31.3.10

Rainbow Road Success


Hello!
If the amount of fun we had is any indication, last saturday's ride was a big success. We had maybe 10 riders, and 3 more joined a few miles in. We took some industrial back roads that let us cruise easily with few cars and lights. We made the entire ride down in maybe an hour and a half. Thanks to Leland for letting us gather at his place and fill our tires before the ride (check out his blog) The festival was a blast. We passed literally miles of cars waiting in traffic. It was thrilling. Coming home we were all covered in colored dust and the wind did only a little for us. We rode up tired and starving to Rowley Press, only to see an enormous banner outside the neighboring church: 'All You Can Eat Spaghetti Dinner'!!! we, needless to say, ate all we could.
Before the ride, my sister Jessie and I made granola bars which we all shared and as per request, here is the recipe so you all can make them for yourselves! Really cheap, and honestly better than anything on the market, I have lived for weeks off of them. And remember:

'be reckless in love and cooking' -the dalai lama

Unbaked Bars
1c rolled oats
1/2c wheat germ
1/2c oat bran
1/2c vanilla protein powder
1c crunchy peanut butter
1c raisins or dried fruit
1c chocolate chips
1 c light karo syrup (i always use honey)

mix all, pat into a pan, freeze and cut

I varied this with much more oats, much more peanut butter and honey, walnuts, and cocoa powder instead of chocolate chips. The best way I've found to do experimenting with recipes like this is to put all the dry things you want in your bars in a bowl and mix, then add wet ingredients until its spreadable.

good luck!

more later

Spencer

22.3.10

Bike Adventure part 2: Love

So I'm back with the second part of my bike adventure post: Love.
Let me start with my experience at the Krishna Temple. When I arrived it was about 20 minutes past 6. I parked my bike outside the temple, removed my shoes at the door and walked in the doors. The stone floor felt cool on my feet warm from biking. I saw no one but heard chanting coming from a staircase to my left. I climbed the stairs and found myself in a large domed room. The walls and ceiling were white and clean. There were several large carpets laid out on the stone floor, upon which sat some 20 people, many swaying back and forth and chanting along with the rhythm of the music. 3 men in Indian shirts and pants sat in one corner of the room. One was playing what I later found out to be a harmonium, another was playing a drum that he was sitting on, and the third was chanting. I sat with the people, and closed my eyes. My legs were slightly sore, and it had been far too long since I'd spent any period of time sitting on the ground. (my yoga having been left mostly untouched for nearly 9 months) Sometimes the chant would evolve into something I was at least slightly familiar with:
hare krishna
hare krishna
krishna krishna
hare hare
hare rama
hare rama
rama rama
hare hare
I had heard these words before at last years Holi fest, but I had forgotten their meaning. I rather passively joined in the chanting from time to time, stretching my legs and feeling the rhythm. The chant ended and one of the leaders stood up and began a sermon of sorts with a powerpoint. I think mp3s of his talks and also the powerpoints are available on the temple's website. I honestly didn't know what to expect at a Hindu sermon. It was very interesting, and this is where the love comes in. The man speaking was Caru Das Adikari, the Temple Priest. I was grateful when he began his sermon with a story about an elderly couple who came to tour the temple for the first time and learn about its purpose. They asked Caru why people come to the temple, and Caru told us the answer he gave them: To chant the names of God. This seemed a little overly simple to me, but he continued. I do not understand as Caru does, but I will do my best to explain what I learned. He said that they did not come to Utah Valley to start another sect or religion. There are already enough in the world, and 90 percent of the people in the valley already belong to a very good religion. He said what is missing from the world however, is a global sense that we are all God's children and as such each deserve an equal portion of what he has freely given to us all. He brought up a few points that really struck me as insightful. There are many good organizations in the world that do good things, but being limited to only a portion of the world's population, by nature, they can only benefit a portion of God's children. This is usually considered alright. I start a club, or business or religion, and i help people. I don't do anything to hurt those who are not part of my group, but the members are better off anyway. Caru asked us to think about the poverty in the world, and how much of the worlds wealth and resources are controlled by such a small group of people. Is this equal? Are all God's children receiving their basic needs? He suggested that organizations, no matter how good intending they are, exclude people by nature, and thus contribute to the stratification of the earths inhabitants. The solution? Realizing, deeply realizing that we are indeed all children of the same God, fellow sojourners on this earth, holding deep spiritual connections that we must only recognize and awaken. Once we can do this, how can we treat others poorly? How can we knowingly take more than we need? knowing that there are many others who go without. By chanting the names of God we strengthen that global awareness. We are constantly with God in us, and much more aware of ourselves as members of a human family. Universal Love.
I was fascinated with these ideas. I felt my mind very clear as I listened and began to see things a little differently than I had before. Caru continued on, speaking about many other related topics, all interesting, until he closed. We chanted again, this time standing and dancing, a few worship rituals were performed, and then we all shuffled downstairs in our stockinged or bare feet to eat a meal together.
This entire experience had a great affect on me. There are times in my life when I become excited. Spiritually and mentally excited. My mind is clear, I find myself smiling more and I feel a strong love and a passion to change my life. To take what I now know and live it. I felt this as I biked all the way home.

