Nom's The Word

Haaaapppy Monday, everyone!

Many good things happened this weekend. A quick recap:

1) The Girls and I did a hike up Flat Top on Saturday morning, followed by a visit to Middle Way Cafe.

2) I made food!

3) Food making necessitated cleaning out my fridge/freezer!

4) I found out that my Beautiful God-Daughter and BBF will be moving home for a year while BGD and BBF's dad/hub is in Afghanistan (the not exciting part). One full year of uninterrupted BBF and BGD?! Super excited.

5) I started an amazing new book called The Intention Experiment. More info to follow. So, to start.

To encourage recreational reading, and to get my body moving a little bit more before I hike it up a mountain, I haul my happy butt to Kaladi Brothers Coffee down the street for an all-natural coconut americano and some light reading. I love KBC. I also love the baristas. Really, I do. They are all wonderful, fabulous folk who also happen to make the best damn americano on the whole planet.

They also started selling a fabulous new travel mug that mimics their regular coffee cups. The ceramic cup with rubber top is my favorite ever for two really great reasons: 1) It looks exactly like their paper cups, and I'm quite attached to them, 2) it's only 10oz instead of the regular 12, so I get a) a bigger discount than most, and b) I don't drink so much damn coffee!
The two books on the right posed a dilemma. The Prophet by Khalil Gibran has been a favorite since high school. This particular copy I bought at a book store in Firenze during my charmed summer of 2006 and it has a facing-page translation in Italian (which I cannot read, but like to fancy that I can). The book inspired the sing "God Rests in Reason" by Jason Mraz which is also a big favorite of mine. The Intention Experiment is a sequel of sorts to The Field, also by Lynne McTaggart. The Field posits the idea that all beings/things are connected to each other. It, in its ending poses the question of whether or not intentions can affect those around you (human and non-human). The Intention Experiment focuses on that question entirely.
Dilemma: Which to read? Neither is particularly light reading. That also wasn't what I was going for. But which would hold my attention and also, which would be more beneficial before sallying forth on this hiking adventure with dear friends? I proceeded with The Intention Experiment and read the preface and introduction, and then skipped the the essays in the Prophet that I knew I liked, and read several of those. Thoughts on The Intention Experiment to come.

So the six of us met up in the parking lot of the Chugach National Park all bright eyed and bushy tailed. All told, two of us had never made it to the top, four of us were admittedly afraid of heights, and all six of us were impressed that Professional Library Lady's new manfriend was running the hike, while the rest of us were definitely not running anywhere.

Now I have lived with men before; I grew up with my little brother and two commercial fishermen in my family. So I know fairly well the breadth of topics male-exclusive (or near male-exclusive) conversation include. It's because of this that I declare that nothing, absolutely nothing, surpasses the bizarre nature that is female-exclusive conversation/ranting. Farts, egg donation, gay rights, poop, overwhelming fatness, cupcakes, being "The Shit," shampoo, breakfast, future plans, not to limit the list to these few things, topped the conversation while on the side of that mountain. For the record, reflecting myself: Frequent, will do, go you!, I'm a fan, ick, yum!, well of course I am, I like my Giovanni, we've discussed this, I don't plan per say.

I love these women. Entirely and truly, I adore all of them. Not one of us is remotely similar. That is not to say that we don't have anything in common; we are all just entirely our own person. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

So we MADE IT, sweaty and tired, to the top. Celebrations of dirty hands, smiles of accomplishment, and nostalgic-looking-in-the-distance photos were had. It was a blast. And after we made it back down the slippery slope, we were off to my favorite Vegan-Friendly Ho Down: Middle Way Cafe!

The DivineMrsS and I woofed (really, woofed is an accurate statement here) down a Neopolitan Cupcake each followed by luncheroo, Lovely Writer Friend partook in a chai and lunch, and Sweet Caroline had a Chocolate Cream Cupcake with some java.

DMsS, LWF, SC, and I gabbed along for a good ol' time, and then parted ways for the day. Thank you, my dear friends, for such a fun Saturday!

Are you and many of your close friends similar, or very different? What are some of the more strange things you talk about? Do you have any ritual/traditions/habits you have created with each other over the years?

The rest of my Saturday passed with little consequence, other than watching Sweet Home Alabama and drinking the better portion of a bottle of wine.

But! On Sunday! I cooked!

On the menu: Spicy Peanut Sauce with Veggies & Rice, a snack of dates and PB (holy crap), and the last small spoonfuls of Coconut Dream Dark Chocolate ice cream (holier crap).

So I started off by thinking "what on earth can I make for dinner. I'm lazy. I'm tired. And I don't know that I have all that many grocery items from which to choose." But! I had all I needed, I discovered, after scrounging around in the freezer.
Chopping of some sweet spring onion, half a head of cauliflower, and broccoli commenced

(Note: I do not/did not microwave steam the broccoli.
We do not actually own a microwave anymore. ha!)

I threw it all in a large saucepan with some EVOO and gaaaaaalic and let it steam a little bit while I put jasmine rice in the rice cooker (my most frequently use kitchen tool to date).

