Firstly, I must apologize if the Chairman scared anyone. (Sorry, Anonymous.) Thinking about it, nothing’s more vaguely threatening than a cat head on a famous Communist’s body. I’ll stick to the cute cat pictures.

A work project has had me researching various mindfulness/peace-promoting/Buddhist/hippy/Chicken-Soup-
For-The-Soul-Who-Really-Can’t-Eat-Another-Spoonful,
-Thank-You-Anyway websites, including Salt Lake’s own Kanzeon Zen Center. And I apologize if any readers are members of the Kanzeon sangha (see? research!) who might be offended, but 1.) they have a trademarked path to enlightenment and 2.) every step on the path to enlightenment comes with a suggested donation. And while 1.) I understand that the center operates with donations and 2.) I really don’t know enough about Zen Buddhism to argue, it just seems a little, well, grasping.

Which is why we can all turn to Better Living Through Literature and get free quotes from the Buddha, scary cat pictures, and misremembered bits of poems! (A lot are in my head, but there are some I have to find at home in the evenings.) Here’s today’s:

Sit.
Rest.
Work.
Alone with yourself,
Never weary,
At the edge of the forest,
Live joyfully,
Without desire.
Buddha

Office Snack Of The Last Two Days That I Just Finished Eating This Morning: lemon-ginger cookies.

Chairman MEOW, of course.
(Image courtesy of the talented Miss Smith.)

I picked two early hyacinths yesterday (one for me, one for my roommate) and could smell them all night, which reminded me (of course) of a passage in Middlemarch, which is a brilliant book.

“…subtle as the memory of hyacinths which perfumed the darkness.”

And I found a new favorie blog to read every day. It criticizes celebrities’ outfits, which doesn’t sound very promising, but the writing is wickedly funny. I’ve narrowly avoided choking on my coffee in the mornings, reading it.
http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/

esculent
1. adjective: fit to be eaten; edible.
2. noun: a thing, esp. a vegetable, that can be eaten.

I love a word that especially applies to vegetables.

We have a catch-and-release policy regarding insect life at the apartment. (And, although I have a feeling that my roommate disregards this policy when I’m not around to enforce it, it’s usually pretty well-observed. With the exception of earwigs, who get no mercy.) It’s exactly what you think–if we see a spider, for instance, out comes a glass and a magazine and we try to trap the spider, get it in the glass, and then release it, all without letting the spider touch us or get squished. It makes life exciting.

Years ago I read this poem and it stuck with me, popping into my mind every time I killed a spider, which is why I catch and release today. I don’t remember the source–I think Gary Snyder, via some Buddhist hippy quote collection–but I will find out tonight.

…fly away, tiny mite, even your life is precious.
I lift the book and blow you into the dazzling void.

Which of course echoes the Issa haiku from 200 years before:

Don’t kill him!
The fly wrings its hands,
Its feet.

(Yes, there is even a literary take on killing bugs.)

I mean, really. A pirate would knock a leprechaun silly, steal his pot of gold, and go drink rum.
Which would you rather celebrate?

I thought it would be more fun to sleep last night than to immerse myself in literature, but I do have some information to share. Like literature, I think this is important.

1.) There is a demolition derby this Saturday at 7:00 in historic Ogden. It’s at the Golden Spike Arena. I will be there, maybe with C. and M., maybe with The Lovely Susannah.

2.) Here is a recipe for ship’s biscuits. You can make these before your next voyage and they will keep a long time. They will not, however, be delicious. (Recipe from the Royal Naval Museum.)

Add water to 1lb wholemeal flour and 1/4oz salt to make a stiff dough. Leave for 1/2 hour and then roll out very thickly. Separate in to 5 or 7 biscuits. Bake in a hot oven approx. 420 degrees F for 30 minutes. The biscuits should then be left undisturbed in a warm dry atmosphere to harden and dry out.

Today, I am wearing a headscarf like a pirate, provoking all sorts of Piratical Phrases Uttered. Yar!
(Missing a picture? I couldn’t decide on just one. Go here. Waste no time. You won’t be diasppointed.)