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Your August 2019 horoscope is here

August 3, 2019 | News | No Comments

Leo
23 July-23 August
A new dawn, a new day and a new life sees you feeling good this month. A mind and body makeover could bring love your way or change the ground rules of a current relationship. Being on the same page with finances may also be strangely stimulating now, so discussing the practicalities of a big investment or emotional commitment is vital before making things official.

Your August style icon: Cara Delevingne

Virgo
24 August-22 September
You’re often a slow burner but once you get motivated there’s no stopping you. An ‘aha!’ moment occurs this month as a pent-up or ‘under the radar’ scenario gets aired in all its glory. A new look or outlook goes with this previously unexplored territory and, since you’re feeling unusually drawn to putting pleasure before duty, love could be the catalyst for change.

Your August style icon: Beyoncé

Libra
23 September-23 October
You’re super-motivated to get a bucket list ambition off the ground or make a bid for personal glory now, but it may take a team to get your plans truly moving. Collaborating as a power couple could enhance romance as well as help you to realise a dream. Invest time and energy into working out the logistics and in three short months you could be manifesting some major magic.

Your August style icon: Mia Wasilowska

Scorpio
24 October-22 November
Motivate your career mojo this month. Loving your job more could bring others into your orbit now who also admire your work. It could even be time for a career change or to break out on your own or potentially to connect with a crew that shares your values and builds you up rather than wears you down. As an added incentive, a work-related romance could emerge now too.

Your August style icon: Katy Perry

Sagittarius
23 November-21 December
A yearn to learn could translate into career empowerment now. It’s no time to be shy, so state your agenda with conviction and prepare to be seen and heard and adored. Whether you’re studying, setting yourself up as a guiding light for others to follow on social media or in real life, this month your words have extra power. Get ready to be revered by co-workers and CEOs alike.

Your August style icon: Rita Ora

Capricorn
22 December-20 January
Nothing floats your boat more than financial security, but this month money gets seductive rather than simply dutiful. You’re more willing to be flamboyant and take risks but do get your facts and research right first. A small financial or romantic flutter could develop into something bigger to bring more adventure, greater knowledge and maybe even the ideal romance your way.

Your August style icon: Kate Moss

Aquarius
21 January-18 February
Let go. That doesn’t mean ‘let yourself go’ even though keeping up appearances may feel exhausting now. Instead, being your true self could be what seals the deal on a work or romantic partnership. Opportunities to connect at a deep and very real level are all around you now, though it may mean surrendering your legendary independence to make a truly successful merger.

Your August style icon: Jennifer Aniston

Pisces
19 February-20 March 
A lighter touch could have a major impact on close relationships now. The couple that trains together, remains together and a healthier approach, both emotionally and physically, ensures that business and personal connections stay in good shape. Question everything this month but ultimately trust your gut instinct and your heart to lead you to the right answers.

Your August style icon: Olivia Wilde

Aries
21 March-20 April
You’ll pay for your pleasures this month, but in a good way. A recent hedonistic phase morphs into a desire to turn your body into a temple as you seek to blend pleasure, work and health into a money-magnetising, love-attracting combo. Focus less on your go-to crew now and more on your current or potential Significant Other, as this month two is your lucky number.

Your August style icon: Saoirse Ronan

Taurus
21 April-21 May
It’s all happening at home now. Make a clean sweep of all that’s past its sell-by date and replace it with a new air of glitz and glamour. Clearing out actual or emotional debris lets the sun light up your home-life and brings new energy into your love-life, so aim for uncomplicated romance and nurture your creative talents too as both areas get to shine this month.

Your August style icon: Gigi Hadid

Gemini
22 May-21 June
Your sparkling repartee and fascinating ideas draw others to you now like moths to a flame as you exude the kind of charisma that makes you a leading light in a small but carefully curated social circle. Romance could be part of this luscious love-in now too, and discussions about living arrangements could take things further. Just be sure to fine tune every detail.

Your August style icon: Carey Mulligan

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Cancer
22 June-22 July
A lucky money break or a wiser way to manage your finances emerges now. It could involve investing in your future or joining a sibling or neighbour in a venture that both saves money and makes more cash. There’s a strong romantic vibe now too and clicking with someone over shared values could reveal a keeper in your midst, or unearth hidden depths in an ongoing love-match.

Your August style icon: Joan Smalls

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By GETAWAYTHEBERKSHIRES

Iran’s Foreign Minister Was Invited to Meet Trump in the Oval Office

August 3, 2019 | News | No Comments

Last month, amid a rapid-fire escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, received an unexpected invitation—to meet President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. The diplomatic overture was made by Senator Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican, during a meeting with Zarif in New York on July 15th, according to American and Iranian sources and a well-informed diplomat.

With President Trump’s blessing, Paul had been working on the idea for several weeks, in consultation with the White House and the State Department. An intermediary had reached out to the Iranians on Paul’s behalf three weeks before Zarif was due in New York for meetings at the United Nations. On July 14th, the day before leaving for New York, Paul had a discussion about Iran with the President, while playing a round at the Trump golf course in Sterling, Virginia.

