For a while now, I have been meaning to cut back on the crappy diet and really work towards a healthier lifestyle. Having heard horror stories similar to this one I have cut out some pop, and all diet pop. However, I really have to cut out all caffeine, all refined foods, and most importantly increase healthy veggies. I realize that this should have started a year ago, before I tried to get pregnant, but better late than never I guess.
I am looking for simple, healthy and great tasting meals for my family. Simple because, so far, I have not been a fan of cooking. That is one thing that I will most definitely have to convince myself that I love and is worth doing. Ok, I know that it is worth doing, I just have to actually do it.
One small thing I started this week, and hope to be able to continue, is to have a frozen lemon in my freezer. That way, I can add a small bump of fresh Vitamin C to any meal with just a few passes over the grater, and basically no cleanup. I tried it on my homemade banana bread and it is wonderful. Now to test it on the pizza in the fridge and other foods as they pass through the house.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Sunday, June 3, 2012
We Stopped Dreaming - Neil deGrasse Tyson
We Stopped Dreaming - Neil deGrasse Tyson
Transcript of We Stopped Dreaming by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Here’s what happened, in the 1960’s, we were at war with the Soviet Union, Cold war, and a little bit of hot war over in Vie- South East Asia. So, we fear them because they put up Sputnik. Which, by the way people forget, was an emptied out casing of an intercontinental ballistic missile. And, Sputnik itself means ‘fellow travellers’ it was all peaceful, but it was a ballistic missile head, without explosives. So that was a signal and we freaked in America. So NASA got founded on the fear factor of Sputnik. Alright, so, we then go to the moon on the fear factor that Russia will control high ground. Then, we go to the moon, space enthusiasts say “oh, we’re on the moon by ’69, we’ll be on mars in another ten years”. They completely did not understand why we got to the moon in the first place. We were at war, once we saw that Russia was not ready to land on the moon, we stopped going to the moon. That should not surprise anybody looking back on it.
Meanwhile, however, that entire era galvanized the nation. Forget the war as a driver; it galvanized us all to dream about tomorrow, to think about the homes of tomorrow, the cities of tomorrow, the food of tomorrow. Everything was future world, future land. The world’s fair, all of this was focused on enabling people to make tomorrow come. That was a cultural mindset the space program brought upon us. And, we reaped the benefits of economic growth because you had people wanting to become scientists and engineers who are the people who enable tomorrow to exist today. And, even if you are not a scientist or technologist, you will value that activity and that, in the 21st century are the foundations of tomorrow’s economies and without it we might as well just slide back to the caves, because where we are headed right now, broke.
I’m tired of saying this, but I have to say it again. The NASA budget is 4/10th of one penny on a tax dollar. If I held up a tax dollar, and I cut, horizontally into it 4/10th of one percent of its width, it does not even get you into the ink. So, I will not accept a statement that says we can’t afford it.
Do you realize that the 850 billion dollar bank bailout, that sum of money is greater than the entire 50 year running budget of NASA, and so when someone says we don’t have enough money for this space probe. I’m asking, no, it’s not that you don’t have enough money, it’s that the distribution of money that you’re spending is warped in some way that you are removing the one thing that gives people something to dream about tomorrow. The home of tomorrow, the city of tomorrow, transportation of tomorrow. All that ended in the 1970’s, after we stopped going to the moon, it all ended, we stopped dreaming. And so, I worry that decisions that Congress makes doesn’t factor in the consequences of those decisions on tomorrow. They are playing for the quarterly report, they are playing for the next election cycle and that it mortgaging the actual future of this nation. Tomorrow’s gone.
If you double NASA’s budget, right now it’s half a penny on the dollar, make it a penny, go ahead, make it a penny, go ahead, be bold. That would be enough to go to mars soon, with people, and go back to the moon, and onto asteroids. NASA, as best as I can judge, is a force of nature like none other and so what worries me is that if you take away the manned program. A program, which if you advance frontiers you make – heroes are made. There is a force operating on the educational pipeline that will stimulate the formation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians and technologists. You birth these people into society. They are the ones that make tomorrow come.
