hidden away and something to be ashamed of. Case in point: John grew up with a mother and three sisters. He not once saw a pad or tampon in the trash, in the cabinet, nor any blood in the toilet. As far as he knew, none of the women in his house bled.

Women have been menstruating since the dawn of time so I’m sure African women have a pretty good idea on how to handle their moon times. I just can’t imagine African women have been walking around for a centuries without having a clue how to catch their blood, leaving a trail behind them every month. That just doesn’t seem feasible to me. Admittedly I have no idea how they cope with menstruation but I’m sure they do.

So here we are, well intentioned Statians and Americans, sending our products to African nations, specifically Kenya, to “help” girls manage their periods and keep them in school. But isn’t that part of the problem and not the solution? Aren’t we doing the same thing the tampon company is doing, just with earth friendly products? Here we are saying “We know how to deal with our periods, you don’t, so follow in our footsteps. We’ll give you free pads because we’re a rich nation and we want to help you, you poor little African nation.”

Wouldn’t it be better for us to find out what traditional menstrual management African women have used and open up supply lines so they can be independent and self-sustaining instead of sending our product for them to become dependent on?

It just seems to me our intentions are good but it’s really about making ourselves feel better and not actually overcoming the problem: girls are undereducated. They don’t have equal access to the institutions which create self-empowerment. I don’t mean to criticize the good work Crunchy is doing, nor those who have assisted her, I just think there’s better ways for us to “help” than to create dependency on a foreign product.

So I’m going to put in a bunch of quotes. If you can guess correctly what tv show/movie they come from, then you’ll get a prize. I don’t know what the prize is yet, but you’ll get one.

1. I may have been a rotten man, but I’m one hell of a woman.

2. I’m going on an overnight drunk and in the morning I’m going to kill the shark who ate my best friend.

3. Oh snapity-snap-snap.

4. You failed. So what? You failed, you failed, you failed, you failed, you failed.

5. I’m not even supposed to be here today!

ETA: Friday noon, eastern, is the deadline.

Yes, you read that right: Bottled water is bad.

Why?

Well, it privatizes and commercializes our water supply. Bottled water creates lots of, well, bottles. Plastic bottles. More petroleum usage getting the water from point A to point B. 

Save Our Groundwater has some helpful hints:

What You Can Do:

1. Bottle your own from your faucet! Carry a water bottle and drink from your own watershed. Know where your water comes from.

2. Contact your town’s selectmen, city council or other local officials to learn what your town is doing to protect and sustain drinking water supplies for businesses, homeowners and the environment.

3. Check to see if aquifer protection zoning exists in your community—and if not, start the effort to protect your town’s water supply.

4. Call your state legislators and ask them if your state has groundwater protection laws. If you do, get familiar with it and determine if it is sufficient to stop corporate water raiders.

5. Ask your state legislators to support bills protecting the state’s freshwater resources—both surface waters and groundwater. Ask them what they are doing to provide greater local control over community water resources.

6. Write or send a fax to your Congressional delegation asking them to initiate legislation to keep our country’s water in the public trust.

7. Raise the concerns about corporate ownership of our freshwater resources in your faith community. How are we called to be faithful stewards of our planet’s natural resources?

8. Teach the young people in your schools about the importance of protecting the Earth’s limited freshwater resources. Create a club or program that young people can join to learn about and protect the watersheds their drinking water depends on.

9. Help your local conservation committee or one of the many environmental organizations striving to protect water in the public trust.

10. Circulate SOG’s Groundwater Times in your town and local organizations.

11. Conserve water at home, at work, at play. Future generations of life depend on our actions.

12. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. You could write thanking them for coverage or asking for more coverage. Discuss your water resources concerns. This can be done via email. Please be sure to send a daytime phone number where the newspaper can reach you to verify it was sent by you.

I’ve talked about this in my personal life a few times. Most people agree with the stance, then go on to say “but my town water is disgusting. No one can drink it unless you use a filter of some sort.” Most municipalities have strict guidelines regarding drinking water. You tap isn’t as bad as you think it is. Research your area to find out where your water comes from, how it gets there, and what’s in it. Have your water tested if you’re that concerned.

There are some images from CSI I shouldn’t see. They give me nightmares.

Which is worse heart disease or cancer? I know, strange question.

But think on it a minute before you read further.

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The reason I ask is, it would seem anyways, cancer is better. Don’t believe me? Look at all the sugar free, low fat diet foods. The components which make up those (not so tasty) “treats” are loaded with chemicals, most of which cause cancer.

Dying of cancer, or being treated for it, means you were passive in contracting cancer in the first place: you ate “right”, exercised, followed your doctor’s advice when she said “eliminate fat and sugar.” Cancer, therefore, can blindside you. Heart disease, on the other hand, meant you were a lazy fart who just sat around and ate fatty foods all day, didn’t exercise, and, therefore, you deserve to have a heart attack or some other form of heart disease.

But the biggest difference between the two? Money. That’s right. Money. Cancer treatments are *ex-PEN-sive*. It’s a billion dollar industry, cancer. Heart disease, while also a money maker, doesn’t bring in the cashola like cancer treatments: chemotherapy, radiation, long hospital stays, pills, pills, pills, doctors and more doctors, nurses, supplies (such as emesis basis to catch that vomit of yours), ambulance rides, etc.

Thing is, if I had to chose, I’d take heart disease. At least then I’d know I enjoyed my food in its original form, without chemicals, pesticides, or artificially flavored and grown. I don’t want cell growth going haywire, fed by chemicals I ingested willingly (or because that’s the food I could afford to buy) just to feed the “health care community.” No no, I don’t want to be pickled by artificial sweeteners, colors — such as Yello No. 5 — MSG, and a whole host of other yucks in our food.

Thanks to Kelly for prompting me to write this. There’s more in me about this, I just don’t have the attention to research it right now.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USmVhqoZDJ8&hl=en]

I don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day like most people who are Irish or of Irish descent (like I am), but oh how I love the music of Ireland. Old, new, old and new. The words and sounds just take me away to a place I’ve never been. Or, not in this lifetime anyways.

You know how people will sometimes ask you “which president would you want to meet, dead or alive?” Well, my answer is always Woodrow Wilson. He was president during one of the most angst-ridden times in our history.

So it’s no surprise I came out as him.

Which Great US President Are You Most Like? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Woodrow Wilson 28th President, in office from 1913-1921 Born: 1856 Died: 1924 Woodrow Wilson 76% Lyndon Johnson 60% Theodore Roosevelt 59% John Kennedy 45% George Washington 45% Dwight Eisenhower 45% Franklin Roosevelt 41% Ronald Reagan 33% Abraham Lincoln 33% Thomas Jefferson 31% Harry Truman 14%

This body is not used to staying up till 1am. But when town meeting goes until 12:30a, this body stays up.

Don’t get me wrong, I *heart* town meeting. But come one folks! Lets do it on a Saturday, hu?