I came across this article about 6 weeks ago in the Ogden Standard Examiner. The part that I want to mention is when they asked potential jurors "Have you or anyone you know been involved in a homosexual relationship?" The article says that "Few among the jury panel of 35 people answered 'yes'."
They don't say how many 'few' is, but I am amazed. I grew up in the geographical area covered by this newspaper. Very quickly, off the top of my head, I can think of 6-7 people I knew from that same area who have been involved in homosexual relationships. It is amazing to me that there are people living in the same area who don't even know a single gay person. I'm guessing that a lot of it has to do with age. I'm thinking that if all the jury panel were my age or younger, the answer to the question would have been yes for everyone.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Things I Love
I forgot that I was supposed to occasionally write uplifting and/or happy posts on this blog. Oops.
So, here are two things I love.
I love my curls! My curls are wild and can never be tamed; I love that! They won't give in, and neither will I. As a teenager, I tried to keep my hair as straight as possible. I haven't done that for years. If I wear it up while wet, most of it will be relatively straight when it dries, and sometimes I'll even put it in very gentle steam rollers to relax the curls a bit. But I threw out the round brush and flat iron entirely. A few years ago I set out to truly love my hair, and now I do. My curls are part of me, and I love them. Here is a crazy one.
It starts out thick and spiraling, and then kind of fizzles. I have a whole crop of shorter hair at the nape of my neck, and sometimes it mingles with other curls and I end up with this.
Here is a picture of me and my baby with our lovely curls:
The other thing that I love is my freckles. I refuse to wear any kind of makeup that would cover them or obscure them at all. Sometimes I look in the mirror and despair because I need to get more sun and brighten those freckles back up! This is a marked change from when I was younger. I remember hearing about a woman who got rid of her freckles by religiously wearing sunscreen for two years. I wondered if I had the discipline to do that. Now I wonder why I would ever want that!
So, here are two things I love.
I love my curls! My curls are wild and can never be tamed; I love that! They won't give in, and neither will I. As a teenager, I tried to keep my hair as straight as possible. I haven't done that for years. If I wear it up while wet, most of it will be relatively straight when it dries, and sometimes I'll even put it in very gentle steam rollers to relax the curls a bit. But I threw out the round brush and flat iron entirely. A few years ago I set out to truly love my hair, and now I do. My curls are part of me, and I love them. Here is a crazy one.
It starts out thick and spiraling, and then kind of fizzles. I have a whole crop of shorter hair at the nape of my neck, and sometimes it mingles with other curls and I end up with this.
Here is a picture of me and my baby with our lovely curls:
The other thing that I love is my freckles. I refuse to wear any kind of makeup that would cover them or obscure them at all. Sometimes I look in the mirror and despair because I need to get more sun and brighten those freckles back up! This is a marked change from when I was younger. I remember hearing about a woman who got rid of her freckles by religiously wearing sunscreen for two years. I wondered if I had the discipline to do that. Now I wonder why I would ever want that!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Arrgh!!
If comparing the immoral nature of serious crimes such as pedophilia and murder with homosexuality would, in the end, lead one to abandon immoral homosexual conduct and find peace, joy and love, in a straight life, then that act of comparison is worth the effort many times over.
I came across this comment today. This person is trying to defend an LDS person's comparison of homosexuality to pedophilia, bestiality, murder, and rape. Seriously?! Seriously?!???!! No matter how True Blue LDS you are, how is there any way you could defend this? This makes me livid! And no, this guy is not only defending the theoretical comparison of these sins, he is defending saying these things to real, living, breathing, feeling gay people, in order to help them decide not to be gay. And the worst part is, he insists that this is done out of LOVE. Love!!
This is not the place to pick apart the guy's (il)logic. I could go on and on about that. I am just here to discuss my gut reaction to it. I want to scream and rant and shout and explain and convince until I am blue in the face. Yet I can't, because that will destroy me.
Some people can have these discussions and let it roll off them. I can't do that. I used to 'debate' and 'discuss' (argue) on the internet every day. Just ask Chandelle (I am guessing we argued about nutrition and/or the Church). I was miserable. I got angry online and it carried right over to my family life. I take things way too personally and am unable to stay dispassionate and stick to logical arguments. When I see comments like this, I want to respond to be supportive of those who may be deeply hurt by reading the vitriol, but I just end up looking like a ranting lunatic in the end. In the last three months, I've engaged in probably 3 'discussions' that went beyond 'friendly'. And I just can't do it. I don't know if the rest of my life is so out of order that getting involved in these debates sends me over the edge or what, but I can't do it right now.
