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January 30, 2006

Slutty AND green

Do your dirty business clean and green... oh yes, sustainable sex toys.

You love it.

Posted by Josh A. at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2006

Quote of the Day

I used to eat a lot of natural foods, until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

Let's not ruin the humor with commentary ;-)

Posted by Josh A. at 08:19 AM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2006

Cinnamon rolls, the yumminess, the pain

On Sunday, Barry and I made cinnamon rolls... we ate them for dessert after already overeating dinner... to quote from UnwindingTheBelly.com, we "broke [the] rules... while singing and dancing", metaphorically anyway. That is to say, we had a damn good time behaving in ways that (I knew) I would pay for.

Oh how I paid for it. All I wanted to do afterward was sleep and nurse my sore belly. I'm sure I was wonderful company, seeing as how I couldn't pay much attention to anything else.

I felt it on the way home. I felt it as I went to sleep. I felt it the next morning, although sleeping & waking were made more pleasant by doing some unwinding before bed and in the morning.

So what did I do tonight? Ate a cinnamon roll, of course. Ugh, my tummy hurts.

It was damned good, warm, with some darjeeling tea.

Now I've ruined my dinner, and my body is left to clean up after me. I feel unsatisfied, but the the thought of putting any more food in my system, even whole foods, causes more discomfort.

Ingredients for cinnamon rolls: poison (white flour), poison (white sugar), candida (dry active yeast), dairy dairy dairy... not-so-instant tummy ache: just add water, knead until smooth, let rise, punch down, let rise again, bake.

Don't forget the glaze: powdered sugar, butter, and milk, mmmmmm....

Everyone (cool) to whom I mention my idea to start a whole foods support group widens their eyes and wants in on it. Buncha addicts, we all are... surrounded by our dealers: restaurants and grocery stores and bakeries and Starbucks, my god the Starbucks, they're everywhere.

I guess I've been watching too much film noir... welcome to Food Noir, aka the USA. Well, the West in general actually.

Dontcha just love how our cultures have affected the already downtrodden in countries like India, where we've taught the poor folk that nutritious brown rice isn't good enough, and that to be like the smart, rich white people you have to eat dumb, enriched white rice?

Let's round up the food scientists (the folks who engineer synthetic chemicals into "packaged food products") and make them dine on nothing but their own inventions.

Posted by Josh A. at 06:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2006

Breast milk redux

Once upon a time I wrote a post after a nutrition class in which breast milk was discussed, including ways to decrease the amount of toxins that accumulate in it due to modern living.

That was met with a ranty rant from a ranty mother who couldn't deal with yet one more thing to worry about. Geez, who can?

But today I came across some people who are trying to help—MOMS - Making Our Milk Safe. They're sick of flame retardants in our babies' food, and are working on political action to make change.

Curiously, they don't seem to have any info on their site about choices women can make now.

We believe that breast milk is the most perfect food for our babies. We are working to ensure that the same can be said thirty years from now, when our daughters are nursing their own children.

That's very good, AND... today women are empowered to choose what kind of food they put in their bodies and thus what food industry chemicals end up in their breast milk, particularly those in meat and dairy, by choosing organic when possible.

Right now, if one can afford it, women are empowered to purchase natural beds and bedding, sans flame retardants.

And right now, everyone can vacuum more with an adequate (HEPA) cleaner to control chemical laden dust from our surroundings.

Posted by Josh A. at 08:25 PM | Comments (2)

January 06, 2006

Timing

I like the idea that "everyone has their own timing"... and today ran across a comment on a blog post that reminded me of some things.

From the comment:

Anyone that needs a governmental or theological sanction to feel secure in their relationship, whether they can get it or not, has quite a way to go before they are ready for a real, healthy, grown up relationship.

I've known various people who were pursuing relationships with one party not even being sure that being gay is ok. None come to mind as having survived. I think the quote explains a bit of how difficult it would be to make work.

Everyone has their own timing, and some degree of self-acceptance has to come before it's time for serious relationship. So then one person's doubts have to be addressed before the question of relationship can even really be asked.

I wonder what instructive parallels can be drawn from this.

Posted by Josh A. at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)

Weird

So someone posted a lame comment to my NYE recap post. Juding from their IP, they appear to be dialed up in San Jose.

It doesn't bother me that random online people hiding behind anonymity would post such things to a web journal. It bothers me to think that it may be someone I know who won't say what they think to me directly.

