Two Happiness Tools

I love handouts and tools for self-improvement. I think my clients love them too. I have found two tools, not invented by myself that make an ecology of happiness easier. One is designed by Gretchen Rubin, called The Happiness Project Toolbox. She makes it easy to follow eight happiness interventions including a Daily One-Sentence Journal,Resolutions, Group Resolutions, Lists, Happiness Hacks, Secrets of Adulthood, Inspiration Board, and Personal Commandments. My first one to use was the Daily One-Sentence Journal. You can share your happiness endeavors with others that use her ToolBox or keep them to yourself.

Another useful happiness application for fellow iPhone fanatics, is the Live Happy App. There is a free version, or one that costs $4.99. The only difference that I can see between the two, is that the free one expires and then you have to buy it to continue to use the App. This App is interactive with the camera on your iPhone and also has a FaceBook link. there are videos and quotations about the art of happiness. I enjoy the Gratitude List, Replaying Happy Days, and Keeping a Savoring Album, though there are several other useful interventions which encourage one to maintain adherance to a happy lifestyle. This application is based on Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky's happiness research and book.

Pecan Pie Cake

This recipe is a family favorite, especially at Thanksgiving at our home. My son requested that it be served at the groom's table at his upcomming wedding.

3 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted and divided
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 dark corn syrup
1 recipe pecan pie filling

Sprinkle 2 cups toasted pecans evenly into 3 buttered 9-in round cake pans; shake to coat bottoms and sides of pans.



Beat 1/2 cup butter and shortening until fluffy; gradually add sugar, beating well with mixer. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating until blended. Stir in Vanilla.
Add flour and baking soda to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed on mixer until blended. Stir in 1 cup finely chopped pecans.


Beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff peaks form; fold one-third of egg whites into batter. Fold in remaining egg whites. Pour batter into prepared pans.


Bake 350o for 25 minutes or until done. Cool pans on wire rack 10 minutes. Invert layers onto wax paper and brush tops and sides with corn syrup and cool.

Pecan Pie Filling: 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar; 3/4 cup dark corn syrup; 1/3 cup cornstarch; 4 egg yolks; 1-1/2 cups half-and-half cream; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 3 tablespoons butter or margarine; 1 teaspoon vanilla
Whisk together first 6 ingredients in a 3-qt saucepan until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly; boil one minute or until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and butter. Place sheet of wax paper on top of mixture to prevent film. Chill for 4 hours.

Assemble cake: Spread half of filling on 1 layer, pecan side up. Place second layer pecan side up, on filling; spread with remaining filling. Top with remaining 3rd layer, pecan side up.
Serves 10.

Cookies, cookies, cookies!!!

On Saturday I helped host a bridal shower for my future sister-in-law, Sarah. One of my duties was to bring the cookies. Well usually I would probably just go and buy some cookies, but since I am currently at liberty I decided to bake and decorate them myself. I figured this was a creative endeavor since it involved decorating. Since my last post also involved a product out of the kitchen, I think I am going to have to make more of an effort to share something that isn't edible with you idea farmers next time.

I made wedding cake and wedding dress cookies:
I also made hearts and musick note cookies (the musick notes I made since Sarah will be joining our family and our last name is Musick)...

And I also made mini chocolate chip and lemon wedding cookies...

If you would like the recipes for these cookies I don't have them. I just looked up cookie recipes online and then forgot to save the ones I used.

I would also like to give an official, "THANK YOU" to McKay's bakery for the wonderful lessons I received in cookie decorating during my 5 years of on-and-off employment there. Actually I should probably be thanking those that taught me to decorate cookies; Dianne, Fran, Amanda, hmmm who else...well I can't remember everyone's name but you know who you are and probably don't read this blog anyway so, whatevs.

like bees to flowers

I'm in my third quarter for an MA in "Environment and Community" at Anioch U. in Seattle. One of my courses this quarter, "Ecological Sustainability" is striving to push us to find the connection between the way we relate to nature and the way we relate to each other. Three times in the quarter they pose the same questions to us, helping us observe our growing ideas. Below is my second installment. Not an new idea for certain, but a relatively new one to me, an "environmentalist" for my entire adult life.
(Note: the Duwamish people's are native people's of the Pacific Northwest.)



1)What do you currently believe are the important cultural patterns and social structures that need to change in order for us to become more sustainable in our relationships to the earth and with each other?

