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Savoring the Fruits of Late Summer

We are on Facebook! Each week's menu, along with the original recipe links, is posted up on the Govinda's Catering Facebook page. I was very pleasantly surprised to discover one day that Govinda's Catering is very Google searchable - meaning that if you search for "Govinda's Catering jackfruit," our Facebook post for an entree with jackfruit in it will come up in the first several search results. In a world where there are literally dozens of Govinda's restaurants and caterin

Up Next in July

Tomorrow, July 8th - Triangle Yoga, 930 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill. 6:30 - 8:30 pm. The evening starts with a vegan potluck and socializing. Kirtan with Benjamin Parrish and Rangadevi dasi will begin at 7. Feel free to bring a musical instrument (unless it is a brass one), your voice, an open heart, and even a vegan dish to share. Donations accepted. Saturday, July 22nd - Kirtan and Live Recording at the Oasis at Carr Mill Mall, 200 North Greensboro St, Carrbor

June Blooms

This Saturday my band, Samadhi, had a beautiful kirtan at Triangle Yoga in Chapel Hill. I realized that I had been sadly negligent in promoting the event. In fact, if it hadn't been for Facebook, I, myself might have forgotten to attend... Uh, that's when you know that you might have too many things on your mind. Nearly forgetting your own performance is right up there with forgetting your child somewhere (which has happened, but fortunately only twice in 11 years). That bein

The End of a Taxing Season

I don't know if April 15th has any significance to you all other than it happened to be Easter Sunday this year. After spending several years in the tax and bookkeeping business, April 15th is a kind of bold type day for me in that it is generally Tax Day. This year the tax deadline is tomorrow, April 18th, yet that doesn't really mean that my world has been any less crazy than it would have been if the deadline were still the 15th. Suffice it to say that between a few tax cl

Down-Home Southern Vegan

Before I forget and start talking about current events or the inner workings of my mind, I want to make sure and tell you where we will be the rest of this month: This Wednesday of course, we will be at Triangle Yoga and our other regular pick up points. This Saturday, March 25th, we will be at the Carrboro Farmers' Market from 9 - 12 pm. We will be offering selections from this week's menu, namely the Succotash Stew, Dirty Rice, and Sweet Potato Pie. Additionally we will

Centering Ourselves for Change

This is a "Save the Date" kind of email. There are many events coming up in the next few months that I would love to invite you all to. Some of them are music-related, while some are events that feature Govinda's, and some are both. All, I hope, will be fun for you. Please mark your calendars and let me know if you plan to come so that I can make sure to be on the look-out. I had originally intended to make this a compilation issue of resources for combating political insanit

Saving the Date and Setting the Intention

This is a Save the Date kind of email. There are many events coming up in the next few months that I would love to invite you all to. Some of them are music-related, while some are events that feature Govinda's, and some are both. All, I hope, will be fun for you. Please mark your calendars and let me know if you plan to come so that I can make sure to be on the look-out. I am pulling two events out of chronological order because, well, I would love for you to read about them

Being Blessedly Busy

(photo trianglevegfest.com) Triangle VegFest! Have you all heard about it? Vegan festivals are an idea whose time, I believe, has finally come, and it is starting to catch on in a big way. Two weeks from now, on October 14th & 15th Raleigh will celebrate its third annual VegFest. I saw the event come up last year when the organizers asked my band, Samadhi, to play there. Unfortunately we were already booked for another event that day. Oh yes, and I had catered an alumni lunch

Singing to My Health

Today is the big day. My band Samadhi will be playing at a non-yoga studio venue, the Honeysuckle Tea House. This is kind of a first for us. It's exciting. It's scary. I worry about the things that could go wrong, just because that is what I am used to doing. A couple of nights ago I had promotion for this event to do, some catering estimates to write up, this newsletter to start, loads of dishes in the sink, and a new course that I wanted to start studying... So naturally, i

Learning to Fall in Love

Good morning and welcome to a couple of you out there who are reading this newsletter for the first time. About 2 or 3 weeks ago I started noticing that the leaves on the tulip poplars were beginning to yellow. I dared not vocalize this observation because I simply could not admit that fall was coming. This week, when the sweet gums and dogwoods have joined the poplars, and leaves are beginning to show up on lawns, instead of in trees, I must acknowledge Nature and the passag

The Healing Magic of Kirtan

Those of you who have been with us for a while and know me well, know that any time I do not get this newsletter out to you first thing on Sunday morning, it is because I have had a busy weekend. This weekend was no exception. Friday and Saturday I had way too many things scheduled for the space of one day, and each night ended with a kirtan. Of course for me the kirtan is not just one more frenetic activity, but the carrot at the end of the stick, the reward at the end of a

