Strengthening the Heart Chakra

Astronomical Updates:
The Geminid meteor shower is expected to peak on December 13 at 18:00 UT. The bright moon will interfere with viewing.

This Full Moon will be one of the brightest of the year, since it coincides with the annual perigee (the Moon's closest point to Earth for the year) on December 12.

I would like to include a "Yoga Pose of the Day" on this site, but I'm still learning the ins and outs of the most basic poses so I think I need to practice and learn more before I can add this info. :)

Rediscovering John Muir's Botanical Legacy - In Nature's Beloved Son John Muir's botanic samples are brought to life with compelling historical accounts and expert photography. This link includes a slideshow of images of restored botanical samples.

Links to a few interesting kinds of tea I was previously unaware of: Yiwu Green Beencha Pu-erh Tea and Matcha Tea. -thanks Marcus

Wine wands by Philip Stein. I'm not sure about the validity of these but I thought it was an interesting concept to possibly look into further. The wine wand claims to give more flavor to red wine by using natural energy to aerate the wine in minutes rather than hours. I came across this because I am considering getting a Philip Stein watch because the watches use frequency-based technologies which claim to "restore and improve the natural flow of evergy in our bodies which is disrupted by many of the pressures, stresses and disturbances present in our modern society and environment. By including technologies in the watches that replicate the Earth's natural frequency, as well as other natural beneficial frequencies, many wearers report positive benefits and an overall improvement in their well-being." I am curious about the actual effects of wearing the watch.

I love documentaries, and I am interested in seeing this one: Flow: For the Love of Water, which was recommended to me by Maya. The documentary investigates the world water crisis. Also, I came across this link which I thought was great, a "Geoscientists Without Borders" project by Clemson students working to solve the water crisis in rural India.


Quote of the day (to put all the other quotes in perspective) from "Real Advice Hurts":

A tip is like…what? A little scrap of a map. Not only is it not the actual destination, but the part you can hold in your hand will only make sense when you understand its place in a much bigger picture.

So, sure, you might get a kick out of gazing at the pretty colors and reading the funny names to your cat, and, heck, once you’ve collected enough little maps, you may even start fancying yourself a gifted cartographer.

But, never for a minute start fantasizing that being a map collector means you’ve visited all the locations on those pieces of paper. If you ever decided to attempt them, your actual travels would very much benefit from a competent (and whole) map of where you’re heading, but it necessarily requires movement, change, and enduring potentially long stretches in which you’ll have to find your own bearings in three tip-free dimensions.

At their best, “tips” are a fine way to incrementally improve a process that you’re already dedicated to practicing on a regular basis. And, in that context, tips work.

Photo: The Pleiades Star Cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters and M45.

Thanksgiving

Here's to giving thanks all week in preparation for the joyful holiday. Be aware and thankful every moment of all that you have, give thanks to the universe, creator, mother Earth, God. Spend quality time investing in your relationships with your loved ones (see longevity post).
:)
And here are a few awesome quotes:

Your deepest, most perfect happiness will be found within, and once you find it, nothing exterior to your Self can match it, nor can anything destroy it. -Neale Donald Walsch

If you want to make life easy, make it hard. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A well-frog cannot imagine the ocean, nor can a summer insect conceive of ice. How then can a scholar understand the Tao? He is restricted by his own learning. -Benjamin Hoff, the Tao of Pooh

An affirmation for health from the Game of Life:
Divine love floods my consciousness with health, and every cell in my body is filled with light.

Longevity

I just finished reading a few great articles on longevity, How to Live to 100 and 14 Surprising Signs You'll Live Longer than You Think. I would definitely recommend reading the entire articles (they are very short, quick reads, packed with great information and tips). Here are a few key points:

The author studied people in the "Blue Zones" (Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Loma Linda, Calif.; and the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica), where people live 10 years longer, experience a sixth the rate of cardiovascular disease and a fifth the rate of major cancers.

Move naturally, be active without thinking about it. Identify activities you enjoy and make them a part of your day. Walk for 30 minutes a day. Strong legs will help prevent injuries later in life.

Cut calories by 20 percent. Practice "Hara hachi bi," the Okinawan reminder to stop eating once their stomachs are 80 percent full.

Have a plant based diet. Use beans, rice or tofu as the anchor to your meals, and eat nuts. Don't drink soda.

Be a tea lover, drink 1-2 fresh brewed cups a day. Skip the milk, studies have shown that adding milk may reduce some of tea's health benefits.

Drink red wine. "Eat purple foods" which contain polyphenols (heart-disease reducing compounds--they keep your arteries and blood vessels healthy and flexible, as well as keep your brain's blood vessels healthy therefore improving brain function). Examples of purple foods are grapes, red wine, and berries.

Take time to relieve stress. Take some relaxation time every day, don't rush (plan on being early), and appreciate more silence (turn off the radio, tv, computer). Chronic stress weakens the immune system and ages cells faster.

Participate in a spiritual community.

Determine your life purpose. What gets you up in the morning? What is your personal mission statement? Be a flourisher, have a positive outlook on life, a sense of purpose and community, and meaning in your life.

Embrace new challenges. Become good at focusing your attention and using your brain power. Set goals, challenge yourself. If you always read novels, pick up an autobiography next time.

Having good interpersonal relationships can help achieve stress relief. Put loved ones first, make family a priority. Pick the right tribe, the people surrounding you influence your health more than almost any other factor. Be surrounded by those who share Blue Zone values, and really like your friends. Identify your inner circle, reconsider ties with those who bring you down, and be likable!

Don't try to change everything at once, you'll overwhelm yourself and get nothing done. Pick two or three of the ideas to work on at a time. Research has shown that if you can sustain a behavioral change for six weeks, you should be able to sustain it for the rest of your life.

Its interesting to think how all of this wisdom has been passed down through the ages, learned by the ancients, to be rediscovered, taught, and learned today by us. Also its interesting to think of the evolutionary/biological principles for the reasons behind all of these things that will help us live longer. Its just the way humans are, its just how life exists. It just is.

Post inspired by Jen Kivlin, a fellow flourisher.

With Metta

Here in my room tonight, sitting alone, listening to the sound of the metro speed past outside my 7th story window, I received an email from the Gaia community email list, and it made me pause for a moment to think of the connectedness of everyone. And it made me realize that the same thing is true for all of the email lists I'm on.