till next time,

Spencer

21.3.10

Bike Adventure Numero Uno

Hello everyone!

I thought a good way to start off this blog about green things, bikes and of course, love.
Let me start off with Bikes:
For those of you in utah valley, you may know that next weekend is the Holi Festival of Colors, which takes place at Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork Utah. Here's the link for those of you interested. The festival involves lots of chanting, dancing, and throwing colored chalk dust on everyone. Last year I went with a few friends from Provo. The drive should only take about 25 minutes, but due to close to 20,000 people all flocking to the Temple, it took probably about an hour, including a mile or more walk along a crowded minor state highway, to get to the festival. Being a proud bicycle commuter, I couldn't help but imagine myself flying past the hot hoods of the long line of cars on 2 wheels instead of sitting in the passengers seat of my friends car. When posters for this years festival began showing up around town, I remembered my experience from last year and decided that a bike trip down this year would be great fun. I started by talking to my sister Jessie (check out her much more entertaining blog here) and we began inviting friends. I made a facebook event called 'Rainbow Road' (yes you're invited too) and soon we had a decent following. Saturday at 2pm we'll be meeting in Provo to bike down in bright colors.
Because I've never made the ride before, and I was interested in trying out Google Maps new bicycle application, I decided to head down today and participate in the Temple's Sunday chanting and vegetarian feast. So, I donned my sweater, stuffed my bag with a journal, camera, piece of cake, and a scarf, stuffed a page of directions from Google in my pocket, and hopped on my bike.
I headed down 900 E, switched to 700 E and took state st. toward springville.

Here I'd like to add an interesting note. Usually when I bike I find myself doing one of a few things with my brain. Usually it rests and sort of passively absorbs the view, smells and helps me dodge oblivious motorists. Sometimes I talk to God and rarely I find myself having very specific thoughts. I am a notoriously poor multi-tasker. But this afternoon with the wind blowing against my body, and the beautiful snow-covered wasatch front on my left hand, I found my mind acting like it never has before while biking. I was trying to enjoy the ride but the fact that I was planning on posting my experiences online was really distracting. I kept thinking "I'll say this" "I'll mention that" "I need to find something interesting to say!" I couldn't help but think about something I'd read recently in a japanese internship prep class. It was an essay about fieldwork written by William Kelly of Yale University. In one of his main points he talks about being an observer of culture and a participator simultaneously. In fact he says this is the only way fieldwork can happen. You cannot observe from a very affective reference point without getting so close that you become a part of the experiment. This is one of the main reasons fieldwork is not usually classified as a science. Interestingly enough fritjof capra in The Tao of Physics talks about how in the new advances in physics, the observer conducting the experiment is inherently influencing it by observing it. This often proves problematic. Biking today I found myself struggling with being an observer and a participant.

The ride was great, and the chanting food and company at the temple even better. I'll have to add the LOVE section of the trip in another post as its getting late, but here's a photo of the temple for those of you aren't familiar with it.

All the best,

Spencer

Robot Dreams



A case of robot on the brain lead me to create these two. Fun experimenting. Jon Foster's early robots were inspiring. I got to hear him speak a few months ago and these happened soon after.

S.

The beginning

greetings from the great beyond/my computer in my apartment. This is the beginnings of an attempt to share and perhaps document some of my many wild and often unexpected adventures. My first post of substance will be coming soon.

till then,

spencer