The Tea Tree

Today, I looked at the ingredients of some Lindt Hello chocolate I had bought at the store.

To my horror, it contained palm oil.

For those unfamiliar with it, palm oil is yet another foreign product that first-world countries have latched upon, and thus significantly increased the demand for. Last time it was quinoa, which likely was not as bad as feared.

Palm oil, on the other hand, is used in multiple industries, many of them large-scale (ex. soap). To meet this demand, rainforests in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Colombia are being removed to plant the palm trees. Needless to say, this has a disastrous effect on an already fragile environment.

As if that weren't enough, there is also evidence that the big companies running these plantations are threatening and evicting indigenous populations from their native lands, leaving them displaced from their livelihood and home. We don't need to look across the oceans to know how badly that goes.

I sent Lindt an online request to consider not using palm oil. I encourage all of you to do the same for any company that you buy from that uses it. You're welcome to use this:

( Letter here )

Changing it to fit your company, of course.

There are enough awful things going on in the world. We don't need to make it worse by demanding things that aren't necessary. Chocolate in particular is already mired in rainforest destruction; there is no need to add palm oil to the problem.

Feel free to signal boost this.

Tschuess.

I just got back from volunteering at the San Francisco Food Bank, something I am hoping to establish into a semi-regular routine. I've had this sort of community sense ever since I was a child, when I would donate some of my allowance each month to North Shore Animal League. I regretted throughout college that I did not have the time, energy, or sanity to go out and help those less fortunate than myself. Now that I have time again, I'm hoping to go to the food bank once a month, or once every other month, to help out people. I would volunteer at animal shelters too, but the ones around here require you to commit for 40 hours a month, and I don't have that kind of extra energy lying around.

The thing with volunteering for me is that it doesn't give me any sort of ego boost or anything of the sort. I just feel a sense of... I don't know. Like I did something right. Like I made up for being so privileged and fortunate. I guess you could call it karma, or maybe my inferiority complex but either way: good results all around.

But now for the part I imagine you all are REALLY reading for. A few weeks ago, I decided I was going to self-publish a book of short stories. SInce then I've been exhausted, stressed, and lazy, but I'm now trying to kickstart myself back into writing and planning. Thus, I've been brainstorming what I want the theme of this book to be, and as a result, what kinds of stories I will be writing.

That's where I want you guys to give me opinions. I've thought of a few things that I think would make a good introductory book to my work and world, but I'm not entirely sure on the logistics. Thus:

1) Which theme sounds coolest to you?

- Location-driven - a collection of short stories, each derived from a different area of Malanee, thus exploring different cultures and lives
- Species-driven - similar to location, but focused on Malanee's varied sentient species. Individual stories for faeries, Oerdum, vampires, humans, etc.
- Character-driven - a collection of short stories that would serve as a sort of sneak-peek introduction to major characters in my work. Stories for Nur, Rose May, Kader, Tegre, Bertram, Alden, etc.
- Something else? Let me know!

2) Which characters are you MOST interested in seeing more of?

- Kader, Tegre, Eilís
- Bertram/Bakari, Alden, Batuuli (formerly Bertula)
- Rose May, Meander, Nur
- Nur, Almas, Lynette, Lin
- Anca, Victoria
- Gareth, Andy, Jacob, Duff
- Mahli, Malachi, Tadhg
- Anyone else I forgot

3) Which species are you MOST interested in seeing more of?

- Faeries (Mountain faeries, dryads, succubi, pixies, sirens)
- Wereanimals
- Vampires
- Oerdum
- Demons (Swamp, Mountain)
- Humans
- Demis

4) Anything else you'd like to see or recommend?

So yes. Please let me know and hopefully, I will have some prose to share from the novels soon.

Tschuess.

I was originally going to post something bitter and depressing, but instead, talking to raze has inspired me to post this.

Give me prompts. A situation, a word, a story, anything you think of, and I will write prose for it.

Enjoy.

Hello all.

The NP I am seeing for meds wants me to try drinking only white tea at night, since she thinks caffeine may be making my anxiety much worse. Seeing as I like any kind of tea, I am willing to try this out, and am thus switching to only white teas after about 3 or 4PM.

However, my stash of white tea is currently limited to only two kinds right now.

Does anyone out there have some recommendations for good white teas, whether loose or bagged? I'd love to hear about it so I can get a few more so I don't get bored with my selection and thus potentially slip off the path.

Thank you! Hopefully, writing this weekend. Having a bit of an off night emotionally so going to try reading, sipping some South Indian Oothu white tea, and playing Sims.

Edit - You may also recommend good herbal teas or even decaffeinated if you know of any really good brands, but I tend to be wary of both kinds (most herbal teas taste weird to me, while I just have a silly "it's all in my head" thing that makes decaffeinated tea taste not as good).

Tschuess.