Tj et all,
Glad to hear that you've regained your adventurous spirit--your
description of skydiving makes it sound great--a lot of letting go!
Don't believe the pessimists about your health--I practice a form of
martial arts that uses "bone-marrow-washing *chi*," in which you
train your mind-body continuum to work with energy at such a profound
level it is said that even cancer can be washed clean from the
deepest marrow within...
Too, I was reading Natalie Goldberg's newest book and she was
relating how she was deeply saddened by the thug murder on the street
of Chris Pirsig (sp?), son of the man who wrote "Zen and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance," right outside the SF Zen Center. Angered,at
first, as well, when she told their Rinpoche, a man with a center in
Minnesota, that he shrugged and said something along the lines that
Westerners, especially, suffer from the delusion that death only
occurs when one is aged and infirm--remember that all life is
impermanence and you will better savor each moment...
Words indeed to take to heart...By the way, I first read that book
for my English 1A class at Cal and was very much taken with it--so
much so that, in the midst of some blues after a hard breakup with a
woman of three years of head-over-heels love (long story, for the
sake of her children), I bought a Kawasaki 1000Z1R cafe racer and
rebuilt the engine right on my workdesk in my ground floor sublet of
a house! The owner came downstairs one time, took a look at all
these high-tech pieces of aluminum on my desk and said, "What in the
world do you think you're doing!"
So much for that apartment!
The bike, by the way, got emory sand put into the gas tank by some
snitch/informants for the DEA while I was driving a cab on those mean
toe-up streets of Oaktown. You see, I had a "tank bag," in which I'd
toss my Thomas Guide books, clipboard, notebook and books to read
during the wee slow hours of the morning, so I "fit the profile" of a
drug dealer! Then, determined not to be disheartened, when I took
it in to Performance and Design for a souped-up rebuild--planning on
keeping it garaged, i.e., "out of sight, out of pinhead!"--the dirty
narcs just seized it--scum of the earth that had been "put on the
payroll," one of the most braindead moves in public polity this
country ever made: i.e., not just a "license to kill," but too
a "license to steal, lie, perjure, rape, loot, kill...and molest the
children too!" Hey, when you know the Director will just "cover up"
for you, what the Hell!
My other "surrealism is stranger than life" item this A.M.: the
original manuscript for Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" was auctioned
for a record amount of (I believe) $2.7 million! To the owner of the
professional football team...Previous high had been for Kafka's "The
Trial," which is just as bizarre...
Ferlinghetti at City Lights bookstore in The City said that poor Jack
must be turning over in his grave. Imagine that for a guy that
couldn't put two pennies together for most of his life, treated as a
lowlife bum who "opted out" of the 50's Air-Conditioned Nightmare, as
Henry Miller termed it, and who always had the lit-crit
establishment's heavy artillery trained upon and fired against him--
like a big battleship pounding away with those booming 20mm's at a
tiny bark drifting on a moon-silvered sea...
By the way, as one who's never "down wid da program/pogrom," my 3:8
may have run a wee bit over 20 minutes, but as I wrote it for the
sake of the blessed Dalai Lama, visiting here in Washington, D.C., a
saint finally being able to walk through the main gate and not
the "dung gate" in order to meet with the honchos like Colin Powell,
well shoot me! (As I was a little lax on my daily prayer wishes while
down South, I had some making up to do...)
Finally, Denis, I don't think that truly you'd like being a king.
From what I've studied it was pretty much a thankless task. I'm not
talking of the effete little boys and spoiled tyrannesses of England
or France, but the true *righs* of ancient Ireland, Vedic India and
the Dharma KIngs of Tibet. The Irish were especially tough on the
poor guy--he'd have to wander in poverty and depend upon
the "kindness of strangers" in his native land for years, was really
given a go over in martial arts--and if he suffered any serious
wounds, well, that's it for you pal! (can't have any imperfections on
the "divinely sanctioned" ruler). Too, he had to have a good grasp of
history, poetry and rhetoric; finally, he had to be light on his feet
when dancing with the ladies and always--without fail--a gentleman of
courtesy...
