The dream started at a beautiful mansion with gorgeous multicolored bougainvillea growing all over the house. My family and I were there on some sort of mission sneaking around looking for something although I never actually found out what the purpose was. Sam (my previous step-brother) and I went together searching. He was not good at being stealthy at all so we were quickly discovered by the guards. The mansion was swarming with guards!!! The first guard we encountered was a very strong man, but we were able to run right past him. Unfortunately, he noticed us and sounded an alarm (which all of the guards did when we passed them). The next guard I remember passing was a very large lady. I attempted to throw her over he balcony down a flight of stairs, but she was to heavy to budge. For some reason she decided to help me out and climbed onto to the balcony but I still couldn't budge her. She finally just jumped off the edge and for some reason we had to watch her fall to the bottom which unfortunately I can still vividly remember :( . Sam and I continued to run down the limitless hallways past several guards, but we finally came to a dead end. A guard caught up with us finally . Sam was bale to hide in some sort of room. I was basically left out in the open, hiding behind a corner with nowhere to go. The guard saw me and pointed his machine gun at my chest. I screamed, "Please don't shoot me!" but before I could finish the sentence he had already pulled the trigger. The bullets sank into my chest, four of them. They were warm and painless to my surprise. At this point I was already dead, but I didn't realize it since I was still very conscious. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was Death. The text read "I'll be waiting for you outside, and I'll explain what happens next." I responded, "I am NOT coming outside. I don't want to die!!"
Suddenly, I was transported to a tub with several other people in it (two girls and one boy). We were all clothed and I didn't notice if we were sitting in water or not. It was a very strange situation. They were telling me I was dead and explaining I had to move on soon.
Next, I was transported to a classroom. I was telling everyone bye, and looking for someone in particular. I checked my facebook and someone wrote on my wall saying "Everything will be alright."
The final place I was transported was what appeared to be a very small house. Some of my coworkers were there, and many more random people were walking around. I asked everyone where my ex was because my time was quickly running out and no one could find him. I realized I wasn't to be able to find him and tell him bye, so I began crying uncontrollably. I went up to my friend Barbara, and asked her if she'd seen him, and of course she hadn't. I then went up to my friend Greg and hugged him, still crying uncontrollably. He told me I was out of time and that I had to leave. I hugged him very tightly, and, as I let go, I woke up still crying.
I really don't understand the significance of this dream, or even if it had any at all. It was just incredibly upsetting. Usually my dreams have some sort message or warning about something that will happen in the near future, so I really hope this was just a really bad nightmare without consequence!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
It's been FOREVER!!
Sorry I suck at life and can't update a blog except once every four months haha. I'm going to do better, promise. The last few months have been stressful, depressing, and busy, but I'm not gonna get into all that. Let's just say I was close to eating some of the foxglove growing around campus. Here is a picture of some growing in front of the campus bookstore:
Although this plant is very beautiful and may seem harmless, it's actually very poisonous (as you can see, learning about poisonous plants greatly interests me). It contains cardiac glycosides that will cause your heart to arrest in a very short amount of time. Just a nibble of the plant contains enough toxin to kill you. The two compounds responsible for this reaction are digitalis and digitoxin. When utilized in small dosages, digitalis can help with certain heart conditions such as congestive heart failure and arrhythmias. Many of the early herbalists used it to treat epilepsy and other seizure disorders, but it quickly faded out because of the variation of active compounds in each individual plant. There was no way to tell what dosage would be correct because each plant (as well as each part of the plant) had a different concentration.
Don't worry, I won't wait so long to post again. I'll alternate back and forth from poisonous to medicinal-everyone needs to know and understand the flora that grows around them. People become sick and die every day because of their lack of knowledge regarding the secondary metabolites in plants (including mushrooms). Please be conscious of what you pick from the yard. Just because it makes a pretty salad garnish doesn't mean it belongs on your plate. I've read a story of an elderly couple celebrating their 50th anniversary and the wife wanted to make a special dinner to celebrate. She decided to collect some mushrooms growing around her house that she was sure she knew were edible. Unfortunately, both her and her husband ended up dying. Remember to always consult some sort of field guide and even then be careful!!! (especially with mushrooms)
Well that's all that I have for you today. Look for more in the near future!
Although this plant is very beautiful and may seem harmless, it's actually very poisonous (as you can see, learning about poisonous plants greatly interests me). It contains cardiac glycosides that will cause your heart to arrest in a very short amount of time. Just a nibble of the plant contains enough toxin to kill you. The two compounds responsible for this reaction are digitalis and digitoxin. When utilized in small dosages, digitalis can help with certain heart conditions such as congestive heart failure and arrhythmias. Many of the early herbalists used it to treat epilepsy and other seizure disorders, but it quickly faded out because of the variation of active compounds in each individual plant. There was no way to tell what dosage would be correct because each plant (as well as each part of the plant) had a different concentration.
