Cherry Cough Syrup Musings

Well here I am sick again,first time this year. Torrents of vog from the island of Hawai’i and being blown in, my throat is killing me,my Carl Sagan book makes me nod off…and I think I’ve had too much cherry cough syrup.Why is there alcohol in that stuff? One thing that people often miss or neglect when they are sick is sunlight..I was just sitting in the sun, it was nice..however I had to put on citronella as it is mosquito season. Being sick,as well as having been only awake an hour,I managed to drowsily squirt citronella right in my eye.I think most of it got on my eyelid luckily.

I wanted to make pesto today,so in my feverish stupor I got out the miso,olive oil,macadamia nuts…but no pesto! too bad! I roasted the nuts anyway and ate them while taking a nice hot bath.Yes,sickness does indulge you to do unusual things.

The WORST part of being sick is that Arun Gandhi,grandson of Mohandas, is here giving several talks each day!!! I’m too ill to make it..and I JUST saw “Gandhi” last weekend,so what better person to appreciate than me?

Oh woe is me! just joking! at least it isn’t fatal…I think.

Back to my sunny patch of grass.

Dear Webster by Connie Fife

author’s note before the poem :savage (sav’ij) adj. without civilization; primitive;barbarous (a savage tribe) n. a member of a preliterate society having a primitive way of life; a fierce, brutal person.

i am the one who talks with the mountains

when i am not sliding down the stream of its face/

i am the one who walks the streets late a

night despite the danger

believing this land is mine to roam freely/

i am the one who carved a mask from a thick ttree

then wore it/

i am the one who raises her arms to the sun

then takes flight on winds from the east/

i am the one who says “no more”

then leaves the man whose fists have reconstructed

my bones/

i am the one who defies the narrow definition of love

and loves another woman

and heals a nation in doing so/

i am the one who meeting after meeting turns

away when men misconstrue my words

and goes on/

i am the one whose stories take our collective

pasts into the future

and guarantees that not one day is left behind/

i am the one sleeping on the sidewalks

who speaks to all my elations as the masses

hear only their own silence/

i am the one cradles close to her breasts

small children

and women who were old before they were young/

I am the one who shoots fire into the veins of those

who cannot re-ignite their own sparks

then gives them the responsibility of stocking

the wood/

i am the one who talks to herself and hears

others answer

then writes it down so that the words remain in

my throat/

i am the one who demonstrates against forced

relocation

and uses a shotgun to carry the message clean home/

i am the one who watched as my children’s hair was cut

and cried and wept then screamed “return them”/

i am the one struggling to find her way back

i am the one who uses brushes to paint my resistance

on a canvas

then hangs my tapestry across the horizon/

i am the one whose son died of AIDS while a piece

of myself died each day and couldn’t halt either

then buried my child/

i am the one who was raped by father then

my uncle

and spent years hiding then decided to change it all

and used all my rage to castrate my memory of them

and healed myself with love/

i am the one who late at night screams and howls

and hears voices answer/

i am the one whose death was intended

and didn’t die

Speak Now,Live Now

Another week,another revolution of youth in yet another country. Maybe some people think that way,but in my opinion it’s a reawakening that is happening in the world these days. Thanks to twitter and facebook, we can have the truthful and unedited footage,updates and news of what is happening thousands of miles away, in places we haven’t been, indeed places where we have no sense of the people,culture,traditions and issues which are so relevant in developing a basic image of the country.

Power is the strongest force in the world. Power from a backwards militia regime, with its old fashioned henchmen of tanks, religious brainwashing, and crippling secret informants, is the downfall of this past century. So many millions have suffered, have been the price payed, and for what? For some seemingly Biblical promises of wealth,happiness,community, empty promises which were never fulfilled. Brainwashing is the most subtle tool in humanity, a skill which has been polished to perfection like a shining golden orb.

It is my belief that the most powerful emotions are those of peace and love,and when those are successfully acted upon, there is no stopping the amazing potentials of every individual. Truthfulness is also an important component in any government,in every household and structure. They say that truth hurts, but if we were raised hearing about every truth in the first place, it would not hurt as much as some make it out to.

As a person who was religiously raised and educated, but is not at the present religious, I never mean to offend those who are a devotee of a religion. However I feel that separation of religion and government is imperative. Idolatry in any sense is a crime in my opinion. Of course there are tremendous benefits to the purely devotional aspects of religion, but I feel that as humans we must excel and go beyond the limits of any faith.

Beyond the religious faiths, I feel that sole thing we all need to worship is pure and simple: humanity, the past and future, but the present as well. We all have this in common, to meet together on common ground, on a common good where there are no limitations. The presence of where we are, helping others and combining our efforts to communally step forward is most beneficial in my opinion. Of course it’s nice to do good on your own, but truly sharing not only the experiences and emotions with others is very beautiful. It is completely selfless, and that is most something we must concentrate on moving towards in this day and age.

