Friday, May 30, 2008

a good day starts

with a good breakfast...
and since i found this Mexican gigantic

Brombeere
Blackberries
Moras negras


[look at their size compared to my hand!]

so i decided to use them in a

super-Frühstück
super-breakfast
super-desayuno

all the ingredients here are very healthy food
i linked some of their benefits
please click and read them!

every day i realize more the importance of
feeding oneself with the proper foods
the chemistry in our bodies reflects in every
aspect of our lives... i many times indulge in
not so very healthy food... but it is comforting
to notice that after eating healthier food for
as little as 1 or 2 weeks, i start feeling with
more energy, lighter, and even happier...
mmm, body chemistry!

now for that delicious healthy breakfast

ingredients

1 cup of low-fat (1%) Kefir milk
1/2 cup (or more) of delicious blackberries
1/4 cup of walnuts
1 tablespoon of Maple syrup




just cut the berries if the are too big
and mix them with the Kefir milk
chop the walnuts and sprinkle with the maple syrup

i use Grade B maple syrup, which is less processed than
grade A, but has this nutty almost "tree-like" flavor
mmm, and has to be Canadian or from Vermont
the experts in maple syrup regions

oh, mouthwatering!



and here some healthy alternatives
in case you don't find the ingredients

if you don't have Kefir milk, use low or fat-free yogurt
if you don't have berries, use any other chopped fruit
if you don't have walnuts, use any other nut
if you don't have maple syrup, use regular bee honey

and this is delicious as a dessert too!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

a lazy sunday

silent half-dead Sun
mumbling, a distant dog
peace and smells of life that has passed
a silent window
muted memories of a lost love
Sunday, a lazy one,
around my home

never enough

it seems to be never enough time
specially when it comes to rest
or to walk, or to play

after a 3-day weekend
i feel like i didn't really rest
but i didn't really worked either

i sort of cleaned
and sort of rested
i planed to upload tons of recipes
and post hundreds of photos
that i have stored

yet, i did NONE
didn't post anything
barely read now & there
but... ah time... time
click clack clock...

but again, never enough time
although, i did stretch the old toes
and took a couple of sunny-sometimes
cold-grayish-other-times naps

and i cooked, oh yes, and ate...
and even if in quantity, healthy too for sure

and today i woke to another
apparently limitless issue in California
and all around this country...
or the world
the energetics crisis up to our heads
or our feet?

for the 1st time since living in San Diego
that is 2001
i payed over $4 per a gallon of gasoline



fresh from this gray Tuesday morning
at the pump
the cheapest gasoline the
Unleaded 87 Octane Regular
$4.099 per gallon

and luckily i have a gasoline-saving gas
a japanese brand, Toyota
with very high mileage per gallon
but still, i could see the numbers just
rolling on and on and on at the pump...





and that was just for 3/4 of the tank!



time to switch the wheel for the shoe!
and yet my shoes here complain a bit too...
i am a walker indeed
on the weekends
i try to run most errands by foot

but even if Hippocrates said
"Walking is man's best medicine"
some distances the feet just can't take
specially in Southern California
with a life style designed for having a car



oh the 'practicalities' of this!
our modern life

and yet, walk! walk! walk!

and underneath or below?
the Hippocrates' quotes
was hidden this one
by this author unknown by me before
Gretel Ehrlich

it read:
"Walking is also an ambulation of mind."

and oh, so to walk
this mind of mine feels so inclined
to ambulate, to pace always!
sometimes, low or, later fast

Sunday, May 25, 2008

breakfast: huevos con ajos y tomates

Reformkost Frühstück
healthy breakfast
desayuno saludable

I have been very lazy the past couple of days
just resting and hanging-out at home
but also I have been trying to cook myself
my own meals while trying to eat healthier
for me is a pleasure to cook simple meals
and i have been trying to include ingredients
that are listed on this book that my friend Tina
recently gave me: Super Foods RX



so one of the quick breakfast recipes that i developed
myself is
Ei, Tomaten und Knoblauchzehe
eggs with tomatoes and garlic
huevos con tomates y ajo

