tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-120330442008-06-29T10:25:28.160-04:00meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-22322053303796922122008-06-29T10:10:00.002-04:002008-06-29T10:25:28.187-04:00

Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the Waldorf School educational philosophy, also authored a a deeply eccentric school of early 20th-century European philosophy known as anthroposophy. Anthroposophy, a "spiritual science," posits the existence of a spiritual world that can be accessed by the human intellect. Anthosophy also posits that growing plants in accordance with its philosophy will result in

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-25743143069660855822008-04-09T23:14:00.001-04:002008-04-09T23:16:10.120-04:00

I came across this excellent example of first-person narrative on the Onion today, and I thought I'd share. I Can't Imagine Why Anybody Would Want To Stop CryingLife has so many wonderful experiences to offer. Like sleep. Or ingestion and evacuation. But I find life offers few opportunities more rewarding....onion_embed {background: rgb(256, 256, 256) !important;border: 4px solid rgb(65, 160, 65

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-77795202748248787702008-02-16T12:26:00.002-05:002008-02-16T12:29:01.803-05:00

Hi, food allergy folk! You were kind enough to send lots of letters to me and to Harper's in response to my recent article about food allergies. Some of your letters are published in the new March issue of the magazine, as is a letter from me. Enjoy.

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-24401891828528935642008-01-22T00:35:00.000-05:002008-01-22T00:40:43.218-05:00

I'm thrilled that the African American National Biography, a new 8-volume set, is now in libraries and bookstores. I wrote a couple of biographical entries for the project, and I'm excited to check them out. The AANB presents history through a mosaic of the lives of thousands of individuals, illuminating the abiding influence of persons of African descent on the life of this nation from the

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-4814731840215611392008-01-12T12:18:00.000-05:002008-01-12T12:22:42.741-05:00

This weekend's NY Times Magazine has a fascinating article about the science of morality by Harvard psychology prof Steven Pinker. Some excerpts: "The science of the moral sense also alerts us to ways in which our psychological makeup can get in the way of our arriving at the most defensible moral conclusions. The moral sense, we are learning, is as vulnerable to illusions as the other senses.

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-379753190229431732008-01-10T20:09:00.000-05:002008-01-10T20:18:53.087-05:00

Yesterday, the NY Times ran a story about AllergiKids called "Food Allergies Stir a Mother to Action." It's been on the Times' most-emailed list for the past two days. An excerpt: "Working largely from a laptop on her dining room table, [Robyn O'Brien] has looked deep into the perplexing world of childhood food allergies and seen a conspiracy that threatens the health of America’s children. And,

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-38384519495037197442008-01-08T15:30:00.001-05:002008-01-08T15:46:11.352-05:00

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a new set of recommendations on food allergies. The full report will be published in the January issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the AAP. In short, pregnant women don't need to avoid peanuts. The report reads: "Although previous AAP publications have suggested that pregnant women avoid peanuts, a more recent study has reported that there is no

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-80007957490419677062008-01-08T12:51:00.000-05:002008-01-08T13:03:50.885-05:00

I've gotten a lot of response from my recent piece about the exaggerated threat of food allergies. The latest news: "Anne Muñoz-Furlong and Terry Furlong, Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) co-founders, have announced their plan to retire in the second half of 2008." Also, Dr. Hugh Sampson will be on the Leonard Lopate show talking about food allergies on 1/31. My prediction: Dr.

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-292319238279807872007-12-16T20:30:00.000-05:002007-12-27T16:17:44.176-05:00

To those of you visiting for the first time in response to my recent piece about food allergies: Welcome! Feel free to email me (mer at failedrelationships.com) and I'll get back to you if I have answers. I have food allergies. I've had them ever since I was a kid. When I was 4, or 6, or something in that range, my mom put me on a really restricted diet to try to deal with the allergies and

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-79171090442776246492007-12-12T14:40:00.000-05:002007-12-12T14:49:13.655-05:00

I have a new post up on Babble today about the best kinds of pre-made cookie dough. The doughs were evaluated based on taste, ease of use, and kid-friendliness. My son and I like to do kitchen projects together, but complicated cookies are well beyond his one-year-old cooking skills. Instead, we had a ton of fun baking store-bought cookie dough together. A couple of brands (notably the 600-lb

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-2613375406024954592007-12-11T11:24:00.000-05:002007-12-11T11:36:47.974-05:00

I’m delighted to announce the University of Chicago Press release of On the Make: The Hustle of Urban Nightlife by David Grazian, who (as you may know) is very dear to me. You can get it for $16.50 at Amazon.com, or at your local independent bookstore. What's the book all about? "It’s nighttime in the city and everybody’s working a hustle. Winking bartenders and smiling waitresses flirt

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-52284056575054613212007-12-06T15:46:00.000-05:002007-12-06T16:07:20.354-05:00

Lately, I’ve been writing about cool things to do with kids in Philadelphia. I thought it might be helpful to consolidate some of my favorite local resources here on the blog. Activities and amusements Philadelphia Children’s Connection This site, run by the Philadelphia Children’s Foundation, is a central clearinghouse for educational and social resources for students and families. I like that

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-16719617116438478792007-11-05T20:07:00.000-05:002007-11-05T20:15:22.672-05:00

From Paul Ford, via daddytypes, here's a list of 100 ways to say "I love you." Some favorites: (42) Inappropriately, to a coworker who is already sleeping with another coworker. (43) With a heart filled with lies. (44) With a she puppet and a you puppet. (45) As she leaves for Spain with your much better-looking brother. (46) At Thanksgiving, to her twin sister, by accident. (47) In

