Chloe Spencer

How to Not Get Sick

2012-10-17T10:22:53-04:00

Everyone seems to be getting sick right now! In fact, it is very common to get sick during the transition between seasons. So while summer's currently turning into fall, which I'm very relieved to say after all this miserable heat, you should be taking extra precautions to protect your health. What brings up this topic is actually my current state of health: strep throat. Yep, and it sucks. I'm now on penicillin and should be healing quickly in no time, but the few days preceding my doctor's appointment were miserable. Getting sick means missing work, missing school, missing deadlines, infecting your family members... not fun. So, let's lay out the ways we can avoid getting sick during this time of year and a few tips for a speedy recovery if you do end up getting something nasty.

1. First thing's first: Wash your hands before every meal. Wait, didn't we learn this in kindergarten? Yes. But what you didn't learn in kindergarten was to wash your hands before picking your nose. Okay, just kidding (although that isn't the brightest idea). What I mean to say is don't touch your face, your food, etc. without washing your hands beforehand. You may be thinking, but I didn't even shake hands with anybody... Well, if you were out and about doing errands or going to work, it's likely you shook hands with a door handle, which greeted a lot of germs prior, some of which may have been contagious. And no, I'm not telling you to become a germ freak who washes their hands 100 times a day; just remember to not touch your eyes, nose or mouth, or anything that's going to go in any of those three things, without freshly-washed hands.

2. Don't share drinks, food, cigarettes, makeup, or tissues with anybody. Okay, the last one was obvious...

"Do you have a spare tissue?"
"Only this one"
*pulls wet, crumpled tissue out of pocket*
"Yeah that'll do, thanks!"

We all know not to share drinks and stuff, but we still seem to forget, especially when we're out with friends, at a special event, or just not thinking about the consequences. Your friend has a drink and says "Oh wow this is so good, try it!" and without thinking you do. Or you borrow someone's chapstick in the bathroom, take a bite out of someone's pizza, or "bum a drag" off a friend's cigarette. Especially during this time of year, if you really want to avoid getting sick, remember to take this precaution.

3. Drink lots of fluids. This one is very, very important. Sometimes we get sick just because we are dehydrated and not getting enough sleep, so our immune system shuts down. Sugar also shuts down your immune system. So by fluids I don't mean Kool Aid, Coke and sugary juices. I mean water, LOTS of water, which can be accompanied by natural fruit and vegetable juices, green tea, Kambucha, etc. Try to drink at least six glasses of water a day, if not more. Water flushes your body of the bad stuff, gives it energy and strength to fight off infection, and keeps you healthy.

4. As I mentioned in number three, getting enough sleep is crucial. Your body is in recovery mode when you sleep, but if you don't give your body that chance to rest, recover and restore, then you are much more prone to getting sick. Staying up til 4 a.m. night after night is a recipe for disaster if exposed to a virus or infection. Everyone should get between six and 10 hours of sleep every night, eight on average. Make this a habit, because even just a few days of getting very little sleep can lead to waking up with a sore throat or stuffy nose the next morning and thinking, "Dammit."

5. Now, if a family member is sick, be sure to take extra precautions around the house. Don't allow the sickie to dry their hands on the same towels as everyone else in the bathrooms and kitchen. Make sure they wash their hands before touching door handles in the house, cabinets, the refrigerator door, etc. Wash their dishes in the dishwasher on "sanitize" or "high heat," or keep them separate. And make sure if they have to sneeze or cough that they do it into their sleeve or a tissue and immediately wash their hands. If you catch the sickie sneezing into the air hands-free, feel free to exile them to their room for the duration of their illness.

6. Exercise! Exercise keeps your body healthy in all aspects, which in turn keeps your immune system up and running. Ha, get it? Okay, okay, but I swear to you that bad joke happened on its own without premeditation! Back to the important point I was trying to make; exercise is important at all times, but especially when you want to remain healthy and ward off illness.

So we now have some tips on not getting sick, but what if you're already sick while reading this article? Ah, irony. Don't ya love it? No? Okay. So tips on how to speed up the healing process when you're sick. I, in fact, have a few.

1. Take your vitamins! Everyone sighs in unison, "Yes, I have taken my vitamin C today." Well, that's great, but you forgot one of the most important immunity boosters: vitamin D3. Other important supplements you should be taking are a multivitamin, fish oil or anything containing omega-3s, vitamin B, and believe it or not, garlic can also be great for your immune system.

2. If you have a sore throat, which I have been currently battling, a few things have helped the most. Drinking plenty of hot tea, preferably green tea (I also add honey, which helps soothe the throat), gargling with warm salt water a few times a day (which helps kill bacteria), using Cepacol throat lozenges (contains Benzocaine and Menthol to numb your throat), and taking Ibuprofen or similar painkillers. But if you have strep throat, you need to go to the doctor and get on antibiotics. Symptoms of strep are a sore throat without any other cold symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, etc., often accompanied by a fever, chills, headaches and body aches, swollen lymph nodes, trouble swallowing, white flecks or bumps on the tonsils or lots of mucous, and nausea. And let me tell you, once you get on those antibiotics you are feeling 75 percent better within 24-48 hours.

3. It may be a little redundant, but get plenty of sleep and drink plenty of water! And eat your leafy greens! Yes, we've heard it all before, because it is that important! Number one, in fact! Keep this up and you'll find yourself beginning to heal in no time.

4. Take it easy. And don't get out of bed and back to work too soon. If you do, you may cause yourself a relapse. And you do not want that! So do yourself a favor and lie low an extra day or two even after feeling better to give your body a chance to heal 100 percent. And if you're taking antibiotics make sure you finish them, even if you're feeling completely better halfway through. Stopping your antibiotics before you have finished the bottle can also cause a relapse. Then you gotta read this article all over again!

For more on personal health, click here.

For more by Chloe Spencer, click here.

Five Ingredients to Make a Commercial Viral

2012-06-12T12:09:26-04:00

Commercials are excellent means of advertising. But, they only reach audiences watching TV at that one moment that they are playing. Unless, they were good enough to go viral. If your commercial becomes viral, now you are reaching audiences across the Internet, on social sites like Facebook, YouTube, blogs, etc. So what makes a commercial good enough to be shared online and spread like wildfire? There's a few key ingredients to make a commercial viral. I have made a list of the top five factors below.

1. Humor

For a commercial to become viral, it almost always has to be funny. Humor is the number one key ingredient. But, it has to be the right kind of humor. Humor for five-year-olds is not the same as Family Guy humor. You also need to think about your target audience, and who's going to be doing the social sharing of the commercial. For the most part it will be Digital Natives, aka Gen Ys, so targeting their age group and type of humor is your best game plan. Wacky humor is a great tactic, where it's original and kind of random, in such a way that it's hilarious. Take this Holiday Inn commercial for example; it's extremely random and kind of weird, but that's what makes it really funny. One of my favorite funny commercials is this Snickers commercial, where a football player suffers an injury and is now convinced he is Batman.

2. Goes Over the Line

Which brings us onto the next factor, which is content that steps over the line, as slightly shocking, raunchy, politically incorrect, adult-themed, etc. Now, you don't want to go too far and offend a bunch of people, but if it's inappropriate in a hilarious way, you are on your way to viral success. People don't share commercials about $1 cheeseburgers, people share commercials that are funny, out of the ordinary, and what makes a commercial even more viral is adult humor. Take Axe commercials for example, which have a fantastic use of creativity, raunchiness and humor to create funny, extremely viral commercials.

