Don't harden your heart.

advice from a friend

Robert Frost called his work a lover’s quarrel with the world.

 “I also believe my home state is cursed by ignorance and poverty and racism, much of it deliberately inculcated to control a vulnerable electorate. And I believe many of the politicians in Louisiana are among the most stomach-churning examples of white trash and venality I have ever known. To me, the fact that large numbers of people find them humorously picaresque is mind numbing, on a level with telling fond tales of one's rapist.”
― James Lee Burke, Creole Belle

Every third night a commitee holds a meeting in my head. James Lee Burke, Rain Gods

If there is any human tragedy, there is only one, and it occurs when we forget who we are and remain silent while a stranger takes up residence inside our skin. James Lee Burke, The Glass Rainbow

“Age is a peculiar kind of thief. It slips up on you and steps inside your skin and is so quiet and methodical in its work that you never realize it has stolen your youth until you look into the mirror one morning and see a man you don't recognize.”
― James Lee Burke, Creole Belle

“I sometimes subscribe to the belief that all historical events occur simultaneously, like a dream in the mind of God. Perhaps it is only man who views time sequentially and tries to impose a solar calendar upon it. What if other people, both dead and unborn, are living out their lives in the same space we occupy, without our knowledge or consent?”
― James Lee Burke, The Glass Rainbow

And every good artist knows that the gift comes from somewhere else, and it's there for a reason, and that's to make the world a better place. James Lee Burke

And like most middle-aged people who hear the clock ticking in their lives, I had come to resent a waste or theft of my time that was greater than any theft of my goods or money. James Lee Burke

Humility is not a virtue in a writer, it is an absolute necessity. James Lee Burke

When people make a contract with the devil and give him an air-conditioned office to work in, he doesn't go back home easily. James Lee Burke

It has been my experience that most human stories are circular rather than linear. Regardless of the path we choose, we somehow end up where we commenced - in part, I suspect, because the child who lives in us goes along for the ride.

 ― James Lee Burke, The Glass Rainbow

The fire of one’s art burns all the impurities from the vessel that contains it.

 James Lee Burke

Sourdough (Rye) Story

Last night I told my husband, Keep an eye on the rye dough as I left to go teach. I imagined coming home the kitchen overflowing with raw dough spilling like lava out of the back door. At 10:30 PM The dough had reached the lid of the bucket. My husband was asleep. I punched down the dough and put it in the fridge to slow it. This morning in the fridge she has reached the top again, threatening to take over. There are air bubbles! She is ALIVE!! I just punched her down again. Circus Sideshow! Quicksand! Just like in the movies, swallowing everyone in it's path. My plans have changed. Today will be baking day.

I don’t believe in guilty pleasures, I only believe in pleasures. People who call reading detective fiction or eating dessert a guilty pleasure make me want to puke. Pedophilia is a pleasure a person should have guilt about. Not chocolate. Ira Glass

Red Lentils and Basmati Brown Rice (bowl within bowl method)

I rinsed the red lentils and placed them in the instant pot with water and bullion cube and 2 large chopped onions, 2 TBSP olive oil, and freshly smashed & peeled garlic cloves, a dash of cumin, & ginger. 

Then I rinsed the basmati rice and placed it in a bowl with water on the tray inside the pressure cooker---this way cooking both foods at once in 30 minutes.

It was delicious with sriracha and salt and pepper to taste.

The only problem was the colors of the lentils and rice were too similar. But that can be remedied with some carrots or tomatoes or lettuce on the side if that bothers you.

Great stories happen to those who can tell them.

― Ira Glass  

“...these stories are a kind of beacon. By making stories full of empathy and amusement and the sheer pleasure of discovering the world, these writers reassert the fact that we live in a world where joy and empathy and pleasure are all around us, there for the noticing.”
― Ira Glass, The New Kings of Nonfiction

 

“The most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work.”
― Ira Glass 

 

“You will be stupid. You will worry your parents. You will question your own choices, your relationships, your jobs, your friends, where you live, what you studied in college, that you were in college at all. If that happens, you're doing it right.”
― Ira Glass   

 

“Nobody tells people who are beginners. I really wish someone had told this to me. Is that [if you are watching this video, you are somebody who wants to make videos right?] all of us who do creative work, we get into it. We get into it because we have good taste. You know what I mean? Like you want to make TV, because you love TV. There is stuff you just like, love. Ok so you got really good taste. You get into this thing … that I don’t even know how to describe it, but there is a gap. For the first couple of years you are making stuff, what you are making isn’t so good... ok, its not that great. It's really not that great. Its trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but not quite that good. But your taste, the thing get you into the game, your taste is still killer. Your taste is good enough that you can tell what you are making is a kind of disappointment to you, you know what I mean? You can tell it is still sort of crappy. A lot of people never get past that phase. A lot of people at that point, they quit. The thing I would just like say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know, who does interesting creative work, they went through a phase of years where they had really good taste, they could tell what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be. They knew it felt short. [some of us can admit that to ourselves, some of us less able to admit that to ourselves] we knew like, it didn’t have that special thing that we wanted it to have. [...] Everybody goes through that. For you to go through it, if you are going through right now, just getting out of that phase, if you are just starting out and entering into that phase, you gotta know it is totally normal and the most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week or every month you know you’re gonna finish one story. You know what I mean? Whatever its gonna be. You create the deadline. It is best if have somebody who is waiting for work from you, expecting work from you. Even if not somebody who pays you, but that you are in a situation where you have to turn out the work. Because it is only by actually going through a volume of work that you are actually going to catch up and close that gap and the work you are making will be as good as your ambitions.”
― Ira Glass

When you LOVE cabbage

 https://www.recipetineats.com/everyday-cabbage-salad/ with international variations.

Cruciferous vegetables are vegetables of the family Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae) with many genera, species, and cultivars being raised for food production such as cauliflower, cabbage, kale, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard plant and similar green leaf vegetables. The family takes its alternative name (Cruciferae, Neo-Latin for "cross-bearing") from the shape of their flowers, whose four petals resemble a cross. 

Box Elder trees, also known as Acer negundo, a type of Maple tree native to the United States.

Box Elder is a type of Maple tree native to us in the United States. This type of tree is primary wind-pollinated which means it's allergenic pollen can be spread for hundreds of miles.

Box Elder pollen is most prevalent during March to May.

Box Elder trees, also known as Acer negundo, are a type of maple tree found primarily in the Midwest and Eastern parts of the United States. During the spring and early summer months, Box Elder trees produce large amounts of pollen, which can cause allergic reactions in many people.

The peak allergy season for Box Elder pollen typically occurs in late April and early May, although the exact timing can vary depending on the location and weather conditions. Box Elder pollen is a common cause of seasonal allergies, with symptoms that can include sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, and congestion.

For individuals with asthma or other respiratory conditions, exposure to Box Elder pollen can be particularly problematic, as it can exacerbate existing symptoms and make it difficult to breathe. As such, it's important for those who are sensitive to pollen to take steps to minimize exposure during peak allergy season.

April is the Cruelest Month... T.S. Eliot

 How these famous words enlighten us about seasonal depression in the spring. Article