Compulsive buying

Some of my closest friends and family members are compulsive shoppers and buyers. They seek the thrill of the purchase, and sometimes there can be a lingering effect of pride for the item. But that feeling fades and one must buy again to keep themselves happy. Cruise lines are a great example of a money making powerhouse which feeds off all nationalities of people with little regard to humanity and the environment. Just buy, eat, buy, eat, buy!

How can you tell if someone is a compulsive shopper?
They have bigger closets than living rooms, more shoes than friends, spend their time going out of town to shop, or are compulsive cruise line sailors. They have 10 pairs of watches but only one wrist to wear it on. Freezer, fridge and pantry stocked with the same items, half expired due to always eating out.

But they don't need a lot of money. Those with a lower income are the cupon seekers, the sales event shoppers, and I am guilty of the thrift store shopping (although I limit myself to once a month.) A majority work long hours and enjoy the comfort of their couch or computer chair at home. Highly processed foods fill the shelves because who wants to keep up with fresh food and spend time cooking their own meals, especially when it just tastes so great! Add water, pop in microwave and presto! Delicious home cooked meals in only 3 microwave minutes.

I started eating healthy when I was 22. Maybe even 23. After working at an organic foods store I began buying from there because of my discount. I learned how delicious healthy food was and best of all- how it make me feel. When working at a hotel I got paid very little and worked part time so I got my food from a food bank. Once a week you could get a bag of fresh veggies, and a bag of fresh fruit. Once a month a box of the monthly supplies- grains, canned foods, meats, dairy. The breads were from local bakeries including Panera Bread, and the veggies were not only from grocery stores but local farmers who had too much. So I got to experiment with a different foods I normally would not have chosen...
Now I am a compulsive label reader. After having a job which required weekly date checking of the entire store I go through my parents pantry and refrigerator for expired goods about once a year.  Sometimes things will sneak by.. like 4 cans of beans expired 2 years back...
And these highly processed potato stix... cant be worse than potato chips right? WRONG!
18g fat, 8g TRANS FAT in ONE serving~ the entire can.
My dad was bring these to lunch.  After having a foot of his colon removed due to colon cancer, I thew all of those cans in the trash...  Read those labels!  Even if it says 0g it can have up to .5g and read '0'.  So read the ingredients too, make sure there are no hydrogenated oils, unless you like to cover your heart with a nice layer of fat...

Dr. Crook

I have had insurance off and on during my life. Recently I have obtained health insurance again so I can make sure my health is good so I can avoid having it again, hopefully ever.
With the plan you must get a check up to receive a discount~ so I did. This was supposed to be covered 100%, but I received a bill in the mail for a little under $20.
That's when I got to see how much "doctors" charge for a check up. $750!
I called the billing dept and attempted to discuss my outrage~ how could they charge that much money for a simple check up and bloodwork~ things I have gotten for free through the health department for years. The desk demon replied "well thats what they charged your insurance company." I told her that my opinion of doctors is that they are nothing but crooks and thanks to their office my opinion has been concrete.
I am outraged. Are there honest doctors in America who want to help people and not become filthy billionaires leaching the life out of people?! I am seriously thinking about moving out of this country, there are so many problems! So many things that I do not agree with! I want acres and acres of land to distance myself from this terrible lifestyle people call American. Now I am thinking just 5 acres in a good community in a good country would be plenty.

Today just seems so dark and I hope we can pull ourselves out of this. I see there are groups who are trying but there have been for over 30 years! Human rights went away and money took over a long time ago...

Container Housing

Trying to cure boredom I browsed a web column about strange architecture. One of the pages showed some of the container housing that is becoming popular and mentioned it to my partner Trey later on. He said, "why don't we just bury a container then for our house?" BING! A light went off in my head... so now I have been researching container housing and sketching plans. Now I have been seeing old containers for sale on sides of roads, or ones seemingly abandoned.
It would be important to get a rust free container and I would have to use a plastic sheeting to seal around once I fill in the earth so that the rain water wouldn't rust it.
I also ask myself, can just one 40 foot container be enough? At first we drew plans for incorporate 2 containers, joined together. But I feel that would be a lot of work, perhaps just a single container could be enough for a home and have an additional container on the property as a garage and work space.
Why buried underground? Living in the metal Bus I became very aware of how metal quickly heats and cools. 10 feet underground remains a constant temperature of around 50degrees, thus requiring very little to heat it when the outside temperature is say, 10 degrees. In the summertime vents and windows can be opened to warm the inside. I plan to bury my container at least 90% underground, and with the remainder roof being a living roof.
This is a very far off plan unfortunately unless I wanted to en debt myself and obtain a loan. But I would want to ensure that containers are strong enough to support at least 10 feet of earth.
Until then I can google photos of already made container housing to help me plan the interior of mine.

