More tips and a yummy shrimp salad recipe

A dear lady, who shall remain nameless, thinks she is doing her family a favor by peeling the tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables she serves them. Even before I started researching nutrition, I knew from somewhere that sometimes the peels have nutritional value that the rest of the fruit or vegetable does not have. Additionally, raw foods are also better than cooked or processed foods because of the trace minerals, vitamins, and amino acids that are lost. Even so, I refuse to eat orange peels.

Tip #5:
Avoid sugar--white sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, beet sugar--any sugar at all. If you must have sweetness, sweeten some herb tea with stevia or eat raw fruit. Sugar is easy to digest and so goes straight to the blood stream. It also stimulates insulin release to take care of the sugar. Sugar that isn't used is stored as fat. Also, stimulating the insulin release process too often can cause insulin fatigue where the body doesn't know when the proper time to release insulin is and can aggravate pre-diabetic or hypoglycemic conditions. When the body doesn't know when to release insulin, more sugars and calories are stored as fat--kind of a survival reaction. If you feel deprived, give yourself a sugar hour once a week and make yourself sick for just a little bit. Then drink lots of water. My grandfather, a doctor, said that you need to drink one full glass of water for each piece of chocolate eaten.

Tip #6:
Avoid drinking juices like the plague. Juices usually do not have the body of the fruit with the pulp and additional tissues that contain the good nutritional stuff and also slow the digestion of the fruit. Fruit juices are concentrated fructose that go right to your blood stream and trigger insulin release and fat creation. If you stimulate insulin release too often, you can create a condition called insulin fatigue which can lead to diabetes or hypoglycemia and obesity. The only exception is lemon or orange juice used in cooking because it is combined with other foods.

Tip #7
Naps are good. Getting enough sleep is good. There have been several studies on the effects of sleep or lack of sleep on dieters and most agree on the results: Napping and adequate sleep increases the likelihood of losing fat while dieting. Too little sleep is bad and can make you fat and stupid and can cause dieters to lose muscle mass and water instead of fat. The stupid part comes because the brain doesn't work well without sleep, especially the parts that have to do with reflexes and memory.

Fantastic recipe for Mustard Shrimp Salad

Ingredients:
4 oz. of cooked, deveined shrimp, tails cut off
2 stalks of celery, diced into tiny cubes
3-4 green onions, sliced into thin coins
3-4 leaves of dark green lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
Optional: chopped cucumber, chopped bell pepper
Dressing
Juice of half a lemon
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: If you must have oil, then add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Combine all dressing ingredients (lemon juice, mustard, onion powder and oil). Toss with shrimp and let the mixture chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
Add celery, onions, and lettuce and toss with dressing and shrimp until everything is coated well.
Serve and eat immediately.

More lifestyle tips and a scrumptious recipe for poached halibut

Whew! The Christmas holiday is over and I'm facing the new year just like everyone else. We're also facing the dreaded tradition of making New Year's resolutions. Bah! Humbug! I believe that if you don't make resolutions, you can't beat yourself up for breaking them. That doesn't mean I don't want to become a better person, or healthier, or skinnier. I just don't want to stress over it or feel deprived. I guess I want things to be easy, but there are things that get in the way.

Here's a little story that illustrates the point I'm making. A few years ago, my husband and I went to California where we both grew up. We both love the mountains, but we love the beach and ocean, too. So, while we were driving along the coastal highway, we saw a sandy road leading to the ocean and took it. We could see the ocean in the distance, but the road wound among sand dunes for a while before getting there. One branch of the road that we took had deep ruts that slowed us down and at one point was blocked so we had to take a different way before we eventually came to the beach that we wanted to get to. I remember seeing the ocean in the distance and wishing we could get to it, but there were these roadblocks in the way.

The road to better health is often strewn with roadblocks that discourage us from traveling on it. Here are a couple of tips to keep you on the road:

Tip #3: To help you avoid sabotaging yourself, first thing in the morning fix yourself a plateful of peeled orange slices, apple slices dipped in lemon juice, cut up celery, baby carrots, strawberries, sliced cabbage, and anything else that is raw vegetable that you even mildly like to eat. Keep the plate on the counter or at your desk where it is easily accessible. The idea is that if you graze on healthful, raw fruits and vegetables, you won't be as easily tempted to go after the bad stuff. You also won't feel ravenously hungry later in the afternoon when those hunger pains are likely to sabotage your good intentions. Feeling full and complete for most of the day can make sticking to the best kinds of foods easier.

