I woke up yesterday to the sound of a text message
That up there, thanks to my internet "connection," is all Blogger was able to autosave of a blog I spent oven an hour writing on Monday. Since that crushing blow, I have not had the patience to blog. So Almost There... is missing out on my great story of sailing and picnicking and philosophizing with an engineer, an architect and a cellist.
In newer news, I once again proved my theory, "Put a Bottle In Front Of Me, and I Will Drink It Empty," by draining a cheap bottle of Merlot as I talked to Age, and then Dawna, on the phone until 2:30AM. Meanwhile I finally worked out a draft of my next tattoo that looks like something I'd be willing to get inked. Then I slept, and still managed to get to work at about 6:40AM. I don't understand why I wake up easier after a night of drinking. Anyway, I blame Katie, because I can.
But this is what I came to do today: brag about my sister. Here I am doing all I can to keep life interesting, she goes and tops me by living in the Biosphere-2 this summer. (Yes, the Biosphere-2 does still exist.) During our first trip to the Bs2 last year, Scott and Jenny and I were obsessed with the library--practically the only place we weren't able to get into. Now she's been sending me pictures from inside the library. And she's been living in the same dorm that we snuck into back then. Needless to say, I'm wicked jealous.
Not all of her time, though, was spent in the Great Indoors. She and the other three students who were selected have been hiking and camping, as I understand it. It's all connected to a water conservation project (or as we're saying these days, "initiative") lead by Arizona Rivers. Here is a news story on there-local station KUAT, discussing the project, and even interviewing my kiddo.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
new adventures!
I'm really happy about this: I have done a lot in the past nine days.
I have a tendency to be lazy--one of my biggest motivations in leaving Tennessee was to escape what I thought of as a "sedentary lifestyle." So any week in which I leave the house two or more times (for something other than work) is a big step for me, but it's a first step, and I hope to reach a point where I spend the majority of my time out & about.
Here's some of the things I've done lately:
--I walked with Anna down to the waterfront, and took a ferry to Bainbridge Island, where we had pizza, and then returned to play Rock Band until we dropped.
--Saw Dr Robert Thurman speak at SPL on the Dalai Lama, and how the world might (he says will) change through a Buddhist perspective.
--Explored the U. District, where Anna introduced me to an awesome bookstore and an equally awesome video store (the movies are arranged alphabetically by director!), and then we talked about Mike Samberg over drinks at an Irish pub.
--I finally got to work in receiving at BN. I guess since that's what they hired me to do, and since I've been there for a month now, they finally decided to put me in there. I celebrated by spending my lunch break that day drinking and writing.
--Friday I went downtown to join my aunt, uncle & cousin in seeing Alexander Nevsky, while the Seattle Symphony and Chorale performed Prokofiev's score to the film.
--yesterday I took a bus to the U. District... it became stuck in traffic (yesterday was UW's graduation) so I hopped off & walked around until I found my way to Maitreya & Mark's house, and we went to see the Mariners lose to the Nationals. None of us are fans of baseball (actually, I think yesterday was the first baseball game I ever watched that wasn't a video game), but Mark had free tickets so it was worth doing. This was the first time I met Mark, and the first time I'd seen Maitreya in probably ten years.
--Today I joined my aunt, uncle & cousin again, this time for Fathers' Day brunch. That was very nice, and Bria (my cousin) and I followed it up by going down to the pier and touring one of the boats from Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch." It was freaking cool (Bria liked neither the motor-oil smell, nor the discomfort of it, but I thought it was awesome, and am now considering going out with them for a season).
Anyway, that's the laundry list of recent accomplishments. Not the most exciting, but oh well. I'm going to go now, and try to get rid of this headache.
Oh, yeah, but before I do, I just thought I'd mention the fact that it's been in the mid-sixties for the past two days here, and I consider it to be wicked hot. Mark & Treya, having just moved here from Jersey, were asking about becoming acclimated, and I'd say it happens pretty quickly... considering I've been here only six weeks, and that I moved here from Arizona (where it was 117°F yesterday).
I have a tendency to be lazy--one of my biggest motivations in leaving Tennessee was to escape what I thought of as a "sedentary lifestyle." So any week in which I leave the house two or more times (for something other than work) is a big step for me, but it's a first step, and I hope to reach a point where I spend the majority of my time out & about.
