I was late coming to this party for many reasons that are not important and did not get to experience Avatar until toward the end of January. Nevertheless, going in I thought I knew what to expect: over the top because computers now make it possible visuals combined with a plot similar to Fern Gully. By the time I saw Avatar I had read many things about it: the obvious and not so subtle references to unobtanium, numerous reviews, a perspective from native indigenous populations that this film reflected their struggle, even a short piece about Avatar depression syndrome where people expressed that they came away from the movie depressed that they would never live in a place of peace and harmony with nature as the Na’Vi seem to on Pandora.

I knew enough before trudging to downtown Austin to watch it in IMAX to know that this film would be a cultural point of reference for the entire world for years to come. Those facts and preconceptions aside, what I came away with was remarkably different. Although the film has all of the above mentioned elements, the choices James Cameron makes, and the way he integrates the unique story is much more multi-layered than the casual critic has discussed. The detail depth scale and scope that Cameron uses to present this film make it more like a great work of literature rather than a great work of film.

All truly great books can be read and enjoyed multiple times with new exciting elements and discoveries coming each time they are read. Avatar is a similar film experience. The visuals and effects are so overwhelming and epic I don’t think even the most astute film student or critic could pick up everything in one viewing. Part of what was so unique about this experience is that not a scrap of what is seen is wasted. Most films use foreground and background and emphasize what the eye needs to be drawn to through lighting focus etc. This film in 3-D in Imax as I experienced it while there was foreground and background, there was not one wasteful or unimportant detail in frame. Every color, lighting choice, highlight, low light, dark space, light space, character line and movement was important. Avatar is a film where if you were to watch it for what is not highlighted, ignore the humans and the Na’Vi, and mute the dialog and just have visual background and score it would still be a stunning moving work of art.


Visuals aside, there is also a lot that Cameron chose not to include that adds to the intrigue of Avatar. The backstory on how the company and the shareholders got to the point where they were willing to commit the heinous acts of destruction against the Na’Vi is not thoroughly explored. How the breakdown in communication between the Na’Vi and the earthlings developed and became entrenched was not explored. Avatar is an entirely different film if there is more focus on how the alien sky people get to the point where they chose violence against the Na’Vi. Perhaps Cameron more wanted to make the point that corporations / situations go to the lowest common denominator of brute force and perhaps this is an accepted fact of humanity that does not need to be explained or explored. It’s presented as FACT that the corporate behavior of conquest is culturally acceptable to our earthly humanity.

Throughout Avatar, the themes of balance, connectivity, and healing are explored. Pandora is presented as a living entity that is teeming with not just life, but intelligence in every rock, tree, creature, and life force. The Na’Vi are also connected to their animals, their horses and their flying dinosaurs. The animals, and their brethren prove invaluable in the fight against the earth sky people. The animals coming in and attacking and standing with the Na’Vi against a greater enemy show their connectivity to nature and to the Na’Vi both through the bio fiber optic electro luminescent links and through their connection to their planet. The animals also provide food and sustenance to the Na’Vi through the hunt, assistance in their hunts, as well as transportation to get around Pandora.

Through their connection to Pandora, reading the signs they are sent and understanding, the Na’Vi reach out to Sully and train him and learn from them, and because of this they are saved as a people. The Na’Vi are connected to each other visually through the electroluminescence that results from their singing and touching one another in ritual, and also through the tree of souls that is thought to hold the energy of those that have passed through Eh-Wah, the spriritual deity the all that is of Pandora. The connection is demonstrated to work both ways in that Eh-Wah believed what Sully had said about the sky people and reached into whatever innate knowledge Eh-Wah gained through connection to Dr Augustine and to Sully and decided the alien invaders threw Pandora out of balance. There was intelligence in this decision to call on the animals to carry out the fight against the earth sky people and retain balance. Pandora the physical planet and Eh-Wah the spiritual soul component is in essence personified as a character in Avatar, capable of making decisions and possessing great intelligence.

