Friday, August 31, 2007

I need this


It's a masala dabba.

All this talk about getting rid of 'stuff', but OMG - do I need one of these or what?!?

For quite some time now, I've been considering adding dishes from East Indian cuisine to my cooking repertoire.

The flavors and aromas of Indian food are toothsome, but I'm a wimp when it comes to intense heat (from peppers and the like). Mild is good, lips and tongue burning is not. Can't handle it.

Sans heat, I'm eager to sample more Indian food and to take note of the regional differences. It ain't just about spicy hot curries. The enchanting aromas of Indian food has much to do with a variety of fragrant, delectable sauces and the combinations of fantastic spices that go into creating them.

What better place to keep an assortment of ambrosial Indian spices than in one's very own masala dabba?

I'm willing to purge my kitchen of several little-used items to justify adding this handy little spice holder...
Should I or shouldn't I?

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Taking inventory


Regarding personal belongings, home decor and lifestyle: many of you know I've been ceaselessly working on simplification of/ re-organization of STUFF. Besides 'fall cleaning' of the home environment, the ultimate goal here is for a healthier happier lifestyle.
Not too shabby a goal, eh whot?

My intentions are sincere and efforts commendable. However, the occasional reality-check-moment reveals that it is unlikely I'll ever achieve the simplicity of my fantasies.

I find a fair amount of organized clutter rather soothing. Looking around at clean (not boring) unobstructed lines in a room is something I can appreciate. So is the joy derived from viewing my belongings (arranged in pleasing-to-gaze-upon vignettes, of course). Singularly or combined, a few of my favourite things (obvious link, but I could not resist) contributes to validating my essence - moreover, defines HOME.

No doubt you've seen DIY Home Improvement shows where a house is 'staged' to be sold. The decor is simplified to the point of losing all personality of the current home dwellers. Hide the photographs, ditto with personal mementos and chotkes. Display fewer dishes in the kitchen cabinets, clean out some food so your larder doesn't looked crammed. Arrange clothes in the closet to make the space look larger. Pick up the dirty laundry, get rid of the kitty litter box (better yet, farm the pets out for the duration!). The place ends up looking like a stripped down hotel or model home. All the better for potential buyers to imagine themselves living there.
But not for day-to-day living.

My mantra is Keep the Personality, but Lose Some of the Clutter.
In the home as well as relationships, I reckon.
Fingers crossed.

Two more difficult to define concepts that are new to me: shibui and iki. Both are applicable to aesthetics, but are actually more descriptive of a way of being.

Ah - so very Zen...that it hurts my poor feeble brain.
It's madness, energy depleting and ultimately futile , but I will continue to strive for A Tad Less is a Lot More.

Tomorrow I will tackle purging my socks/pantyhose. Baby steps to a larger ideal. After I move the colored tights to the Goodwill bag, I'll start working on streamlining my relationships. Whatever that might mean.

Wish me luck. This could take years.

Are we having fun yet?
YES.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Get back


It's time.
For me to get back to some serious art-making, crafting, painting, cooking, reading et cetera.

Hopefully, all the recent effort put into home reorganization will fire up the creative muse.

Taking inventory of art supplies, perusing files of 'inspirational ideas' clipped from magazines, cleaning out kitchen cabinets (again!) and sorting through exciting titles in the home library. Paring down and looking at all the raw materials before me may help with settling firmly into a Just Do It Groove...

As summer slides towards autumn, I am awash with the urge to cozy down, make plans, reach for new goals and re-energize.
I want to be more productive in the forthcoming months.

Spend quality time with people I enjoy.
Nurture my existing relationships and cultivate new ones.

Keep an open mind towards learning, create positive experiences, share my enthusiasm, do a lot of joyous laughing.

Also - take time for quiet introspection.

Curb my biatchyness (just a bit, for I am largely defined by it. Perhaps I will biatch
with more aplomb and less vindictiveness...yes yes...a worthwhile goal...).

Get back to working at being a better me.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Rock Bottom


I'm hitting rock bottom with this post - which is about the most taboo of all blog topics: 'What I ate for breakfast'.
All authors of personal blogs know that there is no one, absolutely no one who is interested in, or will be remotely enlightened by - what you ate for breakfast.
(though we must understand that for all intent and purposes, b's blog is ultimately a journal written for me myself and nobody else...
yeah, right).

