HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Saturday, January 1, 2011 6:05:04 AM
Dude must be gettin' old!
"I work in whatever medium likes me at the moment." ~ Marc Chagall
Saturday, January 1, 2011 6:05:04 AM
Dude must be gettin' old!
Friday, December 10, 2010 5:31:52 AM
Sunday, December 5, 2010 2:30:00 PM


Wednesday, March 17, 2010 7:31:27 AM
I've been working with Inkscape again, and finally have the information I need. I really wanted a unique, "created by me" image for my header, but unlike MSPaint where one can save graphics in opaque mode, Inkscape wouldn't let me save the file without that glaring white background. SO! Back to reading manuals, going online, and searching until I found this: In Inkscape, if you want to create a png file that looks like it's a 3D svg file, you have to use "File/Export Bitmap." So I did - and even remembered to CTRL+A/Group everything so I wouldn't lose the text this time. Now I have a new header.
Mission 1 accomplished! Now it's on to learn CSS. That post I've got as a sticky about learning CSS is going to be set to private until I get it figured out.
Sunday, March 14, 2010 9:00:54 PM
Medium-Rare, Please
Beef is high is cholesterol. (That gunky white stuff what clogs your blood veins.)
Trim off as much visible fat as possible before cooking.
Top Sirloin is rated B+ for nutrients.
Obviously, protein from the steak, carbohydrates from the baked potato, and vitamins & minerals from the salad I just polished off were essential to a healthy diet. I, however, cannot eat a dry baked potato, so I added a tablespoon each of butter and sour cream. I also added 2 tablespoons of Green Goddess Dressing to my salad. Delicious, yes; nutritious, no, and that is where the meal goes wrong. There's too much fat in my meal.
According to Calorie Count.About.com (2010), "Top Sirloin Beef has a grade of B+." Beef contains very little sodium and no sugar, along with the necessary nutrients: niacin, phosphorus, selenium, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and zinc. This steak has several good points. The only bad thing is that beef is "high in cholesterol." (Calorie Count.About.com, 2010). Follow the links at Calorie Count.About.com under "Nutritional Analysis" to learn more about the good and bad points of beef.
The steak was 6 oz., when I only needed 3. Now, you may be thinking, "But it's only 3 extra ounces, and where's the harm in that?" Well, folks, to paraphrase a cliche, too much of a good thing, when you break it down, can indeed be bad!
Calorie Count.About.com (2010) provided the nutrition facts for a 3 oz. serving of Top Sirloin Beef. (Remember, I ate 6 oz., and not the 3 oz. serving, so I just doubled everything.) Here's the Original Nutritional Calorie chart. I'll leave it to you to do the math.
"Beef, Top Sirloin Serving Size: 3 oz., (after removing fat) Amount Per Serving Calories 158 Calories from Fat 47
% Daily Value* Total Fat 5.3g (8%) Saturated Fat 2.0g (10%) Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2g Monounsaturated Fat 2.2g Cholesterol 76mg (25%) Sodium 56mg (2%) Total Carbohydrates 0.0g (0%) Protein 25.8g
Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 1% • Iron 16% " (Calorie Count.About.com, 2010)
The potato was medium - and a good choice for carbs to provide energy. However, I added butter and sour cream - both high in fat - which leads to fat in the bloodstream, and on the body. No doubt I just ate more fat than what the nutritional guidelines say we are supposed to eat. For me, it's 19g of fat (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) per meal, or no more than 30% for the day. (The steak I ate provided for 20% of my total fat allowance for the day.) Even the salad was good. Had I just added pepper and lemon juice instead of a fat-filled dressing, it would have been even better as far as making a healthy choice.
We hear so many times that it isn't what we eat that makes us fat, but how much. I believe that thinking is just so incredibly wrong, and here's why: If there is fat in everything that a person eats, it leads to high cholesterol, which leads to high blood pressure, and eventually heart failure. So, with some additional - and preplanned thought - the meal I just finished could have been much healthier if I had stopped to think about my health. I was hungry because breakfast was at 8:00 this morning, and it's now almost 4:00p.m. Hunger and overeating is often the culprit behind poor food choices, but that should not be the reason a person uses to eat whatever he or she wants - yours truly included! Breaking things down like this helps me better understand the benefits of making wiser food choices. Now, I'm not going to get into telling you what you should and should not eat here. I'm just pointing out some facts.
So, what foods provide the most healthful benefits from the meal I ate? With the exception of the butter, sour cream, and high-fat salad dressing, everything else was a good choice. I could have filled up on the salad instead of having an extra helping of the steak and cut the fat content. I will have to begin measuring sour cream and butter if I want to use them on my baked potatoes, or find a different (i.e.: healthier) substitute, such as Butter Buds and plain yogurt mixed with fresh dill and chives. As for the salad dressing, I'll just have to pick up a bottle of lemon juice the next time I'm at the grocery store.