Ingredients

5 cherry tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1 'sunny' disposition of making yourself and yummy and healthy breakfast



optional: slices of green serrano chile, for a mexican spicy twist
or some fresh basil, for a more Mediterranean flavor






it is very easy to make
just chop the tomatoes and garlic
and cook them on the olive oil
on a thick pan for about 3 minutes
add the already beaten egg and heat
until the egg is cooked



here i served with some cuban style black beans
from trader joe's



beans have tons of vitamins B and fiber
and tomatoes, garlic and olive oil are among
the healthiest foods in the world
so enjoy!



to accompany all, a good cup of black coffee
i recommend you the Trader Joe's
Bolivian Organic blend
is a caramel smooth medium but also dark blend
perfect for breakfast

i have more healthy & quick recipes coming soon

Bon appetite!

Friday, May 23, 2008

walk into the sea






[I could walk into the sea]
And choke away the memory
Do I have to stay alive
Just to keep our dresses white?

You come to me in dreams
With all the other pretty things
You tell me about a Savior
And how the soul lives on forever

And time is just a hunger
It bleeds us out to nothing
And when it finally takes us over
I hope we’ll float away together

Yeah, time’s the great destroyer
Leaves every child a bastard
When it finally takes us over
I hope we’ll float away together



stormy friday

& its grayness a little my soul altered...
with its layers of melanchol-eesh gray-eeish
substances and the branches, scratching
the already-clouded skies
scratching, reaching
like we always want to reach for the sky

the gray, the melancholy
of a night that has melted
within the daylight...

try playing both little movies
and the song all at once
then repeat the movies
as the song is longer
and immerse yourself
in sound and gray




Jane Siberry With K.D. Lang


so on stormy friday nights
could be a good idea
as one cuddles, a song to listen so to scare
the windy demons away
calling all angels, with angels voices
themselves

Monday, May 19, 2008

das letzte Quiz

Ich habe morgen die letzte Deutschstunde und das letzte Wortschatz Quiz
am Donnerstag, der Endtest
here the last words i have to learn
to end Kapitel 11 (elf)



and even though I won't miss
being out of my house
jeden Dienstag und Donnerstag um 8 Uhr und zurück um 20 Uhr...

i will indeed miss Frau Wrasidlo
and her marvelous lectures
always so throughly and efficient
again and again over the primary and secondary endings
over the strange word order in German sentences
and always highlights her classes with some German
cultural tidbits, comments over German idiosyncrasies
and some Berliners anecdotes...
indeed the best
'foreign Language' professor I ever had
and once of the best professors overall
of my whole career

sie ist eine fantastische Frau!
as you can read here in a couple of
students reviews

and what a treat when one finds a good professor
like Frau Barbara Wrasidlo
one of those who change one's life
because, yes, one can learn from books
from life, and even from the internet
but nothing like getting knowledge on the place
where knowledge was meant to be imparted
on a public school...
ah! i am pretty lucky to be an adult student
now that learning is not a duty
but a pleasure...
although i still complain while doing
Hausaufgabe and repeating

i consider myself pretty lucky
of have learned a little of German
such a schweres Sprache!

and even if i am too far from knowing the language well
at least i feel safe now to go to Germany
and say one of the most common phrases
in any language

ich möchte etwas zu essen
i would like something to eat
me gustaría algo de comer


oh what one does for love,
even learning Deutsch...

und etwas lieber
straight from Germany
Lieber Gruß!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

california dreaming

heute nachmittag, um die Ecke meines Hauses
this afternoon, around the corner of my house
la tarde de hoy, a la vuelta de la esquina de mi casa






as the degrees rise
the california dreaming
rubs awake now
its sleepy eyes

Saturday, May 17, 2008

a Friday night on a hot day of May

after a 40hr working week
and classes
and what it seemed an
eternal/endless running of errands
my Friday night (last night)
came... ah! & time for...

barefoot-lounging...
strawberry-munching...



