Happy World Chocolate Day (7/7)

I must be a hybrid space alien-terrestrial human Earthling because I love sweet cacao paste.

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I'm a substitute love drug, so go easy.

Today is World Chocolate Day. But there's always tomorrow, which allows for the addition of almonds. What joy!

• Different types of chocolate and how to use them (so long as we do not get carried away and clingy)
• Mindfulness of Eating is one way to establish a healthy relationship with food
• American Dharma Teacher Ruth Denison's Dharma Talks from Dharma Seed and Dhammadena

Chocolate in its rawest form: fruit

We look forward to National Chocolate with Almonds Day when it pops up on our calendar every July 8 (NATIONAL CHOCOLATE WITH ALMONDS DAY, July 8, 2025) and we celebrate one of the world’s most popular confections.

• It's also World Allergy Day (July 8): the world's most common allergies and their symptoms

We at NT confess, this national day is not just another day we circle on our calendar. We also add this one to our to-do list for today so we don’t miss out. We know we really don’t need a special day on the calendar to indulge in one of our favorite guilty pleasures.

Mexico invented chocolate (Aztec Codex)

But doesn’t having a day on the calendar to celebrate such a heavenly confection help negate the guilty part of a guilty pleasure? We think so.

Today, we are indulging unashamedly because chocolate [Theobroma cacao fruit seeds or nibs] and almonds are incredibly satisfying. This makes us wonder if the reason we crave chocolate with almonds and find the combination so satisfying is because our bodies know what is good for us [like the "gods" or theo knew, presumably because they were advanced alien life forms looking for high antioxidant foods].

[Dark] Chocolate and almonds both are separately documented to have heart health benefits. More

• MSN.com, July 7, 2025; National Today, July 8, 2025; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Fat Thursday: preparing for Lent

The Polish way of praise with fat and flour, fried and coated with sugar to not lose weight

Fat Thursday in Poland is a Catholic celebration of Lent-fasting by fattening up first to be closer to G

Catholics get a Hindu tika for Ash Wednesday

Fat Thursday (French Jeudi Gras, not to be confused with next week's Maundy Thursday, ahead of Mardi Gras) on the Catholic Calendar takes place on the Thursday ahead of Ash (Tilaka) Wednesday (the official start of Lent) in February, right before the 40-day period of Lent. That’s February 27 this year.

• There's a Buddhist "Lent," too, called Vas

And yes, it’s exactly what readers may be thinking — a time to indulge. Clear the kitchen and pantry in preparation for FASTING. That’s what Lent is all about, abnegation, austerity, asceticism as watered down as can be and still called a sacrifice and abstention.

• 

  I'm going to kill this Lamb (of God) and eat him

  Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday") is coming, the time of year all Catholics become ducks and stuff themselves (Foie Gras) until, loving the Lamb of God, they demand Veal (made of baby Cow) and then go back to eating baby Lambs, chopped

What is Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)? The REAL history and tradition explained, New Orleans and Rio

As the lean season of Lent draws near, food becomes central to many peoples’ thoughts. There’s nothing like a fast (intentional cleansing starvation) to get us thinking about food, particularly those forbidden treats loaded with calorific ickiness.

If donuts were the first thing that came to mind, then that mind is on the right track because this holiday, originating in Catholic Poland, is about stuffing our faces with Polish donuts, known as pączki, and a few other exotically named sweet treats. Pancakes come to mind.

Every Fatso knows calories don't count today.

History of Fat Thursday

Though the exact origin of how this holiday came to be founded is unknown [though the eating up of all the forbidden foodstuffs of the next forty days seems like a pretty convincing explanation], the Polish tradition of consuming donuts is very much known. It dates as far back as the 1500s.

On the religious side of things, Fat Thursday is the last hurrah before the fasting period of Lent, wherein devout Catholics give up many indulgences in the 40 days leading up to Easter, the pagan Day of Rebirth (Resurrection and fertility), when the world springs back to green life after winter.

Roman Catholicism is as far from Christ's message as Protestantism

The Lost Teachings of Jesus Christ the Church doesn’t want us to know

Traditionally, Catholics abstain from meat and alcohol during this period, as the idea is to give up things one is addicted to, loves, abuses, can’t give up even though one knows one should, in order to focus on the meaning of Easter.

