AnandaPratt's Open Salon Blog

Ironey...

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 15:08:22 -0400

You are What you Eat

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 20:08:33 -0400

Aug. 25, 2011

This is from a year ago, just as important today as it was then! send this to your friends that have kids!

Aug 10, 2010
The news paper headline today stated the startling fact that girls as young as 7! are going into puberty!

I started my menses when I was 10, that was especially young back then! I was blessed with a mother that took the time to explain things to me and help me through the difficult transition. She made it ok for me to keep being a kid while going through a painful period...pun intended;)

I read an article on WebMD that explained the basis of the study;

http://children.webmd.com/news/20100809/study-girls-entering-puberty-earlier

(The study was conducted within the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers (BCERC), established in late 2003 as a partnership with the National Institute of Environmental Health Science and National Cancer Institute, which funded the research. Research suggests that women with breast cancer started their periods earlier, and that those with earlier onset of periods have an increased breast cancer risk. )

No where in this study does it actually say that these girls are getting their menses this early but there is the potential. It is a study done by the BCERC, to try and figure out why Breast Cancer seems to be rising, even as we are getting healthier and diagnostics are getting better.

I feel that I am uniquely qualified to speak to this topic, as I am a woman who started puberty at 10 And who has a great many of the markers for Breast Cancer. Cancer runs in my family, my Grand Mother died of it when she was 39 and my mother was diagnosed with thyroid cancer when she was 19.

What I find interesting is that although we are talking about young girls developing breasts at a younger age, No one is looking at the Diet, beyond the BMI, of these young girls.

I would say that children that are given high amounts of dairy and red meat, whether that be in the form of Big Mac's or WalMart milk, and all the other daily ingested Bovine products. It seems to me that no one is willing to talk about the Big Pink Elephant in the middle of our country...

The Industrial Dairy Complex! I will not go into vivid detail of these places, its been done.

I live in an unusually rare local, one where people are aware of the environmental as well as personal health risks associated with rBST's. Having grown up with dairy farms in my back yard ( I grew up in a small Northern Ca. town) and apple orchards all around, I was fortunate enough to actually know Where my food was coming from, And more importantly from Whom.

These kids are having cereal for breakfast, milk with lunch as well as cheese and hamburger. This is what the School gives them. When they are at home they eat what their parents have provided. Most middle American families shop at WalMart or something comparable because they offer the cheapest foods. They buy large amounts therefore they can afford to sell milk for 2$ a gallon. They can sell ground beef for 1$ a pound cause they buy tons of it literally.

The study done by the BCERC stated another reason our kids are developing sooner:

'Endocrine-disrupting compounds or EDCs are found in a host of consumer products, ranging from personal care products such as antibacterial soaps to furniture and anti-stain fabrics. '

The Endocrine system is what monitors our Hormones People! They use rBST in conjunction with antibiotics, like those found in anti bacterial soaps... not harmful if only used occasionally but used every time you wash your hands, in the shower and on your dishes...

For the sake of argument and just so we are all on the same page here is what Wiki has to say of rBST:

'... synthesize[d] hormone using recombinant DNA technology to create recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), or artificial growth hormone.'

'...which is produced through a genetically engineered E. coli. A gene that codes for the sequence of amino acids that make up BST is inserted into the DNA of the E. coli bacterium. The bacteria are then broken up and separated from the rBST, which, then, is purified to produce the injectable hormone.'

A hormone, an artificial Growth Hormone... Does No one see the Possible connection? Girls as young as young as 7 developing breasts, having unusual hormone levels...

I opine that it is the same with dairy and red meat products. How many meals do you eat in a day? Lets say a healthy woman in her early 30's eats three meals a day and a couple of snacks. She goes to the gym in the morning and has a good 30 min work out. She has a smoothy, with non fat milk and a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. She has a mid morning snack of an apple and some cheese. For lunch she has a salad with blue cheese vinaigrette and a cup of clam chowder. In the late afternoon she has an orange and a few pieces of cheese. She has had three cups of coffee during her work day with low fat milk. She goes home and makes a healthy dinner of lean flank steak with a butter garlic sauce, steamed green beans and a small salad with parmesan cheese sprinkled on it, for dessert she has some low fat ice cream.

