In A Rut....

I'm in bit of an existential rut. I get it, this pandemic has everyone a bit loopy. As a introvert, I don't really mind the time alone in my Brooklyn apartment, for the most part. The problem is that it gives me too much time to think. Too much time to contemplate the state of the world. And it plays over and over in the mind like an old Chinese water torture...drip, drip, drip...right between my eyes. I have too much time for navel gazing and you know how I get...a bit muddled to say the least. I've been reading light novels and re-watching Farscape for escapist fantasy. But I've reached my limit with escapist fantasies. What happens when one has reached their limit? That's right, reality comes crashing through and rudely interrupts to gain one's attention. I watch way too many hours of CNN. It seeps into my brain matter and sucks away any semblance of hope. I look at the state of the world and it fills me with despair, the soul-wrenching kind. Even now as I type these words my throat is clenched and my eyes are filled with unshed tears. I feel the rage of injustice coursing through my body.

I have learned in my studies that these times are cyclical. We will forge ahead and create a new reality as the global consciousness is raised to the next paradigm. Change is painful only when we a grasping to the old ways. There are people who want to unplug, remove themselves from the pain but what they don't understand is that they are not separate from this web of reality. We are all interconnected. We are part of a larger community, we are part of a global community. And we sorely need better leaders. A community of leaders who will blaze through these troubled times. Leaders who will light the way through the darkness, not for their own selfish reasons but for the good of humanity. I've been feeling too cynical for too long, hence the existential rut. I want a better vision for our future. My nieces and nephew need a better world, a place they can sink their teeth into, a better tomorrow. 

From Paulo Freir's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, he writes, "In order for the oppressed to be able to wage the struggle for their liberation, they must perceive the reality of oppression not as a closed world from which there is no exit, but as a limiting situation which they can transform....it must become the motivating force for liberating action." There is so much work to be done. More to come. 

-L

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2020 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Herbal AntiViral - Fresh Ginger Root

I am going to preface this blog entry by saying I am not a medical expert. All the information I am sharing is straight out of Stephen Harrod Buhner's book Herbal Antivirals. Mr. Buhner is the expert and all I'm doing is sharing information that is easily accessible. There is a section in his book on fresh ginger and (the reason for this entry) I thought this root is something that is easily accessible to most everyone. 

Why Fresh Ginger? Fresh ginger root is a respiratory antiviral. It will help reduce fever, reduce cold chills, reduce inflammation in the bronchial passageways, thin mucus and helps move it out of the system, reduce coughing, and increase blood circulation. 

Dry ginger found in tea bags is not strong enough since the essential oils are reduced considerably in the drying process. 

Fresh ginger root is best.  

Note of caution: 

If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, fresh ginger in high doses would not be recommended.   

Also, may aggravate gallstones, so if you suffer from them caution is advised.  

Fresh Ginger Juice Tea

Juice one or more pieces of fresh (peeled) ginger. (Save the plant matter that is left over to make an infusion). 

Combine 1/4 cup of fresh ginger juice with 1.5 cups of hot water, 1 tbsp raw honey, the squeezed juice of one quarter lime, 1/8 tsp cayenne (his recipe). The tea is pretty spicy without the cayenne. 

This tea should be consumed every 2-3 hours if you are sick. 

To stay healthy against the virus, a couple of cups of ginger tea a day works. 

Candied ginger root slices or pickled ginger are great snacks and healthy stimulants for the system.

Infuse the leftover plant matter from juicing and steep it in 2 cups of hot water, allow to steep for 4-8 hours, covered. Strain and use the infused liquid as you would ginger juice.

If you don't have a juicer, grate or chop the peeled ginger root (size of your thumb) as finely as you can. Steep in 1.5 cups hot water for 2-3 hours covered (covering preserves the essential oils). Strain and use the infused liquid as you would ginger juice. 

If you are really sick: 6 cups of tea per day minimum.  

For the geeks like me: As an antiviral, ginger inhibits the attachment of viruses to the cell, inhibits hemagglutinin (red blood cells clump together), inhibits viral proteases, inhibits neuraminidase, stimulates antiviral macrophage activity, is virucidal. It is antibacterial, antiarthritic, antifungal...I can keep going but you get the picture.  

Shout out to Mr. Stephen Harrod Buhner for the information. 

Pass this on to anyone who can't wait for a vaccine.  

Be well, stay safe and wear a mask in public.  

With love,

Lily

Memories - Maroon 5

I've had a couple of glasses of wine tonight and this music video seems appropriate to the theme o😃

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2020 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Labrinth - Jealous

I spent the past hour watching music videos. God! I love music. Anyway, this one came up and it stopped me in my tracks. This song just gets to me. It breaks my heart every time. I listened to it with my whole being...*deep sigh* 

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2018 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Sleepy

It's Thursday afternoon and I'm sleepy. There is work to be done but I'd rather be sleeping. I have a reminder pop up for me to take care of something but I've put it to snooze for another hour. I'm back after taking off 4 work days and I'm having a hard time getting back into work mode. It's like my brain is stuck on relax mode. I have an hour and a half left for the day but I'm not sure I can make it past the finish line today. I'll be on my own tomorrow. Most of my team is taking the day off. It should be fine, just need to kick myself into gear. I think the heat, my sunburn, planetary alignment are all working against me today. Ha! 

