b/c "Creativity is the residue of time wasted." Albert Einstein.

1 banana, 2 fresh or soaked dates, 2 cups cold water, 1/4 cup almonds, 1 TBSP ground flaxseed, 1 TBSP hemp protein, 1 TBSP carob powder or cacao nibs. blend!

Here are my two sources. This is going to be a fabulous project!

Cheese Slave
Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Dollar Store Crafts
Women's Lifestyle Magazine
Examiner.com
Catapult
Rapidian - photo essay
Burnside Coll.

Visual Arts Flanders 2012

My Own Hands from Land and Sky Media on Vimeo.

'There's a hunger beyond food that's expressed in food, and that's why feeding is always a kind of miracle.' (23)

My first year at St. Gregory's would begin, and end, with questions. Now I understand that questions are at the heart of faith, and that certainties about God can flicker on and off, no matter what you think you know. But back then, I thought 'believers' were people who know exactly what they believed and had nailed all the answers. (65)

'When you told me to pray,' Jose would remember later, 'it was incredibly earnest. You said prayer was like having this intense, profound longing that you just had to be with. That you put the longing in the hands of God, in a certain way. That it was important to be receptive to the unfulfilled, and not fill it or deny it.' (70)

All that grounded me were those pieces of bread, I was feeling my way toward a theology, beginning with what I had taken in my mouth and working out from there...the promise that words and flesh were deeply, deeply connected. (70-71)

...but mostly I liked that he said he was bread and told his friends to eat him. (92)

That love meant giving yourself away, embracing outsiders as family, emptying yourself to feed and live for others. (93)

Did not our Lord share his table with tax collectors and harlots? So do not distinguish between worthy and unworthy. All must be equal for you to love and serve. (7th century mystic Isaac of Nineveh)

I was signing up, after all, for a religion with a tortured man at its center. (123)

I knew, in my heart, that baptism wasn't about purity or the washing away of sins. It wasn't going to protect me from anything. Like carrying a child, baptism would require going deeper into mystery and darkness, into eating and living, eating and suffering, eating and dying. It would mean being baptized into the the crucifixion of the world, as St. Paul wrote, 'into Christ's death...into the tomb with him.' (123)

They were all people who, like me, took that bread and got changed. We were all converting: turning into new people as we rubbed up against one another. The transformation amazed me. I'd think about it as I unpacked the food: blushing red potatoes and curly spinach and ripe peaches that grocers had discarded, and that instead of being trash were feeding people. Once I picked up a huge grapefruit and showed it to a volunteer from St. Gregory's. 'That's the stone the builders rejected,' I said, quoting Scripture aloud with only a twinge of embarrassment. I could see, now, how we were like that, too: the volunteers, and the families who came for groceries. Each of us, at some point, might have been rejected for being too young, too poor, too queer, too old, too crazy or difficult or sick; in one way or another, cracked, broken, not right. But gathered around the Table in this work, we were becoming right together, converted into the cornerstone of something God was building. (139)

Isaiah 58

True Fasting

¹ “Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
² For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

¹³ “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
¹⁴ then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

The maternal qualities of sows can be quite striking. This is a great example of animals and humans sharing similar qualities to one another.


It's a sweet picture of the lives of a few pigs flourishing in our world, however, it's all the sweeter given the context in which their story exists.

Unfortunately the majority of sows brought up in the meat industry today are kept in confinement without access to soil or grass to walk and play upon with other pigs*, mud to bathe in, fresh air to breath, or sunlight for nourishment.

The real story is that they are deprived of being with their young shortly after giving birth.

According to a March 2004 article in the Des Moines Register, 'A pregnant sow's biological need to build a nest before having her litter is so great that some sows confined in modern hog buildings will rub their snouts raw on the concrete floor while trying to satisfy the drive. The deprived environment produces neurotic coping behaviors such as repetitive bar biting, sham chewing (chewing nothing), and obsessively pressing on water bottles.

What their babies experience is far worse and they are helpless to do anything to protect or comfort them. Baby pigs are separated from their mothers within a few days of being born, they cry out while their tails are clipped without anesthesia and while they are castrated without anesthesia. I would chalk that up to a torturous first few days of life in compare with what I was most likely privileged to as a newborn. What comes next? Months of confinement, in small cages that they can't even turn around in, until slaughter.

