10 Simple Tips to Supercharge Your Brain

Brain graphic

Here are ten simple tips that will help keep your brain functioning well into your old age.

1) EAT ALMONDS

Almond is believed to improve memory. If a combination of almond oil and milk is taken together before going to bed or after getting up at morning, it strengthens our memory power. Almond milk is prepared by crushing the almonds without the outer cover and adding water and sugar to it.

2) DRINK APPLE JUICE

Research from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) indicates that apple juice increases the production of the essential neuro transmitte race tylcholine in the brain, resulting in an increased memory power.

3) SLEEP WELL

Research indicates that the long-term memory is consolidated during sleep by replaying the images of the experiences of the day. These repeated playbacks program the subconscious mind to store these images and other related information.

4) ENJOY SIMPLE PLEASURES

Stress drains our brainpower. A stress-ridden mind consumes much of our memory resources to leave us with a feeble mind. Make a habit to engage yourself in few simple pleasures everyday to dissolve stress from your mind. Some of these simple pleasures are good for your mind, body and soul.

• Enjoy music you love
• Play with your children
• Hug a stranger :p
• Appreciate others
• Run few miles a day, bike or swim
• Start a blog
• Take a yoga class or Total Wellness routine

5) FAST FOR A DAY

Fasting cleans and detoxifies our body. It is known fact that heavy food not only causes stress on our digestive system but also drains our brainpower. Fasting relieves toxic emotions such as anger, grief, worry, and fears –before they accumulate and cause disease. By cleansing toxic emotions, fasting strengthens mental clarity, which increases
memory, concentration, creativity and insight.

6) EXERCISE YOUR MIND

Just as physical exercise is essential for a strong body, mental exercise is equally essential for a sharp and agile mind. Have you noticed that children have far superior brainpower than an adult does? Children have playful minds. A playful mind exhibits superior memory power. Engage in some of the activities that require your mind to remain active and playful.

• Play scrabble or crossword puzzle
• Volunteer
• Interact with others
• Start a new hobby such as blogging, reading, painting, bird watching
• Learn new skill or a language

7) PRACTICE YOGA OR MEDITATION

Yoga or Meditation relives stress. Stress is a known memory buster. With less stress,
lower blood pressure, slower respiration, slower metabolism, and released muscle
tension follows. All of these factors contribute significantly towards increases in our brainpower.

8) EAT A LIGHT MEAL IN THE NIGHT

A heavy meal at night causes tossing and turning and a prolonged emotional stress while at sleep. Eating a light meal with some fruits allows us to sleep well. A good night sleep
strengthens our brainpower.

9) DEVELOP IMAGINATION

Greeks mastered the principle of imagination and association to memorize everything. This technique requires one to develop a vivid and colorful imagination that can be linked to a known object. If you involve all your senses –touching, feeling, smelling, hearing and seeing in the imagination process, you can remember greater details of the event.

10) CONTROL YOUR TEMPER

Bleached food, excess of starch or excess of white bread can lead to nerve grating effect.
This results in a violent and some time depressive behavior. Eat fresh vegetables. Drink lots of water and meditate or practice yoga to relieve these toxic emotions of temper and violent mood swings.

A new beginning for the LGBTQ communities in The Bronx

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On Saturday, July 14, 2012, a fundraiser was held to assist with efforts to raise the nearly $5,000 in funds needed to pay for various NYC permits required to stage Bronx Pride 2012, an LGBT pride festival, celebration, and rally that will be held on Saturday, July 21, 2012 at Crotona Park in The Bronx from noon until 6 pm.

Donations to help pay the NYC permit fees are being accepted on the Eventbrite page created for the pride event at http://bronxpride2012.eventbrite.com/. Additionally, orders for official Bronx Pride 2012 T-shirts, with personalization options, are being taken. All orders will be available for pick up at Bronx Pride on Saturday. Due to the financial straits everyone is in, we will only be producing T-shirts for people who order them in advance, through Eventbrite.

More importantly, attendees at the fundraiser discussed how best to move forward after the devastating news broke of the Bronx Community Pride Center (BCPC) being forced to close down amid the scandal of former employees' alleged malfeasance.

