the happy yellow house

ok. my camera and computer are friends again, so i can show you some photos of our little home.

there's Mr. Sealion in front of our house the first day we moved in, straight from Black Rock City.
the hallway.
the living room, with Sealion's amazingly gorgeous handmade table to the left.
the kitchen.
the backyard, with sweet clover carpet. there are a cherry, a pear, and a fig tree in our yard. :)
the upstairs, and our bedroom (sweet snoozing kitties included).

California's new law: AB 1735

i've posted so much about this on my food-a-file blog, and all over tribe.net, so for good measure, i'm putting it here, too.

AB 1735 ~ which goes into effect this January 2008 ~ will make it virtually impossible to legally purchase raw milk in California.

even if you don't live in California ~ even if you don't drink raw milk ~ even if you don't consume dairy products at all~
this bill affects you and your ability to obtain whole, life-giving foods.

instead of trying to ensure that foods are raised and processed in wholesome circumstances, the industrialized agriculture lobby, which is very very powerful, would rather pasteurize, fumigate, or irradiate all of our foods to make them "safe".
they are passing laws to this extent right now ~*without our consent* ~ such as the recent law that makes it *impossible* to purchase truly raw almonds except directly from a farmer. now California legislators (with the backing of the HUGE California Dairy lobby) have done it with raw milk. other states will use this as a precedent to pass similar laws. these foods ~ pasteurized, irradiated, and fumigated with harsh chemicals ~ are not life-giving foods. they are dead. instead of supporting and encouraging life, they cause it stress or damage. commercials will tell you otherwise, but they're wrong.
if you value raw foods of any sort, if you value your right to choose to purchase foods that support your health and the health of your children, this bill affects you.

for a run-down of the bill, please visit:
www.organicpastures.com/ab1735...is.html

to contact your legislators, please visit:
www.organicpastures.com/contac...rs.html

to learn more about Real (raw) Milk from healthy, pasture-grazing cows, and to find out how to get it where you live, please visit:
www.realmilk.com

to read a rant from my blog, www.food-a-file.blogspot.com, read further:

even if you don't live in California, what happens with California's laws on raw milk *will* set a precedent in other states. this bill has been snuck under the table by Big Dairy ~ who doesn't want you to know that your milk comes from cows who are sick, covered in their own poo, and never allowed to see the sunlight, or taste a bite of fresh clover. this is the large majority of our milk supply in America. it's wrong on so many levels and it's not health-supportive. they don't want you to know that. and "USDA Organic" isn't necessarily better. please! find out where your milk comes from. seek out local, caring producers of wholesome milk. and find it raw, if you can.
Big Ag is not interested in wholesome food that supports healthy, happy children and our fellow inhabitants of the planet. they would rather leave us consumers in the dark, keep growing and manufacturing "food" in filth and toxic chemicals, and either pasteurize, irradiate, or fumigate all foods to make them "safe" for consumption. this food is not life-giving food. it has *serious* ramifications on our already-compromised health and well-being. this is being done without our consent, and under the radar ~ such as the fact that *no* raw almonds can be legally sold now, except directly from the farmer.
food isn't simply something to toss in our mouths to keep us going, to satisfy a craving, or stuff an emotion. food is what our bodies *are made of*. it's what our brains, our minds, our emotions, our hormones, our hearts, our lungs, our digestive organs, our bones, our skin are all created from and function on. we evolved as animals to eat life-giving foods. we cannot replace these with synthesized, irradiated, genetically-modified, factory-extruded, petrol-fertilized, pseudo-foods for much longer. each generation of children suffers more. they deserve better. and so does the rest of the planet.

gratitude

sacred movement and real women: revisited

you know ~ that last blog post has never totally resonated with me. i edited it quite a bit after i published it, and it still doesn't quite feel 100% true. i think i try to make things black -and- white, especially in my blogs. stories that tie together with a nice bow, and if i'm really hot: a moral. or at least a clever theme.
when bellydance found me, it touched my soul so deeply, i don't think i can make decisive clear-cut judgments about my involvement in it, and i surely shouldn't be judging myself about whether i dance or don't dance. i don't believe i'm really my Self without dancing, and it seems that when i'm not dancing, it says something about my life. it has been a part of my healing process for the last few years not to dance. and i'm not sure why; i have just followed my gut. when i was in a situation where i could boogie-down, like Burning Man or a good party, i loved it! and when i attempted to devote myself to dance again my creative energy withdrew. i experienced a huge powerful dose of this when i auditioned for and was invited to dance with UG.

SO i'm getting back around to it, i hope. i am creating intention around it, and making a valiant attempt to leave my cozy hobbit hole for more than food.

always willing to disagree with me for my own good, Gemini Cricket sent me a Long Lost photo of me enjoying the hell out of some dancing (unfortunately it is not compatible with this website, and i'm not savvy enough to correct that. .). i am grateful.


photos!!!
Alyssum!, who *is* techno-savvy enough to correct it, changed the photo file for me, and sent me another photo (just the photo of the photo was salvaged in her housefire) of the two of us. feels like a long long time ago.

sacred movement and real women

i went to a bellydance class last night for the first time in a couple years. it was a momentous homecoming to my self and to my body to step back into the embrace of that ancient expression that feels so good to me. i want to dance again. and i don't want to attempt to be "the best" (what's that?), or be competitive at all, i don't care about being "known" amongst the circles, and i don't care about wearing the latest coolest dancewear by whoever's label is "it." and i definitely do not want to drill myself silly so that my abs are tight, or so that my arms don't have any softness. these are ways that, whether i realized it (or admitted it) or not, i was distracted, and the soul was robbed of my dance in the past. i just want to do it because i love it, and because my heart calls for it in its absence. my life doesn't feel quite whole without it. and perhaps just as equally, i feel deeply called to share it with other women.

the class was at fatchancebellydance. it felt so good to step out onto the floor in my barefeet and panteloons, with many women who were new to the dance and so giddy and excited to learn. i appreciate the feminine and sacred aspects of the space, with Kwan Yin in the corner, and beautiful saris draped down the walls. i like the fcbd style for its proud open strong woman posture. it opens and warms the heart. i got home from class and was so jazzed. doing taxeems and shimmies around the house just like i used to do after TT's and Woo's classes years ago. i felt pretty and feminine.

and continuing my focus on the Earth Goddess ~
somehow or other by a random connection of internet surfing, i came upon Margaret Cho's new dance variety show ~ Sensuous Woman ~ which celebrates real women and their real women bodies. i love Margaret Cho!! she is powerful, in-your-face, genuine, and soft all at the same time. i wanna see her show!
i love Margaret Cho!

http://www.margaretcho.com/

infatuation

i still am awe-struck that i live in a "destination." this destination. people come to the Bay Area for vacations (i have!), and many live here by choice (too expensive to live here by accident!). one day recently at the Farmers' Market as i walked down the sidewalk, i saw more than one person snapping photos, souvenir bags in-hand, and i realized that i was part of the larger "scenery" of their San Francisco Experience. i have kind of gotten into somewhat of a routine; i at least know where the bike streets are, and where to find most of our groceries. it's not all-new. i still reside in my own head way too much of the time. i've been here long enough to have more than one low day. but this evening as i coasted down the street on my bike, groceries on my back, toward home, i looked downhill to the West where the sun was setting pink, and realized i was seeing the sunset on the Bay. my heart went a little a-flutter. i still don't think it'll be a long-term relationship, but i'm enjoying this part. i'm in that infatuation phase.