An idea that has fascinated me just prior to commencing Ecological Sustainability is the idea that we humans can be as beneficial to the environment as, to quote Dr. Rudy Ryser, “a bee to a flower.” Having come from a tradition that distinctly separated humans from Nature, and having seen the devastating effects of such a view, I have felt filled with shame and guilt, bowing to nature, claiming “We are not worthy! We are not worthy!” I quickly adopted the common environmentalists' doctrine to leave Nature alone. Dear god, fence her off from us so that she has a chance at survival. This whole idea does not bode well for our relationship with Nature. It continues to pit us against her. We are in a partnership with Nature, either for her destruction or for her health. If we are ever to live in a healthy partnership we must accept the notion that we can give as much to her as she to us.
Our symbiotic relationship with Nature surfaced for me during the break between Winter and Spring quarters. I was reading Barbara Kingsolver's “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” While once a vegetarian, I had never full accepted the idea that killing an animal was wrong. When I became more interested in the idea of local eating I realized how destructive processed soy products can be despite how vegan diets were touted as having the “lightest footprint.” Barabara Kingsolver maintained a similar view. Her writings on the relationship between humans and animals forecasted the lessons in Ecological Sustainability.
In shock, with guilt and shame at the state of the meat industry, many vegans and vegetarians have swung to the same end that many environmentalists have, severing our relationships with animals to protect them from us. As Kingsolver points out in her book, the relationship was not always, and need not be the tragedy it is on the majority today. Horses, goats, cows, fowl and more have developed intricate symbiotic relationships with humans. As we depend on them for their products they equally depend on us to survive and flourish. Animal husbandry an art practiced over centuries encouraged diversity among breeds. Without us the breeds of animals that have adapted with us over thousands of years would not survive. In fact, with the advent of the one breed meat industry, many breeds have been lost.
In the history of the the Duwamish peoples I saw demonstrated the possibility of human bees to Nature's flowers. Their work burning and gardening the plains actually encouraged biodiversity. It strengthened ecosystems. Where nature would have overwhelmed the land with a monocrop of douglas fir forests, humans broke the monotony bringing with them not less life but more.
Awareness of this partnership is essential to healing the gaping wound between us and Nature. Understanding this context, I see myself within Nature's web, not outside of it. The separation that has been the dominant theme of our relationship fades into the a complexity, where I am both Nature's child, her sustainer and her creator. As are all the creatures and elements that fill in the web, so are we.


2)Further, what connections do you see, if any, between changes in our relationships with each other and with nature? Label this file “Sustainability 2”

One Darwinian concept that pervades our culture and therefore our relationship with each other and nature, is the idea of the “survival of the fittest.” “Dog eat dog,” and “eat or be eaten,” also demonstrate the worldview that we are all pitted against one another for our own survival. It seems we have been racing to prove to Nature that we can survive better than she, only to realize how desperately we need her. We just as equally strive to rise above other human beings, driving to the top at any expense of those around us, only to realize how much we depend on the prosperity of all citizens of the world. Globalization, with all of it's horrifying destructiveness, has also inadvertently shown us how interdependent we really are. One example lies in the countries and communities of the southern tropical rainforests. In order to compete and survive the rainforests are hastily destroyed for their resources. In this destruction more CO2 is released than all of the world's transport combined. This is coupled with a devastating loss of biodiversity, of CO2 absorption and disturbance of rainfall.
Darwin's notion, taken out of context, continues the concept of disconnection and mutual independence. Looking further into evolutionary theory, we find that is actually the survival of the most adaptive and creative. Just as much as our view of our relationship with Nature must change to partnership, so must we also view our relationships with the citizens of the whole world.

Tonight for Dinner: Burgandy Salad with Poached Egg!

Tonight for dinner I made a (rather) impromptu dish that I thought I would share. It was easy, new (to me in method and in taste), and really healthy and fun.

I wanted to learn to poach eggs so I thought I would incorporate this into a salad with some of the ingredients we had lying around the house. I googled "poached egg salads" and one of the results rendered was the Burgandy Salad with Poached Egg. I also made a sweet potato mash as a side dish. As seen here:

First I boiled water with a little white vinegar and then brought it down to a simmer. Then I cracked an egg in a ramekin (a small bowl would work). I gently poured the egg into the simmering water where I left it for just about two minutes. Then a fished out the egg gently with one of those wire strainers that are on a handle. I then gently put my poached egg in ice water (since I was making 6 of them and since dinner wouldn't be served for another hour).

