the mural is finished in one of the bathrooms. now i have to do the men's room. it's kinda fun as long as there's no one around staring at me. i don't like that.

the new anchorage brochure is almost finished. i'm just waiting for my brain to come up with a 2 page map for the inside center fold out page. i'll probably just draw some kind of animated map of the area and point out the key businesses and such.

chihuahua scrubs.... are in the future. i can feel it.

john took some pictures of the anchorage while they were out test flying.

i can use some of them in my new brochure.

awww... there's eleanor rigby.

isn't she pretty!

cashew date cookie rolled in cocoa. i passed these around at work and even the finicky people who are use to the grocery store bakery junk liked them. they are not cooked and there are no other ingredients in them. they taste like a sweet little cookie.

as i mentioned early you need a food processor to grind a package of dates, remove them then separately grind a lb. of raw cashews. plop the mess on the counter and knead it together until it's all doughy and smooth. then roll it out and make little shapes. roll in cocoa if you like, or not.

the cashew is actually a seed from the cashew tree, a small tree that grows in hot climates such as brazil. the cashew seed adheres itself to the bottom of the cashew apple, which is a delicacy in brazil and the caribbean. cashews have the same healthy oil, oleic acid, as olive oil and they also contain b vitamins, fiber, protein, potassium, iron and zinc. cool.

the date comes from the date palm which also grows in hot climates such as africa, spain and was introduced to california in 1760's or whatever. the date contains iron, potassium, folate, vitamins a & b, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, b complex vitamins, beta-carotene, lutein and 20 different amino acids. you won't find that in a chips ahoy.

and we all know that cocoa comes from the cacoa tree commonly found in south & central america and mexico. the cocoa bean contains flavoniods, which help the blood to flow smoothly and reduces the chance of blood clots. cocoa also contains magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium, manganese, vitamins a, b1, b2, b3, and vitamin e. cocoa is only healthy if you don't add refined sugar to it, which sucks all those good nutrients right back out again.

this is one good little cookie.

i've become addicted to them.

p.s. they are self preserving and need no refrigeration.

tomorrow morning i'm going to try putting a couple of these into a blender with a banana and some soy milk like a banana, date, cashew, cocoa smoothie and have it for breakfast.

i just love things that grow out of the earth.

2 new books to read, the other is "food for life".

sometimes i wonder what i'm supposed to do with all this information. sometimes i think maybe i should be trying to help others who aren't aware of deadliness of their diet but you know it just gets to the point where you really don't know if it's your place to speak out. that's the problem. it's a tough one. everyone knows that sticking your head in a bucket of kerosene isn't a very good idea and neither is smoking those awful cigarettes. so when the opportunity arises, like say when you're sitting around with friends and they're all munching down on chicken wings and hot dogs, is it ok to suggest that they ought to think about having some blood tests to find out just how much damage has been done? or that they might as well be eating out of the nearby dumpster? no i guess not.

if our government really wanted to shake things up like they say, reduce the national health care burden and do something about the declining health of our society, they might be on the right track if they started a national campaign to offer everyone of all ages in the country free health screening and free blood tests and maybe even make it mandatory for children entering public schools each year. just as they have their vision and hearing screening, they would also have a nutrional profile.

bad food doesn't just grab you all of a sudden when you're 55. it sneaks up on you over the years. school age children have signs of early heart disease now. people in their twenties have no inkling of what they're doing to themselves as they party on and eat their take out pizza. they have no idea that they're turning themselves into a giant septic tank.

john has had to run up to ft. pierce for the last couple of days to troubleshoot a problem with the sheriff dept's helicopter. the head mechanic hasn't been able to participate much due to his wife's illnesses. as the story goes, she has been in and out of the hospital for quite some time with heart problems and a slew of others. several stents in her heart in an attempt to unblock all that saturated fat haven't been very successful so now she needs more stents. on top of that she has had severe back problems and surgeries due to the fact that she is overweight and doesn't exercise. on top of that.... she has diabetes and isn't a good candidate for chemical stress tests they need to perform to find out where all the blockages are. this is just sad. she is the typical american who has eaten herself into an early grave. she'll never have those "golden years'. instead she'll just have "medicaid years" where, when she isn't laying in front of the tv too sick to do much of anything else except eat crap she'll spend much of her time running back and forth to the doctor, the hospital and the pharmacy. this is not the american dream but it is now reality for the majority of our adult population.

so when is it appropriate to warn others who still think, thanks to our good ol usda, that you need to get your protein from animal flesh and your calcium from the teats of diseased factory cows?

i've given my boss several books on the subject and i will continue to pester him as his belly grows larger everyday and his blood pressure rises. i've really grown to like him in the past 2 years but he makes a joke out of every and any mention of "that health food stuff" as he drives off again to grab a cheeseburger and fries or to bring home a giant cheese pizza. i've been trying to get him to have some blood tests done so he can see that he's not going to live long enough to get that beautiful fishing boat he's always wanted. i don't know really why i let this bother me or why i even care. it's seriously none of my business. i really need to just stay out of it and keep my mouth shut. it's just all around me and it's a losing battle, a waste of time and useless to even discuss.

anyway... just in case anyone is at all possibly interested... the four new food groups are grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. ok i already knew that. much of what i read now just repeats what every other top nutritionist in this country is saying and has been saying for the past 20 yrs. notice that meat and dairy are not among the choices anymore. they have been eliminated as a source of nutrition. reasons being is that they are not produced in a healthy and sustainable manner. they are a burden to the planet, a crime against these living, breathing and suffering creatures and...literally, a source of toxic disease causing pollution that robs every cell in our body of the very nutrients that are needed to sustain life.

the meat and dairy industry isn't about to give up though. they have plenty of money to campaign and lobby for their rightful place on the dinner table and they seemed to have stepped up their advertising to the point of absurdity in this country. i watch with amazement the tv commercials for those big beefy subs and wonder why the tobacco companies aren't allowed to advertise anymore. it's a scary thought that if you have enough money and power you can still constantly market and advertise toxic wastes to the clueless and make them want to stuff it in their mouths. i wonder why there's at the very least no warning labels on these products. they have warning labels on plastic bags and warning labels on packs of cigarettes. why don't they have warning labels on fast food, foods with toxic fats and warnings on the menus of restaurant foods. i'm really not sure just how they're getting away with it all or why it makes any sense that restaurants such as longhorn steakhouse have a no smoking policy since second hand smoke issue is basically a joke compared to the foods that the patrons are swallowing.

i still think someone needs to come up with a personal nutrient gauge, one that we could use to test ourselves, maybe each morning with breakfast, to see what we're missing or what we need more of. we all need to eat a variety of these 4 food groups everyday. we need to eat things that have an abundance of those anti-oxidants to compensate for all the bad stuff we do or that's in our environment. i don't think many people give it much thought. it's just not something we concern ourselves with. we check our gas gauge and our oil pressure so our cars don't die on the side of the highway but we don't have any way to check our own selves until it's too late and we're already sick. i don't think it's obsessive to wonder if you're eating enough to sustain your health. i don't think it's obsessive to want to feel really good and be full of energy.

a bagel and a bowl of noodles just isn't going to cut it... neither is a bowl of cereal, some sort of sandwich and a nibbling on crap food throughout the day. that's like gassing up the car but forgetting to add motor oil and then tossing a few handfuls of dirt and crap in the gas tank for no apparent reason or because it was just a fun thing to do.

well it looks like we will fiiiiinalllllyyy give our 30 day notice to the landlord next week. of course i've been saying this for the past 4 months but it's time and we really just have to step things up.
john ordered the solar panels, the controllers and the rest of the power system stuff. he's still in the process of designing the whole power system so we'll be able to produce enough solar and wind power to sustain our power needs. the refrigeration is our biggest power hog. we still have to purchase 6 new deep cycle batteries which will go under the companionway steps. these are the same kind of batteries they use in golf carts. sometime in the next month or so we'll order the wind turbine generator. there is a new one that just came out on the market that has received superior ratings and all and supposedly we'll be able to get it through west marine with my discount. all this stuff is costing a fortune but once it's all done and said we will be basically self sufficient. that's sort of a strange thought... not needing any ties to land.. well except for the occasional water tank refills. someday maybe we'll get a water maker but they are very pricey.

the thought of packing and moving disturbs me. i'm constantly trying to organize everything in this apt into small carryable containers and then decide which of them will either go to the boat or to the storage unit. i am very easily distracted by this chore. the storage unit is a mess so i need to take everything out of it and somehow figure out how to carefully put it all back so it's not a nightmare every time i realize that i need to find something. there's certain things of mine that i like to have around me at all times... things i've found on the beach, things people have given me or things i have painted and an odd assortment of things that have no name or purpose other than just to gaze at. i suppose i will need to buy alot of those command sticky strips to adhere them all inside the boat withing gazing view.

