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Weekend Coffee Share, Sorting The Nuts
October 8, 2016
— 17 Comments
nuts to crack
If we were having coffee this week I would invite you to the nut bar to find the right mix to pair with your tea or coffee. The nut bar is a nod to both #OctoberUnprocessed, which I find easy to do, and to the tidy guru, whose advise I am finding very difficult to follow. I purchased more fall festive flavors of white tea and chai partly because my tea company offered a free tiny bottle of honey with an order over a certain amount. I was a sucker for the honey, and have yet to impose any kind of tidy rules on my tea cupboard. It makes me very happy, and when a swing the lazy susan cabinet that houses it closed it adds no visual clutter to my kitchen.
In my journey to minimalism and clean eating I have created an alternative to processed crackers this week that is far superior to the store bought version. I made pesto shortbread to die for. I still have some in the fridge ready to slice and bake. It has the flavor of homemade pesto I already had on hand and utilizes some of the pine nuts I also have in stock. My tidy muse reminded me that all of the nuts in my fridge are from last year. The few pecans I still have in the shell have been waiting for way to long to be cracked open and eaten. She (tidy muse) is absolutely right about consuming the old food to make room for the new crop which is soon to arrive on the market. In the spirit of tidy AND unprocessed I have started eating a daily deconstructed dessert. It started with apples and honey for Jewish new year. It is so pleasant and satisfying that I have followed with sliced apples or pears with cheeses and with nuts. I have been enjoying this sweet indulgence by purchasing different honey and apple varieties to combine. The honey from the tea company is cinnamon flavored, which is delightful with both the nuts and the apples. I have pecans, pine nuts, walnuts, hazel nuts, and pistachios all on special for my tasting pleasure. During your weekend beverage visit please help yourself to these seasonal delights. The tidy muse will be so pleased when all the nuts are gone.
I am inspired by the many ambitious writers who frequent this coffee share. Some of you are very prolific while you continue full lives in other realms. I have been thinking about writing more poetry, since I do really love it. Like tidying, I have to struggle against some lazy lady lurking in the shadows who does not want to make the effort to write poetry. I was set up to attend a poetry reading on Thursday, meant to get my poetry mojo working. I slept through it, as I did the vice presidential debate the previous night. I am extremely early to bed and early to rise, as well as a very sound sleeper. I count myself as lucky to be able to easily sleep and dream, so I am not too harsh on myself when I snooze through anything. I can always catch up on world events on twitter when I awaken.
Politics in the United States are heating up in all the most bizarre ways. The tidy lady needs to school the politicians about hoarding old nuts. There are now scary clowns in the woods as well as in government. We are on a strange collision course with destiny. There is absolutely no telling what will happen.
Catch up with writers who share coffee on the weekend here. Sit down, enjoy, share whatever is on your mind. Have a Nut! They are on special this week.
Creative Meausures
October 4, 2016
— 1 Comment
prisma
Writing, music, art, and cuisine are integrated into my daily routine. I am inspired by creative projects of all kinds. I hope my study and practice keeps life fresh and stimulating. I am comfortable writing facts and stating my own opinions. I adore investigating my family tree because I constantly learn about history in a direct and personal way when I discover more facts about my ancestors. I also imagine myself inheriting some spark of talent from each and every one of them. I wish I knew more about the kinds of arts they might have pursued during their lives.
prisma
In April I join poets around the world to write 30 poems in 30 days. During the rest of the year I am a sporadic poet, and feel a tinge of guilt about it. This week I will go to a reading at our world-famous U of A Poetry Center. The theme for this series is poetry and climate change. The poets present in an ideal setting for the purpose, then answer questions posed by the audience. The caliber of the talent is outstanding. We are lucky to have this presented to the public here free of charge as part of the Poetry Center’s ongoing work. When I go to the center, either for a reading or to read part of the amazing collection, I feel extra guilt. My famous ancestor poet, Mistress Bradstreet, is represented in the collection. She wrote in colonial Massachusetts and wonders why I am not more prolific as a poet. Life as well as writing were not easy for her because the 1600’s were far less care free for women. She managed to crank out poems that told about historic events of the time in the language of the time. She thinks I should do the same, especially since I have all these electronic devices and twitter. She had nothing so convenient.