3. Has a Twist

Commercials that appear to be ordinary at first but end in a hilariously unpredictable way really get people's attention. Even if it starts off weird, getting weirder at the end makes the commercial that much better. Take this Cadbury commercial for example; a random gorilla feeling the music listening to a Phil Collins song... it's definitely odd... then suddenly it starts playing the drums with extreme passion. And then the commercial ends. It's weird as heck, memorable, and it's funny. Another good example of a commercial with a twist is this John West Salmon ad, as well as the "That's Why I Chose Yale" commercial on this page of Best College Commercials.

4. Rides on the Coattails of a Popular Trend

There's nothing more sharable than content that alludes to a popular trend or current fad that Digital Natives recognize and relate to. A commercial that incorporates something like this, such as an expression, song, word, dance, style, etc that is currently sweeping the youth, can be pure genius. When a digital native sees something that caters specifically to their generation and humor, they usually love it, share it with their friends, their friends share it with their friends, and from there it spreads like wildfire. For example, the expression "YOLO" is currently a huge fad, meaning "You only live once." Yes, it sounds stupid, but it's popular, and if a commercial were to incorporate this expression it's almost a guarantee it would become viral. Or for example, the current Ray-Ban trend; even Rihanna is singing about wearing them. Another idea is riding on the colossal trend of UGG boots, which would get a lot of attention, especially among females, who make up the majority of social media users on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Coming up with your own brilliant ideas can be hard, so riding on the coattails of existing trends and popular fads is an alternatively sure way to viral success.

5. Isn't Too Intellectual

Commercials need to be made for, let's face it, idiots. The lowest common denominator. This is what commercials need to be targeting, because that is the majority of your audience. Most highly intellectual people mute the commercials while watching TV, if they watch TV at all. And the fact remains that if a commercial has a joke that is very intellectual, it won't be understood by many of its viewers, and therefore won't be shared as much as it could've been if it was less intellectual. Highly sharable content is not content for geniuses, but for the average to low IQ. Raunchy and inappropriate or wacky and odd humor is what goes viral, for the most part. Take these funny diamond commercials, for example -- they all target an audience with lower IQs, which is key.

All of these factors are what can make a commercial go viral, shared via social media, blogs, articles, word of mouth, etc. All it takes is thinking about who your audience is, who's going to be sharing the video, where, and what will make that audience want to share the video. And these five key ingredients can help your commercial achieve viral success!

The Danger for Children in School Sports

2012-03-04T11:43:23-05:00

Over 50% of middle school and high school students are involved in a school sport, and it is widely looked upon as healthy, and highly encouraged. Schools pride themselves in their sports teams, most which have become no longer recreational activities but very serious pursuits. Even dangerous. Kids are often being overworked by their coaches, treated with disrespect, injured in ways which could've been prevented by the coach, and worst of all, are not even telling you about it.

I have personally experienced all of this, on my high school sports team. And this is my story.

At the end of my sophomore year, I tried out for the dance team, aka the poms team, being a dancer and gymnast for most of my life. I was accepted onto the team, much to my excitement. But that excitement didn't even last the year. I had to quit. The biggest reason being my health, and how it was carelessly and constantly jeopardized by the coach.

Now I'm talking about the dance team, but basketball, football, and baseball teams have the highest rate of injuries, and basketball, track and soccer teams have the highest rate of deaths (National Center for Sports Safety). Contact sports also have students pressured to take steroids, and worse. So keep in mind that even if your child is not on the dance team, it's still important to read on. And this poms team was not for sissy girls. We were worked hard, forced to run, sprint, do agonizing drills until our arms felt like they're going to fall off, can-can kick until our legs could hardly move, do 100 sit-ups in a row, and do jumps that required every ab muscle you have. We also had to wear ankle and wrist weights during practice sometimes, which make you feel like you're 300 pounds and moving underwater. But this wasn't the worst of it.

I was, and am, a thin girl, by genetics and a fast metabolism. But I was strong, healthy, and had fantastic stamina. But even these factors couldn't keep me going on this team. Our coach was a woman in her mid-20s, that had been coaching the team for the past year. She swore at us often, and said some things that alarmed me. But that was only the beginning. She got very angry at us when we didn't get the routine just right during practice, and would scream at us to do it over, and over, and over. She would yell things like "I'm going to rip you a new a**hole!", and "You all look like sh*t!". She wouldn't let us have any water until we got it right. The drinking fountain was a privilege, not available upon need. Practice was 2-3 hours after school every day, and sometimes on weekends. My thin form became bony, and I would sometimes get home from practice and throw up from being so overworked. I would get faint and dizzy during practice after doing our routine "full out" (with our best effort, as if there were judges watching) 6 times in a row without a drink of water, and would tell the coach I needed to sit down, but she wouldn't allow it. One afternoon during practice after she finally let us take a break, I had to lay flat on my back on the floor for 20 minutes just so I could stand up again, despite her snide remarks.

It got worse... For a competition routine some of us had to slide down onto the floor into splits, without using our hands, which can be done easily unless you have to do it 10 times a day. I pulled something in my leg because of this, but that was no excuse according to my coach. I had to keep doing it. It became so painful to slide into splits this way that my legs would become paralyzed in pain, and it took extreme effort to come out of the position quickly and run to my next spot. It got to the point where I was shaking trying to stand up out of the position and limping to my next spot with tears streaming down my face, and had to dance the rest of the routine including kicks, jumps, turns, etc. During one practice I was trying to come out of the splits and was locked into place by the pain, and the coach yelled at me. I told her my leg was hurt and couldn't move, and she screamed that she didn't care whether a bone was sticking out of my leg, I had to keep dancing. Exact quote.

After this, I finally confided in my mother. She took me to the doctor, and they told me that if I continued to do this to my leg that it may be damaged permanently. I was also taken to a nutritionist to help regain my weight and health. I was down to 86 pounds, and was blacking out in the mornings after not eating for 8 hours, collapsing on the kitchen floor while trying to fix myself cereal. My doctor said that if I did not quit the dance team, she would have to pull me off, for the sake of my life. Not to mention all the emotional stress I was undergoing, including anxiety and depression. I quit the team, even though it was just weeks until the State competition. My coach was angry, now that my spot had to be filled. I was shunned by the rest of the team at school, and was hated by a few in particular. But it was worth it, because I just may have saved my life.

Over half the team that year was made up of new girls, who didn't put forth a lot of effort most of the time and chose instead to put up with being constantly yelled at by the coach. So as far as I know, they didn't sustain the injuries I did. And the other girls were a tight-knit group of juniors who had been on the team since freshman year, and received special treatment from the coach. She even invited them to parties where they drank together. I thought that no one else would ever report her. But when my mother complained to the school, we were told that the coach would be let go after this year, because ours was not the first complaint made by a parent of a new girl.

Many coaches are not looking out for your kids, but pushing them to extremes, as a coach may with a professional sports team. But these are kids, not professional athletes. And being fit, like I was, doesn't protect you. Overuse injury is responsible for nearly half of all sports injuries to middle and high school students. And most of all sports injuries occur at practice (National Center for Sports Safety). I heard things about the other sports teams at my school too, such as the swim team being forced to come to school at 5 a.m. every day and swim for three hours before class then another three hours after class. They were also pressured to shave their heads, their legs and armpits, and most did. Are high school sports suddenly the Olympics? With immense pressure and potential permanent injuries? And how are schools really choosing their coaches? Many are college students, irresponsible, sometimes sports-maniacs or fitness-freaks, or older coaches that view their team as their life, and take it so seriously it becomes torture for the students. And in many cases, the parents are living through their child's achievements in their sports and extracurricular activities. And so even if they're told about what's going on, they disregard it. And it never gets reported, while most of the other kids feel too embarrassed to report a coach. And these coaches keep on coaching.