Tip #4: Hide the foods that are bad for you so you actually have to go hunting for them. Out of sight, out of mind actually works, especially if you have the veggie and fruit plate out in the open where you can satiate yourself on lower calorie, more healthful foods.

Tips #5: Drink lots and lots of water for two or three reasons: (1) Water satisfies cravings that mimic hunger and a desire for food; (2) If you drink a lot of water, your body will eliminate it more often so it flushes excess fluids, pollutants, salt, and even some fats that you take into your body, which keeps your liver and kidneys healthier and your ankles from swelling; (3) Sufficient water in your body hydrates your skin and keeps it supple so you're less likely to look like a starved turkey as you lose weight.

Here is one of my favorite recipes that is good for an HCG diet, regular eating, and is gluten free as well:

Poached Orange Ginger Halibut

Ingredients:

1-2 pieces of halibut, skin removed (frozen is fine)
1 orange
1/2 lemon
1" piece of raw ginger, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
Onion powder to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place halibut in small frying pan that has a lid.
Squeeze the orange and lemon over the halibut.
Sprinkle the ginger, garlic, onion powder, salt and pepper over the halibut.
Put the lid on the pan and simmer the halibut until it cooks just until it flakes in the center. You may want to turn it over halfway through the cooking process.
Serve and eat immediately.

The poached halibut is especially good with a green salad.

New topics for discussion

This past year I've been trying to lose weight after having my blood pressure skyrocket to 245/140. Oh, and trying new meds. I lost 45 lbs. and the new meds are working, but oh, the agony and deprivation of the weight loss process. Being gluten intolerant doesn't help, either. I used HCG, which actually made my efforts work. But since weight loss and exercise and food are such a big part of who I am now, I thought I would share some things, such as diet and exercise tips and recipes that taste good and are gluten free. The first tip is using seasonings, herbs, and spices. I found some that really taste good and are good for blood pressure, too.

Tip #1 At least one raw fruit (preferably apples, oranges, and berries; no bananas or mangoes)and one raw vegetable (no peas or corn) at a meal.

Tip #2 Limit meat, but don't avoid it

Here's a weird but tasty recipe using cinnamon and yellow curry powder and ultra lean beef (hopefully grass fed, free range if you can get it).

Ingredients:

4 oz. thinly sliced sirloin or other lean beef
2 tsp. yellow curry powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1-2 tsp. onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of diced tomatoes, raw, salted and peppered to taste

1. Put the beef slices in a plastic bag with the curry, cinnamon, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. Shake until the beef is well coated.
2. Pour spices and beef into a small frying pan with a lid. Spread out the beef so none of the slices are touching.
2. With the lid on the frying pan, cook on medium heat until one side of the beef is browned. Turn the slices over. Brown the other side, but not too long or the beef will be tough.
3. Immediately put on a plate. Cover beef slices with diced tomatoes. Eat immediately. Enjoy.

Note: This dish is especially good with fresh orange slices and a green salad.
3.

Thanks to Dragons and Fairytales

I was so sorry to learn that the Eagle Mountain Dragons and Fairytales Bookestore closed. Best wishes to Jaclyn and family in their new adventures. Here is a picture of me at the last signing I did there in November.

Dragons and Fairytales Nov. 16

Come to the Dragons and Fairytales Bookstore in the Eagle Mountain Ranches area on November 16 to meet me and other Utah authors. I will be doing a reading and signing books as well starting at 5:00 p.m.

Provo Library Teen Fest--October 30

Hey, everybody! This Saturday is the Provo Library Teen Fest. I will be there from 12:00 until 4:30 along with several other authors, including Brandon Sanderson and Brandon Mull. So come!

October 18 Authorpalooza

Another Barns and Noble Authorpalooza will take place October 18. This one will be in the Sugarhouse store in Salt Lake City.

Authorpalooza September 18 Orem

The Orem Barnes and Noble will hold an Authorpalooza this Saturday from 1:00-4:00. Should be lots of fun. Over 40 local authors, including me! Come one, come all.

Book Club

Thanks to Laurie Clegg for hosting and Linda Brummett for inviting me and Janice Card for accompanying me to their book club this evening. I had a lovely time and was so impressed with the effort to stick to a theme connected with Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone. The company was charming, too! Thanks, folks.

