Thursday, April 17, 2014
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Sugar, to be or not to be?
So... I did some digging around after seeing a blog post about a woman and her family foregoing all added sugars (minus the natural sugar found in fruits and veggies) and talking about how wonderful it made them feel.
Now me...I LOVE sugar. Chocolate, cupcakes, sugar in my coffee, starbucks, all that. Yum, yum, but I've been trying to eat better, not to lose weight or anything but just to be a healthier individual.
Now the blog post was by: http://rawforbeauty.com/blog/our-year-of-no-sugar-one-familys-grand-adventure.html
And what they did was cut any added sugar from their diet. They are a family of two kids, one husband and one wife. They gave themselves a once a month dessert to binge on. After a few months of this no sugar though they found they enjoyed their dessert less and less til finally their bodies couldn't handle it at all, but they felt great all the time. More energized, more ready to take on the flu season and it got me thinking 'how much sugar do I eat?' 'How much sugar are you allowed to eat?' So I started digging around.
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I looked around on a couple of different sites. Sites like: http://authoritynutrition.com/how-much-sugar-per-day/
They said it was a hard answer but they made the estimate that a male can consume about 37.5 grams (or 9 tsps) a day. While a female can consume about 25 grams (or 6 tsps) a day.
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/joybauernutrition/sugar-how-much-should-we-eat/ said no more than 8 tsps for both sexes a day for a 2000 calorie diet.
Most gave men 9 tsps and women 6 tsps of sugar per day. Or otherwise men = 37.5 (or) 40 grams (if we're rounding up) and women 25 grams.
Well then I did some digging in my own home.
As you can see by that picture of my pantry, the bottom shelf is pretty crowded.
Well the bottom shelf is all the food in the pantry that contains sugar. I suppose the 'Trix' was a no brainer but I found sugar in tortillas, wheat flower, canned veggies, and even a bag of pinto beans!
The middle shelf is food that contains no sugar. Mostly the shelf is covered with potatoes and teas.
The third shelf is just our vitamins and medicines. Then I went into the fridge, there's sugar in milk! There's sugar in lunch meats! There's sugar in frozen veggies, and lots and lots of sugar in all the condiments and dressings people keep as well. Then I decided to do a little math.
This is dinner. Pretty nice right? We've got the veggies, the chicken, and the beans and rice. All that should be on a dinner plate in the U.S.A.
Well on this plate is about 5.6 grams of sugar. Not bad right? Though I will say, it doesn't look like there should be any sugar in this meal, but there it is. Using the serving sizes (because you know, no one EVER goes over those) I measure that this plate contains that many grams of sugar.
Then I started thinking, what about the whole day?
Let's say you're an average but healthy American.
You start your day with, lets say something like a Denny's Grand slam (two pancakes, two eggs, two slices of bacon or sausage) and you top it off with a big glass of milk. Does a body good right?
Well, using only the serving amount on everything you have the pancakes (bisquick 1 gram per 1/3 cup mix) and you have two pancakes so lets just say 2 grams. You have syrup, now I use Mrs. Butterworths because it's delicious! That right there is 37 grams per 1/4 cup. You might say 'But hey! I don't use Mrs. Butterworths, I'm all natural, I like pure maple syrup!' and I'd say: 'Well you're in luck then because my husband loves it too, so I have it on hand. Sugar is about 53 grams.....yikes!'
Now no added sugar in the eggs of course, and as luck would have it if you chose bacon, no sugar in that either. But how about sausage? I went with a regular sausage, nothing Italian or German, but your average breakfast sausage. That's about 2 grams, per, so 4. Oh and don't forget the big glass of milk to wash it down. If you go with a glass full that's about 3 cups. ... 33 grams. Of course it differs with brand, but for us, regular 2 % cheapy milk was 11 grams a cup. So what's your breakfast at?
Well if you went with Butterworth and Sausage you've got. 2+37+4+33 = 76 .... craaaap!
However it doesn't stop there. You also have lunch. Let's say you just get a regular homemade sandwich, and maybe a small bag of sun chips (because they're oh so good and healthy!) and you splurge and get a 20 oz. coke. You normally don't but just for this one day you do.
Alright well, let's use good whole wheat bread, of course it's going to vary depending on brand but this is what I got: 4 grams per slice so 8. Used Turkey which has sugar but doesn't measure it in grams so we'll cut you a break, then we have a lil Mayo, also has sugar but no amount, and some mustard which doesn't have any sugar. Of course we're not going to count any tomatoes and lettuce if you choose to put it on because that's natural. So not counting the unmeasured sugar you have 8 grams in your sandwich, and the average fun sized bag of sun chips you have 2 grams. Also we KNOW coke has a lot of sugar, all soft drinks do, so what does 20 oz. coke have? 65 grams. . .
Well let's say you take out the coke, you go UBER healthy and have a V8 juice instead. Well that's 7 grams per 8 oz. Yeesh so for your lunch you have 10 grams without the drink. 75 with the coke and 17 with the V8. Add the least amount with a drink to your breakfast and you've got: 93...
Now add that delicious and healthy meal above.....98.6 and that's if you followed all portion control and didn't have a single snack during the day.
What the crap right? How do you eat healthy? Oh and by the way, let's take out the breakfast and add your average Americans breakfast = a bowl of cereal or even less. Well if you don't partake of breakfast and just drink unsweetened black coffee you have 22.6 grams. Not bad, you meet the mark! Let's say you have a bowl of cereal. We'll use 'Trix' because A. it's what I have and B. It along with all other sugary cereal's kids love will have an adequate estimate of sugar in cereal. 10 grams, plus your 11 grams of milk so 22 grams. That puts you at 44.6 grams.