Don't worry, I won't wait so long to post again. I'll alternate back and forth from poisonous to medicinal-everyone needs to know and understand the flora that grows around them. People become sick and die every day because of their lack of knowledge regarding the secondary metabolites in plants (including mushrooms). Please be conscious of what you pick from the yard. Just because it makes a pretty salad garnish doesn't mean it belongs on your plate. I've read a story of an elderly couple celebrating their 50th anniversary and the wife wanted to make a special dinner to celebrate. She decided to collect some mushrooms growing around her house that she was sure she knew were edible. Unfortunately, both her and her husband ended up dying. Remember to always consult some sort of field guide and even then be careful!!! (especially with mushrooms)
Well that's all that I have for you today. Look for more in the near future!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The AMAZING Tea Tree Oil!!
I personally LOVE tea tree oil (from Melaleuca alternifolia) because of it's antibacterial properties. It can get rid of a pimple in about a day, and, compared to expensive acne medicines and creams, this is really an inexpensive way to go. A 1 oz bottle will cost on average ten dollars, but it will last you a LONG time.
Tea tree oil has become very common lately. Everyone is starting to learn of it's panacea properties. While tea tree oil is a very good anti-bacterial, it is also a great anti-viral and anti-fungal. Many people use it to treat cold sores, shingles, or chicken pox. It's also been used to treat athletes foot as well as other fungal infection of the skin. Tea tree oil is NOT to be taken internally though - this oil is very toxic. It's probably a good idea to always dilute the amount that you use in water or in whatever product you plan on using. Many people have found that using it to wash your animals kills fleas that may have taken shelter in their pet's fur.
The uses of tea tree oil really are infinite. It's very inexpensive, very easy to use, and very efficient. I often mix a drop of it in with my face wash for added benefits. You can find many products such as face wash, mouthwash, toothpaste, deodorant, cleaning supplies, and other bathroom supplies that contain a small amount tea tree oil in them. Using tea tree oil has saved me from some pretty harsh pimples several times, so I really recommend giving this product a try!
Tea tree oil has become very common lately. Everyone is starting to learn of it's panacea properties. While tea tree oil is a very good anti-bacterial, it is also a great anti-viral and anti-fungal. Many people use it to treat cold sores, shingles, or chicken pox. It's also been used to treat athletes foot as well as other fungal infection of the skin. Tea tree oil is NOT to be taken internally though - this oil is very toxic. It's probably a good idea to always dilute the amount that you use in water or in whatever product you plan on using. Many people have found that using it to wash your animals kills fleas that may have taken shelter in their pet's fur.
The uses of tea tree oil really are infinite. It's very inexpensive, very easy to use, and very efficient. I often mix a drop of it in with my face wash for added benefits. You can find many products such as face wash, mouthwash, toothpaste, deodorant, cleaning supplies, and other bathroom supplies that contain a small amount tea tree oil in them. Using tea tree oil has saved me from some pretty harsh pimples several times, so I really recommend giving this product a try!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Yellow Jasmine (Jessamine)
Yellow Jasmine has been South Carolina's state flower since February 1, 1924 because of several reasons. It is one of the first bloomers of Spring, it is very aromatic, and the yellow color of the flowers resemble purity like gold. Also, it returns every year-even after incredibly harsh winters-symbolizing patriotism.
But with this purity and beauty comes danger. Yellow Jasmine contains very strong alkaloids called gelsemine and gelseminine which are very toxic when someone comes into contact with them. Many children are poisoned each each year because they are often mistaken for Japanese honeysuckle. Little girls also like to make "crowns" of flowers out of them. In one incident, a young girl was in a coma for several weeks after wearing a crown of these beautiful flowers. Even touching the vine and rubbing your eye could cause irritation. So, if you love growing yellow jasmine or have some growing nearby, make sure that you know this plant is a look but don't touch species.
But with this purity and beauty comes danger. Yellow Jasmine contains very strong alkaloids called gelsemine and gelseminine which are very toxic when someone comes into contact with them. Many children are poisoned each each year because they are often mistaken for Japanese honeysuckle. Little girls also like to make "crowns" of flowers out of them. In one incident, a young girl was in a coma for several weeks after wearing a crown of these beautiful flowers. Even touching the vine and rubbing your eye could cause irritation. So, if you love growing yellow jasmine or have some growing nearby, make sure that you know this plant is a look but don't touch species.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Some of my favorite plants
Ok, so this is kind of random, but I love plants and nature in general. Every now and then I will post some pictures of plants that I see that are unusual or just interesting. Here are some pictures I have taken recently:
This picture is of Agave or "Century Plant". It is one of my favorite plants because of how big it can get and how unusual it is:
Here is a writing spider. I've always thought these were very interesting.
And a random assortment of other pictures:
This picture is of Agave or "Century Plant". It is one of my favorite plants because of how big it can get and how unusual it is:
Here is a writing spider. I've always thought these were very interesting.
And a random assortment of other pictures:
Start of an already bad day....
