SleepWaking

January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008

TOP FIFTEEN FILMS
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Atonement
Juno
Assassination of Jesse James by Coward Robert Ford
Be Kind Rewind
John Adams
Angel-A
Iron Man
The Mist
Patton
The Dark Knight
Burn After Reading
Diving Bell and Butterfly
Charlie Wilson’s War

HONORABLE MENTION
Lars and the Real Girl
War of the Worlds (Tom Cruise)
Sunshine
Southland Tales
Across the Universe
Jarhead
Rendition
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Paths to Glory
Paprika
Blood Diamonds
Dr. Strangelove
Onion Movie
District B13
The Foot Fist Way

WORST FILMS OF THE YEAR
The Invasion: potential squandered.
The Savages: terrific actors make world’s most boring film.
Troy: how in god did such a great director flub up so badly?
10,000 BC: excrement.
Incredible Hulk, The (ed norton): extremely bad chemistry between Norton and Tyler.

TOP FIFTEEN BOOKS
“Black Hole” by Charles Burns
“Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, The” by Umberto Eco
“The Orchard Keeper” by Cormac McCarthy
“Born Standing Up” by Steve Martin
“Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip Roth
“Interpreter of Maladies” by Jumpa Lahiri
“Dune” by Frank Herbert
“Best of American Splendor” by Harvey Pekar
“Zorro” by Isabelle Allende
“Back in the World” by Tobias Wolf
“Buddha” by Deepak Chopra
“Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert
“Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood
“All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy
“Ellen Foster” by Kaye Gibbons

MOVIES and BOOKS
Lot more movies, much fewer books (and more of those graphic novels).

JIU-JITSU [33, -15 from previous year]
Should be blue belt by now.  It has been said, but I need to attend more reglularly.  Attendance down by 15, mostly due to Oct - Dec being busted due to work at Fetter-Logic.

JOGGING [13, -20 from previous year]
Jogging started ok but petered out thru year.  Job as manager, director, and then commuting to Denver really didn’t help.

MEDITATION [23 -20 from previous year]
Like everything else just took a nosedive due to emotional exhaustion, work stress, and too much driving.

EVENTS
Event: Jiu-jitsu Tournament, Apr 19 - I attended, did not fight this time.
Event: 2nd Anniversary - dinner at Asia Garden - June 17
Event: Dave and Busters Bday Party - Aug 23
Event: Ty drives to school alone - Sept 30
Event: Bought Hyundai Accent; totalled a week later - Oct 28
Game: Game Day - Walking on a Winter Wonderboard, Mar 15
Game: d20 - first 4e game - June 28
Game: d20 - Keep on Shadowfell session 2 - July 12
Misc: Tyler, first day of college class Jan. 15
Visit: Kyle Visit - Aug 28
Work: Current - Director of IT - June 27
Work: Current - My Last Day - Oct 3
Work: First Day at Fetter-Logic - Oct 8 

BOOKS [39]
“Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, The” by Umberto Eco
“Developing the Leader Within You” by John C. Maxwell
“Alienist, The” by Caleb Carr
“Choke” by Chuck Palahniuk
“King, Warrior, Magician, Lover”by Robert Moore
“The Orchard Keeper” by Cormac McCarthy
“Born Standing Up” by Steve Martin
“Core Performance” by Mark Verstegen
“Plato and a Platypus Wald into a Bar” by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, 13:978-0-8109-143-3
“Short Happy Life of Francis MacComber” by Ernest Hemingway
“The Devil Tree” by Jerzy Kosinski
“Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip Roth
“Interpreter of Maladies” by Jumpa Lahiri
“Aristotle and the Aardvark Go to Washington” by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein
“Dune” by Frank Herbert
“Best of American Splendor” by Harvey Pekar
“Jack and Jill” by James Patterson
“D&D: Races and Classes” - game book
“Zorro” by Isabelle Allende
“I Am Legend” by Richard Mattheson
“Back in the World” by Tobias Wolf
“Buddha” by Deepak Chopra
“Alchemist, The” by Paulo Coelho
“Shiny Beasts” by Rick Veich
“Soulmate” by Deepak Chopra
“Madame Bovary” by Gustave Flaubert
“Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood
“Dune Messiah” by Frank Herbert
“Tao of Pooh” by Benjaminn Hoff
“Tibetan Buddhist Life” by Don Faber
“Children of Dune” by Frank Herbert
“Bankok Haunts” by John Burdett
“When You Are Engulfed in Flames” by David Sedaris
“Castaways” by Rob Vollmar
“God Emporer of Dune” by Frank Herbert
“Karma: The Ancient Sciene of Cause and Effect” by Jeffrey Armsrong, 160109106-0
“All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy
“Stories of Shiva” by Amar Chitra Katha
“Ellen Foster” by Kaye Gibbons
“The Salmon of Doubt” by Douglas Adams [audio]
“An Unquiet Mind” by Kay Redfield Jamison

