ORIGINAL BLISS

Hello Blog....

Favorite Thing #31: Found Margin Notes from Strangers in Library Books

Hello blog....

You may be feeling neglected, lately, but I have been saving all my beans for my book. Believe me, my mind has wandered to you often and I have had to restrain myself.

Blogging, while rewarding, is a tool of procrastination for me. Unlike watching mindless, smut television, blogging comes with less guilt. At least I am writing something, right? But it is procrastination none the less.

A little procrastination can be a good thing.

Let's call it space.

When I get to spot in my narrative that clogs my synapses, when I can't make a clear choice in direction, when I need time to play out the scene or dialog in my head, a sweet diversion is a good thing.

A bath. Cooking some dinner. Blogging. Taking a walk or a Zumba class. All good space makers. My favorite, by far is the NAP! I take the clogged noggin' to the pillow and miraculous things have been known to happen. Answers magically weave through my consciousness. The roto-rooter of creativity is the nap!

Okay... back to the page. I have a goal of completing this chapter and starting the next before Thanksgiving!

P.S. Chopped my hair off. Unlike Sampson, it gave me strength.... and gave me 15 minutes more writing time!

Namaste,

C H E Z

Stirring Dust

stirring dust, originally uploaded by brookeshaden.

A few minutes of reading first thing, to whet the noodle.

Some coffee to wet the veins.

Some tunes for the flow of the soul.

I light a candle.

I get up and go to the bathroom.

How about another cup of coffee?

Up and down with the OCD.

Maybe if I turn around ten times to the left --- then touch my toes?

Every day that I sit down to write, I go through an hour of theatrics.
It's that damn little voice!
"I can't do it."
"I have nothing to say."
"It won't be good."
I am a two year old having a meltdown in the cookie aisle.
A cat in the bath.
My body at the gym.

And I really know better! I know that after an hour of creaky, crappy tapping at the keys that a miraculous limbering takes place, I get entranced, and it all spills forth.

But here I whine a fret another morning.

I should be chomping at the bit! Yesterday, I completed my outline. The bones of the book are in order! I can put on muscle now!

....................and I am not.
Cuz if I wrote something good yesterday, today will surely be a disappointment.
Right?
Okay... enough procrastination by blogging!

Namaste,
C H E Z

Current Book List
The Right to Write, Julia Cameron
Writing Down the Bones,Natalie Goldberg
On Writing, Stephen King
Save the Cat, Blake Snyder
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

iMix - Soundtrack for a Novel
Black & Gold, Mattea Overstreet
Starlight, Muse
Starry Eyed, Ellie Goulding
Ghosts N Stuff, Deadmau5
Sleepyhead, Passion Pit
4th Dimensional Transition, MGMT
Chances Are, Johnny Mathis
The Game, Disturbed

Black & Gold

Mattea remaking one of my favorite songs! Can you believe she'll be 16 next month!!! Just 15 years ago, she looked like this:

Yeah... Mattea told me that I embarrassed her yesterday by telling people on Facebook that I heard her practicing in the bathroom. I told her that "embarrassing" is naky baby photos!

Luckily, she has a sense of humor.

Namaste,

C H E Z

Being in Amusement

Once upon a time... a long, long time ago...

there was a period in my life when I started having intense and frequent intuitive revelations and premonitions.

Our spiritual senses; clairvoyance, clairsentience, telepathy, etc... are natural gifts that we all have, but we forsake them and let them atrophy because we let our physical senses wear the pants during our living experience.

So although "psychic" phenomena wasn't really new to me, my abilities became so dominant in my life that it kind of scared me. I didn't have names for what was happening... I didn't have control. I couldn't turn it off or on. It would blindside me at inconvenient times.

Rather than seek out a psychiatrist ~ who would have medicated me and suppressed these valid skills ~ I decide to attend some classes to understand and direct it for myself. If you ever watch Psychic Kids and A&E, they do this for youngsters who are "out of control" psychics.

The classes I attended taught many tools for centering and owning your beingness in life. They offered a safe place to explore these abilities... to let them out of the closet and play.

One of these tools was called "Being in Amusement"... and I am amused when I confess I had forgotten all about this tool until very recently.

I have gotten sooooooo caught up in being serious! All of my life has been serious business that must be brought under control and managed. Seriousness is a heavy energy. It is like being cloaked in a fog... with an ominous fog horn sounding in the background. With seriousness comes worry, fretting, effort, rigidity, and overall "poopiness".