Fat Thursday is known as Tłusty Czwartek in Poland. For those who doubt, the "fat" part of the name refers to the fried sugar crust of different types of pączki (pronounced \poonch-key\ or \pots-ski\) consumed by Poles all over the European country.

The Pope is dying, and all we're worried about is will he get his Angel Wings? We'll get ours.

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Is that where the US jelly doughnut comes from?

The most traditional form of pączki is a fluffy donut filled with rosehip jam and dusted with powdered white sugar that looks like cocaine and the contents of a bloody nose on toast.

However, there are many variations now when it comes to fillings. Essentially, this day serves a dual purpose, as it allows Poles to indulge guilt-free in their favorite confectionery, while also carrying a religious meaning.

Celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans | National Geographic instead of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

• Rio Carnaval: Fat Tuesday in Brazil: Carnival in Rio (Portuguese Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro) is a festival held every year before Lent that is considered the biggest (and probably the sexiest and most decadent) celebration of Carnival in the world, with two million people per day on the streets, first celebrated in 1723 (wiki).

Guilty sexy Catholics party for Rio Carnival

Some even refer to the day as International Polish Donut Day, and the average Pole will eat two or three today, which translates to about 1,050 empty calories (if anyone is counting, though we’re not)!

If the thought of consuming donuts scares an eater (because of the gluten, fried oil, toxic white sugar, strange fillings, rancidity and carcinogenic acrylamides from heat exposure), the recommendation is to eat just one gluten-free one with a better sweetener (agave, coconut blossom powder, erythritol, monk fruit, birch xylitol, or herbal stevia, because not eating a donut on this day means bad luck for the rest of the year, according to fat Polish tradition.

Another traditional Polish dessert that is extremely popular on this day is faworki, in some places, also known as Angel Wings. Faworki are thin gluten dough ribbons, fried until crispy and sprinkled with powdered white sugar. More

• National Day Today, 2/27/25; Recovering Catholic Madison, Ashley Wells, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Free Vegan Thanksgiving, Los Angeles

What happened?

Three uses are: save animals, people, planet.

It was a gloriously sunny Southern California day with warm temps and lots of smiles, almost like living in Mailand Hawaii if such a thing were possible. The Island of California is the real "Big Island" in the Hawaiian Archipelago. The trees, grass, and flowers were green and fragrant, overwhelmed by 100+ vegan dishes of every description: pies, cupcakes, whipped creem, salads, stews, savory herbal soups, a tofurky surrounded by comfort foods of all kinds, noodles, pasta, mac 'n cheez, mashed potatoes, gravies, desserts, exotic raw dishes, curries, cookies, fruit, fruit salads, fruit juices, sacred waters, canned beverages, a strange dip called ga-walk-a-molee, chips, salsas, picked vegetables, fig salami, seaweeds, barks, berries, mushrooms, chocolate covered Brazil nuts, wrapped grape leaves, rice dishes, red Thai curry from The Vegan Joint (the winner in the imaginary contest of best entrees), legumes, peas, nuts, lentils, beans, corn (maize), squash, tea, strudel, and all of that just a buildup to the pièce de résistance, The Love Tunnel, in addition to the open mic of music, harmonium, chants, EDM beats, massage table and chair, emotional release work, dogs galore (not a single cat), low cut blouses as if it were the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, blessings, guitar solos, poetry, protests (Elephant Matriarch Project), yoga pants, hippie gear, a gal with a lute or lyre, bongos, mystics, psychics, rishis, empaths, medical intuitives, Natives, Fae, artists of all stripes, revolutionaries, and peace activists (like the plantbasedtreaty.org people).

• 
  Hey, what is The Love Tunnel? That's where two rows of people form, facing each other. Then a person goes through with eyes closed while being loved, touched, told flattering and uplifting things (often guided by spirit, Kwan Yin Buddhist Goddess of Compassion, or the wild imaginations of loving participants). Each person through walks very slowly, receiving a special secret message of inspiration, inspired utterances of positivity. It's electrifying. It's mind-blowing. It's heart opening. It's bliss provoking. In the distance, people are dancing, socializing, chatting, eating, running with dogs, advocating to save the planet, save the animals, save the human species, save the environment, save us from samsara, or just enjoying the Cali vibes, while people are falling in love, crying with joy, and trembling with so much metta one would think a Tibetan Tara or Hindu devi were intensely sending blessings and bliss. That's The Love Tunnel. Use it.