Good-bye, my baby. Hello, white knight.

So, it's official according to the insurance company. My motorcycle is a total loss after my son crashed on it. I am very grateful both my son and grandson are alive, although injured. However, I am in mourning for my baby, which is what I called my motorcycle. It was a honey of a bike, too--a red and black Kawasaki Vulcan 900 LT Classic. I put almost 20,000 miles on it riding all over the Western States and to the Midwest and back. Lots of good memories.

The upside is that I have a new motorcycle. It is white and silver, hence the white knight. It is also a Kawasaki Vulcan 900 LT Classic, but it is lots newer. We'll see how many miles I can get on it. I thought red and black was the only legitimate motorcycle color, but I'm getting used the the white and silver.

End of summer term

OK--I have three novel stories I could be writing, and I started all three. However, I chose one to focus on and it's coming along beautifully. Cool. Really cool. Today is the last day of class for summer term. I just have to figure out final grades and then I can concentrate for a couple of weeks just on writing. I have 6 chapters done of the new book and about 35 pages. My goal is to have at least 100 pages written by the time school starts again in the fall. Now it is written--so let it be.

tweeting--at last

OK-so I succumbed and am now tweeting @Denelow. Looking for followers. My daughter is also tweeting @MiriamCard. See you on Twitter.

Writing for Charity--Aug 21

Here's some more information on the big event on August 21 that I will be participating in.

A Book for Every Kid Charity Event

August 21

The Waterford School

1700 East 9550 South

Sandy, UT 84093

Daytime Writing Workshop and Evening Extravaganza. All proceeds from workshops and events go toward putting books in the hands of underprivileged Utah kids.

www.writingforcharity.com


A Book for Every Kid Writing Workshop

August 21

The Waterford School

1700 East 9550 South

Sandy, UT 84093

Come spend a day with Utah’s nationally published children’s authors and illustrators! Get your picture book, middle-grade, or YA manuscript critiqued, and learn about the craft and business of publishing from the best writers in the state. Your registration fee will buy a book for each child in a classroom! All-day workshop price is $60, which includes lunch.
www.writingforcharity.com

August 21--two events

I hope everyone can come on August 21 to at least one of two events. One is a Writing for Charity event involving several nationally published authors, including me. We'll have seminars, classes, panels, contests, and gifts. We're trying to raise money to give books to underprivileged kids. The event will be most of the day at the Waterford School in Sandy, Utah.

The second event is a book signing at the Dragons and Fairy Tales book store in Eagle Mountain that evening from 5-7 p.m.

Come one, come all! I'd love to see you.

Barnes and Noble Book Signing

Thanks to the people at the Barnes and Noble in Sugarhouse in Salt Lake City for the lovely time signing books, speaking on the panel, and just hanging out. It was lots of fun.

American Library Association Conference in DC

Last weekend I went to the American Library Association Conference in Washington D.C. I had a great time visiting my daughter and her husband and my son. My daughter went with me to the conference and we enjoyed walking around talking to authors, editors, and marketing people connected with many, many publishers. We also got lots of free books and cheap books and had authors sign them. Fun, fun, fun. But what was the most valuable were the contacts made.

I will post photographs, if my daughter will send them to me.

The Duck Steps Here

This week I went to Kentucky. I stayed in a four star hotel and ate catered meals (most of which I couldn't eat more of than the salad because I am gluten intolerant) and I graded over 1,050 tests for question #1 in AP Language. Of course, at times the things those high school seniors wrote made absolutely no sense. For instance, "The duck steps here." I stared at that phrase for several seconds before I read on, convinced that some things were never meant to be understood. However, a few lines down, the student made a reference to President Truman and a light went on in my brain. Didn't President Truman say, "The buck stops here"? I looked back at the phrase, "The duck steps here" and realized that the rather messy handwriting had reversed the b and made a loopy thing at the top of the o in stops. The student had indeed meant to write "The buck stops here," but had failed to take care in forming the letters. Ah, I said to myself, there is a lesson to be learned here. Understanding is crucial to communication. I tell my students to write in a clear and concise manner for a good reason--so they can be understood. Writing with care--it's something that could save the world. Maybe more people would believe me if I could get Miss America to say it in response to her interview question.

