The Dirty Dozen

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Although the health risks of smoking are well documented, many myths about smoking are either encouraging people to start (or continue) smoking, or preventing them from quitting:

• People have free choice whether or not to smoke.

• Everyone knows how bad smoking is.

• Just a few cigarettes a day cannot hurt.

• "Light" cigarettes are less harmful.

• It is easy to stop smoking; if people want to quit, they will.

• Cessation medications do not work.

• Once a smoker, always a smoker.

• Smokers may die earlier, but all they lose are a couple of bad years at the end of life.

• Environmental tobacco smoke may be a nuisance, but it is not deadly.

• Tobacco is good for the economy.

• We have already solved the tobacco problem.

• The tobacco industry no longer markets to kids or undermines public health efforts.

You can read more about it here. 

Find Long-Term Solutions to Prevent Anxiety

This is the third chapter of a series named "Prevent Anxiety".

I recommend you to check the previous episodes in case you missed them:

• Preventing Anxiety
• Stop Anxious Thinking

In order to find long-term solutions to prevent anxiety, the following steps are recommended:

1. Learn to live in the present. Embracing every moment and opportunity that comes your way will help you stay grounded in the present. Stop worrying over something in the past or in the future that may cause you harm. Meditating for 10-20 minutes every day can help you focus on your body and your mind. Taking the time to appreciate the sights, smells, and feelings around you is also a way of living the present. Do not take a day of your life for granted: write down all the things you are thankful for and embrace them as much as much as you can.
2. Minimize situations that cause anxiety. Avoid as much as you can those situations that cause you anxiety or stress, and make your life easier and more manageable. For instance, if you are always anxious about getting to work late, leave the house fifteen minutes earlier. If you are anxious about how your best friend really feels about you, have an honest conversation with him/her. If going to places where you do not know many people makes you deeply anxious, avoid these situations unless you can find a way to manage them.
3. Spend time with calming friends. Seek out the people in your life who make you feel calmer, at ease, and at peace with yourself. Avoid the people who cause worry, make you more stressed, and make you feel like your problems are bigger than they really are. Spend as much time as you can with friends that make you feel grounded.
4. Keep a journal. This can help you trace your most anxiety-inducing thoughts and will make you see a pattern to your thinking. Writing a journal is inherently a calming activity, and making time do it every day (15 minutes is recommended) can help you wind down, make sense of your day, and get ready to move forward. 
5. Learn to accept uncertainty. A big part of anxiety stems from not knowing what is going to happen next. Unfortunately, there is no way you can predict the future. You have to learn to be okay with not knowing what is going to happen next, controlling only what you can control, and learning to take your life one day at a time.
6. See a doctor. If you feel that your daily life is filled with overwhelming worry and that nothing you have done has improved the situation, it may be time to see a doctor in order to check if an anxiety-related disorder is present and, therefore, prescribe the corresponding medications or alternative treatments to help you improve.
7. Seek therapy. Discussing your every day concerns as well as your larger worries with a professional can make you feel more at ease and less alone. It may also help you gain a new perspective on your worries, and can also make you more comfortable talking about them.

This article is based on this source.

Senyera

The flag of Catalonia, which is called Senyera, consists of four red bars on a golden background.

It is also the official flag of some autonomous communities of Spain: Aragon, Balearic Islands, and Valencia; and the historically Catalan-speaking city of Alghero in Sardinia, Italy.

In addition, it is part of the flags of two regions in France: Languedoc-Roussillon, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur; and it is a quarter of the coat of arms of Andorra.

It is also the flag, or part of it, of many municipalities and divisions of the aforementioned territories. These, indeed, were part of the Crown of Aragon, which was ruled by the Count of Barcelona. Most of these lands speak Catalan. In fact, the flag is generally used to represent the Catalan language.

It is one of the oldest flags in Europe. It first appeared in the arms of the tomb of Ramon Berenguer II, Count of Barcelona, who died in 1082; and on a seal by Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, in 1150.

Agave Americana

One of the plants that I believe is among the most beautiful is Agave americana, also known as century plant, maguey, or American aloe. It is a species of plant that is native to Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. In addition, it has become naturalized in the West Indies, parts of South America, the Mediterranean Basin,  and parts of Africa, India, China, Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. The American aloe denomination is actually a misnomer since the plant is not related to the genus Aloe.

