Easter & Rock of Love Bus- Finale!

On the day of our Lord, Easter, Bret Michaels will make his “Rock of Love” selection. What a paramount day to host the season finale of Rock of Love Bus. It’s down to Mindy and Taya. Although neither of them will fulfill Brett’s search for his everlasting mate. Last season’s selections were far better. But they will enjoy a nice contract and declaring themselves the winner on Vh1’s Rock of Love reunion.
Looking forward to next season’s show…. Rock of Double-D’s and One-Night Stand’s starring Bret Michaels.

Finding Balance

Is there a perfect balance in life? I feel as if i am a juggling act in the circus. I am doing a lot. And by choice, I admit it. But is it possible to feel complete in every area of life? Or am I always going to feel as if I can improve on myself in some way.
I could be a type-A personality. I like my daily habits to be planned ahead and well organized.
For instance, if I go to the gym I must have my mp3 player, my bottle of water, layers to strip off when I get hot, my gym card, my tennis shoelaces tied in a double-knot, and clips so that my hair doesn’t fall in my face.

But balancing the gym with my daily life is a constant struggle. I have set a 4-day-a-week workout schedule. And I go whether I am tired or energized (mostly tired). But does it ever get easy?

Trying to stay healthy is challenging throughout this cold winter season. Everyone in my family and in my friend circle has gotten sick. I do my best to avoid getting colds and flus by washing my hands. But every winter, unavoidably I get sick. I once read that Martha Stewart gargles salt water daily to prevent sore throats. I am also reading Gwyneth Paltrow’s new advice website “GOOP” where she discusses the macrobiotic diet and tips for staying healthy. She recommends eight-hours of sleep, exercising regularly, dealing with your feelings constructively, cleansing the body, and eating “real foods”.

What about taking multi-vitamins daily? Or flossing your teeth regularly so that bacteria does not build up in your mouth? Or cooking with olive oil instead of butter? Or not staring at the computer for more than a few hours a day? Or not checking e-mail at every free moment so you do not ruin your eyes and you actually have a life outside of work? Or volunteering your time to appreciate what you have in this life? Or spending time outside of your home? Or cooking a meal instead of eating out at a fast-food restaurant? Or daily meditation? Or drinking eight-glasses of water? Or wearing sunscreen daily?

The list goes on and on. And I never feel as if I have enough hours in my day to check all of these self-improvement tips off of my list. I can only try.

I think if I remember to brush my teeth and even have a bit of extra time to floss I know my day will be good. I barely have enough time to fill my water bottle, pack my lunch, swipe some deoderant on (all-natural of course), throw my hair back into a tie, unplug my charged cell phone and remember to take it with me, organize my wallet, remember my house keys, put sunscreen on my face, and bring some reading material for the commuter train. If my clothes are somehow consistently matching, it is a bonus. And if I am actually dressed appropriately for the daily weather it is a double-bonus (I always forget to check the weather).

I read magazines like Real Simple Magazine and I probably incorporate an average of one recipe and one life-tip into my month. That is a lie. Actually maybe every few months. I actually THINK about incorporating their ideas and I always say to myself “That is such a great idea!” But actually doing it, is another story.

I am attending a few lectures at a local Buddhist center. I was able to schedule a in a few hours for the next coming weekends to spend time doing this. Although already I am thinking I may need to bow out of a few. But when I do go, the Center seems to bring me peace and the meditations are always a great way to relax and let go of all that I feel I need to do.

Even meditation is a luxury and if I am able to make time for it, I am amazed. Perhaps I need to listen more closely to the teachings of non-doing. Which says that constantly doing and feeling you need to be doing more and doing better only creates suffering.

Perhaps this is true. Or perhaps I just get tired of having cavities and I want to reduce my visits to the dentist. Or perhaps I just want to feel good about my body and slipping on a pair of pants in my closet that do not fit is a terrible feeling. Or perhaps I see a lot of individuals around me who have been diagnosed with cancer and I’d like to know how to avoid that with a good diet. Or perhaps I get tired of my shoelaces coming untied on the treadmill so I double-knot them.  

I think avoiding unpleasurable experiences is what takes up most of my wakeful hours. Preventitive care. Preventing myself from tripping and falling by treading lightly on the ice because I know it hurts.  Preventing myself from forgetting my house keys because I know that being locked out of the house is truly frustrating.  Learned lessons have created these mental rules that I now set for myself. I now have habits for when I travel such as bringing a small pillow and a blanket and ALWAYS buying a bottle of water once I pass through the security checkpoint because I have gotten stuck on a plane for hours without any water. And seeing someone else experience something that I do not want to have happen to me is probably what also drives me. And so we learn our lessons from our ancestors of how to care for ourselves. Now our life expectancy has increased dramatically. But if we are all running around, trying to prevent death are we living or are we just avoiding?