yesterday, between downpours, we finally got all our hurricane storm lines cut and ready for action. each boat in the anchorage must have no less than 6 3/4" storm lines that will secure the boat to the mooring. the 1st 2 lines attach to the sampson post on the bow, the 2nd to the midship cleats and the 3rd to the big winches near the cockpit. we had to buy over 100' of 3/4' rope at west marine to make these lines. i learned how to properly splice the rope at the ends to make a strong secure loop. each loop took me about 1 1/2 hrs to make but they came out looking pretty fancy if i do say so myself. the cut ends also had to be properly whipped with whipping twine and burned so they don't start to fray and come apart. i like working with rope although my hands are not looking very lady-like anymore. they are raggedy, calloused and my nails are always cruddy looking.

i want to make a large sunshade to cover the cockpit but i haven't found the right (affordable) material yet. the dark green bimini that covers it now is just too confining, it's too dark and hot and it gets on my nerves. i want to make a sun/rain shade that i can raise up with the halyard so it's easier to walk around in and out of the cockpit. i might just get a white tarp, something that reflects the sun and stays cooler.

we've finally been getting some rain lately. yesterday it rained hard most of the day but it was good warm rain and it felt really nice although i spent much of the day walking around with a wet butt. each time it rains like that my dinghy fills up with water which means i have to manually pump it out. i think i must have pumped out 50 gallons of water yesterday..it's a workout for sure.
one thing you never want to happen when you are a boat person is to let the weather sneak up on you. you always have to keep up with it and what it's doing. i watch the radar online and check the tropical weather outlook every morning. the water temp is warm enough now (above 80) and ripe for hurricanes. it's just a matter of time.
http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?product=NCR&rid=AMX&loop=yes
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

at work i'm in the process of creating a welcome brochure/booklet that i decided would be nice to hand out to all the new arrivals. a welcome page, a bit about the local history of the area, what to do, places of interest, local shopping, a map and key businesses of interest, etc... it's about halfway finished. i'm working on the city to upgrade/improve our piteful website but that's frustrating to say the least. i wish i could just do it myself. i don't know who the webmaster is for the city but they do a really crappy job. i realize that city websites aren't often very interesting but the anchorage is a business and it needs a well laid out attractive website just like any other business.

a new boat came in last week with a couple about my age. when i was helping them hook up to the mooring i spyed a little boston terrier on their deck. she and toby have since become good buddies. they are so funny to watch together as they have much of the same behaviors and similar personalities. i think these people are going to stay for a while or maybe even longer.
next week we're having a 4th of july party and the plan is to have a giant fish bake and picnic and then practice firing off our flares. we all realized a while back that no one of us has ever actually fired a flare since we've never had the need to so it would probably be a good idea and time to practive, just in case we ever have an emergency. i have a bunch of flares, which are mandatory on all boats of a certain size, and i have really no idea how to fire one. it should be interesting.
that's all for now except for one more thing... after much reading i came up with a new formula for an all natural skin cream that, according to what has been used for centuries by those who live in the hot sunny climates, should be a big improvement over the crap you buy at cvs. it's a combination of organic coconut oil and organic shea butter. it smells delicious, keeps skin soft, heals it and protects it from too much sun. if i were the industrious type i might try to market it.

here is a very easy recipe for dinner.

brown rice and greens

2 c. cooked brown rice

1/4 c. roasted red

1 t. oregano

1 med. red onion chop

3 cl. garlic chop

1 T olive oil, 1 T fake butter

1 c. mushrooms sliced

1/4 c. white wine

1 bag of baby salad greens

saute onions, peppers, and garlic in oil and butter 3-4 min. add oregano, mushrooms, greens and wine, stir for a minute or two then add rice and stir until everything is hot and mixed together.

toby says hello.

organic sprouted wheat

organic malted barley

organic sprouted rye

organic sprouted barley

organic sprouted oats

organic sprouted millet

organic sprouted corn

organic sprouted brown rice

filtered water

fresh yeast

sea salt

this bread is in the frozen food section of most grocery stores now.

talk about nutrient dense.. it makes every other bread look like an old white castle hamburger.

at around $3.50 a loaf it's certainly not as cheap as the .99 stuff but i figure...if you're going to eat you might as well eat something that actually has value more than just filling up the belly with worthless garbage. we don't eat much in the way of sandwiches anymore. the whole sandwich for lunch thing is really very limiting and makes us forget about fruit salads, raw vegetable salads and all those foods that we need to eat everyday. i've been buying this bread for when we eat pasta instead of the long loafs of white stuff. i chop up garlic, mix it with some olive oil, spread it on this bread and toast it under the broiler. it soo much better. of course i still have a hard time passing up hot sour dough bagettes. hmmmmmm.

loren cordain at colorado state recently published data that show just how much processed foods dominate our diet today. he found that 57 percent of most americans' calories come from only three foods: refined grains, vegetable oils and added sugar.
"this mixture is ubiquitous in the western diet. you can call it a slice of bread, you can call it a doughnut, you can call it a pizza, you can call it a cracker, you can call it a pretzel, you can call it whatever you want, but it's basically a mixture of those same three ubiquitous foods—vegetable oil, refined flour and sugar, with a little bit of flavoring," says cordain. "sugars are devoid of any micronutrients, refined oils are also devoid of any nutrients except for vitamins e and k. and then when you tack that onto white flour, you've basically got a diet that easily produces major nutritional shortfalls."
he lists concerns for nutrient after nutrient—73 percent of americans didn't meet requirements at last count for zinc, 65 percent weren't getting enough calcium, 56 percent were short on vitamin A, 54 percent didn't consume enough B6, 39 percent lacked sufficient iron, and the list goes on. how does the future look for these people? "they will become a statistic," says cordain. "if they continue eating those kind of foods throughout their lives, they will become a statistic, if they aren't already. most americans are now afflicted with some sort of chronic disease and are on their way to an early death due to their consumption of processed and refined foods."

http://youtube.com/PetShopPuppies

watch all 3.

pass this on to anyone who might be toying with the idea of buying a pet shop puppy or any puppy from a newpaper or website ad. ads are often deceiving and nothing more than a cover up for what is actually a horrible animal prison camp all in the name of profit.
contributing to this industry is contributing to massive cruelty. these dogs spend their lives on wire confined inside these metal cages 24/7, bred constantly until they can breed no more. they receive no human contact, no socialization, minimal if any vet care...all sanctioned by our usda.

no surprise there. the usda sanctions the cruelty of billions of animals, both pet and livestock each year in the u.s. everytime you eat a rotisserie chicken, a cheeseburger, a blt, a ham sandwich or purchase a pup from a usda licensed breeder you are directly contributing to unspeakable animal cruelty.

here's a funny story

in the february of 1968 my girlfriend and i decided that we must, at all costs, go to the electric factory in philly to see jimi hendrix. we were 15. after much thought we realized that the only way to see jimi was to do the old "sleeping at each other's house" trick, take the bus into philly, try to get the $5 tickets at the door and then figure out later where we would sleep.

it all went fairly smoothly as planned although i realized later that 15 yr. old girls have no business walking around philly in the middle of the night. we had to stand in line at the factory for 4-5 hours as i remember, missed the first show and finally got into the second show around midnight.

as cool as we thought we were we really had no idea what we were doing when we got into the factory. it had just opened several weeks earlier and had immediatly become "the place" to see all those underground bands that were starting to make a name for themselves. it was a kind of "are you experienced" place, which we were really not. very strange older people, well probably in their twenties all sort of oddly half dressed and bodies painted dayglo. it was a smallish old factory, very dark and smoky inside with dayglo posters of random pychedelia stuff plastered on every inch of wall space. i'm sure there were special rooms somewhere in the back area for doing whatever. they had those kind of rooms back then.

rumor has it that the boss of the philadelphia catholic church, would pass by the electric factory on the way to his suburban mansion. growing incensed at the freakish appearance of club patrons and the blatant use of marijuana, he complained to his good friend, frank rizzo. rizzo was commissioner of philadelphia's police, a force with a growing reputation for violence and a tendency to ignore civil rights. allegedly at the father's request, rizzo targeted the electric factory for heightened police attention. rizzo made it clear that he thought the only product coming out of the electric factory was juvenile delinquency. rizzo was determined to shut it down. later on that year the philadelphia finally opened their new venue, the spectrum, and i don't know what happened to the factory. back then the police forces everywhere apparently had too much time on their hands and were all over everyone and anything that had the tiniest resemblence or connection to those long haired pot smoking freaks and their music.

we became immediately aware of the fact that we were way out of our league inside that building with all those much cooler, older hippie people. we wandered around for a while trying to be a cool as possible. i found someone to paint my face as we waited for the show.

there was a tiny stage area surrounded by metal folding chairs and we finally sat down right in front of the little rickety stage. i remember thinking that i felt sort of like i was in a dream. jimi and his band, noel redding and mitch mitchell finally appeared, i think they were late, and seemed a bit unorganized probably due to the fact that they were all wasted. it was seriously exciting though just to sit there so close and just stare at them, especially jimi who was nothing like i had ever seen before. he played hey joe just like the hundreds of times i had listened to him on my record player and then continued on for several hours like a mad man with an upside down stratocaster. after a while everyone began to stand on their chairs but even then it was still a very peaceful and quiet crowd almost like they were all in some kind of hypnotic trance...well duh.

when the show ended we walked outside and around the city for a while trying to decide where we would stay until the sun came up so we could take the bus home. at first we though it would be a good idea to stay in the bus station and just sleep on the benches until we found out that the bus station at 3 in the morning was full of prostitutes and drunks and men trying to pick up stupid 15 yr. girls so we left, got on the next bus and went back to moorestown.

we wound up sleeping under a little bridge that ran over the creek and around dawn we were rudely awakened by a strange man staring at us, asking us what we were doing under there. we left in a hurry and just walked around the lake until it was a decent time of day to go home from our "sleepover".

i always though of how dangerous that whole little excursion was but i still think it was seriously worth it.

i am still sorry for all those musical genius's whose lives were cut short by drugs and alcohol. they could have contributed so much more.

