Then I read about a crazy banana fruit lady. It’s bananas. Obviously eating all fruit is not a good idea long-term, but at first it seemed like there was such positive response. That’s because they moderate negative comments, duh, so they can keep perpetuating myths to make mo’ money!

Then someone mentioned it being like a cult technique. Then I decided to research those. The awesome (there are two very different meanings of this word, and I’m referring to both of them) thing about the internet being the source of research for many (instead of real books, studies, and actually physically researching something), is that you end up with a whole bunch of anything. If you look at the popular stuff, you assume it’s going to be solid, and true, right? No. What about Fox News?!

Ha.

Anyway. I was thinking about cults and got scared because I am easily influenced by other people, and I can see the validity to lots of points of views on things. I used to even be gullible!

Take a look at this, me responding to a well-written overview of cults and tactics used by them (they so smartly did not write them all out so as not to be associated with cult-propelling-propaganda)

Luckily though, I am intelligent enough not to fall for something like that. I even got a little nervous to write about this, thinking admitting to it publicly might make me fall for it. Well, I already sort of have been cultivated (haha) in my life before.

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta! Meditation time.

Hmm…better stick to product reviews and stuff on this blog, I’m gettin’ too weird with my theories.

Edit/update- then after reading for a while I thought, hmm, some of these people might be losing their period from not eating enough (which is bad), but, everyone’s different. Balance. Moderation. (I will never again call myself a fixed label “vegan” “raw” “vegetarian” because I like options, and like to experiment to see what’s best for my body and I strongly believe it does include meat!)

Raw Food Support forum page where I first encountered it

Well, then I googled about it for more info, and instead of posting a bunch of links like I was initially intending, I am going to not do that, and just summarize what I read. Because at first I was way into it, and then, like with every “diet” (or lifestyle choice I prefer), there are pros and cons, and while something may be a fact, you can always find some people who are different (and everyone is different when it comes to food reaction/body stuff/etc…)

Anyway, I think eating healthier, and less toxin-filled food, and…just less food, would indeed make your periods lighter. I see how eating less meat and/or dairy might lessen the flow (and you’re undoubtedly affected by what these animals eat- mostly crap), and also soy- which messes with estrogen, would make a difference (hormonal balance/dysmenorrhea etc…)

Woh, again, I’m mid-post, get really distracted (reading about a freak lady, won’t mention her name, don’t want to increase her SEO/google stats, but, she is annoying enough to keep reading about…let’s call her banana b#$%h). Anyway, I could finish this post, edit it to be a bit cleaner and more concise, but instead I’m delving into this off-topic-offshoot. Only a bit. That’s me. That’s a lot of people. Anyway…let’s focus

At least try this as an experiment:

Eat less meat and dairy (obviously raw would mean you ate none of this stuff, but I think it is good for you in small amounts (meat over dairy, really)), but the stuff you do eat, make the effort to get organic- really look into the food.

Eat less processed foods. Focus on raw foods (vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc…) I think that makes perfect sense that all the other crap added into foods would make it harder not just for digestion, but for excretion, through whatever avenue (sorry if that sounds gross).

AVOID SUGAR! This could be an entirely different experiment. I used to take down a whole box of midol each month. I have had many a day when I could hardly function from cramps. But when I gave up overt sugar and really minimized my grains to limited whole grains (and just things like potatoes), my cramps lightened, and then went away for several menses months. It was unexpected, and hugely life-changing. (But apparently not enough so to stay off sugar? Well, I try, and it’s hard. Sugar is disgustingly hiding in so many foods and I’m somewhat of an addict).

Anyway, long story short- eating better will likely help your period get better. That said, I feel like not much has changed for me after looking through/thinking about all this stuff. It is about balance, moderation, and not getting GMO/hormone/chemically/toxic food from most grocery stores. It ain’t easy, but it’s worth it.

In the age of pics or it didn’t happen, I realize I have been neglecting including original photos in posts (everyone loves a little bit of tasteful that). Here we go:

Bone marrow delight montage to come…Ok, MS Paint and a few other programs labor of lovetime later, here it is:

I am having the dandiest of times, eating this whole food, enjoying the daylight out of this great company (literally- they almost go down for sleepytimes when the sun goes down), and avoiding feeding my facebook addiction. Words with friends addiction is an enabler to my FB addiction.

Anyway, it’s all good. Great. Great in the hood. Here’s a visual on some of the reads:

I just got giddy off all this excitement. Drat. Thought maybe I’d also find a window of tiredness to hop on sometime around 10. Looks like I’m fueled to go for another few hours. Maybe I’ll get back to offline writing, and sprinkle in a little more picture editing. So much happened today, because I used the computer so little. Ha.

That said, I can work tomorrow and just get it done, then for the weekend work I can isolate that to one particular time or area (and maybe I’ll go back home Sunday and do it then). I’ve already made some decisions though. I am so happy and so grateful to be here, to be offered such a beautiful home/view/area, with wonderful company, and a delicious meal that makes me excited to see what else we’ll enjoy gastronomically, and did I say it’s wonderful already?!