Just some thoughts from someone who has been reading a lot of life “tips and tricks” and has accumulated a ton of preventitive habits and isn’t quite sure how to juggle them all or incorporate them or even avoid them.

Valentines Movie Picnic

I discovered a wonderful secret pleasure for an early matinee at the movie theater. I stumbled upon this idea when my husband and I were rushing to get to the theaters for an 11:20am film and we were starving.
I quickly reached into the fridge and grabbed items around the kitchen and packed a bag full of goodies:
- Sliced apples with garlic & chive white cheddar
- A left over salad in tupperware I had made the night before with salad greens, gorgonzola, pears and avocadoes and a champagne dressing
- 2 Vitamin Waters
- Amy’s frozen cheese enchiladas. I heated it up in the microwave and kept it wrapped in its original plastic covering until we reached the movie. It stayed warm until we reached our seats! These enchiladas are my husband’s favorite.
- 2 Cookies
- 2 Forks
- Napkins

I carried our lunch sak on my shoulder as if it was a purse so that there wouldn’t be any issue with me bringing in food.

We sat down and watched the film and enjoyed our picnic. It truly was wonderful. We shared and passed to each other different items. 

Bringing a picnic was a wonderful way of enjoying fresh and flavorful food and it helped our pocket books since we did not have to spend a bundle on popcorn and candy.

So for this Valentines, pack a picnic with a friend and go and enjoy a film!

Writers Block

I have heard every writer or poet gets hit with writers block. Just didn’t realize it would happen to me.
Perhaps it is the new year and the anticipation of what is to come. We have a new president and my own personal life has geared up with new internships and classes. It feels as if I reinvent myself every year. And I ask the same questions, “Who am I?” and “What am I doing?”
Inspiration is also key. It is important to write when your heart is invested in the words. Otherwise the blog post will feel empty and only a shell of possibility.
Well here I am. Writing. And perhaps this will become a regular habit again.

16,000 Stricken with Cholera in Zimbabwe

The New York Times has posted a frightening article “Cholera is Raging Despite Denial by Mugabe.”  President Robert Mugabe stated the epidemic has ended but public health officials believe the epidemic could reach 60,000 residents and spread to Zimbabwe’s 12 million residents.

Transmission of cholera is spread through contaminated food and water from poor sanitation. In this case, there are rivers of human excrement flowing through streets. Zimbabwe residents have no clean water to drink or to wash their hands and food.

Cholera is a fatal epidemic.  Diarrhea falls upon the victims followed by a drop in blood pressure. This illness is so severe, that unless oral rehydration is administered, death falls upon its victims in a matter of hours.

NYTimes reports that inflation hit 231 million percent in Zimbabwe in July and now it has “surged to an astounding eight quintillion percent – that is an eight followed by eighteen zeros” due to a spiraling revenue caused by a poorly managed and corrupt government. 

The government received  total $188 million donated from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and instead the government decided to spend $7.3 million on other causes. The Global Fund asked for the money back after discovering the plans and the Zimbabwe government reimbursed them.

To top it all off, Zimbabwe has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world.  Along with an astounding rate of orphans. “One in four children has lost one or both parents.”

My ride-along with a police officer

The Boston Globe published an article on December 4, “In rush-hour labor, ticket delivered”, about a Boston police officer who pulled over a woman in labor and made her wait while he issued her and her husband a $100 ticket for driving in the breakdown lane.  In light of this negative press about a police officer, I thought I would post my recent ride-along experience with a Concord Police officer which was very positive and educational.

I met up with the Concord police officer on a Friday evening around 6:00pm. (Previous to our meeting the police officer had to pass the idea by Chief to make sure it was ok I joined his shift.) We drove around the neighborhoods of Concord. Immediately we pulled over a woman who had run through a yellow-light very quickly in rush hour traffic and one of her tail-lights was not working. The police officer handed me her license and asked me to enter the information into the computer. I was honored! We pulled up her driving record on the computer. It was amazing to see a plethora of personal information flash across the computer screen in a matter of seconds.  The police officer was very good about pulling her over as far off the road as possible. (It made me nervous to have so many cars whiz by us on Rte. 2, traveling 60+ miles per hour!) I expected him to issue her a ticket but he gave her a “stern warning.” I was really impressed with this decision. I have always thought police officers hand out tickets  like candy and go their merry way. It was nice to see that he was gentle with the drivers and that he believed a “stern warning” can be just as valuable in teaching a lesson as issuing a ticket. (I have been pulled over by some harsh police officers and I find they set a bad example for all police officers.)

