Far Out the Ordinary by Prissy Elrod: Book Review
I haven’t read a really good southern story in a long time–at least not one written like this.
Love this book! Will tell you about it soon!
Why the Movie “Farmland” is Really Worth Seeing
Every single day, every one of us consumes food. It is an element of our survival. We must eat, and we must eat continually. “Farmland” is a documentary film about six young Millenial farmers–five young men and a young woman. All six are in their 20s. All six are part of the 2% of our population who feeds all the rest of us.
Years ago, I took my ten-year-old niece on a vacation to show her the Old Florida in which I was raised. We visited an Alligator Farm, rode an airboat in the Everglades and swam in many of its cool, deep springs. We also visited my cousin’s cattle ranch, because my niece told me earlier in the trip that she thought farmers were kind of boring and sad because they were stuck on the farm. Of course, I begged to differ; and I took her to meet my good looking cousin who was passionate about what he did for a living. He personally took her for a tour of his ranch. It was a great lesson for her.
What the Critics Said
I heard about this movie called “Farmland” and decided to take the time to check it out, though the critics panned it. I liked the movie and wondered why it got such poor ratings. After reading the reviews, I wondered if it had more to do with their dislike of the message than the actual production of the movie itself.
Frankly, I couldn’t help feeling sad. It seems that many in our artistic community are the first to yell “freedom of speech” until they don’t like the message. Then they want to squash it.
I found the movie well done with really beautiful scenery. It did a wonderful job of showing the lives of these young people, two of which grow organic crops. “Farmland” demonstrated how much risk and responsibility goes into producing our food. So what did I rate it? On a five star scale, I gave it four stars. I took off a star because it got a little slow in the middle.
“The movie helps the viewer understand a little something about what it feels like to be a farmer. Today we in America are far removed from the land which grows the food we eat. Most of us have never even seen a farm or ranch up close, let alone had a meaningful conversation with a person who grows the food we eat. This movie would be excellent for children to help them understand the importance of work and responsibility.
The only thing irregular about these six farmers is that they are all fairly young and there was only one woman. Farmers, in general, are disproportionately older. The average age of a farmer in America is 58. Also, about 30% of our farms are either owned or managed by a woman. Other than that, one gets a good sense that farming is both a business and a passion. It is certainly not the romanticized view of farming practices of years gone by but then that romanticized view was not very accurate anyway.
These six young people explain how they must tend to the financial bottom line or go out of business. They also demonstrate how farming is about hard work, long hours, and an enormous amount of uncertainty and risk. It is also about family, community, and doing something that they love to do.
Most Farmers Are Passionate About What They Do
This seemed very real to me. My cattleman cousin once told me that he couldn’t imagine doing anything else for a living. I also come from an agricultural community. Most farmers I know are passionate about what they do.
Most people think of farming as unsophisticated and behind the times, yet the statistics do not support this. Only three percent of our population feeds all of us. Agricultural production is becoming an exact science. Successful farmers today must have a thorough grounding in some type of science.
To be successful, a farmer must know a great deal about his land and the products he plans to raise.
The difficulties associated with keeping a farm in the family are well illustrated as well as the hardships that come about when one generation passes away before the next generation is ready to step in. It deals with the misinformation supplied by groups such as PETA, though it doesn’t dwell on the subject.
Farmland may not be the best documentary ever made but it is far better than the 1/2 star given by one of its critics.
Angelina Talks About How Awesome Maleficent Is
Ooh! Can’t wait to see this, but probably won’t take the toddler grand babies.
Are Most of our Everyday Aches and Pains Postural in Nature?
So I’ve been having neck and shoulder issues lately on my right side. I’ve had such great success with Robin McKenzie’s books, “Treat Your Own Back” and “Treat Your Own Neck”, that I bought “Treat Your Own Shoulder”.
I began reading it today at lunch. Here’s my problem. After doing a self-test (suggested in his book) to see if it really is my shoulder or if it might be my neck, I discovered that it is not my should. It is my neck. He referred me back to “Treat Your Own Neck.”