1) I am not going to feed my Words with Friends addiction. Furthermore, W.W.F. is tied to facebook, that guy, and while I did sign on to post my brag-update, I will not go on for the rest of the time. (Well, if I can help it, and I am pretty good about discipline while not in my usual homestead environment).

2) That last part leads me to remember that I spend way too much time, inside, in my apartment, and even just sitting at my computer, for FAR too long. Need to remember to do less of that. No, me not blogging is not because I have not been wasting lots of time on the computer. I definitely have been doing that.

3) It is so nice to get away. I had a rough last year. Like, most of 2011 was AWFUL. And no, I’m not an over-exaggerator. Just check my posts out from last year. You’ll see. Any time I’ve traveled recently has been for awful, terrible things.

4) I just thought that I was hearing noises, in this foreign house, and thinking “Uh oh, maybe it’s a ghost, been having a lot of dreams/thoughts about ghosts lately.” But I think they mentioned little creatures. It is a farm. That’s funny. The creatures want to know what I’m up to. I’m not too scared of say, mice, but, if they crawl on me, well, let’s just say I don’t care for that.

5) I’m excited to relax, breathe nature, walk around, and possibly write a lot. Read and/or write. I’ve already done that, in renewing my vigor for posting (although the writing I really want to do will not be on the computy, for now), and I actually got read to! This couple trades off reading aloud to each other, and we were reading a fascinating book, more on that later. BOOM EDIT UPDATE (i.e. the more on that later prelude…may never get into the book, but, I will now provide info) It is called “Deep Nutrition” by Catherine and Luke Shanahan. Very interesting nutritional info and ideas, basically reminding us of how bad the “American” diet is.

In short (oh, wait, of course, I’m me, super wordy already and super long winded), I am VERY excited to be away on a vacation, and I did make a point to come earlier (before the weekend), so I can have a good amount of time to really spend, get comfy, and thank my lucky stars (will probably see lots of stars) that all this exists.

I am so fortunate. I am so happy I finally did this too. Always worse to beat yourself up about stuff you don’t do, because it doesn’t help you do it faster (at least not for me). Planning. Yippee.

Recently discovered Ghetto Hikes, where a 28 y.o. guy takes urban kids on nature excursions, and just notes the awesome things they say.

This reminds me of some good teaching moments, funny quotes, interesting observations, etc…but even better because it is NATURE.

I’m so excited about my new job (going to pursue this). Or if not this, then maybe I could see about if that guy’s married or not, and if not, just join along for some fun, and maybe a marriage or somethin’ like dat.

TLDR; CHECK OUT GHETTOHIKES.COM IT’S HILARIOUS AND AFFIRMATIVE OF THE AWESOMENESS NATURE BRINGS OUT IN EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY KIDZ.

I basically got a girl’s number. But I’m a girl. So. I’m more excited about the mental/philosophical possibilities that lie therein.

The movie is so full of good scenes and quotes I wouldn’t know where to start or stop (maybe that’s why I’ve seen it at least 10 times and still thoroughly enjoy watching the whole movie over again). Here’s a good example of the humor and a good roommate scene:

I can relate to Annie. Lots of women can. Lots of people can. Yes, it is a vulgar movie, and I think it’s partially because most movies are male-centered that this could seem particularly crude. It also is, and most of it is hilarious.

Here are some of the best quotes and scenes to relive if you’ve loved watching it: Watch and Rank the Best Bridesmaids Quotes/Scenes

For more good movie quotes and info, check out IMDb’s Bridesmaids’ quotes page.

One part I particularly like is when Megan reminds Annie that she’s wallowing in her own self-pity and says this gem:
“I do not associate with people that blame the world for their problems. Cause you’re your problem, Annie. And you’re also your solution.” That’s true in many ways. The movie has lessons, people!

It is a great movie. I love it. It’s my favorite movie currently (amongst many others, of course, but really is one that’s made it into the permanent ranks of all-time favorites!)

If you haven’t watched it, you should (it’s good for ALMOST everyone, preferably above the age of 18). I love it. I can’t get enough. Kristen Wiig is hilarious, and so is Megan McCarthy. And all the rest of it too.

I got very addicted. Playing many games at a time, often having to wait a while for anyone else to play a turn (and thus wasting even more time). But my addiction could be worse, ala Alec Baldwin getting kicked off a plan while refusing to stop playing it (one of my favorite lines from the article is about how W.W.F. is more popular because it is not Scrabble, and so “this gives it a much broader audience beyond word nerds — or rather, it turns players into word nerds so gradually, they barely realize it’s happening.”).

On the flipside, however, there is a benefit. And yes, I did have to recently resort to my first game with strangers (as I’d been waiting for several hours and knew everyone was asleep). BUT! Words with Friends Helped Save a Man’s Life! And it could maybe help me too if I was choking on food, I could still type for help!

My advice? Don’t start playing, unless you’re ready to get real addicted.

