That Darn Evil Cows Milk

I know you probably looked at the title of this post and thought 'What the heck kind of title is that?'. But, this title is appropriate for how I feel about cows milk, as I am allergic to it. I've even tried the lactose intolerant form of milk and end up with the same symptoms as if I'd had a drink of regular milk. According to my doctor that is because lactose free milk still contains a trace of lactose that can cause problems for people with a strong enough allergy to the stuff.
Having been allergic to milk since I was around 10 or 11 years old I don't really remember enough about what it tastes like for it to affect me terribly. Yet, I'm still bad about eating cheese and ice cream, which affect me sometimes more than straight milk. I suffered through the side effects for quite a few years because I love the taste of ice cream and I love a good cheese sandwich. Over the past few years though our local grocery stores(King Soopers is an especially good place for me) have started carrying soy and dairy free ice creams. I know there were places you could find dairy free "dairy products" for a while now, but you had to go to a specialty store. And to be honest quite a few soy products are still pretty pricey compared to their dairy counter-parts because they're classified a "health food". And lets face it anything truly healthy is going to cost a bit more out of pocket(health officials wonder why we all cram down junk food, maybe because these high ranking officials have high ranking wages and don't think too much about the price of "healthy food").
Recently though I found an ice cream at my local King Soopers that sells dairy free ice cream called Purely Decadent(You can find their website HERE). They have tons of dairy free ice cream flavors to choose from. Which of course for us dairy free people is a huge leap. The choices in flavors have been limited to the basics(Vanilla and Chocolate) for a while now and it's nice to see a company that realizes even dairy free people have taste buds.
So, if your lactose intolerant or can't have dairy for any other reason check them out.
I better be going though, I'm sitting here and I want to eat the newest flavor I just got which just happens to be one of my favorite flavors, Cookie Dough.

A Common Concern

Why is it that most of us have the desire to escape the places to which we were born ?
If someone is born in Seattle, Washington they want to live in New York, New York and if born in Denver, Colorado they would rather live in San Fransisco, California.
I know it's not everyone, but it seems a common thread in quite a few people I've known over the years(as well as myself).
Is it the instinctual need to migrate or the human desire to explore ? Heck, maybe its part of the whole need to "grow up" and escape our parents, make a lives for ourselves.
The funny thing being of course is that most of us, no matter how far we travel, almost always seem to return for good to those places we had to get away from so badly.
I know that a big part of the people that want to move to California or New York is the want to be closer to movie stars, musicians, the "high life", riches and fame.
There are plenty of people that move to further their careers or be closer to someone they love.
But, those urges come later. I'm talking about the urge to "run away" that hits most of us in our teen years. Maybe it's all those things I've listed, maybe it's none of those.
That's why I want to hear from you, my readers, about your experiences with this urge to "get away". Where did you go ? Why did you go ? Anything about the subject that strikes words from the anvil of your mind.

Disinfect the World

Why is it that we've become so obsessed with a "clean" world ?
Isn't it amazing all the products currently on the market that contain some sort of anti-bacterial agent or disinfectant ?
The funny thing being of course is that if these things really worked to destroy all bacteria and germs these companies would be out of business. So, they have to make it appear as if we are in constant warfare with the microscopic world.
It's really no wonder so many of us are such big germi-phobes. Even my daughter received bubble gum smelling, anti-bacterial hand soap for Christmas. And she's only seven years old.
If I don't take it away from her or keep a close eye on her she uses it constantly because her young mind has bought into everything she sees on television, learns at school, or catches snippets of in adult conversation. She's only seven and quickly on the path to needing therapy when she's an adult.
The way I see it is that drug companies, anti-bacterial soap companies, and a zillion other companies that work to make sure we don't get sick, and if we do, to keep us healthy are mostly full of crap. Why would the companies that come up with and produce drugs for cancer or AIDS want there to really be a cure. How much of a profit would they make curing people as opposed to treating people ?
Heck, even if we cured the common cold or the flu there would be tons of drug companies, pharmacy's, politicians, and people between a rock and a hard place.
It's just never made much sense to me that people believe these companies are really working to make us healthy, when us being healthy is very un-profitable for these companies.
So, the answer to the question posed at the beginning of this post is simple.
We are obsessed with a "clean" world because we're surrounded by everything from government sponsored ads to commercials on television, radio ads, drug company commercials, etc, etc.
And this ads re-enforce I obsession with staying healthy, clean, and alive. Even if some of the things we do to accomplish those obsession are only leading us in the opposite direction.