GRAPHIC NOVELS [23]
“League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol. 2″ by Alan Moore [graphic novel]
“Superman: For Tomorrow vol. 1″ by Brian Azzarello [graphic novel]
“Superman: For Tomorrow vol. 2″ by Brian Azzarello [graphic novel]
“Batman: Death in the City” by Paul Dini, 9-781401-215750 [graphic novel]
“Making Comics” by Scott McCloud [graphic novel]
“1602″ by Alan Moore [graphic novel]
“The Originals” by Dave Gibbons [graphic novel]
“Green Lantern Will World” by J.M. DeMatteis [graphic novel], 61941-23202
“Remembrance of Things Past 2: Within a Budding Grove” adapted by Stephane Heuet [graphic novel]
“The Rabbi’s Cat” by Joann Sfar [graphic novel]
“Sock Monkey: The Inches Incident” by Tony Millionaire [graphic novel]
“Last Call vol. 1″ by Vasilis Lolos [graphic novel]
“Strangers in Paradise vol. 1″ by Terry Moore [graphic novel]
“Eternals” by Neil Gaiman [graphic novel]
“Black Dossier” by Neil Gaiman [graphic novel]
“Peanuts 1963-64″ by Charles Schultz [graphic novel]
“Order of the Stick vol. 1″ [graphic novel] by Rich Burlew
“Black Hole” by Charles Burns [graphic novel] by Charles Burns
“I Killed Adolf Hitler” by Jason [graphic novel]
“The Last Muskateer” by Jason [graphic novel]
“Shutterbug Follies” by Jason Little [graphic novel]
“Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick [graphic novel]
“Identity Crisis” by Brad Meltzer [graphic novel]
MOVIES [113, 111 distinct]
Raiders of the Lost Ark
We Are Marshall
Sunshine
300
The Brood
Battlestar Galactica: Razor
Dark City
A Beautiful Mind
The Invasion
3:10 to Yuma
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Stargate
Donnie Darko
Eastern Promises
Troy
Big Lebowski
No Country for Old Men
Atonement
Becoming Jane
The Burbs
30 Days of Night
Sweeny Todd
Southland Tales
Across the Universe
There Will Be Blood
Little Shop of Horrors
Raising Arizona
Juno
Charlie Wilson’s War
Ten Questions with Dalai Lama
The Savages
Lars and the Real Girl
Iron Man (animated)
War of the Worlds (Tom Cruise)
Jarhead
Rendition
Run Lola Run
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
P.S. I Love You
Pan’s Labyrinthe
Hitman
Diving Bell and Butterfly
Superbad
Paths to Glory
Scanners
The Sentinel
Darkon
Goya’s Ghosts
Shooter
ExliteEX: Renegade
Angel-A
Sex and the City: The Movie
Love in the Time of Cholera
Otis
Cloverfield
Paprika
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Blood Diamonds
Sea Change
Love Guru
Family Man, The (with Nick Cage)
Astronaut Farmer
The Dark Knight
Redbelt
Dr. Strangelove
Onion Movie x2
Be Kind Rewind
Assassination of Jesse James by Coward Robert Ford
District B13
John Adams
Bucket List, The
Clone Wars, The
Children of Dune
Sideways
10,000 BC
The Mist
Eddy Izzard: Circle
Eddy Izzard: Definite Article
Donnie Darko
King of the Cage
Patton
An Inconvenient Truth
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Charlie Barlett
Burn After Reading
The Passion
40-Year Old Virgin
Road Warrior, The
Futurama: Beast with a Million Backs
Halloween
Office, season 4, disc 1
Sara Conner Chronicles, season 1
Iron Man x2
The Foot Fist Way
Heavy Metal
The Negociator
Beyond Thunderdome
House, season 1
Incredible Hulk, The (ed norton)
Nightmare Before Christmas
The Shining
Get Smart
Queen Margot (with Wybles)
Quantum of Solace (with Peter)
Tropic Thunder
Hancock
Stepbrothers
Four Christmases
Forgetting Sara Marshall
Leatherheads
Charlie Brown Christmas
Benny & Joon