Overcome The Recapitulation

We've had enough of these politician's wars
All we need right now is love
We've had enough of these military scoreboards
All we need right now is love

Turn it up
The future is held in the hands
Who right the textbooks
Ignorance is bred when falsified thinking is taught
To the youth instead of
Past mistakes and mind elevation,
Like the graves that manifest destiny has created
So we can build our
Capitalist consumer based economy,
To build, market,
And sell commodities we don't need
But we are trained to believe like celebrity imaging
Well I'm here to take my feelings back and I hope That you will be with me

I can't wait for that day
When I hear us all screaming.
Ahhhhhhhhh,
I can't wait for that day
When I hear us all singing together,
Ooooohhhhhh

I can't wait for the day
When I hear us all screaming,
HERE COMES THE REVOLUTION.
When every race color
And creed of militant human beings stand up
With fists together for substance and true meaning
Because right now we got our feet stuck in cement
We're too caught up in
A material status quo punishment
And one thing is for sure
And that's the sun will always set,
Darling you can bet our moon is quite the opposite
So baby take a axe to your makeup kit
Set ablaze the billboards and their advertisements
Love with all your hearts and never forget
How good it feels to be alive
And strive for your desire
Just cause you can't see
Your cage doesn't mean that you are free
When there are laws against nature
But its ok for you to be
Addicted to over the counter prescriptions
And magazines dictate all our human relations

I'm not buying, no I'm not giving in
To a culture that objectifies all of our women
I'm not buying, no I'm not consuming
The apathetic dribble on the news media's chin
I'm not buying, no I'm not giving in
The lies that are sold through textbooks to children
I'm not buying, no I'm not consuming
Cause the positive will
Always overcome the negative right

And we stay inside, its right outside,
We stand in line
We all enjoy the fences to keep it at bay
But I'm not giving in

RX Bandits, Overcome. This is why I am the 99%. We Must Overcome!

Police Brutality Vs Peace

(copied from my other blog~ Laura's Westy)
This is a ten minute long video taken from MSNBC on the NYPD's attack on peaceful protesters at "Occupy WallStreet" The powerful words spoken by Lawrence O'donnell bring tears to my eyes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgr3DiqWYCI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I know this doesn't seem to have much to do with my Westy~ but it has to do with you and me every day of our lives. This also includes our vehicles and whatever life choices we make. I have been fortunate up to this point not having a run-in with the "law" but they're eyes glisten and glaze over with dreams of brutality as I peacefully putter by. This post is not to assume that all police officers are bad people, just a majority of them. Thanks for facebook my friends share, almost daily, videos of police brutality and they continue to get away with it. Here are some of my favorite quotes from O'Donnell during his clip (just in case you don't have time to watch it, but you really should because its important.)

"this weekend a few trouble makers turned a peaceful protest against wall street greed into a violence burst of chaos, the troublemakers were carrying pepper spray and guns, and wearing badges."
"Police were grabbing people for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON, crushing them on the pavement and arresting them."
"We will post this video on our blog and you won't find ANYONE doing ANYTHING that is legal grounds for arrest."
"Cops know they can always get away with it.. no mayor, no police chief will call them on what they think of as a little too tough"
"This is an AMERICAN policework that we are watching... Everyday in American police cross the line and abuse citizens, EVERDAY in America police get away with it."
"Everything the police done this weekend to these protesters they have already done to someone else with no video cameras rolling"
"They know just how much latitude their dept gives them on abusing citizens, they do it because they know they can...because they can get away with it."
"NONE of them will be charged..."
"The dept has already said the officers acted appropriately, cased closed."
"AMERICAN POLICE HAVE ONE AGAIN GOTTEN AWAY WITH ANOTHER CRIME AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THEY ARE SWORN TO SERVE AND PROTECT"

Now let's have a BBQ!

sidenote~

A Wall Street Hedge Fund Manager made $5 BILLION DOLLARS last year

That's about $480 MILLION DOLLARS per month

That's about $120 MILLION DOLLARS per week

That's about $24 MILLION DOLLARS per day

That's about $3 MILLION DOLLARS per hour

And yet his Federal Income Tax Rate is 15%

Is it any wonder there is a protest

Bible LOLs

taken from this website~ this is a letter to Dr. Laura who stated on her radio show that "homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance"

Here's a letter somebody with more sense (of humor) & intelligence wrote to her~

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath.Exodus 35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle- room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan.

