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Wait… you think I am the one with an abnormal diet???

Wait… you think I am the one with an abnormal diet???

I don’t understand. I eat food in its most natural form. The way it has been for hundreds and thousands of years. People often think I have a strict diet, or they have to make accommodations for my eating. I’ll be honest, it shocks and offends me. So because I prefer to eat fruits, vegetables, grains, organic poultry, wild fish, eggs, and all kinds of super foods & spices that have been a part of many cultures diets since the beginning, I am the strange one?? WHAT! Call me crazy, but I see it quite opposite.

How is eating “food products” from a box, bag, tube, etc. natural or healthy? Packaged food that contains half of its ingredients that come from a LAB! Food dyes, preservatives, and lab-created flavors (aka chemicals that are not even from the real food). Not to mention the chemicals sprayed ON the foods when they are grown that study after study have shown to cause cancer, deformities, infertility, and other diseases. Foods that have been genetically altered in labs to be more uniform, respond better to pesticides, and grow faster… that may sound good, but it costs YOUR health. So while people who eat all of these things continue to get fatter, sicker, moodier, etc. and call me the crazy one… I’ll just keep eating the good stuff GOD put on the earth for me to eat. Just because you’re at a healthy/normal weight does NOT mean you are healthy. Health is so much more.

This is a moral issue. Its about what is right and wrong and what is good for the body you live in. Yes, you can eat delicious food and be healthy. You can bake bread, and desserts, and eat good fats, even dairy – if your body tolerates it (mine doesn’t). Thats not what this is about. Its not about cutting crazy calories. Its not about saying you can’t eat things you like. Its about eating real food. Not the stuff on the shelves that is created to addict you so that companies can make money off of you damaging your own body (even if its not visible to you, yet). That will in turn lead you to a doctor of some sort to pay for all kinds of treatments and medications that also do damage to your system, that would be much stronger if it got the REAL fuel it needed.

I ate the packaged, easy, tasty, deliciously FAKE crap for years. Then I decided to care. My life is changed. I am happier, healthier, a gazillion times better in ALL areas of life.

One last point. I know many health-consious people who still feed their kids the fake crap, or take them to get fast food, or give them soft drinks. HUH!? So you know its bad, but you are going to teach your kids to damage their bodies with it anyway? So you’re saying fulfilling desires or curiosity is MORE important than taking CARE of yourself? I’ll leave that one there for you to think about. If you still think soft drinks are ok, either you have missed several years of public research, or you are looking forward to (or already enjoying) obesity, diabetes, and cancer/other diseases linked to sugar, artificial sweeteners, colors, and chemical flavors.

This is NOT about judgement. Its about education. Its about explaining to you that what OUR WORLD tells us is “food” actually is not. I don’t tell people “you shouldn’t be eating that” when I am around them. Ever. Unless they are my paying client. Or my boyfriend (sorry lol). But people constantly roll their eyes, or tell me I am crazy for what I choose to eat or not eat. I want to help those who want to be helped or care about their health. The better care you take of yourself, the better you can fulfill your purposes. What can you do with your life if you are not cared for first?

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

“And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:29-31

Health Tips to Get You Out of a Rut & I’m a Bad Blogger.

I got this picture from the source: http://greatist.com/happiness/health-fitness-inspiration-posters/

Its been MONTHS since I posted last. sorry!! I am so bad at these. Its been on my to-do list for at least 6 weeks haha! I will post again soon about recipes & such.

I get multiple questions each week from friends who need motivation or advice or don’t know where to start. I LOVE helping, so bring on the questions! I decided to go ahead and write up a list of what helped me. Keep in mind, we are all different. We don’t all have to go gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, or run marathons. I pretty much do a combination of a lot of “diets” and exercise styles. When I say diet I don’t mean depriving myself, or doing atkins, etc. I mean the way I FUEL my body. Enough blabbing, here it is in no special order:

1. Start a routine. Map out your week’s exercise times & plan what you will eat at each big meal. Don’t bail on your planned workouts! For me to make it a habit, I had to get myself to the gym 7 days a week just to keep from getting off track. 1 or 2 days off would turn into 6 months. You can still have a rest day but be at the gym. Go to the sauna. Walk. Take a yoga class (which is still a good workout! but it can help you recover from days of training).

2. The bottom line for losing weight is burning more calories than you consume. This does not mean starve yourself. But even if you do an intense workout but then eat bad, it won’t work. Cut out the empty calories that you are adding on to what you really need. ALL cokes/sodas (even diet) have to go! I don’t have time to list all of the reasons, thats another blog post in itself! Stick to only drinking WATER, tea, and home-pressed juices. By tea, I do not mean lipton citrus iced green tea or similar products… read the ingredients. Its NOT good for you. I don’t judge you though, I was hooked on that for months!

3. Lift weights!!! It speeds up fat burning SO much. Women especially don’t lift enough! Quit wasting your money going to the gym to walk on the treadmill for an hour! Try increasing weight every couple weeks in your strength routine. You will be amazed at the way you will progress in strength and endurance!

4. Use intervals for Cardio. If you are on the treadmill, don’t stay on flat surface the whole time, mix up the incline. Change speeds every 1-2 minutes. I NEVER ran before I started my health journey. I was scared of looking like the fat girl running on the treadmill over there, but you know – &*$# that! This is about enjoying life, letting go of fear, and feeling good! Its not about what people think. I don’t care if you haven’t run in 20 years, or ever. Jog 1 minute, then walk for 1 minute. Gradually increase your speeds and in a few months you will be sprinting!

5. Eat more whole foods & cook at home. Buy whole fruits & veggies rather than premade meals. Don’t use butter or salt. Reduce dairy & meat consumption. When you eat meat, go with lean meats – chicken or turkey. Beans, fish, whole grains, etc. are packed with protein. Bulk up every meal with veggies. If you make spaghetti, add carrots and broccoli (or anything) to add volume but not calories. Don’t consume white flour products! Switch to all whole grain breads, pastas, etc. Quinoa is AMAZING. and Ezekiel 4:9 brand has tons of healthy tortillas, sandwich bread, pasta, etc.

6. Try new fitness classes. They help you from getting bored, meeting people makes it more fun, and you may find something you love that would have never tried before! Shameless plug: Results Fitness helped me stay consistent because the small boutique style fitness classes help you get to know people, they have fun music, and the homey, fun, family-like environment makes you keep coming back. Also, for me, the act of signing up for the class helped keep me from bailing or putting off my workout! Check them out: http://resultsfitness.me  ** The first class is FREE. Call or message me and I will take a class with you if you want! **

7. I also constantly read up on foods to FUEL my body. What has the most nutrients, speed up metabolism, balance blood sugar, help joints, muscle repair, etc. It keeps me more more aware of what I put in my body and now I’m passionate about treating it well.

8. Drink a gallon of water a day! SO important! At least 3 liters, but a gallon is better. It makes a difference. More if you are trying to lose weight or are training hard.

9. Moderation & Balance. Healthy carbs, protein, and healthy fats are all GREAT and necessary for weightloss, strength, endurance, good hair & skin, etc… but too much of anything can mess you up. If you think you consume too many carbs, try cutting out some from dinner. Stick with a healthy salad, or lean meat and low carb veggies!

10. Sleep 7-9 hours! Its a must if you want to enjoy great health.

Call, email, text, comment with any questions! I love to help.

This week in my kitchen…

This week I tried a bunch of new recipes at home! I love trying things I find on Pinterest & tweaking them to make them healthier. I rarely measure out or write down my recipes, so I am vaguely sharing. A lot of times I just see a picture of food and it helps me come up with something from what I already have at home. I always have tons of produce so that helps.

If you are needing some ideas for breakfast here are a few that I like:

Nature’s Path Organic Waffles (choose any of their varieties – chia, honey/whole grain, flax, etc). I like to top the waffle with Peanut or Almond butter (read labels! The ONLY ingredient should be the nut itself. look in the natural/organic section of your grocery. Second best option is one with the nuts + salt only) I also often add a tiny bit of raw honey because it can’t help fight off germs in your system. Another option is topping your waffle with Ricotta cheese. Then you can also add fruit or a salt free spice mix on top of the ricotta. **Don’t put syrup on your waffles! They are already made with (healthy) carbs, lets not ruin it but soaking it in sugar!

Loaded up scrambled eggs. I usually crack 2 eggs in a bowl (lightly coated in olive oil) and add whatever veggies I want, scramble them up, and then microwave until cooked through. So easy. I often add: spinach, tomato, jalapeños, onion, avocado, etc. Make it however you like!

Oatmeal Smoothie. I tried this recipe for the first time today actually. It was like dessert. I’m not a huge oatmeal fan, so this was a way for me to get in some oats. I may only do this one once a week or so. The carbs can add up so be careful, it would be good on a day when you have an intense workout day.

Here is the original recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/851771/oatmeal-smoothies

I omitted the ice. I used oikos organic plain fat free greek yogurt. I used unsweetened Almond milk, instead of coconut water (I only added a small amount that was needed, not a whole cup). I also added a few dark chocolate chips 🙂 Ok. So maybe it was dessert. But it is Sunday!!

Here are some other things I made this week:

Salmon Salad. I buy a big bag of frozen WILD caught Salmon. Cook it as directed. I usually wrap it in aluminum foil to cook and sprinkle a salt free spice mix on top + red pepper. I like spicy 🙂 I put the cooked salmon in a bowl and stir with a fork to get it broken up (like shredded chicken). Then I add greek yogurt, fresh or frozen dill, about 2 teaspoons of mustard, a little chopped onion, some chopped tomato & avocado, and a splash of lime juice. I LOVE this recipe. Sorry I don’t have measurements, but play around with it. You can always add more if needed. I often eat it plain, or on a slice of Eziekiel 4:9 bread, or in a wheat pita.

