Yam Day!

My lovely mother called me a couple days ago to inform me that yams were currently 19 cents a pound at Wally's, and at my prompting she delivered around two pounds of orange-y goodness to my apartment. As I am blessed with an abundance of this delicious root vegetable, I declared Friday a cooking day devoted to yams, and have enjoyed myself immensely with the fruits of my labors.

First I made
which were amazing, though mine did not look nearly as pretty (halfway through I gave up and wrapped them like egg rolls). I used spring roll sheets for the dough, and ended up making two different fillings, both of which were very yummy. First I boiled and mashed my sweet potatoes, adding a little bit of milk and butter to the mix. Then I split the mixture into two halves, and into the first half I added sauteed garlic, onions, and cumin seeds, along with curry powder, ginger, and some chili powder. In my second mixture I made a sort of dessert samosa, with cinnamon, ginger, brown sugar and raisins. I put them on a greased cookie sheet, brushed some oil on the top so they would brown, and in the 375 degree oven they went, on one side for 10 min and flipped for another 5. Both turned out well, though I think for the non-dessert samosas I may need to add chilies or something for next time.

Next I made
a coconut yam Thai curry, which was amazing. I cooked my onion, garlic, and cumin seeds first, then added the red curry paste, ginger, peas, and my diced yams. I cooked them for about 4 minutes, then added coconut milk and a bit of soy sauce for a bit of a kick. It was so yummy you guys, I have to make this again soon. Mmmm so good. Out of all the brands of coconut milk I've used so far, I have to say Orchid's is my favorite. The milk was rich and fragrant and everything tasted sweet, slightly spicy, and completely delicious.

And last, but certainly not least, I decided to round off my yam experience with

candied yams! I boiled 3 diced yams til they were soft, then added them into a 9x9 casserole dish with 1 cup pineapple, 1/2 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins, then baked it in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Technically I should have waited longer, but I didn't want to!! They were yummy.

I used a total of 8 yams today, and while I could have found a recipe for my remaining 2, I decided to call it a day. Yay leftovers!!

Hey There Water Brothers!

On Saturday I helped a good friend grade math quizzes at my old high school, and afterwords he let me borrow Stranger in a Strange Land, as he had it on his desk and I've been interested in reading it for some time. For those who don't know, Stranger in a Strange Land is written by Robert Heinlein, one of the greatest science fiction writers of all time, and Stranger in a Strange Land is one of his most popular works. The story is of Valentine Michael Smith, a human raised by Martians who comes to Earth and spreads a lesson of deeper understanding and of love. It's not only a very well known book in the sci-fi community, but is one of the more important books in the polyamory community, a fact which I teased my professor about, I'll admit.

Now, this book was really good, and there were a lot of interesting concepts that the author put out, but I gotta be honest, I was more interested in his concept that some languages can convey the subtleties of human emotions and love better than others, which I don't really think is exactly what Heinlein was going for when it comes to the overall intent of his novel. I really did like the "water brothers" aspect, and wish that there truly was a way in which we could grow like that as a community. Not just in the free love aspect, but more importantly in the undying bonds of brotherhood aspect.

This link isn't exactly relevant to the book, but it ties in with the novel's poly theme, and the song ran through my head the entire time I read it, so I felt I could share.

Come on, Obama! Get with the program!

Today I read a NY Times article entitled "A Question of Appearances- Obama Will Bypass Sikh Temple on Visit to India" . This set off a LOT of emotions in me, and I'm currently trying my hardest to not start ranting about idiotic Americans whose biases prevent any real positive change from occurring in the world, but I have to warn you that I may lose this battle quickly.

For those not in the know, President Obama is currently planning a trip to India, where he will try to strengthen political ties while visiting Mumbai and Delhi. While I take great offense to his exclusion of Southern cities (Bangalore is the technological center of India guys! Come on!!), I can understand why he may have done so. After all, if the Hindi-centric Indian government ignores the importance of the South Indian states, then it's not surprising that our government would do so as well.

What really disappointed me was the government's final decision to not visit the Golden Temple, not because of time restraints, but because of the issue of head coverings. The Golden Temple is a Sikh establishment, and because of this they require that heads be covered when inside as a sign of respect and modesty in this very sacred place. Baseball caps don't work, one must tie a cloth over ones head, as the tying of the cloth is seen as important as it is not easily removed, making the sign of respect a deliberate act. Unfortunately, the modern American public is full of idiots, who are so convinced that our President is a Muslim (why is that even a problem anymore?) that any image of him wearing a turban will cause panic in the streets. It is a sad thing to say, but our society has become so moronic that it cannot realize that people other than Muslims wear turbans, and that many of them probably don't even know who Sikhs are or what they stand for.

