Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Advent Week 1 Hope

 

The first week of advent is dedicated to Hope
Hope can be found in poetry and in fandom

Hope

(By Dreaming Ace)

What is Hope?
What does it look like?
Or taste like?
Or maybe we should ask 
What it feels like?

What is Hope?
In our bleak days?
In our joyous days too?
Is it always there?
Or does it travel to other realms?

What is Hope?
Who has know Hope's touch?
Who knows the sound of Hope?
Who is able to create Hope
Out of whole cloth?

What is Hope?
What does it look like?
Or taste like?
Or maybe we should ask
What it feels like?


A personification of Hope is Hob Gadling:

I've hated every second of the last 80 years, every bloody second. You know that?
So do you still wish to live?
Are you crazy? Death is a mug's game. I got so much to live for.

Hob Gadling and Dream of the Endless (Ep 6 The Sound Of Her Wings)

That might be the only thing I've learned after 500 years: People are almost always better than you think they are. Not me, though. Still the same as ever.

Hob Gadling and Dream of the Endless (Ep 6 The Sound Of Her Wings)


A personification of  Hope is The 11th Doctor

“I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes, and the dreamer of improbable dreams."

“The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. the good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don’t always spoil the good things or make them unimportant.”

“Letting it get to you. you know what that’s called? Being alive. Best thing there is. Being alive right now is all that counts.”


A personification of Hope is the Legends of Tomorrow

You won’t be doing it alone.
We are all just trying to figure out this being human thing together.
It’s not always going to be easy.
And you know sometimes you’ll feel like you’re out of your mind
Or that the darkness is too much to bear.
But it’s worth fighting the darkness to discover who you really are.
And not just for yourself.
So you can create a better world for everyone.
Now, you’re gonna make some mistakes.
There’s no formula to guide the way.
No destiny to surrender to.
It’s not about being perfect.
It’s about doing what you know is right.
And having a hell of a good time doing it.
That’s what it means to be alive.
And to be a Legend.
Welcome to the team.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Ways To Enjoy Thanksgiving

 

No matter if you are having a Thanksgiving alone or surrounded by company
Here are some ways to celebrate and enjoy yourself
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Wednesday, November 16, 2022

National Native American Heritage Month


I acknowledge the land that is under the place called Chicago. I acknowledge all the blood, sweat, and tears that watered this land throughout history. All us who call Chicago home are guests on this land and should treat it as such. 

I acknowledge

November is Native American Heritage Month, or as it is commonly referred to, American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. The month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. Heritage Month is also an opportune time to educate the general public about tribes, to raise a general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens have worked to conquer these challenges. (www.ncai.org)

Resources:

National Museum Of The American Indian

Film:


Virtual Exhibit:

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Wednesday, November 9, 2022

5 Ingredient Food Adventures

As somebody who sometimes struggles to get excited about preparing and eating food I have started a personal 5 ingredients challenge this month. 

The rules are pretty simple for at least one meal a day, use 5 or more ingredients. 

So far it has been going pretty well and it is making me think creatively about at least one meal per day and helping me keep on top of what food I have in my apartment and how I can recombine it. 

If you have any quick and easy yummy 5 ingredient meals please share them with me. :)


Tacos: Taco shell, Rice, Cheese, Avocado, Homemade Avocado Salsa Sauce


Soup: Chicken Stock, Rice, Split Peas, Cheese, Croutons


Pancakes w/ Butter and Pear Syrup, An Apple, and Tea


Thanksgiving First Sunday Meal After Church
Turkey, Mac and Cheese, Stuffing, Green beans, Gravy


Mediterranean Bread Salad

Bread, Tomatoes, Green Olives, Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Hummus


Tacos: Taco Shells, Quinoa, Corn, Cheese, Greek yogurt Lime Sauce

Other Meals I Did Not Think To Take A Photo Of

Sandwich: Olive Focaccia Bread, Cheese, Salami, Honey Pineapple Mustard, Pear Syrup

Kitchen Sink Soup: Rice, Split Peas, Pasta, Homemade Chicken Stock, Croutons + Cheesy Olive Focaccia Bread
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Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Living The Tale Of Utgarda-Loki


I'm in the midst of a busy season between work projects and activities. Many times, I have questioned whether I was making any progress at all on any of the tasks I want to accomplish. And this is all before the hectic holiday season has even fully arrived. So I am trying to find ways to do put in just enough energy to get stuff done, without over extending myself any more than I already am. 

So, for these times, I'm sharing one of my favorite Norse myths in today's blog post. Whether we are busy with life, worried about the state of the world, or simply feeling overstimulated, it is comforting to know that both Thor and Loki have been overwhelmed too. Sometimes it all feels too much because we don't know how to give ourselves enough credit for what we accomplish.


Around midday, the travelers reached their destination. The gate was locked and no one was there to open it, but Thor and the others found that they could fit through the very large spaces between the bars of the gate easily enough. Once inside, they found a hall where men sat eating and drinking. Amongst them was the king of this castle, the giant Utgarda-Loki, who immediately recognized his new guests and set about taunting them for their diminutive size.

