A LOAF OF BREAD

HOMEMADE BREAD

2 pkg. dry yeast
2 c. milk
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
3 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. oil
1 egg
7 cups bread flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water.

Warm milk slightly and combine with the sugar, salt, butter, oil and egg. Add to yeast mixture.

Combine with 3 cups of bread flour and beat for 2 minutes. Mix in additional flour to form a soft dough.

Turn out on floured board and knead 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Place in buttered bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Punch down. Form in to 2 loaves of your choice.

Let rise until doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.

Visual Instructions &
A Whole Wheat Bread Recipe with Am. & Euro measurements

EAT A LOAF & GIVE AWAY A LOAF OF HOMEMADE BREAD TODAY!

SMILE

Smile

A smile
Is a great weapon
It can hold captive a heart
And make it feel free
It can connect strangers
In kindness
In the acknowledgement
Of existence
It is the innocence
That we all crave
A beautiful thing
To gaze upon
To remember
—BEC

BABY ASPIRIN

I know I am not the only one who is guilty of cursing the day childproof caps were invented. I often wonder if the manufacturers, when faced with the task of preventing children from gaining access, simply took the easy way out, designing lids that can not be opened by any humans on the planet.

A do-it-yourselfer in San Francisco has even resorted to inventing ways to disarm bottles with "evil" childproof caps, as he calls them, using thumbtacks, toothpicks, and nail clippers. He claims he wants to make life easier for those adults who are childless or suffering from arthritis

I grew up in the 60's, years before childproof caps were on the market. I survived, luckily.

When I was a child, I had no idea that baby aspirin could kill or that baby oil contained hyrdrocarbons and could be lethal. Fortunately for me, my mother was aware of the dangers of aspirin. But, I am certain she too was clueless when it came to baby oil. A large bottle of Johnson's baby oil was in our bathroom always within easy reach for dry skin relief.

Regulations mandating child resistant packaging became effective in the U.S. in 1972. A 2002 study analyzed the effectiveness of child-resistant packaging for aspirin. Unlike the only other study conducted in 1985, researchers concluded that the packaging reduced aspirin-related child poisoning 34% during 1973-1990.

Although child-resistant packaging has reduced the child mortality rate, researchers cautioned that additional strategies such as "...designing packaging that relies more on cognitive abilities than strength, should ultimately lead to further reductions in the child-poisoning rate by lowering adult resistance to the use of child-resistant packaging."

So, if consumers can use their Yankee ingenuity to make childproof caps easy to open, why have manufacturers not designed improved packaging?

Trusting young kids to be aware of the consequences of their actions might be just as foolish as eating an entire bottle of baby aspirin because it tastes good. Trusting adults apparently can pose the same risks.

LOVE DOLLS

Love dolls?
Love dolls.

The first may be an innocent question someone asks a child. The second might be a statement of sexual preference.

Some people may frown upon the notion of substituting lifelike adult female dolls for the genuine flesh and blood models when seeking intimacy. But, according to Toshi Maeda's news report, "Japan's lonely hearts turn to dolls for sex, company" the popularity of life-sized, anatomically correct female sex dolls has now extended beyond the 1970's target market, handicapped men.

"Orient Industry Co. now makes 80 dolls a month in eastern Tokyo factory to nine designs that sell for between $850 and $5,500 each. The more expensive models are made of silicon and have 35 movable joints.

"Nearly all of the people who buy these dolls are single men and about 60 percent of them are over the age of 40, a company official said.

"'Nowadays, women are sometimes more dominant than men in the real world, and they don't always pay attention to men,' said Hideo Tsuchiya, the company's president.

"'More and more men are finding themselves miserable so we're making these dolls in support of men.'

One 45-year-old man who uses the pseudonym Ta-Bo explains, "'A human girl can cheat on you or betray you sometimes, but these dolls never do those thing. They belong to me 100%,' says the engineer who has spent more than 2 million yen ($16,000) over the past decade on the dolls."

