ColumnRead a book. Sustain your mind.

In yet another new chapter of “What’s Going on Upstairs,” it seems that scientists have had a virtual breakthrough in figuring out what fiction does to our brains. Recent studies show that reading about a made-up event can trigger the same neuro-bells and whistles as does taking part in an actual event. That is to say, when we read, “See Spot run,” we in some ways experience Spot running. With this in mind, given that it’s Earth Month, let us consider how certain stories can make us feel as if we’re soaring through the air, splashing in the sea or, for the more grounded among us, happily playing in the dirt.

But first, let’s agree with our friends in the lab (no deniers here). There’s no doubt that certain words and well-crafted sentences can have a similar effect on our minds as does the smell of fresh-baked bread, taking us to a time and place far beyond where we are when the reading experience occurs. And that’s the point, right? We often read books to escape our current experience and trade it in for another. Moreover, in many of the best novels, place functions as a character in and of itself, complete with attributes that go beyond backdrop to both embody and tease all five senses; whether it be Paris or Pi’s pontoon, the venue of a novel informs how we “feel” about a story and allows us to “go along” with the action.

So let’s celebrate novels that take us outside – tales that get our tails off the couch, out of the library and up from our lounge chair (yes, a beach read implies that you’re outside, but you know what we mean) and take us someplace else—namely, someplace without a roof. Enclosed please find deserts, jungles and mountains, oceans and rivers, blue skies and lush valleys…

1. Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather (1927)

A natural and majestic silence pervades Willa Cather’s story of Bishop Jean Marie Latour and Josh Vaillant’s humble mid-19th century journey from the Midwest to a newly established Catholic diocese in New Mexico Territory. From the onset, as the two travel first to the Gulf of Mexico before heading out into the Native American frontier, Death Comes for the Archbishop captures a feeling that is pristine, nascent and dry – a pure presentation of the American West on the eve of conquest. Reading the novel, you get a deep sense of (mis?)guided faith as you witness the two men’s plodding entrance into a new and largely undisturbed world. Every village, mesa, path and stone along the way is offered up for examination and contemplation. In contrast to later, typical Western novels where the outward thrust is violent and clumsily unobservant, Cather allows us to clearly see the trail upon which our nation was to tread.

2. The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac (1958)

Dash, gallop and hop-skip from San Francisco to the Sierra Nevada with Ray Smith (Kerouac) and Japhy Ryder (based on the author’s friend, Zen Buddhist and Beat poet Gary Snyder) as they whoop and hike their way out of city life in a search of transcendence. Booted and ruck-sacked, these are perhaps Kerouac’s most “holy” characters. The plot of The Dharma Bums rises up, almost panting, as Kerouac’s signature freestyle prose is ideal for delivering the air and sounds of those epiphanies that only happen in nature. Even at rest, you’re there with them to catch your breath: “The yard was full of tomato plants about to ripen, and mint, mint, everything smelling of mint, and one fine old tree that I loved to sit under on those cool perfect starry California October nights unmatched anywhere in the world.”

3. Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach (1970)

“It was morning, and the new sun sparkled gold across the ripples of a gentle sea.” This is the poetic and unforgettable opening to this beautiful tale of rebellion, self-seeking and joyous aerial defiance. Jonathan Livingston Seagull flies both with and against the wind, and has touched millions of readers in that unforgettable, “I remember exactly where and when I read it” way. Richard Bach’s simple tale of the young hero bird is perhaps the closest you’ll ever to come to flying without leaving the ground. Each time he ascends from the confines of the earth, he takes us along with him to feel the assistance and challenge of every breeze and gust that affects his every… single… feather.

4. The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean Auel (1980)

Twenty-thousand years fail to distance us from the rich natural textures and challenges described by Jean Auel in her story of a chance coming together of a Cro-Magnon girl and a tribe of Neanderthals. You can almost smell the dank caves, primal mud and lush forests of the prehistoric landscape that hosts Ayla and her adoptive clan, as they navigate the edge of the era’s Ice Age. The first of the author’s Earth’s Children series, The Clan of the Cave Bear was based, according to Auel, on a great deal of research, with resulting language that allows us to trust (some have said too much so) the story’s historical backdrop and crawl into the cave of prehistory to enjoy a page-turning plot that, given the success of the series’ ensuing novels, may likely leave you craving more.

5. Water Music, T.C. Boyle (1982)

The first novel of the always funny and insanely observant T. Coraghessan Boyle, Water Music is an historical and satirical examination of two sadly misguided, yet somehow majestic and even glorious tragic heroes—conman Ned Rise and the great adventurer Mungo Park. Taking place largely in Imperial British West Africa, the novel’s lavish language and plot are as twisted as its main characters who come together in the late-1770s/early-1800s in a quest to find fame and fortune—and the source of the Niger River. Tapping into the imagination of discovery, the relationship between the reader and the novel’s landscape—notably the river itself—is cemented early on and lasts through to the (fabulously) bitter end. Guaranteed you’ll find yourself more than once wiping the sweat off your brow in heat of the African day.

6. Galápagos, Kurt Vonnegut (1985)

Back to the sea. That’s where our “big brains” have gotten us in this ghostly accounted, post-apocalyptic tale of the last humans (among them Mick Jagger and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) and the evolutionary de-evolution that follows our gravest mistakes. What have we become? Wiser perhaps, but mercifully less brainy, the new humans of Galápagos are flippered creatures who hunt with their snouts, and are generally less capable than their ancestors who were, needless to say, occupied with ill-advised tasks like bomb making and facilitating global warming. Like all great Vonnegut tomes, we’re treated here to his rare form of fanciful pessimism, which in some weird way rings optimistic. A maestro of simplicity and irony, the author’s language transports us ethically and emotionally in terms of our relationship with our natural world.

7. Ishmael, Daniel Quinn (1992)

With the natural world embodied in the form of a giant Gorilla/Socratic instructor, Ishmael is Daniel Quinn’s philosophical manifesto as much as it is a novel. The story retells history through a stunningly fresh and clear lens that exposes, point-by point, the illusion of human greatness and superiority as a fantastic and cataclysmic lie. Zeroing directly in on the Bible and the great stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, the book’s teacher unfurls for the narrator new explanations and interpretations of events and roles that allow him (and us) to rethink humanity’s relationship with the environment. While this story doesn’t so much take us outside, per se, it offers a new view of who we are here on this earth and our role in sustaining what is not ours.

8. Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer (1996)

A biography that reads like a mystery (sorry for foray out of fiction here, but you can file this one under “you cannot make this stuff up”), the great chronicler Jon Krakauer invites us to join him in his effort to understand the life of Christopher McCandless. Later made into a truly great movie (in 2007), Into the Wild takes us along on the 24-year-old’s life walkabout, which culminated in his disappearing into the Alaskan wilderness with a 10-pound bag of rice. The journey is one of self-actualization attained by pushing, poking and prodding the natural world a in way that calls upon the painful alchemy of exposure and danger. Somehow this cautionary tale both beckons and warns, presenting the dichotomy of risk and reward in a way that leaves us breathless and wondering what self-discovery is worth.

9. Last Night in Twisted River, John Irving (2009)

Probably too often (and sloppily) referred to as the American Charles Dickens (and a more symbolic and postmodern writer than he would like to admit), John Irving is known for plot brilliance and character development nonpareil. His powerful talents, when turned upon the natural world and how we negotiate it – namely here, New Hampshire’s Androscoggin River and the logging professionals who work on its shores and in its waters – are a literary force to be reckoned with. Last Night in Twisted River’s time on and along the water drives the story forward with Irving’s characteristic power and engagement. While there, we are inside the camps, towns and forests of the Northeast for the plot-developing twists and turns of the author’s 12th and perhaps most natural world-oriented novel.

10. State of Wonder, Ann Patchett (2011)

Reading this story of a Minnesota physician who chases her past and future up the Amazon River, one cannot help but think of the great Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (if you haven’t read it, think Apocalypse Now without the napalm). Indeed, we feel in our guts the upriver suction that possesses Marina Singh as she searches for answers surrounding the fever-caused death of a colleague who succumbed while searching for a mysterious and brilliant pharmaceutical specialist who has disappeared into her “research.” Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder is a page-turner (the plot flows as deliberately as the river itself), and you’re sure to feel the heat and bugs and hot rain as you see “civilization drop away again and again” into a jungle that breathes a single color: “The sky, the water, the bark of the trees: everything that wasn’t green became green.”

Editor’s note: News & Culture contributor Scott Adelson’s biweekly feature, InPRINT, reviews and discusses books new and old, as well as examines issues in publishing.

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InPrint: Les Histoires De Paris & Two Novel Additions

Top image: Zach Welty

The post InPRINT: 10 Novels That Make You Want to Play Outside appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnRead a short book. Sustain your mind.

When I was a teenager, I related more to books than I did to most other kids – and certainly to most adults. There was something about Huck and Holden and Ponyboy and their stories that was more real to my inner thought-space than were the characters who populated my adolescent landscape – teachers who didn’t get it, kids and cliques who judged without so much as a hint of eye contact, adults who seemed to have long forgotten the angst of their own youth.

Great fiction (whose net was cast wide enough to include my age group) didn’t talk down to me. It didn’t mock or tease or obfuscate. The characters were my comrades – respectful, smart and compassionate, and in some private way, just between them and me, they seemed to have my back. They respected both my sensibilities and civil rights. They were mature like me, of course, and they spoke the way I spoke inside my head – indignantly, sometimes with rage, yet often with a fearlessness that I didn’t possess. They unraveled their worlds to understand the wrongness of their shame and guilt and I was grateful to have them to show me the way through difficult times.

Great fiction is just that – great fiction. And great characters, regardless of their age or yours, always illuminate your way. Speaking on behalf of my inner kid and his fictional comrades, what was and is now designated as “Young Adult” literature is not, contrary to popular belief, a genre that’s dumbed down, a mere pat on the head for all those precious little readers out there. What it is is literature that happens to examine subject matter through characters that appeal to teens.

What does this mean? According to Katie MacBride, of the Mill Valley [CA] Public Library, who helped me compile the list below, what adults don’t get (especially those engaged in the twisted and ongoing battle to censor what teens see and read, including virtually every book included here) is that young adults live – wait for it – here on Earth, just like us, and not in some sterilized prep-room for “real” life. “Personal crises, sex and gender issues, violence, class warfare, politics – they experience and have to process it all,” she says. “If a book truly reaches young people, it’s a great book – and it will likely reach you too.” Amen. Unless of course, you somehow lost your depth as you grew older. (A concept that perhaps is more common than we’d like to admit.)

Arresting plotline? Universal themes? Relatable characters? Forget the “target age group” and dig in. Here are 10 books (an insanely partial list) even mature adults need to read – or reread, as the case may be. I know not every Young Adult title (specifically, for ages 12-17) is right for “Adult” Adults, but these are. (Oh, and we don’t do spoilers here. So read on…)

Some Stalwarts: Three Classics

Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger (1951) – Mark Twain’s Huck Finn aside, Salinger’s masterpiece is perhaps the greatest “crossover” novel of all time. Here, in a work not specifically directed at a young audience, we see through the eyes of the everlasting and ultimately relatable 17-year-old Holden Caulfield, the embodiment of teenage angst and alienation. His flashback story exposes cultural and interpersonal superficiality, and explores the challenge of maintaining authenticity in a postmodern world.

Lord of the Flies, William Golding (1954) – The story of a group of young boys forced to create their own civilization on a deserted island is a perfect lens for the examination of the greatest and most horrifying human impulses. The struggle between the urges to live and function as a society and the lure of power and corruption is front and center in this classic novel that’s as much about grand human needs, desires and flaws as it is about anything specific to teenage years.

The Chosen, Chiam Potok (1967) – Set in the insular microcosm of the Jewish community of 1940s Brooklyn, New York, this celebrated novel explores issues of friendship, family and diversity, and the struggle to find oneself in a world where entrenched forces have the power to lock in an individual’s destiny. Fifteen-year-olds Bobby and Danny represent a sort of yin and yang existence, and the trials of their relationship offer timeless insights that reach far beyond their age and culture.

New Tales for New Times: Three More for the Canon

The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993) – Joining the lofty ranks of 1984, Brave New World and A Handmaid’s Tale, this great dystopian achievement presents a bleak future as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy named Jonas. Occupying a pivotal role in his pathologically calculated society, Jonas functions as a bridge between the memories of the old world and the blankness of the new as it is forcibly transitioned to a horrifying “Sameness.” Like it’s heralded predecessors, this novel offers us a look at where we are as a society and what we are becoming.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky (1999) – A series of letters written by a high school freshman reveals the challenges he faces as he tries to merge a complicated and confusing personal life into a mainstream world. The story deals with issues ranging from homosexuality to rape and suicide, and examines how the painful details and idiosyncrasies of one’s life can lead from withdrawal to participation and back again – a challenge not uncommon to anyone, at any age, in any culture.

Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson, 1999 – It’s hard to speak about Speak without “spoiling” the plot. Suffice to say that Melinda Sordino enters high school with a secret – a secret so deeply painful that she cannot even think it to herself, let alone share it with the world around her, which is now threatening to leave her behind. A novel that takes on issues that far outscope adolescence, Speak seeks to adjust our vocabulary and thinking around suffering and self-blame. For this, it has become a favorite target of censors across the country – efforts that are, in this case (and in this writer’s opinion), criminal in their own right.

Read On: The 2000s

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak (2006) – “Mystery bores me. It chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It’s the machinations that wheel us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me.” So says Death, who knows all and tells a tale of young Liesel Meminger (alternating with her own accounts) as she navigates Nazi Germany in this story of survival and discovery. Somewhere in the abstract sadness (Death likes to distill feelings and happenings to a macabre and basic color scheme) and primal reality of the events that swirl around her, Liesel scratches out a life for herself that features some semblance of humanity. Among her coping skills is her budding relationship with books, some of which she rescues from Nazi book burnings as she dares to feel in the face of fate.

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, 2008 – Okay, okay, calm down, I’ll say it. Yes, this is a great book. A killer read, in fact. This dystopian bestseller, the first of a trilogy that’s taking the world by storm, is the first person account of a great heroine – the “girl on fire,” Katniss Everdeen – who is one of many children forced to pay for the sins of their parents (daring to rise up against a post-apocalyptic Totalitarian regime) in a annual, government-sponsored, unspeakably horrifying spectacle. Thick with cultural symbolism and metaphor (everything from consumer and celebrity culture to class warfare and environmental degradation comes to mind), The Hunger Games is also a spectacular thriller of a novel. Put it down. Dare you… and “may the odds be ever in your favor.”

Jumpstart the World, Catherine Ryan Hyde, 2010 – Thrust into an adult living situation (that is to say, living alone) while still in high school, Elle faces an all-too-sudden and accelerated need to occupy into her own emotional self. A literal cast-off, she’s forced to quickly react and assign meaning to unfamiliar relationships and people and their roles (gender and otherwise) in her jumpstarted life. “Independence has no reverse gear. Fear or no fear,” realizes Elle. The struggle then becomes to “just be as close to yourself as you can possibly bring yourself to be.” Sound wise? Simple, almost effortless prose belies life’s certain complications in this great read from the author of Pay it Forward.

The Fault in Our Stars, John Green, 2012 – Suffering, dignity, destiny, coping with the diminishing returns of life. Alas, “the world is not a wish-granting factory” and cancer survivor (for the time being), 16-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster must deal with that fact. A deep and intensely philosophical book, The Fault in Our Stars boldly submits that “some infinites are bigger than others” and then crawls inside a few unfortunately smaller ones, bravely exploring shortened lifespans from the inside looking out – without the polite pulling of punches. How does love and life appear through such a prism?  How can such a read shed light on your own life experience? In a world where life is “a side effect of dying,” you might ask, what’s it worth to you? Yong Adult fiction? Read it and you tell me.

Editor’s note: News & Culture contributor Scott Adelson’s biweekly feature, InPRINT, reviews and discusses books new and old, as well as examines issues in publishing.

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InPrint: On the Road, Again – Revisiting Jack Kerouac

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InPrint: Small Presses, Big Fiction – 2 Books You Shouldn’t Miss

Top image: Pink Sherbet Photography

The post InPRINT: Not for Kids Only – 10 Young Adult Novels You Need to Read appeared first on EcoSalon.

10 global events we were all intrinsically part of.

What makes an event memorable? How does a “happening” sear into our collective mindset and take up permanent residence in our hearts and in our souls? Most often, of course, we are not personally there to witness or directly experience occurrences of global importance.

How many of us were in Cairo’s Tahrir square as protests raged earlier this year?

Who among us lost a loved one or ate radioactive food in Japan, or suffered pangs of hunger in East Africa?

In our media-saturated world, memorable events – indeed memories themselves – are delivered to us via an increasingly wide range of words and pictures, bits and bytes, accounts that stream to our attention, some touching us for a moment, some for a lifetime. Here’s a look at our Top 10 (in no particular order), with links to the stories and accounts that made them indelible to us.

1. March of Horrors: Japan’s Suffering

A tsunami generated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the coast of northeast Japan killed nearly 20,000, caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damage and triggered a nuclear power plant disaster that unleashed radiation into the environment. Within hours, videos of the unimaginable waves crushing the Japanese shoreline flooded world consciousness via YouTube and other Internet outlets.

2. The Harder They Fall: Arab Spring

Beginning with a small demonstration in Tunisia that grew to topple a regime, flames of unrest spread to Egypt, ousting dictator Hosni Mubarak, and then to Bahrain and Yemen. Eventually Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi would be dead, and even today, Syrian protesters remain caught in a bloody battle with dictator Bashar al-Assad. Did social media enable and perhaps even spark these events?

3. European Disunion: Economic Crisis in the E.U.

The global economic downturn wreaked havoc in the European Union where austerity measures in Greece resulted in riots and protest, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was driven from office, and measures taken by Germany and France exacerbated an ongoing fissure between the E.U. and Britain. Meanwhile, disagreement about how to avoid a catastrophic meltdown flared across the Atlantic, as opinions about what to do remained as numerous as there are pundits and stakeholders.

4. Wanted Dead: American Operation Kills Osama Bin Laden

In May, American helicopters bearing a special operations team raided a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, killing the world’s most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden, whose followers carried out the 9/11 attacks. Within hours his body was buried at sea, and images of the corpse suppressed. Instead, a powerful and now-famous image of White House personnel – including president Barack Obama and Secretary of state Hillary Clinton – remotely watching the mission was made public.

5. The Fruit of Invention: The World Mourns Loss of Apple Founder Steve Jobs

The world lost some great minds to cancer and health issues as 2011 wore on, including writer and polemicist Christopher Hitchens and Czech playwright, dissident and politician Vaclav Havel. But, despite the sense that “it was coming,” the loss that seemed to most deeply move our high-tech world was that of innovator, inventor and Apple Founder Steve Jobs. As news of his death spread across the internet in October – in part via millions of his own inventions – biographer Walter Isaccson’s iBio hit the presses, eventually to set new sales records.

