My Recent Reading

a daily project

The Economist, weekly news (on phone)

The Bible, by Karen Armstrong
Buddha, by Karen Armstrong
Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman
American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
Trump Unveiled, by John K. Wilson
The Best American Mystery Stories
     (5) 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008
Apocalypse Cow, by Michael Logan
The Best Buddhist Writing (2004)
Genuine Happiness, meditation as the path to fulfillment,
   by B. Alan Wallace
I, Steve (Jobs), edited by G. Beahm

on deck:
Newbery winners:
    The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander (2015 winner)
     Crispin: The Cross of Lead, by Avi (2003 winner)

    (Criss Cross, by Lynne Rae Perkins, (2006 winner)
        is the third newbery book with 'cross' in the title)

and
Atlas Shrugged
The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
(borrowed from Sara and Pierre, not the library)
plus,
Dragons at Crumbling Castle (and other tales), by Terry Pratchett
(a library discovery! a TP kids' book :-)

today's credo

it could change, tomorrow (!)

My Godfather, Richard Zonca, once told me, “If I were omnipotent, I would change a lot. If I were omniscient, I wouldn't change a thing.”

Well, now, at age 45, I have a blog where I expound my spirited philosophy that I am God, and you are, too. We all are. And I don't mean we're all one person, in some spiritual sense, or that everybody's me, or that all in all is all we are. These are interesting concepts, but I don's subscribe to any of them. The most powerful person on earth might be God, in a sense, unless it's a space alien. The smartest person might be God, although I suspect computers do most of the thinking for us, these days. Only God is good, and we are all good. The most powerful act is the act of murder.  But there is always a bigger fish.  The body of christ is the christian church, which is a type of corporation. Jesus himself is long dead. We are all mortal, every one of us, even the psychos who believe they are vampires. It's an inescapable law of biology. And astronomy. Tick tock. The sun is getting closer to exploding, one day. Your cells are replicating. We are all dying. Every day is one day closer to death. Fetuses are destined for dust. God is all-powerful. We will all die. Time has our number.

Aside: Time, that is me. Reading this post is consuming your precious time. Thanks for your time. Time, Tim E. Christ, Chris T. Lord, life or death. Some shit with the diamonds, some pearls before swine, or, as they say on the street, “it's all good.” Meme: me, me.  The word Grace has Meaning.  mean gr, for example.  (manger, german?)

We are animals. We are things. Souls do not exist, unless by soul, you mean body. We are our bodies, only our bodies. Mind is seated in the brain. Our brains admit 'vibes' and 'voices' and dreams, all the time, not just at night. We inter-penetrate each other. Humanity is a hive-mind. We are corporate. God can be defined as 'the source.' God is love. We open our minds to those we love. God loves us. Everyone loves to be loved, and we should all return the favor. Vanity, all is vanity. Frustration, futility, absurdity, nonsense. That's actually biblical.

Is this hypnosis? Which God is the Creator, to which God do we owe allegiance?  The Father-Son-Holy Spirit? Allah? Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesh, Hanuman? Zeus? Wotan? Thor? Ra?

Well, whatever.

It doesn't matter. Do whatever makes you happy. We are all good. There is a law of karma, perhaps. Be good for goodness' sake. Let time do the killing. There is always hope. Suicide is always in error. Thou shalt not kill. Love thy neighbor. Meat is murder. Eat the rich. Go climb a rock.

God-like power!!
You are all-powerful in your own "you-niverse", your own domain, with the power to
make yourself happy, to make your world good
to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.
to create good/destroy bad
and love, be loved, be in love
with a little help from your friends!
   (such as Ben Franklin, or the Beatles, or me!)

math

Go forth and multiply, divide and conquer, make a difference, in the summertime. 

G.O.D.
Get Old, Die

Happiness, II

Felicidad, Part Deux

Besides immortality in love (whether virtual, or in the real-world)...
(from saving our genetic code, and teleportation, etc.!)
    (meeting the right person, going to heaven...)
a more realistic programme-

Mortal Happiness:
1.friendship, family, dating, volunteering, a fun job, being social
(and caring for animals; pets!)

