Friday, November 23, 2012

Insatiable

I’m still too young to listen but try to catch my spiel coffee preferences are useless but branding has mass appeal to want to be somebody great not a paltry cogwheel perhaps I’d be a blues singer if I loved a woman named Lucille until death may do some damage but life tends to heal over time is a valuable lesson learned like hardening steel when I wanted what I already had so I had to reminisce and steal I wanted to be present but I forgot to feel I look to the future yet know that it’s not real life is a difficult lesson that made me keel over the thought of being whole was beautiful as an ideal so I tried to be present but I could not sit still so I stood up and did something great



-MANGO

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Thanksgiving Thoughts from 1789

George Washington's 1789 proclamations of thanksgiving:

"...for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty... for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness... for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which He hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications... to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us – and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best."


May we continue to pray for tranquility, union, plenty, peace, rationality, safety, happiness, civil liberty, religious liberty, useful knowledge, knowledge sharing, God's favors however so defined, humility, truth, virtue, science, a cooperative notion of them AND us, and - how profound - temporal prosperity in our 2012 prayers of Thanksgiving.

Prayers of Thanksgiving maintain the power of any prayer: purpose. Pray to praise your every blessing and in so doing become ever mindful. Pray to enliven memories. Pray to prepare for action. Pray to propose the world you wish, and will work, to be.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

24/7: NOLA

Twenty-for (the) Seventh: Twenty ways you may already experience New Orleans everyday. I absolutely love the full experience of being there, but let's explore how New Orleans visits you, here, every day.


1. Coffee: Between French MarketCafe du MondeLuzianneNew Orleans Coffee CompanyPJ's CoffeeOrleans Coffee Company, and Community Coffee, New Orleans has got you covered every morning of the week.

2. Or perhaps you drink an international coffee, or sugar, or banana on the side. These are some of the coastal city's many imports. NOLA, the largest city in Louisiana and one of the largest in the south, has always been one of the largest, busiest, and most efficient international ports of entry for the United States. It is also a major hub of transportation with an international airport, bus lines, rail cars, traffic along the Mississippi, and highways. In fact, the familiar transcontinental I-10 runs right through the city.

3. Industrialization quickly arose, and continues to print and publish; manufacture wood, paper, metal, clothing, medical and building equipment, communication systems, and aircraft parts; build and repair ships; and processes a great variety of food and beverages. On that note, let's get more specific:

4. Representing (and selling) the cajun cuisine in your local grocery is Zatarain's for lunch.

5. Kick up your midday meal with copious amounts of Louisiana's pure Crystal hot sauce.

6. I grew up distracting myself from dental work by melting into the JazzFest Posters on the office walls.

7. Under the influence of dental anesthesia, your memories piece together something from high school history class; The United States only planned on picking up New Orleans and the immediate surroundings before settling for the entire Louisiana Purchase.

8. You may pick up some of K-Paul's Magic Seasoning Blends or Emeril's Essence Spices to get the soul you're craving for dinner,

9. And use any of the plenty New Orleans Cookbooks available.

10. Note: Louisiana supplies 95% of the crawfish harvested in the United States, and perhaps more astonishing, supplies 90% of the world's crawfish - of which 70% is actually consumed locally.

11. Time for the big guns: McIlhenny Co. Tobasco Brand hot sauces.

12. Wash it down with your favorite Abita flagship, seasonal, or harvest brew.

13. Switch on the television and catch the Saints, the Tigers, or any of New Orleans sports teams.

14. If you're more in the mood for a movie filmed in New Orleans, perhaps consider Ray, or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button from your many options.

15. Treat yourself to a dessert sno-ball.

16. Head out to hear some live music... this is a big one from New Orleans... JAZZ (and think about the music of America, and the world, that have evolved from, or been influenced by, JAZZ).

17. As well NOLA arts in general,

18. And other famous and influential people who came form New Orleans.

19. Too soon? Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. If you reside in North Carolina, South Carolina, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, NEw Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, or Washington D.C., 2012 unfortunately brought quite the Hurricane Sandy of a storm to your own doorstep.

20. So finally, there's no better way to celebrate life than with an authentic "jazz funeral." The philosophy has caught on in your home town, but nobody kicks the bucket and keeps carrying the song still in it quite like good ol' New Orleans. Cheers.