Ask Mike K & wife (or Laurie) to come talk in the other room. Sit down and wait, look through for some music. They come in and I sit then lay on the couch. A cat comes and walks on top of me. Mike and I compare biceps. Leave and try to find the exit. Walk up stairs and there’s a line. Get to the front and chat with the ticket person. Some guy hits on me and I say “no, ew.” He goes back down the stairs.
Pre-and-post hiatus. What did I do again?
Please tip the writer. Whatever amount you like-every little bit helps, and I’ll do a shoutout. We are always short of cash, especially with a big mortgage. Let me know if you or someone you know needs web design/development-my rates aren’t bad, and I’m more than pretty good at it. Java/database/AWS/UI too. ThankYouVeryMuch!
OK, I’m calling this-it’s been five months. Really the same ‘ol the whole time. Doing fine in our new house. It’s quite chill, with decent neighbors. That may be changing… The rest of the world is in a fine state, but not really affecting us that much, other than the high interest rate we’re paying. And the hot weather. Politics and general discourse is a disaster. And the weather? Yow! Been listening to OPB in the car.
Tuesday morning (3/21). Another bill pay declined <sigh>. Well, the bonus this year is going to be really good, so I’ll spend some of it on that, and a trip to Vegas, but the majority needs to get saved because of the mortgage… It’s a beautiful day, though.
Friday morning. Friday noon. Friday afternoon. Don’t think I’ll get to this until after working out…and it’s Tuesday morning. So the weekend was a weekend. Workout Friday and Sunday, pulled holly Saturday, church, libe, shop and a thing Sunday, paid a bunch of bills-the bonus was sorely needed… Erika, Salem and their friends went to Breitenbush Sunday/Monday. I was going to make sweet & sour pork, but ran out of time. Finally started to clean up the graffiti on our concrete wall in the driveway. Needs another pass with a wire brush. Need to fix one of the fence doors too. Erika accidentally turned on a burner in kitchen 2 and started a bag of pretzels on fire-glad I was in here…the overhead fan is misbehaving… Always something needing to be done-saw a big blackberry cane over by the graffiti too. Blackberries and holly aren’t allowed here, even though blackberries are delicious, and this area is called Holly Acres. Holly grows like a weed-subterranean root systems sprout new trees. They’re both Class C invasive plants. Got Salem’s old laptop working again-we found the power plug… I copied everything over from my old one-I think I’ll retire that one, depending on how well I can get the Windows stuff working on Linux.
Thursday, late morning. Will I get to this today??? Nope. Friday morning (3/31). Trying to get some stuff done before the weekend. Not much going on. Matt is taking his driving test again today-we’ve gone out a few times, and he’s still quite awkward behind the wheel, and makes bad decisions. We’ll see. I overworked my hamstrings on Tuesday-negatives. Did the stairmill for the first time-that was fun… Hamstrings are still sore. A Gamelan thing. Got a wire brush yesterday and took a second pass at the graffiti-looks better. Pulled that blackberry cane too. And got keys for everybody. And visited Costco. And took out the trash.
Thursday afternoon (4/6). Busy trying to get our app in shape for uat. They’re making us upgrade a devops component and it’s breaking anything that goes against SQL Server in Python. aargh. Leaving it as is means a 30 min wait when deploying, and eventually it will fail. Anyways. Matt got his license, the usual over the weekend, I capped our second shower head, need to screw in the bracket for the broken gate, the graffiti needs another pass, got new filters for the spa, workouts (3, not 3/31, 4/2, 4/4)-I had to cut the Tuesday one short to pick up Salem, and drove them to school yesterday. Gamelan last night, my hamstrings are recovered. Not much else-need to cut the grass and aerate, kill the plants in the herb garden area. Erika’s phone is messed up-had to file a claim.
Friday noon. Have to wait until today to get E’s new phone-the auth from the insurance company runs on an overnight batch rather than EDI. Had to call t-mobile to check it. I got the thing fixed-a 3 line change to the ci file…now I have to make that change to 6 other lambdas.
Monday night. Reading a good book. Upset stomach this afternoon. Workout, mellow weekend, shopping, church-Salem was Judas, Easter egg hunt, tidy, cooking dinner, Colin’s gf visited, no workout. Got Erika’s phone, super easy set up.
