O.M.G

Woke up with Judy Garland's Get Happy lyrics in my head...how freaking appropriate! (Well, maybe it was the Ella version?...Lord help us that it wasn't the Partridge Family rendition!)

Let's take a closer look at the lyrics, shall we?

Pack up your troubles and just get happy
Ya better chase all your cares away
Sing Hallelujah, c'mon get happy
Get ready for the judgment day

The sun is shinin', c'mon get happy
The Lord is waiting to take your hand
Shout Hallelujah, c'mon get happy
We're goin' to the Promised Land

 We're headin' 'cross the river
 Gonna wash our sins in the tide
 It's all so peaceful
 On the other side

Forget your troubles and just get happy
Ya better chase all your cares away
Sing Hallelujah, c'mon get happy
Get ready for the judgment day

The sun is shinin', c'mon get happy
The Lord is waiting to take your hand
Shout Hallelujah, c'mon get happy
We're goin' to the Promised Land

 We're headin' 'cross the river
 Wash our sins away in the tide
 It's all so peaceful
 On the other side

We're headin' 'cross the river
 Wash our sins away in the tide
 It's all so peaceful
 On the other side

Forget your troubles and just get happy
Ya better chase your cares away!!
Sing Hallelujah, c'mon get happy
Get ready for the judgment day

OK now...isn't it OBVIOUS why this song is in my head??? What? What did you say? So you think I need to Get Happy?

Well...what do you know, eh? So do freaking I!!!! 

One of my fav artists...

Is my co-worker, Sarah Loomis. I really am touched by her art; it's full of feelings and small beautiful details that effect me; not always in a positive way (some of her installations are quite emotional, at least for me) , but that's what's so heartfelt about her work. She is amazing! Check out her new web site for yourself here

My newest tattoo

It's my birthday! Yay me!

It's my birthday!
In no particular order, here's some fact-finding about me on this day Feb 24th 2012.


What I'm doing for a living: Ed Tech Specialist and Online Coord. @ CIIS.

What I'm eating: Trying to afford to buy as much organic, local, sustainable as possible. Lots of rice (pretty much gluten free for almost a year now and feeling so much better!) Tons of veggies, stir-frys, some salads, lemons, herbs and spices, Indian, Mexican, Moroccan, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. Making my own smoothies. Slices of organic apples, raisins, raw walnuts and Marcona almonds, with some Manchego cheese - yum! (I eat that A LOT!) Flax seed oil. Vitamins when I can remember. Still have 1/2 a cup of coffee with good 'ol 1/2 and 1/2 and (now) agave each day, in the morning. (I can remember grinding coffee in the morning when I was pregnant with Erin and wondering if she could 'hear' the noise and vibration of the grinder!)


What I'm thinking about: What is the next career going to be for me? I really can't envision staring a the computer for another 15 or so years...what I've thought about lately: going back to a Library, an EKG Tech, getting my Real Estate License (but my math probably wouldn't cut it), getting a cert. in Gastronomy.
What's my next tattoo?
How to keep my family healthy.


What I'm enjoying: Still love medicine/health, food, writing, beauty, flea markets, interior design.

What I'm trying to change: Idk...

What I'm satisfied with: Ha! That's a funny question!

What's beautiful in my life right now: Having my health, being able to walk the dogs, seeing things grow in my garden, the continuity of life!

Singulation

I'm still pretty much sure in my thinking that dark matter and dark energy are simply a by-product of reality creation = dark matter, and synchronicities and non-real 'events' = dark energy.

Atomistic creation, real matter, by-products dark matter.

Thought creation, non-real creation, synchronicities, by-products dark energy.

Even thought (in the mind only) singulations, once 'viewed', even though they do not have an atomistic or corporal reality, 'produce' dark energy. (Maybe less DM than real atomistic events?)

There is a relationship between the two though, the details are what I'm trying to figure out, esp. in light of the expanding universe idea (which would make sense that if there is dark energy being created on a mass scale every day by our thoughts and ideas etc, there would be lots of dark energy being created, and thus an expanding universe). But there is much less matter creation going on these days then since the big bang so the proportions are changing I would think...

hmmmm....

MY idea for a Food Network (or just a TV) show...

Of course starring me!

