Mothers Day

You Look Marvelous Darling

You Look Marvelous Darling

American Apparel

American Apparel makes clothes in L.A. and pays their workers an average of 13 dollars an hour. Here's a couple of press items about the company.

American Apparel - Press Center - Electronic Press

American Apparel - Press Center - Press Article

April Sunday

I took a walk to the fruit and vegetable stand to get some apples, took some pictures of Pretty Colored Stuff and made an apple pie.






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Durham Portfolio - Photography by Kathleen Connally

Portfolio - Photography by Kathleen Connally in and around Durham Township, Bucks County, Pennsylivania.

Some very nice work.

The photographs are available in large sizes suitable for framing at

A Walk Through Durham Township Pennsylvania

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The Durham Mill - Ceresota Flour Mural Project is fascinating.

The artist used a technique used by mural painters since the time of Michelangelo. She made a full size paper drawing of the mural, with tiny holes in the paper, and then transferred the outline to the building using a sock filled with black powder as described in Page 14 of the photos showing the creation of the mural.

Here's a quote from the site -

"The new mural is a historically accurate painting of that original ad from the late 19th century, magnificently brought to life by professional fine artist Barbara Fugate of Seattle, Washington. Barbara recently completed a mural restoration project on a 14th century building in Entrecasteaux, France, and is currently an instructor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Seattle."

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Pennsylvania, and mills in general, are popular subjects for artists. Here are a few prints that are available for purchase. Click on the graphic to see details.



"Pennsylvania Farm by Carolyn Blish"



"Falling Water Mill Run, PA by Frank Lloyd Wright"



"Grist Mill Stream by Sally Caldwell Fisher"



"The Old Mill by Vincent Van Gogh"



"The Old Red Mill by Jasper F. Cropsey"




"Pennsylvania Landscape, 1941 by Andrew Wyeth"

Sexy Clothes

Check out some Sexy Clothes, lingerie, and PJ's. Maybe for Mom? or your sweetie? or your self?









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For all you kinky lumberjack manly man types, let's sing along now...

"Oh, I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay,
I sleep all night and I work all day."

The Lumberjack Song - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lyrics To The Lumberjack Song

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If you have some free time maybe head over to my Magazines, Chocolate and Coffee Shop and gaze at the magazine covers?


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Beautiful Italian Handbags

Shop for Beautiful Italian Handbags and other nice designer items from Forzieri in Florence Italy.

Snohomish County Job Fair

Snohomish County Job Fair is Thursday April 28, 2005, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Everett Community College, 2000 Tower Street.

Firefox Help: Tips & Tricks - Resize the Google Search Bar

Firefox Help: Tips & Tricks has the instructions for changing the width of the search bar in Firefox.

You have to find a file called userchrome-example.css in your user profile.

It will be in the document and settings folder of Windows XP machines with a path similar to this -

C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles


Firefox creates the file called userchrome-example.css in that folder. It doesn't do anything until you change it.

You will need to open the file userchrome-example.css with a text editor and paste this code -

/* Make the Search box flex wider
(in this case 400 pixels wide) */
#search-container, #searchbar {
-moz-box-flex: 400 !important;
}

Rename the file userchrome.css and you should have a nice sized Google toolbar when you restart Firefox.

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BlogShares - Cafe Jack

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CafeJack Impressions

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You can get some free cool drop down menus and other things for your web pages at these two sites -

Dynamic Drive DHTML(dynamic html) & JavaScript code library!

#1 Commercial Menu - Free use with OpenCube link!

Gift For Mom?

East Coast Edge to West Coast Cool

Concise Language

I've been reading William Strunk's 1918 version of The Elements of Style on Bartleby.com this morning.

I only recently figured out that E.B. White contributed to the later editions of this book. I knew the book was called Strunk and White's Elements of Style, didn't know it was E.B. White.

E.B. White is one of my heroes.

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Back to the Elements of Style. It's fairly dry reading. I'm not sure if I'll ever be a technically adequate writer, not knowing my past participle from the present or if it might be dangling (my participle that is).

I will do my best to study that book a bit more though in hopes of improving my ability to connect to readers and not waste their or my time with unnecessary and or unclear words.

