I've stated before that I observe two days of the week in which I eat fruits only. I'm the only one in my family that does this. I get to eat a number of things that are not exactly fruit and I do get to use about every seasoning in the spice cabinet to do so. Since my family does not follow suit, I have spent a many a day cooking delicious foods for them that are off the menu for me.
Today for example I was asked if I could cook on the grill instead of cooking on the stove top. I crinkled my face as I realized how good this food was going to taste and I wouldn't be able to partake in it until Wednesday. Which is when it will be all gone. It wasn't just one meal that I cooked either. I cooked three separate meals on the grill. Each one smelt so good! I started off with pork chops with mouth watering seasoning, searing each side first to seal the meat and lock the juices in. I followed up with steak sauce marinated hamburgers, oh goodness my mouth is watering even now. Last but of course not least, I grilled up some marinated sirloin steaks. Which were likewise seared and came off the grill tender and juicy. All the while I'm casually eating my fruits. A plump watermelon was my friend for the day as I grazed on the seedless, red chunks of deliciousness. I'm told that the steaks were amazing. I'm perplexed in a state of jealousy and flattery. I'll just sit here and enjoy this apple.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Letter writing - Journal Entry for 13 July 2014
It has come to an age of technology. A time in which we are allotted the ease of instant communication with one another. The days of hand written letter writing are simmering down or at least so it seems among those I know and speak with. Aside from the few generic template correspondences I've received from business discussing one manner or another. Only one wrote one by hand. The meaning this hand upon was immense.
Today I still write my dad letters. Though much of it could be due to his current situation not allowing him many of the pleasantries associated with instant communication. I have found there to be an elegance in written letters that text messages and e-mails have lacked. Is it the the personalized font (as it were)? The personalized signature? The energy put into the process of writing each thought onto paper as each hemisphere fires off impulse after impulse inside the writers head?
A teacher of mine once told me that it is easy to disregard emails, but people will open an envelope. The feeling is different I can concur. Is it just that the "new" has rubbed off of e-mails and instant communication? Could that be all that it is? As a younger man or child or what ever one chooses to call me when I was first experiencing e-mail messaging, I was excited with each e-mail I received. With a ding of the computer, I would scurry to the computer in excitement. "Woooo! I have an e-mail!" Now I see the mail courier stop at my box and leave behind some envelops and the occasional package. "WOOOO! I've got mail!" I state as I scurry out the door waving at the mail courier as they continue their route. Is it the personal interaction associated with the process? The desire for connected-ness? Has the quest to be connected to the cloud left us disconnected? I often wonder such a thing.
Letter writing is such a simple task and yet each letter is special. Each letter has had it's own journey as it evolved from the thoughts of one person, evolved into a written form, packaged, processed and carried by many others until it reaches it's destination where it can be opened and the information received. I think there is a beauty to that imagery.
To this day I still enjoy each letter I receive. Each one, no matter the contents of the message, are a treasure of time and thought to which I have not quite found in the instant communication of this age.
Today I still write my dad letters. Though much of it could be due to his current situation not allowing him many of the pleasantries associated with instant communication. I have found there to be an elegance in written letters that text messages and e-mails have lacked. Is it the the personalized font (as it were)? The personalized signature? The energy put into the process of writing each thought onto paper as each hemisphere fires off impulse after impulse inside the writers head?
A teacher of mine once told me that it is easy to disregard emails, but people will open an envelope. The feeling is different I can concur. Is it just that the "new" has rubbed off of e-mails and instant communication? Could that be all that it is? As a younger man or child or what ever one chooses to call me when I was first experiencing e-mail messaging, I was excited with each e-mail I received. With a ding of the computer, I would scurry to the computer in excitement. "Woooo! I have an e-mail!" Now I see the mail courier stop at my box and leave behind some envelops and the occasional package. "WOOOO! I've got mail!" I state as I scurry out the door waving at the mail courier as they continue their route. Is it the personal interaction associated with the process? The desire for connected-ness? Has the quest to be connected to the cloud left us disconnected? I often wonder such a thing.
Letter writing is such a simple task and yet each letter is special. Each letter has had it's own journey as it evolved from the thoughts of one person, evolved into a written form, packaged, processed and carried by many others until it reaches it's destination where it can be opened and the information received. I think there is a beauty to that imagery.