What did you eat today?
Saturday, March 13, 2010 5:54:14 AM
I see Opera has a new version out, and Firefox is my 2nd favorite browser, but as much as I'm dying to download both of them, one problem at a time is about all I can deal with for the time being. After I did multiple scans for viruses, trogans, worms, and malware, I had to do a clean reinstall of Windows XP yesterday, so no new programs until I get my PC working right. It took me 6 hours to reinstall everything, and I still don't have sound, so I don't know what the heck is up with that. Anyhow, I really REALLY want my Opera back, and get back into working with CSS, because that's just some cool stuff!
I still have to upload my webcam, and if I can get my sound working, I'll post a live video of yours truly. Haven't learned to pop a wheelie in my wheelchair yet, but I'll give you a tour of where I spend most of my time.
I also lost all of my links - bummer that, but I'm hoping that when I reinstall Firefox, they will somehow still be hanging around. (Ok, I realize I'm only dreaming there!
) Just bugs me that I lost everything. At least my links for Opera are still available, so that's a start. (And my fiance only "thinks" I'm addicted to the PC?)
Poor Dear - he just doesn't know!
Friday, March 12, 2010 2:07:40 PM
Ah, Friday. The weekend is here, and so am I. Back to Opera Community. It's been a very long year, full of changes, challenges, and upheaval from my usual state of being. Life took over, and I literally did disappear for a little while from my surroundings. Not the best vacation I've ever had, and living in total seclusion because I was having a tough time was probably the best thing I could do for some personal reflection. I think a mental break down would have probably been better. (Ok, I'm kidding!)
Anyhow, since my last post (7,January 2009), this is what I'm dealing with: Christmas of 2009 was not spent with my family. Instead, I spent it with my fiance's family, but I am already getting ahead of myself.
In January, classes picked up, got tougher, and I had no time for blogging. I should have jumped in at least once to let everyone know that I wasn't going to be available for awhile, and I'm sorry I didn't. Community support would have probably made my life just a bit easier to deal with the things that happened.
I earned my Associate's Degree in June, 2009, in the middle of taking my mother on vacation to Illinois to see a friend of ours who had not been doing too well. While we were there, my hip slipped out of place, and I had to start using a wheelchair. I didn't get to see a local surgeon until the middle of July, and was told that I needed a double hip operation. It absolutly sux to be without insurance, but that hip operation is still in the wings, until I can raise $50,000, or get approved for Medicaid. I am really hoping Obama's health care plan comes through, because insurance companies discriminate against pre-existing conditions.
One of my brothers told my mother he wanted to put me in a nursing home because I couldn't work, and he didn't want her supporting me. That was in August. I had asked my other 2 brothers & my kids for help with getting my house set up so I could live there, not one of them showed up. My family literally abandoned me! Mom and one friend came over to do what they could, but I had to make sure I could do this at-home living on my own, because there is NO WAY I am going to go live in an assisted living home!! Every time Mom came over to help, she would complain about it, but she was the one volunteering to help, so I finally told her to just stay away.
By the end of September, I'd decided that it was time I moved - wheelchair bound or not - so I moved upstate, and no one in my family knew I had left except for my mother. I had had enough. I called a friend, and we went to N. GA. for 3 months. I lived in a neighborhood where only the landlord spoke English, no one bothered me, and I was literally cut off from the world. No internet, no television, not even a radio. Lots of time to think! All I had to entertain myself was a few bags of beads I'd brought with me, and few books. I had no intention of coming back for the rest of my stuff, and had left my house in shambles from a frenzied packing. I literally just quit caring about everything, because everyone (with the exception of the Opera community) had stopped caring about me. Life is hard sometimes, but darn it, when your family abandons you, who can you trust? I had lost it all.
I decided to come back at the end of October. I was tired of being out of my element, and if my brother who wants to put me in a nursing home wants a fight, I'm going to give him one he won't soon forget!
The night I walked back into my house, I took one look at the mess I'd left behind, and started throwing things in the trash. It took me a month of working 8 hour days, but I got rid of 65 trash bags full of junk that I did not want, need, or love. Have to love my Mom, shopaholic that she is, but most of what went out was stuff she'd brought in to decorate my house. Who needs 150 ceramic roosters, 25 handbags, or 20 hot plate tiles? And that was just the first of a lot of what I considered JUNK. I took 2 bags of clothes to the church, gave a set of dishes & mixing bowls to my youngest brother, (remember, his house had burnt the summer before), and got my house in order.
