Excuses, Excuses

At the end of the day, we value material everything more than spiritual anything. If that weren't true, we'd be as frantic about missing a meditation session as we are about missing a meeting or being late for work, unless of course, work and meetings have profoundly spiritual effects on our being, or are places where our spiritual efforts are perfectly manifest...

Bhante to the Householder

Today we heard this story from a married westerner, who was told by a Burmese master:

"If the Buddha had done everything his wife told him to do we wouldn't have the Buddha."

Chicken Chasin' & Shovelin' Sh!t ( ft. JuJu the Donkey)

I don't really make plans anymore. I think there was a time though, many years ago that i could make plans and stick to them, that i could decide way in advance what i might be doing a particular day. Now I wake up in the morning and have no clue, i might get asked by the first person who rings my phone "what are going to do today"....
usually I have no plans, i have to make it up as i go along. I am almost living "in the moment" (maybe Eckhart Tolle would blush), but I wasnt trying to. I just fell into the abyss of no time frame (no watch, no schedule), and I can't say whether it is good or bad, only that I remember that alarm clocks are stressful evil noise makers and I think had i stuck with using one i would be mentally ill now.
I dont really know what i am doing with my life, but I know for me, life is for living.

Here is a video of today. I spent alot of hours, shoveling donkey poop that finally defrosted in JuJu's stall.


Xoxoxox

Overpacked

I seem to have a rather persistent problem when it comes to packing a suitcase and that is I completely overpack.  Every single time I just can't help myself and the worst thing of all is that my carry-on luggage could be compared to everything 20 people would need for a 2 week holiday.  It is just ridiculous. 

However, after hauling my usual 10 tonnes of so-called 'I can't live without' luggage on a 20 hour flight from Brisbane to New York a few days I ago it was quite humorous to read an article by Amanda Fortini in the New York Times this morning in which she proclaims her obsession with the overpack too. 

I was comforted by the fact that she too has packing anxiety and as her friend kindly puts it - 'It's like you're traveling by ocean liner.  Will you be accompanied by a porter?'  I WISH I could be accompanied by a porter.  Usually my husband is around and has in the past helped me lug large seashells in my carry-on luggage from Hawaii and cushion covers, mirrors and a painting from LA but this time it is just me and my carry-on and let me tell you it is exhausting running for a connecting flight with 3 heavy bags.  I have vowed and declared that on our return flight next week I will only be bringing 1 bag into the cabin with me and the rest will be checked in.  It will be interesting to see how I go.

It is snowing here in New York which is quite amazing as this time last week I was swimming in our pool with Harry and Max in 30 + degrees.

The Tiny House Blog

 http://tinyhouseblog.com/

Many of the tiny houses pictured in the gallery of the Tiny House Blog are ideal housing for meditators, hermits, and/or those who want to actively contribute to sustainability...enjoy!

From the Tiny Buddha website

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-negative-people-or-difficult-people/

How to deal with negative or difficult people. The Tiny Buddha website has a lot of good stuff...check it out. 

Crazy Wolf, Dead Peacock, and Sunshine

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I am on the hunt for a good chunk of sunshine, but always something comes up where i only get the tail end of the bright ball in the sky.
I try though. There are always things to discover if I leave the cabin, and that makes it well worth it.
This is quite mundane... but so can be reality for us all...

xoxox

Fishing Cabins

20" x 24" oil on canvas.
Another small one. Again I tried graphic shapes on the water to add interest. However I don't think they're 100% successful.









Detail #1 the image of the boats is much bigger than on the painting.

Detail #2 Also much bigger than on the painting. One thing I frequently do, and you can see it here somewhat, is that rather than painting the positive shape I paint the negative shape. (Here as an example I painted the grass, and that creates the shape of the house.) Doing so not only creates the positive shape, but creates visual interest.

Detail #3 Here again you can kind of see that rather than paint the shrubs and shadows I painted the grass...and that described the shapes of the shrubs and shadows.

To the center of finance and trade in new China

I am off to Shanghai China at sunrise to join the worlds largest migration of people during the Lunar New Year festivities.  Back in a week!

