It seems we need to clear up a few things. Robin asked about yesterday’s title, which I thought was pretty self-explanatory, but perhaps not. (It’s not you, it’s me. For real.) There are days I really struggle over what to put in the top line/empty space. A majority of them though, just pop into my head, and that makes me tremendously grateful. For the most part the headings over each post have about two or three levels to them. Not always, but usually.
Some of the lyrics from a song by The Eurythmics -
(Annie Lennox, David Allan Stewart)
Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a melody
Falling on my head like a new emotion
I want to walk in the open wind
I want to talk like lovers do
I want to dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you
The inspiration of it came as I was hearing the raindrops hit my hood when I rode under some very wet trees. Originally I thought there was line in there somewhere about the rain “pounding” but it’s not on any of the sites I saw. Maybe she just sang that, sort of improv-like, only the one time, on the recording I’m familiar with. Or I’ve been remembering it wrong for a gazillion years. Either way, this was one layer of why I typed that line in last night.
Another aspect of it is how, when I mentally round up what’s been going on in the day, I eventually sort it into categories as I sit down at the keyboard. The groups often relate to the Elements (in the open wind, your ocean). Did I have any cool sparks of Divinely sent brilliance? What did I see while I was outside? How many pictures do I have today? Is the card a fun one or a serious message that I need to focus further on? Both maybe? List of Foreign Plates this time? (Am I hungry? And where the fuck are my notes?)
Additionally, in the case of “falling on my head” it was all about my sister there for an hour or so. I hear from her occasionally, and I have those pink clogs in the card altar room, so sometimes I put them on and wear them around when I’m in there. Not precisely FALLING so much as BEING in my head. She helped me find the old coats and the correct hat.
The “melody” part had to do with the cards and how I was thinking about when messages come to us musically. Like songs on the radio (or randomly appearing on our music players), or movie/TV show themes, the symbology of a beloved lullaby (or what some of us VERY young parents chose to USE as lullabies). The Zen deck is not a comfortable fit for some JulieLanders, and I’m always aware of that. As I thought about the definitions in that guidebook, I was considering which parts to use here, and what I heard in my head was “here comes the pain again.”
Today’s title is referring to the above explanations, as well as returning to the Allen Carr discussion. All of you have read my son’s opinions on this, right? Okay, so it appears as though not everyone is a fan. Fine by me. No problem at all. I knew that from the start. I knew it when I quit smoking and the response I give people when they ask all the standard questions is: I read a book. My hope was that after reading the NEXT book, I could say the same thing when (not if!) people exclaim in all the standard ways about how much weight I’ve lost: I read a book.
His methods are not for everybody, apparently. But they work for me. Or, more correctly, did work for the past two and a half weeks. I seem to have fallen off the raw food/nearly vegan suggestions of eating that Allen believes is in our best interests. And I’m stranded up here on this irritating gawdamned plateau right now. I’m going to re-read some sections in the next few days, and see if that helps. I may also have some other movement options coming up, which might assist in kicking my ass over the edge and back to effortlessly dropping a few pounds every week.
This afternoon’s event was a warm and highly inattentive trudge on the regular Route of about 4 and 3/4 miles. I was a Chatty Cathy (Texty Tessa?) because I was reaching out for some friendly bolstering and checking in with a couple of sympathetic pals. My pace was delayed because we all know I absolutely can’t multi-task, nor parallel think. So, I got lapped. By an old man. And a grandmother, with toddlers. And most definitely got breezed right past by runners and dog walkers.
I did take some pictures for you though. This one is a house that recently caught fire. No one was home at the time and the owners are claiming arson. I have no idea what the situation is, but I am being ever vigilant to changes and updates as I wander past each time.
Our title for today also refers to this shot. It’s the same view you’ve seen before, near the park. This is where the ducks were spotted, paddling so close to me, nearly on the sidewalk. No flooding now. But this was all under water yesterday.
