Posted inPlotinus Writing/Weblogs

Imaginary Keith, Real Keith

Yesterday I got to sign and sell a copy of my book about Plotinus to two people who share one body. Reading Keith’s posting today on his always-entertaining blog, it seems that I sold the copy to Imaginary Keith, who then took it home to Real Keith. Or maybe it was the other way around. No matter. I’m just happy that “Return to the One” is in the hands of two more readers, who just happen to inhabit the same brain. I also was happy to learn from the posting that whichever Keith it was who fixed our sprinkler head…
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Posted inHome life

Killing yellow jackets in their hidey-holes

Laurel and I consider that we’ve well-earned our self-appointed status of Yellow Jacket Hidey-Hole Special Forces Killers (plagiarized motto: “Death from Above”). The recent Oregonian article on these insect evil-doers lacked specifics as to how you send them to yellow jacket hell if you locate a ground nest. This article, “How to Kill Yellow Jackets,” is pretty good but doesn’t mention some of the battle-tested tips I’m about to share. [Update, August 2006: My wife has asked me to point out that yellow jackets aren't all evil. They are part of the balance of nature and do quite a bit…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Finally, they’re playing ball at the capitol

After all the disgusting dysfunction, political posturing, and inane ineptitude that gets exhibited here in Salem at the capitol, it was a joy to walk by there yesterday and enjoy great displays of skill, teamwork, and sportsmanship (sportswomanship too). Of course, there wasn’t a legislator or lobbyist in sight. Which is why I saw what I did.
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Posted inPlotinus

Plotinus and me: Living the life I claim to espouse

In my ongoing crusade (oops, politically incorrect verbiage, make that “effort”) to apply Plotinus’s 3rd century Greek philosophy to my 21st century life, I made a small step forward last week at Office Depot. I consider myself to be an environmentalist, a Green believer, a worshipper at the shrine of Sustainability. Yet throughout the past several years of my book-writing, every time I needed more paper I came home with reams of regular “92 Bright” Office Depot paper. I liked the extra brightness of the paper. It seemed to make my Plotinian prose shine more brilliantly, or so I fantasized.…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Flying this summer? Not nervous enough?

Oh, great. This article was just what I didn't want to read, with some summer airline travel coming up for Laurel and me. However, I did read it, and now will be watching lavatory users with considerable interest. Whether or not you're already nervous or paranoid about flying, your jittery level probably will take an upswing after reading the provocatively titled, "Was an al-Qaeda plot unfolding on Northwest Airlines flight 327?" P.S. a day later: Thanks to the The One True b!X for pointing out in his comment that the above-cited article was overblown, and that the seeming truth of…
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Posted inHome life

Feed Me!

Here’s a photo of one of the newest members of our non-Homo sapiens extended family: a big-mouthed robin chick expectantly waiting for Mom, Dad, or anyone else able to regurgitate robin food and poke it down his/her throat. My digital camera in hand, Laurel snuck up to the nest that is, um, nestled about five feet up an evergreen tree next to our house. In doing so she broke the Do Don’t Disturb The Robins! rule that was so seriously enforced by she herself all last weekend, during both a Friday night potluck and the whole rest of the time…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Writing/Weblogs

Hilarious “This Land” Bush/Kerry download

“You’re a liberal sissy. You’re a right-wing nut job. This land will surely vote for me.” I’m sure glad that Laurel is such a careful reader of yesterday’s Oregonian Entertainment section, where a great www.jibjab.com online song/cartoon was mentioned. With my 24 Kbps connection I usually don’t have the patience to download 3.7 mb of anything that isn’t essential, but this wait was well worth it. Give it a try. You’ll be glad you did, whatever your political persuasion. “This Land” has plenty to offend anybody. I especially liked the cameo appearance by Bill Clinton, and also Hillary in a…
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Posted inPlotinus

Plotinus and me: “Therefore I will speak out”

I’ve decided that what I want to do in these Plotinus posts is talk about how a long-dead Greek philosopher has changed how I look at life, and, more importantly, how I live life. So I’m going to quote less and speak in my own voice more, changing my previous intention (a writer’s prerogative). You and I are different; yet we also are the same. What appeals to me in Plotinus may leave you cold. Still, we all struggle to understand the same questions that occupied the ancient Greeks: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we…
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Posted inEntertainment

Da Ali G, for real!

Hear me now. Check it out. Da Ali G is my main man. Aye! If you’re a bit thick with this Queen’s English, HBO has a glossary for you on their Da Ali G web site. The new season started this week. Laurel and I laughed for almost the whole thirty minutes. And believe me, Laurel isn’t a big laugh-out-loud fit bitch (fit: attractive, cute, goodlooking, pretty, sexy, blonde; bitch: baby, chick, darling, female, freak, girl, honey, lady, lover, wife; fit bitch: babe). We saw Sacha Baron Cohen, a.k.a. Ali G, interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show recently.…
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Posted inPlotinus

Plotinus, a page a day: Day 1

Everyone is looking for something…. In honor of the great Greek mystic philosopher Plotinus, and the upcoming Athens Olympics, here’s Day 1 of a Page-a-Day excerpt from each chapter of my book about Plotinus's teachings. Fifty-four chapters to go. I’m pleased to be able to gradually share with the blogosphere a healthy taste of Plotinus’s matchless blend of rationality and spirituality. From the “Introduction” chapter: Looking at the world, people appear to be going in myriads of different directions. It is difficult to discern much rhyme or reason in the wondrous diversity of human pursuits. Some devote their lives to…
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Posted inRecreation