P.S. If you are not a fan of salmon, or any fish, this is a GOOD recipe to sneak some healthy fish in your life! Also, try making tacos with tilapia!

Egg/Asparagus dish. This is SO good and SO easy to make. Just eggs, asparagus, pepper, olive oil, and parmesan cheese (although I left out the cheese and it was still amazing!) Here is the link to the recipe I used: http://www.prevention.com/food/cook/asparagus-recipes-easy-ways-cook-asparagus

Turkey Burgers. Super simple. I just added chopped onion and spinach to ground turkey meat along with my salt free spice mix. Then patted out and cooked in a skillet. I served it with purple sweet potato chunks that I tossed in olive oil + tiny bit of salt + pepper. Bake at 430-440 degrees for 15 min on each side (On a baking sheet lined in aluminum foil).

Stuffed Bell Peppers. Here is the link that I used for general cooking info to cook the peppers: http://greaterdc.wholefoodsmarketcooking.com/recipes/11795_roasted_bell_peppers_stuffed_with_quinoa

I just used ingredients that I had on hand. I first cooked ground turkey in a skillet then mixed with chopped onion, parsley, carrot, jalapeño, tomato, spinach, and shredded mozzarella. Then cooked as directed. Use whatever you want!

Hope these recipes help anyone who is stuck in a food rut! Let me know if you ever have questions about certain dishes, recipes, or anything! Play around in the kitchen. Also read up on what foods do what for your body! A lot of my weight loss involved getting in foods that my body NEEDED to burn fat, build muscle, protect joints, recover, build immune system, and keep in balance.

Happy Sunday! I took my first REAL yoga class today. It was a 2 hour class!! I was kinda nervous, but actually did really well for a first timer apparently! My teacher (she’s legit & learned from a hindu woman who was very immersed in the yoga world), even asked if I was a dancer/gymnast. I have kept so much flexibility from gymnastics when I was little. And I dance around my apartment on a daily basis 🙂 I even got a few of the arm stands/crows position/handstand/whatever you call those crazy balance things. NEVER let fear hold you back from trying things! I am now making this yoga class a part of my regular Sunday routine! Perfect workout for a Sabbath day.

It’s never too late, or too early, to be whoever you want to be.

For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again. — F. Scott Fitzgerald

Happy (almost) New Year! I have never been one to set goals or make “resolutions” for the new year, or at any point at all, until now. 2012 taught me the importance of goals and I have seen so many great results!! I think what held me back before was fear of failure. I mentioned before that letting go of fears was one life-changing thing that I did this year. I cannot stress it enough… It has rocked my world. The less room that fear takes up in your life, the more room for pure joy and excitement.

Now that I set goals in my life, all those things I wished would happen for years, are actually happening. Challenge yourself! I was never competitive with myself until this year. Now I know what a strength it is!!

I have goals in all areas of my life for 2013. I encourage you to make some of your own. I am working on generosity. It is something I have struggled with in many areas. I also have big and small fitness goals.. from increasing muscle endurance for pushups (they’re not easy for me!) to lowering my body fat by another 5-7%. I am constantly learning to embrace who God made me to be rather than to try to be anyone else! This media filled, superficially focused world is tough. I have a passion for ALL things beautiful… not only the breath-taking things God made, but also fashion & trends & all things expensive! I am working on self control and moderation 🙂 God wants us to have all kinds of blessings in our life, but we must also reflect wisdom with what we are given!

I am also buckling down for the next 2 months to finish up my studies and get my PT certification and nutrition specialization. I am so excited for this part of my life and can’t wait to share more of the journey in hopes that it will inspire you!

I am never good at keeping up with blogs often.. but mainly because I only write when I am really inspired to. So bear with me on that! May you all grasp on to the strength to become who you always desired to be. Happy 2013!! Let’s kill it!

Tips for 2013:

Ladies: Do NOT be afraid to train like the men! You won’t bulk up from lifting weights.  It will actually help you burn way more fat!

Guys: Read “Wild at Heart” an inspiring book that will teach you so much about yourself that you didn’t even realize was true. It will impact all aspects of your life!

Ladies: Read “Captivating” It changed my life!  It affected my confidence, my beauty, my relationships, and my passion!

Everybody: Read “Mastering Your Metabolism”  to learn more about Nutrition and the false advertising of “health” food in the world today.

If you are looking for inspiration, a new gym, workout buddies, stress relief, or a place to socialize… Come visit Results Fitness! I promise, you’ll love it. The first class is free!

My Journey to Health

I am a little buzzed off of this endorphin-high right now, so pardon my enthusiasm. I just took a kick-ass spin/core/stretch class at Results Fitness Nashville (only THE best).

On the way home I was realizing how it is officially holiday season already. Which makes everyone all sentimental and all that ooey-gooey stuff that I totally feel too. I was thinking about how the best gift I am going to have this holiday season is health.

A year ago I moved into my current apartment, began learning a lot about nutrition, and began “training” myself. I was greatly encouraged by a friend who was studying personal training. I worked out for hours a day. I started eating strategic meals, focusing on what specific foods and nutrients my body NEEDED to recover and perform. I then found a gym that has inspired me 10 times more. They have kicked my butt, changed my body, & encouraged my passion.

One extremely important point is that I was never aiming for skinny or a certain weight. My goal is health. I  was careful along the way to never starve my body or over-work it. That wont give you health. My favorite foods are chocolate & tex-mex/southwestern. I still eat those all of the time! But I cook at home with whole, organic foods and just have about 1 oz of dark chocolate. 🙂

A year ago, I was at my heaviest weight of my life, that I can recall. I felt beautiful, and I was beautiful. I have always loved having curves and have no desire to be thin, but I knew I wasn’t my healthiest. Now, I am an ATHLETE. I was the girl who skipped PE in high school & wore very unflattering clothes haha. Now, fitness is fun for me. Before, I was scared to run, honestly, but now its therapeutic! I am constantly challenging myself, which was never part of my personality before.

I decided that in 2012 I was not going to let fear have any hold on my life. THIS WAS THE BEST DECISION I HAVE MADE in my 24 years (Ok, following Jesus as the ultimate best!). At this point, I am nearly fearless. Which makes life so much more peaceful & joyful. It is easier to discover new passions!

I also made this a year of “self-care” in ALL aspects of health. I make sure I get great rest. I take time for ME. That has become a necessity. I can’t tell you how important it is to sloowww down your schedule. I am putting my Trust in Jesus & my spiritual growth is a top priority. I am learning new things. I spend time with friends & family. My family has been so greatly blessed this year. We have never been closer. I am so grateful for the things we have learned this year. Most importantly that family is there to support you.

I hope that others can be inspired to pursue things that they have wanted to do for years. I prayed for probably 10 years that God would be my strength & teach me the discipline to get healthy. His timing has been PERFECT. His blessings have been unbelievable. I have been gifted with so many wonderful people and things in my life that got me here. I am so grateful!

….Now I will got rinse off this sweat I’ve been sitting in. ew. 🙂

Healthified Broccoli Slaw

I had broccoli slaw for the first time a couple weeks ago at my cousins bridal shower. I DO NOT normally like raw broccoli. It’s one of the few foods I can’t handle (raw at least), but this stuff is amazing!! I love to edit recipes to make them actually GOOD for you so that you can enjoy them often. I focus on proteins, healthy fats, and good-for-you carbs. The original recipe says to serve it immediately, but I prefer it the next day when the broccoli softens a little and the flavors are more united. I encourage the use of organic food items, but do as you wish! I will warn you now, I kind of “wing” recipes, I rarely measure when I make my own stuff and I don’t really get as detailed as some. Sorry 🙂 Feel free to make your own changes and let me know what you like! Here is the link of the original recipe I used:

Here is my Version:

  • 8 slices turkey bacon (I like Applegate Farms)
  • 1 large head broccoli
  • 1 small red onion, minced (1/2 cup)
  • 1/3 cup raisins (golden or regular)
  • 1/3 cup plain greek yogurt (I used Stoneyfield)
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons raw honey
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Cook turkey bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Cut into small pieces.
  2. Cut florets from broccoli stems and chop into small pieces. I cut them pretty small.
  3. In a bowl, mix greek yogurt, honey, and vinegar until evenly mixed. (I actually bought regular balsamic vinegar instead of WHITE as the original recipe called for, but it still tasted great!) Add broccoli, bacon,  raisins, and onion. Mix well. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Pardon my iPhone picture 🙂

I get most of my original recipes from Pinterest (I am slightly obsessed. ok, extremely). Follow me on Pinterest to see my health, food, drinks, fashion, and inspirational pins! http://pinterest.com/leighminnigan/

Side note: I started a program to become a Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Specialist about 3 weeks ago. I am LOVING it! I hope to take the Exam by January. I am doing it with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. I am so excited about this new part of my journey, that I have quickly become so passionate about.

Meet Me.

My name is Leigh. This is what I currently look like. I say currently because I have changed a lot over the past 6 months to a year. I lost about 30 pounds, went from very dark brown hair that I had all through college, back to my natural dirty blonde, then cut off 8 inches of hair!

I have a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Tennessee (Go VOLS), but due to my indecisiveness and pickiness about jobs, I currently work as a nanny & part-time in a gym daycare nearby. Obviously I love kids. I interact with mommies & kiddos more than people my age. They teach me a lot! I actually got into Social Work because of the beauty I found in adoption.

My plans for this blog are to document so many of the beauties I am discovering. I am constantly discovering new passions. The biggest one I have discovered this year is health. I have become so passionate about nutrition and exercise, that I am now looking into becoming a certified trainer and nutrition specialist. I will update you on that journey along the way!