To the point quickly now.

Rule 13 of Principles of Composition "Omit Needless Words"

Yes indeed. But then I wouldn't have a blog.

There's some good stuff in Elements of Style. For my money's worth I like to read a lot and by doing so hope to observe and absorb some good writing skills (nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills, etc.,).

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Back to concise language the topic of this post.

I have been practicing some concise language for years with my wife.

She refers to me a D and I call her B.

Those are easy letters to say and quite concise.

A friend of mine at work is expecting a baby near the end of the month. He and his wife have chosen the name Elliot for the little tyke. That's a good name, plus he could always go by E (an easy letter to say and quite concise).

Another form of concise language I've worked out with B over the years is a non-verbal sign language used when I don't want, or for some reason cannot muster up the energy, to actually say the words "yes" or "no". I respond to B's verbal language with a vertical movement of my finger to indicate yes and a horizontal movement to indicate no. This is an easy sign to remember if you relate it to the way you shake your head to indicate yes and no. It doesn't take as much effort as shaking your head and works best when you are close to someone (physically close as well as mentally...so they will put up with your silly shenanigans). You can touch their leg or arm with your finger and make the yes/no sign.

I am probably in some ways the world's laziest person. On the up side if I lose my ability to speak and write at least B will be able to understand my yes/no messages.

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Wishing you a good Thursday with all necessary elements of style.

D

I Have Nothing to Say

But let's not get bogged down in details.

I was going to title this post Random Thoughts, but that sounded too boring.

Random Thoughts (it can't be helped, it is what it is)

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E.B. White was one of the best American writers. I am amazed at the beauty in his words. Gentle, wise, funny. I read a short story of his a couple of days ago about visiting the Circus in the off-season in Sarasota Florida. He weaves some beautiful stories. This one is about a young circus girl riding a horse bareback around the ring, practicing her tricks. He uses the circular ring as a metaphor for the passage of time...saying she was young enough to believe that she could ride around the ring and not get any older. You have to read it to appreciate it. Here's a piece -

"As I watched with the others, our jaws adroop, our eyes slight, I became painfully conscious of the element of time. Everything in the hideous old building seemed to take the shape of a circle, conforming to the course of the horse. The rider's gaze, as she peered straight ahead, seemed to be circular, as though bent by force of circumstance, then time itself began running in circles and so the beginning was where the end was, and the two were the same, and one thing ran into the next and time went round and around and got nowhere. The girl wasn't so young that she did not know the delicious satisfaction of having a perfectly behaved body and the fun of using it to do a trick most people can't do, but she was too young to know that time does not really move in a circle at all. I thought: "She will never be as beautiful as this again" - a thought that made me acutely unhappy - and in a flash my mind (which is too much of a busybody to suit me) had projected her twenty-five years ahead, and she was at the center of ring, on foot, wearing a conical hat and high heeled shoes, the image of the older woman, holding the long rein, caught in the treadmill of an afternoon long in the future, "She is at that enviable moment in life (I thought) when she believes she can go once around the ring, make one complete circuit, and at the end be exactly the same age as at the start." Everything in her movements, her expression, told you that for her the ring of time was perfectly formed, changeless, predictable, without beginning or end, like the ring in which whe was travelling at this moment with the horse that wallowed under her. And then I slipped back into my trance, and time was circular again - time, pausing quietly with the rest of us, so as not to disturb the balance of a performer."

Source - "The Ring of Time" a short story by E.B. White contained in the book "The Points of My Compass - Letters From the East, the West, the North, The South" by E.B. White - Harper and Row, Copyright 1954.

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Sometimes I bore myself when I talk. This doesn't happen too often but it does on occasion. It's not the best thing especially if you happen to be talking to a group of people at the time. I don't know what free advice to give on the issue of self-boredom other than try to avoid talking about or doing things that you find dull. Lifelong learning is only possible if we remain curious and don't allow ourselves to become jaded.

