Hallway to Nowhere

  • Letter To Morgan Griffith

    Mr. Griffith:

    I’m writing today to inform you that I believe you have failed in your basic job as the Representative of the 9th District, that job being to uphold and protect the Constitution of the United States of America. Instead, you have joined with a President who sees fit to act only in HIS interests and cares NOTHING for that document, the ideals contained therein, or the country he was elected to serve. From before day one he has trampled the laws of this land underfoot, and for the sake of chasing after a mob vote, the Republican party has largely abandoned its principles and values and gone with him. And YOU joined in as one of his sycophants and now, even at the last minute, when the whirlwind that was sown in Charlottesville has finally been reaped in full view of the world, complete with Confederate flags, semi-clothed men with guns, and the Capitol building occupied BY AMERICANS IN FAVOR OF A SITTING PRESIDENT, you still had the temerity to object to Biden’s being confirmed as President-Elect. I would say, “Shame on you,” but it is obvious you do not recognize what that is. There will be a reckoning for this, do not kid yourself. We’ve watched this take place. And come the next Congressional election, should you still be in office, we will vote you out.

  • Loving-Kindness Tea Cup (Poem)

    Steam rises from the tea.

    Consider these things.

    Every being that had contact with this tea,

    Be it an insect, animal or person,

    Was just like me:

    Each wished to experience happiness

    And to avoid the pain of suffering.

    So as I drink this tea,

    A great happiness in itself,

    Let me pause and wish for all of those:

    May you be happy.

    May you be peaceful.

    May you be free from fear, judgment or ill will.

    May you grow in compassion, wisdom, and love.

  • No Money-Making Going On Here!

    Just in case you ever wondered, I make no money in ANY way from this site. It’s not incentivized at all-no Amazon affiliates or any other such nonsense. I weirdly have NO financial side-hustle going at all in my life, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is, if I mention some brand of tea or food in passing that I happen to use, it’s because I LIKE IT, not because I’m trying to sell you something. We clear?

    Also along these lines, I’m an ordinary person. What I mean by this: I’m NOT a professional writer to try to get you to buy my latest book of poetry or cookbook. If I write about food and go on occasional rants, I’m doing so as a USER, someone who knows their way around a kitchen for sure and has a local rep maybe, but I don’t do this for money and haven’t been classically trained. I cook out of necessity and love. My kitchen looks like someone actually uses it. I also don’t look like I just stepped off the cover of (insert the latest fashion mag) in said kitchen.

    This is written in reaction to yet another bad food blog experience AND to wordpress’s persistence in suggesting that I too can use my site to make big bucks, if only I’d get with the program. (By which I’m assuming that means somehow WORDPRESS gets part of this, else why would it care?) But here’s the thing-I’m supremely uninterested in doing so. Shocker, I know. But though I have times when I struggle a bit, I’m okay with how my life is arranged. I can afford food, tea, and cover what I need to for myself and whippet. I do not want to bow down to Amazon or Google or the like. They can call it partnering all they want. I don’t want them on MY site. I know, I know. Twig against the tide. But that’s me.

  • Another Food-related Rant

    This one has to do with Simple Truth products, marketed by Krogers. I suppose the Simple Truth PRODUCE is edible (and maybe some of the canned beans, Idk), since I would (usually) recommend organic. However, I say ALWAYS buy LOCALLY grown fruits and vegetables from your farmer’s market, if these are available. I’m going to take a leap of faith here and assume that YOUR farmers will have the same high standards that OUR local farmers do and grow organic, most of ’em. Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

    Simple Truth. Is it? Really? I want food, not religion. And I want GOOD food. For everyone. So I’m here to warn you. DO NOT BUY SIMPLE TRUTH CONDIMENTS. Especially products like: soy sauce/tamari sauce; tahini; and the like. They suck out loud. The tamari is so truly awful that I’ve thrown the bottle out, rather than use it. I have no idea why they would even LABEL it tamari, as it bears no resemblance to tamari, other than being roughly the same color. It has little taste and will bring nothing to your dish. Ahem. After that little tirade, perhaps I shouldn’t get started on my opinion of their version of tahini. You can no doubt guess that it’s NOT GOOD. Lol. IF you wish to buy condiments and stuff, for the love of whatever deity or thing you hold dear, take my best advice and buy brands that are known to specialize in these products. If you like experimenting, try different brands. But stay away from this generic “we’ve got to be good because we say we’re organic” and we’ll try making EVERYTHING brand.