So this is where you come in. Look into your child's sports they're involved in. Check up on their health, on their coach, on how often they have practice. Ask them about how much fun they're having, how much they like their coach, and how they get along with the other kids on the team. They might not come right out with something, so keep trying. I know this from experience... I didn't tell my mom everything that was going on with the coach and on the team for almost a year. You have to be persistent, and somewhat of a detective! But you may just end up saving your child's ankle, leg, arm, or even his or her life.

There are up to 100 sudden deaths among athletes in middle, high school and college every year, said Dr. Marlon Rosenbaum, associate clinical professor of medicine and pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. Not to mention deaths from dehydration, emaciation, concussion, and heat illnesses. Many of which could've been prevented by the coach.

Pass this on to all the parents you know that have children involved in sports, and let's spread the word about the shocking truth of what may be going on behind closed doors on your child's school sports team.

This post has been updated since its previous publication.

Lady Gaga's 15 Worst Outfits Ever

2012-01-25T15:57:45-05:00

Lady Gaga is one of the biggest stars today, known perhaps more for her outrageous outfits and performances than her music. She definitely has a taste for weird, and her outfits go from weird to weirder and even shocking. I put together a list of her 15 absolute worst outfits she's ever worn, for your enjoyment. This is exactly what she's trying to achieve by sporting these bizarre costumes in public, so we're not being mean, just giving her more press! Don't feel judgmental, and feel free to post your opinion on her number 1 worst outfit below.

Lady Gaga fashion is freakish -- but fans are following suit, literally, by imitating her strange fashion sense. Gaga is known for wearing her platinum blonde hair long and straight with a large piece of it tied into a bow on top of her head, which fans have copied everywhere, and also for re-popularizing round spectacle sunglasses. Gaga also wore "anime eyes" contact lenses in her "Bad Romance" music video, which started a huge trend of wearing "circle lenses", which are actually illegal in the U.S and potentially dangerous. Fashion brands even started getting wilder and coming out with bizarre pieces to attract Lady Gaga fans, such as Opening Ceremony and Rodarte for Opening Ceremony. Wild shoes, wild hair, and wild outfits is getting popular, and Lady Gaga just keeps on getting weirder.

Terrible on so many levels.

Creative Commons - Flickr - TJ Sengal

The guy on the right makes me laugh more than her costume.

Creative Commons - Flickr - TJ Sengal

Oh my...

Creative Commons - Flickr - TJ Sengal

What...is that?

Creative Commons - Flickr - VJ Alisa!

She looks like a victorian fruit rollup.

Creative Commons - Flickr - Emma's..♠

I don't even know what to say.

Creative Commons - Flickr - a_choudhuri

Woah, it's called a bra.

Creative Commons - Flickr - nellyfus

No, you could not pass as a nun.

Creative Commons - Flickr - nellyfus

Somebody call PETA.

Creative Commons - Flickr - Cate.Sevilla

It's Cousin It!

Creative Commons - Flickr - John Robert Charlton

She looks like a very scary wrestler. And so does that person next to her.

Creative Commons - Flickr - Michael_Spencer

One word: hideous.

Creative Commons - Flickr - TonyFelgueiras

A Viking stripper?

Creative Commons - Flickr - aphrodite-in-nyc

That looks dangerous.

Creative Commons - Flickr - StephenCarlile

This dress wins the most disgusting outfit award for me. A dress made entirely of raw red meat. She must've smelled really bad by the end of the night.

Creative Commons - Flickr - Beth77

The Buzz About Ralph Lauren -- America's Style Icon

2011-11-08T03:44:57-05:00

There has been a lot of buzz about Ralph Lauren lately, as some may know--The Lincoln Center in New York presented An Evening With Ralph Lauren, hosted by Oprah Winfrey, on October 24th just 2 weeks ago. It was a benefit for the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention, and just about every celebrity was there in attendance. At the event, Michael Bloomberg, mayor of the City of New York, named October 24th the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention Day. Now, some of you may not know too much about Ralph Lauren, whereas some of you may know him as only a high-end fashion designer. But there's much more to this man, and a surprising story to how he came to his fame. And there's a reason why such a huge event was hosted in his honor.

Ralph Lauren grew up in a middle-class family in the Bronx, New York; his mother took care of him and his three older brothers, while his father was a painter. He saved his allowance to buy high-quality expensive clothing since the age of 12, which ultimately lead to his job at Brooks Brothers as a salesman during his attendance in business school, which he later dropped out of to create his own company. His first company revolved around designing and selling his own ties, under the label "Polo". Lauren never went to fashion school, so he used his imagination and personal creativity to come up with tie designs, which branched into designs of all sorts of clothing, shoes and accessories. He personally designed every detail of every item himself, and the 71-year-old still does to this day. His lines include Polo, Golf, Black Label, Purple Label, Denim & Supply, and many more, which span from aristocratic to country wear to East Coast preppy to even gym and sport wear, RLX Ralph Lauren. His fashion line later expanded into a home line as well, which includes furniture, bedding, dish ware, china, even paint. He even sells his own hand-picked antiques. Ralph Lauren is now considered the world's most successful fashion empire.

The most inspiring factors of the story of Ralph Lauren was his dedication and his passion as a young man, and his proof to the nation that no matter how little money you have, as long as you have dreams with an un-dying passion, you can most certainly achieve whatever you set your mind to. Under Lauren's photo in his senior yearbook is the word "Millionaire", the caption he chose for himself to represent his future. No body back then believed he would actually become a millionaire... and today is net worth is $6.1 billion. He's happily married to his college sweetheart with 3 children, living most of the time in their home in the country. Lauren achieved his highest goals in business, but only after his company almost going bankrupt several times in the beginning. He never gave up, and he consistently held true to his love for class and elegance. His creation of foundations and his generous donations, atop all of these aspects of the man Ralph Lauren is, is what sparked the event held at the Lincoln Center, where Lauren was interviewed on stage in front of the world. Not his success in the fashion and home decor industry alone.

Although, his success is tremendous. His clothing is seen all over the nation as well as the rest of the world, especially his signature polo shirts which house the traditional polo player logo on the left breast. His clothes have a certain air about them; true American in taste with an English touch, always classy and always of immense quality. I personally, as a youngster in my early 20's, admire the brand, especially compared to cheaply manufactured items from generic brands like Old Navy and Gap that so many people wear. What you wear reflects how much you respect yourself, and more importantly how much you respect those around you. If you show up to a classy dinner party wearing jeans and a t-shirt you will offend the hosts as well as the others there. Your attire means so much more than it has become to the younger generation today. Kids with their pants hanging off and exposing their underwear I personally think is a signal of low self-worth along with little respect to the people around them. Where just 50 years ago you had to wear certain attire at dinner, out in public, to friends' houses, etc to even be considered of any class. What you wore was a symbol of who you were. And it still is, although no longer looked upon that way by so many people today. Many young men today don't even own a suit. Funeral dress codes aren't even followed anymore with strictly black in color, conservative clothing; young adults wear inappropriate clothing, and even many adults dress in casual attire and do not wear an all black ensemble. What has happened to respect in the way we dress? Ralph Lauren follows this view of attire in its design and image--it is an extension of who you are that you portray to the world.