What do you do? Do you stay silent and let those terrible disgusting words sit unchallenged?
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Coconut 'Milk'
Most nutritional philosophies that I have studied, including veganism, vegetarianism, raw foodism, and traditional foodism, all agree that grocery store milk is bad news. It comes from cows who are raised on feed lots and pumped up regularly with antibiotics and hormones. Bacterial counts are often very high or are reduced by adding bleach. The milk is adulterated during the processes of pasteurization and homogenization. There are entire websites dedicated to the badness of milk, but I'll stop there.
Vegans, vegetarians, and most raw foodists believe that milk of any sort is bad. Traditional foodists believe that raw milk fresh from a pasture-raised cow is basically the nectar of the gods. However, that comes at a price. I used to get raw milk from a farm south of me, and when I stopped buying it, I think it was up to about $6/gallon. In addition, I was paying the drivers who picked up the milk each week. It ended up coming out to about $50 per month for only a gallon and a half per week.
Since raw milk was too expensive for us, I've occasionally tried to find substitutes. I like the taste of homemade almond milk quite well, but my kids think it is gross because I leave the bitter skins on. I also typically need to add vanilla and a bit of sweetener, which can inflate the cost quickly. I keep reading on raw food blogs about how you can make some quick coconut 'milk' for recipes by blending dried coconut and water. I finally tried it today. It's fast and easy and the kids (at least 1) actually like it!
I used 1 part dried unsweetened coconut to 3 parts water and blended it in the Blendtec until it was totally pulverized to a powder. I then strained the 'milk' through a woven towel, squeezed all the liquid from the coconut pulp/flour, and put the flour into the dehydrator to dry it out. The resulting 'milk' tastes fantastic on its own. I tried adding more water to reduce the cost, but if it's too watery, it doesn't taste very good.
I am calling this 'milk' because this is nothing like the coconut milk you buy in can. This is a thin coconut flavored beverage similar to the consistency of 1% cow's milk. I would use it on cereal, smoothies, or to drink. It is fantastic as a base for hot chocolate.
I'm not sure if the leftover coconut pulp/flour is exactly the same as commercially-sold coconut flour, which is made by grinding coconut fiber after most of the oil has been removed, but it's similar. It's definitely similar enough to be used in raw treat recipes that call for coconut flour, like this one at Vivapura.
Cost Analysis
I bought some dried coconut (sulphured) at the health food store. It was $3.50/pound, which is about 6 cups. You'd end up with 18 cups milk using the 3:1 ratio. That comes out to $3.11 for 1 gallon of coconut 'milk'. That is a pretty great price for an alternative milk. If I remember correctly, almond milk or rice milk from the store is about $8/gallon.
Even better, in the group buy I just completed, I sold unsulphured unsweetened dried coconut for $2.08/pound, which included my profit. This would decrease the cost for a gallon of coconut 'milk' to $1.85, which is right about the same cost as grocery store cow's milk.
When considering cost, you also have to remember that in addition to the 'milk', you're getting free coconut 'flour' as well.
Nutritional Profile
I looked up FitDay.com's entry for "Nuts, coconut meat, dried (desiccated), not sweetened". Using my ratios above, there are 6 cups coconut to a pound, and that makes 18 cups coconut 'milk'. So 1 cup coconut 'milk' uses 1/18 pound coconut, or 0.89 ounces. The nutritional profile for that amount of dried unsweetened coconut is:
From FitDay.com
Of course this assumes that you are consuming the coconut pulp, which you will not be if you throw it away or dehydrate it, put it in your freezer, wait 6 months, and then throw it away (like me).
Vegans, vegetarians, and most raw foodists believe that milk of any sort is bad. Traditional foodists believe that raw milk fresh from a pasture-raised cow is basically the nectar of the gods. However, that comes at a price. I used to get raw milk from a farm south of me, and when I stopped buying it, I think it was up to about $6/gallon. In addition, I was paying the drivers who picked up the milk each week. It ended up coming out to about $50 per month for only a gallon and a half per week.
Since raw milk was too expensive for us, I've occasionally tried to find substitutes. I like the taste of homemade almond milk quite well, but my kids think it is gross because I leave the bitter skins on. I also typically need to add vanilla and a bit of sweetener, which can inflate the cost quickly. I keep reading on raw food blogs about how you can make some quick coconut 'milk' for recipes by blending dried coconut and water. I finally tried it today. It's fast and easy and the kids (at least 1) actually like it!
