Coconut on My Mind

Update from last blog: George Zimmerman is finally arrested on long-overdue murder charge in the Trayvon Martin killing. And enough of death.

Today I celebrate life; one with a healthier mind and body. I’m on one of my kicks. This time it’s coconut oil. It all started with an article I read in The Tampa Bay Times about Dr. Mary Newport who says coconut oil has significantly lessened the effects of Alzheimer’s on her husband, Steve. I read her book from Amazon, Alzheimer’s Disease, What if There Was a Cure?, and found it amazing. Not only does coconut oil help reduce the ravages of memory loss, but also it helps in weight loss and a host of other neurodegenerative diseases. I immediately hacked down a coconut from my Costa Rican farm and started experimenting.

Some notes about fresh coconut:

The water is tasty, refreshing, a natural electrolyte and a benefit to bladder health. This part does not contain oil.
Once the coconut has been stripped of its husk, pound a nail through the softest of the 3 holes in the top and one of the others, to easily extract the water.
Place coconut on its side, the ends parallel to you, and hit a sharp blow in the middle with a hammer or the non-sharp side of a machete until it cracks in half – perfectly. Don’t believe it? Try it.
Let it dry out a bit. With a knife or hammer remove flesh from shell.

Now you’re ready to prepare and eat this wonderful nut:

Just eat the flesh as is.
Break flesh into small pieces and grate in blender, food processor or by hand.
You can extract the oil from the flesh by placing in hot boiled water, then straining through a cloth or fine sieve. Reserve the liquid coconut milk for use in smoothies, Thai food or other recipes.
The remaining flesh can be eaten, used in baking, or placed on a flat cookie sheet and toasted in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.
The toasted coconut (yum) can be sprinkled on ice cream, salad, or as a coating for fish, vegetables, meat, or fruit. No sugar added.
The oil can be used in baking, sautéing, frying, salad dressings, smoothies and for skin and hair care.

Now for those of you without a good source of coconuts you can buy organic, non-processed, virgin oil from health food and some grocery stores (Publix). If you buy coconut milk make sure it has no sugar added. There are many websites with more information about the benefits and recipes. Just google it and enjoy.

Just got an email from my friend Jolly with a wonderful video of Dr. Mary Newport and her husband Steve’s progress. See here on http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/mp4/LJO190v1_WS

50% SALE – FREE TO BLOOM – SOFTCOVER NOW $7.49 ON freetobloombook.com

Check out my new story here, under new pages Old Times, Good Times, High Times

Shawn Tyson Found Guilty! In One Week?

British tourist murders: Two men at scene; one conviction

Photo from the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

I made some errors in thinking in my last blog while I was contemplating my feelings of missing my jury summons to the Tyson trial where a black man is quickly convicted in killing white men.

I didn’t have to worry about being kept off the jury because of my views against capital punishment. They were only asking for life in prison.
With the international media blitz given this crime, it only lasted one week? I wouldn’t have missed my vacation after all.

Whether Tyson was guilty or not, he did not have a fair trial. Plea bargaining (bribery to me, whether legal or not) brought in 5 witnesses to testify for the prosecution and they were fully believed by the jury even though they were adept at lying, crime and jail time themselves. What happened to the defense? I read the accounts. There wasn’t one. There are so many unanswered questions like:

What were two tourists doing in Newtown? It wasn’t easy to find their way to Gregg Ct. Were they looking for drugs? Women?
Why were their shirts off? Their pants down?
Wasn’t there possibly an accomplice?
How come there was only one black person on the jury?
Why hadn’t the public defender demanded a more racially fair jury?

TRAYVON MARTIN SHOOTING »

PHOTOS: Trayvon Martin rallies across the nation

Of course I have to compare this trial with the killing of Trayvon Martin, a black man by George Zimmerman, a white/latino man in Sanford, Fl., a little town with a legacy of racism. He hasn’t even been arrested, in spite of nationwide outrage, hoodied protests and accusations of injustice.