How these beautiful creatures are put to death is even more disturbing.



Although, unnecessary information given what I've just written, it may be helpful to know that research studies have proven these animals experience pain. Each animal has a personality, has preferences, and experiences pleasure too (remember your cat here).

Would you let this happen to your cat or your dog? Would you let your children watch? If you think about it there is no difference between the two with the exception that one is domesticated and given a name by a human and the other is not.

I think it's unimaginable to live in a society that so easily, through a hugely unregulated industrial system, interrupts and degrades the normative practices that these species were created to exist doing and living. I believe they were created to live in the world for so much more and were not created to be killed.

A pig's natural life expectancy is 15 years, and I think this is tough to learn knowing that they are killed for "pork" at 6 months of age. They are so much more than tasty food for a meal; they are animals that breathe, creatures birthed into a world, they have personalities, they communicate with one another, they have preferences, they have sex and experience pleasure, they give birth to babies, and work very hard at loving and caring for their young. They enjoy rolling in mud, and being with other pigs...

The workers in these industries are typically immigrants, who speak very little English, and are desperate for work as they need to support their families. Again, this is an example of the privileged standing by while the poorest and the least advantaged are made to kill our animals for us.

This is all for the sake of satisfied palates. The profit off of this abuse is abhorrent and if I had children would never want them to inherit this as a legacy of my generation. I would also never want them to find out that I stood by and did nothing for these creatures, those we were given to care for and ensure just treatment and lives of dignity.

I have very few memories from my childhood, however, one in particular has stayed with me all these years (it's hard to believe!). As a child, my parents took us kids to visit a pig farm. Already prone to loving all kinds of creatures, it's not difficult to learn that I immediately fell in love with all the little baby piglets surrounding me - they were pink, and magical, and beautiful. I recall returning home and wishing, many times, that I could be back at the farm with them, to love them, and play with them, and be alive with them. It's a fond memory for me even though as an adult I know now that they were all destined, most likely, for a short life ending in slaughter.

I used to think I was so much more enlightened than vegetarians and vegans and that I was tougher because I could stand by and let all this happen and eat it (now it makes me think of being in a brainwashed culture in Nazis Germany). I thought animal advocates were sentimental and even effeminate.

And then I started looking around. I saw all the masculine stereotypes connected with eating meat, at the college I work at, in commercials, and on labels at the store. I thought of all the popular restaurants that once loved going to that boasted filet mignon and foie gras, their most expensive and coveted dishes. I thought of that sweet handbag and those stylish leather boots I've been saving up for. I thought of the down in my comforter and in my vest. The fox fur lining the hoods of winter coats I like. The creams and perfumes tested on animals in my bathroom. The jello in my cupboard....it's everywhere. I'm complicit in animal cruelty and death in all areas of my life and it's tough knowing where to go after waking up to this as something real that I am actively (and now knowingly) participating in.

Our culture is built around meat use and consumption and all these things are normal, this is the way it's always been. But somewhere along the way we have to admit that we don't really know what is happening to the lives that feed these industries.

Since reading books and articles, watching movies, talking with people in the industry on both sides, and reading up on the industry practices allowed by our governments, I can no longer ignore what is going on. And definitely cannot participate in it any longer.

I think the writing's on the wall and most of us are just too culturally bound to see it (I hear myself whispering this is they way the world is). Really, it's not tough to see what's going on if you start looking. It not tough to see what's going on and know it's wrong. It is, however, tough to do anything about it and become sort of paralyzed because we're so far removed from the industry and our culture is built upon it staying strong. Think of all the jobs after all!

I'm ready to admit the truth of these realities, and to stand up for what is right. It's a part of a mandate I've been given as a human being imaging a God who loves and calls me to advocate for peace across all lines (even those lines, of different species than my own, that I don't fully understand). I have been given privilege and cannot lord it over the lives of other creatures just because they don't look like me or act like me.

Let's start waking up to how animals are being treated, start telling the truth about what we know, and align how we live each day with what we believe is right. I invite you to join me in raising your consciousness on these issues!

*

Pigs "have the cognitive ability to be quite sophisticated. Even more so than dogs and certainly [more so than] three-year-olds," says Dr. Donald Broom, Cambridge University professor and former scientific advisor to the Council of Europe. One study found that they can even learn to play simple video games.

