Well then...

Well, I had a daily update rotine going there for a while and now I've fallen out of that. It's funny, I can think of a whole slew of topics to write about while I'm doing something else, or away from my computer but here it is, Monday, and I'm searching for something to say. So say anything...

"Anything."

Leave a comment at the bottom of this entry, click on "Comments."

Well, happy Monday.

A Change to Something Simpler

I'm at my workstation for the day now, coffee next to me, cat curled up in my lap looking up at me wanting affection. My fingers feel slow this morning as I type, stiff from the sudden change in temperature this week. I have my favorite music playing and I feel good. Looking out the window to the yard and seeing all of the blessings we have around us, we are really blessed. Then we're considering selling everything and moving. Using the equity on our house to get out from under the mountain of debt we're in. Student loan debt mostly. We're looking for a simpler life as well, one not so career and activity oriented. To go to a place that we know we can live a life quietly, invisibly and at peace with our selves and the environment. A life where we can still have our connection to all that is digital here on the Web, but a life where the demands of performance aren't so great. A place where we're not running as fast as we can to keep up. Is there such a place? Is that kind of life satisfying? We look at the future through a thin, rose-colored lens, how can we ever make a calculated and right decision if we can never really see what's ahead? I think it's time for a change for us. I look at America as a great place, my heritage, my people, but I ultimately don't feel like I really belong here. SUVs pass us by, radio blaring, exhaust rumbling loud, foot heavy on the gas pedal (and those are the same people complaining about high gas prices), "Must get ahead of the rest of the crowd," attitudes abound. I guess that's what I ultimately feel about this country, obnoxious and full of narcissistic attitude. Some days I don't even want to venture out of my house to sell my business because I don't want to be looked at as "one of them." Circumstantial issues? Probably, but where are we going to go in this country and not feel that way? Montana? I hear it's absolutely wonderful, but some of the same problems exist there that we have here, lack of vacation time to see our families, lack of healthcare. I think the time for us to make the move is coming, I just wish it would come sooner than later, but we also have our reasons or staying just a little longer. Well. Time to get back to building my business and moving on with my life today...

Web Programming - Pulling Out My Hair

It all seems so simple, I use a reliable program, I bought books, studied, searched, Googled, asked, screamed, laughed, cried and now yanked out what's left of my hair - over a simple piece of CSS script that I want to overwrite. I guess it might have helped if I actually had some professional training. Didn't think it would be THAT complex, I'm pretty quick when it comes to learning techie stuff - but this quandry is eating up my production time. For a simple little piece of code, I've lost a couple of days of production. Glad business is slow... but I'd rather be building my own site and promoting my own work. I'm sure the solution is within my own capabilities, if I could spend unlimited amounts of time on it...

Brisk Fall Day

A nice climate change after the hurricane, the temperature dropped about 30 degrees overnight. It feels good to be cold, I think I had forgotten how it felt to be chilly! The house is holding on to residual warmth from when it was warm outside. It feels nice to walk into the house from outside. Reminds me of Christmas actually. No season change like there is up north, all we have to really base our seasonal acknowledgement on is temperature change. I think all of Florida is hoping this is a permanent change, no more storms, no more heat and humidity, no more A/C. Grab the wool socks, a hot cup of tea, a blanket and a book! Huddle up in my favorite chair and read until sleep comes! I know, I'm pathetic, but I long to be in a winter climate - 50's at night will have to suffice I guess.

Well, I don't have any particular intellectual message to address today, but please have a look at my past blogs and leave me a comment!

Cheers!

Listening to Virgin UK Radio right now... iTunes is the best invention since sliced bread!

Mr. Emoto's Beautiful Water

Image "Beethoven Pastorale" from WellnessGoods.com

Mr. Emoto's work findings are amazing. He has found that words and music can create a physical change on water at the molecular level. Our bodies consist of 70% water. Knowing the research Mr. Emoto has done with labels on water, think about the water in our bodies and the effects of negative or positive labels we put on ourselves. It's absolutely no wonder that when we fill our minds with negativity, we make our bodies sick. Conversely, if we think positively, we can have the power to heal our selves.

The Way Some Things Enter the World

A new leaf on one of my latest tropical plantings. The picture says it all.

Where the World is Going...

It's Saturday morning. I had a nice long sleep to recover from the week. I'm awake and rocking, even though I am working today - but it's the good kind of work, the kind I'm learning from. I feel good.

I've been making observations lately about the world population today. It started with thoughts about modern medicine and how we're fighting and defying death with genetics, and more medicines and technology to prevent death. And other industries trying harder and harder today to make the world a safer place by improving their products, safer cars with smart technology, safer homes, safer workplaces and so on.

We’re holding on to life a little longer with technological advancements, defying Darwin's theory about survival of the fittest in a way. I've seen many not-so-fit humans surviving and thriving and I think Darwin might have something different to say about them. Not to be morbid in anyway, but where would our civilization be without electricity? We've seen a microcosm of humanity and survival of the fittest in New Orleans this summer. Witnessing people looting and robbing and sinking into some dark places, we all scorn and shame them, but maybe some of them were merely surviving.