Off to grade AP tests

Wow. I can't believe I'm doing it again. I'm off to grade AP English Language tests--hundreds of them. In Kentucky. It was fun to spend evenings by and in the ocean when the grading event was held in Daytona Beach. What is there to do in Kentucky in the summer? Maybe a steamboat ride, but that hardly compares to playing in the ocean. Oh, well--positive attitude, positive attitude.

Synopses

So what do you do when the actual novel is much better than the synopsis you sent off?

Summer is a time to write

Just when the weather is warming up and hay fever season is in full swing, I'm not teaching or grading. It's time to write. I must be pretty dedicated, because I'm spending hours inside glued to a computer when I could be outside. It's a good thing, too. I've gotten lots done. It took me most of the winter months to schedule some writing in amongst the teaching and grading and write 60 pages of my latest (and coolest so far) novel. In the past couple of weeks, I've added 70 pages and the ideas are flowing. Yesterday I moved over to my father's to take care of him (90 years old with failing health), so the writing will slow down some, but not as slow as during the winter months. What else am I going to do while he's lying down to take a nap? So, maybe I can get a first draft done in a few weeks. Then I can work on the next book that has been taking shape in my head. It's very different from anything I've worked on before--kind of interesting, actually. The more I think about it, the stranger it gets--in a good way, I hope. To quote Alice, "Curioser and curioser." Anyway, I digress. The main point that I wanted to make is that there are sacrifices that must be made when I want something very badly and staying indoors on lovely days is one of them.

Kristen Chandler's Book Signing

Yesterday I had the great honor of attending the book signing for my friend Kristen Chandler's debut book, WOLVES, BOYS, AND OTHER THINGS THAT MIGHT KILL ME at the King's English in Salt Lake City. I was so happy to see lots of people there and that Kristen sold lots of books. She deserves it and her story deserves all the attention. It's a good read. I know, because I've read various drafts and I can't wait to read the final version. So, congratulations, Kristen!

Being with writers and readers

What is it about being with other writers and readers that is so satisfying? I have other friends who do things I like to do, too, and other people I do things with. I am among people at football and basketball games or out shopping doing what I do, but somehow there is just something soul-satisfying about being with other people who write and read. With those people, I want to settle in and soak up the experience and BE with them. On several levels, they are like me. That's nice.

The Edgar Award Statue

Kind of cute.

Photo taken by Matt Peyton Photography.

Edgar Awards Picture of All Nominees

Picture taken by Matt Peyton Photography at the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Awards banquet.

Pictures from the Edgar Awards

Thanks to Matt Peyton Photography and the Mystery Writers of America for these photos of my fifteen minutes of fame. In the first, from left to right, are Peter Abrahams (winner of YA category), Saundra Mitchell, Caroline Cooney, John Ford, and me, Dene Low. We are the nominees in the Young Adult category.

A meeting about writing

I went to a meeting about teaching writing yesterday at the university and had a moment of dismay. Now, I don't want to get in trouble by giving the false impression that it was a bad meeting. I learned some good things and the people there were delightful. However, the moment of dismay came when the work of a contest winner was presented as a good example of excellent writing in personal narrative. It was awful. No, it was gosh-awful. It was a string of superlative adverbs and adjectives that was more an exercise in self-indulgence than crisp, clear narrative. What dismayed me even more than that piece was that several of the writing teachers gushed over over how wonderful it was, yet, later in the meeting when another personal narrative was read that sparkled with clarity and excellent word choice, only one person praised it. If teachers of writing can't tell the difference between self-indulgent, purple prose and truly excellent writing, how are they going to teach their students how to write?

Provo Children's Book Festival

I've been asked to participate in the Provo Children's Book Festival next week on Saturday, May 15, 2010, at Academy Square in Provo (the library). I'll be signing my book from 3-5. See you there.

Mystery Writers of America Awards Night

Thanks to the Mystery Writers of America for a great time at the 2010 Awards banquet. They did a wonderful job of making all of us nominees feel honored, even though there was just one winner in each category--and I didn't win, but I did feel honored. Peter Abrahams received the Edgar for his book Reality Check. After the ceremony the MWA put out stacks of books by the nominees and shopping bags and we were able to take home as many as we wanted. Christmas in April!!

Clickety-clickety-click

My brain is chugging along faster and faster as I write the best book yet. Watch out world.

