- Tue Feb 7 2006
- I just got home from yoga class. Had a salad, but still feel like blogging.
I had a very busy day with client calls, but now all my paperwork is done and filed. Fumiko emailed that she is back inTokyo. Had some good meetings.
Last night I had dinner with Elizabeth. When she came over, she said, no chinese, no thai, no japanese. I said, what's left? We drove slowly down Solano Avenue and saw Rivoli, a fairly high-end Continental restaurant . The last time I went there was about eleven years ago on a blind date. It was pretty horrible (the date, not the restaurant). He talked all night, and I said nothing. At the end of the date, he told me, "I think this is the best date I've ever been on. I think we really connect.." I told him, "you know we are really very different."
Anyway, that's where E. and I went last night. Luckily, they had one "walk-in" table that was just cleared, so we were able to get seated, because you should really make reservations.
About fifteen minutes later, Patrick Tribble walked past! He saw me and gave me a kiss and a hug. He said, "We're at the back table." and I assumed he meant he was there with is wife Geri. But about a 1/2 hour later, he walked past with Lynn and Joyce!! I thought they had already gone back to England. Remember, they came over for dinner last week! Wow, what a synchronicity. I would never have gone to that restaurant unless E. had wanted non-asian food. We exchanged some important information, and then hugged goodbye. They are such great women. It left me with a definite desire to stop over in London sometime soon and visit them. I love these amazing synchronicities.
|
- Tue Jan 31 2006
- Yesterday I walked with Denis, who is getting his Ph.D. at the graduate theological seminary in Berkeley. His thesis is on roadsie memorials. Denis is so knowledgeable on so many interesting things--in philosophy, spirituality, death and dying, space and place, and even astrology.
During our walk I told him he should work up a class on The Role of Esotericism in the Development of the Soul. Wouldn't that be a great class? He had been telling me about a dance deviser who has taken an obscurely written dance score from the 18th century and is publishing a new version. Denis is going to England next week to attend this event and dance the English country dances that he has been practicising for years. The original title for these particular dances are
Pills to Purge Melancholy. Isn't that fabulous?
I think it is great that people get involved in esoteric and yet so fascinating subjects. Too often our education is selected solely on what will put us in the mainstream of skills that earn a living. But where would we be without truly inventive and ingenious people who follow their own quirky interests?
|
- Tue Jan 31 2006
- I just viewed the author interview that Steve O'Keefe did of me and The Purpose of Your Life. You can see it too, if you have (or install) Quicktime software (it's free).
Here is the link.
http://authorviews.com/blog/index.php?itemid=41
I love how he shaves a 30 minute interview down to 2 minutes. I loved his other author interviews, too. Quite entertaining. Mine is sort of boring in contrast!
Walked with Rainey this morning.
Met with a Kaiser Permanente rep this morning--he came to my house--and so I joined Kaiser for my supplemental Medicare health insurance. I am SO excited to have this taken care of!
Did a consultation on a book proposal. It's hard to re-shape someone else's writing, when they have so much emotional investment in it. I can understand that!
Did a teleseminar on synchronicity.
Did a 45-min forecast.
Have to put the roasting chicken in the oven for tonight!
Another phone consultation and then get ready for dinner.
|
- Mon Jan 30 2006
- This last week has been too busy for me to write in the diary. Everything feels as if it is really "flowing" now. It feels really good. I am still in a "5" month numerologically, and it has had that element of quick-pace, multi-tasking, a few unexpected changed (for example, I didn't have to appear for jury duty on Tuesday). Because of that possibilitiy I had not scheduled any client appointments for the week, which gave me the freedom to do some of my catch-up work.
Spent a good morning with Fumiko, re-shaping the new book that will be published in Japan in June or July. Also we have started to gather information for the special tour to Santa Fe we are doing for Japanese people in the beginning of November. In working out the details, it suddenly hit me that Santa Fe was the place where I found numerology and it was the beginning of my "path." That was just about 33 years ago, almost exactly half of my lifetime. It seems I am going full-circle.
Friday night, we had a great impromptu dinner with Gunther, Eliza, Anders, and Augie, and my friend Lisa who stayed over night before flying down to Los Angeles. Lots of laughs! Then I spent Saturday taking an Emotional Freedom Technique training, and then popped over to Patrick and Geri Tribble's for a gathering of people who used to meditate with a special teacher. I wanted to see my friend Joyce Petcheck from London who is here this month. She's such a fascinating person, and I hope to have a really good in-depth discussion with her and her friend, Bach Flower Essence expert Lynne. They are coming for dinner tomorrow night.
Fumiko and I plan to roast a chicken (Greek style) oregano, garlic, and lemon juice. We will also make stuffed mushrooms (a la Sandra Lee from Semi-homemade on the Food Network), green salad, buttnernut soup with parmesan crisps, bread, and angel food cake with fruit. Mmmm. I'm really booked tomorrow with clients, so will prepare everything tonight.
