Social Networks

I saw the movie "Social Network" tonight. It was very engaging. Afterwards I remembered the people and companies I worked with in the late nineties when the Internet was just starting to take on a more mature level of development. From reading the Wikipedia article on Social Network I wandered around through information about Sean Parker. From there I remembered Tantek Celik, which lead to his LinkedIn site. From there I explored common connections to turn up literally dozens of people I had not considered in years. Folks from the Aldus, Claris, Microsoft and Macromedia years. Lots of great memories.

Week of September 19-26

Well, I guess it's time to wrap up the week. It always seems like a long time has past when I try to think back over the week. Sometimes its a blur. Other times there is more clarity. In keeping with my new blog stream of consciousness philosophy, I will just go ahead and splatter as I listen to John Coltrane playing Central Park West or, now, Pat Metheny playing Soul Cowboy on the wonderful digital music jazz station supplied by the corporate evil entity, Time Warner.

As usual, work occupies the major portion of my week. We are getting close to shipping the next release of the Corepoint Health Integration Engine in 2010. That is very satisfying. We have a couple of long pole features keeping it back but we are getting close.

Other than work, I am looking into buying more property. With interest rates at historic lows and deals to be had, I am thinking about ways to leverage that. A house I am interested in was reduced by 20k just this week (amounts to about 10% reduction). I am making a run for it. We'll see what happens with the low offer I proposed.

I was fortunate to attend a very excellent SMU Orchestra concert Saturday night. They played a premiere compostion by Paul Phillips, the orchestra director. The best piece was the Rachmaninoff Variations on a Theme by Pagannini. Of course the Brahms 4th symphony was no disappointment either. Very excellent. I love to see young people coming together to create a modern experience of historical compositions. Something about that makes life worth living.

Finally, I finished the week today walking for an hour around White Rock Lake with my best friend Diana. We had wonderful conversations about children, music, philosophy, psychology and theological variations. This afternoon turned out to be perfect weather and I heard the Mike Drake trio at Times Ten Cellars. What a treat as it was really a quintet that included the best musicians in Dallas.

Weekly Roundup

Over the last few weeks I have played jazz out a couple of times, checked out a couple of Toastmasters groups, helped a friend find a car and gone on a couple of short hikes.

An old musician friend called me to substitute for the regular piano player on a Wednesday night at the Balcony Club. This was great fun and the first public gig I've had in a few years. A minor downside was the tendency for the group to "trade fours" on pretty much every tune. I think that trading fours is effective if used sparingly. Doing it on almost every tune defeats the surprise element and becomes rigid and non-creative. A week or so later I came back to sit in for a couple of tunes. This was enjoyable and I played in a trio setting, so I could avoid trading fours, which I did.

I have an interest in improving my ability to speak spontaneously. Participating in a Toastmasters organization is one way to do that. They offer a "curriculum" of 10 speeches that range from ice breaker to entertainment to use of props. Everyone who speaks gets an evaluator who gives constructive criticism. Also, there are table topics which require you to stand and give a spontaneous 1-2 minute talk on some random topic or question. I have not decided if I will commit to this yet, but I have visited two different organizations in the Dallas area so far to investigate.

My friend bought an Acura TSX this past weekend. She loves it!

We started to go for another hike on the Katy Trail today but decided instead to go to church at Unity Church of Dallas. We had not been to church there in several weeks and Karen Epps was finishing up the series on the book, Writings in the Sand by Thomas Moore. The presentation was superb as usual.

Mindfulness

I feel pretty inadequate to write something coherent on such a huge topic. But the point of my blog is to put my impressions into words no matter what level of knowledge or expertise I might have about a particular subject. I became freshly interested in this topic this week when I watched a GoogleTalk titled Mindsight. The information contained in the YouTube video stimulated connections between other approaches to the topic I have experienced through spiritual meditation and some reading about practices in Eastern Religion, especially Buddhism.

What is mindfulness? What does it mean to be mindful? Are there benefits to becoming more mindful? How do we become more mindful?

Fundamentally, mindfulness is the state of being completely present in the moment. Our focus is centered on the immediate experience and we are attuned to the relationships in play. It is the intention to give attention to the present and at the same time be aware of our awareness.

Being mindful involves bringing the present into focus and de-emphasizing the past, future or other distractions that are not part of our primary focus. We give our conscious attention to the present environment with intention. We give our attention to the relationships in the present environment and do not sleepwalk through our experiences.

One of the primary benefits that results from increasing our mindfulness is improved mental health. From a spiritual perspective, we slow down and become aware of the reality in which we find ourselves. We experience a oneness and act from our unified center. We experience a higher degree of control over our emotions and reactions. We have the ability to pause before acting. We eliminate unnecessary distractions and noise in life that increase our stress and drama.

From a scientific perspective, what we are really doing when we increase our ability to be mindful is building the mind muscle. Not the brain, but the mind. The pre-frontal cortex of the brain houses the areas that we most associate with the concept of mind. This area allows us to conceive and experience abstractions such as freedom, morality, creativity, intuition and control of fear. Mindfulness practices strengthen this part of the brain, therefore strengthening the mind in these areas as well as increasing our potential for empathy and compassion.

We become more mindful by following a daily centering practice where we intentionally concentrate on something fundamental, such as our breath. Mindfulness meditation is a style of meditation that has undergone the most scientific study. There are other practices such as Yoga and centering prayer that probably work as well but have not been studied to the extent of mindfulness meditation.

While the practices mentioned above (and others) qualify as pure mindfulness practices, other activities where we concentrate intentionally and intensely and gently deal with distractions by bringing our attention back to the focus of our concentration are also mindful practices. This includes activities such as reading, playing music, writing, producing art. However, it is arguable that there are many more such activities, anything that invites us to be completely in the moment that are also mindfulness experiences. It is possible that these are secondary mindfulness practices that benefit from a more primary mindfulness experience such as meditation.

Walking the Katy Trail

This morning we took a long walk on the Katy Trail. I live relatively close to one end of the trail. Well, if you count about half a mile as close. From my condo, we walk 3 blocks west to Market Street, then take Market through the West End to Houston Street near Hooters and Dick's Last Resort. We pass the House of Blues and continue on past the W, the Terrace and American Airlines Center to the entrance of the trail.

Lots of Sunday walkers, runners and bikers. We walked briskly to Lee Park and jumped off the Trail at Lemmon Street. We took Lemmon north to Oak Lawn and went to Eatzi's for breakfast. So much good food to choose from there, but we chose to order from the breakfast grill Migas, potatoes and bacon.