I imagined fingers around the world clicking this newsletter open, and eyes from all over reading these words, and I imagined countless thoughts inspired by their interpretation, and I imagined the thread of connection shared by each of you reading this.

And I sent a little metta of intention:
"May you be be happy; may you be healthy; may you be free from suffering; may you live with ease."

I hope it makes a difference.

The Game of Life by Florence Scovel Shinn (link to the entire text online) was recommended to my by our office secretary who is knowledgeable in the universal laws. We talked about these laws while walking to pick up lunch for the office the other day. Specifically she mentioned the power of the word, how right speech is so important, powerful, and definitive of your life and world; and also about positive affirmations, about how positive thinking really does bring prosperity into your life.

Which links my mind to an article I was sent today about a researcher who helped to prove these positive concepts through scientific tests. Over the course of 10 years and with the help of 400 men and women from all walks of life, his studies concluded that positive thinking really can improve your life, through self-fulfilling prophecies. (thanks Bloom)

Another online text I have been studying over the past year is The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. The Prophet also speaks to many universal laws. (thanks Lia for recommending this book)

I have had a few interesting experiences this past month including my first time getting acupuncture and my first time speaking to a psychic.
Also I had a bit of renewed interest in psychedelia when visiting Seattle and Vancouver and the openess of the culture to these experiences. During my freshman-sophomore years of college I used to check in on maps.org and deoxy.org frequently to learn more about this area. I also enjoyed reading The Doors of Perception, the Interpretation of Dreams, Be Here Now, Rational Mysticism, to name a few. My interest was renewed in perusing some of the books Christine had on her bookshelf (she has one of the most awesome personal libraries I've seen), like Zen and the Brain.

Instead of a quote of the day, I will be ending this blog with the first step in a four part series of beginning meditation, as taught by Ajahn Brahm.
Stage One: Present Moment Awareness. The past and the future are burdens. The reality of now is magnificent and awesome. You are here. You are mindful. This is the first stage of meditation, mindfulness sustained only in the present. It is important to put forth a lot of effort to make this first stage stron, firm, and well established.

A few quotes

I am busy with my job search for the San Francisco Bay Area, so I haven't had much time to post. But I have come across a few excellent quotes recently I'd like to share:

The one who can dissolve her mind will suddenly discover the Tao at her feet. . . . Lao Tzu

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
-Bertrand Russell

Do you have patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself? Lao Tzu

Peace and love to all beings in the universe, sending you all positive energy..

Eye on the Path

First, Congratulations to Obama! The change we need. I hope he does well as President and helps to turn the country in the right direction.

I'd like to suggest some good blog reading for the day, on one of my favorites, Zen Habits. Like I have said earlier, hopefully my blog will evolve into a blog similar to this one. If you scroll to the bottom of the blog you will see "popular posts by category" and beneath this you will find five lists. I have not read all of these posts but the ones that I have read have been worthwhile.

Quote of the day: "It's probably not a good idea to waste your energy fighting the external flow of events. Your resistance will likely cause more unhappiness than relinquishing control and just going along for the ride. The only thing you could lose is a bit of unnecessary pride."

Quote of the day 2: "I know some people say "Keep your eyes on the prize," but I disagree. When your eyes are stuck on the prize, you're going to keep stumbling and crashing into things. If you really want to get ahead, you've got to keep your eyes focused on the path." - Russell Simmons

I just came across this quote and it resonated with me because last week at the Earth Sangha meditation group, after meditation we began a discussion focused on just that. The leader spoke of a Thai Buddhist quote which had the exact same message; say enlightenment is your goal, and that enlightenment is like the top of a mountain. Say the path, meditation, is like a road leading to the top of the mountain. You can't just stare at the mountain top, or you will run off the road! You focus on driving along the road, but can still glance up at the mountain to see that it's still there. The same with obstacles, you can't focus on them when you're driving. You are aware of them, then you avoid them, then you keep going along the path, with all of your attention.

Finally, a related quote from the Bhagavad Gita: "The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results."

Morning thought

Play your part in the comedy, but don't identify yourself with your role!

Garden and Cosmos, Seascapes

Yesterday Scott and I went to see the IMAX movie Deep Sea 3D, which was a bit disappointing because i thought it would focus on the Deep Sea (like this amazing video) but instead focused on more familiar aquatic habitats. In any case, the visuals were stunning. Before the movie we got lunch at Java Green, an eco-friendly cafe which gets great reviews in the DC Area (voted best Vegetarian restaurant in the "Best of DC 2008" from the City Paper). All of the food and smoothies/juice bar looked delicious yet it was very crowded, and the curry noodles I ordered are surely not one of their specialties, but still its good that there is a cafe that is organic, sustainable, and vegetarian in DC.

We also went to the Freer and Sackler galleries, which I really enjoyed. I had been wanting to go to these galleries for a while now. A lot of the art was influenced by Buddhism, and I enjoyed reading about the different depictions of the Buddha and other gods and goddesses. Also the Chinese Landscapes were my favorite, I loved the black and white forests, mountains, rivers, and trees. We saw two exhibits, Seascapes, and the Garden and the Cosmos: the Royal Paintings of Jodhpur. I tried to let the concepts of the universe represented in the paintings radiate into my soul. I especially liked the last series of 7 paintings at the end of the exhibit. Each of the 7 paintings had a similar, yet different, cosmic ocean in the background. The exhibit also described the importance of hatha yoga and its teachings in many of the paintings. To learn more, click on the "Interactive Feature" on the exhibit's website. I find the "Chakras of the Subtle Body" explanation very informative.

Seascapes was a beautiful exhibit. Sugimoto's photographs, gelatin silver prints, captured so much detail of the sea. My favorite of his photographs was the darkest one, where the sea is virtually black and the sky is a dark gray.

I picked up a brochure on this campground, Abram's Creek Lodge, an eco-friendly retreat which seems peaceful and holistic. Hopefully I will get a chance to visit here one day.

Stories from the Woods

Current Gallery - A contemporary gallery I went to when I was chilling in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore a few weekends ago. The exhibit I saw was titled "Stories from the Woods" and I really enjoyed the beautiful interpretations of nature and storytelling. The image above is from their website. Their website also includes many other good websites under their list of links.

