#mushrooms have been a hot topic on this blog

[mamaangiwine]

Hi! You mentioned in your tags several days ago that angels (& demons?) are more like mushrooms than computers, would you happen to have places to look into that comparison more?

Hello,

Sorry for the late reply, and sorry- no. This honestly just comes from my own experience (I suppose I should have said 'UPG' in those tags).

The reason I find angels to be a bit like mushrooms is because angels, like mushrooms, are a form made up by the very same substance that makes the vast network they are apart of. All the same network, and yet aware that they are themselves and capable of communicating with their various aspects.

Themselves yet together.

Now unlike mushrooms, angels very much have seats of power and governance. There is a hierarchy and I have appealed to numerous angels of various status- but there has always been something different in my interactions with angels that I couldn't quite put my finger on until I read Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake (particularly one passage that I couldn't seem to find again). There is a strange sort of uncanny lack of personal-identity to most angels, and a kind of unrelenting, unblinking, sameness that reminds me a lot of what Merlin Sheldrake describes in his book (I say most because some angels, particularly the more well known ones, do have rather large personalities for reasons that I may explain some other time). It just seemed apt as a metaphor in the way they communicate and function in comparison to other spirits- and how they are, like, everywhere.

When I sing in Encohian, anywhere at any time- the shower in spring, the forest in summer, around a fire with friends in winter- it feels like I'm lifting up a moldy old log, or looking under knotted tree roots, and noticing rings of mushrooms. It's not that the angels are summoned to me- they're just already there, beneath the wet earth that is our physical reality.

[blackberrysstories]

Hi!! I was wondering if you could do headcanons for dating Dark choco cookie?? Perhaps a childhood friend to lover?? :D

Yes i can do that for you, thanks for requesting Anon

Sorry for the late post everyone, got really busy with my other blogs, and slightly procrastinating on writing, and this being long. it's almost 6 AM i should hurry and go to sleep, my eyes really hurt.

This was not proofread, i rushed and made things really awkward and i made have some typo's and used grammar wrong.

Also, so sorry if the story doesn't make sense. I'm only on 5-5? I forgot. But i hope i worded that correctly

He's really charming before his downfall and he still is now, he just.. isn't that much enthusiastic now.

You two were friends for a very long time

Whenever you accidentally hurt yourself he'll ask a bunch of questions " Y/N! Are you okay? " " Absolut- " " I'll get the best healer for you! Hold on Y/N! " " ... " yeah.. no he isn't gonna calm down until you are really okay

You usually help him with protecting the cookies, but he will not bring you if the mission is really dangerous.. But this mission in particular.

Finding that dark strawberry jam sword.

You get out of your home to see the dark cacao kingdom in ruins, you desperately try to find Dark Choco but you see him killing his father

" Wh.. What? " you quietly whispered to yourself, you then see Dark Choco turn around to look at you, yelling out your name

" P-PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!- " you turned and ran for your dear life, ignoring everything. The screams, the pleading, everything.

After running for a while, your feet gave out. You tripped yourself, you lay down by a tree. Breathing heavily, Y.. You couldn't believe Dark Choco killed his father, jam everywhere. Even if you want, you can't forget that, ever.

Well unfortunately for you, Dark Enchantress Cookie got ahold of you. After all, you are mentally weak right now and you are going to be a reliable Cookie. You'll be able to help out with her plan.

It was uncomfortable, Pomegranate Cookie was looking down on you, giving you judgemental looks, Licorice Cookie doing the same but you glared at him making him whine on how terrible the new recruit was, and.. Poison Mushroom Cookie is just happy about how a new Cookie joined a group and offering you 'shroomies'. You don't know whether you should take it or not but you obviously didn't eat it

And then there was Mr. hot topic

Obviously you two avoided eachother, not giving even a single glance at eachother. Or so you say. You really wanted to talk to him, you give him looks, him not looking at you back.

Licorice was getting tired of your shenanigans, he pushed you to talk to him, literally.

" Dark Choco.. We... We need to talk. " You looked at him, he isn't looking at you " Y/N. Please. don't talk to me. " " You know i will talk to you, even if you don't want me talking to you. " he still isn't looking, his face looked hurt " Y/N- " " Dark. Please? I.. I-i missed you, it's been so long.. " Your eyesight getting blurry.. Are you tearing up?

He really wants to talk to you aswell, but.. He's ashamed of what he has done, and he doesn't want anything bad happening to you.

But with you encouraging him..

He finally looks at you, eyes locking with yours. His eyes softened at you

" There now, it wasn't bad right? " You praised him for doing it, he nods. Finally! You got to talk to him!

The first few interactions were short, as to not overwhelm him and him not wanting to hurt you again. When did he physically hurt you?? Oh right, you tripped and almost crumbled. But he didn't even? You know what, nevermind he'll always make excuses that he hurt you and should never interact with him again

You two were kind of the outcasts, not wanting to do anything about D.E's plan. Which makes the group getting hissy at you two, he always put on the poker face and you do whatever you do

Then your interactions became longer and longer, to the point where you two developed feelings for eachother. It was weird feeling this way, and you wanted to stop it. But you don't want to confess to hin yet.. You don't know what he will react when you confess to him, mainly because of his really low self-esteem. He won't accept it in case you get hurt because of him, but what he doesn't understand is that it will hurt you more if he didn't accept it. But, you are alright if you two stay friends, you only just wanted to tell the truth to him, despite the fact that he rejected you. There's so many possibilities that might happen depending on what move you make towards him.

...

You confessed to him in a few days, you can't focus anymore as your mind always shifted to Dark Choco, even when he's not involved, you always manage to think about him. Licorice Cookie is getting real angry at you for ignoring his plans, Pomegranate Cookie is already pissed at you, and Poison Mushroom Cookie just likes being there, well atleast you like 2 Cookies here, one being Romantically, and then one being platonically.

He really did want to reject your confession, he doesn't want to burden you with his problems, and he doesn't want to damage your reputation more by being in a relationship with you.

He hesitantly accepted your confession, careful words coming out of his mouth. But with you just getting shocked and really happy in a few seconds makes his problems easier to deal with. Of course he still isn't gonna talk to you about his problems, but if you try, you might get him to vent out his feelings to you. You don't mind of course, the things he has been through is way too much. He needs to let out his feelings once in a while

He's not really keen on petnames or PDA but he'll accept anything you call him, although not too weird, he'll look at you strangely if you give him a weird one. he'll only hold your hands, but he will hug you when you give him one. A kiss with lead to him looking away from you, you've made him flustered give him a second

When he has his flashbacks of what he did you try to comfort him as much as you can, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't work. after the flashbacks he wants to be alone for a while

He does get jealous, but he always think you deserve somecookie much more better than this.. Thing. He called himself, of course you try to spend more time with him with this sort of thing happens, it was to make sure he doesn't have to feel jealous and lonely

And he still worries about you when you get hurt, although it will be much more worse than before. The thing that hurt you? Gone, reduced to ashes. Forcing the healers to heal you and him following you around, it made you slightly uncomfortable but you know he's gonna isolate himself from you if you get hurt again badly

[gooferdusted]

hypothetically, if I were to write a fix-it/rewrite au fic, (thinking of starting at s5 but debating starting earlier) what are some storylines you’d take out/change, characters you’d save/kill, and specifically changes to sam’s character/arcs you’d like bc i need ideas

ok. ok. I'm gonna try to not go completely off the fucking rails while I write this up but I gotchu (also these r all just my own hot n spicy takes so like. pick what u like, it's all goodie goodie)

• no time passing differently in hell. literally four months is ~Enough!~ a year is enougghh!!!!!! like I get that they wanted to make hell this horrible unreachable thing but u can still like... get that across without having it be this unfathomable chunk of time out of a persons life. like sam was down there with TWO very pissed off angel's for 180 years??? how can he still speak english??? how does dean remember ANYTHING about his old life when mentally more than half of it was spent being endlessly tortured until he finally cracked??? its just.... Too Much...

• ON that note, I feel like later on they never rlly had sam and dean bond over the fact that like... they are genuinely the ONLY two people on earth who have survived actual hell. I mean we got that one off line from dean at some point but??

• no chuck as god. just a greasy greasy rat man getting insane stories projected into his brain. and on the topic of that.... I dont like the reflection of the real life fanbase in the spn universe??? they're pulp fiction novels, it should be all like 50 year old + ladies who picked them up at the local bargain bin, not b*cky r*sen

• I like... WANNA say smth abt s4..... bc I think the way that they handled things were a little out of character BUT I also think that was lind of the point??? like the angels and demons were manipulating them to say/do things they would normally never say/do to eachother to drive a big enough wedge between then that they would eventually say yes to being the vessels. like it hurts to watch sooo much but it did drive the plot forward in a very particular way that probably couldnt have happened otherwise. that being said, when the levee breaks makes me sad, and I dont want to see sam crying for his dead mother alone in a basement! cest la vie.

• sam and dean.... are Friends...,, why did we all forget that..... watch hell house and maybe I'll calm down.....

• PSYCHIC SAM!!!!!! you all know me. you know how I feel about psychic sam... robbed. s4 finale rlly had sam like "drinking that much demon blood has truly changed me forever..... theres no going back now...... 😔😔" like ok. ok. where are your superpowers. where are they.

• I wish some of the other special children had made it out :(( I really liked andy and ava (also sam finding other friend who are like him??? queer allegory??? spare queer allegory?????)

• I also dont think the roadhouse shouldve burned down!!! that shouldve been a Staple Location like Bobby's house. same w Missouri's, literally why did we only visit her once.

• ur sending an ask to my blog so I assume this is just a given for u but!!! we're takin away the misogyny. we're takin away the fetishization! anything that would be given the greenlight by joss whedon we are putting straight in the trash. <3

• this is mostly a thing in later seasons like. idk 9-15, but no ppl knowing who the winchesters are. they are NOBODIES. they pop up like little meerkats and fuck everything up beyond repair.

• also no fancy tech. no iphone 76z or whatever the fuck. sam has an ipod 1. the wheel is so stuck he can barely press play anymore. remember when he literally just tore off the top casing off his laptop and threw it away? more of that.

• no nice clothes. NO nice clothes we fuckin hate that. everything sam and dean own was purchased pre 1995 and dean is an expert at removing blood stains and sewing up jackets. dean will walk into a laundromat with a tide pen and just start goin for it like that scene in deadpool.

• tbh.... I feel like the issues in later seasons are really this massive horrible domino effect. like I could say heres how to fix s7-10 but the fact is if shit hadnt gone down lile it had in s7 s10 would be a different story entirely.

• I am gonna do it tho bc I suck <3

• s6: soulless sam was funney but did that really go anywhere? no. tbh I dont remember what happened w cas and I'm just not going to look it up. it's just not in the cards for tonight. dean w lisa.... ehh.... I've discussed this at wayy too much length w mushroom and we both agreed that dean would probably keep hunting to keep his mind off things and to try and honor sams sacrifice. I guess theres an argument to be made for the fact that it kind of was Sam's dying wish that dean just go fin her and live a normal life but... idk. purgatory was. . indeed a Concept..... that could have maybe gone somewhere if it didnt rapidly spiral into....

• s7!!! I mean. jesus christ. I know some people like this one but jesus christ. the way they literally couldnt commit to having sam have genuine mental health problems after centuries in hell or to just magically wipe them away..... bobby dying halfway thru.... charlie was a bright spot I suppose, but her intro is not my fave episode w her.... idk what the fuck happened w cas, I guess he was god. the leviathan designs were kinda neat but like oh my fucking god it wasnt worth it.

• s8: uh. rough start. idk why the turn tables so suddenly and dean's like "why didnt u look for me >:((" bc??? yall agreed not to???? at the VERY least they couldve had sam been like "I legitimately had no reason to think u werent dead and in heaven and tha wouldve been a little rude of me to pull u out of that." but we went for ~drama~ to make it spicy I guess. ouygh. bunkers there!!! that was cool!!! MoL is a cool concept!!! altho... it doesn kinda contradict the whole sam and dean are nobodies thing... idk. trials of hell was like... cool in theory but bad in practice unless they were planning on ending the show for realskies. and they did not.

• s9: uhh... hated gadreel! hated that shit! wish they had spun that whole storyline to be more "hey sam I noticed u were s*icidal should we maybe address that??" or even like.... I mean dean probably couldve just TOLD sam abt his plan, he had already convinced him to stay alive by that point??? there was no reason to lie!!! plus the betrayal of gadreel not being who he said he was wouldve been like. literally enough drama, we didnt need to fracture the team again. and cas was??? where exactly??? be was human for at least half of that season but hey didnt know what to do w him so they chucked him in a convenience store??? good lord.

• s10: got no suggestions for that one, just toss it

• s11: ok... shes cute.... we can forgive her.... the lore is shaky at best but the episodes SLAP and the characterization is *chefs kiss*. it's been a hot minute since I've seen it so if smth sucked I dont remember and I plan to keep it that way!!!!

• s12: n.. no. no mary. no mary unless we're doing it right. and I promise u doing it right was not poorly ripping off kingsman. couldve brought back bobby!!! if they desperately wanted some drama couldve brought back john!!! actually fuck that, no way

• s13-15: no thoughts, only jack kline <3

[dansnaturepictures]

20/02/21-West Wood walk and daffodils and other flowers in the garden, birds out the back and more

I took the first three pictures in this photoset of at home earlier of Woodpigeon and Collared Doves on a roof visible from my room, nice flowers on the balcony again and daffodils in the garden. It is amazing to now see daffodils popping up all over the place in the back garden as they are outdoors. A really beautiful moment to celebrate the emergence of a new spring. They are such wonderful, symbolic and special flowers to take in I really enjoyed seeing them once more today. A fantastic seasonal addition to the garden we have not really had them in this garden before.

And photographically I am blessed with so many to use my macro lens to take photos of which I so enjoy doing. It means I can take pictures of different daffodils on different days in different conditions, instead of photographing every one today a grey and fairly wet one then being tempted to photograph the same ones over and over on brighter days pushing up my already high photo yields. I am certainly very keen to photograph one in sun so I shall look forward to the day either working or weekend getting a moment to do so. I joked on Twitter earlier that with my “a day” thread of tweets on different themes where I post past photos each day (the topics this year so far were mammals, raptors, mushrooms, my original topic for these last year butterflies and now seabirds) coming to an end on Thursday I might start a daffodil a day with current photos each day! I shall be sad when my a day tweet threads end it has been the longest run I’ve done of them yet it will have spanned 52 consecutive days a time when so much happened in all parts of my life really when it ends since 5th January. For me it served its initial purpose perfectly of keeping my spirits up and making my working from home days roll by through lockdown. It’s also been a chance to take a nice zoom in to areas of my interest and the world of flora and fauna and focus on some amazing experiences I have had and memorable photos taken either over the last year or further back. I hope fellow tweeters have enjoyed the various tweets too. The interactions I received to the tweets as happens with all my tweets and blogs I must say especially with this long and lasting run of doing them daily have been incredible and so heartwarming. So thank you all so much.

For our exercise walk today I returned to West Wood somewhere I last went on one of my days of 2020 on a day off on a Monday last year seeing scores of butterflies there and at Peartree Green on a perfectly sunny and hot day and other insects taking one of my best summer and macro sets of pictures ever I feel and having some of my greatest ever insect experiences for both quality with the bright and brilliant ones I saw and quantity with more butterflies than I’d ever seen together before at one point in vegetated areas. The photos I took that day came up again and again in any social media posts I did saying some my favourite pictures last year which acted as a brilliant forerunner to the a day threads this year and the a butterfly a day thread during November’s lockdown featured them too underpinning it’s status as one of my greatest days of wildlife watching, photos and generally.