Wanting to salvage his dignity and that of his companions, Loki proudly asserted that no one else in this castle could eat food faster than he could. Utgarda-Loki challenged him to prove this boast by entering a contest with one of the men there, whose name was Logi. A trough of meat was set before them, with Loki at one end and Logi at the other, and they were to see who could reach the middle first. They met in the middle at the same time, but while Loki had eaten all of the meat between the end and the middle, Logi had eaten the meat, the bones, and even the trough itself! Loki had clearly lost.

Thjalfi, who was an extremely swift runner, then offered to race anyone in the castle. Utgarda-Loki led him out to a race track and appointed one Hugi to compete with him. By the time Hugi reached the finish line, he was so far ahead of Thjalfi that he doubled back to meet his contestant. They raced a second time, and once again Hugi beat Thjalfi by a long bow-shot. Still, they raced a third time, but Thjalfi fared even worse; he was still at the midpoint of the track by the time Hugi finished.

Thor then challenged anyone in the castle to a drinking contest, something at which he had no little skill. Utgarda-Loki had one of his servants fetch the kind of drinking horn from which Utgarda-Loki’s men were said to drink. When it was placed before Thor, Utgarda-Loki informed him that whoever could finish the horn in one drink was considered a great drinker, whoever could do it in two was considered fair, but no one in his retinue was such a poor drinker as to be unable to finish it in three.

Thor drank mightily, but by the time he had to pause for a breath, the level of liquor in the horn had barely lowered. So he gave it a second try, straining to gulp and gulp until his breath failed him. This time, the level had gone down appreciably, but the better part of the horn still remained. His third drink was even more formidable than the previous two, but in the end, much was still left. By that point, however, Thor could drink could no more, and gave up.

Then Utgarda-Loki suggested that Thor attempt to simply lift his cat from the floor, but Thor proved unable to do so.

In a rage, Thor challenged anyone in the castle to wrestle with him. Insultingly, Utgarda-Loki appointed an old woman, Elli who was one of his servants. But the great god lost even this contest.

After this, Utgarda-Loki decided that there should be no more contests, and the company spent the night there in the castle.

In the morning, they rose and prepared to leave. After Utgarda-Loki had shown them out of the castle, he confided to them what had actually transpired in their contests, saying to Thor, “Now that you have left my castle, I shall see to it that you never enter it again. The knot on my provision bag that you almost succeeded in untying had been wrought in iron. I deflected the blows you attempted to inflict on me with your hammer; instead of my face, you hit the mountainside, and carved three gaping valleys into it. Had you struck me, I would have been killed then and there.

“Loki held his own remarkably well in his eating contest, since his opponent was none other than fire itself. So it was with Thjalfi, too – he raced against thought, which nobody could ever hope to outrun. The far end of the horn from which you drank was connected to the sea, and we were actually greatly afraid that you were going to drink it all. When you cross over the sea again, you will see how much you have lowered its level. My cat was actually the Midgard serpent, whom you succeeded in raising out of the ocean and into the sky. And, finally, you wrestled against old age, and took a long, long time to fall.

“Now, for your sake and for ours, leave, and never come back.”

Thor was so angered by this humiliating trickery that he raised his hammer and prepared to slay Utgarda-Loki and smash his castle to pieces. But when he turned to do so he saw no giant and no castle – just a vast, empty plain.
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Friday, October 7, 2022

Mental Illness Awareness Week 2022

 
 
This week is Mental Illness Awareness Week 2022.

Here is an overview from NAMI

Each year, millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental health condition. However, mental illness affects everyone directly or indirectly through family, friends or coworkers. Mental health conditions are important to discuss year-round, but highlighting them during Mental Illness Awareness Week provides a dedicated time for mental health advocates across the country to come together as one unified voice. Since 1990, when Congress officially established the first full week of October as Mental Illness Awareness Week, advocates have worked together to sponsor activities, large or small, to educate the public about mental illness. 

This year’s Mental Illness Awareness Week is centered around the theme “What I Wish I Had Known” focusing on the power of lived experience.

To that end here are several examples of people living with mental illness:

Depresh Mode with John Moe: Honest, humane conversations with top artists, entertainers, and experts about what it’s like to live with an interesting mind. No shame, no stigma, and more laughs than you might expect from a mental health podcast. (I recommend this podcast because it covers a really surprisingly wide range of experiences)

And here are a selection of individuals who have spoken up about mental health


 

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Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Celebrating World Space Week


World Space Week is an international holiday celebrated every year from October 4 to 10 in nearly 100 countries across the globe. World Space Week is the largest space event yet, put in place to celebrate the benefits of science and technology to human society. 

The 2022 World Space Week theme, “Space and Sustainability” allows World Space Week to address sustainability from two angles: (1) how space benefits society and contributes to sustainable development on Earth and (2) what are the challenges ahead of us to keep space activities and the space environment safe and sustainable.


Some Space Fun For World Space Week

Space Rock Songs









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