<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226</id><updated>2012-02-16T20:16:36.886-06:00</updated><category term='conscious men'/><category term='products'/><category term='nerissa oden'/><category term='movie'/><category term='gifts'/><category term='what the bleep'/><category term='stevia'/><category term='ingredients'/><category term='video'/><category term='gift for food lovers'/><category term='william arntz'/><category term='film'/><category term='the matrix'/><category term='stevia sweeteners'/><category term='frame'/><category term='labels'/><category term='kitchen gifts'/><category term='paradigm shift'/><category term='unconscious masculinity'/><category term='food gift'/><category term='ghetto physics'/><title type='text'>Nerissa Oden</title><subtitle type='html'>Observations, Musings and Experiences</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>10</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226.post-6925509179999236995</id><published>2011-05-08T18:59:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2011-05-08T18:59:41.333-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='video'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='conscious men'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='unconscious masculinity'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='nerissa oden'/><title type='text'>Thank You Conscious Men</title><content type='html'>All women and men should hear this bc it will shock most of them into consciousness of a void - what most of have never heard.&lt;BR&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;iframe width="500" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K_uRIMUBnvw?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nerissa Oden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a ref="http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://NerissaOden.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a ref="http://www.FoodPowers.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://FoodPowers.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a ref="http://www.GotABadPap.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://GotABadPap.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a ref="http://www.TheVideoQueen.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://TheVideoQueen.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a ref="http://www.FreeVideoCoding.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://FreeVideoCoding.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a ref="http://www.VideoCodeMaker.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://VideoCodeMaker.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All writings here are copyrighted by Nerissa Oden. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5885589362491450226-6925509179999236995?l=nerissaoden.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://youtu.be/K_uRIMUBnvw' title='Thank You Conscious Men'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/6925509179999236995/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2011/05/thank-you-conscious-men.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/6925509179999236995'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/6925509179999236995'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2011/05/thank-you-conscious-men.html' title='Thank You Conscious Men'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://img.youtube.com/vi/K_uRIMUBnvw/default.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226.post-3478824440535488680</id><published>2011-04-10T19:43:00.006-05:00</published><updated>2011-06-28T13:44:05.672-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Nebelungs on CATS 101 NOW AIRING This Month!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;CATS 101 Nebelung Breed Schedule has finally made it to Animal Planet schedule! Myself, my husband Joe Vitale, and our little girl Nona have the starring roles! The website says, "Meet the Tonkinese, &lt;strong&gt;Nebelung&lt;/strong&gt;, Serengeti, Korat, Cats Gone Wild, RagaMuffin, Toyger"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;DATES &amp;amp; TIMES&lt;br /&gt;Apr 10, 1:00 am&lt;br /&gt;Apr 23, 9:00 pm&lt;br /&gt;Apr 23, 10:00 pm&lt;br /&gt;Apr 24, 12:00 am&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Enjoy!&lt;br /&gt;Nerissa Oden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a ref="http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://NerissaOden.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All writings here are copyrighted by Nerissa Oden. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5885589362491450226-3478824440535488680?l=nerissaoden.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/3478824440535488680/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2011/04/nebelungs-on-cats-101-now-airing-this.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/3478824440535488680'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/3478824440535488680'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2011/04/nebelungs-on-cats-101-now-airing-this.html' title='Nebelungs on CATS 101 NOW AIRING This Month!'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226.post-8812988665221261616</id><published>2011-03-25T12:07:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2011-03-25T12:08:38.603-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Why You Shouldn't Give Up On Government</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/k5kHACjrdEY?fs=1" width="480"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nerissa Oden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="" ref="http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://NerissaOden.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="" ref="http://www.FoodPowers.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://FoodPowers.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="" ref="http://www.GotABadPap.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://GotABadPap.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="" ref="http://www.TheVideoQueen.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://TheVideoQueen.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="" ref="http://www.FreeVideoCoding.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://FreeVideoCoding.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="" ref="http://www.VideoCodeMaker.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://VideoCodeMaker.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All writings here are copyrighted by Nerissa Oden. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5885589362491450226-8812988665221261616?l=nerissaoden.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/8812988665221261616/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2011/03/story-of-citizens-united-v-fec-2011.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/8812988665221261616'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/8812988665221261616'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2011/03/story-of-citizens-united-v-fec-2011.html' title='Why You Shouldn&apos;t Give Up On Government'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://img.youtube.com/vi/k5kHACjrdEY/default.