In this very real, very mundane way she has had a meal with dairy or red meat in it every time she has ingested food. I am sure because she is at work All the soap dispensers have antibacterial soap in them and she uses hand sanitizer throughout the day. This used to be my life, so it is not that far of a stretch.

Think about how many meals you have in a day that contain red meat and or dairy... just something to think about.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Open Call, First Blog Evah: Why it sucks to be a server!

Mon, 8 Aug 2011 14:08:22 -0400

Just came upon this Web site, called Serversnotslaves.com...Seriously rocks.

I think I have found an untapped market though. A place where people who work in the service industry can talk about the fucked up shit their boss' do...So heres my attempt.

Not so much a question as a comment. First off I don’t have facebook…Too many creepers and way too much spam! Some props to you for puttin this together, its a great resource.
I was in the biz for 15 years, like you I pretty much did everything FOH and BOH.
My experience as a server is not solely about how lame customers are (although the $2 $5 rule kills me!). I do have to say something about the Owners and Managers of these fine (or not so fine) establishments. I, Like you, have worked in Corporate as well as the mom and pops (which by the way are the worst in my experience!). I live in San Francisco and have worked in Sonoma (wine country), fine dining, median, Bistro, and wine bars. I have also worked at Denny’s, Applebee’s, and Tony Roma’s…The one thing these all have in common is that, as a server you have a boss. If you are lucky it will have been someone who actually Worked as a server at some point in their lives, if not, you will end up with what I like to call ‘Bosszilla’.
I made an amazing living as a server and bartender ( yes I’m female, and have big bazooms;). It helps to be an amazing waitress that can anticipate her guests needs… The thing that always drove me nutz way the sexual harassment (from the boss)(we expect it from customers). You as a male I’m sure get some of it ( I know I was guilty with some of my co-workers, but only after we had come to an agreement, or slept together, tehe), When yhour in the weeds and you go back and ask your manager to drink your table the last thing you want to hear is ‘I’d rather drink a piece of you” har har!. Worse is the Owner that helps you, then calls you back after your shift and tells you that your relying too much on help from your co-workers and management… Sorry if I’m in the weeds and your sitting back filing your nails….in the kitchen! I am going to ask you to help…Hell isn’t it your job!
I injured myself at work and can no longer Be a server, which to those of us that really love this work is devastating. My boss then sent me to quack after quack, cause we know that servers don’t get insurance, and Workers Comp. is just that…a compromise! I was mis-diagnosed for 4 years and then finally when I couldn’t stand or hold a freakin plate anymore I was ‘laid off’ due to the economy…
Blah blah, poor me.
Listen my point is that Customers Suck!, we expect that. What I don’t get is why the boss’ feel the need to be asses too. I always worked hard, if I didn’t make the most tips (pool or not) I was always top 3. I was a corporate trainer on how to up-sell crappy food, as a manager I was always patient when training and helping where needed. As a co-worker, if I wasn’t busy I always helped out with side work or expediting. That’s what a team player does!
To all the Owners and Managers: Stop being such dicks and cunts and help a server out! You may get more in salary, but we still make more than you do! and if you help us out we’ll tip you, dip shit! I don’t know why more servers don’t tip their managers when they help? as a manager they do everything (when they are good) from picking up a table so you can go deal with ‘girl stuff’ or take a long needed break, to expediting, to just filling freakin water.
To all the Owners and Managers you use their position to harass the servers when they are busy, Fuck off! We need this job to make ends meet, we don’t need to dread coming to work in our ‘uniform’ (why is it that the shirts are always so thin and tight?), to have every last one of you ogle our rock hard nipples, cause you keep the AC up to 50 degrees!
As much as I complain about table so and so for not tipping me at least 15% and running me like your my pimp on friday nite, You at least have no clue.
What to do about the Owners and Managers….I dunno. I think it will be one for the ages. Ha, maybe I should start a blog for all the crappy Owners and managers that the servers can send them to… I’ll very clearly and in simple terms that even a college graduate can understand, explain the Legal aspects of being a douche!…tehe.
Thanks for the blog,and hearing me out.
nonnie

A Word on Mothers Day...