If you were Heavenly blessed, mebbe you got a dozen years out of the
gig--as did the legendary King Arthur...
best,
TaMO
--- In fiction_writers_workshop@y..., "TJ Smith" <terryntj@a...>
wrote:
> The cafe looks lovely, and I swear I can see myself in that photo!
> Someday, when hubby and I get around to visiting our northern
> neighbor, we'll stop by and visit your cafe and call you down for a
> glass of lemon water--I don't drink either, but my hubby would
> happily drink a draft with your hubby, and then two or three more!
>
> Since I'm not getting any younger and since my health has taken a
> decline in the past few years, I have accelerated my To Do list and
> am working much faster to complete it. Next on the list is scuba
> diving, and as it happens, the skydiving instructor knew a good
place
> for lessons! I'm hoping for that for Christmas. Also on the list,
a
> blue butterfly tattoo--small and discreet--a visit to Australia for
a
> dive at the Barrier Reef, Germany for a bit of Octoberfest, and
> Africa--any country will do as long as they have giraffes and zoom
> lenses on the cameras. At 43, I'm hoping to do these things
> relatively quickly. The folks in my family die young and my clock
is
> ticking. It really is, since I went on line a few years ago and
> visited a site that predicts your date of death. I shall go out
with
> a bang, a hoot, and a YEEEEHAAAAW! on May 20, 2023, according to
the
> clock. Times a wastin'! Come skydive with me when I'm fifty--If I
> can hold out that long!
>
> And bye the bye, I'm all for the tea, but the hankie heads, very
> reminiscent of my Catholic youth, are just toooooo much. And those
> corsets--ugh!
>
> Glad nothing caught on fire, and tell hubby to lighten up. You
only
> get to celebrate life once, you know! And wasn't the ending to the
> Sopranos a real bummer? What's with the music and singing? Plus,
> everybody knew Jackie was gonna bite it and Ralphie was gonna do
it!
> Boring! Now, get writing, will you? Waiting for your 3:8. I'm
off
> to write the second half of mine.
>
> --- In fiction_writers_workshop@y..., Mitch <gigzoo@y...> wrote:
> > Hey TJ!
> >
> > Lol, lol, lol thanks for the happy Vic day ... I
> > suppose the appropriate thing to do to celebrate the
> > late Queen would be to do what you suggested,
> > Victorian Tea with cucumber sandwiches, wear tight
> > corsets and put lace hankies on our heads, however
> > here in the 21st century all we really do in this
> > modern life is set off fireworks in her rememberance
> > and watch the last episode of the Sopranos.
> >
> > Last night a neighbour of ours was lighting fireworks
> > off in their backyard and although it was a wonderful
> > show of light and sound, our houses are so close
> > together and there are so many trees shrouding the
> > streets and houses that it was quite intimidating for
> > my dear hubby to see the fire so close to the rooves.
> > I enjoyed the light show and attempted to sooth his
> > smug anger. Nothing set on fire.
> >
> > We did get the day off work which was lovely, we rode
> > our bikes up to the bustling Bayview (which i wrote
> > about when i debuted here) and went to a pub (picture
> > attached it looked so pretty i just had to take a pic)
> > and i splurged and had a perrier with lemon, sarcastic
> > lol, lol, lol, (been sober for 3 years) and hubby had
> > a farty draft.
> >
> > Re: skydiving, wow you are so very cool TJ! I dared
> > myself to do it and on my 18th birthday took the
> > plunge and like you have never tried acid so compared
> > the experience to an orgasm, lol, lol, lol! I would
> > be scared skinny to do it today and have the utmost
> > respect for you for crossing an item off your TO DO
> > LIST! Not many women are willing to take the plunge,
> > only the special ones (wink), or is that ... only the
> > crazy ones? lol, lol, lol, lol!
> >
> > Have a super week super TJ, u go girl go!
> >
> > Mitch
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices
> > http://auctions.yahoo.com/
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