I am also very passionate about culture – I love learning new things, tasting new foods, and experiencing the art of cultures around the world. I love fashion. I am a shopaholic. I think beauty can be expressed in your home, your clothes, your food, and anywhere imaginable. I love to cook. I love to explore. I love being active. I love wine.

This year I decided to let go of fear. It has been the best decision of my life! I am loving all of the new things I am learning and can’t wait to start sharing more! I plan to alternate between topics of health/fitness, recipes, life lessons, good finds, and whatever inspires me at the time! I would love to hear feedback if you have questions, or have any topics you ever want me to talk about. That is, if anyone ever reads this 🙂

“Sometimes the most ordinary things can be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people.” -The Lucky One (Nicholas Sparks)

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Cheetos Sweetos – Snack Zach

Snack Zach is back with both a vengeance and a new review up. This time he takes a look at Cheetos Sweetos. Now, at this point I need to interject and set something straight. I happen to be a big fan of Cheetos,  cheezies,  cheeze puffs, and generally anything else that has that orange cancer powder all over it. That being said, I am extremely skeptical that anything like this snack could work.

Zach more or less verifies my gut instinct. The Sweetos taste sort of like cinnamon sugar cereal. Not really that exciting sounding, and so they get the not so glamorous C rank.

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Tag Archives: Neighbourhood

La Parisienne

Walking home from the métro the other night I was greeted by the neighbourhood crêpe-maker, 2 waiters at the corner pavement cafés and a sweet old man I often see walking his Dalmatian. At some point I went from being the new girl on the block to being one of the locals. It feels gooooood.

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Inspiration from an Alien Robot

NASA has enlisted Optimus Prime (or the man who voices him) to give a rousing speech to inspire people to support space exploration. I myself have been disappointed by our progress in this area over the last, oh, 30 years. I don’t believe we should be investing in it at this precise time, due to economic troubles, but should sanity be brought into the government and spending reigned in, I believe we should make colonizing Mars the world’s top priority.

Check out the video below.

Explore posts in the same categories: Internet, Science

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Love Your Gut in 2016 with Bone Broths from Sadie’s Kitchen

For many people January is a time to make a fresh start and boost their well being both mentally and physically. The majority of those making a change will be focusing on weight loss, fitness and their general health but our digestive health is quite often ignored.

The digestive lining can become damaged from stress, caffeine and poor diet. With nearly half the population suffering from some type of digestive issue and one in four of us suffering from a chronic complaint, convenient products are an easy way of giving our immune system a boost.

We’ve seen the advent of probiotic yoghurts and drinks and now a new product has been launched in the Irish market to help us heal our damaged systems. Sarah Kiely is the woman behind Sadie’s Kitchen, a range of natural bone broths that help sooth issues in the gut and improve your overall digestion.

I come from a foodie family and I grew up knowing the importance of good, whole foods. While I still indulge on the bold stuff, I do make all my meals from scratch. It’s just how I was brought up. I absolutely love the variety of healthy options available now to the Irish consumer and I’m excited to be a part of that space.

Sarah became interested in bone broth after years of working in a stressful job began to take their toll on her own health. She was already making bone broth for herself when she was made redundant last summer. This proved to be the kick start Sarah needed to turn her passion into a business. “I had been making bone broth for about a year and while I loved the taste and health benefits, I just found it extremely off putting and time consuming. I wanted to create a great convenient product that would improve the quality of life for our customers and be true to honest scratch cooking.”

Bone broth is a clear broth made by boiling down bones for long periods of time to extract the nutrition that is naturally occurring in the bones and connective tissue of chicken and beef bones. Western diets are usually low in gelatine, one of the most gut healing foods on the planet. Bone broths are naturally rich in glucosamine thanks to their high gelatine content so they are excellent in soothing the gut and aiding inflammatory illnesses such as IBS, Crohn’s disease and arthritis (in conjunction with treatment).

Bone broth is one of the most soothing and nutritious foods and has been used for generations to help cure ailments and banish colds and flu. It is naturally full of essential vitamins, minerals and fat that are easily digestible and gut-soothing.

Bone broth has been around for centuries. It’s having a resurgence in popularity in the last couple of years, partly because health and nutrition is now so important and people are becoming more educated about what they’re feeding themselves and their families. Also, with the recession, nose to tail cooking has had a major comeback, it’s about cooking smarter and more transparently.

Due to the time it takes to cook down the bones (the chicken takes 12 hours and the beef takes 24), homemade broth isn’t a practical option for busy families. This is why Sarah decided to bring her product to the convenience market.

All Sadie’s Kitchen broths are salt, sugar, dairy, gluten and preservative free. They are paleo too and packed with naturally occurring protein, to help keep your health and fitness goals on track. The chicken used is Irish, organic and free range, the beef is 100% Irish and grass-fed and the vegetables are organic meaning you get the very best nourishment possible, something you won’t find in other stocks and chilled soups currently on the market.

So many stock pots and cubes are packed with sodium. You know that unpleasant thirst you get after drinking soup? That’s all the nasty salt undoing all your good work when you make your own. Our broths are slow cooked and use only the best ingredients, fresh veggies and lots of delicious herbs for a really great tasting base to add to curries, chillis, casseroles, stews, soups and risottos.

Sadie’s Kitchen broths can be used to replace stocks, braising liquids and cooking liquids for vegetables, rice, grains and pulses. For an added protein or health boost you can add them to cold juices and smoothies. Due to the amount of healing properties, Sadie’s Kitchen bone broths are great as a soothing hot drink when you are feeling under the weather.

The collagen in the broths is an excellent supplement for healthy skin, hair and nails. Many celebrities such as Salma Hayek, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet all praise bone broth for helping to keep their skin supple and young. The broths can help speed up the healing process in the skin too so people with skin conditions would benefit from including it in their diets to help fight against scarring.

Like a lot of other health and food trends, the sensation that is bone broth started in America and Sadie’s Kitchen is the first company in Ireland to embrace the benefits.

The US are always ahead with trends, the diversity of cultures has led to many wonderful cooking methods and traditions filtering through to mass market. Bone broth is particularly popular in Italy (e.g. Brodo in NYC) and in Asian cultures too. The food scene in LA and NY is one that I monitor closely, as you will see it hit London and then Ireland afterwards. We’re excited to be innovating and bringing new trends first to market.

Sadie's Kitchen

Sarah is quite open about the challenges that you face as a new start up from funding to the ‘general maze of information’ out there. Her advice is to get in touch with your local enterprise office and talk your idea over with a mentor or take a night course in business development. Sarah credits the Supervalu Food Academy in helping her grow the brand but she is also an advocate of setting yourself realistic goals.

Don’t expect to make millions as it’s an incredibly tough thing to do and any success will take time, so make sure you’re realistic about your finances. That being said, if you’ve a strong, well thought out idea for a business, be brave and go for it. Most people spend their lives in jobs they hate, all because of fear. I suppose you should take calculated risks and be prepared to have no social life for the first couple of years!

These calculated risks have paid off for Sarah as she was recently shortlisted as a county finalist for Dublin in the IBYE competition. This proved to be a great confidence boost not only for Sarah but for potential investors for her company and she highly recommends the process, “any opportunity to push yourself and present to established business panels and judges is a great experience that I’ve certainly grown from“.

As Sarah is busy growing her brand with a new flavour being released soon and plans to enter stores in the coming weeks, she is also working as a freelance journalist for several national publications. While her passion for writing means she will never give it up, Sarah is fully committed to growing her company and maintain the quality of her products.

I would love to continue working towards building a brand that I am proud to call my own. As the business grows, we’ll continue to innovate and see where our food journey takes us.

Sadie’s Kitchen is based in the Newmarket Kitchen in Bray, a creative collaboration of start-ups with Shane Bonner at the helm. The commercial space is let out to small scale food & drink producers and provides them with the resources required to grow their businesses.

For more information on Sadie’s Kitchen products visit or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

BioAlison has been writing since she could hold a pen, which came in handy for her degree in English, Media and Cultural Studies. She has been working in media since graduating and is the latest features writer for TheTaste.

Writing for TheTaste allows her to combine her passion for the written word with her love of food and drink. Find her on Twitter @AliDalyo

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Elementary Energy

At work they announced a STEP CHALLENGE.
So naturally my first thought was, I need to crush all these people!! I mean…. uh, I’m glad we’re all challenging ourselves to get healthy together! 😉Pedometer

We have two weeks to get as many steps as possible and we all need to keep track of them on these pedometers. My crazy competitive side is now causing me to obsessively check it after every 28 minutes just be sure I didn’t get a defective one. If I lose, clearly it will be the pedometer’s fault.

I’m still holding strong after the Whole30. I am still quite amazed how my habits have completely changed. While the smell of boxed brownies were filling the kitchen, I was noshing on Garlic Roasted Spaghetti Squash with a garlic basil tomato sauce that I threw together. Topped with some roasted tomatoes + Aidells Artichoke & Garlic sausagesfresh basil. Now that’s a delicious Paleo (and Whole30 compliant) pasta! Am I right, or am I right?Paleo PastaI had the pleasure of babysitting two very active elementary schoolers this evening. They are so energetic and it encourages me to jump right in. What’s great about this situation is that you can basically trick persuade them to exercise with you by pitching it as a gameHey guys come here, I have this really fun game!

