Tiriba

This is the rhythm we are learning right now in my West African drum class. Yeah, it is a hard one. All the rhythms we have learned until now have been in fours or eights. This rhythm is in 12/8, I think. Heck, I don't even know what that means. It's in threes, the lead hand changes from left to right and fast.

Man.

The beat goes on.

In and Out

Oh I'm a lucky man
To count on both hands
The ones I love

Indeed

Dusty & Rusty

I just went to the Free Library-which wasn't very free, I had to pay off some late fines, sheesh! Anyway, I saw a book there by an author named "Dusty Bunker." I just had to check it out, I felt a special connection to her.

See, you might not find that very amusing or interesting if you didn't already know that I sometimes roll with the handle "Rusty Plyers." I gave it a little British flair to throw the gawkers further off my trail.

I don't use the alias for any malicious intent, just social network sites, tables for two and the like. I'm just a little shy you see. Depending on the level of informality, I sometimes roll with "Donnie." Just ask my nephews William and Charles. They are whip smart, I only had to ask them once to use Donnie in public if there were strangers within earshot, and never had to remind them. Silly me, I was surprised when they whipped it out at the University of Pennsylvania bookstore. "Donnie, Donnie, Uncle Donnie, let's go!"

Let's go.

Honk For Labor

HONK! HONK!

Thank Goodness I got back on the health and wellness today. Thank goodness I gave up on my 5:19 5 bus a while back. I left the house around 5:11, arrived at York/Dauphin station to find it locked up tight, I started walking down Front to the Berks stop and phoned home. Sarah looked at the SEPTA website and informed me that Transport Workers Union, Local 234 announced a work stoppage as of 3am this morning. Here is a link to the article from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Here is a map of the route I took:

Yahoo! Maps is calling it 6.42 miles. I guess that's a 10k+. I left at 5:11 and arrived at the gym around 6:50. I still had time to stretch, shower and get to work on time.

I feel real relaxed.

My Whole Life...

Send "Modern Girl" Ringtones to Cell

My baby love me
I'm so happy
Happy makes me a modern girl
Took my money
And bought a TV
TV brings me
Closer to the world

My whole life
was like a picture
of a sunny day.

My baby loves me
I'm so hungry
Hunger makes me
A modern girl
Took my money
And bought a donut
The hole's the size of
The entire world

My whole life
looked like a picture
of a sunny day.

My baby loves me
I'm so angry
Anger makes me a modern girl
Took my money
I couldn't buy nothin'
I'm sick of this
Brave new world

Bring it Philly-Bring It!

On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert
I pick up my money and head back into town
Driving cross the Waynesboro county line
I got the radio on and I'm just killing time
Working all day in my daddy's garage
Driving all night chasing some mirage
Pretty soon little girl I'm gonna take charge

CHORUS
The dogs on Main Street howl
'cause they understand
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land

I've done my best to live the right way
I get up every morning and go to work each day
But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold
Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode
Explode and tear this whole town apart
Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart
Find somebody itching for something to start

CHORUS

There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted

Make Me Fries!

Oh my, I am dying.

Live a little, laugh a lot.

Let us hope.

The American Self-Loafer

Sunnydazz writes: 2 of 5 Stars

Eddie Vedder the American Self-Loather will be blaming Bush and Corporate America when this CD tanks........

September 23, 2009 10:08 PM EST


"Bitter, table for one..."

Man, laughed my ass off when I read this. "American Self-Loather!" That's awesome dude! I found that little gem underneath a Rolling Stone review of Backspacer, PJ's new album. I don't normally go for reviews of any sort-especially before I read, view or buy reviewed product, but generally when I am blown away by something I do have to turn to the "experts" to see why.

It took me a while to dig it. I haven't shed any tears on this one yet, as some have, but after about five good listens to it over two or three days I have plunged full-on in love with this album. It is heavy, a little hard to listen to, but I've listened to it about ten times since yesterday-I can't stop.

Why does Eddie Vedder write so many songs about me?

"Vainglorious, table for two..."

Second Chances

Man, I was really trying to wait a whole month, but I just missed it too much. Hah! I am not really sure why, but I began to loathe the posting, but thanks for reading just the same.

Maybe it had to do with my ability to follow through with much of anything-for very long anyway.

Maybe it is because I quit taking my crazy pills and fell into a mire-which happened the minute I started this renovation stuff. I never thought I'd be that person, it wasn't because I thought I was fine, the stuff was stored in the room the where the renovation began, and I just got out of the habit. It was reassuring to confirm I am still full of hate and anger, depressed and that I am still ready for it to all be over.

