Elevate Difference

Reviews by Laura Koffler

The Butcher and the Vegetarian: One Woman's Romp through a World of Men, Meat, and Moral Crisis

Food writer Tara Austen Weaver was raised in a vegetarian home since her birth. As an adult, she unexpectedly gets diagnosed with thyroid disease. What’s she to do? Fast for forty days? No. Go macrobiotic? Nope, not that either. Instead, Weaver must eat meat—by doctor’s order. So she turns to a carnivorous diet. What unfolds is part chick lit-cookbook and part treatise on farm animal rights. Weaver’s introduction to the world of animal flesh brings her into contact with many meat-industry types. Some she casts in an ethical light. These include kind butchers and organic cattle ranchers.

The Artist's Mother: A Tribute by History's Greatest Artists to the Women Who Created Them

The artists featured in The Artist's Mother share three confounding commonalities. First, they paint; second, they have mothers; and third, they have painted their mother’s portraits. (Hope you’re still with me.) Apparently, this last trait was the key criterion for inclusion in this nifty thirty-six artist collection.

Howdy Booby Time Organic Body Wash (Rosewood Lavender)

Breast cancer. I hate it. Obviously it is not that I like any type of cancer, but I have a very special place in my dark chest of hatred for breast cancer. I do not know what it is exactly… maybe that most of its victims are women? Or maybe it is because it nearly took my beloved Aunt Anny away from me, twice. So I take it personally and everyone else should too. If statistics are correct (and I hope they aren't) one in six women over the age of fifty will develop breast cancer during their lifetime, which means that we are all potential targets of this terrible transgressor.

Rocket Science For Dummies

It does not take a rocket scientist to realize that Rocket Science for Dummies is a great album. Astronauts of Antiquity’s singer, India, and guitarist, B. Rhyan, are a musical match made in heaven. They travel further, taking listeners on a well-designed trip of cosmic rhythms. Astronauts of Antiquity’s influence list is long, but they have managed to make an individual, well-crafted sound that, although resembling many, is like none.

Cocoa Butter Body Cream: Vanilla Mocha

I love my organs! My kidneys are awesome. As bad as I have been to my liver, it has never let me down. My heart is a hard-working love machine. Although, I must say, my absolute favorite organ has to be my skin, and the best part is that I have lots of it! My skin has been so good to me, I am certainly grateful that, even after years of long baby oil tanning sessions, it still appears mildly even-colored, and I haven’t attained that proverbial fried-pork-rind look.

Eggy Cup

Scrumdidlyump is the tongue-twisting brainchild of Katie Elkins, who (according to her Etsy profile) comes from the faraway land of Dixie and lives in the land of weirdos - an obviously highly enlightened place. Her Etsy store is a perfect reflection of this weirdness.

Chai Tea Party Sugared Frosting Scrub

http://www.bevperdue.com/ stands for "beyond ordinary bath essentials"—fitting as this product is quite extraordinary and, after trying it, has become an essential addition. The Sugared Frosting Scrub's chai smell is so natural that it would be impossible to tell the difference between it and the real thing, the thick sugar grains melted on my face and body and I came out of the bath glowing and fragrant.

Throw like a Girl

After being asked what she wanted for her readers to take away from Throw Like a Girl, Jean Thompson answered that she hoped they appreciate the “transforming power of literature, how can it remove us from the everyday world and let us see with new eyes.” And this book does just that: it takes us away from the everyday world and then painfully drops us back with the suspicion that this fiction is actually very real. The horrors of normalcy and the tedium of

Newcomer's Handbook for Moving to and Living in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin

Ah, how luck changes. I once lived with my favorite person in my favorite neighborhood in my favorite city in the world: Austin, Texas. It was just the two of us. Quiet, peaceful and weird. I also lived in what used to be my favorite apartment; it was perfect, until I unknowingly took in a flock of hungry, loved-starved fleas. Since that happened I have been fighting a constant war against these parasitic vermin. And it’s not just me.

Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt: Awakening the Healing Power of the Heart

Nicki Scully and Linda Star Wolf have written a fun and strange manual that teaches us how we can unlock the secrets of the New Age teachings with the help of the shamanic Egyptian mysteries. In addition to an array of beautiful illustrations, the authors have effectively organized the book into three parts. The first two contain instructions on performing rites of passage and meditations with a little help from our friends, the always accessible primary divine entities of prehistoric Egypt. The third section focuses on the four elements: water, earth, fire and air.

Arachnina, The Spider Girl Perfume Oil

Only three days ago I started wearing Arachnina. And since then, my life has changed completely. As I leave my house in my everyday attire of corsets, hobble skirts with crinolines and feather hats, I notice strange looks and dangling tongues from my intrigued neighbors. While this type of attention never came my way before, this lady must confess that she finds it quite pleasing. In fact, the other day I went for my daily walk along the beach with my English Spaniel and my lacey umbrella and was approached by a very nice lad with a wooden leg and a sweet breath of rum.