The healing comes in a very interesting way on Pandora. Sully is healed by his Avatar which gives him new legs. In a very real visual, physical, and graphic way, he is free on Pandora in a way that he is not free in his earth bound body with his paralyzed legs. Dr Augustine cannot be healed physically or spiritually as Mo’at says she is too far gone, not just in physical injuries but in a real sense she has been there too long too many prejudices about Pandora, and unable to “believe in the fairy tale” as she puts it and connect to Eh-Wah, except at the end she sees feels and experiences the connection. She is healed as her energy is given back to Pandora on a spiritual level, but her physical being is no more.

On a deeper level Avatar presents in contrast the majority of the earth sky people as only able to connect to each other and to Pandora through their technology in a very un-natural inorganic way. Without their sensors, computer satellite imagery, controlled atmosphere and machine guns, they can’t function, and are crippled in the Hallelujah floating mountains because of the electromagnetic flux and resulting electronic interference. The earth sky people cannot breathe on Pandora without their masks, which physically and spiritually cover, hide, and separate them from Pandora. Marine Col Quaritch admits the lower gravity makes him soft, is completely unable to fight effectively without his robot, and is only connected to the robot, a thing, not a life giving intelligent entity like Pandora. So focused on drilling for “valuable” deposits of unobtanium, the earth sky people are unable to understand or obtain the true intelligence and true connection that Pandora provides the Na’Vi.

The converse of Pandora’s healing is that on earth our sickness, our disconnectedness from each other and the environment and our imbalance is as a result of our surrounding ourselves with material possessions. All the man made “things” that tip the scales in favor of our own convenience and ego gratification, separate us from our Eh-Wah, kill Eh-Wah and ultimately our souls and physical bodies. Avatar presents us, our humanity, our separation, imbalance, illness, and disconnectedness in opposition to what we could be if we could perhaps learn to see beyond quarterly statements, keeping up with the Joneses, pervasive corporate advertising, and get back to what matters: our families and friends, taking care of our environment, helping our fellow man, and connecting with balancing and healing each other in unimaginably magnificent and amazing ways.

I wish everyone, a very happy, thankful and safe weekend. I hope everyone gets nice and stuffed on turkey or tofu.....Have a great one :)

I'm not usually one to read columnist's diatribes in the papers, particularly from religion-based columists. But this one caught my eye.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/o...J%2BqVyw%3D%3D

I find myself hard-pressed not to agree with the man. Particularly if you read further down at some of the comments. Talk about MISSING THE POINT! :rolleyes:

There have been discussions all over the net - on blogs, on boards, in chats - about how people don't know how to disagree any more. They don't know how to debate the issues without insulting the person who believes something different. But it's going far beyond that now. People have decided that because they're on Twitter or Facebook or MySpace or LiveJournal, or have their own webpage or blog here or there, that they're SOMEBODY. And that means that they have a right to spout their opinion at any and all opportunities and in whatever manner they wish to do so.

That's not saying people shouldn't state their opinions. But what happened to being polite? What happened to decorum? As the columnist says, what's happened to civility?

I have a rep for speaking my mind. And I do tend to speak my mind rather forcefully - on my own blogs. I also offer the opportunity for rebuttal. I've even been known to apologize on occasion. ;) But I also know when to keep my mouth shut. I also know there's a time and a place for expressing disagreement.

I've left a couple of groups because I was sick of the behavior and the constant sniping that went on, and come close on a couple of others. I'm sick of people forgetting that their opinion isn't any more right than the next guy's. Why should we respect their opinion, or them, when they refuse to do the same?

I used to think it was just my age; young people just weren't taught any better. But I was wrong. Age doesn't matter. I've seen as many jackass comments from people my age and older as I have the young. So maybe we all need to be reminded, as Jay Leno reminded Kanye West - what would your mother say?

Hopefully your mother knew how to be polite.

Was sitting at the beach, writing a letter and It was so beautiful that I wrote something that I wanted to share......

"The fog is rolling out over the Georgia Strait, the sky is clear and blue above me, the sun is shining down and crickets are playing my favorite tune and the last of summer is keeping me warm this awesome morning."

I am not a writer, I am not sure those words do justice to the day, it was the best way I could describe that beautiful morning.