While it was all steaming away, I took a short snack break. I know, I know, I snack while I cook dinner. But I wanted to try these peanut butter stuffed dates!
Now, if you read my post about making my chocolate cream pie, you'd know that up until a week ag0, I'd never actually eaten a date in my life. So this was an experiment indeed. I pitted a date, took a spoonful of my dark chocolate dreams and put it in the date, and voila!

a chocolate pb date poop nugget. At least that's exactly what I thought it looked like. And it was AMAZING DELISH!. I mean, really. The sweetness of the date only added to the rich chocolatey peanut buttery greatness of the pb. I'm in love. The downside to this love affair, however, is that there are 110 calories in 2 dates alone and one serving of the pb (which, albeit is a long) is 180. So two dates and 1 serving on pb and I'm done. At least they are both nutrient dense? . . . .

Back to the Peanut Dish. The veggies were a'steamed, so I added in a little bit of basil tomato sauce, sriracha sauce (affectionately known in my house, and that of the DMsS, as "Cock Sauce"), chunky pb, and some H2O .
Aaaaand took a second snack break to enjoy my long-forgotten 4 small spoonfuls of Coconut Bliss Dark Chocolate ice cream. Mmmmm Dinner was ready shortly thereafter, much to my excitement. Clearly, Kayden was enthralled, too:

So thus was my weekend.

On The Intention Experiment:

Several years ago I watched the film What the Bleep Do We Know (in all of its versions). The film asks many questions, answers some, and introduced to me the idea that intention actually has physical affects on people and our surrounding world. Dr. Masaru Emoto introduced his findings of intentions/affirmations affecting water molecules. Dr. Emoto found that different emotions/intentions affected water in dynamic ways. Such a discovery changed my perspective regarding intent in one very specific instance: What tattoos would I get, now? And what would they say about me? How would it affect me? I chose the Om/Aum almost immediately.
In Yoga practice and in other belief systems/rituals, Om/Aum is a most auspicious symbol and sound. For those who believe that intentions/affirmations can strongly affect the intended body/being, putting this symbol anywhere on me/them/you is another way of bringing some very intense and positive energy my/their/your way. And oh, believe you me, it has.
Lynne McTaggart is also previewed in What the Bleep Do We Know. To be honest, I didn't remember her at all. I made it about 50 pages deep into The Field before I realized that, at the time, I just couldn't manage my way through all of the technical speak. But this weekend I picked up The Intention Experiment, ready to take on her very science-based questions and conclusions. I am not a physicist, chemist, biologist - hell, I barely made it through Bio 101 - there's a reason I'm an English major. However, McTaggart writes in a way that I can understand, even as she's describing Bose-Einstein condensate and other fun facts about subatomic particles.
Basically, she asks if it's possible that, not only on the subatomic scale, but on our real-life, seeable-tangible scale, intentions can affect others. Not even just targeted others, but everything. She recently discussed, in chapter three, a study done by Cleve Backster where he showed that plants (like, his office plants) react to intentions. In his study (again, not a scientist here, and Backster was actually raked against the intellectual coals for this one) Backster wanted to see if plants reacted to their surroundings, other than on a heat/water/sunlight level. The long and short of it is that they do. He found that plants reacted heavily when someone in a room thought about poisoning or burning them. That they reacted and formed attachments to regular caretakers, and that they even reacted to our actions toward other people/things. Holy CRAP. Oh, did I mention that he found this in the 1960's?
Another study she brings up is that when photos were taken (special photos, with long technical names and implications you can read about in the book if you are that interested) of plants, people, and specifically energy healers, that light literally emanated from their bodies. When a sugar snap pea was severed in several places and placed next to it's severed pieces, the picture revealed that light was still being passed from piece to piece. The separated parts were still interacting with each other and communicating. HOLY CRAP.

So, you can see I'm entirely into this book. I love it. I adore it. I think it's damn brilliant. And I also love that McTaggart doesn't stop at just a single book printing. Her website for the book asks readers to follow other mass-intention experiments to see what they can find. After I'm done, expect more info on those. Needless to say, I'm really excited. It really brings to mind the statement a yoga instructor made in one of my favorite classes: "Your hands are an extension of your heart. Be careful when touching the world around you."

Mantra of the Day: E ho Mai. This is not a "mantra" per say, but actually a Hawaiian invocation. Several services I attended while living in Kauai kicked off with this, and when sung by large groups, well, shoot, by anyone with a pretty voice, it's haunting. The full of it is

E ho Mai
Ka ike ma luna mai e

O na mea huna no eau
O na mele e

E ho mai
E ho mai
E ho mai
(repeat the whole thing three times)

In English it translates as:

Grant us
knowledge from above

All the wisdom
Of the songs

Grant us,
Grant us,
Grant us.

Obviously this invocation is asking more than it is wishing. But in many instances, aren't they similar if not the same? When sung by groups, much like a mantra, I've felt the invocation ask of everyone to look into what they are capable of, who they are, a little deeper than they would otherwise. To be gentle with each other, and also to push each other to dive in. And when sung or thought with intention, not passivity, the affect is near magic.

Question of Gratitude: Who/what are you thankful for today? I am thankful, truly, for The Girls. We are a wayward bunch, indeed. And I have known you in ages and stages varying from awkward-7th-grade-girl-swimmer-obsessed-with-the-Backstreet-Boys, to 9th-grade-super-nerd-still-obsessed-with-the-Backstreet-Boys, to over-worked-college-student-drinking-may-way-through-senior-year-and-buying-Backstreet-Boys-albums. And you have all been unrelenting friends. You are in every sense of the word, barring biologically, my family. Hell, I'd give you my eggs. Thank you for all being such beautiful people and such true companions. I love you.

PS - I still have "California Girls" stuck in my head. . .