I say is, and not was, for as I read her words upon the page, her beauty comes alive to me evermore. I am not really in the habit of reading so much these days, but as I have been up since 4 am, I somehow found myself eager to glance upon my old writing, specifically my papers from college, 10 years ago, and was pleasantly surprised by the beauty I found in the writing of the glorious women I included in an anthology I compiled, entitled "Transcendence of the Spirit: Flight & Liberation". Adrienne Rich's brilliant and complex images and evermore dazzling logics, Nikki Giovanni's tremendously incisive metaphors matched only by her keen interventions on a painfully static social order, and of course Emily's beautiful voice, painting great intellectual expanses upon which we may wander in delight. And to do her a little tribute, it is my great pleasure to share with you one of her poems, called "Two Butterflies go out at Noon".
Two butterflies went out at noon
And waltzed above a stream,
Then stepped straight through the firmament
And rested on a beam;
And then together bore away
Upon a shining sea,--
Though never yet, in any port
Their coming mentioned be.
If spoken by the distant bird,
If met in ether sea
By frigate or by merchantman,
Report was not to me.
Such a little poem, but so semantically voluminous. I am in awe of Madame Dickinson, and the oceans of beauty tucked under her alabaster breast.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
Shabnam & Daniel's Wedding
Was absolutely beautiful, but at the bride's request, I am not going to be featuring any of the wedding photos because she is fiercely private. But it was amazing. Despite her private and professional face to the world, and most of her co-worker's, my new sister-in-law has an incredibly warm and glowing spirit that radiated from the dance floor into everyone's hearts. It was marvelous. A beautiful affair I can not begin to relay the beauty of, you simply had to be there.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Tomorrow
Boasts the beginning of a whole new world. My family is setting out for Boston in the morning, where we are to attend my brother's wedding. The wedding is on Sunday, and then we have seven nights of seven parties hosted by different friends and family of, in this case, the bride, which is in the Jewish tradition of Sheva Brachot, "seven blessings". So 10 days in Boston; an elaborate celebration of love that I cant wait to be a part of. Im so happy for my little brother, and really looking forward to this wonderful journey he is embarking on. I will keep you posted, dear reader, and hopefully have some beautiful pictures to share with you.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Happy Sweet
Those are some delicious happy feet, arent they? Courtesy of a Facebook friend who shall remain nameless.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
God is leaving the building
The firing squad is being mobilized for something I said to a friend recently, so I feel the need to argue it logically, from beginning to end. We were talking about Middle Eastern society, and I said that "religion is the basest unifier of people", and I qualified my statement with special regard to Islam that I consider to be a horrible religion, both brutish and binding, with dark truths that prey on people's hearts. Upon arriving home, I could feel the whiplash of my statement pulsing through my family, observant Jews who are very unified through their faith, and crashing their hearts. And it dawns upon me, there is still something intrinsically true to my statement; above and beyond the beauty and joy their congregations feed them, religion is a private relationship between oneself and the world. It is a meditative relationship which hinges upon a harmonious flow between oneself, and all of creation. That being said, there are social celebrations centered upon this relationship which are worthy of congregation, study to be done that works best in groups, but the heart of the matter, the point of my statement, is that there is so much more for human beings to come together around than religion, within their respective ethnicities and cultural identities. As a Jew, I find so much more to come together around within Judaism than seasonal holidays, however much I do enjoy the company of friends and family, however routine the ceremony may be, year after year. Yes, the ceremony and literature IS fundamental and valuable, but there is so much more. To put it simply; CULTURE, and it needn't be codified, but can be individually structured, just like faith ideally should be, from the vast assemblage of cultural foods, language arts, fashions, and all the other vast cultural arts, which some religious people shun due to their prohibitive lifestyles and mores.
Is religion base? Only when it is destructive, otherwise it can be an illuminating blessing for those who follow, and very noble, but my statement reverberates in my heart that it is still not the best basis for social interaction, for union amongst people. It is but one fruit of the great tree that is CULTURE, and I for one, want to see a full, and bountiful tree, lush with the beauty of my ancestors, which I seek to perpetuate. And to take the argument one step further, trees. Cultural springs from which we all may benefit and grow. One of the great benefits of being an American; take advantage people.
