Got Milk?

[commonpeople1]

I've been milk-free for a week now. That means no milk, butter or cheese - though some traces might have been present in the 85% chocolate I bought the other day. Why did I start this? Because I wanted some relief from my hayfever. The itchiness and achooness hasn't gone away, but when I was at the community garden on Saturday I didn't feel as uncomfortable as before. I'm still on two/three tablets of Benadryl a day, which is annoying. My mother says it's only after seven days that I'll start to feel the difference. I love plants, grasses and flowers, but the feeling is not reciprocal.

I think everyone should go milk-free for a week, as an experiment. It's amazing how much milk is present in our diets. It's a good skill to learn to live without it, to be more creative in the kitchen. In terms of options, I think we Londoners are in a good position - our supermarkets are filled with alternatives. But we are way too bound to cows' tits.

On Sunday, I was lying in Victoria Park listening to a podcast (Expanding Mind) and they were talking about magic (in particular Kenneth Grant.) The guest was saying that it's dangerous to start a spell and not complete it - you leave it open for bad things to go in and interfere. Aleister Crowley went mad because of an incomplete spell. That got me thinking about art and, in particular, writing. I'm one of those people with tons of incomplete pieces of fiction at home; maybe the more "spells" I leave unfinished, the harder it is for me to complete something. It's a case of weakening one's own powers by letting the magic seep away through badly cast spells. I have therefore decided - in my best and most typical OCD way - to complete absolutely everything I write from now on. And to burn anything incomplete that I know I'll never touch again.

Let's see where all of this takes me.

// Expanding Mind podcast (jellyfish93, if you don't know this podcast, you must check it out! I think you'll enjoy it.)

Comments

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

I think everyone should go milk-free for a week, as an experiment.

I don't like going milk free for more than a few hours, let alone days. I'm lacto-dependent!

Aleister Crowley went mad because of an incomplete spell.

And nothing at all to do with the drug abuse and alcoholism.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I'm also lacto-dependent... it has been hard! Especially because wink_martindale decided to bake cookies yesterday.

And nothing at all to do with the drug abuse and alcoholism.

Or the crazy wives.

[margotmetroland.livejournal.com]

I am almost completely milk-free - no milk in tea or on cereal, no yoghurt, cream etc. My one dairy vice is cheese, but that's an occasional rather than a daily fix. Butter I can generally take or leave.

Milk often makes me feel queasy, I'm just not designed to consume it.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I've had my days of feeling queasy, and have gone before without milk for a day or two just so I could feel better. I'm thinking I'll go back to a level around yours once the experiment is over. I do prefer soya with my coffee now but it's going to be hard to staying away from butter... that and cheese are my vice.

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

I would find a dairy-free week really difficult; I cooked a dairy-free dinner for a friend recently, and even just one meal was a bit of a challenge!

I don't suppose anyone at the garden keeps bees, do they? Apparently local honey can help with hayfever because it contains traces of the pollens you're reacting to, so in effect it innoculates you, although you have to eat it regularly for a while in order for it to have an effect (and I don't know whether the theory has been tested!).

Or if you want to go a more pharmaceutical route, I find hayfever eyedrops and a nasal spray, used religiously, more helpful than benadryl.

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

I gather that Innocent Drinks are doing a charitable thing where they're sponsoring new beehives in community projects.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmm! I might check into whether they want to sponsor our project.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking about bees the last time I was there. I think if there was capacity, they'd love to do it, but that's not the case at the moment. I'd certainly love to learn how to manage a bee hive. They do have flowers like foxgloves planted to attract bees, and that works quite well. I'm going to suggest it to them anyways next time!

I forgot to take my Benadryl this morning and I'm feeling better! Weird...

[amberholic.livejournal.com]

I find Benadryl pretty ineffective. The best thing for me is Beconase, especially as it's a spray and not a tablet so works much more efficiently.

Zirtek is one of the better ones for tablets in my opinion.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

It's funny but Zirtek was one of the drugs I found ineffective before I switched to Benadryl! Funnily enough, I forgot to take my pill today... and I'm feeling better!

By the way, guess where I've been temping for the past couple of weeks? ;-)

[amberholic.livejournal.com]

Based on your location I'd guess Prospectus?

Different hayfever tablets seem to affect people differently so I guess everyone's different. Clarityn isn't too bad.

[sor-eye-ah.livejournal.com]

If you're having sinus issues you might want to consider scrapping wheat products at the same time.

Cake with cream on top has me reaching for the tissues before I've even finished it. :(

Also been linked to lethargy and bloating, if you do have a sensitivity to these things, that is.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I'd find it really hard to cut out wheat, but I suppose it's possible too. So far, there's been no change in my energy levels with less milk but I do feel generally better (but maybe that's because I'm eating less processed stuff.)