Friends who write who help me write

I was just contemplating about some of my friends who write and how much their lives help me. In fact, so acquaintances have helped me immeasurably. All these people have given of their time to critique my work, to attend functions that I attend so that I can benefit from their association and their wisdom, and introduce me to people in the publishing world. Because of these wonderful people, I have a book published, an agent, and the possibility of another book being published. Thanks, everyone!

Went to a retreat with an editor

What a great event! My friend Mette Ivie Harrison arranged with her editor Ruth Katcher, who is now at Egmont Publishing to meet with several Utah authors for a day-long retreat and I got to go. It was an honor to be with so many truly talented and professional people. We got to talk with Ruth, one on one, and she gave me some good advice about going to New York and what to wear at the Mystery Writers of America and the Edgar Awards ceremony, as well as some ideas about my latest book that I'm working on. Looks like a revamp is in order.

Children and writing

Many, many years ago, I had dreams of being a writer. However, I also had dreams of having a family, and, quite honestly, the pull of being part of my own little family tugged harder than did being a writer. A line from a Harry Chapin song illustrates my feelings exactly, “All the dreams of open spaces come alive in children’s faces.” And children was what I was able to accumulate—six of them. I found that being a mother was harder than I thought possible and I’m afraid I wasn’t always good at it or physically up to the challenge. Children need and demand a mother 24/7. I remember staggering through a day after more than one child had woken in the night with terrible needs and thinking, “Three hours of sleep is good. Three hours is good.” I also remember feeling immense frustration at the limits of my rather weak body. For instance, imagine trying to juggle bags of groceries and keeping track of three small children who liked to run away as I maneuvered through a parking lot and tried to open the car door. I just didn’t have the physical strength and it almost brought me to tears. But, oh, the rewards—“all the dreams of open spaces come alive in children’s faces.”

I also had this pull to be a writer. Nap times became important writing times. If I could manage, then 5:30 a.m. became a good time to write, but, quite frankly, I was often too exhausted to write, so I read—a lot. I even read to my children. There were times when we read every afternoon. Over the years I wrote a few novels. Good practice but none were worth much.

A friend of the family, who was a successful writer, scolded me for wasting my creativity on being a mother. I never believed him. Indeed, I scoffed at his ignorance about the importance of family over the importance of writing. Later he had children of his own and I never heard another word about loss of creativity from him.

Still, I wanted to be a writer, so I wrote. I wrote a lot of drivel and I wrote some imaginative stuff that had promise, but didn’t quite cut it. I even sold a few short stories. All that practice made it easy for me to write short articles. I became quite facile at shooting out short magazine and newspaper articles. Give me the information and an article appeared in minutes. Facility with words comes with practice. So does the discernment of what makes good literature. Did I mention that I read—a lot?

My sister-in-law, Janice, introduced me to the rich and growing world of children’s literature. Children’s literature has come of age. When I was a child, I was restricted to a few animal stories, dogs and horses, the Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and then in junior high I discovered Robert Heinlein and science fiction. Fantasy and science fiction are passions of mine, but now I drift over to science fiction and fantasy in middle grade and young adult literature. Oh, and I even write it, and have had some published, as those of you who read this blog know. What fun.

“All the dreams of open spaces come alive in children’s faces.” Years have passed. My children write. I read what they write and am in awe—their blogs and their short stories and their novels are magical. Imagine—my children write.

So, I was asked to contribute to Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen's e-book,Quips and Tips for Achieving Your Writing Goals. . You can find her blog at The Adventurous Writer. I wrote the following for her

1. What are two obstacles that prevent you -- or writers you know -- from writing books, sending query letters, building blogs, or getting published? (not writer's block, please -- there's lots of info out there on that).
a. I guess the self-confidence thing is a given, such as the self-confidence to submit manuscripts to publishers. So is being organized and making a schedule. But I thought of something most people don’t consider—health and fitness—or in the negative—being sick and weakly. Taking care of myself physically puts the right chemicals into my brain so I can think more clearly and have the energy to write, especially since my best writing time is early morning. Of course, chocolate is also motivational, but as much as I love chocolate, I have to admit that it doesn’t quite cut it nutritionally and it has that nasty side effect—fat.