Sitting on the Eatzi's porch/patio was relatively pleasant as a light breeze helped. We had too many potatoes but the Migas was very good, although a little heavy for the amount of exercise we were getting from our walk.

We headed back south on Rawlins street and climbed back up a steep embankment to get back on the trail just west of Lee Park. Going back was very hot as the humidity continued and the temperature had increased a lot from the earlier walk over to Eatzi's.

What a great way to start a Sunday. The strenuous walk was comparable to the 3 hour hike we did last week at Lake Texoma. We're hoping the weather cools off soon so this kind of weekend fun will be even more enjoyable.

Car Shopping

This weekend I went with a friend to test drive a few cars. She wants to get a new car and was first attracted to the Prius. Since driving it the first time, though, she has also become interested in Acura. She came along with me when I was car shopping a few months ago, so I wanted to go with her this time.

First, she drove my TSX to the Acura dealership to get a feel for the way it handles. At the Acura dealership, we drove a TL. The TL was a bit larger and had a smoother ride. The downside of the TL is that it has a V6 and gets significantly poorer gas mileage than the 4 cylinder TSX and especially the Prius. For the money, it's not a bad deal though since you can get a TL for only a few K more than a TSX.

Next was the Lexus hybrid sedan, the H2 I believe. It rode pretty smoothly. Gas mileage was stated at around 35 mpg. The price tag is significantly higher than an Acura or Prius.

Last, we went back to Toyota and drove the Prius again (for her). It was my first time. The ride was ok, but the interior was very bland after driving the Acura and the Lexus. Gas mileage is impressive as the average is quoted as 51 mpg with some reports of up to 60 mpg depending on specific driving habits and environment. The downside to the Prius is the appearance. While it is intended to be very aerodynamic, it looks less professional than the Acura or the Lexus.

I believe the Acura TSX is the leading contender at this point. It gets 31 mpg on average, drives great and looks great. Maybe a new car for her next weekend :-)

Jazz Piano

Playing jazz piano has been a fortunate pleasure of mine for over 30 years. I began noodling with it during my college days and it has been a part of my life on and off ever since. The activity can be complete in itself as a solitary creative and meditative pastime. Or it can be enhanced playing with a group in jam sessions, recording dates or public performances. For me it is especially satisfying as a public performance since the feedback of the group and the audience influences what is played.

Even without a public outlet, playing jazz piano is a very satisfying solitary activity. Music technology makes it possible to enhance a practice session with accompaniments, combos and styles at the touch of a button. In private, playing jazz piano takes on a more meditative quality. It is much more introspective and laser focus can be applied to particular weaknesses in my playing skills.

Playing jazz piano exercises memory, creativity, ear training, spontaneity and dexterity. Experiencing all this simultaneous activity is a shot to the brain, a natural high. As documented in the book, "This is your Brain on Music", the brain is stimulated in 5 or more different ways when playing music. The 5 ways I mention are not exhaustive and when playing in public other stimulating energy is present as well.

I am currently gaining momentum in the consistency and focus of my practice methods. Several years ago I was playing out a lot around the Dallas area. I've been dormant for about 5 years now. I am lucky to have the time now to apply more wisdom, experience and focus to the elements of playing jazz piano than in previous periods of my life. I am looking forward to what the future holds for enjoying other musicians, audiences and my own development as I move forward with this aspect of my life.

Dark Stuff

For most of the 20th century and into the 21st century the Big Bang theory has been the majority Universe-origin theory for those with a modern consciousness. This theory is not without its difficulties and many new generation cosmologists have questioned some of the gaps and flaws in the theory. Even though the Big Bang theory has withstood much scientific criticism and still holds the primary position for cosmological origins, the recent discovery of dark matter, dark energy and more recently, dark flow has complicated the landscape. The reason these phenomena are called dark is because we cannot see them but we know they are there by their effects on the behavior of galaxies.

Current thinking is that there may be as much as 5 times as much dark stuff in the Universe as the matter that we can see and measure. We do not know what dark energy is, but we can see its effects on expansion of the Universe. The result is that most of the Universe, including all around us here on Earth, is made up of stuff we cannot see with contemporary scientific instruments. This is different from the light energy that we can "see" and measure and use in our everyday technological lives as in radio broadcasts, wireless voice and data transmission and many others.

Another strange thing about dark matter is that it passes through the everyday matter we know about: starts, planets, us. We have very little doubt that dark matter/energy exists - we just do not know what it is. The invention of dark matter theory allowed the standard model of the Big Bang theory to get back on track - allowing us to explain why the Universe is expanding at an accelerating rate rather than being static or shrinking.

Dark energy may be defined as "whatever it is that is causing the Universe to accelerate". Dark Flow is a newly discovered possibility where much of the Universe seems to be moving at a high speed toward a single point. In order to explain this flow, we may need another Universe such that our Universe is not everything - it is part of an even bigger picture. It may be possible that we are part of an even bigger structure, perhaps a bubble created by inflation.

Time Machines

Time passes at different rates depending on where you are in the Universe and how fast you are traveling. If you are near a very large object with great mass and gravity, time will slow down. For example, if you could orbit a massive black hole, time would pass much slower for you than observers on earth. Depending on the size and force of the black hole, time might pass half as fast for you as for the observers. After orbiting the black hole for 5 years and returning to earth, 10 years would have passed. This would effectively be a time machine.

Since black holes are a long way from here and not very practical to orbit, another way to time travel is by moving at the speed of light. If you could travel at the speed of light in space for 1 week, when you return to Earth, 100 years would have passed. This is very effective time travel.

It is impossible to travel at the speed of light, but might be possible to travel at near the speed of light. However, to do that the space vehicle would have to be super-massive. It might take 6 years for the vehicle to accelerate to near the cosmic speed of light. After 2 years it will reach half the speed of light. After another two it will be 90% the speed of light. After 2 more years it will reach 99% the speed of light. At this speed a single day on the spaceship is equal to a year of time on Earth.

Abundance

Abundance is a consciousness rooted in faith in the absolute (metaphysical) realm that demonstrates positive contributions in the relative (physical) realm that results in a state of prosperity. Prosperity is not limited to the financial realm. Nor is financial demonstration necessarily one of the physical contributions that results from a particular individual expression.

Abundance is a way of being that is focused on gratitude, giving and creative expression. The absolute physical expression of prosperity by an individual will be consistent with the strengths of the core personality of the person. Advancements all arise from the creative mind that taps into the inner Self and finds expressions in our actions.