Yet here it is.
Call it an initiation. Rite-of-passage. Moment of morning madness.
Writing about what I had for breakfast was bound to happen sooner or later in my blogging, so why not with this morning's repast?

Let's get it over with, then.

Today's breakfast deviated from my norm:
a serving of 'old-fashioned' rolled oats (steel cut takes waaaaay too long to cook, and I can never remember the soaking overnight bit). I microwave one serving with the appropriate amount of water for 5 minutes on 8Power, add a spoonful of Splenda, mix in generous (some might say a whopping) handful of dried cranberries followed by a splash of Lactaid.
That final addition of milk renders the otherwise thick wallpaper paste consistency of cooked oatmeal palatable.

To my dismay, there was nary a drop of Lactaid to be had in the house. I discovered in the kitchen trash evidence of the empty milk carton where HD had deposited it a few hours before after completing his breakfast ritual (cold cereal and milk).

However, there was (this I haven't purchased in decades, literally - decades) a container of chocolate milk*.
Regarding my oatmeal dilemma, I sez to myself, I sez ~ Why the hell not?
To my bowl of cooked oats, I added a goodly amount of choc milk. Mixed it up. Tossed a wee pat of butter on top for good luck.

I et of it, but ain't doin' that one a'gin.
Review of breakfast improvisation #1 = Too sweet, too brown and something about that hint of chocolate was just not right.

As a kid, I remember eating Cocoa Puffs and feeling the same way...
Concept good, actual taste = kinda yucky.

* Why chocolate milk? DollinkDaughterJrS visited the other day. She had a hankering for chocolate milk , which brought up my occasional hankering for it and a quick stop at the mart was in order.

P.S. Damn. The chocolate milk wasn't as delicious as how my taste buds remembered either.
Funny how that happens, isn't it?

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Brilliant Brassy Broads


I am in awe of so many women.
Not only for the 'sisters' they often prove to be, but as kindred spirits of the female-touch-my-soul variety.

I adore straightforward women.

Smart women.

Insightful women.

Colorful artsy outrageously expressive women.

Rugged women with tough, calloused hard-working hands and hearts of filigree gold.

Adventurous women who follow their passion.

Elegant sophisticated women who appear delicate but get their way (and the men who love them).

Women with high self-esteem and low braggadocio.

Women who deliver their wit via a keen 'urban' sense of humour.

Tell-it-like-it-is women.

Self-assured gals who live fully, write lyrically and laugh out loud (and often).

Tortured women.

What brings this to mind is a recent NPR article about the passing of American short story writer Grace Paley. Until the obit, I'd not had the pleasure of knowing of her life or work. Now I will be sure to investigate both.

Alas, the cast of characters is far too numerous to list...so I leave you with....
Huzzah! Huzzah! for Brilliant Brassy Broads!

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?



Real people/real possibilities vs. The Art Realm.

Money? Fame?
Principle (Horton)?
%*#1?@load of affectation (art dealers)?

See this documentary. You'll laugh. You'll cry.

And Pollock's gotta be rolling in his grave.

One word movie review: Revealing

Image from: http://www.birofineartrestoration.com/Pollock/Pollock.htm

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Moving is such a sobering experience...AKA Song of STUFF

...because it forces you to realize just how much STUFF has to be packed up and taken to the next place. No duh, right?

Last week DollinkDaughterLLS packed up her and DollinkSonInLawDRF's apartment to make such a move.

DDLLS is not a packrat.
She's not one to keep things beyond their 'use by' dates (dates which are sometimes based on practicality, other times, sentimentality).
DDLLS is constantly purging belongings, and her ability to do so has always been an inspiration to someone like myself, who tends to keep far too many things for far too long and for all the wrong reasons.

Save for a vast library of wonderful art/design books and quite a fashionable array of beautiful/cute shoes, DDLLS' lifestyle keeps to a minimalist approach.