An Ad Hoc Committee was formed with the purpose of creating a new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community services center in The Bronx that would serve The Bronx, Upper Manhattan, and lower Westchester County. This community services center would be a completely new organization with a clean slate, devoid of any history or affiliations with existing organizations, politicians, and members of the community.

"The handful of us who are producing Bronx Pride this year, in the absence of the BCPC, feel very strongly about having a community center for our LGBT communities in The Bronx, which is why we're moving forward now. We want to inform our LGBTQ brothers & sisters The Bronx and neighboring communities that we stand with them," stated Appolonia Cruz, an internationally-acclaimed drag performer who attended the dinner.

Such a new LGBT Center in The Bronx would act as a true community services center, serving as an umbrella organization that would house numerous other groups and organizations, which would provide some of the services BCPC provided to its clients. Unlike the BCPC, the new center would reach out and strive to serve all segments of the LGBT communities.

"I've never used the BCPC because I didn't feel they had anything for me. They were all about youth programming and services for the transgender community, and I don't belong to either of those communities," stated Nelson Garcia, a prominent Gay blogger who lives and was raised in The Bronx. 

The Reverend Carmen Hernandez-De Armas, president of the NYC LGBTQs Chamber of Commerce, commented, "I'm very excited to learn of plans for creating a new community services center with a clean slate, one that isn't beholden to no-good politicians and people. We would be honored to become part of a new center, as we have a lot to offer the members of all of our diverse communities, from job search preparedness and assistance to skills training to assistance with creating and running your own business. These are services we would be happy to offer members of our community in a new center."

"Many of the problems that BCPC had were related to its structure and operations. For instance, the structure of the corporation did not allow for memberships, which can be a significant source of income to a non-profit organization such a community services center. To rely almost entirely on one source of funding—in this case, government funding—is not the way an organization should be run," Peter C. Equality Frank, a community activist, told the supporters attending the fundraiser. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the governments had frozen all funding to the BCPC when they initiated their investigations into this sad scandal, initiating the cascade of events that has led to their closure."

Williamson Henderson, director of the STONEWALL Veterans' Association, threw his organization's support behind the idea of creating a new center. "Having a new center with a clean slate is the best way I can see of achieving the goals of our LGBT communities. I think it's a great idea and we will be there to support the new organization and ensure that the problems that have plagued the previous two Gay centers in The Bronx don't reoccur with this new center, and having diversity in funding is a great first step in the right direction," he said.

"Right now, the Ad Hoc Committee's focus is on producing Bronx Pride 2012, which is in less than one week. Once Bronx Pride is over, we will form a new New York State not-for-profit corporation, which is the first step in a long but travelable road toward creating a new LGBT community services center in The Bronx," Mr. Frank advised the crowd. He further told supporters, "It is my hope that the Coalition to Save the BCPC, which has been meeting at Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.'s offices since the closure of the BCPC will recognize the wisdom and benefits in creating a new center with a clean slate and come to support our efforts."

Bronx Pride 2012 will take place on Saturday, July 21st at Crotona Park in The Bronx, just south of Indian Lake in the park. Festivities will begin at noon and run until approximately 6pm. The event has only come together within the past week, after  a handful of activists decided to stop waiting for politicians and bureaucrats to get something done and began taking action. The event will feature music throughout the day, as well as a number of cultural performances and entertainment by various LGBT performers. Speakers will discuss topics ranging from maintaining one's personal safety to the personal experiences of LGBT individuals growing up in The Bronx. Members of the STONEWALL Veterans' Association will be present to provide a history of the pride movement, which started with the Stonewall Rebellion in 1969.

An anti-violence/anti-bullying rally will take place, as well as a call for full equal treatment under the all the laws of this nation. A number of organizations have already pledged their support for Bronx Pride 2012, including the NYC LGBT Community Services Center, the Anti-Violence Project, The Trevor Project, STONEWALL Veterans' Association, the NYC LGBTQs Chamber of Commerce, the NYPD LGBT Liaison's office, Citiwide Harm Reduction, Rivers at Rehobeth, and the Human Rights Campaign. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and NYC Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn are both expected to send representatives to Bronx Pride on their behalf in a show of support, as neither will not be in town to attend the event themselves. No other politicians (including Borough President Diaz) have responded to the invitations that were sent to them early last week to participate in Bronx Pride and show their support for the LGBT communities in The Bronx and neighboring communities.

