Archive for March, 2007
March 28, 2007 at 12:03 pm · Filed under ,
I took a fantastic reflexology class over the weekend with Bill Flocco, Director of the American Academy of Reflexology. I learned a lot more about working on ears and hands, as well as guidelines for integrating that work with what I already know about working on the feet.
I’m inspired to start sharing periodic reflexology self-help techniques on this blog. Please keep in mind that I’m just passing on a few of my learnings. I am by no means a reflexology expert, at least not yet. I’m also not making any claims that reflexology can cure anything. Many people have reported a wide range of benefits and there’s a growing body of research evidence, but reflexologists aren’t doctors and can’t “treat” specific illnesses.
Hopefully my hiney is now adequately covered, so first up is the allergy point on the ears. If you’ve been suffering like I have with seasonal mold and pollen or with other types of allergies, you might want to give this a try.
Allergy point is in the groove at the top of both ears. If you come up under the fold with your thumb and come down on top with your forefinger, you can use the tips of the two to get specific pressure on the point. The location of the point will be slightly different on every person, so feel around. If you have allergies, the right spot is likely to feel tender.
You don’t have to squeeze really hard. The ears are very sensitive. Try for a firm even pressure that you can hold without strain on your hands. Rest your elbows in your lap or on something in front of you, and hold for at least a few minutes.
Bill told us a story about a woman who had severe cat allergies. She had four cats she loved and it broke her heart to consider giving them away. Bill advised her to hold her allergy points for 15 minutes, 4 times a day. A week later she reported 75% reduction in her symptoms. [Note: The story is a little different here on Bill's website—better results with less time holding the points.]
The gist is that a lot of people with allergies have experienced good results with reflexology. A thorough professional session can also address sinuses, adrenals, and any symptomatic areas through reflexes on the feet, hands, and ears.
I’m planning to get some kind of ear cuffs and see what happens if I wear them daily on those points.
March 27, 2007 at 9:21 am · Filed under
This blog is still in its infancy, but even if I got a ton of readers I would never add advertising. We’ve got too much advertising in our lives already. I’m happy to link the heck out of independent crafters and businesses I respect, but it would get all muddy if there was money involved. I might sell a t-shirt or start an etsy store, but not ads.
Thus, I pretty much agreed with everything on this site. Plus this little owl is so cute! How could I resist adding it to my sidebar?
March 26, 2007 at 9:34 pm · Filed under , ,
Spring arrived last week and the new season seems like an appropriate time to start doing something I’ve been meaning to do with this blog—documenting my efforts to make sound environmental and health choices. I feel like I do reasonably well, but there’s plenty of room for improvement.
I’ve added a new page on this blog where I’ll be tracking a Green Index for our household. It’s a completely non-scientific, loosey goosey approach, because that’s just how I roll. And it’s not purely about environmentalism—it also takes overall health into consideration, as well as other sustainability factors like fair trade and human/animal rights.
For more impressive approaches to eco-assessment and lifestyle shifting, here are a few links:
March 24, 2007 at 7:48 am · Filed under
Remember when I hoped that there would be some way to watch my boyfriend Ira’s new tv show online? Well, you can see episode one right here. A cool move for Showtime, I think.
So y’all just entertain yourselves and I’ll be back soon. I’m taking a very interesting reflexology class this weekend and will have much to share. Not to mention my backlog of unfinished posts.
March 19, 2007 at 6:48 pm · Filed under , ,
Cerise and I had a great time hanging out Saturday afternoon. Among our adventures was a pleasant hour camped out in front of the crafts section at Twice Sold Tales on Broadway. I picked up two gloriously kitschy 1970’s needlecraft books, as well as an action-packed compendium of Martha Stewart’s Good Things (don’t even mess with me about the Martha - the ideas are good and the price was right). Best of all, since most of my purchases were covered by my credit for getting rid of some books last month, I’m guilt-free!
I thought you might enjoy a couple images. Here’s a selection of groovy crewel embroidery projects from Creative Needlework by Solweig Hedin & Jo Springer. Note the white plastic glasses with pink lenses peeking out of the embroidered eyeglass case.
And from Embroidery Step-by-Step I give you this hideous brown-on-brown skirt with a fascinating border design billed as “a bold tree motif.” Sure looks like wacky mushrooms to me. I think it (the embroidery design, not the skirt) could actually be pretty with different color choices.
One thing I love about older books like these is that they tend to assume a lot of recycled crafting just because it’s sensible and frugal. For example, the little pincushion is stuffed with cut-up old nylon stockings. In contrast, most crafting books today are very specific about everything you should use, right down to the brand name and color. The idea is to make it easy for newbies, but it encourages spending rather than thinking, reproduction rather than creation.