On the other hand you gotta do what you gotta do. April 15th is coming up and filling out my tax forms, or talking to people about taxes, is never too exciting. Sometimes in school or work you are required to talk, or write, about something you aren't totally fascinated with. Best to get those things over with and go on to some things that you find energizing and engaging. Easier said than done sometimes. One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard was from my wife's uncle, a successful business man, West Point graduate. He said, "I never did anything I didn't want to do."

You can't take that statement literally out of context, but in context of what you chose to do with your life (who you marry, if you marry, what your job will be, what education you pursue, the important things) it's a great way to look at things.

Talking with people about the philsophy "I never do anything I don't want to do" I've been told it's delusional. At least it's a positive delusion.

jaded

1 a : to wear out by overwork or abuse b : to tire or dull through repetition or excess
2 obsolete : to make ridiculous
intransitive senses : to become weary or dull

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The preceding advice, like most of my nuggets of wisdom, is provided free.

You, as they say, get what you pay for.

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Speaking of being jaded we can't forget the immortal words from Aerosmith -

J-J-J-Jaded



Okay the lyrics aren't that meaningful but gotta like the beat.

Steven Tyler doesn't look bad for a guy that's in his mid 90's...he was actually born in 1948, which would make him 56 or 57. Good news for all of us folks feeling past our prime. I wonder how he stays so trim.

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"Why, once I wrote an editorial for High Brows and I found that a High Brow is a man who wouldn't read anything that was not written by himself." Will Rodgers

I wonder if that describes some of what is happening in blogging if not in general at least in my specific case. I'm terribly interested in what I have to say or write...but I'm too busy to do much but flit through any other blogs.

On the plus side at least a blog is a "pull" system, rather than a "push" system. Examples of a "push" system would be Email or your extremely talkative great Aunt who likes to call and provide a running detail of her every thought every chance she gets. A blog is a "pull" system because we don't have to read or look at or be bothered at all by what people write in their blogs.

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On the subject of what to write that will interest the most people, Will Roger's wrote -

"The great trouble is that you are apt to hit on some subject that does not appeal to certain people. For instance, if I write a learned article on chewing gum, I find that I lose my readers who are toothless. Then, when I write on politics, I find that the honest people are not interested. Then if I write on some presidential candidate, I find that there so many of them that few readers know the one I am writing about. When I write an article on bathing beaches, I find that I lose the interest of most of my readers who are not interested in bathing, either by tub or beach. Why, once I wrote an editorial for High Brows and I found that a High Brow is a man who wouldn't read anything that was not written by himself. So I am going to work along the same lines as a newspaper - I'm going to touch on every subject!"

Source: "The Best of Will Rogers" by Bryan Sterling - M. Evans and Company Copyright 1979

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Wishing you a wonder-filled Wednesday.

May "time pause quietly" for you a bit today.

Remember to take a nice deep breath, relax, focus, and in the words of Buckminster Fuller,

"Dare to be naive."

postscript -

I feel a certain empathy for people who are unable to admit they are not all-knowing. It implies a lack of self esteem. It actually takes a big ego to dare to be wrong, dare to admit you don't know...that you might learn something new, to be foolish or stupid.

Keep the eyes of a child.

Be awake unless you are in bed asleep.

Ichiro!

Ichiro! - Seattle Mariners!!

Tulip Festival

Tulip Festival has some pictures I took at the Skagit Valley Tulip festival today.

I Smelled My Way Home

Walking to work yesterday I caught an old familiar scent that took me home.

It was a long trip.

A thousand miles and 4o some years.

Describing a smell in words is tough. I wonder if you could paint a smell or present it as a musical composition easier.

I'll try the words.

I love to fish. More accurately I should say I love to fish and all the things that surround fishing. People may think of fishing as just sitting in a boat, by a lake or river but that's just a small piece of it. Fishing can involve all sorts of other activities as well. Planning, looking at shiny lures, organizing tackle boxes, studying maps, tying flies, reading books and magazine to learn about fish and fishing, perusing catalogs for tackle/gear/clothes/more shiny lures, bait boxes, magic bait scents and other things you may need.

That's all fun. Then you can throw in telling stories, listening to stories, and dreaming about fishing, the fun of fishing with a child, old or new friend. Relaxing by or on the water, or walking and hiking along streams and rivers. Ahhhh yes I love it all.