[dilvsy.livejournal.com]

of course, any mention of Crowley, or spells, brings me to comment!
i am interested in eventually doing magic of my own,but as I am extremely inexperienced, other than dfoing incantations for my new spirits that arrive, i have yet to try any real magic,as it does scare me...just knowing all the power behind it.
and if i do decide to take the magic plunge,it will only be for WA.and i will only do things to benefit my personal growth,or psychic/spiritual growth.i have ehard far too many horror stories of people playing with magic not knowing wehat they are doing...and a lot of those horror stories are told in the forum i belong to.

But that is nothing to do with the true intent of you adding this to your post, so sorry to hijack it with magic talk.

lol

[petercampbell.livejournal.com]

The thing I always loved about Crowley is that the self proclaimed wickedest man in the world diabolical figure stayed in a pink cottage when he lived in Inverness. Talk about inappropriate surroundings...

[dilvsy.livejournal.com]

really?????
that is pretty funny!
i always picture demons, darkness,and mystery when i think of him, so not a pink cottage!

rofl

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Dilly, you should check out the podcast I linked in this post - they talk a lot about magic, amongst other stuff, which I think you'd like. For myself, I find it really inspirational in terms of rethinking how I approach writing. I'd love to learn more about it.

[dilvsy.livejournal.com]

there was a podcast link in your entry?
didn' even notice!

lol

[petercampbell.livejournal.com]

The honey thing certainly works, but you've to start taking it from winter onwards for it to be effective. I've never thought about cutting out milk (though it makes perfect sense).

This has been a brute of a year for heyfever.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Cutting out milk was something my mom learned in the 70s, when I was a baby allergic to nearly everything. The doctor told her to take me off milk and put me on soya, and it worked so...

The rain yesterday in London seems to have helped a bit, despite not lasting long. Do you also suffer from hayfever this time of the year?

[petercampbell.livejournal.com]

This is coming into peak hayfever time for us - our growing season lags a month or two behind the rest of the UK, so flowers are really just starting to come into full bloom.

I'm considering giving the milk thing a try - but when you're vegetarian, it really starts restricting your dietary options.

[drpete.livejournal.com]

Have you tried neti? I found washing out my nose periodically with saline clears out all the gunge, and surprisingly, has taken the edge off my allergy to cats. I'm still horribly allergic to cats, but after neti the rhinitis is less severe. It's supposed to work by washing out the allergens.
Being a "give me the fucking antihistamines and can the new age hocus pocus bullshit" sort of fella, I was surprised. It took a few days to work, and pouring tepid saline up your nose and draining the stream out your mouth takes a bit of getting used to (not to mention practice) and will gross you out for a bit. It's not perfect, and it's not a cure, but it feels good and worked for me.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Someone at the community garden told me about this, and she also swears by it. I'll give it a go if it comes back with a vengeance, but for now I'm feeling OK and in no need for extreme saline measures. ;-)

[zenithed.livejournal.com]

That podcast sounds really interesting, I'll give it a listen. Much as I like science and scepticism podcasts they can get a bit repetitive after a while.

You might like the Disinformation podcast, it covers loads of entertainingly mental conspiracy theories - my favourite one so far is that Lady Gaga is a hermaphrodite agent of the Illuminati from Atlantis, which they argue step by step with a completely straight face.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

It's a great podcast - I do recommend it to everyone though I don't think it's for everyone's taste... but the sheer variety of guests and topics does keep me coming back for more.

I love that Lady Gaga theory. I saw it first on a website somewhere (about her one-eye look). It's proper well researched, deep and convoluted. Reminds me of that theory from some years back that Morrissey predicted Princess Diana's death.

[skincare-expert.livejournal.com]

I read this Lady Gaga theory too. I love it! All of the photos of her one-eye look, the Eye of Horus connections, the ram/astrology references in some of her videos...Totally fascinating to me, regardless of whatever the site's premise/conclusion was. I like that she's putting occult imagery in her videos & performances (assuming she's aware of it). There's a lot of stuff I hadn't noticed until the conspiracy theorists pointed it out.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

I like it too; it's proof to me that she has a good group of creative people around her feeding her imagery and ideas. Where they can go from here? Well... it's going to be interesting to see! (I hope she doesn't jump the shark though.)

[skincare-expert.livejournal.com]

I agree! I wish you could come out to Oakland for her concert in March...

(and btw, I didn't realize I responded to you under this LJ name...Sounds like you figured out who I am, though. ;)

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

hehe, yes i did. :-)

[skincare-expert.livejournal.com]

just saw this! thanks, ollie, i'll definitely check it out.

i've been eating completely dairy-free the past two months (except for a run-in with a slice of cake at work and a few bites of cheese recently) and i'm finding all kinds of benefits, like clearer skin and not requiring as much sleep for some reason. i don't know for sure that this is linked to no dairy, but it certainly seems to have made a difference.

(and also, there are good vegan butter alternatives, if you're interested. :)

xoxo

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

We have really good vegan alternatives here too - especially in my neighbourhood because it's the home of many Bangladeshi families. Right now we are eating a soya butter that's a great alternative. But I have to confess I've gone back to milk, but not as much as before (in fact, one thing I realised with this experiment was that I wasn't that big a consumer anyway). Weirdly enough, my allergies have disappeared and I'm no longer taking any medicine!