Why do we #2

Why do we have so many parts? And how do we reconcile all of them?

Why do we #1

Why do we feel the need to be part of a religion?

satisfaction

molten light

Chad VanGaalen - Molten Light - Celebrity bloopers here

space cloud

life

sick for days

Well, the sun is not shining today, and the forecast says rain, and maybe snow later in the evening, but I doubt it.

Since Saturday night I have been pretty sick. I think it is a sinus infection as most of the problems seem to exist in my sinuses, making it hard to hear and sort of trippy to be out and about in the city. But I seem to be getting healthier day by day. I totally crashed on Saturday, with chills and the inability to get up and move around. Luckily, the SO and I had some movies to watch and I felt pretty comfortable overall. I made the mistake of having a beer, though, which I think made me feel worse. I had a pretty high fever that left me drenched in the morning, and yesterday I went to put my sleeping t-shirt on and it was still drenched from the previous night. I think though, it cleared me out somehow.

I have been taking about 4000 mg of vitamin C and a high potency B, as the body is stressed by illness. I have also taken A, E, and D vitamins intermittently, as A is good for mucous membrane health, E is good for heart health, and D is good for everybody in these dark winter months. I have also taken aspirin for my headaches and pains. I started taking an extract that I should have been taking all along called Mycosoft Gold by Fungi Perfecti , which is a huge immune system supporter. It is a blend of polypore mushrooms (generally mushrooms that grow in trees that don't have gills) that have been scientifically proven to be very beneficial to health and long life. They also have anti-tumor properties. This is an extract that I highly recommend.

I have also been doing regular neti pots to cleanse my sinuses of mucous and bacteria. THis is probably the cheapest, most effective, and healthiest way to clear the sinuses, as it uses 1/4 teaspoon salt per cleanse, which must cost less then a penny. I have found that it gives relief immediately.

I feel that all these things together, including sleep and good food, provides a wholistic approach to becoming well for me. I am amazed to think that all the habits of my life and all the chances in the universe have come down to me becoming sick in this way with this illness. What a strange thing. If my immune system was healthier, I may have bypassed this illness altogether, but instead I have been eating pizza, chips, beer, and junk food, as well as not exercising as much as I could, etc...But of course I'm not beating myself up about it, I just think it is ridiculous how this culture considers Junk Living to be the acceptable norm, and then Medication to be the result. I can't believe how many people get a cold and take Nyquil or some other such disgusting garbage and consider that to be normal. The chemicals in these processed drugs are not wholistic in any stretch of the imagination. They are isolated compounds that have known effects on certain bodily processes, but so what? What about the whole body/mind/spirit organism? This is the problem with the reductionist, Cartesian subject/object dichotomy...it is flawed, completely.

Yes it does show us many wonderful thing, and it works toward the understanding of these wonderful things, and I have to admit, I love this method sometimes. But also I know that my body knows what is best for it. I believe there is an underlying consciousness in all of the universe which could be called Love or Energy. And it is experienced by all, but possessed by none.

the big melt down

Things are beginning to melt down here in the Twin Cities. I have been throwing pots, watching movies, working on a newsletter for Local Roots Landscapers and planning to build a small puppet theatre. Soon I will be working on a drafting table so that I can work on designs in comfort this year.

I am doing a Permaculture Design Course in Wisconsin in May. I am very excited about that. It is at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association, and is taught by a guy who has run a permaculture farm for years. It has an small farm, suburban, and educational focus. Check it out here: I am teaching a rain garden class in the spring as well. I would love to teach people more about the natural world we live in, how beautiful and amazing it is.

Last Sat of Jan

Going to go check out the SO's niece's first one-act play competition wherein she is the start! How exciting for her. We will be traveling to the St. Cloud area in our new station wagon which has trouble starting in the cold. Wish us luck. I feel like it will be fine.

February is tomorrow. That is good. We are perusing the seed catalogs and hatching garden plans. I have a feeling this year will be really full, including my business, my home garden, our vacation, and misc. I am taking a permaculture design course this year, adn hopefully that will move me toward designing permaculture gardens here in the city and out in the country. My end goal is to combine the practical and functional human centered focus of permaculture with the aesthetic and ecological nature-centered focus of habitat restoration and design gardens that restore connections to the planet. Is that a good goal? I think so. I also want to make a decent living.