We experience lack when we are somehow working in opposition to spiritual law. Lack is not limited to financial resources. We can experience lack in terms of forgiveness, creativity, understanding, acceptance, initiative and especially love. We experience lack when we fail to demonstrate a giving consciousness. Giving more fully allows us to receive more fully and vice- versa.

We can think of affluence as experiencing an abundant flow. When we are in the flow, ideas come to us easier, relationships work better and manifestation of our inner desires occurs more frequently. We can create the foundation for affluence in our lives through many practices including, but not limited to: meditation, introspection, empathy, synergy, forgiveness and love.

The starting point for abundance is to accept responsibility for our own thoughts. We have the power to fuel or stop any thought that comes into our minds. We can encourage the constructive, positive ones and kill the destructive, negative ones. Thoughts are things that produce words which produce actions which produce results which produce consequences. We can act from cause rather than from effect. Working from cause is a much more efficient and effective way to live.

Can you realize what your life would be like if you could actualize your entire potential? Each of us has access to infinite imagination and potential. We can choose to open ourselves up to more of it or to close it down to a trickle or worse, complete blockage. We can always act as if it is impossible to fail or live in worry that we will not succeed. Every moment, every new action, and before that, every new idea is a new chance to accentuate the abundant instead of the limited.

Effectiveness

Effectiveness is the ability to get the right things done. We get the right things done when we consider alternate opportunities and choose the best one. We take swift action on the opportunity once the decision has been made. We use feedback from reality to know when the decision and action is no longer relevant or may have been the wrong choice.

Our effectiveness is improved when we thoughtfully consider how we spend our time. What are we doing with our time? What things are we doing that are not necessary? What time wasters are we permitting to occupy our valuable time? What behaviors and elements from the past are we refusing to let go in order to create room for more effective use of our time?

Effectiveness is enhanced when we know the correct order of things to be done. Once we know that order, we focus on one thing at a time. Once the first thing is finished, we then re-evaluate our list of things to do again and then pick the top one off the list again. The scope of the list of things to do here is on the order of major accomplishments rather than mundane daily to-do lists.

We are more effective when we build from our strengths rather than try to remove our weaknesses. Building from strength allows us to put full focus into positive action toward a small number of things rather than trying to do a little bit of everything. We can drop activities that are attempts to eliminate weaknesses - those will be diminished soon enough as we build up our strengths and perhaps stop doing (or no longer have time for) some of the things that were building our weaknesses whether consciously or unconsciously.

Effectiveness may tend to go hand in hand with maturity. As we grow, we learn explicitly or implicitly which of our behaviors result in the more bang for the buck. The truth that we can learn to be more effective in our professional, social and family lives is inspiration for all of us to desire to do better. We can learn to handle ourselves and our situations better by growing our strengths and conditioning our choices through thoughtful decisions and deliberate actions that are consistent with our personal world view and inner consciousness.

Finally, effectiveness is about contribution. In any situation we can increase the value of our actions by asking the question, "What can I contribute?", or, "What is mine to do?". Our potential for broad and deep contribution is enhanced by our own self-development. We experience growth in proportion to what we require from ourselves. Require little and we probably remain stunted. Require a lot and we may develop into giants. We can ensure that we are headed in a productive direction when we require ourselves to pursue the next step in the form of the opportunity whose time has come.

Existentialism

In the past I had a notion that Existentialism was a negative, depressed philosophy of life created by a neurotic Frenchman. As usual with these kinds of things, I probably formed that opinion by seeing a picture or two of Sarte and making up what I thought the philosophy meant from the pictures and the name. The name, Existentialism, seemed to imply cold, dry existence rather than a life of enjoyment.

The reality is much different. The stream of thought of Existentialism is rooted in individual expression, passion, positive self-esteem, self-realization, search for being, personal freedom, responsibility and authenticity. There can be no excuses for failure to act, take control of our lives or for any particular circumstance we might find ourselves. We are where we are in life because of our choices. There is no one to blame or congratulate but ourselves.

Individuality is admired since it is through self-expression that we experience self-realization. The result of this expression is positive if we approach life from a position of pro-active mastery and self-control rather than slavery and reaction. We are in control of our lives and must accept the freedom and responsibility that comes with that.

Given this, we cannot blame others for situations or our actions. We always have a choice within the constraints of a particular context. No matter what the context, there are choices. Even in a prison situation we'd still have our freedom of thought and consciousness.

We all have a will to self-esteem that leads us to self-actualization. This will can be frustrated if we do not make choices from a position of cause rather than effect. Master morality vs. Slave morality. We should be passionately committed to our choices.

Like any great philosophy, easier read/said than done.

Hardening of the Categories

Is there any ailment that is more limiting than this? Hardening of the Categories stunts imagination, thought, ideas and creativity. It ossifies the mind long before its time. Unlike its second cousin, hardening of the arteries, an attack of the categories version is not necessarily limited to the older population.

An early predictor and related ailment of this ravaging disease is premature categorization. This mental sibling is the habit of trying to impose structure on a set of ideas before they are fully ripe. Ideas need to be discussed so they can grow, mutate and create new ideas. They need to swirl around, be repeated and understood from various perspectives.

Ideas need to be inverted, rearranged, taken apart and put back together again. Only after the appropriate duration of ripening (and this can be different for every idea) should structure start to be imposed. In fact, the structure should emerge from the ideas themselves naturally rather than being forced.

Hardening of the Categories is a situation where a particular structure or worldview is cemented so tightly that there is no hope of allowing a new concept to enter the inner sanctum. In some cases this devolves into an anti-conceptual mentality where any degree of new abstraction, no matter how small, cannot affect the hardened concrete pavement, floors and supports of the singularly literal mind. In fact the very thought of doing so is frightening.

In contrast to this image of a hardened structure, a holistic framework is much more malleable and elastic. Sure, a framework has categories and abstractions. But the premises and abstractions and conclusions are somehow open enough to allow breathing room so that new paths can be explored and existing arteries and veins of thought can be refined and uplifted.

We should all guard against Hardening of the Categories. None of us is immune and sadly our immunity is likely to weaken as we get older. More reason to be especially alert, curious, open, engaged, focused and attentive so that the scourge of ossification does not inhibit the continuous evolutionary unfolding and actualization of our individual expressions of Mind.

