Saturday, May 27, 2017

Psychedelic Collages by Sara ShakeelThe first works on a private...





















Psychedelic Collages by Sara Shakeel

The first works on a private profile of Sara Shakeel, an artist based in Islamabad, Pakistan appeared about a year ago. Today Sarah’s Instagram is a colorful abstraction gallery full of flowers, diamonds, space and explosions that pop up in the least expected places of the composition. The galaxy instead of the iris, the eyes instead of the flower buds, the human silhouettes filled with diamonds - the collage of the artist can play the game of our mind. Follow her on Twitter.


Like what you see? Follow Cross Connect for the gorgeous art!

posted by Margaret

Psychedelic Collages by Sara ShakeelThe first works on a private... crss





















Psychedelic Collages by Sara Shakeel

The first works on a private profile of Sara Shakeel, an artist based in Islamabad, Pakistan appeared about a year ago. Today Sarah’s Instagram is a colorful abstraction gallery full of flowers, diamonds, space and explosions that pop up in the least expected places of the composition. The galaxy instead of the iris, the eyes instead of the flower buds, the human silhouettes filled with diamonds - the collage of the artist can play the game of our mind. Follow her on Twitter.


Like what you see? Follow Cross Connect for the gorgeous art!

posted by Margaret

crss

Will You Be Highly Successful in the Future? These 8 Signs Can Foretell the Answer

These solutions are about strengthening your mind and solidifying positive habits that will ensure your future success. These solutions are also about perspective. Having the proper outlook will give you the unending strength you need to achieve enormous success. The benefits of these solutions are that they show you how to succeed. These solutions will not only lead to great outcomes, but they will ensure great outcomes continue throughout life.

You have found your passion

The people who strive in life are burning up with passion. Some people know what they want out of life much sooner than others and begin actively striving from their youth. For others, their passion has to be found. Your passion is not defined by your talent. You may be exceedingly good at something that does not excite you. Simply stated, you’ll know what your passion is because you’ll be willing to do it for free.

You don’t settle for the 9-to-5 lifestyle

Successful people not only learn to enjoy what they do, they have fun doing it. This is essential for completing work without making it feel like work. You must find the joyous fun in your work or you won’t be able to do it repeatedly for hours on end each day. Those who know how to succeed know it’s necessary to say sayonara to typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours. All extremely successful people operate within the same 24 hours that you do but they are dedicated to optimizing each waking hour. Beware of confusing fun with comfort. Comfort is the arch nemesis of success.(Inc.: Top 10 Qualities of Highly Successful People))

You can focus on what you like to do for a long time

Successful people have an unmatched focus, despite being pulled in many different directions. They accomplish this despite having many moving parts to deal with in their personal lives and in business. The key to getting so much done can be attributed to their laser-like focus. Successful people see the full picture and then narrow their focus to a singular point.

You’d rather choose to escape your comfort zone

People who have achieved phenomenal or legendary success don’t do it to be more comfortable. They recognize comfort only to do away with it, allowing them to harness the power within feeling uncomfortable. If you’re severely uncomfortable, you’ll do anything to get yourself out of that position and people often do.

You’re never in lack of new ideas

Successful people often have great ideas do they not? Does this happen out of luck? Absolutely not. The trick is allowing your ideas to age and grow old quickly, forcing you to develop new ideas. Thinking in this way will force you to come up with new ideas on the sheer basis that you cannot continuously do what you’ve always done. Therefore, you cannot continue to think what you’ve always thought. Your current knowledge will not always be applicable. You must continue to learn, change, improve, and come up with new ideas regularly. This leads to the next point, that improvement is a life-long accomplishment.

Self improvement is like oxygen to you

Successful people know that there is no ceiling on your advancement. Learning, growth, and improvements must be measured and incorporated into your lifestyle. Any improvements that you want to make on yourself must become permanent aspects of your lifestyle or they will not last. A prime example of this are diets that people give up on after a few weeks.

Making everyone’s life better is your mission

Successful people are highly valuable and that’s no coincidence. They go out of their way to create far more value than is expected of them in order to solve problems. Know the audience that you serve intimately and know their problems better than they do. Provide value and facilitate a way for others to do or receive what they love. Money comes to successful people as a result of the value they give.

