Posts in the “personal” category

Donald Trump can’t even utter the words, “Black Lives Matter,” and his son Eric refers to protestors as “animals.”

I’m an independent voter, and I have supported both Republic and Democrat candidates before, but I could never vote for these people.

If you’re a Republican, I certainly understand that. All I can say is that the Trump family is alienating so many voters that I think it’s better for the Republican party that he loses, and then Mitt Romney can take the mantle in 2024. The longer Trump is in office, the more people he will alienate, and the worse it is for the Republican party in the long run.

Sixty days ago I was taking the maximum doses of two blood pressure medications, and my resting BP was 150/106 with a pulse of 92. I more or less assumed that one day the pericarditis would strangle my heart. Last night it was 111/68 and 58, while I take 1/2 of the medicine I was taking.

It’s amazing what a proper diet and exercise can do for you. :)

“The best use of imagination is creativity. The worst use of imagination is anxiety.”

~ Deepak Chopra (Image from a now-gone Google+ page.)

I was writing with a friend recently about trying to find a way to love all beings, and she sent me this quote:

“I leave you free to be yourself: to think your thoughts, indulge your tastes, follow your inclinations, behave in ways that you decide are to your liking.”

When I read that it made me think something like, “I love you (your spirit), and I acknowledge that you’re a separate being here on Earth. I can’t control you, I can’t make you act in a way that I want you to behave (i.e., in a non-harmful way), so I just have to let you be, so you can work out your own karma.”

For some reason that gives me hope that there is a way I can love all beings (not just the good ones).

Namaste, Al

A couple of days ago I received an email about these guided meditation practices on Michael W. Taft’s TheMindfulGeek.com website. I’ve only listened to the first two so far, but if you’re interested in meditation, they can be a good resource.

One problem I ran into is that Mr. Taft quickly mentions “The Meditation Algorithm,” and when he said that without any introduction, I couldn’t remember what he was talking about. So I grabbed my copy of The Mindful Geek and found the algorithm described on page 53.

Well said.

A painting titled Chop Suey, by Edward Hopper. I found a nice collection of paintings at WikiArt.

I looked at “teardrop” style trailers earlier this week, then just saw this image on Google Plus. I don’t remember the name of the company I looked at earlier this week, but if you Google teardrop trailers, you can find all sorts of interesting concepts.

This is a photo of Tim Hudson’s changeup grip, courtesy of FoxSports and MLB.

“When you need an answer, look over your left shoulder and ask your death.”

~ Carlos Castaneda

I haven’t seen the movie Smoke Signals in many years, but I remember liking it. I was just reminded of it when I saw Irene Bedard’s name go by on a Facebook news story. Adam Beach is a good actor, and most people will know him for movies like Windtalkers, but I’ll always remember him for an excellent Dead Zone episode named “Shaman”.

While starting my own walk today I came across a dog who was starting on his own walk. That dog was so happy to be going for a walk, his tail was wagging like crazy, and he was looking around and smelling everything. It didn’t matter that he only had three legs, he was going for a walk and he was excited!

I aim to be that way. Alive and happy, no matter how many parts the doctors remove.

Nothing like a hug from a wolf, that’s what I always say. I came across a wolf that looked a lot like this in Canada one time. This photo is from the Lakota Wolf Preserve page on Facebook.

I don’t know if this is true, but I saw this story on someone’s Facebook timeline. (I can’t link to the story because they re-posted an image, and said it comes from a private group named In The Company of Wolves, who I don’t follow. There are also multiple Facebook accounts with that name.)

“Do you hear the sound of your heartbeat?”

“No.”

“Do you hear the grasshopper at your feet?”

(Pause)

“Old man, how is it that you hear these things?”

“Young man, how is it that you do not?”

This won’t mean anything to anyone else, but while cleaning stuff off of my phone just now I ran across this photo of a house I once called home.

“From a Hindu perspective, you are born as what you need to deal with, and if you just try and push it away, whatever it is, it’s got you.”

~ Ram Dass

“I recommend almost dying to everybody. It’s character building. You get a much clearer perspective of what’s important and what isn’t, the preciousness and beauty of life.”

~ Carl Sagan, Astronomer, Philosopher

“A man dies when ...”

The words shown in this image come from this speech by Martin Luther King Jr.

A post from 2017:

For everyone who is upset by the actions of the current president and other political leaders, I urge you to take action. By “action” I don’t mean posting things on social networks. I mean writing your senators and congressmen. I mean peacefully marching and demonstrating. I mean supporting others who are marching and demonstrating. Every time you think about sharing a post, send a check to the ACLU and other organizations that are fighting against hate, oppression, destruction of the environment, etc. Otherwise, it’s just a lot of people preaching to the choir.