TV on DVD
Office, season 1
Office, season 2
Office, season 3
My Name is Earl, season 1
My Name is Earl, season 2
My Name is Earl, season 3
Battlestar Galactica, season 2
Battlestar Galactica, season 2.5
Battlestar Galactica, season 3
Sara Conner Chronicles, season 1

FIGHT SHOWS
UFC 70
HDNet Fights: Fedor Returns
EliteXC: Shamrock vs Baroni
EliteXC: Kimbo vs Tank Abbott
ExliteEX: Renegade

January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007

TOP TEN FILMS
300 (IMAX)
Apocalypto
Beowulf
Departed, The
Dreamgirls
Fountain, The
Grizzly Man
I Am Legend
Pan’s Labyrinthe
Solaris
HONORABLE MENTION
Color Me Kubrick
Dark Portals
Everything is Illuminated
Seraphim Falls

TOP FIFTEEN BOOKS
“A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey, 9-780307-276902
“Bless Me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya - May 17
“Buddha Da” by Anne Donovan
“Daughter of Fortune” by Isabelle Allende
“Deadeye Dick” by Kurt Vonnegut
“Exploring Consciousness” by Rita Carter, 9-780520-243255
“Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer
“My Life and Hard Times” by James Thurber
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
“Night in Question, The” by Tobias Wolff, 0-679-78155-2
“No Country For Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy
“The Road” by Cormac McCarthy
“Tortilla Flat” by John Steinbeck
“Under the Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer, 0330419129
“We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson
JIU-JITSU [48]
I really ramped up my BJJ near the end of the year due to tournament in October.  I lost tournament, but it was a great experience; enjoyed it.  I hurt my hamstring while warming up and it’s still screwed up near end of December; hope I can put it behind me in 2008.

JOGGING [33]
Got up to 30 minutes with a few short sprints mixed in.  Hamstring from RMBJJ tournament in October slowed me down for a month; working back to full jogging capability.  I’m suprised it’s fewer times than in 2006; seemed like more.  However, I think the ability to jog during the day at Catalyst really made a difference last year.

MEDITATION [43]
Meditation heavy in beginning of year; not much at all in last third of year.  Busy life, busy schedule, blah blah.  With new job I have to get to office early and I haven’t been able to make meditation the morning ritual I should.  Sigh.

Made two retreats this year.  It was awesome to see Gen-la after his being in India and Thailand for so long.

TV on DVD
Battlestar Galactica - season 1, discs 1-2
Seinfeld - Season 6, Disc 1
Carnivale - Season 2
My Name is Earl - Season 1, disc 3
Firefly - 1st Season
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - season 1
Deadwood - Season 1
Deadwood - Season 2
Deadwood - Season 3
Lost - season 1

FIGHT SHOWS
UFC 1
UFC 2
UFC 4
UFC 5
UFC ?
UFC ??
Pride Bushido #1
Pride Bushido #2
Pride Early Days vol. 1
Pride 12-16
KOTC: Shootout