Mom was the only one who knew I came home in the middle of the night, but she called my oldest brother, and he came over and apologized - every day for a solid week. My youngest brother apologized too, and then rented a rollback for all the clutter I was getting out of my house. As for the middle brother and my kids, there's been nothing. I'm hurt, but I know who loves me.
One month later (November, 2009), and I'm engaged, and living with my fiance. We knew each other 30 years ago when we were teenagers, and I am happy. We had Christmas with his family, not mine. We're holding the Easter family dinner for his family at his(our) home for 100 folks, and I am the queen of the castle!
I've finally settled into a routine, have my schedule up for times to work on my crafts and times to blog, and will be back blogging on a regular basis. Have missed you all, and will be around to say hello when the house is more settled. Until then, have a great day!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 7:47:40 AM
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 4:39:16 AM
What is a proper diet? What is nutrition? Why should we be concerned? The Encarta® World English Dictionary (2003) defines nutrition as “food,” at its basic level, or more clearly as the nutritional values that are in what we eat such as “minerals, vitamins and other nourishing substances.” The questions I intend to answer in future blogs include:
• What makes minerals and vitamins so important to our health and well-being?
• What vitamins do we need?
• What are the daily requirements for vitamins?
• What minerals do we need?
• What are the daily requirements for minerals?
• What are the dangers of not getting enough vitamins and minerals?
• What are the dangers of consuming too much vitamins and minerals?
• What are amino acids and where do they come from?
• What are the nutritional values of protein and carbohydrates?
• What are phytochemicals?
• What other nourishing substances does the human body need?
• What are the daily requirements for other nourishing substances?
• What foods provide the most healthful benefits?
• Can herbal supplements help or hinder health?
• What herbs are useful in preventing or treating disease?
• Which herbal use is questionable and why?
• What is the risk of mixing herbal supplements and prescribed medication?
• I have food allergies, how do I meet my nutritional needs?
• Are vegetarians at risk for falling short on their nutritional needs?
• What additional supplements do people with specific diseases need?
Image courtesty of WebPhotoMart.com (Dec. 29, 2008).
To aid in the research for future blogs, I will be gathering information from online sources, libraries, and peer-reviewed databases. My aim is to use as many science-backed resources as I can. The following resources are only a few of the ones I think will be an important part of my research.
The Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine works to establish a link between good health, food, and the proper amount of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and other nutrients. This organization, “founded by Linus Pauling in 1973, was moved from California to his alma mater, Oregon State University in 1996, and became The Linus Pauling Institute, where Jane Higdon, Ph.D. (1958-2006) created the Macronutrient Nutrition Center,” (Oregon State University, 2008). The Macronutrient Nutrition Center lists all the necessary vitamins, minerals and other nutritional sources our bodies need to remain healthy, as well as describing the consequences of not getting enough, or getting too much of these nutrients.
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) focuses on “advancing scientific research, training researchers, sharing news, and supporting complementary and alternative medicine therapies,” (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2008).
NutritionData.com lists over 3000 foods, calories, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. This database not only gives information on the many food products found in the grocery store, but it also has advice on healthier choices of food.
DietFacts.com lists over 400 restaurants with nutritional information.
The National Institute of Health is “made up of 27 institutions. Three of those institutions are The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and The American Cancer Society.” (The National Institute of Health, 2008).
The USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center has nutritional resources for those suffering from “allergies, food sensitivities, HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, digestive diseases, eating disorders, heart health, osteoporosis, weight and obesity.”
Finally, the Alleghany Regional Hospital (ARH) holds a plethora of valuable information and includes a "Natural Health Encyclopedia on more than 180 different health conditions, herb and drug-supplement interactions, and a list of over 200 herbs and supplements." (ARH, 2008) This institute performs scientific studies on alternative therapies, functional foods, and homeopathy. Do they work? Stay tuned to find out.
If you know of other nutritional resources, or have a particular question, make a comment!
References
Alleghany Regional Hospital, (2008), Complementary Therapies. Retrieved December 29, 2008, from: http://www.alleghanyregional.com/healthcontent.asp?page=/choice/demonstration/TheNaturalPharmacist-Consumer
Microsoft, (2003). Encarta® World English Dictionary, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, (2008), NCAAM Facts-at-a-Glance and Mission. Retrieved December 29, 2008, from: http://nccam.nih.gov/about/ataglance/
National Institutes of Health, (2008). Institutes, Centers & Offices. Retrieved December 29, 2008, from: http://www.nih.gov/icd/index.html
Oregon State University, (2008). Linus Pauling Institute. Retrieved December 29, 2008, from: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/resagenda/about.html
Oregon State University, (2008). Linus Pauling Institute. Retrieved December 29, 2008, from: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/
USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center, (2008). Diet and Disease. Retrieved December 29, 2008, from: http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=1&tax_subject=278
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