I am very much hoping that the President will change his mind and choose to visit this holy and important Indian landmark, for the sake of all intelligent Americans and for the underrepresented Sikh diaspora around the world.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/world/asia/20india.html?_r=3&scp=1&sq=golden%20temple&st=cse

Varun's Back!

For the past several weeks my good friend Varun was off in India due to a family emergency, which made me super sad, as he was a really nice boy and I worried for his Daddy, who seemed like a fun guy. Luckily everything turned out well, and his Dad is feeling good, which means that as of this Sunday Varun's been home!! Yay!!

I'm surprised the school was okay with him leaving for such a long time, but apparently they were totally understanding, and even wrote him a letter so that he wouldn't have trouble with customs or immigration or whoever it is that doesn't like people traveling willy-nilly. This is great, because I've had some friends experience visa issues when traveling home, and the last thing I would want is for another friend to be stuck on the other side of the world.

This seems like a short post, so I've decided to tell you a fun Varun story. I met Varun on OKC, an online dating site. We chatted for a couple hours, then I logged off in an attempt to go to bed. Unfortunately I couldn't sleep, and logged back in at 1 am, only to see that he was still online! We chatted for another hour, then decided to meet up, as I was hungry and he wasn't planning on sleeping. So we met up around 3 am (I decided to take a shower so I'd be ready for the school day), and we drove to 7-11 (I wanted a soda), then just walked around chatting til around 6 am, when we went to The Living Room Cafe so we could grab breakfast. We hung around there til around 7:30, when he dropped me off at school so I could go to my 8 am class. I was very impressed that for a guy who spent almost 10 hours chatting/hanging out with me and insisted on buying my breakfast, all he wanted from me was a hug. Such a sweet boy.

Cooking Experiments

So the other day I was hungry and in the mood for cooking, but didn't know what I could make, as a busy schedule has prevented me from being able to go to the store to buy groceries. Scrounging around on recipe search engines, I was reminded of the traditional white people food standby - the casserole. I have only made green bean casseroles during Thanksgiving, so I wasn't really sure as to what kinds of things one puts in a casserole, but I wanted to see what it was like so I figured I might as well give it a shot.

Remembering a friend's advice that a casserole is pretty much meat + starch + sauce covered in a bread, I decided to see what items I had in my possession. I found some ground soy in my freezer, along with frozen peas and corn, which I decided could work as a sauce. As someone had mentioned the concept of a Mexican Shepherd's Pie to me, I decided that spices were needed, and found a packet of Taco Seasoning which I decided to throw in. I have to admit I was kind of ghetto in this cooking experiment, as I nuked my frozen ingredients so I could mix the spices easier, but I thought it'd be quicker then cooking it on the stove. Then I looked for my binding liquid, and settled on a can of tomato sauce, as it would work better with taco seasonings than creamed potato soup.

After placing this concoction in a casserole dish I looked for what item to put on top. The recommendation for Mexican casserole is cornbread mix, but I didn't have any so I decided to improvise and use garlic cheddar biscuit mix, which was great cuz it was the only mix that didn't require eggs or milk (I really need to go to the store). I put it in my 375 degree oven for half an hour, and then dug in. It was good enough, though I think if I was to do this again I would have more soy and less biscuit. Just my preference. :)

I think this cooking experience has left me feeling the whitest I have in a really long time.

Philosophy Blah

So, I have a friend who's all about Nietzsche, thinking he's big shit and all that. I guess he's okay, but I just never really got into him much, as I feel he's kind of full of himself. Nietzsche's big thing is his whole "life altering" statements, which are supposed to cause people to analyze their current thinking and blah blah blah. My friend sent me a list of 40 of Nietzche's statements which are claimed to be "belief shaking", but most of them are what I find rather bland and not surprising in the least, like Number 3 - "The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently," or Number 16 - "It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages". Out of these forty, there are only two statements which I think people really should pay attention to:

4. There are no facts, only interpretations.

and

35. There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.

I feel that when one takes numbers 4 and 35 to heart, we can learn how to better understand the people with whom we share the world, and eventually can learn to better understand ourselves. By remembering that everything we think we know is influenced by our biases and interpretations, we can hopefully remember that everyone else's opinions are altered just as much as ours, and maybe this can help us better understand those whose world views we find odd or possibly unacceptable in our current paradigm. How much better would the world be if we stopped trying to fit everyone else into our views of what is "right" and instead accept that we can live differently from each other and still find common ground in happiness?

