Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood

Another powerful article by Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie on Colbert Report

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Interesting to hear Sherman Alexie's commentary on why he doesn't want any of his books to be electronic. I purchased a Kindle recently w/ not necessarily the intent on buying/reading ebooks but rather for reading my grad school articles because I found that you could read PDF's on 'em. I realized that trying to carry a bunch of articles or rather having to print them all was a hassle and an even bigger hassle to try and read/flip through 'em on a packed bart/muni. I decided that the Kindle would save me the trouble of printing articles, that I honestly might not ever read again. Hearing Sherman Alexie talk about the local appreciation of reading and the tangible qualities of a book reminded why I didn't ever want a Kindle. I think the argument is similar to how I feel about Serato/digital DJing. Technology will always be a double edge sword and we need to be careful how we use it.

Clean Program Detox Recap

So I've been on this Clean Program for the last couple weeks. If you don't know what that is you can peep out this video for a short intro:

 

The idea comes from Dr. Alejandro Junger's book (above). Basically you have 2 liquid meals per day (usually for breakfast and dinner) and one solid meal (usually for lunch). The main rule of thumb is to stay away from the forbidden list which includes: dairy, soy, breads, red meat, alcohol, caffeine, and basically any processed foods. My goal was to be on it for 14 days. On the last day, I kinda punked out for dinner time and had a solid meal because some roast chicken was hard to resist.

Here are some highlights/quotes from what I have learned:

1. "Older traditions of health care are based on the idea that when conditions in the mind shift, so do conditions in the body. Harmony in the body is greatly dependent on balance in the mind." (p. 178) -- Can't have a healthy body w/o a healthy mind...and vice versa.
2. "The anxiety people feel concerning hunger can scare them away from even starting a detoxification program. The real battle is usually with the mind and emotions. The body can go for days without food if needed; it adjusts itself quite easily to changes in intake." (p.186) -- It doesn't take a lot to be "full". Most Americans overeat. Sometimes we eat, just out of boredom or to move our jaw.
3. "Leave a twelve-hour window between the last meal of one day and the first meal of the next." (p. 188) -- After dinner, you shouldn't be eating anything else until morning. It was tough to try and eat dinner at 7pm or earlier because of my schedule but I stuck to the no snacking/food after dinner.

I realize that it was actually easier than I thought. The hardest part wasn't staying away from red meat, sweets, or dairy. It was preparing your meals ahead of time, which requires a high level of organization. Overall, I enjoyed the simplicity of the diet and the liquid meals, especially for breakfast. Although I will be going back to my regular diet, I know that keeping it simple and fresh is the way to go. HEALTH IS WEALTH!!! Be HEALTHY!!!