http://www.ballsyblog.com I'm Joriel Foltz, a Seattle-based writer and reflexologist. Ballsy is my blog about natural health, vegan food, sustainability, social justice, crafty recycling, literature, and other things that get me riled up. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:14:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en From Apocalypse, one of nine stories in Resistance by Barry Lopez “And here is nearly the bitterest of blunt issues for us: What can love offer that cannot be rejected? What gesture cannot be maligned as witless by those who strive for every form of isolation? When we were young, each ... http://www.ballsyblog.com/2008/11/21/thoughts-on-love/ Dear world, I'm still here. I'm writing this [starting this] on my new and dearly beloved google phone at 3:30am while feeding my 2-month old. I just woke from a dream in which I gave an impassioned speech about social justice to an enormous audience and afterwards reconnected with many old friends ... http://www.ballsyblog.com/2008/11/21/dear-world/ Just a quick post to let you know that I haven't completely forgotten about good old ballsyblog. Categories and some other details are massively screwed since I finally got around to upgrading to the latest version of WordPress. I've found various tutorials for fixing these problems, but I haven't had time ... http://www.ballsyblog.com/2008/08/12/borked/ Today's Skull-a-Day image is Thumper's first ultrasound pic! Check it out. I've been out of blogging mode for a while now. The last few weeks have been consumed by reorganizing our apartment (the house didn't work out), baby preparations, work, and welcoming Ben's brother Jason to Seattle. All is well. I'm ... http://www.ballsyblog.com/2008/06/18/thumper-is-famous/ I'm so far past overwhelmed right now that I can hardly remember what overwhelmed feels like. But it's almost all good stuff. I've tried a couple times to blog, but clearly without success. So this is a round-up post wherein I'll try to hit the highlights before disappearing again ... http://www.ballsyblog.com/2008/05/12/been-doing-stuff/ I just posted the following comment on my friend's blog, following her post about a nasty health food store clerk: I feel your pain. Most of the clerks at our market are completely gracious, but a few are unbelievably surly. The deli counter is the worst. Last night I asked for ... http://www.ballsyblog.com/2008/04/23/on-human-decency/ On Saturday, I'll be at the halfway point of my pregnancy. At 20 weeks, "your baby can hear sounds now, and it will cover its ears with its hands if a loud sound is made near you or move if it is startled." Is that not the most adorable thing? ... http://www.ballsyblog.com/2008/04/15/20-weeks/ My friend Amani offered me a ticket to the see the Dalai Lama speak this past Saturday, and there was no way I was going to miss that. Even though I couldn't understand half of what he was saying because of the echo/accent combo, what I did catch went straight ... http://www.ballsyblog.com/2008/04/14/maximum-affection/ I had scrambled eggs for breakfast. They were veg-fed, free-range and organic, but they were still obviously not vegan. I've also been eating little bits of cheese here and there for weeks. It all started a couple months ago. After more than five years of being completely vegan and loving it, ... http://www.ballsyblog.com/2008/04/10/thoughts-on-compromise/ My fabulous friend Amani has been having a bit of a tough time lately. We were having tea and chatting when she mentioned wishing she had a little cheerleader to keep in her pocket, something to remind her that she has people backing her up. I was inspired. The crafty ... http://www.ballsyblog.com/2008/03/31/pocket-cheerleader/