The news in Florida has finally taken over the nation’s front pages, for better or worse.

JURY SUMMONS for the Shawn Tyson Murder Trial

shawntyson_1879400c-4992619

March 20 – Back from Costa Rica and after a few days I’m able to attack the 2 month pile of mail. Glaring in big red letters is JURY SUMMONS March 20 8 am.” Oh shit! That’s today. I’ve missed it by hours’. First I’m kind of glad. I fill out the back with my usual excuse: ‘Just returned from Costa Rica where I live for six months a year and received the summons too late. Sorry.’

March 21 – I read the Sarasota Herald Tribune and realize I would have been one of the prospective jurors for the trial of Shawn Tyson, accused of murdering British tourists J. Cooper and J. Kouzaris. Because of the huge media blitz in the notorious Brit tabloids this trial is being watched around the world and Florida tourism is not happy.

Thoughts rush and tumble through my mind:

I would have liked to be on this jury. Not like my last experience as a juror, which was a typical whiplash scam.
They’d never have chosen me anyway: A. I don’t believe in capital punishment. B. Too pro black with my experience teaching in the black community and having close black friends.
The trial could last a really long time and I’d miss a visit from my California/Costa Rican boyfriend who’s already got a ticket to Florida for the Wannee Festival.

March 22 – Headline reads “Witnesses could present obstacle.” The jury is seated, but prosecutors asked questions like: “What do you think about a witness who receives benefit for testifying?” What? I turn the page and there they are – four witnesses who have already received something for their future testimony: avoided 10 years in prison, received a reduced charge, received a housing waver to move to a safer home or avoided being charged as an accessory. What again? Isn’t this bribery?

from Wikipedia: “The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient’s conduct. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege,emolument, object of value, advantage, or merely a promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.“

Hmmmm. So this is our democratic system and a right to a fair trial? I always knew this happened – plea bargaining – but this is going too far. Sounds like our judicial system has gone the way of our political system.

And the other murder here in Florida will be the subject of my next blog (which I’ve neglected way too long) – unarmed and black Trayvon Martin being gunned down by neighborhood watcher George Zimmerman. And he’s still not been arrested because of a self defense charge. Huh? Martin only had some Skittles and a bottle of iced tea on him. At least this one has lots of protests.

Whirled Wide Web of my Life

I have a rare quiet moment at home, sit down with my coffee and return to the book world. I have not written, marketed, nor blogged in over a month. I’ve received unexpected offers this month to read and discuss my book at the Costa Ballena Women’s Network on Feb. 18th and be interviewed by the Dagmar Reinhard, editor of Ballena Tales for the spring edition, one of the local magazines still in print. That gives me a boost, but what really gets me off my ass, (or rather on my ass in front of the computer) is awakening in the night to an item on my “to do” list. Shit, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. What’s the deadline? I’ll check in the morning.

Task 1 – Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

My mind’s awhirl and my heart’s beating. Whew! The deadline’s today. I read the rules. The novel must be at least 50,000 words. Shit again. Mine’s only about 32, 000. Maybe I could add on a couple more chapters of the continuing saga of my fictionalized life that I’ve already written. I count up the extra words, still not enough. I take a deep breath and move on.

Task 2 – Offer Free to Bloom free for 1-5 days

Go to Kindle Direct Publ Select to find out how to set it up. Read the rules. I must give Kindle exclusive rights and my book is already listed with Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Though I’ve sold only a few books with the others I’m not prepared to drop them. I’m getting discouraged.

Task 3 – Check on promotional program I paid for through my soft cover publisher Create Space.

They’ve discontinued it after my first month and it’s all very confusing. I’m ready to quit and shut the computer.

Task 4 – Find and Hire a good Marketer

This item wasn’t originally on the list. It’s a new and brilliant idea. I just can’t keep up with writing and dealing with the internet life. I need someone to handle my marketing, public relations and internet. Since I’m not making any money except to barely break even on the publishing, and I’m not destitute, why not hire someone to handle the business for me and give me a simplified list of what I must do and probably make money in the process.

