I am not a scientist. That’s why I am sometimes amazed and appalled when a bunch of really, really intelligent PhD types do something like create genetically-modified Round-up resistant cotton and then react with surprise and dismay when weeds start turning up with herbicide-resistance. Yes, Monsanto, I’m talking about your scientists, your GMO cotton, and [...]

We have a lot of Taggies toys, so I was dismayed to see that this one (that we do not have, luckily) has been recalled by International Playthings Inc., of Parsippany, N.J., due to the possibility that the shiny material on the elephant’s ear can detach and pose a choking hazard.
For more information, read the [...]

I have blogged about co-sleeping and night-nursing/night-weaning ad nauseum quite a bit in the past two years (night-weaning resources, night-weaning), and now I’m hear to share the next installment in the suspenseful thriller that is sleep at Chez Artz.
You see, although I’ve been co-sleeping with my daughter, Lily, for most of her nearly 2.5 years, [...]

I am pleased to announce that I will be writing for 5 Minutes for Going Green once a month starting today! My first post shares some of the great reasons to compost, so please check it out.
5 Minutes for Going Green, although relatively new to the eco-blogosphere, has a lot of great contributors and is [...]

After a series of rather ridiculous attack ads questioning Barack Obama’s credentials and patriotism, and even going so far as to compare him to the vapid Paris Hilton (although I could almost kiss her for her response to McCain’s ad, I’m happy to see Barack Obama striking back with some hard-hitting ads of his own. [...]

We spent Sunday at Planet Bluegrass for the 2008 Folks Festival here in Lyons. The kids had a blast and made it through 12.5 solid hours of awesome music. Check out how much Gabriel liked Tim O’Brien:

Researchers at Cornell University released a study that confirms what we already knew: eating local is better for the planet and better for our health. The study found that the United States food production industry uses almost as much fossil fuels as our entire fleet of automobiles. This seems impossible until you consider that it [...]

OK, the AP didn’t quite phrase it like that (read the full story on Salon.com), but when I first started canning almost ten years ago in my early twenties, I felt like the only person of my generation who was even interested. I learned much of what I know today about canning from the older [...]

I’ve had a hard couple of weeks. Lots to do. Not enough time. Not feeling adequate. When I get in one of these “I suck” frames of mind, it’s sometimes hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
So I’m constantly surprised at the ability of music to snap me out of my [...]

This past winter, I tried hard to limit our grocery store fruit purchases to US fruit. That meant a lot of citrus from Texas and a lot of apples from Washington, which overall, was fine with us. Then, it happened. An insidious interloper appeared on the grocery store shelves. Something so seemingly-wonderful, and yet so [...]