Today in the mostly darkness but some brightness and pinches of rain cut a more wintery but spring approaching figure with more lovely catkin clad trees I enjoyed seeing. I took the fifth, seventh and ninth pictures in this photoset of views involving catkins. I also enjoyed on a very athletic walk taking in some very beautiful woodland scenes. I loved taking lots of landscape and sky pictures today as we walked down to the Farley Mount area and back I felt I could really express myself whilst exercising today, these included the fourth, sixth and eighth pictures in this photoset with some nice sky scenes as I often note at weekends lately too. 

Wildlife sightings on the walk included one of my favourite birds the Buzzard flying over very nicely as another shower started, plenty of Blackbirds, Woodpigeon and a nice Great Tit view. Today I also got a coupe of special firsts for the year, nice and fairly close views of delightful snowdrops another quintessential flower of this time of year they do look stunning especially lots and with daffodils too. Real delicious scenes as a lot of the lovely woodland I took in was. Nice views of a primrose or two just about coming through too. We also managed to see pretty closely a wonderful Red-legged Partridge, our first of the year. Always a special and very pretty bird to see I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it. A great 106th bird of the year and a very key bird to add to my year list that I felt so lucky to be able to. The tenth and final picture in this photoset, subtly I would add, shows this bird. I hope you all had a good Saturday or as good as it can be.

[micaelatubo]

FOOD BLOG

For the rest of you, pull up a chair, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and let’s get at it! So, you write a food blog. First off, virtual high five for that (let’s face it, you’re pretty awesome)! But, back to the topic at hand… Sometimes, no matter how much you love what you do, it can be hard to come up with material. Sometimes you just hit the proverbial wall that is writer’s block, where you find yourself staring at your computer for hours and you just got nothing. Not a single idea.

If life has been kinda ho-hum or I’ve just dry for anything interesting to talk about, then it probably makes the most sense to get started by just writing about the recipe. WhIch is kind of a “duh” moment because we are talking about food blogs. But even though it’s so simple, it can be surprisingly hard. It’s like I sit down, get the recipe in there, have the pictures in place. Now, uh, what do I have to say? Yum. The End.

Well food bloggy friends, this is for you.

CHEESY BEEF QUESADILLAS

I have yet to meet a combination of ground beef and cheese that doesn’t make the people I live with extremely happy.  They are not unusual in that respect, I know, which is why tucked amidst the salad recipes and salmon dishes, I continue to pepper this blog with dishes such as One-Skillet Cheesy Beef and Macaroni and Grilled Cheeseburgers with Herb Sauce.  Really, let’s hear it for ground beef.  And cheese.  And Cheesy Ground Beef Quesadillas.

Only in this case the candy is ground beef and cheese.

And here, tortillas!  But look, also spinach or kale!  A leafy green can help validate/justify a lot of cheese, says me.  A great way to elevate a beef quesadilla.

This is a perfect answer to the perennial “what to do with that ground beef” question.  You can use ground pork or ground turkey instead of ground beef, if you like, as well.

 DEAR SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Good pasta will have a chewy texture that has a bounce to it when chewed. These are qualities that you cannot determine until the pasta has been cooked but if the pasta wants to stick in a clump after being cooked or has too soft a texture when chewed, you will want to try a different brand of pasta in the future.

Spaghetti are eaten with many sauces, from the classic ragù to carbonara to fish sauces. They are cooked in boiling water from 8 to 14 minutes (depending on the thickness), then drained and topped with the chosen sauce.

KOREAN CORN DOG

Korean hot dogs are a popular street food from Korea. Hot dogs are coated in batter and deep fried. They are then lightly coated in sugar before finished with condiments of your choice. The sweet and salty combination works surprisingly well. There are also several variations, including a mozzarella dog only filled with cheese (this one is especially popular on social media), and ones that are coated in potatoes or ramen noodles.

Korean corndog is a unique twist on a hot dog prepared by coating a sausage in corn dog batter, dipping it into french fries, then deep-frying the whole thing in oil. The dish is presented skewered on a stick and it is usually consumed on the go.

Hot dog vendors sell them throughout Korea, and there are a few variations, so they can also be wrapped in bacon, mashed potatoes, or seaweed, while tomato ketchup is typically used as the main condiment.

TRADITIONAL FLUFFY JAPANESE SOUFFLE PANCAKES

Japanese take pancakes to new heights. Think cottony clouds of heaven that melt in your mouth! Have you seen Fluffy Japanese Souffle Pancakes (スフレパンケーキ) on social media or maybe even tasted when you visited Japan?

They are fluffy, airy, delicate pancakes that probably look too fancy for a weekday breakfast, but impossible to resist making on the weekend. These pillowy, soft pancakes are a must-try. You can’t miss the fizzy, bubbly sound from the souffle pancakes when you cut them open to enjoy!

Pancakes are comfort food. The happiest comfort food. I’m sure you have many joyful memories of waking up on a Saturday, looking up at a stack of pancakes on your plate. And now as an adult, you are probably like me, always searching and trying different pancake recipes, happily eating your way on a journey to find the perfect pancake.

VEGAN CREAMY BEEF AND SHELLS

Creamy Beef and Shells is a hearty pasta dish that is perfect for a quick dinner for the whole family! It is rich, flavorful, and cheesy and even kids will love it! Creamy Beef and Shells is such a tasty dinner! It is meaty, never dry, and the flavors are awesome! 

The combination of marinara sauce and dairy makes it so yummy. And you get all sorts of savory flavors coming from the aromatics and the different herbs and seasonings.You have protein and carbs in one dish and that makes this hearty and filling. Serve it with a side of veggies, and you get yourself a complete lunch or dinner!

.   CREAMY AND SMOKY RATATOUILLE

Ratatouille – we probably all know the famous movie, but have you tried making it at home? Ratatouille is made with thinly-sliced tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant layered into a casserole dish. The vegetables are topped with an aromatic tomato sauce, then baked until the vegetables are tender. It’s super easy to make and one of the most aromatic and delicious dishes ever! I’ve partnered with Pompian to share my smoky and creamy version of this classic French dish! 1

This vegetarian recipe is great as a side dish, too! Try it along with meaty recipes, such as my ‘Grilled Chimichurri Chicken’ or ‘Lemon Herb Salmon’.

There are a few keys steps to follow to make sure your dish is the best!

Make sure to use the freshest ingredients. I love to use locally grown heirloom tomatoes, sweet yellow zucchini and green squash; and Chinese eggplant, which is more mild in flavor.

Slice all vegetables the same thickness! This is super important so everything bakes evenly. Use an extra-sharp knife or madeline slicer to get the best results.

Be patient! Let the dish bake away while you build up an appetite. Then, let it cool for at least 15 minutes before digging in to enjoy.

I love to enjoy my smoky ratatouille with warm French baguette – it’s perfect for mopping up all that amazing sauce!

 CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BANANA STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

Peanut butter and bananas is such a classic combination that always tastes good. 

First, chocolate peanut butter. Automatically a leg up on regular peanut butter. You could also use Nutella. Second, rather than just making sandwiches, I made French toast. The bread is slightly crisp on the exterior, soft in the interior, and heating the chocolate peanut butter so it melts slightly is the best idea I’ve had in awhile. 

Peanut butter and bananas is such a classic combination that always tastes good and chocolate peanut butter is automatically a leg up on regular peanut butter. The bread is slightly crisp on the exterior, soft in the interior, and heating the chocolate peanut butter so it slightly melts is the best. If you’re looking for an easy yet decadent comfort food breakfast, brunch, or breakfast-for-dinner recipe, make this. You can scale up the recipe to whatever sized crowd you’re cooking for.

 CHEESY CAULIFLOWER MUSHROOM STEAKS

This cauliflower steak recipe is served with a rich, creamy mushroom and cheese sauce.   A hearty low carb main dish for vegetarians and cauliflower lovers.

If you are a meat eater, don’t run away from this cauliflower steak recipe!   The delicious mushroom sauce would be divine with a steak or chicken. It’s such an easy sauce to make too and can be ready in under 15 minutes.

Used gorgonzola cheese for this cauliflower steak sauce as I wanted a strong cheese to go with the mushrooms and much to my delight it was on special offer at the supermarket that week.  That may have been my real influence, but I’m sticking to the strong cheese story!   Any other blue cheese would work just as well with this sauce.  

Sour cream was used for the sauce as it has a creamy texture when heated.  If you wanted to use another cream, I would recommend another thick one.  I haven’t tried it, but can’t see why not it would not work.  Add extra cheese for more creaminess perhaps.

[elle-stevens]

The Break Up Blog - Day Twenty Six

It’s official: I hate my nasal passages. 

It’s like there are furry kittens growing inside of them, that’s how sensitive they are today. Not that I’m allergic to cats or any other furry mammals; at least, I still hope that’s the case. I have heard that some adults develop latent allergies later in life that they didn’t have as children. Wouldn’t that just be my luck if that happened? 

While I sneezed my brains out nearly all day, I carved out time to do a few creative and productive things. First, I made scones for breakfast; I haven’t baked scones in nearly two years. This is the first time I made them while living abroad by myself. Granted, I left them a little too long in the oven, so they came out firmer than usual. But for a first attempt in a miniature oven, they weren’t half bad, especially when I spread butter and strawberry jam liberally all over it. My colleague, N, expressed a love for scones the other day at work and I thought of her while baking this morning. 

So when I decided to do my grading for my students’ journals at a cafe instead of at home, I asked N if she wanted me to drop off some scones for her near her home since it was en route to where I wanted to go. I left my apartment 15 minutes later that what I initially told N, but the traffic was kind to me and I got to the meeting point early enough. N had a harder time getting to me after doing her grocery shopping. There’s all kinds of roadworks and construction happening in my city these days to build more subway lines and the neighbourhood close to where N lives is completely discombobulated, including all the bus stops that have shifted over slightly to make way for the construction walls. 

Anyway, N finally met me and I gave her the scones, which she was happy to receive. It seems like she’s really stressed about work since she and C are part of the recruitment process that hires new foreign teachers at my school. There have been some issues with visa paperwork and flight bookings for a new hire that has many of my colleagues completely stressed out. Thank God I don’t help out with visa paperwork at my job; I’d be two blinks away from being carted away in a straitjacket if I were. 

N had to rush off to her Chinese class and I made my way to a cafe she and C frequented the week before. The cafe has cosy decor inside and a terriffic balcony section above where you can sit outside. Sadly, the balcony was closed today; the cafe probably only opens it up in the evenings when they serve dinner. So I sat inside and did my grading, which was still nice and cosy. 

The grading itself was more stressful than I initially planned. Maybe I just over-thought it and did more than I needed to. But it took me close to 4 hours to check and correct 38 journals as well as give each student feedback and a rating based on their writing. I know that H meant well when she planned for us to do weekly journals with our students. But the plan was meant to be executed at the start of the school year and it’s already the second semester. Plus, she made C design all the journals in different formats and colours for each grade instead of just ordering ready-made journals from a publication house. Now H wants us to critique each student’s writing every single week and only give them positive feedback so they stay motivated to keep writing in class. If I have to climb up more people’s asses and kiss them from the inside, including those of my students, I might never see the sun again. 

Nevertheless, I forged on and managed to finish all my grading, even though I was hungry and the cafe suddenly didn’t serve food. But they had a menu which not only had drinks displayed on it, but food as well. So naturally I was confused that there didn’t appear to be any food. I wrapped things up and tried to call my Dad to wish him happy birthday. After all the delays with my money transfers, I was happy that I managed to send my siblings some cash to help pay for my dad’s gifts and the family brunch. But the signal was really crappy on my phone since I was outside and waiting for the bus to take me home. I managed to get back to my neighbourhood after 18:00 and made a stop at the grocery store to buy tomatoes, mushrooms and garlic. N gave me some French bread earlier, so I made some bruschetta for dinner. Not the healthiest meal to have, especially right before going to the gym, but it kept the hunger pangs at bay since I inadvertently skipped lunch. 

My parents and siblings ended up going on a drive around the beach, which gave me enough time to have a good session at the gym almost unimpeded, shower and then head home. I even had time to go to work beforehand to pick up the new headband I ordered for the gym that I used for my workout. Unlike last week’s ultra-crap fat-loss regimen, I practically aced it the second time around tonight, which kept me in good spirits. 

I got home after 21:00 and called my Dad again. With most phone conversations, I don’t always know what to say to him. I don’t know why, I just run out of safe topics quicker with my dad than with my mom. My mom and I aren’t as close, but we find ways to talk about very superficial things like who’s a new and upcoming contestant on ‘Idols’ or what new wave of crime hit my old neighbourhood this time around. I’m closer with my Dad, but it’s hard to grab time with him to have a good heart to heart. Still, I was in an excellent mood and the conversation flowed well, especially when we talked about dishes we’d been cooking in the kitchen lately. It makes me realise how much I miss my Dad these days. 

It was great catching up with my mom and my siblings too; I feel bad that P and G have been treated to my depressing and morbid side too much lately. So it felt good to ask how they’re doing and make lots of silly jokes to keep the mood light.  Even though I wished I could’ve been home with my family celebrating my dad’s birthday today, I’m happy they’re still able to have fun without me too. Sometimes I feel guilty about being so far away from home, but I know my family loves and supports me no matter. I’m really lucky and it’s time that I start acknowledging and embracing it more often. 

Throughout my busy day, I still thought of X on occasion. When I walked to the grocery store earlier, this called ‘Loving Strangers’ by Russian Red started playing in my iTunes library. That brought up a flood of memories all related to X. I actually liked that song long before X and I even became friends, but I put her onto it and it eventually became one of our songs that epitomised our relationship. The song is from a soundtrack for this lesbian romance movie called ‘Room In Rome’. It’s about these two women who meet at a bar in - you guessed it - Rome, and end up spending the night together in a beautiful Roman hotel room. It wasn’t the best acting in the world, but the chemistry between the two actresses was on sizzling and the movie had a scintillating soundtrack too. 

Anyway, X and I both loved the song and the movie and watched it together a few times over 3 years. When I visited her the first time in the Philippines, we stayed a lovely 5-star hotel for our last night together. Unintentionally, we acted out a few romantic scenes from the movie. Like dressing up in fluffy bathrobes after taking a swim in the hotel and staring out the window together at the city skyline. Of course, we improvised with other things, like slow-dancing in our bathrobes to Coldplay’s ‘Sparks’ and ‘Loving Strangers’ in the middle of our hotel room. 

That night was so bittersweet for me because my flight back home was at 4am (I still don’t know why I booked that absurd flight time), so X and I only had a few hours together in that hotel room before I left her. I felt like Cinderella on the night of the ball with the Prince. For those first few hours, everything felt magical and wonderful. But as soon as the clock struck twelve, reality kicked in again and it was time to go back home in my pumpkin carriage. 

Being with X always felt like a beautiful dream that I was eventually going to wake up from. Now I’m finally awake and it’s still disorienting knowing that we won’t have more beautiful memories together or new shared experiences to make life a little sweeter than it was before. But I’m trying my best to move on and only focus on the crappier aspects of X’s personality to make me miss her less. What I need is to just land myself a hottie Sugar Daddy or Sugar Momma with low self-esteem on the next go-around with a relationship and hope to God they never get clued in on the fact that they could do better than me. Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m a catch in a lot of respects, but I am also a hot mess. I’m a slow learner, but I’m getting better and wiser with time. 