Ralph Lauren holds this ideal in all its clothing and home decor designs, proudly holding its title as one of the best clothing brands in existence. Whereas Ralph Lauren himself remains the inspiration behind it, showing the world not only that America takes great pride in itself and its image, and that every individual can promote that too, but that you can achieve whatever you set your heart to, as long as you have passion. And in my opinion, passion is what sets one apart, immediately, from all the rest that are in it for the money or the fame, whatever the case. If you are trying to build a company, you are already ahead of the game if you have a true passion for what you do and a strong foundation for your beliefs. Passion is what drove Ralph Lauren, and today he is one of the most inspirational designers and successful Americans alive.

5 Reasons to Become a Pescetarian

2011-09-29T12:55:06-04:00

Becoming a pescetarian was one of the most important and life-changing decisions that I've ever made -- and I made it at age 14. I have not eaten meat since then except for fish, and I don't plan to for the rest of my life.

You may be wondering, "What is a pescetarian?" Pescetarianism, or pesco-vegetarianism, means being vegetarian while still including seafood in your diet. One still cuts out red meat, pork, poultry, etc. from his or her diet like a vegetarian, but does not cut out fish and other seafood.

One of the biggest meat-lovers I ever met, my loving boyfriend Mick Merivel, has even adopted the pescetarian diet. He has been a pescetarian now for the past three months and has been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is -- even though he had been eating meat regularly for the past 30 years. He says, "The switch to a pescetarianism diet was not hard for me at all, because the ability to continue to eat fish and seafood eliminated my desire for meat."

Many people ask me "How did you do that? I could never give up meat!" What a lot of people don't realize is that over time your body's unnatural craving for mammal and poultry meat disappears, and a healthy body will get sick from beef, pork or chicken if eaten again after a period of a pescetarian diet. This is because land-animal flesh is filled with toxins, uric acid and fecal bacteria.

And frankly, I believe that the human body should always reject these meats, but we are feeding it to our toddlers and convincing them -- as we have been convinced -- that it is natural and normal. But consider this, do natural carnivores have to cook their meat in order to not get sick and season it so it can taste good to them? Would a human baby kill and eat raw a live chicken out of instinct as for example a baby lion would? No.

Here's another thing to think about -- can we eat raw fish and seafood if it's healthy and clean and not get sick? Yes. Do we always have to season fish and seafood for it to taste good? No. Are there the same health risks from eating healthy, fresh fish as there are from eating land animals? No.

The only reason the human race started to eat land animals was back when cavemen had to survive in the wild, and berries and vegetables were scarce and killing mammals was their only way to survive. I would say we have definitely advanced since then -- everyone could survive on a vegan diet if they chose. That's all it is. It is making a decision to not only improve your health and extend your life, but contribute to saving our planet and natural resources -- and our animals -- who deserve to live a free and happy life as much as we do.

So I put together a list of the top five reasons why I believe you should go pescetarian. All I ask of you today is to try the 30 Day Challenge. All you do is take a pledge to cut out meat, excluding fish and seafood, from your diet for the next 30 days. With the increase of fresh fish and vegetables in your diet, I believe that you'll feel healthier, experience less headaches and sickness as well as increased energy levels. In the long-term, you may also improve your weight, the health of your brain and heart, hair and even your skin.

According to The New York Times, meat consumption in the United States has doubled in the last 50 years. And since then, haven't other problems increased? Cancer, heart disease, stroke, obesity: these have all increased drastically over the past 50 years. Any connection? These trends may go hand in hand.

1) Pescetarianism may drastically improve your health.

A pescetarian diet may not only reduce your risk for heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases, but stroke, osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure and some types of cancer. According to the Yale College Vegetarian Society, experts say that up to 80 percent of cancer cases are preventable through healthy diets that contain low amounts of fats and oils, and high amounts of fiber -- the model pescetarian diet.

Meat is often covered in pesticides and chemicals that are harmful, and after extended consumption, can be very dangerous, to humans. Every bite of a beef/pork hotdog contains seven cancer-causing pesticides. And here's a shocking fact, brought to light by David Steinman's "Living Healthy in a Toxic World": The primary source of nuclear radiation contamination in humans is from beef and dairy products.

Additionally, all of the iron you need comes from fish, many fruits and vegetables and whole grains. And all the protein you need comes from consuming a healthy percentage of legumes, whole grains, tofu, and many plant sources. Vegetarian diets supply more than adequate amounts of protein.

So now we know that we can get enough protein without eating any meat at all, where does including fish in our diets come in?

Fish is very low in saturated fat and contains very large quantities of polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids, which have been connected to possible treatments for an array of conditions including heart disease, depression and ADD. Omega-3s have also been shown to have potential risk-reducing effects when it comes to cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Another huge benefit of including fish in a vegetarian diet is the healthy amount of iron in fish and seafood. Pescetarians have a lower risk of developing iron deficiency anemia -- a common condition among vegans and vegetarians. Eating fish also combats D-3 deficiency, which is a common condition among many Americans.

2) Becoming a pescetarian benefits our planet.

The Vegetarian Resource Group reports that one pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water, whereas one pound of soy requires only 250 gallons of water and a pound of wheat requires only 25 gallons. If you want to help save our water, cutting meat from your diet one way that you get active.

Additionally, the deforestation caused by the need to create space to house livestock is tremendous. A Smithsonian Institution study shows that the demand for more grazing land means that every day, a land area equivalent to seven football fields is destroyed in the Amazon basin.

According to Earth Talk, "The Environmental Beef With Meat," for every hamburger that came from an animal raised on rainforest land, approximately 55 square feet of forest was destroyed. And it's not just the rainforest being destroyed. In the United States, more than 260 million acres of forest have been clear-cut for animal agriculture as of 2005.

The livestock in the Unites States also creates an unimaginable amount of waste and toxic emission -- as do the fertilizers used. Livestock raised for slaughter produce 130 times the excrement of the entire human population.

But most shocking of all is that the grains and corn that are wastefully fed to the mass amounts of livestock in the United States, could be instead be fed to the 60 million human beings who die of starvation every year all over the world.

3) I believe you aren't against animal cruelty unless you are some type of vegetarian.

Most people know somewhat of what is going on in slaughterhouses and cow, pig, chicken and turkey farms. They know that animals are bred for murder in these places so they can be killed and eaten for the pleasure of humans. But what some people may not know are the disgusting conditions and inhumane treatment of these innocent animals behind their closed doors. Animals are subjected to some pretty terrible living conditions, full of feces and flies, packed into crates so crowded that they can hardly move. Their natural habits are taken from them.

Chickens for example are kept in big warehouses in tiny wire cages as big as file cabinets -- packed with about 10 or more chickens. The chickens peck at each other, so their beaks are removed to prevent them from doing this. This is called de-beaking. This is done to each chicken with no painkillers. Their breasts are so heavy from injected growth hormones that they sometimes can't even stand, and their legs are often already broken. Many cages house chickens that have already died from disease.

The treatment of hogs and cows are just as terrible, often still alive and struggling as they are hung upside down and taken down a belt to have their throats slit or beheaded by an automatic machine. Many times the animal is not dead immediately, because their throat had only been nicked as they get hacked into pieces or boiled alive.

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian."
- Paul McCartney

4) We aren't natural carnivores.

