Bigger on the Inside

For most muggles and non-Whovians, Bigger on the inside is an impossibility that doesn’t exist, and barely, if ever crosses someone’s mind. HOWEVER, if you’re familiar with Doctor Who or a true die hard fan of The Doctor, Bigger on the Inside means something more, as you can see in these two clips:

In short, Time Lord Science is amazing.

Or perhaps you’re more familiar with the wizarding world of Harry Potter, and like Harry in the clip below you just “love magic.” For you, Bigger on the Inside is a little more like this:

Yet for most of us, both Time Lord science and magic aren’t readily available, and so Bigger on the Inside can’t literally be applied to our homes or our cars or our offices. BUT, that doesn’t mean that we can’t make our living spaces FEEL bigger on the inside. 

Is this possible you ask? With basic Feng Shui it is!!

One of the basic principles of Feng Shui is de-cluttering living spaces allowing for more energy flow. In fact, in Feng Shui, before you can even begin to truly transform your house, you have to de-clutter it first.  I recently started going through clutter from as small as papers and unread mail to pieces of furniture I just didn’t need, and the impact on my apartment and my life has been amazing!

Why live like this: 

When you can live in a home that clear of clutter, like this:

So What is Clutter Exactly?

Feng Shui defines clutter as blocked energy that drains energy from you while lowering the quality of your life. 

For the average person, clutter is anything that you don’t use, like or have a place for.

For sci-fi fans, think of clutter as space junk that’s somehow found a way to attach itself to your ship. It’s slowing you down and is only going to cause problems. Nothing good every really comes of space junk...

What to do about it

So in order to honor, or attempt to figuratively mimic Time Lord science and wizarding magic there are three easy rules to get started on de-cluttering your home or office.

IF YOU DON’T USE IT, GET RID OF IT. If you haven’t used it in the last 6 months to a year, do you really use it? When is the last time you did? If you haven't ever used it or used it recently, it should probably go. However, getting “rid” of something you might need in the future doesn’t have to be definite. You might be able to lend such an object out to friends or family, and then borrow it back if you need it later. Or if you’re feeling extremely giving, you might give it to someone who has much more need of it that you.

IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT, GET RID OF IT. This may sound silly, but sometimes we hold onto things because people gave them to us, or we haven’t had the time to go through it. But if you generally don’t like something that is just adding to the clutter, get ride of it. Again, you don’t have to throw it away, you can give it away or donate it.

IF YOU DON’T HAVE A PLACE FOR IT, DO YOU NEED IT? IF NOT, GET RID OF IT. People tend to acquire things. Or at least I know I do. But that doesn’t mean you want, need, or have room for the things you acquire. But what if you actually do need it? Yes, that is an extremely valid argument. but the truth is if you really need it, you’ll find a place to put it, even if that means moving or getting rid of something else in order for it to have a place.

By following these three steps, you really can make a big difference in your home, and in your life. Bigger on the inside, really is a big concept, and capable a great and wonderful things just like magic and Time Lord science. And if you’re really interested in taking the next step in de-cluttering your home you can find more information and links here, and a year long, little by little monthly plan here.

So get out there and start de-cluttering! Allons-y!

One Step Closer to The Doctor[ate]

This past weekend I flew to Boston for my Graduation Ceremony at Northeastern University for my Masters in Public Administration. For the past three years, I’ve been working towards my degree part-time online, while also working full-time and pursuing my sci-fi and holistic health passions.  It was completely surreal to fly up to Boston having finally finished my degree. I actually completed undergrad in Boston and lived there three years, so a return to Boston was like going home again. There were so many familiar things that I wanted to do again, and several new things I wanted to try.

That Shiny Building is Fringe's FBI HQ

But a few things had changed since I had last been to Beantown, and the biggest one: I’m now gluten-free. (The Second biggest thing: I have discovered Fringe, which, fans know has a storyline based out of Boston. And my hotel was unbelievably close to what is known as “FBI Headquarters” in Fringe. For the record, it’s not the actual FBI building, which is  further in town, and isn’t anywhere as shiny).

Fringe Observer

This was terrifying and exciting all at once.Where would I eat?  Would I be able to eat at my favorite restaurants? Would I see an Observer? I would have to figure it all out as I went. I like to categorize this type of unknown as adventure. Much more fun that way.

Graduation

My Graduation ceremony was on the afternoon of May the 3rd, and I was more than ready. It was definitely a unique experience since I had completed my entire degree online and had never met any of my classmates or professors in person. With such a sense of anonymity, I decided to attend Whovian style. This included

1. Showing my Whovian pride and increasing my chances of meeting the 10th Doctor:

2. Not Blinking (Weeping Angel protection, and there were lots of photos being taken.)

When arrived I didn’t see anyone else wearing anything on their cap, and for a second doubted my Whovian boldness, but at the end of the ceremony, I had other Whovians track me down in the crowd filled with Masters, Doctors, Graduates and families looking to tell me they loved my cap. I’m convinced now that it was worth it. And I’m already designing my next CAPtions for any future degrees.