There are so many people to meet, lots to learn

What will we all be eating for Thanksgiving Day? Vegan desserts, main courses, raw foods, gluten-free baked goods, and specialties in the largest vegan Thanksgiving in the country.

It's also Los Angeles' longest-running single day vegan tradition, the biggest vegan potluck event of the year. It has been going on for 27 years.

• Wisdom Quarterly has been invited to conduct an opening ceremony of Buddhist chanting in Pali and Sanskrit as well as a Tongva/Kizh Native American urban shamanic land acknowledgement and peace meditation before the feasting.

MASSAGE BY JANELL ALEXANDER

Healing touch can open the heart, Sedona to LA

Need to relax but can't seem to destress? The answer is here on a chair or table. Sign up early under the big oak tree at the center of the picnic tables. First come, first served. The list will fill up. Add a spiritual dimension of healing energy from the laying on of hands and expert musculoskeletal manipulation and deep tissue soothing. Call in advance to make an appointment if you wish: (626) 539-1913 (ahhhmassage@gmail.com).

I love gluten-free vegan food.

Two to three hundred people and many well-behaved pets attend annually. It's a potluck, so please bring a 100% vegan dish to share. Raw food items are for specialty cooks who know how to prepare foods without destroying enzymes with heat, light, or oxidation.

There are signs for each category of dish. Gluten-free and foods free of other common allergens are also in high demand. Or pick something up from a vegan outlet like Lassen's, Sprouts, or Whole Foods.

Well-behaved dogs are welcome.

For questions about raw specialties and other general info, contact Vanessa at (818) 383-5998 or Annie at (310) 892-9617.

Come share savory and delicious vegan foods from around the world. Connect with some beautiful people and enjoy the outdoors. There will be music, meditation, a Native American land acknowledgement (to recognize that we are on stolen Tongva Tribal land), singing, live performances, and an open mic.

Hey, Dave, how's it going?

For extra comfort, bring picnic blankets, chairs, tarps. (Most of the picnic tables will be full of potluck dishes). Also feel free to bring drums, other musical instruments, frisbees or balls to toss around. It's family friendly and a great place for children.

• I want to go gluten-free. What does it mean? It means something is 100% free of wheat (often labelled just as "flour" in the ingredients or durum semolina, barley, rye, OATS, spelt, kamut, or buckwheat, all of which have their forms of toxic gluten even if the label on the package says "gluten-free").

PUBLIC EVENT

We gather in a giant ring of hundreds holding hands for invocation and land acknowledgement

Sitting under tree listening to vegan author Will Tuttle explain his motive for writing

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Eat all you like, there's no judgment.

It is no free to attend, and please see details below on what to bring to participate.

Park Rules: No Alcohol.

Please for each dish, bring a list of ingredients to help those who avoid certain allergens and certain foods for whatever reason.

**TO PREVENT PAPER AND PLASTIC WASTE, PLEASE BRING OWN PLATES, BOWLS, CUPS, EATING AND SERVING UTENSILS.**

WHEN

Then we eat like there's no tomorrow.

We start gathering at 11:00 am Pacific Time and have a beautiful opening ceremony right at noon. Then we begin our feast.

LOCATION

LATITUDE/LONGITUDE: 34°02'44.0"N 118°24'39.2"W.

There's an open mic for the daring.

Enter Cheviot Hills Park (aka "Rancho Park") at the north entrance on Motor Avenue (the first entrance south of Pico Blvd.) When entering the park, there is a parking area on the left.

Drive past this parking area and follow the road to the next parking area which is a few hundred feet down. Walk to the picnic tables across the grass behind the baseball field. "VEG" signs are posted to point the way.

(Be mindful. There is another picnic area at the far end of the park close to the parking lot which is not the vegan picnic area).

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Should we be kind to animals?

Plan your trip: socaltransport.org.

The closest holiday bus stop is at Pico Blvd./Motor Ave. on the Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus Route 7.

Los Angeles Metro: metro.net.

Santa Monica Big Blue Bus: bigbluebus.com.

Culver City Bus: culvercity.org/enjoy/culver-city-bus

DISCLAIMERS

Native American Buddhist

Unless stated otherwise, organizers and participants do not assume any related legal obligations, responsibilities, or liabilities. All are expected to behave in a civil and orderly manner and adhere to any event policies.

