Do No Harm

Doctors and therapists have a code to "do no harm." Pretty low-bar standard if you ask me. But it's in that spirit that I post today's blog.

Did anyone hear the NPR report this morning about smoke-free China Olympics? The person being interviewed about inspectors who will be enforcing the law said that he hoped, ideally, that the inspectors would not be smoking while they were doing inspectons and that he hoped they would set a good example by themselves following the law that they were enforcing.

Do no harm.

Adding to our list of worthless, empty and/or annoying words, phrases and/or expressions...I vote to get rid of "a book entitled" and "a song entitled." What are they entitled to?!? Aren't they actually just 'titled'?

"Just in the nick of time." What's a 'nick'?

"Anxiousness" instead of "anxiety".

Maybe these phrases do do harm. I hope this post didn't harm you. At least no animals were harmed in the production of this post (although, I do think that I crushed a microbe or two on my keyboard while typing...sorry).

I miss Eric's comments.

Voter ID Cards

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld an Indiana law that requires voters to show a photo ID.

I think that the ruling is well-intentioned, but don't think it is fair in a practical sense.

Point One:
Absentee ballots can be sent without picture ID; why should showing up in person necessitate an ID? It is an unfair practice that penalizes persons who choose to vote in person.

Point Two:
If you don't drive and don't know where your birth certificate is, it becomes a significant burden to meet governemental requirements for obtaining a photo ID.

Kiss This Guy

I have this one line from a song running over and over in my head:

"Are you a child of the 'you and me' generation?"

Ever had that happen? Drives you nuts.

Ah, the wonders of the mind. ;-)

Hold That Latte, Send Your Savings to Me...

...and I'll put it to good use changing people's lives.

I'm estimating, conservatively, that my budget next year will be around $775,000. This year's budget, which I inherited, was $605,000. I'm not sure how much of an increase that is (you can do the math and post your result), but I think it's about $75,000 short of what I can really achieve.

Is that doing too much in the 6 months since I've been hired as executive director? I dunno. Seems okay to paltry to me given the enormity of the problem.

Of course, you can contribute to this effort to end homelessness in ABQ, too. Just give me a call and I'll hook you up to a strong, positive action of change.

Reality Revisited

A friend called me early this morning to relate that he felt the need to check in with people who cared about him. He said that last night had put things into perspective for him for awhile.

On his way home, he turned left followed by a motorcyclist who was also turning. A car rushed through the intersection from their left, hitting the motorcyle--which exploded--and landed in the distance, followed by a fatally mangled motorcyclist.

My friend blew out the flames on the man's body while he died.

Anybody?

Do people in Asia refer to America as the Far East?

Debate Rages On

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may remember the oh-so-Kierkegaardian post concerning the existence of gusty winds. Seems that the debate has been bumped up a notch.

In my recent return trip home from CO (during which I received a $65 speeding ticket), I noticed a sign that read, "Gusty Winds Likely".

Well now, that's an increase of faith from the "may exist" argument.

Meditation

Lately my meditation and prayer has been from the Psalms:

"Lord, grant me the desires of my heart."

By this I don't mean that I be given what I want. Rather, I'm asking that the desires themselves be given to me.

I want to have right desires. Then, I believe, results will actualize and, if not, the desire itself will still be fruitful -- not merely painful because of lack of being able to realize its fulfillment.

Rewriting History

From the George W. Bush Out of Office Countdown calendar:

"The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the White House is removing Bush's mistakes and bloopers from official transcripts of speeches, interviews, and public appearances."

Why Politics May Actually Matter This Year: Brain Matter

“ ‘As we listen to the candidates and think about what is being said,’ neuropharmacologist Joan Roache tells LiveScience, ‘the brain processes the information, which grows neural connections.’….

So the fact that so many people have been volunteering, attending political rallies, and even arguing about the candidates this year suggests widespread brain-cell growth.

‘If we become emotionally engaged, the greater levels of emotion or commitment further enhance the brain process,’ Roache says…. "
(published in The Week)

Mmm...Mmm...Tasty!

While in Tucson, we were fortunate to meet up with my friends Eric and Brian. (Eric and I shared an NLP class last fall.)

Eric is an honorary holy man of the Tohono Oòdham tribe (nation?...Eric, I'm probably not getting this right...you can correct in comments if need be). He joins them for the annual harvest of the sagauro fruit, which is then either dried or cooked down to an amazingly tasty molasses-like syrup. It is considered a sacred food and may only be given away--which Eric graciously did. We enjoyed some over ice cream at the end of our tea (see next paragraph) and Eric even sent me on my way with some to take home!

Eric and I share a love for tea, so we decided to meet up at Seven Cups tea house (see pic at right). Eric brought along a 1997 and a 1985 (!) puer tea. We sampled both, plus about five or six other teas. The girls, Anne and Nele, were patient enough while we sampled and talked for the afternoon. They did like the fancy tea cups for sale and Anne bought one to keep the rocks in that she had found earlier that day at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Meanwhile, back at home I continue to be a fan of The NM Tea Co.. Currently, my stash of tea at home includes the following:

• Assam
• Lapsang Souchong
• Russian Carravan
• Sencha
• Green Bamboo
• High Mt. Green
• Gunpowder Green
• White Tip Oolong
• Jasmine Silver Needles
• Pomegranate Pai Mu Tan
• Mint & Lemon Gunpowder
• Jasmine Pearl
• Ginseng Oolong
• Honeybrush Cooler
• Huckleberry Black
• Valerian Root
• Flowering Display Tea

When not indulging in culinary delights, at work I am busy finishing a grant that is due on Monday, securing a $20,000 loan, overseeing a construction project, publishing a newsletter, organizing a fundraiser, etc. Not any more busy than anyone else, I suppose, so I won't bore you with all that.

That's all for now!

Just before leaving for vacation (and confirmed by further reflection during), I came upon three observations about my life and life in general:

1. The deepest attraction and connection I feel in life towards another person will not be reciprocated.
2. Others will always turn to someone else when they desire a deeper, more meaningful relationship.
3. Other people have their own lives to live.

Now before you start reading that as all down-in-the-mouth, let me say that you qualify to comment only if you have lived a dozen or more years (I have 18) of not being in a relationship or dating (your first 22 years of growing up don't count).

Zipper Map

My friend John has one of his projects being rolled out in Beta. It's like a Google map, but allows for multiple destinations and let's you find optimal arrangement for travelling to all destinations in sequence.

Would love it if you logged onto the link (click title of this post) and gave some feedback via the "Beta Feedback" tab at that site!

Way to go John. Sure beats the artificial intelligence work for the military!

(Isn't "AI" and "military" redundant?)

AZ Tidbits

Met up in Tucson with Matthias, his two girls and his partner (all from Dresden, Germany) and Sharon from CA. Sharon very generously provided all with accomodation at the Arizona Inn where a bottle of wine chilling on ice awaited us after a day of exploring the Botanical Gardens (great butterfly exhibit.

Nele, youngest daughter, crashed into a railing while playing ping-pong and required 5 stitches to the area between eyebrow and eyeball. We used some hypnosis to ease the pain and the wait in the emergency room.

Got bumped from my return flight to NM. Delayed two hours then went via Las Vegas, which earned me a travel voucher. Planned to take a taxi home, but fortunately encountered a friend who was there picking up another friend and so I hitched a ride home with her!

More later... Still catching up on work and only time for a bit here and there... Sorry, Eric! ;-)