I'll show you around this alphabet town

It's October, but it's been like summer the last few days. Winter will be upon us soon enough; we're relishing this, to be sure. And speaking of relish, I like some on my hot dogs. Just in case you were wondering (When people start hosting trivia nights centered around this blog - and they will (I suspect they already have) - that little tidbit could score you some points. Just saying.

The road to Enlightenment is fraught with snags and distractions and consequently it often feels as if any gains that were made were in vain. David Hawkins likens the experience to taking off in a rocket. It's rocky at first - the pull of gravity doesn't relinquish its subjects easily and that first part of the ride is shaky and perilous. Once you breach the atmosphere, however, it's smooth sailing and you're as light as a feather.

While I've encountered snags and distractions, I've felt a noticeable shift in my consciousness lately, which I'm confident is mostly due to increased meditation and my yoga routine, but I haven't breached the atmosphere quite yet. I've gone places during meditation, lost everything of my self but a gossamer thread, but mostly it's helped me remain present and clear. That has been essential, especially throughout the turbulence of the last several days.

Janelle and Pooch Edward stopped by last night. We walked over to True Grounds for some coffee and then headed over to the park, found a bench, and talked for a while. As always, it was great seeing her. Whenever I do, I always hope that some of her inherent kindness rubs off on me. I think it worked: I woke up this morning feeling kind of lousy about throwing tomatoes at that baby in the stroller (I do not want to get into it, so don't ask). Kind of lousy, but not entirely; that little shit deserved a good ol' fashioned pelting.


My financial woes are at Defcon 4 (Or 5. Whatever the highest one is). There is hope, though, and I will not despair. One favorable development over the last week or so has been increased hours at work. We've been pretty damn busy lately and I'm lapping up every extra bit of work I can get. I need to get paid, son!

I've had my car back for a few days now, but I don't feel confident behind the wheel. Who knows how long it will hold out. I hope for a while because having transportation is kind of a big deal. Ah, things will be fine.

Spira and I watched Hot Tub Time Machine the other day. It was pretty much what I expected it would be. It was rife with dumb jokes, gross out humor (Ok, let me vent a little here. I've noticed an increase in vomiting, pissing, and other bodily excretions in comedies on TV and in movies. Now, I hardly ever watch TV anymore and I rarely watch comedic movies, but it just seems that when I do, I'm subject to a lot of gross and entirely unfunny sight gags. To wit, The Office, in one of it's cold opens last seasons had the entire cast puking. Maybe I'm a sour puss, but I wasn't ROTFL over that. There was a welter of puke and piss and maybe even cum (I can't recall, thankfully) in this Hot Tub movie. I'm not a comedic sophisticate by any means, but I don't see the humor in bodily excretions. Not so much because I get grossed out, but primarily because it's too easy, a short cut to being creative), sex, and at least one collective "Ohhhhhh Shiiiiitttt !!!!" moment in the midst of a dangerous and potentially life-threatening act. There were some laughs here and there and some cool 80's references ( Guess which decade they go back in time to. Seriously, take a wild guess). My grade: C+.

Almost finished reading The Lost City of Z and about halfway through Shakespeare's Henry V, both of which I've been having a great time reading. Regarding the former, I'm probably going to move on to Percy Fawcett's memoirs when I'm through. Fascinating man, he was. Lost forever in the jungle with his son and his son's best friend. Were they killed by an aggressive tribe of Indians? Did they find Z and it's advanced citizenry and decide to never leave it? Or did they starve to death, alone and delirious? I suspect we'll never know.

Been playing a lot of mandolin lately. Can't say I saw this coming. I've had a mandolin for years, but hardly ever played it, mostly because it wouldn't stay in tune and also because I couldn't figure out how to play it. About a month ago, I dug it out of the closet and started noodling around on it. Then I began playing every day. With improvement, my desire to play it increased. I'm not quite proficient yet, but I'm markedly better than I was and, most importantly, it's been a companion through some hairy times. Quite therapeutic, this mandolin o' mine.

Having dinner at the folks house after work tomorrow. And, on Friday, I'll be heading up to Tracy and Ray's for dinner and laughs. In the meantime, I'm of a mind to watch a Woody Allen film. Perhaps it will be Stardust Memories I choose. Or maybe Zelig. Or Alice. Might have to flip a coin. Pray for a favorable outcome, dear readers.