Oh and by the way, I'm a kidney stone survivor. If you've ever had one you'll understand what I mean by 'survivor.' My stone like so many others was caused by a lot of salt. Salt is another thing you see everywhere. We use it along with sugar to prolong shelf life and keep our food edible for long amounts of time. That estimate of sugar up above, with the pancakes, butterworth, the coke, and sausage, all of that equals to about 4245 ml grams of Sodium. After looking around the internet a bit on average they say you can at most intake about 2500, AT MOST.
Makes you feel good right?
At this point in time I would like to try and cut sugar out of my diet. Not for a year, that's insane, but I'd like to try just for a month. I have some prepping to do. I'm not going to throw out all my food, if there's one thing I hate, it's wasted food. One of my biggest pet peeves is throwing away leftovers or unused food. So I'm going to go through the food this month. Eat what we can and then for a month I'm going to try and cut all added sugars out of my diet. If I can do that and it's not killing me I plan on extending this. We'll see how it goes. I'll post as soon as these things are complete. Happy eating!!!
 |
| This is the mother that said no to sugar for a year |
Now the blog post was by: http://rawforbeauty.com/blog/our-year-of-no-sugar-one-familys-grand-adventure.html
And what they did was cut any added sugar from their diet. They are a family of two kids, one husband and one wife. They gave themselves a once a month dessert to binge on. After a few months of this no sugar though they found they enjoyed their dessert less and less til finally their bodies couldn't handle it at all, but they felt great all the time. More energized, more ready to take on the flu season and it got me thinking 'how much sugar do I eat?' 'How much sugar are you allowed to eat?' So I started digging around.
I looked around on a couple of different sites. Sites like: http://authoritynutrition.com/how-much-sugar-per-day/They said it was a hard answer but they made the estimate that a male can consume about 37.5 grams (or 9 tsps) a day. While a female can consume about 25 grams (or 6 tsps) a day.
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/joybauernutrition/sugar-how-much-should-we-eat/ said no more than 8 tsps for both sexes a day for a 2000 calorie diet.
Most gave men 9 tsps and women 6 tsps of sugar per day. Or otherwise men = 37.5 (or) 40 grams (if we're rounding up) and women 25 grams.Well then I did some digging in my own home.
As you can see by that picture of my pantry, the bottom shelf is pretty crowded.
Well the bottom shelf is all the food in the pantry that contains sugar. I suppose the 'Trix' was a no brainer but I found sugar in tortillas, wheat flower, canned veggies, and even a bag of pinto beans!
The middle shelf is food that contains no sugar. Mostly the shelf is covered with potatoes and teas.
The third shelf is just our vitamins and medicines. Then I went into the fridge, there's sugar in milk! There's sugar in lunch meats! There's sugar in frozen veggies, and lots and lots of sugar in all the condiments and dressings people keep as well. Then I decided to do a little math.
Well on this plate is about 5.6 grams of sugar. Not bad right? Though I will say, it doesn't look like there should be any sugar in this meal, but there it is. Using the serving sizes (because you know, no one EVER goes over those) I measure that this plate contains that many grams of sugar.
Then I started thinking, what about the whole day?
Let's say you're an average but healthy American.
You start your day with, lets say something like a Denny's Grand slam (two pancakes, two eggs, two slices of bacon or sausage) and you top it off with a big glass of milk. Does a body good right?
Well, using only the serving amount on everything you have the pancakes (bisquick 1 gram per 1/3 cup mix) and you have two pancakes so lets just say 2 grams. You have syrup, now I use Mrs. Butterworths because it's delicious! That right there is 37 grams per 1/4 cup. You might say 'But hey! I don't use Mrs. Butterworths, I'm all natural, I like pure maple syrup!' and I'd say: 'Well you're in luck then because my husband loves it too, so I have it on hand. Sugar is about 53 grams.....yikes!'
Now no added sugar in the eggs of course, and as luck would have it if you chose bacon, no sugar in that either. But how about sausage? I went with a regular sausage, nothing Italian or German, but your average breakfast sausage. That's about 2 grams, per, so 4. Oh and don't forget the big glass of milk to wash it down. If you go with a glass full that's about 3 cups. ... 33 grams. Of course it differs with brand, but for us, regular 2 % cheapy milk was 11 grams a cup. So what's your breakfast at?
Well if you went with Butterworth and Sausage you've got. 2+37+4+33 = 76 .... craaaap!
However it doesn't stop there. You also have lunch. Let's say you just get a regular homemade sandwich, and maybe a small bag of sun chips (because they're oh so good and healthy!) and you splurge and get a 20 oz. coke. You normally don't but just for this one day you do.
Alright well, let's use good whole wheat bread, of course it's going to vary depending on brand but this is what I got: 4 grams per slice so 8. Used Turkey which has sugar but doesn't measure it in grams so we'll cut you a break, then we have a lil Mayo, also has sugar but no amount, and some mustard which doesn't have any sugar. Of course we're not going to count any tomatoes and lettuce if you choose to put it on because that's natural. So not counting the unmeasured sugar you have 8 grams in your sandwich, and the average fun sized bag of sun chips you have 2 grams. Also we KNOW coke has a lot of sugar, all soft drinks do, so what does 20 oz. coke have? 65 grams. . .
Well let's say you take out the coke, you go UBER healthy and have a V8 juice instead. Well that's 7 grams per 8 oz. Yeesh so for your lunch you have 10 grams without the drink. 75 with the coke and 17 with the V8. Add the least amount with a drink to your breakfast and you've got: 93...