In addition to the Gallery, I really enjoyed visiting the Inner Harbor. There are a ton of restaurants and good places to shop, and it is also home to the National Aquarium. Other things to do in the Baltimore area include the Ladew Topiary Gardens, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, the Visionary Art Museum, and the Maryland Science Center. Baltimore is a great, interesting city.

More pumpkin info!

Pumpkin Seeds:

Did you know that one-quarter cup of pumpkin seeds will supply 17% of the daily value for zinc? Zinc is a trace mineral that, although only required in very small amounts on a daily basis, is absolutely essential for optimal health. Zinc's relationship to improved immune function has recently been receiving a lot of press. Many types of immune cells require the presence of zinc to perform at their best. Zinc's immune-boosting activities include: upregulating the activity of natural-killer cells that kill tumor and microbial cells; and increasing the production of defensive T-cells, a type of white blood cell that helps reject foreign tissue, regulates immunity and controls the production of antibodies. Some studies have also shown that zinc lozenges may be helpful in reducing the duration of the common cold. Enjoying a satisfying mid-day snack of pumpkin seeds is a great way to be on your way to getting your zinc requirements for the day!

A Pumpkin Party! Complete with pumpkin beer, pumpkin treats, and everything pumpkiny. Next Thursday, in DuPont, Pumpkin Groove at 1633 P St. Click Here for the link to the facebook event page.

Another story from npr, The Many Faces of The Great Pumpkin, including numerous delicious pumpkin recipes.

Inspirational Quotes: "First say to yourself what you would be, then do what you have to do."

"Assess your skills. Plan your goals. Engage a mentor or coach. Build/sustain relationships. Identify opportunities. Take risks."

Channeling all my energy into something positive

Moby, one of my favorites, has a cool new single: Ohh Yeah

Little Bit by Lykke Li, another good song I heard today.

I'm possibly going to loda at Gallery in Silver Spring for my birthday.

The Capital Science Lectures are free and open to the public, and are held at the Carnegie Institute at 1530 P St. NW. Click on the link for the schedule.

The Eastern Market in DC includes a farmers market, an arts and crafts fair, and a flea market. I haven't been yet but am planning to go on one of these fall weekends before the weather gets too terribly chilly. The website has a information about the history of the market and the exhibitors and the schedule.

Buddhist quote of the day: Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. . . . Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide. -Buddha

Taoist quote of the day from the Tao Te Ching:
When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.

note: I am trying to get back to my spiritual side in life with more meditation and metaphysical reading, and hopefully this will be reflected in my blog. The taoist quote reflects my contemplation of duality and non duality lately. I have been seeing this concept in small things in my daily life, that life is always an ebb and flow, like a wave in the ocean, or a sine wave on a graph. Everything yields to its opposite, and without one you could not have the other. Including self and no-self (anatta in Pali). I'm still trying to figure out how to transcend duality (which is one of the goals of enlightenement), if thats possible, or if I already have. And by searching for it maybe I'm actually getting farther from it. Maybe setting a "goal of enlightenment" is all wrong to begin with. Is it already there?

Flaxseeds and biochemistry

I receive a daily email from the "World's Healthiest Foods" website, which includes a recipe and a Q&A. I really liked this answer to a question about flaxseeds, because it described some of the biochemistry of omega-3s which I was previously unaware of.

While flaxseeds are an excellent source of omega-3 fat, they only contain one basic member of the omega-3 fat family. In the case of flaxseeds, virtually all of the omega-3 fat is found in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (often abbreviated "ALA"). This specific kind of omega-3 fat makes up about 50% of the oil in flaxseeds.

The omega-3 assembly line starts with ALA

So that you can better understand how flaxseeds that feature a concentration of ALA impacts their potential ability to be an overall good source of omega-3s, let's start with a basic chemistry review of the omega-3 family of fats. Omega-3s are a very diverse group of fats. Yet, all of the members fall into a basic pattern that can be imagined as a kind of metabolic assembly line. Fats can be measured in length according to the number of carbon atoms that they contain. The omega-3 fatty acid ALA, featured in flaxseeds, contains 18 carbons, making it the shortest of the omega-3 fats, and hence the simplest. It retains a position at the beginning of the assembly line with our omega-3 metabolism starting with this compound as a building block.

ALA gets elongated into other omega-3 fatty acids

If another pair of carbon atoms gets added on to ALA (a process called "elongation" in biochemistry, and a process that is carried out by enzymes called elongases), it gets ready to become EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), another important member of the omega-3 family. If yet another pair of carbons are added to EPA, it in turn gets ready to become DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) a third important member of the omega-3 family.

ALA gets desaturated into other omega-3 fatty acids

The reason I say that these omega-3 fats "get ready" to turn into other forms is because getting longer is not the only requirement for conversion of one omega-3 to another. A second requirement is what's called "increased desaturation." During this process, the omega-3 fat gets altered chemically so that its carbon atoms are connected together in a new way that provides more reactivity to the fat. This new kind of connection is called double-bonding. For ALA (our starting point for the omega-3 assembly line) to become EPA, two new double bonds must be added in addition to the 2-carbon atom increase in length.

The role of other nutrients in omega-3 metabolism The process of lengthening and changing, of elongating and desaturating, the chemical bonds in omega-3 fat is complex, and many nutrients are required to bring it about. To get from ALA to EPA, for example, the required nutrients are: vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin C, zinc, and magnesium.

Nutrient deficiencies can block omega-3 metabolism

What happens if an individual is deficient in one or more of the above nutrients? The answer is simple: that individual cannot convert linolenic acid very efficiently into the other longer-chain omega-3 fats. A person with known deficiencies in most of the above-cited nutrients (vitamin B3, B6, C, and the minerals zinc and magnesium) would not be able to get maximum benefit from flaxseeds' omega-3s because he or she would not be able to effectively convert the ALA upward into the other omega-3 fats. Being able to effectively convert ALA upward into these other omega-3 fats is very important to our health, and when we cannot effectively accomplish this task and don't compensate by eating foods that are high in EPA and DHA, we can significantly increase our risk of health problems.

