SOMETHIN’S HAPPENIN’ HERE…

A pheasant (can’t remember what they’re called here) finally gave up trying to communicate with itself through my bedroom window. This has been happening consistently, but today seems particularly active. Just makes the heart skip a beat now and again.

Dinner here last night was lovely. I served fresh salsa, guacamole, corn chips, black beans and rice with mango and coleslaw. Mary, thanks again for that dressing recipe. It is THE BEST. I will forever remember the fish fry at your house. Russ made the fish. I think it was catfish breaded in cornmeal. You made the slaw. It was heaven.

One of tonight’s guests, Cheryl, of Cheryl and Jude, asked for the recipe. Everyone here was from the Midwest and grew up to appreciate and value good coleslaw.

It was such a great conversation last night. Everyone is so intelligent and well-traveled, and they have such funny stories. We talked about our conditioned food choices. Jude related his story of his aversion to oatmeal. It was “a texture” thing he said. I’ve heard of this texture experience before.

I can’t think of any texture to which I have an aversion… maybe crunchy animal parts. We talked about that last night as well, how some Asian cultures love “the crunch.” I just cannot imagine eating a chicken’s foot. But…you never know…I was talked into eating ants in Honduras.

Watched a funny movie last night with Ricky Jervais. It’s called The Correspondents. Funny with a love story. I like that about Ricky Jervais. I was just discussing with Betty last night, however, that I can’t (or haven’t) gotten used to his use of the word “cunt.” It makes me bristle. I know he made a point somewhere in one of his videos that “it’s just a word,” or something to that effect, but I still bristle. Words are important. Harry Dean Stanton uses it in Lucky, which I just watched recently.

So, Marianne Williamson got off to (as Betty said) an inauspicious start. I have to admit, I was underwhelmed by her announcement speech. It felt a bit too affected, and she was wilting under the light. I think she was trying hard not to come off as a “woo-woo wimp,” and perhaps she tried too hard. None of the networks covered it. There was actually a headline about someone who was choosing NOT to run for some office, I think a governorship, but no mention of Marianne. Sigh.

These are today’s Zentangles. I’m going to play at Natalie’s house tomorrow with Sallie, and I wanted to at least get a start on this one so that I could chat at the same time. I think I’ve got it.

It turned out to be much more challenging than I thought. At first glance it seemed simple, but that is one of the beautiful aspects of this art, it really challenges my cognition and pattern recognition. I love the sense of accomplishment I feel at getting it right. It takes a while, but it’s that intermittent variable of reinforcement. You know you’re going to be rewarded, you just don’t know when. It’s why I like golf.

So, I’ve been in couch-potato mode for a few days now. I’ve been bingeing on Jane Austen movies and reading Purple Hibiscus, a novel written by the Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Waking Up by Sam Harris. I cannot remember who recommended the former, but I thank you, I’m enjoying it.

Reading Sam Harris’s book has made me wonder why he and Rupert Spira had a conflict. I’m going to have to look back at that podcast. Right now, it sounds to me like they are both speaking from the same foundation: advaita vedanta: nondualism. Being a scientist, Harris may be taking the more materialist perspective which professes that consciousness is produced by the brain, and someday scientists will discover where that is happening. Whereas, Spira is saying that the brain and the mind are manifestations of consciousness. The other way around. Stay tuned on that one.

I had such a lovely experience of waking up this morning. I woke at my usual 6:30ish, sat up, meditated for my usual half hour, and when I turned the timer off, I continued to sit there. I blissfully drifted in an out of sleep. I love that feeling when I know I have more sleep in me, and I don’t have to get up. I sat there until 9. It was great.