Have a beautiful weekend! The sun is shining, the snow is still kind of clean. Take advantage.

Switch off

Snowly

It is snowing big chunky flat funky flakes outside right now. What a strange concept, outside. Outside and inside become a different experience when you camp, for instance, or work outside all day for your livelihood. Outside is more what is around you, and you have to adapt. When you're at home, outside is almost something to avoid, like the flu. Most people have inside jobs, and most people are narcissistic. Maybe there is an obvious corollary there?

I am confused by people. What are they doing? What are you doing?

Checking out a car today, and then skiing. Our muffler fell off yesterday after we checked out a pretty nice car I think we might buy, so I suppose that is a sign. Now the Olds is one loud puppy. Can't wait to get a new car.

Big chunky flat funky flakes. That is what is real. No need to psychoanalyze. Just fall.

Beautiful 97 Year Old Botanical Artist

97 Year Old Botanical Art Maestro

Botanical art is the name for professional drawings of plants. Originally, botanical artists used to team up with botanists to make drawings of medicinal herbs in order to create a record to help people identify different plants. Chikabo Kumada has made countless book illustrations and picture books with his botanical illustrations. He’s been drawing the insects, animals, and plants which live in his garden and neighboring woodlands for seventy-one years. He’s ninety-seven years old now! Mr. Kumada is known in Japan as a pioneer of botanical art, and he continues his busy career to this day. We spoke to him this week about his thoughts and experiences.

Interview by Takafumi Suzuki
Translation by Claire Tanaka

Mr. Kumada, when did you start drawing illustrations of plants and insects?

I started to do it for work when I was twenty-six. I quit the graphic design company I’d been working at and switched careers without talking to my wife about it first. At that time, all the books had been burned in the war, and bunches of shoddy picture books had started coming in from the Kansai area and I thought, “This won’t do! I’ve got to draw some good picture books.” I love children. That’s why I started doing it. That was where my years of impoverishment began. (laughs)

You were a graphic designer before you started your career as a professional illustrator?

Back then, we didn’t use the English word “designer;” we called what I did a “zuan-ka.” At that time (the 1930s) even the modern idea of “advertising” was new. The firm I worked at, Nihon Kobo, was a groundbreaking company in Japan’s graphic design world. Ayao Yamana, who I considered a mentor, was of course very famous, but there were a lot of other very skilled people who came from there. People like Ken Domon and Yusaku Kamekura started there after me. I was particularly good friends with Domon. We were so busy, we worked every day from morning until the last train at night. We made good money too. (laughs)

Read the whole interview Here

Purity

I question the concept of purity. What is pure in an infinitely complex organic reality? The concept of purity creates puritans. A puritan believes that the pure state is holy, and the impure states is damned. Perhaps instead of purity we should strive for balance.

I'm always thinking about food and water, because food and water is our direct link to the planet, and hence to the universe. When we eat many different foods, our bodies work hard to process all the different nutriments, but if we eat one or two simple things, our bodies have an easier time of it. It is not bad to eat many different things at the same time, it is just more difficult, and a complex situation for the body to handle. Most things seem to strive toward some sort of balance, and our bodies are no exception. Here in the developed world, we eat terribly unhealthy foods all the time and then develop diseases. And then we take drugs to alleviate the symptoms of our disease. We live in a state of complete unbalance all day long, and then we have trouble sleeping.

I think most people mistake purity for balance. For instance, when we fast, we let our bodies come into balance.

sound via suzuki

The holidays are upon us in full force. Snow is falling today. Our presents are wrapped but there is no tree to put them under. We don't wish to kill a tree.We don't wish to perpetuate this buying stuff madness, but it is almost inevitable. Next year perhaps a moratorium on buying stuff. Buying stuff, our economic power as a consumer, is perhaps the single largest act of consciousness we can participate in regularly. Mindfullness is key.

We called off the trip to the folks because of the weather. Maybe go skiing instead? Ice skating.

bird flight over rome

Tumbleweed Vortex

Our new president, body surfing

Rock on, my man

Wow

Lessons From Ladakh

This is a wonderful video that highlights, for me, the beautiful and spiritually fulfilling life of Tibetans.







This is basically how I want to live. Especially if I get to wear those hats...