i am not my past, my ideas, my thoughts, or my beliefs. i am what i do

• too much consumption today, too little creation. i hate staying home.
• if someone used to be fine alone, but then certain people in their lives makes it hard to be alone afterwards, is the cure to just meet more people? the dynamics between self-actualization vs relationships, between choosing for others and for oneself, the heart or the mind, ambition or happiness.
• one of the greatest joys and privilege in life is to be in walking distance of a bookstore, let alone multiple of them.
• japanese approach cooking as an art form, like the greatest of japanese art, food must be in harmony with life and its season and rhythms.
• each ingredient is appreciated for its own special qualities, presented in such a way as to high-light those qualities
• at its most fundamental level, japanese cooking is about respecting your ingredients and letting their natural flavor come through
• new goals in my life: make my own dashi stock, udon/soba noodles, soy milk, and tofu
• seaweed is a miracle food: it has more minerals (K, Ca, I, Mg, Fe) than any other food, and full of nutrients vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, niacin, an folic acid. it helps maintain gut flora and aids digestion; it lowers blood pressure and promotes healthy skin, nails, and hair.

books discovered

• ethics – benedict spinoza
• economics for the common good – jean tirole
• the quotable jung – judith harris
• all about love – bell hooks
• psychology and religion - jung
• first and late notebooks – simone weil
• the collected letters of alan watts
• we have only this life to live – aronson & hoven
• the wisdom of life – schopenhauer