Category: Something altogether different

nano poblano finale & change challenge, astrology

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology, Gemini, Moon Phases, Nodes of the Moon, Sagittarius, Something altogether different47 Comments

This is my final blog post for the November Nano Poblano Challenge, and I’ve been blogging every day, all month! This was a challenge I didn’t think I’d take on with such a busy schedule, but alas, I did it! I’ll be linking all my blog posts here at the bottom. It’s also the day I’m going to be writing for Linda’s challenge, called, “Litebeing Chronicles Change Challenge,” which is going through to the end of the year. If you are interested in adding your blog to the challenge, go ahead and clink on the link above. She asked us to write about “our insights, ideas, and evolution.”

What I’ve noticed is I have a very hard time following prompts, be they writing prompts or any kind. I’m learning that prompts are big for bloggers and creative people; but, I’ve just never been really good at them. When I attempt one, I find my mind goes blank. Some would call this writer’s block, but I never considered myself a writer. I do enjoy writing poetry, but I prefer to write it without rhyme more often than not. This style is called free verse, and it’s completely legitimate poetry. Well, maybe one day I’ll try my hand at ever newer things. I know would love to, in a way, when the time is right. Especially when it seems like it will be fun!

My evolution: Since the pandemic, being in graduate school full time (and finishing up this term) and also taking care of my now-toddler at home full-time, I found that I can still meditate, stretch, exercise, and basically work on things like alleviating my chronic pain. I have solid knowledge about what is helpful for me to keep myself afloat during these days where we wonder what’s next. I’ve become comfortable with where I am in life, exactly as it is. My ambitions are pretty relaxed right now. I’ve lost the pregnancy weight; I’ve kept myself afloat, mostly positive, and hopeful when I needed it the most. I have a very small support network, but I am grateful for the few people I have in my life.

I have less resistance to the present moment.

I find life incredibly exciting, delicious, and full of opportunity. I also love blogging with all of you! I wish I had something deep to say, but I really don’t. I’m immersed in the ordinariness of life right now, of time management, of trying to squeeze out creativity where I can. I’m still in the middle of the pandemic, in my world. It’s still happening. The most important thing I do these days is keep my mind on the present moment. That said, I’m pleased with how the month went with Nano Poblano.

Here’s an easy to use guide/summation of my posts for this month:

This month I decided to review my images from my time in Cambodia. You can see those images here. The intention for my posts this time was to be random. As it turns out there were a few themes, travel:

Cambodia 1, Cambodia 2 , Cambodia 3, Cambodia 4, Cambodia 5, Cambodia6

I also recorded a number of meditation tracks to help you with your meditation practice, or for you to give it a try.

Lovingkindness meditation, Compassion meditation for easing anxiety, Outdoors meditation, Self-kindness meditation, Qi Gong video

I also wrote more poetry than I have for a while, even while feeling uninspired for a while.

diegesis, hope is manifest, life of bamboo, roots, delicious sun

I shared a couple of recipes:

apricot yums, chocolate vitality chia pudding,

A microstory with some vintage music:

microstory

Animal love/medicine:

Hedgehogs! (more than necessary during election time), hummingbird, dragon,

Mixed

Pablo Neruda’s poem and commentary on the environment.

Californian Autumn

Bird of Paradise

Prose: Growing time

Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving2

Diana’s Muse challenge post

the green woman

*All throughout my posts are a lot of my photography. It’s not something I’m doing right now, but I have enjoyed sharing these images.

In the beginning of 2017, I published my first book of poetry. It’s available to purchase if you click on the link to your right of this text. I hope to publish another book someday. Although, I have no plans right now to do one.

“Never travel alone” Ka Malana Photography

I’ve also been listening to jazz a lot. I mean, a lot. Here’s an upbeat favorite of mine. I read that Lee Morgan did the trumpet on this one. Benny Golson does the tenor sax. That trumpet and sax really have “voice.” What I love about jazz is how the music it builds and flows. I love the personality of the instruments. Then the piano, Bobby Timmons, just makes me smile. How could I not smile when listening to this track? That’s just me. Art Blakey on the drums, and Jymie Merritt on the bass, and the deal is sealed.

We’ve got a full moon upon us, as an eclipse, this lunation joins the a wide 11 degree angle to the North Node in Gemini. Tis the season for communicatin’ while the Sun anchors in the sign of Sagittarius (tropical zodiac). While we are all in our local neighborhoods (Gemini) for the most part, due to the pandemic, the travel desire of the Sun is strong. So we can use a few “mental vacations” or some light-hearted fun! How about a card game with your housemates? No, I’m not talking about “online.” Take some time to unplug from your tech, even if it’s only 10 min you wouldn’t have otherwise, unless you set the intention.

