Cooking advice

1 can of vegetable broth + 1 can of beef broth = 2 cans of chicken broth

Dining on Mars?

I found this amusing description of a restaurant in NYC:

"An intergalactic shuttle transports guests to the Red Planet for an extraterrestrial, culinary experience they will never forget. [...] Just before your dining experience begins, you must carefully navigate the Rock Fissure Corridor by stepping across a translucent bridge of pontoons floating over molten lava. Once you are safely across, a Cyberguide escorts you to your designated seat on Mars. The Crystal Crater boasts a three-story crystal tree, covered by a glass canopy that affords a spectacular view of the Martian heavens and the Earth beyond. To dine at the Crater's Edge, you must cautiously make your way downstairs, past a steaming Blue Lava Fountain. A 300-square-foot "Window to Mars" displays a colorful combination of elements, offering majestic views of the Martian landscape. A gracious and engaging Cratermaster, our Ambassador of Good Cheer and Levity, choreographs your Epicurean adventure from this point on. Guests are also delighted by occasional interaction with prominent members of local Martian society. By nature, Martians are friendly and gregarious, and their superb hospitality is a hallmark of the Modern Martian Society..."

After reading that, I feel I should either go there, or watch Alice in Wonderland. Not sure which.

Spring Photos

Spring screws around with circadian rhythm. This was a 7 AM photo, after a night of trying to sleep. Jack was also acting weird. He's never decided to sit on top of my monitor before.


I think these are called Phlox.


The bulbs I planted last fall have become some unique variation on a daffodil.


I believe this is called a composite daffodil.


Hyacinth. As pretty as it is, its probably directly responsible for allergy season. Its scent is extremely heavy.


A pink centered daffodil-narcissus thing.


More daffodil variations.


There's a reason the family name for these is Narcissus. They are absolutely perfect.

I've Been

As the mute screams of the broken hearted
Muffle the words of the faithful lover
And the emotional arthritis warns
Of a coming storm,
She sits and stares, seeing nothing
And comes prepared for an empty cornfield
But finds only ancient scrolls
Reminding her she is not the first to feel.

An empty life, a dream remains a dream,
A scattered scrapbook in a box under the bed,
An uprooted tree for the third time,
Digging dirt to find the liquid in the deep
Is an ulterior motive to spiritual gain.

The tears are shadows deep behind the eyes;
Somewhere near the pineal gland
They gather their forces
And march a rhythm with the heart
Blowing in with the east wind
Over the parched ground and the broken stalks of corn
And silently, silently, they come.

response to recent news

I had a chat with a friend the other day about a group of people who recently have been promoting false ideas about God. God does not hate people based on their race, religion, or lifestyle preferences. However, there IS such a thing as sin, and sin creates separation from God.

Think of it like this. Your 5 year-old daughter has been cranky all day. She wouldn't get into the car seat when you needed to get your errands done, she refused to get dressed in the clothes you picked out for her, and now, you are telling her to pick up her toys and put them away, but she is screaming that she won't do it. So you take her to the corner and put her in her time-out chair, partly because she's being disobedient, and partly because you need a break yourself. At no time did you stop loving her, but her disobedience created a necessary distance between you.

This is like a relationship with God. He will never hate a whole country, or a religious system, or any kind of sinner. But there ARE consequences to sin, even though the love is still there. This also answers the classic question, "how can a loving God send people to hell?" My answer is that he doesn't. Separation from God happens because people make that choice.

And thats what I think about that.

love stories

This may be a long story, but here goes. Several years ago, I created a Myspace account. A musician, S, was seeking followers and requested a "friend" status; I accepted. I discovered his music was awesome and we had about 3 conversations regarding it. That was it, I never really talked to him after that. But through post updates, I learned a lot about him and his family and their spirituality.

His sister, R, "met" God on a rock in Ireland and God taught her that she should rely on him for support and be happy in singleness until the day he provided her with a husband. Years later, she wanted a sign that the young man in her life was the one God was providing. God showed the man how to give her the sign, and also told him to propose to her on that rock.

Another young woman, J, "met" God on a beach in Israel, and God taught her roughly the same thing that he'd said to R. Some time later, a woman felt God was telling her to paint a picture for J. The picture featured J on that beach with her hands flung up in the air in pure joy, as if she had just experienced the happiest day of her life. Later, she met S and he spoke with her parents, telling them about where he'd like to propose and would that be ok. Her parents said they'd been praying he would propose in that spot and he had about 3 months to plan it (because that was when she'd be there again). It turns out, he proposed on that beach in Israel.