On July 15th, Paul and his senior adviser, Doug Stafford, met Zarif at the elegant residence of Iran’s U.N. ambassador, on Fifth Avenue, a block from the Metropolitan Museum. In his decades as a diplomat, Zarif, who studied under Condoleezza Rice’s Ph.D. adviser, at the University of Denver, has built a modest rolodex with the private numbers of members of the House and Senate. “I always see people from Congress,” Zarif told me and a small group of journalists later that week, without naming names. But this was his first meeting with Paul, who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The two men initially talked about long-standing issues, notably Tehran’s nuclear program, and also recent flare-ups in the Persian Gulf, according to the sources. In May and June, the United States accused Tehran of sabotaging six oil tankers just beyond the strategic Strait of Hormuz. On June 20th, Iran shot down one of America’s most sophisticated drones, claiming that it was flying over Iranian airspace. Trump considered military retaliation, but called it off at the last minute, because of projected casualties. While Zarif was in New York, the U.S. downed an Iranian drone, on July 18th. As tempers frayed, Washington was abuzz with worry about the prospect of a new war in the Middle East. Paul’s mission was to break through the messy layers of conflict and launch a direct diplomatic channel, at the highest level. The overture was a miniature version of Trump’s tactic in circumventing traditional diplomacy by dealing directly with the North Korean leadership.

During an hour-long conversation, Zarif offered Paul ideas about how to end the nuclear impasse and address Trump’s concerns. He later outlined some of them to our group of journalists and subsequently in more detail to me. “As a diplomat, I have to always think about alternatives,” he told us. Among them was the idea that the Iranian Parliament could codify, in law, a fatwa issued by Iran’s Supreme Leader, originally in 2003 and again in 2010, that forbids the production or use of nuclear weapons. “We consider the use of such weapons as haraam [forbidden] and believe that it is everyone’s duty to make efforts to secure humanity against this great disaster,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, in 2010.

But, if Trump wanted more, he would also have to offer more, Zarif suggested. Another possibility was moving forward one of the later steps of the nuclear deal brokered between Iran and the world’s six major powers in 2015—the accord that Trump abandoned in May, 2018. Zarif said that Iran could bring forward ratification of the so-called Additional Protocol, which is currently due to be implemented by 2023—potentially this year. The protocol, which has already been signed and ratified by a hundred and forty-six nations, allows more intrusive international inspections—on both declared and undeclared nuclear sites in member states—in perpetuity. “The Additional Protocol is a crucial means by which the world verifies that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons,” Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, told me on Friday. “If you don’t trust the Iranians, you want inspections in perpetuity.” By ratifying the protocol, Iran would forfeit one of the so-called sunset clauses in the 2015 deal, which had triggered deep skepticism among Republicans, some Democrats, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. In exchange, Zarif suggested, Trump could go to Congress to lift sanctions on Iran, as originally provided under the 2015 nuclear deal but not ratified in legislation. Both sides would then feel more secure in the commitments sought in the original deal.

Paul proposed that the Iranian diplomat lay out the same ideas to Trump in person. The President, Paul said, had authorized him to extend an invitation to meet in the Oval Office as early as that week, the U.S., Iranian, and diplomatic sources told me. A White House spokesperson declined to comment about the invitation on the record.

Trump has long defied the hawkish members of his staff—particularly his national-security adviser, John Bolton—who have been skeptical about the potential for successful high-level diplomacy with Iran. On Wednesday, a senior Administration official told reporters, in a teleconference briefing, “President Trump has been very open that he is ready to speak to the senior leadership in Tehran and that he has certainly not prevented any of our friends or allies from communicating with them as well.” Trump relayed a message about potential diplomacy to Iran’s Supreme Leader through the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, in June. “The President has placed no restrictions on elected officials having conversations with foreign counterparts,” the official said.

During its first two years, the Trump Administration reached out to Iran about possible meetings at least eight times, including twice when Trump and the Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, were both at the U.N. General Assembly, European and Iranian diplomats told me. One of those requests, relayed through the French President, Emmanuel Macron, in 2017, was made on the same day that Trump railed against Iran at the General Assembly. Trump called the Islamic Republic a corrupt dictatorship whose leaders had turned a wealthy country “into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos.” Insulted, Rouhani declined the invitation to meet privately.

Zarif told Paul that the decision to meet Trump in the Oval Office was not his to make; he would have to consult with Tehran. He expressed concern that any meeting might end up as little more than a photo op, without substance, the sources told me. Last December, when I interviewed Zarif at the Doha Forum, he said that Tehran wanted more than just a photograph and a two-page document from any future talks—a reference to the limited outcome of Trump’s first summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, in Singapore last year. “We don’t just do a talk for a photo opportunity and a two-page document,” he said. “We have a hundred-and-fifty-page document,” a reference to the detailed nuclear accord that Trump abandoned.

After his meeting with Paul, Zarif relayed the overture to Iran’s leaders. They did not approve a meeting—at this time. Rouhani is due to attend the U.N. General Assembly next month.

Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican, is reportedly also working with the Administration on Iran, albeit on a different track. He was part of the group that played golf—and discussed Iran—with Trump on July 14th. Graham, who is more hawkish than Paul, has been consulting with allies on the framework of a wider deal, according to the Daily Beast. It would call on Tehran to accept the so-called 123 Agreement, which was outlined in legislation passed in 1954. It imposes nine safeguards on the use of nuclear material—to insure that it is not diverted to make a bomb—in exchange for U.S. coöperation on nuclear technology. The United States has 123 Agreements with forty-nine countries and Taiwan.

“I told the president: Put the 123 on the table with the Iranians. Make them say ‘no,’ ” Graham told the Daily Beast. “I think the Iranians will say no. And I think that will force the Europeans’ hands.” Since Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal, the United States and Europe have split more deeply over Iran than on any other issue since the forging of a Western alliance after the Second World War. Britain, France, and Germany have repeatedly recommitted to the original nuclear deal. In June, they launched a financial mechanism, INSTEX, to help companies circumvent U.S. sanctions if they did business with Iran. As tensions have heightened in the Persian Gulf, long-standing allies have blamed the Administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign in the past fifteen months, blaming the approach for provoking an aggressive Iranian response. Last month, the Europeans either resisted or refused to join Operation Sentinel, a U.S. plan to secure tanker traffic and maritime security in the Gulf, and instead opted to make their own arrangements.

