Tanking Experience
Today I went tanking down in Ohio. It was a typical Samadhi isolation tank and I spent an hour in it. The only way I could describe floating in Epsom salt water would be ... well ... floating in Epsom salt water. I think everyone should try it once and see if they like it, but I wont be buying my own anytime soon.. I can see how it would be relaxing, but did not find it more beneficial a circumstance in...
Better to be Loved …
At a networking social for BNI in Fredonia, an older gentleman, upon seeing my card, asked if I knew a Jerry Stuczynski. This one connection was worth more than any business I could have gotten from the gathering. When I was little, my Dad worked in the Aerospace industry -- he was Vice President of Finance for Carlton Controls Corporation (CCC), later bought out by Moog. Many a time he would come home and say he...
The Day the Music …
Our organist and choirmaster, Jean Touhy, got a rewarding job offer to work at a church in Chicago. Since 2001, she worked with Merry and I as part of the "small group choir" we called The Schola Cantorum. Our last singing mass was 10am on Sunday, and we had a last get-together party at Kurt's house (a tenor) two weeks ago. The music ministry is up in the air right now, but we will likely miss the likes of...
Over the years … ovecoming lies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruyi It's a simple object. A backscratcher actually, with centuries of significance in Chinese culture. So why did I think it was an ancient carpeting tool all these years until a push-hands partner from China showed me otherwise? Years ago, I had a close friend named David Moerler who was half-Chinese by birth, who told me all sorts of things about Chinese culture, martial arts, and...
Unsure how to title this one …
I usually don't talk about what goes on at the apartment complex here. For those who don't know, I manage (read "babysit") things here and get a break on rent ... a perfect arrangement as I work from a home office anyway. It really means doing some shoveling, salting, or riding the lawn mower now and then, with the occasional lock-out or complaint-taking duty. No details will be given here for the same reason I...
Childhood Statue
I grew up with a statue of the Infant of Prague on my nightstand, which when we moved to where we live now was placed on my daughter's nightstand. It was a little worn these last few years ... a nick here, a chip there, and the loosely placed crown (on top the moulded crown that was part of the stature itself) made from palm leaves is missing in action, though maybe in a box or drawer somewhere. But yesterday,...
The Talk
I got a call today from an old friend, who asked me to talk to their daughter. She wanted to know how to "find herself" and I was the person who came to mind to answer such a thing. It caught me off guard at first, and I floundered around about superficial personality assessments and values inventories, but her question was deep-seated. The matter was spiritual. She wanted the real thing. So I gave it to her. ...
Compassion is a Strange Thing
Reading all the confrontational (read "nasty") posts on a news group I frequent, I became aware of a strange feeling when meditating upon the people there. Some of these people could be described by bystanders as they describe each other: dysfunctional, hateful, mentally challenged, and the list goes on. They can be mean, polite, vengeful, arrogant, questioning, hurt, frustrated, thoughtful, closed-minded -- a...
The Libraries of Yore …
While snooping around the library (since the entire universe isn't on the web just yet), I went to use the book search computer -- the modern equivalent of the card catalog. In the old days, there were tiny wooden boxes full of little pieces of scrap paper so you could write down Dewey Decimal numbers and such on top of the huge cabinets of alphabetical drawers. Next to the computer there was scrap paper, too --...