Newbury Comics - The Nerd Mecca of Boston 

Besides Walter’s lab of course. Actually, while scenes of the outside of Walter Bishop’s lab in Fringe is filmed on the traditional Harvard University in Cambridge, the actual building it’s supposed to be in (the Kresge Building) is on a separate campus in South Boston. Anyways, I digress. One of my favorite things about returning to Boston is the chance to visit Newbury Comics. While the original store is on Newbury street, the chain now has several locations throughout New England (but only in New England). However, if you have never been, should you see the smiling face logo, GO IN! They have everything from movies and tv shows to music (both new and used) as well as novelty items for every fandom, whether it be Dr. Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Dexter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, True Blood and so on and so forth. It is a gold mine. 

But buyer beware (caveat emptor) your money will part from with you there. And for the love of your wallet, don’t go back the next day, especially with the thought you wont buy but just one more thing... like I did... Yet if you can browse without giving in to temptation, the whole store is kind of like chicken noodle soup for the nerd. You won’t feel alone here.

Goodies I purchased

Gluten Free Feasting and Finds

My food discoveries over my graduation weekend, were very much positive. A lot of my fact checking (what’s gluten free, what’s not, and what’s such and such made out of) for my favorite restaurants were made on my phone, but I happened to stumble across some helpful knowledge and websites, as well as actually stumble into a couple of restaurants that are gluten-free friendly. Here’s some of the things I found:

Fire and Ice - This is one of my favorite restaurants and is where I held my graduation dinner. Twice. This bar and grill can be found in a few places across the states. They’ve gone gluten free friendly now, and offer gluten free pasta as well as designate all of the sauces that are gluten free. If you’re super sensitive, they will even cook your food in a separate pan in the back :)

Noodle Street - This cafe was a staple part of my life as a student at Boston University, and it’s actually located on BU’s urban campus. For two years I lived on the street behind it and was tempted by the smells. Noodle Street doesn’t have a gluten free menu, but in my determination to eat here I found this website on gluten free Asian noodles, and then researched everything else on the menu via smartphone (universe bless technology). Gluten-free nerds, please remember to steer clear of soy sauce!

Naked Pizza - This is probably the coolest pizza place I’ve ever found by just walking in. Their ingredients are all natural and they even offer gluten-free pizza with all natural ingredients. Just be aware that gluten free pizza at this chain only comes in one size, so plan to share or take home leftovers. Yum!

Sweet - My accidental find of this small sweeterie almost brings tears to my eyes. One of my friends took a quick dive into here while we were walking downtown and at first thought, I just knew I would only be able to look at the cupcakes and never eat them. But then I spotted the gourmet gluten free cupcakes, and the gluten-free candy. The gf cupcakes must be bought in pairs (but it’s totally worth it) and the candy is a little pricey, but delicious. I wish they had a SWEET in Houston...

Panera - I haven’t eaten at Panera since I went gluten free. Why? Well the majority of the things on the menu include bread. However at 8 am in the morning, I hadn’t a clue where I could score a gluten free menu, so I searched the web for a gluten free Panera menu and found this website. And while many of the gluten free items are lunch or dinner items, Panera will actually sell you salads for breakfast. I tested this. Twice.

Jason’s Deli - There actually isn’t a Jason’s Deli in Boston, but when I travel, this chain is usually my fall back because they have a pretty extensive gluten free menu,  you can dine in, order take out, or have your meal delivered. And everything is rather reasonably priced. I think that it deserves honorable mention.

The Perfect Souvenir

I will admit that when I travel, I do like to pick up souvenirs, particularly if their sci-fi related in any way, regardless of whether the item is for myself or others. This trip I found something that I’ve been looking for for a long time. My childhood best friend and I watched the entire reimagined Battlestar Galactica series together just a little over a year ago, and since the moment she saw them she has been obsessed with Admiral Adama’s stemless, double-walled glasses. Specifically this kind:

Well, I’ve been casually looking for them ever since, and I just so happened to find some when I was finishing my lemon 

cupcake from Sweet Cupcakes. I found them in a store known as David’s tea, in which I also bought organic spearmint loose leaf tea, in a TARDIS-esque looking container (imagination is a powerful tool):  

Needless to say, I purchased the glasses on her behalf, and gave them to her when she picked me up at the airport. She’s always doing that: shuttling me to the airport and I love her for it.

Anyways, David Tennant: Awesome. DavidsTea: Awesome. And not just because they sell glasses that look like Adama's. They also sell loose leaf tea online here.

And that’s where I’ll end my reminescence of Boston. I didn’t see any Observers this time. But I’ll return again, with my eyes open for both Dr. Who and Dr. Walter Bishop.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY 10th DOCTOR!!!

As it turns out, yesterday was David Tennant’s birthday. Hurrah! I meant to post this much sooner, but time got a little wibbley-wobbley on me and before I knew it the 10th Doctor’s birthday was through. I had every intention of being timely, but if you pay close attention, the Doctor isn’t usually on time either. Rather than get to exactly when and where he plans to go, he usually ends up where’s he’s needed, and I’d like to think that life works that way too. Plans don’t always come out as you plan them, and in my personal experience is that when my plans don’t always go as planned, I usually end up doing something that needed to be done, or end up being somewhere where I was needed, and well, everything usually works out. And remember:

Everything comes out alright in the end. If it’s not alright, then it’s not the end.