When I learned of R's story, I thought, "Wow, that is a great story and a wonderfully romantic one. People will delight to hear the story of their romance." When I learned that R's brother had a nearly identical experience, I thought, "R's story isn't unique?? Does this kind of thing happen all the time and I've somehow missed it?"

S posted his wedding video, which I think revealed a huge part of the story. S and R are a part of a close-knit group of people who have an extreme and radical love for God. They are passionate worshipers who do not care if others find their worship styles "weird." So in a sense, it is a nature vs nurture scenario- S and R were raised to expect God to be an integral part of their lives, including their love stories.

After learning of the stories, I had a sort of longing for a story of my own. I don't know how my life will pan out, but when I'm old, I would love to have a love story that makes people say, "Aww" when they hear it. Don't jump to conclusions about my current relationship though- we never know what kind of story we are in while it is happening. It is only afterward that we can look back and see the big picture. Even the disciples of Jesus experienced this.

But when I examine my life, I find several things.

1. I do not have a place where I "met" with God. Yes, I know God personally, I have a relationship with him as my caring and protecting Father. But the supernatural events that those girls experienced in their meeting places have not happened for me, nor do I expect them to. I have a B.A. in theater; I am quite jaded by flashy theatrics. I would be incredibly honored and blessed if God just "showed up" one day in a heavy cloud and a flash of lightning, or even if he told a painter to paint a picture of me that only I had knowledge of. But because of my background, I don't think that is what would capture my heart the most, and I think he knows that and would choose to meet with me in some other way. My secret place when I spend the most time talking to God happens in the shower and I am quite certain I don't want anyone proposing to me there.

2. I do not have the same passionate excitement about worship. I worship God, I pray to God, I sing to God. But I do not do it like a child with ADHD on Halloween. I am subtle, I am peaceful and serene. In some ways I feel that this may somehow cheat God, that I am not as excited about being with him as other people are.

3. I was raised to understand that not everyone loves or worships God. There are people out there who have chosen different beliefs and want to practice different things. They want a life without God in it. In living my life and interacting with those people, the spirit of God in me brings God into their life, but in the same instance, their life-without-God is brought into my life. That sounds like an Asian or Hawaiian philosophy but I guess what I mean is we don't live in bubbles. Things drag us away from our goals whether we know it or not. God is very important to me, but he is not as integral a part of my life as the group S and R (and spouses) are a part of.

It is interesting to note that in my observations, I do not mention "finding a romantic boyfriend." While I think it is important for a guy to be able to hear from God from time to time, and have moments of inspiration that put him on a higher romantic level than a caveman, I think that the most important part to finding the perfect mate for me is being who I am supposed to be in the first place.

I will conclude with another love story. A was lonely and wanted a boyfriend. She was not content to wait for God to bring one into her life, so she did some things that may have indicated her impatience. After struggling and being hurt by the complexities of it all, she began to focus on her own relationship with God instead of a relationship with a guy. She let God fix some areas of her life, and quite suddenly, in Anne of Green Gables style, the Gilbert in her life stopped fighting with her, they both realized mutual feelings of attraction, and are now following the path that they believe leads to marriage. (If Anne of Green Gables is too modern for your tastes, try Pride & Prejudice and read that as "the Mr. Darcy in her life stopped...")

The biggest thing that could be impressed on me is that an "aww" love story comes from ME being who I am meant to be, not from someone else being imaginative and romantic. Now how do I become ME?

Religion, Philosophy, Spirituality

Having a conversation with a friend, I realized I have my own philosophy on life that, although it does not contradict the teachings of my chosen denomination, is really uniquely ME. I'm not claiming I have some big spiritual revelation that will one day be taught as supplemental commentary or anything. Just that I like to think for myself.

1. I see no need to capitalize names of deities. Or names of my friends, or cities, or any proper noun. in current culture when people write without punctuation and capitalization it is viewed as being less stuffy and proper and more like the average person out there. you are more informal, more on the same level with someone. it is like you are sitting in their living room with a cup of tea and no one cares if you don't have the right punctuation. it is not like you are writing a dissertation, its just a cup of tea in a living room. when talking about god or jesus people know who you are talking about without capitalization. one could argue that capitalization indicates honor and your level of respect, but i would argue that it really isn't much of an honor to capitalize a name. ooh i just hit the shift key so your name would be capitalized, wow aren't you honored by that? or in writing, ooh i just made the same exact stroke, only bigger so it would be capitalized. really, its not such a sacrifice to write in caps. a better way to show your level of respect for god is to love him, and show your love. wear it on your face and wear it in your actions. even if you are writing it online, it will come out in what you say, even if you do not specifically state it, and even if you do not use capital letters.

