Postulates For The Graduates

"If"

"If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master,

If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings -- nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!"

~ Rudyard Kipling

The Twelve Teachers

“Fate gives all of us
three teachers,
three friends,
three enemies,
and three great loves in our lives.

But these twelve are always disguised
and we can never know which one is which
until we’ve loved them, left them or fought them.”

~ Gregory David Roberts, "Shantaram"

I have learned so much from my children. I expected to be their guide and teacher, and yet they have taught me more than I have taught them.

I don't have what I consider to be enemies, but those I thought were against me have ended up bringing me gifts that I could not have accepted any other way.

The best part of being over 50 is knowing how everything "turned out" and seeing how all the stories have ended...although no story truly ends, and that is another thing I have learned. We all have ripples that go out and cover the world...and intersect with other's ripples creating the holograms we share as our experience.

Gluten Free Vegetarian Meals On A Budget

For eating gluten-free on a budget, there are nothing like potatoes! A bag of potatoes can go a long way and there are a million ways to make them! The easiest is to scrub one, poke two holes in the skin and microwave for 4 minutes. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on it, add a tablespoon of water and some sea salt. Any cooked vegetable is a good topping. Beans are very inexpensive. Black beans are easy to digest. Beans go very well with rice. To save money, buy a pressure cooker and make beans from a bag according to the directions on the bag. This is a great source of protein, and very inexpensive. If you cook them right, they will digest easily. Mash up a cup or two of the cooked beans up with a 1/8 cup lemon/lime, several cloves of crushed garlic, 1/4 cup of sesame paste and sea salt for a great pate. Drizzle with olive oil and paprika before serving. (This is usually called hummus if you make it with chick peas.) Now that its summer, try going to a Farmer's Market in your area and get just about anything there. The cost is often lower because you are cutting out the grocer. The seller's often have great suggestions and recipes for cooking their produce. Buying locally is also good for the environment, and you get to meet the people who grew your food! Get an air popcorn popper. Popcorn is very cheap and you can buy it in bulk, organic, and have it for snacks. Some celiacs can't eat fibery stuff, so be careful that this is something your system can handle. Sprout mixes are very inexpensive. Making sprouts is easy and cheap! One of the most inexpensive and versatile vegetables is red or green cabbage. Cabbage keeps a long time in the refrigerator, and is a great flavor enhancer. Sliced thin and mixed with shredded carrots and your favorite salad dressing it makes a nice summer cole slaw. Add a few leaves of cabbage chopped up into any soup or stew for a much fuller flavor. It seems to make everything more savory and more satisfying. Just don't overcook it or it can turn to mush. Try getting any fruit, or berries in season and making smoothies with them, just put them in a blender with some ice and some rice milk, and add some honey or real maple syrup for sweetness. Don't forget that nuts, seeds and nut butters are good sources of protein! Make sure they are very fresh. Nuts can go rancid easily. We have a bowl of cherries on the table right now, next to a bowl of cashews. I slice a sweet red pepper crosswise (the slices look like a flower) and put on a plate with some black olives. It is the best junk food! Sauteed mushrooms have a savory taste that makes anything have a meaty flavor. Inexpensive Vegetable Stew Take all your current vegetables (include an onion or a leek, and a stalk of celery with tops, and a leaf or two of cabbage for flavor) and some potatoes and saute them a little in some olive oil, or roast them in the oven. Cut everything up into chunks before beginning, sautee the harder vegetables first or roast them longer. Start a 1/2 large pot of boiling water. Add a can of black beans. Add the vegetablesand some fresh garlic. Throw in a handful of carrot tops, a few beet tops, some kale or other greens at the last minute. Add some Sea Salt, pepper. Cook until everything is done about 15 minutes. Serve in a bowl with a little gluten-free mayonnaise on top for a garnish. Don't forget that most Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Indian foods are mainly gluten-free. Mexican is gluten-free if you get the corn tortillas instead of the flour. You have to call ahead, or call the manufacturer to be certain that there are no additives that contain gluten, however. Really cheap shopping list: ----------------------------------- A bag of black beans. A bag of popcorn. A sack of potatoes. A head of red cabbage. A clump of carrots with tops on. A bunch of celery. A head of garlic. A container of lemon juice. Iodized Sea Salt. A can of mixed nuts. Some honey or real maple syrup. Extra Virgin olive oil. The freshest fruit in season. Any favorite vegetable.