I used 1 part dried unsweetened coconut to 3 parts water and blended it in the Blendtec until it was totally pulverized to a powder. I then strained the 'milk' through a woven towel, squeezed all the liquid from the coconut pulp/flour, and put the flour into the dehydrator to dry it out. The resulting 'milk' tastes fantastic on its own. I tried adding more water to reduce the cost, but if it's too watery, it doesn't taste very good.
I am calling this 'milk' because this is nothing like the coconut milk you buy in can. This is a thin coconut flavored beverage similar to the consistency of 1% cow's milk. I would use it on cereal, smoothies, or to drink. It is fantastic as a base for hot chocolate.
I'm not sure if the leftover coconut pulp/flour is exactly the same as commercially-sold coconut flour, which is made by grinding coconut fiber after most of the oil has been removed, but it's similar. It's definitely similar enough to be used in raw treat recipes that call for coconut flour, like this one at Vivapura.
Cost Analysis
I bought some dried coconut (sulphured) at the health food store. It was $3.50/pound, which is about 6 cups. You'd end up with 18 cups milk using the 3:1 ratio. That comes out to $3.11 for 1 gallon of coconut 'milk'. That is a pretty great price for an alternative milk. If I remember correctly, almond milk or rice milk from the store is about $8/gallon.
Even better, in the group buy I just completed, I sold unsulphured unsweetened dried coconut for $2.08/pound, which included my profit. This would decrease the cost for a gallon of coconut 'milk' to $1.85, which is right about the same cost as grocery store cow's milk.
When considering cost, you also have to remember that in addition to the 'milk', you're getting free coconut 'flour' as well.
Nutritional Profile
I looked up FitDay.com's entry for "Nuts, coconut meat, dried (desiccated), not sweetened". Using my ratios above, there are 6 cups coconut to a pound, and that makes 18 cups coconut 'milk'. So 1 cup coconut 'milk' uses 1/18 pound coconut, or 0.89 ounces. The nutritional profile for that amount of dried unsweetened coconut is:
From FitDay.comOf course this assumes that you are consuming the coconut pulp, which you will not be if you throw it away or dehydrate it, put it in your freezer, wait 6 months, and then throw it away (like me).
Template Woes, Part II
I apologize for my layout. I was going to fix it a long time ago but forgot about it. If the post is long, it looks OK, but if the post is short, the banner at the bottom messes everything up. The banners don't fit properly, and my 'Older Posts' link somehow disappeared into cyberspace. Just know that it's on my list of things to do eventually, ha ha!
This Little Piggy
My mom always plays This Little Piggy with YoungestSon's tiny little toes. This morning as I was putting on his shoes, I grabbed his feet and started "This little piggy went to the market. . ." He immediately pulled his foot away and in his cute 2-year old way said "No, Grandma do it!" I didn't understand at first and tried again with the same result. I guess that is Grandma's game and no one else can do it!
Friday, January 08, 2010
Durian!
Ever since I heard about the durian fruit, I wanted to try one. The durian fruit is said to be quite delicious, but it smells awful. In Singapore, they've even banned durians from mass transit! You've got to browse through theWikipedia article - some of the descriptions of the durian's smell are fantastic!
So I've been kind of wanting to try one but haven't been too serious about it. Then Carmella of the Sunny Raw Kitchen wrote about durian this week, and I decided I'd definitely try it soon, but I wasn't really sure where to get one.
Today at work, my coworker (she is from China) and I were preparing our lunches and she said "I'm so embarrassed! My car smells so gross. My parents and I bought this fruit. . ." I said "Oh, was it a durian?" It was, of course. She said you can get them at the Thai/Asian markets around here. She was in California when she had hers, but somehow it stunk up her car (even though it was either frozen in a package or unpeeled in the peel/husk) and she can't figure out how to get the smell out. She said that once you start eating it, the smell isn't bothersome. She also said she likes to buy 1 at a time and eat it with someone else so that they can finish it off all at once. She said you DO NOT want the leftovers in your fridge!
So maybe I'll sponsor a durian-tasting party here at work, to be held in the parking lot, ha ha. People around here are sensitive about the smell of COFFEE, so can you imagine how much they'd freak over a durian? I think that most of the women here would try it, but I don't think any of the men would come near it with a 10-foot pole. They stick to things like Wendy's, Lean Cuisine, or the same sandwich every day for years. I guess to get the durian here I'll have to tie a bag onto the outside of the car so my car doesn't get stunk up, ha ha.