Task 5 – Back to my son for help.

My Reviews of Books posted on Goodreads

Goodreads is my favorite book site now. Of course I use Amazon and Barnes & Noble too, but I have more trouble negotiating there. Here are some of my recently posted reviews. I won’t inundate you. More later. Thank you Goodreads helping me get the word out.

Read from October 14 to 29, 2011

Amazing. So many layers to this book. Wroblewski’s words leap into the air in ever-changing patterns of sounds and meanings, and the main character, Edgar, can’t talk. This man understands the many other ways of communicating.Who else knows that dog’s paws smell like fresh popcorn, or new mown hay. It’s true the intricate mysteries were hard to unravel but richly drawn. One of the best understanding of animals I’ve ever read. A thought provoking beautiful book.

7907782-5727472

Jill Green‘s review

Dec 18, 11 · edit

Read from December 12 to 18, 2011

I heard about Nicole Kraus’ book while in NY where she was doing a book signing which I was disappointedly unable to attend. The idea of following the history of a huge old library desk around the world and through the years, following the writers that used it, was very intriguing. Love and loss is tantamount, but the methods of expressing the theme get draggy and repetitive. I had trouble keeping the characters sorted out and had to go back consistently to straighten things out. All in all it was a wonderful multitude of stories with strong interesting characters.

Jill Green‘s review

Dec 18, 11 · edit

Read from October 29 to December 18, 2011

The Unnamed is a good title for this unstory. Read along through about a third then threw it in the Goodwill bin. When I got to the stream of consciousness stuff I looked ahead to see how far it went and then I gave up. It was such an intriguing idea, but for me came to nothing. Oh well, I tried.

Jill Green‘s review

Dec 12, 11 · edit

Being a former Marine and Environmental Science teacher I relate to T.C Boyle’s subject in When the Killing’s Done. He has done his research. The fight between the environmentalists and the save-all-animals activists kept changing sides, but Dave Lajoy being such a creep tipped the scales for me. Loved the backdrop of the harsh islands off the coast of California and a bit of their history. Coming from Costa Rica and Florida and their warm waters, his environment really chilled me.

Your Book Reviews of Free to Bloom

I want to thank everyone for your comments, reviews, purchases, support for Free to Bloom. I’m still beating the pavement to get the word out. In the meantime I keep reading, so next post will be my reviews of others books. And writing, I’ll get back to that after the holidays. Peace and Love to everyone.

From Goodreads and Amazon:

Maddiehopp‘s review

Nov 15, 11

I just now finished Jill Green’s Free To Bloom book, and I closed the book with a smile. I loved how Jill wrote the expierences in personal detail so you feel like you are with Dannielle through the up and downs of her romantic life, as well as her life adventures with new aquantiances or life long friends. Even though the expierences were not my own, I feel like in a few pages, Jill managed to give me a glimpse of Costa Rica life as a City girl or a Gringa. Thank you, Jill Green, for making me smile, and feeling inspired that no matter how old you are, where you are in life… You can change your lifestyle and expierence the best of life, if you just open yourself to it and embrace it! I would recommend this book to anyone who would want to read a strong female character’s life expierences through Costa Rica’s agricultural differences from America life, and experiencing right along with the challenges of her self independence and romantic adventures.

Kim‘s review

Nov 22, 11

At 94 pages, this was a super fast and enjoyable read. Each short story exposes the main character’s life in short blips of time and covers a wide range of emotions- fear, anger, love, passion – and so many others. Despite being short stories, there is never a lack of action, imagery, or detail.
At times, I did find myself wishing that some of the stories were more connected with back story, if only to keep myself chronologically grounded.
Regardless, this was a wonderful read that left me smiling throughout much of it. Very good read.

Brenda Bossman‘s review

Dec 13, 11

Read in April, 2011

Free To Bloom is a delightful book about a woman’s adventure in a remote area of Costa Rica. I found it easy to read and loved the descriptions of her tropical paradise as well as her depictions of some very interesting relationships and experiences.

