PSA: Mental Illness IS Black and White

Karyn Washington, Founder of "For Brown Girls" and Advocate, committed suicide at 22 earlier this year.

***DISCLAIMER: I KNOW my views do NOT apply to everyone in any community or race, but it is still an issue for ALL human beings regardless.

Mental illnesses have no biases, yet to me, families of color tend to think so. 

Unfortunately back in April, a woman named Karyn Washington committed suicide. She was known for uplifting the self-esteem of black women who are constantly told by society that their skin color made them "not good enough" or weren't supposed to wear bold colors on full lips... Anything repressing the beauty of black girls, she voiced against and made a huge impact.

Her death wasn't in vain. It sparked conversation about mental illnesses in the black community. I feel that mental illnesses are frowned upon. Looked at as a "white person's problem."

People of color can be told that they're: 

• going through a "phase"
• possessed by the devil
• need to pray it away
• acting white
• to stop acting out

Etc. Etc... The list really does go on and on. But we need to stop telling ANYONE these things. Take calls and yelps for help SERIOUSLY. Black people are NOT too strong for mental illnesses (unfortunately for anyone). NO ONE has the ability to JUST pray away mental illnesses. We're not gonna start off with a "Dear God" and majestically-- with puffs of glitter surrounding us-- become happy and mentally healthy.

No matter HOW strong your faith is in ANYTHING, it isn't that easy and instant. Healing of any sort isn't that easy and instant.

LISTEN WHEN SOMEONE CRIES FOR HELP. Do NOT brush it off as anything but A CRY FOR HELP and take NECESSARY actions: listen, give them hotlines, online sources, suggest therapy, medication... ANYTHING but things that will suggest that they are just being overdramatic and are filled with the devil.

PLEASE. I can tell you that it is not fun to feel like you have nowhere to turn because everyone in your community aren't taking your warning signs seriously.

Please break these habits. Change lives and detrimental perspectives.

If you want to read more people speaking out on Karyn's suicide (a lot of them speak more eloquently than I, and have sources to back them up), here are some:

• http://www.beyondblackwhite.com/founder-black-girls-advocate-us-karyn-washington-committed-suicide-suck/
• http://hellobeautiful.com/2014/04/15/karyn-washington-for-brown-girls-suicide-explained/
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/16/karyn-washington-for-brown-girls_n_5162226.html

You can Google Search "Karyn Washington's Suicide" for even more articles.

And here is Karyn's Legacy: http://www.forbrowngirls.com

Enjoy your day and be sure to make the world a little bit better.

Tips + Tricks: Reheating and Reviving Leftover Steak

So you just couldn't finish that steak, eh?

Well... I never can. But the last few I've had have been perfection: Medium rare, charred, juicy, thick, and tender.

What I realized taking the stiff, cold thing from the fridge the next day was:

How am I going to successfully heat this thing??

So I'm here to tell you what I do; it works every time for me! First I stick the steak in a durable plastic bag (make sure it can take heat) like the picture below.

Boil some water...

Then place the bagged steak in a heat-resistent container, and wait. I placed a heavy spoon on top to make sure the entire steak was submerged.

Give it anywhere from 7 to 15 minutes to heat (I usually lose track of how long I keep it in the water) and it'll be heated up, but still juicy and for the most part medium rare! The only parts that may thoroughly cook through is the very outside of the steak, but it's still just as tender and moist as the rest of the steak. 

If you want to doctor it up, you can add one last step: quickly sear it in a pan (so as not to over... uh... recook) with a little butter, salt, and pepper if you feel it needs a little "oomph!".

Enjoy your future leftovers!

NOT a Spoiler. Just a Truth.

I was watching Orange is the New Black and although Piper can annoy me, she said something real:

"I miss human contact." And she started to tear up.

I can 100% relate. I’ve been on campus and felt so low and dark when all I needed was a hug or my hand to be held.

Being a commuter means you always have that feeling of being an outsider. And I’d feel that, and more.

Humans need contact. They can’t live without it. It almost drove me insane… I can relate the NEED to be touched. Not sexually… Just civilly.

We are love-encompassed beings after all.

Ear Stretching: The Importance of the Millimeters

**Disclaimer: I'm not a professional piercer of any kind. I just wanted to share my opinion based on my experience.

I've been on my modification kick since recently visiting my favorite shop and getting my nostril pierced about a week ago. Pretty much all of the staff has changed and even so, I felt welcomed.

I've done months and months of research out of intense interest of piercings and ear stretching (and the fact that they both are relevant to my life) and was able to talk to my new piercer in-depth about sizes, types of piercings and everything. I really feel that he took me seriously when I was able to name anatomy, wearable areas, diameters, and the like. So much so that he started reciprocating the same type of information, assuming I'd know what he was talking about (and I did! Eeeeeee!).

