"K" for Krill Oil

A couple of months ago I scavenged the internet for information regarding Krill oil. The search was prompted because of information I found regarding Fish oil pills that despite the claims of purification, fish oil still contained amounts of PCBs and Mercury.

The more I searched, the more I was convinced to switch to Krill oil. Krill is a crustacean that exists in the oceans. It is the food of whales and many other fish. So I chose my brand of Krill oil and ordered from Amazon.com. My decision in choosing the brand came solely from the reviews of other Krill oil users.

I don't know how majority of these users came up with reviews claiming 'their joint pains going away or easing' etc but I will speak for myself. I did not feel any sudden changes at all. As I reached to the last couple of pills left in the bottle (precisely about 5 left), one thing I noticed in myself was how my kidneys 'hurt' at night as if something was dragging them out of my body. My kidneys felt heavy at night despite drinking plenty of fluids. I felt uncomfortable during the day too but it wasn't something as noticeable as during the night when I'd lie down but couldn't decide which side to lie down on as both kidneys hurt.

I went back to the internet and tried to search again. No review claimed bad side effects except one that I don't know how I stumbled upon. The person claimed having stomach problems and other digestive problems after taking the pills for a month or two. The gentleman also revealed that he did blood work and found that his bad cholesterol had gone up. That information was sufficient for me. I threw away the remaining 5-6 pills and after a week started taking my fish oil again. I have no kidney pain. Even without the blood work done, I can feel the difference.....Ditch the Krill and take the fish oil!!

"J" is for Joke and Jackass...

Telling jokes is an art. If you have it naturally, then be happy otherwise you become a jackass, failing miserably at cracking jokes.

Like other forms of art, telling jokes also has its do's and don'ts inorder for it to be great. A good joke requires great timing, a perfect situation, sharp observation, language which also includes body language using gestures when the joke is conveyed verbally, and a good mood otherwise the joke ends up in the category of sarcasm.

In the course of a day, you may come across plenty of jokes in verbal or written form. Written jokes are easy compared to verbal as the reader does not need to see who is behind the joke and what the mood of the conveyor is. For written jokes the choice of words and the joke itself must be interesting enough to captivate the reader regardless of time and situation. On the other hand, verbal jokes are a bit harder as they require the perfect timing, situation and appropriateness along with the conveyor's style of delivery.

If one fails at conveying a good joke, he appears to be the joke himself. In other words, he becomes a jackass.....How many have you come across??

"I" for Ignominious Acts

Nothing disgusts me more 'than to commit injustice and harm humanity' in the name of personal agendas, constituting politics and religion. Why blood is spilled for the most ridiculous, bizarre yet lame excuses is beyond my imagination. I keep reminding myself that we don't live in Heaven where life and everything around us will be perfect and harmonious; that we live on earth where cruelty daily manifests itself in our actions towards one another. But why can't sense prevail?

Despite traveling miles to acquire the best of education(s), earning various degrees, trophies, certificates; being polished and refined with the exposure to aggregate experiences, having the imagination expand horizons; yet we still lack one simple quality inside our puffed up selves: of tolerance and respect of another. So what's the use of all those degrees, certificates and all that exposure and all that experience when your mind is no bigger than an atom and cannot hold a simple message of tolerance and respect??

There may be a few good people but they are too few to count in numbers and they are quickly drifting away into the "perfect, harmonious life of Heaven"...My message to all folks that read this article is: You don't have to have the spotlight on you in order to do great things in life. A lot of good things are done when no one is watching. Begin with respecting and tolerating the person next to you even when you know he is at fault. Spread the tolerance and respect laced with love....

Peace to all....

"H" for Humanity..

"...Go over and over your beads, paint weird designs on your forehead,
wear your hair matted, long, and ostentatious,
but when deep inside you there is a loaded gun,
how can you have God?" ~Kabir

Guns and God don't coexist.....

"G" is for Grip

It is important to have a grip over what you write. Having a grip over something means knowing what you are writing and dealing with the subject accordingly. In today's world of online activities, it has become easy to self publish, self broadcast and self promote using the web. But does everyone succeed?

Words are like arrows shot in the air that never come back. Whether on paper or verbal, words that leave your mouth, pen or fingers are recorded permanently. They have a profound effect on the reader. Therefore it is important to have a grip over your words, what you write or say. Otherwise your art is considered gibberish.

"F" is for Flattery

Of most of the human vices Flattery is the most annoying. It is a vice that holds another vice inside; lying. A sycophant is extremely selfish and will lick off your dust happily just to get what he wants from you. Such people are dangerous to be around as their interest doesn't stop at just one thing.

Bacon once said to never give a curious person what he is looking for. The same rule applies to sycophants. Also by knowing who you are and what your trusted ones say about you, you can avoid traps of flattery set up by flatterers.

"E" is for Exceptional

In our lives we face many challenges that are major or minor. Our aim is to come out or grow out of those challenges. While competition exists in everything we do today, we push ourselves to become exceptional, an ingredient that will distinguish us apart from the rest of the crowd. But is it healthy?