Here are the rest of the ingredients for this yummy (and did I mention healthy?) salad:

Mustard Vinaigrette (see recipe below)

7 ounces smoked bacon

Diced 10 to 12 ounces mushrooms, washed, dried, and sliced

10 ounces of mixed greens

1 small finely chopped red onion

4 medium-size tomatoes, sliced

Okay, well I realize now I didn't use onion. I'll have to try that next time. Also I just used Romaine lettuce since that's what we had. We also had some leftover cooked bacon so I just put it on a cookie sheet so it crisped up a bit more and crumbled it after that.

The dressing was SUPER easy and really makes the salad. It wouldn't have been the same with bottled vinaigrette:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

A little hot water

Coarse salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves

Just put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.

I also did a sweet potato mash. A lot of people think you have to add brown sugar or a ton of butter to sweet potatoes, NOT TRUE! I just baked four sweet potatoes on a rack in the oven at 450 degrees for about 40 minutes. I pulled them out of the oven, let them sit for a couple of minutes and then slit them open. They just fell out of their skins when I opened them up into a bowl. After mashing them all together in a casserole dish I added a little over 1 tablespoon of butter and about 1/4 cup of skim milk. Since I was waiting for the rest of the family to show up I just threw the casserole dish back in the oven (now turned off) to keep warm.

I had plated everything else except for the mushrooms and the poached egg. This is because I wasn't sure when everyone would arrive and also because cold mushrooms and cold eggs are GROSS.

Once my party was together I just pulled the mushrooms off the very light heat I had had them over and then gently put the poached eggs back in simmering water.

I let the eggs warm up in the simmering water for about a minute and a half. I picked them up with my strainer on a handle thingy (what DO you call those?) and placed them on top of a paper towel. I then plated the poached eggs and drizzled on a little dressing.

I pulled the sweet potatoes out of the oven, plated those as well and voila! It was a beautiful dinner that didn't really take much effort and was fun to make since it involved a new method and a new recipe.

Has anyone else tried any new cooking styles recently? I would LOVE to hear about it :)

Á la votre!
amanda

Playing with the Tablet

I am posting this on behalf of Travis one of our loyal idea farm readers who has never posted before...



To try and employ his interest in art and all things geeky and tech-y he has used a tablet. Here is his first try for a finished piece here:

Here is his second attempt (my personal favorite of the two it shows more of an abstract look):

The tablet he used can be seen here:

http://www.amazon.com/Bamboo-Medium-Tablet-Graphics-Software/dp/B000V9RL6G/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1239588138&sr=8-2

As you can see it is quite affordable and is a fun and unique way to try your hand at some artsy skills without spending a whole lot (and without getting messy art supplies all over your house).

Thank you Travis for submitting this post! To our other Idea Farm readers who haven't posted yet you can always send me something you would like me to post on your behalf if you don't feel "blog-savvy". We would love for everyone to share something :)

The Faces of Deer

(I first posted this on my personal blog, but I decided to share it with all you Idea Farmers as well.) 

Deer are and have always been very special to me.  They appear at times I need them most, when I need to be a witness to Grace and Beauty, to be reminded of Mystery and Freedom, to be led across the bridge from Fear to Love, or to learn the simple pleasure of communicating Peace to another Being. I have stood in woods for eternal moments in the silence of trees staring deer in their bewildered eyes, basking in their essence, asking for their Wisdom. Each time I walk away feeling Beloved. The day after my Grandmother passed, when I was overcome with grief, I stood in wonder in the backyard of the house where I work as several deer convened in the grass. This was a rare occasion to begin with, but what was even rarer was the way they stayed when we came near. So, there we stood, me and my three year-old sidekick and his mother, probably ten feet from the nearest deer and up to our ears in amazement.  These were young deer, perhaps too young to know the danger of coming so close, though I like to think they were just feeling adventurous that morning. I was reminded of the last conversation I had with my Grandmother. It was my wedding day, and just hours before the fall that finally broke her. And as we talked about the wedding and my upcoming move to Australia she said to me: "I've had my adventures. Now it's your time." How can I tell you then what it was like for me to see these young deer, so free and fearless, stopping and staring at us with such fierceness of spirit?  My soul was at its knees. And what those deer communicated to my soul in that moment of connection, I lack the perception to say. All I know, is in that moment, healing began. All I know, is whether you are a three year-old just learning to say hello to life, an eighty year-old learning to say goodbye, or somewhere in between, whether or not you have ever looked into the eyes of another Being and asked for them to teach you something, you are Beloved. 

