First We Feast!

Hey sisters so its been in a while since I last wrote something but once again here I am and here we go =) . My blog posts usually are informative and in the past I have given tips to help with new experiences such as traveling and getting a puppy or getting ready for the holidays and gift ideas. Today though I am deciding to do something a little different and give a review of a YouTube channel I really enjoy that goes by the name of First We Feast. 

Photo By Wikipedia

Essentially First We Feast is a channel where “food meets culture.” Mostly known for its celebrity interviews, the channel focuses on interviewing celebs at the same time that they are eating spicy chicken wings that gradually increase on the scoville scale [ a scale that basically shows how spicy a sauce is]. What makes this channel so interesting is the different approach the interviewer, Sean Evans takes. Evans is known for being a webshow producer, interviewer and host as well as for eating the incredibly spicy Carolina Reaper, a pepper that for a while held the title of spiciest pepper in the Guinness World Record. Evans ability to conduct a good interview has been proven multiple times in his YouTube series Hot Ones that lies within his channel First We Feast. Hot Ones interviews consist of eating 10 chicken wings for which one question is asked for each wing. The best thing of the interviews in Hot Ones is that they are not space fillers as some interviews are and we as an audience get to do a deep dive and hear from a different perspective that we have not heard from before. The show is a hit, usually getting millions of views on each video.

* Random Fun Fact: first interview dates back to 1921 and was conducted by Thomas Edison. He wanted to evaluate job candidates’ knowledge.

Photo by First We Feast

Like I mentioned, the channel invites many celebrities those of which have been chef Gordon Ramsey, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, artist Post Malone and actors Jeff Goldblum, Seth Myers, Michael B. Jordan, and Natalie Portman just to name a few. The range of guests is widespread and the channel is very interactive with its audience allowing for people to recommend the next guest in the comments below.

The pros to these interviews are that thanks to the producers’ hard work and good research we get to see a new fresh side of celebrities different than the one we are accustomed to and we get to learn a thing or two. Hot Ones really do their research and rarely ask questions that these guests have heard before which prompts guests to think more of their answer and become more engaged in the interview. There is one interview in specific that came to my mind where a celebrity actually acknowledges the extent of the research done for his interview. This guest was Michael B. Jordan. In his interview he said, “Yeah! You do your research,” as he discussed driving Fast and Furious style down the streets of New Jersey. Natalie Portman also had a similar experience where she was also taken back with the amount of research that was done of her early career. Another pro of watching the Hot Ones is simply watching how silly it is to watch a celeb struggle to focus on answering questions while their mouths are burning. However that is also a con because all you can think of is the aftermath of eating all of those spicy chicken wings and the trip they will have when they go to the restroom >o<

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A comparison of Hot Ones interviews to other interviews its simple. Hot One interviews are simple yet intriguing. Although games like Carpool Karaoke, Spill or Fill Your Guts, Charades, or the Whisper Challenge done by interviewers like Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and James Gordon, are all really fun and give you a good laugh they focus mainly on a celebrity’s  fame and their beef with other people. These games usually try to in some way get gossip from celebrities.  Hosts don’t carry any cruel intentions, its simply media and trying to get views, people doing their jobs but these kind of interviews can sometimes lead to negativity. But in Hot Ones the environment never feels tense or hostile at any moment. The atmosphere is relaxed and you can see guests being really down to Earth and enjoying themselves. Celebs seem very mundane and ordinary and it helps you realize how at the end of the day even our idols are human too. It is also very interesting to see how each personality reacts to the hot and spicy torture of chicken wings!

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There is one game in specific that I like and its called Explain that Gram and what it is is showing Instagram pictures to celebs that need more context and then asking them to elaborate. Its a easy game that can lead to some very silly stories. Questions also differ and highlight a guest’s accomplishments. For example Evans mentioned Natalie Portman’s degree in psychology and then asked her questions such as  “Does having a psychology background give you any sort of edge in Hollywood?”, “Do dreams matter? Are they significant in any way?” , “What is your take on the psychological toll of social media?”, “Does eating a taco from the top instead of from the side make me a psychopath?” Questions can be serious and funny and interviews are an overall great experience.

