So i just finished reading this and have some thoughts. i'm not one for too much spirituality like seeing people's positive energy fields glow and grow, i can understand that as a metaphor but not reality. there are a few concepts i can appreciate particularly:
- if you give positive energy you'll get positive energy from others in return
- there are no coincidences
- you encounter everyone in life for a reason and it's up to you to find out just what that reason is or it'll pass you by
- human conflicts are a result of a battle for energy, people wanting to take energy from others
- in matters of the heart, it's best to start from a place of friendship. otherwise it's easy to get carried away with 'love at first sight' which is great until the dust settles and one person expects the energy that should be reciprocal to just be given resulting in conflict.
while these aren't new concepts i appreciate them as guidelines to how we should treat each other and approach life. they make sense, no? think about it.The
Friday, June 27, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
The world needs more
of crazy fun people like the ones in this video:
Where the Hell is Matt?
it's JUST not that serious. have fun. now.
Where the Hell is Matt?
it's JUST not that serious. have fun. now.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Coolio quote
a friend sent me this item that's for sale on Etsy and i just love the quote:
'EVIL
For I must love, and
am resolv'd to try
My fate, or, failing
in the
adventure, die.'
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8577030
'EVIL
For I must love, and
am resolv'd to try
My fate, or, failing
in the
adventure, die.'
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8577030
Friday, June 20, 2008
Best meal of my life?
I'm not sure. Last night Dubya and I dined at Momofuku Ko, for the uninitiated or blissfully ignorant, it's David Chang's latest dining mecca except without a ssam or noodle (unless you count a pasta shell) in sight. Getting the reservation is the hardest part but completely worth the effort. Dubya and I had been trying for months before he serendipitously lucked out last week. We made a pact that if either of us 'made it' we'd bring the other.
Those who know me know I'm not a huge fan of seafood. I like to blame my mother for serving me lots of ugly looking fish when i was a kid and saying, 'eat it, it's brain food!' But by now I think it's just a personal vendetta of Barb vs. edible sea creatures. Honestly I just don't think I like the texture and taste. Ah mom, what else can I blame you for?
HOWEVER, I was paying $100 for a chef's tasting menu and you better believe I ate every last bit of everything short of the plate(s) and wooden chopsticks. Anyway Dubya pointed out to me that this was going to be a once in a blue moon kinda thing so we should just go all out and get the drink pairing as well. I said, 'what the hell?' I'm in for $100 why not $150? It would have otherwise gone to a pair of jeans i would've eventually 'outgrown,' instead i splurged on a meal that would surely help me outgrow all my clothes. You can choose to spend either $50, $85, or $100 on the pairings and I can say the $50 was WELL worth it. Drinks ranged from sake to beer to a white wine made in the style of a red out of sauvignon blanc grapes. I NEED to find out the label of that one.
I'm not writing to give a detailed review of each course. I actually don't even know how many there were, speculation leads to a number between 10-12. My favorite dishes were the deep fried short ribs, the last dessert course which involved corn flakes, milk and something that tasted like Toblerone (the chocolate of my fatty mcfatty fat childhood), the dish containing split pea soup and items from the great states of Georgia and Louisiana, and the poached egg situation. I was obviously NOT taking copious notes about my food like the dude on my left who I bet was a food blogger/writer of some sort. He was definitely trying to sweet talk the lone lady chef into divulging details she probably didn't care to divulge.
The whole experience was spectacular. I was transfixed watching the 3 chefs meticulously assemble each dish in front of me while the 'two hot women' (Dubya's words, not mine) hustled behind us to bus the dishes, serve and explain each drink, and be generally pleasant. I think the staff were engineered to say, 'good luck,' to anyone who discussed the 'next time' they get a reservation there because i heard it more than once from a 2/6 staff present. haha. not in a mocking way, just simply 'good luck.' In any case, the food was delicious, all of it. I even liked the halibut, the crawfish in the pea soup, supposedly there was some foie gras in one dish but the lychees masked all that flavor for me, the fluke now seems unmemorable compared to my favorites but i'd be hard-pressed to come up with one dish i didn't like. I even liked the butter knives that had contrasting angled handles so that they rested on the cutting edge of the blade. How cool?