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226.post-4214749661446657822</id><published>2011-03-02T19:58:00.002-06:00</published><updated>2011-06-28T13:47:00.787-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stevia'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stevia sweeteners'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='ingredients'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='labels'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='products'/><title type='text'>Will the Real Stevia Please Stand Up?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;I lost five pounds in five days when I switched from a Stevia sweetener to pure Stevia extract sold by a health food store.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Confused? I was too. So at the urging from a friend I researched Stevia.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;When I did the research I was surprised, even angered, but I couldn’t be happier about the ultimate outcome. I have new knowledge-- I now buy Stevia products without guessing about its true contents or if I’m making a healthy choice.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;HISTORICAL BACKGROUND&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Stevia is the genus name for over 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family native to North and South America. The most widely known species of Stevia is Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Although used for centuries by indigenous peoples the little sweet white flowered herb was first cataloged by a botanist, Bertoni, &lt;span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"&gt;in 1887 in Paraguay.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;The name Stevia is pronounced, stē-vē-ə, -vyə. In South America it is commonly known as yerba dolce (sweet herb). For centuries the native’s called it “sweet leaf” and “honey leaf.”&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni’s leaves are the coveted part of the herb because they contain several distinct glycosides, the intense sugary sweetness that distinguishes it from all the other Stevia species. Glycosides are just glucose (simple sugar) molecules bonded to non-glucose molecules. Stevia’s glycosides are unique and are appropriately named, steviol glycosides.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;GLYCOSIDES MEDICATIONS AND STEVIA&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Many medications originate in plant glycosides. Many plants bond their unique chemicals in glycosides and store them. Humans extract these glycosides, then separate the glucose and chemicals in various ways, then use the chemicals as medications. In the case of Stevia, we have extracted the glycosides to use as a sweetener. The extracted steviol glycosides from the Stevia leaf have no calories, no carbs, no effect on blood sugar levels, is PH stable, resistant to fermentation and is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Modern Stevia manufacturers have begun treating Stevia like a medicine; they are&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;making “purified” extractions from Stevia’s steviol glycosides extract.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;STEVIA’S HEALTHY POTENTIAL&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Medical research conducted on various pure Stevia extracts showed promise for treating obesity, hypertension, high blood pressure, inflammation, insulin efficiency, cellular immunity and nutrition, and healthy cell growth. Research published in the &lt;i&gt;Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry&lt;/i&gt; concludes that Stevia could also be a rich source of antioxidants and may protect against DNA damage and cancer. Purdue University's Dental Science Research Group concluded after two studies that Stevia "significantly" inhibits the development of plaque and may help to prevent cavities.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;HOW STEVIA BECOMES A SUPPLEMENT / SWEETENER&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Today, companies make and sell Stevia in three different forms:&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 21pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 21.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"&gt;(1)&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;dried leaves finely ground into a powder,&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 21pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 21.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"&gt;(2)&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;steviol glycosides extracted with water from the dried leaves, or &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 21pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 21.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"&gt;(3)&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;breaking down the natural steviol glycoside structure into primary compounds. The two most desired primary compounds are &lt;b&gt;Stevioside&lt;/b&gt; and &lt;b&gt;Rebaudioside A&lt;/b&gt; (Reb A). These patented extraction processes vary, but generally most commercial processes use a proprietary combination of water filtration, solvent filtration (ethanol or methanol ), nano filtration, decolorizing agent, adsorption chromatography, ion-exchange resins, electrolytic techniques, microwaves, and precipitating agents. Industry literature and company websites call their patented extraction processes “purification.”&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;U.S. COMMERCIALIZATION OF STEVIA&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;The Japanese have been using Stevia instead of sugar in their homes, and commercially in food products and soft drinks since 1971. By 1988, almost half of the Japanese sweetener market was Stevia. The Japanese have also pioneered the extraction processes for breaking down the natural steviol glycosides into it’s primary compounds and have dominated the sweetener industry in producing Stevia’s most abundant compound, Stevioside. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;In 1982-83, the United States FDA banned Stevia’s importation into America. In 1994, Congress passes the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) which defined dietary supplements as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs and botanical extracts and derivatives. And that of course included Stevia.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;In 2008, the FDA approved one of Stevia’s primary compounds, Rebaudioside A, to be sold in the US as a food additive. The extracted compound must be 95-97% pure Rebaudioside A. It is also called Reb-A or Reb A. Rebaudioside A is Stevia’s second most abundant compound. Stevioside is the most abundant primary compound in Stevia and its production is dominated by the Japanese.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Today, trademarked versions of Reb A are sold to commercial food manufactures for use in their products. Rebiana is owned jointly by Cargill International and Coca-Cola. Enliten&lt;span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"&gt;â&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; is registered and sold by Corn Products International who claims that their version is better because it comes from a sweeter “patented version” of the Stevia plant. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Since the the FDA’s decision, Reb A has been included in proprietary formulated sweeteners sold under several trade marked names including: OnlySweet™, Pure Via™, SweetLeaf&lt;span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"&gt;â&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Sweetener™, and Truvia™.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;WHAT DO BULKING AGENTS HAVE TO DO WITH STEVIA?&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Sweetener food manufacturers say bulking agents are included in their products to create a similar texture and feel as sugar. The new Stevia sweeteners are mostly bulking agents sweetened with a little Stevia extract because Stevia extracts are 300-400 times sweeter than cane sugar and weighs very little. It makes sense. Imagine trying to sell a new sweetener, maybe the size of a pack of gum, next to a 5-lb. bag of sugar. The tiny new product would be passed over by most consumers. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;The first ingredient listed on any new Stevia &lt;i&gt;sweetener&lt;/i&gt; is one of these common bulking agents: cane sugar, erythritol, dextrose, isomaltulose and maltodextrine. When you buy a Stevia &lt;i&gt;supplement&lt;/i&gt; you will see one of these common bulking agents: cellulose powder and inulin soluble fiber. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;ARE BULKING AGENTS IN SWEETENERS HEALTHY and NATURAL?&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;These agents actually do exist naturally in nature somewhere and that’s why food manufacturers are allowed to call their ingredients “natural.”&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;But bulking agents used in sweeteners are not directly harvested from nature. Food manufacturers definitely create these bulking agents in industrial scale facilities. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;As you will find out below, these bulking agents are generally made by combining corn with yeast, bacteria or enzymes until a corn syrup is formed. Then refining processes are used to break down the new syrup which will then require further processing before becoming a bulking agent.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;In my opinion, the following “natural sweeteners” are merely highly processed food additives that should not be eaten on a regular basis. They should be avoided by persons who are allergic (or sensitive) to corn, or fermented foods.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Erythritol&lt;/u&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;A popular crystalline bulking agent made by combining yeast and corn sugar so it ferments and turns into a sugar alcohol. Other common &lt;i&gt;sugar alcohols&lt;/i&gt; used as food additives are: Glycerol, Erythritol, Arabitol, HSH, Xylitol, Mannitol, Sorbitol, Isomalt, Maltitol and Lactitol.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Unlike other sugar alcohol food additives, Erythritol is much more difficult to digest by oral and intestinal bacteria. After traveling through the small intestine erythritol is usually absorbed into the bloodstream undigested and excreted through the urine mostly undigested and unchanged from its original form.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;It has negligible affect on blood sugar. Overconsumption can result in a laxative effect. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Glucose, Dextrose, D-glucose and Grape Sugar.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Glucose is commercially made from starch via enzymatic hydrolysis. Cornstarch is used almost exclusively in the United States. A-Amylase (an enzyme found in plants, animal, bacteria and fungi that breaks starch down into sugar) is added to the cornstarch which converts it to glucose syrup. Next, saccharification (a hydrolysis procedure) converts the glucose syrup into a simple soluble fermentable sugar. It will increase blood sugar levels.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Maltodextrin &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Maltodextrine is a glucose polymer, or a chain of glucose molecules. Maltodextrin is commercially made from starch via enzymatic hydrolysis. In the US, cornstarch is the starch of choice. In Europe, wheat starch is used. Cornstarch and enzymes are combined and through partial hydrolysis is processed into glucose syrup. Next, saccharification (a hydrolysis procedure) is used until complex glucose chains are broken down into fermentable sugars, mainly maltose.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Maltodextrin is easily digestible but takes slightly longer to digest than glucose. It will increase blood sugar levels.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Isomaltulose &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Isomaltulose is manufactured by combining bacteria and sucrose until it ferments making a syrup similar to honey. Isomaltulose is absorbed by the small intestine just like glucose (sugar) and fructose. It produces low-glycemic and low-insulinemic results. Isomaltulose is not suitable for people with an intolerance to fructose or sucrose. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;DO STEVIA SUPPLEMENTS CONTAIN BULKING AGENTS?&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;In contrast to Stevia sweeteners, Stevia supplements often don’t include bulking agents. The two I did find in Stevia supplements are natural, minimally processed, and considered healthy. Neither agent causes a rise in blood sugar, they are not fermented, and they aren’t known allergens. In fact, both bulking agents below are themselves health supplements that can be purchased separately to aid in digestion and elimination.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Cellulose powder &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Cellulose is plant fiber and is the most common organic compound. Humans can not digest cellulose, but eat it regularly by eating fruits, vegetables and grains in their diet. Humans often call cellulose ‘fiber' and 'roughage’. Some animals (termites, cows, horses) can digest cellulose but only with the help of symbiotic micro-organisms. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;As a dietary supplement, cellulose is often the inactive binding agent in vitamin and mineral supplements and it’s sold as an insoluble fiber to aid the digestive tract. As a food additive, cellulose is often the active ingredient in fiber products, an anti-caking ingredient to prevent grated cheese from caking together, and as thickeners and stabilizers in processed foods.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;h1 style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Inulin soluble fiber &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;A perfect bulking agent for powdered Stevia supplements and food products made from plant fiber. Some plants store inulin in roots and rootstalks. Inulins are fructan fiber. Fructans are large repeating molecules of the natural plant sugar, fructose. This sugary fiber dissolves in water but passes through the digestive tract mostly undigested. Some plants store inulin in roots and rootstalks. Most of the inulin fiber that is used as a food additive comes from chicory roots or artichokes.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Considered safe for diabetics as it has negligible effects on blood sugar. Isn’t suitable for persons who have difficulty digesting fructose. The soluble fiber may cause gas and bloating as it moves through the digestive track because it is fermented by bacteria.