We're also witnessing some pretty profound natural catastrophes lately. Hundreds of thousands killed in Indonesia by a tsunami, tens of thousands killed by an earthquake in Pakistan, hundreds killed this year by some of the largest and most powerful cyclones and hurricanes ever recorded, mass diseases embracing humanity. I’m beginning to think that the world is starting to offer it’s own kind of population control. Something we have no control over. This planet we hold on to so dearly and that we trash so quickly is a very delicate place. We’ve learned that it has supported life for millions of years. And it has also wiped the slate clean several times and started over. One might think that with all of the latest trends in natural disasters that maybe it’s starting its own process of elimination of this existence.

I had this conversation with a friend last week. He asked an interesting question. Why are so many people choosing to leave this world right now? My reaction to it is do you really think that we made up our destiny to be taken from this realm before we came into it? I guess that’s what destiny is. Through my religious upbringing, I held the belief that our destiny wasn’t in our control. I do believe we are predestined, but never thought that we might have had the opportunity to make that call before we arrived.

We must really be afraid of dying as a species. In a world with so many religions and so much faith, one would think that we might embrace death with a little more backbone, but all we see is the pain of losing when we should see the blessing of moving on and letting go. I know to some level, I may eat these words in the future a little bit. I know what suffering is, I am human, I can feel the pain of loss and I know it isn't easy, but any passing should be a celebration. Moving on in a blessed way to the next existence. Fulfilling our destiny.

Well, that’s my thought for the day anyway. As my Sifu says, “Go sit on a pillow.” Thank you very much.

It's Friday

Normally, Friday afternoons would excite me. It's my belief that Friday afternoon is the absolute best time of the week, 58 hours of "bruce-time" ahead of me to do with as I wish! Football, yardwork, motorcycle riding or just plain relaxing around the house - whatever I want. I would be at the peak of excitement by Friday at 5pm. Today? Rather... the last six months of Fridays? Tired, wiped out, low energy. Dazed by the onslaught of editorial layout on Thursday. I decided to end my news days and yesterday was my last day - thank God. I always recover from my binge Thursdays, but usually not until Saturday. Which kind of sucks when I look at what needed to be done on Friday. I still have clients that have needs and a business to grow. But because I'm so wiped out after working a 14-hour shift laying out news stories, all I want to do is curl up in a dark corner and wait until I feel better. Waiting now for a wet weekend to pass. I guess it's all just as well, I have a knee that needs to recover and with a wet weekend ahead, I can work through and take the time off on the other end of the week. Hope Wilma passes us without incident. 10/21/05

It's Thursday

It's Thursday. My last day doing editorial layout on the Key. (Thankful for that.) There's a hurricane with it's sights on Florida, yet I am not worried, concerned or even ruffled. I am flapped at the hype surrounding hurricanes now in the Post Katrina era. Yeah, Katrina was a doosey. Even a Cat 2 hurricane can cause chaos in a local area. But this isn't New Orleans, we don't have a levee system at risk. What we DO have are MULTI-MILLION dollar homes built at 2.5 feet above sea level, ON SAND, on a barrier island - which are at this time, mostly empty anyway. You tell me how much is at risk then... Anyway, not sure what this was all about - it didn't start off to be about anything, but certainly NOT about the hurricane. I suppose it should have been about one of my key interests, like graphic design, or art, or illustration. But it's not. It's not about anything. It's not about not knowing what end of the world I'm on and what end I should be on. It's not about the fact that there IS no end of the world to BE on. It IS about being. It IS about nothing at all in particular. It's about stream-of-consciousness writing, just wish my hands could keep up. Anyway, thanks.

Still Deciding

We had dinner with a friend last week and the topic of the evening was reasons to or not to move - and above all, where to go. It was good, but it opened up new doors to other alternatives and I'm not sure that was a good thing or not. We considered a domestic move from an international one. Meanwhile, our paperwork is underway for a move to New Zealand AND Tanjariitta's paperwork making her a US citizen is also coming to a close. So yesterday we discussed (again) Ashville N.C as a possible destination. Close to the mountains, college town, inexpensive land, close proximity to Florida and all of the east coast, plus I would still have an opportunity to see my parents a couple times a year as they pass through from Florida and Wisconsin. Then Tanjariitta opens up another possibility, Oregon. There's a small town outside of Salem that was on a top ten list of places to live - she says (depending on what top ten list you look at of course). I remember our trip a few years ago to Portland and how wonderful it was. A place where there were people that were existing with like-mindedness politically, socially and otherwise. Real estate is more expensive there, as is the cost of living. It's quite off the beaten path in regards to our families, but not so far that it can't be fixed by a plane flight. The area is beautiful - rolling hills, mountains, the Pacific ocean. But its yet another possibility in the grand scheme of things. I suggested that we should just sell our house, pack up our things and roll on out of Sarasota and drive until we find the right spot, Tanjariitta agreed.