So I've been kind of wanting to try one but haven't been too serious about it. Then Carmella of the Sunny Raw Kitchen wrote about durian this week, and I decided I'd definitely try it soon, but I wasn't really sure where to get one.
Today at work, my coworker (she is from China) and I were preparing our lunches and she said "I'm so embarrassed! My car smells so gross. My parents and I bought this fruit. . ." I said "Oh, was it a durian?" It was, of course. She said you can get them at the Thai/Asian markets around here. She was in California when she had hers, but somehow it stunk up her car (even though it was either frozen in a package or unpeeled in the peel/husk) and she can't figure out how to get the smell out. She said that once you start eating it, the smell isn't bothersome. She also said she likes to buy 1 at a time and eat it with someone else so that they can finish it off all at once. She said you DO NOT want the leftovers in your fridge!
So maybe I'll sponsor a durian-tasting party here at work, to be held in the parking lot, ha ha. People around here are sensitive about the smell of COFFEE, so can you imagine how much they'd freak over a durian? I think that most of the women here would try it, but I don't think any of the men would come near it with a 10-foot pole. They stick to things like Wendy's, Lean Cuisine, or the same sandwich every day for years. I guess to get the durian here I'll have to tie a bag onto the outside of the car so my car doesn't get stunk up, ha ha.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
I'll Be Back Up On My Feet
Click here to listen to the soundtrack for this post.
I've got to get back on my feet.
There are a few things I just haven't been doing. Like feeding my kids and myself actual food. We have eaten SO much fast food over the past few months. So much sugar/candy. So much junk. We've had every opportunity to eat well. We haven't been inundated with treats nor holiday parties. We've had plenty of money to buy good groceries. I just haven't gotten around to it. Today we've eaten toast, Wendy's, cookies, and brownies. The youngest two also fought over the last hot dog (and I never buy hot dogs!). Nice. I used to make detailed menu plans and grocery lists and follow them. I looked in my planner and the last weekly menu plan was from August, the week before TheEx left for Houston. I know I've made a few more menu plans since then, but I used to do it diligently. I feel so gross from all the junk. My skin looks terrible. I crave sugar and it does taste good, but I dread eating it because it's just so gross. I just feel 'ick'.
Another big thing is getting a decent amount of sleep at a regular time. I was always so good at that until about 3 years ago. I progressively got worse until I was going to bed at 2-3 am many nights and regularly getting around 5 hours of sleep. I did better for a week or two, but I've gotten back to the very late and wildly variable bedtimes recently. One night it will be 2 am, the next night 9 pm. I feel exhausted and out of it most of the time.
I have a lot of goals or intentions for the coming year. But I think the two I'll focus on first are good food and good rest.
Anyway, this was actually meant to be a forward-looking uplifting post, because I got thinking of that Monkees song I linked to, and it's a fun happy song :-)
I've got to get back on my feet.
There are a few things I just haven't been doing. Like feeding my kids and myself actual food. We have eaten SO much fast food over the past few months. So much sugar/candy. So much junk. We've had every opportunity to eat well. We haven't been inundated with treats nor holiday parties. We've had plenty of money to buy good groceries. I just haven't gotten around to it. Today we've eaten toast, Wendy's, cookies, and brownies. The youngest two also fought over the last hot dog (and I never buy hot dogs!). Nice. I used to make detailed menu plans and grocery lists and follow them. I looked in my planner and the last weekly menu plan was from August, the week before TheEx left for Houston. I know I've made a few more menu plans since then, but I used to do it diligently. I feel so gross from all the junk. My skin looks terrible. I crave sugar and it does taste good, but I dread eating it because it's just so gross. I just feel 'ick'.
Another big thing is getting a decent amount of sleep at a regular time. I was always so good at that until about 3 years ago. I progressively got worse until I was going to bed at 2-3 am many nights and regularly getting around 5 hours of sleep. I did better for a week or two, but I've gotten back to the very late and wildly variable bedtimes recently. One night it will be 2 am, the next night 9 pm. I feel exhausted and out of it most of the time.
I have a lot of goals or intentions for the coming year. But I think the two I'll focus on first are good food and good rest.
Anyway, this was actually meant to be a forward-looking uplifting post, because I got thinking of that Monkees song I linked to, and it's a fun happy song :-)
Awesome Christmas Present
In order to get yesterday's negativity off the top spot on my blog, check out what I got from my mom for Christmas:
Awesome, huh?!?
Awesome, huh?!?
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