Seven Deadly Sins Haven't Killed Me Yet
CSM
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Posts by CSM
The Advent Wreath
Dec 3rd
Petulant notes: CSM joins the War. Welcome this brave soldier.
Last year, during and after Christmas, I began research into some of the more obscure traditions of The Season. Things that we may see and hear throughout Christmas that we don’t notice, or know there’s any meaning to at all, but which have their roots deep in Medieval or Ancient European history.
The tradition of Advent is steeped in ancient history, and full of customs and traditions which are beautiful. Alas, they have fallen by the wayside in the current age of Christmas as an almost purely commercial holiday. While we today see Advent as a time for a one hour a week devotion in church (maybe) and a few weeks to party it up before Christmas and the credit card bills come, our ancestors took a far more sober approach to the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Advent was a time of fasting and repentance, because the ancient Christians believed the only thing that kept God from coming back and wreaking havoc with the Rapture was the intercession of Christ on Man’s behalf. Probably one of the reasons “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” has such a somber, weary sound.
One of the richer and prettier traditions I found in ancient Advent lore was the Advent wreath. The deepest roots of the Advent wreath go beyond the coming of Christianity to Europe. They can be found in the hope for renewal in the coming spring, and the cyclical form of the wreath to represent the circle of the year.
Later, the Christians incorporated certain special herbs and plants into the older custom of the wreath at the Winter Solstice. These plants are mentioned in The Bible, and were sacred to or prized by the people in the Middle East in Biblical times. The core plants of Advent are Juniper, Boxwood, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme, Horehound, Rue, Pennyroyal, Bedstraw, and Pomegranate. They stand for such things as purity, courage, strength, hope, life, and repentance.
After I’d researched Advent, and found out about all the special plants, I was determined to try this at Christmas. My partner and I gathered all the plants and herbs from the list we could find, and the picture above was the outcome. I’m still lacking Pennyroyal, Bedstraw, Rue, Horehound and Pomegranate, but on the whole I was very pleased with the outcome and plan to keep this ancient tradition alive in our home for many years to come.
The Curiously STRONG Kitchen
Nov 10th
Curried Vegetables
I made this last night. On a whim, my husband came home with a head of cauliflower and a pepper and said, “can you do something with this, some curry and turmeric?” Then he left for the farm. My mind racing for something to do quickly for I had an appointment to serve up something else in another room of the house when he got back. I set to work. This is what I came up with and it was DELICIOUS!!
1 head of cauliflower
3 or 4 carrots
1 onion
1 sweet pepper
1 can of mushrooms (I don’t usually use these but had had a can in the passenger seat of my car for several weeks now for some reason.)
4 cloves of garlic
curry powder (a lot, maybe 3 tablespoons or more just keep adding!)
sprinkling of turmeric
sprinkling of nutmeg
sprinkling of cinnamon
sprinkling of ginger
salt
1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar
red pepper (cayenne) to garnish and spice up
a light oil like canolaWash and chop vegetables keeping onion, pepper and mushrooms separate from cauliflower and carrots.
In a frying pan pour a generous amount of oil in the pan and add all your spices except the red pepper. Sautee them for a bit to let the flavor come out.
Add garlic and onions, cook until nearly carmleized to get maximum flavor out of them.
Add cauliflower and carrots to the mix and stir fry on high until they are well coated in the curry mix. You may have to add a bit more oil to coat it well.
Add pepper and mushrooms. Fry until cooked but still crunchy.
Feel free to add more curry powder to taste, and salt to taste,
sprinkle the sugar in while mixing vegetables and add a little bit of water.Finally, add the red pepper at the end, a generous amount, and stir,
You can garnish with peanuts if you like. I wanted to but didn’t have any handy. Also potatoes would have been nice in it but we were having mashed potato left overs.
Prop. up yourselves then…
Nov 4th
In which CSM does a cherry picked bibile (not fixing that typo) dip to beat back the bigots with God’s word:
1 ¶ Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, [and commanding] to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4 For every creature of God [is] good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.
Timothy 4: 1-4
HOME, HEARTH & HUSBAND 101: Class 1
Sep 22nd
Every successful home-maker from Agrippina The Elder to Tammy Wynette knows one key to a happy home is a happy husband. Ladies have been forgetting about or neglecting their husbands criminally these last few decades…and then they wonder why their men have affairs, stay away from home, and neglect them. Just look at Kate Gosselin–she’s neglected and castrated her husband for years on national television. Now she’s eating up airtime lamenting the failure of her marriage and blaming it on those children–the same ones she very probably browbeat her husband into having with her in the first place! Had she spent more time on him and given him a bit more attention, do you think he would have trapsed out after the first 20 year old that shook it’s tail at him? Doubtful!!