Maybe it's just not worth recording.

Anyway, I am back on the crazy pills and posting on the blog.

Alas, we are born anew every day. Isn't it nice.

It reminds me of this fellow named Donald I used to work at at the Burton. He was trying to drill a hole in a lid for me so I could run a siphon into a jug of poison, and he drilled it too big and the siphon was all wonky. He was bummed about it and I said "Here, I have another one," and he replied "Oh goody, I love second chances."

As do I Donald, as do I.

Fare well.

More Mas

Hey, uncovered some goodies tearing down the panelling that was in the room. It is pretty gnarly. We are just going to frame out this wall-the blue wall, and put sheet rock up; not a bad plan.




Found a door, and yes, all those lines that look like cracks and spots that look like holes, that is what they are indeed.

Be well.

New Intro for Moribayassa

Hey, check out this video of Moribayassa. We are currently learning this intro. It sounds really good. We are playing a first Friday event at Circle on September 4th. Groovy.

Renovation Is Underway

Did you ever see that funky green carpet we have in our front bedroom upstairs? It is funky.

I started pulling it up on Saturday, to expose the hardwood, so that we can refinish the floors upstairs.

Of course they are really gnarly and will need a lot of work. It looks like an old dock or something.

I also removed the drop-tile ceiling. That will give us another foot or so overhead.

Here's more floor.

You can see the corner near the ceiling in this funky picture.

Like everything else, this came up really fast, Sarah and I talked about it one day, the next, I am ripping up carpet.

We are going to do the second floor-except the bathroom in one whack. We hope to be done by the middle of October. Sweeeeet!

When I Get Mad, I Write it Down On a Pad

Sarah and I went to a spoken word event at Circle the other night. It was a lot of fun. It really made me curious why I had never been interested in going to anything like it before. Sarah read a poem she wrote about the lost and found a the medical library she works at. It was so good. People really enjoyed it. She had read it to me once before at our house, it gave me chills. I heard it differently on Saturday night. I got up and told a Craig Henderson story. It felt good. It made me want to write my stories down and continue to share them. That will make some people happy.

Listen well.

Do No Harm

Interesting stuff is afoot in the homeland. I am being quite affected by the Ched Myers. Yesterday in a post I mentioned the Myers video titled Let Them Speak Many Languages. In the discussion, Myers brings up Mark 6, when Jesus sends out his disciples to carry out the "good news," in which Jesus' instructions for evangelism are very clear.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.

8These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. 10Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."

12They went out and preached that people should repent. 13They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Mark 6:6-12

Myers brings up a couple of interesting points from this passage, namely the mandate to carry little or nothing with you and if you are not welcome in a place, then leave. He uses these as an argument against the advance of empire and the assimilation and oppression of "subject" populations. He points out that it is hard to subjugate people if you have nothing and rely on them for your sustenance.

Jesus also instructs that if you are welcomed, stay, if you are not, leave. Well put Jesus. Myers points out that he does not instruct the disciples to punish, enslave, kill or in any other way persuade dissidents. He doesn't instruct the disciples to set up schools, disrupt indigenous beliefs and practices, steal their land, build a town or mine their natural resources.

Where did we go wrong? Please forgive us.

Yes, I am a little excited about Ched Myers. I think it is neat-o that I learned of Myers shortly after I started reading all these Chinua Achebe books. At the moment I am reading one titled Arrow of God (watch that link, it may be a spoiler). In a nutshell, it is about the colonization and subjugation of the Ibo people of Nigeria by both the British government and Christian missionaries. Imagine how conflicting and confusing it would be to have your beliefs, language and way of life devalued and villainies and replaced with ones that offensive and disruptive to your entire being. Welcome to the plight of millions.

This is who we are, this is our cultural heritage. It is necessary and helpful as we go forward, to recognize this fact.

Be well.

The Empire Strikes Out

Hey, I watched this great video today of Ched Myers talking about multiculturalism. It is a very interesting and provocative discussion. He uses two stories from the Bible (the Tower of Babel and Pentecost) as evidence for God's dislike for centralized power and monoculture. He makes a pretty strong case against empire and using the Bible and/or Christianity to institute and advance empire and domination-of any sort. The stories in the Bible are the stories of oppressed minorities, Israelites and Christians, not the elite. As Myers says, good news for some, bad for other. It is definitely worth a listen.