Like most fisherman I have a million stories.

My fishing days began on the Yellowstone river of Montana when I was 4 years old. My Gram, a school teacher, took me to a fellow teacher's place on the river to fish. Gram was worried about letting me use a sharp hook so she convinced me it would be best if I fished with a button tied on my line. That brings us to a key characteristic of fishermen and women - "eternal optimism".

No matter what the circumstances, inevitably a fisherperson will think the best is going to happen. Going on a fishing trip? Better get a bigger cooler to carry home the big one(s). What's the limit? We need to know so we don't catch too many.

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Back to the scent I followed a 1000 miles and 40 some years...

Montana rivers that I love, like the Gallatin or Yellowstone, tend to overflow in the Spring and cut new channels. The end result being you have a big main river and then a lot of little channels that you can wade across and in, when the water is lower in the summer and fall.

Those channels can be a great place to walk and explore, looking for fishy water and looking at birds, trees, flowers, animals, the sky, sun, smelling the air.

The smell of those areas has some unique components of water, decaying wood, trees, leaves and moss and I'm sure a million other molecules carrying scent. Something in the wind yesterday brought that back.

It was loverly.

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I was a bait salesman for awhile. Set up my stand down on main street with paper cups of worms I'd dug. Hugh my adopted father/fisherman/pilot encouraged that job. I thought it was great. I was too young to go out on the river for opening day but I got to hang around with the fishermen and make a few pennies.

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I once caught: a rock (reeled it in), a fish with a hook inside of it's belly, a sea bird, a 26 pound salmon on 8 pound test and my leg (took awhile to get the hook out).

Subtracting those 4 anecdotes, I now have 999,999,996 other stories to tell about fishing.

Did I ever tell you about the monk who handcuffed himself with a double hooked lure? A good friend of ours was fishing on the Missouri near Bismark North Dakota. She was with a group of Catholic Brothers in a boat. One of them accidentally hooked his thumb on a lure. He was startled and grabbed at the lure. In doing that he managed to hook his other thumb to the hook on the other end of the lure, effectively handcuffing himself. They had to drive him to the emergency room to get the hooks out (he couldn't do much of anything with his accidental handcuffs on).

999,999,995

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One of the best fishing writers of all time was a fellow that lived first in England where he was born and then later North of where I live now.

"Roderick Haig-Brown was a writer, a magistrate, and a pioneer conservationist, but he is most often thought of as a fisherman. He sometimes bridled at that reputation. "I am a writer who happens to fish, not a fisherman who happens to write," he would say. Yet without his deep love for fishing, Haig-Brown's writing, his principles of justice, and his environmental ideals might not have developed."

Source Canadiana | Library | Roderick Haig-Brown

I highly recommend reading a bit of his work if you are interested in fish, rivers, and beautiful writing.

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Books By Roderick Haig-Brown


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One of the nice things about being a fisherman is that it gives you a "sense of place". If you study and walk/drive the watershed for an area you start to understand a little more about where you are. You can locate yourself in relationship to rivers, river valleys, tributaries. I'm afraid as we insulate ourselves from the real world we lose touch with that sense of place. What rivers are near you? Do you know their source? Where they end up?

Check it out sometime. It can be fascinating. Rivers are also great metaphors and good for just watching. You never dip your toe in the same river twice as they say. This book looks like it might have some interesting essays on that sort of thing -




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Here's five fishing related pictures that have some wonderful memories associated with them in my little world -








5

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The children's fishing book, "A Good Day's Fishing" by James Prosek showed up in our house recently. It's a good one. Nice illustrations. Good for a beginning fisherperson.



Fishing Books For Children





Do summer right with the latest summer gear from all the the name brands at amazing prices. Only at BobWards.com Gear Up! Get Out!









Wishing you fishers of men, fishermen, fisherwomen, and eternal optimists a good day fishing or thinking about fishing as the case may be. Somewhere there's some blue water, bright skies and calm days...you just have to look.

I Wouldn't Want to Belong to Any Club

That would have someone like me for a member.