Shit, it’s past midnight and I’m starving. I’m trying hard not to snack late at night, but I haven’t been eating well lately because of stress and my depression kicking my proverbial butt. Does this even still count as a diary entry for 7th September? 

Since I’m making up the rules for my own happiness now, I say it still counts. And from here on out, I’m gonna do whatever the hell I please. 

[barberwitch]

Hi hi, Hope you’re doing well. I’m a baby boy witch and am very new. Would you be able to provide some advice and pointers to getting started? Thank you for your time. ♥️

So I’ve been in the game for a while so here are some things I’ve picked up along the way!

I would say start with what interests you.

Then learn about how it connects to other stuff.

You don’t have to call yourself a baby witch. We’re all new at one point, and even after practicing for years, there’s always something new you’re inexperienced about. It will get tiring saying I’m an accomplished spirit worker...but I’m a baby witch in runes. Totally ok to say I’m new, or I’m interested!

As a male identifying witch...you’re going to get crap for it. It’s not super interesting crap, and it’s not helpful or important, but it’s going to happen. With that said: they’re wrong, and you’re valid. Claiming men can’t be witches is historically in accurate, furthermore it’s invalidating other cultures that don’t adhere to their simple impressions of witch history...and in my experience, I’m only told it by people who have been “witches” for a hot second. Don’t sweat the small stuff, it’s your personal journey and they don’t need to come along.

Following up with that. You don’t need to go on their journey either. It’s ok to figure stuff out yourself, and it’s MORE THAN OK to not insert yourself into discourse. Especially about a topic you don’t really know much about. Something helpful is not speaking in generalizations: “In my experience.” “From what I’ve heard from people.” Etc...because everyone has their own experience and they’re valid. When in doubt, come from a place of open curiosity.

Feel free to go through my blog later looking at the tags #Barberwitch tip & #WitchTip Wednesday I’ve got some things in there that, even if they don’t resonate with you or the path you take, may end up opening a rabbit hole you can dive down...

#beginner witch tip is another one. Granted it’s not as filled out as the other two, but there are some gems in there.

Last thing, some things may make you uncomfortable, it’s important to distinguish between what is harmful, and what is different from what you’ve been raised to believe. It’s completely ok to hold on to some reservations, but there’s a lot of stuff in witchcraft that may contradict things you didn’t even realize have been internalized. I’m a big proponent of ask questions, then keep asking. Knowledge isn’t a bad thing, and sometimes things outside of our comfort zone may end up resonating with you deeply (like mustard and mushrooms...wouldn’t touch the stuff but I kept trying and I love them now. Or on a spiritual front, I used to not be the biggest fan of spirit work, and now it’s a deeply personal aspect of my craft.)

Last thing, none of what I said matters. Because the biggest piece of advice I can give you is that you need to decide what holds water and what doesn’t for you. The three fold law? Maybe you like it and maybe you don’t. Maybe emoji spells are your jam and maybe you think they’re nonsense. Maybe plants are a major teacher for you, and maybe they’re just nice to look at. It’s your call, and your path. Not anyone else’s, so...welcome to witchood my dude!

🦇Cheers, Barberwitch

Ok, I was about to post and something popped into my head. When you see “all men.” Or “male witches blah blah negative blah.” If it doesn’t apply to you, in your heart of hearts, then don’t respond. You’ll save headaches and you don’t need that negativity. Instead, be the exception and spread love, acceptance and be an example of how you don’t have to uphold toxic habits. If it does apply to you, then see how you can be better. Ask humbly for help. Don’t be a stereotype, change them.

[consulting-celiac-in-the-tardis]

7+ Delicious Ways to Eat More Veggies with Every Meal

New blog post!

This post is generously sponsored by Spinato's. 

When I was diagnosed with celiac disease, more changes happened to my diet than just going gluten free. Slowly but surely, my new dietary restrictions inspired me to experiment with more naturally gluten-free foods...which includes plenty of delicious vegetables. Before I knew it, I'd gone from a meat-and-potatoes kinda girl to a veggie addict! As a result, I can now honestly say that I enjoy eating vegetables and crave several servings of them every day. But I don't just eat raw broccoli and carrots! Instead, in the six years since my celiac diagnosis, I've found creative and yummy ways to incorporate more vegetables into my meals...and with help from Spinato's (home to some seriously ammmmazing certified gluten free broccoli crust pizza!), I'm sharing my top veggie hacks today! Because while I truly believe that everyone thrives on different foods and that "healthy eating" looks different for each person, I don't think most people can go wrong with adding a few more vegetables to their daily eats.

So whether you're looking for sneaky ways to up your kid's veggie intake this coming school season or you just want more creative ideas for delicious gluten free meals, keep reading to learn about 7+ easy and delicious ways you can eat more vegetables with every meal of the day!

Breakfast: 

When I was in high school, some of my typical breakfasts were cinnamon raisin bagels slathered in peanut butter or a protein bar eaten in the car on the ride to school. And while those certainly aren't bad options, my breakfasts nowadays are a lot more veggie-heavy. But you might not even realize that upon first glance! Because here's the thing: I'm not a savory breakfast kinda gal. When I wake up, I want something sweet...but that doesn't have to keep me from getting in some veggies and greens. And if you follow me on Instagram, you can probably guess one of my favorite ways to eat more vegetables with breakfast: smoothie bowls!

Veggie Hack #1: Get Sneaky with Smoothie Bowls

In fact, one of the best things about smoothies is that, depending on the ingredients and ratios you use, you can pack them full with vegetables and just taste the sweetness of banana or whatever fruits you included as well. Some of my favorite vegetables to include in smoothie bowls are:

Zucchini and squash, steamed and frozen ahead of time to help with digestion. These are my go-to veggies to use if you want a tummy-friendly smoothie that is super thick and creamy but lower in sugar thanks to these additions. And I promise - you don't taste the zucchini or yellow squash at all, especially when paired with flavorful ingredients like berries or cacao powder. 

Cauliflower, steamed and frozen. If your stomach can handle cauliflower in larger quantities, this is one Instagram trend you'll fall in love with.

Leafy greens, like spinach (which has a very mild flavor) or iceberg, kale, etc. if you don't mind tasting those greens more obviously.

Veggie Hack #2: Add Zucchini to Oats or Porridge

If you wake up craving a warm breakfast but still want something sweet and secretly full of veggies, zoats (also known as "zucchini oats") are another delicious option! I have made my zoats with zucchini and yellow squash, just grated and squeezed to remove the extra moisture. As I've shared in recipes like this one, you can also use alternative porridge grains like quinoa flakes, buckwheat flakes, or chia seeds if you can't tolerate gluten free oats. You can enjoy your zoats cold (and soaked overnight instead of being cooked) or warm, but if you're trying to hide the texture of zucchini, cooked is the better option. I often prep and soak my zoats the night before and then just warm them up in the microwave until everything is soft and gooey that morning!

Snacks

My snacks have also changed since I've started to enjoy eating more vegetables. While I still love my protein bars, I often end up having something homemade or fresh instead...and many of my favorite snacks - as you can guess from the topic of this post! - involve some raw or cooked vegetables. 

Veggie Hack #5: Top Rice Cakes with Guac and Veggies

This tip is as simple as the name suggests. I know a lot of people enjoy rice cakes with peanut butter and jelly or other sweet toppings, but I'm also a big fan of putting on a layer of guac, avocado, hummus or pesto and adding some spinach, carrots, cucumbers or whatever other veggies I have on hand. If you love a crunchy snack, there's nothing better than this!

Veggie Hack #3: Dress Up Veggies with Homemade Dip

Now, I know I said that I didn't just eat raw broccoli and carrots (and these days, I rarely do at all!). However, when I do have a hankering for raw vegetables - especially during hot days when I don't want to turn on the oven to cook something - whipping up a quick homemade pesto or dip can make veggies a lot more of an interesting snack! Feel free to use whatever pesto recipe you enjoy, but my go-to lately has involved a mix of several handfuls of spinach, a few tablespoons of hemp seeds, a squeeze of lemon, heavy sprinkles of oregano and thyme, and enough chicken or vegetable stock (for extra flavor!) to get the pesto to mix in my mini blender.

If raw veggies aren't your thang, you can also roast some and keep them in the fridge for snacking and lunch and dinners (which we'll get to shortly!). One of my favorite pairings with pesto is roasted sweet potato rounds. Just cut a sweet potato up into small coins, place them on a lined baking tray (no oil required) and cook at 425 for 25-30 minutes or until caramelized and soft.

Veggie Hack #4: Replace Oil and Sugar with Veggies in Homemade Granola

If you've checked out my gluten free granola recipes before, you already know that I rarely ever bake mine with oil or refined sugars. Instead, I get all the clumps and sweetness from pureed fruits and grated zucchini and squash. I know it might sound a bit crazy at first, but you don't taste the vegetables at all and they help make the granola extra clustery and chewy. Plus, if you make granola with turmeric, yellow squash and banana, it'll be hard for anyone to notice the squash in the mix!

Lunch and Dinner

Now, the grand finale - how to add more vegetables into your lunches and dinners! 

Veggie Hack #6: Cook and Freeze Certain Vegetables and Homemade Fries Ahead of Time

As I already mentioned in the snacks section, roasting vegetables ahead of time so that they're ready when you want to eat is a serious game-changer. I'd also encourage you to experiment with different spices (I'm partial to thyme and oregano) and methods of cooking (for example, baking at a super high temperature for a bit of burnt edges on your broccoli or covering your tray of veggies with tin foil so that they actually steam in the oven) to see what ways taste best to you.

Another trick I've learned over my six years of veggie-loving: certain vegetables can handle being frozen and reheated later on for an extra easy serving of vegetables. For example, I often cook an entire spaghetti squash and freeze one half so that I can take out the frozen spaghetti squash the night before, stick in the oven to reheat for a few minutes, and dive in extra quickly later on. And if you love fries but haven't ever made your own, now is the time! There are tons of easy recipes out there, and I've had success cooking big batches of fries, letting them cool, and then freezing them in sealed bags. When I want fries later, I just throw a handful of frozen fries in the oven on high for a few minutes, and wala! Quicker than fast food!

Veggie Hack #7: Take Advantage of Delicious, Secretly Veggie-Packed Alternatives to Your Favorite Foods

And now for one of my favorite vegetables hack lately. I already mentioned that this post is in partnership with Spinato's...and if you're trying to eat more vegetables this year, Spinato's certified gluten-free broccoli crust pizza is about to become your new BFF!

I knew I was in for a treat as soon as I got my first boxes of Spinato's; even without opening the box or cooking the pizzas, the scent of tomato sauce and spices got my mouth watering. Spinato's 10-inch broccoli crust pizza comes in four different flavors: Margherita; Aged Asiago, Romano & Mozzarella; Mediterranean Supreme; and Primavera. Besides being certified gluten free (something I LOVE seeing in foods I eat regularly!), Spinato's pizzas are free of MSG and trans fat, and packed with high-quality ingredients like hormone-free chicken sausage and vine-ripened tomatoes from local farms. One of the coolest parts? The Spinato family has been experimenting with pizza recipes and unique topping combos since 1974, so these pizzas are part of a delicious family legacy. As for my personal experience with these pizzas...first off, I loved how quickly you can cook them! Depending on what appliance you use, you can have your frozen pizza hot and ready in just 8 minutes. My pizza only took around 14 minutes in my oven, which makes Spinato's the perfect secret weapon to keep in my freezer for crazy busy school days this coming semester. And I definitely want to try grilling these pizzas one day, as the box suggests!

And now we get to the most important part: the taste. For the particular dinner in these photographs, I went with Spinato's Primavera pizza, which features zucchini, red onion, mushroom and red pepper. I added a lil' bit of greens and avocado (since those are my go-to pizza toppings!), and enjoyed evvery bite. I loved that the sauce, cheese and toppings were evenly dispersed throughout the whole pizza, and that the soft crust was balanced out by crunchy and chewy vegetables. I also enjoyed that the crust looked "normal" despite its broccoli base. If you served this to me without the box, I wouldn't have guessed the crust is packed with vegetables! My cooked pizza crust did come out of the oven feeling pretty soft and some of the pizza slices were messy to hold - especially since Spinato's pizza crust is pretty thin (just how I, personally, like it). However, once the pizza cooled some, the crust got a lot sturdier and had deliciously crunchy edges with a soft, chewy middle. And at the end of the day, I don't mind a bit of a messy dinner as long as it tastes finger-lickin' good...and Spinato's pizza definitely does.

If you want to try out Spinato's for yourself, Spinato's frozen broccoli crust pizzas are now available in over 1,500 stores all over the US. For help finding Spinato's broccoli crust pizza in your area, check out Spinato's handy dandy product locator here! Before I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I would've never imagined waking up and looking forward to eating zucchini and green beans and all sorts of other delicious veggies. But the more I've experimented with new, delicious ways to enjoy vegetables, the more I've craved them...and I hope the same can be said of anyone who tries any of the vegetable hacks I've shared in this blog post! And if you need a tasty and easy place to start eating more vegetables ASAP...as I mentioned earlier, Spinato's certified gluten free broccoli crust pizza can be ready in 15 minutes or less. ;) *I received free samples and monetary compensation in exchange for spreading the word about Spinato's broccoli crust pizza. However, I only partner with brands and products that I personally belive in, and all photographs, opinions and thoughts are my own. Thank you for supporting what supports Casey the College Celiac!* Which flavor of Spinato's pizza would you want to try first? Margherita; Aged Asiago, Romano & Mozzarella; Mediterranean Supreme; or Primavera? Tell me in the comments!

via Blogger https://ift.tt/2TpsPY6

[backtothestart02]

Fallen Star - 11/?

A/N: I’m pretty pleased with how this chap turned out. It was almost much angstier, so y’all can credit @westallen94 with inspiring me to make it a little more bittersweet than pure pain. lol.

*This chap goes out to @itzvickilou. Girl is so patient in between updates of this fic. And she did wait so long for this one. I hope this installment is one you end up loving, dear!

*Many thanks to @valeriemperez for beta’ing. :)

Chapter 11 -

The door firmly shut behind her, Linda did her very best to put Barry Allen out of her mind. If she started acting weird, Iris would know something was up. She didn’t know how much wine her friend had consumed, but even after several drinks, Iris had a tendency to sense when something was being hidden from her.

Unfortunately for Linda, when she looked over at Iris, she saw her friend had not barely taken a sip out of her wine glass, and the bottle beside it was still very full.

So much for hoping that she was on her second glass, she mused, then scolded herself. Iris hadn’t wanted to get drunk tonight. She should be thrilled that despite her last-minute push for alcohol, Iris still maintained her sobriety.

“Pizza’s here!” Linda announced, promptly dropping the pizza box on the table in front of Iris.

Miraculously, the wine only swished a little in the glass and bottle.

Resigned, Iris switched her gaze from the blank wall in front of her to the pizza box Linda was opening.

“I’m not really hungry…” she began, her growling stomach promptly interrupting her.

Her face heating up, she met Linda’s gaze sheepishly, earning her a snort in return.

“Oh, yeah, I can tell.”

Still flustered, Iris accepted the inevitable and propped herself up so that she was sitting with her back against the arm of the couch.

“All right, well, what did you get?” she asked.

“Your favorite!” Linda cheered.

That intrigued her. “Oh, yeah?” She turned the now open pizza box toward her, then frowned.

“What?” she demanded. “It’s got all your favorites: red peppers, green peppers, onions, hot peppers, jalapeno peppers, mushrooms, and olives. I even made sure they added in that extra spicy sauce not included on the menu.”

