Shel Graves' Sensorium

This is my usual writer's journal to keep track of the senses and not part of the Space Explorer 365 story (365 words of story for 365 days from March 20, 2016 to March 19, 2017) ... Taste: aronia (choke) berries; raspberries, raspberries, raspberries; Madeleine Angevine Sight: his teeth, seen through the wine glass; a paw slipped beneath the door; white flowering basil; the cat's chin Sound: the ceiling fan spinning; keystroke depression and release Smell: grass and wine grapes Touch: sweat dripping Extra: 'There is no day without its moments of paradise." — Jorge Luis Borges Grateful for: love, optimism

Listening to the news often was not one of them. So much hate. It makes me want to talk about love. Fortunately, I was reading Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities this month. It was,  as I so often find Solnit's books to be, the perfect book to be reading at the time. Right now, I am training for my first marathon and fundraising for The Humane League , to reduce animal suffering. It doesn't seem like much when there's so much pain in the world. Of course, there is more to do. But Solnit reminds us that we can make a difference and provides examples of unexpected, but not unimaginable, effects from our actions. She encourages us to free ourselves from despair — and imagine more. "Despair demands less of us, it's more predictable, and in a sad way safer. Authentic hope requires clarity—seeing the troubles in this world—and imagination, seeing what might lie beyond these situations that are perhaps not inevitable and i...

This is my usual writer's journal to keep track of the senses and not part of the Space Explorer 365 story (365 words of story for 365 days from March 20, 2016 to March 19, 2017)... Taste: fried banana; passion fruit - passiflora edulis; fig jam; apricot jam Sight: blackberries, blueberries, raspberries; fields of green Sound: fountains Smell: Italian parsley; chlorine Touch: aching heel; hamstring stretches Extra: "Utopia is on the horizon. When I walk two steps, it takes two steps back. I walk ten steps and it is ten steps further away. What is utopia for? It is for this, for walking." — Eduardo Galean  "It doesn't bother me that you are vegetarian. I think that meat eaters should have to see what happens in a packing plant. Of course, I have and I still eat meat." — one of Dad's letters to me in the Peace Corps, Sunday, July 16, 1995  "You'll be OK Michele. You've got to remember that you won't have a choice so y...

This is my usual writer's journal to keep track of the senses and not part of the Space Explorer 365 story (365 words of story for 365 days from March 20, 2016 to March 19, 2017)... Taste: basil Sight:   food gradients, Wright Kitchen ; Pantone fruit and veg ; the basil plant growing in the kitchen window Sound:  meowing Smell:  cat Touch: soft fur, the cat's belly Extra: "Some commonly expressed themes in utopian writing include the following: social harmony and justice meld symbiotically with personal freedom peace and love overcome war and hatred material welfare is achieved for all without recourse to greed or exploitation work, if it exists, is almost always enjoyable and human life is almost always satisfying." —  Ecotopia 2121, Happy 500th Birthday to Utopia  "Spiritual practice is required of us...it is a necessity to be able to fulfill your mission." "You need to devote yourself to something greater than yourself....