IT'S FREE TO RSVP BELOW.

Vegan Spirituality Group, San Fernando Valley

Participation is at own risk. Indoor activities, outdoor activities, in-person social interactions, and sharing foods have some associated risks, including injuries, allergies, transmissible illnesses, and food poisoning.

• Disclosure Project: Free Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck Picnic, West Los Angeles, Thu, Nov 28, 2024, 11:00 AM | Meetup
• Nature Center: Free Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck Picnic, West Los Angeles, Thu, Nov 28, 2024, 11:00 AM | Meetup
• PasaDharma: Free Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck Picnic, West Los Angeles, Thu, Nov 28, 2024, 11:00 AM | Meetup

Mindful eating: Let's have chocolate

Clare, Generation Calm, March 14, 2019; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Jen B. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

• Chocolate Meditation before Valentine's Day with New Year Intention Setting, Breathwork (Los Angeles, 1/27/24)

Mindful eating exercise | A CHOCOLATE MEDITATION

(Generation Calm) Mindfulness (sati) exercises come no more delicious than mindfully eating chocolate for a "chocolate meditation."

This mindful eating exercise brings our full attention to a piece of chocolate and uses all of our senses to intensify the experience.

Mindful eating is paying attention to the food before, during, and after dining. We have six senses, so we can take notice of:

1. how it looks,
2. how it sounds (unwrapping),
3. how it smells,
4. how it feels,
5. how it tastes,
6. how it is otherwise sensed [by the mind].

Chocolate, of course, has a smell. More than that, it has a texture, as we sense how it feels in our mouth and in hand as it melts.

But perhaps most importantly is the assessment of how it feels throughout the body before and after being taken as food.

Assessing is, of course, NOT the right word. Why? A chocolate meditation is not a taste test, evaluation, or comparison. It is an experience of what is real -- without judgements, concepts, preconceptions, evaluations, measuring, assessing -- as it is experienced with the body.

Mindful eating is associated with weight loss in that it helps us make healthy eating choices to develop healthier habits. Mindfulness helps us notice when we are feeling full and can help stop the rollercoaster ride of dieting and bingeing.

❤ Pick a favorite piece of chocolate and join this 6-minute meditation for a peaceful mindful eating exercise. - Clare

Subscribe for a new video every week @generationcalm. #MindfulEating #EatingSlowly #mindfulness.

DISCLAIMER: This information should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health condition or disease and is not intended as a substitute for consulting with a physician or healthcare provider. Generation Calm is where viewers can become masters at reducing stress and anxiety naturally in their own time, so as to keep body and mind feeling great.

Reason for the Season: Xmas before Christ

These customs are mirrored in Asia with Budai Bodhisattva (a rotund Buddhist monk) the "fat happy Buddha" giving small gifts or candy from a sack he carries around in his jolliness.

Christmas before Christ: Yule and other Northern European traditions

(Fortress of Lugh) Let's take a look at Slavic, Baltic, Celtic, and Germanic Yuletide (Christmastime) traditions and their similarities and origins, with a special focus on Yule, as well as the nature of Santa Claus [the magic mushroom shaman of the Sami, the Native Swedes, distributing the Amanita muscaria harvest distributed among villagers living in yurts and with chimneys being the door/entrance where the shaman would come in, give out the mushrooms which needed to be dried and so were put in stocking and hung over the fire to dehydrate].

To support the channel and get extra content, discussion, requests, and so on: fortressoflugh PayPal donations (greatly appreciated): paypal.com/donate...

• Fortress of Lugh, 12/15/21: Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Cocaine in Coca-Cola? Drunk History (video)

Drunk History, Comedy Central (cc.com), Aug. 15, 2019; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Sugar is more addictive than cocaine. It shortens life and ruins health. We give it to kids.

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Coca-Cola was invented using cocaine (featuring SNL actor Bill Hader and drunk historian-for-a-day Jenny Slate)

(Comedy Central) John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola while trying to create a patent medicine -- but it had something a little extra in it. Cocaine from coca leaves and caffeine from kola nuts!