On July 31st, with no breakthrough on the horizon, the Trump Administration sanctioned Zarif for “reprehensible” behavior, for having links to the Revolutionary Guard (which, in April, was designated as a foreign terrorist organization), and for functioning “as a propaganda minister, not a foreign minister.” In the briefing on Wednesday, the senior Administration official said that Zarif “has had this veneer—masquerade, if you will—of being the sincere and reasonable interlocutor for the regime. Our point today is that he is no such thing. We have granted him every courtesy. We have allowed him to exercise the right to free speech that that regime routinely denies to its own citizens.”

Technically, the sanctions mean that the United States can seize any property Zarif holds in the United States, block him from travelling here, and threaten with sanctions any person, company, or financial institution that does business with Zarif. In practical terms, the move may have limited impact. Under the U.N. charter, the United States is obliged, as the host country, to grant travel to diplomats doing business at the global body. The commitment has rarely been violated. Zarif has usually visited the United Nations three or four times a year. Iran’s U.N. mission expects him to attend the U.N. General Assembly next month. The Europeans, meanwhile, volubly protested the move. “We believe all diplomatic channels must remain open, especially in the current state of heightened tensions,” the French Foreign Ministry tweeted.

Zarif used Trump’s favorite medium to respond. “The US’ reason for designating me is that I am Iran’s ‘primary spokesperson around the world,’” Zarif tweeted. “Is the truth really that painful? It has no effect on me or my family, as I have no property or interests outside of Iran. Thank you for considering me such a huge threat to your agenda.”

Paul’s office had no formal comment. “I have to refer you to the tweet,” his press office told me. On his Twitter account, the senator had shared an Associated Press story about the Administration’s move against Zarif, above which he wrote, “If you sanction diplomats you’ll have less diplomacy.”

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The Stunning Grounds, and Tragic History, of the Lost Gardens of Heligan

August 3, 2019 | News | No Comments

I don’t understand the point of garden visits. Why do ordinary people, the owners of mere balconies and tiny yards, torment themselves by touring other people’s grand estates? Nut trees, stables, ancestral compost heaps: I need no reminder of what I am missing. So, unlike virtually every other gardener in Britain, I had no intention of spending my summer wandering among aristocratic roses and marvelling at the fine tilth of Lord Whatsit’s sandy carrot beds. All those rambling sweet peas make me furious; yes, Tristram, it is a handsome cardoon bed, but some of us are struggling to find space for a single extra lettuce. And then, wholly by accident, I found myself in the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

How do you lose a garden? We’ve all read Forster, Woolf, and Galsworthy; at least, we’ve watched “Downton Abbey.” We understand the tribulations of the great British country houses as the country creaked into the twentieth century: thieving footmen, deranged ladies’-maids, and troublesome romances between under-butlers. These were the good old days of hand-scissored lawns; labor was cheap, the poor still had caps to doff, and, if the discreet charm of the poshingtons’ comfortable lives depended on scullions washing crystal glasses as dawn broke, at least the natural order was intact. Partridges do need de-boning. Knot gardens don’t prune themselves, you know.

Then everything stopped. It wasn’t only the firm-jawed elder heirs to complicated inheritances who fell, elegantly, during the four long years of the First World War. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary servicemen, and some women, were killed or mutilated at the Somme and Ypres; because they were recruited together, entire villages, households, and families were decimated in a single day. Suddenly, as we Brits still often say, one couldn’t get the staff. The literature of interwar Britain is full of bad food, dirty floors, and surly amateurish cooks and cleaners. Middle-class women learned to do it themselves; high taxation and death duties meant that big houses were divided or sold. But who would look after the gardens?

In 1914, a staff of twenty-three tended the grounds of the Heligan estate, an unremarkable stately home in Cornwall, at the southwestern tip of England. It had belonged to four generations of the Tremayne family, gentlemen plant-enthusiasts; if you think your modest garden takes a lot of work, imagine hundreds and hundreds of acres of rarities. There were fan-trained peaches and melon yards to maintain, delicate tropical trees to swaddle, famous camellias and rhododendrons and, behind it all, out of sight, a complex and labor-intensive infrastructure of rainwater gulleys, sawmills, and steam-powered greenhouse heaters. By the end of the war, nine Heligan men—gardeners and laborers—were dead.

Who now had time to look after any garden, particularly one on the scale of Heligan? It grew unkempt, then neglected, and, when the property’s childless squire moved to Italy, in 1923, abandoning his monkey puzzles, tree ferns, and magnolias to a series of uninterested tenants, the Georgian Ride, the Mushroom House, and Grotto were quickly forgotten.

Even the most casual gardener knows how quickly cultivated plants can run amok. In my favorite American children’s book, “McBroom’s Wonderful One-Acre Farm,” by Sid Fleischman, poor farmers are saved by the absurdly pumped-up fertility of their tiny smallholding. I always think of that story when I’m in Cornwall, a peculiar, beautiful place full of underpopulated corners where history lies almost ignored and where, thanks to its microclimate of soft rain and warm breezes, every hedgerow is a rampaging orgy of plant life. At Heligan, the soil was manured, aerated, and assiduously double dug for centuries; plants must have been queuing at the gates. Imagine the thick, wet, fertile quiet, coupled with that delicious dirt: precious specimens, left to their own devices, silently gorging, seedlings and weeds running wild. Within weeks, the paths would have been entangled with bramble and honeysuckle, the herb garden strangled with bindweed. For decades, Heligan grew untamed.

