gifts are personal, and/or gifts are ritual.
there used to be rules for when to give, what to give, how much to spend, based on the kind and degree of relationship.
i think that's gone, for most of us modern folks.
now gifts are personal. what does this say about me, what does this say about you.
the two get mixed up.
i know how to make soap.
so i make you some special soap to give you on a ritual occasion.
i am giving you my time and my talent.
you take it as a personal gift, not a ritual gift.
you think maybe i think you don't wash enough.
you think i didn't care enough to buy you something.
i think you will think i am cool because i can make soap.
Dec 1, 2009
Nov 29, 2009
one teensy aspect of the huge subject of gifts
fruitcake is off the gift list this year in my family!
my mom always sent a fruitcake, a really good one from some place in texas, to each of us kids. last year we sadly sent them to each other. this year we decided not to.
VOLUMES are written about gifts and gift giving! how can i even get a handle on the subject in a simple blog entry.
he gets her a roomba for xmas.
his thoughts...
he is clever and generous.
she will be happy not to have to vacuum.
it will be fun to set up and to watch it, see how the cat reacts!
he has solved a problem!
her thoughts...
he is stingy and overly practical.
he thinks of her as a housekeeper.
he just wants to play with this toy himself.
he isn't very romantic.
what the gift means to the giver can be completely different from the meaning understood by the receiver! the gift is a coded message and each side has a different decoder ring.
and of course...
everyone has way too much stuff anyway!
my mom always sent a fruitcake, a really good one from some place in texas, to each of us kids. last year we sadly sent them to each other. this year we decided not to.
VOLUMES are written about gifts and gift giving! how can i even get a handle on the subject in a simple blog entry.
he gets her a roomba for xmas.
his thoughts...
he is clever and generous.
she will be happy not to have to vacuum.
it will be fun to set up and to watch it, see how the cat reacts!
he has solved a problem!
her thoughts...
he is stingy and overly practical.
he thinks of her as a housekeeper.
he just wants to play with this toy himself.
he isn't very romantic.
what the gift means to the giver can be completely different from the meaning understood by the receiver! the gift is a coded message and each side has a different decoder ring.
and of course...
everyone has way too much stuff anyway!
Nov 28, 2009
you can get anything you want!
Nov 26, 2009
for thanksgiving ~ gokan no ge sutra
This food of three virtues and six tastes we offer to Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and to all life in every world.
First, innumerable labors have brought us this food
we should know how it came to us.
Second, as we receive this offering, we should consider
whether our virtue and practice deserve it.
Third, as we desire the natural condition of mind to be
free from clinging, we must be free from greed.
Fourth, to support our life we take this food.
Fifth, to attain our way we take this food.
First, innumerable labors have brought us this food
we should know how it came to us.
Second, as we receive this offering, we should consider
whether our virtue and practice deserve it.
Third, as we desire the natural condition of mind to be
free from clinging, we must be free from greed.
Fourth, to support our life we take this food.
Fifth, to attain our way we take this food.
Nov 25, 2009
mmmm fresh pine
why my delight at
trucks filled with christmas trees?
i don't like christmas!
~mudpie
trucks filled with christmas trees?
i don't like christmas!
~mudpie
Nov 24, 2009
ricey beanie recipe
cook some brown rice
(organic is best - for the planet,
the pickers and planters,
the web of life,
your health,
maybe your karma).
open a can of organic beans
(the plainer the better,
the kind you like best,
black beans are my favorite
recycle the can).
rinse all the packing liquid off the beans.
put beans in a pan with 2 cups of the rice.
open a jar of organic chunky salsa
( local if possible,
otherwise newmanzone is good,
whatever heat level you like
recycle the glass jar).
add to the rice and beans
warm it up good.
put it on nice pottery plates
(or eat from the pan if you are alone
and really depressed).
good with salad and red ale
(or you can skip the salad
and add seconds on the ale).
(organic is best - for the planet,
the pickers and planters,
the web of life,
your health,
maybe your karma).
open a can of organic beans
(the plainer the better,
the kind you like best,
black beans are my favorite
recycle the can).
rinse all the packing liquid off the beans.
put beans in a pan with 2 cups of the rice.
open a jar of organic chunky salsa
( local if possible,
otherwise newmanzone is good,
whatever heat level you like
recycle the glass jar).
add to the rice and beans
warm it up good.
put it on nice pottery plates
(or eat from the pan if you are alone
and really depressed).
good with salad and red ale
(or you can skip the salad
and add seconds on the ale).
Nov 22, 2009
Lucy cooks Uncle Ben
Dear Uncle Ben
First let me say, it's not me it's YOU!
We've been friends for so many years, I thought I could always count on you.
the boxes change, the cooking times change...I stuck with you.
i'd look at your face on the box and think "ok, this box feels lighter, but Ben's a guy I can trust."
they say aquarians are loyal...loyal beyond commonsense maybe. but once an aquarius walks, we don't look back.
goodbye Uncle Ben.
Oh the reason?
boil-in-the-bag.
THE STUPIDEST WAY TO COOK ANYTHING.
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
the box was purchased by accident, because IT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE REGULAR BROWN RICE BOX.
Ok, 4 little bags inside. drop one into 4 cups of boiling water. WHY WHY WHY?
OK maybe some people's water isn't potable, this would be good!
But NO...there are HOLES IN THE BAG. The rice absorbs the water.
Ok,well you don't have to use a measuring cup for the rice
BUT YOU DO HAVE TO MEASURE THE WATER!
It takes 15 minutes - AFTER the water boils! Why not just cook regular rice?
Do you sense me stomping around jumping up and down shaking my fists in the air at the stupidity of it all?
Now,FROZEN TOAST...you just pop into the toaster, is FUNNY. Boil-in-bag rice isn't even funny.
Uncle Ben, were you kidnapped and taken to MARS? Did they feed you M&Ms until you were brain dead, or just replace you with a cardboard cutout?
Shaking my head sadly. Can Opsrey create another blog for this?...posters searching for the lost, kidnapped or compromised -- our formerly trusted ummm trusted ummm fictional purveyors of comestibles?
First let me say, it's not me it's YOU!
We've been friends for so many years, I thought I could always count on you.
the boxes change, the cooking times change...I stuck with you.
i'd look at your face on the box and think "ok, this box feels lighter, but Ben's a guy I can trust."
they say aquarians are loyal...loyal beyond commonsense maybe. but once an aquarius walks, we don't look back.
goodbye Uncle Ben.
Oh the reason?
boil-in-the-bag.
THE STUPIDEST WAY TO COOK ANYTHING.
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
the box was purchased by accident, because IT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE REGULAR BROWN RICE BOX.
Ok, 4 little bags inside. drop one into 4 cups of boiling water. WHY WHY WHY?
OK maybe some people's water isn't potable, this would be good!
But NO...there are HOLES IN THE BAG. The rice absorbs the water.
Ok,well you don't have to use a measuring cup for the rice
BUT YOU DO HAVE TO MEASURE THE WATER!
It takes 15 minutes - AFTER the water boils! Why not just cook regular rice?
Do you sense me stomping around jumping up and down shaking my fists in the air at the stupidity of it all?
Now,FROZEN TOAST...you just pop into the toaster, is FUNNY. Boil-in-bag rice isn't even funny.
Uncle Ben, were you kidnapped and taken to MARS? Did they feed you M&Ms until you were brain dead, or just replace you with a cardboard cutout?
Shaking my head sadly. Can Opsrey create another blog for this?...posters searching for the lost, kidnapped or compromised -- our formerly trusted ummm trusted ummm fictional purveyors of comestibles?
Nov 21, 2009
Lucy cooks beans and finds Mycroft
turkeys crossing the road with Thanksgiving right on their tails...it's a sign!
i'll blog about food!
let us (heehee) begin with one of my favorite food groups, a favorite around the world -
i'll blog about food!
let us (heehee) begin with one of my favorite food groups, a favorite around the world -
BEANS AND RICE !!
it makes a complete protein (says Diet For a Small Planet) and
like buddhism, takes on the local flavor wherever it finds itself.
it makes a complete protein (says Diet For a Small Planet) and
like buddhism, takes on the local flavor wherever it finds itself.
oh sure, there are many kinds of rice in the world,
but that's nothing - NOTHING I TELL YOU - compared to the beauty and variety of BEANS!
which reminds me, speaking of cooking, and also of beans,
i have found THURSDAY NEXT's UNCLE MYCROFT!! (inventor of the entropy detector)!
he has changed his name and is living in Seattle!
read it for yourself...who else could it be??
which reminds me, speaking of cooking, and also of beans,
i have found THURSDAY NEXT's UNCLE MYCROFT!! (inventor of the entropy detector)!
he has changed his name and is living in Seattle!
read it for yourself...who else could it be??
a few quotes:
...an eclectic array of speculative and potentially world-changing ideas — inventing a new battery, taming hurricanes, defeating disease. And here, along with the laser designed to shoot mosquitoes out of the air (a high-speed camera counts the rate of wing-flapping to ensure that innocent insects are not vaporized), is the best-equipped restaurant kitchen anywhere that never serves any customers...