Agave americana usually lives between 10 and 30 years. Towards the end of its life, the plant grows up a tall, branched stalk, which may reach a total height up to 25-30 feet (8-9 meters). The upper part of the stalk contains yellow blossoms.

The plant dies after flowering, but it produces shoots from the base, which continue its growth.

If the flower stem is cut without flowering, a sweet liquid called aguamiel (Spanish for "honey water") gathers in the heart of the plant. This may be fermented to produce the drink called pulque. The leaves also yield fibers, which are suitable for making rope, matting, coarse cloth and are used for embroidery of leather in a technique known as piteado.

In the tequila-producing regions of Mexico, agaves are called mezcales. The high-alcohol product of agave distillation is called mezcal; Agave americana is one of several agaves used for distillation. There is a mezcal called tequila, which is produced from Agave tequilana.

Björk

Björk, whose real name is Björk Guðmundsdóttir, is a singer and musician. Born in November 21st, 1965, in Reykjavík, Iceland, she started her career in 1977 when she released her first album "Björk." It was available officially only on vinyl and cassette, and it featured mostly cover songs in Icelandic.

Later, she formed her first punk band, all-girl alliance Spit & Snot, where she played drums. She was also involved in projects such as Exodus and Jam 80, all of which without known record releases.

In 1981, she launched a band named Tappi Tíkarrass (Icelandic for "Cork the Bitch's Arse"). They released an album, "Miranda," which combined punk with elements of funk, disco, and jazz. By 1983, the band had morphed into darker act Kukl (Icelandic for "Witchcraft"), which released three albums before disbanding in 1986: "The Eye," "Kukl à Paris," and "Holidays in Europe."

Björk's next band was to be the biggest group ever to emerge from Iceland: The Sugarcubes. In 1987, they published "Life's Too Good," with which they received critical acclaim. Two years later, "Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week" was released, but it did not fare as well. Their final release before disbanding in 1992 was "Stick Around for Joy." Afterward, Björk moved to the United Kingdom to start a solo career. Previously, in 1990, she had recorded "Gling-Gló," a collection of popular jazz and original work, with the jazz group Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar.

Romantic Calmness

Romantic love is often associated with tempestuous excitement. In fact, love can be like that; but in our current accelerated society, calmness is the new romantic excitement.

Emotions are often compared to storms and fire. They are perceived to be unstable and intense states that represent tempestuous excitement and agitation. A typical characteristic of emotions is their tendency to magnify. This characterization also prevails in descriptions of romantic love. We usually think that ideal love consists of constant excitement and uncompromising emotions.

The above characterizations are essentially true concerning tempestuous emotions. These are intense, focused emotions, which last for a brief period, as emotions are typically temporary states. But there also enduring emotions, which shape our attitudes and behavior in a permanent way, that can continue for a lifetime.

Not all tempestuous emotions can turn into enduring emotions, but romantic love can. Therefore, we can distinguish between romantic intensity and profundity.
Romantic intensity is a snapshot of a romantic experience at a given moment: it refers to the momentary level of passionate, often sexual, desire. It is brief and has no significant development.
Romantic profundity is an ongoing romantic experience that features frequent intensity and enduring romantic experiences that develop and enhance the flourishing of each lover and their relationship. Such love is evaluated mainly by the implementation of meaningful interactions, which involve joint activities and shared emotional experiences.
Time is positive and constitutive for romantic profundity, and destructive for romantic intensity.

Fractal Counter-Enlightenment

I wrote this on my blog not long ago:

... Since I am a person who is in a constant search of self-improvement, I find very useful to read the following Twitter accounts, which deal with mindfulness, breathing, meditation, personal development, and positive thinking: Louise Hay, Simon Boylan, Judith Orloff, Eric Barker, Learning Mind, and Fractal Enlightenment...

READ: Birthday

Fractal Enlightenment is a community that seeks to achieve a unique and thought-provoking perspective to alter our programmed thinking. 

I used to read at least one of their articles almost daily. I had found a lot of knowledge, advice and comfort in them. I had recommended them and shared their work countless times. They had been a great source of inspiration and personal growth.

However, that changed three days ago when they published this.

What do you think? Is it a good choice that Fractal Enlightenment quotes Adolf Hitler?