James M. Kauffman, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus Dept. of Curriculum,
Instruction, and Special Education University of Virginia

the color white

I clean houses for a living. I curse the person who invented the white counter top, toilet, shower stall, appliances. It is easy to clean a surface, but de-staining a surface is different. Home-made cleaners with vinegar or baking soda or soap nuts will clean your home and rid you of odors and bacteria. But they may not take the stains away... Much of my "cleaning" time is devoted to removing stains.
The emergence of "stainless steel" in my client's kitchens makes me shudder, now I have a harder surface to "clean." Stainless steel appliances streak easily, leaving you to purchase cleaners to create a streak free shine that mimics cleanliness. I begin to wonder if the appliance companies are in with the cleaner companies, making profits in both areas of market.
Sounds plausible.

When I create my home I will try my hardest to find old retro tubs, sinks, toilets, etc; they came in colors like pea green, baby blue, and baby girl pink. I will choose anything but white NOT because I don't like to clean, but because I don't like to SCRUB and apply harsh chemicals that I breathe in and get on my skin. No white walls, no white counter tops, no white floors, no white cabinets. No white. Cream, maybe. Yellow? Yes. Pea Green? It may be considered ugly but paired with lovely colors, I can make it work.
For now I have my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to help me. I can only wonder what awful kinds of product exist in this little white foam "eraser".

I miss this place

Gazing across the miles, lungs full of fresh air, nothing seems stagnant. Only beauty exists here.

I am a creator

I create things, I make things, and I do things. I can simply sit and be, but my being loves to create. I paint, sew, cook, grow, play... As much as I enjoy to destroy, I first create it for myself. I'll post these things here too.

Bagels~ I eat more bagels than anyone else I know. If I don't dumpster them I will now bake them from scratch. Panera bread double bags their bagels and breads and tosses them nightly. Get them and give them to your friends and neighbors. I have eaten these bagels for years... Once stale they make great bagel chips and croutons. Next I will try Atlanta Bread...
I have used this recipe and my only problem was they didn't rise enough and were quite dense. But delicious! I didn't put them in a warm enough spot during the second rise. I drizzled some local honey over them because we forgot to mix it in! This made em sticky, I liked it but you may not.

Pizza! This is a no brainer. It takes me less time to make my dough, top it and cook than it takes to call up a delivery place, put in my order, pay and wait for it to come. I also pay upwards of $5 less.
Go to your grocer, to the aisle with Yeast. Look on the back side of the packages and you will usually find a recipe. If there isn't one, do not despair! Just Google it, it's the 21st Century use it to your advantage. The kind I bought is specifically for making pizza and it has been the best so far.
Choose a sauce, BBQ, Alfredo, Pizza sauce, I LOVE Newman's Own Sockorooni (or something) but it isn't the healthiest. The last time I made sauce from canned tomato sauce, sliced tomatoes in juice, tomato sauce, tomatoes from my garden, and spices.
Then add your cheese and toppings. I like to mix some cheddar in with my Mozz, but you can do anything. Bake 12-15 minutes, and pet your full pocket.
(Photo Coming Soon?)

Capitalism is a Pyramid Scheme

The of those lower on the pyramid enriches the ones towards the top. To stay stable, the economy has to draw in more and more resources- colonizing new continents workforces and aspects of our lives. The resulting inequalities can only be maintained by ever-escalating force: armies occupy countries, police patrol neighborhoods, security cameras point at ever cash register.
Capitalists make money not only on what they do but also from what they own. It takes money to make money, as they say. Business owners, landlords, and large shareholders are capitalists: so are executives who receive salaries padded with money produced by other people's efforts.
Capitalists cash in on the activity of the exploited. the exploited can only make money from their own labor, so its easy for employers to pay them less than the value they produce. When banks and credit card companies make money off debtors, they're exploiting them, the same as a corporation that pays an employee a dollar to make a $200 pair of shoes.
Others are at the mercy of the economy but excluded from participating in it. The unemployed and the homeless are excluded, along with most of the occupants of shantytowns around the world. Prisoners are often both excluded and exploited, being forced to work at a pittance that amounts to slave labor,. Being excluded is not the same as being outside the market- the dispossessed are poor precisely because they are inside capitalism.
We're encouraged to compete against each other to improve our positions on an individual basis. But there's not enough space at the top of the pyramid for all of us, no matter how hard we work- and no pyramid scheme can go on expanding forever. Sooner or later its bound to crash: recession and global warming are just the first warning signs. Instead of going down with the Pharaohs, let's join forces to establish another way of life.

To obtain some badass posters updated from the above capitalism pyramid scheme go here. Disperse everywhere.

Feminine "Moon"

Some women call their menstrual periods their "moon" because their hormones are also on a monthly cycle. Some women can look at the moon and say to themselves "crap, moon's almost full/new/waxing gibbous... you know what that means." And some men ponder if that is where the idea of the werewolf really came from...
Some women just say "I'm on the rag" because in olden times women use to shove a rag between their legs and deal with it. That's perhaps where the idea of *shudders* the pad comes from? Tampons were first used by the Egyptians, who were also inventive enough to wax their legs and enjoy vibrators made from jars of buzzing bees!
Most women today still use the ancient practice of using cotton to collect the menses.
At least once a month a lady can expect to pay around $5 for a box of tampons (if she only needs one), $5 for a box of pantyliner or pads because you shouldn't sleep with tampons; unless you wake in 5 hours to change. Maybe every other month $8 will be spent on pain relievers such as Midol or mood enhancers.

