Category Archives: Blogging

Joy To The World and Peace

We need an infusion of joy and to pray for peace in the world. My prayer is that those making war will stop and consider peace. Here are some uplifting inspirations for those of us weary from all war.

From Matt Harding on You Tube:

And Som Sabadell flashmob Banco Sabadell:

I am sharing this post on Lindaghill for Stream Of Consciousness Saturday to say “No” to hopelessness, negativity and to the dream killers of the world. And say “Yes” to all the good in the world.

Word Snap Weekly-Finding Your Way

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“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”–Jalaluddin Rumi

I love the message of this quote. Just let yourself be drawn by what you really love. No complicated instructions. You don’t have to read a self-help book or an article on the ” 10 Ways to Find Your Purpose.”

I agree with this advice. Follow your heart. Listen to your inner voice or what “pulls you” in a certain direction.

Tellicherry Pepper

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“The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.”–Julia Child

I recently discovered this delicious pepper. Very tasty on steak when freshly ground on top before grilling. I think it would taste good on lamb as well. Telllicherry pepper comes from the southern coast of India. It is very fragrant and has a ” robust, pungent, fruity flavor” per the container’s description from Costco.

Some more information about the different types of pepper from Dana Angelo White on Food Network .

Do you have any favorite recipes with Tellicherry pepper?

I like boneless Rib Eye steaks for grilling, which are usually very tender.

Writer’s Quote Wednesday-Rumi

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“Keep walking, though there’s no place to get to.
Don’t try to see through the distances.
That’s not for human beings. Move within,
But don’t move the way fear makes you move.”
— Rumi

Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273) was a 13th century Persian poet, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic. His poetry has been translated into many languages and is much appreciated around the world. After his death, his son and his followers founded the Mevlevi Order or Order of the Whirling Dervishes. The whirling dance is part of the Sufi Sana Ceremony.

|Writer’s Quote Wednesday|

Bees and Bliss

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I found my bliss. Ollie Hofnoodle’s Haven of Bliss that is. If you have seen A Christmas Story by Jean Shepard this is another film written by him that is very funny. What I love about it is that is epitomizes an era in American life of the middle class family. This is about Ralphie and his family when he is a teenager looking for his first job. His father still has his nose to the grindstone and wants nothing more than to get away for his annual 2 week summer vacation at a resort on Clear Lake. There are hilarious parts about Ralph’s first job, how the family dog “Fuzzhead” runs away, and the “epic car trip” on the way to the lake. Their family car is loaded up to the roof with all the comforts of home they want to bring to the vacation cabin. This was when a family typically had one family car. Shepard describes the mother’s lot in life, quite accurately I thought, when he says she never got to taste her food warm because she was constantly waiting on the rest of the family during mealtime.

There is one scene where the family is on the road and they recall how when then got to a certain place there was this bee that would come into the car and harass them. They wonder if the bee could still be there. The father says that’s ridiculous. Well, you guessed it, the bee shows up and the next scene is the whole family running down the road.

Bombus Californicus or Fervidus

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I saw this furry critter out in Palm Desert (photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis website) and I was happy to see it. I had not noticed any around our backyard near Los Angeles for a while. It may be that we don’t have enough flowering plants right now to attract them.

These are the black furry bumblebees with the yellow spot near their heads. I researched them a bit and found a post on the UC Davis website about these bubblebees and that they are now called Bombus Fervidus. I have read that the bubblebee is declining especially in Europe.

What kinds of bees are in your neighborhood and do you have bumblebees?

An interesting Bumblebee conservation Fact Sheet from the Xerces Society.

The Eyes and Visions

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“The eyes are the window to your soul.” The sixth chakra located just above and between your eyebrows is called The Third Eye Chakra. This chakra is associated with intuition. Is this eye the window to the universe?