I figure there are about 12 episodes per year. I would do two things, one for the first year; which would be focus on going to local farmer's markets and profiling only regional and in season organic (first choice) produce. So there would be 3 shows for the spring, 3 for the summer, etc. I would take the show outside and directly to the market; introducing local growers, profiling the seasonal aspects to cooking and eating, doing mini-shows on questions, such as what is organic?, and do you know your grower? First FM, since this show originates in the bay area would be the Berkeley Farmer's Market. We, meaning the audience and I, would shop together, then go home and cook and eat! I would choice the quintessential veggies and fruits for each of the seasons, how and where, how to choose, varieties, etc. Then we would talk to the FM person about their produce, choose the best, then go home and prepare, all along giving advice, facts, ideas, and general conversation about the loveliness of local, in season, fresh fruits and veggies, all from a local farmer's market.

The 2nd year of the show I would go 'regional' - taking the show on the road to the south, east, and northern regions of the US and doing the exact same thing; profiling local cooks and farmer's markets, people and ideas that are making a difference.

I would have special topics to talk about; maybe even do a panel discussion about ways to get locally grown and ideally organic, produce into the hands of people that traditionally and historically haven't had the opportunity for access.

I would profile regional cooks too; cooks that are making a difference in their community. Wed go shopping together and then cook and eat!

You heard it hear first folks! Still stumped for a name of the show tho', so I'm still thinking...:-)

Cool site

This site will make a Rebus of anything that you enter in text.

Very cool! Have fun!

REBUS MAKER

Bishop and Lowell

What an interesting, and free, relationship they had...

Reading about them led me to Yaddo, (http://yaddo.org/yaddo/home.asp) a Saratoga Springs NY artists retreat that had housed and given refuse to a great number of writers, artists, etc. and to the idea of writing from the imagined perspective of your idea of a situation or perspective. This is hard to describe but it basically means you are more free to not explain your own viewpoint or paraphrase another, but to use your imagination to more freely express that perspective. I liken it to a thought experiment, like I like to imagine how reality is created and physical matter is formed.

I'd like to have more time to imagine things...and then construct a poem or short story.

I guess Bishop and Lowell were muses to each other as well. Quite lovely.

Christmas Day...

Doesn't seem to have much 'meaning' any more, especially now that the kids are all grown up. In all honesty, it's nice to support the grandkids, but I really don't get any spiritual investment or support out of this holiday.
I do enjoy thinking reflectively about the solstice, and I feel a bit lost or not as in touch with the naturalistic spiritual roots these days. I'm still having problems adjusting to the light time is now increasing again...it hardly seems so already. Some of my feelings stem from the weirdness of the weather these days for sure: and now it's below freezing every night but we have had no rain so far this winter. The garden went from tomatoes still on the vine in November to frost in December! All this seems odd and I start feeling out of the touch with seasons and my part of my cyclical naturalness.

Hmmm...I never thought about the changes in the weather and the seasonal weather patterns as a human-made nature-person connection disruptor before...I hope that sentence makes sense!
In other words; we are part and parcel of nature and the natural world. Because of the global disruptive and destructive activities ('fraking' being the latest example of environmental destruction, or the recent Gulf oil spill disaster) of the vast majority of human-kind, we are, in effect, poisoning the well; cutting the ever frail connection between us and nature, with the spiritual effect of us becoming more dis-connected and less intrinsic to nature herself.

In any case, I was recently wowed by pictures of Mermaid Isle = http://www.mermaidisle.net/ and the stunningly beautiful pictures from that area. You'd never know that long-term changes are afoot, but maybe that feeling is just my projection? Idk, but it's sad to think about...

May we have peace and health this year.

Wonderful winter salad...

I can't quite claim all the responsibility for this idea of a winter salad; only this specific version. It was scrumptious - juicy, a bit robust (due to the arugula), and both tart and sweet!
You could easily add some rotisserie chicken to this salad for a more main course salad.


Wash and dry a few large handfuls of romaine lettuce and arugula (I like more arugula than lettuce)

De-seed 1 small to medium pomegranate

1 medium apple (I think we used 1/2 a Cameo and 1/2 a Honey Crisp) peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces

A good handful of some Feta cheese crumbles

A small handful of candied walnuts (I bought these from Whole Foods but you could make your own)


Dressing:
Canola oil
A bit of Agave syrup
Rice wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar
A dash of water
salt and pepper

Put the salad veggies in a large bowl, toss with the dressing, and serve!