"a firm defense of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of fast life".

this is the manifesto of the slow food movement.

the movement was started 16 yrs ago by an italian man, carlo petrini, who was outraged and protesting the opening of a mcdonalds in piazza spagna in rome. i remember seeing that mcdonalds and thought just how idiotic it was to have such a horrible place right in the middle of some of the best food in the world. it was so wrong and out of place.

carlo petrini said "a hundred years ago, people ate between one hundred and a hundred and twenty different species of food. now our diet is made up of at most ten or twelve species."

the slow food movement has grown rapidly throughout europe and just in recent years has begun to grow in the u.s.

in 2004 slow food opened a new university of gastronomic sciences at pollenzo, in piedmont, and colorno, in emilia-romagna, italy. carlo petrini and massimo montanari are the leaders in the creation of the university, whose goal is to promote awareness of good food and nutrition.

the goal of the movement is to protect the integrity, the heritage and the quality of our food supply.

it's obvious to me that this movement is effectively opposed to the u.s. corporate take over of our food supply and they do not want our "crap" in their countries. they do not want our gmo's, our pesticides, our poor quality convienence foods or our fast foods contaminating their european food supply.

evidence shows that each time our corporate food stuffs become popular in other countries the disease rate and the health care burden rises rapidly and the quality of life declines. this is big and it is seriously a threat to society much like poisoning the water supply.

comparatively speaking, very few people are aware of the slow food movement but it out there and it is growing along with all the other greenie and organic movements and organizations, all just pieces of the big picture, all just adding more fire to the revolution.

to me slow food means:

supporting: local businesses and local owner run restaurants, organic and local farmers, food diversity and culture and a return to a lifestyle that isn't controlled by the media or corporate greed.

it's very important to THINK about what you're buying, what you're eating and who you are supporting. if you want local food, buy local. if you want organic, buy organic. the point is to make a conscious choice, because as we insert our values into the market, businesses respond and things change. there's power in what we do collectively, so is there any reason to limit it unnecessarily?

it's really hot. i had to go to the beach and sit in the water. it was like sitting in a giant bathtub all by myself. i swam up and back along the beach until my arms were tired. then i decided that i really need to get involved in something useful like some sort of grassroots organization. i don't know what just yet. i always think about too many things. maybe i should just try to finish the things i've already started and stop this endless search for something else.

this is jerry's beach along the river by his new house. we went fishing yesterday on his dock. today he wanted me to come down and fix his lawnmower. i don't know anything about fixing lawnmowers. he finally got it started.

it was 93 in the apt when i got home. i opened both the deck door and the front door and the crosswinds came through like a giant fan then i decided i needed to do laundry. i made a blueberry bundt cake while i waited for the laundry. it has an oatmeal strudel inside. it turned out to be very delicious and john can have some when he gets home tonight from phila. blueberries are abundant and cheap right now. i bought as many as i could freeze and fit in the freezer. i'll keep buying them until blueberry season is over. blueberries are one of the most nutritious foods you can eat.

i'm going to hang this metal poster in the boat. it's very appropriate.

i have a secret desire to be on the new cbs pirate master reality show. i think i would be really good. i tried to watch the show one time but they all argued too much about nothing so i turned the tv off. well alot of people argue about ridiculous stuff all the time and never really ever talk about anything meaningful. i guess that's reality.

i also like man vs. wild on discovery. there is only one person on the show, a guy named bear who gets dropped off from a helicopter in all kinds of remote areas around the world. last week i learned how to swim 2 miles to a deserted island, climb a coconut tree, rub myself with coconut oil to protect my skin from the sun, start a fire, catch fish in a tide pool and cook them by wrapping them in tree leaves and burying them in a sand pit with hot rocks, make a nice shelter and a raft from bamboo. the guy on the show eats an awful lot of insects. tonight he's going to be dropped off in some icelandic artic wilderness and next week in a canyon in mexico that's 4x's as large as the grand canyon. all he takes with him is a knife and the clothes on his back.

now i have a good show to watch on friday night. the only other show i watch is house which is on tuesday. that's it. i don't know what channels we'll get when we move on the boat. probably none at all or maybe 2.

those who are concerned about their food supply and the health of themselves and their families have to learn how to prepare real food and locate alternative sources for their real foods such as a food co-ops, natural food markets and local farm markets. there is plenty of info out there, plenty of good used books on amazon, cooking classes at the health food stores. there is no excuse anymore. the movement towards a better way is growing quickly. http://www.organicconsumers.org/purelink.html

kellogg's is probably going to make a fortune of this crap since "organic" is now the buzzword almong those who still think that a bowl of refined processed stuff is exactly what everyone should eat every morning for a good healthy breakfast. the fact that it doesn't have any pesticides obviously is better but better than what? a organic plant based diet is what we now know to be optimal. a bowl of refined stuff with a long list of mysterious sugars and a few grains thrown in is just a bowl of crap, organic or not. it's just another food of convienence, just like those organic fake cookies and those organic juice boxes made to appeal to all the moms whose lives are too busy to bother with real food. perhaps it would be a better idea to save the extra money spent on this new organic convienence stuff and use the money to take some holistic cooking classes. and then... prioritize their lives as in what is really all that important.. constantly on the go, doing this, doing that or taking care of the very basic needs of human life, stuff you can't find in a box or on a tv commercial.

a plant based diet does not simply mean to avoid animal products. it does not simply mean to cut the bacon or the beef or the diseased bird flesh tyson calls chicken. it means that your diet must consist mainly of fresh whole foods, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables at EVERY meal not just a handful of green beans to accompany dinner.

you have to look for alternatives and use your imagination. you have to learn how to chop (alot), blend, steam and saute. you have to learn that every dinner you make doesn't have to include the 3 government issued food groups anymore (and obviously that isn't working very well). a soymilk and fresh fruit smoothie for breakfast takes no time to prepare. you can (and should) get up earlier and prepare your lunch or start chopping stuff for dinner if you have a busy day ahead. you have to make your health your #1 priority and the only way to do that is to feed your body what it needs not what you feel like having at the moment, not whatever is convenient at the time or not whatever greasy nasty all american foods is placed in front of you. we may not have any control over the air we breathe but we certainly have plenty of control over what we choose to put in our mouths and in the mouths of our children.

the food revolution

the optimum nutrition bible

fatal harvest reader

the okinawa program

if it's not food then don't eat it!

food politics

what to eat

appetite for profit

the vegan sourcebook

omnivore's dilemma

botany of desire

food for life

reclaiming our health

you will learn something from each of these books. some of them will make you ill, some of them will make you mad, some of them will make you cry. they will all inspire you to do better and you will thank yourself over and over. they really should be required reading in public high schools since there's no need for our children to make the same mistakes we did. all of us have been ignorant and too trusting for far too long.

and one more thing... this discussion, more often than not, winds up with someone talking about their food preferences and how they don't like this or that. they don't like this vegetable or they don't like that kind of whatever it is. i think that what it boils down to is the fact that all of us who are so damned picky should be steaming mad that they have been raised and conditioned to eat crap food, raised and never taught how to prepare a real food meal and therefore have no taste for or any idea how to prepare what is actually good and necessary for them. they should be very very angry... angry enough to want to change and learn to enjoy and appreciate all that their bodies have been missing and all that they have been ignorant of. i'm sure the little sick freak rats would be angry too if they need what happened to them.

