WNGD!

Get ready for the Sixth Annual World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD)! People across the globe are encouraged, on Saturday, May 14, 2011 to tend their portion of the world's garden clothed as nature intended.

http://www.wngd.org/

Ostara

Easter is named for the Pagan goddess of spring- Ostara.

Our words for the "female hormone" estrogen derives from her name as well.

Ostara is a fertility goddess with eggs, baby chicks, new flowers, and rabbits all displayed for her as signs of fertility.

Happy Easter.

Happy Easter!

Atlas Obscura

A compendium of the world's wonders, curiosities, and esoterica.

www.atlasobscura.com/

Obscura Day 2011 Preview from Atlas Obscura on Vimeo.

Obscura Day April 9, 2011

A day of expeditions, back-room tours, and hidden treasures in your own home town.

Check this website to find out if your city has a special tour!

www.atlasobscura.com/obscura-day

The Goats are Back!!

Happy International Women's Day!!

Postcrossing!

Lately I have been participating in a postcard exchange project that has been really fun.
It is called Postcrossing.
When I joined, I was given 5 random names and addresses of people around the world. I sent each of them a postcard from my home town. Then, when they receive them in the mail, they register the code I printed on each card. Once the card has been registered, my name and address goes into the pot and soon I receive a postcard from another random person around the world. And also, I get another address to send another postcard. (the limit for sending cards is 5 at a time)
If you're interested in checking it out go to postcrossing.com and browse around. It's really fun to get cards in the mail from all over the world. It's especially fun for kids to do....which is probably why I enjoy it!!! haha!

Here's a few of the cards that I have received in the fast few weeks....

POLITICS

Egypt.

Iran.

NPR.

Sex.

US Domestic Budget.

Breast Feeding.

Muslims.

Sex.

Mexicans.

Monsanto.

Obesity.

Sex.

War.

Health Care.

Birth Certificate.

Sex.

Topics

So, our friend Jeremy made a few suggestions about blog entry topics for me to ruminate on.
His intention was to keep me going.....
I think that his tactics have been working on me all week as I pondered this entry.
What a fantastic idea! I started to realize that to get topic suggestions for blog entries is like going to the psychic.
You can't go wrong!
I mean, anything that is suggested will fit into my life, because I will make the connections!
Brilliant!

Here's what Jer wrote....

"Blog about weather, politics, food, dogs, toenails, uses of peanut butter."

And so I will!

Then I will call for more suggestions and figure out how is pertains to us!

But first topic: WEATHER

It has been frickin' gorgeous here! 70F - 75F all week!
We have been inspired to be outside constantly.
Michael has been working on building loft space for his racing pigeons (a topic I will address in the very near future, along with pics) and I have been puttering around in our winter garden and the herb tub.
Everything has little bloom buds and there's no mud for the dogs to track in to the house!!!!

I spent the past weekend inside a cold, dark theatre watching about 10 hours of 2min monologues, searching for new actors for my theatre group. At lunch I went outside and down the street to the Berkeley Farmer's Market to find some vittles. The sun was shining, I grabbed a veggie/brown rice curry plate, and headed over to the grass to listen to some music. Here's a little video I shot with my phone. (note the warm clothes for sitting still inside a theatre)
To all my snowy friends, I hope this gives you endurance and hope that you too will have a picnic on the daisy-filled grass again soon.

Musings About Musings

ok
I made a new year's resolution to post a blog entry at least once per week.
....I have failed so far.
But ultimately, I have high hopes for the success of this resolution because I have really only missed two of the weeks since the beginning of the year.
Who cares that that equals 50%!?
It's like the current health care bill....50% negative means that there's 50% positive too!
So, so far, I am 50% successful at this resolution!
The glass is indeed half full!
It's not that I don't enjoy blogging, it's just that the blogging task falls between the gaping cracks of my absurdly busy life.
And I say absurdly because what makes my life so busy, are the endless tasks and errands that I can hardly keep track of!
But they whittle away at my day before I notice and I never get quite finished.
However, I am gaining on them all and the proof is that I am here writing this blog entry!
I hope, if you have made any New Year's Resolutions, that you are achieving success.
And if you aren't, remember what the scientists say....
Starting over is not the correct approach.
In science, to start over will only lead you to the same result.
Each beginning is always from a different place.
Therefore 'the mistake' is not a mistake but a moment that further defines what you are looking for.
So we will not start over, but start from a completely new place, a new approach, and perhaps the results will be different!

Talk to you next week.....or maybe before that!

The Fun Theory

Polar Bear Cams

Here's a couple of cute videos.
Happy New Year!!

Coriandrum Sativum : An Herb and a Spice

We experienced the cycle of the Cilantro plant in our backyard.

During the summer, I bought a small Cilantro plant for our herb garden. And it grew beautifully! We enjoyed the herb in many salsas and burritos.

As the summer aged, so did our Cilantro. It flowered and all the tasty leaves changed from their roundish, broad, fringed shape into a thin, stringy form, with thick stalks.

And then the entire plant expired and dried, leaving twigs with seed pods where the flowers used to be.

Then, while perusing our beautiful Herbs and Spices book by Jill Norman, I discovered that Coriander is Cilantro seed! Those pods were Coriander!

This may be old news to many, but it was a fun new fact for us!
So I harvested the Coriander and put some in the soil and some in a jar for the kitchen.
And the seeds have sprouted into new Cilantro plants! Yay!

I absolutely LOVE Cilantro and was saddened by it's short life before it went to seed.
But now I can keep the cycle going and have fresh young Cilantro all the time!!

What I'm doing this Saturday!

