Thursday, February 25, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Happiness is key to a healthy heart
Student life is certainly far from mundane, miserable and stressful right? So come on everyone- don’t worry, be happy!
Research shows that those who experience joy, excitement and contentment in their lives are less likely to suffer from heart disease. Researchers suggest the best way to do this, is to get a daily dose of a pleasurable hobby or activity. Not only will such activities improve your mood, but it may also be a positive impact on your physical health.
Lead author, Dr Karina Davidson of Columbia University Medical Centre, in New York, America, said:
“Some people wait for their two weeks of vacation to have fun, and that would be analogous to binge drinking – moderation and consistency, not deprivation and binging, is what is needed.
In a 10-year study of 1,700 people, it was found that the most depressed were at the highest risk of heart disease. The team of US researchers believe that happier people may have better sleeping patterns; are less liable to suffer stress and more able to move on from upsetting circumstances- all of which can put a strain on the body.
However, Dr Davidson admitted more research is needed on this link. By the end of the analysis, some 145 had developed heart disease – fewer than one in 10.
Ellen Mason, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation said:
“Today’s study used an experimental design that is great for observing trends and associations, but doesn’t prove cause and effect or tell us for sure whether changing our mood can definitely reduce our risk of heart disease”.
She continued, “This research suggested that those who naturally had a ‘glass half-full’ mood seemed to be most protected from disease. But we’re not all like that, and we know that improving your mood isn’t always easy – so we don’t know if it’s possible to change our natural levels of positivity.”
A little information about heart disease:
There are thought to be 2.5 million people in Britain with heart disease. this condition is the single biggest killer causing claiming 70,000 deaths a year.
700 people in the UK suffer a heart attack every day – that’s one every two minutes.
One British adult dies from the disease every three minutes
The risk of heart disease is greater for people with poor diet, who smoke and do not exercise, and men are more likely to suffer from it than women.
Heart disease and stroke may be inherited, but often they are the result of lifestyle. Changing eating, exercise and smoking habits can play a significant part in prevention.
For more information, please visit: The British Heart Foundation
Thursday, February 18, 2010
empowerment.
Yesterday, I decided to get back on the horse and take my first steps towards accomplishing one of my goals for 2010, which is to pass my driving test and get a car. I’m 24 years old, I’ll need a car for jobs once I finish my current university course, and I also just want to take this step towards freedom. I feel a little guilty relying on friends who drive, and I want to repay the favour; I’m tired of getting the bus, I’m tired of having to leave Toby’s at 10:30pm just so that I can get home. I want to do what I want when I want. So I took my driving theory test for the first time in 6 years, and I passed it. So onto the practical! I have a CD-ROM to help with this (though I have yet to view it, and unless the CD puts me in a car, I’m unsure as to how helpful it’ll actually be), and I’m going to book an intensive course for a week in the Easter holidays, hopefully with a practical test attached at the end which I can pass and then get my licence.
When I was 18, I took this practical driving test 3 times, and kept failing. The first time, I nearly passed (and perhaps should have), but the second and third time my nerves got the better of me and I couldn’t function effectively. I know that driving is an industry and examiners are unnecessarily rigid, because they can get money out of people retaking tests. But I just need to get my shit together and give them an excuse not to fail me. I’m hoping that being a bit older with more life experience will give me the strength I need to get through the test, but I have to acknowledge the fact that I’m still nervous about it! But I’m going to try a different strategy (blitzing it in a week rather than taking a lesson each week might hopefully give me less time to get nervous) and my determination to pass – it’s a necessity! – might just see me through. We’ll have to wait and see.
