It has been a busy semester. I have had an extra class and we have looked at the theme of food. How interesting could "that" be, you might ask?
Food today in the US, perhaps in other Western countries as well, is mostly mass produced, on a scale, I and my class learned, that is really not so healthy. We read part of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and saw part of the movie Food, Inc. Both about mass production of food in America. So, putting food on an assembly line is not so bad, right? Well, the assembly line doesn't help, but before the food hits the assembly line, the way it is produced is, well, not so healthy. We feed cows and chickens grain that is mostly likely genetically modified, and put antibiotics and growth hormone in there so the beef and chicken grow big and fast. In Food, Inc. a woman farmer showed how the chickens were "so heavy" for their frames that they could only walk a few steps and then sat down. And they were always inside and didn't see the sun or grass. Is this natural? (Should we care?)
If we don't care about the animals we should care about the end product -- food that is very manipulated, at least where meat is concerned. Vegetables conventionally mass produced have a lot of immune system compromising pesticides on them. Organic vegetables are better. Organically raised meat "can" be better (depending on what USDA laws are followed). But my students saw our mass produced food is not all that healthy.
And a fellow teacher showed the film Planeat and it provided info on studies following vegetarian protein (nuts, beans, lentils), unlike animal protein, will not increase heart disease or cancerous tumors. Vegetarianism can prevent tumor growth! Wow, what an idea, enough to make me a full fledged vegan!
But I do like meat. I don't need steak but I need to eat some meat. But I am going to try for some vegan days (no milk either) each week. That will be a challenge. Hey, if studies show vegetable protein is healthier, then why not?
Friday, May 4, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Intestinal Issues, Enjoyed having my "gran kitties"
Well, you never know when it comes to health issues. Someone I know in her forties had a stroke the other day. The last time I was at the doctor it seemed my blood pressure was borderline high. I hope it doesn't continue that way, though it's likely as my father had high blood pressure many years. But, unlike me, he got his weight down to where he was very thin and lived a number of years like that (till last summer, when he passed on). We all wonder what exactly is coming next, but I 'm told by a very spiritual friend that the monarh (?) butterfly that flitted by me in October was his way of saying he was in a better place.
A few weeks ago I had a pain in my side and thought it was intestinal blockage. That weekend oldest Son came for his cats. At his apartment they said he had to get rid of his gray and black kitties and he wasn't going to do it. So he brought them to our place to "cat sit" while he hoped they would inspect his apartment and say all clear. After a month they finally told him they were coming over on one particular day, and so they didn't see the kitties!
I call them kitties but they are long and thin, the length of full grown cats, at least. The black male, Sirius, would come and stay on my lap over an hour at night as I watched TV. Jean, the gray one, would stay on my lap 20 seconds and jump off! She would also jump around if she bumped into something and knocked it down. They knocked over pictures, DVDs, and ran after things that rolled, from balls to spools to cat toys. They were entertaining, though cleaning their big litter box was not. The closest I am coming to grandchildren, it seems.
Right after Zeb left I went to the doctor and found out that pain was from a pulled hip muscle. His prescription? Oh, pain medicine. Nothing about putting cold/ heat on it and easing into using it again. Typical doctor. I was also constipated. Took the "Miramax" 4 days and this week it seems to all be coming out! I hope I can be regular again. That stuff comes from petroleum (!) so it can't be too healthy, me thinks!
While here I took Zeb to both the "peace garden" and nearby "Stadium Woods" of VA. Tech. They need to preserve that small woods. It has oaks in it that are maybe 300 years old, so old you can't put your arms around them!
A few weeks ago I had a pain in my side and thought it was intestinal blockage. That weekend oldest Son came for his cats. At his apartment they said he had to get rid of his gray and black kitties and he wasn't going to do it. So he brought them to our place to "cat sit" while he hoped they would inspect his apartment and say all clear. After a month they finally told him they were coming over on one particular day, and so they didn't see the kitties!
I call them kitties but they are long and thin, the length of full grown cats, at least. The black male, Sirius, would come and stay on my lap over an hour at night as I watched TV. Jean, the gray one, would stay on my lap 20 seconds and jump off! She would also jump around if she bumped into something and knocked it down. They knocked over pictures, DVDs, and ran after things that rolled, from balls to spools to cat toys. They were entertaining, though cleaning their big litter box was not. The closest I am coming to grandchildren, it seems.