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-75816496738932122007-10-11T11:38:00.000-04:002007-10-11T11:45:26.860-04:00

From today's newswire, a release touting the attractions in York, PA: "Sample warm potato chips fresh off the line at Martin's Potato Chips, the bipartisan snack aboard Air Force One during both the George W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. Plan a visit to Hope Acres, one of the East Coast's only fully-robotic dairy operations and watch as the pampered cows sleep on waterbeds and enjoy

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-68660879215536412882007-09-19T13:41:00.000-04:002007-09-19T13:58:40.898-04:00

Costumekingdom.com is not just an online Halloween costumes retailer-- it is a purveyor of costumed midget wrestling videos. Watch some dude called Mini Pimp "Lo" duke it out against Dog the Bounty Hunter. At the end of the video, one of them will apparently be known as the roughest and toughest midget in America. I kind of suspect that 'midget wrestling' is an un-PC term, but that's what the

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-86913115098045335122007-09-17T19:39:00.000-04:002007-09-17T19:48:29.761-04:00

Think about what you did last Saturday night. How depraved were your actions? You may soon be able to measure precisely how heinous your crimes were, using the Depravity Scale under development by forensic psychiatrist Michael Weiner, MD. According to his website, the research has important implications for sentencing in criminal cases: "The Depravity Scale research is an international research

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-91604279919668676082007-09-05T19:34:00.000-04:002007-09-14T22:46:43.303-04:00

I just ran across a book on Amazon called No One Cares What You Had For Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog. How did this get published? Let me clarify: if you're having trouble coming up with something interesting to say on your blog, you likely have a larger problem. And it'll take more than a book to fix it. Boffo for the author of the lunch book, though. I hope they paid her a shit ton of

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-91241304176143935792007-08-30T17:16:00.000-04:002007-08-30T17:20:04.313-04:00

Things I Would Have Preferred Not to Clean Today:Poop from a long-dead rodent discovered while using a shop-vac to clean the basement of our new houseSpiderwebs and spider egg sacs in sameMy kid’s bumNumber of 60-lb sacks of concrete purchased today: 1 Pounds of grass seed sown in lawn today: 5 Percentage of last week’s grass seed eaten by local birds: 45% Number of times cat poop has been

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-5325297542188128902007-08-28T00:10:00.001-04:002007-08-28T00:17:38.080-04:00

Are you watching this new reality show The Pickup Artist on VH1? The host, Mystery (one of the dudes featured in Neil Strauss's book The Game), is kind of a doofus. I continue to be shocked that The Game has spawned so many sub-industries. Neil Strauss runs a boot camp for guys who want to learn to pick up girls; Mystery has a reality show; no doubt other stuff is in the pipeline. Women never

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-42098248359345215952007-07-09T21:51:00.000-04:002007-07-09T22:16:52.368-04:00

My piece on pet Reiki ran in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer. Many thanks to Jen Whitleigh and Mike Pasquarello, the owners of Cafe Lift, for letting me observe their dog get Reiki'd. If you're interested in reading more about Reiki energy healing, you may want to check out Kimberly Fleisher's web site for the Reiki School of Philadelphia. Other holistic pet resources in the Philadelphia

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-38985537627422837442007-07-09T14:13:00.000-04:002007-07-09T14:16:44.766-04:00

Today, I simply have a suggestion for a site to visit. John Aboud wrote a hilarious piece for the Encyclopedia of Exes; you've seen him and his parter-in-crime Michael Coulton on VH1's Best Week Ever. They are v. funny. In other news: I have a cold. I am packing up my house to move. Both things suck.

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-37833348163992324562007-07-06T20:46:00.000-04:002007-07-06T20:51:15.848-04:00

Here at Chez Mer, we're obsessed with Flight of the Conchords on HBO. Our favorite part so far is when Jemaine and Bret make a folk-rock parody video about giant robots taking over the world, and they parade around in homemade robot suits. Because of all the robot love lately, I was delighted to find a set of instructions for making a robot suit on Instructables. Good work, obsessive robot DIY

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-35771854293389879922007-07-04T12:23:00.001-04:002007-07-04T12:28:33.100-04:00

More on man vs. nature: here's an article from today's NY Times about the jumping sturgeon problem in Florida. Collisions between sturgeon and people are so common there is a technical term for it-- "sturgeon strikes." The best line in the article reads, "with traffic growing on the storied [Suwannee] river, sturgeon are joining alligators and hurricanes on the list of things to dread in Florida

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-58110312695786178792007-07-02T03:48:00.000-04:002007-07-02T03:53:39.479-04:00

Design Within Reach is having their summer sale, and I am totally craving this Philippe Starck molded plastic armchair for my new deck. In my fantasy, my deck looks something like this: In reality, I will be lucky if I manage to grill on the new deck without burning down the new house.

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12033044.post-68901562803848164922007-06-28T15:35:00.000-04:002007-06-28T15:42:14.301-04:00

Apropos of my recent Huff Po piece on Holly Peterson's novel The Manny, I wanted to share some thoughts on a prevailing female fantasy: the idea that Mr. Right is somewhere out there in public. 'In public' is a really bad way to meet romantic partners. In the book, wealthy Upper East Side working mom Jamie Whitfield hires a male nanny, Peter Bailey, then falls for him. Jamie and Peter first

meredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018602317385706676noreply@blogger.com