GladRags Gab

For the past two years, many individuals and organizations have contacted GladRags regarding a largely publicized issue afflicting many communities in sub-Saharan Africa.  For many reasons, young girls are unable to and do not want to attend school during the days they are menstruating.  These days can add up to a 10-20 percent absenteeism rate throughout a school year (http://allafrica.com/stories/200710120286.html).  Clearly, this absenteeism leads to missing a great amount of information being taught and is generally disruptive to a girl's scholastic experience.

The many reasons that girls face this obstacle include lack of sanitized water, restroom facilities, underwear, and, the missing product for which GladRags is contacted, menstrual pads.  Also, the topic of menstruation is often taboo in many of these cultures, which makes it difficult for girls to openly arrive at a community solution to this life condition.  Another important obstacle that many news outlets and western organizations fail to consider when contemplating this issue is an absence of a waste disposal system to deal with the disposable pads that have been proposed as a solution and what the creation of such a system would mean.

So, given these many hurdles to overcome, what is the answer?
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Amy over at Crunchy Domestic Goddess recently answered some interview questions on her blog sent to her by another blogger.  She asked if anyone else would like to be interviewed and I said, "Yes!"  So, here are her questions.  And, my answers.  Enjoy!

Oh, and if any of you, my fellow bloggers, are interested in my sending you your own individualized set of interview questions for your blog, drop me a line.

1) Would you mind telling me (and any other newbies) a bit about yourself and your background?

Sure thing!  Well, first off, my name is Diana.  Hello.  I began this life in the state of Massachusetts, dreaming of leaving home to travel and do my own "thing".  I did and now I am very happy.  After Spanish speaking in Latin America, attempted Japanese in Kyoto and various other jaunts around this fascinating planet, I moved west.  I currently reside in the extremely livable and generally happy Portland, Oregon.

Various other tidbits - I am the youngest of 7 children (can we say Irish Catholic?!).  I like exploring a variety of cultures (including, for example, woodworkers) and finding out what makes them tick - more or less.  I started eating vegan some months ago and enjoy delving into whole foods cooking and reaping its delicious benefits.  I like my friends, but who doesn't?  Children are amazing.  I don't think it's ok for a person to say that they don't like people.  I really enjoy my alone time.  Oh, and tennis and snowboarding and walking and laughing.

2) How did you first get involved with GladRags? 

I have to say that I was primed for the 'Rags before I started working here.  It all began in Costa Rica.  I was at a birthday party and my friend whipped out this interesting little device - looked like a shot glass.  So, we used it as a shot glass.  We were doing what we knew.  Anyway, turned out to be her new (a.k.a. unused) menstrual cup.  The seed was planted and I bought myself a cup and a cloth menstrual pad.

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I'll be making Walnut-Cheddar Harvest Loaf, vegetarian gravy, brussel sprouts, and cabbage salad to take to Thanksgiving this year.  The Harvest Loaf is from the really old cookbook, Diet for a Small Planet . My copy was used when I bought it and now it is totally ratty because of all the use I've given it. The loaf makes a great entree for those of us not indulging in the big bird.  When I've got time and want to impress friends I wrap it in phyllo and it's quite a presentation. 

While I'm cooking I'll be thinking about all the things I'm thankful for this year.  My healthy family, my wonderful friends, the chance to have had three art exhibits this year, and all the wonderful women I know though working at GladRags - customers, co-workers, store buyers, brokers, suppliers, competitiors/compatriots.

Best wishes to everyone for a safe, happy holiday.

-Brenda 

 Walnut-Cheddar Loaf

45 min 15 min prep
2     tablespoons olive oil
2     cups yellow onions, chopped
1     cup black walnuts, coarsely ground
1     cup cheddar cheese, grated
2     tablespoons lemon juice
2     eggs, beaten
2     tablespoons nutritional yeast
1     teaspoon caraway seeds
1 1/4 cups cooked brown rice (1/2 cup uncooked)
    salt
    pepper
1. Preheat oven to 350.
   2. Saute onions in olive oil until translucent.
   3. Mix with remaining ingredients, salt and pepper to taste and put in an oiled loaf pan.
   4. Bake for 30 minutes.

Most of us have a drawer of plastic bags in our kitchen.  In fact, when I was in college there was a space between the refrigerator and where the counter and cabinets ended.  We would shove our shopping bags in there, in the thoughts that we would reuse them.  Alas, 2 years later when we moved out, we had hundreds of plastic bags.  I have gotten a little better and do reuse them and also try and use canvas bags.  

But what to do with those pesky bags that we always somehow end up with.  Well, we here at GladRags are all about reusing and recycling.  And I am all about the crafts.  So my new project for this winter is to create items from my plastic bag stores.   I have found various crafting opportunities for plastic bags.  The most obvious (to me at least) is needle crafts.  Knitting and crocheting can be done with just about any material that can be cut into strips.  Make a recycled plastic bag purse! You can also buy these sorts of plastic bag purses from other people who had too many plastic bags on craft sites like Etsy.  Want some more ideas?  This blog post on Craftzine.com has a whole slew of instructions for plastic bag crafts!  