Since I have had no response from them yet, I think it is time I wrote my opinion.

Love Penalty

Sentenced to death

I can’t escape

What can I do?

It tears me in two!

Flowers passing out in a jar pot

Feelings of a missing touch that I once had

Evaporating was my sugar

Full of anger and revenge

Don’t forget it...

In a blood pool, I drain you out

While I hold you from the chin

I stick my rotten teeth in your neck

And taste the sweetness of the silk

I feel you fading into my space

But I won't share my suffering

Though I wish I had a partner

In crime we are all enemies

You believed in me

I believed in you, I believed in you, I believed in you...

But I have betrayed you

Now I rest in peace, now I rest in peace, now I rest in peace...

And now...

I am paying for my sins

Love, love penalty...

I don’t want to hurt again

But if I don’t, I will be dead

What’s the sense of my existence?

Living like this ain’t nothing but resistance

What for...

In a blood pool I drain you out

While I hold you from the chin

I stick my rotten teeth in your neck

And taste the sweetness of the silk

I feel you fading into my space

But I won't share my suffering

Though I wish I had a partner

In crime we are all enemies

I wrote this one for Go Ape in 2008.

Menorah

Everyone knows that the main symbol of Judaism is the Star of David. However, this only became a Jewish symbol in the Middle Ages. Despite its prominence on the flag of Israel and kiddush cups, it is a rather late representative of the Jewish People. However, for most of the history, the Menorah was the preeminent symbol of Judaism. Currently, it is featured on the coat of arms of Israel.

The Menorah is a seven-branched candlestick that was found first in the Tabernacle of Moses, and later in the Temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem. It is mentioned for the first time in Exodus 25:31-40:

Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. And on the lampstand are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. The buds and branches shall be all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

Fish Are Not Plants

On my post "Vegetarian," I spoke about the existence of certain people calling themselves vegetarians: they eat a plant-based diet, but they include fish on it. These people are known as pescetarians. Thus, I thought I was going to be one, but that changed when I learned that fish are actually not needed as food.

First of all, a vegetarian is a person who does not eat animals. As far as I am concerned, fish have always been cold-blooded water-dwelling animals. Indeed, since they have a nervous system and pain receptors, fish feel pain and suffer like all other animals.

E-Cigarettes

On my post "Ex-Smoker," I wrote that I quit cold turkey, even though I support any approved method to assist smoking cessation.

Although it is being constantly marketed as an aid to quit smoking, one that has not been approved as such is the electronic cigarette, also known as e-cigarette.

This device is a battery-powered vaporizer that simulates the feeling of smoking. Some e-cigarettes look like traditional cigarettes, but others do not. All of them have a heating element that atomizes a liquid solution named e-liquid. This solution usually contains varying amounts of nicotine (some allegedly do not) and a syrupy synthetic liquid called propylene glycol, a chemical that has been shown to be generally safe to consumers except at very high levels. The user inhales an aerosol, commonly called vapor, made by heating the e-liquid, which can be flavored in thousands of ways.

Hence, there is the term "vaping," which is the action of inhaling that vapor; it is correlated with smoking as the action of inhaling tobacco smoke.

The benefits and health risks of e-cigarettes are still uncertain, especially regarding the long-term and second-hand exposure. Though they come without the carcinogenic tar and combusting products of traditional cigarettes, we know well that those e-cigarettes containing nicotine are including a highly addictive substance, which constricts blood vessels, increases blood pressure, and restricts blood flow to the heart. In addition, nicotine may cause airway problems and has been linked to disturbed sleep rhythms, depression, diabetes, and even some cancers. It can also provoke dizziness and irritability.

Furthermore, the FDA regularly receives reports of adverse events involving e-cigarettes from consumers and health professionals. These events include hospitalization for illnesses such as pneumonia, congestive heart failure, disorientation, seizure, hypotension, and other health problems.

