Buddhism and Bacon

This last weekend I felt like I was on the go the whole time but for great reasons - Friday I went to Denver to catch up with some old friends and support Recon, a local Drum and Bass and Dubstep night. I had a great time!

On Saturday Phil and I both drove to Denver to catch the Cherry Blossom Festival in Sakura square. There was lots of cool vendors and it was right by the Denver Buddhist Temple where we caught a short lecture from Rev. Fujii. It was an introduction of sorts to Buddhism, a short history and some concepts one being something so simple: a snake is a snake and a rope is a rope. If you think a rope is a snake how stressed you will be, do not mistake one for the other. Be able to see things as they are and not how you want them to be. How wonderful!

It reminded me of a book I read recently by Thich Nhat Hanh a Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist 'Be Free Where You Are' in which he says: "If there is despair in you, you need to recognize that energy and not allow it to overwhelm you. You have to practice in such a way that you transform the energy of despair and attain the freedom you deserve - the freedom from despair." Do not despair when a rope is a rope and not a snake, right?! There was also two paper crane origami displays (see pic) that I believe were made as a benefit for the victims of Japan's recent devastating earthquake and tsunami and part of a raffle to donate for their relief through the Buddhist Churches of America.

In quoting Thich again he teaches a practice of "cultivating compassion." He says, "But I know that compassion is not possible without understanding. And understanding is possible only if you have time to look deeply. Meditation means to look deeply in order to understand." Being aware and mindful was also something the Rev. Fujii talked about will illustrious examples. I walked away from the festival with this knowledge, a souvenir fan and some unfiltered sake after a lunch of sushi and small frozen yogurt blueberry mochi, plus I got to see my dad and his girlfriend so I'm glad we went.


Sunday we decided to catch a ride with my sister Angela and my nephew Tosh to go to Keystone, Colorado for the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival in River Run! Here is a pic of Phil enjoying a chocolate dipped piece of bacon with ice cream. My favorite was the beaver tail, a maple butter pastry with maple and bacon crumbles on top! There was also bacon wrapped meatballs, really spicy jalapenos and bacon and a pork loin cabbage bacon plate that was delicious. There was a funk band playing, the weather was perfect (sunny, in the 70s with a breeze) and I had the privilege to eat various bacon dishes with some of my favorite people. The drive home was numbingly full and reminded me of why I love Colorado so much - the mountains are beautiful. And YES, I did my Bikram yoga on Monday which was much needed after all the weekend fun.



BY THE WAY..uncured bacon is the best for you, nitrate free and especially Nitrosamine free as possible.

Summer Solstice and Our Little Garden

Today is the first official day of summer, Summer Solstice 2011. Here are some summer solstice poems I like:

  ''It is summer, it is the solstice
the crowd is

cheering, the crowd is laughing
in detail

permanently, seriously
without thought''

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), U.S. poet. At the Ball Game (l. 31-36). . . Oxford Book of American Verse, The. F. O. Matthiessen, ed. (1950)...


On The Roofdeck

The lonely, grated metal table starts the day,
an adjustment is made to apprehend
that the other chairs are empty. The June morning
beautiful and still to be, should woo me with
its early luminescence. Yet
the appetite is not shared, lost somewhere in memory.

How lucky the horizon is blue and needs
no handwriting on its emptiness. I am
written on thoroughly, a plagiarized novel
found again. I remember the predictable plot too late, realize the silly, sad urgency of my plight.

'Do you always watch for the longest day of the year
and then miss it?

I always watch for the longest day in the year
and then miss it.'

poem I found online by Gary Freeman

Today was one of those off days, think it got to 80 and I enjoyed it, went for a run with Phil in the early evening, I pulled a few weeds in the garden, let our cat out in the backyard to do her dusk dithering. We ate Veggie Korma for dinner again (I used organic pasta sauce instead of tomato sauce and organic heavy whipping cream, red or yukon gold potatoes and this time almonds instead of cashews but both are yum) topped with fresh cilantro from our herb garden - such a treat especially if you want to take a break from meat. Then I watered the garden only a little since it rained yesterday and then completely forgot to watch the sun set. I think it was 10 minutes after 9pm though that I noticed it still wasn't completely dark so it must have just set.

So far I've used cilantro from our garden for the Korma, and hopefully for a pico de gallo soon, and mint to make Mojitos (with organic sugar is best and fresh squeezed lime juice, I used Ron Rico Caribbean rum, not bad), rosemary on potatoes and basil and the Italian parsley for a home made pasta sauce. I am meaning to make a cat nip tea the next time I have a head ache and a chicken mint recipe soon. Here is a page with gardening tips, for those who are interested. We added organic compost to the soil before planting but I still feel like a gardening novice. I am hoping for some tomatoes, strawberries, squash, green beans, blueberries, cucumber, peppers, carrots and sunflowers (the lettuce already died) sometime this summer. If anyone wants to trade their seeds or recipes with me let me know.

