I found this book in a second hand shop in 2003 (approx.) - it was marked down from $51.99 to $11.99 - what a deal! - i read some of it then lost interest - life was busy and i did not have time to read much. Last month, when i was struggling with my health (or lack of!), my brother-in-law said: "I've found a new book, Emotional Intelligence, go to the library and get it and read Chapter 11..." i replied that it sounded familiar, so i searched my bookshelves, and there it was, burried under papers and magazines... so i have started reading it (again); i think it is worthy of a post, so here is a brief excerpt:

p.ix Aristotle's Challenge - "Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not easy" - Aristotle, The Nicomacbean Ethics

"It was an unbearably steamy August afternoon in New York City, the kind of sweaty day that makes people sullen with discomfort. I was heading back to a hotel, and as I stepped onto a bus up Madison Avenue I was startled by the driver, a middle-aged black man with an enthusiastic smile, who welcomed me with a friendly, 'Hi! How are you doing?' as I got on, a greeting he proffered to everyone else who entered as the bus wormed through the thick midtown traffic. Each passenger was as startled as I, and, locked into the morose mood of the day, few returned his greeting.

But as the bus crawled uptown through the gridlock, a slow, rather magical transformation occurred. The driver gave a running monolouge for our benefit, a lively commentary on the passing scene aroundus: there was terrific sale at that store, a wonderful exhibit at this museum, did you hear about the new movie that just opened at that cinema down the block? His delight in the rich possibilities the city offered was infectious. By the time people got off the bus, each in turn had shaken off the sullen shell they had entered with, and when the driver shouted out a 'So long, have a great day!' each gave a smiling response.

The memory of that encounter has stayed with me for close to twenty years. When I rode that Madison Avenue bus, I had just finished my own doctorate in psychology - but there was scant attention paid in the psychology of the day to just how such a transformation could happen. [my comment: Mindell would say that it has everything to do with what happend in "the field"] Psychological science knew little or nothing of the mechanics of emotion. And yet, imaginaing the spreading virus of good feeling that must have rippled through the city, starting from passengers on his bus, I saw that this bus driver was an urban peacemaker of sorts, wizardlike in his power to transmute the sullen irritability that seethed in his passengers, to soften and open their hearts a bit." - Daniel Goleman

and now we have the www.hancockhouse.com streaming bald eagle cam and people are united in their desire to get close to this magnificent gift of nature. (and i have to thank Larry and Willy at JACK-fm for giving me the info. re this site)

HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE!

Isn't life amazing? -- earlier today i forced myself to go for a short walk, inspite of the pain in my legs and hips, knowing that it would either make me feel worse, or with any luck, better ... but instead of going to Dragonfly Bog, i took my shorter, quieter, neighbourhood route as i also wanted to see if there was any activity in the big nest that i had seen a couple of weeks ago. As i rounded the corner at 105th Avenue and 156th Street i saw a young woman loading a guitar into her car, and asked her if she had seen any eagles in the nest. She said she had not and i replied: "A couple of weeks ago i saw one eagle flying around, but have not seen another since, but...." and i told her about the hancockhouse bald eagle site. To my amazement and delight she said: "I know one of the people who have something to do with that site, and saw it myself for the first time yesterday." She said his name is Trevor, so i am going to go to the forum and let Trevor know that i met someone he knows! - WHAT A HOOT! - well, that's all folks, now back to the daily grind of meal prep. etc. luv, pj

As i blogged, i was listening to Eric Clapton's "When I look Into My Father's Eyes" -- i felt compelled to get up and look out the window at the clouds. In the distance i saw some birds riding the air currents ... they looked like they may be crows pretending to be hawks, so i ran and got my binoculars to get a better look; they were not crows, but they were moving higher up and farther away, and i could not discern whether they were hawks or teen-age eagles. So then i decided to do this post, and scanned the old photo of my dad and focused in on his eyes - i was so amazed to see how different his eyes look without his nose and mouth, and the rest of his face!!! WOW - and even as i edit and begin to publish this i feel something shifting in me....very interesting.... and it is o.k.

