I am reading "Wicked" and searching for the land of OZ. A serious note: "Wicked" is one of the best books that I have read this summer.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Glinda and Elphaba met in college!
Did you know that Glinda, the good witch of the north, and Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west, met in college? They were roommates.
I am reading "Wicked" and searching for the land of OZ. A serious note: "Wicked" is one of the best books that I have read this summer.
I am reading "Wicked" and searching for the land of OZ. A serious note: "Wicked" is one of the best books that I have read this summer.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The Journey Begins Again
I have this feeling stroking the soles of my feet that a new journey is beginning.
As always, photos will be a visual testament to my personal growth, so let the games begin. I have no intention of standing on the sidelines.
Liberace's words kickstart the ride:
I had to dare a little bit. Who am I kidding—I had to dare a lot. Don’t wear one ring, wear five or six. People ask how I can play with all those rings, and I reply, "Very well, thank you."
As always, photos will be a visual testament to my personal growth, so let the games begin. I have no intention of standing on the sidelines.
Liberace's words kickstart the ride:
I had to dare a little bit. Who am I kidding—I had to dare a lot. Don’t wear one ring, wear five or six. People ask how I can play with all those rings, and I reply, "Very well, thank you."
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Harkin Steak Fry 2007: Such Is Life
Oh politics; My friends won't let me swim in apathy, and to be true to self, I realize I need to get involved. There is just so much about politics in America that I don't like.
Such is life!
Sept. 16, 2007
Simple Attention is not so simple
The Tricycle Daily Dharma for Sept. 18, 2007 is something I work on each day. The joy of being completely present and involved in every moment of our own lives is simple and rewarding. This dharma reminds me not to overlook the simple truths of living.
Growth
The secret of beginning a life of deep awareness and sensitivity lies in our willingness to pay attention. Our growth as conscious, awake human beings is marked not so much by grand gestures and visible renunciations as by extending loving attention to the minutest particulars of our lives. Every relationship, every thought, every gesture is blessed with meaning through the wholehearted attention we bring to it. In the complexities of our minds and lives we easily forget the power of attention, yet without attention we live only on the surface of existence. It is just simple attention that allows us truly to listen to the song of a bird, to see deeply the glory of an autumn leaf, to touch the heart of another and be touched. We need to be fully present in order to love a single thing wholeheartedly. We need to be fully awake in this moment if we are to receive and respond to the learning inherent in it.
- Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield, Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart from Everyday Mind, a Tricycle book edited by Jean Smith
Growth
The secret of beginning a life of deep awareness and sensitivity lies in our willingness to pay attention. Our growth as conscious, awake human beings is marked not so much by grand gestures and visible renunciations as by extending loving attention to the minutest particulars of our lives. Every relationship, every thought, every gesture is blessed with meaning through the wholehearted attention we bring to it. In the complexities of our minds and lives we easily forget the power of attention, yet without attention we live only on the surface of existence. It is just simple attention that allows us truly to listen to the song of a bird, to see deeply the glory of an autumn leaf, to touch the heart of another and be touched. We need to be fully present in order to love a single thing wholeheartedly. We need to be fully awake in this moment if we are to receive and respond to the learning inherent in it.
- Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield, Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart from Everyday Mind, a Tricycle book edited by Jean Smith
Monday, September 17, 2007
Joy of Liberace in the Kitchen
I want this cookbook: “Joy of Liberace: Retro Recipes from America's Kitchiest Kitchen.”
The cover is enough to make me wish that I had been part of the editorial and graphic design team who put this masterpiece together.
Learn more at the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada:
http://www.liberace.org/
Diamonds and Furs: A Boy’s Best Friend
If I had the national authority and calendar control clout, I would declare today National Liberace Appreciation Day. His outlook on life had so much to teach us!
Liberace in concert:
“Go ahead, try it! Live Dangerously!” [my editorial comment: Not with your sex life!]
Right on Liberace. You are one of my heroes with all your bawdy faults and human wisdom. I love you.
Practice safely.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
What embraces you? What abandons you?