When for too long I don't go deep enough

into the woods to see them, they begin to

enter my dreams. Yes, there they are, in the

pinewoods of my inner life. I want to live a life

full of modesty and praise. Each hoof of each

animal makes the sign of a heart as it touches

then lifts away from the ground. Unless you

believe that heaven is very near, how will you

find it? Their eyes are pools in which one

would be content, on any summer afternoon,

to swim away through the door of the world.

Then, love and its blessing. Then: heaven.

-Mary Oliver

(The picture was taken at Shenandoah National Park last summer on Yuki's first camping trip. You can click to enlarge.)

As long as I'm unemployed I might as well...

Well, since I have suddenly found myself with lots of free time I have decided to write all of my stories down. See, if you know me, you know I'm a story teller. If I could have any job in the entire world I would be a story teller. But since I haven't found any posting for said position on Monster, Career Builder, craigslist, etc. I have decided that the least I can do is write them down.
At my last job I was known for my stories. In fact we had "Story time Friday" every week (and no I didn't work with children, I was a Project Manager and former Corporate bully). If I hadn't told a story by Friday at noon my co-workers would start nagging, "Hey when are we going to have story time Friday?" And I would pull some story from my quirky childhood, or recent past and share with them all. I'm sure not everyone enjoyed it as much as I did, and I know some story time Friday listeners were more loyal than others, but regardless I did have an audience for my stories. Well, my co-workers (some of whom I'll miss) are no longer privvy to story time Friday so I decided to write them and share them on my personal blog:

http://musickality.blogspot.com

I thought I would share this since that is the current creative project I am working on.

I hope that some of you will be able to post soon fellow contributors (and readers)...I am curious as to what all you Idea Farmers are up to these days!

A New Path

Exactly one week ago I quit my job. I had just returned from my friend Tracy's wedding and was feeling very happy (it's amazing how being around old friends makes you feel more like yourself than anything else). It was a normal day at the office. I was in a cheery mood, showing everyone pictures from the wedding and bragging about my ability to do low chignons for the bride's hair (I never claimed to be modest).

I never suspected that on Tuesday, the 24th of March my life would be taking an entirely different direction I had not planned for that day. I won't go into too much detail, but I will say that my boss asked me to do something that was unethical, deceptive, and was very angry when I questioned what I was being asked to do. It is amazing how some people thrive on intimidation when they feel threatened. Anyway, since I felt pressured to do something I felt was wrong, and I saw no way out of doing what I was being asked to do; I resigned. It felt very liberating. I thought about doing it for a total of about 2 minutes. Should I lie and deceive a client? Or should I quit? (Later I was told by a good business-savvy friend that I should have gone with option c. to let them fire me, but I didn't know this at the time). I walked out, and haven't looked back. I should probably be stressed about my future (or at least my pending bills), but I am not. Now it is time to find a new job, let life take me in a new direction, and open up my mind to possibilities I hadn't even considered before.

Yesterday I moved out of my apartment and turned in the key, I am now homeless, jobless, and directionless. As my friend Bryce said, "You may have to re-define what is normal for a while". Right now normal is living with friends, moving my dog Vino to my parents house temporarily, job-hunting, and taking naps at 2:00 in the afternoon.

Even though I should be feeling scared, broke, uncertain, homeless and unemployed. I feel liberated, creative, curious, certain, and right at home.

The wind is like a thought

It whispers away

The soft water hushing

Rushing of wind

Leaves together brushing

Cars rushing

Shushing

Water running solitary

Sounds like the wind against a thing

We never know the wind alone

And so a thought fleeting

An idea beating

Its way to a heart, a brain, a mouth, a pen

Has no truth alone

Just like the unfettered wind

Can't be known

The speaking of the thought

Or writing, singing, painting, voicing

Shares truth

Alone the new thought has only

Youth

The jingle of chimes ringing

Tingling

Bringing to life a song

The wind song

The thought becomes a verse

And the wind and the idea

Become singing

A song of imagination

Thought and voice

Are creation

Moonlight Night in the Caribbean

I took this photo of the moon shining on the water with my iPhone. We had just seen a beautiful ice skating show in the ship and then stepped out to enjoy the view. It was very windy and cold, as the ship was moving pretty fast. I love the pink cast that the moon and it's shadow reflected in this photo.

I was grateful for the beauty that God created and that I had the wonderful opportunity to view!

A Case of Creative Constipation

Amanda, I know you've been trying really hard to produce some solid ideas for your dog poop sculpture, but it seems like there is a blockage of some sort. I know it's a heavy load to carry, so I am here to help. Perhaps you just lack inspiration, (though I would think the wasteland would provide plenty of materials to work with) but in any case, here is some BM (big motivation) for you:

Butt, if this doesn't work, you may just have to push through and squeeze something out cause a double dog-poo dare is not something to take lightly. Best of luck! 