Anyways, I digress. In celebration of the 10th Doctor’s birthday (He’s 42 this year, a rather significant number: read here),  I’ve decided to share a recipe for banana daiquiris. :)  And as many Whovians are quite aware, it was the 10th Doctor who invented them (400 years early to be exact) and so I find it appropriate for the occasion. It also turns out that most banana daiquiris are completely gluten free, as rum is generally gluten free. (Although a caveat to the gluten-sensitive nerds out there: Beware of flavored rums as they could be harboring wheat, barley or malt).

So, to answer Jack’s timeless question: Why is all the rum gone?! Because it’s practically gluten-free, so even us gluten-free nerds can drink it. 

Now on with the recipe.

INGREDIENTS 

(This recipe serves two, a glass for the

 Doctor, and one for his companion.)

3 oz light rum 

2 tbsp triple sec

2 bananas

3 oz. lime juice

2 tbsp sugar

2 cherries

DIRECTIONS 

Combine all the ingredients (except for the cherry) and 1 cup of ice in an electric blender. Blend on a low speed for five seconds, then blend at high speed until firm. Pour contents into 2 cups/glasses. Garnish each with a cherry. 

And Allons-y!

Welcome!

Hi there!

Welcome to Holistic Health Nerd, where Health, Happiness and Nerdom unite! 

So what’s going on here? How does this work? 

As a nerd, I have always valued my brain and what I put in it (high-quality sci-fi material of course!). In a nutshell: I love my brain; and I want it to last forever while functioning at warp speed. A couple of years ago, I discovered the world of holistic health. And even while playing Scully to most holistic health Mulders, I was won-over by some of several holistic principles, theories and beliefs. I have also discovered that if you put some of this stuff together, something amazing happens: an increase and happiness and well-being. And Chief, you have no idea what that really means until you experience it for yourself. Like Batman? Who doesn’t? Want to FEEL as great as Batman? Now we’re talking.

Why Holistic Health and Sci-Fi Nerdom? 

Let’s just say I’m a fan of both worlds, and almost everything I’m obsessed with falls into one of these two categories. And while many people normally wouldn’t associate these traditionally separate realms, I can’t help but interpret and associate life and holistic health principles into sci-fi concepts with my nerd brain. For example, take the two pictures below. Most people look at life like this:

But like Dr. Ian Malcom suggests in Jurassic Park “Life finds a way...”. I interpret this more  as: “Life finds a way to make things much more complicated.” Such as transforming visiting a theme park into visiting a theme park while running for your life from dinosaurs. Smart ones.  And consequently, I view life in a more entropic and wibbly wobbly timey-wimey perspective as is suggested by the Doctor Who timeline:

And of course, as a nerd (a Whovian in particular), this makes complete sense, maybe even more sense than the first timeline. In a way, I think it’s more real. I’m pretty sure, to me, at least, my life seems more like a Doctor Who episode than what theoretically happens...

I have the same outlook on health. Most people would probably say that health comes from working out, and eating right, and well, that’s it. They would also argue probably a simple theoretical formula: start off healthy, eat well, work out to train or keep off weight = BAM! Great Health! They would also probably say great health and mental well being can be explained by boiling down things to this: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (not to knock Maslow, he’s awesome)

However, in my opinion there’s a couple of kinks in all this normal timeline business, and the generally accepted outlook... What if you didn’t start off healthy?  What if what society has determined as healthy and nutritious, well, really isn’t? Where’s the mental, spiritual, or awareness of self aspects of things? And what, exactly does Maslow’s hierarchy look like on the ground level? For analyzing someone else Maslow’s got it dead on. But when I’m looking at my own life, what does it all mean?

From my experience, holistic health on the ground level, looks a little more like this:

Where overall and holistic health both results from and has impact on  ALL of  its components. This concept also happens to cause a completely reinforcing cycle which can be shown in the really cool diagram above that my nerd brain translates into this:

Or, if you’re not so familiar with the Winchester brothers.  Maybe this:

***Disclaimer: Although holistic health is a powerful force, there is no direct proof that it can protect one from demonic possessions or cylons.***

So what’s in it for me?

Well Maslow got it right when he said that man is a social animal. 

And this is can be seen directly in nerd behavior and obsessions with cons.

However, I have yet to find a subset of nerds that are as obsessed with and enthusiastic about holistic health as I am, which is not to say they don’t exist, just that we haven’t declared ourselves yet.  So like Klaus from TVD (except without the vampire status, but as an original none the less), in the absence of a “perfect” family, I hope to create my own hybrids who care about their holistic health just as much as they obsess over all things in their respective nerd realms. Look what nerds have done around the world to show their love and fandom. Now imagine what they could do for themselves, and the universe if they could unite in taking an interest in themselves, both in mind and body. And they’d also get to feel like Batman. All the time.

So happy reading, nerd on, and may the force of holistic health be with you!

Allons-y!

Sama