6. From Wall Street to Main Street: Occupiers Take a Stand

Beginning with a September protest in a New York City park near Wall Street, what became known as the “Occupy” movement quickly spread to many major American cities and beyond. The “leaderless” protests are said to represent “the 99 percent” against the richest 1 percent of Americans, who benefit from corporate and political corruption and greed at the majority’s expense. In November, images of a campus police officer at the University of California Davis pepper-spraying students went viral over the internet, instantly becoming a rallying point for the movement.

7. Us vs. Them: Obstructionism Paralyzes Washington

Despite being fractured between party traditionalists and Tea Partiers, a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives shackled the hands of Democratic President Barack Obama and the Democratic-led Senate. On issues ranging from the economy to the environment, American leaders reached a seemingly endless stream of stalemates. Most notably, the President unveiled a massive jobs bill that was labeled dead-on-arrival by members of both parties. The New York Times commented on the political gamesmanship, and EcoSalon presented the many rifts dividing America.

8. Weather, Weather Everywhere:  Climate Change Marches On

With drought in Texas, killer cyclones in the Philippines, and monster floods in South America and Thailand, 2011 was another year in what seems like an annual escalation of climate change and severe weather. Perhaps the most wrenching weather-related disaster was the return of drought to the Horn of Africa. Data continues to show the impact humans have on the world’s climate, yet deniers continue their war on science. In October, EcoSalon named names.

9. We are the World: All 7 Billion of Us

As the human population reached the 7 billion mark (with 3 billion more projected by the end of the century), debates about resources and birth control reheated. Can our planet sustain such exponential growth? In its inimitable way, National Geographic gave us the story in pictures.

10. Ask and Tell: End of Anti- Gay Military Policy in the American Armed Forces

After 18 years of controversy, the Pentagon repealed its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in September. After encouraging those who have been expelled under the policy to reenlist, President Barack Obama declared: “We are not a nation that says ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ We are a nation that says ‘out of many, we are one.'” An MSNBC story covered a historic kiss.

Images: TenSafeFrogs, Official U.S. Navy Imagery, S a l e e m – H o m s i, PIAZZA del POPOLO, bkusler, lwpkommunikacio, bogieharmond, Alex Barth, kevin dooley, woodleywonderworks, Beverly & Pack

The post The 10 News Stories of 2011 You Shouldn’t Have Missed appeared first on EcoSalon.

10 book titles that renewed our love for reading.

It would be nice to say that the books you’ll find here are a little off the “Best of 2011” beaten track on purpose – that, after pouring over the year’s more mainstream winners, these less-nodded-at tomes are overlooked gems that deserve more attention than they’re getting. But the fact is I have The Marriage Plot, Swamplandia! and The Tiger’s Wife sitting right here on my desk, uncracked for no other reason than different books – the following choices among them – happened to catch my interest. In any case, if you’ve found yourself surrendering to the (perhaps deserved) hype of the big players this year, consider dropping a little further down the bestseller list and giving these a spin.

1. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

A fictional A Moveable Feast as seen through the eyes of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley Richardson, The Paris Wife offers a rich, compassionate and often troublesome view of life as the first wife and support system of the young Papa. Set and centered around the Paris expat life of the 1920’s Lost Generation, McClain’s story features Hemingway’s quick, simple storytelling strokes and structure that build fictional truth and emotional power in a unique way. A manifesto of sorts, the read declares and defends Hadley’s choices, emotional leaps and missteps as she seizes her story as her own, as opposed to His.

2. Cain by José Saramago

The late Nobel-prize winner’s final offering, Cain is a parable-like retelling of the early chapters of the Bible – with Cain as our hero. Goaded, punished, dissed and dismissed by a vindictive, petty and self-centered God, the less-than brother roams Old Testament scenes ranging from Isaac’s near-death experience at the hands of his frightened father, to the sudden confusion at the base of the Tower of Babel, to the Noah’s DMVish efforts to save innocent life as we know it. A treat for the less-than-pious, Cain is a lovely, yet melancholy endnote to José Saramago‘s troubled relationship with life, authority and The Lord.

3. The Angel Esmeralda by Don DeLillo

A collection of stories from America’s postmodern master, The Angel Esmeralda – Nine Stories brings together the author’s short-form work from 1979 to 2011. Both within themselves and taken together as a collection, these snapshot tales present the often abstract and fragmented darkness that hovers over our transition from the 20th to the 21st Century. Some see Don DeLillo’s work as prescient, but a more accurate description is unflinchingly mirror-like, allowing every trick of modern hyper-light to illuminate our way forward. Each story here pokes at often mundane instances and interactions, fascinations and obsessions that are arrestingly lifelike in both chance and relevance.

4. The Pale King by David Foster Wallace

The posthumous unfinished novel by the great writer presents a kind of inverse space to his epic and celebrated Infinite Jest. While the earlier work snaked deeply into our society’s addictions, obsessions and ultimate relationship with entertainment, The Pale King examines the reality of tedium and workaday, existential survival in the face of boredom. Brilliantly reconstructed from David Foster Wallace’s left-behind manuscripts by his editor, Michael Pietsch (Wallace took his own life in 2008), the novel is in many ways more accessible than Wallace’s earlier work as it lacks some of his trademark literary and intellectual gymnastics (which will delight some readers). But don’t go in lightly; you need to “show up” to read “DFW.” If you make the effort, you’ll come out enlightened and deeply touched.

5. Disaster Was My God by Bruce Duffy

A fictionalized biography of the much-romanticized Arthur Rimbaud, the poet and enigma who ushered in new forms of poetry and thought that served no-less than to predict and unleash modernism just prior to dawn of the 20th century. Well known today as the muse of the likes of rock-auteurs Patti Smith and Jim Morrison, the bratty, explosive, prodigy/savant began his legendary work during his mid-teens only to cease writing before he turned 20, disappearing from the literary world and ending up in shady and shocking African trade, never to write another syllable again. Even as Bruce Duffy (who gave philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein a similar treatment in The World as I Found It) demystifies the myth, the literary legend is as no other.

6. Absolute Monarchs by John Julius Norwich

Our one non-fiction entry is an engaging 2000-year history of the Papacy that takes us from the birth of the Church through to the controversies and challenges that plague the Lord’s reps-on-earth today. In Absolute Monarchs, John Julius Norwich (an “agnostic Protestant” who casts little, if any, what would certainly be understandable judgment) engages multiple levels of interest, from historical to spiritual, while maintaining a solid storytelling thrust to this mostly dramatic tale of power and spirit. Dig in and find yourself wondering aloud: “Oh, my God! They didn’t!”