...They also demonstrated cryoseared duck breast, a technique that calls for implements not typically found in a kitchen: a small satchel of loose metal, dry ice, dog hair brush...
shhh don't give him away!
...an eclectic array of speculative and potentially world-changing ideas — inventing a new battery, taming hurricanes, defeating disease. And here, along with the laser designed to shoot mosquitoes out of the air (a high-speed camera counts the rate of wing-flapping to ensure that innocent insects are not vaporized), is the best-equipped restaurant kitchen anywhere that never serves any customers...
...They also demonstrated cryoseared duck breast, a technique that calls for implements not typically found in a kitchen: a small satchel of loose metal, dry ice, dog hair brush...
Nov 19, 2009
Nov 18, 2009
Sparkle sparkle!
I'll tell you, it's no secret, November around here in't supposed to be bright and sparkly!
Most years we get that creepy fella EDGAR ALLEN POE to do November up.
Last night, tho, he took sick or somethin.
Had to call in his understudy, one Mr JACK FROST. AND, he called back the star of the summer season for an encore, good ol MISTER SUNSHINE!
Mr Sunshine wan't able to do much about it bein wicked cold, but that's how Mr Frost likes it.
He does his work in black and white with potloads of sequins.
None of that ice cream smooth sparkle of snow, mind you, with cute little caps on the fence posts and apples.
The EN-TIRE apple, the COM-PLETE fencepost, EVERY DANG SURFACE of each TWIG, BRANCH and GRASSBLADE -- sparkly sparkly white.
And that there riot of grace and texture...you know, the WEEDS...pure poetry. pure poetry and dance, froze inna place.
Sweet jesus it's cold. I blieve i can hear the woods tinkling and chiming.
Most years we get that creepy fella EDGAR ALLEN POE to do November up.
Last night, tho, he took sick or somethin.
Had to call in his understudy, one Mr JACK FROST. AND, he called back the star of the summer season for an encore, good ol MISTER SUNSHINE!
Mr Sunshine wan't able to do much about it bein wicked cold, but that's how Mr Frost likes it.
He does his work in black and white with potloads of sequins.
None of that ice cream smooth sparkle of snow, mind you, with cute little caps on the fence posts and apples.
The EN-TIRE apple, the COM-PLETE fencepost, EVERY DANG SURFACE of each TWIG, BRANCH and GRASSBLADE -- sparkly sparkly white.
And that there riot of grace and texture...you know, the WEEDS...pure poetry. pure poetry and dance, froze inna place.
Sweet jesus it's cold. I blieve i can hear the woods tinkling and chiming.
Nov 17, 2009
in which the lost is found and someone learns more about the meaning of 'real'
hooray hooray oh frabjous day the lost owner is found!two weeks ago i found a kitty doll by the road as i walked through a road cut, no houses nearby at all, just woods and rocks.
something about it told me it was loved and missed. i made some handbills, added my phone number and took one to the village store. they kept it right on the counter...this was important!
and on sunday, the phone rang...yes! "my daughter was visiting from Connecticut and this is my grandchild's favorite toy! they got home and called me..'is it there? do you have it? where is it?'... but we had no idea where it had gone."
yesterday i took it to the store to be mailed back to it's own christopher robin.
the happy grandmother said "i've never thought much about it if i found a toy, but believe me, i will now!"
Nov 16, 2009
more murder mysteries
continuing yesterday's post on murder mysteries...i am currently reading another strange one, The City and The City by China Mieville.
the setting is so very strange, 2 cities that exist simultaneously in the same spot, the citizens forced to ignore everything concerning the city they are not currently part of, under dire penalty for even 'seeing' the buildings, cars, people who are part of the other city.
and the mythical 3rd city, or is it just a myth?
it took me 100 pages of deciding not to bother reading this 'police procedural', but continuing to read anyway, before i really got into it.
now by page 220 i can't put it down!
the main character is a police detective from one city who must travel back and forth to investigate a murder (a young archeology student) and the mystery that becomes something even more sinister. Publishers Weekly says "Through this exaggerated metaphor of segregation, Miéville skillfully examines the illusions people embrace to preserve their preferred social realities."
but phooey on them, it's an exciting read once you wrap your mind around the bizarre concept.
the setting is so very strange, 2 cities that exist simultaneously in the same spot, the citizens forced to ignore everything concerning the city they are not currently part of, under dire penalty for even 'seeing' the buildings, cars, people who are part of the other city.
and the mythical 3rd city, or is it just a myth?
it took me 100 pages of deciding not to bother reading this 'police procedural', but continuing to read anyway, before i really got into it.
now by page 220 i can't put it down!
the main character is a police detective from one city who must travel back and forth to investigate a murder (a young archeology student) and the mystery that becomes something even more sinister. Publishers Weekly says "Through this exaggerated metaphor of segregation, Miéville skillfully examines the illusions people embrace to preserve their preferred social realities."
but phooey on them, it's an exciting read once you wrap your mind around the bizarre concept.
Nov 15, 2009
murder mysteries!
our local weekly newspaper had halloween photos, and one was of a group of people dressed up as the characters in CLUE! colonel mustard, miss scarlet, the whole gang was there with a rope, a candlestick, so funny!
yesterday i was involved up close in a new kind of mystery. for years i've read mystery novels, working through all the classics, then on to the ones with great characters, the ones in interesting settings, then i stopped for awhile. lately i've read a couple of unusual ones.
one is the first of a series from Cuba, translated from Spanish, Havana Red, by Leonardo Padura. the story is told by a Cuban cop working on a case in contemporary Cuba involving the murder of a gay man dressed in drag. the writing is great, and it has a literariness unusual in mysteries.
the policeman's interactions with suspects and friends illuminate some of the mysteries of Cuba itself and what life there has been like in the past few decades. the internal reactions of the main character, confronted with gays and female impersonators, are especially fascinating.
oh, and the new kind of mystery i was involved in is one that is taking place in Second Life even as it is being written as a serial on a blog! the doctor in Second Life who is investigating the murder took me to see the crime scene, the bloodstains, the body on the table in the lab awaiting the post mortem, and a few of the suspects!
reading a serial on a blog is tricky, you have to sort of rewind it to the first post to begin. but the pictures are beautiful! there are other amazing tales on this blog, too, if you like swashbuckling adventure and explosions!
yesterday i was involved up close in a new kind of mystery. for years i've read mystery novels, working through all the classics, then on to the ones with great characters, the ones in interesting settings, then i stopped for awhile. lately i've read a couple of unusual ones.
one is the first of a series from Cuba, translated from Spanish, Havana Red, by Leonardo Padura. the story is told by a Cuban cop working on a case in contemporary Cuba involving the murder of a gay man dressed in drag. the writing is great, and it has a literariness unusual in mysteries.
the policeman's interactions with suspects and friends illuminate some of the mysteries of Cuba itself and what life there has been like in the past few decades. the internal reactions of the main character, confronted with gays and female impersonators, are especially fascinating.
oh, and the new kind of mystery i was involved in is one that is taking place in Second Life even as it is being written as a serial on a blog! the doctor in Second Life who is investigating the murder took me to see the crime scene, the bloodstains, the body on the table in the lab awaiting the post mortem, and a few of the suspects!
reading a serial on a blog is tricky, you have to sort of rewind it to the first post to begin. but the pictures are beautiful! there are other amazing tales on this blog, too, if you like swashbuckling adventure and explosions!
Nov 13, 2009
Gina Dances
monday night at the end of middle-eastern dance class, when we 15 women formed our closing circle, hands in angeli mudra, gina asked us to meditate for a moment on gratitude for those things that make it possible for us to come here and dance -- physical, emotional, financial, and...political.
i love this class, it's one of the most fun things i do, ranking up there with The Show Must Go On in Second Life.
every female size and shape you can imagine is here shimmying in jingly hipscarf (sometimes worn over corduroys and turtleneck), and occasionally a man, and every level of trained or natural ability, or lack of... it's all fun!
i have never been a sinuous dancer, my people being more the jumping up and down type (highland fling, polka, morris dances, irish clogging) and yet i enjoy moving to middle eastern music in my own way.
it seems so simple -- to come to belly dance class and dance each week. but once i turned my mind to all the reasons women here and round the world may be unable to do this simple thing, i realized how incredibly lucky i am!
one important thing gina didn't mention in her list of things to be thankful for, that make it possible for us to come and dance together....is GINA!
THANK YOU GINA!
i love this class, it's one of the most fun things i do, ranking up there with The Show Must Go On in Second Life.
every female size and shape you can imagine is here shimmying in jingly hipscarf (sometimes worn over corduroys and turtleneck), and occasionally a man, and every level of trained or natural ability, or lack of... it's all fun!
i have never been a sinuous dancer, my people being more the jumping up and down type (highland fling, polka, morris dances, irish clogging) and yet i enjoy moving to middle eastern music in my own way.
it seems so simple -- to come to belly dance class and dance each week. but once i turned my mind to all the reasons women here and round the world may be unable to do this simple thing, i realized how incredibly lucky i am!
one important thing gina didn't mention in her list of things to be thankful for, that make it possible for us to come and dance together....is GINA!
THANK YOU GINA!
