My husband is quite a bit more healthy than I am. I’ll just put that out there right now as a caveat. But he came home the other day with something called a ‘wheat grass kit‘ which allows you to grow some wheat grass, harvest it, and turn it into a wheat grass shot. The wheat grass shot itself tastes exactly like freshly mown grass. It actually made me sick the first 2 or 3 times I took it. But my husband swears by it, so I put myself through the effort, just for him.

Since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, I figured I would make myself take the shots with him every day until Valentine’s day, as my gift to him. But it was amazing at how much more energy, strength, and overall ‘good’ I felt after a week of taking the shots with him.

And it’s a lot less expensive than other ‘shake’ options out there like the p90x Shakeology. Granted, Shakeology is a whole lot more than wheat grass. But I’ve tried both now, and I feel like my body responds quite a bit more favorably to the wheat grass shots.

Honestly, I probably won’t take them for a long time from here on out. It’s an acquired taste, and I still haven’t acquired it yet. But my husband is happy, which is what counts I suppose.

 

Visiting an art museum in a new city can be a great way to spend an afternoon when you’re traveling; it can also be a little overwhelming if you’re not very familiar with the artists displayed in the museum. Or maybe you just want to add art to one of your conversation topics for dinner parties. A great way to become familiar with art is to become familiar with a handful of artists at a time. Here, find a list of five dead artists you should know.

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) is heralded as one of the greatest modern painters in history, according to current scholars. His post-impressionist works—typified by his unique painting stroke–include Starry Night, which can be found on everything from printed posters to credit cards, and Sunflowers. He’s also known for his personal struggles with mental illness, which led to him cutting off his own ear and committing suicide at the age of 37. Van Gogh was not recognized as a great painter while he was alive; it was only after he’d passed away that his art received any notice.

Michelangelo

Long before Madonna, Prince, and Cher, Michelangelo (1475-1563) was the first legendarily single-named artist. And for good reason—his full name (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni) is quite a mouthful. Michelangelo was a part of the Italian Renaissance, and was a jack-of-all trades when it came to which art form he preferred. He is known primarily for his sculptures (David and the Pieta are his most famous) and one massively epic painting—the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Frida Kahlo

Friday Kahlo (1907-1954) is one of the most famous female painters of all time. She is known primarily for her self-portraits and her infamous unibrow, but her most significant contribution is the way she brought the Mexican folk art of her ancestry into the realm of fine art. She was also active politically. A film about her life was made in 1992, starring actress Salma Hayek. The film won two Academy Awards.

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was a quintessentially American modern artist. His art was focused on the politically dichotomy of urban America, which stemmed from his experiences as a graffiti artist in New York. He died young, at 27, of a heroin overdose. His art features bright colors and disjointed figures, and is usually mixed media—a term that means that his art is not solely painting, or drawing, or sculpture, but a combination. A film was made about his life in 1996.

Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) is the first name in surrealism, an art movement that was interested less in depicting reality and more in depicting the perception of reality. It is often rife with symbolism. To that end, his work (including The Persistence of Memory) communicates anxiety and emotion through motifs such as melting clocks. He was also a filmmaker; his most famous film, Un Chien Andalou, notoriously featured an eyeball being cut open. It also influenced 1980s rock band The Pixies on their song, Debaser.

Dustin Heath is a lawyer by profession. With work experience spanning a decade, his expertise has led him to work on corporate cases, representing prestigious companies and brands In his spare time, he writes for a weekly paper in his community, discussing his passion for do-it-yourself projects and valuable tips in home and living. He also teaches pre-law subjects in the university he graduated from and plans to be a book author in the future. He gets most of his ideas from the great attorney, Michael Ward Stout.

The English Language has been created, developed and interpreted in various ways, sparking debates about the use of punctuation to the spelling of what should be simple words. We as humans have a habit of having an ability to spell words people would usually find difficult (90% is pure luck by guessing) but the simple words seem to throw us a curve ball. Here are some simple spelling tasks that our brains just don’t seem to want to spell correctly.

‘Lose’ and ‘Loose’

One defines the opposite of ‘win’, and the other defines the opposite of ‘tight’ – but many people forget the terminology and put these words in the completely wrong sentence. Although by accident, we seem to think that the word ‘lose’ is ‘loose’ and therefore make a complete fool of ourselves when we use it in everyday situations. To text someone and go “Hi, I’ll be late home because my tire is lose” should be illegal and people really should know the difference. If you allow your grammar to be let loose, then you shall lose.

‘Weird’

It is weird how this is another word we seem to forget how to spell, despite being taught several times in rudimentary English lessons. A cruel lesson to be learnt should be that every time people misspell ‘weird’ they get shocked with 1000V of pure electricity and that should do the trick. We generally use this word as a word of unsettlement or use it to someone acting like a “creep”. To call someone “weird” could be both a compliment and an insult at the same time, but if you do use it please spell it correctly!

