Meditate not Medicate

Good lord. Read this, just read it. What is our society coming to? GO MEDITATE OR SOMETHING DUDE! Bloody freaking hell. http://www.vyvanse.com/#footer-isi

Reading and Writing 1

Don't usually talk about writing on here, but whatever. These will be a set of rules that I've made up for myself, gleaned from reading and writing and life.

Rule #1 

 Give your character faults. Unless you really think you'll be able to pull off smart, perfect people like Lizzie Bennet or Margaret Hale. Give a character faults and everyone will relate. The more the better. I personally can't stand goody-two-shoes characters. The only two main characters who I really loved, in any book I've ever read, were the ones listed above. This is not a fault of reading bad books: if there is one thing I'm positive of, it's that I read good books. 

Sure, there have been main characters that I liked and would like to know, but it's hard to find a really, really good main character. 

Examples of goody-two-shoes main characters: Francie from a Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Skeeter from The Help. 

If you are an "insecure" human, such as myself, it is very easy for people to make you feel worthless, whether they do it consciously or unconsciously or even in a slightly-conscious-but-don't-mind-me sort of way. Anywho. My resolution, coming far after New years, (ah well, I didn't have any then so this will make up for it) is to be more independent and just ignore my inner down-talker.
Since saying to myself 'oooh, you aren't doing everything in the world-feel guilty!' or 'if you aren't in 50 school clubs and don't have 2 trillion friends on Facebook, you'll never get anywhere!' (just made these up. Don't go to school, don't have Facebook, but maybe these are more universal problems than ones I would have otherwise stated...?)  really doesn't help anything, not at all, I have decided to just give these and many other destabilizing whispers a good smack, and barge onward in life, to what end I do not know.
I am not going to feel pressured by anyone or anything, ever again; I am not going to do things I have a bad gut feeling about just because others say it will be good for me; I am not going to agree with people for the sake of fitting in (I'll either plainly state my opinion or not say anything); I am not going to pander to social norms nor am I going to belong in any "outcast" categories.
So there! I realize that these resolutions may be waved in certain situations, but they apply to most. I also realize that semi-colons may not be acceptable here, but I feel these resolutions are sometimes linked, so deal.

Will the great arts help save the world?

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLBgmbXBOb8
So go curl up in a corner and cry. How come, after CENTURIES of people writing songs like this, there are still wars? Well, alright, for the obvious nationalistic, greedy, power-driven reasons, but...still! Why?
Note: that is some wicked snare drum playing. And I can tell you from experience, snare drum ain't easy. Although I abhor the whole military "RA-RA!" aspect, you have to admit the marching songs are  catchy. So history-soaked and nostalgic and 'getting stuff done.' And there is love and hate in the same bundle. Enjoy.
EDIT: Everyone knows that people dying in wars is sad, including me. I'm not trying to be disrespectful or unfeeling. It really, really sucks, and everyone knows. And soldiers going to war are going because of what they believe is right, and honorable, and I truly admire that. I just think that the affect that wars have on human beings is unhealthy and dangerous. I've been reading a lot of articles on Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder recently, and it scares me. Very much. I'll try to explain more later!

http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/geese.html
and I have found a new favourite website!
This is fascinating. Thank you, QI, for making people unbelievingly look up facts.

You know a show's wonderful when a snatch of the title music makes you grin like the Cheshire cat.

Helicopters

A helicopter went over today, and I ran outside all excited. It felt like the Hunger Games or something. Food packets....?
Yes, I do live out in the country. Far, far out in the country.

Bees and Cathedrals

Latest QI quotes, on the subject of Gardens and rehabilitating bees:

David Mitchell: "If you only get one teaspoon of honey from a whole bee's lifetime and every time you have to get it back on its feet it takes a teaspoon and a half, suddenly there's no honey at all."

Dara O'Briain: "This is more honey than this bee has seen in its life!"