Nov 12, 2009
war and sex
on hallowe'en, exploring in the cornfield in SL, Bamika and i had a chat about Fawn's rut,
and how humans are such an anomaly in that they have no particular time of being in heat or rut or season.
this kind of thing can get my brain going, grinding away at these curious questions.
sometimes it goes on as background chatter for weeks on end!
my brain: must be some reason for it
my brain: right - maybe to have more kiddies
my brain: well it takes us so long to raise one up to independence
my brain: and we only have one at a time usually
my brain: so why do we have 2 breasts?
my brain: that's irrelevant -- you'll be asking why men have nipples next.
my brain: anyway it only takes a few men but lots of women to keep the population supply up
my brain: so men can do dangerous things, in fact, they seem to like to -- keeps their numbers down
my brain: like war?
my brain: maybe war is an evolution strategy
my brain: the guys who had a violent streak killed off the other guys and got all the women preggers with a higher probability of violent boys?
my brain: something like that
my brain: and so on until warlikeness was the norm?
my brain: right, all the societies with peaceful men got done in by the impaired group?
my brain: could be - or maybe it's good to have a big genetic variety of men
my brain: but isn't all that sexiness also in the service of bonding?
my brain: yeah but what about female synchronization of fertility and stuff like that?
my brain: oh are we getting into your cookoo theories on fidelity or the one on DNA preservation vs Species preservation?
my brain: ouch ouch ouch stop it can't we go meditate or something?
and how humans are such an anomaly in that they have no particular time of being in heat or rut or season.
this kind of thing can get my brain going, grinding away at these curious questions.
sometimes it goes on as background chatter for weeks on end!
my brain: must be some reason for it
my brain: right - maybe to have more kiddies
my brain: well it takes us so long to raise one up to independence
my brain: and we only have one at a time usually
my brain: so why do we have 2 breasts?
my brain: that's irrelevant -- you'll be asking why men have nipples next.
my brain: anyway it only takes a few men but lots of women to keep the population supply up
my brain: so men can do dangerous things, in fact, they seem to like to -- keeps their numbers down
my brain: like war?
my brain: maybe war is an evolution strategy
my brain: the guys who had a violent streak killed off the other guys and got all the women preggers with a higher probability of violent boys?
my brain: something like that
my brain: and so on until warlikeness was the norm?
my brain: right, all the societies with peaceful men got done in by the impaired group?
my brain: could be - or maybe it's good to have a big genetic variety of men
my brain: but isn't all that sexiness also in the service of bonding?
my brain: yeah but what about female synchronization of fertility and stuff like that?
my brain: oh are we getting into your cookoo theories on fidelity or the one on DNA preservation vs Species preservation?
my brain: ouch ouch ouch stop it can't we go meditate or something?
Nov 11, 2009
unleaving
autumn upon me
each day comes word some bright leaf
let go flown gone
~mudpie
and a birthday toast to kurt vonnegut's ghost
each day comes word some bright leaf
let go flown gone
~mudpie
and a birthday toast to kurt vonnegut's ghost
Nov 10, 2009
medical advice
someone recently asked me for advice about colds, probably because i play a doctor in a vaudeville show in a virtual world.
in fact, here is a picture of me taken by a fellow thespian, Headburro Antfarm...
no...wait...that's a closeup of my stethoscope during the hallowe'en show
and here is how Dr Lucy deals with colds: if around people with a cold - i drink lots of echinacea tea.
if i feel like i might be getting one - zinc!
zinc cough drops have just a teeny bit of zinc, might be first line of defense.
zinc tablets, esp if throat is sore... i put them under my tongue. don't do this on an empty stomach. they taste awful and make anything you eat soon after seem not to taste right.
also i escalate to zycam, i think it is called, which is zinc stuff you squirt in your nose...this really really works! ...and btw...no one paid me to say this :(
if i still get a cold, of course i drink lots of water and juice and i get a box of chicken broth (organic, free range ... chickens are people too) and add green chilis and tons of garlic all cut up, and just make it hot and drink all day like tea.
keep taking zinc.
and hot lemonade with whiskey and honey in it is good especially before bed.
unless i have a fever, tylenol (acetaminophen) works better than ibuprophen or aspirin for some reason.
what? it wasn't funny? well better luck next time!
in fact, here is a picture of me taken by a fellow thespian, Headburro Antfarm...
no...wait...that's a closeup of my stethoscope during the hallowe'en showhere it is...
and here is how Dr Lucy deals with colds: if around people with a cold - i drink lots of echinacea tea. zinc cough drops have just a teeny bit of zinc, might be first line of defense.
zinc tablets, esp if throat is sore... i put them under my tongue. don't do this on an empty stomach. they taste awful and make anything you eat soon after seem not to taste right.
also i escalate to zycam, i think it is called, which is zinc stuff you squirt in your nose...this really really works! ...and btw...no one paid me to say this :(
if i still get a cold, of course i drink lots of water and juice and i get a box of chicken broth (organic, free range ... chickens are people too) and add green chilis and tons of garlic all cut up, and just make it hot and drink all day like tea.
keep taking zinc.
and hot lemonade with whiskey and honey in it is good especially before bed.
unless i have a fever, tylenol (acetaminophen) works better than ibuprophen or aspirin for some reason.
what? it wasn't funny? well better luck next time!
Nov 9, 2009
november walk
yesterday at some time after 3 i decided to go for a walk.
the sun was sitting right on top of the western hills.
POP! down it went and the street was in shade. how can it do that so early!
dusk comes early to us valley dwellers.
the fields to the east were still bright, and i headed out across the alfalfa stubble with quick steps.
the sounds of the village grew fainter, the low sun warmed my back.
by the time i reached the soft trickle and rustle by the stream at the foot of the woods, my breathing was slow and deep, my mind was still, peace had settled onto me.
i remembered when i was a deer, stepping mindfully along on my skinny legs, like i do now, quiet like a prey animal, alert and happy.
i loved living in the woods, loading up on all the autumn nuts and apples i could find,
searching out a winter yard of pine needles under the evergreens. thinking of the bitter bark i'd chew in february.
the sun dropped lower behind the dark western hills.
or did the earth turn?
the shadow crept across the field.
time to turn back toward the cluster of buildings, tiny in the palm of the valley.
Nov 8, 2009
Nov 6, 2009
a dark night
i had to park in a dark area, the parking lot near the class was full.
as i locked the car i heard a man shouting. i turned onto the sidewalk, and saw him across the street. with my peripheral vision i saw he was oldish, biggish, hunchedish, in bulky layers of wool clothes, unkempt, stumping along shouting. "I SEE YOU UP THERE!" shout shout shout "OH THAT'S NOT YOU" but obviously not meaning me.
"drunk" was my thought. it's a scary neighborhood even in daylight.
let's see, generate confidence, compassion, fearlessness, openness, INVISIBILITY!
i kept walking he kept shouting. i noticed he was starting diagonally across the street. i began planning my quick turn into the meditation center parking lot. "THERE YOU ARE" he shouted from the middle of the street.
a dainty little cat, white with calico markings, stepped out of the weeded vacant lot ahead onto the sidewalk.
the man became more agitated, shouting "YOU'D BETTER GET HOME! YOU GO HOME NOW!"
the cat headed off the other way, noticed me, stopped turned towards us. the man seemed to notice me for the first time. "oh you're here." then back to admonishing the cat.
i stood still, the cat came our way. 'kitty kitty' i called softly, trying to be helpful.
the cat moved closer to us, then playfully veered across the street and up the driveway of a dilapidated apartment house, the man stumping along after her, waving his flashlight in her direction "YOU GET INSIDE NOW, YOU'RE GONNA GET WET, IT'S STARTING TO RAIN NOW" and it was.
i smiled for a long time.
as i locked the car i heard a man shouting. i turned onto the sidewalk, and saw him across the street. with my peripheral vision i saw he was oldish, biggish, hunchedish, in bulky layers of wool clothes, unkempt, stumping along shouting. "I SEE YOU UP THERE!" shout shout shout "OH THAT'S NOT YOU" but obviously not meaning me.
"drunk" was my thought. it's a scary neighborhood even in daylight.
let's see, generate confidence, compassion, fearlessness, openness, INVISIBILITY!
i kept walking he kept shouting. i noticed he was starting diagonally across the street. i began planning my quick turn into the meditation center parking lot. "THERE YOU ARE" he shouted from the middle of the street.
a dainty little cat, white with calico markings, stepped out of the weeded vacant lot ahead onto the sidewalk.
the man became more agitated, shouting "YOU'D BETTER GET HOME! YOU GO HOME NOW!"
the cat headed off the other way, noticed me, stopped turned towards us. the man seemed to notice me for the first time. "oh you're here." then back to admonishing the cat.
i stood still, the cat came our way. 'kitty kitty' i called softly, trying to be helpful.
the cat moved closer to us, then playfully veered across the street and up the driveway of a dilapidated apartment house, the man stumping along after her, waving his flashlight in her direction "YOU GET INSIDE NOW, YOU'RE GONNA GET WET, IT'S STARTING TO RAIN NOW" and it was.
i smiled for a long time.
