Spring is in the Air

Take a breath of fresh air, can you smell the pollen? Feel the sneeze attacks and rashes bubbling up beneath your skin? No? Well, for those who suffer from allergies, you might want to try a few of these tips. So far this year, pollen experts estimate the spring allergy season to last until June. Seeing as how it is only the end of March, you may want to get prepared for coping with any of your usual seasonal symptom methods or try some of these:

1. If you don't mind taking medication, there are some excellent daily prescriptions that can be taken in the morning that allow you to enjoy 24 hours of the fresh outdoors.

2. If you prefer to stay away from medical drugs, make sure to stay indoors when possible and keep the windows shut. To deal with the heat it would be best to invest in air conditioning with good air filtrations levels in order to purify the air inside as much as possible. When you have to go outside,   try to leave the house with an air mask on, this'll also help refine the air you breath, even if it does look weird and make it difficult to communicate at times.

3. Acupuncture, which originates from traditional Chinese medicines, helps guide the flow of energy, or chi. The technique involves several needles that are so thin, they can't even be felt. Acupuncture has been known to not only cure physical aches and pains, but also even help reduce fevers and prevent pollen related allergy symptoms. If you don't mind a few painless pricks here and there, try consulting your nearest Chinese pharmacy.

4. Studies suggest that for some people, natural and alternative remedies can work wonderfully. You could invest some time towards researching herbal remedies or aromatherapy. For many, herbal treatments not only alleviate allergy symptoms, but are also relaxing.

• Try hanging a bundle of herbs in your shower as you rinse yourself off with hot water. The steam and heat helps activate the healing properties of the essential oils in plants and open your pores, making it easier to breathe through nasal congestion and smell the scents of anything from dried basil and eucalyptus, to lemon and lavender flowers.

I hope these tips help! Of course, they're only a few suggestions so feel free to comment below with any other methods that have helped you survive allergy season.

Artistic License

Ever wonder what the life of an artist is like?

As a creative person myself, I enjoy making little crafts and giving them as gifts or having them as decoration around the house
. As seen on many social media sites, such as Tumblr or Youtube, the internet is an excellent tool to develop a fan base and rise in popularity. From the click of a button one can now scroll through thousands of images or videos of artists and their masterpieces. This may include, but is not limited to, anything from carefully choreographed mob dance routines to eccentric furniture carved by hand from tree bark and stone. Thanks to the internet and easy forms of mass communications due to modern technology, seeing the process by which these artists make a living often leads to sudden inspiration.

As I watch in awe, I can view a live-stream broadcast of an artist sketching out their famous $5 commissions for a textured digital drawing of the latest "hit" animated show or a behind the scenes blog of a popular band and what happens while filming a music video. Useful tidbits of information tend to pop out of nowhere, be it concerning an individual's personal life or the best way to pull off the classic Moon Walk.

I usually learn more just by watching these underrated artists bring life to a blank canvas for an hour on the weekends than from an entire week in class at school from 7:30 am to 2:30 pm. They may not be as known as Van Gogh or Frost and it may just be me from an artistic standpoint, but I find the art and the internet to be wonderful learning tools for immensely important information relevant to our daily lives. Unfortunately, many adults think current and future generations are spending too much time on the internet. This is understandable as many teenagers spend hours a day browsing online sites, but at least for me, I find it to be a true learning experience. More so than school sometimes as the American school system is a rather vicious cycle of education and high tuitions that lead to increasingly difficult and demanding job requirements. But hey, who needs to know how to manage an online payment transaction account or how to develop a game app or how to pay taxes or balance a check when we all have the pythagorean theorem and cell division process engraved into our brains over the years!