In the above situation, many healthcare practitioners would ask for an increase in the omega-3 supportive nutrients (the B complex vitamins, vitamin C, zinc, and magnesium) while at the same time also recommending a different source of omega-3s than flaxseeds, such as preformed EPA and DHA found in cold-water fish such as salmon and sardines, until the nutrient deficiencies were resolved. Yet, in cases where the assembly line seems to be functioning properly, many healthcare practitioners opt for flaxseeds and other ALA-rich foods since providing the body with the compound that is at the beginning of the assembly line allows the body to best decide the exact types and proportions of omega-3s it wants to create.

Fiber: How it is digested and why it is important for health

Another one of the best Q&As from the past month or two that I have read in my daily "World's Healthiest Foods" email. -thanks to Aunt Joan for showing me the website

"Fiber" is a term that sounds quite simple and straightforward, but it's actually been a term of great controversy in nutrition. Traditionally, researchers have described fiber as a group of polysaccharides that resisted breakdown in the digestive tract. However, this definition is not completely accurate since (1) polysaccharides are not the only type of nutrients that share the characteristics of fiber, and (2) many fibers can actually be used by the body after being fermented by bacteria in the large intestine. I like to think about fibers as unique nutrients that belong to several different chemical categories but that share in common one special feature-their tendency to go through the digestive tract in a way that is well protected from digestion and allows them to play roles that other parts of food cannot play.

Another key identifying characteristic of fibers is their exclusive presence in plants and plant foods. Animal foods do not provide us with fiber, only plant foods do. The carbohydrate fibers include celluloses, hemicelluloses, pectins, and fructans (polyfructoses). The primary non-carbohydrate fibers are the lignins that make up an important part of many cell wall structures in plants. Many of the World's Healthiest plant foods contain one or more of these dietary fibers. You'll find dietary fibers in vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. It's the unprocessed, whole food form of these foods that allows them to provide you with their fiber benefits, however, heavily processed, fiber-rich foods will often lose their fiber-rich qualities.

Much has been written about the health-promoting benefits of fiber, and ample numbers of studies support an association between high-fiber diets and a decrease in risk of many types of cancers, including colon cancer and breast cancer. Some of this benefit comes from the ability of fiber to bind and remove toxins and to promote healthy digestion. Recent research suggests, however, that fiber provides its health-protecting benefits in other ways as well, and one of the most important appears to be its ability to promote healthy intestinal tract bacteria.

Your large intestine contains a multitude of beneficial bacteria that are required for your body's health. They are called the "friendly flora," or the beneficial symbiotic microbes, and they support the health of your whole body by promoting healthy immune function and providing important molecules to your intestinal tract cells to promote their growth, thus sustaining overall intestinal tract integrity. These microbes use some of the fibers you eat as fuel for their own growth, and through their own metabolism produce molecules called short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). SCFA production by this friendly flora has been associated with a decrease in cancerous colonic cells, reduction of serum cholesterol, and maintenance of healthy blood sugar levels and healthy intestinal tract cell walls.

Not all fiber is fermented by the friendly flora in your intestinal tract. Some, as discussed above, goes through your entire system unchanged, binding toxins and waste products as it goes, and promoting healthy elimination. In either case, fibers are unique nutrients when it comes to their health benefits. In order to obtain all of their health advantages, however, it's important for your diet to provide you with a plentiful amount of fiber. This amount is at least 25 grams per day for adult women and 38 grams per day for adult men. The heavily processed nature of the average U.S. diet makes these goals virtually unattainable, and U.S. adults average less than 15 grams of fiber per day. But if you follow the Healthiest Way of Eating, and enjoy a wide range of the World's Healthiest Foods, you'll likely attain-and even surpass-these goals.

An Autumnal Feast

An Autumnal Feast: This NPR story gets its own post because I love the fall so much especially the vegetables in season right now, and the author does a good job describing all of these delicious seasonal foods. This article has a ton of good recipes in it too!! Yum :)

Pumpkin Spice

Fall is my favorite season. I took this picture hiking last weekend in the Shennandoah national park. :)

A link to the Environmental Working Group. "At EWG, our team of scientists, engineers, policy experts, lawyers and computer programmers pores over government data, legal documents, scientific studies and our own laboratory tests to expose threats to your health and the environment, and to find solutions. Our research brings to light unsettling facts that you have a right to know."

The Alexandria-Arlington Extra from the Washington Post

The Washingtonian Website..I like searching for restaurants and spas on this site

TED Ideas Worth Spreading. Inspired talks by the world's greatest thinkers and doers. I posted this earlier but I think its worth repeating!

I want one of these. A link to the page for Kyu Che, an architect/artist based in San Francisco. His architectural research involves high tech portable capsule habitats that explore the relationship between man and nature from an eastern philosophical point of view while utilizing 21st century technologies to create bionic systems that are ecologically harmonious.

Express Night Out from the Washington Post. I love looking for cool events and stuff to do!

Wiki link of the day: Luke Vibert. Luke Vibert is a British recording artist and producer known for his work in many subgenres of electronica. -thanks Bloom

Wiki link of the day 2: Damien Hirst is an English artist and the most prominent of the group that has been dubbed "Young British Artists" (or YBAs).

I thought this was funny: Homeless Polar Bears converge on Washington DC

Blogging God Steve Pavlina Interview, by the author of one of my other favorite blogs, Zen Habits! I was excited about this :)

A superfood I hadn't heard about previously, Mesquite Powder. The website, Live Superfoods, seems like a good resource to learn more about superfoods as well.

Our organic mesquite is a nutritious powder with a sweet, nutty flavor, suitable for use in baking or as a seasoning on food and in drinks. The powder is ground from the seed pods of the mesquite plant, also known as algorroba (Prosopis juliflora), a leguminous plant found in arid areas around the world, including parts of South America and the southwestern U.S. In desert areas of the Americas, mesquite seed pods have long been used as a food source by the indigenous peoples, who traditionally ground them into a powder to be used as a flour or processed into a sweetener, a sweet beverage, or a fermented alcoholic drink. Mesquite is also highly effective in balancing blood sugar. Because its sugar is in the form of fructose, which does not require insulin for metabolism, mesquite helps maintain a constant blood sugar level for a sustained period of time.

Forecast Earth Videos from the Weather Channel. "News, science and debate advancing sustainable life on a changing planet.
This particular video details how one citizen was able to actually cause his power meter to run backwards and put power back ON the grid. He produces more energy that his family uses. This is exactly what the article I read in Ode magazine this summer (see the "Power Shift" post) was talking about as the future of energy use in the country. This is a very exciting video, and there are tons more good ones on this site, as well as other information about sustainability. Here's the link to the Forecast Earth main page.