To this day I still enjoy each letter I receive. Each one, no matter the contents of the message, are a treasure of time and thought to which I have not quite found in the instant communication of this age.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
12 July 2014 - Banana Chips
Okay. Here is my confession. I love yard sales and garage sales! Whew. There it is. I said it. Seriously though, the old saying that one man's trash is another man's treasure. There is something to that! I went to one yard sale today. ONE! I found a food dehydrator NEW in the box! HOLY COW! What a find! Okay, now I know this may not be big news for anyone else, but for a guy who observes two days every week where all I eat is fruit, this is kind of a big deal. For the life of me I have been unable to find a store that sells banana chips that have not be coated in sugar. I've looked! I've been to the regular stores and the health food stores. No luck either way! Now I can make my own though! You cannot imagine the feeling I am having right now over the simplicity of being able to make my own banana chips!
That's not all! I got a BBQ utensil set (I broke my last set pressing a burger into the cooking surface and pew the handles broke. That's a tough burger!) I found two small sleeping bags in awesome condition. Now my kiddos can have a sleeping bag for sleep overs! Tag onto that a pretty sweet fold out chair that has a foot rest (A FOOT REST!!!) built into it. All of this, all of it, only costed me twenty dollars. I would have paid that easily for the food dehydrator, which by the way, right now is making banana chips. Boom-Awesome!
That's not all! I got a BBQ utensil set (I broke my last set pressing a burger into the cooking surface and pew the handles broke. That's a tough burger!) I found two small sleeping bags in awesome condition. Now my kiddos can have a sleeping bag for sleep overs! Tag onto that a pretty sweet fold out chair that has a foot rest (A FOOT REST!!!) built into it. All of this, all of it, only costed me twenty dollars. I would have paid that easily for the food dehydrator, which by the way, right now is making banana chips. Boom-Awesome!
Dream Interpretation at Art Walk 11 July 2014
I arrived at the school after taking a proctored exam at the college. The exam didn't go so well as I did not complete reading the chapters associated, so I shot from the hip on those related questions. A score I"m still alright with as the grades will balance the end result out. At the school I spoke with my teacher about a dream I had and was still interpreting it. After having a cup of coffee I sat down and typed up an Intuitive Health Analysis, transcribed it from a cassette tape actually. It's always interesting what you will find that relates to your own self when you set down to type out an intuitive report. I learned a lot about decisiveness with my thoughts, though humorously I'm undecided on where to use this knowledge. Oh learning experiences.
As more students showed up to help prepare for a garage sale that is happening on Saturday, one of my class mates as well showed up. He was heading to Art Walk and was going to interpret dreams. He asked if I would come along and which I agreed, sure, sounds like a fun idea. The night carried on as we stood on a corner in Downtown with a sign that stated Free Dream Interpretation. One by one and in groups people came and stopped and asked to have their dreams interpreted. For me dreaming is very important and getting to see many people stop, share a dream, receive an interpretation and smile as their eyes light up. Those moments were magnificent for me and very fulfilling.
I also saw friends who were once students with me in the school, current students as well. One of which had some art on display at the art walk. Seeing the art on display was so much fun. The night turned into a scavenger hunt to find a place to eat as the discussion of dreams and metaphysical studies bantered along. The food was great but the conversation was better.
As more students showed up to help prepare for a garage sale that is happening on Saturday, one of my class mates as well showed up. He was heading to Art Walk and was going to interpret dreams. He asked if I would come along and which I agreed, sure, sounds like a fun idea. The night carried on as we stood on a corner in Downtown with a sign that stated Free Dream Interpretation. One by one and in groups people came and stopped and asked to have their dreams interpreted. For me dreaming is very important and getting to see many people stop, share a dream, receive an interpretation and smile as their eyes light up. Those moments were magnificent for me and very fulfilling.
I also saw friends who were once students with me in the school, current students as well. One of which had some art on display at the art walk. Seeing the art on display was so much fun. The night turned into a scavenger hunt to find a place to eat as the discussion of dreams and metaphysical studies bantered along. The food was great but the conversation was better.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Journal Entry for 10 July 2014 - What to write about?