Or you could do what I do! You could purchase one menstrual cup. The particular one I use is called the Diva cup, made from silicone. There is also one called the Moon cup which appears to be the UK version. For $35 the diva cup can essentially be used forever, as long as you take care of it and clean regularly. The best part about it is that I never have to worry about going to the store to get anything. If I go camping there is no worry about dry packing tampons to keep out moisture. Depending on how heavy your flow is you can wear your menstrual cup safely up to 12 hours, no more rustling in your purse for tampons during class! I bought mine at a whole foods type store (Earth Fare actually) and haven't seen them anywhere else, but online.


In my last post I mentioned a menstrual massage I found in the book Making Stuff and Doing Things. I want to try to avoid taking pain relievers because I feel it builds up a need for them, and there are better alternatives.
Such as massage!
The lady "on her moon" lays flat on the ground on her belly, arms out and relaxed. Her partner stands next to her facing her feet, using a chair for support, uses the heel of his/her foot to gently "hook"/massage around the pelvic bone. You can first try it with your hands to find the spot I am talking about~ the women should feel relief once massaged. I have tried this and it works. You may have to do it a few times a day for desired relief. Or as much as you want ;)
One other alternative is tea. I am still toying around with the perfect teas for my menses and everybody is different! Chamomile works great so far... avoid green and black tea because of the caffeine.
For me it worked to uplift my mood and relieve my cramps and back ache. St. Johns wort is an excellent natural mood enhancer that can be taken in the capsules but also opened and prepared as tea. But do not take if you are on the Pill, it decreases the effectiveness of it; as well as high doses of vitamin C.
Go out and get you a diva cup, its not for the squeemish, but its made my monthly Moon a lot easier! ;)

Hello Kitty

In Japan in 1976 a business tycoon asked a man to create a character that could be marketed around the world on anything. So the man created Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty wasn't anything, she didn't have her family or friends, she was simply created as one simple figure to create another man incredibly rich. Thus leaving Hello Kitty a symbol of blind consumerism.
There's a hello kitty everything. Have you seen the Hello Kitty "personal massager"? Or the AK-47? It exists.
I used to be a loyal Hello Kitty fan. I had a HK alarm clock, CD player, stapler, underwear, PJs, back pack, toaster, waffle maker, the list can go on. Alas, I shed myself of hello kitty when I grew up and didn't really like having creepy little cat faces staring at me from around the room. I still have a hair dryer, alarm clock and I am wearing the PJ shorts now (which made me ponder...) but that is simply because if I got rid of these things I would have to go out and get a replacements. .... And that's against the whole point now isn't it. So I keep a few Hello Kitties to remind myself not to buy in to someone else's design. I can paint little cats on shit myself.

Back To Basics

This month a friend and I were thrift store shopping and she found this book~ Back To Basics for $3. She let me take it home with me for the evening to look through since I was very interested. This book, copy written in 1981, tells you in logical order how to start a homestead. From what to look for when purchasing land, how to do a soil test, plan your property layout, collect firewood in ways to keep your forest yielding constantly, building a home, composting, gardening, preserving, hunting, leather making, beer & wine making, bee keeping and much more!! It even has different designs for building an underground house, which is the type of home I had planned on building. Before the section on wood cutting it tells you how to make your own ax and tools! This book is a must have for a "n00b" like me...
what is even cooler~ in the next few years I will actually be able to use this book from cover to cover.

Last year I got the book "Making Stuff and Doing Things." This book is a collection of articles ranging from making your pet flea collars, soy milk and compost to all natural remedies, cleaners, and feminine products. There are sections on clothes making, sewing, book making, and even an article on making your on strap-on dong! This book taught me about menstrual cramp relieving massages~ something I should have learned about when I was eleven. Some of the articles are very in depth and others just give you a quick look at how to make things on your own~ but may not give measurements.


I heard about a poll that was taken at a friend's school~ one of the questions was, "If you lose a button on a shirt do you sew one back on or throw it out and buy a new one?" And most people chose to throw it away than take 5 minutes to sew a new one back on. Wow people, just WOW.

TV

Cable TV is included in my rent, so I gave my cable cord away. What are you doing to stop yourself from being brain washed by commercials and programming? Are you sick of hanging out with friends only to find them discussing what they've seen on TV?
Watching acts of life is not the same is living it. Tell them. Don't be afraid~ all they can do is be mad at themselves for not living their own life~ the only one they may ever get to live.