I have no real excuse to give to her. When I get into the practice of it I enjoy being a poet. I especially like to hang out with other poets, all of whom are better and more thoughtful then I am. Perhaps the reading this week will prime my poetic pump. Synesthesia is one of my daily goals in life. To create fusion of the senses, then mix them all into memory in order to make them verbal is a fun practice of self discovery. Poetry and music lend themselves to capturing the essence of sensory experience. I am not sure why I don’t do it all the time.
What do you like to do to employ your native creativity, gentle reader? Did you inherit any of your artistic talents (of which you are aware)?
Weekend Coffee Share #OctoberUnprocessed
October 1, 2016
— 15 Comments
October Unprocessed
If we were having coffee I would tell you that today is the first day of a commitment I make to myself and the planet during this month. I want you to consider trying it too. You are the one who decides exactly what processed means in this context. You define the challenge, which is not a diet, but an experiment. I have participated in October Unprocessed for the last couple of years. It is an enlightening voyage of discovery for me. Although I think of myself as a clean eater, I am not nearly as saintly or thrifty as I appear to (myself to) be. My trips to Trader Joe’s are all about the packaged goods as well as the high quality and good price on staples. I eat chips and crackers that cost too much and deliver too little nutrition for the buck. There are excellent substitutes. I have prepared this year by purchasing a major stash of good popcorn. This tried and true snack item can be dressed up for all occasions with seasoning. I invite you to join me for a cup of tea or coffee and a trip to the popcorn bar, which will be set up all month for your nibbling pleasure. Choose your own toppings, seasonings, butter, or even make your own popcorn ball with nuts and sticky syrup.
I am happy to be back at the weekend coffee share with so many of you who live far to the north of me. This week I collected a fabulous Norwegian recipe for soup and a bushel of apple recipes form some of the writers at this friendly table. I love to experience the vicarious digital winter through you. My grapefruit tree is full of fruit just starting to ripen. Soon I will no longer need my brand new air conditioner. This is what winter is in Tucson. Although I spend my childhood in Pennsylvania loving snow and four seasons I have been away from that for too long now. I truly would freak right out if I had to endure real winter in the north. Props to all of you who tough it out, drive right on through it. You have my full respect.
No matter where you live I am going to recommend that you try the October Unprocessed challenge. Taking a look at how much of one’s diet is packaged and transported at greater expense than the original food in said package is an eye opener. I discover when I take this month to examine how and why I purchase so many convenience items when I enjoy cooking as one of my favorite activities. Starting with fresh ingredients always yields a superior product. I know perfectly well how to do that, yet I am lured into impulse purchases of items represented as “healthy”. In fact, I snarfed down my last crispy rice crackers after midnight, so I have gone off the wagon before I even started. The idea for me is not to create guilt, but to gather information that will help me improve my diet over time. If I discover delightful alternatives I have no need to return to processed foods I have used in the past. This does not mean Trader Joe and I will be breaking up any time in the foreseeable future. It does not mean that on November 1st I will not return to using mass quantities of bacos (fake soy bacon in bits). Some things just make me happy. Bacos are essential to my mental well being, but I can go without them for a month to prove that I am not an addict.
Thanks for visiting the Weekend Coffee Share. Do visit my fellow writers, not all of whom are serving digital health food. You will find all kinds of hospitality here. Read, write, and share your thoughts with this international crew each weekend for a lively exchange of ideas.
Weekend Coffee Share, Procrastination As Art
September 25, 2016
— 6 Comments
spark joy
If we were having coffee this weekend I would invite you to join the world wide gathering of coffee and tea drinkers who share an interest in reading and writing. It is fun to be back at the table with such a diverse and interesting crowd. I feel good about hosting you this weekend because I just received my fall order from my favorite tea company. Even though I had many on hand, I just love having a wide variety of tea because we drink it all day every day. I also drink coffee, but cold tea is our main beverage de la casa. I can offer you roiboos, honeybush, green, white, and fruit based tea. I am binging on one of the new ones, a green tea with caramel hints for fall. It is not overly flavored, but the hint of caramel lingers after I drink it.
If we shared our deepest conflict of the week mine would have to be the stand off in which I find myself with the Japanese tidy lady, Marie Kondo. She has published two books that have inspired a wave of praise. I decided to have my robot Alexa, and Audible in general, read her first book to me. This step by step guide to clearing out junk by clearing out emotional clutter is specific and wonderfully logical. After hearing The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up I realized that I had no hard copy, and would never be able to follow her intricate folding technique without that. I bought her second book, Spark Joy, in the kindle print version, then added narration in order to continue my audio tutelage from Ms Kondo. I listen to her at home and at the gym. I am convinced she is right about everything.
