rich-oo-ulls January 28, 2009

Something about rituals is quite appealling to me. I tend to be a fairly haphazard person in going about my life in general, so a concerted effort to abide by a set of established orders and gestures appeals to me. I didn’t grow up Catholic, but I always really liked the idea of crossing yourself or kneeling and crossing yourself when walking to your seat in church. There is something very sobering about it all.

Of course rituals can lose meaning for some over time. You go through motions of something very significant while thinking about things like the football game later or whether or not you washed your favorite pair of fuzzy socks. It doesn’t negate the beauty of what you are doing to the onlooker, except God obviously, but hopefully you’ll snap back to attention. Because really the only good rituals are filled with a rich meaning and purpose, a physical tangible reminder of a deeper principle.

Ive read that many cultures who are ritual-saturated tend to have closer family groups. I’m sure someone has done this research and I’m a bit too lazy at the moment to wrangle up some stats. It makes perfect sense. The cultures highlight holidays with traditional meals and songs and dances and prayers and other customs, based heavily on the family and everyones’ places in the system. I think your generic no-frills brand of American has lost a lot of that sense and traditions are debunked for their lack of creativity and patterned behaviors which we rebel against so urgently.

So all this to say, I was reading about Chinese New Year. I miss having asians around in any significant numbers. Denver didn’t really, though there were more than Williamsburg Va for sure. And of course in New York you couldn’t spit in any direction without hitting a person of Asian descent.

So what do you do to celebrate the lunar calendar’s version of a new year? You go to an all-you-can-eat buffet which is a conglomeration of Mongolian grill, Chinese, and sushi, with a plate of bulgogi (korean BBQ) for good measure. and when the waitress asks if you speak Korean, you say nope.

The rituals of the New Year are quite a bit more elaborate as you may imagine. Wikipedia, my go-to guide for all knowledge (maybe not the best idea but not the worst) gives a detailed list of each of the 15 days of celebration. And to me, any holiday that lasts 15 days is well worth celebrating. Just gets expensive I guess…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year

Anyway, Happy New Year!!!

have a great trip – see ya next fall November 25, 2008

these are the jokes people. you get what you pay for, know what i’m sayin?

so i feel kinda funny not going any where for holidays the past year.  it’s kinda the exact reverse of most of my adult life.  i’m not sure if this can be considered progress or what. i’m gonna go with what.

i have trips in mind, but it’s all in the crapper right now because of my umemployment status at the moment. nothing on the horizon in any concrete sense, though there’s always flipping burgers. one up side to that would be i probably would never touch a french fry again. and anyone who knows me knows my biggest temptation in life is … no, not that… i meant french fries!!

but at the end of the day, it’s nice to sit at the kitchen table across from your parents and talk about life stuff. i dont knock it. i just have this inherent wanderlust firmly rooted in my organics of my soul.

huh organic soul… that’s a concept i have to go research now. too bad gs isn’t around to chime in on that one.

anyway, i do wish everyone safe travels and Godspeed and pleasant journeys etc etc.

and today’s ninja picture is quite apropos…

it’s 8-8-8 August 8, 2008

ain’t it great?

so this is quite the auspicious day.  china is getting ready to bomb us as we speak. errr i mean, they are getting ready to start the olympics.  yeah, that’s what i meant.

8 is a lucky number in some cultures.  it is the sign of infinity sorta – if you’re like high and/or currently horizontal.  it is also the number beyond the perfect number, aka 7.  i dont know who decided 7 was perfect, but someone did. and i’m sure one of you will know why. so i’m not gonna bother researching it. so in theory, 8 is beyond “time” (such as 7 days in a week) and thus the symbol similar to infinity.  also, 8 is an octave in music and therefore the completion of a pattern.  some equate 8 with balance and structure which is reflected in the symbol itself.

i am on the verge of blowing my own mind.

anyway, so if something terrible happens, let me just say that i love you all and i miss you and if we ever get attacked by zombies, and you turn, i’m gonna have to blow your head off. but i still love you.

and to CC the birthday boy… love you miss you!! xoxo

eight on eight

8 things i love:

1. music
2. a well developed story
3. emails
4. funny comics
5. batman
6. falling asleep
7. ice cream
8. hope

8 books i’ve read recently:

1. killing time – caleb carr (havent finished it yet)
2. come and play oakey – jillian harker (it’s a cute kids’ book)
3. the last templar – raymond khoury
4. hannibal rising – thomas harris
5. the beach house – james patterson
6. the gospel according to jesus – john macarthur
7. guide to life – dave barry (hilarious btw)
8. abraham lincoln: redeemer president – allen guelzo (it’s taking me awhile to get through it)

8 movies i’ve seen recently:

1. the dark knight
2. the others (it was on tv)
3. indiana jones and the crystal skulls
4. hannibal rising
5. chicken little (again it was on tv)
6. king arthur
7. entire second season of rome (not technically a movie but better)
8. there will be blood (i didnt finish it yet. fell asleep!)

8 things i want to do this year:

1. visit NYC
2. visit denver
3. find an apartment
4. finish writing my book
5. get a new car
6. reconnect with old friends
7. deepen relationships with “new” friends
8. finish well

8 things i say often:

1. what?! (mostly to Mike)
2. like
3. yes sure i can (too often)
4. dude
5. awesome (usually with “like” in front of it)
6. totally (also with “like” in front it… you’d think i was from california!)
7. it is what it is
8. you’re a dork (also mostly to Mike)

8 songs on my ipod:

1. ramble on – led zeppelin
2. dark is easy – lo fidelity allstars
3. midnight ravers – john brown’s body
4. i’ve always loved you – third day
5. the exit parade - everything absent or distorted
6. fidelity – regina spektor
7. wild international – one day as a lion (zack de la rocha’s project with drummer from mars volta… they rock!)
8. dare you to move – switchfoot

8 things i look for in a friend:

1. makes me laugh
2. can have fun doing practically anything
3. focuses on positives
4. has a sense of purpose
5. trustworthy
6. transparent
7. has a lot of interests
8. talent is good, not necessary, but having some music ability i’ll relate to them better

8 places i’ve visited:

1. france – all over toulouse-latrec, paris, some caves somewhere on the border of spain
2. barcelona
3. jamaica
4. san diego
5. seattle
6. chicago
7. boston/ bahston
8. orlando (cant wait to go to disney again!!!)

oxo