Natural carnivores have claws, pointed front teeth to tear raw flesh and no pores on the skin so they perspire through the tongue. Plant and fish eaters perspire through pores on the skin since they are searching for food during hot hours -- not hunting at sunrise, sunset or under cover of darkness as carnivores do. Carnivores also have a shorter intestinal tract than plant and fish eaters do so rapidly decaying carcasses in the stomach can pass out of the body quickly. Herbivores and omnivores have an intestinal tract that is several times their body length since a mostly plant-based diet doesn't include food that decays as quickly. The human intestinal tract is about 25 feet long. Doesn't that tell you something?

Fish on the other hand are digested much, much quicker than red meat. The omega-3 fatty acids that are in fish and seafood are necessary in the diet of a human being -- fish is the only true source of the omega-3 acids DHA and EPA. There is no supplement that needs to be taken when the flesh of land animals is cut out of the diet; it only improves your health to not eat this kind of meat.

I do acknowledge that it has been shown that fish farms can be inhumane -- even though fish are much less sentient and self-aware than land animals. However I still recommend you avoid fish that come from fish farms, and try to consume only wild fish that has been caught fresh. This way you get omega-3 acids in their purest and healthiest form, and also reduce your risk of consuming sick fish that may be packed with chemicals from fish farms. It's also similar to choosing to eat only free-range eggs -- like the hens who lay the eggs that get to run around free of a cage, these fish come from the sea or rivers in their natural habitats.

5) Many successful individuals choose vegetarian or pescetarian diets.

These people eat fish but no other type of meat, for fish is needed in the diet, and they understand this. Many people however who are pescetarian still refer to their diet as vegetarianism. This is very common and is not wrong to say -- pescetarian, also called pesco-vegetarian, is just a branch of vegetarianism. There are many types of vegetarians, and every one of them is making an effort to improve their health, contribute less to animal cruelty and help save our planet. Some types of vegetarians will accuse other types as being hypocrites, and attack their diet choices. For example, many vegans and vegetarians attack pescetarians, while they know that they themselves need to take fish oil capsules every day containing omega-3 acids to stay healthy, which they know only comes from fish. They ask, "How can you justify eating fish?" I ask, "How can you believe that it is not natural to eat something we as humans need to be healthy?"

I believe that whatever type of lifestyle one leads to benefit the planet, save the animals, or better one's health, they deserve only praise. Little steps are ok -- some take a leap in the beginning, others take steps gradually towards their goal. I believe that as long as we are aware and acting on our intentions, that's what matters. Nutritionist Jean Mayer suggests that if we reduced our country's meat consumption by just 10 percent, we could feed another 60 million hungry individuals. Now think about all the other good we could do for the planet by just that one act alone.

Friend or Faux: When Faking It Is Something to Be Proud of

2011-08-03T10:29:17-04:00

Rewind 100 years when fur was the most desired item of clothing for the wealthy -- when basically you weren't worth anything unless you wore fur. Now fast-forward to today, where wearing fur has been protested for the past 60 years, yet, it is still a fashionable item to many, and in some ways is making a comeback. Sites selling brands like Juicy Couture and Marc Jacobs are beginning to sell fur again, in the form of $2,000 fur coats, and animal skin handbags of crocodile and python.

Skins have made a comeback as well, especially crocodile skin wallets, shoes and handbags, which have once again become a status symbol for those who can afford it. But many who can afford it instead choose to opt for a cruelty-free and animal-friendly substitute; faux fur and faux skins. Which surprisingly can be quite expensive, because they are hand cut, hand crafted and hand finished, to ensure quality workmanship so that it is unable to be distinguished from real fur. While still one-tenth of the price of real fur, with no conscience-stricken feelings of guilt when buying it.

But where do you find this quality faux fur compared to the cheap stuff you see in stores? I discovered Fabulous Furs, a company created by a woman who didn't want to support the killing of animals but loved the feel of fur, so she started a faux fur clothing line in her basement which expanded into a successful online store with hundreds of faux fur coats, vests, rugs, etc, that also donates to hundreds of non-profits and hosts fund-raising events every year. Faux animal skin items are also easy to find in most stores for very reasonable prices, but if you're looking for more realistic, expensive faux skins, shop at designer stores like CC Skye and Tory Burch, who have lots of faux snake, lizard and croc bags and shoes for prices usually under $500.

The biggest factor in determining the popularity of wearing fur is that a lot of people don't actually know the process of which their fur coat was made, assuming that the animal only died of natural causes and was never killed just for its coat. But this is a common misconception, encouraged by big fur companies. Many fur-bearing animals are killed daily on fur farms by anal and vaginal electrocution, which ultimately fries their insides, and in the wild by drowning, beating, stomping or trapping. These ways to kill the animal are used as to do as little damage to the fur as possible. The pelts are then coated with many harsh and toxic chemicals to keep them from decomposing and losing their shine.

Fur farms are among the worst places on earth for an animal. Reading articles about these places and what happens to the animals is so horrifying and emotionally disturbing that I could no longer go on reading. To inform yourself on the truth about fur, here are a few must-read articles on Fur Farms, Fur Facts, and Trapping Animals for Fur. More than half of the fur items sold in the United States come from China, where the fur industry is absolutely horrific, mostly due to the fact that there are no laws against animal cruelty on fur farms in China. The Chinese Fur Industry is the world's largest, and before buying a fur item again, it is crucial you are fully aware of what goes on in these Chinese fur farms. Animals are kept in tiny wire cages their entire lives, and when their life is up and it's their turn to be made into a coat, undercover investigators from Swiss Animal Protection/EAST International found that after they are pulled from their cages and bludgeoned that many animals are still alive and struggling desperately, when workers flip them onto their backs or hang them up by their legs or tails to skin them.

You can help stop this inhumane and horrifying slaughter of animals for their furs and skins. And donating money or fund-raising are not the only ways to help put a stop to this. You, as one individual, alone refusing to buy fur your entire life, are making a huge difference, saving as many as 100 or more animals. Because not only are you not buying fur yourself, you are taking part in lowering the demand for fur. Small things like signing a petition like the Fur Free Pledge on the Humane Society website can do a lot more than you think, for the more people who do small things, the bigger the difference.

Determining Your Place on the Political Spectrum

2011-07-08T11:06:00-04:00

The political spectrum is the range of political attitudes of the public, going gradually from extreme to moderate to extreme: radical, liberal, moderate, conservative, and then reactionary. Every individual lies somewhere along this political spectrum, but many do not know exactly where they lie, or they label themselves as something that they may not be entirely. Some even think that they lie nowhere on the political spectrum, because they label themselves as not involved or not feeling strongly about political issues, but the fact is that they are most likely moderate, or maybe they do feel strongly about many political issues but don't really know it.

These labels of "liberal," "moderate," "conservative," "radical" or "reactionary" are often misinterpreted or misunderstood. So the first thing is to know the true definitions of these labels before you apply them to your political description. Read up on them, from both viewpoints. I was scouring Google for an unbiased definition of each political label, but it is hard to find such unbiased sites, so my best advice is to look them up for yourself from both viewpoints. It just goes to show that everyone has their opinion, and most are very passionate about the political label that they apply to themselves.

But generally speaking, "liberal" refers to someone who advocates change, new philosophies and new ideas. "Conservative" describes someone who avoids change, preferring to stick to the tried and true. But these definitions have changed over time, and modern definitions of these political labels are much more complex.