I Know, I Know

Man, I have been a real bum lately on the blog scene. Oh well, here we are. I have been reading and gardening and also toiling with the djembe. The garden on Frankford Ave has been taking up some time, as Rachel has been out of town. I have also been reading some Bible stuff from Ched Myers about Sabbath Economics. Here is an article from Sojourners magazine about it if you have some time, if not, here is the wikipedia page. More about that later. I have also tried to abstain from doing this at work. It helps me not feel like a bum.

Be well

CSA week of July 23, 2009

Well, the csa continues to roll on. We are still really surprised and delighted every week that we see our bounty. It is so cool. The Ruby Swiss Chard is really beautiful. We also started to buy dairy and eggs through the csa.

1 head green cabbage – certified organic – Green Valley Organics
1 bunch Detroit red beets – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 bag Yukon gold potatoes – certified organic – Millwood Springs – 2.5 lbs
1 bag candy onions – transitional – Taste of Nature Farm – 2lbs
3 green slicing cucumbers – certified organic – Goshen View Organics
3 green zucchini – certified organic – Maple Valley Organics
1 bag yellow or green beans – certified organic – White Swan Acres – 1 lb
10 red slicing tomatoes– certified organic – Green Valley Organics
1 bunch red bor kale – certified organic - Life Enhancing Acres
1 bunch Swiss chard – certified organic – Little Brook Organics

Have fun

The Day He Saves

Sometimes I feel a little like Captain Linger. I wonder what his mild social disorder is.

Roxy and Elsewhere

Poor Roxie! Sarah and I went to meet Roxie at PAWS on Saturday afternoon. She looked so pretty and delicate, like a desert flower, but she was very mean. Sarah picked her up and got bitten! She was growling and hissing. We could pet her a little bit at first, but I accidentally touched a piece of matted fur and she swiped at me. Boo hoo. I reached down to pet her one more time and she unleashed on a cat that was sleeping in a cat bed nearby; crazy cat!

We asked the staff member if Roxie was just having a bad day, or if she was always so grumpy. Nope, no bad day, that's Roxie. I went back on Monday afternoon just to look around and Roxie was up on her hind legs batting at this poor cat that just came up to sniff her. She is real pretty, and has probably been through a whole lot, but she is just a looking cat, she really doesn't want anyone in (or near) her business.

She would not be a good fit at our house.

CSA week of July 16th 2009

You will find the following items in your share today:

1 head green cabbage – certified organic – Green Valley Organics
1 head cheddar cauliflower – certified organic – Goshen View Organics
1 bag red Norland potatoes – certified organic – Green Valley Organics
1 bunch Detroit red beets – certified organic – Farmdale Organics
1 Asian cucumber – certified organic – White Swan Acres
2 green slicing cucumbers – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics
3 candy onions – transitional – Taste of Nature Farm
4 pcs squash & zucchini mix – certified organic – Goshen View, Maple Lawn Organics
1 green zucchini – transitional – Organic Willow Acres
1 lb heirloom tomatoes – certified organic – Riverview Organics
1 bunch dandelion greens – certified organic – Hillside Organics
1 bunch Swiss chard – certified organic – Little Brook Organics

Here is a peak at our CSA this week. It is the largest haul yet. I feel like I say that every week. Pictures are a little goofy. I still do not know how to use my camera.

There is a whole lot of yellow in this haul. Check out the Cheddar Cauliflower.

More blurry yellow.


Here is the haul in its entirety. Time to eat!
In the previous post is a picture of Roxy, she is a little cat I am trying to get Sarah to adopt-no luck.

Feel well.

Roxie
PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society)Philadelphia, PA2152389901 info@phillypaws.org

Insults and Injuries

Live a little, laugh a lot.

I love you

On Through the Night

Here is a nice picture I took in Jo-ja back in June. This message was just spray painted on a piece of granite that was set in the ground. What does it mean? It kind of reminds me of a tombstone.

Nonetheless, what great advice! I guess it is all we are really expected to do. What else can we do? Well, there are other options, but they are seldom palatable to the general public.

Drive on.

CSA Week # ? 9 July 2009

Yes, I have lost count on the csa weeks. We got a rather nice haul this week. A little lighter on the greens this week. That's no sweat, a few times this summer we have been pressed a little to mow through all the greens we have. No complaints, it's just a fact; we do love greens. Check out the details below. Those li'l baby eggplants are beautiful, can't wait to slay them.

Alright ya'll stay great and stay tuned for a picture of the table with mates. Please continue to think of and pray for my sister Stephanie. She is now at home recovering, but finds herself in another neck of the woods.