Authenticity

What does it mean to be authentic? To be an authentic person. Are we all authentic just by the simple fact of being alive human beings? Or are there degrees of authenticity? Are there things we can do or ways we can be to become more authentic, thereby experiencing a higher quality of life? I think there are ways to be that move us more toward authenticity. These include:

• Having a high degree of passion about the things we do which come from the choices we make vs. sleepwalking through our choices and showing lukewarm commitment
• Acting from a master mentality vs. a slave mentality (proactive vs. reactive).
• Coming from a place of cause vs. a place of effect
• Accepting control (and the associated responsibility and accountability with no excuses) of our lives vs. making excuses and blaming or crediting others for our failures or successes
• Knowing ourselves at a deep level to fuel authentically individualistic choices and expressions that are true to our nature
• Seeking a deep understanding of a few things vs. idle curiosity about a plethora of superficial trivia and distractions
• Engaging in critical, rich thinking vs. rearranging the furniture in our minds
• Saying something when we speak vs. idle chatter or chit-chat
• Treating people as ends in themselves vs. means to an end
• Making choices as if they would become law for everyone vs. choosing haphazardly

I'm sure there are more and the ones listed deserve much more exploration. But, I need to go to the Jazz Festival, so I will leave it as an exercise for the reader.

New Thought and the Will to Power

One of the first things I noticed when I began investigating New Thought spiritual communities was the connection with a full spectrum of philosophy and religion. One teacher expressed it as incorporating the common thread through the history of theology and philosophy across all major World Religions. I have encountered this connection time and time again as I consume ideas from different philosophers and theologians ranging from Plato to Buber. There always seems to be that common essence of truth no matter what the style or perspective of the writer.

Some recent study in Existentialism has given me more exposure to Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. I did not expect to find a connection there, as I was just curious about Existentialism, but as usual profound ideas seem to connect back to some representation in New Thought.

Nietzsche's Will to Power is something I misunderstood until looking closer. I was a typical human in that I heard bits and snatches of the idea and formed a superficial opinion. I thought it had to do with a misguided theory about how the ultimate goal of humanity or at least the most laudable goal was to rule the world.

Actually it goes something like this. The Will to Power is really a Will to Self Esteem or Self Expression. It is a positive earlier expression of self actualization, which was developed more fully in the 20th century by psychologists such as Maslow. It corresponds to Nietzsche's concept of Master Morality vs. Slave Morality.

Master Morality is the positive expression of who we are that is expansive, confident, magnanimous and teleological. Slave Morality is a shrinking, limited, negative self concept that runs on reactions to "they" who are in power. Master Morality, or the Will to Power, is the spontaneous, natural expression of who we are meant to be as a self-actualizing individual human being.

This expression is a secular expression of similar New Thought concepts that encourage us to connect with the inner Christ (or Buddha, or Brahman, or pick your favorite language) to guide the true expression of individuality in a prosperous, altruistic and self-actualizing manner.

Second Thoughts on the Kindle

I gave my first impressions of the Kindle a while back. Now that I have been using the Kindle for a couple of months or so a few more observations come to mind.

First, there was a minor inconvenience in taking on my first airline flight. At one airport, it was in my carry-on case. After walking through the security check, the bag did not come through. Shortly one of the security folks asked who owned that bag. Something had set off a red flag. They had detected that an electronic device was inside my bag. So, the Kindle had to be resent through the X-ray machine alone just like a laptop. However, after getting on the plane, it was very convenient to read from it: no pages to turn, no book to keep open, no bookmark to reset.

I'm now on my second purchased book. I started with "Intellectuals and Society" by Thomas Sowell and am now reading a Winston Churchill biography. The Sowell book was formatted very well for the Kindle. Every paragraph or two was separated by a couple of lines of whitespace. This made it fit very well onto the relatively small Kindle screen. The Churchill biography has a more traditional formatting. Sometimes this leads to paragraphs extending over more than one screen full.

Now that the iPad will be out soon, I am wondering if that might be a better experience. For just reading books, the Kindle I have is adequate. I'd like a bigger screen. Color would be nice but is not necessarily a practical concern. 99.9% of all the books I have ever read are pretty much black and white and mostly text. Maybe color capabilities would offer more subtle contrast potential, making it even easier on the eyes.

Dave Winer, who was very enthusiastic about the Kindle when it was first released has some interesting current thoughts in the context of the iPad release.

Regarding Marriage

Now that I am 54 and approaching the "autumn" years, I think of the venerable institution from 3 perspectives, coming roughly in this order.

1. Sacred
2. Practical
3. Civil

The Sacred part encompasses initial romantic love and more profound spiritual connection. It's the part that leads you to believe that the other person is your "cosmic" match in heart, soul and mind. With them you share the same or similar goals, aspirations, morals, beliefs, inspirations and vision. This is the core of an intimate relationship. If these and other important spiritual qualities are not in sync, the relationship is on rocky ground or will eventually crumble.

A story in the Bible expresses it as "equally yoked". There needs to be some level of intellectual, emotional, intuitive equality in place to create and sustain a firm foundation. Another Biblical reference "building on the rock and not the sand". The Spiritual connection is the holistic combination of the intellect, emotional and intuitive qualities of human beings. The Sacred part can be experienced without any piece of paper from the State or from acceptance by other friends or family members.

The Practical part is more about "we can date. can we live together". This has a lot to do with just the day to day experiences and annoyances that are part of living with someone else. It is very possible to love someone very deeply from a Sacred perspective, but not be able to live with them on a long term basis. Could be that their background is so different that a thousand little minor behaviors add up to create one big "elephant in the room" that becomes pervasive in almost every situation.

In the Practical realm, acceptance from family and friends does matter, although may not be a deal killer, it can add support or tension that affect the core relationship indirectly. More acceptance from friends and family can add support that might fill in gaps that are missing in the Sacred perspective. Less support might chip away at the Sacred relationship.

Of course the biggest Practical concern is financial. Not being equally yoked financially can create underlying tensions and resentments that damage otherwise decent relationships. Not only equally yoked, but having enough of a financial foundation is important. Two people should be able to "stand on their own two feet". In other words, the question should be asked: "If we were all of a sudden not together, would we each be able to take care of ourselves individually, both financially and emotionally". If the answer is No to either of those questions, some serious thought should be given to the level of readiness for marriage.

Not being able to stand separate financially means one will be a drain on the other who can take care of themselves. If neither can stand alone, the marriage will have a very rocky foundation with dependencies on parents, friends and family continuing, creating tension and stress for extended family. There is a certain level of maturity that is gained by knowing that everything I do in my life depends on me. I am responsible and accountable. I do not expect anyone else to bail me out or "fix" things in my financial life. If this level of maturity is not attained before marriage, storm clouds are brewing.

Not being able to stand separate emotionally means the relationship is fundamentally co-dependent. It is not a coming together of two independent strong people. It is one or more needy people coming together and that does not bode well for long term sustainability.