Baby sat Anders and Augie this morning. It's a gray day, and we had little gas flame heater on, and we put together my new Chia pot garden of herbs, growing cilantro, chives, margoram, and basil. I do hope they grow!!
|
- Mon Jan 23 2006
- Yesterday I had the most perfect birthday. A clear cool day, warm in the sun. I was blessed to spend the afternoon with my best women friends. I invited them to come for a pot luck lunch at 1:13 pm--my birth time! It was fun to see everyone walk in the door at the same time.
Family and friendship are my two greatest gifts in life. I was so looking forward to this weekend of festivities. I have been cleaning up the house and tidying up for the last three days in between client sessions, email, and preparations for Gunther's 40th birthday and little Anders' 4th birthday across the street. Saturday they had a bunch of little ones over for cake and balloons and screaming. One little girl whose birthday it was as well came dressed in a full-length red tulle prom dress which, I thought was smashing of her!
I picked up Sigrid at the airport on Saturday night, and she and her brother and Eliza and friends went out to a special birthday dinner, and I spent the evening with Robert. Eliza's mom, Carmen, had come up from San Diego and she babysat, so I was off the hook!
For my party, I made name tags so everyone could immediately get to know one another--as I am always mentioning one friend or another to another one. After about 30 minutes the kitchen and my new extension with the dining table were filled with women unwrapping cheesecakes, vegetable dips, homemade quiche and pumpkin bread, pouring mineral water and wine, and TALKING. I was almost overwhelmed with the high intensity as I knew people were meeting other people that would somehow be exactly perfect and synchronistic.
Fumiko arrived from Japan by shuttle from the airport. So dramatic! So perfect. We have a lot to catch up on about the books and new Japanese website.
After a couple of hours, everyone (22 people I counted) congregated in the living room for a "general meeting" and everyone got to share a little bit of who they are and how we came to meet . I have such a rich connection to the special qualities of each of these terrific women. I am so proud to know their struggles and achievements. Do I dare introduce them to you? I will below, and you can read or not as you have time or interest.
After the party, a bit of wrap up at Gunther and Eliza's, and Zenobia drove Sigrid back to the airport. As Abraham (Abraham-Hicks.com) is fond of saying at the end of a channeling session, "We are complete."
Friends--sorted, I think, by how long I have known them....
Zenobia Barlow--Executive Director of The Center for Ecoliteracy; met in SF 33 years ago in a womens' group with Eleanor Coppola (who would have been at the party except that she is filming in Romania!) No words can adequately describe Zenobia, a spiritual seeker, wise-woman, artist-photographer, world traveler, rock-bottom friend from Barlow, Mississippi and Texas!
Lorraine Sykes--Best natural cook and hostess in Berkeley, California, independent and loyal, we walk together twice a week and she keeps me informed of the Democratic path, her fabulous and funny observations on people that magnetically pass through her life. She tells me the best books to read and I have her to thank for my many hours of reading Margaret Drabble and Anita Brookner--and Alain de Botton.
Candice Fuhrman--Very beautiful, incredibly smart, astute, and funny. She has stewarded me through the world of book publishing as my agent, but she is so much more a friend and confidante. What would I do with her lazer-like guidance and black wit!!
Jean Lewis--Attorney and hula dancer. Beauty queen and estate planner--two ends of her lovely life. Funny, sweet, and such an amazing grasp of reality and being a full woman--even a golfer! Jean is a grandmother and trained as a party clown.
Will finish this blog later. Felix Brabander just called from Holland to discuss a seminar in June. Robert and I are leaving now to go out to the beach.
The day is advancing and it's beautiful outside!
|
- Mon Jan 16 2006
Monday Morning.
Just got home last night. When I arrived Trevor gave me a birthday "card." A picture he colored red of Dr. Martin Luther King. It says at the bottom, "I have a dream....to be a power ranger." Trevor LOVES the power rangers!
Sigrid and I completed our two seminars on Yoga and the Path of Purpose. In the first one our focus was to clear toxins and eliminate inner blocks. In the second, we focused on increasing energy and attracting success. Both classes sold out, and the attendees were really a great group of committed people. Some of the questions: How do you quit a lucrative law practice to do what you love to do? Will I ever have get married and have children?
I love teaching with Sigrid. Her grasp of yoga and its influence on the body gets deeper and more fluid each time she teaches.
On Satureday after Sig's yoga class, we visited two of her training clients who have become friends. We had chicken salad, bread, and lemonade and watched a recording of a recent Oprah show on new non-surgical beauty techniques and the healthiest foods. We stayed on until 5:30 talking about everything from movie stars, the perception of beauty in Eurasians, our early adult years, what we consider a "social life", to remodeling. It was such great fun to have a rich afternoon break like this.
Today Ellen, Lynn, Karla, and Mary Jo are coming over to practice the EFT(emotional freedom) techniques.
|
- Thu Jan 12 2006
- I'm multi-tasking. Listening to Vicki Sullivan give a teleseminar on Coaching on Dan Janal's PR secrets series. Also answering last minute emails, and entering this diary note.
