Stars always follow a setting sun

To Tisbury we go

The sun's lower than it should be at 12:30pm as I sit and wind down, allowing all of life's little worries to slowly slip away as a stress-free family ridden weekend lies ahead. The weather's doing funny things now, 2 days ago I couldn't feel my fingers beneath 2 pairs of gloves and today I'm only wearing a T-shirt and cardigan. It fills me with slight dread knowing that in 8 days I'm going to step out of the aeroplane to be greeted by an intense wave of humidity. Acclimatizing to the tropics is going to take a few days of lots of pool and AC action, as I welcome frizzy hair and bikini's.
It's a bit of a shame really, the pain of the cold is worth it because it's leading up to snow and Christmas - the first part of that is something I just seem to have missed, out of sheer bad timing. The first 3 times it snowed in our area I was dead to the world, recovering from heavy nights - I woke up to the picturesque image of rooftops and gardens blanketed by a light layer of the soft, fluffy white stuff - the reflection of the low altitude sun was making it glisten and the pale blue background blended in perfectly. As for Christmas, I'm lucky to have been here for the build up. Watching the trees go from lush to naked - standing in rows and clumps with odd, bumpy, angular branches. At night they look like weeping willows from Harry Potter that are about to come to life and wrap their arms around you, trying to keep themselves as warm as possible by pulling you into their bare and magical worlds. 
Walking down the street, the few green plants and berries all stand frozen and preserved and a light layer of glittery frost covers everything. I picked a curled leaf off a branch the other day and it lay frosty and unchanged in my hand, a tiny piece of art. The lights are forever increasing in quantity, strung over trees, bridges and windows. Walking home I spot the tops of Christmas trees peeking through the windows, ours is spread out comfortably in the corner by the front door. M and I were leaning out our window the other day, braving the outside air to lift ourselves with a few puffs of an old friend. She described London as being muted in winter, and that was the perfect adjective to describe it. The usual buzz and chaos that London's so known for is reigned in a little, the light is dimmed, the temperature dropped, the layers added and the vibe softened. It's not such a rush.
I've always spent Christmas in the tropics and I feel so lucky for that, my Christmas' consist of tinsel wrapped around palm trees, drunken jams in swimmers and seafood lunches on the beach - it's special and different but it'd be nice to abide to tradition for a change.

So the countdown's on and the 'portals' have opened as of 12/12/12 -- that's what I was told by my my madre so I did a bit of reading and watching to get inspired and understand what I was preaching. So basically, the sun goes through a precession wherein every 72 years it moves backwards by one degree, journeying through all the zodiac planes - the 'age of Aquarius'  might ring a bell, this is the new astrological age that's begun, as the sun's equinox has moved from the Piscean constellation to the Aquarian one. So at various points in time, the sun is between its highest and lowest points in the sky, also known as an 'equinox'. One of these is to take place on December 21st - aka the December solstice, when the sun is positioned at the lowest point in the northern hemisphere and the highest point in the southern. It's in the centre of the milky way while crossing the galactic equator, and on December 21st at 11:11 (deep breath!), the precession of the equinoxes occurs. This happens only once every 26,000 years and the alignment will take place along the plane of the entire galaxy. This, as you can imagine, causes a huge physical change on earth..  
Just a few little random examples of how the movement of the moon/ sun affect our physical reality, to keep everything in perspective.. 1) That temperamental time when emotions run wild?  A woman's menstrual cycle is dependent on the position of the moon, affecting us both physically and emotionally 2) The movement of the tides (and given that the majority of our earth, and body consists of water, I'd say that's a pretty huge source of control.) 3) The migration and navigation of animals based on the position of the sun and sea etc etc etc. 
So during this shift, in spiritual terms, the 'portals' are believed to be open from 12/12/12 - 21/12/12,  the portals I refer to are "Places where the magnetic field of Earth connects to the magnetic field of the Sun, creating an uninterrupted path leading from our own planet to the sun's atmosphere 93 million miles away." In turn, creating different energetic fields and particles on earth, and in humans, allowing for concious growth and awareness. (http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/29jun_hiddenportals/).  It's a time to keep your heart open and your eyes wide. If I were to sit and breathe into this shift, the only image I could use to describe my inner experience is a wet cloth being tightly rung out. The emotional and physical changes happening right now are immense, and I'm using this 'shift', and my recently prescribed Microgynon (eek) to justify it. 
But what I seem to be picking up from all these spiritual sites and groups that I'm involved in, is the concept of 'unity conciousness' that's so important right now. We're so used to being individually wrapped up in our own worlds, yet we forget that we grow from others, so if this is a time for growth, it's important to feed into that. I, like many others, find that I get stuck in my own head a lot. Your problems absorb you and you lose perspective - other people bring you out of that. A recent source of inspiration, has come from a man named 'Bruce Lipton'. In one interview on 'the power of conciousness' he speaks of how we all have the ability to consciously change our realities if we emerge out of our habits that are controlled by our subconscious mind. His main message being that if we were to make the effort to live consciously for a larger percentage of the time, we could have anything - watch this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYYXq1Ox4sk). 