Look who greeted me upon my safe arrival home. Max! He and Empress were here today so she and her father could make a get-to-know-you visit with a new (alternative) health care guy. I was hoping it would be a we’ve-fixed-her visit, but I guess that will be next time. (Fingers crossed!)
Our daily draw is from my working deck. This one came up well and truly backwards.
Six of Pentacles (Reversed)
Money and things of Matter, what can be made, bought, sold, traded, and bartered. This tells us, immediately, that we need to pay attention to where our funds are going and not where they have gone. Once we’ve spent our coins, they are spent. We either appreciate what they’ve helped us to acquire, or we don’t. And when we don’t, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment, setting ourselves up for a bad mood we really don’t need to bring on.
Our message in this one talks about allowing our funds to flow freely, giving and receiving in equal proportion. We can’t hold on to everything, especially and specifically, money or our services or any trade goods we may have. The market of buying and selling is based on that action of movement.
Let the money go if it needs to, more will show up (it always does). Pay for the services that cost, reimburse the professionals who know the tricks of the trade. Be a generous steward of our position and pay well. Tip those who work hard and make little, share the wealth. It will be returned to us, as the Three Fold Rule of the Universe declares.
Today’s Deck:
Robin Wood Tarot
The weight plateau bit is miz. Hate it. But if you can hang in there you will get over it and carry on down. You are so awesome in all this change and commitment – a real inspiration. But it can feel a tad overwhelming sometimes, so know we’re on team Julie and rooting for you big time!
Oh thanks, I have a team! (Or, ya know, two.)
My issue with the book isn’t necessarily the method, or the way in which it is implemented (because I know nothing about either of those things, having not actually read the damn thing), nor is it with the underlying motivation.
My problem is that the author is DEMONSTRABLY WRONG about literally every facet of biology, evolution, nutrition, or the combinations thereof, which I have been informed of. LITERALLY. EVERY. ONE.
He makes assertions which are simply NOT TRUE. Not “sort of,” or “if you look at it one way,” or even “well, we used to think that.” JUST PLAIN FLAT-ASS WRONG. Then, in order to back up his assertions, he makes LUDICROUS claims that sort-a, kind-a sound scientific-y, if you aren’t actually familiar with the subject matter.
When it comes right down to it, I probably wouldn’t hate the book so much if I didn’t see this sort of thing ALL THE GODDAMNED TIME. We are SUCH an imprecise, quick-fix, easy-answer-to-complicated-question culture that EVERY aspect of modern life is inundated under a landslide of these kinds of assertions. Things that people take as gospel because a so-called, self-proclaimed “expert” declared it to be so, since, you know, “I guess that makes sense.” And then no one even BOTHERS to check, and they repeat it to all their friends, and suddenly HUGE swaths of the populace believe that Iraq was integrally involved in 9/11, or that cell phones are guaranteed to cause cancer, or that immunizations cause autism. And when somebody finally raises a hand and says, “Hey, guys? Maybe check this out? Turns out that’s not only a little wrong, it’s entirely wrong,” people dismiss it because he’s not an “expert,” and, besides, “everyone already knows that it’s true.”
I fully admit that not all of my beliefs can be traced back to firm statistics or studies (my views on the death penalty, for one); but, in general, what I trust is science, because, you know, it’s the study of WHAT IS. It is indescribably frustrating when I hear someone completely dismissing the entire body of accumulated knowledge because “this makes more sense.” It’s the IRL version of people using an apostrophe to pluralize words because “it looks better,” and I just don’t understand it.
Babe, I agree with you entirely. The mistruths, lies, and incorrect “beliefs” that are out and about are seriously upsetting. And, as you said, just plain wrong.
In this case, he is not saying he’s an expert at all. And although he does question SOME medical findings and “facts” he does so with the preface that we (us, the readers) are to make up our own minds and not take his word as law. His assertion is that this programme is simply a list of suggetions, a way of eating that worked for him, and could work for others.