I'm getting ready to fly down to Burbank. I'm doing the Yoga and Path of Purpose workshops with my daughter Sigrid Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
I can smell sandwiches cooking downstairs--Robert is making sandwiches before we take off.
I had lunch yesterday with my writer pal Bruce Gelfand, and did the yoga class last night with Eliza.
I'm listening to Vicki talk about having work/life balance. I agree with her tips!
Gotta go. Oh, here is her one piece of advice about having a dark day at work. She is saying, "Get away from it. Step back. Have a latte. It's temporary. Give up the idea of every being caught up. You'll never be caught up. Just focus on the most important things. Focus on the little things along the way. The big things are not as big as you think they are!"
Now, I really have to go!
|
- Mon Jan 9 2006
- Long day. An urge to get the office and desk cleared up. Sorted all the tax deductible office expense bills. Batched out the food and clothes and sundries receipts. Too tired to add them up. Too tired to face the expenses!
Girl friends are starting to RSVP for the birthday lunch on Jan 22. 1:13pm. My actual birth.
Sigrid is flying up just for the day.
Robert and I talked about future projects. What do we want? Where do we want to go? What's the edge of the new technology? He says the Chinese will have so much buying power in 10 years, they will set the trends for luxury goods. Can this be? I don't think that's an issue for me. Too late.
I met with the man from the Nautilus Society today. Very nice. Very smooth. Showed me pictures of his two baby boys. For a minute, I thought, am I reading the fine print? How do I know he's from the real Natiulus Society. Am I being an aged victim? But of course it was all on the up and up. All the forms talked about was the disposition of the body, and a few revealing personal identifying details.
I bought the basic exit package. Incredibly cheap. Only $1500 to have the body picked up, cremated, and the remains returned to the family. I love the practicality. If I die in a foreign land, they'll refund the money to the family.
Buried in the ground? What for? Why? I'm happy thinking that I have everything settled now. I know Dana, the salesman was secretly disappointed that he couldn't upsell me with the estate planning. I already have it done. He said, I can tell you are a planner.
Got that right.
Now to bed to finish my novel about Marrying Mozart. Things were really hard for him. For everybody. Maybe not the Emperor.
|
- Fri Jan 6 2006
- Early walk with Rainey this morning. Later in the afternoon she brought her 5 year old granddaugher, Mary, over to play with Anders. They played in the bamboo "forest" and we filled the bird and squirrel feeders. Then made chocolate chip cookies. Flour all over, lots of fun.
Eliza dropped by with Augie and she and Rainey talked about the books and movies they've seen. It was such a nice afternoon.
Last night I had dinner at Barlow's house and Ellie came too! Haven't seen her all year. She is looking so beautiful. Soon to be 70. None of us can believe it! We have known each other 33 years.
Barlow delightedly showed us all her new "clearance" acquisitions. She's getting very good at this looking for bargains. New cranberry-colored glass votive glasses for candles, some bamboo blinds from Home Depot ($2.50!) and a Cost Plus bedspread.
Each area of her small, cozy house is like a still life. She has a bedroom painted a dusty rich red and baskets on an old wooden bureau to organize her "stuff." I recognize many items from our long friendship. Fabric from foreign countries gets collected, recycled, reused as table runners. She used friend Judith's maroon shawl as a table runner for dinner. She served us Fumiko's recipe of salmon wrapped in grape leaves, roasted asparagus, sauteed red peppers with garlic, and ice cream for dessert.
We talked about Marakesh, Romania, and Thailand.
Ellie brought two armloads of red camellias from her garden in Napa. Barlow arranged them in tall glass jars on her Chinese altar table. It's just so wonderful to feast one's eyes on reds and greens and patterns of blue and white pottery. The kitchen is more beautiful each time I visit. She's hung on the walls all these old Kotumble ritual cloth dolls that she brought back from South America, or was it Cuba? They are stunning. A red and white polka-dotted table cloth on a small table with 3 green Chinese cups for tea, and non-matching Japanese bowls for ice cream.
How did I get such artistic friends!
I tried to convince Ellie, the ultimate documentarian, to start a blog. She's a natural blogger, just doesn't know it yet.
We looked at our numerology charts and howled with laughter over the life patterns we've seen come and go--things we keep dealing with since we first met in San Francisco in the early 1970's. I stayed way past my bedtime!
|
- Thu Jan 5 2006
- Got up early to work on ideas for the new website. Paul Harvey, the designer, just sent some new rough draft pages. I can't wait to post the new site!
Eliza joined the local YMCA on Monday, so she went with me to yoga class last night. I'm so happy she's doing this. Being a full time mom with the 2 boys (and Anders' diabetes) is a hard job. Yoga will give her lots of benefits.
I am in a 4 personal year this year, numerologically. The day it started, Jan 1, I had the irresistible urge to organize all the bills for last year, add my expenses, and file away the batch. As another influence of the 4 Year, I am putting my website into a new form (4 rules material form). Gunther, my son, has the same birthday as I do (Jan 22) and is also in a 4 year. He isn't really into numerology, but he did start the year by making an intention to reduce his grocery bills and stick to a new spending plan! He's turning 40 this year.
