Alice Toler
Alice Toler is an editor at CATALYST and a Salt Lake-based artist. Look for her blog updates, appearing several times a week, here: http://catalystmagazine.net/component/k2/itemlist/category/150-outside-the-box
Website URL: http://catalystmagazine.net/component/k2/itemlist/category/150-outside-the-box Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Outside the Box: Breaking News—An Attractive Nusiance
Turn off the bute and go clean out the gutters.
—by Alice Toler
In the Garden: The Entomologist and Etymologist Converse
Ponds in the desert. ALSO: Know your tomato types—determinate and indeterminate; the virtues of Umbellifers.
—by Alice Toler
Outside the Box: Facebook-Free February
Taking the idea of Lent to a new level.
—by Alice Toler
Agave Syrup
What's going on with agave nectar? It came on the scene a few years ago, touted as a healthy alternative to other sweeteners because of its low glycemic index, and soon thereafter was summarily disparaged by Joseph Mercola, an influential osteopath and alternative medicine internet personality. Mercola calls agave nectar a "triumph of marketing over truth," equates it with high fructose corn syrup, and recommends steering clear of it.
A Strange Gift
Greg Nordfelt experienced a traumatic brain injury that closed some doors forever, but opened others onto a compelling and beautiful world he had previously barely glimpsed. In honor of March as Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness month, CATALYST speaks with local banker and traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor Greg Nordfelt. Greg shares with us the story of his remarkable journey through injury and coma, and his unusual subjective experience of "coming back" from a partially wrecked brain to reconstruct his body, his personality and his life.
Seasonal Affective Disorder: Home Remedies for the Winter Blues
Does the winter gloom get you down? Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects many of us, particularly youth and women, during the darker months of the year. It is thought to be connected with melatonin production, which the body secretes more of in the dark. (Melatonin controls hibernation in animals.) Avoid the overprescribed SSRI antidepressant pharmaceuticals and look for relief with these alternative therapies.
The CATALYST 100
Last year, we sent out a call to our readers to nominate the people they felt have been catalysts within our community—those who have made this a more sustainable, compassionate and vibrant place to live. We present to you 100 of these inspirators, your neighbors.
Outside the Box: Informational Armageddon
Take time out for the End Times.
—by Alice Toler
Audubon's Christmas Bird Count
Calling all "citizen scientists."
—by Alice Toler
GMOS in Your Diet
You likely live in Utah, so why should you care about a proposition on California's ballot? The future of food as we know it depends upon Prop 37's passage.