Deep Down

So what did you love to do as a child?

I loved to write "books" on 8 1/2 x 11 paper folded in half and stapled.  I loved to sing and make up musicals that I could play in with my friends.  (Lights, camera, action!)  I loved playing 'make-believe' with the neighbors: we would be the cast from F-Troop or some other television show.  I loved to draw and paint.  I think it was my first grade teacher who recommended to my parents that they enroll me in a summer visual arts program at the local college.

Love the "About the Author" at the end!

I think I find blogging so satisfying because it lets me use the writer and the visual artist aspects of who I am.   Are all of us bloggers writers deep down in our souls?

The idea for this post came to be after reading today's article in Tiny Buddha.  It's a lovely site that I read daily.

Women of a Certain Age

My friend and fellow blogger, JJ, just had her blog, The Fifty Factor, selected by the Huffington Post as one of the top blogs for women over 50 (that would be me). 

It listed several others, and I've added some of them to my "Good Reads" list on the right.  I'm especially intrigued by Naked at Our Age, about women and sex as we get older.  Hoping for some good pointers, there.

Old Friends New Friends

Make new friends

But keep the old

One is silver and 

the other gold.

This is a song we used to sing in Girl Scouts when I was but a wee Brownie.  How true it still is.  Today I met new friends, friends that I only know through Facebook.  And joining us were old friends that I've know since 1996 and are true and dear -- you know, GOLD.

We had a great time, touring the State Capitol building, eating lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant, hanging out at my house, and topping it all off with some primo ice cream at Gunthers.  And posting all the while on Facebook to the delight of many.  Sacramento is a great place to entertain out-of-towners.  Even in this heat (100 today) there are places to go. Just not outside.  The river would have been nice, but then we would have had to walk around OUTSIDE.

I've met several blogger friends and Facebook friends and have been delighted each time.  It's a kick to press the flesh with heretofore cyber friends.  Our friends from Dallas were wonderful -- fun and easy and great to play with.

So, know that you have an open invitation to come play in Sacramento if you are in the area.  We always manage to have a great time!

Original Face or Facebook?

photo by taradharma

Jackie Greene, one of my favorite musical artists, posts about his concerns with social media and our addiction to it, especially its impact on kids and teenagers.  I encourage you to read the whole thing.  I can't imagine being young today with social media...and video games, and the oppressive prevalence of popular culture/celebrity.

I've been getting teased by a few friends lately about how frequently I post on facebook.  I do love my facebook life, but Mr. Greene's post has really struck a nerve deep down inside of me.  I've been blogging for six years and have been on facebook for a couple of years.  I've met some wonderful people through my on-line presence -- hell, I met my girlfriend through blogging six years ago!  How wonderful is that?  I felt as if I knew her very well.  Her writing was smart, funny, heartfelt and provocative.  It could have merely been a manifestation of her on-line self, but as it turned out her writing was honest and a true reflection of many parts of her being.  I fell in big time like through reading her posts.

Social media, like everything else, can be used for good or evil.  I say evil because some kids and teens are horrendously bullied through social media.  Some have committed suicide because of on-line harassment.  And a lesser evil, insidious, is the tethering of one's life experience to one's on-line presence.  Okay, "one" being me.  If I don't blog or facebook about it, who will know I experienced it? 

I will, of course.

I know that my internet persona and expression has become exceedingly important to me when I acknowledge that the idea of giving it up sends me into a panic.  What is the result of this -- let me be honest -- addiction?  Or, put more compassionately and gently, perhaps my on-line expression is an extension of my life-long desire to express through writing, music and photography.

Can we really experience and cultivate our Original Face* on the Internet?  The answer is: I don't know.  But I am thinking about it.







*A term used in Buddhdism to refer to an individual's true nature in the sense of the true identity, or ‘face’, which lies behind the ever-changing, evanescent procession of identities that one takes from life to life.

Damn You, Blogger!

If you use Blogger for your blog, you may have noticed in the last few days that the Word Verification function has become a lot more complicated.  Double words, lots of squiggly lines through them, a real challenge to post a comment because deciphering the words is maddening.

So I went into my settings today and turned mine off.  I still have comment approval.  We'll see how much spam I now get.

Six Years of Blogging

Six years ago today I began this blog. Encouraged by my friends at Dharma Bums, I set about this endeavor with some enthusiasm. Jim Otterstrom was the first person to leave a comment on my newly hatched blog. Jim died in January of this year, much to the shock and sadness of many in the blogging community, who only knew Jim through his marvelous blog, Earth, Home, Garden. His blog was an inspiration; his photography captured the mountains around him and his wonderful cabin home, and his dear wife Peggy. I often wonder how she is doing...it is strange to be suddenly cut off from a life that we had such connection with.

While I still, occasionally, hear derisive comments about blogging and bloggers, those voices are small compared to the community that has sprung up. When in the history of the world have so many people written and shared quite so much? Never, I think. With all the voices from all corners of the globe, we each get to peek into lives and worlds we would otherwise never know.  Some don't think this is necessarily a good thing.  I disagree.

I have 'met' some very interesting people, and have actually personally met some of them. I still have many on my list that I want to meet in person, along with some cats and dogs that grace their pages.

Blogging has provided me with recipes for great food that can be vouched for, opportunities to travel to parts of the country I've never been, the chance to reconnect with friends I'd lost touch with, ample humor to get me through the rough spots, and endless perspectives that enrich my existence.  Writing for this blog has given me an opportunity to flex my mental muscles, share my enthusiasm, show-off my photography, and receive feedback and support from so many.

So, thank you for all the richness you have brought to my life. Those who don't blog may never understand the kind of connection we bloggers have. But we do.