Daily Links

These are some sites I like to check everyday, if I have enough time. Note that some of them I have already posted on previous blog entries.

My iGoogle page complete with National Parks picture of the day, Meditation quotes by Osho, Buddhist Thought of the Day, Ansel Adams Nature Photo of the Day, Nietzsche quotes, Aristotle Quote of the Day, National Geographic Photo of the Day, the current moon phase, and the weather.

My myGaia page with Horoscope and Feng Shui tip

The Wikipedia Main Page

Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA

News on NPR and BBC

Treehugger "the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream."

Stardate online...a daily stargazing tip

Weather Underground a great weather site including astronomy info

Zen Habits simple productivity

Think Arete concentrated wisdom for the busy self actualizer

Scientific American the magazine's website

SciCentral A collection of top science stories

Minerals

Asheville

My mom and I visited Asheville last weekend and the trip was wonderful. One of the best parts was eating dinner at the Grove Park Inn, even though it was rainy, the view was beautiful. This is a picture from their website (I forgot my camera), but I think that may have actually been the table we sat at! I also spent time visiting a few holistic medicine centers and schools in Asheville, including Blue Lotus Ayurveda, and we also walked around the downtown area to see the shops and other restaurants. The Grove Arcade was very nice too, I got a piece of rose quartz from their mineral and crystal shop.

Friends of the Heart

I was reading the packages for the wheat germ and flaxseeds I have, and here are a few ideas I found interesting. I usually put wheat germ and flaxseed meal in my hot cereal in the morning (steel cut oats, quinoa, ect.) or in my smoothies.

Wheat Germ: Wheat Germ is the heart of the wheat berry. It has a delicious nutty flavor, and is packed with nutrition. A two tablespoon serving will provide two grams of dietary fiber, thirteen percent of recommended daily value of folic acid, ten percent of phosphorous, magnesium and zinc, and fifteen percent of your vitamin E and thiamin requirements. You can use Wheat Germ to replace up to one half cup of flour when baking cookies, muffins and breads. Use it as a topping for fruit pies, fruit salads, yogurt and ice cream, or as a nutritious breading for chicken or fish.
Vitamin E, best known for its positive association with heart disease prevention, has also been linked with many other health benefits including strengthening the immune system.
Folic acid (also known as folate or folacin) is a B vitamin necessary for heart and blood vessel health and for proper cell replication.
(During the making of white bread, flour that has had the germ removed is used.)

Flaxseed Meal: Whole ground flaxseed meal has a robust, nutty flavor and tastes really great! Two tablespoons added to your cold or hot cereal, pancakes and waffles or baked into your breads and muffins brings to you amazing nutrition. According to several studies, flaxseed meal may be one of the most powerful natural cholesterol controllers yet discovered. An acronym for FLAX:
F - fiber. Just two tablespoons of flaxseed meal deliverse 4 grams of fiber. Studies prove that when flaxseed meal is added to the diet, harmful LDL cholesterol drops, while good HDL cholesterol stays put.
L - lignans. Flaxseed contains high levels of lignans, a natural antioxidant and a member of the family of plant estrogens (phytoestrogens). The lignans in flaxseed can maintain breast and colon health by binding circulating estrogens and other substances that might promote unchecked cell growth. Many plant foods have some lignans, but flaxseed has at least 75 times more than any other.
A - alpha-linolenic acid. Modern diets, even healthy ones, are routinely deficient in omega-3s. Flaxseed is a mega source for the plant version of omega-3 called alpha-linolenic acid. The oil in flaxseed is about 50%, compared to canola and walnut oils--the next highest sources--which have about 10%.
X - Excellent choice to add to your diet.

My favorite dnb DJs

Here's a link to a Collegiate Times (VT Newspaper) article about Massive Sound, "the cornerstone of the electronic scene in Blacksburg and a main source of electronic music in the area". :) I <3 Massive Sound and I am so glad that I got to know everyone when I was in Blacksburg. I miss everyone + the parties!

The LHC Rap...this is hilarious!

TED: Ideas worth spreading. Inspired talks by the world's greatest thinkers and doers. This website is full of enlightening talks and ideas.

Science Friday website! One of my favorite NPR programs, and there are a ton of cool videos on this website.

Buddhist quote of the day: "All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become."

What I've been listening to lately

Besides the Bloom mini mix (see "Worry about nothing" post from Aug.22), here are a few songs ive been loving:

Veronicas Untouched

Kraak and Smaak Squeeze Me

Telepopmusik Tuesday

Soleil Fortin-Leveille


Image description (from wiki equinox link): The Earth in its orbit around the Sun causes the Sun to appear on the celestial sphere moving over the ecliptic (red), which is tilted on the equator (blue).

U Street Corridor

I went to U Street last night and I loved it. First to check out Utopia, the live jazz hadn't started yet, but still it was a cool spot. They were playing arabic music and the art was interesting. Then I heard some awesome jazz music at Twins Jazz, and there was also for a fundraiser for Obama! I am looking forward to going back and trying some of the organic restaurants I saw. :)

I have been listening to Rachael Yamagata lately, she is playing at the Birchmere next Tuesday I'm thinking about going.

Also, here's the link for jazz at the Kennedy Center.

Love

A few links for this Tuesday afternoon:

DCist: an excellent blog about all things DC. I usually read it to keep up with art, music, and events.

Has the LHC destroyed the world yet?

A really great website listing a bunch of the swimming holes in the area (and the country!)

Weather underground: A good weather site, and also I look at the astronomical information every day to see when the sun is rising and setting, the length of the day, how much shorter the next day will be, ect..

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

I recently just finished reading this book by my favorite author, Paulo Coelho. Here are a few of my favorite quotes, relating to the subject matter of not living out your dreams:

"She looked around her. People were walking along, heads down, hurrying off to work, to school, to the employment agency, telling themselves: "I can wait a little longer. I have a dream, but there's no need to realize it today, besides, I need to earn some money." It was all a question of selling her time, like everyone else. Doing things she didn't want to to, like everyone else. Putting up with horrible people, like everyone else. Handing over her precious soul in the name of a future that never arrived, like everyone else. Saying that she still didn't have enough...waiting just a little bit longer...so that she could earn just a little bit more, postponing the realization of her dreams, she was too busy right now..."