Here's some of the things I've done lately:
--I walked with Anna down to the waterfront, and took a ferry to Bainbridge Island, where we had pizza, and then returned to play Rock Band until we dropped.
--Saw Dr Robert Thurman speak at SPL on the Dalai Lama, and how the world might (he says will) change through a Buddhist perspective.
--Explored the U. District, where Anna introduced me to an awesome bookstore and an equally awesome video store (the movies are arranged alphabetically by director!), and then we talked about Mike Samberg over drinks at an Irish pub.
--I finally got to work in receiving at BN. I guess since that's what they hired me to do, and since I've been there for a month now, they finally decided to put me in there. I celebrated by spending my lunch break that day drinking and writing.
--Friday I went downtown to join my aunt, uncle & cousin in seeing Alexander Nevsky, while the Seattle Symphony and Chorale performed Prokofiev's score to the film.
--yesterday I took a bus to the U. District... it became stuck in traffic (yesterday was UW's graduation) so I hopped off & walked around until I found my way to Maitreya & Mark's house, and we went to see the Mariners lose to the Nationals. None of us are fans of baseball (actually, I think yesterday was the first baseball game I ever watched that wasn't a video game), but Mark had free tickets so it was worth doing. This was the first time I met Mark, and the first time I'd seen Maitreya in probably ten years.
--Today I joined my aunt, uncle & cousin again, this time for Fathers' Day brunch. That was very nice, and Bria (my cousin) and I followed it up by going down to the pier and touring one of the boats from Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch." It was freaking cool (Bria liked neither the motor-oil smell, nor the discomfort of it, but I thought it was awesome, and am now considering going out with them for a season).
Anyway, that's the laundry list of recent accomplishments. Not the most exciting, but oh well. I'm going to go now, and try to get rid of this headache.
Oh, yeah, but before I do, I just thought I'd mention the fact that it's been in the mid-sixties for the past two days here, and I consider it to be wicked hot. Mark & Treya, having just moved here from Jersey, were asking about becoming acclimated, and I'd say it happens pretty quickly... considering I've been here only six weeks, and that I moved here from Arizona (where it was 117°F yesterday).
Friday, June 6, 2008
Almost there...
There are two reasons why I named this blog Almost There. One of these reasons I'll go into at a time when I'm feeling particularly homesick; the other reason is connected to this postcard from Post Secret:
Something's happening in this world. I think it's been building for a while, and I think it's going to happen soon. Michael and I discussed this last summer--the way I see the world, and the way he sees the world, it is not unique. This much is evidenced by the fact that we see our thoughts and feelings echoed in books and songs and film--even some created before we were born.
I'm now interested in Eckhart Tolle, who I admit I dismissed immediately once I heard he was Oprah's New Big Thing (the last NBT I heard of from Oprah was Dr Phil). The new issue of Shambhala Sun has an article on him, which says, '[he] sees his books as catalysts contributing to the arising of a new, less egoic consiousness and "a more enlightened humanity."'
That's what we saw, discussing the matter last July. We're not starting any revolutions, here; we're contributing to the one that already exists. In his autibiography, Providence, Daniel Quinn explains that in the seventies, he was aware that his generation's "revolution" would fail. But he also realized it wouldn't die--the embers would burn beneath, and the next generation would pick it up. That's why he wrote Ishmael (and his other books). Today I bought his book Beyond Civilization, (non-fiction; it's found under 'Social Sciences' at Barnes & Noble). About it (and within it), he says,
...
I have had some really amazing fortune. Somewhere in my life, I developed the tendency to draw lines between events, to notice connections. So I felt it was really significant that I've met some amazing people--but even more amazing to see how they fit together. I've got friends who are interested in communal living, and I've got friends with land they're interested in providing for a commune. I know some wicked clever scientific minds. What is always surprising to me, though, is that I also keep meeting people who know--just know--they are going to change the world. Honestly, I cannot count on one hand the number of people that have confided this "secret" to me in the past year. The way I see it, there's an army of prophets-to-be developing. It's an exciting thing to witness.