Then, in the nineteen-nineties, a new owner, a distant Tremayne, was exploring the jungle when he discovered a door in a wall and gradually uncovered not only a sophisticated and beautiful garden beneath the wilderness but the remnants of a world frozen on the edge of terrible change. There was a half-filled bucket of coal waiting to fire the steam-powered boiler. Young men, about to go to war, had written their names in pencil on the whitewashed walls of the Thunderbox Room; there was a pets’ graveyard, a pioneering kiwi-fruit vine, a head gardener’s tea kettle, and a pineapple pit, heated with fresh manure.

After an intensive restoration process, involving plant uncovering, well rejuvenation, and debates about the authenticity of electrical heating, the gardens were opened to the public: not as another impressive estate but as a First World War “living memorial” recognized by the Imperial War Museum, in London. Now any ignorant city-dweller can nod knowledgeably at the charcoal burner and beehives, admire the Technicolor banks of dahlias in the cutting garden, and covet—in my case, quite violently—the brass watering cans and elaborate glasshouses, with their beaver-tail glazing and delicious levers. The urban farmer within each of us can thrill to the smell of freshly sawn tree trunks, to cogs and pulleys, icehouses and watercourses. But the point of Heligan is archeology, not nostalgia; in some ways, it is the perfect antidote to garden envy. It’s full of walls of bee boles, cobbles, and potting sheds: a beautiful monument to hard work, anonymous labor, and shattered innocence. And it will break your heart.

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Meet Bella Hadid's new favourite swimwear designer

August 2, 2019 | News | No Comments

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2nd Aug 2019

Louisa Ballou’s swimsuits are made for Instagram. So it’s no wonder they have caught the eye of Bella Hadid, who posted a picture of her wearing Ballou’s (now sold-out) tropical-inspired one-piece on holiday in Mykonos this week, after being introduced to the brand via PR friend Fanny Bourdette-Donon. “I woke up to all these messages from my friends,” Ballou, 26, tells on discovering the supermodel’s post. “It’s so cool to see people wearing things you create, especially someone like [Hadid].” 

It’s not just Hadid who has been won over by the Central Saint Martins (CSM) graduate’s work, which features bold, multicolour prints, striking cut-outs and heavy-duty O-rings. Buyers at luxury e-tailer Ssense quickly snapped up pieces from her 2017 degree collection, while the likes of Jorja Smith and Kali Uchis have also been spotted in her designs. 

While her one-pieces have garnered the most attention, the designer – who is also a keen surfer – emphasises that her brand is about more than just swimwear. Her collections also feature surf tops, mesh dresses and skirts that are designed to be layered on top of the swimsuits. “The pieces are versatile; you can wear them at the beach, but also style them with your other clothes,” she explains. 

Ballou’s experimentation with print and colour has been heavily inspired by her upbringing in Charleston, South Carolina, where she’s moved back to since graduating. “It’s always been in my visual vocabulary,” she says. “In Charleston, it’s a very tropical climate, so the colours are super vibrant. And my mom is a gardener by profession; she’s always had tropical flowers and plants.” An internship with Roksanda Ilincic while she was studying fashion print at CSM has influenced her work, too: “She’s so confident with how she uses colour; that definitely informed my approach.”

Ballou has also interned at high-end Spanish house Loewe and surf brand Vissla, and hopes to use this experience to bridge the gap between luxury and swimwear, in terms of design ethos and price point (her pieces start from $165). “My brand sits in-between a swim and a ready-to-wear brand,” she explains, adding that producing high-quality pieces that fit well is key. “I want the person wearing [my design] to feel good in it,” she says. “I really consider where it sits on the body, the most flattering lines and cut; how you can move in it as well.”

Now Bella Hadid’s a fan, expect to see Ballou’s designs filling your Instagram feed. She’s determined not to be swept up in the hype, though, and is already looking ahead to her next collection: “I’m not so much after a moment, I’m really looking to build a brand.”

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How food can improve your mood, according to the latest research

August 2, 2019 | News | No Comments

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2nd Aug 2019

It’s midweek, mid-afternoon and you’ve hit a slump. How many of us have googled, ‘food to boost your mood’, before reaching for the sugar-rush anyway? 

Nutritional therapists and dietitians have long been advocating the link between mental health and diet, and there’s an ever-increasing amount of research in the area. So, grab a snack, as we recap everything you need to know about how food really can improve your mood.

The World Health Organisation reported that over 300 million people around the world battle with some form of depression. And, “studies show that there are clear links between your diet and mood,” says health behaviour change specialist Dr Heather McKee. 

This year, researchers at the University of Siena, Italy retrospectively reviewed data from psychiatric patients treated in 2017, looking specifically at their levels of vitamin D. The results confirmed that 94 per cent of those in the study showed vitamin D levels below the normal range, and suggested that “in addition to other benefits, vitamin D supplementation may improve the outcomes of illnesses like depression”. 

Meanwhile, a 2019 study by the University of Manchester compared data from over 46,000 people and found that improving diet had a positive effect on mental health, with weight-loss, fat reducing and nutrient-rich diets all having similar benefits for depressive symptoms. “This is actually good news,” says Dr Joseph Firth, honorary research fellow at The University of Manchester, explaining that the findings suggest that “highly-specific or specialised diets are unnecessary for the average individual.” Instead, Firth advocates simple changes: “Eating more nutrient-dense meals, which are high in fibre and vegetables, while cutting back on fast-foods and refined sugars, appears to be sufficient for avoiding the potentially negative psychological effects of a ‘junk food’ diet.” 

