my newsy, busy email

 hi mom

I have enough money these days (I'm making $55/day, for 13 days, at 1613), that I can afford the gym membership. Hopefully, I can renew the discounted rate. Also, maybe my paying will help motivate me to go more often. Thanks so much for helping with it for so long! It was much appreciated! I just bought a pair of hiking/walking shoes from REI ($130-). I like them. I met another wag-walker there (Emily). In addition to daily walking, I can always do pushups and stretching at home, and jumprope or jog, if I have the time. There's a free yoga studio, downtown, as well. I miss swimming at the gym pool, though. I buy protein powder from GNC, (and most of my food from Trader Joe's). I went with Sara and Augustus to the restaurant Spoon (korean food) today. It was my turn. She chose the restaurant. I have so much I want to do (books, especially), that I think I need to get (more) self-motivated, to reach my goals. I saw a life-coaching video from Navy Seals who recommend you wake up at 4:30a, to "be all you can be" (mixing Army with Navy!!)

Has dad seen my Retirement Activity Ideas list? I thought I printed a copy, maybe left it on your desk.

Anyway, it's on my blog, and I can print it again. But I think dad should make his own list, before consulting mine.

1.But I know you expressed interest in going to a live stand-up comedy club...

2.And I already mentioned the fact that I learned from Wikipedia, there are 52 museums in SF alone.

(wikipedia has a page listing all the museums in Northern California)

3.i bought a chess set, awhile ago.

Other ideas were Trivia cards, selling stuff on ebay, meetup groups (meetup.com), and the library!:

large print books/audiobooks/music cd's/movie dvd's...SO much!

And, of course, do nothing. Nothing at all. Ha!

Have a great July 4^th. Junie (the dog) is sensitive, so I expect she'll be barking. A great guard dog, though (if small). (I know when the mail has been delivered, for example). She likes me, and there's no sign of her biting me again. I give her treats (I bought a bag of lamb, and Julie gave me another bag, too), and give both of them love and attention. Junie really loves her morning walks. She bounces off the walls, literally. And their yard is really nice. There's a hammock, a trampoline, a picnic table, a bench, and of course the two stray cats they feed (no names), who get along with Giffen (the 3-legged cat). I think I saw a raccoon, though, a couple nights ago. Junie sometimes bullies the cat, so at night I put her in Electra's room and close the door (so the cat can come down the stairs and use the litterbox in the basement at night). Giffen is pronounced Jif'n. like the peanut butter. He sleeps with me on the bed upstairs. And I take out the trash, bring in the mail, and water the (indoor and outdoor) plants. I've been emailing Teresa (the owner) every other day. They're (Johnny, her husband, and Electra, the daughter) in the Bahamas. Teresa was in NY the same time as you guys, I think. She went to Florida, after that, then on to Bahamas. And Erin and Dan (and Esme) were in NY, too (as I'm sure you know). They sent me a nice email with 11 photos.

Sara said I'm invited to go with them on vacation again, in the Fall. She's researching both Cuba and Columbia. It looks like Trump is reversing Obama's Cuba policy, so maybe not that. I'll get to use my Spanish, either way. I actually did today, when I went back home to use my printer to print up my (online) paystubs for my monthly (last-month's) income reporting to SSA that I do at the beginning of each month. That, and the bfp (food pantry), are my monthly routine. The pantry is near my weekday Rilo (yorkie terrier) walk (today's and tomorrow's were cancelled, though). Anyway, I talked to Edgar's nephew, Miguel, (in spanish/en espanol) to ask if he wanted August's rent in advance (I already paid this month's rent/wifi/utilities, because of the Relocation Assistance money, and the SSI resource limit). Edgar wasn't home, though. Claudia is his wife, Victor his dad, Isabel his mom. Sometimes I see Miguel's sister, too. So there's maybe 5 of them in the garage. They put in a bathroom, so the property has "tres banos". There are various crops growing in the yard (like peppers, squash, tomatoes). Still no oven, tho. The guy living in the living room (on the couch, behind a screen) is out now, which I appreciate (I always felt intrusive on my way to the bathroom). Jose is still in the kitchen, lol. You guys are always welcome to come visit me in Berkeley, again.

I'm reading another BAMS (mystery short-stories, best american series). I gave Jim and Vicki one of those, for Xmas. I think they're kind of addictive. I just finished a yoga book (the "8 limbs" of yoga), by a New Yorker, who now has her practice in Santa Monica, which I found interesting. I also found (on the sidewalk, in Oakland) a Bill Bryson book (I recommend anything by him), that I'll lend you (if you want), when I'm done. It's titled 'A short history of nearly everything', an attempt to put Science in everyday language, for the rest of us. Anyway, dad might like big print editions. You can get movies (dvd's) and music (cd's) at the library, too, of course.