Mitchell: "You're insulting it! It's like showing a very tired mason a whole cathedral."
This is a good episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_clKPoVvv4&feature=channel&list=UL

Hostel Prepping

So, because it's been like a sweltering jungle in the upstairs of our house, I've been sleeping on a downstairs couch. This is good practice for sleeping in hostels in foreign countries! Reasons why: It's noisy. It's sometimes cooler towards morning. Cats jump on you and try to sleep on your pillows (in other countries this wold maybe be replaced by geckos or something :) The couch is not the most comfortable thing in the world. There are misquitos (tip: lie VERY still, try not to exhale in big whooshes and they might not bother you. This really works. plus, just have your nose sticking out of the sheet, not your entire head XD)
I think it's good to get used to unusual sleeping places and positions, because when you've been hiking all day and scarf down a dinner and just want to collapse, you want to be able to sleep through strange noises and people getting up and flashlights turning on and off.
My next place is going to be a hammock! More later.
Read this: http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/are-you-mosquito-magnet
It's kind of like "lather yourself in chemicals!" but theres also some good stuff. Maybe natural bug sprays just mask the scent of your body and the carbon dioxide that you exhale! I never thought about that. So folks-lie still, don't breathe, and you should be fine.

This

...is such a good idea! I'm a total Luddite in some respects and I think we should still be using typewriters, but, hey, at least it's recycling. http://oohsome.blogspot.com/2008/07/vintage-typewriter-key-ring.html

Odd Weather 3

The hottest day of the summer yet! 103 degrees, oh yeah. No, seriously. Something must be wrong.

Piano playing

This is wonderful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8PJsjO1u5w

See how he doesn't weave all around at the piano, just sits nice and still? Something I'm working on. 

Odd Weather 2

Good, Americans. It's about time you started accepting the facts.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/green/global-warming/120418/more-americans-believe-unusual-weather-product-climate-cha
This website seems pretty good. There's no author to the article listed, but, hey, if the website won a Peabody...

Bad moods and how to cope

Lately, my moods have been below average. If I knew why I was in a bad mood, solving the problem would be a piece of cake, but I just don't! So, anyway, maybe if I make a list it will help. Tips, anyone? (please!)

• People not believing answers I give. No, I don't want to do that! (Oh, you do? Yay! NOOooo)
• Not knowing where I'm going with my life and angry that I apparently have to know right now.
• Angry that when I tell people I'm getting the GED, they say I should get the SATs done. Dude! Just focus on what I'm trying to do now, will you!  Sheesh. Already feeling a little overwhelmed here.
• Annoyed that practically all of my best friends live far away.
• Occasionally annoyed at myself for not being a peppy, outgoing, accomplish everything person, even though I've tried that and it makes me feel sickish and it also sucks big time. 
• Annoyed that not being all of the above puts you at a huge disadvantage in today's super competitive world.
• Hating money
• Disliking my self-esteem issues and the fact that everyone knows that I have them. 
• Mad that I feel dumb just because I haven't based my my whole success in life on a crap-load of tests. (Sidenote: the thing about tests: when you get some things wrong on them, you automatically assume that you don't know tons of other stuff as well, when the fact remains that you DO. But it just wasn't on the test. So...yeah....don't be discouraged if you have no idea how fast 10 2 lb cans of peas rolling down a hill with a 45 degree incline will go. Because you know lots of other more important things that aren't a memorized equation.
• Worried about college.
• Pissed off that everything in life seems to be about being the best, and wondering why I don't feel that urge to be on top. Everyone else does. 

Okay, so, besides this massive list, there is something else, something deeper, that's making everything look bleak right now, but I just can't figure out what it is. I have food, shelter, and water. I have tons of people in my everyday life pushing and prodding me towards a more "well-rounded" version of myself.   

I'm not starving and living in some gutter. I'm not a creature watching its world turn to mush around it because of humans (well, actually...) 

Maybe this is what they call the "dark night of the soul." Or it's just weird teenage hormones warring inside of me. Anyway. I'm working on all of these things. My theory is that because normal, trained-up high-school kids have their futures planned out already, probably from the day they're born (preschool, middle school, highschool, college, grad school, job, marriage, kids, retirement) they have a stress-free life. They know exactly what step they are going to take next. There may be variations on this, but basically it's the same all round. Now, I'm glad I've grown up the way I have. When I'm on those bleak, block-like school grounds, I feel something slowly ebb away, and it takes a while to get it back. Great, they're institutes of learning, but.....something about them gives me the wiggins.

Food Waste

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYbXB9vn7vs&feature=relmfu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_waste
ONE THIRD of food is wasted worldwide! This is so shocking I just can't even.....I mean, come on, humans!

Quote #14

"Oh Marty, your ideas of relationships are firmly stuck in the eighteenth century."
~Aunt Joan, Doc Martin

Vivacity and Vendettas

A few days ago, 12 of our 23 wonderful little chicks were killed by a weasel or raccoon, including the lovely Barred Rock and the darling runty one. The experience has taught me that when something goes after your animals, the only way to put a stop to it is to kill it, and I'm not sure I'd hesitate if I had the opportunity to do just that. Although this is sad, it really is the truth. The traps are not working. And here I was complaining about the farmers shooting wolves that get into their livestock....I suppose if you are the hunting animal, and you're really hungry, it's just easy pickings. Wouldn't we all do the same as hungry animals?