7. Damned by Chuck Palahniuk

Yeah, yeah, Chuck Palahniuk is the “rock star” writer who’s widely cited as one of the greatest literary examples of “Becoming Your Own Cliché.” But he cracks me up, and shocks and unsettles me in a world that’s often far too serious in its shocking and unsettling nature. In Damned, the author of Fight Club and Rant seems to don a young adult lit cloak, telling the story of an overweight, snarky teenage girl who finds herself in h-e-double toothpicks. Our unique and mouthy little heroine takes on the biggies “down there” (Hitler, Idi Amin, et al.), and we get at least one great insight into the underworld’s impact on our lives “up here.” Those during-dinner survey phone calls? Yep. Nine-to-5ers manning Satan’s phone banks.

8. Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt

Fabulous old-school satire targeting the most modern of issues, Helen Dewitt’s Lightning Rods is insane raunch that skewers everything from sex and sexism, to American political and business culture. If you can handle the bizarre anonymous sex (I mean, you’re into that right?), it’s total fun. Not for the sexually inhibited, it’s about a strange dude’s masturbatory fantasy and how he turns it into big business, and then the FBI gets involved and then… wait, was this what we expected from the author of the award-winning and lovely The Last Samurai? You’ll never visit the office restroom the same way again.

9. The Buddha In the Attic by Julie Otsuka

Like a prose poem from a lost culture, The Buddha in the Attic is a beautiful and ghostly novel from the author of When the Emperor Was Devine. The short work tells the story of Japanese “picture brides” who came to join their unknown husbands working the fields and towns of West Coast America shortly after the turn of century, and how their lives progressed through the beginning of World War II to their criminal incarceration in internment camps. Employing an often-poetic voice to represent this group of women (the main “character” is a distinct, though sometimes contradictory “We”), Julie Otsuka asks the question: “Is there any tribe more savage than the Americans.”

10. Tres by Roberto Bolaño

The author of the masterworks The Savage Detectives and 2666 (and numerous other fine novels and novellas published since his untimely death in 2003), Roberto Bolaño never hid his desire to be a great poet, or that he held the form in greater regard than he did prose. His previous collection, The Romantic Dogs, established the writer a fine poet indeed, and this years release of Tres, shows the writer wonderfully weaving between poems and prose to spin the ethereal magic that inhabits his great novels. In three sequences, Bolaño explores art, love, secrecy and literature, often with his trademark noir texture that effortlessly takes us from dream to reality and back again.

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The post Book ‘Em: 10 Best Reads from 2011 appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnThanks to the internet, there’s a blog for every kind of food, no matter how weird.

The only thing more important to a foodie than a kitchen is the internet. How else are you going to showcase all of your favorite food porn shots that you take at dinner every night? But just like with anything on the internet, it’s easy to go too far. Fortunately that means entertainment for the rest of us, and if you’re really lucky, maybe even some weird food inspiration. Here are our top 10 picks of weird food blogs, enjoy!

1. Scandybars

“Like a blog in a candy store,” this blog is almost a scientific collection of candy. It features the photos of cross sections of various candy bars, making you think of your favorite $0.99 overly sugary chocolate fix in a whole new way.

2. Scanwiches

The cross section fad continues, this time with scanwiches. Some look grosser than others (hint: hotdogs), but you never know what might just turn into the inspiration for tomorrow’s lunch.

3. F*ck You Yelper

As helpful as Yelp can be, crowd sourcing food reviews inevitably leads to a fair amount of moronic opinions. Thankfully F*ck You Yelper has them all rounded up in one place, sure to amuse anyone that’s ever questioned the future of society after spending a little too much time perusing Yelp comments.

4. The Bacon Show

Disclaimer: there are a lot of bacon blogs out there. But this one is one of the most extensive, currently claiming over 2000 recipes. And they stick true to their motto of, “One Bacon Recipe, Everyday, Forever.” So if you’re as obsessed with bacon as every other internet user, check it out.

5. Airline Meals

There’s no getting around it: traveling is fun but airplane food is not. Just because you got yourself on an international flight and don’t have to pay $10 for a dry and scratchy turkey – wait, is that actually turkey?? – sandwich, does not mean you’re going to get a satisfying meal. If you’re stuck in economy, all you can do is hope that your meal will be interesting enough to photograph and pop onto Airline Meals, which has a stunning archive of all kinds of meals served to the mile high club.

6. What the F*ck Should I Make for Dinner?

Tired? Feeling a drought of culinary creativity? Take that negative energy and make your way over to What the F*ck Should I Make for Dinner, a site that gives some simple and humorous suggestions on what you should be serving. Don’t expect any recipes, but at least you’re getting some advice, which we all know the internet is always good for.

7. This is Why You’re Fat

An internet sensation, This is Why You’re Fat is the epitome of weird food blogs. Feel bad about your diet lately? A quick scan through some of these photos will get you back to carrot sticks and hummus in no time.

8. Hipster Food

A quality food blog whose name is intended to be tongue-in-cheek. It’s actually a vegan food blog with creative recipes and hipster enough that they don’t capitalize the first letter of a sentence. Even if you have a vegan vendetta, you should still probably check it out.

9. Cutest Food

If you’re like me and have a cupcake aversion, consider yourself warned: this blog is sweet, saccharin, and mostly pink. Think panda cupcakes and waffles with multicolored heart shaped sprinkles. Le sigh.

10. Paula Deen Riding Things

What can we say, the iconic sugar, butter and fried queen photoshopped onto various images is hilarious. Almost as great as Paula’s actual website.

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s weekly column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground, discovering what’s new and different in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to the culinary avant garde.

Images: Cutest Food, Scandybars, Scanwiches,F*ck You Yelper, Natalie Dee, Airline Meals, What the F*ck Should I Make for Dinner, This is Why You’re Fat, Hipster Food, Cutest Food, Paula Deen Riding Things

The post Foodie Underground: Top 10 Oddest Food and Foodie Blogs appeared first on EcoSalon.

EcoSalon recently published the hit article, “20 Must Read Books for Women,” in which you probably noticed a few books you’ve read and a few others that you’d like to read, as well. What you might have also noticed was that the list included no books written by men.

Might there be must-reads for women written by male authors? We’re not talking about tomes that you’d file under the “how to better understand the blue side of the species” (read: self-help for guys, porn, or maybe bios on Messrs. Churchill or Jordan). Just solid works, by men, that might be of such great value to a female audience that someone might place them in the “don’t miss” bin.