Both the Sacred and the Practical can be experienced without the Civil perspective. Traditionally, the Civil and the Sacred have been fused into one unit. In order for a couple to live together and fully experience the Sacred and Practical, they had to contract with the State to get a marriage license. The act of creating a Civil Union in the eyes of the State creates a single financial unit, where before there were 2 independent financial units, now there is one. Some advantages and disadvantages may accrue. Couples who do not follow the traditional pattern of fusing the Sacred with the Civil need to ask themselves "What are we gaining and losing by entering into this civil contract with the State?"

One advantage of becoming married in the eyes of the State is that tax situations might be simpler or more financially rewarding. Having one name means that having children is both more socially acceptable and feels more like a family. However, bringing children into a situation where the Sacred and Practical concerns are not healthy is dangerous. Also, having children usually means the loss of one income for some length of time. If the couple cannot live on one income, this can be serious. Harking back to the financial concerns mentioned earlier, it is a good idea to be able to live on either income as that provides a good insurance policy for the expense of having young children or unexpected financial challenges.

A possible disadvantage of the Civil part of a marriage is the fact that the two are financially fused from that point on. So, any debts incurred, bad judgements or loss of employment by one affects both. This is another reason for the need to know that the other person is so fundamentally sound they will be able to minimize bad decisions and overcome any unexpected adversity in their lives. In other words, they are a "Rock", unshakable in their vision, commitment, perseverance and stability toward realizing the highest Good for themselves, their relationships, their family and All humanity.

Balcony Club 2010

Rainy Wednesday night. Young couples dancing. Straight-ahead Jazz. Renewing old acquaintances. New acquaintances. Old Friends. Old jamming buddies. Days of Wine and Roses. Sugar. What's up the last 8 years?

Balcony Club is a staple of Dallas low rent, down to earth jazz/blues experience. Lots of memories and annoyances. Good to have a place to show up, relax and have a beer or listen or play or whatever.

The last time I played at the Balcony Club I hated it. It was smoky, the piano was way out of tune (not even close enough for Jazz). The trumpet player running the band loved to take lots of "out" choruses. That about did me in.

These days it is non-smoking. Much better. The piano is much better and the band was good. I sat in for a couple of tunes at the top of the second set. Lots of fun.

Downtown vs. the Suburbs

I've been living smack downtown for almost 3 years now. Before that I had lived in the burbs for about 25 years. Well, that's if you can call Denton the burbs. Denton definitely has more of a personality than a typical suburb, so maybe it doesn't count. But the lifestyle has to be a lot the same of living in a typical suburb.

One of the differences I like is being able to walk to anything I need. Restaurant, grocery store, cleaners, pharmacy, doctor, dentist - it's all within a few blocks, usually less than a couple. Another thing is having a good workout facility right in the building where I live. Many of the condos, apartments and lofts downtown have on-site gyms and pools. Very convenient.

Contrast that with having to get in the car and drive to pretty much anything I just mentioned. And getting to the gym was a pain. I believe I drove more than a couple of miles to the gym. Too much overhead. Now I just ride the elevator downstairs.

Another contrast is a more social community feeling living in a high rise. I run into neighbors and other folks that live in the building way more than I ever did in the suburban neighborhood. It was hard to even know people who lived too far down the street. Here in the condo, there is a lot more casual interaction. Also, regular social events make getting to know people easy. In fact, we have a wine tasting party coming up this week.

Another fun thing about my specific situation is the view. Fortunately I live on the 23rd floor with a wide ranging South and West view from my condo. Lots of windows give all the rooms a big open feeling. At night the city view is great. I had a very nice rural and rustic view out the back door of my house before moving here. That definitely compared well to my current view, just different.

One thing missing compared to my previous residences is the quietness of a suburban neighborhood. I lived on a circle with almost no traffic, so it was pretty quiet most of the time. In the middle of the city there is always something going on. Being as far up as I am mutes most of the street noise, but the ambient noise level is certainly higher than I was formerly accustomed. Not a big deal. Good to feel the energy of the city.

I do miss Denton, but not enough to go back :-)

XM Radio Jazz Obsession

A few weeks ago I wrote that I had carefully picked out 6 music stations for my XM Radio presets. My idea was to have a wide variety of music to choose from as I sail up and down the Dallas Tollway to and from work every day. I did this for a couple of weeks and I really do like all the stations I chose.

I have to admit to a jazz addiction. It's very hard for me to choose something other than the Jazz Standards station on XM Radio. It is an excellent modern straight-ahead mix of great music all day and night long. Nothing matches the mixture of intellect, intuition and emotion that jazz brings to the musical table.

No matter how much I have played, arranged and listened over the years, there are always many more artists and stylistic nuances to experience. Mixing the new artists and tracks with an occasional track of some old favorite that I have spent hours listening to in my life makes it almost impossible to move away from the station.

I know at some point I'll get unstuck. But for now, it gets me inspired and ready for the day.

Existentialism and New Thought

Existentialism is similar to New Thought in a few ways. Both emphasize individual passion as a path to true existence, or being. Exercising passion by becoming the person you are creates self-realization, or self actualization. Becoming who you are is important to both.

Becoming the person you are refers to the reality that we have a general fate through our character. We are born with a proto-character that is the foundation for the self-realization that has occurred so far. Our basic genetic character along with decisions that have been made from within that perspective during our lives has produced our "fate" so far.

To some degree we cannot completely escape our fate, since, we cannot act radically different from our basic disposition or personality type. But we do have control over the "style" we create within our overall personality context.

Existentialism is a secular expression of this idea. New Thought is a theistic version. New Thought proposes a relative world beyond the physical, absolute world. We can connect with this presence in our consciousness through regular prayer, silence and meditation. Connecting with the Spirit ensures the expression of the Christ/Buddha/Atman/Brahman within depending on your language/conceptual/traditional preference.

Existentialism supports a virtue ethics that is consistent with Aristotle's ethical system. Nietzsche refers to a Master/Slave dichotomy of ethics, where the Master ethics a self-actualizing virtue system and the Slave system is more constricted, reactionary and limiting. New Thought is similar in that it moves away from limiting language and traditional scriptural interpretations toward a more self-realizing, positive and this-worldly responsibility as opposed to some historical theological perspectives.

XM Radio

I finally broke down and subscribed to XM Radio because the trial that came with my new car ran out a couple of months ago. It comes in handy on my 25 minute commute to work since dodging advertisements and the other distractions of commercial radio is annoying. It's handy to have a dedicated traffic station for DFW, a wide variety of great music stations and a few more news sources such as CNBC and CNN among others to augment KERA on FM.