MOVIES [90]
1408
300 (IMAX)
Alien
Alien 2
Alvin and the Chipmunks
American Gangster
Apocalypto
Barry Lyndon
Futurama: Benders Big Score - Dec 25
Beowulf
Better Off Dead
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
Blades of Glory
Casino Royale
Clean and Sober
Color Me Kubrick
Dark Portals
Departed, The
Donnie Darko
Doors, The
Dreamgirls
Everything is Illuminated
Evil Dead 2
Fight Club
Fountain, The
Good German, The
Gosford Park
Grizzly Man
Hairspray
Hellboy: Blood and Iron
Henry Potter 5
Hollywoodland
I Am Legend
Illusionist, The
Jungle Book
Last Temptation of Christ
LoTR 1: Fellowship of the Ring
LoTR 2: The Two Towers
LoTR 3: Return of the King
My Friend Irma
My Friend Irma Goes West
Night at the Museum
Night Passage
Norbit
Notes on a Scandal
Notorious Betty Page
Ocean’s Thirteen
Pan’s Labyrinthe
Party, The
Peaceful Warrior
Pirates of Carribean: At World’s End
Planet Terror
Premonition
Raging Bull
Requiem for a Dream
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Seraphim Falls
Serenity (2x)
Simpsons Movie - Dec 24
Solaris
Spider-Man 3 (IMAX)
Stardust
Stranger than Fiction
Stone Cold
Tideland
Twelve Monkeys
Wayne’s World
Waking Life
Wild Hogs

EVENTS

Death: Donna Gerkin - May 1

Event: Eddie Bravo Seminar - Sept 29
Event: RMBJJ Grappling Tournament - Oct 13
Event: BODHISATTVA VOWS - Oct 20
Event: Mind Seisuze Haunted House - Oct 27
Event: Syd 13th Birthday at Texas Roadhouse - Dec 5
Event: Volleyball Tournament, Syds team won - Dec 8

Game: Battlelore with Reed, Agincourt, he won, Fed 21
Game: family, Winner’s Circle
Game: Wyble Family Visit, UFC 68: Uprising, Mar 3
Game: d20-Savage Tide #1
Game: d20-Mar 24
Game: d20-Adakar #1: Apr 6
Game: d20-Savage Tide, Apr 14
Game: d20-Genghis Con-Feb 1 (me, Tyler, and Sam)
Game: d20-Savage Tide #2 finished
Game: Halo 1 with Tyler - Sept 2
Game: Halo 2 with Tyler - Sept 3

Holiday: Easter-Apr 1 - Angie did egg hunt this year
Holiday: Anniversary-dinner at Peppertree, diamond earrings - June 17th
Holiday: July 4th at Blake’s House in Manitou Springs
Holiday: Angie 40th Birthday - Aug 19
Holiday: Summer BBQ - July 21
Holiday: Xmas in Kentucky - Dec 20 to Jan 2
Holiday: Thanksgiving with Kids - Nov 22

Misc: Buddhist Retreat: Jan 27
Misc: Got Grady and Cody at Wal-Mart - Apr 21
Misc: Roto-till Lawn - May 27
Misc: Roto-till Lawn - May 27
Misc: Injury-Syd on Bike - June 13

Theatre: Syd in “He Has Risen”
Theatre: McClelland “Oliver Twist” (Syd) - May 3
Theatre: Katy’s Recital “Double Feature” - May 19th
Theatre: Syd in “Hotel Heaven” - July 29

Visit: visit Shawn in Seattle, March 15
Visit: Matt/Linda visit Mead Hall - Apr 8
Visit: Manitou Boardwalk with Syd and girls - July 15
Visit: Dad and June - Dinner at Mona Lisa - July 28
Visit: Mom and Jim visit Mead Hall
Visit: Kyle/Dad in AZ - Nov 1
Visit: Karen visits Mead Hall for a week - Nov 4

Work: Angie at Walgreens, Jan 30
Work: Angie’s Place Exam - June 2
Work: USOC Interview - June 6
Work: Angie got Job! - July 12
Work: Angie, 1st day at CHavez - July 16th
Work: Last Day at Catalyst - Aug 10
Work: 1st Day at Current - Aug 13

