Really?

build- to construct (esp. something complex) by assembling and joining parts or materials: to build a house.

Real vegetables, real meats! Made easy for you to notice...kinda like how it's
presented on your bag of dog food!

                                        

   

There's lots of building going on in America. Houses, railways, roads, subways, skyscrapers. You know, everything that makes this country bigger, better, and more superior to the next. When it comes to my food though, I do prefer it be "made" rather than built. In all my years of existence I do not recall this type of conversation:

me: "mom is the spaghetti built yet?" 

mom: "no not yet! I'm still adding more things to it. What did you want me to build it with? I remember you said mushrooms, and onions. Oh! and maybe I'll add a lil' bit of cement just so it gains a better texture! I know you like it chunky style..."

me: "I love you mom! You always build the best food!"

I want to find the MORON who came up with this idea that food must be "built", I want to tie him to a chair, tape him up, and pour cement over his face and down his throat.

New Rule: If you're going to open up any type of FOOD business and name it ANYTHING "factory", you will not be seeing me as your customer. "Spaghetti Factory", "Burger Factory", "Sandwich Factory" etc...

October *Hating*

Lollipops: Unless you're 5, they don't look cute in your mouth. They should be banned from all club restrooms. Must a lady seek such a vile palatable pleasure, a small individually wrapped hard candy should suffice. Example

Mickey shirts: I don't even know what it is about these shirts that just really bug me! I don't care how vintage your mickey junk is. The fact that Forever 21 has Mickey clothing, should tell you something...

Facebook creepin': I love fb chat don't get me wrong, but if you've never first received a fb chat from me then it probably means I'd prefer not to chat. It also probably means that although you might be a "friend" you probably don't sound interesting enough online, so I'd rather not be bugged by that annoying "POP" sound. I give people a chance, I really do, but always the same boring shallowness: "hi, how are you...blah blah". If we never text, talk, or see each other in real life, chances are I don't want to fb chat with you. I'm sure I'm speaking for most women here.

Real-time uploads on Facebook of the food you just ate: I dunno... I mean it's 2010. Really? Do we really have to get excited about that meal we just ate and share it with the rest of the western (well-fed) world? Is it really coming to that? Are we really flossin' what we eat? (pun not intended lol). I've yet to see an upload of some fancy dish/dessert that I haven't been able to get my hands on. The only exception to this annoyance of mine would be that 1. you cooked the meal yourself,  2. you visited some far-east country/remote village and the food you just ate was just so unique and visually appealing that it had to be shared. 3. Vegan/Raw food: you're being green and spreading the love. In other words; your pathetic sushi pictures are taking up space on my news-feed.

New Rule: It's funner to not like stuff than to like stuff

Texas

It was 4am on Thursday and Eliza and I decided we were fed up of Hollywood! We rushed home, quickly packed a bag and left for Texas (in your mind right now you are wondering why, but people that know me and Eliza don't really ponder on such things). The journey there definitely was an adventure to say the least! We've explained the story so many times to different people, that I really don't feel like going into details again about how I was this close |    |  to getting DEPORTED! To make a long story short, we got stopped at the "dangerous" El Paso border patrol at 4am on Friday....Eliza didn't have any form of ID, I had an expired license. We were told to pull over, and at least 6 officers questioned us, asking about our legal status in America. I've never been so scared in my life (My Visa situation here is not going smoothly!). A good 45 mins later, some finger printing and some sweet talkin'; we were let loose. We got back in our car, continued down the highway (just to clear ground) and simultaneously, and coincidentally, just SCREAMED, at the top of our lungs for about 10 seconds!! We spent the next hour talking and talking and calming ourselves down about what just happened. The next thing we know, we're stuck on the highway in deserted west Texas with NO gas...I knew we were screwed because I had studied the map previously, and noticed how desolate that part of Texas was. We made it to a small town that I found on my Iphone, called "Balmorhea". The gas station we were heading for was closed. The town (no joke) was one of the scariest ghost towns I've been to. Even a family we saw getting into their car were scared to talk to us!!! Getting straight to the conclusion, we were saved by some scary mexican guy 1 hour later. After 23 hours of driving, two speeding tickets, a border patrol interrogation and running out of gas in the middle of nowhere, we made it to Austin.