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;HOW TO READ THE LABEL ON A STEVIA PRODUCT&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Stevia products made from the highly commercialized and processed compound of Stevia will say “stevia,” “stevia extract,” “rebiana,” “Reb A,” or “Reb-A.”&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Stevia products that contain these ingredients, “stevia Leaf,” “Stevia Rebaudiana,” or “Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni,” are made from the original Stevia extract (Steviol glycosides) which includes all the Stevia compounds in their natural state using only water extraction process. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;ACTUAL INGREDIENT LABELS&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Truvia™ :&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;erythritol, rebiana and natural flavors&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Pure Via™ :dextrose, isomaltulose, cellulose powder, Reb A and natural flavors&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Stevia in the Raw (individual packets): Dextrose and Stevia Extract (Rebiana)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Stevia in the Raw: Maltodextrin and Stevia Extract (Rebiana)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Sun Crystals&lt;span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"&gt;â&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; : pure cane sugar, stevia.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Stevita™ Spoonable™ : Stevia Rebaudiana Bertoni extract (leaves) and Erythritol.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;SweetLeaf&lt;span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"&gt;&lt;span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;"&gt;â&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Sweetener™ : Inulin soluble fiber, Stevia leaf extract&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Planetary Herbals Stevia Powder: Stevia Leaf (finely ground)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kal Pure Stevia Extract: Stevia Extract (Stevia rebaudiana) (leaf)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now Certified Organic Stevia Extract: Certified Organic Stevia Extract Powder (Stevia rebaudiana)(Leaf)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;CONCLUSION&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;There is a general rule of thumb that highly refined foods are not as healthy, and many say they are proven to be unhealthy. Now consider that bulking agents are just highly refined fermented corn products which comprise the main ingredient in many of the new Stevia sweeteners. Also, I believe it’s highly likely that millions of Americans are sensitive to corn, and/or fermented products, just like me and several of my friends. That’s why I lost five pounds after switching Stevia products, inflammation caused by food sensitivities to fermented foods caused my body to retain extra water.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;So, when I consider the above factors, it is my decision to only buy the natural Stevia extract (Steviol glycosides) that has been extracted with water and may or may not be bulked with natural fiber. Further, I choose to adapt my habits so that I use the finely ground Stevia leaves themselves as often as possible. If you have a green thumb, then consider growing Stevia to use in it’s original form. I had a salad once with fresh Stevia leaves and it was a real treat.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;One last tidbit for you to consider is that certain doctors that I trust all agree that anyone with a blood sugar problem should avoid all sugars, and all sweeteners too. This will give your body time to heal, and give it a chance to regulate sugar appropriately. I myself have a blood sugar issue. When I use the finely ground Stevia leaves in my coffee, my sweet cravings are immediately quenched and after a couple days they are greatly reduced as well. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;I hope I have helped you to navigate the sea of new Stevia products. My best wishes go out to you on your personal journey and discovery.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nerissa Oden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nerissaoden.com/"&gt;http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.foodpowers.com/"&gt;http://www.FoodPowers.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All writings here are copyrighted by Nerissa Oden. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5885589362491450226-4214749661446657822?l=nerissaoden.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/4214749661446657822/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2011/03/will-real-stevia-please-stand-up.html#comment-form' title='14 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/4214749661446657822'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/4214749661446657822'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2011/03/will-real-stevia-please-stand-up.html' title='Will the Real Stevia Please Stand Up?'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>14</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226.post-627274134694874151</id><published>2010-12-10T18:41:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2011-03-02T19:54:22.895-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='food gift'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='gifts'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='kitchen gifts'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='gift for food lovers'/><title type='text'>What to Buy Your Kitchen for Christmas</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;(NOTE: Printed in local magazine, Austin All Natural, at &lt;a href="http://austinallnatural.com/december-2010"&gt;http://austinallnatural.com/december-2010&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Consider for a moment that your kitchen &lt;i&gt;wants&lt;/i&gt; to be useful. Its’ role is to support you in a positive and healthy way. It wants the refrigerator cold and its freezer like the Arctic. It wants plenty of shelving to hold all your food and simultaneously hoist small appliances in a circle-shaped hug. It wants to filter your drinking water and quietly wash your dishes through the night. (Hint: These are your first tips about what your kitchen wants.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Now tap into the energy of your kitchen and ask, “What do you want?” &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Not into Kitchen Quantum Physics? Then just acknowledge for a moment that we are all chefs. We all prepare food, or at least open the cans. So take a moment, look inward and ask yourself, “What type of chef am I?” And be honest.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Picture yourself preparing food that you like. Are you nibbling a stray veggie, or licking a spoon with joy? What are you making? A leafy salad? A casserole? Now, hold that thought.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;The current image in your mind falls into one of these categories: Newbie, Salad Lover, Baker, Snacker or Raw Foodie Wannabe. So let’s explore what their kitchens would enjoy.