Groucho Marx said that. Woody Allen said it too, in the movie Annie Hall, where he plays the character Alvy Singer. I luurve that movie.

Here's a few other Memorable Quotes from Annie Hall (1977) -

Alvy Singer: Love is too weak a word for what I feel - I luurve you, you know, I loave you, I luff you, two F's, yes I have to invent, of course I - I do, don't you think I do?

Alvy Singer: There's an old joke. Uh, two elderly women are at a Catskills mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know, and such small portions." Well, that's essentially how I feel about life. Full of loneliness and misery and suffering and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly.

Annie Hall: Well, have you ever made love high?
Alvy Singer: Me? No. I - I, you know, If I have grass or alcohol or anything, I get unbearably wonderful. I get too, too wonderful for words.

I can relate. The written word doesn't do these justice though. You really need to see Woody and Diane Keaton in the movie to fully appreciate the humor.

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Letter From The East

I'm writing to you from the East.

Hope everything is going well.

Sincerely yours,
Jack

(That's a short letter I just wrote to anyone who reads this blog in Japan or points West of Everett Washington).

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Blogger Profile

I don't know if anyone ever finds my profile on blogger. It looks better than my real profile (have you ever seen the beginning of Alfred Hitchcock?). That's what my real profile looks like. Never mind if you haven't seen that old TV show.

I started my profile out by saying, "I can sit really still - sometimes."

I thought that would be a funny thing to write on a job application or a resume.

Hey! it's a skill you need in an office setting, security guard, bird watcher, painter's model etc.

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Tone

I think a challenge with a blog, or any writing is for the reader to understand the tone of the author. If you read things I write or maybe better yet talk to me you will hopefully realize I mix (or mix up) humorous and serious thoughts a lot. God forgive me for wearing the wax lips to the state funeral.

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Curious George and Other Monkeys

Will Ferrell Joins the Cast of Curious George

My goodness where have I been? A Curious George movie is coming out in 2006. Sweet..

Like so many people, I love that little Monkey.

"Originally published in 1941, "Curious George" has never been out of print since. Authors H. A. Rey and his wife Margret, creative partners who fled Europe during the Nazi occupation and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, eventually wrote seven Curious George tales; published in 14 languages, those seven volumes have sold a combined total of 27 million copies worldwide, making the little monkey who left the jungle with The Man in the Yellow Hat one of the best-selling and most enduring characters in children's literature."

Source Universal Pictures preview of upcoming movie "Curious George"

I've been partial to Monkeys since the days of J. Fred Muggs.

Once when I was a little boy a monkey stole a candy bar from me. We were visiting the Red Lodge Zoo in Montana. I was really happy to be able to get close to the monkeys. One of the little guys reached out and took a candy bar from my pocket. I didn't mind, I thought it was really impressive that he was so quick. They don't have those kinds of zoos anymore, probably for the best I suppose. It was what I think you would call a roadside zoo. The animals weren't in any thing like a native habitat. They actually had a chained bear at a gas station up in that area for tourists to look at. Times change and things evolve thank goodness.

I have to put in a plug for my favorite terry cloth monkey himonkey. I've corresponded with monkey a bit and love to read about his adventures. I say he although I'm not sure if he's a boy or a girl monkey. I have a lunchbox with his picture on it.

He has created a nice tribute for pope john paul ii - not forgotten at his hi monkey ! monkey's genuine web site..

Who knew it was egg salad week?

Dang I wish I wouldn't have become a vegan last week.

Actually it's working out quite well for me so far. I've been a vegan for 9 days now, and I'm noticing a definite increase in energy and general feeling of well being (if I start feeling much better I'm going to float away).

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I made a little tribute page to Curious George, H.A. and Margret Rey over at Curious George Artwork by Margret Rey

You can also get all kinds of good Curious George Books From Amazon.com

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Books for Children you too can Celebrate Reading with Curious George! and learn more about H. A. and Margret Rey.

Sometimes It's Peaceful: Blog of the day: CafeJack

My Cafe got to be blog of the day. :-)

I have to say Gill, the author "Sometimes It's Peaceful", has good taste and is a darn good writer.