Right after Zeb left I went to the doctor and found out that pain was from a pulled hip muscle. His prescription? Oh, pain medicine. Nothing about putting cold/ heat on it and easing into using it again. Typical doctor. I was also constipated. Took the "Miramax" 4 days and this week it seems to all be coming out! I hope I can be regular again. That stuff comes from petroleum (!) so it can't be too healthy, me thinks!
While here I took Zeb to both the "peace garden" and nearby "Stadium Woods" of VA. Tech. They need to preserve that small woods. It has oaks in it that are maybe 300 years old, so old you can't put your arms around them!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Busy With School, Coats today aren't heavy
During the hectic "Black Friday" day my son got me up at 4:30 A M! It was insane to get to Burlington Coat Factory that early, but everyone else was doing it so we thought why shouldn't we? We missed our exit and had to turn around and got to the store at 5:30 A. M. There were maybe 4 people in the store! What was the rush?
It took me awhile to find a decent coat. It seems that nowadays, coats are so much thinner and have less of a lining than when I was a lot younger. Do the manufacturers think there will be 'global warming' and it is therefore healthy to wear thin coats in winter? Can you survive in a thin coat in the northeastern states?
Even in Virginia it can get cold. I tried on a goose down (I assumed it was goose) filled coat, but it had no real lining and it seemed paper thin. I bought it and wore it outside. My son said, well, you have a month to decide to bring it back, but I didn't want to "come" back. So we shopped next door in Big Lots and then I brought it back. And bought a different coat, that was very furry on one side. It "seemed" warm anyway, and had a better style but the down filled one. But it was a little big -- guess I could line it with extra sweaters if I need to. Is it healthy to make winter coats so thin nowadays?
School has kept me busy and soon the grading and classes will be over for the semester. Then I have to work on "another" new course, and finish my satire. My mystery novel is seemingly going nowhere just now.
It took me awhile to find a decent coat. It seems that nowadays, coats are so much thinner and have less of a lining than when I was a lot younger. Do the manufacturers think there will be 'global warming' and it is therefore healthy to wear thin coats in winter? Can you survive in a thin coat in the northeastern states?
Even in Virginia it can get cold. I tried on a goose down (I assumed it was goose) filled coat, but it had no real lining and it seemed paper thin. I bought it and wore it outside. My son said, well, you have a month to decide to bring it back, but I didn't want to "come" back. So we shopped next door in Big Lots and then I brought it back. And bought a different coat, that was very furry on one side. It "seemed" warm anyway, and had a better style but the down filled one. But it was a little big -- guess I could line it with extra sweaters if I need to. Is it healthy to make winter coats so thin nowadays?
School has kept me busy and soon the grading and classes will be over for the semester. Then I have to work on "another" new course, and finish my satire. My mystery novel is seemingly going nowhere just now.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Great Head Cold, Ordered Juicer, Weather from climate change
Is it just me or is this crazy weather a little bit, well, crazy? The other day tornadoes hit in Virginia and elsewhere and it is November, for pete's sake! When is the weather going to settle down, and I don't mean get down in the twenties, like they are predicting for tonight? Man, when is the weather going to be at least a little predictable? In the last 4 days we have had 70 degree weather during the day, then cooling rain, then it spitting snow flakes and freezing temperatures!
This isn't good for the planet OR the average person.
It is no wonder that I have a head cold. I exercised, (Sat. it was early) and now I have a full blown head cold. I was out in the cold temperatures. I did have a hat ( a French beret) on but I guess it wasn't heavy enough. And I just spoke with one of my students, who's thrown up and been sick for over a week. She came to the door in a pullover sweatshirt, no hat or gloves or real coat, it's 40 degrees out and she wonders why she's sick! I gave her extra time to work on her paper (nice me :).
I wish I were thinner as it would help keep cancer at bay. But I am taking Vit. D3 and I need to get some more iodine tablets. My body I know is deficient-- my hair is still thinning out, even after going off Femara, the anti-estrogen drug. Well, when I get that Jack LaLanne juicer I ordered in the mail I will do some serious juicing a few times a month. I need the extra nutrients a juicer would provide!
This isn't good for the planet OR the average person.
