Tue, 31 May 2005

Pharmaceutical Companies Rub Their Hands Together Gleefully
In case you are wondering- I have never been diagnosed with ADD. It could be a complete coincidence that I happen to fit the descriptions of adults with ADD, and score high on the ADD questionnaires and already use many of the coping strategies recommended on the various ADD websites. Or… worse… it could be part of an evil plot by pharmaceutical companies to get people to take their ADD drugs.

This is a common complaint these days. The idea is that these days, descriptions of various disorders and disabilities are so general and so vague that everyone will fit into them. And then everyone will take drugs and the pharmaceutical companies will become rich. Mwahaha. I think there’s some truth in this.

At the same time, I don’t think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. My personal strategy is- if some coping strategy actively improves my life when I try it out, for whatever reason, then I use it. I personally favour drugs as an immediate ‘crisis situation’ fix, if needed, and then life style changes as a long term solution. I think both have their place.

In fact, along those lines, I quite liked this person’s article (What to Do When Your ADHD Bag of Tricks Comes Up Short). Also, interestingly, the person writing the article is a lawyer and has an interesting take on the drug/coping strategy mix. At one point he writes:

“A trial, like a battle, is a highly fluid situation. Planning is a fantastic tool for preparation, but rigidity in implementation can be the kiss of death. I have tried to appreciate my flexibility and recognize it as a talent. My medication helps me plan better than I used to, but I never take medicine when on trial. I have learned that I need that edge that my ADHD naturally provides. I need to adapt my plan or even create a new one depending on the circumstances. Preparation gives me more confidence during a trial, but I remain free to respond to anything that comes up.”

posted at: 14:29 | path: /living | link

Responsibility- it’s a big word
This morning I went to my doctor’s appointment. I was right on time, at 9:45. The only problem was that my doctor’s appointment is tomorrow, not today.

And yes- I checked the calendar last night and *still* got the day wrong! At least it wasn’t yesterday- which would have been considerably more detrimental to both me and the doctor’s office.

Lately I’ve been trying hard to be responsible about remembering to do things. This is a challenge for me, since I don’t remember times and events to begin with and, even more problematically, I am much more likely to forget about or mix up the timing of events that I don’t really want to go to or that I have mixed feelings about. I do genuinely forget about these events, but I can’t help but believe that there’s something subconscious and slightly nefarious at work, given the skewed ratio.

Consequently, I found this article about ADD and morality interesting. Specifically, if we are ‘scatter-brained’ or ‘lazy’ or ‘unmotivated’ or ‘irresponsible’, does a diagnosis like ADD or LD or anxiety disorder or depression or a personality disorder, and so on, let us off the hook too easily? This article argues that it doesn’t- and that understanding who we are and how we work can often make us more responsible, not less.

posted at: 00:54 | path: /living | link

Mon, 30 May 2005

The Force?
“Your friends have it… your family has it… you have it….” Am I talking about the force? No! In my case I’m talkng about Attention Deficit Disorder! Here’s 50 useful tips on management. A nice, encouraging quote from this site: “And yet, their capacity to hope and to dream is immense. More than most people, adults with ADHD have visionary imaginations. They think big thoughts and dream big dreams. They can take the smallest opportunity and imagine turning it into a major break. They can take a chance encounter and turn it into a grand evening out. They thrive on dreams, and they need organizing methods to make sense of things and keep them on track.”

I’m also thinking about buying YOU MEAN I’M NOT LAZY, STUPID OR CRAZY?!: A Self-help Book for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder and also A.D.D. on the Job: Making Your A.D.D. Work for You

Use the force Luke…

posted at: 18:05 | path: /living | link

Sun, 29 May 2005

Cycling Two Abreast
Colin and I have been having this conundrum, where I maintain that it is not okay to ride two abreast, and he maintains that it is. It turns out that this could be because it is illegal in Nova Scotia but there are no specific rules in Ontario. Apparently it used to be prohibited in the Ottawa-Carleton region, but I found this discussion, from 1994, stating that it is no longer prohibited.

posted at: 14:24 | path: /living | link

Thu, 26 May 2005

Hawthorn
We went to see our new house yesterday, to take some measurements and get a first time look at the backyard, which was covered by snow when we bought it. We knew there was a hedge there, but we didn’t know what it was. I thought I might want to replace it with something native, that had edible berries. Well- guesss what? If the current owner is correct about its identity, it is already native (or at least, there are native versions of it) and it has edible berries. Woohoo! Apparently it’s a hawthorn. Yay! Rated 4 out of 5 for usefullness on the Seeds for a future database.

posted at: 12:36 | path: /living | link

Tue, 24 May 2005

First the Meatrix, now…
Store Wars! Coming soon to a grocery store near you!