and a heat wave attacks San Diego today
but i felt victim of conveniences, leaving
the little house anyway

i will come back to reply your great comments
my dear dear friends

was Friday night
and now so sunny warm not so fresh
but the light demands me outside
rushing the soul on a sunny escapade

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

some kitchen scenes

Montag Mittagessen
Monday's Lunch
el almuerzo del lunes



a traditional
turkey breast, jack pepper w/peppers cheese
red lettuce and spinach mix
over multi grain sliced bread
mustard added

and the whole Lunch set
some greek style fat free yogurt (mmm, creamy!)
and 10 organic strawberries



pretty spoiled...

and some of the room where it all



takes place...
Guten Appetit!
Bonn Appetite!
¡Buen provecho!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

a prayer

tonight
regardless of your religion or believes
even if you are an atheist
it would be a good idea to say a little prayer
for the people in China

those devastating earthquakes

and i guess for me is such a touchy subject
'cause i somehow relate in experience

i was 16 years old
when the devastating earthquakes of 1985
brought Mexico City to ruins...

i was in high-school summer vacation
and my mother was getting ready to go to work
she wake me up...
"está temblando, bere, despierta!"
and after surely the hardest earthquake i have feel in my life
the electricity went out and for about 2 hours
we knew not much of what had happened around the city

but about 9 am, a neighbor came with a TV operated by batteries
and i started to see what had happened around the city...

buildings that you have seen every day! on your way to work
or school, were on the ground destroyed now!!!
well-known landmarks, places that you grew-up around...
all in a little over a minute were gone, disappeared for good
and as the weeks went by, another person that you knew
or heard of, friends of friends, and relatives you forgot
added to the list of lost people...

and the telephones, and all communications to Mexico City
for damaged for good, leaving a city of millions in a total
state of chaos and death...
i remember the endless days were the TV channels working
would just report names of families that were OK
so people in other parts of the country could hear from the ones
that were living still in the city...

according to Wiki -that i don't really trust that much, but...

[As a result of the earthquake, according to official government statistics, over 9,000 people were killed, 30,000 injured, and 100,000 left homeless. 416 buildings were destroyed and over 3,000 seriously damaged.]

Many residents of Mexico City dispute the official statistics, and believe that deaths from the quake exceeded 60,000 and more likely approached 100,000. Their reason for doubt is that their one-party government (at the time) was infamous for under-playing negative statistics whenever possible
.

the nightmare begun... and my nobody who lived in Mexico City
back then, can say, that the nightmare that followed
the next days didn't changed their lives

and from BBC, one from those old days

[Disaster zone, Mexico City
Most of the damage, however, was caused 250 miles (400 km) away in Mexico City, which was declared a disaster zone.
Telephone links were cut, and a communications tower burst into flames, leaving television broadcasts monitored in neighbouring Guatemala the only source of information.
Television reports said hundreds of people are trapped in rubble, and more than a third of all buildings have been damaged.
Clouds of dust hung over the city centre, and broken glass and chunks of cement littered the streets.
There was a strong smell of gas and the city government issued a radio appeal for people not to light matches.
Collapsed buildings
Several high-rise hotels collapsed entirely, as well as a section of the city's huge medical centre. Many buildings were on fire. The underground system also failed, stranding hundreds of people.
Many people gathered on street corners, several weeping and some fainting. Others joined rescue workers digging through rubble in a frantic search for survivors.]


and some painful images
and i think is worth to mention
that the people that you see digging there
looking for buried victims were not
city workers, they were complete families
helping to look for lost relatives, friends,
neighbors... all Mexico-city inhabitants
worked together to rescue whoever could be
still alive



these are sad memories, but sometimes
is good to remember the bad things to appreciate
what we have every day... and the people of China
is lacking today
a warm home, and the possibility of being not there...

so, for the people in China
i say a humble prayer tonight
and hope you say one too

Monday, May 12, 2008

Saturdays

Samstag zu Hause, am frühen Nachmittag
Saturday at home, early in the afternoon
Sábado en casa, temprano por la tarde