Wednesday afternoon (4/12). Went from having an upset stomach to a full-blown cold. Pretty bad one too-coughing a lot, no covid. Trying to get work done, but it’s hard. Didn’t sleep well-bagged working out.
Thursday evening. Still sick-took the day off and slept until noon. Salem is on a trip to Salem for a theater camp. Erika slept in Colin’s bed last night. Not much else-had takeout Chinese last night, got a work thing done this evening, need to take out the trash, doubt I’ll work out tomorrow…
Friday night, started my taxes. Need to wait to get my W-2. Not much else-got stuff done, skipped workout-feeling better, but still not 100%, made dinner, Salem is having a great time.
Wednesday late morning (4/19). Another work day-got jumped on a task I was supposed to do next week. No worries. Pretty quiet-just the way I like it. Feeling better-workout last night was tough though-ARC machine was ok, but working out was tough-had to stop after every machine to catch my breath. Weekend was pretty jelly too-ran Salem around Sunday to a show-a thing-they had a great time. The rest was the usual, taxes, picked Salem up after their trip, shopping, need to cut the grass soon, hopefully it’s dry this weekend.
…and now it’s late August (8/22)… Haven’t touched this since April-a bit of a mini hiatus. Not much going on, other than the usual-work, gym, house. Went into the office for a day. Claire took Salem up to Tacoma for a show. Got a huge bonus, spent most of it. Scheduled then cancelled a trip to Vegas. It’s been a hot and dry summer. Many many apples from our tree-only a few edible ones. 62nd birthday. Listening to NPR in the car now. Taking Erika and Salem to Breitenbush Thursday. Our front porch looks nice. We all have AC in our bedrooms. Claire got a cool Strat copy. Matt got his license and is driving at work. We got new couches from Ikea, thinking my mom would come up for Matt’s graduation, but she got a bad UTI and had to cancel. Erika is trying to clear her stuff.
Wednesday. Waiting for an eligibility specialist for OHP weirdness. Been on for 80 minutes. And my Fitbit is acting up, just after I canceled Premium, so I have to call them too. Not much else-gamelan tonight, worked out last night, elliptical and COP 1, had to wait for tai chi b/c the area was being used by a-holes. Took Salem to school for rehearsal-they slept late. We have to drive to Bend to get puppets for the play.
Page 23, sentence 5: “In Chicago he bought himself some new clothes.” Sam Gunn Jr., “Maybe even the mysterious Fremen?” Dune: The Duke of Caladan, “A knock on a nearby door.” The Invisible Library, “Even though the planet is lost, the Solar Navy unleashes a substantial arsenal of sun bombs and laser cannons.” Eternity’s Mind, “The upper and smaller of the two, if in fact it was a penis, was erect, perhaps perpetually, and topped with what looked to be a party hat of rough gray horn.”, The Peripheral, “There’s the One Idea again.”, The One Idea That Saves The World, “But perhaps she should be relieved that Beast had decided to ignore that particular order.”, Redemption Ark.
April 20th, 2023
Walking through our new house. The ceilings are very high. Go from one area to another-they’re very close together and linked.
April 11th, 2023
walking into a sports complex. It’s late, and no one is around. Go to the tennis courts and a couple of guys are playing. All they have are lanterns ob a couple of spots on the court. I try to hit a few, then serve very slowly. Leave and walk back out of the parking lot.
April 9th, 2023
out on the field, it’s some sort of odd corduroy material that’s like worms. Walk over to get my kites set up, then go to another field. Back and it’s time to go.
April 6th, 2023
On campus, reading a cool book on buildings and design. Walk past some guy, he sees the book and starts explaining it to me. I say I’ve read it before. We join an arch class that’s touring the campus. I’m old, but a freshman, and this is an upper level class, but they let me stay. The prof takes us into a building and tells us to look for interesting design decisions. Look around and find a brick wall running the width of the building, but only on the top floor. It was for a kids’ school. Go back and sit around a table to talk about our findings. Keep trying to interject stuff from an Alexandrian POV.
April 4th, 2023
At home, walk out-the entire field next door is flooded. Paddle around it.