Yet there was still quite a bit of STUFF to pack before the movers arrived. This, the STUFF of every aspect of daily living.
Here, there and every which where that things could be stored - there they were. Useful stuff. Aesthetically pleasing stuff. Valuable stuff. Sentimental keepsake stuff.
Under, over and in each available nook and cranny of their apartment was - more STUFF.
As her packing assistant, I bear witness.

What of STUFF, then?
I've been doing a fair amount of purging STUFF this year, so for me, expounding on HAVING TOO MUCH STUFF is always a front-burner topic.

As a consumer culture, most of us have no problem seeking out and then acquiring more NEW STUFF every day, week, month. We're in the same proverbial sinking boat, weighed down with our individual/combined abundance. Acquiring is in our hunter-gatherer blood. Instinctual behaviours aside, acquisition of things to improve or facilitate our everyday living has surely gone beyond survival, and gotten the best of us, has it not?
We end up with so much that it soon feels like our STUFF possesses us.

We NEED most of it, don't we? Is it simply a matter of STUFF Management, then?

I did a major purge of my household belongings a few months ago.
Actually, the task is an ongoing one, and yes, it's a constant battle.
(How very telling that a military term is apropos...)

Today I was in the master bedroom closet again - going through wardrobe/accessories once more. I got rid of 2 more handbags. Hallelujah. Still have 13. Why can't I get by with just 2 or 3?!? Sifted through my shoes again - chose 2 pair for the 'to go' pile. Those shoes hurt my feet after less than an hour walking in them. Move 'em on.
(I won't confess to how many shoes remain...)

Going through the purses, I happened to glance over at my remaining stackS of tee shirts. Even after the last purge = still waaaaay too many. Why DO I feel the need to own 8 black tee shirts that look almost identical?!? I finally pulled out the stained one with the little pin holes from getting snagged on LordKnowsWhat and trashed it. A tough decision (why?!?), but I did it.
Less one black tee.
Ah.
Onward.

What an endless vicious crazy cycle/ lifestyle.

Dig this article on SDA (Senseless Desire to Acquire).
Here's another good one.

STUFF is good.
TMS (Too Much Stuff) is not so good.

Definitely FFT (Food For Thought).

Monday, August 20, 2007

It's finally happened!


Since the beginning of this month, due to an increased social/life schedule, I have been forced to seek out easy-to-consume, convenient 'meals' now and again. In doing so, it seems that I may be well on my way to developing a bona fide franchise food/drink addiction!

Does having four (count 'em, four!) sixteen oz. size Jamba Juice concoctions (not including 'Secret Menu' items) in the course of one week's time qualify me as a regular, foaming at the mouth addicted customer?

The question is - shall I rejoice because I'm now officially OneWithTheMasses (who indulge and overindulge in franchise offerings), or do I stop to reconsider (the consequences of denting the food budget and all the possibly empty calories added to my diet), then commit myself to a 12-step program?

FYI: Though my preference is home-made smoothies, JJ is way too convenient and requires absolutely no dishwashing on my part...
P.S.: Anything with mango...

Down side of frequenting Jamba = it's often crowded and too dang noisy in those places.

Friday, August 17, 2007

azimuth

LinkImage of Mars from: www.lesia.obspm.fr/~pallier/Mars_10_08.jpg

Last week, a friend (group) sent the following to me. Apparently, this is making the e-mail rounds, and is something of an internet/web hoax.
No matter.
The forwarded info was worth a quick perusal so that I might discover the word: 'azimuth'.

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again. The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye . Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m.That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share this with your children and grandchildren.
NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN

Along with 'azimuth', that last statement is also wonderfully sensational, don't you think? Makes you go 'Oooooooooooh!!'. It doesn't take much for Little Ms. Gullible Yours Truly to ponder it to the point of wondering if I should ready myself for some serious night sky observation this month...
Hmmmmmmmm.

It must be said that it only takes 10 minutes into watching a home shopping channel or infomercial spiel to convince me that I:
* Cannot live without the item featured.
* Therefore must have it must buy it.

Just 10 minutes. That's pretty scary.
Time and time again, I will myself to switch channels or turn off the TV before the 11th minute. If not - by the 12th, there's a good chance I will have located my credit card to place an order.

No worries.
I've only ever made an infomercial purchase once. It was for five LP records of the Greatest Hits of Motown. Happily pleased with my purchase, I still have the record set.

