No apologies for merging with the stillness,
no regrets for eating the sun.
No tears for a broken heart,
no recompense for a broken brain.
No recognition or awards for greatness,
no publicity for mediocrity.
No affection for privacy panels,
no love for ignorant neighbors.
No sympathy for Georgie Reyers,
no condemnation for Lucien.
No reason will be given for this lousy pretend poem,
no explanation for sudden clapping of hands.
sapphoq doing "more"
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Shambala Meditation
At a friend's urging, I attended a public meditation session held at a Shambala Center. Shambala Centers are located worldwide and they offer public meditation sessions, meditation instruction, and classes in buddhism.
After shedding my boots and leaving them in the vestibule, friend and I waited in "the waiting room" for another meditation session to end. The waiting room was pleasant and well-appointed with a comfy couch and chairs, literature and magazines related to Buddhism, a selection of herbal teas, and some fresh fruit. The session before ours ended. I was temporarily startled by the presence of my shrink, who bowed to me and left with the others.
We entered the meditation room. There was an option of chair or cushion. I chose cushion and sat, arranging my jacket next to me. There was a small altar up front which I liked. The group leader for that session began with a small explanation that teachers were available if anyone wished, and an overview of the next 90 minutes. First the sitting meditation, then a walking, then a sitting. Then a sharing period where folks could say what they wished-- as long as it wasn't in direct response to what another had shared. And a five minute sitting meditation to finish.
During my sitting meditation, I was taken back to the Grand Canyon and the flight of small birds among the cliffs and sparse vegetation. I practiced gently stopping these thoughts and letting them go. It wasn't forced and I was much relaxed. The walking meditation was a tad more difficult. I was concentrating on the idea of not falling-- as walking without shoes remains a difficult thing for me. It was with relief that I sat back down again at the leader's direction. I will not share the discussion here, nor who the other attendees were. I will say that the sharing was deep as the strictures of others' potential responding to what anyone said were observed. After the five minute ending meditation, we adjourned to the waiting room for herbal tea and fruit.
Two folks discovered that their wallet and daypack were missing from the vestibule. That made me at once glad that I had elected to bring my jacket inside the meditation room with me. When a third person discovered that her bicycle was also missing, it was realized that this wasn't a case of "the janitor moving these things to the lost-and-found box." I felt badly that a thief had entered the vestibule during the meditation session itself and taken these things.
The meditation experience itself was charming, however the theft gave me pause. I am hesitant to return to that particular center. I watch lots of crime shows on teevee. My imagination flashed pictures of us tied up in the meditation room and being ordered to hand over our money and jewelry, being held up with a loaded gun in my face, stolen cars from the parking lot. I am considering starting a womens' meditation group around here.
And one more thing: I am fairly certain that I cannot be a Buddhist. There is nothing about me that is passive in nature. I am too programmed to fight back and I understand the necessity of war in our current world. Until I lose the feeling of wanting to butcher those who planned 9/11, I will remain as I am-- a happy atheist with discordian and pastafarian leanings.
sapphoq reviews books and more
Shambhala website: http://www.shambhala.org/
Taking Off Pounds Sensibly
After gaining five pounds in two weeks, I decided that enough was enough. My weight gain has been steady since early adulthood-- at least 10 pounds a year. Gathering up my courage and my bulkiest clothing off I went to a meeting of TOPS, or Take Off Pounds Sensibly.
I was warmly greeted, given a membership packet, had a before picture taken and measurements taken, then shown to the weigh-in room. I registered at 213 pounds, the heaviest I've been in my life. My first reaction-- these people are crazy!-- quickly melted into "What I've been doing hasn't worked, so I may as well try this." I am an O.A. drop-out and the purveyor of many fine diet ideas, none of which have worked for me. (I cannot afford the more expensive commercialized programs around).
After weigh-ins, the main meeting began. First the KOPS folks stood up to recite a pledge-- KOPS stands for Keeping Off Pounds Sensibly, followed by the TOPS folks. Then we had roll call. We could announce whether we gained, lost, or stayed the same weight that week. Folks clapped for the maintainers and losers, chanted "tomorrow starts another week" for the gainers. At my name, I announced that I had gained five pounds in two weeks.