Which reminds me. I have to make a guest list today for my birthday party. I'll baby sit for Gunther and Eliza the night before so they can have a nice night out for his birthday. Also, on Jan 20 Anders will be 4.
I hope Fumiko comes home by then!
|
- Wed Jan 4 2006
I was reading Pema Chodron (Comfortable with Uncertainty)last night. No teacher is more clear, calming, and comforting than Chodron, and American Buddhist nun. I often wake up in the middle of the night. Reading her books are so instantly helpful to my moods or questions.
This chapter was on the 6 Ways of Compassionate
Living. Six traditional activities in which the bodhisattva (person seeking enlightenment) trains:
generosity, discipline, patience, joyful exertion, meditation, and
prajna, unconditional wisdom. These are called the paramitas, a Sanskrit
word meaning "going to the other shore." Chodron writes: "Each activity takes us beyond
aversion and attachment, beyond being all caught up in ourselves, beyond
our illusion of separateness."
I love the idea of going to the other shore. It conures up to me the reminder that life is always transition. that our best position is no position, so that we are skating on a sense of groundlessness (non-attachment.) Life is always uncertain, always moving. The point of doing these 6 activities is to challenge our habitual reactions.
I am a creature of such habits. I went to Shoe Pavilion searching for a particular Aerosole shoe--and found a suitable pair for $29.00 I also bought a very well-fitting pair of stretch boots--hard to find for my narrow foot. Only $39! I'm hopelessly stuck. Desire. Frugality. Impatience. Self-justification.
I'd better start going for that other shore!
|
- Thu Dec 29 2005
- Why the weeping? Is it the little red plastic squid next to the bath tub? The forgotten red and blue boat pushed under the rug?
Is it the silence of the house, with the dining table shortened back to a smaller size? Is it the snapshot memories of the ruckus in the bathtub with Trevor, Anders and Chloe laughing and fighting over the toys?
Is it watching my son and my daughter take up the old teasing jibes as we make jokes about which one is going to pull the plug when I die? (Jokes that I started by mentioning that now I get Medicare letters and advertisements for cremation in the mail.)
Why the weeping?
Is it remembering each one walk in the door, full of anticipation of the holiday fun to be had--and now the days have passed, and it's over?
Is it visiting my last aunt and uncle, in their 80's, she, the sister of my father, who just lost her last sibling and brother last week?
Is it the fullness of seeing my brother happy with his new bride, and feeling little in common yet?
Why the weeping?
Is it the silence of the house?
Or do I always weep in driveways when I say goodbye?
|
- Thu Dec 15 2005
- I just changed from Comcast for my Internet connection to SBC's DSL. I also have a satellite dish for TV. I find it very stressful to go through upgrades on any of my technologies.
Repairs don't have the same effect on me. They produce a sense of relief. Upgrades stretch me out of my knowledge comfort zone.
|
- Tue Dec 13 2005
- For about nine months I have been in a conflict about how to proceed with a new web design. This past week, I did some inner work on the problem and found that this conflict is rooted in my old "I'm helpless to understand X or "I need help." As soon as I was able to see and let go of that perspective, the most interesting flow started.
I now have sorted out all the issues that previously seemed impervious to change. I even had a break through as I read some fairly technical material. I was able to put two pieces of information together, and ask exactly the right question, which then allowed me to make an intelligent decision about who to hire for the website design. I am so amazed at the change in myself today. I can only describe it as a kind of inner confidence and joy! It's all happening in the best possible way for all concerned.
Earlier this week I ran into someone who takes beautiful nature photographs, which is exactly what I want to express the idea of life purpose for the site. Another old friend came over for a walk, and he helped me refine some content. Robert is solving all sorts of questions for me. It's amazing! I could not see this outcome before, and now it's all in flow.
|
- Wed Dec 7 2005
- Fumiko arrived from Tokyo yesterday at noon, and we had a good time catching up with all the news from friends in Japan. I am so happy to have her back, although she has to leave in two weeks to finish editing a book she is working on for Shufunotomo. She brought another plastic sword for Anders!
Even though Fumiko was jet lagged and had not slept, she went with me to the lecture given by James and Salle Redfield at the Learning Annex last night. They were talking about intuition and synchronicity, and showed a clip from their new movie The Celestine Prophecy. How exciting to hear the lines we read in the book spoken by actors! They want to do a grass roots promo for the movie by encouraging people to play the DVD for groups and networks of friends before it hits the theatres in late March, 2006. I'll try to find somewhere to play the movie and invite you all to come (if you live in the Bay area, of course!) I think the movie will be a big hit in Japan when it gets released there--and of course, all over the world.