Contemplating Vegetarianism

"It is told that Buddha, going out to look on life,
was greatly daunted by death.
"They all eat one another!" he cried,
and called it evil.

This process I examined, changed the verb, said,
"They all feed one another,"
and called it good."

~ Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Contemplating Cats

“Cats were put into the world to disprove the dogma that all things were created to serve man.”

~ Paul Gray

“Your cat will never threaten your popularity by barking at three in the morning. He won't attack the mailman or eat the drapes, although he may climb the drapes to see how the room looks from the ceiling.”

~ Helen Powers

“I have noticed that what cats most appreciate in a human being is not the ability to produce food, which they take for granted - but his or her entertainment value.”

~ Geoffrey Household

In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.

“When your cat rubs the side of its face along your leg, it's affectionately marking you with its scent, identifying you as its private property, saying, in effect, 'You belong to me'.”

~ Susan McDonough

“The problem with cats is that they get the same exact look whether they see a moth or an ax-murderer.”

~ Paula Poundstone

“Cats always know whether people like or dislike them. They do not always care enough to do anything about it.”

~ Winifred Carriere

“Cat people are different, to the extent that they generally are not conformists. How could they be, with a cat running their lives?”

~ Louis Camuti

"Cats never strike a pose that isn't photogenic."

~ Lillian Jackson Braun

"Cats, no less liquid than their shadows, offer no angles to the wind. They slip, diminished, neat, through loopholes less than themselves."

~ A. S. J. Tessimond

"The cat does not offer services.
The cat offers itself.
Of course he wants care and shelter.
You don't buy love for nothing.
Like all pure creatures, cats are practical."

~ William S. Burroughs

“Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a function.”

~ Garrison Keillor

"The only mystery about the cat is why it ever decided to become a domestic animal."

~ Sir Compton MacKenzie

"No tame animal has lost less of its native dignity or maintained more if its ancient reserve. The domestic cat might rebel tomorrow."

~ William Conway

"Confront a child, a puppy, and a kitten with sudden danger; the child will turn instinctively for assistance, the puppy will grovel in abject submission, the kitten will brace its tiny body for a frantic resistance."

~ Saki

"Ignorant people think it is the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain't so;
it is the sickening grammar that they use."

~Mark Twain

"Every contented cat is an "it"."

~ Helen Powers, on the virtue of neutering

"Cat: A pygmy lion who loves mice, hates dogs, and patronizes human beings."

~ Oliver Herford

"God made the cat in order that man might have the pleasure of caressing the lion."

~ Fernand Mery

"I saw the most beautiful cat today. It was sitting by the side of the road, its two front feet neatly and graciously together.
Then it gravely swished around its tail to completely encircle itself.
It was so fit and beautifully neat, that gesture, and so self-satisfied, so complacent."

~ Ann Morrow Lindbergher

Posted in memorium to my friend Cheryl's Mother's cat, who leapt upward to the great low-hanging branch in the sky yesterday, and sits amongst all the great cat beings, with the ultimate cat template of the cat spirit, whom I humbly call upon to usher this cherished cat safely to its home amongst the everlasting spirit of all things and beings. She is greatly missed and will be remembered fondly always for her unconditional love and companionship with Cheryl and her Mother.

I am only one.

"I am only one, but still I am one.
and just because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

~ Edward Everett

Posted with regards to my friend Patrick...

Spring

"The birds are molting.
If only man could molt also - his mind once a year its errors,
his heart once a year its useless passions."

~James Allen