Category Archives: religion

Photo blog 11

This is not a spectacular photo, I know, but I wanted to post it in honor of the 75th birthday of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (6 July).  While he is not formally my teacher, I have received teachings from him, including teachings on Tara (the female bodhisattva of compassion, whose Chinese name isContinue reading “Photo blog 11”

Some things my father said:

Stop shuffling.  Pick up your feet.  You’re ruining your shoes–walk from your heels to the balls of your feet. Stop kicking the back of my seat.  I’m trying to drive. Shift!  Left foot clutch, right foot gas–Brake! If you don’t know what you’re doing or why you’re doing it, don’t do it. You need toContinue reading “Some things my father said:”

Still MORE writing and music

With all the posts I’ve been writing lately about the influence of music on writing, I simply have to share this recent discovery:  It’s a song-sharing site called Stereomood, but the idea is not simply to share songs.  (The site is a streaming site, not a download site, so I’m sharing this because it actsContinue reading “Still MORE writing and music”

The Netherlands: Days 10.5 & 10.6 (the Great Volcano Standstill, 2010)

Day 10.5 Tuesday, April 20, 2010 Success? Relief? I hope so. We spent all last night checking trains and buses, but nothing we could find was getting us anywhere any faster. Our B&B hostess found a train to Istanbul that would take only two days, but some legs of the journey were unavailable for onlineContinue reading “The Netherlands: Days 10.5 & 10.6 (the Great Volcano Standstill, 2010)”

The Netherlands: Days 7 & 8

Day 7 Monday, April 12, 2010 I am quite too relaxed to write.  I’ll try to jot down a few notes, but I expect to sleep soon. We did the Artis Zoo today, a beautiful complex packed not only with an excellent zoo but also with a planetarium, an aquarium, a zoological museum, an AfricanContinue reading “The Netherlands: Days 7 & 8”

The Netherlands: Day 6

Day 6 Sunday, April 11, 2010 Today started out continuing the forgetfulness of yesterday, though it improved quickly.  We decided to head to the Anne Frank House first thing this morning, thinking the crowds might be thinner early on a Sunday.  We were right, but even after a thorough run-through of our new pre-departure checklist,Continue reading “The Netherlands: Day 6”

The good times are killing me

We writers and academics love to ask each other what books we’d want with us if ever we’re stranded on a desert island, and we love offering clever, literary answers: Jane Austen, Cormac McCarthy, the Oxford English Dictionary, the Dhammapada. But we’re lying to ourselves.

Earthquake in Tibet

I’ve been meaning to post this for a few days now:  I join His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in expressing his condolences to the victims of the recent earthquake in Tibet, and I hope he will be allowed to visit the region soon. I will try to post any information on relief efforts andContinue reading “Earthquake in Tibet”