Liberals today are very much for individual rights but also lots of government intervention and control. They want everyone to be treated equally, especially concerning health care, gay marriage, illegal immigration and minimum wage. They are very supportive of the poor and lower middle-class, believing that the rich should be taxed highly to help the poor. They believe that the government should protect the people from themselves, banning gun ownership and making unionizing of workers mandatory. They are also pro-choice but believe that the death penalty should be banned. They want to decrease defense spending and scrap the Missile Defense program.

Conservatives today are for a strong military and taking the necessary actions to protect America, even if it means intervening in other countries preemptively. They are against granting amnesty to illegal aliens and want to prevent illegal immigration as much as possible by building a fence along the border with Mexico. They are against abortion and physician-assisted suicide, and they believe that there should be more faith-based government initiatives, like introducing more religion into schools. They want to cut taxes, keep government out of business and have more capitalistic and free-market policies. They want to protect gun ownership rights, and they believe that there should be maximum punishment for crimes and that people should always be held responsible for their own actions. They also value tradition very highly, like keeping marriage between a man and a woman and keeping the death penalty.

Political attitudes usually run in the family and carry down through generation after generation. Children are influenced greatly by their parents' political ideologies, so families usually have the same or at least similar political views. Children with parents who have strong or passionate views politically will most likely grow up with the same views. They may go through a rebellious stage in their teenage or young adult years but will most likely always go back to their original political upbringing as a mature adult. Of course, there are exceptions, but for the most part this holds true. Many factors other than family also influence political attitudes, like gender, religion, education level and race/ethnicity. But above all, what runs in the family remains the biggest factor in determining political ideologies other than the individual's views on certain current topics or debatable issues.

"Radical" and "reactionary" are extreme versions of "liberal" and "conservative," respectively. A radical is extremely far left, or an ultra-liberal or extremist, and a reactionary is extremely far right, or an ultra-conservative or extremist. Reactionaries are so conservative that they want to reverse political progress or change. And radicals favor drastic political, economic or social reforms and often advocate these uncompromisingly.

One of the best ways to determine your place on the political spectrum and know exactly what political label best describes you and your views is to take a quiz. There are many out there, but the most popular are the Political Spectrum Quiz and The Political Compass Test. These are great ways to know what political ideology you most agree with because they are determine your personal views based on issues and how strongly you feel about them. There are no family influences or pressures involved, and no labels on the answers that give away beforehand whether you are choosing a liberal or conservative view; many people feel pressure or obligation to remain true to their political label, instead of expressing their true feelings on certain subjects even if they contradict their label of "liberal" or "conservative." Once an individual claims him or herself to be a conservative or a liberal, a Republican or a Democrat, they usually automatically go with their group's decisions or views rather than their own if they happen to differ.

If you find many of your views differing from your current group's views that you have affiliated yourself with, then you may be giving yourself an incorrect political label. Or you may have just misunderstood the true meaning of the political label that you gave yourself, perhaps just based on the fact that your family holds this label and encouraged or pressured you to do the same, and you took it without current education on that political ideology. To find out whether any of your views differ from your group's, take a look at this Political Ideology table. I mentioned many of these descriptions of conservative or liberal above.

Every individual has some kind of political attitude, whether it leans toward liberal or conservative, to the extremes or somewhere in the middle. But there's no general right or wrong, because everyone has a right to their own personal political ideology; that's the beauty of choice and personal freedom. I believe that every human being is equal, but we should let all people have their freedom and ability to live the life they choose to live. Allow people to do what they want with their lives, whether it's good or bad for them. Allow competition and the opportunity to become successful and wealthier than others. If there's no challenge in life, is it even worth living?

We all lead such different lives and go down different paths in life. We come from all sorts of different backgrounds and upbringings and aspire to different journeys through life. That is what makes us diverse, interesting and colorful in many different ways. And that in turn is what shapes our country, the United States of America, and ultimately the world around us.

Put Down Your iPhone -- Urgent Message

2011-05-16T10:53:37-04:00

As technology advances every year, electronics have taken over today's generation. Some call our generation "The Technology Generation." Everyone has an iPhone or a blackberry or an Android, a laptop, an iPod -- an iPad! What's really the use of an iPad?! Electronics have become accessories instead of necessities. And now you can get hundreds of accessories for your electronic accessories! Six-year-old kids are getting cell phones for their birthday and starting early on the "texting craze," downloading games and spending time indoors on their phones instead of outside playing. Human interaction has drastically changed. It's the Myspace and Facebook era, where teens and pre-teens lead a huge percent of their social lives on the internet.

But, also because of this age of technology and electronics, more kids today than ever before are becoming young entrepreneurs, programmers, online writers, website designers, etc. I started my first online company at 14 years old by creating a website on the online virtual-pet site "Neopets" and monetizing it with Google Adsense. My parents at that age were probably doing paper routes, or were in boy or girl scouts, or watching old cartoons on their tiny family televisions! Not that any of those things were bad things, at all, because along with the advancement of technology today has come the pressure to grow up faster and start acting like an adult at an early age. Young kids using cellphones and laptops, for boys, playing violent video games and watching movies about degrading women, for girls, dressing provocatively and wearing makeup. Music playing on the radio about adult topics with crude lyrics; same goes for TV shows, movies, magazines, video games, billboards -- It's inescapable!

I guess what I'm trying to get across primarily is to be aware of all these influences on your kids, little sisters or brothers, nieces or nephews. And help promote a healthy, happy and lengthy childhood for the youth of today. Kids these days don't understand how quickly that beautiful innocence and care-free life full of imagination, wonder and play goes by, because they are trying to grow up as fast as they can, heavily influenced by the media. Seven year olds don't need an iPad, and 11 year olds don't need a Facebook. Playing outside, playing games with your family, helping mom or dad bake in the kitchen -- these are the activities young kids should be enjoying more.

Notice your kid shutting you out with their earphones on the way to school, or ignoring you while texting on their phone constantly, or not coming to dinner because they are too busy on Facebook? Don't worry, tons of families all over the world, especially in the U.S, are experiencing these behaviors too. Heck, my family experienced this with me when I was younger, and are still with my younger sisters right now! It's not because you are a bad parent or guardian, it's because electronics have taken over a huge percentage of our lives. Us adults too! Stuck in our phones, eyes glued to our computer screens for hours at a time. Maybe we are perhaps not finding enough time for our kids too... And I mean real quality time, like playing a board game or going outside and playing baseball. Watching a movie together isn't quality time, you're just zoning out and intently watching a screen for two hours.

I think this is a wake up call, to everybody, that we are losing a lot of normal human interaction, and because everyone does it and we do it all the time, it becomes routine. We forget, that going to see somebody is more heartfelt than a text, or that a real game with your kid is more bonding than watching Spongebob, or that a loving kiss with your partner is more affectionate than a "poke" on Facebook. This is the Marimba ringtone on your iPhone waking you back up to reality. This is the Facebook chat message alert telling you to put down your electronic devices and start giving your loved ones more of your undivided attention. This is the SMS Tri-tone going off saying:

"You only live once, and there's no telling when your life will end.
One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."

