Monday, January 24, 2011

That 1 Guy

Soooo..... a friend texted me asking if That 1 Guy came to The Redstone Room, would I come?

HELLZ YES.

Now, we need to drum up a following and about 100 people that say they would come see him! I, personally am going to contact him about doing a small presentation at the kids school as well..... he's THAT amazing.

He plays a Magic Pipe.

We have followed him all over the country and John and I work Street Team for him as well. We've seen him in Florida, Chicago, and Iowa City to name a few. Every performance is awesome. I am in awe of his musical brilliance and sheer intelligence at playing his self-made musical instrument. He's F%^&ing awesome. Period.

You can find him HERE

Here are some pics of us seeing him.....








And if you have time.... here are a few videos of some of his live performances. I HIGHLY suggest watching his "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" rendition. It is lengthy in time but seriously calming music to your ears....







Thursday, January 20, 2011

The UN-Educated Education

Right now, in conjunction with figuring out a far more healthy diet, I am also obsessed with Indian food. Oooooooohhhh baby... num num num.

SO I've started looking into recipes and the traditional manner in which to prepare certain Indian dishes I have come to like over time.... which today found me talking to a friend, who is Indian, and whose parents are native to India.

In the course of our conversation today she was sharing that Indian cooking is pretty much an all consuming task. You cook from sun up until sun down, well, the females do, and the men tend to the crops, livestock, etc. By the time you have prepared a dish, eaten the meal, and cleaned up, it is time to start the NEXT meal of the day.

And as a side note, she mentions, "Well... it's what they DO. They're not really, you know, educated."

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Isn't it amazing how ONE sentence can just cause your brain to go into a tail spin of thought???

Ok, maybe not yours, but it sure did mine :)

As I've been dissecting my relationship with food, and our lifestyle at the same time, that ONE sentence really struck me as odd.

That one statement holds A LOT of truth.... A truth that, in the past, I have viewed as negative. But now I think, why? Why is being NOT educated so negative?

The truth is that yes, many uneducated people spend a lot of their time doing SIMPLE things. They live their lives for the fulfillment of their basic bodily needs. They tend the crops, and they spend a daytime preparing the meals. They use ingredients that are on hand and mostly local. They spend GOOD QUALITY time preparing nutritious and unprocessed meals. Meals made from scratch and with, I can only assume, raw and organic ingredients. Those uneducated people spend time together in meal preparation talking, sharing, and bonding. They also spend time outside doing healthy and honest work, in the sun and in the dirt. They are physically active. (Yes, gardening is a very physical activity... and if you doubt me, grow one, I dare you too.)

The flip side of this truth? Well let's see.... I'm educated. And I can certainly tell you what this education has done to me.... My education was so that I could have a job. This job in turn provides me with money, that I spend on food at the grocery store, mostly on food that is NOT raw, organic, nor nutritious in nature. My education has reduced the time in which I can prepare these meals as well... since being educated leads to being involved in many other activities outside of a job. Let's just keep it going now.... where did I get my education? Well I'm so glad you asked! I received an education that is controlled by our government. This is also the same government that controls most of the production of the most unhealthy foods I eat! Anyone ever wonder WHY the government created a food pyramid that says we should eat mostly grains? Think about it peoples... where do you think corn/wheat/soy farmers receive their subsidies from?

Yep, I'm THAT educated. And so are you!

I also find it absolutely amazing that the MORE I keep educating myself, the more I realize how being UNeducated might have it's glowing points. Now I must step back a tad bit here.... I'm not saying, gee, I wish I was raised stupid. I am very thankful I have an education.

BUT in looking at these uneducated practices.... I want to learn from them, not shame them. I want to dissect if they are TRULY uneducated, or if they are actually more intelligent in some ways then we are in Western societies. Research is proving that some of these uneducated people actually DO hold the key... they are called Blue Zones in case you are wondering... in these Blue Zones... these uneducated and poor people actually live healthier, live longer, have very little stress, and live a full and happy life.

Now how about that?



Saturday, January 15, 2011

Weekend Away

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh............

Yes, exactly how I was able to relax last weekend.

I warned ya, life is slowing down around here and we kicked it off with a weekend of rest and relaxation with just Mommy and Johnny.

It was grand.
I want that every weekend.
:)

It was perfect.
We found a nice little 3 bedroom lodge right on the out skirts of Mineral Point, WI. MapleWood Lodge. Just one lodge, nothing fancy. 3 bedrooms on 26 secluded acres. Total SILENCE.

The lodge was fantastic. It had so many rooms to sit and relax in that John and I could barely decide where to plant our tooshies the first night.

(Amazing Living Room)

Turns out my favorite spot was right by the front door.... 2 chairs, a little table, my books, my knitting, and 2 beautiful windows to watch the sun rise and fall from....

There were so many little quirks too.... I think I spent each day just walking around the house for a little while noticing all the oddities that made it so unique...




And yes... we had TIME. Time to cook the most perfect and splendid breakfast on Saturday morning in this kitchen.......


Eggs Benedict from scratch, YUMMO. I fixed up a little Olive Oil based Spinach Cole Slaw on the side for mine....

Your mouth is watering now right??? I know, mine is too...

We got to go see House on the Rock as well.


We went in the off season so we got a limited guided tour but I am positive that my kids are going this summer... it's pretty awesome. I love JUNK. Just love love love it! Yet, I met a man who loved junk more!




We unfortunately forgot out good camera on this trip but my phone did so-so OK....

(This was in the Women's Bathroom! I coulda peed with the stall door open!)


(Stained glass was present EVERYWHERE)

(Anything Musical is just incredible... After John watched this his exact quote was, "My mind is blown." :)

I swear Alex Jordan did multiple drugs... it was amazing. It's a place you should really see on a daytime adventure if you haven't already :) The only down side was the GUIDED tour. I'm not much of a guided tour fan... sure, it has it's moments, like if you have a question, you do have someone who knows more then you do available for an answer but hey... I have Google on my phone.






SO yeah, summertime it's my goal with the kiddos.... and I'll bring a better camera too :)

In conclusion... relaxation was acheived. Returning to the real world was hard. However, my attitude is much better and I am definintly re-focused.

Awesome.