Even Product Junkies Need to Clear the Decks

I have limited product space, and just put a shitload of hair products up for swap/sale on Naturally Curly's swap board. Since I'm a member of the frequent buyers' club, (aka Association of Product Sluts), there is not a dog among them. Check them out here

How do you like this beauty from Tomoka's Twists? Yup, it's for sale - SOLD! Check out Tomoka Twists website.

Tropic of Smoothies - Soursop

Last night I stopped at El Oriental de Cuba in JP to pick up a Tamarindo Smoothie. Across the street is a Hi-Lo Supermarket. I needed harvarti cheese so I walked over there. No sign of havarti, because this is a tropical supermarket. They have Goya products you won't find at your local Hannafords and -- oh joy! -- they have frozen unsweetened tropical fruit puree -- Tamarindo, soursop, parcha (passionfruit) and more. I bought the soursoup, also known as guanabana.

I had my first soursop shake in Cruz Bay while on vacation in St. John, USVI and was immediately hooked. I would amble down to the town every day for a shake and a patty. These days I pay $3.00 for one but now -- I can make them myself!! The puree, which makes 3 shakes is just $1.49. I use a modified recipe to substitute for sugar and milk. This was my breakfast shake:

Soursop Breakfast Smoothie

Makes one large shake:
- 1/3 package of frozen soursop puree
- 1/2 cup frozen strawberries (optional)
- 3/4 cup of almond milk (unsweetened)
- juice of 1/2 a lime
- scoop of whey protein powder (optional)
- liquid stevia (I like NuNaturals brand) to taste
- 2 or 3 ice cubes
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 heaping tbs. of Benefiber (optional)

Blend thoroughly and enjoy. Here's a more traditional Jamaican version:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound sour sop peeled, seeded & sliced
• 1.5 cups milk
• 5 tablespoon sugar (add more or less to taste)
• 1 cup crushed ice
• 1 squeezed lime (optional)

I see no reason why rum and more lime cannot be added for an evening libation.

Today's Quote

"Pain is a great place for growth"

Neuroeconomist Paul Zak, from Speaking of Faith, WBUR-FM, click here to listen or download

Okay. I have found this to be true. Suffering can spur great growth.

But what about pleasure? Don't we also grow through pleasure, through trust? I think we do.

But as a society based on Puritanism, we tend to focus on the pain, suffering and mistrust portion. We even place pleasure in this context. Overeating, alcoholism, anorexia, adultery, sports addiction, gambling, sexual addiction -- these are pleasures turned to pain. They have gone haywire because we lost that sense of trust, that core elemental "thing" in us that connects us to the energy of everything else on the planet and provides peace and balance between pain and suffering and extreme pleasure.

In my beginning tai chi class, my teacher told us to stand and shift our hips subtly from side to side and as we did, to imagine a carpenter's level in our pelvic area. As we shifted the bubble in the middle should stay level.

As I shift through life, that "level" is the innate harmony of my body, mind and spirit with the outside world. It's not something I need to learn, just to draw forth.

This is a good program if you have the chance to listen to it. Zak talks about how our brains adapt during times like these, and about the neuroscience and psychology of trust, as they relate to Madoff and AIG.

The Recession: Where do you think we are?

It is saddening to see on-line and real-time buddies and colleagues getting laid off. It's tough not being able to give decent job leads to truly talented people. And it's hard to manage the stress of being left behind, and knowing you are closer to the door with each RIF.

Early to mid-2007 I started to notice the recession well before the government and markets acknowledged there was one. Looking at my division's sales performance over the past 3 years, I have never seen a worse quarter than the one we just finished, and it's traditionally a top sales quarter. Because summers are usually slow, I think we're in for one more bad quarter. But after that I think we are halfway through the recession and that we will have hit bottom. I hope it's a hard V-shaped bounce that spurs recovery, not the wide U-shaped trough of the dot.com recession that had us scraping along the bottom for 2 years.

I work for a global company in a division whose nationwide partners sell technology solutions into government, education, health care, finance, telecom, oil/gas, and other commercial sectors. Although my evidence may be too narrow to be scientific, I think it's a valid slice-of-life.

Where do you think we are in the recession--

• If you were laid off early on, are you working again, still looking -- or were you laid off again?
• If you are facing a layoff now or the threat of one, do you think you have a better chance of getting a job now than if you had been laid off earlier?
• If you are laid off, where do you see things for yourself? How is it out there?
• Whether you are working or are looking for work, what opportunities do you see for yourself now or in the near future?
• Do you think you will be able to maintain your current income levels?

An anthropological introduction to YouTube

a Kansas State University working group led by Dr. Michael Wesch calls digital ethnography, the world of mediated cultures and networked individualism.