A|-------0----0-0-2-4-5-0-5-5-4-2-0-7--0-0------2-2--------2--2-0-------2---2---2---2---|
E|-0-2-4---0-------------------------------4-2-0---0-2-0----------4-2-0---0---0---0---0-| (*)
C|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

[E] I keep a [B7] close watch on this heart of [E] mine
[E] I keep my [B7] eyes wide open all the [E] time
[E] I keep the [A] ends out for the tie that [E] binds
[E] Because you're [B7] mine, I walk the [E] line

A|-------0---0---0---0---0-| (*)
E|-0-2-4---0---0---0---0---| 
C|-------------------------|
G|-------------------------|

[A] I find it [E7] very, very easy to be [A] true
[A] I find my[E7]self alone when each day is [A] through
[A] Yes, I'll [D] admit I'm a fool for [A] you
[A] Because you're [E7] mine, I walk the [A] line

A|-0-0-2-4-5---5---5---5-| (*)
E|-----------5---5---5---|
C|-----------------------|
G|-----------------------|

[D] As sure as [A7] night is dark and day is [D] light
[D] I keep you [A7] on my mind both day and [D] night
[D] And happi[G]ness I've known proves that it's [D] right
[D] Because you're [A7] mine, I walk the [D] line

A|-5-4-2-0-7---7---7---7---|
E|-----------5---5---5---5-| (*)
C|-------------------------|
G|-------------------------|

[A] You've got a [E7] way to keep me on your [A] side
[A] You give me [E7] cause for love that I can't [A] hide
[A] For you I [D] know I'd even try to turn the [A] tide
[A] Because you're [E7] mine, I walk the [A] line

A|-0-0-------2---2---2---2-|
E|-----4-2-0---0---0---0---| (*)
C|-------------------------|
G|-------------------------|

[E] I keep a [B7] close watch on this heart of [E] mine
[E] I keep my [B7] eyes wide open all the [E] time
[E] I keep the [A] ends out for the tie that [E] binds
[E] Because you're [B7] mine, I walk the [E] line

A|---2---2---2---2---2---2-|
E|-0---0---0---0---0---0---|
C|-------------------------|
G|-------------------------|

Performance Notes

1. The original version of the song is mostly bass, with the guitar playing quite softly.
2. The tab leads into each verse and the final two oscillating notes are played by the bass all the way through each verse.
3. Each verse changes key, with the in between tab "walking" either up or down to the new key.
4. If the in between tab is "walking up", than you start singing on the higher of the two oscillating notes. If the tab is "walking down", than you you start singing on the lower of the two notes. The correct note to key into is marked with an (*).
5. We've slightly changed the in between tab make the oscillating notes always be on different strings by using E|5 instead of A|0.
6. Using a capo on the first fret makes it easier to hit the low notes.

Amy and I had been playing a really simple version of the song which had the whole thing in the key of A. Once we started trying to integrate the tab into the song we realised that something wasn't quite right and after a bunch of listening to Johnny sing we realised that he was changing key on each verse. Figuring out what he was doing and especially how obvious and easy it is on the guitar, was really fun. One great moment was when Amy realised that he was using the tab to get his voice keyed in for the next verse. If you listen to the song you can hear him hum to the oscillating notes before starting to sing.

We're still not sure that we have this quite right, but it's closer than anything else we've been able to find online and seems to work.

Origanal Bee Forage Calendar by Olive, Ashley and Juergen.

For the last month I've been at Milkwood Farm, about a four hour drive from Sydney, Australia. I'm here until December as part of their spring internship program.

Today three of my fellow interns (Ashley, Juergen, and Olive) quickly cranked out a bee forage calendar that it cried out for a digital version. Species have been selected for cold temperate Australia (this is definitely not the subtropics!). We're all beginners when it comes to bees, and damn close toe beginners when it comes to botany so please forgive any mistakes.

We'll improve it as time permits, in the mean time I hope it provides a useful starting point for others. If you have any corrections or additions I'd love to hear them!

Please note that the months indicate when the plant will be flowering in the southern hemisphere, where summer is December to February!