There are many ways to satisfy your husband, but two stand out head and shoulders above the rest: at the table, and in the bedroom. For the sake of decency I’ll just address the former for now. Mind you, a man whom you’ve just satisfied at the table will come a damn sight closer to rolling your own eyes back in your head you while you satisfy him in the bedroom!
I will start with a basic recipe…the very cornerstone of domestic civilization for centuries: BREAD! I do this not only because I believe every home maker should know how to make it, but also because I’m making it for my man this very afternoon. He’ll go pink with delight when I greet him with 2 freshly baked loaves of bread to ease his hunger after a hard day in the field.
This is a tried and true recipe. It comes with approximations, which leaves plenty of room to play. The best advice I can give is you will know when the dough is the right consistency and when it’s done in the oven etc etc. If not, then apparently you are a failure as a home maker from the word go and had best get thee to a nunnery…where the good sisters can teach you how to make bread!
BASIC BREAD
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Mercy takes a vacation (Day 1)
Jul 19th
I have enjoyed the books of Nathaniel Hawthorne since High School, usually reading one every Fall. My two favorites are “The Scarlet Letter”, and “The House Of The Seven Gables.” It’s been a dream of mine to one day go to The House of the Seven Gables for years now, and today we finally realized that dream.
We spent the first day of our trip in beautiful Salem. Now there’s a lot of touristy stuff to get around, but once out of the Witch stores, and wax museums, there’s a lot of history to be seen in Salem. Of all we saw today, Seven Gables was probably the most amazing.
The house was built in the mid 17th century by a wealthy merchant, John Turner. Through the years it has undergone several transformations, including having gables taken off and put back again. There’s a secret stairway that goes up by the fireplace (added in the early 19th century) which winds around the brick chimney and had my head spinning by the time I got to the top. The attic features the oldest surviving living space in America, and is made up of all the original wood work, beams and joists. Sadly we were not allowed to photograph the inside, but if ever in Salem, this house is not to be missed!
Slamdancing down a SPITEFUL memory lane
Jul 16th
I have been a Siouxsie and the Banshees/Creatures/Siouxsie/ fan for over 20 years. More to come on that later when I spotlight her in my living divinity feature. Many who know me will wonder why I haven’t mentioned her before now…well I just haven’t yet had all day to sit down and write what Siouxsie means to me. It would take all day, and be much longer than anyone would want to read (even with heavy editing).
Still, as I sit here in decrepit old age, I think back, and look back. Tonight I was looking back via youtube, and found footage of this show on the “Trick Or Treat” tour in 1999. I was at this show, and have watched it more than once now trying to find my bobbing head somewhere in the first 5 rows. We seem calm…but I don’t remember it that way…in fact this was the very show I got head butted in the face at…by some British cunt come over with his attitude in tow. Awww, Teddy, where are you now? A big FUCK YOU where ever you are, I haven’t forgotten you…or that ugly ass Salt and Pepa style leather jacket you were wearing. I’m right merciful til it comes to some skinhead asswipe headbutting me in the face…then it’s “Git away wi yerself…go and bile yer ‘ead!”
Random Photo
Jul 13th
Well not really so random. I was snapping photos of her perched in the window being all cute. She heard that camera click, and jumped right down out of the window, rolled over on her back, threw up her legs and meowed as if to say “here, this’ll make a great shot.” God love Ms Nay!
Rest in Peace is a Sham?
Jul 9th
Scores of people were horrified when it came to light today a group of caretakers and an executive at a cemetery south of Chicago were arrested on felony charges for digging up the bodies in a black cemetery, distributing the remains in a wooded area and weedy field, and then re-selling the plots. They were also accused of burying bodies on top of other grave plots, and just hammering one down on top of the other. After an initial scanning of the article, I was horrified.
THEN…I re-read the article and was sickened and saddened to find out that several prominent African Americans were buried in the cemetery. Civil Rights workers, blues performers, and most horrific of all DINAH WASHINGTON! My beloved Dinah may have been exhumed and spread in a field, coffin shards and all, to be picked over by animals and tramped into the ground.
Dinah Washington is one of my all time favorite singers. I have enjoyed her music for years now, and always imagined her interred in a beautiful cemetery; eternally honored for the genius that she was. Now to find out that officials aren’t sure what’s happened to her, whether she’s there or not, is an outrage and a scandal!
This harkens back to London in the age of Dickens. Story after story was printed about the abominable way the dead were disposed of in cemeteries in that era. Bodies broken up and crammed into small holes, remains gushing up after a London downpour to be washed back out in the streets. I thought maybe times had changed, clearly I was wrong. We are a cruel and disgusting species!
My heart goes out to all the families who aren’t sure what’s happened to their loved ones, but to Dinah’s family and legacy in particular. I know death is the great leveller, and we’re all the same in the end, but this is outright blasphemy! I hope those people, once tried and found guilty burn for all time in a blazing pit of fire! I wish I had their phone numbers!!!
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