No Mojo

I've lost my internet mojo.  I can't remember passwords to all kinds of accounts.  I'm going nuts, here.  And, you may have noticed, all my bog posts say "posted by Pat & Ann."  I signed my parents up for Gmail on Google, and ever since then, my blog seems to be connected to their account.  It is strange and I've written to Google and got a long technical response which I can't even begin to comprehend.  So, for now, I guess I am "Pat and Ann."

5 Years of This Schtick

Five years of blogging today.  I never could have imagined such a thing.  I've kept journals at various times in my life, but never with the consistency I've shown on this blog.  I do like to go back and read what has transpired over the years.


My most popular subjects seem to be (though you coulda fooled me)
Family
Gay Agenda (ok, this one was no surprise)
Politics
Social Commentary
Humor  -- one of my favorite, self-deprecating posts

and then there is

Biggest Bomb, in that no one submitted a single photo.  Nada.  Not a one.

Lastly, I do love poetry.  Writing it, reading it, talking about it.  Putting it together with photograph.

Many thanks to Robin and Roger, who got me started on this journey!  I appreciate the people who read and leave comments, and the folks who follow my blog.  You let me know I'm not hangin' out here, alone.


Most of the time.  Some of the time I actually am hangin' out here alone - fiddle dee dee.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Jewels in the Crown

"Man would always rather invent the miraculous, than investigate the ordinary (and discover the miraculous within)".  From Irish Gumbo.  


"Sometimes you have to look reality in the eye and deny it."  Mountain Musings.


Dust

When I went to look at what had long been hidden,
A jewel laid long ago in a secret place,
I trembled, for I thought to see its dark deep fire -
But only a pinch of dust blew up in my face.

I almost gave my life long ago for a thing
That has gone to dust now, stinging my eyes -
It is strange how often a heart must be broken
Before the years can make it wise. Sara Teasdale by way of  At the Edge of the Ocean

Merci and Gracias, Bloggers

I suppose this is an indication of my love of, and perhaps over-involvement in, cyber communities, but I am planning on attending the Third Annual Willow Ball. I am intrigued. I'm not sure how it's going to play out, but I do know who I want to take as my date: k.d. lang. My wife will understand. Wont' you, honey?

Check out the blog; I'm new to it but it seems wildly popular. Poetry. Photography. Cooking.

Is there a blog you have become addicted to? I can't be the only one. Of course I always check The New Dharma Bums for their elegant and intelligent writing, and great photography. Plus, they are personal friends and this is an excellent way to stay in contact. Premium T. is another personal friend who delivers great poetry, photography, art, food, family posts. Currently she and her husband are in Ireland, and that is always a treat for us, her readers.

There are blogs I read religiously, but then they went in a new (undesirable) direction or simply dropped out of cyberspace. I've purchased art through blogs, won merchandise, re-connected with old friends and met plenty of new ones, expanded my cooking repertoire, and laughed my ass off.

Hey, thank you, all you bloggers out there!

I'm A Winner!

Some of you long-time readers may recall I won a Flip VIdeo camera in a contest sponsored by CBS news back in 2009. A few weeks back, my pal Lynn and I went to a local acoustical concert at the Ugly Mug, and I won a music CD at the intermission raffle. My latest win also came as a complete surprise; over the memorial day weekend I entered a contest to win a very nice cooking pan. I entered last minute, but made sure I followed all the instructions. To my great surprise, I won! My 12 inch All Clad pan (with lid!) arrived yesterday. It's a beauty. The contest was sponsored a cooking blog that has got me hooked on cooking blogs: CookingSchmooking. So, a big SHOUT OUT to Melody of Cookingschmooking and her panel of judges for selecting my entry as the winner! I am positively giddy.

Holy Smokes, I Won!

Thank to Mel at Cookingschmooking and her panel of judges for picking my entry to win the All-Clad 12 inch pan with lid! I have never had such a fun cooking instrument! I went to the All-Clad site and found this heavenly looking recipe:

Pan-Braised Halibut with Chorizo and Little Neck Clams

Ingredients:

2 six-ounce halibut fillets (each approximately 1 inch thick)

Course salt and fresh-ground black pepper Extra virgin olive oil

8 pieces of little neck clams

1⁄4 pound soft chorizo or spicy Italian sausage, removed from casing and broken into 1⁄2 inch or smaller pieces

1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon dry vermouth

3⁄4 cup chicken stock

Pinch of chili flakes

1 teaspoon chopped fresh herbs preferably parsley, chives or tarragon

2 small plum tomatoes, cored and 1⁄2 inch diced, tossed with salt, pepper,

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil and a splash of good quality balsamic vinegar

Preparation:

Season halibut fillets with salt and pepper.

In your All-Clad LTD2 10 or 12” fry pan, over high heat, add olive oil to cover bottom of skillet, heat until just smoking. Add fillets and continue cooking over medium- high heat until golden brown (approximately 2 minutes).

Flip fish, add clams, tomatoes and chorizo, continue cooking for another minute or until halibut is just cooked through. Remove halibut and place on serving plates. Add shallots and garlic to pan, cook another 30 seconds.

Finally, add vermouth, chicken stock, chili flakes and fresh herbs. Cover and cook until clams open. Add butter to emulsify, double check seasoning, and spoon equally over halibut fillets.

This sounds so tasty and tangy and diverse. I'm going to San Diego at the end of the week to celebrate my mother's 75th birthday, and I do believe this is a dish they would love - if my snob chef of a father will relinquish his kitchen to me. He'll be so proud I now have a 12 inch All Clad frying pan with lid....I can just see him weeping now - tears of joy.