Happy Weekend

Have a fantastic, colourful and happy weekend!

image source unknown

A Heartfelt Thanks

THANK  YOU

I just wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you to you all for your kind words to me on my blog and through Twitter. I try not to use my blog as a forum for rants, but I was more than fired up over the loss of my wallet!

I truly appreciate your outpouring of support. Do not worry, I have not lost faith. How could I, when I have already been shown such kindness from people I have never met?

Stay tuned! I will be revealing my secret project soon!

Jennifer x

**Update: People's kindness continue to flow. This morning (1-28-2011), I had a colleague bring me a wallet that she received for Christmas and wasn't using. "Just something to get me through for awhile," she said! Now, how kind is that! 

RIP Beep Beep, I Tried.

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my chicken Beep Beep died yesterday in my arms.
I am doing better today, although still really upset ---- i have to foreWARN that the video below is a little bit disturbing, there is a dead chicken, crying , yelling, and grief. It's been a really hard winter for me and I feel that the isolation from other humans has made it even harder. (Which is why i am talking outloud to a video camera everyday, to help keep me sane.) The loss of my animals though, on any level, any animal, any season always makes me extremely upset. Especially when they have to suffer and be sick. I have suffered and been ill, laying on my death bed with celiac sprue before so I know the fear, pain, and peace that comes with the fading of the body.
Beep Beep had something called "sour crop" which I was not able to diagnose till it was too late.

If your chicken is sick and has a bulging chest, lethargic, watery poop, droopy wings, heavy breathing and bad putrid breath they may have sour crop - and can be saved if it is caught early enough! Beep Beep's blockage (which is located below the neck on their chest) was really swollen and huge (felt like a soft rubber stress ball consistency), I tried giving her olive oil with with a dropper, then massaged the swollen crop over and over. She did pass a small amount of it on her own but it was just too much. The advice to hold her on her back and induce vomiting didn't work for Beep Beep at all, nothing came out.
Please read more HERE about this if you suspect your beloved chick might have it.
*
also... anyone wanting to leave a rude comment on this post will be immediately erased and banned as spam, so please keep this one peaceful.



xoxoxoxox

Bhikkhu Bodhi and Buddhist Global Relief

http://www.buddhistglobalrelief.org/active/bgrMission.html

We need a lot more organizations like this. This one was begun by the wonderful Pali translator Bhikkhu Bodhi, who, happily, was not satisfied only translating texts. Hope you watch the video at the link above. 

Instruction from the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra

Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa SūtraChapter 2: Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Technique Translation by Robert Thurman

At that time, there lived in the great city of Vaisali a certain Licchavi, Vimalakirti by name. Having served the ancient Buddhas, he had generated the roots of virtue by honoring them and making offerings to them. He had attained tolerance as well as eloquence. He played with the great superknowledges. He had attained the power of incantations and the fearlessnesses. He had conquered all demons and opponents. He had penetrated the profound way of the Dharma. He was liberated through the transcendence of wisdom. Having integrated his realization with skill in liberative technique, he was expert in knowing the thoughts and actions of living beings. Knowing the strength or weakness of their faculties, and being gifted with unrivaled eloquence, he taught the Dharma appropriately to each. Having applied himself energetically to the Mahayana, he understood it and accomplished his tasks with great finesse. He lived with the deportment of a Buddha, and his superior intelligence was as wide as an ocean. He was praised, honored, and commended by all the Buddhas and was respected by Indra, Brahma, and all the Lokapalas. In order to develop living beings with his skill in liberative technique, he lived in the great city of Vaisali.

His wealth was inexhaustible for the purpose of sustaining the poor and the helpless. He observed a pure morality in order to protect the immoral. He maintained tolerance and self-control in order to reconcile beings who were angry, cruel, violent, and brutal. He blazed with energy in order to inspire people who were lazy. He maintained concentration, mindfulness, and meditation in order to sustain the mentally troubled. He attained decisive wisdom in order to sustain the foolish.