"All of the people coming together to help out with Bronx Pride 2012 know the financial situation we're in and everyone is donating their time, services, talent, energy, and love—and that is really what this is all about, isn't it? Having a community center in The Bronx is very important to me and I'm happy to do whatever I can to support this new initiative," Ms. Cruz, who served as the fundraiser's hostess, proclaimed. "Essentially, there are no organizations behind this year's pride. It really is just a handful of people coming together to make Bronx Pride happen for us in 2012. Everyone deserves a huge amount of support and are owed a debt of gratitude that we will never be able to repay, " Mr. Frank elaborated.

The Ad Hoc Committee is being organized by Mr. Frank and includes the persons quoted in this article. Interested parties should contact him at 914-417-9579 in the afternoons and evenings, or at pcfrank73@gmail.com regarding both Bronx Pride and the Ad Hoc Committee to create an LGBT community services center in The Bronx. 

There is still room left to showcase performers and other talent, in addition to various vending and tabling opportunities. For more information about Bronx Pride 2012, visit http://bronxpride2012.eventbrite.com/  or contact Peter.

Crotona park is easily accessible from I-95, the Tremont Metro-North railroad station, or the #2 & #5 subway at 174th street. Bronx Pride 2012 will be staged just south of Indian Lake in Crotona Park, near the intersection of Claremont Parkway and Crotona Park East.

###

I just need to vent for a bit..

Grant me the strength to accept fucktards I cannot change!

Am I wrong in this? Have I done anything wrong? What have I done to deserve this sort of treatment? Srsly!

Here's the skinny, Jimmy!

Wednesday Night:

Unfortunately i have to deal with this kumkwat of a fucktard as he's sort of a client and I do work for him (yes it's a "him"), but he's also supposed to be my friend, as well. So last night, I made a suggestion to him. It was only a suggestion, and he blew his top off. Here's the actual chat (mind you, I'd been waiting all day to speak with him about some stuff; we were even supposed to have a teleconference meeting but he blew me off b/c something else came up (which is understandable, except he didn't bother to tell me about it so I was sitting around waiting for him to call):

me: how r u? XXXXX: stressed.2:23 AM 
me: can i so anythung?2:28 AM  

me: do anything*
2:29 AM  

XXXXX: No. I have a confernce call with the Executive Board tomorrow at noon. I'll let you know then what's going on. Honestly, it dosen't look good. 

2:30 AM 
me: push the new legal entity XXXXX: see  anyway off to bed me: ok XXXXX: Everyone has a opinion.  godo night2:31 AM

me: sorry for trying to be helpful

After this, he blocked me on chat. He then went onto Facebook and posted like a bazillion things on his page (which he almost never does) and was up until 4:30am, not responding to any of my texts or chats or e-mails asking him what was going on and telling him I was only trying to be helpful and offer suggestions (but whenever I do that, he lashes out at me and asks me how stupid I think he must be).

OK, next day ...

A few hours ago, I try to find him online, but no dice. He still has me blocked in chat.

So i text him, and this is the actual entire conversation I had with him via texting:

Me: Srsly, you blocked me?
XXXXX: I did
Me: Wow. Way to be "professional." Talk to you next year, dude, after you've had some serious intensive psychotherapy to deal with your issues and how you treat people around you in your life, especially those who try to support and help you.
XXXXX: What?
XXXXX: What are talking about?

I don't respond. I just couldn't believe the gall and audacity of what he said and did. So then he finally hits me up on IM, and again asks me what I'm talking about (like he doesn't know). Ten mins later he says "thanks for not responding."

And then--get this: this dickwad of a kumkwat freaking calls me at 12:52 in the effing a.m. ***UNANNOUNCED***. In other words, the ringer on my phone was at its highest setting, because I wasn't expecting a late-night call. So of course, it wakes up my mom and younger brother, who both yell at me. And then, he doesn't bother to leave a voicemail (like I'm really going to speak to someone at 12:52 in the morning if I'm not expecting a phone call from them, or they don't text or IM or even e-mail me and ask if it's OK to call me at that time--despite the fact that I'm usually awake, that's some freaking nerve, if ya ask me!).