Metro Dash is the ultimate test of athleticism. Competitors run city streets in search of scattered physical challenge points, power through intense interval workouts, and conquer "The Gauntlet," our extreme urban obstacle course.

Runners have marathons, triathletes have triathlons, and cyclists have cycling races. If you aren't one of these athletes what event do you have that tests your overall strength, determination, teamwork, and mental tenacity? Even if you are, it doesn't hurt to spice things up every now and again. CrossFitters, Triathletes, Bootcampers, Runners, Kettlebellers, Desk Jockeys, and anyone who enjoys a kick-in-the-ass workout – Metro Dash is for you!

What competitors are saying.....

"Amazing Event! Loved every second of it and I will for sure compete again! I love that the course is challenging and lives up to the hype!"

"It was an awesome test of endurance!"

"I loved the Gauntlet!"

Our philosophy is simple: We create hardcore, bare bones events that push competitors beyond their limits both mentally and physically. You won’t find a 50-tent expo at the finish line, nor will you find an after party. Metro Dash is about you and your ability to conquer an extremely grueling course. Metro Dash is not a race; it is a challenge. There are no places, no times, and no awards. It’s just you and your ability to push yourself as hard and as fast as possible. You only have yourself to cheat. If you are concerned with times and places, this challenge isn’t for you.

A Metro Dasher is a person who laughs in the face of adversity, who is ready and willing when most others would run away, and who knows that the only way to success lies in hard work, sweat, and pain. A Dasher isn’t concerned with place, time, or status. A Dasher would rather help a competitor complete a challenge than finish first. A Dasher will do the right thing even when nobody is watching, won’t complain, and above all else will never quit.

Prior to the Metro Dash Challenge competitors will receive a list of 5-7 challenge points. While competitors are required to go to these points in the order listed, it is up to them to determine the fastest route between points. Competitors will navigate from point to point completing the challenges listed below. The Challenge is not timed, and the reward is finishing the day knowing that you pushed yourself as hard as you possibly could.

• Tabata Challenge – Tabata is an interval training cycle of 20 seconds of maximum effort followed by 10 seconds of rest. You repeat this 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. You will do as many reps possible of the stated exercise during the 20 seconds, anything less and you've failed yourself.
• Stair Climb – You'll run up and down the equivalent of a 15-story office building.
• The Gauntlet - This is our extreme urban obstacle course where you'll flip tractor tires, low crawl, and launch yourself over an 8 foot wall.

The course is designed by Navy SEALs - let's just say these guys know how to dish out one hell of an ass kicking! If you don't feel like you've been hit by a Mack truck after completing the challenge, then you've only cheated yourself!

• Metro Dash is a Challenge
• Metro Dash is physically grueling
• Metro Dash is a test of your ability to push yourself
• Metro Dash is about helping others along the course

• Metro Dash isn’t a race
• Metro Dash isn’t timed
• Metro Dash isn’t for the weak
• Metro Dash isn’t for everyone

1. You must be 18 years of age on event day to compete.
2. All competitors must complete all of the challenges.
3. You cannot use bikes, personal vehicles, taxis, skateboards, rollerblades, or any other form of propulsion other than your own two legs!
4. Competitors must be physically capable of completing all challenges.
5. Every competitor must wear the Metro Dash bib.

Crossfit Fun

This is a short video of a recent crossfit competition at our gym.

The person with the shortest time wins 3 months of membership.

I didn't compete because I did the challenge the weekend before.

So I filmed parts of it.

It's called "The Filthy Fifty"

and it's painful.

The object is to complete all exercises as fast as you can.

The completed times were between 25 and 45 minutes.

(i did it in just under 40 minutes last week)

50 - 24" tire jumps

50 - jumping pull-ups

50 - kettlebell swings (25lb women/ 45lb men)

50 - walking lunges

50 - knees to elbows

50 - push presses (45lb women/65lb men)

50 - stiff leg dead lifts (45lb women/65lb men)

50 - wall ball shots (12lb women/20lb men)

50 - burpees

*50 - double unders (double rope swings per jump)

*or 150 single unders (single rope swings per jump)

Pickles!!!

As a freakish lover of the fermented cucumber, I can't believe I didn't do this a long time ago.
It was so easy!
It actually took longer to get the giant canning pot of water to boil than it did to put it all together!
And they are YUMMY!!!

Michael Pollan

Food Rules

#43

Have A Glass Of Wine With Dinner

Wine may not be the magic bullet in the French or Mediterranean diet, but it does seem to be an integral part of these dietary patterns. There is now considerable scientific evidence for the health benefits of alcohol to go with a few centuries of traditional belief and anecdotal evidence.

Mindful of the social and health effects of alcoholism, public health authorities are loath to recommend drinking, but the fact is that people who drink moderately and regularly live longer and suffer considerably less heart disease than teetotalers. Alcohol of any kind appears to reduce the risk of heart disease, but the polyphenols in red wine (resveratrol in particular) may have unique protective qualities.

Most experts recommend no more than two drinks a day for men, one for women. Also, the health benefits of alcohol may depend as much on the pattern of drinking as on the amount: Drinking a little every day is better than drinking a lot on the weekends, and drinking with food is better than drinking without it.

Someday science may figure out the complex synergies at work in a traditional diet that includes wine, but until then we can marvel at its accumulated wisdom - and raise a glass to paradox.

Our First Time

Before

After

Another Big Harvest!!!

Puppies!!

This is what has been keeping us so busy these days!

This is the "G" Litter.

But we nicknamed them....

Fuzz, Fuzzette, Blue, Spot, and Tink.