The ‘they’re, their and there’ Conundrum

How many times must we misuse these three words in every day context!? It’s such a simple process, with the apostrophe in the word “they’re” offering us a massive hint of where to use this word! These three set of words are the most commonly misspelled in the English language, as education and grammar seems to wear off after about 30 years. To clarify, “they’re” is used if you are talking about a group of people and what they are going to do; “their” is to define possession on somebody else’s behalf and “there” is simply to define a location as to where you/somebody else is going. In a nutshell, the sentence “They’re going over there on their motorbikes” is both a tongue-twister and grammatically correct. Use it well, people.

The ‘you’re and your’ Issue

If you’re speaking on your own behalf, you must use these terms correctly to save yourself from looking like you are uneducated. A quick English lesson here: You use ‘you’re’ when you’re define something that you personally are going to do, and you use ‘your’ to define something of your own personal possession. It’s not that difficult, so stop rushing your work and proof read every sentence, to avoid the inevitable “you can’t spell” tease from your social group.

These “conundrums” have baffled people for years and people still confuse themselves but that is a part of nature. Be careful though, especially young people as you must use your grammar correctly to succeed, especially in an English course. When doing every piece of work, check your sentence for grammar and punctuation and make sure you know what you’re talking about, in case your teacher/tutor questions you on the knowledge of the particular subject.

A word of warning to university students studying English – your dissertation is vital! Punctuation and grammar is just the foundation basics you need to get the crucial marks on knowing your stuff.

Ian Appleton is a writer who used a professional dissertation binding service when he was at university before submitting this piece of work. It made the content look impressive and presentable, helping him to get a great result. 

I’ve probably admitted this plenty of times before, but I’m a read-aholic. I love books, and get as many as I can. I’m also cheap (sorry, but it’s so true!), so a huge majority of the books I get are downloaded to my Kindle. Sometimes, they’re free for the day and I take advantage. Other times, they’re between ninety-nine cents to three dollars. (Told you I was cheap.) Since I read so many of these types of books, I’ve been incredibly exposed to self-published authors, as most self-published authors sell their books at these low prices.

Now, just because I’m getting published traditionally does not mean I have any bias against self-publishing. There are pros and cons to both. Each author must decide which method is best for them. However, I’ve noticed a trend as I’ve read these types of books on my Kindle and I can’t keep my observations to myself anymore. So, I’m writing this post, inspired, and somewhat bothered, by what I’ve seen.

It seems to me that a lot of self-published authors are taking shortcuts to get published. I’ve read many novels that had tremendous potential, but didn’t quite satisfy. Generally, it’s because it looks as if the author didn’t hire a professional editor to go over the manuscript before publishing. And I’m sorry, but if a book is riddled with misspelled words or a lot of grammatical errors, I can’t enjoy the story. So one shortcut that you should NEVER take if you’re going to self-publish is hiring a professional editor. It would be prudent to hire them for both content and copy editing. Editors are trained to spot inconsistencies in plot and character that an author might not catch.

Another shortcut you shouldn’t take (this applies to all authors): have both beta readers and a critique group. In case you’re wondering what the difference is: beta readers are readers who can help give feedback to the general feel of the book. They can point out what they like and don’t like about the plot and characters. A critique group in a group of people who trades their work. So you critique their work while they critique yours. It’s a nice fair trade. Not to mention that when you start critiquing other people’s work, it helps you grow in your own writing.

Now I’m not talking about getting friends and family to be your beta readers or critique group. No offense, but they can’t be trusted to give you the harsh truth you need to improve your work. What I’m talking about is finding people who are a part of the writing industry. People who go to writers conferences and listen to writing podcasts (Writing Excuses, anyone?) who can give you real, professional feedback.

I could go on to some other things to do before you publish, but I think those two are the big ones. Just remember, listen to all feedback with an open mind and tough skin. No one is reading your work so that they can tear into you and make you feel bad. Whatever they have to say is what they genuinely think as they read your work. Whether you implement their suggestion, you need to hear it. And I know a lot of you don’t want to pay for an editor. I get it. Like I said above, I’m totally cheap. But it’s a worthy investment to make. Because if you really want to be a successful writer, your novels have to look polished.

I would like to point out that not all self-published authors skip these steps. But I am noticing many who are, and it doesn’t reflect well on those self-published authors who have put in the time and money to make their work as professional as a traditionally published book.

When I do read eBooks that have a lot of spelling errors or just repeat a certain phrase over and over again (I find that really annoying), I won’t buy another one of their books. I don’t care if it’s a free download, I won’t get it. This is why I’m writing this post today. Because there are a lot of gifted authors out there. Some of them, I would buy more of their books if they were polished. So, please, go through the essential steps before you put your book out there – I promise it will benefit you.