If you can't fly,CLIMB

Rock climbing at Island Rock in Plainview, NY

I love this place!

How to listen to the words

If I can reach the stars
Pull one down for you
Shine it on my heart
So you could see the truth
That this love I have inside
Is everything it seems
But for now I find
It's only in my dreams

And I can change the world
I will be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby if I could change the world

And if I could be king
Even for a day
I'd take you as my queen
I'd have it no other way
And our love would rule
This kingdom we had made
Till then I'd be a fool
Wishing for the day

That I can change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby if I could change the world
Baby if I could change the world

I could change the world
I would be the sunlight in your universe
You would think my love was really something good
Baby if I could change the world
Baby if I could change the world
Baby if I could change the world

Thanks Eric Clapton! You go and "change the world"!

Backpack Girl or What's Inside

Acceptance is one of the most interesting terms that we use in everyday life.  It describes the state of being acceptable and approval through action and belief.

The contents of my purse, earlier this summer

For a while, I tried to travel light. I moved through situation with "supplies" . I regretted the large Mary Poppins' bag I seemed to have with me. Even if I over packed, I sometimes felt as if I packed the "wrong things", dressed in clothing that was not right for the weather, had too much to carry for a day that needed less.
I thought I had strapped myself to a setback. Unable to move as freely with what I could bring.
I am not that girl who can leave the house with just a cellphone and a lipstick.
 Left standing with my umbrella, in the rays of sunshine before me, I traveled place to place balanced between my shoulders and wondered why I did not behave like those other smart women who could carry but a small purse. You know the kind, girls who can walk out of the house with a stylish clutch.  I tried I carried a small bag downtown in the club scene early on at college, but needed a small sweater that came along. I went to Italy and needed a a plastic bag for the souvenirs that did not fit in my bag.I felt like the bag lady. But when I tried to travel without it, I felt worse because I did not feel like myself.
My pink backpack has been good to me.

But I need these things. These are my things. They define how I live and if I try to live without them, I don't know how. Occasions that call for a small entertainment piece for long lines when I feel like a small child and when I see long lines of small children.
Above I see my makeup case, keys and purel key ring, swiss army now ( now removed after being confiscated at a concert), Girl Scout day planner, pack of gum, Strand extra plastic bag, cellphone, small Moleskin writer's notebook, hand cream, a homemade stress ball, a Vera Bradley wallet, post-its extra paper, Cocoa Butter.

This may seem like an exaggeration of what I need but sometimes most needs are. These things have collected, been forgotten, transplanted from bag to bag and day to day.

I don't mind that sometimes I am with my backpack because I am that girl.
Yet, don't be confused I am not saying pack your house or leave nothing behind. My worry is notabout   fitting in it all, it's about keeping the contents  intact.
I just saying that if you say you believe in  yourself, that you approve of your actions, than you accept yourself too.
Because someday you will wish you had an umbrella
and you will find that sometimes you will get caught in the rain.

Playlist for today

This morning while driving through my day, this song came on the radio. However crinkled over the oldies airwaves it made its way through to my good mood. I couldn't help but raise the volume, louder and louder until it filled up the car. I sang along and to be honest it felt so good, to know the words to something so light.

Sometimes you may not be singing for so long because maybe you just haven't found the right song.
http://s0.ilike.com/play#The+Lovin'+Spoonful:Do+You+Believe+In+Magic:64720:s1279711.8105822.10129591.0.1.80%2Cstd_a4982ccc800a35329441ac8441bd6721

farsightedness

sometimes as we go on are way we revisit old things. Things that are not necessarily old but comfortable. In our memories they are things that have settled in ourselves- things  that we often forget. Revisiting is often a process of un-forgetting.

When I say I believe in people I also think I believe the outrageous funny and incredible ways they live behave and do

We aren't superheroes, but this is what I grew up on. Bits of everyday beyond belief. Spandex and light shows. We want to do a little better and contribute.
To do so, look back. Look to where you were inspired. It may not be a children's T.V. show, it may be something so recently as ten minutes ago. You can go back if it lets you see nearby.




Also was this really the Power Ranger theme song?

Halves and Wholes

One thing I've realized is that as people
we do things that seem like set backs in order to grow
we cut our hair
we clean out closets,boxes, homes


We do this because at the end of the day our things do not grow as quickly as we do.