After the roll call, there were the raffles-- for the biggest loser, for those who lost, and for the KOPS folk. Then, a member did a presentation. And finally the 50/50. The meeting dispersed with lots of friendly goodbyes. I was given a telephone list for support. A couple of the members who have seen me walking with the dog greeted me. "Now you know where your friends live in your neighborhood," one of them said. There were smiles all around. For the first time, I felt hopeful about getting to a healthy weight and being able to maintain that weight.
Yes, I did go back the next week. I was indeed the biggest loser there that week-- seven pounds. Hooray for me! As I continue to strive to adjust my relationship with food, I am confident that my goal of getting down to a healthy weight is doable. And I feel pretty good about that.
a thinning sapphoq reviews books and more
Website for TOPS: http://www.tops.org/default.aspx
Saturday, January 09, 2010
James Cameron's movie Avatar
Yes, I was among the throngs of folks who have seen the movie "Avatar." We went yesterday. There were three choices-- a regular screen, 3D, or 3D with iMax. The time slot that fit in the best with our plans was the 3D showing so off we went. We sat halfway up in the bleeder section and put on our special plastic 3D glasses. As it was a Friday afternoon, the theatre held maybe 12 people in all. After returning a stale popcorn for a fresh bowl (to discover that the freshness of the popcorn did not improve the flavor much), we settled back to a long line of previews and a few which included 3D movies in the offing.
The movie Avatar was full of 3D effects-- many of which appeared to be happening in front of our noses. I enjoyed the forest on the planet Pandora. I especially liked the very realistic looking ferns, the giant-sized fiddleheads, and the white jellyfish-like seed pods floating in the air that were being released from the mother tree. Ah but here I am getting ahead of myself.
Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, twin brother of a dead scientist named Tom. Because Jake's D.N.A. "matches" that of his dead twin, he is recruited in Tom's place to go to the alien planet Pandora and act as the human control for an avatar which looked somewhat like the cat-tailed natives of the planet. The plan was for the human controls to lay in isolation pods and have their "nerves" (nervous systems?) connect with the "nerves" of the artificial avatars who would then go off to explore Pandora and befriend the primitives. The indigenous race on Pandora lived smack dab in the middle of a site where it was determined that a mother lode of the element Unobtainium lay. The mother tree of the tribe also grew there and her roots were described as forming neural networks with the roots of many other trees on the planet in a number exceeding those connections in the human brain.
The plan hits a snag when Jake (who is paraplegic possibly acquired during his career as a Marine) revels in the avatar's ability to walk and so Jake the avatar escapes and goes native. Going native involves falling in love with one of the savages after she teaches him the local lingo. Jake the human neglects to shower and has to be cajoled into taking enough time to eat. There is a showdown at the end of course. The natives triumph over the bad humans who are sent packing off to their abused home planet Earth.
I especially enjoyed the performance given by Stephen Lang as Colonel Michael Quaritch. The Colonel is pure Marine, driven to fulfill the mission assigned to him. His acting was most convincing to me. I found myself hating his character halfway through the movie. Sigourney Weaver was less convincing as Grace Augustine, the scientist who comes to believe in the Mother. She started off with a bang as a bitch who had little to no use for Jake Sully. The script had her too quickly deteriorate into a gentler kinder human sort. I have to believe that her unconvincing transformation was a fault of the writer, rather than of her own fine acting.
The movie Avatar borrows heavily from other science fiction pieces, notably from Asimov's Foundation series with this whole business of a planet being seen as a living, breathing Gaia (yes, you folks who believe that, your belief is rooted in stories). Also present was shades of Anne McCafferty's Dragonriders of Pern and also influences by David Brin. The science in this science fiction piece was notably lacking. The one thing that I especially did not care for was how the group mourning scenes were portrayed-- the natives sat cross-legged moving their upper torso in ever-expanding circles. I was also perturbed when once again an atheistic bitch scientist yields to the throes of religiosity, a theme that I watched in some other movie portraying the world ending whose name escapes me at the moment.
