Making Ends

How do you people do it? The ones out there with the recurring monthly bills for "necessary services". Lets add up the ones I don't pay, shall we?

- Hard-line telephone even though you already have two cell phones
$25/month

- Digital Cable (cuz I weeely weeely need TNT, pweety pleeze) and this is not with HBO or anything fancy, just freakin' cable (probably bundled with that useless phone above)
$50/month but most likely $70/month because you like that DVR

- Cell phone with data, text and voice minutes
$90/month

- Gym membership
$30/month

- Recreation costs (yoga, tennis club, dance, whatever wakes ya up in the morning)
$60/month

Ok, so far that's a hell of a lot of stuff. $250/month in stuff you had to have. I'm guilty of some of that stuff, but I manage to get it through work. Get a job requiring a cell phone, cancel the one at home. Don't do cable, sorry. Work at a gym. Work at a recreation area or studio. Check. Check.

Lest you think I'm lecturing, I'm just pointing out that it amazes me those folks who are paying all of those things above can still go out to eat, save for retirement, send the kid to college and pay the bills while not bargaining with the devil himself. Or perhaps that's the piece I'm missing? Whatever it is, I want the skills required to know that those things are possible easily. I already have the skills to know they aren't necessary.

Gasholes and the bicycle backlash

I read an article just the other day in the LA Times about some crazed angry motorist killing two cyclists. Apparently he slammed on his brakes while descending some crazy-ass hill (Mandeville Canyon) and one guy flew into his back window. He's under arrest for manslaughter. Unbelievable. It's not bad enough to blow $5/gallon on your super-jumbo SUV, you also have to run over the other people trying to enjoy themselves and not contribute to the problem! Click here for all the details.

There's quite the discussion in the LA Times blog.

And then today my friend Aaron sent me a link to an article about some gashole there (the USA's most bike-friendly city according to Bicycle magazine!) drove around with some cyclist clinging to his hood. No shitting. That's real stuff people. Get a god-damn grip on reality folks!

Daruma-otoshi skyscraper demolition

Sorry FOX, we won't let you trash Michelle Obama

Sickening. Sign the petition.

Only a web geek can appreciate

This is the funniest thing I've ever seen from a web geek.

Why Every Vote Counts

An AM Gem

This morning I ended up on YouTube watching a video of Paul McCartney singing "A Day in the Life" for the first time ever (yes, ever!) for a live audience (http://youtube.com/watch?v=fMCeN6ZA3V4). It was mentioned in the LA Times and on this rare occasion I actually remembered to view it once I got to work. But after clicking through a few links I found this gem. You have to love YouTube. Imagine a world with no DRM.

Shambling Mound

At the times that I'm most convinced that I'm starting to achieve some semblance of physical prowess I find myself in the most distressingly opposite mindset. And vice versa. Take, for instance, my current state. Essentially a diseased monkey at the point, I have some crazy-ass virus attacking my right shoulder causing me burning and pain. The generalized 'sore muscle' neck pain I get from working my butt off in a Level 3 Iyengar class isn't enough. No, my body had to rebel hard core. It decided that my chicken pox from 2.5 decades ago (yes, that's 25 years folks) was going to make a stand.

Normally health issues aren't really my focus. During my last doctor's visit I actually had a nurse ask me why I hadn't been to Kaiser very often. My response was that I was not sick and didn't require western medicine regularly. But this ailment is particularly annoying. This virus is attacking my shoulder, according to the doctor, from within my spine. It travels in one's nervous system and attacks one node of the body. And it will probably be all cleared in 2-3 weeks.

I suppose I should be thankful, yes? That I'm still strong. Still able to go to yoga and cook and eat and enjoy life despite a bit of burn. But I'm not feeling thankful. I think about the enormous amount of fresh fruit and veggies I consume compared to most Americans and feel wonderfully aloof. And then I'm thinking about the amount of everything else I consume (see my recent blog on bacon) and wondering if somehow one can bring illness upon oneself despite seemingly normal health? [Note: what the hell is normal anyway? Does an obese person remember what it's like to be free to run and play without limits? Does a work-out junky remember what it's like to sit and eat a cookie without guilt while simultaneously being free of soreness and pain?]

Modern medicine would likely say no. They'd say that there's no explanation for such things. That chickenpox could have come out of my spine at age 12 or 22 or 52 or 92. And I don't disagree. But I believe there's cause and effect for most things in life. That's the Buddha in me I suppose. Maybe this one was a reminder to keep my ego in check. Something pent up ready to remind me that whereas I am an enviro-organism that the environment can sometimes get the better of me if I'm not focused. Or maybe it was the Level III class I reference above and the deep work we've been doing there. Perhaps I released something that needed releasing and this is really doing me good?!

Either way it's a reminder, good or bad, of how fragile life is. I was thinking upon the fragility of life not long ago when I was reminded of a friend who passed away at too young an age from stomach cancer. Here one day, gone the next. Makes my scabby, itchy shoulder seem pretty damn normal. Pain reminds us we're alive, after all (yes, I just quoted GI Jane and World Trade Center in one reference). So Lord knows, I'm alive. Physically defunct but maybe, just maybe, mentally growing.

Suggestions for a feng shui lifestyle

This was sent to me via email and seemed worth blogging. It was called "Lotus Touts":

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.

FIVE. When you say, 'I'm sorry,' look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN: When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.

Mac attack

In retrospect... I saw this keynote back in the day in San Francisco. Who knew I'd be using a Mac in the Enterprise, full-time, with iPhones and a dock for this crazy iPod? Happy birthday iMac. I'm so glad you helped my Mom and Dad not need 24x7 tech support.