The Blessed Benefits of Blueberries

"As you get older some of the things you used to love don't seem so special anymore."
-as heard while watching
the 2009 film
"The Hurt Locker"

Even though freezing can degrade some of the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, frozen blueberries are available year-round and do NOT spoil (though they do lose most of their Vitamin C value when frozen). Blueberries are associated with better memory in animal studies.

Blueberries blended with yogurt or chocolate soy milk and sprinkled with crushed almonds is an innovative and easy way to go.

Blueberries are rich in Vitamins A, C, E and beta-carotene as well as rich in the minerals potassium, manganese, magnesium. They are very high in fiber and low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium. But this is just the tip of the nutritional iceberg, for recent studies tell us that of all fresh fruits and vegetables, blueberries provide the most health-protecting antioxidants, those valuable elements which prevent cancer-causing cell damage and may limit the changes wrought by age related diseases.

The properties of blueberries cross the blood brain barrier to effect these benefits. Antioxidants help to stop the production of free radicals. Free radicals are groups of atoms that impair the cells and the immune system which leads to disease. Anti-oxidants bind the the free electrons in free radicals.

Anthocyanins create the blue color in blueberries. They are water-soluble and will bleed into water (or on mouths and clothes). Anthocyanins are antioxidants, known to reduce heart disease and cancer in humans. They are found throughout the plant world, but blueberries are the highest of any fruit or vegetable. This substance is believed to combat E. Coli.

Chlorogenic acid is another antioxidant which may also slow the release of glucose into the bloodstream after a meal. Chlorogenic acid's antioxidant properties may help fight damaging free radicals.

Ellagic acid also appears to bind cancer-causing body chemicals, rendering them inactive.

Twenty-five years ago today:

February 10, 1985
Sunday

This morning I woke up to wash clothes and do other domestic chores. Mom telephoned and I told her briefly about the Diana Ross concert and the dancing night with Paloma. I took a ride on my bike for a home-cooked breakfast. I had eaten beans and tortillas the previous night and it did NOT agree with me. I felt full and bloated. Ugh.

Breakfast helped. I lounged until one o'clock when Suzy Miller telephoned.
"Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
"No," I replied, an outward lie. "I may stop by your place on my bike later, okay?"
"Okay."

I went for a bike ride up along Shoreline Drive and I bumped into Eric (Suzy's black co-tenant). He was jogging and we exchanged a few 'get acquainted' words. He has a nice BMW 320i automobile. I continued my quest to pop over at Suzy's apartment. She was lounging, reading her Math Analysis textbook. I had noticed a few photographs on her coffee table of Christian Fellowship friends.
Suzy said, "Oh, my brother, Mike, is working days now at UPS...like from ten until two."
I gave her a quick briefing of my last week, beginning with the Diana Ross outing.
"I'm going skiing next weekend. I'll be back on Monday though."
"When you get back we should go to Ole's for breakfast, okay?"
"Sure."
We chatted for a short while and then I just left.

I rode my bike to ma and pa's. Dad and I watched a comedy called "All of Me" (Directed by Carl Reiner), starring Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin. When mom arrived home from the store I watched "The Boys of Company C", starring Andrew Stevens. Before I knew it the time was 7PM. John and Sherri had dropped by to pick up the videotapes ("All of Me" and "The Boys of Company C"), so Sherri could return them to work tomorrow.

I returned home and felt like I was missed because of a few phone calls from Steffanie Redding, Paloma Sanchez-Guerra, Bonni Jayne Ludovicy and Dale Orlando (four human-beings).

Steffanie wanted me to send her some ID to prove of my existence for the ARMIJO High School coach. She is promised an Armijo High School football jersey if she provides the proof.
Steffanie said, "I've been working up a sweat at the gym. I feel like I have to be in tip top shape when I meet you."

Bonni shared a story I never knew.
"I was in a mental hospital for two months. It was crazy. I put a gun in my husband's mouth. He was driving me mad mentally. And he was going to bed with a lot of my girlfriends."
"Are you kidding me?"
"No, because of it I may get a job as a Psych Aide."
Bonni seems happy now and may be coming out west (from New York) in March.
"I can't wait to see you."
We had a good talk.
Dale Orlando telephoned to apologize for his humiliating actions from the other night. I would have to agree that an apology was in order. I mean, especially the "show me your pee-pee" and "strip for me" lines. And then when he said, "I think you may be bisexual" made it all the more disturbing. Gee whiz! Who did he think he was anyway? I don't know. I did make him feel better after our telephone conversation.
"Actually, I had a good time," I confessed.
"I still can't get over how realistic your TAROT card reading was for me!"
"Some of your remarks on Friday were a big surprise for me. I wasn't sure whether or not you were fibbing...or what."
"For instance?" Dale asked.
"Well, the blue handkerchief in your right pocket meant you liked blow jobs, red meant fists and brown meant shit...all of that."
"Oh, well...tell me, what does Paloma feel about Steffanie?"
"I don't reveal! They don't know about each other!"
He laughed.
Paloma called to tell me she was going to see the movie "Mrs. Soffel" tonight.
"Oh that's with Mel Gibson and Diane Keaton, huh? I want to see that, too!"
"In fact...I had been calling you to go."
Both Dale and Paloma had said they were calling me continuously for the last two days. I felt a bit down that Paloma was going out with a friend (so she says). She is so way out in Berkeley. I didn't really feel like going out anyway. I have no money. I like Paloma but I'm not so sure about where the wheels will turn.

I want to write Bonni a card tonight. I just don't think I will have the energy to make the time to do so.

I showered sexually and then got prepared to write when Steffanie Redding called again. We talked about the origins of "Armijo", us, Tabitha, our meeting, whether or not I like women who wear dresses, etc. She is fun.
"Why don't you call me tomorrow?" Steffanie asked.
"Okay, I will."
I most likely will call her. I want to call the "Wheel of Fortune" game show tomorrow. I want to call Bonni tomorrow, too.


"It doesn't pay to make an enemy right away."
-Alan Freiman
on October 15, 2009,
after learning that the porter did not remove the cardboard boxes
he had promised to take away (while in the 14th Floor Penthouse at
One Main Street, Brooklyn, NY).