Gothic Granola

This is the 179th blog post on Gothic Granola, formerly Screwfoot Q. It's time to make a 180 degree turn on some issues.

Stare at blank paper every morning, every day and you will overcome the fear of The Blank Page. As a matter of course, you will begin to overcome other fears of beginnings and unknowns, as well. I hadthis insight about Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages exercise from The Artist’s Way while taking today’s walkies. In walking the last two days, I’ve uncovered two more nonnegotiables. I must make time to take a 20-70 minute walk each day. Walking not only relieves mental constipation, it’s frickin’ essential after being inside each day to remind the body, “You live on the Earth, not in buildings above the earth. This is where you come from. This is where you’ll go.”

They don't pay me to think anymore, so I tend to think hard anyway. When I'm speeding home from closing shift, downing 800 mL to 1 L of water in order to rehydrate while blasting Rage Against the Machine, my mind runs in high gear. It's time to write. It's difficult to be consistent in other areas of life when one's job is inconsistent. Let us begin with this premise. Being a cashier and having a standing sedentary job is no more healthy than being a desk jockey with a sitting sedentary job. The inconsistent hours, workload, and cast of characters is beginning to wear on me. When a job begins to impact my health negatively, in preventable ways, then it's time to go. This is a job, not my career.

A video primer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsQTzxzDYjw

Or in this case, apricot.

As I am going to be a panelist on the Words Made Flesh: Intersections of Sexuality, Gender Identity, and Spirituality panel at my  alma interfectoris  LGBT alumni conference next weekend, I wanted to share a symbol I now wear on my right hand. As there’s no way to tell if a person’s ace(asexual) without asking them, the ace ring was born on AVEN or another similar online forum ( symbology here ; check out this blog post for  details on the ring ).

This was so gourmet I impressed myself. The pomegranate molasses elevated it from ordinary to extraordinary. Granted, the butternut squash tasted a tad bland with all the other spices going on, but you say "reduction" and "seared" and all else is forgiven. It's not a true reduction, but it's viscous enough to be like one . Seared Tempeh with Sesame Pomegranate Molasses Reduction, Braised Greens, and Butternut Mash 2 8-ounce packages of tempeh (I used the plain soy and flax flavours; make sure it's GF.) 1 quart water 2 yellow onions, half-mooned 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin or pressed pinch Kosher salt 1 teaspoon celery seeds 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon allspice 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil 2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses 1/2 teaspoon GF tamari 4 cups dandelion greens or other bitter greens, ribboned 2 cups roasted butternut squash 1 tablespoon maple syrup 1 teasp

I play mindgames with myself while running. Running towards someone is much more inspiring than running away from something, in my experience (when it’s a thought experiment, anyway).  Running from zombies would of course be a different story.