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;Newbie:&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; You’re taking your first step away from prepackaged and frozen meals. For a smooth transition invest in a slow cooking crock pot to make beans and stew that are ready to eat when you get home. If you want to add more fresh foods to your new venture then get a large cutting board and a chef knife for fast and easy veggies. If you‘re ready to eat better, but not veggie-better, then get a personal blender like the Magic Bullet . Personal blenders make it easy to create sweet and healthy meals. Later on you can branch out and add Matcha green tea powder or plain powdered greens.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;Salad Lover:&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; You prefer eating leafy salads and no-leaf salads like pea salad. Your kitchen would enjoy a Lotus sanitizer on the counter. The Lotus kills bacteria and viruses, and neutralizes pesticides on your veggies by submerging your whole fruit and vegetables in a natural oxidant made from your tap water. Salad lovers will also appreciate a Benriner turning slicer to make nesting salads, sandwhich toppers and faux pasta. Zucchini “pasta” is a popular faux pasta. Spiraling jicamas make the perfect salad “nests” and are great fun for kids to eat. Great gift ideas are sprouting jars, and the standard lettuce spinner. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;Baker:&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Over worshippers will be giddy over a complete set of stacking casserole dishes with lids for no-mess baking. Casserole dishes cook meats and veggies with minimal oil, juice or water. Healthy Bakers already use stevia instead of sugar in their cookies, pies and muffins. But are they enjoying baking with healthy flours? A grind mill creates flour from beans, rice and more. Grind mills are electric or hand turning. Imagine pizza dough made with pinto bean flour and brown rice flour! You’d never know the crust is wheat-free, gluten-free, and made from beans!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;Snacker:&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; You will easily be making fruit and veggie chips minus the palm oil and preservatives with your new food dehydrator! Your all organic granola bars, dessert bars, fruit leather and beef jerky will be the envy of your office. Eventually you’ll venture into making gluten-free crackers from ground seeds and beans. A simple companion device for your dehydrator is a Bodum press. Easily make hot drinks with loose tea, spices and fruits. You can even gather herbs from your yard like Dandelion and make medicinal teas with your Bodum press.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;Raw Foodie Wannabe:&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Need a food processor for heavy blending of foods with just a little juice, and high powered blenders that pulverize fruits and veggies into drinkable liquids (not a juicer), and an apple corer for traveling light. Like the snacker, raw foodises need a dehydrator because it’s the closest thing to an oven that they are allowed to use. Gift deas for raw foodies are nut milk bags, glass pitchers, a knife sharpener, and a raw food cookbook.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"&gt;Keep in mind your kitchen may want other things, so be sensitive to what it tells you. Have fun!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nerissa Oden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/" ref="http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.blogger.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/" ref="http://www.FoodPowers.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.blogger.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/" ref="http://www.HealDysplasia.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.blogger.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/" ref="http://www.TheVideoQueen.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.blogger.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/" ref="http://www.FreeVideoCoding.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.blogger.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://videocodemaker.com/" ref="http://www.VideoCodeMaker.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://videocodemaker.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All writings here are copyrighted by Nerissa Oden. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5885589362491450226-627274134694874151?l=nerissaoden.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='related' href='http://austinallnatural.com/december-2010' title='What to Buy Your Kitchen for Christmas'/><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/627274134694874151/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-to-buy-your-kitchen-for-christmas.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/627274134694874151'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/627274134694874151'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-to-buy-your-kitchen-for-christmas.html' title='What to Buy Your Kitchen for Christmas'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226.post-847947323335999371</id><published>2010-11-06T16:00:00.008-05:00</published><updated>2011-03-02T19:54:39.540-06:00</updated><title type='text'>What Shirley MacLaine said When I Met Her</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZUrCi3jrWog/TNW3fm2X8fI/AAAAAAAAACU/uJWmKVPeaQw/s1600/theeveningstar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZUrCi3jrWog/TNW3fm2X8fI/AAAAAAAAACU/uJWmKVPeaQw/s320/theeveningstar.JPG" width="224" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;In 1996 I worked on the movie, The Evening Star, starring Shirley MacLaine. The Evening Star is the sequel to the Oscar winning film, Terms of Endearment.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;I was&amp;nbsp;Second Assistant Editor and&amp;nbsp;the film's&amp;nbsp;Projectionist. Every&amp;nbsp;day I&amp;nbsp;put together the film dailies which had been shot the day before. At night I ran the&amp;nbsp;two projectors&amp;nbsp;which screened the 35mm film dailies for cast and lead crew. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As projectionist, I was the first to arrive in the screening room and the last to leave locking up the building after me. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One night Shirley MacLaine and her assistant needed to view several&amp;nbsp;days of dailies after hours because they&amp;nbsp;had&amp;nbsp;missed the regularly scheduled viewings. They were rushing through the reels trying to not stay up any later than they needed. So before most film reels had run through all the way through the projector, I stopped the machines and unthreaded the synced picture film and sound film without scratching the film coating or the magnetic coating of the sound film.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In this setting&amp;nbsp;the First Assistant Editor&amp;nbsp;was routinely coming in the projection booth to communicate with me about starting&amp;nbsp;the next reel. It was a hectic and stressful.&amp;nbsp;There was no time to sit on my heels as I was constantly&amp;nbsp;threading, starting, then stopping and unthreading before rethreading the next reel on both projectors! But I did it and quickly! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We went through about 25 rolls of dailies that night. When a daily roll is full the average run time is about 10 minutes. It would have taken us late in into the morning hours had&amp;nbsp;Shirley MacLaine and her assistant watched the reels in their entirety.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;After the last&amp;nbsp;daily roll&amp;nbsp;was projected, I&amp;nbsp;was busy rewinding the half-shown reels I had placed on the floor temporarily to keep pace with the stars demands. Each picture reel and each sound reel had to be rewound separately and in proper order so as to be HEADS OUT and ready for the next use. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZUrCi3jrWog/TNW3sqzmMKI/AAAAAAAAACY/_qRkOckE-94/s1600/Shirley-MacLaine-imdb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZUrCi3jrWog/TNW3sqzmMKI/AAAAAAAAACY/_qRkOckE-94/s1600/Shirley-MacLaine-imdb.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;I was briefly interrupted by Shirley MacLaine herself as she burst open the projection booth door and started to say something. She stopped and&amp;nbsp;caught herself.&amp;nbsp;Her mouth&amp;nbsp;was still open but she said nothing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can only imagine what she was thinking. She was seeing her projectionist (me) for the first time, and&amp;nbsp;I wasn't exactly a typical Hollywood union projectionist.&amp;nbsp;Projectionists were typically much older and male. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was a&amp;nbsp;young blonde woman who looked&amp;nbsp;barely of&amp;nbsp;legal drinking age. And I &amp;nbsp;had been at the helm of the two monster projectors that night and the recipient of her demands. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She looked surprised, caught off guard, and at a&amp;nbsp;loss for words. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"Yes, Ms. MacLaine may I help you?," I asked, and &amp;nbsp;looking slightly&amp;nbsp;confused myself. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had heard Shirley MacLaine was tough and demanding.&amp;nbsp;I no idea why she came into the booth. In my experience movie stars don't go out of their way to talk to you.&amp;nbsp;I was also insecure and my first thought was that she might be about to yell&amp;nbsp;at me. &lt;br /&gt;But instead she said, "Thank you. Thank you for doing such a great job tonight. I appreciate you&amp;nbsp;working late tonight."&amp;nbsp;She smiled and left.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nerissa Oden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/" ref="http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://foodpowers.com/" ref="http://www.FoodPowers.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://foodpowers.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://healdysplasia.com/" ref="http://www.HealDysplasia.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://healdysplasia.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://thevideoqueen.com/" ref="http://www.TheVideoQueen.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://thevideoqueen.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://freevideocoding.com/" ref="http://www.FreeVideoCoding.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://freevideocoding.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://videocodemaker.com/" ref="http://www.VideoCodeMaker.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://videocodemaker.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All writings here are copyrighted by Nerissa Oden. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5885589362491450226-847947323335999371?l=nerissaoden.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/847947323335999371/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-shirley-maclaine-said-when-i-met.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/847947323335999371'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/847947323335999371'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-shirley-maclaine-said-when-i-met.html' title='What Shirley MacLaine said When I Met Her'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZUrCi3jrWog/TNW3fm2X8fI/AAAAAAAAACU/uJWmKVPeaQw/s72-c/theeveningstar.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226.post-3361974241376690977</id><published>2010-11-03T11:02:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2011-03-02T19:55:05.163-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Wimberley Texas Voting System: Tracking How You Vote?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;Voting in Wimberley, Texas uses &lt;a href="http://elections.co.hays.tx.us/eSlateVotingbrEquipment/tabid/58/Default.aspx"&gt;eSlate electronic machines&lt;/a&gt; that can track how you voted. Here's how:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Your voter registration card or drivers license is scanned.&lt;br /&gt;2. A unique 4-digit code is created from the same laptop that scanned your ID.&lt;br /&gt;3. Input&amp;nbsp;your unique 4-digit code to activate the machine (you can't vote unless you enter your unique code)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course Hays County poll workers say it can't. But obviously it can due to the process we have to go through to vote in Hays County. (outlined above)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In a TRUE democratic republic, no one would be able to know how you voted. And no elected officials would want too, and thus no elected officials would buy such e-voting systems. Here is an alternative that allows transparency and the speed of computer tabulation together--&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object height="326" width="446"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /&gt;&lt;param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/DavidBismark_2010G-medium.flv&amp;su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/DavidBismarck-2010G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&amp;vw=432&amp;vh=240&amp;ap=0&amp;ti=997&amp;introDuration=15330&amp;adDuration=4000&amp;postAdDuration=830&amp;adKeys=talk=david_bismark_e_voting_without_fraud;year=2010;theme=a_taste_of_tedglobal_2010;theme=tales_of_invention;theme=new_on_ted_com;event=TEDGlobal+2010;&amp;preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /&gt;&lt;embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/DavidBismark_2010G-medium.flv&amp;su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/DavidBismarck-2010G.embed_thumbnail.jpg&amp;vw=432&amp;vh=240&amp;ap=0&amp;ti=997&amp;introDuration=15330&amp;adDuration=4000&amp;postAdDuration=830&amp;adKeys=talk=david_bismark_e_voting_without_fraud;year=2010;theme=a_taste_of_tedglobal_2010;theme=tales_of_invention;theme=new_on_ted_com;event=TEDGlobal+2010;"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nerissa Oden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://foodpowers.com/" ref="http://www.FoodPowers.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://foodpowers.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.healdysplasia.com/"&gt;http://www.healdysplasia.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://thevideoqueen.com/"&gt;http://thevideoqueen.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://freevideocoding.com/"&gt;http://freevideocoding.