Walk out of the house. The trees are getting cut down and are just bare trunk and big branches left. Walk down to the street-it’s dry and dusty, like we’re in SoCal. Look back up the hill at out house.
March 30th, 2023
Go into a small store, then upstairs looking for something. Walk around, then go back downstairs.
Working with Frank Zappa. He wants me to get on a massage table. I go and sit with someone else on a couch.
March 23rd, 2023
Looking at pictures on Santhosh’s phone. Go up and sit at the table and listen to a guy talk about his investment accounts.
March 20th, 2023
Canoeing along some river, there are several canoes. It’s tough going, have to turn them over to drain. Stand up and I’m solo. Run into a sandbar and get out. Go one way, and into a channel. Slide next to a couple, they have a neat way to dock. Try to do that, and the rest of the group shows up.
At someone’s house, look through their music collection. Talk about how we only had records and cassettes.
If it’s Spring, then why the snow?
Please tip the writer. Whatever amount you like-every little bit helps, and I’ll do a shoutout. We are always short of cash, especially with a big mortgage. Let me know if you or someone you know needs web design/development-my rates aren’t bad, and I’m more than pretty good at it. Java/database/AWS/UI too. ThankYouVeryMuch!
I know the answer to that… Pretty much rolling along other than the odd weather, and a lack of ca$h. Tip, please! The wider world is pretty messy, and I’m disliking some of it. Other stuff I do like, though. Pretty generic sentiment, that… Something’s coming? This is, though, to Portland! And I didn’t know this existed until last week! This is fun, though, and I know that area well.
Sunday night- time for bed. Pretty quiet weekend. Gym Friday, shop Saturday, Salem to school for a thing early. Picked up Colin in the evening. Slept in Sunday, vacuum, put grippy tape on the dining room rug, workout-dropped the intensity a bit. Watched The Last of Us with Salem, Battlebots by myself, Wartime Farm with Erika. Salem has a sore throat, as does Colin.
Tuesday morning (2/7). Working. Quiet day yesterday. Wednesday afternoon. Lunch time. Good workout last night-lowering the intensity so I don’t overtrain. Last minute prod change.
Friday afternoon, 2/17. Long weekend ahead. We are so out of cash. At least the house and the car are paid for this month. Pretty quiet for the last week-ferrying Salem back and forth-they’re doing stagehand stuff. Erika got a bout of diverticulitis-she hates going on a liquid diet. Did a change of pace cardio-rowing. I’m going back to run/hiit/alternate row-stair-bike-elliptical for the week. Prolly start on Darden’s too, if I can find someone to push for negative day. Not much else-got a bunch of books from the libe, lots of prod issues this week.
Tuesday morning, 2/21. Lovely day, going to be cold and snowy this week. Yesterday was a holiday-President’s Day. Right now, the only president I want to celebrate is Jimmy Carter. He’s in hospice. That man was a good egg. Pretty quiet weekend-blew the leaves off the front and back porches, moved the shitty grill off the back porch, cut the dead fronds from a perennial, vacuumed, put up a curtain rail on the back door, worked out. Got a new Fitbit-it has a heart rate monitor, so I’m back to fulltime Fitbit. Lost 4 pounds since the end of the year.
Wednesday, noon. It snowed a little, didn’t stick. Not much else-good workout last night. Elliptical and negatives.
Saturday afternoon (2/25). Pretty quiet-it’s still quite cold, they say more snow is coming. Salem is working the play this afternoon. Worked out early yesterday-didn’t want to get caught in icy conditions. Run and Basic Routine 1. Not much else-need to clean the bathroom today. Got The Nature of Order!
Monday morning. In meeting #2. Now out of meeting #3. Pretty mellow/quiet. Need to get stuff done. Got the bathroom cleaned, vacuumed. Fun picking up Colin on Sat. night… Worked out last night-intervals & BR2. Late to pick Colin up from work. Found a way to make t’ai chi take a half hour, and mucked up the time.