It’s downloading slowly right now, no doubt due to popularity, but well worth the wait. You can download the whole thing, rather than have it stream, for easier viewing.

posted at: 10:41 | path: /living | link

More Perennials and Self Seeding Annuals
A couple more to add to the list of perennial vegetables: Jerusalem Artichokes (actually a type of sunflower) and Perennial Kale. Also, I suspect that wild onion might be a perennial. If not- it must at least be self propogating. And I know that violets are edible, and they seem to come up every year without prompting in the Glebe.

Which reminds me that another way to go is with self seeding annuals. Since they seed themselves, they are also low maintenance. I haven’t found too much information on this, but this article at least suggests that it might be possible to work something out with tomatoes and squash. And then there are berry and fruit trees.

posted at: 00:59 | path: /living | link

Perennial Vegetables
I’m very interested in the idea of perennial gardens because I like the idea of having a garden that just comes up each year. Hard to argue with that idea, at least if you’re me :). To that end, I want to make a list of ‘perennial vegetables’. I know that rhubarb and asparagus are perennial. I also know that hostas are edible, although I currently feel a bit shy about eating them. Dandelions are also a perennial candidate. This Michigan company has some perennial vegetables available. I like their quote about their strain of asparagus: “The original plants were wild and surrounded by quackgrass. The asparagus was winning. Our 80 year old neighbor lady is occasionally seen jumping the fence to pick our asparagus. Memo to self: Give some asparagus plants to our neighbor rather than the pole vault.”

posted at: 00:28 | path: /living | link

Sun, 22 May 2005

Using Sun Dried Tomatoes
I’ve had a jar of sundried tomatoes sitting in my kitchen cupboard for about half a year now, and today was the first time I used them. I wanted to make some little mini pizzas and I was out of tomato paste. It occurred to me that there should be some way to make a reasonable substitute out of the dried tomatoes. The end result was a bit watery, but not too bad. I often run out of tomato paste and tomato sauce, so I started to wonder if perhaps there was an official recipe that would tell me how to make these two food items out of dried tomatoes. This site suggests grinding up the ground tomatoes to make a tomato powder, and then creating a tomato paste or sauce by adding water to the tomato powder. I’m going to give it a try.

posted at: 23:56 | path: /living | link

Sat, 21 May 2005

The Iron Dilemma
Again and again I come back to this problem with low meat diets- I need iron! I recently had my levels tested and was told they need to be boosted a bit. I’ve tried the ‘eat lots of non-meat iron rich foods’ and I’m just not that good at keeping it up. But every now and then, I vow to try again. In that context, I thought that this article was very informative. It talks about how the picture of vegetarian vs non-vegetarian may be more complicated than we think- which seems to be always the case these days when it comes to diet. The one annoying thing about the article, which on the whole was quite balanced, was that at the end it suddenly concludes “So don’t eat red meat, because it is bad”. Whether or not this is the case, it wasn’t a conclusion that I think was at all supported by the article. Oh well.

posted at: 10:54 | path: /living | link

Fri, 20 May 2005

Ecological Footprint
I’ve been learning more about ecological footprints and incorporating the idea into my buying schemes- which I noticed when I started thinking about buying a new composter. An ecological footprint is how much land it takes to support a person, or an activity (like heating your house) or to manufacture a particular product (like shoes). When the concept of an ecological footprint came out, it was hard to know how individuals could calculate it for themselves or make use of the idea. Now, however, people have done some work on making the concept easier to use, and you can find online ecological footprint calculators like this one.