I'm looking over a green hill at the tip of a rainbow, the rest has faded and the very end where the pot of gold resides is lingering in the afternoon air. I'm daydreaming about the walk we're going to take later, past the little church at the bottom of the hill, up across the fields where the oak trees lie surrounded in a bleak mid-winter mist, and then up and over the gate that leads us back to the path, eesh I need to stretch my legs. But my monkey mind never hooks to one thought for long..
My bucket list is slowly being ticked off, but time seems to be, as it always it, the most limiting factor. Seeing family, godparents, old friends and new, buying Christmas presents, going to art exhibitions, markets, shops and restaurants  that I never saw and giving it all to the nights out that have to happen. Finishing the Crimbo rush and enjoying the last few days of a winter fling that's just started heating up; wondering what would have become if the flower girls adventures weren't so far away and if it were as easy as to hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks x

The smell of manure and sheep just wafted through the carriage - we're in the countryside!

Recipe of the day: Venison pie (had it last night, ah.mazing)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/venisonpie_89770
   

Crazy Camden

Amy at large

So my main income at the moment is trickling in from a little Tapaz bar situated just outside the heart of Camden. Walking up the high street you see an eclectic bunch to say the least, big punk/ goth scene, lots of piercings, knee-high black boots with metal projections scattered all over the place. Piercings everywhere, pink, blue and purple hair - it's like entering an episode of futurama. You also have the rasta's, yellow red and green flags, hats with fake dreads and walk into any shop along the high street to take your pick from a variety of bongs, pipes and other smoking devices (not to mention the potent 'skunk' and hallucinagenic 'legal' mushrooms sold over the counter supposedly imported from Amsterdam, but full of perfectly healthy artificial chemicals instead). There are other looks out here but those two are probably the most eye catching.

Up the high street

The vibrancy in Camden is undeniable, the crib of Whinehouse and countless other carefree souls - I walked through 'Camden Lock' the other day, past all the food: Jamaican, Indian, Chinese and Moroccan stalls (that each had sneaky tasters to munch on along the way). Colourful motorbikes were lined up in rows and had been turned into seats and tables to eat at while gazing over the lazy canal. I stood on the edge of the bridge and leaned over the side for a breather, water always seems to have a calming effect. In yoga the belief is water cleanses your aura - and think about it, it makes sense. A shower first thing wakes you up, jolting your sleep-ridden aura with a flash of hot or cold and before bed, the stress of the day is cleansed aswell. There are specific times that it's believed one should 'bathe', and specific temperatures of water. For example, it's believed to be best to shower as the sun rises, in tune with your natural body cycle as our pineal gland responds to light cues and releases the hormone melatonin that naturally wakes us up and puts us to sleep in conjunction with various other hormones and glands. So a cold shower as the sun rises is most beneficial as it rejuvinates the cells and closes the pores, putting you in 'alert and awake' mode as opposed to starting the day feeling drowsy after a nice hot shower. To be fair, living in a cold country, where getting out of bed isn't the most exciting prospect, cold showers may not be the best idea, sending you into a state of hypothermia especially during the winter months. I've grown up swimming aswell and yes, it may feel the same with every sport, but after a good session in the pool your whole mind and body feels completely purified. It could have something to do with the fact that the colour of water (blue) corresponds with the colour of our third eye chakra located between the eyes that's responsible for your intuition and is the primary focus during meditation. Each chakra corresponds to a different colour, and by wearing/ surrounding yourself with that colour you serve to 'expand' if you will, the powers/ properties that the chakra holds. So a dip in the pool may do more thank you think! A lot of my friends think of 'chakra talk' as airy fairy, but this incredible youtube video called 'spirit science' will explain exactly what I mean in scientific terms, for all you logical left brained folk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLFlJSlD4YM)