Enjoy everyday and take a moment to appreciate the beauty that is nature :)
Have a great day!!!!
M

"You teach the best, what you most need to learn"

Richard Bach (Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/he...er=rss&emc=rss

From the NY Times, "Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy"

I don't know why anyone should be surprised. When I was at business school, we took a class on statistics. The one thing I took away from that class was the idea that numbers can be made to say anything - you have to look at who is putting them out there.

From my own dismal experiences with the medical community, I knew better than to just "follow doctor's orders". I'd known that doctors and drug companies worked hand in hand - which brand drug you get depends largely on how much kickback the doctor/clinic/hospital gets from the drug company. Now it seems there's even more reason to question what the guys in white tell us - because they themselves have been mislead by the drug companies.

IMHO the whole medical community is poisoned by the idea of propaganda over science. How do you think the cancer researchers have kept going all these years - without any kind of real success? There are cures out there - and there's more to prevention than "quit smoking" :rolleyes: - but to put forth those theories means their jobs could be out the window, so...

Bit of a rant here - my ages-old bitterness at how the medical community as a whole screwed up my family. (Well, killed them off one by one, basically, via their damn God Complex.)

Anyway - one more reason to listen skeptically to what some white-coated guy with a piece of paper on the wall tells you. Listen to your own body and trust what it tells you. And have the courage to say "no" to your doctor. I'm sure their ego will survive.

Life without men

It's amazing what stem cell research will produce.

Here's an article from bbc news, and some quotes which I found amusing ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8142104.stm

"Women have always known that men are a bit of a waste of space … Now British scientists have proved how unnecessary blokes truly are by creating the first human sperm from stem cells. And as if that's not a big enough problem for fellas everywhere, the expert behind this revolutionary move is a man."


"men are redundant but worth keeping for menial tasks"

:)):)):))

i have just registered here and i just wanted to say im sorry you had cancer and i am a big fan of yours and you didnt deserve to get that disease. i hope you are ok now and fighting fit. i just have to say this i cant believe how different you look from when you were in the a team. it would mean the world to me if i could have your autograph. im not well myself at the minute i suffer from severe depression some days im fine and others i just cant be bothered coming on here has made me feel a lot better i hope your 2 boys are ok? i didnt know either that you had 2 sons.

This is a really great link about all the new macrobiotic restaraunts that are sprouting up all over Los Angeles.


http://www.latimes.com/features/food...,7966804.story

It seems "macro" is becoming hip again, but they are calling it "progressive macrobiotics" I wonder if that's macrobiotics "re-imagined" like something else that Dirk was involved in that was "re-imagined" and probably not as good or as healthy as the original. I’ll reserve judgment for now…. In any case it's a good article, if anyone we know might be going to Los Angeles anytime soon....maybe they can eat at some of these places and let us know how macro they are or aren’t

You know skipping rope is being “re-imagined” at 24 hr fitness also as part of their Everlast boxing classes they teach people how to jump rope for fitness... part of this new crazy fitness trend. They do at least 15 minutes of jump rope in this class… all different styles. It’s almost like if I didnt know better, I would say that someone at corporate at 24 hr fitness watched CBB 5 on you tube saw someone jumping rope, and decided we need to team up with a boxing company and teach a more boxing / jump rope fitness class we’ll “re-imagine” the jump rope.

Hey and it’s not even like I have anything against imagination or re-inventing the wheel or trying to make the wheel more hip….. seriously. I mean anything that gets more people actually doing real exercise I'm totally in favor of. I could never get excited about aerobics classes ever because quite frankly, I played hockey, I was not a figure skater and never could quite master a lot of complicated dance moves.

