szachik@pvs.org, Author at the bird on fire

Who is Running for President?

February 28, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Holden Hartle, Blogger and Future White House Chief of Staff

Some of our blog followers will be able to vote in 2020 for the next President of the United States, and, of course, the adults that follow the blog have been voting for years (at least I hope you have been). In any case, I feel as if you should look beyond what party your candidate is a part of, and actually do research into who these candidates are and what they believe in. So, here is a brief description of each of the candidates that have said they are running as of February 25, 2019. My source is The Washington Post. You can find more information by going to their website that is updated daily. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/2020-presidential-hopefuls/?utm_term=.b2ec254a97e7

Democrats

John Delaney–Back in November, he was the first person to announce that he was running for President. He served three terms as a representative for Maryland’s 6th District. His platform, like many other Democrats, involves health care, but not universal health care–like other Democrats are proposing, but rather he is using his background in finance to come up with a “more reasonable” set of federal benefits and a way to afford it. For further information, go to https://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-a-democratic-health-care-planwithout-medicare-for-all-131930755.html.
Andrew Yang–Our current President has started a trend in which candidates with little political experience have a shot at gaining the presidency. Likewise, Yang has no experience in politics. He is an entrepreneur who started Venture for America, a nonprofit that helps recent college graduates make a living through startups that can “revitalize a city.” His website can be found here: https://ventureforamerica.org/. In terms of his platform, he has an idea for a universal basic income for all adults of $1000 per month. His idea is that if people have more money, they will spend more money, and the economy will grow.
Tulsi Gabbard–She is currently the Representative for Hawaii’s 2nd District and a combat veteran. She is no doubt a trailblazer, as she was the youngest person elected as a Hawaii representative at 21; she was the first American Samoan elected to Congress, as well as the first Hindu. She prides herself on being an environmentalist and a proponent for LGBT+ and women’s rights.
Julian Castro–He is the current Mayor of San Antonio and served as the 16th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2017. He is very anti-Trump, as he recently held a rally near the site of the new wall, as well as publicly bashed President Trump’s State of the Union Address.
Kamala Harris–Simply through observation, Harris already seems like a very popular candidate. She is one of the current senators of California. According to her website, she will “provide sweeping tax cuts for the middle class,… raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, make higher education tuition-free for the vast majority of Americans,… protect the legal rights of refugees and immigrants, and expand access to affordable, quality health care with Medicare for All.” Her website can be found at https://kamalaharris.org/.
Marianne Williamson–Williamson, along with Andrew Yang, has no experience in politics. Rather, she is a spiritual teacher and author. She is running for president after an unsuccessful run as a representative for California’s 33rd District. Though she doesn’t have any experience in the government, she is no stranger to activism, as she has started several nonprofits for various social problems, such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the ‘80s.
Elizabeth Warren–Her platform is very Bernie-esque. The current Massachusetts Senator fights for the middle class. She has been in the news a lot recently for her opposition to President Trump and for President Trump’s critical view of her. She definitely has lots of name recognition due to the media.
Amy Klobuchar–Klobuchar is the current Senator for Minnesota and feels as though the views of the midwest have been unheard or misrepresented by the federal government. She is also very family oriented. In an article in The Economist, that can be found here https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/02/16/democrats-should-take-a-good-look-at-amy-klobuchar, she is described as being “the opponent Donald Trump would least like to face” because she is the antithesis of the President. She promotes the small towns in the midwest, while he focuses more on urban areas. This may lead her to a surprising run.
Bernie Sanders–Crowd favorite Bernie Sanders is the most recent candidate to announce his run. His ideas that originated in his 2016 presidential run are prevalent among the other candidates that are running this year. It will be interesting to see how he fairs against some of the other “young guns” whose platform is very similar to his.

Republicans

Donald Trump–As you will notice, the list on the Republican side is rather small. As of the time I am writing this, February 25, 2019, the incumbent President is the only one who has announced that he is running again. He has also said that his campaign slogan will be “Keep America Great.” Though it does look like he will be experiencing some roadblocks in the future. There are other candidates who are exploring bids, like William Weld, or even people who are simply looking like candidates, like John Kasich, but President Trump is the only person to officially announce his run.