My one disappointment? Espresso out of a pod! Everything was so painstakingly prepared and to end with espresso from a pod? Boo. I kid. I have a pod espresso doohickey at home and it makes very tasty coffee for lazy people.
I've realized lately how 'into' food i've become in the last two years but why not? Good food is one of the great pleasures of life and it's harder to come by than you think, especially if you've had great meals like this...everything else just pales in comparison. How many fond memories do you have that are attached to a meal? Plus, you're putting it into your body why not make sure it's the good stuff?
Those who know me know I'm not a huge fan of seafood. I like to blame my mother for serving me lots of ugly looking fish when i was a kid and saying, 'eat it, it's brain food!' But by now I think it's just a personal vendetta of Barb vs. edible sea creatures. Honestly I just don't think I like the texture and taste. Ah mom, what else can I blame you for?
HOWEVER, I was paying $100 for a chef's tasting menu and you better believe I ate every last bit of everything short of the plate(s) and wooden chopsticks. Anyway Dubya pointed out to me that this was going to be a once in a blue moon kinda thing so we should just go all out and get the drink pairing as well. I said, 'what the hell?' I'm in for $100 why not $150? It would have otherwise gone to a pair of jeans i would've eventually 'outgrown,' instead i splurged on a meal that would surely help me outgrow all my clothes. You can choose to spend either $50, $85, or $100 on the pairings and I can say the $50 was WELL worth it. Drinks ranged from sake to beer to a white wine made in the style of a red out of sauvignon blanc grapes. I NEED to find out the label of that one.
I'm not writing to give a detailed review of each course. I actually don't even know how many there were, speculation leads to a number between 10-12. My favorite dishes were the deep fried short ribs, the last dessert course which involved corn flakes, milk and something that tasted like Toblerone (the chocolate of my fatty mcfatty fat childhood), the dish containing split pea soup and items from the great states of Georgia and Louisiana, and the poached egg situation. I was obviously NOT taking copious notes about my food like the dude on my left who I bet was a food blogger/writer of some sort. He was definitely trying to sweet talk the lone lady chef into divulging details she probably didn't care to divulge.
The whole experience was spectacular. I was transfixed watching the 3 chefs meticulously assemble each dish in front of me while the 'two hot women' (Dubya's words, not mine) hustled behind us to bus the dishes, serve and explain each drink, and be generally pleasant. I think the staff were engineered to say, 'good luck,' to anyone who discussed the 'next time' they get a reservation there because i heard it more than once from a 2/6 staff present. haha. not in a mocking way, just simply 'good luck.' In any case, the food was delicious, all of it. I even liked the halibut, the crawfish in the pea soup, supposedly there was some foie gras in one dish but the lychees masked all that flavor for me, the fluke now seems unmemorable compared to my favorites but i'd be hard-pressed to come up with one dish i didn't like. I even liked the butter knives that had contrasting angled handles so that they rested on the cutting edge of the blade. How cool?
My one disappointment? Espresso out of a pod! Everything was so painstakingly prepared and to end with espresso from a pod? Boo. I kid. I have a pod espresso doohickey at home and it makes very tasty coffee for lazy people.
I've realized lately how 'into' food i've become in the last two years but why not? Good food is one of the great pleasures of life and it's harder to come by than you think, especially if you've had great meals like this...everything else just pales in comparison. How many fond memories do you have that are attached to a meal? Plus, you're putting it into your body why not make sure it's the good stuff?
Sunday, June 15, 2008
'What Women Want (Maybe)'
I just read a terribly interesting article from the New York Times, here's a nugget:
'“Women physically don’t seem to differentiate between genders in their sex responses, at least heterosexual women don’t,” she said. “For heterosexual women, gender didn’t matter. They responded to the level of activity.”
Dr. Chivers’s work adds to a growing body of scientific evidence that places female sexuality along a continuum between heterosexuality and homosexuality, rather than as an either-or phenomenon.'