Synchronistically, there was a Japanese writer there who started speaking with Fumiko, and she had a copy of the Natural Spirit publication with the interview with me on the subject of numerology and my picture! We were so surprised to meet her--she lives in Oakland!
|
- Fri Dec 2 2005
- I bought a Sears Kenmore washing machine today. I seem to be very brand-loyal when it comes to buying appliances. My Dad, who made his living as a building contractor, imprinted me with the durability of the Kenmore line.
The machine I bought is the second-simplest machine they had. It only has options for hot, warm, and cold water, small, medium, and large loads, and delicate, normal, and heavy cycles. The salesman who wrote up my ticket said I was a very easy customer. I asked him why he said that and he said I didn't have many desires. I took that as a hopeful sign that I am moving in ever so teensy steps toward my Buddhist desire to be desireless. Wouldn't you?
All the other machines looked to be quite intimidating with rows of buttons, knobs, and windows. I have enough trouble as it is with all the machines that I own, that the last thing I need is an intimidating washing machine.
Today is bright and shiny after yesterday's dark deluge. I filled the bird feeders and I can see from my study window that the squirrel is gorging out there.
I'm loving this quiet afternoon which gives me a chance to finally look at the changes I want to make on my website.
I'm wearing one of those barley-filled neck warmers that you put in the microwave to heat up to soothe a strained neck. It's very comforting.
|
- Tue Nov 22 2005
- Just in and out from Washington DC and back down to Studio City, California for Thanksgiving with my family. I send loving thoughts to everyone, no matter where you are, hoping this season has special delights and warm moments.
Thanks to Aimee Deem for sending me a wonderful book by Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have.
I opened the book to page 294
The Daily Experiment
You are the laboratory
and every day is an experiment.
Go and find what is new
and unexpected.
--Joel Elkes
I'll be back in touch next week.
Carol
|
- Wed Nov 9 2005
- I'm just leaving for the airport to go up to Seattle, Washington. Teaching classes and doing consultations.
Last night, my yoga teacher, Britta, brought in this wonderful poem piece by Mary Oliver (from the book West Wind)
Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?
While the soul after all, is only a window,
and the opening of the window no more difficult
than the wakening from a little sleep.
((p. 62)
More later.
|
- Wed Nov 2 2005
- Here's an email update from an old client. I've kept him anonymous to preserve his privacy. He is reporting in on some of the numerology predictions I gave him earlier this year.
I've known A. for many years, and am so happy that he has found the right job at last. His intention has always been strong--but he also has had to fight his prevailing pessimism. In other times, he probably would have been a priest, but now he's in a similar position of leadership--but as a corporate facilitator!
Carol,
You asked for an update around my birthday, so here it is. When we last talked my most important goal was getting a new job. You said that July 2005 would be a month of completion and that maybe something new and great would occur in August 2005. Well, it happened. I ran around like a crazed man in July completing everything I could get my hands on--cleaning closets, .....etc..... I also had a bunch of interviews for different jobs, seemingly coming out of no where, and on 8/29/05, I started work with a "way cool" (a/k/a like a San Francisco culture and employer) company. My role is just about perfect, as is my boss and 95% or more of my colleagues. I'm facilitating strategy at the top echelons of the federal government. On 11/3-6/05, T. and I are going to Mobile, Alabama (on the coast) to buy a retirement house, if we both like the locale! I'm also getting ready now to write my book, and I begin in earnest on 11/20/05.
thanks for your help.
A.
|
- Mon Oct 24 2005
- I returned from Thailand last Thursday. After Japan, Thailand seemed very hot and humid, but Fumiko and I and Kumiko and Aga had a great time exploring.
In Chiang Mai, we rode elephants , rafted down a river on a bamboo raft, ate lots of good Thai food, saw dozens of golden Buddhas, shopped in the Night Bazaar, and generally enjoyed our time off.
Fumiko and I left Chiang Mai and took a night train to the ancient city of Ayutthaya. We arrived at 5 am but found a hotel that was willing to let us have a room that early in the morning. The next day, a tuktuk (3-wheeled vehicle) and driver took us to all the many sites. We found using an umbrella is much cooler than simply wearing a hat in the sun.
On to Bangkok and lots of sight seeing (also visiting the US Embassy in order to get a notarization for the El Cerrito Police.) Fumiko's car was towed on my street while we were gone, and we spent hours trying to authorize Robert back in the US so that he could go get the car. Finally, we solved the problem. The car is safely parked in front of my house now.
One of the most fun things we did was have a coffee in the lobby of the grand Oriental Hotel in Bangkok just to cool off from all the morning and afternoon sight seeing (like the Emerald Buddha in the Grand Palace and a boat trip up a canal.) After resting in the air conditioned splendour, we asked one of the beautifully-attired staff members where we could catch the sky train, and she escorted us personally over to the hotel's "shuttle "boat" --a lighted, exotic teak boat that looked like it was from a fairy tale. Three princely--uniformed staff members took us in the boat about ten minutes away to the Sky Train landing as a courtesy of the hotel. We felt like princesses disembarking. A bystander said, "Boy , I want to ride on a boat like that."