I continued to read “Treat Your Own Shoulder” though, because I periodically have trouble in Yoga with my upper arm and shoulder on my left side. It is always a little stiffer than the right. I was hoping to learn how to loosen up that side of my torso.
I’m glad I continued reading, because he confirmed what I found a few years ago about postural changes that were needed. It seems I needed a refresher. Just identification of the changes needed will help me correct these. For example, several years ago I figured out that I had been sleeping on a pillow incorrectly. I liked to lay on my back with my head on my pillow and my shoulders off. I learned as I got older that I needed to have my shoulders supported, as well as my head. So Mr. McKenzie just reminded me to be more conscious of how I sleep on my pillow.
He also added that I shouldn’t sleep with my arms raised over my head. Darn, that feels so good when I’m falling asleep, especially if the night is a little warm. I guess I need to stop doing this, too, because he says that I’m over stretching my arms.
Also, he talked about postural problems with sitting or standing with your arms in a raised position. I sit a lot at my computer and my right arm is always raised when working with my mouse. I just realized that having my mouse higher than my keyboard may be causing problems for my right shoulder. My right arm is always in a raised position, which probably causes problems for that shoulder. I’ll try to correct this. I should have suspected this, because lately I’ve been periodically trying to maneuver my mouse with my left hand, just to give my right side a rest. Was that my body trying to send me a message?
Also, I’ve noticed that sitting in arms chairs with my arms resting also raises my shoulders. I am of average height, but most chairs today seem to be bigger and made for taller people. I have to rethink sitting in arm chairs, and purposely not using the arm rests. I find that if I let my arms rest down by my sides in the chair, I do much better.
I also like to lean from one side to the other, and this is a serious “no no”. I learned this years ago when I drove an SUV which had a nice console armrest between the seats. I liked to lean on my right elbow on long drives. Consequently, I developed neck problems on the right side of my body. I stopped leaning, and the pain finally went away.
So many of our problems are postural. Looking forward to reading more of Mr. McKenzie’s fine book and then getting back to his “Treat Your Own Neck” book
which I keep in my medicine chest.
I don’t remember any of these aches and pains until I turned forty. I guess before then, we healed so quickly that none of these problems surfaced. Maybe all it took then was a good night’s rest.
Digging Around in my Mental Attic?
“I’m so glad I’m not famous. I would hate to have this guy digging around in my mental attic.”
I’m reading the biography of P. L. Travers, the woman who wrote “Mary Poppins”. I found this quote in the book, “Mary Poppins, She Wrote: The Life of P. L. Travers” by Valerie Lawson.
Another quote was from a biographer…
“…biographer Michael Holroyd, who has said,
I discriminate between the rights of the living and the dead…When we are living we need all our sentimentalities, our evasions, our half-truths and our white lies, to get through life. When we are dead different rules apply.”
I have this book and am reading it myself. I’ll review it when I’m done.
Flynn Rider – Ladies ‘n Gentlemen: Tom Disney! …I mean, Walt Hanks!
I’m planning to write a review of the book “Mary Poppins, She Wrote: The Life of P. L. Travers”; but I admit that without this movie, I would never have taken this road. Here is a good review of the movie, which accurately reflects my viewpoint. Why reinvent the wheel, especially if someone else has done it better.
Meaning Different Things to Different People
I believe that poems mean different things to different people. In fact I even believe they can mean different things to the same person at a different time in their life.
I’m reading “Mary Poppins, She Wrote: The Life of P. L. Travers”. T. S. Eliot is quoted with a few lines from his poem “Little Gidding,” from “Four Quartets”. It spoke to me as a writer, but you must draw your own conclusions. The poem is below.
“What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.
And every phrase and sentence that is right
(where every word is at home,
Taking its place to support the others,
The word neither diffident nor ostentatious,
An easy commerce of the old and the new,
The common word exact without vulgarity,
The formal word precise but not pedantic,
The complete consort dancing together.)
Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning.
Every poem an epitaph. And any action
Is a step to the block, to the fire, down the sea’s throat
Or to an illegible stone: and that is where we start.
We die with the dying:
See, they depart, and we go with them.