I’d actually really like you to read the book, if I could trust you not to set fire to it. Which I’m not sure I could.
~~~~~
(JulieLanders: he knows as much as he does about this topic because his father HAS read the entire book and recently explained Allen’s theories to him. While I was there, so I know the discussion was not just trash-talking about some “loony new shit Mom was following blindly along with” but the overall basic tenets. And I was the one who suggested Dan do the explaining, so ALL the information could be described, especially the science-y parts, some of which I MAY have glossed over or skipped entirely.)
I’d love to hear how the Empress’s visit went.
Pay for the service”s, reimburse the tradesman”. Sounds good to me. I like the message, and really like your working deck.
She goes back next week, neither of them had that much to share today. Insurance and co-pay shit to deal with first.
This message also got me thinking (much more seriously) about how *I* need to deal with payment/acceptance.
So I happen to agree with JD on the diet stuff, especially the parts in his prior post where he mentions that (paraphrased here) the stats are massaged to fit the hypothesis. What I believe is that there is no one, true way. I love my Doc; she has some screwy ideas on nutrition.
The “revised” food pyramid from several years back that was so grain heavy. Atkins. Eat for your blood type. Diet of the Stars.
What works is what works. For me, if I balance protein (lots of lean, at that) with good fats (olives, oil therefrom, avocados) and complex carbs, mostly from vegis, some fruit and very little grain, I do really well. Oh, an portion control. Mrs. Denial and I just spent about 2 months on the Ducan Diet. All protein for the 1st week, then alternate days of protein only with protein and vegis only. Is that heathy? No. Does he make some bizzare claims? Yes, like artificial sweetners are just fine. Did we have success? Yes. Are we following it now? No.
I suspect my ancestors survived because they were very adept at the lean times as they stored fat quite well.
I thank them. I am not engineered to use high saturated fat and high fructose corn syrup in any healthy way. So I don’t.
I loved it when you said that last time, and I am still a huge fan now: what works is what works. Because that’s the real truth.
I agree!
I tend towards agreeing with Son’s view, with the caveat that there’s a lot of shit science out there. No scientist wants a career full of “we tried to prove x and we were wrong” so people are constantly massaging their findings to seem more significant than they are. Good article here, if Le Son is interested.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/12/13/101213fa_fact_lehrer?currentPage=all
And of course there are some New Agey ideas that take on credence as science discovers them (like the experience of “it’s all one!” that the stroke lady had). So I’m generally open minded.
That article is now required reading! Wow.
Thank you. There is simply too much we don’t know. Yet.
“I suspect my ancestors survived because they were very adept at the lean times as they stored fat quite well.” Um, Ally? Are we related and I just don’t know it?
Thank you, Julie, for letting the Eurythmics loose in my brain yesterday. I haven’t heard that song in a long time and really like it, although it was competing with “Be Thou My Vision” which we sang on Sunday in church and that was a WEIRD combination.
You know couscous is pasta, right? Not much nutritional value there, you’re better with quinoa or amaranth because those have protein. And a healthy weight loss is about 1/2 to 1 pound per week. More than that and your body starts panicking and wanting to keep you from dying in the famine and will do all it can to hold on to weight and will be primed to add on when you stop the current diet.
Dammit Karen I was trying to get to bed!
)
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Oh, lol. I love that I contributed to a great blend of music in your head. You’re welcome.
Yep, I do know that. All of it. But this won’t be a limited time “diet” in the sense that I’ll finish with it. This is pretty much a very easy way for me to eat from now on. Oops, another accidental pun. (I did that last night on the tweeties too.) But it IS easy. I don’t miss things that I thought I could never live without. Like the way his books work with the no more smoking, it drops out of your head and you hardly remember when you did it.
Do any of you ever sleep? Yeesh.