Be well,

Stephan


You will receive the following items in your share:

1 head green cabbage – certified organic – Goshen View Organics

1 bunch Detroit red beets – certified organic – Farmdale Organics

4 green zucchini – certified organic – Organic Willow Acres

2 cucumbers – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics

1 bag red gold potatoes – certified organic – Millwood Springs – 2 lbs

2 candy onions – certified organic – Taste of Nature

1 bag specialty eggplant – certified organic – Taste of Nature

1 bunch dandelion greens – certified organic – Hillside Organics

1 head butterhead lettuce – certified organic – Goshen View Organics

Street Farmer

Hey, check out this cool article my friend Greta sent me. This guy's got the compost!

NY Times Magazine
Street Farmer
By ELIZABETH ROYTE
Published: July 5, 2009
Can Will Allen make the inner city the next front in the good-food movement?

Fanga

We started learning a new rhythm last night in my West African drum class. I am excited, as I have been wanting to learn this one for some time-I guess since January or so when we had our Moribayassa recital at out Public Meeting. Jay, Meko and Jonny played djembe with the worship band. Jay seemed to be controlling the volume and tempo, and we all know wht he likes, loud and fast. I remember how impressed I was with DJ, thumpin' his bass, belting out the lyrics.

Anyway, here are some videos that demonstrate it (djembe 1, djembe 2, djembe 1 & 2). We only got as far as the djembe parts; we did not have time to start the dununs.

If you have five minutes, watch, or just listen to the fourth video below. It is by this kooky-cool storytelling, drumming and singing duo called "Alafia." They are funny and informative. Check out that background, where are they? Jay told us a real similar story last night about Fanga.

Feel good!

Table Mate

Remember this pile of wood I found laying out on trash day last May? I got it home on the Coastline Large-two trips.

I've used a little of it here and there, but today I got out front and made an end table out of some of the wood, check it out.

I was going to make a table to go out back to get some of the plants off the ground, make some more room, but I thought how can I make more room back here? I have to get rid of some of these plants, where will they go? I made this end table to put plants on. I guess I will call it a planter.

My neighbor Tom thought it was neat, says "People pay a hundred bucks at the flea market for something like that." I laughed and said "Ya, it's real barn wood!" He replied, "You laugh, people's crazy." I laughed, people are crazy, I'm people. I put some garden next to my stoop.

Wow! They Have Nick Cave Dolls Now...

I reconnected with a friend of mine named Greta via email today. It made me really happy to hear from her. She is a farmer in Fargo, North Dakota. We shared a work-shack for a bit back in Montana, pressing cookies for the kiddies to dunk in their milk while missing they mommas.

Thunderations!

Anyway, she was hootin' about my garden, so I got busy, harvested some food and took some pictures. Somehow it is all connected.

It is a little tight back here, I will admit.

The "polycultural" gardening hasn't really impressed me much.

It was kind of fun to watch, but it's such a mess and I feel like I am missing out on something. I must be.

I scooped Swiss Chard today. It's so savory I love it. I'm always out there chewing on my cud.

Here is some Lemon Thyme that Dan gave me from the garden on Frankford Avenue. I hope it takes root, the rosemary didn't. That's real ice tea ya'll, how it glows.

Seven stars basil equals seven stars pesto. This is the first real pull from the basil this year. What have I become, we usually roll in the stuff. Look at my tea!

This is our third yellow squash. It looks like a rocket!


I need to take better notes all in all. The polycultural thing is bust, I hacked off some beet greens thinking they were Swiss Chard. Fail to plan, plan to fail. I'm pushing the limits. I gotta have a code.

kuku-sangban

Another one I am currently learning.

Destined to Remember

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.
- Maya Angelou,from her inaugural poem, "On the Pulse of Morning" (January 20, 1993)

I Am Ahead, I Am Advanced

I was digging my West African drum class last night. I dig it every time more or less, but it has been different somehow lately. For one, Jay changed the format a little bit. He is no longer dividing the classes into eight week cycles, during which we learn a new rhythm. Over the past three weeks, Jay has had us working on "Kuku," (the rhythm we started at the beginning of this eight weeks), then working on "Moribayassa;" a rhythm that most of us learned last winter. We are working toward learning a repertoire of rhythms, which consists of

Kuku, Moribayassa, Yankadi/Macru, Tiriba, Fanga, Gidamba, and from there, Kassa, Djole, Dununba and Soli.