It is no wonder that I have a head cold. I exercised, (Sat. it was early) and now I have a full blown head cold. I was out in the cold temperatures. I did have a hat ( a French beret) on but I guess it wasn't heavy enough. And I just spoke with one of my students, who's thrown up and been sick for over a week. She came to the door in a pullover sweatshirt, no hat or gloves or real coat, it's 40 degrees out and she wonders why she's sick! I gave her extra time to work on her paper (nice me :).
I wish I were thinner as it would help keep cancer at bay. But I am taking Vit. D3 and I need to get some more iodine tablets. My body I know is deficient-- my hair is still thinning out, even after going off Femara, the anti-estrogen drug. Well, when I get that Jack LaLanne juicer I ordered in the mail I will do some serious juicing a few times a month. I need the extra nutrients a juicer would provide!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Still No Juicer, Fall is in the Air, Festival Time, Our trees cut down needlessly
It is funny, my last post about needing a juicer. I still don't have one, as my damn, stupid old car (the one I inherited 'back' from my son after he got a job and needed better, more reliable transportation) took $460 of our hard earned dollars -- the back tires were in bad shape and the exhaust system was totally rusted out and barely attached. WEll, son Zeb had been without a job for a while so he spent as little on the car as possible, I can see. Cars are a real money pit!
So, I don't have a juicer but am trying to exercise more and get out in nature. This is the time of year for outdoor festivals, when the air is not too hot or too cold, though today it is colder and windier than normal. Yes, the clean, crisp air of autumn, the different colors swirling around your head as you venture out across the lawn or across town-- if they stay up there.
Yes, our maintenance crew by the house we are presently renting (man, do I want to move out and into a house of my own!) "said" that the town told them our walnut trees were close to the power line. Baloney. They weren't within 15 feet. They just wanted them cut down because the black walnut fruits put dings in a few of their trucks! They're maintenance people so why don't they build a canopy for the stupid trucks! No, they had to tell the landlord about the trees. But what does "he" care if we have squirrels in our yard scurrying up these wonderful, healthy trees, or if my husband has a place to hang a bird feeder and drive our cat crazy with watching them? Why should he care? Well, he didn't!
I ran to the realty office as they were cutting (not trimming, which they could have done) these 60 foot trees, the three sisters down. They refused to give me the landlord's whole name and address or phone number, so I could talk him out of destroying these healthy, beautiful trees. Well, he's part of the one percent and we are part of the 99 percent. We just don't count. We don't have any money to fight city hall, as it were.
So the three sisters, who provided us privacy, who soaked up nasty fumes and carbon dioxide from passing cars, who provided a home for squirrels, who beautified the neighbor, were cut down to three foot stumps. It was unnecessary and spiteful.
And a week later, nature retaliated. A week later an old silver maple let the wind break off its limps, landing in our front yard and almost on our little house. A coincidence? Maybe Mother Nature was just plain fed up!
So, I don't have a juicer but am trying to exercise more and get out in nature. This is the time of year for outdoor festivals, when the air is not too hot or too cold, though today it is colder and windier than normal. Yes, the clean, crisp air of autumn, the different colors swirling around your head as you venture out across the lawn or across town-- if they stay up there.
Yes, our maintenance crew by the house we are presently renting (man, do I want to move out and into a house of my own!) "said" that the town told them our walnut trees were close to the power line. Baloney. They weren't within 15 feet. They just wanted them cut down because the black walnut fruits put dings in a few of their trucks! They're maintenance people so why don't they build a canopy for the stupid trucks! No, they had to tell the landlord about the trees. But what does "he" care if we have squirrels in our yard scurrying up these wonderful, healthy trees, or if my husband has a place to hang a bird feeder and drive our cat crazy with watching them? Why should he care? Well, he didn't!
I ran to the realty office as they were cutting (not trimming, which they could have done) these 60 foot trees, the three sisters down. They refused to give me the landlord's whole name and address or phone number, so I could talk him out of destroying these healthy, beautiful trees. Well, he's part of the one percent and we are part of the 99 percent. We just don't count. We don't have any money to fight city hall, as it were.
So the three sisters, who provided us privacy, who soaked up nasty fumes and carbon dioxide from passing cars, who provided a home for squirrels, who beautified the neighbor, were cut down to three foot stumps. It was unnecessary and spiteful.