Intelligence

What does intelligence mean to you? I feel like the meaning of intelligence is so vague and not universally valued in the same way. There's definitely many different kinds of intelligence, but which one holds more merit? Academic aptitude seems to be the cliche form of "intelligence", but I have time and time again met successful academics, whom I didn't regard as very intelligent. It's understood the savants (seeming like the gods of all prodigies) aren't in fact intelligent, they're actually mentally handicapped. Perhaps there are lesser forms of savantism, where said person is not clinically a savant, but the brain is also lacking in some forms of emotional and social intelligence.

Is intelligence fully inherited? It's clearly not, but what I mean is, is your capacity for cerebral growth and neuronal plasticity (simply put- the process of learning) hard-wired? If two children from completely different backgrounds, got put through the same exact upbringing and schooling, would they be equally as "smart"? There is really no real way of knowing. First of all, we may never know the full potential of the human brain. Second of all, it would be impossible to carry out such a study!

The question is; how much of nurture versus nature is involved in cognitive development? Are you born with half your potential? Are different people born with different amounts? Like some kids may have naturally had a head-start. Who knows. They say the most amount of brain growth happens in childhood, so maybe the babies/kids that were most stimulated from an early age got more of a head-start.

A lot of people think Chinese kids are naturally just gifted at math and science. The truth is the Chinese have a different scholastic system! They don't give you calculators in math class! Everything is worked out in your head! That's nuts! Do you realize how much exercise the brain is getting by constantly working out small mathematical problems?! We all took math, sure it was a little tricky at times, but imagine taking all those classes without a calculator?! We too would have been breezing through our math and chemistry classes! The Chinese get a head start!

I've kinda lost my track on this post, I wasn't trying to make a particular point, just lightly exploring the meaning of intelligence, or what intelligence means to us as individuals. The people that I've always regarded as most intelligent, were above all: CREATORS. They weren't impressively fast learners. They used what they knew to come up with something completely different. They used their experiences, and all their senses to convey similar emotions in other people. They're entertaining, they themselves are stimulating. They can teach, inspire, and cultivate a whirlwind of thoughts in your mind. They weren't fixed beings, they morphed, they grew, there were different facets to their personalities. They can get you to think in new ways, they can get you to believe in new things, and put visions in your mind that never once existed there. When I try to get to know a person, I envision them in an empty white room. Nothing there to interfere and mask a possible dry person, just two brains interacting. If you can sit opposite a person and have an engaging, thought provoking and enjoyable conversation then I consider that person to be intelligent.

The language of your brain

Wheat

I love wheat fields. They're simple, serene, go on for as far as the eye can see, earthy, peaceful, and cozy. They're a food source, a place I'd love to lay under the sun and read. A place to reflect, a place to hide, and a place to play...

Furious

I'm not angry at this very moment, but I was yesterday. I'm lazy to type out the whole story of what happened, and why I was SO furious yesterday, but the important thing is that I'm learning. I'm learning that people just aren't who they appear to be.

The thing is...we assume people think and act similar to the way we think and act. In my mind, I assume everyone is

• honest
• real
• always say what's on their mind
• always want the best for other people
• never jealous

I am learning more and more though, that people don't think this way. In another person's corrupt mind, they are assuming other people are

• not honest
• jealous
• deceitful
• competitive
• secretive

The very reason they assume other people are this way is because they themselves are this way!!! This is the world they know! When "friends" do fucked up sneaky/deceptive shit to you, and STEAL from you, it's the betrayal that is the worst. I trust, love and always want the best for people that appear to be my "friend". The fact that I just had $2000 worth of stuff deceptively, and craft-fully stolen from me is awful, but the fact that a family "friend" is capable of this, and the betrayal involved feels like this person stole 100 times the amount! You cannot even put a value on betrayal...

I never ever ever ever wanted to think this way, but the more I grow up and the more "friends" I gain, the more I learn that people just aren't as good as I always thought they were. People are

• liars
• cheaters
• jealous
• want what you have
• want to see you fail
• competitive
• insecure
• THIEVES

My dad was always, and still is a very giving man. There's been so many occasions where people took advantage of his generosity. Interestingly enough though, he never became hardened by being "screwed over". I guess I am not the same as him. I see myself being disgusted by people more and more, and I don't want to be this way. I don't want corrupt people to make me a bitter and untrusting person. Growing up I always assumed that if you have a good heart, if you're a real, honest and generous person, then people would have no reason to backfire, and be jealous of you. Little did I know that people will find even more of a reason to be jealous. BIZAARE! I will never understand this! I can honestly admit I just have a few honest friends who will stand by me, protect me, and want the best for me. Friends that I can say ANYTHING to. I can "show off", I can speak my mind, I can be who I want to be, and know that they will be right there enjoying my successes with me. These are the kind of people who truly gain in life. Not you bloodsucking, envious mother fuckers!!! There, the fury came out finally! 

