Democracy is coming

 It's coming from the feel

That it ain't exactly real

Or it's real, but it ain't exactly there

-Leonard Cohen, Democracy 1992

It has been like that lately. There are many points of focus and there are distractions too. Echos of Another Earth seem normal these days. I hesitated to make popcorn one day because I knew where that could lead. I knew it needed to be done, and that symbolically, it represents my whole business plan.  Like Ike and Tina knocking out Proud Mary, it starts out nice and easy, and then...well you know.

I heard others talk about it. They got their cooking out into the open and then it took on a life of its own. I acknowledge that what I have is just a small flame that could easily be blown out with a gust of wind, and I also understand that it could start a wildfire.

It is the escalation that I want to understand. I know that in any undiscovered country, there are things that simply do not count. It is through the making of simple mistakes that the greatest education comes. Balancing the learning exercises while navigating around the sinkholes of needless time sucks is what takes discernment.

I made Kimchi this weekend. I have made Kimchi for many years now. I have been pretty consistent in doing so. Last time, right around the beginning of this year, I changed things up due to gaining more education, I decided to move out of my comfort zone. In doing so, I made some of the best kimchi I have ever made. 4 months later, my perception of how I made this was somewhat distorted. For the first time, I made a batch of kimchi that I didn't like. As far as I am concerned it is way out of balance.

Because this is for a project I am working on, I will need to make another quickly. <sigh>

I spent most of the weekend working in the kitchen, reading and testing. I changed up the music, most interestingly a Partridge Family playlist. I have some extremely diverse playlists (excluding country of course) for cooking. This was particularly fun although I think it is a once in so many years sort of thing.

Mixing things up is what it is all about though. The thing that made January's Kimchi so good was adding miso paste to it, which definitely crosses some lines. For my up-and-coming project which leans heavily in a Korean direction, I am creating a sweet and savory miso sauce for the palate that does not want spice. Again, mixing it up. Blurring the lines is what is happening here. I can feel the definition, it is significant. Like the revealing of a host of new planets, we are crossing a threshold. In the hour before sunrise, I can only imagine what the landscape looks like. 

It is knowing what needs to happen and what can be avoided. Knowing me, despite my best efforts, you will probably catch me hammering a few square pegs into round holes, it is unavoidable. Again, my friend Leonard said it best:

"But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
That time cannot decay
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
This little wild bouquet"