Tonight we did “animal races” (bear crawl, crab walk, and ape walk), then set up an “obstacle course” (box jumps) and had a “hold-it competition” (planks, wall sits, bridges). If you have kids, or are hanging out with some, you can still get that workout in and have them tag along!JUMP!And I will have you know that I won all most of the races!
Okay, so maybe I was beat by an 8-year-old… but I totally let him win! 😛

2 thoughts on “Elementary Energy

  1. I just found you blog through a google search on whole 30, which I’m starting on Sunday. I noticed that you were from FL and now I see that you work for SCPS (I’m in seminole county and hope to teach for SCPS next year). Thats so neat! Its such a small world. And I love your blog 🙂

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Category Archives: Personal

Have you met….me?

“Who are you?”
“No one of consequence.”
“I must know.”
“Get used to disappointment.”
-William Goldman, The Princess Bride

I’m not naive enough to think that the internet at large has been clamoring for the past several years to figure out my ‘secret identity’.  The truth of the matter is that most of the people who read this blog do so because they already know me.  But with the launch of my brand new Twitter account a couple weeks ago (yes I’m often late to the party, but I usually get there eventually; in this case you can find me @tinkeringprim8), I think now is a good time for me to finally step out from behind the curtain, remove my cape & cowl, and introduce myself properly.

Hello.  My name is Inigo Montoya Lara Saipe Durgavich, and I am a College Fellow in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.  It’s my second year in this position, which is essentially a teaching-based post-doc, and I am happy to be one of those rare people able to say that I honestly enjoy my job.

For today’s “Introduction to Me” seminar, I’m going to stick to a simple two-part recipe: my work in academia (research + teaching) and my life outside academia (imagining, for the moment, that the notion of ‘work/life balance’ is more than just a muddy puddle).

Life in the Ivory Tower
I got where I am today via a circuitous academic pathway, although I have not traveled far geographically.  I completed my undergraduate education at Tufts University (go Jumbos!) in 2003, and received my doctoral degree in biological anthropology from Boston University in 2013.  As the “About Me” page on this site describes, my research focuses on the reproductive endocrinology, behaviors, and life history pattern of orangutans, and I use this information to try to better understand the evolution of human reproductive and life history characteristics.  I recently presented some of the results from my dissertation at the inaugural Nor’Eastern Primate Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior conference (name since changed to NEEP: Northeastern Evolutionary Primatology), which I highly recommend attending next year.  Hopefully in the not-too-distant future I’ll also manage to get some manuscripts submitted for publication, and will be able to describe my findings to all of you in more detail.  But in the meantime, here’s a close-up photo of Chinta, one of the orangutans at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle who generously provided urine samples for my dissertation analyses. [Fun fact: it is easier to train an orangutan to provide a urine sample in a cup than it is to train a toddler to use the potty.]

While it’s fun to use the fact that I analyze orangutan urine as an ice-breaker at parties, teaching is how I actually spend the great majority of my time.  As a graduate student, I taught a variety of courses at Boston University, including Introduction to Biological AnthropologyThe Ape Within, Human Population Biology, Human Sex Differences, and Medical Anthropology.  As a College Fellow at Harvard I’ve continued to develop and teach additional courses, adding Reproductive Ecology, The Behavioral Biology of Women, and Evolutionary Health and Medicine to my CV.  In the future, I hope to continue to develop more new courses, particularly some that focus on primate behavior/cognition or conservation.  I also aspire to someday teach the Primates and Pop Culture class that’s been on my mind for the past several years, so if anyone knows of a good venue for that, please let me know.

You KNOW you’d take that class.

Life in the Condo that We’re Rapidly Outgrowing
Outside academia, my energies are mostly devoted to my husband, my 3-year-old daughter, and a red standard poodle who barks too much.  We also have a baby boy due to arrive in April (my reproductive success is going up, up, up!) and, as was the case last time, pregnancy is proving draining.  But here’s a quick list of things I enjoy doing when time and money permit:

  • Reading fiction (the last 5-star book I read was called ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’)
  • Crossword puzzles, Acrostic puzzles, and other word games.  Also jigsaw puzzles.
  • Watching TV & movies (you don’t get the idea for a ‘Primates and Pop Culture’ class without being a bit of a pop culture junkie)
  • Writing
  • Traveling (our most recent big trip was to the Galapagos Islands last winter)

A great place to spend New Year’s Eve, incidentally.

That’s hardly an exhaustive autobiography, I know.  But hopefully it helps fill in my background and contextualize my enthusiasm for science & nature (primates and other animals in particular).  Please subscribe to this blog if you enjoy my sadly-few-and-far-between posts, or follow me on Twitter (@tinkeringprim8), where posts require far less effort!

The Long and Winding Road

It took longer than expected.  Much longer.  Years longer, in fact.  But in May 2013, I finally put the grueling demands of graduate school behind me.  I am now Tinkering Primate, Ph.D.

Like this, but with a fancier robe.

Reaching this milestone was a momentous occasion.  As I and others have noted, those of us who embark on the journey to tack those ‘precious’ three letters onto our name must travel a long and winding road, and it is often hazardous.   Many who set out do not reach their goal, and some of those who do find that the road leads nowhere, so to speak.  In the framework of my colleagues who study cultural anthropology, grad school is a liminal stage: students are in essence standing in a threshold, no longer novices but not yet acknowledged as experts in their field of choice.

Now that I have crossed that threshold I am ostensibly a wiser person, with some degree of authority.  Thankfully, I’ve been able to put this newly-acquired status to good use, finding gainful employment that I plan to write about in a future post.  But first, I want to offer some basic advice, gleaned from my own experiences, to any potential or current graduate students who happen to stumble across this blog.

For those of you who have not yet set foot on the long and winding road…

1. Think about why you want to go to grad school and talk to people who are actually in grad school.

One of the main reasons I applied to graduate school was that I couldn’t find a job when I finished college (surprisingly, nobody was lining up to hire someone with a background in archaeology, cultural anthropology, and museum studies).

Open positions are hard to come by.

Open positions are hard to come by.

As it turns out, this is not a good reason to go to grad school.  I would have discovered this had I done some due diligence, but I was so preoccupied with finding something to do with myself that I didn’t think very far ahead — definitely a mistake given the amount of time grad school typically takes.  Talking to current grad students should, in my humble opinion, be a prerequisite for anyone thinking of embarking on this journey.  Their insight into funding issues, departmental politics, and other intricacies of the grad school environment can provide a valuable reality check to those as naive as I was.

2. Have some concrete ideas about what you might want to research.

“I want to study human evolution,” you say.

“What a noble ambition!” I say.

And it is.  But it’s not enough.  Or, rather, it’s far too vague a plan.  In grad school, you must produce knowledge in addition to absorbing it, so it’s important to have some specific potential research questions in mind when you start.  This will not only help you choose a school and find an advisor, but ensure that you have a basic roadmap to follow when you find yourself lost along the way.  This is not to say that you must be inflexible — plenty of people alter their research plans in response to shifting interests and other factors — but entering a program with the attitude that you are “interested in everything” about your field makes it difficult to even find the starting line.  In other words, don’t plan to figure it all out as you go.

If you are already in grad school…

3. Network!

Once you are in a grad program, you can’t network enough.  Making and maintaining professional connections is a crucial component of success (as my husband often reminded me).  For me, it was sometimes difficult: I was in a small department and at times was the only graduate student in my subfield, which meant opportunities to meet and become friendly with other grad students or scholars in my field were rarer than in most programs.  But my husband was right.  When I finally reached the point at which I was qualified to look for a full-time job, it was one of the people who had become part of my professional network that helped direct me to where I am now.

4. Don’t put the rest of your life on hold.

It took me a long time to finish grad school, but I did a lot of other stuff along the way.  I got married, bought a home, got a dog, and had a kid.

Here they are together.

Here they are together.

The reason I bring this up is that grad school can easily feel at once all-consuming and fruitless.  It’s easy to forget that life goes on outside the ivory tower, or to think that marriage and/or parenthood can or should wait until you finish your dissertation and get your career “on track.”  But the truth of the matter is that I’m incredibly glad I didn’t put my personal life on hold.  I would much rather snuggle with my daughter than my dissertation, and having one foot planted firmly outside academia helped me maintain sanity and perspective, and gave me that option.

So why am I still writing about graduate school as I approach the one year anniversary of my Ph.D. conferral?  Basically, because I have begun to realize that, as with child labor, memories of the pain associated with being a grad student fade over time.  If I am to give accurate and relevant advice, now is the time for me to do it.

And thus, with these pearls dispensed, I close the door of that threshold behind me.

Evolution: this time it’s personal

Usually if I’m thinking about evolution, it’s in a broad academic sense, wondering how the pressures of natural selection have shaped certain characteristics in humans or other species over thousands or millions of years.  Rarely do I stop to think about my own personal relationship with the evolutionary process, or about how my membership in the taxonomic group Homo sapiens predestines me to particular biological challenges.

But now that I am — SPOILER ALERT — in the midst of my first pregnancy, the realities of my evolutionary history are hitting me fast and hard.  I’m suddenly distinctly aware of the physical and physiological difficulties of maximizing my reproductive fitness.  Though it means I am successfully playing the evolutionary game, it turns out that in practice, passing on my genetic material  to future generations is much more of an ordeal than I had anticipated!

Of course, this is not an entirely new revelation for me.  As a student of anthropology I have long been taught that the evolution of bipedalism combined with increases in brain size substantially increased the difficulty of human birth by necessitating a larger head to pass through a narrower pelvic outlet than is seen in chimpanzees and other primates.  In order to enter the world, a human baby must engage in a series of gymnastic maneuvers through the birth canal, and women everywhere — regardless of their knowledge of evolutionary history — know that it’s no exaggeration to say that the process of labor and childbirth is a difficult one.