When one adds this viewpoint to #35's claim that our bodies know more than our minds, then true change can really take place. Instead of trying to regulate our bodies and the bodies of others by what one claims is "moral", "virtuous", or simply "right", we may instead realize that our bodies are naturally inclined to certain things, and by trying to deny the body of what's right we can ultimately harm a person and keep them from reaching their full potential. While I'm not saying we should all live our lives in a constant state of gluttony or debauchery, I think that accepting that our bodies each have different needs and that a cookie cutter philosophy towards life cannot let anybody live a truly fulfilling life, whether it is spiritually, sexually, morally, or philosophically. There is no right or wrong, there is only action and reaction. Positive and negative is merely in the eye of the beholder.

Old Poems From My Old Site

Determinedly I travel,
Climbing towards the heavens.
Dare I reach the stars?
While I know I cannot touch them
I would rather be burned
Then deny myself the effort.

The siren call of their brilliance
Can cause the most logical of minds
To go astray
And cast
Their thoughts
To the wind.
Their white-hot passion
Holds a constant reminder
Deep in their tantalizing song-


Love hurts even the strongest
But the pleasure is worth the pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come with me and prowl the night
We'll make the innocent cower in fright
Let's stalk the streets without a care
Ignore those who tremble, point and stare

We'll loudly bay to the full-lit moon
Hunt for our meals in the foggy gloom.
Eat our fill, and when we're done,
We'll scare the others just for fun.

And when our wonderlust is sated
Our passion filled, our needs abated,
We'll start the path to the long way home
Til we once more feel the need to roam.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's run away in the night
For a week-long romantic tryst
We'll survive on passion and love
Until the world we start to miss.

Let's run away in the night
For a seaside rendezvous.
We'll spend a month as tourists
Reinventing me and you.

Let's run away in the night
For a year-long hideaway.
Work at dive bars and gas stops
Until we can't wait to leave the fray.

Let's run away in the night
Spend our life in old Bombay.
Let's change our names and forget our past
While we we get happy, old and gray.

Let's run away in the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Knights fight for honor and glory
Slaves search for a way to be free
Young wizards discover great magic
And mermaids become foam in the sea

Some tell of struggle and misery
Others boast of triumphs and fame
Liars, cheaters, lovers and millionaires
All try to cash in on their name.

Present day vampires meet futuristic elves
Aliens live among cavemen and kings
Men can climb walls and shoot lasers
Women fight dragons and grow wings

The future, the past, the present collide
The truths and falsehoods together all blend
Magical though these worlds may all be
They are only ours on a lend.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once I thought I knew everything
The right gestures to make and songs to sing
I was basking in joy, in life I was bold
Did whatever I pleased, ignored all I'd been told.
Blinded by my ego, I simply failed to see
How fast my time was devoured by the ever hungry Kali.

No matter how greatly I plea or I beg
She refuses to stop til her needs are all fed.
I curse myself for being so blindsided and dumb
In fear for the future, I now lay awake numb
If only I used used wisely the days of my youth
Instead of wasting them in acts both odd and uncouth.

I know I cannot laze around and reminisce
Focusing on options lost and opportunities missed
Instead I should look at what now remains
And all of the joys that my life still retains
The future must be seen as one most opportune
Lest negativity cause my remaining days end too soon.

Blog Action Day 2010 - Water

Water. A vital part of everyone's daily existence (and not just because it keeps us from getting too stinky), the right to accessing clean, safe drinking water should be one of those unalienable rights that we all have by virtue of being citizens of the planet Earth. Unfortunately, almost 1 in 8 people on the planet do not have access to this very important, life giving substance - that's almost a billion people! The lack of basic sanitation that clean water provides causes approximately 80% of all diseases in the world, resulting in more deaths than anything else, including war.

We have come so far in the world technologically, it boggles the mind to see our world's children dying of diseases that could be completely preventable, like dysentery or diarrhea. After all, it should not be hard to realize how important water is to the preservation of life, and we should all be aware of how precious this life source can be. Waters as friends of man give full protection to his progenies (Rig Veda Samhita vi-50-7), and we should all be able to see how much farther the developing nations could advance if they did not have to struggle daily for the ability to get something to drink that is clean and safe.

Conserving water at home is an important first step, but it is only the beginning in creating a better world. We spend $5 for a coffee at Starbucks, how much are we willing to spend to save the life of a child? How about an entire community?

http://www.waterforpeople.org/
http://www.charitywater.org/
http://www.watercharity.org/
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/
http://www.water1st.org/
http://blueplanetnetwork.org/
http://www.h2oafrica.org/
http://www.wateraid.org/
http://www.waterforpeople.org/extras/playpumps/case-foundation-partnership.html

GMOs, WTF

I am officially anti-GMOs.