Lecture time! Again. You mentioned that your poor hooves needed a break and that’s why you wore the clogs. Juuuulie, that means the shoes you have to walk in do not fit properly. Probably too tight. Walking/running shoes are supposed to be comfortable from day one. No breaking them in, no getting used to them. Comfort from day one. You need to figure out what’s wrong with the shoe wear. Maybe you need to wear men’s shoes. I do. Maybe you need a bigger toe box (Saucony). Just find out, save up the extra cash, if needed, to buy a brand name shoe. Your feet can cause you problems clear up to your back. Think of the expenditure as health insurance. (whew…)
And of course it’s bill time and you wave a money card at me….sigh.
I loved what Xenatuba said, “What works is what works.” So you keep on keeping on. ‘Cause you’re doing better than most of us out here. (My shoes are glaring at me from the livingroom as I write. They’ve only been on long shopping trips.) {{{HUGS}}}
Daniel advised me the last time we went out (and I was wearing my “athletic” shoes, which, one of them on that particular day had decided to eat my sock) that he will, from now on, refuse to join me if those are on my feet. As much as I’d LOVE to get another pair, we just can’t right now. They don’t feel bad, and took no breaking in, my feet just change, much too quickly for us to keep replacing the shoes just to stay caught up with my ever-altering hooves.
I’ve got several (several!) pairs of “other” types of shoes I can rotate around with, but these tennies will just have to suffice until we can afford to get more, again.
I’m pretty sure that Stephen Colbert refers to the “truthiness” of claims that aren’t factually supported. It sounds like JD is anti-truthiness. Just a little.
OH he loves Colbert!
I went back and picked up the notes about reading the messages late. Gotcha.
One thing people need to understand about nutrition is this: there are as many theories as there are people. And some very intelligent people believe some very contradictory things. See Health Food Junkies by Steven Bratman and David Knight. For example; raw food people have studies that prove food that’s cooked has little nutrition while macrobiotics proponents believe that all food needs to be cooked so you can digest it. (I’ve simplified but you get it.)
What Allen Carr is saying is, this worked for me, it may work for you.
And all of you who are going to start screaming about that just being anecdotal evidence, here’s a clue for you, lots of science is based on anecdotal evidence at its base, as is our justice system.
I really think it’s a damn shame when people have to rain on someone’s parade. Was it hurting for you to follow Allen, Julie? I don’t think so. You weren’t mainlining heroin, you were eating fruits and veggies.
Thank you. And THANK YOU!
You said it better than I did.
(Nope, not hurting a bit. No heroin in sight.
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Children are allowed to rain on their parents’ parades. heh heh Come on JJJ, you know you wanna do it. Every Easter.
xx oo
LOL!!!
Actually I want to do it every xtian holiday. But she punishes you by closing her heart to you for a while. (Unconsciously, I’m sure.) So I usually just bite my tongue.
I can’t recall who said this, maybe it was Dr. Wayne Dyer. When money is tight and you’re paying your bills, for example writing a check for the electricity, say thank you for all the great electricity and then mail the check. That positive attitude and keeping money in the circle and being grateful, helps with the flow and ultimately provides for you.
On nutrition, whatever works to keep you healthy and energized is good.
I’ve come across a similar sentiment before as well, being thankful and expressing our gratitude as we acknowledge that we are fortunate enough to be in a postion to pay for services and goods that enrich our lives.
Exactly! And every body is its own individual self.
I have to say, when I read the excerpt you posted from this book, I agreed with JD (though I didn’t know it at the time). It simply wasn’t correct. But it was working for you and what you were eating wasn’t harmful, so I zipped my lip. I’m glad your kids are looking out for you.
Also, I knew the song, if not everything it meant to you. It’s been in my head ever since. Damn it.
Me too, I’m just always glad for my kids in general.
As far as being correct, as you said, in this case it is for me, and it’s working well, so I’m good with that.
(I figured you got it, and oh hell yes, I was merely sharing the wealth, it’s been in my head for DAYS!
You’re welcome.)