Home now in El Cerrito, and ready to clear the autumn leaves from the back garden. It's cold here now. I feel like catching up on correspondence and doing some fall cleaning. It's good to be back. Time to start work on the new books for Japan.
|
- Tue Oct 4 2005
Excuse my poor attempts at writing poetry while here in Japan.
Tuesday
The balcony drips
Outside my window
Fresh and cool
The night turns to morning.
Early
sound of rake
dragging heavy wet leaves
the grey dawn begins with
emptying the pail.
|
- Tue Oct 4 2005
Last night Fumiko-san and I had invited our friends, Misao Takahara and Terayama-sensei for dinner. She had noticed an organic restaurant near the Takadanobaba train station the day before, and thought that would be a good place to go. Misao-san had called to say she probably would be late, but as it turns out, they ran into each other on the train platform (this is a very busy station the train platform (this is a very busy station). We all laughed about the coincidence.
At the restuarant, however, we had more synchronicities. It turned out that the chef was a friend of Terayama-sensei, who had visited Findhorn with him many times. Terayama-sensei works with cancer patientｓ and teaches all over the world. He used to be a skeptical scientific engineer. After healing himself of his own cancer, he completely transformed his life, and is now a highly respected teacher and healer.
Just as we were leaving, another customer walked in and saw us. He turned out to be the editor who publishes the books of Terayama-sensei--and he told us he was leaving for Findhorn the next day! Terayama-sensei was so happy to see him, because he had been wanting to call him and order more books, but would have missed him if we had not run into him at just that moment.
|
- Tue Oct 4 2005
I`ve been in Japan for 8 days. Just finished 2 seminars on numerology and three days of consultations.
The first seminar for Natural Spirit was held in a spacious classroom and we had a lively exchange of learning and discussion. I received a bouquet of white lilies and took them to Fumiko-san later that day to begin the celebration of her birthday, which was on Oct. 2--the day of the next seminar.
This seminar was held in a beatiful old University hall. We had 11 tables covered in white table cloths with flower centerpieces. It was a magical day. At lunch, in the outer club room, we were 9. When I looked around I had the impression of us being a soul group. 9 is a complete number. Hashimoto-san, the classical musician I met at Mt. Mitake, played the ancient wind instrument, the sho, and three crystal bowls. He was dressed in the stiff orange silk robes, and a tall narrow black hat worn for special performances.
Afterwards, a group of friends went to a restaurant which is normally closed on Sunday, but the owner, a friend of Kaoru`s, opened it up for us. We celebrated Fumiko-san's 37th birthday with lots of laughter,food, and champagne, relaxing after weeks of work organizing the seminar.
|
- Sun Sep 25 2005
- Fumiko's brother, Nobu, is here! He is going to a conference on bicycling tomorrow in Las Vegas, but he was able to come over yesterday. We made a nice barbeque outside and had a good time talking. Fumiko just got back from taking the last travellers to the airport. After our retreat, a few people stayed on to tour the Napa Valley, go to wineries, and get a mud bath. So we were celebrating being back together again.
Fumiko and I are getting packed to leave for Tokyo tomorrow. I'm so sorry that Robert is unable to go with me this time, due to work commitments.
Little excitement this morning. Fumiko's bedroom door got accidentally locked and Robert got her out with a ladder! Thankfully, it didn't happen tomorrow when we would be getting ready to go to the airport. Gunther came over and somehow released the lock. What did he do that we didn't? Oh well, it's open, and I'll have to get a new door knob.
Robert and Nobu went off to see the Folsom Street Fair--a festival for the "leather community." Pretty wild. Fumiko and I are staying home to rest and pack.
|
- Fri Sep 23 2005
- A fifty-year-old client, J, related a great example of how to "flow with the energy." She had gone back to Boulder, Colorado to visit her brother, whom she had not seen for a long time. Their relationship had not been good for years, but she thought it was time to see him. She told me that she started getting signs that the weekend might not be a good one. The first was that she lost a new jacket at the Denver airport.
Things did not go well with her brother. He was argumentative and abusive with her. After a day and a half of putting up with his increasingly angry and violent remarks and behavior, she decided to pack up her bag and leave his apartment. She wasn't quite sure where she was or what to do. Dragging her rolling luggage bag, she headed in the direction where she vaguely remembered a pedestrian mall of shops and restaurants.
After about a mile, she reached the area, and went into the first shop to ask if there were any hotels in the area. When the shop assistant said that it was a busy week in Boulder and unlikely that rooms would be vacant, J. broke down in tears. She told the young women that she had had a fight with her brother, and didn't know where to go or stay until she could fly home. Immediately, the two women started searching around and found J the number of a youth hostel near the University, which had an available room and was low-cost.