“So, your favorite,” Iris concluded.

“What? No-” But it dawned on her then just how she knew about that sauce. A brief fling with a guy that worked there roughly five years prior. “Oh.”

Iris shook her head. “Don’t worry. It’s fine. I’ll just pick stuff off.” She reached for a slice.

“But the sauce!” Linda warned, but it was too late – for both of them.

Iris thought she could handle her spice pretty well, but this was hotter than anything she’d ever tasted. She downed her whole wine glass in a single gulp and took the ice-cold glass of water Linda handed to her before she had time to down the wine bottle in its entirety.

“Wow.”

Linda laughed nervously. “Yeah…”

“Never again.” Iris pointed a finger accusingly at her best friend.

“Understood.”

Linda grabbed a slice for herself and plopped down on the couch beside Iris, eating the pizza as if it wasn’t setting her entire mouth ablaze and making her eyes water. She turned to see Iris staring at her, shock and disbelief on her face.

“Wha-?” she asked around a mouth full of food.

“I just…” Iris shook her head. “Nothing. You do you, girl,” she said, and poured her wine glass up halfway again.

“So, what are you gonna eat?” Linda asked after she’d downed her first slice and was reaching for another.

“That is an excellent question,” Iris said.

Linda winced. “I could order another pizza.”

She laughed. “How about I just make the brownies now, get high, and forget all about needing actual food in my system to get through the night?”

Linda’s eyes widened, panic setting off all her nerve endings.

“Right.” She swallowed. “Pot brownies.”

Iris had stood up and was about to head towards the kitchen, when she turned to look over her shoulder and saw the panicked look on her best friend’s face.

“I’m kidding.”

Linda blinked and looked up at her. “You are?”

She laughed and sat back down. “Yeah. That’s crime evidence. My dad’s a cop, but there’s only so many lines he’ll cross for his baby girl.” She took another sip of her wine.

Linda’s lips parted; her jaw dropped after what Iris said next.

“It’s just a good thing Barry figured out what was up and came over to demand the drugs. Would’ve been awfully embarrassing for me to have to return to the precinct with it, tail between my legs as I snuck it back to where it came from.”

The smack came on suddenly and had Iris rubbing at her arm and nearly spilling her wine.

“What the hell, West?” Linda demanded, but she was starting to laugh. “You could’ve let me in on your clever secret.”

She shrugged and sank back into the couch, cradling the wine glass in her hand.

“It wouldn’t have sold the same with Barry. And I needed him to actually show up.”

Linda’s brows furrowed.

“Why?”

Iris sunk into herself a little.

“So, I could see him,” she murmured to herself.

Linda’s heart broke.

“Oh, honey.” She took the wine glass from Iris’ hand, set it on the table, and pulled her best friend close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before sinking back into the couch. “You miss him that bad, huh?”

She knew she did. It was a foolish question. But she still asked it because for how crushed she’d appeared in the short period since their break-up, she was the rawest now, the most honest with her feelings.

“It’s like I can’t breathe, Lin. I feel like I’m suffocating every day, knowing I’m not going to be able to see him or talk to him…”

“I’m sure that’ll pass eventually, in time,” she offered. “It’s not like you won’t be a part of each other’s lives forever. You’re family. You’ll be friends again. It’s just…too soon.”

“I don’t know…I don’t know if I can go back to being just friends, Lin. And what about his threat to prevent me from going through with investigating any story that has even a hint of danger to it? If he follows through on that…I think I might just go crazy.”

“So, what are you saying? You’re not going to do that kind of story anymore?”

Iris scoffed. “No, of course not. I love those more than all the rest. They always have the biggest impact. They change lives.” She sighed.

Linda swallowed. “So, then…?”

“Maybe I just won’t be aggressive in searching for one.”

Her brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Iris pulled back to look into her friend’s eyes.

“I mean…I think I was refusing the simpler stories simply because everyone was getting on my case to not do the more dangerous ones. Maybe the best way to transition is to not do that.”

“I hate to say it…but that may give your ex the impression that you’ve given up. That’s kind of letting him win.”

“It’s not a game, Linda.”

“No, I know it’s not. And I don’t like seeing you in danger, even if I understand why you do run straight into it something, but-”

“It’s okay, Linda. I get it. I’m not going to avoid the stories. I’ll just…take them as they come. And if I get bored of the mundane, which I most certainly will, those criminals will have something coming to them they wish they hadn’t.”

“And that is?”

She smiled mischievously. “Iris West.”

…

 A week and a half later, Iris sat at her desk at CCPN and congratulated herself on her progress. She hadn’t gone out for drinks with Linda for at least three days. She slept at her own apartment in her own bed. She was getting work done instead of stalling endlessly, unable to get Barry and their break-up out of her mind.

While she hadn’t been handed a story that would give her a high simply by imagining the potential of it, the stories she was researching, interviewing, writing for were still quality stories. No interrupted robbery, stalled kidnapping, or attempted prison break should go untold, especially when it was the Flash who was stopping these terrible crimes.

And who didn’t love hearing about the Flash’s latest save? Central City citizens loved the Flash. They loved learning about his latest exploits and how great he was. The Flash was good press. Who didn’t want good press? Especially in a newspaper, driving to keep people buying the tangible paper instead of just browsing online.

That was what she’d been hired for initially anyway. Her blog about the Flash.

Her mind came to an abrupt stop when those thoughts registered. She leaned back in her chair and scoffed, disgusted with herself.

“The you from two years ago would have been so disappointed.” She frowned, her nose scrunching up.

She was more than a Flash fangirl. She wanted to write about stories that mattered. They didn’t have to be life or death, but anyone could write about the Flash’s everyday saves. Especially now that she didn’t really have an in with him anymore. She wasn’t at STAR Labs. She wasn’t interacting with anyone there except her dad and brother. And really, they mostly avoided the topic when she saw them. She preferred it that way. So, why the hell was she writing recaps on the Flash’s saves when all she was seeing was what any other citizen on the street could see?

She was supposed to be an Insider. Interviewing people who had been eye witnesses didn’t make her an insider. It made her an interviewer who could transfer words to paper. Which of course was a desirable trait in the industry, but nothing to make her a stand out. Nothing that would save lives. The Flash saved lives every day. Why shouldn’t she?

She pushed herself up out of her chair and walked out of her office down the hall to her editor’s.

“I need to speak with you,” she announced on entry.

Scott lifted his eyes up from the paperwork littering his desk and considered her with a look.

“Miss West, how can I help you?”

“I need you to know that I’m not gonna be your Flash girl anymore.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You’re not?”

“No.”

“You really seem to have a knack for it, though. And you’ve been choosing those stories over literally anything else out there for the past week.”

“I know.”

“And wasn’t that what you were initially hired for?”

She ground her teeth.

“Initially. And I didn’t know it until I got here and found out I wasn’t allowed to write anything else.”

“All right. I’ll bite.” He relaxed in his seat. “What do you want to write, Iris?”

“Something…exciting. Something that matters. Something that will make me work a little. I want to live on the edge.”

He smirked in a way she knew she could have found attractive once upon a time. But there was no hint of a flutter in her chest this time around. Just a hopefulness that he would give her what he asked.

“I think I may have something along those lines.” He turned around in his seat and reached for a file hidden among the clutter there. He flipped through the contents before closing it and handing it to her.

“What’s this?” she asked, taking it immediately, greedy for a story that would make her forget all about the Flash.

“All the information I have on a new arms dealer in town with access to sophisticated weaponry like what Plunder used.”

Her eyes flashed. “Plunder.”

“Your most popular piece in the past week. Surely you can’t have forgotten already.”

No. Of course she hadn’t. Jared Morillo, a.k.a. Plunder, had a penchant for expensive jewelry. With the advanced tech on his guns, it took Flash interrupting him mid-theft three times before he was finally caught. That wasn’t emphasized so much though as was the fact that despite how dangerous he was, he was caught, just like all the others Flash had put to a stop.

“Iris?”

She blinked, looking back at Scott.

“Sorry,” she blurted. “I was just remembering.”

“Right.” He eyed her with some concern, but she ignored it. “Well, this guy looks like he might be similar or possibly worse. He could be a copycat, or he could be in line with Plunder and just picking up where he left off.”

She nodded. “Okay.” She paused for a beat then asked the question she knew she had to. “And…the police?”

He folded his hands in his lap. “I don’t know if they know anything. If they do, it’s not their top priority. I know your dad’s a detective, so if you think it’d be better in his han-”

“I’ll take it.” No way was she letting him finish that sentence. “I won’t let you down.”

He smiled a little. “I look forward to your article, Miss West.”

She smiled a little herself, then backed out of the office and retreated to her own. Setting the file on her desk, she closed out the tabs on her computer and opened a new one.

She could feel the blood pumping through her veins again, the adrenaline from taking on an exciting story that few people were even aware of. And it would change lives. She would make a difference.

…

CCPN was in near darkness when Iris left later that night. She’d gotten a lot of research done, but she knew she’d had to do a lot more, as well as interviewing several possibly connected parties before she could move in on the situation. For now, though, she was content.

And hungry. And exhausted.

She half-debated calling up Linda for some food, but her girl had looked more exhausted than she felt now when she left three hours ago. She decided not to bug her. It was a five-block walk to her apartment from here. She knew there was a good chance there was something to eat in her fridge, and with her apartment being as small as it was, her bed wasn’t far away either.

She cut down the same alleyway as always, not paying mind to how quiet it was, even though it was late. She was almost to the end of it when she thought she saw something move in her peripheral vision. She didn’t stop moving, but she turned her head slightly to see if there was anyone behind her or if she’d imagined it. She didn’t see anyone, but she did pull her purse higher up her shoulder.

Please don’t let me be mugged. Please don’t let me be mugged.

She rehearsed the kickboxing moves she hadn’t used in years in her mind, just in case she needed to pull them out at 11:30 at night in a dark alley that she just now was considering maybe wasn’t the best shortcut she could be taking.

She felt a tugging on her purse and spun around just in time to see a gun pointed in her face. Breathing heavily, she held her hands up in the air. Some fancy punches might work in hand-to-hand combat, but they wouldn’t do so well with a speeding bullet. Not when she was alone like this.

“Give me your purse,” the masked man demanded. “Hand it over or I’ll shoot.”

She wanted to retaliate, to talk back, and maybe she’d be able to, but not tonight. Fear was enveloping her in full force, demanding she succumb to it.

“But it matches her coat so nicely,” came the vibrating voice in the distance.

Iris felt the load lift off her shoulders and relief course through her.

The man turned around to see who’d addressed him, and when he did, Iris snatched the gun out of his hand and stuck it in her own purse.

“What the-”

But the Flash had him in CCPD custody before he could question what had become of his gun.

Iris was breathing heavily once she reached her apartment. She loved the thrill of running into a situation, knowing what great things it would do for her readers and those in danger once she came out the other side. But when it was out of her control, even if it was just a simple mugging, it was terrifying.

She’d have it out of her system by morning, she was sure. But as she sat the gun down on the kitchen table and stared at, she experienced again her hairs standing on end, her heart racing as she stared at the barrel intending to end her life.

The knock at the door startled her. She almost didn’t answer it, but then-

“Iris?”

Another sigh of relief.

“Iris, it’s me.”

Taking a deep breath, she picked up the gun, went to the door and opened it. She was greeted by a worried Barry Allen, who looked like he hadn’t slept in a week.

“Come to collect the evidence agai-”

“Are you okay?”

Her tongue suddenly thick and heavy in her mouth, it took her a while to find words.

“Y-yeah,” she rasped. “I’m…I’m okay, Barry.”

He swallowed and nodded, then looked down at the weapon in her hand.

“I…I should probably…”

“Yeah, of course.”

She handed it over to him, and their fingers touched, not moving for the longest time. She could barely breathe.

Barry snapped out of it first, tucking the gun into his pocket before hesitantly looking up at her.

“You handled herself really well out there, Iris.”

Her heart raced. That was the kind of glowing compliment that usually led to sex. Especially because she knew it was genuine.

“I couldn’t have done it without the Flash,” she said softly, kicking herself when she remembered that their estrangement was based on her not needing him to save her.

“You’re really okay?” he asked. That should’ve annoyed her, but the tenderness in his voice was so…

“I’m fine, Barry. I promise.”

He swallowed and nodded. She could see the wheels in his mind working, wanting to say or do something because of how long it had been. Maybe he’d been missing her as much as she’d missed him. Maybe he was using this as an excuse to see her. Hell, maybe he’d coerced the guy into trying to rob her so he could save the day. At the moment, even the latter possibility didn’t bother her.

“Well, then, I guess I should-” He started to back away.

“Are you okay, Barry?” she asked, biting her bottom lip as she leaned against the doorframe.

He stilled and met her eyes. His mouth opened and closed several times, saying everything and nothing, the same as her. She wanted to yell and cry and scream and hug him and kiss him and pull him into her apartment and make love to him just to feel his skin against hers again, hear his racing heartbeat against her ear when she laid her head on his chest.

But of course, none of that happened. It couldn’t.

“Goodnight, Barry,” she said softly, so he wouldn’t have to answer.

He smiled slightly, appreciatively. “Goodnight, Iris.”

And then he was gone. She saw the flash of red as he ran past her window and sighed as she leaned back against her door.

“The man I love is a superhero,” she whispered to herself.

Then her eyes closed, and tears soaked her eyelashes.

So close, but not close enough.

*Also posted on AO3.

[mikumanogi-blog]

2021-09-09 “Love is” Hayakawa Seira blog [ENG]

Everyone, good evening!

I’m 21-year-old Hayakawa Seira from Osaka. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

Are you feeling well everyone?

 Since becoming September Tokyo has suddenly become cold.

Is it wearing long sleeves at night cold?

I’m not even wearing short sleeved pajamas I’m wearing long pants. The clothes I bought in the spring have become a little bit short and so I kind of want something that fits me nicely.

Recently I’ve been thinking that I’ve become a little bit more mature, and I’ve started to like fall.

I used to really dislike the autumn chill which felt like the end of summer but recently the reason for me to like autumn have increased because of things like ‘I want to eat pacific saury’ and ‘It’s not hot’ and ‘sweet potatoes’.

I want to eat pacific saury with sudachi and grated daikon! I also want to stuff my face with delicious white rice!

On top of that I want to dig for sweet potatoes! Mushrooms are also delicious, it’s definitely the season of good appetite ^ ^

 Ah!

By the way, I went to the art museum. It’s also the best season for enjoying art.

When I was in high school, I frequently went to the art museum by myself, but I haven’t been able to go much recently. When I went for the first time in a long time it was so much fun, it makes me want to go again. I like those moments when you lose all track of time while staring at a painting. Recently I’ve also been using the audio guides and it makes it even more interesting.

I promise you that I bought postcards that I didn’t intend to buy or use.

Right now, at the Tokyo National Museum in the Hyokeikan the ‘four seasons of Nogizaka46’ is open. If you’d like, please come and feel the autumn of art with Nogizaka46.

Which means, Tada!!

My birthday shirt. My work of art?

It’s cute isn’t it〜

This year I made it a simple “t-shirt showing not enough love’

It didn’t make it in time for the previous individual online meet and greet so if you like you can wear it to the next meet and greet with me!

 The last online meet and greet was the last one for the 27th single. During this single as well I received many words of thanks from everybody. I was very glad, thank you very much.

Even though it’s just a little thing, there were many people that made me feel happy, many people that congratulated me, kindly asked if I was ‘okay’, they showed off Mother Nature for me, they showed or performed something to me, I can’t write about it all but the time that we spent together really cheered me up.