You never retreat from challenges

Somehow, some way, you’ll need to develop thick skin if you haven’t already. The best of the best often endure a decade or more of striving for their goals while encountering failures along the way. To transition into this type of thinking, measure your success by how many failures you experience. If you’re not facing some level of rejection or failure, you’re probably not putting forth much effort.

You may be able to see by now that your success depends on how well and how often you cultivate yourself. Know yourself well. By knowing your strengths, you can more quickly ascertain where your value lies in the eyes of others. Keep in mind that fear of failure is actually fear of success. Failure is valuable and inevitable, so fail quickly. Every moment that you’re awake is a moment you can make your life better. You’re either going forwards or backwards at all times. Stay in motion because reaching a plateau or a standstill in life is an illusion, standing still is actually going backwards. If you need motivation to become successful, get uncomfortable. Get so uncomfortable with your current level of success that you feel on fire to make immediate improvements.

The post Will You Be Highly Successful in the Future? These 8 Signs Can Foretell the Answer appeared first on Lifehack.



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How to Spot a Verbal Abuser Early and Protect Yourself

Admitting to yourself that you’re in an abusive relationship is incredibly difficult. When your partner doesn’t ever hurt you, when your problems are “limited” to “mean words”, it feels hard to believe that it’s justified to call it abuse, especially if they are a good partner in other ways.

But that doesn’t mean that the relationship isn’t abusive, and that doesn’t mean it’s something you have to settle for. Verbal abuse is incredibly harmful for your mental health, and can leave you feeling broken, trapped, deeply depressed and worthless over time.

If you’re seeing signs of verbal abuse present in your relationship with your partner, don’t try to ignore it or convince yourself it’s not serious. It is, and you deserve to confront the problem, and should do whatever it takes to protect yourself. Here are tips on how to spot a verbal abuser.

You hide what he/she says to you from others

You’re probably used to venting to your girlfriend when your partner bugs you or leaves you disappointed, but what happens when he says something you know will outrage your friends? If you find yourself keeping something he said [1]to yourself because you’re uncomfortable sharing it with your friends, dig deep to evaluate why you’re doing that.

Is it because you’re worried about what your friends will say about him? Is it because you don’t want people to know he says those kinds of things? Is it because you’re worried about how he will react if he knows you’ve told people?

All of these are signs that something is wrong. If you know your friends are going to be horrified by a sentence, consider that you too have reason to be horrified by it. If you’re worried about people knowing this trait about him, consider that his behavior reflects who he is. If you’re worried about how he will react, ask yourself what he’s hiding and why.

Abusers are very anxious to ensure their reputation is well-maintained, and are very concerned about public image – regardless of whether or not it reflects your private life. All of these are signs that something is wrong, and that you may be sacrificing yourself for someone who is hurting you.

He/she makes you cry and doesn’t apologize

When you get into arguments, does he start saying nasty things intended to hurt your feelings? Does he target sensitive topics on purpose? Does he say cruel things seemingly out-of-the-blue, and does he leave you in tears frequently? When you cry, does he show remorse or does he tell you to stop overreacting, stop faking, “get over yourself” or otherwise dismiss your tears? This shows a selfish insensitivity that you should never see in a partner, and is a huge warning sign.

If he is incapable of or uninterested in empathizing with you when you’re in pain, particularly pain he caused, then he doesn’t show himself to be someone who cares about your feelings, making him a fundamentally unacceptable partner. Incidents like these are not normal, and are not the way loving partners behave.

He/she eventually apologizes profusely and showers you with gifts

After a fight, argument or abusive episode has taken place, does he eventually come back with a profuse apology and gifts to make it up to you? This may feel like a kind and reassuring gesture on the part of your partner that reassures you he understands what he did wrong, cares about his impact and wants to improve. But the reality is it’s a standard step in the classic abuse cycle : a period of calm, a period of building tehension, a period of acting out and then the honeymoon phase, where he: apologizes or shows regret, promises it won’t happen again, tries to put some blame on you for the incident and tries to minimize or deny the abuse occurred.