A half a penny. That buys the space station, the space shuttles, all the NASA centers, the rovers, the Hubble telescope, all the astronauts, all of that. Nobody’s dreaming about tomorrow anymore. The most powerful agency on the dreams of a nation is currently underfunded to do what it needs to be doing, and that’s making dreams come true.
How much would you pay for the universe?
Transcript of We Stopped Dreaming by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Here’s what happened, in the 1960’s, we were at war with the Soviet Union, Cold war, and a little bit of hot war over in Vie- South East Asia. So, we fear them because they put up Sputnik. Which, by the way people forget, was an emptied out casing of an intercontinental ballistic missile. And, Sputnik itself means ‘fellow travellers’ it was all peaceful, but it was a ballistic missile head, without explosives. So that was a signal and we freaked in America. So NASA got founded on the fear factor of Sputnik. Alright, so, we then go to the moon on the fear factor that Russia will control high ground. Then, we go to the moon, space enthusiasts say “oh, we’re on the moon by ’69, we’ll be on mars in another ten years”. They completely did not understand why we got to the moon in the first place. We were at war, once we saw that Russia was not ready to land on the moon, we stopped going to the moon. That should not surprise anybody looking back on it.
Meanwhile, however, that entire era galvanized the nation. Forget the war as a driver; it galvanized us all to dream about tomorrow, to think about the homes of tomorrow, the cities of tomorrow, the food of tomorrow. Everything was future world, future land. The world’s fair, all of this was focused on enabling people to make tomorrow come. That was a cultural mindset the space program brought upon us. And, we reaped the benefits of economic growth because you had people wanting to become scientists and engineers who are the people who enable tomorrow to exist today. And, even if you are not a scientist or technologist, you will value that activity and that, in the 21st century are the foundations of tomorrow’s economies and without it we might as well just slide back to the caves, because where we are headed right now, broke.
I’m tired of saying this, but I have to say it again. The NASA budget is 4/10th of one penny on a tax dollar. If I held up a tax dollar, and I cut, horizontally into it 4/10th of one percent of its width, it does not even get you into the ink. So, I will not accept a statement that says we can’t afford it.
Do you realize that the 850 billion dollar bank bailout, that sum of money is greater than the entire 50 year running budget of NASA, and so when someone says we don’t have enough money for this space probe. I’m asking, no, it’s not that you don’t have enough money, it’s that the distribution of money that you’re spending is warped in some way that you are removing the one thing that gives people something to dream about tomorrow. The home of tomorrow, the city of tomorrow, transportation of tomorrow. All that ended in the 1970’s, after we stopped going to the moon, it all ended, we stopped dreaming. And so, I worry that decisions that Congress makes doesn’t factor in the consequences of those decisions on tomorrow. They are playing for the quarterly report, they are playing for the next election cycle and that it mortgaging the actual future of this nation. Tomorrow’s gone.
If you double NASA’s budget, right now it’s half a penny on the dollar, make it a penny, go ahead, make it a penny, go ahead, be bold. That would be enough to go to mars soon, with people, and go back to the moon, and onto asteroids. NASA, as best as I can judge, is a force of nature like none other and so what worries me is that if you take away the manned program. A program, which if you advance frontiers you make – heroes are made. There is a force operating on the educational pipeline that will stimulate the formation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians and technologists. You birth these people into society. They are the ones that make tomorrow come.
A half a penny. That buys the space station, the space shuttles, all the NASA centers, the rovers, the Hubble telescope, all the astronauts, all of that. Nobody’s dreaming about tomorrow anymore. The most powerful agency on the dreams of a nation is currently underfunded to do what it needs to be doing, and that’s making dreams come true.