Image copyright Karen Carr, Smithsonian Institution

Left: chimpanzee infant head size relative to pelvic opening; Right: human infant head size relative to pelvic opening

But the seemingly endless weeks of overwhelming fatigue, constant nausea, headaches, and light-headedness that characterized my first trimester and have now continued into my second have got me thinking about the challenges of reproduction beyond the context of childbirth (still months away), and for the first time I find myself envious of the seemingly easier reproductive pathways that have been favored in other lineages.

For example, my hormone-drenched brain has recently been wondering what’s so great about internal gestation.  After all, it’s not the only viable reproductive strategy.  And with all the discomforts I’m experiencing as a result of the baby growing inside me, I can’t help but fantasize about how much more pleasant things would be if I could emulate a bird and bring forth life simply by sitting on an egg.  Seems ridiculous, right?  Perhaps, but when it comes down to it, some of my favorite activities — reading, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles — are best accomplished while seated, and I’ve gotten  quite good at it over the years.  Moreover, external gestation would go a long way toward evening the sexual division of labor associated with reproduction.  My husband and I, equally capable of egg-sitting, could share incubation duties (as in most species of penguin), and neither of us would need to be subjected to back pain, heartburn, or any of my other aforementioned symptoms.

In a similar vein, I find I have a newly disdainful attitude toward the functionally useless nipples of men.  I am perfectly aware that males have nipples only because of the default human developmental trajectory; selection has had no reason to eliminate them.  Yet I recently found my train of thought wandering along rather critical tracks:
“Come on selection, can’t we step things up a notch?  The equipment is more or less in place — let’s follow the example of the Dayak Fruit Bat* and put it to use!”

And what about sex determination mechanisms?  In humans, sex is dictated by the chromosomal combination that results when sperm randomly meets egg: females have an XX genotype while males are XY.  But in some species, primarily in the reptile class, sex determination is temperature-dependent.  Alligator eggs incubated at or below 86°F produce females, while those incubated at or above 93°F yield males.  In still other cases, both chromosomes and temperature are involved, and “certain incubation temperatures can “reverse” the genotypic sex of an embryo.”

Image copyright Laura Dewan, University of Hawaii

Now, I’m not saying that I want to choose the sex of my baby.  In fact, my husband and I have decided not to find this out pre-delivery.  But I’m sure that some couples, given the choice, would gladly renounce their evolutionary heritage in order to gain this ability.

As for me, I have no doubt that I am oversimplifying.  The seeming perks of other animals’ reproductive pathways must surely be counterbalanced by their own set of drawbacks.  And, as my mother reminded me, I should keep certain broad facts in mind:
1. Memories of my discomfort during pregnancy will fade over time
2. It could always be worse — the road to reproductive success for a female elephant begins with a 22-month gestation!

Kudos to you, Madame Elephant.  Kudos to you.

*The Dayak Fruit Bat example may not have been part of the original train of thought recounted here.

The Grad School Blues

During my first two years of grad school, when I was juggling a full-time course load, a full-time teaching fellowship, and a ghost of a personal life, I got very good at managing my time.  Lunch breaks, train rides, and office hours became excellent moments to squeeze in twenty or thirty pages of reading about Neanderthal developmental patterns or orangutan conservation.  The couch in the department lounge turned out to be a great place to catch up on 30 minutes of sleep following a late-night paper-writing stint and an early morning section meeting.  I even got used to marathon study and grading sessions on Friday and Saturday nights.  It wasn’t always the most pleasant schedule to maintain, but there was nary a wasted hour in my day.  I was going full speed ahead all the time.

Nowadays, in contrast, I frequently feel as if I am drifting on a windless current, or straining against the inertia of an anchor.  Ostensibly, I still have just as much to keep me occupied: finishing the lab work for my dissertation, writing said dissertation, teaching undergraduate courses (more often as an instructor than an assistant these days), maintaining my newly launched blog, and spending time with my husband and friends.  And yet, I find that without the forcibly structured schedule of those first two years, entire days can easily disappear with nothing productive to show for them.

Part of this is due to my natural tendency to procrastinate (one which I have apparently been honing for many years; last year I discovered that my mother once called me “lazy” in my baby book).  But I think my current round of malaise is just as much about the future as the present.

When I started my grad school program, I did so excited to continue learning about anthropology, and eager to design and execute an original research project.  I confidently imagined my PhD conferral as the inevitable conclusion of a challenging but rewarding journey, hopefully followed by a career in a university or zoo setting.  I had no illusions of scientific grandeur.  I just wanted to travel the “normal” grad school path and emerge on the other side with a plan for my life.

Yeah, right.

The ugly truth about grad school, which I think many learn the hard way, is that the “normal” path is littered with countless unanticipated obstacles.  In my case, the 2 largest of these were
1. my original thesis adviser unexpectedly left for another university, and
2. I had to find an entirely new research project after bureaucratic changes at the site where I planned to do my dissertation work led them to rescind their invitation at the last minute.
These were not exactly small setbacks, and alongside myriad smaller problems and disappointments they illustrate that grad school for me has consisted of more “challenge” and less “reward” than I hoped.  This is not the first time I’ve had the Grad School Blues.

“But T.P.,” you’re saying to yourself, “that’s all in the past!  Now that the finish line is in sight, shouldn’t you be full of renewed enthusiasm?”

Perhaps.  But while I am looking forward to finishing my degree next spring, I also find myself reluctant to face the post-grad school reality of finding a job and putting my PhD to work.  Who wouldn’t be, when it is becoming more common to see articles lambasting PhD programs in general, and knowing the well-documented challenges that women in particular face when trying to balance an academic career with a family?

The whole prospect is terrifying.

When I take a few deep breaths, I have no doubt that my present bout of Grad School Blues will pass in due course.  I will overcome the troubles I’m facing in the lab and compose a scientifically sound dissertation.  And I will graduate next spring, future unanticipated obstacles be damned!

But let my experiences stand as a cautionary tale to any readers contemplating a PhD journey — make sure you know what you are getting yourself into!  As for those of you who know me personally, I’ll just remind you that homemade fudge is an excellent G.S.B remedy, and say thank you in advance for giving me a shoulder to cry on if the Blues should return again.

A fool’s experiment

I recently stumbled across the following quotation from Charles Darwin:

I love fools’ experiments.  I am always making them.  [From The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, 1887]

This got me to thinking.  Like many of my colleagues, my voyage through graduate school has been a tumultuous one.  But never in these lo-so-many years have I lost interest in learning, reading, and talking about nature and science.  Moreover, the teaching experience I have acquired has given me the itch to educate others.  My friends and husband are frequently subjected to  enthusiastic ramblings about recently-read facts, newly-published theories, and anthropological oddities.  For example, did you know that the average chimpanzee sexual encounter lasts only 7 seconds?  My friends do.

But I’ve decided I can bend their ears only so far.  I need a broader audience.

And thus begins my fool’s experiment.  With this blog, I hope to act as a modern-day naturalist, sharing the progress I make with my own research, thinking and writing about scientific topics, and reflecting on the academic world.  I hope that you will visit often to join me in the endeavor.


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sanz1 sleepwalk 121108

Horatio Sanz, comedian and cast member of SNL from 1998 to 2006 has shed over 100 pounds, and now he is actually pretty hot.  Weird.  I always loved Horatio on Saturday Night Live, the 39 year old played one of my favorite characters from that era, Carol.  He always looked like he was having so much fun playing her, although he usually looked like he was having so much fun on SNL in general.  He and Jimmy Fallon (what happened to his career by the way?) were always laughing at inappropriate moments.

Watch the Intro here… it is worth the 15 seconds.

Good for him!  Even though I will never see that obese dream Carol again, I think it was worth it for the health bonus and new lease on life that I am sure Sanz has.

RIP Carol 2004-2006

In honor of her untimely demise, check out this clip from The Key Party.


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The Velvet Café

A room for thoughts about movies

Nothing is as unfunny as comedy posters

with 15 comments

I always thought that the point with advertising is to make people want to buy your product, right.

Sadly enough this doesn’t seem to work when it comes to marketing of movies, particularly not in the case of comedies.

If I’m interested in watching an upcoming comedy, the best I can do is to avoid paying too much attention to the advertising. If I look too closely at the images, chances are they won’t work as intended. If anything they’ll work the opposite way, making me lose interest for the movie.

Unfunny posters
If you ask me there is nothing as unfunny as a poster or an ad for a comedy.

I know what they’re trying to do. They want to help me understand what I get and there’s nothing wrong about that. You need to build the right expectations and match the viewer with the right movie. Help the thrill seekers to find their way to the horror movies, help those yearning for love to find romance and help everyone who needs a laugh to find something fun. But oh dear, do they need to do it so clumsily?

The more you yell at me: “THIS IS FUNNY, GO AHEAD AND LAUGH NOW”, the less funny does it get. It’s the same mechanism as with laugh tracks. Regardless of how fun it might have been from the beginning – by needlessly pointing it out all the time, you effectively suck the fun out of it.

Kvarteret Skatan
Recently I went to see a new Swedish comedy, Kvarteret Skatan reser till Laholm. Foreign readers probably shouldn’t bother to look it up; it’s clearly aiming for a Swedish audience with a lot of jokes I can’t imagine would be picked up by a foreigner.

So I won’t talk long about it. All I will say is that it I passed the requirements for a funny movie according to Mark Kermode. This means that I laughed at least five times. But what meant more to me: my teenage girls laughed and smiled not five times, but constantly through the entire movie. Just this beautiful sight, the privilege to see their faces and listen to their giggles was definitely worth the admission price.

But oh boy, how I had to struggle to overcome my aversion against the advertising! The picture of the man in the yellow shirt with the insane smile was ugly, intrusive and felt like an insult to my intelligence. Besides it seemed to be everywhere! I saw it in newspapers, on huge posters outside the cinema and in a pop-up ad that covered the entire website of the multiplex theatre when I was booking the tickets.