BOOKS [15]
Graphic Novels
“Best American Comics 2007″ by Chris Ware (editor), 0618718761
“B.P.R.D. #4: The Dead” by Mignola, 1-59307-380-1
“Comix: Underground Revolution” by Dez Skinn, 1560255722
“Complete Peanuts 1957-58″ 1-56097-670-5
“Conan: Frost Giant’s Daughter and Other Stories” (graphic novel)
“Der Strummel Maakies” by Tony Millionaire
“Halbritter’s Arms Thru the Ages”, 0140051805
“Heidegger for Beginners” by Eric Lemay, 1934389137  - May 11
“Hellboy #1: Seed of Destruction” by Mignola
“Hellboy #2: Wake the Devil” by Mignola
“Hellboy #3: Charred Coffin and Other Stories” by Mignola 1-59307-091-8
“Hellboy #4: The Right Hand of Doom” by Mignola 1-59307-093-0
“Introducing Jung” by Haggie Hyde, 9-781840-465792
“Lenore”
“Top 10, vol. 1″ by alan moore,1563896680
Novels [43]
“A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey, 9-780307-276902
“Average American Male” by Chad Kultgen - May 21
“Aztec” by Gary Jennings
“Bangkok Tattoo” by John Burdett
“Bless Me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya - May 17
“Buddha Da” by Anne Donovan
“Daughter of Fortune” by Isabelle Allende
“Deadeye Dick” by Kurt Vonnegut
“Death in Paradise” by Robert B. Parker
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney, 0810993139
“Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria” by Sigmeund Freud
“Dunwich Horror” by H.P. Lovecraft
“Exploring Consciousness” by Rita Carter, 9-780520-243255
“I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This” by Bob Newhart
“Inferno” by Dante, translation by Pinsky
“Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer
“Lanterns and Lances” by James Thurber
“Leadership and Self-Deception” by Arbinger Institute, 1-57675-1744-0
“Little Girl Lost” by ??
“Kiss the Girls” by James Patterson
“Magical Thinking” by Augusten Burroughs, 9-780312-315955
“Master of the Five Magics” by Lyndon Hardy
“My Life and Hard Times” by James Thurber
“Night” by Elie Wiesel
“Night in Question, The” by Tobias Wolff, 0-679-78155-2
“Night Passage” by Robert B. Parker
“No Country For Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy
“Possible Side Effects” by Augusten Burroughs
“Post Secret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives” by Frank Warren
“Sea Change” by Robert B. Parker
“Sexing the Cherry” by Jeanette Winterson, 9-780679-733164
“Shattered” by Bruin Bettyanne
“Stone Cold” by Robert B. Parker
“The Road” by Cormac McCarthy
“The Worlds A Stage” by Rob Crosman, 1930901925
“Tortilla Flat” by John Steinbeck
“Trouble in Paradise” by Robert B. Parker
“Under the Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer, 0330419129
“Watch My Back” by Geoff Thompson - 1-84024-189-6, 1840241896
“We Have Always Lived in the Castle” by Shirley Jackson
“Wisdom of Forgiveness” by Victor Chan
“Who Moved My Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson, 0-399-14446-3
“Anagrams” by Lorrie Moore, 978-0-307-27728-2

January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006

TOP TEN BOOKS
“2001: Space Odyssey” by Arthur C. Clarke
“37 Practices of Boddhisattva” by Shantideva
“Candide” by Voltaire
“Coming of Conan” by Robert E. Howards
“Deeper Dimension of Yoga” by Georg Feuerstein
“Known World, The” by Edward P. Jones
“Litany of the Long Sun” by Gene Wolf
“Motherless Brooklyn” by Jonathan Lethem
“Self-Made Man” by Norah Vincent
“When Things Fall Apart” by Pema Chodrun

TOP TEN MOVIES
Brokeback Mountain
Broken Flowers
Cool Hand Luke
Elizabethtown
Jerk, The
Memento
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Pride and Prejudice
Scanner Darkly, A
Serenity
WORST MOVIE OF THE YEAR
Snakes on a Plane

JOGGING [42]