GMOs, for those who do not know, are Genetically Modified Organisms, foods which have been altered on the DNA level to be frost resistant, stay fresher longer, or even be brighter in color. While most people don't know or care much about GMOs, thinking that they must be safe if the government lets them be sold in markets, there is a dark side to this agricultural revolution which cannot be ignored. These products are sold to us untested and unregulated, and it not only harms the lives of the farmers who rely on these crops, but it harms our health as well.

My biggest fear is of GMO corn and soybeans, which are in almost all packaged food sold today. With over 90% of all of America's soybeans the GM Round Up Ready variety sold by Monsanto and corn modified to be Round Up Ready and pesticide producing, I can only worry as to what that does to ones body in the long term. When plants are made to be Round Up Ready, they're made to be resistant to herbicides, which are made as strong as possible in order to kill anything that the farmer doesn't want to grow. But by putting that high amount of chemical toxins into our environment and ground, we're not only poisoning our land and water supply, but creating "superweeds" which will result in the formation of even stronger chemicals, harming us even further. These herbicides harm more than weeds, decimating frog populations, swallowtail butterflies, and ladybugs, all of which are helpful to local ecosystems by helping eat harmful insects and pollinate local greenery.

When plants are grown to produce their own pesticides, like corn and tomatoes, we have to wonder as to what that does to our own bodies when we eat these foods, as studies on animals show the prolonged ingestion of these GM foods produce liver damage and reproductive failure. These new proteins also cause new allergens to be produced in food, slowing immune systems and causing animals and people to become sick. Starlink corn, a GM corn bred for cattle consumption and producing known allergens, has been repeatedly found in processed foods like Taco Bell's taco shells and over 300 other products, resulting in frequent recalls which the food companies try to hide from the public. Studies in the UK, where GMOs are looked at more skeptically, have shown that food related allergies have risen 50% in the last few years, making one wonder as to how food modifications may have come into play.

Now that I've been appropriately traumatized about what I've been unknowingly eating, I'm determined to only eat foods that are not genetically modified. Luckily, I learned that if you look at the PLU code (price lookup number), it can tell you the basics about what it is you're eating. Granted, this is only for produce, but at least it's a start.

• 5-digit number, beginning with the #9 = organic.
• 5-digit number, beginning with the #8 = GMO or genetically modified food.
• 4-digit number means grown by conventional (code for chemical) means.

Happy trails, my friends!

Outsourced on TV

Back in 2006 a movie came out called Outsourced, which was about an American man whose company was outsourced to India due to budget restraints, and he's sent to the call center to train the new call center. It was rather well done, IMO, and I really liked the humor and the romantic aspect, which is saying something since I am not much of a rom-com gal (I definitely prefer sci fi flicks). When NBC announced that they would be making a sitcom spin off of the movie for this fall, I took the news with a cautious optimism, deciding that even if the show was bad I could finally see a show with more than just the token Indian in it - after all, a show about an Indian call center should have a lot of Indians in it. :)

As of now only three episodes have aired, and while I have some small issues with some aspects, I am hoping that things will improve, as it is rather early in the season and I may need to give them some time. My main problem so far is in the writing, so I can only hope that they get all their stereotyped jokes out of the way and maybe turn to other outlets for humor. When they're not trying so hard to make things funny I feel that there are some really good parts of the show, so I do sense potential. Let's hope they live up to it.

Birthday Exhaustion

So, yesterday I joined the illustrious ranks of 22 year olds, or as my bff Ly calls them "People who have turned 11 twice". I don't know why that amused me as much as it did, but I had to share, so there ya go. Now, I'm not much of a birthday person, but as my day's activities were not what one would consider the norm for birthday celebrations, I found the whole experience rather enjoyable.

First, my Mommy came to my apartment around 11, and since I mentioned that I'm not much of a cake person, she decided to give me scotch treats instead, which I definitely approve of. So yummy. (I gotta be honest, I've eaten them all already. I couldn't help myself.) As April had a test, Mom and I got a bite to eat at Denny's, then mapped out where all we'd go on our day.

First we went to the Creation Museum, where they use Bible verses and such to try and explain science and disprove evolution. I got a LOT of their free pamphlets and had a fun time reading what they wrote and analyzing it from a scientific and religious scholar standpoint. I know I'm a nerd, live with it. :P Unfortunately we got beyond lost when trying to find the establishment, so we only got around an hour to see everything, which was definitely not enough time. I think I'm going to analyze some of the more interesting pamphlets I got from the museum, so everyone can experience the joys of what they're teaching.