Name	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D	Uses
	Trees
Golden Rain	X	X								X	X	X	D,F
Elder	X											X	E
Rosecea Fruit										X	X		E
Persimmon											X	X	E
Chestnuts											X	X	E
Almonds								X					E
Willow								X	X	X			C,M
Maple								X	X	X			B
Fig										X	X		E
	Shrubs
Grevillia												?	H
Rosemary								X	X				E
Giant Lavender	X	X	X										S
Hazelnut									X				E
Blackberry											X	X	E,P
Bottle Brush	X	X
Winter Honeysuckle							X	X	X				A
Echium Wildpreti			X	X					X	X
Foam Flower	X	X
Tree Lupin	X	X									X	X	N
Hairpin Banksia			X	X	X	X	X	X	X
	Herbs
Queen Ann Lace									X	X	X	X
Thyme	X											X	E
Dandelion										X	X		E,M
Horehound	X	X	X									X
Lucerne	X	X										X	A
Borrage	X	X	X	X	X						X	X	A
Echinacia	X	X	X									X	M
Yarrow	X											X	Dy
Golden Rod		X	X	X
Poppy	X											X	R
Globe Thistle	X	X	X										P
Bee Balm	X	X										X
Tansy									X	X	X		Dy
Cat Mint											X	X
Milkweed									X	X	X	X
Coltsfoot									X	X	X
Anise Hysop	X	X	X									X
	Ground Covers
White Clover	X											X	N
Penny Royal	X	X										X	M

Legend
A	Animal Food / Fodder
B	Biomass
C	Coppice
D	Drought Tolerant
Dy	Dynamic Accumulator
E	Edible
F	Frost Tolerant
H	Animal Habitat
M	Medicinal
N	Nitrogen Fixing
P	Pioneer Species
R	Recreational (loljk)
S	Aromatic (smelly)

It started with a recommendation from my Dad to read "The Snow Leopard" around mid-2009. From there I found a neglected copy of "The Great Gatsby" loitering on my bookshelves and then discovered "Diary of a Drug Fiend" in a secondhand bookstore. Continuing in this vein, and fuelled by childhood memories of Bill Murray, I tracked down "The Razor's Edge".

Reading these books from nearly a hundred years ago, it startled me how little many things had changed. That despite the sea of change in which we are currently immersed, "people … are still people". This dovetails nicely with one my primary experiences in Asia over the last year, that despite significant language and cultural differences, people are still people. It's a great lesson that neither time or space is powerful enough to change us, in essence we are all the same.

Digressions aside, one of the things I love about these classic novels is the almost breathless way in which characters are often introduced. Here's an example from F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby":

His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people — his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God... and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.

and from W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge":

He was a colossal snob. He was a snob without shame. He would put up with any affront, he would ignore any rebuff, he would swallow any rudeness to get asked to a party he wanted to go to or to make a connection with some crusty old dowager of great name. If I have given the reader an impression that Elliot Templeton was a despicable character I have done him injustice. He was for one thing what the French call serviable...helpful, obliging, and kind. He was generous, and though early in his career he had doubtless showered flowers, candy, and presents on his acquaintances from an ulterior motive, he continued to do so when it was no longer necessary.

This gave me an idea for a writing exercise. Using my friends as inspiration I will try and craft my own versions of these introductions. I don't have the courage to name them, hopefully nobody recognises themselves, and if they do, hopefully they won't be offended by my caricature!

Stay tuned …

In Aaron O'Connell's TED Talk, "Making sense of a visible quantum object" he concludes by saying:

You hear a lot of talk about how quantum mechanics says that everything is all interconnected. Well that's not quite right, it's actually more then that. It's deeper. It's that those connections, your connections to all the things around you, literally define who you are.

That sounds like an end to "objective truth" to me. We are what we are connected to, our perceptions literally shape our reality.

Photo by Elise Bauer

Now I know this is not a traditional root beer. Traditional root beer is brewed with yeast, is mildly alcoholic — and can be tricky to make. This recipe will give you a root beer flavored syrup that tastes amazing, is stable in the fridge for a year, and needs only seltzer water or club soda to become a wonderful homemade root beer.

You will need some unusual ingredients to make this, notably sassafras roots. If you happen to live in the United States east of the Great Plains, you are in luck: Sassafras grows everywhere in that region. If you don’t live there, or don’t feel like foraging for your own sassafras, you can buy sassafras root bark online.

The burdock in the recipe grows all around you, or at least a cousin of it does. It’s called curly dock. Use it if you can, as it’s free. Otherwise, many good supermarkets have burdock in the produce section: They are long pale, skinny roots often sold under their Japanese name “gobo.” If you absolutely cannot get your hands on burdock, skip it. The root beer will be different, but still fine.

If you can find it, get wintergreen extract. If not, use peppermint extract.

When you make your root beer, start with a tablespoon of this syrup to a pint of seltzer water. You can adjust the strength of your drink from there.