Finally, religion becomes base when it is abused. My mother says, everything in moderation, and this applies to religion as well. Besides for the great assumptions we make about the creator's intentions for us and this world, in religious observance, these practices may make robots of people, who, in extremity, adopt a mob attitude, and that is not a noble thing at all. God does not need arbitrarily disciplined armies; I can say in all certainty, that God just wants us to be a good and happy. Let's have a party over that. I'll make some really delicious, healthy food. Come. And let God watch. I bet he likes to watch us LIVE LIFE.
Is religion base? Only when it is destructive, otherwise it can be an illuminating blessing for those who follow, and very noble, but my statement reverberates in my heart that it is still not the best basis for social interaction, for union amongst people. It is but one fruit of the great tree that is CULTURE, and I for one, want to see a full, and bountiful tree, lush with the beauty of my ancestors, which I seek to perpetuate. And to take the argument one step further, trees. Cultural springs from which we all may benefit and grow. One of the great benefits of being an American; take advantage people.
Finally, religion becomes base when it is abused. My mother says, everything in moderation, and this applies to religion as well. Besides for the great assumptions we make about the creator's intentions for us and this world, in religious observance, these practices may make robots of people, who, in extremity, adopt a mob attitude, and that is not a noble thing at all. God does not need arbitrarily disciplined armies; I can say in all certainty, that God just wants us to be a good and happy. Let's have a party over that. I'll make some really delicious, healthy food. Come. And let God watch. I bet he likes to watch us LIVE LIFE.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Spring in New Jersey
Our beautiful red tree, the graceful queen of our front yard, has blossomed her dazzling array of leaves. I can not begin to describe the feeling one gets when her grace blesses us with her bounty each spring, but I can try to show you. Ignite!
I grew up climbing this pretty tree, so it was only appropriate to take some pics from inside, cradled in her branches.
A little scene of graceful foliage above my branch.
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Her canopy, with the sun and a nearby friend saying hello.
And look at this! When you jump down the ground is always a revelation, and look at what I noticed this time. We have tons of sprouts growing about her trunk. She's a momma!
I grew up climbing this pretty tree, so it was only appropriate to take some pics from inside, cradled in her branches.
A little scene of graceful foliage above my branch.
.jpg)
Her canopy, with the sun and a nearby friend saying hello.
And look at this! When you jump down the ground is always a revelation, and look at what I noticed this time. We have tons of sprouts growing about her trunk. She's a momma!
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Leaving the Pleasure Dome.....
.....and entering a whole new world of senses, tastes, and culinary delights, that are real!
As promised, it is time to delve into the next chapter of Forks over Knives, and tackle another important issue the film opens up for us, food as addiction. I am very familiar with this problem, I think we all are to some extent (be they good or bad dependencies), with gluten, specifically via pasta. When I eat a nice plate of pasta (always loaded with veggies, btw), I am good for hours, because the gluten is an incredibly thick, dense, and generally hearty protein found in all varieties of wheat and barley, and some other cereal grains (but those glutens, like those found in corn, are altogether different). This process of satiation from nutrient dense foods is one of the red flags for poor eating habits that people have with the standard American diet that is heavy (no pun intended) in processed foods like bread, pasta (gluten), meats, oils and dairy. We are filling up on these foods, mostly processed carbs, instead of eating a variety of vegetables which are less attractive, and frankly, less accessible. Meat and dairy are great examples of nutrient dense foods that we are over-eating because we like them so much, in fact, our brains are idiotically drawn to them, the video explains, precisely because they are dense and