"Life is too short, or too long, to allow myself the luxury of living it so badly."

Autumnal Equinox

Next Monday, the Sun will be directly over the Earth's equator at 10:44am, EST. The equinox marks a change of season for nature, and this is also an important time for your body and soul. Chinese medicine recommends a check up with every change of the season to see how your body is doing and what, if any, weaknesses need to be addressed to prevent illness or disease. Basically an alignment of energy, through acupuncture if necessary, to make sure you are healthy. This is also a good time to do a detox, no matter how small, even if it is just a day of drinking only water. It is also useful to set a few goals at the change of a season (maybe 1 to 3), to reflect on the past few months, and to get a fresh start on accomplishing your goals. The energy of the change and the start of a new season will be helpful.

It is always good to eat seasonally as well, so visit your local farmer's market or local organic produce section at the grocery store and fill up with different varieties of squash, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, sweet potatoes..

Astronomy in the fall: Saturn can be seen in the morning sky throughout fall. Also look out for the Harvest Moon which can be seen until the end of this week. The Harvest Moon is the Full Moon closest to Autumnal Equinox which rises soon after sunset.

Theme song for this post: Summer's Almost Gone by The Doors -thanks Bloom

Wiki link: Equinox

Greet the new season joyfully on Monday with an open soul and heart. Embrace your goals and amplify the energy of the Earth.

Cloudspotting

I've found that the September clouds are some of the best of the entire year. Ive taken these photos around the DC area.

Friday Afternoon Video

Watch this video!

Rip off the tie! Jump out of the cubicle!

Dream. Think. Dare to be crazy!

Various Links I have come across recently

DC Urban Hikers Group from Yahoo - thanks Jenny

Sadhana on wiki

Does time run backward in other universes? from SciAm

Becoming a LEED accredited professional from Treehugger

Portal to the mythical Mayan underworld - thanks Dave J

Lake Eden Arts Festival in NC

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Brain Food: How healthy eating makes you smarter - from Treehugger

Quote of the Day: All that you give to others you are giving to yourself.

Power Shift

I really liked this letter from the editor, Jurriaan Kamp, in the September 2008 issue of Ode Magazine, about the future of energy. Very inspiring compared to most of the other global warming/energy crisis literature I read. :)

This month’s cover story on the future of energy relates closely to the mission of Ode. We’re always looking for the seeds from which positive change sprouts. Finding these seeds isn’t the most challenging part of our mission; there’s no shortage of inspiring human ingenuity. The real challenge is seeing them to fruition, since creativity is so often met with skepticism and a lack of courage—or, more accurately, a lack of intelligent optimism.

In 1997, with Ode in its third year in the Netherlands, we published a cover story on the future of energy. It was a 21-page report about how technological breakthroughs could lead to a clean, renewable energy economy. The power of the sun is what I remember most from that story. In 1996, global energy use was 352,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules, or 352 exajoules, while the energy available to the Earth from the sun each year came with even more zeros attached: an astonishing 2,500,000 exajoules. The only challenge is to harvest its potential.

A decade ago, our story was undeniably futuristic. But this time around, the possibilities we were exploring then are becoming realities. Out beyond the naysayers wringing their hands over the end of oil, a promising future is rapidly unfolding. Positive change is outdistancing the skeptics.

It’s happened before. In Paris during the 1880s, even the most clear-sighted visionaries had a bleak picture of the horizon. If our city continues to grow at this rate, they argued, carriages won’t be able to ride along the avenues, but will be bogged down in mounds of horseshit. That was the experts’ conclusion. Then the automobile was introduced.

Today’s media are full of such dire prophecies. We read about peak oil and the disasters waiting to happen when the last drop of fuel hits the pump. Meanwhile, highly respected minds routinely underestimate the most powerful source of change: human creativity. They forget that the reason we don’t ride in carriages, or use typewriters, isn’t because we ran out of hay and paper, but that people invented better ways to do things.

Do you remember when you bought your first cellphone? I bought mine in 1997, the year of our other energy cover story. And when did you get your first Internet connection? In the past decade, industries like these have transformed society. It’s hard to imagine ourselves without such things now. Society has been decentralized. People work from home or from wherever they are. Nobody saw that coming. All the great technological revolutions happen much more quickly than anyone can predict. Forecasts for the spread of mobile phones and information technology were overtaken by reality. The same will happen in the renewable energy economy now upon us.

In fact, the impact of the energy revolution will be even bigger. Energy power still equals political power. But renewable energy means decentralized energy. We’re headed for a double power shift that will transform not only the relationship between man and nature, but between man and man in the rich North and the poor South. And the reliance on oil will be a thing of the past.

As an inspiring T-shirt says: “40 years of oil left. 5,500,000,000 years of sunshine left.” Don’t worry.

Love your fate

Little ideas and quotes of wisdom: thinkArete

Arete in its basic sense, means goodness, excellence, or virtue of any kind. In its earliest appearance in Greek, this notion of excellence was bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function; the act of living up to one's full potential.

This weekend I saw the movies Cosmic Collisions and Black Holes at the Planetarium in the National Air and Space Museum. Both are highly recommended, the visualizations of entering a black hole, based on Einstein's equations, were beautiful. One fact that stuck out in my head was that we are one of 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, which is one of 100 billion galaxies in the universe.

Art Beat with Stephanie Kaye is a daily one-minute update on arts and culture events in the DC region on the DC npr station.

Stardate Online: Daily stargazing tips. "The Milky Way arcs high overhead on August evenings."

Worry about nothing

Taoist quote of the day: Your mind must become one, do not try to understand with your ears but with your heart. Indeed, not with your heart but with your soul. - Chuang Tzu (c.360 BC - c. 275 BC)

What I'm listening to at work today: Dave Bloom mini-mix
Truly "melancholy/pleasant melodies that make you feel like everything's going to be ok." :)

Light behaves as both a particle and a wave, depending on the experiment you subject it to. I've been thinking about this wave-particle duality lately and what it means. I'll write more on this later when I figure some things out...

The Witch's Broom Nebula

"On no did I hit crazy stairs?"

National Geographic Photograph

More about the Breath

This is an excerpt taken from Paulo Coelho's Blog. Paulo Coelho is the author of many books, including the Alchemist, one of my favorite books.