Rastafari

But back to Camden:
One of my great girlfriends is in Barcelona at the moment having a crazy time in a crazy youth hostel that never sleeps - and a hot topic of conversation during these summer months, is flings/ romances, just boys in general. I've been given the same piece of advice numerous times on this topic 'go for someone at work', now let's go through the choices that my lovely Tapaz Bar has to offer - A coke head, bitter divorcee's with kids, or pervy Thai chefs. A strange combo or what? Let me fill in the gaps -
My boss is a wide eyed, bald headed, tall, fit and intimidating man who 'used' to have a huge coke addiction. There would literally be white mountains in the downstairs kitchen for a quick sniff 'inbetween-service breaks' resulting in a manic and highly confident restaurant owner. Due to his natural manic and wide eyed nature, none of the customers could tell, but the behind-the-bar gurning (jaw grinding) and the constant eye twitches were noticable enough. In his 40's he's not as 'addicted' per say and brushes it off as a fun few youthful years. But his coked-up nature means no one questions his unfair method of paying our wages (that is dependant on his sporadic mood swings - if he's happy, so are we, if he's not, the pay resembles what you'd find in a hobo's wallet. - but we get something, so we don't complain.) So there's the boss, and as it's a family run business, his nephew (depressed divorcee with 2 kids who lives above the restaurant and will probably still be there in 40 years time), sister (also from a broken family, but the loveliest of them all) and brother in law (one of the many pervy thai chefs) all work alongside him, and hate.his.guts. Literally, the moment he walks out of the room it turns into a full on bitch session with everyone chiming in and saying their part - it's quite entertaining to be honest. The moment he steps back in, it's all halo's and angel wings.

Another big blogger - 'the rock and roll Camden bride'

One of the waiters, who no one particularly warms to, (though I seem to have cracked his bitter shell and seen his soft side which isn't half-bad when he lifts out of his cold-hard comfort zone) has been working at the restaurant for the entire 30 years it's been open. Ironically he went to school with the boss, and was the wealthy kid who grew up in Chelsea, while boss-man grew up in the dodgy side of south London - didn't turn out to foreshadow their future professions. He's divorced from a drug addict who he hates with a passion, has 2 kids and works as a sandwich man, a chauffeur and a waiter all part time, and purely to earn money to survive - with no hint of love or passion for what he does whatsoever only adding to his bitter list of things to complain about (that we get to hear about every day, woop!)
And lastly the chef's, they're lovely really; it may just be my naivity, but they cook me amazing food and teach me Thai so I don't complain. It's when the comments like 'let me take a picture of you' and 'I love you' start rolling in that I become slightly more weary of what I'm getting into. There are 4 of us waitresses, I'm the baby of them all but we all get a long really well and have a laugh about the men we've landed ourselves with. Each of us have a secret admirer, J was chosen by the depressed divorcee/ nephew of the boss - all of us egg him on just for the fun of it. E was chosen by the cleaner from the Congo who's a Jahova's witness and constantly going on about his 'brothers and sisters' from the church and lecturing us on the dangers of alcohol and tobacco. L was chosen by the sweetest Thai chef Max, who doesn't speak a word of english but spends his days smiling away washing dishes and helping us with the laborious task of ice cream scooping. I've landed myself the head chef - quick life summary: Married to a  crazy Thai woman, has 2 kids, very good looking, gave up drinking and smoking but still a huge gambler - and cooks amazing food. If it wasn't for the family situation and the fact that he's 20 years older than me, he'd be up for consideration - but for now, getting great food and the odd compliment doesn't sit too badly - the pervy grins and comments are just something i'll have to deal with.