He wore the white clothes of the layman, yet lived impeccably like a religious devotee. He lived at home, but remained aloof from the realm of desire, the realm of pure matter, and the immaterial realm. He had a son, a wife, and female attendants, yet always maintained continence. He appeared to be surrounded by servants, yet lived in solitude. He appeared to be adorned with ornaments, yet always was endowed with the auspicious signs and marks. He seemed to eat and drink, yet always took nourishment from the taste of meditation. He made his appearance at the fields of sports and in the casinos, but his aim was always to mature those people who were attached to games and gambling. He visited the fashionable heterodox teachers, yet always kept unswerving loyalty to the Buddha. He understood the mundane and transcendental sciences and esoteric practices, yet always took pleasure in the delights of the Dharma. He mixed in all crowds, yet was respected as foremost of all.

In order to be in harmony with people, he associated with elders, with those of middle age, and with the young, yet always spoke in harmony with the Dharma. He engaged in all sorts of businesses, yet had no interest in profit or possessions. To train living beings, he would appear at crossroads and on street corners, and to protect them he participated in government. To turn people away from the Hinayana and to engage them in the Mahayana, he appeared among listeners and teachers of the Dharma. To develop children, he visited all the schools. To demonstrate the evils of desire, he even entered the brothels. To establish drunkards in correct mindfulness, he entered all the cabarets.

He was honored as the businessman among businessmen because he demonstrated the priority of the Dharma. He was honored as the landlord among landlords because he renounced the aggressiveness of ownership. He was honored as the warrior among warriors because he cultivated endurance, determination, and fortitude. He was honored as the aristocrat among aristocrats because he suppressed pride, vanity, and arrogance. He was honored as the official among officials because he regulated the functions of government according to the Dharma. He was honored as the prince of princes because he reversed their attachment to royal pleasures and sovereign power. He was honored as a eunuch in the royal harem because he taught the young ladies according to the Dharma.

He was compatible with ordinary people because he appreciated the excellence of ordinary merits. He was honored as the Indra among Indras because he showed them the temporality of their lordship. He was honored as the Brahma among Brahmas because he showed them the special excellence of gnosis. He was honored as the Lokapala among Lokapalas because he fostered the development of all living beings.

Thus lived the Licchavi Vimalakirti in the great city of Vaisali, endowed with an infinite knowledge of skill in liberative techniques.

Matchbook

I have been a follower and admirer of Katie Armour's blog, The Neo-Traditionalist for quite sometime.  She is always coming up with the most stylish things.  So when I found out she was starting an online mag with fellow editors Jane Lilly Warren & Fallon Hogerty I was very excited.  Yesterday the girls launched Matchbook which no doubt many of you are already aware of.  I was thrilled to be included as above and I loved the interview on Rita Konig.  I think they have succeeded in creating something a little different and I can't wait to finish reading their launch issue tonight. 

6. Experiment with Photoshop - Red leaves

I wasn't sure about this one at first - but I've come back to it and decided I do like it.  The leaves were reddish but I played around with the saturation in different parts of the image.

Hold Out

Beep Beep the chicken is SICK :(

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my donkey riding, shoulder sittin' spunky fun smart wonderful chicken Beep Beep is really sick.
3 days ago i found her suddenly acting lethargic and the other hens had pecked her till she was bleeding out her ear. I rushed her inside the cabin and cried for an hour.
...
I have given her apple cider vinegar, ginger and usnea in her water... but i am not sure she is going to make it. It's been a chicken roller coaster this winter, but this chicken... is... my baby. She was a chick when i first got her, and JuJu had nailed her with her hooves and almost killed her. Beep Beep eventually learned to be great friends with the donkey and rides her back everyday. I really dont know what to say - I look forward to spring time when life is something full of hope and ease.



Xoxoxo

5. Experiment with Photoshop - Pushing things a bit

One of the things I've noticed about other good photos - and I often find I like - is how in the processing the author is brave enough to "push things a bit"...
There are a million ways of doing this - highly saturated colour, different blending modes, textures, you name it...
I think the skill comes in adding impact without taking it totally OTT in a tacky way - not as easy as it may look.

 

                                                                           

In the spirit of having fun and trying some different things, I took two fairly ordinary photos of mine, both different kinds of architecture in bold shapes, and played around - mainly with the saturation. I think I quite like the results.  Comments anyone? And more ideas to try, perhaps?
Incidentally, the top photo was taken in Tenerife and the bottom one is part of The Lowry theatre and arts complex in Salford, Manchester, which is in a great area for photos of modern architecture - but on the day I went had really washed-out skies.