Editor: Makena Behnke

Sleep

February 27, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

By Luke Langlois, Blogger and AP Psychology Student

It is truly a miracle that most humans enjoy sleeping. After all, we do spend one-third of our lives sleeping. And, we all have a general idea of what we get from sleeping. Sleeping gives humans the energy to carry out our day. Sleeping somehow cures humans of short-term illnesses or some sort of stress. To our conscious minds, sleeping is like a small time machine. But, contrary to what we might perceive, a LOT goes on while we’re sleeping. Coincidentally, there is a whole unit in AP Psychology about sleep and consciousness, so, why not share this knowledge? Today, I present to you a bit about what goes on in your head during your deep sleeps.

The Stages of Sleep

Scientists have defined five different stages that humans progress through during sleep.

Stage 1 – A light sleep: Stage 1 of the sleep cycle is, as might be expected, the stage where one is in the “lightest” sleep. You’re not awake, but you’re not completely asleep. It is best described as the stage of drifting off to sleep. Sudden noises or disruptions will easily bring you back to a completely conscious state. Individuals will sometimes feel as if they are physically falling during this stage. Additionally, individuals sometimes have what is called a “hypnic jerk” during this stage, where they may experience abrupt muscle spasms and jump back awake. This stage lasts about 5-10 minutes.

Stage 2 – Preparing for a deeper sleep: This is a fairly short stage that is part of the transition into a deeper sleep. During this transition, the individual’s brain waves continue to slow down, with some specific bursts of activity which are known as “sleep spindles.” During this stage, the body’s temperature slightly decreases, and the heart rate gradually lowers. This is a generally uneventful stage and serves mainly as the “sleeping housekeeping” for the body. This stage lasts about twenty minutes.

Stage 3 – Transitioning into a deeper sleep: This is where an individual begins to transition into a much deeper sleep. After this stage, it becomes very difficult to awaken an individual. Slow brain waves known as “delta” waves emerge in this stage. Brain activity here is quite low. This stage lasts about 5-10 minutes. Be aware that some sources will not recognize this period as its own separate stage, and will instead group it in with the next stage, calling it all “Stage 3.”

Stage 4 – Deep Sleep, but without REM: Stage 4 is sometimes referred to as “delta sleep” because of the continuation of the delta brain waves during this stage. It is quite difficult to awaken someone from this sleep, and it will take some additional effort. There is no dreaming during Stage 4, but some well-known sleep events occur here, like sleepwalking. This stage is the most “restorative” stage for the body, and lasts for about 30 minutes.

Stage 5 – REM!: REM sleep, also known as the “Rapid-Eye Movement” stage is the most active stage for the brain, even if it is the deepest stage of sleep. During this stage, the body experiences increased eye movement, an increased breathing rate, and increased brain activity. Dreaming is most prevalent in this stage and rarely occurs in other stages. While these systems become more active, the voluntary muscle systems are paralyzed. The brain releases a paralyzing chemical that, theoretically, prevents the body from acting out its dreams. The length of this stage varies, depending on how long an individual sleeps.

So, now that you’ve got a general look at the stages of sleep, there are some things that should be mentioned. First, one sleep cycle does not equal the total amount of time that one spends sleeping. One will go through multiple sleep cycles in the typical 8-hour sleep. Secondly, this is not a completely linear 1-5 sequence. When an individual first falls asleep, they only progress from Stage 1 to Stage 4. After Stage 4 is reached, the brain goes backwards. It goes into Stage 3, then 2, and then falls into the REM stage. One sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes. I will send off this post with something practical for the nappers in the audience. A 90-minute nap is going to provide you with the best “refresh,” as you have been able to go through one whole sleep cycle. But, this is not to say that shorter naps aren’t as effective. No matter what, sleep on!

Editor: Makena Behnke

shirt

February 27, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By Blogger-Poet Makena Behnke

A Recollection/Reflection: February 4, 2019

i’m sitting on my bed in a hand-me-down shirt from my mom. it’s run thin from being worn too much, and it has an abstract sunset on it. it’s too soft to be real. there are holes from crickets chewing. the shirt is way older than i am. it’s stretched out from being pulled over the only two heads that’ve ever worn it. it’s from old navy or one of those stores. i’ve taken the shirt to europe almost every time. it’s too thin to provide any warmth except the bare minimum. one day it’ll run too thin and i’ll have to stop wearing it, but i’ll never throw it out.

