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If only there was a blog dedicated to local high school sports then imagine the coverage.

I always swore I would NOT be one of those bloggers who started developing a fan base and wrote all the time then completely disappeared.  Indeed its one of the reasons I put off starting a blog in the first place. And I have not much more time to report anything else other than to say there is good news around me all the time, its just been a challenge to promote it.So since that’s still the case, I’ll just let you read here for some good news in Oakland that’s for sure to get overshadowed by all else that’s going on. 

I just haven’t had time to write at all.My life has turned into a whirlwind but it’s been bookended in L-O-V-E.  Valentine’s day was quiet but delightful.Tonight, was a long overdue wedding that was a few guests and well thought out even if the invitations and website seemed last minute.  In the backdrop of it all, and after reading about one homicide after another and bearing witness to it all on Friday at the Vigil, I found this a great read starring my own homegirl Tina. 

Congressman Tom Lantos has passed away.  He had recently announced he would not seek re-electiob because of the cancer that now taken his life.  At the time of his announcment he said this which truly impressed me: 

“It is only in the United States that a penniless survivor of the Holocaust and a fighter in the anti-Nazi underground could have received an education, raised a family, and had the privilege of serving the last three decades of his life as a Member of Congress. I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country. “  

My December work based injury came full circle Saturday Night. A call to Kaiser told me I could do the Half Marathon and see a doctor this morning.When I awoke at 530 am Sunday and the rain poured and weather.com said there was a 70% chance of rain, I turned around and headed back for 4 more hours of slumber. I never sleep late but something about the heat in the room and the rain knocked me down.  I then headed to Kaiser to be told that balcetrine and a bandaid will be my daily operation every day, maybe twice, I mean I shake so many hands and you wouldn’t believe how dirty your hands get as shown by your band aid, for at least 3 months. A brunch and some Dreamgirls later, we caught up with the SuperBowl and our friends in SF.  I was thrilled that our conversation turned political.   

The conversation was all over, 2 of us were firmly behind Hillary, 2 of us in the Obama camp after moving from 2 other candidates who had recently pulled out and one of us somewhat undecided but leaning towards Obama.  With the help of TiVo, we were able to stop and discuss the campaign over some strong margaritas and discuss the race. 

We thought it’d all be over but no! Let the conversation flow! But hold onto the margaritas, it’s Lent and I give up alcohol for 40 days now, which is probably the safer way to have the type of political conversations I’ll be engaged in for the next 120 days because Oakland, OAKLAND!, will be having uber important elections in June.

We didn’t know that until today but trust it’s on, and I’m ready. 

After a grueling day in a week that has felt so so so so long, I realized I have neglected my happy little home on the internet.Where to begin?  Well frankly, the more I move about the more good things I hear in the community for this other endeavor I am working on.  

That said, ugh, I wish I had known how busy I was going to get a year ago, I so would have planned better.  But this blog is not about bitching, this blog is about believing…(don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, don’t stop ….)

However after twelve hours at the office with other endeavor minutes thrown in, I came home hungry and without much food in the house.  So it was a great relief and irony that I had a chance to sit down and be inspired. 

O perhaps it takes me so little to be inspired but when you think about it, what are we going to do about all this rain?  I mean, ugh, it sucks, so why not succumb to it by cozying up to it and making a little soup. 

For those of us who find great joy in the kitchen, soup is a great resource to have up your sleeve.  It’s relatively easy especially when you have a top notch blender or adequate food processor at the ready, o I hope you didn’t think I was talking about cracking open a can of the Campbell’s.  I am simply appropriating their tag line. 

So if you’re shut in and reading this blog, a few seasonal vegetables and one tasty blue cheese will be about all you need to have filling, decadent but deceptively healthy looking soup.  I must give props to an ex boyfriend who helped create this recipe.  It’s a good thing we are still close friends or cooking would be a bittersweet experience.  I totally digress of course to bring you to:

Blue Broccoli Soup

2 cups of vegetable stock

1 onion chopped

1 smaller russet potato (or whichever potato you have around)

4 cloves garlic chopped

1 head of broccoli chopped

1 cup chop blue/Roquefort/stilton cheese

*Place chopped vegetables in a pot and bring to a boil, reduce heat until fork slides through potato.

*Then pour contents in pot into blender.

*Blend thoroughly, stopping to pour in blue cheese.

            -you may wish to pour in garlic powder if you want more of garlic kick!

Mmmm, mmm, mmm, pure loveliness as the strong flavors of garlic, bleu cheese and broccoli settle into your mouth. 