"Being in Amusement" is a Zen Buddhist / Sufi way of living your life. Zen and Sufism use humor and laughter in viewing and dealing with the human situation and themselves. As Thomas Moore points out in his book "Dark Nights of the Soul," Zen Buddhists and Sufis can see irony in the most serious situations and their laughter frees their compassion and liberates them from worry.

As I look at some of the heavy situations that dance around me, I am looking through the dark glass, lightly. "Where can I find the irony in this?" "How can a be in amusement as I move through and past it?"

This week I have found some amusement. It has lifted the cloak from around my heart and put a smile on my face.

Namaste,

C H E Z

Holy Pazole!!!!

 

Creativity shows herself in many ways.

I consider myself a journal/mixed media artist.

I am a sometimes-writer... although I would like to expand on that more.

The muse has been stagnant in the visual artistry realm and I have been writing mostly for my degree rather than creatively lately.

But for some darn reason... I have been wanting to COOK!

Too much FOOD Network perhaps??? Very possible.

With the weather finally getting cooler, my hankering for soup has intensified. So last night I made what I call Chez's Pazole Verde. (If you have been wondering... Chez is a family nickname... pronounced SHAY...not CHEESE like my husband does ;-) )

Traditional Pazole is red... I make mine green, because I like verde sauces better. My family looooves my Pazole! My mother loooooves my Pazole! My co-workers looove my Pazole. So try it for yourself and impress your friends and family. Click HERE for the recipe. When they ask, tell them a friend who was a Mexican seniorita in a past life gave you the recipe.

I have to say that I have felt somewhat guilty over my lapse in journaling and blogging. But I have been putting so much energy into some other good things! I am trying not to beat myself up over it and just go with where the Creative takes me.

Right now, she is taking me to the stove.

And then...

to the gym!

Namaste,

C H E Z

 

P.S. The top photo was my bowl. After I took the picture, I added more sour cream. Just thought you should know. I loooooooove me some sour cream!

 

Where Have All The Grown Ups Gone?

We are having an epidemic of immaturity in our country. Screw the Swine Flu! We need a collective inoculation of wisdom, compassion and enlightenment, STAT!

I have been exposed to the infected in staggering numbers this week.

It has been as minor as middle age adults trying to dress and behave like they are back in high school. This actually does not make them look any younger. The gray hair, wrinkles, and pot bellies are actually accentuated when you dress age inappropriately. It is painful to see and I am embarrassed for them.

Though prevalent, this is but a small transgression.

I am teaching my daughter how to drive. God bless all parents trying to instruct their children on the proper way to maneuver a 4000 lb hunk of metal through our community.

Sitting shotgun, I have begun to think I really need the said shotgun.

If you cut my daughter off while she is turning into a parking space...

or speed to pass her only to pull in front of her and slam on your breaks then glare at her because she was only exceeding the speed limit by 5 mph, instead of the 20 mph you wanted to speed...

Or honk at her because she stopped at a crosswalk to allow a pedestrian their right of way...

I get to use my shotgun status.

But here is the biggy!

By know we have all witnessed at least one "Facebook Smackdown". This is a Shannanism that I have added to Urban Dictionary. This is the knockdown-drag-out arguments that occur over someone's status updates. Typically occurs when one "friend" misinterprets or takes another "friend's" status personally and begins a comment war for all to see and enjoy.

I have had the un-pleasure of witnessing a Smackdown between my sister and my mother and my aunt... between several of my co-workers... and finally a bullying session between a few 40-something adults against my 15 year old daughter.

Yeah.

I witnessed three, adult parents belittle and attack my daughter on their Facebook status over a second-hand rumor they heard from other kids at her school.

Some of the comments went like this:

"What I really think is weird is disrespectful kids who think they are all that and so good that they can say whatever they want. Someone needs to realize they are not as good as they think and in fact - they are the weird one."

"Don't be to hard on whoever is making comments they can't help it if they are immature."

Then one adult goes to my daughter's page and copies, then mimics, her status about having a great time at a football game - Mattea's status in BOLD, lame ass adult, italic:

"I just wanna say, "The day has started off AMAZING and MAGICAL and has continued to be SPECTACULAR... because I rock and I'm a legend in my own mind...BLAH BLAH BLAH....BARF!! Gag me with a spoon."

I might add that the adults in this Smackdown against a 15 year old, call themselves devout Christians...

Don't worry. I stepped in.

We all have been seeing the teen suicide epidemic in recent weeks over online and school bullying. And maybe you have been wondering why these young teenagers are hanging themselves from their neighborhood trees and jumping off bridges. It is because their peers... and maybe even adults... are cruel, predatory bullys.