Anyway, that visit inspired me to write a post about something I've always felt was important to the ear stretching process: knowing your millimeters. In America, we go by gauge sizes and inches: 18g, 16g, 14g... 0g... 1/2 inch, 9/16ths, etc. But I've noticed other continents like Europe and Australia

use millimeters, which are much more telling.

With millimeters, you know exactly how big your next stretch is going to be instead of just eyeballing it and getting frustrated and impatient when the size doesn't fit into your ear.

Here's a quick rundown for people who begin to stretch and need a conversion:

The bigger the number, the smaller your holes will be. So initial lobe piercings are 20 or 18 gauge (g), and get bigger as the numbers decrease by two's all the way to 0 gauge. From your initial piercing, until 8g, all stretches will be UNDER 1 millimeter (mm).

The 8g to 6g stretch is usually the first time people have trouble stretching because it's your first full millimeter stretch!










Eyeballing it, the size doesn't look too much different than past stretches... But it is. People-- including me-- soon realize the taper doesn't slide as easily as it used to. So you go back to 8g and wait for your ear to be ready for the stretch.

(Eventually I realized I had pretty tight ears no matter how many weeks I waited, so it was here when I started using the taping method with a slight trick... This will be explained in another post). =)

Anyway, each stretch from 8g to 2g is 1mm. Everyone seems to be informed that the 2g to 0g stretch is a full 2mm jump! 2g can be 6mm or 6.5mm, and 0g is 8mm. This is one stretch that shouldn't be attempted in one go with a taper. Instead, the tapping method is highly recommended (a wrap or two of bondage or teflon tape SLATHERED in oil that grows wrap by wrap over the course of weeks).

Believe it or not, there are glass, single-flared, 7mm plugs available so you can stop at a middle ground before getting to 0g from 2g. It's otherwise known as 1g, if anyone ever seeks them at all. Give your ears a break before continuing-- it'll be more like the other single gauge-digit stretches you've done before the 2mm jump!

So in a nutshell, it's just important to be aware of millimeter conversions for the sizes you're stretching to so as not to rush or become frustrated during the process. It helped me out a lot, and made me make more cautious decisions. I hope it receives you well, also!

Later, gators!

You can't rely on anyone but yourself, but I do love the company of something going right.

Quick Eggless Cookies

It was pretty gloomy outside today. A perfect excuse for a cup of hot tea I'd say (shoutout to Celestial Seaons' Vanilla Honey Camomile!). But I wanted something to go with that tea.

Let's be honest. I'm too lazy to bake a dense almond cake from scratch... Plus I don't have sticks of butter or almond extract. So I stuck with what I knew: single serve cookies.

I was gonna get fancy and label everything you needed to make these cookies with a nice font. But... You know, almost all the labels are faced forward. You guys are smart. I know you can read... And see.

The only questionable things are the items on the far left. The mound of rat-turds in a plastic bag are just small semi-sweet chocolate chips. The taller bag behind it are pecans. And yes, the bowl you'll need is true to size. Just wash, rinse, and dry out your cereal bowl and you're ready to make some cookies from scratch!

You mix all your dry ingredients and toppings first. Thoroughly. I gave mine a spin for 30 seconds to a full minute.

It should form a dough. One a little more cohesive than above... My cookies still turned out, but needed a little more liquid to make them a tad bit better. I just didn't know if I needed to add more milk or oil, and if it would've made a difference which one I added more of.

No matter if your cookie dough turns out right or not, you need to dig in that bowl and form the dough yourself. Like, LITERALLY. Don't make a ball and expect it to flatten out or you'll be bakin' spheres. 

And here was my finished product! Yeah, a cookie's missing. I ate it to see if it turned out okay. I like my cookies crispy, and that's what this recipe aims to do. Just an FYI for the soft cookie-lovers out there. This particular batch was hard to bite, but not impossible to chew. Not crisp, but not a stone either. So... They're tasty and edible, but I can do better!

This recipe is sadly not my own, but from Chocolate Covered Katie. She makes many healthier desserts and I'm ready to try making more of her delicious treats! This one, in particular, can be found here.

Looking at the ingredients, this recipe can easily be made vegan. Just make sure the chocolate chips are vegan, almond milk would substitute cow's milk, and coconut sugar/raw sugar/whatever in substitute of granulated sugar. Not sure where brown sugar stands with vegans, but I've had yummy vegan desserts and foods. I know there's a way!

All-in-all, this is an excellent cookie base to add practically anything you want to the dough: dried cranberries, cinnamon, ginger powder, cocoa powder, sprinkles, nuts... Whatever!

They take no time at all the whip together and bake, and hardly any cleanup (I mean a cereal bowl, three measuring spoons, and a big spoon to stir... Come on now).

Hoping you try giving it a go! And check out Katie's other recipes on her blog through the link I provided for the particular cookies above!

Later, gators.