an endorsement of cake

Today I learned about the Buddhist practice of "offering cakes," which convinces me even more than I am a born buddhist. "If you think nonhumans might be trying to harm you because you are indebted to them in some way, you can give them 'offering cakes.' ... It is not necessary to make a proper ritual cake. You can offer anything or just imagine that you're making some form of restitution. ...It is not the ritual that is important here, but the psychological process of saying, 'Come in, have some cake, and stop bothering me.'"

The book ("The Practice of Lojong" by Traleg Kyabgon) goes on to say that evil spirits can be seen as our inner psychological states or external being.

so by extension, it's good practice to say, "hey, depression, have some cake and quit plaguing me." offering real cake, or maybe cupcakes, of course.

hip hop as practice

"Hip hop teaches its practitioners to meet discontinuities with inventiveness. These improvisatory forms provide experience in keeping one's footing in an unstable environment, and in keeping one's cool amidst upheaval. Without formal training, b-boys and b-girls have devised some of the most virutosic, witty, and resonant art that has been made in our time."
Suzanna Carbonneau writing about Rennie Harris Pure Movement