This is what customers see. Behind the scenes
is a whoole different ball game

Last Friday J and I had a double shift together (13.5 hours of running up and down stairs with plates of food and glasses), the running wasn't so bad, it was more dealing with the bosses constant drone and finicky requests, sharing the pain with someone definitely made it easier - what's nice about working with this bunch is we get offered copious amounts of amazing wine (wine education - what a bonus! Got my cocktail-party talk down), and since I only need half a glass to knock me out, my waitressing experiences have become slightly more exciting, and blurry. Given, I do get slightly clumsier (demonstrated by the various trays of glasses I've managed to drop as a result of tripping over my own feet...), but customers suddenly seem more interesting and the banter picks up. The Asian glow isn't a great look though - so I tend to stick outside in the garden, shaded inconspicuously by the overhanging trees. But anyway, on Friday we were given our usual glasses of wine, and were planning on going out for drinks after work anyway, so it seemed a perfect time for pre's - by the end of the shift I was talking nonsense and spinning around between the tables in circles, J was laughing at me uncontrollably, trying to polish wine glasses, the boss was downstairs in the walk-in, gurning like a machine, as was the bitter waiter S. What made the scene even more bizarre, was the bosses unsuspecting 16 year old nephew who was sitting like a cherub with all of us, cleaning the coffee machine, completely unaware of the intoxicated crowd surrounding him. The rest of the night followed suit and our heads entered into the blurry Friday night buzz of Camden - the morning-after-thumping that only I could hear, was not as pleasant.
I um'd and ah'd about mentioning my crazy workplace to my parents, expecting the defensive response of 'get out of there as soon as possible', but to my surprise, my mum replied with 'my ex-boss was a coke addict too!' And my dad gave me the seemingly obvious advice of 'don't accept any if you're offered, it will change the dynamic completely'. This 'being-treated-like-an-adult' thing is still something I'm getting used to, but the level of respect on the parent-child relationship scale has been bumped up a notch.

Our boss, to a T.

So that's my part-time life at the moment, i've let go of the reigns a little, and take waitressing in my stride instead of thinking of it as a strain just to get through.
My honey-soya chicken is sitting in the oven and the smell has dispersed into every corner of the room, i'm absolutely ravenous and can't wait for dinner. (Little side-note, lack of sleep decreases the amount of Leptin in your body - the hormone responsible for inhibiting your hunger drive - hence no sleep basically leads to uncontrollable munch - an experience I've found myself dealing with a bit too much as of late.) Mm, the timer just buzzed.


Recipe of the day: Baked soya, honey chicken with rice and salad 
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-asian-style-honey-chicken/

Carried by the clock

The last few days have shared a spaced out and dreamy mood that's I've been floating through, managing to get a few waitressing shifts in here and there, in the midst of experiencing living with 2 other guys in the middle of London. So when you live with people, there are a few habits, or quirks that start to matter. Cooking, cleaning, bedtime, routines that everyone's experienced differently having come from different families and cultures with different ways. It's interesting when you combine them - does the result work? Yesterday at lunch time, it didn't. We all 'assigned' ourselves various tasks - I can't recollect what mine was but the majority of it was spent relaxing in the garden on the phone to 'flu-camp' answering mindless questions about whether I was 'healthy' or 'had taken any recreational drugs lately' - Woops. But that's a story for later, the kitchen was a beautiful site. Glasses half full of 'Echo Falls' Rose, dorito packets scattered, cereal bars, chocolate wrappers, egg shells and no milk. If someone fancied a cup of tea - it would require a minute of manual labour or a 30 minute wait for the half broken dishwasher. No cups, cutlery or plates were available and the floor was covered in tobacco and crumbs. It's funny how fast a mess accumulates between a few people, but it can disappear just as fast when everyone gets their gloves on. The mid-work spliffs probably didn't aid motivation or the speed at which we completed the seemingly simple job. We joined the boys in the kitchen at lunch time - one of whom had been in-charge of food. The grossness of it didn't really hit me until I left the house, when you're hungry you'll eat anything. It was an oily pile of mash - what was in the mash you may ask? Frozen chips, fish fingers and chicken breast baked in a vat of oil. I chopped up a bit of lettuce just to delay the oncoming heart attack, and left the house with a nauseous feeling that has lasted until this morning. Besides the current lazy lifestyle, that you have to grab at while it lasts, the majority of our days are usually sunny and well-spent. Empty suitcases upstairs still await packing for our three day festival tomorrow, 'Creamfields' - setting ourselves up for a non-stop techno/house adventure in the woods.

