Beetle Invasion & Winter Blues.

Greetings,

I have returned from my short jaunt to the beach (Noosa, if you want to get geographic), and now I have slightly more colour and much less money. Also, apologies for the former layout, I did it in a rush (nothing should ever be done in a rush) and I felt like it needed a more personal feel about it. As you can probably already tell, I love my coffee. Passionately.

Before we get too in depth into anything I'd just like to remark on the strange beach beetles. There were quite literally hundreds of them, everywhere, and nobody knows when and where they came from. They wouldn't be such a huge fuss, if it weren't for the fact that they were totally and utterly new. They even made headlines in one of the papers.

If you're not from Australia, beach beetles as the front cover, scraping in front of politics, sports and economics, might seem just a little strange. But due to the fact that everyone here is, and not targeting anyone (keeping in mind I live here as well), incredibly settled in, any minor disturbance to the natural flow shocks everyones respective socks off. In any case, I'm glad I got to the beach before winter sets in. The water was the nicest I've ever seen it, if a little cool.

Anyway, as some of you might be aware, there exists a medically diagnosed condition called Season Affective Disorder. SAD for short. Ironically. It's an incredibly common and general condition, in which I'm sure most of us experience it to some degree. I have it at a moderate level, and throughout the winter I simply feel apathetic towards former joys and tasks. So, here's a quick list of things that I personally find helpful during the winter (or summer, depending on when you have it).

Food.
Mood-booster foods such as fruit and chocolate are always good (the latter in moderate amounts, of course), and mild coffee will help energize you when you feel increasingly lethargic.

Yoghurt (why does it say incorrect spelling, I'm sure it has an H in it.) is full of pro-biotics, at least most of them are. I personally prefer the pot-set style, Greek vanilla is an all time favourite. Yoghurt will give you those extra calories needed for the winter in a healthy and delicious style.

English muffins. Every morning. Without exception. Getting back to topic. Wholesome breakfasts, including eggs, tomatoes, sausages and toast keeps you full and warm until lunch.

Exercise? A lot of people run for warmth, which is obviously down to preference, however, if you're not a natural/frequent runner, the cold coupled with the added pressure on your legs can lead to horrible shin ache. I know I get it. The best exercise is probably to be done in the sun if possible, giving your pores a chance to open and letting you absorb that precious vitamin D.

And remember, Warm & Functional > Cold & Stylish. I'm sure your friends won't be mortified at your lovely warm jumper.

That's it for tonight, apologies as it's not my longest rant, and that it's more health related than anything. I assure you my next rant will be as per normal.

Again. I am not a doctor. These are just my thoughts.

Thanks again guys, I'm truly happy this is getting such reception. And thank you for your suggestions, I hope the new layout is better.

- Oscar.

Vacation & Blog Frequency.

Good Morning,

Just a quick update to let everyone know that I've decided on the layout of posts I shall be doing. And that I'm also going to the beach today. You all needed to know that.

So, the format I was thinking, consists of two short posts of mainly first-level anecdotes or updates, followed by a long rant filled with food-references and effort.

That way I have a bit of time to muse on the topic of said post before I release it into the unforgiving world of the internet.

I hope that's alright with everyone, after all, this blog is for you!

Here's hoping I'm not viciously attacked by jellyfish at the beach.

- Oscar.

P.S. We have these at our beach, nicknamed Blue Bottles. However, they're not actually jellyfish, it is a jelly-like marine invertebrate. (Thanks Wikipedia!) You learn something new everyday.