The first time we did the online meet and greet it was overwhelming and there were many things I couldn’t get accustomed to, but I was able to get through all of those things thanks to all of my fans ^ ^

I’m looking forward to having fun with everyone during the 28th single! Please continue to look after me〜

 The last online meet and greet I was a,

1st time slot: Aichi Tour t-shirt wearing big sister

2nd time slot: Fukuoka Tour t-shirt wearing big sister

3rd time slot: polka dot blouse wearing big sister

4th time slot: yellow blouse wearing big sister

5th time slot: purple dress wearing big sister

^ ^

If you have a hair or clothing request, please let me know in the comments.

As always, thank you very much ☺︎

 ☀︎☀︎☀︎☀︎announcements☀︎☀︎☀︎☀︎

☀︎Nogizaka46’s 28th single ‘Kimi ni Shikarareta’ will go on sale Wednesday September 22nd.

The 28th single ‘Kimi ni Shikarareta’ will go on sale this month.

https://youtu.be/1_oWkusqP4Q

↑Please make sure to check out the MV

I’d be happy if you were to listen to the unit song I’ll be participating in ‘Moshimo Kokoro ga Toumei nara’. I’m pleased to announce that the ballots for the online meet and greet have concluded. I received a lot of applications, thank you very much! I’m very happy! I’m looking forward to talking with everyone ^ ^ You can check the details of the national event information among other information whenever online. Thank you very much.

-TV-

☀︎ Nogizaka Star Tanjo! Nippon TV every week on Mondays at 25:29.

It’s a tv show where the 4th generations are challenged to sing hit songs from the Showa and Heisei era. Last week I sang Toshinobu Kubota.  ‘LA・LA・LA LOVE SONG’ with Rei-chan and Yuna. I really like this song and I’m glad I was able to sing it.

This week, I’ll be performing Ushirogami Hikaretai-san’s “Toki no Kawa o Koete’. To tell you the truth ‘setsuna shojo’ song ‘Anata o Suki na Kimochi ha Dare ni mo Tsutaezu Hakaba made Motteiku’ from Nogizaka skits is made using the motif from ‘Toki no Kawa o Koete’. I’m glad that even though it’s on a different show I can perform again as a member of ‘Setsuna Shojo’ ^ ^

To those that missed the last episode please check it out on Hulu!

https://www.ntv.co.jp/nogistar/

↑details can be found here!

-Radio-

☀︎INNOVATION WORLD (KYOCERA TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE) J-Wave, Every week on Fridays around 21:40.

In September the creative director, editor, Hakuhodo’s company executive, and Hakuhodo Kettle’s executive creative director Koichiro Shima held an online futuristic lecture!

http://radiko.jp/share/?t=20210903200000&sid=FMJ

↑If you like you can listen to last week’s lecture

☀︎Radirer! Sunday NHK Radio 1, Sunday September 12th between 20:05-22:55

During the Paralympics, Next Radirer! Sunday both Tamura Mayu-chan and me will be appearing. Everyone, let’s have a fun time ^ ^ There will be a lot of topics from the mail that we receive and so I’m really looking forward to it.

https://www.nhk.or.jp/radirer/

I’ll be waiting for a lot of mail

☀︎The Hit Studio Every Wednesday at 24:00 on MBS Radio.

Next week, Takada Shu-san, Hasamatsu Ikumi-san and me will having a fun conversation together! Recently our theme has been trending topics! Of course, the people in Kansai and in other regions can listen to it on ‘radiko’.

I’ll be waiting for your mail, messages and opinions!

https://cgi.mbs.jp/cgi-bin/form/mail/hitsui.cgi

↑you can send them here!

http://radiko.jp/share/?t=20210909000000&sid=MBS

↑I’ll be taking a break this week but if you want to hear enjoyable conversations make sure to listen ^ ^

 ☀︎Enecle presents everyday Zakiyama Special on FM Nack5 on Saturday September 18th from 12:55-14:55

I visited the untouchable Yamazaki-san’s program with Kaki! It was very fun, and we talked about a lot, I’d be glad if you were to listen to it. The topic on Kaki and Zakiyama-san’s common features, I personally feel, hit the mark ^ ^ Please look forward to it

-Magazine-

☀︎Platinum FLASH, currently on sale.

This is the first time since becoming 16 members that we’ve got a picture together on the front cover! I’m very grateful. Unexpectedly, it’s a special feature that extends 100 pages. I’d be happy if you were to check it out. There is a special appendix with a 4th generation member clear file attached! Please check it out.

☀︎Young Gangan, currently on sale

This year I was once again able to have a gravure published in Young Gangan! Tsutsui Ayame-chan is on the front cover ^ ^

Please check it out!

☀︎blt graph. On sale Friday September 17th.

I was able to publish a solo gravure! Iwamoto Renka-san is on the cover. If you’d like please check it out ^ ^ I’ll post a behind the scenes picture soon!

 !!! The unreliable Q&A!!!

·         Seira-chan do you want to go to Russia?

→As I’ve said before, watching ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre is one of my small dreams!

Unreliable

·         Once Basirou is grown up what food will you make with it?

→I want to make a pizza! Once Basirou is grown I’m going to my best to knead the pizza dough.

Unreliable

·         Is there anything in Tokyo that you feel has infected you since moving there?

→I’m no longer impressed but people stopping taxies in the middle of the road.

Unreliable

·         Are there any songs that you listen to on the veranda at night that make you feel melancholic?

→I’ve recently been addicted to the song called ‘day and night’

·         What anime comes to mind when people say, ‘old nostalgic anime’?

→Ashita no Nadja, nostalgic isn’t it ^ ^ I loved it 〜

Unreliable

 As always, thank you for all the comments! I always enjoy reading them. Thank you for cheering me up ☺︎

Please have a wonderful autumn evening.

Thank you for reading until the very end.

 See you soon! !

2021.9.9 Serra

https://blog.nogizaka46.com/seira.hayakawa/2021/09/063070.php

[sarahunfiltered-blog1]

I’ve been tested...

Hi. :)

I’ve been meaning to sit down and write this one for a little while now, but just haven’t been able to quite make the time for it, but here I am now starting it at 5 a.m. with my mushroom coffee in hand, peppermint oil rubbed on my ears and my oracle cards I pulled next to me. ‘

The title of this being “I’ve been tested...” is for that very thing. This month in almost all ways I’ve been tested. Friends, communication, work, family, spirituality, finances, all the things. 

I pulled an oracle card this morning and asked what the message needed to be for today and the card I pulled was “Passionate Self-Love Affair” and reading about this card it’s about how self love is more than just red lipsticks, memes and bubble baths which I’ve learned to be so true because what happens when you’ve had the worst day ever or something at work happens or a friend and you need to have an uncomfortable convo? Are you still going to show up in a loving way not only to the situation, but yourself? This is something I struggle with immensely, unfortunately. And it’s the biggest thing I’ve taken on for 2018. Self-love. Not self-loathing, not self-criticisms. Self...Love. 

How have I been tested you may be wondering? Well, lemme tell you, booboo.

1.) Money - I’ve been working towards a solid “get out of debt” game plan and while I was happily going to check my one account I noticed an old interest charge I wasn’t planning on popped up and I flipped out, called the bank and they were no help and I just had to eat it. Now why this bothered me was because it took away from what I was saving for the heaping mountain of debt I had been saving for ALL month and it was taken away. I felt defeated, then started to go down the “why did I let this happen in the first place” rabbit hole, but I didn’t. I stopped myself, bit the bullet and paid it, then walked away telling myself it was OK that 1.) I was upset, but 2.) it’ll all work out in the end and I’m going to be OK. 

2.) Communication - Something I say every time I read my Wild Soul Woman pledge is “I am willing to have courageous conversations” and I’ve had to live up to this quite a few times this month especially with friends/family. It’s BEYOND uncomfortable for me to speak up and not be doormat and not let people walk all over me, and just go with the flow and put my feelings aside and stuff and suppress, but then I will end up pushing someone away and resenting them and I am just not about that life anymore. These types of convo’s no matter how large or small make me anxious. I sweat, I hear my heartbeat in my ears, I can’t think straight, I shake, but I can say it is getting easier to stand in my truth and speak up and I’ve taught myself how to calm down when this happens within a matter of minutes, instead of it lasting the rest of the day and me having to go to straight to bed when I get home because I am exhausted in all ways.

3.) Work - Oh, work.. So I was in hot water all of 2017 with work. I’ve never had such a hard year when it comes to work ever. I’ve had bad months, weeks and days, but never an entire year filled with stress and heartache. I went from the last 6 months of getting maybe 1 error and we’re allotted up to 5 in a month and as of right now I am at 5 until the month starts over. Now if I don’t get anymore I’ll be fine and won’t be written up, but as of now I still have 3 more work days to get through and old Sarah would be on the floor right now crying into a glass of wine (Funny not so funny story. Today a year ago I was doing just that according to a picture that popped up on my timehop. I’ve also noticed that in over a week there hasn’t been a picture that popped up that didn’t have a glass of wine in it...>____< ), but this new fairy haircut, zenned out more often than not Sarah realizes this is just a test to see if I’ve really grown. Yes, it’s frustrating and I allowed that feeling to come up, so it could have its space and pass, but I also know this is part of life, this is a test I needed to pass, and to more important not bash myself in the process like I’ve done before. Like thinking I’m worthless, a piece of shit, don’t know what I am doing, and all the horrible things I used to tell myself. I keep telling myself “All is well with my soul. This is a test and I will pass it. I will not give my power away to this situation. I am going to be OK nonetheless.” because in reality taking a step back no one is out to get me, I am not going to die, this is part of life and I’ll be OK. 

4.) My Daily Practice - This is a big one for me. By nature in all the astrological and numerology ways I hold myself to REALLY high and I mean HIGH standards. I am SO bad about getting onto myself if I slip up... and you probably guessed it. I’ve “slipped up”. To me I feel like if I miss one day of mediation and lose my streak everything will fall apart, if I don’t journal then I failed, if I don’t blog at least once a week then I’m not being true to my intentions I’ve set, the list goes on... but is this really true if I take a (for me) HUGE step back? No. I’m very compulsive, obsessive and easily addicted by nature. If I love something and I’m into it I’m all in. Ask anyone that knows me well and they tell you the same. Now on the outside it probably seems like I’ve got all my ducks in a row and I am so disciplined and just having it going on, but this is why I started a blog. To take that filter off and talk about what’s really going on because I do struggle and slip and fall, but I’m learning to love myself in the process as I just pick up and keep going instead of constantly shaming and blaming myself when I do miss a day of mediation or my morning doesn’t go how I feel it should and so on. 

5.) Spirituality - I grew up in a spiritual home, but when I moved out and I completely shut it off and down and asked it to leave me alone and it did, but I’ve stepped back into and it’s come back in full force. Even me writing this right now makes me feel a little anxious because it’s such a touchy subject for me because it’s just really vulnerable and personal to me and I won’t say too too much, but what I will say is I’ve had some thing happens where I could question it, blow it off, not believe it and call myself crazy and think I am just making shit up, but that would honestly defeat the entire purpose of my spiritual practice. I am learning how to turn my ego down a lot and let things be, so they can grow and I’ve had some really cool things happen. One of those being how I had this inner knowing that I would write poetry and I asked the universe to show me how and within a week I pulled an oracle card that said listening to music would be beneficial for the day and to really listen to the words and instead of blowing it off and listening to podcast I listened to music and there was one song that ripped me wide open and I ended up writing 4 poems that day. The universe know what it’s doing and I am learning to listen and follow the still, small voice when it does speak to me and not question it. 

6.) Body Shaming - Oh, girl... I will be brief on this one as well because I do plan to write an entire blog on this topic because it’s been big for me this month. But practice yoga I see more of my body than ever because being completely clothed ends up annoying because my shirts is in my face and I can’t breathe or see and then I get hot and at that point I am not breathing and then I fall and you get the picture...lmao. So I wear less clothes and see more of me and it’s SO uncomfortable seeing the cellulite on my legs, the roll on my stomach and how bad I need to shave my legs and it’s been a daily self-love practice of not body shaming how my body naturally looks, and to work through this I’ve posted some, to the mindlessly scrolling IG eye, unflattering pictures of myself because for the last 5 years I’ve painted a picture of what my life and body looks like and it’s just not true, so I am working to paint a new, unfiltered, raw, real life picture of what my life actually looks like. 

Until next time... <3

Sarah xo

[respectyourhealth-blog]

Supercharge Your Health With Superfoods

What Is a Superfood and Why Do They Always Seem to Change?

Every year, usually in the first few months of the year, health and wellness experts release information on superfoods. You see articles in magazines. You see reports on the local news. And the topic is covered well on blogs and social media. Like annual trends, resolution tips and success strategies, superfoods become a hot topic. But what exactly are superfoods, why do they change every year, and why should you care? Let’s look at those three questions individually.

What are Superfoods?

Superfoods are foods that have a high level of nutrients in them. They are always whole foods, meaning they’re not processed. They are often foods that most people don’t eat very often and, in most cases, they have a unique nutritional quality. For example, kale was a well-known superfood the past two years. Kale is high in both vitamin A and vitamin C. In fact, a cup of kale has more than 100% of your RDA for those vitamins. Superfoods often have added benefits. For example, they might be great for weight loss or beneficial for a healthy gut and digestive system. Another example of a superfood with a unique benefit was fish oil. It has tremendous brain boosting and inflammation reducing benefits. But fish oil and kale are so last year. This year has new, different, and perhaps odd additions to the superfoods list.

Why Do Superfoods Change?

There are actually a handful of reasons why superfoods change every year. One reason is that there’s a food industry behind them. When you can find the next best thing, you’re going to market it, right? However, beyond the business reason for new superfoods each year is this… nutritionists, health experts, dieticians, doctors, and health researchers and scientists are always testing, studying, learning, and releasing their findings. Superfoods are announced because they’re recently discovered foods or the benefits of the food are new discoveries. It’s pretty amazing, when you think about it. The fact that we’re still finding new and beneficial foods to fuel and heal our bodies. This brings us to the third question.

Why Should You Care About Superfoods?

You eat healthy. You exercise. You take good care of yourself. Why should you care about superfoods? It makes good sense to know what nature has created and provided for you, and how it can impact your health. We’re going to look at 10 superfoods. We’ll take a look at what they are, how they benefit your health, and offer some ideas on how to add them to your diet. Will you try all 10 of these superfoods? Maybe. It can be fun to try new foods, especially when they’re good for you. Will all of them offer you a benefit and be added to your diet on a regular basis? Maybe not. But that’s okay. Knowledge is power and when you know all the amazing superfoods available to you right now, you can make the best decision about your health and well-being.

Top 10 Superfoods to Supercharge Your Health

Superfoods are a great way to pack a nutritional punch into regular meals. Looking for some inspiration? Try including these foods into your diet:

☐ Gelatin: (In the form of collagen) You can add this to almost anything thanks to the fact that it doesn’t really have a strong taste. It can promote healthy joints, is good for hair, skin and nails, improves digestive health and more!

☐ Avocado Oil: Replace your regular oils with avocado oil and you’ll reap a number of rewards, including: boosting your healthy cholesterol levels, improving vision, boosting your immune system and much more.

☐ Maqui Berries: All berries are good for you, but maqui berries are especially high in antioxidants thanks to it’s rich color. They can help with pain and inflammation, help slow down the growth of colon cancer cells, and they taste great!

☐ Turmeric: This powerful spice has a number of health benefits, from improving cholesterol to anti-inflammatory properties.

