Friday night

Friday night I met some friends for dinner. We googled a place down town New Haven that was supposed to be fairly inexpensive and had a nice menu on line. We got there and guess what It did not exist. There was an Irish pub right next door the prices were good and the atmosphere okay, but the peeps were not interested in going inside. The five of us were standing outside the Irish place tossing out ideas and staring at the ground, when a woman who was standing up on some stairs behind us, in a bright blue dress wearing a long string of pearls tied in a knot, smoking a cigarette, stated, "It is difficult to court so many people isn't it." I agreed and then felt a little like Tiger Woods, and not as a golfer. We then walked around the corner and ended up eating at a large Japanese restaurant with good sushi and a comfortable ambiance. We followed are dinner by walking to a very hip looking bar and stopping at an art gallery along the way.
The hip club was really strange inside, it had recessed booths with tall walls all the way to the ceiling and cushions that looked liked giant corduroy, then long tables with glass tops filled with good looking city folks. On the ceiling was a painting of the night sky. The whole place reminded me of an 80's, movie interpretation, of the future. The hostess took my friends and I to a room she called the tea room, it was in the back of the club, private, and dark. It made me think of a war bunker or the private room of a strip club. The walls were made of piled sandstone on the bottom and were painted black on the top with sketched images of birds flying up above. The artistry of the place seemed to bring out a giddiness in all of us. The night ended in the basement of an Irish pub and a live band. The conversation was good and the company divine. I now need to rest.

Cooking

Here above is a picture of the carrots on the stove with the curry leaves. The green and orange were so pretty I had to run get the camera.


To the right is a photo of my prepared spices so I did not dig through the spice rack in a panic as my food burned (there is a reason they do that on cooking shows.)

The tomatoes were emotional about going into the dal. I tried to comfort them by cutting them in half.

The Ganesha I Promised

Todays Walk

I have been cooking all day and unlike some foodies, I do not love cooking as much as I love eating and hearing praise from my hubby. Today I have made dal, using mung beans, onions, Roma tomatoes, and curry seasonings like my husband taught me. Then I made a grape raita, which is like a side salad made of yogurt, oil and spices, and lastly stir fried carrots with cumin and lime. I am still working on some samosas and the rice and what to do with an eggplant.
Luckily we ran out of white rice and I decided to walk to the store, it is such a lovely day. The clouds are big and gray with suttle threats of rain. The wind is blowing in circles, which I like because it does not just visit in one direction, it blows back my hair then blows it forward, it blows in one ear, and then is nice enough to visit the other. On my way back from the market I walked by the most beautiful thing. There is a house that has a lavender wooden fence. On the fence grows deep purple morning glories. The sight of the rich green leaves wound around the lavender fence and accented by the deep purple of the flowers made me feel grateful to the home owner for taking the time to make the street beautiful.
I did complete some work on the goddess table and funny enough I am working on the side the represents wind. Does art imitate life or does art open our eyes to life? I believe in the latter.

The Table

This is the work in progress.

Labor Day

As the Labor Day holiday comes to an end I think about what new things I would like to add to my life and what old things I would like to remove.  I feel like it is a good time to begin new patterns. I am not sure but I think the Jewish new year is right around the corner. I must have been Jewish in a past life.

Or perhaps it is just the stark change in the air that fall brings, that makes me feel like I myself am ready to be planted for the winter harvest. So perhaps not a Jew in a past life, but a bright orange pumpkin (the pumpkin and I look more a like.)

Speaking of the fall harvest, currently I am working on a goddess shrine. My husband found a cardboard crate that when turned upside down looks like a small table. To create the shrine I used Sage Woman magazines, paint, decoupage, sequins, plastic jewels, sharpies and feathers.   I began the project by cliping out images of women cooking, praying and loving.  I also clipped out a prayer about sacred space.
I then painted the little table and decoupaged the images on it. The paint I used smeared under the decoupage, which gave it a nice tie dyed look. Then I used gold and silver sharpie where I wanted solid color.
I am currently working on adding sequins and feathers. I am thinking of giving it to my sister for winter solstice. I will post pictures.
Time is no longer a burden.
Cheers
Spring

Sitting on the Couch

There is this wonderful tool that is so helpful in getting rid of any lingering emotions that weigh heavy on your heart. It is not that B.S. of,"just feel happy", or" just be grateful you are alive". It is not anything that removes you from what is sitting on your couch, staring at you with only the intensity that a lingering emotion can do. What you need to do is walk over and

sit down next to it on the yellow checkered couch, look it directly in the eyes, and say, "Okay I am ready. What do you want?" Then listen/feel. Don't listen to any voices other than that of your feelings, especially those visitors that masquerade as feelings: they go by the names of guilt, shame or any other pesky emotions associated with not being good enough or broken. Who you are sitting with on the couch is sorrow, anger, joy ect. If you really listen, I mean really listen, they tell you who you are, like a loving person, that needs more places to be loving, or a busy person that needs more place to rest, or a hurt person that needs to let their voice be heard.

Then when your done with your chat thank them for reminding you, your alive. Then get up from the couch and tell yourself how valuable you are, and take charge of your day.
My heart is light and joyous today. Not because I have had no pain in my life, but because I have and each day learn who I am and the more l learn the more I like being me.