Losing my Faith

It is not often that I use my blog as my personal forum to have a rant about things going on, in or around my life. But, excuse me today while I step upon my soapbox. I planned to reveal my secret project yesterday, but when I came home, I was deflated. I felt like an old balloon, that was just barely floating above the floor, the ribbon tail all twisted up beneath it.

Why was I so deflated you ask? Well, I had my wallet stolen out of my handbag at school. Which was in a locked equipment cupboard in my room, but since so many people come and go and do not always remember to lock the door behind them on my personal belongings, someone else saw this as their opportunity.

They must have been very determined, because my current bag of choice at the moment, is a gorgeous Lucky bag that my parents gave me and it is a giant bucket bag and very very Mary Poppins-ish deep, and that was all zipped up and twisted into another bag, so someone really worked hard to get my wallet out.

They walked away with my wallet, about £20 and my bank cards, which thankfully have now been cancelled and had not been used. But, more than the £20 or the pieces of plastic or my favourite green and polka dotted Cath Kidston wallet, bought for me by Mr. Michie, they walked away with my faith in humanity.

I am a girl raised in the South, I was raised by very compassionate parents, with extremely gracious manners. I always make a point of saying "hello" to people I see as I go about my day. I smile. I work my hardest to help people out, I give them respect, it doesn't matter what others think of you, until you do something to upset me, you have a clean slate in my cupboard. Which is not what was shown to me yesterday.

Today as people came in and out, I watched them like a hawk, I questioned them in my head. I again questioned the turn of events yesterday. I am not an attention seeker, but I did feel it wise to make this known to others, since culprits like to boast, something might be heard through the grapevine.

I was hurt, that after sending out an "All Staff" e-mail, to make people aware, some gave me their sincere apologies, while others who spoke to me just shrugged, because they are complacent and so I am expected to be as well. Well, I refuse to be, a little of my faith in humanity was robbed from me yesterday afternoon and I will not be complacent about that. I will fight to get that back, with every bone in my body.

For, I believe there is good, more good than evil, I will walk in to school tomorrow, I will hide my hurt and I will carry on, a little wiser, a little older and I will continue to seek out the good in people, because surely it is there to be had.

Today

Today I collected together a little group of mismatched, brightly coloured fabrics for some cushions for a client's sofa.  I never tire of putting different fabric combinations together and I always try to make sure each client has a different combination so as to keep their look unique to them.  Lately I have been so inspired by fashion and the combinations of different fabrics fashion designers have been using in one outfit.  I love the way Easton Pearson mixes fabrics and incorporates beading, frilling and special details in their designs.  The top image is actually a collection of Easton Pearson dresses from 2008.  I like the colour combination used in those 4 dresses and would love to create a room scheme using this image as inspiration.

image 1 - jane roarty stylist

To The Lil' Local Library and Beyond- (a bit of fail)

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The girl on the phone told me the library opened at 3:30.
Away I go.



xoxoxox

From Buddhist Geeks: Teaching, Reading, Learning Anger

http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2011/01/teaching-reading-learning-anger/

The Basics of Non-Violent Communication

It's amazing to me how fundamental our language and communication problems are in the west. I have no idea about the "east" as I have not been socialized there.

This is just the first of several in the series, which I encourage you to watch on YouTube. 

Just a few pictures I love to begin the week...

image 1 via haute rummage, image 2 via julia, image 3 via aged & gilded

Harsh Winter

Record low temperatures have resulted in an abnormal amount of ice being sent into the Yellow Sea. The Han River sent vast amounts of ice into the sea which caused the ferry from Oepori to Seokpori to stop from crossing.
In turn it resulted in me not having to go to school for three days. No complaints as I had three borings days spent on Ganghwa Island – sleeping late, going to gym and spending time in front of my laptop.

Everything’s back to normal for now, but I wouldn’t mind if it had to happen again. Commuting all the way out to Seokmodo, freezing my balls off and slipping on the ice as I navigate my way past shrimp barrels aren’t all that great when there’s only two students to teach at school of which one doesn’t even know the basic rules of Jenga.