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://videocodemaker.com/"&gt;http://videocodemaker.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All writings here are copyrighted by Nerissa Oden. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5885589362491450226-3361974241376690977?l=nerissaoden.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/3361974241376690977/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/11/wimberley-texas-voting-system-tracking.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/3361974241376690977'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/3361974241376690977'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/11/wimberley-texas-voting-system-tracking.html' title='Wimberley Texas Voting System: Tracking How You Vote?'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226.post-7748193752004316993</id><published>2010-11-01T13:14:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2011-03-02T19:55:25.051-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Why I'm NOT Afraid of Creepy Crawlies Anymore</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;(emailed October 31, 2010)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tonight is the PERFECT TIME to release my ebook.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Halloween night is for ghoulies, goblins, and nasty creepy crawlies. But I'm not afraid of creepy crawlies anymore. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm not AFRAID anymore. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Spooky spirits that sour our flesh into cancer ARE beatable. They can't hide anymore. I know where they live. And I don't have to see them to beat them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cancer. Fear ME.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Vigilante viruses shutter when "hearing" my words. This book is full of tricks and treats for them. Tonight I pass my knowledge and experience to you.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZUrCi3jrWog/TM8DLhI_5DI/AAAAAAAAACQ/x1qzN5hG3D8/s1600/FoodPowers_hpv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" nx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZUrCi3jrWog/TM8DLhI_5DI/AAAAAAAAACQ/x1qzN5hG3D8/s320/FoodPowers_hpv.jpg" width="308" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Enjoy the your last thrill of fear tonight, because hope will reign over fear after reading this book.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Download it now!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.healdysplasia.com/"&gt;http://www.healdysplasia.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Share it tomorrow with friends.&lt;br /&gt;Share the website &lt;a href="http://www.healdysplasia.com/"&gt;http://www.healdysplasia.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Enjoy&lt;br /&gt;With Love,&lt;br /&gt;Nerissa Oden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.foodpowers.com/"&gt;http://www.foodpowers.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.healdysplasia.com/"&gt;http://www.healdysplasia.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://thevideoqueen.com/" ref="http://www.TheVideoQueen.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://thevideoqueen.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://freevideocoding.com/"&gt;http://freevideocoding.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://videocodemaker.com/"&gt;http://videocodemaker.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All writings here are copyrighted by Nerissa Oden. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5885589362491450226-7748193752004316993?l=nerissaoden.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/7748193752004316993/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/11/why-im-not-afraid-of-creepy-crawlies.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/7748193752004316993'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/7748193752004316993'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/11/why-im-not-afraid-of-creepy-crawlies.html' title='Why I&apos;m NOT Afraid of Creepy Crawlies Anymore'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZUrCi3jrWog/TM8DLhI_5DI/AAAAAAAAACQ/x1qzN5hG3D8/s72-c/FoodPowers_hpv.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226.post-7019232397350017514</id><published>2010-11-01T13:02:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2011-03-02T19:55:42.051-06:00</updated><title type='text'>Old Sales Motto is Life Lesson Worthy of Applying</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;"Keep knocking on those doors,"&amp;nbsp;a close relative&amp;nbsp;advised me when I entered the film business. She had been a successful sales person making tons of money and breaking glass ceilings during the seventies. "It's only a matter of time and numbers. The more doors you try, the&amp;nbsp;better&amp;nbsp;your chances of success. If you don't knock, you will never know if there was a&amp;nbsp;'YES' or a 'NO' behind the door."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was horribly shy as a child and preferred animals to people&amp;nbsp;most of the time way into late 30's. My relative's&amp;nbsp;old sales motto kept me pushing and calling in my career. After all, rejections weren't personal, and a 'YES' was always around the corner.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My career was great! I&amp;nbsp;edited numerous film and TV projects of various types using many&amp;nbsp;different software and hardware. I LOVED the technical challenge and LOVED being on the cutting edge. I was&amp;nbsp;unique and in demand in the Texas film industry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It wasn't until&amp;nbsp;September 2010 that I applied that old sales motto to my personal life.&amp;nbsp;It seems&amp;nbsp;so obvious now, but I had always thought that friends were just the luck of the draw. People unrelated to my&amp;nbsp;road&amp;nbsp;of success. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But now I know better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It took one last noggin bop, but here I am. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So please,&amp;nbsp;accept my advice. When friends, mentors, colleagues and neighbors&amp;nbsp;don't nourish your soul, go knock on another door.&lt;br /&gt;I kept people in my life who didn't support me emotionally and spiritually. I had&amp;nbsp;been knocking on the same doors that&amp;nbsp;kept saying&amp;nbsp;'NO.' And by knocking on the same&amp;nbsp;doors all the time, I had limited&amp;nbsp;time to try&amp;nbsp;new doors.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I deserve better. YOU deserve better.&amp;nbsp;Personal and career are interwined. Now I know exectly how to succeed in both.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nerissa Oden&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/" ref="http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.blogger.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/" ref="http://www.FoodPowers.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.blogger.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/" ref="http://www.TheVideoQueen.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.blogger.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogger.com/" ref="http://www.FreeVideoCoding.