But the most fun is choosing from the huge variety of music styles. It's taken at least a couple of weeks to audition several music stations of various styles for presets and I only covered about half of them. The ones I have so far include Real Jazz, Classical, Classic Vinyl, Coffee House, The Groove and a Bluegrass channel.

Classic Vinyl is the album rock from the 60s and 70s. Coffee House is a songwriter channel with an acoustic folk tendency, but also includes covers of big hits done in an unplugged style. The Groove combines classic soul from bands like The Temptations to a variety of Funk, Hip-Hop and danceable tracks with a Funk, Soul or R&B flair. The Bluegrass channel was a random find that is very enjoyable. Fast picking banjos and fiddles full of improvisation is great fun listening.

Auditioning the various music channels reminded me of some styles long forgotten. I do like several of the Country channels, but have not been able to choose one for a preset yet. Outlaw Country features styles like Merle Haggard and others. Willie's Place spins a lot of Willie Nelson and Austin City Limits genres like Asleep at the Wheel. Then there are more mainstream Country-Rock channels.

I have about 3 presets still free after choosing the ones mentioned here plus the 3 news, weather and traffic channels. Maybe I'll toss the smooth jazz slot, Watercolors, that is currently renting a spot but very close to getting booted due to lack of passion. No Kenny G yet, thankfully, but the resemblance to muzak may be too close for comfort.

First Take on the Kindle

I've had a Kindle for a couple of weeks now. So far I have read a couple of articles in PDF form, browsed the Kindle store, chosen some previews of a few best sellers from the store and purchased one book to read on the Kindle.

Learning to use it was a breeze. Scanning the Kindle User Guide, which is provided once the device is registered, was more than enough to understand how to use the basic functions. There was a little confusion when trying to re-size the text on PDFs but that was because you really can't do that.

The PDFs I tried to read displayed in very small typeface - too small to read. The re-size text feature is not provided for PDFs as it is for Kindle books. However, you can rotate the orientation to landscape, causing the PDF to re-size itself to fit the available area. This results in text large enough to read, but very small pages vertically. It was usable though.

Browsing the Kindle book store is easy. You can select books of interest and load a preview to your Kindle. The size of the preview is specific to the book, but the ones I loaded ranged from a very generous preface + two full chapters to as little as part of the first chapter for another.

While I am not a book purist, since I already read a lot of documents on my laptop, online, PDF or Word documents, I wondered what the reading experience on the Kindle might be like. So far, it's different but in a good way.

First, the amount of text displayed on the screen is less than a true book page (at least on the model I have). This is usually a paragraph or two. This can be changed if you go to a different text size, but so far I have stuck with the default as that seems to be fine.

This smaller amount of text seems to make me both read faster and also be happy with only reading short amounts of the book at a time. With a real book, I typically push through to complete at least a chapter at one sitting. With the Kindle, I feel much more satisfied to turn it on, read a few screens for 5-10 minutes or so, then put it away.

For non-fiction, this has the effect of snagging a few ideas in spare minutes rather than pushing for a bigger picture idea of the entire chapter. I am sure this has pluses and minuses, but so far does not seem to negatively affect my ability to discuss and describe what I've read with friends.

The compactness of the Kindle is also attractive, although I have not yet experienced being able to take scores of books on a trip or flight on a single slim, light piece of plastic.

Since it is not back-lit, but uses electronic paper technology, you will need a light to read in bed, which is different from a laptop. The advantage is that the digital ink technology does not use power to keep the screen refreshed, so, once painted, the power consumption is low.

I believe, but do not know yet, that e-book technology will encourage re-reading of at least parts of already consumed books or periodicals, since it is very quick and easy to locate a chapter and read a few ideas to refresh your memory on a particular topic.

A Short History of Human Thought (Cliff Notes)

Ok, so I may be a little off-center to attempt to boil this down into a blog, but I'll give it a shot. Sometimes the constraint of trying to fit a complex topic into the constraints of a spontaneous, one-take-no-redos kind of format helps to focus the mind. Maybe a little extra diet coke will help :-)

Way back in the dawn of human consciousness when the cave people drew pictures on their walls we lived in the time of mythology. Myths were created and maintained because the stories pointed to a more profound truth that could not be expressed. Also, our ancestors of a few hundred thousand years ago (or longer) had no scientific explanation for anything. So, myths were numerous and served as the science as well as the religion of the day. We have come to discover with fascination how similar many of the myths were across pre-historic cultures.

Out of this foundation of mythology, gradually religions began to be formed. Nowadays we refer to early religions as Earth, Pagan or Mystery Religions. Many rituals were created, observed and passed down through generations. Many of the religions co-opted the appropriate myths that supported their beliefs. Many Mystery Religions contain some of the same creation and messiah stories we inherited in some of the great World Religions.

Eventually, as humans became more logical, a group of ancient thinkers, sometimes called the Ancient Sages, began focusing on the wisdom of living the good life. How to be happy and fulfilled. How to live correctly. This formed the basis of the great Eastern World Religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and Confucianism. A parallel track of development occurred in the Middle East resulting in Judaism.

The golden period of classical Greek thought produced such thinkers as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and many more. This sober morality, precise deductive logic and naturalist inductive logic created a body of thought that has formed the basis of Western Thought for the last two millenia.

Christianity was born out of a mixture of Greek philosophy, Judaism, Mystery Religions and the teachings of Jesus. Christianity developed initially along a Neo-Platonic line of thought resulting in a strong metaphysical base and later incorporated the Aristotelian line of thinking with the work of the Medieval Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas. Christianity also developed a significant list of arbitrary doctrines during the early centuries that were motivated by political power and influence.

We finally reached the level of scientific thinking around the Renaissance and into the Enlightenment period. This followed primarily from Aristotle, was helped along by Francis Bacon, Copernicus and Galileo and came to a head with the work of Isaac Newton and others. Here, we took the logical, naturalistic tendency of Aristotelian thought and developed the scientific method. Science because very inductive and experimental resulting in the industrial age with all its advantages and disadvantages.

The 19th and 20th century saw an incredible creation of new scientific theories that overturned many existing theories in the fields of physics, biology, astronomy and chemistry. Albert Einstein is the poster child for using deductive thought to create grand theories of Relativity, time and gravity that are very non-intuitive, but turn out to be true and have been proved. Charles Darwin used induction to discover the Theory of Evolution.

