I may OD on Echinacea

The mutiny occuring within the walls of my skin is unprecedented. The sickness contaminates my entire house: tissues line the shower floor, my once spotless sink is now masked in mucus, even cough drops bask in my windowsills.

I have been recently visualizing my brain sending a signal to my nose to breathe.

I think my nose's walkie talkie is turned off because it's not working. Moreover, my throat feels like it just hosted a Disco party where everyone wore stilletos and the dance floor was football turf. The barely opened eyes of mine are as dry as the Downy dryer sheets I keep forgetting to buy. If all of this isn't enought to deal with, my head has begun to pulse. Perhaps my brain believes it can escape the terror occuring inside of me before it too is affected (with a migrane!)

I have pondered going to see the doctor at the Health Center. My fear of eternally being classified as a hypochondriac, however, is stopping me. This fear arises due to the fact that I have already visited for: an ear infection, a upper respiratory infection, an ambiguous rash, the annual gyno scarefest, AND a physical required by my dance company.

I am taking steps to prevent Health Center blacklisting. They are as follows:

1. OD'ing on Echinecea 3-6 times a day
2. Not sharing my lotion covered Kleenex with anyone
3. Drinking more water than a camel can hold in both its two humps combined
4. Eating every food high in Vitamin C content within a 0.2 miles radius

So here I am, "sticking it out" + trying to write some knockout copy= Bliss.

SHamU YoU!

My childhood is officially complete: I saw Shamu.

Ok, well maybe it wasn't THE shamu. After all, I hear that whale has been dead for awhile. But it doesn't matter. Whether I saw Shamu the killer whale, or his daughter Shamusina, the show was amazing!

Sea World has a variety of shows throughout the park. From dancing dolphins and beluga whales to a walrus doing sit ups, Sea World was jaw dropping. One show I really enjoyed was Believe. The show featured four Orcas (AKA KILLER WHALES!) who were unbelievably intelligent. The trainers had taught these whales to flip, splash, and carry humans on their noses/backs. Watching the show I felt like I was at church, not Sea World! The believe theme of the show told audience members that anything was possible (and led most of us to feel our true calling in life was to work with these strikingly beautiful mammals.

While all the Orcas looked very happy to be in captivity, later research on this topic has made me not too happy about Sea World after all. Some research stated the following:

Captive Orcas have vastly-reduced life expectancies, on average only living into their 20s. In the wild, female Orcas can live to be 80 years old, while males can live to be 60 years old.

These figures are a bit worrisome. Much of Sea World focused on helping preserve the planet and endangered species living on it. Why then, I wonder, are they keeping these animals in captivity to begin with? I would love to interview a trainer working there and here some more information about why/how they choose which animals to bring into captivity.

Whatever the answers, I cannot deny how life changing the experience was. I hope to have the chance to visit again someday. Until then I will just have to hug my Shamu stuffed animal souvenir.

YES I am 23 and I bought a stuffed animal to take home. Go ahead, judge me.