Continuing the series of must read books, we’re offering an addendum our previous list and presenting five books written by men that we think would be great for women readers. And as a yin to our yang, noting that the guys ought to be reading more essentials by women, we’re also offering five books written by women that would do well on any man’s bookshelf.

Five books for women, written by men:

1. The Garden of Eden – Ernest Hemingway

(Paperback)/(Kindle)

Bravado and bulls have had Papa pegged as guy’s writer going back to “The Sun Also Rises” (1926) and Jake Barnes’ classic last line to Lady Brett Ashley: “Isn’t it pretty to think so.” But Ernest Hemingway remains a quintessential American master, whose crisp, quick sentences act as simple brush stokes to create unflinchingly real and complex images, relationships and storylines. In “The Garden of Eden” (published posthumously in 1986) he shows a depth and tenderness that’s unburdened by Great War or greater fish. Here, Hemingway tells the tale of a love triangle, androgyny and gender reversal, putting down his gloves and allowing access to a wide(r?) range of readers into his inimitable world and style.

2. The World According to Garp – John Irving 

(Paperback)

In his 1978 classic “The World According to Garp,” John Irving’s  male hero navigates an obstacle course of a life chock full of tricky sexual relations, male vulnerability and ignorance, and sometimes extreme feminism. The book features bold, loving and dangerous female characters (as well as a fantastic cross-dressing nurse), who surround Garp as he struggles to find his place in life and tell his story. Irving handles characters of both sexes extraordinarily well, displaying an ambidexterity that’s not easy to come by and speaks to the difficultly of making book suggestions like these difficult in the first place.

3. True Grit – Charles Portis

(Paperback)

A classic western with uncharacteristic depth, Charles Portis’ “True Grit” (1968) lacks none of gun-slinging, foul language and, yes, grit of the greatest American entries in this genre. Its character sensitivities and ambiguities, however, are seldom seen in such novels, save perhaps in that of the work of the great Cormac McCarthy (“All the Pretty Horses,” “Blood Meridian,” “No Country for Old Men”). Unlike McCarthy, Portis’ bleak landscape offers up a sad humor regarding the human condition, as heroine Mattie Ross recalls the great adventure of her childhood in which she seeks to avenge the death of her father with the help renegade lawmen. Read the book before seeing the Coen brothers’ super remake of the John Wayne classic.

4. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men – David Foster Wallace

(Paperback)

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the current generation of male authors’ inability to deal with sex and sexual issues. Some, like NYU’s Katie Roiphe, point to a reactive, “wimping out” of the sensitive male, a “new purity” of “self-conscious paralysis.” David Foster Wallace, however, had a knack for staring down our culture on many issues, including sexual relations. In this 1998 collection of short stories (a number of which bear the book’s title), Wallace explores many modern themes, including sexual alienation. Never an easy read, Wallace is always worth the effort. His short stories and essays are an excellent way access to his work and an alternative for those who are reticent to scale his dense masterpiece, “Infinite Jest.”

5. American Pastoral – Philip Roth

(Paperback)/(Kindle)

Up there with Norman Mailer as the male writer most consistently pummeled for unrepentant misogyny, big bad Philip Roth’s primal scream of “Portnoy’s Complaint” (his celebrated 1969 novel that so prevalently featured its main character’s penis) has softened into an older, wiser, sadder sigh in this masterwork. It’s not so much that Roth seems to have rethought his view of the relationship between men and women, per se, but more like the evidence is in that, as his characters have aged, infatuation with that issue is somehow beside the point – and was perhaps a red herring all along. Here, a man’s traditional middle class experience is upended by the historical elements and trace madness that weaved their way through the American landscape in second half of 20th century.

And five books for men, written by women:

6. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

(Paperback)/(Kindle)

Margaret Atwood’s dystopian masterpiece (which made our previous must-read list) presents a futuristic nightmare for all women, where a male-dominated extremist faction has taken over the nation and created a world where women are forbidden to read, work, or have their own name; their roles, from servant to child bearer, are determined by the men who control their lives. The chilling effect of the story is made more severe by the tone of Atwood’s prose that offers emotions and imagery of true fear in a world whose potential “realness” (think a Western version of Taliban Afghanistan) will make any reader shudder.

7. A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan

(Paperback)/(Kindle)

Magnificent craftsmanship and a unique use of postmodern technique give Jennifer Egan’s recent novel (2010) a cross-time, cross-genre sensibility, and a certain humanity that one might find lacking in the cooler works of Don DeLillo, Paul Auster and other well-known, male postmodern masters. Egan’s book opens with story of a kleptomaniac woman and jumps from chapter to chapter, with each one bringing a seemingly ancillary character into the spotlight without regard to chronology or consistency of style. What emerges is a sense of realism and emotional breadth that could not come from a simple “once-upon-a-time” experience.

8. The Young Romantics – Daisy Hay

(Paperback)/(Kindle)

Our lists’ only non-fiction entry is a biographical work that not only reexamines the lives of some history’s most famous men, but does so in the context of the women who shared their lives, offering up a new, more accurate approach to the entire genre. Daisy Hay looks at Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron and the other Romantic Era authors, examining  their lives as unified matrix, rather than as purely individual stories, showing how their interpersonal relationships affected both their creative and personal selves. Mary Shelley, the author of “Frankenstein” (a certain contender for this half of our list) is in fact the epicenter of the story, lending a more feminist (and in this case accurate) approach to exploring the period. Most important, though, is that the book is just a great read, with the feel of excellent historical fiction. Really, you can’t make this stuff up.

9. Death Comes for the Archbishop – Willa Cather

Paperback/(Kindle)

Willa Cather’s evokes the emerging American West by eliciting depth and complexity from basic character archetypes to capture a sense of the nation in a uniquely powerful manner. “Death Comes for the Archbishop” (1927) tells the story of two men, Bishop Jean Marie Latour (an intellectual “tower”) and his friend Father Joseph Vaillant (a valiant defender of the faith) who are charged with taking over a Spanish diocese in New Mexico after the territory is acquired by the United States. The works taps into the relationship between ideas and the frontier landscape and as such rings true as an authentic American tale without swollen bravado and fanfare.

10. A Spy in the House of Love – Anais Nin

(Paperback)/(Kindle)

Anais Nin’s 1954 novel emerges from the mind of Sabina, a married woman involved in a number of adulterous affairs, who sees herself a spy or witness to her own experiences. Nin’s dreamy, yet unflinching  style (that also lends itself so well her erotic writings) creates a intense psychological atmosphere, where the reader crawls inside the thought processes and sensitivities of a woman as she betrays the man she loves in order to explore her own personal nuances. Inside info, guys? Maybe. An ethereal, semi-autobiographical tale that offers an intimate view into a woman’s complicated life.