Personal Curiosities

According to the Hebrew calendar, today is 23rd Tammuz, 5775. Since I was born on 23rd Tammuz, 5743, I am giving you another personal post in which I show you 10 things you may not know about me:

1. My mother tongue is Spanish, even though I live mainly in English and Catalan.
2. I have a cat named Buster that previously belonged to Lydia Lunch.
3. I got my driver license in 2001 and still have no car.
4. I used to play tennis in the mid-to-late 1990s. Indeed, I played four under-16 tournaments, won three and finished runner-up at the one I did not win.
5. When I was a kid, I was afraid of swimming. Today, it is one of my favorite activities.
6. I won a poetry contest when I was 17 writing in Galician.
7. I have been rollerblading since I was 6.
8. One of the first books I read as a kid was "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende.
9. I modeled for a department store chain from ages 11 to 12.
10. So far, I have been to these countries: Portugal, Spain, Andorra, France, Italy, Vatican City, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom and the United States of America. Yes, I love traveling!

READ: Birthday

Read this post in Catalan.

Pro-Choice

Manhole was a rap metal band from California, United States, that was formed in 1993. However, due to legal reasons, they had to change their name after releasing their first album "All Is Not Well" in 1996. Thus, the band was renamed after cult actress Tura Satana. They released their second album "Relief Through Release" in 1997 and split two years later.

 

The band leader was vocalist and lyricist Tairrie B. In 1990, she released a gangsta rap album, "The Power Of A Woman," featuring artists like Eazy-E, Everlast, Dr. Dre, and The D.O.C.

After Manhole/Tura Satana, she formed metal band My Ruin, which is still active today. She has also The LVRS, a spoken word project with My Ruin guitarist and husband Mick Murphy.

I love her work. Indeed, I realize while I am writing this that I had already included one of her early songs on another post.

READ: Respect Yourself

Interestingly, Tairrie B will release her first hip-hop album in 25 years on August 14th, 2015. Of course, a post will be dedicated for the occasion.

Stop Anxious Thinking

One of the best ways to prevent anxiety is to avoid anxious thinking.

The first step is to learn to recognize your anxious thoughts, so you can stop them as soon as possible. Once your heart rate is racing, you start pacing around or tapping your foot, and your thoughts turn to potential disasters, uncertain outcomes, and obsessions over the worst things that can happen. Then, you are in full-on anxiety mode and you need to cut off the problem at the source as soon as possible.

In order to prevent that, you have to develop a routine that helps you fight these thoughts before they are fully formed.

READ: Preventing Anxiety

The second step is to avoid "all or nothing" thinking. This type of thinking happens when you tell yourself that if something does not go perfectly, then you are a complete failure and nothing will ever go right again.

To avoid this kind of thinking, just consider the many possible scenarios that can happen.

The third step is to avoid overgeneralization. Overgeneralizing happens when you draw from one negative experience and think that it has to dictate the rest of your life. Instead, you have to remind yourself that you are drawing from a small set of data and that one bad date or one bad experience will have little impact on your entire life.

In fact, you have to tell yourself that you will have plenty of opportunities for something in your life in the future.

United States

The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country whose goverment form is a federal presidential constitutional republic. It consists of 50 states and a federal district:

Most of the U.S. is located between Canada and Mexico, except the states of Alaska and Hawaii.

It also includes several overseas territories in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands) and in the Pacific (American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands).

According to The World Factbook, the United States of America covers an area of 3,794,100 square miles (9,826,675 square kilometers) and has a population of 318,892,103 inhabitants as of 2014. The capital city is Washington D.C. and the largest city is New York City.

The U.S. is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, since the country is the result of large-scale immigration from many peoples: Africans, Germans, Mexicans, Irish, British, Americans, Italians, Poles, Scandinavians, French...

The country became independent from Great Britain in 1776. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13. Two of the events that have marked the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-1865) and the Great Depresion of the 1930's. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. remains the world's most powerful nation in the world.

Great-Circle Distance

One of the things that we learn at school when we study geometry is that the shortest distance between two points is always a straight line. That is true in plane geometry. But if we are talking about a sphere, that statement is not correct.

The first time I went to the United States, my curiosity led me to search for maps showing the routes that airplanes follow and the surprise was huge: airplanes do not follow straight lines!

I could not understand the reason why airlines would want to make flights longer and spend more on fuel.

Thus, I learned that representing the Earth on plain surfaces as maps entails some distortions. For instance, the Mercator projection, used by Google Maps, shows us Greenland being almost as big as Africa when in reality the latter is like 14 times bigger than the former. Likewise, in this type of projection, Alaska and Brazil seem to have a similar size, even though Brazil is five times bigger than Alaska.