MEDITATION [75]
 Mahamudra - Jan 13-15
 Parting from the Four Attachments - April 7-9
 Rinpoche - Aug 2-4
 27 Practices of a Boddhisattva - Aug 4-6
 Wisdom Texts - Oct 6-9 - Angie was there
TV on DVD
Carnivale Season 1
Carnivale Season 2
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 2
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 3
Deadwood Season 2
Futurama Season 2
Futurama Season 3
Kung Fu vol 3 disc 1
My Name is Earl - vol 1 disc 1
Seinfeld Season 5

FIGHT SHOWS
UFC 54
UFC 55
UFC 56
UFC 66

MOVIES
A History of Violence
Akeelah and the Bee
All the King’s Men
Big White, The
Black Dahlia
Boogie Nights
Born into Brothels
Brokeback Mountain
Broken Flowers
Call of Cthulhu
Capote
Chronicles of Narnia
Clerks 2
Conan the Barbarian
**Cool Hand Luke
D&D: Wrath of the Dragon God
Davinci Code
Dazed and Confused
Eddy Izzard: Circle
*Elizabeth I and II with Helen Mirren
**Elizabethtown
Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas
Fire & Ice
Fitzcarraldo
Galaxy Quest
Gods Must Be Crazy
Good Night and Good Luck
High Fidelity
Imax: How the Body Works
In Her Shoes
**Jerk, The
King Kong
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Little Miss Sunshine
Mad Hot Ballroom
Me, You, and Everyone Else
**Memento
Memoirs of a Geisha
Miami Vice
Milk Money
Mirrormask
**Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nacho Libre
Open Season
Over the Hedge
Pirates of the Caribbean 2
Pride and Prejudice
R2-D2: Beneath the Dome
Read It and Weep
Scanner Darkly, A
Scoop
Serenity
Seven Samurai
Sherlock Holmes: The Naval Treaty
Shopgirl
–Snakes on a Plane
SNL: Best of Tom Hanks
Star Wars: Clone Wars vol. 1
Star Wars: Clone Wars vol. 2
Stick It
Talladega Nights
Thank You for Smoking
Time Bandits
*Thursdays with Morrie
Underworld 2
V for Vendetta
Wedding Crashers
Wizards
X-Men 3
EVENTS
Death: Shay’s Dad’s Funeral - (angie and kids went, not me) - March 3
Death: Inka the gerbil died

Event: Comedy Club - Bryan Kellen
Event: Goodbye to Gen-la - Feb 25
Event: Casino Night - March 10 - Friday
Event: Monarch Skiing - Syd’s first time, March 18, Sat
Event: Proposed Marriage - March 21st, 2006, Tuesday
Event: Baby Shower - Matt/Linda  Apr 15, Sat
Event: Shakespeare Night at McClelland - May 5, Friday
Event: Schism in Sangha - May 8, Mon
Event: Dispossession - got rid of old box of letters - May 16, Tues
Event: McClelland: Tyler’s Gradutation - May 25, Thur
Event: MARRIAGE - JUNE 17, Saturay
Event: World Cup: Brazil vs France
Event: World Tibet Day in Boulder (just me) - Jul 8, Sat
Event: Waterworld - Jul 23, Sun
Event: DALAI LAMA - Sept 17, Sunday with Angie and Sydney
Event: Moving into Mead Hall - Oct 27 - 30
Event: Kelly Anaya’s daughter has lymphoma, Nov 27, Mon
Event: Adopted Tess, Dec 26, Tues

Game: Genghis Con - Feb 17-19
Game: d20-Marilvaz’s Tomb Treasure, Mar 15, Wed
Game: d20-Marilvaz Tomb - Tyler ran monsters, Mar 19, Sun
Game: d20-finished Eralion’s Keep - Apr 16, Sun
Game: d20-AoW #1 with Tyler - Aug 19, Sat
Game: Tacticon - Sept 1, Fri
Game: d20-AoW#1 with Peter - Sept 19, Tues
Game: d20-Savage Tide Char Gen, Session #1 - Oct 3, Tues
Game: d20-AoW Grotto with Peter - Oct 10, Tues
Game: d20-Savage Tide #1, Session #2, Nov 18, Sat
Game: d20-Savage Tide #1 Session #3 - Dec 16, Sat
Game: Xmas Nerf Gun Battle - Dec 25, Mon