I love librarians and always have. Because of this love, I usually form friendships with the librarians in my life.
This passage from the current book that I am reading- “The Tender Bar” by J.R. Moehringer- was recommended by a lovely librarian and touched me when I read it. I crave the sensation of words cuddling and jolting my emotions, and I want to share. Comments solicited.
“While I fear that we’re drawn to what abandons us, and to what seems most likely to abandon us, in the end I believe we’re defined by what embraces us.”
This passage from the current book that I am reading- “The Tender Bar” by J.R. Moehringer- was recommended by a lovely librarian and touched me when I read it. I crave the sensation of words cuddling and jolting my emotions, and I want to share. Comments solicited.
“While I fear that we’re drawn to what abandons us, and to what seems most likely to abandon us, in the end I believe we’re defined by what embraces us.”
Monday, September 03, 2007
Oh, Iowa
This photo speaks for itself. If you are not familiar with Casey's and fishing worms, welcome to Iowa.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Lingering with Delicate Sitting Ducks
I was examining the shape, color, texture and black underside of mushrooms today. They are visually interesting, a delicate sitting duck in the too-tall grass of August.
Mushrooms are popping up everywhere after the torrential rains in the state. I want to photograph them and see what comes of it.
Modern Photography: Mushrooms dallying in the breeze.
I am including a visual of marbles on fabric to demonstrate what experimenting with colors, textures, shapes and lighting can do in a photograph. I have been exploring these concepts while reading “Photographic Lighting: Learning to See” by Ralph Hattersley.
Consider this thought from Hattersley,
“We insist to ourselves that we see things, whereas our eyes are only constructed to see light. In truth, nothing else is visible.”
Friday, August 24, 2007
Words Like Rain
I am often thinking of words: words of a lover, organized tiles from the Scrabble games; in my head they tumble and fall spilling like warm rain in my hair.
Excerpt from "Romance"
by Claude McKay
To lie at full length, taut, with cheek to cheek,
And tease your mouth with kisses till you speak
Love words, mad words, dream words, sweet senseless words,
Melodious like notes of mating birds;
Excerpt from "Romance"
by Claude McKay
To lie at full length, taut, with cheek to cheek,
And tease your mouth with kisses till you speak
Love words, mad words, dream words, sweet senseless words,
Melodious like notes of mating birds;
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Cy and Lori at the 2007 Iowa State Fair
Here we are, Cy the Cyclone- the Iowa State University mascot- and me. I enjoy the days that Cy strolls around the ISU campus waving the thumbs up to everyone. It's a signal that all is well in the universe when a large red cyclone bird is high-fiving humans on the planet earth.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Fully in Touch
I needed the Daily Dharma for today! I am posting it so that I can read it when I need a reminder; Feeling pain is part of life and learning.
Tricycle's Daily Dharma: August 5, 2007
Fully In Touch
The person that desires to have only pleasure and refuses pain expends an enormous amount of energy resisting life--and at the same time misses out enormously. He or she is on a self-defeating mission in any case, for just as we evade certain forms of suffering we inevitably fall victim to others. Underlying our glitzy modern consumer culture there is a deep spiritual under-nourishment and malaise that manifests all kinds of symptoms: nervous disorders, loneliness, alienation, purposelessness . . . So blanking out, running away, burying our heads in the sand or videotape will take us nowhere in the long run. If we really want to solve our problems--and the world's problems, for they stem from the same roots--we must open up and accept the reality of suffering with full awareness, as it strikes us, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, in the here-now. Then, strange as it may seem, we reap vast rewards. For suffering has its positive side. From it we derive the experience of depth: of the fullness of our humanity. This puts us fully in touch with other people and the rest of the Universe.
