Mixing things up and mulling them over.
One of my favorite classes in college was costume design. Women’s magazines tell us to consider what’s in and what’s out, what will make us look slimmer or camouflage generously curved hips. But costume design asks what the clothes say about a character: Does he hide in them or use them to stand out? What…
There’s a movie I like to watch with my family, around this time every year, called The Hogfather. Adapted from a book by the satirical English novelist Terry Pratchett, The Hogfather is a rollicking good send-up of Christmas – and an argument for believing in Santa Claus. At one point, Death (bear with me) and…
Well. This blog is significantly out of date. And in a different place than it used to be. The next most recent post is now deleted, because it had no bearing, once the election passed. It’s been over a year since I’ve written a thing here, which is a long time to go, even for…
Last year I wrote, “I’ve only been to three years of this 28-year-old conference, but each year I’ve attended has been more nourishing, more inspiring, and also more fun than the last.” Now I’ve made it to my fourth year at the WHC, and the trend has continued. What really moved me this year was…
Herbalists talk a LOT about women’s health. There are good reasons for this: In my experience, attendees at many herbal events are overwhelmingly female. Conventional medicine has a history of dismissing women’s health issues, leading many of those suffering to turn to herbalists to be heard. Herbalism excels at addressing questions of imbalance, situations where…
To all of my friends, but especially to herbalist friends, I follow a lot of herbalist-authors and book lovers, and much of the time, when you post about books online, you link to Amazon. I’m writing to ask you to rethink that, because of the same priorities that make you as dedicated to herbalism as…
I was told, early on, that I would either love Pennsic or I’d hate it. Not true. I love this event – the biggest yearly festival put on by the Society for Creative Anachronism – to distraction, but I have a laundry list of things that trouble me, turn me off, or just plain tick…
Last week, I shared some reflections from my time at the 2015 IHS, mostly around regulatory hurdles facing herbalists. Speak of the devil: This week, the local alternative paper Seven Days published a story on Urban Moonshine’s struggles with FDA regulations. The piece details how: [Urban Moonshine founder Jovial] King and her employees put in…
I arrived at the International Herb Symposium somewhat flustered and awkwardly carrying my luggage in my arms since the handle on my suitcase had broken. Not for the first time in my life, I thought that I ought to have packed lighter. Nevertheless, I couldn’t fail to notice how lovely the setting was: Wheaton College,…
Screens are ever so shiny, and I’ve always been something of a magpie. No matter how much I know – in my brain and bones and even my toes – that I’ll be happier spending the day gardening outside, the screen is still alluring. It’s even more captivating at night, when I can ensconce myself…