All of this does not need to happen at once – for example, it’s very common for an abuser to immediately admit they were being abusive, but then later on – perhaps days or weeks later – try to reframe the incident as less serious or not their fault. You get this a lot with people you meet on dating apps , who genuinely admit they were in the wrong but don’t try to take it back. Now, after he’s apologized to you and reassured you he understands what he did wrong… does he do it again?

You’re hoping he/she will change over time

One of the most difficult things about abuse is that it is cyclical. Once your partner seems like they’ve really changed, you reassure yourself that things will get better – and then another incident occurs. Then they apologize profusely, reassure you they know they messed up, and you think you’re dedicated to your relationship and they seem remorseful so you’ll keep working at it. Then he does it again, and you tell him he has to shape up or you’ll leave, and he says he will. Things get better, you think he’s a better partner now that he’s realized he was in the wrong – and then he does it again.

The truth is, abusers rarely change or improve, and your love and dedi cation won’t improve him. Rather than staying stuck in the cycle, take a look at your life and realize that one failed relationship won’t ruin it – get out. Preserve your mental health. Don’t settle for a verbal abuser.

Reference

[1] Healthy Place: The Signs of Verbal Abuse

The post How to Spot a Verbal Abuser Early and Protect Yourself appeared first on Lifehack.



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Painting by Mackenzie ThorpeMackenzie Thorpe is a painter from... crss















Painting by Mackenzie Thorpe

Mackenzie Thorpe is a painter from the UK.  His works are deceptively minimalistic.  From his website:

He is an ordinary individual, who has, through his art, the extraordinary ability to convey emotions and messages that speak a universal language.

See more of Mackenzie Thorpe’s work here.


We find art for you - follow on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Posted by Lisa.

crss

Painting by Mackenzie ThorpeMackenzie Thorpe is a painter from...















Painting by Mackenzie Thorpe

Mackenzie Thorpe is a painter from the UK.  His works are deceptively minimalistic.  From his website:

He is an ordinary individual, who has, through his art, the extraordinary ability to convey emotions and messages that speak a universal language.

See more of Mackenzie Thorpe’s work here.


We find art for you - follow on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Posted by Lisa.

20 Recipes That Prove a Ripen Banana Is Still Good to Go!

Every time I hear someone say they they can’t do anything with a ripe banana, I cringe. There are so many things you can do with ripe bananas!

Sure, they aren’t as appetizing by themselves, but they most definitely can serve you in a variety of ways. Cookie, cakes, smoothies, and breads — there’s just no going wrong here.

Here is a compilation of recipes I’ve gathered for you from around the internet. With this much variety, you’re bound to find what makes your taste buds happy.

1. Chocolate Banana Smoothie

This is a no-brainer. Smoothies are the easiest solution when it comes to figuring out what to do with ripe fruit, frozen fruit, or fruit that’s about to spoil.

1 c. milk

1 chocolate scoop of protein

1 ripe banana

3/4 frozen fruit

1 tbsp. of peanut butter

*Don’t forget you need the best blender .

2. Banana Pancakes (So yummy!)

Mix pancakes how you would normally and add in one ripe banana

3. Chewy and Moist Oatmeal Banana Cookies

3/4 cup salted butter, softened (I use Challenge Butter)

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup mashed bananas

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp cornstarch

3 cups old fashioned oats

Click here for further instructions.

4. Caramelized Banana Upside-Down Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

about 3 extra-large ripe bananas or 4 small/medium, sliced in half horizontally and then sliced in vertically (if banana is ‘fat’, slice each half into 3 or 4 long vertical pieces)

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch salt, optional and to taste

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk (or Powdered Buttermilk, use 2 tablespoons with the dry ingredients + 1/2 cup water added with the wet)

1/3 cup sour cream (lite okay, or plain Greek yogurt may be substituted)

3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

salted caramel sauce for drizzling, optional (homemade or store bought)

5. Waffled Banana Bread

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup sugar

½ cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

¼ tsp fine salt

1 cup smashed banana (2 to 3 small bananas)

½ cup vegetable oil, plus more for brushing waffle iron

½ cup sour cream

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Soft unsalted butter and confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