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
T. S. Eliot,
“Little Gidding,”
Four Quartets
I found that this is just an excerpt from the end of a much longer poem. I also found the following on Wikipedia when I looked up the poem to find out what others thought it meant. Wikipedia says, “The end of the poem describes how Eliot has attempted to help the world as a poet. He parallels his work in language with working on the soul or working on society.”
Maleficent’s Wings
I’m no Angelina Jolie fan, but this looks like a movie I want to see.
Jumpstart Your Dieting with Water
Have you ever met an Aquarian who doesn’t like water? Actually, I love it for swimming, skiing, and viewing but not so much for drinking. Frankly, I’m a fish out of the water.
Credit Pixabay
My parents pleaded with me to drink it. I didn’t see the need, but now I do. Water is what makes our skin healthy, not to mention our insides, our organs. So I’m always trying to remember to drink water.
The other day I read that as we age, we lose our ability to gauge our thirst. I’m not sure I ever had that ability, to begin with.
If you’ve been reading my blog lately, then you know that I’m thrilled with this new lifestyle change that I’ve been practicing. I’m talking about the book called “The Skinny Rules”; and how it changed how I live my life, as it relates to nutrition.
I wrote about this last week–about my biggest challenge, my quest to eliminate the added sweeteners in my foods. I continue to practice this every time I buy a groceries. If I’m not familiar with the product, I read the label and look for a sweetener in the first five ingredients. If it is there, I put the product back on the shelf.
There is also another big change that I’ve embraced. Rule 1 in the book is to drink a large glass of water before every meal—no exceptions. If he placed it at #1, then it must be the skinny rule that matters most. There’s lots more about it in his book.
Credit Pixabay
I’ve always wanted to drink more, but I forget. Plus, as stated before I don’t really like to drink it anyway. I believe that my forgetfulness has to do with selective memory. My mind keeps telling me that it isn’t that important, but I know it is.
The author Bob Harper says, “Just by drinking water, your body increases its burning of calories. The scientists estimated that, if you just do this, you’ll burn off an extra three pounds over the next year.”
Let’s see! Nicer skin, better digestive system, and weight loss! Sold!
Credit Pixabay
I don’t always remember to drink water before each meal, as suggested; but it helps me remember to drink it either before, during or after the meal. That is half my battle.
I am drinking more—lots more. That’s a good thing!
I love this book.
Stop!! The Sugar in Your Diet is Not Your Friend
We see sugar everywhere. For example, have you noticed all the rolls of fat and puffy skin we carry these days? And I’m not just talking about middle-aged and older people, like myself. I see it on everyone—young and old alike.
Just walk through the mall! It wouldn’t be so obvious, but the young girls and women like to wear their shirts tight. I’m not sure if they think it is sexy or if they simply cannot afford to buy new clothes. What I do know is that it is caused by all the added sugar in our diets. Sugar turns into fat, and it settles around our middle.
Chuck has always been a slim man, but he has been fighting this battle of the bulge lately, too. It concerns him that his love handles may be here to stay.
The man never eats dessert. He always buys low-fat products. He exercises. In a restaurant, I order the meal with the plum sauce and he orders the plain grilled salmon. He is better at this than I am, so why is he having this problem?
A Book called The Skinny Rules
I read a book called “The Skinny Rules: The Simple, Nonnegotiable Principles for Getting to Thin.” Written by Bob Harper with Greg Critser, it contains rules for losing weight and for maintaining. A hard copy edition of the book can be bought below,
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or you can purchase it for your Kindle here.
Printed in 2012, I discovered the book when Chuck and I dined with a friend of his. We noticed that he lost a lot of weight. I mentioned it, and he told us about this book that he said changed his life.
My Life with Diets
I’m no novice when it comes to diets. Years ago, when I was in my 40s, I gained about fifteen pounds over about fifteen years. Finally fed up I decided to do something about it before I went over the 150 lb. mark.
I tried the Atkins Diet, but I didn’t like the way it made me feel. It left me always hungry—no, not just hungry, ravenous. I tried the South Beach Diet, but I still had problems and felt hungry all the time. Finally, I went to see Jenny Craig, and the ladies there helped me totally change my eating habits.