How much would you pay for the universe?
Thursday, January 26, 2012
New Hampshire
I just read an article here about how in New Hampshire they want to make it legal to refuse to "provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges to an individual if the request is related to the solemnization, celebration, or promotion of a marriage and providing such services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges would be a violation of the person’s conscience or religious faith." This opens up many other issues. Since it's not just about same sex marriages, it's about all of them. Can I move there and open up a wedding facility that only caters to same sex, interracial and other contested marriages? I refuse to marry a white man to a white woman as it is my belief that they get enough privileges and don't need any more. According to the law, no actions could be taken against me, as it is my conscience that is guiding my decision.
What ever happened to the US being the home of the free? Is there a little number next to that line that goes to a footnote that says As long as you are a straight, white person who enjoys the same past times as I do? You can have freedom, as long as it does not disrupt my outdated image of a perfect society? A society that is long gone, and has evolved into something containing many different colours and ideas.
Two other states are tabling laws that give school children a free pass on bullying, if they are making hateful statements about gays or being gay. What message does that send? I realize that in many ways to be successful in the US you have to at least appear to be a Christian, and that homosexuality is bad according to Christians. But, I know that the bible says a whole lot of other things that we ignore now. So, why do we keep this idea around? If it is illegal to discriminate based on other things, why is it still ok to discriminate against homosexuality (it being a choice or not is irrelevant )? You're not allowed to discriminate against me because I'm a woman, or because I choose to have a family (not-choice and choice respectively).
Land of the Free, so give your people their freedom. All of your people. You don't get to decide who is a worthy citizen and who is not, that ended with the civil rights movement, and women getting the vote. We are all equal under the law, so how can you make it legal to discriminate against homosexuality?
What ever happened to the US being the home of the free? Is there a little number next to that line that goes to a footnote that says As long as you are a straight, white person who enjoys the same past times as I do? You can have freedom, as long as it does not disrupt my outdated image of a perfect society? A society that is long gone, and has evolved into something containing many different colours and ideas.
Two other states are tabling laws that give school children a free pass on bullying, if they are making hateful statements about gays or being gay. What message does that send? I realize that in many ways to be successful in the US you have to at least appear to be a Christian, and that homosexuality is bad according to Christians. But, I know that the bible says a whole lot of other things that we ignore now. So, why do we keep this idea around? If it is illegal to discriminate based on other things, why is it still ok to discriminate against homosexuality (it being a choice or not is irrelevant )? You're not allowed to discriminate against me because I'm a woman, or because I choose to have a family (not-choice and choice respectively).
Land of the Free, so give your people their freedom. All of your people. You don't get to decide who is a worthy citizen and who is not, that ended with the civil rights movement, and women getting the vote. We are all equal under the law, so how can you make it legal to discriminate against homosexuality?
Friday, December 2, 2011
Friends
I'm going through a big life event soon, and due to various circumstances, I'm only inviting blood relatives. A friend of mine for the past seven years had always assumed she would be involved with the event. Now, she's mad at me. It's my fault, I'm too happy, too excited. I want to tell people all about it. I guess saying "guess what, that awesome thing is happening, but you can't come" is bitchy. I have to stop telling people. I have to stop talking about it to people who are close to me but I'm excluding. That's what I'm doing, I'm excluding people who I have confided in for years. I guess this habit of telling myself that I have no friends is really just me pushing my friends away, and an old habit from back in the day when I really did have no friends.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Convincing
I hear this all the time, people wanting to suppress ideas because the are 'dangerous'. I do not get it. Do they think that people buy into every new idea that crosses their path? Because if that were true, I would be in so much debt. I could not do anything without having to buy a new car, or drink beer, and I certainly could not work because I would have to go to Mexico and the Bahama's. Don't people realize that trying to suppress an idea can make it more dangerous? In that, young people will want to find out about it, and will think that it is an important idea because it is being suppressed?