*If you are confused about the meaning of this post, see Trash Sculpture post comments and Amanda's latest post for clarification. If you are offended by this post, sorry. 

Trash Sculpture

The weather here this weekend was gorgeous, so Jason and I went out and did some weed warrioring at a park near our place. Weed Warriors is a Montgomery County parks program which trains ordinary citizens to become certified to identify and remove non-native invasive species of plants in the local parks. It's a fun and rewarding way to help the local environment as non-natives can really wreak havoc and throw entire ecosystems off-kilter. So look into it if interested to see if there might be a similar program in your area. But, anyway, while we were out, we gathered some trash and made a little sculpture and then threw the trash away. I was thinking it would be cool to try this on a larger scale, by perhaps organizing a community trash clean-up day and having a trash sculpture contest as a fun way to clean up the Earth and get creative! Find a particularly trash-ridden area, gather some folks (you could work in teams or individually), gather trash and then make sculptures. Then, if you wanted to make it a competition you could have some type of judge or have people vote on the sculpture they think is best. Then, of course, have everyone throw the trash away. As I'm writing this I'm thinking someone has probably already come up with this idea...I'll look into it, but in the mean time if someone wants to make a trash sculpture and post a picture of it on the Idea Farm, it would make me really happy! Ours kinda sucked because thankfully there really wasn't that much trash to work with and it was very windy, but some more artistically gifted folks like yourselves could probably come up with something really rad. Just an idea.

This made me think of one of my favorite documentaries, Rivers & Tides, about the artist Andy Goldsworthy, who makes nature sculptures. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and witness the beauty of his creations and patience. Here's a clip:

Buckwheat and Banana Pancakes

BUCKWHEAT AND BANANA PANCAKES
So, I admit I am not very creative but I do love to cook which is a form of creativity in its own right. I love to find healthy recipes that still taste good and this is a good example. Saying that, I love pancakes. I especially love the taste of banana with the sticky syrup. You could sprinkle chopped walnuts on the pancakes as they’re cooking for a full-on pancake-meets-banana bread experience. These happen to be vegan, but don’t taste like it. Buckwheat flour adds a lot of value to the plain white flour – it’s rich in nutrients like calcium, iron, B vitamins and protein, and it's gluten-free. Definitely worth a trip to the health food store.

Serves: about 3-4 (makes about a dozen)
Time: 15 minutes

• 1 1/4 cups soy or rice milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more for serving
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour or white spelt flour (substitute rice flour to make pancakes completely gluten-free)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 bananas, thinly sliced

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a small bowl. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a slightly bigger bowl. Add the wet to the dry and stir just enough to combine – be careful not to over-mix (that’s how you get tough pancakes).

Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Ladle as many pancakes as possible onto your griddle. Place a few slices of banana on top of each pancake. Cook for about a minute and a half on the first side or until the surface is covered with small bubbles and the underside is nicely browned. Flip and cook for about a minute on the second side. Repeat the process until you run out of batter. Serve stacked high with plenty of maple syrup.

Lullaby

So much time spent in anger
Understanding not the danger
Of refusing this transition

Never accepting the mission
So many years spent charming
Promises disarming

Life on the horizon
Unable to envision
The golden promise

Afraid of the crucible's furnace
Transforming ore of childhood
Soon hard-won metal of adulthood

Sleep in peace tonight
Wake up with insight
My beloved

101 things I am grateful for

I'm not sure about you, but this is within my realm of creativity. Prompted by my recent free will horoscope, I have written up 101 things I am grateful for. Mere mere, myself and our friend did this together and shared. It was fun and really grounding.

