Piano stairs...I want these in my house!

I thought this was an interesting video, so of course I'm sharing!

I honestly want a flight of stairs rigged like this in my house some day, ones that can be turned off of course. Think of the hours of fun you would have trying to plunk (hop?) out tunes, not to mention how much kids would love it.

All around fantastic idea!

Food Fight

So I've been on a bit of a local food kick lately.

I'm pretty sure it's because I'm an avid vegetable gardener, you know, the crazy kind that grows all her own seedlings from organic heirloom seeds, and starts mapping out her garden plan in Excel in January...but I don't get to have a garden this year. This is because we have rented out our house in NB so I won't have access to the 3 large beds that I have been preparing there for the last three years, nor do any of my relatives have room for me to garden at their houses. It kind of hurts me in my soul, when I think about all the time I used to spend out in the garden, watching my 'babies' grow, and feeling the satisfaction of harvesting in August those tomatoes that I grew from a seed in the middle of March, while it was still blizarding outside. I nearly died when all the seed catalogues started showing up mid February and I had to merely flip through them without making stars and notes in the margins of all the cool plants that I just HAD to grow this year...And I'm missing out on all of it. It really makes me sad.

Which is why I'm on this kick (I think). Since I can't grow my own this year, it makes me want to put on my food activist cap and run right out to the farmers market to buy all the lovely veggies that I would normally have grown myself. I want to support the other people who do what I love, and make the most of this opportunity to get involved in the food culture in my hometown. The trouble with that, is that it's still March, I'm still in university (in Sudbury, not Moncton), and the farmers market is not yet open here for the year. Boo!

So what's a gal to do?

Well, I've personally been reading local food cookbooks, frequenting the Slow Food Canada website, and researching local food movements in places like California, where they are a bit ahead of Canada's east coast in local food activism. (Shocking, I know!) Basically I'm psyching myself up for summer! Not a bad plan when you're knee deep in papers and exams, and trying to ignore the itch to get your fingers into the soil, right?

(Something tells me this 'no garden' thing is not going to last, but your guess is as good as mine as to how it's going to play out...I'll keep you posted...)

So to leave off, I thought I'd share a link for an interesting looking documentary that has been screened at the various film festivals this year, and been winning quite a few awards along the way. Titled 'Food Fight', it features many of the prominent food activists in the US, including Micheal Pollan, Alice Waters, Dan Barber and Wolfgang Puck, so their reputations definitely lend credibility to the film. I haven't presonally seen it, but after watching the preview on the website, I immediately ordered a copy, which should be waiting for me in a month when I get home. I'll give an update on the content once I've watched it, but it looks promising.

"Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution"

I`ve just begun watching Jamie Oliver`s Food Revolution, a TV series that follows Jamie Oliver as he attempts to change the way Huntington, Virginia eats. Jamie is a very motivational and inspirational advocate of whole, local, healthy food, and I`m hooked on this series after only one episode. Although this show takes place in the United States, we all know that Canada follows not far behind in terms of the statistics of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. This makes this show and the work that Jamie is doing very relevant to Canada as well, and we could all learn a little something from Jamie about how to initiate change in our own communities.

Worth a gander, certainly.

The Story of Bottled Water

Today is World Water Day, so I thought I post this video about the environmental hazards of disposable water bottles. It is by the makers of 'The Story of Stuff', another great video to check out if you haven't seen it already.

Pass it on...

Kitty is a very BAD Mystic

Today is my birthday, and I'm writing yet another paper. So once again I don't have time to make a proper blog post. I am however going to post a very funny video, and I hope you enjoy it.

My Beautiful Cervix

I'm supposed to be writing a paper right now. However, my fellow midwifery student friend J suggested a website to me yesterday and I just HAD to share it! It is called My Beautiful Cervix, and it was created by a former Laurentian midwifery student. It is basically a series of photos that she took every day for one month of her own cervix, to chronicle the changes that happen from day to day. ( Before you ask: a speculum, a camera, and a supportive partner.)

Oh yeah, and it's absolutely fantastic! (Note: midwives are known to differ with the general public on what is actually awesome and what grosses other people out, Ex. Placentas - also awesome.) It has also grown from the original project, others have sent in photos of pregnant cervices, menopausal cervices etc, and it is verrrry interesting!

Happy Cervices!

I know, I know...

It's been way too long since I've made a post. Trust me, I'm aware of the situation and feel adequately shameful. I have been absolutely swamped with school work since reading week. For example, I've got 3 papers to write this weekend. If I add all the assignments, papers, midterms and lab reports I've got due in the next 3 weeks of class, I'd say I'd get a total somewhere around 20. I don't know if that's a good excuse, but it's the only one I've got.

And so, I don't really have a good post to make today, but I will post an article that I found interesting...I hope you do too!

From the BBC: New York chef makes breastmilk cheese



I'm not really sure what to think of this, but you can't argue that it's not interesting!