Nov 5, 2009
The Four Reminders drive to work #4
#4
Samsara
Is an ocean of suffering,
Unendurable,
Unbearably intense.
my drive is so beautiful, car is so comfortable
people ahead of me
driving like idiots, driving so slowly,
i must get to work!
sit at my computer, continue to wish that
i was somewhere other, anywhere else.
this is samsara, like frogs on hot asphalt,
have to keep jumping, grab any distraction,
or else it's too painful, until i remember
i'm lucky to be here at all
however impermanent
#1
Joyful to have
Such a human birth,
Difficult to find,
Free and well-favored.
Samsara
Is an ocean of suffering,
Unendurable,
Unbearably intense.
my drive is so beautiful, car is so comfortable
people ahead of me
driving like idiots, driving so slowly,
i must get to work!
sit at my computer, continue to wish that
i was somewhere other, anywhere else.
this is samsara, like frogs on hot asphalt,
have to keep jumping, grab any distraction,
or else it's too painful, until i remember
i'm lucky to be here at all
however impermanent
#1
Joyful to have
Such a human birth,
Difficult to find,
Free and well-favored.
Nov 4, 2009
suddenly i am again 7 years old and at my grandmother's house
cold frosty morning
barefoot on kitchen linoleum
what is time?
~mudpie
barefoot on kitchen linoleum
what is time?
~mudpie
Nov 3, 2009
haz u lost me?
walking home sunday i came across a striped kitty sock doll by the road. it was not there 2 hours ago when i walked out. i picked it up to take with me, and pictures filled my brain -- child crying in grief and disbelief 'my kitty's gone!' and kind but grumpy parents turning the car around to drive the road searching. i set it on the rocks where it could be seen, and safe from fox kits.
oh that night was dark and very cold. at least, no rain.
in the morning i felt guilty, but told myself these long cold nights of the soul can bring new understanding and compassion, even to sock dolls. i pulled the car over and walked to the rocks, dusted it off as curious staring faces drove by. set it in the seat next to me and drove back onto the road, crying.
i reached over, moved it to my lap. here with me now it lives in the land of lost toys.
someone's inner doctor jung will have the use of it 30 years from now; someone who will still dream of his lost kitty, as i do.
oh that night was dark and very cold. at least, no rain.
in the morning i felt guilty, but told myself these long cold nights of the soul can bring new understanding and compassion, even to sock dolls. i pulled the car over and walked to the rocks, dusted it off as curious staring faces drove by. set it in the seat next to me and drove back onto the road, crying.
i reached over, moved it to my lap. here with me now it lives in the land of lost toys.
Nov 1, 2009
scent world
the sheep stare at me walking by
i stare at the sheep
if i had a camera
on a day like this i would claim each scene!
i could pee on each landmark
but that doesn't feel like claiming to me
soon i hear small sounds of the woods
i smell the woods mmmmmmm
what's it like for a dog to map her world by smell?
in Second Life you can turn on 'highlight invisible'
and suddenly some things make sense
in my mind i turn on 'highlight smells'...
i see transparent overlays of many colors (smells)
the color code key reads 'magenta-brown = leafy forest floor'
i click it to learn the forest floor scent components
oak, maple & birch leaves, dried ferns, deer poop, fisher hairs, dead mouse and if i zoom in
i can isolate the deer poop scent area, the color more intense at the center
ah there's yellow, my favorite, my dog best friend was here
and i can tell how long ago
the pasts are here to be scent sensed
like the layers in the road cut
i stare at the sheep
if i had a camera
on a day like this i would claim each scene!
i could pee on each landmark
but that doesn't feel like claiming to me
soon i hear small sounds of the woods
i smell the woods mmmmmmm
what's it like for a dog to map her world by smell?
in Second Life you can turn on 'highlight invisible'
and suddenly some things make sense
in my mind i turn on 'highlight smells'...
i see transparent overlays of many colors (smells)
the color code key reads 'magenta-brown = leafy forest floor'
i click it to learn the forest floor scent components
oak, maple & birch leaves, dried ferns, deer poop, fisher hairs, dead mouse and if i zoom in
i can isolate the deer poop scent area, the color more intense at the center
ah there's yellow, my favorite, my dog best friend was here
and i can tell how long ago
the pasts are here to be scent sensed
like the layers in the road cut
Oct 31, 2009
note to self: buy candy before dark
this night dreams and fears
spill into the dark ~ take form
and beg for candy
spill into the dark ~ take form
and beg for candy
~mudpie
click picture to enlarge and see the wonderful poster Osprey made for today's shows. Taken at Barney's train station, and there is Lucy in one of the costumes.
Oct 30, 2009
signs that might be knowin'
late yesterday a flock of geese was in the field. they looked so tired, they were quiet and hunkered down. must have come a long way to arrive so late. not much corn left on the ground. this morning they look better, most are standing and many are honking impatiently. time to go! snow coming from the midwest!
i have seen a little fox in that field, peeking out from the corn in the summer as i walked the tractor road. hard to imagine his scrawny self could be any danger to those big geese!
i have seen a little fox in that field, peeking out from the corn in the summer as i walked the tractor road. hard to imagine his scrawny self could be any danger to those big geese!
Oct 29, 2009
hallowe'en in the boo! nies
vampires and tinkerbells
stood at the door!
we live in the village
more came, and then more!
we gave them the apples
and chocolate and gum;
quick ransack the house before more of them come
our nickles and pennies we were in a fix
what's left but the case of guacamole mix!
we gave them that too, got some puzzled expressions
we turned off the lights, we had learned a new lesson
don't put out a pumpkin, don't dress as a clown
if you live in the village this night, just leave town!
stood at the door!
we live in the village
more came, and then more!
we gave them the apples
and chocolate and gum;
quick ransack the house before more of them come
our nickles and pennies we were in a fix
what's left but the case of guacamole mix!
we gave them that too, got some puzzled expressions
we turned off the lights, we had learned a new lesson
don't put out a pumpkin, don't dress as a clown
if you live in the village this night, just leave town!
Oct 28, 2009
The Four Reminders drive to work #3
#3
Unalterable
Are the laws of karma;
Cause and effect
Cannot be escaped.
every object along the drive, even my thoughts and actions,
is the effect of all that has been before
nothing comes about of its own
house, road, car, stone fence, beaver pond,
asphalt, job, tree, hill, song, memory, anger, love
-- and all are cause!
all part of the causes and conditions
to coalesce into future joys, deaths,
landscapes, friendships, environment, suffering, love
pay attention
Unalterable
Are the laws of karma;
Cause and effect
Cannot be escaped.
every object along the drive, even my thoughts and actions,
is the effect of all that has been before
nothing comes about of its own
house, road, car, stone fence, beaver pond,
asphalt, job, tree, hill, song, memory, anger, love
-- and all are cause!
all part of the causes and conditions
to coalesce into future joys, deaths,
landscapes, friendships, environment, suffering, love
pay attention
Oct 27, 2009
virtual treats, but none for real kiddies!
sent out this invitation to all my Second Life friends to come trick or treating at my place, even if i am not there (which is most of the time). the funny part is that at my real house, i have to leave home to escape the trick-or-treaters! so many children come, and it will be at the same time as the Second Life hallowe'en show i am in, so i'll be off to hide out at with friends out in the boondocks.Oct 25, 2009
the mystery on page 81
a big mystery! i got to page 81 in the Agatha Christie and noticed a neat pencil mark underlining the page number.
i was reading all the A.C.'s at the local library.
one by one, i read them and, always, a neat pencil mark underline on page 81. same with the Nero Wolfes! and, in fact, all the mysteries. i started seeing it in the other books!
someone has been here before me.
by observation, deduction, and clever questioning, i solved it.
Mr. Whittaker! he'd been doing this since he was 81. you can bet that HE never got half way through a mystery only to realize he'd already read it. this happens to me ALL the time, but fortunately, i don't usually remember how it turns out, and i just read it again. the funny part is that when the library replaced a book with a new copy, he'd happily and innocently READ IT AGAIN and underline page 81.
i want to do this with youtube!! people send me links and i watch them and think "this is great!" and send them to people who email me back..."you sent me this last year!"
not everyone is as lucky, or unlucky, as i am -- to have a magic slate for a brain that wipes itself clean. just me and Mr.Whittaker!
i was reading all the A.C.'s at the local library.
one by one, i read them and, always, a neat pencil mark underline on page 81. same with the Nero Wolfes! and, in fact, all the mysteries. i started seeing it in the other books!
someone has been here before me.
by observation, deduction, and clever questioning, i solved it.
Mr. Whittaker! he'd been doing this since he was 81. you can bet that HE never got half way through a mystery only to realize he'd already read it. this happens to me ALL the time, but fortunately, i don't usually remember how it turns out, and i just read it again. the funny part is that when the library replaced a book with a new copy, he'd happily and innocently READ IT AGAIN and underline page 81.
i want to do this with youtube!! people send me links and i watch them and think "this is great!" and send them to people who email me back..."you sent me this last year!"
not everyone is as lucky, or unlucky, as i am -- to have a magic slate for a brain that wipes itself clean. just me and Mr.Whittaker!