2.sexually active; delicious/nutritious (vegetarian?) meals
     (good food, and the occasional ben n jerry's)
     (home cooked, restaurants, picnics, dinner parties, potluck)

3.enough sleep, naps, relaxation, meditation, doing nothing

4.money (translates into happiness only partially/imperfectly)

5.watching tv/videos/movies, going out to the movies
     (ted, youtube, netflix, mooc's -e.g. oyc (yale)/coursera)

6.listening to the radio, pandora, itunes, cd's;  live music.
     (music, comedy, audiobooks, philosophy talk, joe frank)

7.reading (books, magazines, newspapers) library/online
    (google, wikipedia, email, blogs, J!, joke archive, onion, etc.)
    (learn to speed-read, improve comprehension/vocabulary)

8.meds, drugs, pharmaceuticals, medicine, medication
   (3 factors: right drug/prescription, dosage, frequency)
   (doctor-mediated, or self-medicating)(be careful!)

9.exercise, endorphins, "better than sex" -schwarzenegger
    (daily maintenance, or -ideally- improvement); stretching.
    (walking, marathon, swimming, yoga, bodybuilding)
     (look good, feel good!)

10.lifelong learning, education, teaching, writing, research

11.do stuff!
   recreation
   discover and go
   garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores
   arts and crafts; origami, basketry, woodcarving, metalwork,
      ceramics, pottery, drawing, painting, watercolors, sculpture
   mastery, polymath, scholar-athlete, renaissance man
   different jobs, roles, activities, projects
   build things (e.g. kit car, fence windmills, a new invention)
   start a business
   write a book, blog, journal
   gardening, cooking
   crochet/knitting/needlework/embroidery/quilting
   topiary, apiary
   hiking, camping, getting out into Nature
   go horseback riding, trail ride
   fishing, hunting
   scuba, snorkel, surf
   hot air balloon
   hot shower, hot tub
   parades, state fairs, festivals
   roller-coasters, parachuting
   climb a tree.  go climb a rock.  go fly a kite.
   travel, learn languages, experience culture-shock
   learn to play an instrument
   massage
   museums, zoo
   opera, ballet, theater
   go out dancing
   stand-up comedy, humor, laughter
   play/watch sports (e.g. lawn bowling, horseshoes, pingpong)
   play games, videogames
   learn martial arts, self-defense, e.g. aikido
   spiritually active in diverse communities
   achieving personal goals
           overcome suffering, achieve bliss
           being happy, for any and no reason at all.
           finishing reading all my book lists (!)
           curious, engaged, disciplined, motivated, dedicated
           simplicity
           sanity

aside:
-success is personal, defined by everyone for themselves (or should be)
-making a "bucket list" isn't a bad idea
-personally, competition and winning aren't my focus.
i see the light!:
-if life is but a dream, you may have to wake yourself up from the nightmare.
-enlightenment is possible, even in darkness
(perhaps even especially in darkness)
-God is much more than a garage door, lol.
-hm, I just noticed 'sanity' has 'saint' in it.

12. Virtue (a component of happiness)
(unless, for you, "happiness is a warm gun")

for me anyway, for example, virtue includes:
you are trustworthy, honest, sincere
(not manipulative, cynical, and post-truthiness)
virtue imparts self-respect.
(i.e. making the world a better place, development)
compassion, mercy, kindness (seeing others as equals)
faith, hope, love ("the greatest of these is love")
(i myself do not respect faith that is blind, or irrational)
charity (unless you're an Objectivist)
equanimity does not mean you shouldn't be an Activist, imho
gratitude, positivity, cheer
safety, security, contentment, joy
health, peace, prosperity

Happiness!

rooted in Truth

Let's start from the beginning.  That would be the Big Bang.  Scientists tell us that's when spacetime originated.  By my lights, however, there was an infinity of time beforehand, in the past, just as there is an infinity of time ahead, in the future.  Can physicists and mathematicians refute this?  Is "the end of time" a rational, logical phrase, or is it in fact meaningless?  (with the exception of the more poetic reading, interpretation, of our own individual inevitable deaths?)

Maybe the answer doesn't even matter.  Our doom could be approaching from somewhere at the speed of light.  Or the sun will expand, engulfing the earth.  Or global warming will make the earth uninhabitable, burning us all to a crisp.  Or... on the other hand, time is irrelevant, because time-travel and teleportation are possible, and humanity can live in a loop, or a figure-eight, such as the symbol for infinity implies.  A collective groundhog day, or all of us inside a computer, or something.  But is immortality possible?  Would it even be desirable?