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.blogger.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://videocodemaker.com/" ref="http://www.VideoCodeMaker.com" target="_blank"&gt;http://videocodemaker.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All writings here are copyrighted by Nerissa Oden. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5885589362491450226-7019232397350017514?l=nerissaoden.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/7019232397350017514/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/11/old-sales-motto-is-life-lesson-worthy.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/7019232397350017514'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/7019232397350017514'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/11/old-sales-motto-is-life-lesson-worthy.html' title='Old Sales Motto is Life Lesson Worthy of Applying'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5885589362491450226.post-8125778607032205044</id><published>2010-09-02T10:50:00.005-05:00</published><updated>2011-03-02T19:56:00.129-06:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='frame'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='film'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='william arntz'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='the matrix'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='paradigm shift'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='nerissa oden'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='what the bleep'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='movie'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='ghetto physics'/><title type='text'>DVD REVIEW - Ghetto Physics: Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;I had the most wonderful opportunity to review a new movie by &lt;a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0036802/" target="_blank"&gt;William Arntz&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3160408/" target="_blank"&gt;Raymond E. Brown&lt;/a&gt; called &lt;strong&gt;Ghetto Physics: Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up? &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;William is the Director of the award winning independent film, &lt;a href="http://www.whatthebleep.com/makers/" target="_blank"&gt;What the Bleep Do We Know?&lt;/a&gt; released in 2004. What the Bleep Do We Know was the first mainstream movie covering the topic of metaphysics. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;About a month ago I rewatched What the Bleep Do We Know on DVD. I was blown away (again) by its high quality film making, creativity, and trajectory. The ability to weave a traditional narrative film with documentary film making and multiple animation story lines was phenomenal. Through the main character's eyes we witness over and over again that what happens in our inner self is duplicated and experienced by our outer self. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The viewer learns, there is no 'OUT THERE' out there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ghetto Physics: Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up? &lt;/strong&gt;is like a class tutorial for the common man which focuses on the same inner and outer self construct from What the Bleep. Yet, Artnz dropped all the science stuff and focuses his audience on the power of the mind. Self empowerment. The inner game. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To focus a point, the movie's setting is &lt;i&gt;inside&lt;/i&gt; an &lt;i&gt;inner city &lt;/i&gt;high school classroom. But this classroom tutorial goes even deeper than that. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object align="left" height="301" width="500"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SXWVKmcHDyc?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SXWVKmcHDyc?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="301"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Ghetto Physics: Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up?&lt;/b&gt; also demonstrates the self empowerment concept within the construct of "the other." What does your inner game look like as it interacts with the inner game of another person? Your marriage? Your family? Your culture? Your media?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;People everywhere often refer to human relationships and systems as "a game." And most see themselves as powerless, helpless, and a victim of the game(s).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So what does the relationship between the inner game and the outer game look like? Is it definable?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ghetto Physic's main lesson for you is to step out of the victim mindset and&amp;nbsp;to see your powerful self within&amp;nbsp;the context of ANY relationship, or game. Master and slave, rich and poor, powerful and powerless, parent and child, aggressive and passive, corporation and individual, and pimp and ho. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We learn that throughout history the game never changes, only the players do.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ultimately GHETTO PHYSICS installs in us a LANGUAGE FRAME in which we can instantly understand our world, its influence on us, and our relationship to it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There is also a call to action. The proverbial WAKE UP message. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By the end of the movie, the viewer has not only learned the concept of a paradigm shift &lt;em&gt;but has also experienced a paradigm shift.&lt;/em&gt; And the imbued language frame for the paradigm shift is so simple, direct and brilliant. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pimp and Ho. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The movie left me inspired, educated, and empowered. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I watched THE MATRIX right after watching Ghetto Physics. The back-to-back metaphysical concepts displayed within very different frames was staggering.&amp;nbsp;For example, one cannot be told about Ghetto Physics,&amp;nbsp;one must experience Ghetto Physics.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FREE YOUR MIND. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nerissa Oden &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;PS - I am one Ho who was definitely inspired stand up&amp;nbsp;AND to&amp;nbsp;pimp for Ghetto Physics DVD.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All writings here are copyrighted by Nerissa Oden. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5885589362491450226-8125778607032205044?l=nerissaoden.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/feeds/8125778607032205044/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/09/dvd-review-ghetto-physics-will-real.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/8125778607032205044'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5885589362491450226/posts/default/8125778607032205044'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://nerissaoden.blogspot.com/2010/09/dvd-review-ghetto-physics-will-real.html' title='DVD REVIEW - Ghetto Physics: Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up?'/><author><name>Nerissa Oden</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry></feed>