Makes 2 quarts.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 cups of water
• 3 ounces of sassafras roots
• 1 ounce of burdock root
• ¼ cup molasses
• 1 clove
• 1 star anise
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 2 drops wintergreen extract or peppermint extract
• 6 cups sugar

Instructions

1. Chop the sassafras and burdock roots into small pieces, about ½ inch or smaller.
2. Put the roots in a medium-sized heavy pot with the clove, star anise and coriander seeds and cover with the water. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil. Simmer this for 15 minutes.
3. Add the molasses and simmer another 5 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and add the wintergreen or peppermint extract. 1. Put the cover back on the tea.
5. When the mixture cools, strain it though cheesecloth to remove any debris.
6. Return it to the pot with an equal amount of sugar. Stir to combine. Bring it to a simmer and cook it for 5 minutes, uncovered. Pour into quart mason jars and seal. Keeps a year in the fridge.

Variations

One of the reasons I'm interested in this recipe instead of more traditionally brewed root beer is because this version doesn't require fermentation. Fermentation requires sugar to work so I'm hopeful that it's possible to radically mess with the amount sugar in this version and still end up with something delicious and "healthy". I won't be able to try this for a while, but the recipe is here for future experimentation. — Adam.

Source: http://honest-food.net/2010/07/04/sassafras-and-homemade-root-beer/

"When Things Fall Apart" by Pema Chodron

This is a beautiful book. I've noted a couple bits of practical advice and a couple of passages which really grabbed me. — Adam.

Chapter 4 - Relax As It Is

When Trungpa Rinpoche first taught in the West, he told his students to simply open their minds and relax. If thoughts distracted them, they could simply let the thoughts dissolve and just come back to that open, relaxed state of mind.

After a few years, Rinpoche realized that some of the people who came to him found this simple instruction somewhat impossible to do and that they needed a bit more technique in order to proceed. At that point, without really changing the basic intent of the meditation, he nevertheless began to give the instructions a bit differently. He put more emphasis on posture and taught people to put very light attention on their out-breath. Later he said that the out-breath as as close as you could come to simply resting the mind in it's natural open state and still have an object to with to return.

He emphasized that it should be just the ordinary out-breath, not manipulated in anyway, and that the attention should be soft, a soft of touch and go approach. He said that about 25 percent of the attention should be on the breath, so that one was still aware of one's surroundings and didn't consider them an intrusion or an obstacle to meditation.

[...]

Over the years, Rinpoche continued to refine the instructions on posture. He said it was never a good idea to struggle in meditation. So if our legs or back were hurting, we were told it was fine to move. However, it became clear that by working with proper posture, it was possible to become far more relaxed and settled in one's body by making very subtle adjustments. Large movements brought comfort for about five or ten minutes, and then we just wanted to shift again. Eventually we began following the six points of good posture as a way to really settle down. The six points are: (1) seat, (2) legs, (3) torso, (4) hands, (5) eyes, and (6) mouth, and the instruction is as follows.

1. Whether sitting on a cushion on the floor or in a chair, the seat should be flat, not tilting to the right or left or to the back or front.

2. The legs are crossed comfortably in front of you — or if you're sitting in a chair, the feet are flat on the floor, and the knees are a few inches apart.

3. The torso from the head to the seat is upright, with a strong back and an open front. If sitting in a chair, it's best not to lean back. If you start to slouch, simple sit upright again.

4. The hands are open, with palms down, resting on the thighs.

5. The eyes are open, indicating the attitude of remaining awake and relaxed with all that occurs. The eye gaze is slightly downward and directed about four to six feet in front.

6. The mouth is very slightly open so that the jaw is relaxed and air can move easily through both mouth and nose. The tip of the tongue can be laced on the roof of the mouth.

Each time you sit down to meditate, you can run through these six points, and anytime you feel distracted during your meditation, you can bring your attention back to your body and run through the six points. Then, with a sense of starting afresh, return once again to the out-breath. If you find that thoughts have carried you away, don't worry abut it. Simply say to yourself, "thinking," and come back to the openness and relaxation of the out-breath. Again and again just come back to being right where you are.

Chapter 12 - Growing Up

There's an interesting transition that occurs naturally and spontaneously. We begin to find that, to the degree that there is bravery in ourselves — the willingness to look, to point directly at our own hearts — and to the degree that there is kindness toward ourselves, there is confidence that we can actually forget ourselves and open to the world.

The only reason that we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes.

Chapter 15 - Going Against the Grain

Tonglen reverses the usual logic of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure. In the process, we become liberated from very ancient patterns of selfishness. We begin to feel love for both ourselves and others; we begin to take care of ourselves and others. Tonglen awakens our compassion and introduces us to the unlimited spaciousness of shunyata. By doing the practice, we begin to connect with the open dimension of our being. At first this allows us to experience things as not such a big deal and not so solid as they seemed before.