Teenagers drink and smoke because they are not allowed to, because it is an 'adult' thing to do. (I am not suggesting to make it easier for teens to do those things, it is merely the easiest example.)
So, why ban books that are clearly fantasy because they promote witchcraft? People are smarter than that, kids are smarter than that. Give people the benefit of the doubt.
Teenagers drink and smoke because they are not allowed to, because it is an 'adult' thing to do. (I am not suggesting to make it easier for teens to do those things, it is merely the easiest example.)
So, why ban books that are clearly fantasy because they promote witchcraft? People are smarter than that, kids are smarter than that. Give people the benefit of the doubt.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Tired, all the time
There was a time when I took some sort of sleeping pill almost every night. This was melatonin, anti-histamines or alcohol. At the same time, without realizing the irony of it all, I was tired all. the. time. Like, yawning all day, could not do anything I wanted to do. Always tired. I went to the doctor, he ordered tests, they were all normal. How could this be? I'm always tired, this is not normal. A friend told me that she got her antibodies tested and she has some auto immune disorder that sounded a lot like what I had, mostly irritable and tired all the time. I thought about going to get tested for that. I didn't, mostly because I was so tired all the time, I didn't want to deal with going to the doctor again.
For some reason, I'm not sure why, I stopped with the sleep aides. I went to sleep better. I slept better. I had energy. Of course, about that same time I also started taking Korean Red Ginseng, which is advertised to give you energy, keep you awake. It worked, magically. But, thinking back, it could have been that I stopped with the sleep aides once I found a way to stay awake. At about the same time I also started taking a multivitamin. This probably didn't hurt either. Last night, I did take a melatonin, I knew hubby would be coming home from work late, and I wanted to sleep through it. It worked, except all day, I was soo tired. I can't believe that it took this long to figure out that my being tired was only because I always had, what I call, a drug hangover. I knew that it was the drugs enough to give it a name, but not to make the connection that it lasted all day, or for days, or that the alcohol had more of an effect than I had though.
Of course, now I just started having a cup of coffee first thing in the morning while I check email. I'm not sure if this is any better, but at least I'm having my multivitamin and not my malatonin.
For some reason, I'm not sure why, I stopped with the sleep aides. I went to sleep better. I slept better. I had energy. Of course, about that same time I also started taking Korean Red Ginseng, which is advertised to give you energy, keep you awake. It worked, magically. But, thinking back, it could have been that I stopped with the sleep aides once I found a way to stay awake. At about the same time I also started taking a multivitamin. This probably didn't hurt either. Last night, I did take a melatonin, I knew hubby would be coming home from work late, and I wanted to sleep through it. It worked, except all day, I was soo tired. I can't believe that it took this long to figure out that my being tired was only because I always had, what I call, a drug hangover. I knew that it was the drugs enough to give it a name, but not to make the connection that it lasted all day, or for days, or that the alcohol had more of an effect than I had though.
Of course, now I just started having a cup of coffee first thing in the morning while I check email. I'm not sure if this is any better, but at least I'm having my multivitamin and not my malatonin.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Why Apples Sell
I'm in the market for a new laptop. A small, cheap, powerful one. I've enlisted the help of my computer expert brother, and we've spent the last hour sifting through the various websites looking for the best deal. Prices vary widely and seemingly randomly, and the important details are hard to figure out. Things like battery life, screen resolution and weight matter when I'll be stuck at school for 8 hours on Saturday afternoon this fall, but you can't sort by that.
This is why Apples sell so well. They have (I think) three options, all logically priced based on obvious differences to the consumer. If I were a less patient and stubborn person, I probably would have bought one by now. Instead, I'll head over to asus.com and see what I can find.
This is why Apples sell so well. They have (I think) three options, all logically priced based on obvious differences to the consumer. If I were a less patient and stubborn person, I probably would have bought one by now. Instead, I'll head over to asus.com and see what I can find.
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