The most significant thing about the movie "Avatar" was the decision that I made after seeing it. I've decided to donate my whole body to science and not just any organs needed for transplant. I figure that if there are any gods hanging out in the afterlife, they will have to deal with my lack of a corpse in a creative manner. Folks here on earth need my body more-- whether it's my retinas, heart, a kidney or two, skin. Or perhaps my earthly remains can help teach some future surgeons how to make those precise cuts. After watching the aftermath of the death scenes in Avatar, (yes those funky scenes where the natives sit cross-legged while moving their upper torsos in those ever-expanding circles...) I figure that our remains are wasted by being allowed to rot in expensive boxes in cemeteries. And cremation does not allow for full use of the shells we leave behind.
While it's nice I suppose for some people to have a spot to go to in the middle of a wide expanse of lawn in order to remember me, I would prefer to be the eyes for one who can now see or the new skin for a burn victim.
sapphoq reviews books and more
The movie Avatar was full of 3D effects-- many of which appeared to be happening in front of our noses. I enjoyed the forest on the planet Pandora. I especially liked the very realistic looking ferns, the giant-sized fiddleheads, and the white jellyfish-like seed pods floating in the air that were being released from the mother tree. Ah but here I am getting ahead of myself.
Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, twin brother of a dead scientist named Tom. Because Jake's D.N.A. "matches" that of his dead twin, he is recruited in Tom's place to go to the alien planet Pandora and act as the human control for an avatar which looked somewhat like the cat-tailed natives of the planet. The plan was for the human controls to lay in isolation pods and have their "nerves" (nervous systems?) connect with the "nerves" of the artificial avatars who would then go off to explore Pandora and befriend the primitives. The indigenous race on Pandora lived smack dab in the middle of a site where it was determined that a mother lode of the element Unobtainium lay. The mother tree of the tribe also grew there and her roots were described as forming neural networks with the roots of many other trees on the planet in a number exceeding those connections in the human brain.
The plan hits a snag when Jake (who is paraplegic possibly acquired during his career as a Marine) revels in the avatar's ability to walk and so Jake the avatar escapes and goes native. Going native involves falling in love with one of the savages after she teaches him the local lingo. Jake the human neglects to shower and has to be cajoled into taking enough time to eat. There is a showdown at the end of course. The natives triumph over the bad humans who are sent packing off to their abused home planet Earth.
I especially enjoyed the performance given by Stephen Lang as Colonel Michael Quaritch. The Colonel is pure Marine, driven to fulfill the mission assigned to him. His acting was most convincing to me. I found myself hating his character halfway through the movie. Sigourney Weaver was less convincing as Grace Augustine, the scientist who comes to believe in the Mother. She started off with a bang as a bitch who had little to no use for Jake Sully. The script had her too quickly deteriorate into a gentler kinder human sort. I have to believe that her unconvincing transformation was a fault of the writer, rather than of her own fine acting.
The movie Avatar borrows heavily from other science fiction pieces, notably from Asimov's Foundation series with this whole business of a planet being seen as a living, breathing Gaia (yes, you folks who believe that, your belief is rooted in stories). Also present was shades of Anne McCafferty's Dragonriders of Pern and also influences by David Brin. The science in this science fiction piece was notably lacking. The one thing that I especially did not care for was how the group mourning scenes were portrayed-- the natives sat cross-legged moving their upper torso in ever-expanding circles. I was also perturbed when once again an atheistic bitch scientist yields to the throes of religiosity, a theme that I watched in some other movie portraying the world ending whose name escapes me at the moment.
The most significant thing about the movie "Avatar" was the decision that I made after seeing it. I've decided to donate my whole body to science and not just any organs needed for transplant. I figure that if there are any gods hanging out in the afterlife, they will have to deal with my lack of a corpse in a creative manner. Folks here on earth need my body more-- whether it's my retinas, heart, a kidney or two, skin. Or perhaps my earthly remains can help teach some future surgeons how to make those precise cuts. After watching the aftermath of the death scenes in Avatar, (yes those funky scenes where the natives sit cross-legged while moving their upper torsos in those ever-expanding circles...) I figure that our remains are wasted by being allowed to rot in expensive boxes in cemeteries. And cremation does not allow for full use of the shells we leave behind.