apparently i have reached the age where i am often in the company of people who talk alot about their ailments. i guess if you're young enough you don't realize how massive this problem is. i will officially be a senior citizen later on this year. i will be able to get cheaper movie theater tickets and discount hair cuts. i think that's really funny. i don't feel any different that i did when i was 25, actually much better although i do have wrinkles which i prefer to call "smart lines" and well.. i could use a boob lift and no matter how hard i work out i'll never have a 6 pack for some reason. i think it's in there somewhere though. thankfully i have learned that no matter what they say on the television such things as osteoporosis are not hereditary or just something you get when you hit 50. they are a direct result of a society that has been brainwashed by the corporate food industry. i'm sure that the makers of fosamax are very thankful to their friends, the united states dairy industry. i guess the makers of lipitor, norvasc, prevacid, plavix, nexium and zocor, which are constantly advertised on tv, are giving much thanks to the corporate food giants of america, the meat and dairy industry and of course the fact that most americans now have no idea of how or desire to prepare a healthy meal any longer, they do not even have a clue about basic nutrition and and now just sickly exist on foods of convenience while they sit glued to their television oblivious to the fact that they are just the pawns in the $250,000,000,000 a year pharmaceutical game.
this is going to change though. there is a massive movement that is filtering in throughout society, a movement towards restoration and a promise of a better way.
in a more perfect society, one where everyone is wise enough to be on top of the game of life, one where everyone is wise enough to know the difference between a big mac and a spinach salad, the senior citizen age will probably be around 90. that's probably a more realistic age for a healthy human to begin to naturally slow down a bit.
while listening to my fellow acquaintances, such as some of the city pencil pushers at work the other day, talk about their heart problems and how they wish they could loose weight and still eat prime rib, i realized just how wrong this whole picture is. instead of commiserating with them i said "you know it doesn't have to be that way. americans have been duped into disease and short sickly lives".
i thought about how it would be if you took a thousand rats and put them all in a little artificial rat society and raised them from birth with minimal access to a natural rat food supply but with an abundant access to some kind of cheap grade meally stuff. they would all become accustomed to the foods they had the easiest access to. eventually their physical and mental health would decline, they would all have disease of some sort and the generations to follow would be mutated like sickly little freaks searching for their meally stuff. sadly for the sick little freak rats, it really wasn't their fault.
the question is "whose fault is all this? are the majority of americans born to follow in their parent's footsteps? sometimes i honestly think we should blame the television. television is just a sick disturbing death trap to society. it's nothing but one big giant endless commercial for things we don't need and things that make us sick. it's like something out of a george orwell story..constant messages, constant messages and before you know it you're actually buying all those things, trusting those who advertise as if they were actually trying to help you have a better life. after all it must be true what they say.. we don't need to cook, a kia will make you very sexy and success is measured by your income, your oversized house, how well you dress, what kind of car you drive and which ivy league college your kids go to. what if... success was based on how well you like yourself, how well you feel when you wake up in the morning, how little you consume, how little you pollute your environment, how much you contribute to your community, how compassionate you are, how much love you have in your heart and even maybe that you actually found your calling in life, something worthwhile and something you enjoy that actually pays the bills.

here's a funny story.
there's a new weight loss drug out on the market called alli, made by glaxosmithkline. they also market alot of other drugs for all those millions of people suffering from asthma, depression, migraine, diabetes, heart failure, digestive conditions and cancer. alli supposedly absorbs the nasty fat that you eat. i guess if you're a vegan it doesn't do anything at all. anyway.. this new pill comes with several side effects which in my opinion are quite hilarious. the manufacturer prefers to call them "treatment effects". that's even funnier. these treatment effects are what they call " gas with loose oily stools". which actually means that it will make you have to fart all the time and shit your pants, similar to when you eat at taco bell and drink alot of beer. the manufacturer recommends that, while taking this weight loss pill, you should wear dark colored clothing and take an extra pair of pants and underwear with you to work and such just in case you soil yourself. this is no joke.
no doubt you'll see it advertised on the television and the people will be wearing dark pants.
maybe they will soon need to come out with a new detergent that gets that dark oily shit out of underpants.

http://paulhawken.com/paulhawken_frameset.html

http://www.bioneers.org/

Public Urged To Act On Farm Bill Reform

WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Americans are beginning to think about food beyond their plate. How food is grown, transported and sold is increasingly important as food safety scares and health concerns grow in the public consciousness. The food movement is at a tipping point this summer as the Farm Bill, up for renewal, can bring food policy into the 21st century.

The Farm Bill is perhaps the most comprehensive legislation affecting all Americans and future generations as it impacts farmers and a wide range of issues, including health, hunger, rural communities, the environment, food safety, labor practices, childhood obesity and immigration.

Americans can help take action to preserve our nation's small and mid-size farms, encourage sustainable agriculture and local farming for healthier eating and a cleaner environment, and to spur innovation and entrepreneurship across the country by demanding farm policy reform.

The public can visit http://www.healthyfarmbill.org/ to urge their Congressional representatives to support farm and food polices toward an equitable and sustainable food system that benefits local markets, family farmers, the environment and the health of all Americans. Thousands of people have already logged on. Now is the time for people to make their voices heard as the Farm Bill is currently under discussion..

Legislation has been introduced and supported by a number of Democratic and Republican senators and representatives from across the country, including Senators Clinton (D-NY), Brown (D-OH) and Feingold (D-WI) and Representatives DeLauro (D-CT), Gilchrest (R-MD), Baca (D-CA), Blumenauer (D-Ore), Boyda (D- KS) and Kind (D-WI).

healthy farms, foods and fuels act
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.1551:
you must read this summary! http://www.apwa.net/DR/index.asp?ID=249
please pass this on to everyone you know who eats food.

this is what i saw today when i entered publix... right out there inside of the entrance.
publix is promoting local growers? what's this world coming to?




















it made me smile.






http://somersetorganicfarms.com/index.htm
somerset organic farms looks very good and appears to have 2 farms. one in north fl and one in south fl. that allows them to have a really long growing season. i'm going to contact them and see if i can learn more about them.
well... hallelujah for publix. i will thank the store manager tomorrow.

no time to wash? then have some squash.
summer squash salad serves about 8


4 cups diced raw summer squash, any type (about 3 small squash)
1 cup finely chopped red onion
1 cup chopped apples
1 19-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 shallot, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. in a large serving bowl, toss together summer squash, red onion, beans, and sun-dried tomatoes. in a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, mustard, rosemary, shallot, salt, and pepper. pour olive-oil mixture over bean-squash mixture and toss until well coated.

refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or several hours to allow flavors to blend. serve chilled.

LIFE EXPECTANCY
1. Japan
2. Sweden
3. Canada
4. Spain
5. Switzerland
5. Australia
7. Israel
8. Norway
8. France
10. Italy
15. UK
18. US
Source: UN Development Programme

the oldest man in the world was on the news yesterday. he is an 111 yr. old japanese man. the oldest woman is also japanese. she is 114. they do not have to take multiple doses of pharmaceuticals everyday in order to stay alive. their diet consists mainly of fresh vegetables, fruits, tofu, rice and fish. they are self sufficient and do not live in nursing homes. they prepare fresh meals for themselves and exercise everyday.
the younger people of japan are just now beginning to experience the negative effects of the western diet thanks to mcdonald's and the other filthy american corporations who are pushing their crap on the rest of the world. no doubt their life expectancy will soon decline and the pharmaceutical companies will begin to see bigger profits in these eastern countries.
someone said to me "who wants to live to be 111? this is the typical response mainly because all they see when they look at someone who is 70 or 80 or even 90 in this country is someone who is weak and feeble, someone who has had multiple bypasses, someone who is dependant on their medications to keep them alive. even people in their 50's and 60's are often victims of chronic disease. they look old and feel like crap.
the whole point is really not so much to live to be 115 or whatever but to live out the second half of your life without chronic disease, without having to be forced into a life that is dependant on medications and the help of others and to be able to have a quality of life that is more than sitting in front of the tv and making several weekly trips to the grocery store, the doctor's office and the pharmacy.
people in this country think that it is perfectly normal to be weak, old and sick when they're 70 or 80 and that it's perfectly normal for them all to have heart disease, osteoporosis and failing kidneys, after all they're just "old".

lately i've been thinking, maybe bc i'm out in the sun too much, that i would like to convert my dinghy to an electric trolling motor with a battery that could be charged with a solar panel. the battery would also be attached to a tiny pump that would automatically pump out water when the rain fills up my dinghy. i like this idea alot. electric motors are quiet and non polluting, using a renewable energy source.

the drawback is the trolling motor has limited hp, the battery is heavy and i would need a substantial solar panel to keep the battery charged.

something to investigate though.

http://www.thegreenblue.org.uk/seasonalmaintenance/index.asp

http://www.eohm.com/electric_boat.html

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/Casey/30.htm

i was stopped at a red light and saw this guy get off his homeless-guy bicycle so he could stand in the middle of the intersection to look for loose change. he didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that he almost got hit by a car several times. i wondered just how desperate you'd have to be to do that or whether or not this guy even knew his own name. i imagined that he had probably just fried his brain to the point of no return.