But in the face of change,I've realized, it is important not to feel broken because when you split yourself along.
Good people make more love, not "just enough". People enter our lives, we invite them, we celebrate them by opening ourselves to this relationship. In the process, it may feel as if our heart is breaking. I was frightened once.
and sometimes.
 We don't know what staying open, expanding can do to us.

But in school, I was taught to share.  Looseleaf paper, lunch table spots, and boxball squares. Like please, thank you, yes, no. These words found a way in, until I need not be reminded, until I didn't need to be asked. As a sister, I learned too there are somethings you were not meant to share. But both ways started with a trust,  you and the other person, together through give and take, were somehow a pair.




Wherever you go, I hope you take in. I hope you find your pieces, your halves of halves and halves.

One of my favorite pairs below

Chasing your way

http://ilike.myspacecdn.com/play#Adele:Chasing+Pavements:42188524:s450766.8080099.8907804.0.1.40%2Cstd_e37c385b7d2681ed30bacf46aa65085b

Love bugs

On a whim this past summer, I decided to make kefir yogurt from a starter kit I had been given last spring semester ( Yogourmet, available online and in most health food stores). Kefir has incredible probiotics and cultures ( "bugs") that are beneficial to overrall health. Of course, when I say "whim", I mean I was super eager to try it, so when my friend Mike shared this excitement about trying to make the somewhat pricey yogurt and . I squealed "come over". Mike and I were also semi-curious as to how to ferment kefir during the summer time. Specifically, how to do it in a way that we didn't get sick. The trick is let the milk spoil.
After years of being conditioned to put the milk back in the fridge, I finally left the milk out.
The pot below held the "heated" milk that needed to be brought to boiling point.

Throughout Mike's visit, I was unable to look away from the container. The instructions were simple enough: take a quart of milk, boil it, and then mix a packet of the kefir starter kit into a smaller dish containing cooled milk.
After that, we had to wait.

Wait for the yogurt cultures to have a disco party in my mother's tupperware in a dark spot in the cabinet for 24 hours. Then place in in the fridge and use within the next week. 

All in all, the result was a little tangy but a worthwhile way to spend an afternoon.


Good luck in your experiments, don't let the bad "bugs" come.

http://www.healthgoods.com/Yogurt_and_Kefir_Starter_Cultures_p/yo-starter.htm

Be patient

For my birthday this past summer, my grandparents gave me a card that held these words and instructions. It was an interesting idea that when I thought about it, should go without saying. To wait until it was my birthday to open my birthday gift. But in truth, I've learned something about my generation and myself. We are eager to get our hands on the future. This is not necessarily a a negative. it only means that sometimes the "now" loses its immediacy. To live for the now not only means to dive in but to be. To be present and accept the day.  On Rosh Hashanah, I said that I look forward to the renewal, but what also comes with this renewal is the belief that not only will tomorrow things look better but also the rest of today.  The best gift you can give yourself is time. Time to see the rest of the day through. I myself often need to vent a difficult situation but as soon as I do, the day comes easier.

I waited til my birthday to open this card and it was well worth the wait not only because it was my birthday but also because the gift had come just in time. Like any adventure, things arrive just on time.

Playlist for today

9 years ago
On August 11th 2001, I made a wish while staying at the World Trade Center Marriott Hotel.  After being invited by my middle school for an all girls pseudo miss teen competition . The experience is a separate blog post entirely, but I will say in those weeks before 9/11- the fears and sorrows associated with losing our American heart,I explained to a room full of people what it felt like to be young and hopeful.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" a judge in creme colored suit asked me as I sat nervously starring into her eyes.  A reoccurring theme even now, years later, I wasn't sure exactly what to tell her. In these situations, I've found it best to start with the truth.
"I haven't decided yet but I just want to help people". Later, I stood in the various hotel windows observing the skyline, watching people go, smaller and slower moving as they moved away from me. I wondered if I would be out there too, doing as I had said. Making a difference, working to help these working people while they were close by.

Today I sang out loud in my house. With what started as a hum, until it filled my breath and came out as a song these were thoughts under my skin.