An eclipse in the mutable signs lends for more changeability and reorientation. Maybe you’ve thought of moving your furniture into a different configuration, or maybe you want to give your sister or brother a call and see what changes they are up to, maybe their relationships are changing, breakups and back-together-agains and they’d like to chat in your ear? What new ways have you found to navigate in your living spaces during this pandemic? You might want to embrace those Sagittarian ambitions but have to look at what’s right in front of you (Gemini). What can you communicate that is ordinary (something you thought was matter of fact) but hasn’t been said? Maybe it will help others get through the day with a little more smoothness? How can that ready sense of adventure be translated into your next foray into the walls within your local community? The past couple of days I was out at the park and laced up my roller skates for the first time in 2 years. Getting around on skates is a good match for this full moon. Be safe, be well, and have fun navigating these times!

delicious sun

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Creative Writing, Creatrix, Jupiter, Photography, Pluto, Sagittarius, Something altogether different, Transformation8 Comments
Ka Malana Photography
Ka Malana Photography

the sun is delicious with its orange yum glow

it dangles the edge of the horizon,

painting with wet colors

as it slips into the brown earth layers,

implants like a vibrant seed into the

cool, jazzy earth.

then with a wink, the earth slurps up

the sun’s last light.

Thanksgiving Practice

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Astrology, Meditation, Pluto, Sagittarius, Something altogether different, Transformation10 Comments

There are so many different ways that I meditate. As a reiki practitioner, I have a practice for giving myself reiki. I work with mantra, healing sounds, ringing bowls, guided meditation, vipassana meditation, walking meditation, laughter yoga, other yoga, and many other methods.

Considering I have so much to choose from, it keeps my practicing fresh and alive. I pick and choose what works for me. Often this means that I have diligence for a period of time using a particular method. In this area of my life, I don’t have a specific teacher, but many teachers. About 3 days ago I returned to my beloved horse stance that I first used in Kung Fu a decade or so ago from my Pai Lum Tao. This started to translate into me practice more Qi gong. My favorite go-to is “polishing the stone.” It’s also called “polishing the table,” but it’s the same. The previous practice I learned from another school. I’ve included the video below for your reference, but I hadn’t seen it before today. Same with the video above, which I think is a great introduction to moving like water. Today, on Thanksgiving, I created a movement that’s perfect for my needs and I named it “bamboo swaying in the wind.” I’ll be working with this new Qi Gong I taught myself for a little while, and so far it feels amazing!

There are so many ways to look at abundance and prosperity. In times of challenge and pain, grief from loss, and sadness it can be very difficult to see even the tiniest amount of hope. We must be humble and remember that circumstances are fleeting. They change, they are subject to the ebbs and flows and the vicissitudes of life. What I love about Qi Gong, is that it’s a gift you can give yourself, and you don’t need any supplies but your own breath and movement. It’s a way to cultivate Qi which is the what the entire universe is made up of——-talk about abundance!

Image by Qijin Xu from Unsplash

Roots

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Creative Writing, Creatrix, Jupiter, Pluto, Sagittarius, Something altogether different, Transformation5 Comments
Ka Malana Photography

connected in the rudraksha forest

i meditated and traced back into my blood lines

the joys and sorrows of all who came before me

drawn full into my body.

navigating along a nano-sized boat along these channels

I explored my arteries, arterioles, and capillaries;

when I reached my heart, I leapt out of the boat

and dove deep into my left ventricle, swam for an hour.

now, I don’t exist as the meat and flesh of walking

human-normal.

life of bamboo

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Creative Writing, Creatrix, Meditation, Something altogether different6 Comments
Ka Malana Photography
Ka Malana Photography
Ka Malana Photography

To withstand an earthquake,

arcing in the wind,

dancing mysterious music

percussive, clinking, bell-like, windy reed

to become so useful as wood, paper, or diaper

disposable fork or spoon, paper-towel.

Life as One of the four nobles, 1500 in species,

powerful, sheltering, in just 7 years,

assemble raft or scaffold any structure, move along

and usher water

grow, once cut re-grow,

improving your roots, absorbing nutrients,

even becoming a vase.

However hollow, always full of utility and movement,

so to become your life,

to become a proverb, and a philsophy

to live as mighty as a tree

When I was in China, students from the University of Beijing met with me and I was given a Chinese name. Unfortunately I do not remember the whole name, but one part of the name had the word, “bamboo.” I had forgotten about it until I found some photos to share that I took when I was at the Botanical Gardens a few years ago.

