Some Days You Eat the Cancer

Today's documentary film, Dying to Have Known by Steve Kroschel. Mr. Kroschel sets out to determine the legitimacy of the Gerson Therapy treatment for cancer. As a film it is really terrible (and as research it is highly unscientific) in that it is melodramatic and clearly manipulative and biased; there is no intelligence expected of the audience to be able to decide for itself. That lack of credit for the audience is enough to discredit it’s own message because it lacks confidence in its own posits. On the other hand, I already believe that “Big Pharma” controls the world of health and medicine and that the “conspiracy” theories are closer to truth than not. If I were to come down with cancer I would want to try alternative therapies before chemotherapy; my concern is the cost and affordability. I also think about how very  brave it is for a person to chose alternative therapies, such as the Gerson Therapy or that of Bryzinski, in the face of death, and the ever pressing winding down of the clock of life; you only have enough time to try it once, unless you make the right choice. What kind of place is that to be? I better start juicing now so I can never find out!

I’ve already started growing my own vegetables. I felt the most important aspect would be to chose non-GMO (genetically modified organism) seeds. I felt that the soil didn’t have to be organic, just pesticide free. I’ve decided my thinking is faulty and if I’m going to the trouble at all, I should use organic soil as well. My seedlings have been a great success. Of all those I transplanted, only one died. I am looking forward to the peas and tomatoes climbing all over this bird cage; it will be beautiful. There’s spinach in the center and I left the door free to reach inside. The cucumbers in the 5 gallon bucket have secondary, true leaves now. My herbs are really small. I didn’t plant all my seeds, and these are really too early. You can see I have blossoms on the squash and that isn’t supposed to happen for another month. Next week I’ll transplant into permanent pots and start more seeds. It seems to me I don’t have enough!

I also created a new necklace this week; it’s a choker. Silver findings, silver lined glass, lapis, sodalite and white jasper rounds, and porcelain beads with Chinese symbols I got from Lea Avaroch. The chain with the dangles lies perfectly at the throat and the choker is not too heavy and very comfortable and stable on the neck.

I was active on Pinterest this week as well. Some of my favorites are from Lisa Liddy and Jennifer Geldard.

Along the path of new discoveries I found a “Fish Watch” list from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I saw something once from which I remembered, choose sea food from the northernmost part of the Pacific, and never eat Talapia. Now I know I could eat Talapia if it is farmed in the USA, but I’d still rather have Salmon. It saddens me that I may never eat salmon again because “they” are going to genetically modify salmon; if that happens, I’ll consider it extinct. I think my dad would have been equally saddened; after retiring from the Army he fished salmon for a living. Along the line of fish food and Talapia, I found this awesome story about the urban farming movement. My final discovery was this cute pair of earrings modeled after Chinese knotting. I love wire work and these are a great inspiration.

Isaac went to the fair this weekend.  Our area is famous for Mark Twain’s Famous Jumping Frog of Calaveras County; yes, there is really a frog jumping contest. He had a wooden plaque entered which received a blue ribbon, was totally on his own for the first time (made me nervous, but all went well), took lots of pictures and had an awesome time!

As fire season, and the deadline for defensible space, approaches, I have one more burn to take care of the two year old pile of pine needles, and one more week to rake and burn what fell this winter. On top of that duty I’ll be continuing my exercise regime on the Wii Fit (I started last week!). See you soon!

Happy 5th of July!

Isaac and I had a wonderful time at Irish Family Vineyards last night. Fantastic fireworks and lots of wonderful home made dishes, smoked meats, desserts, and wine. The BEST wine! Russ and Joan Irish's vineyard is in Vallecito, and you MUST visit if you come to gold country (Hwy 49). Vallecito is just above Angels Camp, the home of Twain's Celebrated Jumping Frog.

How do I choose the movies I watch? Always with the objective to learn, but topic is chosen by mood. Today I was in the mood for strange.

From The Phillyist

Ressurect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynebee Tiles was a very interesting documentary about these mysterious plaques or tiles placed in open spaces such as roads and crosswalks, most in the United States, all over the world. The tiles' creators, installers, or meanings are a mystery, and over time people have become interested in solving the mystery. In the end, the movie is a connection of thoughts revolving around spirituality, heaven, the movie Space Odyssey 2001, humans as energy, and what happens when we die.