Oct 24, 2009
to err is human and so is blowing things up
this morning i found a great animation for blowing myself up,
with a horrifying noise, spewing blood and guts so far
that neighboring properties send notices that i am not allowed to set anything on their property
...all this in Second Life of course!
this will be perfect for the hallowe'en show zombie act.
today is a rainy nasty cold day the leaves all falling
and i am in the virtual world happily blowing myself to smithereens
and then smilingly reassembling.
with a horrifying noise, spewing blood and guts so far
that neighboring properties send notices that i am not allowed to set anything on their property
...all this in Second Life of course!
this will be perfect for the hallowe'en show zombie act.
today is a rainy nasty cold day the leaves all falling
and i am in the virtual world happily blowing myself to smithereens
and then smilingly reassembling.
Oct 23, 2009
the four reminders drive to work #2
#2
but death is real,
comes without warning.
this bodywill be a corpse.
my commute can be a charnal ground.
frog, skunk, deer, racoon, bird,
tree across the lane,
and once, a man lying ,
steam rising in the cold
from his hot blood spreading over the asphalt,
once a dog standing confused beside
another dog lying quite still.
but death is real,
comes without warning.
this bodywill be a corpse.
my commute can be a charnal ground.
frog, skunk, deer, racoon, bird,
tree across the lane,
and once, a man lying ,
steam rising in the cold
from his hot blood spreading over the asphalt,
once a dog standing confused beside
another dog lying quite still.
Oct 22, 2009
The Four Reminders Drive to Work
#1
Joyful to have
Such a human birth,
Difficult to find,
Free and well-favored.
i have driven the same road each day for over 15 years
i am so lucky
beauty revealed season upon season
i drive into a calendar picture
there is time to sing and feel and be present
my little subaru takes me through dangerous conditions
glad not to be the fly that shares my ride or the thin fox racing across the road,
or the toad that -- ooops! -- sorry!
Joyful to have
Such a human birth,
Difficult to find,
Free and well-favored.
i have driven the same road each day for over 15 years
i am so lucky
beauty revealed season upon season
i drive into a calendar picture
there is time to sing and feel and be present
my little subaru takes me through dangerous conditions
glad not to be the fly that shares my ride or the thin fox racing across the road,
or the toad that -- ooops! -- sorry!
Oct 21, 2009
what's the latin for 'fear of entropy loss'
3 things that happened yesterday:
1. in the morning i started to read a book karuna sent me, which began with the quote "Mid-way in life's journey I found myself in a dark wood, having lost the way." (Dante, The Inferno).
2. when i got to work i opened my email and read in The Writer's Almanac "It's the birthday of poet and essayist Robert Pinsky ... in 1995 he published a new translation of Dante's Inferno ... Robert Pinsky's The Inferno of Dante begins: 'Midway on our life's journey, I found myself In dark woods, the right road lost.'"
3. later that night a complete stranger added this comment to my blog post about the entropy detector:
"Just shot and posted a "how to" video for this device on youtube (search for "stephenleadersf")Thank you and Mr. fforde ."
I'd better build myself one quick! Entropy is dropping fast.
1. in the morning i started to read a book karuna sent me, which began with the quote "Mid-way in life's journey I found myself in a dark wood, having lost the way." (Dante, The Inferno).
2. when i got to work i opened my email and read in The Writer's Almanac "It's the birthday of poet and essayist Robert Pinsky ... in 1995 he published a new translation of Dante's Inferno ... Robert Pinsky's The Inferno of Dante begins: 'Midway on our life's journey, I found myself In dark woods, the right road lost.'"
3. later that night a complete stranger added this comment to my blog post about the entropy detector:
"Just shot and posted a "how to" video for this device on youtube (search for "stephenleadersf")Thank you and Mr. fforde ."
I'd better build myself one quick! Entropy is dropping fast.
Oct 20, 2009
but soft!
"... in 1995 Pinsky published a new translation of Dante's Inferno."
so many beautiful works are translated again and again into user-friendly english.
but we be english speakers, thus we must study and take classes to understand the parlance, so old it no longer makes sense to us...for us, Hamlet in English must be performed using the original words!
do other countries re-translate it year after year, excitement and outrage at each new translation, some better some worse?
listening untutored to the archaic speeches in Hamlet would be like listening to a strange opera in an unfamiliar language. quite beautiful, the meaning inferred from the performers' expressions and actions.
oh but we don't think of it as music, as sound, as accoustical performance art.
and does anyone say for example, "but soft!"? How terrible would it be if instead they said "Quiet!" or even "Hush!" or even a whispered "stfu horatio."
so many beautiful works are translated again and again into user-friendly english.
but we be english speakers, thus we must study and take classes to understand the parlance, so old it no longer makes sense to us...for us, Hamlet in English must be performed using the original words!
do other countries re-translate it year after year, excitement and outrage at each new translation, some better some worse?
listening untutored to the archaic speeches in Hamlet would be like listening to a strange opera in an unfamiliar language. quite beautiful, the meaning inferred from the performers' expressions and actions.
oh but we don't think of it as music, as sound, as accoustical performance art.
and does anyone say for example, "but soft!"? How terrible would it be if instead they said "Quiet!" or even "Hush!" or even a whispered "stfu horatio."
Oct 18, 2009
sorrow to my heart
pick up the water bowlsput away the toys
throw the litter down the bank
wash the old blankets
cry and leave doors open
my long married life
this is the first time
living in apartments
or a volkswagon camper
or with my parents
or in my own home
no warrior joker intense friend
guards us from hard-heartedness
there is no cat in the house
goodbye dear Mouse
* *,
Oct 16, 2009
more zombiefication
a follow up to my previous post -
in my guise as a headless zombie, i went to a sim last night to look at some skins; i can't remember the name, it had god in the name somehow. there, a stalwart sort of fellow who seemed to be quite taken with my appearance followed me around saying mostly "Wow." it turned out he spoke only italian, except for wow - not even 'woot'! and i know nothing but ciao in italian. mother always warned me about guys who dig headless zombie chicks and speak only italian, so i said 'ciao' and went home...oh, but not before winning a lovely bed by having the letter L come up on a lucky-chair in a gated crypt reached by going down some stairs into what appeared to be a pond and through a maze of creepy rooms.before the lucky-chair gave me my prize, the chair electrocuted me quite spectacularly. definitely a place to avoid, tho i must say the bed is pretty.
note to self - avoid Osprey, she has armed herself with zomb-off
in my guise as a headless zombie, i went to a sim last night to look at some skins; i can't remember the name, it had god in the name somehow. there, a stalwart sort of fellow who seemed to be quite taken with my appearance followed me around saying mostly "Wow." it turned out he spoke only italian, except for wow - not even 'woot'! and i know nothing but ciao in italian. mother always warned me about guys who dig headless zombie chicks and speak only italian, so i said 'ciao' and went home...oh, but not before winning a lovely bed by having the letter L come up on a lucky-chair in a gated crypt reached by going down some stairs into what appeared to be a pond and through a maze of creepy rooms.before the lucky-chair gave me my prize, the chair electrocuted me quite spectacularly. definitely a place to avoid, tho i must say the bed is pretty.
note to self - avoid Osprey, she has armed herself with zomb-off
Oct 15, 2009
Hallowe'en
last night i worked on my zombification for the hallowe'en show.
not a good thing before going to bed, i thought i'd have nightmares! but it was so exhausting, i slept soundly. zombies are scary enough without also worrying about losing your head.
Oct 14, 2009
wtf were you thinking
small squashed mosquito
you wanted so little
now both our blood's spilled
~mudpie
you wanted so little
now both our blood's spilled
~mudpie
Oct 13, 2009
West coast bookstores
on my vacation i took 2 books and came back with 5.
took The Time Travelers Wife and finished it, and Marilyn Robinson's Home, didn't read yet!
bookstores i visited along the way (not counting in the airports!) City Lights in San Francisco :-D, Bookshop in Santa Cruz, Open Secret in San Rafael, and the Henry Miller museum which is also a bookstore, in Big Sur . They were great! I could have spent way more time browsing, something i don't have much patience for at home.
maybe west coast bookstores have it all over the ones around here, even tho there are TWO independent bookstores in the tiny town where i work!
i didn't buy any books...too many to choose...the 3 new ones i brought home were gifts.
between that and the tea i got in San Francisco, it'll be a good winter.
I did just finish Tea Time for the Conventionally Built, and Smith is back in stride. i'd given up on the series, but this one is another winner.
took The Time Travelers Wife and finished it, and Marilyn Robinson's Home, didn't read yet!
bookstores i visited along the way (not counting in the airports!) City Lights in San Francisco :-D, Bookshop in Santa Cruz, Open Secret in San Rafael, and the Henry Miller museum which is also a bookstore, in Big Sur . They were great! I could have spent way more time browsing, something i don't have much patience for at home.
maybe west coast bookstores have it all over the ones around here, even tho there are TWO independent bookstores in the tiny town where i work!
i didn't buy any books...too many to choose...the 3 new ones i brought home were gifts.
between that and the tea i got in San Francisco, it'll be a good winter.
