January 28, 2003

shift in policy

It came as quite a shock for most people. They thought the email was a restatement of current policy — one of the many reminders that you can’t wear jeans, sneakers, sweatshirts and T-shirts on any day but Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But no! It was not one of those at all. It was stating that you can now wear all of those things every day of the week (as long as you aren’t on salary) and even better — you can wear hats on the weekend. My friend’s boyfriend just spent $40 on dress pants, but other than that the news was mostly good for everyone.

posted @ 8:13 AM

January 27, 2003

buddha project

Almost a year ago I had this idea to use my weblog only for Dharma purposes. It lasted about three weeks. To be honest, not much goes on in the Buddhist world. Every now and then you find something in the news to talk about, China does something really silly worth talking about or a teaching is upcoming somewhere and you can mention that. In my life, on a day to day basis, I was not finding it all that interesting. Although I felt that a resource like this would be a wonderful asset to the community. Fortunately, I found a site yesterday that is just what I was thinking of. It’s called the Buddha Project.

You will note that all of the “current favorites” over there on the menu have now been updated to reflect a good many site found on the Buddha Project website. Buddhist weblogs... is their anything better?

posted @ 9:29 PM

the real threat

An interesting article (link found on Jonathan Delacour’s site), the results of which are not surprising at all.

posted @ 8:41 PM

January 26, 2003

first path

Unhappiness is...
too loud / too quiet
too hot / too cold
too tall / too short
too skinny / too fat
too much time / not enough time
too old / too young
too good / too bad
too happy / too sad
too sick / too healthy
too much food / not enough food
too lazy / too active
too passive / too aggressive
too fast / too slow
too neat / too sloppy
too much experience / not enough experience

Renunciation is understanding all of this.

posted @ 10:22 AM

January 21, 2003

death

I have a bit of a child-like fascination with the death of animals. I don’t tend to shy away from it. I like to watch it from a detached (usually very sad) position. They are driven by such instinct that they never really had much of chance to be anything else. Humans can be loads of different things. Birds, cats, fish... they all tend to do exactly what birds, cats and fish do. They don’t become doctors, lawyers, firefighters, Buddhists, Christians or tech support agents.

One of our guppies was missing last night and after moving some things around in the tank I found him badly beaten, gasping for air at the bottom of the tank. His tail was completely missing and it looked like one of his fins too. I have no idea what happened, none of the other fish are really aggressive so I don’t think it was them, but I’m not sure how it couldn’t have been them. At any rate, we started the rescue. Purchased some distilled water, balanced the PH, added a tiny amount of food and (literally) fished him out of the tank. Put him in his own little bowl.

I realized this morning as I looked at his motionless body that we will all end up just like him. Human, animal, insect, amphibian or fish — we all wind up on our backs gasping our last breath and passing on. And there isn’t a damn thing anyone else can do about it. We can have clean water, food, plenty of heat and oxygen but when it’s time — it’s time. I’m really looking forward to learning about death meditations. Might as well happily prepare for the inevitable.

posted @ 8:46 AM

January 19, 2003

hung

So, my better half watches Charmed and because that show brings out the “typical male” in me — I watch it sometimes too. Tonight’s episode showed a few shots of the back of Alyssa Milano’s neck (and her recent tattoo).

According to her it is, “the Hindu symbol for depth of heart and wisdom.” That is technically not acurate, but we’ll not complain too much. It is actually Sanskrit which has been transliterated into Tibetan and is the root syllable “hung”. “Hung represents the wisdom mind of the Buddhas and is like a proclamation of truth.” But, Alyssa’s explaination is pretty close.

By the way, “hung” is pronounced like “hoong”, not like what you did to your clothes on the line.

posted @ 8:24 PM

January 18, 2003

english

Sometimes I worry that I may actually become English while I’m not looking. I seem to only watch English TV, whether it’s So Graham Norton, Ground Force, Changing Rooms or Coupling on BBC America or catching a “football” (soccer) game on Fox Sports World (which, by the way, will be showing the Manchester Utd. vs Chelsea game today) or maybe just watching a movie. A movie which exceeded all of my expectations. Hugh Grant rapidly climbed my list of favorite actors with this one and Nick Hornby, one of my favorite writers.

Now, if only I could master calling someone a wally and seeing if they take the piss.

posted @ 6:29 AM

January 15, 2003

this year

It occurs to me that I failed to tell you that, according to Rob Brezsny, my horoscope is quite nice for the new year:

posted @ 2:21 PM

January 14, 2003

cosmo

We named our plecostomus “Cosmo”, for a few reasons, but one of them being that he is a bit of a kamikaze (which sounds a little like Cosmo combined with plecostomus — the other reason). He (assuming it’s a boy) goes over to the far right of the fish tank and then goes up to the top — practically out of the water — then back to the bottom. Up, down, up down... all day long. I was a little worried at first, but I figure he would stop if he got tired or something. He’s only about 2 inches long so he’s got to be just a little baby. Is this normal for a young plecostomus? Either way, he’s keeping the moniker of “Cosmo the kamikaze plecostomus,” (say that ten times fast).