But they can. I tried to do some proper research on the amount of time spent on the internet, but, a recent silly report is pervading the internet with lies and fear:

Social Networking Increases Risk of Teen Drug Abuse

Favorite quotes from that fear-mongering article: “But for this same age bracket, social-network-savvy teens are five times more likely to use tobacco; three times more likely to use alcohol; and twice as likely to use marijuana than teens who do not spend any of their day on social networking sites.” -and- “The results are profoundly troubling … the anything goes, free-for-all world of Internet expression, suggestive television programing and what-the-hell attitudes put teens at sharply increased risk of substance abuse,” [said some "important" guy].

This side-tracked me from my timeless, pointless blog post, and got me interested in this stupid idea that pervaded the majority of each of the first few google page results I could tolerate looking through.

Increased time spent social networking is not the cause of increased drug/alcohol use. Society today is. These kids’ parents (many of which are just ridiculous grown children) are a big part of the problem- how are they making efforts to better raise their kids? Maybe we can even blame the economy- it’s at fault for nearly everything. And so maybe these parents themselves are on prescription drugs and the somewhat-socially-acceptable alcohol train to destruction town! Drowning their sorrows because they can’t find work, or hate their jobs, or are afraid of losing them, or hate their entire lives!

WOH, WHAT AM I SAYING?! WHERE IS THIS GOING? THESE ARE RANTINGS AND RAVINGS WITH NO SOLID STATISTICS. People want, need, believe in, and exemplify statistics. So a “study” says kids who spend more time online are more likely to do a line? Well, then, let’s get them off of facebook!

Ironically I am totally veering away from my original intentions (about the degrading quality (and frequency) of social interactions due to social networking and being online), and making this a hodge-podge-mcdodge.

The only good result obtained in my extensive research was this link: A moronic survey says social networks will cause teens to do drugs

A Moronic Survey Says Social Networks Will Cause Teens to do Drugs

They make so many good points:

1) Most kids go online and use s.n.’s, so you’re really making a pointless comparison between random kids in this crappy study.
2) One of the National Drug Whatever Waste of Money Study Company’s main points is that kids are seeing other kids drunk, high, smoking, or whatever, on these sites, and are likely to then do that?

No. Kids are doing that. And the problem is they are posting it online and then everyone’s commenting on it. Same thing with sexually (morally) degrading pictures, emphasizing looks and body features, and sharing superficial sectors of their lives.

Oh wait, where are kids getting the examples for that? (Think media in America. Think political scandals…wait, kids don’t care about those. But! They do hear about them more and more.)

So maybe I made some loony points myself, in a completely scatterbrained order. My main points are these: Society is #$%ed and a lot of Americans are becoming more and more like the movie Idiocracy.

I guess part of my rant/rave comes from being bewildered by kids these days, from middle-to-high-school age, trying to teach them, and being up against a huge amount of forces working against me (of course the education system is a big part of the problem as it pretty much always will be, but there are so many parenting issues and technology addictions and intelligence gaps, oh dear, here comes the anxiety).

What can I do? I guess I will temporarily quit facebook. And I may not go back to teaching anytime soon. But I can tutor kids. I could make videos to help them (one that makes it viral would be best). I can hold off on pro-creating until I am certain that me and my partner are ready to climb the mountain of raising a child with awareness in today’s world…a balancing act for sure.

I guess, to end on a positive note, I’m secretly really hoping the world does end, at the end of 2012.

Well, for one thing, I’d recently heard of the term Takotsubo’s Cardiomyopathy a.k.a. “Broken-heart syndrome” and seen the article describing the stress-induced cardiomyopathy occurrence. Cardiomyopathy is heart muscle disease, if you didn’t know.

But today, there is a New York Times article (which, therefore, is a lot easier and slightly entertaining to read (= read fit-for-the-average-American), entitled Really? The Claim: Grief Can Cause a Heart Attack

The article confirms what I had seen before, and with simpler explanation.

Especially the day after a loved one dies (especially say, a spouse), heart attacks are just waiting around the corner. Well, perhaps the people in the study were more likely to have a heart attack than a very healthy human. But yes, death of a loved one, especially your so-called soulmate, could induce enough stress to cause a heart attack!

“The study, published on Monday in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, found that a person’s heart attack risk is 21 times higher than normal the day after a loved one dies.”

Recently, with all the deaths, I’ve heard a few people say their heart is actually hurting. That scares me. This article mentions that even weeks or months after the death, there is still an increased risk.

And, I myself must admit, I have been having some palpitations. I am not at all at risk. I am a young and healthy young-adult. But, as a doctor points out at the end of this short article: “…Bereavement could provoke depression, anger and anxiety, all of which can elevate the heart rate and blood pressure and increase blood clotting”.

I know I am just finally getting over a sickness related to odd sleeping patterns. What can you do? I think if there’s one thing you get out of this, hopefully if you read this (and I hope it doesn’t happen any time soon, if ever), and you lose someone near and dear to you (or you’re paying attention to what happens to family members), just pay attention. You really could have a heart attack and die of it just after the death of your beloved family member. But do not fear, it’s probably not that likely to happen. Though the after-affects of losing someone are devastating. And, I still don’t feel in the clear personally as far as being concerned about some of my family members.

And nothing is worse then losing two family members in a close amount of time. I’ve not only read about it, I’m living it. This post is going nowhere anymore, but, keep the words in mind. Broken hearts are real things. And, there is a good physical basis behind it.