It was only by reminding myself that a Swedish fellow blogger had assured told me it was a truly funny movie and that it starred to a couple of stand up comedians I like that I managed to get over it and watch it despite the poster.

Different advertising
Not all comedy posters are like that. There are some exceptions that I wish had more followers.  Look at the one for Life of Brian! That’s a poster with style.

And if you’re afraid people won’t get that it actually is a funny movie, you could always do it like Four Lions. Spell it out! “Funny”.

But please, please spare me those silly faces and tinned laughter and posters that only make us cringe.

Kvarteret Skatan reser till Laholm (Mikael Syrén, SWE 2012) My rating: 3/5

Written by Jessica

March 21, 2012 at 1:00 am

15 Responses

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  1. Wow, that poster for Kvarteret Skatan reser till Laholm is atrocious. Most comedy posters make me wanna gag. I don’t know why they have to be so obvious.

    Dave Enkosky

    March 21, 2012 at 2:40 am

    • Yeah, I don’t think they’ll sell any extra tickets because of it tbh.

      March 21, 2012 at 7:08 am

  2. That is an awful poster. It looks like all of those bad American comedy movie posters. Eww!

    Steven Flores

    March 21, 2012 at 3:06 am

    • We’re not safe from that manner anywhere in the world obviously.

      March 21, 2012 at 7:08 am

  3. I think the problem is that it’s very hard to translate the humor of a moving picture with sound into a static image. So they go overboard and just to get as much nonsense in as possible with ridiculous faces and costumes. Eventually it just becomes terrifying to see.

    March 21, 2012 at 4:59 am

    • I think you’re spot on with the reasons. I just don’t think it transfers very well. It’s probably a bettet idea to go for style like the other two examples and count on that people pick up that it’s a funny movie by other means.

      March 21, 2012 at 7:09 am

  4. Urgh. I’m afraid that first poster would make me run miles rather than watch said film. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this to you before, but I was put off Secretary for a very long time because of its advertising. I’d only ever seen this on the DVD covers.

    Then there was this, which turns it from a chickflick/rom-com into a scary movie. Much as I love her, Maggie Gyllenhaal looks terrifying and far from the timid creature she portrays in most of the film!

    The only vaguely honest cover I’ve seen has been this.

    But I guess that last one wouldn’t sell the film, would it? Except, perhaps, to me.

    March 21, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    • Wow, that’s a lot of variety! James Spader! Reminds me of Sex, Love and Videotape, which I really would like to revisit. Secretary seems like something I should see too. Despite the advertising.

      March 21, 2012 at 5:17 pm

      • I can’t recommend Secretary enough, it’s up there in my “I have to always have a copy of this film so I can watch it whenever” list, which isn’t that long. It’s an odd little story, and I find it a beautiful story too. I’d love to tell you more about it but I wouldn’t want to ruin it for you if you do get around to seeing it. But I’ll say this, it moves me deeply. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and I never go away without that deep seated feeling of satisfaction that comes from watching a film that’s ticked all the right boxes for me.

        As an aside, I’ve not seen Sex, Love and Videotape. I have a feeling that perhaps I should!

        March 22, 2012 at 12:30 am

  5. It does seem that the “stock” comedy poster is particularly horrid when compared to the “stock” action or drama poster – but also I think the other genres have a greater variety of basic forms than a bunch of charcters grinning inanely at the viewer. It is somewhat irritating, in as much as there is no reason for it. Life of Brian has a wonderfully idiosyncratic poster, attention-grabbing. I rather like the poster to Blazing Saddles – but I biased in that regard, but even Robin Hood: Men in Tights has a rather engaging poster that plays on waht the film is without descending into the usual childishness.

    Lewis Maskell

    March 22, 2012 at 12:28 am

    • I had to look up Blazing Saddles and I can only agree. Save us those grinning characters and we might want to watch the movies!

      March 22, 2012 at 7:37 am

  6. Couldn’t agree with you more! Both on the poster and the instantaneous aversion against the feeling that someone is leaning over you with a “brännbolls”bat and hissing “Laugh, damn you!”

    But as someone else in these comments said, it’s hard to translate funny into static images. On the other hand, animated movies seems to be a lot better at it than regular feature ones.

    To uplift your spirits in this regard, maybe you should check out IMPAwards “Funniets poster” category? 2000 was for example a strong year in my regard.

    March 22, 2012 at 6:07 am

    • This is a wonderful site. I didn’t even know it existed. Thanks for pointing me there! And yes, it’s a comfort to see that there still ARE some good comedy movie posters made. It’s just hard to find them among all the crap.

      March 22, 2012 at 7:40 am

  7. Sadly most comedies seem to be aimed at idiots, the posters just reflect that.

    March 24, 2012 at 8:25 pm

    • Comedies are tricky. There are very few that I like. I’ve never attributed this to me not being an idiot though. It’s rather that I’m a bit picky when it comes to humor. Not all that easily entertained. In fact I’m a bit of a bore I guess.

      March 25, 2012 at 9:29 am

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Straps for Rolex

Shop The Watch Prince's collection of Replacement Watch Bands for Rolex Watches. These aftermarket watch straps are designed to fit your Rolex Perfectly! Whether you are looking for an Oyster, President, Jubilee, or Daytona Style, The Watch Prince has you covered with a premium selection of Genuine Alligator and Metal Bracelets for Rolex.


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Straps for Tag Heuer

Browse The Watch Prince's collection of replacement watch bands for Tag Heuer Watches. Each strap is carefully crafted and exudes the traditional racing style heritage associated with Tag Heuer timepieces. These straps are available in both alligator and leather to accommodate a dressy or sporty look!


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#YouCanSeeAHole Episode 113

socks for cardio challenge

NEWT- Truban’s blanket- 1/2 way done! = 75% of the newt!- took a pic, need to turn it in
Cardio Sock Swap socks – past heel- used fish lips kiss heel

You Spin me Right Round:

Allena- The Epic washing of the fleece NEWT
Fiber Wash Report: L/BL done Suffolk all clean. Picked through Alpaca Spinning cormo now

spinning on my order mission.-
spinning some Corgi Hill Farm fiber– jimson weed, merino/tussah- for flying class. going to be a cabled yarn. finished!

Allena sewed a bunch of sachets for Phat Fiber

Jessica- been biking a lot. not cardioknitting though

Random Randomness!

I’m Jamberry Nails Consultant!
garden doing awesome
Idlewild season passes
new ninja
i’m lame

Tallula got spayed!
Chloe broke her arm on the first day of summer.
Wedding Reception/Allena was here!
made cool hanging things for mason jars
Kids went to camp- i drove a ton. go me!
Went away for the weekend with Kaite!

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Turkey Egged

When it comes to the sports world, I am sure most of us have heard the old terms: zip, zero, nada, shut-out, and my personal favorite–goose egged, used when describing a team’s failure to put any points on the board. Well during this first turkey season–I guess you could say that I was turkey-egged!

I wish I was posting a picture of a fanned out Tom that had a 10inch beard and a candy apple red head that shinned so bright in the sun that you almost would think it was painted, but I don’t have a picture like that. Don’t get me wrong, I saw turkeys. I just wasn’t able to get them to come close enough to me and my stalking skills weren’t good enough to get close enough to them.

But the great thing is, there is always next season. Plus, my dad has already flown down from his roost and said he is going to be hitting the hunt with me next season–now I only have to work on my brothers (insert diabolical laugh).

The truly sad part about turkey hunting being over for me, is the fact that the close of the season really represents the close of my hunting for the year. I can’t complain too much though with the close comes the start of a Michigan summer and all the fun that is held there, and trust me, this summer has some exciting moments already in the works! And I am going to get out fishing more this year than ever in the past, so expect to see my monsters–or minnows–posted on this bad boy!

I think now is a great time to take a trip down memory lane. All of these pictures have a story to go with them, check out the my older post to catch up and read their stories!

As always–Enjoy the Hunt,

One response to “Turkey Egged

  1. So glad I wasn’t the only one 🙂 I don’t know about you guys, but we have Fall turkey hunt here, too. Give them all summer to fatten up, better eating anyhow.

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Opinion: Party politics dogs Perth’s local council elections

Local government Illustration: Don Lindsay
Local government Illustration: Don Lindsay

Last week, like most readers, I received in the mail my ballot paper for local government elections.

It’s the first chance I’ve had to vote in a council election since moving house a bit over a year ago — and with a natural interest in both politics and my local community, I was keen to weigh the options.

Suburban newspapers do the best they can with the limited resources available to cover council races, but other than Perth, possibly Fremantle and perhaps a handful of unusual or contentious council candidates, there is not much media coverage of who stands for what — even though the winners hold significant power to shape our suburbs in jobs that now attract remuneration of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

To the extent residents are interested in elections (and most clearly aren’t, with postal elections struggling to crack 30 per cent turnout) most information comes in the self-authored candidate profiles that are included in voting mailouts.

Under the relevant WA Electoral Commission guidelines, these profiles are to be kept to 150 words, be written in English, and “stay confined to biographical information about a candidate and statements of their beliefs”.

The only other restriction is that a statement may not contain information that a returning officer considers to be false, misleading or defamatory.

Thus, the councillor in my ward who introduced herself by saying she lives on a local street, in a heritage house, with her fiancé and two shelter dogs.

“We love our local area, the open green spaces, history and sense of community,” the profile says. The candidate goes on to promise to fight to “have your voice heard” on a local redevelopment issue, hold more council events in a particular suburb, improve safety in local playgrounds and call for more dog bowl water fountains in parks.

