RANDOM THOUGHT - Mexican Proverb

They tried to bury us.  They didn't know we were seeds.

(c) unknown.  Seen online

Who couldn't love that?

We all go through "it", whatever "it" may have been, could have been, would have been, will be.  Just remember that life is impartial most of the time.  We all get treated unfairly at least once in our lifetime.  We all get blamed for things we didn't do.  We all get off Scot free over things we really shouldn't have done in the first place.

What's left to do?

Just learn from it.  Tuck it away in the back of your mind and keep on growing upwards and outwards.

For example (this isn't me getting buried by anything other than guilt), I had a boyfriend once upon a time.  His mother told me in a joking sort of way that he used to want to grow up to be Annie Oakley.  It didn't occur to me that that was a sort of gender identity crisis and I didn't take it seriously.

Said boyfriend and I were on a double dinner date.  When he got up for the restroom, I told his (CO-WORKER friend) about the Annie Oakley thing.  They made fun of him when he returned to the table.  I thought it was hilarious, but my boyfriend was humiliated, and I couldn't understand why.  That's what happens when we're insensitive, and it wasn't until years later that I really got it, how I'd been a b*tch.  He couldn't turn his back on me for a second, which meant I was untrustworthy and lacked integrity.  When it hit me what I'd done, it was too late, and the guilt set in.

I could stay buried under the weight of my own guilt, or I could find out what it meant to have integrity, to be loyal even when I was left to my own devices, and grow upwards and outwards from that.  I'm under no obligation to stay stuck in my own darkness.  God's light within can shine and it's always a choice worth taking.

Make someone else's day magical!
Mackenzie

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY LIQUID HAND SOAP - FROM LIVEGREEN

The quest continues for products that are safe, effective and get good marks from Environmental Working Group.  These are all available from www.livegreen.life/peace.

What you need to know about LiveGreen: their mission is to make healthy living affordable.  Membership shopping ($99/year includes free shipping and a tree planted).

If you saw my post with the dead fish, you'll know why I'm on a mission of my own to help Florida's ecosystem.  We can't survive if the planet is in distress, and buying products from companies who share those values will help our descendants have a healthy planet to call home.  Healthy and natural and organic mean nothing if all you do is believe the marketing banner on the label. 

EWG is a trusted source that vets the ingredients.

Brand / scent / EWG score / Note

A La Maison	fig and basil	2	low hazard
A La Maison	fresh sea salt	2	low hazard
Avalon Organics	refreshing lemon glycerin	4	moderate hazard
Avalon Organics	rosemary glycerin	4	moderate hazard
Avalon Organics	lavender	5	moderate hazard
EO Everyone	meyer lemon and mandarin	TOP	top marks incl manufacturing process
EO Everyone	apricot and vanilla	TOP	top marks incl manufacturing process
EO Everyone	lavender and coconut	TOP	top marks incl manufacturing process
EO Everyone	spearmint and lemongrass	TOP	top marks incl manufacturing process

ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY CLEANING - Laundry Detergent

The cyanobacteria messing up Florida's coastline and inland waterways is a big problem.  Marine life is dying!  The noxious smells of rotting carcasses is making people sick too.  It may take an act of the Governor (ha!  Rick Scott???) or an act of consumers to get Florida's Big Sugar industry to stop polluting the water.  That fight has been going on for decades.

What you can do as a consumer (I assume you have laundry every week) is to wash with environmentally friendly products.  I did some cross-checking of laundry products for you.  You can do your part without changing your habits, just change your product brands and save our planet's marine life.

EWG = Environmental Working Group
LiveGreen = www.livegreen.life/peace

BRAND	SCENT	EWG GRADE	SHOP
Better Life Laundry detergent	lavender grapefruit	A	LiveGreen
BioKleen Free & Clear Laundry powder	scent free	A	LiveGreen
Dr. Bronner's 18-in-1 Hemp Pure Castile Soap	Baby mild	A	amazon
Fit Organic  Laundry detergent	Fresh Citrus	A	Walmart
Meliora Laundry powder	Lemon	A	amazon
Green Shield	Lavender mint	A	amazon
GrabGreen bleach alternative pods	scent free	A	Walmart

Make someone else's day magical!

Mackenzie

MORNING MOTIVATION - Hunger has purpose

I can't say it any better than the one and only Les Brown.  You gotta be HUNGRY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDIE_QPOPzo

Make someone else's day magical!
Mackenzie

RANDOM THOUGHT - The English Language isn't Politically Correct or Incorrect

It's been a long time since I sat in English Lit, but I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that Millennials are trying to make English conform to good politics.