On the other hand I love group exercise classes like the spin classes which are an imaginary bike ride that you take in the dark. If your instructor is good you can follow the cadence of their I-Pod tunes that they have selected and have a pretty good workout even if you don’t know all the lingo at first. And if you aren’t on cadence no one really notices because it’s in the dark. If your form isn’t the best, or you don’t have as tough a gear on the bike as the person next to you no one knows. If you can’t imagine all the hills no one really cares, you can just do the drills. It’s guided yes, but you make your own workout. According to my electronic pulse and calorie monitor I burn about 600-800 calories per hour along with my fellow riders, (mostly because it’s not outdoors so you never stop for traffic and are constantly pedaling)

So I like the bike re-imagined in the spin class. It’s a great workout, you can do it with your friends, it’s non-competitive because everyone stays in the same place and no one wins the race. You don’t have to worry about rain or other yucky weather spoiling the ride. Sometimes the music is a little questionable, but it’s just really to pace everyone, to get you sprinting or doing slow climbs or whatever drills the instructor wants to do that week. . And hey… all the “bike reimagined” has dropped my ass from a size 2 down to a tight lifted size 0 and it gives me a great cardio / core alternative when my knees tell me that I have spent enough time running.

So what’s the message here? Cycling re-imagined in spin class=good,

other things "re-imagined" questionable….. Like my recent decent into "re-imagined" macrobiotics with thermogenic fat burning supplements.


The thermogenic fat burning supplement that I was taking for a 10 week cycle was recently recalled / withdrawn from the market here in the United States. I guess I was lucky in that I don’t seem to have any of the ill effects that were mentioned in news reports. Most of what they are taking it off the shelves for was clearly outlined on the bottle. Did it work in my case?? Well… that’s debatable.

The whole point for me in taking it was really to lower body fat and increase muscle at the same time which is hard at a certain point to do. My body fat at the end of the cycle is down to 13%, which for a female is really quite low. Would I have gotten there at this time in my life without the supplement? That’s a question I’ll never be able to answer. Did I do this all on my own? Was the body fat drop a result of all my hard work? or the thermogenic fat burners blocking me from burning muscle?

Its unfortunate that honestly I can’t answer these questions. I know this. The decision to use these re-imagined diet pills because of my impatience and maybe more importantly at the core, my lack of faith in myself to be able to get my body fat percentage down without them will keep that self-doubt in my mind. I imagine when I go through triathlete lean out again starting in December without thermogenics, I will be able to answer that question more effectively at the end of the cycle and have more faith in my ability to do it on my own, without the assistance, or even the placebo effect of some supplement. I look forward to that day when I have more and stronger faith in my own innate abilities to cut my own path and follow it relentlessly.

I learned from this experience though that you can’t have faith in your own ability if someone or something else is there doing it for you. This is important with my kids too, they need to be doing things independently and learn to have faith in themselves and their abilities. I all ready knew this was true for them, but now I realize it much more clearly. When I run the ironman in a few years after a lot more training is under my belt, I need to have the faith in myself, not in a supplement, or a water, or a performance food, or some “re-imagined” feel good version of some other crap. I need to have faith in my own voice and what I know will work, not some trainer ( no matter who they have trained or how famous they are), not a computerized bike fit, not a computer analyzed running gait analysis, not a commercial, not some chick at the gym whose ass is smaller than mine… although ( never mind not really important). Not that it is a bad thing to listen to others and take in information….
Hank Aaron was a great hitter in part because he never had a hitting coach growing up. He crossed his hands on his bat ( opposite the conventional way) growing up and developed very powerful muscles in his wrists hitting this way, and when he was turned into a conventional grip hitter in the major leagues he still hit better than just about anyone. He also hit off of his front foot in the batters box, not his back foot as all children are taught from the day they start T-Ball these days. Yet he listened to his own voice, because there was no one telling him to do things differently and was quite successful.

In the end I think everyone has their own choice. Do you believe in you and your own ideas???? Do you have enough confidence to stand on your beliefs and ideas and not bend when others or life and circumstances encourage you to cave in and go along??? Or do you place your faith in a pill??? Or someone else’s re-imagined version of some other crap??? It’s an important question…. Where do you place your belief ????

Yours off the belief in the "thermogenic fat burners" physically and spiritually back in the macro kamikaze cowgirl saddle again

In the spirit of
Peace Love Hope Faith Bancha and lots of biking, spin classes, running, swimming and jump rope
SS

Every place has its own "spring rites" - the things you see that assure you that, yes, winter is over! I keep noticing the differences between when I lived in the city and now, back in my home town.