The gut is often referred to as our second brain. “Looking into the connection between the brain and the gut, it’s important to take into consideration that an estimated 90 per cent of serotonin receptors are located in the gut,” says McKee. Although, she continues: “Researchers recommend ‘fixing the food first’, ie. looking at what we eat, before trying gut modifying-therapies, such as probiotics and prebiotics, to improve how we feel.” 

That said, the research is there, and ever increasing. A study on mice by the University of Virginia in 2017 found that eating live-yoghurt containing the probiotic strain, Lactobacillus, reduces the amount of a metabolite in the blood called kynurenic, which helps to reduce inflammation and improve mood. While the researchers recognised that mice have no way to communicate feelings, they studied “depressive-like behaviour” and “despair behaviour”, thought to be the best model for looking at depression in animals. Following these results, lead researcher Alban Gaultier, PhD, is now testing these theories on people. “It would be magical just to change your diet, to change the bacteria you take, and fix your health – and your mood,” says Gaultier.

Elsewhere, Northeastern University in Boston are currently exploring a bacteria in our gut that produces an inhibitory neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA interferes with signals sent between nerves, which keeps your brain from being overstimulated and provides a sense of calm. If this system isn’t working properly, it can lead to insomnia, anxiety and depression. While there has been significant research in the last 10 years linking the gut microbiome to various aspects of our health, microbiologist on the study Philip Strandwitz PhD, notes that “the general concept of delivering bacteria or manipulating gut bacteria to improve brain health is still new”. 

Strandwitz continues: “To be perfectly honest, this is a wild, wild frontier right now. We’re learning so much about ourselves and the brain is no longer this magical organ in isolation. Instead, it’s obviously connected to all facets of our being, and it turns out microbes are part of that.”

Probiotics and prebiotics: Once you’ve assessed your daily diet, it may be worth adding a probiotic and prebiotic into the mix. Fermented foods such as miso, kimchi and sauerkraut are rich in Lactobacillus and probiotic powerhouses. Registered dietitian Alexia Dempsey also recommends upping your in-take of inulin, a prebiotic that helps feed the bacteria, found in Jerusalem artichoke, chicory, lentils, broccoli and garlic. 

Tryptophan: Foods rich in tryptophan help to bolster your serotonin levels (the happy hormone), so up your intake of salmon, spinach, seeds and chicken to lift a low mood. 

Selenium: Selenium is a powerful antioxidant that helps to protect against oxidative damage and supports your immune and nervous systems. “If you are deficient in selenium it may increase the incidence of feeling depressed and other negative mood states, but eating as much as three brazil nuts a day can help lift your levels,” recommends Dempsey. 

B vitamins: “Thiamin B1, Niacin B3 or Cobalamin B12 play a role in energy metabolism, so a lack of them can make you feel tired, irritable and depressed,” explains Dempsey. While these are predominantly found in animal by-products, Marmite and dark leafy vegetables are vegan-friendly options.

Vitamin D: Oily fish, fish liver oils and fortified foods contain the highest levels of vitamin D, although supplements are the easiest way to up your intake.

Fats: “Fast foods and plant oils (omega 6 oils), including rapeseed and canola oils, can have a pro-inflammatory effect in our bodies,” explains nutritional therapist and author of , Petronella Ravenshear. “These foods induce inflammation, which directly increases the risk for depression.” That’s not to say all fat is bad. “There are anti-inflammatory fats which come from olive oil, avocados and oily fish that are worth stocking up on, as they reduce inflammation and help improve your mood,” says Ravenshear. 

Sugar: Unsurprisingly, Ravenshear is also an advocate of cutting back on sugar to avoid the highs and lows of unbalanced blood sugar levels. “We need whole unprocessed foods, such as fish and shellfish, vegetables including seaweed, fruit and nuts and seeds to stay healthy in mind and body,” she advises.

Water: If you tweak just one thing though, stay hydrated. “As little as 5 per cent dehydration can have effects on your concentration, mood and energy levels, so staying well hydrated might support a positive mood,” says Dempsey.

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Dempsey stresses that it’s important to “remember that depression and anxiety are multifactorial in their etiology and no one change is the answer. Seek professional help if you are worried about your mood.”

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By GETAWAYTHEBERKSHIRES

This is the perfect job for you, according to your star sign

August 2, 2019 | News | No Comments

The search to find one’s professional calling is neither easy nor straightforward. Interviews, applications, prerequisites, emails, expectations from parents and friends, external pressures, hopes and aspirations, geographical barriers—all are possible hurdles we can face in the process of securing a job.

Whether approaching the end of a university degree, finishing high school or simply looking to segue careers, knowing which job is right for you can be an overwhelming, seemingly endless challenge, especially if you are a creative.

While some careers present more straightforward paths—study this, intern there, become that—other pursuits can be harder to channel into one single thing, and even harder to know how to apply or how to study for.

Enter our star signs. Horoscope readings have been used for years to tell us about everything from our love interests (is now the right month to court someone? Are we headed for emotional turmoil when Mercury is in retrograde?) to our financials to our moods. And, if we look carefully enough, star signs tell us a lot about our personalities, our character traits and—if mapped out properly—the kinds of jobs or industries we might be more inclined to.  

While the stars might not be able to tell us if we will like our jobs, how long we’ll work for or what we’ll be doing in a decade’s time, they might give us some clues. What job is written in your stars?

Above image credit: Søren Jepsen

Capricorn

22 December – 20 January

Ever heard that people born in this month are ambitious, persistent, practical and disciplined? Think about the Capricorns that are close to you: do these traits line up? An earth sign ruled by the planet Saturn, Capricorns pride themselves on being serious, independent and rooted in the real. For this reason, Capricorns are keen to learn, but keener to apply their learning in the real world, the workforce.