Saturday, May 10, 2008

Fernando Pessoa and my mom

happy mother's day!
as a little homage to my mother
[and not that she reads this blog]
i remember today, the Portuguese poet
Fernando Pessoa
one of my mother's favorite writers

Pessoa is a wonderful poet
who lived to authentic life of a poet
immersed always on the darkness of
self-inquisitiveness while turning
his search into beautiful poems
but also some rather painfully wonderful prose
i think his major prose piece might be

Das Buch der Unruhe
The Book of Disquiet
El Libro del desasosiego


[one little dusty shelf at home]

and here some quotes
taken literally form my book
i will try to translate in English
as my Pessoa books are both in Spanish
and they are both a gift from my mom
i sort of requested them from her shelves
and she wasn't too happy to give them to me
as she likes to keep at least a copy for herself
but being an only daughter and she knowing
the treasure that Pessoa is, she handed one to me
and the other one, the purple one with the
Poemas Esotéricos, she left here on one of her visits
es tut mir Leid, my german is not so good
to try to translate these powerful words


318.
... ships passing in the night, not greeting each other, not knowing each other...


220. Painful Pause

To dream, what for?
What have I done of myself? Nothing.
If I could myself spiritualize in the night, yes.
Internal statue without contours, External Dream without having been dreamt


224.
... that episode of imagination that we call reality.

[the rest of the paragraph is beautiful, ironic, and painful too but i cannot translate it all, please look your closer bookstore and buy this book in your language of preference, it will be a soulful companion on dark nights or clear mornings... poetry is never a luxury but a necessity of the heart]

also good companions for heart maladies are his

Esoterisch Gedichte
Esoteric Poems
Poemas Esotéricos

Friday, May 09, 2008

twin peaks / twin bricks / twin beaks

just as special agent cooper
arrested james as a suspect
on laura's palmer murder
because of a reflection on
laura's eye;
the same way, one can tell
sometimes where a person's
portrait was taken
if one find an accurate reflection
of their eyes

so here my 'laura's version eye'
where am i?
not even myself could decipher



and it comes
accompanied by a copied/pasted
transcript of that scene from the
original script of Twin Peaks
[notice is from the TV series, not the film]

16. INT. INTERROGATION ROOM A - DAY

JAMES HURLEY is seated, next to his LAWYER, across from Truman, as Cooper enters and sits down beside the Sheriff.
TRUMAN
James has been advised of his rights.
COOPER
James, you were placed under arrest
for suspicion of murder, the murder
of Laura Palmer. You have no
previous criminal record, is that
correct?
JAMES
None. No, sir.
Cooper turns on the VCR and we see the same videotape of Laura and Donna at the picnic that we saw earlier. James watches the video.
COOPER
James, did you shoot this videotape?
Cooper fast forwards to the freeze frame of the motorcycle reflected in Laura's eye.


and a couple of embedded mini films
from youtube, as is tradition on the
world of the lazy blogger because
what could be easier than just copy an embedded film
and blog about it?
well, i know what
to embedded 3 little films at the same time
over the same david-lynch-esco mood
of Twin Peaks

1. a great found, sort of a mini-7".Minutes-documentary, very interesting and with great interviews (the best of the 3)



2. a rather funny Lego tribute, Twin Bricks
"Diane I am on my 17th cup of coffee and my bladder is about to explode"
"Diane I am on my 37th cup of coffee today and I believe I am beginning to hallucinate"

and don't miss the stoplight scenes



3. when a story is recreated for children wonderfully in Sesame Street, you know it's on it's way to become a classic, part of the popular but still ranking good culture; and one can't just avoid to love the "special agent Cookie", great!



crave a cup of coffee and some pie now?
or to munch more some clueless yet beautiful ala lynch
cinematic lunch?