This recipe fed two people (me and Russ!).

I wish I could be a FOOD EVANGELIST!

make a career out of my love and interest and passion for food; all natural, healthy, how-to select, prepare, nutritional benefits of, etc. I call it being a food evangelist.

LET'S GIVE EVERYONE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET INVOLVED WITH FOOD; GROWING, COOKING, EATING, TEACHING, TASTING, ETC. FOOD IS LIFE!

Hey, you over there! look at this!...try some!...

If you eat this you just have to KNOW you'll be doing this for this...and it's sooooo very good for you! It's yummy, isn't it?

Dinner tonight

Cooked a nice dinner tonight; gluten free penne pasta mixed with a little marinara sauce, with carrots, swiss chard, onions, zucchini (from our garden!), and a bit of sweet red pepper sauteed in garlic olive oil.

Covered with a mix of Havarti cheese and some Parmesan, baked till lightly browned.

Of course some salt and pepper and some red pepper flakes (just a little).

Served with some steamed baby broccoli with toasted almonds and butter.

Yum! It was really good!

New FAV LOVE: The Large Hadron Collider

Just had to take a quick second to upload some pics so I can remind myself to make a full no-holds-barred post about my unabashed swooning over the LHC, or Large Hadron Collider.
I swear, not much gets me hot these days like this!

Am I a writer?

In the process of reading a number of book reviews and stories about the authors lives, I wondered if my journal keeping makes me a writer. In the I-can-make-become-a-published-author way, in the would-anyone-ant-to-read-this? way.

I've kept a journal, one and off (but mostly on) for over 30 years now. Wowser, that astonishes even me.

(As usual, it's early morning and I'm writing this, trying to have concentrated 'private' time (which is funny within itself because this is a public blog after all and it's certainly not private!). Parts of my family are awake and walking around, which generates a resentment in me about not having any privacy or time to myself any more)...

Back to the journal; There were some gaps in those 30 + years, of course. I don't think I wrote much around the time the boys were born...WAY too busy to write! I feel I am more prolific when I can be more reflective; but that's common, right?

I scanned and uploaded some of my Singulation stuff into this blog too, and my next project is to scan and upload all my weekly menus that I usually tack onto the fridge each week, as a shopping list, and to give the family an idea about what we are going to eat over the next few days. For some reason, these menus also help me think of new meals to make too.

Loss of...

diversity in nature, and what to do about it, really.

Talking to Tim yesterday about his bees, and whether to help them/treat them for the mites that his hives seem to have. It's a sensitive question, as everything one does now-a-days (as opposed to a long time ago) (more on this later), had so many related and inter-related consequences it's hard to figure out a course of action.

I remember playing in the park across the street from our apartment on Superior Rd in Cleveland, OH. I used to walk home from school along the trail and the creek. There were always insects and fish and animals to check out and see; worms after a rain storm, grasshoppers, leaf hoppers, fireflys in the dusk, crayfish and minnows in the stream, drangonflys around the creek banks. I remember being down at my grandparents farm outside Albany, OH... moths flying around the porch lights, chiggers on your legs, bees; so many bees!, wasps, hornets, honeybees, bumblebees, many different kinds of ants, big fat tomato worms, Japanese beetles around the rose bushes in my grandfather's garden, Luna moths on the cool wall of the house, pill bugs, tons of circadias, gnats...and I know I'm not getting them all written down here.

Where have they all gone? Today, as I walk up at Briones with the dogs, I don't any insects, any bugs, hardly any birds, nothing but weeds, no plant or animal or insect diversity.

I truly believe we have lost an incredible amount of natural diversity in the last 30 years alone!

In trying to find a couple of pictures for this posting, when I searched for garden insects it kept matching to garden pests instead!

I'm simply overwhelmed by these feelings this morning and this information, which becomes more apparent to me day by day.
Is this loss process 'normal' as man continues to overtake and control and dominate the natural world?
Is this just Darwin's survival of the fittest?
Is there any way to change this loss?