Now add that delicious and healthy meal above.....98.6 and that's if you followed all portion control and didn't have a single snack during the day.
What the crap right? How do you eat healthy? Oh and by the way, let's take out the breakfast and add your average Americans breakfast = a bowl of cereal or even less. Well if you don't partake of breakfast and just drink unsweetened black coffee you have 22.6 grams. Not bad, you meet the mark! Let's say you have a bowl of cereal. We'll use 'Trix' because A. it's what I have and B. It along with all other sugary cereal's kids love will have an adequate estimate of sugar in cereal. 10 grams, plus your 11 grams of milk so 22 grams. That puts you at 44.6 grams.
Oh and by the way, I'm a kidney stone survivor. If you've ever had one you'll understand what I mean by 'survivor.' My stone like so many others was caused by a lot of salt. Salt is another thing you see everywhere. We use it along with sugar to prolong shelf life and keep our food edible for long amounts of time. That estimate of sugar up above, with the pancakes, butterworth, the coke, and sausage, all of that equals to about 4245 ml grams of Sodium. After looking around the internet a bit on average they say you can at most intake about 2500, AT MOST.
Makes you feel good right?
At this point in time I would like to try and cut sugar out of my diet. Not for a year, that's insane, but I'd like to try just for a month. I have some prepping to do. I'm not going to throw out all my food, if there's one thing I hate, it's wasted food. One of my biggest pet peeves is throwing away leftovers or unused food. So I'm going to go through the food this month. Eat what we can and then for a month I'm going to try and cut all added sugars out of my diet. If I can do that and it's not killing me I plan on extending this. We'll see how it goes. I'll post as soon as these things are complete. Happy eating!!!
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Movie review of the 'The Wind Rises'
If you haven't seen 'The Wind Rises' and you're a Hayao Miyazaki fan then you need to get a move on it! Released in Japan in 2013 it has finally made it's way to America's silver screen.A beautiful story about dreams, this has been said to be Miyazaki's final film as a director. May he keep creating by story? Maybe, I sincerely hope so.
I and my husband saw this film February 28th in theaters. He surprised me with it because I had no idea a Miyazaki film was even coming out! So as we sat in the theaters me with my rose tea warming my hands I was bouncing with excitement.
Then the film started...
It's a very loose interpretation of the biography of Jiro Horikoshi, a boy that loves airplanes.
When the film first began and it shows this young boy with his dreams of flying airplanes I at first was a little let down to be honest. In my head I thought 'I have no interest in engineering, or airplanes,' but I kept watching.
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I will do my best to not give away any spoilers in this review, but please forgive me if one or two slips out!
Like I said when the film started I thought it was just going to be about airplanes and I was a little bummed, but as I kept watching I realized that it wasn't just about 'airplanes' it was about how Jiro (the main character) saw airplanes. How he saw the mechanics of airplanes, and flight. It gave me a new and very beautiful perspective of the creations of Man. How Jiro saw lines and how he saw machinery is not like I saw it, and the way his perspective is expressed fully helped me realize how wrong I was to think it was going to be about 'just' airplanes.
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Following his life from a boy to a man in college studying engineering, to when he gets his first job, to his first failure, his first love, and his first triumph. Along the way it introduces a collection of lovely unforgettable characters that will bring you into the world of early Japan.This story makes you fall in love, again and again.
I will say this isn't the best movie to take the kids to, giving to more of an adult theme it follows the classic story telling of an old black and white film. Letting you feel that mystery and awe. Telling the story through clips of Jiro's life as he journey's through what they call 'the artists ten years.' It gives me flashbacks of watching 'Casablanca' more than what we would consider a 'modern' film.
So if you're planning on watching this in theaters my advice is: leave the kids at home, grab your love, or a love of yours and enjoy this film with them. I highly recommend something wonderful and warm to drink while you watch (it's been rather chilly here so that might have something to do with that!), and some salty sweet popcorn to enjoy.
This movie is about so many things, dreams, craftsmanship, dedication but I would say it is entirely about love and passion. While a country is crumbling, a war is looming, and a way of life is ending, it has little-to no involvement with what truly matters. Love, passion, truth, and the beauty of life.
I really don't want to give anything away, watching it without any notions about it from commercials or spoilers was one of the magical things about this experience for me, so I will not rob you of your chance for the same here. All I can say is if this really is Hayao's last movie then he chose to go out with a bang and flying colors.
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A story teller after my own heart, I will never forget the stories he gave to us, and I sincerely hope this is not his final chapter for the silver screen.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
The Biz...
So... it's been a while... yep. Haven't posted in over a month, actually I didn't post for the whole month of January. Why you ask? Well not really, I'm almost positive that the only people that have read this blog is myself lol, so maybe that's the why...that and laziness.
But I'm here now, and here to update all my amazing fans of how it's going. First off! I finished my huge rewrite. I'm in the proof reading stage now and IT. IS. Slow!!! I don't know if my book sucks or if it's because I've already read it a bazillion times but I'm having a hard time proof reading.
Also I've emailed a book editor (also known as 'book doctor') about taking a look at my book.
We'll see where that goes... lol but now back to the blog. You see this picture here to the right of you? Yep, that's how I'm feeling about now on editing, I'm sure I'm not the only one either.
In reality I've been concentrating more on my Aromatherapy studies lately. I've recently started the advanced portion and there is a lot to learn, and a lot of reading. I'm also focusing more on my future perfume business. Which is why I put the title 'The Biz...' because today, I ordered Business Cards.