The movie inspires wonder about coincidence, and what it really is or if it really is; if coincidence didn't exist in this story, then what would it be called? Conspiracy? Connection? Fact? Another thought is inspired by this film: Human's want to learn and when they are self motivated, they will pick a mystery through the bone to get at the marrow, without being pushed by anything other than curiosity and a desire to know. In the process of learning, more often than not these students find company with similar pursuit and new or affirming information. A good lesson for teachers.


Is this man, the one responsible for the tiles and the ideas behind them, insane? I suppose the same was asked about Copernicus, DaVinci, Einstein, Newton, Gallileo, and even Jesus of Nazareth. In the end it is about the ideas, not the man named James Morasco/Sevy Verna. In the end, it is a story that makes me smile for several reasons.


Some of the scenes in the film include some beautiful artwork; I was impressed by water color images in mostly black and sepia tones, with very sophisticated and emotionally expressed characters. While I couldn't find the artist, I did find the that Justin Duerr (the protagonist) is an artist and I've chosen to show you my favorite pieces by him.

I'm an Addict; so are you!

Wow! Posting two days in a row! My plan was to watch a documentary and then take pictures of my jewelry and beads. I'll get back on track, but first I feel it is my duty to share the documentary with you.

A Crude Awakening: the Oil Crash (click the link to watch for free; watch carefully and thoughtfully, over a period of days if that's what you need, but watch and listen and THINK.) "Through expert interviews, this documentary examnes the world's dependency on oil and the chaos that's sure to follow when the resource runs dry." (2006.) 

 A topic like this is often overwhelming because it is immediately apparent that the problem is global, and immediately daunting and inconceivable that as individuals we can make a difference. I know we can; I know we must believe we can make a difference. The key is to understand that we must make a choice now, and we must make a difference in our own life; local scale and time WILL make a difference globally.

Solar Energy in India

The only natural resource that produces the amount of energy that we now receive is solar energy. It is also the only natural resource that can meet the demands projected for the future based on current growth of population and industry. However, the technology on the global scale is not advanced enough to put it effectively in place ON TIME. That is the key; time. 

The Economist

We are not out of oil, but we are using more oil than we have reserves for. The wars are about oil; do you want to live in a world that insists on taking energy by force? That is one of two choices we can make. The other choice is to understand the other key; scale. 

If we try to address the issues of energy demand-versus-supply on a global scale, we start at a losing position; the second choice we have is to address the situation on a personal scale. Look at personal use of oil; then look at how personal use of oil can be replaced. 

Texas Tribune

No, I do not pay directly for the oil used to deliver groceries to my dinner table, but when I understand that I certainly contribute, I can see that if I grow my own vegetables, my contribution to the use of oil energy is greatly reduced. I can also see that if everyone in my town did the same, the impact on my community would be huge, huge, huge. 

Deanna Smith's Blog

It is exciting to think I might convince everyone in my town to grow a vegetable garden, to raise their own beef and poultry, to fish from the rivers, and hunt the land. That last one poses many problems on its own, but if we would just start with gardens. 

Crazy Jungle Blog

We also need to start with our children. Teach them to think not of their personal gain in the future, but rather their personal contribution. We do that already, sorta’. We teach the kids to do a community project in order to graduate high school and in order to have a better application for college, but it is all to their own personal gain in the end. 

We say our kids are our future, but we teach them to fend only for themselves and to aim for a personal goal that will give them financial stability and excess, to compete against each other, and to fear having no money. It is not too late to give that effort a tweak. 

I will talk to my son about this. We recently had a conversation about politics and Monsanto and independence in crisis. My son’s question was, “How can we make a difference? What should we do?” At the time I said, “Stay local; buy local; grow local; vote local.” Now I will expand that answer;  Make a difference by providing a way to use energy locally in a different way. 

I’m going to ask my son to focus not on becoming wealthy but to focus on energy, ingenuity, and teaching locally how to be independent and harness local sources. I’m going to look at how to harness solar energy on my own; I’m going to look at the Tesla Coil; I’m going to look at the efficiency of producing energy and reducing oil dependence.  Just look at all the things I CAN do!!

The Dullum File

And I’m going to vote for politicians who tell the truth. How will I know it’s the truth? I’ll know it is the truth when they tell me the bad news rather than the good; when they tell me it will be hard rather than to be hopeful; when they tell me what it will take to change rather than simply a desire to make a change. I CAN handle the truth.