We read about superstars acting silly to grab headlines, singers hungry for attention to stay on the headlines, ordinary people doing strange things to create headlines and so forth.
As a teacher I never taught my students to be exceptional. I always told them its ok to be yourself. We as human beings are all exceptional; differing from each other in some minor way characteristically which gives us our uniqueness. It is therefore not a bad thing to be different than another. Learn to accept yourself the way you are and life will be much easier!!

"D" is for Decorum

I remember how in Literature class I had a tough time distinguishing Greek and Roman Literature and Art.
Both the Greeks and Romans gave us sublime literature that stay unparalleled to this day. Hence their art is Classic.

Literature is a mirror and reflects a writer's version of events in (his) world. The world is vast and every person holds a different point of view which is shared through various mediums namely painting, sculptures, poetry, prose, drama, music etc collectively known as arts.

I find beauty in both, well balanced and style conscious art as well as the spur of the moment written/composed art. Sometimes decorum kills spontaneity. There is beauty in non-conformity as it is the closest thing to Nature itself.

Now I know that the Greeks played with just their imagination and fueled ours through their wild, pure and rich arts while the Romans blessed us with decorum and style combined with great art. Both hold important reigns in the world of literature.

"C" is for Comments

I love reading comments left for me on twitter, facebook and my blog. It is what keeps me going sometimes. Comments are like those few words of encouragement that a curious child seeks from his parents.

When I leave a comment for others, I make sure it is not mere buttering but something true about that person and what he has written. Praise is necessary when you want to push someone to do something he has a natural ability, a potential to do. Fake praise is sometimes necessary to get 'that something' done like getting your kids to do something 'right' and praising them for achieving it extraordinarily. Later in life you may want to keep things real in an effort to combat ego problems of superiority complex. But during childhood be there to praise, encourage and comment.

I remember how my 2 year old was climbing and jumping from all sorts of odd places with my encouragement while other mom's held on to their kids. The fear fed the kids while my son looked for my encouragement. One mom told me she will start praising her kids for small efforts after seeing what I had been doing.

"B" is for Believing

Everyone believes is something; it is a feeling of surety. For some people belief is innate while for others it needs to be instilled. Belief is something that gives us strength and keeps us floating above the deep blue sea. When we lose "belief" in something, someone, we lose a part of ourselves and tend to go astray.

This is why we have religion, believe in God and the Judgement Day. It is a belief that no matter what hardships we go through on earth, we will be awarded for our virtues in the form of Heaven. Atheists may chose not to believe in God or the Hereafter but they definitely believe in 'the present day'.

No matter what your beliefs are, at the end of the day if you have been humane and merciful to yourself and others around you, I think you have lived a day well!!!

"A" is for Anxious

I have been reading one of my friend and mentor's blog: Dreamers, Lovers and Voyagers. I noticed she has picked up the challenge of writing a post everyday starting with the first alphabet. This challenge called 'A to Z Blogging' sounded interesting. So although I am jumping in the challenge very late as most writers are on the letter Q already, nevertheless I am anxious to see where this will take me.

I have had sporadic spells of the writer-block but part of me is plain old lazy. I have great stuff in my imagination which never sees daylight because of my procrastination... I have long made peace with myself acknowledging procrastination as my character flaw. Let the anxiety begin!!!

Price Tag Removal Dilemma

I purchased a gift for a friend but couldn't take the freaking price tag off without damaging the box!! How many times do we all face this dilemma?

Sometimes I question the ethics used by the store to secure its pricing on its products. Electronic tagging, huge ugly magnetic clips, super tough price tags glued on an obvious spot and those ugly rubber strings holding the tag and shoe together. At times when you try peeling the price tag or size sticker off the shoe's in-sole, the leather becomes damaged and peels off with the tag or a sticky residue is left marking the impression where the notorious price tag once was. But of all the tortures, I find the super-glued price tag as the most offensive, clinging on and refusing to let go of the product!!

I've used scissors, box-cutters, my own nails and knives to scratch off or deftly cut around the price tag after the initial attempt of simple peeling fails. For some products I've devised the "oil-method" for removing the tag. Products like dishes or other glass/ceramic/porcelain etc, tough price tags can be removed by immersing the product in soupy water and then rubbing a bit of oil for a cleaner removal since water doesn't take off the stickiness left behind by the label. I've even tried the oil-method for removing residual stickiness of in-soles and it has successfully removed the label's stickiness. After the oil-method is used, make sure you wipe the spot clean afterwards with water to take the oil off.

But lets be honest; there is no one solution for this menace of secure price tagging tactics used by stores. Everyone has a different way to combat the problem. For me, when oil doesn't remove something or when I can't use the oil fearing the box or product getting damaged, I simply use the trusted scissors and carve a cute price tag shape into the otherwise beautiful box and/or leave the very obvious sticky residual on the product for the recipient to remove afterwards themselves.

For some people, it is wise to just leave the price-tag attached as my father once advised. Those are people that cannot be pleased by merely receiving a present as they "price and weigh" your gift thus taking their next step equivalent to what you gave them as reciprocal is key to such relationships. In such cases it is wise just to pretend you 'forgot' to take the expensive label off so that the recipient can value your feeling behind such a pricey gift.

For every sane person here is the real dilemma:
1) To remove or not remove?
2) To carve, cut, scratch or rub off?

What do you do?