Yay. It is the world day of bread. What a great idea to celebrate the human ingenuity behind combining flour, salt, yeast and water. These four basic ingredients are responsible for more comfort in the world that almost anything else. When I return home from a day of working in Vancouver, I will post a recipe for my standbay easy bread: fougasse. In the meantime, enjoy the offerings at my favourite bread site The Fresh Loaf (including this excellent Daily Bread recipe, and perhaps even try a batch of no knead bread. If you start it tonight, you …
Reading Christopher Buckley’s endorsement of Barak Obama reminded me that there was a certain kind of conservatism that used to appeal to me, before the culture wars made it possible for conservatives, formerly the most francophilic of all, to even hate France. It seems as if the prevailing image of conservatism in America at the moment is the loud and brash Fox News/Little Green Footballs/Rush Limbaugh hate mongering. It is a fear based conservatism, appealing to masses of terrified voters who are convinced that their way of life is threatened by Muslims and Mexicans. They are embodied in …
Finally settling into Peter Block’s book, Community: The Structure of Belonging. My partner has been hoarding it since it arrived a couple of months ago. In the opening chapters, Block takes inspiration from the likes of John McKnight, Robert Putnam, Christopher Alexander and others to crate some basic patterns for collective transformation. These are beautiful and quite in line with the work I do and the things we teach through the Art of Hosting. In fact, I’ll probably add this list to our workshop workbook. Here is the list, with my thoughts attached. From John McKnight: Focus on gifts. …
Overheard… FLIGHT ATTENDANT Something to drink? PASSENGER Tea please. FLIGHT ATTENDANT Sorry, we’re out of tea. PASSENGER Damn these hard economic times. ——- PASSENGER ONE Hi there! Where have you been? PASSENGER TWO Travelling around the United States by train. I made it as far as Arkansas! PASSENGER ONE Really? PASSENGER TWO Yeah…I did the Arkansas trifecta: the Bill Clinton library, Wal-Mart headquarters and…and…what was the other one…? (scratching head) PASSENGER ONE Texas? —– CHECK IN CLERK Are you staying for two nights with us? GUEST No just one. CHECK IN CLERK Would you like a casino pass? GUEST …
From my dear friend Peggy Holman: A few weeks ago, I spontaneously created a new form of convergence with a group of about 20. I think it can work well with groups of 60 or less, and perhaps with groups up to 100 or so. I was intending to do what I always do these days – follow the energy and re-open the space for what has heart and meaning for taking a next step. Instead, because the meeting was intended to both give the group a chance to bond as well as set priorities for their work, something …