Sun, 8 May 2011 15:05:20 -0400

Mothers Day...

A day when all children, either from the womb or from the wellspring of love and caring that comes forth from a woman toward another being. We all love our mothers (well most of us that is, I'm not counting of course the horrible ones you see on tv;).

According to Wiki:

"One of the early calls to celebrate a Mother's Day in the United States was the "Mother's Day Proclamation" by Julia Ward Howe. Written in 1870, it was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. The Proclamation was tied to Howe's feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level.

(I believe we need more of this in our day and age!)

In the years after the Mother's Day Proclamation, Ann Jarvis founded five Mothers' Day Work Clubs to improve sanitary and health conditions. In 1907, two years after Ann Jarvis' death, her daughter Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother and began a campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the US. Although she was successful in 1914, she was already disappointed with its commericalization by the 1920s."

"...the US holiday was adopted by other countries and cultures, the date was changed to fit already existing celebrations honouring motherhood, like Mothering Sunday in the UK or, in Greece, the Orthodox celebration of the presentation of Jesus to the temple (February 2). In some countries it was changed to dates that were significant to the majority religion, like the Virgin Mary day in Catholic countries, or the birthday of the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic countries. Other countries changed it to historical dates, like Bolivia using the date of a certain battle where women participated.^[9]..."

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day)

So it is mainly an Abrahamic thing... or at the very least a day to commemorate the fact that women were willing to put down their lives for what they believed in, namely, Us; Which I believe is what Anna Jarvis had in mind when she trademarked the holiday in 1912. It's a chance to celebrate the person who gives us life, or as stated above, gives us a chance. I also think there was a time when women were enpowered to rise up and flex that Maternal Roar! Some how we need to find this again.

Mother Day is a day to take Mum out, show her appreciation, send her a hand made card or at the very least give her a call... and above all, and most importantly it's a day of reflection for those of us that are horrible children...

Children that are so self involved they can't be bothered to take the time to drop a line or even think of the woman who gave them care, brought them up, showed them how to jimmy the lock so you could break into the upstairs empty apartment and have a party with your friends... this is the woman you need to thank! How may times has this been an invaluable tool when you needed a place to stay cause your roomates kicked you out?

Think of the times when she was there when you or one of your friends was having a bad trip and needed a safe place to come down... who else would have gotten you the cleanest acid, so you and your friends could stop having bad trips?

Not to mention the days when you thought you would never make it through and she would give you a new deck of cards and show you a new trick, like how to con some schmuk into giving cash... Now all of these are things that you have used time and again... Today is the day to thank her for showing you how to cook... this is a useful skill, you can get a job... gain their trust and then once they give you the keys make off with the meat locker and the register....

Today is the day to thank your Mother Unit, be she a he, an it or a her with an attitude... today is the day to thank the person who showed you the least or most amount of love and whom you call Mother, Mum, Mommy, Moms, Ma, Maman, Mutter, Anya, Madre, or Okaasan...

Schastlívogo Dniá Tebé Mámochka!

okaasan no hi, omedetou!

Glædelig mors dag

Feliz Dia de las Madres

ΧαροÏÂμÎνη ΗμÎρα της ΜητÎρας

masaya ina ng araw

glücklich muttertag

feliz dia da mãe

ãÂŠæ¯ÂãÂ•ã‚“ãÂ®æ—¥ãÂŠã‚ÂãÂ§ãÂ¨ãÂ†

or just plain ol'

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Thank you for putting up with me, I love you.

Thought for Today

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:01:49 -0500

I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.

-Khalil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931)

It does truly amaz me that we are Not more thankful to those who are the worst to us... Think about it, when you go into a store and the check out person is grumpy and rude what is your reaction... do you get angry? Do you try and understand where this person may be coming from? Are you rude and grumpy becausee they are rude and grumpy? How amazing would it be if instead of looking at this person, or situatuation, as a negative one, if instead we look at it as possibility for learning and growth?I know that whenI am having a bad day if someone comes to me with a smile and a G'day... it can shange my whole mood... Don't forget to thank those who challenge you, and appreciate them. They are a gift the Universe gives us to teach us some of the most amazing lessons!
Thank you for your attention, Have a beautiful day...a