Peace!

Daria

Sometimes I feel like Daria, I ain't gon' lie to ya...She wears her hair down. Brown. It complements her face, frown. It's not that she's down, she's just a lil' jaded, she's seen many faces, all the same. Plain. No personality. She shares no commonality. It takes a certain being to raise her energy. Thought provoking, up-lifting, never shifting- from topic to topic, but venturing deep. never asleep. making light out of a situation. Never a dull moment, but never fabrication. Stimulated by observation. Like a conservation of wildlife. You notice how each plant and animal intertwine, connect. Isn't that divine? She lives by her own doctrine. I never said she was a rebel, just not a follower. Not a leader, either. Just a believer- in her own journey of life. She wants no strife. If you want to impress her. Just listen and be keen, don't brag about your material goals. That blows! Your assets don't give you substance. Learn. You can never buy your way. Yearn, to be rich from inside of you. Concern, that the smallest things can bring greater meaning to your life. So there, that's Daria I ain't gon' lie to ya!

YUM

Ezekiel bread and chocolate spread mmm mmm mmm!! That's right, that's what I said, Ezekiel bread and chocolate spread. It's that kinda day, and that's how I sway. I don't care if I'm horrible at rhyming because I'm shining with my Ezekial bread and chocolate spread!

Gaydar

Living in West Hollywood is frustrating at times. I told myself it was safer to assume that all the men in this town are gay. You can't tell these days who's gay or not. This bothers me a lot. I feel like I'm being conned constantly. Did he look at me, did he not look at me? Maybe he thinks I'm cute, maybe he's just wondering how I allowed myself to step outside of the house wearing these hideous pink glasses and 80's granny sweater. Is he gay, is he not gay? Should I smile, should I not smile? These are the kind of questions that I might ask myself, at a millisecond's pace. 

Then you reason with yourself: "He's too cute to be straight", "He's showing too much bicep". "His shorts are too short". "He just glanced at that other cute guy". "Nope, definitely not straight, he's carrying a yoga mat and heading to Crunch gym". "His dog is too small". "His dog is too fury". "His dog looks groomed". "He's wearing thong flip-flops". "He's eating too healthy". "He just ordered a green tea", "he just ordered a salad", "He's too heavily engaged in conversation with his male 'friend' ". "He just talked about his emotional well being". I can go on, and on...tons and tons of millisecond pace thoughts zapping through my mind, coming up with reasons why he MUST be gay. See it's easier when I venture more east of hollywood. The same men, doing the SAME things, are  simply put: Hipsters, or posers, or whatever you want to call people that insist on being indeterminately straight/gay, but nevertheless completely straight (or so they claim). It would be fine if all gay people wore spandex and bright colors, but it ain't so simple nowadays. You have the fem-gays, the manly-gays, the hipster-gays, gay-gays, normal-gays. Then you have the fem-straights, manly-straights, hipster (gay)-straights, normal-straights. Just a big mis-match of identities. As a baby you start with a blue, or pink blanket, and if your parents were hippies and wanted to be gender-neutral you got a yellow blanket. 

I forgot to mention bisexuals, but I'm not even gonna go there and investigate the identity crisis these people must be having. My best friend thinks most of the guys I've gone on dates with are bi, or have "gay -tendencies". I can't tell you how many arguments we've had over this. 

I don't know... It's safe to assume everyone is gay, until proven otherwise. You may think the opposite, but let me explain: It feels better to be given good news right? Like say for instance, you see a hot guy, you assume he's gay (bravo), you don't think about hot guy, you carry on with your business, then hot guy comes up to you, hits on you. BAM, a pleasant surprise. Happy ending. 

Bad news: you assume hot guy is straight, you think about hot guy, you spend mental energy on hot guy, you put yourself out there by possibly making eye-contact with hot guy (why a chick would feel the need to do more than this is beyond me), hot guy happens to make conversation with you about something in the store or whatever, you get a little excited, you think of the right things to say to hot guy, hot guy turns to his boyfriend and walks out of store/establishment. Sad ending. You got conned. Your fault for assuming he was straight. Moral of the story, assume gay until proven otherwise. 