The theme of this blog entry is in the title – empowerment. So far, 2010 is shaping up pretty well – two of my three goals seem to be progressing towards successful completion and it’s only mid-February. I have a wonderful new boyfriend and I am slowly learning to be in a relationship with him. I am halfway towards my driving licence, with the next steps clear in my mind (and my wallet, *sigh*), and Mike’s neighbour Andrea has a car (Peugeot 306 – nothing fancy but it’ll get me from A to B) which he is going to sell for £800 that I am considering purchasing (not only does he have to go through Mike who can be fearsome if necessary, but I’ve met Andrea myself so he’s unlikely to rip me off – I know where he lives!). I have got a fantastic best friend at university with whom I am extremely likely to keep in contact after the course ends, and I have shed nearly all the weight I’m looking to shed. I have got two tattoos that I love, that are exactly right for me, and I am making plans for the third (watch this space! It’s going to require some considerable designing though so I won’t be blogging it next week or anything 
This blog itself, along with all of the aforementioned things in the above paragraph, are steps towards my own empowerment. It’s funny how much can change in six months. I have a lot of growing to do, but I look at myself and I have come quite far in quite a short amount of time. I feel like an adult, like I’m not an ugly person but someone deserving and strong. I can’t be strong 100% of the time, and that’s ok, but I’m stronger now than I used to be and I can see it, I can feel it. And this journey is only beginning, I have more steps to take (car, job, financial stability, my own place) before I am anywhere near satisfied (hah!) but I acknowledge my progress towards independence and I feel good about it. I can do this. We have to empower ourselves each day to get a little bit further towards where we want to be, and I refuse to ever be powerless. This is what I realise now, and I am empowered.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
KRDK Advent Belt for only $19.95+shipping
Searched online seems to be that these are hard to find. Toys N Joys has the Advent Belt for only 20 bucks. I might buy one. Plus it doesn’t take 4-7 weeks unlike the other site I posted.
Click here to get your Advent Belt.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Review: Warrior Rising
Warrior Rising is the 6th installment in P.C. Cast’s Goddess Summoning series, and it couldn’t be more different when compared to her tamer House of Night series of books (which is more for the kiddies, as they say).
The story revolves around 36 year old shrink Katrina Marie Campbell, who finds herself in a predicament when Greek Goddesses Athena, Venus and Hera decide to relegate the task of halting the Trojan War to her. As it turns out, both Kat and her best friend, Jacky, have died from a modern-day car accident, and their only choice is to assume the slain bodies of Polyxena (for those unfamiliar with the tale, Polyxena is a princess of Troy, and sister to Cassandra and Hector) and her handmaid, Melia. In exchange, the Goddesses decide to grant her a boon at the end of it.
Kat is presented to Achilles as a war prize under the guise of being granted oracle powers by Athena herself, only to discover that he’s a scarred man, overcome by an inner berserker when agitated. Men and women alike fear him for his violence and invulnerability on the battlefield. The plot flows predictably from there – Kat asserts herself as his personal psychiatrist, looks beyond his outer wounds and heals his spirit, hatches a plan that magically ends the war and the pillaging… the book practically writes itself.
The sex: what P.C. Cast book would be without? The smut was fairly tame by Cast’s standards, though the random hypnosis sex creeped me out.
I’ll admit that I was drawn to the story since I’ve always been a big fan of the Trojan War and the characters involved – not too many cameos in this story though (Agamemnon, Briesis, Odysseus, and a smattering of others), and character development was fairly weak. The notion of Kat and Jacky blending seamlessly into olden-day Greece, frequently using modern day lingo and colloquialisms and pandering about without being beheaded for their insolence was ludicrous in every sense. Cast also took liberty with various aspects of the history of which I’m still a tad undecided on; examples include Odysseus’ true love being the Goddess Athena (and not Penelope, the whole reason why he’s trying to sail home to begin with??), Briesis being a conniving nymphomaniac, Agamemnon cast as that fat guy from Borat but with numerous piercings and a golden throne… the list goes on.
Only recommended if you don’t mind a load of inaccuracies in favor of a very predictable romance. Not one of Cast’s stronger works.
See also: Goddess of the Sea, Goddess of Spring, Goddess of Light, Goddess of the Rose, Goddess of Love
Plot/originality: 2.5/5
Characters: 2/5
Writing style: 2.5/5
Total score: 7/15
Sunday, February 7, 2010
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