London's an interesting place at the moment, the patriotic Olympic spirit still lingers in the streets, the night-life is slowly wittering out, Wednesday nights in Camden are no longer buzzing, now a more mellow vibe has washed over the city. I feel slightly sympathetic towards the para-olympians actually, the Olympic torch has been put out (yes they may have another one but isn't it slightly degrading?) and the thousands of american, Spanish and French tourists that roamed the streets of London are now dispersing to their corners of the globe. But apparently this is the first time the tickets for the p.o games are all completely sold out so there's a pat on the back. I've had numerous recent discussions regarding what constitutes a 'para-Olympian' and what disabilities are more 'limiting' than others. The athletes are identified by the sport they play not the disability they have, yet isn't it more advantageous to be a deaf runner than a blind one? Where does the line actually end - I'm sure there's a long and boring rule book answering my question that's very closely followed and monitored but when you see it all from an objective standpoint without understanding the fine-print, these questions are bound to arise.

So following on from my earlier sporadic mentioning of 'flu-camp', a concept that had not even entered by realm of thought until 2 weeks ago when the prospect of earning 3 - 4k in 11 days made all my senses heighten. You basically sign up for a clinical trial in which you're a 'human guinea pig' for 11 days. You're given a mild strain of the flu, followed by treatments that 'cure you'. You're placed in a suite with wireless, flat screen TV, playstation and all the other gadgets and techy things you can think of - and fed three meals a day, in isolation. On mention of this to my dad (which I have been constantly reminded wasn't the best idea), he retaliated with a very well thought out argument. Stuck in isolation for 11 days, having to endure a nasty virus, getting random unknown drugs injected into your body, and the potentially awful yet unknown long-term side-effects. So this is my current battle, the money vs. the risks. It's that moment of temptation when it could all go wrong for a bit of money, but if it goes right, you would spend forever looking back at the decision with fond memories and a smile on your face. I think a pro's and con's list is in need.

It's midday, I'm the only one who's made the bold move of getting out of bed, meanwhile we're wasting another beautiful day indoors.. walking into the kitchen is like deja-vu, I'm avoiding that section of the house for the time being, with the slightly doubtful hope that when everyone wakes up our productive juices will start flowing. The plan of action today is move out of this house and leave it 'just as it was left', an image i struggle to visualize; rewarding ourselves with the current 'Damien Hurst' exhibition at the Tate Modern. Some of the features are said to include a room full of thousands of butterflies, a carcass being eaten by flies and various other gruesome but fascinating depictions of nature. The last exhibition I went to at the Tate a few weeks ago was in the new section by the 'tanks'. Various underground rooms have been built to showcase the talents of various Korean, German, Dutch etc. artists that have a flare for the disturbing. I was with a friend when I went to see this, we observed individuals in the queue being pulled out and ordered to sit down in a corner for no apparent reason. We were approached and led out of the long line directly to the exhibition. It was all part of the act, the artists desire to show how workers and labourers desired freedom yet were constantly held down by their 'class' and wealth-status. So much of the art was open to interpretation and some I found leaned further towards the abstract 'could mean anything' type of art but you had to appreciate what the artist was trying to share.

I think breakfast is on the cards - the one safe meal that doesn't require any effort (if there's any milk left that is.)