After the Creation Museum we headed out to the Unarius Academy of Science, located in El Cajon. I have to say that for a UFO cult, I found them to be rather... bland. Sure, they talked about the galactic alliance and everything, but I was kind of expecting something a little more far out than the things that were ultimately said. Of course, everyone was in their 70's, so maybe they used to be more passionate about the subject back when they still had energy for that sort of thing.
When we left the UFO cult I thought my night was essentially over, but luckily a friend called and asked me if I needed a ride to the Convention Center for the Navratri garba, and I said Hells yeah I do!! We had a LOT of fun, dancing and checking everyone out, and by the time he dropped me off it was 1 in the morning. Needless to say, it took my remaining energy to get undressed and fall into bed. All in all, a rather successful day. :)

Navratri is Coming!

So tomorrow is the beginning of Navratri, the Nine Day festival worshiping some of the many different aspects of Shakti, the divine Mother Goddess. The first three days are devoted to aspects of Durga, the strong spiritual force who destroys our impurities when we worship her. The second three days are devoted to manifestations of Laksmi, who gives her devotees inexhaustable spiritual wealth. For the final three days devotion is given to the forms of Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom and the giver of all-around success in life. It is believed that all three are equally important in order to have a happy life, though certain days are more important in different regions, with cultural influences dictating which devotional festival day is the biggest.

I really like Navratri, for I feel it is a festival which is very empowering to women, as Divine Femininity is seen as key for happiness in one's lives and is therefore exonerated in one of Hinduism's most important festivals. When you take into account that this nine day festival is not held once, but often twice a year (once in spring, once again in autumn), the great importance that devotion to the feminine holds is more evident. In a society that has become increasingly patriarchal as a result of Imperial British influence and then again by Westernization, it is refreshing to see that at least some of the traditions that give importance to the power of femininity still remain today. We cannot let ourselves forget how inspirationally powerful these aspects of the Divine Female Energy can be, and how their power resides in every one of us, ready to be used to fight our own demons as needed.


Who doesn't love seeing THIS aspect of the power of women? I know I do!!

Dominos!!

Now normally, I am not a fan of pizza not made at home (the difference is amazing guys, you gotta go home made), but I often make a special exception for Domino's Pizza. Not only is their new recipe a vast improvement over the original, but with their 2-2 topping pizzas for $6 each promotion I can get enough food for several meals, which is great for the mornings I don't want to eat leftover daal for breakfast - leftover pizza is always yummy. :) The new garlic topping on the crust may make the pizza a little salty for my tastes, but as a result I always drink my recommended 8 glasses of water on those days, so I can't complain too much.

But by far the best aspect of ordering Domino's Pizza is the Pizza Tracker. The pizza tracker gives you current, up to date information as to the status of your order, saying things like "Greg put your pizza in the oven at 1:45 pm" or "Our delivery expert Matthew left the store with your order at 2:00 pm". As my friends and I have ordered from the same Domino's for the past few years, we've gotten to recognize most of the names on the Tracker, and will waste our time chatting about things like "Oh hey, Craig's making our pizza! He's a good kid. Last time he made my order my pizza had a lot of toppings, so I think we're in for a treat." It's also good for the employee, as our tipping amounts have grown exponentially now that we know who's making our order.

But of course, the best thing about ordering from Domino's is a chance to see my favorite delivery man, Shoaib. When my friend Heather and I order pizza and see that Shoaib is delivering, we know that our tip must now be even greater than originally planned, and I think he knows that we like to see him, as he probably has a good laugh at our silly antics. Needless to say, when I write my extensive comments in the online section right under the Pizza Tracker, I always manage to include nice things about my man Shoaib, even when he's not the one to take my order. What can I say, a gal's gotta look out for her man.

Now if you'll excuse me, I hear Matthew at the door, so I better go pick up my order!!

Why Rush?

I look at you, and now I can see
You've never realized what you are to me
Living each day as if it's our last
I feel as though we're moving too fast
I can't see why you act like this
As if every second is too precious to miss
Maybe you fear we'd soon be through
Don't you know I'd never do that to you?

I greatly treasure the moments we share
Though I know I often don't show that I care
If you were more patient soon you would know
I'd love nothing more for you to be my beau
But if moving faster is what you insist
You'll never know of the bliss that you missed.
So please my darling, relax and just wait
Time will come and your fears it will sate