I asked him about whether the common myth of the end-of-the-month quota is true. People believe that police officers tend to pull people over around the end of the month because there is a set requirement of tickets that need to be issued each month. There is also another common misperception that police officers are given financial incentives with each ticket that they issue. Both of these myths are false.

I also asked him about the background behind the link between donuts and cops. Do police officers really eat a lot of donuts? He said that he believes it is because every time he walks into a Dunkin Donuts to purchase a coffee with his uniform on, everyone stops to notice. He says he is always the elephant in the room. And since people take notice, they link him standing in Dunkin Donuts with donuts. And yet he doesn’t even like donuts. He does admit though that in other towns or cities, cops are often found stopped at rest-stops where there are donuts shops. Eating on their breaks.

Later in the evening we responded to a home whose fire alarm had gone off. In this situation the fire department and a police officer must be dispatched to the house.  He went into the home and talked with the family and made sure everyone was ok.  (He mentioned that firemen/women are liked much more by the community than police officers. He said everyone sees firemen as saving lives, putting out fires and climbing a ladder to get a kitten out of a tree. But police officers are the bad guys. They hide along the highways and pull people over giving hundreds of dollars worth of tickets. Yet police officers do much more than hand out tickets. They are the community angels who watch over our families to keep us safe at night. )

We also responded to a car accident. Which involved a young girl driving her father’s fancy SUV and a man in his 80’s who had hit her at an intersection. It was clear that the fault fell on the older man. The young girl’s father showed up on the scene in his mercedes looking very concerned. The damage was very little. Only a few scratches and a small ding. The police officer wrote up a report, called in the accident, and made the decision not to write the older man a ticket. This infuriated the father. The father began yelling at the police officer.  But the police officer calmly said that the insurance will be enough of a punishment . And it is true. The older gentleman will need to pay for a whole new paint job to cover up the scratches and the dent. And his insurance costs will also increase. During these tough economic times, writing $150 ticket just exacerbates the situation.  Once again, I agreed with the police officers judgement.

We also pulled over a young man who was speeding.  We used the radar gun this time. He was traveling 70 miles an hour in a 45. This time the police officer did issue a ticket. When we pulled up the young man’s driving record we found a long list of tickets a long with a past DUI. It was unfortunate that he was now receiving another ticket to add to the mess. And his new ticket was quite expensive because the cost of the tickets are issued by on $10 for every mile/hour traveled over the speed limit. I could see the young man shake his head in his car. Jeff said he was quite upset. But he said he was as nice as he could be ,knowing that this ticket might have ruined this young man’s evening.

As we drove into town, I observed that Jeff would always allow traffic to go in front of him. He was very cordial on the streets when he approached intersections. He drove slowly and cautiously and stopped for cross-walkers and truly possessed great driving etiquette. I complimented him on his driving. He said that police officers must go through a driving course, driving around cones and tailing cars at high speeds. He said it is a lot of fun for officers.

 For the remainder of the evening we toured around Concord. We looked up license plate numbers to check out driving records and to make sure there were not any folks that we should be paying closer attention to. Lately there have been a string of robberies in Concord. Concord is a very quiet and small town and this type of activity is very unusual for this area. I have to say it was fun investigating license plates. I enjoyed tinkering around with the computer and it was nice of the officer to allow me to take part in his daily routine.

The evening concluded. I really enjoyed my brief ride-along. I learned a lot about what a police officer might encounter on a typical evening in Concord, Massachusetts. He was very good about knocking down the common myths about police officers and he shares his feelings about the sad truth that many people fear or dislike police officers.

Police officers are very hard workers. I am amazed at the number of hours he clocks  in per week. Sometimes he can work up to 80 hours and some shifts are back-to-back shifts which means he is working all day and night and through the next morning. He said he has worked every Christmas since he has been hired. 

I left my ride-along with a far greater respect for police officers and for their service to the community.  I think this particular officer is an exceptional police officer.

Police officers are given a lot of leeway in making judgement calls and decisions. They must respond at a moments-notice to each situation. I believe this power that community gives officers also scares the community as well. But for this particular officer, I have full faith in his ability to make fair and justified decisions every time he pulls someone over. 