It seems that as the 21st century dawns, we are entering a time where physics and metaphysics are converging. Many of the current physical theories such as M-Theory cannot yet be proven by experiment and it may not be possible. Much of what we are creating as the Theory of Everything is supported by a deductive system of logic rather than inductive, real-world experiments.

Perhaps we are reaching the End of Science as we have known it for the last 500 years or so and are entering a new era where Science and Metaphysics work hand in hand, moved forward by our increased use of intuition and higher consciousness that transcend traditional ways of knowing. If this is true, we are called upon to use more of ourselves than at any other time in human history.

Potential and Actual

The material world we live in is the world of science, senses, atoms, particles, forces and chemistry that can be measured and controlled to the degree we understand it through science and technology. It is also the world where our emotions are expressed through various relationships. It is a world of causes and effects that can be described and predicted to some degree as well.

The metaphysical world, if you choose to believe it. It is the ultimate cause of everything we see in the physical world. Even though there are billions of causes and effects that occur in the material world every nanosecond, the underlying ultimate cause (or first cause using Aristotle's language), is the metaphysical world. Some world views are completely materialistic and deny the existence of the metaphysical world.

If you are consistently scientific even into the realm of your personal life you might fall into this group. However, if you have any spiritual beliefs beyond that of naturalist or humanist style, you likely believe there is an underlying ground of being for the physical world. Differences of opinion about the nature of the metaphysical and its relationship to the physical occur once a belief in the metaphysical exists.

Maybe a few contrasts will help. In this list the left side represents the physical world and the right side the metaphysical:

• Relative - Absolute
• Actual - Potential
• Effect - Cause
• Sensory - Extra-sensory
• Objective - Subjective
• Changing - Constant
• Logical - Intuitive
• Approximate - Perfect
• Becoming - Ground of Being

In my interpretation, the metaphysical is not in the realm of the supernatural. Everything is One that includes what we'd call the metaphysical and the physical. We have our Source and Ground of Being in the metaphysical. We access the metaphysical through a consciousness that is aware of the Source. This awareness can be developed and increased if we have the will to do it. It is what allows us to truly discover who we are and to embark on a path of self-actualization and true expression and demonstration in the physical, or relative world.

Our consciousness can be raised to the extent that we have the potential to act from a position of a higher consciousness (sometimes called Christ, Buddha, Brahman, etc. depending on which religious tradition is used for language). The typical secular term for this is self-actualization. As we raise our consciousness we are able to respond to stimuli from the relative world in a way that is closer to the absolute. We are able to bring the potential of perfection from the absolute world into a more accurate instantiation in the physical world. This is the ideal, but not typical as most of us move up and down through lower and higher levels of awareness.

The metaphysical world is the place of pure potential. The physical world is the place of actuality. The potential of Energy/Light/Mind/Spirit needs the full experience of the Relative world and participates with all conscious entities in a dynamic co-creation of the material and psychic Universe. The depth of this bi-directional participation can be increased by seeking in order to find and knocking so that the door might be opened to us.

Metaphysics, Physics, Theology, and the Bible

I've always been intrigued by the so-called "magic" numbers from the Bible. Not the bottom-up analysis trying to come up with secret messages based on computer analysis of original Hebrew scriptures. But the more macro-level numbers that appear many times and have special significance. The most well-known of these are 3, 7, 12 and 40.

Of these, 3 has been of the most practical usage in my life. It's also used colloquially in phrases like "third time is the charm". I wrote a blog a long time ago about the optimum number of choices for any given circumstance that I believe is 3. When I really need to learn challenging material and know it cold, one discipline is to read/study the material 3 times. In the world of computer software, it is interesting that new products usually reach a foundational level of maturity on version 3.

One of the more interesting applications of the "power of 3" is the realization that the Bible can be read and understood on 3 different levels.

1. Literal - every word is the absolute literal word of God and must be believed and followed without change.
2. Story - the Bible is a collection of stories that teach us moral lessons. It is not important if they are historically true or not
3. Metaphysical - the Bible is a collection of stories that have metaphysical meaning. None of the stories are meant to talk about things that occurred in the physical world. Everything is symbolism that speaks of the evolution of human consciousness.

Of these, number 1 is the least useful for obvious reasons. Which translation? Do I have to go back to original text and learn Greek or Hebrew to really know? What about the evidence we have that mistakes, purposeful or otherwise, can be seen thoughout the history of copying and translating the originals? What about the contradictions? What is the practical relevance to my life reading this way about ancient cultures? Is this making the spriritual mistake of following the letter of the law as the Pharisees were accused of doing?

Level 2 is a useful way to read the Scripture to get practical moral lessons. Read in this way the stories are timeless and can be mapped onto contemporary situations for guidance and enlightenment.

The third level, the metaphysical, is in the realm of "secret knowledge" as understood by alternative ancient Christian sects such as the Gnostic Christians. This was a belief that the scriptures were written at multiple levels so that they can meet the reader where they are. The highest level of understanding is the symbolic, psychical or consciousness level. An understanding at this level yields the highest benefit and is closer to the Truth, but is difficult to understand by the uninitiated or untrained.

The third level is more interesting today because of the fact that we are a much more educated and advanced world than 2000 years ago. It makes it possible for more people to gain an understanding at this level since more of us are capable of thinking at higher levels of abstraction. Another factor is that knowledge of multiple religions and spiritual paths add layers of understanding to the metaphysical interpretations that are possible. A third factor is the connection with modern science that is possible when this level is used as a framework for study.

Many interesting connections and much spiritual enlightenment can be gained by a close metaphysical reading of the Bible, broadening that information to include ideas from Eastern Religions and Philosophy, then connecting to Modern Science especially in the areas of Evolution, DNA, Quantum Physics and String Theory. A quantitative understanding of the sciences is not necessary to get this understanding. However, a good conceptual grounding in world religions and the fundamental sciences is useful, either before starting a metaphysical study or picked up along the way.

The spiritual power that can be gained by integrating the perspectives of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Philosophy, Physics, DNA, Evolution and Cosmology is a large step toward "Christ Consciousness" that is present in all religions but called by different names.

Modern Physics

Modern physics tells us about incredible worlds that exist in the infinitely small and the infinitely large. M-theory, String Theory, 4 fundamental forces, Standard Model, SuperGravity and Quantum Mechanics are just a small subset of theories that are used to describe the physical world. The closer we get to a Theory of Everything the more impossible the chance of a scientific proof of the theory becomes. At what point does Physics become Metaphysics?