I did just finish Tea Time for the Conventionally Built, and Smith is back in stride. i'd given up on the series, but this one is another winner.
secrets of the night
in the night came the snow
washed away by morning rain
late sleepers don't know!
~mudpie
washed away by morning rain
late sleepers don't know!
~mudpie
Oct 12, 2009
not david either
hard frost everywhere last night
car-scraping frost
killing frost
"an end to gardening for everyone" weatherman said
it's official! no more feeling bad about the garden this year!
got up in the night to find wool socks
slept curled in a ball and dreamt of Los Angeles
sleeping floating sprawled in warm air
the hard-working boy who mowed our *cough* grass all summer
has stacked the wood in the garage.
what is he saving for i wonder, that makes him work so hard?
i do love stacking wood, but could not find time this year.
when i stack it myself, i leave room for the car.
now john is rearranging it, not knowing how to tell the boy to.
he'd better hurry. this morning something whispered 'snow.'
i wonder if that boy shovels walks?
i mostly wonder if this boy is from another planet, shot into space by his loving parents
as his planet fell into its sun.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
car-scraping frost
killing frost
"an end to gardening for everyone" weatherman said
it's official! no more feeling bad about the garden this year!
got up in the night to find wool socks
slept curled in a ball and dreamt of Los Angeles
sleeping floating sprawled in warm air
the hard-working boy who mowed our *cough* grass all summer
has stacked the wood in the garage.
what is he saving for i wonder, that makes him work so hard?
i do love stacking wood, but could not find time this year.
when i stack it myself, i leave room for the car.
now john is rearranging it, not knowing how to tell the boy to.
he'd better hurry. this morning something whispered 'snow.'
i wonder if that boy shovels walks?
i mostly wonder if this boy is from another planet, shot into space by his loving parents
as his planet fell into its sun.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Imagine Peace
i didn't get to meet or dance with Yoko Ono on Friday night :-(
the imagine peace project activities continued through the weekend.
all i managed to attend was the saturday morning discussion, which i expected to spend 10 minutes at but stayed an hour.
it was far better than any discussion i have been to in second life, for many reasons.
i don't feel i contributed much except to stir the pot and keep throwing out thoughts.
here is a report from any1, and many thanks to her!
i hope there will be follow up to it. as for her posting some of our remarks here, i'm not sure it is in the spirit of uninhibited discussion, but whatever works.
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-340694
the imagine peace project activities continued through the weekend.
all i managed to attend was the saturday morning discussion, which i expected to spend 10 minutes at but stayed an hour.
it was far better than any discussion i have been to in second life, for many reasons.
i don't feel i contributed much except to stir the pot and keep throwing out thoughts.
here is a report from any1, and many thanks to her!
i hope there will be follow up to it. as for her posting some of our remarks here, i'm not sure it is in the spirit of uninhibited discussion, but whatever works.
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-340694
Oct 11, 2009
loneliness
All day
my toes
missed your toes.
~mudpie
(mudpie is an alt of lucy. i'd put a picture but mudpie is sometimes male and sometimes female)
my toes
missed your toes.
~mudpie
(mudpie is an alt of lucy. i'd put a picture but mudpie is sometimes male and sometimes female)
Oct 9, 2009
Fussbudgets i have known
lucy as a tiger has conference with fussby
in second life i have a cat fussbudget, named for a real cat now gone to be with elvis; fussby is the being i envision sometimes to raise maitri, 'unconditional friendliness.'
to get in touch with this loving feeling within yourself, you think of someone, person or pet, that you love without complication or reservation.
both cats are orange tabbies, very vocal, very consistently companionable and amiable.
real life (rl) fussbudget, unlike many rl cats, was even delighted to get his ration of cat food each day. yeahhhh! it's CAT FOOD AGAIN!!!! unlike sl fussby, rl fussby was a major barfer -- i always wanted to get him a little tee shirt that said on the front something like 'barf your guts out' and on the back 'then eat the barf' -- he was very tidy and easy going.
enough about that. here's my problem -- every now and then sl fussby's programming gets out of whack. like a rl cat he is programmed to ignore all commands and settings from time to time and wander out of his preset range to get hung up in some neighboring sim border or object protection. dragging him back doesn't always put him right and then i have to delete him and rez another copy.
this is where i get a little freaked out. is it the same cat i am so fond of? this sounds like the buddhist exercise "if you lose a leg are you still your 'self', if you lose all limbs are you? if you lose internal organs are you? if you lose your brain are you still you? etc..." (for the answer, meditate for several lifetimes).
are these sl fussbudgets just blossoms on the virtual cat bush? to me it seems the exact same cat but i still hate to delete him. and for some reason i don't consider him a sentient being like the roomba, any more than i consider my avatar to be a sentient being. maybe because neither one of them seems to learn much along the way.
Oct 8, 2009
not Robert
frost -- warned in August
September -- frost predicted
now just assumed -- frost
.
~mudpie
.
Oct 7, 2009
praise be to fill-in-the-blank
vermont in october (not my photo)
there are just a few times i ever wish to believe in a god.
when my child was out late in bad weather, lost, in trouble or sick, i wanted some super power who could help where i was helpless.
more often it happens on days like today when the beauty of the world is almost unbearable and i am bursting with praise and gratitude to be offered up.
yesterday the hills were a vast choir of voices of color singing their hearts out, and then at 5 pm a rainbow appeared above it all!
this morning was grey and rainy which only made the red maples among the yellow and purple trees blaze like neon.
and don't get me started on snow, the most wonderful amazing undeserved gift of joy and beauty, always different, always glorious.
ok i admit it, i sometimes pray and praise a god i don't believe in and have no ability even to conceptualize.
one of my secret vices...singing hymns and gospel music...i love it!
praise be for hymns and gospel music by people with a totally different explanation of it all but the same wish to express their heartfelt experience of joy and beauty.
when my child was out late in bad weather, lost, in trouble or sick, i wanted some super power who could help where i was helpless.
more often it happens on days like today when the beauty of the world is almost unbearable and i am bursting with praise and gratitude to be offered up.
yesterday the hills were a vast choir of voices of color singing their hearts out, and then at 5 pm a rainbow appeared above it all!
this morning was grey and rainy which only made the red maples among the yellow and purple trees blaze like neon.
and don't get me started on snow, the most wonderful amazing undeserved gift of joy and beauty, always different, always glorious.
ok i admit it, i sometimes pray and praise a god i don't believe in and have no ability even to conceptualize.
one of my secret vices...singing hymns and gospel music...i love it!
praise be for hymns and gospel music by people with a totally different explanation of it all but the same wish to express their heartfelt experience of joy and beauty.
Oct 5, 2009
my trip and a business opportunity
10 days 5 cities 6 airports and many friends later: new hampshire to boston to seattle to san francisco and drive down the coastal road to los angeles then back to burlington vt via pittsburgh! what fun! i loved it all!
idea someone can use -- i will never act on it, but someone should! usually when i come up with a great idea someone's beat me to it anyway...like 'baseball' style cards with serial killers, or even a starter kit and handbook for s.k.
new idea:
peel and stick lettering for anonymous blackmail letters.
do you think this exists?
don't you hate it when you have to cut out all those letters, and the black stuff from the magazine gets on your hands plus what kind of glue is best, anyway?
maybe a starter kit and then sell refills and new sheets of most-used letters.
idea someone can use -- i will never act on it, but someone should! usually when i come up with a great idea someone's beat me to it anyway...like 'baseball' style cards with serial killers, or even a starter kit and handbook for s.k.
new idea:
peel and stick lettering for anonymous blackmail letters.
do you think this exists?
don't you hate it when you have to cut out all those letters, and the black stuff from the magazine gets on your hands plus what kind of glue is best, anyway?
maybe a starter kit and then sell refills and new sheets of most-used letters.
Sep 24, 2009
PBS TV on SL
PBS Religion and Ethics Sept 18
not to suggest anyone try second life, but many of my friends are merely curious about it, and this is the best report on it I have seen yet. Usually reports focus on the sensational stories, not the everyday experience of creativity and community.
It's from a PBS tv show about religion. Too bad they didn't show some of the amazingly beautiful buddhist builds, where i have gone for meditation, to watch videos of buddhist teachers, and discussions with real buddhist teachers who have avatars in second life.
not to suggest anyone try second life, but many of my friends are merely curious about it, and this is the best report on it I have seen yet. Usually reports focus on the sensational stories, not the everyday experience of creativity and community.
It's from a PBS tv show about religion. Too bad they didn't show some of the amazingly beautiful buddhist builds, where i have gone for meditation, to watch videos of buddhist teachers, and discussions with real buddhist teachers who have avatars in second life.
Sep 23, 2009
what's your favorite color? WRONG!!!!
i'm heading out to seattle to meet 5 old friends. someone had the idea we should do a group thing of asking each other questions, or drawing questions from a hat, or something to do with questions. i asked for suggestions (i did used to have a job as a recreation director, so maybe that's why i am 'it' for this), and put together the questions my friends sent with some i swiped from a wonderful poem, and some from a book, etc. here's the list:
What’s the best thing that ever happened to you?
What’s the worst thing that ever happened to you?
What’s the worst thing that you’ve ever done?