So...today started off kind of rough already. I missed my alarm clock at seven and was late for work...thank goodness for built in alarms! I woke up right about the time that I should have been walking through the doors at work. I love how I can always wake up right at the time I'm supposed to be somewhere but never fifteen or twenty minutes earlier so that I actually have time to do something about it. I wake up with just enough time to have a panic attack and still be late. So today's post will be attributed to plants that can calm you or give you an overall good feeling.
I have previously taken a yoga class in which we learned many ways to control our emotions and to calm ourselves in times of distress. Meditating in the corpse pose or several sun salutations will definitely do the trick, but often in our practice we would incorporate lavender in several ways. At the beginning of our practice we would take lavender essential oil and rub a couple drops on our wrists, temples, and I always rubbed some down the sides of my neck. This, in a sense, opens you and relaxes the muscles and nerves. We also burned lavender oil. Having the smell wafting through the air is a great way to further the calming effects. At the end of the session we would have what we called "dessert". This was basically our cool down where we would meditate on the things we had learned during practice. We would often lay in corpse pose with an eye pillow infused with lavender. These are just some of the many ways that lavender can be utilized to calm or de-stress yourself.
Here is a little something that can help you sleep at night:
Here is what you need:
A small pillow case (tinier than your normal size pillow case)
4 handfuls dried hops flowers
4 handfuls dried lavender flowers
This comes from a show on BBC called "Grow Your Own Drugs".
Place the hops flowers and lavender flowers inside of the tiny pillow case or fabric sleeve and zip/sew the fabric up. You now have a great sleep aid that is inexpensive and will last you a while! I know that hops and lavender flowers are kind of hard to find, but at organic stores (Earthfare, World Market), farmers markets, or herbal stores you may come across some. They aren't as rare as you may think.
Most people don't realize that hops flowers can induce sleep. When picking these flowers in hops fields, many people find themselves growing tired and will often have to take naps while harvesting.
Zac
I have previously taken a yoga class in which we learned many ways to control our emotions and to calm ourselves in times of distress. Meditating in the corpse pose or several sun salutations will definitely do the trick, but often in our practice we would incorporate lavender in several ways. At the beginning of our practice we would take lavender essential oil and rub a couple drops on our wrists, temples, and I always rubbed some down the sides of my neck. This, in a sense, opens you and relaxes the muscles and nerves. We also burned lavender oil. Having the smell wafting through the air is a great way to further the calming effects. At the end of the session we would have what we called "dessert". This was basically our cool down where we would meditate on the things we had learned during practice. We would often lay in corpse pose with an eye pillow infused with lavender. These are just some of the many ways that lavender can be utilized to calm or de-stress yourself.
Here is a little something that can help you sleep at night:
Here is what you need:
A small pillow case (tinier than your normal size pillow case)
4 handfuls dried hops flowers
4 handfuls dried lavender flowers
This comes from a show on BBC called "Grow Your Own Drugs".
Place the hops flowers and lavender flowers inside of the tiny pillow case or fabric sleeve and zip/sew the fabric up. You now have a great sleep aid that is inexpensive and will last you a while! I know that hops and lavender flowers are kind of hard to find, but at organic stores (Earthfare, World Market), farmers markets, or herbal stores you may come across some. They aren't as rare as you may think.
Most people don't realize that hops flowers can induce sleep. When picking these flowers in hops fields, many people find themselves growing tired and will often have to take naps while harvesting.
Zac
Monday, February 15, 2010
First Post!
Hello everyone,
First and foremost, I LOVE plants and learning about the impact they play on our lives. Many people don't realize the important roles that plants play in their lives. Musicians rosin their bows with the sap of pine trees, doctors treat patients with pain medicines containing acetylsalicylic acid which is similar to that of the salicin found in the bark of willow trees, and when people throw on blue jeans they don't realize that they wouldn't be blue without the help of a compound from the indigo plants. Although most of the compounds we use today are synthetic, they would have not been discovered so easily without the help of plants. This blog will mostly be about the effects that plants play on humanity. I'll be posting some of my favorite plants, stories that I find interesting or entertaining, and maybe some medicinal recipes that involve plants. I'm very excited about this blog and I hope that everyone else finds it interesting and useful in some way. There will be a little something on here for every one no matter what the age or gender.
Zac
First and foremost, I LOVE plants and learning about the impact they play on our lives. Many people don't realize the important roles that plants play in their lives. Musicians rosin their bows with the sap of pine trees, doctors treat patients with pain medicines containing acetylsalicylic acid which is similar to that of the salicin found in the bark of willow trees, and when people throw on blue jeans they don't realize that they wouldn't be blue without the help of a compound from the indigo plants. Although most of the compounds we use today are synthetic, they would have not been discovered so easily without the help of plants. This blog will mostly be about the effects that plants play on humanity. I'll be posting some of my favorite plants, stories that I find interesting or entertaining, and maybe some medicinal recipes that involve plants. I'm very excited about this blog and I hope that everyone else finds it interesting and useful in some way. There will be a little something on here for every one no matter what the age or gender.
Zac
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