In my day, if a sentence referred to a singularity, the pronouns were he or she/his or hers.  Now, everything is "they".  This is just bad grammar, if you ask me.

I'm writing an article and when I reference a client, I refer back to her or him, because that's singular, but I'm being corrected to refer back to they.  This doesn't make any sense to me.  A "they" is a plurality.  A person is either male or female, a he or a she, generally speaking.

I don't think I'm old enough to be old-fashioned, but there it is.  I am part of the binary gender system, by nature.  I think of humanity broadly as men and women.  People who don't fit into those categories have political rights; no one should deny that.  But in terms of a writer writing to an audience, I'm expecting that the overwhelming majority of readers understand that a singular person is going to be either a he or a she, not a plurality of a human.  Sexual orientation and gender identity are irrelevant to grammar.

It's not up to me to stop the English language from evolving, but please, it doesn't have to evolve to be political.

Make someone else's day magical!
Mackenzie

#PoliticallyIncorrect
#RandomThought
#EnglishGrammar

RANDOM THOUGHT - Can we remove "hysteria" from the dictionary please?

noun

1. an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping, etc.
2. Psychoanalysis. a psychoneurotic disorder characterized by violent emotional outbreaks, disturbances ofsensory and motor functions, and various abnormal effects due to autosuggestion.

(Dictionary.com)

hys·te·ri·a

 (his-tē'rē-ă),  Negative or pejorative connotations of this word may render it offensive in some contexts.

A term derived from the ancient Greek concept of a wandering uterus, denoting maladies involving physical symptoms that seem better explained by psychological factors. The concept of hysteria is historically differentiated into somatization disorder and conversion disorder, both of which are considered types of somatoform disorders in the DSM. The current ICD10, however, places conversion disorder with dissociative disorders, not with somatoform disorders. See: conversion, psychogenic, psychosomatic.

[G. hystera, womb, from the original notion of womb-related disturbances in women]

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

I'm rather pleased that this word is out of favor, perhaps the only time I'll ever assent to a word or phrase being labeled "politically incorrect".  I would prefer though, that the word disappear!

To have a neurotic condition named specifically for all things FEMALE is really insulting.  Please retrain your vocabulary if you're not referring to something so funny, you LOL uncontrollably.  'Ppreciate ya.

Make someone else's day magical!

Mackenzie

PART TIME HALF ASSED VEGAN NOTES - Skin Care Products at LiveGreen

There's more to being vegan than eating plant based.  There's also the products in the bathroom.  My cousin's friend is an affiliate for LiveGreen, which is member-based online shopping for all-natural pantry, personal care, household and other products.

You can shop by standards, like vegan or gluten-free or Kosher, etc.

I did a little cross-checking on skincare products available on the LiveGreen site and found the following products get good marks from the Environmental Working Group.

PRODUCT TYPE	SKIN TYPE	BRAND	PRODUCT DESCRIPTION	EWG GRADE*
face wash	acne
overnight cream	acne	Andalou Naturals	Clear Overnight Recovery Cream	3
face wash	all	Blum Naturals	Daily Facial Wash Lavender	4
day cream	antiaging	Reviva Labs	InterCell Day Cream w/ Hyaluronic Acid	1
Eye cream	antiaging	Olivella	Olivella Contour Eye Cream	5**
face wash	antiaging	Avalon Organics	Wrinkle therapy cleansing oil	1
face wash	antiaging	Derma E	Vitamin C Micellar Cleansing Water	3
face wash	antiaging	Olivella	Face and Body Bar	1
Moisturizer	antiaging	Beauty without Cruelty	Vitamin C Renewal Moisturizer	3
face wash	dry	Beauty without Cruelty	Herbal Cream Facial Cleanser	3
face wash	dry	Desert Essence	Gentle Nourishing Organic Cleanser	1
Moisturizer	dry	Beauty without Cruelty	Daily Moisturizer	4
Eye cream	Eye and neck	Blum Naturals	Eye and Neck Cream	5**
face wash	normal	Beauty without Cruelty	Herbal Cream Facial Cleanser	3
Moisturizer	normal	Beauty without Cruelty	Daily Moisturizer	4
face wash	oily	Earth Science	Clarifying Facial Wash for Oily & Combination	4
Moisturizer	oily			3
Eye cream	puffy eyes	Alba Botanica	Fast Fix for Puffy Eyes	3
Eye gel	sensitive	Alba Botanica	Hawaiian Green Tea Eye Gel	2
face wash	sensitive	Burts Bees	Face Towelette - Sensitive	3
face wash	sensitive	Desert Essence	Gentle Nourishing Organic Cleanser	1
Moisturizer	sensitive
Eye cream	undereye circles	Alba Botanica	Fast Fix for Undereye Circles	3
face wash		Blum Naturals	Daily Cleansing and Make Up Remover	1
overnight cream		Alba Botanica	Natural Even Advanced Sea Plus Renewal Night Cream	5**

Join and shop at www.livegreen.life/peace

Annual membership is $99.  Shipping is always free.  They plant a tree for every new membership.  Households of 2 or more will save lots and lots of money, even compared to amazon.