I only wish more people would take advantage of a ride-along. I think it would help reduce a lot of the misconceptions people have about the police and encourage  the community to connect more with their local police departments. And I am no longer timid in walking into a police department! I feel as if we are on the same team; no longer on opposite sides.

Amazing Kashi Cookies!

I just bought a box of Kashi’s TLC Cookies.  The “TLC” stands for “Tasty Little Cookies.” And they really are delicious! I usually do not purchase cookies but I have noticed my desire to snack has increased on the days I exercise.  So I grabbed a box of the ”Happy Trail Mix” Cookies. I opened them up today. The cookies were really thick and chewy. And they are made with seven whole grains and four grams of fiber. They are really wonderful.

Gotta get some!

Release of 5 Guantanamo Detainees… Only 245 To Go.

As posted in the CNN article today, a judge has ordered the release of five Guantanamo Bay detainees because the government failed to show by a preponderance of evidence that these five men were involved in traveling to Afghanistan and gathering up arms against the United States.

Still, 245 men remain who have been denied the right to a fair trial or given legal counsel and who have suffered years of physical and psychological torture which is deemed illegal under the Geneva Convention. There is a bright light though. President-elect Barack Obama has made it clear that as soon as he takes office he will close Guantanamo Bay.

Interested in learning more? Watch Frontline’s “The Torture Question” and read their investigation on their website along with a compelling, recent release of a documentary film “The Road to Guantanamo.”

Halloween Pumpkin

Fall in Massachusetts

“Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.” — Henry David Thoreau

Fall always begins with the transition from the warm month of September into a sunny 50 degree chill in October. The weather is always deceiving because you will peer out of your bedroom window and see a typical day of blue skies and sun, but then you step outside of your house and discover that 50 degrees is much cooler than you remembered. That is when you walk down stairs to the basement and dig out your winter jackets. Massachusetts folks are known for transitioning their clothes in and out of their closets based on the season. Summer clothes are packed up and stored away and the new incoming season of wool sweaters, gloves, hats, and rain boots are unpacked and rehung in the closets.

When the leaves change color it becomes the physical proof that fall is here. This year in particular felt like the most colorful fall yet. Bright oranges and reds seemed to pop out of every tree. The photograph displayed on the header of my blog is a photo of the leaves on Walden Pond, where the philosopher Henry David Thoreau lived for two years starting in 1845.

Fall in Massachusetts is a busy time of year. There are many traditional occasions that take place throughout the state. October in particular hosts many family gatherings that seem to be a snapshot, right out of Good Housekeeping magazine. There are apple-picking events hosted by local farms, where families can pick apples off of the trees, and purchase fresh apple pies and hot apple-cidar donuts that are to die for. There are cranberry festivals in Cape Cod, fields of corn mazes, pumpkin carving competitions in the Boston Common (Massachusetts broke a world record last year for the number of lit pumpkins at the same time), and hay rides. Another tradition is the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, where rowers come to participate in the world’s largest regatta since it began in 1965. 

It is also a time for families to go hiking and squeeze out the last few days of good weather before the first snow falls in November or December. We decided to take advantage of the consistent weather and hike on Plum Island on the North Shore of Massachusetts in Newburyport, which is a famous shipping port from the 18th century. The road to the island meanders along the Merrimack River and dumps out into the sea.  We parked our car and walked to beach, passing bird-watchers looking at egrets and herons or any of the 350 types of bird species on Plum Island. We packed a lunch and walked along the beach, passing fisherman and a few scattered sun bathers who had the same idea of stealing a few more sun rays before the season ends.

For the Indian community, October is a time to celebrate Diwali, the indian New Year which is based on the lunar calendar. In India it is called the “Festival of Lights” where the lighted lamps signify a victory of good over evil. In Massachusetts, where there is a strong indian population, many celebrations were held in the homes of families and friends.

Now the leaves are falling and the winter chill is here to stay. Today is Halloween and I am spray-painting pumpkins, creating a black cat to sit on our front doorstep. I am hoping the cat will welcome the young trick-or-treaters. Those that aren’t staying home tonight will be celebrating Halloween in the historic town of Salem where the witch trials took place. It is a spooky town with graveyards and haunted houses and old brick, colonial buildings. A perfect setting for a halloween party.  

In a few weeks the tradition of the Thanksgiving feast will be among us, thanks to the famous autumn meal the Pilgrim settlers and the Wampanoag Indians shared in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. One thing is for certain; a seasonal calendar need not be kept in this state of New England. The traditions and weather of Massachusetts will gladly remind you exactly what season is here.

a random bird that landed on Paras’ arm