It continues to say that men who label themselves "bi" are generally more aroused by men while women who label themselves as such are equally aroused by both sexes. That says to me something we've all known all along that men don't have the same level of freedom to express their sexuality in society as women do. Bi women are 'hot' while bi men are just assumed to be gay. Fair? Not so much. I think it's because the current perspectives are mainly from a heterosexual male's viewpoint; bi women will eventually 'come to their senses' and go running back to men and bi men are just masquerading with women to cover up gayness.
I wish people would just simmer down with the need to label because some just don't fall into a category anymore and there's nothing wrong with that. And even when they do, in the case of the bi male, they're still perceived as something else so why bother categorizing anyway if you're going to believe what you want? In any case, I think it's an interesting article and subject that merits discussion because that's the only way to get people to consider that perhaps labeling isn't the most efficient way to 'figure out' those they encounter.
'“Women physically don’t seem to differentiate between genders in their sex responses, at least heterosexual women don’t,” she said. “For heterosexual women, gender didn’t matter. They responded to the level of activity.”
Dr. Chivers’s work adds to a growing body of scientific evidence that places female sexuality along a continuum between heterosexuality and homosexuality, rather than as an either-or phenomenon.'
It continues to say that men who label themselves "bi" are generally more aroused by men while women who label themselves as such are equally aroused by both sexes. That says to me something we've all known all along that men don't have the same level of freedom to express their sexuality in society as women do. Bi women are 'hot' while bi men are just assumed to be gay. Fair? Not so much. I think it's because the current perspectives are mainly from a heterosexual male's viewpoint; bi women will eventually 'come to their senses' and go running back to men and bi men are just masquerading with women to cover up gayness.
I wish people would just simmer down with the need to label because some just don't fall into a category anymore and there's nothing wrong with that. And even when they do, in the case of the bi male, they're still perceived as something else so why bother categorizing anyway if you're going to believe what you want? In any case, I think it's an interesting article and subject that merits discussion because that's the only way to get people to consider that perhaps labeling isn't the most efficient way to 'figure out' those they encounter.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Light bulb!
What great insight. Had to share:
'In Latin America there were so many things that were out of your control. The check you were expecting might arrive or the bank could go bankrupt, wiping out your life savings in an hour. The bus you were expecting might come in an hour, or it might not come at all -- which means that you could stand in line freaking out, checking your watch, and asking everyone where the bust was, or you could set your bags down and start up an impromptu party with the people around you. Either way, the bus was either going to come or it wouldn't. There was nothing worrying would do to make it come any faster.
This attitude was the only way to survive in Latin America and it had taken a lot of time to make it finally sink in. After all, I had been trained from birth that everything was within my control. I had to be accountable, be responsible, make things happen. But now I understand that responsibility was only part of the equation -- life was the process of finding the delicate balance between responsibility and spontaniety, adulthood and innocence, duty and joy.
In the United States, we placed so much stock in responsibility, because we held on to an illusory notion that we were completely in control of our lives. Any bad event was an aberration, an act that needed to be remedied. We believed in order: The movie was supposed to start on time, the ATM machine was expected to work, the mechanic would never be out to lunch when we needed repair. Bad things weren't supposed to happen, but when they did, someone had to be punished. If I slipped in a restaurant, it was the owner's fault. If I got in a car accident, someone was always to blame. In the United States, there was an incessant need to control a world it was often impossible to control. Because the truth was, sometimes the plate simply slipped out of your hands.'
- From Avoiding Prison + Other Noble Vacation Goals, by Wendy Dale
Makes total sense doesn't it?
'In Latin America there were so many things that were out of your control. The check you were expecting might arrive or the bank could go bankrupt, wiping out your life savings in an hour. The bus you were expecting might come in an hour, or it might not come at all -- which means that you could stand in line freaking out, checking your watch, and asking everyone where the bust was, or you could set your bags down and start up an impromptu party with the people around you. Either way, the bus was either going to come or it wouldn't. There was nothing worrying would do to make it come any faster.