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
What is the worst job you ever had?/What is the best job you ever had? what were you really doing there?
Who is the person you most admire and why?
where did you live?
what was your wedding like?
Who are you and why are you here?
did you like being pregnant?
do you think there is a future for sex?
what do you collect?
What do you still long for?
When did you laugh the hardest in your life?
What would surprise us to know about you?
What was your best vacation ever?
How are you different from your mother?
What is your favorite color?
if you lived in LA or NCY would you think twice about reshaping your body more to the current popular ideal?
Knowing what I now know would I have consented to be born?
When it comes time to go will I go forlorn or contented?
Has the loathing settled down?
If you could snow, would you?
Do you know what makes bipeds wild with joy?Could you be specific?
has our gathering changed you? Esp being with people who knew you when you were much younger?
Are you a talk friend or a doing stuff friend?
Did your interest in female friends increase after age 40?
By what are you most defined - what says the most about who you are? your house, friends, hobbies, job, car, boat, pet?
are we meant to have many loves in our life, young, family or middle age, old, or one lifetime partner ?
did you ever have a time when you thought a child was lost?
AND all the questions from "i get by with a little help from my friends"
What’s the best thing that ever happened to you?
What’s the worst thing that ever happened to you?
What’s the worst thing that you’ve ever done?
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
What is the worst job you ever had?/What is the best job you ever had? what were you really doing there?
Who is the person you most admire and why?
where did you live?
what was your wedding like?
Who are you and why are you here?
did you like being pregnant?
do you think there is a future for sex?
what do you collect?
What do you still long for?
When did you laugh the hardest in your life?
What would surprise us to know about you?
What was your best vacation ever?
How are you different from your mother?
What is your favorite color?
if you lived in LA or NCY would you think twice about reshaping your body more to the current popular ideal?
Knowing what I now know would I have consented to be born?
When it comes time to go will I go forlorn or contented?
Has the loathing settled down?
If you could snow, would you?
Do you know what makes bipeds wild with joy?Could you be specific?
has our gathering changed you? Esp being with people who knew you when you were much younger?
Are you a talk friend or a doing stuff friend?
Did your interest in female friends increase after age 40?
By what are you most defined - what says the most about who you are? your house, friends, hobbies, job, car, boat, pet?
are we meant to have many loves in our life, young, family or middle age, old, or one lifetime partner ?
did you ever have a time when you thought a child was lost?
AND all the questions from "i get by with a little help from my friends"
losing one's head
found a great animation that lets you carry your head tucked underneath your arm, or even dance with it! the best part is that you add a copy of whatever hair you are wearing, so you can make as many heads as you want to go with your current look.Sep 22, 2009
run on sentience
monday's post has disappeared! and so has my followers list.
it's not on TSMGO blog -- once i accidentally posted mine on there.
All i said on monday was that i am more interested in the question "is the roomba a sentient being?"
and not so much if we should wish it well.
who would not wish well to a roomba?
it's not on TSMGO blog -- once i accidentally posted mine on there.
All i said on monday was that i am more interested in the question "is the roomba a sentient being?"
and not so much if we should wish it well.
who would not wish well to a roomba?
Sep 20, 2009
may all beings be free from suffering and the root of suffering
Liz and i tell each other stories about our cats sometimes, and she also tells roomba stories.
machines are made smarter and more responsive and independent, until slowly, slowly, at some point they become robots, and then at some further point, robots are everywhere and no one noticed!
each generation accepts the level of them it finds itself born into, just as we now have 'cyberspace' immigrants (me) and natives (Liz).
rather than preparing me for this, my life of reading sci-fi only makes me alarmed.
and my life in buddhism adds this dimension: when i chant the aspiration that all sentient beings, or simply all beings, may they be happy and free from suffering, does that include Liz's roomba?
Wikepedia tells me: Sentient beings is a technical term in Buddhist discourse. Broadly speaking, it denotes beings with consciousness or sentience or, in some contexts, life itself.
another site says: Especially emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism, all sentient beings have Buddha Nature/ Essence. One can become a Buddha (a supreme enlightened being) in due course if one practises diligently and attains purity of mind (ie absolutely no delusions or afflictions).
does her roomba have delusions? will her roomba, that remembers the shape of her room and where her furniture is, and where it's docking station is, and when it hits an obstacle doesn't randomly bang against it, but uses its memory, and seeks it's docking station when its task is done...will it be reborn as a buddha?
machines are made smarter and more responsive and independent, until slowly, slowly, at some point they become robots, and then at some further point, robots are everywhere and no one noticed!
each generation accepts the level of them it finds itself born into, just as we now have 'cyberspace' immigrants (me) and natives (Liz).
rather than preparing me for this, my life of reading sci-fi only makes me alarmed.
and my life in buddhism adds this dimension: when i chant the aspiration that all sentient beings, or simply all beings, may they be happy and free from suffering, does that include Liz's roomba?
Wikepedia tells me: Sentient beings is a technical term in Buddhist discourse. Broadly speaking, it denotes beings with consciousness or sentience or, in some contexts, life itself.
another site says: Especially emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism, all sentient beings have Buddha Nature/ Essence. One can become a Buddha (a supreme enlightened being) in due course if one practises diligently and attains purity of mind (ie absolutely no delusions or afflictions).
does her roomba have delusions? will her roomba, that remembers the shape of her room and where her furniture is, and where it's docking station is, and when it hits an obstacle doesn't randomly bang against it, but uses its memory, and seeks it's docking station when its task is done...will it be reborn as a buddha?
Sep 18, 2009
carpe diem
One of my favorite quotes
"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
— E.B. White
"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
— E.B. White
Sep 17, 2009
the ox driver's question
Ernie's dad trains oxen and enters them in pulling contests at the fairs. i love to see him in the fields putting them through their paces, big as elephants but so docile-seeming.
do they even know they are not the same animal, having been together all their lives, and knowing him i suppose as their god.
the contests, i don't much like, with the whipping and straining. like ferdinand, they just want to stand in the meadow in the flowers. i could be wrong about that, perhaps they love the excitement and competition as much as ernie's dad does!
once i was in my garden and heard him putting them through their paces on the back street. the beautiful dirty backstreet child with long blonde hair was asking him questions and he was explaining about the oxen in his loud voice that all old tractor-drivers seem to have.
then i heard ernie's dad conversationally ask the question i had been wishing all summer that someone would ask,
"are you a boy or a girl?"
do they even know they are not the same animal, having been together all their lives, and knowing him i suppose as their god.
the contests, i don't much like, with the whipping and straining. like ferdinand, they just want to stand in the meadow in the flowers. i could be wrong about that, perhaps they love the excitement and competition as much as ernie's dad does!
once i was in my garden and heard him putting them through their paces on the back street. the beautiful dirty backstreet child with long blonde hair was asking him questions and he was explaining about the oxen in his loud voice that all old tractor-drivers seem to have.
then i heard ernie's dad conversationally ask the question i had been wishing all summer that someone would ask,
"are you a boy or a girl?"
Sep 16, 2009
i can haz big butt
with a wink for willylucy feeling rather lax
let her sliders slip to max
felt so fat, looked so hot
didn't dare to leave her plot
let her sliders slip to max
felt so fat, looked so hot
didn't dare to leave her plot
lucy feeling rather frisky
drank a jug of moonshine whiskey
then the silly little brat
moved her sliders all to FAT
drank a jug of moonshine whiskey
then the silly little brat
moved her sliders all to FAT
lucy, who we know is bratty
moved her sliders all to fatty
then she wondered, hand on chins
are righties fats and lefties thins?
moved her sliders all to fatty
then she wondered, hand on chins
are righties fats and lefties thins?
lucy sleepwalking one night
moved her sliders too far right
walked right off the cliffs at Skye
bounced 2 kilometers high!
moved her sliders too far right
walked right off the cliffs at Skye
bounced 2 kilometers high!
Sep 15, 2009
Sep 14, 2009
better search on xstreet for 'cloaca'
Saturday's two performances were great! this time i made a special effort to get a snapshot, probably threw off my comic timing, but with chat lag, who could tell anyway. so here is Dr. Lucy advising her pregnant patient Karuna (he is such a good sport!)i regret i did not include the 3rd member of this skit, Osprey, who is a medical skeleton hanging up on the desk just out of the picture.
the audience loves this skit and i love to write skits that could only take place in Second Life!
we will keep performing this wonderful flea circus variety show through the fall!
Sep 13, 2009
still in recovery, rebounding
Ernie drives his red antique tractor down the main street to turn into the fields to get the hay. I watch sitting on my front porch, on the silt and scree and boulders and soil the glacier left -- you can tell this was a deep wide river during the meltdown -- looking across the street between the church cars and the neighbor's junky yard i see the field, flat to the eastern line of hills, which, made of some harder stuff, didn't wash away. The tractor's so well tuned I can barely hear it from here. They must miss him at the county jail, now looks like he has a job working for Andrew Hall, British collector of old farms. Ernie's grown his hair and beard wild, long & Jesus styled, with a Hell's Angels bandanna round his head, and LOL his cell phone held to one ear.