Thursday afternoon. Paid a bunch of bills, and got the power bill. About the same as last month. Good workout Tuesday-cycling and NR2-not many negatives I can do, but the bike is good-pretty close to a road one-narrow saddle, road-ish handles, the cool screen with stats and course segments-did a couple in France and one across the Astoria bridge. Was able to do a half-hour at level 4, interspersed with a few level bumps. My butt was a bit sore afterwards, but fine the next day. I’m much more of a cyclist than a runner…though skiing and tennis are really what I’m good at. Gamelan last night was 4 of us plus the kids. Learned another flower on bonang.
Saturday afternoon (3/4). Hanging out-Erika banged her hand with a mallet yesterday, so we’re going to get it x-rayed. Took Salem to school for the play-they’re doing tech this time. Decent workout yesterday-run and BR1. A little short of breath, but everything else was fine.
Monday morning (3/13) A week has disappeared. Not much happened, a bunch of workouts (3/5, 3/7, 3/10, 3/12), gamelan, ran around Saturday, work, production outages, Salem got a singing part, ferried them around, snow. Watched a pioneer challenge, battlebots. Put up a curtain rail on our closet.
The next Monday afternoon (3/20). Getting ready to end work, and this post. Another week, more workouts (3/14, 3/17, 3/19). We are completely out of money, and not paying bills on time. Oh well, I knew this day would come. Tried for a thing Wednesday, gamelan, nothing on St. Pat’s. Got a bunch of yard work done on Saturday-it was lovely. Cleared out a bunch of blackberries, cut down a bunch of holly. More holly to come-it’s all over our yard. My arms are all scratched up. Church yesterday-we’re finally official members, put down a run stopper thing, had to postpone the thing again-maybe Weds. Got a tetanus shot. Not much else.
Page 23, sentence 5: “There is no right way to live on the land.” No Impact Man.
March 18th, 2023
Walking through downtown Long Beach, go into the back of a building. Climb up a ladder to get out.
March 12th, 2023
Brian F gets mad and starts trying to kick me. Block and trap his legs.
Looking at a big storm coming towards our house. Hear a weather report about it.
March 9th, 2023
Looking out our porch. See a bunch of big pods land and roll into buildings. Suddenly everything is changed and everything is those buildings. Walk around and we all look like odd blobby aliens, white with small heads.
March 7th, 2023
Walking up a hill on a park-like street. See Kirk from Metallica with a small furry animal. Stop to help him catch it. It runs away from me and towards him. We talk about it and take it back to his house.
March 3rd, 2023
Walking up the street, look back and see clouds shaped like an angel. Think hmmm. Look ahead and see more shaped clouds. Think someone is doing cloud art, then that it’s the apocalypse.
Hanging out at someone’s house, Holly and Glendon are going ready to leave, but their dog has peed in its carrier. Take it out to let it finish, it runs away and into the street/next yard. Walk over and there’s a fairy there under a bush. I ask it what it wants, and it says to go to this place across town. I look again and there’s a flyer for a Catholic thing there. I decide it’s a rip off and walk back. The dog runs through some tube thing with padding in it. Glendon says is loves to do that.
At 1023, just got home, have to sleep on the floor in the living room. Get up and go into the kitchen.
March 1st, 2023
Walking along some riverbank. It’s running fast, and we have to cross over a tributary. Walk up the hill, and down. There’s a sluice, wade through to get to it and use like a bridge. Back to the river, and there’s a huge whirlpool. Worry about crossing it, but there are ducks circling that seem to be ok.
February 27th, 2023
Walking down a sidewalk to school. There are a ton of people around. They’re getting line for a viewing for a dead teacher. I walk past, up the hill and into the school. Go to the back, up the stairs, overhear some teachers talking about how that teacher used to play practical jokes. Walk back past the line and recognize some classmates.
Setting up for a gig. Put the keyboard up, look for an outlet. My power strip’s plug came apart. The club’s guy points out where the outlet is, and I pull the plug box out-it has a long cord. Plug the keyboard in and start setting up the amp.
February 27th, 2023
Trying to get everything cleaned up and tossed before we move. There’s a lot. We’re getting some furniture. Go to the warehouse and there’s a group waiting. Wait, then get to the front of the line. Matt goes in and brings out the couch. I grab it and walk it to the truck. It’s full of stuff. Go back home and it’s still full of stuff too. Think about how to get rid of all of it.