Love dolls today no longer have the appearance of crude, plastic blow-ups. They are a far cry from dolls of childhood, the Raggedy Anne's and Cabbage Patch's or even those G.I. Joes we may recall. Will women increasingly worry that their own droopy, lumpy, aging bodies can't compete with these perfect silicone specimens? Or, like men, will women see the advantages of the plastic mistresses?

Where will it all lead?

Is it fantasy we fear? Or is it the fear that we can't control others who choose to live in fantasy? Does the attachment for love dolls and for dolls we loved as children spring from the same emotional needs? Or are love dolls symptomatic of sexual deviance ?

Perhaps, both children and adults simply have the same basic needs for companionship and love.

SACRED COWS

The beginning of the new year is a good time to take a closer look at our sacred cows.

I am not talking about bovines revered in India as holy reminders of the value of mothers in our society. These cows are sacred because the nutritious milk cows freely provide has prevented countless deaths due to starvation over the centuries. Killing cows for their meat, using arable land for grazing to feed a few rather than using it to grow rice that can feed many, makes no sense in India (some would argue that it makes no sense at all).

I am talking about Western sacred cows, those things or people that are too highly regarded to be open to criticism, or as Merriam-Webster states are "unreasonably immune from criticism or opposition".

It is good to reflect about the ways we have learned to think about things and people in our lives. How often do we make memories of past events our prison and other people are jailers?

A Zen master sagely advised, "If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him!" This is not a blatant call to commit murder. It is a reminder that we need to rid ourselves of the habit of looking outside ourselves for others who seemingly have all the answers.

We also need to begin looking within ourselves to find mental road blocks. It is time to question the "shoulds" that we think we must obey to become perfect, little Buddhas. It is time to accept our own worth right now.

WRINKLES

According to Medscape sources, in 2004, Americans spent $12.4 billion on cosmetics, an amount of money that is 33% larger than the amount needed each year (in addition to current expenditures) to provide water and sanitation for all people in developing nations, and, ironically, since cosmetics are often advertised as symbols of women's rights and independence, just slightly larger than the amount needed each year (in addition to current expenditures) to provide reproductive healthcare for all women in developing countries.

Botox, injectable botulinum toxin ( the cause of botulism food poisoning and a potential biowarfare/bioterror agent is all the rage. In 2006 alone over 3 billion injections were administered to temporarily reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Almost as bizarre as a "Brazil" facelift, is the increased use of wrinkle dermal fillers such as cow collagen, plastic microbeads, liquid silicone, and even synthetic bone and ground-up human cadaver skin, often supplied by for-profit tissue banks that divert the skin away from burn units where it is needed to treat critically ill patients.

We could blame the advertisers for persuading us to remain wrinkle-free. But then again, maybe we should just take a good look in the mirror.

TAMPON TALK

What was worse when growing up? The Curse itself or talking about it?

In my case, it was the later. We spoke in code, furtively whispering about The Curse, Aunt Flow, being on my pyramid, the rag. In my high school days just saying the word "Midol" out loud was a bold move; actually asking someone for one was a breakthrough moment of rare candor. Talking about menstruation, or anything else directly connected to sex, was taboo.

Have things changed much from the '60's?

Thanks to YouTube and Google, kids have easy access to a plethora of images and information pertaining sex.

After typing the phrase "celebrity se.." without adding the letter "x" into Google's search field, Google graciously suggested via drop down box that I check out the following 10 links:

1. celebrity sex-tape
   
2. celebrity sexy-lips
   
3. celebrity series
4. celebrity see through
5. celebrity secrets
6. celebrity series boston
7. celebrity search
8. celebrity sex-tapes
9. celebrity sexiest bodies
10. celebrity fantasy

If by some stretch of the imagination, the words see through, secrets and fantasy are linked to celebrity sexually, 7 out of 10 of the suggestions Google freely offers will provide web pages with sexual content.

Yes, the sixties have long come and gone. Yet, we still are a squeamish society when it comes to talking about sex. Why is this an issue?

