Soundtrack: (playing the intro to “The Wind of Life” theme song in the background, accompanied by some thunder, lightning, and of course turbulent wind sounds)
Thalia: Coming to you almost live from somewhere in Greece, welcome to Stoned Kitchen and our new joint venture, “the Stoned Kitchen Blogcast.”
Soundtrack: (continuing theme song with the first verse) “The wind of life is raging, sweeping over land and sea. Tries to bring us down, but we’re gonna be free.”
Thalia: Yiassas! Hello! For those of you dropping by in Stoned Kitchen, or eSKay for short, for the first time, you should know: We have a lot of missions. One of the main ones is learning to see the opportunities in times of crisis. And well, since crises abound at the moment, it seems like a good time to get Stoned Kitchen’s messages out.
You could say we’re daring to launch our blogcast because of the turbulent and precarious place people – and our planet – are in right now. Stoned Kitchen hopes to be one of those fresh winds that helps clear heads and supports finding some sensible, common, and higher ground.
Oh yeah. We also want to have fun, too.
My name in Stoned Kitchen is Thalia, and sometimes Haley. Other “regulars” who you’ll be hearing from (and about) in the Stoned Kitchen Blogcast include Hermes, who serves as our messenger,
Soundtrack, who does a lot more than play background music, and Mafdet. She’s our muse-and a cat. Really. She also goes by the name of Miamou (for real.)
In Stoned Kitchen, our “god and goddess” names as we call them, draw heavily on mythology and we have a special fondness for ancient Greek deities. Since the Greeks didn’t – and seemingly don’t – worship cats, our Mafdet’s name comes from the Egyptians of days long gone by…..
Soundtrack: (improvises a bit of Egyptian music or something?)
Thalia: Right. So for our first-time guests, we suggest choosing a name for yourself as an appetizer, and then as your first course, read, or listen on to the “Stoned Kitchen Covenant of Use.”
Thalia: Wo! Now some of you might instinctively be thinking, “What?” Or, “Oh, no thanks. No Covenant for me!” Or perhaps, “Um. I’ll have to pass on the Covenant. Last time I tried one, it ended up with divorce court, or perhaps a Constitutional crisis?”
OK, we can understand your concerns. However, there is nothing to be scared of in the Stoned Kitchen Covenant. It could, though, be daunting or challenging for pathological liars, know-it-alls, or folks with anger management issues.
Basically, our Covenant of Use just consists of a few, simple agreements They’re to help us get higher and reach our goals. And you should know upfront: Stoned Kitchen is against the use of excessive force, and in general, we disapprove of almost all cases of imposing your will on somebody else.
Though, we think it could be justified when children (of any age) are throwing temper tantrums. OK and besides, we can’t “make anyone” abide by the covenant agreement.
Soundtrack: (“gong” announces Mafdet)
Mafdet: (aside, musing) It’s not like all members of the Stoned Kitchen High Five stick to the Covenant all the time, either. Ah, Thalia especially has had huge problems with Covenant point 1 and she also struggles with that “admit and accept not always being right” clause in item 3…. Meow…. but then again, so do most humans.
Thalia: Thank you Mafdat, I’m working to do better…as we all are, or should be. Anyway, we think trying to keep the following covenant can help us do that.
How about you? We look forward to your comments below, and well if you really don’t feel like “doing” the Covenant of Use right now, just feel free to come back to it later, and choose another post as your starter. Our tips: Check out the “Beginnings,” category where you’ll find posts like “Introducing” that share some of Stoned Kitchen’s background and purpose. But now, without further ado, here comes the Covenant!
1. I agree to tell the truth. This means: I will not tell lies, or deliberately slant /distort the truth. (Note: Stoned Kitchen doesn’t see “keeping your mouth shut” as lying–unless, of course, your silence is causing someone harm….)
2. I agree to be respectful towards all other members of the Stoned Kitchen community.
Please note: Strong and/ or colorful language is allowed when presenting your views – but please use discerningly.
Remember, most languages have a vast vocabulary and eSKay encourages the use of unfamiliar, forgotten, or newly created words and expressions. Cursing at other gods and goddesses on the platform is not permitted; complimenting, though, is encouraged, as eSKay strongly believes you catch more flies with honey, and carrots are better than sticks.
Violators shall be punished. However, in Stoned Kitchen, we think it is counterproductive to let people know what the punishment for the crime will be in advance…
More on punishments that fit the crime and serve a higher purpose should that become necessary.
3. I admit and accept that I do not know everything, and therefore, I am not always “right.” This means: I am willing to listen to and consider other people’s views and stories and try and put myself in their shoes before I form, or cement my opinion.
It goes without saying that I apologize when called for, and at least think about accepting an apology that’s offered in honesty, goodwill, and with the intention of trying to make amends and perhaps get to common, higher ground. This is sometimes known as “moving forward.”
4. I am here because I want to be (or at least am not under undue duress.) Hey, in case you cannot honestly answer yes to this part of the Covenant, please let us know why. Maybe we can help and if not, we will at least be happy to point you to a few posts that might make your time with us less of a trial, or we’ll suggest alternative websites more to your tastes.
5. I am willing to learn and grow. You are also welcome to share new knowledge, ideas, ventures, and visions with other members, and thus contribute to our collective getting higher.
Note: Since the Stoned Kitchen High Five and other Administrators strongly believe there are far too many rules and regulations in the world already, we think these five pledges should—when kept—be enough to more than serve our joint purposes.
Thalia: And well, more on those joint purposes in future blogcasts! Until then, thanks for dropping by, and until next time,Yiammas! To our health – and to getting higher!
Soundtrack: (Theme song full:)
The wind of life is raging
Sweeping over land and sea
Tries to bring us down
But we’re gonna be free
It is a magic wind
It gets in our lonely souls
We hear it all the time
We are not alone.
Don’t cry.
The wind is storming
Through our souls
We are burning
Down to our bones
The wind of death is raging
Sweeping over land and sea
Tries to bring us down
But we’re gonna be free
The wind is storming
Through our souls
We are burning
Down to our bones
The wind is storming
Through our soul
We are burning
Down to our bones
We hear it all the time
Cause we are out of time
It’s with me all the time
The wind.
Footnote from Haley: It took me a couple of workdays after the website’s “mini-launch” on 23 June 2020 to find my way around an audio editing program and figure out how to do things like split and slide tracks and add in some simple sound effects. (Lightning, wind, and rain coming in the next version.) Despite the imperfections and room for improvement, I’m thrilled that this little piece of fiction I “dreamt up” called “The Stoned Kitchen Blogcast Episode ‘Welcome and Covenant.'” is now a reality. In it, Soundtrack is brought to you by the amazing A. Yetoneus, whilst yours truly tried to give voice to our muse, Miamou.
Miamou: (offended meow) You should have tried harder, Haley. Your version of “me” sounds like a wicked witch! Haley: I know, and I’m sorry. I’m working on finding a much better actor to play you.
Miamou: Good. We need a “Hermes, ” too, BTW. And…
Hermes: Voice actors with time and willingness to volunteer, please contact us!
This looks awesome. Love the rules of the game and the look and feel and writing. Happy journey!!! Love and peace, -Todd
Thank you so much – and how lovely to see you here in eSKay, Todd! I think the Covenant post was influenced a bit by those years at Samford!
Love and peace to you, too – and Yiammas! “Haley”
I’m all in! Sounds like just the kind of place in which I’d love to hang out!
Stoned Kitchen is delighted to hear that Sally, we can’t wait to hang out with you! FYI: We’ve got the recording up for this post – and as a special treat, have added some very special photos! Enjoy – Haley!