That is a particularly interesting question to me, given that I am in the middle of a conscious study of Metaphysics for the next few weeks. Listening to some of the best Theoretical Physicists talk about Strings, (mem)Branes, Collisions, Dark Matter, Dark Energy and on and on I am struck by how closely it resembles historical Metaphysical explanations for the Universe. Not on specifics, but on the style of communication.

Physics today is grounded and driven by extremely sophisticated mathematics that ordinary laymen such as myself cannot understand. It requires significant scientific and mathematical background. So, the implications of the theories that are predicted by the math must be communicated in "stories". Stories tell us about the wonderful worlds that exist in parallel Universes, Multiverses (multiple universes) and strange particles that zip, collide, split, disintegrate and form new particles at the sub-atomic level.

A story is the fundamental component of Mythology. That's where we started. Metaphysics, starting with Platonism and descendents told Metaphysical stories held together with logic. Modern Physics seems to have advanced to the point where we are weaving extremely grand and complete theories of the physical world told in the form of Stories that are held together by Mathematics, or Formal Logic. So, modern physics is based on a concrete and mathematically provable Logic, where as Metaphysics is held together by pure logic.

No matter how far Modern Physics takes us, though, it is still focused on the Effect, whereas Metaphysics is focused on the Cause. At some point, Cause can get very close to Effect. However, it can probably never get there. Another aspect of Metaphysics is that some forms are held together by personal experience in Consciousness as well as Logic.

The stories of modern physics seem to be contemporary versions of myths that we can spin with some degree of foundation or grounding in very sophisticated Formal Logic. (Mathematics). However, the goal is to understand the Effect so thoroughly that the Cause will be revealed. Metaphysics has a different starting point, which is to understand the Cause through Logic, Intuition and Meditation so thoroughly that the Effect makes sense at the highest level so that the true Order of the Effect can be understood and influenced by the intuitive insights of Metaphysics.

Sorry if I've boiled this down to much to be understandable. Obviously, many hours of stimulating and clarifying conversation are possible from these concepts.

Leadership and Virtue

Leadership seems to be more about the quality of being rather than the ability to give orders or boss people around. Great leaders blend general virtues into a strong individualism that permeates their thoughts, actions and results. Becoming a leader is, in a sense, becoming self-actualized and expressing that self-actualization in the medium of inspiring others to do their best; or better. If a leader is actualizing along a spectrum of virtue, her results tend toward the positive. If he is actualizing along a spectrum of vice, his results will tend toward the negative. At least positive and negative from our limited perspectives.

What are some characteristics of leaders? Here is one list: Judgement, Justice, Decisiveness, Initiative, Dependability, Tact, Integrity, Endurance, Bearing, Unselfishness, Courage, Knowledge, Loyalty, Enthusiasm.

There are many other lists of virtues including the 7 Heavenly virtues and the Knightly virtues. A cursory overview shows there is definitely quite a bit of overlap.

To be a good leader (not an evil leader), is to be consistent with virtue expressed along an idiosyncratic path toward self-actualization. Being, then becoming, never arriving.

Metaphysics

I've been participating in a few metaphysics discussions recently. We are lucky enough to have an erudite facilitator who has extensive background in philosophy, theology and law. One of the best things about a metaphysics discussion is the spontaneity of the session. Since, by definition, metaphysics is not logically provable, imagination and intuition play a large role in the direction of questions and comments. The range of background from the people involved can span a wide area, leading to a need for integration of perspectives that can stimulate, irritate and enlighten.

What is metaphysics? It is the exploration of ultimate causes. Isn't that Physics? No. Physics is the study of effects. That is, if you believe in metaphysics at all. To get to first base in metaphysics, you have to experience a leap of faith at some point. In other words, you have to believe that the ultimate cause of the Universe is beyond the physical that we can sense and measure. Anything that we can sense and measure is the effect of the ultimate underlying cause, which is metaphysical. Even the most fundamental physical particle or force has an underlying cause that is beyond the logical or sensuous.

Those of a traditional religious orientation might say this is a theological discussion, in other words, metaphysics is synonymous with God. What is there to discuss? The Bible say it all, right? No need to speculate. Just read the text and listen to what your local priest, preacher or pastor tells you to believe. Done. That is possible, but to do that misses getting in touch with the ultimate energy and infinity that would have to be a fundamental property of an infinite and omnipotent power. Why put "God" in a box? If we name it, we define it, and we can only define things in our own image complete with our own limitations.

Some possible world views include:

• The physical is all there is - metaphysics is just imagination
• Both the physical and the metaphysical exist - they exist in separate realms and do not affect each other
• The physical is an illusion - the metaphysical is true reality - our goal is to escape the physical
• Both the physical and metaphysical are real - the physical is the relative world or the effect of the metaphysical - the metaphysical is the absolute world and causes the physical

I subscribe to the last world view. The connection between the two is consciousness. Consciousness exists along a spectrum ranging from fundamental physical particles to human intelligence. Human consciousness is the highest consciousness that we know exists. There may be higher levels of consciousness, but we do not have direct proof of that. We have two way communication with the metaphysical realm through our consciousness

That's a screenfull for a single blog. I'll try to elaborate other perceptions on this topic as the Spirit moves.

2010 Has Arrived

Yes, I realize this happened 10 days ago, but I have not posted anything since December 21. Lots of holidays, family in town, getting ramped back up for the new year have kept me pretty silent. There are always ideas to noodle on, but sometimes it's hard to just decide which one to write about. So, I decided to write about not deciding what to write about. I'll list a few things that caught my attention over the last couple of weeks and maybe one of them will grow into a longer post.

• Today I participated in a very insightful discussion about Metaphysics. Topic was the relationship between the metaphysical and the physical world mediated by consciousness. Great stuff.
• "Up in the Air" with George Clooney was an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. If it wasn't for theatrical effect, the Clooney "girlfriend" should have been more upfront with him about her marriage situation. Just a thought.
• At work we started off the year with a bang. Two new hires started recently and we have a product release planned for March. Should be fun!
• Lots of family in town for the Cotton Bowl. I did not have a ticket so I watched it in HD at home while providing moral support to the chefs in the kitchen who produced a remarkable meal of beef slices, cheesy mashed potatoes, salad and shrimp cocktail.
• My Apple TV is working great! All my iPod music and all the photos on my laptop have been synced.
• Invictus was a great movie. Moved a little slow, but the context was very interesting. Sherlock Holmes was great but I had crappy seats.
• Enjoyed my daughter visiting for a few days. We got caught in the snow storm Christmas Eve, but made it home before most of the slipping and sliding in Dallas started.

I just remembered that I need to go review a bunch of scanned photos online and make some decisions about which ones to keep. Later...