Main Image: Valerie Everett

The post 10 Must Read Books for Girls and Boys, by Boys and Girls appeared first on EcoSalon.

1. Diversify your feedback-collection methods.
Nothing like asking a fifteen year old and a seventy-five year old what they think about you, your business plan, or your last relationship decision.

2. Hit up the experts.
Take your CEO to lunch for a preemptive performance review and some tips on how to gracefully scramble the ladder. Ask a gifted writer what they really think of your pitch letter. Hire a stylist to purge your swollen closet. It may sting, it may be a major relief, but either way, expert opinions will propel you to the top of your game.

3. Work with people who are savvier, speedier and more accomplished than you.
Last year, I advised a mega-stellar online magazine that has the #1 community forum on the ‘net – a super savvy duo who are #1 in their industry and have one of the finest business plans I’ve seen, and a kick-ass marketing forum of some of the best and brightest marketers, motivators, and communicators on earth. With each client, I had to leap further to meet my intuition, dig deeper into the industry, and listen more actively. They made me sweat, spin and soar. I learned some new dance moves.

4. Stand naked in front of a full-length mirror.
Don’t leave until you can say three deeply loving things about your physique, the miracle of your health, and your full-bloom humanity.

5. Dust off the chopping block.
Fire your most irritating client, team member, or energy-abusing friend. You’ll wished you’d done it a long time ago.

6. Kill the chatter.
Turn off the TV. Commute without talk radio. Remove the iPod earbuds. The silence may shatter you. With our addiction to noise and distraction held at bay, our painful beauty and genius has room to surface.

7. Underachieve.
Attention, Type-As and workaholics. You are hereby invited to slack off. For one week, cryogenically freeze your to-do list. (I know, your palms are sweating at the very thought.) Set aside your novel, your knitting project, your non-critical responsibilities. Be late just because you wanted an extra five minutes in the hot shower.

8. As the Dalai Lama says, “Love until it hurts.”
Personally, this would mean volunteering at an old age home. I can hardly bear the wastage and scarcity of dignity that characterize most nursing homes. It slays me. I always leave a total wreck, with renewed appreciation for…everything.

9. Say no.
Only offer the simple explanation that “it just doesn’t feel right.”

10. Say yes.
Just for the hell of it. Whimsy rarely leads to social exile, destruction or doom. Be expansive – and see what unfurls.

Editor’s Note: Danielle LaPorte is the creator of WhiteHotTruth.com, which has been called “the best place on-line for kick-ass spirituality.” She is the author of The Fire Starter Sessions: A Digital Experience for Entrepreneurs, an inspirational speaker, former think tank exec, and news show commentator. You can read all of Danielle’s EcoSalon guest articles here, and find her on Twitter @daniellelaporte.

Image: mahalie

The post Wild Intuition and Teenage Wisdom: 10 Slightly-Terrifying Ways to Become a Better You appeared first on EcoSalon.

Your new carpet, toasty towels, or freshly painted bedroom are among a few things that could make you sick.

Here’s a quick look at 10 of the more common household toxins, and what you can do to get rid them.

1. Dare to Bare

You can start by removing shoes before entering your home. Toxicologists have proved that leaving shoes at the door will help keep out toxins such as lawn pesticides and factory chemicals, that travel as minute particles.

2. Toss the Teflon

Sure, Teflon certainly helps make cleaning up easier, but when subjected to high heat the non-stick coatings create toxic fumes that pollute the air. The Environmental Working Group published a report that found at least six toxic gases are emitted including two carcinogens, two global pollutants, and MFA (a chemical lethal to humans at low doses) were found. Another reason to go back to grandma’s cast iron.

If you shop Amazon.com through the Environmental Working Group, they will receive a percentage of the proceeds.

3. Ditch the Weed Killers

When caring for your lawn, opt for companies such as EarthEasy and check out Safelawns.org.

4. Clean and Green Laundry

Choose natural laundry detergents such as Soap Nuts or Seventh Generation, and avoid chemical laden dryer sheets that spew toxins onto your clothing and into your home.

5. Avoid VOC’s

According to the United States Geological Survey, a federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, many volatile organic compounds are man-made compounds, typically industrial solvents or by-products often in petroleum fuels, paint, paint thinners and dry cleaning agents. They’re also common ground-water contaminants. If you’re planning of some home renovation, look for low VOC paint for better air quality.

6. Go Natural with Furniture

Opt out of stain-guards as they contain Perfluorinated (PFCs) which are toxic to wildlife, producing reproductive, developmental and systemic effects in laboratory tests.

7. Filter Drinking Water

While the majority of our water does meet safety standards, the EPA provides a list of common contaminants, and information on home water treatment units to improve taste and remove heavy metals. Pitcher filters that stay in the refrigerator are also a good, and less expensive, option. Be sure to change filters as suggested by the manufacturer.

8. Rid the Radon

Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. Radon, a radioactive gas, comes from a natural breakdown of the earth, and can infiltrate any home that is situated in an area that contains it. One of the most important precautionary measures that you can take is purchasing a home radon test kit.

9. Check for Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide kills hundreds of Americans every year. Not only can it be a result of automobile exhaust, but also from gas furnaces. To reduce your risk of exposure the EPA recommends:

– Keep gas appliances properly adjusted.
– Consider purchasing a vented space heater when replacing an un-vented one.
– Use proper fuel in kerosene space heaters.
– Install and use an exhaust fan vented to outdoors over gas stoves.
– Open flues when fireplaces are in use.
– Choose properly sized wood stoves that are certified to meet EPA emission standards. Make certain that doors on all wood stoves fit tightly.
– Have a trained professional inspect, clean, and tune-up central heating system (furnaces, flues, and chimneys) annually. Repair any leaks promptly.
– Do not idle the car inside garage.

10. Home Air Quality 101

Air pollution is responsible for everything from allergies to serious illnesses. A few ways to rid your home of particles that can include pesticides and chemicals is to:

– Kill off dust bunnies, which can contain microscopic toxins
– Replace wall to wall carpeting with area rugs
– Look for HEPA filter vacuum cleaners (High Efficiency Particle Absorption) which keep debris sealed tightly a multilayer filter bag and exhausts through a filter before re-entering into your home.
– Consider purchasing a home HEPA filter. HEPA filters, by definition, remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles 0.3 micrometers (µm) in diameter.

Each week here at EcoSalon, the editors choose a post from the archives that we think you’ll love. The original post can be found here.