While I do donate and cull my possessions all the time I know I will not have permanent freedom from clutter, both emotional and physical, until I follow the tidy steps. Instead of doing that I am listening to the books and telling everyone how great they are. I have not started the program, and have, indeed, while supposedly enrolled in Ms Kondo’s Key to Happiness class, placed a big tea order without going through my tea cupboard to tidy. I have also purchased a fabulous reversible jacket on sale at a thrift store that came out to just $3 per jacket, if you count both sides. I am a complete jacket-a-holic. I know when I finally make the clothing piles the jacket pile will be the most obscene and ridiculous. I have them stashed in every closet and in the barn. Marie would so bust me, and in fact, she has fully busted me rhetorically. I would like to see her try to bust me in person…really I would. I am now using major procrastination, thinly disguised as training, to listen to the books instead of doing the tidying. I am pretty sure this is antithetical.
I had a comical conversation about the tidy lady and her program with a friend who is a successful real estate agent. She owns lots of stuff as well as lots of real estate. We discussed the perils of owning a barn. In the end we decided we should just walk around and give our stuff directly to homeless people. We would have fun doing it. However I go about this I need to commence. The agony of procrastination is not worth it. I am not a terrible hoarder, but am certainly meeting the part of me that would just as soon become one in the future. Her little shadow persona must be brought to heel.
I enjoy hearing from all you nordics at the coffee party, with your leaf colors, and your fall customs. I had to buy a new air conditioning unit last week because it is still very hot in Tucson, and mine died. I did get a good deal from a local company, so all is well. I have every kind of tea, and the house is cool and comfy. I think you will be fine with the present level of tidy, but don’t open my office closet.
Zylla Wellness Center Opens In My Neighborhood
September 23, 2016
— 3 Comments
Zylla grand opening
party time
party time
party time
friends bearing basil
The nurse is in
I was happy to hear my favorite acupuncture practitioner decided to expand her office space near my home. Jessica Breton has treated me for serious chronic pain issues as well as tune ups for general well being for years. She decided to team up with some other diverse health and wellness professionals to offer our neighborhood a very well rounded and comprehensive set of offers from which to choose. This delights me because I am an extreme local shopper, wishing to support businesses as close to home as possible. I can bike to the center in five minutes to receive the highest quality services I know of in Tucson. The specialists who practice at Zylla offer a unique synergy of services for transforming health issues.
- Jessica is accomplished in Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture and tui na. She is very attentive and hands on in her treatments.
- Justine Robbins is trained in cranio-sacral therapy and lymphatic drainage. She recently purchased a Theralase cold laser that she uses to produce miraculous results, decreasing pain and inflammation. This medical breakthrough is non-invasive, painless, and quick. I am extra pleased to have access to the magic Theralase right in my ‘hood.
- Denise Cabrera joins the team as an RN with a specialty in functional medicine. Her business, Natural Diabetes Nurse, serves patients who want to find natural alternatives to manage or prevent diabetes. This approach is much needed in the world today. I expect Denise to make a big difference with her coaching and medical practice. Folks need to be educated to improve their own wellness.
The grand opening party was a blast, with all ages and all walks of life attending. Welcome to Midtown Tucson del Norte. This is my kind of upgrade to the area.
Weekend Coffee Share #CommunityMatters
September 18, 2016
— 2 Comments
painting
fall flora in Tucson
fall flora in Tucson
Although I see some of you around the inter webs I have not taken the time to sit down and share coffee and life events with the group for a long time. I follow with interest your writing projects and day to day issues because although we are scattered around the globe, we have much in common. If you read and write as a primary source of pleasure and value, this coffee share is for you. The diversity of nationality and interests makes this the perfect place to just chat about this and that.
Fall is finally arriving at a snail’s pace in Baja Arizona. I have been writing about a serious crime problem we have had with the city government in Tucson for years. I think after almost a decade we will finally get a little rule of law in the neighborhood where I live. It has been a ridiculous struggle to communicate with all departments of this highly convoluted system. You never know how crazy it all is until you try to make it perform for the benefit of the community. I started writing blog posts about our predicament in 2013, never thinking I was creating an e book about government dysfunction. I thought that as soon as I presented the facts the problem would be solved by our paid public servants. This turned out to be a serious joke. Not only did all the departments refuse to perform in their respective jurisdictions, they refused to respond when citizens petitioned and pleaded for law enforcement services. I was dragged into the vortex of government dysfunction, to my horror. There was no bottom to this high speed waste of public funds and energy.