Holiday: Angie Birthday - Aug 19, Sat
Holiday: Bday dinner for Will - Oct 14, Sat
Holiday: Thanksgiving, Angie and I at Country Buffett, Nov 23, Thur
Holiday: Syd’s 12th Birthday Party - Dec 9, Sat
Holiday: Xmas Tree, Dec 10, Sun

Visit: Howard - 20 min at airport - Apr 20, Thur
Visit: Angie to Kentucky - Jul 4
Visit: Ken - took him to El Chapultapec with Angie - Aug 26, Sat - met Donna and Mitchell Monday night
Visit: Movie Night with Peter at Apt. Sept 5, Tues
Visit: Chris and Melissa visit, baseball, just me- Sept 8, Fri
Visit: char gen and visit kids at Peter’s house, Sept 12, Tues

�
BOOKS [18]
“Buddha vol. 2″ by Osamu Tezuka
“Buddha vol. 3″ by Osamu Tezuka

“2001: Space Odyssey” by Arthur C. Clarke
“37 Practices of Boddhisattva” by Shantideva
“Bangkok 8″s
“Candide” by Voltaire
“Coming of Conan” by Robert E. Howards
“Deeper Dimension of Yoga” by Georg Feuerstein
“Eastern Way” by Joseph Campbell (audio book)
“Introduction to Descartes” by Robinson
“Known World, The” by Edward P. Jones
“Litany of the Long Sun” by Gene Wolf
“Motherless Brooklyn” by Jonathan Lethem
“Never Have Your Dog Stuffed” by Alan Alda
“People’s History of the United States 20th Century” by Howard Zinn (audio book)
“Self-Made Man” by Norah Vincent
“Tales of the Quake” by Murakami
“When Things Fall Apart” by Pema Chodrun

Dreamt 1:36am, Jan 1, 2009

First dream of new year.  In the dream, most everyone was “wearing” a kind of face-covering helmet made of cake.  The cakehead helmets were somehow relevant to a search for a murdered and/or missing person, I can’t exactly recall.  I do remember finding Fred Sanford; he was either a key character in the search or the body of the missing person.

Along the way I met Stan Laurel.  Stan and his followers had hit upon the brilliant idea that instead of wearing face-covering cake helmets, that they would create huge cakeheads and carry them around on giant wooden sticks.  So, Stan and friends were marching around carrying these enormous faces made on cakes on top of wooden two-by-fours.  I remember thinking it was brilliant because the cake wouldn’t be so smothering to wear and there was more cake!  Although, upon conscious reflection I guess it sort of ties up your hands carrying the damn thing.

Two external references that come to mind are that the cake helmets sort of remind me of the cover of the movie Baghead that I saw that evening at vid store.  I have not seen the film, but on the cover it shows several people, all of them wearing bags on their head.

And the large cake faces on sticks reminds me of hearing on NPR that the New Years ball in Times Square is twice as large this year; a permanently installed 12-foot diameter ball.

Like many Americans, my family and I had a relatively modest Christmas.  The financial downturn and the general workings of entropy on the fine machinery of humanity continue their work.  However, there is always the silver lining or two.  This year I have to say I am pleased that my Sword = 1 post brought royalty to visit.

Check out the post and imagine how pleased this unread little wannabe blogger must have been when he found that Scott Adams posted an encouraging comment.  If you were influenced by Mr. Adams as well, I encourage you to head over and discover more at his website.

Happy holidays out there — and here’s to a better new year.

Heretics of Dune
by Frank Herbert
Ace Science Fiction, 1987, ISBN: 978-0-441-32800-0

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear.  I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” p. 8

“The act of saying that things exist that cannot be described in words shakes a universe where words are the supreme belief.” p. 52

Allo!  Je m’appelle Earl. Oui oui!  Huh hah!  What?  Ok honey, I’ll shave it off.