 Recipe of the day: Rice pudding

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/157/easy-rice-pudding.aspx

Focus

Just thought I'd begin with a little interesting fact I picked up on the radio the other day. I've always heard that females are better at multi-tasking than males, but never really understood why - especially when I didn't really fit into that stereotype. My attempts at multi-tasking generally end in a breakdown. But it turns out there's a scientific explanation - women have a thicker corpus callosum than men (the part of the brain that separates the two hemispheres) hence we have a larger mass of nerves and receptors within that area and can more easily switch between different areas/functions of the brain, giving us the increased ability to switch concentration between tasks. Yet it strikes me as rather odd that they were discussing this, when in actual fact multi-tasking isn't really possible. So google defines multi-tasking as "The handling of more than one task at the same time by a single person" So I suppose it is possible -but my point is it doesn't allow for a good and complete execution of those tasks. 

How it's changed

As we only have one brain, we can only focus 100% of our attention on one task at a time - multi-tasking therefore should be cast in a negative light as it infers that we're half-heartedly doing various tasks instead of doing your best at one. But isn't that what society's slightly turned into? The ability to do everything all at once while living a fast paced existence, as we attempt to conserve as much time as possible to doing more more more... Isn't that what so many of us subconsciously strive for? One of the things that I used to get upset about was catching up with friends while they simultaneously stared transfixed at their phone screens. Having a conversation and being brushed aside mid-way as a far more important matter on their phone came up that they had to attend to immediately. I remember sitting in the canteen at lunch time, I sat on the table that was constantly engaged in heated arguments and debates over social or political issues. Generally revolving around the legalization of marijuana or another taboo subject. But there were some tables on which 5 - 7 people would sit (predominantly girls) with their heads all bent over as they 'multi-tasked' - picking food up with their left hand, and tapping tweeting/emailing/facebooking/texting with their right hand. It was so funny to me, because when we all got home, my newsfeed would fill up with  news about those same people writing or posting things to each other - so who were they writing to at lunch?! I still don't understand the desire to constantly live in a virtual world when so much is going on around you.

I'm not going to lie, I can see myself doing it sometimes; my granny was talking about how rude mobiles were the other day, especially at mealtimes - how they completely destroyed the social dynamic - and I couldn't disagree. Looking around me in the fish and chip restaurant, I'd say at least half of the people in there were tapping away at their phones, while the other half were trying to control their screaming children. My phone was placed on the table next to me, as was dads - ready to grab at the slightest buzz. The need to be constantly connected and talking to others without focusing all of your efforts on engaging in the situation you're presently in. We can't really be blamed though, seeing as we're constantly being offered various mediums to do this through - Facebook, phones, emails, skype - yes this is the generation that we are. We're in the age of technology, but can people really be surprised at the increased cases of ADD when we're being taught to focus our attention on a million things at once?

Jeanloup Sieff

On the subject of straying attention, 'woman's hour' can faintly be heard playing on the radio. They're discussing the subject of monogamy. Staying with one person for your whole life - what a task! The divorce rates have never been higher, and the average age of marriage is also increasing with time as people begin to feed into more 'alternative' ways, 'commitment ceremonies', not putting a label on it, all that non-permanent jazz. A lot of it I think is psychological, I know I'm only 18 but I can still infer. Putting label's on relationships and suddenly having to live up to all of these 'rules' and 'expectations' freakspeople out. I studied a sect of psychology called 'human relationships' and one of the most interesting things I looked into was the satisfaction curve. As couples start out, the honeymoon phase occurs and satisfaction rates are obviously high due to the lust and passion etc. (these 'rates' are measured in terms of happiness levels for different criteria, feeling appreciated, whether routine questions like 'how was your day' are still asked, engaging in sexual activity ladidadida. The studies occured cross-culturally with both men and women of different ages, all of whom were in relationships) but as time went on, the rates of satisfaction went down - a lot of people refer to this stage as 'reality' but I don't really like that idea. Reality doesn't have to lack satisfaction it just has to be handled right, whatever that means. But as couples reached the 20/ 30 year mark of being together, the rates rose again to where they were at the beginning. So happy ending's do exist in the world of data and statistics. It's just a question of whether couples can actually hack it out for that long to reach that the ecstasy they'd once felt.

