2008 Honda Fit Sport 5 Speed

Shared Experiences

Partial Solar Eclipse 8/21/2017

I usually ramble in my journal and only share my thoughts after I have them unraveled and expressed in a comprehensible way. But I have a feeling I am not going to succeed with this train of thought so will share things as is for now and maybe others can help me express my thoughts or point me towards similar thoughts.

Some of my least favorite things to hear from family and well-meaning friends:
"You don't understand because you don't look that way."
"You don't know what it's like unless you have kids."
"It's different because you are...."

Those comments frustrated me because I felt that I did understand whatever situation we were talking about regardless of my lack of personal experiences. I can sympathize with my sister's, or any woman's, struggle to juggle work, family, marriage, kids, and personal fulfillment without having to live her life. I can imagine what it must be like to worry about your child or feel helpless as you watch her struggle through life, without ever having my own child. My brush with hate and racism is minor (if there is such a thing as minor evil), but I believed I understood the anxiety, fear, and anger some of our neighbors feel as they go about their day.

I thought I could intellectualize feelings and emotions.

I was wrong.

I can imagine those emotions but it is not the same as actually feeling them. Oddly enough, it took yesterday's solar eclipse to remind me of that. I got all emotional seeing the moon slowly blocking the sun. I read about the eclipse. I saw pictures of them. I viewed time-lapsed videos of them. But none of that gave me the rush of awe and feelings of insignificance as actually seeing it myself through the filtered glasses.

I still believe I can understand something without having to experience it.

But perhaps my family and friends were not talking about understanding on an intellectual level, but on an experiential level. For emotions, such as fear, hate and love, cannot truly exist alone in thought experiments. They have to be lived. And the shared experiences with those around you are the cement that hold and solidify those feelings. Without those shared experiences, you are left with only what you imagined those feelings would be like --- without actually feeling those emotions.

Anyway, I don't really know where I was going with all this. Guess struggling to understand current events and how people can feel emotions that are so foreign to me sent me down this winding road. It was not an epiphany or anything. More like a reminder that life is meant to be experienced, not intellectualized.

But experiences can be so messy.
Thinking about life is so much safer than living it.
........ to be continued ......

Da Suls

Fortunate is she who experiences the love & devotion of a feline companion.

Farewell, Sully. Go find the others.

5/1999~7/30/2017

Last Pix With Sully

1:30 pm on Sunday 7/30/17

Sully and Miquelrius Planner

__________
"Enlightenment often comes on the tail of disillusionment." ~~ Struggling Eternal Optimist.

Sully and Friends

__________
"Enlightenment often comes on the tail of disillusionment." ~~ Struggling Eternal Optimist.

The Spiral Staircase

It feels like I am going in circles, not getting anywhere.  Sometimes I get flashes of clarity and believe that I am finally near the top, only to be met with another curve.  Maybe it would be better if I look for an exit door that will let me out of this stairwell instead of stubbornly trying to reach the top.  Hoping my persistence or foolishness will pay off and I will break through that top door one day soon.  I think today is that day.  Or was that just another curve?

image from Dicenoir Design

"My folly was not in feeling the way I did; my folly was in believing it was mutual."

Enlightenment often comes on the tail of disillusionment. Struggling eternal optimist.

Sully at The Park

Sweet Sully cheering me up at the park with his antics.

"But many of us seek community solely to escape the fear of being alone.  Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving.  When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape."
--- Bell Hooks

Just be careful not to confuse being solitary with isolating oneself from others to avoid being hurt again :)

Ford Horizon 1990

Easy One Pot Microwave Curry Potato-Rice

The secret is in the awesome covered microwave crockpot.
1/2 cup uncooked white rice (I used jasmine)
1 medium russet potato peeled and cubed
3 kale leaves, de-stemmed and chopped
1.25 cup of vegetable broth (or use 1 teaspoon of a vegetable broth powder mixed with 1.25 cup of water)
1 tsp of curry powder

Combine the broth, curry powder and rice in the pot. Add the kale. Stir. Add the cubed potatoes on top. No need to stir the potatoes (the broth will not cover the potatoes). You want the rice to be submerged in the broth. Potatoes can sit on top and cook from the steam.

Cover (the lid has a vent)
Microwave high (100%) for 5 minutes (800 watts). Then lower to 50% for 16 minutes.
Leave in microwave for at least 15 minutes afterwards to allow the liquid to be absorbed, the rice and potatoes to finish cooking. I left mine in for 30 minutes when possible.

Stir or fluff gently to mix the potatoes with the rice mixture. Yummy!

Loss

Last Day of the Year

To Be Remembered

Joy of Journey

Joy of journey is compensation for change in destination.

Hello, again.
It has been a while and much has happened.  We are products of our experiences.  We can choose to look at those experiences differently but we can never erase them.

Destinations help guide our travels.
Without them, we would aimlessly wander.
But if too focused on the destination,
We risk missing the detours and sights,
The beauty of the journey.

So keep the destination in mind, fellow travelers.
But embrace the moments,
The little things that make us smile.
That make us feel as if
The journey is all that matters.

Travel's end may not be as envisioned
For Life has a way of surprising us.
Joy of journey is compensation
To console and ease the sense of loss
From changes in dreams and destinations.

Life happens.

Video-making with Elaine

Bubbly Test - Checking Rx Refill

Voice post on Bubbly
Reminder to check prescription refill appearance.
Testing out features. Not that many US accounts yet but we can share it on Twitter.
Bubbly is a social voice network. Share your voice with the world.

How May I Help You?

Elaine at the counter.

Total Relaxation during AP Treatment

Fourth of July - from Elaine's Perspective

Spicy Almond Pulp Pate

I don't know why I never tried experimenting with almond pulp.  Wish I did this sooner.  I've followed recipes on blogs and Youtube.  Most used the whole amount of pulp from the 1 cup of almonds used to make almond milk.  So if you don't like the final product, you're out of luck until the next batch of almond milk.  It was discouraging (and expensive) to see things not coming out well.
Then I noticed that many of the recipes state "as needed" or "to taste" etc.  Well, why don't I just try a smaller portion.  Plus that means I may have 4 different almond pulp dishes from one batch of pulp!
This one started with about 1/3 cup of almond pulp.  I added nutritional yeast (about 3 tbsp) for the cheesy flavor (but may leave it out next time), olive oil to keep the mixture moist (about 2 tbsp by the end of the mixing), oregano (I liberally sprinkled it on, maybe 2-3 tsp), 1/2 clove garlic crushed, 1 green onion minced, and 1/2 tsp cayene pepper. By then, the mix was kind of dry, not very spreadable. I added 1/2 small avocado (mashed) --- just for kicks and since the riped avocado needs to be used.  Once that's all mixed, I added sea salt to taste (about 1/8 tsp).
The avocado gave a delicious creamy texture and seems to tie all the flavors together.  It's quite savory (garlicky so use less if you're not a garlic fan or in a work environment!).
It was so good, my folks are keeping the remainder for their meatless Wednesday tomorrow.
Can't wait to try an Italian-inspired one with the basil next and one with cumin.  And the last batch will be a sweet one --- maybe a modified version of a cookie dough for dessert.
This spicy almond pulp pate will be perfect in a collard wrap and some crackers for lunch.