We are currently halfway through winter and it’s not as bad as I expected. Today saw a big snow storm and I am hoping the route to school will be snowed over by tomorrow. If I make it to school I’ll skip on the Jenga, not even mentioning Dominoes and stick to the old faithful wordsearch and colouring in pages.

In a week from now I’ll be in China. Still freezing my balls off, but it will be a change of scenery and something exciting to look forward to. 

Long Shadows

36" x 48" oil on canvas.
This is another of the 3/4 down shots. I painted three or four of these (different subjects of course), to see if I could create interesting paintings.










Detail #1 The color in this painting is pretty rich but you'd never know it from this photo.














Detail #2. I know this is the stupidest reason for a vertical photo but I wanted to see if it would show up or if it would get clipped on the blog...sorry but that really was the reason.
















Detail #3 Playing again with the color of light and the color of shadow. Not 100% successful though.

Ginger-Ale

The big reveal is still to come, so I am going to keep you in suspense a little while longer. Mr. Michie has given me his cold and on top of that I now have conjunctivitis in both eyes, so I look truly lovely!

This weekend, I am just going to spend on my couch watching (Christmas) movies, eating soup and crackers and drinking ginger ale, because that is what my parents always gave me when I was sick, and it always makes me feel better.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend wherever you are.

Five Question Friday

Welcome to my 5QF this week!  Let's get straight to the questions!



1. Where did you meet your spouse and did you instantly know it was love?  My hubby's sister came to a wedding at my church in Ohio.  She liked me, and invited me to visit her in Pennsylvania. 



I came to visit, I thought hubby was too young, he thought I was too rich (HA!), but his dad talked him into coming down to his sister's after church to get to know me.



We had a lot of fun, and went from there.  It wasn't "I'm in love" from day one, but both of us were looking for our lifetime companion, so both of us were looking at our relationship as, "You may be the one", and approached it very seriously from the start.



Not that WE were very serious, as in, never joking.  On our first date, Dan made me laugh til I cried.  =)



We were married less than 9 months later, and we've now been married for 17 years.  ♥

2. What is your favorite room in your house?  Ooohhhh...well, I think it's a toss up between my livingroom and diningroom!

This is in my dining room-my walls are called Dried Fava (a light sage), and I decorated with white and dark purple accents (the second picture was hard to catch the color during the daytime).

This is my couch.  Okay, this is Chloe ON the couch.  =)  I couldn't find a picture of my livingroom on my laptop-must be on Dan's.

This is my flower arrangement on my coffee table.  I add the red and gold to it in winter, but it is cream colors regularly.  My walls are called Cozy Beige.

And this is my accent wall-Roasted Tomato.  And this is my vintage Haeger Panther, that stands about 2 feet tall.  I saw that it sold on Ebay for $200.  I got mine at a yard sale for $5!!!  Go me!!!  =)





3. Can you wiggle your ears?  Only when I'm touching them-and rubbing them very quickly because they itch!





4. What is your evening ritual?  Oh, we walk from room to room, chanting "Money, we need money.  Please rain money..."  Then we sit in a circle and hold hands, humming with our eyes closed.



Oh!  You mean my routine???  Oh!  Silly me!!!



Well in that case, I tend to veg out (after our chanting session), and not really do much. 



Umm......you're not going to tell anyone about the chanting, are ya?  I misunderstood the question....let's just keep the chanting/humming bit between you and me, shall we?





5. How many hours of sleep do you need to function?  Now that I sleep, since I finally started getting comments...I need about 9 hours to really feel rested.  But things are looking up!  I haven't been quite so tired during the day, even if I don't get enough sleep.  And the family doesn't mind the whininess and tantrum throwing too much until it's my bedtime either!  =P

Thanks for stopping by, everyone!  Hope you enjoyed this weeks answers, and thanks, Mama M for this fun weekly blog hop!

Perfect

I have been searching for the perfect blue and white tiles for a wall above a bench in our kitchen and I have found them.  Patchwork blue and white tiles....could there be anything more beautiful than this?! And they have used brass taps which I love.  A huge thank you to  my blogging friend Emily for posting about these.