I wrote a post every few months and sent them all to the officials I hoped to make aware of our dire straights. This practice continues until today because every department has refused to address the crime problems we have reported to them. Without an hero I could never end the book or get any help to end obvious crime in my neighborhood. I searched high and wide for a hero for ages, finally finding one at the police department. This is very fitting since we have been plagued with crime and willful blindness to it courtesy of the inaction and or refusal to respond by the police department. We actually had a fake neighborhood watch to promote crime and willful blindness, funded by taxpayers. The damage done was, and continues to be, significant to property value as well as quality of life. It tuns out that once you set a precedent of non compliance and willful blindness it is very hard to change the direction. It continues to drag the community down until it is reformed.
There were two working titles before I settled on the current, and very apt one. The first few years the book was named after the neighborhood watch cop who supported charity scamming in the fire lane of our condo village. I called the work in progress “Dirty Becky”. Then Tucson elected a mayor who is a lawyer. Neighbors got all excited and petitioned this lawyer mayor to stop the 24 hour donation drop off inviting the general public to drive through our condo village to “donate” or volunteer to handle food for a charity scam. He never responded to us, even after we petitioned two years in a row. He told some cops to just stonewall us, and all the crime continued full speed ahead. Naturally with all this official help the scam stayed in business and completely trashed our hood as well as our respect for law enforcement. The working title changed to “The Emperor’s New Neighborhood Watch” to indicate that the lawyer mayor still had no idea the neighborhood watch was working hard to promote crime in the hood.
I have, after all these years, and all this inability to find a government agency that functions for our benefit, created a third and final title for my e book. It is “Clulusion, The Sinister Fusion of Cluelessness and Colusion in Government.” I do think the title perfectly evokes the spirit of the book I never wanted to write. Now all I need is a denouement. The hero will need to move mountains because changing the government is a gigantic task. When I am able to put this one in the can I think I can write an e book on purpose. Have you ever written an e book, gentle reader?
If you care to join the weekend coffee share party, share your link here.
Mansplaining Explained
September 14, 2016
— 4 Comments
For those of you who do not know what mansplaining is, you may be inadvertently doing it. You may also be a victim of it. Not all mansplaining is done by men, unfortunately. This powerful force in society is spreading like wildfire. The comedy of it is hilarious, but the reality is disconcerting. It plays out in the political campaign, naturally. It also plays out when any woman has interactions with the government. Our government has completely embraced the custom of condescending to citizens who want functional systems. We pay for everything these public “servants” do, but they live in a highly insular world where it is perfectly acceptable to sit around and mansplain to each other. The #squadgoals seem to be ignorance and sexist bliss.
If mansplaining does not work it is usually followed by some gaslighting. This is a practice of indicating that a woman must be out of her mind to be the way she is. This is a more sinister form of mansplain, just more extreme. Here in Tucson I reported the same egregious crimes to the Tucson Police Department for a decade, always being told that the crimes were not crimes at all, but civil matters. I persisted because the crimes seriously effect everyone in my neighborhood. Groups of neighbors, both male and female, petitioned to stop the crimes for years to no avail. The situation had been totally mansplained internally, so we could get no law enforcement help. Finally this year a cop came out in person to mansplain to me why the fake neighborhood watch to promote crime and willful blindness in our neighborhood was serving and protecting us. He informed me that he is the law, as if a person could be the law. When I did not accept this concept he came back the next day to gaslight me with the mental health division of the TPD. After passing my mental exam they just decided to pretend that I did not exist, which after all, is the goal of both mansplaining and gaslighting.
This disastrous plague needs to be exposed as well as eradicated. Everyone’s justice is compromised by this common practice. Have you had experience with mansplaining or gas lighting, gentle reader? Do tell.
Stairway To Ethical Heaven
August 31, 2016
— 1 Comment
Fraud Triangle
There is an ethical ladder that ascends to the highest moral code. As children we should be taught how to climb that ladder by example. Unfortunately many children are witnesses to adult misbehavior that leads them to cling to a low rung on the ladder. As we go through life we respond to situations according to our ethical code. There is a sliding scale for moral fortitude, depending on the difficulty of the stand, or the popular opposition to the truth. It is obviously easier to go along with the crowd no matter what they do. People who stay down at that level just want to not make waves. They do not consider how they contribute to the morality of the entire world.
