Most of the productive effort this week went into an upcoming Tokyo music video, dedicated to my one and only. It’s our best production yet and we’re looking forward to releasing it to the world.
Other than that, I found out a friend of mine is working on his own version of a blue belt life, having quit full-time work to do a mix of teaching and his own thing. Check his Facebook here and the YouTube channel he is doing some work with here – make sure to like, subscribe, spread the word – support the blue belt community!
I made a subtle change to the diet this week – I’m experimenting with eating the blue belt breakfast (oatmeal over whole wheat chapati) at dinner time now and eating more difficult to digest items during the daylight hours. Ayurveda holds that our digestive fire burns the hottest in the midday – so I’m stuffing in the beans, brown rice, salads, etc. during my two lunch courses. Then I eat more easily digested items, like the blue belt breakfast) at night – seems to be working OK so far.
Sunday, Nov 2: remaining Halloween kinpira, makeshift meals of pan-fried greens and eggs
Monday, Nov 3: basmati rice with ghee, anno imo (type of Japanese sweet potato), salad with dried fish and avocado, broccoli and baba ganoush (really just eggplant dip, I added roasted peppers – recipe) whole wheat pizza (recipe)
Tuesday, Nov 4: blue belt breakfast, lunch of baba ganoush and broccoli over basmati rice and mixed salad, snack of sweet potato, dinner of post-yoga salad and basmati rice with ghee
Wednesday, Nov 5: breakfast of anno imo over basmati rice with ghee, lunch of remaining baba ganoush and broccoli over basmati rice and mixed salad, snack of sweet potato, dinner of blue breakfast and pan-fried greens with fried egg
Thursday, Nov 6: persimmon, lunch of salad and kidney beans over brown rice, snack of kidney beans over brown rice, dinner of blue belt breakfast with more kidney beans over brown rice (mmm), picture shown is Friday’s salad
Friday, Nov 7: persimmon, mile-high salad of greens, kidney beans, cilantro pesto, avocado, and tofu topped with balsamic vinaigrette, dinner of blue belt breakfast and broccoli polenta (recipe)
Saturday, Nov 8: persimmon and apple, pan-fried kale and swiss chard with boiled eggs, kidney beans, and cilantro pesto, almond butter sandwich with pan-fried kale and broccoli polenta cakes, asparagus risotto (recipe)
On tap for this week: palak paneer (going to try this recipe), minestrone (from “Pressure Cooking”), roasted vegetable couscous (recipe), cauliflower and carrot salad (recipe), something with butternut squash
Personal production: recorded “My Little Flipper Girl” vocals and guitar parts, looking to mix and master them and release the music video in the coming weeks. After that will be “Stir to Sleep”, a music instructional on my pre-bed breathing meditation.
YouTube inspiration: Why Poverty – Welcome to the World
Current listening: TP’s May playlist
Podcasts: What On Earth is Happening #42 (Kabbalah)
During the course of every practice I thank someone or something in my life. Here is a selection from this week’s yogic prayers of gratitude:
Thank you Steve, for devoting your time to producing, for sharing that produce with me, for teaching children. May we grow in our productive efforts and share them with the world. Namaste.
Book: Prakriti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution
Hussman!
Bill Gross monthly
Presentation: Lessons From My 20s by Ryan Allis
(Note: the chart above, taken from www.sentimentrader.com, is in dollars per yen, the inverse of how JPY normally represented)
I bought yen this week, a lot of it. Kind of scary really – I locked my cost of living for the next year in at 114.5. According to the rule of the falling knife, the knee jerk move from 109 should eventually be corrected at least on a short term basis. Longer term, as the above 30-year chart indicates, JPY remains in a long-term bull market, and this major interim bear market is a buying opportunity. Hussman, though way off the mark in equities for about 3 years now, in his most recent comment places fair value at around 85, and we could reach that level again even if the bull market in JPY is over.
Speaking of equities, QE just ended and the S&P 500 put in a marginal new high, just like April 2010 after the end of QE1 and July 2011 after the end of QE2. Both of those marginal new highs preceded 10%+ corrections and even though the bull appears bullet proof, I expected the same to happen again in the next few months. I looked at buying March puts on equities but so far fear has held me back from executing that trade (further indicating that it is likely the right one).
It is clear to all that QE’s main impact has been to boost financial markets, and this hasn’t translated to economic growth. With no dollar QE on the horizon, the economic reality should once again take over and cause at least a temporary correction in valuations. It will be interesting to see if the markets have reached “escape velocity” or if other QE’s around the world will take up the Fed’s slack. The plan is to continue to hold investment equity positions until the S&P reaches 2300, at which point valuations will be close to where they were at the internet bubble peak.
After a couple exciting weeks (see here and here) and an impromptu music video last week I got back to some basics this week and continued work on some ongoing projects. I also peeled about a kg of almonds – of course after soaking them overnight in salt water. For those who are wondering the almond’s skin is difficult to digest and contains most of the phytic acid which binds the nutrients in the almond. The Ayurvedic way is to soak the raw almonds and peel by hand before eating – this retains the most nutrient content. But so as to knock out a whole kg in one sitting (whilst watching the interesting and highly applicable to a budding artist movie, Frank), I blanched and peeled them according to this method.