I like the concept of the ecological footprint for several reasons. First off, it gives people something tangible to think about- something that they can visual fairly easily and understand readily. Second, rather than just saying to people “don’t do that- it’s bad for the environment!”, you can give them a measure and let them judge for themselves what they want to do. I think it can also give people something positive to think about. You can understand how you are making a difference by understanding how your actions and choices affect your footprint. I like that.

posted at: 23:55 | path: /living | link

Wine Barrel Composter
I quite like this wine barrel composter since it is made out of wood, and is recycled from a wine barrel. It’s quite expensive, though. The company that sells it, Master Garden Products, has some other neat products as well.

posted at: 23:43 | path: /living | link

Rotating Barrel Composter
As some people know, my composter has been on the go for about 2 years now. I’m going to check it before we move, but I’m pretty sure that in that time it hasn’t produced any fully composted material. Consequently, while it has been a success in terms of reducing our garbage output, it hasn’t provided me with any new dirt for my flower pots. When we move, I’m going to get a barrel composter like this one. I don’t need compost in 13 days, though. I’ll settle for anything less than 13 months…

posted at: 23:35 | path: /living | link

The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club
I continue to find cool Ottawa clubs. The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club looks very appealing. They are having a native plant sale on June 4th and I can’t wait to go! If any of you Ottawa-ites want to come along, let me know.

posted at: 23:30 | path: /living | link

Thu, 12 May 2005

Killing the Buddha
An interesting website for those of us raised in ambiguously religious households. My singing friends might enjoy this article about singing Christian music when you aren’t Christian. I had this experience when singing the Messiah these past two years.

The name of the website comes from a Buddhist koan. There are various versions the simplest of which is “If you meet the Buddha, kill him.” Another version from this site is: When you meet the Buddha, you kill the Buddha. When you meet Bodhidharma, you kill Bodhidharma.” Here’s a discussion of what this might mean, although I find the attempt to provide an explanation a bit puzzling, since it is my understanding that the point of a koan is to not understand it, and thus liberate yourself from understanding.

posted at: 12:51 | path: /living | link

Woot!
I really like the term ‘woot’. I think ‘woot’ is cute. Here’s the origin of the word.

posted at: 12:32 | path: /living | link

Mon, 09 May 2005

Eating Hostas
I was out in Kringen’s garden the other day, admiring her many lovely plants. She has a number of Hostas coming up and I remembered reading that they are edible. We wondered at the time how you would actually prepare them for eating. Here is an article that says you can use the leaves like spinach (although the author doesn’t say that they *taste* like spinach). From the same site, here’s a recipe for Hosta Potato Dumplings. According to this website, hosta are called giboshi in Japanese. The young leaves are sold in grocery stores in the spring.

Apparently you can eat daylilies, too.

posted at: 16:21 | path: /living | link

Fri, 06 May 2005

Baking With Olive Oil
I really do love baked goods, but I usually avoid them because I worry about them being unhealthy. However, olive oil is a healthy, mainly monounsaturated, fat, and apparently it is quite possible to bake with olive oil- you just need to use a little less. Here’s a conversion chart. The basic rule is 25% less olive oil than butter.

posted at: 12:27 | path: /living | link

Technical Documentation Weirdness
This stuff just makes me roll on the floor laughing.

posted at: 12:15 | path: /living | link

Wed, 04 May 2005

Decorating Styles
I mentioned to Colin the other day that I thought it would be interesting to try out a nordic decorating style in our new house. He said he had no idea what a nordic decorating style was, or what any decorating style was, for that matter. Despite this, he has some definite style ideas- he just doesn’t realize that they are particular style ideas. Consequently, I’m looking for some pictures of different decorating styles to help him out. I found a list of some different types of styles here but there aren’t any pictures, so the page isn’t that helpful. The Home and Garden Television site has a few more pictures. They also have a style dictionary. I can see Colin going for an Arts and Crafts style or maybe even a Shaker style, except that there might not be enough bright colours there. I’m also a fan of Alpine and Asian styles, myself, but not necessarily together.

posted at: 17:07 | path: /living | link

Sun, 01 May 2005

Convalesence
As Helen Ramsdale notes, Canadians seem a bit mystified by the idea of convalescence. She writes: ” Canadians… seem to have been brought up to believe that one is either acutely sick or well, and the progress from sick to well occurs when one gets out of bed.” I must admit I am a bit mystified by the concept of convalescence myself, and I have yet to find any good instructions on how to make that gradual transition from being sick to being healthy, but I’ll keep looking.

posted at: 14:33 | path: /living | link

All material copyrighted by Jen Schellinck. All rights reserved.