Five Favorites (vol. 13)

-- 1 --

Plain non-fat Greek yogurt is healthful and versatile.  We eat it with agave nectar (see #4) in the morning for a sweet breakfast, as a dip with cilantro and garlic for tortilla chips, or a dab with tomato soup or in tacos in place of sour cream.  It's a household staple.

-- 2 --

Soul Gardening arrived in my mail box last week.  I was so thrilled to get another one so soon.  The star article for me in this issue was a manifesto about the benefits and virtues of wearing skirts and dresses . . . a Catholic subculture I was subconsciously aware of but which I've never had described to me in words.  I liked what I read, so I may go into more detail about my thoughts regarding that later.

And like I've been saying for the past eleventy months, go here to subscribe.  It's free!  Plus, they're always looking for contributions.

-- 3 --

Hoodwinked is one of my favorite family movies and sorely overlooked.  Well, I suppose it appeals to certain tastes.  I'm a huge fan of fairy tales, and I love new twists on the old stories (like a lime in a coconut, baby!).  My favorite types of movies to watch are ones that surprise, and since it's cleverly wrapped up in a whodunnit, it Hoodwinked fits the bill.  Plus, the humor. is just.  Terrible.

I love it!

-- 4 --

Agave nectar, which is supposedly good for people with diabetes and blood sugar problem because of its low glycemic index, can be substituted basically anywhere you use sugar.  There are different types that yield different flavors.  So you can have a rich flavor, a light, or a regular, depending on what you're eating it with. It goes great in tea and is a less-stick alternative to honey.

-- 5 --

Flower make-up brand is fresh and affordable.  Drew Barrymore developed an inexpensive line for women.  It can only be found at Walmart.  I like the approach, the packaging, the colors, and the advertising campaign.  On the website (warning: high image content!), Barrymore even posts regular videos with tips on how to use the makeup.  It's nice to see "real" footage of a celebrity, wearing common-woman makeup without airbrushing, and as far as I know, Barrymore is an okay gal.  I haven't seen or heard of her in any big scandals, and she's the granddaughter of an on Hollywood star.  How romantic!

See more favorites at Hallie's.

Blogging as Community

If modern technology brought us together in easy travel, telephones, and regular postal services, the pendulum swung back the other way, and life today can be kind of isolating.  Schooling and careers take us across the country and out of the care of our hometown friends, homeschooling moms can get resources right off the internet, and working people go straight from the gym to the office and back home again.

Outside of extra curricular activities, if you have kids that like those sorts of things or the presence of mind and time to get involved yourself, and maybe Mass a few times a week, the social forum isn't what it used to be.  It wasn't like when people went to market every morning to purchase food for the day's meals or, even farther back, out to the fields to grow and harvest that food.  Women gathered around the well to exchange stories and advice, and people made parties out of their work--everything was done as a community.

My little parish was built in the 1800's, which is old in American chronology.  The small town evolved as a Catholic-saturated community because the founder only sold land to Catholics.  After a sojourn in the west when he was lost, he prayed to Saint Anthony that if he found his way, he'd dedicate an entire community to him.  They say that to build the church, certain skilled families quit work, and the other townspeople came together to support them during that time.

We don't have that any more, the after Mass Sunday get-togethers and village weddings.  Blogging has kind of risen up in that absence to be the forum of connectedness that we're missing among niche groups: Catholics, mothers, writers, artists, homeschoolers, book-lovers, foodies. . .

What stands out strongest in my past year of blogging is the relationships I've made, and the impression that stands out is of a sense of connecting, understanding, and support.  Even when I'm just reading someone else's musings or venting of a bad day on the electric screen, and that person has no idea of my existence, it fills a need of human nature.  We're social beings, mostly, even those of us who are shy and/or agoraphobic.  We instinctively try to connect to other people in some way, even if it's just to type our thoughts out and e-publish them into the void.

I hope it doesn't entirely replace the coming together in the physical realm, the being in the company of another human being.  But in the absence of the ability to pop out of the house and head round the corner to the village forum, blogging is a pretty satisfying substitute.

Little Stories