I've started experimenting with scents, figuring out what I need to do, finding all the little problems of mine and then fixing them. I still won't be in business for some time but there was a deal so I ordered some business cards. Now you might think that's no big deal, cards right? Little bits of Card Board that has your name and you pass them out to people....well I'll tell you... It's a freaking HUGE DEAL!!! When I ordered those cards something in my head just 'clicked' and I thought 'this is real, I'm really going through with this.' Apparently spending over two grand on schooling wasn't the huge wake up call ordering Business cards for 23 bucks was.
Weird Right?
I thought so. Up above is my first attempt at making a solid perfume...well technically it's the second attempt, I've made some before but this is the first attempt at making some for business purposes. It wen't well...sorta, everything came out fine but the scent was barely there and I've found that to get the percentage of scent verses the percentage of carrier I'll need to triple my dosage of essential oils, which for me is a little frightening because they're expensive and I hate to waste things. But technically I've already wasted these eight 1/2 ounce containers and the products inside them. Though they do make a nice salve.
So...as of right now, I'm searching out an editor. I'm wary of querying Agents again because of all the rejection I've received last time, so I'm sticking to poking around and looking for an editor. Also have to finish my proof reading anyway before I attempt to try and get an Agent interested in my work.
With Aromatherapy I'm working on schooling, there's a lot of reading, I have to do a bunch of case studies, a final exam, and a final paper before I am done but it's all good. It's interesting and fun when I do it.
This is what's going on with me!! Well some of it, mean while I have tried making a sleep mask with lavender herbs....I packed it so full that it pushed miserably on my eyes lol. I'll have to attempt it again, and I also tried lavender Hot Chocolate...delicious! Though I would suggest heating the buds in the milk over the stove then straining the milk into your cup. The buds are very strong and overwhelm the chocolatey goodness of the cocoa.
Happy February!!
But I'm here now, and here to update all my amazing fans of how it's going. First off! I finished my huge rewrite. I'm in the proof reading stage now and IT. IS. Slow!!! I don't know if my book sucks or if it's because I've already read it a bazillion times but I'm having a hard time proof reading.Also I've emailed a book editor (also known as 'book doctor') about taking a look at my book.
We'll see where that goes... lol but now back to the blog. You see this picture here to the right of you? Yep, that's how I'm feeling about now on editing, I'm sure I'm not the only one either.
In reality I've been concentrating more on my Aromatherapy studies lately. I've recently started the advanced portion and there is a lot to learn, and a lot of reading. I'm also focusing more on my future perfume business. Which is why I put the title 'The Biz...' because today, I ordered Business Cards.
I've started experimenting with scents, figuring out what I need to do, finding all the little problems of mine and then fixing them. I still won't be in business for some time but there was a deal so I ordered some business cards. Now you might think that's no big deal, cards right? Little bits of Card Board that has your name and you pass them out to people....well I'll tell you... It's a freaking HUGE DEAL!!! When I ordered those cards something in my head just 'clicked' and I thought 'this is real, I'm really going through with this.' Apparently spending over two grand on schooling wasn't the huge wake up call ordering Business cards for 23 bucks was.Weird Right?
I thought so. Up above is my first attempt at making a solid perfume...well technically it's the second attempt, I've made some before but this is the first attempt at making some for business purposes. It wen't well...sorta, everything came out fine but the scent was barely there and I've found that to get the percentage of scent verses the percentage of carrier I'll need to triple my dosage of essential oils, which for me is a little frightening because they're expensive and I hate to waste things. But technically I've already wasted these eight 1/2 ounce containers and the products inside them. Though they do make a nice salve.
So...as of right now, I'm searching out an editor. I'm wary of querying Agents again because of all the rejection I've received last time, so I'm sticking to poking around and looking for an editor. Also have to finish my proof reading anyway before I attempt to try and get an Agent interested in my work.With Aromatherapy I'm working on schooling, there's a lot of reading, I have to do a bunch of case studies, a final exam, and a final paper before I am done but it's all good. It's interesting and fun when I do it.
This is what's going on with me!! Well some of it, mean while I have tried making a sleep mask with lavender herbs....I packed it so full that it pushed miserably on my eyes lol. I'll have to attempt it again, and I also tried lavender Hot Chocolate...delicious! Though I would suggest heating the buds in the milk over the stove then straining the milk into your cup. The buds are very strong and overwhelm the chocolatey goodness of the cocoa.
Happy February!!
 |
| I shouldn't be allowed to post this because I've read all the books and seen all the movies. Though I will say it was entertaining but I couldn't help sitting there, waiting for it to get better. |
Monday, December 30, 2013
Olfactory and all its wonders!
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In reality a lot of scientist believe this is a sense that is starting to fade. It's just not as important to have a very keen sense of smell anymore. We've developed past that and no longer need to use our honkers to the extent that we used to. However for now, we have a wonderful new world of exploration for our olfactory senses!
There are so many great things about the olfactory senses but in reality we really don't appreciate them as we should!
For instance, everyone knows how the nose smells things, it identifies smells that we like and smells we don't like. However did you know that the olfactory receptors (the part that is responsible for identifying the smells) takes this info up to the brain and then these smells affect how we think?
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| Ylang ylang |
These smells affect us psychologically, a lot of the time that's how an aromatherapist works. They work with smells and how they affect the brain. For example there are a few smells that are supposed to affect the sex drive. Now we've all heard that oysters are supposed to be an aphrodisiac, I don't know if this is true. If it is, it's not for me, to me they're like big slimy boogers to gulp down, but anyway aromatherapy has smells that work as aphrodisiacs as well. A great example of this is ylang ylang, a flower that blooms on a tree which originates in the Philippines. It's a wonderful flower that is supposed to evoke euphoria and sexual desire to those that smell it. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, if you are allergic, or just plain don't like the smell of ylang ylang (like myself) it's not going to apply to you. Though there are other aromas that are said to do the same such as Jasmine (my favorite!), patchouli, and ginger. There are others but those are the only ones I'll put down here.