So after the phone call, I tweet out the following:

Phone calls at 12:50 in the morning, UNANNOUNCED. Wake up the whole fucking family. AND, no message. #WTF is wrong with people? #Srsly #FAIL

Now, anything I tweet out gets auto-posted to my Facebook timeline, and I checked to make sure it was there. The next morning, I go to check and it's no longer on my timeline. I mean, seriously? Noone's name was announced or anything. I'm not going to be unprofessional about it. There was no way to identify who was calling me. So why report my post to Facebook and have it removed?

After this, the dickwaded kumkwat of a fucktard then goes and un-friends me on Facebook and unfollows me on Twitter, and he blocks me on Google+. Like I give a rat's patootie! It just goes to show the level of his maturity (none?) and his mentality in dealing with people. And I still have to deal with him in the future, because I really, really need the couple of dollars I'm hoping will get thrown my way for doing all of this work!

**le sigh**

**le cry**

;-*(

So what does everybody think? Did I do anything out of line? Am I not responding appropriately? WTF different should I be doing to deal with this cretin?

The Progression of Civil Rights

In the early 1990s, I advocated pursuing the fight for full marriage equality, in the Hawaii case. Most of the leadership in the LGBTQ community (with the notable exception of Evan Wolfson) nay-sayed the idea, saying that it was too much, too soon.

Having studied the civil rights struggles of two notable minority groups in this nation (namely, women and Blacks), it's clear that the minority remained oppressed for centuries because they were appeased with the step-by-step breadcrumbs thrown at them by those in power, those who kept them in second-class citizenship status.

I argued that, to break this cycle, we must not accept these small steps, these small breadcrumbs and scraps of rights thrown from the table. We must not have to fight 20 years just to achieve one equal right and another 30 years to achieve another. Instead, we must ask for it all, the whole kit and kaboodle, upfront. Only then will we be able to achieve the equality to which we are legally entitled.

Twenty years later, my hypothesis has proved true: in those states where marriage equality is a reality, there is nearly full equality and protections under civil law for LGBTQ individuals. In those states without marriage equality, there is virtually none--perhaps a smattering of rights strewn about here and there.

WHEN will people stop being blinded by the truth and demand to be treated fully as equals to their fellow citizens under the laws of this nation?

The major LGBTQ organisations (Human Rights Champage, NGLTF, etc.) are concerned with one thing: ingraining themselves into positions of power within the existing, corrupted and wasteful power structures. They are concerned very little with the basic, human rights denied to so many, far too frequently, in way too many regions across the globe.

The following organisations are more concerned with, and fighting for, our full equality. They deserve your support--your full support.


Demand Equality
A Rights Odyssey
Occupy Equality
STONEWALL Veterans' Association
Occupy Justice
Occupy Wall Street

An Open Letter to Pastor Daniel Hamlin

I just e-mailed the following letter to Pastor Hamlin, at pastor@greenbeltucc.org, with a cc: to the Miss Greenbelt Pageant organizers, at natasha@missgreenbelt.com, christine@missgreenbelt.com (they list no other contact information on their web site, at http://www.missgreenbelt.com/ )


* * *
Dear Pastor Hamlin:

I write to you because you are listed as a supporter of the Miss Greenbelt Pageants. As a church and religious organization with clear pro-marriage equality stances, I would like to know why you are supporting this clearly anti-LGBT organization and one of its start spokespersons, Little Miss Greenbelt, Sarah Crank.

A few days ago, 14-year old Little Miss Greenbelt, Sarah Crank, who is home-schooled by her very anti-LGBTQ Concerned Women for America lobbyist mother, told the Maryland state legislature, and I quote, "It would be the best birthday present ever if you would vote no on gay marriage." and "People have the choice to be gay, but I don’t want to be affected by their choice.", as well as " I don't want any more kids to get confused about what's right and OK."

