I’ve given up milk and other dairy products.

It wasn’t an easy decision; I mulled over it for years, depriving myself of something I enjoyed so tremendously had me wavering.

In August, after hours of reading Notmilk.com, I scared myself into ending my love affair with dairy.

The truth is, I knew this day would come, I just wasn’t sure when.

I’m not one of those people that think Milk is evil and we all need to stop drinking it. On the contrary, I believe Milk is vital… to the people who need it.

For me, Milk does more harm than good; and I can get my nutrients from other sources.

I’m not sure when I started noticing things; I think I read an article then started looking for the authors symptoms in me. To say that I felt better after giving up milk would be an understatement. You never know how great you can feel until you stop feeling crappy.

These are a few symptoms I hadn’t associated with diary consumption: sluggishness, inconsistent bowel movement, bloating, weight gain, allergies and mucus

Yes, I include weight gain because I actually lost eight pounds in my three short diary free months; I’ve unsuccessfully tried to lose ten pounds for the last two years.

Now, there’s still some percentage of diary in my diet but I make sure it’s very small. My favourite powdered Chai has dried skim milk in it; sometimes I eat packaged foods that may contain diary, and I do have the occasional chocolate bar. My ultimate goal is to cut them out completely in time.

Someone suggested I try goat milk but the idea grossed me out, which then seemed ridiculous to me; I’ve been drinking a cow’s milk for years! At least goats are smaller in size.

I’ve switched to nut milks, but I don’t do soy because I have my issues with soy (that’s a whine for another day). Blue Diamond’s Almond Breeze in vanilla is my favourite.

It hasn’t changed my life much, I cohabit with dairy folks all day, save for a few taunts, cautions and the overall healthy feeling, life has pretty much been the same.

Technorati Tags: dairy free

This article on The Tyee got me thinking about a conversation I had with my mom a few weeks ago.

She and I were discussing the Dove Self Esteem Fund and she didn’t share my enthusiasm.

She laughed off my commendations for Dove as childish and said, “really, no person, church, organization or corporation should tell you how to feel or not feel about yourself, they all have their agendas”

Unilever the parent company of Dove it seems likes to compartmentalize its messages to suit its brands. It’s one company with very divergent messages.

There’s the one about being beautiful just the way you are:

There’s the one about having to change your appearance in order to be happy and successful:

Then there’s the one that’s just plain sexist (and ridiculous):

Technorati Tags: Hypocrisy, Unilever, Dove Self Esteem Fund, Fair and Lovely, The Axe Effect, The Lynx Effect

Forget the Green Card, the Blue Card is where is at!

So last month the European Union announced its version of the “Green Card” which will allow “highly skilled immigrants” from non-EU countries (esp. Asia, Africa and Latin America) to live, work and travel in the EU.Apparently the EU’s been losing out to the US, Canada and Australia on medical, IT, engineers and other highly skilled professionals.

I assume this has been in the works for a while, and though the names are similar and grants residency to the holder, the Green and Blue Cards differ in some of ways:

It’ll be interesting to know why the EU didn’t go with the Point system used by Australia and Canada – not that it’s more efficient; it does however make the qualification process straightforward.

The greatest hurdle for most immigrants will be the one year employment offer condition; companies can only hire non-EU citizens for positions that can’t be filled by EU citizens.

Ireland, Denmark and the UK can opt out (I’m not sure why) but all the others will have to participate.

That said, I’m going to learn Italian; my dream is beginning to look like a possibility. All I need is a firm willing to hire me for something none of the 59 million Italians can do.

Technorati Tags: EU Blue Card

I watch a lot of TV. Some say I watch too much TV but what do they know?

It seems the whole world is striking. Well not the whole world just the French, Hollywood writers, Broadway stagehands and the ones I don’t know about.

I don’t care that much about the striking French or the Broadway workers but like I said; I do watch a lot of TV.

I’ve been trying to come up with activities to fill my TV-watching-void when shows involuntarily go on hiatus.

I could read – I’ve been reading two books simultaneously for 4 months now, It’s probably time to buckle down and finish them.

There are always Canadian Content – there’re some great Canadian shows on TV – in fact my favourite show at the moment, Intelligence, is Canadian. It’s one of the best shows on TV bar none. There’s also Little Mosque on the Prairie, I could get back to Degrassi or give Corner Gas another try (frankly I don’t get it).

If all else fails, I hear Korean dramas are hot these days and I do find them charming.

I believe crocheting is an option too!

Technorati Tags: Strikes

My mom told me she had a dream about me when I called her this weekend.

The last time my mother dreamt about me… and told me, I ended up reenacting the dream because I was convinced it was somehow a revelation.

In this dream I was young again, about thirteen and being returned to my boarding school. When we got to the gates; I realized that we forgot to pack my toothbrush and I become distraught. She tried to assure me that she’d bring it on her next visit but I remained inconsolable.

My mom fancies herself a dream interpreter and believes this means that I’m about to enter a period of career development or get a promotion – it’s definitely related to work, she tells me.

What my mom doesn’t know is that two weekends ago when I went to Eugene, OR I forgot to bring my toothbrush. Now, I wasn’t distraught or anything – I just walked across the street to the gas station next to the hotel. I do however remember complaining tirelessly about the sketchiness of the toothbrush; it had no name, it just said “Just like Oral B”

So maybe my mom’s dreams have a visionary tilt to them; with the holiday season upon us I’m hoping she’d dream dreams where I’m getting presents. The Amazon Kindle would be nice or maybe the Sony Reader – I’ve always wanted the Reader…

Technorati Tags: Dreams