Relieved, J. decided to explore the area, and just wandering around, found a metaphysical book store. She was warmly welcomed and they offered to look after her luggage. Since there was a hair salon next door, J. decided to get her hair trimmed. Later a cab driver suggested a great restaurant. She also went salsa dancing, met some new people there, and decided to stay on to complete her stay in Boulder. The hostel was a great bargain, clean, quiet and perfect, and she made some more new friends there. All in all, J. had a fabulous time. She realized that she can have other adventures like this (without the precipitating drama!!) One of the issue we had been working on together was that she felt isolated here and missed the days when she used to travel and socialize more. For some reason, she had narrowed down her world and now realizes the world is as open to her as it ever was in her youth.
When we open up and express ourselves and look for solutions, we are so often amazed by the response from the environment.
She just phoned to tell me that she got her jacket back from the lost and found department at the airport!
|
- Wed Sep 21 2005
- Just catching up on the emails from the last five days. Fumiko and I completed the Mt. Shasta retreat, and it was a great success. The funny thing is that we ran into 3 people who were visiting Stonebrook Inn who had been in our Mt. Mitake retreat in Japan in May. Synchronicity hits again.
I interviewed Hiromi Suzuki, the owner of Stoney Brook Inn. We were sitting outside behind the Inn, as she was overseeing the sweat lodge that was being conducted for our participants. It was late afternoon, warm, crisp, the smell of wood smoke in the air and the sound of tribal drumming. People would emerge from the sweat lodge, to breathe fresh air, and drink water. Then they went back in for more ceremony.
I commented on the beauty of the setting, including a meditating figure of Buddha under a redwood tree. I told her I had been looking for a Buddha as the centerpiece for my back yard. Hiromi said, "Oh, you won't believe it but I got the Buddha in Redding at Target."
I loved the idea of getting a Buddha from Redding--from the Target store. I love Target. I go there just about every week here in El Cerrito. I grew up in Redding--which is just about as far from the idea of Asia and Buddhism as a town can be.
When Robert and I drove home yesterday, we took our time driving. I took him to Shasta Dam . We saw a very old film about the building of the dam. All these years of living in Redding, and I never knew that the engineers built a 10 mile long conveyor belt to haul quarry rock to the dam site. It was quite impressive. Shasta Dam is a key structure to the health and bounty of the Central Valley of California.
We drove through Redding and I bought my own Buddha at Target!!! We also drove past my old Enterprise High School, and I even found the street and last house that my mother and father lived in in Redding. Ironically, my father was a contractor and built many homes in Redding. At the end of their lives, he and my mom retired to a mobile home in Redding. I know they wanted a "low-maintenance" lifestyle, so they gave up living in the homes they had built and chose a (non) mobile home.
It was a good trip all around. My buddha is very happy now under the tree in my back yard. The house is all re-painted now after the insulating project.
Now I have to get ready for the trip to Japan.
|
- Thu Sep 15 2005
- Robert just told me that the new changes to credit card laws go into effect next month. What this means is that instead of your minimum payment being interest plus $15, it will be interest plus 1 % of your outstanding balance. The average credit card balance for Americans is $10,000. The average minimum payment will go from $210 to $280.
I am mentioning this because you may not be getting much information from the press or from your bank on this., so be prepared.
The good news on this change, however, means that a person will actually save a huge amount of money in the long run by paying back the higher minimum. For example (I used Robert's online calculator at the hyperlink below) to find out how much a person who owes $10,000 will save by paying the higher minimum.
At the old rate, $10,000 would be paid off in nine years with payments of $210 at a total cost of $21,630.
With the new rate, $10,000 would be paid off in less than 5 years at a total cost of $15,960--a savings of $5,670!
If you want to visit Robert's site here is the hyperlink: http://www.intrepid.com/~robertl/loan-pricer1.html
|
- Thu Sep 15 2005
- I just got my house insulated two days ago. They come and make holes in the outside walls and pump in insulation. I had insulation inserted into the floors and caulked the drafty spots in the stairs. Already the house feels warmer and quieter.
The next day the headlines were noting the big surge in natural gas prices at PG & E.
|
- Wed Sep 14 2005
- Last week in Lake Tahoe, Gunther and Anders went out to the lake front to fly Anders' new kite. The kite got caught in the branches of not one, but two trees. It was too high for Gunther to reach. Nearby two bystanders gave their opinion.
The first man's idea was to drop the string and let it float away, but that didn't work. The second man--an older guy with the sort of time-weathered look of someone who lives out of his car, was eating a can of Pringles potato chips. "If I had my old twelve-guage shot-gun," he said, "I would blow the string off the kite. Thing had a barrel the size of this can," and he waved the Pringles container. Gunther mentioned that he didn't think shooting it out of the tree was the best way to go. Just then a truck with a man and his son drove by, and the Pringles guy flagged down the truck. It turns out that the driver of the truck was a cable TV installer and had a very large extension ladder on the top of his truck. He was happy to put it on the tree (made him look good to his little boy, too) and he easily reached up to retrieve the kite.
Sounds like a children's story, doesn't it?
|
- Tue Sep 13 2005
- Intention or invention?