2. What are two (oops, three) practical tips for overcoming those obstacles? I'm hoping for more than the same old (but valid) "get your butt in the chair and write" advice, please...I'd like to offer more creative tips.

a. Back to the health and fitness thing—taking a walk or going swimming or on a bicycle ride by yourself, alone, no one else, and not listening to music is great for thinking things out. Writing itself is good, but it goes zipping along much better if you’ve done the pre-writing exercise of going over possible twists and turns and character development in your head while you get the juices pumping in your brain through exercise. This doesn’t mean you can’t use the quiet times to meditate and help solve problems, too, but sitting for too long makes you stagnate and your ideas will stagnate, too. Besides, if you are fit enough, you can do suggestion number two, which follows:
b. Second way is to access your brain’s natural rhythms. Before you go to bed at night, read over what you wrote that day or what you want to continue when you start to write the next day. Go to sleep. You brain does this lovely thing while you are asleep. It tries to organize your problems and since you just went over some problems, your brain has something to work on. THEN, and this is a big THEN—early the next morning you get up, throw on a bathrobe, turn the computer on, go to the bathroom and go right back to the computer and start writing on what you were thinking about the night before. The trick is to write before anything else can interfere—no kids, no other work, no doing the dishes, no looking at your email, nothing but writing. If the flow goes well, you should get two or more hours of solid writing before you’re hungry and brain dead enough to need breakfast.
c. Then there is my personal favorite, which makes it no chore at all. If I’ve been writing and get to a sticky place, I get on my motorcycle and ride a couple of hundred miles through the mountains and canyons near my home. I can think and I’m all alone and far away from a phone and when I get back, it seems like all my problems have magically solved themselves.

I'll be an author guest at the Provo Children's Book Festival

Saturday, May 15, 2010, I've been asked to be a guest author presenter at the Provo Children's Book Festival. Should be really fun. More info later.

Great time at LTUE

Thanks to all the hundreds of participants and attenders at BYU's science fiction and fantasy conference (28th annual Life, the Universe, and Everything) February 11, 12, 13. You made my experience tons of fun and very worthwhile. I enjoyed presenting on panels for "Writing strong female characters," "Worldbuilding 101," and "Writing strong child characters." Having a few hundred people attend my sessions was exciting. I also learned a lot from the other presenters.

Got the letter; nomination is official

Got the official letter today from the Mystery Writers of America about my book's nomination! Seems there's a big banquet and other festivities in New York City in April. Wahoo!

Edgar Award Nomination

Wow! Thanks to the Mystery Writers of America for the Young Adult Nomination for an Edgar Award for The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival: Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone. Keep your fingers crossed!

Also, thanks so much to Kate O'Sullivan at Houghton Mifflin for taking such care with the book.

Thoughts on Imperialism, class, and racism

It had to come. Someone hated my book. According to her, it is imperialism, classism and racism at its most offensive. Someone answered back trying to defend the book as a period piece and she answered that if the plot was so not-real, then I shouldn't have tried to make the historical aspects of the book real, either. At first, I just thought that she's clueless and really missed the point of the book, which is to ironicize or satirize the upper crust and pomposity while being entertaining at the same time. There is certainly enough about British aristocracy during that time period to poke fun at, which is what I did. If she thinks that I was promoting that mindset and lifestyle and approving of it, she just didn't get it. I wondered why.

What's an author to do? Does this mean I can't write accurate historical fiction anymore? The Historical Novel Society approves. The Junior Library Guild approves. Others also approve. Hmmmmmm.

Then I started thinking that the reviewer is probably university educated and has been taught about post-colonialism, which is the study of the consequences when a government or culture colonizes other people, physically or mentally. Obviously, there are many varieties of colonization. The British, Spanish, Portuguese, and French are the most famous for colonizing other people and lands. America has colonized the world with American film, fashion, and food just by us being us or U.S. and being viewed as the cool thing to be. However, there is also the colonization of the mind. The reviewer has been colonized by academia to the point that it is possible that she has lost her sense of humor. She's more offended by my portrayal of British aristocracy and the Panamanian rebellion than she is by bug eating. Does academic colonization rule out enjoying irony? The irony of the reviewer's post is that she is buying into the self-seriousness of academia that I was trying to satirize. I just love irony.

I have a PhD. For me, my education opens more possibilities of things to laugh at. My education allows me to be aware of what I am being taught or positions presented and being able to make the choice of what to believe, what to consider, and what is pure bunk. I wonder if she has gotten to that point, yet, or if she just swallows whole what her professors tell her without applying the analytical or critical thinking that allows a scholar to see beyond the surface?

She probably didn't like Princess Bride, either.