AI drew Ukraine's Zelensky snorting coke

ABOUT: Drunk History is based on the popular web series. It is liquored-up historical narration of our nation's history. Host Derek Waters, along with an ever-changing cast of actors and comedians, travels across the country to present the rich tales that every city in this land has to offer. Booze helps bring out the truth. It's just that sometimes the truth is a little incoherent.

Subscribe to Comedy Central: @comedycentral. Watch more Comedy Central: comedycentral. Follow Drunk History on Twitter: twitter.com/DrunkHistory.

Pi Day, Einstein birthday, Hawking deathday

Eds., Wisdom Quarterly TEST KITCHEN; Project Shivoham; Danica McKellar; Wiki edit

The anchors at Wake Up Charolotte! think today is all about pie, pi being a mystery to them.

How students can celebrate Pi Day outside of the classroom

(WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7) March 14, 2023. It's Pi Day and we're talking about the best ways students can celebrate Pi Day and learn more about Pi (not so much edible pie but the number 3.14159) in their everyday life.

(Project Shivoham) The Evolution of π in Ancient India (12/14/21) This is the 5,000-year-old history of the evolution of π in Ancient India. (Twitter or Instagram)

What does Wiki, the default repository of all knowledge and wisdom, have to say about pi? Wiki is the modern hitchhiker's guide to life, the universe, and everything, as conceived of by the genius humorist Douglas Adams.

What is pi?

I checked out and passed on Pi Day. So long. Onward to infinity!

May the Fourth be with you. No, that's a different thing. Danica!

π ("pi") is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159.

The number π appears in many formulas across mathematics and physics. It is an irrational number, meaning that it cannot be expressed exactly as a ratio of two integers, although fractions such as 22/7 are commonly used to approximate it.

Consequently, its decimal representation never ends, nor does it enter a permanently-repeating pattern. It is a transcendental number, meaning that it cannot be a solution of an equation involving only sums, products, powers, and integers.

The devas and ETs who came to earth knew

The transcendence of π implies that it is impossible to solve the ancient challenge of squaring the circle with a compass and straightedge.

The decimal digits of π appear to be randomly distributed, but no proof of this conjecture has been found [or proved].

For thousands of years, mathematicians have attempted to extend their understanding of π, sometimes by computing its value to a high degree of accuracy.

Ancient civilizations, including the Egyptian and Babylonian [possibly based on the much older Sumerian] required fairly accurate approximations of π for practical computations. Around 250 BC, the Greek mathematician Archimedes created an algorithm to approximate π with arbitrary accuracy.

Out of the mouths of babes: Tell us, Babe.

In the 5th century AD, Indian mathematicians made a five-digit approximation, while Chinese mathematicians approximated π to seven digits, both using geometrical techniques.

The first computational formula for π, based on infinite series, was discovered a millennium later [1, 2]. The earliest known use of the Greek letter π to represent the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter was by the Welsh mathematician William Jones in 1706 [3].

O, Buddha in Heaven, please tell me the best calculation of pi or that I will be in heaven, too.

If E had asked, B could have answered.

The invention of calculus soon led to the calculation of hundreds of digits of π, enough for all practical scientific computations.

Nevertheless, in the 20th and 21st centuries, mathematicians, and computer scientists have pursued new approaches that, when combined with increasing computational power, extended the decimal representation of π to many trillions of digits [4, 5].

Buddha+Einstein Walk Into Bar

These computations are motivated by the development of efficient algorithms to calculate numeric series, as well as the human quest to break records [6, 7]. The extensive computations involved have also been used to test supercomputers.

Because its definition relates to the circle, π is found in many formulas in trigonometry and geometry, especially those concerning circles, ellipses, and spheres. [*Yawn* Kill me now.]

Vegan gluten-free blueberry!

It is also found in formulas from other topics in science, such as cosmology, fractals, thermodynamics, mechanics, and electromagnetism.

In modern mathematical analysis, it is often instead defined without any reference to geometry; therefore, it also appears in areas having little to do with geometry, such as number theory and statistics.

The ubiquity of π makes it one of the most widely known mathematical constants inside and outside of science.

Several books devoted to π have been published, and record-setting calculations of the digits of π often result in news headlines.

[There's even a National Pi Day to celebrate it. And for some strange reason, or complete coincidence, scientist Stephen Hawking let go and left this world on this day in 2018. Make mine vegan, gluten-free blueberry.] More