The sense of smell is very closely linked with memory in the brain, and with your sense of taste. If we didn't have a sense of smell we wouldn't be able to taste so much food in this world! True it would probably make eating vegetables easier but what a loss! Without the sense of smell we wouldn't be able to taste or even remember like we used to. Just think, Christmas has just passed (by the way hope all had a very Merry Christmas!) and many of you had a real Christmas tree in your living room, just think how sad it would be to not be able to smell that delicious pine smell that comes with each new Christmas tree, and for those of you that didn't have a real one, or any at all for that matter just think about all the delicious smells that come from the Christmas time.
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Now would we be able to pick out different gene'd mates without our sense of smell? Maybe, I'm sure our bodies would adapt to fix the problem so we could identify them by some other means, but really what's greater than smelling the scent of someone you love? Sure you have their awful morning breath to deal with, their stinky flatulence but come on! Isn't smelling your loved ones after time apart the the best thing ever? I think so, but I'm a military spouse so there's more times for me to appreciate my husbands smell when he's been gone lol.
Besides without smell we wouldn't have aromatherapy, smelly candles, incense, flowers would be almost pointless except that they look nice. We wouldn't have fine dining, except on salt cubes (salt is one of the few things your tongue tastes on its own) or many other things. So come on every one! Appreciate that schnoz you've got on your face! It does a lot for you, and without it I wouldn't be here typing to you getting my aromatherapy degree and preparing my own perfume business. (Okay now you might not be grateful of your sense of smell but you should be!)
Oh yeah and I added this handy video of 'The Magic School Bus,' this episode is all about smells and delves a little bit more into the science of it, but in a fun way!
Oh and for all you 'serious' people that have no time for cartoons I've included a couple sites about the olfactory system and how it affects the brain. It's very interesting and anyone thinking of going into a smelling field should definitely check it out!
Oh and I encourage you to take your olfactory senses on a pleasure tour! Take them to places with wonderful smells. Hey new years eve is coming up, why not remember all the wonderful smells you've experienced this year? Any great movies where you had warm delicious popcorn? How about that time you tried baking a seven layered chocolate cake and the warm sweetness of is filled your senses with happiness... that is until it burnt! lol or how about when you got a brand new puppy this year and the sweet smell of their puppy breath as they licked your nose sent you into waves of joy! Remember these moments, remember them with your nose!
Also I added another Facebook page at the end, the page is for 'The institue for Art and Olfaction,' they are an organization that is currently working on a project called: 'Trip to Japan in sixteen minutes' Basically what they do is take you through 'Japan' using only music, slight visual affects and all your olfactory senses. It takes place in Los Angeles (sucks cause I'm not going to be there!). Check them out!
Don't forget to 'like' me on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/artandolfaction
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quite-Contrarium/478334692182568
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactory_receptor_neuron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactory_receptor
Monday, December 23, 2013
Character development
I've decided to make a post that is strictly about developing your characters for your story. This is harder than it sounds, especially if you're writing a story for adults, or a story with a lot of emotional depth.
I do have some advice on it, and there are TONS of websites and blogs dedicated to this very thing. I have some helpful sites and pictures listed below.
When I started on my characters, they were very flat. I didn't like it but I didn't know how to fix it. I tried basing them on people that I liked and wanted my character to be like so what I did was that nice bubble diagram (that's what I call it, not sure if that's what others call it) Where you take the character you want your character to be like, for example I'll use Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. I loved his character, dark, mysterious but very moral and brave. I put his name in a bubble and branched off all the qualities he had that I wanted my character to have.
You can't just take all the good qualities though, if you want your character to have depth you need to look at their flaws too. I put down the flaws of the characters I wanted my character to be like and I looked at 'why' they have those flaws. I did this with at least five different characters from various literature and tried to look at my main male protagonist as a person and not just a tool that gets my story from point A. to point B.
Essentially what's going to have to happen is, well you're going to have to go on a first date with your character. That's what it's like, it's like going on a blind date, only you get to decide exactly what your date is going to be like. However like on a date you need to ask your character some questions that will let you 'get to know' this character.
Some good ones to ask that I've found follow like this:
* What were their parents like, how did this affect them?
* Do they have any siblings, how is their relationship with them?
* If your character had to list five words to describe themselves without thinking too much what would they be?
* If your character had to list five flaws without thinking what would they be?
* If your character could choose a super power (if they can't already choose what super power) what super power would it be and why?
* What's their favorite color and why?
* How do they feel about the opposite sex, and the same sex?
* Are they prejudice about anything, why?
* If they had a day off to do whatever they wanted what would it be?
* If they had one wish and they had to spend it on themselves what would it be?
* Who do they care about most in the world and why?
* In an instance where their life is very important, like great things are riding on their survival but their life is in jeapordy because a child is attacking them. What do they do? Do they kill the child without thinking about it, do they try to talk the child down? What do they do if that doesn't work? Do they die even though they 'know' their life is important for some story related reason? If they kill the child how does this affect them?
* What is their weapon of choice? (sword, gun, words, or their a pacifist) and why is it so important to them?
*Do they have an item that they love, why do they love it?
* If they were an animal what would they be and why?
All these odd personality questions that you don't think about when writing a story can really help you flesh out the character to yourself and then that will come out through the writing. Also don't be afraid to put your character to the test with some situations that will really show their true personality, and don't always feel your protagonist has to be the good guy all the time. No one is perfect, people love a good guy they can relate to and is real to them.