The Art of Catching Curveballs

Plans. Plans that go smoothly and plans that are thrown to the wind when LIFE happens. Do you ever have those days filled with curve balls that change your plans? Do you get hit in the head by those unexpected throws? Or catch them with grace? I would love to hear some of your success stories and the things that help you adapt to the unexpected. Here's my story. Yesterday morning my son was getting ready for a series of playdates that included a trip to the pool with his frie

Fountains of Joy

Good morning and welcome to a couple of you out there who are reading this newsletter for the first time. It feels so good to be back! Last week I did something that I rarely do, go on vacation. And I mean a for-real, not-sneaking in any work kind of vacation. I even forced myself to leave the computer at home, which did mean that there was no newsletter last week to let you know that we were out of town. I apologize for that. I had intended to compose a short little message

Unexpected Adventures in Communication

Adventures in writing. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say adventures caused by writing. That was the theme of my personal life this week. Twice I had the opportunity to deal in person with discussions stimulated by something I had written in this blog. The first was when the person who was the stimulus for my piece a couple weeks ago on anger, suddenly turned to me and asked, "So what was it that you were angry about in your blog?" "What blog?" Oh... Yeah... No, he hadn't

To Everything There is a Season

Out of curiosity I went back and looked up the last time I made the Mexican Black Bean Soup on this week's menu. It was just about 2 months ago, in the 3rd week of March. It is amazing to me how many things change in 8 weeks and how many things do not. Perhaps because I am a parent I am particularly aware of the passage of time - changing school schedules, clothes that used to fit "just a little while ago," debates of logic that continue to become more sophisticated. As a thi

The Medicine of Kirtan

Good morning! Yesterday morning I had one of those experiences where I woke up and with a sinking feeling suddenly remembered my life. By that I mean, I opened my eyes and the feeling of sleepy neutrality gave way to sensations and feelings that had been influencing me before I fell asleep. As I became conscious, a heat began spreading through my chest, my heart quickened, my mind raced, replaying a key scene from the night before. Anger. Yep. There he was in full force, befo

Reviving the Archives

It is amazing how time works. I felt inspired to make a menu containing the first two entrees you see below. When I went looking back in my files for the links and photos for these recipes, I was surprised to see that the last time I had made the Sweet Potato & Lime soup was very nearly a year ago. I ended up using two other recipes from that old menu, as they just seemed to fit. I was also surprised to read the first two lines of that 2015 newsletter: "This morning I wanted

Southern Exposure

Where were we? For those of you who are newly joining us or who suffered from momentary ADD and didn't read last week's blog (lol!), let me catch you up. Last week we talked about the worldwide Renaissance of the 14th-16th centuries that ushered in an era of light, inquiry, and exploration. I introduced Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a great saintly personality, considered by Vaishnavas to be an Incarnation of Lord Krishna, who appeared at the end of the 15th century in Bengal. Because

Spiritual Fires

Twenty bonus points and a free order of pakoras to anyone who can name all four of the people in this photo. I am only slightly joking. How about 40 more bonus points to anyone who can say where and when this photo was taken? The problem with throwing out a challenge question like that is, that I am not very patient and want to just blurt out the answer without having to wait for your guesses. I had also originally wanted to talk tonight about things that would require me to

Rhythm Cycles

My weekend was wild and wacky and full of adventure. Fortunately it was the good kind of wacky and wild that includes a lot of singing. It is funny how even unconsciously, we operate in rhythm cycles. Exactly two months ago, I wrote this newsletter talking about how I had sung for two kirtan events in one weekend. Both weekends included a car trip, where I was lucky enough to be a passenger (let's go car nap!) to a city in Southern NC. I had even used the same photo at the b

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Rangadevi

Dasi

Savoring the Fruits of Late Summer

Up Next in July

June Blooms

The End of a Taxing Season

Down-Home Southern Vegan

Centering Ourselves for Change

Saving the Date and Setting the Intention

Being Blessedly Busy

Singing to My Health

Learning to Fall in Love

The Healing Magic of Kirtan

The Art of Catching Curveballs

Fountains of Joy

Unexpected Adventures in Communication

To Everything There is a Season

The Medicine of Kirtan

Reviving the Archives

Southern Exposure

Spiritual Fires

Rhythm Cycles

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"Surviving" Success

The Day Grief Moved In

Lunch at the Parthenon

Musings from the Harmonium

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One, From Many

Give the Gift of Govinda's

Thanksgiving by Govinda's

The More Things Change . . .

Exercising My Rights

Love Lighting My Way

Monday, Monday

Remedy for Remedy Diner

A Flurry of Festivity

Savoring the Fruits of Late Summer

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