I've got you under my skin- Frank Sinatra
http://s0.ilike.com/play#Frank+Sinatra:I've+Got+You+Under+My+Skin:17207:s620596.9635604.12492569.0.2.65%2Cstd_f91270262c5341708ee0fff6bb9254e3

Whenever I travel on the subway I can't help but think of this...

I think we all need a theme song to ride the subway

Yoga Journal - Ogden: The Inappropriate Yoga Guy

Yoga Journal - Ogden: The Inappropriate Yoga Guy

September is National Yoga Month

Apples and Honey for a sweet New Year

Tonight is the first night of Rosh Hashanah
These questions and answers were taken from Askmoses.com after I thought of the apple and honey custom

Why do we dip an apple into honey on Rosh Hashanah?
On a practical level, we take an apple which is sweet (not a green, tart tasting apple) and dip it into sweet honey, as a tangible reflection of our trust and prayers that G-d will grant us all a sweet year.

Why specifically an apple?
There is also symbolism implicit in the apple. Solomon writes, referring to the romance between G-d and the Jewish people, (Song of Songs 8:5), "Beneath the apple tree I aroused you[r love]." On Rosh Hashanah we try to, once again, remind G-d of our mutual love.



According to Kabbalah the apple is an allusion to the mystical level of "chakal tapuchin kadishin" (the Holy Apple Field).

When Jacob came to receive his father, Isaac's, blessings, he had the scent of an apple orchard upon his clothing. This incident took place on Rosh Hashanah.


Also, when you cut an apple in half horizontally you will see ten little holes and a five pointed star. Ten is the numerical value of the Hebrew letter Yud, and five is the numerical value of the Hebrew letter Hey. Together they spell out G-d's name. Those two letters are also an acronym for the words "Hand of G-d". This reminds us that if we look closely and pay attention we will discover G-d's hand in our life and the world around us.

 Here is also a new take on the eat apples and honey


Apple Chips

Recipe courtesy Alex Guarnaschelli from Food Network
.The simple syrup really makes a difference with these apple chips. It makes them shiny and more crispy. You can reuse the syrup to sweeten tea or make another batch of apple chips.

Prep Time:15 minInactive Prep Time:12 hr 0 minCook Time:1 hr 0 minLevel:

EasyServes:
4 servings.
Ingredients
•2 cups water

•1 1/2 cups sugar

•2 to 3 lemons, juiced

•2 small apples, preferably a crisp, flavorful variety like Royal Gala or Winesap, washed and dried

Directions
In a small pot, combine the water and sugar and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Set aside to cool.

Place the apples on a flat surface. Using a mandoline or sharp knife, cut each one, placing the core end of the apple in front of the blade, into rounds as thin as you can manage. Remove any seeds as you cut and sprinkle them with lemon juice. Submerge the apple slices in the syrup and allow them to "rest" for a few hours or, even better, overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
Remove some of the apples from the syrup and lightly dry them on a kitchen towel. Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet with parchment or on a tray fitted with a baking rack. Note: you may want to place something heavy, like a metal spoon, at each end of the paper to prevent the paper from folding over as the chips bake. Bake in the oven until crispy, about 1 hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwD4gA7F_qk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf9d7rSf_Ks&feature=related

Two videos to keep you refreshed this September!

Bring peace to unlikely places

... It's not too late

It's limbo time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgCHOrF5ryY

Rome wasn't built in a day...

It's definitely a weird feeling coming back to my childhood home after living through four years of college on my own. For a while I thought of limbo: You are at a party and join in because there is music playing, because you want to have fun too. What I've learned is sometimes you have to go as low as you can go, your back stretching and folding until you are in the clear. Again you take your turn, and go until you get stuck. You think, the music still going that "winning" or "making it past" the low points is a success. But really it is the in between that keeps your blood flowing and is the most challenging part. Standing on line wondering if you can get through. If you can shimmy under the pole for another round or have gotten out, you are no better than when you started.

There are expressions/quotes that are so overly used you sometimes forget they are used for good reason- because they are true
Here are a few:

Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans
Rome wasn't built in a day
It's a marathon not a race


They keep me grounded in the fact that not everything turns up over night. It's about going around again, being afraid to get stuck but then learning to trust yourself- the flexible and strong person you are becoming.