I feel drawn forward, and I've felt the current growing stronger over the past, lord, twelve years. And in the past year I've felt it increase exponentially. I made up my mind, back in 2001, to do what I'm doing with my life. But I was too afraid; I had the belief, but not the faith, that it wouldn't kill me to separate myself from the world I knew but didn't understand. I finally took that leap of faith, and went from crawling forward to being hurled at breakneck speeds. That's one thing I don't think people catch, sometimes--I'm not in this for the fun or for the adventure. I'm doing what feels to me like the "right thing to do." I'm following a sign like Socrates's, and I'm motivated to do so by curiosity: "For some reason, I feel like I should do this... I wonder what will happen if I do..."
What I mean to say is, I took a leap of faith, to have conviction in what I believe. And since I did, even my lowest moments have felt better than my highest points spent not chasing this dream. I've faced the hardest and most painful things I ever have, just in the past few months, but I've found myself handing them much more capably than I handled lesser woes in my past. I feel like a better, stronger person than ever before, and know I'll only improbe in these respects as I continue to follow this path.
I feel like we're standing on the edge of something big. Take a leap of faith with me.
Something's happening in this world. I think it's been building for a while, and I think it's going to happen soon. Michael and I discussed this last summer--the way I see the world, and the way he sees the world, it is not unique. This much is evidenced by the fact that we see our thoughts and feelings echoed in books and songs and film--even some created before we were born.
I'm now interested in Eckhart Tolle, who I admit I dismissed immediately once I heard he was Oprah's New Big Thing (the last NBT I heard of from Oprah was Dr Phil). The new issue of Shambhala Sun has an article on him, which says, '[he] sees his books as catalysts contributing to the arising of a new, less egoic consiousness and "a more enlightened humanity."'
That's what we saw, discussing the matter last July. We're not starting any revolutions, here; we're contributing to the one that already exists. In his autibiography, Providence, Daniel Quinn explains that in the seventies, he was aware that his generation's "revolution" would fail. But he also realized it wouldn't die--the embers would burn beneath, and the next generation would pick it up. That's why he wrote Ishmael (and his other books). Today I bought his book Beyond Civilization, (non-fiction; it's found under 'Social Sciences' at Barnes & Noble). About it (and within it), he says,
Over and over again, literally thousands of times, people have said to me or written to me, "I understand what you're saying--you've changed the way I see the world and our place in it--but what are we supposed to DO about it?
I might have said, "Isn't it obvious?" But obviously it isn't obvious--or anything remotely like obvious.
In this book I hope to make it obvious.
...
I have had some really amazing fortune. Somewhere in my life, I developed the tendency to draw lines between events, to notice connections. So I felt it was really significant that I've met some amazing people--but even more amazing to see how they fit together. I've got friends who are interested in communal living, and I've got friends with land they're interested in providing for a commune. I know some wicked clever scientific minds. What is always surprising to me, though, is that I also keep meeting people who know--just know--they are going to change the world. Honestly, I cannot count on one hand the number of people that have confided this "secret" to me in the past year. The way I see it, there's an army of prophets-to-be developing. It's an exciting thing to witness.
I feel drawn forward, and I've felt the current growing stronger over the past, lord, twelve years. And in the past year I've felt it increase exponentially. I made up my mind, back in 2001, to do what I'm doing with my life. But I was too afraid; I had the belief, but not the faith, that it wouldn't kill me to separate myself from the world I knew but didn't understand. I finally took that leap of faith, and went from crawling forward to being hurled at breakneck speeds. That's one thing I don't think people catch, sometimes--I'm not in this for the fun or for the adventure. I'm doing what feels to me like the "right thing to do." I'm following a sign like Socrates's, and I'm motivated to do so by curiosity: "For some reason, I feel like I should do this... I wonder what will happen if I do..."
What I mean to say is, I took a leap of faith, to have conviction in what I believe. And since I did, even my lowest moments have felt better than my highest points spent not chasing this dream. I've faced the hardest and most painful things I ever have, just in the past few months, but I've found myself handing them much more capably than I handled lesser woes in my past. I feel like a better, stronger person than ever before, and know I'll only improbe in these respects as I continue to follow this path.
I feel like we're standing on the edge of something big. Take a leap of faith with me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)