Thursday, May 08, 2008

mir tut der Kopf weh, the modus vivendi

oh it's great to learn a 3rd language
but so hard!!!
specially since my native language is Spanish
seems harder for me to learn German
through an English book/class/professor

the lastest Kopfschmerze is
the reflexive verbs... mmm?
but not even so much 'cause
in Spanish we use these verbs in a reflexive way too!
but then in English not..., so rather confusing
this stuff on my brain

from my mexican brain to English
and then German and then oh well

mir tut der Kopf weh!



aber...
i am thankful to learn
every day a little more

at least 1 foreign word per day!
one should learn, they might be helpful
specially if you travel
and
If you like to travel
probably you want to understand a little of other cultures

For me the most fascinating part of learning a new language
Is to understand the idiosyncrasies that form a culture
And never underestimate that NON-power of translation
‘cause many things CANNOT be translated
And language is so closely intrinsic to the modus vivendi
Of a civilization
So go learn something or anything about other cultures
That are not your own!
Just another little suggestion…

una pequeña sugerencia

see? if you study a little Spanish
you would know what says above...

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

the loved ones: cheese, music, and friends

today my soul was like a piece
of Gruyère
with oh! so many holes

but then
unexpectedly
a voice came across continents
14 Minuten 23 Sekunden
später

i was smiling again

my soul then became soft soft
like a Port Salut or a Camembert
but also felt complete
like a good aged Cheddar

ja! nur 14 Minuten 23 Sekunden
sometimes it's all that it takes

so i advice you
call today a friend or a relative
out of the blue and just tell them
hello, hey! i like you...
even when like cheese you smell
(for example, you don't have to include
the cheese quote at all ...)


and no wonder we call them
the loved ones
die Geliebten
los seres queridos

they can be relatives, parents,
uncles, old-lovers, or warm friends...
sometimes they come even as comments
and notes over the internet!

but the voice of a loved one
and the daydream starts again...



easy happy music
a good cover
and good live performances
nothing too big deal though
another day another song

and if you are interested on Cheeses
check this blog
365 Cheeses
superb documentation by a non-gourmet!
the about information is soft and candid
as the reviews are too! yep again
like a mild Port Salut, almost cream cheese
great site!

am Dienstagmorgen

I just called this post
Am Dienstagmorgen ‘cause the last one was
Am Samstagmorgen and not that is not
Dienstagmorgen heute
but the idea was more to follow up
with the days than with the German
My mind is not really into Deutsch today
and bad timing 'cause i have class!
but
Actually my mind is really into nothing, but…
it is that just last Samstag the licking sun
And that love and energy that were around me
Now are faded
Why feelings seem to wash-out?
Just like dusty sidewalks under rain
I feel a little washed-out today
Tired, and yes, it’s the weather! i know...
But when I was 20, I could be in the middle
Of a hurricane and mute
Nowadays, the traffic, the weather
The working hours, if is cold the café
all seems to be more annoying and well...
Old people talk, mostly all these minor complains



Yet… behind the melancholies of the rain
I find always a little hole, a peaceful secret
That keeps me warm, when in or when out
I take some pictures, then upload and type
Type type, and click again
And the cold wind on my face
With sparkles of solitude actually feels fine
We humans are like little mice lost on labyrinths
Always searching for an entrance or an exit
Always searching for something to roam about
Today, I stop, and I don’t search feelings
Nor wonder no more… I just seat back
And look at life going by, from my spot
On this my curious little life on
This gloomy cloudy Californian rainy day

OK gotta go out to work!
wet californian freeways are not fun...

Saturday, May 03, 2008

am Samstag morgen

and der Samstag Morgen came along...
through my door i peek outside
and rays of sun and cheerful greens appear
inviting me of barefooted-ness and easy smiles



there's a festival at the corner of my house too!
here another year came along too
and time for the
The Adams Avenue Roots and Folk Festival
music music and food food
so here we go again and today...
breathing is easy when we are on

ein schöner Samstagmorgen
a beautiful Saturday morning
una hermosa mañana de sábado

(please note that in Spanish, unlike English and German
we do not capitalize the names of days, nor months)
[ich habe gesagt!]