Therefore, thinking automatically of a straight line that unites two airports is actually a mistake. Indeed, the shortest line on a sphere will always be the one that draws the greatest circle between two points. That circle is also known as an orthodromic line. Nonetheless, it is not always possible for airplanes to follow this pattern since there are zones that are restricted to civilian air traffic. Meteorological conditions or volcanic activity may also affect an air route.

The main source for this article is here.

Read this post in Catalan.

Vertigo

Alan Wilder, formerly of Depeche Mode, one of my favorite bands, started a band named Recoil in 1986.

In 2000, Recoil released "Liquid", an experimental electronica album that features a song titled "Vertigen" ("Vertigo" in Catalan). The song was written and narrated by Rosa Torras. It features some chanting by my beloved Diamanda Galas.

These are the original lyrics:

Aquell matí em vaig llevar. No recordo on ni tan sols el temps que fa. I tot havia canviat. Però jo no ho sabia encara. I més m'hagués valgut no saber-ho mai. El meu món era petit, però suficient, abans. Deixà de ser-ho. La meva vida: un cel particular, nul·la incertesa, dolça soledat.

Més tard: cau soterrat, previsibilitat maleïda, asfixiant aïllament. Mai res m'havia fet tanta falta. Ni la sang que per les venes em corre no necessitava amb la mateixa urgència. Mentre el dolor creixia, de sobte, aquell soroll estrepitós, insuportable. Cridant, plorant, vaig córrer.

Era incapaç de sentir els meus crits, de segur esgarrifosos. De sobte, l'abisme s'obrí sota els meus peus. Morir volia, recuperar el meu cau, la meva estimada soledat, els meus llimbs, la meva preuada illa. I vaig caure. Queia, sentint-me cada vegada més prop d'aquell horror, del meu propi dolor, del més terrorífic despertar dels meus sentits, tot just acabat de descobrir.

Ja no recordo quan va ser que vaig despertar aquell fatídic matí, aleshores salvador. No recordo quan fa que estic caient, que caic, veient la fi més propera cada vegada, però amb la incertesa de si mai arribarà. Ara el dolor sembla no tenir límits. El dolor i la por són tot el que sento. Tinc por de caure per sempre.

And this is my translation to English:

I woke up that morning. I don't remember where, nor how long ago. And everything had changed. But I didn't know it yet. And I wish I never knew. Before, my world was small, but enough. That ceased. My life: a private heaven, no uncertainty, sweet solitude.

Later: a buried shelter, cursed sureness, suffocating isolation. Nothing had ever felt so needful. Not even the blood that runs through my veins, I didn't need it so urgently. While the pain was growing, suddenly, that thunderous noise, unbearable. Shouting, crying, I ran.

I was incapable of feeling my own screaming, creepy for sure. Suddenly, the abyss broke under my feet. I wanted to die, get my shelter back, my beloved solitude, my limbo, my appraised island. And I fell. I was falling, feeling closer and closer to that horror, to my own pain, to the most terrifying awakening of my senses, that I had just discovered.

I don't remember anymore when I woke up that fateful morning, salvation back then. I don't remember when I started falling, for how long I'm falling, while I see the end closer and closer, but not knowing for sure if it will ever come. Now pain seems to have no limits. Pain and fear are all I feel. I am afraid to be falling forever.

You can listen to it here.

Read this post in Catalan.

Birthday

Since today is my birthday, I am going to introduce myself and talk a little about me.

My name is Antoni Maroto (Toni) and I was born on July 2nd, 1983. I live in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, Catalonia – still a stateless nation.

Languages, music, reading, and writing are among my biggest passions in life. I am very grateful for being able to communicate, create and learn.

I live in three languages: English, Catalan, and Spanish. In addition, I have diverse levels of knowledge of French, German, Galician, Russian and Hebrew. This love for languages led me to complete a licentiate degree in Translation and Interpretation.

I consider myself an avid, creative and dynamic translator. I would love to get a full-time position as a digital & social media agent in the areas of content, communication and/or customer experience.

Currently, I have been working as a home banking agent for the past six years. There, I cover several channels on a 24/7 service: telephone, email, chat, and social networks. Indeed, social networks and digital media have been the areas in which I have excelled at.

I believe that my best quality is that I am highly decisive. I also execute my tasks quickly and handle them with great quality.