For the creative-yet-serious Capricorn, consider a Bachelor of Business you can transfer to a profession in retail environments or exhibition designs, or a Bachelor of Software Engineering from which you’ll qualify as a fully-fledged engineer or developer and can get straight to work.

Image credit: Søren Jepsen

Aquarius

21 January – 18 February 

If you’re born in this month, you’ll know this already: those with Aquarius signs are thought to be original, independent thinkers who enjoy intellectual stimulation and helping others. An air sign ruled by the planets Uranus and Saturn, the career prospects for the Aquarius-born range the gamut, given they have so many interests.

A Bachelor of Communication Design will meld your intellectual needs with your desires to help others, as you’ll be helping clients or companies to tell their stories better. And you’ll be able to accomplish this in countless ways: graphic design, photography, marketing and illustration to name a few… the possibilities are endless!

Image credit: Søren Jepsen

Pisces

19 February – 20 March

Chances are, if you’re a Pisces, you were born to work in a creative field. Passionate, intuitive, musical, artistic—all of these are the qualities that spring to mind in relation to people born in this month. A water sign ruled by the planets Neptune and Jupiter, Pisces like to share these qualities with others, so they’re probably best suited to working in groups.

One degree seems especially fitting for Pisces-born: a Bachelor of Digital Media. Rather than being restrained to a qualification that translates into one or two highly specific jobs, this degree allows you to flex different creative muscles. Potential roles you could fill at different companies? That of a 3D animator, character designer, creative director, game artist, visual effects artist, social media designer and video editor. You’re bound to find your passions in this mix.

Image credit: Jonathan Daniel Pryce

Aries

21 March – 19 April

Have any friends that are especially determined, optimistic, passionate and enthusiastic? Sounds like they were born in this month. A fire sign ruled by the planet Mars, Aries-born creatives are looking for dynamism and stimulation in matters of work and play.

Look no further: a Bachelor of Game Art should do just the trick. With this qualification, one can go on to become a game artist, an animator, a game programmer or even a data analyst or AI researcher—all excellent professions to show off your collaborative skills and knack for organisation.

Image credit: Søren Jepsen

Taurus

20 April – 20 May

Patient, reliable, responsible and practical. Do these qualities ring a bell? They should if your birthday unfolds in this month. An earth sign ruled by the planet Venus, people born in this month value tactical experiences and working hard to get the job done as best as they can.

A perfect balance of their qualities could be found in the following qualification: a Bachelor of Interior Design. With opportunities both commercial, residential and retail, Interior Designers can really exercise their knack for sensory stimulation here and can choose how hands-on they’d like to be, going on to become either brand strategists, joinery designers, retail design consultants or restaurant design consultants.

Image credit: Jonathan Daniel Pryce

Gemini

21 May – 21 June

Known for being equally as indecisive as they are quick to learn, Geminis can get a bad reputation. Yet when it comes to the creative fields, Geminis are famously known to be great artists, writers and athletes. An air sign ruled by the planet Mercury, Geminis enjoy having fun and learning about all that the world has to offer.

Gemini-born could end up doing a multitude of different things in their professional careers but consider, perhaps, a career in UX and web design. You could become an online producer or web designer, and then go on to found your own company, blog or business in whatever niche you’re most interested in. Your tertiary studies are just the beginning.

Image credit: Jonathan Daniel Pryce

Cancer

22 June – 22 July

Ever emotional and sensitive people, those born in this month truly value family, friends and their home. A water sign ruled by the Moon, a person with a Cancer sign is thought to be imaginative and persuasive, as well as tenacious.

So how to combine imagination with emotion, sensitivity with tenacity? Why not pour your energies into a Bachelor of Branded Fashion Design. Clothes, after all, communicate ideas to us and tug on our heart (and purse) strings. A qualification like this could lead to a myriad of different fashion-related jobs. You could go on to become a fashion buyer, a merchandise planner, a product developer, a textile designer or a trend forecaster. What will you choose?

Image credit: Jonathan Daniel Pryce

Leo

23 July – 22 August

If you are born in this month, we don’t need to tell you how creative, cheerful, passionate and humorous you are. You’re a lover of colour, of energy and entertainment, so when it comes to your line of work, you need to be stimulated at all times.

A fire sign ruled by the Sun, a Diploma of Photo Imaging might just satisfy your imaginations. With a qualification like this, you really can make of it what you wish, and easily segue into a photographic career specialising in weddings, food, sport, architecture or become a photo technician or re-toucher. No shortage of creative outlets here.

Image credit: Jonathan Daniel Pryce

Virgo

23 August – 22 September

Let’s get straight to the point: Virgos are practical, hardworking and have extreme attention to detail. And these qualities should be put to good use.

An earth sign ruled by the planet Mercury, Virgos are methodical and well organised, and can transfer these skills easily in a professional setting. So, when it comes to their studies, a Bachelor of Business seems like an obvious place to start. This will set the groundwork for their career, so consider this degree your foundation. From here, you can pursue more creative outlets, but with all of the necessary know-how.

Image credit: Jonathan Daniel Pryce

Libra

23 September – 23 October

Ever cooperative, fair and diplomatic, Libras lend themselves to creative careers because they are great at talking things through and listening to other people’s perspectives. They can foster great partnerships, which are key to producing the best work and maintaining long-term client relationships.

An air sign ruled by the planet Venus, Libras also love to indulge in art and music, so when considering possible study courses, a Bachelor of Communication Design seems like an ideal fit. You’ll have the chance to work with others and your ability to do so easily will shine through, whether you end up in the fields of illustration, design strategy, photography or book and publication design.