6. Banana Cream Pudding

1 qt milk

2 cups plus 1/4 cup sugar

8 large eggs, separated, whites discarded or store for another use

1 tsp banana extract

⅓ cup bourbon

½ cup cornstarch

Salt

½ tsp pure vanilla extract, plus a splash

2 Tbsp butter, cut into cubes

1 cup heavy cream

4 bananas, sliced

1 box vanilla wafers

⅓ cup creme de banana

7. Chocolate-Banana Pancake Breakfast Casserole

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus more as necessary and for greasing the baking dish

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

6 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Kosher salt

1 ¾ cups buttermilk

7 large eggs

2 cups half-and-half

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 bananas, thinly sliced

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

8. Grilled Banana Pound Cake with Chocolate Sauce

Nonstick cooking spray

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for dusting pan

6 eggs

1 ¼ cups mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp lemon extract

3 cups flour

1 cup sour cream

1 pinch kosher salt

Chocolate Sauce

1 ⅓ cups heavy cream

1 cup honey

⅔ cup dark brown sugar

½ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Big pinch of salt

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

Unsalted butter, melted, for serving

9. Banana Crunch Muffins

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ lb(s) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 extra-large eggs

¾ cup whole milk

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup ripe bananas, mashed (2 bananas)

1 cup ripe bananas, medium-diced (1 banana)

1 cup walnuts, small-diced

1 cup granola

1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut (optional)

10. Banana Bread

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

3 medium bananas, very ripe

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

11. Banana-Date Smoothie

Serves 2

2 medium bananas, ripe

1/4 cup pitted dates, such as Medjool

2 cups almond milk

2 teaspoons chia seeds, soaked if time allows (see Recipe Note)

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 lime, juiced

4 ice cubes

Dash of cinnamon

Dash of sea salt

12. Ice cream

Freeze banana slices until you have a decent amount, then blend them to create the best vegan ice cream ever! Those frozen slices can also be stirred into a regular ice cream base, too.

13. Death by Chocolate Banana Bread

Cooking spray, for pan

1/2 c. cocoa powder, plus more for dusting pan

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. melted butter

1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk

1/4 c. buttermilk or sour cream

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3 super-ripe bananas, mashed

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

14. Tropical Green Smoothie

Makes 2 large smoothies

1 large banana, as ripe as possible, frozen

1/2 cup frozen mango chunks

1 big handful mixed greens (spinach, kale, baby swiss chard, etc)

1/2 cup pineapple, fresh or frozen is fine, just be sure it’s nice and sweet if using fresh

1 1/2 cups cold coconut milk

1 lime, juice and zest

15. Banana Ketchup

2 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil

1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion (about 1 small onion)

2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 medium cloves)

1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded jalapeño from (about 1 small jalapeño)

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large bananas)

1/2 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons rum

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Water, as needed

16. Banana Chips

10 ripe , but firm bananas, thinly sliced

freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon is plenty)

17. Peanut Butter Banana Cups

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (can also be dark chocolate cut into small pieces from a bar)

1 medium banana, peeled and sliced into 16 rounds

1/4 cup all-natural peanut butter, store bought or homemade

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil, (unrefined extra-virgin preferred)

16 (1.25-inch) baking cups

18. Banana Chocolate Muffins (with 3 ingredients)

Chocolate cake mix.

3-4 bananas, mashed

Optional – 2 eggs

19. Sweet Potato Banana Bites

1/2 c cooked, mashed sweet potato (approx 1 medium)

1/2 cup mashed banana (approx 1 medium)

1/4 c nut butter

2 eggs

cinnamon, to taste

Optional mix-ins: dark chocolate chips, fruit, chia seeds, etc.

20. Baked Banana Nut Donuts

Doughnuts

2 medium (235 grams) ripe bananas, mashed

1 large (50 grams) egg

1/3 cup (80 grams) unsweetened applesauce

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup (40 grams) whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup (60 grams) all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Glaze

3 tablespoons low-fat cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 tablespoon nonfat milk

2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts, toasted if desired

Featured photo credit: problemikk/ youtube via youtube.com

The post 20 Recipes That Prove a Ripen Banana Is Still Good to Go! appeared first on Lifehack.



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