Truth be told I ran across Gill's blog "Sometimes It's Peaceful" on Google and was afraid to see what someone might have written about this old place of mine. Thank goodness it was nice. I imagine I'm not unlike some other thoughtful people who like to write, in that I tend towards a mixture of egotism and insecurity.

Sometimes It's Peaceful: Blog of the day: CafeJack

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I'm reading some books by and about Will Rodgers, James Thurber and E.B. White right now. Well not right this minute but I have them placed strategically around the house for picking up and reading.

Those three guys, especially Will Rodgers and E.B. White are amazing to read about. James Thurber comes across a little harsh in the initial piece of the book I'm reading, with a condescending attitude towards women...I didn't recall that from other pieces of his. I'll have to keep reading to see how it goes.

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I watched a good movie today called The Motorcycle Diaries. It's in Spanish with subtitles but you hardly notice, it's so beautiful and the story so interesting.

Two friends set off on a long journey through South America and discover new things about themselves and their country that turn out to be life-altering. It's a story based on the early life of revolutionary Che Guevara (before he went to Cuba). There are some wonderful sights in the movie including the scenes around Machu Picchu. The music in the movie is very nice as well, especially the song at the ending credits.

This is the Amazon.com review of the Motocycle Diaries from Bret Fetzer -

"The beauty of the South American landscape and of Gael Garcia Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Bad Education) gives The Motorcycle Diaries a charisma that is decidedly apolitical. But this portrait of the young Che Guevara (later to become a militant revolutionary) is half buddy-movie, half social commentary--and while that may seem an unholy hybrid, under the guidance of Brazillian director Walter Salles (Central Station) the movie is quietly passionate. Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna, a lusty and engaging actor) set off from Buenos Aires, hoping to circumnavigate the continent on a leaky motorcycle. They end up travelling more by foot, hitchhiking, and raft, but their experience of the land and the people affects them profoundly. No movie could affect an audience the same way, but The Motorcycle Diaries gives a soulful glimpse of an awakening social conscience, and that's worth experiencing." --Bret Fetzer

The 1939 Norton 500 motorcycle they were riding was a nice looking machine. I couldn't find a good picture but here's a 1936 norton model that looks pretty close. The movie really brings to mind the adventure and beauty of traveling by motorcycle.

Here's a couple of links to the soundtrack and the DVD.



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My maternal grandfather John Williams, although not a revolutionary, did have a nice motorcycle in the 1930's. His was a Harley Davidson. My Gram, his wife, was a school teacher. She told me they would ride all around the lake country where they lived near Eau Clare Wisconsin, go on picnics, ride in his speedboat and do fun things with a club of other Harley riders.

He was an interesting fellow that I never got to meet. He built his own speedboat which we have a nice picture of with him in it, and a small electric car for my Mom Virginia and her sister Rebecca that they could drive when they were little girls.

He was killed in a motorcycle accident. My Gram told me a carload of women who had been drinking pulled out in front of him and he didn't have a chance. That was many years ago. Gram made a good life for herself and her daughters and taught school for many years in Montana. She loved kids and particularly liked to help kids who were struggling a bit. Her teaching specialty in later years was remedial reading. I learned a lot about loving life from her. She was a key part of my youth. Very kind and also very feisty, outspoken and independent woman. I was very lucky to be close to her.

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I have to wrap this up for tonight and head off to bed now.

Wishing you a good start to the new week kind and gentle reader.

Remember to breathe deeply and enjoy the journey.

Can You Make Money On The Web?

You never know, you might have a chance to make some money online or at least have some fun and learn something trying.

I have been working online for awhile as an associate with Google, Amazon and other companies and am willing to provide you with some helpful tips to get you started with branding/logo/art sources for your website or blog.

These are commission based items so there are no guarantees. At a minimum you will learn something about where to get ads/logos/art for use on your webs and blogs.

I'll also provide you a few starter tips for selling your own items on Ebay and Amazon.