So speak now, with truth, live now, with love, for yourself, for all, for humanity

New Discoveries!

Well this random little post is about new discoveries in my culinary life ! Lately I have discovered the mighty Medjool date, from Coachella,CA (well that's where the ones I been grinding on come from!). They are so delicious! A few days ago I made amaranth date sunflower seed cashew almond bars, with only a bit of molasses and some almond milk to sweeten.Almost raw, and certainly vegan! I zapped it in the fridge for a while,but it never totally gelled to its suggested state, probably because I opted out of the 1/2 cup of honey.That's way too much sugar for such a sugar sensitive person as me!

I have also discovered almond butter, which I am actually preferring to peanut butter! It's probably lower in fat, I don't really keep tabs on that..but I love it! Over the weekend I was taking a spoonful of it, dipping it in roasted trail mix, then polishing off spoonful after spoonful.mmmm yummy!

And I've also gotten into making my pesto lately! Of course it's vegan! the secrets to it are:

-yellow miso

-roasted nuts, to give it a rich nutty flavor

-no garlic, so you don't fart more than usual in shoulder stand

-lots of olive oil! olive oil is extra healthy and delicious

And last but CERTAINLY not least, Brussel sprouts! These fantastic little green bulbs are full of folic acid, an important ingredient in the vegan (and normal) diet.I steam them, douse them with my vegan pesto, along with steamed broccoli,carrots, and green beans.

So I hope this inspires you all away from the foods you don't need, and which unfortunately our society and country have brainwashed into our minds that we need:

-dairy

-meat

-sugar

-processed foods in general

Treat yourself as the god/goddess that you are!

2011?!

Wow...2011 ?!

I can’t believe it’s this year..already! I have these same exact thoughts with every year,however,so nothing terribly shattering on my part. Having just recovered and returned from an exhausting two weeks living out of carry on,on the West Coast. First stop was LA, to supposedly soothe my pregnant sister.However it was more like sitting,playing with Billy the dog,and watching rain POUR for days. I did make a point of walking around her ‘hood on the second day, a cold gray day,around Culver City.Found a great yoga place, but kept missing my usual Vinyasa flow class! Family gatherings and road trips sometimes take preference. Luckily I did my usual asana every morning in a dark room, nearly hitting the beautiful glass lamp on the ceiling!

And on to the dismal,hick town, wasteland of Waterford,with a stop in Bakersfield to visit with very elderly relatives who fed up delicious home made persimmon cookies. YUM.

Shuffled into a huge over garage space in Waterford with Billy the dog was interesting…our daily runs on the sandy canal,complete with disgusting toxic aura, was interesting to say the least.The remaining 15 people overwhelmed me, but family is first and I did my best. If it weren’t for the privacy,the yoga, and the escapes running,I would have perished!

Saw Black Swan, which was a hoot to say the least! As a former ballet student I can attest that Ms.Portman could’ve done A LOT better. Thanks to that film I had nightmares about thorns stuck in my head.

Drove to Sequoia National Park,so beautiful in the snow,like a dream, and the TREES! you just have to see them yourself. Nature amazes and grounds me time and again! some great tree hugging happened,and photos and videos…but alas my Mac’s hard drive had a bad day while I was gone,so he’s at Dr getting repaired.

And on to snowy yet sunny Washington state! The snow and ice made my daily hikes exciting, and I also appreciated sitting on the sunny lawn of the Bull Run Ranch, mediating and blissing out in the sun! Steamed brussel sprouts, endless mugs of Tulsi tea, and a fantastic sunset by Lime Kiln lighthouse made those five days! No phone/internet/microwave for five days cleared my head and energy levels, as well!

Hope to have pictures next week! meanwhile, terribly missing the beautiful bountiful blissful nature,people,community and magic of the Pacific Northwest!

pixie with a purpose!

love Audrey! back to the onslaught of finals...

ooooooooooooooooo

It's been quite a while since my last blog post.

hahehehehehhehe

but today I am festively playing with my faeries.

Do you have any? I'm sure you do, you're just not aware of them. Some people are so critical and ignorant of the depths of our realm, but it's important to be open! that way,you will find your faeries!

Today I was sitting outside starting a watercolor painting, and all of a sudden the faeries appeared and took over my body in the most delightful way.They make you ever so light and happy,giggly and wiggling in a golden newborn blissful state!

The faeries said, we sleep in pods, so I painted two little ones sleeping in their pods, protected by their mama. Do you like it? I do.Well, what's more important than liking it is that it is a truthful and direct message from the faeries,and that they approve of it!

Oh wonderful faeries, thank you for being here!