Cambodia part 6: beautiful people

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Jupiter, Photography, Pluto, Sagittarius, Something altogether different14 Comments

It’s not easy to get my photography converted from a shiny print into a photograph with glare; and even though I saved the negatives, there are projects that I never got around to, like making new prints or digital images from the negatives, or scanning in photos, etc etc.

However I enjoyed these compositions of people in their natural element, and really feel these images express the beauty in the spirit, and the community liveliness I witnessed.

Diegesis

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Creative Writing, Jupiter, Meditation, Moon Phases, Pluto, Scorpio, Something altogether different, Transformation3 Comments

Each twist and turn

in the story of life

is but a flutter of light

glinting off a butterfly’s wings.

each moment is a whisper of

soft spoken messages fleshed with meaning

during our telling of it

who and what, where and which way when

is not as important as how we felt

when we quieted the inner din

and stared dark into the silence

feeling the holy fragility of the moments

that are too few to give us any true picture

of where we are going…

Cambodia part2: Angkor Wat

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Creative Writing, Jupiter, Nodes of the Moon, Photography, Pluto, Something altogether different, Transformation11 Comments
Ka at Angkor Wat
Ka Malana Photography

Like this.

This is the life—

The satisfaction of a statue,

expressing timeless surrender.

We can travel to a memory,

even tarnished, it will shine.

You can dream about what’s possible,

and re-imagine what already happened.

May we all live and grow old

and smile, contentedly.

Like this.

Outdoors in Cambodia: a meditation

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Photography, Something altogether different, Transformation20 Comments

In this blog post, I have a recorded a track for meditating outdoors. I’ve also included my photography from my visit to Cambodia in 2001. There’s two images of me from 19 years ago, taken by one of my teachers from University of Pennsylvania, Larry Silver.

Please take some time to sit outside and listen to this meditation, sitting or standing against a tree.
Ka Malana Photography

15/30

Chocolate Vitality Chia Seed Pudding

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Something altogether different2 Comments

3 tablespoons of chia seeds

8 oz unsweetened almond milk

1 tbsp Organic maple syrup

Ghirardelli 1 tbsp

Organic cacao powder with Maca to taste

1 Tsp of vanilla

Cinnamon and nutmeg and a touch of cardamom to taste

I added in the apple 🍎 and pear 🍐 to top it off, but certainly mix it in!

When I took the picture, I didn’t even intend to share it. I just took the picture as a way for me to remember what I did. Basically, daily blogging is quite a stretch! So is preparing food when you are super busy. I would have probably mixed up the ingredients before taking the picture, but you all get the point!

Isn’t this a great time of the year, though? I love it… I’m looking forward to some more Autumn-engaging posts soon! Meanwhile, I think apples and pears are lovely for celebrating autumn! Be healthy =)

*note about the chia seed pudding: you have to stir it regularly so that the pudding gets to be the best consistency as it prepares to wait overnight in your fridge. First put in the maple syrup and mix it with the unsweetened almond milk (or milk of your choice) then after that’s all dissolved (because you don’t want the chia to clump to it), put in the chia seed and stir, wait about 15 min, and stir again. Then wait about another 20-30 min and stir again. Then it can sit again in the fridge for a few hours or overnight (for best consistency) as the chia seeds create a tapioca-like pudding texture.

Neruda Ode to Clothes & the environment

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Abundant Earth, Mercury, Projects, Something altogether different, Transformation8 Comments

Ode to the Clothes

Every morning you wait,
clothes, over a chair,
to fill yourself with
my vanity, my love,
my hope, my body.
Barely
risen from sleep,
I relinquish the water,
enter your sleeves,
my legs look for
the hollows of your legs,
and so embraced
by your indefatigable faithfulness
I rise, to tread the grass,
enter poetry,
consider through the windows,
the things,
the men, the women,
the deeds and the fights
go on forming me,
go on making me face things
working my hands,
opening my eyes,
using my mouth,
and so,
clothes,
I too go forming you,
extending your elbows,
snapping your threads,
and so your life expands
in the image of my life.
In the wind
you billow and snap
as if you were my soul,
at bad times
you cling
to my bones,
vacant, for the night,
darkness, sleep
populate with their phantoms
your wings and mine.
I wonder
if one day
a bullet
from the enemy
will leave you stained with my blood
and then
you will die with me
or one day
not quite
so dramatic
but simple,
you will fall ill,
clothes,
with me,
grow old
with me, with my body
and joined
we will enter
the earth.
Because of this
each day
I greet you
with reverence and then
you embrace me and I forget you,
because we are one
and we will go on
facing the wind, in the night,
the streets or the fight,
a single body,
one day, one day, some day, still.