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2020 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Honeydew List and Relaxing Rewards

I spent the past weekend painting my apartment. A light green color called Heart of Palm on the main wall and a light yellow on the adjacent wall. I absolutely love the look of it. I've been spending so much time staring at these walls, working from home, that after a year of living in this place...I had to do something to spruce it up. I love it! I can scratch out two items off my to-do list. Yay!

Then on Monday I spent the day at the beach with my sister and my niece. There was hardly anyone there...which helped with the social distancing. Unfortunately, I have been far too pale for far too long to have spent so many hours at the beach. My shoulders are crispy. But it was lovely to be near the water, listening to the waves, feeling the cool wind while reading and relaxing.  

That's all I have for now. 

Peace,

Lily

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2020 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

OMG! It's been too long...

First thing....my latest song obsession GHOST by Kylie Rothfield, produced by Ester Dean. Love Kylie Rothfield's tone, love the lyrics, love this song. It has so much ache and pain that I can't stop listening to it over and over again. You need to put the close captions on because the words are gorgeous. Before I even put it up on this blog, it was making me well up. So good!!  

Gosh, it's been 6 month since I last wrote on this blog. Nothing much has been going on. Pandemic, protests, looting, fires, working from home...you know, same old, same old. Not! 

This blog was always supposed to be about the creative work, my process and even a bit of whinging. However, my day job has basically hijacked my brain for the past year and a half. That's the very short answer to the very complicated question of, "where have you been hiding?" 

I've been working and reading. That's a fair assessment of the past six months.  I've been binge reading on books because I've been out of pace with my writing. I'd rather navel gaze than pick a pen up to write. My sister Ces is (right now) writing a story that she's so excited about that she's trying to finish it, so she can bring over a draft for me to read. Seriously?!  Ugh, I have no excuses. * head hung low in proverbial shame * 

My friend J gave me a couple of cheesy romance novels to read, very niche, very quirky...I won't even bother with the title but the writer in me was appalled at the simple story. The writer's inability to keep to the story arc. The climax of the story was 10 pages from the end of the book. Terrible! So disappointing and formulaic. I won't get back the couple of hours that this 200 page novel took from me. I'm sure you're asking, "well why didn't you just stop reading after the first 10 pages?" The quirkiness of the language kept me engaged and it had some funny literary references that made me laugh out loud. I admit it, I'm a literary geek and once I'm engaged in some way, I need to see it to the end. 

I digress, my point is that reading this book reminds me I am quite capable of writing my own novel/play/story. Seriously!!!  I can't stop saying that word...even in my own head. 

Next week, I'm taking a couple of days off just to give myself a break from work. I am going to spend those three extra days painting my living room (FINALLY!!!) Can't wait. I love painting, it takes me out of my head and the task itself is almost meditative. I've already taken all the books and DVDs out of the bookshelf and piled them on my dining table. If I can tackle moving the furniture out of the way, then painting on my own won't be quite so overwhelming. I was going to reach out to a friend to see if she has time to help but I have a hard time asking for help. There is a part of me that thinks..."I can do this on my own" and only when I'm in my 6th hour of trying to paint edges will I kick myself for not having reached out to friends or family. Stubborn. Like Mule <said in a Russian accent>  The other part is that it's a small space and once I move furniture, there won't be much room to navigate. Better to do it on my own so no one gets hurt.  Ha!

The last bit that I wanted to share is that I tried out for a playwriting residency with a NYC theater. I received my rejection letter at the beginning of this month. What a bummer! My creative life has taken a dramatic turn AWAY from where I had hoped to have been with produced and published work. Does that last sentence even make sense?  I've read it several times and I still don't know if it's grammatically correct. I'm losing my touch. Where is my Modern English Usage book?  Oh, that's right at the bottom of a pile on my dining room table.

That's all I for today. I don't know if I'm going to keep this blog going but at least for today, just one more entry into the ether.  

-Lily

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2020 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Happy New Year

First, let me say out loud that I'm NOT in a mood...it's just my resting bitch face. It can't be helped. I want to complain about my day job but I'm not really allowed to post specifics...insert black-out text here.

Have you ever woken up in a really good mood; the sun is just starting to rise, there is an excellent mug of caffeine in hand and things just feel promising? You enter the office and someone's lack of organizational skills and foresight is in direct conflict with your own. And their lack of skills has their work summarily dumped into your lap. After you've cleared the proverbial dust from old files, you are thinking Hell No! But somehow that work is now YOURS. And it's now priority because it is material that should have been handled years ago. Hmm!

Perhaps, just perhaps, this situation has left me feeling a bit perturbed...pissed off...pitching a fit inside my head...so here's my Serenity Prayer on this Thursday night...

 me.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2020 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.