1. Noodles!
2. Mere mere
3. My first name
4. My middle name b/c it was my grandmas and then I inherited a ring from her (that I would never wear) and then I sold it to my uncle and got a beautiful tattoo and now i can go to grad school without going into MAJOR debt (only minor)
5. Grad school
6. Hero and Saka
7. Rumi
8. Food
9. Freedom
10. Lovemaking
11. Ducking (but it actually starts with an F)
12. Music
13. Dancing Hard
14. Dancing Soft
15. Dancing Weird
16. Symbols
17. Pema Chodron
18. My sister
19. Squishy lettuce
20. Mere-mere's bread
21. Stars
22. Dusk
23. Rowing machines
24. Pole beans
25. parsnips and Jerusalem artichokes
26. Silliness
27. fountain pens
28. libraries
29. best friends
30. friendly neighbours
31. compost
32. Mary mother of Jesus
33. turtles
34. prayer flags
35. healing
36. therapy
37. Jesus
38. my job
39. strong teeth
40. bells
41. permaculture
42. prayer
43. the buddha
44. sledding
45. story telling
46. radio lab
47. anger
48. micro-organisms
49. herb gardens
50. chocolate
51. chocolate milk (hot or cold)
52. bees
53. beeswax candles
54. honey
55. cows
56. alpacas
57. compassion from suffering
58. bass beats
59. beer and wine
60. pudding
61. dumplings
62. mosaics
63. tattoos
64. amazing natural facts
65. myths
66. family
67. vibrators
68. shells
69. gaia
70. my goddess necklace
71. intuition and listening to it
72. balance
73. self-awareness
74. willingness
75. healers
76. skinny dipping
77. salmon
78. being easy on myself
79. sleeping in and staring out the window
80. games (especially on cold days)
81. bicycles
82. spices
83. possibilities
84. choice
85. celebration
86. moderation
87. remembering truths
88. connection connecting connectedness
89. hymns
90. strength
91. weakness
92. beauty
93. horizons
94. waves
95. metaphors
96. farmer's markets
97. trees
98. inspirations
99. outer space
100. paradoxes
101. mere's smell

Untitled 1

I couldn't come up with a title for this painting. It's spray paint, oil, and latex on a 6' x 2' piece of plywood that Tracy and I found in a dumpster outside of The Department of Family and Protective Services, where we worked at the time. It has various personal meanings, but I don't want to impose those on anyone else. I want people to see whatever they want to see in it.

Poem

The diaphanous fish
whirls its skittish eyes
from bank
to floor
to glittering sky.
It does not utter secrets to hands:
hands that plunge and grasp,
hands that divide, flay, or provoke
clouds of silt from riverbed.
Yet the body of the stream regards
the body of the fish:
fan gills, dorsal sail, fluttering wily tail.
The current ever perceives the miracle,
releasing its grip
endlessly becoming new forms, of root, creature, stone, vapor,
widening to glorious estuary, sea,
(and as if vaporized by epiphany)
the sky.


[This is a rough draft. Feedback/criticism is welcome!]

Native American Day

I work in the downtown public library in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The city is named after the Sioux tribe, and many Native American live here. Many are also homeless or in rehab or on work release from prison, which brings them all to the library when it's cold.

The white people in South Dakota are constantly trying to make up for the sins of the fathers against the brown people. To make up for the looming white faces in Mount Rushmore, we are now carving Chief Crazy Horse out of rock. The library was closed on what most states call Columbus Day but South Dakota changed to Native American Day. The Native Americans wished it had stayed open, (and prefer the name Indian).

I also have a lot of white guilt and uncertainty when it comes to communicating with Native Americans, and want to try to show that I respect their heritage and I'm sorry about the state of the reservations and I don't judge the alcohol on their breath or the prison address, but it's hard to do that just checking out books. So when a tall, brown, middle aged man in a flannel and jeans named Leon Kills Small starting chatting with me while I was helping him, I let my curiosity override my timidity.

"What does your last name mean?"
He stared at me, then smiled and I exhaled and was immediately glad I asked. "My grandfather was a small game hunter- killed rabbits and stuff. I have an Indian name for my first name, too."
"How did you get it?"
"I'm a rain dancer, and at a tribe meeting in Idaho we were all dancing around the fire. It started storming bad and everyone sat down but I kept dancing. The medicine man came over to me and asked if I had an Indian name. I told him I didn't so he said it was White Thunder."
I said something dumb like "wow, interesting! Uh... your movies are due back next Tuesday, inauguration day."
He said he was looking forward to it and I asked if he voted for Obama.
"Yes I did. My grandfather prophecied about him when I was little"
"Oh, really?"
"He told me that there would come a day when they would sell water in stores and white people would buy it, and one day white man would be brought down and brown man would be brought up."
"They didn't sell bottled water when you were a kid?"
"No, and I thought that was crazy. Why would they sell water in a store? There's so much water everywhere! And now they're selling water in the stores and a brown man is going to be president."

At this point, there was a white lady with a lot of makeup and glasses about half his size standing in line. She kept stepping forward and backward like she was trying to stand close enough to listen but was kind of scared of him. I was disappointed that I had to cut the conversation off to help her.

The ridiculous part about the conversation was that I felt a little offended when he talked about white man being brought down. I felt almost like he should have said, "no offense to your people, but" or something polite. The second I put words to those feelings I brushed them off as ironic at best.

