(us, observe, health, cooking, garden)
First, very happy holiday observances to you and yours, whether celebrating the miracles of light, whether from a lamp or the return of the sun, the magic of the solstice season, the stories of birth and gifts, the impulse for generosity and good will, the joy of family, the strength of traditions that connect one to ancestors and history.... The meanings one can find at this time of year are diverse and multifaceted. And if you Hate The Holidays, i hope you can find a way to respite. If you grieve this season, my heart goes out to you and yours as you find a new way to be in relationship with your loss.
--== ∞ ==--
Me since last post: more exhaustion, coughing, slow recovery, coughing, panic re holidays, coughing, surrender.
Actually, the coughing isn't that bad. I doubled up my steroid
I am trying to get back to Practices. Those around physical fitness have been in some disarray since October's short days descended and went completely off last week. Other Practices also went off last week.
On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic - 66 days to be exact. And how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In Lally's study, it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit. -- per [here]
Yeah. I'm in the probably 300+ days. Or ∞. Do i have any habits? I suppose if you painted "habit" with some broad definition. I assume people with habits don't have to claw them back after a disruption.
--== ∞ ==--
So, my sister and i have never seen Rocky, and our spouses are dismayed. (Christine: "It's an important cultural touch stone, and i feel like you're...." -- me "Missing something?" -- Christine, more pause, as she cleans out her saxophone.)
So, New Years Day we will watch. I will make vegetarian cheese steaks and i think my sister is making cannoli and i am thinking about making soft pretzels. The (better than baking soda, not as good as the traditional lye, but, you know, NOT LYE). I baked some old baking soda a couple weekends ago to prepare. Pillsbury has a recipe to make "pretzel rolls" from their canned biscuits, which i just did. They're OK. Interesting. Good enough to want to keep trying. I definitely think a better dough will lead to better pretzels, but for a quick experiment, just the thing. (More notes at https://www.zotero.org/groups/4700937/items/EG36CQJI )
--== ∞ ==--
I picked sweetpotatoes last Sunday and, indeed, i think the cold did them no favors. (After reading about chilling injury and looking at photos, yup, chilling injury.) I'm dehydrating a few trays of shreded sweetpotato. One symptom of chilling injury is the sweetpotatoes oxidize faster: yup. The shreds aren't appetizing looking, but probably will be OK in a casserole or something. Hate to loose the harvest. Well, "harvest".
--== ∞ ==--
Today i missed the crescent moon that has been accompanying me as i open the porch door into the orchard (fenced area) for the cats in the morning. "What does it mean," i asked Christine, "that we got married on a full moon, and this year our anniversary is on a new moon?" "What goes around, comes around?" "Hmm, what is coming around again in our marriage?" We walked a bit further. "Well, you are still dozing off while i work on audio editing." And it's true. Through college, Christine worked at the campus radio station and i would fall asleep on the couch as she used a razor to slice "ums" from interviews or to tighten up PSAs and bumpers. Now she's working on a cover album, layering keyboard, guitars, ukulele, sax, drum machine and synths. At least with the Phillip Glass piece i have ceased to say, "Is that an etude?"
Thirty one years. I know she wrestles with darkness, but we are sharing a comfortable and creative life together. I had a dream, ages and ages ago, of living together in a cabin in the woods and her returning home in a jeep -- and we are there now. This is happily ever after, even if there are tears and depression.
If i had one wish, it would be to wish away the conditioning that suggests having an income is a mark of value. Since Christine's transition, her work life has had so many struggles and crashes. I am so delighted she can focus on music, and i don't care that her audience isn't a paying fan base. I know she's going to charge for the cover album because she's also paying for the performance rights to the pieces she's covering. I hope we figure out a way to market to the people who will value her performance.
--== ∞ ==--
Me since last post: more exhaustion, coughing, slow recovery, coughing, panic re holidays, coughing, surrender.
Actually, the coughing isn't that bad. I doubled up my steroid
I am trying to get back to Practices. Those around physical fitness have been in some disarray since October's short days descended and went completely off last week. Other Practices also went off last week.
On average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic - 66 days to be exact. And how long it takes a new habit to form can vary widely depending on the behavior, the person, and the circumstances. In Lally's study, it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit. -- per [here]
Yeah. I'm in the probably 300+ days. Or ∞. Do i have any habits? I suppose if you painted "habit" with some broad definition. I assume people with habits don't have to claw them back after a disruption.
--== ∞ ==--
So, my sister and i have never seen Rocky, and our spouses are dismayed. (Christine: "It's an important cultural touch stone, and i feel like you're...." -- me "Missing something?" -- Christine, more pause, as she cleans out her saxophone.)
So, New Years Day we will watch. I will make vegetarian cheese steaks and i think my sister is making cannoli and i am thinking about making soft pretzels. The (better than baking soda, not as good as the traditional lye, but, you know, NOT LYE). I baked some old baking soda a couple weekends ago to prepare. Pillsbury has a recipe to make "pretzel rolls" from their canned biscuits, which i just did. They're OK. Interesting. Good enough to want to keep trying. I definitely think a better dough will lead to better pretzels, but for a quick experiment, just the thing. (More notes at https://www.zotero.org/groups/4700937/items/EG36CQJI )
--== ∞ ==--
I picked sweetpotatoes last Sunday and, indeed, i think the cold did them no favors. (After reading about chilling injury and looking at photos, yup, chilling injury.) I'm dehydrating a few trays of shreded sweetpotato. One symptom of chilling injury is the sweetpotatoes oxidize faster: yup. The shreds aren't appetizing looking, but probably will be OK in a casserole or something. Hate to loose the harvest. Well, "harvest".
--== ∞ ==--
Today i missed the crescent moon that has been accompanying me as i open the porch door into the orchard (fenced area) for the cats in the morning. "What does it mean," i asked Christine, "that we got married on a full moon, and this year our anniversary is on a new moon?" "What goes around, comes around?" "Hmm, what is coming around again in our marriage?" We walked a bit further. "Well, you are still dozing off while i work on audio editing." And it's true. Through college, Christine worked at the campus radio station and i would fall asleep on the couch as she used a razor to slice "ums" from interviews or to tighten up PSAs and bumpers. Now she's working on a cover album, layering keyboard, guitars, ukulele, sax, drum machine and synths. At least with the Phillip Glass piece i have ceased to say, "Is that an etude?"
Thirty one years. I know she wrestles with darkness, but we are sharing a comfortable and creative life together. I had a dream, ages and ages ago, of living together in a cabin in the woods and her returning home in a jeep -- and we are there now. This is happily ever after, even if there are tears and depression.
If i had one wish, it would be to wish away the conditioning that suggests having an income is a mark of value. Since Christine's transition, her work life has had so many struggles and crashes. I am so delighted she can focus on music, and i don't care that her audience isn't a paying fan base. I know she's going to charge for the cover album because she's also paying for the performance rights to the pieces she's covering. I hope we figure out a way to market to the people who will value her performance.