Blomster, 4
July 28, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation
Blomster, 2
July 26, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation
We’re back, and I’ve got lots of catching up to do. While I do that, here are some pretty Norwegian flowers to look at … because one can never get enough of pretty Norwegian flowers. (I have more!)
Humor
June 24, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation
Want to reduce a 7-year-old to a mass of hysterical giggles? Show him this sign.
Then show him again.
*giggle*
(It’s a sign for speed bumps.)
Posted by Becky @ 6:00 am | 3 Comments
17
May 15, 2010 | Family
Photo by Sue Ranta
…
2 college degrees
1 park
1 judge
2 violins
1 photographer
2 forlover
10 Norwegians
30 people in all
1 vase
1 rose
6 cities
4 states
2 countries
5 fireplaces
2 spiral staircases
1 barn
3 motorcycles
1 minivan
1 dip with piranhas by the coral reef
2 sunburns in London
1 La Fête Nationale in France
1 hilarious rollercoaster ride
3 beautiful children
17 years of marriage
20 years of togetherness
Thousands of laughs
Some tears
Unlimited hugs
Never enough time
…
I totally stole this idea from Ilina over at Dirt & Noise.
…
Photo by Sue Ranta
…
Oh, how young and pretty we were. *sigh*
I removed my wedding dress from its sealed box two years ago on our 15th wedding anniversary. I could *almost* fit into it. I just needed a little exercise (or duct tape). I planned to rent a tuxedo, squeeze into my dress and have professional photographs taken. Then we moved to Iowa. I gained 40 pounds (and aged 10 years). So, yeah. Maybe in three years for our 20th. When we go back to Italy. I can lose that 40 pounds by then. I’m down 12 pounds since January, so that’s a start.
OK, but seriously.
I can’t remember where I found this, but I wrote it in a book I made for us 10 years ago.
Please take my hand
and walk with me a while.
We’ll talk of love beneath a tent of stars,
then journey through a life of golden days,
and I’ll be happy anywhere you are.
This is all I ask of life,
that our tomorrows be
as happy as the yesterdays
have been for you and me.
Just this I ask,
That every hour, each day, our lifetime through
will find you still in love with me,
as I will be with you.
To my husband: Thank you for showing me — every day — unconditional love, unqualified acceptance, true forgiveness, laughter, kindness, generosity and a beautiful human spirit. I’m so glad we found each other, oh, so many years ago. Happy anniversary.
Posted by Becky @ 6:00 am | 5 Comments
Ode to spring
April 22, 2010 | Family,Iowa,Spring
Daffodils are up. Snow fences are down.
Freedom. Lighter backpacks mean bigger items for show & tell.
Oh, spring. Ooh, you are so big. So absolutely huge. Gosh, we’re really impressed down here, I can tell you. You’re just so super.
I love that you’re here, but I hate that it took so long. I could do without the bipolar extremes, but that won’t happen in Iowa, will it? No. No, it won’t.
Books: Food, Inc.
March 31, 2010 | Advertising,Books,Economics,Education,Ethics,Family,Food,Health,Journalism,MSM,Politics,PR,Research,Safety,School,U.S. government
I just finished reading Food, Inc.: How Industrial Food is Making us Sicker, Fatter and Poorer — And What You Can Do About it, edited by Karl Weber and compiled as a companion piece to the movie, which I also just watched. I actually watched the movie (by Robert Kenner) first, not realizing that was the correct order of things.
I’ve read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation
In any case, if you eat, you might be interested in this book and film. The film was done first. The book contains information from people who weren’t in the film. Schlosser says the film and the book are not just about food. They’re also about threats to the First Amendment and the corrupting influence of centralized power.
Contributors include (listed in order they appear in the book)
- Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal from 2001 and the movie in 2006
- Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food
- Robert Kenner, director of this and other documentaries
- Gary Hirshberg, president and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm, producer of organic yogurt
- Humane Society of the United States
- Peter Pringle, a British investigative reporter and foreign correspondent
- Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Association
- Robert Bryce
- Anna Lappé, co-founder of the Small Planet Institute and the Small Planet Fund
- Cool Foods Campaign
- Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers; Alexa Delwiche, who worked as a researcher for UFW; and Sheheryar Kaoosji, a research analyst for Change to Win
- Pesticide Action Network North America
- Muhammad Yunus
- FoodFirst Information and Action Network
- Michael Pollan
- American Community Gardening Association
- Joel Salatin
- Sustainable Table
- Marion Nestle
- Sherri White Nelson, Heifer International
- Center for Science in the Public Interest
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Preston Maring
I think the information provided by this book and film is very important, though not half as fun as reading Barbara Kingsolver’s take on food issues in her book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which I’m reading now. In fact, her book was written before Food, Inc., and I wondered, hey, did they read Kingsolver? Because if they didn’t, they should. But sure enough. She was listed in the “to learn more” section at the end of the book.
Posted by Becky @ 6:00 am | 3 Comments