☐ Maca: You’ll usually find this root in powder form, making it easy to add to smoothies. It can help treat anemia, enhance memory, help hormonal imbalance and boost the immune system (among other things).

☐ Lucuma: This fruit from Peru is high in beta carotene, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin B3, and protein – great for its anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties.

☐ Cacao Nibs: These are little pieces of raw cacao – with all the health benefits of chocolate (and more!) without the unhealthy sugar. They are great for reducing appetite, boosting heart health, improving digestion and more.

☐ Buckwheat: This is a seed (not a grain, like many people think) that’s high in protein and can help regulate blood sugar levels. You can eat it as hot cereal, or consume it as soba noodles.

☐ Watermelon Seeds: Stop spitting out the seeds when you eat watermelon! They are actually high in fiber, healthy fats, amino acids, magnesium, zinc and B vitamins.

☐ Chaga Mushrooms: Known as the king of medicinal mushrooms, chaga mushrooms are known for their immune-boosting properties. They also help support healthy cardiovascular and circulatory systems.

☐ 7 Bonus Superfoods to Supercharge Your Healthy

Moringa Nut Oils Super Salts like Himalayan rock salt Black Currant Supplements Algae Fats Purple Food like purple cauliflower Tiger nuts  

10 Superfoods to Include in Your Diet

Gelatin

Gelatin probably isn’t something that’s new to you. You’ve had Jell-O, right? Gelatin comes from the bones, skins and tissues, of animals. (If you’re a vegan or vegetarian, this superfood isn’t for you.)  These parts are boiled, and collagen is extracted. This collagen is protein-rich collagen. Collagen has a large number of health benefits. It’s a natural anti-inflammatory that promotes healthy joints and tissues. It’s great for your skin, hair, and nails. Many skin care experts recommend collagen supplements to their clients. It improves digestive health. Collagen is protein rich. There are six grams in a tablespoon. Collagen doesn’t really have any taste, so it can be added to almost anything. You can add it to a smoothie, for example, to get more protein. You can also add it to your soups and stews. Some people love to add it to their morning coffee when they add their organic cream. How much should you eat? The general recommendation is four tablespoons a day. It’s important to make sure that your collagen comes from grass-fed and hormone free animals. Who is it for? Collagen is for anyone. However, it can be particularly beneficial for those who want to improve their hair and skin, and for regular exercisers.

Avocado Oil

Avocados are amazing sources of healthy fats. And avocado oil is as healthy for you as olive oil, plus it tastes better. It also offers a wealth of nutrients that other oils just don’t offer including: Carotenoids are plant pigments. They are the orange, yellow, and red colors you find in fruit. They’re found in avocados as well and are more bioavailable, meaning they are more digestible and absorbable, than in other foods. They offer protective properties, including anti-inflammatory, immune boosting, and antioxidant properties. Avocados and avocado oil also are high in potassium, lutein, magnesium, folate, choline, glutathione, and phytosterols (good, natural, cholesterols). Avocado oil has been shown to improve heart health. It improves your vision with lutein. It reduces aging through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. And because of its satiety factor, it can help you lose weight. How do you use it? You can use avocado oil like you would any oil. Replace vegetable oil or olive oil with avocado oil in your recipes. You can even use it in baked goods. Don’t worry, your cookies won’t taste like avocados. How much should you consume? There’s no real amount of avocado oil that you’re supposed to eat. Simply replace your other oils with avocado oil and enjoy the benefits. This superfood is for everyone.

Maqui Berries

All berries are good for you, right? They are packed with antioxidants and have the added benefit of being sweet, so your cravings are satisfied. The maqui berry is a dark purple berry that grows wild throughout parts of southern Chile. It’s actually the color of this berry that gives it one of its most powerful nutrition properties. Maqui berries are high in delphinidins, color pigments that are also antioxidants. The delphinidins in maqui berries have strong anti-inflammatory abilities. This means that they reduce the risk of degenerative diseases that involve inflammation, they boost your immune system, and they’ve been shown to slow down the growth of colon cancer cells. They help reduce the pain and inflammation from arthritis, and they have cholesterol lowering heart healthy properties. Interestingly, they don’t cause a spike in blood sugar. Because maqui berries aren’t presently cultivated, you will have to be deliberate about finding them. You can find them at Whole Foods. You can also buy them online. If you have a local health food store, ask them to carry the berry. You can also find the juice or maqui berry powder. Like any berry, they’re sweet and taste delicious. And they’re really for anyone wants to enjoy the benefits of a fruit that is high in anti-inflammatory properties that doesn’t spike your blood sugar. If you want to lose weight, this is a great way to tame your sweet tooth. You can add them to smoothies, drink the juice, add the powder to smoothies or enjoy the berries as a nice snack.

Turmeric

Turmeric isn’t anything new. It’s a root. It’s often ground up and dried and used as a spice or flavoring. Turmeric is prevalent in Indian food. It’s also found in mustard. But turmeric is more than a simple yellow spice. It has amazing health properties, including: Mood balance Anti-inflammatory properties Balances blood sugar Improves cholesterol Strengthens immune system Repairs tissues Reduces pain and damage to muscles, joints, and tissues Blood sugar balance It’s also a good source of fiber, vitamin B6, potassium, vitamin C, and magnesium. Consuming turmeric takes a little bit of imagination. You can take turmeric supplements. They come in capsules. You can also enjoy a nice cup of turmeric milk. Sounds weird, but it really tastes amazing. And it’s the perfect drink when you’re feeling under the weather, have an injury, or feel like you’re coming down with something. Turmeric Milk Recipe Ingredients: 1 inch grated fresh ginger (or a ¼ teaspoon dried ginger) 2 tsp raw honey 1 cup coconut milk Cayenne powder pinch (optional) ½ to 1 teaspoon turmeric Directions: Warm the milk in a saucepan over medium heat Add the remaining ingredients and stir until dissolved Pour into cup and enjoy You can also make turmeric salad dressing, add it to smoothies, or start adding it to your other recipes. Turmeric is also a superfood that is for everyone. The health benefits are tremendous, and it’s a great addition to your diet and lifestyle.

Maca

Maca is a root plant that grows in central Peru. It’s also not a new plant. It’s been around for 3,000 years. It is actually a cruciferous vegetable like broccoli and cauliflower. It smells like butterscotch, but looks a bit like a radish. The maca root has a number of interesting health benefits, including: Treat anemia Treat chronic fatigue syndrome Memory enhancement Improve athletic performance Improve energy and stamina Improve fertility Reducing symptoms of menopause, hormonal imbalance, and menstrual problems. Treat osteoporosis Treat digestive issues Treat erectile dysfunction Immune boosting properties It also offers a laundry list of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients like fatty acids, fiber, and amino acids – including essential amino acids. It’s also quite high in protein. It’s generally easier to find maca root powder than the actual root. However, you may find it at health stores and Whole Foods. It’s easiest to consume if you add it to smoothies. You can also find maca root supplements. If you want more energy in your day and you’re looking to improve your mental and physical wellbeing, maca root is an easy addition to your daily or weekly routine.

Lucuma

The lucuma is a golden fruit from Peru. It is high in beta carotene, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamin B3, and protein. It has been studied for its anti-inflammatory benefits and has shown to be excellent for both anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties. It improves your skin health, balances blood sugar, and the wealth of nutrients, including anti-oxidants make it heart healthy. The lucuma is also low on the glycemic scale, which means it won’t spike your blood sugar. How do you eat it? Well, if you can find it in your supermarket, you can eat it whole. You can peel the skin or eat it unpeeled. It does have a pit, so be careful. You can also find lucuma powder online and in your local health food stores. What does it taste like? The lucuma is said to have a maple taste. Others say it tastes something like a mild sweet potato. It’s great in baked goods. You can add it to a smoothie or make it into ice cream. Recent research shows that lucuma may be helpful for supporting skin health, blood sugar, and even cardiovascular health.

Cacao Nibs

Cacao nibs are little pieces of raw cacao. They’re often roasted, like a coffee bean, and they are more than tasty treats; they’re really good for you. Cacao nibs are packed with antioxidants. They have 4x the antioxidant content of dark chocolate, and 20x more than blueberries. They’re high in: Sulfur Magnesium Phenylethylamine Flavonoids Iron Calcium Cacao nibs offer a wealth of health benefits including: Weight loss Reduce appetite Improved digestion Improved muscle and nerve function Better heart health Improved mood from the anandamide, a fatty acid neurotransmitter, found in nibs How do you eat cacao nibs? You can eat them raw. Keep in mind they don’t taste like chocolate. They have no sugar and are not sweet. They’re more like roasted coffee beans. You can grind them up and make hot cocoa with them, add them to soups and stews, or make a cacao smoothie. You can also sprinkle them on a salad or in your morning yogurt or hot cereal. Who are they for? Anyone who wants an interesting snack that boosts metabolism, protects their heart health, and gives an energy boost and a sense of wellbeing.

 Buckwheat

If you follow the Paleo diet or are low carb, then you’re probably scratching your head with this next superfood. Buckwheat is a grain, right? And grains are bad, right? Actually, buckwheat is the seed of a broadleaf plant in the same family as rhubarb. It’s not really a grain at all. And buckwheat isn’t high on the glycemic scale like other grains. It is high in protein and is gluten free. Buckwheat has been shown to lower blood pressure, improve the good cholesterol in your body, and regulate blood sugar. It is high in vitamins and mineral, with a good amount of zinc, copper and manganese. It actually strengthens your cardiovascular system, has good healthy fats, and improves digestion colon health. How do you eat buckwheat? Buckwheat comes in many forms. You can have it as a hot cereal in the morning. This is actually a great way to start the day. A bowl of hot buckwheat and some fresh berries are a delicious and healthy meal. You can also have soba noodles, Chinese pasta made from buckwheat. Or you can enjoy them as a side dish with sautéed vegetables, onions, and seasoned to taste.  Buckwheat also makes a good flour that can be used to make baked goods like muffins and waffles. Here’s a recipe for a cold buckwheat salad. Ingredients 1 cup buckwheat groats 2 cups water ½ tsp salt ½ chayote, finely diced 10 large green olives, pitted and quartered 1 small yellow bell pepper, diced 1 cup broccoli florets, chopped ¼ cup red onion, finely chopped ½ cup fresh dill, chopped 2 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped juice of 1 lime 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar 1 Tbsp. olive oil Salt and pepper to taste Directions: Cook groats by brining water to boil. Add buckwheat and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. While buckwheat is cooling, chop your herbs and vegetables. Toss everything in a large bowl, mix and enjoy.  

Watermelon Seeds

Generally, when you eat watermelon, you spit out the seeds, right? Well, guess what? Now people are eating them. Like seeds in general (think about sunflower seeds, quinoa, and sesame seeds), watermelon seeds are: High in fiber High in healthy fats Great sources of amino acids (the building blocks of protein) High in minerals like magnesium and zinc Good sources of iron and B vitamins Watermelon seeds are good for your kidney health, your digestion, muscle repair, and for boosting your immunity. They’re even high in lycopene and have anti-aging properties. And they taste great too. How do you eat watermelon seeds? They are a filling snack and can be sprinkled on salads and yogurt. You can find watermelon seed butters in your health food stores and supermarkets. Like pumpkin seeds, if you have the whole seed you’ll want to shell them and roast them for a tasty crunch. Who are they for? Watermelon seeds are for anyone who wants to add nutrients to their day. If you’re looking to lose weight or boost your vitamin and mineral intake, this is an easy superfood to add into your diet.

Chaga Mushrooms

The chaga mushroom is a fungus that grows on birch trees. Sounds yummy, right? Well, it’s also known as the king of medicinal mushrooms, and has a history of being used to treat a variety of ailments. Most notably, the chaga mushroom is known for its immune boosting properties. It is high in a nutrient called Beta-D-Glucans, and works to activate your immune cells that are responsible for battling cancer cells. It also has antimicrobial tendencies. Beyond improving and strengthening your immune system, the chaga mushroom has nutrients that support a strong cardiovascular system and circulatory system. It repairs damage to your arteries and tissues. It promotes good digestive health and is rich in antioxidants. How do you add chaga to your daily diet? There are actually a few ways that you can consume chaga mushrooms. You can use chaga powder and make tea. Or you can take a capsuled supplement. You can also add the powder to your smoothies, sauces, or stews. It is said to taste a little bit like burnt tree bark with a bit of sweetness. And while that sounds odd, many people really enjoy the taste. Of course, you can add honey to your tea to sweeten it. There are great things happening right now in health and wellness. Food scientists, nutritionists, and researchers are really taking a deeper look at how food heals the body. Add these seven to your list of superfoods to investigate and start improving your health in a fun and delicious way. Before we wrap it up, you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed by so many different foods. We’ve created a short tip list to help you include these foods into your diet and to help you create a strong and healthy foundation for weight loss, more energy, and better health.

7 Tips to Include More Superfoods into Your Diet

  Try One New Superfood Each Week

There are a number of superfoods on this list, and trying them all may feel overwhelming. Create a plan and make it a mission to try one new superfood each week. Some of these foods may be tricky to find, so you can explore your community and learn about some new stores and markets. Start with the superfood you’re most interested in trying and add it to your meals this week.

Try with a Friend

Try some of these new superfoods with a friend. For example, you might buy some maca root powder and split it with them. You’ll save money on the item (just in case it’s not for you), and you’ll be able to share your experiences with one another. It’s fun to try new things, and even better when you do it with a friend.

Make Your Food at Home

Including superfoods into your daily diet can be tricky if you are always on the go. If you eat out often or take advantage of delivery, it’s tough. You can, however, integrate more superfoods into your diet, and eat healthier, if you make more meals at home. And you can really control the ingredients. For example, make your own ketchup instead of buying it. Make your own almond milk or nut butters. Grinding up almonds to make almond butter can be taken to the next level when you add a bit of honey and cacao nibs to it. Chocolate almond butter, yum!

Sneak Them into Your Meal

Many of these superfoods, and superfoods from the past, work quite well as side dishes. They don’t have to be your meal; they can be a side dish or seasoning. For example, the cold buckwheat groat salad recipe makes a great side dish. And turmeric can be added to a number of savory sauces and spice mixes.

Keep Eating the Other Foods That You Know Are Good for You

Superfoods are great. But they’re not a cure all. You also want to make sure that your general diet is healthy. Focus on eating whole foods; foods that are not processed and are in their most natural form. A healthy whole foods diet gives your body the foundation that it needs to function optimally. You can then add superfoods into your diet to not only increase your results, but to also take your health and wellbeing to the next level. Use superfoods as a booster, rather than a way to recover from damage incurred by your other eating habits.

Keep the Superfoods That You Enjoy and Experiment with Them

You’re not going to enjoy every superfood on this list. You might find, for example, that watermelon seeds just don’t taste good to you. That’s okay. You don’t have to eat all of these superfoods. The goal is to find superfoods that you enjoy and to integrate them into your lifestyle.

Pay Attention to How You Feel

Finally, it should always be part of your awareness to pay attention to how foods make you feel. This is how you uncover foods that maybe you’re sensitive to, and discover foods that really help improve your health. Consider keeping a food journal. Pay attention to things like your mood, your focus and mental clarity, your skin, your energy levels, and your digestion. These are all valuable signs that a food is working for you or against you.

Conclusion

Eating healthy is about cutting sugar and fueling your body with whole foods. Superfoods can be a part of a healthy diet to help you lose weight, have more energy, and feel great. The 10 superfoods we’ve listed are a great start to a healthier year and a better you. Read the full article

[victakestaipei]

WEEK 2 RECAP: “Gua Bao?” More like “Gua BOMB.”

