Recipe: Strawberry Gravy [status: untested]

I don't have the resources to experiment much in the kitchen these days, so somebody try this for me.

The Bloggess just posted the BEST IDEA EVER: STRAWBERRY GRAVY.

I tried to think what she might mean by that. We'll just ignore all the possibilities of what it could be drizzled (or POURED) on top of; let's just think about how to make it.

Here was my suggestion*:

*Actual screencap of my comment on The Bloggess's page

So what do you think? 

Suggestions as to whether the flour and the puree would really work? 

Should I be more precise regarding how the heavy cream is sweetened?

What do you think it would taste like?

What might it be good with?

Feel free to make your comments over on The Bloggess's post instead of here. But truthfully, unless you make them here, I'll probably never see them.

Toodles.

Oh! P.S.: I'm putting a list of Depression blog posts written by other sufferers in the sidebar. It might just have one today, but I'll have to google a bunch to find the ones I've read before. 

Twitter: New-Fangled Confessional Booth?

I love Twitter. I like it that people say there what they might not say otherwise, even if they delete the tweet within 30 seconds of posting it.

Twitter has also brought to my attention some people of note who suffer from mental illness, the most recent being Peter Serafinowicz.


Peter "is an English actor, comedian, writer, composer, voice artist and occasional director," who was the voice of Darth Maul in "The Phantom Menace," and played Pete in "Shaun of the Dead." For Anglophiles: he's also been in "Spaced," "The IT Crowd," and "Black Books." [IMDB entry]


Today, Peter shared via Twitter a blog post written by Amy Jane Smith (whose name makes me think she's the offspring of The Doctor & River Song) along with sharing that he, too, suffers from Depression and Anxiety. [For DW reference explanation, see: John Smith, Sarah-Jane Smith, Amelia Pond, River Song]

I wouldn't wish Depression and Anxiety on anyone, but it does me good to see that there are others battling mental illness and are still successful in life. Also, I am grateful that they are willing to share their experiences with us so that we can find hope ourselves.


So, a big thank you to everyone who chooses to share with the world that they've struggled. Hopefully someday the stigma will be gone.


Update: Turns out Peter wrote a load of tweets on the subject! Busy compiling them now.
Update 2: Here they are...

Allie Brosh Sighting

Hey, guess what? Allie Brosh made an appearance on Reddit recently.

Once again, she does a better job of expressing what I've been going through than even I can.

I like that I have her words to help me explain what the heck is happening with me, but I'm so very sorry she has to experience it.

Please check out what she wrote.

Peace.

Edit: I just ran across this blog post addressing the ending of Allie's "Adventures in Depression" post and found it interesting.

Yana*

You may not know who Allie Brosh is by name but, if you spend much time online, you are bound to have seen the meme her work inspired.

See more on Know Your Meme

The original image is from her blog post entitled "This is Why I'll Never Be an Adult" on Hyperbole and a Half.

I've enjoyed Allie's work immensely; it's easy to relate to, funny, and the imperfect drawings are a great silly complement to her storytelling.

What really gripped me, though, was her post, "Adventures in Depression."
It is an apt description of what people with Depression experience that needs to be read by anyone who doesn't believe that Depression is a medical condition and anyone who hasn't suffered it themselves.

Seriously. There are people who believe that Depression doesn't exist, that someone is just going through a self-induced, pessimistic sad patch in their life.

"Snap out of it."
"Get over it."
"Buck up, little camper."
"Smile."
"It can't be that bad."
"Shake it off."
"There are kids starving in Africa."

I told one coworker, "I'm on antidepressants for clinical depression." He said, "I don't believe in that. I'll pray for you." Nice guy. We're still friends, even though he is ignorant when it comes to mental health.

I have to say, though, that his reaction is preferable to the, "you have Depression; that's a mental illness, so you must have no intelligence, abilities, or redeeming qualities whatsoever," mindset.

Having a conversation with a supervisor once, I became frustrated and tears began to flow. I was confronting her about things others had told me she had done to basically ruin my career. She kept saying, "I'm sorry you FEEL that way," even though my words never said I felt anything; I was stating what had been reported to me. But she ignored that I was stating objective fact and tried to discredit my concerns by drawing attention and attributing my allegations to my "mental and emotional instability."

On the other hand, an ex once asked, "Why don't people run marathons for Depression awareness and research? I can't think of a worse illness."

I need your help to fight the stigma associated with mental health issues.

To facilitate this, I'll provide links here to mental health education and support resources as well as bring attention to sufferers who are in the public eye and open about their conditions.

Allie Brosh is the first.

Please check out her work and share it with others.
(Note: Allie has written articles for newspapers that I've read online, but I'm having a hard time finding them. Her blog is a good place to start. If you go through the posts, I think there may be links to articles.)

Thank you.

*Doctor Who (NuWho) series 3 spoilers, from "Utopia":
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"When the Doctor hears about Yana's timepiece, a flashback sequence inter-cut with the letters of the Professor's name makes clear that "Yana" is an acronym of "You are not alone", the Face of Boe's last words to the Doctor. At the same time, Yana opens the watch, releasing his Time Lord essence."