Today, like many other days lately, has centered around home work. An essay at the moment about places. Picking a place to write about and a story to go with it in a sense has been the bouncing around of interest in my mind. What places have I been to that have had a lot of impact or what places have I had some very enjoyable experiences? At first I wondered where I would write about as I don't visit that many places usually. I don't even visit family that often currently. So to even have a story that says I went to this one place, this one time, and did this really awesome thing that was quite the phenomenal experience and I just gotta share.... well... that's going to need to stretch back into my memory for some places to share about. I thought about the School of Metaphysics as one location, I thought about military bases that I've been to across the globe with their own dusty charm (cough), houses of family and places of summer events are quite the stretch for recalling and gathering reference information. The school though, is very recent in my memory and has been the location of many lessons and experiences. It's decently local for me to research and gather references. I'm pretty sure this will be an good idea to build an essay around. It feels pretty good.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Journal Entry for 9 July 2014 - S.O.M. Errands and Homework
Three chapters of American Government to study for an exam, an essay revision and a new essay, blog posts, and discussion boards. Now add on to that fundraiser errands, a class audit, dream webinar, room reservations for Dream Catchers and an attempt to transcribe a report.I did not get it all done. Nope. I could only read so much about American Government before needing a mid-day nap. That was a wonderful 30 minutes. There were some successes in submitting donation paperwork for an up and coming benefit for the School. I managed to schedule the Dream Catcher's room and attend the dream webinar. The transcribing of Intuitive Reports are always very interesting for me and I wish I could give them more of my attention. However, I was unable to complete the transcription of the report tonight. I was beginning to type up a Health Analysis when I realized what time it was getting to be, my teachers at the School of Metaphysics were heading off to bed soon and I still needed to make it back home in time to type up this blog post. I think maybe one day I should type up a better description of intuitive reports, but that's for a blog post of it's own. Come first light, more home work I'm afraid. (Internal Screaming)
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Journal Entry for 8 July 2014 - Fruit Days
Twice a week I partake in an exercise of will as part of my studies. Fruit Day we call it. Initially it was only once a week and then that expanded to two days in a row. Monday and Tuesdays. What is defined as a fruit for these two days are not exactly what you would think always. There are the usual bananas and apples of course but then there is also squash... I was thrown off by this the first time I heard this. The standard for acceptable fruits are defined as having a seed, then fruit, and then the skin surrounding it. So squash and cucumbers are okay but strawberries aren't. I'm allowed any seasonings, except sugar...that's not a seasoning even if I say that I'd like to season it with sugar...(insert frowning face here).
I've become well adapt at cooking around the standards in place. Though sometimes I settle for a meal of avocado seasoned with lemon pepper, which is surprisingly good and filling. Very healthy too! My all time go-to favorite dish to make is Fruit Day Chili. The main ingredient is butternut squash. Dice that up, simmer it to become soft in consistency, toss in a pot with diced tomatoes, peppers if you desire, add some tomato sauce and season with cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili pepper for a kick, and you are pretty well good to go once that is heated long enough for the seasonings to settle in. Some days I experiment with the ingredients and make it more Italian based, adding black and green olives throwing in parsley and oregano seasonings, some paprika as well, and tone down the chili seasoning. It's a good idea to keep things changing for fruit days. It's too easy to fall into a habit of cooking the same thing over and over until you are so tired and bored of that taste come next fruit day.
So today I experimented again! I tried to see if I could make a french fry out of sliced up butternut squash. So far it is not a success. Butternut squash does not share the potatoes super power of becoming french fries. (Sigh) So now, on my stove is a plate of mushy butternut squash that is needing to be seasoned. I am torn between seasoning options right now. Should I add a tang flavor, spicy flavor, or just a strong combination of garlic, onion, salt and pepper? Choices choices choices. These are the questions on fruit day.
I've become well adapt at cooking around the standards in place. Though sometimes I settle for a meal of avocado seasoned with lemon pepper, which is surprisingly good and filling. Very healthy too! My all time go-to favorite dish to make is Fruit Day Chili. The main ingredient is butternut squash. Dice that up, simmer it to become soft in consistency, toss in a pot with diced tomatoes, peppers if you desire, add some tomato sauce and season with cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili pepper for a kick, and you are pretty well good to go once that is heated long enough for the seasonings to settle in. Some days I experiment with the ingredients and make it more Italian based, adding black and green olives throwing in parsley and oregano seasonings, some paprika as well, and tone down the chili seasoning. It's a good idea to keep things changing for fruit days. It's too easy to fall into a habit of cooking the same thing over and over until you are so tired and bored of that taste come next fruit day.
So today I experimented again! I tried to see if I could make a french fry out of sliced up butternut squash. So far it is not a success. Butternut squash does not share the potatoes super power of becoming french fries. (Sigh) So now, on my stove is a plate of mushy butternut squash that is needing to be seasoned. I am torn between seasoning options right now. Should I add a tang flavor, spicy flavor, or just a strong combination of garlic, onion, salt and pepper? Choices choices choices. These are the questions on fruit day.
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