So I have come to realize that during the weeks, my blog posts about my classes are going to be pretty repetitive. So to save you the few minutes of your life you’ll spend reading, I’ll just shorten it a bit...and skip to the food. We always do the same things in class. We take quizzes, read the text book, practice writing characters, and talk alot about a wide array of topics... (we actually get off topic alot... In one of the classes this week I ended up playing the song “Mr. Roboto” on my iphone because I made a reference about it... we have a new classmate and he’s from Japan and everyone wanted to hear the “Domo Arigato” part... ugh.. it’s a long story.)

Anyway, let’s start from Tuesday I suppose:

So in class we had another one of those written dialogue quizzes, I got an A ((of course HEH)) and on the test from last week, I got a 94%! Feelin’ good. In the gym it was leg day, and I’m starting to incorporate more cardio daily, so I’ve been running on the treadmill at the end of my workouts. I want to drop weight and tone up while I’m out here so I figured this will help give me the extra kick that I need. I ran a mile in 7 minutes and 30 seconds... Or so I thought. I was super happy about the amount of time it took and how it didn’t even feel hard and how my knee actually wasn’t hurting for once in my life. BUT, I soon realized that I am a headass. I didn’t realize until later in the week that everything here is in kilometers, not miles. Meaning, that I didn’t actually run a mile in 7 minutes and 30 seconds, I ran 1 kilometer. Which is less than a mile... it’s actually 0.62 miles to be exact. What A BUZZ KILL!!!! I was on this “high” the whole rest of the day because I thought I was really wrecking shit, but really I’m just an idiot. A slow running idiot. lol. 

For dinner Bunny and I went to this popular joint that she had heard about from a friend. I actually have heard of this place too, but didn’t realize it until after we had arrived and ordered our food. We went to this small hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the Gongguan night market where they serve the “Traditional Taiwanese Snack.” It’s called “Gua Bao.” It’s basically a pulled pork hamburger with veggies, pickles, grated peanuts in a peanut sauce, and cilantro... all in a steamed bun... you hold it and eat it like a hamburger, and it’s delicious!! It was only 55 NT (about $1.80 US). You could choose between lean meat, fatty meat, or a mix of the two. I went with the lean meat, and I’m glad that I did. The restaurant also offered an array of soups, but a lot of them featured pork intestines, and that's not really my type of party. 

Wednesday:

I did back day at the gym today and ran another “mile”... SMH. That still gets me man. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

For lunch, Jeannie, Bunny and I went to this potsticker place right across the street from campus. We’ve been there before and it was really good the first time, with each potsticker being 5 NT! (or about 17 cents). We each ordered 10 potstickers and a bowl of warm noodles, totalling to only 90 NT ($3 US). I chose 5 curry potstickers and 5 garden vegetable. The Curry flavored potstickers were by far the best potstickers I’ve had since I’ve been here (and that’s saying something). And for dinner, Bunny and I went BACK to the Gua Bao place (it was that good) but this time brought Nick along! We had a good time.

Thursday:

I had another dictation quiz and got another low A. Today was leg day yet again. Starting to see a pattern here? I’m proud to say that I’ve kept the routine/schedule that I talked about in my recap blog post from last week..

For our post-gym lunch, Bunny, Jeannie and I went to this Soy Sauce-Braised place. I can’t remember the name. *eyeroll*. But basically it’s a food stand on the street market by our university, and they lay out all the meats, and veggies and noodles on display, and you choose which ones you want, and they mix them all together and cook them in this super hot soy sauce soup... It’s pretty good. I was super excited about this food stand because they actually had VEGETABLES!!! You know how often I see vegetables here in Taiwan??? Never. I don’t think I’ve had a vegetarian semi-healthy meal since I’ve been here. And I’ve looked!!!!! Anyway, for my dish, I chose tofu, broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms, and udon noodles. I paid about $7.50 US which is a bit steeper than my usual meal, but I think that’s because I doubled up on the tofu. (hehe). Either way though that’s still what I spend on average at Cane’s back in the US, and it’s wayyyyy more food. I do have to say that I went a bit over the top. My food was a MOUNTAIN!!!! We also bought this watermelon slush drink to share that came in an actual watermelon! Presentation get’s an A+, and it was pretty refreshing. 

After we ate we went to this store called “Jin Xin Fa” and bought tons of stationary (everything here is so cute and I desperately wanted to buy some cute planners for the upcoming school year). I also bought an extra long ethernet cord so that I could use my laptop in bed and have better internet, as well as a new phone charger... 

For dinner I ended up cooking (reheating) left over lunch... but I made rice and added scrambled egg to it... As it turns out, my $7.50 lunch fed me and Bunny for dinner. As I mentioned in my blog post about my dorm a few weeks ago, we have a small kitchen area at the end of the hall. Bunny and I wanted to use the rice cooker, and we struggled at first. We had to put water between the bowl where the rice goes and the outer bowl?? Strange. Either way thought the rice came out perfectly. Bomb.com.

Friday: 

For lunch, the three of us tried this Malaysian Curry place on the street market. It was on the second floor, and the interior looked like someone's home at first... My dish was 100 NT ( around 3-4$), and I ordered the Malaysian chicken curry and rice. It’s basically a filleted chicken cutlet fried in batter and served with a mound of rice, both covered in curry. And topped with potato wedges... THIS PLACE WAS SUPER GOOD I WILL BE BACK EVERY WEEK OH MY GOD. There is only one lady who works here, and she cooks all the dishes. I also think she lives here...? Not so sure. We spoke to her a bit after finishing our food, and she told us how 22 years ago she came to Taiwan, and she asked us where we're from and told us she's been to both Florida and New York before. She also showed us pictures of her 8 month old grandson who lives in Florida. Her daughter was born in Malaysia and currently lives in America as she's married to an American guy. She was the sweetest lady ever, gushing about her grandson and showing us all these videos. Such a lovely lady.

After lunch we did some shopping in the street market (clothing), I bought a shirt... and not much else because everything looked so small. When shopping one lady didn't let Jeannie use the dressing room to try on this outfit.... it seemed odd, and the lady didn’t seem to have a reason to not let her use the dressing room which was clearly there with the open curtain and no one inside. I think the lady who worked there was just a bitch. She was rude, and possibly racist?? I can’t tell you how many times I would walk into a shop (during the hour or so that we were walking around) and the ladies who work there would hover over me constantly. *eyeroll*. Figures.

We went home and I took a shower and relaxed before heading to Shilin Night market. I’ve been here before and posted a video, but in case you all forgot, it’s the biggest night market in Taipei and is pretty poppin on the weekends. Jeannie and I love to shop, so we had a ball!! Four of us went, it was Ada, Jeannie, Bunny and I. We spent a few hours shopping and walking around and eating the street food. I ate this pork bun sandwich, some French fries with a bunch of sauces on them (like mustard sauce, salt, pepper, etc), and tried the popular chicken fried steak. 

squid on a stick^

We stayed at Shilin a few hours before parting ways... Jeannie and I went to meet up with some others at a bar and Bunny and Ada went home. This is around maybe 11:15pm... Jeannie and I met up with Nick at this open patio bar/hookah lounge. It was $20 (US) all you can drink. The bar was called K House and was located smack dab in the middle of the gay district off of Ximen station. Ximen station is also a very popular shopping area for the younger crowd, with a 5 story H&M and other popular stores. It took a while for Jeannie and I to find the bar, we put it in google maps and it took us to a completely different location. By the time we found it a lot of the people we were meeting up with were loose off the goose. Which makes sense since it was all you can drink and they'd been there a few hours already. We left the bar around 1, and headed to 7/11 and walked around town a bit after that. I was pretty lit. I slammed about 5 drinks in 30 minutes and was just chillen after that. I had two jack/cokes, 1 vodka/sprite, and 3 peach flavored drinks but I don't know what alcohol was in those..?? They were super good though!! My favorite, definitely. We were walking to another bar when I got super tired and decided to take an Uber home with Jeannie and another guy we met that night, his name is Collin. Collin goes to school at Carnegie Melon *ooooooooo snap*. I got into my dorm around 2:30-3am, and went to bed around 3:30. When Jeannie and I were walking with the group, Collin was telling us about how he had plans to go snorkeling the next day and he invited us to join the group on Facebook. I knocked out after showering when I got home, since I had to be up by 7:15 to make it to the meeting spot at 8am to go snorkel. I was exhAUSTED. Snorkeling should be worth the lack of sleep though.

[cmnatic]

Get to know me in 100 Questions

1) Have you ever been in a relationship?

Yesss

2) Do you have a crush on anybody?

OH DO I

3) Is there anyone you don’t like?

Generally? People who can’t accept others, be it expressing themselves how they like, or whose hand they choose too hold

4) What is your sexuality?

Gay (GOTY)

5) Do you have any siblings? If so are they older or younger?

Two! And they’re younger, they’re my Brothers.

6) What are your plans for the near future?

(Very) near future is to move away from my Home Town. attend University, start a-fresh and be able to express myself in multiple ways, away from my family

7) What do you usually wear everyday?

Depends on the day, during the week it’s shirt and tie with cargo’s for Work, and on the weekends it’s t-shirt and jeans generally. Unless I’m riding, then it’s thick ass gear the entire time.

8) What songs do you like to listen to?

I’ll cover this answer in a post somewhere

9) Can you give me a link to one of the songs you listen to?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6JpxDebokM

10) What are you usually fond doing?

Driving, attending concerts or chilling with people that I love.

11) What’s your favorite movie genre?

I want to say Horror, but specifically psychological horror. Though, I think Crime / Thrillers is my answer.

12) Do you have any movie recommendations?

The Closet Monster, The way he looks, a few.

13) When is your birthday (Month, day)?

23rd August :S

14) What is your favorite colour?

Blue! or maybe purple. Why not both? live a little

15) What country do you live in?

United Kingdom!

16) Who do you look up to?

Probably Chance the rapper, I find his Music and his story very moving. I don’t want to become him, but what he’s done and his History. Very inspiring. But actually, I would say a colleague that I had the pleasure of working with. He’s improved his life, and is working in a very very cool place.

17) What religion are you in? (Christianity, Buddhism, etc.)

I’m not a followerer of any.

18) What books/fanfics do you recommend for me to read?

To be honest, I’m not really a fan of Books or fanfics as a whole.

19) What are some topics that trigger you?

I don’t really know???

20) What are some of your pet peeves?

A) Loud chewers B) Heavy breathers C) Earphones tangling

21) What shows/anime do you recommend for me to watch?

I reccommend a few TV Shows, I could never get into Anime. Dexter, Hannibal (it’s pretty gory to say the least though) Still game, I have a list. 22) What is your favorite food?

A stir-fry of some description, but like Steak or maybe Chicken to be honest 23) Who is your favorite [Insert anime/show] character?

Will Graham? Oh no! Elliot from Mr Robot, I have a huuuuuuuuuge crush for (Young) Rami Malek

24) What is your favorite kind of chocolate (milk chocolate, dark, special dark, white chocolate, etc.)

Not really a fan of chocolate as a whole, but if I was to have any, I’d choose white chocolate

25) If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you be?

Sweden, or maybe Denmark?

26) Can you draw? If so can you draw yourself/your muse?

Oh how I desperately wish.

27) What hairstyle do you usually have?

Literally cannot describe without providing a photo of it.

28) Do you have another blog? If so can you tell me what it is?

Yeah! https://blog.cmnatic.co.uk

29) What do you like to snack on when you’re bored?

Popcorn or ....... whatever I can find lmao

30) What is your favorite popcorn flavor?

I know how bad it is, but salted.

31) What is your favorite potato chip flavor?

Sweet chili, yeaaah

32) What is the best food to make with potatoes?

Curly fries, fight me if you think otherwise

33) Do you have more interest in planets or stars?

Stars are pretty.

34) What is your Chinese zodiac?

I had to google this but, the Rabbit? I’d say I agree with it actually.

35) What is your horoscope? 36) Do you play video games?

Yeah, a few. Not anywhere near as much as I used too.

37) What video games do you play?

Project Cars, Dirt Rally, League of Legends, and slwoly getting back into Starcraft 2

38) What is your least favorite color?

Yellow, or green.

39) What is your least favorite movie?

I can’t name one specifically ,but I hatedd the Transformers series as a whole. Alongsie other stuff.

40) What is your least favorite food?

Far too much, I don’t like fish, mushrooms, tomatoes. Yeah, i’m pretty bland lmao.

41) What’s your favorite country?

Depends on the Season, Sweden is gorgeous in the Winter, but the UK can be lovely during the Summer so.

42) What is your favorite state? 43) What place would you like to go for sightseeing?

America to be honest, or Iceland actually!

44) Who are your five favorite characters? 45) What are your top five ships?

- @alotofalotte + Harry = lorry

- Yuri and Viktor, though they’re a thing so. I’m behind it regardless.

46) Would you rather see the future or change the past?

I feel like I could make so much more use of the Future, rather then change the past.

47) If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?

- A lot. But probably my anxiety and the people I’m surrounded by.

48) If you could be anything what would you be?

Firefighter or a Paramedic actually.

49) What’s better: earrings or necklaces?

Necklaces fo’ sure.

50) What’s your favorite flower?

Cheesy, but despite what it does to my alergies, it’ll be lavendar or elderflower.

51) What’s your favorite band/singer?

Gonna do both because I can’t choose:

Band - Iron Maiden, Guns N roses, Fleetwood Mac

Artists - Post-malone, Troye Sivan, Lorde (but Heroine era) Stevie

52) Who’s your favorite artist?

Probably Troye.

53) What is your favorite quote and who’s it by? 54) What’s your favorite book and who’s it by? 55) Who’s your favorite author? 56) What do you think of [Insert blog name]? 57) Do you like to play board games/card games?

Yes!

58) What’s your favorite board game?

In Sweden, there’s a ‘traditional’ Board Game called “Bondespelet” where you manage a farm, choose the crops that you want plant during the Seasons, and you have to make as much Money as you can and beat the other farmers.

59) What’s your favorite card game to play?

Cards against Humanity, my sick humour can’t hide that lmao.

60) Will you ever do a face reveal?

Possibly, lets see if I continue well with my weight loss.

61) Do you wear glasses or contact lenses?

No! But I used too wear glasses a few years ago.

62) Do you have braces or anything for your teeth?

Nope

63) What’s your favorite form of art?

Music, or photography.

64) Do you like to cook/bake?

Cook, yes

65) What’s your favorite food to cook/bake?

Oh gosh, anything really. I just like the act of cooking.

66) 67) Do you wear any accessories?

Nope, not really.

68) What’s your favorite kind of cookie?

Chocolate chip if I had to choose.

69) Are you still a virgin?

Heh. *ahem* I don’t advertise if I am or not, people who know me, know if I am or not. 70) What inspires you?

Seeing the work that other people do.

71) What’s your favorite poem and who’s it by? 72) What’s your favorite brand?

Oh this is a good one, I can’t think of particular ultra favourites.

73) Norse or Greek mythology?

Norse. 74) Favorite YouTuber and why?

Big Narstie, he’s beyond hilarious. Or uh, Jim Sterling. Bigclive live, he dissaembles electrics and stuff. Very cool stuff

75) What your favorite drink?

Ribena, or capri-sun or, Greggs Lemonade. Depends on the day to be honest. I’m like a pregnant woman in that sense.

76) would you rather drink coffee or tea?

Neither, I don’t drink both

77) Soda or no soda?

Again, changes like upon the week.

78) What’s your favorite soda?

