Podcast Love: Democracy Now!

I listen to a lot of podcasts. A lot. One of my jobs is going around cleaning machines at a gym, which is awesome because I don't have to talk to anyone. So, I listen to about 20 hours of podcasts/books a week.

For a long time I intentionally avoided the news. I was not interested in hearing a corporation's opinion of the news, however I found myself yearning for raw news. Knowing that this is largely impossible, I looked for a news source as minimally spun as I could find. This is what I have found in "Democracy Now!".

Democracy Now! offers a combination of global and domestic news in a one hour podcast or video per weekday. They offer interviews with a variety of people from a variety of different backgrounds. They usually go to the site of the news themselves, or contact a corespondent who is at the site, so most of their news is first hand. I also like that Democracy Now! is a relatively small organization and is entirely listener supported. This leaves much less room for corruption than their corporate news giant counterparts. If you are looking for a generally trustworthy news source, I highly recommend Democracy Now!.

All that being said, it is important to use your beautiful brain and awesome critical thinking skills when listening to any news, because almost all news is spun, though some much more than others. I won't point fingers except to say that a certain [Murdoch-owned] news source can be likened to the anti-Christ. And, not to get off topic, but any information you receive from any source should be filtered and researched, not simply accepted [even teachers, professors, parents and any authority figure can be misinformed].

"How fortunate for the governments that the people they administer don't think." - Adolf Hitler

Let's try to be informed as much as we can. Let's make sure that everything we believe has gone through our b*ll-sh*t filter. Let's remember that we are all a part of the community of humanity. Whether you are the 99% or the 1%, we are all one.

[That kind of ended up being a bit of a jumble of thoughts that only loosely relate. Sorry]

He's My Lobster

Do you ever experience that moment where you catch a glimpse of the one you love doing something completely ordinary [like putting on their socks] and think "Oh my. I am totally in love with him [or her]"?

Me too.

We also have the same shoes [-ish].

Disgusting, right? I know ;)

Coconut Oil

My goal is to eventually not use anything on my body that would be unsafe or unhealthy to put in my body. This is a long process because I also do not like to waste anything, although I am moving along nicely [if I do say so myself].

Anyhow, about a year ago I stopped using lotion in favor of coconut oil, which you can cook and bake with [fitting into my goal], but I'll get to that later. Coconut oil contains phospholipids, which are also found in the oil that our bodies produce. Because this oil mimics our own body's, it is actually absorbed into our skin to moisturize and nourish [unlike most lotions]. Coconut oil also has a nice, light coconut scent [go figure]. It is a solid at room temperature, but liquefies at 75°F. I usually just run it under the warm water while I am in the shower to melt it. Coconut oil is a little thick, but it does not take long to absorb. I even use it on my face. Living in this cold, dry climate in Montana, my skin has been dryer than it ever was in California, but the coconut oil has really helped moisturize my skin. In my opinion, this is the best oil that can be used for skin nourishment.

So, cooking and baking you ask. Well, you can use coconut oil instead of butter, lard or shortening in any baking recipe. Coconut oil can also be used as a cooking oil for stir-fry, eggs, etc. Just keep in mind that the oil will add a light coconut flavor. Coconut oil is a great healthy alternative because it contains lauric acid which helps prevent harmful heart problems, the saturated fat that it contains are medium chain fatty acids which aid in weight loss and it can help ease digestive problems like IBS. And finally, coconut oil is a whole food, that does not contain any additives or chemicals.

You can find coconut oil at most health-food stores by the other cooking oils. It is best to get coconut oil that is organic, raw, unrefined, extra virgin and cold pressed. Okay, that sounds complicated, but the best one I have found that fits all of this criteria is Artisana [the middle one in the picture above]; it runs between $14-$16, but a jar lasts me a few months. I hope you give this a shot because it's much better than any lotion and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

All that said, coconut oil is just awesome!

Snowy Goodness

This morning we woke up to snow, which was a ton of fun because all of the snow that fell a few weeks ago has long since melted and been forgotten [the forecast is calling for sun for the next 7 days, so looks like this bit of snow is not here to stay, either].

I thought I would share some of our snow pictures. Most of these are actually from the last time it snowed a bunch.

Cute story: The first day that it snowed like 4 inches overnight, I had to work at 7am. Christian woke up and walked me nearly a mile to work to make sure I made it there okay in the snowy darkness [the sun doesn't wake up 'round here till about 7:45am]. For those of you who are unaware, Christian does not wake easily. Sometimes it can feel like you are trying to wake Lazarus from the dead [and then it is a miracle when he finally opens his eyes and stands up]. So, this was quite an endearing little feat. What a wonderful guy, right? I just love him.

Well, on to the pictures...

This is about the snowiest it has become since we have been here [but when I visited last winter I saw the snow at its peak, so I believe we are in for a whole lot more.]

I think this was the very first time it snowed :)

I have no idea what cute little animal is responsible for these tracks, but I see them everywhere. Any guesses?

Any guesses on these? Lol [at least I make myself laugh].

I will certainly post more pictures of the snow if we ever get more than a few inches. I guess it is quite odd that we have not accumulated a few feet of snow yet. Global warming *shakes head*.

And it is almost official that we will be back in the ville of roses in February, so mark your calendars, ladies and gents.

Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season!