Photo by Hunt

Overall impression, this is a great channel and a wonderful interview source! Very authentic and you can see celebs are genuinely happy and having a good time. There is an airiness to which is thanks to Evans who does an excellent job at making guests feel comfortable and thus open up. Interviews are fun and entertaining and on a scale of 1-10 its a 9 if not a 10.  Interviews are fun, simple and fresh and I highly recommend you go and check it out!

 

 

New Year New Me! Right?

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After Christmas passes everyone quickly switches gears and begins to prep for the New Year. And what says New Year’s Eve than fireworks, party hats, and… resolutions! A new Year means a new beginning, a new you right? This hope never seems to come true. Every New Year’s I make a list of the things that I want to stop, improve or change but, the exact same thing happens every year. Goals are made, but never met and motivation is at its peak but only for the span of a few weeks and it all continues in a vicious cycle.

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Well an obvious way to think about the situation is to take action. To do what I wrote on my resolution list and get her done. That “I’m going to go from getting only 3 hours of sleep to automatically getting 8 hours of sleep every night from now on” or that “I’m going to get super fit and healthy really quickly when all I have been doing for years is eating unhealthy and siting all day.” Saying these goals out loud sounds silly and most people will think, “well that’s not what I think I say that I want to…” , but unless you are very productive in your life or your goals are to take out the trash more than once a week or go out for a run this Saturday, they are not very realistic. How can we except to go from 0 to 100 in such a small time period? Trying to change habits from one day to another is like climbing a mountain without ever having trained.

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The problem with this view is that because we set unrealistic and (in the time that we want to be able to do it) unattainable goals we are more likely to fail in succeeding and this can be detrimental to our mental health. If we fail to obtain our goals we will see it as an issue that was our fault and take it out on ourselves rather than realizing the extremities we were trying to push through and in response learn from the experience.

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A better way to look at the idea of becoming a new person is to realize and understand that change demands work and determination, but is still very possible and doable. The greatest athletes did not get to where they are by giving up when practice was difficult. Celebrities did not reach their status by accepting failure. Even nature did not obtain its beauty overnight, it evolved over the course of thousands of years to get to its glory today. Change will take more than just one go, but to see your goals through you must take as many go’s as needed. Start small don’t over-complicate it for yourself. You want to become organized then sit down and start a list of items you own, jot down supplies you will need for the job, ask others for help to have encouragement, physically clean your room and look through your belongings, hold yourself accountable by having some sort of reward system, treat yourself once in a while and remind yourself how much your realistic future self will love you. Now go out and make your New Year resolutions for 2019 and remember stay realistic and start small! I wish you the best of luck.

If you need some resolution ideas to inspire or challenge you, here are a few simple resolutions provided by the lovely Lavendaire:

• Explore a hobby: Everyone is creative.
  

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  Don’t seek to be the best artist in the world, but instead seek a way to feed your creative soul. Learn to play an instrument of any kind, maracas, drums, anything! Get into the habit of writing your moods, write poems, learn to paint. Pursue whatever it is that will be your go to when you’ve had a rough day or do when you want to have some fun.

• Break bad habits: Make a list of all the habits that you want to change and then tackle them one by one. Don’t bombard yourself and try to fix all of them all at once. Tell friends to hold you accountable. Create punishments for yourself so that if you don’t follow through you can’t watch that Netflix episode and hopefully learn from your mistake.
• Read 5-10 pages a day: If you want to get more reading done in the year to come, base your goal on reading 10 pages a day rather than the number of books to read to make the task feel less overwhelming. Slow it done and break it up.
• Try listening to Audio books: If you can’t make the time to sit down to read or you lack the motivation to crack open a book but its still a goal of yours to go through more books than last year then tune in to an audio book. You can listen to it while you commute, or while you’re on a jog. It’s easy and a step towards a goal. Check this out → free audible trial (audiobooks) | http://audibletrial.com/lavendaire
• Try something you have been wanting to do: Think of something
  

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  that you have been wanting to do for a while no matter how crazy and google search ways to make it happen. You’ve always wanted to go to a beach island for vacation…rock out at your favorite band’s concert… or go sky diving….then research and make it possible. All you need is a push to start.