Image credit: Jonathan Daniel Pryce

Scorpio

24 October – 22 November

People born in this month are thought to be equally passionate as they are stubborn, and sometimes these two qualities can go hand-in-hand. A water signed ruled by the planets Pluto and Mars, Scorpio-born people are natural born leaders; they are decisive, assertive and know themselves and their interests.

That’s why students born in this month will probably gravitate towards degrees that are easily transferable into specific jobs. Take a Bachelor of Interior Design or a Bachelor of Software Engineering, for example. These qualifications will future proof your employment in jobs that cater to exactly what you studied, so you can go on to apply for work at an interior design firm or be hired as a software engineer.

Image credit: Jonathan Daniel Pryce

Sagittarius

23 November – 21 December

Sagittarius-born creatives appreciate travel, humour and feeding their curiosities. They are enthusiastic about all that the world has to offer and value their freedom to explore. A fire sign ruled by the planet Jupiter, it’s likely those born in this month will want to pursue a degree that gives them flexibility to exercise different creative muscles and enter into different career paths, or else they’ll grow bored.

A Bachelor of Digital Media should offer this versatility. With a qualification like this, one’s professional opportunities are really endless. Jobs run the gamut from 3D animator, to concept artist, to visual effects artist to a colour grader or video editor. And this open-endedness is a good thing, too, because there’s no need to limit your learning to one set thing.

Image credit: Jonathan Daniel Pryce

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Inside the luxury Mustique villa Kate Middleton and Prince William vacationed in

August 2, 2019 | News | No Comments

Image credits: supplied

What is it about Mustique, the private island in the Caribbean, that Prince William and Kate Middleton find so alluring? Is it perhaps the fact that it’s a rather beautiful hideaway? Or, that it boasts a world class security team, or maybe it’s the luxury facilities that allow for the royals to challenge each other in a game of tennis or scuba dive in the warm Caribbean sea. Whatever it is, it keeps the Cambridges coming back for more, year on year. 

The duke and duchess, who were last spotted holidaying in the sun-soaked destination this time last year, have been visiting Mustique since 2008. While they stayed at Cotton House in 2018, they opted for the five-star Villa Antilles for their most recent stay, where they celebrated Prince George’s sixth birthday.

Per The Sun, the family, who were accompanied by Middleton’s parents, forked out almost $48,000 per week to stay in the luxury five-bedroom villa – meaning their two-week holiday would have totaled approximately $96,000. 

Built in 2016 by property developer and friend of Prince William, Andrew Dunn, Villa Antilles proved the perfect place for the royals to rest and recuperate. Complete with a housekeeper, butler, live-in chef providing menus tailored to each guest’s wants and needs, 18-metre infinity pool, and private garden, the location was one we’re sure the royals will be returning to.

Described in an advertisement as “an exceptional new contemporary colonial-style villa set in the Endeavour Hills, with a captivating outlook to Bequia and St Vincent beyond,” the villa’s stunning sea views and al-fresco dining areas are no doubt a major draw card. To see inside the luxury location the royals vacationed in for yourself, scroll on. 

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Frequently Asked Questions: My Engagement

August 2, 2019 | News | No Comments

How’d he pop the question?

First of all, your assumption that Peter is the one who proposed is both appreciated and correct! As for the proposal: it was the most intimate moment of my life, which I’d be thrilled to tell you all about in detail. If you’re on Instagram, you can also watch the video, which was filmed in high definition by a small fleet of drones. It’s a crisp four hours of three-hundred-and-sixty-degree romance!

Were you surprised?!

Oh, my gosh, yes. Totally blindsided. I make it a point never to discuss the future, or really even my desires in general, with the person I’m dating. One day, I just started moving my stuff into Peter’s apartment, little by little—clothes, books, golden retriever—all while hoping he wouldn’t notice. And he never did! Isn’t it funny how everything just falls into place when you meet the one?

Let me see the ring!!!

Would you mind if I put this paper bag over my head first? I’ve found it really helps people focus on the rock so that they can quietly compare it to their own—or (if they’re single) derive some satisfaction from the discovery that I have fat fingers.

What’s your new name going to be?

It’s pronounced “Peter’s Wife,” or “Ma’am” for short.

I know you just got engaged yesterday, but do you have a date set for the wedding?

I’ve been planning this wedding since kindergarten, when I would regularly use show-and-tell as an opportunity to flaunt my skills in hand-stencilling place cards and assembling tasteful peony arrangements. Your save-the-date is already in the mail.

Are you going to do one of those wedding boot camps to get your body nuptial-ready?

Absolutely. Although I want to look like myself on my wedding day, I want to look like a version of myself that deserves to get married. I can’t even imagine how mortifying it would be to get married in my regular, everyday body.

Is Peter going to help with the planning?

Believe it or not, Peter’s actually been a huge help so far. He’s gone above and beyond when I’ve had questions for him, like, “Are you available to marry me on August 21st?” and “Did you want the fish or the steak?” I just hope I’m not being too much of a nuisance!

What can I get you for a gift?

Honestly, Peter and I have been living together for four years. We’re both in our mid-thirties and have previously inhabited six apartments each, which we fully furnished ourselves. That said, we put together a modest Bed Bath & Beyond registry with two hundred and thirty-one items—just a few marital necessities, like fifteen slightly different serving spoons with fifteen slightly different spoon rests. Though we may not be able to make use of these things right now, we know we’ll be grateful to have them in the future, once we move into a bigger place and can finally host our first Spoonapalooza.

So, how does it feel?!

Like most women, I’ve gone through life feeling content but somehow incomplete. It’s like there was always a piece missing, and I didn’t know at the time that this piece was shaped like a one-point-five-carat princess-cut diamond. Now I finally feel whole.

Are there kids on the horizon?