Over 50% of all new HIV infections are found in people under the age of 24. Isn't it time we start learning how to talk about sex before it is too late.

THE BOOB TUBE

Just how important is television in our daily lives? ( I will exercise my right to hold conflicting values and refrain from asking myself the next question, "Just how important is the computer in our daily lives?" And don't even think about mentioning the iPhone!)

Here are some interesting television statistics gleaned online:

According to A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.

54% of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television.

Only 17% of American citizens can name three justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. But, thank heavens, 59% of all Americans can name The Three Stooges.

What would you do with your free time if you woke up tomorrow and there was no television?

ONE PENNY

Money...

A few favorite quotes come to mind, thanks to Google:

In God we trust, all others must pay cash.  —American saying

Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of its filling a vacuum, it makes one.  —Benjamin Franklin

I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money —Pablo Picasso

When did we first realize the power of money to control? Perhaps it is good to recall those early memories of money to discover the true value of money in our lives. 

THE TEDDY BEAR

What makes teddy bears special? What is it about these strange yet oddly familiar creatures that makes them disturbing yet endearing?

What can we learn from childhood memories of the magic of teddy bears? 

The Teddy Bear unravels the mystery of this object of fond affection. 

                                             

THE DOUBLE SEATER

Do you long to travel to foreign places? 

Sometimes the exotic lands we rarely visit are those within us.

The Double Seater is the first in a series of narrative videos on personal memories tied to everyday objects found within the home. Travel within domestic spaces can lead us to discover private, interior spaces overlooked and long forgotten.  

Sharing memories discovered through individual self-exploration has the power to reveal that aside from the exterior differences, all people are basically alike. 

MO MONEY

Museums must generate profits. To generate profits museums must draw patrons. To draw patrons museums must advertise. To advertise museums must charge patrons.

Art at what cost? And who pays the price? What are the alternatives?

WHITE RICE

A symptom of the illness of consumerism is believing we actually have
a choice in what we choose to consume.

Another symptom is believing that having the opportunity to choose from hundreds of varieties of the same product will bring more happiness.

HOLIDAY FEARS

'Tis the season to wrestle with wrapping paper and insecurities.
Forget your holiday fears. Take the time to show someone you care.

HEALTH CARE

When big business runs health care only the rich can afford to be sick. Under insured, no longer insured, never insured, the numbers of Americans without adequate health care is sickening.

OCTOPUS TREE

Are things worth more simply because they are old? What is the reason this mammoth tree on the coast of Oregon has survived?

Perhaps the Octopus Tree has escaped the chainsaw because it has the ability to make us imagine that there is more than what we see in front of us.

FORBIDDEN TALES

Freedom of speech....
Sometimes we must choose to exercise the right not to speak
to remain free.

THE FASHIONISTA IMPERATIVE

Are we born with an innate sense of style or are we shaped by the rules of fashion?
Why do we choose to wear what we wear?

HOW TO BE PERFECT

HOW TO BE PERFECT

Eat an orange every morning. Straighten up your room before you save the world. Then save the world. Sing every once in awhile. Do not exclaim, "Isn't technology wonderful!" Walk down different streets. Backwards. Do not go crazy a lot. It is a waste of time. Take out the trash.
Love life. Use exact change. Excerpt "How to Be Perfect" — Ron Padgett

THE VIEW

Sometimes the way we see
the world
makes it difficult
to enjoy the view.

A MOMENT OF SILENCE

Quiet these days is hard to come by.
Technology barks day and night.
Take the time to find a moment of silence.

PAPER DUCK

Feeding on blood and bones
the paper ducks
crumpled and torn
survive the long winters

nine eleven

nine eleven
two numbers
10-1
10+1
=
tragedy

just a couple of numbers
just another day

if you don't think about it

ROULETTE

Finding a job
can be
just another
bad game
of chance.

BRANDING

Branding....

Take a good look.
Brands are everywhere sending messages.
Are they the right ones?
Are they the wrong ones?
Are they the ones we meant to send?