Editor: Holden Hartle

Dead By Daylight Game Review–A Legion of Glitches

February 25, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Dayton Kennard

If you’ve been playing Dead by Daylight recently, you’ve definitely been hearing about the new Darkness Among Us downloadable content (DLC) and all of its problems, and if you actually bought it, you’ve been experiencing those problems firsthand. The sad part is you don’t have to download the DLC to experience the problems. Note: it should be taken with a grain of salt– not all of these problems are actually glitches. Through this post, I’ll cover four problems that have been reported by the community and problems that I’ve experienced firsthand. Just a heads up, if you haven’t heard of this game before, it’s basically a multiplayer game where four survivors try to fix five generators in order to escape before a killer finds them and–you guessed it–kills them.

Problem 1: Random Legion Chase Music

Some people have described that while they’re playing as a survivor against the Legion (one of the killers you can play as), they’ll randomly hear the Legion’s chase music (something that occurs when you are about to be attacked) for a few seconds before it suddenly disappears with no explanation. This has even happened to me! However, this is not a glitch. While playing as the Legion, a killer can bring in an add-on to their unique power that causes all survivors to temporarily hear chase music when the killer successfully lands an attack on a survivor.

Problem 2: Red Highlights After Chase Ends

When the Legion successfully lands an attack on a survivor while in their Feral Frenzy mode (their unique power that makes them faster for a short period of time), they will see nearby survivors highlighted in red temporarily so that they can easily attack them as well, but this highlight ends once the Feral Frenzy times out. Or at least, it’s supposed to. Sometimes the red highlight will persist if you continue to chase a survivor after Feral Frenzy times out, only going away if you either down the survivor or your chase with the survivor ends. This is most certainly a glitch, as nothing like this is mentioned in Feral Frenzy’s official description or any of the Legion’s add-ons.

Problem 3: Loss of Previously Purchased Characters

When players first load up the game after purchasing and installing the Darkness Among Us DLC, they may see that some of the characters they had previously purchased are now missing, and even be told that they have to purchase these characters again. This may be alarming to hear, and even more alarming to see, but it seems to only happen with characters purchased using Auric Cells (an in-game currency) rather than characters purchased with real money. This is a known glitch that’s already being worked on, and it’s easily fixed by closing and re-opening the game.

Problem 4: Two Killers vs. Three Survivors

This may seem impossible given the game’s unchangeable format of one killer versus four survivors, but it’s actually something that can happen. While this is a legitimate glitch, it is quite rare to see on accident, and it’s more likely someone causing this glitch on purpose. This is because the game will sometimes attribute the wrong character ID to a character that you are playing. So, while you joined a game as a survivor, you will load in as whatever character that ID truly belongs to, allowing you to join the game as a second killer rather than a survivor. Being that this problem only happens when a character ID is swapped, it’s fairly easy to replicate this glitch by editing the game files, which is usually what’s happening if you do see two killers in a match.

Editor: Holden Hartle

Teachers Before They Started Teaching: Mr. Griffin Edition

February 25, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Holden Hartle

In my 15 years of being a student, I have learned fun and interesting facts about my teachers. In learning these facts, I realized that teachers were so much more than just teachers. So, I wanted to learn their stories, and more specifically, I wanted to learn how their career and life decisions led them to Palm Valley School. In this post, I interview Mr. Griffin, a long-time teacher at PVS who is one of the faces of the Upper School English Department. Here is his story.

The story of Mr. Griffin began in Glendale, California, in a year that, for his sake, I will leave unmentioned. Years later, he was accepted to the University of Redlands and attended there for a year. During that time, he became very close with his English professor, who taught him the importance of books and literature in general. After that year, he transferred to UC Berkeley where he finished his B.A. in English Literature. Once he finished his B.A., he took a gap year in Europe before returning to UC Berkeley for his Masters. But, he didn’t want to pursue a Ph.D. Though he still loved English, he decided to pursue a different career path–film.