A small farming community is, to me, the best place to notice the changes. It starts with farmers' hats. From thick and warm (some with flaps) to well-worn cotton - that's the first sign. Then from coats to heavy jackets, moving to the light-weights - not quite ready for only shirts yet.

Just as the scilla and daffodils finish blooming, the traffic jams start - heavy tractors pulling various farm machines behind them, dragging the traffic to a sedate 5 miles per hour. But no one honks their horn - this is, after all, the town's lifeblood. Then the sit-down mowers start traveling the streets - some looking for potential summer employment, others because it's the easiest way for their elderly owners to get around.

It's when the tillers get hauled out, and the new vegetable gardens get marked out that you know for sure there'll be no more snow.

Gardeners have a sixth-sense about those things, you know. ;)

Okay so in my quest to become super fit… I got a little impatient. Or should I say a lot impatient. I needed more energy and perhaps even more protein than what I was getting to get the miles and the training in that I need to be ready for trithalons and eventually in a few years when I believe my system is ready an ironman.

So the protein part is easily fixable, just adding a little more beans and seeds and watching my percentages carefully. At the same time in the process of getting myself ready to accomplish these feats I hit a plateau, both in terms of fitness and in terms of weight and body fat percent. In order to get off this plateau, I started mixing up my fitness routine more than I all ready did. New and different crunches for the stomach. New and different leg exercises, working on a new and varied treadmill routine. Running targeted sprintervals on incline specifically designed for fat burning. New and more intense exercises to lean out my arms and upper back. I also looked at how I could modify my diet.

I was all ready using a specialized gym water to shorten recovery time that I designed with water baking soda, B12, sasparilla extract, rock salt dissolved, potassium chloride dissolved, and barley malt extract in a very small amount to get a tiny amount of a natural cleansing sugar. So the gym water was on the macrobiotic borderline at best but did help me lengthen my workouts without doing anything too drastic.

All of this was not getting me off the plateau that I was on. I was ill with an upper / lower respiratory infection and trying to run through it. Meaning I was not taking more than two days in a row off without exercise. I felt like I was losing ground. The numbers on the scale were not going down. The inches were not coming off. I was stagnating. I grew impatient.

So I did some more research and discovered that increasing caffeine helped aide recovery and increases raw workout capacity. My fitness quest got the better of me when “ A latte every now and then won’t kill me macrobioticly” entered into my thinking. And I tried to justify it by the fact that it was a soy latte and thus still vegan. So the twice a month latte treat turned into a thrice a week need when I was on intense workout days. But still my energy was waning. I was pushing my body beyond it’s limit and it wasn’t recovering as quickly as I wanted it to. It wasn’t dropping fat off my ass quickly enough. I wasn’t dropping the numbers on body fat percentages or on the scale. Two weeks… Three weeks …. Four weeks…. Little change…… What else was there.

And this is where I fell off the macro train and picked up a bottle of diet pills. A legal supplement in the United States that consists of a lot of things, predominantly caffeine, yohimbe, and green tea extract. That along with some guarana, B12, and gym water and suddenly I had as much energy as all my fellow gym rats. I was able to complete amazingly long workouts. My body fat percentages started dropping again. The number on the scale started dropping again. Thirteen pounds in six weeks, when prior to picking up that bottle, the scale had told me the same number for almost a month. I had plenty of energy and was able to do all that I needed to do for my life and still workout like a maniac. Plus I was getting results. I went to a size 2 and even into a 1, and now into a 0. It was a high a caffeine pill induced high that I justified was okay as long as I still ate macrobioticly.

Because at this point macrobiotics was no longer about balance, or about moderation. It was about just a specific type of vegan diet that gave me great skin. Until someone pointed out very wisely that this was a choice of consistent extreme behavior.

Not just the pills but the workouts. Both are extreme. Outside the true realm of macrobiotics. Which got me thinking…. the training is extreme, maybe I was using the diet pills to balance that. But it still put me in the realm of consistent extreme behavior. This was not a one off choice to have french fries. This was a consistent choice to get help to accomplish something with a pill simply because it was not happening as quickly as I would have liked without it. It goes along with whatever has a big front has a bigger back.