• Take control of your fiances: Make a 5 month safety net of money that will cover your expenses by slowly putting some money aside. If you are unemployed then mow the lawn for a neighbor, babysit, tutor, etc. Do something that will give you a source of money. Create a system in which taking money out from your net is not easy to avoid temptation. Think smart and place your money where it will benefit you the most. Check this out→ how to start investing | http://bit.ly/2BLT6JE 
• Invest in yourself: Spend money on things that are more than just for consumption. If you are a photographer buy a better camera or if you are an athlete, better equipment.
• Declutter your closet or space: Split your room into sections and work your way through them. Make a list of weekly tasks and sort out through items and donate some. Check this out→ playlist: decluttering your life | http://bit.ly/2BPpBqs
• Plan an artist day: Pick a day where you take yourself out on a date and have fun. Treat yourself. Check this out→ “artist date” is from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron | http://amzn.to/2kQ06L7
• Reconnect with an old friend: Don’t attempt to
  

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  catch up with all the people you’ve left behind in the years but instead start by rekindling your connection with a friend and bringing them back into your life. You will feel more connected to others and be more likely to have greater emotional and mental stability.

• Redecorate your space: You’ve been wanting that bean bag for so long. Buy it! Make your space new and don’t wait around for the perfect time because the perfect time is now!
• Volunteer: Seek out non-profit organizations that you will enjoy being apart of to give yourself a sense of community.
• Try stream of consciousness journaling for a week:
  

  Photo by Pinterst

  Learning to write down your exact thoughts onto paper will help you clearly see your goals and increase your chances of accomplishing them. Check this out→ how to: stream of consciousness journaling | http://bit.ly/2BnJ7uw

There are many other things that you can do as your New Year’s resolutions that will fit you better according to your lifestyle or preference but remember to seek out improvement of character and not replacement of character. Like always thank you so much if you read through this. I wish you a happy New Year’s and until next time!

A Place Called Home

 

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Have you ever been to a place where you’re welcomed and loved at the drop of a hat? Everyone values, takes time for you and believes in you regardless of who you are? Can you even imagine a place like that exists? This blog post is going to be more personal and sentimental and don’t worry sis, if you are not a big fan of this kind of content it won’t be often that I will detract from the YouTube content I plan to write about in the future.

Located in Lake Hughes there is a wonderful camp called the Painted Turtle. From a distance it doesn’t seem like much, figuratively and literally, hidden away by trees and easily passed on the road. This camp however is life changing.

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I was born with biliary atresia, a disease where bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder is blocked due to the narrow bile ducts outside the liver that are abnormal and damaged by a progressive inflammatory process. The cause of the disease is still unknown and it only affects 1 in 10,000-15,000 of infants in the United States, in other words its uncommon. Within two weeks of my birth my mother noticed that my skin was very yellow, referred to as jaundice and a symptom of liver failure, so she took me to a doctor and was told the issue was minor and that it could be because of her breast milk or because I was premature. Time went by and sensing something was wrong my mother refused to accept that everything was alright and took me to my pediatrician. There at 2 months old I was diagnosed with biliary atresia.  I did not gain weight, had an abnormally large stomach for my age/wanted to be constantly eating, was yellow, and had constant stomach pain. At 2 months and prior to my liver transplant I had a Kasai Procedure, a surgery to reconstruct bile ducts, where my liver was connected to my intestines to lengthen the time I had to wait for a donor. After going through two false alarms of an available liver I finally got my transplant at UCLA Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles. I was 1 year and 8 months old. To this day I must take medication in order to prevent liver rejection and ending up in the hospital.

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The reason for going into this reserved part of my life story is so that my love for this camp I want to share with you all can have background knowledge and sense. My first time attending I was 9 and tremendously scared of being away from my mom for too long, however in one particular doctor’s appointment it was suggested that I go to the Liver Transplant/ Inflammatory Bowel Disease session. It took some convincing on my mother’s part, but eventually everything was set and I was to leave on a school bus the following week. I packed my suitcase, which like usual I over packed by a gazillion pounds and drove with my mom to a park in Los Angeles where I waited to be picked up.