2. People are jerks. In the words of one friend, "Most people are bastard covered bastards with bastard filling." In the words of Jesus, "You will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me." In the words of Paul the Apostle, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." But how most people think to deal with those jerks is different based on where you live (China vs America vs Israel), when it is occurring (present day or in the past under different social or legal standards), and just what it is they are doing to you (holding a gun to your head or cursing you out on the elevator).

My philosophy incorporates Jesus' words to love your neighbor like you love yourself, bless those who curse you, do good to those who mistreat you, and treat everyone the way you would want to be treated. I do not believe Jesus said this because he was a pansy. I believe he recognized that we cannot be responsible for others' actions, only our own. I attempt to follow Jesus' advice. I try to be nice to people, because I would want them to be nice to me back. But I have no expectation that they will be nice back. I am nice to them for my own sake, not for theirs. So whatever they do back is not my problem. The only thing I can do is cultivate in myself a sense of compassion for all things. I can not be responsible if they choose not to accept my offer of harmony. I often wonder, when reading my Bible, if Jesus ever used parts of the Buddhist philosophy in some of his teachings.

(Disclaimer: Buddhism has been around since between 600-400 BCE and its philosophy on a whole is not in agreement with the teachings of Christianity, however there are good points that can be used to make Christian beliefs more understandable.)

3. The creation vs. evolution argument. Frankly, we're here now. It doesn't matter how we got here. You cannot change the past, as anyone with an ex can tell you. Given how flawed human nature is, both options are probably wrong anyway. If I had to choose, my brother's ideas that both options are not mutually exclusive of one another makes a lot of sense, but only in his words. I can not put it into my own words, nor do I care to. I do not care how we got here, and I cringe when I hear the violence in my friends' voices when they discuss it.

4. The end times. Yes, the world is probably going to end soon. But people have been saying that since just after Jesus rose from the dead and went back to Heaven. My theory is that Jesus came, and gave people a glimpse of what Heaven would be like. We now have an acute sense that Heaven is not here on Earth, and its outlook seems bleak. Specifically how the world is going to end is highly debated among differing churches. I take the same position as before: I don't care. There is no sense worrying about the future when it hasn't happened yet. Since no one knows the exact moment when the "beginning of the end" will come, the only thing that we can do is live our lives in order to make every moment count. This does not mean go out and get drunk every night or have wild sex parties or ride every rollercoaster in the world. All it means is my philosophy #2. Live in harmony. Live in peace. Love God. Let that love be evident to everyone else. When you love people, do it in a way that says, "God loves you more than I do."

5. Abortion. Human life begins at conception. Killing a fetus is taking a life. Taking a life is not always wrong (commandment #6 forbids murder, not killing- Exodus 20:13). Any further discussion of abortion is not a religious discussion, it is purely a legal and social debate about the implications of establishing laws for or against it, therefore it should not be discussed in a blog entry about religion and spirituality. I personally would not be able to cope with the emotional and psychological consequences of having an abortion, but then again I also don't kill spiders in the house; I put them outside.

6. Church. Why go to church when you can sing music and read your Bible in the comfort of your own home? The quite simple answer is that you can have friends who agree with at least a portion of your beliefs. It is, in a sense, a support group. Church is fellowship, it is not the building, but the people. Having someone, even if it is just one person, to stand by your side while you are struggling with something God is telling you, can make all the difference in the world.

7. Prayer. This is not a Dear Santa letter. God is a being. Prayer is open communication. It goes two ways. No, I don't hear him audibly, although some people do. For me, prayer is like dialing in to the power holding the universe together. God is in the thunder and the wind and the ocean for me, and when I feel his presence, my mind simply puts all the pieces together of the things that I struggle with. And no, God is not just in the wild parts of nature. God is in the songs of the spring peepers, the cicadas, the bullfrogs at night. God is in the fog and the mist on May evenings, and in the warmth of good soil, and in the sun shining through the window while I'm doing dishes. The Chinese have a name for this power that runs in and through everything, sustaining living things; it is Qi.

8. To be continued...

Thats all for now. Is there a topic you would like me to cover here? Is there anything you would like to hear my thoughts on? Do you disagree with anything I've said? I'd like to hear from you.