Boys and Girls

Most of the guilty pleasures in my life involve reality television. And probably the most despicable and embarrassing one is Dancing With the Stars. I love it! I can't wait for each new season to start. I love the bright lights, cheesy pop music, sparkly costumes, tanned and toned bodies, and over-the-top superficiality of the whole thing. Really I do. You know, we all need an escape sometimes from trying so hard to live an authentic life, and this certainly works for me....

The DWTS folks try to create drama whenever they can...but one of the new contestants for the upcoming season is creating quite a stir, just by being himself. I'm interested in (and sometimes appalled by the narrowmindedness) of the discussions happening around Chaz Bono's inclusion in the show. I LOVE Christine's post about the issue....she rocks. You should read it and check out some of the links she includes.

Gender issues are also on my mind a lot lately because Sadie is starting to distinguish between who in her life is a "boy" and who is a "girl". She gets it right every time. When we asked her how she knows if someone is a boy or a girl, she said because she feels good in her heart. That's a phrase we use to encourage her to share and help, etc....so it was interesting to hear her use it in this context.

Anyway, I think these discussions are fine. I don't feel too militant or hardcore (yet) about how to approach these discussions with her and how to make sure we're not just reinforcing society's stereotypes about gender norms. But the other night during a discussion along these lines, I did make sure to tell Sadie that sometimes people who look like "girls" are actually "boys", and vice versa. I know she doesn't understand what that means, and she doesn't need to. But she hears what I say, and I just want her to know it's not always straightforward.

The End

Why do I find myself breaking into tears unexpectedly throughout the day and night? Why can't I sleep? Why do I feel on edge and irritable? Why do I feel like I have a big gaping hole in my heart and my soul?

Because LOST is no more. The series finale took place last Sunday. Now we mourn its ending and celebrate its existence.
Those of you who don't watch LOST (or don't watch it the way we do) will think I'm being overly dramatic with this post. In fact, my friend Rachel told me that this blog post makes me seem utterly INSANE. Oh well, it won't be the first time. Hopefully some of you can relate to my obsession. Anyone?

LOST was so much more than a TV show. LOST was an experience that I will value forever. I feel like a very important, wise, funny, beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime friend is gone.

So Sad...

The finale was perfect; I feel completely satisfied by the way this show ended. I know there's a lot of controversy out there about the ending, but I personally think it was a beautiful thing.


And now for some thoughts on my favorite moments and characters from the past 6 amazing seasons...

John Locke, you're a badass (or, more accurately, a B.A.M.F), plain and simple. And Terry O'Quinn's representation of your character was perfection.

Thank you, John Locke, for reminding me that not everything in life can be explained by science. Sometimes we have to believe in something else, something more mysterious and magical.


Richard Alpert, I love your eyeliner. I stood up for you for several seasons, insisting that you were not wearing eyeliner. I've come to accept that you were. You look great in it. Your story was compelling and kept us guessing till the very end.


Ben, you were one of my favorite characters. You were SO EVIL! I loved that you were ALWAYS being beaten to a pulp. It was too bad that you couldn't retain control of the island, but I love that you ended up being #2. Good for you.


Sawyer, you're hot. Really hot. Hot in a traditionally sexy way that I'm not usually into. Thank you for spending lots of time without a shirt on.

And your nicknames were classic.

Jack, I don't feel very strongly about you. But I'm thankful for the central role you played in the show, and I think Matthew Fox played you well. I appreciated and related to your logical and scientific stance on life. I was impressed that you were able to move from being a man of science to a man of faith. Congratulations on resolving your daddy issues and ending up with Kate. You were great in the finale and made me cry. A lot. I'm happy that you died with Vincent the dog by your side.


Kate, I know you get a lot crap. Half of the population (I won't say which half...) seem to only appreciate you for your good looks. Well, you are beautiful. Even after spending years on end in the jungle. But more importantly, you are a BAD ASS WOMAN! The island wouldn't have been the same without you. You held your own among all those manly, power hungry men. And way to go finally killing Flocke.


Charlie, how I missed you. Your death was one of my favorite LOST moments ever. Thank you for coming back to the series finale. You also looked good in eyeliner.


