Vegetable Wisdom

...“sweet,” in the somewhat archaic definition of the Oxford English Dictionary, is that which “affords enjoyment or gratifies desire.” Like a shimmering equal sign, the word sweetness denoted a reality commensurate with human desire: it stood for fulfillment.
Michael Pollan

...my doctor told me my blood pressure and weight have increased the last three times I’ve seen him...not bad, but going up, nonetheless...which seems outrageous considering all the yoga, biking, and meditation I’ve been doing....then, perhaps, a bit less so considering all the cheap deep-fried Chinese take-out, Tastykakes, Mexican Cokes...with real sugar!...and margaritas....it really is all about balance...I’m positive about that...but, apparently, that particular balance hasn’t been balancing nearly as well as I’d hoped...

...generally speaking, that thing yoga teachers say about listening to your body is sound advice....trouble is, my body still thinks I’m a hunter-gatherer...struggling for bare subsistence against the ever-present threat of starvation...which is reasonable enough, considering that the vast majority of human beings who’ve ever lived have been exactly that...and thus far more attracted to the deep fried saber-tooth-tiger-on-a-stick at some stone-aged equivalent of my corner Chinese take-out than the organic broccoli bush frequented by those mellow cro-magnons down the way etching You Can’t Hug Your Children With Sharp Sticks onto their cave walls...

...as such, sometimes I gotta tell my body to shut up so I can exercise some vegetable wisdom...which is what I’m trying to do now...just in time for the holidays...

What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?
Lin Yutang

...went to see some bands play at this art space...technically a loading dock....it was BYOL...which at least one guy did to the point that he probably shouldn’t have been so close to the loading dock...but there were lots of snacks...including these colorful cupcakes...my friend who works at a coffee shop that sells really good, really high quality pastries asked how they were...I said they were good...but in that real old-school PTA-mom-who-buys-a-cupcake-mix-and-that-really-sugary-kinda-colorful-frosting-at-the-supermarket kinda way...which, really, is a more primal kinda good than you’re likely to experience with anything more refined...

When you’re a kid you can eat amazing amounts of food. All I ate when I was a kid was candy. Just candy, candy, candy. And the only really clear thought I had as a kid was get candy.
Jerry Seinfeld

...which, when you think about it...or, at least, when I think about it...could be a contributing factor...along with these holidays coming up just when things have started getting cold...and living in a culture of frenzied consumption...for my habitual resemblance, by the time the new year rolls around, to the StayPuft Marshmallow Man...because not only are there lots of high calorie treats around...but some of them are supplied by my mom...or at least in the presence of my mom, along with other family members and all kinds of rituals meant to evoke nostalgia for those sweet, squishy idealized childhood experiences...and, if I’m not feelin’ it...as, often, I’m not...there’s always more sugary stuff around...

...happy holidays, folks...enjoy some high calorie crap for me...

Words, Words, Nothin' But Words...

Our grammar might teach us to divide the world into active subjects and passive objects, but in a coevolutionary relationship every subject is also an object, every object a subject.
Michael Pollan

...a strange collection of self-defeating words, often expressed by students of writing, as well as some bloggers, is I’m not a writer...which is absurd...particularly if expressed in written form, or in reference to something one has written...since, by definition a writer=one who writes...

...and, contrary to popular romanticism, everybody has to work at it...

...T. S. Eliot told aspiring poet Stephen Spender I can understand you wanting to write poems but I don't quite know what you mean by 'being a poet'...because he knew the high-falutin’ identity of the poet was a conceit...kind of like being a yogi...

...you write poems or you don’t...you practice yoga or you don’t...though, of course, the ways in which we define poetry or yoga may vary widely...which is kinda true of words in general...

...have long been an expert bullshitter, enjoy trash-talking before, during, and after Scrabble games, and would rather tell an amusing tall tale than a boring but factually accurate account...and, in all honesty, believe there’s a meaningful difference between all of the above and dishonesty...

...Seeing Eye Chick...not her real name, but that’s okay...was kind and generous enough to pass on the Honest Weblog Award...which is greatly appreciated...even if it makes me feel a bit self-conscious...



...that Pretenders song starts such a drag to want something sometimes...which, I think, is about as honest as anything you’re likely to hear...might even say it encapsulates the first two of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths in seven short words...but I’m not even quoting the lyric correctly...the last word is actually sometime...no s...which doesn’t make sense...grammatically, at least...then, much of the time, neither does the truth...