Oh, yes. Once Peter and I are married, unprotected sex will be our top priority! For more information on that, please refer to “Frequently Asked Questions: My Uterus.”

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The Whitney Biennial Protests and the Changing Standards of Accountability in Art

August 2, 2019 | News | No Comments

Anybody who doubts the power of artists to effect real-world change is not keeping up with the news. Earlier this month, the Louvre became the latest major museum to cut financial ties with the Sackler family, following pressure from the photographer Nan Goldin and her crew of anti-opioid activists. And, last week, on July 25th, Warren B. Kanders, the vice-chairman of the board of the Whitney, who has reportedly donated more than ten million dollars to the museum since 2006, resigned, after a group of artists announced that they would remove their work from the Whitney Biennial, widely considered the country’s most prestigious contemporary-art exhibition. At issue was Kanders’s ownership of the Safariland Group, a manufacturer of tear gas whose use has been documented against migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border (and, allegedly, less than two weeks ago, against protesters in Puerto Rico). But the Whitney Biennial has been open since May, and demonstrations against the trustee—and calls for Kanders’s ouster—have been ongoing since late last year. The series of events that led to him finally stepping down show how rapidly, if circuitously, standards of accountability in the art world are shifting.

The Times broke the news of Kanders’s resignation, but a scrappier outlet, Hyperallergic (tag line: “sensitive to art and its discontents”), has been covering the story since November. That month, the site published pictures of Safariland tear-gas cannisters, taken by a freelance journalist at the border, along with a story detailing Kanders’s role in the company. Within a few days, a hundred Whitney employees (including Rujeko Hockley, a co-curator of the Biennial) signed a letter calling for a “clear policy” regarding qualifications for museum trustees, and asking, “Is there a moral line?” In response, the Whitney’s director, Adam Weinberg, wrote, “We respect the right to dissent as long as we can safeguard the art in our care and the people in our midst.”

Dissent rapidly escalated. In early December, during the museum’s Andy Warhol retrospective (of which Kanders was a funder), firefighters halted activists holding a sage-burning ceremony in the Whitney’s atrium; it was staged by Decolonize This Place, a post-Occupy Wall Street movement whose sweeping concerns, according to its Web site, include “Indigenous struggle, Black liberation, free Palestine, global wage workers and de-gentrification.” In the lead-up to the Biennial, beginning in March, Decolonize organized weekly protests at the museum—“No safe space for profiteers of state violence,” one poster read—with a coalition of some thirty other political groups, culminating in a march to Kanders’s town house nearby. But, of the seventy-five artists and collectives included in the Biennial, only one, the Iraqi-American Conceptualist Michael Rakowitz, withdrew from the exhibit, to boycott what he described in an interview as Kanders’s “toxic philanthropy.” Several artists instead chose to reflect their sentiments in their contributions to the show, most prominently Forensic Architecture, which is exhibiting a short film (made in collaboration with Laura Poitras) that is a primer on the damaging effects of tear-gas grenades, and which specifically calls out Kanders.

What brought the matter to a head was a letter published, on July 17th, on Artforum’s Web site, by three young writers and artists: Ciarán Finlayson, Tobi Haslett, and Hannah Black (who was also instrumental in an outcry against a Dana Schutz painting of Emmett Till, in the 2017 Biennial). Titled “The Tear Gas Biennial,” it called upon artists to remove their work from the exhibition, and cited for inspiration an incident at the Whitney from 1970, when the sculptor Robert Morris closed an exhibition two weeks early, in solidarity with the New York Artists’ Strike Against Racism, Sexism, Repression, and War. “Against a backdrop of prestigious inertia and exhausted critique, it can be hard to marshal our most vital feelings: our anger, our love, and our grief,” the authors wrote. “We know that this society is riven by inequities and brutal paradoxes. Faced with this specific profiteer of state violence, we also find ourselves in a place to act. It is not a pristine place. But we must learn—again, or for the first time—to say no.”

Within two days, eight artists asked to have their works pulled from the show. Notable among them was the MacArthur fellow Nicole Eisenman, whose brilliantly rude gaggle of figurative sculptures, installed on one of the Whitney’s outdoor terraces, had been most critics’ pick for best in show. (Forensic Architecture asked that its film be removed, based on new research that it alleges relates to Kanders’s partial interest in the company Sierra Bullets.) To some, the withdrawals seemed misguided. A group of six Biennial artists announced their plans to boycott the boycott—the gist being that what needed to go was the patron, not their works of art. Elsewhere, there were grumbles that this was “the have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too Biennial.” After all, the April issue of Artforum included a glowing, behind-the-scenes feature about the making of Eisenman’s suite for the Whitney. But, in the end, given the paradigm-shifting consequences of the “Tear Gas” letter—its power to topple a multimillionaire from his board seat, and its courageous demand for a future of ethical patronage—the truth-to-power Biennial is more on the mark.

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The message of “The Tear Gas Biennial” is unarguably—demonstrably—deeply compelling. But its efficacy almost certainly had to do with its delivery system. Power in the art world is concentrated, and Artforum has been its most influential publication for decades. Months of coverage in Hyperallergic and weeks of rallying by Decolonize This Place had put the protest on the mainstream radar, but it was a single strike of prose in Artforum’s pages that was able to radically shift the conversation. Of course, the major power dynamic at play in this story is the one between art and money. For too long, patronage of the arts has come with patronizing attitudes toward artists—that they should be grateful for funding, no matter its source. The obscenely inflated contemporary art market—whose metrics are based on auction results, from which artists don’t see a penny—has created the impression of art as a playground for the wealthy. But the delusion that art is an oasis in which beauty is truth and politics are irrelevant is more risible than it ever has been. Art isn’t made in a vacuum, and neither is money.

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