The reality?

On the radio, the main theme was surprisingly infidelity in relationships - and the focus was more on the positive aspects of it. How it brings couples closer and allows for that adrenaline rush that gets lost over time. I wondered whether that's what we were all moving towards.. open relationships? I still don't really see how someone can be totally attached and want to stray without feeling a sense of betrayal or hurt. Being someone who has cheated before - I understand how and why it can happen, I think most people do. I don't regret a thing because it taught me a lot in the long run - about myself, the relationship I was in and what I needed at the time (a taste of single-dome). And I know it may seem hypocritical, but I still don't really believe in, or like the concept of cheating, if everything's supposed to revolve around trust and honesty - how exactly does cheating fit in? I know I still have a lot to learn - but at the rate we're going now, I'm not neccesarily looking forward to learning from experience, movies and books are good enough.

Lackadaisical

There's an organization called the Honey Trap, that a lot of women, and men use. It's basically hiring a woman or man to hit on/ attempt to seduce your significant other. And what did the stats show? 99% of men fell for it. I think the statistics with women were below 80% - 'great' news there. Then again, to be a relativist, if you're going behind their back to hire someone to seduce them you're not exactly setting yourself up for a good scenario - as well as revealing a few trust issues. It's interesting to see who's attention span lasts longer, yours or your partners. Watching how all the extraneous variables come into play.
Time for an over-done, predictable hollywood rom-com for a taste of fantasy! Followed by lamb chops and new potatoes for dins, I got a little over-excited earlier picking raspberries so we have a bucket to get through for pudding with a bit of cream, omnomnom.



 Recipe of the day: Lamb chops (serve with mint sauce and new potatoes) 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/lamb_chop

Blood red munch

Amazing food art - watermelon

One reason why I chose a degree in Food science and Nutrition is because the manner in which food can be manipulated to affect certain changes in the body fascinates me. I remember living in India and constantly being hooked up to tubes and breathing devices after yet another asthma attack due to the thick Dheli pollution. That summer my mum decided to take my brother and I to a homeopathic dowser in London on reccomendation - and we spent the next few hours sitting in her apartment as we listed hundreds of foods and wrote down the 'response' of her crystal (when it swung backwards/forwards it was 'yes' side to side it was 'no' and circular motions were 'maybe') - now i know dowsing is highly controversial - critisized for being a pseudo-science, but this account helped convince me... our friends had gone to her recentley with a hand-drawn map of their entire house as they had a leak somewhere that would require thousands of pounds if they were to uplift all of the floorboards, unless they were able to determine its exact location. The dowser and her crystal were consulted and the crystal landed in one spot, on the second floor of their house in the far right corner. What do you know, a few floorboards in the spot were uplifted and the leak was found. Coincidence you may say, but it's comforting to believe in a bit of so-called-magic aswell (I've done science projects on the different properties and energies of crystals - the tools used in dowsing; there's lots of interesting info available supporting the practise aswell, worth a read). Anyway, we left the apartment with a list of foods to avoid - including wheat, dairy, citric acid, specific fruits/ veg/ grains and fats. Sticking to this diet for only 2 weeks resulted in such a drastic change.  No more snotty noses, coughs, wheezing or trips to the hospital. The diet had totally transformed our immune systems...

Cultured apple

Today I was wondering around an organic 'greenfoods' shop as dad was buying all the essentials. I ended up conversing with one of the shop owers about the right foods for your blood type. So here's a bit of human history related to food that i found fascinating (this information is a condensed version of info from various sources). Lets begin the breakdown, now before I start, blood types are said to be linked to specific personality traits and exercise patterns as the result of the presence of more or less hormones (including the stress hormone cortisol or the fight and flight hormone Adrenaline) but i'll be focusing on the food aspect. 

