2014.04.06 19:00 - Respect for Life

The Guardian for this meeting was No Self. The comments are by No Self.

Aphrodite Macbain: Hey Cal
Calvino Rabeni: Hi Aph :) How are you tonight?
Aphrodite Macbain: pretty good thanks - lovely evening
Aphrodite Macbain: how are you?
Calvino Rabeni: doing okay ... working putting dinner on - a lot easier since I put the desk at the dining room table
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: dangerous
Aphrodite Macbain: I bring my dinner to the computer
Calvino Rabeni: its good for the kitchen, it gets a little cleaned up every time I walk through
Aphrodite Macbain: and all the food drops into the keyboard!
Calvino Rabeni: oh NO!
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Aphrodite Macbain: or my cat comes and sits in front of the screen
Calvino Rabeni: I'm careful of the keyboard, but sometimes the food goes onto the placemat or onto ME
Aphrodite Macbain: I only use my dining table when I have guests or when I'm painting
Calvino Rabeni: oh and I dropped earbud into my tea yesterday
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Aphrodite Macbain: did it add flavour?

Calvino Rabeni: and the cats jump up and try to dig through the papers on the table
Calvino Rabeni: or knock them off
Aphrodite Macbain: you have 2?
Aphrodite Macbain: curious little things
Calvino Rabeni: yes they are of same mother but different as night and day
Aphrodite Macbain: boy and girl?
Calvino Rabeni: 2 girlz
Calvino Rabeni: one big one small
Calvino Rabeni: one yin one yang
Calvino Rabeni: one scaredy one fierce
Aphrodite Macbain: :-) they make a good pair!
Calvino Rabeni: one clever one dim
Calvino Rabeni: but both VERY friendly
Aphrodite Macbain: are they friends?
Calvino Rabeni: yes they have been together since the womb

--BELL--

Calvino Rabeni: when someone comes to the door, the one runs toward it to find out who is there, the other runs away to hide under the bed
Calvino Rabeni: and they are likely to collide in the kitchen

Aphrodite Macbain: mine are cleo and smudge, mother and son.
Aphrodite Macbain: She's way smarter
Calvino Rabeni: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: nods- same with cleo and smudge
Calvino Rabeni: smudge ... reminds me of smoke
Aphrodite Macbain: she goes up onto the roof garden and he never ventures up there
Aphrodite Macbain: he has a very undefined shape and is very black
Calvino Rabeni: the live wire one acts Siamese (she is half that and half tabby)
Aphrodite Macbain: tomorrow he is going to be given a lion cut. :-)
Calvino Rabeni: oh good name then
Aphrodite Macbain: a mix is often smarter
Calvino Rabeni: almost like a not-there shape, black and undistinct
Aphrodite Macbain: right
Calvino Rabeni: could be good at hiding
Calvino Rabeni: maybe in plain sight

Aphrodite Macbain: I have been reading Coetzee - have you read him?
Aphrodite Macbain: Life of Animals
Calvino Rabeni: no, I haven't
Aphrodite Macbain: for my course
Calvino Rabeni: yes
Calvino Rabeni: what is the gist of it?
Aphrodite Macbain: He is against killing animals for food, leather etc.
Aphrodite Macbain: but uses a discussion as a means of getting his point across
Aphrodite Macbain: people in the stories each has a different take on the subject
Aphrodite Macbain: anyway
Aphrodite Macbain: now I've become a vegetarian!
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Aphrodite Macbain: not easy
Aphrodite Macbain: I dont eat any meat
Aphrodite Macbain: - have managed this for about 8 days so far...

Aphrodite Macbain: got any good vegetarian recipes?
Calvino Rabeni: sure, what im having tonight.
Calvino Rabeni: it is
Aphrodite Macbain: cool - are you vegetarian?
Calvino Rabeni: yes, I am a vegetarian most days of the week
Aphrodite Macbain: :=)
Calvino Rabeni: tonight is spinach and feta risotto
Aphrodite Macbain: what made you become one?
Calvino Rabeni: actually quite good
Aphrodite Macbain: yum!
Aphrodite Macbain: catch is I'm also trying to loose 25 lbs
Calvino Rabeni: I became one because I don't really know how to cook animals
Calvino Rabeni: and don't eat out
Calvino Rabeni: I've been fasting 2x per week, and some friends have been on paleo diet, so I might combine that
Calvino Rabeni: but it isn't vegetarian