The older sensibility is more attuned with how I like to view crafting. I want it to be normalized and incorporated into every day life as something that can help me minimize consumption and enjoy what I have, rather than being an indulgence that just leads to more and more purchases to support a crafting habit. Sure, I’ve bought expensive yarn and fabric here and there, but it’s so much more satisfying when I can invent something new out of materials I already have around.
March 19, 2007 at 10:30 am · Filed under ,
I finally finished my new homepage and the writing section.
It’s been tough. It stresses me out to think about myself for extended periods of time. It’s one thing when it’s private (self-examination for personal growth), but it’s a whole other nightmare when it’s self-evaluation for public consumption. I should be used to it, being partnered with someone who loves to take pictures of me and post them all over the internet, but I’m not.
I hope it was worth it. I think it looks pretty good, definitely better than my old site. It feels hopelessly egocentric, but hopefully it looks smart. (Could I be more insecure about this?)
I’ll be continuously updating with new portfolio samples and testimonials, but for now I’m thrilled to be moving on to other projects, like the much less self-involved reflexology site. Since I’m not certified yet and I’m only doing practice sessions on people I know and friends of friends, the site will be mostly about education, not self-promotion.
March 17, 2007 at 11:52 am · Filed under ,
Sweetie had a breakthrough with getting the pictures and other data off our cell phones (we’d been stuck for a long time with only being able to delete or keep but not transfer things off our phones, for boring technical reasons).
So now I suddenly have a full year of random poor-quality snaps available to share. Hope this isn’t too obnoxious.
A few moments of Ben:
Aerialista at the roller derby last October:
Owl cookie, owl jacket, and other images from the Urban Craft Uprising:
And finally, and most self-indulgently, a year in the life of my hair. Who is this narcissist? I never met her before. (Seriously, the hair thing is 90% impulsive fun-seeking and 10% trying to keep up with the pace of changes in my life, if that makes any sense.)
March 17, 2007 at 11:39 am · Filed under , ,
The Seattle Times article I mentioned earlier turned out to be two articles. Michelle did a fabulous job.
Also, here’s our favorite psychedelic forest fairy in her wedding dress.
March 14, 2007 at 3:08 pm · Filed under ,
Nothing very original about this idea, but I like how it turned out.
Old sweater that I never wore because it was itchy and too small (but couldn’t give up because I liked the colors so much):
Becomes new pillow for the wonderful new sofa that our neighbor Jen donated to us when she bought a bigger one:
The fabric side is nice and soft, so the itch-factor of the sweater won’t inhibit couch-cuddling. I plan to make another pillow soon with the second side of the sweater, but I only had one pillow around to cover last night. I think I’ll also make some fingerless gloves out of the sweater sleeves at some point.
I’ve been crafting even more obsessively than usual lately, probably because it’s such a welcome counterpoint after hunching over the computer and typing feverishly all day. (Yes, I know I shouldn’t hunch, but I have some serious ergonomics issues with my desk set-up and I haven’t figured out how to solve them yet.)
March 14, 2007 at 9:17 am · Filed under , ,
I confess we’ve been eating a lot of instant soup, frozen burritos, and plain salad lately.
Part of it is that I’ve been busy working, but I’ve also been a bit discouraged since a disastrous cooking experience earlier this month. I got excited about making this vegan saag paneer recipe. I remember thinking there was an awful lot of lemon juice in the recipe, but I followed it exactly (which is rare for me — I’m usually all about improvisation). It ended up taking MUCH longer than I expected and the meal we attempted to consume at around 9:30pm was lemony, salty, and basically pretty gross.
(Sweetie, of course, said it was good, but he’d probably eat grass and carpet fluff if I sauteed it in a little olive oil.)
At some point I’ll get over my bitterness and try the recipe again with a lot less lemon and salt. The texture, at least, was right on.
I did manage an on-the-fly potato soup last week that turned out pretty yummy. It’s so elementary that I’m hesitant to attach the “recipes” tag to this post, but maybe it will be helpful to someone. We had hardly any food in the house except half a bag of almost-gone potatoes. I sauteed an onion, added the chopped potatoes and some veggie bouillon, then boiled the concoction with a couple bay leaves until the potatoes were falling apart. I was too lazy to run the soup through the food processor, so I just mashed the heck out of it in the pot and seasoned with a ton of pepper. I also added some shredded fake monterey jack cheese which melted up nicely. Not exactly the pinnacle of healthy food, but it was satisfying and cheap and the leftovers tasted even better the next day.
Next entries »