Egg pram

As you all know man started off in Africa, known as the 'Cro-magnum man' with blood type O being the most common (meat eaters). We then migrated down to Asia and Europe where meat was less available resulting in a more herbivorous diet of fruits, vegetables and carbs (Blood type A). Humans continued into the Himalayas, India, Nepal, Mongolia and Pakistan, into cooler climates (which is believed to be a reason for the 'mutation' of our blood type from A to B), we continued into Europe and began the domestication of Animals in cooperating more dairy and meat into our diet. 

The sea's salmon, spot the potatoes, mint and bread

I'm a blood type B, and apparently this means we're more adaptable to our environments and flexible due to our ancient geographical movements. But food wise, I just found out a few more things. I won't list it all because it's quite extensive, but the main foods we're supposed to avoid include: wheat, peanuts, tomatoes, chicken, shellfish, cinnamon, avocado's, corn, beans, sesame/ sunflower oil ...  The list of what we should eat excited me a lot more: Lamb, venison, turkey, deep sea fish, eggs, dairy, oats, figs, green veg. etc.. I saw 'oats, dried apricots and figs' and breathed a sigh of relief, muesli, you're here to stay (http://www.bewellbuzz.com/nutrition/eating-for-blood-type-b/ for more info).

Cracking nuts

My father and brother are blood type A's, and their weekly ritual after football is going down to 'Suzy's corner' and eating steak and chips. Ah the look on their faces when I told them the main thing they were meant to avoid was meat, as geographically type A's are meant to most efficiently digest carbohydrates. Type A's are said to have most sensitive immune systems and in terms of food, the list was the most extensive, sending my brother and dad's eyes rolling as they listened to me read on, and on, and on. Food to avoid: red meats, dairy products, eggs, wheat products, potato, peppers, banana, papaya, coconut, peanut oil, brazil nuts, beer, liquor... But the good news is broccoli, carrots, lettuce, artichokes, beets, olive oil, most fish and lots more all get the thumbs up!  (http://www.bewellbuzz.com/nutrition/eating-blood-type-a-a/ for more)

It's a toaster!

My brother responded with 'screw that i'm eating whatever I want'. And to some extent I totally agree, there are other theories (similar to the concept of the hygiene theory) that kids should eat anything and everything in order for their immune systems to build up their own defence instead of being so carefully cared for, causing negative reactions and allergies on exposure to unusual foods.

O's are the meat eaters of the world and the most common blood type out there, the 'givers' - they're advised to eat MEAT, walnuts, seaweed, berries, rice, quinoa, almonds, cheese etc. (lots of protein rich foods for vege's listed too) but advised against wheat, dairy, pork products, avo's, oranges, coffee, pickled veg ... (http://www.bewellbuzz.com/general/eating-blood-type-o/)

Lastly the rare ones, AB: Containing characteristics of both A and B they're said to have a hard time digesting meats, lots of shellfish and seafood, dairy products, oil, corn flower, soba, banana, avo, vinegar, black tea lalala... but you can eat loads: tuna, cod, lamb, turkey, rice, oat, spelt, berries, plums,   olives, lentils, garlic, red wine, coffee etc. (http://www.bewellbuzz.com/nutrition/eating-blood-type-ab-ab/)

Yes, there are exceptions and our environments also have a huge impact on our individual constitutions as does lifestyle choices, exercise, drinking, smoking, diet, or whatever we may alter. But if following this diet can improve your life, why not give it a go? 

Hot banana-loon?

We've got all our fresh fruit and veg from the farmers market and I'm making dinner tonight - mum's gone so we have an odd number but it's nice to have the boys around - sundowner time :). 

Side note.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T_jwq9ph8k&feature=player_embedded is a TedTalks video I just found by Michael Shermer, though i'm not a skeptic myself, his points have a good degree of humour and wit - (from 9 minutes onwards it made me chuckle.. "Why people believe strange things")

Recipe of the day: Thai basil-chilli pork (Serve with jasmine rice and Asian greens)
http://www.food.com/recipe/minced-pork-with-thai-basil-bangkok-style-pat-krapao-moo-sap-142348