It’s a spiral outside the realm of my macrobiotic journey. Although I maintain a macrobiotic eating plan, in terms of food choices and balances, the addition of these pills and three or more hours a day of working out ( on long days) is outside the realm of macrobiotics. I will confess and admit that I believe that is true. I toyed with adding back eggs this week to up my protein and am going back to being completely vegan as this did not help my energy or my recovery like the diet pills do. I enjoy being a macrobiotic vegan. I enjoy the energy and results I get from the diet pills. I like how I feel when I workout and after I workout. My stress just evaporates with my every bead of sweat.

I don’t want anyone to think that I am writing in a macrobioticly induced stream of consciousness. You won’t catch me blogging opinions on Jessica Porter, Dirks Books, or Kushi’s musings anymore because it’s not what works for me with what I want to do with my life right now. Part of it does, part of it doesn’t.

Truly macrobiotics is about finding your own path to health and vitality at its core. At my core, I have always been an extreme person. I played soccer in High School with extreme passion. I played ice hockey in college often with more heart and desire than raw ability, but passionately would defend my line mates tooth and nail when other teams came after them. I would tool ( MIT term for study) into the extremes of the night to finish a problem set after exhausting 2 hr practices. All this made me happy then. All of what I am doing now is making me happy.

The choice of diet pills even though it is off the realm of macrobiotics got me to where I am taking the steps I need to take in my life to cut my own path and follow it to achieve the goals I have. Strict adherence to macrobiotic principle for six months provided a much needed mental / spiritual / physical “reset” to get me where I needed to be. But I still have further to go.

Now I am not saying diet pills are smart. I am not saying it is a stupid choice. I am saying in my particular case, it is fulfilling a need to speed up my progress like I wanted to for various reasons.

Life is not forever. I want to seize the day. Soak everything in every day, live present and in the moment and let go of the past. I’m doing that. I’m moving forward. I’m making my way. And for right now my way is not as a strictly traditional follower of macrobiotics. I’m okay with that.


I am writing this just so that no one on this website thinks that anything I write from this moment forward is reflective of a macrobiotic viewpoint. Rather it will be written from my own viewpoint. Whether I am commenting on a movie or a show, or someone elses blog, it's just me, it's just my reality, and it's not macro. So again I'm okay with that. :)

I read this article, and have been meaning to mention it for awhile, but been too busy ...

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...html?full=true

The article describes 2 types of outlook that people can have, a 'fixed' mindset and a 'growth' mindset. The author explains how to encourage a child to develop a growth mindset which is more likely to lead to success. :) :cool: But I don't think it's just kids that could do with an opening of their minds? :p :))

The whole article is there, but I'll pick out some choice quotes;

How successful you are depends on your mindset, not just luck or innate genius. Believing you can improve by practice, rather than thinking talent is fixed, makes all the difference, says psychologist Carol Dweck.

People with a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities are carved in stone, so they are concerned about making their abilities look good. Those with a growth mindset believe their basic abilities can be cultivated through dedication and education. :cool: They are more concerned with stretching themselves. We've shown that a growth mindset orients you towards learning, whereas a fixed mindset makes you wary of challenges. If the learning involves risk of failure, those with a fixed mindset are more likely to pass it up. :(

What is your advice to parents who want to avoid trapping their children in a fixed mindset?
First, teach your child the growth mindset, and then praise effort, strategy and improvement. Do not praise intelligence and talent. :o This harms them.

There are lots of self-help books urging us to adopt a positive attitude. How does your approach differ?
There's evidence behind it. Second, many of these books are lists of what you should do - have confidence and so on - but they don't reveal how you do that. I identify a core belief that creates a whole psychological world in which you might prefer to live.

I've just gone to her web-site, which unfortunately charges for the course (not surprising as we all have to eat I suppose:p). http://www.brainology.us/

I won't try that course, but I will definitely consider buying her book, which appears to have good reviews. ;)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindset-Psyc...8601722&sr=8-1

I find it extremely ironic that Starbucks is the only international chain with a drive thru where you can order plain unsweetened oatmeal ( in about a 140 calorie portion) for $2.45 a cup in the states and get sliced nuts and dried fruit on the side ( they will also give you a small bag of poison, I mean brown sugar, but skip that, you don't need it and it's very non macro).