Anyway, no more doom and gloom. The whole thing has made us even more attached and diligent to the remaining 11 chicks and 13 hens, locking them in whenever we go out and obsessively checking them every 45 minutes. The pen apparently has to be safe from: weasels, eagles, foxes, raccoons, and whatever else happens to be around. My female cat is a really good weasel hunter, but she hasn't brought anything back, so it's most likely a raccoon.

Right, now, the purpose of this post:
When we found all the chickens massacred, there was one under a tote, really eaten and exhausted and bloody. We almost put her out of her misery because of the state she was in. However, after the first night and day of just lying in her box and not moving an inch, she started to recover, and now, five days later, she is standing, preening, stretching, eating tons of food, and trying to escape the box. I'm putting this up here not only as a little hopeful story, but also as an important notice: Chickens can recover remarkably well from the most intense, awful injuries. They are very, very resilient, so if you are considering putting one out of it's misery, DON'T! It's worth a try to nurse them back to health. The chick is almost 4 months old, so she has the advantage of youth, with pliable bones still developing  and her body still growing, but older chickens can recover well too.

We did some food research, and have been giving her all she can eat of the following:
watermelon, crushed garlic scapes in olive oil (her favorite-it really, really smells), organic romaine lettuce, dandelion shoots, and the normal dry chick food, first mixed with water and then gradually tapering off back to just dry pellets. At first, everything had to be made into little tiny cubes or crushed a lot because she didn't have the energy to break things apart with her beak. A drop each of molasses and vinegar stirred by chopstick into 5 tbps. warm water is also good. Apparently it's stimulating for their appetite to show them a stirring motion. We were never gone from home more than 3 or 4 hours, and when we were, put out extra of everything (and made sure the towel draped over the box was not touching the lightbulb!)
I really recommend this website: http://www.brittonclouse.com/chickenrunrescue/CARING%20FOR%20A%20SICK%20OR%20INJ%20%209_08.pdf
This is about parrots, but it's still applicable: http://parrothouse.com/hlthcare.html#Emergency%20Sick%20Bird%20Care
We have not put anything on her wounds, and are looking for input. They seem to be very gradually healing on their own.
Anyway, our chick is looking much better, and will hopefully be fine in a couple more weeks. She particularly likes singing along to the second movement of Beethoven's Sonata No.19, as well as the Northern Exposure theme.

List of things I want to make

Some of Danielle's clothes in Ever After

Although I rather like Jonny Lee Miller (at least they had the decency to cast a British actor) and Lucy Liu, I've seen a preview for "Elementary" and can officially give my verdict: Uh-uh. I'm sorry, but anyone who is remotely like Sherlock Holmes does not have a drinking problem and bear tattoos. It seems as though the creators have stretched the "modern" idea to mean 'we can do whatever the bloody hell we want.'
So, sorry, American Sherlock Holmes (*shiver*), but that's just what I think. There are only so many times you can successfully re-make a classic.

Robin Hood

Saw Robin Hood. Cary Elwes is just a dream.

Thoughts on ducks

Sometimes the one-liners on QI form themselves into short stories in my head. "Is this the queue for taking the duck into the echo chamber?" Right?

off hunting
Sorry, what? I was under the impression that elephant hunting is illegal. Royalty thinks it can do whatever it wants, with no repercussions! ALL royalty just shouldn't exist. Behind every wholesome royal family appearance there is always a huge festering mess of blackmail, incest, threats and grudges.
That said, all this fuss over the royal wedding is getting on my nerves. Like Alex Day says, "yes, I see two people getting married, I smile, and then I move on with my life."
I also find it incredibly ironic that America and the UK had these massive wars 200 years ago....and now we love their monarchy, have stolen their patriotic songs, and copy their un-copyable movies and shows! Not to mention being best buddies, hand in hand committing treasons all over the world.
All right, there's my daily rant. I'm feeling slightly better now.

patents

I'm sure someone has patented a little device that you clip to something you know gets lost all the time. There must be one somewhere besides on Warehouse 13!

Quote #13

"I'm a happy camper!"
~Father Jack Hackett
I've really, really been missing his show recently, so here's a nice/funny quote from it!