rich, and will fill us up. Cheese is the best example I can think of. How much do we all love cheese? Because it is rich, nutrient dense, and texturally heavenly. But is it really feeding us the protein, fats and minerals it boasts? The brain in our stomach seems to think so. Worse yet, is how poorly we are consuming and denaturing what was once a luxury food. When we eat animal flesh, that which is now an agro-industrial commodity devoid of its original, pastoral integrity, many of us, all over the world, actually, are cooking it up and burning the bio-availability right out of it, and even making this sustenance carcinogenic (browning your meat is caramelizing it, creating cancer causing compounds from the sugars). To put it simply, in principle, when meat, or anything, is OVERCOOKED, it becomes hydrophobic, which means it becomes such a tight, contractive mass that it actually repels water; how well do you think the nutrients from such a product are absorbed into our cells and body tissue? Furthermore, when you cook anything, you cook its digestive enzymes out of it when your cooking heat exceeds 118 (that is barely hot enough to melt butter), thereby making it that much harder for our body to digest it in general. The body likes raw animal protein, that which has digestive enzymes intact, but if you cant stomach it, be sure you are not burning your meat. Braising, boiling, poaching, and what my teacher, Chef Celine, called swateeing (saute-ig with water), are ways to ensure your food does not burn. Finally, there is "well done" food. Food that has the vitality literally cooked right out of it. This is most readily observable in starches that are prized when they are "golden". Dr. Oz explains this process on his website:
"Certain natural sugars and certain natural protein building blocks become fused together to form acrylamide when temperatures top 250°F.The substance...acrylamide...It’s an industrial chemical known to increase infertility and neurological problems at high doses...And, the browner the toast or cereal or potato, the more acrylamide it likely contains"(http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/toxic-toast-411-acrylamide)
It is recently being discovered that these acrylamides are actually carcinogenic, so why do we like these compounds,the dark products of fire roasted foods? Can our instinctual wiring for food be so senseless, and even self-destructive? The documentary explains that it is not our nature, but our nurture that is damning us. The standard American diet has predisposed us to foods that pop! How does a plate of steamed broccoli stand a chance? That plate of broccoli, eaten with some healthy starches, fats, and some animal protein, like a rice pilaf with beans, and a poached egg, is a great meal that will fill up your stomach, and trigger your stomach's sensors for a full, adequately dense meal. The video explains that 500 calories of vegetable foods fills up the stomach quite nicely, and tells your brain you have had enough. Rice and beans, a meal that provides complete protein, is quite filling! And you can load that with all kinds of vegetables in the bean stew, in the rice, and served alongside both (various salsas, chutneys, guacamole, pickled vegetables, raw onions, scallions, radishes, etc.). On the other hand, 500 calories of nutrient dense food is a snack; it barely fills up half the stomach, and while that may temporarily sate us, and literally triggers happy hormones in our brains, it does not give us the nutrients, fiber, and real meal feeling that we need to feel that we have had enough. So we eat more, and more poor calories is the recipe for disease this film warns us about.
We are all of us in the American pleasure dome, and until that cycle is broken, we are doomed to repeat poor eating habits that fill us up without giving us what we really need.
PS. One more IMPORTANT point: when our body eats too much protein or sugar (from an excess of carbs) it goes into an acid shock, known as metabolic acidosis, and our cells and tissues begin to suffer, sometimes irreversibly. It is what happens when our bloods pH goes below a certain level, and becomes acidic. Leafy greens, low sugar citrus, such as grapefruits and lemons, and other ALKALIZING foods balance the acids in our bodies. Look 'em up, and enjoy, to your health!
PPS. Look it! I got this for my kids someday. Those crusts are burned, and kids are right for not wanting to eat them! Dont encourage them!