And a week later, nature retaliated. A week later an old silver maple let the wind break off its limps, landing in our front yard and almost on our little house. A coincidence? Maybe Mother Nature was just plain fed up!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Colon Cleanse Best with Juicer, Dog Problems, Talk to Students about Nature
Well, I saw an ad online that said Rachel Ray lose 32 pounds, something about Acaci berries and a colon cleanse. I should do a colon cleanse, but I need to get a juicer. Did you know that a juicer actually 'breaks down' the walls of fruit and vegetables? I tried a "juicing" recipe from Natural Health magazine that used carrots, romaine lettuce and mustard greens or some such green and it just created a big goop! And then I drank that three mornings in a row and actually made me, with my messed up intestinal track, constipated! Yes, I got plugged up by something healthy! I am going to get
a juicer now this month.
And the danged dog-- what an expense. Spent over $100 (!) on a haircut and some shots, but the vet said he had an enlarged testicle and yet, surgery would be risky and require certain tests (as he is 11 years old). Not my dog, our fifth stray dog and never wanted this whiny mutt so it's the husband's call. The surgery alone would cost $200! Oh, will I ever have money?
Well, my students are analyzing an excerpt from the book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Some of them want to argue about the issue instead of just analyze, one student just "described" what was in it without analyzing the logic of it. They seem to need to be led by the hand, most of them. It is frustrating, and they wonder why they haven't gotten all As! Next week I will have a guest speaker talk about the town's trees so maybe that will help them see the value of nature more. One can hope.
a juicer now this month.
And the danged dog-- what an expense. Spent over $100 (!) on a haircut and some shots, but the vet said he had an enlarged testicle and yet, surgery would be risky and require certain tests (as he is 11 years old). Not my dog, our fifth stray dog and never wanted this whiny mutt so it's the husband's call. The surgery alone would cost $200! Oh, will I ever have money?
Well, my students are analyzing an excerpt from the book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Some of them want to argue about the issue instead of just analyze, one student just "described" what was in it without analyzing the logic of it. They seem to need to be led by the hand, most of them. It is frustrating, and they wonder why they haven't gotten all As! Next week I will have a guest speaker talk about the town's trees so maybe that will help them see the value of nature more. One can hope.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Miserable cold Highlanders' Festival, Radford,VA, hair still thinning out
My musings on life are not all that amusing, are they? Kurt Vonnegut had the line "and so it goes" and now has a biography with that title. What could my
literary title be? And so she went (and needed to lose weight and become somebody to have some satisfaction in life and make a difference). I think we all want to make a difference. I stay dissatisfied with myself all the time. But I am no great perfectionist either. Just looking for publication, I guess, some validation.
I am going to try to write about the "Highlander Festival". It is an annual event in Radford for the Scottish clan in you, with Scottish competition like the hammer toss, tossing hay bales (supposed to represent sheep and they wanted to be humane, I guess ) all kinds of arts and crafts, Irish bread, Amish Bread, Celtic symbols, bands that use fiddle, guitar and drums. I have been to this event several times and the band was good, despite it being cold and then starting to rain, and then not raining,and then being cold again. It was miserable, but they got us up and jumping several times and met a few English
club friends there too!
I'm in here waiting for a student and look in the mirror -- man,I need to lose body fat, and need a wig almost, this low thyroid crap is bad. I need to increase my metabolism, and/or find a doctor who can. Wish I had some real money to go to the doctor.
literary title be? And so she went (and needed to lose weight and become somebody to have some satisfaction in life and make a difference). I think we all want to make a difference. I stay dissatisfied with myself all the time. But I am no great perfectionist either. Just looking for publication, I guess, some validation.
I am going to try to write about the "Highlander Festival". It is an annual event in Radford for the Scottish clan in you, with Scottish competition like the hammer toss, tossing hay bales (supposed to represent sheep and they wanted to be humane, I guess ) all kinds of arts and crafts, Irish bread, Amish Bread, Celtic symbols, bands that use fiddle, guitar and drums. I have been to this event several times and the band was good, despite it being cold and then starting to rain, and then not raining,and then being cold again. It was miserable, but they got us up and jumping several times and met a few English
club friends there too!
I'm in here waiting for a student and look in the mirror -- man,I need to lose body fat, and need a wig almost, this low thyroid crap is bad. I need to increase my metabolism, and/or find a doctor who can. Wish I had some real money to go to the doctor.
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