And yes, that is a plastic bag rooster!

-jodi 

To bleed or not to bleed,-that seems to be the question:-
Whether ‘tis nobler to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous moods, cramps, and PMS,
Or to take arms against our bodies with a sea of drugs,
And by opposing ourselves, end it?-To stop,-to cease,-
No more; and by a pill to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural fluxuations
That flesh is heir to,-‘tis culturally
Devoutly to be wish'd. To stop,-to cease;-
To sleep! Perchance to dream:-ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of nothingness what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal cycle,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes worth living of so long life.

This famous speech from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" was frighteningly easy to adapt to menstruation. I was inspired by Jodi's "No More Menstruation" blog that talks about the new oral contraceptive that is taken continually, with no break for bleeding. The "To be or not to be" speech jumped right into my head, and the parallel with "To bleed or not to bleed" was too perfect. I looked up the actual speech in an old copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare that I happen to have lying around. You can just as easily google it, though I like the way the older version has all the dashes. Anyway, you can see for yourself how little had to be changed. I'm kind of stunned actually how beautifully the point is made…

Michelle
 
Michelle Singer is a freelance journalist currently living and working in Montpelier, Vermont. Former GladRags employee and menstrual enthusiast, she is also a great lover of books, hiking, and wrestling with the continual confusion of feminism. She lives in a multi-generational home with all her most important fans–her parents, husband and two truly adorable children.

My sister always comes to me with science questions, as I was a scientist in a previous life.  At the beginning of her pregnancy, she asked me about chord blood banking, what I knew, what I had heard.  At the time, I didnt know much, so I looked it up.  The idea is that you can cryogenically freeze umbilical cord blood for potential use in the future if your child need something like bone marrow to cure a disease.  I stress potential, because nobody actually knows if this works yet.

Enter C'elle .

Cryto-Cell has introduced a product/service called C'elle.  The product freezes down menstrual blood and endomentrial tissue.  They claim that these cells have the same characteristics as stem cell and that they should be saved for future use for the client.  Personalized medicine, I believe it is often called.  So for only $500 dollars and then an annual fee of $99 you too can protect yourself against future maladies.  I am not so sure I am buying into this one…

Tonight while my husband and I were cooking dinner we got on the subject of a recent opinion piece in our local paper,The Oregonian, in which our local right wing Bush sycophant columnist, David Reinhard,  was discussing whether or not waterboarding was torture. We both got so upset talking about it we had to calm ourselves down with some deep breaths and a beer. Fortunately the music we were playing was Michael Franti's most recent album "Yellfire". Bruce said, thank goodness for Michael Franti and we went back to making potato-leek soup knowing we aren't alone in this world of craziness we now live in.  

If anything ever happens to Bruce (perish the thought), I am going to hunt down Michael Franti and make him my own! If you don't know his music, find it, listen to it. He is a radical voice for truth and accountability and you can dance like crazy too. His song "To the East, to the West" could solve most of the world's problems. I looooovvvve him! 

 -Brenda

As announced in last Friday's newsletter, Jennifer Purcell, a Portland-based naturopathic physician and herbalist, will be posting monthly entries on GladRags Gab discussing a variety of women's health issues.  Dr. Purcell's first topic is PMS.  Get ready for some great thoughts on this prolific 'syndrome'.  ~Diana

PMS - a word so common to women these days as 85% of us experience at least one symptom per month.  The average onset is 26 years of age and the symptoms are wide and varied.  So much so that they are now classified by an increasing number of subtypes based on predominating symptom.  But whether it is breast tenderness, bloating/distension, cramping spasms, migraines (and on a on) - it all leads to one thing - Imbalance.

This is where is gets tricky - finding where the balance lies.

Often the first place we investigate is the reproductive system itself.  But if you are ovulating and bleeding monthly the problem may be elsewhere.  A good place to look is the liver.  The liver's job is multifactorial and it is one of the most important organs of the human body.  In relation to PMS, it is a contributor in the production of hormones.  The short version of the story - if your liver is strained or overworking, your hormonal balance could be disturbed.

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GladRags has always offered a variety of different colors and patterns to chose from.  This fall, we are proud to present 3 new color styles to chose from!

Here is how it works.  The new colors come in the regular cotton day pads, whether in 1 pack , 3 pack or kit form.  When placing an order, upon checkout, please specify in the comments section if you have a preference as to which pattern group you want.  You can pick from marbled rainbow colors, various fun patterns including frogs, pink camo, and bowling balls, or a green camo print.  

We here at GladRags are excited to be able to offer new colors and patterns.  We are also excited to be able to give you, our customer, more control of the products that you order!

Thanks and happy shopping!

-Jodi