Marta Willcox

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Love Locks

The bottom two photos were taken by me when I went to Florence with my mother-in-law in June. I had never seen 'love locks' before. What's the meaning?

Thank God for wikipedia. Love padlocks is the article (here). Let me summarize.

They actually mention this spot in Florence in the article: "In Florence, Italy, 5,500 love padlocks affixed to the Ponte Vecchio bridge were removed by the city council. According to the council the padlocks pose both an aesthetic problem as well as scratch and dent the metal of the bridge.^[9]"
^{The tradition is apparently a newer one, only really noticed in the 2000s!}

Inflatable Street Art: New York City

from Abby B. on Fbook

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

My Mom and I went to a womens ministry kale cooking night tonight and the subject turned on to how England processes meat and how it's different from the US. One of the women brought up a Time Magazine article that she had read recently that talked about the worldwide epidemic of early puberty. I said that I have definitely noticed the middle schoolers I worked with having b-cup bras by the 7th grade. It just looks weird.

I've personally blamed it on the hormones injected in meat - they are made to make them...bigger, faster. Farmers make more money if their animals grow up faster. So to my laymen's brain it makes sense. Of course it makes us bigger and older faster as well. The chemicals are still in there, working.

Here's what the Time Magazine article says:

"The American obesity epidemic is surely to blame — at least in part — since fatty tissue can increase the body's output of certain hormones. So too may the agricultural hormones found in meat and dairy products. And so too may industrial chemicals, especially phthalates and BPAs in plastics, which are known as endocrine disruptors for their tendence to mimic, block or otherwise interfere with the function of hormones." (Time Magazine: "Little Women" by Jeffrey Kluger. 20 Oct 2011)