In the end, not something I can own for them... but also not a dynamic I want in my relations.

Posted by Josh A. at 12:53 AM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2006

Thoughts for next year

Already thinking about next year's New Year's Eve party... and actually it's in line with something that's up for me generally, perhaps to set some intentions around for 2006.

It's probably best summed up as an intention to live more in line with my values this year.

It feels like the more time passes since leaving Heartwood, the more lax I've gotten.

It's so easy to fall into the mainstream routine. I don't like always "being the one" to bring up issues of nutrition, health, and sustainability, I don't like the reactions from my roommates, and I don't like the extra time or expenses any more than they do. And so it's really too easy to just shut up, look the other way, and do what's easy instead of what's "right".

But as I reflect on the ways in which our party was not in line with my values, did not contribute to the kind of world in which I want to live, I'm left with another reality: that I don't like throwing an unconscious party, I don't like having to apologize for any of my choices (failing to choose consciously is a choice), and I don't like the prospect of not attracting the kind of people I want in my life because I'm not living the kind of life that attracts them.

On that last note I'm speaking purely to energetics, not to image or social obligation—I mean "attraction" in the magnetics of manifestation sense.

So here's to a year of more whole foods, more sustainability, more greening, more health.

A year to look forward to a New Year's Eve party with compostable rather than plastic cutlery, an emphasis on vegan hors'doeuvres, biodynamic champagne, and party favors that don't end up in a landfill.

Posted by Josh A. at 02:24 AM | Comments (0)

New Year's recap

So what was New Year's like? Well, there are some pictures from our party at http://www.desmondsdoghouse.com/nye2006/

Lots of time, money, and work... not to mention some stress... went into things. We had a loose color theme of red & silver, and invited folks to wear said colors. It makes all the pictures a bit eerie, I have to say... everybody matching each other and the decorations.

Steve made chocolate fondue and deviled eggs with bleu cheese. His date, David, helped decorate. Desmond cleaned house and made little deli rolls on whole wheat tortillas. I tried to usurp Martha Stewart, making mini Yorkshire puddings with horseradish creme & beef filet, Caesar salad canapes, and mini lemongrass tea pears. We also had hand crafted whole-foods hummus with parsley-infused olive oil and a selection of elegant (if I do say so myself) crudités, which is just French for freakin' raw veggies.

In preparation, we made trips to East Bay for Target, Ikea, and Berkeley Bowl, and in SF both sides of Cliff's for fabric, balloons, hats, etc, some godforsaken industrial area for a BevMo (next time we're going to the Geary location), the Ferry Building for supplies at Sur La Table, Safeway for various & sundry, Books, Inc on Market St. for canape ideas and a book on fondue, Ross for champagne flutes (fantastic deal), and I spent way too long at Macy's to find red socks, a red shirt, and briefs with a red waistband.

Fallout: Steve says he's never going to Berkeley Bowl again.

Barry says, "He picked one of the two worst Fridays to go. And it wasn't even as busy as it could have been. Anyway, normally at 6 on a Friday it's dead in there."

Steve responds, "I picked nothing."

In any case, things worked out well. Despite any complaints we may voice, obviously I'm proud of what we put into the evening. And I think it was a great success. It's nice to have an "adult" near year's eve.

Decorations were festive, both levels of the apartment had folks milling, folks drank enough to get honest, some close friends from high school made a welcomed appearance, we toasted in the new year, and sooner or later our guests found themselves leaving or crashing, and I found myself in bed.

Lots of great things during the evening. It was so nice to see folks, to reconnect with those I hadn't seen in some time, and to enjoy the people in my life. "The moon was in void" according to one of them, so we can't have any expectations following the evening's goings-on, but I wish I could. I would like to expect more of the same and better.

One of my New Year's intentions is to focus my social/relationship energy into relationships in which depth and intimacy can be very present. So I'll be looking to spend less time & energy in ways that don't create that, and hopefully find more ways to spend it, and people to spend it with, that do.

Posted by Josh A. at 12:27 AM | Comments (4)

January 03, 2006

Pop!

My favorite wine author, Willie Gluckstern, writes in The Wine Avenger:

In a perfect world, everyone would have a glass of Champagne every evening, no later than 6:00 pm. People with personality problems would begin each day with a glass.

I believe this also applies to problems you may have with other people's personalities.

Here's to a more civilized 2006! Cheers!

Posted by Josh A. at 05:13 PM | Comments (1)