– Pablo Neruda

Poems that take the mundanity and animate it, supply magic to our every day. Pablo Neruda could do this; he had that particular talent. When I read about clothes as he writes about them in his poem above, I think about a time when clothing was made better, when items were sewn to last. Objects and tools used to have more value over the longer term. I long for those days, when we had such great care for our possessions, not in a purely material sense, but in such a way where there was longevity in the relationship–which to me, is a little bit different from attachment.

To me, this appreciation for these material items in our lives goes along with my background and appreciation for animism, how I consider that all of life is considered ‘alive.’ The official definition for animism is, “the belief in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe.” To me, however, the power is more magical, and need not be supernatural. Again recently I was reminiscing of the story of the Velveteen Rabbit, the rabbit who was ‘made real’ by love.

To me, animism as a philosophy is more harmonious and congruent with nature. It is in sync with material durability, in communion with time. In our expendable economies today, we have a “use once and throw away” culture. While I enjoyed seeing all the Halloween decorations this year (more than usual), I couldn’t help but think of the world’s trash problem, and how desperately we need to change our ways in society and in our economies. As an anthropologist, I would say that cultural change is necessitated first. I get excited when we learn about new bacterias or enzymes that can break-down plastic and resolve the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but we are still far from having the intellectual wealth and intelligence of our planet focused on solving these problems. Many people don’t know, for example, that it rains plastic.

My post is an appeal and a wish to “put the mental and emotional energy” for the planet on solving these problems. We need to have solutions for protecting our Earth, and we need to support our scientists. Yes, each person can make a difference by using re-usable items, and reducing their foot-print; however, I think we have to highlight using our voices, and sharing our hearts so that more people are inspired about what can be done.

Thank you for listening!

Happy Peppering!

A microstory & vintage music

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Astrology, Creative Writing, Creatrix, Short Fiction, Something altogether different, Transformation13 Comments

Under the golden, full moon the mouse yawned. She gazed up at the moon from the terrace wall, her eyes aglow with the magic of its fullness. As the now-amber moon rose up, it was low on the horizon, and the mouse looked but a speck of dirt on a luminous disc by size in comparison.

            She gave a little cough and then tapped her tiny podium with her tiny wand. Another petite mouse came from the fire escape nearby, scurrying along quickly, nearly breaking a sweat, and he had on a bow-tie. The two mice sang for a while, mostly covers.

            Then, the tiny wand winked up and down, drawn by the mouse’s swift outstretched hand. Tracing a triangle into the dark air, there popped a cello with a player (and this one was a cat!). Then, she traced a rectangle right straight out in front of her, and there popped a snazzy piano!

The night lights twinkled and the moon grew dizzy. After all the hours gone by, there formed around the moon’s crown were grey clouds, stirred up from hours of the night, filled by her imaginings as she reflected down into the distance, listening to the melody from the marvelous mice during the night.

See the link down below for just some of the mice music.

This post was created for Nano Poblano, the world’s least-official November blog writing challenge. I’m participating in the blog challenge this year, trying to post every. single. day. for the month of November. The plan is to be random about what I blog about. This is the first time I am using the new editor on the computer, and I’m not sure how to change the font size yet for the link and block below. Feel free to click on it to learn more about Nano Poblano!

Nano Poblano is here.

Apricot yums & Cheerpeppers

On By Ka Malana - Fiestaestrellas.comIn Creative Writing, Creatrix, Photography, Projects, Something altogether different17 Comments
Bites in the making!
Apricot yums

These are tasty and make a fun and nutrition- packed treat for everyone. My toddler loves them, and I make them differently just about every time. I cook food from my heart, so I basically measure only about 50% of the time. Here’s my creation:

Here’s what’s in them:

Almonds 1 cup

Dried apricots 1 overstuffed cup

Rolled oats 1 cup

Almond extract 1/4 tsp

Goji berries: handful

Dried mulberries: handful

Golden flax: small amount

Unsweetened coconut shreds added during rolling.

So the pictures above are from the batch I made today. They all have different levels of beauty. This might not be my most pristine group of yums, but I know they are yummy and so does everyone who tries them! If I were doing professional food photos, I would have probably been more selective and taken my time and used a filter.

******** ******** ********

I signed up for posting daily. I don’t know why. I am already quite busy, and I probably won’t post every day, but it sure seemed like fun to try to make a post everyday about something random. Random is my style for this, I like to have some free flow and no pressure type of activities, so maybe you will see a lot more of Fiestaestrellas in November! WE shall see!

Sign ups are here:

https://cheerpeppers.wordpress.com

I’ll have to get the banner and come back and paste it on this post, at some other time.

Tis the season for blogging, holidays, fun, and writing! 🧡