While it's nice I suppose for some people to have a spot to go to in the middle of a wide expanse of lawn in order to remember me, I would prefer to be the eyes for one who can now see or the new skin for a burn victim.
sapphoq reviews books and more
Monday, December 28, 2009
Backyard Bird Secrets for Every Season by Sally Roth
Backyard Bird Secrets for Every Season, Sally Roth.
New York: Rodale Press, 2009. large paperback, 337 pps. inc. sources and index.
We've had a bit of a cold snap and I found my self wanting to read books that remind me that spring will return. Backyard Bird Secrets for Every Season fits the bill. Sally Roth is an avid birder from Indiana. She knows her stuff and has been widely published. The book itself uses medium thickness glossy pages which pleased my fingers and colored photographs which were a feast for my eyes. Charts and writing style are both clear and precise. I am as pleased with this book as I have been with other things that Roth has written.
The book is divided into sections according to the four seasons with winter being the last. I turned first to Part 4 subtitled Winter: Getting down to Basics. In Part 4, Roth addresses the need for proteinous foods, water, and shelter. The colorful pictures compliment her information rather well. A picture of a hollowed out tree caught my eye. I was pleased to see Part 4 mention the roosting together of birds in nesting boxes and small cavities that we observe here. If I get up early enough in the morning that was preceded by a cold night, I can be rewarded by the sight of a bunch of little birds pouring out of a roosting box, having all shared the box and body heat for the night. Roth suggests putting up birdhouses early, cleaning the feeders once a month in the winter time (with steps included), and providing water via a heated water source or at least special plastic with a dark interior that will delay freezing. I am now actively looking for either a solar water unit or a water heater for my birdbath. Roth also mentions the reliance that buffleheads have on woodpeckers in finding shelter. Buffleheads are considered incidental here along the Mohawk, although I did have the pleasure of watching a female bufflehead one fall down by the locks. Upon spying me and my dog, she dove underwater and came up again 50 feet later. Charts included in Part 4 illustrate which plants and trees attract which birds in the winter landscape.
Sally Roth has once again succeeded in presenting information about birds in an easy-to-read style bound to appeal to people who find pleasure in feeding birds. Although this book is not a scholarly tome, it is worth the look-see for anyone wishing to hone their knowledge about backyard birds.
sapphoq reviews says: break out those suet cakes! A definite plus for the casual birding library.
New York: Rodale Press, 2009. large paperback, 337 pps. inc. sources and index.
We've had a bit of a cold snap and I found my self wanting to read books that remind me that spring will return. Backyard Bird Secrets for Every Season fits the bill. Sally Roth is an avid birder from Indiana. She knows her stuff and has been widely published. The book itself uses medium thickness glossy pages which pleased my fingers and colored photographs which were a feast for my eyes. Charts and writing style are both clear and precise. I am as pleased with this book as I have been with other things that Roth has written.
The book is divided into sections according to the four seasons with winter being the last. I turned first to Part 4 subtitled Winter: Getting down to Basics. In Part 4, Roth addresses the need for proteinous foods, water, and shelter. The colorful pictures compliment her information rather well. A picture of a hollowed out tree caught my eye. I was pleased to see Part 4 mention the roosting together of birds in nesting boxes and small cavities that we observe here. If I get up early enough in the morning that was preceded by a cold night, I can be rewarded by the sight of a bunch of little birds pouring out of a roosting box, having all shared the box and body heat for the night. Roth suggests putting up birdhouses early, cleaning the feeders once a month in the winter time (with steps included), and providing water via a heated water source or at least special plastic with a dark interior that will delay freezing. I am now actively looking for either a solar water unit or a water heater for my birdbath. Roth also mentions the reliance that buffleheads have on woodpeckers in finding shelter. Buffleheads are considered incidental here along the Mohawk, although I did have the pleasure of watching a female bufflehead one fall down by the locks. Upon spying me and my dog, she dove underwater and came up again 50 feet later. Charts included in Part 4 illustrate which plants and trees attract which birds in the winter landscape.
Sally Roth has once again succeeded in presenting information about birds in an easy-to-read style bound to appeal to people who find pleasure in feeding birds. Although this book is not a scholarly tome, it is worth the look-see for anyone wishing to hone their knowledge about backyard birds.
sapphoq reviews says: break out those suet cakes! A definite plus for the casual birding library.
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