The goal is to have a group of people that know these rhythms so that when opportunities to perform (cultural events, school assemblies, protests and whatever) arise, Jay will have a group of musicians ready to perform. He would also like to integrate these rhythms and dances into the life of the church. Traditionally these rhythms are not played for their own sake, like how a band plays a concert that people just watch, rather they are played in support of a dance associated with each rhythm. The dances are danced for specific purposes and occasions such as baby naming, birth, death, fishing, farming, circumcision, weddings, and all kinds of other daily activities in the community.

Jay did a little bit of talking last night during class. He started talking about West African drumming and how it reflects West African culture at large. The rhythms that we are learning to play are referred to as "polyrhythms," that is, members of the ensemble are playing different parts simultaneously that lock in together and make a cohesive rhythm.

Check out these three videos below; the first two are djembes one and two played separately. The third is the rhythms played together, as they would be in an ensemble. This is two djembe parts for Kassa-a Malinke rhythm from Guinea, West Africa that is played when crops are being harvested in the field.

So ya, you have to know your own part really well, but you also have to know the other parts and how they all work together. This is a fairly simple example of polyrhythms; the version of Kuku that we are learning has three djembe parts, three dunun (bass drums) parts, with bells, some verbal call and response, with some djembe soloing winding in and out of the rhythm as well. There is a lot going on.

In traditional West African culture, individuals are encouraged to excel-know their djembe part and play it well, but they are also expected to work with others toward the success of the entire community-be able to play as part of the ensemble. In traditional West African society, if an individual or family has a problem, then it is thought that the entire village has the problem. It seems like a healthy way for a community to operate.

Then we went outside and turned some cars over and threw trash cans through store fronts. No, I'm kidding about the trash cans.

But ya, this is what we learn, the ways of indigenous people (before they were destroyed by colonization) and how cultures that we once needed to "civilize" and decimate make a lot more sense than many of the institutions we live in today.

Of course there was more and Jay was a lot more articulate and passionate, but I wanted to express that class is more than just drumming.

Green Grass and High Tides

I wanted to let you know how my sister Stephanie is doing. She is doing much better, but has a long road to full recovery. She was taken out of the intensive care unit on June 25th and put into a regular room. I have spoken to her several times since then. It is really great to hear her voice; when I left her on the 13th of June, I really wasn't sure which direction she was headed.

Man, she has been through it. A couple of days ago she asked, "do you know everything they've done to me?" I told her I didn't know everything, but I knew a lot of what she had done to her. I cannot wait to see her again soon.

Enjoy today!

kuku-dununba

Here it is.

Gardening at Night Just Didn't Grow

Yes, we still have a garden, and it is still being tended. There has been a whole lot of rain, so not much sun or produce. Check out this other garden I work at and write about a couple times a week.

Until then, enjoy this:

I took a clipping off of this bad boy last night. It is at home trying to root. Dan thinks it is a Vitis labrusca ( Himrod Grape ), but can't be sure. We are going to give the Himrods a whack because we can't beat their prices prices.

Feel well.

Farafina Kan

I just watched this awesome video on Farafina Kan's homepage. Check it out, it is some cool beans. It'll make you want to do something-sadly, always from the outside.

Why is the Why?

Drumming at the Croatan last night took a bit of a turn. I am not sure why, but I like it. Major personality flaw-I always wonder about the "why." That is probably the most minor of my major personality flaws; most recently labeled at least.

But the change, class was set up to teach a new rhythm every eight weeks, leading to teaching a repertoire of rhythms. That seems to have melded into a more progressive approach, where we nail down, tighten up rhythms and breaks we already know, while adding new material as we go along. Last night's class was really good. I dig the change.

I am starting to hear the djembe a little better. I am starting to pick up on where the various parts lock in, what responds where.

I am going to this guy's (below) class tonight at Freedom Theatre; I am going with Meko from church. He also takes the djembe class from Jay, but has been taking classes from Menes Yahudah for a time. Meko said there is a lot of focus on technique and also some stuff dealing with the spiritual nature of drumming. Weeee. We will have to see what's too much.

This photo and biography are from the Farafina Kan website. I hope he smiles like that in class.

Menes Yahudah
POB: Baltimore, MD
DOB: 6/26/76
Role: Tech & rehearsal director & lead Djembe soloist

Menes has been drumming since the age of 2 and has always been interested and committed to drumming. Menes is a former lead soloist for Baltimore’s Sankofa Dance Theatre and is currently the Director of Urban Foli and an instructor with Tam Tam Mandingue, USA in Baltimore. Menes has performed nationally and internationally in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. He has spent the greater part of his adult life learning Djembe music and is fluent in other musical languages as well. He currently teaches drum classes in Baltimore, Philadelphia and continues to travel nationally and internationally performing and studying traditional arts.