Aphrodite Macbain: paleo diet?
Calvino Rabeni: yeah, what our ancestors ate, more or less, before the invention of agriculture
Calvino Rabeni: so, no processed food, no grains, legumes, dairy
Aphrodite Macbain: ah- hunters and gatherers - deer and berries...
Calvino Rabeni: basically meat and vegies, some nuts, fruits, etc.
Calvino Rabeni: yeah
Calvino Rabeni: the H & G diet :)
Aphrodite Macbain: Hunt and game?
Aphrodite Macbain: sounds pretty meaty to me
Calvino Rabeni: avocados
Aphrodite Macbain: I was a vegetarian a number of years ago, Saw a calf outside a house one day and ate it the next
Calvino Rabeni: bit of fishies
Aphrodite Macbain: nods=] it depends on what rules you swallow.um follow
Calvino Rabeni: oh, I had that with a pig, the dinner hosts passed a little card in memorial to it
Aphrodite Macbain: agg
Aphrodite Macbain: I cant even eat shrimp if I respect life

--BELL--

Calvino Rabeni: it had a name, but I forget it ... seems they ate their pet ... pretty weird, it put me off for a while
Aphrodite Macbain: Wonder why they did that.
Calvino Rabeni: they were farmers
Calvino Rabeni: and got to know their stock
Aphrodite Macbain: It seems the more intelligent an animal is, the harder it is to eat them. Pigs are pretty smart.
Calvino Rabeni: yes I doubt I could have done it
Aphrodite Macbain: It must have been hard for them too.
Calvino Rabeni: shrimp aren't too bright
Calvino Rabeni: yes they were sad
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Calvino Rabeni: birds are
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- but that my point. It depends why you are not eating meet. If it is about respecting ALL life, then you dont eat any animal
Calvino Rabeni: I saw lots of ducks and and geese and chickens running around today, wild
Aphrodite Macbain: wild chickens?
Calvino Rabeni: no, they lived somewhere at night, but wander around the area loose
Aphrodite Macbain: very free range!
Calvino Rabeni: a cat was stalking two ducks, but got close enough to get stared at / scared of them
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Calvino Rabeni: quite pretty birds
Aphrodite Macbain: the ducks?
Calvino Rabeni: yes .. mallards
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- very pretty. we get lots that come to stanely park
Calvino Rabeni: the chickens where huge... one orange, one white
Aphrodite Macbain: thy are stupid but can be quite pretty
Calvino Rabeni: yes, and loud :)
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)

Aphrodite Macbain: It would be nice to have 3-4 hens to lay eggs
Calvino Rabeni: for dessert with the risotto, strawberries with kefir cream
Calvino Rabeni: Lucinda has laying hens
Aphrodite Macbain: the mayor of Vancouver is trying to encourage people to raise chickens
Calvino Rabeni: and its getting a lot more popular in town
Aphrodite Macbain: yummers
Aphrodite Macbain: I wouldnt dare go near the cream!
Calvino Rabeni: I have gotten used to their squawks ... Perhaps the roosters are not legal, I never hear them, but plenty of hens
Aphrodite Macbain: watch out for the cats and the cream
Aphrodite Macbain: they need one rooser
Aphrodite Macbain: rooster
Calvino Rabeni: oh once it's kefir-ized, it's a lot safer
Aphrodite Macbain: and it usually crows very noisily at dawn
Aphrodite Macbain: how do you kefir0-ze?
Aphrodite Macbain: kefirize :-)
Calvino Rabeni: just pour the milk or cream into a bottle that originally had kefir but is mostly empty
Calvino Rabeni: set it out and wait about 18 hours
Aphrodite Macbain: sounds like making yogurt
Calvino Rabeni: abracadabra .. more kefir
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Calvino Rabeni: cream, half and half, or 1%, they all work

Aphrodite Macbain: I am afraid I unleased those humming birds but now cant put them back in the box.
Calvino Rabeni: so you can adjust your calories and fat accordingly
Aphrodite Macbain: smart!
Calvino Rabeni: oh I see them
Calvino Rabeni: saw some real ones earlier
Aphrodite Macbain: :-) the rufus hummer?
Calvino Rabeni: yes i think so
Calvino Rabeni: above me in a tree
Aphrodite Macbain: they swoop in big Us to show off
Calvino Rabeni: btw actually, dinner needs finishing ... I will have to duck out at the bell
Calvino Rabeni: yes, they really do crazy dives
Aphrodite Macbain: kk know how I can get rid of these hummers?
Calvino Rabeni: it must be exciting
Aphrodite Macbain: nods
Calvino Rabeni: no .. but they don't seem to be harming anything
Aphrodite Macbain: OK I'll leave them there tol Storm returns them to me -)
Aphrodite Macbain: Bon appetit

--BELL--

Calvino Rabeni: yup, the Storm will send them migrating
Calvino Rabeni: take care, be well :)
Aphrodite Macbain: :-) hugs