Well . . .things have been wonky lately; just in general.  What with new car being totalled, killing escalator with my jacket, and other fun things.  Today things took a dark turn.  My wife went to bust out the Christmas decorations from basement storage.  In the top of the first box was a horrific death strip thing with four mice corpses plastered to it.  It was unspeakable carnage.  Merry Christmas!

We cannot figure out how this inhumane trap got into our Xmas box but we think it may have been folks we paid for a few months last year to spray for spiders.

The HQ lair of the mice appears to have been a large bag of stuffed animals . . . it has been removed; their palace destroyed.  We are now letting the cats roam in and out of the crawlspace.  I figure having the cats tear up stuff and eat insulation is less damaging than animal stuffing and mice crap everywhere.

Crazy Wisdom
by Chogyam Trungpa
ISBN 1-57062-894-7, Shambala

“The Buddhist approach to spirituality is connected with awakening within oneself rather than with relating to something external.” p. 5

“We associtae our own lack of understanding about what is going on with us with those unspoken, inexpressible things. This way our ignorance is made into the greatest discovery of all.” p. 7

**”Both question and answer die simultaneously at some point . . . this hopelessness is the essence of crazy wisdom.” p. 10

*”When we discover that we have madesome progress on the spiritual path, that discovery of progress is regarded as a hindrance to further progress.” p. 11

“Basic sanity is a process of working on ourselves in which the path itself rather than the attainment of a goal becomes the working basis.” p. 15

*”spirituality is not really the path, but spirituality is a way of conditioning our path, our energy” p. 17

“we relate to thigs as they are rather than as we would like them to be. That is basic sanity.” p. 18

“The intensity of confusion itself demands its own destruction. Ruthlessness is just putting that energy into action . . . you just let ego’s neurosis commit suicide rather than killing it. That’s the ruthlessness.” p. 24

“The totalit aspect of the dharmakaya is like the ocean, and the sambhogakaya aspect is like the waves of that ocean, . . . nirmanakaya aspect is like a ship on the ocean.” p. 31

“Padmasambhava’s second aspect is called Vajradhara.” p. 38

**”So let the phenomena play . . . there is no point in saying: Let me have a word with you. I would like to explain the whole situation inside-out.” p. 51

“The basic dissatisfaction that causes us to look for some spiritual understanding is an expression of vajra pride: we are not willing to submit to the suppression of our confusion.” p. 60

*”To become one with reality, I have to give up hope of becoming one with the reality . . . this hopelessness is the starting point of the process of realization.” p.83

“[student] Then that hopelessness puts you in the here and now.  [chogyam trungpa] Much more than that. It doesn’t put you anywhere. You have no ground to stand on, absolutely none. You are completely desolate.  And even desolation is not regarded as home, because you are so desolately, absolutely hopeless that even loneliness is not a refuge anymore.” p. 91

“Without a sense of hopelessness, there is no way to give birth to sudden enlightenment.” p. 95

“So there is the threefold process, of dharmakaya as the embryonic space, the sambhogakaya as the forwarding quality, and the nirmanakaya in which it actually manifests itself” p. 99 (three kayas with giving birth metaphor)

*”the very existence of the dharma itself is a projection” p. 107

“Our degree of fearlessness should be, so to speak, the speedometer of our sanity” p. 117

“Samsara is not regarded as a nuisance alone, but it has its own potent message that is worthy of respect.”

*”And unless we are willing to get blamed unjustly, we can’t cut our deception at all.” p. 162

**”The way to control the psychic energy of primitive beliefs is to instigate chaos .  . confuse them so they have to think twice.” p. 173

Vanity alphabet soup.

Imagine.  Cans of soup with names on the label, and the can of soup has only the letters for that name in the can.  Or maybe just one letter; your favorite letter in fact.

Also, possibly have word soup where the pasta makes cursive, attached words.  So, you could do the equivalent of fridge magnet fun on your plate with soup everywhere.  Small children might become brilliant in very short order when they create such works of art as “she old under my perfect flower” . . . enjoy your soup.