Coke cherry.

79) Minecraft or Terraria?

Minecraft, though Terraria is quite fun too.

80) Are you still in school?

Nope, but I will be heading into Uni shortly.

81) Would you rather married or single?

I honestly don’t know, I’d say married cause I hated being Single once I wasn’t single.

82) Are you friends with any blogs irl?

Yes!

83) What’s better: hot or cold?

Cold. For. Definite.

84) Are you an introvert, extrovert, or somewhere between?

I was an Introvert, I’d like to think over the past year I’ve been leaning more to extrovert, but I’d still be majorly introvert.

85) Do you curse/say bad words?

Too fuckin’ much. I even change them up, makes it interesting. 86) Did you ever witness bad incidents or accidents?

Yeah.

87) Have you ever gotten into a bad incident or accident?

Yeah, Ive come off a motorbike twice, I wouldn’t say it was serious, but damn i felt it for a good few days. My knee from the 2nd one still causes me a bit of pain here and there today.

88) What language(s) do you speak?

Swedish and English

89) If you could speak any language what would it be?

It’d be something like German, It’s aggressive but there’s something about it. idk.

90) What are your opinions on sharks?

Fin.

91) Do you have any pets? How many?

3 pets!

92) What’s your favorite element?

I don’t really have one aha. But it’d be ones that people combine to make a funny work, I like those kinds of things.

93) What’s your favorite season?

Winter, or the season before Winter when it transitions from Summer to winter (fall?)

94) Have you ever gotten trouble? What for?

No, not really. Had run-ins with the police, but nothing came of it and/or was anything to do with me.

95) would you rather go on defense or offense?

Defense

96) Choose one: Spiders, Snakes, or Sharks?

None, all of them terrify me.

97) What place have you gone to for vacation? Was it fun?

Spain, that was quite enjoyable!

98) Do you have any phobias? What are some of them? 99) What’s your favorite time of the year?

Again, winter. But I’ve enjoy the Summer of this year, so many things with sos many cool people.

100) Top bunk or bottom bunk?

Bottom bunk, even though I’m certified at working at heights. Watching me climb up ladders is a sight and a half. I can’t be dealing with that when I first wake up.

[asfeedin]

Cloud gaming, interactive streaming and the vanguard of the Metaverse

Presented by Genvid

Settling into a second month of widespread quarantine has given us all an opportunity to reflect and examine a new set of conditions that are already impacting the future of gaming.

With that, Genvid CEO Jacob Navok and the company’s advisory board — experts in cloud streaming and online gaming — recently gathered for a virtual roundtable discussion on our suddenly-altered industry landscape, and how that influences the development of many gaming trends, including the Metaverse.

The following contains excerpts from this intriguing conversation with:

Yoichi Wada, the former CEO of Square Enix

Jt Gleason, former head of developer relations at Twitch

Anna Sweet, investor and former executive with Oculus and Valve

and Matthew Ball, interactive media investor and startup advisor.

Jacob Navok (JN): Last year we saw the “promise” of cloud gaming break open with the announcement of Stadia Xcloud, but it doesn’t look like it’s moving the needle much in 2020. Recently, we saw that Stadia was going to make its Stadia Pro feature set available for free for the next few months for anybody with a Gmail address. Do we think that this is going to change or improve the situation? Why?

Yoichi Wada: Simply taking the feature set of PC or console from local, putting it on a server, and streaming — that’s not going to really make much of a difference, or add any value. It doesn’t matter how prevalent 5G becomes; solving bandwidth issues, just moving the feature set of a game over to the cloud really won’t make much of a contribution.

One of the things we need to be really aware of is the unique ability of cloud gaming to bring individual users together in an online environment. Until we get a unique cloud feature set for games, we’re not going to really break through.

JN: So I noticed you nodding a bit, Jt. I want to get your impressions on that same question about where cloud gaming is going and not going.

Jt Gleason: If you look at what the physical benefits are of a system that is rendering something locally versus something that can be rendered globally — locally you have a very fast responsive time, just due to the general zone you happen to be in, so things that need to be super precise need to live there. But what you have inside of the gaming cloud is basically unlimited computational resources. When we see a game that requires that entire space being rendered and the interactions between them being rendered in a way that couldn’t be represented locally by one CPU, or a chunk of CPUs that we put together and decided to call one CPU for this cycle, I think that’s really where you’ll see the next level of game come out.

JN: The Metaverse remains a hot topic. Since the world has changed drastically due to the coronavirus, are we closer to the Metaverse?

Anna Sweet: Before coronavirus, gamers had already embraced that being online and using technology could create real social interaction and friendships, and help you have a connection with people. Now that we’ve all gotten locked in our house, we’re searching for ways to connect to people and we’re going to technology. You have people of all generations doing things like Netflix watch parties or playing Tabletop Simulator on Steam or getting on a Zoom call and having a happy hour together.

While I don’t know that we’ve moved much forward in the Metaverse in terms of figuring out what the technology piece is or what the actual game or place it is — we will all congregate. Mentally, we’ve all made this huge shift forward in a way that I don’t think we would’ve been able to otherwise. We’ve taken a really big step forward.

Matthew Ball: The biggest issues aren’t necessarily consumer willingness, but to some extent it’s interoperability between different partners, different technology stacks/standards, some of the technology as Anna’s mentioning that’s required just to underpin basic capabilities. It’s just not there and is nowhere near being solved.

However, consider experiences around your life online or time online not killing a terrorist in Counterstrike, not trying to get a mushroom in Mario, but just existing. Those have historically been stigmatized and not properly understood; this is a rapid process of de-stigmatization, where people are understanding this is a healthy and fun thing to do that’ll drive an overall embracing of the capabilities required for the Metaverse. We can still say that the Metaverse is years away, but all of the inputs are now healthier and more fertile than we would’ve ever expected in 2020.

For the complete transcript of the roundtable discussion, please visit the Genvid Blog.

Genvid is helping put the “meta” in the Metaverse by creating the most advanced interactive streaming technology in the world.

Sponsored articles are content produced by a company that is either paying for the post or has a business relationship with VentureBeat, and they’re always clearly marked. Content produced by our editorial team is never influenced by advertisers or sponsors in any way. For more information, contact sales@venturebeat.com.

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Tags: cloud, gaming, interactive, Metaverse, Streaming, vanguard

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[biohackerblogger-blog]

Want to get ahead in life and live forever? Biohack your brain and body today!!

Welcome back reader. My previous blog discussed what biohacking is and some aspects of human biology that can be tweaked to great returns. Biohacking is basically tweaking your biology to improve your life.

In my self-improvement adventures I use scientific research to justify whatever changes I make to my lifestyle whenever I can. If the science says something shows promise in improving x, y and z—I test it out for myself and if it works, I keep it. I’ve found that Reddit, the popular discussion platform, is a great place to find aggregations of links to relevant literature and is in of itself a repository of anecdotal evidence.

As promised, I’m going to be going more in-depth into my personal biohacking experience in this article, talking about the specific improvements I’ve made to better myself and the scientific justifications behind them.

Supplementation

My primary goal mentioned in my previous blog was optimising cognition. Supplementation seemed like a good way to tackle this issue.

To begin, I started with the basics. Well-researched, basic micronutrients that many people lack in their diets and provide clearly defined improvements. I went to the lab near my house and got bloodwork done, testing for everything (Thank you Belgian insurance).

Omega 3/6 Fatty Acids

These are one of the most well-researched, beneficial classes of molecules that are lacking in our diets today. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), found in plant oils such as flaxseed and canola, is an essential fatty acid—meaning your body cannot synthesize it independently so it needs to come from your diet. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (found in fish) can be produced by conversion of ALA but in minimal amounts—so practically you’re better off getting these from your diet/supplement also.

Omega acids are a critical component of the membranes that make up the surface of each of your cells. They regulate the fluidity of these membranes, the signaling between cells and also maintain cell structure. They’re also involved blood pressure maintenance, the nervous system, regulating inflammation and have been linked to the prevention of alzheimer's (so cognitive benefits too). This study goes more in depth as to the physical benefits these molecules provide.

People don’t eat enough fish especially in western diets to get enough of these on a daily basis so I would strongly recommend a supplement—this is the one I get. The ratio between the amount of omega-3 to omega-6 is also important and is discussed in this study.

Vitamin D

Our skin produces its own vitamin D when exposed to sunlight regularly. A problem with living in a northern country like England is that there’s not a whole lot of sunlight to go around. This isn’t helped by the fact that we’re not naked cavemen anymore who stand outside all day in the sun. Vitamin D is important for calcium absorption into the bones which is why a deficiency can cause malformations such as rickets. Deficiencies can also cause depressive symptoms and exacerbate mental health issues. Decreased sunlight during winter can also increase the incidence in a temporary depressive disorder known as seasonal affective disorder (also known as SAD—ironic, I know). Light therapy has proven an effective way of increasing vitamin D and treating SAD.

I take it on the reg to stave off the winter blues as a supplement-if I’m happier my brain is happier too. When possible, Vit D from sunlight is a much better source than from a supplement. This is the one I take.

Vitamin B complex

B vitamins consist of 8 different vitamins. B12 is likely the most well known and is involved in neurological function and production of DNA. B9 regulates cell division and formation of blood cells. Each vitamin has specific roles in the body that a deficiency could significantly interfere with. Natural sources are typically animal products and high protein plants.

You can conveniently get supplements that contain all 8 in one which simplifies things immensely. They have been linked to reduction of stress, anxiety and depression and I thought that would be of use to me. I take this one.

Zinc, Magnesium, Calcium and others

Each mineral has a different purpose when it comes to human health but all are important. Zinc plays roles in immune function, DNA synthesis, inflammation and much more. It also boosts testosterone, a hormone providing many health benefits for men (and some for women) that I touched upon in the previous article.

Magnesium can significantly improve your sleep if you get enough of it (and good sleep just improves everything) and calcium is important for bone health. These are all very important micronutrients so make sure you’re getting enough in your diet or supplement them.

Probiotics

You know those icky bacteria lining every inch of your body and intestines? What if I told you that they actually affect your life a whole lot more than you think—Especially your mood.

Research into the gut microbiota (community of microorganisms in the gut) is an incredibly hot topic right now. The presence or lack thereof of certain bacteria in the gut can affect your digestion, risk of developing diseases, even your position on the autism spectrum. It sounds crazy but the research is substantial. Many digestive problems and others can be solved by rectifying the ratios of different bacteria in the gut, by introducing healthy bacteria. I’ve tagged along to a couple of conferences with my psychiatrist mother discussing the interaction between the gut microbiota and health (physical and mental) and have also had several assignments on the topic during my time at university.

I now take a probiotic supplement every morning. Probiotics are basically pills containing millions of live, healthy bacteria.

Creatine

This one maybe isn’t as important for most people but I’ll mention it because it’s part of my daily regime. It’s a very well-researched supplement used by athletes to increase performance by increasing water retention in the muscles. With the added benefit of making your muscles look bigger, creatine can improve strength and endurance during sport. I take it to improve my workouts which itself benefits my life. Optimum Nutrition has some really good products, I go with them. Here’s another review article if you’re interested.

Other cognition-enhancing compounds

(I’m not recommending anyone take any of the following as I am not qualified to be giving out advice on scarcely researched compounds but hey, if you do your own digging, decide the science is sound and there’s no risk, you do you.)

Described above are the supplements I use to benefit my life currently. They are all well-researched staples with plenty of studies to support their efficacy. There are, however, less researched compounds that could be potentially beneficial that are hidden from the public eye.

There exist a number of alternative medicines like St. John’s Wort to treat depression that can have beneficial effects on health. Some medicines are alternative for a reason, we don’t really know enough about them to know how they work but we just know that they do for the most part.

Withania somnifera (Ashawagandha) is a herb that reduces stress and has anxiolytic (anxiety reducing) properties by reducing cortisol, the stress hormone. It’s also implicated in helping with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzeimer's disease but more large scale studies are needed to prove it’s therapeutic potential. Lion’s mane mushroom is another cool one thought to also help with cognition that I’ve been looking into recently

Nootropics (cognition enhancing compounds) are quite popular in the biohacking community. Many people take so-called “stacks” of supplements that synergize and work well together. A simple example of a stack would be taking L-theanine and caffeine, (caffeine is the most well-known nootropic) where the caffeine works to give you energy and the L-theanine smooths out the “edge” of caffeine, eliminating the crash you get.

This is gonna be an iffy one to talk about in a uni assignment but I already gave my disclaimer at the top of this section. Microdosing is an increasingly popular trend popularized by big innovators such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates—It involves taking sub-perceptual doses of psychoactive compounds.

Psychedelics such as LSD and MDMA have become very hot topics of research particularly in the psychiatric field. There is an increasing amount of evidence to suggest their utility in treating addiction, depression and anxiety when paired with psychotherapy. Psychedelics have a very impressive safety profile despite the bad rep they get.

David Nutt, a prominent researcher into the field collated the answers of a panel of experts (from law enforcement to doctors) to attempt to objectively rank common drugs in terms of addictive potential and harm. LSD and Ecstasy are significantly less harmful than the legal substances tobacco and alcohol. The 2017 Global Drug Survey also supports this claim.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some risks to psychedelics if used irresponsibly (such as triggering the onset of schizophrenia in those genetically predisposed to it) but overall, they have untapped potential in research as they significantly increase brain plasticity (ability of brain to adapt and change) and connectivity of neural networks. Microdosing them can increase productivity/creativity and allow the formation of novel neural pathways (which is probs why they help with addiction). I was actually considering psychedelic research as a career path as lots of big names like John Hopkins University are heavily involved in research into the field.

Anyway, some may say that all these supplements are a bit excessive, and maybe they’re right. But I say eh, works for me.

Habits and Lifestyle changes

I discussed the benefits of meditation in my last blog already but that is a very useful meta-tool for improving on all aspects of life. There are small ways we can all change our environments to improve our lives depending on our goals.

Procrastination in particular is a huge issue that many people face, students in particular. Many people struggle to understand why we do this but they aren’t aware that our biology isn’t designed to be able to cope with the huge amounts of stimuli that have arisen from the invention of the internet and social media. It’s now well-known that willpower functions similarly to a muscle—we don’t have an unlimited supply of it, it can get tired. What we can do to get around that is reduce the need to strain that muscle by changing our environment.

I’ve personally deleted all forms of social media I’ve found to not contribute anything meaningful to my life and with the rest I’ve unfollowed/unsubscribed to anything I thought would distract me too much. When studying, I use earplugs to block out as much stimuli as possible and I keep my phone off for most of the time.

This is what my phone’s home screen looks like:      

Simple, practical, not distracting. All the distracting applications like social media are kept on a different screen so I have to put in more effort to get to them. My phone’s also in greyscale but the screenshot doesn’t pick that up. Greyscale removes all the bright colors from your phone screen, significantly reducing the addictive potential of your phone. If you find yourself checking your phone too often, this might help you out.

This article from lifehacker talks about it in more detail. Many phone manufacturers have rolled out updates to help people curb their screen time, adding options to put time limits on your apps and overall screen time.

These are only some of the small changes I’ve implemented.There’s plenty of things you could be doing to make your environment facilitate your goals, you just have to be a bit creative.

That's pretty much an overview of my personal experience with biohacking. I hope you found this interesting and informative and it inspired you in some shape or form to read into science more and improve your life in every way you can.

Thanks for reading,

Alex

Stock images all courtesy of google images

Supplements:

Omega acids -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004MASMXG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Vitamin D -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B072L235Z5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Vitamin B Complex -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00Z70OUQS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1