Images of the Salem Art Fair

Every year, for three days, the Salem Art Fair enables Salem to toss off its boring, conservative, uninspiring persona and become the place it should be all the time: colorful, creative, uninhibited. Here’s some of what we saw during our highly enjoyable five hours at the Fair last Saturday. I can’t imagine that there is a more attractive setting for an art fair in the northwest. Maybe anywhere. Bush Park is perfect for this event. Massive oaks shade the booths. Grassy open spaces are for sitting, playing, and eating. At first I thought my digital camera captured a paparazzi photo…
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Posted inWriting/Weblogs

Blogs: fast, funny and totally biased

I finally got around to checking out the blogs mentioned in TIME magazine’s June 21, 2004 issue, in the “Meet Joe Blog” piece. The sub-headline was: “Why are more and more people getting their news from amateur websites called blogs? Because they’re fast, funny, and totally biased.” Right on! We bloggers also can bask in these words (by Lev Grossman, who wrote the article) about blogs: “They represent—no, they are—the voice of the little guy. And the little guy is a lot smarter than big media might have you think. Blogs showcase some of the smartest, sharpest, writing being published.…
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Posted inPlotinus Writing/Weblogs

Plotinus’s Philosophical Viagra

After plugging my new book about Plotinus yesterday to everybody in my Outlook address book, I got a great idea in a response from one of the recipients. Richard Smith said, “I knew it would happen sooner or later – spiritually oriented junk mail!” “Damn!” I thought, “Why didn’t I think of this myself? Philosophical spam!” Right away I visualized a whole different approach I could have taken in my email message. Have trouble keeping it up? Are you embarrassed when you can’t keep up your side of philosophical conversations? Do you find your arguments getting all limp and soft…
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Posted inPhilosophy Writing/Weblogs

Sadly, ego-loss didn’t arrive in the mail

I had been waiting and waiting for ego-loss to arrive in the mail. When the envelope finally was delivered on Saturday you can imagine how excited I was. I’ve been meditating every day for nigh on thirty-five years, and so far I’ve made scant progress in laying aside that devilishly strong “Me! Me! Me!” part of me that doesn’t want to stop thinking about Me, Me, Me. But I was expecting that one glance at what was inside the envelope was going to produce a short-cut to satori land. For this was a copy of an article that I had…
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Posted inHome life

Weapon of mass field mouse dispersion

I look a lot happier in this photo than I really am. Smiling at a camera is an ingrained reflex, even when I’m tired, dirty, covered with burrs, and wondering “Why the hell did we ever decide to live on five country acres?” Most of the time I love our land. That time excludes the four hours or so a year it takes me to mow down areas of tall grass with my trusty DR Field and Brush Mower, which I like a lot. What I don’t like is wrestling the mower around to miss the umpteen jillion (approximately) small…
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Posted inEntertainment

“House of Sand and Fog”

I loved this movie. And I loved watching the DVD at our Camp Sherman cabin on my almost-new Emachines 6809 laptop. The only drawback to Emachines movie viewing is the tinny built-in speakers. After our first laptop DVD experience I immediately ordered some small battery-powered Creative TravelSound external speakers, which connect to the headphone plug. I can highly recommend these little wonders. Now we enjoy a crystal-clear picture with great sound. Laurel meandered around the cabin much of the time I was watching “House of Sand and Fog” because previews we had seen in a movie theatre caused her to…
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Posted inPlotinus Writing/Weblogs

Top Ten Reasons to buy my book

At long last, my book about Plotinus, a third century mystic Greek philosopher, is available for purchase. At the moment a photo of the “Return to the One” cover is missing from some of the Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and BookSense listings. You can mosey on over to this Unlimited Publishing “Return to the One” page if you want to read more about the book and have a vision of what the book looks like. Why did I write this book? Hard to say. Like life itself, and consciousness itself, what we do in our lives with our consciousnesses is…
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Posted inRecreation

Black Butte Ranch stampede!

Our bike tour of the Black Butte Ranch resort (near Sisters) began with a bite and ended with a stampede. The bite actually wasn’t as dangerous as it sounds, since it was what Laurel and I did repeatedly to the Boca burgers we ordered at the charming poolside café, where we’re pretty sure we saw a bald eagle. Not being grilled, thankfully, but swooping down next to one of the condominiums. We then biked to the Black Butte stables. While Laurel was checking on the status of tomorrow’s trail rides, I made friends with several of the horses in the…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Sustainability

Patriots drive Priuses

We aren’t flying an American flag today. We didn’t go to a Fourth of July parade. We won’t be setting off any fireworks. But reading the great article in today’s Oregonian, “Global Oil: The Terminal Decline,” made me realize that we’re true patriots because we drive a Prius. A hybrid. A 45 mpg car (that’s our real everyday mileage, not fake EPA mileage). [Note: I couldn’t find the Oregonian article online, probably because it is syndicated. But here is another recent article by the author, Aaron Naparstek, that covers much of the same ground.] This article should be required reading…
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Posted inRecreation

Adventure on the Metolius

On our evening walk, Laurel and I encounter a savage beast, ready to leap on us from a rock outcropping. Our hearts pound. We wonder if this will be our last walk together, ever. Somehow, the beast is tamed. We marvel at the length of its tongue. Oh, how fortunate we were not to be engulfed by that fearsome maw! Reaching the river, a herd of large creatures that had been browsing in a meadow approach us. Laurel is brave enough to touch one. From their mouths, we surmise they are less carnivorous than our newly befriended beast. Ah, the…
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