What is in bean form, but can be ground and filtered with water to create a most scrumptious beverage? COFFEE OF COURSE! :) It is only one of the best beverages known to man. And also one of the oldest. There has been a big debate as to if coffee really is good or bad for us. I’m sure you have heard both sides, but most likely, the negative side. “Coffee gives you bad breath.” “Coffee stains your teeth.” “All that caffeine is bad for your system.” “Coffee stunts your growth.” Hmm…that’s an interesting one. Let me fill you in on a little secret: I have been drinking coffee since I can remember. My mom was (and is) an avid coffee-drinker and I would watch her make a pot of coffee every morning. Instead of tea parties, I would ask my mom to have coffee parties with me. I would use my tea set and put coffee in the big teapot, sugar in the sugar bowl, and cream in the smaller teapot. And I mustn’t forget the cookies! So, like I said I’ve been drinking coffee for many years (my mom says since I was about 2 years old). Here’s where the “stunting your growth part comes into play: I am 5 feet, 10 inches tall. I feel like that is pretty tall for a girl in general. If coffee supposedly stunts your growth, and if I have been drinking coffee since I was 2, how tall do you think I would be today?! Jolly Green Giant-size perhaps…or maybe just as large as Alice when she ate the cookies in Wonderland. And that’s pretty tall!
But what I am arguing here is the fact that coffee really is good for you…if you are drinking real coffee that is. None of that whipped frappeccino with extra whipped cream and sprinkles! Those things are close to 700 calories for crying out loud. I’m talking about the original hot beverage. Simply brewed cup o’ joe. There have been studies over the past 10 years that have helped support that coffee is indeed good for you. Larger quantities of coffee consumption have been especially helpful in diabetes prevention and heart disease (Bakalar). Also, the antioxidants in coffee help control cell damage in our bodies (Bakalar). So now I ask you, what is more important: perfect pearly whites, or steering clear of cardiovascular diseases?
I say, let the coffee brew! :)
Bakalar, Nicholas. "Coffee as a Health Drink? Studies Find Some Benefits." New York Times [New York City] 15 Aug. 2006. Database.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Is Love Really a Bouquet of Roses?
Candle-lit dinner in a dimly lighted room. Fire roaring in the back ground, giving off just the right amount of heat. And soft jazz playing ever so sweetly. You see a couple clearly enjoying their evening. They eat a delicious meal and converse with each other over a great number of topics; finding more and more about one another. As time passes and more dates ensue, the couple begins to fall for each other. Fall in love that is. They genuinely love talking to the other person, and enjoy their company. They are each other’s best friend. It is clear over the next few months, or maybe even years, that they are extremely happy. Their love is almost infectious; anyone who knows them can feel their admiration and love for the other person. And what a wonderful feeling it is, don’t you agree?
PAUSE.
Let’s take a look here at this scene: Candle-lit dinner? Check. Corny music? Check. Cliché ambiance from a fire? Check. The couple sitting closely together and smiling at one another like school children? Check. Yep, sounds like the movies got a hold of this one. Every single cliché thing for a “love scene” is sitting right in front of you people!!! Quite a few tricks are being played here…the whole “romantic atmosphere” is just a show. Yes, love may actually start out like this…but it doesn’t always stay that way. What you have to understand is that “Love is not all roses.” It is terrifying actually. Full of hurt, frustration, heartache, testing of loyalty and trustworthiness, pain, and potential loss; along with the happiness, excitement, giddiness, and those little butterflies floating around in your stomachs. Yes, love can be grand and wonderful and every other positive adjective you may think of, but at the same time, it can be the exact opposite. I believe that love is a much more complex emotion that people think. They all say how great it is and whatnot, but you rarely see people talk about the love if it was lost. I mean, they say “it’s better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.” Right? I believe there is great truth in this statement because love is all about giving everything to that other person; and being okay with it. Being okay with allowing yourself complete vulnerability, because you put your trust in them. Giving that other person the good, the bad; the ugly, the beautiful; the happy, the sad; the frustration, the excitement; the nervousness the serenity; the crazy, the sane. Everything. You allow that person to be your rock, and you are the same for them. No matter what is thrown at you, or no matter what hurdles you have to jump, or mountains you have to climb, its alright because you have each other.