Last Saturday I went to my brother's wedding. He's been single for nine years. He is a very organized and focused person (a triple Virgo) and had made a list of more than 31 qualities he was looking for in a woman. He found her! Their vows were very sweet, and the minister made a point of mentioning how Jerry had found in Patti every single thing he was asking for. They are both 61 and are very much in love. They met on match.com but found out they lived very close to each other and even attended the same churches, but had never met.
|
- Tue Sep 6 2005
- Last Sunday, when we were at Tyler's house, we went for a test drive in his new Scion. It's a small car made by Toyota, and it get 38 miles to the gallon. I'd never seen one before. It is cute and drives well. I was thinking maybe it's time to get a new car with better mileage. I have a 1996 Nissan Maxima.
That night, Robert and I saw on TV a special on 60 Minutes talking about the new generation that makes up 30% of the US population. They are the offspring of the Baby Boomers, and are anywhere from 10 to grammar school age.
Marketers are studying them as a huge consumer market--and calling them variously, The Echo Boomers or the Millennials. The program showed them being interviewed in a marketing focus group--asking them questions about who they are, and what their values are. Born to parents who really valued children and tried to give them every advantage and self-confidence boosting upbringing, they are now getting ready to enter the adult job market and life. They are not rebellious ("We love our parents.") and they are not competitive ("I have a row of trophies from kindergarten on up, just for being in the class. ") They are more interested in fitting into to their group. They buy by word of mouth, so marketers are not trying to reach them by television. They are plugged into the Internet and buy on buzz. 60 Minutes showed an example of this. The product they chose was the Scion! This is the car they are hoping to sell to the young people.
I will be out of the office until Friday. I'm going to Lake Tahoe with Gunther, Eliza, Anders, and August.
Talk to you later.
|
- Mon Sep 5 2005
We went to Zenobia and Tyler's house yesterday in Oakland--for a barbeque. It was much sunnier there than my house in El Cerrito! They've been slowly remodeling their house and it's got such a beautiful, tropical feel to it. The banana plants in the backyard are about 30 feet tall, and huge elephant ears make it very lush. There is lots of bamboo. Zenobia had some great new green plastic plates with banana leaves on them, and knives and forks with plastic bamboo handles. "Mervyn's [department store] on clearance!" she told me proudly, "I only buy things on clearance." She has such a good eye for finding good stuff. She finally has a comfortable couch and two big chairs. I've known her (we're like sisters) since 1970, and this is the first time she's finally had a good place to sit down!
Tyler (he just turned 62) had prostate cancer with such high medical bills, he was forced to come out of retirement. Thank God, he decided to go back to being a butcher after 26 years. He's in the Union now with full medical benefits. But even better than that, he's got a whole new life. He is naturally gifted at talking to people, so he's out front at the meat case greeting customers.
He's becoming like a super-star at the various markets. Now the top stores are asking specifically for him. His mission is help each customer select the right cut and make sure he or she knows how to cook it--"I want you to have a great experience cooking meat," he says, "and not a disaster. If you spend a lot of money on meat, you do not want to deal with disappointment and giving your steak to your dog. You cannot afford the emotional pain of burning it!" His enthusiasm is wonderful to see. I think he should be on the Foodnetwork as a celebrity chef! He's got the personality for it. The chefs on that food channel are all so suited to what they are doing--you can tell that they just love what they do. It makes you want to watch them. Actually, his daughter is Aisha Tyler, who went from studying environmentalism at Dartmouth to becoming a celebrity herself on network TV. She had her own show, Talk Soup. and appeared on the last few episdoes of Friends, 24, and CSI. She was also featured in InStyle magazine. She's tall and gorgeous and very funny--and also a foodie!
Robert cooked the ribs and chicken perfectly by cooking them slowly and turning up the heat at the end. We like to pre-simmer the ribs for 2 1/2 hours before putting them on the grill with barbeque sauce.
|
- Sat Sep 3 2005
- Last night I was visiting my son and daughter-in-law, Gunther and Eliza across the street. My grandson, Anders, who is 3 1/2 years old was listening as we talked about the problems with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Gunther explained to him that people had to leave their homes and were having an awful time because they didn't have food or water or toilets, and they couldn't go back to their houses.
Anders thought for a moment and said, "What can we do?"
|
- Wed Aug 31 2005
- Synchronicities are always happening.
For example, my friend Fumiko and I went
to the bookstore yesterday to buy a
guidebook for Thailand, where we are
going after the seminars in Japan.
While browsing, another customer started
talking to us, and gave us lots of good
tips about Thailand. Later that day, my
son, Gunther, gave me two of his
guidebooks, so by the end of one day, I
had lots of new info about Thailand!
Remember to speak to people in stores
and public places where there may be
some connection waiting to happen! Of
course, I expect you to be discerning,
too, but do be open. You just never
know.
|
- Sat Aug 27 2005
- I'm working on the schedule for Mt. Shasta.
This is going to be a wonderful tour.
|
- Sat Aug 27 2005
- Today I have a new blog capacity.
It's a beautiful day!
|