"The form is secondary - what is the message?
- Joseph Campbell "The Power of Myth"

My daughter and her belly-dancing class mates. This gymnasium, for an enchanting 1/2 hour, was transformed into a temple of joy, and beauty and creative energy. (Thursday night, photos by pj, not for reprint without permission)

Well, here, at least, is something green for St. Paddy's Day - Lucy's Fabulous Pickles - which are somehow symbolic of how i feel right now...in a Right Pickle! - finally managed, after about two hours, to upload the "Creative Commons Licence" onto my Blog, however, now i have it in three places and have not been able to edit the two extra ones out! oh well! [if anyone can help me that would be great] -- now i am going to fix dins. while i munch on one of these delicious edibles.......(photo by pj circa 2004)

Cleaning out my filing cabinet - and in a file marked Pizzazz i found this on a sheet of paper: SONGS; "Bread and Roses" which reads: ** "In 1912 women mill-workers struck for higher pay (then $8.76 for a 56-hour week). Their plea was for "bread, but roses, too", and it became their marching song, put to music by James Oppenheimer. Incidentally, they didn't get a pay raise, but their hours were reduced from 56 to 54 hours per week!"

2nd verse reads: "As we come marching, marching we battle too for men,
For they are women's children and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes:
Hearts starve as well as bodies give us bread, but give us roses!

3rd verse: As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing
at their ancient cry for bread.
Small art, and love, and beauty
their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread that we fight for
...but we fight for roses, too!

this is one of the most recent photos of me that i don't mind, but still, it is about 2 years old, taken by my daughter when we went to White Rock for the day. We had a wonderful time at the Iguana Grill, my fave restaurant there....i was very happy that day! [the wings came later, lol]

here are my Christmas Flamingos, not a very good photo but the only one that turned out, and you can't see the little sleigh they are pulling, will have to try again next year.

here is a photo of "Ken" feeding one of his home-made cupcakes to one of the flamingos. As you can see this photo was taken in Autume, and a warm one it was too!

THINGS PINK!

"Designed for Union Products, by Don Featherstone, a serious sculptor and classical art student, the first plastic flamingo was "born" around 1957. In the 1960s this fake-feathered friend became the 'proto-type for bad taste and anti-nature.' By 1970 even Sears had removed it from its catalogue. "

In 1984, Miami Vice kicked the sales of pink flamingos into full throttle. For the first time ever Union Plastics sold more flamingo than they did ducks. Bans have been placed on the Pink Plastic Flamingo all over the united states, so people painted them blue". - Get Flocked

This famous bird continues to add colour to our lives all over the world...





















flamingos in snow photo by pj; all others by "Get Flocked"

"Every new adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem" - Eric Hoffer

Cherry Blossoms in Vancouver (Spring 2004, Photo by pj)




Frozen Apple on Reflecting Pond (photo by pj, circa 1977)

i treated myself to a present at Christmas, -- one of the last two copies on the shelf "on Sale" at SuperStore...and the best present i have given myself in a long time.

some excerpts from pages 181 - 187.
Mireille writes: " Bread and Chocolate.

I recently saw a short play in Paris calles "Les Mangeusses de Chocolat (loosely translated, Women Who Eat Chocolate).
Three young addicts decide to try group therapy, and the therapist (an ex-chocoholic herself) will try to help each other find her element declencheur (key to getting unhooked). They fail (surprise), and nothing gets resolved (this is French theatre), but there are lots of good lines, some with more than a grain of truth. For instance: A survey reveals that nine out of ten people admit to loving chocolate...and the tenth one is lying.

The play was satirizing a French obsession (chocolate), but also the therapeutic establishment, which perhaps one couldn't get away with in America. I took it in good fun, except when a comment was made about women who eat their chocolate in private. To the French, the idea seems silly enough for a gag, but given my American experience, I couldn't laugh. Too often, American women eat on the sly, and the result is much more guilt than pleasure.

French women eat chocolate (about twelve pounds a year on average.) They also eat bread (we fought a revolution over it!), another item on our watch list of offenders. But: French women don't get fat. In fact, here's another form of the French Paradox: Pretending such pleasures don't exist, or trying to eliminate them from your diet for an extended time, will probably lead to weight gain. The only long-term effect of deprivation is the yo-yo -- down today, but up again before you know it. It's utterly pointless, especially because both bread and chocolate are good for you.