It’s all fairly anodyne stuff, but what’s omitted is that the candidate — who in my observation has the best produced and most prolific signage distributed around local homes and businesses — is the senior policy adviser to a WA Labor Government minister.

To be clear, there’s no rule that’s broken here but when I asked Twitter whether people expected such a thing to be disclosed, the answer was a unanimous “yes”.

When the candidate appeared in my Facebook feed with a paid, targeted advertisement, I asked in the comment thread for her thinking about this non-disclosure.

“You only get 150 words so I used them to focus on my ideas for our local community,” the candidate replied. “I've been upfront about my Labor Party membership in other communications — eg Candidates’ Forum. My job is separate to my campaign. I’ve told locals what I do when they’ve asked.”

My own bias on matters of politics is always in the interests of sunlight and disclosure.

For years the custom in WA has been that party politics is not overt in local government, but as Paul Murray noted on these pages last October, anyone who thinks there’s no involvement at all of political parties hasn’t been paying attention.

Recently WA Labor sent a mass email to its database of members and supporters detailing 46 ALP members who are running for election across 22 councils in metropolitan and country WA.

The list is not exhaustive, as the email notes it only features ALP members who responded to previous emails from party HQ.

(In the interests of disclosure, I will publish a link to the list for interested readers at twitter.com/G_Parker)

Labor State Secretary Patrick Gorman told me yesterday that the email was not campaigning, but “information sharing” from Labor members to other Labor members. The party did not endorse or resource candidates for local government elections (though insiders quibble with the definition of “resourcing” given the soft campaign infrastructure that is often made available).

“It is not our core business, in fact it’s not even our side business,” he said.

His Liberal counterpart, State director Sam Calabrese, said his side of politics would not compile a similar list.

“Our position has been for as long as I can remember that we don’t get involved, don’t preselect, or endorse or provide recommendations,” he said.

“We’ve made a very deliberate decision to keep out of it, we don’t have the administrative structure to participate in local government elections and there’s no push to do so.” Of course, a swag of recently turfed WA Liberal MPs have cropped up as candidates for council all over the city.

And some local Liberal branches endorse candidates too — like Swan Valley branch president Trevor Hancock, whose email of recommendations in City of Swan elections was obtained by The Advocate suburban newspaper.

Cr David Fardig, seeking re-election, was on Hancock’s endorsement list but was appalled by the prospect.

Self-identifying as apolitical, he told The Advocate he’d never sought any endorsement and felt he was being set up or compromised.

In rejecting the endorsement, Cr Fardig is like many in local government land who see that the overt association with parties diminishes them, their council and an institution that the purists believe is “above” politics.

It is not, of course, because it involves electing people to make important decisions about laws and the expenditure of big sums of other people’s money.

Implicit, also, is the assumption that local government works “better” when parties are not involved — though I am unconvinced that this is the case.

While purists hold their noses, in another sad reflection of political parties’ standing in modern Australia, at their core parties are collections of like-minded people who have well-developed, thought-through philosophies about the aims, goals and limitations of power.

That is not actually a bad thing — and membership would tell me more about the sort of person seeking to set and spend my hard-earned rates than their support (or otherwise) for more dog fountains.


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Larry King Interviews Tyler, The Creator

One of the US’s biggest talkshow hosts- Larry King interviewed none other than Tyler, The Creator yesterday. The two covered a variety of topics from racism, to Tyler’s future aspirations. As something of a controversial figure in music, Tyler makes a lot of interesting comments. Those include the fact that he’s not bothered by being called ‘the N-word’ and that in fact nothing bothers him, except people who aren’t true to themselves as ‘that scares him’. Have a look at some of the clips and let us known your thoughts below.

On his father – or absence of

Oh his controversial Mountain Dew advertisement

On what bothers him, and homosexuality

On the powers that be, or ‘suits’

On his future aspirations

Via Larry King

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Glen Grant 25 Years Old 1988 – 9.88 A heart-starter

Single malt scotch whisky

55.3% ABV, £99 for 70cl

Score: 87/100

What they say:

Cask No. 9.88

Little aroma beyond ‘dry’ to start with: very dried fruits, dried out leather, ash, soot, but soon opens to present fruitcake mix, ‘over-steeped jasmine tea’, toasted Brazil nuts, warehouses, mushrooms. Nice texture; sweet overall but very tannic, even ascorbic; some burnt jam in the aftertaste and a bitter coffee dregs and dark chocolate in the finish. Surprisingly, water introduces a meaty note – fresh tuna – with buttered croissant, high strength cocoa powder, then treacle toffee, fig pigs and salted caramel. Not so tannic now, with dry liquorice, coffee, dark chocolate and burnt toast. Very unlike the familiar light-bodied proprietary bottling.

Drinking tip: In place of espresso

Date Distilled: 18 April 1988 Colour: Polished mahogany Age: 25 years Flavour : Spicy & dry Cask Type: Refill ex-sherry butt Whisky Region: Speyside Spey

Outturn: 542 bottles

What I say:

Another visit to the SMWS and this time the Queen Street branch in Edinburgh for a few sample drams with friends. I started the night with one of my usual random requests of something very sherried. It was cold outside and we had just enjoyed the hubbub of the Edinburgh Christmas Markets including a fine Jura hotdog! That is Jura the region in France, a fine saucisse de morteau sprinkled with aged Comté cheese on a baguette (apparently the premium après-ski hot dog), followed by a crêpe au chocolate. So something to warm my bones and tantalise the tonsils. As soon as this dram was poured I could tell I was going to enjoy it from the colour alone!

Dark liquid toffee amber

Raspberry balsamic vinegar, nutty walnut and brazil nuts, dark chocolate cocoa, boozy fruit or christmas cake, dunnage warehouse

Chocolate and coffee, Mocha, nutty brazil nut and pecan, fruit and nut chocolate bars, treacle,  raisin, sweaty leather saddle

Long, drying and tannic

 Yum! A stunning dram from Glen Grant (SMWS distillery #9) absolutely choc-full of lovely sherry influence and aged to perfection. The perfect dram for a cold winter night.


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Bolt, Among Few Redeeming Lights in Discipline Marred by Scandals, Leaves

Despite his failure to win the men’s 100m final and the botched finish in the relay, the Jamaican left with his legacy intact. How dearly would athletics want to be in his place.

Usain Bolt, 2012. Credit: nickwebb/Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Usain Bolt, 2012. Credit: nickwebb/Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Priyansh is a sports writer.

Usain Bolt is known to set the track on fire. But by the time his final race finished, he was hobbling and “cold”. He lost. He did not finish. Bolt’s fans have come to expect surprise, wonder, amazement. He did it again, albeit in anti-climactic fashion. This was not how it was supposed to end.

There’s little room for scepticism in the church of Bolt. Despite the apprehensions that exist before his every race, the force of his will makes the whole act seem scripted. You need to suspend your imagination, yet believe that it will end well. Over the past week, though, the coda of Bolt’s career received its own cruel twist. We were wowed but not pleasantly.

It was not just about wishing a fairytale end to Bolt’s career. There were questions which went beyond the sprinter and yet were linked to him. As Bolt walked away, it was worth pondering what was left behind. Athletics’ reputation lies in tatters. Bolt was among the few redeeming lights in a discipline marred by recent scandals. Despite his failure to win the men’s 100m final and the botched finish in the relay, the Jamaican left with his legacy intact. How dearly would athletics want to be in his place.

Speaking after confirming that his decision to retire was final, Bolt said, “One championship doesn’t change what I’ve done. After losing the 100 meters someone said to me, ‘Muhammad Ali lost his last fight, so don’t be too stressed.’ I have shown my credentials throughout my career so losing my last race isn’t going to change what I’ve done in my sport.”

But a lot has changed within the wide boundaries of what is collectively called track and field sport. After years of failure to assert control over the threat of doping and corruption, athletics’ global governing body – the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) – is attempting a gradual makeover. This was recently seen in its insistence to continue Russia’s suspension for its failure to acknowledge and correct the systemic, state-sponsored doping programme, of which the country has been found guilty.

To recover further ground, IAAF’s President Sebastian Coe introduced medal reallocation ceremonies at the World Championships that concluded in London on August 13. No less than 11 athletes, in addition to five relay teams, were felicitated with new medals on account of doping violations that have surfaced through the years. A greater number of athletes may have made their way to London for the novel ceremony if not for personal commitments that left them indisposed. The reallocation reflected changes from as far back as the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.

Wrongful actions

Such steps are just fledgling ones in the road to redemption for athletics. After Bolt lost out to two-time doping offender Justin Gatlin in the 100m final, it was ironic to see Coe and Gatlin showered with boos when the sprinter was presented with the gold medal. It is worth recalling that Coe had argued for a lifetime ban for the American when he had been found guilty for the second time in 2006. Even in the aftermath of Gatlin’s win, the governing body’s president stuck to his decade-old stance.

While any such move is thought to be legally unsustainable, it is also worth arguing that a life ban may not be the most ethically sound position. It speaks of a worldview that seeks to attach the offender with the offence indefinitely. Any nuanced understanding of doping should be cognisant of the possibility that athletes are not entirely responsible for their actions. They may even turn out to be victims of a wider strategy to influence results on part of coaches or other persons of authority.

Not to forget the impunity with which those who run the sport function. Doubts still remain about Coe’s claimed unawareness of the IAAF officials’ extortion attempts to bury positive drug tests involving Russian athletes. Questions over his knowledge of other corruption scandals that affected the governing body when he was the vice-president have never really gone away either. His predecessor Lamine Diack is the subject of a French police investigation into corruption during his long tenure at the helm of the IAAF.