Sarah's mother, who serves as her sole educational resource and life coach, has been lighting up the blogosphere trolling articles which have reported about this travesty of child abuse, proudly proclaiming her daughter's pageant title.

I would like to know why you, as a supportive and pro-LGBT church and religion, are sponsoring this expulsion of hatred.

I ask that you immediately withdraw your sponsorship of the Miss Greenbelt pageant and condemn the words, intent, attitude, meaning, and sentiment of the hatred espoused by Miss and Mrs. Crank. If you do not do so, I would be happy to bring your support of this hate-spewing, homophobic organization and its spokespersons to the Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I do hope that you will do the right thing and continue to spread and share the joy and love of Jesus Christ, instead of supporting and promoting the ignorance and hatred that those such as the Miss Greenbelt Pageant and their spokesperson, Sarah Crank, choose to falsely ascribe to the teachings of love from Jesus Christ and God.

Very sincerely yours,
-Peter C. Frank

A Decade in Review; A Life in the New (or, Peter's Pretentious Prattle)

It is with a sense of tearful melancholic irony that I look back upon the past few decades of my life and examine what was in a futile attempt to determine what will come to be.

Two decades ago from today, I was breezing through the first year of my studies at university, even while carrying a work load of 24 or 26 credits per semester. In fact, I already had become a sophomore, credit-wise, even though it was my first year of "higher learning."

My problem was that I found little difference in the teaching methods between my secondary school teachers and the professors at my university of higher learning. The fault was not with the professors' profferings but rather the unparalleled acerbic academics of my secondary school teachers—something which, quite unfortunately in today's banal society, one finds less often than the chances by which one can be struck by lightning.

Exactly ten years ago today, I should have died; I did not do so. Instead, I have found renewed purpose—perhaps even a sense of hope among all the doom and gloom of my intellectual pursuits.

Perhaps it is done in order to satiate the human brain's need of order within all the chaotic flotsam and jetsam contained within the data rhythms of sensory input that we humans are able to "pinpoint" pivotal moments in our lives, upon which have launched tributaries of change in the linear graph we humans call, simply, "life."

Or, perhaps it is just that our pre-programmed pragmatic neural pathways are otherwise incapable of such abstract realities that we seize upon certain moments in "time" instead of allowing ourselves the meek luxury of enjoying the sojourn through inter-cosmic strands of Silly-String tying our eternal Oneness together.

Whatever the case may be, I once was alive--very, very alive--then almost died. And in fighting for and attempting to reclaim some of that prior life, I've come to that aged revelation of just how little of "life" (or what we consider to be life) is, in fact, being alive. Most of it is the muck and dreck "society" lays upon our bereaved shoulders.

There is but one thing I have discovered that remains real, alive, and unchanged throughout the myriad morphings of societies' demands: LOVE.

It is Love, the universal and eternal source of energy, that has allowed me to remain calm in the face of inter-familial squabbles and deflect the hatred lashed out at me, responding instead with pity—not the very same hated fired upon me in misguided outrage all in the name of one's so-called "religion." I discovered an ability to absorb negative energy and convert it into a more positive form of energy.

It is Love, the universal and eternal source of energy, that has exposed one very important purpose I can serve here while in this space, in this very vessel of being. I always have been politically involved in my "adult" life, serving as advocate for those unable to do so themselves. In fact, my "chosen career path"—that of the attorney—is dedicated to this noblest of noble ideals.

It is Love, the universal and eternal source of energy, that has given me a sense of hope for a future—the mere fact that there can be a future. Love of the within and the without, the internal and the external, the subordinate subservient versus the domineering predominant.

Indeed, when reading earlier of the passing on of the noblesse that was Camilla Williams into the eternal expanse of energy, I became, at first, enraged with its placement in the "Entertainment" section instead of front-page news. That anger subsided as I was filled with the Love that was her life in all respects and aspects: how silently she battled the hatred and negative energies of society with tear-evoking, theme-filled magically melodious music created from the Love within her and how society changed as a result.

The minutiae of life's little details obscure and preoccupy most with their reckless requirements. Taking a trip to death's door and back, I am left with but one universal truth:

Love thy self, and everything will fall into place. Or, to simply put it in other words,

LIVE LOVE, BITCH!