    Look. In this day and age, most grocery stores, including Krogers, offer you a fairly wide variety to choose from when selecting your flours, condiments, baking products, snacks, and produce. What I’m saying is that you can usually do better than Simple Truth. And that’s the truth.

  • Mindfulness Tea Cup (Poem)

    Steam rises from the tea.

    Consider these things.

    The tea did not brew itself.

    The tea did not magically appear in the cup.

    The tea will not float on the air to be sipped.

    I have to act for these to happen.

    Let me do so in a mindful manner.

    That I might enter fully this moment in time.

  • A Working Dog (Poem)

    My dog gave proof that she is more

    Than the pretty construct in my mind

    And a wonderful companion.

    She is teeth and claws and a fierce heart.

    She will strike with deadly force

    And kill to defend to our home.

    She remembers that she is related to wolves,

    Even though I did not.

    She is a working dog,

    And her talents are myriad and great.

    I am so grateful to have her in my life.

  • A Path And A Rock (Poem)

    Walking a path, I stumble over a rock in the way.

    It reminds me to be more aware,

    Look downwards as well as ahead,

    To pause and give this my attention.

    How so then

    Does this continue to happen?

  • Thankfulness Tea Cup (Poem)

    Steam rises from the cup.

    Consider these things.

    I am so grateful to have tea.

    I bow down to the earth that nourished it.

    I bow down to the farmers that grew it.

    I bow down to the masters that crafted it.

    I bow down to the workers that transported it.

    Om Mani Padme Hung.

    “May all beings have happiness and the cause of happness.

    May they be free of suffering and the cause of suffering.

    May they never be disassociated from the supreme happiness which is without suffering.

    May they remain in the boundless equanimity, free from both attachment to close ones and rejection of others. “

  • Emptiness Tea Cup (Poem)

    Steam rises from the tea.

    Consider these things.

    The cup which contains the tea

    Has already been shattered.

    The tea itself has been consumed.

    Gate gate paragate

    Parasamgate bodhi svaha.

    “Gone, gone, gone beyond,

    Gone altogether beyond,

    Oh, what an awakening! All hail!”

  • Start The Hard Conversations NOW

    It’s looking Biden might win. As a progressive (though Biden is hardly one), I am hoping he does. But whether he wins or loses, we as Americans need to begin to have difficult conversations amongst ourselves. Perhaps ESPECIALLY if he wins. We need to be gathering together (safely, of course) to discuss these sorts of things: Some of us think that separating families, taking children from their parents, placing them in cages WAS ACCEPTABLE. (At the time I’m writing this, 545 of these children STILL have yet to be located.) Now, I realize that those who are okay with this won’t like the way I describe this. Fine. Let’s talk, and you can tell me why crossing an (imaginary) line makes this a moral act, and not something you protested. Some of us believe that BLM is a terrorist movement, that systemic racism does not exist, and that the police treat everyone the same. I want to ask those who believe this WHY do you think this is so? ON what basis? Because of YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE? I’m really asking here. But you need to having these talks with folks near and dear. I’m sure you know someone close to home.

    These are just a couple of examples. You get the gist of what I’m trying to do. But until we face what we’ve done the past four years, look at each other squarely and come to terms, then I don’t think we’re going to heal. We’re merely going to do what we’ve done in the past with the hard things: cover them up; pretend they aren’t there; hope they’ll go away on their own. (Yeah, how’d that whole “post-racial society” thing work out for us? When Obama got elected? Hmmmm?) Americans unfortunately are not known for doing this. We like fast, convenient, easy, and comfortable fixes. But I fear that unless we do this, the reckoning will come whether we want it or not. And it will take us all.