http://216.69.135.140/SimpleKid/EPTracksOnly.zip

i like the song, serotonin, by simple kid, some guy from ireland. i also like anything with harmonica.
while listening to this song i thought about last sunday at work. one of our people came back from colorado where he was supposedly doing something important although nothing he says ever makes alot of sense. he came back to take care of his boat for hurricane season. i was looking forward to saying hi since he's been gone for a month or so. so i find him in the lounge with a couple of others, just sitting there staring at the tv. after a minute or two of saying hi and whatever i realized that any conversations from there on would be useless and so i just chuckled outloud and said "nevermind, you guys are just too wasted to talk to". so off i went in search of someone to chat with who actually had a functioning brain. it occurred to me just how stupid people are when they're high and especially people my age. next time i'm going to make a video of them with my camera and show it to them when they're straight. i bet no one would really like to see themselves acting or looking like that no matter what their age is.
there's a funny thing about getting high. at the time it seems enjoyable. thinking back i realize just what a serious waste of time it is. nothing is ever accomplished and as it goes dreams are just dreams. no motivation and no energy, just alot of silly stupid nonsense that goes nowhere. you can lose alot of years doing that, lost years... just wasting life and brain cells waiting around for something to happen. one thing hasn't changed though. they all still sit around year after year complaining how screwed up everything is just like they did back in the day. someone said "a mind is a terrible thing to waste". i guess that sounds pretty corny when you're young but now i realize just how true it really is. if you're lucky one day you wake up and realize just how much time has passed, time that you can never get back, and how you wasted it accomplishing absolutely nothing. you think to yourself "well that was a stupid waste of time and life". as you get older the years seem to go faster and faster and all of a sudden an entire decade is gone before you know it.

the happiest people i know of have dreams and goals and really cool interesting talents and hobbies that they actually work on and accomplish. these are not the people who have spent much of their waking hours muddling their minds in the name of a good time. it seems pretty obvious that our brains weren't designed to be abused like that.

"it all boils down to how the chemicals flow to your soul... serotonin. ...into my soul"

i'm going to have some food rants. in the past it was just something i was interested in but now i just find it all absurd. if we don't start somewhere then our children are going to suffer from our errors. we have to raise our children beyond the i'll-eat-anything cheese steak and donut mentality. the generations that follow us need to understand the importance of food safety and disease prevention. putting all other issues aside, if our children do not understand this and fight to regain control of our food supply then nothing else will matter much. environmental issues don't matter much if our children all have food caused diseases by the time they are ready to invest in their future. every generation has to do better than the last. having said that i am confident in my own offspring and very proud to say that i know they "get it", and that they are intelligent and wise enough to know that the standard american diet is nothing short of absolute criminal profit motivated behavior by the meat industry, the dairy industry and the food giants of america. i also sadly suspect that they might just turn out to be the only ones in our entire family who "got it" early enough in their lives to avoid the chronic diseases that will most definitely plague all the rest. anyone who still feeds their kids hot dogs and the like are only raising yet another generation of sick people who never question the corporate system or think for themselves.
1. john called from phila and talked about his dinner at his parent's house and they how they all had their meals-on-wheels dinners since they don't want to prepare their own meals anymore. the stuff tasted bad, smelled bad and made him really sick all night long. i got to wondering... just what is the government giving these people to eat and so i looked up their menu for the month.
i was speechless. this could be a joke if it weren't actually true. http://www.co.burlington.nj.us/departments/aging/services/mow/media/pdf/MOW%20(June%2007%20Menu).pdf
meatballs, meatloaf, pot roast, breaded pork chops, pork roast, mac and cheese, nasty fish somethings, pepper steak, bbq chicken, pork roll, my god, PORK ROLL! this is the nastiest food in america and it just makes me ill to think that this is what they are eating every night.
this is not food. it is pure garbage. don't they know how bad this stuff is?
the people who need this meals on wheels service are people who are not able or whatever to provide themselves with adequate nutrition. this stuff is not nutrition. this stuff is only making them even weaker and sicker than they already are.
this is what our government thinks people should be eating. this is just over the top disturbing and it makes me very angry.
maybe they figure if they feed these people this toxic disease causing mess they'll die off sooner and there'll be less mouths to feed or maybe they'll all need to go to the doctor or the pharmacy more often for all those meds to soothe their food caused ailments. heartburn, headaches, stomach aches and constipation are all big business of course. i understand that the general public, for the most part, doesn't care to know any better but you would think that any agency involved in nutrition would refuse to offer such toxic crap to it's needy people and find a way to feed them what they need to sustain their health.
needless to say, john is grocery shopping in nj tonight so he doesn't come home sick after a week of bad food. i'm proud of him. maybe he could cook something healthy for his parents while he's up there. they sure could use a healthy meal.... healthy meaning fresh vegetables, fresh fruits and whole grains instead of all that processed crap, all that nasty meat and all that refined sugary junk.

2. it's 2007.. it just blows my mind that people are still eating hot dogs, hamburgers and big steaks and that they have no desire to know where their food came from, what's in it or whether or not it's going to make them sicker than they already are. there is more information available now on health and diet than ever before. we have easy access to it if we care to educate ourselves. it is no longer some sort of silly health fad or joke anymore. so why on earth are people still not eating a plant based diet? just about everyone i know went out for a big prime rib or had a nasty animal bbq on father's day and so it's just goes on and on and on.
and they estimate that alzheimer's diseases is going to double by the year 2020. well now... as i figure it, all these people around the country whose brains are slowly deteriorating from malnutrition and toxic foods will not only not know their own names, they won't be able to remember to take the dozen or so prescription drugs they are supposed to be taking for all their food related diseases.
i guess that could be thought of as nature's way of getting rid of the idiots.

finally got my pc back home. this thing is lightening fast now. wowwee. i feel sorry for the guys at best buy who work in the geek squad. they never have enough help and the customers are always complaining about waiting in line.. i had to go back again after i realized they didn't reinstall windows and i couldn't find my recovery cd's. they replaced the harddrive, the dvd/cd drive, the battery and the lcd inverter.. which is fine by me since it was still under the last few days of the extended warranty.




here are some pictures of our beach date last week. the water was clear clear blue and very frothy. i like it like that.

of course we took the dog-child on our date.

this picture makes me laugh. i imagine john will probably like to do this with the grandchildren someday. toby will have to do for the time being.

this is my new lionfish. he looks sort of sad. lionfish belong to the scorpion fish family and live in coral reefs. you don't want to tangle with them. they have venomous spines and painful stings.

pita sandwiches and fruit on the beach plus a nice swim make for a really nice cheap date. yesterday i had a date with a man and a little boston terrier. i wrote our names in the sand surrounded by a big heart. sweet... i think we should have more dates on the beach. next time maybe it will be a dinner date and we will lay there until the sun goes down. of course you can't see the sun going down from this angle but whatever...
in the evening i tried out a new recipe since john was in the mood for lasagna. it was a vegan spinach, tofu and mushroom lasagna. it was very easy and i'll def. make that again. we had fresh strawberries and soy ice cream for dessert and watched a movie i rented, freedom writers. the review i had read was ok and the film was typical teacher wanting to make a difference in the ghetto type of thing but it did leave me thinking... about how intolerant we can be towards people we know nothing about. high school kids are especially complex. they carry around alot of baggage. people in general carry around too much baggage. i always wonder why certain people are the way they are. why they have such trouble with social skills and why they are often so angry or constantly criticizing everything in their path. the teacher in this supposedly true story had all the students keep a journal of their thoughts and what went on in their lives. this was such an excellent idea. it made them all realize that they were all really just the same... people struggling to get by. i bet if we all read each others journals we would all feel alot more connected to each other and alot more tolerant of each other.
so next time i am feeling sort of intolerant towards someone i will try to imagine what they would write in their journal. maybe we should all have more honest talk with each other, talk about how we are and how we feel instead of all the surface chit chat crap that never allows us to really connect to each other and understand each others differences.
that's all for now. i am off to work.
oh i also came up with a new cookie. a raw cashew cookie. just raw cashews and dates in the food processor. it turns into a sticky batter that can be rolled out and cut or just made into little round cookie balls. that's it. very very healthy little cookie and it tastes like something out of a bakery.

i love this song..southern cross

this would be a pretty cool part time job for me.
http://www.oneworldeverybodyeats.com/
i would love to cook in a place like this.

i can't wait to get my hands on this book by philip plisson, a french marine photographer. of course it might cause a desire for a better camera. so far it's only available by order from the amazon uk. i'll just have to be patient and wait til i find it used.

last week i stumbled upon a used bookshop right in jensen beach that seriously looked, felt and smelled like that ancient bookshop we went to in paris except there were no old dirty cots to crash on. inside the shop there were long, narrow dark aisles lined with zillions of used books and lots of weird, crazy junk from floor to ceiling. i spent about 2 hrs in there and almost forgot where i was or the fact that i was in jensen beach. i talked to the little lady named maggie who ran the store. she seemd like she had been in there way too long much like the old books on the shelves. all i bought was an old life magazine from 1969 for $1. i'll def. go back on a rainy day when i have more than just a dollar in my pocket.

