King Corn

Have you ever watched a movie, and when it's over feel totally overwhelmed? Well that is what happened to me when I saw the documentary King Corn on instant view courtesy of NetFlix.

First, let me ask you, how much corn have you eaten so far today? Corn muffin? Corn bread? Corn grain cereal? No?

Okay, that isn't so unusual, neither have I. Have you drank any pop/soda today? Commercially made Iced Tea or Lemonade? Bread? Jarred spaghetti sauce? Peanut butter? Check the label, many will have high fructose corn syrup in them. I even found high fructose corn syrup in what I thought was a healthy choice, a can of red kidney beans. Unbelievable!

So you haven't eaten those things, and you don't fry your foods in corn oil, so you are safe, right? Do you eat beef? Because unless you are consuming grass fed only beef, you are getting exclusively corn fed beef. Even chickens (although not laying hens, they have a different feed) eat corn. What is the problem though? Isn't corn good for you?

Yes and no, it depends on the type of corn. If you are picking the type of corn to grow for your own consumption, corn can be good for you. Do your research, some corns have a high protein content. Even if you don't choose to grow your own corn, buying corn from your local farm stand probably has good corn, although I wouldn't count on a protein rich grain.... unless may-be you met the farm stand owner now, before orders go in for seed, and particularly ask him to grow a protein rich corn.

There is soo much more to this documentary than my short blog post can possibly cover, that I really urge you to watch the documentary "King Corn" and ask your friends to watch it too. As one of the people on the documentary said "Americans get exactly what they want.", so start asking for better quality corn. Start asking for grass fed beef. Be informed.

Bad Buys for 2010

So, I'm reading online, and up pops the title, 10 things you shouldn't buy in 2010 . Well that sounded interesting, so I clicked on to see what these ten items are. What I expected to see were items like computer, netbooks, big screen televisions etc, because I thought the article would advise us to hang tight, the cost is coming down. But no, that is NOT what the article listed at all.

I'm not going to list all ten things, if you are interested, you can read the article yourself, but the ones I found shocking were:

No more land lines. Okay, with everyone popping out a cell phone almost anytime, anywhere to make and receive calls, or text, I knew that cell phones were important, and they are almost like the coveted private number of long ago memory. I will admit, I am loathe to give out my cell phone number and when asked will give my home number. Really, does the doctor's office, the library and a host of others need to be in touch with me at all times? And just because they think they do, do I think they do? No. I enjoy knowing that when my cell rings, the person on the other end is either a friend or family member. May-be that's just me.

The other alternative, is what I have now, over the internet phone. Probably your cable company offers it for $20 per month, or their about. There is also Skype and Vonage and a host of others if you look. My second favorite is Magic Jack. You buy it for just under $40, and then each year after that, it costs $20 per year. The advantage? You can bring Magic Jack with you and check for messages and make phone calls from the hotel/friends house you are staying at. But my most favorite, and if you've read this blog right along you know it, is OOMA. It has a steep buy it price, about $400, but from then on, it is free. So four months after quiting my AT&T phone line, the OOMA was paid for. Every month after that, free. The only bad thing, you can't just bring the OOMA with you when you travel like you can for the Magic Jet.

Another object not to buy is the DVD. Okay, I'm already guilty. We have been using NetFlix since 2005, when we lived waaay out in the country and there wasn't any cable available and the nearest movie rental place was miles away. NetFlix certainly was convenient, movies at the end of our half mile driveway. We've been fans ever since. Now that NetFlix has instant download to the computer or TV (when you figure it out, which I haven't, but my son has), I love NetFLix even more and the price of $10 per month, definitely worth it.

Lastly, do not buy CD's. According to the article Napster, Itunes and the like have made the CD obsolete. Considering my children and husband all of Mp3 players, I can may-be agree. But when Napster became to expensive for my son in this economy, or as he would say, there were other services he'd rather spend the money on, The Resourceful One, discovered and sings the praises of Playlist. My friends have recommended Pandora to me. These are not good options for me because I have the (cheap) speakers my computer came with. They have also been knocked down over and over by Sir Jack. The sound quality of the speakers is not good. The truly persnickety would think them unbearable, and they wouldn't be far off. I have however a CD player with radio. The speakers are pretty good, and the whole device is so sturdy (read too large) that Sir Jack hasn't been able to knock it over even once making the speakers even better. The other thing I like better about CDs, is the gadget we have playing it doesn't offer a option to use headphones/earbuds , so the whole family listens to music they might not usually choose. (Taylor Swift and Lady GaGa for me; Nocturne, and Beethoven for them.)

What do you think?

Decisions, Decisions

So, it's the second day of January, and I haven't made any resolutions for 2010. What's keeping me? Do I think I am so perfect that there is nothing to improve? No, not at all.
Conversely, do I have so many faults that I'm having trouble picking just one? Well, may-be ....
I don't know, may-be this year I purposely make any resolutions this year. May-be I'll just accept who I am, imperfect, warts and all. I'll try to treat others the way I would like to be treated, and just be satisfied with that.
How about you? Did you make any resolutions for 2010?