Today (2/20/2020) was a bit of a milestone in that I was able to walk for 15 minutes straight before I got the first twinge in my heart. This was the first day I was able to walk that long without pain since the pericarditis episode of late 2019.
When I saw this image on Netflix I immediately thought that a story that might be interesting is about a soul who is both a man and a woman at the same time. At the moment it seems like an interesting idea for a book, movie, or series, a way to explore all sorts of concepts related to “gender identity.” Parts of it could be like In Your Eyes, and it could be a little like Cloud Atlas, but it would also be very different from those movies.
Ah, the Chicken Oil Company ... once I discovered it when I went to school at Texas A&M, I ate quite a few Deathburgers. I’m glad to see that they’re still in business. (Image from this link.)
February 19, 2014: I passed out for the first time. Before then I knew I was sick, but that was the first day I went down.
*three years of hospital visits and dozens of doctors*
February 19, 2017: For the first time in many years I’ve been able to practice yoga on a daily basis. As usual, during the first several weeks it was difficult and I was sore, but these days all is well. Soon this body will be rock hard and incredibly limber. :)
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
~ Ben Franklin
The Rolling Stone article, The Oral History of Santana and Rob Thomas’ ‘Smooth’, is probably the best Pocket reference I’ve ever followed. It’s a good story about a great song. It struck me that Carlos Santana seems to have had the least involvement in the creation of the song out of all the players.
Dear diary: Filed under the category of “transparent dangling carrots,” today I realized that there is a surface reason the Dalai Lama talks about practicing compassion, and also a much deeper reason. It’s really quite a trip, though with my limited knowledge, for all I know it’s turtles stacked on turtles stacked on turtles.
(A diary entry from January 21, 2015. Dalai Lama quote: “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Image from this link.)
I like this quote from Leo Buscaglia: Take responsibility and grasp it. Don’t be a victim.
I’ve written it before, but Mr. Buscaglia was a significant, positive influence on my life. There was a lot of negative and downright mean programming going on in our household when I grew up — negative role models on both sides of the family — and Mr. Buscaglia was an extremely helpful antidote to that, helping me to see that not everybody was like my relatives.
“You’ve got to be real. Don’t be a phony. Find ‘you,’ who you are ... Say, ‘Here I am. Take me for what I am with all my frailties, all my stupidity, and so on. And if you can’t, leave me alone.’”
~ Leo Buscaglia in the book, Living, Loving, & Learning
This tweet shows that the traffic jam trying to get to the outdoor hockey game at the Air Force Academy last night was a disaster. And in this tweet, a young woman demonstrates a Babe Ruthian swing.
“The meaning of ‘Hatha Yoga’ is Sun (Ha) and Moon (Tha), Yoga in which Sun is the soul and Moon is consciousness. Consciousness can be compared to a lens. Its inner surface faces the soul itself, and its outer surface comes in contact with the world. Inevitably a degree of grime attaches itself to that outer surface and obscures our vision. In fact it prevents us from seeing clearly what is outside, and it equally prevents the light of our soul from shining out. If our house is gloomy because the windows are dirty, we don’t say there is problem with the Sun; we clean the windows. Yoga cleans the lens of consciousness in order to admit the Sun.”
~ probably from the book, Light on Life, by B.K.S. Iyengar
“Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of consciousness. The still mind is by definition, pure.”
“Is this the end? Are we there yet? No. There remains the ego, the self, the known self, the impersonator of the Soul. He is the last actor to leave the stage. He lingers even for the very final hand clap of applause. What forces him off the stage? Silence, and retention of the breath.”
~ From the book, Light on Life, by B.K.S. Iyengar
Apparently back in the day, squirrels were popular pets.
Here’s another photo of the Moon rising over the Atlantic Ocean, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
“Karma means action and action motivated by compassion is good. To complain that what happens to you is just the result of your karma is lazy. Instead, confidently recalling the advice that, ‘You are your own master,’ you can change what happens by taking action.”
~ the Dalai Lama, on this Facebook page
If the Houston Astros want to do the right thing, they should just tell opposing batters what pitch is coming. For every at-bat during the season. If they can win the World Series that way, more power to them.
“You are destined to be together forever.”
~ from the movie, Odd Thomas
This is a view of the sunrise in the side view mirror from October, 2018, when I was somewhere in Missouri, driving back to Colorado. On the morning of this trip I really got into listening to Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and was so intent on it that I nearly ran out of gas.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic scored a rare 30/20/10 performance in last night’s win, where they only had seven players on the team. (Image from this Twitter page.)
Way back in 2009 I went on a yoga retreat in Sayulita, Mexico with about twelve other people. One night after dinner I met this black dog as we were walking around the town plaza area. Prior to this meeting, I spent every evening in the town plaza, where I had watched this dog constantly be attacked by other dogs, so when she came up to me on this evening I petted her and then gave her my leftovers.
Yoga teacher Judi Rice — who organized the trip — was influential in my life, is standing behind my left shoulder, next to the woman in the dark pink shirt. Judi passed away in December, 2014.