Saving The Planet In Style

2011-01-14T17:30:11-05:00

What does it mean when an item of clothing or an accessory is "earth friendly", or "eco-friendly", or "green"? You see it on labels, it makes you feel good to buy it, or maybe you don't feel anything because you don't really know what it even means. An earth friendly or green shirt gets its label depending on the renewability and source of the fibers being used, the process of how it's turned into a textile, and the material's carbon footprint, as well as the working conditions of the people producing the material. Eco-friendly, earth friendly, and green all usually mean organic, free of insecticides and pesticides, and many times the label using that term supports charities and small local businesses in third-world countries. For example, Common Threadz is a non-profit organization that helps orphans by taking their hand-drawn designs and putting them on t-shirts, and the orphan receives the profits from their t-shirts that are sold. Another eco-friendly clothing brand is Alternative, and you can read their information on their products and FAQ's here.

You can shop consciously easily when it comes to clothes; there are many brands and sites that sell organic and earth friendly clothing with no child labor or inhumane working conditions involved. Even bigger and more mainstream brands and sites have lines of green clothing and accessories, such as eco-friendly bags on ShopBop.com, organic denim Nudie jeans, and organic cotton t-shirts for men at the Gap. Even Victoria's Secret PINK has come out with green organic clothes and eco-friendly beauty products. Just Google "organic clothes" or "eco-friendly clothes", try different variations of words and combinations to get different results, and check out the sites that come up. You'll quickly have a list of your favorites to shop at. And you may find that it is expensive to shop eco-friendly all the time, so if you can't always, at least try to buy labels that are made in the USA and are sweatshop free.

Awareness is growing in the fashion industry, although it is still small. That's where you come in. Every individual who chooses to buy an earth friendly product over a product with a destructive carbon footprint is making a difference. Every purchase counts, because it increases the demand and supply of green products, and decreases the demand and supply of other products. No matter how small your purchase, it counts, because it adds to all those other millions of small purchases (and big purchases!) others have made in the world. It's easy, helps the environment, others, even you, and makes you feel good. So what are you waiting for, Go Green!

Play the World Hunger Game

2010-10-18T16:17:01-04:00

Most people WANT to make a contribution to charities, but many have no idea which ones to donate to, and how much of their money actually goes through to the people in need on the other end. So, they usually end up not donating at all, except for maybe some clothes to the Goodwill every now and then.

So what should you do?

First, do research. Read up on different charities you can donate to, perhaps more local ones if you can find them. Talk to the people from the charities you research and ask them questions. Ask your friends and people you know where they donate to and how much. But if that even seems like too much for you, then just go to FreeRice.com. I heard about Free Rice from a documentary on world hunger and poverty called One Peace At A Time (which was excellent by the way; be sure to pick it up from the library or add it to your Netflix que!). What Free Rice is is a nonprofit game. Several games to choose from to be precise. All you do is play the games and with every correct answer, you donate 10 grains of rice. You can play multiple choice games that test your vocabulary, grammar, famous paintings, chemistry symbols, geography, math and languages like Spanish and French. If you get a question wrong, no grains of rice are donated. Once you get a question correct, the 10 grains of rice are automatically and immediately donated. Your following question will be harder, and your next three consecutive correct answers will progress you to a harder level.

So where do these grains of rice go? They go to the United Nations World Food Programme. And you don't have to have an account to play Free Rice, you can start playing the moment the homepage loads. But you can have an account if you wish to track your totals of donated rice. And the best thing about donating to this charity is it's fun, educational, and addictive. I sat there and played Free Rice the first time I visited the site until I donated about 5,000 grains of rice. And I felt wonderful about it. There's no money lost in the process, it's just grains of rice being directly donated, and Free Rice donates 100 percent of it's earnings. The sponsors that advertise on the site are paying for the rice you donate. As quoted in the FAQ page on FreeRice.com, "FreeRice is not sitting on a pile of rice. You and other FreeRice players earn it 10 grains at a time. Here is how it works: when you play the game, sponsor banners appear on the bottom of your screen for every correct answer that you choose. The money generated by these banners is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people."

Where does the rice go exactly? The grains of rice goes to hungry countries all over the globe, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Uganda, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. Watch a video of free rice being donated in Bangladesh.

So who started this wonderful way to help stop world hunger? His name is John Breen, and he launched the fabulous FreeRice.com in October of 2007. In March 2009, he donated Free Rice to the UN World Food program, and it's been accumulating billions of grains of rice since.

So what are you waiting for? Play Free Rice today, and as many days as you can, and tell all your friends about it who don't know how to contribute to charities or think it's too hard or not worth it! And if you have a blog, promote Free Rice on it by having a banner, which can be found here: Free Rice Banners. You can feed the hungry...grain by grain.

Ugg Boots: The Controversial Fashion Trend

2010-09-29T14:40:07-04:00

Ugg Boots, the fall and winter boots with a suede exterior and sheepskin interior, have been in style since the 70's. They originated in New Zealand and Australia, originally popular among surfers to keep their feet warm as they came out of the freezing water. But after surfer Brian Smith started selling Ugg Boots in the United Sates, they became a huge fashion trend.

Most teenage girls and college-age women own at least one pair of Ugg Boots, if not several, and nowadays they're all different sorts of colors, shapes and styles. But there's been a rumor that the making of Ugg Boots is cruel to the sheep, causing Ugg to lose customers. Is that rumor actually true?

Well, PETA certainly says so. They have said that the merino sheep, whose wool is used to make Ugg Boots, are sometimes tortured to death if they are a hassle in the process of getting their wool. They also say that since the merino sheep have to grow such huge amounts of wool, it creates folds in their skin which can get cut as the sheep is sheared and left as open wounds.

But the question is, how many times does this really and truly happen and to how many sheep? The number is unknown, and knowing PETA, their information is usually exaggerated to an extent. They do this to shock people out of buying animal-made products; it's the way they try and make lasting impressions on the public. Is this the most honest information to report to Ugg Boot lovers? Not necessarily.

Here are the straight facts: merino sheep are not killed for the boots, they are only sheared, and it is a known fact that sheep are more comfortable without their heavy wool coats. Sheepskin refers to a sheep's wool, not their actual skin. And the outside and bottom of the boots are synthetic. So there is a chance a sheep could be harmed in the process of obtaining its wool, but it is also just that: a small chance. Therefore, its completely up to you to decide whether you will discard your Ugg Boots for the possibility of animal cruelty, or stick with the trend and continue to wear your winter wooly boots.

For me, the information was eye-opening, but I only have one pair of real Ugg Boots, and I am going to still wear them. They were expensive and are very warm and very nice quality, and just the one pair most likely did not cause any sheep any harm. But it really comes down to a personal decision, and a matter of how extreme you are on the animal activism scale.

How to Walk on Fire And Not Get Burned

2010-09-08T13:49:00-04:00

One evening, I got a feverishly excited phone call from my dad. He was at the "Unleash the Power Within" Tony Robbins Seminar, and he informed me he had just walked on burning hot coals. He exclaimed how amazing he felt, how he didn't feel a thing as he trotted across 2,000 degree coals and how he felt like a totally new person. I was very happy for and proud of him, but I thought to myself: "Hell if I ever do that! I don't want to burn my feet off, thank you very much!" I assumed he must have been either hypnotized somehow or they had slipped him something beforehand. I was just too astounded to really think about it. Then a few months later, my dad roped me into going to "Unleash the Power Within" along with my two younger sisters. I had no idea what to expect, but there was one thing I was sure of: there is NO WAY I am walking on burning coals.