* 1 low concern / 3 moderate concern / 5 moderate concern

** all ingredients low concern except for fragrance

#livegreen

#allnatural

#skincare

#treatyourselfdontcheatyourself

Make someone else's day magical!

Mackenzie

PART TIME HALF ASSED VEGAN NOTES - A Burger After My Own Conflicted Heart

There's meat-eater, there's vegan, then there's fence-straddlers like me.  No worries, Burger-Fi has us covered.  Not only do they have a great veggie burger, and not only do they have a 100% plant based Beyond Burger that bleeds (beet juice) like a real burger, but they have the Conflicted Burger for people like me who just can't seem to quite go 100% vegan.

The Conflicted Burger is a veggie patty and a meat patty.  It's a double burger!  It's so good.  It's big, it's juicy, it's tasty and may just count as a serving of vegetables.  Please take note that the lettuce is actually GREEN, not that colorless garbage that you get at other places.  That's a sign of vitamins.

Burger-Fi Conflicted Burger
Photo: Mackenzie Littledale

Burger-Fi Conflicted Burger with Oreo Shake
Photo: Mackenzie Littledale

No burger is really complete without a milkshake (there's that half in the half-assed vegan coming out again).  Oreo shake (with extra Oreos of course).  Damn right, I ate it ALL.

Friendly Kyle took my order (and totally got it right).  Manager She-She really hooked me up with the extra Oreos!  Thank you She-She! 'Preciate ya.

Kyle and Manager She-She at Burger-Fi Aventura
Photo: Mackenzie Littledale

Now for the fully vegan, get the Beyond Burger, hold the cheese.

For the meat eaters, nothing is better than the CEO burger with Wagyu beef.

For fence-straddlers, take me at my word, go for the Conflicted Burger!

Burger-Fi is all over, but if you want friendly service and to get your order right, go to Aventura.

18139 Biscayne Blvd. / Aventura / 33160
Call in your order for pick up - 305-466-0350

Conflicted burger with Oreo shake $15.94

#Foodies
#BurgerFi
#MackenzieLittledale
#HalfAssedVegan


Make someone else's day magical!
Mackenzie

#Woke - a website for parents who want strong daughters

Just saw something pretty amazing that I wish was available when I was growing up.  I'm not sure my mom would have noticed, but I might have found it on my own.

#Woke.  Are you ready for a confident and courageous daughter or niece?  Do you need help finding resources to give your daughters the inner fortitude they need to forge paths to justice and equality?

It's not really a man's world.  Stop saying that.

Consider this:

A group of the world's best scientists were gathered together on a project to colonize outer space.  When the team presented their suggested list of people best suited for the mission, it was brought to their attention that they hadn't included any women.  The men laughed at the suggestion.  Then they were asked how exactly they planned to colonize without women.  Slowly, the "geniuses" stopped laughing, realizing there is no future generation without women. 

The world's largest collection of books, toys and movies for smart, confident, and courageous girls

https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14364

Make someone else's day magical!
Mackenzie

PESCETARIAN SATURDAY - I can't believe I ate the whole thing OMG

Since the Legal Wrap at Carrot Express is so unbelievably good, I had good reason to believe I'd like the Poke Bowl.  And, I did.  I really, really did.

The Legal Wrap is one of the best selling wraps, but the Poke Bowl is the #1 Best Seller item across all locations.  That's what Veronica told me.  She's a franchisee at the Sunny Isles Beach location, and I was happy to see her again.

Just as she promised me last time, all items can be customized, so I opted for the quinoa, hold the avocado.  First, I don't particularly like avocado.  Second it does a number on my stomach, so I really don't miss the bad green fruit/vegetable anyway.  Take THAT avocado!

In any event, the Poke Bowl is pretty big and it's a work of art.  So many flavors doing a happy dance and so colorful!

Carrot Express - Poke Bowl
Sunny Isles Beach
Photo: Mackenzie Littledale

Ahi Tuna Poke bowl with quinoa, fresh tuna, seaweed salad, edamame, arugula, scallions, avocado, carrots, pickled ginger, cucumber, sesame seeds and crispy onions topped with spicy mayo and eel sauce.

