!Christina's October 5 questions
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agk's diary
16 October 2025 @ 0511
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written on GPD MicroPC
after work still in my scrubs
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1. What's your favorite item to cook in October?

   Beans, always beans. Garbanzos in hummus, on salad,
   in curry. Red beans with cajun sausage. Black
   beans with sweet potatoes and peanut butter in
   burritos with cilantro. Black eye peas with
   okra and canned tomato, or with salty crispy
   paprika'd forest mushrooms and kale. Mung beans,
   adzuki beans, navy beans, beans, beans, beans.

   I soak them overnight, pressure cook with kombu
   seaweed and a bay leaf, then put the prepped beans
   in mason jars in the icebox to use in the next 3-4
   days.

2. What films have you watched over and over?

   The American Heart Association Basic Life Support
   (CPR for healthcare providers) film. I have fav-
   orite lines, like "follow the pictures on the pad
   packages for proper pad placement," and favorite
   caracters like the assertive pediatrician in the
   infant CPR section. I've seen it as many times as
   I've taught CPR since 2017, so probably 40-60
   times? Nothing else comes close.

3. Have you meditated for spiritual purposes?

   All the time! AA's 11th step counsels prayer and
   meditation. Spot inventories and nightly invent-
   ories invite meditation: "Am I being selfish,
   dishonest, resentful, or scared?" Prayer invites
   meditation: "God, show me throughout the day the
   next right step to take." Gratitude invites medit-
   ation: "What spiritual pronciples in my life,
   people, and circumstances or stuff am I grateful
   for today?"

   The result is peace. No anxious wild monkeys going
   hoo hoo ha ha and flinging scat in my head.

4. What objects from your childhood have you saved?

   The bible I got from my church in 5th grade (10-11
   years old). Zines I made when I was 13-14. A mix-
   tape from my penpal (13-14 years old), with goth,
   opera, and classical music on it. I still use the
   bible, I'm proud of the zines, and I still like
   the music and miss my old penpal.

5. When you feel sad, what do you do to find comfort?

   Sleep, eat, talk to somebody, go to an AA meeting,
   get out in the woods, put my daughter in school
   and read a book, go to work.