I no longer watch much commercial television.
I fail to fall easy prey to internet hoaxes.
If it's too good to be true, I suspect urban myth.
Will always be a bit intrigued, of course...

Anyways, why bother with all that when I can amuse myself for minutes on end with a groovy word like azimuth?

Monday, August 13, 2007

growing up too dang fast



No, I'm not talking about DollinkGranddaughterLB this time. Though she is growing and changing day-by-day...one week old today...Well, more on that sweet l'il gal later...

It's China.
Too much too soon too fast.

Lite side: an entertaining example of this country's amazing growth is this movie-studio-set-theme-park, serving industry as well as tourism.
Sign of the times.

Not all is amusing about rapid growth, however.

Not so lite side: from most reports, it seems China can barely keep up with itself and the impact 'growth and prosperity' is having on its future generations (and the rest of the world).

I often kid my fellow shoppers when I remark that the majority of products lining the shelves of our stores were made by 'my brothers and sisters and cousins (and by their children) in China'.

We get the goods.
You can bet the mark-up is plenty high.
Big bucks are made by big businesses on both sides of the pond via their big business dealings. To get stuff from there to here requires quite a few middlemen...and everyone gets their take.

The ones who actually manufacture all that we need to sustain our affluent lifestyles are folks who now have work to earn money to get food on their tables, keep roofs over their heads. Some of the more fortunate are now able to purchase the new technics, buy fancy cars, outfit their brand new homes with all the latest amenities.
They're fast becoming immersed in the big C.
Imagine kids who never before owned or played with a fancy factory manufactured toy... let loose in a Toys R Us..

Gee, those guys are becoming - kinda sorta - just like us guys.
Sure looks to be that they're adopting our Consumer values like an exciting new religion.
Wonderful, innit?
N-O-T.

A couple decades ago their lifestyle (albeit politically oppressed)(who says capitalism isn't also oppressive in its own way?) may have been simpler. Communal living. Little to no emphasis on the individual. A uniform of simple cotton clothing. One speed bicycles for transportation. Small family units within larger village units.
Knowing and trusting your neighbours. Eating more garden grown veggies than McDonald's cheeseburgers. Lack of indoor plumbing. Unpaved roads.

Yet on a Quality-of-Life level, perhaps it was a far richer lifestyle.
Of course, it would be near impossible to find anyone admitting to Q of L being better then than now.
For all intent and purposes, they are (finally) living the high life, as we in the 'more developed' parts of the world have defined it. Their mantra: Out with the Old, In with the New.
(Danger danger Will Robinson)

The dark side: A tragic news story came out this week that may well typify the too dang fast theory...cutting corners to increase profit margin.
Did somebody mention 'greed'?
Doesn't wanting to get more by providing less - long been standard practice of greed-based commerce and trade? Is there commerce and trade sans greed?

China in the fast track.
What price modernization?

Saturday, August 11, 2007

move over, knitting obsession

For months, I've been obsessed with knitting.
This week - whaaaazup wid da knitting?

A new obsession has overtaken me. My days, my nights.

Since her birth day on Monday 6 August, it's all about the brand new grandbaby.
I haven't knit a stitch since her arrival. Give me a week or two to calm down and set myself and my knitting needles straight again.
Yeah, right.

I foresaw that aforementioned baby obsession might occur, so last week I went ahead and started writing a couple of blogposts, currently saved in 'drafts'. I'll be publishing them post haste.
I'm trying to trick y'all into thinking (though I know that you know) that I've not gone astray to the point of no return.

With that in mind...
two new baby pix for you to goochie goochie goo over...




Wednesday, August 08, 2007

introducing...

DollinkGranddaughterLBPS.
Birthdate ~ Monday, August 6, 2007

BTW, today is my birthday.
Sweeeeeeeeeeet!

(xxoxoxoxoxxoxxoxxxo heart)

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Imaginary Friends



or....Which Way Did That Cwazy Wabbit Go?

I had a delightful time watching 'Harvey' on TCM this morning. Last saw it waaaay too many years ago and I'd almost forgotten just how endearing a movie it is.