It is for this reason that it, well, …sucks (for lack of a better word), when that love goes away for whatever explanation. That person that was your everything is now gone, and you are left with [what feels like] nothing. It is beyond difficult to come back from this state of mind. And that is because love is an ever-changing emotion. It is consistently inconsistent. But to me, that’s what makes it so beautiful. In all of the mess and jumbled up crap, there was (for at least a while) a great thing that you had hold of. It was in your grasp for some time and you held it closely with all your might. Dave Matthews put it beautifully in his song “Baby Blue” on his latest album Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King: the idea of love and loss. It is so clear in this song how much he loved this woman that his is singing about and you can hear the hurt in his voice as he sings to her. “Confess not quite / Ready to be left / Still I know I / Did my level best / You give you give / To this I can attest / You made me / You made me / You and me forever.” I believe he is saying that though the love was lost, it was great while it lasted. And even though they aren’t together anymore, he will love her. “Forever.”
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/d/dave_matthews_band/baby_blue.html (lyrics)
PAUSE.
Let’s take a look here at this scene: Candle-lit dinner? Check. Corny music? Check. Cliché ambiance from a fire? Check. The couple sitting closely together and smiling at one another like school children? Check. Yep, sounds like the movies got a hold of this one. Every single cliché thing for a “love scene” is sitting right in front of you people!!! Quite a few tricks are being played here…the whole “romantic atmosphere” is just a show. Yes, love may actually start out like this…but it doesn’t always stay that way. What you have to understand is that “Love is not all roses.” It is terrifying actually. Full of hurt, frustration, heartache, testing of loyalty and trustworthiness, pain, and potential loss; along with the happiness, excitement, giddiness, and those little butterflies floating around in your stomachs. Yes, love can be grand and wonderful and every other positive adjective you may think of, but at the same time, it can be the exact opposite. I believe that love is a much more complex emotion that people think. They all say how great it is and whatnot, but you rarely see people talk about the love if it was lost. I mean, they say “it’s better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all.” Right? I believe there is great truth in this statement because love is all about giving everything to that other person; and being okay with it. Being okay with allowing yourself complete vulnerability, because you put your trust in them. Giving that other person the good, the bad; the ugly, the beautiful; the happy, the sad; the frustration, the excitement; the nervousness the serenity; the crazy, the sane. Everything. You allow that person to be your rock, and you are the same for them. No matter what is thrown at you, or no matter what hurdles you have to jump, or mountains you have to climb, its alright because you have each other.
It is for this reason that it, well, …sucks (for lack of a better word), when that love goes away for whatever explanation. That person that was your everything is now gone, and you are left with [what feels like] nothing. It is beyond difficult to come back from this state of mind. And that is because love is an ever-changing emotion. It is consistently inconsistent. But to me, that’s what makes it so beautiful. In all of the mess and jumbled up crap, there was (for at least a while) a great thing that you had hold of. It was in your grasp for some time and you held it closely with all your might. Dave Matthews put it beautifully in his song “Baby Blue” on his latest album Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King: the idea of love and loss. It is so clear in this song how much he loved this woman that his is singing about and you can hear the hurt in his voice as he sings to her. “Confess not quite / Ready to be left / Still I know I / Did my level best / You give you give / To this I can attest / You made me / You made me / You and me forever.” I believe he is saying that though the love was lost, it was great while it lasted. And even though they aren’t together anymore, he will love her. “Forever.”
The first video is just the album song (so you can hear the lyrics better).
The second video is live feed from September 23, 2009.
Both videos came from youtube.
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