As promised, it is time to delve into the next chapter of Forks over Knives, and tackle another important issue the film opens up for us, food as addiction. I am very familiar with this problem, I think we all are to some extent (be they good or bad dependencies), with gluten, specifically via pasta. When I eat a nice plate of pasta (always loaded with veggies, btw), I am good for hours, because the gluten is an incredibly thick, dense, and generally hearty protein found in all varieties of wheat and barley, and some other cereal grains (but those glutens, like those found in corn, are altogether different). This process of satiation from nutrient dense foods is one of the red flags for poor eating habits that people have with the standard American diet that is heavy (no pun intended) in processed foods like bread, pasta (gluten), meats, oils and dairy. We are filling up on these foods, mostly processed carbs, instead of eating a variety of vegetables which are less attractive, and frankly, less accessible. Meat and dairy are great examples of nutrient dense foods that we are over-eating because we like them so much, in fact, our brains are idiotically drawn to them, the video explains, precisely because they are dense and rich, and will fill us up. Cheese is the best example I can think of. How much do we all love cheese? Because it is rich, nutrient dense, and texturally heavenly. But is it really feeding us the protein, fats and minerals it boasts? The brain in our stomach seems to think so. Worse yet, is how poorly we are consuming and denaturing what was once a luxury food. When we eat animal flesh, that which is now an agro-industrial commodity devoid of its original, pastoral integrity, many of us, all over the world, actually, are cooking it up and burning the bio-availability right out of it, and even making this sustenance carcinogenic (browning your meat is caramelizing it, creating cancer causing compounds from the sugars). To put it simply, in principle, when meat, or anything, is OVERCOOKED, it becomes hydrophobic, which means it becomes such a tight, contractive mass that it actually repels water; how well do you think the nutrients from such a product are absorbed into our cells and body tissue? Furthermore, when you cook anything, you cook its digestive enzymes out of it when your cooking heat exceeds 118 (that is barely hot enough to melt butter), thereby making it that much harder for our body to digest it in general. The body likes raw animal protein, that which has digestive enzymes intact, but if you cant stomach it, be sure you are not burning your meat. Braising, boiling, poaching, and what my teacher, Chef Celine, called swateeing (saute-ig with water), are ways to ensure your food does not burn. Finally, there is "well done" food. Food that has the vitality literally cooked right out of it. This is most readily observable in starches that are prized when they are "golden". Dr. Oz explains this process on his website:
"Certain natural sugars and certain natural protein building blocks become fused together to form acrylamide when temperatures top 250°F.The substance...acrylamide...It’s an industrial chemical known to increase infertility and neurological problems at high doses...And, the browner the toast or cereal or potato, the more acrylamide it likely contains"(http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/toxic-toast-411-acrylamide)
It is recently being discovered that these acrylamides are actually carcinogenic, so why do we like these compounds,the dark products of fire roasted foods? Can our instinctual wiring for food be so senseless, and even self-destructive? The documentary explains that it is not our nature, but our nurture that is damning us. The standard American diet has predisposed us to foods that pop! How does a plate of steamed broccoli stand a chance? That plate of broccoli, eaten with some healthy starches, fats, and some animal protein, like a rice pilaf with beans, and a poached egg, is a great meal that will fill up your stomach, and trigger your stomach's sensors for a full, adequately dense meal. The video explains that 500 calories of vegetable foods fills up the stomach quite nicely, and tells your brain you have had enough. Rice and beans, a meal that provides complete protein, is quite filling! And you can load that with all kinds of vegetables in the bean stew, in the rice, and served alongside both (various salsas, chutneys, guacamole, pickled vegetables, raw onions, scallions, radishes, etc.). On the other hand, 500 calories of nutrient dense food is a snack; it barely fills up half the stomach, and while that may temporarily sate us, and literally triggers happy hormones in our brains, it does not give us the nutrients, fiber, and real meal feeling that we need to feel that we have had enough. So we eat more, and more poor calories is the recipe for disease this film warns us about.
We are all of us in the American pleasure dome, and until that cycle is broken, we are doomed to repeat poor eating habits that fill us up without giving us what we really need.
PS. One more IMPORTANT point: when our body eats too much protein or sugar (from an excess of carbs) it goes into an acid shock, known as metabolic acidosis, and our cells and tissues begin to suffer, sometimes irreversibly. It is what happens when our bloods pH goes below a certain level, and becomes acidic. Leafy greens, low sugar citrus, such as grapefruits and lemons, and other ALKALIZING foods balance the acids in our bodies. Look 'em up, and enjoy, to your health!
PPS. Look it! I got this for my kids someday. Those crusts are burned, and kids are right for not wanting to eat them! Dont encourage them!
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