Constant growth

Life is development. To achieve this, climb high mountains and descend into the deepest valleys of your soul. Breathe in and feel that you are sucking in everything that exists in heaven and earth. Breathe out and feel that the air leaving your body carries the seed of fertility, and will make humanity more true, better, and more beautiful.

Infinite breathing

All that exists above and below, also exists within you. And everything breathes; when you realize this, you will also understand the Art of Peace. Those who practice it know they are warriors protecting Mother Nature, and with each breath are putting inside themselves the sun and the moon, heaven and earth, the high and low tides, spring and winter, summer and fall.

Man’s entire apprenticeship can be summed up in how one breathes consciously. Each time you do so, you share the powerful energy which sustains Creation.

Conscious attention

Make each day a truly new one, by wearing the blessings of Heaven, bathing in wisdom and love, and placing yourself under Mother Nature’s protection. Learn from the wise men, holy books, but never forget that each mountain, river, plant or tree, also has something to teach you.

Nectar of life

Pathways is a quarterly Mind Body Spirit magazine for the DC Metro area. It has an extensive directory of resources in the holistic world. They are having a Natural Living Expo on October 5, which I attended last year.

The breath is a constant link and reminder to the ebb and flow of life, ceaseless change, yet constant rhythm. Breathing exercises can help reduce stress and bring you to your center. When focusing on your breath be sure to note the pause between inhales and exhales when you are completely still. Here are a few exercises:

Breath of fire: I have just recently learned this technique, and still do not know very much about it or how it is used. It is the most powerful breath and is very beneficial and cleansing. I first learned it in my kundalini yoga class, where we would hold a posture and do the breath of fire for up to 2 minutes. We also practice it with 3 sets of 15 breaths in my dance class, which I think is better for beginners. It is a rhythmic, fast breath, in which you just focus on using your abdomen to force air out through your nose. Your body will automatically inhale. Do this as rapidly as you can but start with 15-20 breaths at a time. Then on your last breath, exhale all the air completely from your lungs. Take a full cleansing breath.

Alternate nostril breathing: Place one hand on your nose, resting your fingers so that they would be able to pinch it shut if needed. Close the right nostril and exhale through the left. Inhale through the left then close the left nostril, open the right, and exhale through the right. Inhale, then close the right nostril and exhale through the left. Repeat this process. A good visualization is to visualize your chakras and sushumna, the luminous channel running through your spine, and then the ida and pingala, the channels which enter through your right and left nostrils and criss-cross through each chakra. Then after a while, open both nostrils and take deep cleansing breaths. It will calm and align your chakras.

Intestinal massage/work out: Breathe into your stomach, filling it, and then on the exhale, pull your stomach in a bit. You can place your hands on your stomach to feel it expand, and then pull in. Focus on the energy in this area. This will massage your intestines and help with digestion. I learned this at Dahn Yoga, and they recommend 1000 per day, most importantly when you wake up and before you eat.

Three part breathing: First take breaths to fill your belly, as you would during meditation and the previous two exercises mentioned. Take slow deep breaths, and try to exhale for longer than it took to inhale, this will help relaxation. Then start to fill your belly first, then the middle abdomen area around your rib cage. Take some breaths filling these 2 regions. Finally, begin to fill your lungs and upper chest as the third part of the breath. Continue three part breathing for as long as you wish. Breathing in this manner will bring 7 times more oxygen into your body. I learned this from my belly dance teacher, and we do it at the beginning of class to prepare our bodies for dancing.

Patterns of the Universe

From Ilchi Lee, the creator of Dahn Yoga:

If you want something
With all your heart,
The universe will make a fuss
So it becomes possible.

To use all your heart,
You must integrate your brain,
So that all the complicated,
Muddled bits of information
Realign in a clear, calm pattern.

But once you are clear,
You must take action.

Then the universe will really
Take you seriously,
And you can take advantage of
All the possibilities it sends your way.

I took Dahn Yoga last fall when I first moved to Alexandria mainly because the studio was only 2 blocks from my office. It is an interesting mix of many systems and philosophies of yoga, tai chi, and "brain respiration", the creator also invented his own martial art.

From an article my dad sent to me, about how yoga can help you in your finances:

In yoga, we learn to concentrate our attention on the present moment. The trick is to do that in life as well, learning to focus on one thing at a time and resisting the mind's tendency to jump and shift.

When you eat a meal, chew your food a little longer and try not to talk. When you walk, pay attention toyour breathing and notice how your senses respond to the people, the sounds and even the smells you encounter. When you talk with someone, listen deeply -- noticing his or her expression and words -- rather than daydreaming about a new lighting fixture you've been eyeing.

In short, no matter what you're doing, give it your full attention, putting aside for a time all thoughts of what's next on your agenda. When your experience is pleasing to the senses and you give it your full, undivided attention, the joy you experience will be multiplied many times over, without having to spend more money. Full attentive presence enhances pleasure in a way money never can.

Question of the day: I saw a t-shirt with this message and it made me think: "Love is just a feeling." What are your thoughts?

Water drinks Michael Phelps.

This post is to honor Michael Phelps, the greatest human being alive. He now has a website for Chuck Norris-like facts about himself, here are a few:

Water drinks Michael Phelps.

Newborn dolphins learn to swim by watching footage of Michael Phelps.

Every time you see a shooting star you are really watching Michael Phelps train in space.

If you look into the eye of a hurricane you will see Michael Phelps swimming.

Sure Jesus walked on water, but Michael Phelps swims through land.

Chuck Norris eats bears, Michael Phelps eats bear-eating sharks.

When Michael Phelps was born he swam out of his mother in 4.5 seconds which was a world record. The previous world record was 5 seconds which was also set by Michael Phelps.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

I just saw the Woody Allen movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I loved it for many reasons, one because my favorite actors were in it: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, and Scarlett Johansson. Also, it took place in Barcelona, so it brought back memories of my study abroad in Spain, the architecture, culture, music. I would recommend this movie. I enjoyed the characters because I felt like they were dealing with some of what I am going through in life--searching for something but not knowing what it is.