In its pure dark form, chocolate has indeed been shown to be "heart smart,," with more antioxidants than black tea or red wine, as well as lots of magnesium, iron, and potassium (all vital to women's health). It can also ease anxiety and depression, as it contains serotonin and theobromine, which act on brain receptors and have a beneficial influence on mood. As it is also high in fat, however, it is better enjoyed after lighter meals than after fat-laden holiday feasts, or by itself as a pick-me-up.

One of the most dispiriting developments of the twentieth century was the mass production of chocolate. It created an inferiour product loaded with bad fats, and as a result, many Americans have never in their lives tasted the real thing. But relief has appeared iwth the rise of new artisanal chocolatiers, pasionate guardians of traditional methods that were perfected in the eighteenth century.

Quality chocolate is labour-intensive and complex. It requires careful orchard selection, cultivation, and then harvest of the precious fruit. Next comes fermentation and two rounds of drying, followed by roasting and a few more delicate procedures before one obtains the cocoa mass. From that mass, three products are extracted: liquor, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder. These are the materials from which the artisan works, making chocolate slabs, ganache, praline, or chocolate filled with fruit or liquor. Toto, I don't think we're in Hershey, Pennsylvania, anymore."

So, suffice it to say, this was one of my favourite chapters, since i absolutely adore chocolate, real chocolate, not that sticky artificial stuff of "candy bars"... and i take it as my personal responsibility to let people know that there is a difference. I will be posting more on chocolate in the future.

oh, there's more...

CHOCOLATE RICE PUDDING (serves 4)

2 cups milk; 1/2 cup sugar; Pinch of Salt; 1 cup arborio rice; 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 ounces dark chocolate (80% cacao preferred), broken into small pieces.

1. Pour the milk, sugar, and pinch of salt into a saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat. Add the rice and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the milk is absorbed (if the mixture becomes sticky, add a bit more milk to keep the rice creamy). Stir in the vanilla.

2. Pour the rice pudding into 4 ramekins and using a spoon, insert the chocolate pieces in the middle of each mold and push them into the rice. Leave at room temperature. The chocolate will slowly melt and mix with the pudding. Let your guests play with the way they want to eat it: mix the whole thing together or start by eating the rice laced with melted chocolate and the chocolate center separately -- a matter of taste and mood and a tough decision.

Serenity Photographed in the South Okanagan, BC by Michael Wheatley www.members.shaw.ca/magicallight

"Life is never quite the way it appears, but it is allways filled with light and colour. Dragonfly can help you see through your illusions and thus allow your own light to shine forth. Dragonfly brings the brightness of transformation and the wonder of colourful new vision."

- Ted Andrews: Animal-Speak

"I have learned not to worry about love; but to honour its coming with all my heart"

- Alice Walker




another tribute to love


A Troubador's Song

"So throught he eyes love attains the heart.

For the eyes are the scouts of the heart.
And the eyes go reconnoitering for what it would please the heart to possess.

And when they are in full accord and firm all three in one resolve,
at that time perfect love is born from what the eyes have made welcome to the heart.

For as all true loves know, love is perfect kindness which is born, there is not doubt, from the heart and the eyes."

- from Joseph Campbell's Power of Myth, Love and the Goddess.

On my return home from my walk i saw a huge bird circling above me; on closer scrutiny i could see that it was a bald eagle, although i could only discern a very small area of white on its head. That, and the speckled feathers indicated that it was obviously a "teenager". Wild with excitement, i stopped and stared and looked around to see it there was anyone around to share this wonderful sight with. A young boy saw me looking, and stopped, i turned to him as he was preparing to cross the road, and pointing skyward, said to him: "A bald-eagle, a teenage bald eagle!!". He replied: "oh wow, I have never seen one before". So together we stood, looking up in awe at the magnificent young bird.
As the wild creature flew eastward i said: "It's symbolic you know, of..." and as i searched for the right word he said: "Flight, being able to take flight". I said: "Yes! that's exactly it." We smiled at each other, then both continued on our separate way, united only in that brief yet joyous moment in time, each taking with us a Perfect Gift of Knowing.