Sep 11, 2009
Songs that get stuck in your brain
ever since my post this morning i've had this song stuck in my head, a song i had forgotten since it is from before i can even really remember! i think we had it on a record and i listened to it until i had it memorized and could sing it; it was the most beautiful, saddest song i had ever heard. just now i found it by googling and it's from a poem written by davy crockett, king of the wild frontier!
Farewell to the mountains, whose mazes to me
Are more beautiful far than Eden could be.
The home I redeemed from the savage and wild.
The home I have loved as a father his child.
The wife of my bosom, Farewell to ye all.
In the land of the stranger, I rise or I fall.
Farewell to the mountains, whose mazes to me
Are more beautiful far than Eden could be.
The home I redeemed from the savage and wild.
The home I have loved as a father his child.
The wife of my bosom, Farewell to ye all.
In the land of the stranger, I rise or I fall.
farewell to my secret garden
my garden in Higgins is no more! such a peaceful place of beauty with one disruptive raven (made by barney). you could get a ride if you could catch on to its feet. and two chirping birds, a radio (a show & tell giveaway that actually got a dozen stations), and one of pandora's magic doors that wormholed you up up to my gypsy caravan on the hill. i've moved my caravan to a barren bluff in Skye overlooking a lovely tropical beach with a coral reef beneath turqouise water. one of the prettiest spots in second life, thanks to my friend and neighbor karuna who has beautified it from the bleak coast it was originally. i couldn't resist putting up a cannon on my bluff to shoot myself out into the bay. i've met 4 or 5 of the neighbors and ridden my horse around some of the Skye sims where alex continues to bring forth exciting landscapes and flora and his specialty, castles. i do fear this is no place to bring my cat, as he is the sort who will fall off the cliff or wander into the ocean, being programmed to behave very much like a cat and randomly ignore the limits you have set him at. maybe one of my friends will take him on. i hate to confine him to a house.
Sep 10, 2009
The Sun Magazine
if i had to give one up, The Sun Magazine or The New Yorker, which would it be?
it's as hard as the pizza vs ice-cream question.
i love The Sun Mag -- all these years with no advertising, excellent b&w photography, stories real and made up but always true that if nothing else always have heart and soul and sex drugs and rock n roll, and best of all, the interviews!
once laredo saw me reading The Sun at work and looked at me oddly "You read Sun Magazine?" (emphasis on the YOU) -- like it was a secret cult he smugly belonged to.
what's with that? you mean everyone doesn't like their morning cheerios sometimes seasoned with tears?
the sept interview is with Janine Benyus, a surprising person changing the world.
anyone who ever asked "what would mother nature do to make plywood stick together better?" should read about it in the Sept issue of The Sun.
it's as hard as the pizza vs ice-cream question.
i love The Sun Mag -- all these years with no advertising, excellent b&w photography, stories real and made up but always true that if nothing else always have heart and soul and sex drugs and rock n roll, and best of all, the interviews!
once laredo saw me reading The Sun at work and looked at me oddly "You read Sun Magazine?" (emphasis on the YOU) -- like it was a secret cult he smugly belonged to.
what's with that? you mean everyone doesn't like their morning cheerios sometimes seasoned with tears?
the sept interview is with Janine Benyus, a surprising person changing the world.
anyone who ever asked "what would mother nature do to make plywood stick together better?" should read about it in the Sept issue of The Sun.
Sep 9, 2009
The Medicated Bodhisattva
when my left thumb hurts
i take all hurting thumbs - and -
also an aspirin
when my throat is sore
give me all painful throats - and
some ibuprophen
~mudpie
i take all hurting thumbs - and -
also an aspirin
when my throat is sore
give me all painful throats - and
some ibuprophen
~mudpie
Sep 8, 2009
Sep 7, 2009
TSMGO
what could be more fun than The Show Must Go On! - i seldom get pictures of my acts -- i get so intensely involved, which i love!
i once loved my tangly marionettes - still in a box somewhere - and the stage my daddy made for me. and hand puppets when i was librarian, i made my own from papier-mache. now even better, The Show Must Go On! thank goodness Osprey took me off the sordid streets of Second Life and trained me for her Unicyle and Knitting Drill Team before i got lured into who knows what...real estate, or scripting!
now writing acts, rehearsing and performing, getting the animations clicked on time, fighting lag, not falling off the stage, wagging my tail and or leaping at just the right moment in the Yak Ballet...best puppetry ever! and such great audiences, often they are funnier than the show itself! performers come together at 2 pm saturday west coast time, from the west coast, texas, europe, uk, and australia (where it is strangely sunday morning!) the rowdy audience is from all over the planet. the best time to gather from all over the world is 2 pm west coast time on saturday! soon we will wind up the 2009 show and begin filming the 2008 show. don't miss out if you haven't seen it!
Sep 6, 2009
It was a sci fi movie btw, we did a storyboard and everything and some 'special effects' too! No tinfoil was harmed.
Two guys came across the grass - it was Tony the librarian and a tall sturdy fellow. "Guess who this is!"
It's Tim, from a hundred years ago when 5 had a name and I was the local librarian and volunteered to make movies with the 'gifted and talented' kids at the 3 room grade school.
And now, OMG, I am that librarian you know the one "There was this librarian when I was a kid and if it hadn't been for the library..."
So here's Tim grown up and visiting from out of state and they have a dusty metal flat canister Tony found for him in the library attic. Tim holds it out hopefully...
"is this the movie we made? remember?"
It's Tim, from a hundred years ago when 5 had a name and I was the local librarian and volunteered to make movies with the 'gifted and talented' kids at the 3 room grade school.
And now, OMG, I am that librarian you know the one "There was this librarian when I was a kid and if it hadn't been for the library..."
So here's Tim grown up and visiting from out of state and they have a dusty metal flat canister Tony found for him in the library attic. Tim holds it out hopefully...
"is this the movie we made? remember?"
Sep 5, 2009
the sound of one can opening
"I think this cat gets sick every 3 or 4 days 'cause he's constipated.""Makes sense...he's pretty old."
"Why don't you ask Zinnia to ask Lily about it?"
"OK"
next day...
"Zinnia thought right off it would be pumpkin."
"Pumpkin?"
"And Lily confirmed, yes pumpkin. Best thing for it for an old cat."
"Cats don't eat pumpkin."
"If there's a can opener involved, I'll bet he will!"
Sep 4, 2009
they had the wings to go
last night i was reading by lamplight on the porch when a corner of my mind caught a distant sound.
soon closer and louder.
i looked up -- it was dark.
Louder!
i turned off the light and oh, it wasn't dark at all.
a round orange moon sat above the hills brightening the sky.
LOUDER! oh NOOOO it's only SEPT 3 you CAN'T GO!
i ran outside to the grass.
30
40
50
strung out across the sky LOUDER AND LOUDER AND LOUDER!
joyful eager and ready to go, exulting as only they can - they flew above the house!
i looked up and down the street - no one else ran out to stand witness on the grass.
gone -- now out of sight over the roof.
i listened them out of hearing and waited.
gone.
only the crickets sounded in the clear chilly moonlight.
soon closer and louder.
i looked up -- it was dark.
Louder!
i turned off the light and oh, it wasn't dark at all.
a round orange moon sat above the hills brightening the sky.
LOUDER! oh NOOOO it's only SEPT 3 you CAN'T GO!
i ran outside to the grass.
30
40
50
strung out across the sky LOUDER AND LOUDER AND LOUDER!
joyful eager and ready to go, exulting as only they can - they flew above the house!
i looked up and down the street - no one else ran out to stand witness on the grass.
gone -- now out of sight over the roof.
i listened them out of hearing and waited.
gone.
only the crickets sounded in the clear chilly moonlight.
Sep 3, 2009
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
At the pharmacy buying vitamins. The pharmacist hears my voice comes out from behind his shelves of pills saying "this is a really great book! you have to get John to read it!" and lots more about the book and the author. Ringing up my sale, Chris agrees enthusiastically. Two doors down, at the shiretownbooks.com book shoppe , Kelley moves the cat and pulls the trade paperback off the shelf for me ("the next one is out now, too" she shows me a hardcover - 2nd in the series of 3). I take book one to John who says "oh but you know i am in the middle of a couple of books" reads cover and then "i'll take a look at the first page."Since then i have not seen him without The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in front of him! and going on about how great it is. It's like when he discovered The Emperor of Ocean Park and couldn't put it down or stop raving about it. But he says this one inspires him to write, where as The Emperor made him feel he should give it up.
Sep 2, 2009
Orange Moon Rising
Who writes poems about summer while it is? would you write a poem about love when with your lover? blue-sky-bright eyes sunny smile showers of laughter warm embrace but now glancing aside, distracted by cricket song, a shiver as coolness of autumn arises orange and round on the horizon and i write a poem.blinding green, sun slant,
shadows long , crickets chant
goodbye to summer
Sep 1, 2009
Lucy as Ophelia
sometimes i live in the citysometimes in a pixel town
there aint no place like a virtual world
if you get a notion to drown
Irene goodnight Irene goodnight
Goodnight Irene
Goodnight Irene
I'll see you in my dreams
drowning assisted by my friend Enjah
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