5.0 out of 5 stars BW, November 12, 2011

BW –

This review is from: Free To Bloom (Kindle Edition)

Jill Green is cute, perky, bold and courageous. The perfect combination of attributes for a female to commute to Central America for excitement and adventure. In Free To Bloom, Green shares many of her main character’s most personal and intimate moments and openly confronts strong feelings and emotions many of us work hard to keep buried in our subconscious. Danielle, on the other hand, deals with them directly and moves on with her life. Perhaps that is the lesson we should take from the book. The author claims her writings are a work of fiction, but I will always wonder just how much is fiction and how much is real.

Great Review of Free to Bloom by Dorothy MacKinnon of the Tico Times

Adventures of an independent woman in Costa Rica

Posted: Friday, November 18, 2011 – By Dorothy MacKinnon

OPEN BOOK: Southern Zone resident Jill Green relates her experiences living as a foreign woman alone in Costa Rica in her book, “Free to Bloom.”

What is it about Costa Rica that attracts so many accomplished, independent women to start new lives here? In her first book, “Free to Bloom,” California-born, Florida-reared Jill Green tells a personal story about starting a post-divorce, new life as a pioneering homesteader in a remote area of the Southern Zone. Although thinly disguised, these are autobiographical stories told with heart and humor, leavened with soulful introspection.

From the trials and tribulations of building an off-the-grid house to romantic encounters and harrowing adventures in the wild – including an intimate relationship with a botfly – Green’s tales will resonate especially with like-minded women already living here, and with anyone contemplating the leap into life in Costa Rica.

Green is an excellent storyteller, weaving flowing conversational prose with lyrical passages that capture her love affair with the “stark, shocking beauty” of the southern Pacific coast where she has chosen to live. Along with evocative descriptions, she segues seamlessly into perceptive philosophical musings about the simpler, but never boring, life in Costa Rica. She learns to appreciate, too, the slower pace of life here, accepting the Tico approach to time: “… time isn’t something to beat, it’s a continuum of life from morning to night.”

Green’s book grew out of her personal blog, which she posts to keep friends and family apprised of her adventures. Many women will find her personal aperçus concise and compelling, too. After 25 years of a rocky marriage, Green finally sees her way through to breaking free: “I don’t need to be afraid with him any more. I’m no longer afraid without him.”

Living alone in a foreign country can be challenging for anybody. But in light of some recent horrific attacks on extranjera women living in remote parts of the Southern Zone, does Green have any new concerns about single life on her mountaintop?

“When I look at what’s happening worldwide with the bad economy and the poor getting poorer and hungrier, I don’t think things are much different in other locations,” Green answers. “… On my mountaintop near Uvita, I have lots of big barking dogs and a wonderful caretaker and his family nearby. My daughter and her family living in the area also helps. I don’t have second thoughts of living alone here any more than in the U.S.”

“Costa Rica is the place where I became an independent woman,” Green adds. So the title, “Free to Bloom,” is apropos. And although her author’s note states, “This is a work of fiction,” many local readers, from Dominical down to Uvita, are enjoying some entertaining gossip, trying to work out just who is who in the book – especially a mysterious “caveman” who provides a very steamy interlude in Green’s personal growth.

“Free to Bloom,” published by A Cappella Publishing in Sarasota, Florida, is available as an e-book ($2.99) from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or as a real book ($14.99 plus shipping). Visitwww.freetobloombook.com for ordering details and access to Green’s blog.

There’s nothing like a great review. Thank you so much Dorothy. For those who have asked. My soft cover edition is available in these locations in the Southern Zone of Costa Rica.

Green Leaf Art Gallery in Ojochal.
Rincon de Uvita Farmer’s Market at Diana’s Made by Scratch booth and at the DAWG Library every Saturday from 8 am – 12pm.
Call me at 8892 8135 or email me at [email protected] and I will arrange a delivery.
Amazon.com will be publishing the soft cover edition by the end of November. It already carries the ebook.