I have also been reading Ode magazine, "for intelligent optimists". I really enjoyed the optimistic articles on the issue of global warming. Also the article on Pulse Diagnosis, a part of Chinese Medicine, was very good. The doctor said that if it was up to him, the health care system would include 2 pulse diagnosis appointments per year. It reminded me of my Chinese Medicine teacher in college who said that if it was up to him, everyone at Virginia Tech would take Tai Chi, or some form of internal martial arts, classes a couple times a week. He said that the increase in health would be astonishing, unexplainable.

Quote of the Day:

Ten Spiritual Tonics 1. Stop worrying. Worry kills life. 2. Begin each day with a prayer. It will arm your soul. 3. Control appetite. Over-indulgence clogs body and mind. 4. Accept your limitations . . . 5. Don't envy. It wastes time and energy. 6. Have faith in people. Cynicism sours the disposition. 7. Find a hobby. It will relax your nerves. 8. Read a book a week to stimulate imagination and broaden your views. 9. Spend some time alone for the peace of solitude and silence. 10. Try to want what you have, instead of spending your strength trying to get what you want. -Abraham L. Feinberg

Perseid Meteor Shower Tonight

The Perseid Meteor Shower is tonight! Don't forget to watch, it peaks in the early morning hours.
Here's the link to the NASA site on the Perseids

Lily Allen

I love Lily Allen's new songs... Click here to listen on her myspace page.

Stress-free point of view

So for now I'm going to be working on going back and elaborating on some of my old posts. I know I just threw a lot of links out there when I started because I wanted to get them up, but I want to elaborate on my thoughts on them:)

So please check back over old posts that you enjoyed to read more commentary! I will also try to post more new things too, but I have been busy recently doing research on climate change and water resources for my poster for an environmental engineering conference in September, and also job searching/sending resumes to the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm also the leader of the Green Team at my office so I've been working on compiling a report of all things "Green" that we do here and practices I have helped to implement, and I also want to conduct a carbon footprint analysis of the office.

Bonafide hustler

Today I gchatted about conspiracy theories (which I am a conspiracy theorist, well mainly the belief that the people with money rule the world and control the masses, the office is like a prison which they have created to sedate us, the corporations control the government ect. ect.), and listened to the M.I.A. song Paper Planes about 100 times.

In other news, Barney Frank introduced a marijuana decriminalization bill to Congress, which has little chance of getting passed (see above comments)...but its still definitely a step in the right direction! You could have up to 100 grams, or 3.5 ounces, without penalty.

Also, Swami Swami Ramdev is planning to build a $20 million dollar yoga and Ayurveda center in Texas. I would maybe consider working there one day, but I doubt I would like to live in Texas or work at such a large facility. I'm probably going to do something on a smaller scale, if thats where my path in life takes me. My advice from my spiritual advisor today, is that if you don't know what to do in life, or not sure what path to take, just say to yourself "Let it work" and rest in a state of inaction and be worry free. Because there are other forces at work that you probably just aren't aware of or can't see, that are aligning for your future path.

Mellifluous Monday

A must-read article on the Future of Physics. If you read only one physics article I post here, this should be it! I think its interesting that when the moon is full, at high tide, the land near Geneva rises 25 cm, and the LHC's circumference increases by 1 millimeter, and the beam energy changes by 0.02 percent. The experimenters must allow for this effect. Another interesting fact, the proton velocity in the LHC is 99.9999991% of light speed.

More on the LHC from the New Yorker, a Crash Course

A chill song I've been listening to today: Ghost Hardware

Mix by Dave J



Image: Bubble chamber

Stuff White People Like

You've probably already seen this but I'll post it anyway, because BYT did their own version of the website...I would also say that almost all of these apply to me.

Stuff White People Like

BYT Version


<3

Tree of Life

by Gustav Klimt

Jazz in Albuquerque

Spiritual centers: This topic has interested me ever since I talked to an Acupuncturist who told me that the major spiritual centers in the world, or any place where many people have reached enlightenment or have felt drawn to, usually has a large crystal/mineral deposit underneath it when you look at the geology of the area. I thought this was an interesting idea because I had read about a spot in Tibet where many Dalai Lamas and monks had come to meditate and were enlightened, I wonder if it had something to do with the minerals there.

I began thinking about this after I heard this story on npr yesterday, about Jazz in Albuquerque. I came across a few Ayurveda schools in Albuquerque when I was doing some research earlier this year, and I was wondering if maybe it is one of these spiritual centers that people are drawn to. I don't like the term "New Age", but it also reminded me of this interesting website I read about Asheville, NC.

The Story of Stuff

For now, my blog has a black background in order to save energy but there's still a debate over whether or not a black background will save energy due to a longer reading time vs. a white screen.

For those in the Old Town Alexandria area, morning Sadhana at Pure Prana is free! Although it is at 5 am on Monday morning:

"By adhering to Yogi Bhajan's urging to practice yoga before sunrise, we work on our personal issues in the most neutral time of the day (called the Ambrosial Hours), and we catch the awakening waves of the earth which sustain us throughout the day."

Wiki category of the day: Herbs
Wiki category of the day pt.2: Spices

The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard, what a great link that I think is very important for all consumers to watch.

The future of particle physics: how the LHC works

Question of the day: Do you believe in the evolution of human consciousness?

Quote of the day: "You couldn't fit me in a blog"- Vincent, in response to the comment that I should make my blog about his life.

Amazing Stat: California uses more gas than China

From WIRED Science:

"Given all the news coverage about the rise of the Chinese economy, you could be forgiven for thinking that the world's most populous country is hogging all the world's resources, while the developed nations are fighting for scraps.

But, at least with transportation fuel, you'd be wrong. California alone uses more gasoline than any country in the world (except the US as a whole, of course). That means California's 20 billion gallon gasoline and diesel habit is greater than China's! (Or Russia's. Or India's. Or Brazil's. Or Germany's.)

That's according to the California Energy Commission's State Alternative Fuels Plan, which was posted online last Christmas Eve (pdf). The whole report makes for some fascinating reading because it's a blueprint for a low-carbon and renewable transportation fuel future. The dominant takeaway: it ain't going to be easy.

One more choice statistic: gasoline usage in California has increased 50 percent, that's 10 6.7 billion gallons, since 1988. Has there been anything close to a commensurate increase in quality of life here to accompany that rise in energy use?

But China's oil thirst is growing -- to almost 20 billion gallons in 2007 -- and perhaps as early as this year, China's 1.3 billion people will overtake California's 37 million people in total gasoline and diesel usage."