He was accepted to the UCLA Film Department as he was receiving his Masters but turned it down. He decided that he had “had enough of school.” Instead of pursuing film in a classroom, he booked a flight to The Big Apple and dove right into the industry. Of course, you don’t hop off the plane and start working on movies. First, you need money to afford the necessities, which Mr. Griffin made through various jobs, such as being a waiter. He needed these jobs to “stay alive.”

He started out on the bottom of the totem pole in the film industry as a Production Assistant; among many of his responsibilities was “fetching coffee for Al Pacino.” Eventually, he worked his way up to 2nd Assistant Director, and then to 1st Assistant Director. From there, he became a Production Manager and then landed a job as a Producer. His last major job was as a Producer on the TV series Nip/Tuck. But, what changed? Why isn’t he still in the film industry?

During his time in New York, his mother suddenly grew ill. He flew back to California, and his mother passed away. Losing his mother motivated him to spend time with his father, with whom he never had much of a relationship. So, he decided to relocate from the East Coast to California and pursue his career in the heart of the Hollywood beast. In the years leading up to his father’s death, Mr. Griffin grew extremely close to his father.

In the late 90s, Mr. Griffin bought a home in Palm Springs and moved there to enjoy the warmer climate and easier lifestyle. He continued to work in the film industry for another ten years, working on various projects in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, and San Diego.

While in Palm Springs, he joined the Gay Men’s Chorus and met Mr. Sarkis. The pair were both baritones and sat next to each other. Mr. Griffin described their behaviors as being “mischievous towards everything.” They had similar interests, and soon enough, their friendship blossomed.

One day, Sarkis invited Mr. Griffin to a Marywood Palm Valley Middle School production of Guys and Dolls. Like any sane person, Mr. Griffin was dubious about seeing middle schoolers attempt to perform a play, but he attended out of friendship for Mr. Sarkis and found the production not only surprisingly entertaining but also impressively professional and unbelievably charming. This is how Mr. Griffin became connected to the school. After 30+ years in the film industry, he’d found that the work just “wasn’t that glamorous anymore,” so when Sarkis asked for his help on upcoming middle-school productions, he jumped at the chance. This transitioned into him accepting a job to teach 9th-grade English at the school so that he could return to his first love, great literature.

About ten years later, he is still teaching 9th-grade English, along with AP English Literature, all the while inspiring the next generation in the same way that he was inspired by his professor at the University of Redlands.

Editor: AJ Patencio

Seniors Who Lunch

February 15, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Harlow Berny

Hello! I’d like to share one of Palm Valley School’s older traditions with you, the Senior Lunch! This is a tradition that started six years ago under the (benevolent rule of the Overlord) administration of the former Head of Upper School, Ms. Susie Zachik. Six years ago, the tradition of Senior Lunch was actually Senior Breakfast. It was created to encourage Seniors, who didn’t have a first period class, to come to school on Friday mornings and attend the Friday assembly. It was only four years ago that the tradition became Wednesday Senior Lunch, as Seniors no longer had a free period/study hall for their first period classes.

Throughout this, the Senior families have provided the breakfasts/lunches for the Seniors. Sometimes school administrators, such as Ms. Zachik, Ms. Steinman (current Head of Upper School), and Ms. Rice (current Head of School) would bring food for the first and/or last Senior Lunch. After this, it would be one Senior’s duty to bring lunch for all of the Seniors on one Wednesday of the school year, and this would continue until all of the Seniors have brought a Senior Lunch. In addition to this, the Seniors control the student lounge during a Senior Lunch. While Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshman can come in to get their lunch and heat it up in the microwaves, they are encouraged to eat at the courtyard tables so that Seniors may eat with their fellow Seniors. This is a tradition that should be respected in order to preserve the experience for future Senior classes. Let’s be honest here, it is nice to hang out with your Senior class with the little time you have left before you all go off to different colleges.

Editor: Luke Langlois

Review of Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne—An Old Game That Will Never Fade Away

February 14, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By James Zheng

Blizzard, which is known as one of the most famous game-producing companies in the United States, has always striven to design the best games out there. But, the major game I am going to introduce in this post was from sixteen years ago. Unlike an anime or a movie, a majority of games tend to easily become old-fashioned or hackneyed. They last for at most ten years since games are always being published incessantly; this process is like an elimination system. You pay for the new, and drop the old. Some games survive, though. And, one of the survivors is Warcraft 3.