there is a crazy nutritionist, well actually this guy is quite brilliant, who has a bunch of well read books and is often seen on pbs going on and on about health and diet and positive thinging like a speed freak who took too much b-12. he has a phd in human nutrition and talks way too fast but i think he just has alot to say and tries to get it all in before his time allotment runs out. his name is gary null. he kinda gets on my nerves and i wish he would chill out sometimes but he's def. worth a listen. anyway he was talking on pbs the other day about our internal clock and how we abuse it so. well, i was so happy to hear that it isn't really all that crazy that i wake up so early everyday and that if we would actually listen to our bodies and treat ourselves right we would all probably wake up very early... normally and without the need for an alarm clock.
the problem is that we just stay up way too late and eat and drink things that turn us into human slugs.
as he explained, a good diet along with whatever supplements one might need to filter out enviromental toxins and an active lifestyle will often lead to developing a healtheir internal clock, one that must be listened to. going to sleep at around 10pm, he said, instead of 11, 12 or 1 is really the optimum time for humans and naturally waking right before dawn becomes automatic. it really makes sense to me since this is what natural diurnal animals do.
well.. whatever i guess this sleep pattern i have is much better. jumping out of bed every morning at 4am( give or take) after 6 hrs of sleep works well for me and the thing i love about it the most is how much better i feel and the fact that just when most people are trying to crawl out of bed i've already accomplished half of what i want to do that day giving me more free time to play.

well today is friday and i don't really know what i did this week. my laptop is still in for repair but it should be ready in a couple of days. john has been in toronto since monday and he just got back last night. i've had to check my email at work. now that he's back i can catch up on my blogging which actually isn't much of anything worth writing about.
let's see... yesterday since i had the day off i spent all day surf fishing and didn't catch a thing. i finally had to call it quits when my entire tackle broke off for some reason and went flying out into the ocean. i guess it must have been because of my powerful out-of-control casting technique.
i painted some more stuff on the public bathroom project. it's now turning into more of a mural due to the fact that everyone said they like having something to look at when they go to the bathroom. and so i have been requested to add more, like more fish and maybe some sort of coral reef thing. they said we will have the coolest bathrooms in all of the city. hehe. we'll see.
i got an update on the family reunion from cousin pat. it looks like about 30 people so far.
john is leaving again on sunday for a week this time to phila for some classes all the reps are required to take. so... i'll be left alone again to fend for myself which is actually something i've gotten quite good at although i probably shouldn't be left alone for too long without some sort of supervision.
i spent one day washing and cleaning the interior of the boat of all the sawdust and fiberglass and crud that had collected from john's hard work. i washed down all the walls, doors, cabinets and floors and then polished all the teakwood. it's starting to look like home again. i think moving day is getting closer.
that's all i can think of.
i'll try be more productive this week.

yesterday i finally had the time to do the fish art in the public restrooms at work. it really didn't take very long, maybe 3 hrs since i had practiced painting them several times at home on paper. i kinda like them and i may add some more fish or details later on. i must say though it's very strange to actually paint something that is going to be viewed by the general public. i'm not accustomed to that and i don't really like the thought of it especially since i really just like to paint for myself. it was fun though and the fish art seemed to amuse everyone. some people thought it was airbrushed on. i guess it's not too bad. i'll post some pictures of it later probably when i get my laptop back from the shop.
john is leaving for toronto today for several days and i'll be without a laptop. my computer at work is controlled by the city and they block my access to alot of peculiar things such as blogger for some crazy reason. i think that's really funny. i would like to meet the person who makes these decisions and ask them why it's allowed to look at one type of blog but not the other.
that's all for now i have to leave for work. my boss is out of town and i'm taking care of his massive dog who is seriously much stronger than i am. i actually thought i was pretty strong but she's just out of control. her name is, of course, marina. she's cute though.

this is not very attractive.

ever since i switched to organic dog chow toby's breath is as sweet as a cool summer breeze. isn't that interesting.

she's now very kissable.

here's a sample of the crap we drug outta the river today. we had a good turn out after all. there were lots of people and plenty of boats and a generous amount of donated picnic food and t-shirts for the volunteers once they returned to the shore in their boats. everyone was tired and filthy. we covered the entire shorelines of the city along the river and creeks.

i drove mary, the mayor of stuart, and another woman around in the anchorage boat for several hours in and out of some of the side creeks as they yanked the trash out that was stuck in and along the shoreline. we totally filled the boat with all sorts of odd and nasty debris... old lawn chairs, tires, long pieces of twisted aluminum, plastic bags, bottles, strange pieces of random building materials. the strangest thing we found was a bundt cake pan stuck in the mangroves. the ladies had no problem whatsoever getting themselves really filthy and smelly. we talked about how interesting and relaxing it is to just slowly cruise along the shore lines that we all take for granted.. how you can see things from a such a different perspective.. and all of a sudden you begin to notice so much more that you never actually thought about before. of course, i explained to them, that's the beauty of sailing... you see and hear and smell and feel so much more than you ever thought existed. there's a whole other world out there that most people never get a chance to experience because they're always in a hurry to get "somewhere".

here they are standing on the bow of the boat and climbing up on the shore bank trying to pull some crap out of the weeds. i now have a nice pix of the mayor's butt which i will email to her on monday. hehe

it was a very good day and the weather was perfect. we'll have something in the newspaper about it, probably on monday.

i now have the mayor interested in my solar project and the city is sending me a nice big recycling center for the anchorage on monday... thank you very much.

for the last couple of days it has been in the 90's here, not very sunny just overcast with a film of muggy sweaty clouds. we need a good stiff sea breeze to blow this crap outta here. last night when i was cooking dinner i temporarily lost my perception of depth and my hand/eye coordination both at the same time. somehow i wound up partially frying my thumb in red hot olive oil. i really wasn't in the mood for that. the burn pads in my giant first aid kit worked pretty good though. one time many years ago back in my carnivore days i fried up a mountain of bacon for a sunday brunch and then proceeded to pour the entire pan of bubbling hot bacon grease on my left hand. i'll never forget that day. the emergency room nurse had to cut the ring off my finger and then scrub my hand to remove the nasty pig fat. they gave me demerol i.v. and wrapped my hand up like a football. several days later i made the mistake of peeking under the bandages only to find what looked like something out of a barbeque pit... all black and crispy fried skin. it still makes me feel sick just thinking about it.

tomorrow is national river clean up day. as it turned out there is someone in the city who is the overall coordinator for the enviromental and recycling projects. her last email to me indicated that she was disappointed in the amount of volunteer response from the community. i'm not quite sure how much effort she put into advertising this event but whatever...so today i'm going out to drum up some more volunteers. i know plenty of people on the water who have nothing better to do on a saturday morning than to wallow around shores of the river collecting other people's trash and toxic wastes. i have discovered that if you promise them free food and a free t-shirt they'll ususally show up. it also helps if you have a big smile and a sign up sheet. the free picnic for the volunteers is going to be at the anchorage after the river cleanup.

for the past week or so i've been thinking about how enjoyable it is to have hobbies. i'm sure alot of people really have no hobbies unless you consider shopping, watching tv, staring at the computer screen or going out to bars and restaurants as hobbies. to spend your free time doing something that has value, that is creative and beneficial can make you feel very worthwhile. some people say they're too busy to have a hobby or that hobby's are too expensive but you can turn just about any ordinary everyday anything you do into a challenge of sorts, a challenge to: make it yourself, create something new, learn a new skill, amaze yourself and find inner peace. sometimes it's just a simple as spending the afternoon playing in the sand or going for a bike ride.
i have a bunch of hobbies, most of which i am not very good at but that's not the point. we should always be a work in progress.
1. reading. i love to read. reading for me is how i educate myself about the kazillion things that interest me. thanks to the internet i have access to what will no doubt eventually cause my brain to explode from too much information. the library is good although i do have a weakness for used books on amazon.
2. cooking. cooking is not normally considered a hobby in our society since our media has convinced us that we do not need to bother with such inconvienent everyday nuisances. for me it's a game, a challenge to beat the system and take back control of what i feel is one of the most important things we do everyday... eat.
3. creating. creating something out of nothing and turning it into either something useful or something that i simply just like to look at. the less cost it involves the more fun and challenging it is. this is my favorite pastime. it constantly challenges my mind and it turns what could be an ordinarily nothing to do afternoon into a really bizarre craft project that might even result in something quite interesting. you just never know.
4. window shopping. not in the sense of actually buying anything but just looking at what others have created and getting ideas. i went into a store the other day that just about blew my mind. it was one of those giant world bizarre type places with all kinds of beautiful things from around the world. i was in there for hours and walked out empty handed.
5. freecycling/recycling. there is nothing more satisfying to me than finding something i can use that i don't have to spend money on. the less money i have to spend the more i can save. i have been this way since i was 20 something when i actually had count pennies to have enough to pay the rent or else be evicted. this way of life has taught me that if you learn to get by on alot less you will have alot less to worry about...and you will always have enough money in the bank when you need it the most. the happiest people i know live way below their means.
6. volunteering/doing something for someone besides yourself. this i think is probably the most important thing we can do in our lives. i don't do it nearly enough. i need to improve in this area. everyone has some talent or skill that they can share. as it goes i don't believe that a life of constant self indulgence and shallow wants and needs should be the purpose of our existence.