Now I previously blogged on the evils of the drive thru... but this is almost an acceptable macro alternative if you are without rice balls and hungry. Especially if you are out and about, busy, too lazy to get the kids out of their seats, and or need an occasional quick breakfast alternative.

The only draw backs are as follows: they are making instant oatmeal instead of the slower cooking variety, it's not organic, and it's prepared in a microwave.

Now the nuts are almonds and pecans, and the dried fruit is golden and regular rasins, cranberries, cherries, currants , and dates. Its a generous portion of fruit. I usually don't even open it when I get the oatmeal. I throw it in my car and keep it as a healthy snack option for the kiddos who are not as macrobiotically minded as me.

The nuts are a small portion that adds a nice protein kick to the meal especially if I am being lazy before a workout.

Now while this is not the perfect macrobiotic oatmeal, it's very close. And the irony, is that one of the worlds most famous macrobiotic champions played the Starbuck on televisions original Battlestar Galactica.... and the chain that was named after the first mate in Moby Dick, before Lt Starbuck set foot on the Galactica now carries food that I would classify as almost macrobiotic that conveniently you don't even need to get out of your car for.....in case you didn't all ready know all of that.

Okay really…...Swimsuit shopping is demoralizing as hell even from my honest brown rice induced macrobiotic perspective..

So I went to get a new swimsuit this weekend, and I thought (stupidly) hey I can wear a size 2 jeans now….. this should be fun…. I mean…. The crunches are paying off… I’ve almost got the four pack back ( I never had a six pack, even when I was a gymnast, so the four pack is good) I weigh less than I did in high school, so this should really be a treat right???? Well what follows is some positive feedback that I hope will make this experience better not just for me but for everyone………………..


Some constructive feedback to swimsuit manufacturers and marketers:

1. You should bring in some real women that have had children and measure where on their figure stretch marks begin and end. Then make a bikini that will cover the stretch marks. Not all of us want to undergo thousands of dollars in cosmetic surgery to take care of these little issues, and most women over a certain age have kids, and would still like to feel sexy. Lingere manufacturers have figured out how to make sexy outfits that cover and flatter why can’t you people?

2. There should be some standard realistic sizing. My friend that is a size zero, was having to try on a medium bikini top and a size 6 / 8 medium bottom. And she doesn’t have kids. Where is the sense in that???? Now I think size inflation is ridiculous, but come on we are not talking premium branding here. If you think the only women that want to wear bikinis are size zero women think again. Some of us size 2,4,6,8 and more women want to go on vacation with our husbands / partners and wear them also And believe it or not some men actually *want* to see their non zero size women that they love and cherish in sexy swimsuits and bikinis.


3. Just because the fashion industry only likes anorexic models doesn’t mean the rest of us are that way, and doesn’t mean that all men want and desire that. There are many cuts of women, slender, athletic, average, slight, petite, tall, large, voluptuous. And I don’t want to wear a triathlon speedo suit when I am trying to look nice. I still want to look sexy and cute, and at that point, I don’t want or need to look sleek / aerodynamic / or be properly supported for rigorous activities or in any other way shape or form just look like a jock.

4. Take a cue from the bra manufacturers and add more cleavage enhancement, or at least include larger removable pads. Women like options. More cleavage / padding when we are on a cruise or romantic weekend getaway. Less when we are at the pool with the kids. Just because we are moms, does not mean we are not women.


5. When you make a tankini, keep in mind that it needs to be functional. Don’t make it so tight that a little roll of skin protrudes at the bottom no matter how thin you are. And if you are going to make it that tight, make sure it is long enough to be tucked into the bottoms. Many women buy them, not as an alternative to a bikini, but because when you are with your kids and need to use the restroom ( or worse, accompany them to the restroom), it’s easier just to slip down a bottom than it is to take off the whole suit. Also you could make an optional attachment strap that would fit inside the bottom, so that if a woman wanted to, she could wear it as a one piece and make sure she was covered. Again options, women like options, why do you think we have 10 different pairs of shoes and shades of lipstick???