This attitude was the only way to survive in Latin America and it had taken a lot of time to make it finally sink in. After all, I had been trained from birth that everything was within my control. I had to be accountable, be responsible, make things happen. But now I understand that responsibility was only part of the equation -- life was the process of finding the delicate balance between responsibility and spontaniety, adulthood and innocence, duty and joy.
In the United States, we placed so much stock in responsibility, because we held on to an illusory notion that we were completely in control of our lives. Any bad event was an aberration, an act that needed to be remedied. We believed in order: The movie was supposed to start on time, the ATM machine was expected to work, the mechanic would never be out to lunch when we needed repair. Bad things weren't supposed to happen, but when they did, someone had to be punished. If I slipped in a restaurant, it was the owner's fault. If I got in a car accident, someone was always to blame. In the United States, there was an incessant need to control a world it was often impossible to control. Because the truth was, sometimes the plate simply slipped out of your hands.'
- From Avoiding Prison + Other Noble Vacation Goals, by Wendy Dale
Makes total sense doesn't it?
Monday, June 9, 2008
love is an action
so yesterday a friend introduced me to this quote:
“Love is not a feeling. Love is an action, an activity. . .Genuine love implies commitment and the exercise of wisdom. . . . love as the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.....true love is an act of will that often transcends ephemeral feelings of love or cathexis, it is correct to say, 'Love is as love does'.” - M. Scott Peck
if you read my previous post about action it should be obvious why this quote resonates with me. love is what we all aspire to isn't it? love of your work, love of others, which translates ultimately into a love of life and having it infused into all areas of your existence.
here's a fantastical piece from Shambhala Sun along the same lines.
yes, i'm having an existential morning. sue me! :P
“Love is not a feeling. Love is an action, an activity. . .Genuine love implies commitment and the exercise of wisdom. . . . love as the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.....true love is an act of will that often transcends ephemeral feelings of love or cathexis, it is correct to say, 'Love is as love does'.” - M. Scott Peck
if you read my previous post about action it should be obvious why this quote resonates with me. love is what we all aspire to isn't it? love of your work, love of others, which translates ultimately into a love of life and having it infused into all areas of your existence.
here's a fantastical piece from Shambhala Sun along the same lines.
yes, i'm having an existential morning. sue me! :P
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
A Barb Bikes in Brooklyn
The weather yesterday was so beautiful that my lazy arse couldn't refuse myself a nice bike ride but i wasn't content with just a turn around the park, i wanted to explore other parts of Brooklyn. So I pulled out an old issue of TONY that featured worthy local bike rides and set off. I biked from Park Slope to Manhattan Beach and back. Who knew there's a Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn? I didn't. It's WAY better than Coney Island but also WAY smaller. But beach aside, the real interesting part to me was riding through the different neighborhoods. Having grown up here I know NY is a salad bowl but it's another scenario entirely when you see so much in a few short hours within the same borough. I managed to biked through Park Stroller into areas where there were signs identifying Punjabi restaurants, people speaking in Arabic, Asian folk playing handball, black folk hanging out on stoops, Hasidic Jews minding the kids, and finally Russians hanging out on the beach. I think I even saw a group of Nepalese men chatting in front of a bodega. In between there were some beautiful and ginormous suburban looking homes with manicured lawns on Ditmas Avenue, Brooklyn College (where Michael Cunningham teaches) in front of which i passed a trainer from my gym, before finally reaching a marina and ultimately the beach. I was in bike lanes pretty much the whole time but i wouldn't recommend the ride if you're afraid of car traffic.
I was reminded while i was riding that part of why I love NY is it's diversity. People fight all over the world, yes i'm mindful that this country is partaking in a grievous war, but in NY people of all backgrounds live in the same borough blocks away from each other. The fact that I could hop on a bike and encounter such a variety of people is amazing. I don't have to get on a plane to go anywhere. The world comes to NY.
On the ride back amidst comments coming from cars like, "hey, can i ride with you," and stares from small children in schoolbusses gawking at me on their way home, and the beginning of fatigue setting in since i was riding home on a flat rear tire I thought, 'hey, this is pretty cool that i got to do this.'
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