Does time really double back, and intersect?  Apple computer is located at 'infinite loop drive.'  Do they know something I don't?  Has the future visited us?  Have aliens?  So many interesting questions!   Without knowing the answers, I adhere to the belief that life is too short, 100-odd years not enough, and immortality desirable.  Life is good!  Oblivion is unfortunate, as is aging, and pain/suffering.  If life can be secure, comfortable, pleasant, fun- in short, utopian/heavenly -then it ought be pursued.  If life only holds suffering, i.e. war, torture, hell- then even 100 years is too much. 

But if reality holds the possibility of love, then eternal youth, for a lifetime of happiness, should be a scientific goal, a holy quest.

What are we, what is it that ought be extended?  We are animals, bodies, not souls, or gods/demons.  We are what we eat, less what we excrete.  We are the roles we play, the activities/jobs we choose.  We are our dna, in the environments/time/culture we find ourselves in, as well as the ones we choose for ourselves.

If we make a heavenly environment, then we should make hardier bodies, to fully enjoy a timeless existence of life and love.  Exercise, fitness, health and wellness, with the goal of daily maintenance and improvement, such as body-building and yoga and vegetarianism and a vibrant sexuality, is a good place to start.

Children are a kind of immortality, perhaps.  Books are another (as is any other kind of creation or artistic creativity).  Although we ought keep in mind the Tibetan buddhists making their sand mandalas, to remind us of impermanence.  I saw a TED talk that gave me pause, however.

It showed, like an encyclopedia set, a set of books with an individual's entire genome printed on it.  I would guess it was like 50 volumes or something.  The full content of our genetic code can be identified, saved.  That could be made immortal, no?  We could be made anew, either cloned in the real world, or the data operating in a virtual reality.  Or both?

The relative value of different portions of our dna should be fully investigated, and eventually understood.  Then, happiness can be maximized, while suffering minimized/reduced/eliminated.

Types of Sin

10 words, 5 types?
You are free to construct your own typology, of course

For Catholics,
the categories are omission/commission, mortal/venial, and original.
mortal is also called serious, or grave

there's also the 7 "deadly" sins,
which are also called cardinal, or capital.
(p.a.l.a.g.e.s): pride, avarice (greed), lust, anger, gluttony, envy, sloth.
(or, sage pal, like Budweiser!)

ocmvosgdcc
ccc; commission, cardinal, capital
god! (g.o.d.:  grave omission deadly).  (grave original deadly?) ha.
also, good: (grave omission original deadly!)

I wonder if the Pope thinks the gay pride parade is sinful.
Actually, though, I don't really care.

there's the 7 deadly sins, the 10 commandments, and
some woud say CRIME is a sin,
or going contrary to "community standards," whatever those are.
such as impiety, blasphemy, unbelief, unfaithfulness, subversion?
know what I mean?
 
such as: manslaughter, reckless endangerment, assault and battery, indecent exposure, attempted murder, obscenity, statutory rape, animal cruelty, motor vehicle theft, bike theft, shoplifting, vandalism, arson, littering, resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, jaywalking, for example.

criminal categories/actions, technically, but perps might not be in fact -psychologically- guilty
justified, even, perhaps.

deconstructed:
Man's laughter? Wreck-less? (requiem), ass-salt (bacon?) and (rechargeable?) batteries, decent exposure (depending on your body!), walking like a bird (jay), t-heft (the weight of the cross) / finders keepers, drinking red rum at murder burger in Davis (the banality -and deliciousness- of evil, like a hammerhead shark), obscenity (like -ubiquitous- porn?), South Park says sex at 17 is fine (therapists and grapes), fly swatters and raid for ants and tearing butterfly's wings and throwing snails, and factory farming for carnivores is the truly obscene imho (said the shrink to the pig, you know what your problem is? you're delicious),  (cat words: category, dedicated, the book '101 uses for a dead cat', catechism of the catholic church, curiosity, cat's eye bike lights, cat got your tongue, eating p, diapers), lifting a shop (?): like maybe the incredible Hulk could? (ink-red), Vandals -an east Germanic tribe that had kingdoms in the 5th century, arse-in'/our son (don't  be an ass), kitty litter and also the babies of pets!! (a parallel to the term 'white trash', or even abortions), Teshara: t' share R.A. (resisting arrest) (but who wouldn't, really); and OJ (!) (obstructing justice).  4 eggs-ample.

mosquito: a mosque in Quito? (capital city of Ecuador)
Funny thought:  Being Good is a form of Resisting Arrest!  Guilty?