Small Biz Tools or this Small Biz Tools Mirror Site leads to a PayPal link to purchase this information. I will Email it to you in the form of a protected confidential PDF file and or Macromedia Flash File upon receipt of your payment. I am asking for a payment of 25 USD for this information. Not sure if that sounds like a lot or a little to you, but one way of looking at is that it would take you at least 25 hours of searching the web, bulletin boards, talking with people to come up with the contacts I will provide. Some are very commonly known other less so. In essence I have collected more than 25 hours of work for you based on several years of research on my part. You are paying less than 1 dollar per hour for your time for this information...so I guess it all depends on what your time is worth to you.

If you buy this guide within the month of April 2005 I will send you a free updated version based on user feedback including any additional tips, on or before October 2005.

May all your deals be good ones.

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I ran across a creative interface idea made for Tha LTD. by Keita Kitamura and Yugo Nakamura in Japan.

The website they created called Amaztype is fun to play with and also a clever interface for getting people to Amazon.

Looking at some webpages that use Flash I think at some point I'd like to learn to use some of Macromedia's tools. I think Contribute 3 might be a good place to start, then move into Dreamweaver, Flash, ColdFusion and the more advanced tools.

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The Perfect Job

The perfect job for me right now would be something that requires getting up at 3 am, working for a few hours and then taking a nap.

Getting a gig as a DJ on a short morning show, cow milker, or a paperboy might work. Writing would too I guess. I'll stick to that avocation for now.

Warning - sharp turn ahead.....

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"It takes reckless courage to face one's own personal abyss."

Wordsworth

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Sorry for the odd transition but I was listening to a Jesuit priest's audio devotion while I was sitting here and that phrase caught my ear.

Father Gillick attributes this quote to Wordsworth in the introductory Audio Retreat

It may be actually be part of a quote from William Butler Yeats, according to this, but in any event it conveys a useful thought. A willingness to consider the end of your own life, struggles with addiction, recovery, loss; all cases of looking into an abyss.

Courage alone is not enough.

Courage and compassion.

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I am sad to think that Terri Shiavo has passed on, and that Pope John Paul is near death.

It's an odd form of Christian belief that life must be sustained at all costs even if the price is years of suffering, and loss of human dignity, on the part of the one living. Christians believe that Christ suffered and died on the cross so we would have eternal life. There is nothing to fear from death.

This is not to say death is not sad. The transitory nature of existance is terribly sad. The Buddha teaches us all life is suffering and we only remove ourselves from that pain by losing our selves, our ego. There is a perfect parallel in the Christian teaching of Christ giving up his self, his ego on the cross.

Acceptance of your own mortality and a willingness to come to terms with that are waypoints on the road to inner peace.

To know that if I die now it will be with out regret, with the knowledge that I lived my life as best I could, gave what I could, was kind as possible, loved and was loved.

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"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

Timothy 4:7

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Any day is as good as another to die. There isn't anything to fear (or there is everything to fear but we live with courage and find ways to take the edge off the fear) it's a good day to die, just as it's a good day to live, with faith that whatever happens will be just fine in the end.

Losing ones fear of death is a Christian thought and interestingly a "warrior" thought; samurai or other warriors deal with this fear. Carlos Castaneda wrote fairly extensively in this area.

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"A warrior must learn to make every act count, since he is going to be here in this world for only a short while, in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it."

Carlos Castaneda

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If you are interested in reading about a warrior way of life and alternate forms of reality a good book to start with may be "The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge" written by Carlos Castaneda in the 1960's.

I say "may be" since it's not the type of writing that is for everyone. When I was in my late teens and early 20's I thought Carlos Castenada's writings were fascinating. I'd have to reread some to see how it reads today. One reviewer on Amazon said reading this book is like reading about walking on the moon. Very interesting but more than likely you are not going to be doing it personally. I'd also be a little concerned, now that I'm an old hack, to think about young impressionable readers getting some wrong ideas about use of mind altering drugs. If I remember correctly the teacher in this book forces Carlos to go through a series of steps to prepare for the use of peyote...I think he turns into a crow at some point too. Whether you think this book is fiction or non-fiction, it can be entertaining, and may be educational to read.

Ahhhh the 60's, I'm pretty sure we had a good time back then.


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They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. ~Confucius

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"Peace Roses" by Shirley Trevena