this is something that is puzzling.

we all know we're supposed to brush our teeth every morning.

we don't run out into oncoming traffic... and we know better than to put johnson's baby oil in our cars because we have been told that this would damage and destroy the engine.

so...why is it when we hear over and over and over that humans need to eat fresh fruit, green foods, whole grains, seeds, nuts and so on.. every single day because it is absolutely necessary for our metabolism, which is the basis of life, allowing cells to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments....the vast majority, many of whom seem to be of adequate intelligence, seem to think it's all a big joke. a bowl of processed cereal, maybe a bagel, a sandwich of some fast food variety and whatever shows up on the dinner plate is just fine and dandy. they retire to their beds night after night without a care or a clue that whatever they ate that day did absolutely nothing to maintain them or provide them with the basics of human nutrition. all they really did was fill their growling stomachs with tasty toxicity and perhaps, just by dumb luck, a negligible amount of something of actual cellular value but maybe not even that.

we are very strange animals. all the other creatures on this planet must be laughing at us.

one fish






two fish
and some berries.

our things define us.
what we buy, what we use, what we keep and throw away, what we waste, and what we save: the stuff that surrounds us and flows through our lives is a key indicator of the kinds of lives we're living. to be an "affluent" twenty-first-century person is to float on a sea of material objects - each with its own history and future.
they may be hidden from our eyes, but in practical global terms, those histories and futures tend to be the most important aspects of the stuff we own.
http://worldchanging.com/

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/amplifier-house-original-domestic.html
http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/
here are some books that i'd like to read:
blessed unrest
the sustainability revolution
worldchanging: a user's guide for the 21st century

i'll have to put my book buying on hold until i finish paying off our insane boat insurance.
everyday, i am forced to look at the "think global act local" bumper sticker on my car. it is a constant reminder for me to get out of my little world and do something. the problem is i don't really have a plan. i have these inconsistent thoughts that go nowhere and i have no support, no one who is the tiniest bit interested. i don't have a whole lot of patience with myself which eventually just leads me back to square one.
the summer is here.
i know that because yesterday i took about 5 very short showers. i felt guilty wasting water. maybe i should just squirt myself with the garden hose. it's very hot and humid right now.
summer at the anchorage is a very slow slow time. everyone moves really slow too. it's a good time to work on some projects. my project will be to greenify as much as possible. any ideas would be greatly appreciated.... small or large but they must not be of any additional costs to the city since the city boys are not interested in the anchorage and most of them probably don't even know where it's located.
of course the main project is to move on the boat as soon as possible. john has too much to do, the projects are complicated but it will all work out sooner or later.
i have to turn my laptop in for repair tomorrow before my warranty expires on june 10. i will miss it. it will probably be gone for a week or two.
and life goes on.

these are the copenhagen kids with their new boat.

julia gave me some freshly picked mangos and i took her picture.

she told me about the marina in the copenhagen harbor. it sounds sort of like a co-op marina where there is a democractic organization managed by the tenants. they meet and vote and make the rules. everyone has to participate. the harbor is owned by the city and there are several different co-ops in and around the harbor. discrimination is not allowed and everyone has to obey the rules or else leave. jonas said rules like no pissing off your boat and things like that. he's very funny. he said too many yuppies have moved in and the price of a cup of coffee has tripled. they will pay about $1500. a year to live in the marina.

i mailed the birthday package today. it will arrive at it's destination on friday. the customers and the cashier at the ups store made quite a few comments about the birthday package. they said they had never seen one quite like it. i should mention that it is basically just an odd care package of sorts and since the contents are rather ordinary i thought i'd dress up the container a bit to make it a little more special... and plus to be honest... i really don't know what i was thinking.
sometimes it's just better not to try to make any sense out of what i do.
just do it. it's the thought that counts anyway.

well..so my sincere attempt to detox an acquaintance at the anchorage lasted about 2 1/2 weeks and sadly he started drinking again in the last couple of days. i had such a positive attitude hoping that i could make myself useful but anyway i did figure out what went wrong.
this is a lesson i have learned so all is not lost. when someone, the alcoholic, really wants to stop the cycle of craving and craving they have to eliminate all forms of sugar. this is very important. when this person who has been constantly getting drunk and high since he was 18, tries very hard to detox with the help of a super diet, supplements and amino acids, but he still decides that it is acceptable to smoke pot. well.. this just doesn't work. he sits there craving twinkies and candy and whatever he can get his hands on, not thinking rationally and boom... it's just downhill. sugar, sugar, smoke more pot, eat more twinkies, act ridiculous, smoke more pot, don't care anymore and then go get a 12 pack and a bottle of rum. uggg. it's like dealing with a 2 yr. old.
i've thought about this before and i am reminded once again... there's just far too many people in our society that grow up thinking that they have to get high to have some fun. then it just goes on and on and on.
i was discussing this with my boss one day. he thinks it would make much more sense if alcohol was illegal instead of pot. that does make alot more sense. pot doesn't eventually kill you or cause you do behave like crazy drunks do but the problem is that the only people i know my age who still get stoned are and basically always have been sort of useless, apathetic and paranoid. they
talk about stupid stuff and nonsense and never accomplish or finish anything at all.... sort of like a old sad couch potato whose dreams never got around to materializing.... and really that's just sad.
so anyway.. detox and pot don't seem to mix very well.
i think alot of people would be very suprised and happy to discover just how much better their lives would be without all the artificial mind altering stuff... it's really a shame just wasting and wasting all those years, hiding in a bottle or whatever and then one day you wake up and your mind is fried and your life has passed you by all because you thought you were having fun.

i just got the june issue of national geographic. considering the amazing photography, the educational value and the lean towards environmental and sustainability issues, the small price of a subscription seems at first to be a pretty good deal. the cost of production, however, is obviously highly funded by corporate advertisements. now... where in the big mission statement of the grand national geographic magazine concept do these 2 and 3 page advertisements for toxic earth threatening chemical corporations such as dow and the incessant drug ads for overpriced "fda approved" mind numbing pharmaceutical crap fit in? it just occurred to me that the national geographic that we all love and cherish has sold it's soul to the devil and i'm very disappointed in them. i don't know why i find this surprising. just last month they did a feature story on the miracle of heart transplants. yes, it's a miracle or perhaps a cause for corporate celebration that there are one million angioplasty procedures, 400,000 coronary artery bypasses and 2000 heart transplants performed in this country annually. it's a miracle that our corporate healthcare system and big pharma is reaping the profits, making multi-billions from our self inflicted diseases caused by our our ignorance, our lack of an independent mind, our sick nasty diet full of dow chemicals and the media's propaganda which is paid for and controlled by a relatively concentrated network of major conglomerates. i guess it's not surprising anymore why there was no mention of the actual reason of why we need all these miracles. apparently, to the likes of national geographic, that would be a conflict of interest.

the big thaw.. immediately followed by an extravagant toxic to-the-earth-and-the-human dow chemical 2 page glossy piece of "we love the planet" bull. am i the only one who sees the irony here? about as ironic as the fact that many of our hospitals across the country have mcdonald's tucked conveniently into their food courts.

"and what the media are doing is ensuring that we do not act on our responsibilities, and that the interests of power are served, not the interests of suffering people and not the needs of the american people who would be horrified if they realized the blood that's dripping from their hands because of the way they're allowing themselves to be deluded and manipulated by the system." noam chomsky