New Rule: it is now the trend to act gay if your straight (hipster) and act straight if your gay. God, the   ambiguity of humans nowadays. Darwin eat your heart out..we really have evolved.

EMU

Not too long ago I came across a small bottle of oil with the name "Emu Oil". I found this interesting stuff in my bathroom. Someone must have left it there when I threw a birthday party for my friend over summer.  When I found the bottle, I immediately googled "Emu Oil". I soon learned that this is in fact (in layman's terms), bird fat. The oil was apparently discovered by the Australian aborigines, and it was used to cure wounds, and scars, and any other kinds of problems aborigines might be faced with. I'm assuming they ate the meat of the bird, and then instead of wasting the fat, they thought to themselves, "let's just rub this stuff all over us and see what happens", then just like that, all their wounds and scars from catching the bird in the first place, just disappeared. I swear there's a cure for everything in nature. If there really is a God, he does work in mysterious ways.  I mean you have to be fucking batshit crazy-inventive to hide the secret to healing in the carcass fat of a big ass ugly BIRD.

Now, I've always had some kind of strange psoriasis type of dry patch of skin on my right thumb and elbows. For at least a year, I couldn't seem to get rid of the extremely dry and cracked skin on a part of my thumb. It bothered me because at times it would bleed! I once tried a steroidal cream on my thumb, and it worked, but only for about a week. I tried the Emu oil on my thumb, and after a few days, it disappeared! Not my thumb stupid! My dry patch of skin! The Emu oil worked! now my thumb is completely smooth, the skin has grown back like normal. It's amazing what crap doctors will give you nowadays, just to keep you returning, and your pockets empty! Emu oil is CHEAP, natural, and it WORKS! This stuff is MAGIC! I've just used it on my dry-blood-cracked elbows, and 3 days later...SMOOTH, soft, normal elbows! BUY this stuff people! Everybody has a piece of dry and gross skin somewhere on their body! I'm going to start using this bird fat all over my face, I heard it's anti-wrinkle. 

New Rule: Obviously if you're a vegetarian or vegan then you won't be buying this stuff. You will suffer with your dry-cracked skin. Just like you suffer with your blistered toes when you choose to go sock-less in your man-made "vegan" shoes. 

Creepy

My favorite dolls have to be the ones that carry "baggage", they look like they have a story to tell, there's history to them, they're full of character, and the best thing about them is they look (authentically) scary!! I have a few around my living room, and there are definitely nights that I question how idiotic I can be to buy things that scare me to the point that I don't want to sit in my own living room! Anyhow, I also have days where I think of ways of making my place look even more eerie. I think the idea is that guests will no longer want to return...

1920's  composition doll

Armand Marseille Bisque doll

torn up!

                                  

<3

"Charlie"

Dolls

Vintage Boudoir dolls are just BEAUTIFUL. They were made from the 1920's-40's. These dolls were not made for children, they were designed to be placed on the beds of older women. They range in price from a hundred dollars, to thousands for a rare one. Most of them have a classic parisian art deco look. They're just so artsty and fun!!

Cereal

Most of my friends know that I'm a cereal fanatic! They know that when I wake up in the morning (afternoon), the first thing I have to do, is pour myself a bowl. It doesn't even matter if I'm hungry or not...my love for cereal goes way beyond that, it's nostalgic, it's comforting, it starts my day off right, and it puts my mind in check. If I go without cereal my day just goes, well...retarded. Cereal is life! It's the only thing I need in my kitchen. Don't even get me started about someone finishing the last of my milk either! 

Now I love me some junk cereals. I mostly stick to the healthy stuff, but at any given time I always have a good kiddy-junk cereal. I'm really into Cupcake Pebbles at the mo, but they've yet to hit the west coast (I think). I discovered them in NY, but can't find them here yet. Today at Target I came across "Count Chocula" it tastes kinda like lucky charms, but way better! Get it before Halloween is over and done with. I don't know what's up with the people in cereal land but they keep discontinuing the good stuff!! :/ 

   New Rule: Don't leave the cereal bag wide open to be exposed to air. It's weird. It kills the cereal, and it doesn't make any sense.