Noam, Wellness and the Weekend

I've started my summer reading with Noam Chomsky's Hopes and Prospects admittedly quite slowly to absorb the knowledge; one topic I've read recently is his take on Neo-liberalism.



Chomsky critiques this term by positing that what it refers to, the "socio-economic regime is not new, and it is not liberal" but affirms that it is a "common enemy of democracy and development in the modern period". Rightly so as he further supports these assertions: "Reviewing the neoliberal experience of the preceding quarter century, a study of the Center for Economic and Policy Research finds that it has been accompanied by slower rates of growth and reduced progress on social indicators- the most meaningful measure of social health. That holds for countries from rich to poor."

Lets review some facts on health in the United States. Currently cancer is the cause of at least 2 out of 10 of all deaths in the U.S., vitamins and minerals are often lacking in processed foods and this is correlated to ADD/ADHD in children, nearly 6 out of 10 Americans over 20 are overweight (sic Gilbere 'Chemical Cuisine'), and proven birth defects from herbicides have been published to name a few.

So while growth and productivity in the U.S. economy began to slow in the mid-1970s when neoliberal policies were imposed and our health compromised, economic "gains were heavily skewed toward the rich". With poverty comes shortcomings of educating our population like Detroit's staggering 47% illiteracy rate. I'm sure we've all heard of Michael Moore's Roger & Me and General Motor's oppressive and job killing hand on Flint, MA. Other not so visible examples include Corporate Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria and Paraguay, consequences of so called "free trade agreements". And lets not forget Monsanto's RoundUp Ready and seed patenting crimes and role in making GMOs rampant in the U.S. food supply (see The Future of Food).

If there is anything that should be most valuable to us, it should be our health. If our government and their agency the FDA isn't looking out for us, to protect us from corporate toxicity, we have only ourselves to look out for each other. Demand truth in labeling practices and shop locally and when you can organically and preservative free as possible. That is why I support and shop regularly at our local farmers market Sprouts, and try to attend Colorado's Boulder and Longmont Outdoor Farmers Markets.

My boyfriend Phil and I went to the Farmers Market today in Boulder and I picked up a bottle of wine of berries & grapes grown in Palisades, CO for my dad and soap and cleanser from Fort Collin's Queen of the Meadow for myself. Queen of the Meadow makes all natural beauty care and household products, check out their ingredients and most helpful page on ingredients to avoid. We also had the pleasure of enjoying a free little concert from Boulder's Kutandara Center which featured an ensemble of people playing various xylophones, shakers, trombone, sax and a singer. Such warm and sunny music and musicians playing beautiful music from Zimbabwe!



Unfortunately, neo-liberalism policy appears to be still supported by our government as indicated by recent headlines signaling corporate "'triumph of the market,' thanks in large measures to public subsidies, public sector innovation and development, protection, straight bailouts and other such devices". In the face of all this I see mainstream media like CNN somewhat questioning rich, out of touch presidential candidates that are as Noam puts it "packaged and sold like toothpaste and cars and life style drugs, and by the same industries dedicated to delusion and deceit."

When it comes down to it, who is looking out for your health and for the health of your loved ones other than yourself and the few select independent outlets, health and earth conscious brands and resources like farmers markets that I am so grateful for? To me, it's important to be as mindful as possible and to take care of each other. Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there!

PS. I meant to mention last weekend, last Sunday was also the annual Gay Pride parade in Denver, my friend Drea, took a cool pic. So many things happening this summer, can't do em all..! But had to give a shout out.

Welcome To My Thought Blog

It's the start of the summer of 2011 and I just turned 27. What better way to communicate my passions than with a blog to write about them and outside of the often stark and stifling world of Facebook and other social media I don't want to entirely succumb to. I'm hoping you'll find my blog educational and stimulating while I share my thoughts and what I've learned, about the things I am most passionate about - politics relating to our food, our water, our cosmetics, U.S. immigration, foreign and economic policy, all kinds of music including my DJ fun, restaurants and recipes as well as books and poetry I love. So, alas, another blog but it will certainly serve as a therapeutic tool for myself, nothing wrong with that. And for those wondering about the name "Vox Pastiche" I mostly love the way it sounds and think it'll do as far as defining this as a space for my voice about things that inspire art drawing on various resources...something like that.