Now another variation is to utilize cauliflower instead of broccoli.  And then yet another variation is to make both but pour the cauliflower into a bowl and then place about 1-3 teaspoons of the broccoli soup in the middle of the bowl.  Try this at your next dinner party. Trust me, people will think you’ve got Martha Stewart chained to your stove in the kitchen.  I don’t know why but it just looks fantastic.

And that’s where I must claim total props as that was my gift to my ex.  He may have had the adventurous food spirit but I was the one who knew how to package it.  Isn’t that how things are supposed to work out though, even if they end in a way we had not intended?  Everyone gains something positive from one another.  

Now how is that soup?   

“So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father’s words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud.” Martin Luther King III

And so thinking that John Edwards would stay above the pandering proved uh, wrongo as I received a letter saying Martin Luther King III sent Edwards a letter saying essentially keep going, your just like my daddy, keep going it helps Hillary whom I’m not saying I’m supporting but I ain’t endorsing you fo sho. 

Okay I’m being cycnically but that’s what you get and that’s not what this blog is about but I’m checking emails after a red eye and well, there you go!

Onward and upward!

I have to say as someone who has been an Edwards supporter, I wade into this topic with some thoughts with out a real passion for either candidate.  That said, Rev. Jim Wallis did have something to say on the matter and I think he said it much better than I could. It’s from last week but the solace that a 3 day weekend provides is the opportunity to catch up email and other readings.   Yes, there were certainly other vital things (like the Lower Bottoms Neighborhood Association Voter Registration drive) that I could have done but with the exception of a one year old’s birthday party on Sunday and the beyond packed Angela Davis speech at the Taylor Methodist church yesterday put on by the Attitidunal Healing Center, I was inside for much of the three days reading and when it became too difficult to read off the computer, it was reading the Oakland City General Plan and when that became too difficult, because it’s the Oakland City General Plan, it was off to Starbucks.  Hence why my 3 of 3 posts over a 3 day weekend did not culminate yesterday or even today but one more is on it’s way.  Until then, Jim Wallis should keep you busy.

The first of three posts.  In his 1959 Sermon on Gandhi, Dr. King elaborated on the after-effects of choosing nonviolence over violence: “The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community, so that when the battle’s over, a new relationship comes into being between the oppressed and the oppressor.” In the same sermon, he contrasted violent versus nonviolent resistance to oppression. “The way of acquiescence leads to moral and spiritual suicide. The way of violence leads to bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. But, the way of non-violence leads to redemption and the creation of the beloved community.”  Ten years ago, I found my spiritual home at Integral Yoga Institute which was founded by Sri Swami Satchidananda. Satchidananda created a worldwide movement and believed in the power of interfaith coming together.  His essential teaching was the phrase “The Truth is One, the Paths are Many.” That immediately resonated with me as did his wall of Saints or found at the San Francisco branch, the All Saints Room.  On this wall, some of the top yogis of all time, Black Elk, Maimondes, Jesus Christ, Mary, Mother of Christ, St. Francis of Assissi, Gandhi and  Martin Luther King, Jr.  I was heartened to see King there, even though he was a contemporary of Satchidananda, both walking in the world at the same time, preaching a message of non-violence, often continents apart.  I was heartened because it reflected that our own guru was embracing of a peer, something that is hard to do when ego is involved.  So it showed the Swami had indeed done the work on himself.  It also validates how revered Martin Luther King is throughout the world and serves as an inspiration to all.    As someone else who has a dream that includes all and believes we are here to work together rather than rip people apart, Dr. King’s legacy is always appealing to me.  Given our political manifestations about Dr. King, of late in national news, I think its worth reviewing this legacy in a short 3 part series. I’m not going down the familiar road of quoting “the speech”.  Instead, I’m going to first refer you over to the King Center.  Then I’ll make my commentary on the recent King controversy of late and then offer my own comments on the legacy of Dr. King and what I think it means for every citizen of the world.  The King Center defines clearly what we in the social justice movement affirm as The Beloved Community.   It’s a Community which the church of which I am now a member, calls out for and builds up each and every day.  I leave with this because I think it’s so meaningful and beyond the pale that its worth your reflection.I read it everyday before I head out into the world.   It gives me direction and I hope the same for you as well.

In spite of the Awfulness, our community has rallied behind our youth.I especially applaud the teacher who refers to the injured young man as her kid , even though she taught him last year.  I totally get her, once they are in your lives, they are your kids and they matter to you as if they were your own. The Bake sale will take place at Crocker tomorrow at around 2.  I have back to back meetings so be sure to buy an extra cookie for me, would ya?