It might not be because the child is homosexual. It might be because they aren't like other people... maybe they are smart, or pretty, or talented, or something the bully isn't and the bully has to bring that person's esteem down so the bully can feel good about themselves.

We can try to console our youth with the trite "sticks and stones" cliche. But a teenager's esteem is in a fragile state of development, and thinking that "words can never hurt them" is so very, VERY wrong.

Words do hurt.

We take them in... we question whether or not they are true... we repeat them over and over in our heads... and if we decide we believe them, they have life-long, and sometimes life-ending, ramifications.

When are we all going to GROW UP and start being NICE!?

How are our children going to learn how to be wise, loving and compassionate human beings if we don't start BEING THE EXAMPLE!!! ???

Namaste,

C H E Z

 

Dear Diary....

I am craving good times, with good friends...

 

here are some notes on a new meditation technique I am practicing...

 

I liked this list of "25 Things Every Woman Should Know" that I found in Elle and decided to save it forever and add some of my own.

My favorites: #9, #12, #24

and my own: "Trust in your faith and remember who you are."

 

I have been craving living water as much as I do air to breath...

 

I have been reading Keats...

 

and Oscar Wilde...

 

I have so much to say, but don't have the language to say it.

So I lay it all down in you,

in paint and in glue.

 

In symbols only my soul understands...

 

and ideas that I don't want to forget.

 

Namaste,

C H E Z

Save Drake's Bay Oyster Farm

One of our stops during our road trip was into Drake's Bay Oyster Farm. As you head out toward the lighthouse, not too far past Inverness, and before you hit all the cattle ranches, you will find the driveway on the left.

Drakes Bay Oysters are raised in the most pristine body of water quality of any growing area in the state of California. A deep-water upwelling just off the coast of Drakes Bay provides cool, nutrient rich water year-round to Drakes Estero and produces some of the finest oysters in the world.

Drakes Bay Oysters is the last cold packing cannery in California and their mission is to grow, harvest and deliver sound and sustainable agriculture with ecological responsibility and an attitude of stewardship for the land and sea.

Oysters have been farmed here for 100 years by agriculturalists, and possibly thousands of years by the Coastal Miwuks. Since the National Park Service has managed the area of Point Reyes, they have given special use leases to the families of various industries; several cattle ranches and the Drakes Bay Oyster Farm.

An oyster is an amazing little creature, a bivalve mollask to be precise. To grow some you need some oyster larvae. They are microscopic specks. At the farm, they place previously harvested shells into a warm bath of sea water and release the larvae into the vat. After a time, workers check the oyster jacuzzi to see if the larvae have taken. Then they lace the shells with the larvae onto wire "strings", place them on a rack in the bay and let them grow.

"Lacing"

"Racking"

 

"Prepping for the Bay"

 

Jorge here has been an oyster farmer on this ranch for 27 years. He showed us the vats and pointed out the tiny brown specks of larvae that had attached themselves to the shell. He said that once they go out to the ocean for a week, they grow to the size of a "seed". Then they are re-racked and allowed to grow in the bay for a year. Each seed grows its own shell.

Some of the shells are reused for another planting. Over $10,000 worth of shell is donated to the Native Oyster Restoration Project in the San Francisco Bay to create a reef onto which native oyster seed can attach. The farm has also donated shell to the Western Snowy Plover Recovery Project because they provide excellent camouflage for adults, eggs, and chicks, increasing plover nest density and nesting success.

Due to some shady politics, the National Park Service is attempting NOT to renew the lease for the Oyster Farm. They want to shut it down. They want the land to go back to its "natural state". But they are allowing the 6 dairies and 9 beef cattle ranches to remain.
 

 

My question is, when does something become A PART of the natural ecology? If you get rid of the farming in the bay that has been here for thousands of years, doesn't that have a detrimental effect on the habitat and wildlife that have become adapted to it being here? And when are we going to figure human beings into our equation about the enviornment? We are very present. Yes! We need to be more conscientious co-existers with our planet, but we have to be included as part of the "Natural Habitat".

 

This little oyster farm is a gem. The family that owns it will give you a personal tour and explain everything about how they run their small operation. The oyster farm is the second largest employer within Point Reyes National Seashore, employing 30 full time workers and providing housing for many of them. In an area that traditionally only offers farm employment opportunity to men on the dairy farms and beef ranches, the oyster farm employs both men and women. It is unlikely they would be able to stay if the oyster farm goes.