Example: Jax Teller on 'Sons of Anarchy,' for those of you that don't know this show, basically he's trying to get his club out of the guns and drug business, make them legit and be a good guy. To do this though he is thrust on a highway to hell becoming the very thing he hates in order to save this club and create a better life for his family and the families of the club members.
People love that! We love that he's trying so hard to be good but he has to do all these horrible things to get it done. We love that it tests his character and we see a side of him that is borderline psychotic.
Another character, and a famous one that I do think Jax Teller is based on (and so does my husband) is Shakespeare's Hamlet. This is another character on the brink of madness trying to do what is right. Unfortunately Hamlet doesn't get his happy ending.
People love that, they love a character that feels doubt, fear, rage, they love a character that has all the emotions, and if your character is pretty apathetic they want to know 'why?' How did this character end up this way?
Also the antagonist that isn't all bad. People LOVE that, they love a bad guy they can like. A great example is Loki from the movies of Thor. They do a great job of creating a bad guy that you can relate to, even root for but know that he's still a bad guy.
Even the really creepy bad guys like Hannibel Lecter, you like him yet he absolutely terrifies you! You want to have a conversation with this man yet you pray he's not hiding under your bed ready to munch on your face! These are the bad guys that people remember, and for good reason!
So, what a good thing to do is take some sheets of paper and write out your character. What do they look like? Why do they look like that, are their choice of wear a fashion statement or practical? Where did they get the color of their eyes, their facial hair, their hair style and why? Always ask why? Why do they believe like the do?
Why do they feel this way about this person, or these people, and don't just one sentence it. Really think about this, and if you have to do this with every main character, even side characters do it! It can't hurt you, some people feel like they need to rush through writing and now worry about it but I'm telling you! IT. MATTERS!
Date your character, find out their likes and dislikes. Rewrite them, change it to fit better if you think it will, but find out, and I'll say it again ALWAYS ask yourself WHY they are like this!
Below are some great sites I've found that talk about characters. One of them is my pinterest, it has a three part (meaning it's in three separate pictures on my board) walk through of fleshing out your character. It's very in debt and a great thing to do when you're thinking about your characters. Also is my facebook page that has a lot of tidbits, crafts, and mentions sites that are helpful to writers and many other things!
http://missolive.hubpages.com/hub/Writing-Tutorials-Describing-a-Character
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/174162710563690076/
http://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com/the-top-5-female-character-stereotypes-1-tip-to-avoid-them/
http://www.jsmorin.com/2013/11/write-genius-character/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quite-Contrarium/478334692182568
When I started on my characters, they were very flat. I didn't like it but I didn't know how to fix it. I tried basing them on people that I liked and wanted my character to be like so what I did was that nice bubble diagram (that's what I call it, not sure if that's what others call it) Where you take the character you want your character to be like, for example I'll use Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. I loved his character, dark, mysterious but very moral and brave. I put his name in a bubble and branched off all the qualities he had that I wanted my character to have.You can't just take all the good qualities though, if you want your character to have depth you need to look at their flaws too. I put down the flaws of the characters I wanted my character to be like and I looked at 'why' they have those flaws. I did this with at least five different characters from various literature and tried to look at my main male protagonist as a person and not just a tool that gets my story from point A. to point B.
Essentially what's going to have to happen is, well you're going to have to go on a first date with your character. That's what it's like, it's like going on a blind date, only you get to decide exactly what your date is going to be like. However like on a date you need to ask your character some questions that will let you 'get to know' this character.Some good ones to ask that I've found follow like this:
* What were their parents like, how did this affect them?
* Do they have any siblings, how is their relationship with them?
* If your character had to list five words to describe themselves without thinking too much what would they be?
* If your character had to list five flaws without thinking what would they be?
* If your character could choose a super power (if they can't already choose what super power) what super power would it be and why?
* What's their favorite color and why?
* How do they feel about the opposite sex, and the same sex?
* Are they prejudice about anything, why?
* If they had a day off to do whatever they wanted what would it be?
* If they had one wish and they had to spend it on themselves what would it be?
* Who do they care about most in the world and why?
* In an instance where their life is very important, like great things are riding on their survival but their life is in jeapordy because a child is attacking them. What do they do? Do they kill the child without thinking about it, do they try to talk the child down? What do they do if that doesn't work? Do they die even though they 'know' their life is important for some story related reason? If they kill the child how does this affect them?
* What is their weapon of choice? (sword, gun, words, or their a pacifist) and why is it so important to them?
*Do they have an item that they love, why do they love it?
* If they were an animal what would they be and why?
All these odd personality questions that you don't think about when writing a story can really help you flesh out the character to yourself and then that will come out through the writing. Also don't be afraid to put your character to the test with some situations that will really show their true personality, and don't always feel your protagonist has to be the good guy all the time. No one is perfect, people love a good guy they can relate to and is real to them.
Example: Jax Teller on 'Sons of Anarchy,' for those of you that don't know this show, basically he's trying to get his club out of the guns and drug business, make them legit and be a good guy. To do this though he is thrust on a highway to hell becoming the very thing he hates in order to save this club and create a better life for his family and the families of the club members.
People love that! We love that he's trying so hard to be good but he has to do all these horrible things to get it done. We love that it tests his character and we see a side of him that is borderline psychotic.
Another character, and a famous one that I do think Jax Teller is based on (and so does my husband) is Shakespeare's Hamlet. This is another character on the brink of madness trying to do what is right. Unfortunately Hamlet doesn't get his happy ending.