The first day of the seminar blew me away. There were about 3,000 people in attendance and the energy Tony created in the gigantic room was amazing. I had never, ever felt that amount of enthusiasm and excitement in any type of atmosphere before. It was infectious. And through Tony's way of pumping you up, and showing you how to delve into your emotions and bring out any one you choose so strongly it fills you completely with that emotion alone, something happened. My extremely strong, stubborn decision on not doing the fire walk had melted away. I hardly even had to debate with that fearful voice that commonly holds me back from opportunities -- my confidence was so powerful, I knew 100 percent I would never back out now. We were told exactly how to successfully do the fire walk: look up as you walk, walk at a purposeful but normal pace, and chant, "cool moss" as you cross. All this, and most importantly, being in a state of absolute certainty, would have an opposing effect on the 2,000 degree heat on your feet.

We marched barefoot 3,000 people strong down the street to where the lines of glowing coals were set up. Before I knew it I was in line just 10 people away from it being my turn. I could see the searing red coals, glowing like rubies, and I could visibly see the heat shimmering in a deathly looking haze. Here is where the voice suddenly reappeared. A wave of fear started to wash over me, but I immediately stopped it in its tracks by pushing it out of my mind and replacing it with that entirely confident feeling I'd had back in the seminar. I began to chant "cool moss" to drown out the negative voice in my head. Five people to go, three people to go, my sister walks across, I'm a couple feet behind her. Two people drenched with sweat from the heat suddenly and enthusiastically yell to me to "GO GO GO!". I don't think, I just do it. I'm looking at the sky and yelling "COOL MOSS!" to myself over and over again as I keep a strong steady pace across the eight second walk over the glowing coals. I feel heat beneath my soles, but just slightly. Suddenly I'm stopped in my tracks by two people on either side of me, and as they spray off my feet with a hose I realize I made it. My sister runs over to me and we're hugging and jumping up and down with shocked excitement. I did it. I can't believe I did it. And if I can do this, I think to myself, I can do anything.

That mentality, I can bring back by going into that memory, which is etched into my mind for the rest of my life. It gives me utter confidence, and a fierce belief in myself. I feel unstoppable. Now I know what my dad was talking about on that phone call to me that time ago. He wasn't hypnotized, he wasn't drugged. He was taught how to mentally condition himself. Condition yourself even to withstand 2,000 degrees in contact with the skin as you walk over 10, 20 or even 40 feet of red hot coals, and have no injuries whatsoever. Not just any state of mind can protect your body like that; it has to be strong, fierce, unbreakable.

So my advice on walking on fire: if you truly, deep down to the depths of your soul, believe you can do it, you can. And after you have that experience to prove it to you, you can do anything you completely set your mind to.

Depression Alert: Reading This Post May Just Help Save a Life

2009-10-06T17:35:25-04:00

Depression. It's a serious illness, but also one of the most common ones out there. Everyone will at some point in his or her life be affected by depression, either their own or someone else's, according to Australian Government statistics (depression statistics in Australia are comparable to those of the US and UK). It's the kind of illness you can't always see; a person may seem happy when you are talking to them, even after knowing them for a while, but depression is something most people keep swept well under the rug from many people in their lives.

Sometimes depression doesn't affect an individual 24/7, but is triggered by an incident that recently happened, which can lead to breakdowns and often suicidal thoughts and actions. These types of things are often kept private by the victim, so it's hard to know if someone you know or if a loved one has depression. If you haven't noticed anything major, there might be underlying issues and incidents you don't know about, and the best way to find out is by sitting down and talking with them. Ask how he or she is doing -- but be aware, most people will say they are just fine at first, but you need to dig a little deeper. People with depression need someone to talk to about it, and will eventually open up and appreciatively talk about it with a concerned friend or loved one.

Another way to tell if your son or daughter may be suffering from depression is by spotting scars from cutting. For those who don't know, cutting has become almost a fad for depressed kids and teens. By cutting their wrists or other parts of their body, they are supposedly taking away the emotional pain by replacing it with a distraction of physical pain. But for the most part, kids get this idea of cutting from peers and movies and such, or do it to get attention, label themselves "emo," or just to get noticed as being depressed by someone, which in that case it's a desperate cry for help and attention to their feelings. If you notice scars on your kids' wrists, arms, or legs, or they're constantly wearing long sleeves or pants, maybe during hot weather or you're suspicious of them avoiding you seeing their arms or legs, sit down and talk to your kid. Maybe start off by asking how school is going, and how their friend situation is. Friends are one of the biggest factors to being happy in a teen's life. If they're getting bullied or are having trouble with friends at school, it may be causing them to get very depressed without you knowing.

What some adults forget is how the littlest things in life when you're a pre-teen and teenager are about 10 times bigger to you at the time. A breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend might feel like the end of the world, or a parents' divorce might feel like your fault and that you're not loved anymore. Talking with your kid about how life has so much more to it after you get past that stage, and how all this high school stuff won't matter anymore once you're in college, is very important. It was a very strong factor for me personally whenever I felt like life was horrible or hopeless. It's almost as if teens have blinders on from the big picture when their suffering from depression. It's only the here and now that matters, and it feels like it will go on forever.

Depression is so common today it's frightening. And so is the amount of depressed teens that commit suicide -- 15%. Be aware of all your friends and family, because they may be suffering from severe depression, and it's just bottled up inside them and invisible to others. They may just need someone, even just one person alone, to reach out and show them how much they care about them.

Teenagers Get Serious!

2009-03-07T13:29:13-05:00

Many people tend to not take teenagers seriously in complete honesty when they say they want to do something or they have a goal. It's true they're still young and changing their minds often, and figuring out what their interests are, but when a teen is really motivated about something and determined to achieve it, you better believe they will.

I sometimes don't stick to my plans I have had for a specific goal, or even ever complete that goal. It's only human to have changing interests and wavering attention when growing up. But this doesn't mean I can never achieve something even if I really want to at the time. I learned that if I set my mind to something, I can achieve it. This is what I live by, and it certainly gives me more inspiration than sitting around being negative about what I can and can't do. Shoot for the stars. Live your dreams. That is how I think everyone should live their life.

At the Elite Retreat last month (see my previous post), Gary Vaynerchuk was talking about the same concept. Don't be afraid to have too big of a dream. The bigger, the better. What use is a dream if it's something easy or simple, or something you wouldn't have to work hard towards to accomplish? And if you are really passionate about this dream, then you've won. You've just put yourself above everyone else trying to do the same thing but without real passion or fire, or a love for it. And what difference would it make whether you're 45, 25, or even 17? Humans are all capable of success. One just needs the determination and strength of mind. "Young and successful", today, go together like waffles and maple syrup! Teens and young people all over the world have discovered niches where they can be extremely successful. Whether it be making Myspace layouts, like Ashley Qualls, or like Harrison Gevirtz, with arbitrage and affiliate marketing. Kids are passionate about what they're into, and have all the tools to be successful with access to the Internet. Online success is sky-rocketing, and success in young people is soaring right along with it.

If you are a teenager, believe in yourself and strive to achieve even your biggest goals. If you have a teenager, encourage them to live out their dreams and try not to be doubtful, no matter what they may be shooting for. Believe in them! And those that are skeptical about teenagers accomplishing what they've set their mind to, or making decent even huge amounts of money on their own, read some of the stories I have linked to on other "whiz" kids. Ashley Qualls is the perfect example. I've spoken on panels with many other tech-savvy teens at other conferences too! Perhaps you may even want to check out my story--take a look at ChloeSpencer.com. Or you can read my story on BloggerStories.com, an interview from 2006, when I had just started my first website.

I know I'm not where I want to be yet, but I'm certainly on my way. The path to my goals is lying right in front of me, and I'm only just beginning to take the first steps.