The bottom line is that not all of us are cut out to be or want to be in the sports illustrated swimsuit issue. Not all of us want to go hang out in the pool at the Palms in Las Vegas or at the Playboy Mansion. But half the population at least in this world are women, and most of us want to look cute, sexy, and feel good about ourselves. And if we didn't go through the trouble of having children and raising them *no one* would be here. Don’t demoralize us by making swimsuits that aren’t as flattering as they could be if you put some real time and effort into it. Don’t size the swimsuits in such a way that even the youngest and the skinniest among us is demoralized. Don’t think that just because a woman works out or runs and has muscles that she wants to wear the same swimsuit to train in and look sexy in. Don’t think that just because a woman has had children, she doesn’t want to wear a bikini. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that no matter how caught up in our careers, our daily lives, our kids, our partners, and our families we are we don’t want to look sexy, feel beautiful, sensual, and feminine.


Oh and yes I did manage to find some swimsuits that were acceptable, two bikinis and a very sexy one piece, after trying on at least three sizes of every color cut and style in the store just about........ so all in all very positive :)

In the spirit of Peace Hope Faith Love and bancha......
Yours in the one true forever ladies and gents!!!

SS

"What is a good friend? We can easily find a definition of the word 'friend' in the dictionary, but I would like to think about it in Buddhist terms. Nichiren Daishonin states,

"Therefore, the best way to attain Buddhahood is to encounter a good friend. How far can our own wisdom take us?

... In Nichiren Buddhism, the term 'friend' is translated from the Japanese Chi Shiki which literally means 'knowledge'. ... Traditionally, Buddhism was transmitted not by documents or books but orally, through word of mouth. In Buddhism, someone who leads others to enlightenment is called a 'good friend', and the opposite, an 'evil' or 'bad friend' is someone who leads people away from enlightenment. So while books support learning, such things as real wisdom and enlightenment, can only really be developed through meeting a good friend. ...

At one point, Ananda, one of Shakyamuni's disciples, asked the Buddha, 'It seems to me that by having good friends and advancing together with them one has already halfway attained the Buddha way. Is this way of thinking correct?' ... Shakyamuni replied, 'Ananda, this way of thinking is not correct. Having good friends and advancing together with them constitutes not half the Buddha way, but all of the Buddha way.'

... The Lotus Sutra teaches that every person has unlimited potential and a unique mission. In becoming a good friend, we too can develop the desire and ability to recognise the potential of others and make effort to maintain the conviction of the importance of each person' capability and mission. If we fall into the belief that someone will never change or develop, or that somehow they won't be able to hear our encouragement or understand us, the problem does not lie with them it lies with us.

In today's society, it is quite rare for people to truly seek good friends, with whom they can polish their character. People normally choose friends who they find easy to hang around with or someone who agrees with their opinion. We can easily get on well with such people, but ... they do not necessarily function as 'good friends'. Likewise, we don't usually view the people who we find difficult as friends at all - let alone 'good friends', but actually those who we find most challenging can function as powerful forces for us to polish our humanity. ... In the same vein Nichiren Daishonin [said his] best allies in attaining Buddhahood were [those who tried to kill him],

'I am grateful when I think that without them I could not have proved myself to be the votary of the Lotus Sutra.'

Nichiren Daishonin shows us that even those people who cause us the severest difficulty can be transformed into 'good friends'. There is no need to try to avoid or run away from them.

... [W]hen we are confronted with the people we find challenging and through our effort ... see their great qualities [and thus] transform the dynamic of our relationship with them. In doing so, we develop the ability to embrace and appreciate the lives of even those who are most different from ourselves. The dual result is that we develop our capacity to become a 'good friend' to others and our lives become broader and richer.

When we are in the company of someone who we know deeply believes in our potential and will never give up on us, we all have the urge to strive even that little bit harder. All people, in the depths of their lives, seek this kind of encouragement. Let's remind ourselves that as members ... we are never alone, we have good friends all over the world and in turn we can become good friends to many more."



From 'Good Friends' by Yasu Hirayama, from an article in 'Art of Living', a UK Buddhist magazine, published February 2009, Issue no 92.