Experimenting with oils

I decided to try and dabble a little with oil painting. I don't know how to paint, and knew nothing about how to start. But I had been watching the BBC series, "Simon Schama's Power of Art". http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/powerofart/ I had learned that VanGogh had not even starting painting until he was in his 30's. Although I am sure I will not be a Van Gogh, it was inspiring to try a new art form I had no experience with. My first painting was of a sunset, it did not turn out to be a masterpiece to say the least. I then thought it may be easier to imitate another's work while learning more about techniques. I decided to imitate "Id" by Cakaj. Here is the original "Id" and my interpretation "Ego". (Id is on the left, I'm sure it is obvious...but just in case). I found the experience to be a little frustrating and very messy. My least favorite part was cleaning the brushes. I would like to paint some more, but think next time that I will do a little more reading on tips for oil painting before I blindly dive in. Here is a quote by the man who inspired me to try my hand at oils

If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. --Vincent Van Gogh

Healthy Banana Nut Muffins

I, too, love food. I am always trying new recipes and looking for new ones. I am not a vegetarian but I do love to eat as healthy as I can. I fail, often, at passing over the pizza and regular coke but I try and love to eat fresh vegetables and fruits. I also like to stay away from sugar and processed foods. I came across this banana-nut muffin recipe and was very excited because of the health aspect. They are whole grain muffins and are light but still sweet. And the best part, they contain no sugar. Proof that health food can still taste good.

3 medium ripe bananas
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup barley flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tsp. fine sea salt
6 tbsp oil (canola or sunflower)
1 cup whole spelt flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 cup white spelt flour (or all purpose flour)
Makes 1 dozen muffins

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Sift the flours and baking soda into a medium sized bowl, add the salt
-Puree the bananas in a food processor and add the remaining liquid ingredients, mix well.
-Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet mixture (scraping the food processor bowl well) and fold together until the flour mixture is moistened. Add the walnuts and raisins and fold just a few more times to incorporate. Don't overmix or you will have tough muffins!
-Line the muffin tins with paper or brush with oil. Use an ice cream scoop to distribute the batter evenly among the cups.
-Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for a few minutes then remove to a cooling rack.

All I Want is Food and Creative Love

I'm not ashamed to admit it: I love to eat! I've always been pretty passionate about food. But what I am ashamed of is how lazy I've become in the kitchen. I'm no food snob, but when frozen veggie burgers have become a staple in your diet, you know there's room for improvement. And sometimes I truly think that we might order pizza more than anyone else in the world. My boyfriend, Jason is actually a pretty fantastic cook, but he's in law school, so he has an excuse. I, on the other hand, have plenty of free time and therefore no excuse. And there are several year-round farmers markets in the DC area with really great quality, locally produced food. That being said, I would like to endeavor to become more creative in the kitchen. While we are vegetarians, neither of us is a picky eater, so besides meat, the sky is the limit! I picked up this 1970 African cookbook at a local used bookstore the other day: I actually picked it more for the artwork on the front than for the recipes inside, but you never know, there might be some real gems in there. Anyway, I'd love a little help from the creative community on this one! So, if you have any suggestions or favorite recipes you'd like to share, please post them or email me at: lovelyyou@peacemail.com. Thanks!

P.S. I couldn't pass up this opportunity to post a trailer for an upcoming documentary that I'm really excited about. It's called Edible City, and it should be out in the fall.
Edible City Trailer 1 from East Bay Pictures on Vimeo.

Learning to use Photoshop

Besides giving birth to a couple of the humans in this picture, I was able to obliterate another one by using Clone Stamp Tool. I was very proud of myself when, after about 45 frustrating minutes, I figured out how to edit this picture. On the right side, where the brickwork is, I was able to edit out a person, and also removed some distracting signs and words on the wall in the middle of the background.

I am looking forward to improving my photography skills this year, as my creative endeavor.