People love that, they love a character that feels doubt, fear, rage, they love a character that has all the emotions, and if your character is pretty apathetic they want to know 'why?' How did this character end up this way?
Also the antagonist that isn't all bad. People LOVE that, they love a bad guy they can like. A great example is Loki from the movies of Thor. They do a great job of creating a bad guy that you can relate to, even root for but know that he's still a bad guy.Even the really creepy bad guys like Hannibel Lecter, you like him yet he absolutely terrifies you! You want to have a conversation with this man yet you pray he's not hiding under your bed ready to munch on your face! These are the bad guys that people remember, and for good reason!
So, what a good thing to do is take some sheets of paper and write out your character. What do they look like? Why do they look like that, are their choice of wear a fashion statement or practical? Where did they get the color of their eyes, their facial hair, their hair style and why? Always ask why? Why do they believe like the do?
Why do they feel this way about this person, or these people, and don't just one sentence it. Really think about this, and if you have to do this with every main character, even side characters do it! It can't hurt you, some people feel like they need to rush through writing and now worry about it but I'm telling you! IT. MATTERS!
Date your character, find out their likes and dislikes. Rewrite them, change it to fit better if you think it will, but find out, and I'll say it again ALWAYS ask yourself WHY they are like this!
Below are some great sites I've found that talk about characters. One of them is my pinterest, it has a three part (meaning it's in three separate pictures on my board) walk through of fleshing out your character. It's very in debt and a great thing to do when you're thinking about your characters. Also is my facebook page that has a lot of tidbits, crafts, and mentions sites that are helpful to writers and many other things!
http://missolive.hubpages.com/hub/Writing-Tutorials-Describing-a-Character
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/174162710563690076/
http://www.londonscreenwritersfestival.com/the-top-5-female-character-stereotypes-1-tip-to-avoid-them/
http://www.jsmorin.com/2013/11/write-genius-character/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quite-Contrarium/478334692182568
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Lavender how I love thee, let me count the ways!
Ahh Lavender! So much to love about this handy little plant. In Aromatherapy Lavender is pretty much the 'go to' for different treatments.
The uses for Lavender vary to a wild degree but there are a few things I learned about Lavender in some of my Aromatherapy classes that I just had to share!
First off Lavender essential oil or the latin binomial Lavandula (Genus of the plant) angustifolia (Species) is a wonderful oil that can be used for multiple things. My favorite use for it is relaxation. If you just use a little bit of Lavender Spritzer (A lavender mix that you can spray about the room) on your pillow before you go to bed at night it helps you sleep so much better. I use a couple drops of Lavender essential oil in a hot bath along with a table spoon of some sort of vegetable oil (grape seed, olive, sunflower) to keep the oil from irritating my skin. It is a wonderful way to relax in a bath.
We've only just begun to understand how much this pretty purple plant benefits us. For instance did you know in 1910 a experimenting french scientist and aromatherapist by the name Rene Maurice was in the middle of a laboratory explosion and received multiple burns on his arms and if I remember correctly his face. He was sent to the hospital and they did all they could but he had gangrene in his wounds. Normally when you get this it becomes a 'we'll make sure you're comfortable' and that's that. In a desperate last attempt Maurice applied Lavender oil to his wounds. The result? A miracle, within hours the gangrene was receding and within days was completely gone, his wounds started to mend and Maurice lived to see another day and his son (Marcel) wrote about these findings.
There is a website that sells a Lavender oil that I have been told by friends is a miracle cure.
You have a bruise? rub some oil on it, you have a bump on your head? Rub some oil on it. Kids are going nuts and won't sleep? Put a bit of oil on your hands and rub the bottom of their feet with it while they're laying down for bed. They swear by this site. It's called doTerra. I have the website listed below for people wanting to look. Basically what doTerra states is their oils are the purest you can possible get on the market because unlike some distilleries that take the entire plant, flower, stem, and leaves and put it in the distiller and get all the oils that comes from all these different parts of the plant. DoTerra takes the only part of the plant that the oil is supposed to come from. In Lavender's case this is the blooms. They take each bloom and distill it equaling in a purer product. Now to me this 'sounds' reasonable but as a corporation I feel they might be a little fishy. I've spoken with a couple Aromatherapist and they don't see any problems with the site but they think there is a lot of marketing going on rather than actual product, but as far as I can tell my friends all love it. I haven't purchased any myself because I have oils of my own and feel a little bit of loyalty to them. Though I encourage others to try this site and comment on their experiences, doTerra isn't cheap but it seems to be worth the money from what I've seen.
Now there are many different breeds of the lavender flower, the lavender I mention above (Lavandula angustifolia) is just one of many types. The type I'm talking about is also called 'English Lavender,' or 'True Lavender.'
Lavender isn't only used as something great to smell or as a wound treatment, you can also cook with it though you need to make sure when you buy it, it doesn't have any harmful chemicals. (I'm not sure if that's a real worry but I always make sure the lavender I buy is organic or has some mention of using it in cooking.) Sometimes people presume you're going to use it as something to smell so they add some fragrances to keep it long lasting but are harmful if you eat them.
I recently made some lavender/lemon short bread cookies....and they were DELICIOUS! Normally my husband doesn't like odd things, or trying new things but he really liked these cookies. Not exactly a festive holiday type of cookie, these are good cookies to serve in a adult setting with tea or coffee.
I made them in the shape of hearts because I have some antique cookie cutters my mother gave me that have been in the family for a while. They were a Christmas present and they normally only come out around Christmas.
I got the recipe off of Pinterest, and if you've ever seen Pinterest you've probably seen those pictures where they try and recipe or project from Pinterest and then they post their picture with a 'nailed it' caption when the picture....Well we'll just say it doesn't match the original picture from pinterest exactly. Lol but I think I actually got the picture matched pretty well lol.