I lost weight, all the way down to what I weighed when I was 32 years old. It took me months, but I loved my old/new “me”.
I weighed 127 lbs, but I felt I was too thin so I allowed myself to gain back to about 133 lbs. The most important lifestyle change I made during this time was watching my intake of fiber, making sure I was getting the amount my body needed.
I loved vegetables and fruit, so I just increased them in my diet. I also stopped drinking sugary beverages. No more sweet tea or Cokes. This last one hit me hard, but I lost 8 pounds just by doing this alone. By the way, it is one of the skinny rules.
I learned many of these diet lifestyle changes while on the South Beach Diet, but what I learned from the Atkin’s Diet was that this food, weight and exercise thing is all about chemistry. The Atkin’s Diet, though, didn’t give me enough information to figure out the puzzle.
Jenny Craig used all these lifestyle changes, and they taught me one more extra important change—portion control. I learned to gauge how much food to eat in comparison to the calories I received. I learned that I got enough calories to keep me satisfied with a very small portion of certain calorie-rich foods.
I retrained my mind to understand this and to stop the cravings. It worked. That is, until about two years ago.
I have fluctuated from about 134 to 137 lbs for the last two years. Lately, my weight crept up to 138 to 139 lbs. I cut out all bread and alcohol, and it took me about three or four weeks to get back to 133 lbs, but then as soon as I went back to eating regularly the weight roared back. So I decided to try “The Skinny Rules”.
These writers certainly do understand the chemistry involved in eating.
Let’s talk about one of the rules!
One of the rules involves learning to read labels. I read labels for years. My biggest pet peeve, or so I thought, was bread made of wheat. I was as aggravated as the next person with the many, many different ways food manufacturers tried to trick us into eating bread that was not a whole grain.
It seems that most of the country thought and probably still thinks that “unbleached, enriched wheat” is better for you than “bleached flour”. The fact is, neither of them is good for you. If it is wheat bread, the first ingredient must say 100% whole wheat; or it is not nutritious.
In fact, I’m certain it is like eating glue. My best way to check their claims is to look at the grams of fiber in a slice. If it has one gram of fiber, then they have stripped out the good and left the glue. So I’m already pretty good at reading labels—or at least I thought I was!
“The Skinny Rules” just taught this old dog a new trick.
But what I missed was all the clever ways they add sugar to our foods. Here is what changed my lifestyle again. The authors of “The Skinny Rules” say that if sugar appears in the first five ingredients, then “keep walkin’”. So for the last several weeks, I’ve been walking the shopping aisles reading labels on foods that I thought were good…until now.
Oh my gosh! I had no idea. It is amazing how many foods I have to put back on the shelves and in the freezer cases. I had no idea (sorry, I just had to say this twice). Frankly, I believe the authors should make this a rule all by itself.
Rule 21: If the food product has any type of sugar in the first five ingredients, don’t buy it! (Unless it is a dessert or candy. Sorry I just cannot help myself.)
Even this can of collards would be disqualified. Sugar is its hard ingredient.
Here’s an example of how we’re fooled. Chuck was making one of his casseroles last Sunday evening. As I passed through the kitchen, I picked up one of the cans of corn that he was using as an ingredient. It was a low sodium version. On the label, though, the third ingredient was high fructose corn syrup.
Chuck was shocked and upset. He thought it was just corn. We started going through our pantry, and you wouldn’t believe the cereals, canned vegetables, and soups that were laced with sugars of all types.
I went on “The Skinny Rules” diet, and in about a week and a half, I lost all the weight needed. Back down to 133 lbs I lost down to 135 lbs within the first five days. I have never had weight fall off of me so quickly. The recipes were great, and I couldn’t eat all the food offered.
So remember! It isn’t the fat in our diets that are making us fat, it is the carbs–the sugar!
I love this lifestyle change brought on by “The Skinny Rules” and will continue to read labels looking for sugar. I count it right up there with my zero calorie beverages, whole grains, fiber, and portion control.
The best result of all, the puffiness around my waist is gone! No more muffin top!!! Even over a month later!