For my beverage, I got the Strawberry Passion juice mix.  Double strawberries, fresh apple juice, banana, honey and ice.  Yummy!  I especially love double anything, and you had to see the beautiful strawberries that went into my juice.  Farmer's best, to be sure.

I finished my treat with a treat: the almond cookies.  They are organic, gluten-free, and flourless.  They really have a bold, authentic almond flavor that only real almonds can give.

Alyssa's Almond Cookies and Strawberry Passion Juice
Carrot Express
Photo: Mackenzie Littledale

Poke Bowl, small Strawberry Passion, and cookies - $28.39

Carrot Express employee cutting fresh fruit
Photo Mackenzie Littledale

Visit their website and see the whole menu at www.thecarrotexpress.com

Stop by!  They're at 170 St and Collins Avenue / Sunny Isles Beach, Fla.

#foodies
#AllNatural
#CarrotExpress
#PescetarianSaturday
#MackenzieLittledale

Make someone else's day magical!
Mackenzie

RANDOM THOUGHT - The brain: Automatic Thought Toaster

I'm reading a short story and I'm getting the sense that one of the main characters is a Gen X or Millennial parent.  Guys who I know don't write texts like this parent.  "Give us a call?"  The punctuation is all wrong; it belies anxiety, and then it hit me:

All this modern psychology about expressing ALL of our feelings is probably not in anyone's best interest except the psychologists.  For anyone to express the full range of their REAL feelings everyday would be to admit we're completely out of our own control, and people who can't control themselves are nuts and need supervision.  They need psychological therapy (see how that works?)

I think it's the very act of expressing EVERY little thought, EVERY passing feeling that demonstrates an inability to make a decision about what thoughts passing by are worth believing, holding on to and accepting as our own.  Was it Will Smith or Chris Rock who said if you never thought about strangling your partner, you don't really know what love is?  See, we don't have to act on every thought or feeling.  Just fantasize for a minute and then get back to the real tasks at hand in real life.

I like to think of the brain as an automatic thought toaster.  Thoughts just pop out.  We are under no obligation to believe every single thought that pops to the top of our minds.  Same with feelings.  Feelings just come and go.  It takes real mastery to control one's own feelings and make the positive productive and constructive feelings ones last no matter what circumstances are going on.  (I struck out "positive" because sometimes happy talk is inappropriate.  That and the word itself has become annoying).

Or I also like to think of my mind as a little bit more orderly.  It's more like a Ferris wheel.  Thoughts take a ride and periodically circle their way to the top, hang out for awhile so I can consider them and then the next comes around.  Any thoughts that are no longer welcome or serving me get kicked off the ride - if they're particularly offensive or counterproductive, I can kick them off mid air.  Being immaterial, I can kick thoughts clear across the continent if I want to.

It's entirely possible that less scrupulous psychologists are actually making people sick and anxious.  I have little to back that up with, but that thought will stay on my Ferris wheel until I uncover some factual basis for it.

(c) unknown
Seen on Facebook

#modernpsychology
#MackenzieLittledale


Make someone else's day magical!
Mackenzie

PART TIME HALF ASSED VEGAN NOTES - What if I get invited to a steakhouse for dinner?

This question plagued me.  For one thing, I do love steak.  My friends have no way of knowing when I'm willing to eat meat, so I decided to do some advance research and headed to Longhorn Steakhouse.  To know beforehand if I could be full on vegan or just half-assed vegan at a steakhouse gave me tremendous peace of mind.

Metalwork inside Longhorn Steakhouse
Hollywood Fla.
Photo: Mackenzie Littledale

I've admitted my unapologetic love of meat, and to be honest, once I stepped inside Longhorn and got a whiff of steak and burger, I felt an awful lot like the shark in Finding Nemo when he smelled blood.  I nearly caved, but in the end, I held strong.

My server was Angelina and she was very helpful with suggestions.

I ordered the White Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms.  Did you know that cheddar is naturally white?  The yellow sort gets its color from some kind of food dye.  The mushrooms are hand stuffed with garlic herb cheese, topped with parmesan crust and served over melted blend of 4 cheeses.  Not vegan, but Jesus!  Delicious!

White Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms at Longhorn Steakhouse
Photo: Mackenzie Littledale

Then I ordered the Chicken and Strawberry salad "hold the chicken".  Angelina suggested I get the side salad size.  Great idea.  Dude, the side salad is HUGE!!!  Fresh field greens with strawberries, grapes, mandarin oranges, candied pecans, red onions, feta (oops), and raspberry vinaigrette.  This really appealed to my sweet tooth.