UPDATE: Ah ha! He’s not a plecostomus at all. He’s a Crossocheilus siamensis a.k.a. Siamese Algae Eater. This explains his erratic behavior: “It is an active and fast swimmer.... It is a strong jumper and should not be left unattended in small uncovered containers.... The swim bladder is not very developed, so the fish can’t stay in midwater but it must be in constant motion or it sinks.” Mystery solved. Please now refer to him as ‘Cosmo the Siamese kamikaze whose behavior is quite normal, thank you’.

posted @ 8:50 AM

January 13, 2003

training for design

I talk about wanting to teach all of the time. I took the training classes, but when it comes right down to it — I don’t have tons of passion for it. A few weeks ago I asked someone to fill in for my spot during a training class because I really didn’t want to do it. Maybe that was because I had a cold, maybe it was because the class was full of adults, or maybe it’s because I was meant to do something else. I love the idea of teaching, but maybe I don’t love the act of teaching. I’m not really too keen on the idea of being a designer, but I love the act of designing.

While working on the flyers for the monks tour and redesigning this website I came to the startling conclusion that maybe I should go to design school instead of getting my education degree. Still toying with the idea... waiting for the flyer to arrive.

posted @ 9:02 AM

January 11, 2003

fish

Finally put some fish into the fish tank. I’ve had this tank now for almost a year and have yet to put any fish in it for fear that I was going to screw it up. Went to Wally-world (a.k.a. Wal-Mart — the place you love to hate) because the fish are cheap... in case I do screw it up. They had some beautiful betas in little jars. They looked completely uncomfortable and I wanted to get one. We asked the lady (who doesn’t normally work in the department) if tetras and betas would get along ok. “I think so, just watch them to make sure.” Good thing we asked John, the regular in the pet section. He filled us in on their fighting ways, air breathing ways and many other fascinating facts.

For all those that are interested, Jungle Labs has a great site and good tips for fish tanks. If only I had looked there first.

posted @ 5:59 PM

January 10, 2003

written materials

The complete written materials for Course 13 and 14 are now online. Just one more course left!

posted @ 3:31 PM

January 7, 2003

when the past catches up

When your ex-girlfriend shows up on your doorstep with her current boyfriend, things usually get pretty ugly. Especially when the boyfriend is eight years older than you, just shy of a Henry Rollins physic and has this look, no more like this stare. I must have passed the test because the three of us spent the day driving around Spokane — Him, Her, Me (”no boy-boy-girl shit”) crammed in the front seat of their car — went to the skate park downtown, up to the Northside to do some shopping, to a park in the Valley... It was a little odd, but really fun. I was happy for her and found a new friend.

Several months later I found myself living with them in a trailer with no heat and several other people. It was probably the coldest winter of my life and one of the strangest things (from the outside looking in). At the time it didn’t seem so weird. Christina was in basic training, I was homeless and He made me stay with them. Would not take, “no”. They were pregnant, but knew they couldn’t make that work. It was a tough decision but it was the right one to make. They haven’t been together for years. Her and I keep in touch. I haven’t talked to him since the day Christina and I left Montana.

There was always this underlying criminal/paranoia thing going on. Like taking magnets to grocery store benefits cards because, “that’s how they track you.” Or casing some store to see if their cash register was the kind that required a key. I always viewed this sort of stuff as some show and didn’t take it too seriously. Some punk rock machoism to let me know that he got the girl. But this. I never thought it would come to this.

posted @ 9:27 AM

January 6, 2003

almost there

So, most of the posts have been updated. Still need to work on the other “features” of the site. Comments still work, just need to click on the @.

posted @ 9:52 PM

early redesign

Normally this website gets a makeover around March (the month that the site first went live). This year, as you may have heard, is going to be a little busy around that time — actually between now and then — so, I’m working on the new look now. It’s turning out wonderful and I can’t wait to share it with you. Expect things to look different here within the next few days.

posted @ 3:48 PM

January 5, 2003

seven years

I bet you took one look at that title and thought this was going to be about Heinrich Harrer being given the ICT Light of Truth award or maybe about Brad Pitt. Nope, it’s about neither. Christina and I said, “I do,” exactly seven years ago today. It’s pretty crazy, really. We knew since about eighth grade that we were going to one day wind up getting together. Our plan was to be in Australia — she would be driving around in her Jetta, me in my VW Bus — both of us being exactly as we are, together but independent. People usually drop their jaw when they hear that we have known each other since the second grade. Mine usually drops when I hear of people getting married who have only known each other for a couple of months and only as each other’s significant other.

The “seven year itch” thing is usually acquired by those who have no real idea about who they are involved with until it is too late. Then this notion that you have some sort of control over the other person sets in — you try to make them who you thought they were in the first place. By the seventh year you realize that you can’t control them and their is no point in trying.

Ours is one based on friendship, mutual trust, and laughter. We still make each other laugh out loud. We never fight over that someone at work that catches our eye — we just tease each other about it and in a few months the silly little “crush” you have on this other person goes away. I’m not saying we are perfect, but we are friends and we continue to treat each other as such. Most people won’t tell their best friend that they are jealous of their coworker because they are spending too much time with them, yet how many couples do this?

It drives me nuts when the same clothes are left on the floor for several days in a row or a stack of magazines stays exactly the same on the table for weeks on end. I make plenty of messes, but I try to reorganize them every few days. This is not a high priority on Christina’s list and we go around and around about it. Little things like that, but nothing marriage shattering. Jealousy has to be the number one cause of relationship death and it’s all so avoidable. The one thing I admire most about our time together is the certain lack of attachment about this superficial thing called “relationship”. If you don’t make a big deal about it, it’s not a big deal and staying together becomes pleasurable not some little monster you have to keep feeding.

Looking forward to seven more.

posted @ 9:50 AM

January 3, 2003

volunteer

Just arrived in the inbox, an amazing new site to find a volunteer position in the Tibetan exile community of Dharamsala.

posted @ 9:55 PM