With evidence suggesting that maladministration was a reality at the governing body, it is a red-herring to focus on Gatlin alone. Of course, if the action on the track had not been pock-marked by doping scandals, the accusations of institutionalised corruption may not have hung as heavily as they do. But a combination of controversies has stuck to athletics with the sport failing to shake the smell of suspicion away.

It is in this light that the departing Usain Bolt is worth seeing. Like a true ambassador of athletics, he has constantly pushed for a more positive outlook in his public pronouncements. Even in the post-100m-final press conference, Bolt was quick to shut a reporter down for suggesting that the slowest winning time in a decade was a consequence of stricter doping controls. Bolt is not unaware of the gravity of the issue – but he is not going to stop looking for slivers of optimism. The Jamaican has also been openly supportive of Gatlin, as the 2004 Olympics men’s 100m champion experiences a late career resurgence. Bolt has justifiably called the booing of the American disrespectful.

Indeed, the public vilification of Gatlin is a consequence of the skewed media coverage loaded against him. He was by no means the only athlete to return from a doping ban at the World Championships, but he was arguably the most popular. Some of the mainstream media voices, particularly British, were harsher on him than they have been in the past on white athletes accused of similar or even more serious offences. It seems that black athletes like Gatlin who are at the top of their sporting discipline get fewer chances to prove their innocence.

Graceful exit

Especially in the aftermath of the 100m final, simplistic narratives abounded. Despite the sheer irrelevance of the ‘good versus bad’ tropes, many journalists found themselves guilty of drawing water from that well. The Telegraph in the UK went with the headline ‘Usain Bolt beaten in last solo race as drug cheat Justin Gatlin gatecrashes world 100m final’. Other voices in the media could not look beyond Gatlin’s past doping offences either, even though he had won the race in question legitimately. Bolt, as the ideal hero, was perceived to have been wronged.

It is not really clear whether such coverage helps us make sense of the problems that plague athletics. Legitimate results are in danger of being discredited in the shadow of a scandal-ridden sport. While the way athletics is run by the IAAF is responsible for the lack of trust, a media trial of a former dope offender is hardly the way to address very serious problems, which remain as threatening as ever.

A recent Netflix documentary on the Russian doping scandal, Icarus, had the founder of UCLA’s Olympic Analytical Laboratory Dr. Don Catlin saying, “They’re all doping.” Well, they are not. Like the documentary, the popular discourse has been unable to look past the most obvious narratives that have encircled athletics in recent years. If indeed the sport is infected at all levels, how did Bolt manage to stay clean and yet dominate men’s sprint events for a decade?

As the triple Olympic champion walks away, it is important to cherish and pay tributes to an athlete who stayed humble and true to his vocation. But it is also a moment to reflect upon a world of athletics sans Bolt’s presence. It might be wishful to hope for the Jamaican to lead an agenda that seeks to bring athletics back to a position of respect. But even in defeat, his graceful reaction to Gatlin’s win suggested a possibility for change.

At the same time, athletics is not weaker when Bolt loses. It is a shame that he could not complete his final competitive race in the wee hours of August 13 (IST). A hobbling Bolt was perhaps an apt image for the state in which athletics finds itself. But it is worth reflecting upon the World Championships that left us with enough moments of cheer and joy to feel that a more optimistic future can exist. Bolt’s optimism might be misplaced at times but athletics is not a lost cause just yet. He is gone now but the optimism that he carried gracefully throughout his career is still hoping to thrive.

Over to you then, the IAAF.

    The athletic marvels of Bolt will continue to inspire future generations . Despite scandals, he continues to shine . Even though he could not make up in his last competition, his legacy will be membered


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Life, Rambles, Things Happening RN

I was going to try to write something funny; I mean, I’m always funny, but I was going to try to be purposefully funny. This post will be funny because I can’t not be funny/handsome, but that’s not the attempt. I guess this was a disclaimer? Omg, btw, isn’t is so weird when people put the emphasis on the first syllable in disclaimer, saying it as “disclaimer” rather than the regular, human “disclaimer” or at least putting a similar emphasis on each of the first two syllables (dis-claim-er)? God, I could make an entire blog post about syllabic emphasis but that would actually be torture for everyone.

I, and everyone I know (aka everyone in the whole world basically), have been in a real funk lately. Maybe it’s the complex tornado of Midterms and the impending Graduation and Jobs and Parents and Expectations. Maybe we all just have Mono and none of us realize it yet. Both, frankly, are equally possible.

Is Mercury in retrograde? Has anyone checked?

I’m doing Big Life Things—not jobs, things, mom, so don’t text me—but it’s weird and enterprising and scary.

I just saw Someone and I feel the vibrations ripple up my spine and tingle into my teeth. I swear to god, my body is breaking, because I feel emotions in the weirdest ways and also my left eyelid—it’s the top (omg such a Top™ thing to do to be so demanding)—has been intermittently twitching for the last week and a half. The possible motives for this Twitching© are: 1). Lack of sleep; 2). Too much caffeine; 3). My body is trying to throw off the shackles of a demon possession and my mind hasn’t realized it yet; 3b). My demon is trying to take control of my body to help me improve my grades and job prospects and my mind is self-sabotaging itself. End of list.

I’ve also been walking around campus and noticing people that I always viewed as single suddenly start to pair up, like there’s some sort of biblical flood that no one warned me about. I’m not…I’m not “bitter,” but my friend Nina had the right word: “Embittered.” Like these fucking nobodies are shacking up for the winter season?? YOU DON’T NEED A BOYFRIEND FOR THE WINTER, YOU JUST NEED A FUCKING BOYFRIEND PILLOW.

I think the world just needs to collectively decide to just date itself for a while, and be single!! Mother Gaia, ur too hot to settle down!

Also, I’ve decided that I’m wearing too much gray/not enough gay. Remember how I mentioned that my friend Nina—ugh this bitch is popping up twice in one post? She’s gonna get such an ego—said that I cockblock her because everyone assumes that I’m her boyfriend. Well APPARENTLY THAT’S LEGIT AND I’M DRESSING TOO STRAIGHT. I’ll admit, I’ve been wearing a lot of baggy, boyfriend-style jeans lately—DOESN’T THE FACT THAT I JUST CALLED THEM BOYFRIEND JEANS IMPLY THAT I’M SO ABSOLUTELY HOMOSEXUAL—and dad t-shirts, so I’m going to switch it up.

From now on, to let everyone know that I’m gay before I even speak—Nina: “Once people hear you, they know you’re gay.”—I’ve got a new uniform: acid-washed jeggings, a Legalize Gay American Apparel crop top, UGG boots and a clip-in side-ponytail. Yes, I’ll look like a mental patient, but I look like a gay mental patient, and that’s all I wanted.

The weather is becoming more wintry, so maybe that’s the reason for my more melancholic—if a collie become depressed, is it then technically a melan-collie?—meandering musings, or it might just be g*ddamn fucking Mercury. I should disclose that I do not know what “retrograde” means, but I like to picture it as meaning “when you get really into the ‘70s disco scene”. I don’t think that’s what it means, but I’m not giving up hope. Yet.

Also I changed the fonts for my titles and text. Do you like them? I’m trying to make the whole look a little cleaner, a little more “aesthetic.” I haven’t succeeded, but I feel one step closer. LMK WHAT U THINK.

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—Isaiah 55:10-11

Ever feel like you’re not being as effective as you’d like to be in God’s service? Like your meager evangelistic efforts are falling flat? Like you’re pretty sure God picked the wrong person to do this thing?

Don’t panic (because God doesn’t). The above verse from Isaiah tells us that God’s word always hits the intended target. In other words, He’s not random. While we may be bumbling around, God still uses us to do his purposeful work. This verse holds a promise, too, like so many wonderful ones embedded in scripture. We can grab onto these promises when we feel less than victorious. The promise here is, “My word never fails to accomplish my mission.” So put it out there!

As I write this, I recall a couple of seed-planting opportunities I received and acted on, yet I have no idea if any impact ever resulted. One situation occurred at a Christmas work party where the company was definitely mixed (believers and non-believers). I know of at least two believers anyway, my husband and me. The rest…well, let’s just say that after I gave my testimony in response to their questions about my vision loss, I understood what Ralphie (from The Christmas Story ) meant when he said, “They looked at me as if I had lobsters crawling out of my ears.” It went over that well!

Time to remember the promises. God’s Word doesn’t return void. And this one found in Philippians 1:6: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Now this passage gives assurance when we feel stalled on the journey—a common place for me to be. Maybe you feel stronger, but I don’t know…the world drains us daily if we don’t stay connected to God’s Word and His promises.

Promises like these sustain us during trial times.They nourish us during dry times; and they calm us during “What just happened?” times.That is to say, all of life! Plus, they come with a 100% guarantee. After all…God is not human that He should lie (Numbers 23:19).

Finally, as we attempt to place one shaky foot in front of the other, let us be reminded of our ultimate goal. Hebrews 10:36 sums it up this way: “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.”

There’s no better motivation than that!

Journey along…


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November 24

James Caldwell, an American clergyman, who fought in the Battle of Springfield, is killed by an American sentry in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Caldwell had refused to have a package inspected. The sentry, James Morgan, is hanged for murder on January 29, 1782 in Westfield, New Jersey. There are rumors that he had been bribed to kill the chaplain.

Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States.

1787 Franz Xaver Gruber, Austrian organist and composer of Silent Night.

Celebrated Birth:
Junípero Serra (b. 1713 – August 28, 1784) Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California.

For a Spiral Bound book with information on events that happened on each day of the year during the American Revolutionary Period goto: American Revolutionary Period: 1760-1789

Published in: on November 24, 2009 at 2:46 am  Leave a Comment

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