Chicken and Strawberry Side Salad - Hold the Chicken
Longhorn Steakhouse
Photo: Mackenzie Littledale

Together, these choices really filled me up and left me very, very happy.  And, I might add, Longhorn has the best peach iced tea I've ever had.

I spoke with the manager on duty - couldn't be nicer - and he told me that if a steak lover wants to bring his vegan friends, he will PERSONALLY GRILL UP THE VEGETABLES.  Now that's service.  Plus, he mentioned that the upcoming menu will feature gluten-free items too.  All nutrition info can be found on their menu website by clicking on the item you're interested in.

At the end of the day, I wasn't 100% vegan, but at least if my friends want to take me out to a steakhouse, I don't have to stay home alone.

#Foodies
#HalfassedVegan
#MackenzieLittledale
#PlacestoeatHollywoodFL

REMEMBER TO CLICK THE BLUE FOLLOW BUTTON ON THE DESKTOP VERSION

Make someone else's day magical!
Mackenzie

RANDOM THOUGHT - at least one of your ancestors was unfaithful

My cousin has been working on the family tree for a couple months.  She expects to spend decades on it (for accuracy I'm sure).  Her DNA search results yielded over 1000 relatives, and that's only in one database!  Her weekend was devoted to reaching out to these "cousins" to fill in the gaps in the family lineage record.  Why she even cares is beyond my comprehension, but I guess every family should have an historian, which means only one person in any given family is going to be the oddball and care enough to do it.

While a few respondents were excited to exchange information because they acknowledged they know little about their lineage, there have been a few who dispute a blood connection because they don't recognize the family surnames, or maybe they don't like my cousin's photo.  Hard to say.

I have some news for them.  Nobody has a 100% faithful family.  What ancestors wrote on paper for the birthing doctor's record or in the family bible may or may not be true.  Surely someone has seen Montel Williams do a paternity test on television, only to really humiliate somebody.  Just sayin'.  It's the DNA that passes through and sticks, not necessarily the name.

My cousin doesn't mean to shock anybody; she really just wants to find family.

I've heard a man say "Mama's baby.  Daddy's maybe". smh and lol!

RANDOM THOUGHT - Need: The f'ed up 4-letter word

I find it sad that needy people are considered weak and undesirable.  As if "need" is some kind of 4-letter word.  At the core of humanness is a whole set of needs that must be fulfilled in order to call life satisfying.  Our needs were even categorized and put into a hierarchy by Abraham Maslow, which every general psychology student knows.  We're all needy. 

What makes one person needy, if we all have the same needs ranging from basic to transcendant?  I'm not crazy about being around clingy people, but where is the line drawn?  It's not the need itself; they're all the same. The question must be one of degree. If a person loves himself enough to be satisfied, then his need for love from another person isn't going to suck the life out of that other person like a Dementor.  (Yes, I'm a Harry Potter fan.)

Maybe that's the line.  When the [fill in the blank from the hierarchy] required of me doesn't drain me then I'm happy to give more, and by the same token, when I fulfill myself, my need of others is minimal.  No one feels depleted without feeling equally replenished. Remember to replenish people.

So don't just have a wicked awesome day, give someone else a wonderful day, and I think your day will turn out wonderful in kind.

Maslow Hierarchy of Needs

RANDOM THOUGHT - Things I see on the road

Florida's pedestrians seem unconcerned for their lives.  They walk off the sidewalk into oncoming traffic.  They open car doors when they're parked when a car is pulling into the space next to them.  But what I saw on the road yesterday really blew my mind (in a confounding sort of way).

I was behind a couple cars in the far right lane at a red light and the road had three lanes. In the far left lane was an olive colored SUV in front of a red SUV.  We were all on A1A headed north.

The red SUV started honking, so I thought maybe the light was green, but that wasn't it.  The olive SUV in front of him had gone into reverse and was heading into the red SUV.  The red SUV kept honking, but olive SUV kept reversing until he hit the red SUV!  I thought a fight might break out.  That would have been logical, and therefore that's not what happened. 

Instead, the olive SUV driver put it back in drive and drove forward.  I thought the red SUV driver would have given chase, taken a photo of the offending driver's tag and called 9-1-1.  That, too would have made sense, so that didn't happen either.  This is South Florida.  Logic does not prevail.

The red SUV driver put his car in park and got out to check for damage.  I guess he saw none because he caught up to the rest of us.  I thought he would have gone searching for the olive SUV (I mean, it's not a popular SUV color, so he wouldn't have been hard to find, right?).  But no, traffic resumed as normal, leaving me wondering what kind of schmucks I'm sharing the road with.  I thought the nation's problem was meth.