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We got there, checked in, and I was on my way. I was extremely nervous, it was my first time and I had no clue of what to expect. I boarded the bus and the very first thing I felt getting on that bus was happiness. It was not entirely my own, but that of those on the bus. It was a crazy sensation that I cannot begin to describe. It was just there. I glanced at other kids on the bus and they were at ease, carefree. All of their problems seeming to have evaporated. Seeing that caused my own stress and nervousness to drift away and I buckled in for the long drive. At first all I could see were fast food advertisements and the highway but soon all around was nature. Trees, bushes, a lake, and huge boulders. In this moment, the experience began.

Photo from The Painted Turtle Website

We arrived to multi colored letters that read The Painted Turtle and people with paint splattered all over their faces taking attendance. I was amazed. This place seemed so cool and I had not even gone in! I was put into a group and we got off the bus where we were immediately greeted by Puns and Pops, the life and party of camp. They began speaking to us as if we were lifetime friends. Counselors and kids nearby approached us and began to ask us questions. Everyone wanting to be everyone’s friend. I  was astonished, never in my life had I encountered an atmosphere so welcoming, positive, and loving. Even in tight knit relationships like family, you feel judged or not accounted for, but not here. The feeling was tangible. Once I was formally checked in I went to my cabin and got to meet all of my mates, we all instantly bonded.

Photo from The Painted Turtle Twitter

Now I will not pretend to remember the specifics of that time I attended. I have about the same memory capacity as a goldfish to be honest, and if I can’t remember what I did yesterday than let alone years ago, but I do remember the emotions that passed through me that summer. At The Painted Turtle you feel immensely cared for and supported, and important! It is a magical experience for both the camper and counselor. People who had been strangers to you days, moments ago are now your best friends. People who you would have never met become your closest pals. It’s life changing. People from all over the world, Australia, Ireland, and Canada to name a few, come to attend and be part of this amazing and beautiful camp.

Photo from The Painted Turtle Website

As a child this was the best thing to have happened to me. A place where I belonged, where I wasn’t the only one on daily medication, where I wasn’t the only one with a huge scar across my belly a reminder of the switches that once stood there, where I wasn’t the only one who felt abnormal, constantly sick. It was a place where I belonged and was finally not the only one. (Jessuz I be getting emotional up in here as I’m writing this). This is a camp where you are not the only one regardless if you have a chronic condition or have never had to worry about your health, it’s a place to be yourself and happy. Now as a teenager this is a place to escape the world. As I’ve grown and experienced more, I have a place to call home and escape reality. It does truly feel as if you stepped out of the real world and hopped into a magical dimension where all dreams come true.

I ask of you, if you got this far into the post to look into The Painted Turtle and become a part of it. If working with children is your thing join, if spending time and making new friends is your specialty join, if you are looking into getting involved join, if being part of an incredible staff and family is what you want then come and join! This is in no means an advertising blog and joining does not enlist needing to pay or being paid but I am spreading the message from the bottom of my heart because I want everyone to have the opportunity to experience such a magical experience like I’ve had the privilege to. This does not include everything there is but here is an overview of the variety of activities available and experiences possible:

• Ropes Course (includes zip line)
  

  Photo from The Painted Turtle Website

• Horse Riding
  

  Photo from The Painted Turtle Website

 

• Arts and Crafts
• Fishing
• Talent Show (where my cabin mates and I went up and literally quoted vines as our skit)
• Silly Olympics (you get messy with oatmeal and paint + the firefighters bring their truck and hose everyone down while you dance and have a good time)
• Dancing after each meal
• Eating amazing food (the food there is the absolute best! Anyone who has been to camp can tell you the same. Tasty spaghetti with garlic bread and a glass of lemonade, fresh salad with whatever condiments you prefer, a delicious burger, pasta, or fries!!!!)
• Whale shaped pool
• Lake for boating/canoeing
  

  Photo from The Painted Turtle Website

• Archery
  

  Photo from The Painted Turtle Website

All and everything is done here! I had the best time at my last session that took place this summer of 2018 and now I look forward to becoming a counselor so that I could give other children what was given to me. If you want to get to know the camp experience here is a video (of the session I attended 2 years ago!) https://vimeo.com/242831610 . If you want the professional details check this video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSo-uOZgZTw . The video is blurry and was published in 2014, so to get all the current information go to their website http://thepaintedturtle.org/.  Again thank you if you stuck through and read this entire thing. Next time I will write about something that more of you skinny legends can relate to. Adios until next time!