I know you are all interested in this stuff, or I wouldn't bother writing about it! I jest! I will report on the class soon. I need to make up a song for this dununba part for Kuku that I am trying to learn. I know the parts, I just can't play them right.

Beat your face private!

Nankama

I know you have five minutes. Check this video out. You can even bring the kiddies-you'll be glad you did!

He Who Forgets

Somewhere, in the hinterlands of South Georgia, a lonely man, father of five (four if you like), cries in his backyard, alone with his hedge. His phone does not dial out.

Somewhere in Kesington, on a dreary Fathers' Day, a childless husband, leans on his cart, laments his feeling abandoned, betrayed. His phone does not dial out.

See the cat? See the cradle?

The Pedal Brake That You Depended On

So, back to the Fruits. I don't know really. I feel so bad lately. I came home from work and lid down for a nap at 3:45. Sarah woke me up at 10:15, asking me to let her in bed. So odd, why couldn't she get in bed? Why was I sprawled like that? Why was it dark? I went back to sleep and woke up around 8 am. I guess the past couple of weeks finally caught up with me. My body aches and I just can't rustle up the gumption to do anything.

And I'm supposed to think about this? I am supposed to think about how I can be more loving? I asked Sarah last week about that, what being loving meat to her. In reply she stated that a way to love her more would be to take care of myself. Gee Whiz! Tall order there girl.

Well, I'll end like this:

That is my beautiful wife, Sarah, to the right, and our beautiful friend Mariko, to the left at some outside food function. One, I forgot to ask Mariko about that beautiful dress-shirt she is wearing (its origin and whatnot). Two, Sarah smiling at an outdoor food function.

The Fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:19-23, New International Version)

Not a real whack at LOVE, we'll try again later. I have some Ideas they are just mired in upheaval and tumult at the moment.

Sayonara Dora

CSA week # 5 or 6--June 18, 2009

I apologize for missing a couple of weeks on the csa report; I was out of town. I will admit that I have been a little slow on the posting since my return, but I have been busy, both at work and around the house.

Here is what it looked like:


This is what you will find in your share today:

1 head Napa cabbage – transitional – Green Acres Organics
1 box new red Norland potatoes – certified organic – Green Valley Organics
1 bag snow peas – certified organic – White Swan Acres – 1 lb
1 bunch chiogga beets – certified organic – Millwood Springs Farm
1 bag young rainbow chard – certified organic – Elm Tree Organics – ½ lb
1 head escarole – certified organic – Windy Hollow Organics
1 bunch garlic scapes – certified organic – Life Enhancing Acres
1 bag baby head lettuce – transitional – Taste of Nature
1 head green leaf lettuce – certified organic – Back 40 Ranch

I used to know this federal potato inspector in Montana years ago named RB Browning. He was a really sweet guy, going through some really heavy stuff. Deiter wants to grow up to be a potato inspector.

Feel good ya'll.

Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables

My little brother Tariq brought the "fruit" up on Sunday. He kind of jogged my memory about it. I mentioned , the fruit of the Spirit yesterday in reference to Stephanie. Thinking about it reminded me that trying to live out the fruit is probably a pretty good way to live. It could be thought of as a code even.

"Not many people got a code to live by anymore."

Sorry, I just had to. Anyway, I want to try to apply the Fruits of the Spirit to my life. I think it could be good. It might make me a better husband, employee, drummer, whatever. While in Georgia last week, Stanette mentioned that there were many qualities about Stephanie that she liked. I think these qualities may result from living out the Fruits of the Spirit every day.

But first off, I have to call them the "Fruits of the Spirit." There are nine (plural) of them, maybe they should all be one-a unit even, but naw, it sounds better.

So, what are the Fruits of the Spirit?

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:19-23, New International Version)

That is really only verses 22 and 23, but check out 19-21. It's pretty clear about what is not "fruitful" behavior. Hey man, you gotta be cooler than that. I am going to try to go through the fruits one at a time, think about how I currently live each fruit, and how I might live them a little better. Maybe I'll just talk about songs or old sitcoms that make me think about the fruits. I might even get kooky and mystical, talking about nine-pointed stars and the like, who knows.

Here they are again: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

One more picture for you; check out "joy," what is that a fried egg white? What about kindness? Haacha. Faithfulness looks like a pair of wax lips.

Feel well.