My photography skills might not be as excellent but the cookies were delicious!
I have two other projects involving Lavender in mind. I want to make a sleeper mask with lavender buds sewn in the center, and then I want to try Lavender hot chocolate! It looks so yummy!
I've already put a small draw string bag of lavender in my drawers and it makes my clothes smell like they just came from the lavender fields in France. Wonderful!
If you're interested in trying things with lavender I highly suggest you go the natural green route. A lot of companies now a days are trying to jump on the 'green' wagon but in reality they don't have to follow any guidelines that prove their products are green. You don't need to do anything to say your product is 'natural' I encourage you to READ LABELS. I know, I know easily said but it would really help if you're trying to go the natural route.
I use wild crafted essential oils, and organic Lavender buds. Now you might be wondering 'what's wild crafted mean?' Well like animals, plants have a natural habitat where they were first created whether by the Holy God, or by more scientific means these plants do best where they were first at. Moving plants to different countries or in hot houses isn't detrimental to the quality but when the plant is in its natural habitat it receives all the nutrients that do it best, creating a better plant. A wild crafter goes to the plant, it doesn't make the plant come to them. They go to the plant and organically (meaning without chemicals) let the plant live freely in its homeland and take from it that way. This creates a healthier environment and better quality oils.
Below I have a few websites that I've mentioned above, like doTerra, my pinterest where the recipes for both the cookies and lavender hot chocolate are kept, my Facebook page (which I recommend you check out and like for many more handy little crafts and fun stuff!) and the actual site with the Lavender lemon cookie recipe if you'd like to peruse all of her other many delicious recipes.
All in all I LOVE lavender, it is wonderful and having it in my life on a daily basis has definitely improved it!
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/174162710563697460/
http://store.do-essential-oils.com/lavender-essential-oil/
http://montcarte.ca/2009/12/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quite-Contrarium/478334692182568
The uses for Lavender vary to a wild degree but there are a few things I learned about Lavender in some of my Aromatherapy classes that I just had to share!
First off Lavender essential oil or the latin binomial Lavandula (Genus of the plant) angustifolia (Species) is a wonderful oil that can be used for multiple things. My favorite use for it is relaxation. If you just use a little bit of Lavender Spritzer (A lavender mix that you can spray about the room) on your pillow before you go to bed at night it helps you sleep so much better. I use a couple drops of Lavender essential oil in a hot bath along with a table spoon of some sort of vegetable oil (grape seed, olive, sunflower) to keep the oil from irritating my skin. It is a wonderful way to relax in a bath.
We've only just begun to understand how much this pretty purple plant benefits us. For instance did you know in 1910 a experimenting french scientist and aromatherapist by the name Rene Maurice was in the middle of a laboratory explosion and received multiple burns on his arms and if I remember correctly his face. He was sent to the hospital and they did all they could but he had gangrene in his wounds. Normally when you get this it becomes a 'we'll make sure you're comfortable' and that's that. In a desperate last attempt Maurice applied Lavender oil to his wounds. The result? A miracle, within hours the gangrene was receding and within days was completely gone, his wounds started to mend and Maurice lived to see another day and his son (Marcel) wrote about these findings.
There is a website that sells a Lavender oil that I have been told by friends is a miracle cure.
Now there are many different breeds of the lavender flower, the lavender I mention above (Lavandula angustifolia) is just one of many types. The type I'm talking about is also called 'English Lavender,' or 'True Lavender.'
I recently made some lavender/lemon short bread cookies....and they were DELICIOUS! Normally my husband doesn't like odd things, or trying new things but he really liked these cookies. Not exactly a festive holiday type of cookie, these are good cookies to serve in a adult setting with tea or coffee.
I got the recipe off of Pinterest, and if you've ever seen Pinterest you've probably seen those pictures where they try and recipe or project from Pinterest and then they post their picture with a 'nailed it' caption when the picture....Well we'll just say it doesn't match the original picture from pinterest exactly. Lol but I think I actually got the picture matched pretty well lol.
My photography skills might not be as excellent but the cookies were delicious!
I have two other projects involving Lavender in mind. I want to make a sleeper mask with lavender buds sewn in the center, and then I want to try Lavender hot chocolate! It looks so yummy!
I've already put a small draw string bag of lavender in my drawers and it makes my clothes smell like they just came from the lavender fields in France. Wonderful!
I use wild crafted essential oils, and organic Lavender buds. Now you might be wondering 'what's wild crafted mean?' Well like animals, plants have a natural habitat where they were first created whether by the Holy God, or by more scientific means these plants do best where they were first at. Moving plants to different countries or in hot houses isn't detrimental to the quality but when the plant is in its natural habitat it receives all the nutrients that do it best, creating a better plant. A wild crafter goes to the plant, it doesn't make the plant come to them. They go to the plant and organically (meaning without chemicals) let the plant live freely in its homeland and take from it that way. This creates a healthier environment and better quality oils.
Below I have a few websites that I've mentioned above, like doTerra, my pinterest where the recipes for both the cookies and lavender hot chocolate are kept, my Facebook page (which I recommend you check out and like for many more handy little crafts and fun stuff!) and the actual site with the Lavender lemon cookie recipe if you'd like to peruse all of her other many delicious recipes.
All in all I LOVE lavender, it is wonderful and having it in my life on a daily basis has definitely improved it!
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/174162710563697460/
http://store.do-essential-oils.com/lavender-essential-oil/
http://montcarte.ca/2009/12/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quite-Contrarium/478334692182568