It would be a shame for the area and the palate to lose this jewel.

To learn more about the farm: Drake's Bay Family Farm

To learn more about the issues surrounding its fight against the Park Service: More Marin

To be the farms friend on Facebook: Drake's Bay Farm Facebook

To download the Original Bliss Artichoke and Oyster Soup Recipe: Recipe PDF

 

Namaste,

C H E Z

 

The World Is My Oyster!

Hog Island Oyster Co.

There are places on the planet that resonate with who we are. Once we find them, we go back again and again. Point Reyes is that place for me. My soul goes into withdrawals when I do not get a "reset" by spending a few days in this most amazing place.

After working my normal 11 hour shift, Jeff met me at work and we left for the Bay. Once the coastal breeze was in my hair, I completely forgot I had been awake for nearly 24 hours.

First stop, coffee and tea in Fairfax.

Fairfax is classic Marin County; part coastal, part elite, part hippy. The people watching is superb.

We drove out Hwy 1 past Marshall to Hog Island Oysters, drank a half bottle of Pinot Noir, ate some Cowgirl Creamery Blue Cheese with a day old baguette, while we waited for our first serving of oysters.

Okay, so if you like oysters... there is absolutley NOTHING that compares to enjoying them minutes from being pulled out of the bay. NOTHING!

They say that oysters are an aphrodiasiac... but who needs the sex after this!

 

(Jeff says he does.)

We murdered 3 dozen.... in this sitting. If we didn't feel so guilty we would have slurped down another 3 dozen.

Oysters are considered one of the most nutritionally well-balanced foods. They are extremely low in calories - one dozen oysters contains ONLY 110 calories. They are full of vitamins and possess the omega-3 fatty acids that are good for our skin, brain, and muscles.

Not that I need "healthy choice" as an excuse.

 

"Where Oysters Come From"

We wandered the streets of Point Reyes Station, browsing the little shops and the community garden.

 

"Mr. Bee"

"Brighter Than Sunshine"

 

 

 

"Sleeping in the Garden"

 

We made it to our favorite home away from home and lounged for the remainder of the afternoon and evening.

 

Morning View from our Porch - Elephant Mountain

 

 

"Morning Friend"

Deciding what to do is always a challenge. We rarely do the same thing twice. This trip we walked the Earthquake Trail, directly upon the San Andreas Fault. In 1906, Point Reyes Peninsula moved 20 feet in an instant. There are split fences that prove it.

We strolled the Limantour Spit... the world's most perfect beach!

We visited the bird observatory and got to watch while the Ornithologists weighed and measured the smallest full-size bird I have ever seen... smaller than a hummingbird, for sure. We learned that Point Reyes has the largest variety of birds in the nation, so if you are a "birder" it's the place to be.

We are not "birders".

We are "wanderers"...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and "eaters".

After a day of nature, it was time to get our dinner on. We attempt to try different things each visit, but we NEVER miss Stellina's..... never ever. The food is to die for!

So was my dress!

 

Our last day, we headed out to take in another new view... Drake's Bay with its stunning, white cliffs.

We were all alone....

So we hoped...

This beach had less a human footprints and more beasts'. Besides this 200 lb male mountain lion, there were tracks from a mama and her cub, an elk, and a racoon.

 

 

 

 

Then we had to eat some more!

Fresh halibut ceviche, a cup of clam chowder and another 3 dozen oysters; 12 raw, 12 BBQ'd and 12 to-die-for- Oysters cooked with Charizo and Butter!!!!!

Like I said.... "Sex on the Half-shell!"

 

Then it was time to say our sad farewell....

but not too sad...

we brought 2 large jars of oysters home with us! I am going to attempt an oyster stew tonight!

 

Until next time...

Namaste,

C H E Z

 

Theos Ek Mechanes

"In some Greek dramas, a god showed up out of nowhere to cause a miraculous twist at a crucial point in the tale. This divine intrusion was referred to as theos ek mechanes, literally "god from a machine," because the symbolic figure of the god was lowered onto the stage by a crane. In modern usage, the term is Latin ~ deus ex machina ~ and refers to a story in which a sudden event brings about a resolution to a problem."

Rob Brezsny

"PRONOIA is the antidote for paranoia - How The Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You With Blessings"

I found this little nugget during my morning hunt for inspiration while the coffee was brewing. It reminded me that I need to leave room on my stage for God to drop down from a crane.

Can I get a little drumroll with my divine intervention?

Namaste,

C H E Z