--John Snelling
Tricycle's Daily Dharma: August 5, 2007
Fully In Touch
The person that desires to have only pleasure and refuses pain expends an enormous amount of energy resisting life--and at the same time misses out enormously. He or she is on a self-defeating mission in any case, for just as we evade certain forms of suffering we inevitably fall victim to others. Underlying our glitzy modern consumer culture there is a deep spiritual under-nourishment and malaise that manifests all kinds of symptoms: nervous disorders, loneliness, alienation, purposelessness . . . So blanking out, running away, burying our heads in the sand or videotape will take us nowhere in the long run. If we really want to solve our problems--and the world's problems, for they stem from the same roots--we must open up and accept the reality of suffering with full awareness, as it strikes us, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, in the here-now. Then, strange as it may seem, we reap vast rewards. For suffering has its positive side. From it we derive the experience of depth: of the fullness of our humanity. This puts us fully in touch with other people and the rest of the Universe.
--John Snelling
Monday, June 18, 2007
China 0n-line: Poems and Perspectives
I was exploring the “Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America” web site while I questioned the credibility of the site with my keyboard clicks. I could not find the address for the Chinese Embassy in D.C. or the consulate in Chicago on the site. Perhaps I can market my editing skills in Shanghai; important things get lost in translation on many of the web sites I have encountered where Chinese is translated into English.
Judge the credibility of the “Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America” web site for yourself. The excerpt from the news release about human rights in the United States is a matter of how you choose to process and culturally understand the world.
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/
China issues human rights record of the United States (03/08/07)
China issued on March 8 the Human Rights Record of the United States in 2006 in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006 issued by the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday.
The document says the United States has a flagrant record of violating the Geneva Convention in systematically abusing prisoners during the Iraqi War and the War in Afghanistan.
A report released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Aug. 29, 2006 says there were 37 million people living in poverty in 2005, accounting for 12.6 percent of total U.S. population. The report also says there were 7.7 million families in poverty and one out of eight Americans was living in poverty in 2005. "The ethnic minorities are at the bottom of American society," the Chinese report says.
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/zgrq/t302225.htm
I read about volunteering for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and found a link to a site called "Chinese Poems."
After the Rain - Yue Fu
After rain, the forest's sleek,
Between the pines, the moon startles my heart.
I smile and think of home,
A foreign guest in a foreign land.
http://www.chinese-poems.com/yfa1.html
That will be me in September.
Judge the credibility of the “Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America” web site for yourself. The excerpt from the news release about human rights in the United States is a matter of how you choose to process and culturally understand the world.
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/
China issues human rights record of the United States (03/08/07)
China issued on March 8 the Human Rights Record of the United States in 2006 in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006 issued by the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday.
The document says the United States has a flagrant record of violating the Geneva Convention in systematically abusing prisoners during the Iraqi War and the War in Afghanistan.
A report released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Aug. 29, 2006 says there were 37 million people living in poverty in 2005, accounting for 12.6 percent of total U.S. population. The report also says there were 7.7 million families in poverty and one out of eight Americans was living in poverty in 2005. "The ethnic minorities are at the bottom of American society," the Chinese report says.
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/zgrq/t302225.htm
I read about volunteering for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and found a link to a site called "Chinese Poems."
After the Rain - Yue Fu
After rain, the forest's sleek,
Between the pines, the moon startles my heart.
I smile and think of home,
A foreign guest in a foreign land.
http://www.chinese-poems.com/yfa1.html
That will be me in September.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Guard Your Banana
I have been thinking about bananas and traveling lately- somewhat due to this passage from "The Inheritance of Loss."
"No fruit dies so vile and offensive a death as the banana, but it had been packed [for the trip] just in case."
I have had banana-horror-black-spots and mush traveling incidents myself. But look! Justin found this lovely gift for his friend Rachael, and it might solve the problem of banana death on the road.
THE BANANA GUARD, available in assorted colors:
http://www.bananaguard.com/
What snack do you pack when you travel?
"No fruit dies so vile and offensive a death as the banana, but it had been packed [for the trip] just in case."
I have had banana-horror-black-spots and mush traveling incidents myself. But look! Justin found this lovely gift for his friend Rachael, and it might solve the problem of banana death on the road.
THE BANANA GUARD, available in assorted colors:
http://www.bananaguard.com/
What snack do you pack when you travel?