The dialog, direction and acting - par excellence. (You can't miss with Jimmy Stewart)
However, a bit (outdated?)(misguided?) is the notion by writer Mary Chase in suggesting that adults having imaginary friends need be attributed to the excesses of social drinking.
It seems that is the suggestion, anyways...

There's an Aesop's fable-type morality lesson woven into the story - something along the line of how being a pleasant person makes for a much improved life.
Ya think?
Should go without saying, but Alas.



To be the recipient of kind, gentle words and sincere, heartfelt compliments? Invitations to dinner (drinks?) with no hidden agenda by the host?
Treated accordingly, who wouldn't be flattered?

Being pleasant and around those who are pleasant.
It's enough to make you feel good about being alive.
Sound practice, for life is so very short.

Re: Imaginary Friends: For a brief time, I had an imaginary friend by the name of Ralph, who helped me cope with more than a few 'teen moments'. Ralph stuck around for a particularly angst-filled year, after which I bid him a fond adieu...

Who is/was your imaginary friend(s)?

BTW: One word movie review: Chuckle.

Friday, August 03, 2007

No law (or conscience) at all in the wild...

More on seek n' seize hunter gatherers.

To be sure...
birds, squirrels and other hungry forest critters have no qualms about trespassing and foraging in our garden!

Pictured is the state of most of our vine-ripened tomatoes in the last week. Before that, the bounty was exclusive to our picking.

I'm all for the critters getting some, but c'mon little darlins! Save a few (of the good ones) for us!
During this harvest, it's a matter of beating them to get to the vine-ripened tomates first...

(I purposely left this one on the vine. I'm hoping the culprit (s) will finish one fruit entirely before going off and chomping a big hole in all the other ripening tomatoes before I can get to them)

(May have to resort to netting...)

(Our wee garden plot is cordoned off with a chain-link fence, so it wasn't deer or bear...unless they've figured out how to open and close the gate...)

(Hmmmmmmmm...)

Thursday, August 02, 2007

fresh fruit free (?)

Last week, a friend and I went for early evening walkies.
During our long (almost 2 hour!) walk, C and I came upon a property that had a huge overgrown peach tree (and a plum tree as well) in the front yard.
Branches laden with ripe fruit spilled over the fence, practically right onto the ground at our feet.

Before C and I saw the fruit, we could smell their heady fragrance.

The photos don't do justice, but as you can see, the fruit had either fallen on the ground or were barely hanging on the branches - ripe for picking.

So why wasn't anyone taking advantage and hauling off with some of that luscious summertime harvest?
More to the point, why wasn't Yours Truly filling the nylon sack (I had one with me, using it as a lightweight purse backpack) - with a bit of that delicious bounty?

Well, because doing so felt like it would be an intrusion/trespassing on private property.

The neighborhood C and I were in - is pristine, affluent, quiet. No residents were out and about, though it's highly possible we could have been watched whilst happening by. We even saw a patrol car making the rounds to secure the area from potential prowler (or peach-pickin'?) types. I suspect that on the eaves of those huge, hillside homes could be found a surveillance camera or two...

It must be stated that I'm a good citizen who is not prone to pilfering on private property. Because I saw no evidence of friendly, handwritten signs stating 'Please pick to your heart's content' 'Fresh fruit - free for the taking' - I withheld my itchy need-to-have-some-of-this-free-fruit-pickin' hand from touching any of it.

Truth be known, I wouldn't have stopped at taking one or two peaches.
If I got going, I had every intention of picking enough to bake one helluva big fat pie.

There was no homeowner (not even a hired gardener!) around to ask for permission. I'm kinda funny that way - even with growing up in the Chinatown 'hood', I need to ask if it's OK before going a-scavenging.

Really, it just didn't seem to be that kind of neighbourhood.
So there. I didn't succumb to my harvesting instinct. Don't think C had a desire, or we could have conspired (one lookout and one picker)?

This week, you can bet that I'm kicking myself thinking about all that tasty fruit gone wasting and rotting away on the ground and on those branches.
Mmmmmmmmm.....and can't stop daydreaming about peach cobblers...plum jam...

Ah well.
Let go and let the wild birds have a field day all-you-can-peck-at buffet.

Guess I'd better get my honest little ass down to a U-Pick farm or to the local green grocer, then.