Image: thekitchendesigner

The post 10 Quick Ways to Detox Your House appeared first on EcoSalon.

Red with red meat, white with chicken and fish, right? It’s not that simple or limiting anymore when it comes to pairing wine and food.

Sure, there’s lot to consider when it comes to selecting the best wine to complement your food: Weight, texture, acidity, flavor, the flavor’s intensity. After some research and experimenting, I came up with some yummy pairings as a quick reference guide.

Cabernet Sauvignon and Lamb
The fats and protein in lamb neutralize the tannins in Cabernet Sauvignon to bring out its fruity taste. Try the Bonterra Cabernet Sauvignon from Mad Wine with this delectable grilled leg of lamb recipe from Epicurious.

Chardonnay and Roasted Chicken
This full-flavored, complex wine complements the taste of roasted chicken. Pair the Sterling Organic Chardonnay from Wine.com with this roast chicken recipe from Epicurious.

Chianti and Lasagna
This wine’s bright acidity pairs well with the acidity of the tomato sauce in lasagna. Check out this eco-friendly vegetable lasagna recipe from Organic Food, and pair it with the Casina di Cornia Chianti Classico from the Organic Wine Company.

Merlot and Mushrooms
Soft and velvety, Merlot is less tannic than wines like Cabernet and goes well with milder mushroom dishes. This wild mushroom ravioli recipe from Recipe Zaar complements the taste of the Candoni Organic Merlot from Liquor Outlet Wine Cellars.

Chablis and Oysters
Made from grapes grown in limestone-rich soil, the full flavor of Chablis is a great match for the salty, creamy taste of oysters. This oyster stew recipe from Organic Valley is the perfect match for the Brocard Chablis Organic from O’Brien’s Wine.

Pinot Noir and Salmon
This medium-bodied wine enhances the distinct flavor of salmon. The Frey Vineyards Organic Pinot Noir from Ancona’s Wines and Liquors and this seared wild salmon recipe from Epicurious go especially well together.

Port and Dark Chocolate
The bitterness of dark chocolate tames the tannins in Port. Pair this fair trade, organic smooth dark chocolate from the Chocolate Bar with the Casal dos Jordoes Organic Port from the Organic Wine Company.

Amarone and Parmigiano Reggiano
This bold, elegant red wine and Parmigiano Reggiano are a tasty match. Just stay away from Kraft’s imitation version. This delicious parmigiano reggiano from Purely Organic complements the Ca La Bionda Amarone Ravazzol from Wine Access.

Sauvignon Blanc and Goat Cheese
This crisp, light, refreshing wine won’t overpower the creamy, pungent flavor of goat cheese. This trio of marinated goat cheese recipe from Epicurious and the Sterling Organic Sauvignon Blanc from Wine.com are a match made in heaven.

Sauternes and Creme Brulee
Sauternes adds a hint of fruity flavor to this rich, creamy dessert. This mango creme brulee recipe from Epicurious brings out the hint of apricot in the Chateau La Garenne Sauternes.

Here are some general tips for pairing wine and food:

Do pair white wines and soft cheeses with strong flavor, and pair red wines and hard cheeses with mild flavor.

Don’t pair bold wines like Cabernet Sauvignon with mild dishes because they will overwhelm the food’s flavor.

Do pair light-bodied wines like Pinot Grigio with light-bodied foods and vice versa.

Don’t pair acidic wines like Chianti with rich cream-based sauces.

Do experiment with different pairings and let your taste buds decide which you enjoy most.

For more tips and suggestions: visit Food and Wine Pairing, Drink Wine and Wine Web Central.

Each week here at EcoSalon, the editors choose a post from the archives that we think you’ll love. The original post can be found here.

Images: wine anorak, Victoria Pearson / Epicurious, pmarkham, jules:stonesoup, vino blog, St0rmz, Candoni Wines, polandeze, avlxyz, Finare Vinare, Jeffrey Allen, Palate-To-Pen, Chocolate Reviews, De Kerst pakkettenhal, FotoosVanRobin, TheVineyard, Jill Clardy, cwbuecheler, biskuit and jules:stonesoup.

Main image: byrdiegyrl

The post 10 Green Wine and Food Pairings, Plus 5 Do’s and Don’ts appeared first on EcoSalon.

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Cell Phones
We’ve all heard the rumblings about the dangers of cell phone radiation. But it turns out, your actual cell phone might make you sick. As the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology reports via Newsweek, the nickel in cell phones can lead to red, itchy skin.

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Water
Yes, some people are allergic to the wet stuff. Aquagenic urticaria is a disorder that gives people hives, rashes and even blisters when they come in contact with water. It is an extremely rare, temporary condition.

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Sex
Experiencing a burning, itching, or swelling in the genitals? You might be allergic to sex. Some women have an allergy to their significant other’s semen.

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Exercise
This might just seem like a good excuse to skip the gym for most. For an unlucky (or lucky) few, it is because they suffer from exercise-induced anaphylaxis. Nausea and vomiting are just some of the symptoms associated with this disorder.

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Soy
Soy is actually one of the most common food allergies in children, though some adults suffer from it. Symptoms include hives, swelling, wheezing, dizziness, and tingling in the mouth.

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Condoms
Latex allergies come from the proteins found in natural rubber, from which latex is derived. And since some condoms are made with latex, this can lead to a (pause) sticky situation for some. Symptoms include redness and itching, but trouble breathing is also possible.

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Sun
There are actually several different kinds of sun allergies. As The Mayo Clinic reports, these are “polymorphic light eruption (PMLE), actinic prurigo, chronic actinic dermatitis (CAD) and solar urticaria.” Symptoms include hives, blisters, and painful rashes.

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Chocolate
Yes, an unlucky few are actually allergic to chocolate. This is common in people who are already allergic to other food items such as milk, nuts and eggs.

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iPod
Remember how cell phones can cause allergies? So can your iPod. It turns out that the nickel found in iPods can be just as irritating as some of your annoying neighbor’s musical choices.

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Alcohol
Yes, that glass of wine might be giving you more than just a hangover. However, it is not the alcohol itself which causes the reactions, but often the sugar and fermentation process used in creating it. So next time you break out in hives, you might want to put the glass of wine down.

Images: mcfarlandmo, compujeramey , darkpatator, wtlphotos, mikebaird, fotoosvanrobin, rorrororro, tambako, feastguru_kirti, nez
hlkljgk

The post 10 Everyday Things You Might Be Allergic To appeared first on EcoSalon.