Blessings

 

Hope everyone is happy and well on the farm! Each of these pictures represent something that Creativity has brought to my life. Wonder. Peace. Love. Individuality. Togetherness. Happiness. In case you are wondering, the top left picture is of the National Cathedral in Washington, DC during the cathedral's Centennial celebration. Swiss artist, Gerry Hofstetter projected his creations onto the side of the cathedral. It was inspiring to witness the impact one man's creativity can have. To see more, visit the National Cathedral's website. Oh, and just to give credit where it's due, the Happiness quote is James Oppenheim and the Truth quote is from a Micah P. Hinson song. And yes, I did get my boyfriend's permission before posting a picture of him in a skirt and skin-tight cami...he's cool like that. Now, get to posting people! (Click collage to enlarge)

Birdsong

This is a picture I took while in Abilene for Christmas vacation in 2007. I went to Nelson Park to pay tribute to my beloved dog, Marley, who died there a few months before. I was lucky enough to get a shot of this bird in flight. I edited the photo using Picnik and added the quote (an excerpt from a Mary Oliver poem). The words describe how I feel about the endless creativity found in Nature and the way in which it speaks to my spirit and invites it to create something in return.

A Little History

To kick this thing off I thought I would share a little history of the “creative endeavor”. I had a humanities class in high school that focused on philosophy, art, expression, thought…okay well perhaps it didn’t really “focus” on any one thing. This course was led by Mr. Monroe. There weren’t really grades, I don’t know anyone who didn’t make an “A” by simply showing up and participating, and there wasn’t much structure. So it was really my kind of class. The one homework assignment we had for each grading cycle was to perform some sort of creative endeavor, and then share this with the class. Many students made wonderful art projects, shared poems, experimented with a new hobby etc. My most memorable creative endeavor was a social experiment.

At the wise age of 17 I had decided that my family was spending entirely too much time in front of the television. There was a t.v. in every room of the house sans the bathrooms, and I don’t remember too many nights when there wasn’t at least one t.v on in the house. I decided our family needed to shake things up a bit…ya know like talk to each other, eat dinner together, interact, play board games—something! So this is what I did. I asked my friend Sarah who had a small truck to help me out. When went to my house after school, and before my parents were home and took every television out of the house. All five of the t.v.’s were then loaded into the bed of her truck and taken over to my friend Tracy’s house. Here they were stored in secrecy. Tracy’s mom, Cindy had agreed to keep my secret with me.

When I came home I entered upon a scene I did not expect. My step-father was furious with me! Apparently he had not seen the note I left warning him that I had taken the t.v’s and not to worry and had immediately called the police to report a theft. Luckily he did see my note soon there-after and called the police to notify them that his step-daughter was the thief, so no need to file a report. He demanded that I bring the televisions back (I had actually never seen him so angry—he is not a short tempered man). Even though I was a little bit afraid, I didn’t back down. I told him this was part of a social experiment and that they were going to be gone for exactly one week, then they would return safely. I thought his anger would subside once he found out it was for school, but this didn’t help my case much. Fortunately my mother, a strong women, stood up for me and said although I shouldn’t have stolen the t.v.’s it would be good for us to go a week without the t.v.

My brothers had a similar reaction to that of my step-father’s. Needless to say they were unhappy. I thought that my plan would force us all to get to know each other better (after all we were a blended family that didn’t always get along), but really it only meant that I spend more time with my parents playing board games in the evening. On day 2 of this social experiment I caught a side-ways glimpse into my step-brother’s room. There was a blanket covering a very t.v.-looking object. Surprise, surprise there was a t.v under there.

In short my creative endeavor showed me more about my family than I would have realized. Not because we really spent more quality time together, but more because of how they handled the loss of such a valued family member. I am not bashing my family members here, they are all great people. But it was quite revealing to see the different reactions of the family members. Looking back on this experiment that took place a decade ago, I realize that the reactions I saw from my family was probably largely in part to due to a lack of control, and less due to the lack of television. Nevertheless I did spend that week without the murmuring of night-time t.v. shows on in the background and more time talking with the people I lived with.

Creative endeavor accomplished.

Purpose

This year I want to live more creatively. But, I don’t want this experience to be had alone. I want to be a part of a creative community. This is when the plan for “The Idea Farm” sprouted (pardon the pun, but I just couldn’t help myself). I want to start a community blog where members of the blog can share their accounts of “creative endeavors” they are experiencing. What is a creative endeavor you may ask…it is a purposeful creative experiment, observation, project or expression. My goal is to do at least one creative endeavor each month and then record it or write about it on this blog. Perhaps I will write about some thought, realization, observation or feeling I had while endeavoring; or maybe it is a simple record, but the goal is to live more creatively in a community of creative explorers.

I want to invite you to take part of the Idea Farm with me. If you wish to live more creatively, and share that experience with others then let me know. I will add you as an author to the blog where you can freely add entries chronicling and taking part of this experiment. Or if you don’t feel blog-savvy, then send me your thoughts, pictures, videos, etc. and I will post them on your behalf. (please send to amanda at musickandwords@gmail.com)