Sara said she would give me a (print) subscription to the Economist for my birthday. I cancelled my digital subscription, because it was taking up memory on my phone, and I'm reading other stuff right now. My email gets a daily poem (from the Poetry Foundation), which I like. I also get daily trivia, vocabulary, news (from the NY times, as well as the Washington Post), and notifications from local meetup groups. Meetup.com is great. You can make your own group, if you want. Sara said she recommended me to someone for (dog, i assume) sitting, so I might get an email or phone call.

So this week, I walk Junie daily (for a half hour), I like to start my days with jazz on whrb (harvard radio), go to the library/gym/social security office (all within one block, downtown Berkeley), and go to Kaiser group (which is now on Wednesdays, 10:30a-noon), in Oakland (near Sara, Pierre, and Augustus; he likes to be called "Augie" now). No more free lunches at Kaiser, now. I have a Wednesday lottery (SLP) ticket. Wish me luck! When I'm online, I usually listen to music at the same time. I have the radio (kalx) on now. I think Junie likes it, too. I like college radio. Rilo is at 2p, Wednesday thru Friday. Rilo is 17 minutes away, by bicycle.  I make $16, for the half-hour walk. Sara said she considered applying for Wag! Herself. I consider it paid exercise! I'm walking Fido and Taco tomorrow morning (which is outside wag). A new month! (i get paid in advance, in cash :-) I like to check my blog to see who's visiting (a widget tells me from where), and sometimes I feel like writing a new post. I just wrote about the (schizophrenic) voices, yesterday. There's the Camp Royaneh post, too, which dad might like (read to him?). I also check my Wells Fargo, online, to see if a check has gone through, etc. Maybe I'll buy a sushi burrito, or a subway sandwich (they have oatmeal raisin cookies, too), or a small pizza (veggie from mountain mike's, near Rilo, near the Berkeley adult school). Sara sometimes feels overwhelmed, or in need of a break, so I help her and Pierre with Augustus, which I also enjoy. Her Sur La Table job (tob job!) is near Rilo

STRUCTURE

it's all good. Reality is all the God there ever is. God is love. Make love the reality. Sanity, wellness.

genesis: parents have sex, conceived, life in the womb, birth, youth/childhood: infancy, toddler, potty-training, schooling: kindergarten, pre-school, grammar school, hs, higher education: college (bachelor's degree, master's, doctorate, post-doctorate), lifelong learning! (The list of all books read)... summer camp, boy scouts. work, jobs, careers, employment. Buy a car, purchase a house, raise a family, travel, vacation, retire, be a grandparent, leisure. Political, social activism. Hobbies. Go climb a rock. e.g. scrambling, mountain climbing, rock climbing. Or whatever. Exercise, body-build, eat well. Go to gym, work out. Beat the blues. Emerge into sanity from a long hard slog through mental illness. Achieve personal goals, make progress, check off items on a “bucket list.” Be happy. Grow old, die. Get spiritual, die well. Wave down from heaven. Leave a legacy, fond memories, and a corpus of creativity, art. Be all that you can be. Live, thrive, love, and otherwise v! Victory, vanquishing vampiric individuals and violent victimizers. Replace a thirst for blood with a thirst for water or wine or justice or knowledge or sanity or good lovin'. There's a big difference. Boxing and Wresting and MMA are madness. Nuts. Insanity. Increase the peace. Go with the flow. Live and love. Peace, love, and happiness. Joy, happiness, and bliss. Kittens, puppies, and rainbows. Live in the moment. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift: that's why it's called the present. Ha. Present arms! Two. Let it be. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. Let there be light. Let your light shine. Let the good times roll. Let them eat cake. Lots of letting. Bloody hell, man.

Shadow, sadism, thanatos, schadenfreude- turn to the dark side, Luke.  Try everything once.  Be all you can be.  Like CVS (cthulhu voldemort sauron!), lol.  Or Kaiser (Soze).  The devil.  Satan, Mephistopheles, Beelzebub, Antichrist, a demon, a hellion, a vampire, a criminal, a sinner!! Just do it! says Nike :-)  Get down with your bad self.  Like Mai Lai, or something.  Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out.  Geezus.  Be God.  Be Good.  Just Be.   It's all good, they say.  All right, they also say.  Happiness is a warm gun, the Beatles.  Happy 4th of July.  War is hell.  Go, Warriors.  What a mess, eh?  What a message.