Steiner’s credo
Rudolf Steiner, born in 1861, sets down his core points of view in a Creed written in 1888 when he was 27 years old. The Philosophy Of Freedom is published 6 years later and expresses Steiner’s world view that the “idea” is the spirit.
CREED
Written by Rudolf Steiner in 1888 and titled “Credo” which means, “What I have found to be true”.
(the idea is the spirit, immortality in this life, divine voice of the idea, eternal deeds, selflessness, spiritual love, entering the divine life)
- The world of ideas is the primary source
The world of ideas is the primary source and sustaining principle of all existence. Within it is never-ending harmony and joyous tranquility. Existence not enlightened by it, would be dead and lifeless, and would have no part in the wholeness of the world. Only that which stems from the idea has meaning as part of the universal tree of creation.
- The idea is the spirit
The idea is the spirit, which is clear and lucid in itself and independently sufficient in itself. The individual must have the spirit within, otherwise he will drop from the tree like a withered leaf, and would have existed for no good reason, and without purpose.
- Longing for the idea
The human being feels and recognizes himself as an individual when he becomes fully conscious. In the individualization process there is implanted within him a longing for the idea. This longing drives him to overcome his separateness and to let the spirit come to life within him, and to be in accord with it.
- The divine voice of the idea
Everything that is selfish, that makes him a separated being, this he must shed and cast away, for it is this that darkens the light of the spirit. The egotistic self desires only to follow his sensual lust, instinctive drives, greed, and passions. He must root out this selfish will, and instead, as an individual, seek what the idea wants, the spirit within. Let the individuality move there, and follow the voice of the idea within, because only the idea is divine.
- Eternal deeds
What one wills as a separate-being, is an insignificant point in the circumference of the universe as a whole. It is without value, and therefore worthless, fast disappearing within the flow of time. Whatever one wills in the spirit is in the centre, because the central light of the universe lights up within us. Such a deed is independent of time.
- Living in world harmony
When we act selfishly in isolation, we lock ourselves out from the closed chain of creation, and separate ourselves off. When a human being acts in the spirit, he lives ever more into the universal working of the world. The banning from oneself of all self-centeredness is the foundation for the higher life.
- Immortality in this life
Whoever deadens the egotistical within himself, lives in eternal existence. To the extent to which we can let the selfishness within us die, to that extent we are immortal. That which is mortal in us is selfishness. This is the true meaning of the saying: “he who does not die before he dies finds extinction when he dies.” This means, whoever does not end egotism during his lifetime, plays no part in the universal life, which is immortal. A person who has never existed within this greater life, has never experienced true existence.
- The search for knowledge is devotion to the universal in thought
There are four fields of human activity in which the human being devotes himself to the spirit, while giving up selfish activity: science, art, religion and the loving devotion, spiritually, to a personality. Whoever does not live within one of these four activities, does not live at all. The search for knowledge is devotion to the universal in thought, art is devotion to the universe in beholding, religion in the depths and breadths of the soul, and dedicated love is devotion with all ones’ spiritual forces directed to something, someone that appears to us as a treasured member of the universal whole.
- Spiritual love; love of knowledge, ennobles our being
Knowledge is the most spiritual form of selfless devotion, love is the most beautiful form. For love is truly a heavenly radiance shining into ordinary daily life. Sacred, truly spiritual love ennobles our being to its inmost core; it uplifts all that lives within us. This pure and holy love transforms our whole being into something that is in touch with the world spirit.
- Spiritual love carries the breath of divine life to the most repulsive regions
To love, in this most exalted sense means to carry the breath of divine life into regions where only the most repulsive egotism and the most disrespectful passions are found. One has to know something of the holiness of love before one can speak of spirituality.
- Freedom is to enter the divine life of the ideal
If a human being has made his way out of the separated condition, through one of these four fields, and entered into the divine life of the ideal, then he has reached that for which the seed of longing was placed in his heart; the union with the spirit. This is the true destination of the human being. Whoever lives in the spirit lives freely, for they have removed themselves from subordination. Nothing can compel him or her to act, other than what he wishes to be freely compelled by because he recognizes it as the highest calling.
- Let truth be lived
Let truth be lived: lose yourself to find yourself once again in the spirit of the world!