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
A Tea Bar Visit Plan: My New City September '07
I was reading about tea houses in Shanghai on an expat web site that a friend sent me. I am planning a visit to this tea bar, and I would really love to meet the person who wrote the following review.
Shing Shung Tea Bar
Address: 195 North Huang Pi Road
Phone: 86 21 6358 2682
Information: Although outside the Old City walls, this cozy tea house-café, in the shadow of the wave-like Shanghai Grand Theatre near the People’s Square, is worth the cross-town trek just for its chilled black apple tea and coconut toast. When lunch hour is over and the well-heeled corporate types have departed, the tea house takes on a more turn-of-the-century European feeling as huddles of Othello players and pensive smokers reclaim the chairs around the dark, wood-paneled room and the try to make senses of the Edith Piaf tunes floating in from the kitchen.
Investigate tea houses and other surprises in Shanghai for yourself:
http://shanghai.asiaxpat.com/directory.asp?cat=250&id=3890
http://shanghai.asiaxpat.com/atoz.asp
Shing Shung Tea Bar
Address: 195 North Huang Pi Road
Phone: 86 21 6358 2682
Information: Although outside the Old City walls, this cozy tea house-café, in the shadow of the wave-like Shanghai Grand Theatre near the People’s Square, is worth the cross-town trek just for its chilled black apple tea and coconut toast. When lunch hour is over and the well-heeled corporate types have departed, the tea house takes on a more turn-of-the-century European feeling as huddles of Othello players and pensive smokers reclaim the chairs around the dark, wood-paneled room and the try to make senses of the Edith Piaf tunes floating in from the kitchen.
Investigate tea houses and other surprises in Shanghai for yourself:
http://shanghai.asiaxpat.com/directory.asp?cat=250&id=3890
http://shanghai.asiaxpat.com/atoz.asp
Monday, June 11, 2007
Books I Want To Peruse This Summer
Can't believe I am involved in a Facebook on-line community food fight. Watch out, I may throw a cake at you when I get my lunch money. How old am I? Paul, you started it!
It is great to have so much free time this summer. I love it!
After reading book reviews this morning, I think I should go back for my Ph.D. in literature, but I need some time off first.
Appreciate this thought from Khaled Hosseini, author of the “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” with me.
“As a writer, the things that always move me are the intimate human stories, the links between the characters, their dreams, their disappointments, their crushing defeats and their atonements.”
Books I want to peruse:
Ian McEwan - On Chesil Beach
***** Ryszard Kapuscinski, Knopf - Travels with Herodotus
National Geographic - The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life
Quirk, edited by: Erik Torkells - The Smart Traveler’s Passport: 399 Tips from Seasoned Travelers
It is great to have so much free time this summer. I love it!
After reading book reviews this morning, I think I should go back for my Ph.D. in literature, but I need some time off first.
Appreciate this thought from Khaled Hosseini, author of the “The Kite Runner” and “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” with me.
“As a writer, the things that always move me are the intimate human stories, the links between the characters, their dreams, their disappointments, their crushing defeats and their atonements.”
Books I want to peruse:
Ian McEwan - On Chesil Beach
***** Ryszard Kapuscinski, Knopf - Travels with Herodotus
National Geographic - The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life
Quirk, edited by: Erik Torkells - The Smart Traveler’s Passport: 399 Tips from Seasoned Travelers
Friday, May 25, 2007
Gone Fishing
So Long.
Farewell.
Auf Wiedersehen.
Goodnight!
I'm taking a sabbatical from blogging.
Can't say when I will return. Enjoy your time and appreciate each minute.
Farewell.
Auf Wiedersehen.
Goodnight!
I'm taking a sabbatical from blogging.
Can't say when I will return. Enjoy your time and appreciate each minute.
Friday, May 18, 2007
More Continents and More Dreams
I practice Buddhism, so it is very possible that in possible past lives, I may have lived happily on the continent of Asia or Africa, which exempts me from the pressures of conforming to the American Dream (AD) today.
My sister and I appear in the photo above at a time when we were still blissfully unaware that the AD existed in the collective consciousness of our elders. What a light hearted time.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
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