Tonglen can be done for those who are ill, those who are dying or have died, those who are in pain of any kind. It can be done as a formal meditation practice or right on the pot at any time. We are out walking and se see someone in pain — right on the spot we can begin to breathe in that persons's pain and send out relief. Or we are just as likely to see someone in pain and look away. The pain brings up our fear or anger; it brings up our resistance and confusion. So on the spot we can do tonglen for all the people just like ourselves, all those who wish to be compassionate but instead are afraid — who wish to e brave but instead are cowardly. Rather than beating ourselves up, we can use our personal stuckness as a stepping stone to understanding what people are up against all over the world. Breathe in for all of us and breathe out for all of us. Use what seems like poison as medicine. We can use our personal suffering as the path to compassion for all beings.

When you do tonglen on the spot, simply breathe in and breathe out, taking in pain and sending out spaciousness and relief.

When you do tonglen as a formal meditation practice, it has four stages:

1. First, rest your mind briefly, for a second or two, in a state of openness or stillness. This stage is traditionally called flashing on absolute bodhichitta, or suddenly opening to basic spaciousness and clarity.

2. Second, work with texture. Breathe in a feeling of hot, dark, and heavy — a sense of claustrophobia — and breathe out a feeling of cool, bright, and light — a sense of freshness. Breathe in completely, through all the pores of your body, and breathe out, radiate out, completely, through all the pores of your body. Do this until it feels synchronized with your in- and out-breaths.

3. Third, work with a personal situation — any painful situation that's real to you. Traditionally you begin by doing tonglen for someone you care about and wish to help. However, as I described, if you are stuck, you an do the practice for the pain you are feeling and simultaneously for all those just like you who feel that kind of suffering. For instance, if you are feeling inadequate, you breathe that in for yourself and all the others in the same boat, and you send out confidence and adequacy or relief in any form you wish.

4. Finally, make the taking in and sending out bigger. If you are doing tonglen for someone you love, extend it out to those who are in the same situation as your friend. If you are doing tonglen for someone you see on television or on the street, do it for all the others in the same boat. Make it bigger than just that one person. If you are doing tonglen for all those who are feeling the anger or fear or whatever that you are trapped in, maybe that's big enough. But you could go further in all these cases. You could do tonglen for people you consider to be your enemies — those who hurt your or hurt others. Do tonglen for them, thinking of them a having the same confusion and stuckness a your friend or yourself. Breathe in their pain and send them relief.

Tonglen can extend infinitely. As you do the practice, gradually over time your compassion naturally expands, and so does your realization that things are not as solid as you thought.

Chapter 20 - The Trick of Choicelessness

According to the famous quote, the student of vajrayana Buddhism should always be in a state of panic. It is so unfamiliar to us to make such a total commitment to being awake that it unnerves us. Once when I was spending hours and hours doing a certain practice, I became so agitated that I could hardly sit still. Later, I told Rinpoche that I felt irritated at everything, even little specks of dust. He said that happened because the practice was demanding me to be sane and I wasn't used to that yet.

I wake. Suddenly. I'm not sure how I know but something is wrong. I'm staying at the Ananda Resort, a grisly backpackers which leaves me constantly checking my pockets every time I meet a new inmate. The flicker from the fluorescents outside cast erie shadows on my curtains. This is the fifth night in a row I've woken suddenly. Each night I've stayed up, waiting for something to substantiate my sense of looming disaster. Each night it has failed to arrive.

Two years ago I left my wife, sold our house and tried to carry on with my life. It took a bit over a year before I realised that the married course I'd charted no longer had to be a map of my future. I quit my job, sold what few possessions I had remaining, and bought a one way ticket to Bali. Three months later I find myself in an intensive yoga course in the Gulf of Thailand. I'm not quite sure how I ended up here but when you buy a one way ticket to Asia, the point isn't to end up where you expected.

It's morning and as I stretch I realise that the last thing I remember is a pair of eyes staring down at me from above the bed. As my body responds with panic, I realise that there is actually no fear associated with the memory. In fact if anything there is a sense of warm comfort, almost peace.

Shaking myself awake, I stumble into the bathroom. With the cold water pouring down my back I'm struggling to make sense of what is going on. What have I imagined? It certainly doesn't feel like a dream, the green eyes still float vividly in front of me when I recall the memory.

The school I'm attending warned us all about purification effects, that strange things can happen as you begin eating, living and thinking in new ways. This is not what I expected.