Category Archives: Moment of Zen

February 18, 2012

Moment of Zen: Music

By Joe

Music can be very therapeutic. Music therapy is an interpersonal process in which the therapist uses music and all of its facets-physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual-to help clients to improve or maintain their health. Music has been used as a healing force for centuries. Music therapy goes back to biblical times, when David played the harp to rid King Saul of a bad spirit. As early as 400 B.C., Hippocrates, Greek father of medicine, played music for his mental patients. Aristotle described music as a force that purified the emotions. In the thirteenth century, Arab hospitals contained music-rooms for the benefit of the patients. In the United States, Native American medicine men often employed chants and dances as a method of healing patients. Music therapy as we know it began in the aftermath of World Wars I and II. Musicians would travel to hospitals, particularly in the United Kingdom, and play music for soldiers suffering from war-related emotional and physical trauma.

3 Comments | posted in Moment of Zen, Music, Nudity

February 11, 2012

Moment of Zen: Nude Gay Zen

By Joe

This might be one of the gayest pictures I have ever seen. I love it!

2 Comments | posted in Moment of Zen, Nudity, Photography

February 4, 2012

Moment of Zen: Chinese Character Tattoos

By Joe

They look so hip with their Chinese tattoos.  I’ve heard of several stories of people getting Chinese characters tattooed on their bodies, and they were told that it meant one thing, but actually meant something altogether different.  I wonder what these tattoos say?

4 Comments | posted in Moment of Zen

January 28, 2012

Moment of Zen: Resting

By Joe

1 Comment | posted in Moment of Zen, Nudity

January 21, 2012

Moment of Zen: Peeking

By Joe

1 Comment | posted in Moment of Zen

January 14, 2012

Moment of Zen: Exercise

By Joe

Exercise definitely gets endorphins flowing in the body. Endorphins (“endogenous morphine”) are endogenous opioid peptides that function as neurotransmitters. They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during exercise, excitement, pain, consumption of spicy food, love and orgasm, and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being.  Whatever endorphins do,  coming across hot guys like this exercising gets blood flowing in other places.  Which is a nice moment of Zen also.

1 Comment | posted in Moment of Zen

January 7, 2012

Moment of Zen: What I Want

By Joe

This week, I have been teaching about childhood development in my high school psychology class. I had nearly given up on the idea I having children, but after using kids as show and tell this week (so that my students could actually see the differnt stages of developement) I would really love to have a child of my own someday.

4 Comments | posted in Moment of Zen

December 31, 2011

Moment of Zen: Champagne and A Bubble Bath

By Joe

This is how I would love to ring in the New Year tonight.
Have fun and be safe in whatever you do tonight!!

5 Comments | posted in Moment of Zen, Nudity

December 17, 2011

Moment of Zen: Just Waking Up…

By Joe

This is the first day of my two weeks of freedom for Christmas, and I chose to sleep in as much as I wanted to. What are you up to today?

4 Comments | posted in Moment of Zen, Nudity

December 10, 2011

Moment of Zen: Cooking

By Joe

I love to cook, not generally in the nude, but I love this picture nonetheless.  You can get lost in cooking and your worries go away.  Generally when I cook, especially things like the cookies I made the other night, I am cooking for other people, so I enjoy the joy they get out of eating what I made.  So that is my moment of Zen for today, because with the holidays, there will be lots of cooking going on around here.

Tait requested that I share the recipe for my pistachio/cherry cookies.  I first saw this recipe on a Food Network holiday cookie special, but have since made it enough times to make some adjustments of my own to them.  People always seem to love them.

Sugar Cookies with Pistachio and Dried Cherries
Prep Time:15 min
Inactive Prep Time:30 min
Cook Time:11 min

Ingredients
1 (8-ounce) roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1/2 cup pistachios, chopped
1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
1 (11-ounce) bag white chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Open sugar cookie log and press into a rectangle on cutting board. Add pistachios and cherries, kneading/mixing into the dough, and refrigerate overnight. Using a cookie scoop or spoon, scoop out cookies and make a one inch ball of dough. Slightly press the ball to flatten the cookies a little. Transfer cookies to a baking sheet.

Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until golden around the edges. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

While cookies are cooling, melt white chocolate chips in a bowl over simmering water. (Microwaving for 1 min. 30 sec. on medium power gets this process working quicker. Then place bowl over simmering water to finish the melting process.)

When cookies are cool, dip bottom half of cookies into melted white chocolate and place on waxed or parchment paper to cool.

The green of the pistachios and the red of the dried cherries makes a wonderful Christmas themed cookie. To add a little more festivity to them, I often sprinkle some red and green nonpareil holiday sprinkles on the white chocolate before it hardens.

A nice variation to these is to use dried peaches and pecans instead of dried cherries and pistachios.  It gives them a totally different but very “Southern” flavor to them.

5 Comments | posted in Moment of Zen, Nudity, Recipe