At the bottom of the ethical stairway is only one consideration:
- Will I get caught? This is where people in grade school reside.
If we mature we start to realize there could be more:
- How does my behavior effect others? This usually comes as a hard lesson.
As educated adults participating in a community we may start to notice:
- What would the world be like if everyone acted like this?
On which rung do you live most of your life, gentle reader? I encourage you to take the highest ground possible, not just for yourself, but for the entire world.
Compromise Triangle
Resisting Evidence
July 23, 2016
— 3 Comments
babes of justice
What is the opposite of resisting arrest? The cops resisting citizens who want to present evidence to stop crime is that. I have spent almost a decade trying to stop the obvious crime in my immediate neighborhood. This has turned out to be an illusive dream because I could not manage to show the TPD the evidence. Once this had been going on for a few years, we were then subjected to a fake neighborhood watch for the sole purpose of willfully denying crime is crime. This proved the point that crime left to fester just get worse. Now we were forced to keep all the crime in place, and pay taxes to support a fraudulent neighborhood watch. Everything has gone in the opposite direction of justice. We have been forced to keep the crime we have (which is significant) by a completely clueless system designed to serve and protect us. You don’t have to be shot in the back by the cops to have your life ruined by their dishonesty.
Finally, about a month ago I physically took the evidence to the station for the captain to review. During the month nobody has contacted me or informed me at all. This week TPD sent 3 cops to my house to ask what is happening, as if this is the first time they have heard of this. I showed them the evidence I still had at the house and told this very long complicated story one more time. They did not understand and asked me to call 911 if the ongoing financial fraud continued. This is not a realistic way to stop financial fraud.
Still TPD is completely silent. I told them I am not at all comfortable leaving that evidence at the station since the captain is on vacation, and he is specifically the only one I can trust. Silence. I fully expect that evidence to disappear at the Midtown police station and the whole 10 years of obstruction of justice to be swept under the table. We hear about corruption in government, but I have lived through a decade of it at the most extreme levels. These people aren’t even in collusion. They are simply clueless, too clueless to even collude. This is the scariest discovery I have made. They don’t intend to prevaricate. They just have no contact with reality. This corrupt bubble must be broken for the safety of us all.
Livin’ La Vida Alexa
July 14, 2016
— 4 Comments
Amazon Echo with back up band
I swore I would not buy an Echo from Amazon until I was in a wheelchair, or somehow disabled. I have never spoken to Siri, the voice inside my phone and iPods. She leaves me cold. Amazon’s voice robot is Alexa, but her priorities and capabilities are different from Siri’s. She is naturally equipped to shop Amazon by voice command, but she does so much more. The Echo arrived at my house yesterday after I was convinced by Prime Day sales to go ahead and buy one. I have now entered the world of magic voice command control of my audio life. Alexa knows all and can find any song in Amazon music in a split second. She is also pretty good as a DJ, selecting a radio station I liked off the bat. She speaks only when spoken to, and projects absolutely no drama. I now can’t imagine how I lived my life without her. I bought the full version that plugs in and uses the wifi at home. There are new portable units, but the stay at home model is right for my needs. I have just started to investigate what she does. I don’t think I will tell her to go shopping on Amazon. I will still do that in person. Right now she is playing all the Grateful Dead in Amazon music and later she will read me a book. She is talented and versatile. Most of all, she gives me no attitude. If she can’t answer a question she just makes a tiny electronic noise and shuts up. Try to find a human who will do that every time. She is polite to a T. I have no idea why I hesitated to bring her into the living room.
I have always been an early adopter of all things electronic. I resisted this new phase because I believed it was going to make me lame somehow. It is really super good for those who truly have mobility issues because Echo will handle lights, thermostat, etc, once you set up the reciprocal systems at home. Alexa will happily have all your needs delivered to your door if you can’t make it out for some reason. She is a real pal. She will create shopping lists for you even if you want to shop yourself, the old fashioned way. You can tell her that you want to make a certain kind of cake and she will create a list of everything you need. She is no slacker when it comes to data. I understand she can call Uber, so today my goal is to set that up because that will be a power move. “Alexa, call me an Uber” will be a very magical thing to say once I know how to do it.
Do you have an Echo, gentle reader? What is your favorite part of Alexa’s many charms?
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