Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: mango mint Sight: a red sparkly ball Sound: whirring, purring cat nursing; "The routine is awesome." Smell: basil; mint Touch: a crinkled foil ball Extra: apotropaic - the power to avert evil influences; jumping over a pond in Iceland - unable to see the water, afraid to follow; a too big house - in over one's head Grateful for:  routine dentistry; recurring dreamscapes - familiarity in unconciousness at night

NutritionFacts.org Excellent. Excellent. Read this book and prepare to fall in love with fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Love spices: turmeric, cinnamon, oregano, cumin, cardamom, saffron. How could you not? "You should eat more fruits and vegetables as if your life depended on it, because maybe it does," writes Dr. Michael Greger. And not just a few more — a lot! In How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease, Dr. Greger dives into nutrition science providing overwhelming compelling evidence for food as medicine . He takes the reader through numerous well-conducted scientific studies that show how foods nourish and protect us. He points the eater to foods (like flaxseeds) proven to be more powerful and beneficial than medicine — if only we will eat to live. Dr. Greger became interested in nutrition science because of his grandmother, Frances. She was put on hospice due to a heart conditio...

Taste: curly kale, lacianto or dinosaur kale, redbor kale, purple kale Sight: Pounce! A wine glass broken: the stem separated from the cup Sound:  a soft meow, an insistent meow Smell:  a stale peopled room Touch: paws Extra: "You should eat more fruits and vegetables as if your life depended on it, because maybe it does." — How Not to Die, Dr. Michael Greger, nutritionfacts.org; Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt? ( "Where are those who were before us?")— the ubi sunt motif a meditation on mortality and life's transience Grateful for: Global Burden of Disease Study

Taste: tiramisu cheesecake; strawberry banana smoothie Sight: purple kale, purple cabbage; pink beet juice Sound:  train whistles and sirens Smell: burnt sugar and oil, Henry's doughnuts Touch:  a cold, thick fruit shake Extra: to have a furred face Grateful for: spices — tumeric, cinnamon, cardamom; so many varieties of plants and vegetables

Taste: butternut squash soup; Japanese yams and adzuki beans Sight: umber landscape and gray landscape; black silhouettes of herons and crows; the bright emerald cap of a mallard's head; frost; her bright yellow eyes; a robot shower curtain Sound: Rich Roll podcast , "Peace + Plants" Smell: turmeric Touch: smooth wet baby carrots Extra: Platonists; Methuselah, a 4,800 year-old bristlecone pine tree which rebuilds telomeres; To be of use by Marge Piercy Grateful for: the Snohomish River, Centennial, and Sammamish River trails

Taste: mixed berry stew; the Wayward's Alfredo, hot and enchilada sauces; pumpkin pie Sight: dust motes; swirling lit hula hoops - Emerald City Hoopers; majestic mountains; a pink Space Needle Sound: "God bless America" at the end of a holiday show; a mournful meow; jingled Smell:  dark roast coffee with hazelnut coconut cream; a waft of peppermint mocha Touch:  holding onto his arm; running from Snohomish to Machias Extra: annus mirabilis - a miracle year; can't wait for society to catch up with the science — Dr. Greger; "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." — Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back ; 50/50/50: In the 50 days between June 6 and July 25, James Lawrence did 50 Ironmans in 50 different states Grateful for: a clear sunny New Year's Day and being surrounded by views of majestic mountains; a rich intellectual life