#Is similar to what happened in the film. I gotta read up on the Jewish interpretation of this movie I kept thinking about that as I watched

[cowchickenbeefpork]

god I need to rewatch the wolf man (1941) again I take breaks while watching films often which is a bad habit I need to break I need to stop treating movies like they’re books this film was fantastic I just finished it and like it’s so fucking good. One of my favorite films. Made me wanna cry. Love the themes of isolation and how no one believed Larry’s illness he was either seen as being ridiculous or being inherently cruel deep down in his heart or even just the mere assertion he was insane and needed to get treatment for psychosis when that was not what he was facing in his struggles. He knew he was harmful to others he knew what was happening to him but no one took his word for it. No one truly believed except the mother of a son who lived and died as a werewolf. To know what is wrong with you and try to isolate, try to ensure everyone else is safe after finally acknowledging that is something you are going through, and for everyone else to never understand it is heartbreaking. He did nothing to deserve this fate. No one truly deserves being treated like this, being neglected like this.

I also kinda interpreted how Larry’s father reacted to his son behaving like this as him knowing that the asylums won’t help, you know? This is a recurring issue in their family, something that has sprung up again and again, family members with the same illness, the same curse. I feel like they have at least tried to institutionalize them before at least once, and realized how horrendous they treated them in it. He doesn’t want his son to go through that, he wants his son to just push through this “delusion” and make it through when he cannot. His father basically has to convince himself that his son can push through if he tries hard enough, because that itself feels like it is the only cure for something like this. He doesn’t want his son to become a husk, he doesn’t know how to help his little boy. His own attempts to help him by trying to make him snap out of it only pushes them further off the edge, leading to his death by the hands of his own father at the end of the film.

[officialvalbarnes]

December Favorites 2016

Wow. This is it. I can’t believe December is over and 2017 is here. 2017 IS A THING GUYS. I remember when 2017 was looked at as something that was super far away and would be a time where we would live like the Jetsons. We still don’t live like the Jetsons. Talk about a total let down. Who remembers that show?! I used to watch it all the time on Boomerang. But seriously guys, where has time gone honestly?! I hope that you all had an amazing Christmas and have a Happy New Year! I’m excited about all things in store for the blog and me personally in 2017. I have a feeling it’s going to be a super, awesome year!

Today, I’m going to be sharing my December Favorites 2016 with you guys. I know it’s kind of late. Well, not kind of late it’s just late. I was contemplating on whether I was going to do one or not because I wasn’t sure if I had enough stuff to share with you guys. December has just been a busy month for me. Honestly from October till about...now like early/mid-January, I’ve been busy. As I mentioned in my last post, I recently got a puppy. Between her, school work, school extracurriculars (I’m heavily involved in school clubs), etc life has been super cray cray lately. I decided that I still wanted to share my December Favorites with you guys. As usual, these are the things I really liked more than other things in December.

Favorite Food of the Month

1. La Croix Curate Muré Pepino (Blackberry and Cucumber) Sparkling Water

Now I know you are probably thinking, “Valencia, why in the heck are you drinking a COLD drink during the WINTER?” I honestly have nothing to say but BABY I LIKE IT (Enrique Iglesias anyone?)

Those who know me know that if I’m in the mood for a cold drink regardless of the time of year, I will order it without any regrets whatsoever. #DontHateMeCanYouAintMe. You guys should already know that I’m always in the mood for a sparkling beverage. Haha! I recently came across this drink at the grocery store and I was intrigued by it because I would have never thought of combining these two things. Blackberry and Cucumber? Like why? For some reason, it just works and I don’t question it anymore. I definitely recommend trying it because it’s SO good!

2. Sunbutter Cookies

I actually made these cookies and gave them out as presents to some people this past Christmas. They were a hit! They are simple to make and taste very similar to peanut butter cookies but obviously without the peanut butter. You guys HAVE to make these cookies. Nuff said.

3. Bigelow Decaffeinated Green Tea

I’ve been drinking this tea a whole lot this month to help me with my allergies. I’ve talked about the regular green tea from Bigelow on the blog before, but this time I got the decaf one. I got the decaf one so that if I want to drink a cup before I go to bed, I’m not up all night because of caffeine in green tea you know? I notice that sometimes when I drink regular green tea before bed, I can’t seem to go to sleep immediately. It takes me a hot minute to ease into it. Is it just me that experiences this? Hopefully, someone understands where I’m coming from or this just turned a little awk. Anyway, you gotta try this green tea. If you love green tea, try this because you’ll love this. If you never had green tea, try this. If you don’t like green tea, well....still try it because not all green tea is created equal. I’ve tasted some not so good green tea. When I had the real, good stuff I loved it.

4. Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Coconut Milk Blend

This is my go-to milk, especially for baking. We were attached at the hip this holiday season. You could say we are BFFs. I just really love this blend. I live a low sugar lifestyle, so this milk blend hits the spot since it is unsweetened. This is such a great milk substitute for those who are dairy-free like me. My food allergies prevent me from having many things, but I’m happy that this is one of the things I can have without having to have Benadryl in my back pocket. Haha, but seriously. #FoodAllergyProbz.

Favorite Book of the Month

5. Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

I haven’t really had the time to just sit down and read a book like I’ve been wanting to do. If you read my last post, I briefly talked about me getting a puppy. I got a puppy as an early birthday present from my mom and I’m super excited about her. Anyway, during Christmas break I was able to have a little bit more time to do some reading. I started to read the book Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven. I’ve been reading it on my Kindle and so far I’ve been liking it. Fingers crossed that I can actually finish this book before I post my January Favorites so I can give you guys my full opinion on the book.

6. The Community Table: Recipes & Stories from the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan & Beyond

I’ve always loved being surrounded by and learning about different people from different backgrounds and different walks of life. That’s just me. I feel like I get that from my mom because she grew up in a diverse community and had friends from different backgrounds. You learn so much about other cultures. I actually find it very fascinating. My cookbook collection definitely represents my fondness of learning about different cultures. I have books from Chinese cooking, kid-friendly and clean eating to vegetarianism as well as food allergen-friendly. I received this book as a birthday gift from my mom and I was excited about getting it. It has classic recipes like Challah, Latkes, etc in the book and it also has a variety of recipes for all types of eaters. Whether you are a pescatarian, you eat meat, you are meatless or whatever, you’ll find some recipes to make. This book has such a great selection of recipes that are great for family gatherings and celebrations. You should definitely check this book out.

Favorite Fashion of the Month

7. Cozy Socks

I got some cozy socks from Old Navy and they are the best thing ever. They are thebomb.com. I get cold really easily especially during the winter so I wear the cozy socks to bed, even though they somehow end up not on my feet by the time I wake up in the morning. Then when I try to find them, I can’t or it takes a good amount of time. Yeaaah. Does that happen to anyone else? No? Just me? Great.

Favorite TV of the Month

8. Star on FOX

It’s created by the same guy who did Empire, Lee Daniels, and it’s about three girls forming a music group in Atlanta. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this show since it’s a musical and I’m not one to gravitate towards musical tv shows, but it’s actually not a bad show. It’s pretty good actually. It has Lenny Kravitz and Queen Latifah in it. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Ms. Queen Latifah on a project before and she’s such a down to earth person. If you are into musical tv shows, you might want to check out this show. It comes on Wednesdays I believe at 9PM on Fox.

Favorite Movie of the Month

9. Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them

I’ve never really been into the whole “Harry Potter world” stuff. Not really my thing. However, when I saw the commercials for Fantastic Beasts I was intrigued and I didn’t expect to be (my recent trip to Harry Potter World probably sold me on going to see this movie). If you didn’t know, Fantastic Beasts is set 70 years before Harry Potter. I was surprised that I liked this movie. The CGI of this movie is SO good and so is the filming style of the movie! I’m not gonna lie, the movie was a little slow at first. BUT I know that it went very slow because they were trying to set up the story line and I appreciated that. Once they were done setting up the story and the pacing of the movie picked up, I really liked the movie.

Favorite Music of the Month

10. Hallejuah by Pentatonix

I have three words for you. OH MY GOODNESS. Pentatonix’s rendition of Hallejuah is absolutely beautiful and just amazing. As a group, their vocals work so well together and I’m just really impressed by their work. I heard this song on the radio and have had it on repeat since then. I also saw their holiday special they had on NBC and I thought that it was good. If you haven’t listened to this song, you just have to and also watch the music video. I love the simplicity of the video. It allows you to just focus on the talent. From Avi’s bass to Kevin’s beatboxing. You just have to check out the song and the group in general.

Those were my December Favorites 2016. I hope you all enjoyed my December Favorites 2016. If you did, be sure to give this post a like and subscribe to join the Vegaholics fam. It’s a pretty good time here. What were some of your faves from December? Also, do you have any New Years resolutions? Tell me in the comments below. I hope that you guys are having a great day & I’ll see you in my next post. Bye :)

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