Pigs naturally live and spend their time in groups. They express friendships with each other through vocalizations and body language. Like human children, piglets are particularly fond of play and chase one another, play-fight, tumble down hills, and generally engage in a wide variety of enjoyable activities. Pigs are very active, traveling up to 30 miles a day at a quick pace. Noted ethologist, Dr. Alex Stolba, observed that pigs living in a natural environment also spend much of their day grazing and rooting. Pigs raised on factory farms are denied all of these behaviors.

Humans who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain. A sharp distinction between humans and 'animals' is essential if we are to bend them to our will, make them work for us, wear them, eat them without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret. It is unseemly of us, who often behave so unfeelingly toward other animals, to contend that only humans can suffer. The behavior of other animals renders such pretensions specious. They are just too much like us.

Carl Sagan

As I age, certain fears I had are less encompassing. As a result, the beliefs I built my existence on are refining. I am left to wonder what holds me to this world I live in. What sort of person am I when the things I’ve built my life around settle down and become as see-through as the apparitions in the deep Sawgamet woods?

A review of Alexi Zentner's book Touch

Interested in a career in the culinary arts? I am and am looking at these institutions:)

if i were to pursue this area of study my specific goals would be to work in the areas of:

-personal/private chef
-child and adult education (classes)
-publishing(book and journal)
-criticism
-healing and health
-policy?
-food innovation and manufacturing
-culinary instructor
-functional food innovation (foods that are good for you and effect the body positively)

Woody Allen peering into the world of relationships; and he does it so well!

i think i'd like to remember this day of the year as belonging to cupid. i've always loved this myth*. and the re-telling of the story through c.s. lewis's book, till we have faces (i highly recommend reading through this story, it's one of my favorites!).

as a lover of the liberal arts i understand how to think of my own lover in response to the myth. here's a song, then, remembering cupid's story, and helping me to remember and cherish my own story of love with my husband. i love you greg! happy cupid day♥


*if you are a fan of the decemberists they've recorded a song, that is much like a retelling of this myth, and inspired by a japanese folk tale in origin

The author of this blog encapsulates a longing after beauty, peace, and wholeness, and portrays their journey as alluring and exotic. Love!

The visual metaphor in this video is fitting and brilliant! Love the Phil Collins sound here:)

celebrate v-day with origami!

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory. Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

listened to this last night following a shad concert at calvin college. shad, rwandan canadian, sings: i'll never understand. his music deals with social issues, this song in particular is about the rwandan genocide and includes poetry written by his mom, telling her story.

I untie the chains
Painfully
Purposefully
Knowing the one who said to do it
Seventy times seven
Totally understands the depth of my pain

The role of the imagination is to create new meanings and to discover connections that, even if obvious, seem to escape detection. Imagination begins with intuition, not intellect.

Paul Rand

Our thoughts become our words, our words become our actions, our actions become our character, our character becomes our destiny.

Gandhi

WOW, photos of abandonned Asylums and Hospitals!

Quiet, a book by Susan Cain, about what it means to be an introvert in a culture of personality. Excellent interview on CBS's Author talk.

At heart I'm an urban homesteader and so in making my own peanut butter I believe I am taking another small but important step in the right direction. I invite you to find ways to recalibrate your life and take back the most basic of goods from huge companies we've become dependent on.

Love me some Gaillard!

Here's an excellent story about a Gruffalo, enjoy!

I am a fan of keeping chickens. I'd prefer that they were 100% free range, however, at night they need somewhere to come home to and be safe from wildlife. Chickens also prefer dark and quiet places to lay their eggs. So if ever there was a need for a place like this (when keeping chickens becomes legalized in GR) I have stumbled upon a sweet and slightly over the top coup design. I'd love to know what the chickens think of these digs:)

For a more thorough treatment of how to make caramel, brulees, and sugar doodads I recommend Good Eats' Alton Brown.

My self-portrait concept was derailed with, what I affectionately like to refer to as, a paralysis of analysis. I was overwhelmed with too many ideas and not keen on any one in particular. Until now! I love Aaron Smith's use of color and light here, it's exactly what I'l like to accomplish in my work.

reminds me of this artist's goal to complete a painting a day