First of all, let me give you a basic description of this game. Warcraft is a real-time strategy game. The purpose is just as simple as this: you engage in a war to conquer your enemy by rallying an army. And, when it comes to strategic games, you might think that they are usually complex or difficult because you have to play it smart and pay attention to a lot of details. But, the fascinating thing is that you can come up with at least a thousand tactics, simple or complicated, to play based on the diversity of units. Units, also known as minions, are the main force of your army. They all have different capabilities. Warcraft 3 also has a simple game structure. To start a game, you choose one of the four races (Human, orc, etc.) to bring into battle. Every race has their unique advantage. If you want to build more advanced buildings or recruit more powerful troops, the game would explicitly indicate what you need to do. The most attractive feature has to be the hero system, or champion system. You get to select a champion you like to lead with. All of these factors are essential to reinforce the replayability, and are the reason that the game has survived so long.

The love for Warcraft 3 seems to hardly decay, and it may just keep growing. Recently, Blizzard has decided to make a “reforged” version of Warcraft 3, which, ironically is the game they had already given up on ten years ago. There is only one factor, the most important element, that keeps this game alive–the creative choices of the individual player. It is very easy to use mods in Warcraft. In addition, players have designed massive amounts of maps and new modes to keep this old game running. You can play with your friends, or endlessly compete with online players. In the end, Warcraft 3 is a game that is much more deep than a simple strategy game.

You might think that this game is too old to play, but, as I’ve said, it is a game that will never fade away. Check out the new reforged version!

Editor: Luke Langlois

Shakespeare Monologue Competition @ Palm Valley: “The Best of the Bard”

February 14, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

Student reviews compiled by Luke Langlois

On Friday, January 25th, our FANTASTIC Drama Department, in collaboration with the English Department, put on a Shakespeare monologue competition titled “The Best of the Bard” to determine who would move on to the next level of the national English Speaking Union Monologue Competition. For those who have not heard the results of the Palm Valley competition, Leo Milmet took first place, Marianne Capetz took second place, Caroline Scheil took third place–as well as audience’s favorite, and Charles Schnell received the honorable mention. While, inherently, this was a competition, this was also a chance for our dramatic stars to shine individually, and shine they did. In fact, the sharp performances of the drama students inspired the hearts of many students to write a review. Today, the blog presents to you a compilation of a few of these reviews. If you attended the competition, perhaps these reviews can provide you with some details that you missed. Or, if you were unable to attend the competition, these reviews will make sure you’re fully aware of the excellence of our monologue reciters.–Luke

Abridged Review From Claire Jenkins

Shakespeare was a complicated man, whose words are hard to translate into modern-day ideas, but the group of Palm Valley upper school students who took on this task completely mastered it. Overall, out of the around 23 competitors in the competition, not a single one was disappointing. . . . The competitor that stuck out the most to me was Castiel Yu, delivering a monologue using an older and complicated form of his second language. Regardless, he was still able to translate the expressions and passions beautifully. . . .The next competitor that stood out to me was Brennan Nick. Brennan cracks me up, and while I know his monologue was not comedic, his facial expressions got me. He is loud and proud, and I will always admire that about him. . . . Leo Milmet took first place, which he most definitely deserved. I’m sure he will go on to continue dazzling the judges and stealing hearts across the competition.

Abridged Review From Josh Tyer

I went into the Drama Class’s recent monologue presentation, “A Night with the Bard,” with an idea of what it would be like, but what I got blew my own expectations out of the water! That night, Amanda jumped out to me as someone who had come very far as an actress. I, personally, have acted alongside Amanda for a long time, and after seeing her performance that night I can definitely say that she has blossomed. Her monologue was a perfect fit. . . . What truly surprised me that night were those quiet performers who usually play smaller roles in productions. Aurora Berner, James Zheng, Isabella Goetschel, Elizabeth Chen, and Castiel Yu blew me away. Normally, these people are resigned within themselves in Drama, never truly letting their talent shine through. But when you give someone like James Zheng the stage, he will burst out with a performance of Julius Caesar that will give you chills. All of them took their performances and conquered them. Sometimes the quietest of people have a beautiful talent for acting just waiting to leap out and take hold of the stage.