The color of the sixth chakra is indigo. Some fun information about indigo.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” A photographer shows us what they see through a camera’s eye. I am passing on a link that I saw on the EngAGE blog this morning about the photographer Flo Fox who has Multiple Sclerosis, is now paralyzed, and is legally blind but able to take wonderful photos. For the past 40 years her subject has been New York City. I love the sights she has captured. Take a look from In Focus.

“Doctor My Eyes,” by Jackson Browne via SeeYou917:

“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” –Mark Twain

What are you focused on?

|StreamofConsciousness|

How Irish Coffee Came to America

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Irish Coffee was brought to San Francisco by one of its famous newspaper columnists, Stanton Delaplane. He had first tasted Irish Coffee at Shannon Airport and wanted to recreate the coffee. He collaborated with Jack Koeppler, then the owner of the Buena Vista Café, and with the help of the mayor of San Francisco, created the recipe for Irish Coffee in 1952. It is still served at the Buena Vista to this day.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! Erin Go Bragh!

The Around the World Reading Challenge 2015-The Rosie Effect

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This is my first book review for The Around The World Reading Challenge 2015 on Booking It. I have read both of Simsion’s books but I will review the most recent one, “The Rosie Effect.” This is sequel to “The Rosie Project.” The author is based in Melbourne, Australia.

Both are novels and humorous stories about a man, Don Tillman, who is a bit quirky and is unidentified as having Asperger’s Syndrome. He is a believer in having his whole life scheduled down to the minute and uses spread sheets to make important decisions like how to find a suitable mate through the internet. He designs a 16 page questionnaire to help him determine his ideal partner.

In the second book, he is now married to Rosie and living in New York City. Don has trouble with his social skills and interpreting the nuances of conversation. This often gets him into awkward situations. He has a few close relationships and really cares about them. Don has learned to be more flexible due to his relationship with Rosie. He still has trouble with things that are unplanned, like the news that Rosie is expecting their first baby. He works valiantly to adjust to this major life-changing event. He really wants to be supportive of Rosie and learn about being a father. He enlists the help of his male friends who give him the benefit of their perspectives on marriage and fatherhood. This leads him into some crazy situations. Especially when he follows the advice of his friend Gene which gets him into trouble with the NYPD.

At times, I wasn’t sure if Don and Rosie’s marriage would survive and he would be able to adjust to his new role. I became frustrated with the messes he got himself into at first. But in the end, I can say that I really enjoyed this book. It has a positive hopeful message about human relationships.

It’s Good To Be Quiet

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For many years I did not realize that many of my traits were related to my temperament. That I am an introvert, empathic and highly sensitive. I knew that small talk and large social gatherings exhausted me. I knew that I relished time alone and needed time to recover after a busy day of activities especially if those activities involved interacting with people. I think other people had a hard time understanding this behavior. Once I understood it was part of my temperament, and that it was ok to be this way, it made it easier for me to accept myself.

Susan Cain wrote this book, “Quiet,” about introverts and of course I read it. Now Susan Cain is starting up a Quiet Revolution Community website . It is scheduled to launch in April. Here is what she said about it:

“Our intention in building this space is to share and encourage each other. One of my favorite parts of the new site is a big new art project called Quiet Revolutionaries. This project is all about you, featuring you. Quiet Revolutionaries is an ever-expanding photo essay of people who have thought about what it means to have a quiet consciousness and/or to draw on their own quiet strengths. Our goal is to inspire, connect and celebrate our thoughtfully vibrant community.”

In a TED Talk Susan Cain explains traits of introverts and talks about how our society has not traditionally seen this as a positive trait and that the needs of introverts in schools and work places have been ignored. The idea of constantly working in groups is seen as the ideal. She makes some good points about how it may not be the ideal.

In a post about The Quiet Revolution on her website she talks about plans to redesign the workplace and school environments to be more in line with the needs of introverts, and develop the leadership skills of introverts in the workplace.

This is interesting and worthwhile information for introverts and the people who love them. It is worthwhile for parents and teachers to be aware of this as well.