Penny, you're fabulous, beautiful, caring and an awesome mother. You had a great childbirth scene on a sailboat. Yours and Desmond's was by far the best love story of the show. My only complaint with the finale is that there wasn't a Penny/Desmond moment.

How do you know you're obsessed with LOST? We almost named our daughter Penny. After you. Enough said. Decided against it since our last name is Peterson. Penelope Peterson. Penny Peterson. Probably not.

Desmond, brutha. Thank you for the love. Your relationship with Penny was inspiring and touching. One of my other top three LOST moments was the phone call with Penny after all your time- tripping. Goosebumps just thinking about it. Crying as I rewatch it....

Oh Hurley, thank you for 6 great seasons. You make me very happy and you look great in your Dharma jumpsuit.

This show would not have been nearly as good without you; the island inhabitants were lucky to have you in their midst. Jorge played you so well. Your wisdom, sense of humor, empathy and friendship were beautiful to watch.


I just knew you were going to be important in the end; you were always the best candidate in my mind.

Now what? Now I guess we'll start over. At the beginning.

For the Love of Hurley

Three things I love: LOST, breadmaking, and blogging.


Now the three have finally come together. Brian just sent me the link to Jorge Garcia's blog. Jorge Garcia plays one of my favorite characters (Hugo/Hurley) on my favorite TV show of all time, LOST! And get this! He loves to bake bread! From scratch! And he blogs about it! This all makes me very very happy.


And I just love that Jorge Garcia has a random blog about his life and what he cooks and hanging out with his friends like I do. And it's out there for all of us to read. Love it...

Not to mention that last night's Hurley-centric episode of LOST, "Everybody Loves Hugo" was just totally kick-ass. I was VERY sleepy, made the mistake of lying down on the couch, and missed a few precious minutes of the episode. But that's o.k....it gives me a good excuse to watch the whole thing over again. I'll probably watch last week's episode while I'm at it, since it's one of my top three favorite LOST episodes ever.

Food, Inc.

I've been giving a lot of thought to food lately. I'm making an honest effort to buy organic produce, I look forward to purchasing as much local produce as possible this summer, and I'm making progress on my vegetable garden.

I watched what I think is a VERY important movie this weekend that I think every American should see, Food, Inc.

Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change? - Trailer and Photos

I cried and cried after watching this movie. I knew about a lot of the issues that are raised in the movie, but the way they were presented really hit me in the face like a ton of bricks. What I didn't really know as much about is the absolute power that a very small number of corporations hold over almost ALL of the food in America. The fact that it's illegal for farmers to save seeds, that it may soon be illegal to show pictures of huge cattle yards, and that you can be sued for speaking out against food produced by these large corporations is terrifying. Maybe all these people screaming about the government's involvement in our healthcare system should put some of that rabid energy into fighting against the government's nearly complete control of our food industry.

As scary and depressing as it was, I'm feeling more motivated than ever to continue to make responsible choices in the food my family eats.



A wonderful resource I've enjoyed for finding local farms and meat producers is http://www.localharvest.org/
I also really like this list of the 12 produce items that have been found to contain the highest levels of pesticides (and are therefore probably worth buying from the organic produce section).

We've also started watching a great show on ABC called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I have a big fat crush on Jamie Oliver, and he's even sexier when trying to make big, revolutionary changes in the way our country feeds our children!

One of the scariest moments in the the premier episode of the show was when a group of first graders couldn't name some of the simplest vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, onions, etc.) Seriously terrifying!

All this has got my brain spinning. In some good ways and some bad ways. I feel very grateful for the delicious, homecooked, healthy, fresh meals I ate growing up (thanks Mom!). It was good for me then, and taught me good eating and cooking habits for now.

Here are the 10 tips to take in your own life to change the food system in the country offered by the "Hungry For Change" website.

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.
You can lose 25 lbs in a year by replacing one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water).
2. Eat at home instead of eating out.
Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home.
3. Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards.
Half of the leading chain restaurants provide no nutritional information to their customers.
4. Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.
Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years.
5. Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week.
An estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals.
6. Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.
According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.
7. Protect family farms; visit your local farmer's market.
Farmer's markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer.
8. Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS.
The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.
9. Tell Congress that food safety is important to you.
Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S.
10. Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections.

This feels like a good place to start. Here we go....