Abridged Review From Sydney Armor

I am not sure if it was the fact that the competition was not during school hours, or that I had voluntarily chosen to go see it, but I must say that this was without a doubt the best monologue competition I have ever seen at Palm Valley School. Usually, I can choose two or three monologues that really stand out and will undoubtedly win. Here, however, there were about seven or eight that I found amazing. My favorite, however, was Caroline’s monologue. Her delivery was simply perfect, and I actually laughed out loud when she was performing. This is really rare, as I usually don’t find the monologues to be funny (even if they are meant to be). Her overdone facial expressions and little pauses when she was deciding whether she loved or hated a man simply made the entire monologue hilarious, and spectacularly well performed. . . . I also really liked Jake Sonderman’s monologue. He took on a similar persona to the character he played in The Drowsy Chaperone, Aldolpho. He was Aldolpho 2.0 during his monologue. His take on this womanizing, romance-obsessed man is almost perfect. . . . I don’t regret going to see the monologue competition. It was even worth going back to school on a Friday night.

Abridged Review From Shelby Armor

“Best of the Bard” was truly something to behold. Something about this monologue competition was just fun. When you have an atmosphere of people who truly want to be there, listening to Shakespeare in their free time, you get a different kind of environment; an inspiring environment. . . . I was a personal fan of Caroline’s monologue. I actually loved that monologue so much that I considered choosing it for my monologue way back when. I didn’t think I could pull it off, though, and seeing Caroline do it just made me realize how perfect that monologue was for Caroline. It was cutesy, comedic, and also provided for further thought on the part of the listener. There were also some people that I would have never expected to see performing, who were pouring their hearts out on stage — like Alex Bentley. I loved seeing him perform Macbeth; it was just so different from all of the familiar faces I’ve seen. All in all, I’m really glad I went. I got to see some truly amazing interpretations of classic Shakespeare monologues, and got to enjoy it in a truly inspiring environment.

Interested in more Shakespeare monologues? Come watch Leo perform–and represent Palm Valley–in the Desert Branch competition next Friday, February 22, at 11 a.m. at Palm Springs High School’s theater. He’ll perform his Shylock again and add a sonnet. If he wins, he moves on to perform in New York City at the Lincoln Center.

Editors: Luke Langlois and A.J. Patencio

a bangin’ almond milk recipe

February 8, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

By Makena Behnke

since milk has been a hot topic on the blog (and in blog class), i thought i would share my preferred form of milk beverage. almond milk has become very popular recently, and for a good reason. if you have some sort of dairy allergy or you just don’t like to drink it for whatever reason, “ta-da,” almond milk. i prefer to drink almond milk, but i personally don’t like store-bought almond milk. so, i make my own, and i think it’s a lot better.

things you’ll need:

almonds, 1 cup
water, 4 cups
blender
nut bags or cheese cloths
a medium bowl
a container (i use a glass milk bottle) for your fresh almond milk

1. first, you have your 1 cup of almonds, and you soak them for about 4-6 hours in the medium bowl. the water should cover the almonds (i use about 4 cups).

2. after soaking the almonds, you pour out the stale almond water and rinse the almonds to get the residue off. the almonds should be kind of tender right now, or at least not as hard as the dry ones were.

3. put them in a blender with another 4 cups of water, and blend them until there are no big almond pieces. i’m not sure how long it takes to blend, i just play it by ear.

4. pour the mixture into a cheese cloth/nut bag covering another bowl with a pour spout thingy (so it’s easier to pour into the bottle). once you’re done pouring it into the bowl, you squeeze the leftover pulp in the cheese cloth to get the most out of the almonds.

5. bam. you’re done. this makes about 3 cups. the almond milk keeps for about 2-3 days.

i like to use my almond milk in baking recipes, coffee, cereal, or you can just drink it straight because it has a natural sweetness to it. you could also add flavored syrups to the blender, but i prefer it plain. if you don’t strain it enough or if the bag breaks, there may be some almond pulp left in the bottom. it’s not going to kill you. enjoy.

my original recipe came from detoxinista.com. i didn’t make it up on my own.

Editor: Luke Langlois