for the last 2 weeks at work the winds have not been favorable for anyone who is wanting to leave and cross the atlantic and so we have had the pleasure of the company of an adorable couple from copenhagen. jonas and julia are their names and they are i guess about 28ish or so. both of them wonderfully openly friendly, intelligent and full of life. they are both strikingly good looking and very interesting to talk to. i love to just sit and listen to them.
their story goes that they have been together for 8 years and decided that they wanted to buy a nice big sailboat for the 2 of them to live on. they have been living in an apt back in their city but they both love the water. they flew to miami to make an offer on a beautiful 43' vessel that they had seen on one of the online boat sites. they brought a couple of friends along to help them sail their new home back to denmark. i have yet to find out just what their sailing experience is but they seem to have plenty of knowledge and confidence.
after they made their purchase they headed back out to sea with their crew and their new home. somewhere around bermuda they hit some heavy.. very heavy weather. jonas said his crew friends were terrified and being that this boat was new to him no doubt it was quite unsettling to him as well. he said at one point as he was trying to drive his new boat through the storm and the winds he noticed something whitish in the corner of his vision, behind him way up high behind the boat only to realize that his dinghy that was being towed behind the boat was what he was seeing. it was caught up in the tremedous seas, 10-15 ft above him. he said the rest of his crew were down below and he didn't want them to know just how bad it was up on deck and out in the ocean. i could almost envision this. it seemed like something out of the movie perfect storm. well.. maybe not that bad but still.
so they made the wise decision to head back to the coast of florida and find a safe harbor to wait out the weather and to wait for better winds. somehow they found their way to the anchorage where they have been hanging out with us for a while now. 3 of the crew who started out with them abandoned ship when they returned to florida, stressed out from too much excitement and flew back to denmark. one guy still remains with them and is waiting with them at the anchorage. he is german and seems anxious to get home.
the funny thing is that john and i actually looked at that boat last year when it was for sale. i remember it now. it was in jacksonville and the asking price was more than we could spend. apparently the price came way down. jonas said he got it for half of what we had seen it for.
but anyway i'm just facinated with these kids from denmark. they speak perfect english and love to talk. julie is icelandic but she also speaks danish. she is a flight attendant in copenhagen and loves to travel. she is also very excited about her new home. she said she can't wait to get home and start fixing up the boat. apparently you can get alot of really beautiful stuff for really really cheap in thailand. since she flies alot she plans to go to thailand and have some things made for the boat, buy some fabrics and such and then have them sent to copenhagen. she said stuff that would normally cost hundreds of dollars can be had in thailand for just dollars and cents.
it's been really enjoyable for me to sit and talk with these kids. they're really funny sometimes. jonas said they found a bunch of really weird stuff left on the boat, like ammo but no guns, porn, lots of bibles and a signed picture of george bush. he hung george over the toilet in the boat. i thought that was funny.
yesterday he was laughing and telling how awful he thought american food was. they have been trying out some of the fast food places like kfc. he said it's the crappiest food he's ever eaten in his life and that they must use the cheapest ingredients they can possibly find. hehe. that is just hilarious to me. for some reason no one in the u.s. has figured that out yet. they'll probably all go home sick as a dog after eating so much american food. i gave them some music to listen to, cd's and such for them to copy if they want. julia really liked sufjan stevens. she had never heard of him.
last weekend they joined us in our memorial day cookout. i think i like them so much because they seem to really know how to enjoy life. they don't drink at all but yet they just carry on like happy smiling people ready to party at any given time. i've yet to hear a negative word come out of their mouths. it's seriously very refreshing.
well.. today i hope to talk to them some more and get some pictures of them and their boat. i don't think they have a camera so maybe i can email the pictures to them to take home. maybe i'll make them some of my banana muffins for their journey back to denmark. i wish them well.

climb in the back with your head in the clouds... and you're gone.
our lake has dried up and today marks the 40th anniversary of the release of sgt. pepper. i was 15.

thankfully, the weather forecast is for rain for the next several days. we have been in a serious drought for the last couple of months. our huge, big old lake, lovingly known as lake o, is at an all time low, average depth is 8'. boats are unable to navigate across the lake right now making the okeechobee waterway that cuts across the state basically useless. because the lake bed is now exposed archaeologists are taking advantage of this and are finding remnants of 16th century stuff possibly belonging to ponce de leon. everyone is praying for rain. we have a very serious water restriction which seems really odd being that we're surrounded by water and can't even wash the car or water the garden. this will pass...

yesterday, while i was out and about gathering some birthday presents for someone very very special and adorable i realized that my shorts kept falling down. as i was talking to a lady in the health food store i kept hanging onto my shorts like one of those really cool ghetto boys. it finally occurred to me that they had somehow gotten larger. since i had to stop into the local walmart for 2 things i weighed myself on the walmart scale and found out that i weighed almost 9lbs less than i thought i did. the walmart scale goes all the way up to 300lbs. that's really sad. anyway now i don't have to feel so guilty about eating that rainforest dark chocolate that i had to have from the health food store. i love chocolate, so much in fact that i will actually lick the mixing bowl like a 5 yr. old when i make brownies. i have figured out a way to make really really good vegan organic brownies, no fat and no crap.

i talked to laura yesterday. several times actually. i think she's the funniest person i know. i hope she always stays that way. sometimes she makes me laugh so hard that i wet my pants. i feel bad for those always so serious people who don't know how to laugh at life's misfortunes. lately, she's been keeping track of the amount of time her oversized boss spends in the bathroom, which is right next to her office. yesterday it was a record 12 mins. and he flushed 2x's. laura has a very interesting job. her boss makes alot of mistakes and everyone in the office covers up his errors by making them look like they were laura's fault. laura does not think this is funny but i do. this is the american office blame game. grown up people who act like children. i don't know why people have so much trouble admitting that they make mistakes, that they're not without fault. i make mistakes all the time. i think the best way to handle it is to admit it and then find a way to fix it. well she only has 2 more months left at this job then she'll be done with these people. unfortunately though there will always be more just like them.

basically.. all that education and so called "intellect" doesn't always go hand in hand with basic decency and social skills or the art of getting along with and being kind to others which is actually far, far more important, in my opinion.

if you let people know, right off the bat, that you have no interest in the negative behaviors of others and that you are only there to do the best you can, that you will live up to and admit when you're wrong, that we are all here together on the same road looking to accomplish our goals and wanting to be treated with dignity and kindness...you might help to create an atmosphere that others will want to emulate....

there's something, a way of thinking and trying to understand people and why they act and behave the way they do..that seems to make it all easier. it's hard to explain and even harder to do, especially since we're all just human and not without fault... but when you encounter unpleasantness in others, encounter negative behavior in others and in those you care about, instead of the usual knee jerk reaction of typically lashing back or of having those normal thoughts of disgust.."what an ass he is" thoughts... try to think about it in a different way. think of fact that we're all just people who have issues, some more than others and that their behaviors towards you, while they may be annoying or hurtful, will only affect you if you allow it to and that the negative emotions that they experience are really only hurting themselves. we're all flawed in some way or another. we have to accept that but those who chronically inflict their negative emotions on those around them are struggling with themselves and, sadly,they probably don't like themselves very much. having compassion for these people is really the only way to deal with them. there's no advantage in returning the negativity or allowing yourself to be sucked into it.

i try to think of people in this way. as difficult as it is sometimes it helps me to focus on what is good and what is important. it reminds me to always keep trying harder to be a better person and to have more compassion for those who have "issues". chances are pretty good that they really don't want to be that way.

all this is basically taken from some of what i have been studying and reading lately. i have been trying to put it into simple terms that my simple brain can somehow make sense of. it is an amazing way to think about life and i hope to gain the strength to keep it in my heart and in my soul as best i can.

"may i examine my mind in all actions and as soon as a negative state occurs, since it endangers myself and others, may i firmly face and avert it."

dalai lama

hypermiling
i like this term, hypermiling. it reminds me of what i recently learned about circuit bending except it's the opposite of that but in a way it's the same idea.
gas prices must be the highest in florida. they're pushing $3.30. i don't drive much or very far but this hypermiling is pretty interesting. people are doing some crazy stuff to save gas.
here's some proven gas savers according to the recent edmund's tests and the serious hypermiler geeks:
1. cruise control set at 70mph gets 4.5% better gas mileage over driver controlled traveling 65-70mph. unnecessary speed changes eats up gas.
2. you need to seriously lay off the gas pedal when driving around town. accelerating more slowly away from green lights and stopping more gradually for red lights cut fuel consumption in edmunds.com's tests by 35.4 percent for the land rover and 27.1 percent for the mustang. that's a big savings.
3. you can also save a lot of gas by just lifting your foot off the accelerator as soon as possible when approaching a yellow or red light or a stop sign. coasting saves alot of fuel. coast as often as possible.
4. slow your acceleration time down when entering a highway or wherever. try slowing acceleration times down to a 20-second run from zero to sixty miles per hour. this would probably be embarrasing for most men to do although i am just as guilty of over accerating and driving way too fast.

according to the recent tests you could get 30mpg instead of 22 just by doing the above. .
some of the serious hypermilers get way more mpg than what is average, sometimes double the average mpg. of other people with the same car.
1. change oil/filter - thin oil 5-20 every 2000 miles.
2. change air filter every 10,000 miles.
3. change transmission fluid/filter every 15,000 miles.
4. change fuel filter every 10,000 miles.
5. over inflate tires 2-4 pounds over recommended. will not hurt tires. Balance and rotate tires every 4,000 miles.
6. again - coast as often as possible
7. keep windows closed - reduce drag. use ac instead of open windows if you just can't stand to sweat.
8. use cruise control whenever in highway.
9. wash car often - reduce drag.
10. keep radiator clean of debris and change coolant at 30,000 mph - keep engine clean.
11. change PCV valve every 20,000 miles and spark plugs even platinum every 30,000 miles max for constant good spark.
12. don't carry in car anything you don't use daily. reduce weight.

here's a pretty good (funny too) article about hypermiling although some of it is sort of dangerous.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/king_of_the_hypermilers.html

all this reading about hypermiling has inspired me to be a little bit more conservative (when driving, haha).